Author's Note: I'm glad that you guys like the backstory that I've established for Jesse and Rachel. So, we're finally to what you guys have been waiting for, some St. Berry interaction. I really liked writing this chapter so hopefully you guys will enjoy reading it. Leave me some feedback and let me know what you guys think!

Rachel was sitting on the side of the stage, going through her bag one day after rehearsal, when a voice startled her.

"Hey," Jesse said softly, smiling down at her.

She looked up at him and returned his smile. "Hi."

"Do you mind if I…" he gestured toward the area next to her.

"Oh, no, please," she replied.

Sitting down next to her and leaning back on his hands, almost casually, he looked at her a moment before speaking. Thinking about whether or not he should just be blunt, he decided to just say it. "It's weird, right?" Noticing Rachel's eyes widen at his out-of-the-blue question and the strange look she gave him, he elaborated. "Us working together. Rehearsing every day for three weeks already. Acting like we barely know each other."

"We do barely know each other," Rachel replied. She wasn't trying to be a bitch, she was stating a fact. They had known each other when they were just kids, but a lot can happen in ten years. People can change in ways that you'd never imagine. Rachel knew that she wasn't the same girl that he'd known so long ago, and she had a feeling that he had grown into being a better man than the boy she had dated.

"You have a point," he conceded. "So that's why I was wondering if we could start fresh? Clean slate? Leave the past in the past and try to forget the stupid things we do as teenagers to maintain our place in the social hierarchy?"

Rachel knew he was talking about the egging, and truth be told, she'd forgiven him for it a long time ago. But it was still nice to hear that he regretted it even if he didn't come right out and say that he was sorry. She saw him start to fidget when she didn't answer right away so finally she said, "Hi, I'm Rachel Berry."

Jesse's mouth crooked up in a half-smile as he took her outstretched hand in his and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Rachel. I'm Jesse."

"Just Jesse? No last name?" she teased. He shoved her lightly as he looked at her with a sheepish grin on his face. "So, what's your story, Jesse No-Last-Name?"

"Have a drink with me and maybe I'll tell you, Rachel Berry," he replied, cocking his head to one side. There was that arrogant charm that she remembered so well.

She narrowed her eyes slightly at him like she was weighing what she wanted to do. "Alright, I'll have drink with you," she told him as she went to stand up. Grabbing her bag off the ground, she looked down at him. "But you're buying."

He chuckled as he stood up as well and went to grab his stuff. "One thing you're going to learn, Rachel Berry, is that Jesse St. James is a gentleman."

"So you do have a last name," she giggled. "I also just learned that you like to talk about yourself in the third person." He rolled his eyes as she walked over to him, but laughed good-naturedly at her teasing. He was happy that the ease that was once there between them, was still there once they let their guard down.

They were one of the last ones still left in the theater as they walked down an empty hall to the stage door to leave. "Is there any place that you'd like to go? I want to see where Rachel Berry hangs out in her free time," he said as they walked down the side alley towards the main avenue. She rolled her eyes at him. "What can I say? I'm a fan."

She unsuccessfully tried to hide her smile at his last comment. They hailed a cab and she gave the driver the address of one of her favorite pubs.

"How is it that all the times I've been to Molly's, I've never seen you here?" Jesse asked as they pulled up in front of the pub ten minutes later.

Rachel just shrugged. "Maybe I was here and you just didn't see me," she said coyly as she handed the driver the money.

Jesse opened his mouth to protest about her paying but she ignored him and got out of the cab. He slid out of the backseat after her and stepped onto the sidewalk. "That's just not possible, Rachel," he replied to her finally, leaning in towards her and raising his eyebrows slightly. He grabbed the front door and opened it for her, gesturing for her to go inside. "After you."

"Thank you. Maybe you are a gentleman after all," she quipped as she walked inside. The pub wasn't too crowded so they got a booth near the fireplace and sat on opposite sides. It felt intimate without being uncomfortable.

"So do you keep in touch with anyone from your old glee club still?" Jesse asked as they waited for a server to take their order.

"A few, but the only one that I talk to and see on a regular basis is Kurt," Rachel told him. She tried not to think about her breakdown and the phone call to Kurt the night she'd seen Jesse for the first time. She glanced down at the ring on his finger and then averted her eyes before Jesse noticed.

"How is Kurt? I take it he decided not to pursue a career on Broadway?"

"His true passion was always fashion so he went to FIT and he got a job as a designer at Marc Jacobs not too long ago," she explained proudly. "I tell him all the time he needs to start his own line but he says he wants to learn from the best before he does that. I convinced him to design my wedding dress though. I told him– "

"Wedding dress? You're engaged?" Jesse asked, cutting her off mid-sentence. He tried to hide his disappointment at hearing that she was engaged. He wasn't sure he was very successful. He was married though, he shouldn't have any sort of feelings about her love life but here it was.

Rachel had nearly forgotten that she never wore her engagement ring to rehearsals so every time she'd seen Jesse, she had never had it on. She looked down at her finger and gently touched it with her other hand, before looking up at him with a small smile. "Yeah, I am. It's been sort of a long engagement."

"How long have you been engaged?" Jesse asked, keeping his voice as even as possible.

"Almost two years," Rachel replied, glancing at the table. "Donovan wants to concentrate on his career right now and so do I, but we're thinking in the next year or so."

Jesse nodded his head in understanding and was grateful when the server came over and interrupted their conversation. Both he and Rachel ordered a beer, before Rachel decided that she didn't want to talk about her and Donovan's relationship so she asked, "What about you? Are you still friends with anyone from Vocal Adrenaline?"

"No. I haven't actually spoken to any of them in years. Well, except for Shelby, who I talk to every so often," he replied. Jesse regretted mentioning Shelby's name immediately when he saw the hurt look on Rachel's face at the mere mention of her name. "I take it you haven't spoken to her in awhile?"

"No," was Rachel's only answer.

As much as Jesse regretted the egging incident, most of the time he hated his role in helping Shelby and Rachel meet the most. He never could understand how Shelby did a complete 180 when it came to Rachel in the span of a couple of weeks. He had hoped that eventually they would have formed some sort of relationship, but sadly it seemed like that may never happen. He'd figured that since Shelby never even mentioned Rachel's name that she and Rachel didn't have a relationship, but a part of him had held out hope that she never brought up Rachel's name to him because Rachel had asked her mother not to.

"How are your dads?" Jesse asked, immediately changing the subject.

Rachel brightened and said, "They're wonderful. They're so excited to come and see the show. You know they're big fans of yours."

Jesse chuckled at that. "They are?"

"Yeah, they actually saw you in your very first lead role on Broadway," she told him, grinning.

"And?"

"They thought you were brilliant. I had told them about the show after I went to see it," she explained.

"I remember seeing you at the stage door. Or at least I think that was you, seeing as the moment I saw you, you turned around and disappeared in the crowd," Jesse said, just as the server set their drinks down on the table. "Why did you run away like that?"

Rachel took a large gulp from her beer before saying anything. "To be honest, I don't know," she lied. She wasn't about to tell him that she had freaked out when she'd seen that he was married. "I guess I panicked. I also never told Donovan about you so..."

"Why?" Jesse asked, surprised to hear that. Although, he had never told Isla about Rachel.

"I don't know that either," Rachel replied, smiling sheepishly. She thought about it for a moment before continuing. "It was just one of those things that I wanted to keep to myself."

"Does he know now?"

Rachel shook her head no. "I probably should tell him, but if I tell him now he'll wonder why it's taken me so long," she explained.

Jesse nodded his head in understanding. "Like you were hiding something." Rachel gave him a small nod. "How'd you meet him?"

She hesitated before answering his question. "Um, we starred in Wicked at the University of Michigan. I was Elphaba and he was Fiyero."

"You fell for your co-star?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I just find it interesting is all."

"Well, don't. It's not like I have a history of falling for my co-stars. It was one time," she replied, a little defensively.

Jesse put his hands up in surrender. "I wasn't implying that at all."

"How'd you meet your wife?" Rachel asked suddenly.

"Isla was in my English class my junior year at NYU," he replied. "She was what I needed at the time. She believed in me and encouraged me. I think it helped that she wasn't a theater major like me."

Rachel felt an irrational pang of jealousy as she listened to Jesse describe his and Isla's relationship. She mentally slapped herself for having those types of feelings and thoughts about a married man. It didn't escape her notice that he was speaking about his wife in the past tense. Isla had been what he'd needed at the time, she thought. She wanted to ask if Isla was still what he needed but she thought that was inappropriate so instead she asked something completely benign, "What does she do for a living?"

"Well, she used to work for a children's book publishing company but she started working at a fashion magazine a little over a year ago," Jesse said, his voice dripping with disdain.

It was clear that things weren't going well at home, but Rachel figured that it was best to avoid any further discussion on their significant others. At least tonight.

Apparently, Jesse was thinking the same thing. "So, why Molly's?" he asked with a smile, before bringing the pilsner glass to his lips to take another sip.

"Well, I love most of the Irish pubs in New York, but sitting next to the fireplace when the pub's not too crowded…sometimes I just never want to leave. It's just so comfortable and cozy," she explained with a wistful smile as she glanced around the pub. "There aren't many places that have that feel."

"And the beer and food aren't bad either," Jesse added teasingly, making Rachel laugh a little.

"And there's that," she agreed.

So they ordered some food and another drink the next time the server came by and before they knew it, they'd been sitting there for over an hour. Looking at his watch, Jesse noticed the time and figured that they should probably get going.

"Thanks for the drinks… and dinner," Rachel said, as they stood out in front of the restaurant five minutes later. "Next time, I'm buying."

"Deal," Jesse replied, smiling at her warmly as he hailed a cab. "I'm glad we did this."

"Me too," she said as Jesse opened the door of the cab for her. "Do you want to share the cab?"

"I'll get my own. Thanks though," he told her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

They both hesitated for a moment, not sure if they should hug or shake hands or just simply wave good-bye. Finally Rachel went for the hug and wrapped her arms around his mid-section. Jesse tentatively wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, squeezing her lightly before they let go of each other. "Good night, Jesse."

"Good night, Rachel." He shut the cab door as she got in and waved just before the cab pulled away.