I'm pitiful. Absolutely P-I-T-I-F-U-L.

5 months later and here I am! Inspiration was lost this summer with such little Faberry interaction season 4 and then summer started and before I knew it school was starting up again and my time to write was non-existant. I'll truly try and update this more often. My apologies!

I've actually had this written for months and had it collecting dust in my documents. This will be Part 1 of a 2 or 3 piece chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Thank you all of those who reviewed and added this to their favorites all those months ago!


It was a little over 10 when their doorbell rang. Rachel threw off the throw blanket in a flash, standing up and racing to the front door.

'He's home!' she cheered, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear before opening the door to reveal a wide awake and smiling James standing beside an equally happy Jesse.

'You're home!' she cheered, leaning down to kiss James' cheeks and Jesse's as well.

'How was it? Did you have lots of fun?' She asked James.

James nodded, arms full of small toys. 'It was FABULOUS!'

Rachel's eyes widened in surprise at his choice of words, looking over at Jesse. 'We learned that word today.' Jesse said in explanation. 'May I come in?' he asked, leaning in to hug Rachel.

'Of course, of course! Come in. Are you hungry? Would you like some tea? Coffee maybe?' she said, stepping aside.

'Tea sounds good.' He said with a soft smile, taking a step aside to allow Rachel to lead the way.

The two walked into the living room area where James sat on Quinn's lap, telling her all about his day.

Jesse smiled at the two, taking a seat beside Quinn, tapping her thigh affectionately. 'Did you tell your mom about the skit you performed in front of all your new friends?' he asked James.

James' eyes brightened, 'I performed in front of so many people, momma. They all clapped and said I was very talented.'

'And extremely well spoken, might I add. Everyone was immensely impressed. Must have gotten that from a certain blonde.' Jesse teased, bumping shoulders with Quinn.

Quinn smiled softly, running her fingers through her son's hair. 'What do you have to say to Uncle Jesse for taking you to the workshop today, James?'

'Thank you, thank you Uncle Jesse!' James shouted, clapping his hands together for extra effect.

Jesse laughed, 'No problem, kid.'

Rachel came out soon after with three mugs of tea, placing them down on the center table.

'We were very pleased to hear from you yesterday, Jesse.' Rachel said with a smile, reaching for her tea. 'We were actually thinking of calling you this weekend, inviting you to dinner.'

'Well I beat ya' to the punch, didn't I?' Jesse laughed, taking a sip of his tea. 'You know,' he said, clearing his throat, 'I can't say calling yesterday was totally coincidental.'

'What do you mean?' Quinn said from her spot beside him, James on her lap, head on her chest, dozing off as she rubbed his back soothingly.

'Well,' Jesse began, 'As you can imagine, my success has been…. immense. I don't know if you know this or not but I'm rumored to be one of the top earners in Broadway.'

Quinn raised her eyebrows in surprise, 'Really? I didn't know that.'

'It's nothing really,' Jesse said, placing his mug on the table and leaning back, waving his hand in the air as if to dismiss her surprise. 'Remember that charity idea we discussed last we talked? Well, I've decided to go ahead and start my own charity. Help those less fortunate.'

'Less fortunate?' Quinn asked, confused.

'Talented wise, of course.' Jesse clarified, leaning back. 'I've been searching for people who would be interested in being mentors, interns, people to deal with the business side of it all.'

Quinn smirked, reaching for his hand and giving it a light squeeze, 'That sounds really great, Jesse. Honestly. There are many children who could benefit from something like that.'

Jesse nodded, taking a sip of his tea as he looked over at Rachel. 'You know, it's funny. I was interviewing people the other day; talking about my vision and how they could help me grow and prosper with this charity. You know who came in? That assistant of yours, Abigail.'

'Abby was there?' Rachel asked, surprised. 'How did she find out about that?'

Jesse laughed, shaking his head. 'She seems to be very well informed on all of my ventures. She was the first to call. She said you had passed on my number to her.'

'I did?' Rachel asked, looking at Quinn, confusion written on her face. 'I don't remember ever talking to her about your idea. Much less pass on your number.'

'Maybe you did during one of your late night rehearsals?' Quinn offered.

'No,' Rachel said, shaking her head slowly. 'I would have never given her your number without asking you about it or at least talking to you about it first.'

Jesse looked between the two, 'I didn't say it was a bad thing. She offered to take on all the paperwork, fliers, and emails- that sort of thing. She doesn't have much free time and didn't expect I would need someone for a long period of time. She was awfully disappointed when I told her I didn't think she would be the best fit to help me run the charity once it gets on it's feet. I need a long-term volunteer. My hours are relentless. Add in the hours I spend performing plus all my public appearances? I can't do it all.'

Quinn nodded, brows furrowed in confusion, still not understand why Abigail would have told Jesse she had gotten his number from Rachel.

'Do you think she went through your phone and got the number?' she blurted, looking at Rachel.

Rachel looked taken aback, shaking her head. 'Of course not!' she said in offense, 'she isn't like that. If she says I did, I must have, right? These past few weeks have been so long, I wouldn't put it passed me.'

Quinn raised a brow, clearly not buying it. Jesse shrugged, reaching over and taking a bite of the vegan chocolate chip cookies Rachel had set out. 'Doesn't matter, just thought I'd mention it. These cookies are fantastic by the way'


The streets of Times Square were crowded as they were every morning, a sea of people filling the sidewalks, street corners crowded with tourists, snapping pictures of the myriad billboards lining the buildings. Rachel gripped her coffee tighter in her hands as she walked, head down, towards the theater. Jesse's comment about Abby had wracked her mind most of the night. She had lay in bed, thinking back relentlessly for any recollection of having mentioned Jesse.

It wasn't long before she reached the theater, pushing the maintenance doors open and taking the stairs down towards the dressing rooms.

'Good morning, Rachel!' Steven called out from one of the dressing rooms where he was perched up on the counter, legs crossed, sipping a steaming cup of coffee as he conversed with other crewmembers.

Rachel smiled, brushing back her bangs and walking into the dressing room, waving at the rest of the people as she made her way towards Steven.

'Is Abby here?' she asked, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

'She's in your dressing room. 'Organizing'.'

Rachel sighed, offering him another smile before walking out. 'I'll see you at lunch!'

Abby was already at Rachel's desk, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she wrote out emails and updated their calendar.

'Good Morning.' Rachel told her, removing her jacket and hanging it on the coat rack.

'Morning, Rachel! I was just going through our schedule for this week. I'm thinking maybe we can book an interview on Friday with and maybe have a…'

'Abby.' Rachel said softly, a vain attempt to interrupt her.

'…Saturday would really be best but you already have the day booked for 'private reasons'…'

'Abby.' Rachel said again, taking a seat on the edge of the desk and getting Abigail's attention. She hated being confrontational, she really did. It was not in her nature. Sure, she was competitive but never for the sake of argument.

Abby looked up, brows furrowed in confusion, 'Is something wrong?'

Just do it, Rachel. Go big or go home!

'Why did you tell Jesse St. James that I gave you his number when you interviewed with him?'

Abby's face paled, eyes widening in momentary panic. 'I…How did you…'

Rachel smiled softly at her, 'He mentioned it last night after dropping James off. Said you told him I told you to call him?'

'It's not like that, really. I mean…'

'I'm not mad, Abby.' Rachel told her. It felt weird to be talking to her this way. This sounded eerily similar to conversations both she and Quinn had with James on a daily basis. 'I just want to know how you got his number and why you lied.'

Abby remained quiet for a moment. 'I was going through your contacts a few weeks ago when you asked me to set up an appointment at the hair salon. I was scrolling through and found his name. I remember hearing about his plans to create a charity and I figured he would need the extra help. I thought since you two were close, you wouldn't mind me calling him and offering my help. I didn't save it to text him or anything. I swear.'

'I would really rather you didn't steal numbers from my contacts without my permission, okay? I know you are my assistant and it's your job to call people for me but if you wanted a recommendation from me, you could have just asked, Abby. Really, I would have called him myself and told him about you and how great you are.'

Tears filled Abby's eyes and she looked down at her lap, feeling embarrassed.

Rachel bit her bottom lip, feeing awkward having this conversation but knowing she needed to address these things before something worse happened later.

'Abby, I'm not mad, really.' She said again, giving the girl's hand a light squeeze. 'I just need you to understand that I really value my privacy. I'm in the spotlight a lot and I know a lot of people and I really try to keep the most I can behind closed doors. I trust you with everything. I really don't want to have to be worried about you and my information when I'm at home or away and leaving you to work.'

'Oh Rachel, I would never, ever…'

Rachel raised her hand, sighing deeply in attempt to give her extra boost to continue. 'No, I know, I know. Like I said, I'm not mad. I trust you Abby, I do. But it really bothered me that you went behind my back and lied about something I didn't do. You could have put me in a really awkward situation and thankfully Jesse and I are close and he understood but please never do that again with anyone else. I can't condone you making up lies about recommendations that I did not make for you, okay?'

Abby nodded. 'It won't happen again, I swear.'

Smiling, Rachel nodded, leaning in to give Abby a quick hug before standing up. 'Great, now finish up whatever you are doing. We have a long day ahead of us!'


Time came and went. Before long it was November and James was adamant on having a Thanksgiving "party", like all the cool kids have.

'Momma, maybe I can invite all my friends!' James cried, sitting crossed legged on Quinn and Rachel's bed as Quinn sat with her computer beside him.

'Baby, Thanksgiving is a time for people to spend with their families not their friends.' she said.

'But…I dress like a pilgrim!' he yelled, falling back in a fit of giggles.

Quinn nodded distractedly as she read through her emails, clicking on one of interest. It was from Puck.

'Threesome?' read the subject line.

With a roll of her eyes she clicked the message, waiting a few seconds for an image to load. It was a magazine scan of Rachel from a few days previous, no doubt going out for lunch with Abby, clinging tightly to her side.

'The fu….' She mumbled to herself, double clicking the picture to enlarge.

'Broadway mega-star Rachel Berry holds tight to personal assistant, Abigail Faulkner, as the duo take a quick trip to a near by deli for lunch in NYC. Purly work or could these two have something up their sleeves?'

'Momma, are you even listening?' James asked, kneeling beside her, brushing back a lock of her hair and resting his head on her shoulder to look at the screen as well. 'Is that mommy? Who's that lady? Why are they holding arms?' he asked, confused.

Quinn felt heat flush her face as she closed the computer, tossing it towards the end of the bed and reaching for her phone. 'Can you go and brush your teeth for bed, Jay? Momma has to make an important call.'

'But you always help me brush!' James pouted, shoulders slumped in disappointment.

'James, please.'

Without another word the young boy jumped off the bed, running towards the bathroom, shouting nonsense about his thanksgiving costume party.

Dialing the familiar number she waited for an answer, clinging onto the phone tightly.

''ello?' Puck's voice rang through.

'Where did you find that picture?'

'Hello to you too, MILF. I'm great, thanks for asking.' He laughed before cutting to the chase. 'It was in some trashy mag at the market. Thought you'd appreciate the pic. How's the good ol' secretary doing anyway?'

'I wouldn't know. I don't know much about her other than she calls my wife at all hours of the day.'

'Are you going to show the picture to Rachel?'

'I don't know yet. I mean, it's not exactly like I have anything to confront her about. Linking arms is a very friendly thing to do, is it not?'

'Very friendly, until it's not…'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'It means I would show it to Rach, see what she tells you. Stand your ground, Q. This chic is parading the streets of NYC with your wife, isn't that enough reason for confrontation?'

Quinn nibbled on her lower lips, considering his words. 'I'll see what happens.'

'Cat fight!' Puck declared jokingly, laughing to himself.

'Shut up.' Quinn laughed, Any I gotta go. James is waiting for me to help him brush his teeth. Give Beth a kiss for me.' And with that she hung up, suddenly determined to get to the bottom of this.