if you're happy and you know it

Is it just me or is Jesse kinda hot?

"Expensive gift to look for. Trust me, I know how much I pay them." Juliette smiled at Jesse. She would love for someone else to handle that for her. But she wouldn't let someone else do that for her; she was too involved with every part of her career.

Jesse chuckled at her answer. He was sure her team looked after her well and at the end of the day, that's what was important. Even if things weren't always perfect. "Hey-," he smiled, giving her hand a squeeze, "You're doing amazing, okay? Cut yourself some slack."

"So you've totally done this before. I never knew you were secretly a criminal. I won't rat you out." She nudged him lightly. A getaway car and possible outcomes was already farther than she figured they needed. And when he said all how many possible outcomes fell into that option. Jesse was far more creative than she could be. "Well you can't completely disappear. Some of us would wanna keep a tab on your progress. That's... I'll accept that then."

"I appreciate you having my back," Jesse grinned. It was so nice to see Beth, he felt like life had gotten so busy after they graduated, they hardly saw each other. "Hey, we should catch up sometime outside of, uh, an extravaganza. Just, like, over smoothies or something. You can catch me up on your life outside of the outrageous headlines." Jesse was only human so had, of course, binged 'Friday Night Bites'. He'd always thought Frankie had a bit of a reputation for being a bad boy or whatever, but he trusted Beth's judgement. "That's cool, do you-," he started when his phone buzzed- "Sorry, hang on one sec." He totally hadn't realised the time. He wasn't planning on staying late or playing Logan's match-up game (that threatened a little too much Sophia-shaped nostalgia for him to handle).

It took a moment, but Isobel's eyes finally focused enough for her to realise it was Jesse in front of her. Of course he was dressed as Superman–he certainly had the jawline for it. Her eyes glanced down the full height of him and wondered how many of those muscles were padding. "Superman." She acknowledged playfully, but proceeded to quickly remove her hand from his arm, an almost sad smile on her lips. "Sorry..." It slipped out before she could stop it, "I didn't realise you were... you. I don't think I'm allowed to even speak to you."

Hearing Isobel Prescott say 'sorry' so casually was definitely an experience. Jesse's brow furrowed, trying to rack his brain for why she wouldn't be allowed to speak to him. They hadn't had a falling out or anything. He was coming up totally blank here. "What do you mean?" She looked like she was having fun but she also looked sad. Heartbroken, he'd bet. It was almost like looking in a mirror for a second. "Did something happen, Isobel?"

she jumped at the sudden arrival of a random guy, not expecting anyone but emmeline to talk to her. they wracked their brain for a moment and the lightbulb moment came "oh, right! tessa's friends...rose's ex...hi, how are you?" they asked in hope that he would stop rambling the whole friendship tree "uh...thanks? i'll be honest, i just came from work and didn't know it was a costume thing"

"that's me," he laughed. man, it had been a minute since he'd thought of himself as 'rose's ex'. "i'm awesome, thank you! i'm just here with my friend-," sister-in-law... limbo-in-law... "sapphire. i swear, she's around here somewhere but i think she might be taking the long way around back here. for me, it's any excuse to pull out the superman costume. oh, shoot. right, you're actually a doctor and these are your... doctorly garments. i've got it."

Elizabeth smiled at Jesse. She could tell that he was having a good time. It was written all over his face, she thought he deserved it. Jesse had been through enough lately, and if a couple of the more friendly members of the Upper East Side wanted to mend his heart. Why not let them?

"I'm so glad to hear that! I feel like we haven't caught up in forever. My fault, really. We should have coffee or something, you can tell me all about how you're taking over the world. Or the family business, at least. Juliette doesn't pull her punches, it's go big or go home." Jesse chuckled at her question, knowing all too well how good Juliette was at getting her way. It was all part of her charm. "You can't. I'm sure it'll be a night to remember, though. In my experience, Juliette always has an awesome plan and executes it perfectly."

"The coolest." He agreed, watching them bob on the water for a moment longer before looking up at Jesse. "Well, me and the flamingos are honoured to have your attention when your adoring fan club is waiting so impatiently." Jake waved at a couple of girls who had been watching Jesse, causing them to giggle and run off. "Yeah, it's the best." He was grinning, but there was little enthusiasm in his reply. "I mean..." He struggled to contain a laugh, "Isn't that what happens when you become a father?"

"What do you mean?" Jesse smiled, shaking his head as Jake waved behind them. By the time he looked around, he couldn't see anyone there. Everyone had been really nice to him today... They can't have all been flirting with him, could they? No. No way! Jesse looked back to Jake, his brow furrowing at the lack of his usual enthusiasm. He hadn't been living under a rock, he knew that Jake had been having a hard time with his injury. He should have been there for him more, you know? Maybe he should say something now. In fact, he was about to when Jake said that. "What-... You mean Lexa? I'm not- I'm her cool uncle at best, Jake. I'm, like, her landlord at worst. I think you've had way too many flamingos, my guy."

"Fine, you can do one for two of mine. Let's leave that for Jake tonight." Camille smiled at Jesse. He had never been able to keep up. But she had always had a much higher tolerance than many of her friends. She was happy to see him trying tonight. "Good answer! Don't worry, I am sure Juliette would let you stay over if you can't get home."

"That's a very generous offer, thank you. You've seen him too? I mean, I don't wanna rain on anyone's parade but... how long do we leave him in the hot tub before we have to go over with a big net?" Jesse made a face after another shot, placing the glass back down. "Very true, she's always been generous like that. How are you doing anyway? How's college?"

Juliette smiled as Jesse walked up to her. She could tell he was having a good time. She had been worried when she saw Tabby pull him away for a conversation, but all seemed well. And he had not caught on yet, so far so good.

"Always," Jesse grinned. "She'd definitely do numbers in the fruit and veg aisle. You're so welcome, Jules. Aw, stop... You're gonna make my head so big that I can't get back in through the door. You'll have no problem tonight then, I'm planning on having non-stop fun."

"jesse" she greeted "i'm alright, yeah fun for now before i make some sort of decision that is going change the course of this party experience." she wasn't sure yet but she kew she was going to end up doing something "what about you? enjoying the extravagance that the party has to offer?"

"that sounds a little scary but so long as you're having a good time! i saw that caisson and elena are here, you must be psyched to see them. i'm having a great time, thank you. juliette, saph and rose have gone above and beyond. really proves you don't need a special occasion to have a good time," he added with a sweet smile. "can i get you anything?"

Oh sweet Jesus. Beth put on a smile before wrapping her arm around Jesse's. "Sorry, you can tell him later I need to borrow him." Dragging him away she shook her head. "I don't think you should be drinking stuff you don't know." In fact why would he even try it. "Are you having fun though?"

"Mistakes may have been made, Beth. Thank you for saving me," he added with a smile. She had always been such a voice of reason, one he was grateful to have. "Oh, yeah. I'm having a blast! Juliette really pulled out all the stops with this party, it's been awesome getting to see everyone. Did you see Alex is here? Lexa's with my mom for the night so it's an especially big night out. What about you?"

elena watched on as jesse braved the drink that was passed to him "your trust in people is astounding. they put so much vodka in that, jesse. i'm surprised you're not breathing fire"

"i, uh, wouldn't count that out just yet-," jesse coughed, waiting for the seismic burn in his throat to pass. "hey, it's great to see you though, lena! when did you get back to the city?"

Nilay was passing by when she noticed the look on Jesse's face and stopped abruptly in her tracks. "Jesse!" She beamed, pulling him towards her and away from the wannabe bartender. "Excuse us, I need to borrow him for a moment." Guiding him to the other side of the room, she took the drink from his hand and deposited it on a passing tray. "Jesse, I beg of you, please don't drink anything when you don't know all of the ingredients."

"Nilay!" Jesse grinned, a sudden wash of relief coming over him as she took control of the situation. He let her take the drink and abandon it - definitely the smart move. "You're so right, I wasn't thinking straight. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson after Sapphire insisted on playing bartender after we graduated high school. I didn't think I was gonna make it through that night either. Thank you for looking out for me. Are you having a good night?"

Tabby couldn't watch this anymore. "Sorry, girl, time's up. Gotta save him before you put him to sleep." She grabbed Jesse's arm, pulling him away. "Shouldn't have walked away from me, handsome."

"Lessons learned, Tabby," Jesse joked as she pulled him away from them. It was for the best forsure. There was no shame in admitting that he found Tabby intimidating - who wouldn't? - but she was undeniably charming in her way. "Have you been having fun since we parted?"

Dan was not feeling relaxed. He was at one of the Vanderbilt Hamptons homes, a party full of Upper East Siders. Many he knew, most he doubted remembered him. He walked in on Jesse being put through a horrible conversation, he couldn't help but smile.

Jesse was beyond grateful when Dan suddenly appeared to swoop him away. He let out a laugh at his comment, it was totally fair enough. "I don't know if I can be anything else," he smiled. "Thank you for the save, though. I really appreciate it. Did you really wanna do a shot or was that just a clever ruse?"