Their labored breaths and audible pants filled the surrounding room, sweat matting her bangs to her forehead as she lazily gazed into the blue green eyes of the man before her. His hair was in much the same state, the curls sticking to his face in odd ways yet still, she could not have found him more beautiful. "All that time, all that fear, that's what I was missing?" she muttered, her smile widening as she laid her head against the chiseled chest of Jesse St. James. "I'm glad I waited for you," she whispered as she felt his arms instinctively wrap around her, knowing all too well that the smug grin he reserved for such occasions.
Head pressed against the bare chest of the man whose arms were encompassing her body, hand lazily wrapped around his. It was a way to take up that Rachel Berry never thought possible, a dream that had been so far removed from her mind ever since 'the incident', as she had so beautifully named it. It was a fantasy, if anything, but it had somehow become her reality, so how become her truth. She smiled, the morning air drifting through her nostrils as she took a deep breath. "Morning," he muttered, his voice echoing through her as she remained still, not wanting to let the dream slip through her fingertips. "Can we just stay like this for a while?" She asked, the innocence of her voice evident in her words. If she didn't know any better, she would say he had a smile plastered across his lips as he spoke. "We can try."
Each breath he took, every word he spoke was exemplified as she laid upon him, the world seeming to slow around them. Nothing else mattered to her in those few instances, nothing was truly important. All she cared about was having him within in grasp, having him holding her.
"Broken this fragile thing now, and I can't, I can't, pick up the pieces. And I've thrown my words all around but I can't, I can't, give you a reason." She could hear the anguish in each word as it left his mouth, her brow furrowing in confusion as she sat up and locked his gaze with her own. "Jesse, what are you talking about-" but then it all came rushing back to her in a fury. She had buried the feelings so deep, hid the emotions that were bottled up inside to the point where she could almost feel no more. She didn't want to make those memories resurface, they were just a blur to her now. But he seemed to be trapped in a battle with himself. The pain and the guilt over riding his greedy intention of that fateful day. She understood now why he did it, she had almost the same thing happen to Sunshine when she came to New Directions. She had tried her best and put it all behind her, yet it was obvious that he had not. "I feel so broken up, and I give up. I just want to tell you so you know, here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you." He was singing softly, the words would have been inaudible had she been anywhere but within his hold.
"You are my only one," she sang gently, her hand coming to rest on his cheek as she sat completely up, her other hand pressed firmly against his chest. "I let go, there's just no one who gets me like you do," he whispered to her, tears forming in the beauty of his eyes, tearing her apart and captivating her simultaneously as she gazed into them. "You are my only, my only one." She finished the chorus and neither attempted the next verse, Jesse random burst of emotion shocking Rachel and the shame of everything barred too deeply upon him. Never had she seen him this vulnerable, never had she seen him this free to everything rushing through him. In all honesty, it frightened her. "Jesse, I understand why. I have for a while now. I know that it's the complete opposite of Barbara in the Way We Were, the opposite of what I told you would happen if you broke my heart but...I get it. I mean, I sent a girl to a crack house for God sake," his laughter broke her rant, the tears in his eyes still present but a smile etched across his lips. Swiftly she pulled him towards her, his head pressed against her chest. "I can't say that I condone what you did, I'd be even more neurotic if I did, but I understand."
She watched as his smile widened, felt as his hands gently moved, one to the side of her face and the other to support him as he moved closer to her. "That's all I could ever hope for," he muttered before closing the gap between them with a kiss that was so gently and loving that Rachel could not help but feeling as if she had fallen, once more, for Jesse St. James. As if she had every fallen out.