He listens to her reasoning quietly, nodding at the explanation, and doing his best to not read in between the lines, because he doesn't technically know for sure that there's any reading to do. Jesse had never approved of the way that Finn had treated Rachel, and while he had certainly no room to talk when he hadn't been the shining example of a perfect boyfriend in high school, it was sometimes hard to see the damage his temper had left behind. He knew teenagers could be irrational and angry, he couldn't really blame the guy for not having it all together when he was only nineteen, but that didn't make the impact any less real.

"I think it's easy to forget when we haven't really been out of high school that long. Even if it did lead to a fight, though... That's not something we can always avoid. I'd rather fight and work things out than try to keep it all quiet until it comes out on its own."

He lets out a small sigh, nodding, and reaching out to brush some of the hair away from her face. His pauses to gently run his thumb over her cheek, before he lets his hand drop to his lap again, looking back to the pile of papers with his lips pursed and his brows raised a bit.

This was going to take a while.

"Alright. Let's... eat. And relax. Get some energy back in you. Then we can come back and tackle all..." He waves his hand a little vaguely at the pile of papers. "This."