Smoke and Mirrors: A Prequel to Broken

Chapter 1- Jane Doe

A/N: So, I need to thank lilypilots90 for this idea. She asked me to give more background on how Jesse and Rachel met, so I'm doing a multi-chapter prequel :) As usual, I own nada. :'( Part of the title belongs to Lifehouse.

"Dude," Jesse said to Finn as he watched Rachel walk by, "Rachel is hot."Jesse turned his head to follow Rachel's movements further down the hall.

"Hey," Finn said, slightly annoyed, "That's my sister your talking about." He punched Jesse's shoulder, making sure to put force behind it because seriously, he doesn't need to know what his friends think about his little sister. Just...no.

"Whatever, she's hot." Jesse rolled his eyes at Finns discomfort. He found it amusing. Because really its not like Finn owned Rachel. "I've been your friend for how long? You can trust me you know. I wouldn't hurt her."

"Fine," Finn sighed, giving in, "Come over tomorrow and we'll play Halo and shit. If she's home, talk to her." Finn really didn't like the idea of Jesse and Rachel going out, but Jesse was right about one thing: Finn and Jesse had been friends for too long for Finn not to trust him.

…***...***

Finn didn't mention to Rachel that Jesse was coming over to the house that Saturday. He was really hoping she would be out doing something, but then again, Rachel didn't have many friends and Saturday was her one day off from dance and all the other stuff that kept her busy.

Jesse knocked on the door and 10:30 in the morning, ready to play Halo and get Rachel to go on a date with him. Finn opened the door and ushered him inside quickly. He could hear Rachel up in her room singing "Jane Doe" by NeverShoutNever.

…***...***

At around noon, Rachel ran down the stairs to get lunch. Not knowing anyone besides Finn was in the house, she was just wearing what she normally wore on a Saturday; little black booty shorts and a tight tank top. "Hey Finn" she yelled as she was coming down the stairs, "You want anything for lunch? I'm gonna make a salad."

"No Rach, I'm good. Maybe you could ask our guest though." Finn said, the smile evident in his voice.

"What are you talking about Finn Adin Berry? Who is in the house?" Rachel demanded, running down the stairs faster, thinking it was just one of the guys who was over all the time. When she reached the foot of the stairs and saw Jesse sitting on her couch, smirking at her, she turned beet red. "Oh...Jesse. Hi." Rachel smiled, ignoring the fact that she was totally mortified. Looking down at what she was wearing, her mouth hung open. "I'll be right back down once I put...clothes...on." Rachel ran back up the stairs three at a time before closing her door.

When Rachel walked back down the stairs, she was wearing a very large, baggy t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. "Hello Jesse" she said very quietly, still slightly embarrassed.

"Hi Rachel. What's up?" Jesse smiled at her, acting unruffled by basically seeing Rachel in her underwear.

"The sky." Finn said, "everyone knows that, duh." He rolled his eyes as Rachel laughed.

"Oh, nothing much Jesse. I was just upstairs singing and now I'm getting myself lunch. Would you like me to cook you anything?" She asked.

"No, I'm good. Thanks for offering though." Jesse smiled at Rachel.

"Okay, Finn, I'll bring you a sandwich." Rachel stated, walking into the kitchen, whistling.

…***...***

"You know dude," Finn sighed, once Rachel was in the kitchen, "This is really awkward. You trying to hit on my sister. Maybe you should, oh I don't know, stop!"

"Well sorry. It's not my fault your sister is hot." Jesse smirked at how uncomfortable Finn was becoming.

"Can you please just ask her out already? It would make my life ten times less awkward." Finn was really getting annoyed. Jesse and he might have been friends since middle school where they bonded over Senior Leauge Youth Football, they spent days practicing drills, Finn was the quarterback, Jesse a running back. How neither of them had parents that were interested in sports they played. That was when they were 13. Now, they were in their Junior year of high school and still best friends.

"Come on, I can't be the only one of your friends who tried to get into her-"

"Do not finish that sentence unless you have a death wish." Finn ground out, trying to control his anger because seriously, that's his sister.

"What the fuck ever dude. You can't tell me I'm the only guy you know who's wanted into the Rachel Berry pants." Jesse rolled his eyes again, "But seriously, if you have a problem with it, I won't ask her out." Jesse's face was somber and left no room for joking.

"I don't have a problem with it," Finn began, "You just have to remember, she's my sister. There's certain things I don't need or want to hear about her. And you crossed that line the other day in school." Finn sighed, running his hand through his short hair. Sure, Jesse was his best friend, but when it came to Rachel, that was his family, he would go to the end of the world to protect her.

"I'm sorry? Look, I plan to ask her out, I mean why wouldn't I want to ask her out." Jesse turned to look at his best friend. "I won't hurt her, you know me. I couldn't do anything that would put her in harm's way."

Finn gave Jesse a once over, something in Jesse's voice made him want to not believe what he was saying. "I mean it dude, no fucking her over. And this better not be because you want in her pants. It best be because you want to get to know her and take her out and shit." Finn shook his head again, he couldn't believe he just gave one of his friends permission to ask her out.

"Thanks man," Jesse reached over, shaking Finn's hand tightly. Jesse smirked, thinking about where her could take her out on their first date.

…***...***

Rachel clutched her books to her chest, keeping her head down, trying to get to her next class. She hated being an underclassman, it honestly sucked. The upperclassman always did something to make school a living hell.

"Rachel!" Hearing her name, she turned around to see her best friend weaving through the crowd. His short blond hair and deep blue eyes finding hers. Rachel smiled gently, coming to a stop to wait for Noé. He had literally ran into her on the first day of fourth grade-he was in fifth, she walked around the same corner he was. Since then, they talked often, hung out as often as their schedules permitted and usually walked to class with each other."Hey, what are we doing for your birthday? It is this weekend. Your sweet sixteen! We need to make it special," Noé slung his arm around Rachel's shoulder, drawing her in close. "Maybe I can take you out to a special dinner..."

"Noé, you know dad and daddy make me dinner and get me my favorite cake. This year my aunt's, uncles and all my cousins are coming in from Cleveland." Rachel looked up at the tall man, "You know how special it is for me to see them, I never do."

Noé sighed, turning to Rachel, "I'm sorry, raincheck?"

"Of course Noé," Rachel stood on her tip toes, gently kissing his cheek. "You can take me to my favorite Italian resturant. Now lets go, we're going to be late for Glee!" Rachel tugged his hands, pulling Noé towards the choir room.

…***...***

Rachel woke early on Saturday morning, preparing for her birthday today, she was planning on getting out her favorite skirt, taking the extra time to pamper herself and be extra for her family. Noé had promised to come, Kurt would be there, Quinn had told Rachel she had planned to come for cake and presents. The smile on Rachel's couldn't begin to describe how she was feeling.

A knock on her door brought Rachel out of her musing's. "Come in," Rachel applied to light lip gloss to round off her finished. She gave herself one more look in her full length mirror.

"Hey Rach," Finn opened the door a little more. "Uh, someone's here to see you."

Rachel looked at her brother, knitting her brow in confusin. "Who? Can't it wait, the party starts soon anyways..."

"No, he wants to see you before." Finn shifted on his feet, he hated that Jesse had this whole thing planned out. Finn knew it was sweet and Rachel was going to swoon.

"Okay..." Rachel motioned for them to come in. To say she was shocked to see Jesse saunter didn't begin to explain it. Her heart beat sped up, she always liked Jesse, his hair was always in the perfect curls. He was tall but not too tall, and had the body and grace of a dancer.

Jesse took a deep breath, gently closing the door behind him. "Rachel, hi. Happy birthday," Jesse handed her a small box.

"Thank you, but you didn't have to get me anything." Rachel took the box slowly.

"Yes I did. Look maybe we should talk before you open that," Jesse took a seat on the edge of her bed, gently patting the spot next to him. "I've really liked you for some time now. And I would really like to be able to take you out, just me and you, call you my girlfriend. Get to know you, spend time with you..."

"I'm only a sophomore though. Won't it be hard, since summer is only two months away, we wont see each other, at all." Rachel felt bad for practically turning him down. She couldn't tell you the number of times she's dreamed of Jesse just walking into her room, asking her out and then kissing her soundly.

Jesse sighed, turning to face Rachel. He gently cupped her cheek, gently encouraging her to look at him. "I care about you, a lot. We'll see each other often enough, I want to see you often. I can come here, bring you to the lake and spend a day on the beach, have a picnic. Please Rachel, I want this." His voice dropped to a whisper, leaning in closer, the mouths inches apart, "Please?" Jesse whispered against her lips.

Rachel's eye's dropped closed, leaning into Jesse's touch, wanting nothing more than to close the small gap between them and show him she wanted this. "Yes, I want it too," With her answer, Jesse brushed his lips against her once.

"Open your gift babe," Jesse pulled away, just enough for her to open the gift he had handed her earlier. "I hope you like it." He watched Rachel pull the paper off the box, when she looked up at him, he just nodded, trying to get her to open it.

Rachel pulled the cover off the box, seeing a thin gold chain, with a small heart pendant. Half the heart was solid gold and the other half had diamonds. She gasped bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, "Jesse, I can't accept this. Really, this is too much."

"Do you want me to be your boyfriend?" At Rachel's nod, Jesse leaned over, gently kissing her lips again, "Good, then I get to spoil you." Jesse smirked, taking the box from Rachel's hands, "Here let me put it on for you." Taking it out of the box and unclasping it, he placed it around Rachel's neck; Rachel lifted her hair, once the necklace was re-clasped, Jesse kissed the back of her neck, mumbling, "Perfect." He took Rachel's hand, intertwining their fingers together. "Do you like it?"

Rachel nodded, looking down at their joined hands. "Yes Jesse, I love it. This day has been nothing but perfect." Rachel cautiously leaned her head onto his shoulder.

Jesse smirked, leaning his head on hers. "That's good baby, now come on, it's time for a birthday party for a very special birthday girl." Rachel beamed up at Jesse, her boyfriend, who led her down stairs to the room full of people. Only Jesse caught the scowl on Noé's face when he saw their interlocked fingers. Rachel caught all the smiles on her family's faces and Kurt's squeal of happiness over the new couple.

Finn gave Jesse a knowing smile. Everything had gone the way Jesse had planned. The smile on Jesse face said it all, he was proud to have Rachel on his arm and in return Finn was happy for his best friend and sister. He knew deep down Jesse wouldn't hurt his baby sister. Rachel bounded over to Finn, "Happy birthday little sis," Finn kissed Rachel's cheek pulling her into a tight hug.

"Thank you Finn, look," Rachel lifted the chain off her neck, showing off the necklace Jesse had given her.

"Wow Rach, whose that from?" Finn looked to see Jesse smiling at Rachel's back, eyes trained on her, his brow knitted together, pondering the reason he never saw Jesse's level of attraction towards his sister before.

"Jesse, silly," Rachel laughed before being pulled somewhere else by another aunt or cousin.

Noé sat back and watched as Rachel flitted across the room. He truly thought that when he asked her for dinner earlier in the week, he would have gotten the chance to tell her how he really feels, to see if she would take the chance on what they could. But that all flew out the window the minute Jesse found out. He made his move before Noé could.

Noé watched Rachel, longingly, he wanted her, he wanted to make her smile, to hold her hand, kiss her when he felt like it. Now he had to take the back seat and hopefully Jesse would leave, then he would get his chance.

"She's mine now, you need to back down." The voice startled Noé, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Whatever Jesse, you just wanted her because I do. You always take what I want right from underneath me. And no, this has nothing to do with last year, and all that bullshit drama in English. Man, you know I love her, and yeah, so what's the point that you like her," Noé shook his head, trying to hold the tears at bay. He loved this girl, and now, having to really love her from afar broke his heart. He would be her friend though, he still needed her close. And if that meant being in the friend only zone, he would deal with it, for now. A hand grabbed his upper arm, breaking him from his train of thought.

"Watch yourself, she's mine now. Back the fuck off." Jesse sneared, but gripped Noé's arm a little tighter, "Are we clear?" Noé nodded, ripping his arm out from Jesse's grasp. Without looking back, Noé walked out the door, and down the steps, making it to his truck door before he finally let the slide down his cheek. He had a horrible feeling about this. I'm her friend now, nothing more. Noé thought, backing down the driveway.

…***...***

Rachel sat in the chair, opening all her gifts. When she got to the last envelope, she opened it up, seeing a gift card to her favourite local spa. When she saw the hand writing on the side, she smiled brightly.

**Can't wait for our dinner next week. I know how much you love your silly little spa days. I hope you enjoy this one. -Love, Noé

Rachel giggled, this boy knew her so well. She looked around the room, searching for Noé. When she came up empty, she frowned slightly, not understanding where he could have gone without telling her.

"I'm sorry babe, I forgot to tell you, Noé had to take off, he said he'd call you later." Jesse smiled sweetly at Rachel, who just nodded, believing what her boyfriend told her.

"Okay, I'll call him tonight." Rachel put everything back into the envelope, placing it with the rest of her gifts. "Thank you everyone for coming here today and all the wonderful gifts..." Rachel thanked all her guest, seeing to them as they left her house. Rachel didn't understand why Noé didn't search her out, to give her a hug good bye, it was very unusual of him.

Once everyone left, including a long goodbye from Jesse.

Jesse, Rachel sighed happily, leaning back against her pillows. She couldn't believe he had asked her out! She had a boyfriend! A squeal escaped her lips and a huge smile broke across her face. Coming down from her temporary happy high, she picked up her cell and dialed the familiar number of her best friend.

"Hi, this is Noé, I can't come to the phone right now, but you can leave me a message and I'll think about calling you back!"

Rachel hit the end button, looking at her phone befuddled, Noé always picked up the phone when she called. She re-dialed almost immediately getting sent to voicemail again. Rachel tried four more times, each time getting the voicemail, she finally gave up. Rachel tried to think of what Noé could be doing that he wouldn't answer the phone. He couldn't be mad at her, could he?

Rachel was snapped out of thoughts when her phone beeped with a new message. Hoping it was from Noé, she blindly opened it.

**Hey babe, watcha up to?—.J

Rachel checked the time, realizing he'd only left her house 15 minutes ago. Her brow furrowed but she typed back a reply.

**Jesse, you've been gone 15 minutes, I managed to make it up the stairs and into my room. I was also trying to get a hold of Noé...—Rach

Rachel quickly changed into comfier clothes, reaching for her phone to try just one more time. When it went to voicemail, she simply shut her phone off, ignoring the three new texts from Jesse.

A/N: Okay people! That's a taste of Smoke And Mirrors: A Prequel to Broken. Tell me what you're thinking. Still liking the idea of this? Or do you hate it and think I should just stop? Let me know!