For the purpose of this chapter I allowed myself to correct the little problem concerning VA Invitationals and the existence of Jesse St. James – let's just assume, Jesse was there as the rightful star of Vocal Adrenaline.
Also, I think it kind of sucks in comparison to the other chapters in this story, but it's still a chapter right? :)
And I love you guys for reviews, follows and favorites, as usual!
-s.
Rachel's POV
"Dude, are you wearing make-up?" Finn's voice was full of astonishment.
Jesse frowned and touched his cheek, groaning. Rachel giggled.
"Shit," Jesse murmured. "Totally forgot about it on my way. Wait up; I'll just get my kit from the car."
Rachel nodded watching how Jesse disappears outside. She started walking upstairs to her room, Finn followed her closely. So far so good, she thought throwing a quick at Finn's incredulous expression. No fights, no glares, no insults from the doorstep. Sure, she had to conduct an hour long conversation with Jesse before agreeing to all this but it seemed to work somehow.
But just in case of emergency, she asked her daddy to stay home and step by her room from time to time.
It all began when Jesse called her in the morning the day before the party to ask if she needed any help with the preparations. She agreed on the spot, thanking him over and over until she's gotten a call from Finn. Of course, in the course of discussion she just had to slip Jesse's name and their afternoon plans. Predictably, Finn offered to help as well and before she had a chance to object, he said he would be at her place in an hour. She tried calling Jesse but he was already leaving his rehearsal. All she could do was to make him promise to behave otherwise she'd send him to his uncle or force to stay downstairs with her daddy. He didn't want to budge initially, demanding that he wasn't a problem and he was first to offer his services.
If Hudson has a problem with that, kick him out. I'm going to spend some quality time with my best friend whether he likes it or not.
Jesse was officially a big child. A big, spoiled brat.
Her daddy was hopeful, though. He promised Rachel to keep an eye on both boys but he said that it would be a good bonding experience for the three of them – working towards one goal.
So when she heard Jesse's Range Rover pulling into her drive yard, Rachel was praying for them to behave. So far, Finn's only reaction at Jesse's arrival involved staring at his face with discomfort and asking about the foundation on Jesse's face.
"You didn't tell me he was gay," Finn whispered to Rachel when they entered her bedroom.
"What?" Rachel asked in the state of complete shock. "Why would you think so?"
"Think what?" Jesse's voice joined them.
Rachel, still laughing uncontrollably, looked at Jesse's confused face. He was standing in the door to her bedroom with his Carmel hoodie in his hands and training bag on his shoulder. Only now Rachel noticed that he was wearing a bright pink shirt, dress pants and suspenders. Fine, add the make-up and Finn had some grounds for his question. It was just the fact that Rachel's known about Jesse's girl history more than she would want to, and the whole idea seemed utterly ridiculous to her.
Jesse noticed her amused and Finn's curious looks on his clothes. He shrugged:
"I ran out of the auditorium as soon as Shelby let us leave the stage," he explained. "I didn't have time to change and wash off my face. By the way, I don't have my removal on me, so I need to use your, Rach."
Rachel nodded her head.
"Suit yourself. Just try not to use it up this time," she called after his tall figure disappearing in the bathroom.
She smiled to Finn and shrugged. Her boyfriend watched with a weird expression how Jesse grabbed the bottle of her make-up removal and applied a thick layer on a cotton ball and starts to quickly scrub his face. Jesse seemed to notice the audience because he stopped and closed the door at which Finn winced.
Picking up her notebook from the night stand, Rachel double-checked her to-do list for the day. She decided to use the additional help and sent Finn downstairs to her backyard to place the tables and take care of placing the night lights all over the large garden tent. Then she told him to displace the heaters in the strategic points so that the place was pleasantly warmed up; it was still chilly at this part of the year but she made sure that the place was properly heated before letting people spend long evening hours in there. Finn looked disappointed when she told him she was going to stay inside to end the decoration of the house.
As she was lining up her plans for Finn, Jesse emerged from the bathroom. He changed into a pair of jeans and his dark Carmel hoodie. He was holding his previous outfit hanged over his shoulder. Rachel quickly produced him a hanger but before she put the clothes down she sighed, looking at Finn.
"Do you think we'd talk our boys into pink?" she asked. "I'd love to wear a hot pink to the stage next time."
Jesse smirked self-satisfied – he knew that he could pull off every colour and still look manly. Finn, on the other hand, looked positively green at the mere thought of wearing anything other than black or white.
"What do I do?" Jesse broke the silence finally. Rachel smirked at him.
"You are going to help Finn outside," she ordered. "Na-ah-ah, no protests, both of you. Honestly, I want you to like each other, not jump to each other's throats every time."
Neither of them looked pleased. Finn's grimace deepened when he realised that not only he was supposed to freeze in the cold outside while Rachel would be inside, but he was supposed to spend this time with Jesse. Jesse, however, just rolled his eyes and sighed in resignation.
Jesse's POV
"Give me one from this box," Jesse ordered gesturing to the large pack full of Christmas lights. He was standing on the ladder trying to pin the damned things to the wooden element under the roof.
Hudson was standing below him, looking utterly pissed. Jesse only stretched out a hand and waited. Five, then ten second and the lights were still not in his hand. Jesse turned and raised his eyebrow.
"Hey, I'm talking to you, Frankenteen," Jesse mocked. "My ass is freezing up here."
"Jesse, language," Hiram's voice scolded him. Jesse turned to see Rachel's dad entering the backyard with a tray in his hands. He looked around and nodded appreciatively at Jesse's job. "This place looks amazing."
"It will be even more so if I got the freaking lights in my hands," Jesse hissed again at Hudson. "And please remind me to kill Rach for throwing an outdoor party in the middle of March; just what's wrong with your basement? Hudson, for Christ's sake, how long am I supposed to wait for the lights?"
He promised Rach to behave but the guy wasn't helping him at all. First they had this stupid pushing around over who was going to climb up to the ladder hang the lights up. Not that Jesse needed to be on top in this one – both literally and metaphorically. He just figured that Hudson, ladder and his inherent lack of coordination were a threat to the entire place.
Finally, under Hiram's stern look, Hudson bent and picked up the box. Satisfied, Jesse turned his back to him, making another portion of lights to stick to the board with the large stapler.
"Jesse," Hiram spoke up again. "I've got your coffee. Finn, here's your tea. We'll have dinner when you're finished."
Finn thanked the man and Jesse only nodded his head, without turning around. They – Jesse – worked in silence for another few minutes before Jesse threw Hudson short glance. He could at least use the opportunity to get to know his opponent. He stapled the last fragment of the light and jumped off the ladder. He approached the small table and grabbed his mug with traditional black coffee.
"So, Rach tells me that when you don't trip over your legs, you play football," Jesse spoke up making Hudson jump in his spot. The giant looked at him suspiciously.
"Yeah. I'm the quarterback," he replied with visible pride in his voice. And something else, Jesse recognised the typical jock manner of looking down at someone who was not in the football team. "You?"
Jesse took a sip of his coffee, feeling the nice warm spread through his body. He smirked hearing Hudson's uncertain question. Suddenly, Jesse spotted a glimpse of Rachel's face inside the house – she was wearing a sweet pink apron and her hands were elbow-deep in some sort of salad. She was looking at them nervously and Jesse winked at her before turning to Hudson. The oaf was looking down at his mug so he didn't notice the exchanged smiled.
"I'm not a quarterback," Jesse replied to his previous inquiry. "I'm the lead in Vocal Adrenaline as you all well know by now."
Hudson's shoulders tensed.
"And?"
Jesse frowned hearing another question. He didn't really see the where it was heading.
"And what?" he repeated.
"You are in Vocal Adrenaline and what else?"
Jesse snorted which made Hudson throw him a glare. Jesse put down his empty mug on the table and cocked his eyebrow. That question was nonsensical in every way.
"You weren't with your team at Invitationals this year, were you?" Jesse asked instead.
He remembered seeing Rachel in the audience with her coach and a few of her new teammates. She was too busy to meet him there after the show but Shelby told Jesse that the girl looked impressed by his performance while her friends not so much due to the fact that they looked as if they were close to fainting.
Jesse never remembered if Rachel told him who went there with her to watch him – fine, the New Directions in the budding went to watch Vocal Adrenaline but Jesse entertained the little thought that she was looking only at him on that day.
"No," Hudson grumbled. "I wasn't in glee club back then. What does it have to do with my question?"
"If you were, you'd understand that Vocal Adrenaline is too much of a time-consumer for any of us, especially its only star, to delve into any other school activity. We actually treat show choir seriously and with respect. I'm a senior now and I've never betrayed my love for music."
Hudson was thinking about his words for some time. Jesse took a few steps in the direction of another box of lights and pulled out a few. Without another word, he climbed up the ladder again and started working on the lights. And to think that when he offered his help, he imagined himself and Rachel closed up in her bedroom, absorbed in some petty excuse for 'preparations' and ending the evening with a hot and heavy, careless make out session on her bed.
Fine, his real thoughts stopped at working on decorations but his wild imagination served him a few additional ideas for the day. Jesse swallowed hard, fighting off the need to adjust his jeans. Great, he was sporting a hard on with Rachel's boyfriend in the same room. Good thing that the giant was facing his back.
"Rachel's into music, too but she does other stuff as well," Hudson took up the neglected topic out of the blue. "The drama club, public speaking club and other. And she's a sophomore. What about your college applications?"
Oh, was Hudson concerned about his future education? How sweet, Jesse smirked internally. Outside, he just turned his head to look at the guy behind him over his shoulder.
"I have a full ride to the Julliard School," he replied smoothly but noticing the unconscious tremble to his left hand. He cursed under his breath when the stapler hit the ground. To his surprise, Hudson picked up the tool and handed it to him before Jesse could jump off the ladder again.
Technically, Jesse lied about the scholarship. He was supposed to have an audition last month but he'd missed it. His mother was seriously sick and his father was out of town. It was the stupidest reason but also the most crucial one. His father warned him that if he was to leave Akron, he'd have to deal with him himself. Jesse wasn't stupid, his father wasn't someone to mess with and his word turned out to be final. No words, no fights not even Shelby's intervention managed to change the older St. James' decision in that matter.
And there he was, with no scholarship and no college plans for the following year. Sure, it was only March and he could apply to every school in the US knowing that with his incredible resume and experience he'd get in to most of them. Sure, his parents had enough money to cover the tuition and New York life but it wasn't right. It wasn't enough. Jesse and Rachel shared a very detailed and impressive college plans which included graduating from Julliard and making everything in their power to get into Broadway. It was the damned Julliard or nothing at all, even if he had to wait another year.
And those plans had been destroyed by one simple 'no'. And that made Jesse angry at his father. And kind of pissed about his mother for getting sick at the most uncomfortable of times.
But the worst thing about it was that Jesse had no courage to tell Rachel. He meant to, he held every intention of telling her the day after his imaginary flight to New York. He went over her house, he was standing at the doorstep of her house and his entire resolve crippled down when she jumped into his arms with congratulations on her lips. She had no idea what has happened and she surely assumed that he'd gotten in; she never took the possibility of Jesse not getting in and treated this audition as a mere formality. She took him out to celebrate his upcoming fulfilment of their shared New York City dream, she was so damned happy and Jesse freaked out.
He never said a word.
Instead, he smiled and laughed along with Rachel, sporting his most perfect showface and was impressed by himself by fooling her. Those four hours were the hardest and longest four hours of his life. He excused himself as soon as he could and spend another four hours in the parking lot outside Lima hating his parents and the earth they walked on, cursing Rachel and her unaltered faith in him, and crying his eyes out for himself and his broken dreams.
If he told her she'd be so disappointed. And mad at his father. Jesse knew that she wouldn't be scared of going to Akron and sharing her opinion at Alexander St. James's selfishness. The last thing Jesse needed was his girl fighting with his father over him.
As soon as he came back to his senses, he called Shelby and begged her for staging another audition but it was hopeless. Shelby was powerless in this one crucial matter. She was trying, sure, but he held no real hope. The only thing that was left for Jesse was to finally man up and tell Rachel.
But not yet.
"Julliard? That's the school Rachel wants to go," Hudson noticed. This time, he wordlessly handed him another piece of decorations. Jesse smirked, Hudson seemed to drop his defence. But his remark brought up his anger about the scholarship failure.
"Yeah," Jesse murmured. For obvious reasons, he didn't want to discuss his college plans. "That's the point; to graduate from our dream college, start conquering Broadway and winning award after award together."
"Together," Hudson repeated the last bit with barely contained annoyance.
"Yes, together," Jesse snapped. His good mood and will to behave was officially completely gone. "As in forever together. You got any problem with that?"
He jumped off the ladder and stormed inside the house, leaving Hudson alone. Jesse cursed loudly. He's lost his temper with Hudson, showing his obvious weakness. It was a complete disaster. Jesse stopped by the wall in the living room, leaning against the cold surface and taking a deep breath. He needed to cool off as soon as possible, before Rachel noticed.
"Jesse?"
Jesse looked to his left to see a worried looking Hiram entering the room. The man glanced back in the direction of the back yard and then back at the young man in front of him. Just then, Rachel appeared on the stairs, looking all happy and optimistic. She didn't notice them, fortunately. Hiram noticed Jesse's gaze and grunted silently:
"You want me to occupy Finn somehow far from you?" the man asked. "Or ask Rachel to send him home?"
Jesse smiled. Hiram had always had a soft spot for Jesse. He even suspected the man to prefer Jesse as their daughter's boyfriend not Hudson, but he never interfered. When he and Leroy noticed Jesse's feelings, they tried to make this easy for him, that's why Hiram's proposal didn't come as a surprise.
Jesse shook his head.
"It's nothing Mr Berry," Jesse assured him. "It's not about Rach and Hudson this time."
"No?"
Jesse smirked at the knowing look that Hiram was giving him.
"I hate him for how's he been treating Rachel at the beginning of the year and I'm jealous, but no," Jesse's voice was firm but dry. "He's just said something which tipped me off for different reasons."
Hiram nodded his head in silence, accepting Jesse's explanation. The man squeezed Jesse's shoulder before leading him to the dining room. When they got there, Jesse stiffened again, seeing Hudson sitting next to Rachel by the table. They were laughing at something quietly but it wasn't what irked Jesse this time; Hudson had his ass sprayed on Jesse's usual chair. And Rachel allowed him.
He didn't say nothing, just took a seat at Hiram's left. The man was humming something under his nose while preparing the vegan pasta. Rachel was still occupied with the conversation with Hudson so Jesse jumped to his feet to help her dad. He reached to grab another spoon and dipped it in the sauce.
"I'd add some salt," he commented after tasting. Hiram nodded his head so Jesse opened the cupboard and took out the salt.
"Don't say anything to Leroy," Hiram whispered. "He's on with the reduction of salt in the food."
Jesse chuckled. That was something Leroy would do for sure. He put the salt back in the cupboard and took the knife from Hiram's hands gesturing in the direction of the boiling water in the pot. Jesse learned how to cook from his uncle and was often helping with the dinner when hanging out at Rachel's place, so Hiram only smiled and turned to his right. Jesse continued cutting the tomato and Hiram started telling Jesse about Leroy's latest favourite fads which the man tried to incorporate into their family. They were laughing at some of that when they heard Rachel asking:
"You two need some help?"
Hiram and Jesse turned to look at the girl and shook their heads saying 'no' simultaneously. They ignored the couple by the table and finished the dinner quickly. Only after Jesse grabbed plates, he placed his own in front of surprised Hudson and looked at Rachel pointedly. The girl's eyes widened and she quickly stood up from her seat, pulling Hudson with him.
"What's going on?" he heard Hudson asking with confusion.
As much fun he had with Hiram while cooking, Jesse was still irritated by the previous college talk with Hudson so he only threw him a glare before sitting down and starting eating. Rachel threw him a cold look but Jesse bluntly ignored it.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Finn," Hiram apologised with a genuine smile. "It's where Jesse usually sits. Come, you can sit here."
"So he gets his own spot by the family table now?" Hudson asked Rachel.
Jesse looked up from his plate. Rachel was holding Hudson's hand with nervous expression and something in the way she begged him silently with her eyes to behave, made him relax his tense shoulders. But before he managed to respond in any way, it was Hiram who broke the silence:
"Finn, Jesse's been a part of this family for years. I don't think that I appreciate the tone of your voice while asking that question."
In that moment, Jesse loved Hiram even more. Hudson turned red and excused himself under the pretence of going to the bathroom. Hiram, without further word, left the room to call Leroy. That left Jesse alone with Rachel.
"Do you think it was necessary?" Rachel hissed coming closer. Jesse put down his fork and focused on her blushing face. "I thought I told you to behave today."
Jesse snorted. He shook his head.
"You told me to behave?" he repeated mockingly. "Rachel, I'm not five. Besides, I didn't say anything, it was your dad. And you, to be honest, when you simply let the guy into my chair."
"Jesse, it's just a sitting place," Rachel scoffed with irritation.
"I've been sitting in that chair every time I've been here for the past five years, it's clearly mine."
"It's a chair."
"My chair," Jesse insisted dropping his angry facade completely. Seriously, he couldn't keep annoyed seeing her face. Instead, he chuckled and pulled her onto his lap. "See, I have the best perspective on the room from here. It's close to talk to your dads. And, additionally, it's closest to the exit so I can storm out effectively without stumbling over anything. Clearly, it's a Jesse St. James place. Finn Hudson would never appreciate the awesomeness of this spot."
By the time Jesse was finished, Rachel was laughing loudly. Hudson chose this moment to re-enter the room and he stopped dead in his tracks seeing Rachel giggling on Jesse's lap. Not wanting to drive the both of them crazy – that was very generous of him – he pushed Rachel off him and resumed eating in peace now.
Watching Hudson occasionally, Jesse noticed how the guy kept glancing back at Jesse from time to time and wincing every time Jesse stood up to get something from the cupboards or joking with Hiram. After some time, Jesse thought he finally understood Hudson's uncomfortable looks thrown at him; Hiram's earlier rebuff, Jesse's possession of a sitting place, hell, even the way he took over Rachel's bathroom earlier that day must've made him feel an outsider to the household in comparison to Jesse. Jesse felt a surge of unhealthy satisfaction upon realising that. He was certain that earning such a spot in the Berry family would take years to accomplish for Hudson.
Another reason why Jesse St. James was better for Rachel Berry than Finn Hudson.
Next: the party
