Rachel and Jesse are co-stars. Completely AU.
Co-Stars
Rachel walked onto the stage of the new Moulin Rouge musical excited to get started on her new job and her new adventure.
She'd loved the movie since she was young as had her best friend from school Quinn Fabray. They used to watch it all the time after school or when either of them was feeling, well any sort of emotion really. It was both of their comfort movie. She couldn't believe it when she'd got the role of Satine and she couldn't wait to find out who her Christian would be.
This wasn't Rachel's first show. She was in her mid-twenties and was already very used to the stage. She'd been Broadway bound since she was a child and she'd done everything in her power to make sure that is where she ended up. She taken dance, singing and acting lessons all her life and whenever there was an opportunity to show her abilities, she took it. It didn't make her particularly popular while she was at school, but she didn't care. She knew what she was, and she was not going to apologise for it. She applied for the prestigious NYADA, a school that was known for breeding Broadway stars and she got in just as she knew she would. While in her freshman year of NYADA she got a part in an off-Broadway musical as an understudy and she got the opportunity to be on stage a few times during it's run. Before she'd graduated NYADA, she'd managed to bag herself a main role in a Broadway role. Since then, she'd had main role after main role. Even though she was so young, she was a very respected actress and people loved to work with her and people loved seeing her on stage.
People rushed around her, trying to get everything ready in time for the first rehearsal when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and found a girl similar looking to her, smiling brightly at her. She guessed she was her understudy.
"Hi, I'm Marley. I'm your understudy." Marley confirmed Rachel's thoughts. "It's so nice to meet you. I've been a fan of you for such a long time." She said in a rush, very happy to meet someone she regarded as an idol.
Rachel blushed slightly, she loved meeting fans even if they were technically co-stars. "Thank you Marley. It's lovely to meet you as well." She replied.
Marley began to talk about how long she'd been following Rachel's career and basically how much she loved Rachel as a person and an actress. Rachel made a mental note to find out about the work that Marley has done.
"Get ready, everyone! Time for the first rehearsal for Moulin Rouge!" their producer called.
"Come on, I can't wait to see you read for this." Marley said enthusiastically as she rushed over to the reading. As she went to follow Marley, she was stopped in her tracks by another member of the show. He had light brown hair that she desperately wanted to touch, blue eyes and such an intense stare she found it hard to look away.
Within minutes she was able to find out that he was the Christian to her Satine and she couldn't have been more thrilled. She was so excited to get to know him better.
When the read through had ended and everyone was getting ready to leave, she was cornered by 'Christian'.
"Hi, I'm Jesse St. James." He said, holding out a hand for her to shake. "It seems like I'll be playing your love interest." He said with a small smirk playing on his lips that Rachel just loved.
"I'm Rachel Berry." She said, shaking his hand.
"Yes, I know. I've been following your career for some time. I was very excited to meet you when I heard it was you who'd be playing Satine." Rachel blushed harder than she did when Marley said practically the same thing. "It's going to be nice getting to know you over the next couple of months." He said with a wink.
The next couple of months flew past and as Jesse promised, she enjoyed getting to know him better and he enjoyed getting to know her. With the amount of time they were spending together, Rachel's crush on Jesse grew more by the day and it wasn't long before they had upgraded to flirty banter on an almost daily basis. He was very easy for her to work with and their singing and on-screen chemistry was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before with any of her other male co-stars.
After some time, Jesse requested that they start taking private rehearsals together. "For the good of the show." He told her when he first mentioned it, with a glint in his eye that suggested there may have been an ulterior motive to his request. She found it so easy to be around him, and to work with him, that going over their lines together didn't feel like work at all.
They'd finished one of their last private rehearsals when Rachel finally plucked up the courage to ask the real reason why Jesse wanted to start private rehearsals with her and only her.
"That's simple." He said simply when she asked.
"Yes?" she asked, gesturing for him to continue.
"I wanted the chance to spend some time with you. Easier to get to know someone when there's no one else around." He didn't wait for her to answer, he just winked at her, which was enough to make her swoon and he left her alone.
When Rachel got home that afternoon, she couldn't wait to tell her best friend Quinn about her crush. "Quinn!" she exclaimed happily as she walked through the door of the apartment she shared with her best friend. "Quinn, I have to tell you about my day at work." She felt like a child.
Quinn walked through the door of their kitchen to where Rachel was standing in the hall and she giggled at the excitement in her friend's voice. "Ok, give me a moment, I just need to finish something up in the kitchen. Shall I get you a drink?" she asked. Quinn had heard this all before, of course. Rachel had been working on 'Moulin Rouge' for a long time now and she'd had a crush on Jesse for pretty much the entirety of the show so of course she'd heard it before. But Rachel was her best friend so even if she had to hear it ten times a day, she'd still listen.
Rachel nodded. "Just some water please. My throat needs some water." She said before going into the living room to wait for her friend.
For the rest of the night, Quinn listened to Rachel as she gushed over Jesse. She gushed over the subtle glances and the intense stares as they sang 'Come What May' together. She told Quinn about Jesse touching her hand or her side for a fraction of a second longer than their show notes had told them too, but long enough for both to notice. Quinn kept listening as the night wore on until even Rachel had got tired of her own voice and wanted to go to bed.
Suddenly, it was opening night and the nerves hit for Rachel just as they always did. She was in her dressing room, pacing and singing 'Popular' from Wicked, quietly. Anything to try to keep her calm.
When there was a knock on the door, she offered them entrance without thinking about it.
"Rach?" she turned to see Jesse at the door of her dressing room.
"Are you ok?" she asked, her voice full of concern.
"It's not me you should be worrying about." He said with a small laugh.
Rachel shook it off. "I'm ok, Jesse. I just get a little nervous on opening night. It's my own little ritual." She said. She turned to him to see Jesse with a look on his face as if to say he didn't believe her. "I'm fine, Jess." She promised.
Jesse ignored her and reached out to take her hand, pulling her around to face him. "It's ok, I get nervous too." he told her. "Just look at me and take some deep breaths with me." He asked her. she nodded and did as he asked.
Eventually her breathing evened, and she began to feel calmer. "Thank you." she told her co-star gratefully.
"You'll do great tonight. And for the rest of the run of the show. You need to believe it." He told her passionately.
"So will you." she said genuinely.
Jesse didn't leave right away, he kept his gaze on her for a few seconds longer than normal before smiling. "I'll see you out there." She said, before dropping her hands and leaving the room.
Rachel's first show seemed to pass in a blur and all of a sudden she was singing the reprise of 'Come What May' with Jesse and then 'dying' in his arms.
As they walked off the stage, after bowing for the audience for thunderous applause, Rachel felt a rush of adrenaline and all she wanted to do was go and talk to Jesse.
She ran to stop him and turned him to face her. Without thinking twice, she curled an arm around his neck and pulled him down so she could kiss him. He relaxed into her almost instantly and curled one arm around her waist and snaked one arm into her hair as he deepened the kiss.
Eventually, they pulled apart, both of them with huge smiles on their faces. "I've been wanting to do that for months." Rachel said confidently.
"You and me both." He said, taking her hand. "Wanna go and get some dinner?" he asked.
Let me know if you enjoy this. I've been writing this for so long but wasn't confident about it until now so please let me know what you think.
