"Call me if you need anything. And, are you sure you're okay with me just leaving you here?" Jesse asked Rachel as he threw a light jacket on over his t-shirt.

"Just go!" Rachel called back from her place on the couch in amusement. "I have six Tivo-ed episodes of Say Yes to the Dress, your entire movie collection, and some lines I can work on. Not to mention your number on speed dial. I'll be fine."

"Fine," Jesse finally relented. "I don't exactly feel like the best host, though. My mother would be vastly ashamed."

"Well, you're not really my host anymore. This is my house, too, remember. And, I have no problem staying at home while you run off and do your big hot-shot interview."

"Wow," Jesse laughed. "I guess you're right. This is your house now."

"Weird, right?" Rachel asked.

"Not weird," Jesse said, searching for a better term, "just new."

"I'm sure you'll be regretting giving up your bachelor pad sooner or later," Rachel shrugged.

"I highly doubt that will be the case," Jesse remarked honestly.

"Whatever you say," Rachel sing-songed, secretly glad that he hadn't had some comment on bringing girls over anyway. "Now get outta here. People will never commit a whole section on you again if you're not punctual."

Jesse laughed again. "Rachel, when I get back, remind me to tell you all the new rules you get to live by once you're a star." He began to head towards the door, "Starting with 'A celebrity is never late, everyone else is simply early.'"

"You stole that from Princess Diaries!"

All she heard was his laughter and the shutting of the door behind him.

"Thank you for agreeing to this, Mr. St. James," the red-headed, averaged sized lady – who had introduced herself as Casey – smiled.

"Call me Jesse," Jesse said for what had to have been the hundredth time ever since he had begun booking interviews. He took the seat placed opposite of Casey, in front of which a small recorder and a mug of water sat on a wooden coffee table.

"Alright, so if you don't mind, we'll just get started," Casey said, smile still perfectly intact.

"Sounds good," Jesse nodded.

"Alright. You just finished filming a new movie under the directing of legendary film-maker Martin Scorsese. How amazing was it to work with him?"

"Martin Scorsese is outstanding in everything he does. And, if I was being honest, I was nervous out of my wits the first day on set. But, he's got a real laid back, old-timey feel about him. He's been doing this so greatly for so many years, and he really knows how to make an actor feel comfortable. He's a real legend, and I'm honored that I even got to meet him."

Casey laughed, "So it's safe to say that you would be open to working on films with him again in the future."

Jesse let out a laugh of his own. "If he would have me, absolutely. I'd love to be his next Leonardo DiCaprio and be in pretty much every movie he does. But, unfortunately for me, I'll never be as talented as Leo, and he still very much holds that spot."

"Now, I don't know about that. It's been said by more than one source that you have the talent to become the next DiCaprio, Pitt, or Clooney."

Jesse sucked in a breath through his teeth, "Eh. I don't know about that. Those guys are legends. I'm afraid to go near them at the Oscars, much less try and put myself on the same level as them."

"Right, so I know that you're working on a new movie here in L.A. What can you tell us about that new project?"

"Ha," Jesse smiled. "Not a whole whole lot considering we haven't even finished shooting yet. We've got a really great cast that I'm super excited to be working with. We've got Liam –"

Jesse's voice broke off at the sound of his iPhone ringing boldly from his pocket. He gave Casey what he considered to be one of his most apologetic looks and pulled it from his jeans to glance at who was calling him. When he had identified the name flashing on the screen, he gave an even more apologetic look and spoke.

"I'm so sorry, but I really have to take this. Trust me, I wouldn't if it wasn't absolutely necessary."

Casey's smile, once again, proved to be unfaltering when she told him to take the call with a kind voice and an understanding nod of her head.

Jesse stood and walked over to the corner of the room while simultaneously answering the call.

"Hey! Is something wrong?"

"Hey, I'm so sorry. I was so sure that I wasn't going to have to call you. I feel awful. I'm not screwing up your interview, am I?" Rachel's worried voice came through the line, and Jesse just smiled widely.

"You're not screwing up anything," he said with a slight laugh. "What's up?"

"Do you remember where you put my iPod last night, after you went through all of the music on my it and made fun of my song selections. It has scores to songs I'm supposed to be learning and I can't find it anywhere."

"Oh, sorry, that's totally my fault. I kept telling myself to give it back to you this morning. It's in my room, plugged into my speaker system, right next to the TV. Believe it or not, but I actually liked some of the stuff you had on there. So, just unplug it and you should be good to go."

"Great!" Rachel's voice spoke again, and this time she sounded truly relieved. "Thanks, and sorry again for interrupting."

"Don't worry about it," Jesse reassured. "I should be back home within the hour."

"Alright," Rachel said. "See you then!"

"See ya," Jesse reciprocated. "Oh, and Rachel," he added as an afterthought, "don't practice for too long. You're going to burn yourself out. I'll be home in about an hour, and you better not be still working on it when I get there."

"Fine," Rachel huffed, but it was contradicted by the playful tone of her voice and the smile on her face. "See you later."

"See you," Jesse returned to his seat with a lazy smile. "Sorry about that." He tucked his phone away, and assessed Casey's new expression.

Her smile, earlier polite and welcoming, had turned somewhat mischievous. Her eyes that had seemed so warm and excited before now seemed searching and almost predatory.

"It's absolutely fine," Casey reassured, but with a newly ignited tone in her voice. "But, if you don't mind me asking, who's this lucky Rachel?"

"Just a really good friend," Jesse said vaguely, obviously trying to shrug off any suspicion.

"Who lives with you?" Casey asked innocently, well, seemingly innocently. "You did say that you would be home soon."

Jesse sighed, he knew that this was going to come out sooner or later, but he never that sooner would be this... well... soon. He weighed some quick Pros and Cons in his head before deciding it was better to come clean through People than through E! TV or – heaven forbid – The National Enquirer.

"Rachel is Rachel Berry," he finally replied, only somewhat reluctantly. "Some people might remember her as my date to the past Tonys. She's my best friend, and she's moving out here within the next month to shoot a pilot for a TV series. She was in need of a place to stay, and I'm more than happy to offer her my accommodations."

"And you don't find that suspicious at all?" Casey asked with a quirk of her brow.

"Please," Jesse laughed, "I practically had to beg her to even consider moving in with me. In fact..."

Upon his arrival back home, Jesse was ready.

Ready to give up this whole back-and-forth volley he had been keeping up for the last few months.

Ready to actually be completely honest about something for the first time in a long time.

Ready to not succumb to the pressure he felt was constantly on his shoulders ever since his name was the first thing Google suggested when you typed a "J" into the search box.

Ready to let himself actually feel something, because for the majority of his life, all he could remember was acting.

But acting was his career, and he was so tired of acting outside of it.

So, this was it.

"Rachel!" he called up the staircase when he found that she was not on the couch where he had left her hours earlier.

When he received no answer, he called out again.

Nothing.

He walked up to her door and knocked.

No answer.

He let himself in, hoping that he wouldn't scare her or intrude on anything private, but was surprised when the room was empty.

He wracked his brain. He knew she only went running in the morning, so she wouldn't be in the gym. None of the Barbara movies were missing from her bookshelf, so odds were she wasn't watching something in the theater.

Which really only left one room.

Jesse made his way through his own room, past his bed and countless books and movies, to the door on the other side.

He cracked it open, and sure enough, Rachel sat at the piano. Her brow was furrowed at a music book in front of her, and her hands hit an array of notes that Jesse vaguely recognized as one of the earlier pieces he had showed her.

"Hey," he greeted when her eyes met his.

She offered him a kind smile that covered her obvious frustration at the notes in front of her. "Hey! You got here sooner than I thought you would." Her tone came off somewhat disappointed, and it was now Jesse's turn to furrow his brow.

"Sorry?" he asked, but with good nature.

"No," Rachel laughed. "I didn't mean it like that. I was just hoping that by the time you got back I would at least have one piece ready to show you."

"You'll get there," Jesse chuckled. He walked over to her and settled himself next to her on the piano bench.

"Rachel," Jesse began, "I haven't been completely honest with you."

"Meaning?" Rachel asked, confusion coloring her features.

"Not necessarily lying," Jesse clarified. "Only by omission."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not that big of a deal," Rachel replied with her all-trusting smile. "You can just tell me, whatever it is."

"You see," Jesse said, "I kind of have this secret passion."

"Oh, really?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Jesse nodded. "And it's something I've kept a secret for a long time."

"Are you planning on sharing it anytime soon?"

"I am, actually. But, I'm not sure you can handle it."

Rachel felt a little bit of relief wash over her when she saw the all-too-familiar hint of a smirk tug at the side of Jesse's mouth.

"I'm sure I can manage."

"If you're sure," Jesse said. Rachel nodded eagerly. "Alright, it's singing."

"Singing?" Rachel inquired. She found herself smiling. "Like in the shower? Because Noah warned me –"

"Not just in the shower," Jesse corrected. "Though, do remind me to kick Puck's ass later. I'm talking sitting at the piano, all alone, belting it out for self-satisfaction."

"Really?" Rachel asked, finally realizing that the smile on Jesse's face wasn't being used as the cover to a joke or the distraction to a lie.

"Really."

"Okay then," Rachel nodded. "Then, I want you to prove it."

Jesse nodded as if he knew this was coming – which he had. With a deep breath and a quick wink to Rachel, Jesse set his hands on the keys and began a familiar melody.

And when he had sung the last note and played the last chord, he found Rachel's lips claiming his in a way that showed that this time it wasn't going to be a mistake.

And there is Chapter 18:)

I sincerely hope you liked it.

Thoughts?