Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of it's characters. If I did, St. Berry would be endgame, Kurt would have been accepted into NYADA, and Finchel would get out of our faces.

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How I Know You - Chapter 3

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching New York City and are due at Grand Central Station in about twenty minutes. Therefore, we ask all passengers and attendants to prepare for arrival. The dining cab will no longer be serving, so all passengers please make your way back to your seats. Thank you."

The muffled voice of the train conductor woke Rachel from her fitful slumber, who, once awake found herself nestled in the crook of Jesse's arm with her head propped up on his shoulder. She moved away slowly in an attempt not to wake him, waiting until she was at a respectful distance to call out his name.

"Jesse...Jesse, we are almost at Grand Central Station," she placed a tentative hand his arm, hoping he would stir. "Jesse, it's time to wake up." she said a little louder, resorting to shaking him.

"Mmmmm not now," Jesse groaned languorously, swatting at her hand.

"Don't make me slap you awake, Jesse St. James." Rachel quipped without a second thought.

"You wouldn't dare," mumbled Jesse, before slowly opening his eyes and taking in Rachel's face looming over his, a drowsy smile on his lips, "because then I won't tell you how chaotic your hair looks right now."

Rachel's eyes widened and she shuffled frantically around her purse for a mirror and a hairbrush, a hand reaching up to smooth down her unruly tresses.

"Rach, stop, you're making it worse." Jesse chuckled. "I'll fix it."

She obeyed, surprised by Jesse's unexpected use of her nickname and the way he reached over to her. Jesse smoothed the back of her hair down and fixed a few fly-a-ways before tucking some hair behind her ear, his hand brushing her cheek in the process. She shivered at the contact, and Jesse pulled his hand away quickly.

"Thanks," she whispered awkwardly.

"No problem," Jesse muttered back, running a hand through his own hair, and looking out the window into the dark tunnel they were under.

"No really, thank you for everything." Rachel added, wringing her hands, "It's just been such a rough few hours and without my dad's here I just didn't know how to handle everything. I don't know what I would've done without you here."

"It's okay, Rachel." Jesse said, looking back at her. "I understand how devastated you must be. When I saw you at Nationals a few weeks ago, you looked radiant, no one could deny how happy you were..."

He saw Rachel look down at her lap. He tried to discern her expression, but failing, he continued, "Seeing you like this, it's unbearable."

She looked up at him with a calculated expression. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Rach, I'm not always the villain. Believe it or not, I don't wake up every day with the intention of wreaking emotional havoc on everyone I come in contact with."

"But, after everything I did to you...you should hate me." she murmured, avoiding his eyes by looking into her lap once more.

"I could never hate you, Rachel." Jesse said with a sigh. "I'll admit I wanted to for a while. It would've made getting over you easier. But I realized that everyone does what they do for a reason, whether they know it or not. I've made mistakes, and I've learned from them. You'll do the same. Yes, I was upset, but there's no point in holding grudges. I could have constituted a whole lot of resentment for you, but I wasn't ever able to. And not everyone in your life will hold your mistakes against you, Rach. I promise you."

"You always know exactly what to say, don't you?" Rachel said, her lips curving into a wistful smile.

"Yes, actually, I do." Jesse pronounced, raising his chin pompously.

Rachel rolled her eyes dramatically before bursting out in a fit of giggles, Jesse joining her shortly after.

When they had finished laughing, Jesse sighed and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm in dire need of coffee. I feel like I've been hit by a truck. Would you care for any?"

"Jesse, The dining cab is closed now. We're about to arrive at Grand Central."

"Damn. I need coffee before I turn narcoleptic."

"I doubt you could take ten steps into the city without coming across a coffee shop, Jesse, so if I can wait ten minutes, so can you. We'll manage."

"Doubtful," he grumbled, but collapsed back into his seat nonetheless.

At that moment, conductor's voice was heard once more. "Passengers please return to your seats, we have activated the breaks and will be at Grand Central Station within the next few minutes "

"Thank God," Jesse sighed. "I hate being confined to a seat for more than a couple of hours."

Rachel nodded in agreement as she reached for her purse. She flipped open her sparkly cell phone expectantly, but was disappointed when she saw there were no new messages.

"Nothing from Finn?" Jesse asked with a laughable amount of disregard for the intrusiveness of his question.

"Or from my Dads. Finn said they knew what time I would arrive at the station and we're perfectly on time, I don't know why they haven't texted me."

"Try calling them."

She did just that, dialing in their number and pressing the phone anxiously to her ear. It rang twice before her daddy, Leroy, answered exuberantly.

"Hello sweetie! Are you okay? Are you almost in New York?"

"I'm fine Daddy," she replied snappishly, remembering that her dads knew about Finn's decision. "And we are about to arrive at the station. Where can I meet you?"

She heard her daddy whisper frantically to someone on the other end of the line, presumably her father, Hiram.

"Daddy? What's wrong?" Rachel asked.

"Um, sweetie? We may have mixed up your arrival time a bit."

"A bit? How much is a bit? Daddy where are you, what are you doing, are you coming to pick me up?"

"Yes, we are coming as soon as we can. You see, honey, we thought you weren't going to be in until midnight."

"Midnight? It's only eight!"

"Yes, well, your father and I decided to go on a romantic dinner date and then take the ferry around the Hudson..."

"A FERRY?" she shrieked, and the passengers around her glared," Daddy are you telling me you're on a ferry right now?"

"We just took off" Leroy replied reluctantly.

"What am I supposed to do now? The train is due to stop off in two minutes. I don't know where we're staying and I don't have money to take a cab somewhere!"

"Sweetie, I think you may be over-reacting. You can just wait at the station..."

"You think I'm over-reacting? Really? I'm so sorry if I wasn't prepared to get on a train to New York City while my fiancé left to join the army, only to find out that my dad's stranded me at Grand Central Station for four hours!" she cried, seething.

"Rachel, calm down, we're going to get there as soon as we possibly can and we'll make it up to you by taking you to Wicked tomorrow night."

"I can't believe this is happening right now."

"Just stay at Grand Central until we come and pick you up. Stay safe, don't talk to any homeless men, hold onto your belongings, and we will see you soon. Okay? I love you sweetie."

"Love you too." she groaned, defeated. "Bye, Daddy."

She closed her phone and sunk back into her seat, her eyes closed. Everyone was abandoning her, leaving her alone without even blinking an eye.

"Rachel? What happened with your dads?" Jesse asked worriedly.

"They thought I was arriving at midnight and so they're on a ferry right now that's floating around the Hudson River. "

"Do you need a ride to the hotel? I can pay for your cab fare." he offered.

"I would take you up on that if I knew what hotel I'm staying at."

"What do they expect you to do then?"

"Stay here and wait for them, I presume."

"Well, that sounds awkward and monotonous."

"I'll manage I guess." Rachel shrugged, "I have my iPod, so the soundtrack of Funny Girl and Les Mis should get me through the wait."

"No, that won't do. Come and get coffee with me. We can kill some time and I'll have you back here in time to meet your dads."

Just as Rachel was about to respond the train came to a screeching stop and the intercom sounded once more.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have arrived at Grand Central Station in the magnificent New York City. I ask all passengers to remain seated until the door to their cab opens. Hope you had an enjoyable trip and have a fantastic time in the empire state!"

Almost immediately the doors opened in the first class cab and Rachel gathered her things to exit the train. Jesse followed shortly behind her, trying to keep up with her swift pace. When they both approached the famous Main Concourse, Rachel stopped in her tracks and looked around in awe. Jesse watched her closely as she observed the bustling atmosphere around her, studying the overwhelming emotions in her expression and how her eyes glistened when she looked up at the artistic ceiling.

"It's so beautiful."

Jesse didn't say anything, his eyes still glued to the brunette standing before him. She looked over to the boy standing next to her, his beautiful blue eyes locked on her, and smiled. As he smiled back at her, she remembered a dream she had three years ago. She had imagined this very moment, the two of them standing in Grand Central Station; only, in her dream they were a couple, madly in love and ready to conquer Broadway together. She remembered him wrapping his arms around her, saying, "We finally made it, Rach. I'm the happiest man alive right now. I have New York, and I have you. Nothing could make this moment better," before passionately kissing her and carrying her off to their apartment in Times Square.

She shook her head, realizing that it was just a girlish fantasy that she had made up while still unaware of Jesse's true purpose in dating her. It was a coincidence that he was with her now, and they stood there as acquaintances, not lovers.

Yet, she was glad he was here with her at that moment.

"So," Jesse said, the words dropping from his lips nonchalantly, "how about that coffee?"

xxx

There is Chapter 3 for you! I was overwhelmed by the responses I got for the first two chapters. I am happy to say that I am now completely emotionally invested in this story and I hope you are too!

I'd like to thank eternallystberry for being my beta. She really does give my Jesse that extra kick of arrogance that he needs to truly be Jesse St. James.

This chapter was a mid-length one, but Chapter 4 is gonna be a long one.

I am furiously writing away so I can give you quick updates!

Please Review if you haven't already or even if you have! I would love to know who is reading this and if he/she enjoys it or dislikes it. Tell me what you think of this chapter and what you think is gonna happen next...or what you want to happen next. You could be right or wrong, but you won't know until you ask ;)