A/N: I thank everybody who reads this. And I love, hug and give candy to anyone who reviews. Thank you guys :D

Disclaimer: Possession is a very abstract concept. Just because I use them doesn't mean that I owe them.

Chapter 4

The moment that Rachel descended down the stairs she knew that her plan was made out of total brilliant as Barbara Streisand performance "The Way We Were". Absolut and utter awesomeness. She couldn't have picked a better date to get back at Puck and Santana if she had Chris Harrison and 25 men to choose from.

Jesse looked absolutely gorgeous. Perfect hair, perfect suit and perfect smile. He was already charming her fathers and moved so gracefully that Rachel could not believe that Jesse had ever worn anything else but a suit.

This was going to be like one of those nights you only saw in movies. It would be absolutely perfect. Not only because he was already a senior but also because he needed this evening to be perfect as much as her. Tonight they would be the perfect couple. He would be dashing. She would be radiant. And nothing would go wrong.

And then Puck would see what he had lost. We would see and then he would reconsider. Because nothing got a guy going like jealousy. And to see her get fawned over by this dream guy (who was so not her cousin, mind you!), should pretty much do the trick. So she would reclaim Puck and with that humiliate Santana for being her snott, arrogant self. And then she would dump Puck, because he didn't deserve her in the end. She would tell him that she was soo soo sorry but she didn't feel like you could love her the way she wanted him too.

Her plan was 100% win!

"Don't worry about it. You look very nice." Jesse assured her again while sitting in the car in front of the McKinley High Auditorium. Rachel hadn't considered her nervousness when obsessing thinking about this plan the last two days. She had not considered that she would sit in the car, too scared to make an actual move. That never really happened in ANY movie. She was supposed to go out there. Confident and with poise. Instead she tried unsuccessfully to make her knees stop shaking.

"You know. To get this over with, we have to actually go in." Jesse prodded gently and Rachel tried to get her nerves together. "I know. We are. Just give me a second, ok?"

He nodded and stared out of his window for a minute but then looked at her again. "You wanna talk about it?" Rachel shook her head. "Or maybe sing about it?" For a second Rachel thought he was mocking her but when she examined his face he looked dead serious. Oh. He was dead serious.

Somehow Rachel liked that.

"Let us just go in, ok?" She put on her show face and tried to calm herself down, while Jesse jogged around the car to open her door. Maybe it was the fresh blast of night air that hit her. Or maybe it was the hand that Jesse extended to her. Or the softness of his touch when he helped her out of the car. But for just one moment Rachel Berry was absolutely and utterly sure that nothing could go wrong that night. That everything would be absolutely fine.

It was weird how different walking into a dance was when you had somebody to hold onto. Usually Rachel just came in and would go over to the drinks right away and hold onto one cup for the rest of the night. She would watch how the couples swayed with the music and envy the for being so lucky.

But tonight was differetnt.

Tonight she was walked into the room accompanied by a fine young man whose eyes where solely devoted to her. Tonight she had someone who marveled with her at the decoration, agreed that there where way too much ballons and laughed about her snarky comments regarding the DJ. So she was unfortunately unprepared when she met Puck and his gang. She just remembered her purpose of being here when his hand landed on her shoulder and she heart his voice

"Hey there Berry!"

Hey! There! Berry! What a completely inappropriate greeting for his ex-girlfriend. But since nobody really knew of their clandistine affair., maybe his greeting was not that inappropriate after all. And they were supposed to be friends now. Which is why both of them had their dates. Respectively of course.

Rachel watched Puck slink over to her side of the room with Karofsky and Santana close behind. Before she could find her voice to answer him, Puck had hit her playfully on the shoulder and winked in her direction "Hey babe. How is it hangin'?" Rachel smiled tentatively and reached out to take Jesses Hand. But instead of holding it, he used her hand to pull her closer and slung his arm around her waist.

"Hey. I'm Jesse St. James. Rachel's date." He shot a charming smile and gave Rachel a playfull little wink.

Rachel heared Santana suck in air and mentally patted herself on the shoulder. She was really happy how things seemed to play out. But this plan had been approved by Hollywood and Broadway plays again and again over the years. So there was really no doubt that this was a marvelous idea that…

"Aren't you the lead singer of 'Vocal Adrenaline'. The Glee Club of Carmel High?" Santana asked with an incredulous pitch in her voice. WHA…?

"Was." Jesse answered smiling. Tugging Rachel a bit closer to him "I graduated already. Now I'm just enjoying myself over the summer before I take my full ride to a little university called UCLA. Maybe you've heard of it. It's in LA."

Sometimes Rachel was very, very happy that she could provide things like a show-face. She knew that she was smiling proudly at him right now and that nothing in her face gave away that she didn't have a clue. She had a faint remembrance about the male lead of Vocal Adrenaline. But with Sectionals coming up, she had been solely focused on their competition that was. Not the competition that could be. There was no reason to funkify yourself. So she smiled. At Jesse. And at Puck. And at Santana. And tried really hard to look relaxed.

"So how did you meet?" Santana enquired loftily. But the looks she shot gave Rachel the chills. Rachel was pretty sure that she was just looking for a loophole in their story.

"Well we…" Rachel began. But Jesse was faster as she. "We met at a musicstore. I happened to see her performing 'Don't rain on my parade' once. Definitly talented. So I approached her in the book store and gave her a short run over. Then we happened to sing "Hello" by Lionel Richie together. After that I just knew that I had to get to know her. And luckily for me, she was still available."

Rachel smiled again. To her ears the story sounded a little constructed. But it was better than anything she did have in mind.

Jesse swallowed with a little disgust the last bit of his warm soft drink. He really wouldn't have minded a beer now. The room was over crowded by girls in dresses that revealed to much and guys that should learn how a proper suit was supposed to fit. And while they spasm away in a way they probably would call dancing, Jesse waited for Rachel to come back from the bathroom. He had done well today. He was attentive, charming and all over pleasant. But he did pick up on the weird vibrations between Puck and Rachel. And he was far to nosy to NOT find out what this was about. Since Santana had followed along Puck was standing next to him, scanning the crowd, looking entirely at ease with himself.

"Hey Puck."

Puck looked in his direction and shot him a grin. "What up, dude?" Jesse tried to ask his question carefully. No reason to wake up sleeping lions right?

"I had a feeling. There was this.. vibe between you and Rachel. Is there something I should know?"

Puck nodded at him, knowingly. Then he put his hand on Jesses shoulder and drew him closer.

"Listen buddy. It's like that. The Puckman and Berry had a fling a while back. But I found out that Berry is not capable of loving a man like man is supposed to be loved by a woman. So I broke it off."

Ok. This, was clearly a misunderstanding. No problem. Easy to clear that up.

"So." Jesse enquired carefully. "If I get your meaning right then…"

"Yes. I'm sorry dude. But Rachel is not into the whole man and woman thing. Especially the physical part. She should have told you. Sucks to be you! It's not her fault though. Sometimes, girls are just like that."

Suddenly everything made a lot more sense to Jesse. That was why a cute girl like her was still single. The lesbian dating market probably wasn't very huge. Also Lima was a small town so there was no need to raise too much awareness. Especially since she had been brought up by two gay dad's. It wouldn't have been the first time that small minded townies tried to use facts like this as a disadvantage for gay parents raising a gay child.

He knew how bad harrassment could get, when the wrong people suspected you to be gay. His love of musicals and anything Glee-related didn't make him out to be the straightest of guys.

Right now he almost felt bad, taking money from her. It must have been hard on her. But Jesse was determined to help her out as long as he was still in Ohio. And even afterwards, she could use his picture to pretend he was her boyfriend as long as she liked.

"Thank you." Rachel tried to smile but felt that it came out a little awkward. She hated the moment in front her house. She didn't know how to react right.

Jesse smiled at her and turned his body slightly in her direction. The whole lighting was incredibly favorable on him. She could see the moonlight in his hair and the soft lighting made his feature even more attractive then they naturally were. They had been so close over the whole evening, that it was hard to remember that she had practically bought his friendship. That nothing real was going on between them. And without knowing why, Rachel slightly leaned into his direction. For a second she allowed herself to get absorbed in his charms and smiles.

"You're welcome. I had fun." Jesse raised his hand up to stroke her hair and smiled at her. Then he leaned in...

….and gave her a faint kiss on the head. It was nothing more than a peck.

Rachel felt a little sad. And a little dumbfounded.

"Look. If you ever need me again to play your boyfriend, just let me know. It would be an honor to assist you." Then he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Again…. thank you…" she tried to smile again and then turned to get out of the car.

That had been weird. For a second her imagination had tricked her, that there had been a certain spark. That he was attracted to her. He had looked at her so softly and fondly. What was that all about? It didn't matter. Since she probably wouldn't see him again, it really didn't matter.

And just because she happened to run into him in a music book store a couple of days latter, it still didn't matter. He was accompanied by a sullen girl with long reddish hair. Rachel watched to pair while they strolled the shelves. The girl always one or two steps behind him. Even for someone as inexperienced as Rachel the dynamic of the relationship was quiet easily determined. Rachel knew how one-sided love looked like. She had see that look in her mirror more than once.

Which made it wrong in Rachel book to interrupt. And it was not like she and Jesse were something to each other. So there was no reason to greet him and make the other girl feel bad. The moment she turned around to leave, he spotted her. And practically bounced into her direction.

"Hey there, Rachel. How are you." He smiled his oh-so-heart-melting-smile and Rachel felt a little bit gooey inside. So maybe he was a presumptious, self loving jerk. But he also was a very charming, gentle person who had provided her with one of the best evenings in a long time. Or he was a very good actor.

"Hello, Jesse. How are you?" She smiled at him and then tried to get a curious glance at his lady friend. Who was staring at her as curiously. Mustering up a smile Rachel extended her hand and directed her voice to the grumpy girl.

"Hi, I'm Rachel."

But instead of smiling back or taking her hand the girl turned to Jesse, pouting: "Jesse, Who is this girl. What's your connection to her?" Rachel watched a little bit stunned as the girl grabbed Jesse by the arm and started to hug it like there was no tomorrow. She almost expected her to stomp her foot.

With a sign Jesse untangled himself from the girl " This is Rachel. A friend of mine. Behave please." Ok, maybe she wasn't his girlfriend. But there was definitely a connection because as soon as the girl noticed that she left her bag [her freaking bag, how brainless could one be] over at the Sondheim section, Jesse turned around and jogged over to get it. Somehow being alone with the pouty girl felt like a really bad idea.

"I didn't leave my bag at the Sondheim Section. I left it as "Broadway Musical of the 1920's. So it will take some time before he will be back." The girl suddenly hissed forcing Rachel step back. There was vitriol in her voice.

"I just wanna make clear. Leave your frumpy fingers off Jesse. He doesn't want you and he never will." Rachel coughed and felt a bit embarrassed.

"I think you might misunderstand this. We are just friends. Well, even "friends" might be too strong of a word."

The girl scoffed "Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think, I didn't see how mooney eyed you got as soon as you saw him. But let me tell you, Jesse is not interested in girls…."

Suddenly plastering a smile over her face the girl stopped talking and beamed. Turning around Rachel saw Jesse jogging back with the book bag in her hand. With his perfectly moussed hair. Graceful like only a dancer could be. Fingers with well kept nails holding the bag. She should have known.

She grew up with two gay dads and still her gaydar seemed to be out of tune lately. Otherwise she would have spotted it within seconds. Jesse was a little bit too perfect, a little bit too fabulous to be a normal teenager. This. explained. a lot.

Additionally that made things easier for her. Because now she didn't have to worry to make a fool out of herself in front of him. HE would never like her, like her anyways. So maybe this could be the start of a beautiful friendship after all. Didn't they say that a gay man was a girl's best friend?