[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Prologue [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
Jesse: Losing Beca was like losing a part of myself. I thought nothing could change the way we felt about each other. I thought we were invincible.
Beca: Someone once said, "If you want something very badly … set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours forever. If it doesn't, it was never yours to begin with." I knew one thing … I was Jesse's to begin with … and he was mine.
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] Chapter One - High Highs and Low Lows [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
Beca Mitchell and Jesse Swanson met each other on the first day of Kindergarten.
They would happily admit, as they got older, that they had hated each other on sight that first year they knew each other. It all started when Jesse would try to help himself and share Beca's brown bag lunch as his, lovingly packed by his over protective mother, was not all that appetising. He didn't realise then, and in fact it took him a few years to realise, that Beca was incredibly protective of her food and wouldn't think twice about trying to bury Jesse in the sandpit at recess as a result.
They bumbled through the first year, shooting mean eyes at each other over the painting pots and trading discreet, under the table, punches at each other until the second grade when they were paired up to take the girl and boy lead in a school play. Finding their mutual love of the arts formed an insatiable friendship that lasted all the way through to high school. Jesse was respectful of Beca's need for privacy, mindful of her need to have time by herself as she worked through the issues with her parents' divorce and Beca spent many hours at the drive-in movie theatre watching endless films that she had no interest in. But she'd do it for him. And only him.
On Tuesdays after Glee Club and Thursdays after their respective a capella groups, Jesse would drive both Beca and her best friends, Amy and Chloe, home. Beca would watch him in the rear-view mirror and she fell in love with his eyes. Gradually she fell in love with the rest of him as well and they got out of the friend-zone pretty easily and into a relationship by the time they hit sixteen.
In the summer that they both turned eighteen, their birthdays being only twelve days apart, Jesse proposed to Beca on the pier at Paradise Cove. He'd spent the last six months working two jobs and saving every nickle and dime he could scrape together for a pretty decent engagement ring. There was just the smallest of diamonds set rather proudly in it but Beca threw her arms around his neck, kissing him with fevered passion, as she thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
Of course their parents were against them getting married so young, offering advice for a long engagement or at least to be more worldly before settling down. Beca's folks even went so far as to try to forbid her from marrying Jesse, saying that it was too risky to settle down with the only boy she'd ever loved, despite their obvious lifelong friendship, which to them was as natural as breathing.
They'd known each other almost their entire lives and nothing and nobody could come between them. They didn't want the long engagement Jesse's parents suggested. Jesse said that a life without risk was no life at all.
So they eloped.
They hitchhiked to Las Vegas, pawned their iPods for the marriage licence and sold Jesse's guitar for food and accommodation and returned home four days later wearing matching wedding rings from a gumball machine. They moved into their friend Donald's basement and got jobs in the local convenience store at the weekends. It wasn't easy but they were happy.
They graduated.
Jesse got a job with the local radio station, stacking CDs and working security in the evening. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to do but his enthusiasm and knowledge for music and especially up and coming local bands won him plenty of respect with his colleagues and management soon caught wind of his talents. He was encouraged to go back to college to start a music degree with the eventual hope of scoring movies for a career and he had to reduce his hours at the station. Beca put her career plans on hold and took a job waitressing at a local diner to help support them both. Her evenings were spent DJing and singing in local bars and nightclubs and while her musical talents were very well received, she simply couldn't afford the time to devote to it fully.
Jesse spent all his spare time working on projects to better their future. He spent weekends in studios and would explore the equipment to make it work for him. The time spent working on his first album meant everything to him.
"J?" Beca would ask as they would lay curled up on their broken sofa in their tiny rented studio apartment with a balcony above the diner where Beca worked, spending what little time they had together wrapped up in each other's arms.
"Yes?" Jesse would reply, absentmindedly stroking her arm as she lay buried into his side, one eye on the small television set balanced on the stack of college books, the other eye casting glances down Beca's half open shirt.
"Have I ever told you that I love you?"
"No." His reply was always the same.
"I do."
"Still?" Jesse would breathe into the top of her head, tucking a kiss into her soft hair that always smelt of coconut.
"Always."
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
They would take the time to remind each other that they still were in love and very much needed each other. They were determined to make it work and ignored all the well meant but unwanted warnings from their family. Envious friends wanted what they had, strangers would smile at them in the street as they goofed about.
They had their differences of course. Jesse's habit of taking his clothes off and leaving them on the floor for Beca to pick up after a double shift would drive her crazy. She would come home from work wanting nothing more than to kick off her shoes and relax with her music and dream of a way to make enough money to buy a mixing set.
"What do you think you are doing?" She would shout at him as she opened the door to piles of clothes and shoes and discarded book bags and college files. Jesse had the sense not to flinch as she pelted him with his balled up socks. Desperately wishing he cleared up before she came up from the diner below but as usual, he had been distracted by a melody running through his brain and wanted to get it written down before it was forgotten. Jesse would stand and try to hide some of the mess but knew Beca was on the warpath once she had started.
"Leaving your shoes on the table? What is wrong with you?"
"I'll do it later. What is the problem?" Jesse would sheepishly mutter, trying to defuse the situation by making puppy eyes at her. It rarely worked.
"I don't need to be doing your laundry and picking up after you!"
Beca would head towards the kitchen and Jesse would cover his ears knowing what was about to come. The shriek was right on cue.
"What about all this?" Beca would cry out, waving her hands at the carnage that was Jesse's cooking skills and he'd grimace. He knew he always needed to use at least three plates, a chopping board, both gas rings and several knives to make a simple sandwich but he couldn't help it. It was why he mostly ate in the diner downstairs with Beca when she took a break in her shift. "Why did you leave the gas on? You've got peanut butter on the floor Jesse!"
Beca would scoop up the knife and brandish it towards Jesse's junk.
"Put that down." He'd call from his relatively safe distance. "That is serious. You are gonna hurt someone."
"Hurt someone huh?" Beca'd pick up the nearest thing to hand and hurl it at him. It was the reason why they only had two glasses and one mug left.
"You're out of your mind!" Jesse shrieked as he would duck behind the kitchen door. "Goddamn it!"
"I hate you!" She said, tears in her eyes at both the frustration of their life and at just how tired she was. "I wish we had never met, I wish we had never married, I wish all of this would just go away."
Beca would whip him with a tea towel, catching his bare legs and he'd desperately try not to flinch as he'd try to wrestle whatever was in her hand away from her. He'd swipe the tea towel and throw it onto the counter, not caring that it landed on the lit gas ring.
He would grab her shoulders, his gaze burning into hers, rooting her to where she stood, hands on hips, eyes blazing with fury. She'd be livid at both him and the fire that would start in her belly by his mere touch and she'd twist sideways, struggling to pull free from the feelings in her heart and body.
"Come on. Let's just relax. Owwww!" He'd grab at his eye or his arm or wherever Beca had whacked him with her tiny fists that were never intended to actually do any harm.
"Did I hurt you?" Beca's mood would drop instantly and she'd rush to his side to check on him.
He'd pull her closer, making escape from the heat of his skin and the strength of his hands impossible and he would roughly crush his lips onto hers making her gasp. For a moment they would stared at each other, her face still furious but his full of compassion knowing he was the cause of her anger . Their chests would heave in unison, before his mouth would fall on hers, devouring her lips as his grip threatened to squeeze the life from her body.
"I'm sorry." She would say eventually.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"You were kidding?" Jesse would ask as he'd cup her face in his hands, peppering light kisses down her neck as she arched her back and held onto him closer. She'd breathe out a 'yes' as they'd sink to the floor, the blob of peanut butter forgotten as she wrestled to remove what little clothing he had on. Inspired, Jesse would do all he could to help take Beca's mind from their little argument and on that particular occasion, as he buried himself deep inside her, he made her completely forget about why she was cross in the first place as he kissed her passionately.
"J, you are on fire." Beca hissed, catching the heady scent of burning.
"You have no idea." Jesse replied, forgetting about the tea towel flaming on the stove.
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
They never had any real money and always lived paycheck to paycheck. For entertainment Jesse would take Beca to see local bands that moved him. Some were good but the majority still needed practice time in their parent's garages.
"What are we doing here?" Beca would ask. "They look like a bunch of amateurs before they have even opened their mouths. They look stupid."
"No, not stupid. Don't just use your eyes. Listen." Jesse would say as they shared a single bottle of beer, making Beca look and listen to things differently.
Their first real break came when the owner of the studio where Jesse worked died when Beca and Jesse were both twenty two. The owner's son, a pleasant man in his fifties with no interest in the arts or running a business offered it to Jesse to buy.
"Jesse, this is a steal!" Beca said, catching on to Jesse's excitement.
"Nobody else even knows about it yet."
"It's a great idea!"
"We could really build on it. Make it into a proper business for new bands and talents."
"You can really make a name for yourself." Beca enthused. "The studio will be brilliant because it will be a Jesse Swanson project."
"How are we supposed to get it though?"
"Borrow money, like everybody else." Beca said. "I'm telling you, these leverage-stockbroker-buyout guys that come through the diner. You should see the junk they buy. They would go crazy for a start up business like yours."
They sold everything they owned, including all of Beca's DJ equipment meaning she had no second income. They borrowed all of the money they could and took on as many extra shifts at work that they could find. They just managed to pull the money together in time and celebrated their purchase with a heated make out session in the recording studio. They had to tighten their belts for the loan payments, put having children on the back burner for a few years but it was their future so it was worth it. For a while, everything was shiny.
Then the recession hit.
Hard.
The diner went out of business and Beca lost her job. She tried everywhere for work but jobs were scarce. Investors pulled out of Jesse's project and he'd sit at their small office at the back of their studio where they'd set up 'home' poring over the books each night. They had nothing left to sell, their shared car long gone and were worried sick as they stood to lose everything.
"The bank has called in the demand note." Beca said as she woke Jesse one morning with a letter clasped in her hand and cried into his shoulder. He held her tight and promised her that he would make this work.
"Can they do that?" Chloe asked her later that evening as Beca had gone round to see if there was any work at Chloe's firm. It wasn't much but Chloe managed to get her a few hours admin work a week. It would be just enough to feed them.
"We don't have any income right now so they could attach our assets."
"What assets?"
"Our studio." Beca said sadly. "We've gotta keep up those payments."
"I'm sorry I can't do more for you." Chloe whispered and texted everyone she knew to see if there was anyone with any work out there for her friends. Amy came up trumps and got Jesse a part-time delivery job for her logistics company. It wasn't pretty work but it was honest and gave him use of the company vehicle.
Beca swallowed her pride and borrowed $2,000 from her grandmother; the only member of her family who had stayed in contact with them since she married Jesse. It wasn't enough, they needed $25,000 but it felt good to have it in her pocket and they paid everything for the month and had a little spare.
One of the delivery routes was heading out to Las Vegas and Beca would go along for the company. They slept in the back of the truck, curled tightly into each others arms; Beca feeling safe in Jesse's strong, powerful arms and Jesse resting better knowing he was doing something positive for them and for their future.
At the end of one drop, he turned to Beca in the front seat and grinned like the goofy teenager she'd fallen in love with.
"B?"
"What?" She said as she settled in for what she thought would be the journey back home.
"Put your boots back on."
"What's the matter?"
"I've an idea. Come on."
"What time is it?" Beca asked, looking out into the darkness of the desert behind them but Jesse just grinned and jumped out of the van.
A few minutes later, he was pulling Beca into the nearest casino. They'd not gambled the first time they'd come to Vegas, saving every nickel and dime they had to get their marriage licence so the bright lights and loud noises were a surprise to them both. The lower level of the casino was filled with people of every type. Beca rolled her eyes at the sight as Jesse pulled her in to the bowels of the casino, walking past rows of tables housing card games and dice games towards the slot machines.
Flower sellers wandered past them, waitresses in hot pants wandered around with drinks of every colour on silver trays, smiling sweetly and suggestively. The whizzing, clanking and chiming sounds of the slot machines rang out across the room, drawing in the people with promises of huge winnings. People with no idea of the time staggered left and right, filled to the brim with alcohol but desperate to spend their last dollar on the chance of a jackpot.
Jesse pulled Beca through the rows of one arm bandits, fruit machines and coin droppers. He suddenly stopped at one and Beca, intent on looking at the half dressed male bartender in the distance crashed into him.
"Jesse, what the fu-" Beca said, clutching her shoulder. She was tired and very hungry, seeing as it was at least 48 hours since they had had anything substantial to eat.
"-There is half a dozen quarters in the tray here!"
"Woo, Jesse, collect 'em quick. It's enough to pay the bank loan off." She replied sarcastically, but her mouth twisted into a smile anyway.
"Har dee har smart ass." Jesse said, dropping Beca's hand and collected the buck fifty from the tray. "Come on, play them."
"Jesse, seriously?. What are we doing here?"
"Just play them!" Jesse urged her, pushing the coins into her hand. "I've got a feeling."
"You always have a feeling." Beca said, earning a grin from Jesse as she slotted the money into the machine and listened as each one fell in turn into the inner workings of the "Kraken Unleashed" game. She pressed the start button each time but nothing worked.
"Kiss the coin." Jesse said.
"Dude, what?"
"For luck." Jesse laughed. "Trust me."
Beca kissed the quarter, just to see Jesse's reaction and was met with a cheesy grin before she slipped it into the coin slot. None of the others had made a noise on the way down and it wasn't until the fifth coin had disappeared that the lights went crazy and coins began spewing out of the bottom that Beca jumped back in surprise.
Jesse laughed out loudly and grabbed Beca, kissing her hard on the lips before gathering up the coins into his pocket. More and more coins flew out in all directions as Beca looked around at the people watching them with a shiver of embarrassment.
One of the floor walkers came past and offered Jesse a bucket to collect his winnings and he scooped them up happily, even waving to the crowd as he picked up the last few from the stained and soiled carpet.
"Okay?" Beca said. "Can we go now?"
"Go?" Jesse said. "We have to cash in our winnings."
Jesse handed Beca his wallet and picked up his bucket.
"I'm going to go cash this lot in! You okay to go and get us something to drink?"
"Sure!" Beca said, smiling for the first time in a while.
They parted company and Beca headed to the bar, pleased to be away from the bucket of coins. She was tired and just wanted to head on back to their studio for some sleep. She was still in the queue behind an old man wearing a tiara when Jesse rolled up behind her, slipping his hands around her waist and nuzzling into her neck.
"We won four hundred and seventeen dollars." He whispered and she spun around to face him.
"Dude, that's great! That's nearly a third of what we need this month!" Beca said as she reached up to kiss him gently on the lips. "Show me!"
Jesse reached into his pocket and pulled out the casino card.
"What's that?" Beca asked.
"I put our winnings on here."
"Why? We'll only have to cash out when we leave."
"We're not leaving! Come on!" Jesse said, pulling Beca by the hand out of the queue.
"Dude, what?"
"I'm still feeling lucky. I think we should give something else a go."
"Jesse? Come on, we shouldn't push our luck."
"We didn't have anything to start with so we've got nothing to lose."
"Jesse, no. That's more money than we can hope for." Beca said as she allowed herself to be tugged towards the small row of Craps tables.
"Five minutes. Just give me five minutes."
"Jesse? No? We didn't earn that money, it's a blessing. Let's go and leave it at that." Beca urged.
"It's all good, B. We're on a winning streak."
"I'm not watching while you lose." Beca said, tucking her hands into her pockets and wandering off. Jesse watched her leave as he turned his attention to the table.
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
Half an hour later, Beca found herself in one of the stores off the concourse, opposite the lifts. Squeezed in between a tacky gift shop and a mini convenience store, was a small boutique clothes emporium. Beca stopped to look in at the window as the stunning, shimmering, black cocktail dress caught her eye. Looking over her shoulder, she slipped into the shop.
Walking around the headless mannequins displaying dresses of all shapes and sizes, Beca ignored the stares of the shop assistants. She knew they were looking down their noses at her and she was suddenly aware of her basic outfit of skinny jeans and scruffy Converse.
She circled the table display in the middle of the room, inwardly scoffing at the offensive oppulence. The tall, ornate sculpture sat draped, dripping in gold jewellery that reeked of expensive prices rather than of good taste. Beca took in the delicate shoes on display and wondered how girls walked in them without breaking their necks.
Spying a silver tray covered in complimentary but expensive Belgium chocolates, Beca sneaked one gently off the plate and popped it into her mouth, enjoying the sweet, smooth taste immediately. She looked over her shoulder again and noting that she was now being ignored by the snooty attendants, she grabbed a handful of the chocolates just as the lift doors pinged and slipped them into her hoodie pocket, wanting to share them with Jesse when she saw him.
Spinning round, confident that she hadn't been seen, Beca's gaze met a pair of bright green eyes through the boutique window. A tall and well built, blonde man wearing a smart, well cut and very tailored suit, complete with crisp white shirt open at the collar, surrounded by six men in dark glasses and all sporting ear pieces was staring back at her, his mouth curved into a playful smile.
He grinned over at Beca, dropping his gaze to her pocket where she had just placed the chocolates. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the look until he gave her a gentle wink. She shyly smiled back at him and turned away as he went back to the men around him.
Running her fingers over the soft fabric, Beca found the dress she'd seen in the window. She looked a the price tag and blinked when she saw the cost. She knew she'd never be able to afford a dress as expensive. Wiping her hands on her jeans before plucking the hanger from the rack, she slipped the silky fabric over her head leaving the hanger dangling down her back. Turning to the mirror, she tugged her jacket sleeves down her arms and looked at herself in the small mirror to her right. Turning around she looked at herself before twisting her hair up into a messy knot at the back of her head, leaving a few strands falling softly down around her face.
"Why don't you put it on?" A clipped accent sounded out from behind Beca. She spun around, suddenly incredibly embarrassed that she'd been caught doing something so out of character, so feminine. She immediately moved to take the dress off, scooping her sleeves back up her arms and placing the hanger back in a rush. "It suits you."
"Well, I can't afford it." Beca said, looking over to the man who had caught her with the chocolates earlier as he stood, watching her with his arms folded across his chest.
"That's too bad." He said simply.
"Yep."
"I really think you ought to have the dress." He said, relaxing his arms, slipping his left hand into his pocket, showing a very expensive yet discrete gold Rolex.
"Yeah, right." Beca said, casting her eyes down to the floor.
"Let me buy it for you." The man said gently but firmly.
"You want to buy me this dress?" Beca asked, not meeting his eye.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I've enjoyed watching you. You've earned it."
"No, I haven't." Beca said, wanting to get out of the shop and back to Jesse.
"Let me buy it. As a present."
"The dress is for sale. I'm not." Beca remarked, leaving the boutique to find Jesse.
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
"Boom! Skinny! Skinny! We got a new shooter now ... Coming out ... We need a seven ... Roll 'em now, girlfriend. Seven! Come on now! Come on now!"
The group of excited people drew Beca's attention before she even saw Jesse standing in amongst them all.
"How are you doing?" She said, joining his side and linking her hand over his as he turned to her in excitement.
"Baby! We can't lose. I'm up over $9,000." Jesse said, his eyes brighter than Beca had ever seen before.
"I can't believe it!" Beca exclaimed.
"It's so great!" Jesse said, popping a kiss on her cheek before turning to the group of people surrounding him. "Hey everyone, this is my wife, Beca."
A chorus of hey's and greetings echoed loudly even amongst the whirring machines and sounds of excitable chatter.
"These are my girls." Jesse said. "They're gonna be moving in."
Beca laughed as the girls all around him cheered. Jesse held up a pair of dice to Beca.
"Kiss 'em."
"Jess?"
"Kiss them." He repeated. "For luck!"
Beca leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on the dice.
"I'm winning 'cause we're winners!" Jesse yelled as he flung the dice down the Craps table as the crowd around them held their breath.
The roar gave the young couple the answer they needed that Beca's kiss had worked. Jesse scooped Beca up in his arms and spun her around as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
"Did I ever tell you I love you?" He asked, nuzzling into her neck.
"No."
"I do."
"Still?"
"Always."
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
An hour later, Beca and Jesse sat in the modest hotel room they had decided to splash out on after their successes downstairs.
Beca had been quick to jump into the steam shower and had spent twenty minutes under the hot water, washing her hair several times and letting the steam soften her skin. She found the complimentary toiletries as exciting as their winnings and slathered the body butter all over her skin. Jesse ordered their first decent meal in a week from the room service menu, surprising Beca when she finally came out of the bathroom.
Jesse loved watching Beca enjoy the moment and pushed down the pang of guilt that he felt that he couldn't treat her to nights like this more often. He watched her, wrapped up in one of the fluffy bath robes laying on the huge bed, covered in clean, crisp white bed linen as she watched him count the money on the small table in front of him.
"Four thousand." Jesse said, gathering up a bundle of notes in front of him and carelessly throwing it at Beca. She sat up in their bed and reached up for the notes as they rained down all over her.
"This little pile here?" Jesse laughed as he tossed more notes in Beca's direction. "You guessed it. Four more, B. And what do you think this is?"
Beca laughed and Jesse realised how much he had missed that musical laugh and how relaxed Beca looked. His heart pounded with pleasure and as she laid on the bed, throwing handfuls of notes into the air, he never wanted her more than at that moment.
"Four more Beca!" Jesse grinned, standing from the small sofa he was perched on to toss more $20's at his wife. "Play with it, roll around with it. Enjoy yourself."
"How much is here Jess?" Beca said, rolling onto her side as he slotted onto the bed, placing a hand on her hip.
"The grand total is … $12,040. So we're halfway there, like, in an hour." Jesse said, kissing Beca's cheek and moving down to her neck. "I figure about … two hours tomorrow, we'll be home free."
"Come here." Beca said, placing her hands on his jawline.
"What?"
"I love you." Beca said simply, looking at him directing in the eye.
"I know that."
"No, I mean, even without the money."
"I love you more."
[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅1̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
A/N - Thanks and dedication to cajunqueen714 and cuticlecareenetwork as without their almightly shoves, this story would never have gotten published and remained as a simple story to amuse myself on a rainy day.
A/N - Story is stolen from the 1993 film Indecent Proposal. I do not own the right to this film, Pitch Perfect, the characters within or anything in fact other than a ridiculously large mortgage.
