Sorry that I couldn't upload this yesterday, but my dsl was down. The good news is that Ch 8 is almost finished, and things are getting very interesting! Enjoy! And to all of you readers who are also writers, please write something! We need more fics to keep St Berry alive!


Bells. Rachel heard the bells again. The first time she heard the bells was after she sang with Jesse for the first time in the music store, right after he asked her out. At first she thought that hearing bells was some kind of metaphor of heaven, since she felt that she had died and went to heaven after singing that duet with none other than the Jesse St James, star of Vocal Adrenaline. She could almost see a choir of angels ringing bells welcoming her: she was sure that was what heaven was all about. Then she realized it was probably bells on the main door, and quickly discarded her heaven theory.

But now she kept hearing those damned bells right after the forest scene. Only that she now associated the bells with some kind of purgatory, since hearing them meant that she had to stop kissing Jesse.

Sure, they were only friends now, and Rachel did her best to keep it that way, their lives were too complicated with the musical to concentrate on anything else. But at that time, when she and Jesse sang together and kissed, she let her feelings roam and allowed all that pent up passion to flow freely, only for the sake of drama, of course. She was convinced that it was natural to feel that way about a co-star, especially one that you had to kiss passionately almost every day. It was all part of acting, and she was a wonderful actor, after all.

Jesse did not hear the bells, he didn't even know about them, but at least he was honest enough to admit to himself that those kisses were not acting, he would never enjoy kissing someone as much as he did kissing her. Those kisses were definitely the highlight of his days, the only time he could somehow show her how he felt, now that they were just friends. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was it about Rachel that attracted him so much. Physically, he thought she looked great, but he was sure he'd been with more beautiful girls, tall, mysterious, dangerously underfed stunning girls. But there was something about Rachel, about those eyes, that nose, those lips, that hair, that blended together in perfect synchrony. Her body was normal, her legs were phenomenal: he'd had plenty of fantasies which included those legs, sometimes over his shoulders, around his waist… And talent aside, Rachel was definitely high maintenance and her Type-A personality shone through just by looking at her. But, strangely enough, he loved those all of those things, her little quirks, the way she talked, the way she moved, the whole package. In short: Jesse St James could have any girl he wanted, but he only wanted her, and loving her felt as natural as breathing.


Rachel was a little jealous, although she wouldn't even admit it to herself. Sure, she knew what jealousy was, Finn Hudson taught her that feeling well, but this was different. She and Jesse were just friends now. Just. Friends. And she needed a friend; she was used to spend most of her time with Mark, and between auditioning and strategizing for auditions, they were always together. He had a key to Rachel's apartment, and spent there more time than he did at his old place. But now that he was gone, she found herself spending more and more time with Jesse. Rehearsals were long and grueling, and the little time they would spend together, sometimes alone, but most of the time with Anna, the actor playing Glinda. Not only was she beautiful, but she was sweet and very funny, and it seems that everybody on the set loved her. She was fiercely talented, so much so that she didn't even need to act: acting and singing just came to her naturally. Anna was a goofball, and her laid back style was like a magnet, and you couldn't help but feel good around her. And the only thing keeping Rachel from feeling good around Anna was Jesse.

Opening night was approaching, and Rachel wished she was as relaxed and laid back as Anna. But the truth was that she was nervous and stressed out, and to top it all off she needed to find a new place to live in a week. Even though she tried to look positive and cheerful, Jesse noticed something was wrong with Rachel, she wasn't her usual talkative self.

He was looking at Anna's impressive music and video collection on her latest ipad, when he saw Rachel out of the corner of his eye looking at them.

She was eating an apple and listening to her ipod, and she couldn't help but look at them and feel something odd on the pit of her stomach. She saw him whisper something to Anna's ear and then signaling her, so she took off her headphones.

"Come here Rachel, you have to see this!"

When she got there, Jesse pointed to Anna's ipad, where Rachel could see a video of herself singing at the last nationals her old glee club had won. Rachel smiled while placing herself under Jesse's arm.

"Thank you, I really needed that…"

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Anna asked.

"Oh, nothing, I guess I'm a bit stressed since the big night is approaching, and on top of that I need to find a new place… This sucks…"

Jesse furrowed his brow and looked concerned.

"Why do you need to move now?"

"I got a letter yesterday about a mold infestation in the building, apparently some apartments are really bad, and even though my apartment is fine, the health department wants everyone out by next week. The worst part is that I have to leave everything and just take with me strictly personal stuff. My landlord's insurance will cover all the expenses, including relocation and the stuff that I must leave behind… I can't even take my pillows!" She almost cried after her last statement.

"That sucks for sure, honey, but you can stay with me! I have a small studio but I'm sure my flatmate won't mind at all, and we can get one of those air mattresses for you!"

"Oh, Anna, thank you, but I don't want to impose myself on you and your roommate, I'll just stay in a hotel until after opening night, and then my dads will help me find a new place…"

"But why don't you call them now, I'm sure they'll find you a new place in no time!"

"Yeah, I thought about that, but Jesse you know my dads, they'll be all over me, and I can't have that sort of pressure before the show starts!"

"I know, I know…" He stayed pensive for a while.

"Stay with me then! My apartment is quite comfortable, and I have an extra room that's practically empty! And it has a bed, with plenty of pillows, there's no need for an air mattress!"

"Thank you Jesse, but you know I can't…"

"Of course you can, Rachel, we already know each other well and we work together. Just think about it, right now I'm your only reasonable choice, unless you're already fond of the idea of the air mattress at Anna's place…"

Anna punched him playfully in the arm. "You're such an ass!"

Jesse laughed.

"Seriously, Rachel, stay with me, you can look for a new place later, when we get used to doing the show every night!"

She had to admit it wasn't a bad idea, she'd be even closer to the theater, and it was ten times better than spending a lot of money in some crappy hotel, plus she'd have some company, and even get to see him all the time… Of course that didn't matter, they were just friends now. Just Friends.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it. But I just want you to be completely sure about this. I don't want you to make a decision this monumental just because you feel sorry for me and I'm an old friend. After all, we're talking about sharing a bathroom, which I think is a highly personal and even sacred space in some instances…"

Rachel's little lecture was interrupted by a hand over her mouth, Jesse's hand, to be precise.

"Stop, it's done, you're staying with me. Wanna move tonight?"

She couldn't help but smile. "Thanks Jesse, let me gather my stuff tonight, can we do it tomorrow?"

He responded with a hug. "Whenever, roomie. You tell me when. Do you by any chance have one of those espresso machines? I've been dying to get one…"

And that's how Rachel and Jesse became roommates.


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