It's somewhat irrelevant to the story itself but there's just one thing I'd like to refer to in connection to Jesse and Rachel's dream school: I know that the degree in Voice at Julliard is about opera singing, but let's just assume that in this AU storyline it's more than that.

Chapter 20: Finn

Finn's POV (sic!)

He had no idea what or who prompted him into doing it. Maybe no one but he refused to accept this. Nevertheless, he was there, waiting for the plane to land, sweating nervously and feeling the doubts about this mad idea rushing through his head.

"Finn," he heard Mr Schue's voice next to him. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"No, Mr Schue, I'm fine," he lied.

They exited the airport and the warm afternoon wind danced around his feet as the lights of New York hit his face. They came to see Rachel performing at her first national championships. Finn had spent an enormous amount of time trying to figure out where and when exactly he began to destroy his chances with Rachel and how come he could ever think of hurting her.

He thought with anger about St. James. At the beginning he blamed him about all this mess with him and Rachel. Before St. James Rachel was only his. Before St. James he didn't have to fight for her attention. Before St. James he never felt this maddening jealousy which caused him to get back at her with Santana. He watched passively as the New Directions gave Rachel silent treatment, insulted her and slushied on the daily basis and because of his anger, he never did anything to prevent it.

But then he realised that Rachel never gave him any reasons to suspicion because of St. James. Her eyes were following his every move, she was still gushing about their future and life together in New York, her as a Broadway star and him coaching some local glee club. Jesse was almost never brought up in their conversations. She was meeting him when he came to Lima from time to time but she never let him believe that for her it was something more that friendly meetings. It was his jealousy and St. James' sneaky comments which caused him to snap.

It was a nail to his coffin.

A coffin he hoped to get rid of tonight.

Now that the glee club was abandoned by Rachel they weren't even half the good they had used to be. He blamed St. James for that as well. Sure, somehow Figgins decided not to close them off entirely much to their surprise, but they were so absorbed by fights about filling up Rachel's spot and giving out solos. They all experienced the consequences of Rachel jumping ships in one way or another even if most were declaring the relief about her leaving. It wasn't the end of bad news for them, though. Finn thought back to their family dinner last night when Kurt announced to him that he wanted to transfer to his new boyfriend's school after the summer break. Finn could see how Kurt supported Rachel's when she told them about her own transfer, they grew closer to each other just before the Regionals, so his decision wasn't completely unanticipated. To spare the New Directions another drama, Finn decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being.

He told only Mr Schue and the man nodded his head in agreement to keep this case quiet, saying:

"Maybe it's better. A clear break instead of another friend-foe drama like with Rachel. We all saw how bad that ended," he added as in afterword jumping into their cab.

They caught the last fly so that they didn't have to stay overnight in the city. They went straight to the theatre in which Nationals were taking place.

Finn couldn't agree more with the last sentence but his mind couldn't help but think with anger about Rachel's choice.

"Badly for us, Mr Schue. Rachel jumped ships and ended up quite comfortably as the newest star of the Vocal Adrenaline with her pretty boy and mummy on board, while we can barely make up a song worth performing," he couldn't help but spit angrily to which Mr Schue narrowed his eyes and grabbed Finn's arm firmly to make him look at him.

"And whose fault you think it is?" he asked. "Rachel is not the only one to blame here, and you know that perfectly well, Finn. I'm not proud to admit it but you were the ones to punish her for something unimaginably natural – having a friend. She never wanted to leave you but what choice did you left her?"

"She made us lose the Regionals on purpose, Mr Schue. To help her pretty boy."

"She came to an adult decision, Finn," Mr Schue answered with a twinge of irritation. "She considered the pros and cons and decided that the glee club wasn't worth destroying a young man's chance for a future career. You all still have two or three years ahead of you to fight for your dreams while it was the last call for Jesse. It went far above a normal high school drama, Finn."

Finn had no arguments to fight that statement.

"At what time do they start?" he asked instead, avoiding Mr Schue's eyes. "I wanted to buy her some flowers." He went silent for a moment and finally dared to ask the question: "Do you think I can get her back?"

He felt like he had no right to ask but his heart was pounding in his chest when he waited for Mr Schue to answer. He knew that Mr Schue and Ms Corcoran kept in touch for some time. Mr Schue wanted to make sure Rachel was fine because that's what he was: their friend before being a teacher. His presence in New York on that evening proved that claim very much.

"I never asked, Finn," Mr Schue answered with hesitation. "According to Ms Corcoran, lately Rachel was focused on the championships instead her love life."

"So you think that I still have a shot with her?" he asked, his hopes raising by this news.

"It's been some time and she truly loved you even after this incident with Santana. I think that if you begin slowly she might eventually consider it. But," he added firmly. "You cannot force yourself at her if she tells you "no", Finn. Even if she chose Jesse after all."

Finn nodded his head. In meantime they arrived at the theatre. Finn looked around with awe. The place was huge. A mass of people were swarming around the entrance, coming back and forth talking, laughing, murmuring nervously with their partners or friends. Finn and Mr Schue quickly found their seats and left their things there.

"Mr Schue? Finn?" they heard a loud gasp.

Finn quickly turned to see no one other than Rachel herself. She was standing a few meters from them, dressed in a knee long white and black dress and light make up on her face. She looked stunning. An extremely shocked expression formed on her face while she took in the picture in front of her. She moved a little as if she wanted to hug them but decided against it in the last second. Finn felt disappointment. All he longed for was to feel her in his arms. It was where she belonged after all. And he will make sure she remembered that.

"What are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously, glancing nervously around the hall. "Are the rest here, as well?"

Mr Schue shook his head.

"No, we wanted just to..."

"We would never miss it, Rachel," Finn interrupted him.

"I'll leave you two alone," Mr Schue murmured but they ignored him.

They were standing there for a long time, without talking, just staring at each other with painful expressions.

"What are you doing here, Finn?" she asked quietly again. "For real this time."

Finn knew that this whole trip came down to this moment: him asking her for forgiveness, begging on his knees if necessary for her to forget about his stupidity and give him one more chance. Tell her that he understood what he had done and that he regretted it in every minute of the past couple of weeks.

He opened his mouth to let all that fall out but then he couldn't. She was beautiful, extraordinary and perfectly happy in here; he could see how her arms and head were lifted in a newly acquired confidence even despite the heavy emotions hanging in the air at that moment. He noticed the curly head of St. James behind her, in his costume as well. He looked pissed and began to go in their direction quickly. Always hasty and unlikely to share, Finn thought, looking at him. Protective, was the word Rachel used once.

He heard himself:

"Mr Schue told me that he was going to New York to see you, I came along. We just wanted to wish you all the best before winning your first National title," he said.

Rachel's face almost screamed relief and Finn realised that she could see easily through his lies and was happy that he didn't tell her the truth. His resolve crumbled ever so slightly.

"Rach, come," St. James was finally by her side, apparently able to hear his words as well as he didn't attack him straight away.

Rachel turned to look at him and Finn noticed how her expression changed from nervousness to a bright smile.

"We need to get on with the stretching and voice exercises, Rach," St. James told her.

She nodded but poked St. James's chest once:

"Rule number four applies here," she reminded him much to Finn's confusion.

However, St. James must've understood this cryptic remark because his smile turned into grimace. St. James threw him a long hard glare but didn't say anything. Finn winced remembering the last time Jesse was in the same room with him.

Satisfied, Rachel threw Finn one last look before pulling at St. James's arm.

"Let's go, Jesse," Rachel murmured. "We have nothing to talk about."

Without looking back again, they disappeared.

The curtain went up and Finn saw Vocal Adrenaline gathered in the row in the back of the stage. St. James was standing in the middle with his hands slumped down his sides. The instrumental into began and slowly the teenagers started waling forward and only St. James was left in the back while the rest of his team started singing backups.

"Do you mean it? Do you mean it? Do you mean it?" St. James sang slowly started walking to join his team. "Why don't you mean it? Why do I follow you and where do you go?"

The choir took over the song again and Finn found Rachel in the crowd. She was standing in her spot with her eyes closed. Finn noticed that she was wearing slightly different dress than in the audience earlier; it was a black and white outfit, to make her stand out from the crowd of girls dressed entirely in white.

The pace of the music increased. Vocal Adrenaline's members scattered in different directions and paired up; Rachel grabbed some tall brunette's hand and faced the audience waiting for something. In meantime, St. James resumed his lead:

"You've never seen nothing like it, no never in your life. Like going up to heaven and then coming back alive," he sang quickening his pace. He was moving from one end of the stage, still along while the rest of Vocal Adrenaline followed him with his gaze as if listening to his stories. "Let me tell you all about it and the world will so allow it. Oooh give me a little time to choose."

They finally began to move.

St. James was on again:

"Water babies singing in a lily pool delight, blue powder monkeys praying in the dead of night..."

Finn frowned at the lyrics but his attention was brought by the commotion in the back, behind St. James. There, the rest of the team froze and a two single spotlights fell on Rachel's and Jesse's figures, leaving the rest in the semi-shadows. The team moved, making room for Rachel who stood with her head held up. Finn saw Mr Schue raised his eyebrow.

As much as Finn hated to admit it, Vocal Adrenaline was good. More than good, actually, as they gave their powerful show in front of the hundreds of people in the theatre.

"Here comes the Black Queen poking in the pile," St. James and the rest of his team sang together, looking up towards Rachel who started walking gracefully down the steps. "Fie-fo the Black Queen marching single file! Take this, take that, bring them down to size."

"March to the Black Queen!" the choir sang.

So that would explain the black elements in Rachel's white dress, Finn noticed, swallowing. The show was extremely theatrical, Finn noticed. Just something that Rachel loved.

The music was constantly changing, increasing its tempo to slow down just a moment later and Finn watched the team adjust their moves to each such change without much effort. Rachel was doing great job in the crowd of the dancers and Finn couldn't see much difference between her and the older members of the team. She was dancing with her best showface and her eyes brightened with every second of the performance. Jesse was on the front while the rest was circling around him, making him stand out even more. Finn frowned at that sight. He thought that Rachel would be there with him, sharing the spotlights, not in the back with the others singing backups.

"Ms Corcoran wants to show Jesse off," Mr Schue explained seeing Finn's confusion. "People from Julliard are in the audience to listen to him."

Oh, right.

Finn focused his attention back to the stage. Despite his own dislike for the guy, Finn just had to admit that they knew what they were doing.

"Make this, make that, keep making all that noise."

"March to the Black Queen," sang the choir.

Rachel finally descended the small stairs. She ran her eyes over the crowd and opened her mouth. Finn held his breath.

"Now I've got a belly full," she smiled and looked at Jesse."You can be my sugar baby, you can be my honey chile, yes.."

Jesse strode up to her and they circled each other, not losing another's eyes. It looked like two predators for Finn. Vocal Adrenaline's girls grabbed Rachel's hands and pried her to themselves. Jesse, alone, ran after her. Rachel's hand was grabbed by a tall blonde who was her partner in the beginning. The team divided into two groups, each one doing similar choreography but with delay but Finn was focused on Rachel all the time. She jumped and dipped with her group but she was constantly focused on St. James just like he was on her.

But with the next part of the song, they stopped moving again and just waved to the slow rhythm while Jesse looked at the back of the auditorium, gazing ahead of him and singing softly:

"A voice from behind me reminds me."

The choir joined in:

"Spread out your wings you are an angel."

St. James looked up. Four girls joined him in his spot while the rest danced slowly behind them.

"Remember to deliver with the speed of light, a little bit of love and joy. Everything you do bears a will and a why and a wherefore."

"A little bit of love and joy,"the choir took over.

St. James moved from his spot. Rachel, observing him carefully, did her slow routine in the side of the stage, while Jesse was singing on:

"In each and every soul lies a man; very soon he'll deceive and discover but even till the end of his life he'll bring a little love."

The music quickened. The delicate flute and piano were joined by the electric guitar and drums. Instantly, Rachel gave up her dignified pose and smirked confidently at the audience and Jesse. She stepped towards Jesse and they faced each other.

"I reign with my left hand, I rule with my right," she started stepping away again, taking one heavy step after another. "I'm lord of all darkness, I'm queen of the night!"

Jesse ran after her but never managed to touch her. He crossed her path, instead, and threw her a daring look.

"I've got the power," Rachel challenged him with the song. Finn gulped, he's never seen or heard her so fierce in his life. "Now do the march of the Black Queen."

"My life is in your hands," Jesse vigorously grabbed Rachel hands and brought her close in a dance which Finn recognized as some kind of tango. So St. James could also tango. Was there anything he couldn't pull off? "I'll fo and I'll fie, I'll be what you make me, I'll do what you like."

Rachel moved along gracefully. Their moves were full of anger when he practically dragged her all over the stage. He turned her and she followed his steps.

"I'll be a bad boy, I'll be your bad boy," Jesse stopped for the briefest moment and dipped Rachel low, hovering over her face and singing: "I'll do the march of the Black Queen."

Rachel ran away to take her former spot in the back of the stage from where she was most visible. The whole time, the group of dancers made up the background for the unfolding scenes of the small spectacle on the stage; this time two taller guys lifted her in the air and the rest started throwing the remaining girls in the air. Finn's jaw hit the floor when he saw this particular element of choreography. And Rachel who managed to conduct her jump without losing smile from her lips.

The music changed again. Jesse was breathing heavily but sang on joined by the choir again:

"Walking true to style she's vulgar, abuse and vile. Fie-fo the Black Queen tattoos all her pies, she boils and she bakes and she never dots her I's."

"She's our leader," the choir took over the lyrics. "La la la la…"

Rachel was released and put back to her feet. She and Jesse approached each other. The music slowed down yet again, almost quietened entirely. Jesse and Rachel joined their hands and he looked at her briefly with a smile. Then he tore his eyes away from her and faced the audience, singing together:

"Forget your singalongs and your lullabies, surrender to the city of the fireflies, dance with the devil in beat with the band. To hell with all of you hand in hand but now it's time to be gone (la la la la) forever."

They took a deep breath simultaneously.

"Forever."

The stage fell into darkness. For the first three, maybe four seconds there was nothing but silence. Then finally first people started clapping their hands. Eventually, the auditorium erupted in applause.

Finn was astounded.

"Wow," he murmured in awe and Mr Schue only nodded in similar astonishment.

Finn and Mr Schue stood up with the rest of the audience and started clapping their hands. But it wasn't the end, apparently, as the band started playing another melody. Slowly, Rachel stepped out of the crowd. Only one spotlight was shining at her lone figure at the front. The rest o the Vocal Adrenaline took their places at the back of the stage, in shadows, and waited for another song to begin while St. James, unmoving, took his place a few meters behind Rachel who started her solo.

"There were nights when the wind was so cold," she sang. "That my body frozen in bed. If I just listened to it right outside the window."

As a cue, the dancers began spinning around the stage in slow but equally complicated choreography. St. James was still standing still behind Rachel looking straight at the desks under his feet.

Rachel voice grew stronger:

"I finished crying in the instance that you left, and I can't remember where or when or how!" Rachel sang and her powerful voice sent shivers down Finn's spine. He looked at the people around him and they all looked at the small girl on the stage with equally awestruck. "And I banished every memory you and I have ever made."

She stepped forward.

"And if you touch me like this," she sang softly. "And if you hold me like that – I just have to admit that it's all coming back to me."

Finally, Jesse moved and stepped towards Rachel. He delicately placed his hand over her shoulder and seemingly caressing her skin, moving the hand down her arm but without actually touching her. He was barely seen from behind her, his figure clouded by the darkness of the stage, and the audience could see only his hands, caressing, hugging her from behind and moving carefully all over her chest and face – even Finn could read into the intimacy of the small semi-touches.

The music changed and Rachel stepped out of Jesse's reach. He went after her and she gave him her hand in a slow dance. Jesse held Rachel when she sang, and his eyes never left her face. Rachel moved out of his reach again and faced the audience, with her hand on her heart and closed eyes. Jesse was dancing slowly around her performing an elegant routine.

"There were nights of endless pleasure, it was more than any law allow," she opened her eyes and found Jesse's face. "Baby, baby if I kiss you like this, and if you whisper like that; it was so long ago, but it's all coming back to me now..."

Finn felt a sharp pain in his chest, watching her intently and hearing her say those words. He could imagine himself on the stage with her. He imagined her singing the song for him only.

And just as he thought that, Rachel moved her head again and seemed to look right at him. Finn swallowed heavily, when he heard the next verse:

"But you were history with the slamming of the door. And I made myself so strong again somehow, and I never wasted any of my time on you since then."

She turned to look at Jesse and the most serene smile covered her lips.

The music died out slowly and Rachel's voice turned almost into a whisper. Jesse was again with her, she turned to look at him and only their profiles were visible to the people in the audience. He took her hand in one of his and the other one touched her face. They were staring into each other's eyes. Jesse's lips crooked in the smallest of smiles and he joined her and their voiced interwoven together rang in the completely silent hall:

"If you forgive me all this

If I forgive you all that

We forgive and forget

And it's all coming back to me now."

The audience erupted in another thunder of applause. For the longest moment, Rachel and St. James didn't move, staring at each other with their eyes wide open, ignoring the thunder which spread though the crowd of people in front of them. Finally, Rachel seemed to snap out of the trance and faced the audience, her hand clasped tightly in Jesse's hand, dipping her head lightly.

Finn and Mr Schue jumped to their feet and joined in the general admiration again.

"That was..." Mr Schue began.

"Intense," Finn filled in glancing at the man to his left. "I always knew Rachel was our best singer but I never knew she could sing like that."

The older man nodded his head in agreement.

"Shelby trained her well," Mr Schue noticed, equally stunned. "No wonder she managed to win all these years."

"I feel like we need to work really hard right now to get even a little bit closer to that level," Finn grumbled. The New Directions, even with Rachel, never were than good. Not only the singing, but their dancing and cooperation were something they needed to work on most especially.

"To be honest I never believed that we could beat the Vocal Adrenaline this year in Regionals," Mr Schue confessed which earned him a cold glare from Finn. "I knew how good they are and it was our first year after all, we were infants in comparison to them. However, I counted for the next year when they would lose their greatest start when Jesse would be gone for the college. Now..."

"And now he'll be replaced by Rachel," Finn finished for him bitterly, thinking back to their glee club.

Rachel and Kurt were gone, Quinn had her baby so she and Puck were bound to leave the rehearsals for at least couple of weeks, Santana and Brittany were busy with Cheerios trainings and still heavily under the influence of Coach Sylvester. They needed new faces, new lead and new hope. Finn lost his hope of Rachel returning to the New Directions when he watched her jump into Jesse's arms when the audience gave them the standing ovation and the curtain fell down obscuring Finn's view of the pair.

"We have the entire summer to come up with some plan, Finn," Mr Schue told him. "We will manage, we always do."

They fell silent again. People around them were sharing their opinions on the choir and Finn could hear many of them voicing their admiration to Rachel's and Jesse's talents, predicting their next forthcoming victory on the national arena.

Finn felt Mr Schue turn again to look at him with sudden seriousness written all over his face.

"I heard your conversation with Rachel, Finn. It was extremely courageous of you."

The teen looked up.

"I didn't do anything," he protested not knowing what the man was referring to.

"Sure you did. Rachel made her adult decision, putting Jesse's dreams and happiness before her own and sacrificing something very important to her. You did the same tonight by not chasing her."

It wasn't enough of comfort for Finn but he accepted the words with semi-gratitude. But, looking at the empty stage, he couldn't stop thinking that maybe he wasn't persuasive enough.

Jesse's POV

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Rachel was squeaking right into his ears when they finally left the stage after their, most likely, victorious performance.

He could see how the nerves about the performance were instantly swept away by the rush of excitement. He felt exactly the same right now: the powerful mixture of the sense of satisfaction, pride, fear and relief that it was all over. The rest of the Vocal Adrenaline hugged each other jumping up and down. They tore the happy couple apart when Kate unusually locked him in a strong hug and Rachel was captured by Justin's arms and lifted easily. He could hear her loud, honest laughter and see the happiness in her eyes when she looked at him from above.

Their small celebration was interrupted by Shelby who approached them with stern expression; although they knew that the victory tonight was their for sure, she always told them to hold still until the official results – and they always ignored her warnings. Tonight wasn't an exception. But now as she appeared backstage with two men by her side they all stiffened and Rachel was softly put down on the ground. She managed to grab his hand and squeeze it lightly when he passed her on his way to Shelby.

It was it. The last couple of years came down to this moment.

"Jesse St. James, I presume," one of the men greeted him. Jesse smiled with confidence and shook the offered hand. "My name is Arthur Moore and this is my colleague, Martin Firthman. We are representatives of the Julliard School. We would like to congratulate you on your performance."

"Thank you," Jesse replied with his best polite smile. Shelby had to actually practice with him this conversation, clearly not believing him not to crush them with his massive confidence. 'You must at least fake some humility' she told him.

"We've seen your records and watched some of your previous performances and we must say that we are quite impressed," Martin Firthman, the other man, told him. "You have good grades, you led your team for four years never losing a competition..." He exchanged evaluative glances with his colleague and added: "We must wait for the opinions of the rest of our board and the official decision yet, but, off the record I can say: welcome to Julliard Mr. St. James."

Jesse grinned happily at Shelby and she just pulled him into a hug. Jesse heard Rachel's excited squeak and he couldn't resist glancing back at her. She was hugging a very uncomfortably looking Kate.

"That reminds me," they heard Arthur Moore's voice again. "The female lead, can we meet her as well?"

Rachel looked both excited and terrified when Shelby beckoned at her to join them. She threw them nervous glance before accepting Moore's hand who introduced himself again.

"Rachel Berry, nice to meet you, too," she answered with her most professional expression. She didn't need any lessons from Shelby apparently.

Moore and Firthman nodded their heads.

"We would like to ask if you have made up your mind about your college of choice, Ms Berry," Firthman asked out of sudden. "Such a talented young lady would be a perfect addition to our school."

Jesse exchanged awed looks with Rachel and Shelby.

"Oh, I've dreamed about Julliard since I was five, sir, but I'm not graduating for another two years," she told much to their surprise. "I'm a sophomore," she explained.

They sought confirmation at Shelby and nodded their heads.

"Even more reasons to be impressed," Firthman finally managed to say. "We will look forward to your audition in two years, then, Ms Berry. Now let us leave you to celebrate and wait for the results. Good luck."

Only after the two men were out of their reach, Shelby hugged Rachel and congratulated her quietly. She quickly pulled out of her arms and jumped into Jesse's open arms. He spun her around, still holding tightly. This day couldn't get any better, he thought.

Their moment was interrupted by Shelby, who sent back some young girl with a notepad.

"Okay, everybody, we got to the first three," she called much to everybody's pleasure but not surprise. "Get back to the stage. The judges returned from the meeting."

Honestly? Jesse was already a winner and he didn't care about the stupid trophy at that moment. But he let Rachel pull him with her back to the stage because that "stupid trophy" meant so much to her. The spotlights hit his face while he stood there holding Rachel's hand and waiting for the verdict.

"Why is it taking so long?" he heard Rachel whisper to him. "It was the ballad, I screwed it up. Giselle is going to kill me."

Jesse rolled his eyes.

"Rach. You heard the man, you were incredible."

"He was being polite, Jesse."

"He offered you a freaking Julliard spot, babe, he wasn't polite. Now stop talking, Shelby's glaring."

Rachel blushed slightly at the little nickname but closed her mouth.

The judges finally made their way to the stage. Rachel closed her eyes in anticipation while Jesse scanned the two remaining teams' members. They were all holding hands or embracing each other; Jesse actually recognised few faces from the last year's runners up from Texas. He smirked and internally felt almost sorry for them for losing to the Vocal Adrenaline for the second time in a row. Yeah, they didn't actually announce the verdicts yet but come on – he and Rachel crushed this year's Nationals.

The first judge stepped forward holding a small MVP award. Jesse opened his mouth to address Rachel when the host went to announce:

"It's time to reveal the winner of this year's Individual Show Choir MVP Award."

Rachel looked up at him and smiled. Jesse returned the smile and winked. He squeezed her hand encouragingly and wasn't even a bit surprised when the voice went on:

"From... Vocal Adrenaline, Rachel Berry!"

Rachel's head snapped up and she froze in surprise. Jesse watched with adoration as she accepted the trophy from the judge. Jesse grinned and murmured short 'love you' into her ear.

His eyes moved lazily through the audience until he stopped on one of the last rows to the right, the place where Hudson and Schuester were still sitting. He swore he could feel Hudson's cold glare on his hand which was still holding Rachel's smaller one in a strong grasp. Rachel might've believed that Hudson would back off and leave Rachel alone but Jesse wasn't the one to buy the bullshit. He considered pulling Rach closer to him just to spite Hudson but decided not to in the end; Rachel would see through him in a matter of seconds and he knew she didn't want to make the quarterback even more miserable. She was too good for her own sake. So he remained still, his only gesture was to squeeze Rachel's hand to which she reacted with a smile.

"And now comes the time to announce the National Champions of year 2010!"

Rachel suddenly moved closer to him, grabbed his arms and surrounded her shoulders from behind with his hands. She leaned into his chest and Jesse kissed the top of her head, humming words of encouragements into her hair.

"In the third place from the Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon: the Buzzers!"

Oh god, could those names get any more stupid? Jesse thought when the team to their left began hugging themselves in understandably disappointed way.

Rachel took a deep, very deep, breath. Jesse skimmed through the faces of his own team and noticed that he wasn't the only one to stand there relaxed; Giselle was smirking at their competition, Justin raised a bored eyebrow in response to Jesse's look. They won with the Texas club year ago and the cowboys didn't get any better than since last year. Jesse noticed some of the girls glanced with sweet smiles at Rachel and Jesse noticed how Andrea grabbed her right hand in a reassuring gesture. They both rolled their eyes at Rachel's nerves but still, she was kind of sweet when freaking out.

"The runner ups are..." Rachel held her breath, pinning her nails into his forearms. "From the Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas: the Starships! Which means that, for the fourth time, the champions of the National Showchoir Championship of 2010 are the Vocal Adrenaline from Carmel High School in Akron, Ohio!"

The hall erupted in the thunder of applause. The confetti flew from under the roof and Jesse let out a victorious cry. Rachel jumped into his arms and he spun her around. People were shouting and laughing and crying and Jesse honestly had no idea what was going on there, apart from Rachel's happy tears and her thousand watt smile.

She laughed again and squealed in surprised when Jesse captured her face between his palms and crashed their lips together. Jesse embraced her waist and pressed her to him as close as he could, while people around whistled and giggled. Then slowly, their audience also started to laugh and point their fingers at them – yeah, being in a state of almost complete excitement, he didn't even close his eyes. He quickly corrected his error and ignoring everyone around him, deepened the kiss, pulling Rachel even closer to himself. The cheering grew stronger until Shelby finally grunted uneasily.

"Rachel, Jesse, I think that's enough for now," she barked over the sound of the cheering crowds.

Reluctantly, they pulled apart.

The head of the judges handed the enormous trophy into Shelby's hands and congratulated her on behalf of the others judges, glancing at the couple with slight dismay.

Rachel's POV

She, Rachel Berry from Lima, Ohio; currently Akron, Ohio but who cares; was officially a National Champion. She also secured the attention of one Jesse St. James who was presently kissing her brains out in the backstage of a theatre in New York, the city of their dreams. Fine, "secured attention" wasn't the most fortunate expression to describe this situation but, again, who cares? Life was good.

Someone cleared their throat very close to them.

She giggled against Jesse's lips, effectively ruining their full-on make out session and Jesse, with his eyes still locked with Rachel's, only pushed Justin away, while leaning in and capturing her lips in another hot kiss.

Kissing Finn wouldn't even try to compare the way Jesse's was kissing her, licking her lips, nibbling on it softly. Jesse was holding her tightly, not letting her go even for a second as if afraid that she would fly off and never come back. She felt him murmur some small sweet nothings and love confessions against her lips in between another portion of kisses. She could feel a bunch of butterflies trying to fight their way out of her stomach and she felt herself drown in the feeling. Combined with the rush of excitement from their victory, Rachel felt better than ever in her life.

They heard Shelby calling them. She pulled away from Jesse's arms but stayed close to him, hugging his waist when they approached her mom. Rachel looked up and couldn't stop the smile appearing on her face; she still couldn't believe it was actually true. They won. She made her mother proud. And most importantly, she was totally in love with her best friend who returned the feeling. Jesse noticed her eyes on him and his only response was a quick peck on her cheek, which made her heart race in her chest; even something that small could make her legs weak.

Remembering something, Rachel pulled out her MVP award. She waved it in front of Jesse's face, who seemed slightly at loss.

"Do you know what it means?" she asked lifting the corner of her lips.

Jesse raised his eyebrow.

"That the judges loved your solo as much as I did?"

"No," Rachel said and straightened her back. She looked at the trophy triumphally. "It means that I'm a better singer than you, Jesse St. James."

"I have three of those, Rach," Jesse noticed seemingly unmoved but she saw easily through his uncertain glance.

She patted his arm with sympathy.

"Yeah, they had to give them to somebody since I wasn't there."

They heard laugh nearby. Rachel moved her head and realised that their team was listening to their exchange. Jesse grimaced.

"Oh, don't be sad," Rachel stood on her tip toes and hugged Jesse's neck.

Rachel took a deep breath and made her way to Shelby who was still holding the first prize trophy. It was huge, almost as tall as Rachel. She held her hand forward tentatively and asked:

"Can I hold it?"

Shelby handed her the trophy with a sweet smile and Rachel squeezed the award with awe. She stayed this way all the way back to the hotel, not even separating with the award inside the taxi. As they god settled comfortably in the car, though, Jesse raised the eyebrow at her and asked softly.

"Um, Rach? Maybe you consider exchanging this piece of wood for a hot boyfriend of yours?" to which she only scoffed and hugged the award even more.

Some girls sitting nearby chuckled light heartedly at her reaction and Jesse's apparent disappointment. Giselle mumbled something about a cold shower and Jesse being used to get her the trophy.

Finally, on the board of the plane, Jesse managed to scoop her closer and close inside his arms. She spent the rest of their flight sleeping peacefully in his embrace.

Nothing could destroy her perfect day.

She was a National Champion.

For me, Celine is Rachel's Nationals song in every AU. :)