Chapter 2:
Jesse checked his reflection in the rearview mirror before getting out of his car. He was strangely nervous tonight. This was all wrong, Jesse St James was never nervous. Jesse always prided himself for being calm even during the grandest of performances. He'd normally let himself get into the "zone" prior to any show. He'd tried his usual calming and breathing techniques, but nothing was working. The butterflies in his stomach were in fact beginning to be rather distracting. When he finally steeled himself to get out of the car, he noticed the beautiful girl leaning against the doorframe of the main entrance of the house, an eyebrow angled in question, a smile forming on her lips
"God, she's more beautiful than the last time I saw her, I didn't realize I missed her so much"Jesse muttered to himself, as he walked towards Quinn Fabray. His cheeks were slightly warm from embarrassment at being caught steeling himself to walk to her front door. All smart comebacks and quips promptly disappeared as he stood face to face with her. All he could do was lean in and kiss her like there was no tomorrow. Quinn's arms around his neck felt like a homecoming. Quinn pulled away. and immediately Jesse felt the loss.
"I see you've missed me, "Quinn said, dimpling as she gave him a big smile,"I've missed you too" she added softly. In the recesses of her mind, Quinn had wondered over and over again the wisdom of having this relationship with Jesse. From the moment they'd met in Los Angeles, there was a connection between the two of them. It was as if they were two sides of a whole, and as corny as it sounded, they completed each other. Jesse and her were practically inseparable during the three days the Cheerios were in Los Angeles.
Going back to Lima after that was unbearable. It wasn't leaving the bright lights of the city that made her sad, it was leaving her soul mate that wretched her heart. She had never felt this way with the other boys in her life. Though she had loved, in fact still loved Sam, the distance and months of separation were making her feelings hazy. In any case, her feelings for Sam were totally different from what she was now feeling for Jesse.
Sam was comfortable and dependable and caring, Sam was who she needed to be with after Baby gate. Sam helped her gain her self worth and for that, Quinn knew she would always be grateful to him and would always love him.
With Jesse, everything was different, everything was electrifying and exciting. She felt a buzz when she touched him, corny though it may sound and she sometimes actually looked to see whether her fingers were shooting sparks. Once she was back in Lima, Quinn was rather surprised that Jesse would make the effort to continue their budding relationship. He'd constantly IM her, make Skype calls and what she treasured most were the handwritten letters from him. Jesse wrote extremely well and she felt like she was there by his side just by reading his letters. Quinn was glad for the old fashioned letters as she was able to hold them to her heart after reading them.
What Quinn didn't know was why she had yet to tell anyone about her relationship with Jesse? She did think of telling Mercedes and Kurt, once the Cheerios came back from LA but somehow, in the end, she just felt like hugging the memories all to herself. There was also the doubt about the relationship going the distance as Quinn knew that Jesse St James was a rising star and therefore considered a hot catch by the girls on campus. Quinn was very aware of her own attractions but she had wanted to safeguard her heart. If the time with Puck had taught her anything, it was to shield her self from heartache.
Looking back, Quinn reflected that it was utter madness what she'd felt for Jesse in LA. Total and absolute madness. She'd always scoffed at the romances that said that you could fall in love in an instant. Because now she knew it was absolutely untrue: it happens much quicker than that. And now that Jesse was back in Lima for the winter break, Quinn wasn't quite so sure how to break the news to her best friends, what more the rest of the New Directions. But she knew that wherever this relationship was heading, she definitely wanted to give it a try.
Jesse felt amazed at this sense of homecoming when he was with Quinn. He'd been in numerous relationships including the ill fated Rachel/ Shelby debacle but no one had touched his heart the way Quinn has. He knew they had an instant physical connection but he now knew for sure that he was in love with Quinn, and he wanted to broach the topic of her furthering her studies at UCLA to be with him.
He knew that Quinn was in a relationship with Sam for two years and in a way, that relationship had yet to be sorted out properly. Sam and Quinn had never ended their relationship but the miles in between is what had enforced Quinn and Sam's separation. Jesse was quite confident that Quinn, too was in love with him but he'd wondered whether she had officially ended things with Sam. After the Rachel fiasco, Jesse was not keen to be in another relationship mess.
As they were about to walk to his car, an airport taxi pulled up by the curb and stopped. "Expecting anybody?" Jesse asked Quinn, who replied in the negative.
The taxi's door opened to reveal a blond shock of hair, followed by a muscular male body. Quinn gasped when she saw who it was, "Sam!" Jesse tensed beside her.