Forever Has to Start Somewhere
Chapter 27: Original Song
Jesse sat on Adam's desk while Brody sat in the chair in front of him. Both of them were watching Adam with amused smiles.
The blonde was a flurry of nervous movement as he paced around his room. He double and then triple checked surfaces, asked for their opinion on the items he was placing in his suitcase only to ignore them as he tossed them back into his closet, and dug his hands into his hair in frustration.
"You know we're supposed to be leaving in an hour right?" Brody asked. His voice was filled with amusement as Adam took a handful of items from his suitcase and tossed them into the dresser drawer he'd left open.
"I'm well aware," Adam answered.
"Are you?" Jesse questioned, arcing an eyebrow. He laid his palms down behind him and leaned back. "Because you don't look anywhere near ready to leave."
"Excuse me for wanting to make sure I look good this week."
"I think you can look good without spending three hours picking out your clothes."
"Not good enough," Adam stressed.
Brody and Jesse exchanged a look before Brody moved. He wrapped his hand around Adam's arm, stopping the blonde as he moved towards his closet.
When Adam looked down at him, Brody said, "It's going to be fine, Adam."
He deemed to deflate a little under the scrutiny. He let out a harsh breath. "You can't know that."
"We can," Jesse interrupted. He kicked his foot forward so it bumped gently against Adam's shin. "No matter what he says, Kurt isn't going to suddenly hate you."
"I'm not worried about him hating me. I'm just worried about him feeling awkward if he doesn't feel the same way and then never speaking to me again."
"Not gonna happen," he said. "I highly doubt he's going to reject you, but even if he didn't that won't happen. Maybe things won't be the same right after, but you're important to him. He's not going to let go of that unless you make him."
Silence reigned among the trio.
Tentatively, Adam asked, "You don't think he's going to reject me?"
Jesse let out a low chuckle. He gave a shake of his head. "I sincerely doubt it."
"Now, find some shirts and put them in your suitcase please," Brody said. He released his grip on Adam's arm, patting him twice. "Your panic is putting us behind schedule."
They arrived in Lima on Thursday night, just after the sun went down.
Jesse had been banned from Rachel's house lest he distract her the day before an important competition and it wasn't not very late, so after they dropped their bags off Josh offered to take them all out to dinner.
None of the boys were eager to get back in a car after the long drive, so they all agreed to walk to the grill a little ways from the St. James house.
As Adam argued with Josh about the proper way to eat a steak and Brody teased Jesse for swirling his finger around in the whipped cream on his milkshake, they found it easier to laugh.
It was easier for Adam to think about something other than the situation with Kurt, easy for Jesse to worry less about the outcome of Regionals, easier for Brody to forget that Spring Break would make the third holiday he'd spent away from his parents.
The warmth of their friendship made it easy to forget the problems in their lives.
"Jesse. I didn't know you were going to be here."
Jesse turned in his seat to find Mr. Schue and Shelby settling into the seats behind him.
He put a smile on his face. "I wouldn't miss one of Rachel's competitions. Especially not when she's debuting her first song."
"Have you heard it?" Shelby asked.
Jesse gave a small nod. "She wanted my opinion on it."
"Mmm..." Shelby hummed. "Did she tell you what it was about? We asked her to write about pain and there's plenty in Get it Right, but she never told me here it came from."
"That's because Rachel's too good a person to tell you that she wrote it about you," Jesse deadpanned. He saw the way Shelby's eyes widened, hurt flashing through them. Mr. Schue made a soft surprised noise and reached his hand down to squeeze Shelby's knee in a show of comfort. He continued, "She told me she drew on the fact that she felt like she would always be trying to be good enough for you. She was hoping the song would help stop it."
"She really...?" Shelby questioned.
Even though she had trailed off, the end of the sentence still hung between them.
She really feels that way?
"Between last year and this year, she doesn't really have any reason not to."
"Jesse!" He turned his head to Brody. His roommate was sitting next to him with a program opened on his lap. Adam was on Brody's otherside, leaning over to peer at the paper as well. Instead of having set-lists, the program had a picture of the participating show choirs. "Which one of these guys is that Finn dude? I wanna see if he's cuter than you."
Jesse didn't turn around before saying, "He's not."
"You had coffee with Kurt and Blaine over Christmas break, right?" Adam questioned. While Brody was focused on the picture of New Directions at the bottom of the page, Adam was focused on the picture of the Warblers just above it. "Which one of them is he?"
"Excuse me," Jesse said to Shelby and Mr. Schue. Without another word to the pair behind him, he turned to his friend to start pointing out the people they were looking for.
"We're going to New York!" Rachel screamed as she flung herself into Jesse's arms.
He caught her easily. He wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her just slightly into the air.
She let out a happy shriek as she buried her face in his neck. With her feet off the ground, she kicked them excitedly.
"I am so proud of you," he whispered into her hair. His voice was fierce with the force of his words. He pressed a kiss against the spot just under her ear.
They held each other for a moment longer before Brody piped in, "You did fantastic, Rachel."
She went to squirm out of Jesse's grip, but he just adjusted his hold to keep her there. She made a sound somewhere between an annoyed huff and a happy sigh before wrapping her legs around his waist. He smiled and pressed a kiss against her cheek as she turned to see Brody.
"Thank you," she said.
"It sounded even better in person than it did over skype," Brody continued. "Which I didn't think was possible given that it sounded great all one hundred times I heard it."
"I am nothing if not dedicated," Rachel dismissed.
"I enjoyed it as well, darling," Adam said. He flashed her a smile twinged with nerves. "Is Kurt coming out to say hello?"
Jesse felt Rachel tense in his arms. He gave her hip a light squeeze.
"No," Rachel said, letting out a soft breath. "I got permission from my dads to leave with you guys instead of taking the bus back, but Kurt didn't. He was saying goodbye to Blaine when I saw him last."
Adam's face fell. "Ah... I see."
Brody bumped his hip lightly against Adam's. "Don't make that face. The two of you are getting coffee tomorrow to talk it out properly, aren't you?"
"We are," Adam agreed, though there wasn't much change in his expression.
Jesse frowned for a brief moment before turning his attention back to Rachel, "Are you ready to go then? Taken pictures with the trophy and everything?"
"Yes. My dads wanted to take a picture of us together, but I told them I was ready to leave and they said it was fine."
"They can take pictures in a few weeks when I'm here for prom." He adjusted his grip on her as he said, "Would you be offended if I carried you out the car? I want to hold you a little longer."
"I suppose I could handle it."
"Great." He ducked in, pressing a kiss to her shoulder this time. "Come on then. Let's go get some ice cream. We can celebrate and let Adam wallow at the same time."
"I'm not wallowing," Adam objected.
"You are," Brody said with a laugh. He slung an arm around Adam's shoulders, pulling the other into a friendly headlock. "And we'll gladly let you eat your feelings in ice cream until you feel better."
En: I didn't feel a huge need to make major changes to Original Song, other than the reason behind "Get it Right" so I focused more on Jesse's side of things. They'll be some sappy romance stuff and other things during the spring break chapter (the next chapter that is).
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