Forever Has to Start Somewhere

Chapter 11: Duets

"Rach...are you sure you wanna do this duet with me?" Rachel looked up from the pile of CDs in her hand, directing her gaze to Matt who hovered around her dresser. He had his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans and his eyes locked on his shoes.

"Well, honestly, Noah would have been my first choice. This would have been a good chance to try out You Don't Buy Me Flowers. However, seeing as he's gotten himself thrown into juvie that's impossible. And after him, I would have chosen Kurt, but he wanted to work with Sam." Seeing something similar to hurt cross his face, she added, "My choices aren't because there's a problem with you, Matthew. It's simply that you've never stepped up in Glee before so I thought you were uninterested."

"Singing in front of the whole room kind of freaks me out," Matt admitted. He reached behind and rubbed at the back of his neck. She had noticed over the course of their friendship that it was what he did when he was feeling uncomfortable. "I can't dance like Mike or sing like Kurt or play guitar like Puck..."

"Mike may be our best dancer, but you are a close second, Matthew," Rachel complimented.

"That's not true," Matt objected sheepishly. "Brittany has me beat for sure."

"She's a very good dancer in her own right, but I personally prefer you." Reaching the disc she wanted, Rachel unfolded her legs and stood up. She crossed the room to the stereo behind him. "Though it being a duet and not a solo number should ease some of your discomfort over being in the spot light for the first time, I took care to pick a song that I believe will draw more attention to me than you."

His gaze flickered to her, surprise etched into his features. "You already picked a song for us?"

"I have one in mind, yes. Though you are free to let me know if you're uncomfortable with it."

"Alright..."

There was a moment of silence as Rachel flipped to the correct track on the CD.

Then the first notes of the song flowed through her room.

She saw Matt's eyes widened as he recognized it. He met her eyes as he questioned, "You want me to sing this song with you in glee?"

"Yes. It's the type of music you and Mike enjoy right?"

"It's the type of music most teenagers enjoy," Matt corrected. He added, "It's also the type of song your boyfriend will kill me for singing with you."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Jesse won't have a problem with it."

"He will," Matt insisted. "Did you see the way he treated Finn?"

"Finn has made multiple attempts at swaying my affections away from Jesse. You, on the other hand, are my friend and haven't tried to do such a thing. Surely you see how the situations are different?"

"I mean, I see it, but will Jesse?"

Rachel heaved another sigh. "If it will make you feel better, I'll run my idea by Jesse when I talk to him tonight and have him call to tell you that the song choice is fine."

"It would help," Matt admitted. They were quiet for a minute before he added, tentatively, "You really think we can win with this song?"

"I don't think anyone is going to win to be honest." When Matt fixed her with a questioning look, she explained, "We'll all end up voting for ourselves. Mr. Schue may act as a tiebreaker, but it's equally possible he'll just leave it as a tie."

"Oh. So this will all end up being for nothing?"

"Not exactly. Sam is a good singer and it's never bad to have extra members, but he doesn't really know how glee club works. With Puck in juvie, you and Mike are going to need to step up. This competition is a good way to get you guys more comfortable."

"Huh..." After a moment, Matt asked, "So you don't think we can win, but do you at least think we'll do well?"

Rachel felt some of her exasperation from their disagreement about Jesse fade. A wide grin spread over her face. "Oh, Matthew, I wouldn't have suggested this song if I thought we were going to be anything less then fabulous."

"So," Jesse said when Matt picked up the phone, "I hear you think I'm going to jump you."

"I'm not scared that you're going to jump me," Matt insisted. "I'm just a bit weary of you flying off into a jealous rage."

"Well, I admit that I am feeling some jealousy towards you."

"Enough to punch me in the face next time you see me?"

Jesse let out a low chuckle. "Of course not. Just jealous enough to ask that you have someone record the performance. I'd like to see Rachel in the costume she has picked out."

Matt groaned. "She showed you that?"

"She wanted an opinion on it. She said you were too busy theorizing on where I was gong to dump your body to offer one." Jesse could practically hear Matt's hesitation. He let out a sigh before saying, "I really don't care that you're singing the song with her, Matt. With the path the two of us are on, I'll have to put up with a lot more then her dancing a bit promiscuously with someone that doesn't have any interest in taking her from me."

Matt was quiet for a minute before murmuring, "I see what you did there with the wording."

"I thought you'd appreciate it." He asked, "We're okay, then? You aren't worried about this anymore?"

"We're good," Matt confirmed. "I'll make sure Mike records it for you."

"Much appreciated."

Mike (Wednesday 4:03pm)

Rachel+Matt performance. Watch till the end.

She's with Kurt now. Don't call until you calm down.

Jesse raised an eyebrow when he read the message. He'd seen the performance before and there hadn't been anything in it that was particularly upsetting.

He hummed curiously as he clicked on the video, letting it fill the screen of his phone.

He smiled when it loaded up to show Matt and Rachel standing in front of the choir room. Matt wore his usual clothes, jeans and his letterman. Rachel, however, was dressed in dark jeans with a white belt looped through them and a white shirt that cut off midway down her stomach. The sleeves were long and flared out around her arms.

Jesse admired her as the first notes of Promiscuous started playing.

Matt, he realized, was actually a fairly decent singer. He was tense as he started the song, but as time passed he loosened. By the end of it, he was grinning as Rachel danced around him.

Jesse added him to the list of people in the club who would make a better male lead then Finn Hudson – along with Kurt and Puck.

As the performance came to an end, Jesse noted that the video still had several minutes left.

He wasn't entirely surprised when Schue told Matt and Rachel that the performance had been nice, but not exactly school appropriate. Rachel had been quick to respond that just two weeks ago, they had been performing Toxic at a school assembly and that had been much more sexual than the current number.

Santana opened her mouth, spewing out insults, and the room erupted into it's usual pandemonium.

Jesse didn't understand why Mike had sent him the fight, it really wasn't anything new and Jesse wasn't particularly upset by anything being said, until Finn opened his mouth.

"It's like St. James has turned you into some kind of slut!" Finn screamed, cutting over the arguments of his other club members.

Jesse's vision went red and his grip tightened on his phone. He hissed out, "I'm going to fucking kill him."

"Kurt and I performed a duet for the club today," Rachel informed.

It was Friday night. Jesse was sitting cross legged on his bed while Rachel was situated at her desk. There was a plate of food on her lap. They'd decided to Skype while she ate since her fathers were out of town and she didn't want to eat alone.

"Oh?" he questioned. "Why? The competition is over, isn't it?"

"Kurt didn't get to do a duet," Rachel said. "Since we both had our performances ruined by Finn Hudson, I offered to sing one with him."

Jesse simmered at Finn's name. "He's incredibly lucky I'm in New York. If I were closer, I would kick his ass for talking to you like that."

"And I'll tell you the same thing I told Matt and Mike," Rachel responded in a tone that portrayed just how many times she'd given this speech since Wednesday, "I don't believe in physical violence. Not even as a method to defend my honor." He gave a noncommittal hum. She looked up from her plate to catch his eyes. "Jesse."

He gave a sigh. "Rachel, I know what you believe. But that doesn't mean I'm going to let him get away with making disparaging comments about you or our relationship."

After a long moment, Rachel gave a small nod. "I understand where your coming from even if I don't agree with the method of retaliation."

"That's enough." He leaned back in his chair. "It's my turn to sing isn't it?"

"Yes."

He said, "You are definitely not a slut, Rachel Berry, but I do enjoy your body."

She quirked an eyebrow.

Jesse just smiled at her as he pulled the first lines of the song to mind. He started singing, "We got this afternoon. You got this room for two. One thing I've left to do. Discover me, discovering you. One mile to every inch of, your skin like porcelain. One pair of candy lips and your bubblegum tongue. And if you want love, we'll make it. Swimming a deep seat of blankets. Take all your big plans and break 'em. This is bound to be a while. Your body is a wonderland. Your body is a wonderland."

E/n: I think I mentioned in an end note that I decided to keep Matt, but I hadn't gotten to use him yet. I decided the duet competition was a good time since Finn was clearly not an option.

I also tried out doing a little Rachel POV for you guys? Most of you said that you'd enjoy it, but enjoyed the story the primary POV being Jesse. So I'm thinking I might stay with Jesse and occasionally do a little Rachel. Hopefully that won't seem too out of the blue when it happens.

Songs in this chapter: Promiscuous (Nelly Furtado and Timbaland) & Your Body is a Wonderland (John Mayer)

Review and favorite/follow if you enjoyed!