Disclaimer: Glee is not mine.
"When two people are on a crash course for each other and you put yourself in the middle it's only bringing them closer together."
- Dawson's Creek
If there was one thing the Broadway audition process had taught Jesse, it was to know your competition. Which was why he found himself on a boat headed to the nearby island of Capri, watching the man he'd dubbed a simpleton's every move. For that matter, that meant he was watching Rachel because wherever the Simpleton was, Rachel was, which annoyed Jesse to no end. His task was made slightly harder by the fact that Giulia had attached herself to him, but he chalked it up to his incredible star magnetism.
Why she insisted on surrounding herself with the likes of him and his slow brother was beyond him. Rachel was really too nice for her own good. He stared at Kurt, who was stretched across three seats, holding his stomach and groaning, his head in Quinn's lap, figuring that Rachel must be taking pity on the Simpleton and his brother. It was bad enough she hung out with Brittany, now he'd have to deal with these two when they got home.
He'd already completed the seating chart for the wedding, and he was going to kill Rachel if she insisted on adding two more seats at the reception. He shuddered, realizing it would actually be four more seats since he was sure Rachel would demand they be allowed to bring dates. A shudder ran through him again at the thought of who they would scrounge up for dates. Maybe he should require them to submit photos of their dates for approval. He could just imagine what the Broadway community would think if he had country bumpkins at his wedding. If Rachel insisted on inviting them, maybe he could pass them off as an homage to his recently concluded spectacular run as Curly in Oklahoma!
Jesse eyed the Simpleton, who at the moment was drawing something on a piece of paper, Rachel and Brittany giggling about something across from him. He wasn't bad looking; he'd give him that, even if he did constantly have a confused look on his face. In fact, he'd make a good background member of a Broadway cast. As far as Jesse could see, there was nothing remarkable about him, other than his height.
What was remarkable was the way Rachel was looking at him. She was looking at him like he hung the moon when she thought no one was looking, and Jesse didn't like it. Hence the reason why he was devoting his time to watching the Simpleton.
In short, he had to figure out what Rachel saw in him, because he felt sure that that was the key to getting Rachel back on a plane with him. While the Broadwayesque aspect of Rachel calling off his wedding hadn't gone unnoticed by Jesse, he'd prefer it to be left on stage. He frowned, realizing there was only one thing he could do.
He had to make friends with the Simpleton.
"Alright, Brittany. I'm all done. You can move now." Finn cast a critical eye on the paper in front of him, fixing a line here and there as Brittany squealed excitedly.
Once Brittany had heard from Rachel that Finn was very talented at doing portraits she'd immediately wanted one. Finn certainly didn't mind, but he was a little surprised when Brittany announced that she wanted a caricature. Fortunately for her (and him), he'd taken a caricature drawing class in college and ever since then, one of his favorite ways to annoy Kurt was by drawing him as an exaggerated caricature, shopping for knockoffs or carrying chain store bags. It was good practice, and it never failed to infuriate Kurt, so bonus for him.
He handed the caricature over to Brittany and Rachel to inspect almost shyly. Brittany's only stipulation had been that her cat Lord Tubbington be incorporated into the picture, and after a few questions about Brittany's hobbies, some suggestions from Rachel and more than a few pictures of Lord Tubbington provided by Brittany, he'd managed to come up with a caricature in which Brittany's exaggerated form was at a ballet barre, her legs bent in a plie position, one hand over her head, the other placed on the barre. A fondue pot was at her feet, and the hand over her head was gripping a fondue fork. Behind her, on the roof of his cat chalet, Lord Tubbington was lounging on a chair watching Brittany, a bottle of Evian next to his chair and a fondue fork in his paw. Finn was confused by that one, but Brittany insisted he needed a fondue fork too, since Lord Tubbington only eats human food. Finn watched Brittany's face anxiously, waiting to see what her reaction would be.
He shouldn't have worried, because Brittany began squealing even louder as soon as she saw it. "Rachel! Look how great Lord Tubbington looks! He's going to love this! And look! You managed to include our fondue parties! Finn, this is fantastic! I love it!"
Finn's smile grew wider with each word. He rubbed his neck, embarrassed. "It's no big deal. I draw them all the time to annoy Kurt." He glanced at Rachel, pleased to see that she had that smile he really liked on her face and her eyes were shining. He smiled back at her, unable to stop himself from staring at her.
"Do you think you could make a smaller version to hang in Lord Tubbington's cat chalet?" Brittany asked, drawing his gaze from Rachel.
"Uh…" Finn faltered, not sure if she was serious or not. He looked back at Rachel, who was still giving him that smile, the one that spread from ear to ear. She seemed to sense his confusion, because she immediately jumped to his aid.
"Brits, why don't we just photocopy and shrink this one?" Rachel suggested, winking at Finn.
Her suggestion seemed to satisfy Brittany because she hugged the picture to herself as she called Quinn and Kurt over to come see her picture. Kurt remained draped over his chairs, but Quinn came over, as did Jesse, to Rachel's supreme annoyance.
She'd been furious when Jesse had invited himself to come to Capri with them. She'd tried to leave the hotel before Jesse was ready, but Kurt's hangover forced them to move slower than she'd have liked, allowing Luca, Giulia and Jesse to catch up to them. A quick comment to Giulia about Jesse wanting the sex, and Rachel had managed to avoid Jesse thus far. Which left her plenty of time to spend with Kurt, Finn, Quinn and Brittany.
But mainly Finn.
Brittany excitedly held out her caricature for Quinn to view, who immediately fawned over it, wanting one for herself. Rachel eyed Jesse, recognizing that critical look he got whenever he was critiquing someone else's talent or work. She stared at him, daring him to say anything negative about Finn's talent or Brittany's picture.
He surprised her by merely raising an eyebrow and commenting that he could easily make money in Times Square. Her mouth dropped open slightly at his words. In two years of knowing Jesse, she'd never seen him make such a passive comment about someone's work. Normally he'd welcome the chance to impart his wisdom on those he deemed less talented as him, even if it was in a completely different field. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. He may be a Broadway actor, but she hadn't been with him for the last two years for nothing. His acting skills weren't that good.
Jesse St. James was up to something.
"Alright, so we'll meet back here for lunch then?" Quinn asked, looking around the group for confirmation. "Brits, Kurt, you ready for shopping?" Brittany nodded enthusiastically, Kurt slightly less so. "We'll see you guys later then!" Quinn announced, linking arms with Brittany and Kurt and strolling away, ready to start their latest shopping excursion.
Rachel watched them go, smiling, until she realized that Jesse was still standing there with Luca and Giulia. "Where are you three headed?" she asked, implying that wherever they were headed, it better not be where she and Finn were going.
"We're not sure yet," Jesse replied, keeping his eyes on Rachel while sidestepping Giulia at the same time.
"Oh. Well good luck figuring that out," Rachel responded, grabbing Finn's arm and pulling him away, glancing over her shoulder once or twice to make sure Jesse wasn't following them.
"So that was Jesse?" Finn asked as they walked along. "He seems…intense."
"He got one lead role and now he really thinks he's Broadway Royalty. To say it's gone to his head is an understatement." Rachel rolled her eyes, making Finn chuckle.
"You two don't seem like you meshed," Finn commented.
"How so?"
"Well, I mean you're different. Even with your views on Broadway, from what I've seen, he's let it go to his head and it seems like it's more of an business to him, while you…you just light up when you talk about Broadway, like it's in you. You know what I mean?" Finn ran a hand through his hair, wishing he was better with words yet again.
He figured he must have really did a poor job explaining because Rachel stopped walking and stared at him, but to his surprise, she said nothing, choosing to wrap her arms around his stomach. Finn brought his own arms around her, pulling her to him. He was unsure of why she was hugging him, but he'd take it.
Rachel pulled away, staring up at him. "Thanks."
Finn looked at her, confused. Every time she hugged him and said thanks, he never had any idea what he was being thanked for. "For what?"
"For being you. For not rubbing it in my face when you found out I was engaged. I was so horrible to you when I found out you weren't Sam."
"That's true, you were," Finn joked, earning a playful slap from Rachel as they continued walking side by side.
"Hey, Rach?" Finn ventured. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, Finn."
"Where are we going?"
Rachel laughed. "I have no idea. I just wanted to get away from Jesse. I suppose we could go to the beach or maybe-" She paused, noticing an advertisement written in English on a nearby building. "There! We're doing that!"
She took off at a run, heading towards the marina. Finn had just enough time to realize that the sign was advertising private sailboat tours around the island, including a stop at the famous Blue Grotto before he had to run after her.
He caught up to her just as she was reaching the window of the sailboat company. Rachel ignored his protests as she happily handed over her credit card, claiming that he paid for the last boat ride they'd taken. The woman at the window pointed out an older man nearby, who would be serving as their tour guide, as well as their boat captain. Grabbing Finn by the arm, Rachel bounced over to the man, excited to spend the next two hours at sea. Alone. With no possibility of Jesse intruding.
"Are you Paolo?" Rachel asked the man, who nodded. "I'm Rachel and this is Finn. We're going to be your passengers!"
"La luna di miele?" Paolo asked. "The honeymoon?"
"Oh. No." Rachel blushed, accepting a hand from Paolo as he helped her into the boat, Finn climbing in unassisted after her.
"I'll be back," Paolo promised, heading towards the company building. "Five minutes."
Finn glanced around the boat in awe, feeling as if he was in Pirates of the Caribbean or something. The boat wasn't quite like something Captain Jack Sparrow would commandeer, but it was still pretty cool. There were no sails, but back half of the wooden boat where they were currently sitting was covered by a large square awning, while the bow of the boat was exposed to the sun, a large deck providing a fantastic spot to lounge or sunbathe. "This is pretty cool, Rachel."
"Isn't it? I feel like Captain Jack Sparrow is going to come sailing by," Rachel answered, smiling widely. "I'm glad I wore my bathing suit."
"Wait, you've seen Pirates?" Finn asked, surprised.
"I have a thing for Johnny Depp," Rachel admitted. "Brittany and I have seen all the Pirates movies."
"Your friends, they arrive," Paolo announced as he climbed into the boat, fresh from smoking a cigarette.
"What? What friends?" Rachel cried. Finn said nothing, getting a bad feeling in his stomach.
"Hi Rachel," Jesse announced cheerfully as he climbed into the boat, turning to help Giulia into the boat, Luca just behind her.
"What are you doing here?" Rachel spat out. "Why are they here?" she demanded of Paolo.
"They say they with you," Paolo said, shrugging.
"We were going to get our own boat, then Luca saw Finn on the dock and once they said there was no more boats, we figured you wouldn't mind if we hopped on with you," Jesse explained sweetly. "You don't mind do you, Rachel?"
Rachel glared at him, before storming off towards the front of the boat, pulling Finn with her.
Jesse stared after her, wondering if getting Rachel back was going to be harder than he'd originally thought. It had taken quite a bit of stealth spy work to follow Rachel and the Simpleton as they'd walked. Giulia had kept yapping in his ear and trying to drag him into shops causing him to almost lose Rachel once or twice. He thought for sure that Giulia's screech of joy when she'd spotted a necklace she wanted in a window would cause them to be discovered, but he had a feeling he'd been successful in his spying, if the look on Rachel's face when he'd climbed in was anything to go by. Other than that one hug, he was pleased to see that they'd shared no public displays of affection while he'd been following them. His sneak attack was such a success, he felt like breaking into song.
Score: Jesse St. James - 1, Simpleton – 0.
"Why? Why is he doing this?" Rachel asked, still fuming. They'd been at sea for a half an hour, listening as Paolo pointed out various caves and sights and in between, Rachel ranted to Finn about Jesse. So far, a sort of invisible line existed along the boat, with Rachel and Finn claiming the sunbathing area, while Jesse, Luca and Giulia remained in the back.
"I'm guessing he wants you back," Finn suggested, knowing that that was exactly why Jesse was doing this. He could see Jesse watching them, probably dying of curiosity to know what the relationship between Finn and Rachel was.
Maybe if he found out, he could let Finn know, since he sure as hell had no idea.
"But why? Why can't he let me go? I'm done with him," Rachel pointed out.
"That's because you were the dumper," Finn explained patiently. "It's easier for the dumper than the dumpee because it usually means they found someone better, like how you found Sam. Maybe you should write it on a cookie for Jesse," he added playfully.
Rachel laughed. "It could say your curly hair freaks me out."
"How about, you don't know who the Fantastic Four are," Finn joked.
"I like it. I think one should also say you're pompous," Rachel decided, laughing.
"One of mine said I was a bad kisser," Finn admitted, blushing red right up to the tips of his ears.
Rachel leaned closer, so that only the two of them could hear. "Now, I know for a fact that that's not true, but considering I felt no sparks when I kissed Jesse, I think we should add it to his cookies."
Finn laughed, secretly pleased at her response. "Ok."
Rachel laughed also, happy she could ease his mind about that worry. She snuck a look at Jesse, who looked murderous for a second, then plastered one of his show smiles on his face.
She frowned for a second, wondering just what Jesse was up to. He hated doing what he called common touristy things and a tour of the island was about at touristy as you could get.
"Rachele! What eez so funny?" Giulia asked as she broke the invisible barrier between the two groups and climbed onto the sun platform.
Rachel eyed the unwelcome intruder. Thanks to Kurt's slowness due to his hangover, Giulia had had plenty of time to run home and change into the super slutty halter top and tiny shorts she was currently wearing. Rachel bit her tongue, resisting the urge to ask Giulia if she carried a portable stripper pole in her purse. Instead, she politely replied, "Nothing. Finn was just telling me a joke."
"Oh, va bene." Giulia shrugged, her arms reaching for the hem of her shirt.
Rachel's eyes grew wide as Giulia peeled off her shirt, revealing a tiny bikini top that barely contained her ample chest. She quickly looked away, noticing that Luca's, Paolo's and even Jesse's eyes were fixated on the small pieces of fabric on Giulia's chest. She frowned when she realized Finn wasn't immune to Giulia's current state of dress either, his eyes wide as he stared at her. Giulia, noticing that she had the full attention of Finn, shifted over so that she was in his view, before slowly shimmying out of her shorts, revealing the skimpy bottom she was wearing over her perfect body. "We sunbathe now, yes?"
"Feel free," Rachel replied, gesturing to the platform, not willing to remove her own shirt in front of the perfection that was Giulia.
"No, no. We do insieme," Giulia insisted. "Together."
Quickly, she crawled over to Finn, straddling his lap before he could move. He cast a horrified look over at Rachel, who was watching Giulia with a strange look on her face, her arms crossed. Giulia, noticing that she no longer had his attention, used one long finger to turn his head back towards her. "I help," she purred, running her hands down his chest to reach the hemline of his shirt. Slowly, she dragged her hands back up his chest, pulling his shirt along with it.
Finn snuck another look at Rachel, who had now narrowed her eyes, her arms still crossed on her chest. He turned back to Giulia, who was practically giving him a lap dance as she tried to pull off his shirt. He quickly grabbed her hands, stopping her. "I…uh…I can do it!" he blurted out, pulling off his shirt and wanting nothing more than to get her off his lap and away from him. "Maybe someone else needs your help."
"Va bene!" She climbed off of Finn and turned her attention to Rachel. "Now you."
"No, that's-" Rachel started to protest. Her protest was immediately ignored when Giulia simply reached over and pulled the tank top off of Rachel, revealing the same polka dotted bikini that Finn had helped her untie.
"Cute. Like a bambina, no?" Giulia asked, eyeing her bikini top. "My sister's baby girl, she have same bathing suit."
Rachel glared at her as she quickly removed her shorts and placed them into her bag, along with the tank top and Finn's shirt.
Rachel, assuming Giulia would lie down and sunbathe now, turned to Finn, prepared to resume their private conversation and ignore Giulia.
Giulia, however, had other ideas. Settling across from Finn, she focused her eyes on him as she unhooked her bathing suit top and let it fall into her lap. "Much better, I think."
Rachel had looked at Finn just in time to see his mouth drop open. Curious to see what caused that reaction, she turned her head in the direction his eyes were staring, to see Giulia leaning back on her hands, arching her back, pushing her large chest out.
"Oh my God!" Rachel cried, mortified. She quickly averted her eyes back to Finn, frowning when she realized he was still staring at Giulia. A quick glance over at Luca, Jesse and Paolo revealed that they too were staring at Giulia, or more appropriately, her chest. Rachel rolled her eyes at how stupid men got around the sight of breasts.
"Something is wrong, yes?" Giulia asked; leaning back and propping herself on her elbows as she looked at Rachel.
"Something is wrong, yes. You're naked from the waist up," Rachel replied primly.
"So? Is no problem, right boys?" Giulia pleaded, batting her eyes at them.
"No," Luca called.
"I certainly don't have any objections," Jesse added.
"Is good," Paolo agreed.
"And Finn? How you think?" Giulia asked, shifting so he got the best view she could possibly give him.
"Yes, Finn, how you think?" Rachel mimicked, crossing her arms.
Finn stared at both girls, unsure of what to say. If Giulia wanted to go topless, he had no problems with that. Her boobs were huge and really awesome to look at, although he thought Rachel's would be nicer, if much smaller. Still, boobs were boobs and if Giulia was putting hers on display, wasn't it his duty as a guy to let her? He settled on what he thought was a diplomatic answer. "Uh, if she wants to go topless, that's her decision."
"Stop being so uptight, Rachel," Jesse called. "It's fine for someone like Giulia to go topless."
Rachel narrowed her eyes at him, annoyed at both his insult to her and his I'm better than all of you attitude. "And just what does that mean?"
"Relax, Rachel. I just meant that someone like Giulia doesn't have the pressures that you and I have. Finn knows what I'm talking about, don't you?" Jesse asked, noting with satisfaction that the Simpleton was looking at Giulia again.
Finn, surprised at being dragged into the conversation, looked at Rachel. "Uh not really. Everybody has pressures. I don't see what that has to do with taking your top off." He must have answered right, because Rachel gave him a smile, which he immediately returned. Jesse frowned. He'd hoped that the Simpleton would be caught off guard and make himself look even stupider in front of Rachel, but she was smiling at him for some reason.
"Rachele, you need to have the fun, I think," Giulia announced. She turned to Luca, calling out something to him in Italian.
"Oh. Let me think," Luca responded, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Prudish is the word you want."
"Rachele, you are proo-deesh," Giulia announced in her accented English. "Have the fun now!" She reached behind Rachel, unhooking Rachel's bathing suit before Rachel realized what was happening.
Finn's eyes went wide, deciding he had never liked Giulia more.
Rachel gasped, her hands flying up to her bathing suit to put the hook back in place. Fortunately, the strap around her neck prevented the bathing suit from coming completely off.
"You're wasting your time Giulia. Rachel's not that kind of girl," Jesse called from his spot just under the awning, having refused to come out into the sun. As a Broadway star, he simply couldn't risk the damage to his skin, something Rachel should be concerned about also, but ever since she'd gone crazy and gotten cold feet, important things like Broadway had gone out the window.
Rachel stared at him, her eyes narrowing in irritation. Slowly, she untied the straps around her neck letting them fall across her chest. Giulia started to cheer, while Finn sat up in anticipation.
"Rachel. You are not some cheap harlot. Do not go any further. What if there's a camera around?" Jesse hissed. "What has gotten into you?"
Rachel said nothing, turning her back on him and facing Finn as she reached behind her to unhook the clasp. Ever so slowly, she released the clasp, letting the top fall in her hands. She glanced over her shoulder at Jesse, her eyes dark with a combination of anger and defiance, holding the bathing suit top by the hook in her right hand before dropping it in Finn's lap.
Finn's mouth dropped open as he stared in shock. He'd been right; Rachel's boobs were totally nicer than Giulia's. Still staring at Rachel, he grabbed a nearby pillow, suddenly feeling the need to cover his lap. If he had been able to tear his eyes away from Rachel, he might have noticed that at the other end of the boat, Luca was doing the same thing, while Jesse sat there, furious.
Rachel stared back at him, blushing, suddenly realizing that she was topless. She attempted to cover herself up with her hands, knowing that from his vantage point; Finn would easily be able to compare her chest with Giulia's, a competition she could never win.
"Rachele, no!" Giulia chided, removing Rachel's hands and placing them at her sides. "The small breasts, they are beautiful, right Finn?"
Finn, who hadn't moved his eyes from Rachel, managed to find the ability to speak. "Uh, yes. Beautiful. They're beautiful."
Rachel gave him a small smile as she stretched out and patted the spot next to her, letting the sun warm her body. Finn closed his eyes, forcing himself to chant the word mailman in his mind as he sat, ignoring Giulia as she lay on the other side of him.
"You don't have to lie," Rachel said quietly, so only Finn could hear.
"Lie about what?"
"I know I don't look like Giulia," she admitted, looking down at her chest.
"Meaning you actually want that color hair?" Finn asked, confused.
"Meaning my small chest is not beautiful. She looks like a goddess," Rachel whispered, biting her lip as she look down at her chest.
"Rachel, believe me when I tell you I didn't lie," Finn said firmly.
"I saw how everyone was drooling over her," Rachel insisted, still looking down at her chest.
"We're guys; we're required to drool at the sight of boobs. It's in the manual they give you when your voice changes," Finn joked. "But seriously, I meant what I said. You're beautiful. They're beautiful." He lifted her chin with his fingers. "Every part of you is beautiful."
Rachel found herself staring at him again, her eyes searching his face for any tell of a lie. When she found none, she threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. Finn reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her, very aware of her bare breasts pushed against his chest. Quickly, before she became aware of one of his body parts pushed against her, he pulled away from her, giving her a smile as he lay down. Rachel smiled back as she lay down next to him, shifting over to close the gap between them.
And if one of her fingers just happened to hook with one of his and stay like that, so be it.
Jesse sat fuming from his spot under the awning, still in shock that Rachel was acting like a common whore. She'd openly defied him, and to make matters worse, she couldn't just take her top off for a moment to make her point, and then get dressed again. No, she had to take it off and keep it off, which meant that forty-five minutes later, Rachel was still topless, lying with Giulia and the Simpleton. When Giulia had mentioned her plan to go sunbathe by Finn, he'd encouraged it, never dreaming that she meant topless and never thinking that Rachel would join in.
And yet, there Finn was, surrounded by topless girls on either side of him, while he, Jesse St. James, Broadway star, was sitting under an awning with a fat old Italian man and Quinn's cousin, who could do nothing but stare at Rachel, drool coming out the side of his mouth until Jesse had reminded Luca that Rachel was his fiancée.
It must have been the first time the Simpleton had ever seen breasts, because Jesse frequently observed him closing his eyes and mumbling something. Jesse had smirked as he'd watched him clumsily attempt to put sunscreen on Rachel's back at her request. At first he'd been annoyed that she hadn't asked him, but his annoyance soon turned to amusment as he watched the Oaf get so excited he squirted the sunscreen into the air as soon as she'd handed him the bottle and turned around expectantly. He noticed that Rachel had her eyes closed and was biting her lip as he rubbed the sunscreen on her, probably irritated by his clumsiness.
Only when they'd reached the famous Blue Grotto had Rachel put her top back on. Entrance to the Blue Grotto required them to transfer to small two person rowboats, a fact which had sent Jesse into overdrive, trying to maneuver a way to get into a rowboat with Rachel. He'd almost succeeded, waiting until Rachel was helped into a rowboat. He quickly pointed out to Finn that he'd dropped something, cutting in front of him when he look down to see what he'd dropped and climbing into the boat, only to have Rachel announce that she forgot something and had to get out, quickly telling Giulia to take her place.
Giulia had happily obliged, and while her body pressed up against his as they lay together on the bottom of the boat as instructed by the driver was very nice, his mind was racing, thinking of what was going on in Rachel's rowboat, which was also occupied, to his annoyance, by Finn. What kind of country was this, where tourists had to lay pressed against each other on the bottom of a boat in order to enter a cave? He'd tried lifting his head up to see what was going on in the boat behind them, but Giulia had pushed his head down immediately. Once they were in the cave and were allowed to sit up, he'd shot up and had seen Rachel's body lying on top of the Simpleton, whispering something in his ear. Rachel's giggles echoed throughout the cave, as she listened to whatever he was saying to her, and even Giulia noticed, whispering to Jesse, "They look good together, no?"
His irritation grew as soon as they'd gotten back out of the cave and back on their sailboat since Rachel's top had immediately come off again as she sat and talked with Finn. Clearly, Rachel hadn't learned the know your competition rule, because if she had, she'd know that there was no way she could ever compete with Giulia in the breasts department. She was really just embarrassing herself and he made a mental note to tell her that.
Not that it mattered, once they were married, she'd never be going topless in public again, unless it was for a role.
Paolo drove them to a secluded spot, offering to let them jump off the side of the boat into the water for a bit. Luca and Giulia had jumped in immediately, frolicking in the water, as Rachel, Jesse, and Finn looked on from the boat. "Aren't you going, Rachel?" Jesse asked.
Rachel looked nervously down at the water. "I don't know. It's kind of high to jump."
Jesse scoffed. "It's not that high. I've fallen off higher when I do my big fight scene in Oklahoma! Watch." He jumped in, quickly surfacing and calling for Rachel. "Come on, don't be stupid. It's just water."
Rachel bit her lip and looked up at Finn. "I don't know."
"Don't do it if you don't want to," Finn advised.
"Are you going to do it?" she asked, peering down at the water again.
"I was going to, but I don't want you to be here alone." He looked out at the water. It looked awesome, but he really didn't want her to be alone. Her douche of a groom was currently screaming at her to get over it and get in the water, but he could see the fear in her eyes. If she was really that afraid, he'd gladly sit with her and talk.
"Jump with me?" Rachel offered.
"Deal."
Side by side, they stood on the edge. Jesse's eyes narrowed as he watched Rachel reach for Finn's hand just before they jumped. They surfaced and she immediately began squealing about how much fun that was, throwing her arms around Finn and asking to do it again. His eyes narrowed further as he watched them jump off together several more times. Each time, just before they'd jump, Rachel would always reach for his hand.
One other thing Jesse had learned from Broadway was this: your competition isn't always the person you think it is. He'd identified the Simpleton as his main competition and had planned accordingly. What he hadn't realized was that there was another, far more dangerous competitor. A competitor who'd stop at nothing and wouldn't hesitate to play dirty. And while he fully intended to win, he was clearly going to need to up his game. No, he'd definitely been mistaken; the Simpleton wasn't his main competition.
Rachel was.
A/N: Sorry, all those people who wrote saying Jesse needed to go, he's not going anywhere at the moment. I think Giulia redeemed herself slightly, although she's not giving up her quest for the sex just yet.