I've been complaining about the writing for this show ever since it started, but they hit a low point with Jesse's character arc (mainly because I don't understand any of his motivations). It's a good thing my backstory for these two deviates at The Power of Madonna - they were together, he never transferred to her school, and the reason they broke up was that he couldn't really stand that Vocal Adrenaline lost to New Directions at the National, because he's kind of an arrogant douche that way.
pasts (hers)
"You're smirking."
"What?"
"There's no point. I'm sorry to tell you this, but there's no one in this room who thinks I'm a catch except you." She says this so matter-of-factly, and with a light, teasing smile on her face, that he tries to keep himself from scowling as he tightens his grip around her.
"You did always tell me I was smarter than all the boys in your school," he says. She laughs and laces her fingers through his, and his smirk melts into a smile.
"Your school doesn't make sense," he tells her, setting his drink down so his other arm can come around her. She nestles into the curve of his arm. "I'm practically a celebrity at Carmel."
She snorts softly, shaking her head. "Carmel didn't have the Cheerios," she reminds him. They're swaying a little to the music unconsciously at this point.
He shrugs. "Yes, but - "
"Get a room," a voice comes from behind them. Rachel brightens. "Quinn?" She shakes free from Jesse quickly and spins around to hug the blonde.
Quinn hugs back tightly. "Hey, loser." She steps back, smiling as she notices him reach for Rachel's fingers as soon as she's back within reach. She nods at the people surrounding them. "Talked to anyone yet?"
"Nah, couldn't find any of the glee kids," Rachel says, picking up Jesse's drink and sipping from it herself. She hands it to him when she's done.
"You should talk to one of those pathetic people in their Letterman jackets. 'Hey, remember me? You used to Slushie me and now I'm famous. What do you do?'" Quinn suggests, grinning at her fiercely. Her expression holds no hint of malice, only eagerness and genuine affection, and in contrast with the gym around them (which hasn't at all changed in the last ten years), it's one of those moments Rachel has where everything that she has and everything that has changed is pushed into perspective.
Rachel takes time to respond and looks like she's going to protest, so Jesse lets go of her hand and pushes her back towards her friend. "That is a great idea," he agrees, then promises, "I'll beat anyone up if they lay a hand on you."
Rachel bursts into laughter. "Sure you will," she says, squeezing his bicep. "You could use the choreographed dance-fight scene from Michael."
Jesse makes a face at her as Quinn drags her away, laughing.
xx
He's talking to the old glee club instructor Bill Schuester (he insisted on getting the old glee club together for a gathering afterward, and ended up turning up at the reunion itself) when he notices her walking back towards him. She grabs the hand he stretches towards her, smiling at him lightly, and turns to face the older man as she rests against him comfortably.
"Mr Schue," she says, beaming at him. "How are you? How's the club now?"
He tunes out of the conversation as Schuester replies enthusiastically, and looks around him instead. He notices Mercedes standing with a few other familiar people and waves her over. Then he notices a woman standing next to three men punching one another in the shoulder, staring at Rachel.
When Schuester slips away to talk to another student, he nudges Rachel slightly. "Have you seen her before?" he asks.
She squints. "No." When the woman notices Rachel's looking at her, she starts waving furiously. Rachel raises her hand in response, perplexed. The woman grabs one of the men next to her and drags him to them.
Mercedes reaches the three of them and hugs Rachel quickly. "Looking good, girl," she says appreciatively.
Rachel smiles at her. "Same to you. A Kurt Hummel original?" she says, winking at her.
"Like I can afford that boy's clothing," Mercedes says, rolling her eyes. "Have you seen him yet?"
"Not - " Rachel starts, when she's interrupted by the woman thrusting her hand into Rachel's.
"Rachel Berry?" she asks excitedly, and when Rachel nods, she starts gushing. "I am such a huge fan. I watched you in Mink and when I found out you'd come back to New York I had to watch every show that you were in - " she turns to Jesse abruptly, "Jesse St James, you were so great in All and Sundry but I think the one you did after that wasn't that good at all, you should think about working with Rachel all the time - " she turns back to Rachel, her hand tightening around hers, " - but oh my god you're so good all the time and I thought it was so romantic when - "
Rachel smiles at her, looking at ease, but when Jesse tries to pull away from them to talk to Mercedes, her grip on his hand tightens, and she pulls him closer, pulling his arm around her waist and resting his hand on her hip. She glances at him, narrowing her eyebrows just enough to look threatening (don't you dare leave me alone with her) before she turns back to the conversation.
Amused, Jesse raises his eyebrows at Mercedes, who looks slightly put off. "You know who this chick's married to?" she asks softly, nodding at the bored-looking man holding on to the woman's hand.
He shakes his head. Rachel's hand tightens around his again, as if she's listening to Jesse and Mercedes and doesn't want them to get into it.
"He used to be captain of the hockey team," Mercedes explains. It takes him a second to realise the significance of the fact and he turns to glare at him. The man stares back at him uncomprehendingly, exacerbating Jesse's irritation.
"Hey Rachel," he interrupts loudly. "Why don't you tell her how well you know her husband?"
xx
The conversation ends when the woman whines, "I used to be in glee in my school!", slaps her husband (making a loud crack), and stalks away. The ex-captain rubs his rapidly reddening cheek, huffs at Rachel and Mercedes (both of whom look completely satisfied) and walks in the other direction.
"You're smirking."
"What?" Rachel says, glancing up at him.
Jesse laughs and kisses her cheek. "Come on, let's go find more spouses to terrorise your old bullies."
pasts (theirs)
He wakes up when the bed shifts under his girlfriend as she climbs up and straddles him. His hands move automatically to her hips even as he blinks up at her blearily. "What time is it?"
"Doesn't matter," she informs him. "It's snowing so hard we're not going anywhere today. My boss told me I didn't need to go in, and James called to say your rehearsal's been cancelled."
He grins at her, sliding his hands up to her back so he can pull her down. "Snow day?" he whispers excitedly.
She grins right back. Every man she's been with before him liked spending hours out in the snow. Jesse, though, is just like her - they spend so much time pushing themselves to their limits that they like it when they have a reason to pull back and relax. He likes staying in bed with her, under the covers. He's the only person she's always happy to be lazy with. "Snow day," she confirms, and kisses him.
xx
It's later in the afternoon when they're sitting together quietly, watching each other in the fading sunlight.
"How did you get this?" Her fingers trace the whitening line that twists from the top of his arm to his elbow.
"Practicing for Nationals," he says, wincing. "I needed stitches."
"How come I didn't see it until last year?" she asks curiously. "Did you get it the year that we..."
"No, it was the year before that," he says easily. "If I lost that much blood to win second place I would probably have killed myself." His smile fades when he notices she's steadfastly refusing him eye contact, paying too much attention to the scar. "Hey," he says, tugging at the sleeve of the t-shirt (his) that she's wearing.
"I'm OK," she says quickly, shaking her head. "I just - we were really stupid back then."
"I was stupid," he reminds her. "And too proud."
"Yes," she says impatiently, and she waves him off. "But if we hadn't been - if you hadn't been stupid," she corrects herself, noticing him opening his mouth to cut in. "Maybe we would've been like this for longer."
"No." His answer is sure. "We wouldn't have lasted."
She bites her lip just like she used to and he has to keep himself from kissing her so that neither of them get distracted. "You needed to be with other people and I needed to learn to be happier for other people," he explains firmly. "We wouldn't have made it."
She looks up at him and their eyes meet. He can see her assessing him, what he's saying.
"Rachel," he says, wrapping strands of her hair around his finger and pulling it gently. "I am so glad we're like this now."
She's quiet for a while. Watching her, he can spot the exact moment she shakes away this conversation, realising how silly it is. "For future reference, if you want to keep up your reputation you may want to fabricate a story for your scar about a knife fight or something," she says finally.
He smiles at her, pleased. "But you like it," he says confidently, tickling her at the waist.
She squirms away as she pretends to consider this, barely hiding her smile, then reaches up to press her lips against his. "Maybe."