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Rachel Berry has made it.
She's back at the bottom, a freshman, and that's more than okay. She's at NYADA now, with people as talented as her (although certainly, hopefully, not more so). These people, these teachers all deserve her utmost respect.
New York City, come hell or high water.
And while she's not sure whether it was her fourteen voicemails to Ms. Tibideaux or her scintillating performance at Nationals in Chicago that put her over the top to decide her fate... it doesn't matter. Because she's here.
Her and Kurt share a single coed suite, and every fashionable click of her heels on the vinyl hallway floors of this building is another step towards success, made more good-looking by her gay best friend's immaculate fashion sense.
Classes start tomorrow, and Rachel Berry is already determined to be the best, to outshine every single one of her competition.
For some people, college may be about fun and games, getting drunk and hooking up with ones classmates. For Rachel Berry, this is a battleground where Kurt Hummel is lucky to be among the chosen few that she doesn't consider to be in the way on her way towards stardom.
Barbra Streisand.
Broadway.
All of her dreams are going to come true here.
&
It's almost completely unexpected (in an scripted sort of way), when it happens. For a moment, everything stops, the hallway collision as she rounds the corner setting in first.
Then the fall, the pain in her ass as a familiar voice cuts through.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there--"
Lifting up her gaze to meet it, Rachel feels her eyes go wide.
"Jesse?!"
&
They decide on coffee. A simple, informal affair that she's sure can't really hurt.
"I didn't come here just to stalk you, you know," he laughs, but Rachel has to admit that she was wondering—and that he knows her better than anyone. "Ms. Tibideaux called me up and asked me if I wanted to prove that I had grown since my audition if I’d be in town anytime before June... and, as it turns out... I have. Or I wouldn't be here right now." He smiles just as Rachel finds her gaze fixated on the rim of her cup, her fingernails digging into the styrofoam. "I didn't really have anything to lose. I lost... the girl, my scholarship to UCLA, the girl... again, my job... I'm not going to lose out on my dreams. Not when a second chance is practically being handed to me on a silver platter."
He smiles again, and Rachel bites her lip, realizing very quickly just how bad the idea of coffee really was as she stares at the random patterns the nutmeg has made on her half-caf soy vanilla latte.
"I can't even get distracted by you anymore because you're... married now and off limits, and--"
"-- um."
There’s a stilted pause, Rachel clearing her throat a bit awkwardly as she looks away from him.
"... you're... not married."
She means to hide her hand, but she's not fast enough, wincing as she looks away.
"You're... not even engaged anymore."
"I-I don't know what to tell you, Jesse." Her shoes are the most amazing shade of blue that she’s never quite noticed before.
"That idiot didn't leave you, did he?"
The threatening tone in his voice has her glancing up at him for a brief moment, slowly shaking her head.
"N-no, I..." She feels herself shrugging, a small smile she doesn't mean creeping onto her features as she puts the lid back on her coffee. "There was a... fight. About... us holding each other back. And that we were getting married too soon-- a-and when dads agreed about not really supporting the wedding when I was only eighteen..."
Jesse slowly nods.
"So he... decided to join Puck in California while I... joined Kurt in New York with our dreams. O-our relationship is on hold until we figure out who we really are."
"And if you belong in each other's lives."
Jesse smiles at her over the edge of his cup, looking as cheeky as ever.
"That day at Nationals," he takes a deep breath, "I felt more comfortable talking to you again than I've felt talking to anyone... since I last talked to you, anyway. It's like..." he offers a shaky laugh, smiling down into his two shots of espresso to keep him running the rest of the day. "One look from you and I'm done for all over again. It's pathetic."
All the same, he looks happier than she's seen him in a while when he finally looks back at her, and Rachel feels the smile coming over her features slowly growing as she looks back at him, holding her hand out.
"Friends?"
"Friends."
&
They take the friends vow seriously. Tonight, Kurt is out for one of his later classes, leaving the two of them on their own and happily curled up-- opposite ends-- on the old couch Burt had graciously agreed to donate to their respective futures.
It's comfortable.
"You know," Jesse mutters softly as he stares at the screen, the hand running through his hair belying his attempt to maintain a calm exterior, "you deserve better than order-in Chinese. We don't even know if this stuff is legitimately vegan."
"Don't say that! There's tofu in it, I assume they know what that means when you call to order!" Rachel returns as she stuffs another piece in her mouth.
"Let me take you out. Legitimately."
"... now?"
"No, I mean--" he takes a deep breath, shaking his head as he forces his hands back down to in front of him. Gesturing is better than running them through his hair, but he's just as nervous as before, she can tell. "Anytime you want. I'll make... reservations, put on a nice suit, call us a cab... it'll be fun."
"I-I don't... understand."
"I'm asking you out. I'm not-- I won't let Finn cut in again this time, not when we're meant to be together. You think I'm going to see a bare left ring finger on your hand and not think every single moment about what you and I could be together? No-- Rachel, I won't stand for it."
"But we're fri--"
"More than friends," he cuts her off, and Rachel can't help but beam back at him.
"The way you touched me on that day at Nationals felt... more natural than anything. The... conversation shouldn't have been so easy with an ex-boyfriend, but... it really was."
"I'm in love with you," he says quietly, followed quickly by a short moment of laughter as she just looks at him. "... still. And I probably should have told you during your sophomore year. But... I was an idiot back then and you deserved better."
"That date," she smiles again. "Let's wait for that date."
&
And they do.
Rachel picks a clear night in October for their date, a full two weeks from their movie night, Jesse having to fight to restrain himself from touching her before then.
But it's worth it.
Rachel always looks more beautiful with every single time he sees her.
But knowing that she's going on a date with him somehow makes it even more amazing.