"Do you think I'm a bad friend?"

Jesse frowned, pulled his phone away from his ear and checked the Caller ID to verify that it really was Rachel calling him, since the girl was usually more polite when she started a phone conversation, and she hadn't even let him greet her. "No?"

"Sound more doubtful, please."

"I don't understand why we're having this conversation," Jesse admitted. "But to answer your question, I don't think so? You're helpful and attentive, and you do your best not to judge. I mean, from all accounts Claire seems particularly fond of you, and from what I can tell you're the only one Quinn keeps in contact with from high school. I'm just a few blocks from Shelby's, do you want me to come see you?"

"It's late, you don't have to."

"I'm literally two blocks away, and it's a minute detour on my way home anyway."

"You don't mind?"

"To see you? It'll make my day."

"Flatterer."

"I try."

Rachel was still on her way to said apartment after her dinner with Claire and would probably get there before Jesse, but she felt inclined to give him some warning. "I'm a little closer, but you know Shelby might see you."

"It's a risk I can take."

"Feeling brave tonight?" Rachel teased.

Jesse hesitated before he answered with some hopeful conviction. "I'll come bearing gifts."

"Bribery is always welcome." Rachel laughed. "Can we talk while you walk?"

"I think I've evolved enough to know how," Jesse allowed, laughing lightly. "So, what happened?"

"Kurt gave me the cold shoulder." Rachel shared. "We crossed paths earlier, and he just ignored me. Like he didn't even know me."

Jesse tamped down his dismay at how the boy Rachel called her best friend could treat her so. He just didn't bother saying anything because he knew he had his own sins, some of which he was reluctant to let go so easily. "I'm sorry, Rachel."

"The worst part was Claire was right there. Amy and Anthony probably think I like to collect relationship drama as a hobby."

"On the contrary, I think drama just likes you." Jesse quipped, earning him a growl of annoyance from the girl. "But, more to the point, why do you need to ask if you're a bad friend?"

"Claire said I shouldn't let the show destroy my friendship with Kurt."

"A valid point."

"I know, and I want to move past this, but he'll never apologize first and I don't think I should apologize."

"Yes, because you haven't done anything wrong."

"I know, right?"

"Did Claire think you did something wrong?"

Rachel paused before admitting, "No, but what else could she have been implying?"

"That you don't need to sacrifice personal relationships if it can be helped." Jesse replied. "And Kurt's your best friend, nobody wants the destruction of that kind of friendship on their conscience."

"But I didn't do anything wrong."

Jesse frowned at the repetition of that point and the quiet insistence in Rachel's tone of voice as she said it. He had heard the story from Rachel on Tuesday night as he had walked her home, as she had spent the entire route from NYADA to Shelby's apartment talking about the fight Kurt had picked and Santana had joined in on and about Rachel's sudden move to stay with Shelby Corcoran momentarily. He hadn't been sure what to tell her then, other than his opinion that Kurt had been out of line with his offense and that Rachel shouldn't feel bad about what had happened, as her roommates had seemed only too happy to have a line of attack and hadn't bothered to hear what she'd had to say.

He knew it sounded bad that Claire, who was Rachel's friend and shared Rachel's single-minded focus on achieving her professional ambitions, had stepped in to take over lead dancing duties for a preview that was happening sooner rather than later, usurping the understudy. But he had been there when Tom, Claire's boyfriend, had gotten the call from the girl, who had told him about the absolute misery of having to be a ringer for a program she'd had no keen interest in. She was only part of rehearsals because her teacher had told her to, and the silver lining she had taken from that was the opportunity to learn from the choreographer, who was being buzzed to be one of the new crop of important figures in the world of modern dance.

He had known that Rachel, who had been working with Claire to improve Rachel's dancing and was doing what she did best - wearing down the emotional defenses of the ruthless ringer and becoming her friend - would have been defending Claire to anyone who would listen. They hadn't been talking much at the time, but Jesse knew Rachel would have come to Claire's defense, regardless of the situation. He had seen it in high school, her eagerness to see the good in everyone, and even when they acted out, even against her, Rachel was quick to defend her friends.

"Rachel, you're not a bad friend." Jesse said gently. "You didn't do anything wrong, and you shouldn't apologize when you haven't done anything wrong."

"Then why don't I have friends, Jesse?" Rachel asked desperately, anxiety lacing her voice. "Why am I so afraid that Claire wants me to make up with Kurt so that she won't be responsible for me? Why did Amy and Anton and Christian only come into my life when I was friends with Claire? I thought Brody wanted to be friends but that was a bust, and you! We couldn't be friends because I kept trying to flirt with you."

Jesse wished so hard that he could just make the next block disappear so he could be with Rachel already. He didn't want to have to carry out this conversation over the phone. "You're a great friend, Rachel. You're over-eager and borderline manic, and you get crazy intense sometimes, but that's only because you're wholly committed to your relationships the way others won't. But, you know, look at you and Claire. She forced you to keep calm and not force a friendship onto her, and when I hung out with her last Saturday, she wouldn't stop talking about you. And, you know, in a good way. Or, you know, Quinn. It started out rough - really rough - but she eventually saw your constant presence as a source of support, one which she probably can't live without now."

"That's just two."

"Yesterday you told me you and the guy Anton-"

"Anthony." Rachel corrected.

"- talked the entire rehearsal ranking Celine's albums according to sing-along quality." Jesse finished. "You have friends. Maybe they're not a lot right now in terms of quantity, but sometimes all you need is one."

"And I thought that was Kurt."

"It doesn't have to be anymore." Jesse gently pointed out. "I mean, was he the one you were always turning to in high school? Does he know your deep dark secrets?"

Rachel thought to high school, and the emotional ups and downs she had endured. When she had needed to get things off her chest, when she felt at her lowest or wanted some blatant honest truths, in retrospect Kurt hadn't been the one she turned to for a reality check.

Reality checks always seemed to come in a particular bathroom inside McKinley High, and now that she thought about it, very recently, it hadn't been Kurt she had needed to get her out of her funk regarding Jesse's then-rejection.

Which was not to say she and Kurt were fair-weather friends, they had been through some pretty rough times too, but their relationship worked best when they weren't rivals for anything, and certainly she had to temper some of her more intense impulses to accommodate Kurt's similarly larger-than-life personality.

"And don't worry about Claire dropping you, she thinks you're great." Jesse reassured her.

"She told me to fix things with Kurt."

"Yeah, because anyone who's known you for at least a month knows he's your roommate and a friend from high school." Jesse reminded. "Did she call in the Favor Bank?"

There was an audible pause and Jesse could almost feel Rachel's frown across the line. "You know about the Favor Bank?"

She had told him about the deal she'd made with Claire, when they had started dance instruction, trading lessons for a number of favors Claire could call in and Rachel couldn't refuse. She hadn't told him that Claire had a special term for it.

Jesse chuckled. "Yeah, Tom says he has both investment and debt in Claire's Favor Bank. She's crafty."

Rachel wondered if Claire dealt in favors the way Sue Sylvester dealt in blackmail, then realized the horror of comparing her friend to the ruthless cheerleading coach. She shook her head to shake off the comparison. "To answer your question, no, she didn't call in the Favor Bank." Rachel told him.

"Then she probably wants you to make up with Kurt because she thinks it's what you want, and, I don't know, maybe friendships are just really important to her." Jesse pointed out. "If she didn't Favor Bank, I'm gonna say she wants you to do it on your own free will."

Rachel acceded, since Claire had stipulated that she shouldn't compromise her beliefs and self-respect just for the sake of making up with her friend. "Good point."

"Of course it is, I'm grown and matured, you know." Jesse joked.

Rachel laughed. "Sure you have. And I'm so sure grown and mature men make it a point to tell people that."

Jesse laughed as well. "Touché."

Rachel slowed down her pace as she approached Shelby's apartment building and tried to buy some time for Jesse to join her at the building.

"And the next time Kurt brings up this business with lead roles and understudies," Jesse added, "tell him that diva-offs are pedestrian."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "But you live for sing-offs."

"No, High School Jesse St. James used to live for sing-offs."

"But you've matured?" Rachel asked dryly, her tone skeptical.

"See, so you've noticed too." Jesse grinned as he rounded the corner and saw her.

Rachel, who had also seen him and saw that know-it-all smile, rolled her eyes in both exasperation and amusement, knowing he would see it. She understood now why her dads had been more wary of Jesse than of Noah Puckerman, because Jesse undoubtedly had charm, and Rachel had been less guarded with him than she had been with Noah, even though she had been cautious regarding his affiliation with a rival show choir - which had been thrown out the window the moment he had transferred schools.

Which was a bad line of thought to be dwelling in as he approached her.

Rachel ended the call and marched up to him. "Why did you transfer to McKinley?"

Jesse blinked, startled, as he realized there had been a jump of topic in the few seconds it had taken him to make his way to where Rachel stood. "Because I wanted to be with you."

"But you left."

"I did."

"Why?"

"I told you why."

"No, I know why, but why did you do it, the way you did? You knew how I felt about you, and if you loved me the way you say you did, then it shouldn't have been so easy to just leave."

Jesse shook his head. "I never said it was easy."

"Then why?"

"Because deals were made, Rachel. Bargains. Compromise. I thought I was doing the right thing, at least in the long run."

Rachel studied him for a long moment, her narrow-eyed glare scrutinizing every inch of his face as she gauged his sincerity. Finally, she relented, and hugged him. "Sorry. It just hits me sometimes."

"I know." He hugged her back. "But you're not in tears and I'm not sighing in defeat, so this counts as a win, right?"

Rachel laughed softly. "Definitely." She pulled back, and smiled at him. "We're going out with my friends on Saturday."

"Tom's gig?"

Rachel nodded. "They want to meet you."

Jesse preened, again with that stupid knowing smile. "Of course they do."

"Your ego, I swear."

Jesse laughed. "So are you excited about Friday night?"

"Yes. Where are we going?"

"That's for me to know." Jesse replied. "But it'll be casual, so don't, you know, dress like you're auditioning for period drama or anything."

"I'll have you know, my wardrobe is quite fine."

"I don't doubt that, just, I know first dates are a big deal, but it'll be a little more Suits - the Mike Ross part - and a lot less Mad Men."

Rachel looked at him, confused. "Suits? And who's Mike Ross?"

"It's a TV show. He's one of the characters."

Nothing.

"Girls?" Jesse guessed, racking his brain for a current television show Rachel would recognize.

"We didn't get HBO in the loft."

"30 Rock?"

"I don't get a lot of Tina Fey's pop culture references."

"2 Broke Girls."

"Are you still naming shows with fashion I should emulate for our date, or are you just randomly naming them now?" Rachel asked.

Jesse shrugged. "Both."

"Shelby would probably prevent me from leaving the apartment if I'm not fashionably agreeable, so it likely won't be a problem." Rachel pointed out.

Jesse winced at the mention of Rachel's mother and his former show choir director. "Have you told her yet?"

"About us, are you kidding?" Rachel retorted immediately. "Quinn wouldn't stop vacillating between approval, dismay and incredulity, and she had known the whole time that we've been in each others' lives. Imagine everyone else. I blame you, by the way."

Jesse gave a short, disbelieving laugh. "How is this my fault?"

"You warned me how people would react to our interaction, and you made some really good points!"

"Because I was being reasonable?" Jesse questioned, baffled.

"It's your fault." Rachel declared decisively, ignoring his question.

Jesse chuckled, and shook his head. "Fine. But while I agree that we shouldn't tell others until we work out the kinks - don't look at me like that - of our relationship, you should probably at least tell your dads; Kurt has friends in NYADA and would probably hear about some handsome guy picking you up after rehearsals and post something in Facebook, they should be able to wave off questions about it at home."

Rachel cringed as she remembered something she had failed to tell Jesse before. "He knows you're in New York."

"What?"

"Kurt, he saw you in NYADA, that time I asked you to come see me in one of our little theaters. He knows you're in New York."

"So... does he know?" Jesse asked hesitantly. "About us?"

"Do you see Finn anywhere?"

"What does-"

"Trust me, if Kurt knew, he would be hounding me and Finn would be in New York trying to convince us this is a bad idea. And you'd probably have a black eye from that confrontation."

"I doubt that."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but Finn likes to hit things in frustration." Rachel pointed out to him.

Jesse frowned. "Has he-"

"No, which in retrospect I probably should have been worried about, right?" Rachel asked faintly. "But I always felt safe with him."

Jesse didn't say anything, just relieved that this revelation about Finn hadn't been a personal worry for the girl.

"He wouldn't have hesitated to hit you, though." Rachel noted. "He certainly didn't hold back with Noah."

"He would have tried." Jesse told her. Off Rachel's evident confusion, he explained. "I was moving to New York; I spent the past year learning self-defense and putting time in a gym. The guy who stared in shock after nearly getting hit at your prom knows how to block and jab, thanks."

Rachel stared at him, her wide-eyed expression not very informative on her reaction.

"Rachel?"

"I don't condone violence."

"I know, but, you know," Jesse shrugged. "Law and Order ran for like twenty seasons and SVU has been on for over a decade, that's a lot of crime for one city."

"Knowing you can defend yourself - and therefore me - is kind of hot." Rachel admitted. She looked genuinely conflicted at this information, and whined out her frustration. "You're supposed to be my nice, sweet, pretty-boy boyfriend whose talent matches my own, why are you breaking out of the mould and being sneaky dangerously hot?"

"Um, thanks?" Jesse guessed at the appropriate response.

Rachel didn't respond, scanning him from head to toe, and took note of the changes in his physique, which she hadn't really noticed before. Like the way his clothes stretched across his chest and shoulders. How his muscles were more taut than she remembered. She saw it now, the subtle changes in his build, and oh she was in so much trouble.

Maybe this living with Shelby business was a bad idea.

"Rachel?"

"Hmm?" She asked, distracted.

"Are you OK? You look flushed."

"Do I?" Was her voice really that shrill?

"I was thinking."

She forced herself to look away from his body and back to his face, which was much more familiar and while similarly tempting, it was a more familiar temptation. "Wait, do you realize we haven't kissed yet?"

"Yes."

"You haven't kissed me on purpose?" Rachel demanded.

"Yes."

"Explain yourself. Quickly."

"First date kisses hold much more weight, don't you think?" Jesse asked, knowingly.

Rachel narrowed her eyes at him again, knowing full well Jesse St. James didn't care about those kinds of things.

"Trust me." Jesse assured her, his earnest expression enough of a reason for her to drop any succeeding question.

Rachel exhaled and conceded the point. "What were you thinking?"

"Why I was okay with us being friends, before you decided you weren't taking anything less than a relationship for an answer."

"Okay..."

"You were the best friend I've ever had." Jesse finally said. Off Rachel's confused look, he explained. "I know, it's always been romantic, even when we went to your junior prom as friends, but it's still true. You understood me, and gave me the benefit of doubt even when you shouldn't have. You trusted me even when you suspected I was being duplicitous. Not a lot of people would have."

"And we both know how that ended."

"Yeah, but then you forgave me. I was an idiot, and I apologized, but you didn't have to forgive me. Instead you heard me out, listened to what I had to say; you took the time to get to know me, all over again. That's... that's a lot more than most people would give someone." Jesse continued. "When I told you about UCLA and how spectacularly I screwed that up, you didn't berate me for the wasted opportunity, or made fun of me to rub it in that it was karmic justice: you listened, and you sympathized, and you didn't judge me for it."

"It was idiotic." Rachel reminded.

"You didn't judge me too harshly," Jesse amended quickly. "So, you know, you've given me chance after chance to be the guy you know I can be. And, by the same token, you continue to try to be a better person, be a better friend - well, except for-"

"Move on." Rachel interrupted, well aware that he was probably going to bring up Nationals in New York and the mess that followed that.

"You have flaws, don't get me wrong, and maybe some people like to focus on that. But nobody's perfect, and, you know, you extend olive branches all the time." Jesse observed. "So you're a great friend, Rachel. You're not always the best person - but who is, really - but I can't ask for a better friend than you."

Rachel frowned, which was not the reaction he had been hoping for. "I think I kind of hate you right now."

Jesse frowned, puzzled. "What? Why?"

"That spiel makes me want to kiss you, but I know you're setting up that first date kiss for a reason, and ugh!" Rachel groaned. "You're so frustrating!"

Jesse's face lightened with enlightenment as he caught the sentiment in her frustration, an enlightenment that quickly shifted to amusement as he watched her. "You think I'm pretty awesome right now, don't you?"

"Don't start."

"Kind of hot, right?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rachel denied, although the slight hitch in her voice betrayed her.

"A little sexy, mixed with that sweet romantic guy sentiment after such a heartwarming confession?"

Rachel seemed to snap herself out of her haze and gave him a no-nonsense look. "Watch yourself."

Jesse back off, figuratively and literally. He took a step back, and smiled at her. "I'll see you tomorrow night, Rachel."

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Jesse looked at her questioningly.

"I don't see a bribe anywhere."

Jesse rolled his eyes, and opened his bag to pull out a box. He handed it to Rachel.

"What's-" Rachel opened the box, which contained cookies. "Um, okay...?"

"They're vegan." Jesse explained. "I know you're not anymore, but you've been vegan for so long, and now there's a lot of options available, so I figured why not indulge that part of you."

"I see."

"Besides," Jesse continued, "after you told me how Shelby made you have tea before bed last night I thought you two would like to have something to chew on with the tea."

"Yeah, what's that about?" Rachel asked him as she picked a cookie. "She's a coffee woman. I never imagined her to be a tea person."

"No idea." Jesse admitted as Rachel bit into the cookie. "But it's good to know she doesn't mainline coffee anymore, bodes well for my future with you."

Whatever Rachel's reply was got interrupted by her phone ringing. She smiled apologetically at Jesse, and took the call. "Rachel Berry's phone. Oh, hi Shelby." She and Jesse shared an abashed look, realizing the time. "No, no, I went for dinner with Claire, but I'm almost at the apartment right now. Yes. In a little bit. Absolutely. I will see you then."

Jesse smirked as Rachel hung up. "I suppose this is goodnight."

"Goodnight, Jesse." Rachel paused, hesitating from the natural move to give him a parting kiss, and instead kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Jesse smiled and stood back as she turned to the door. "Rachel?'

Rachel smiled as she turned. "Yes, Jesse?'

"She sits alone waiting for suggestions, he's so nervous avoiding all the questions," Jesse began singing. "His lips are dry, her heart is gently pounding; don't you just know exactly what they're thinking."

Rachel's smile faded as she noted the rhythm of his song, it sounded familiar, though, and if she was right... he wouldn't dare... "You are not-"

Jesse's shit-eating grin was enough of an answer. "If you want my body and you think I'm sexy, come on sugar let me know."

Rachel stared at him in mortification.

"If you really need me just reach out and touch me, come on honey tell me so."

"Not funny."

Sensing her discomfort, he changed tactics and his smile grew more affectionate. "I have waited a lifetime, spent my time so foolishly. But now that I've found you, together we'll make history."

Rachel shook her head, but she was more amused than horrified now.

"And I know that it must be the woman in you that brings out the man in me. I know I can't help myself: you're all that my eyes can see."

"This better not go where I know that song goes." Rachel warned him.

Jesse stopped abruptly, and smiled at her. "Goodnight, Rachel."

"Goodnight, Jesse."

As Rachel went inside the building, she knew she should still be mortified about Jesse's parting lyrics, but she was just too busy focusing on the fact that he had made up a mash-up on the spot just for her.