I had a fight ready for this chapter, but after Bad Reputation I figured something a little lighter would be appreciated. Thanks for the love, guys!
4: missing (her)
She misses London so much that she decides to head back there for a couple of months - gets her landlord to rent out her place, puts her things in storage, gives her friends her love, and leaves.
She has a blast. She watches all her friends' current plays, even reprising her role as Portia in Mink during a couple of matinee sessions. Her friend Ryan, the male lead from Mink, helps her find an apartment to stay in for the duration of her visit, finds the contacts of her old friends, gets her tickets of the shows she's been meaning to see, and is basically so helpful she ends up spending over half her time with him.
She mentions (gushes about) this to both Jesse and Quinn. Jesse's response is quiet and controlled.
Quinn, on the other hand, asks her, "Did you tell Jesse this?"
"...yes?" she answers, confused. "Should I not have?"
Quinn sighs heavily, exasperated. "I know you're not used to relationships, you moron, but how would you react to Jesse telling you he's been spending all his time with a really nice friend who's a girl?"
Rachel's eyebrows furrow. "But I don't spend all my time with Ryan. And the circumstances of this arrangement - "
"You wouldn't be jealous?" Quinn argues.
Rachel pauses, biting the inside of her lip in consideration. "Maybe," she concedes. "But he knows I love him."
"Not the point," she says disapprovingly. "He hasn't seen you in three weeks and you've spent the whole time with another guy."
"Jesse knows he's better than Ryan," Rachel grumbles, but shakes her head. "Fine, I'll call him or something."
xx
Despite her discussion with Quinn, she nearly drops the glass she's holding in her hand when his voice comes through the speaker by the door of her apartment five days later.
"Guess who!"
"Jesse!" She's surprised but she's already grinning excitedly. "What're you doing here?"
"I was bored," he says impatiently, and then, softer, almost sheepishly, adds, "And I've missed you."
She struggles not to smile.
"Can you let me up?"
"Quinn told me that if you came to visit me here, it means you're jealous of Ryan."
"Oh."
"Are you?"
"Why would I be?" he says, incredulous. "You know that I am clearly superior to him in every way possible."
"That's what I told her you'd say," she says, satisfied. "Come up." She presses the buzzer.
During karaoke the next night, Jesse smirks at Ryan as they get up to sing an old song together. Rachel grins at him when he returns back to their table. He laces his fingers through hers and stays that way for the rest of the night, and she's never been more grateful for his confidence. She's glad he didn't come here for any reason but her.
missing (them)
She ends up staying for three months, and plans to leave exactly three months after she arrives. When she gets information about an earlier flight, though, she doesn't hesitate - if she thinks about staying longer she'll never want to leave, she loves London. But she misses New York, she misses her friends there. (She misses him.) Her goodbyes are quick, making her friends promise to come to New York. She watches movies throughout the flight.
Jane picks her up at the airport, and though Rachel doesn't make any request for it (she's falling asleep by the time she climbs into the car), she drops her off at Jesse's apartment. They carry her luggage up to the lift on the second floor, and by the time she gets off on the top floor and remembers where he keeps his spare key, she's practically sleepwalking. She leaves the suitcases by the door, finds an old t-shirt, and collapses into his bed, surprise be damned.
Enveloped in his scent, she falls asleep faster than she has in a long time.
xx
She wakes up when she hears her name, and sits up just as his bedroom door opens.
They stare at each other.
"You're back," he says. She'd tease him about how unnecessary that was, but he's starting to beam and something shifts in her. She's missed him so much; and only right now, looking at him, does she feel the extent of it. She moves to get off the bed.
"No, stay there," he says, and within seconds he's on the bed, crawling up the length of her body. His elbows and knees sink into the mattress on either side of her, and finally, face-to-face, he breathes, "Hi."
"Hi."
xx
"I knew you'd come home early," he says, pulling away from her slightly. He kisses her cheek, her jaw, her chin.
"Surprise," she says. She drags her hands up his back, and pulls him down roughly to bury her face in his neck. "Missed you."
"You wanted to go," he reminds her, his voice low. He lets his fingers trail up her legs, stopping at the soft skin at her waist under the t-shirt. He lowers himself further so he's touching every part of her he can reach, and he's never been more grateful for the small size of her body.
"I'll burn my passport." She starts laughing into his neck.
He feels her teeth pressing against his skin in her wide, open smile, and tries to pull her even closer. He slides his arm around her waist, still under the shirt. "Promise?"
She lifts her leg and sets it on top of his, tugging him in slightly. "Maybe just come with me next time."
"OK." He draws back so he can kiss her again lightly. She lets out a low, satisfied hum, and he feels it on his lips, the perfect note. He's struck by the strangest, strongest need to sing something with her. "Don't go home yet."
"OK," she agrees easily as she unbuttons the first buttons of his shirt. She presses her ear against his chest, scraping her finger nails lightly against the shirt fabric.
She came back straight to him, he thinks; surely that means something. Encouraged, he suggests, "Or you could just unpack here."
She just hums again. "I'm sleepy," she mumbles, her hand clenching a fistful of his shirt.
He should be insulted but can't help but chuckle. He turns them over so they're both on their sides. She kisses his chest and wraps her arm around him. He hadn't been tired when he'd first gotten home, but this is the most comfortable he's felt in weeks, and he feels something in him settle. He knows she feels the same when he hears her take a deep, long breath, and then move closer into him.
Her fingers tap at his collarbone in time with his heart until she falls asleep. He has to get some of his accounts for his classes straight, but her grips tightens when he tries to slip away, so he stays.
xx
She only leaves the next morning to bring her things back to his place.