someone once told me
that you have to choose
what you win or lose
you can't have everything
don't you take chances
you might feel the pain
don't you love in vain
cause love wont set you free
I could stand by the side
and watch this life pass me by
so unhappy but safe as could be

Happy – Leona Lewis

Prologue:

When Jesse St. James was a kid, every night before he went to bed his mother would read him a fairy tale. And every time she did, when he would finally fall asleep, he would dream about them. He would dream about him being a bright knight, swoop in to save the princess, and they would both live happily ever after. Of course he knew that fairy tales aren't real, and there never really were knights that rescued beautiful princesses. But Jesse was a man who believed in metaphors, and after all, every story has one. A bright knight could be a young talented soon to be star (like himself) and a princess could just be an amazing girl.

But what were to happen, if say, Jesse St. James was not a knight. He was not the good guy. What if he was the bad guy? What if he wasn't the one to get the girl in the end, but the one to lose her because his reasons weren't pure? But Jesse knows that every story has its metaphors, and who knows, maybe him being the bad guy in the story, can change the pattern of story telling all together? Maybe the bad guy can get the girl in the end, and live his happily ever after?

That's what was on Jesses St. James' mind the night of regionals. He had brought Vocal Adrenaline to first place, and will soon be graduating from Carmel High School and beginning 'UCLA' in the fall. He should be sleeping, but something more important is currently on his mind and won't let him.

Rachel Berry.

Jesse remembers watching attentively as she wondered around the music store in search of something, and knowing that this was probably going to be his only chance to try and talk to her. He studied her features, noting how she was the spitting image of her mother, his instructor.

He knew it was her, it had to be.

He confidently strode over to her and introduced himself, which was followed by the stunning duet they preformed and the rounds of applause heard in the background. Jesse was used to the applause, but what he wasn't used to was the feeling at the pit of his stomach. He knew that the girl sitting beside him, the one who was shyly thanking the awed people surrounding her, was someone special. She could possibly be the only girl in this town that could do something with her life, a girl who was talented, driven, and dedicated, almost as much as he was.

So of course he couldn't help himself when he asked her out, but he kept reminding himself about how he was only doing this for Shelby, and trying not to get too attached.

He would carry her books, sing sweet songs to her, and be the best boyfriend he could be. And most of the time, he did it because he actually wanted to, and not only because it was an 'acting exercise'. He knew he was falling, but he honestly didn't care, because he genuinely liked this girl, and he thought it was nothing more.

But the minute "Run Joey Run" happened, he knew he messed up. Just by the way he felt watching it, the way he confronted her afterwards, the pain he felt at the thought of it, was enough for him to realize that he was in love with her.

He never knew how agonizing it was to be away from until he left for spring break with his friends from vocal adrenaline. He actually missed her, and it was killing him. The day he returned, Shelby Corcoran was waiting for him on his front porch, to get information about her daughter. She handed him the tape, and made it very clear to him that by the time regionals came along, she were to be reunited with her daughter, and he is to be was back on vocal adrenaline. And that was when he realized that this next week would be his last week with Rachel, and he knew he had to make the most of it. So he returned to McKinley, made her listen to the tape, and made every last kiss, every last touch, and every last song last before he was to leave. After that he returned to Carmel and started preparing for regionals.

Pressured by his team, he egged her. And only after it was over, he realized that was the first time he told her he loved her. Only it was bitter and cold and it came out wrong. He shouldn't have said it in past tense, he realizes. It only makes his chances of ever trying to win her back even harder then they already were.

He assumes Hudson is already by her side, trying to win her back, probably succeeding by the way she was singing to him during their regionals number.

So yes, a fairy tale seems to be the perfect metaphor for Jesse's life after all. Except that he wasn't the good guy. he wasn't the knight in shiny armor. He was the bad guy, the one who would always chose ruling the world instead of socializing (metaphorically, of course).

Lying in bed, Jesse wondered what his life would be like if it actually was a fairy tale, and not just metaphorically. And what if in his tale, the bad guy did get the girl, and won the happy ending he longed for.

And so, for the first time since he was 8 years old, Jesse had a dream, that mirrored his story exactly the way it would be if it were to occur in a fairy tale. But in this fairy tale, Jesse is going to try and kill the stigma of the bad guy always losing,

He was about to prove to himself that his happy ending could have come true, if he had made the right choices.

And maybe it still can.

And this is how Jesse's dream story began:

A/N: This is the prologue to 'I Gotta Find My Place' , and I hoped you liked it! This was actually supposed to be a one-shot, but it ended up developing into something completely different. It feels original, so I think I'm going to flow with it. I might not update very often because I am practically drowning in school work, but I'll do my best to update as quickly as possible.

It really makes my day when people comment on my stories, so feel free to do so, because it will inspire me to write faster.

Thanks for reading!