A/N: I'm sorry. I didn't WANT to make Finn a douchebag...I tried my best to compromise, lol. I think this might be my favorite chapter so far, but who knows what might happen in the future! Read and Review please!
When Jesse finished his shower and finally gathered the courage to face Rachel, he made his way to the kitchen where he found her making eggs. His ears turned slightly red and he felt the familiar pang of guilt before he sat down on a stool at the breakfast bar.
"You really don't have to keep being so selfless," he said, and she looked over to him, clearly torn between still being offended for his rude intrusion earlier and confusion. Jesse nodded to the stove. "You keep cooking things you wouldn't normally even dream of looking at for me."
"It's not just for you," she said quickly, and Jesse looked away. "I mean, you need your strength, so…" she trailed off. Jesse picked up a banana and began playing with it.
"Well you still skipped school again today."
"I figured it was impertinent for you to be staying in my house without anyone here," she shrugged. "Speaking of which…Jesse…aren't your parents going to wonder where—"
"They left for Prague last week," he interrupted, and she nodded to him with understanding, and then knotted her eyebrows.
"Isn't your graduation next week?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Your parents are skipping out on your High School graduation?" Rachel asked, shocked. Jesse shrugged.
"It's not that big a deal," he lied. Rachel scowled but said nothing, and turned her attention back to the eggs. Jesse followed her glance. "I'm so sorry for that," he added, and Rachel turned to him once more, perplexed.
"What? It's not my fault your parents are skipping your graduation."
"No, not that," Jesse rolled his eyes and stood, walking to where Rachel was cooking the scrambled eggs. "For that," he pointed to the stove.
"It's really not a big deal, I do it for my dads all the—oh," Rachel's face fell as she understood.
"I was a douche," he said, and Rachel suppressed a smile.
"That's one of the nicer things I called you," she admitted. Jesse smiled back.
"I deserved that," he grinned, and Rachel nodded.
"Yeah you did," she giggled. There was a pause as they stared at one another, beaming, and the next ten seconds passed by in slow motion.
Jesse watched her hand reach for the Styrofoam carton, he could hear the wheels in her head turning, and before he even had a chance, the egg was down on his curls and slopping down the side of his face. Rachel was giggling uncontrollably, backing away. Jesse looked at her with wide, playful eyes. He looked around for ammunition of his own, and his eyes fell on a bowl of dry pancake mix. He grabbed a handful and threw it towards her, the front of her blue striped sweater turning white.
"I just showered!" she shrieked, and Jesse laughed.
"So did I!" he defended himself from another egg, but Rachel's other hand snuck to a bottle of syrup. She squeezed, and Jesse found himself with a sticky mess on his own black tee.
"What are you trying to do, turn me into a buffet?" he asked. He reached for the bowl, but Rachel was too quick for him. She shrieked as he dove for her, but she had the entire metal bowl in her hands, looking threatening. Jesse braced himself as he felt the flour-like mixture fall down over his hair and shoulders, and coughing a little, he opened his eyes, sure he looked like a misshapen ghost. Rachel clutched her sides in fits of laughter, and Jesse narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, funny, am I?" he asked, wrapping his now-doughy arms around her. She squealed, and tried to pull away. "I'll show you funny," he growled, teasing, and wiped an egg-honey-flour-covered hand through her long brown hair.
"Jesse!" Rachel giggled. "You're making a mess!"
"Oh I made the mess, hmm?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She turned to look at him, biting her lip, and Jesse scowled as a bit of eggshell fell from his hair. They looked at one another for about three seconds before bursting into hysterics again, and Rachel ran her hands through his sticky curls, trying to remove any other hint off eggshell. Jesse pulled a few sticky strands of hair from Rachel's cheek, and they looked at each other for what felt like decades.
"What the hell?"
They both turned, startled, to the kitchen doorway where a furious Finn Hudson stood. Rachel's hands fell immediately.
"Finn!" she gasped, attempting to brush off the flour, as though it were possible to hide it. "What…what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?" she asked, attempting to be innocent. Finn narrowed his eyes.
"I could ask you the same question," he glowered. Rachel swallowed and approached him.
"Finn," she began, but he pulled away.
"No, Rachel. I went to your locker and you weren't there again, so I was worried, so I snuck out the doors near the locker room, but obviously you're just having a cute little day with your asshole boyfriend," he sneered. Jesse stepped forward menacingly, but Rachel swatted him away.
"Jesse, stop. Finn, I was taking care of him—"
"Oh I bet you were," Finn hissed. Rachel rolled her eyes, and Jesse realized Finn couldn't see the bruises through the layer of flour. "Rachel, how could you do this to me? To us? To the club?"
"Finn, there's nothing going on! If you'd just let me explain—"
"So is this the reason you broke my heart?"
"Finn!" Rachel shrieked, causing both the boys to jump. "Jesse got beat up by Vocal Adrenaline because they lost at Nationals," she began to explain. "They left him in the dumpster at school without help, and he called me to take care of him. That's where I've been the past two days. If you don't believe me, ask Noah." Rachel crossed her arms, and Finn rolled his eyes.
"I don't get you Rachel! After everything he's done, you still thought it was okay to help him?"
"Yes Finn, I did," Rachel snapped.
"This is stupid, you're stupid!" Finn yelled, and Jesse stepped forward once more.
"Back off, Hudson," he growled, and Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Will you both just stop?"
"No," Finn and Jesse said simultaneously, sneering at one another.
"Look Finn," Jesse began, "This doesn't concern you. Rachel helped me when I needed her the most, and I'm going to be eternally grateful to her. So why don't you just leave now?" Jesse was trying his best to be polite, but it was futile.
"Hmm, how about no, asshole?" Finn smirked, and Jesse flared his nostrils. Rachel turned to Finn.
"Finn I think you should go now," she said, and Finn ignored her. Jesse let out a heavy breath.
"Hey douchebag, Rachel asked you to leave," he said to the burly teen. Finn lunged forward just as Rachel stepped in between the two, and although he tried to stop, the sheer momentum of the boy's weight caused his arm to graze the side of her cheek. Finn blundered, horrified, as he watched the girl raise an arm to her face, and without another word, he spun and rushed out of the house. Jesse had half a mind to chase him down the street and pummel him, but he was aware that in his current state, it wasn't the best of ideas. Jesse instantly turned to Rachel, who was clearly fighting back tears.
"Rach," he said, pulling her to the stool. "Rachel let me see your cheek," he said softly. She shook her head fervently, and he gently pulled her hand away. It was red, and he could see the makings of a slight bruise, as well as some swelling.
"He didn't mean to," she said finally, and Jesse wasn't sure if she was stating it as a fact or trying to assure herself.
"I know," Jesse agreed softly. He pushed a cake-y piece of hair behind her ear and used a wet dishtowel to clean some of the flour off her face.
"He tried to hit you," she said finally. "We explained that you were beat up, and he still tried to hit you," she was incredulous.
"He's an idiot," Jesse said simply. "You should go get yourself cleaned up," he said, throwing the towel in the sink. "Then I'll get this cleaned up," he nodded to the kitchen.
"We'll get it cleaned up," she amended. Jesse nodded to her, and the pair made their way upstairs to take their second shower in less than three hours.
He was already naked and in the shower by the time he realized that he didn't have any alternate clothes to wear. Grumbling, he wrapped a towel around his waist and ambled down the hall, knocking softly on Rachel's doorframe.
"Come in!" she called. She was dressed, but her hair was in a ponytail, a look he wasn't used to. He felt suddenly self-conscious in his nearly –naked form, and looked at her sheepishly.
"Hey, uh, do you have anything I could wear?" he asked, bashful, and Rachel reddened immediately upon seeing his nude torso.
"Oh!" she stood, rushing past him towards her dads' room. She searched through drawers until she finally found a pair of running shorts and a plain white undershirt. She held them out apologetically, and he took them with one hand, holding the towel in place with the other.
"Thanks, they'll work perfectly," he said.
"Just give me your laundry, I'll throw it in with mine," Rachel said, doing her best to avoid looking at him. Jesse grinned devilishly.
"Alright," he said, setting his clean clothes atop of the toilet and picking up his dirty pile, handing it to Rachel. She was refusing to look him in the eyes, and Jesse had to smirk. Quickly throwing on the clothes, he rushed down to where he believed the laundry was, and sure enough, there was Rachel hovered over the washer, measuring soap.
"Need a hand?" he asked, and Rachel jumped. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Jesse said, leaning against the large sink. His eyes lingered on the small bruise Rachel now sported, and she turned away, embarrassed. Taking a deep breath, Jesse stepped towards her. "Rachel," he began, reaching to touch her cheek. She tried to shy away, but she froze as his fingertips brushed the slight bump.
"Don't," she began, and Jesse retracted, fearful. "It's not your fault," she said, surprising him. Jesse looked away, heavy.
"I always end up causing you to get hurt," he growled quietly, hoping she couldn't hear.
"That's not true," Rachel interrupted. "It's my fault you were beat up…nearly twice," she added.
"Rachel, how many times do I have to tell you that my distraction wasn't your fault?" Jesse asked. Rachel crossed her arms.
"Fine, if it's not my fault you were beat up, it's not your fault I was," she said crossly. Jesse opened his mouth to argue, but was met with a stern look from Rachel.
"Fine," he accepted in defeat. Rachel nodded.
"Good. Now come on, we've got a kitchen to clean."
Jesse followed her to the kitchen, where she handed him a sponge and a bucket, while she took a mop and began to scrub the floor. Jesse worked on some of the walls and counters. Rachel flicked the switch on a little radio on the counter, and they listened to oldies as they worked.
"I feel like Cinderella," Jesse complained after a bit, and Rachel giggled.
"Okay princess," she teased, and Jesse splashed her with a bit of water. "Ew, Jesse!" she squealed. "This is gross, and I don't want to do this again!"
"Fine," he laughed, looking around to take in the work they'd done. "I think it looks pretty good," he said, and Rachel nodded.
"Yeah, most of it landed on us, thankfully." She walked towards the sink to ring out the mop, but she slipped on the wet tile. Instinctively, Jesse reached to catch her, but he too was in quite a puddle himself. They both went down, with Rachel sprawled on top of Jesse. They began laughing, neither bothering to attempt getting up. After their giggles had subsided, they locked eyes, and Jesse was sure he heard Rachel take a quick gasp. He was unsure, however, because without thinking, he'd reached up to kiss her. There was a moment of surprise on Rachel's end, but after the initial surprise wore off, she kissed him back.
"Jesse," Rachel said, finally breaking it off. He looked to her, blissful. "I…"
"It's okay," Jesse replied, his heart pounding. "Rachel I—"
"Jesse wait," Rachel said, sitting up and leaning against the lower cabinets. Jesse did the same, fearful. "There's something I need to say first." She took a deep breath and began. "When you…when you did what you did, I was furious with you. I hated you; I couldn't understand why you would play me for such a fool and break my heart, especially when you told me you loved me. And then we went to Regionals and you won, and as I watched you hold the trophy over your head, I understood." Jesse guiltily looked at her, and she shrugged. "You chose success and fame over me, and to be honest…I probably would have done the same thing," she admitted. Jesse looked at her for a moment, and she continued. . "If my teammates had come to me and said, "Rachel, listen, we can guarantee a win at Regionals if you just dump that loser St. James," I probably wouldn't have thought twice," Rachel sniffed, Jesse watched her carefully, praying she wouldn't start to cry; he didn't know if he could handle that.
"Rachel, I am so sorry," Jesse bit his lip, and she looked to him.
"But is it enough?" she asked rhetorically. Jesse opened his mouth to attempt answering, but he closed it quickly. "I've been practicing this speech since the day you left, but it's so much harder to say to you and not my mirror," Rachel admitted, laughing sardonically.
"Rachel," he began, swallowing hard. His heart was in his throat, and his mouth felt dry. "Rachel let me say something." Jesse took a deep breath and plunged. "I lied to you, when I egged you. It wasn't that I loved you," he said, and he felt Rachel take a shuddered breath. He looked up to her, panicked. "Oh no that wasn't what I meant! I mean I love you. I still do. I hate myself for what I did, Rachel. I thought it was what I wanted and I hated you so much for making me question everything that I'd been so sure of my entire life. But all I know right now is that I have never been so thankful to have been beaten up."
Rachel was looking at him, biting her lip. She wanted so badly to forgive him, forget that the past month had happened and live happily forever after, but there was a piece of her that couldn't do it.
"Jesse," she started, "Jesse would you have come back to me even if you hadn't been beaten up?" Jesse looked to her.
"I wanted to," he said finally, and she squinted, fighting back tears.
"But you wouldn't have," she said finally, and Jesse reached towards her.
"Rachel, you don't know that," he said. "I wanted to; I used to tell Shelby almost every day how guilty I felt. She knows about the…the egging," he said finally, and Rachel's head snapped up.
"What?"
"I told her. So I think now between that and my beating, she's going to be the most brutal vocal coach on the East coast." Rachel giggled through her tears, and looked into Jesse's eyes.
"You broke my heart," she finally squeaked, cracking. "I loved you, and you broke my heart." Jesse felt helpless as he watched the girl attempt to wipe her tears, but they were falling faster than she could brush them away. "You broke my heart," she repeated meekly, and Jesse searched for something, anything he could say. He'd barely got her name out before her phone began to ring. She cleared her throat and gathered herself, then looked to him.
"It's Shelby," she told him, then flipped the phone open anxiously. "Hello?" Jesse sat awkwardly, leaning on the cabinets, as he watched Rachel pace back and forth with a scowl. "Well that's absolutely ridiculous, can't they see that there's obviously been injuries sustained? Doctored photos? You've got to be joking." Immediately Jesse comprehended and was swarmed with fury. Clearly someone didn't believe his story. "Well he'll be in school tomorrow, won't that be proof enough? Oh it could be makeup my a—sorry," Rachel was pink. "Anyway, what can we do? Mmhmm. Oh that's ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah I'll tell him. Mmmhmm. Bye Shelby," Rachel snapped the phone shut. "Your principle doesn't believe you."
"What?" Jesse asked, furious. "How can he not believe me, how can he not believe Shelby?"
"He's suspicious that she's punishing her students for losing," Rachel grimaced, and Jesse's nostrils flared. "They say that until they see you up close and personal there's nothing they can do."
"That's bullshit," Jesse shouted. Rachel raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you didn't want them punished," she teased. Jesse scowled.
"Yeah but I don't want people thinking that I'm lying or Shelby's being a bitch," he argued flatly. It was clear to both that the earlier conversation lay forgotten in the dust, and neither knew when—if ever—it would be resolved
"You don't think they'll believe Vocal Adrenaline do you?" Rachel asked, and Jesse knotted his eyebrows.
"I wouldn't think so…I mean I have real injuries for crying out loud," he sighed. "I should have known Principle Toolbag would live up to his name," Jesse grumbled. Rachel raised an eyebrow.
"Well if it comes to this, how willing are you to lie?"
"What?" Jesse asked, confused.
"My dad's best friend works for the ACLU…we could say you're gay and it was a hate crime—"
"Rachel, I am not pretending to be gay. That is the last thing I need people to think, and besides, I don't want to go to court."
"Alright, alright. It was just a thought," Rachel trailed off sheepishly, and Jesse snorted.
"But couldn't you be just a little bit gay?"
