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Rachel had her first week at NYADA planned out ever since she heard of the school. Become the class favorite, begin the four year process of writing her first Tony acceptance speech…but none of them involved ugly crying on the phone in the middle of Times Square.
“My dance teacher is a monster and—!” She gasped, sitting on the edge of the fountain when the force of her cries took too much out of her.
“I know, Rach, I miss you too.” Kurt tried his best to assure her. He had been planning this epic reunion, telling her to turn around and they’d run into each other’s arms. As fate would have it, his flight got cancelled after thunderstorms rolled through the area. He sat restlessly bouncing his knee in his living room, trying to figure out how to fix this. Sure, Rachel was dramatic and they’d shared a good ugly cry after the NYADA prospective mixer, but this wasn’t that. Kurt was almost scared, he’d never heard Rachel cry like this. He could only imagine the fear and helplessness she was feeling.
Still, he wanted to keep all of this a surprise for her. Half truths it was. “I promise, I’ll come to New York and see you as soon as I can. And we can look at getting you out of that dorm.”
“I just miss everyone back home!” She cried into her hands.
“I know, Rachel. We miss you too…tell you what, why don’t we watch Funny Girl tonight over FaceTime? Go grab some microwave popcorn and clean yourself up. I can imagine your makeup’s a mess right now.”
“Ugh, on top of everything else, you had to remind me…” she tried to laugh, but it came out as a choked wobbly noise. Kurt winced on the other end of the phone.
“Get a cold compress. It’ll tone down the puffiness.”
“Yeah…I’ll do that.”
“I’ll call you back in a few hours, okay?”
“Okay.” Rachel croaked pitifully as she hung up. She just that there for a moment once the dial tone ended. Her chest ached with loneliness and the certain running of her mascara made her feel like a freak show. Still, she couldn’t will herself to move. Maybe she’d be sitting at that fountain forever, ass sore from marble and flunking all her classes due to a lack of attendance—
“Rough first week, huh?”
Rachel would recognize that voice anywhere. Her head snapped up on instinct, too tired to bother hiding the tears smeared across her face.
Jesse almost flinched in surprise. He’d come to tease her initially, but he’d never seen her that upset, even when he cracked that egg on her head. She’d managed to keep it together and keep a strong front until the matching Vocal Adrenaline Range Rovers pulled out, only just catching a glimpse as her face scrunched up with tears. But now, she looked like a wreck. He almost felt too bad to keep poking the bear that was Rachel Berry.
She had no sharp retort this time. No indignant huff and sarcastic quip. Just his name. “Jesse…?” It nearly sent a pang through his chest at just how small she sounded. “What are you doing here…?”
“You wouldn’t ask a cheetah what it does in the desert. Broadway is my natural habitat.”
She could only nod stupidly. Jesse picked up on the hint that he needed to be the one guiding the conversation. “Well…given that logic I won’t ask why you’re here, but…I could ask why you look like Christine at the end of Phantom.”
Only now did she seem to remember what front she wanted to put on in front of him. “…Just mourning all the years I spent in Lima, Ohio and not here.”
“Rachel.” The disappointed admonishment in his voice made her shrink. “I know I flunked out of UCLA, but that makes me book stupid. I’m not Rachel Berry stupid, I know you.”
Her eyes fell down to the marble she sat on. “…I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Do any of us know what we’re doing? You think I was feeling good about myself after flunking out? Doing the walk of shame back to Akron?” He asked, plopping next to her.
Rachel could only shrug. Jesse sighed. “Come on. I’ll get you coffee. I know a place with really good bagels.”
“And why would you do that for me?” She mumbled.
“Cus someone’s gotta show you around. I have half a mind to question why you’re turning down free food.”
“…Fair.”
He hadn’t gotten very far after they sat down thirty minutes later outside the cafe. He thanked his lucky stars he thought twice before breaking the silence by blurting out ‘how was the wedding?’ The very next glance he got at her ringless finger told him enough, not that he didn’t see it coming. Well, not like he was any better for his whole egg fiasco. Shit, he still felt awful about that. He glanced back over at Rachel.
If Jesse had a more flattering, more theatrical way to say “husk of a human being”, he would’ve used them. Alas, there wasn’t, and Rachel Berry sat thousand yard staring at her bagel. He looked over to her, then back away, mouth opening and closing a few times before choosing to speak.
“You know…” he strained before sighing, “I live near here. And I’d be willing to bet money that you still have my number—“
“Do not.” Rachel muttered between bites.
“Oh yeah?” He smirked, grabbing her phone. Ignoring her protests, he activated Siri and proudly looked her in the eyes. “Call Jesse St. James.”
“Calling Jesse St. James.” The robotic voice replied. A few seconds later, he smirked at her as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.
“Excuse me, I need to take this.” He could barely contain his amusement as he pulled out his phone. “Jesse St. James. Hello? Hello?”
“Jesse…!” Rachel whined, snatching her phone back. Jesse could just barely catch a glimpse of a heart emoji by his name. He wouldn’t mention it, at least not yet. He’d start to feel a little too bad for her kicking her while she was down like that.
“Look, my point being,” he chuckled, “you can always call me.”
“I’m not…” Rachel sniffled, wiping her nose with a napkin, “I’m not gonna call you every time my teacher snaps at me, or my roommate brings home a new man…”
“By all means, please do.” He insisted. “My studio apartment is…modest, but it does get quiet.”
“There is no such thing as a modest apartment in Manhattan.” Rachel huffed.
“My point remains. I just ask that you bring Cabernet occasionally.”
“I can’t buy wine yet.”
“Fine, I’ll settle for sparkling grape juice. For now.” He smirked.
“I can’t believe you’re gonna patronize me while eating a bagel topped with cream cheese and Fruity Pebbles.”
“Miss Rachel Berry!” Jesse scoffed in mock offense, a smile breaking on his face in relief that he’d gotten a little banter out of her. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to hide a sweet tooth while in Vocal Adrenaline? They once flogged a kid because he had a pack of Gushers in his backpack. Now? I’m free. And with this hard fought, hard won freedom, I choose Fruity Pebbles.”
Jesse punctuated his rant by taking a comically large bite to make a point. He half regretted it as he struggled to chew, pretending he didn’t see Rachel snicker into her hand, but he eventually wallowed. “I’m just saying. Call me. I’m usually around here somewhere.”
It took a while for Rachel to give in. When Kurt arrived, things were a good amount better, but there were still days she couldn’t even talk to Kurt. Those were the nights she slipped out of their apartment and knocked on Jesse’s door. Tired eyes would answer it and see her holding a box of cereal.
“I figured…I’d at least provide the food this time.”
So there they sat, talking the night through over a bowl of Fruity Pebbles.