Sorry for the lack of updates, I had been completely uninspired, but I guess the news that Jesse is coming back have been quite inspiring! Since I had not updated for a while, I'm including the last paragraphs of the previous chapters so that you fall back into the story's rythm.

"It's late, Jesse, I'm tired. Can we finish watching the movie tomorrow?"

"Sure... But I... I..."

Racket advantage of his hesitancy and interrupted him.

"Great then. Good night Jesse!"

She gave him a little smile and left.

When she got to her room, she stood behind the door. What was she doing? What was wrong with her? She could see that her mother was already asleep, so she quietly made her way into the bathroom. She leaned with both hands on the sink while she looking at her reflection, chastising herself for being such a fool. Jesse St James. He makes me feel so… so…. alive?

She could not stop the whirlwind of emotions overtaking her, and she put a hand on her chest dramatically even though she had no audience. She was standing in a bathroom at exactly 1:35 AM when she realized she was in love with Jesse, and that the universe would probably not give her another opportunity like that. Jesse St James wanted to kiss her, he probably still felt something for her, and she was throwing it all away for the second time. What was she expecting, that he would beg and grovel at her feet a third time? She felt the need to take action immediately; she needed to talk to him then, before she lost her nerve. Third time's a charm.

She went out into the hallway and walked to the theater, but it was dark and empty. She was not about to throw in the towel, not while she was so determined, so she walked to his room and was about to knock the door when Jesse suddenly opened the door, bringing them face to face.

"Rachel…" he whispered.

But Rachel put a hand over his lips, touching them delicately. She looked into his eyes, his gaze confused but full of emotion, his eyes telling her what his lips would not. She was so nervous then, as if she'd never been kissed. Her heart was beating fast, her chest filled with so much emotion that she was finding it hard to breathe. She could feel his sweet breath on her face, and she closed her eyes and placed a small kiss on the side of his face, close to his ear. She opened her eyes and saw that his were closed, his breathing now ragged, and she leaned once more and placed another kiss on his forehead, then on his cheek, then on the curve of his jaw. He opened his eyes and looked at her adoringly as she touched the side of her mouth, where he placed a soft kiss. She moved her head to the side offering him her neck, where he placed another kiss while he placed his arms around her. He pulled her closer before kissing her lips once, twice. He looked at her, but her eyes were closed as she placed her hands around the back of his head, and pulled him into another kiss, only this time he deepened it, and when their tongues met she buried her fingers in his hair and moaned slightly, which encouraged him to kiss her more passionately. Rachel felt her whole body become painfully alive, it was perfect, kissing Jesse was perfect. She'd never felt more complete than in that precise moment, between his arms.

Too bad the universe already had other plans for her.

" This cannot be real…"

She was in his arms, his lips against hers, strong hands softly caressing her back, the oxygen in her lungs faltering. She had never felt like that, it was a brand new feeling, something she would never thought possible, did someone ever felt like that before? Nothing she had ever experienced could compare to what she was feeling then, a sense of alertness rousing every cell of her body… She thought her heart would burst out of her chest; the feelings kept getting only stronger the longer he kissed her.

Was she dreaming? For a brief moment she opened her eyes, it just couldn't be real, it had to be another dream... But the sight before her eyes, soft brown curls descending towards his closed eyelids and his beautiful long eyelashes almost touching hers... She could not help but close her eyes tightly as she furrowed her brow out of sheer emotion, not wanting the feeling to end, not wanting to wake up if she was indeed dreaming, and she deepened the kiss, her hands tangling in his hair.

Jesse was also in complete disbelief. Was he really kissing her? And was she really kissing him back? He knew that he loved her, but he never expected HER to feel that way, mere words could not describe the sensation of having HER in his arms, of having HER respond so him so avidly, so passionately... When she deepened the kiss, his response was immediate, his mouth and tongue hungrily devouring hers, his hands pulling her head impossibly closer to him, his whole body reacting almost violently.

Then they both heard the music, Cabaret's "Maybe This Time", and both thought it was a natural reaction to the new feelings washing over them: it was the perfect ending to a new beginning, of course music had to infiltrate in on the moment somehow, shouldn't it? But neither were expecting that song, didn't a kiss like that deserve a grand symphony, Mozart or Beethoven, or at least even Sondheim?

Then the music started anew, and he felt Rachel pull apart, her lips bruised and raw, her teeth glistening in the dark of the hallway as she smiled nervously and fumbled through her pocket reaching for her phone.

"Sorry..." She said sheepishly as she put her phone to her ear. Jesse was smiling, his own lips still burning, his body still achingly close to hers. It was all wondrous and new, yet it felt natural and normal, as if they had been together forever. He lifted his hand to her face, and his thumb stroked her cheek softly.

"Hello?" She answered cheerfully. Not realizing it was very late, almost 2:00 am."What? What are you saying? But when?"

Her smile transformed immediately into a worried expression, right before settling into an almost painful grimace.

"No, it's not possible! Yes we'll be there in the morning… But…. Okay, bye."

By the time she pressed the END button on her cell, her eyes had flooded with tears. She put her hands to her face and cried "Oh god..."

Jesse was very alarmed, what could have possibly happened that would leave Rachel in such a state?

"Rachel, please what happened? You are not well, come, sit down" He said as he guided her towards a seating area at the end of the hallway and helped her down to a chair.

"What happened, why are you like this?"

Rachel looked up at Jesse, he looked genuinely worried for her.

"The show... Our show… It has been cancelled..." She stated through quiet sobs while she buried her face once again in her hands.

He kneeled in front of her and pulled her into a tight embrace, knowing that she wasn't well enough to talk then.

They were interrupted by Quinn's agitated voice calling out.

"Rachel, oh god, did you hear..."

"But what happened? Is he okay, what's wrong?" Rachel said standing up.

"They said he's unavailable at the moment, but why?" answered Mercedes, who had joined the increasingly frantic crowd.

Sam had been awakened by the commotion, and he looked at Jesse questioningly, but Jesse only lifted his shoulders and mouthed "I have no idea" to his friend.

Enter Noah Puckerman, signaling everyone to be quiet with one hand while holding his cell phone on speaker with the other. Silence reigned immediately as everyone gathered around him.

"Andrew, you're on speaker. Tell us what happened." Andrew was the executive producer of the show. He didn't know that most of his actors were together, so he called them separately. It wasn't until Puck informed him they were at the same place that he decided to tell them what had happened, the reason why Karl, the show's executive director, would be unavailable indefinitely.

After a brief pause and what could be construed as a sigh on the other end of the phone, a voice finally rose from the tiny speaker.

"Okay, this is what I know: Karl decided to stay in London while the theater's wiring was fixed, but his wife and Mandy went to visit her family at the last minute in New York. Apparently Mandy fell very ill while there and was immediately hospitalized, she was put in intensive care with septicemia and fell into a coma."

Everyone gasped. Mandy was the director's only daughter, she loved to hang around the set and everyone loved her since she was very sweet.

"But is she alright?" Puckerman asked the voice at the other end.

"Yes, she's still hospitalized but she is better now. Apparently she had a clandestine abortion here in London right before leaving for New York, and even though she had been feeling ill she didn't tell her mom anything because she was terrified. Before falling into the coma she confessed who had fathered her child. She said he wanted nothing to do with her, gave her five hundred dollars and left. She could not find him, and the money he gave her wasn't nearly enough for her to get a legal abortion, and she didn't want to tell anyone, so she went to an underground clinic. Karl was about to board a flight to New York when his wife told what his daughter had said. He made a few calls to find out his whereabouts and found out he was back in London, so he left the airport and went to confront him and is now detained for attempted murder..."

The collective gasp of his listeners was louder now.

"But who is it? Who is the bastard who did this to poor Mandy?" enquired an already incensed Puck.

"It's one of the guys from RENT over at the Wyndham, Finn Hudson..."

Evil cliffhanger! Many thanks to Original Groffete for her beta and for being a great friend. And leave me a review! Reviews = Inspiration = Fast Updates

Hope you liked it!