Ok so I have to warn you, I will not always update this quickly. It's the weekend so I have the time to write but tomorrow it's back to work which means slower chapters. Sorry for being a tease with the quick updates.

Thanks again for the interest in this story, it has made me want to write and do St. Berry Justice. Happy Reading everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything affiliated with Glee or any songs mentioned in this story.

The celebration at Breadstix was much better than Rachel had expected. There was still clearly a tension between Puck, Quinn, and Finn but having them sit away from one another helped. Mr. Schue met them at the restaurant beaming at all of them with pride. He and Ms. Pillsbury sat at the center of the table listening as everyone took a turn talking about their performance. Kurt and Mercedes were even complimentary to Rachel when they talked about her rendition of Don't Rain on my Parade. Santana and Britany actually seemed to be enjoying the evening, forgetting for a moment that they were not supposed to like the others at the table.

Rachel turned to her right to address Finn. "Thank you again for showing up when you did, you really did saved the day."

"No Rachel you saved the day. We really could have used any of the other songs we've done in our assignments but we needed that powerful opening. That was all you." He smiled at her and Rachel felt her heart speed up.

"What made you come back anyway?" She had been curious and to be honest she had not paid much attention to everything that was said at the time. She did remember Britney and Santana admitting to being Sue's spies but that did not really surprise her, although she had to admit she did not expect them to truly want to be there either.

"Mr. Schue actually." Finn answered. "It's like I said, I haven't forgiven Puck or Quinn but this group, well we've all worked hard and they don't deserve me to take it out on them. We all might fight and bicker but really there is no other club or team in the school that can bring together so many different people and that makes us special. I did not want to stop being part of that."

Rachel smiled up at him. This is why she liked Finn, he could have his dumb jock moments but he had a good heart. She reached over and squeezed his hand that was sitting on his knee. "Well then we need to make sure everyone realizes that." She stood up gaining the attention of everyone else at the table. "We were great tonight guys but we're going to have to be perfect for regionals. I think we should meet tomorrow and start talking about a setlist."

"No way man hands!" Santana looked at her. "This has been fun and all but I am not giving up my weekend for glee."

"Yeah come on Berry can't you just chill out, I mean we just won sectionals. Can't you let us enjoy it for a little while before you go back to being a dictator?" Puck chimed in.

Seeing the others were about to voice their agreement she quickly responded. "I don't think you all realize how much harder regionals will be. Vocal Adrenaline is our completion and I can guarantee they have been working on their routines for months." And there is no way Jesse will slack off.

Hoping to get some support she looked to Mr. Schue but quickly saw he would not help her case. "Rachel I think everyone deserves a little down time. We can talk about a setlist sometime next week. Now I think it's time we all head out I don't think Sandy wants to stay open late tonight just for us."

Rachel huffed feeling again as if she was the only one who knew what it would take to win. She wanted to argue her point again but Finn squeezed her hand, the hand he apparently had yet to let go of. "Come on Rach, I'll give you a ride home."

On the drive home Rachel subjected Finn to a litany of reasons why they needed to begin preparing for regionals. Finn tried to keep up with everything Rachel said but he knew he missed some of her points. He also had a hard time keeping a neutral expression. Rachel was so over dramatic he did not know if he should laugh or roll his eyes. He settled for an indulgent smile because he decided she was cute when she was all worked up.

"Rachel I understand what you're saying but if it weren't for our assignments we may not have had any other routines to go out on stage with tonight." He tried placating her.

"Fine I'll concede the point but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be more prepared. Even if Mr. Schue and the others agreed on a setlist and to work solely those routines at least one day a week I would feel better."

"Listen, how about I come over tomorrow and we can start working on a setlist. Maybe we can get some ideas together to present to the others and even see if they will agree to that one day a week thing." Finn reached over the consol and grabbed her hand squeezing it encouragingly.

Rachel beamed at him. He just asked her to spend time alone, it may not be an official date but still it would be just the two of them. He had been absolutely wonderful all night and more affectionate than ever before. Maybe he was finally seeing how good they could be together. "That sounds perfect, I have ballet and acting class tomorrow how about you come over around noon I'll even make us lunch."

"Okay, but um… Rachel, can we have something other than that healthy stuff you always eat?"

Rachel's smile slipped a bit at his question. She hated when her dietary choices were not understood by the people in her life. The more she thought about it she decided it was not too much to ask. Her choices were her own and she could not expect everyone to follow her eating habits. She could make this little exception for him. It was not like it was that big of a deal for her to make two different types of food. "No problem Finn."

They had arrived at Rachel's house and said goodnight after grabbing her bags from the back seat of Finn's car. Rachel's dads weren't home but she had called them after sectionals to tell them the good news. They would be back tomorrow afternoon from a conference her daddy had to attend for work. Both her dad and daddy were thrilled for her and promised a full blown Berry family celebration when they returned.

Rachel made her way to her room and began unpacking her bags. She put her clothes into the hamper and changed out of her performance dress. That would need to be sent out to be cleaned. She set aside her old performance case, the same one she had been using since she was ten. Looking at that case reminded her of Jesse and the sheet music that was still crumpled in her bag. She smoothed out the papers and stared at the number.

For the next few days she found herself staring at the number often but never using it. She and Finn had spent a lot of time going over songs. They had come up with a few ideas but nothing really stood out. It was a start and she hoped that this would push the rest of glee to focus on regionals.

Something else that happened during her time with Finn was his proposal for a date. She had been thrilled and excitedly accepted. They had to plan on their date being Wednesday night since it was the first time during the week they were both free and Rachel had not wanted to wait for the weekend.

Her celebration with her dads was a lot of fun as well. They had cooked her favorite meal and set up a movie night featuring her favorite movies. They had done this often; it was exactly the way she wanted to celebrate. Her dads promised to clear their schedules for the night of regionals telling her they knew she would be wonderful as always.

Tuesday night found Rachel sitting at her desk working on her homework. Every so often her eyes strayed to the piece of sheet music and the number written on the top. She had considered speaking to her dads about Jesse. They would be honest with her. They would tell her their opinions but ultimately allow her to make the decision. Even knowing this she did not mention it to them and she continued to ignore the compulsion she felt to call him. She did not want to hear how great things were competing for a team like Vocal Adrenaline. She did not want to hear how nice it was to be somewhere where your talent is appreciated and praised. She did not want to hear how much better Vocal Adrenaline was compared to New Directions.

Glee had been frustrating. Everyone pitched ideas for a setlist but their ideas focused on how the songs would suit themselves. Mercedes thought that she should be allowed to sing And I'm Telling You since she was unable to do so at sectionals. Kurt and Santana both thought they should have special parts in some way. Quinn most likely would have shared their opinion but as she would be heavily pregnant by that time she preferred staying out of the spotlight. Her situation and Artie's wheelchair made focusing on a dance number difficult. Mike and Brittany thought the best solution to this was to build a dance number around them and 'dumb it down' for everyone else. This was something else they could not agree upon. Rachel was irritated, regionals were not as far off as everyone seemed to believe and nothing was being accomplished.

Her date with Finn had been fantastic. After trudging through the school day and another round of disagreements and pointless performances in glee Rachel had been hoping for a better end to her day. She had gotten exactly what she hoped for. When glee ended she hurried home and changed into the outfit she had spent a few hours agonizing over throughout the week. She wanted to look perfect so she had chosen a woven plaid skirt in navy, green, and grey with a grey three quarter sleeve top and black fitted blazer. She thought it was dressier than her normal school outfits but casual enough for a normal date in Lima.

Finn had picked her up at seven o'clock as planned and was wearing his normal jeans and polo shirt with his letterman jacket. He took her to Breadstix which really was not all that surprising although she hoped he would have put a little more thought into their first date. Still, she appreciated his efforts. He held the door for her when they arrived and when they left. He had been a bit confused when she stood by her chair until she concluded he would not be pulling it out for her. She brushed that off since he was so adorable when he told her to order anything she liked from the menu.

Conversation had mostly revolved around glee. He had tried to tell her about the football team but since Rachel knew very little about the game that topic stalled quickly She told him about her private performing arts classes but was able to tell that he was not understanding her when she started using turns like pique and jete. They found their common ground with glee and while their tastes in music differed wildly she knew this was something they could build upon.

The best part of the night had been the sweet chaste kiss he gave her after walking her to her door. Yes, that kiss was what had made the date so perfect. She entered her house with a smile a mile wide saying hello to her dads and making her way to her room. She went through her nightly routine before logging onto her computer to update her facebook status. She wrote herself a post it note as a reminder that she had not uploaded any new videos to her myspace and that should be done soon. And then she noticed a new message in her facebook alerts.

When she saw who the message was from she was tempted to do nothing more than hit delete. Instead of giving into temptation she quickly opened the message.

Hello Rachel,

I really hope you read this. You haven't called and I guess I can't say I'm surprised. I know the ball is in my court, it has been for years. There's so much I need to tell you, so much to explain. I don't know if I'm ready to explain everything just yet but I need you to know that letting go of our friendship wasn't a conscious decision. By the time I realized what I had done I felt like it was too late to make it right and by then so much had changed.

I don't know if you heard about my mom's accident, I'm sure you did and please if you didn't don't ask me for details, please I'm begging you. The thing that none of the articles printed was that I was with her. I wasn't really hurt just some bumps and bruises. My dad did everything he could to keep my name out of the news. With the fact we were one of the more wealthy families in the area and the recognition I had been getting from all of my competing the media would have been hell and none of us could have handled any more attention than we were getting already.

After the accident and the funeral I wasn't in the best place and I threw myself into rehearsals and classes, anything that kept me busy enough to avoid thinking too much. I know that none of this is an excuse for pushing you away. If it's any consolation I did it to everyone, that's why my myspace disappeared. My Grandma Barrett even tried talking dad into sending me to a grief counselor. Instead dad thought going away for the summer would make everything better. I didn't want to go. I was so angry that I threw my phone and it broke when it hit the wall. He took me away from everything I had that reminded me of my mom. I spent the entire summer traveling Europe with a father who was in no better shape than I was. Worse yet was that there was no way for me to practice or perform.

When we came home dad informed me that we were moving to Akron and he was going to take over the main offices of the company. It was then that I realized he was running away from his memories of mom and dragging me along with him. You wouldn't believe the fights we had when I told him I had looked into performing arts classes in Akron and that I wanted to enroll as soon as we moved. When I told him I wanted to join Vocal Adrenaline I thought he was going to have an aneurysm. But Rachel, I needed to perform, I had to be on stage. I know you will understand this; it's something only someone like us can truly understand.

Seeing you the other night, I hadn't realized how much I missed our friendship. How much I missed you. There is still a lot for me to explain but I need to work on sorting things out for myself before I can even begin explaining it to someone else. All I can do right now is apologize for pushing you away all those years ago and hope that someday you'll use that phone number I left for you.

I really hope to hear from you Starlet, it would be great to have my best friend back.

JSJ

Jesse was leaning over the chair his bag had been set on when he entered Carmel auditorium at three pm that afternoon, searching for his towel to wipe the sweat off his face. They had been running through Highway to Hell all afternoon. Tomorrow they would work on Bohemian Rhapsody. Shelby always had them work on two numbers for every competition. When they were not preparing those numbers they were working on one of the three routines that were potentials for nationals. Shelby left nothing to chance.

It was now nine at night and they had another hour of rehearsal but Jesse was having trouble staying focused. During one of their earlier breaks he had pulled out his laptop and finally sent off the message he had written the night before. He had left his number when he saw her at sectionals but he never really expected her to call. The conversation that night had not gone at all as he hoped. Once he had seen her affix her showface firmly in place he knew they would not have a heartwarming reunion. He instantly reverted to Jesse St. James, lead of Vocal Adrenaline, and most decorated lead of any show choir in the nation. In other words he became the arrogant, condescending ass people knew him to be.

He did not know if she would read the message let alone respond but all he want to do was check to see if he had any messages. Jesse knew he still had a lot of explaining to do; the problem is that he is not even sure he can explain everything to himself. He sighed and tossed his towel down before heading back to the stage. None of it will matter if she doesn't accept my apology.

"What's with you tonight Jesse?" Andrea asked as she stepped next to him on stage.

"What's with me? Nothing, my pitch is perfect, my timing is on, and my energy is where it should be. Maybe you should be asking some of the others the same question because I'm certainly not the problem"

"Okay so you can do no wrong but you still seem off to me." She crossed her arms. "What's wrong Jesse, in a little slump, need a way to release some tension?"

Jesse rolled his eyes at Andrea's teasing. "Yes I know you would be happy to help." He smirked. "But believe me I have no need to recycle."

Andrea dropped her arms and deflated a bit before composing herself. Jesse knew it was hurtful but really her pursuit of him was getting a bit old. "Whatever Jesse just get into position for the lifts before Shelby decides to keep us here even longer tonight."

They ran through their routine three more times before Shelby was satisfied. Jesse packed up his bag and threw on his VA hoodie leaving the auditorium as quickly as possible. He was tired and sore and wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and fall into bed. Six o'clock in the morning would come much sooner than he liked but he needed to get a run in before getting ready for school.

When he arrived at his house he was unsurprised to see that no lights were on except the porch light he had flipped on before leaving in the morning. He may as well have lived alone for all the time is dad actually spent at home. If Robert was not working late at the offices he was traveling to work sites or branch offices. Jesse believed that his father had been home for the equivalent of one year over the last three, and most of that time happened when they first moved to Akron.

Jesse made his way through the house flipping on lights as he went. He went first to the kitchen and threw together a ham sandwich that he ate as he walked up the stairs. He went into the bathroom and turned on the shower letting the water heat while he stripped out of his sweats. The bathroom was filled with steam and the water was hot enough to leave his skin red. After his shower Jesse wrapped a towel around his waist and flopped down in bed with his laptop. He really needed to crash but he knew that if he did not check his messages he would be up all night wondering.

Jesse could swear his heart stopped when he saw a new message waiting for him. For the first time in recent history he could honestly say he was nervous. She had written back but there was no telling what that message would say. He forced himself to open the message.

Jesse,

I don't really know what to say. I guess I should start off by saying that I knew about your mom and I cannot express how sorry I am for your loss. I wish I could have told you that back then. I wish I could have been there for you. I'm not saying that to make you feel guilty but because it's how I feel.

I had no idea you were in the accident as well but I'm so relieved to know you were not seriously hurt. It sounds like you were dealing with a lot at the time. I guess a part of me can understand why you pushed people away. I have never known my mom so I don't know what it would be like to lose a mother but I have the most amazing support system in my dads. I would be devastated if something ever happened to one of them. I cannot say what I would do. I like to think I would allow my friends to support me but I might do the same thing you did.

It sounds as if you're dad wasn't handling things well either. Maybe your grandmother had the right idea. Did you ever speak to someone about what was happening? You don't have to answer that if it's too personal.

Thank you for telling me as much as you have and for the apology. I'm glad to have that from you because you don't know what it was like to have you disappear and not really understand why.

Jesse I have missed you as well but that guy that came to me at sectionals? I don't know that person. I would really like to have our friendship back but I'm not sure how to be friends with Jesse St. James VA lead and all around arrogant ass. I've heard the stories, the things VA does, the things you do all in order to win. Maybe we can try but I really hope there is still a part of the old Jesse still around because I'm not sure I can be friends with the person you are now. You're right I know that need to be on stage, the need for recognition, and to win but there is a difference between being sure of yourself and simply being a jerk.

I'm not leaving my number and I won't use yours. I don't think I'm ready for that just yet. Besides sometimes writing something out can keep you from saying something you don't mean. We can try. Hope to hear from you soon.

RBB *

Jesse could not help but smile. It was not a complete acceptance but it was not a rejection either. She wanted the old Jesse and he hoped to god he could give that to her. The problem was he did not really know which Jesse was the real Jesse. All he knew at the moment was that he hoped Rachel could come to accept him and his friendship either way.