A/N: I feel like I'm on a St. Berry Overload (also known as SBO/JGS: Jonathan Groff Syndrome) and have tons of new ideas for one-shots to add to this collection. I should also be starting an actual St. Berry story soon enough, but I'm still not sure whether it's going to be rated T or M, and I don't know when exactly I'll come out with the first chapter of it. The title's either going to be "Understanding Shakespeare" or "Just Another Clichéd Romance" with the summary soon to be released. :P
Disclaimer: Glee is owned by FOX.
Summary: Jesse lied when he told Rachel the first time ever saw her was at Sectional's. He lied when he told her the first time he ever met her was at the library; because that was the first time he said 'I love you.'
Category:Glee
Genre/s: Romance/Drama
Story Type: AT
Character Type: Jesse/Slight OOC, Rachel/Slight OOC
Rating: T (PG-13)
Pairing: St. Berry
Inspiration Behind One-Shot: Airplanes by B.o.B,
featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore
Stalking Rachel Berry
"There is always some madness in love.
But there is also always some reason in madness."
-Friedrich Nietzche
He lied. When he had told Rachel at the library that his first time seeing her was at Sectional's he was completely lying to her face. No, the first time Jesse St. James had watched the talented, young girl perform was at McKinley High's dinner. His family was extremely wealthy and donated tons of money to the local public high schools in the area; therefore his parents, and himself, were invited. At the time, Vocal Adrenaline hadn't started practicing as seriously as they would when Regional's started getting closer. He had heard about McKinley's new glee club and wanted to check them out, so he had agreed to go.
He was confused as to why there was a drunk, thirty-something year old woman on stage, but he chose to ignore her and watch the rest of the club. He admitted they had talent, and you could tell some had extraordinary talent in the musical department, but something was missing. It was like the key ingredient being forgotten in a recipe. When the crowd finished clapping for the first act and the dinner was almost over, he had told his parents he would be leaving early to get some work done for school—they had taken separate cars, him liking his own fast and over-flashy cars.
He had his tuxedo jacket on; chair pushed in, and having already shaken hands and thanked the proper people necessary, he was almost out the door The music had already started up for their next number. He immediately recognized the sounds of Somebody to Love being played and was wondering how on earth they were planning on pulling this song off; he was almost positive nobody in their glee club could hit the high notes and sound perfect while doing so. He turned around in interest and noted that their drunken friend wasn't on stage. Guess they came to their senses.
It was then that he saw her. She twirled out from the back of one of the male leads, who although he had talent couldn't hit a high note for his life. Her voice was easily able to lead the rest of her teammates through the entire song, and he was shocked at the perfection in pitch and length of each note. It was as if she herself had created the song, the melody. That was the first time he heard Rachel Berry's voice.
He took to walking around McKinley High a lot after that night, most of the time looking through a window or sneaking into the school to watch their glee club practice. Most of the time her fellow peers couldn't quite catch onto a new song until a few times after, but she was nearly as perfect as he was each time she sang. She was supposed to be his rival. Instead he found himself in awe.
He started screwing up in practice with Vocal Adrenaline. Practices had really begun in preparation for Regional's and he wasn't able to see—not stalk—Rachel as often as he used to be able to. That's why he decided to tell his parents and Shelby he couldn't devote as much time to Vocal Adrenaline as they wanted him to; he told them he would be joining a class running four times a week to help with scholarship applications to college. He was pretending to want to keep his college options 'open'.
So while they thought he was at a class every week from five to eight at night, he was really stalking Rachel Berry at school, practice, and home. During the two months he managed to keep this up, he learned more about Rachel then he could have ever imagined. Like how most people thought she only liked show music from Broadway shows and all that; this was in fact a lie. Rachel Berry had probably the most varied, vast, and incredible music collection he had ever seen or heard of in his life. If she had been like this when she was younger, some might call her a musical prodigy for how much she was able to absorb. He also learned that she never took singing or dancing lessons until she grew older and decided to aim for the pros as a profession. She spent large amounts of time on her homework in addition to her glee club showing her dedication, and even though everyone slammed her constantly, she always kept her head held high and let things slide right over. When she was confused her eyebrows scrunched together and wavered slightly, when she was really happy she tended to not care as much about her looks, posture, manners—though she was still always polite—and poise. She didn't like fragrances, perfumes, body lotion, or any of those things girls obsess over.
These were things he had learned in less than three months; so he couldn't even fathom why there was not one kid in the school who seemed to be good friends with Rachel. Sure, she had the glee kids, but she never hung out with them after school, she was never invited when they went out and she never invited anyone at all. She was a loner if anything and he felt a pang in his heart at that thought. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to be walked all over. They didn't deserve her.
A little while later, Sectional's came. He was pissed at that man-polyester suit wearing bitch for leaking the set list. He had heard New Directions practicing those same songs for the competition, and the other two schools didn't do any of those number justice. But he was mostly angry at Sue Sylvester because of how Rachel reacted. Her first reaction was shock and then disbelief, which soon turned into disappointment. She was upset that someone had coincidentally picked the same song as them, but it didn't matter to her; they had their other two songs. Two songs and many pairs of bleeding ear-drums later, she looked so hurt and angry that someone had actually decided to leak their set list. She was upset, but she was dealing like every good captain of a team should. Then the fights broke out.
Accusing fingers pointed in every direction, miniscule details and nonsense were blown out of proportion, and claws were bared to strike at the first hint of betrayal. Rachel stood quietly to the side, her mind in turmoil. She was supposed to be dealing with the problem at hand—finding new songs to perform so they wouldn't have to forfeit—but as team leader she was also supposed to solve any social problems going on in the club—which was just as likely to happen as him being a girl. Rachel really was torn, and then Finn came to save the day. He knew she liked him a lot, and although this put him slightly out, he respected her choices and really wanted to just see that smiling face, whether it was him who put that smile there or not. By the smile and relief on her face, he could easily see she felt like Finn was her Prince Charming at the moment. He came to her rescue at just the right time and seemed to be saying all the right things. Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, he went back to being a douche. Rachel looked crestfallen, and he was pissed. Yet again someone had hurt her.
After their miraculous, yet expected, victory at Sectional's, Rachel and Finn started "dating." He could see the amount of time and effort she put into maintaining their relationship. He could also see the lack of time and effort from Finn. He could see the hurt in her eyes and he kept blowing her off and blaming all his life problems on her. He could also see Finn's ignorance. He wanted to do something, anything, to just make Finn's day a little bit worse if he couldn't come into direct contact with him: maybe slash his tires, or fill his locker with dead fish that would leave a horrid smell for the next six months. He resisted because Rachel hadn't given up yet. He wanted her happiness.
Finn broke her heart. She cried. She yelled. All her emotions that had been bottled up inside since this glee club started poured out, Finn only witnessing a portion of it. The rest happened in Rachel's bedroom which was torn apart, turned over, and chaotic in every way. Broken pictures frames hung crooked on the walls; bed covers were ripped and pillows just lumps of material, the feathers scattered over the whole room; books, CDs, pictures, papers, and anything else was ripped out of its proper place and completely destroyed. He watched her sit and cry for hours, skipping all of practice and straight through dinner. He then watched her slowly look around and caress the front of her favorite CD—her Spring Awakening album that now lay broken on her rug—with a single finger, realizing she had just destroyed almost all of her memories and memorabilia. She started to cry again.
He hated not being able to go and hug her, kiss her, hold her, touch her, console her, anything to make that beautiful smile appear on her face. That's when he decided it was time Rachel Berry meet Jesse St. James. He staged the perfect meeting. He knew she had an assignment for glee club, one that required her to perform a song with the word 'Hello' in the title. He knew of the perfect song for her, one that explained his feelings completely. He decided it would be their song.
He put a bunch of musical books with exactly what she was looking for on top of a bookcase in the public library she was in where she would immediately see it. He slipped the book he had chosen under the top one and waited patiently behind a bookcase farther away. She spotted the music and wandered over, leafing through the books with a smile on her face and the pure luck she had—honestly, a pile of books with everything she needed? He could see the one he had chosen grasping her attention and decided to make his move.
He played the cocky, aloof playboy who could easily capture any girl's heart. He needed to test the waters first, see if the temperature was good; he wasn't going to go diving head-first into unknown territory. He smiled satisfied at her quick take to him and realized making her fall for him might not be so hard to do after all. He pulled her towards the piano, knowing how the idea would easily seduce her into complying with him. He sang the first words.
I've been alone with you inside my mind
And in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times
I sometimes see you pass outside my door
Hello, is it me you're looking for?
He smiled genuinely, a smile he knew would only be given to Rachel from this day forth. When it came to expressing his emotions, Jesse was a failure. Ask him to act and pretend to have feelings that were a different story. But Jesse wasn't pretending. That's why he decided to sing this particular song, their song, in their first meeting. It was like he was confessing to her in words rather than lyrics, hushed confessions rather than hushed lines. He was able to sing his feelings for her as loud as he wanted in anyone's presence and no one but him would ever know that the lyrics fit his relationship with her perfectly.
I can see it in your eyes
I can see it in your smile
You're all I've ever wanted, and my arms are open wide
'Cause you know just what to say
And you know just what to do
And I want to tell you so much, I love you ...
She was perfect; every sound that came out of her mouth, every move her body made, every look she gave him was flawless. They were things that had seemed to be burned into his mind a long time ago, but now that he was experiencing them firsthand, it was as if he was starting over from scratch. Not that he minded.
I long to see the sunlight in your hair
And tell you time and time again how much I care
Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow
Hello, I've just got to let you know
'Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely, or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven't got a clue
But let me start by saying, I love you ...
He noted how perfectly harmonized they were together, how easily they could be together. He knew it would take time. After all, she just broke up with Finn. He was willing to wait. He'd been waiting almost half a year up until now; he could wait a little while longer until she was ready.
Hello, is it me you're looking for?
'Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven't got a clue
He was finally getting everything he wanted. Everything he had suffered through since he was a child, every memory in his brain that pained him, all of it seemed to disappear when he first met Rachel. Now he really had a chance at being happy, at making her happy, at having his very own happily ever after; at finally being able to tell her after all this time, 'I love you.' And tell her he did.
But let me start by saying ... I love you
So he had lied when he told Rachel the first time he saw her was at Sectional's. He lied when he said their first meeting was at that public library, the very same one they visited frequently to serenade each other and give the public a performance. No, the public library was the very first time Jesse St. James confessed his love for Rachel, a love that he was sad to say was unrequited. For now.
A/N: Another St. Berry one-shot completed. :) And this one hit almost 3,000 words too! I have about seven more ideas already thought of, so all I really have to do is write them down. I can't make any promises about how often I'll update—finals are coming up along with the regents—so I'll do my best. :3 Now, because I've obviously shown you how much I love you by updating so soon, show ME your love by leaving a review to feed my dangerous addiction. :D
REVIEW BY PRESSING THE LITTLE BUTTON DOWN THERE!
DON'T FIGHT IT. GIVE IN. EMBRACE YOUR INNER EVILNESS.
IT'S SAYING, "CLIIIICCK MEEEE!"
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