A/N: Hello again! This is a semi-AU songfic, based on Katy Perry's 'The One That Got Away', because I couldn't get it out of my head. This chapter was beta'd by Raven12 (and the ones to follow).


Summer after high school when we first met

Beca softly hummed the tune to 'Titanium', as she idly doodled in her Math book. It was hot, a sweltering 80 degrees, and it was noon, the hottest part of the day. She was under her favourite tree, in a secluded part of the park, staring at the equations in front of her. It was strange, she could have been working on her new mix, or 'socialising' (she didn't give two shits about what people thought of her) but she was doing Math homework. But, frankly, she didn't care, because her earphones and her music offered all the entertainment and respite she needed. And Beca thought this odd image of a surly goth girl in excess plaid doing Math with Titanium leaking out of her earphones would repel people. It did repel most people, but it didn't stop a dorky chocolate-haired boy from approaching.

"Hey there!"

The earbuds fell soundly to the ground as Beca nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to stare at the intruder, flames dancing in her steely pupils.

"Asshole!" she seethed.

He took a step back.

"Woah! I'm so sorry, but can I sit with you?"

Beca glared at him, and violently shook her head. "No." And she turned back to the textbook, propping her earphones back into her ears. It was hard to focus on the integral calculus shit, as her thoughts whirled with the boy's words. Was he trying to flirt? He didn't look like the dating type, but rather the 'super annoying best friend' kind of person.

A few minutes later, she was still thinking about him. What was he doing now? Where was he? Was he still around? Beca glanced about her and spotted him on a bench a few feet away. He looked crestfallen, staring sadly at the birds in the trees. She sort of felt sorry for rejecting him, and she should make it up to him. She stood up and walked over towards the bench he was sitting on.

"Hey..." It was awkward, no doubt. She was never this nice to anyone, especially a stranger.

The boy looked at her, sadness gleaming in his warm brown pupils. "I'm so sorry, I mean I was just trying to - "

"No, no, it's fine. I was being a jerk." Beca sighed at his dejected comment, "I was just wondering..."

"You want me to piss off? I can do that." He stood up to leave, dragging his leather duffle bag with him. Beca gaped at him. That was exactly how she felt whenever someone said something to her.

"I... I'm sorry just saying - "

"No, really - " He countered.

"Dude, I'm not good with people, okay?" Beca had had enough of his assumptions. "I'm trying to make it up to you for being such a bitch. Can I just sit with you for a moment?"

That seemed to shut him up. He gave her an incredulous look, before sitting back on the bench and shuffling over to make room for her. "Of course!"

They sat next to each other in comfortable silence, giving each other occasional glances, and blushing profusely whenever they touched. Beca did her math homework and the boy did some sort of nerdy thing on his laptop. When Beca reached a particularly hard equation, she groaned in frustration. However, when the boy looked over at her problem, he seemed to know the resolution.

"Can I help?"

Beca let out a sigh and nodded.

"You see here, a over b times c over the distance..."

She listened carefully and asked questions whenever there was something she didn't understand. Unlike her father or teacher, he'd smile as he explained in detail and was happy to repeat the entire explanation if she needed him to. Beca decided he was okay. He was annoying when he vomited out weird trivia ("The Breakfast Club has one of the best movie soundtracks) and screeched a little loudly when he sang some sort of tune from his earphones (but he sounded quite good)... but she was okay with that. As long as he didn't interfere with -

"Hey, what song are you listening to?" He asked.

Asshole.

"Something."

Giving her the weirdest combination of puppy dog eyes and the sound of a mewling kitten. He pressed her for information. "Please... tell me."

Beca had a soft spot for animals, and his animal faces were no exception. Her badass persona melted a little when he did that. After a few seconds of unsuccessful glaring, she succumbed to his pathetic-ness.

"Titanium."

"Still?"

"You got a problem with that?"

"No, it's just that you were listening to that before, and it's been like half an hour."

"Yeah... so what! I listen to other songs but this one helps me concentrate."

"That's cool. I get it. I've got like two thousand songs on my phone, ready to play whenever I study and sometimes I'll even watch movies."

She raised an eyebrow at him. Movies? She understood music, but movies? What kind of shit was this boy into?

"Why movies?"

Now, it was the boy's turn to stare at her. "Movies are one of mankind's best inventions!"

"You're a weirdo." Beca resumed her Math homework.

"You know what? Just for that, I'm going to give you a moviecation."

"What the hell is that?"

"Movie plus education. A moviecation."

"You don't even know me."

"True, but I will, eventually. We're going to become best friends and, or lovers."

Beca stared at him as though he had two heads. What a nerve this dude had.

"Please don't say lovers."

"Fine, best friends." You could hear the crickets (or birds in this case) as she shook her head. "See, I knew you'd agree to that. Now, let's start by learning each other's names."

She was hesitant. Could she really trust this boy? His annoyingly sweet attitude was downright irritating to her, but he seemed eager and friendly enough. Maybe she should just give this guy a shot. But first, she was going to play a little game...

"Ages first."

"Why?" He asked.

"So I know you aren't some paedophile who looks fifteen."

The boy clutched his chest dramatically. "You wound me! Fine, I'm fifteen."

Beca paused for a bit. "Same here."

"School?"

"Why would I tell you that?" She lashed out.

"Because it's part of the friendship code."

"You just made that up, didn't you?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

She rolled her eyes at him. The boy was so persistent.

"Jackson High."

"Jamesleigh."

"Only rich nerds go to private schools!" She snarked.

"Whatever, now tell me your name."

"You first."

"Oh my god. Just because I'm like weirdly attracted to you, I'll go first. My name's Jesse Swanson and I have like fifty middle names, but let's skip that." She couldn't conceal her smile if she tried but then thought about what he just admitted to.

The nerd was attracted to the badass.

"I'm Beca. Beca Mitchell."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Beca."


A/N: So tell me what you think of my first songfic. There will lots of verses/line to come, so bear with me. Please review!

Shoutout #2 to Raven12 for being an awesome Beta!