A/N: So...I wasn't planning on updating this soon, but this came together a lot faster than I anticipated, so here you go :) A little bit of a longer chapter, with lots of fluff at the end and a granted wish for northstar61 :) I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned Glee, I'd hire fabulous St. Berry writers to fix the mess that RIB have turned Glee into and of course to write lots of fabulous St. Berry scenes. :)


Walking into what he'd already decided would be his former home, Jesse immediate knew his sister was waiting for him. Deciding that he might as well just get this what was sure to be unpleasant conversation over with, he went looking for her. He didn't have to look far. She was in the living room, looking mad and rubbing her arm. Jesse couldn't help the smirk that formed on his lips.

"Shelby give you a hard time?" he asked.

Genevieve raised un-amused eyes to her brother's.

"She manhandled me!"

Jesse rolled his eyes.

"You think that Shelby was scary? I've seen worse. You had no right to practically barge into her house like that. I told you that we would talk tomorrow over lunch, but apparently you just couldn't wait, could you? You must have inherited Mother's impatience."

"Don't play funny with me, Jesse."

"I'm not," Jesse told her, "I want to know why you're here and what exactly it is that you want with me now…nearly six years to the date that you walked out of my life without ever looking back."

"I'm sure she already told you," Genevieve snapped.

"She did, but I want to hear it from you. Why are you here and why are you insisting on a place in my life?"

"Mom and Dad are selling the house. Something about not wanting to have to come back to Ohio. They sent me to get any of the things I still have here that I want. I didn't want you to be displaced during your senior year, so I offered to buy the house from them."

"And what? So graciously let me live here? You figured that I'd…what? Owe you one? Then I'd be so grateful for you practically saving my life that I'd automatically let you back in?"

Genevieve was silent, taken aback by the fact that Jesse had pretty much just read her mind. Her silence was all the confirmation Jesse needed.

"I'm done asking you to leave me alone," Jesse started only to be interrupted by his sister.

"So you'll let me back in?" Genevieve asked hopefully, though Jesse had no idea why.

"No," Jesse said, finality evident in his voice, "You have no place in my life anymore. You lost that place years ago."

"Jesse, please."

"I'm really beginning to think you're mentally unstable or something. You act like a selfish, spoiled brat to the woman who helped me to become who I am today, and then you turn around and beg me like a child to let you back into my life. Which is it, Genevieve?"

Genevieve stood, began to pace.

"I didn't go there intending to act like that. She just made me so angry. She acted like she knew what was best for you. She's not family, Jesse."

"She might not be yours, but she's most definitely mine. I made my own family when my biological one all but deserted me. Sure, Mother and Father send money my way, and I'll admit having money is nice, but money doesn't replace family. It doesn't replace the feeling that you actually belong somewhere. Uncle Kevin, Aunt Janelle, Blaine, Shelby, and now Rachel; those are the people I truly feel I belong with."

"I know you don't trust me, and I probably do seem rather mentally unstable, I just have no idea who you are anymore. I don't know how to relate to you, how to make you understand that I sincerely want to be part of your life."

"Why?" Jesse asked after a moment.

"Why…what?" Genevieve returned, obviously confused.

Jesse ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Why do you want to be part of my life? Why now?"

"I told you. I'm getting married, I want you there."

"You want someone to walk you down the aisle because while our father may have consented to pay for said wedding, he clearly doesn't want to be there and he doesn't want to walk you down the aisle. You don't want to sacrifice the tradition of being walked down the aisle."

The look in Genevieve's eyes told Jesse everything.

"You'd play nice," he continued, "until after the wedding was over. Then you'd walk right back out of my life like it was nothing. You'd go on your surely expensive honeymoon satisfied that you managed to once again get whatever you wanted."

"Is it so wrong to want that traditional part of the wedding ceremony?" Genevieve all but yelled.

"No," Jesse admitted, "but the way you're going about it is all wrong. Had we kept in touch, had you shown me that you wanted to be part of my life even from afar, then maybe I'd be willing to do as you asked. But you didn't. You walked out that door almost six years ago and never looked back. Do you even understand how much that hurt? To realize that the one person you thought would always be there for you suddenly decided that you weren't good enough?"

Genevieve studied her brother for a moment before she spoke.

"I understand the hurt that Mom and Dad caused when they decided that they were done doing the whole raising children thing. They stuck around here while Mom was pregnant, because just like you said; it looked really good for their image, and shortly thereafter, but then they went back to their old ways by just up and leaving again. I had gotten my hopes up again, even though I knew I shouldn't. When they walked away again, I physically hurt."

"So why did you do the exact same thing to me?"

"I don't know. I didn't plan on it. I just got busy with school, making friends. I barely had enough time to sleep. I kept thinking I would get in touch with you tomorrow, that one more day wouldn't make much of a difference. One day turned into a week. A week turned into a month. A month turned into six. Six months turned into a year. That one year turned into two, and now almost six. I really am sorry, Jesse."

"If I accept your apology, will you leave me alone?"

"No. I plan on being part of your life."

"You can't just make yourself part of someone else's life, Genevieve. That's not how this works. You can have the house, I really don't care. I'm moving out. I was made an offer I simply couldn't resist. I'll be out within a week. Do whatever you want with the house after that," Jesse said, turning to go upstairs.

"Why won't you let me at least try to be part of your life?" Genevieve asked.

Jesse whirled to face his sister once more, his tone serious.

"Because I know how things work with you. I refuse to put myself through that again. I'm old enough to make my own decisions in regards to who I allow into my life. I want nothing to do with you. I have everything I need with the family that I made for myself. I turn 18 in a few days and one of my trust funds comes due then, though I'm sure you already knew that. I'll get another when I turn 21 and again when I turn 25. I will get a full ride to college and our parents will pay for wherever I decide to live, because that's how they show that they care and they'll consider it part of their education. It'll look good for their image-helping their son out with his education so he can concentrate on his studies, and not have to worry about how he's going to make ends meet."

"What if I make an effort? I'll stick around here and…"

"No," Jesse said, cutting her off. "I want you to leave. I'm going back upstairs to get some of my things and then I'm going back to Shelby's. I'll be back in a few days to get the rest of my things. Like I said earlier, I'll be out within a week."

"Where will you live?" Genevieve asked.

"That's none of your business."

"Jesse, please."

"No. It's a simple word, Genevieve. Look it up if you have to. I want nothing to do with you," Jesse snapped before he turned and walked upstairs to his room, locking the door behind him before making his way to his bathroom so he could shower, change, grab some of his things, and get back to Rachel.


"I'm worried about Jesse," Rachel confessed as she and Shelby sat on the couch in the living room.

It had only been a few hours since Jesse left, but Rachel worried more every second he wasn't with her.

"I know," Shelby said with a sympathetic smile, "but Jesse can handle his sister. She acts tough, but she's really not."

Rachel sighed, leaned against her mother for comfort. "She wouldn't do anything to hurt him, would she?"

Shelby wrapped her arms around her daughter, hugging her close.

"Not physically. She and Jesse can both cut people down with their words, but she's not physically strong enough to do any damage to him."

"You've met her before then? Before this morning?"

Shelby nodded.

"I have. I'm not sure she really remembers me, since I met her shortly before she walked out of Jesse's life. I had just moved in, was getting settled. I met Martin and Gwendolyn St. James and their children, Genevieve and Jesse. Genevieve looks like a carbon copy of their mother while Jesse was more of a mixture. He has Gwendolyn's curly hair, but Martin's eyes and skin tone. Both are relatively tall, Martin a bit taller than his wife. Jesse's about the same height as his father, but that's where the similarities end. Jesse is nothing like his father, and he'll be a better man because of it."

"Did you feel a connection to Jesse too?" Rachel wondered.

"Not the same one you did, obviously, but in a way, yes. I knew there was something special about him, knew he was somehow different from the rest of his family…and they considered him a bit of an outcast because of that difference. Being a boy worked in his favor because then his father didn't look like a failure for not having an heir to the St. James name."

"How horrible," Rachel whispered.

Shelby pressed a kiss to the top of her daughter's head.

"I guess Jesse has his father's determination, too, but he uses it differently. His aunt, Martin's sister, is nothing like her brother either. I never met Jesse's grandfather, but I have a feeling he wasn't much different than Martin himself. Janelle, that's Jesse's aunt, and her husband, Kevin, have been very supportive of Jesse. Their son loves the arts too, so the two often spent a lot of time together. Once Jesse joined Vocal Adrenaline, he immediately became the male lead. I got to know him over the years, and we developed a friendship or sorts. I live a lot closer than Janelle and Kevin do so if he needed anything, it was easier for him to just walk down the block to me instead of going across town to his aunt and uncle."

Rachel nodded, unsure what else to say.

"He'll be fine, baby. I'm sure he'll appreciate that you were worried, though," Shelby assured her daughter.

"I know, I just wish he'd get back here already."

"While we wait, you could fill me in on how things are going with the two of you. I can tell you that I've never seen Jesse happier than he has been since you two met."

Rachel smiled, thinking about her boyfriend. The title didn't seem to fit the way she felt about him, though. She'd always felt things rather intensely, something else she had in common with her mother, but experiencing true love, meeting her soul mate. That was a feeling she couldn't quite describe.

"Things are wonderful. He's amazing. I wasn't sure I'd ever meet someone I could share my life with, who would understand me on so many different levels. When I met Jesse, it was just like everything fell into place. I didn't have to wish anymore. I have the real thing, and I have every intention of holding onto it for dear life," Rachel answered.

Shelby smiled.

"I can tell you make each other happy, and it warms my heart. For both of you. It's not easy for Jesse to let people in; trust is very much something that has to be earned with him."

"I didn't really give him a choice in the matter, did I?"

Shelby laughed.

"No, my darling daughter, you didn't. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though."

"Do you think my dads will like Jesse?" Rachel asked, a bit of panic in her voice

"I do," Shelby answered soothingly. "You'll always be their little girl, but once they see how happy you two make each other, I'm sure they'll be fine. Remember, if they hadn't been okay with Jesse living here, I couldn't have made the offer to him."

"That's true," Rachel said softly.

Before Rachel or Shelby could say anything else, they heard the doorbell ring.


Jesse shifted his bags on his shoulder as he waited for Shelby or Rachel to answer the door. He hoped to God that Shelby's offer was still good-he loved his relatives, but he really didn't want to live with them. Plus, he'd be across town from Rachel, and that wasn't something he wanted either. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when he saw Shelby open the door and smile at him. Immediately after he'd entered the house, she shut the door behind him and reached for his bags.

"I'll take those upstairs for you. Rachel's been worried about you."

"Thanks," Jesse murmured before he made his way further into the house and down the hall to the music room.


Rachel sat at the piano, attempting to play what she now considered her and Jesse's song. The word hello had an entirely different meaning to her now. It would forever make her think of the first time she had gotten to sing with Jesse. She was nowhere near as talented as him when it came to playing the piano, but she knew some songs and she knew the notes. She was so busy looking at the keys and humming the melody that she didn't notice that Jesse had walked into the room until he slid onto the piano bench beside her.

"Jess," Rachel breathed.

Jesse leaned over to brush his lips with Rachel's.

"Rach."

"I was trying to play our song. Not very well I might add," She confessed, looking down at the piano keys again.

Jesse smiled as he tilted Rachel's face up and towards him so he could look into her eyes.

"I think it's sweet that you were trying. I could teach you, if you'd like."

Rachel returned her boyfriend's smile.

"I'd like that. For now, though, could we just sing it?"

Giving his girlfriend one more kiss, Jesse nodded in agreement before launching into the opening notes of Hello.


Shelby had just finished setting Jesse's bags in what would now become his room when she heard her cell phone ring. Not bothering to glance at the caller ID, she quickly answered.

"Hello?"

"Who do you think you are, letting Jesse move out like that?" the angry voice on the other end demanded.

"Hello to you, too, Martin. So glad to hear from you. Jesse's fine, thanks for asking. Your daughter, on the other hand, deserves to be sat down and talked to like the child she obviously still is."

"I'm not in the mood for funny business, Shelby."

"Neither am I. I'm simply looking out for Jesse, like I have been for nearly six years now. The only helpful thing your daughter did is divulge is your plans for the Akron house. So nice of you to send a messenger."

"Gwendolyn told me she spoke to Jesse about it."

"Well she lied. Jesse knew nothing of it until I told him and your daughter confirmed it. I offered to let him move in here, since he has repeatedly said he wants nothing to do with Genevieve."

"They're siblings."

"Jesse is your son, Martin, and yet you've shown absolutely no interest whatsoever in any of the things that mean the most to him. If it weren't for me, your sister, and her husband, I don't know if Jesse would have survived."

"He's weak. He's always been weak."

Shelby scoffed.

"You're the weak one, Martin. If you had been in Jesse's shoes, I doubt you would have survived. He created a family of his own when his biological one deserted him. He's finally happy. He turns 18 in a few days and after that, you can't decide where he lives any more, among other things. He'll be staying with me for as long as he likes. Someone has to be there for him, since you and your wife so obviously don't want to be. Though you might want to talk to your daughter about her manners."

"Why would I do that? She's a grown woman."

"Because she decided that it was perfectly fine to come over to my house this morning and demand to speak to Jesse. When I refused, she tried to basically tell me that I couldn't tell her what to do. I had to physically take her back to your property just so she would leave me, and Jesse, alone. She also keeps asking about my daughter, who is absolutely none of her concern."

"Why would she be concerned about your daughter? She doesn't even live with you."

Even though Martin couldn't see her expression, Shelby's lips curved into a sly smile.

"She is now. She starts at Carmel next week. She's also dating your son."

"What?" Martin all but yelled, obviously not pleased.

Enjoying herself, Shelby continued.

"She'll be your daughter-in-law someday, Martin. You might as well get used to the idea now, though I doubt you'll earn an invitation to their wedding."

After a few moments of silence on the other end, Shelby spoke again.

"You will leave Jesse alone. You're just angry because he'll be a better man than you ever were. You're jealous of your own son, your own flesh and blood. I'm sure you wouldn't want that getting out, tarnishing your image and all that."

"Fine," Martin snapped, "but if something happens to him, I'm holding you completely responsible."

"Fine by me. Goodbye, Martin," Shelby returned before she snapped the phone shut, effectively ending the call.

Making her way downstairs, her mood was immediately lifted as she heard the sound of a piano, followed by both Rachel's and Jesse's voices, drifting down the hall from the music room. Deciding to leave them be, she made her way into the kitchen and began to prepare dinner, reminding herself to thank Hiram when she saw him tomorrow for sending her all of his vegan recipes.


Nearly an hour later, once dinner was done and ready to be served, Shelby made her way down the hall to the music room where she was positive Rachel and Jesse still were. Jesse was patiently teaching Rachel how to play their song, giving her tips on sight reading.

"Rachel, Jesse, dinner's ready," Shelby said, reluctantly interrupting them.

"It smells wonderful," Rachel said, pressing a kiss to Jesse's cheek before walking down the hall towards the kitchen, aware that Jesse wanted a moment alone to talk to her mother.

"If the offer's still good…" he started, at an unusual loss for words.

"You're welcome here anytime, Jesse," Shelby said with a reassuring smile. "Yes, the offer is still good. I'll let you tell Rachel, I'm sure she'll be ecstatic. I already spoke to your father as well, so everything is taken care of."

"He called you, didn't he?" Jesse guessed.

"He did. He wasn't pleased, but he knows better than to argue with me. Besides, you'll be 18 in a few days, and then he has no more say over you."

"So I should wait until I'm 18 to officially move out?"

"That's up to you. Even if you don't get the rest of your things for a few days, you're still welcome here. Welcome home, Jesse."

Jesse smiled and then stood to hug Shelby.

"Thanks," he said before he headed down the hall to join his girlfriend in the kitchen.

After surveying the room once more, and smiling at the thought of all of the new memories it now held, Shelby joined her daughter and the boy who would one day be her son-in-law for dinner. Their first as a new sort of family unit-one they'd created for themselves.


Jesse was getting this settled in what was now his new room when he heard his door open. Shelby would have knocked first, so it had to be Rachel. Turning, he smiled when he saw his suspicion was correct.

"Done helping your mom clean up already?" Jesse asked as Rachel walked into his arms.

Rachel nodded as she wrapped her own arms around Jesse's neck. "She said you had something you wanted to tell me."

This time it was Jesse's turn to nod. "A couple of things, actually, but first…I'm taking your mom up on her offer. I'm moving in."

Rachel grinned and hugged Jesse tightly, her grin widening when he wrapped his arms just as tightly around her and picked her up.

"What's the second thing?" she asked as he set her back down on her feet.

"I'll tell you before we go to sleep tonight. I promise. For now, you should get started on your routine since we had a late dinner and we fell asleep before you could do it last night."

"Kicking me out of your room already?" Rachel asked with a mock pout.

Jesse chuckled, leaned down to kiss her.

"Never."

Rachel grinned at him.

"I'll hold you to that. You're right, though. Meet me in my room in about a half an hour?"

"Deal," Jesse answered, brushing his lips with Rachel's once more.

After stealing another kiss from her boyfriend, Rachel made her way across the hall to her own room. She was really curious as to what Jesse wanted to tell her and she was excited to see her dads tomorrow. She wanted to see her Lima friends before she started school again, but she wasn't sure that was going to happen. Vocal Adrenaline rehearsals started again on Monday, and once school started she knew they'd be going farther into the night. Deciding to try to figure out what Jesse wanted to tell her instead, Rachel grabbed her pajamas and walked into her bathroom to start her nightly routine.


True to his word, a half an hour later, Jesse walked into his girlfriend's room in the same fashion she had walked into his-not bothering to knock, knowing he was welcome.

"Rach?" He called, not seeing her immediately.

Rachel was smiling when she poked her head out of the bathroom. "I'll just be like five minutes longer."

Jesse nodded, settling himself on her bed while he waited. He found himself so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that nearly ten minutes had passed before Rachel joined him on the bed.

"Jess," She said, poking his side the same way she had that morning.

"You know there's better ways to get my attention other than poking me, right?" Jesse asked with a laugh.

Rachel grinned at him.

"I know, but this way I for sure get your attention."

"You've had it since the moment I laid eyes on you."

Rachel blushed a little before she remembered that Jesse had promised to tell her something else before they went to sleep.

"What else did you want to tell me?"

"It's important," Jesse started, pulling Rachel into his arms and stroking her hair. "It's not something I've said to many people, what the words mean in regards to you isn't something I've ever said to anyone else. When I realized what I was feeling, I sort of panicked. I called Blaine, and he just laughed at me. Talking with him, I realized that I panicked because it was a new emotion for me…sort of."

Thinking that his rambling was adorable, Rachel simply smiled and nodded, urging him to continue.

"I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you'd become someone important in my life. I guess it goes with that intuition thing you and your mom are always talking about. I felt…connected to you immediately. That was before I knew that you shared my interests, before I knew a whole lot about you."

"I understand," Rachel said, reaching up to run her fingers through Jesse's hair.

"Our date only solidified what I already knew I felt. I know it wasn't really romantic, but I didn't want to wait. I knew I needed to be with you, I knew I wanted to be with you," Jesse continued.

"It was perfect," Rachel said quietly. "The fact that you paid attention when I told you I was a vegan, and you kept that in mind when you picked a place, that meant so much to me. Most people just shrug it off like it's not important, but it is. You knew that."

"Everything about you is important. You are important to me."

"What do you mean by our date only solidified what you already knew?" Rachel wondered.

Reaching to pull her closer, Jesse leaned over and kissed Rachel before he whispered the three words he'd been wanting to tell her since shortly after he met her.

"I love you."

Hearing Jesse's whispered words, Rachel felt like she wanted to cry-and not because she was sad. Hoping her voice didn't sound too watery, she returned the words her boyfriend had just said to her.

"I love you, too."

Unable to express in words just how happy it made him to hear those words back, Jesse pulled Rachel further into his arms and kissed her, hoping the kiss would convey what he was currently unable to verbally. He smiled into the kiss and then deepened it as he felt Rachel wrap her arms around his neck to keep him close.

After they broke apart due to lack of air, Jesse rested his forehead against Rachel's.

"You've become my world, Rach. I can't imagine my life without you. I want to marry you someday, have a family with you. I understand we're young, but if you don't feel the same way…if you don't love me the same way that I love you, I need you to tell me now."

Rachel let the tears fall this time. What Jesse had just told her was beyond anything she'd ever imagined.

"Why are you crying?" Jesse asked, wiping the tears away.

Rachel sniffled a couple of times before she spoke.

"Because what you just said to me…I never thought I'd someone who would love me like that. Especially not at only 15. I knew I loved you shortly after I met you, and you've become my world too. I want all of those things too-marriage, family, everything. I want to be there to witness every step of your career, and I'd love to star on Broadway with you, too."

"That's an inevitability," Jesse answered, leaning forward to capture her lips with his once more.

"I love you, Jess," Rachel whispered as they ended the kiss.

"I love you, too, Rach."

Cuddling closer to her boyfriend, the boy she had no doubt was the love of her life, Rachel closed her eyes, completely content. Pulling the blankets up to cover them once more, Jesse rested his head against Rachel's before he too closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep with the girl of his dreams held tightly in his arms.