Disclaimer: Nope, just a fanfiction writer. I would be a man, if I owned it, wouldn't I? So nope.
Story: "He's the enemy! You can't like him!" Her lip quivered, but she stared back in resolve. "I can and I will." And she silently said goodbye to the first boy she ever liked.
Set after S1.13 "Sectionals."
Spoilers: Probably for the back nine, and definitely for the first thirteen episodes.
Warnings:
Pairings: Rachel/Jesse, with Rachel/Finn tension, Puck/Quinn, Mercedes/Matt, Brittany/Santana, Kurt/OC, Tina/Artie; Puckleberry friendship, Quinn/Rachel friendship, and Kurt/Rachel friendship…

Meet Me on the Equinox
Chapter One: The Sun at its Highest Peak

Rachel looked up at the ceiling, pursing her lips. Vocal Adrenaline was going full-throttle in the background, but she didn't want to watch.

They were so close. Her Glee club was so close. And coming here, seeing them perform, brought all her dreams to a standstill. She almost regretted asking her fathers to bring her here, so she could evaluate the competition.

Vocal Adrenaline was as good as ever.

The crowd applauded and she excused herself, walking out and standing outside in the glaring sun with a frustrated frown on her face.

"Don't stop believing," she softly sang.

She closed her eyes and gathered up all her resolve so she could believe in those lyrics. She didn't want to stop believing. It was her dream to become a star. And there was no way she would let the competition make her fall back now.

"Keep singing," a soft voice commanded.

She whirled around and saw an older boy leaning casually against the auditorium's doors, messy curls styled on his head and wearing an expensive looking navy suit, black tie loosened as he observed her coolly with icy blue eyes.

She looked back reproachfully and frowned sternly at him.

"Excuse me, but I don't listen to orders from people I don't know."

His lips twitched upwards.

"Do you know The Word of Your Body from Spring Awakening?" he asked as if she hadn't rebuffed him.

Amused, she decided to humor him and began singing the first words.

"Just too unreal, all this. Watching the words fall from my lips –"

"Baiting some girl with hypotheses," he joined in quickly, focusing intensely on her as he pushed away from the doors and walked closer, his voice surprisingly very good. In fact, she hadn't expected it to be so controlled either.

"Haven't you heard the word of your body?" they both sang.

She stopped and scrutinized him closely. She nodded at him in acknowledgement before turning on her heel sharply and starting to walk away, deciding she'd text her fathers that she'd gone home early.

"Where are you going?" he called out.

"Home," she answered, not sure why she was still talking to him.

He tilted his head, "Come grab a coffee with me."

"Stop ordering me around," but her lips twitched.

He walked closer and she continued walking, he by her side.

She didn't go home early after all.

In the coffee house, they didn't really talk. He amused himself by singing a line and waiting for her to answer back with the next line. They passed the hour like that comfortably.

"This was nice," she murmured.

"Can I see you again?" he asked, tilting his head. It seemed to be a habit of his…

She grew nervous and confused, but strangely excited.

"I don't even know your name," she said dryly.

"Jesse. Jesse Harrington," he answered her simply, smiling.

Hesitatingly, she finally held her hand out.

"Rachel Berry."

"By the way, I programmed my number into your phone while you went into the bathroom."

She laughed at his audacity and took out her phone and looked it up, calling it. Hanging up, she smirked at him.

"Now you have my number."

She turned and flounced away, cheeks red and mind wondering at her bravado.

When she entered her house, her dads sat at the kitchen table talking work over coffee. They turned to face her, looking at her curiously.

"Hey, pumpkin," Hiram Berry started. "What happened?"

Rachel's cheeks colored in embarrassment, "It was nothing, Daddy. I just got a little upset. Vocal Adrenaline is our rival and all and…" she faltered, reluctantly admitting, "They're good. More than good. Better," she whispered.

"Oh, sweetie," Leroy Berry opened his arms and she easily went to him and sniffled into his sweater.

"Did you take a walk to clear your head?" Hiram asked gently.

"Kind of," her voice was muffled. "I-I met a boy outside the auditorium. We went to Starbuck's…"

"You met a boy?" Leroy asked, a sly smile crossing his face.

"Dad! He was…just being nice," Rachel stated matter-of-factly, extracting herself from her dad's arms.

"What? We're just curious," Hiram shrugged innocently.

Rachel opened her mouth to say something when her phone vibrated to alert her of a text message. She stared blankly at it.

"No one texts me."

Her dads jumped up and hovered over her shoulder as she hesitantly grabbed her phone from the table, where she'd placed it just seconds ago.

"Oh, look at it, honey!"

Rachel rolled her eyes but did, going straight to her text inbox.

In sleep she sang to me

Seeing it was from Jesse, she laughed loudly, confusing her dads.

"It's from the Phantom of the Opera, though he changed 'he' to 'she'."

"Text him back!"

She rolled her eyes, but began typing the next set of lyrics.

"In dreams he came," she sang aloud as she typed it.

"This is the boy you met earlier, right?" Hiram poked her shoulder.

She wiggled away, "Yeah…"

Her phone vibrated again and the three shot over the phone, squishing close to read it.

That voice which calls to me and speaks my name
And do I dream again?
For now I find
The phantom of the opera is there
Inside my mind

In my dreams tonight, longing to hear your voice
I bid you adieu and goodnight
My Angel of Music

She blushed and shoved her phone into her pocket, her parents snickering at her.

"Wow, isn't he a charmer?" Hiram laughed outright. "He's sweet though."

"Never mind that, how in the hell did he typed all that so fast?" Leroy raised an eyebrow.

"Dads!" Rachel cried out, closing her eyes and flitting away. She ran up the stairs, calling out behind her. "I'm going to bed, you two!"

She hid in her room, slipping into her pajamas and going under her covers. She took her phone and looked at it, rereading the text again. She smiled softly and fell asleep to her screen.

When she drove to school, she parked and trudged into the school, wary of sludgies lurking around the corners. Her mood went down as the day progressed, her smile loud and proud on the outside. And then it was time for Glee and she looked around the room. There was Mercedes and Kurt whispering to each other in the corner, Matt and Mike flirting with Brittany and Santana, Tina and Artie sitting close but not too close (sneaking glances at each other), Quinn sitting by herself, Puck sitting by himself in huge spaces between Quinn and Finn, and Finn himself sat alone and still fuming.

She looked hopefully at Finn, taking a couple steps towards him before sighing and inwardly shaking her head.

What was she doing?

Instead, she turned towards Quinn and shakily walked towards the blonde girl, who looked tiredly at her.

"What are you doing here, Man-hands?" Quinn asked without bite.

"Can I sit here?" she asked quietly.

Quinn blinked at her in surprise before hesitantly nodding. Relieved, Rachel gingerly sat herself next to the pregnant teenager and tensely waited for Mr. Shuester to arrive.

And arrived Will did.

"Alright, guys. Regionals is coming up. We have to work extra hard! So how about we start off with pairing off and doing duets. Only, instead of pairing up with the opposite gender, we're going to pair up with the people of the same gender. You guys have a choice of two songs to perform and have a month to get them ready."

Obviously, Matt and Mike were pairing, as was Brittany and Santana. Mercedes went straight to Tina, and Kurt followed after to pair with Artie. That left Puck to pair with Finn, both of whom stared at each other stoically. But it also left Rachel…with Quinn.

She nervously looked at the blond, who was looking down at her shoes.

"You wanna…you wanna be my partner for the duet?" Surprisingly, it was Quinn who asked first.

Rachel gave her a small smile.

"Sure."

After the pairs were decided, Rachel offered to start practicing with Quinn already at her home. Quinn agreed, hesitantly asking for a ride. Rachel went to her home nervously, with the blonde in tow, wondering if now was she was going to have her home tepeed the next day. But she shook her head and reminded herself that Quinn didn't have the kind of power to do that anymore.

"Well, here we are," Rachel forced cheer into her voice.

"You…you have a nice home," Quinn complimented quietly.

Rachel looked over to her, "You know…I'm not going to bite. So you don't have to act all quiet and shy with me."

Quinn looked at her in surprise, but hesitantly nodded.

"Great! So, I think for today we should choose the song and just run it through once to see how it'll sound. Okay?"

"Sounds good to me."

Inside her room, she saw Quinn's eyebrows shoot up.

"Yeah, I know. A bit over the top," Rachel laughed in embarrassment, used to it by now. "I'm going to redecorate any time soon. I just haven't found something I like yet to replace everything. So for now, I want to keep everything."

Quinn gave a tiny smile and nodded, surprisingly not judging. Rachel had been prepared for it, but it felt nice to be disappointed this time. It felt strange not having to defend herself, and especially since it was Quinn Fabray.

"I was thinking," Quinn started, "that since everyone knows you like Broadway songs and I'm kind of pop-ish, we should choose songs that's different."

Rachel slowly grinned, "That's a great idea. Actually…" she went under her bed and pulled out a plastic stowaway box, and showing Quinn the contents. "No one knows about my collection of other music. I mean, they assume I just like Broadway and I don't say otherwise because I mainly listen to it because it's my goal, but I like music. I don't limit myself really, and so this is my secret little stash…"

Quinn knelt down next to her, gently looking through the CDs.

"I was going to show Noah, but you know…" Rachel shrugged.

"You guys broke up."

"Yeah, but it's fine. We were a little too preoccupied with others."

Quinn laughed bitterly, "Me and Finn."

"…"

"What a waste that was," the blonde muttered. Quinn picked up a non-labeled CD case, opening it up to see a non-marked copy and a list of songs hand-written on the back of the cover. "What's this?"

"Hm?" Rachel glanced over. "Oh. That's a compilation that Noah gave me. He wouldn't say where he got all the songs from, so I looked it up. I had a feeling it was a copy of a CD and not a bunch of songs he found and put together. Turns out it was the New Moon soundtrack from the movie."

Quinn giggled and fell onto her butt laughing. "Oh, we should definitely use one of these songs, if not both for our choices."

Rachel's eyes glinted, "Hey, wait. Listen to these two songs and see if you like them. I think we could use them."

She grabbed the CD from Quinn and played it on her CD player, putting it on track 5 and then track 7.

Quinn nodded, "I like those songs. Which ones were those?"

"Five was A White Demon Love Song by the Killers and then seven was I Belong to You by the Muse."

"Good songs. I think we should work on those," Quinn agreed with a smile.

If there was one thing Rachel learned that day, it was that Quinn Fabray wasn't so bad. After everything was said and done.

Rachel printed out two copies of each song and they began to work, rearranging the songs for them and practicing. Soon enough, it was late enough that Quinn had to be dropped off home. Rachel dropped her off to Finn's house, watching as Quinn reluctantly left her car and trudged to the house. But nothing was said and so Rachel let Quinn go, driving off a second later.

Tired, Rachel just ate something and was about to go to sleep early when her phone vibrated and she glanced at it, smiling immediately when she saw whom it was from.

Sorry, I wanted to greet you morning and then message you many times afterwards but things were hectic. And yet I have time for this before slumber comes.

What a masochistic lion

Rachel blinked and then bit her lip to keep from smiling outrageously.

What a stupid lamb

That isn't a musical?

He answered back quickly.

But it fits. Goodnight, ma cherie .

Always with the last word, that boy. But Rachel strangely didn't mind.

She fell asleep, clutching onto her phone again, the charger stretched from the plug to it as she held it.

"You keep looking at your phone," Quinn commented, speaking in her new quiet voice.

Rachel blushed, laughing lightly. "Oh…I'm actually texting back and forth with someone."

"A boy someone?" the former cheerleader tilted her head, a small smile tentatively dancing across her lips.

Rachel's blush darkened, "How'd you know?"

"Oh, I just can," she replied nonchalantly. "So, which song are we going to do first?"

"I was thinking we'd do the slower song first and then the more upbeat one after that. That way the slower song can serve as a warm up?" Rachel suggested.

"Okay…how are we going to practice then?"

Rachel shrugged, "I mean, anytime is good for me. But if it's okay with you, maybe we can practice every lunch and an hour some days after school? And then we'll have the weekends free to do whatever we want."

Quinn looked okay with it, nodding in agreement, but there was still something in her face that told Rachel there was something else.

"If you have something you prefer, I wouldn't mind hearing it," Rachel prodded gently.

"Weekends are fine with me too," Quinn stated, and it really was odd to hear her be so quiet.

"An hour in the afternoon then. Say…one o'clock?"

They got ready to part ways when Quinn hesitated before reaching over and grabbing Rachel's cell, programming her number in.

"So in case you need to contact me," Quinn muttered.

Quinn left and then lunch was over, Rachel walking to class in a daze.

She met Quinn again in Glee and then they were in the auditorium for an hour before they parted ways again, and when Rachel came home she immediately went to her room and plopped onto her bed in exhaustion.

She idly glanced at her phone and felt a smile grow, seeing another message from Jesse.

Busy Saturday?

She quickly typed a response.

Meeting someone at 1, but not really.

There was a pause and she worried. Jesse usually got to her quickly.

Then her phone rang. Eyebrows nearly flying into her hairline, she answered.

"So hey, I was thinking of taking you to a live performance at Pelshana."

Rachel huffed, "Assuming I say yes."

"Assuming, of course," his voice was amused.

"Are you ever going to just ask me like a normal person, or are you going to keep assuming I'll just go along with whatever you want?" Rachel asked sarcastically, but inwardly she was smiling in amusement.

"But it's more fun this way."

Rachel laughed outright, "Okay then. I'll say yes. This once."

"Good," the smug undertone was barely there, but she did hear it. "So, I'll pick you up around 7."

"Hm, I don't know. If I give you my address, I may have to fear for strange suited boys stalking me."

"It's not stalking if it's okayed."

She stopped herself from laughing again, but her smile seemed to become a permanent fixture.

"1242 Grovers St. I live in that gated community, so I'll have to let you in."

"…No, it's okay. I'll find a way in."

And then he hung up abruptly. She huffed and stared at her phone. She had a feeling she would get used to his demanding ways, especially with how similar he was to her in that respect. How frustrating.

She wondered if this was how the others felt about her.

And then it was soon time for her…date? Well, whatever it was. She felt bad for being so unfocused and jittery around Quinn, but Rachel had never really been on a date before. If it was a date. And she didn't count the outing with Finn, various reasons she could provide as to why.

Rachel was freaking out. She didn't know how to dress herself. Well, she knew how to dress herself…just she didn't know what to wear. Everyone told her that her fashion sense was more than a bit lacking at times, and now she was worried she was going to wear something utterly ridiculous that would drive him off.

Why would she care anyway? It was just a boy that she met recently…they were just going out as friends, that's all…

But she didn't want to look like an idiot!

She wanted to call Kurt up, but she hesitated. Last time, the makeover had been a complete mess and he had purposely done so, practically humiliating her. She wasn't sure she wanted a repeat performance.

"Is something wrong?" Quinn asked, staring at her strangely.

Rachel flinched, "I'm sorry, Quinn. I, uh…sort of…am going out soon…with that boy I told you I was texting. I'm a little nervous."

"Like a date?" the blonde asked bluntly.

"N-not really," Rachel stammered. "It's more like just as friends. A friendly date. A friend date."

"Mmhm, right. Do you know what you're going to wear?"

Rachel sighed in frustration, "No. That's part of the reason I'm not as focused right now with you. I'm afraid I'll look like an idiot if I just go out and wear what I usually do. I mean, when we first met, he didn't seem to mind. But I was wearing something really simple."

"Then why don't you wear something simple?"

Rachel stopped short and stared.

Quinn rolled her eyes, "It worked the first time, right? Just wear something simple. Wait," she stood up and began rummaging through her drawers, finding a simple black skirt and a pastel blue plain but silk shirt.

"A bit formal, but only a little. And much more simple than your usual getup," she said dryly.

Rachel blushed, but shrugged unapologetically.

"Alright, what time is he coming?"

"Um, in an hour."

Quinn lightly pushed her towards her bathroom.

"Well, get dressed and whatever you need to. I'll do your makeup."

"Makeup?" Rachel squeaked, but was already in the bathroom, Quinn closing the door behind her.

Rachel sighed, staring at herself in the mirror.

"Here goes."

She washed her face, even brushed her teeth. Then she dressed into the clothes, before stepping out to face Quinn, who immediately grabbed her and shuffled her to in front of her mirror at her vanity set.

"Light makeup. You're not the type not to look and be natural, so natural makeup would be best," Quinn muttered, already working on the eyeliner.

Rachel hmmed unsurely.

Quinn began applying eye shadow, then light blush.

"Just a light lipstick, or just gloss…you're not sure it's a date or not, so just keep light," Quinn kept muttering to herself.

"It's not a date –" but Quinn was already closing her mouth and putting chapstick on her lips before applying a light red lipgloss that tasted of cherries. "It'll put some color, but it's not too bright or too dark a red…"

Rachel licked her lips, tasting the cherries, when Quinn flicked her forehead.

"Don't lick off your makeup, Man-hands," the blonde rolled her eyes. Then she was taking the curling iron that Rachel hadn't noticed had been plugged nearby, starting to curl Rachel's already thick and slightly wavy dark hair. It took the rest of the time left to curl Rachel's hair into actual curls that Quinn lightly sprayed with hairspray, when Rachel's cell vibrated.

Quinn snatched the phone with an odd playful grin and read the text, her carefully manicured eyebrows raising.

"'Oh Juliet, Juliet! Wherefore thou art Juliet?' Is he quoting Romeo and Juliet?"

Rachel coughed in embarrassment, "Yeah…though he replaced Romeo with Juliet in that line…um, we like to trade lines back and forth. Mostly musicals, but sometimes he ventures into other stuff."

"It…is the east, and…Romeo…is…the sun," Quinn typed in.

Rachel snickered, "Not a direct follow up, but oh well. It matches better."

The phone rang and both girls stared at it.

"Answer it!" Quinn thrust the phone at her.

She fumbled for a bit before clicking the answer button, seeing Quinn gesturing to the phone. Rolling her eyes, she put it on speaker.

"So, Juliet, I'm outside your veranda. Want me to climb up or do you want me to stay down here?"

Rachel huffed, "Well, at least you're asking. No, I'll go down, Romeo."

"Okay then. I'll see you in a bit, my fair Capulet."

Once Rachel had hung up, Quinn looked at her with a knowing smirk.

"You guys are classic. He's got a smooth, sexy voice too. He sings?"

"Yeah…" she still remembered that lovely tone.

Quinn snorted, "Sounds perfect for you. Alright, don't want to keep Romeo waiting. Let's get down before he decides to be funny and climb up. Don't ruin your hair and makeup!"

"Okay…how'll you get home?"

Quinn paused, shrugging, "I'll just call Santana…or better yet, Brittany."

Rachel hesitated before plunging on, "You can take my car to drive to Finn's…but you didn't seem like you really want to be there, so if you want…you can sleepover here tonight. My dads are out of town for the weekend."

Quinn stared at her in surprise before giving her a grateful smile.

"Thanks…Rachel. Good luck tonight."

Rachel walked out her door with Quinn peeking out behind her, feeling her anxiety grow as she grew closer to Jesse, who was casually leaning outside on the door of the driver's seat of the silver Aston Martin and in another suit. She glanced in surprise at the car. He and his family must've been rich. Her family was well off, but definitely not as rich, she'd bet.

"For I ne'er saw true beauty 'til this night," he murmured, smiling that cool smile of his.

'How can he be so calm? I feel like I'm about to pass out,' Rachel thought.

Jesse walked a bit closer, taking her hand and bowing over it, kissing it lightly. She refrained from fidgeting.

"Ready to go?"

"Y-yeah."

He escorted her to the passenger seat, opening the door for her and closing it behind with what sounded like a click of finality.

Halfway there, Rachel blurted out a question.

"How did you get into the community?"

Jesse sent a half-smile her way, "I live in the same area."

"Oh. I had no idea." Well, duh, Rachel. She kicked herself metaphorically in the ass for starting a dumb conversation.

The rest of the ride was quiet, but strangely not uncomfortable. They were at Pelshana's in no time, and he was holding out his arm for her to take, escorting her in like a gentleman.

"Coheed and Cambria?" she asked, but she hid her smile.

"You know them?" he didn't bother to hide his smirk.

"Surprise."

They relaxed in their seats and ordered drinks while they sat and listened.

"Jesse, is this a date?" she asked frankly.

Oh why, oh why did she have to be so blunt all the time? It made for way too many cases of word vomits…

He blinked, "I assumed I'd proposed it that way. Was I not clear? I apologize."

Rachel blushed, "No, no. It's fine. I was…just making sure."

She was on a date.

The evening passed by and Rachel found she was actually enjoying herself and enjoying his company. She noted that he was a confident person, touchy-feely like Puck but not overly so, a bit demanding but mostly towards others and she noticed he'd refrained from being so with her. He was a bit old-fashioned and gentlemanly (mostly in manners, like pulling out her chair and stuff), but he wasn't completely traditional and liked change and innovations. Spring Awakening was his favorite musical, he liked a broad range of music but he tended to like stuff with more vocal emphasis, he liked dramatic movies, and he always dressed in suits, mostly Armani.

Yup, definitely rich.

And she noted he was a bit standoffish and cool at times, but she had a feeling it was more to do with how he was and not her. And she found out he was a senior. And 18. Three years older than her and about to graduate.

And the male lead of Vocal Adrenaline.

"Is that a problem for you?" he asked softly, one of her hands in his that he was gently toying with.

"No."

Yes.

He smiled knowingly, "You're in McKinley's Glee club. I saw you at your sectionals. You were brilliant. It's why, when I saw you in the crowd during one of our performances, and I saw you leave, I followed after you and came with you instead of singing with the group."

She stayed quiet.

"Rivals?" he brushed his lips against her fingertips.

"Rivals," she stated surely, because she may like him but she had her dreams.

"Friends?"

She glanced at him in surprise, shocked that he still wanted to know her after knowing they were rivals.

"Friends."

"And maybe something more?" he asked huskily, leaning forward just the slightest and staring at her intensely.

Her breath caught in her throat.

And when he drove her back, he led her to her door. She was caught off guard when his lips hovered closer to hers, deciding to land at the corner of her lips and then trailing to her jaw line and finally to her neck.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow," he murmured, and then he was gone.

Her heart thudded loudly in her chest.

For once, she hadn't thought of Finn Hudson in the place of another boy.

Started 2/23/10(?) –Completed 3/6/10