A/N: Sorry for the lack of updating – been a little busy this week. Thanks again for the reviews and the alerts – keep them coming ;) This chapter sort of glosses over the logistics a little bit, but shh, no one need know. Quinn makes a bit of an appearance this chapter (as do some of the others) but I'm not sure if I've nailed her or their characters or not, so let me know – you know what to do. But mostly, read, review and enjoy.

-StB-

Rachel finds herself unable to concentrate on the afternoon's events, instead finding her head plagued with memories of Jesse, his lips on her stomach, his hands in her hair and his body next to hers. But more than anything, she's worried by how little self-restraint she has when he's around. He tells her he'll show her and she does nothing to resist. But when will it stop? She's know it's the classic case of he says jump and she says how high but it's not a situation she's eager to get out of. And somehow, that worries her more.

They rehearse their scenes together perfectly (as they knew they would) with Jesse getting only a few words wrong. She'd like to think it's because she's all he can think about, like he's all she can think about but it's not; he actually has far more lines than anyone else, and given that this is their first rehearsal, he's doing pretty well.

But it's not their scenes that he has a problem with; it's the ones that come later. Between Lola and Ricardo. Between Rachel and Jimmy. And yes, Jesse's more than aware that the story ends as the story should: Jesse's character gets the girl and Jimmy – no, Ricardo – is driven to insanity and gets his mum to pull the trigger. It's a complex play but Jesse likes it (mostly because he likes to call himself complex.) In actual fact, his life couldn't be simpler: Boy grows up, boy makes mistakes, boy loves girl, boy loses girl. It's the story of his life but he'd rather he focused solely on the third quadrant, only the girl of his affections refuses to play along.

But for now, he decides he's not going abide by the rules: this is his life and he's going to be the one dictating it from now on. And the title of chapter one? The Guy Who Gets Back the Girl.

-StB-

"How's the play?" Rachel gathers Quinn's only talking to her because everyone else is already occupied with their own conversations, plus the monotony in her voice kind of gives it away. But Rachel relishes this moment: she can finally tell someone everything she's been keeping bottled up because Quinn is unlikely to one, listen and two, repeat it even if she does listen.

"It's going great, thank you." She grins so obtusely she starts to get jaw ache, so quickly adds, "Jesse's the leading man."

She speaks at a speed which astonishes Quinn into listening, mainly because she heard little more than a blur.

"Excuse me?"

"Jesse." She wants to say my ex but that makes it sound so official, so she chooses her words delicately, aware Quinn's watching with a sceptical look. "From Vocal Adrenaline. Well, not anymore. He's from UCLA now, I guess."

"He's in the play?" Quinn's face is incredulous but her voice has the amazing capacity to emit feigned interest. But Rachel is oddly thankful: Puck and Artie are beginning to watch this unusual conversation unfold; unusual given that the two girls have hardly had the closest relationship in the past.

"It's no big deal," Rachel tries (and fails) to convince Quinn with a lofty smile and a waft of her hand. "I've moved on from tha-that toad-"

"I can tell." Quinn drags out her words, an eyebrow raised. Toad is hardly the harshest insult ever. "You don't get over your first love that easy, Berry. No-one does."

Rachel wants to reply and inform Quinn (and Tina, who can't help but overhear) that she's perfectly over him and that, for the record, he wasn't her first love anyway. It's a lie, but if she can convince these then maybe she can convince herself. And once that's sorted, maybe she can convince him. But Mr Schuester walks in and their conversation is cut short, but Quinn's eyes tell Rachel that this is far from over.

At the end of practice, Rachel makes for a quick exit but Quinn's already prepared and has Puck casually leaning against the doorway so she can't escape. Rachel's eyes are a little wide as she turns back to look at Quinn, who merely shrugs with a look of muted victory dancing across her eyes.

"Guess I tamed the untameable beast." She nods at Puck to leave and he does so, scowling a little and scuffing his feet. Rachel contemplates running, but then glances at her attire and decides she'll never make it out alive – the majority of the school still wishes to slushie her and her shoes have no grip as it is. She's going to have to stay, and Quinn knows it. "But did you tame yours?"

Rachel's not even sure what Quinn's talking about. "Tame my what?"

"Jesse." Quinn rolls her eyes and shares a side glance with Mercedes, who purses her lips and places her hands on her hips.

"Listen, most of us were surprised you managed to pull a senior and even though we thought he was a – " Mercedes pauses, trying to find the right word.

"Douche? Traitor? Jackass?" Santana's suggestions cause for uncomfortable listening, mainly because everyone knew them to be true.

"Spy," Mercedes settles on, with a sharp glance at Santana, "What he did to you is beyond forgivable. Surely you see that?"

"I-" Rachel begins but is cut off again by Mercedes.

"And now you're in some play with him? Rachel, what's up with that?" Mercedes can't understand it. Hell, she can't understand most of what Rachel says or does, but this is something different altogether.

"I didn't know he was going to be there," Rachel protests, her hands flaring at her side.

"But you're still doing the play, so what's the difference?" Tina's not trying to be mean; she's worried that this – whatever this is – is not going to end well. For Rachel or Jesse.

"So I should leave because Jesse's there? That's just ridiculous – that would just prove he's still running my life."

"So you admit he was running your life before?" Mercedes just wants to show her that boys, no matter how much they say otherwise, just aren't worth it.

"No! That's not what I meant, I just-" Rachel can barely get a word in edgeways as Quinn starts to talk again.

"Look, we know you didn't exactly give yourself to him fully-" Quinn's cut off by Tina, but it's not that which gets her attention - it's the way Rachel's eyes drop, just slightly, and the way her cheeks flush just a shade darker than usual.

"Yes she did, she told Finn."

"Yeah, but what she said and what she did are two totally different things." Santana feels this is her territory in which to intervene, and does so with an air of authority.

"Yeah, totally different." Brittany, on the other hand, just wants some input.

"It was pretty obvious you didn't get jammy with James, Berry." Santana can't help but smirk and Rachel can't help but feel a little jealous – even as smug and self-centred as Santana is, she's just as determined to succeed as Rachel, just in different areas of life.

"You have, haven't you?" Quinn's voice is a little quieter and a little less accusing than usual. Rachel dares to catch her eyes and quickly returns them to the floor.

"No, I don't know what you're talking about." It's so unconvincing and so fast a reply that it's clear it's not the truth.

"Oh my god, Berry's popped her cherry. Who would have thought?" Santana sounds genuinely impressed with the news and this serves only to make Rachel blush further.

"Look, I really don't feel comfortable talking about this with any of you, particularly given that each and every one of you has spent practically the entire year mocking me at one point or another."

"Some more than others," Mercedes mutters under her breath, because although she's guilty for not being Rachel's biggest fan, she knows far too well what it's like to be on the receiving end to put that on someone else.

"Rachel, this is serious. St James is a total jackass; you can't let him ruin your life." Tina's slightly hurt Rachel hasn't told her about this but in Rachel's defence, it only happened a couple of nights ago.

"Oh, because everyone at Mckinley's done such a great job of making it so peachy up until now?"

"Why are you defending him?" Quinn cannot understand this situation at all and she's been in some tough ones herself. But she's intrigued; this Jesse must be something special for Rachel to risk it all.

"Look, he's taken your virginity, Berry; don't let him take anything else." Santana has the final words and walks out, Brittany close behind. Rachel can't comprehend how one boy could have so many girls closing ranks against him, but in another way, she's touched. Never before have so many people been worried about her welfare but she still can't see what all the fuss is about. Sure, he's made mistakes but if she never forgave anyone, Rachel wouldn't even be talking to any of these girls right now.