Title: Intoxication

Rating: T

Summary: Abandoned, again. Left to wallow in her own self pity, to question what she did wrong this time. And then he appears and suddenly her world is turned on its head all over again. When Jesse appears in the Christmas Tree Sale, Rachel finds where she could always control Finn, Jesse is a force of nature. Dangerous, but intoxicating.

Disclaimer: Obviously I do not own Glee, if I did Jesse would still be there and St. Berry would be alive and kicking. But he isn't. From this we can conclude that I don't own Glee.

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Jesse saw the change in Rachel gradually. It was easy to see, considering that he hadn't seen her in a long time. Her originally boisterous attitude, which had already wavered, was slowly sinking and fading away, leaving behind a quiet, mousy girl with amazing talent, but little confidence to showcase it.

She would come home, where, more than likely, Jesse would be waiting and she would be quieter than usual. If he questioned her about her day, she would shrug and answer with few words. It was rather unnerving and, as the date for his return to UCLA drew nearer Jesse worried more and more.

Which was why he found himself, sat in his room, his phone pressed to his ear, waiting, his heart in his mouth, as it rang.

"Yo, what's up?"

"Puckerman?" Jesse tried to keep his voice from shaking.

"Who is- wait a sec. St Jerk?"

Jesse smirked a little at the nickname, before replying, his tone slightly amused. "Hey there Puckerman."

"What the hell do you want?" Puck's voice was rising. "And how the hell did you get this number?"

"I found it on Rachel's cell."

"You've been talking to Rachel?" Puck's tone was low now, dangerously so and Jesse hurried to say.

"Look, Puck, I need to talk to you, it's really important. It's about Rachel."

"You actually think she'll take you back?" He scoffed.

"No," Jesse replied calmly, trying to keep the worry from his voice and failing. "No, it's nothing like that, look, will you just meet with me?"

Puckerman sighed heavily and was silent for a moment, before replying slowly. "Fine, Jerkface, but only because there are no hot chicks around for me to make out with and there's no way in hell, that I'm sitting down and actually doing my geometry. Meet me at Breadsticks in an hour."

The phone went dead.

Xxx

Puck was late, which didn't really surprise Jesse. He was grateful that the football player had agreed to meet him at all, and so sat at a small booth, tapping his fingers to some unknown beat and sipping from a tall glass of mineral water, watching the door.

Puck arrived a few minutes later, stopping to have a low conversation with the young waitress. Jesse's eyebrows rose as he watched Puck slip a hand around the girl's waist, making her blush and giggle. He coughed loudly and the waitress glanced over to him, blushing furiously, before shuffling away from Puck's reach.

Puck sighed and looked up to glare at Jesse.

Stomping over, he sat down with a huff, glowering as he snarled. "Now you're really not in my good books, St James."

Jesse looked at him, curious, for a moment, before replying. "She's three years older than you Pucklerman."

"And?" Puck shrugged. "Puckzilla can handle the older ladies." His brows furrowed. "So, what do you want? And what the hell are you doing around Berry again?"

"Comforting her. Being a friend."

Puck scoffed. "Friend, please, we're both guys, I know how freaking hot you find Berry. What do you really want?"

Jesse looked down for a moment, swirling his water around his glass, before speaking very slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I only want for her to be safe and happy, for now…"

"For now, huh? And why should I help you?"

"You must have noticed the change in her, Puckerman. Unless she changes her persona once she gets to school, it's pretty easy to spot. She told me how you stuck up for her a few days ago…? You must have seen how shaken up she's been since then?"

This time, Puck was quiet, and when he finally answered, his voice was quieter. "Yeah, I've noticed the change in Berry. She's been really affected recently, I mean, normally all that teasing and stuff just rolls off her, but now… you can tell it's getting her down." His hand tightened into fists. "I beat the crap out of Karofsky. Surprised you didn't have a go too."

"Don't tempt me." Jesse muttered through his teeth. "She doesn't want me to. I tried to get her to transfer, it isn't safe for her, but she wouldn't-"

"Wait, what do you mean, 'it isn't safe for her'." Puck cut through him.

"Well, you must have noticed Puckerman. Those two thugs think they can hit girls and it isn't like there's a stable emotional climate-"

"Okay, first, those two thugs won't be going near anyone if I have anything to do with it. And I'm here for her, I'm gonna make sure she's okay. I'm guessing Berry told you to get lost?"

Jesse sighed. "Good guess," He admitted.

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Look out for her. I mean, I've been taking care of her, for the past few days, but I have to go back to college soon. I can't look out for her as well from there."

Puck nodded, immediately. "Yeah, sure, I'll look out for her."

"Really?" Jesse looked up at him, trying not to betray his hope in his eyes.

"Let's take this conversation outside St James." Puck clambered up and out of his seat, leading Jesse out past the ditzy waitress and into the cold night air. Jesse chucked a few dollars on the table and followed.

They walked silently until they were out of the warm glow cast by the lights shining through the windows of Breadsticks and Puck stopped finally by a dingy lamppost, looking down at Jesse with a hard gaze.

Jesse had never really been scared of people. He could throw a good punch, if necessary, and most of the time he could talk his way out of trouble. But Puckerman was just so big.

"Listen St Jerk." He glowered down at Jesse, who crossed his arms and looked back, hoping that his knees weren't trembling.

"I'm listening."

"If you hurt Rache, in any way, I promise you that I will break you like a twig. It won't just be your tires that get slashed."

Jesse swallowed audibly.

"Fair enough."

"I should probably beat the crap out of you right here, right now, you sure as hell deserve it."

Jesse nodded slowly and when he spoke his voice was low. "You would have every rite to, and I wouldn't try and stop you. Just… try and avoid my nose okay? Statistics prove that actors with crooked noses have 70 percent less chance of getting on Broadway."

Puck snorted and rolled his eyes. "Dear God, you and Rachel deserve each other." He shook his head and then his tone became sombre again. "But remember the state of your tires okay St James?"

Jesse nodded and Puck pushed past him, walking away and calling over his shoulder. "I'll keep you posted on Berry."

Jesse nodded to the darkness and sighed, running a nervous hand through his hair. What had he let himself in for?

Xxx

Kurt Hummel was enjoying life.

Being out of that hell hole, McKinley, was doing its job; Dalton was incredible, so much better than anything he could have ever imagined. It was almost strange to be in somewhere so accepting and enjoyable five days a week. Of course, he worried about his dad, but what was new there? And he often spoke to Mercedes on the phone, who seemed to speak less and less of McKinley and glee club.

He had to admit that he felt incredibly guilty leaving the Glee club and Mercedes. It felt as if he was skipping off the paradise while they were left fighting for survival each day. Never the less, things were good. He was certain that Blaine was starting to feel the same way for him, he noticed the other day that the boy actually knew his coffee order, and their glee club, if being a little stiff and uptight, were completely incredible. So life was going well.

Hitching his bag further onto his shoulder, he pushed his iPod headphones further into his ears, smiling as Idina Menzel's voice rang through his head. Continuing down the street he glanced up, frowning a little, he was sure that this street was familiar, although he couldn't put his finger on why.

Glancing to the right, he froze when he saw Berry at the door to a house, which he presumed was her own and hugging a curly haired figure dressed in black. Pulling away from her, he walked down towards a large black Range Rover sat on the drive and clambered in, backing out smoothly and starting down the ride, as Rachel waved a little, watching him go.

No way.

There was no way that the curly haired guy could be Jesse St James, the slimy douche who had egged Rachel the year before and cost them Regionals.

No way, she would never go near him.

And yet, that was definitely the slimeball in question, driving off down the road.

Kurt stood, staring open mouthed at Rachel, who was still stood in the doorway, watching the Range Rover disappear down the road. She turned and her eyes fastened on him, her body freezing in surprise as her eyes widened. Then she was turning in a flurry of reindeer sweater and pleated skirt to slam the door loudly.

Hurrying across the road and banging angrily on the door Kurt yelled out. "Rachel, get out here!"

There was no reply from inside and Kurt kept on banging on the door, yelling loudly. With a final threat ("If you don't get your ass out here Rachel, I'm gonna break the door down!") the door swung open and Rachel appeared, her hands on her hips, frowning at him and scolding, her voice hard.

"There's no need to make such a fuss Kurt."

"Can I come in?" He pushed past her without waiting for an answer and walked into her house, listening as she sighed and shut the door behind them.

"What do you want?" She asked, crossing her arms defensively across her chest and squaring her shoulders.

"What are you doing hanging out with St Douche?" Kurt asked, bluntly.

"That's none of your business."

"Tell me Rachel."

"No."

His eyes narrowed dangerously and when he spoke, his voice was soft. "I'm sure that New Directions will be so interested to hear about your sordid love affair."

She looked at him for a moment and then shrugged, her shoulders slumping forward. "Tell them about my purely platonic friendship with Jesse then. I'm sure that they really won't care." She walked past him and into the lounge, sitting heavily onto a sofa. He followed her, confused, watching as she sat down and rolled up her sleeves, going to switch the TV off mute. It seemed that she and Jesse had been watching some old film before he had left.

Kurt's eyes immediately zeroed in on the bruise forming on her arm, a purple colour that was stark and obvious against her pale skin.

"Rache… what the hell?" He breathed out, slowly.

Rachel looked down and flushed a little when she saw the bruise, pulling her sweater sleeve down again.

"Rachel?"

"Get out of here Kurt."

"No way." He sat down next to her, grabbing the remote from her hands and switching the TV off, forcing her to look at him. "You're gonna explain this to me."

"Why would I do that?" She spat back.

"Because if you don't I'm gonna have to try and get my information from somewhere else."

They stared at each other for a long moment, not looking away and finally Rachel cracked, looking away and pulling her arm from his grasp.

"I am seeing Jesse again. But we're only friends. It's nice… to have a friend."

"Rache," Kurt felt a wave of unusual pity towards the girl in front of him. "You can always talk to me, I mean, I know we're not on the best of terms, but at least I didn't throw eggs at you."

Rachel shrugged again. "We've worked through our differences Kurt."

"And the Glee club, what do they think of this sudden friendship?"

"They don't know," she admitted finally, glancing up at him.

"How the hell can they not know, you two aren't exactly sly and Jacob Ben Israel practically stalks you?"

Rachel shrugged again. "Jacob isn't so bothered anymore."

"What?" Kurt's jaw dropped, his eyes widening.

"Yeah," Rachel sighed and stared forward, avoiding his gaze. "The Glee club aren't so bothered any more either. I think they'd just be irritated that they'd have to loose one of their members and go through the trouble of finding some new people to replace me."

"Rachel!" Kurt came to sit beside her, forcing her to look at him again. "Seriously, you are like, the most talented girl in there! How can you say that?"

"How can you?" Any façade of sanity was ripped away as Rachel turned to him, her eyes blazing. "How can I say this so you'll understand Kurt? They don't care. They hate me, all of them, even Mr Schue, I haven't had a solo in weeks!"

There was a moment of silence as Rachel's breathing evened out again and then Kurt asked softly. "And the bruise?"

"Karofsky." Was all she said.

Kurt's eyes darkened and he scowled, his hands making small fists.

"What did he do?" When he spoke, his voice was tight and angry.

"Pushed me around a bit." She shrugged, "Cornered me, shoved me on the floor, shook me up a bit. Noah got there before they could do anything else."

Kurt growled low in his throat. "Are you hurt?"

"Not particularly." Rachel shrugged.

"How long ago was this?"

"About a week ago," Her brows furrowed a little in confusion as Kurt hissed angrily. "What?"

"Why didn't Finn say anything to me about this?"

Rachel glanced away. "Finn and I aren't on the best of terms."

"I gathered that." He looked at her and sighed heavily, when he spoke again, it was obvious he was trying to lighten the situation. "So, you and St James?"

"Yeah."

"Is it going anywhere or…?" He trailed off, watching her closely for her reply.

"No." She shook her head quickly. "No way. We're friends and that's all. He'll have to go back to UCLA soon and that'll probably be the last I hear from him."

The despair in her eyes was hard to take and Kurt placed a hesitant hand over hers. "Are you unhappy?" He asked finally, his voice soft.

She sighed heavily again and after a moment, replied. "I'll be okay. I'm resilient you know." She offered him a shadow of a smile.

"I know you are Rachel." He smiled sadly back and squeezed her hand lightly. "I'm here rache. Only a phone call away."

Xxx

It wasn't a surprise when Jesse told her that he had to leave again, but it still hurt. She drove out to the airport to see him, telling her dads that she was going to meet up with Kurt. They didn't talk much before her left, just held each other, embracing tightly as if they would never let go.

When Jesse felt her breathing begin to stagger a little beneath him, he pulled away gently and stroked his hand down her cheek, catching the tear before it could fall.

"Don't be sad." He begged softly and she tried a small smile.

"I really enjoyed seeing you Jesse."

"Hey," He coaxed her up to look at him again. "This isn't goodbye," he promised.

He heard the doubt in her silence.

"Really Rache. I'm just a call away, and I'm going to be calling a whole lot."

"When is your next break?" She asked gently.

"In a month or so, for about a week. I'll be down here immediately, I promise you that."

She smiled a little again and nodded and he pulled her closer, his heart breaking when the announcement for his flight came over the loud speakers. Pulling away a little he looked down at her silently for a moment, his eyes lingering on her lips as he tried to resist the urge to capture them with his. Her warm body shifted in his arms as she looked up at him.

"I guess… this is goodbye."

"No," He countered gently, his hand grazing her face gently. "It's a see you later."

She smiled and he noticed a faint twinkle of the old Rachel in her as she replied. "It's a date St James."

He smiled at her and pulled her closer for one last embrace before hurrying away. She watched him until he was out of sight, her arms already missing the feeling of him. Her cheek tingled where he had placed his large hand and she sighed softly, wrapping her arms tighter around herself.

She was on her own now.

Xxx

And viola.

May I just say that I'll be upset if Rachel and Blaine become a couple. I love Klaine and St Berry.

Although, Darren and Lea's duet is the best song of the episode, closely followed by Tik Tok.

Looking forward to the return of Jesse, I'll keep my fingers crossed!

I was having a bit of a glee fest this morning and just sat there with the back nine episodes of season 1, fast forwarding to the bits with Jesse in them. It didn't really help, I just got really nostalgic. However, it spurred me to go and write this story, which is a good thing :).

Hmmm, me thinks seven or eight reviews before an update. :)

Review please, and I will update! Thank you for all the updates for the last chapter.

Love, as always.

Ray

xxx