There's an important thing coming up for Rachel and James in the next chapters, about how they feel about each other and their relationship.

Chapter 39

"No James?" Noah asks her. Rachel turns her head and looks at him, smiling at him as he sits down next to her at lunch.

"Hey Noah" She replies, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm afraid not; he has his meeting with Miss Pillsbury"

"Shit, they still making him go to that?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow as he retrieves his lunch from his bag.

"Yes, Miss Pillsbury doesn't think that he's settled in yet" Rachel says with a roll of her eyes. "Which is completely ridiculous because he loves it here"

"Mhmm" Noah murmurs, chewing a bite of his sandwich. "Why she making him go to it still?"

"Because last week he wasn't exactly like himself" Rachel replies sighing. "He was dealing with his Dad, he was a little quiet for a few days and he didn't feel like telling Miss Pillsbury about it. Naturally she was concerned"

"She should keep her nose out. That ain't anything to do with school" Noah remarked and Rachel couldn't help but agree with him. James personal life, dealing with his father paid no part in James fitting into McKinley; especially considering the fact that he had already done so in the month before. "He's cool now though right?"

"He seems to be; he started texting me song lyrics in the morning again" Rachel says with a wide smile. It was a cute thing that James did, everything morning regardless of if they had slept in the same bed together; her boyfriend would text her the lyrics from songs. They weren't always love songs, sometimes they were just sweet motivational ones. Rachel loved receiving the lyrics from love songs but it warmed her heart that morning what he had sent before he arrived to pick her up for school; If you don't try, you'll never fly; you gotta be brave.

"He does that?" Noah smirks and Rachel nods her head happily. "I am so giving him shit about that"

"Noah!" Rachel says horrified, shaking her head at him. "Don't you dare; its sweet and I love it"

"Its embarrassing unless of course he texts you lyrics telling you how much he wants to get into those panties of yours" Noah continued with a sly grin on his face. "Does he do that Berry? Tell you how much he wants to touch-"

"NOAH!" Rachel cuts him off, wide eyed as she slaps his arm. "Don't be so crude; James is a poet and the way he expresses his love for me is anything but that; he is a beautiful man"

Noah laughs at her and Rachel rolls her eyes at him, nudging his shoulder again. "Shit babe, you know I'm only joking"

"You're being disgusting" Rachel murmurs, trying to stop the smile off her lips.

"I like how happy you are with him; just checking up" Noah says, putting a hand on her arm and giving it a soft squeeze. "I just like knowing he takes good care of you and I can tell he's crazy about you"

"Thanks Noah" Rachel says, smiling widely as she leans over and presses a kiss against his cheek. "It means a lot that you're so supportive"

"We're friends Rach" He shrugs "I haven't kicked any guys ass in a few months so I guess I'm just waiting for the chance"

Rachel giggles at him as he flexes his arm at her. "You won't get the chance to with James"

"I hope not" He says with a smile.

"Enough about my boyfriend" Rachel replies, chewing her bottom lip as he raises an eyebrow at her "So, what's going on with you and Quinn?"

The Scoff that he gives her makes Rachel smirk; Noah has been spending a lot of time with her recently and even though she doesn't want to push him, Rachel knows that it's secretly making him ecstatic. She knows that her friend has always had feelings for the blonde former cheerleader and is really only waiting to see when they get together. Still, it's definitely a lot of fun seeing him squirm.

…..

Rachel has one class in the afternoon before a couple of hours free with James. Making her way down the corridor towards his locker, she raises her hand and waves at him as she sees him stood waiting for her. A giggle escapes her throat when he raises his own hand and gives her a playful salute before his face erupts in laughter.

"Hey, I missed you" He says, not giving her a chance to reply before he presses a kiss against her lips.

Rachel unable to control the low moan that escapes her throat. When he moves to pull away from her; Rachel moves her hand to his cheek to keep the contact between them as she runs her tongue across his bottom lip, smirking against his mouth as she feels him shift so that their bodies are close to one another.

When he deepens the kiss, Rachel feels her heart flutter and the heat build deep in her body as she moves her hands to his waist and pulls his body tightly against hers, causing a low groan in his throat. She becomes very aware of how turned on he is right then when his hand softly rests on her bum and she's very aware of her own arousal as she managed to pull away from him and rest her forehead against his.

"Hi" Is all she manages to say a few seconds later as they're both smiling at each other. "Missed you more"

"Doubt it" He smirks back at her as he moves his hand to clasp hers tightly. "Let's go to your locker first, then we can try and find somewhere to relax"

"Sounds great" Rachel nods eagerly resting her head on his shoulder as they set off walking, wrapping her other hand around his arm. "How was the meeting with Miss Pillsbury?"

"It was alright" He says and she can feel him shrug. "She asks me how I'm doing; I say fine and she then spends the next twenty minutes asking me questions to find out what fine means"

"She's just looking after you" Rachel replies, squeezing his arm reassuringly.

"Mhmmm, it's boring" He says and she feels him press a kiss against her forehead. "You okay?"

"I'm amazing" She answers pressing herself further into his side.

"You know, I talked to Charlie on the phone last night"

"Oh? How is she?" Rachel asked, gazing up at him with a smile. She knows he hasn't seen his sister in almost two months and how much speaking to her would have brightened his mood up.

"She's good; asking about school and stuff" He answers, a smile still on his face. "I also told her about your show"

"Really? You talked about me?" She asks grinning.

"Yeah of course. You know I can't wait to see you in West Side Story, Rach" James smiles warmly at her as they walk down the corridors together. "You are going to be the greatest Maria ever"

She can't help but grin back at him, enjoying the loving look in his eye as she nudges his shoulder playfully. He'd been like this for a couple of days now, ever since he had snuck into watch one of the rehearsals and had caught the back end of "Somewhere". Considering he hadn't been at McKinley to watch her audition with the song, Rachel wasn't really surprised by his mesmerised reaction, but the constant praise he was pouring on her was actually starting to make her blush; knowing that someone believed so highly in her was incredible. "You don't need to keep saying it"

"Babe, I want to scream it from the rooftops; you were amazing" He replies, winking at her.

"So you keep saying" Rachel giggles, squeezing his arm reassuringly when his smile drops a little. "It's not that I don't love the attention, but it's a getting a little embarrassing; you actually text me this morning saying; Heard somewhere on my iPod during my run, wasn't nearly as good as your rendition"

"Sorry" He admitted sheepishly, a slight blush on his cheeks. "I'm just excited you know? Opening night is next week and I'm just proud of you, with all the crap you've had to deal with; here you are. I love you so much"

"I love you too" Rachel replied, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "Just, please don't actually shout it from the rooftops. Promise me"

"Alright I won't, I'll just make sure to cheer extra loud opening night" James chuckles, his hand coming to settle on her neck.

"I can live with that" Rachel says grinning, adding a little shrug of her shoulders that makes his own smile widen.

The past couple of week Rachel has felt especially close to James. She felt that with his father around, James seemed to open up to her in ways she hadn't imagined; she felt as if there bond couldn't possibly get any better. He talked to her a lot about his past struggles with his father, stuff that he had never mentioned to anyone outside of his family before about how hard it was for him and it made Rachel feel as though she was the one person who truly knew what it was like for him growing up. Surprisingly, it hadn't been all bad and he had smiled while telling her about times they had spent together as father and son. Rachel heart warmed at helping James realise that his father really did care for him and after a rough patch for them where James had been quiet and retreated a couple of days, she knew that they were good and had become stronger by it.

The Agrisino's and Berry's had gone out for dinner the previous Friday and it had been a nice meal. James father talked with Leroy and James about sports while Rachel enjoyed talking to Andrea and Hiram about vegan recipes for the restaurant. The following day, James had turned up at her house and picked her up into a hug cuddle; spinning her around a couple of times before telling her his father apologised, actually apologised for jumping to conclusions about his grades and said that he thought Rachel was a very special girl.

"Ready to go?" She looked back at James smiling face as she heard his voice, nodding with a grin on her face as she retrieved her books from her locker. It was Wednesday of the third week in November and they shared a free period together in the afternoon, which more than not involved the two of them making out in a quiet part of school or his car.

"What are you doing tonight?" He asks as they start to talk towards the auditorium, hoping it'll be quiet enough for them to enjoy some alone time.

"My Dads are away this weekend in Columbus this weekend, Daddy has a conference he has to go to and Dad thought he would keep him company; you know how busy they've both been recently" Rachel explained, smiling sadly as their joined hands swung in between them. "We're going out to dinner and a movie; they feel bad when they have to leave me alone for a couple of days"

"Yeah" James replies softly, nodding his head as he squeezes her hand. "Going to spoil their little girl?"

"Hey!" Rachel giggles, nudging his shoulder as he smirks at her teasingly. "And just remind me what you are doing this weekend?"

"Helping my mom paint the guest room" James admits, shaking his head. "Alright valid point; I'm a mommy's boy and you are daddies little girl"

"Yes you are" She says laughing. "But I still love you"

"You better; otherwise I won't let you come over when you get lonely" He smirks back at her.

"I don't think you'd be able to last a day without kissi-"Rachel starts to reply when she hears that familiar noise of a slushy hitting someone. Blinking she realises, as a jock wearing a red McKinley titan football jersey walks past them, that she wasn't the one to get hit; turning to look at James, a hand instantly coming to cover her mouth as she sees him with a look of surprise on his. "Oh My God"

"That's really cold" James murmurs softly as he stands there covered in a green slushy. Rachel releases his hand, moving in front of him and starts to carefully brush the ice from his face, trying not to cause him any more discomfort than she knows he must be feeling already.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up" Rachel says softly, reaching for his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze as he nods and follows her as she leads him into the girls bathroom. Acting out of memory, remembering when Noah had been slushied sophomore year, she turns the bin upside down for him as she speaks again "Take your jumper and shirt off then sit down"

James simply nods at her, pulling his jump and t shirt over his head before he does as she says and takes a seat, a dazed look still on his face. Rachel takes a deep breathe, trying to keep herself composed at the fact her boyfriend just got slushied; if it hadn't been for the fact it had happened to her countless times in the past, then she's not sure she would be able to act so calmly at the fact that James is obviously disorientated by the whole thing as she wipes his face clean using paper towels.

It's strange but there is something oddly intimate about doing this; him allowing her to use the damp paper towel to wash his face and Rachel takes a great amount of care in looking after him. Her moves are slow, tender as she expresses how much she loves him in the gentle movements of her hands.

When his face is clean, Rachel sits on his lap; smiling as she sees his face brighten up as she wraps an around his neck and strokes his chest with her other hand. The shock seems to have worn off as his arm winds around his waist and secure her sitting there.

"Thank you" He says softly, smiling at her.

"You okay baby?" Rachel asks as his other hand rests on her thigh.

"I think so" He says, blinking a couple of times before he focuses on her again. "I'm sorry this ever happened to you"

"It's okay, you weren't the reason I got slushied" Rachel replies sadly, knowing that the same can't be true for her.

…..

"Oh god not again" Tina murmured next to her as they saw Azimio and a couple of the football team walking towards them. Rachel frowns in confusion, why were they targeting them again? The glee club had gone near;y a month without a slushy being frown at them until last week.

"Well, well; what do we have here. A couple of losers" Azimio said smirking. The other two idiots stand either side of them wearing grins on their face as they clutch the slushies to their chests like some sort of award.

"Just do it; you Neanderthal" She said rolling her eyes at them.

"As you command"

Rachel had closed her eyes ready to receive the slushy and a couple of seconds later she heard the sound of a slushy connecting with something. She stood there expecting, waiting for the feeling of the cold wetness on her face, but it never came? Rachel opened her eyes as she heard a "What the Hell dude", instinctively widening as she saw James stood in front of the two of them; the slushy Azimio had been about to throw laying on the floor at his feet.

"Stay away from them" She heard James say and she felt like jumping on him and kissing him right there in the middle of the corridor. He had stood up to her tormenters for her, no one had done that before and she loved him for it. Managing to control herself, Rachel stepped forward and put her arm around his waist, smiling as James arm snaked around her shoulder and pulled her into his side wordlessly.

"Don't interfere in things you don't understand new Kid"

"You think you're big because you slushy two girls? You're pathetic" James retorted and she squeezed his waist to remind him to keep calm; knowing that it pissed him off to hear her abuse.

"What the hell dude? I thought you were cool" She hears one of the other jocks say.

"Yeah Puck, I thought you and this guy were cool"

"Shouldn't have slushied his girlfriend" Noah smirks. "Stop slushing her or any of the glee girls"

"It's tradition! Glee losers get slushied by the football players"

"You slushy Rachel again and I'm going to kick your ass" James replied, glaring at the three boys. Rachel bit her lip anxiously as she watched the jocks take in his words.

"Go on scram" Noah added and the three jocks shook their heads before turning around and stalking off. Rachel sighed in relief, while she loved that James had stuck up for her; she didn't want him to get into a fight or get beat up because of it.

….

"Hey don't, say that" James said, his hand coming up to cup her cheek "This isn't your fault"

"Yes it is" Rachel nods, shifting closer on his lap and resting her forehead against his. "If you didn't stop them from slushing me, you wouldn't have been"

"Did you expect me to just stand by and let them?" James replies, his hand moving slowly against her neck caressing the skin gently. "Not gonna happen angel, your face is too beautiful for that crap"

"Yours is to" She says smiling sadly. "I don't like seeing you covered in slushy either"

"If I get slushied to prevent your clothes from getting ruined; it's a small price to pay" James murmurs, nuzzling her nose with his. "I'd do anything to protect you Rach, you know that?"

"I know" She admits, nodding her head slightly, feeling tears welling in her eyes.

"Please don't cry" James replies, his hand moving to wipe the tears that had started to roll down her cheeks.

She feels awful about this thing; she can see his point about not wanting to see her getting bullied and it filled her with proud at how amazing James was but the tears were in her eyes about the fact he had been slushied instead of her, hating to see him look so vulnerable as he had done a few minutes ago. Nodding at him, Rachel sniff as she spoke again; "I love you"

"love you too" he murmured smiling at her. Rachel leans forward and presses a soft kiss against his lips before pulling back and giving him a wide smile. "What's that look for?"

"You've still got slushy in your hair" She giggles.

"Well? I thought you were supposed to be taking care of me?" He smirks back at her. Slapping his chest playfully; Rachel stands up from his lap and rests her hands on his shoulders to gesture for him to lean his head back over the sink. "What you doing?"

"I'm going to wash that stuff out of your hair before it gets all sticky and ruins those curls I love so much" She says smiling at him, loving the way his smirk returns to his face.

Running the tap, Rachel tests the water to make sure it's not too cold before cupping some in her hand and pouring it carefully over his hair. Repeating the action several times; she then runs her fingers through his hair, which he has started to grow out again, rinsing out what's left of the slushy for several minutes. A smile sits on her lips the entire time, running her nail gently over his scalp as if she was giving him a massage.

"Mhmmm" She hears him moan, his eyes completely closed as he just sits there and lets her continue the actions for several minutes. When he does speak again, Rachel can't help but giggle at him; "That feels so amazing Rach, don't ever stop doing it."

"I'm not your personal masseuse" She teases, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

"You're so good at it" He says smirking, eyes closed still. Rachel rolls her eyes at him and move her hands away from his scalp, giggling again as she sees his eyes shut open in horror. "Please don't stop?"

"Sorry baby, but your hair is clean" She replies, pressing another kiss against his forehead.

"I'll just have to get slushied again then" He smirks at her and laughs at the look on her face. "Rach, I was kidding"

"It wasn't funny" She murmurs.

"Come here" He says, offering his hand which she gladly takes as he steers her onto his lap again. "Thank you for taking care of me"

"It's okay, I love you" She replies, giving him a smile. Her hand rests on his chest and she realises, a red tinge coming to her cheeks, that he is still topless. Her eyes linger on his abs for a moment and she tries to keep herself from giggling embarrassedly when his hand rests on her cheek and steers her to look him in the eyes.

"You okay?"

"You need to put a top on…you're very distracting" She says biting her lip as he smirks at her. Rachel moves to stand up from his lap when she feels him hold her tightly, pulling her to lie against him. Giggling, Rachel pushes up and resumes her sitting position on his lap, sucking in a breath when she feels him start to kiss her neck "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to be even more distracting" He murmurs against her neck, causing her to moan when he nips the skin gently before darting his tongue out to flick over the area soothingly.

"James-" She manages to say, though it comes out as much more of a moan than anything. "We should"

"Stop? Absolutely, but first I need to kiss you" He says with a smirk before he presses a kiss against her lips. Rachel opens her mouth instinctively and lets him deepen the kiss as she moves and wraps her arms around his neck, relaxing into his touch.

Rachel is aware of the fact that they are in the girls bathroom right now and that anybody could walk in on them; and if they did, she would be incredibly embarrassed to be found sat on her topless boyfriends lap as the two of them were in the middle of an intense make out session. But strangely, Rachel's didn't actually care about that right now, simply on the fact that James really was the greatest kisser; his tongue alternating between gently caressing hers and ruthlessly assaulting her mouth that turned her on incredibly; an itch inside her that wanted to take this further; that wanted him to claim her as his.

Their making out in the last few weeks had become increasingly this passionate, the fact that he was in Lima with her only assisting that as they learned more and more about each other. James had always been an amazing kisser, but apparently he had learnt how to manipulate her perfectly as they kissed; heating her body and making her feeling absolutely incredible.

"God you're beautiful" He whispered in her ear as he started kissing her neck again. Rachel gripped the back of his head to hold him there as he paid attention, no worshipped her skin. Her eyes closed as he gently bit down on her neck, eliciting a moan louder than the ones she had emitted earlier. "You're so, so beautiful"

"Mhmmmm" She moaned again as he started to make his way back towards her mouth, pressing wet kisses against her jaw before reconnecting their lips. Rachel sucked on his tongue as he slipped it back into her mouth, smirking against his lips as she felt him grip her waist a little more firmly.

"God you're so hot when you do that" He murmured as she moved her lips away from his and took the opportunity to kiss his neck; feeling empowered by his words to take the lead. Whenever he told her how beautiful she was while they were making out, or affirming how good she was at; Rachel had never felt more confident. The simple knowledge that she drove him crazy, that what she was doing to him felt incredible was something that couldn't be matched by anything.

As she sucked on his neck, she swore she heard him breathe out a "God Rach" as his hand gave her bum a squeeze; kissing the tender place at his skin before repeating the action as she fully intended to give him a hickey, to mark him as hers. After a couple of minutes Rachel was satisfied with her work and when she gave him a playful bite, his leg bucked upwards, letting out a moan and pulling away when his arousal was pressed against her core for a brief second.

"I'm sorry about that" He muttered softly, hand finding her head and gently pulling her forwards so that their foreheads touched. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay" Rachel said softly, reassuringly pressing a kiss against his lips. "Just a little surprised"

James nodded his head at her, and smiled as she nuzzled her nose with his. "I love you"

"Love you too James" Rachel grins back, hand still resting against his chest as she strokes his bare skin with her thumb. "You're beautiful"

James laughs at her, a blush coming back to her cheeks at the thought she'd just called her boyfriend beautiful. If it bothered him, he didn't admit to it; instead James leaned the short distance and pressed a tender kiss against her lips and Rachel groaned softly when he pulled away, licking his lips. "Come on gorgeous, let me put my t shirt back on and we can go sit in the auditorium"

…..

Rachel enjoyed sitting with James in the auditorium as they played around singing together at the piano to the side of the stage. The back ground scenes for West Side Story were set up ready for the following week when the show would start but it didn't bother them; they just sat together enjoying the way their voices sounded together before led in the middle of the stage side by side looking up at the ceiling.

"I'm nervous" Rachel admitted in a quiet voice as they led there silent for a few minutes. She heard James moving and turned her head to look at him leaning on his side so he hovered over her.

"What about?" He asked, moving his hand to stroke her cheek.

"The show"

"Why? You're amazing; both you and Blaine are gonna own this stage next Thursday" He said with a reassuring smile on his face; his eyes sparkling as if to emphasis his point.

"This is it you know?" She replies, chewing her bottom lip. "My big chance to show how good I am; if I mess this up, I can kiss NYADA goodbye and then my life is over"

"You're so cute when you're being dramatic" He murmurs giving her cheek a gentle squeeze. "Rach, you're going to be amazing. We all know it and we're all going to be here to support you; Your Dads, me and my Mom. Hell even my Dad is coming to watch and he's never been to anything like this of mine"

"Never?" Rachel asks sadly. "Does that upset you?"

"No, because it means he loves you" He replies, smiling. "Just we all do and we all know you're going to be amazing"

"You're the best boyfriend in the world" She murmurs, sniffing as she feels her eyes well.

"I am pretty great" He says with a smirk. Rachel giggles before shaking her head at him.

"You're okay" She teases, biting her lip as she sees James roll his eyes at her before leaning forward and pressing a kiss against her lips.

The two of them stay in that for twenty minutes longer before they have to go for their final period at different ends of the school; sharing a final kiss before they part promising to see each other in Glee club after school. That hour passes by quickly as they work on some potential song choices for Sectionals, though Mr Schuester isn't working them too hard considering that the musical is the following week and most of the club have some part in the play.

As James drives her home, Rachel is talking his ear off about how she's impressed by how serious Mr Schuester is taking the glee club competitions compared to the previous years. Rachel's Dads are taking her out for a family dinner and regrettably that means she won't get to spend the night sleeping in James arms; the two of them sharing a long kiss in his car before he tells her to have fun and that he'll see her at school in the morning.

Rachel spends a couple of hours going over her school work while they wait for her Daddy to get home from work; eventually heading up to her room to get ready and changed into a beautiful dress befitting of the expensive restaurant they're going to. She can't help but take a picture and send it to James, knowing that he loves to see her "dolled" up and Rachel can't help giggling to herself as she imagines what his reaction to the picture will be.

Dinner with her Dads is perfect; despite how much she loves spending time with James, just being alone laughing and talking with them is amazing. Her Dads work a lot and obviously with her boyfriend around she doesn't get much time alone with them, but when they do it's a lovely opportunity and she can't help the wide beaming smile that sits on her face the entire evening.

The three of them arrive home late and after having her nightly tea, Rachel settled in bed and drifted off to sleep; thoughts about her opening night as Maria in the school musical drifting into her dreams.

….

Rachel wakes in the morning to the sound of Wham playing out from her iPod on the stand next to her bed; a smile on her face as she sits up and stretches, feeling her body soothingly regain its posture after being curled up during her sleep. After changing into her workout clothes, she climbed onto her elliptical and started her morning routine; happily listening to her 80's pop playlist to keep her motivated.

Till now, I always got by on my own; I never really cared until I met you. Rachel picks up her phone when it plays her message tone; a smile crossing her face as she sees James morning song lyric to her, instantly recognising it.

Picking out a comfortable pair of jeans and a cute pink top, Rachel finished curling her hair as she pulled on a thin white cotton jacket over her shoulders as she made her way downstairs; grinning as she saw her Dads sat at the kitchen table. She ate her breakfast with them before they each kissed her forehead and left for work; Rachel watching TV for a half hour or so until she had to set off to go to school.

A short time later, after parking her car in the senior lot; Rachel is walking through the corridors of McKinley high towards her locker, knowing that James would be waiting there for her. It was their routine on the mornings where they didn't come to school together; he would wait at her locker for her and then they would go to his at the other side of school.

Rachel smiled widely as she saw him stood with his back facing her as he rested against the locker next to hers. Practically skipping over to him, she places her arm loosely around his waist and stands on her tiptoes to press a kiss against his cheek before stepping in front of him and opening her locker. "Hey"

"Morning Angel" He replies, a small smile on his face. "You're looking especially beautiful this morning"

"Thank you; you look cute" She said, grinning at him. He was wearing a white shirt underneath a black jacket and a pair of black skin cut jeans. Rachel loved it when he dressed smart like this for school, he'd do it once a week normally but she loved how the shirts would hug his body perfectly, particularly managing to highlight his strong arms through the tight sleeves.

He smirked at her before leaning down to press a chaste kiss against her lips. He murmured softly as he pulled away; "I liked the picture you sent me last night"

"Oh?" She replied, biting her bottom lip as she smiled at him.

"Mhmm" He says nodding at her, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. "You looked incredible; it was very hard to get my mind off you and focus on something else. All I could think about was kissing your skin and just having you in my arms"

Rachel blushed as he spoke, into his hand enjoying the softness of his skin. "I didn't meant to tease you"

"I like it; when you text me pictures like that. I love seeing you dressed up and looking simply stunning" He replied, stepping closer to her and resting his other hand on her waist. "I'd much rather be there so I can show you how much you affect me but pictures are just as good"

Rachel looks at him, flashing him a seductive smile as she licks her lips before speaking; "Play your cards right and I might wear it for you the next time we're alone"

The groan that he emitted was enough to make her smile widen; the look on his face making her feel absolutely amazing. That only increased when he leant down and pressed another soft kiss against her lips. "love you"

"Love you too" She replies, smirking at him as she closed her locker before threading her fingers through his as they started walking towards his locker.

"How was dinner with your Dads?" Rachel spent the next ten minutes telling her about her evening and as they arrived at her locker he was doing the same, telling her how he did some homework after he managed to get his mind off her; he wouldn't tell her how he managed that, but by the look on his face combined with the blush that came to his cheeks she could tell that it was probably something private. Rachel bit her lip to stop herself from giggling at the thought, although her body certainly reacted to the knowledge of that as he quickly changed the subject.

"You got rehearsal tonight?"

It's one of our final ones, we're do a final dress rehearsal on Monday" She replied with a smile. "Why?"

"Mom and dad are going to Akron to have dinner with Mr Atherton and I wanted to know if you wanted to come with us" He said, giving her a sad smile. "But its cool"

"Oh, I'm sorry James" She murmured softly. "I know we haven't spent much time together after school this week"

"Don't apologise" He replied, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "I can't have your attention all the time, you have other stuff to do"

"I like spending time with you" She said quietly.

"Me too" He replied, turning to face her as he place his arms around her neck and nudged her closer to him. Rachel couldn't help but smile at him as she placed her around his waist. "I was thinking we could go to the mall this weekend"

"Mhmmm, I'd like that" She said nodding her head, tilting her head upwards to ask him for a kiss. James smirked at her before leaning the short distance and meeting their lips; the two of them stood there for several minutes sharing tender, loving kisses before the bell rang and they reluctantly separated so that he could walk her to class.

"See you at lunch, angel" He murmured quietly after pressing a final kiss against her lips outside her classroom.

The day had gone by enjoyably, as most days did now that she had James at school wit her; the two of them giggling away as he teased her while trying to feed her some of his pasta, getting her to open her mouth only to pull the fork away at the final moment causing her to playfully punch him and elicit a "stop fucking about; you two are too adorable it makes me fucking sick" from a Noah.

Glee club had been cancelled that day due to rehearsals for the musical taking place and after everyone else had left; Rachel was stood running through her songs with Blaine in front of the three directors. The conversation they had after finishing their song really wasn't one she'd ever expected to face.

...

"Do you think he has a point?" She asked, biting her lip. After that conversation with Artie, the two of them had got changed into their own clothes quietly; both of their thoughts quite obviously dwelling on the message he had given them. Certainly Rachel hadn't been able to get it off her mind. She'd always believed that sex was something special that two people who loved herself very much would use as a method to connect on an even deeper level.

When she had been younger, Rachel had always thought about waiting to express that love for someone until later on in life; not believing that she would find someone who would love her like that until left backwater Ohio and reached New York. After having boys interested in dating her, and in Noah's case wanting to go further with her, she had started to open herself to the idea of it happening earlier but had always insisted that she would wait until she'd reached her Broadway goals and won a tony award before considering going all the way with a boy.

"Maybe" Blaine murmured quietly as they sat drinking coffee together at the Lima Bean. It was their tradition after rehearsal to go and relax together and get out of their characters. Rachel titled her head and gave him a curious look as he continued; "The musical is about two characters who find their soul mate, their true love and how they express that. I think we both understand what it feels like to find that someone but neither of us understands that expression of love"

"You're right. That's how I feel about James" She replied thoughtfully. Her boyfriend was definitely the boy she pictured getting married to and spending the rest of her life with. She'd never pictured her previous relationships like this but James got her; their bond was something genuine. James understood her completely, everything about her. He knew exactly what to say to cheer her up, how to make her happy. Furthermore, whenever she was apart from him it felt as though something was missing deep in her heart and when they were together; Rachel felt indescribably happier, as if she was complete and at home with the one man who could make her eternally happy. She knew who he was and she trusted him to hold her heart and never let go. "It's just…sex is something special right? I'd always pictured myself saving it until I was married"

"That's what I've always believed" Blaine said nodding his head. "But, how many teens these days do it; maybe saving ourselves is an outdated belief, does it make it any less special sharing that feeling with someone at the age of 17 or 18 than it does until we're in our late twenties?"

"I know that I'm always going to love James, and that it can only grow from now on" Rachel replied smiling. "Do you think we should…you know do it with our boyfriends?"

"Only you can know if you're ready Rachel" Blaine said, smiling slightly. "But if you truly love the person, then maybe you should think about it. I know I am"

Rachel nodded, raising her coffee to her lips and taking a sip.

The thought stayed in her head on the drive home and as she had sat eating with her Dads at dinner. As she led in her bed, staring up at the golden stars painted on her ceiling; Rachel thought through the issue, trying to decide if she was ready to have sex with James. She knew she loved him, that was never in question, and when they were alone; her mind would often think about what it would be like to have him touch her in places she had never been touched before. James had never been shy about pointing how she affected him, but he had never made any movements to actually have sex with her; instead letting her take the lead during their intimate advances.

No matter what they were doing whether it be simply making out, or whether it be James hand gently kneading and caressing her breast through her shirt; Rachel always felt safe and protected when she was alone with him. She knew that he was caring guy who was sensitive towards making her feel comfortable and she certainly trusted him to take care of her during their first time; the knowledge that he would never force her to do something as intimate as that giving her the feeling that he was the guy she wanted to give herself too.

She acknowledged the point Artie had been trying to emphasis to them; how could she portray Maria if she didn't know what it felt like to express your love in that way. Rachel felt nervous but that was normal right? She had reached a decision that she loved James with all her heart and knew that he was the person she could give herself to.