Rachel shuffled into her Modern Theater classroom in the halls of NYU. She glanced at the class and noticed how the majority of the seats were full, but she breathed a sigh of relief that there was still one seat left in the middle of the classroom. It was far enough back to protect her from the occasion spray of spit that came from Mr. Fletcher's mouth. On her first day of classes, she had learned that sitting in the front row was not particularly wise when you're teacher had a liking of getting up in your face when he was excited about something. Rachel checked the time on her watch as the last few students scurried in and reluctantly took the remaining seats in front. Sure enough, it was eleven o'clock. She couldn't believe she'd let herself be that close to tardiness. From now on she had to stop falling asleep in Jesse's apartment in Manhattan if she didn't want to have to rush to her only morning class on Fridays. Even worse, this morning he hadn't been there to wake her up, so she had accidentally slept in longer than she needed to only to find a note from him on the other side of the bed explaining that he had to leave for an unexpected rehearsal.

"Alright," said Mr. Fletcher as he walked through the door, coffee mug in hand. "So, who can remind me of what we were talking about the last time we met together?"

Rachel smiled, despite his spit problems, Mr. Fletcher was definitely Rachel's favorite professor. He was so open minded and enjoyed involving the students in all discussions. Kate, a blonde girl sitting two seats over from Rachel, raised her hand, and Rachel's smile vanished. She highly disliked Kate, she was the most annoying girl she had ever met. Rachel overtime had learned to tone down the part of her that always wanted to be the best and always wanted to answer every question and be in charge of everything. Kate, on the other hand, was like Rachel had been in high school. Only worse. Much, much worse.

"We were discussing our favorite Broadway performers. We ended our debates over past actors and were moving onto current ones," Kate recited it as though she had practiced this answer in the mirror.

"Right," Mr. Fletcher recalled. "Well, I guess what's going to happen today is very appropriate to our current topic then." The students glanced around at one another trying to decipher exactly what they would be doing. Rachel's eyebrows knit together in thought.

"What exactly do you mean, Mr. Fletcher?" Kate finally asked the question that was on all of their minds.

"Today, we have a very special treat. The other night I went and saw the revival of Beauty And The Beast because, as most of you know, it had it's opening night last week." Rachel's eyes grew larger. "I stayed and went to the stage door to see if any of leads would be coming out to sign autographs and I physically ran into the man who was playing Beast."

"You mean you met-" Kate began.

"More than met," Mr. Fletcher continued. "I asked him if he would be interested in coming to speak to the class and he agreed. He's waiting outside right now, so if you would all stay seated I'll go and get him." Rachel glanced at her fellow classmates and noticed how every one seemed to be extremely excited at the prospect of meeting an actual Broadway star. This guest is what almost everyone, including Rachel, wanted to be. Kate looked at Rachel and noticed that she didn't seem as excited about meeting a legitimate Broadway star as the rest of the room did. She was beginning to open her mouth to confront her about it when the door to the room reopened to reveal Mr. Fletcher, and a man in his early twenties dressed in dark colors.

"Not that he needs an introduction," Mr. Fletcher smiled, "but this is Jesse St. James. He has kindly agreed to talk to you today, so let's all take this opportunity to learn from him."

"Thank you for the opportunity of coming and speaking here," Jesse smiled. To anyone who didn't know him it appeared to be a completely innocent look, but Rachel could see the slight hint of cockiness behind his grin. She knew him better than anyone else, and she definitely knew when he was putting on a show face. "I'm really just here to inform you about actually working in theater, but I'm really interested in answering the questions you have. So if Mr. Fletcher doesn't mind, I'd like for this to be in a Q and A format."

"Sounds fine with me," Mr. Fletcher nodded from his seat at his desk.

"Great," Jesse replied. "Fire away."

"How exactly did you get into theater work?" a girl sitting in the front of the class asked.

"The stage has always been where I felt most comfortable," Jesse explained. "I did show choir in high school, and I attended UCLA for a semester before I realized that I really just wanted to be on Broadway rather than do camera work. I moved to New York, auditioned for Marius in Les Miserables and worked with that for two years, and then I began the auditioning process for Beauty and the Beast which, of course, just opened last week."

"Which is your favorite," a different girl began, "playing Marius or playing Beast?"

"That's a tough one," Jesse mused. "The two roles are so different, but very similar at the same time. I will say that playing Marius was very eye opening because it was my first role. I learned a lot during that time, so I would say I lean a little towards Marius. At the same time though, there's still so much I'm learning as Beast, so it's a tie really. It's hard to pick once you've become so attached to something."

"What are you're working hours like?" a boy asked from the back of the room.

"Well," Jesse began, "when you first start on a musical, the hours are a little crazy. You're getting to know your cast, getting familiar with the stage, getting familiar with your director, learning choreography, singing constantly, and acting different scenes from different angles and marks to see what works and what doesn't. Those first months can get a little hectic, so they're about fourteen to sixteen hour workdays for six days a week. It's completely worth it though. Once the show actually begins, I perform eight times a week due to Sunday matinees."

"Can I ask about your salary?" another boy questioned.

"I live very comfortably," Jesse smirked. Rachel rolled her eyes subtly. His extremely large trust fund from his parents also helped with his "comfortable" living.

"Are you single?" Kate asked from her seat.

Jesse let out a loud laugh and shot a quick look at Rachel. She only raised her eyebrows at him, silently conveying for him to answer however he wanted.

"I'm not," Jesse answered. Rachel grinned slightly when Kate sighed. "I've been with my girlfriend since her Sophomore year in high school which was my Senior year. We just had our four-year anniversary."

The inquiries continued for the rest of the class, and as it continued Jesse grew more comfortable and began to answer questions with more details. When Jesse left the class five minutes early, Rachel felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and glanced at the message.

I'll meet you at your dorm. -J

Finally Mr. Fletcher dismissed the class after realizing that his chances of gaining back the class' attention was very slim. Rachel stood quickly and started towards her dorm room without noticing she was being followed.

Kate was ready to confront Rachel about her lack of input during the once in a lifetime opportunity that had been presented to them today, but she could not catch up with Rachel's pace. Instead, she continued to follow Rachel figuring that she could just ask her once she had arrived at Rachel's door. Kate was about to turn onto Rachel's hallway when she heard voices.

"Why are you sitting in the hallway?" she heard Rachel ask.

"Your door was locked," she heard a familiar male voice answer.

"You have a key," Rachel commented.

"That I left in my apartment."

"Which is where you should be right now!" Kate heard Rachel say sounding slightly aggravated.

"You aren't seriously mad at me are you?" the male voice asked, disbelievingly.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were going to be here today! You could have at least given me a heads up!"

"If I would have told you, you wouldn't have come today," the male protested.

"Exactly! I could have avoided the looks that everyone was giving you. I had to sit there and act like you were some big deal, and that I was honored to be in your presence."

"Hey," the male defended. "I didn't do this to make you feel uncomfortable. I was just trying to give advice to people who are where I was four years ago."

"I know," Kate heard Rachel sigh. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," she heard the man answer. "Next time I'm planning on speaking to one of your classes I'll be sure to tell you beforehand." Kate suddenly realized who Rachel was speaking to, and she quickly rounded the corner to see exactly what was going on.

When she looked over to Rachel's doorway she saw the last thing she expected to see. Jesse St. James had Rachel pressed against her door with her lips firmly attached to his own.

She watched as Rachel pushed him away lightly and as Jesse's lips formed a playful pout.

"I thought you forgave me," he whined.

"I do," Rachel smiled. "But, we can't do this in the hallway. People will see, and it will blow our secret."

"You know," Jesse pondered aloud. "I don't like this whole secret relationship thing. One day I'm going to talk you out of it."

"Not until I make it on my own."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Make it on my own?"

"Yeah," Jesse nodded. "Why would you want to do anything alone when you could have your loving boyfriend standing beside you?"

"Because said boyfriend might get credit for my work."

"Fine," Jesse sighed. "Which reminds me, I got you an audition for the revival of Oklahoma. And before you protest, I only told the director that I knew a girl with an amazing voice and a dream of playing Laurey."

"Maybe this whole secret relationship thing is overrated."

"My thoughts exactly. Though, the sex is pretty hot."

As Rachel led Jesse into her room, Kate quickly went to her own room. Tomorrow she was going to start Operation Befriend Rachel Berry.

So I've had this written for a while, but I never posted it... So I figured why not?

Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Glee

Thoughts?