Thanks for all the great reviews! There will be at least 5 more chapters but I don't have the storyline completely set as yet. This chapter is sort of long and rambling, but more angst is coming. This is how I do happy ;-)!

Afterward, they don't have time to sleep but neither of them seems to care. It's 10:45 and his French class is at 12, but he can't bring himself to tell her that they need to get up and start their day.

They had both needed physical intimacy to match the declarations of love that they had exchanged that morning, some concrete confirmation of their commitment to each other. Actions always speak louder than words.

She's lying on top of him, naked from the waist up, as is he. Earlier, he had caressed and kissed every part of her upper body with painstaking detail. He had traced her collarbone and across her breasts with the ends of her hair, which she would have never imagined would be as erotic as it had been. For her part, she had used her fingers and lips to map out all of the muscles of his chest and arms, had discovered that his entire body shuddered each time she ran her finger directly over his spine.

Despite her protests, he breaks their bubble at 11 because he can't miss another French class or he will literally fail. When they finally separate, both their stomachs have large, red splotches on them from being pressed against each other so hard, for so long. Even if it is just temporary, she likes that they've both been marked by their morning. She wants to keep the perfection with her as long as she possibly can.

While he takes a shower, she responds to text messages from her dads. She hadn't called them last night and they want to know how she likes her trip so far. She responds with generic excitement, not wanting to get into details and tell any lies that may hinder the conversation she plans to have with them on Sunday evening.

For now, she just wants to spend the next two days with the boy she loves.

She decides to go to class with him before she meets Kylie. They grab breakfast at a café near the building his class is in. He makes her the perfect cup of coffee, adding cinnamon and a hint of vanilla to the café's regular brew.

"Do you think there will be a problem if Allie finds out that I'm staying with you?" she asks while looking at him. "They seemed to make a big deal of the fact that my host had to be female." She sounds worried, she doesn't want to get either of them into trouble.

"I wouldn't go around advertising it. Talk to Kylie, see if she can keep a secret. She probably doesn't exactly want it known that she didn't meet you last night, either. I honestly don't think that Allie will care, but the Dean and your dads definitely will."

"My dads will kill me," she states dramatically. He nods in complete agreement. She stirs the stirrer in her coffee cup contemplatively.

"It's worth it." She smiles at him as he smirks at her words.

He looks at her from across the small table. "I feel like you're too far away from me right now."

She blushes. "Control yourself, Jesse!" she says in mock outrage, "This is standard coffee table distance and you are about to go to class! At NYU! Have some respect!" She grins. Everything is funnier, happier, sunnier than it should be right now, even in the 30-degree weather.

"So are you," he laughs. "We should probably get going so you can see how boring even NYU classes can be." He grabs her hand and leads her there.

The French class passes quickly, thankfully, because she wants to jump in and correct everyone's pronunciation, criticize their lack of originality with their sentences. He can tell what she is thinking and occasionally he glances in her direction, silently daring her to say something, especially when someone is particularly bad. She refuses to give in, sticks her tongue out at him a couple of times.

He has to drag her away from a conversation in fluent French with the teacher at the end of the 45-minute session, reminding her that she has to meet Kylie across campus at one. She feels on top of the world right now, she hasn't spoken French in a while, and obviously she's still got it, accent and all. The teacher tells her that there is a French film festival going on downtown that the two of them might want to check out. At one point in their conversation, Madame calls Jesse her boyfriend, and Rachel feels a tinge of guilt. He's not her boyfriend. Technically, that position is already filled.

He walks her to the dining hall, taking the same route as last night, but this time they walk hand in hand. It's strange to think that in less than 24 hours everything has changed so much between them. He seems to be thinking the same thing she is, and he drags her closer, slipping his hand around her waist. As they walk, he tells her that there is a lecture that she might be interested in that afternoon, something on the future of modern literature in the theater, given by one of the university's most renowned professors.

She hates being without him when he leaves her to go to his Intro to Econ class, though she doesn't want to sit through that particular class. She doesn't want to think of what it is going to be like when she has to leave him on Sunday. She literally shakes her head, refusing to think about it until she absolutely has to.

Part of her unease is also because she is very hesitant to meet Kylie. She has no intention of staying with the girl, and hopes that she doesn't make a big deal of it. Generally, Rachel Berry is a rule follower, but she wants this weekend for herself. It has been a long time since she felt like herself. Jesse is a big part of that.

She's sitting in the same armchair as she was last night, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu. She doubts that Kylie will even show up, but at 1:03 her phone rings and she realizes that the redhead standing about 10 feet in front of her is attempting to call her.

"Hi," she says into the phone, loud enough so that the redhead turns around and makes the connection.

Rachel hangs up the phone, waves at Kylie who immediately engulfs her in a hug.

"Hey! So sorry about yesterday, Rachel. Boys fucking suck. I'll tell you all about it over lunch." Kylie seems manic in person too. She's dressed like the stereotype of an artist, in paint splattered paints, a tie die t-shirt, and an army green jacket that don't look very warm. She's not pretty, but she is attractive, her red hair distracting from some of her plainer features.

"Where's your stuff?" She looks around for a bag or suitcase, Rachel assumes. "My room is right upstairs so we can put it there before we eat."

"I left it at my friend's dorm." She pauses. "I think I'm going to spend the rest of the weekend with him."

"Allie didn't tell me that," Kylie says hesitantly.

"Allie doesn't know. Look Kylie, I was hoping you could cover for me. Jesse and I used to date and we reconnected this weekend and I really want to spend more time with him." She's not used to asking for favors from strangers and she doesn't know Kylie well enough to know how desperate she has to sound.

"No problem," Kylie responds immediately, "I know what that's like. Is he cute?" It's obvious to Rachel that Kylie lives for boys and the emotions that surround them. Rachel is shocked but pleased that was as easy as it was. She nods.

"Score. I want you to tell me all about him over lunch."

They sit with a table of Kylie's girlfriends who are all equally loud and vibrant. "Jesse freaking St. James is your friend?" Kylie shouts when she tells her Jesse's name. Rachel is pretty sure that everyone in the dining hall just heard her.

Rachel finds herself nodding a lot around this group.

"Well, Rach, you sure know how to pick them. He's in theater group with me and every girl and even some of the guys want him. You are one lucky bitch!"

Rachel cringes at the use of that term and the feeling of discomfort lodges in her stomach when Kylie describes for the rest of her friends the intricacies of Jesse's body, his attitude, his singing voice, and his hair.

Kylie ends with, "the things that he can probably do with that tongue," and Rachel's face heats up. Kylie is looking directly at her, obviously awaiting a response. It draws the attention of the rest of the girls and Rachel can only shrug, hoping she comes across as shy or modest, and not completely ignorant and inexperienced. Jesse's tongue did amazing things to her chest this morning, but any more than that she doesn't know.

Thankfully, the topic changes to Darren, Kylie's recent conquest and Rachel can listen, stay out of focus, the first time in her life that she genuinely wishes to do so.

Kylie is heading to the lecture too, and they bid goodbye to the other girls as they walk to the center of campus. She texts Jesse to tell him that she will meet him at the lecture hall. He's waiting for her outside when she and Kylie get there. Kylie gives him an obvious once over and winks at him, but Jesse pretends not to notice. The redhead sees someone else that she knows and wanders off to go find seats with them.

Rachel grabs Jesse and tells him that they need to lose Kylie, so they head to the back of the hall.

"Missed me?" he asks.

"I just had to sit through a half hour of how amazing you are. I tried to counter-argue but they wouldn't let me get a word in. You obviously have a fan club here."

"You have her number, right? In case I want to give her a call later? She's sort of cute."

She's in front, leading them towards seats, and she whips around to look at him. He's got one eyebrow raised at her, and is trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile.

"That's not funny," she huffs, crossing her arms. There are various people behind them shooting her obnoxious glances, wanting her to move.

She continues in her search for seats, not looking or speaking to him. She finds two together at the end of a row, by the wall, and she sits down with her arms still crossed.

"C'mon, Rach. I wasn't being serious. Haven't you realized by now that you are the only one I want?" He leans over and places a kiss to her forehead.

"They want you," she says seriously, "I can't compete with them from Ohio."

"You always have, and you've always won. You have nothing to worry about." He kisses her on the lips, manages to slip his tongue into her mouth. His hand wraps around her waist, lifts her sweater and rubs circles on her lower back, fingers dipping beneath the waistband of her skirt.

The introductory speaker's opening remarks interrupts them and Rachel looks around sheepishly, tugs on her sweater. Jesse looks perfectly in his element. He whispers into her ear that they should go home and take a nap after the lecture, since neither of them got much sleep the night before. She agrees.

The lecture is stimulating and humorous and Rachel is glad to be in a place where such discussions are commonplace. She takes out a notebook to take notes but Jesse soon distracts her, writing her notes in the margins and starting a game of hangman. She shakes her head at him but joins in. After the first hour, the lecture becomes less interesting and she is glad when Jesse suggests that they skip the Q&A session and just go back to the dorm.

At the entrance to the dorm, Jesse stops to check his mail and they run into one of his neighbors, Brad. Jesse does not look pleased.

Brad approaches him. "St. James, I'll see you at Alex's birthday party tonight, right? I hear they're making like a 1000 Jello shots."

Jesse glances at Rachel, runs a hand through his hair. "Maybe," he answers, "but I wouldn't bet on it. Rachel, Brad. Brad, Rachel," he says introducing them.

Brad nods at Rachel, but otherwise completely ignores her. "Alex promised lots of hot chicks and they're using Everclear in the punch."

Rachel sends Brad a glare but he doesn't catch on. "Hope to see you there, man. Coppertones know how to throw a good party."

Jesse doesn't say anything else but heads towards the elevator and up to his room, Rachel following

behind him.

Once in the room, Rachel's curiosity about the exchange downstairs gets the better of her. "So you and Brad are friends?"

Jesse shakes his head. "Brad's an asshole. I'm in an acapella group here on campus, the Coppertones. He's one of the seniors that are in the in the group with me."

"You never told me that!" Rachel exclaims. "Can we go to the party? I would love to hear you guys sing and meet some of your friends."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Rachel," he says, not looking at her. "Let's do something fun tonight. Anything you want. We can go see New York." He sounds excited about showing her the city, but she's still dwelling on the party, unwilling to let it go.

"We have tomorrow for that. Why isn't it a good idea to go to the party?"

He looks irritated that she won't let it go. Obviously, that makes her press the issue further.

"Jesse," she says pointedly.

He sighs, runs a hand through his hair and licks his lips.

"There's sort of a girl," he answers.