Author's Note: Okay, so this originally started out as a one-shot, but I had so much fun writing my last 5 times story that I'm thinking of turning this into a 5 times Christmas story. I've already started on the second part so hopefully it won't take too terribly long to write the other parts. One thing, I kind of wanted New Directions to sing "The Dog Days Are Over" at Sectionals so in this fic, they did just that. Also, I hated the way Rachel handled Finn lying to her so I made some slight changes to that as well. As always, reviews of all kinds are love.
It had been just a few days since Rachel had turned sixteen and she'd managed to convince her dads to let her drive to just outside of Dayton to The Green Town Center for the day, so she could go shopping with the money that she'd received for her birthday. Rachel was walking down a side street doing some window shopping, just minding her own business, when she saw him. Jesse St. James.
Her feet stopped just as she felt like her heart did the same. There is no way he can be here. What are the odds? Besides, I thought he was at UCLA, she thought. Then she realized that of course he would be back in town. It was Winter Break, and it wasn't like he was going to spend Christmas at school in LA. She also knew that he loved this place since they'd come here more than once when they had been dating.
All of a sudden she started to panic as she realized that he might see her. He was on the other side of the street and she was pretty sure that he hadn't seen her yet. But what if he has? Oh my God, I have to hide. Or run, she thought frantically, desperately looking for some place to blend in without running into the nearest store and calling attention to herself.
She glanced back across the street and realized that it was too late. He'd already seen her and was running across the street, straight for Rachel, right at that moment. It was like everything was happening in slow motion as she saw him bound across the street towards her. His perfectly coifed wavy hair bouncing a little, his knee-length black wool coat blowing open slightly and the smile that crept onto his face as he stepped onto the curb. He looked just as gorgeous as she remembered.
"Rachel," he breathed out as he stopped in front of her.
She must have imagined this moment hundreds of times since Regionals, but not once did she think that she would be speechless like she was at that moment.
"Okay, I guess I deserve the silent treatment," he said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck, taking her silence to mean that she was angry and didn't want to speak to him. She was glad that he had completely misread her reaction because instead of being angry like she'd thought she would be, she was just stunned. "So how's it going?"
Finally, Rachel spoke, "Good."
"I, um, heard about Sectionals," he said. He cracked a smile as he continued, "Congrats on the win."
"Thank you," she replied.
"'The Dog Days Are Over', huh?" he asked. Obviously, he'd heard about their set list for Sectionals.
"Yeah," she almost whispered, a ghost of a smile on her face as she thought of New Directions' final song at Sectionals.
"I remember listening to that song blasting in my car with the windows rolled down as we sang at the top of our lungs," he laughed. "On our way here, actually." Rachel smiled at the memory. They would put the entire album on repeat and sing it over and over again whenever they were in his car. It was one of their favorite things to do, driving around in Jesse's car and singing all sorts of songs.
"Who would've thought that Mr. Schue would've okayed that song for Sectionals?" she asked, chuckling. She wanted to be angry with Jesse. She should be angry with him and stomping away, not giving him the time of day, yet here she was standing on the street laughing with him.
"I'm sure you sounded just as amazing as you always did when you sang that song," he said. Locking his gaze with hers, he added, "Although, I have to say that I was always partial to 'Cosmic Love'."
Rachel felt the blush creep into her cheeks, but refused to tear her gaze away from his and let him know that he was getting to her. "So what are you doing all the way down here?"
"Would you believe me if I said that I was hoping to run in to you?" he asked with a smirk.
Narrowing her eyes at him, she quipped, "No. Try again."
He just laughed. "Well, I was spending a few days with my uncle and I needed to do some Christmas shopping, so I figured I'd come down here and see what I could find. Plus, I love this place... especially this time of year."
"I remember," she said, smiling as she looked around at their surroundings. "It's also a nice day for December in Ohio," she added a little awkwardly. She mentally kicked herself for even bringing up the weather.
Suddenly Jesse asked, "Hey, do you want to help me find some gifts for my family?" The look in Jesse's eyes made Rachel glance down at her feet that were now shuffling in the snow.
She knew she should say no to him and tell him that she didn't want to spend another minute in his presence, but instead she said, "Sure." Clearly Jesse hadn't been expecting that answer and looked taken aback for a moment before regaining his composure and smiling at Rachel. "I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be, seeing as I don't even know your parents," she added as they began walking down the street.
"That's okay. I just need a female's perspective for my mom," he explained. "My dad's pretty easy to buy for because I know exactly what he likes. As for my uncle, well, you've been around him a few times. He's a pretty laid back kind of guy."
"How is your uncle?" she asked. When Jesse had transferred to McKinley, he'd lived with his uncle for a couple of months and Rachel met him and got to know him from hanging out at his house. She had really liked his uncle who was a younger, single guy who seemed more like a big brother to Jesse than an uncle. She remembered sitting around the dinner table the few times they'd eaten dinner there, and the way he had laughed with that same mirth that Jesse did. It'd made her like him immediately.
"He's good. Still single as ever though," Jesse told her, shaking his head slightly in amusement. His uncle just could never seem to meet a woman that he liked enough to date for more than six months. Until Jesse had met Rachel, he figured that he'd end up like his uncle, now the idea of being a bachelor like his uncle seemed like such a foreign and unwelcome idea to him. "He actually came out to visit me in LA this fall. He came to see a production I was in."
Jesse's mention of being in a production peaked Rachel's interest. "Was it a musical?"
He nodded. "It was a school production of Chicago," he told her, proudly.
"Let me guess, you were Billy Flynn," she said, as Jesse opened the door to a jewelry store that he obviously wanted to go in to.
"Of course," he responded with a smug smile as he held the door open for Rachel and she went inside. Following her inside, he led the way over to one of the cases that had pendants and necklaces in it. "This is my mom's favorite jeweler," Jesse explained as they looked at the jewelry in the case.
"It's all so beautiful," Rachel said, running her hand along the glass case. Then there was one that caught Rachel's eye. She'd seen pictures of Jesse's mother so she knew that she wasn't one for simple jewelry. It was a beautiful turquoise and ruby torsade in Vermeil necklace. Grabbing the arm of Jesse's coat, she tugged him towards her.
"What?" he asked, looking at her.
"That one," she told him, pointing at the necklace. Rachel had no idea how much a necklace like that would cost but knowing Jesse, money was no object.
Jesse waved over one of the staff and pointed out the necklace he wanted to see. Pulling it out of the case, the salesman handed it to Jesse so he could look at it more closely. "Turn around," Jesse softly commanded Rachel.
"Why?"
"Because I want to see what this looks like on someone," he explained. Turning around, Rachel lifted her hair off of her neck so he could clasp it. She felt her skin tingle in the spot where his fingers touched her skin as he clasped the necklace.
She held open her coat as she turned back around so he could see how the necklace looked, avoiding his gaze and focusing on a single curl that was touching the lapel of his coat. She was worried that if she looked in his eyes, he'd see just what a simple touch from him had done to her. "What do you think?" she asked, reaching up and touching the necklace lightly.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," he chuckled. "I like it and I think my mom would too. Look in the mirror and tell me what you think?" He pointed in the direction of a mirror on the counter.
Rachel walked over to it and looked at the five-tiered necklace currently draped on her neck. She was pretty simple when it came to her necklaces. A chain and a pendant was really all she needed, but this was a lot more delicate and beautiful than Rachel had even realized when it was sitting in the case. Letting out a small sigh she turned and looked at Jesse again, smiling and nodding her head. "I think you should get it."
He walked over to where she was standing as Rachel lifted her hair once again so he could take the necklace off of her. As he undid it, he gently ran his thumb across her neck a few times before whispering a quiet "Thank you," in Rachel's ear. Now that caused a shiver of pure pleasure to run down Rachel's spine and she did her best to hide that he had caused any sort of reaction.
As Jesse purchased the necklace, Rachel continued to look at some of the jewelry cases. She ended up at the case with all of the engagement rings eventually. Sighing dreamily, she looked at some of the gorgeous rings in the case. There was one in particular that looked like an antique ring that had been passed down for generations but was obviously new. Rachel held out her hand over the case and tried to imagine such a beautiful ring on her finger one day. She was so mesmerized that she didn't even hear Jesse walk up behind her.
"Thinking of getting engaged?" he asked in her ear, completely startling her and causing her to jump slightly.
"Oh my God," she panted, holding her hand over her heart as she tried to breath normally. "Don't sneak up on people like that," she exclaimed, hitting his arm.
He just laughed and looked in the case at the ring she'd been looking at, nodding in approval at her choice and casting a sideways glance at her. "You ready?" he asked, still smiling at how he'd made her jump.
"Yes," she replied, slightly annoyed, as she headed for the door and Jesse followed closely behind. Once outside, she stopped and turned to look at him expectantly. "Where to next?"
"There," he replied, pointing across the street at an electronics store. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her along behind him.
"Jesse!" she half-heartedly protested, but he just smiled at her mischievously. He looked both ways to make sure no cars were coming in either direction, and then he and Rachel ran across the street together, laughing when they nearly slipped as they'd stepped onto the sidewalk.
Once again, following Jesse inside the store, Rachel asked, "So who are we shopping for this time?"
"My dad and my uncle," he told her as they began to browse some of the gadgets. They split up and began looking at the various displays and shelves until Rachel heard Jesse calling her name from near the middle of the store. She looked over to see that he was holding a microphone in his hand and was grinning at her in a way that made her realize that he was up to no good. When she didn't move to join him, he held up his finger and beckoned her over.
Choosing to ignore him, she turned around and began looking at the gadgets again until she heard "Rachel" coming from a speaker that she was sure was connected to the karaoke machine he was standing next to. Before he could say her name again and further embarrass her, she quickly walked over to him.
"What are you doing?" she hissed, looking around the store a bit.
"Me, you and a karaoke machine? What do you think I'm doing?" he smirked as he handed her a microphone.
"What is with you and public concerts?" she asked, rolling her eyes and laughing a little.
"I just want people to hear my voice and feel the hope that it inspires," he replied, still smirking.
"Oh my God, did that just happen?" she teased, laughing at his ridiculousness.
"I think it did," he said, leaning over towards her. "Are you going to sing with me or are these people only going to be graced with my angelic voice?"
"Fine, what are we singing?" she asked, trying to hide her smile.
"Do you know any Christmas songs?"
"Yes, but go ahead and tell me what song you really want to sing," she replied, rolling her eyes at him in amusement.
"How do you know I already have a song picked out?" he asked, acting offended.
"Because you have that look that you always used to get when you thought you had a brilliant idea," she told him.
"First, let's just get one thing straight, my ideas are always brilliant. Second… we're singing 'Mele Kalikimaka'." If the look on his face hadn't been so adorable, Rachel might've walked way leaving Jesse standing there all alone.
"You're lucky I like this song," she said as he hit the button and the beginning of the song started.
Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day – Jesse sang the first verse, dancing and swaying all the while which made Rachel giggle. Rachel sang the next verse and couldn't help but grin and dance as she did. Then they joined in together – Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright, the sun to shine by day and all the stars at night – both dancing and not really noticing the crowd that had gathered around them. As they finished the song - Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way to say Merry Christmas to you - the small crowd began to applaud.
Rachel blushed slightly as she realized the entire store had just watched her and Jesse. Jesse simply smiled and did a little bow before placing the microphone back on the display. As all the other customers went back to their shopping, Jesse turned to Rachel and said, "So, do you think I should get this for my uncle?"
"That's a terrible idea," she laughed, putting her microphone back on the display as well.
"Why?" he asked in disbelief.
"Because it is a completely selfish gift that you only want to get so you can use it," she reprimanded. "When would your uncle ever use it?"
He looked at her feigning wide-eyed innocence. "I don't know. At parties maybe…" he trailed off as Rachel gave him a stern look. "Or never," he conceded. "See, this is why I needed your help today. I'm terrible at buying things for people."
"Why because you figure if you like it then they will too?" she asked with a teasing smile.
"No," he replied, defensively.
"I'm joking." She shoved him playfully before telling him to follow her. For the next hour, they browsed and debated all sorts of gifts before finally settling on a new putting green for Jesse's dad and a beer home brewer for Jesse's uncle.
Rachel helped Jesse carry all of his presents back to his car and she smiled to herself as she handed Jesse his packages. It had actually been a lot more fun than Rachel thought it would be when she'd agreed to accompany Jesse on his little shopping excursion. She was just about to tell him that she needed to get going when he asked, "Would you like to have dinner with me?" Then he added, "Or coffee? Whichever. I still haven't heard about what you've been up to these last few months."
Rachel thought for a moment about whether this was a good idea or not, then she looked at his face and immediately regretted it because she knew she couldn't say no. "Sure, I'll have dinner with you," she agreed.
They headed over to The Pub, which had been a favorite of theirs when they used to come here. They both had loved how it felt a bit like they were in a real English Pub with all of the dark wood furnishings and bar. The food was great too. Once they were inside the restaurant, the hostess sat them in a cozy little corner booth. It brought back all sorts of fond memories for the both of them. They made small talk until the waitress came over and took their drink orders.
Now that Jesse knew that they'd have a little bit of time to talk, he confessed, "I've been trying to figure out a way all day today to apologize for how I handled our break-up last spring. I was actually surprised when you didn't immediately slap me and stomp away."
"The thought did cross my mind," she admitted.
"I'm glad you didn't," he replied with sincerity.
"Look, there's no need to apologize. I've already forgiven you," she explained. "And after some things happened at the beginning of the school year, I finally understood why you did it."
At that moment, the waitress interrupted their conversation to give them their sodas and asked if they were ready to order. Jesse asked her to give them a few minutes. Nodding, she walked away. "You were saying?"
"Remember last year when I triple-cast you, Puck and Finn in the 'Run Joey Run' video?" she asked.
All these months later, Rachel could tell that she'd hit a nerve. "I remember," he replied looking down at his drink and taking a sip.
"Well, afterwards when I was trying to explain why I did it, you told me that as a fellow star in the making you understood why I did it," she continued. "I finally realized that what you did when we broke up was motivated by your desire to be a star, to achieve your goals."
Jesse looked at her a bit puzzled. She still hadn't explained what happened to make her come to such a realization. "What happened at the beginning of the school year?"
"I sent a possible new rival to a crack house because she was a genuine threat to my lead vocalist status in New Directions," she confessed. Jesse's eyes grew wide at her admission. "I mean, really she wasn't that big of a threat but still some of my solos would have inevitably gone to her. We are talking about Mr. Schuester."
Jesse nodded in understanding at her true statement when it came to Mr. Schue. "I can't believe you did that," he finally said in disbelief.
Rachel looked down at her glass and played with her straw suddenly regretting telling him about her biggest diva moment to-date. She thought out of everyone he would completely understand and not judge her. Just as she was about to take a sip of her soda, she heard Jesse laughing. "You really are more of a drama queen than I am," he told her, still laughing.
His laughter was contagious and soon they were both laughing loudly at how ridiculous they could be sometimes. "Was she okay?" Jesse finally asked.
"Oh, yeah," Rachel reassured him. "Although, she's now a member of your old team."
"Really?" Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Now that's interesting." They were both still laughing slightly when Jesse suddenly asked, "And you're okay?"
Rachel didn't need for him to explain exactly what he meant. She knew he was talking about their break-up and the egging. "Yeah, I'm okay," she told him softly as she locked her gaze with his.
A moment later the waitress was at their table again, and Rachel couldn't decide if she had terrible or perfect timing. Both Rachel and Jesse gave her their orders and just as she walked away, Jesse asked, "So I take it you and Hudson are together?"
"Um, that's questionable at this moment in time," she replied, trying not to think how the entire subject of Finn Hudson pissed her off right now.
"Well, that wasn't the answer I was expecting," he confessed. "Do you mind if I ask what's going on?"
"Last year when you and I almost...," she trailed off.
"Almost what?" he asked, a bit confused.
"Almost had sex," she huffed, and Jesse nodded his head in understanding. "Well, I lied and told Finn that we actually had done it when you and I were still dating."
"Oh," was all Jesse could manage. He tried not to think about what could have been that night.
"Not too long ago, I confessed to Finn that I had lied," she explained.
"And he didn't take it too well?" Jesse asked, still confused as to why this would cause problems between Finn and Rachel. Not that he was complaining because otherwise Finn might have been here with her today and they wouldn't have reconnected the way they had.
"No, he lied when I first told him that you and I had sex and said that he couldn't go through with it with Santana," she rushed out in anger. "Then when I confessed to him later, he just let me go on believing the lie that he was still a virgin. Letting me make stupid statements about how it was special that we were both still virgins."
Jesse was about to say something when Rachel continued. "And then he doesn't even have the guts to tell me himself. Santana is the one that tells me that she took his virginity and that Finn had been lying to me all along."
"I'm sorry, Rachel," Jesse said. He wanted to reach over and grab her hand but he wasn't sure if she'd just pull away or not.
"He says he loves me but then he can't even be honest with me?" she spat. "Oh, and he calls me a prude."
Now that made Jesse mad. "He what?"
"He calls me a prude because I won't have sex with him and things have gone very slowly," she huffed.
Finally, Jesse reached across the table and took her hand in his. "You are not a prude just because you won't have sex with him. You know you're beautiful and amazing and that oaf is lucky that you've even given him the time of day." Sure when he and Rachel had been dating he'd wanted to have sex with her, what guy wouldn't, but when she'd told him that she wasn't ready he'd respected that and had never pushed again.
"Thank you," she said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze and smiling at him slightly, unshed tears in her eyes. Then one tear rolled down her cheek, and with his other hand Jesse reached up and brushed it off her cheek with the pad of his thumb.
"I'm sorry he made you feel you're not enough," Jesse said, caressing her cheek tenderly. Rachel just looked up at him through the tears that were still pooled in her eyes.
"So Finn and I are broken up right now," she finally said, holding onto Jesse's hand more tightly. They sat there in silence, Jesse's touch comforting Rachel when the waitress with impeccable timing came over with their food.
As the waitress set their food in front of them, Jesse decided that he needed to lighten the mood so he asked Rachel about some of the songs that had been tossed around originally for Sectionals which got her talking animatedly as she at her dinner. She told him all about how she'd done "Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag" from Chicago with the substitute when Mr. Schue had been out sick with the flu. She asked him about life at UCLA and Jesse told her how much fun it had been going to college football games even though the Bruins were terrible. He told that he was trying to learn how to surf and how he'd spend some of his days off from school at the beach. Rachel thought it was cute how he practically lit up while he was talking about his life in LA. It made her a little sad as well.
They finished up their dinner and Jesse paid for the entire thing despite Rachel's insistence that she could pay for her own meal. "It's the least I could do after how you helped me out today," he explained to her.
Once they'd left the restaurant, Rachel decided that she didn't want to say good-bye to Jesse just yet. "How about some coffee? We can walk around some more if you want?" she asked.
Jesse just grinned and said, "That sounds great." So they headed over to a small coffee shop and they each got a latte. Once again, Jesse refused to let Rachel pay for her own. Rachel thanked him and took her latte as he handed it to her. "Let's go look at the tree."
As they walked outside, Jesse held out his arm for Rachel and she looped her arm through his. Holding onto the sleeve of his coat a little more tightly than she absolutely needed to. Sipping her coffee, she finally asked Jesse the question that had been weighing on her mind for most of the day. "So do you have a girlfriend?" she blurted out.
Jesse simply chuckled and turned his head to look down at her. "No, I don't have a girlfriend," he replied softly. Rachel didn't know why it mattered so much but it did and it made her heart race all of a sudden knowing that little piece of information. "Looks like we're both single," he added.
They neared the heart of the square where the large Christmas tree was lit colorfully, and stood there in comfortable silence looking at the tree and leaning on each other ever so slightly.
"I wish things were different," he suddenly said, not looking at her and continuing to stare at the tree.
She looked up at him, puzzled a little by what he was talking about. "Different how?"
"You and me. Together," he elaborated, still not looking at her. "Wanna dance?"
"What?" Rachel asked, a little thrown off by his confession and request.
"Do you want to dance?" he asked, enunciating and emphasizing every word as he grabbed her latte and threw it away along with his. Then he grabbed her hands and twirled her gently making her giggle.
There was Christmas music that she could hear softly playing over the speakers, if she was hearing it right, it was an instrumental version of 'Last Christmas'. Jesse spun her away from him as he sang quietly along with the song, making Rachel smile.
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart – Jesse sang as he pulled Rachel closer.
But the very next day, you gave it away – Rachel interjected, grinning up at him, as Jesse looked a little caught off guard by her deciding to join in and sing with him.
This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special – they harmonized quietly together as they barely swayed to the music. Jesse reached up and gently brushed a lock of hair away from Rachel's face.
He slowly leaned down towards her and all Rachel could think of was how it would feel to have his lips on hers again. How he would taste of sugar and coffee and peppermint. Just as their lips were about to meet, she reluctantly sighed and whispered, "Jesse, don't."
The spell broken, Jesse pulled back and looked at Rachel contritely. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have tried that," he apologized.
"It's okay," she reassured him, reaching out to gently grab his arm as she smiled tentatively at him. "But I think we should get going."
"Yeah, I'll walk you to your car," he agreed.
"Thanks." Ducking her head, she led the way to where her car was parked. They walked in silence until they reached Rachel's car. "Well, this is me," Rachel said, stating the obvious. She unlocked her car and reached for the door handle when Jesse stopped her.
"Rachel, wait."
"Yeah," she said, turning and looking at him expectantly. She watched him reach into his pocket, pull out a box and hand it to her. "What is this?"
"A belated Sweet Sixteen birthday present," he explained.
"Jesse… you didn't have to," she told him as she examined the box.
"I wanted to."
"When? It's not like you knew you were going to see me today." Then it hit her as she thought back to when they were in the jewelry store, but she didn't think that he'd had enough time by himself to pick out and buy her something. "How?"
"When I was buying the necklace, it was in the case in front of me, almost like it was meant to be or something. Go on, open it."
She lifted the top off of the box and saw the velvet jewelry box inside of it. Taking it out, she slowly opened the lid and gasped when she saw what was inside, her lips forming an 'O'. "It's perfect," she sighed, smiling dreamily at him.
"Do you like it?" he asked, hopeful.
"I love it," she breathed out as she ran her fingertips over the "Sing Laugh Dream" sterling silver bracelet in the box. She read the words on the bracelet silently. Live. Courage. Dance. Xoxo. Love. Treasure. Smile. Play! Laugh. Sing. Dream. Dare 2 b different. "Thank you."
As she leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, Jesse leaned in to give her a hug and Rachel ended up kissing him on the side of his mouth. Instead of pulling away awkwardly like her head was screaming to, she listened to her heart and stayed where she was, her lips lingering next to his. He turned his head just that little extra bit, their lips finally meeting in a ghost of a kiss. Rachel felt him start to pull back so she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head forward and firmly kissing him.
In response, Jesse backed her up against the car as she opened her mouth ever so slightly and he deepened their kiss. Neither one of them had ever thought that they'd be in this same position but as they continued to kiss passionately pressed up against Rachel's car, they were sure that this is exactly where they should be. And, in that moment, there was nowhere else that either of them wanted to be.
Jesse reluctantly ended their kiss and took a small step back, putting some space between them as they both tried to catch their breath. "You better head home before your dads wonder what happened to you," Jesse said, taking another step back. Rachel nodded her head in agreement as Jesse reached over and grabbed the door handle to her car, opening the door slightly.
Rachel went around to the other side of the door and stood there for a moment, a silent war waging in her head. "Thank you for… everything," she finally said, just before she sat in the driver's seat.
"I'm the one who should be thanking you. I'm glad I ran into you today," he replied, still holding the door ajar. After Rachel cranked up the car and rolled the window down, he shut the door and leaned down into her window.
"Have a Merry Christmas, Jesse." She was sure she had some sort of stupid, goofy grin on her face because in the span of half a day Jesse St. James had once again managed to worm his way into hear heart.
Leaning into the car, he kissed her softly one last time before pulling away again. "Happy Holidays, Rachel." As she backed out of the space and waved, Jesse knew that he was going to do whatever it took to make sure that this was just the beginning of a holiday tradition for them.