A/N: Thanks for the reviews and the alerts. Love It.
There is somethings about this chapter that will prob be OOC so i apologize, i'm not sure what my grasp of Rachel is yet. Also i kind of struggled getting this one out. The next chapter hopefully will progress the story a little faster and set up some of the drama.
Jesse knows that he won't be able to keep the secret of who his father is for too much longer, well keep it from Shelby he means. No one else that he knew would really care about that information, but Shelby would. He knows that once she got that information she would use it to her advantage, hold it over him or even get him to do something that he wouldn't want to do.
Jesse puts these thoughts out of his mind as he walks up the path to Rachel's front door. That thought is quickly replaced with the debate over why he's really taking Rachel out. He wonders if it is because she is really the only person that gives him a connection to Will Schuester, his father, OR is it because she has more talent and drive than any other teenage girl he's met and he knows he's attracted to that. This debate has been going on since Jesse had asked Rachel out and now standing outside her door he decides that it is a little bit of both and depending on how the night goes he will come to a decision as to what side of he'll come down on.
Jesse's raising his hand to knock on the door, as it's pulled open and Rachel nearly runs into Jesse. His arm steadies her and both share a little chuckle over Jesse's comment about Rachel being a little eager.
"Sorry." Rachel apologizes, "I heard your car and I thought I would save you the trouble of coming up to the door. I guess my attempts to save you the trouble were kind of useless." She finishes lamely, her cheeks glowing pink.
"Its fine Rachel," Jesse responds, smiling. "Let's go, I have something I want to show you."
"Ok. I'm dressed fine, right?" Rachel asks smoothing down the front of her outfit.
Jesse takes a step back to look at Rachel's clothes. She's wearing a blue cotton skirt, a white t-shirt and a navy vest. Jesse licks his lips. The skirt shows off Rachel's legs and the image of those legs wrapped around his waist firmly plants itself in his brain. Rachel looks up at him with expectant eyes and he tells her that she looks beautiful. That comment makes Rachel's face light up and she can't stop her grin.
The drive to where Jesse is taking them is filled with singing and surreptitious glances at each other. When Jesse pulls his car outside of the Lima Community Theatre, Rachel gives Jesse a confused look. She knows that there isn't a show being put on, nor are there any preparations for a new show.
"Why are we here?" Rachel asks and Jesse just gives her a smirk.
"Come on." He says extending his hand.
Jesse's smile brightens as Rachel's warm palm finds his. He had done nothing but think about Rachel since Wednesday afternoon. Well if he was being honest he had looked up her on MySpace and watched her posted performances, they were good but could not compare to seeing Rachel perform live. And what they are doing at the community theatre is going to give Jesse another chance to see Rachel sing.
Jesse leads Rachel past the main foyer and into the auditorium. Up on the stage is a group of elementary school kids, some going through vocal warm-ups others over some dance steps, All focused and all talented. Rachel feels Jesse drop her hand as he makes his way onto the stage and she is left standing in the aisle.
"Hey everyone," Jesse says and the kids all stop and face him.
"Finally," a one of the boys says. "We were just warming up so that we can start right away."
Jesse nods and smiles at the kids. This is his way of giving back and he knows that the work that he has put in with this small choir will pay off; both in making him look like a kind and giving person when he becomes a star and hopefully get him some more consideration at NYU.
"Ok, do you think you can put on a show for my friend?" Jesse asks, pointing to Rachel, who offers the group a wave.
The kids form two staggered lines and Jesse jumps off the stage and walks down to Rachel. He guides her into a row and tells her to sit before counting the group in. Immediately the group breaks into 'Seasons of Love' from Rent. Jesse settles in next to Rachel and watches her reaction to the performance, as well as mentally noting areas that need to be worked on. Rachel looks at the performance with awe and a little envy, she wishes that she had had a group like this, a group that was passionate and that all seems to have the same goals.
The voices of the small group are strong, practiced and even. They know what they want and have one of the best teachers, which Jesse knows helps with their confidence and with creating the next generation of triple threat stars. The song ends, but before Rachel can comment music fills the speakers and the group starts spinning and dancing as they sing Mika's 'We are Golden.' Rachel is even more impressed with this number as the kids are dancing, but there is not drop in song volume. Rachel gives Jesse an appraising look, he's clearly taught them how to sing and dance without losing the integrity of one or the other. Jesse gives Rachel a smile and turns to watch the kids. This number he makes a few more notes about because there are still a few weaknesses and a few staging changes that have to be made before it will be perfect.
With a last, strong "We are Golden!" The group stops and both Rachel and Jesse stand and give a round of applause. Jesse's moving out of the aisle and heading back to the stage steps, when he motions for Rachel to come join him, Rachel smiles and rushes over to the stage. He knows that he can use her talents in helping teach the next performance to the kids. The group gathers around Jesse, while all shooting questioning looks at Rachel. Jesse pulls Rachel forward and introduces her to the group; he says that she might be able to help with the group's final number for the Ohio Kids Show Choir Competition, as she is the best female vocalist in Ohio.
"I'm not sure—" Rachel stammers out, after hearing that she is going to be helping.
"Don't worry about it, they know the song. You can help out with some of the solo work that needs a little work."
"Ok fine. What's the song?"
"Hey Jude, a cappella. I figured a classic Beatles song is the best and it fits the Ballad requirement, plus I love The Beatles more than any other band." Jesse says. It's not the only reason he chose that song, he had always loved it and after finding out about being adopted some of the songs lyrics took on new meanings and he would listen to it for strength.
"Let's do a run through before we do individual work. Chris you have the first part of the solo, Lindsay join in at the third verse and then the fifth, everyone else join in at the end." Jesse says, "Let's start with everyone sitting on the steps except Chris, you're centre stage."
After positioning the kids in the best way, Jesse walks to the side of the stage before nodding for Chris to start. Rachel stands next to Jesse and he tells her to listen to the singing and make notes on anything that needs to be improved. Chris starts and his voice rings out clear, soon Lindsay joins and soon the song is finished. Again the group gets a round of applause before Jesse and Rachel come over with their constructive criticism. Jesse tells both Chris and Lindsay that they need to bring the emotion to the song, the feeling that they are telling someone else to be strong while at the same time taking that message to heart.
As Jesse explains the feelings of the song to the kids Rachel watches his face, his hands, just everything. She can see in the way that he is detailing what words to emphasize and emote on, there is something more to this song than just being another Beatles song. She wants to question him about it, but she'll bite her tongue on that, going against everything that is her personality, to keep him around maybe a little longer than Finn. She's pulled out of her reverie when she hears Jesse ask if there is anything that she would like to add. Rachel just says that there is one section of the Lindsay's solo that needs to be strengthened as the note went a little off.
Jesse knows that Rachel is right on that, but he is a little angry that he missed something so obvious. He had been too focused on the kids getting the feeling of the lyrics and emotion behind the performance that he spaced on singing. This wasn't Jesse St. James, this was Jesse. For a minute he regrets giving the group his song, before putting the thought out of his head.
"Well now that we know what to focus on for the singing. Joel, can you come up with some choreography that could work for the end for next week?" Jesse asks and Joel nods. "Ok seeing as this practice turned into a performance, I'll let you all go early. But next week, we're training hard, no excuses."
The group all nod before rushing out of the auditorium to the freedom of the rest of their Friday night. Rachel watches them go before turning to Jesse with a grin on her face, which he returns.
"Is that what you wanted to show me?"
"Yeah, they are my future Vocal Adrenaline replacements and they are my way of giving back."
"I thought you said you put on concerts for the homeless?"
"I do, but that doesn't look as good on college applications to NYU."
"NYU? I thought you have a full ride to UCLA?"
"I do and I'm lucky I have it, but it's my fall back. I'm waiting to see if I get in at NYU. I figure there I can work my way onto Broadway and then head out to LA after a couple years. I mean I want to be on Broadway, I want the hard work, and I want the reaction from the crowd, the applause more than I want the instant fame from Hollywood." Jesse says, watching Rachel's expression on her face return to one of awe.
It's something he's used to, but on Rachel's face there is also understanding. The understanding of having a set goal for the future and doing anything to achieve it, and the understanding that getting the popularity from Hollywood is nothing compared to the payoff that a successful Broadway career would bring. Jesse feels the urge to kiss Rachel in that moment, knowing that she feels the same, instead he takes her hand and leads her to the centre of the stage.
"Sing with me again?" He asks.
In response Rachel starts singing Somewhere Out There. Jesse smiles and joins in on his verse. The pair of them spend another hour in the auditorium singing duets or solos from a range of musical genres. They also talk about musical tastes; Rachel finds out that Jesse loves The Beatles because in their short time as a group they created an extensive catalogue of songs, each touching on different emotions. Jesse learns that one of Rachel's guilty pleasure CDs is Aqua's Aquarium. After a few more performances, including a hilarious mocking of Barbie Girl, Jesse says that it's time to lock up.
On the way out of the door Rachel bumps into Jesse and she ducks her head. Jesse can't help but think that Rachel looking a little embarrassed is something very cute. To make her feel better he intertwines his fingers with hers as they walk to his car. Rachel looks up at Jesse's profile and wonders how she could be so lucky to get a guy like Jesse.
After dropping Rachel off at her front door, with a chaste goodbye kiss that he wanted to deepen, he wanted to taste her but he held back not want to push her too hard. So after dropping Rachel at home Jesse decides that being with Rachel is not just to get to his father, he genuinely likes her and wants to spend more time with her and for his sake he hopes that she feels the same way.
The rest of the weekend passes in calm happiness. Jesse sends Rachel a text late Saturday practically Sunday morning, he figures that she is the kind of girl that will freak out and overanalyze the fact that a guy hasn't responded after what was a good date, so he skips his standard 3-day rule and sends her a message that saying he enjoyed Friday night and that they should do it again. Rachel responds on Sunday with "It's a date" and Jesse can't stop his grin. Jesse is perfectly happy and ignores the feeling that anything could go wrong. He shouldn't have done that because Monday is where it starts to go to hell.