Forever Has to Start Somewhere
Chapter 10: Grilled Cheesus
Jesse and Brody walked out of their dance class side by side. As they stepped into the sunshine, Jesse pulled his phone from his dance bag and punched in Rachel's number.
"J-Jesse," Rachel choked out when she answered her phone.
He halted his steps. He saw Brody take a few more before realizing Jesse wasn't still with him and turning around. "Rachel? Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine." Her words weren't much of a comfort when they were sobs. "It's n-not me that's hurt."
"Someone's hurt?" Jesse's fingers curled around the edge of his phone. His mind raced through his friends and the possibilities. Something could have happened to Matt or Mike during football practice, Puck could have attempted something insanely stupid that he deemed badass, one of McKinley's bullies could have taken it too far with Kurt. "Who?"
"K-Kurt's dad is in the hospital."
Jesse's blood seemed to turn to ice as he registered her words.
Rachel and he had spent a fair amount of time at the Hummel household with Kurt over the summer. Burt wasn't always there, but when he was he had been nothing but kind to the teenagers invading his home. He had complained the first time they had dinner over and no meat was served, but never brought it up again after finding out Rachel was a vegan. He offered praise whenever any of them – usually Kurt and Rachel – burst into song and his only request was that their dancing stay off the furniture – though he hadn't complained when Rachel and Mike tangoed across the long coffee table while listening to Tango Maureen. When he found out Jesse's parents were largely absent from his life and Puck's father had bailed years ago, he had offered both of them his own ear for their worries.
"Fuck." Jesse could feel his eyes stinging. He reached up with his free hand to wipe at them. "Is he okay? What happened?"
"Heart attack. He's alive but in a coma. They don't know when he's going to wake up."
Brody must have noticed Jesse's distress because he looped back instead of waiting in front of him like he had been.
"Fuck," Jesse repeated. "What about Kurt?"
"He's devastated obviously. G-Glee club is going to the hospital after school to check on him."
"Where's he staying? He can't stay in that house by himself. It'll drive him insane."
"He's at Carol and Finn's for now."
"Okay. Okay. I'll start looking for a ticket and be there-"
"No. Don't do that." Jesse's mouth snapped shut. He was about to object when Rachel spoke again, "Kurt's not handling this well. The last thing he needs is more people crowding around him and reminding him that he could lose his dad."
He pushed a hand through his hair, ignoring that it was damp and sticky from the sweat he'd worked up during his dance class. "Fine. But you'll keep me updated?"
"Absolutely."
Jesse calmed himself down by listening to her breath for a few moments. Then he murmured, "I love you."
"I love you too." He heard someone speak in the background. "I have to go."
"Alright. Call me later."
"I will."
When Jesse had hung up, Brody said, "Something happen?"
"Someone I care a lot about had a heart attack," Jesse answered. He took a deep breath. "I think I'm going to just head back to the room for today. I can't-"
"Yeah. Go ahead." Brody placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'll take notes for you in the classes we share."
"Thank you."
The room was pitch black and Jesse laid on the floor.
He'd have to make sure to push himself up into his bed later, Brody had gone to a party and was almost certain to trip over him he didn't, but for now he sat with his head on the carpet and his phone to his ear. Relief loosening his limbs.
"They're keeping him for the weekend, just to be sure everything's okay," Rachel informed, "and he's gotta take a few weeks off work, but he should be home by Monday."
"I'm glad." Jesse stared up at the ceiling, gaze lost in the inky blackness that hovered above him. He let out a soft breath. "I'm really, really glad."
"I know."
Jesse licked his lips before saying, "You haven't sung to me since last week."
"There hasn't been room for a song in our conversations," she answered. "Did you want one now?"
"No," he said after a moment of thought. "But I do want to sing with you. I have just the duet in mind."
"Alright then."
He closed his eyes. He thought about how angry he'd been that a man as good as Burt Hummel had almost been taken from the planet and how the world had almost handed Kurt one more label – 'orphan' –, one more hardship he didn't deserve.
He thought about the fact that he'd been spinning with sadness and Rachel's phone calls had been a beacon of light through it all. They were mostly updates on Burt's condition, but they helped ease the tension in Jesse's body.
"Our planet is poison, the oceans, the air," Jesse sung softly. "Around and beneath and above you."
Rachel didn't miss her cue. She cut in smoothly, "Um, Jesse, that's true and I totally care-"
"I'm trying to tell you, I love you."
"What?"
"The world is at war, filled with death and disease. We dance on the edge of destruction. The globes getting warmer by deadly degrees."
"And this is one fucked up seduction."
"This planet is pretty much broken beyond all repair, but one thing is working if you're standing there." He forced all of his feelings into his words, trying his hardest to convey how he felt. "Perfect for you, I could be perfect for you. I might be lazy, a loner, a bit of a stoner, it's true. But I might be perfect, I'll make myself perfect, perfect for you. You square all the corner, I straighten the curves."
"You got some nerve, Jesse, and I'm just all nerves."
"But even if everything else turns to dirt."
When their voices came together, Jesse knew she understood what he was trying to say. He knew that she felt the same way. "We'll be the one thing in this world that won't hurt."
"I can't fix what's fucked up. But one thing I know I can do...I can be perfect for you."
"I can be perfect for you."
Their voices came together again, "Perfect for you."
E/n: So I try not to let the singing story get too out of hand because that's a major pet peeve of mine - when a glee story says it has say 1500 words but half of those are lyrics not story - but I couldn't find a good point to cut perfect for you off the way I have with the other songs in this story. Jesse needed to get it out - to express that the world kinda sucks but Rachel makes it better.
On that note, I have a question for you guys! Do you guys like the way I'm doing this story so far? That being, it coming from Jesse's point of view + without any major retelling of the events at McKinley? Or would you prefer for me to write a bit from Rachel's side of things and show how things have changed inthe episode rather then just telling or alluding to them?
The song in this chapter is "Perfect for You" from Next to Normal
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