This is a first in the Glee fan fiction for me J. I usually stick to what I know which is the fandom of InuYasha and Yu Yu Hakusho crossovers ( and don't worry if any of you'se guys read this, my Kag/Hiei will always come first!). I read a lot of little oneshots for but never any actually really chapter stories, usually one shots that are linked? So I thought I'd give it a shot and if you like it review etc, because if it doesn't really work I think I'll stick with what I know. P.S Love a good Puckleberry too :D!

This will mostly be AU, I'll try and stay true to what's happened in the episodes so far but This story starts a little before the Funk episode. Hope you like and review if you want too.

Don't own Glee etc or any songs mentioned. Edited!

Chapter 1 - Behind Enemy Lines.

Jesse leaned against his car staring at the gates of McKinley High School for what seemed like forever. His little mission for Shelby was over now and he had been welcomed back to Carmel High and Vocal Adrenaline with open arms. This was officially his last day at McKinley and the last day with Rachel as his girlfriend. Not that she knew it yet.

He had honestly done this as a favour to his favourite teacher, the woman who had nurtured his talent when she had sought him out after a performance in middle school. The woman was like a parent to him when his own where gallivanting around the world leaving him by himself. He had seen the unhappiness and conflict in her eyes constantly and it had only became more evident after watching the Sectional performance of McKinley Highs' New Directions. He had been actively blocking the noise the first two schools had spewed because honestly this school for the deaf where not going to be going to Nationals any time soon and the girls school singing Proud Mary in wheelchairs? Cliché much?

So he had been pleasantly surprised and slightly intimidated when a petite brunette burst through the doors behind him and started belting out Don't Rain on My Parade with a zeal Streisand would envy.

But when the girl had climbed up on stage and he got a good look at her face before turning to Shelby with an eyebrow raised he wasn't surprised to see her looking like all her ghosts had come back to haunt her. Jesse knew Shelby's secret. This Rachel Berry was her daughter.

When she had asked him if he would do her this one favour he had not been able to deny her , she was a mother figure and she was a friend. A friend who desperately wanted to reconnect with the child she had given away and so when she asked Jesse to befriend her he had jumped at the chance to help the woman who had gotten him scholarships to several schools including UCLA, NYU and OSU and had helped him pave the path to his future.

He honestly hadn't meant to fall in love with her.

Walking into the non-descript music store in Lima that day had been sheer coincidence but Jesse never had been one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He had moved swiftly to her and introduced himself. Almost smiling smugly when she recognised him before he even had the chance to say her name he quickly fired of a backhanded compliment. 'Treat them mean and keep them keen' he thought quietly to himself as he smiled at her in a disarming manner.

Looking at the music book she had lifted it took him all of two seconds to decide him plan of action before plucking the book from her fingers and walking over towards the piano bench. He was endeared by her deer caught in the head lights look when he told her they would sing together. She was endearing , but she was a favour to his coach so he needed to stay focused. As his fingers flutter across the keys he almost faltered when her voice joined his in the melody. If he had thought she sounded good at sectionals, she was pitch perfect right now. A part of himself knew it was a bad idea when he couldn't take his eyes off her even as he continued to play.

This girl had a way of bringing all the attention to her, she didn't even realise it. He had always found a girl who could sing very arousing 'I am a performer you know, the singings allowed to get me worked up!'. But this girl with this voice, she was dangerous. She had an original beauty about her and a voice to match.

He almost bit his tongue off when he realised he had asked her on a date but he found he didn't care as much when she accepted with that gentle smile that he just couldn't help returning.

Crap.

School had been interesting in the few weeks that followed, he still worked in class to keep up his GPA, he couldn't afford to let it slip with college around the corner, but he was always distracted. Even when Stacy, the female lead of Vocal Adrenaline made a pass at him that Saturday night at a party he couldn't pay her any attention because every time he closed his eyes a pair of doe-eyed brown ones where always staring back. Stacy was pissed and if he could honestly find it in himself to care he might have been annoyed at the fact that he wasn't getting any that night. But he'd been there and done that with Stacy before and she honestly wasn't worth anything more than the occasional hook-up. The girl was so pretensions she probably talked about herself in her sleep because she's constantly talking about herself when she's conscious.

He had called Rachel the morning after and asked her if she wanted to go out for coffee, she accepted on the grounds that they went for green tea instead because caffeine and dairy where a nightmare on the vocal chords. He hated green tea but when she sighed in pleasure after taking a sip he decided this once he'd give it a chance.

Shelby was always on the back of his mind whenever he wasn't around Rachel but he had a hard time remembering that this was a mission to prove not only to himself that he was a good method actor but to also help reunite his mentor with her daughter. Rachel had a power over him that made him forget his own ego and sometimes his own name. He really was just Jesse around her rather than the illusive aloof lead of Vocal Adrenaline who was bound to be a star. For a boy who hated forgetting his goals in life he liked forgetting with Rachel and just being. They kissed for the first time that night on her porch when she told him that this was the first time she had ever truly dated a boy without them having ulterior motives. He kissed her to try and forget the guilt welling up inside him begging him to tell her the truth and pleads she understand.

It was that night when he was lying in bed listening to the night make its own music that he realised something. He really liked Rachel Berry. In a very non friend-like way. He might even love her.

Shit. Shelby was going to kill him.

He had been right when Shelby asked him how befriending Rachel was going he had made the mistake of breaking eye contact. He still remembered the conversation as clear as if it happened like 2 minutes ago.

"Please tell me you are just friends with her Jesse" Shelby had pleaded. He couldn't bring himself to look at her.

"We're just friends Shelby, stop freaking out!", I willed my eyes to look up at her but it was too little to late.

"Jesse."

I hated when she used that tone, it was the one she usually only pulled on the rest of VA whenever they missed a beat or missed a step. Disappointment with a mix of exhaustion, like she knew I was lying to her and she was just waiting for me to spill.

"I kissed her last Sunday, I didn't push it but she kissed me back. I'll put a stop to it Shelby right now if you want me too."

She had looked so confused that he could see where Rachel got some of her vulnerability from. She looked at him again, and her look was cold, examining me, looking for something but to this day I will never be certain. She heaved a sigh before saying, " Hurt her Jesse and there will be hell to pay, just don't forget why your doing this."

I should have put a stop to it then.