Title: The End Will Justify the Means
Author:
ooshady_girloo Pairing,Character(s): Jesse/Rachel, Rachel/Finn; Shelby Corcoran, Jacob Ben Israel
Rating: M (for adult content: ya know, like sex)
Word Count: 3,962
Spoilers: 1.1-1.16
Summary: Rachel receives bad news and enlists Jesse to do some damage control... but Jesse has other ideas.
Berry"...">
They no longer were individual burgeoning stars, but collectively known as "St. Berry," a name coined by the letch and blogger Jacob Ben Israel in his article set to go viral Monday morning. Rachel knew this because a plain manila envelope containing a sheaf of paper mysteriously turned up on her doorstep, strategically placed for her to find it before her fathers. The envelope contained the story and a short note from Israel:
Thought you might like an exclusive preview of my new blog entry.
Unjustly titled “(Not-So) Fair Lady", it depicted Jessie's selfless move - from the beloved lead in Carmel High's pretentious Vocal Adrenaline to WMHS's motley crew of underdogs, New Directions - for the sake of maintaining a relationship with Rachel. That's where the verity ended. In reality it was a long-winded diatribe that questioned the validity of their relationship and speculated on Jesse's ulterior motives for enrolling at WMHS.
A candid picture accompanied the story; it was of the couple at the most recent Cheerios! pep rally. The snapshot was taken just as she'd pushed Jacob's digital recorder away from her face with an irritable "No comment," when asked a personal question about the jilted Finn Hudson. To your average viewer, the innocent gesture for privacy looked wildly different. She looked like she was sneering, her arm reared as if she was bracing to slap Jacob silly as Jesse looked on in cool approval.
It was basically a tabloid, and not one of the juicy ones you have to stop and read but never buy in the check out line at the grocery store. She'd finally convinced the team Jesse wasn't a mole, but convincing the entire student body would be a different story.
Rachel wanted badly to call up Jacob, however begrudging, and set the record straight expressly, but stopped short of doing so. Jacob was bound to have a ridiculous demand she needed to perform in exchange for canning the blog and begging would be exactly what the sleazeball would want.
She yearned for Jesse's take on the ordeal, so she invited him over after practice at Lima's lone roller rink to discuss damage control strategies. Currently, he was perched on the edge of her bed, his dark head bowed as he gleaned the words from the article; he'd read aloud parts he found too absurd to keep to himself and then reverted back to perusing silently.
"'...A close friend to the self-proclaimed diva, whom will not be named, stated Berry suspects her new beau, Jessie St. James of Vocal Adrenaline fame, is stepping out on her behind her back with another women...' His writing is atrocious."
"That's all you can say?" Rachel accosted Jesse once he finished the story. She paced her bedroom floor now and hadn't sat down since she arrived home and found the envelope. She felt slightly nauseous and anxiety gnawed at her bones, making her fidget and sulk; Jesse looked the epitome of restraint.
He began to tear the papers into fourths, "...he misspelled my name, too. This is all one run-on sentence - and it's 'woman' not 'women' - don't you hate it when people do that? Like, 'to' and 'too'? I mean, how hard is it? One expresses motion or direction and the other means 'in addition'."
"Jesse." Rachel started, her bottom lip quivered. Just as she spoke the black and white photo from the pep rally was torn down the middle and Jesse placed the peeved Rachel in one pile of clippings next to him and the frozen image of his nonchalant gaze in another. "How can you be okay about this?"
"How can you not?" Jesse stood and fed the story to Rachel's paper shredder now that they were thin enough to fit in the slot, the machine whirred and chomped at the bits of former trees with purpose and finality.
"This is high school, Jesse, everything's about image -and this is painting us in the decidedly wrong one!"
Tired of her constant movement, Jesse grabbed her shoulders on her next pass and forced her to face him. "One rule I live by is 'all press is good press'. You need someone talking smack about you, this schmuck obviously feels wronged about something you did to him in the past -." Rachel cringed and looked away guiltily, and Jesse nodded, her reaction confirming his suspicions, but he didn't prompt her to expound. "... or the piece wouldn't have been so vindictive and spiteful. It's trivial garbage."
"But 'trivial garbage' is exactly what the school believes: very few of them can separate fact from fiction. Like, Finn, he thought he got Quinn pregnant just by..." Rachel realized Finn's situation may not have been the best example, and Finn's dopey, bewildered reaction to discovering he wouldn't be a father filled her mind. Though immaculate conception was a riveting subject in and of itself, it would not do to divulge to Jesse that she'd been the one to point out its nonexistence to Finn, resulting in one of her less than triumphant memories.
Jesse ignored her flub about her ex, and continued as if she'd never interjected - bless him. "To cease hostilities would be counterproductive."
At Rachel's glassy stare, he elaborated. "A guy was so unimpressed with Vocal Adrenaline's handstand routine last year that he wrote a scathing blog on his website about it - something about carpal tunnel - and our video was featured on the local news in relation to him. Apparently that was the last thing he wrote before he was arrested for stalking. The guy had a shrine in his closet dedicated to Ms. Corcoran."
"I don't understand..." Rachel said, looking ever so naïve.
Jesse sighed patiently and kissed her forehead, embracing her, he rested his head atop hers. "My point is, this will incite controversy and notoriety outside of your little glee bubble - however negative. It's what any star worth their salt dreams about."
Rachel's frown deepened, she was becoming tired of people loathing her... but Jesse seemed to be optimistic of some silver lining in this catastrophic thunder-storm-warning cloud, so she tried to be as well.
"So... we should do nothing?"
"Nothing." Jesse echoed, but his voice was at a low timbre. His hands left her shoulders to cup her face. "We just let nature take its course." And he tenderly kissed her, lowering her down to the bed.
(.*.)
Rachel pressed gently on his shoulders. "Jesse...we can't."
"Hmm," Jesse mumbled and continued kissing down her body, he had her cumbersome blouse unbuttoned and was doing delicious things to her navel.
"...my Dads are downstairs."
"Your Dads love me." Jesse said without a bit of arrogance, just stating fact.
Rachel squirmed when Jesse slowly licked a line from her navel down, unfastening her skirt to accommodate the progress he was making. "They also have concealed weapons permits."
If Jesse was supposed to be discouraged by the news, he wasn't. He actually laughed, moving back up her body and pulled her, pouting all the while, to meld with his body. "They can't shoot me for only wanting to kiss my girlfriend."
"That's all you want?" Rachel blurted skeptically, then she recoiled, as if expecting to be scolded.
Jesse actually nodded gravely, "I understand why you'd think that," he ran a hand in his wavy hair to give himself time to think. "I haven't been very aware of your feelings lately, it's just been about sex."
"And now?" Rachel asked as she sat up in bed and refastened a few buttons of her shirt.
Jesse sat up as well, he took her hands in his, his blue eyes boring into her brown. "Now... it's about making you happy."
Rachel's eyes bulged. "You're okay with me not being ready yet?"
"Absolutely, Beautiful." Jesse said, and Rachel blushed at the nickname. He even buttoned her shirt the rest of the way, "...but I also want to give you a proper kiss."
"You just were." Rachel said, looking five years younger.
Jesse laughed softly, "Not here..." he put two fingers on her puckered lips and then brought them to his lips to kiss, then the same two fingers descended between their bodies, between her parted legs... "Here."
Rachel whimpered as he touched her in her most tender part, flimsy panties the only barrier. Jesse could feel the beginnings of wetness there, and warmth - so hot and smoldering.
Rachel grabbed his wrist. "Wait," she panted, "I thought this wasn't about sex anymore."
"Who said anything about sex?" Jesse narrowed his eyes critically.
Rachel pulled her lower lip into her mouth, moodily adding; "...but oral sex is sex."
"That's only if you believe in the Bible."
Rachel gave him an incredulous look, redirecting his hand, she placed it over her chest where her heart beat at a hurried tempo. Suddenly something very pertinent occurred to her, something she should have asked long ago: "Are you... clean?"
Jesse raised an eyebrow at the euphemism, he knew she wasn't referring to hygiene. "My love, Shelby gave random drug and STD/STI testing every month. I'm cleaner than Miss Pillsbury's doorknob."
That made her smile, a slight tightening at the corner of her lips.
"I guess I should feel flattered you want to..." Rachel looked away, but her hands pressed his firmer to her chest, the thumps seemed to be increasing, melodic and endearing.
Jesse swooped down and took her lips once more and a needful kiss.
An unbearable urge, foreign and feral, began pulsing, growing just below her navel. She could feel herself slipping, imagining saying "Yes," finally to Jesse and all the things he could give her, but that tantalizing urge hadn't reached her brain yet. She still had things she needed to say.
The veil of euphoria lifted momentarily, to reveal her above Jesse, straddling him. His shirt was missing, her bra was askew and her shirt was scrunched under her arms. Rachel leapt from the bed and was across the floor at the door in a heartbeat.
Jesse rose and tried to look as innocent as possible, which wasn't hard - even shirtless.
"I don't want to have to tell you again." Rachel said evenly, her words losing some affect with her shirt a wrinkled mess, exposing flushed skin. "I'm not ready."
Jesse crossed his arms and Rachel mimicked the move, "I know you're having doubts after reading that blog... doubts about me."
"And should I? Should I have doubts? What Jacob wrote... are you seeing someone else?"
He was taken aback quite literally at the line of questioning. He quickly reassured her. "No, Care Bear. Why would you think that?"
"Because... I don't know!" Rachel spun around and pressed her face to the door. Her shoulders slumped. "You are the prefect lover... and I'm not."
"Rachel, you're not going to be good at everything." Jesse closed the distance between them and moved her hair aside, placing a chaste kiss on the nape of her neck.
"I don't trust myself... If I'm making the right decisions." Rachel mumbled, allowing herself to be vulnerable.
"No, you're not. You've always thought for yourself. You've gone against your team for me, as I have for you... and now this moronic essay winds up on your doorstep, and suddenly you question my devotion to you." Jesse rubbed her back, comforting her.
"You know a lot more about these things than me."
"Look at me," Jesse gently turned her around, her puffy eyes steadily met his disarming ones. "I'm all yours."
Gracefully, Jesse slid to his knees in front of her, taking her skirt and panties to the floor with him. Rachel kicked them off, and she stood exposed to him. He grabbed her legs and spread them, she held on to the doorknob and chest of drawers for purchase.
"I want -I want to trust you..." Rachel panted, as if trying to convince herself. It was obvious she was conceding, the fight seemed to have left her, and what was left was just a defenseless girl, asking him for solace.
Jesse glanced up her lean body and made sure she was watching as he made a middle finger and prepared to penetrate her. Her own fluids worked as lubricant, coating his hand as he pressed it up, passed the slight resistance at her entrance, into her core.
Rachel shuddered, a sob escaping her lips, she stopped bracing herself on the drawers to cover her mouth.
Jesse used his shoulders and hands to keep her open and relatively standing, as he watched in awe as the digit disappeared beyond the tiny curls there into her heat repeatedly. As he brought his face towards her, his index finger joined the first one.
"Beautiful..."
His voice reverberated against her clit in which he was kissing, quite literally. Rachel's toes pointed, one thigh over his shoulder has he continued to pump and lick.
Rachel finally took her hand from her mouth when she was sure she wouldn't scream from the assault of sensations, all deriving from her center and radiating out, spreading like wildfire, feeling like wildfire. Her body was a quivering mess, if he wasn't holding her up she'd be putty on the floor. She dug a hand in his lush brown hair, and pulled, mussing up the waves. She called out his name weakly.
Rachel was suddenly overwhelmed with a surge of sizzling warmth resounding throughout her being, she began to convulse and simultaneously she felt the need to push as her inner walls twitched around Jesse's fingers - so she did.
Jesse replaced his fingers with his tongue, lapping at the wetness, he used his thumbs to keep her open to him until all her weight pressed down on him and he lowered her spent body to the plush rug below her vanity.
Rachel stretched languidly, a low moan emitting from her throat like a purr. Jesse gazed down at her greedily, he was impossibly stiff, his jeans achingly uncomfortable. Her … nectar... engulfed his senses, it glistened on his lips. He doubted she'd even notice if he lost his pants and screwed her, despite their earlier exchange.
Rachel's hand came into his line of sight, beckoning him to come to her. He shuffled across the short distance awkwardly, given his aroused state, and let Rachel pull him down for a kiss. He pulled her bra down and kneaded her breasts, her nipples erect under his palm.
When it was becoming to be too much, he rested his head on her shoulder, and took a few deep breaths. He felt her heart thump hurriedly against her chest, it's constant rap in time to his was calming.
"Take a shower with me?" Rachel pleaded after they lied there for a while, his mind only on her body and the straining member in his pants. He moaned woefully, Rachel obviously wasn't thinking straight.
"I have to go, Care Bear," he tried to turn her down gently, as his dick screamed in protest.
"I could tell my Dads we're having a... sleep-over or -."
"I appreciate the effort, but I promised this wasn't about sex, but making you happy." Jesse said, magnanimous.
"Okay," she kissed him again and they got to their feet, Rachel turned her head shyly when he shifted himself so he could walk with a decent gait to the en-suite bathroom.
He shoved his hand into his briefs the moment the door clicked shut behind him, tugging violently at his dick, envisioning Rachel spread readily before him on that ridiculously pink rug. He was thinking of draping her over the back of the desk chair like a slipcover, her ass set on display for him, as he took her from behind.
He came exasperatedly, the pressure between his eyes subsided.
After he washed up, emerging from the bathroom he found Rachel had retrieved a short bathrobe from somewhere, and everything was picked up. She was sitting on the bed, hugging his jacket and shirt to her chest.
He went to her and lifted her chin to look at him, her cheeks were flushed, which made sense because of what she said next:
"What if I told you I am completely ashamed of myself for that filthy and obscene thing you did to me and that I wish my fathers weren't asleep down the hall so you could teach me to... reciprocate the favor."
Feeling accomplished, Jesse traced a fingertip along her elegant brow line after she lamented, then the apple of her cheeks, and ended outlining her bottom lip, which was stuck out ruefully. "I'd say I'm flattered but I already took care of it."
"I think I have... strong feelings for you." Rachel admitted, and he could tell it took her much deliberation and initiative to confide these loaded words. “It's beyond even infatuation...”
Jesse understood what she was trying to convey, and simply pressed his lips to hers in answer. Rachel broke away, her eyes were big and sparkling with tears; she took his face in her hands now.
“I think I love you.”
(.*.)
Jesse only left Rachel when she was slumbering, tucked in tight and hopefully reliving the pleasant parts of the night in her dreams.
As he drove, he checked his cell phone, the screen indicated he had eight missed calls, all from the same number. He dialed the number, placing it on the speaker option so he'd have his hands free to drive.
The dial tone clicked and a woman's annoyed monotone came on:
"You put your phone on 'silent'? You know when I call I expect an answer the first time, Jesse."
"I figured you wouldn't mind after I told you my epic news." He said, glancing at the phone on it's dash holder.
"...and that is?"
"She's falling in love."
"Of course she is, her pipes work correctly, don't they?" This was as congratulatory as the formidable choir director got.
"And how."
"You little prick, if you so much as -"
"Don't fret, Shelby - she's still virtuously sound... technically."
"Say no more." Shelby snipped, after a long beat, she sighed into the receiver. "...I knew you wouldn't betray me."
"You sound lonely.
"I am."
"Want company?"
"Sure, let yourself in."
"I just have to make one stop, first." He ended the call just as he arrived at the substantial, brick house on a quiet residential street. He left the car running and pressed the doorbell three times in quick succession before waiting for an answer.
Jacob opened the door, he wasn't wearing his glasses and his Jewfro was flattened on one side, he rubbed his eyes before he focused blearily on his visitor. He looked like a deranged Richard Simmons.
"Nix Monday's blog or I'll come back here with my lawyer and slam you with a Defamation of Character lawsuit." Jesse said vehemently.
"But you're the one that told me to write all those things!" Jacob blubbered.
"With the understanding that Rachel wouldn't read it until everyone else did, you idiot."
"Oh," Jacob said dumbly.
"If you thought your little snide remarks about infidelity would upset her, you thought wrong." Jesse announced triumphantly. "On the contrary. How could you possibly think she'd ever run to you if we did call it quits?” Jesse spat, adding - as if an afterthought - “Which we won't... and if we did - Kurt Hummel would have a better chance."
Jacob was either too stunned or scared to muster up a response, he just cowered before Jesse's imposing form in the entryway.
"If that blog ever sees the light of day, I'll know about it, Israel, and I'll come for you." Jesse warned ominously, and with that he strolled back to his car, speeding away; leaving Jacob to lick his wounds.
(.*.)
Shelby was awake in bed when he padded into her room. She opened her arms for him, and he obliged.
"Welcome home," she greeted her former student, her voice sultry and wanton. He pulled the thin sheet away, she was wearing a scant teddy. Jesse admired her voluptuous curves, so different from Rachel's prepubescent physique. Unlike Rachel, Shelby knew exactly what to do with what she had.
Agonizingly slow, she ran her hand from her knee to inner thigh, she caught Jesse's intense gaze, and reached out, undoing the fly of his jeans.
"Is there something else you need to tell me?" Shelby inquired, all business, which was disconcerting, because she pulled him down on top of her a second later.
Jesse hooked his hand behind her knee and hitched her leg up around his waist. "They have to practice in this dank roller rink owned by this wino woman. The auditorium was shackled by the school's cheerleading coach - she's the one that's always trying to destroy them - like Gargamel and The Smurfs. It's really awe-inspiring, her tyrannical determination. She'd be a great asset to you."
Shelby held him close and took the lobe of his ear between her teeth, "...and you too, don't pretend like you don't want New Directions obliterated."
A few months ago Jesse would have agreed without question, now he wasn't so sure.
Before he could ruminate on the repercussions of eventually having to break it off with Rachel, Shelby's deft hands were inside his briefs, clasping around his hardness - making guilt impossible.
He'd feel guilty tomorrow.