Author's Note: Sorry if there was any confusion with what year of high school Rachel was actually in in the previous chapter. Since Rachel is only 15 I automatically went with her being a Sophomore this season but apparently she's a Junior so I guess she skipped a grade somewhere along the line. So I've made the changes in the last couple of chapters to match up with what the show has decided is canon. Thanks RubberSoulRevolver for bringing that to my attention. Anyway, when I decided to write this fic, I knew that one of the parts had to be at Christmas simply b/c it's my favorite time of year. Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter. It ended up being a lot longer than I initially intended it to be. Thanks for all of the reviews and feedback so far.
Rachel loved the winter holidays, especially in New York. Just because she didn't celebrate Christmas didn't mean that she couldn't appreciate all of the beautiful Christmas decorations all over the city, and there was nothing prettier to her in all the world than the Rockefeller Christmas tree. There was something so magical about walking by all the store fronts with all of their decorations. This was her second holidays in New York since she had started at Tisch in the Fall of the previous year, and she'd decided that this was when the city was her favorite.
So it was a pity that she would be going back to Ohio for the rest of December the next day especially since it had been snowing since earlier that afternoon and the city was now blanketed in white. It was almost as if a hush had fallen over the city. Rachel had just finished her last final and she should've been relieved the semester was over but she was a little sad to be leaving New York behind. Even if it was for only a few weeks.
As she passed by her favorite coffee shop on the way back to her dorm, she decided to stop in and get her favorite holiday coffee, a peppermint latte. "I haven't seen snow like this in a few years," the guy behind the counter remarked, as Rachel paid for the latte that she'd just ordered.
"I love it," Rachel responded, glancing back outside at the falling snow and smiling.
"Yeah, it's nice if it snows for a few hours and stops, but this isn't supposed to let up for a few days," he said.
"What?" she'd been so immersed in finals over the past few days that she'd been completely out of touch with the outside world. She hadn't even had a chance to check the damn weather.
"The weather guy said this is going to be a blizzard," he said, handing her the latte she'd ordered.
"Thanks." Absentmindedly, she took her latte and headed for a table by the window. As she sat down, she reached in her bag and pulled out her laptop. She needed to check her flight. Because classes hadn't ended until the middle of December she'd already missed Hanukkah with her dads, but that didn't mean she wanted to spend her birthday or the rest of the holidays alone in New York, no matter how much she loved the city. As she got to the website, panic arose in her chest as she saw that her flight for the next day had already been cancelled. In fact, if what she was reading was right, she might not be able to fly home until at least the following week.
She hadn't heard from her dads yet, so obviously they hadn't checked to see about her flight yet. Sipping on her latte, she thought about her options. She wasn't old enough to rent a car, and even if she was, Rachel was sure that there wouldn't be any cars left to rent at this point. She could wait it out, but the thought of that just made her depressed. Then it was as if a light bulb went off above her head.
So that was how Rachel ended up on Jesse St. James' front door step thirty minutes later. She wondered if this was a good idea as a war waged inside of her. She decided it wasn't but it was a necessity. She buzzed the apartment that she knew was his.
"Yes?" came his reply.
"Jesse?" Rachel asked tentatively.
"Rachel? What are you doing here?" his voice came through the intercom.
"Jesse, I need to talk to you. Can you please let me in?" she replied, losing patience. Her only reply was the door buzzing, signaling that the main door was unlocked. She climbed the stairs to his apartment quickly and rapped on his door once she stood in front of it, she knew this was her only option if she wanted to go home. She didn't even wait for a greeting or an invitation to enter as she pushed her way into Jesse's apartment as soon as he opened the door.
"Well, hello to you too," he quipped as she breezed past him and into his living room.
"Hi," she responded breathlessly as she glanced around his apartment. She'd only ever been here a couple of times with some mutual friends but she and Jesse didn't make it a habit to hang out together too often and even when they did hang out with their mutual group of friends it wasn't like they were chummy with one another. Most of their friends knew they had history, they just didn't know the full extent of it, especially the less than amicable way it had ended between them the last time they had been involved.
Shutting his front door, Jesse walked over and stood in front of Rachel, waiting for an explanation as to why she had decided to pay him an impromptu visit and just what was so damn important that she felt the need to come stalking into his apartment like she owned the place. "You came over here for a reason," he prompted impatiently when she didn't say anything.
"I have a proposition for you," she started.
"I'm listening." Jesse's interest was piqued.
"As you are aware, since we attend the same school, classes ended today for the semester," she explained. Jesse merely nodded in agreement. "Well, I am supposed to be going back home to Ohio tomorrow but due to the less than favorable weather conditions currently hovering over us, my flight has been cancelled."
"So what do you need me to do?" He had a feeling as to what she was about to ask him, but he'd wait for her to say it.
"I know that you have your car," she said, suddenly feeling a little self conscious. "And…and I was hoping that we could ride back to Ohio together tomorrow," she rushed out the rest of her request.
"Hmm, well since I'm not supposed to fly back home until next week, I'm not sure how that benefits me in any way," he replied, trying to remain completely indifferent to her. So far, it was working.
"You know what, some things never change. I knew this was a mistake," she huffed and started for the door. "I had almost forgotten how much I hate you. Thanks for reminding me."
That stung Jesse. He reached out and grabbed her arm as she attempted to move past him. "Rachel, wait." She whipped around, her arm still in his hand, with an annoyed look on her face. "I'm sorry. My default mode is to be an ass." Her face softened a bit at his admission. "Okay. We can drive back to Ohio together."
A huge smile broke out across her face and she flung her arms around him. Talk about running hot and cold. One minute she hates me, the next minute she's hugging me, he thought as he patted her shoulder with one hand, awkwardly. "Thank you," her voice muffled by his sweatshirt.
Pulling out of her embrace, he took a couple of steps back. Composing herself a bit, Rachel ran her fingers self-consciously through her hair. "So, listen, with the rate the snow is falling we need to get out of the city tonight. Do you think you can be ready to go in an hour?" he asked.
"I'm already packed," she declared proudly. She may not have made time for things like the news and weather reports, but packing had been a completely different story.
Jesse knew he should've expected her to say something like that. She was Rachel Berry after all. "Alright, well, then I just have to pack," he said with a small smile.
"Okay, my address is –" Rachel started.
"Rachel, I know where you live," he stated matter-of-factly, cutting her off.
"Oh, um, right," she replied. "Well, then I will see you in an hour." And with that she walked out of his apartment leaving him to pack his things.
As promised, Jesse was parallel parked outside of her building an hour later. Like the gentleman that he had always been taught to be, he went up to Rachel's dorm and helped her carry her luggage downstairs and load it into his car. "Did you pack your entire closet in here?" he complained as he loaded her stuff into the back of his Range Rover.
"Not my entire closet, but one must always be prepared for every situation," she explained. His only response was a look of pure aggravation. "I'm just going to…" she trailed off and pointed to the passenger side of the car. Giving her a curt nod, he turned his attention back to the luggage.
A few minutes later, Jesse was in the car, starting it up. "Is this new?" Rachel asked, deciding to try and make small talk. He looked at her questioningly. "The car," she clarified.
"Yeah, it's an early graduation present from my parents," he replied.
"I like it," was her only response. Giving him a tentative smile, she turned and grabbed her seatbelt to buckle herself in.
"Thanks." There was a softness to the tone of his voice that if Rachel didn't know Jesse as well as she did, she might've missed it. Maybe this road trip would be a good thing for them.
They rode in comfortable silence for awhile through the streets of Manhattan before Rachel asked him another question. "Why do you have a car in the city? Isn't it really expensive to garage it?"
Jesse just had to laugh at the very typical Rachel Berry line of questioning. She looked at him in confusion for a moment, unsure as to why he was laughing. "Did I say something funny?"
"No." A warm smile touched his lips as he turned his head slightly to look at her. "It's just nice to know some things never change. That's all."
Rachel smiled slightly to herself, taking his words as a compliment. "When my parents bought the Range Rover they said that there was no sense in buying it if it wasn't in the city with me so they pay to garage it."
"Wow, that's very generous of them," she said.
"Nah, it's just typical St. James is all," he replied, smiling ruefully.
Rachel didn't know what to make of his statement. In the time that they had dated or been involved, she'd never once met his parents. The first time they'd dated when she was a Sophomore in high school, his parents had been wintering in Bali and when they'd returned they were never around. Then when they'd been involved when she was a Senior, his parents were never at his house whenever she and Jesse had hung out there. She decided she didn't want to pry further, but thought that maybe she could ask him later.
For the next three hours, they made small talk and caught up on each other's lives and what they'd missed over the past year and a half. They may have had mutual friends and hung out in the same group, but they always avoided speaking directly to one another as much as possible. "Where are we going?" Rachel asked as Jesse took the exit ramp off the highway.
"We need to stop for the night. The roads are starting to get icy and I can't drive all night," he explained as he pulled into the closest motel parking lot. He didn't want to get too far off the highway just in case the roads got really bad then they would be stuck at the hotel.
"Where are we anyways?"
"Near the Pocono Mountains, the honeymoon capital of Pennsylvania. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll only have the honeymoon suite available," he replied with a smile and raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"Yeah, here's hoping," she teased, laughing softly.
"Okay, I'll be back in a minute," he said as soon as he parked the car in front of the motel office. Rachel nodded and turned her head to look out the window at the snow that was falling as he got out of the car and shut the door. It really was pretty. She noticed all the cars in the parking lot and she hoped that they'd have a room available. Preferably, a room with two beds.
Turning her gaze back towards the office, she watched as Jesse talked to the motel manager. She felt that familiar pang of desire as she looked at him. They may have ended things and moved on since the summer after her Senior year, but that didn't mean that she still didn't think that he was the most beautiful creature that she'd possibly ever laid eyes on. She closed her eyes as she was flooded with memories of the way his body had felt underneath her, the way the muscles in his back felt as he'd moved above her, the safety she'd felt when he'd wrap his arms around her and hold her close as they lay next to each other afterwards.
She heard the car door and her eyes snapped open. "Falling asleep on me already?" he teased. She felt like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and she hoped that he couldn't see the blush that had crept into her cheeks.
"Just resting my eyes," she told him, trying to keep her voice very nonchalant. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "So do they have a room for us?"
"Okay, so I really did try to get a room with two beds, but they only had one left. And I kid you not, it's the honeymoon suite," he deadpanned.
"Shut up!" Rachel cried, incredulously.
A beat then, "I'm just kidding. They don't even have a honeymoon suite." She slapped him on the arm as he laughed. "You should've seen the look on your face."
"That was not funny," she said, smacking his arm again.
"It kind of was," he replied, still laughing. "Although I wasn't joking about the only room that they had available is one with just a king-size bed."
"Oh," was all she managed to get out.
"I'll sleep on the floor if I have to or something. We'll figure it out," he told her, smiling warmly at her. "The office manager said we can just leave the car parked here so let's get our stuff out and go to the room."
Getting out of the car, Rachel hopped down to the ground and shut the door before walking to the back of the car to meet Jesse. She grabbed her small overnight bag that she'd packed pajamas and an outfit in with all her toiletries. Jesse picked up his bag and shut the back of the car. He tried to take Rachel's bag and carry it for her as they walked towards their room. "I've got it," she told him. "Thanks."
He put his hands up in surrender. "Come on, it's this one," he said, stopping in front of a door and putting the key card in it. Jesse opened the door and held it open for Rachel to walk inside. Immediately, Rachel saw that he had been telling the truth about the one bed. "You can go ahead and get changed in the bathroom if you want," he offered as he set his bag down on the bed.
While Rachel got ready for bed in the bathroom, Jesse went ahead and changed into his pajamas. He decided to get his makeshift bed ready on the floor while he waited for Rachel to finish up so he could brush his teeth. Grabbing the extra blanket in the closet, he laid it down at the end of the bed and grabbed two pillows. He really hated feather pillows so he was thankful that there were plenty to spare so he could have more than one.
"Jesse, you can come in here if you need to," Rachel called from the bathroom as soon as she was dressed.
He grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and headed for the bathroom. She smiled at him as he came in and stood next to her in front of the sink. As he brushed his teeth and she took her makeup off, Rachel felt this overwhelming wave of contentment wash over her. She didn't know why such a simple, domestic moment made her feel that way, but it did. She could just imagine what it would be like to be married to him as every night they would stand in their bathroom together and get ready for bed.
Why does it take no time at all for me to soften to him? She thought, frustrated with herself. And why in the hell am I thinking about being married to him? You're 18, well amost 19, Rachel. Besides, he'll only break your heart in the end. That's what he does best.
She noticed Jesse looking at her quizzically, and smiled at him a little too brightly. Deciding to get a little space from him, she turned and walked out of the bathroom. Jesse raised an eyebrow as he watched her go. Sometimes he wished he could hear her thoughts so he would know what was going on in that head of hers.
When Rachel rounded the corner into the room she smiled to herself as she saw Jesse's makeshift bed on the floor. Walking over to the side of the bed, she pulled down the covers and arranged the pillows before getting under the covers. Turning off the bedside lamp and curling onto her side, she stared at the wall as she waited for Jesse to come out.
Moments later, Jesse shut the bathroom light off and the only light in the room was the dim light that was coming through the curtains. She watched him as he made his way to the end of the bed and lay down on the floor. Rachel felt guilty as she looked at the large, soft bed that she had all to herself, and then there was Jesse, sleeping on an uncomfortable floor. "Good night, Rachel," he called softly.
"Jesse…"
"Yeah?"
"Please come sleep in the bed. I feel really bad for having all this space to myself while you're stuck down there on the hard floor," she told him.
"I don't want to – "
"I insist," she said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Please."
He sighed and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yes." And with that Jesse sat up, reached behind him and grabbed his pillows. Rachel just watched him as walked around to the other side of the bed and got under the covers.
Laying on his side and facing her, they just stared at each other neither one knowing what to say. "Thanks for sharing the bed. It was pretty uncomfortable down there," he said, finally breaking the silence that hung between them.
"You're welcome," she responded, as she turned on her side to face him fully. Resting her head on her arm and laying her other hand on the space between them, she decided she wanted the answer to a question that she'd been dying to ask for hours. Now seemed like the perfect moment to bring it up. "Can I ask you something, Jesse?"
"Sure."
"What's your family like?" His body visibly tensed at her question. Obviously that hadn't been the question that he thought she was going to ask.
"Rachel, I don't –" he began but her hand shot out and grabbed his arm, stopping his protest. There was a reason they had never talked about his family, it was a sensitive subject for him but he also knew that Rachel wouldn't let it go that easy.
"Please, Jesse. I've never asked before because I always respected that you didn't want to talk about it but I want to know," she said, taking her hand off of his arm and inching a little closer to him on the bed.
Letting out a long sigh, he decided to give in to her request. "As you already know, my parents are both doctors. They both come from families that were either Ivy League educated doctors or lawyers and, of course, a lot of money. I don't think I was part of their plan, so when my mom got pregnant it didn't slow her career down any and when they had me it was right back to business as usual. I had a nanny pretty much from the day I was born. I wouldn't be surprised if my first words were 'mama' to my nanny. Of course, it's not like my mom would tell me that." He paused before continuing. "They opened up their own practice when I was a toddler and that was their baby. I don't remember them ever coming to a school play or anything that I did, but they made sure I had plenty of things to occupy my time."
Rachel once again inched closer to him. "Like what?" she asked.
"Voice lessons. T-ball. Dance lessons. Piano lessons," he explained. "You name it, I probably did it at some point."
"You mean, your dad never came to a t-ball game?" Rachel asked, picturing an adorable, curly-haired six-year-old Jesse in his baseball uniform. Jesse just shook his head no in response. It made her heart break.
"Just my uncle and nanny. They were either at their practice or performing surgery on some stranger that needed saving. I was a healthy kid who didn't need saving." The look on his face broke her heart. "They gave me everything I could ever want," he told her, his voice laced with bitterness.
"Except them," she said with a sad smile.
"It wasn't all bad. We did go on family vacations all around the world. Their favorite was Bali which ended up becoming a tradition. When I was in middle school and their practice was running like a well-oiled machine, our family vacations became their winter in Bali. I couldn't miss school, but they'd tell me how much they would miss me as they'd kiss me good-bye and leave me with my nanny."
"What was her name? Your nanny."
"Ingrid. She was a nice older lady. Well, older than my mom anyways," he replied. Jesse was surprised that he was sharing all of this with Rachel. He guessed maybe he'd just always needed to tell someone, let someone in. Rachel was the perfect person for that. "I think when I was thirteen I just accepted that this was my life and it was how it was going to be. Then when I got to high school, my family became Vocal Adrenaline. Shelby was like the mother I never had. My teammates were like brothers and sisters I never had."
That was something Rachel could definitely relate to. Over the years, New Directions had become her family at McKinley. Of course, she had a wonderful relationship with her dads, but she certainly understood the closeness of being in a glee club.
"The only thing my parents ever made it to for me was my high school graduation. I think that was because I was the valedictorian, though."
"Have they ever seen you perform?" she asked. He was absolutely brilliant on a stage. When he performed you couldn't take your eyes off of him and his voice was a gift that not many people possessed.
"They'd have me sing to impress their friends at their annual holiday party, but other than that, no."
"Then it's their loss," she said softly, reaching out her hand once again. Only this time, she took his hand in hers.
"They were never short on gifts though, thus the brand new Range Rover for graduation. I think if I'd gone to med school and become a doctor they would've bought me a condo in Manhattan." He squeezed her hand a little and, deciding to switch gears a little, asked, "Can I tell you something?"
Nodding her head in response to his question, she waited for him to say whatever was on his mind. "I've missed you, Rachel. A lot." Giving her hand a tug he pulled her closer to him so they were now face-to-face, mere inches apart.
"I've missed you too," trying to ignore how close his lips were to hers and how if she wanted to she could lean over those few inches and kiss him.
Apparently, Jesse was thinking the same thing because the next thing Rachel knew his lips were on hers in a soft, chaste kiss. Her entire body felt like it was on fire just from a simple, innocent kiss. Rachel pulled back and looked at him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," he apologized.
"No, it's alright," she replied, smiling at him a little.
"It's not. It just complicates things," he explained.
"Jesse…" she started, but she stopped herself.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing. You're right," she lied. All she wanted to do was kiss him passionately as she straddled him. She wanted him to return her kiss and run one hand through her hair while he gripped her hip tightly with the other as he pulled her closer. Snapping herself out of her fantasy, she managed to smile at him.
"We should probably get some sleep," he said.
"Okay," she agreed, and started to move to her side of the bed again but Jesse's grip on her waist tightened.
"Stay here with me," he whispered his plea. Looking at him, she nodded her acquiescence and laid her head next to his on the pillows. Laying on his back, she draped her arm across his mid-section as she closed her eyes. "Rachel?"
"Hmm," she replied, sleepily.
"I'm glad you asked for my help today," he whispered.
"Me too," she whispered back with a contented sigh.
"Good night." He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead.
"Good night."
The next day they were up early and managed to make it to Lima by late afternoon despite the roads not being entirely clear in some spots. Rachel had been thankful that they were in Jesse's Range Rover. After their conversation from the night before and the way Jesse had opened up to her, she had worried that the rest of their road trip would be awkward but it had been anything but. They had joked and laughed and things had felt completely comfortable.
After pulling onto Rachel's driveway, they sat in silence for a moment. "Thank you for agreeing to do this road trip with me," she told him. "And for driving the entire way," she added with a small laugh.
"It was fun. We should do this more often," he replied, smiling at her.
"We should," she agreed. Reaching for the door handle, she stopped and turned back again. "Would you like to come inside and stay for a little while? Or maybe stay for dinner?" She didn't want to say good-bye to him just yet.
"I'd love to," he responded, shutting off the car. "Are you sure your dads won't mind?"
"Please, my dads love you. I think I broke their hearts when I told them that we broke up last time," she told him, laughing a little. Grabbing Rachel's things out of the back of his car, they headed towards the house. As she opened the door, he followed closely behind her into the house. "Hey! I'm home!"
"Rachel!" came her dads cries from the kitchen in the back of the house. They rushed into the foyer to see both Rachel and Jesse standing there. "Jesse!" they said in surprise. "Thanks for getting our little girl back home to us safely."
"It was my pleasure," Jesse responded, as he shook both of their hands.
"I invited Jesse to stay for dinner," she beamed at her dads.
"Great, it'll be good to hear what you've been up to Jesse. I'm sure you've been taking New York by storm," her dad said, clapping Jesse on the back.
"You can just leave Rachel's bags here and we'll take them up later," her daddy said, motioning for Jesse to follow him into the kitchen.
"How about some hot chocolate?" Rachel's dad asked, as they walked into the kitchen.
Jesse watched Rachel's face light up like she was five years old at the mention of hot chocolate. "Oh yes please," she replied. Sitting on a stool at the bar, she pulled the other one out next to her so Jesse could sit down.
"So Jesse, I've heard all about your wonderful performance in the Tisch cabaret recently," her daddy said as walked around to other side of the counter. Rachel's eyes widened at him and her nostrils flared, she couldn't believe that he'd actually said that.
"Is that right?" Jesse smirked as he turned and looked at Rachel. Both of her dads laughed as Rachel turned beet red.
"They asked about the end of the semester performances and I told them how great everyone was," she defended, looking back and forth between each of the three men in the kitchen.
"Mmm hmm, likely story," Jesse teased, softly nudging Rachel.
"What? I did. Would you guys tell him?" Rachel cried, incredulously. She couldn't believe that her dads were throwing her under the bus like this.
"She might've," her dad finally spoke up. "You were the only one that she actually mentioned by name, though." He winked at Jesse and laughed.
Rachel's mouth hung open. "Unbelievable, he's back for five minutes and you guys are already ganging up on me," she huffed.
"Can you really blame them for loving me so much?" Jesse replied with a wink at her dads.
"Rachel, he's like the son we never had," her daddy replied with a smile as he took the mugs of hot chocolate from his husband and placed them in front of Jesse and Rachel.
Rachel sat there, sulking as she looked at her mug of hot chocolate in front of her. "Drink your hot chocolate before it gets cold, honey," her dad said, as he walked over to her and planted a kiss on top of her head.
"You know, Rachel was pretty amazing when she performed at cabaret this semester," Jesse told her dads as he smiled at her over the rim of his mug of hot chocolate. "But then I'm sure you guys already knew that. She's always amazing."
Rachel felt a blush creep into her cheeks at his compliment. "Thanks," she muttered. She noticed out of the corner of her eye how her dads were smiling at both her and Jesse.
They sat in the kitchen for over an hour just catching up, but then her dads told them to go relax so they could start cooking dinner. So Jesse and Rachel went and grabbed her things from the foyer and headed up to her room. "I wasn't sure if I'd ever see this place again," Jesse said, as he dropped her bags on the floor by her closet.
"Me either," she replied with a smirk.
Plopping down on her bed and leaning back against the pillows and headboard, he smiled at her with a twinkle in his eyes. "There are lot of memories in this room," he sighed.
"There are," Rachel agreed, sitting down on the bed next to him.
"I'm sorry I was such a dick when we broke up," he blurted out suddenly.
"I didn't behave much better," Rachel said as she looked down at her hand, playing with the edge of the comforter.
"I just hate that we lost all that time when we could've been friends," he explained, sitting up next to her.
"Jesse," she started, turning her head to look at him. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her face. She did her best to ignore his closeness as she looked in his eyes and continued, "We've never been good at being just friends."
"In the past, but we've both grown up a lot over the past year and a half. Maybe we can now," he told her, a hopeful look in his eyes.
"Do you really think so?" she asked, not sure if she could ever be just friends with him. Every time she was close to him all she wanted to do was kiss him.
"I really think so," he reassured her with a grin.
Rachel sighed and returned his smile. "Friends then?"
He nodded. "Friends." Both were unsure what to do next so they leaned in and hugged. It felt right. As they pulled back, they smiled at one another. Jesse leaned forward to give Rachel what he thought was going to be a peck on the cheek but instead kissed her soundly on the lips.
Rachel looked at him, a little stunned. "I don't think friends…" she began.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm going to need to work on that," he said, a sheepish grin on his face.
Rachel lay back on the bed as Jesse leaned against the headboard once more. "Although... I think your dads want me as their son-in-law so…" he teased.
Rachel didn't even bother responding, she just picked up one of her pillows and hit Jesse in the stomach with it.
Author's Note: So I checked and re-checked all of the dates in this. According to the Tisch website, classes end for the Fall semester this year on December 15th so that's what I went with for the year that this takes place in. I also looked up exactly when Hanukkah would fall in the year 2013 and it's from November 27 - December 5 which Rachel would've missed. And since her birthday is not until December 18th, she's still 18 in this part. I kind of want to write a continuation of this where Jesse takes her out for her 19th birthday a couple of days later or something. Who knows if I'll actually do it.