Man In Motion

by yomomma222

Beca and Jesse didn't last long as a couple and managed to make it all the way to their senior year without speaking. On top of that, the Bellas went years without recruiting a single member and face possible extinction. What happens when communication is rebuilt between Beca and Jesse? Who will take over the Bellas?

Not inspired by previews for upcoming sequel but, very much, looking forward to seeing it…probably not until it comes out on DVD : (

Disclaimer: Don't own the any of it. Bummer: Put together a whole Riff Off and Finale then read that song lyrics aren't allowed anymore.

###

They were over before they really had the chance to begin. Beca and Jesse had their earth shattering, roll the credits, happily ever after (except not really), kiss then summer came shortly after and the reality of "What's next?" sank in. Then, the newness of the relationship, combined with all the insecurities brought on with long distance, caused a rift between them. Further adding to their problems, busy schedules caused them to miss each other at "Designated Facetime Date Nights" (Jesse's idea), several texts were misinterpreted, and the final straw stemmed from two complete and total misunderstandings that they were both too proud and stubborn to ask for clarification on.

"What's up you skinny, beautiful, aca-bitches?" Fat Amy asked after that first summer the group spent apart. She approached Beca and inquired with a slight shove to the smaller woman's shoulder, "How goes the first Bella to be Treble-Boned…legally, I mean."

There was a noticeable flush in Beca's cheeks and the matter was ordered to be dropped.

Treblemaker-Bella relations were no longer restricted (which caused the need for new wording in the oath) and led to the coupling of several other members; Lilly and Donald (who graduated but was still always around), Kolio and Jessica, and Stacie and Benji (complete shock, especially since it led to the end of her promiscuous ways).

After figuring out Benji had a massive crush on her, she decided to 'do the kid a favor' by popping his cherry so she could add his picture to her 'De-Virginated' scrapbook. Strangely enough, it was her that couldn't get enough of him and she was the one to suggest that they become exclusive. There was an actual ceremony involved where Stacie passed the 'Slut Baton' (something she made with a paper towel roll, glitter, and what the other girls prayed was an unused condom) to Ashley as they sang, 'It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday'.

"I'm telling you," Stacie explained when the pair declared their relationship status at the end of their sophomore year, "a man that can pull a rabbit from a hat can do magic in so many other ways."

It's a known truth that a douche bag can only see the error of his douche bag ways when he is exposed to an even bigger douche bag for an extended period of time. Which is how, it came to pass, that Bumper returned from singing back up for John Mayer reformed and no longer a…well…douche bag. He was welcomed back into the Treblemakers on a trial basis where, if he showed signs of reverting, they reserved the right to kick him out. The only time the old Bumper reemerged was in the presence of Fat Amy and it was only allowed because of a special appeal she made to the rest of the Treblemakers. She hated herself for it but their trading of insults gave her an itch that only Bumper knew how to scratch. By senior year, they were living together, had pet names for each other, and rejected the advances of anyone else but maintained that they weren't an actual couple.

Every Bella was a senior, leaving no underclassman members to carry on the legacy once they graduated. Saying recruitment had been slow would imply that they'd taken on any new members at all and they only kept their number up because Chloe and Aubrey stayed at the school to pursue master's degrees. It was accused and never denied that their pursuit of a higher education was an unwillingness to leave the Bellas…an incredibly expensive sentimentality that their parents ended up paying for.

There was a long line of girls that wanted to become Bellas but not a single one of them worked out. Many auditioned without being able to sing, of the few that were selected to join, they either didn't mesh well with the others, didn't take the commitment seriously enough, and a large handful that were just, flat out, crazy. Most notably, there was the girl that tried to take over the entire group, another that thought everyone was after her boyfriend (even though, no evidence was presented of her actually having one), and a third that they weren't entirely sure was female.

They made it to (and won) the ICCA's three years in a row, becoming college A Cappella superstars. The mention of their name struck fear in the hearts of every competitor they faced and urban legends were born to explain their ability to dominate their competition (steroid use, a deal with the devil, alien robots from the future, and the release of a hallucinogenic mist on the audience just before their performances…to name the least absurd theories). All that being said, the sad, terrifying, truth of the matter was that the Barden Bellas were on the brink of extinction.

###

"Next!" Aubrey announced, only allowing the young woman on stage to sing a few bars of 'Man, I Feel Like A Woman'. It's not that they particularly cared for the tune, they just enjoyed watching Treble hopefuls perform overly feminine songs (selections from their sophomore and junior years were 'It's Raining Men' and 'Barbie Girl').

"Aubrey," Beca chastised. "This is why we didn't let you in on the last two years of auditions. It gets you all agitated. I'd rather not see what you had for breakfast so take a breath, calm down, and give them a chance." She turned back to the girl and declared, "That being said, we'll pass."

And they passed…and passed…and passed until all they'd accepted was a mere three new members. Granted, they were the most talented they saw that day, and in auditions years prior, but they weren't going to cut it without the seniors.

"So, it will be a rebuilding year after graduation," Beca reasoned later in the gymnasium where they held an emergency meeting.

Amy interjected, "Yeah, sure. They're going to take the luxurious mansion we've created and rebuild it into a crack house where homeless men go to have dirty hobo, crack head, sex."

"They're going to destroy us!" Stacie exclaimed.

"We're still here," Addison, one of the freshman recruits, reminded. It was a futile attempt to make their presence known since the statement went unacknowledged.

Trying to break character and be optimistic, because no one else was, Beca assured, "They just need is a strong leader."

"None of them are leader material," Aubrey pointed out.

Another freshman questioned, "Do you want us to leave?"

Again, Beca came through with the power of positive thinking. "Then we'll have to find them one. I'll start talking about it on my radio show."

"We could scalp a few of the Harmonics," Cynthia Rose suggested, cracking her knuckles.

"I can get my parents to adopt a highly talented Vietnamese orphan," Chloe offered, "and pay for her to go to school here. They could probably just pick one up on their next missionary trip."

"I was on a missionary trip once," Stacie admitted.

"Not the same thing."

Aubrey announced, "You're all being ridiculous. I'll just stay a few more years and get a second master's degree."

"Listen," Lilly directed. She no longer spoke in a whisper but, when her mouth opened to do anything other than sing, it was only when she had something important to say.

Maybe it was the years of speaking softly that allowed her to focus on faint noises or, perhaps, eating her own twin in the womb left her with super human senses but, there was a definite, albeit extremely quiet, melodious sound that only half of the girls could hear. The freshmen stayed behind while the others walked toward the music with Lilly at the front of the line, leading the way like a drug sniffing dog at the Mexican border.

They didn't get far before she stopped suddenly and, not wanting to disrupt her concentration, Beca whispered, "What is it girl?"

"It stopped." Lilly held still and so did everyone else, no one daring to move or breathe until she found the auditory scent again. Suddenly alert, her head snapped to the left and she declared, "She's on the move."

There were stares from everyone they passed as the large group of women moved in an over exaggerated, but swift, tip toe to keep their volume down so Lilly could give all of her attention to the song. They went outside, weaving through students gathered in the quad with the added noise of birds and conversations hindering their search only slightly. The voice grew louder with each step until, finally, they were directly behind the culprit, just listening to her sing for countless strides.

As if she were lost, the woman spun on her heel unexpectedly and nearly smacked into the flock but, reacting quickly (and suspiciously), they all diverted their attention to stare everywhere but at her. Her confused eyes scanned over them and, all at once, they turned their hopeful gaze to her. There was a simultaneous formation of dissatisfied frowns since she wasn't what they'd imagined in the short, yet grueling, search. It wasn't that she was unattractive; she was very pretty. It was just that her attractiveness appealed to a higher age bracket. The older woman pulled an mp3 player from her pocket to turn it off then removed her headphones.

Fat Amy teased, "Totally expected that to be a Walkman."

Catching on to her taunting, the stranger replied, "Yeah, it used to be a giant boombox I carried on my shoulder but my grandkids got me hip on this new gadget."

"Sorry, Professor," Beca said. "We thought you were a student."

They turned with slumped shoulders of disappointment before she responded, "I am a student."

Every face was contorted in bewilderment when they spun back around and Amy notified, "Doing a craft class at the senior center doesn't qualify you as being a student."

"I have no idea what you just said. Welcome to America, learn how to speak English," the woman insulted back.

"I think I might be offended," Fat Amy replied then stood for a moment, pondering whether or not she actually was. "Yeah, I'm definitely offended." She intended to continue the battle of insults but Beca's hand clamped over her mouth and she handed her off to Cynthia Rose and Aubrey to be restrained.

"I apologize for my friend," Beca said, smiling. "I'm Beca." She extended her hand and, with a hint of reluctance, the woman shook it.

"Emily."

"Beautiful name," Beca complimented.

Chloe jumped on board the flattery train and added, "Love that name."

"I wish my mom had named me Emily," Jessica chimed in and a murmur of agreement flowed through the small crowd.

Cynthia Rose spoke quietly to the still muffled Amy, "You can lick it all you want. It wouldn't be the nastiest thing I've touched today and you know I don't wash my hands."

Beca continued, "So, Emily, are you in your last year of law school or…" she trailed off, trying not to sound completely interested in the response.

"I'm a freshman." Her answer was met with a squeal from Aubrey and wide eyes of excitement from all but Amy.

Fighting to keep her mouth from stretching to her ears, Beca replied, "Well, I don't know if you're familiar with the various clubs and extracurricular activities on campus but, we're the Barden Bellas."

There was a slight, knowing smile before Emily answered, "I'm familiar."

"Great," Beca grinned. "We were wondering if, maybe, you'd like to join us."

Her face fell from the mild shock of the request and she started to shake her head in a non-verbal rejection. "Thank you, but-"

"Please!" Aubrey exclaimed then dropped to her knees, her hands clenched around Emily's to keep her from leaving. "We've got nowhere else to go! Every one of us is leaving and we only have three teenage girls to fill our shoes. Do you know how impossible that is? What will it take? Do you want money? I have three hundred and seventeen dollars in my savings. It's yours if you come with us."

Cynthia Rose interjected, "Give me a weekend in Atlantic City and I can double that."

"While your offer of…tens of dollars…is appealing, this is extremely weird and a little uncomfortable," Emily stated then had to work to free her hand.

Beca spoke up before Aubrey could make things worse, "I know we're coming on strong, which is an extreme understatement but, this is incredibly important to all of us."

Emily studied the group of young women, all basically pleading silently, before she compromised, "I'll talk to my family about it."

"Great. The initiation-"

"Aca-Initiation," Aubrey corrected.

"I'm never calling it that," Beca replied in a side note then handed her phone to Emily. "It's tonight. Give me your number and I'll text you all the details. If you can come, that's awesome, if not, Aubrey will probably kill herself so, no pressure." After inputting the digits, Beca took the phone back then immediately pressed 'send', waiting until she heard the ringtone; her confirmation that it wasn't a fake number.

###

Beca was worried when the time came to start the ceremony and Emily was nowhere to be seen. On top of that, Addison, one of the other recruits that showed quite a bit of potential hadn't arrived either. The second hand of the clock echoed in the nervous silence, taunting the room with the control it held over the mood. Just when Beca reached the point of pacing, Emily and Addison entered together, resulting in an exhale of relief at their appearance…that was only five minutes late.

"Sorry," Addison said. "We got caught up."

"Talking in the hall?" Beca questioned.

"Talking at home," Emily answered.

Beca repeated, "Talking at home…at the home you share…" She continued to work through the process to understand the statement, "…because you're roommates. Why would you two be roommates? You two live together and, last time we saw her, Emily said she had to talk to her family." Her eyes widened in understanding and she concluded, "Because you're her mom!"

Emily responded, "Not the craziest part of this situation."

"For, probably, the first time in college A Cappella history, a mother and daughter are in the same group and that's not the craziest part?" Beca lowered her tone, leaned a little closer, and inquired, "Is it because you're really her dad? You can tell us. This is a safe place."

"No," Emily replied. "It's because, if you'll still want to have me, this isn't my first time joining the Barden Bellas."

There was a collective gasp and recoil from everyone in the room before Stacie asked, "Wait, why did we do that?"

She proceeded to clarify, "The Bellas were still relatively new when I was a freshman here the first time."

Fat Amy asked, "Was the wheel still relatively new then as well?" She chuckled at her own joke then held her hand up for an unanswered high five.

Ignoring her, Emily added, "They were created by the girlfriend of a Treblemaker."

"The captain of the Treblemakers," her daughter amended.

Excited about the unfolding plot, Chloe hypothesized with a growing grin, "Who was your father, making Emily his girlfriend and the founder of the Bellas!"

Several of the girls stared at her with reverence and Aubrey actually started to bow before Emily stated, "Making me the girl that stole the boyfriend of the founder of the Bellas."

Chloe and Aubrey gasped once more but, instead of it being from surprise, they held expressions of disgust then turned their heads to the side and spit twice.

"The one to never be spoken of!" Aubrey accused with an angry sneer, pointing a finger at Emily but the overdramatic arm was pushed down by Beca.

"I still don't get what's happening," Stacie admitted.

"What's happening," Beca explained, stepping between Aubrey and Emily, "is that we're not going to allow an event that took place over twenty years ago to influence any important decisions we've made today."

Aubrey informed, "She's the reason for our feud with the Trebles."

"I'm pretty sure it was Amanda's inability to be mature enough to accept being dumped that started the feud with the Trebles," Emily argued, pointing out the fault in the founding member.

The lunge that followed from Aubrey was initially stopped by Beca and Chloe but required the assistance of several other Bellas to contain.

"You're really alright with this?"Amy questioned, approaching Addison while the other girls struggled to control their ex-captain who was in the middle of an explicative filled tirade. "If one of my parents ever showed up here, I'd be like…" her eyes bulged and her voice raised an octave, "…whaaaaat?"

"Especially if it was your dad since you've probably never met him," Emily insulted.

Addison scolded, "Mom!"

"She started it."

Amy responded, "In her defense, I did. And, just to let you know, these verbal back and forths are like foreplay to me so I'm weirdly attracted to your mom right now." She grew slightly embarrassed and added, "Also, in her defense, she's right."

Emily looked at the blonde with pity and opened her arms to invite a hug of truce. Amy gladly leaned into the embrace then, gradually, lowered her head to nestle her face in the older woman's bosom. Without prompting, Amy launched into a mini therapy session where she was the only one to speak, crying overdramatically about her absentee father and her mother being eaten by a dingo when she was a baby.

The struggle with Aubrey continued, leaving all the girls with messed up hair, most of them sweating and breathing heavily, a few torn shirts, and one had blood on her but no clue as to where it came from (that Lilly ended up licking off when no one was looking). Finally, after wrestling out all of her anger and being reasoned with by Beca and Chloe, Aubrey conceded and allowed Emily to join with the warning of being under her constant scrutiny.

At the after party, two of the young newcomers rushed for the alcohol, the third showed reluctance, and the oldest took a seat with a school book in her lap.

Emily glanced up at her daughter and directed, "Go have fun with your friends, kiddo. Do your body shots and smoke the reefer. I'll just be sitting here, wondering where I went wrong."

Knowing it was her mother giving her permission to behave the way a teenager should, Addison grinned and followed her new friends.

"No fun," Donald teased, standing next to Bumper, as the senior Bellas continued down the steps, splitting off between significant others and the dance floor. Amy, Lilly, and Beca were the only ones to stay and converse. "Bellas brought a chaperone."

"What is this?" Bumper added, putting his arm around Amy and handing her a drink. "'Twenty Two Jump Street'? Who's the nark?"

"Hey," Amy warned as Jesse joined the group but didn't make eye contact with Beca, "Back off. That bitch has gotten me through some crazy shit."

Jesse stated, "I think it's great that one of the freshmen brought her mom."

"She's one of our new members," Beca informed, the closest she'd ever gotten to speaking to him in over two years but only because her words directly followed his. She added hesitantly, "Who also happens to be the mother of one of our other freshmen."

The group made jokes for a few more minutes about Emily's age then, once they died down, an uncomfortable silence fell in the presence of the tension between Jesse and Beca. One by one, bodies slipped away to abandon the ex-couple, something that was never done before by order of Beca. He was the first to allow his eyes to land on her and, out of the blue, for the first time since the break up, the silence was demolished with a single word.

"Beca," Jesse said causing her gaze to shoot to his in surprise.

She knew it was a greeting and not the precursor to a question so she simply replied, "Jesse," then looked away from him.

The speaking of names brought back a vague familiarity between them and led him to compliment, "You look nice." Jesse smiled then nodded his head and returned to the party.

His back was to her and he was out of earshot when she responded in a whisper, "So do you." Realizing how pathetic she must have looked, Beca cleared her throat and glanced around to make sure no one witnessed the display then went in a different direction to socialize with a few Harmonics.

###

As they arrived at the Riff Off, Beca was confident with the merging of the new members into the group. Unlike her first turn in the swimming pool singing competition, she and the other Bellas made sure the recruits understood the rules completely, inside and out, to avoid another It/It's disaster. They'd traded wins with the Treblemakers each year; as sophomores, the Bellas took home a towel Adam Levine used to wipe sweat from his brow at a concert (that disappeared as soon as Amy was allowed to hold it) and the Trebles won a piece of jerky that was claimed to have once been part of Lady Gaga's meat dress in the following battle.

As usual, The High Notes were almost, immediately, cut off when they gave an extremely slow rendition of Michael Bolton's 'Love Is A Wonderful Thing' during the 'Hair Bands' category. Not long after, the Harmonic's obsession with Madonna became their undoing when they started with 'Material Girl' during 'Ladies of the '80's' then reflexively went back into it barely a minute later, leading to their disqualification for using the same song twice. There were a few moments when Aubrey nodded in hesitant approval of Emily's additions to the competition. She never told her she did a good job but also didn't criticize her as heavily as she had in practices, despite the older woman's impressive work ethic and singing ability.

Coming down to the Bellas and the Trebles (as it did every year), the teams went head to head with 'Songs About Sex' for the first time since their introduction to the Riff Off. Fat Amy jumped forward, beating Bumper to the punch with a wink and rapped from Ice Cube's, 'You Can Do It' and Beca joined, going back and forth until Jesse cut in with LL Cool J's, 'Doin' It'. Beca's arms crossed over her chest and one of her eyebrows rose in challenge as he continued but didn't look at her.

When Beca interrupted with 112, 'Anywhere', Jesse's stare fell on her, his mouth snapped shut and he swallowed thickly while the eyes of every observer widened as she painted the picture of sex in the shower. At the keyword 'wet' Kolio stepped forward to cut her off but Jesse practically clotheslined him to make him back off. He would have been content to just listen, allowing her to finish the song and walk away with the 1990 Bon Jovi concert t-shirt worn by Matt LeBlanc, especially when her gaze shifted to him but he was nudged back into awareness of the outside world by one of the other Trebles.

It was Beca's turn to be entranced when he stopped her and sang Robin Thicke's 'Sex Therapy'; her eyes glazing over and a nervous tingle building in the pit of her stomach. In another attempt at someone else joining in, Stacie moved forward but was gently held back by Chloe as she shook her head to discourage it. Beca and Jesse were working through something and needed time to finish…possibly in more ways than one. The appropriate background accompaniment continued to be supplied by the Bellas and Trebles but no one dared to step in for fear of being aca-impregnated.

Then, Beca took over with 'I Wanna Sex You Up' which he eventually countered with 'Dip It Low'; where the rest of the Trebles proceeded to dip it low then pick it up slow, causing laughter to erupt from everyone but Beca and Jesse as they were too caught up in their battle (and each other) to notice.

And it continued that way for quite some time, matching sexual song for sexual song, seemingly without end, as the pair inched closer together with every turn of control. Their breath and eyelids grew heavier with the decrease in the space between them, making some spectators slightly uncomfortable with the display while others set up late night rendezvous' and lit cigarettes.

As luck would have it, Jesse used 'and' in one of his selections, leading to Beca cutting him off with his own song choice coming back to haunt him. Exactly as it had been done in their first Riff Off, she interrupted with 'Feels Like The First Time', smirking with confidence. Jesse put his hand over his heart and staggered back as if he'd been wounded and Beca finally broke free from the trance with his movement. In order to properly do the recreation justice, she started to pull her jacket down her shoulders at the appropriate moment.

Finally, at the correct point to transition, it was Jesse's turn to counter with 'No Diggity', taking over with the biggest grin anyone had ever seen him with. Just like that, it was three years prior with everyone singing along, including the Bellas and, at the completion, he even threw in, "I mean, you're welcome."

Marcus (Justin's handpicked replacement) stepped between the groups holding the shirt. He turned his head from side to side to study the Bellas and the Trebles then, after careful deliberation, announced, "I think we can all agree that we have just witnessed Riff Off history. For that, I've decided, we have a tie!" He took hold of Beca and Jesse's hands, joined them together, and placed the worn piece of fabric on top of their clamped together fingers. Their arms were then pushed over their heads to signify the triumph, an act that some Bon Jovi roadies would have seen as a legal, binding, wedding ceremony.

When the clapping died down, Jesse and Beca lowered their arms. They didn't change the way the garment was being held but returned to avoiding each other's stare.

"How do we do this?" Beca asked. "Is it, like, a shared custody thing? We get it Monday, Wednesday, Friday and you get it Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday?"

"That's not fair to the shirt," he argued. "You can have it full time and we'll get supervised visitation on weekends."

She joked, "It can play both sides and get double Christmas and Birthday presents."

"What a rascal," he commented. "It gets that from me."

Out of nowhere, Amy walked by and, instantaneously; the concert shirt was gone, revealing their still clenched hands. They glanced at their touching skin then quickly released each other at the same time.

"I should…" Beca started then signaled to the Bella's already mingling with the Trebles; all more than willing to share the victory.

He agreed, "Yeah, I should too."

Jesse gestured for her to walk ahead of him then fell into the growing cluster of people wanting to offer their congratulations.

###

"I'm just glad they didn't get 'TV Theme Songs'," Chloe stated at the next rehearsal. "Hundreds of innocent, childhood memories would have been ruined."

"Or made infinitely better," Amy amended.

Beca entered the training space and everyone stopped what they were doing to stand and clap with catcalls and whistles. She blushed then ducked her head slightly at the attention and went straight for the dry erase board to put up their plan of attack for the regional competition.

When the immature behavior persisted, Beca spun around. "If you guys have something to say to me, go ahead and say it," she challenged.

"I think we've been doing a pretty good job of saying it since you walked in," Amy replied. "Unless you want to hear the really raunchy stuff."

"You don't," Chloe assured. "Most of it was disgusting…and disturbingly graphic."

The small leader answered, "I don't understand what the big deal is. We were just singing."

"Yeah," Amy said, "singing about all the dirty things you wanted to do to each other."

"The lyrics we were required to use just happened to be sexually explicit. Neither of us had any control over the category and we weren't singing to each other."

"Umm…" Fat Amy argued, "You were looking right at each other and touching yourselves."

Beca laughed momentarily before her face fell in shock when she realized it wasn't a joke. "I touched myself?" There was a muttered agreement from everyone in the room as Stacie pulled the video of the incident up on her phone and handed it to her. She dropped heavily into a chair as the image got progressively worse.

"Don't worry about the number of views," Amy assured. "Most of them were me and Bumper."

"You viewed it over ten thousand times?" Beca questioned.

Amy leaned forward to look at the small screen and confirm the high number. "Oh…no. Last time we watched it, it was up to thirty seven. Yeah, I'd worry about that." She peeked at the phone again. "You know it's not good when the number gets bigger every time you look at it."

"Oh, God," Beca groaned and buried her face in her hands.

As the oldest person in the room (and, according to Amy, in the state), Emily approached Beca and knelt in front of her with a hand on her shoulder to offer guidance. "Are there naked pictures of you out there?"

"No," Beca mumbled into her palms.

"Have you ever made a sex tape?"

Her hands were lowered. "No."

"Have you ever received money or gifts in exchange for sexual acts?"

She chuckled slightly then replied, "No."

"Then you're going to be just fine."

Amy inquired, "Just out of curiosity, if we answered yes to any…or all…of those questions, should that be a concern?"

"Are you ashamed of any of it?" Emily asked.

"Hell, no."

"Then you're going to be alright too. Probably not as successful in life but, you'll get by." She added, "Besides, you have nothing to be embarrassed about in comparison."

Beca's face furrowed in confusion. "In comparison to what?"

"She's probably talking about the rest of the Trebles stripping when Jesse sang 'Ride My Pony'," Aubrey informed. "That got a little out of hand."

The phone shot back up so she could watch the video. "Where the hell was I for this?" She gasped. "That's full frontal. This is allowed on the internet?"

"Everything is allowed on the internet," Chloe reminded.

Still mortified, Beca spent the remainder of practice with a flush in her cheeks that intensified each time Amy winked at her and started thrusting her hips. Then Beca realized exactly why she and Bumper watched that video so many times and the humiliation morphed into nausea.

###

Communication between Beca and Jesse remained limited to cordial greetings and the occasional small talk, both too embarrassed to do more than that after watching their behavior online. Not ignoring each other entirely made things uncomfortable for them when they did have to face each other (at the station and 'Aca-Mixers': a bi-weekly gathering that was created in order to improve relations between all Barden A Cappella groups). The sequence of events usually went: They'd see each other, one would force a smile and say hello then the other would duplicate it. Sometimes, a variation on 'How are you?' followed then, if they really wanted to drag things out, one commented on the weather or the amount of class work they had to do and the other would respond in as few words as possible. Finally, a stretch of silence followed where they both seemed to be ready to add to the conversation but, predictably, neither of them did. Then they'd go their separate ways, looking forward to the next time they could interact and thinking of all the things they'd talk about that would never make it past their lips.

Meanwhile, Aubrey and Emily had their own, predictable, interactions going. The older of the two was polite and kind while the younger preferred to stay distant and suspicious. When Emily brought in coffee or baked goods (tailored specifically to each girl's preferences), she'd simply leave Aubrey's on her chair, not expecting a thank you or any other form of acknowledgement for the deed. In return, Aubrey made sure to point out all the things Emily did incorrectly in the choreography and singing (despite there being nothing wrong with any of it). Instead of arguing with her, Emily simply thanked her for the advice or asked her to demonstrate the correct way to do things.

The Treblemaker bus became shared property with the Bellas so the groups always traveled together. In the years prior, Beca and Jesse were as far apart as two people could get on the oversized vehicle; however, after the Riff Off, they started sitting across from one another. They never spoke (outside of their usual 'Hi', 'How are you?', and 'The sun is really warm today'), just sang along and playfully trash talked with everyone else on their way to the regional competition.

"The Treblemakers out of Barden University will start us off and, if I remember correctly, these guys are your favorite, Gail," John, one of the commentators announced.

"That's right, John," Gail agreed with a large smile. "Win or lose, their performances will always be what I fantasize about while having mundane, loveless, sex with my husband."

"You and me both, Gail," grinned John.

The Trebles were energetic and charming, as always, and had the crowd staying on their feet well after they finished. It was a tough act to follow and left Sockapella wishing they'd, at least, bedazzled their footwear puppets. In fact, they intimidated every competitor with the exception of the Bellas who walked on stage in their traditional attire and opened with 'I Saw The Sign'. They then proceeded to rip off their first layer of clothing to reveal less tasteful, but still stylish, outfits and fell into a mix of songs that still touched back on the Ace of Base classic.

Gail squinted her eyes and leaned forward to comment, "I could be wrong, John, but I think that might be my mother performing with the Bellas."

"That wouldn't surprise me, Gail. I've met your mother and she does have a penchant for ripping her clothes off. We'll know for sure if she drops to the ground and spreads her legs."

"That is hurtful but incredibly true, John."

Addison was given the first place trophy to carry out of the building and, in the lobby, The Tonehangers had their usual booth set up but there was a newly added female group (in the middle of singing 'Bubbly'), dressed similarly to the Bellas original costume. The Trebles, holding their second place award, caught up to their female counterparts and the cluster approached the older singers with caution since they always attempted to provoke a fight. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that the sign for the female group said, 'The Barden Beauties' and, amongst their ranks, Chloe and Aubrey recognized their old captain and several other familiar faces. The women stopped mid-song to glare at the college students spitefully.

"Well, well," the one that seemed to be the oldest and in charge said, "if it isn't the wannabes."

"Wannabes?" Fat Amy questioned. "First of all, sweetheart, it's not nineteen-ninety-eight. Second of all, we're the one and only. Well, I mean, there's fourteen of us so it's probably more like the fourteen and only…but, then again, if there's fourteen of us, are we still qualified for 'only' status?" she rambled, setting off a mini debate in the large collection of singers.

The woman that served as captain just before Beca became a Bella noticed the stare of Chloe and Aubrey. "What are you two rejects looking at?" she sneered.

"Nothing," Chloe and Aubrey answered at the same time, shying down due to the residual psychological damage caused by their ex-leader.

Emily stepped to the front of the crowd to warn, "Don't speak to them like that," and Aubrey's head lifted just enough to observe.

"Emily?" the captain of the Beauties questioned.

Without looking at the person speaking to her, Emily greeted, "Hello, Amanda."

Eyebrows rose in surprise, several gasps trickled through the crowd, and whispers were heard as some of the girls explained the relationship to the Trebles, who had no idea what was happening. Beca even shared the information with Jesse as he stood right beside her.

"I see someone got stuck in a moment that they can't get out of," Amanda stated causing her cohorts to giggle in an effort to gain her approval.

The oldest Bella freshman replied, "I see someone got infested with botulism."

Knowing the comeback would be lost on Stacie, Benji explained, "Botox."

"Oh," Stacie said. "Good one."

Amanda inquired, "How did this little arrangement happen? You waited in the shadows to rejoin the Bellas when you knew it would be safe to show your face again?"

"Yes," Emily jokingly admitted, "because my entire life has revolved around an extracurricular singing club." She gestured to the other women and pointed out, "I wish I could move on like you obviously have."

Fat Amy stretched her shoulders out while the women conversed. "I'm feeling like a bee, Momma Em. I'm ready to sting," she threatened. "We ride together, we die together, just say the word."

"But, seriously, why are you here?" Amanda inquired.

Emily explained, "I decided to go back to school and the ladies asked me to join them."

"That's right," she stated, pretending to have forgotten all about the incident, "you dropped out because you had an accident."

Addison corrected, "I was an unexpected blessing."

Her comment earned the stare of her mother's rival who criticized, "You look like your father and, in saying that, I mean you look like a man. How is Steven, by the way?" Emily didn't voice a reply but her expression spoke volumes when it shifted to sadness. "Uh-oh. I've touched on a sore subject, haven't I?" Amanda asked. "Let me guess, and stop me if I'm wrong. You got preggers and, out of obligation, he married you. Then the reality of being committed to someone at such a young age set in and he started to feel trapped." None of the Bellas knew the story of Addison's father so they watched the women for any signs of confirmation. "You were at home, changing diapers and scrubbing the floors while he was out banging his secretary."

"Dad would never do that. He was a good man," Addison defended.

"Was," Amanda repeated and saw the tears in the young girl's eyes. There wasn't even a flash of sympathy from her when she simply shrugged and replied, "Karma."

Several people moved at the same time; Emily to restrain Addison, Jesse to hold Beca back when he saw her little fist clench, and Bumper to jump up in encouragement of Amy's certain attack. None of them moved quicker than Aubrey though, who was the one to punch the founder of the Barden Bellas in the face.

Aubrey's eyes grew wide and panicked at the realization of what she'd done but also at the threatening posture of the rest of the Beauties. "Fat Amy, sting!" she ordered.

As Amy entered the fight, arms wind milling and anger in her features, she channeled Miley Cyrus and growled out the most popular line from 'Wrecking Ball' to announce her participation.

Beca shook free of Jesse and joined in while Chloe, gaining confidence from her friends, lunged for the tyrant that made her and Aubrey's lives miserable for years. "You made me give up carbs!" she screamed.

Before they knew it, every Bella was engaged in the battle against the Beauties (with the exception of Addison and Emily, who held her daughter while she cried over the loss of her father) and every Treble was trying, failingly, to break it up. Even the Tonehangers got involved, trying to put an end to the brawl.

Unexpectedly, Aubrey stayed in her war against Amanda and declared, "I was in love with Unicycle and your stupid oath kept us from being together!"

Later, Emily and Addison sat on a bench outside of the police station when Beca exited with Chloe and Stacie. "Aw, you guys waited for us," Beca said.

"We had to," Emily replied. "Our ride wouldn't leave without you." She pointed to the side of the building where many of the Trebles were goofing off, most of them not noticing that the Bellas were trickling out.

Benji, one of the men keeping an eye out, jogged over to Stacie as soon as she stepped into the night air and Jesse, the other that waited nervously, made his way to Beca.

"That was your second strike," Jesse reminded. "You're well on your way to becoming a career criminal."

"Gotta be good at something," Beca said with a grin then glanced to her friends for their input to see that they'd managed to move away unnoticed and were going out of their way to make it look like they didn't do it intentionally. "You didn't call my dad, did you?"

"Of course not," he replied then stared out at the parking lot and jokingly pretended to dissuade her father from coming forward.

Fat Amy walked out with Cynthia Rose and the pair traveled to the tree, where Bumper was dangling upside down from one of the branches with his back to her. She put her hand on his collar and pulled, unhooking his legs from the limb and causing his body to fall roughly to the ground.

She stood over him, waiting for his groans of pain to cease, then advised, "Next time I'm locked up, you wait at the door on bended knee with a dozen roses and a mari-friggin'-achi band to celebrate my release."

He pointed out, "I've sat on a toilet longer than you were in there."

When Donald saw Lilly, they simply shared a head nod and he put his arm around her with no words needing to be exchanged.

Aubrey was the last to be released, considering she threw the first punch (every Bella maintained that she was defending herself). As soon as she exited the building, the crowd of people waiting for her erupted into applause for her violent act and even chanted her name enthusiastically. She blushed at the attention but bowed theatrically in response.

"Aubrey!" Jesse exclaimed and put his arm around her shoulders, guiding her to the bus the traveled on. "You're never going to guess who came all this way to see you in handcuffs."

On cue, Unicycle rolled out from behind the large vehicle (on his unicycle, of course) wearing a suit, smiling and carrying a bouquet of flowers. To prove her point, Fat Amy smacked Bumper's arm then signaled to the display as if it were something he needed to learn from.

"Unicycle, what are you doing here?" Aubrey questioned in disbelief.

With a grin, he answered, "Some chick named Emily called and told me I should come by and see you…" Aubrey glanced back to see Emily wink at her as Unicycle continued, "…and my name is Trent."

He ended up giving her a ride home (in his car) once everyone decided it was time to clear out…or because several officers threatened to arrest them for loitering by the time they finished singing 'Jailhouse Rock'. When all the seats on the bus filled up (because several people stretched out to sleep), the only two that remained for Jesse and Beca were right next to each other. They timidly moved into place and stood to evaluate their choices when the vehicle jerked forward, causing them to fall into each other and Jesse's arms to wrap around Beca's small waist. After continuing the hold for a few seconds longer than it took to steady themselves, they separated and complained to the driver.

"Sorry," Donald said. "Sometimes she has a mind of her own." Again, he and Lilly exchanged head nods and the bus pulled out to return to Barden.

###

So, Beca might have dozed off on the ride home and, possibly rested her head on Jesse's shoulder in the process. It wasn't her fault that the weight of her head became too much for her relaxed neck to support and it just happened to fall in his direction. Thankfully, he was also asleep and when her eyes were the first to reopen, she was able to pretend it didn't happen at all.

The next day, at practice, it was Aubrey's turn to receive the assortment of whistles and inappropriate comments when she entered the gym. She didn't even have time to sit before Fat Amy and Emily began a slew of rapid fire questions.

"How did it go last night?" Fat Amy asked. "Did you ride his uni?"

Emily joined in, "Did you bang the gong?"

"Did you two invert the platypus?"

"Did you snap into his Slim Jim?"

"Oh Yeah!" Fat Amy growled then added in a calmer tone, "I totally get this chick. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that we got off on the wrong foot. You're like a skinnier, much older, not as pretty, version of me."

Completely demure, Aubrey replied, "He took me home and walked me to my door like a gentleman." She continued past them but turned ever so slightly back to Emily and said, "Thank you."

Disappointed, Amy's shoulders fell. "I can't believe that's all that happened."

"Did she say that was all that happened?" Emily questioned.

"No."

"Then that's not all that happened."

"Ahh," Amy grinned. "I have so much to learn from you."

In the late afternoon, Beca went to the radio station for her shift and found a note sitting on her desk that read, 'For your Moviecation'. She lifted the piece of paper to reveal 'St. Elmo's Fire' and recognized several of the actors on the cover from 'The Breakfast Club'.

"Another 'Brat Pack' classic," Jesse explained from the doorway as she sat the plastic case down and turned her chair to face him. "It's about a rag tag group of friends as they try to figure out their place in the world after college graduation." He entered the booth and leaned against her table. "Funny you should mention the 'Brat Pack'."

"I didn't."

"I saw an article recently that was titled, 'Meet Hollywood's New Brat Pack' which intrigued me for obvious reasons. To my great disappointment, I find out it's Justin Bieber, one of those Jenner chicks, and a few kids that haven't been in Hollywood long enough to establish the street cred necessary to be given the honor of being compared to the original 'Brat Pack'. Needless to say, I was appalled and wrote a letter to Vogue explaining my immense displeasure."

"Why were you reading Vogue?"

He gave her a disapproving stare. "That's all you took away from what I just said? If you must know-"

"I must."

"I wanted to know how to make my wardrobe work for me and it just happened to have seven helpful tips."

"You could have seventy tips and you still couldn't make that wardrobe work."

"Ouch."

"When do you want to watch it?"

His eyes doubled in size and he looked around to make sure she wasn't speaking to someone standing right behind him. "You want to watch it with me?"

"Isn't part of the Moviecation process watching it with an expert for the endless, mind numbing, commentary?" She appeared to have an epiphany then said, "I'll just watch it with the director's commentary turned on."

Jesse argued, "No. You need to hear the positive and negative views on it and Schumacher isn't going to be critical enough of his own work to give you that." He feigned disinterest, studying the edge of the table, and asked, "When would be good for you?"

In a similar manner, she also pretended to be preoccupied, 'rearranging' the playlist for her show. "I have Bella practice until seven tonight."

"Tonight?" His head shot up but he noticed she was still unfazed, staring at the computer, so he returned his focus to the desk. "I can do seven fifteen," he replied, trying not to sound too anxious but failing.

"My place at seven fifteen then."

"Will you have had dinner by seven fifteen?" Jesse inquired, picking at the remnants of an old sticker on the wood.

"Probably not," she said, moving everything back to the way she had it on the set list.

He offered casually, "Then I'll bring a pizza." Not wanting to say anything else that could ruin the plan that was formulated almost too easily, he decided to keep his mouth shut while she wrote down her address (not that he needed it). Jesse took the paper and turned to leave, almost walking into the doorframe on his way out.

At exactly seven fifteen, Jesse started to knock on Beca's door and, completely expecting that he would be punctual, she swung it open before he'd finished. After a moment of eye contact induced by the fact that neither of them knew what, exactly, their evening could be defined as, her gaze fell to the pizza box where she noticed a short, thin, tree branch resting on it.

He held it out to her a smiled. "I saw this and thought of you."

"Thank you," she said and took it from him then stepped back for him to enter.

Jesse placed the pizza on the small kitchen counter then looked around the space he'd never been invited into but knew about since it was directly across from Amy and Bumper's apartment. The only decorations she had up were several framed pictures on the walls of the Bellas over the years (probably given to her by the other girls) and, most notably, a movie poster for 'The Breakfast Club' that he stared at in awe.

"It was the first movie I ever watched in its entirety," she explained, standing next to him. "I figured it needed to be commemorated somehow." Beca handed him a juice pouch and echoed his previous statement, "I saw this and thought of you."

He grinned widely and went back to the counter where she'd already placed the twig in a plastic cup filled with water. They dished up their dinner then went to the couch that was positioned in front of a small television, straddled by two tall DVD stands. Jesse placed his pizza and juice on the coffee table and immediately moved to read the cases.

"I have to say," he commented, perusing the titles, "for a girl that didn't like movies, you've grown quite the collection." She didn't reply and he continued his inspection. "Did you love 'E.T.'?"

"No," she answered with a cringe.

"What?"

"It made me feel things," Beca replied, getting comfortable on the couch.

"Like emotions?"

"Yes. I didn't like it."

"It's okay to feel things, Small Wonder. It means you're becoming human."

"Just shut up and put the movie in," she directed with a smirk.

Jesse did as he was told and sat down, opting to put a little distance between them to avoid being presumptuous. Beca stood and moved across the room to shut out the light and, when she returned, planted herself the smallest bit closer to him but did it so coolly that it was as if she did it unintentionally. Jesse basically inhaled his first piece of pizza and went to retrieve another before they'd even reached the DVD menu and, upon his return, left a few inches less of empty space.

"I keep expecting Kimmy-Jin to bust in," he joked.

Beca revealed, after a rather large bite of pizza, "If she does, it would be a miracle. Aside from not living here, she's spending a semester abroad."

"Korea?"

"Ireland," she responded. "You're so racist."

"Why are you still keeping tabs on Kimmy-Jin?"

"I like to pop up and surprise her every once in a while…just when she thinks it's safe to go back in the communal showers."

Jess beamed. "Did you watch the Jaws movies?"

"I might have," she answered then went to get another slice and, continuing their game, sat closer to him when she got back to the couch.

Ten minutes, and four pieces of pizza later, Jesse felt like he was going to vomit but wasn't sure if it was from purposely overeating to have an excuse to gradually keep scooting over or if it was, plain and simple, from being near Beca and knowing she was doing the same thing. There was only half a foot of distance left to cross and no way possible he would be able to eat any more; even Beca had stopped one bite into her third piece.

"I'm going to get another juice," Beca stated. "Do you want one?"

Trying to control his excitement at a new reason to move, he answered, "I'm not quite ready for another. I'll get it in a minute."

Which he did and, two bathroom breaks after that, their arms were touching and neither of them had any idea of where to go from there. It wasn't, exactly, new territory for them. In the few weeks after their kiss at the ICCA's, the couple ended up horizontal during many movie nights to inevitably be interrupted by Kimmy-Jin or Benji; wanting to show anyone the new magic trick he'd learned.

Then, a massive misunderstanding occurred and while both of them were eventually able to get over their reasons for being upset, neither of them knew how to swallow their pride and try again. Who knew all it would take would be the simple speaking of each other's names and singing a multitude of dirty songs?

With only a few minutes left in the movie, Jesse decided to share a fun fact, hoping it would cause her head to turn toward his and create a moment he still wasn't sure he would be able to capitalize on.

"This was released the same year as 'The Breakfast Club'," he informed.

She could have kept her focus on the screen when she answered but, instead, Beca turned her head toward him. "Interesting."

Jesse leaned forward to do something he'd wanted to do for years when the door burst open and Fat Amy entered with Bumper trailing just behind her.

"I smell pizza," Amy announced. "Weird centerpiece," she noted of the branch, placed the last remaining slice of pizza on a plate, and walked over to the pair while Bumper stared at the empty box sadly. "Why does it smell like guilt in here?" she asked positioning herself next to Beca then, moving on, questioned, "What are we watching?"

"Emilio Estevez!" Bumper exclaimed, jumping over the couch to sit beside Jesse, squishing him against Beca in the perfect, 'be careful what you wish for' scenario. "Is this 'The Mighty Ducks'?" He leaned across the pair to take a bite of Amy's pizza while keeping his eyes on the screen. "Did they do the 'Flying V' yet?"

###

"I'll tell you what, John," Gail said at the completion of the Trebles performance during the semi-final round. "If I were two years younger and had a vagina that hadn't been stretched out from a year as a professional basketball cheerleader, those boys would be in trouble."

"Only two years younger, Gail?" John questioned skeptically.

"I said what I said, John."

"And here comes the group that has offered them the stiffest competition-"

"Play on words?"

"Of course. Up next are the Barden Bellas."

In a strange twist, the Trebles ended up taking first while the Bellas came in second due to Beca's timing being just a touch off during a brief moment of the performance. While they'd grown accustomed to winning, the women accepted the runner up position as it still qualified them for the national competition.

On the way out, Aubrey grabbed Beca's arm and pulled her aside. Thinking it was an impromptu meeting they needed to be present for, the other girls stopped as well.

"What's going on with you?" Aubrey asked.

"Nothing. I just…blanked a little," Beca replied, not mentioning that the 'blank' seemed to occur right when her eyes landed on Jesse in the audience. "It won't happen again," she assured. There was no offense taken at Aubrey's scolding since Beca was well aware of her mistake and the fact that it could have caused them to slip even lower in position.

"It better not," Aubrey warned. "A misstep like that could cost us the national title."

It was one of the reasons they started filling all day, every day, with practice. Some girls even had to skip classes to make a few of them and it left no time for social lives, meaning no free time for Beca to be distracted by another movie night with Jesse. The Trebles also upped their rehearsal frequency, creating a lack of tension in romantic relationships since everyone was understanding of the need for preparation. Both teams had just gotten their routines down when everything came to a screeching halt.

The presence of the Trebles and the Bellas was requested at the regional office for the Collegiate A Cappella Rules Committee where they met with John and Gail. Jesse and Beca took the chairs directly across from the duo and, as soon as they began to speak to the representatives, John and Gail's faces fell when the remainder of each group poured in, filling the already cramped space and leaving some to remain in the hall. Even Donald and Unicycle (AKA Trent) showed up to support their old teammates but, more so, Aubrey and Lilly.

"Thank you for coming," Gail smiled.

Cynthia Rose, one of the people unable to enter the office, asked loudly, "What did she say?"

Stacie shouted back to her, "She thanked us for coming."

"You're welcome," Cynthia Rose yelled.

Gail stared at Beca and Jesse with a forced smile, waiting for John to explain the situation.

"What are you waiting for?" John questioned, also keeping his eyes on the young singers with the same blatantly fake grin as Gail.

"What am I waiting for?" she asked in an angry whisper. "I'm not going to tell them. You tell them."

They bickered back and forth briefly until Beca ordered, "Stop," and they immediately quieted. "You," she said to John. "What's going on?"

"Damn it!" he declared, appearing as if he'd received the revolver during a game of Russian Roulette. Getting right to it, he revealed, "There's been a change in rules with the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella."

"ICCA's," Gail interjected.

"They know the acronym, Gail!" he growled then calmed back down. "Schools are no longer permitted to be represented by more than one group."

"What did he say?" Cynthia Rose asked again.

Beca slumped back in her chair and answered, "He said we're screwed."

"I'm so sorry," Gail stated genuinely. "It's all part of a 'Fair Shot' program that's being implemented. The committee feels it would be elitist if one school had two teams in the fight, thus increasing their chances of winning."

"More of the 'Every kid gets a trophy' bullshit the damn Liberals keep pushing, if you ask me," John supplied.

Gail encouraged, "Maybe you two could compete against one another to see who would get to go."

"We did that," Beca replied, "It was called the semi-finals and I blew it for us all because I was too preoccupied with other things. Trebles took first. They should get to go."

Jesse disagreed, "Hold on. The Bellas have been kicking our asses every year for the past three years, they should get to go."

Then the complete opposite of what the commentators expected happened. Instead of a nasty brawl of name calling, finger pointing, and (based off past arrest records) thrown punches, it was everyone speaking up about why the other team deserved to attend the competition. The arguments continued with the loudest being between Amy and Bumper, who were yelling at each other, probably because it was some sort of foreplay for them. Emily pushed her way to the front of the room to whisper in Beca's ear, causing the young woman to spring to her feet with a hopeful light in her eyes.

"Hey," Beca called to silence the crowd and, when her volume and height didn't faze the others, she stood on a chair. "Hey!" she yelled.

Following her lead, Jesse stood on his chair and offered her his hand to assist her onto the desk then whistled loudly, earning the attention of everyone inside (and out) of the room. Without speaking, he signaled to Beca to take over from there.

Beca spoke, "They want one team from Barden…" she looked around at everyone then continued, "…then let's give them one team."

Still not getting it, Kolio questioned, "Yeah, but which one of us?"

"She means we work together," Jesse answered, smiling at Beca.

"There's a game changer," Amy stated.

Bumper agreed, "We'd be like an A Cappella Megazord."

Benji added seductively, "It would be magical," then pulled a flower from behind Stacie's ear and handed it to her.

She stared at him with desire and responded, "You know how sexy it is when you do sleight of hand." Stacie threw herself into him, instantaneously latching her mouth to his while everyone else stood uncomfortably for a moment, waiting for them to stop.

"Alright," Jesse said when there was no end to the PDA in sight. "We're going to get out of here." Once again, he offered his hand to help Beca climb down from the desk and advised, "They're going to want to eat after so, maybe just a light snack so they don't ruin their dinner." His grip was maintained on Beca's hand as the others trickled out, leaving the overly affectionate couple with John and Gail.

"After what?" Gail inquired right when Stacie's back was pressed against her desk.

###

"You're doing 'St. Elmo's Fire'? We planned to do that one too," Jesse revealed as he and Beca sat in the gym, coordinating their efforts while the others relaxed and waited for the song list to be worked out.

Fat Amy popped her face into their conversation to exclaim, "Ermahgerd! You guys have so much in common!"

Beca pushed her away then replied, "It's a good thing we're collaborating or that could have ruined everything for both of us."

Once the music was chosen, and mixed together courtesy of their resident DJ, the choreography became the next obstacle to be tackled. It was Jesse and Beca's turn to sit back while the best dancers from each team worked together with Amy interjecting a slew of inappropriate movements.

When it was finished, Chloe notified, "Alright, everybody, partner up."

Obviously, the couples went for one another but a large chunk of what was left stood around, recreating a middle school dance where the boys and girls weren't quite sure how to go about selecting partners.

Finally, one of the newer Trebles declared, "Dibs on the cougar!"

"Which one?" another asked.

Chloe and Aubrey flinched back at the question and Chloe repeated with confusion, "Which one?"

Emily appeared behind them, putting her arms around their shoulders, and said, "Welcome to the club, ladies."

The two captains stood back, intentionally keeping themselves out of the partnering situation for the same reason. At one point, a hopeful boy started toward Beca until he was discretely directed away by Jesse.

"Looks like it's you and me," Jesse pointed out once the pairing was complete, moving closer and taking her hand.

She replied coyly, "Looks like," as if it wasn't her plan as soon as she heard the phrase 'partner up'.

"Hey guys," Fat Amy said, startling them apart with Bumper by her side. "We were just talking and, we agree, if you're uncomfortable with this in any way, Bumper and I don't mind a little partner swap, do we?"

"No we do not," Bumper agreed, smiling creepily at Beca.

"We're good," Beca responded quickly. "Thank you for the offer though."

"It will always be there." He stroked his finger down her cheek and whispered, "Always."

Everything was moving smoothly until a few days into the non-stop practices when it became apparent that they were all spending too much time together. Constant couple fights erupted, some members were slipping out of key, and people were bumping into one another during the choreography; spinning the wrong way or missing cues entirely.

"Take a chair!" Beca commanded when she'd had enough of the discord. All the Trebles watched, confused, while every Bella grabbed a seat and placed it in a round formation. She settled into her own chair and explained to the Trebles, "We're going to take turns telling everyone here something about us that no one else knows."

The boys looked at each other anxiously, grabbed chairs, and sat quickly.

Bumper went first, "Have any of you ever made out?"

"Do you guys have naughty sleepovers?" another questioned.

From a third, "How often do you see each other naked?"

"Have you ever showered together?"

There was a guilty flash of eye contact between Chloe and Beca (as well as a wink shared with Cynthia Rose and Denise) that didn't go unnoticed, earning shouts of approval from the Trebles.

Beca's face furrowed. "That's not the kind of sharing we do here. Bellas, let's show them how it's done. Who wants to go first?"

Chloe volunteered, "I'm taking a job in San Diego."

Aubrey exhaled loudly in relief, turned to her best friend, and admitted, "I was offered one in Colorado. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you."

"Then it's agreed, we're not staying here to oversee and guide the Bellas."

"We're not."

The pair fell into a hug and Beca encouraged, "Great job, guys."

"I only have one testicle!" a junior Treble sounded out.

Another revealed, "I think I have Syphilis."

Beca advised, "I would get that checked. I heard that's what took Christopher Columbus out."

"I breastfed until I was seven," another said. "School lunches were incredibly embarrassing."

Then, it took on a life of its own with some of the Trebles even taking more than one turn, enjoying the therapeutic release of the secrets, and not allowing the Bellas to get a word in edgewise.

Once the pace of responses slowed down, Bumper finally spoke up, "I've had more than enough credits to graduate for years…even before I left to tour with John Mayer. I just like it here. I have a routine, lots of friends, there's rumors of a Judo class staring next year…my parents keep buying me the meal plan. I'm just terrified by the thought of entering the real world."

"Wow," Beca announced happily. "That was a legitimate share. Thank you, Bumper."

"Also," he added, "I would like to let everyone know that I was abducted by aliens. They probed my asshole and I enjoyed it."

Beca disregarded his second offering then questioned, "Ladies?"

"I hold back when I sing," Addison said after several other people took their turn. "Especially at the audition. I figured, not trying and being rejected would be easier on me than if I did my best and didn't get in."

"Why would you think you wouldn't get in?"

"I read all the horror stories about how tough the selection process is. I didn't think I'd be good enough."

"Wait," Beca requested. "Where did you read horror stories?"

"On 'Yelp'."

"We've been reviewed on 'Yelp'?" she questioned as several people were already in the process of investigating with their smart phones.

Aubrey read, "The Barden Bellas are stuck up bitches."

"I could take a crap in my hand, send it to college, have it start its own A Cappella group with a pool of vomit and a pile of pubic hair and they would have more talent than any of the Barden Bellas," Stacie said.

"Okay," Beca stated. "Not sure why she would want the crap to originate in her hand but, I guess that's a personal choice."

"She's really investing a lot into that shit," Amy noted.

Benji revealed, "This one either says you're 'ugly as whores' or you're 'ugly ass whores'. Also, 'whores' is spelled h-o-r-z so it might not even be what she was going for."

"You liked saying 'whores' that many times, didn't you?" Jesse accused then added, "I've got one that's all in acronyms…I have no idea what it says."

Chloe took a turn, "I sang my heart out for them. They then proceeded to stomp on it, spit on it, then handed it back to me because it wasn't good enough."

Amy's eyes narrowed, thinking back. "I don't remember stomping on any hearts…maybe a few ball sacks."

"One confirmed," Bumper mentioned, raising his hand.

"Alright," Beca stated, ending the hatefest and turning to Addison. "We have the right to be selective and, in our defense, a lot of the girls that auditioned were borderline crazy."

"Obviously, if they're shitting in their hands," Amy interjected.

Beca continued, "I thought you were amazing when you auditioned so, if you're that good half assing it, I'd love to hear what you can really do."

With visible reluctance, Addison glanced around at the expectant faces then began to sing, 'Killing Me Softly'. As in auditions, she held back slightly until her eyes landed on Emily. With an encouraging smile and a nod of approval from her mother, Addison gave it her all, shocking the people around her. Even though percussion wasn't his strong suit, Jesse kicked in with a beat, with Beca grinning at the sweetness of the act, until Lilly took over and everyone else offered the rest of the accompaniment. It was then agreed, after very little discussion needed, that the Bellas would be just fine when the seniors left.

"Not sure who would want to follow that but, who's next?" Beca inquired.

Cynthia Rose stood up then looked down at Denise. She started, "Denise and I…" there was a pause as the group leaned forward, waiting with bated breath for her to confirm that they were together. Everyone knew about Cynthia Rose's preferences, but Denise's had yet to be confirmed even though they'd been living together for two years. "…are starting a business together," she finished.

Bodies slumped back into chairs in disappointment until Denise took a hold of Cynthia's hand and casually mentioned, "After our wedding." Her other hand raised in excitement to display the diamond ring.

After the enthusiastic congratulations, Fat Amy declared, "I'm in love with Bumper!" She turned to face him. "I just never said it because I didn't think you'd be into me anymore with that sort of emotional attachment involved."

He admitted, " I never said it because I thought you enjoyed the chase. I'm in love with you too!"

The display that resulted was not what would have been expected from the pair. Instead of crashing together and licking each other's faces (done before), they simply beamed and he grabbed her hand to kiss it.

A majority of the Bellas were done with their turn, when they heard a faint whisper from Lilly. The room quieted and she revealed in her familiar soft tone, "I'm pregnant." There was shock but there was also elation with suggestions for baby names and babysitting offers thrown at her from both sides.

Once everything calmed down, it reached the point where Beca and Jesse were the only ones that hadn't exposed something. Expectant stares alternated between them, waiting for one to say anything when, finally, without looking at him, she confessed, "I'm a virgin."

Jesse recoiled, as if the words attacked him. "What? No you're not."

"I'm pretty sure I am. Wait..." she said then paused and pretended to think, "…yeah, still am."

"Hold on a minute," Amy cut in. "The two of you never knocked nasties?"

They both blushed but her comment was disregarded when Jesse accused, "You had sex with Luke."

It was Beca's turn to flinch, mostly in disgust, and she countered, "No, I didn't."

He studied her face, seeing she was caught off guard by even the thought of the act. "Oh God," Jesse said, feeling physically ill and wiping his hand down his face. "You and Luke never…"

"Dude, no!"

"We had that fight over text," he explained, "because we missed three FaceTime dates in a row-" He was momentarily interrupted by the sniggering of quite a few males and several females. "We were trying to make the long distance thing work," he defended. "Then, I saw a Facebook post from Luke about banging the hot DJ at the same club you played at every Friday."

She searched her brain, not for the memory of sex with Luke to come back to her but for an explanation. "He either lied or…" Beca stopped suddenly and her mouth fell open. "There was one night toward the end of the summer that we had an emergency Bella meeting and I had to cancel."

Chloe remembered the exact date and added, "I thought my nodes were coming back."

"You were born a dude?" Bumper asked.

"Nodes, not nads," Amy corrected.

Beca continued, "But that couldn't be right either because the only replacement they could get was a guy. That would mean-" she stopped suddenly, already having blown anything Luke would potentially want to keep private.

"The whole reason our break up stuck was that I thought you had sex with Luke," Jesse pointed out.

She challenged, "No, it stuck when you had sex with Stacie."

There was a growl of anger from Benji as he lunged for his best friend and proceeded to chase him around the room, throwing chairs and swinging wildly, while Cynthia Rose took bets with a disapproving glare from Denise. Jesse did his best to try to reason with the usually gentle soul and it took Stacie standing in front of her boyfriend, blocking his path and diverting his attention, to get him to calm down.

"I did not have sex with Jesse," Stacie assured. "Beca, why would you think that?"

Beca explained, "It was the start of sophomore year, I went to go talk things out with him but saw you leaving his room and assumed you'd had sex. No offense."

Stacie relaxed and conceded, "Fair assumption." Her face showed the registering of a realization. "Is that why you were pissy with me for a week?"

"Well, yeah. I thought you'd banged the possible love of my life."

All eyes went wide at her statement as Jesse approached slowly, too fazed by the declaration to move quickly. He knew how he felt about Beca, even then, but never spoke the words out loud and, damn sure, never expected to hear them come from her mouth.

"I'm the love of your life?" he questioned softly when he reached her.

"I said 'possible'," she defended, staring up at him with embarrassment. "I never-"

He didn't give her the chance to finish and dropped his mouth down to hers.

"See," Emily quoted from 'Friends', "he's her lobster." She looked around at the blank stares from the kids and asked, "Nobody? I need to find an older crowd to hang out with."

As the kiss intensified, with a captivated audience, Beca brought her arms up to wrap around his neck, pressing their bodies closer together.

"Daaaaamn. Some virgins are going to be dry humping the shit out of each other tonight," Fat Amy commented.

Jesse pulled his lips from Beca's and inquired, "Why did you say 'virgins'?"

"Look at you," Amy stated. "You're not fooling anyone."

He opened his mouth to argue once more, even though it was the truth, but Beca guided his face back to hers to continue with an activity that they'd already missed too much time on. It was later established that Stacie was in his room to ask about Benji, revealing the fact that she'd been interested in him well before they started sleeping together.

Everything was back on track after that with Jesse and Beca becoming inseparable. Some would comment that their displays of affection were nauseating but those very same people would also grin every time Beca lit up in Jesse's presence.

###

The concert hall where the ICCA's were being held was filled with other A Cappella groups, warming up, pacing nervously, and arguing because they didn't have their routines down yet. All eyes zeroed in on the glass doors when the Barden students entered together, moving with a unified confident strut (something the Trebles would have described as 'swagger' had the Bellas not banned the word from their vocabularies). Nearly all of them wore sunglasses and Jesse had his arm draped over Beca's shoulders while she leaned into him. It was as if they should have been walking through the lobby in slow motion while a gentle breeze blew the girl's hair and the guys gave random spectators head nods of acknowledgement.

"Well, well," the familiar voice of Amanda sounded behind them.

With eye rolls, the unit turned around and Fat Amy suggested, "You really have to broaden your villainous greeting horizons…and get a different face."

"I just found out the Bellas weren't good enough to make the cut this year." Her bottom lip jutted out in mock sadness and she wiped away at a fake tear.

Emily moved to the front of the crowd, hoping to stop any potential fights that would threaten to spring up, and questioned, "What are you doing here?"

The rest of the Beauties and, randomly, the Tonehangers approached and stood behind Amanda as she answered, "We're competing today."

"How is that possible?"

"We all took a page out of your book and enrolled at an online college then started the 'Beauty Tones'," she sang the group name and held her arms open with pride.

Beca pointed out, "You weren't at any of the other qualifying competitions."

"Please," Amanda scoffed. "We don't have to go through the same process as children. One of the guys is a lawyer-"

"I am," the smallest Tonehanger said, raising his hand.

"No one cares," she stated. "We threatened to sue based on age discrimination if they didn't let us compete."

"What are you trying to prove?" Emily asked.

"The same thing you're trying to prove."

Addison stepped up to stand beside her mother and defended, "She's not here to prove anything. She didn't even want to rejoin the Bellas until I asked her to."

"We like to do things together," Emily explained to the disbelieving/slightly judgmental stares of the other teenagers. "It was either this or a book club." She could tell her daughter was on the verge of losing her temper so she decided to end the discussion. "Let's go, kiddo." They started to walk away but Emily added, "I'd wish you guys luck but, even if you win, you're still not going to be happy with your lives."

"Oh!" Fat Amy teased as the others followed Emily. "Quality of life burn. Those hurt the most because they cut the deepest."

The Beauty Tones had a respectable set that, in every way, fell into the category of 'easy listening'. A majority of the dance moves peaked in popularity in the 90's and, Bumper confirmed, some were straight out of Bell Biv Devoe and Gerardo music videos. But, it was put together well and clean, two things the judges liked to see.

A few performances later, Gail announced, "Finally, we have…" she hesitated then revealed, "…it just says 'Barden University'. For those of you that did not hear about the new rule change, only one group was allowed to compete from Barden this year."

"That's right, Gail. So we're not sure which one is here tonight but, I can guarantee, there is going to be disappointment in the crowd either way."

"Even I'm torn between who I'd like to see, John."

The lights on the stage were off when, "Dun-Dun," was sung. "Dun-Dun." The right side of the stage was illuminated and the Trebles stepped out in their traditional red jackets. "Dun-Dun". The light went out again.

"That answers our question, John. It looks like-"

"Dun-Dun," replied the right side as it was lit up and the Bellas emerged (wearing outfits similar to the Trebles that included blue velvet jackets) and walked toward the Treble side where there was darkness.

"I could be mistaken, Gail," John noted, "but I believe that's the theme from 'Jaws'."

"I think you're correct, John."

"Dun-Dun," both groups sounded as the lights were back on and, as the "Dun-Dun's" grew in intensity and speed, the teams moved toward one another aggressively. Again, the lights were cut but came back on to show that the groups had blended into one.

The crowd roared with excitement and, once it simmered down, Beca raised her microphone and sang the opening line from Semisonic's 'Closing time'. Cutting to a different point in the song, Jesse joined and, when he reached the line about finding a friend, each Treble took the hand of the Bella standing closest to them.

John pointed out, "Little known fact, Gail. This song is, actually, about having a baby so I wouldn't be surprised if someone up there has a bun in the oven."

"Don't be ridiculous, John," Gail scolded. "There are a lot of seniors on that stage. If anything, this is going to be a very poignant, touching, goodbye from them." Then, the beat kicked in and she corrected. "No, never mind, they're humping each other's legs."

The team picked things up with Pitbull's 'Timber' with Cynthia Rose and Fat Amy rapping, as they preferred to do. When they reached the chorus, there was a turn and a partner switch as the Trebles seemed reluctant to dance with their new ladies. At that point, they introduced 'Honey, I'm Good' and Jesse held his hand out to Beca, initiating the return to the original partners as he stared down at her adoringly while singing that she had all of his love. Then the onstage group froze while the spotlight swung to the audience where the BU Harmonics stood and interrupted with a snippet of Madonna's 'Borderline'.

"I have no idea what's happening, Gail," John confessed as the song continued.

"Love…" A spotlight shift showed that even the High Notes, who received a stern talking to from Emily, straightened up long enough to be present and join in, surprisingly at the right moment, to add from 'It Must Have Been Love'.

Gail marveled, "John, I believe we're witnessing a glimpse into the famed Barden University Riff Off."

The High Note singer continued briefly before Lilly made it sound as if there was a radio station change and the group on stage resumed with the line from 'Closing Time' that referred to wanting someone to take them home. With a shift in the beat, Beca started into 'St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)'.

Gail shared, "Alright Jon, we all know this is the theme from 'St. Elmo's Fire', a movie about young adults moving on after college."

"Actually, Gail," John corrected, "this song was inspired by Rick Hansen, a famous Canadian Paralympian."

She said with a wide grin, "I hate everything about you, John."

"Likewise, Gail," he responded with smile and a wink.

There was the start of another partner switch but the Trebles backed away with the 'No, thank you' from 'Honey, I'm Good', remaining where they originated, and transitioning into 'Shut Up and Dance' by Walk The Moon. The back and forth with songs continued, building and layering to the mix's climax where it didn't peak then stop, but started to gradually slow down instead. All the upper classmen ended up on one side of the stage and the freshmen were on the other with Addison standing at the front of the small group. The older students stopped participating in the performance and simply watched the new recruits.

To wrap everything up, Addison sang the final line from 'Closing Time' while the others provided the accompaniment and the light dimmed on the upperclassmen to make the focus clear.

"Wow," Gail marveled with tears in her eyes as the audience stood and cheered. "That was, just beautiful."

"I don't know about you, but I want to be a fly on the wall during the celebratory orgy you know they're going to have," John commented and earned a deserved punch to his chin for it.

###

It was a long goodbye for the Bellas after graduation. They met in the gymnasium for one last song that turned into a replaying of all their greatest hits. Any Trebles that remained after their parting of ways reported to the same spot to join in the activities and everyone ended up staying for hours. One by one, as sunrise was upon them, the members had to slip away to catch flights that morning, exhausted but unwilling to trade that time for anything. They burned through boxes of tissues with every departure and made promises of reuniting again in the near future.

Aubrey was going to Colorado with her Masters Degree in Business and Management to take over a struggling up and coming online retailer that would rival Amazon. Lilly (who had some sort of a master plan) was, unbeknownst to her friends, a volunteer firefighter during her time at Barden and majored in Architecture. She and Donald were moving to Nevada where he would be a stay at home dad while she worked as, of all things, a Fire Inspector (some would wonder if there was an increase in fires upon her arrival). Best friends, Jessica and Ashley received teaching degrees and managed to find vacancies at the same elementary school in Georgia, but planned to backpack through Europe before their first day of school. Cynthia Rose and Denise prepared for an appearance on 'Sharktank' where they would look for investors for their A Cappella club consultant website. Their wedding was the first reunion for the Bellas and every other wedding, birth, and occasional bad breakup to follow gave them reason to get together again and again throughout the years. No one's plans were more shocking than Stacie's though, as she somehow managed to receive a degree in Chemical Engineering and went to work at an undisclosed location in a job for the Government that she couldn't speak to anyone about.

Beca and Chloe would be in California together (one hundred and twenty-four miles apart but it still counted) where Chloe would work in Corporate Finance. Then, Amy admitted that she was on her way to Los Angeles as well to pursue a career in acting.

She explained, "I figure, I'm a pretty decent liar, I may as well get paid for it. Hell," Amy dropped her accent completely, "I'm not even Australian but I convinced all of you that I was for years." Also, she managed to talk Emily into adopting her without ever presenting evidence that she was an actual orphan.

Beca was finally going to follow her dream of becoming a DJ but, first, she stood outside of her dad's house with her arms clamped around Jesse's waist.

"So," he said, stoking his hand through her hair, "I guess this is it."

"I guess so," she agreed, tightening her arms.

He kissed the top of her head then pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too." Beca breathed deeply and smiled, enjoying the smell of his cologne.

"No more misunderstandings," he stated and she shook her head. "No more texting, period. If you have something to say, call me."

Beca agreed, "I will."

"And no more Facetime dates. That was just stupid."

"It really was."

"We're grown adults now." He pulled her into a hug and prolonged the embrace, unwilling to release her. Eventually Jesse asked, "Are you ready?"

She leaned back to look into his eyes but didn't let him go either. "It will be a long separation but, we can get through it," Beca promised.

"Ok," he said in an exhale and gave her a drawn out kiss. After he pulled away, Jesse took a painfully slow step back from her then walked to the driver side of his car where he stood and continued to stare at her.

"See," she pointed out, "it's not so bad."

"I don't like it," he argued.

"Me either."

They both rushed to open the car door directly in front of them and climbed into the vehicle, sitting beside one another.

"That was horrible," Jesse noted, kissing her before they buckled their seatbelts.

"Let's never do it again," she concurred.

"I made you something," he smiled then handed her a CD.

She took it and read the words written in Sharpie, "'Beca and Jesse's Excellent (Moving To Los Angeles Together To Pursue Our Dreams) Adventure Mix Part One'. It's a little wordy," Beca commented.

Jesse agreed, "Yeah, I started out too big and had to write much smaller toward the end."

"I see that."

"I wanted to be specific because I didn't want you to confuse it with any of our other 'Excellent Adventure' mixes."

Her eyes widened in feigned excitement. "There will be more?"

"Oh, yeah," he smirked. "There's the, 'Beca and Jesse's Excellent (Apartment Hunting in A City We Can't Afford To Live In) Adventure Mix'. Then there will be the inevitable, 'Beca and Jesse's Bogus (We Had A Fight Because One Of Us Did Or Said Something Asinine) Journey Mix' that will, coincidentally, have a lot of Journey on it. One I'm looking forward to is the, 'Beca and Jesse's Excellent (Proposal Because Jesse Is A Clever Man That Will Do Something Magnificent-"

"Or something involving movies," she speculated.

"Magnificent and movies go hand in hand."

"Depends on who you ask."

"And, my personal favorite, that I think will come sooner than you expect, the 'Beca and Jesse's Excellent (Beca Goes Through Thirty Hours Of Labor To Push Out Our Giant Headed Aca-Baby) Adventure Mix'."

Beca advised, "Let's not go burning that one just yet."

"Oh," he said with disappointment. "Is it weird if I already made all of them?" Jesse asked, holding up a stack of CD cases that, clearly, contained more titles than he'd listed.

"Only if you put, 'You're Having My Baby' on that last one."

With a guilty expression, he sorted through the stack to find the appropriate disc then tossed it into the back seat like it didn't exist. Obviously lying, Jesse replied, "I did not."

"No, I was wrong. It's still weird," Beca teased then pulled a CD wallet out of the bag sitting at her feet. She opened it and thumbed through the silver discs, all with black writing on them. 'Trip Mix 1' was selected and inserted into the CD player.

Jesse gave her a knowing stare that she tried to ignore and his grin widened when 'St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)' started to play. Without pushing the issue, he took to the road, and sang along.

Beca interrupted, "I forgot to tell you. I told Amy that she and Bumper could ride with us."

His foot hit the brake and her disc was immediately ejected to be replaced with the, 'Beca and Jesse's Bogus (We Had A Fight Because One Of Us Did Or Said Something Asinine) Journey Mix' before they resumed down the road.