Completely AU

Rachel's younger sister Marley goes to dance class. Her instructor is Jesse St. James and he's fallen head over heels for Rachel.

Finally

Jesse's dance class of 14-year olds piled in with parents ready to drop their children off. Each child, one by one, until finally the last, and his favourite bounded in. Marley Berry was by far Jesse's favourite student and while that might sound harsh in the grand scheme of things, Marley has a trait that most of the other students don't have; drive to be the best. Marley never let anything stop her and if she was ever knocked down, Marley prided herself on getting straight back up. Jesse admired that in her because he could see it in himself.

"Hello Marley. How are you today?" Jesse asked her when Marley entered his dance studio.

She nodded to show that she was ok. "My dad's couldn't stay." She explained. "They had to rush off to get a flight."

"Oh, so who is going to pick you up?" Jesse asked her, hoping for only one answer.

"Rachel." Marley said simply, uttering the word Jesse was hoping for.

He tried not to let my happiness show. "That's good." He said simply. Jesse turned from her and tried to get his class started so as not to waste any more time.

An hour and a half later, at the end of the class, he watched as each of his students disappeared until it was only Marley left.

Rachel ran in minutes after the last child had left with their parent. She looked shocked to discover the Marley was the only one left.

"I'm sorry Marley." Rachel said in a panic. "I really need to prioritise my time a little better." She muttered, berating herself.

"Don't worry Rachel." Jesse told her. "She's not been waiting long." he promised.

Rachel smiled at Jesse in thanks. "Thank you Jesse." She then looked towards Marley. "Shall we go then?" she asked her little sister.

Marley nodded eagerly and they both began to leave.

"See you next week Jesse." Marley called happily.

"Goodbye Marley. Rachel." Jesse said as he watched them leave.

The next time Jesse saw Rachel was when she dropped off Marley the following week at the dance studio.

She was one of the first 'mums' to drop their child off; not that Jesse was surprised, Rachel was; most of the time; time efficient; and when Marley ran from Rachel's side so she could go and talk with her friends, Rachel came to Jesse's side so they could talk privately.

"Can I ask of a favour?" Rachel asked as she bent her head, looking very embarrassed.

"Anything." Jesse said instantly, trying to keep the conversation for as long as possible due to his huge crush on the petite woman.

"I'm really sorry to ask this but I'm going to be running a little late for picking up Marley at the end of class. Would it be ok if she stuck around here for a little while and kept you company?" she asked. "I feel awful but I have a work meeting that I can't get out of and it's not going to finish until after the class has ended."

"Hey," Jesse put his hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. "I'll be happy to look out for Marley until you finish work. It's not a problem whatsoever. Marley will be safe here, I promise."

Rachel looked over at her sister. "Yeah. Yeah, I know." She looked at Jesse. "Thank you so much Jesse. I'll try not to be too long after the end of class." She promised. "I'll see you later." She said before rushing out the door.

The class ended and Jesse informed Marley that her sister was going to be a little late.

"I know. She told me before class." Marley informed him. They were both sat on the floor, facing each other.

Jesse nodded. "Does Rachel usually pick you up from the different classes you have?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah. Our dads are usually busier than Rachel is. They are so high up in their careers and Rachel is just starting out, so Rachel picks me up most of the time." She explained to her teacher.

"Does that bother you?" he asked.

Marley shrugged her shoulders. "It's fine. Rachel is a great sister. My dads only work so much so they can give me and Rachel everything we want. It's fine. I understand." She said again.

Jesse felt that there was more to it than Marley was letting on, but he knew it wasn't his place, so he decided to let it go. "Shall we go over what we learnt in the lesson today?" Jesse asked instead.

Marley nodded and stood up and Jesse could tell she was happy for the change of subject.

Twenty minutes later and Rachel was running through the door, looking flustered and slightly tired.

"Rach!" Marley exclaimed happily and ran towards her sister to give her a hug.

Rachel returned the hug. "How was the class?" she asked her younger sister.

"Great," Marley said happily. "Jesse is a great teacher."

Rachel turned to the teacher. "Thank you so much Jesse, you're an absolute life saver. I don't know what I'd do without you." She blushed slightly. "We'll see you next week." She said as Marley grabbed her things and they turned to leave the dance studio.

As I watched her leave, I couldn't stop the words from leaving my mouth. "Can I walk you home?"

Twenty minutes later and Jesse had walked the two girls home and Rachel was inviting him inside in thanks.

"Our dads aren't here right now, they've gone away for a couple of days." Rachel explained as she let them all into the house. "So it's just Marley and I at the moment. Can I get you a drink, Jesse?" she asked him.

"Sure, that would be great, thanks." He replied, watching as Rachel walked into the kitchen. She came out about a minute later with a drink for herself and him. Rachel handed him his drink and they both sat down on the living room couch. "Where is Marley?" Jesse asked when Rachel's younger sister didn't walk back into the living room.

"She has gone to her room. She has homework to do. You don't mind, do you?" she asked, a bit of a smirk on his face.

"Not at all." Jesse said, mirroring her smirk.

Rachel and Jesse spoke long into the night and they discovered that they had a lot in common with each other and not just their musical theatre background. When Jesse went home that night, Rachel's small crush was now anything but.

A week later and, as usual, Rachel was talking her younger sister to her dance class. This week was slightly different though. Rachel and Marley's fathers were around to take her but Rachel asked if she could take Marley. Ever since Rachel and Jesse had got to know each other, she'd been harbouring an even bigger crush for the man and any chance to see him again was a win for her.

"Are you going to ask Jesse to walk us home again?" Marley teased as they walked to Jesse's dance studio.

Rachel blushed a bright red. She wasn't surprised that Marley had noticed the crush she had on the dance teacher. Despite the eight-year age gap, Rachel and Marley had always been close and they told each other everything. Marley wasn't just Rachel's sister, she also thought of her as her best friend.

"Maybe." Rachel replied shyly. "But our dads' sort of spoil the mood. I don't think they'll leave me a guy alone. Even if I am twenty-two."

Marley giggled, "Ok, you might have a point there." Marley thought to herself for a few moments and smiled a devilish grin to herself. "I'll sort it." She promised.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rachel questioned, narrowing her eyes at her sister.

"Nothing." Marley sing-songed. "Nothing for you worry about."

"Hmm,…" Rachel thought but decided to let it go.

Rachel was right there when the class ended to pick up Marley. She waited outside the door and watched as all the other parents and guardians picked up the other teenagers and when Marley was one of the last left, she walked in.

"Hey sis." Marley said with a sly grin as she rushed past her so she could grab her trainers, ready to leave the studio

Jesse's head whipped round to Rachel when he heard Marley. "Oh, Rachel. Good to see you. I was wondering if I could have a word?" he asked. Rachel noted that he looked slightly nervous about something, but she didn't know what.

"Um…sure." She said, looking back towards Marley for a second before going to where Jesse was by his music system. "Is something wrong? Has Marley got herself in trouble?" she asked, in a panic.

"No, no…it's nothing like that." He said with a laugh. He ran his fingers through his hair and Rachel had to resist the urge to touch the strands of hair that were falling into his eyes. "So, I'm kind of nervous to ask this but I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a date with me?" he asked, incredibly anxious and playing with his hands which he did whenever he felt nervous. When she didn't immediately answer, he spoke again. "It's just, I've had a crush on you for ages." He said in a rush. "And your sister…" he stopped in the middle of his sentence when Rachel's head turned quickly to glare at her younger sister.

"Marley!" Rachel snarled.

Jesse sighed and Rachel looked at him again. "Was she giving me the wrong information?" he asked, sadly.

Rachel was suddenly shy again. "She wasn't wrong." She said with a blush to her cheeks. "I would love to go on a date with you, Jesse." She told him.

Both adults suddenly felt giddy at the prospect.

Marley stood just at the entrance of the dance studio, watching her sister and dance teacher finally admit to each what she'd known all along. She rolled her eyes. "Finally!" she thought.

I hope you like this chapter.