AN: I never said temptation wouldn't come from an outside source… ;) Also, I realize I should have put this into chapters, but I never actually expected to go beyond I and II. ^^;;; But thank you to all who have enjoyed the story, I appreciate all the good reviews and comments. :)
The next few weeks were casual around the apartment, considering what had happened between Kurt and Rachel. They didn't make a move towards each other in a way that make the other think they were being possessive in any way. Maybe they could still be friends.
But they still found their way to each other's bed.
And at a quite frequent rate.
And neither one of them seemed to have a problem with it. They both had a need for sex. They both realized they had attractive bodies with an attraction for each other. As bizarre as it sounded and felt, they would find each other after work or school and fall into bed. The orgasms and the need for comfort from one another drew them to sleeping in the same bed, very grateful that none of their former housemates lived with them anymore.
It was an odd situation, but one where they were both happy for the easy going-ness of it. Rachel could finally look at a burrito and not think of Kurt. They both could do the dishes and not have a need to fuck against the kitchen wall. Kurt knew if he wanted Rachel to touch him, all he had to do was ask.
At least, it had been easy going. But then Rachel casually mentioned she had a date when Santana, Brittany, Artie, and Mercedes came over for movie night. Something flared up inside Kurt as he half-listened to her talk. There was no way he could be jealous, could he?
No he wasn't. At least, about her seeing someone. He was just jealous of the fact that she had a date and he didn't. And she hadn't even mentioned anything about someone asking her out. He was supposed to be her best friend, the one she told all her secrets too, especially since they had come to be sharing a bed a few nights out of the week.
He sighed. This was New York. He was supposed to be living it up, enjoying being a single man in the city.
Except he didn't want to be single.
He took the popcorn bowl from Mercedes just so he could glance at Rachel again. When he noticed she was staring at him, he turned away, pretending to be interested in Santana starting up Netflix.
"He was definitely jealous alright," said Rachel as she sipped on her tea in the Spotlight Diner. She was moping at the counter while Dani was working behind it. Although she was no longer working there after trying to hold down it, her schooling, and Funny Girl proved to be too much. She still felt close to Dani, even if Santana no longer was.
"Now I'm going to have to find a date for Friday night."
"You can always go out with me," teased the waitress with a smile as she wiped down the counter. "I'll take you to the roller derby."
"Someday," promised Rachel. "I've always been curious about the sport, since it empowers women to seek out their violent tendencies and flaunt them like those men who paint their chest for professional football."
Dani laughed. "I'm not sure those two are related, but I can see your point." She drummed her hands on the counter.
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know," sighed Rachel. She crossed her legs and straightened her back to keep from slipping off the bar stool.
"I want him, and I think he may like me back in the same fashion. But I don't want to scare him away either."
"At least now you know."
Rachel sighed. "Do I?"
"Yes," said Dani. "What would you say if I set Kurt up with one of my gay friends? Because he definitely could be getting some tail if he wanted it."
Rachel narrowed her eyes at that. Dani laughed, pushing her now purple ponytail back over her shoulder.
"You have a case of the jealousies too."
Rachel came back home the next evening, tired after a long day at NYADA to find Kurt was already home and doing his laundry by the three full baskets at his feet. A clear plastic garment bag was hanging on the back of the bathroom door, ready to go to the dry cleaners.
"How long has it been since you did clothes?" said Rachel in wonder as she sat down on the couch beside him.
"Too long," he muttered. He was sitting in a pair of McKinley black gym shorts and a red t-shirt like he was dressed for bed. Music was playing on the iPod dock behind the couch on the bookshelf. She picked up one of the baskets near her feet and started folding mindlessly. She wouldn't have even thought anything wrong till she saw the red blush growing across Kurt's cheeks. And it wasn't coming from the fact that he looked freshly showered.
"I'll take that basket," he said quickly. Rachel looked down and realized it was full of Kurt's underwear and undershirts. She looked at him in confusion. Did he think she would have a problem with folding men's clothes?
"Kurt… I folded these all the time at home."
"I know, but these are mine," he said quickly, taking it off her lap.
"You know, I have removed that underwear…"
The blush on his cheeks flushed crimson.
"You…" she began, unsure what to say. Kurt sighed and sat down the basket.
"I'm trying to give you an out Rachel."
"An out… for what?" she said, frowning.
"Because you're going on a date. You're interested in someone," said Kurt, sitting down the basket. "This has been great and all, but…"
"Kurt."
He went quiet at Rachel's calling of his name.
"I don't want an easy out. Not this time."
Kurt went to say something, but Rachel cut him off by standing and putting a finger to his lips.
"Besides, the date was fake anyways."
"F–fake?"
"Well," said Rachel, feeling sheepish. "Okay, I'm feeling jealous of everyone being together. I mean, I know you aren't, but the others that are close by…"
Kurt gave her a skeptical look. She gave him a long, suffering sigh, trying to avoid looking at him.
"I miss being in a relationship, okay? The only date I have is an open invitation to go with Dani to a roller derby match."
"Don't you even start," said Kurt sternly as he sat down the guitar that had been in his lap on the floor. Adam was collapsed on the floor in laughter. Elliot was trying his hardest not to laugh while Dani looked sympathetic at Kurt. One Three Hill was trying to have a quick rehearsal in Adam and Elliot's apartment before a performance coming up that weekend. But when Elliot had questioned Kurt on Rachel, Adam piped up that he hadn't heard the story yet. So between Dani and Elliot, Adam got a full out production with the two hamming it up. Kurt sat there, his head in his hands, groaning his indignity.
"I'm sorry Kurt," said Adam, looking sympathetic. "I truly am. But this is the first time I've heard this story and you'll have to forgive me if I do find the whole thing a little…"
"Ridiculous, dramatic, over the top, out of character…" said Kurt, looking slightly defeated.
"I was going to say unexpected," said Adam, holding up a finger. "But… kind of sweet."
"Sweet?" said Kurt, giving the former Adam's Apples leader a look. "How…"
"She obviously really likes you in the romantic sort of way and you seem to be reciprocating her feelings," said Adam softly, his accent showing through more than usual.
Elliot gave Kurt a warm smile as he sighed.
"You got jealous. It's okay. Things happen."
"I jumped to conclusions," said Kurt. He frowned and started tightening one of the strings on his guitar. "I should have known Rachel and her dramatics were up to something."
"Maybe she was testing you out," said Dani, nibbling on a potato chip from the bowl Adam had set out. "Just to see how you'd react."
"You… you think so?" said Kurt, thinking.
"I think…" said Dani. "That I know waaaaay too much about you two."
"And this would be why no one else knows," said Kurt. "It really doesn't make sense."
"It makes sense to you," said Adam. "So why does it matter what anyone else thinks? And that does include us, by the way."
"Right," said Elliot. "We're here to support you either way, our fearless leader."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "I suppose that's a hint that we should practice?"
"Yes, because after that, your guitar lesson is forthcoming," said Elliot. "I do hope you brought that sheet music."
Kurt got back to the apartment after practice to find Rachel at the front door, struggling with her keys, bag, purse, and an armload of books. He sat down the guitar case and helped her with the door.
"Thank you," she said, setting the books down on the kitchen table before collapsing into a chair.
"Working on your paper I see," commented Kurt as he went to put his things down in his side of the apartment. She answered in the affirmative as he shrugged off his shirt and scarf before taking his off shoes and socks. Kurt reached for a tank top in his dresser, grateful the air had cooled down some in New York. It still was on the warm side, but not nearly as bad as it had been. And Rachel's dads had helped them get another air conditioner for the Bushwick apartment. It had helped immensely with the temperature. He came back into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of sparkling water out of the fridge. Rachel had already spread out her books and pulled a pen and notebook out of her bag, pouring over the index of a large book of plays.
"I need more," she said with a frown. "You want to make a trip to the public library with me?"
"I could use some new reading material," said Kurt as he took a sip of the water. "What are you researching anyways?"
"I need examples of the "mad woman in the attic" in modern theatre," said Rachel, closing the book. "For my women's studies class."
"That sounds more like a literary topic," said Kurt, making a face.
"It almost is," laughed Rachel. "But still, it's common today. I can think of several movies, but plays are a little harder."
"Why is this even a topic for women's studies in theater?" asked Kurt.
"It's a classic example of how women are still downplayed as either being the virgin, the whore, the witch, or the mad woman," said Rachel. "Take any play or musical you can think of."
"Maybe I need to take this class," said Kurt as he stood there thinking over the bottle.
"You should," said Rachel. "It would give you a different perspective."
Kurt nodded and sat down his water. He wrapped his arms around Rachel. She seemed surprised at first at his sudden closeness, but snuggled against him.
"You don't have to be jealous of them."
She sighed. "I shouldn't be. I'm glad everyone's happy."
"You are happy too. Just… single. You got your dream Rachel."
"But was it really my dream?" she said.
"It was enough that you turned down a TV offer."
"After that really, really bad audition, I was too humiliated to even think about continuing with it," she said, laying the top of her head against Kurt's torso. "Could you even imagine me doing science fiction like that?"
"It would have been canceled after a season," shrugged Kurt.
"Still," shuddered Rachel. Kurt chuckled.
"You would had the cast and crew wrapped around your finger. The producers would have begging for you to do something else on the silver screen for them."
Rachel laughed and smiled at Kurt. "Maybe." She put her arms on top of Kurt's, patting them. Kurt pulled even closer to Rachel, kissing the back of her neck after moving her hair.
"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"I might be," he said, breathing gently on her neck, making her shiver and curl up. "I could easily be persuaded." And it was true, there were moments when Kurt was just absolutely enraptured by Rachel and the body she had been blessed with. He rubbed his hands down her hips. Friends with benefits was definitely an interesting development between them. After their mutual attraction was becoming more and more a problem with two accidents and a date between them, they had accepted that they might want each other sexually. Which was still weird, but Kurt had finally wrapped his head around it. And he was content with having sexual relations with Rachel. She was quite the adoring lover.
And it didn't help that he really wanted to be physically intimate and close to someone.
Now, everyone finding out…
"I think I might be persuaded as well," Rachel said, rubbing the front of his legs. She leaned against the back of the chair, looking up at him. She felt his lips press against hers and knew she wouldn't even need persuasion. She'd take him right then and there on the kitchen table.
Kurt's cell phone rang and he groaned. He took it out of his pocket and answered it, walking away for a moment. About ten seconds later, he muted it quickly.
"Mercedes. She wants to know if we want to go to dinner with her and Sam. I told her I had another call."
Rachel whined.
"I'd rather have sex." She pulled on Kurt's shirt and pouted. Kurt gave her an amused look and Rachel listened as he apologized to Mercedes. He made up some excuse about how she was still studying at NYADA and he was going to bed early because he was exhausted from work and practice. When he hung up, she laughed.
"I'm still studying huh?"
"And I'm sleeping."
"I suppose you'd be a good body of work to cover in class," Rachel teased.
"Very funny."
"Mmhmm," she said, licking her lips. "And I need lots of research."
"You're in a good mood," commented Santana. She had invited Rachel to come out shopping with her, which Rachel had thought was rather strange until she figured out that Santana was doing her monthly check-in with her 'family' and looking for gossip. The brunette had to admit, after making love to Kurt the night before, she was in a good mood. She had enjoyed falling asleep next to him and seeing his naked butt when he woke up and realized they had fallen asleep together again. It was cute to see him walking towards the bathroom, running his hand through his hair in slow sleepy manner.
"I am," she said. "I mean, I'm living the dream, aren't I? I did a rather respectable run as Fanny Brice. New York knows me, adores me, and I'm going to start a new production here in just a couple of weeks. I pulled my grades back up at NYADA, and although I may not graduate with distinction like Kurt will, at least I can be happy with graduating with honors. And Broadway World has taken to sending a photographer once a week to catch me at school for their up and coming stars series. He follows me around, Santana. I have paparazzi."
"Uh-huh," said Santana. "I'm sure that's what is bringing you happiness. Come on, spill it. Finn is talking to you again, isn't he?"
Rachel shook her head over the clothes rack. She really liked the look of the skirt she had her hands on, but Kurt would probably kill her for the plaid. Though, really… what did it matter what Kurt thought? It wasn't like he was the center of her world.
Okay, he was, but she would continue lying to herself. She picked up the skirt anyway and smiled at it.
"No, Finn isn't talking to me," she said, looking over to Santana. "We've gone past that point. He's having fun in college. Mr. Schue is keeping him busy with the glee club. He and Puck are having fun chasing college girls."
Santana crossed her arms. "I thought Puck was dating Quinn again."
"He is, but he's not dating them, just having fun out with Finn. He also joined the Air Force," said Rachel, remembering what Artie had said. "They're paying for his college after boot camp."
"Huh," said Santana with a shrug. "Guess he is making a name for himself."
Rachel nodded, still looking through the clothes.
"If it isn't Finn, then is it this mystery boy you have a date with?" said Santana.
"Sort of," said Rachel. "I just… there's someone who is making my life a little bit more bearable, but I'm not ready for any sort of commitment."
"So you have a fuck buddy," grinned Santana. "Now I know why you've been in a better mood."
Rachel glared at Santana, who shook her head.
"Your glares are still pathetic Berry. You'd think after living with me for months you would have picked up on some of my better habits."
"I think I gave them back after you held me for hours when we first heard about Finn's car accident and it was still touch and go," said Rachel. She smirked and pointed to the top of Santana's torso. "Those were quite comfortable by the way."
Santana laughed, shaking her head. Rachel grinned. She had managed to surprise her friend with her tactics.
"Alright Berry 1, Lopez 1. I'm glad you enjoyed the girls," said Santana, amused. "So mystery boy who is apparently showing you a good time. What is he like?"
"He's… he's nice," said Rachel, panicking inwardly. How was she supposed to describe Kurt… without actually describing Kurt? "He's in show business, like me. He loves food, music. We talk a lot. He's… he's nice."
"There's something you're not telling me," said Santana, giving her an inquisitive look.
Rachel sighed. "Neither of us are ready for commitment in any way, him especially. So we're taking things… slow. Yes, slow."
"Uh-huh," said Santana. "Does Kurt know this person?"
Now Rachel really began to panic. She just knew that Santana would go running to Kurt for information. So with a rather smug grin, she nodded.
"Yes, yes of course. I had to get his approval at least." With a hum, she went back to looking for the perfect shirt to go with her new plaid skirt.
Kurt was certain he was going to kill Rachel Berry the next time he saw her.
Which he hoped was soon, because before she died, they were going to have pizza and sex.
He stopped in the middle of the middle of the sidewalk when he realized what he had just thought. He slapped a hand to his face and tried not to think those thoughts as he started walking again. He had gotten like five calls and 18 texts from Santana while he was at work, wanting to know who this mystery man was in Rachel's life. Of course Rachel would defer to him instead of coming up with a lie on her own.
He sighed. But then again, it was Santana. Rachel got easily flustered around their former housemate and he could understand that maybe she had been put on the spot and didn't know how to answer the former cheerleader.
But then again, maybe he could take a little bit of aggression out this evening in bed…
He really needed to stop thinking about sex. They should have never done it in the first place. They should have never decided to go for friends with benefits. It all should have been forgotten…
He'd remind himself of that later when Rachel was wiping tomato sauce off his lips and giving him that look that let him know that she knew what he was thinking.
Kurt texted Santana back, telling her that he knew nothing about this mystery man, and that Rachel must be just blowing her off because she was too embarrassed to admit she had no one in her life.
That ought to keep Rachel and Santana busy for a while. Maybe he could have that oozy, gooey delicious pizza all by himself that evening. He did have music he needed to learn for class, not to mention that Elliot was pushing for him to play guitar with him at their gigs.
And if Rachel got mad, then it was her own fault for letting Santana believe he knew something about this guy she was seeing.
Well, he did know something, but like he was ever going to tell Santana that he was this so called mystery man.
Yeah, he really needed to yell at Rachel about that.
Or kiss her.
Something.
Dani started laughing out loud at Rachel as she put on her skates.
"So he really texted Santana that?"
"Yes," muttered Rachel as she watched the rink she was sitting in front of. She was annoyed at Kurt, and had decided to take Dani up on her offer just so she didn't have to go home. But she knew she had been the one at fault. She had put Kurt on the spot, and now Santana was teasing her mercilessly. Rachel finally had to turn off her phone. She wished Kurt had played along, but she knew why he hadn't.
Still, she wanted to smack him for not at least following best friend code.
"Sounds like you fell into that," said Dani. "I can't say that I blame him."
"I know," said Rachel with a sigh. "I'll apologize, but I hoped I'd get him to play along, like a little game between us."
"Or you hoped that maybe he'd confess."
"Is it too much to wish he would?"
"No," said Dani as she stood up. She wheeled around in front of Rachel. "We all want to be loved. But you two are certainly making a mess of each other. It's not fun or a game anymore if you're messing with each other's hearts. And yes, that does include Kurt."
"You think he's playing with me?" asked Rachel with a light grimace as she wiped the corner of her eye and small stream of tears threatening to fall.
"I think you both want something. You want him to admit it, and he doesn't want to acknowledge it. And as far as I can tell, you're both emotional people. You're not being honest with yourselves."
"God, this is complicated," said Rachel as Dani fastened on her helmet.
"No, you two are just making it complicated." She pushed away from the bar she had been standing against and with a wave, headed to the group of girls huddling together, waiting on the other team to start.
The Jewish woman was pretty sure that was truest statement she had ever heard uttered, other than when Finn had called her the heir of Broadway.
Rachel heard guitar music as she opened the door to the apartment. She winced. She had hoped to beat Kurt home and do some sort of dinner, apologizing for leaving him hanging with Santana. Maybe she should have gotten flowers… chocolates… something. She whined under her breath. She hoped Kurt wasn't too mad at her. She took off her sweater and busied herself around the kitchen. Rachel reached for the half empty rum bottle in the cabinet that Kurt had left over after making a rum cake at Christmas, hoping maybe the alcohol would calm her nerves quickly.
"Rachel?" she heard. Rachel closed the cabinet with a sigh. She looked over and saw Kurt standing next to the outside cabinets, his arms crossed as he leaned against them.
"Kurt," she said, steeling her nerves. "I…"
"Santana said she literally blew up your phone. It must have not done too much damage; you're still breathing and I see no visible burn marks."
"Ugh, yes." Rachel ran a hand through her hair and decided to go along with the joke. "I'll have to go get a new one tomorrow. And a fire extinguisher."
"Serves you right," said Kurt. "Really, Rachel? Did you have to do that?"
"I– I panicked."
"Uh-huh," said Kurt. "I'm listening."
"You know Santana," said Rachel. "Obviously I can't be happy on my own to her, apparently. So I… I improvised." She sighed. "I'm sorry Kurt."
"I accept your apology, but you're not forgiven." He sneezed and reached for the roll of paper towels sitting next to the sink and holding it to his nose. "I am aware how Santana works."
"She just wants to look out for everyone," shrugged Rachel as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Even if it comes off as pushy and overbearing."
"Sounds familiar," said Kurt sharply as he threw the paper towel he had used in the trash. Rachel glared at him.
"Okay, I know I'm not immune to coming off as bitchy," Rachel sighed as she looked around the room. "Maybe we shouldn't have done this Kurt. I want too much out of you." She put her elbows on the table and rubbed the back of her neck with both hands.
"I know I'm thinking about this too much these days, but I want a relationship. I know it's entirely rushing things since it's only a couple of weeks since we started a friends with benefits relationship, and this scares me Kurt. I kind of want you. Not even in a sexually dominant sort of way. I want you to be in my life, forever. But I don't want you to go away because of this. I don't want you to run off to a new apartment because you're afraid of me being overbearing in trying to force something…"
Rachel looked up quickly when she felt a poke on the top of her head.
"Stop babbling Rachel. It doesn't become you."
She pouted at him and rubbed the top of her head. Kurt rolled his eyes.
"I'm not… I'm not going anywhere," he said. "You're not the only one with complicated feelings, you know."
"Dani says we're making too complicated," said Rachel with a huff.
"I think we need to gently get Dani out of… this," said Kurt. "And Santana. You know that she's never going to give this up until she finds out the truth. She's like an overzealous bloodhound."
"At least she'll be pestering the both of us," said Rachel. "She kept bugging me if you were seeing… well, you know who."
Kurt's lips went to a firm line. "Well, she can call him if she wants the details of his romantic life."
Rachel winced. After Kurt and Blaine had broken up for a second time, he had gone back to Lima and started dating Dave Karofsky, much to Kurt's bewilderment. Now they both were in L.A. with Dave was going to USC and Blaine was doing auditions. Kurt had been really hurt by how quickly Blaine had moved on. He had all but slept at Vogue, burying himself in his internship, but at least it had turned into a paying position because of it. It had almost been a year and a half since then. They were nearly out of NYADA and enjoying success. Kurt and One Three Hill were performing gigs all over New York and up the eastern seaboard. He had also been in a few performances on and off Broadway. Rachel had a good run with Funny Girl, enjoying playing one of the most iconic characters in her life. And now she was about to start another big show, off Broadway this time. It had been hard won, and she was happy to be doing stage again. Not that she hadn't enjoyed being at NYADA. She did enjoy learning, especially since she no longer had to see Cassandra again.
"Maybe we should stop this," said Rachel. "It's hurting more than helping."
"Tomorrow," said Kurt. He eyed her for a moment, as if appraising her.
"I have plans for you."
Rachel looked surprised when he pulled on her sweater, making her stand and walk towards the bedroom area as he backpedaled. They fell into bed together, and Kurt moved to lay his head on Rachel's chest.
"You're so comforting," he mumbled, closing his eyes.
Rachel ran her hands through the back of Kurt's hair, finding it slightly silly that the one person he was irritated at was the one who wanted to be closest too.
But then, she knew her dads had arguments too and their love was stronger than anything she had ever seen.
She started kissing Kurt's face and neck to stop thinking about relationships.
"You want her," said Elliot as they sat in the Spotlight diner. The band was grabbing food before their show as the gig was only two blocks away from the restaurant. Dani was finishing the last of her shift, and Rachel had pulled Adam up to sing with her onstage. Kurt frowned over his Reuben sandwich.
"I… can't, Elliot. This wasn't supposed to be my life. Like, at all." Kurt gestured with his food. "I'd be better off having an unrequited crush on you."
"Why?" said Elliot. "Not to call you out, but is this because Rachel's a girl?"
Kurt glowered at Elliot. He laughed at Kurt's expression.
"So friends with benefits you can do, but to have an actual relationship…"
The countertenor sighed, putting down his sandwich. "It's more complicated than that."
"What about it is complicated?" said Starchild. "You love her like family and she loves you. You two are being passive aggressive about the other, and if I'm not mistaken, one of the reasons why Blaine moved out when you two were together was because he didn't feel like he lived there. You and Rachel had built your own little world and you didn't want to let anyone in."
"Be that as it may," said Kurt, picking up a pickle spear from his plate to take a bite of. "She's just so… infuriating. I hated her in the 10th grade. She wasn't that fond of me either, because I'd pick apart her performances in Glee club."
"You just made her better," said Elliot, popping an onion ring in his mouth from off his plate. "She probably realizes that now."
Kurt groaned and puts his arms on the table, placing his head on top of them.
"Help me Elliot."
"Sorry Kurt," said Elliot. "I think this is one you're going to have do on your own. Nobody can tell you who or what you love."
"At least tell me I'm not an idiot for agreeing to stop this."
"Is she good in bed?" smirked Elliot as he took a bite of his burger.
Kurt sighed and finished off his milkshake. He waved down Dani to order another. "I'm not answering you that."
"Then I'll take that as a yes, and yes, you are an idiot."
"So you're going to become a semi-regular presence at the club?" said Rachel, smiling. She watched Kurt nod after he had taken off his fur vest.
"They said they needed an act to step in on a routine basis. The manager is in love with us. She said we were unique."
"Well, you are," said Rachel. "Not too many singing trios these days."
"Outside of Eurovision, probably not many," joked Kurt as he started unbuttoning his shirt. Rachel was surprised when he didn't make a move to shoo her out or turn red. He just stepped over to his hanging wardrobe and hung them on the right end, which is where he hung up the things that had already been worn. Kurt was never one just to throw his clothes everywhere. Even all his shoes were standing together in a perfect line.
And standing there barefoot in front of it in only his black leather pants was too much for Rachel.
"I'm just… I'm going to go get ready to bed," she said quickly. "Your show was incredible Kurt. I'm glad One Three Hill is doing so well."
"Rachel?" he said with a frown, looking in the mirror at her.
"Don't… don't turn and look at me," she said before he could move. "If you do, I don't think I could restrain my actions in getting you out of those leather pants."
"You would have to," said Kurt calmly as he started to reach into the low dresser beside his bed and grabbing some clothes. "I'm out of condoms."
Even though they had agreed that they were going to go their own way for now, Kurt found himself down at the nearby drugstore the next day. He was eyeing a bottle of lube with cooling sensation when he stepped back a moment to wonder what was he thinking. He picked up the bottle anyways. Kurt went down another aisle and grabbed the lip balm he liked, and then some more of the hand soap for the bathroom on another. While heading towards the cash register, he grabbed one large bag of mini Reese's cups and stuck it in his basket. He figured he was going to need it the smooth chocolate and creamy peanut butter over the next couple of weeks. With work projects and school and Rachel…
He needed a date. Someone he could talk and relate to. Between work and school, he hadn't had much of a chance to really go out. He had thought about speed dating, but his last experience hadn't been the best. Online dating… maybe. It had been a while since he checked his profile. He wondered if adding "sudden interest in sleeping with a woman" was an option on recent life events.
Kurt groaned to himself and shook his head. He definitely needed to be dating someone. He needed a romantic interest outside of the seemingly endless crush he was having on his best friend that was confusing the heck out of his sensibilities. He got in line to check out and texted Elliot to see if him and Adam wanted to go out. He needed some time to clear his head and not think for a while.
After he paid for his items and was headed out the door, it was Adam who texted him back in the affirmative. Kurt smiled at that and started walking down the street after putting on his sunglasses.
Rachel sat on the stage at the theater, going over the script one last time before they started rehearsals. She was actually an hour early for practice, and used the time to tweak her thoughts about the character before bringing them up to the director. She was humming to herself and making a note off to the side with a pen as she heard the clicking footsteps of someone approaching.
"Well well well," said a voice. Rachel looked up with a start.
"Jesse."
"As I live and breathe, Rachel Barbra Berry." He came closer and Rachel scrambled to stand up.
"I didn't… I didn't know you were in this production," she said, giving him a look. I didn't see your name in the cast list."
"That's because I'm not on the cast list," said Jesse, picking up one of his feet and flicking a piece of lint off his boot. "I'm the assistant director. I got here a little early to start setting up. I didn't expect to see you here so soon."
"I wanted to get a feel for the stage," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "By myself. To know where the best spot would be for standing so the entire audience could see me."
"And the best spot for hearing all the applause," said Jesse, quirking his lips. "I do remember all the things we used to talk about when we'd dream of being the talk of Broadway."
"We are here, aren't we?" said Rachel. "I mean, wow… you're an Assistant Director."
"Yeah, it is nice to get to order people around," said Jesse, waving his hand. "I learned that from coaching Vocal Adrenaline." He paused. "You wouldn't happen to know if Unique is available…?"
Rachel laughed. "I'd have to check with Mercedes or Kurt, but I think she's a freshman in college."
Jesse nodded at that, and looked off towards the audience seats.
"Do you remember when things didn't feel so complicated about the future?"
"Tell me about it," said Rachel with a sigh, straightening her skirt. "It's just so… difficult. I'm not one to back down from hard work, but it seems so insurmountable sometimes."
"Not that you've had it that hard, Ms. Fanny Brice," said Jesse. "I still have yet to figure out how you managed to land that so easily in your first year in New York."
"I showed them what I was made of," said Rachel. "That's all. My strength and my determination won them over."
"I'm sure," said Jesse, giving her a little smile. Rachel's heart skipped a beat at that.
"How would you like to go out tonight?" said Jesse. "After practice. We can catch up on old times."
"Old times, right," said Rachel, feeling a little sarcastic. "It's been what…"
"Four years, almost."
At first, Rachel was surprised by how long it had been since she saw Jesse. But after Nationals her senior year… she hadn't seen him again. He had up and disappeared, though he had kept tweeting about small performances here and there. She had tried to keep up with him, but it was one of the things that had fallen through the cracks of her busy life.
"Sure," said Rachel. "For old times." She smiled at him.