Don't You Remember?

Chapter 2

The plane ride was a six hour journey. Or more like three-hundred and sixty minutes of agony. He was plagued by the continual stream of thoughts he'd managed to keep at bay for the passing days.

Why was he even going?

Should he tell her he was there?

Would she care?

After that phone call, their interaction had been limited at best. She'd send him a text, asking him a simple question, and he'd give her a one word response and then all contact would cease.

His laptop only aggravated him for he just kept staring at the screen, the blank document before him forcing his hand to reach out and shut the computer without another look.

He thought that writing out his thoughts about her, by weighing the pros and cons of telling her he was there, he could then figure out what to do. It had only resulted in him beginning to write what he'd say to her when he did finally see her.

Shakily, he ran his hand through his curls, exhaling as he tried to calm his nerves. So much for not getting nervous, he thought with a pang. To him, it seemed that Rachel Berry had changed him and to many, it would be for the better. But to him, it only showed his weaknesses.

Or, the more he thought about it he realized, she was his weakness.

She seemed to be the only one who could make him a tangled mess of 'what if's' and make him doubt almost everything about his decisions. She was the only opinion that seemed to matter to him and the only one who could break his heart.

"Can I get you anything?"

The stewardess broke his train of thought, Jesse looking up to her with a sigh. "Just a water."

She gave him a pointed look, obviously annoyed by the fact that a first class passenger wanted only the simplest of drinks. But Jesse couldn't care enough about her to take notice, to engrossed in his thoughts of the impending reconnection that would surely happen.

Would she be excited by his decision to show or would she be angry that he didn't tell her?

Well, I have hours to contemplate her reaction. He knew it would be pointless to try and sleep, that it would do nothing to assuage his nerves.

But I don't get nervous.

"Relax," came from beside him, Jesse arching his eyebrow as he turned to the older woman who had purchased the seat opposite his.

"I'm sorry?"

"You seem nervous. What is it? Girl troubles?" When he remained silent, she probed again. "Boy troubles?"

"Girl, it's...it's a girl." Shaking his head, a hand tentatively coming to run through his curls, he watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"She doesn't know I'm coming."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be pleasantly surprised," she smiled to him and Jesse, ever the charmer, simply gave her his most convincing smile as he nodded.

"Next up, Lima, Ohio's New Directions!" The announcer's voice filled the air as the pleasant applause echoed around the grand theatre where Nationals was placed. The opening bars of their first song echoed throughout him, a soft smile playing at his lips. "Always ones for the message."

He could hear her before he could see her, the curtains still drawn and no spotlight shinning for his eyes to find.

"I've been roaming around, I was looking down at all I see. Painted faces fill the places I can't reach. You know that I could use somebody."

He noted that she took his suggestion extremely literal.

And then, he saw her.

The silver of her dress shinning in the light of the stage as the curtains opened to reveal her standing alone, none of her other glee club members with her. "You know that I could use somebody."

But he should have known that he couldn't make it through an entire performance without having to listen to the idiotic, high-pitched wail that was associated with Finn Hudson.

"Someone like you and all you know and how you speak."

"Countless lovers under cover of the street, you know that I could use somebody. You know that I could use somebody. Someone like you." They were singing together, Rachel clearly superior in every way as she belted the remainder of the notes, their dances moves more advanced as the rest of the club joined in for the rest of the song.

Jesse had to refrain from wolf-whistling when the song finally came to an end and Rachel smiled to the audience.

Two more songs, he thought simply, knowing the messages would be just as cheesy yet heartfelt as the last.

The beat to MGMT's Kids began to play, an odd choice to Jesse until he heard a familiar beat running with it. "Chasing Kids?" He questioned himself, as they began to sing the words of Chasing Cars. He had showed her the mash-up as a joke, teasingly saying it would be just the number that New Directions would do.

He knew now, it wasn't a lie.

Laughing to himself, he shrugged at the boldness of their decision, seemingly noticing the brilliance of their (and in the end, his) choice when it had come to an end.

"Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. Five hundred, twenty-five thousand moments so dear."

Jesse leaned forward in his seat, his elbows resting on his knees as he watched each member of New Directions step forward, each contributing to the moving piece before him.

"Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. How do you measure, measure a year?"

She stepped forward again and he swore that she saw him, pretending that there was some possibility that she was singing for him and only him.

"In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. How do you measure a year in the life?"

They all came together, singing the chorus and the song accordingly but Jesse only watched her, the fear that she'd consume him body and soul yet again taking over him as he had to stop himself from standing when they finished, politely clapping and slipping out of the auditorium in hopes to avoid running into anyone just yet.

But it seemed that Rachel Berry had learned too much about him already.

"Jesse?"

He turned to see her, her face flush from her obvious shuffle to get out to him before he could leave.

"Why aren't you on stage with the rest of your team?" He could barely look at her without the familiar pang echoing throughout him, his heart and his mind competing for what they thought were right.

"I saw you, in the audience and I watched you leaving...I just wanted to see you before..." She stopped talking mid-sentence, the blush he secretly loved so much coloring her cheeks as she looked away from him. "It was stupid of me, obviously."

The sudden bitterness in her tone was something he expected from the start, not the sweet girl he had met in the music store over a year ago.

"I figured you wouldn't want me to ruin this day for you."

It was simple and uncharacteristic for him, but he didn't care to keep up his facade any longer before her. He'd save his smug, over-confident mask for stage door experiences and girls he wouldn't give the time of day to.

There's the smile, he thought with a smile all his own. If he knew anything about Rachel Berry, it was that once one got her to smile, one had the opportunity to have anything he or she wanted from her.

The applause were continuous as the next team was announced, but neither Jesse nor Rachel paid it any mind as they just managed to stare at each other. He took in that she had bangs that laid across her forehead, hair hanging straight rather than curled. It wasn't the 'Rachel Berry' style he remembered and loved but he had a feeling that no matter what, he'd still find her beautiful.

"Can we...go and talk?" She seemed almost afraid to ask him and the guilt he'd managed to suppress with all the anger he had pent up began to creep forward.

He nodded, looking to her with sad eyes before he spoke. "Yeah, we can talk. But don't you want to see your competition? It could help you improve-"

"I think this is more important, Jess."

"Do you have anyone? I mean...after you left I heard stories-"

"You checked up on me?" There's her blush again.

"I did not check up on you, Jesse! People just, for some reason unbeknownst to me, found it perfectly legitimate to keep me updated. They thought that I'd be interested in your life since we dated."

She shrugged to him as she tried to pass off her horrific lie. He always knew she was a terrible liar, even if she was a great actress.

"Alright, well your informant that you so cleverly hired should pay you back. There wasn't anyone. At least not anyone serious."

They had started off on a light tone, trying to recollect what had happened in the passing months in each others' lives. They both knew that they had bigger things to talk about, things they had only touched on in their brief phone conversations, but for now, he'd take the small talk.

"What about Frankenteen? I know the two of your dated until he finally told you about him and Santana-"

"You knew about that and didn't say anything to me? How could-" she stopped when, he noted, she realized where that conversation would end.

"Yes, we dated but we haven't since before Christmas."

An awkward tension seemed to fill the air between them, soft music playing from the auditorium beside them as the two sat on a bench nearest the entrance.

"You were too good for him anyway."

She was silent for a moment, he watched as the gears seemed to tick in her mind.

"You know, people say that all the time but I see it like this: people aren't 'good' for each other, it's just a matter of who is a better fit for your personality. Finn needs someone who will be his lover and his mother and, as a prima donna, this young ingenue rather not spend my days cleaning after him and tending to his every need."

He knew she was putting up a front, could see through her showface almost as flawlessly as he could before.

"I know it hurt, Rachel. You don't have to lie to me."

"I'm not...God! I forgot how nerve-wracking it could be sitting with you when all you do is read me like an open book." She mumbled as she crossed her arms, Jesse laughing that throaty laugh that he knew she couldn't deny.

"Fine, it upset me. I didn't understand how someone who says they 'love you' can lie and hurt you like that."

I knew she'd bring it around.

"Can we please not do this here?"

"Then where, Jesse? On Broadway, years from now, when I've just gotten more bitter over the entire situation?" Her tone was sharp, the sudden mood change sending a shiver down his spine. "No. Tomorrow, after everyone else returns to Lima and you, because if I know anything about you then you will be staying more than a day, you and I will go to dinner."

He had to refrain from laughing as he watched her roll her eyes and scoff. It was obvious that he knew her too well, especially when he'd been right.

"Fine. Dad and Daddy will need to be informed but I'm almost positive they'd love to hear how this conversation ends."

A smug grin crossed his face as he looked down to her, nudging her lightly with his shoulder. "I'm almost positive they'll like the ending."

"Always the egotistical one."

"Always the drama queen."

They two stood for a moment, the continual shifts in their conversation draining them both. With a sigh, she stood, looking at him.

"Tomorrow night then?"

"Tomorrow night."

With a crass nod, she turned and began walking back towards where her team would be. He was all but standing when she turned back again, her expression blank as she spoke.

"And I'd appreciate it if you stayed to watch me get my trophy. You helped me earn it in more ways than one and I see it only fitting."

And before he could respond, Rachel Berry turned on her heels and walked away from him, a knowing smile on his face as he turned to re-enter the auditorium and hear New Directions be crowned as Nationals victors.

So, I decided to continue it. I really like this story and I would LOVE reviews to help me :)