(10) drabble(s); Jesse/Shelby
for
jesseandshelby
01. The One Where Jesse Meets Shelby
She was smaller than he expected. When her name was passed around the rumor circuit, through the teacher's lounge, and over and behind the stadium stands it was always given larger than life qualities. What was Ms. Cochoran's issue today? Did you hear what Shelby said the other day? She did what?!? He had honestly expected her to be about seven feet tall with smoke coming out of her head. The woman glancing over the resume he had just printed in Lab 28 was petite, even in her five inch heels, with soft curls and hard cheekbones.
"It'll do," She threw his resume in the recycling bin with a twitch of her hand, "Top 40 Hit. Go." She leaned back in her leather chair and fiddled with a ballpoint pin, rolling her eyes at the familiar Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum of Rihann's 'Disturbia' that floated from his lips before silencing him and requesting he pick a song that didn't make her want to vomit. He decided in that moment that every rumor he had previously heard was true, and that wasn't a bad thing.
02. The One With Their First Duet
Jenny had to break her leg. How many times had she been told to drink more milk (skim, of course), reminded to take vitamins? Shelby rubbed her temples, they were going nowhere in this rehearsal. It was supposed to have been a fairly easy practice. Just Jesse, Jenny, and the dancers for their "indie" number.
"Take it from the top." She called out, but not one of her dancers seemed to know what to do without their lead female vocal present. She gave a sound that wasn't too distant from a growl, before throwing her file folders onto her desk and walking over to the stage. She glared from her perch on side stage before taking her heels off and strolling onto the stage.
"Now." She gestured to her sound department, as the music to "The Mess We're In" filled the auditorium. She was impressed as Jesse immediately started singing, taking the partner change without missing a beat. She had to admit their voices sounded good together.
No need for words now
We sit in silence
You look me
In the eye directly
You met me
I think it's Wednesday
The evening
The mess we're in
And ooooh...
03. The One With Sexual Tension
It was a late practice. They always were with his director, but tonight it had gone above and beyond the usual late.
"Sorry, guys. You know how it is." He heard Shelby call out as his classmates were getting into their ridiculously expensive cars. He was in the dressing room, attempting to sling his shiny, polyester shirt over his head. Shit. Shit. Shit. Somewhere between on and off, it had gotten stunk on his watch. He did not want to mess this shirt up. Granted, the team could replace it, money wasn't an issue at all, just the mere fact that they were performing for the school in days.
"Is anybody still in there?" Shelby inquired, knocking on the door, the plastic gold stars that spelled out 'Changing Area' clattering against the frame.
"Erm..yes. My shirt's stuck." Jesse bit his lip and did another unsuccessful tug at the material.
"Oh, wow...," He could practically feel her rolling her eyes. Before he could process what was happening he felt a cool hand on his back and the subtle scent of lilac surrounding him.
"It looks like your watch tore into the side," Her hands found his wrist, "but it should be fine."
"Ow. Damnit!" Jesse cried out as something tore into his side, "What was that?"
"Sorry, must've been my ring. You'll be fine. Two seconds," She unhooked his watch and in a tug the shirt was off. When she glanced down, she saw the imprint her ring left. "Get some cream for that," She motioned to his chest and walked out. When he looked in the mirror later that night, he couldn't help but think the diamond shaped mark looked like something else entirely.
04. The One With 'Don't Rain On My Parade'
It was her favourite song. It had been her favourite song since she had seen 'Funny Girl' as a child. It's only fitting that she should hear her child, the girl she had given birth to, sing it the first time she sees her. She thinks Jesse can tell something's wrong. She's heard, "Are you with us, Coach?" so many times at their after show dinner that she's lost count. She's in a daze, and she doesn't know how to get out of it. When it's time to leave, she gets into her car, and backs up straight into a lamppost, before breaking down and crying. She's at a Level Five sob when she hears the tap tap tap at her window.
"Ms. Cochran, why don't you let me take you home?" Jesse gestures over to his car. She wonders if she says 'Yes' a little too quickly.
05. The One Where Shelby Asks Jesse To Befriend Rachel
"St. James." He's getting ready to leave and she calls him into her office.
"Mhm?" He sits down in one of her visitor chairs. He can't recall the last time she's had a visitor. Most parents were too happy there was a woman willing to keep their children for six extra hours a day to complain.
"I have a project for you," She's smiling, as he's not sure if he should be afraid or excited, but both emotions are currently waging a war in his head. After she tells him the main goal, they sit and scheme and plan and order Chinese takeout. As she raises egg drop soup into her mouth, he briefly thinks that if he could do one thing forever, it just might be this.
06. The One Where Jesse Transfers To McKinley High
Just as he finishes buttoning the top button of his shirt, the doorbell rings. Before he gets there, he knows who it is. He flings open the door and gestures for her to come in.
"I was just going to get breakfast," He looks around, trying to find a clean surface, before his eyes land on an overstuffed chair, "but you can have a seat there, if you want" he adds in.
"No, its fine. I'm only staying a minute." Shelby walks over to the counter, where he's trying to unsuccessfully make pancakes.
"That really is the most pathetic thing I have ever seen," She raises an eyebrow and shrugs out of her jacket, coming over to stand beside him. He can't help but notice that he tank top comes down a bit too low in the front to be undeniably professional but he's not complaining. In less than ten minutes, they have eleven perfect silver dollar pancakes. There's one that look like a heart and he's glad she doesn't comment when he tears it in half and gives one side to her.
07. The One Where Jesse Likes Rachel
She sees them in the mall. They're walking and they look so perfect together, she can't help but notice. She darts into the first store she sees, and it's only once she's in it that she realizes it's an erotic bookstore. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Jesse and Rachel and their hand-holding and disgusting sharing-of-ice-cream are getting closer. She grabs a magazine (what in God's name was Hoe & Garden and what sick person would subscribe to it?) and slouches in the corner, praying they don't notice her. Just when she thinks she's gotten away without incident, Jesse looks back at her and winks before slipping an arm around Rachel's backside.
08. The One Where Shelby Is Jealous
This wasn't really happening. She kept telling herself that. It had just been a long time, a very long time that voice in the back of her head adds in, since she had been on a date or had any contact with a straight male. She didn't count Schuester. At all. She wasn't really attracted to Jesse. That would be morally wrong, morally gray since he's eighteen that voice just won't shut up tonight. She knows this, she knows this, but her mind still wanders, during practices, as Ike or Greg fills in for Jesse. It's the only way she can restrain herself from storming out of the auditorium, by reminding herself that Jesse will know these songs and be able to deliver in a way his peers can't. She tells herself that this isn't "lust", or if it is it's "performance lust" and nothing more. She can't even admit to herself that that voice in her head is excited when she hears the news that Rachel and Jesse are no longer a couple.
09. The One With Regionals
He knows the moment he steps on stage, that they will win Regionals. He sees her in the third row, watching, anticipating. He imagines he's the only person in the room, maybe in the world, who can tell she's nervous now. She wants them to win as much as they want to win. As he predicts, the Queen number is a success. The judges look odd, out of place, but he can't complain. They always do. As all the teams line the stage, he glances at Rachel and she tells him all he needs to know in her look to Finn. They're in love now, or whatever childish infatuation they have together, and he's happy for them. They deserve it. He finds the hand of the only other person in this world he thinks can truly complete him just as their name is called.
"We're winners, Shel. Winners, forever and always."
10. The One Where They Finally Kiss
When he does kiss her (after that first meeting she knew it was a when, not an if), for that first time, all she can remember thinking (besides how nice his lips felt on hers and how they fit perfectly together) is that her life is really turning into a fucking disgusting soap opera. She's in her thirties, with a new baby, kissing her (former?) student in Lima's heaviest downpour in what seems like eternity. This, this is one hundred and ten percent morally gray. Maybe it's even morally sepia, if such a thing exists. But it feels right, and she's never been one to go with her feelings before, before now, before this week, this month, before she met him so she leans into the kiss and lets go.
hope you enjoyed them :)
jesseandshelby
01. The One Where Jesse Meets Shelby
She was smaller than he expected. When her name was passed around the rumor circuit, through the teacher's lounge, and over and behind the stadium stands it was always given larger than life qualities. What was Ms. Cochoran's issue today? Did you hear what Shelby said the other day? She did what?!? He had honestly expected her to be about seven feet tall with smoke coming out of her head. The woman glancing over the resume he had just printed in Lab 28 was petite, even in her five inch heels, with soft curls and hard cheekbones.
"It'll do," She threw his resume in the recycling bin with a twitch of her hand, "Top 40 Hit. Go." She leaned back in her leather chair and fiddled with a ballpoint pin, rolling her eyes at the familiar Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum of Rihann's 'Disturbia' that floated from his lips before silencing him and requesting he pick a song that didn't make her want to vomit. He decided in that moment that every rumor he had previously heard was true, and that wasn't a bad thing.
02. The One With Their First Duet
Jenny had to break her leg. How many times had she been told to drink more milk (skim, of course), reminded to take vitamins? Shelby rubbed her temples, they were going nowhere in this rehearsal. It was supposed to have been a fairly easy practice. Just Jesse, Jenny, and the dancers for their "indie" number.
"Take it from the top." She called out, but not one of her dancers seemed to know what to do without their lead female vocal present. She gave a sound that wasn't too distant from a growl, before throwing her file folders onto her desk and walking over to the stage. She glared from her perch on side stage before taking her heels off and strolling onto the stage.
"Now." She gestured to her sound department, as the music to "The Mess We're In" filled the auditorium. She was impressed as Jesse immediately started singing, taking the partner change without missing a beat. She had to admit their voices sounded good together.
No need for words now
We sit in silence
You look me
In the eye directly
You met me
I think it's Wednesday
The evening
The mess we're in
And ooooh...
03. The One With Sexual Tension
It was a late practice. They always were with his director, but tonight it had gone above and beyond the usual late.
"Sorry, guys. You know how it is." He heard Shelby call out as his classmates were getting into their ridiculously expensive cars. He was in the dressing room, attempting to sling his shiny, polyester shirt over his head. Shit. Shit. Shit. Somewhere between on and off, it had gotten stunk on his watch. He did not want to mess this shirt up. Granted, the team could replace it, money wasn't an issue at all, just the mere fact that they were performing for the school in days.
"Is anybody still in there?" Shelby inquired, knocking on the door, the plastic gold stars that spelled out 'Changing Area' clattering against the frame.
"Erm..yes. My shirt's stuck." Jesse bit his lip and did another unsuccessful tug at the material.
"Oh, wow...," He could practically feel her rolling her eyes. Before he could process what was happening he felt a cool hand on his back and the subtle scent of lilac surrounding him.
"It looks like your watch tore into the side," Her hands found his wrist, "but it should be fine."
"Ow. Damnit!" Jesse cried out as something tore into his side, "What was that?"
"Sorry, must've been my ring. You'll be fine. Two seconds," She unhooked his watch and in a tug the shirt was off. When she glanced down, she saw the imprint her ring left. "Get some cream for that," She motioned to his chest and walked out. When he looked in the mirror later that night, he couldn't help but think the diamond shaped mark looked like something else entirely.
04. The One With 'Don't Rain On My Parade'
It was her favourite song. It had been her favourite song since she had seen 'Funny Girl' as a child. It's only fitting that she should hear her child, the girl she had given birth to, sing it the first time she sees her. She thinks Jesse can tell something's wrong. She's heard, "Are you with us, Coach?" so many times at their after show dinner that she's lost count. She's in a daze, and she doesn't know how to get out of it. When it's time to leave, she gets into her car, and backs up straight into a lamppost, before breaking down and crying. She's at a Level Five sob when she hears the tap tap tap at her window.
"Ms. Cochran, why don't you let me take you home?" Jesse gestures over to his car. She wonders if she says 'Yes' a little too quickly.
05. The One Where Shelby Asks Jesse To Befriend Rachel
"St. James." He's getting ready to leave and she calls him into her office.
"Mhm?" He sits down in one of her visitor chairs. He can't recall the last time she's had a visitor. Most parents were too happy there was a woman willing to keep their children for six extra hours a day to complain.
"I have a project for you," She's smiling, as he's not sure if he should be afraid or excited, but both emotions are currently waging a war in his head. After she tells him the main goal, they sit and scheme and plan and order Chinese takeout. As she raises egg drop soup into her mouth, he briefly thinks that if he could do one thing forever, it just might be this.
06. The One Where Jesse Transfers To McKinley High
Just as he finishes buttoning the top button of his shirt, the doorbell rings. Before he gets there, he knows who it is. He flings open the door and gestures for her to come in.
"I was just going to get breakfast," He looks around, trying to find a clean surface, before his eyes land on an overstuffed chair, "but you can have a seat there, if you want" he adds in.
"No, its fine. I'm only staying a minute." Shelby walks over to the counter, where he's trying to unsuccessfully make pancakes.
"That really is the most pathetic thing I have ever seen," She raises an eyebrow and shrugs out of her jacket, coming over to stand beside him. He can't help but notice that he tank top comes down a bit too low in the front to be undeniably professional but he's not complaining. In less than ten minutes, they have eleven perfect silver dollar pancakes. There's one that look like a heart and he's glad she doesn't comment when he tears it in half and gives one side to her.
07. The One Where Jesse Likes Rachel
She sees them in the mall. They're walking and they look so perfect together, she can't help but notice. She darts into the first store she sees, and it's only once she's in it that she realizes it's an erotic bookstore. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Jesse and Rachel and their hand-holding and disgusting sharing-of-ice-cream are getting closer. She grabs a magazine (what in God's name was Hoe & Garden and what sick person would subscribe to it?) and slouches in the corner, praying they don't notice her. Just when she thinks she's gotten away without incident, Jesse looks back at her and winks before slipping an arm around Rachel's backside.
08. The One Where Shelby Is Jealous
This wasn't really happening. She kept telling herself that. It had just been a long time, a very long time that voice in the back of her head adds in, since she had been on a date or had any contact with a straight male. She didn't count Schuester. At all. She wasn't really attracted to Jesse. That would be morally wrong, morally gray since he's eighteen that voice just won't shut up tonight. She knows this, she knows this, but her mind still wanders, during practices, as Ike or Greg fills in for Jesse. It's the only way she can restrain herself from storming out of the auditorium, by reminding herself that Jesse will know these songs and be able to deliver in a way his peers can't. She tells herself that this isn't "lust", or if it is it's "performance lust" and nothing more. She can't even admit to herself that that voice in her head is excited when she hears the news that Rachel and Jesse are no longer a couple.
09. The One With Regionals
He knows the moment he steps on stage, that they will win Regionals. He sees her in the third row, watching, anticipating. He imagines he's the only person in the room, maybe in the world, who can tell she's nervous now. She wants them to win as much as they want to win. As he predicts, the Queen number is a success. The judges look odd, out of place, but he can't complain. They always do. As all the teams line the stage, he glances at Rachel and she tells him all he needs to know in her look to Finn. They're in love now, or whatever childish infatuation they have together, and he's happy for them. They deserve it. He finds the hand of the only other person in this world he thinks can truly complete him just as their name is called.
"We're winners, Shel. Winners, forever and always."
10. The One Where They Finally Kiss
When he does kiss her (after that first meeting she knew it was a when, not an if), for that first time, all she can remember thinking (besides how nice his lips felt on hers and how they fit perfectly together) is that her life is really turning into a fucking disgusting soap opera. She's in her thirties, with a new baby, kissing her (former?) student in Lima's heaviest downpour in what seems like eternity. This, this is one hundred and ten percent morally gray. Maybe it's even morally sepia, if such a thing exists. But it feels right, and she's never been one to go with her feelings before, before now, before this week, this month, before she met him so she leans into the kiss and lets go.
hope you enjoyed them :)