A/N: Alright, still having writer's block on the ongoing fics, so here's yet another one started. Yes, I'm breaking up Jashley (or whatever the Jessica/Ashley ship name is) and yes, I'm going to make Ashley a bitch in this one (sorry Ashley) although current plans are you'll only see her in Chapter 2. I just hope Jashley shippers aren't as fanatic about the pairing as Bechloe shippers are or I'm going to have the 'I'm Falling to Pieces' fiasco all over again (and no, Ashley isn't going to cheat with Jesse, that's not what I'm saying). I'm doing this pairing because I think Jessica's voice is underutilized in the movies and I want her to sing duets with Beca (and I think Jessica and Beca would be cute together).
Some quick 'background' – this starts about a month after the girls get back from the USO tour. Amy, Chloe and Beca have moved out of their apartment as Amy is rich and moves into a bigger space, Chloe moved closer to her vet school and Beca found a place closer to the new studio she'll be working out of. Not much is different other than that. Oh, and Beca and Jesse broke up like in PP3, but Beca had determined at some point during PP2 (or just after) that she was bisexual (but I have plans to cover that realization in the story).
Enjoy (and please don't kill me)….
Summary: Jessica shows up on Beca's doorstep devastated because Ashley broke up with her. As their personal and professional lives become intertwined, will something more develop between the two.
Rating: M (I'm just going to start at M since I end up there any way, no matter how hard I try)
Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Pitch Perfect universe and I gain nothing but perverse satisfaction by writing this.
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Beca peeked through the peep-hole to see who was trying to knock her door down at midnight on a Saturday night. She was surprised to see Jessica standing on the other side of her door, wringing her hands together before bringing them up to knock again. Beca looked down at herself, wondering if she should change into something a little more presentable than her long pajama t-shirt. Then she shrugged to herself, Jessica had seen her in worse; heck she just saw her in something pretty similar less than a month ago in Rota, Spain.
Beca quickly opened the door when the knocking started again, startling the blonde, "Enough with the knocking Jessica, you'll wake up all my neighbors and you don't want that." Beca gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of waking up old Mrs. Nelson in 3B.
Jessica just stood there as Beca scolded her for knocking and Beca finally got a good look at her. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hands were shaking. Beca gave a grim smile as she stepped back, "Why don't you come on in, you don't look so hot."
When Beca said that, Jessica nodded and the tears started falling as she moved into the apartment. Beca took one last look around the hallway to make sure nobody was going to open their door and complain. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Beca shut the door and turned to follow the blonde Bella into her apartment but was surprised to find the girl right there, having stopped as soon as she had gotten far enough into the apartment for Beca to close the door.
Jessica was standing there, looking at her with this pitiful look, making Beca feel uncomfortable. She wasn't really good at this working out what was wrong and consoling thing, she usually said the wrong thing and made it worse. She rubbed Jessica's shoulder awkwardly, "Ummm, Jess, don't take this the wrong way, but isn't there someone else you can talk to about this?" Jessica shook her head. Beca tried being more specific, "Chloe?" Another shake of the head. "Ashley?" A more dramatic shake of the head, with more tears falling. Beca swore to herself, thinking 'Shit, must have to do with Ashley then,' before continuing "Legacy?" Another shake of her head. Beca sighed, "You know I'm not good with this stuff, why me?"
Jessica moved in to hug Beca, letting her know through her tears, "Because you are the only one that ever saw us, me."
Beca awkwardly hugged the taller girl back, "What do you mean, we all saw you. I mean you were a Bella for crying out loud."
Jessica just rested her head on Beca's shoulder, her shaking starting to subside now that she had someone she could talk to, "Yah, we were Bellas but we were just singers that you needed for the group, we were never really one of you guys."
Beca scoffed, "What do you mean, you weren't just a backup singer. Your voice is awesome, I even worked you into a little solo part in 'I don't like it, I love it'."
Jessica sighed, giving a little sniffle, "I know, thank you for that too, it was awesome. But that's what I mean, you never ignored us or talked around us, you always tried to include us. The other girls, not so much."
Beca sighed, "Seriously?" Jessica just nodded against her shoulder. Beca rubbed her back as she held her, "I'm sorry about that. I should have been paying more attention so that didn't happen."
Jessica stepped back out of the hug and gave a shrug, "It is what it is and I don't know if it would have mattered anyway." She looked sad again, "Can we go sit down? And I hate to be a bother, but maybe something to drink, preferably alcoholic?"
Beca nodded and led Jessica to her living room, motioning to the beat up couch. As she walked into the kitchen she called over her shoulder, "Beer or something stronger?"
Jessica leaned back against the couch, dropping her head back and looking vacantly at the ceiling, "Stronger if you don't mind."
Beca came back with a bottle of vodka, a pitcher of orange juice and a couple of glasses. Jessica sat back up when she heard Beca set everything down and gave a weak smile to the brunette. She leaned over and took one of the glasses and then filled it with about two inches of vodka, tipping it back and drinking it all at once. She grimaced as the alcohol burned down her throat, then she poured another two inches and then topped off the glass with orange juice, absently stirring it with her finger. She realized what she was doing and looked around for a napkin to clean her finger off with. Seeing nothing available, she did the next best thing. She stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked the mixed drink off of it. Beca smirked at the blonde, before making her own mixed drink and stirring it the exact same way.
When their drinks were made, Beca felt it prudent to remind her guest, "Alright, I'm warning you again that I suck at this stuff. I'll probably say the wrong thing, so no refunds."
Beca's attempt at humor caused a ghost of a smile to pass over Jessica's lips before she became somber again. Jessica looked at her, her eyes catching Beca's as she stared into them, "You don't suck at these kinds of things because you say what you mean, not just something that you think the other person wants to hear. That's what I need right now, some honesty."
Beca nodded at the blonde as she moved from the chair across from her to sit next to her on the couch. She gently rested her hand on top of Jessica's before responding, "That I can do. And for what it's worth, I'm glad you came to me." Jessica gave her a weak smile and then took another long drink. Beca gave a little chuckle, "Well, you better tell me what's up before you're too far gone to talk."
Jessica tried to give her a smile, but what came out was more of a grimace and a flood of tears, "Ashley kicked me out."
Beca quickly pulled the girl into a hug, all of her previous awkwardness at contact gone. She ran her hand slowly up and down the crying blonde's back, whispering soothing sounds. After she wrapped her head around the fact that the two girls she thought would always be together, weren't, she squeezed the blonde in the hug and whispered, "What happened?"
Jessica shrugged in her arms, "I don't know. I thought everything was going fine, we were doing fine. But I came home tonight and she said I needed to move my stuff out."
Beca leaned back, reaching out to wipe some of the tears off of Jessica's face, "Did she say why?"
Ashley looked down into her lap, tears continuing to fall down her cheeks despite Beca's best attempts to wipe them away. She gave a hitching breath, "She said we wanted different things. Our USO trip showed her how much there was out in the world and she wanted to see it all. After seeing what was out there she couldn't just be happy going to a dead-end job and singing in community theater."
Beca interrupted, "You sing in community theater?"
Jessica nodded, "When they do musicals I always try out."
Beca smiled, "That is so cool."
That earned something like a small smile from the blonde. It quickly disappeared as she continued, "She said she needed to grow up and move past the Bellas. I was a part of the Bellas that would always hold her back." She started sobbing, "I would never hold her back. I just thought we wanted the same things. She never told me she wanted something different." The rest dissolved into sobs as she fell into Beca's arms, crying into her shoulder.
Beca sat there holding the crying girl, racking her brain for the right thing to say. Nothing was coming to mind so she just held Jessica, letting her get everything out of her system. Jessica let out a heavy sigh as her crying subsided for the moment, sitting back from Beca she reached out for her glass, downing the rest of it in one go. Beca looked at her worriedly, "Maybe you should slow down a little Jess?"
Jessica poured herself another drink, "I just want to forget everything."
Beca took her hand, squeezing it, "I know Jess and I understand, I was more thinking about you not getting sick on my couch." Then Beca dramatically looked at the old couch, "Although it would probably improve this ugly thing." The unexpected comment caught Jessica by surprise and she let out a snort of laughter. Beca laughed, "A snort? Really?"
Jessica dropped her head back onto Beca's shoulder, but not before Beca caught sight of the first real smile she'd seen all night, "Fuck you Beca." Beca just laughed as she picked up her drink, taking a long sip, because she had a feeling this was going to be a long night.
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Beca woke up with a pounding head and a mouth full of cotton. Her back was also killing her and as she became more fully away of her surroundings she realized why; she was leaning over with her head on Jessica's hip while the blonde was laying on the couch, her head in Beca's lap. As Beca moved she heard a pitiful groan from the woman lying under her. Beca tried to smirk as she sat up, but the sudden shock to her head caused it to become a grimace.
Jessica brought her head up to her head, "Do you have to move so loudly?"
Beca chuckled and immediately regretted it, "I'm moving as quietly as I can."
Jessica groaned again, "Aspirin…please."
Beca held Jessica's head as she got up, laying it as carefully as she could back on the couch. She shuffled to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, knowing that the heavenly liquid would do as much for her hangover as anything else would. She grabbed two glasses of water as she moved back to the living room, setting one on the coffee table in front of Jessica. She shuffled to the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet to grab the bottle of ibuprofen from its place of honor right in front. She shook out three of them, deciding this hangover required more than the recommended dosage. She popped them in her mouth and chased them down with half of the glass of water. She waited a minute to make sure that her stomach wasn't going to reject the water before shaking out three more capsules and putting the bottle back.
Beca knelt in front of Jessica, holding out the ibuprofen. When Jessica didn't respond to her leaning against the couch, Beca whispered, "Jess, I have some ibuprofen here."
Jessica peeked out of one eye, seeing Beca kneeling next to the couch. She moaned, "Nothing is worth this kind of hangover." Beca raised her eyebrow at the blonde. She crinkled her nose, "Not even Ashley. My aches have aches." Jessica sighed and sat up, taking the medicine from Beca and popping the capsules into her mouth, chasing them quickly with a couple of gulps of water.
Beca moved back to the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of coffee and taking a small sip of the scalding hot liquid making sure to only take a small sip so she didn't burn her tongue. She closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose as the deliciously bitter liquid moved over her taste buds and down her throat. She peeked into the living room, "I usually see you take cream in your coffee, but I wanted to make sure."
Jessica nodded, instantly regretting it, "If it's flavored cream, just cream. Otherwise, a little sugar as well, please."
Beca gave a non-committal "mmmmhmmmm" as she returned to the kitchen. She opened the fridge, noting she'd need more milk as she pulled the almost empty container out and added some to Jessica's coffee. She then added ¾ of a teaspoon of sugar, stirring it into the tan beverage. She moved back to the living room, setting Jessica's coffee down in front of her as she sat down next to her, taking a drink of her own coffee.
After a few minutes of silence, each girl in her own thoughts as the medicine started to kick in (or the coffee). Beca finally broke the silence, "Jess, if things don't work out today, do you have a place to stay?"
Jessica shrugged, "I hadn't thought that far ahead."
Beca kept her eyes focused on her coffee, forcing herself to not look up at the other girl because she was entering uncharted territory for her (up until now, she was always following the lead of one of the other Bellas, or probably more correctly, being drug along), "You can crash here for a while if you want."
Jessica's lips curled into a small smile, "You wouldn't mind?"
Beca shrugged, "I've kinda gotten used to living with people. Now that Amy and Chloe are off doing their own things, it seems quiet around here.
Jessica clapped her hands and groaned when the sudden movement worked its way past the medicine and caused her head to throb a little, "Shit, too soon to clap. Thanks Beca, I really appreciate it. I work from home most of the time though, that won't be a problem will it?"
Beca looked surprised, "Really? What do you do and how much space do you need?"
Jessica took a sip of her coffee before responding, "I do graphic design, so I need my laptop and I'd probably need the table to work out some sketches and brainstorm."
Beca smiled, "That is so cool. That shouldn't be a problem in terms of space, so…" Beca held her hands open at her sides, waiting for an answer.
Jessica smiled and nodded, "I'd love to stay here until I get my feet under me."
Beca nodded back, "Awesome."
