AN: Because I'm a stupid idiot I accidentally deleted this story instead of another one. Luckily this website keeps the files I upload on it for three months so nothing is lost.
Jesse decided that jogging on Yom Kippur was a terrible decision despite how right it sounded to go on a jog the day he was supposed to atone for his sins while fasting.
Yeah, it didn't feel right when the thirst emerged.
He wasn't an observant Jew but Yom Kippur was a good challenge and fasting from sunset until nightfall had a lot of health benefits for a man in his late twenties.
October was only a week away and leaves were the only indication that it was Fall because it was still hot as a pizza straight out of the oven.
'Stop thinking about food!' Jesse mentally yelled at himself.
He, of course, kept a bottle of water in his backpack and an energy bar in case he felt like he needed to break his fast and he was strongly considering pulling the bottle and drowning it.
'No,' he thought to himself. 'Resist it, Swanson. Only a couple of hours left.'
He went on to tell himself that by getting through 25 hours without eating anything would increase his chances of surviving a zombie apocalypse—the running would help with his stamina: he was confident he could outrun a zombie.
Jesse chuckled at his own thoughts and focused on the music playing through his earphones.
He estimated that he was about an hour away from his apartment and figured that once he got home he would order pizza to be delivered and get into the shower. But as he slowed down and eventually stopped running to check why there was a girl kicking the tire of her car in the middle of the deserted street, he figured it was gonna take him more than an hour to get home.
"You need help changing the tire?" he breathlessly asked as he removed his earbuds.
"No, the tires are fine, thanks," she told him. "There's no service: fucking perfect," she muttered after checking her phone and violently shoving her phone in her back pocket.
He was wiping his forehead as he eyed her: the first thing that caught his attention was the ear spike. She was casually dressed in a gray t-shirt that had the album cover of Pink Floyd's the eighth album, Dark Side of the Moon. A pair of denim shorts. Her hair was falling over her shoulders and she was using her sunglasses as a headband.
"Um, something is wrong with the engine." She jerked her thumb behind her. "There's like smoke and all."
"Mind if I took a look at it?" he asked.
"Be my guest," she sighed, having no better option than a random sweaty stranger offering his help.
He walked past her and reached inside the car to pop the hood then walked around and lifted the hood. He glanced up when she leaned in to look at what he was doing.
"You're low on coolant... just wait until the engine is cool enough and refill the reservoir," he told her while gesturing at the coolant reservoir then looked up. "You don't have any on board?" he guessed when she huffed.
He straightened up when she turned on her heels and walked around the car. He watched her open the car trunk.
She shook her head. "No coolant," she informed.
"Well, then, do you have water?" he asked. "You will have to check if you have to flush your cooling system and add antifreeze or not as soon as you can as I'm not sure your car is cut out to run on only water."
"I don't have any water left," she told him and removed the sunglasses that were holding her hair back to run a hand through her hair.
"Lucky for you, I do," he said and shrugged off his back bag.
"Thank God," she sighed. "Thank you!"
"Don't thank me just yet," he smiled at her. "Let's get the car running first." He gripped the bottle and swallowed.
He opened the bottle once he deemed the engine cool enough. "All right, start the car," he told her and watched climb inside the SUV and started the engine.
He saw the relief on her face once the engine started functioning.
"Are you headed to Barden?" He heard her ask as he tossed the now empty bottle in his back bag.
"Yeah," he answered, closing the hood.
"I can drop you off in town if you want," she offered.
"Sure, thank you," he accepted.
"No, thank you," she countered and watched him climb into the car.
"Jesse Swanson," he introduced himself and extended a hand to shake hers.
"Beca," she hesitantly took his hand and shook it.
"Just Beca?" he arched an eyebrow, letting go of her hand and fastening his seatbelt.
"Yep," she tightly smiled at him and wore her sunglasses.
"It's a pleasure meeting you, Beca," he told her.
"Likewise." She turned the steering wheel and got back on the road. "You alright there, man?" she frowned, watching him lean against the seat and close his eyes.
"Yeah," he nodded while rubbing his face.
"You look like you're about to faint," she noted.
"That would be because I haven't eaten anything in almost twenty-four hours," he sighed.
"Did you run away from your kidnapper or something?" she said, remembering that he was panting when he reached her.
He chuckled. "It's Yom Kippur."
"That sounds Jewish," she figured.
"Basically nothing goes into my digestive system for a total of twenty-five hours and I'm supposed to atone for my sins," he briefly explained.
"Right," she slowly said. "And you run to atone?"
"Well, no. I just like to challenge myself." He shrugged.
"Starving and physical exertion don't usually pair well together."
"I have an energy bar in case I felt dizzy," he told her. "I know it's dumb," he admitted. "I realized that thirty minutes into the jog but I had to see if I could go through with it." He shrugged then rested his head against the window and closed his eyes. His fatigue was catching up with him: he promised himself that he wouldn't do this to himself ever again.
"Dude, don't die on me." He heard her say.
"I'm fine," he assured. "Just drop me off at the food joint you see," he added, sitting up.
Thirty minutes later, she was driving into a parking lot after he got a burrito and she got tacos at a Taco Bell drive-thru.
They never planned to have dinner together but it sort of happened. She suggested the drive-thru and he went with it. He asked her to stop at a grocery store so he'd get water so she parked the car in a grocery store parking lot.
"Go ahead, dive in," he nodded at the food on her lap as he unbuckled his seatbelt once she stopped the car.
"No, dude, I can wait," she shrugged. "How much longer do you have to wait?" she wondered.
"About fifteen minutes," he sighed after he checked the time on his watch. "I'm craving a cornetto," he shared with her as he reached into his black bag and pulled his wallet. "Got a favorite flavor?" he asked.
"Vanilla," she shared with him.
"Want anything else?" he wondered.
"No, I'm good," she replied.
"Okay," he nodded and got out of the car.
"Where do I drop you off?" she asked.
The food was eaten and they were currently enjoying the creamy cornettos.
"I actually live down that block," he informed as he gestured with his index at the direction of the block.
"Oh, cool," she said in surprise.
"Yeah." He reached for the door. "Thanks for the ride." He smiled at her, taking in her features once again before he left.
"Thanks for fixing the car." She smiled back, glad that he didn't ask for her number—she didn't even give him her full name and he got the hint. "Um, hey, wait," she called as he exited the car.
He rested a hand on the car door and looked at her expectantly.
"Do you mind if I used your bathroom?" she wondered. "I drank too much water."
"Not at all." He wore his bag. "You can shower in my bathroom if you want," he added.
"I'm gonna take that as a sign of hospitality and not a passive-aggressive way of telling that I need a shower."
He laughed at her words. "I'm the one that needs to shower." He didn't need to sniff himself to know that.
"Yeah, you really do," she agreed and stepped out of the car after grabbing her back bag then locked it.
Jesse led Beca into his apartment and closed the door after she got inside. "Bathroom is in that bedroom right over there," he informed and gestured at the one-bedroom in his small studio apartment and watched her pace to it then made his to the kitchen because he was still hungry.
He grabbed the whipped cream can and brought it to his mouth.
She was in and out of the bathroom in a few minutes. "Thanks for letting me use your bathroom."
"You're welcome," he mumbled before swallowing the whipped cream and turned around to look at her.
"Getting ready for Halloween," he said, seeing that she was currently eyeing the homemade pumpkin bong on his kitchen counter. "Do you want to smoke?" She looked up at the question.
"I'm not sure if I want to smoke pot off a pumpkin," she told him.
"It's perfect. I've tested it plenty of times." He grabbed a bag full of pot along with a lighter from on top of the fridge and placed them on the counter.
"You're letting a total stranger smoke your pot. This is a whole new level of hospitality… Weed isn't legal in the state of Georgia, I could be a cop for all you know."
"It's not legal yet. Besides, you're not a stranger. I broke my fast with you and I know your name." He paused then faked a gasp. "Unless you gave me a fake name."
"You're an idiot," she told him and grabbed the lighter.
He leaned against the counter and watched her figure out how to smoke from the pumpkin bong.
"I've never smoked weed with a stranger before," she told him after exhaling the smoke.
"Me neither." He shrugged. "There's always a first time for everything." He put the whipped cream can on the counter.
"For how long did you drive for your car to consume all of the coolant?" he wondered. "I'm curious."
"Like a thousand and five hundred miles," she gave him an approximation. "It's not even my car, I didn't think to check the reservoir." She shrugged, igniting the weed and inhaling from the pipe.
"Did you steal the car?" he frowned.
"No. I didn't steal the car. It's my Dad's car," she told him after exhaling the smoke in his face.
He inhaled it deeply. "I don't know, you could be a secret agent on the run."
"Yeah, one that doesn't know how to fix a car when it breaks down and smokes pot with the stranger that helps them with the car. A very smart secret agent."
"Or you're so deep in your cover that you have to pretend not to know how to do things?" He arched an eyebrow. "Oh, I got an even better one," he exclaimed. "You emptied the car's coolant reservoir on purpose and waited for anyone to stop and give you help so you would then sacrifice them to Satan."
She put the pumpkin on the counter. "You call it, man," she told him. "Any last wishes before you meet your fate?" she deadpanned and held back a smile when he laughed. He had a nice laugh. She liked his laugh.
"Yes. To reschedule in like seventy years," he told her.
"You got it." She stuffed her hands in her pockets and looked away in an attempt to play it cool when he caught her staring at his lips.
He stepped closer to her and leaned in when she looked up, fixating on her lips and closing his eyes when she leaned up and kissed him.
At first, it was nice and slow then escalated quickly. He didn't even know where all energy was coming from: he was picking her up and pinning her against the wall, kissing her passionately.
The way she was gripping his hair when he pulled away to let her catch her breath and buried his face in her neck was driving him crazy with lust.
"Touch me." He heard her say and pulled away from her neck to look at her. She wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him towards her face, kissing him. He felt her smile when he slipped his hand under her t-shirt.
"Don't make it weird," Beca said once Jesse looked at her in confusion.
They were on the couch he had in the small living space in his studio apartment, both shirtless.
"Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked, pulling himself up.
"Because I don't think it was that big of a deal." She shrugged and rested her weight on her elbows.
"You should," he retorted. "Because you will always remember your first time."
"I'm gonna 'member the mind-numbing talk we're having right now," she deadpanned. "Yeah, I've never done this before and I decided to do it with you," she told him as she rubbed his side. "It's not a big deal," she mumbled and leaned up. He kissed her back when she pressed her lips against his.
"I'm sorry, I can't," he said, breaking the kiss, and sat up. "It's one thing to hook up with a girl I just met and another thing to take a stranger's virginity." He sat up and tried to maintain eye contact—it was hard not to look at her chest instead. "How old are you?" he asked while silently praying she wasn't underage. She looked young, he guessed she was in her early twenties but he was tired and hungry when he met her and could be wrong.
"Old enough," she mumbled.
"Hey, don't just leave," he said when she pushed herself up and wrapped an arm around her breasts to cover herself up as she looked for her bra.
"Why?" she asked. "You clearly said you don't want to have sex."
"I don't want to take a stranger's virginity," he corrected.
"Whatever," she mumbled, reaching down to grab her bra from the floor.
"Tell me something intimate about yourself," he requested as she wore her bra. "There has to be more to you than that scary ear spike." He patted the couch as he shifted a little at the discomfort his erection caused.
"I waited this long because I didn't feel comfortable letting another person see me naked," she answered the question he wanted to ask but didn't directly ask.
"And now you feel comfortable enough to let a stranger see you naked?" He watched her sit down.
"If it goes horribly I'll never have to see you again." She interlocked her fingers and clasped her hands tight.
"It won't be horrible: I know what I'm doing," he assured her. "You will hate it at first, though, that's almost guaranteed. But that shouldn't last very long if you're relaxed and into it."
"I was into it before you started talking," she grumbled looking up to meet his gaze.
"You gonna have to give me a break, Beca," he chuckled. "This is huge. And I want to give you the best experience possible… it's a moral responsibility."
"Dude, stop beating around the bush and tell me: are we doing this or what?" she asked.
"This attitude of yours... is interesting." He scooted closer to her.
"It has gotten me in trouble before," she admitted.
"But you don't care," he figured. She shrugged. "I think it's hot," he told her as he tucked her hair behind her ear.
"I don't care what you think," she smirked, tilting her head to look at him. He grinned then leaned in, kissing her briefly.
"You might not think it's a big deal but I do: therefore we're changing the location." He cupped her face, pulling away. He then placed a kiss on her neck and picked her up bridal style.
"Hey, what's with the boxes?" she asked, gesturing at the boxes in his bedroom as he laid back on his bed after he tossed the towel, that he put on the bed to avoid staining his bedsheets with blood, in the laundry basket.
"Those are moving boxes that I've procrastinated unpacking," he answered as he adjusted the pillow against the headboard.
"Oh, you just moved here?" She turned on her side to face him.
"Yep," he nodded. "I used to live with my ex- when we broke up I moved out," he told her.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked tilting her head to look at him, hearing him sigh.
"We lost our spark and I refused to believe it. Took me finding her in bed with another man to finally realize that we should have ended our relationship sooner." He clicked his tongue.
"That sounds horrible," she frowned.
"It's okay," he said with a shrug. "I'm getting over it." He smiled at her when she blew a breath to get the hair away from her face then reached and tucked it behind her ear.
"How long ago was this?" she hesitantly asked, feeling him cup her cheek.
"Almost six months ago," he answered as he rubbed his thumb against her cheek. "I moped around for a couple of months before it hit me that I was more upset about not ending the relationship when I should have than I was about upset about being cheated on," he shared with her.
She leaned up initiating a kiss in an attempt to comfort him and chuckled when he nuzzled her cheek pulling away. She then watched him roll on top of her and didn't hesitate to cup his face and pull his face towards hers.
"I don't know why I waited this long," she mumbled between kisses. "Sex is awesome… regardless of the painful part," she added when he broke the quite passionate kiss they were sharing.
"It is pretty awesome," he agreed.
He found her excitement adorable and wanted to give her more but knew he wouldn't be able to go another round because he was exhausted.
He really regretted the jog.
He cracked his neck and leaned in for a kiss that he broke sooner than she would have liked. She was about to pull him back to her then clenched the bed sheet instead when he kissed his way down her torso.
"Relax." He placed a kiss on her inner thigh. He didn't have to ask to know that she never received oral. He kind of figured it out from what she said earlier in regards of why she postponed having sex. "I don't wanna brag but I'm pretty good at this." He grinned. "So just relax and enjoy it, okay?" He caressed her thigh. "Because this shall bloweth thy mind," he spoke in Shakespearean.
"Thou are bragging," she told him.
"Art," he corrected.
"Shut up, Hamlet." He snorted at her quick response and leaned down.
When he woke up in the middle of the night at the sound of one of his neighbors closing a door in the most considered way possible, he was by himself.
To say the least, he was bummed out: He didn't know exactly what came next but he was planning on asking for ways to get in touch with her. Then again, she didn't even tell him her full name and it was clear from the way she was vague when mentioning personal details that she didn't plan to keep in touch.
Regardless, sneaking out without a proper goodbye still sucked.
He looked at the digital clock on his nightstand and saw that it was nearing midnight. And, as he closed his eyes he could feel sleep wash over him instantly so he postponed thinking about the events of the past day and enjoy his much-needed sleep.