Thanks for the reviews everyone! So this picks up exactly where chapter 18 left off. And yes, we will be finding out exactly why Jesse is back soon, but not quite yet. Enjoy and please review!

"You know, you always struck me as the kind of girl who went for intellectuals, not stupid jocks who can throw a football well." There was a small rustle as a tall guy with a curly mess of hair appeared on the walkway in front of Rachel, his left hand on his hip. He had the same condescending smirk on his face that she remembered. She'd have recognized him anywhere. "Hey Rach, it's good to see you."

"Jesse," she gasped as she stared at him, frozen in place. She knew she had seen him at Pacific Park, though she had figured that would be the last she'd ever see of him. The last place she expected to see Jesse St. James was on the sidewalk outside her dorm building, looking at her like they were old friends. "I—what are you doing here?" she finally said when she found her voice.

"No hello? No how are you? I'm insulted," he said, pouting at her playfully. "I think I at least deserve a 'it's good to see you, Jesse' with our history."

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, glancing past him at the door to her building. All she wanted right now was to climb into the shower and rinse the milkshake off her before discussing her date with Quinn and Kurt—and Sam too, she supposed. Though that seemed impossible when her ex-boyfriend was standing on the sidewalk, blocking her escape route. "What are you doing here?" she asked again, her voice much colder than it had been before.

"Standing," he answered, the same smug grin she remembered planted firmly on his face. "It's a free country. I can stand wherever the hell I want to."

"Not when you're standing on the sidewalk outside my dorm in California. What are you even doing in Los Angeles? I thought you were supposed to be a Julliard in New York?" she asked.

The entire time the two of them had been together, Jesse had talked incessantly about Julliard. He was going to go there and get his big break his senior year landing a starring role on Broadway. They'd ended things before she ever found out if he even got into the school.

"Those are old dreams, Rach. California is the place to be, as I see you figured out," he said, nodding in her direction. Rachel chose not to respond, trying to keep the conversation between them at a minimum. "So, you and the quarterback, huh? He's got quite the track record, you know."

Rachel let out a harsh laugh. "That's rich coming from the boy who used to skank it up with theater groupies on his lunch break. I'll repeat my question one last time, St. James: what are you doing here?"

"Watch your tone. There's no need to raise your voice at me when I'm trying to have a friendly conversation with you. As I already told you, I'm walking. I wasn't aware that was a crime."

"No, you said you were standing."

"Walking, standing—what's the difference? Either way, I don't see how it's of any matter to you what I'm doing here. I'm not doing anything to you."

"You're blocking my way back into my dorm."

"You're free to walk around me. The sidewalk's big enough for the two of us, you know."

"Right, so you can follow me inside and see what room I live in? Fat chance."

Jesse threw his head back and let out a laugh. "You're acting like I'm some kind of stalker. I don't see what the big deal is about me being on front of a dorm building at my school."

"You're what?"

"I go here, Rachel. What, you think you and the queer are the only Ohio natives to travel to the great state of California for school? I beat you two by a few years."

"Still doesn't explain what you're doing in front of my dorm building. This is a freshman building, Jesse. You're a junior."

"I came to see you."

"Me? How'd you even know I went to school here?"

"Freshman lead of the musical. Girl named Rachel with a killer set of pipes from Ohio. I put two and two together. Plus, I saw you walking around campus the other day with your Ohio bestie and saw you guys walk over her. I figured I'd wait here until I caught you alone so we could chat."

"I have nothing to say to you, Jesse St. James. I said everything the last time we spoke. You know, when you had your tongue down Julia's throat. Or was it Mary's tongue I caught you playing hockey with?" she asked sarcastically.

"I didn't come here to argue with you about me being a royal asshole to you the months we dated."

"Then why did you come here? I thought I made it very clear that day in the parking lot that you were dead to me and I never wanted to see you again."

"Oh, you did, complete with the kick to the balls. I was sitting at home for three days with an ice pack to the crotch afterwards in case you were wondering." That caused Rachel to smile triumphantly for a moment. "But I thought you'd want to know who's teaching Belle all her choreography this year."

"No."

"Yes," he said with a grin. "So you might want to warn the gay bestie he'll have to get used to having the Carmel asshole around."

"Just because I have to spend any amount of time with you for the show doesn't mean I'm letting you around me outside of the theater, even if you do happen to know where I live. Kurt's not doing the show—you'll never have a chance to see him."

"I suppose it's for the best. I don't know if I really want him murdering me for breaking dear, sweet Rachel Berry's heart." Rachel shifted uncomfortably at that, her face flushing. Jesse's face broke into a grin as he let out a laugh. "Oh don't tell me, you never told him the truth about us? I thought the two of you told each other everything. I mean, I know you never told him about us while we dated, but I at least expected you to tell him afterwards so you could bitch and moan about what a douche I was to you."

Rachel stayed silent, her arms remaining across her chest. She wasn't sure what to say to that. Jesse had read her like a book, and all she kept thinking was he was going to find Kurt and tell him every sordid detail about their five months together.

Thankfully, she was saved by the appearance of one Quinn Fabray. The door to the building opened and the petite blonde walked out, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a UCLA tee shirt wither her hair pulled back and a pair of flip flops on her feet. "There you are," she said, catching sight of Rachel. "Puck texted me almost half an hour ago saying he'd dropped you off. I was wondering where you were."

"Trying to find my ID and keys," Rachel said with an uncomfortable laugh. She walked over to Quinn and took her arm, attempting to pull her back towards the building and as far away from Jesse as possible. He glanced at Quinn for a moment before turning his attention back to the retreating Rachel.

"So I'll see you around then, yeah?" he called out to her. Without bothering to turn back and face him, Rachel reached a hand back and flipped him off, quickly swiping her ID to gain access to the building, shutting the door before Jesse had a chance to follow them inside.

"Who was that?" Quinn asked once they were on the elevator heading back to their room. "And why do you smell chocolaty and delicious? And what happened with my brother? And why is your makeup all smeared?" Quinn asked, not giving Rachel a chance to answer a single one of her questions before moving onto the next one.

"One at a time, Quinnie. You're not even giving me a chance to think before asking me another question," she laughed. She pushed the door to their dorm open, pulling off her shirt once the door was closed and they were alone.

Rachel headed over to their dresser, pulling out a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, sheading the rest of her clothes before pulling her pajamas on. She really wanted to shower, but she was pretty sure it would have to wait until tomorrow with everything Quinn wanted to know.

"Okay, spill. Who was that delicious yet asshole-looking piece of man you were chatting with on the sidewalk outside our building?" she asked, falling back onto her bed as Rachel pulled her dark hair up into a bun on the top of her head.

"Jesse St. James. I—I knew him in Ohio."

"Another Ohio transplant? What, did all of you decide to relocate to the great state of California at once?" she laughed. "And what was with the tense look you were giving him? You two looked as though you had some history."

Rachel let out a sigh. "Okay, what I'm about to tell you does not leave this room unless I tell you it's okay to talk about it. Understand?" she asked. Quinn nodded her head, looking at Rachel curiously. "Jesse's my ex-boyfriend."

Quinn clapped her hands over her mouth, stifling the gasp that left her lips. "He's what? I thought you'd never had a real boyfriend?"

"Well, I lied. Not because I'm ashamed or something, but if I mentioned that, Kurt would never talk to me again. He doesn't know about Jesse. I hid it from him when I dated Jesse and lied when he saw us together and told him that he had just asked me out."

"Wait, I don't understand. Why'd you lie to Kurt? I thought he was your bff who you told everything to."

"He is. I mean, I've told Kurt things my dads don't even know, but he would have never understood what I had with Jesse. All he would have seen was Jesse as the lead of our rival show choir and seen it as a betrayal and said he was using me. Well, I suppose he was in the end, but he would have been the least supportive person which is why I never told him. And now it's too late to tell him because he'll be furious at me for lying, though I don't know how I'm going to be able to keep this a secret when Jesse's doing the choreography for the show!"

"Wait, he's what?" Quinn asked, not quite understanding Rachel when she talked about theater stuff.

"Jesse's teaching me the dances for the show because he wants to screw up my life and make sure I'm never happy. He knows me better than most people and I'm worried he's going to try and get inside my head like he used to."

"What happened between the two of you?" Quinn asked. "It doesn't sound like this was some normal breakup."

"Jesse used to get inside my head. He knew what I was insecure about and used it to make me feel bad about myself. He used to tell me how I wasn't pretty or talented or could never get a boyfriend while simultaneously banging all the girls in his show choir behind my back. I don't know why I didn't see him for the tool he was when we first met. I put up with his shit for five month before I caught him with a girl in his car and ended things, but the damage was done. That's why it hurt so much when I saw your brother with Marley at the bar. It was like Jesse all over again. After I ended things with Jesse, I swore I'd never let another guy get that close to me. And I didn't—until your brother, of course. I just—I don't know what to do about this now."

My advice is you should be honest with everyone—my brother, Kurt, your dads. Just tell them the truth. They'll understand. Well, at least Puck will—he's really into you. Like, I've never seen him fall so hard or so fast for someone. Just tell him the truth because if you don't, he'll find out some other way and things won't turn out good. But enough about some asshole you used to date—what happened with you and my brother tonight?"

Rachel and Quinn ended up staying awake until around two in the morning, going over every little thing that happened on the date between Rachel and Puck. Around midnight, Rachel climbed into bed with Quinn and the two girls stared at the ceiling as they continued talking.

So this is what having a girl best friend is like, Rachel thought to herself after Quinn had fallen asleep next to her, Rachel succumbing to sleep not long after.

The next morning, Rachel woke up early for her first class. Quinn was still asleep in bed, so Rachel moved around the room quietly, trying to make as little noise as possible. She ended up leaving their dorm in the clothes she slept in, her skin still smelling like the milkshake that had been spilled on her from the night before.

Rachel didn't see much of Quinn all day. Thursdays were her busy day, so she figured the next time she'd be back in her dorm was after rehearsals before she headed to the bar to see Will and Cooper's debut in their new band.

Rachel had never dreaded a rehearsal before, but with the knowledge that Jesse St. James was going to be there, she was wishing she was doing anything else besides rehearsing for Beauty and the Beast. Had she had a minor role, she would have just skipped rehearsal. Of course, she was the lead and actually had to be there.

When Rachel walked into the theater (the place that was quickly becoming her home), she found the place mostly filled. The group of senior girls who were quickly becoming her enemies were giving her death glares—most likely because she had diverted the star football player's attention from them yesterday. Mercedes was seated with Shane and Wes. She had seemingly pulled herself away from the group of girls she'd been sitting with during auditions.

Mercedes caught sight of Rachel and waved her over, a smile on her face. Rachel, still in the clothes she wore to bed, headed over to the group of three seniors, taking a seat next to Wes in the row in front of Mercedes and Shane.

"There's the leading lady," Mercedes teased. "We were wondering when you were going to get here. We can't exactly start the rehearsal without you," she laughed.

"Sorry. I've just been running a little slow today. You know, not enough sleep," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Ah, that must explain the sweatpants and minimal makeup, then," Mercedes said, nodding her head towards Rachel. "I haven't seen you once in an outfit that was short of flawless. Now, tell me about these rumors concerning you and a certain football player I've been hearing about," Mercedes said, a sly grin on her face.

Rachel was a bit taken aback. "W-what?" she asked, her cheeks turning pink. "Where did you hear that?"

"Didn't need to hear it. Puck was here yesterday surrounded by a group of hot, senior girls. I may not know him well, but I know it takes a hell of a lot for someone with his kind of reputation to leave a group of girls, yet he ran off after you when you headed out after rehearsal yesterday, making me think the only reason he showed up here was to see you. Are you two an item or something?"

Rachel chewed on her lower lip before nodding her head once. "Yes, he's my boyfriend. He took me on the worst date of my life last night, but he was very sweet about it. I don't know. I guess I feel like he shows a different side around me than he shows around other people. He's been after me since the first day I met him, actually He's my roommate's brother."

"Ooh, you sure it's a good idea to date your roommate's brother? What if things go sour?" Wes asked, looking next to him at Rachel.

"It already did. I mean, the first night after we met, he majorly fucked up and I wouldn't let him around me. I only really started talking to him and spending time with him again after the auditions for this. I mean, this is all really new for me. I'm just hoping Quinn and I are close enough that if things go bad with her brother, it won't turn into World War III in our dorm," she said with a small laugh.

"Damn though. You managed to get player Puck to give up his ways and settle down. He must really like you. I can't remember the last time he really dated a girl. Like, more than just a fuck buddy," Shane said, his arm around Mercedes' shoulders.

"Oh would you stop?" Mercedes asked. "I know what you're thinking, but I don't think she's like that. Hell, any other girl wouldn't have cared if Puck screwed up right after meeting them. They'd have still begged him to sleep with them because he's Puck." She turned her attention back to Rachel. "You don't even seem to care that he's this huge deal on campus."

Rachel shook her head. "I don't. Not really, anyways. Football doesn't matter to me. I'm not into sports. Never have been. The fact that Noah can throw a football well does nothing for me."

"Well, I still think it's sweet. He needs a non-slutty girl to make him less of an asshole. He's always such a dick to people since he can be. I think you could make him more bearable," Mercedes said.

"I hope so. Between you and me, I really do like him. He can be a jerk and a douchebag, but he can also be incredibly thoughtful and kind."

"Alright people, quite down!" Tina's voice rang throughout the theater as she stood on the stage in front of everyone, dressed in her typical outfit of a long skirt and a tank top. Artie was seated next to the front row alongside Emma. Rachel's stomach dropped when she saw Jesse sitting beside Emma, the same smirk he always had on his face. "Since most of you are fucking idiots when it comes to learning dance moves, I'm going to have to spend extra time teaching you how not to destroy our set and make Artie and I look like incompetent fools. Yes, assholes sitting to my laugh laughing and not listening, I'm talking to you."

The guys to whom she directed her comment immediately stopped talking, looking more than embarrassed.

"You all are so fucking stupid, I don' know how you got this far in school. How hard is it to learn a simple dance?" She shook her head. "Anyways, since I have to spend extra time with these idiots, I can't help Rachel with her dances for Belle, so I brought in help. You all remember Jesse," she said, gesturing her arms towards Jesse. He rose to his feet and gave everyone a grin as they let out a round of applause. "Jesse's going to be helping our lead actors with their dances while I work with the incompetent chorus members. So you three," she said, pointing to Rachel, Wes, and Shane. "Listen to whatever he tells you. Jesse's a genius when it comes to dance." She redirected her attention back to the group as she continued yelling at them.

Rachel could hardly hear her. The one thing she had truly loved about school so far had now officially been ruined thanks to Jesse St. James.