Chapter 12

The day had been perfect, Rachel thought to herself as she stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom. Having James back in her life, even if it was for a short amount of time, was better than she could have ever imagined. He had looked so handsome, and she had spent the day making sure to stay as close to him as possible; whether that be by holding his hand and linking her fingers with his at every opportunity she got or by leaning into his side whenever they were sat down next to one another, which Rachel had made sure was every time they were seated.

They had spent a couple of hours hanging around with Blaine, Kurt and Mercedes at the Lima Bean drinking cups of coffee as James got to know her three closest friends and as they got to know her boyfriend better. As James had kissed her before heading off to the bathroom to freshen up before they went home, Rachel had turned to the other two that had never met him before and asked them what they thought of him.

"So, what do you think about him?" Rachel asked nervously, touching her lips with her fingers were he had just kissed her. The tingling sensation was still there, and she felt heat in her stomach at how he affected her. Rachel had never felt this way before, and her thoughts lingered back to in the guest room at her house when she had felt aroused and turned on as he had her pinned against the door, how good the feeling of her leg wrapped around him pulling him flush up against her as they kissed furious and passionately. She was snapped out of her daze when she heard Blaine's voice.

"He seems like a really nice guy" Blaine said, and she looked at him to see him smiling widely at her and Rachel started biting her lip as she grinned. "We can tell that you both care about each other"

"Yeah, that boy has it crazy for you" Mercedes replies grinning. Rachel blushes, nodding. "He seems to be perfect for you, he loves music and Broadway almost as much as you it seems."

"Rachel, don't take this wrong way; but he seems to mellow you out as well, you seem less…Rachel berry crazy around him" Blaine asks, reaching hand forward and offering it to her. Rachel smiles nods and takes it.

"It's okay, I know what you mean" Rachel replied. The same thought had come across her mind several times over the time she had known James. In the past, when she would be more eccentric; her mind running wild and often it put people off with her high maintenance nature and personality. It was all part of the fact that she wanted things too badly, and she knew that a lot of people found that hard to deal. When she was around James, she felt a lot more at peace and comfortable. There was something about her that didn't need to overthink things, she could simply be. Even when she did go slightly over the top, rather than be put off or insult her about her personality as had happened in the past, he accepted that part of her and just dealt with her as casually as he always did. That was down to the calm and tranquil nature of his personality that seemed to pass over onto her. "It just feels so natural being around him, that I don't need to try to be anything but myself with him and he's so amazing with who I am."

A few minutes later, James had returned; kissing her neck before he sat back down next to her and she settled into his side feeling as comfortable as always did around him. they had stayed in the Lima Bean for another quarter hour before they had departed, and Rachel was happy to see that James embraced Blaine and Mercedes warmly adding that he looked forward to seeing them again before they walked hand in hand towards her car.

"You seemed like you had fun" She said happily, looking up at him as she walked closely to his body.

"Your friends are great, I really like Blaine" He replied, smiling at her; opening the door to her car for her.

"Such a gentlemen" She said smiling as he leaned down and kissed her cheek, before walking around the other side of the car and joining her. She set of driving, and James was leaning with his arm on the open window letting the wind blow in as he sung along to an Aerosmith song on the radio. Giggling, she looked at him and he gave her a curious raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing" She replied, and he smirked at her.

"Are we going to see any more of your friends today? Or do you have something else planned?" He asked, moving one of his hands to clasp hers as it rested on the rest in between their two seats.

"Not today, my Dad's want to take us to dinner" She says, smiling. "I was thinking we could see a movie after that"

"Sounds great, as long as we can sit and cuddle when we're there" He said winking at her.

"My favourite thing to do" She giggled. And he moved his head to gazing out of the window they sat in silence for several minutes while she held his hand still. "You want to meet my friends then?"

He turned and gazed at her confused. "What? Of course, you've met mine. Well some of them"

"I just wondered….Noah is having a party tomorrow and I wasn't sure if you wanted to go. All the guys from Glee are going to be there, as well as some of his friends from football and stuff. Sort of like a party before we go back to school" She finished shrugging her shoulders.

"Do you want to go?" He asked, as they pulled into her street.

"If you want to" She replied, biting her lip and he rolled his eyes.

"You are adorable" He said smirking, "We can go, I guess, as long as you don't abandon me"

"I wouldn't dream of it" She replied, leaning over and kissing him softly on the lips. "It'll be great I promise"

The two of them had walked inside, and checked in with her Dad who said Hiram would be home from work in a about an hour and their dinner reservation was for about 7 oclock that night. Smiling, James had said he was going to call his mom, and Rachel had led him up to her room where they were now. James was walking around talking to his mom as she was sat on her bed watching him smiling. He'd been talking to her, and Rachel was listening curiously as he had turned to speaking into Italian. As he turned around and strode towards her, he winked at her and sat down next to her putting an arm around her and Rachel slide into his side comfortably. She could hear his mom speaking the phone. A few more minutes passed before he switched back to English.

"I will mom, Rachel's dads are being amazing and they're taking us out to dinner tonight" He said, placing his head on top of hers. "I will, yeah mom. I love you, tell Charlie I'll call her tomorrow. Yeah, night mom"

He hung up the hair and placed his phone down on the bed before wrapping his arm around her and pulled her closer to his body. Sighing happily, Rachel closed her eyes nuzzling his neck with her nose. They sat there for a few minutes before she kissed his neck and pulled back slightly to look at him.

"Hey… I was comfortable there" He moaned softly and she giggled at him, placing a hand on his cheek.

"What did your mom say?" She asked smiling at him, his eyes looked down for a split second before finding hers again. In that split second, Rachel knew something wasn't quite right and she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

"My Dad decided that he wanted to pick this week to be at home" He admitted and leaned his forehead against hers. "I started speaking in Italian because…well I had a few choice things I wanted to say and I didn't want you to hear"

"It's okay…I get that your upset" She said and kissed his cheek, when she pulled back she saw that he was smiling at her. "You and your Dad will work things out eventually, but just remember that he doesn't do it on purpose"

He nodded at her, closing his eyes for a moment. "I guess you're right"

"Come on, let's go and watch some TV and snuggle up together" She said, smiling at him causing him to chuckle before she stood and took his hand in hers, intertwining his fingers and leading him down the stairs.

….

The two of them had sat cuddling on the couch in her living room as they watched a rerun of How I Met your Mother. Rachel had been reluctant at first, but James had given her an adorable look and started kissing her neck that had made her mind go blank and she had given way to him. When her Daddy had come home from work, she had jumped up and hugged him tightly before Hiram had steered away from him and extended a hand out to James who clasped it with a confident look on his face.

The four of them had sat in the kitchen talking for a half hour, Hiram interested in how James' holiday in Ohio had been so far. After they finished talking, Rachel scurried upstairs to change her clothing. The restaurant that her Dad's were treating them to was a fancy restaurant and she decided to dress up nicely; partly for that but also she wanted to dress nicely and impress James. Twenty minutes later and she was stood in front of her mirror, admiring herself. She was wearing a tight red dress that hugged her body perfectly. Her hair was flowing down her back, and she had put a little makeup on. Twsiting in front of the mirror she smiled, knowing that she looked good. Head over to her door, she picked up the black jacket she was going to wear later on, and headed downstairs. Her dads along with James were standing in the hallway talking silently as she came down the stairs. As she nearly reached the bottom, Leroy who was facing her smiled and James turned around to look at her. He was wearing a black dress pants, and a tightly fitted black shirt that was unbuttoned at the top as well as a leather jacket over the top. His fluffy hair looking extra curly just as if it had been washed just a short amount of time ago. He looked very handsome, and as she stopped taking in his appearance, their eyes met and she him looking at her with complete astonishment on his face as well as a look of complete affection in his eyes. As she reached the bottom step, he moved forward and offer her his hand, taking it as she stepped close to him. She let out a breath as he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, and leaned down to kiss her softly.

"You are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen" He whispered as they tore away from each other and she gazed upwards at him and grinned widely.

"Thank you" She replied, leaning up and kissing him once more, before intertwining their fingers and turning to her dads.

"You look beautiful sweetie" They said in unison and she couldn't help but giggle.

Dinner had been a success. For an hour and half they had sat in a corner of the restaurant talking as they ate. Rachel was happy as she sat next to James, leaning across the gap in their seats so that their shoulders met as well as clasping his hand under the table as she rested hers on his knee. She looked at him with affection as he talked confidently with her dads, not shying away from talking to them and even joining in with teasing them as they attempted the same with him. She smiled, glad that they got on so well with her boyfriend, unable to remember a time when they were so open and accepting of a boy considering they had been suspicious of all the ones they had seen her with in the past.

After dinner, Rachel and James drove to the cinema, letting James drive her car, as her Dad's went home. After deciding on the film they were gong to watch, the two of them settled down together sharing some popcorn as they cuddled closely. About ten minutes into the film, she had felt James shifting beside her as he pushed the armrest up and scooted closer to her, pulling into close to him. Giggling as quietly as she could, she tilted her head up to meet him as he leaned down to kiss her. As she felt his other hand that wasn't resting on her shoulder gentle rub her thigh she realised that he had no intention of watching the film, in fact he seemed more interested about learning the inside of her mouth in intimate detail as she smiled against his lips. Luckily the cinema was both quiet and that they had chosen seats far at the back to avoid being looked at by the people sat behind them. By the time he pulled away, kissing her forehead as she snuggles into his side, before he rested his head against hers, they realised that the two of them had missed a large majority of the film. Whispering to one another, they tried to watch the last half hour piecing together what was going on.

By the time they got home, it was past midnight and as they snuck into her house as quietly as possible, her Dad's having been in bed for at least an hour for work the next day, Rachel was glad that her curfew had been extended for the few days James was visiting. They had walked up to her room, and after spending a further half an hour making out on her bed becoming more acquainted with one another's bodies, she managed to get him to leave after her hands had started to dive under his shirt. Breathlessly he had nodded at her, kissing her softly on the lips before saying goodnight and leaving her to catch her breath as she got ready for bed. As she led in bed a little while later, she had a gigantic smile on her face. Yeah, this was going to be amazing spending the next few days with him.

…

The next morning Rachel woke up to a knocking on her door. Groaning at being woken up before her alarm, she leaned over and looked at her clock, seeing that it was a half hour before her alarm was due to go off at eight. Frowning, she rolled back and settled her head backwards into her pillow.

"Come in" She shouted, and glanced over as the door opened. Her face split into a gigantic smile as she saw James appear in the doorway. "Hey"

"Morning beautiful" James replied, his voice slightly groggy as it resonated with tiredness despite the wide smile he wore. She sat up in bed and laughed as she saw him still wearing his pyjama's , a white tshirt and pair of baggy blue pants, while carrying a tray with a couple of glasses of orange juice as well as a plate piled with several pieces of toast. As he got closer, she bit her lip at the sight of a flower on the tray.

"Awww, is that for me?" She cooed as he sat the tray down on her bed in front of her, leaning over to kiss her on the lips. She licked her top lip with her tongue as he pulled back and grinned at her.

"For us, I thought that I would us some breakfast; and give you a surprise at the same time" He replied, sitting on the edge of the bed and running his hand up and down her arm.

Glancing at him with affection she pushed the covers back and patted the spot in bed next to her. Laughing softly, he climbed in next to her and she pulled the covers back over them as he leaned over and kissed her cheek softly. Smiling, she pulled the tray towards them and set it across her lap. James reached and took his glass of juice and took a sip as she helped herself to a piece of toast. They ate in silence for a little while, with one of each of their hands linked under the top of the cover. Settling her glass back down some time later, Rachel moved and placed the tray on her bedside table before lifting James' arm over her shoulder and snuggling to his side,sighing contently as he leaned his head on top of hers.

"That was perfect, the best way to wake up. A handsome guy with breakfast in bed" She said softly, and felt him smile again her head. "You really didn't need to do it though, you're my guest"

He laughed, and felt him tilt her chin up for her to look at him, and she smiled as she saw the look in his eyes. Leaning down he kissed her gently on the lips, before pulling back to whisper; "You're my girlfriend, and you deserve everything I do for you"

She gulped as she saw the truthfulness in his eyes as he spoke to her, and leaned up to kiss him again. They shared a few chaste kisses before she ran her tongue along his bottom lip, smiling as she felt his hand pull her closer as they deepened the kiss. She moaned softly as her bedroom door opened with a creak and she sprung away from his lips quickly as Hiram's face appeared in the doorway.

"Morning " James smiled, his hand under the covers squeezing hers softly.

"Morning, did you like James' surprise sweetheart?" He asked, smiling over at them.

"I did" She replied, snuggling into him a bit closer. "We're just going to stay and cuddle in bed for a bit Daddy"

"Alright, baby girl" He replied smiling. "I'm going to the shop to pick some things up, I'll be back in a couple of hours"

"Bye Daddy" She replied, closing her eyes as he waved closing the door on them. Turning her attention back to James, she winked mischievously at him before leaning close to him. "I guess that means we have the house to ourselves for a little while"

She watched as he licked his bottom lip before he replied; "What did you have mind Ms Berry?"

Smirking, Rachel leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. They spent a good amount of the morning in bed with one another, making out for a half hour before she went into the bathroom to freshen up while he went to go make them a snack. For the rest of the morning, and a little while into the afternoon the two of them stayed in her room watching variety of musicals on her DVD player in between sharing kisses and talking to one another. As the end credits of Chicago rolled up, she sighed against his chest, his arms wrapped around her as she led against him. Turning to face him, Rachel smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"I think we should get up, I had a plan for us go to the mall today" She murmured softly as he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck in response.

"Yeah, I guess so" He replies, and leant his forehead against hers "Your Dad might not be too impressed if we stay here much longer as well…"

Giggling she sat up in bed and kissed him, before climbing out of bed, pulling him with her. "Go on, go get changed, and I'll do the same then we can go out"

They spent the rest of the afternoon walking around hand in hand around the Lima mall. She drove them, as they sung along to the radio laughing and giggling at each other, enjoying being around the company of the person they cared about. Rachel noticed that James had a look of surprise on his face as they entered the mall for the first time before he told her that he was surprised a mall in Ohio was bigger than the one he had in his hometown. Giggling, she had nudged him forward towards a vegan option in the food court as they sat around eating for a short time. Rachel took the oppurtunity to tell him about the time Kurt and Noah held a Barbara intervention when she broke her nose before nationals, to which he laughed and then assured her he thought her nose was absolutely perfect.

After that she dragged him into a clothes shop, that despite his objections she knew he was enjoying himself as Rachel tried on a number of different outfits and paraded them in front of him. Every time she showed him a different set of clothes, she felt like the most beautiful girl as she saw the look on James face. He told him vocally that she looked incredible and while she believed him, the look in his eyes told her everything and she confidently walked up to him and kissed him.

In the end Rachel ended buying some new pieces for her wardrobe, thriving under the attention of her boyfriend who seemed truly mesmerized by her. After entering a couple of shops where James bought a couple of gifts for his mom, the two of them decided that they would pause for coffee, sitting down at the Starbucks before they headed back to her house.

"So, that party your friend is throwing is tonight?" James asked, one of his clasped tightly in hers as the other held onto his coffee. Looking at him she nodded as she spoke

"Yeah it's at my friend Noah's house. I've known him since I was four years old my dads went to the same synagogue as his family" Rachel replied smiling.

James nodded smiling and then any took a drink of his coffee. Rachel looked at in curiously and then squeezed his hand slightly. Leaning forward slightly in her chair she asked him softly what's wrong

James raised his eyebrows at her curiously and then replies "would you mean"

Rachel says you don't seem very interested

"James chuckles and then replies od course I am. I'm just wondering who is going to be there

You mean you mean you wondering if Finn going to be there

James smirks and then nods his head slowly speaking gently as he moves his other hand to cover their linked ones. "Yeah I was wondering if he was going to be there... and I know that you're not in love with him any more but"

"But what" Rachel asks squeezing his hand reassuringly

"I don't want to put you in the position where you going to be upset if you see him. Are sure you're okay to see you?"

"I am" Rachel replies and smiles at James "I guess maybe a little bit nervous about you to be in the same room together "

I won't say anything to him promise" James says reassuringly "I trust you, and I trust you to deal with it however you think is best and you don't need me to make things worse and provoke him. I don't want to look for any trouble"

Rachel looks at him and smiles and then leans into kisses him softly on the lips and she pulls back she smiles again, "You're the best"

The two of them sit in the coffee shop for another half an hour more, as they finish their drinks, laughing and talking about who of her friends are going to be at Noah's party. While she doesn't mention it to James, internally Rachel is a little bit worried about who is at the party. As she keeps the smile on the face as she listens to tell her about the party he has back in Oregon, Rachel tries to reassure her nerves about the fact that she knows that some of Noah's football friends will most likely be there. Having struggled with being bullied by the football guys Rachel is more than a little a bit apprehensive about going tonight even though she is friends with Noah, she's never really been considered popular as he has and she is worried that they might take the opportunity to start the harassment of her in the glee club earlier than when school returns

Afterwards the walk under hands which is car and she drives them home nothing is the main RUA2 was the front door Rachel is the key to let the men and she is singing for in the kitchen looking James are the curious expression and smile that the two of them walking to the kitchen. Hiram is in the kitchen, here singing along as he cooks something at the oven. Giggling as James grins at her, she walks up in be behind him before leaning up and placing a kiss on her Dads cheek. Hiram stops singing at feeling of his daughter kissing him on the cheek, he turns around and smiled at both of them brightly.

"Hey Daddy"

"Hey sweetheart" Hiram replied, kissing his daughter on the forehead. Afterwards he turned and winked at James. "James"

"Sir" She watched him say as he poured a drink of water. James walked over and looked into the pan Hiram was standing over "What are you making?"

"Rachel's favourite bean soup" Hiram responded, and Rachel smiled up at her Dad. "I know you two are going over to Noah Puckerman's, but I thought we could have dinner before you do"

"That sounds great" James says smiling, and then leans over it "And that smells amazing"

Hiram laughed, and Rachel giggled. "Thank you, I'm glad you approve"

"It really does smell amazing, Daddy" Rachel spoke softly, walking over and standing with her back pressed against James as his arms wrapped around her.

"What have you two kids been up to today then?" Hiram asked, walking over to the sink and washing his hands. Rachel leaned back and rested her head against James chest.

"We went shopping, I bought a few new pieces for my wardrobe. I'm planning on wearing one of them tonight I think." Rachel said, and then looked up at her boyfriend. "James bought some presents for his mom and sister"

"What did you get them?" Hiram asked, leaning back against the counter opposite the two.

"Some perfume that my mom likes" James replied, leaning his head on Rachel's shouder. "Charlie really likes those charms you can put on bracelets and necklaces, so I get her one of those"

After spending a little longer talking to Hiram, before he left them on their alone to make a phonecall. The two of them moved into the lounge and sat cuddled together on the couch as they watched more reruns of How I met your mother, Rachel having given into watching it today as she had enjoyed it the previous day despite her previous objections. She wanted her and James to share the things that they loved with one another and when they were in the same place that they would watch and enjoy them together. Even though James loved musicals, she knew that he wasn't as obsessed with them as she was, particularly her love of musical marathons as they had enjoyed in the morning but he sat through them with her and sung along with her as they watched. She appreciated having someone who actually took the time to enjoy the things she loved, rather than sitting through them daydreaming and having no idea what was actually going on. In this situation, Rachel wanted to put the same effort in to programmes and movies that he loved to watch.

After a couple of episodes, Rachel was sat with her legs over James lap as he rubbed her thigh, sending a tingling sensation up her leg even through the jeans she was wearing, while leaning her head on his shoulder. When Leroy came home, she felt her cheeks flush as he smiled at seeing them in a cosey position on the couch. As James greeted him, her Dad leaned down and kissed her forehead before shaking James' hand in the manner they had established since the first time they met in New York.

"Have a good day you two?" He asked sitting on the couch armrest. Thankful that James had sensed her discomfort at her Dad seeing them in such an intimate position, James stilled his hands movement on her thigh, and shooting him a smile, Rachel moved her legs from his lap and sat up putting a small amount of distance between them; but moved her hand to clasp his, intertwining their fingers to keep a small amount of intimacy.

"Yeah we did, Sir" James spoke, winking at her. "Rachel showed me the Ohio Mall, and we went shopping for a few bits"

"She didn't get you spending your money on her did she?" Leroy asked, causing him and James to laugh while she sat there with a blush on her face.

"Not yet, I'm sure she'll try eventually" James replied, and she shot him a teasing glare at his comment. It faded quickly, as he smirked at her and squeezed her hand softly.

Rachel smiled at him, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "I'll have you wrapped around my finger in no time"

He laughed at her and moved to kiss her, as Leroy spoke again. "Where's your dad, Rachel?"

"Upstairs, he had a phonecall to make." Rachel replied, blushing a little bit. "He made his bean soup for dinner, we were just waiting for you to come home"

"If you want to go wash up and get the table ready, I'll go tell him I'm home" Leroy said standing up and squeezing her arm softly before heading for the stairs.

"Come on beautiful" James said, standing up and offering her his hand to help her. Grinning, she took his hand and stood as he led her into the kitchen.

The four of them were sat eating at the kitchen table a little while later. Rachel ate silently as she watched James holding a conversation with Leroy about the upcoming football season. While both her Dad's loved Broadway and musicals as much as she did, her Dad was different than her and Hiram in that he was a sports fan. She smiled as she saw her Dad interacting with her boyfriend. When Finn had joined them for dinner, he didn't know how to interact with them as easily and smoothly as James had done. He seemed comfortable and at ease, and was able to hold an engaging conversation rather than simple short answers.

After her Dads dismissed them, telling James that he was a guest in their home and would not even think about offering to help them wash up after dinner, sending the two of them to get ready to head over to Noah's for the party; Rachel gave James a kiss before disappearing into her room to have a shower and get herself ready.

A half hour later and she was doing her hair in the mirror in her room, deciding to pull it up into a bun at the top of her head; letting her bangs fall free, she decided to place some strawberry lip gloss on her lips, as well as a small amount of eye liner and blusher. Standing up from her dressing table, still wearing her dressing robe, she moved over and walked into her wardrobe looking over the clothes she had hung up after her shopping with James earlier. Biting her lip, she decided on wearing the short black dress she had bought and the white jacket she had gotten in New York.

A little while later after giving herself final lookover in the mirror, wearing her Rachel necklace, she headed over to the guest room knocking once before she opened it. As she stepped in, she saw a couple of shirts laid out on the bed. Biting her lip, she took a moment to observe what had become his room. It was tidy, curiously saw for a room that a guy inhabited, with all of his things placed organized on the cabinet and table sides.

Walking over to the bed she saw that it was made, and except for the pillows not being as full as normal with marks where James head has dinted the pillow. Smiling she ran her hands over the framed picture of him stood with his mom and sister on the bedside cabinet. Frowning slightly, she saw a man stood behind him with his hands on James' shoulders. As she took in the picture she realised that the man must be his father, smiling as she recognized the same black curly hair on both the father and son, as well as the same well-built shoulders and strong jaw. He wasn't as tall as his father, but only shorter by around an inch or so. She wondered how long ago the picture was taken, remembering that his father hadn't been around much, guessing it must have been taking in the past year or so considering James looked about the same age as he was now.

She was distracted when she heard the ensuite bathroom to the guestroom open, and she turned to see James walking into the room drying his hair with a towel. Smiling she saw him move the towel and wipe his shoulders shooting her a wide grin.

"Hey babe" James said, walking over and kissing her on the lips gently.

"Hi" She replied, biting her lip as he stepped back and finished drying himself, chucking the towel on the table by the desk in the room. Her mouth opened as she realised that he was topless as he turned back around to face her. He wore a pair of black slim jeans and a leather belt, but apart from that he had nothing else on. Her eyes roamed over his upper body, focusing on the well-defined abs on his chest and the visible V.

Gulping as he walked over to the bed and picked up the two shirts from the bed, her eyes were glued to him. It was difficult to look away for her, she had only seen someone so fit and muscular, apart from when Sam had performed for Rocky Horror the year before. She knew that James looked after himself, but she had never thought she'd see exactly how well until now and when he faced her again holding the shirts up she looked down blushing.

"Rachel?" He asked, and she raised her eyes to meet his gaze, smiling nervously at the raised eyebrow. He stepped forward and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips, smiling as he pulled back. "What's wrong?"

"I…." She said, feeling her cheeks blush even further. "I've never seen you….without your top before"

He looked at her for a second, before glancing down at himself, and as he returned his gaze to her a sly smile crossed his face. "Having a hard time concentrating?"

She nodded at him, biting her lip as he leaned in and captured her lips with his again. She raised her hands to his face, cupping his cheeks tenderly, not trusting her hands not to roam over his body and so she focused them on somewhere she knew they wouldn't get a mind of their own. After a few minutes, she pulled back and grinned at him. "You nearly ready?"

"Yeah, I just need your opinion on which shirt I should wear" He said holding them up again and she couldn't help but giggle at him. He had been getting ready the same amount of time she had, and he wasn't ready yet. "What?"

"You're such a diva" She replied, placing a hand on his cheek. "you're taking more time than me to get ready"

"Hey, I resent that" He said smirking at her "besides, I told you I want to make a good impression on your friends"

"You're actually nervous" Rachel giggled, tilting her head to gaze at him "Mr hotshot national champion is actually nervous of a few high school seniors"

"Teasing aside" James laughed, before looking at her seriously. "I am. These are people you go to school with, your friends. I'm going to be compared…well compared to Finn and I want to make a good impression"

Rachel placed a hand on his cheek again, stroking his cheek tenderly. Smiling softly, she couldn't help but feel upset by what he said. She was over the past relationship with Finn, but knowing that James was feeling threatened by the fact that her ex was around her friends more than he was; and the fact that made him uncomfortable and nervous about meeting them tonight brought the pain back. She wanted him to feel welcome amongst the people she interacted every day at school.

"Hey" She kissed him softly. After a few chaste kisses, she pulled back resting her forehead against his. "you don't need to be threatened by Finn. Kurt loves you, so do Blaine and Mercedes. Finn is in the past, and you and me; you and me are the present and future. Even if they don't like you, which I find impossible considering how amazing you are, I am never going to break up with you because of what they think. I only care about the fact that I like you, I like you a lot. Okay?"

He smiled at her, nodding against her before leaning down and kissing her again. "Okay, sorry for being so stupid. I know you and I are."

"Don't apologize" She said, kissing his cheek. "And for the record, that light blue one make you look even more handsome than normal"

He smirked at her, nodding and placing the other green shirt down his bed; before pulling the shirt she had picked for him on. Turning back to face her, he winked as he started buttoning it up. Watching him, she smiled as she watched his fingers fumbling with the buttons; the nervousness he tried to reassure her wasn't there coming clearly through in the tiniest of action. Stepping forward, she placed her hands over his and squeezed them reassuringly.

"Relax. Let me" She smiled, and he nodded dropping his hands to his side and letting her finish buttoning his shirt up. As she reached the last one, Rachel left it open and moved her hands to his face, pushing his fluffy fringe back out of his forehead and stroking his cheek before pulling him for a kiss.

The two of them spent a good ten minutes kissing in the guest room, Rachel feeling especially close to him and glad that she could do anything to help him feel more reassured and relax about meeting her friends from school. As they separated and headed down the stairs, he told her that she looked gorgeous, which made her giggle and feel a million dollars just as every time he told her how good she looked. Saying goodnight to her Dads, as they would likely be in bed before the two of them came home from the party, they walked hand in hand towards Noah's house. Planning on drinking a couple alcoholic drinks, she and James had talked it before they left and he had said he didn't want to drink that much and she only agreed to drink a little before they would both stop, neither of them would be fit to drive later that night.

A little while later as they turned into Noah's block, they saw that there were several students from McKinley were heading towards his house as well. It was a good job that most of Noah's neighbours either didn't care, or where on holiday so that they could have such a large party without the chance of the police turning up. Stopping just short of the house, seeing that there were more people than she had originally thought would be going, she turned and kissed James again, muttering words of reassure as they started walking up the garden path to the house. Following some of the kids that she recognized from the swimming team through the front door, they were quickly engulfed by a large amount of students stood around and music blasting loudly through several stereo speakers.

"Wow…these all Noah's friends?" James said in her ear, pulling her close to speak. She smiled looking at him and kissing him.

"No, but you know how things get…word spreading fast and everything" She replied, licking her lip before intertwining a hand in his and walking into the kitchen. "Lets find Noah"

They walked into the kitchen, and glad that her intuition of where to find him was correct, they saw him stood talking to Mike, Santana and Brittany. Waving, as Noah raised the bottle of beer he had in his hand as a call for them to come over, she and James walked over.

"There's my hot little jewish princess" He said smugly, hugging him as they approached before pulling back and smacking him on the arm playfully. "Glad you could make it"

"Hot, I don't think we've been introduced" Rachel heard Santana's voice, and she turned to see her with a hand on James' arm as he looked at her with an uncomfortable look on his face

"Hi…ummm, I'm James, Rachel's boyfriend" He said, looking at her and shooting her a grin. Giggling, she returned to his side and wrapped an around his back as he placed his arm on her shoulder as she leaned into his side in that familiar comfortable position.

"So you're the hottie she dumped Frankenteen for" Santana smirked, "Definitely an improvement, good choice Hobbit"

"Thank you Santana…" Rachel said rolling her eyes. She wondered when things would ever stop with the name calling, but she remembered how mad the cheerleader had been after nationals, and she guessed that it was at least an improvement over being screamed at in Spanish and having to be protected from Santana's wrath by her glee club teammates.

"Your hair is really curly and fluffy" Brittany remarked, gazing at his hair with her head titled.

"Umm…thanks" James replied confused, gazing down at her. Rachel giggled and whispered in his ear just to go with it. She heard Noah cough, and she looked at him to see him with lips pursed eyeing up her new boyfriend.

"Noah" He said simply, extending his hand out to James, whose eyes flickered from it to meet the mohawked guys eyes again before he moved his to grasp it.

"James, nice to meet you" He said, shaking Noah's hand a few times before they separated.

"You want a drink dude?" Noah asked, offering him a beer from the case on the side. James' eyes flicked to hers before he nodded and took it from him.

"Yeah, cheers man" He said taking a sip, and Rachel smiled as she saw Noah smirk and nod his head at her with an impressed look on his face. She rolled her eyes as he winked at her, understanding that James had passed Noah's silent test and had his approval to date his jewish princess.

….

Rachel and James spent a good half an hour stood talking in the kitchen with Noah, Santana and Brittany. Noah in particular, having heard nothing apart from the fact that James was from Oregon and has apparently become Rachel's boyfriend, was eager to get to know him and he was the one who spent the largest times asking James about himself. After a half of an hour or so, the two cheerleaders left and were replaced by Mike and Tina.

The conversation eventually, and predictably the three guys started talking about football, leaving the two girls to roll their eyes at each other before Rachel winked at Tina and turned to her boyfriend.

"I'm going to see if I can find the rest of the glee club kids" She said, leaning up and kissing James on the lips softly, interrupting what he has been saying to Noah, and she smiled as he turned his head to look at her as she pulled away.

"Okay you want me to come with you?" He asked, but she shook head and raised his hand to kiss his knuckles before releasing her grip on him.

"No it's okay, me and Tina are going to go, you stay and get to know Noah and Mike better" she replied smiling at him reassuringly.

He nodded and as she and Tina turned to walk away he has already begun talking to the guys about what she had interrupted him.

"Boys" Tina said simply and the two of them laughed as they made their way into the lounge, were Noah had told them the glee kids where. "James seems nice"

"He's great" Rachel said biting her lip, happy to talk about him with her friend "I really like him"

"That's obvious" Tina replied "The two of you are so sweet with the little touches even if you aren't talking to one another"

Rachel blushed, thinking of how either of them would always reach to clasp the others hand if they were stood close by. It wasn't something planned, but any time she could she sought out his tender embrace as a reassurance and relaxing presence.

Rachel filled her in on some parts she hadn't heard about her and James as they made their way to the glee club. They found them sat together on the couch in Noah's front living room laughing and talking to one another. They greeted them, and Rachel noted that only the two guys who were with James and Quinn, who hadn't been seen all summer as Rachel had been told the previous weekend. Glancing at Finn who was stood talking to Santana, Rachel offered him a small smile which he bowed his head at she then sat down next to Kurt and Blaine who were talking to Lauren. She sat talking to the two along with and Lauren, as well as Mercedes who joined in their conversation after a few minutes, for half an hour; enjoying being in a casual social environment with her friends. She was pleasantly surprised about how relaxed it actually felt, she had thought being around so many students from McKinley would make it difficult for her, considering the level of abuse the glee club suffered while actually at school, but in the hour they had been there, no-one had said anything to her or the other glee club kids. When she brought the point up with them, Lauren insisted that her and Puck had got the school in line with their bad ass reputation and no one would do anything for fear of the intimidation that the two of them would inflict.

A little while later, on her second glass of wine, Rachel started to realize that she hadn't seen James in a good forty-five minutes. Biting her lip nervously, she craned her neck looking around the lounge and into the hallway to see if she could see him as she listened to Kurt and Mercedes talking about something she vaguely took account of. A few minutes passed, and as she stood up, telling Kurt and Blaine that she was going to go and find him when she felt a hand touching her arm. Turning around she saw that Finn had moved to talk to her.

Letting out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding in, she smiled at him. "Hi Finn"

"Hey Rachel" He said, smiling at her nervously. "Can we talk?"

"I need to find James" She said, turning her head away from her to see if he was coming to find her. "I don't think-"

"He's here?" Finn asks

"Yes, He's visiting me" She says, biting her lip. Feeling anger at what he had said to her rising up. "Unlike what you seem to think, he is a caring guy who-"

"I'm sorry about that...about everything that happened" He cut across her, and she frowned at him. While she had missed being friends with Finn, she wasn't prepared to accept his apology straight off. The things he had said about her, and about James were too fresh and too hurtful.

"That's good because you should be Finn" She said calmly, gazing at him as his eyes pleaded for her to accept his apology.

"Can we go back to being friends? I'd like to..." He replied, trailing off as he offered her his trademark half-smile. She couldn't help but hear the hopefulness in his voice, as if he didn't expect her to give him the time of day never mind accept her apology.

"Finn, I don't think we can" She said softly. "I wanted to be your friend, but now I think we need to take some not interacting with one another, not for a little while"

He looked at her, and she wondered if he understood what she was talking about. After a couple of seconds, he nodded at her and offered her a smile. "I'd like to be your friend again, however long it takes for you to forgive me. In time, I'd like to meet James as well, if that's okay. He must be a great guy to deserve you"

Smiling at him, Rachel touched his arm gently and when he looked down and smiled at the contact; she knew what it meant to him. In time she would be willing to consider being friends with him again, after she and he had time to think about what had happened between the two of them. She was touched that he was thinking about putting the fact she had a new boyfriend behind him, instead wanting to be her friend. Nodding at her finally he turned around and walked back to the couch.

Rachel headed out of the lounge, intending to find James, and as she headed into the hallway she was engulfed by the large amount of people who were there. Pushing past them, she searched for a few minutes before she felt a set of arms grip her by the waist, squealing as she turned into the person who had gripped her only to be greeted by the smirking face of her boyfriend.

"You alright? He asked as she pulled him down into an embrace, nuzzling her neck with his nose. As they pulled back she smiled at him and nodded, leaning up to kiss him softly on the lips.

"I was looking for you" She replied, her breath on his ear as she pulled back and settled into his side. Looking around she saw that he was still talking to Mike and Noah. Smiling at them as they wore smirks at the noise she had made, she felt her cheeks flushing. "You been with these two the entire time?"

"Yeah, sorry babe. We got talking and didn't realize the time had passed" He said, as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"It's okay baby" She said, turning her head to kiss his shoulder. "You guys getting to know each other then?"

"Yeah, your boy is pretty cool" Mike replied. She stood next to him for another quarter of an hour as they finished whatever they were talking about. She listened vaguely as they talked about some football team. Watching them interact was interesting, despite the fact that they had only known James for about an hour, they were talking with him as if they had known him for years. Smiling to herself as she stood leaning into him, this was exactly what she wanted when she talked to him about coming to the party; James to fit in and win her friends over. After a while she was getting bored about just standing there, wanting to spend some time with him alone, she agitatedly nuzzled his shoulder with her nose, knowing that he would understand.

After a couple of seconds, he kissed her forehead before turning to the other two. "It was really nice to meet you guys. I'm going to go get some air"

"Yeah dude, nice to talk to you too" Noah replied, and Mike nodded his confirmation.

Grasping his hand, she led him towards the back door. Squeezing past a few cheerleaders who shot her a curious glance at seeing her with a guy like James, they walked outside and headed towards the back of the small garden where a small picnic bench was. Thankful that it was mostly empty, with only a few people near the back door, she settled herself next to James as he drunk the rest of the beer he had in his hand before settling it down on the bench top. Cuddling closer to him, she smiled leaning her head on his shoulder as his arm wrapped around her and pulled her against him.

"You having a good time?" He asked, pressing a kiss to the top of her forehead.

"Yeah" Nodding against his shoulder. "I was talking to Kurt and Blaine for a while, then I realised I hadn't seen you in a while"

"Did you forget about me?" He asked teasingly, and she looked up at him and smirking.

"Because you were having such a horrible time talking about guy stuff with Noah and Mike" She replied giggling.

"There pretty cool guys" He replied as he leaned down and kissed her "I did miss you though"

"Good" She whispered before moving her hand to rest on the back of his neck and pull him in for another kiss. Smiling against her lips, she felt him deepen their kiss and the two of them sat there oblivious to anything else that was going on around them, simply enjoying some time alone.

...

A/N :

Next chapter is rest of time James spends in Ohio and his departure.