A/N: So, I know I still have part three of NYADA to write, and I'm working on it, but my muse demanded this be written. Set in season 2, around the time of Prom Queen. Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
"I can't believe you're back with that traitor."
Rachel frowned as she heard Artie's comment. New Directions, with the exception of a few members, would always view Jesse as the enemy. He made her happy. He'd apologized to her, really the only person he needed to explain anything or apologize to. New Directions had never been welcoming towards him, so why should he bend over backwards for them?
"I think you should resign as female lead," Mercedes told her as she took a seat next to Artie.
"I can't believe you fell for his tricks again," Tina added.
"I thought you were smarter than that, Berry," Quinn put in.
Silently cursing her so-called teammates, Rachel felt herself getting closer and closer to her breaking point. Why did her personal life have to be any of their business? It was her life, not theirs. Besides, she knew better than to let her personal life affect anything New Directions-related. It just made them ridicule her more. It didn't help matters that their director was late, as usual. Probably mooning over the guidance counselor he couldn't have.
"I just have one question," Kurt said as he took a seat next to her.
"What's that?"
"Are you happy?"
Rachel smiled her first real smile since entering the room as she nodded at her best friend.
"I am. I don't know exactly what's going to happen with us yet, but I'm happy."
"Good. If he breaks your heart again, I'll send Puck to beat him up."
Rachel laughed as she hugged Kurt.
"I missed you while you were at Dalton. Are you sure you're okay being back here, though?"
"I am…but my dad and Carole have both said I can go back to Dalton if I want to or if I feel unsafe again."
"I don't think it was wise to leave in the first place, but I understand."
"Have you seen Noah and Santana?"
"They weren't far behind me, so they should be here soon. Are you okay?"
"Physically, I'm fine. I'm mad at some of our so-called teammates, but I know that I'm not always going to get along with everyone."
Kurt nodded in understanding, looping his arm through hers as a show of support.
"Blaine says that he supports you, too, even though he obviously can't be here. He just wants you to be happy, too."
"I'll have to text him after rehearsal to thank him."
Before either could say anything else, they saw their last few teammates make their way into the choir room, followed by Mr. Schuester.
"The first order of business today is…" Will started as he walked towards the whiteboard in the back of the room. Just as he was about to write on it, he heard Mercedes' voice.
"Picking a new female lead, since our current one has a conflict of interest," she said.
Seeing her choir director's confused look, Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes before she explained.
"I'm dating Jesse St. James again."
"How is that a conflict of interest, Mercedes?" Will asked the other girl. "Jesse graduated; he's no longer with Vocal Adrenaline."
"That doesn't mean he doesn't want them to win. He'll do anything to make sure they win, starting with sabotaging our female lead. Since she obviously isn't immune to his lies, I think we should have a leader who is."
"I agree, I think we should vote on it," Artie told him.
"Sounds good to me," Quinn added.
Taking a deep breath, Rachel raised her hand and waited for Will to call on her.
"Yes, Rachel?" he asked, bracing for an outburst.
"I'd like to defend myself. May I have the floor, please?"
Will nodded in agreement, knowing full well that resistance was futile, before taking a seat near the piano. With her show-face firmly in place, Rachel stood confidently in front of the rest of New Directions.
"I've worked my ass off for all of you. If it weren't for me, there wouldn't be a Glee club for you to be a part of, for you to try to kick me out of. I'm the one who went to Principal Figgins about Mr. Ryerson. I'm the one who saved your asses at Sectionals when our set list was stolen. I'm the one who gave up my solo to Mercedes in the first place, just to try and keep the peace. To try and show you all that I'm a team player. No matter what I do, it's met with criticism and it's me being a diva or being dramatic. You think you all can survive without me? Can do better without me? Go ahead and try. I'm done with this. I don't need this. I don't have to take this."
As she was walking back to her seat to get her backpack, Rachel heard Quinn's voice again.
"Where do you think you're going? You're nothing without us."
Rachel sent the blonde-haired girl a sad smile.
"You're wrong, Quinn. You all may think my ambition is a bad thing, but not everyone shares that opinion. I'm leaving New Directions, and McKinley. Since the show choir rulebook states that the former female lead gets to choose her replacement, unless she's voted out, which I wasn't, I choose Santana. She'll keep you all in line, I'm sure."
Once she had reached the doors that would lead her outside, Rachel couldn't stop the tears from falling. Thankful she had programmed Jesse's number into her speed-dial already, she quickly pressed the button that would connect her to him.
"Rach? Are you okay?" Jesse answered, immediately concerned, since he knew her schedule down the minute, meaning he knew it was too early for her to be calling him.
"Can you come and get me?" she managed to ask.
"Of course. I'll be there in a few minutes. Are you okay?"
"I'll explain when you get here."
"Okay. I'm on my way."
After hanging up with her boyfriend, Rachel took a seat on a nearby curb to wait for him. She was surprised to see Kurt take a seat next to her a few minutes later.
"I left, too," he revealed. "I lied about feeling safe. I just didn't want to miss out on Nationals, especially with you. Plus, I know how much of a financial strain it put on my dad and Carole. They gave up their honeymoon for me."
"Your safety is more important than a honeymoon."
"That's what they said. Finn and I have been trying to save money to send them on a weekend getaway or something. It isn't looking good, though."
"Have you thought about decorating the house and letting them have the weekend to themselves? I'm sure Finn could stay with Noah or Mike, and you could always stay with me."
"That's a good idea. I'll talk to Finn about it. Thanks," Kurt told her before changing the subject. "I take it Jesse is on his way?"
"He is," Rachel confirmed. "Do you need a ride home?"
"No, I drove. I'll wait with you, though."
Rachel smiled at him, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I wish we would have become friends sooner," she said.
"Me, too," Kurt agreed, "but I'm glad we did realize we were better off as friends than enemies."
"We're both just so ambitious; we let it cloud our better judgment. At least that's what Jesse figures, which makes sense. We know better now, though."
"What are you going to do now? School and show choir-wise."
"I'm not really sure. I'm going to talk to my dads about it tonight and we'll go from there."
"You know, I was surprised when you didn't follow Jesse back to Carmel last year."
"You were?"
"Yeah. You seemed really into him, and I'll admit I was jealous. I didn't really understand, either, not until I met Blaine. You also seemed like you'd fit in more with Vocal Adrenaline than New Directions."
"If he had asked, I probably would have. I was so in love with him. I think I still am."
"I think so, too," Kurt told her. "I also think the feeling is mutual. Then and now. He has a soft spot for you. He'd do anything for you."
"Have you told Blaine that you love him yet?" Rachel wondered.
"No. I'm scared he won't feel the same."
"Welcome to the club."
"We both have cute, talented boys who might love us back, who we know at least care about us. What did we do to deserve that?"
"Be true to ourselves."
"I like that theory. Let's stick with that."
Rachel giggled as she nodded in agreement.
As he drove closer to the front doors of McKinley, Jesse let out a small sigh of relief when he saw Rachel hadn't been waiting alone. She was sitting with Kurt, her new best friend. He was glad she had made at least one true friend while she had to suffer through hell. Parking the car, he quickly pocketed the keys and then made his way over to his girlfriend.
"Hi, Jesse," Kurt greeted as he and Rachel stood.
"Hi, Kurt," Jesse returned as he slid his arm around Rachel's waist and felt her slide her arms around his to hug him.
"Thanks for keeping me company," Rachel told her friend.
"Anytime. Keep me updated. I'm going to see my dad and hopefully not get any grease on my new outfit," Kurt replied as he walked away.
"Are you okay?" Jesse asked, repeating his earlier question as he looked down at the girl in his arms.
"I'm better now. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for school and I'll miss show choir, but I won't miss McKinley or New Directions."
"Your dads are worried."
"My dads are at work, they don't know what happened yet," Rachel replied, unsure how her dads could possible know what happened already.
"They've been worried for a while, Rach. You know this," Jesse reminded her.
Rachel sighed as she nodded.
"I know; I just hate worrying them."
"They're your parents and they love you. They're naturally going to worry about you."
"I don't even know what my options are. How am I supposed to weigh options I don't know about?"
"You'll figure it out, and I'll help you however I can," Jesse said confidently as he took Rachel's hand and led her to his car.
"Hi, sweetie, Jesse," Hiram greeted as he walked into the kitchen later that night. "I didn't know you two were cooking tonight."
"Hi, Daddy," Rachel returned, walking over to Hiram to hug him tightly.
"I get the feeling something didn't go well today."
"You'd be correct," Jesse revealed.
"I promise to tell you all about it when Dad gets home," Rachel told her father.
"Okay. Is there anything I can help with?"
"We've got it under control. You sit."
"I'm going to go put my things away and then I'll be back. If I'm not back within ten minutes, you can come and get me."
"Deal."
Walking into the kitchen, Leroy was surprised to find Rachel and Jesse setting the table, with Hiram chatting with them while they did so.
"Hi, Dad," Rachel greeted, moving to hug him.
"Hi, honey," Leroy returned. "Whatever you and Jesse made smells delicious."
"It's Daddy's recipe, of course it does. I need to talk to you two. It's about school."
"We'll talk about it over dinner," Leroy told her before turning to the older teen in the room. "It's nice to see you again, Jesse."
"I'm happy to be back," Jesse told him simply.
Leroy smiled a little at Jesse's words. Truth be told, he was happy Jesse was back, too. He had nothing against Finn personally, but he'd never really fit in with the family. Not the way Jesse did so seamlessly.
Once everyone had taken their seats and began to eat, Rachel revealed what had happened earlier that day.
"I quit New Directions. I don't want to go back to McKinley, either."
"Because they don't approve of you dating Jesse again?" Hiram wondered.
"It's not just that. That's just another thing on their list of things I did wrong. Nothing I do is ever good enough for them. They constantly talk down to me, like they're better than me. They only remember the information that benefits them. Like me taking the solo at sectionals, not what led up to that or the fact that I gave it up to keep the peace in the first place."
"Will Schuester is also the most useless choir director I have ever met," Jesse added.
"I don't really know what other options there are, sweetie," Hiram said regretfully. "There's Dalton's sister school, but there's no show choir there."
"There's always Carmel," Jesse told him. "Most of the people involved in the…incident…last year are gone now. Shelby isn't the coach anymore, either, so Rachel wouldn't be forced to interact with her every day. She can continue to get to know Shelby in her own time. Vocal Adrenaline is also the top of the proverbial food chain at Carmel, so bullying wouldn't be an issue."
"What do you want to do, honey?" Leroy asked his daughter.
"I think Carmel, and Vocal Adrenaline, would be the best fit. Even if I can't compete with them this year, I still want to go to Carmel. I at least wouldn't be bullied for not being a jock or cheerleader."
"I'll call them in the morning and see what I can do."
"I have another request," Rachel revealed.
"What's that, sweetie?" Hiram wondered.
"After careful consideration, I would like to arrange private singing lessons with Shelby. I feel she can best help me improve, and sort of help me make up for lost time. She's also a well-respected show choir coach who has helped many students with their college auditions."
"We'll call her tomorrow as well. I was planning on working from home tomorrow anyway. We'll get it figured out," Hiram decided.
"In full disclosure, I should also probably tell you both that I said some mean things to my now-former teammates today before I quit," Rachel said softly.
"What did you say?" Leroy wondered.
As Rachel filled her fathers in on her speech, she was grateful that neither would judge her for it. They'd witnessed everything she'd gone through, and having been the targets of unfair treatment themselves, they understood.
"While I can't say I completely agree with the way it all happened, I'm proud of you for defending yourself," Leroy told her.
"I understand," Rachel responded.
"You've been awfully quiet, Jesse," Hiram noticed. "Is there anything you'd like to add?"
"I support Rachel in whatever decision she feels is best for her. I wish I would have tried harder to convince her to come back to Carmel with me, and that I hadn't done what I ended up doing. Maybe things would have been okay for her if I had done the former and not the latter."
"I don't blame you, Jesse," Rachel immediately reminded him. "You were under a tremendous amount of peer pressure and you snapped. You were eighteen. Mistakes happen. You apologized, we've talked about it, the events that led up to it, everything. I accepted your apology and we're back together."
"Rachel's right," Leroy added. "Now that we know everything, it's easier to see why you did what you did. You've accepted that it happened, expressed regret for it, and apologized to the person most affected by it even though you knew she might not accept it. In my opinion, that takes guts."
"Unfortunately, I think my teammates would have managed to find something to pick apart about me until they were satisfied with the so-called evidence they'd gathered. They've been on my case since the beginning. They used our relationship because it was easy."
Jesse nodded, not really wanting to discuss the matter any further. He still hadn't fully forgiven himself for everything he'd done to the only girl he would ever love.
A short while later, after dinner was over, Hiram was the first to speak.
"Leroy and I can handle dishes. You two go relax, watch a musical or sing. We haven't heard you two sing together in a while."
"Do you have any requests?" Jesse wondered.
"Surprise us," Leroy responded with a smile.
"I think I know the perfect song," Rachel added with a grin as she reached for Jesse's hand. "Come on, Jess, I'll show you."
Watching Jesse follow Rachel out of the room, Hiram and Leroy couldn't help but smile. It was clear that their daughter had found her match and that he adored her just as much as she adored him.
"How do you feel about Shelby being part of Rachel's life?" Hiram asked his husband as they waited for Rachel and Jesse to begin singing.
"If it's something Rachel wants, then I'm going to support her. She's old enough to make her own decisions. Plus, I think Shelby can help her with colleges more than we can. She knows what the colleges Rachel is interested in are looking for. Rachel's dream is Broadway. She wants to study musical theater. Shelby wanted that, too. Rachel can learn from her mistakes."
"I'm a little wary, but I agree."
Before either could say anything else, they heard their daughter begin to sing.
"So, what duet did you pick?" Jesse wondered as he sat down at the piano.
Rachel smiled as she grabbed a nearby songbook, opening it to the song she wanted before setting it in the proper place on the piano.
"Practicing for one of your dream roles?" Jesse teased.
"Of course," Rachel responded. "Will you sing it with me?"
"Always."
Rachel beamed at her boyfriend, pressing a kiss to his cheek before she sang the first line.
Why do they think up stories that link my name with yours?
Why do the neighbors gossip all day behind their doors?
I know a way to prove what they say is quite untrue
Here is the gist,
A practical list of "don'ts" fer you.
Don't throw bouquets at me
Don't please my folks to much
Don't laugh at my jokes too much.
People will say we're in love.
Laugh at your jokes-
Don't sigh and gaze at me.
Your sighs are so like mine.
Your eyes mustn't glow like mine
People will say we're in love!
Don't start collecting things
Give me my rose and my glove.
Sweetheart, they're suspecting things
People will say we're in love.
Some people claim that you are to blame as much as I
Why do you take the trouble to bake my fav'rite pie?
Grantin' your wish I carved our initials on that tree,
Just keep a slice of all the advice you give so free.
Don't praise my charm too much
Don't look so vain with me
Don't stand in the rain with me
People will say we're in love.
Don't take my arm to much
Don't keep your hand in mine
Your hand feels so grand in mine
People will say we're in love!
Don't dance all night with me
'till the stars fade from above
They'll see it's alright with me
People will say we're in love!
Once they had finished their duet, both Rachel and Jesse were surprised to find Hiram and Leroy standing behind them, clapping.
"Rachel, I think you've found the Curly to your Laurey," Hiram joked.
Turning to her boyfriend, Rachel grinned at him as she posed her question.
"What do you say, Jesse? Do you think Curly could be added to your list of future Broadway roles?"
"I'll consider it," Jesse responded, returning his girlfriend's grin.
"Thank you both very much for the dinner and the duet. Your debt has been paid, you are free to go," Leroy added with a laugh.
"I kind of want to watch Oklahoma! now," Rachel commented, making Jesse chuckle.
"I think that can be arranged," he told her.
Walking over to her fathers, Rachel hugged each of them tightly.
"Thank you," she whispered to them before walking back over to Jesse and taking his hand again. Lacing their fingers together, she led him upstairs, both happy to be in each other's company a while longer.
"What's wrong?" Hiram asked, noticing the pensive look on his husband's face.
"Nothing. I'm just happy to see Rachel truly happy again. I didn't realize how happy she was with Jesse until he was gone."
"He's a pretty good cook, too."
Leroy laughed as he nodded in agreement.
"He is. He and Rachel make a good team. I'm not sure how a transfer this late in the school year is going to work, but we can give it a shot."
"Maybe Shelby can pull some strings at Carmel," Hiram suggested. "It sounds like she still knows a lot of people there, anyway. Jesse transferred back around this time, so she must be able to do something."
"I guess we'll find out tomorrow when we talk to her."
"Come on, we should finish the dishes and then get to bed. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day."
A/N 2: The song that Rachel and Jesse sing is called "People Will Say We're in Love" from the musical Oklahoma!
So...do you think I should write part 2?
