So, as it turns out, Jesse can kind of liken kissing Beca to kissing his sister. Which, okay, might be some people's thing. It isn't his. His thing is standing a few seats down, still glowing from the high of performing live.
But we're getting a little ahead. We need to start at the beginning.
#
Benji doesn't make it through auditions. They don't want him, even if Jesse reassures him that he does have a great voice. And he really, really does. But that just makes it worse. Because if he can sing well, it's not his voice they don't want.
It's him.
"I'm really sorry, man," Jesse is saying, but Benji can barely hear the words. He's a little preoccupied with his efforts to stave off tears. "Bumper's a real asshole."
He nods hollowly, still not listening.
A hand rests on his shoulder, reassuring, and Jesse leans over him with a warm smile. "Come on, bro, they're having a party. Parties make you feel good."
"I..." Benji trails off, shaking his head. "I'm good, Jesse. You just go."
Jesse frowns a little. "You sure?"
"I'm sure. Go. Have fun."
Well, that's how Jesse winds up drunk at the celebration, at least. And he flirts with Beca, but it doesn't really do anything but make him more desperate to see how Benji's doing.
#
The night of the riff-off, Jesse comes back to the dorm to find Benji lying on his bed with his talking Yoda in hand. He's pressing the back over and over, hoping for some helpful advice, but all he's getting is nonsense.
"You're gonna kill the batteries," Jesse tells him, dropping his Treblemaker blazer on the back of the chair."
"I'll just take the ones out of Darth Vader," he murmurs, pressing it again.
"Judge me by my size, do you?"
Jesse grabs it and squeezes it again, earning a, "When 900 years you reach, look as good you will not."
"Give it back," Benji whines, making a grab for it.
The brunette shakes his head. "Not until you agree to come with me to the Riff off. C'mon, padawan, you gotta join me."
"Seriously, Jesse, just give it back. Please?" He says, getting up off the bed to get Yoda back. Jesse moves it behind his back and does his best puppy dog expression.
Benji tries again, but fails when the other man steps away from him. They keep up the game of cat and mouse until Jesse's back hits the wall. When he goes for the toy again, Benji finds his face only centimetres from Jesse's. He can smell the mint on the brunette's breath, and the warmth from his chest that radiates out. Jesse's kind of a space heater. And he smells nice. Really nice.
It's kind of unfair.
"Benji," Jesse whispers, and speaking of unfair, this feels a lot like blackmail. "Come to the riff-off. It'll be fun."
And yeah, it really is fun. Jesse's cliche love interest is pretty awesome, as far as Benji's concerned. She holds a tune with ease and she has more spontaneity in her little finger than Audrey Posen has in her entire body. The Bellas might even have a chance at winning this year, if Audrey loosens the reins a little. Benji wouldn't mind that. They're pretty cool. Cloe had come up to him after his audition and said if he was a girl they totally would have chosen him for their group.
Jesse comes up to him after the riff-off quietens down, a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead and a fantastic glow on his face. He's beaming at Benji with this unbridled grin, and it's impossible to not smile back.
"It was awesome, right?"
"Yeah, Jesse. It was awesome."
#
Benji comes back to the dorm after his last class of the day, and when he opens the door he's immediately bombarded by a hyped up Jesse and blasting music.
"Is that the Rocky theme?"
Jesse nods, then points to the lightsabers with a smile. "You keen?"
They pass almost an hour listening to the Rocky score and battling, until Jesse mocks taking a heroic final blow before collapsing on Benji's bed, panting and sweaty.
"Man, you would make a great Jedi."
"You're pretty good at this too."
"Pretty good?" he says in mock affront, a hand to his chest as though wounded. "Benj, I would kick some serious stormtrooper ass."
Benji carefully places the lightsabers on their respective stands. "Everyone can kill storm troopers. They're useless."
"Shh," Jesse says, grabbing Benji and tugging him down onto the bed.
They lie there, exhausted but blissful, and talk about movie scores until it's well into the night. Benji considers himself ridiculously lucky to have Jesse as a roommate. Someone who doesn't laugh at his collection, who has lightsaber duels with him and watches his magic tricks with a huge grin. He's just really glad to have Jesse.
"Are we friends?" he murmurs, tilting his head a little to look at Jesse. But it's a small bed, and he's a lot closer than he thought. The brunette's face is right there, again.
"Course we are," Jesse replies. "Why would you think we aren't?"
"Because guys like you don't befriend guys like me."
Fingers land on Benji's arm and squeeze. "I happen to think very highly of guys like you."
Benji starts to lean in at the same time Jesse does, but he's the one to stop himself and evacuate the bed hurriedly. "I, uh, I have to meet my classmate to talk about a project."
"It's eleven thirty, Benj!" Jesse calls, but the blonde's already gone.
#
Benji's what he likes to consider an equal opportunist. That's just Benji-speak for being as much into dudes as he is into chicks. Not that anyone knows. It doesn't matter. People don't care what his orientation is, they wouldn't date him if he was the last person on the planet.
Jesse doesn't even think about it. He just...he falls for people. It never really bothered him which side of the gender scale they fell on. Beca makes him smile, but she also makes him so angry he wants to punch someone. Benji makes him laugh, and he makes him happy.
They're both amazing, and he is beginning to think he can't have either of them.
#
When Jesse tells him he's in for a spot on the Trebles, Benji wants to kiss him.
Scratch that.
Jesse kisses him. Walks right up and grabs him, their lips colliding before Benji even registers what's happening. At first, he's a little bit too shocked to do anything.
The brunette pulls away, colour on his cheeks, like he thinks he's done something unwanted.
Benji grabs the velvet blazer and pulls him back in.
"Welcome to the team, Treblemaker."
#
They don't talk about it. They don't even look at each other. Benji realises how stupid he was, and he backs off. He spends a lot of time in his box. And working with his dove, Leia. She's getting better.
Jesse has his big fight with Beca and Benji sympathises and comforts him, but secretly he's kind of glad that it happened. It's pretty obvious to him that Beca's interested in Cloe anyway, it was never gonna work between her and Jesse.
They still don't talk about it. Benji assumes that Jesse's realised how big a mistake it was.
#
Jesse watches him as he takes the stage, and it's not just the audience that Benji captivates. He's caught watching every single detail of the other man's, from the gleam in his eye to the way his hands move effortlessly along with the music. Benji belongs up here, he really does.
#
So, full circle. Jesse doesn't even have to let Beca down gently. She has her nose scrunched quite adorably when she pulls away, and he follows her eyes to Cloe.
"I'll make the move if you promise to do it too," he whispers conspiratorially.
"Deal," she tells him with a giggle.
Jesse picks his way past Donald and Lilly, then tugs Benji in with his tie and kisses him rit there in front of all of them. The adrenaline from the performance and the kiss and Benji's heart beating so hard he can feel it, all of it makes him feel like he's flying.
Beca and Cloe are in the same state, from the look of it. Jesse laughs into Benji's shoulder, then drags his lips up towards the blonde's ear. Benji shudders under him, one hand curling into his blazer.
It's far too cheesy, but Benji thinks it's perfect.
Thank you for reading.