Chapter 3: Calls
Rachel's POV
Rachel woke up to see a message from Jesse: a sweet apology for getting asleep on her last night. Rachel smiled to herself; she couldn't even be angry. After all, he'd warned her it might happen. Jumping out of her bed, she grabbed her cell and dialed Jesse's number.
Humming while waiting for her boyfriend to pick up, Rachel opened her closet and pulled out the blue dress she was going to wear. In meanwhile, Jesse answered the call but instead of hearing his warm greeting, Rachel was hit by a wall of poorly hidden frustration:
"You're a girl, right?"
Rachel pulled the phone away from her face to look at the speaker with astonishment. She opened her mouth but wasn't entirely sure where Jesse was heading with this... greeting.
"Unless I woke up in an alternative universe, yes I am a girl, Jesse," she replied carefully.
"So as a girl you can assure me that an expensive ring with a huge diamond on left hand doesn't necessarily have to be an engagement ring."
"Jesse, what are you talking about?" Rachel asked with astonishment. "I can wear whatever you buy me, although I'm not a great fun of ostensive jewellery, in case you were wondering."
She heard an angry murmur and another frustrated groan.
"I will remember that for sure but sadly it's not for you. Becca came back in the morning, I put her into bed and I saw a ring on her finger. I kind of freaked out because as far as I know she isn't even seeing anyone – but that really looks like a huge engagement ring."
What? Rachel froze. Rebecca? Getting married? As Jesse said, she wasn't even seeing anyone; at least, no one that they knew of. If Rachel had thought Jesse had never been a relationship material, he'd learned from the best: Becca's life consisted of parties, photo shoots, catwalks and non-commitment. There was no way she would settle down unless she really needed to.
Rachel didn't know what to say. Maybe it was just a regular-however-ostensive piece of jewelry, or some practical joke on her side. But Jesse sounded seriously worried. Slowly and carefully considering every word, Rachel shared her thoughts, trying to sound as calm and as soothing as possible:
"Jesse," Rachel sighed. "It's all right, I'm sure it's just a ring. No significance, definitely not engagement."
Jesse was silent for a moment.
"Come on, Jesse," Rachel chuckled. "It's Becca. Just wait for her to wake up and talk to her then. Until then, calm down. Seriously, for the amount of fights with your sister, you are an annoyingly overprotective younger brother."
"I just make sure those I care about are in good shape," Jesse murmured defensively. "And, unfortunately, that list includes my careless sister."
Rachel smiled with adoration despite Jesse's anger.
"Everything's going to be fine," she assured him.
Jesse sighed and she could practically see how he puts his hand through his hair - one of his nervous ticks. She rolled her eyes and entered her small bathroom, looking around. She reached into the shower and let the water fall while waiting for it to get warm. Then, she turned to look into the mirror over the sink. She put the phone between her ear and shoulder and started unbuttoning her pink PJs shirt she was sleeping in.
"Jesse I need to get into shower," Rachel sighed. "I'm meeting Kurt and Blaine in less than hour."
"Oh," Jesse sounded disappointed. "Sure, say hi from me."
"Really?" she was surprised; Jesse never acknowledged her friendship with Kurt, claiming that she was too quick to replace him in the position of her best friend for her old teammate. "Okay."
"And remember to present a serious offer to Anderson, Rach," Jesse's voice turned serious. "Really, Rach. Disregarding your relationship with Kurt, you can't forget what's the stake here."
"I'll do what I can," Rachel threw vaguely. She didn't need to start this discussion again. "I love you. Bye bye."
"Love you, too, Rach," Jesse murmured.
Rachel entered Lima Bean for the second time this weekend. Rachel spotted her company straight away – Kurt was gushing over something while Blaine was listening to whatever he was talking about with interest, nodding his head but Rachel could see that he was mostly drinking in Kurt's face. Rachel knew that look – it was the same she was giving Jesse while pretending to listen to him which would always end up in Jesse murmuring something with fake irritation. Fake because he was the one to give her the exact same look more than often.
Seeing the same pattern, Rachel smiled to herself and tried to forget about the file in her bag.
The two boys noticed her as well and stopped their one-sided conversation.
"Oh, it's so good to see you guys!" she called.
Kurt jumped to his feet to close her in a tight embrace.
"Do anything and you're dead," he murmured straight into her ear then pulled out with the biggest smile she'd ever seen.
"Blaine," she ignored Kurt's comment. She hugged the other boy as well. "Hi."
"Hi, Rachel. How are you?"
"I am just wonderful, thank you," she replied with a genuine smile. "I missed my dads so much I couldn't help but come to Lima."
Her companions smiled in response and Rachel clapped her hands. She looked around and said:
"I'm in a dire need of caffeine. I was up late last night and this morning wasn't the most peaceful one, either. Excuse me for a bit."
She saw the two boys exchange curious glances but stayed silent until she was back with a cup of her favourite soy latte. She took a sip and sighed.
"Best coffee in Ohio," she said dreamily.
Kurt cleared his throat pointedly.
"Something happened?"
Rachel took a deep breath but only shook her head and replied vaguely:
"It's been a long week. And Jesse's sister is giving him hard time in New York."
"Wait, isn't she in LA?" Blaine asked confused.
"Long week doing what?" Kurt inquired with suspicion.
"She's visiting. It's a long story. Anyway," she tried to change the topic. "I've had to re-audition for Vocal Adrenaline."
The last piece of news caught Kurt and Blaine's attention. They exchanged quick glances and focused on her face.
"Your mother made you go through auditions again?" Kurt made sure he heard correctly.
Rachel nodded her head.
"It was a formality, really," she assured them. "Shelby cares about the quality of the team's members and each person must fight to the place at the beginning of the school year."
"That's stupid," Kurt assessed quickly. "Everyone knows you can sing, why checking it again?"
Rachel smiled at the comment and more or less direct compliment.
"What did you sing?" Blaine asked not bothering to wait for her answer as if he also thought it was too obvious to answer. Rachel thought that Blaine's understanding of such minor details made him an excellent possible teammate for her.
Shaking her head at the silly thought, Rachel took a sip of her coffee before answering.
"Well, they all know me as Rachel Berry, the Broadway diva. I wanted to show something slightly different, but, you know, at the same time sticking to my roots," she looked at them with a smile. "I asked my male lead to audition with me and we went for Another Day from Rent together."
Kurt frowned at the words.
"What happened with your reluctance to audition with other people, huh?" he asked partly-sarcastically referring to when she not-so-subtly turned him down last year.
Rachel blushed. That situation with Kurt was totally different – they weren't friends at that time; they were potential competitors while Justin wasn't going to put up any fight for her leading spot – she had nothing to worry about from his side. Besides, she wanted to try out their stage chemistry before they started rehearsing for real. Rolling her eyes, Rachel waved her hand.
"I don't feel threatened by anyone in Vocal Adrenaline," she explained, hoping for Kurt to swallow that hidden compliment and give up. "Everyone knows their role and Shelby is there to put them in their places if something goes wrong."
Her companions accepted the explanation without comment and Rachel relaxed.
"I've heard about this amazing new show they are putting up in the local theater in Akron next month," she changed the subject quickly. "I think we could all go and see it."
She clearly caught Kurt's interest; he straightened his back and grilled her about details and she patiently answered his every question. She really wanted them to visit her in Akron – her team and new friends were great but she also wanted to show them a glimpse of her new life as well. This show seemed to be a nice excuse to have them all over; probably even Jesse would manage to get back for the weekend.
Blaine was enthusiastic hearing that. He and Jesse hit it off almost immediately so it wasn't surprising when he nodded his head:
"Sure, we could have like a double date of something," he smiled. "I'm in."
Kurt nodded.
"Me too. Now if you excuse me, I'll be right back."
He kissed Blaine on the cheek and hurried in the direction of the bathroom. Rachel glanced back after him and, after making sure he was out of sight, she turned to look at Blaine with serious expression. The boy immediately understood the look and sighed with obvious resignation.
"Just give me the documents and let's forget about the entire idea."
Rachel smiled at the way he seemed to know the ropes already. She opened her bag and passed the file to him, saying at the same time:
"You seem to know how it works, so you know I'm required to meet you and present the offer," Rachel murmured. "Here's the time and place. If anyone asks, I tried to bribe you with a few personal favours, a nice apartment in Akron to help with the transfer for your family, SPA weekend for your mother and one-year supply of hair gel."
Blaine seemed amused at the last remark.
"Hair gel?" he repeated with a chuckle, hiding the papers in his bag. "Really?"
Rachel shrugged.
"You seem to be fond of it," Rachel threw a pointed look at his hair.
"I look like a puddle without it," Blaine answered and, looking around to make sure no one was listening, leaned in. "Can I get that hair gel if I only come to the audition?"
Rachel laughed and shook her head.
"You're either in or forget it."
Blaine opened his mouth to say something but stiffened and threw her a warning look. Less than ten seconds later, Kurt was back throwing suspicious glances at their innocent faces.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
They waved their hands.
"I was trying to picture your boyfriend with an afro," Rachel giggled.
"What?"
"I was just telling Rachel how ridiculous I look without hair gel," Blaine helped her. "I mean, the curls are everywhere."
The girl sipped her coffee. She chuckled softly at the remark.
"I love Jesse's curls," she admitted after a moment. "I'd kill him if he ever tried to get rid of them or something."
Kurt took his seat back, obviously relieved than any sort of inappropriate show choir conversations-slash-poaching discussion did not take place. Rachel let out a relieved breath when Kurt changed the topic completely; Blaine quickly caught up with him and they spent another half an hour discussing the movie that Kurt and Blaine has seen lately. Throughout the talk, Rachel forced a small smile upon her lips and tried to nod at proper times but her mind was still with the file hidden now in Blaine's bag.
If she dropped the formalities, her negligence would sooner or later see the light and Shelby would be pissed at her. She was just glad that Blaine was this understanding; not to offend Kurt but he never had to be almost solely responsible for the entire show choir and meet their expectations. Jesse was a master of dealing with those things and for the last four years she witnessed it first handed. Blaine was the lead of his team – he had some experience in these kinds of things that's why she didn't expect him to make a big deal out of it; he just understood that she had to do it and believed her that she expected nothing from him.
Jesse was going to kill her for giving up on him without a fight, Rachel was well aware of that. Part of her knew that Jesse was right and Blaine would definitely help her get another championship, and this part of her was currently continuously nagging her in her mind. The other part was focusing on the simple fact – based on her knowledge, intuition and psychic abilities – that Blaine wouldn't even consider her proposition for more than the duration of the meeting, so the attempts would have been doomed from the very beginning. Rachel sighed. Providing that he would transfer, Blaine would gain almost nothing. He was facing giving up the leading spot and his popularity in school in favour of merely being a member of VA, regardless of their winning streak. Secondly, it would mean getting far from Kurt, a boy who changed schools to run from a school bully and, also, to be with him. Rachel simply couldn't do it to neither of them. Kurt was the only friend she had left in Lima.
Rachel tried to focus back on the conversation but failed. Kurt didn't even notice her silence, fortunately. Rachel looked at her phone to check the time and gasped.
"Damn, I was supposed to be on my way back to Akron by now," she stood up immediately. "Shelby asked me to help her with the set list for Invitationals and Sectionals."
Blaine blinked and Kurt finally stopped talking. Rachel collected her belongings in a hurry and quickly hugged her companions.
"Sorry, I need to go and... sorry. And I'll let you know about the show. Bye!"
Neither of them managed to get even a word out of themselves before she ran outside.
Jesse's POV
Jesse was in the middle of his reading when he heard a movement from Becca's room about an hour later. He put down his text book and jumped to his feet. He found Becca in the kitchen, opening the fridge.
Becca spotted him and yawned.
"How did I get to my room?" she asked. "I thought I passed out in the living room."
"I moved you," Jesse explained curtly. "I'm expecting a guy from my classes today; he's supposed to be here soon and I didn't want him to see you like that."
"You moved an unconscious hot model from your living room?" Becca asked with a smirk. "I would definitely make you look like a freaking hero to those kids, Jesse. Seriously, you've became so boring since you started dating Rachel."
Jesse smirked at his sister logic. Slightly relaxed, he poured himself a cup of coffee and took a seat by the counter in the kitchen. Becca might've been right but the truth was, he didn't miss his old heartbreaker reputation that much. Not when Rach was everything he would ever need in a girl.
"Wait until you find someone like Rachel to see that none of your parties is better than one peaceful evening with that person," Jesse replied without thinking.
Becca rolled her eyes.
"You are seriously whipped, kid," she threw mockingly and took a sip of her own coffee.
Involuntarily, Jesse glanced at her left hand and froze when he noticed that the frustrating piece of metal was gone. Remembering Rachel's words, Jesse tried to focus – she must've slipped the ring off because she didn't need to wear it at home; she definitely wasn't hiding it, right?
"When are you going back to LA?" he asked out of the sudden.
"I have a flight tomorrow, so if I could crash your guest room for another night, that's be awesome."
Jesse nodded his head.
"How are you?" he asked again. "In general, I mean. You came in late on Friday, and then spent all Saturday at work and on that party so there was no real occasion to talk."
Becca only shrugged in response.
"I'm fine I guess."
"Anything exciting happened lately?" Jesse dropped the question.
That much for keeping it calm and relaxed. He just needed to know.
Becca stiffened and it was not a good sign. She shrugged again but avoided his eyes.
"No, nothing in particular," she said looking to the side. Jesse narrowed his eyes – she was a terrible liar. She'd always been unable to hide anything from him.
"Rebecca, you can talk to me."
Jesse's sister groaned.
"About what?" she was irritated. "Come on, Jesse, what's with the stupid interrogation?"
"Stupid interrogation?" he repeated disbelievingly. "Jesus, Becks, is it a sin to be interested in my sister's life? Especially, one huge ring on her finger."
Becca paled. The guilt was painted all over her face when she looked at her hand briefly. She tried to mask it up almost immediately but failed. Jesse noticed that she wasn't even trying to make up any story. Jesse went on.
"Becks, are you engaged?"
He tried to decipher her looks, a mixture of guilt, irritation and something else he couldn't capture precisely, but failed. Becca was crazy and irresponsible but she has always been honest with him. He thought they had each other's back and now what? She was going to spend the rest of her life with some guy and didn't even think to let him know? Knowing his sister, it was more than possible that the next time they would meet she'd be wearing a wedding ring.
"I can see why our parents would be the last to be informed but thank you for trusting me," he snorted sarcastically, leaving her in the kitchen alone.
He and Becca were close; despite the constant bickering and occasional pushes from one another, they were always sticking together. It remained this way for years, even regardless of Becca's difficult situation with their parents. They never hid the fact that they didn't believe Becca could achieve much in life – she flunked out of college to start working as a model. To put it lightly, her path of professional career was not warmly welcomed by her dad, which caused a number of minor fights. On the other hand, Jesse was worshiped by them as a star child; their favourite. Jesse could see how unfairly his sister was treated but never tried to take advantage of that. On the contrary, he tried to reason with his father more than once but to no avail. Becca moved out to LA as soon as it was possible and was barely showing up home unless it was necessary or Jesse asked her to. Rachel suspected that Jesse was the only thing that kept Becca around and in touch with her parents since she'd reached the age of eighteen.
He knew she was irresponsible but it wasn't bringing their parents down to size by failing few classes or not respecting their mother's dress codes at her parties. It was a freaking marriage. He knew Becca wasn't the poster baby for responsibility but this time she crossed the line.
"Jesse?" Becca knocked at the open door to his bedroom. "I'm sorry. I meant to tell you."
Jesse turned his head. He grabbed his book and ignored her. If she thought that one 'sorry' would change anything, she was in for a surprise.
"Yeah," he replied with irony. "Like you told me that you'd rather spend Christmas with some friends in Florida four years ago, leaving me alone because mom and dad went off to Brazil and uncle Greg took Francine to Chicago? Was I going to get a Christmas card this year, too?"
"Come on, you could've stayed with Rachel or something," Becca rolled her eyes.
"She's freaking Jewish, Becks," Jesse reminded her coldly. "And it's beside the point. I can't believe that you've never thought to tell me."
"Jesus, Jesse, it happened only yesterday," Becca whined. She sat next to him on his bed and nudged his side. "You are the first to know."
Blinking with surprise, Jesse turned his head to his left. Becca sighed and moved so that she could place her head on his shoulder while Jesse couldn't stop the stiffness of his shoulders. Yesterday? It didn't change the fact that for months apparently she didn't think to tell him she was seeing someone in the first place.
They fell into uncomfortable silence.
"I want to meet him," Jesse announced. "You can do at least this much."
"Sure," Becks agreed immediately. She seemed truly regretful which lessened Jesse's anger slightly – but he wasn't going to show her that just yet. "We can all go out tonight for a dinner, how does it sound?"
Jesse nodded his head. He opened his mouth but was interrupted by the door bell. They both looked in that direction but it was Jesse who jumped to his feet.
"We'll talk about it later," he told his sister. "Now get out of my room, I need to study."
Becks nodded quickly and passed him on his way to the door. Without a word, she shut herself in the guest room. Shaking his head, Jesse opened the main door to greet a tall dark haired guy.
His name was Tom, Jesse met him in modern drama class that he was taking as an elective. Jesse didn't know him very well but the guy wasn't the worst specimen of future actors he had met in New York so far. In classes Jesse noticed that he was smart and quick so a potential candidate for a companion. That was why Jesse was rather happy to hear that they were assigned to work together on a scene from one of the dramas they were discussing.
Tom entered the apartment and looked around with raised brows. Jesse asked him to come over, sure that his apartment would be better to rehearse than dorms. Following Tom inside, Jesse offered him something to drink.
"Sure, black coffee, without sugar," the guy answered, still looking around. Jesse got two cups and poured the hot beverage into them, throwing a quick glance at Tom, who chose to look in his direction as well. "Man, how the hell do you manage to pay rent on this street?"
Jesse lifted a corner of his mouth at the almost disbelieving comment.
"I don't," he replied simply, passing Tom his coffee. "The place is mine."
Surprised, Tom nodded his head in silent appreciation.
"So, no tearful story about a small town boy who comes to a big town to chase his dreams and lives in a cupboard apartment, working his ass off to stay alive at the same time trying to work through the scornful college competition and eventually becoming the greatest star the world knew of?"
Jesse chuckled openly at the remark. Tom's words made Jesse like the guy even more. Indeed, he was far from being an underdog – he will never be one.
"Unless," Tom continued. "You've murdered the owner and took over his identity, apartment and bank accounts."
This time Jesse laughed.
"No, I didn't kill anyone. Too much risk of destroying my clothes. And no small town boy story either; well, perhaps, aside from the last part – I will have my share of successful roles and awards."
Tom accepted his cup of coffee and took a small sip almost immediately. Jesse leaned against a wall nearby, observing his guest.
"What about the dorms?" Tom changed the topic suddenly. "Freshmen are required to stay in dorms. What makes you so special and different from the rest of us?"
Jesse shrugged. He had everything covered.
"I have a deal with my roommate from the dorms. He's a violinist so he was fine with me not being there – he has a room to practise, and covers up for me," he explained. "He has my number if anything comes up."
"Smart."
"Yeah," he murmured. He was quite proud of himself for being able to pull his perfect plan off. "Shall we start?"
They settled on the sofa and armchair in the living room and started their work. Jesse had his part memorised already, Tom needed a few minutes to prepare his lines but other than that, their work went on smoothly. Few times, Jesse tried to listen to any sounds coming from Becca's room but there was nothing. She was probably asleep again, he thought, while going over some harder parts together.
"Here," Tom pointed to Jesse's character's last words, which brought his attention back to their work. "Try to make it ironic, it'll change the interpretation slightly and give us more floor to support our version."
Jesse nodded in agreement and made a note on the margin. Unlike Jesse, who took up drama classes as electives to complement his vocal education, Tom was majoring in theatre. That was why Jesse was willing to follow his instructions as long as they seemed reasonable and practical. In return, Tom was first to ask for help with vocal exercises. Truly, a match made in heaven. The two of them could do well in terms of school as long as they stuck together.
They spent another hour mastering the piece before Tom leaned against the back of the sofa and stopped Jesse.
"Wait," he waved his hand. "I'm tired. Let's take a break, huh."
Although it wasn't what Jesse had in mind, he only shrugged in response.
"No problem. I'm going to order some pizza. Want something?"
Tom shook his head.
"No. My girl's cooking tonight. Don't want to spoil my appetite, you know."
"I'd kill for my Rachel's bean salad," Jesse told Tom truthfully. At the mere thought of Rachel dressed in her adorable pink apron, dancing around Shelby's kitchen and humming to the melody in the speakers, Jesse felt homesick.
He grabbed his phone and dialled the number to one of the local pizza places. When he returned to the room, he saw that Tom was standing by one of the shelves, looking at the framed pictures that Rachel had prepared for him before he left. Jesse smiled to himself when he remembered how she specifically told him to place the pictures in a very visible place in the apartment so that no one could have doubts about her rightful place in Jesse's life.
"That's your girl?" Tom's question brought Jesse back to reality. The boy picked up one of the frames and gestured to Rachel's smiling face. "She's hot."
Despite the fact that the evaluating stare that Tom gave his girlfriend irritated him slightly, Jesse smirked at something different – Rach has always been complaining about her nose, flat chest and her wide lips (which were constantly following him in his dreams), and there she was; getting a quick honest and totally true evaluation from the guy that had never seen her before in his life.
Smiling proudly to himself, Jesse nodded his head.
"Yeah, that's Rach. She's still in school in Ohio."
Tom whistled, causing Jesse to wince.
"School as in high school? You two are still together?" he asked with a reasonable dose of uncertainty. "My brother was dating a girl his senior year, great love and other BS. They split after a week because she got totally jealous, making up stories in her head, until they both had enough. My brother told me that in retrospective, he would've dumped her before the end of the summer."
"Well," Jesse cocked his eyebrow. "That's not the first time people tried to give me this particular piece of advice."
Tom nodded his head.
"Assuming from that glare, you're not going to take it," he noticed. "Which makes me wonder that you two are either hopelessly in love, or..."
Tom was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and soon after, Becks walked out of the guest room. Much to Jesse's irritation, she chose to march into the living room, grab a glass of water and nonchalantly lean against the counter awaiting their reactions.
"Or."
Only after a second did Jesse realise that Tom's words meant to complete his previous guesses. He was looking at Becks with a smirk, as if he had figured out everything just fine. Becks frowned when Tom snorted pointedly and threw Jesse a confused glance.
"Do I have something on my face?" she asked.
Jesse shook his head. He approached Tom and pointed at Becks.
"That, Mr I-Know-It-All, is my sister," he explained with a roll of his eyes.
In a matter of seconds, Tom's expression turned from satisfied to confused and finally consternated. When Becca understood the weird behaviour the two boys in front of her exhibited, her jaw hit the floor.
"You kidding me?" she called. "Ew."
She put down her glass and clapped her hands, looking at Jesse.
"I called Anthony. We're up for eight in Ritz."
Rachel's POV
After coming back from Lima, Rachel found herself closed up in her bedroom while Shelby was on the phone having a conference call with someone from the school board and the team's booster club. She was apparently outlining their rehearsal schedule or Vocal Adrenaline's budget for the year – or something equally important, so Rachel decided to leave her alone in the living room, deciding to catch up on her homework instead.
From time to time, however, her thoughts escaped the course and she found herself thinking about the forthcoming auditions, Blaine and Mike Chang, and eventually the New Directions. Without her and Kurt they were two people short from being able to participate in Sectionals. In comparison to Vocal Adrenaline (who have lost two more people after the reauditions, which resulted in being eight people short from their traditional number of twenty-one members), the McKinley club was very unlikely to get any new people to join them. Even Mr Schue wasn't a miracle worker.
Rachel put down her English text book and slumped down her bed again, sighing heavily. She had mixed feelings – on one hand, she should be happy that there was one team less to beat in the competition. On the other, however, she felt sad that the New Directions would be unable to show anything more after being so disgraced by her unprofessional behaviour in Regionals.
The girl almost burst into laughter when the song on her iPod changed and the first sounds of Bohemian Rhapsody started to fill up her room. She reached out to switch the song but froze halfway through when Shelby's voice called her name.
Shelby's head popped through the door.
"Sweetie, dinner's ready."
Rachel nodded and jumped to her feet. It was Sunday so Shelby was on cooking duty. Rachel dug into her portion eagerly, not for the first time noticing that Shelby became much more efficient in her vegan cooking over the past few months.
"How was Lima?" Shelby asked, watching her eat.
Rachel made a face.
"Just ask about Mike and Blaine," she told her mother. "It'll be quicker than me telling you about dads, and Jesse and Kurt and..."
"Okay, I get it," Shelby interrupted her. She took a breath and bowed her head. "How did you do with the meetings?"
Rachel put down her spoon and moved uncomfortably in her stool. Shelby frowned.
"Rachel, honey, I know that you aren't accustomed to such..."
"No it went fine," Rachel interrupted her. Shelby blinked. "I mean, I met with Mike Chang and I think he'll show up. I'm not sure if he'll accept the offer in the end, but he'll come. But Blaine..."
Rachel drifted off, letting Shelby know that what she'd been telling the woman for the past few days turned out to be true. Blaine the Warbler wasn't planning on turning his back on Dalton.
Shelby was silent for a moment. Rachel took it as her chance to resume eating. She was feeling uneasily. Not only because the two talks she had conducted or Shelby who grew to be a rather skilful in reading her moods and emotions; Jesse might've been trying to cover his concerns about Becca with frustration and annoyance at his sister behaviour but Rachel wasn't stupid.
She has observed the heavy atmosphere in the St. James' household for years; Becks had a history of being unruly and undeserving towards her parents who chose to support their youngest child when it turned out that he was more talented and driven than his older sister. If what Jesse saw was indeed an engagement ring, her parents would flip if the guy or the, apparently, secret relationship, or, finally, the circumstances of the hasty quiet proposal were in any way going to damage their name.
"Rachel, are you listening to me?"
Rachel blinked, trying to get back to Shelby.
"Rachel, you look worried," her mom noticed. "Is everything fine? Is it about Jesse?"
"Sort of. He's having..."
Her words were interrupted by the custom ringtone she'd set for Jesse. Her hand instantly snatched the device off the table. Anxious to hear an update on Becca, she quickly picked up the phone, apologising Shelby silently before running into her room.
"I'm meeting the douche tonight."
Oh, so Jesse's worries were confirmed. Becca was really getting married.
"Any name?" she asked with interest.
"'Douche' works for me," Jesse barked into the phone.
Rachel sighed heavily. If he was going to meet the guy in such a foul mood, then he shouldn't go there in the first place.
"Jesse," she admonished him softly.
"I promise not to call him douche when I meet him," Jesse swore formally. His calm facade broke down, however, with his next words: "I just don't get it. She's trying to make my dad disown her or something?"
Rachel looked out of the window.
"Maybe she's in love?" she chuckled. "Who knows, maybe she actually met someone good for her and wants to take the next step?"
"Yeah, sure," Jesse replied sarcastically. "Because she was telling me about this guy for years now and they've been planning to have three children, a house with a garden and a cat. Rach, for Christ's sake, it's my sister, she would have told me if there was something going on."
"No need to be sarcastic," Rachel pouted. "I'm trying to help here. Talk to her before you start hating on anyone."
Jesse sighed.
"I'm sorry, baby," he murmured finally. "It's just... I can't imagine my parents' reaction."
"For one, your mother will be thrilled to throw a wedding party," Rachel threw with a smirk. "I doubt she had even considered the possibility before."
Jesse laughed and Rachel relaxed knowing that his nerves were gradually disappearing. She smiled to her reflection proudly; if there was anyone able to soothe Jesse St. James's anger, it was her.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "The luck of a woman who was born to organise wedding parties to have two hopeless children. You know that you are her only hope in that department, right?"
Rachel blushed trying to calm her racing heart. They were dating for less than five months but every time Jesse would mention something like that, she couldn't stop but think that she wouldn't mind entering St. James family officially. She would kill anyone who knew about that, but she'd spent a bigger part of her summer secretly practicing her "Rachel St. James" signature on the pages of her diary.
"So this is why she's so nice to me?" Rachel smiled, trying to keep her tone light. "To make sure I relieve her from being responsible for you when the time comes? I'm glad that in case you change your mind, there's still your mother to force you."
"Pretty much so," Jesse's deep voice reached her ear. "Not that I would mind. Rachel St. James. I think I like that," Jesse tasted the sound of that and she blushed horribly. He was making her stupid fantasies seem only more real.
"For someone who's in his first relationship you're awfully quick to think about marriage," Rachel teased him.
"Rach, we've been inseparable for so long that even if you got married to someone else, I'd be living in your guest room anyway. Why torturing some poor guy."
She cleared her throat.
"I still think you'd find someone for yourself eventually," she half-joked. "Or I'd make it my life goal to get rid of you from my guest room by finding you a wife."
"Yeah, because your attempts at match-making were so successful in the past," he snickered mercilessly.
Rachel shrugged.
"If you're referring to Kate then I have to admit you're right; she's not quite for you."
"You've finally realised that, Rach," Jesse laughed.
Rachel approached the window and sat on a chair next to it. She looked at her hair resting on her shoulders and started playing with a strand of her hair.
"Jesse?" Rachel spoke up after a moment of silence, turning serious again.
"What is it, Rach?" he asked before hanging up.
Rachel bit her lip, not knowing how to put it to words. She took a deep breath and let out the words that roamed through her head for the past few days:
"It's about..." she trailed off. "We're good, right?"
She heard Jesse taking a deep breath.
"Baby, of course we are," he assured her. "I love you. What does it come from, anyway?"
Rachel stood up from her seat and started making rounds across her room.
"I miss you. I know. It gets boring every time you hear that from me."
This time, Jesse laughed at her.
"If you ever feel lonely, I'm a phone call away, you know that."
Rachel sighed.
"I'd rather wish you were a couple of streets away," she admitted with a hinge of irritation clear in her voice.
"I have an idea," Jesse murmured, instantly cutting Rachel's breath short. She knew this tone of voice; whenever she heard it, it always ended in making her blush. "We can pretend that I'm there and..."
Rachel jumped in her spot when a distinct sound of Skype filled her room. She shook her head and Jesse stopped talking on the other end of the line.
"Baby, I'll call you later, it's Kurt again," Rachel told him. "Be nice to Becca's boyfriend."
She ended the call and hastily pushed the button on the keyboard. Her smile that she greeted Kurt with faded when she saw Blaine's guilty expression next to his boyfriend's furious face and a very familiar file in his hands.
This chapter turned out to be more of a filler rather than a full time content piece but it's necessary to slowly outline some of the things that I'm going to focus on in Keeping Alive.
As always: hope you enjoyed it and spare a couple of seconds to REVIEW! They keep me flying!
-s.