Things have been nuts here but Pitch Perfect was on high rotation in my house and I let the words fly. I own nothing.
He had never meant to have feelings for his best friend's girlfriend but now that he did, it was all he could think about and it was slowly killing him inside.
Benji wasn't this guy. He knew he wasn't this guy. His mother knew he wasn't this guy. His rabbi knew he wasn't this guy, heck everyone he met on the street knew he wasn't this guy. This petty, jealous and mean-spirited man-boy intent on ruining his friend's happiness wasn't Benji, but every single time he saw Beca and Jesse together he was consumed with overwhelming… feelings. He didn't want this. He hadn't meant this but now he was stuck and even worse, Jesse had been speaking about 'the future'. What had been an intangible non-entity was now swiftly approaching and nearly 4 years into their relationship it seemed inevitable. Jesse and Beca were moving to L.A., a paid internship and a musical scut level job at a movie studio (in addition to a master's degree program for Jesse in Composition) awaiting them in four months and Benji was supposed to be moving to New York for his master's in Musical Theater. A few agents had tried to sign him outright but he'd been unsure of his options and school was a comfortable way for him to be noticed.
It really hadn't started this way. He liked Beca, he did but it was totally platonic. They'd hung out in a group several times. She never made him feel stupid or left out. She liked his magic, or at least she said she did. She actually got him hired by a few of her dad's professor friends for their kids' birthday parties (Extra cash was always a good thing especially for the long trips home) and she threatened to castrate Bumper when he intentionally tripped Benji in the hallway in front of her. (Jesse had shared with him about that, since apparently the scene caused him some grief with Bumper on controlling his "Bella Bitch". It took Donald and Matt to talk Jesse down from laying Bumper out right there or quitting the group and Bumper, smartly didn't mention it again. Beca herself had told Benji the Trebles were nuts to not have him in the group and if the Bellas ever needed a male vocalist he'd be first on their list if she had have Aubrey kidnapped to get it done. She was nice to him. Jesse was nuts about her and that was where it should have ended but of course it never goes that way.
Every couple gets one breakup, or so said his sister. Jesse and Beca sort of had what had been a minor fight functionally blow-up two years into their relationship. Of course it had to happen right before regional for the Juniors and both the Bellas and the Trebles were walking on eggshells to avoid the worst of the fallout. It was nearly a month of unmitigated hell. Talk of coups and uprisings in the group were only quelled by years of friendship and frankly, pity. Jesse was a mess and Benji saw it up close and personal from the Treble house. He couldn't help but blame her for his friend's sadness which led to some coolness in their interactions which even he saw confused and hurt Beca. It was of course Benji who found her crying in one of the outer prep-rooms in the auditorium the day of regionals.
He knew Beca fairly well at this point and one thing he really knew is Beca nearly never cried. The two things he knew that made Beca cry were as follows; 'The Breakfast Club' and slicing onions. As he hadn't smelled onions and he knew for a fact Jesse had her copy of the movie stuffed under his bed so Benji was at a loss. He couldn't however, in good conscience just leave her there so he did what every well-raised boy will do, he gritted his teeth and asked what was wrong.
"Nothing Benji, It's fine," she told him startled sniffing and trying to wipe away the tears.
"It's not nothing Beca. What's wrong?" he asked her coming over to sit next to her on what had at one time been a lab-bench.
She snorted and shook her head. "Honestly Benji, what do you think is wrong? I basically broke up with my boyfriend of two years over a song title disagreement, the Bellas are tip-toeing around me lest I snap and yell which I've been doing a lot of lately, and even you have been avoiding me like the plague," she said turning away from him.
Benji sighed. "Jesse's my best friend, Beca. He was also my roommate and we still live in the Treble house. You're my friend too but Jesse's been a mess since the breakup and he needed me more than you did," he tried to explain gently.
"Is he okay?" she asked him sniffing without turning around.
"He's here but I wouldn't call him okay," Benji said with a shrug.
Beca snorted, "We rip each other apart."
"You make each other better," Benji said simply. "I know I don't have the right to ask you this but could you just try to talk to him. I really think you'll both be better if you clear the air."
Beca shrugged.
"Beca, come on. Who do you think got Boogie-Boy disqualified for the ICCAs? For me, Beca"
She looked startled by his admission.
"That was you?" she asked him incredulously.
Benji nodded. "They cheated and that wasn't right."
Beca flushed remembering that night. She'd been a horrible friend and a worse almost-girlfriend.
"Beca, please. For me?" he asked her putting his hand on her shoulder.
She nodded reluctantly. "For you, Benji," she told him before leaning over a kissing his cheek and shuffling slowly out the door.
Something pinged for Benji that afternoon. He didn't think it was the kiss but it very well could have been. Something in him opened up that he had never really felt before. Something that confused and intrigued him. He brushed it aside as Jesse and Beca made up in grand style (Having eye-sex as Amy pointed out with bizarre glee) and Benji hadn't thought much more about it until that summer.
That summer was a unique one. Beca had managed to talk her way into the summer-intern position at the radio and Evan (who replaced Luke as Station Manager) gave her own show, in the afternoons no-less. Jesse had impressed one of his professors in Film Studies enough to get an intern position functionally interviewing people after they watched select movies and writing up the results for disgustingly good pay. Beca noted the unfairness repeatedly given the sheer amount of manual labor her job consisted of, but they took it in stride. With some prodding Evan actually found the funds for a second intern (as their primary CD stacker was now busy in the afternoons) and hired, via Jesse, Benji. Between the radio station, and back at the Treble house with Jesse he spent more time with Beca than he ever had before so basically, all of his time. The more time he spent with her the more he found himself wanting to make her laugh; wanting to make her look at him with the same happiness he saw when she was watching Jesse. It was that summer though, when the dreams started. Benji woke up in cold sweats and filled with guilt over what his dream-self had done to his best friend's girlfriend. He could get over this. He would get over this, or at least that's what he told himself. Another year passed and Benji still wasn't over it.
"You okay, buddy?" Jesse asked him, as they sat in on what was going to be their last practice before Regionals. It was their last year and all the Trebles were focused on beating the Bellas. Their annual back and forth placements at Regionals and Semis, while, funny did begin to grate, especially when the Bellas managed to pull out half-point wins at the ICCAs for the past three years running.
Benji nodded distractedly. He had mastered his solo weeks ago but he was finding it hard to focus. Jesse and Beca had been joined at the hip this past week while waiting on word from their respective job options. Beca in particular had applications out for nearly every record label in the US (And Benji thought he heard something about Germany) and had heard from precisely two, both rejections. Jesse on the other hand put out applications for Master's degree programs in L.A., and New York had heard from both and been accepted though Benji was sworn to secrecy on his acceptances. It was quietly understood between the roommates that Jesse would go where Beca was, which wasn't necessarily something that thrilled his parents but what they didn't really know wouldn't hurt them. They loved Beca, they did, but as Jesse told Benji, his mother still had the idea that he would move back home, live in his bedroom and nothing would ever change once he finished school. His Dad was just happy Jesse was happy, and he appreciated Beca's humor more than he let on. Not to mention, to his parents anyone was an improvement on his little sister's boyfriend who his mother referred to as 'the gang-banger'. Jesse blamed too much 'Law and Order' and Adam's penchant for baggy pants on the nickname.
"You can talk to me you know, if there's something bugging you." Jesse said quietly so as not to alert the other Trebles to Benji's distraction.
"Maybe later," Benji said standing and walking back into the hustle of the group. He felt Jesse's concerned look more than saw it.
The door suddenly slamming open startled an alarming number of the Trebles into girlish screams which in normal circumstances would have caused comment from the source of the slam but this time she was too busy racing towards Jesse.
"I got it!" she yelled basically plowing into a startled Jesse's chest.
"You're in?" he said pulling her back a little to look into her eyes.
"I'm in!" she said practically bouncing with excitement.
Jesse threw his arms around her spinning her in a circle. "That's awesome Bec," he managed attempting to keep his reaction as publicly appropriate as possible.
Beca seemed to realize they were the center of Treble attention at that second and released her boyfriend with blazing cheeks.
"Congrats Beca," Kevin said with a genuine smile.
She nodded. "Sorry for interrupting guys. I'll let you get back to rehearsals," she said about to rush out when Jesse grabbed her hand.
"We'll be done in half an hour. Get ready pretty lady, I'm taking you to celebrate," he told her with a smile, kissing her wrist before letting her hand go. She flushed again before waving and jetting out the door.
Jesse's new energy was contagious and soon all the other Trebles had picked up on his excitement. After twenty minutes Jesse called it saying they sounded awesome and it was best to end on a good note before jetting off into the late afternoon sun.
"At least it wasn't a riff-off repeat," one of the guys commented before a few others groaned and laughed.
The riff-offs had become a notorious stare-off between Jesse and Beca, to the point that one group requested the removal of 'Songs about Sex' as a category because a repeat of 'Feels like the First time' would lead to a public indecency charge. Word of course had gotten back to the two, and both taunted thoroughly for their less than discreet fondness for one another they put the lid on singing blatantly at one another at the riff-offs at least a little bit.
"Are we putting money on when they're getting married or is that pool closed?" Kevin asked loudly with a grin.
"Clearly you don't know Beca if you think she'd ever marry Jesse," Benji spit out. He regretted the words as soon as they fell from his mouth.
"Rehearsal tomorrow afternoon at the house, guys. Two o'clock," Jesse said slowly from behind him.
Benji whipped around but Jesse wouldn't meet his eye, and the guilt fell on his head like a brick, as his best friend turned his back and left.
"Harsh man," Kevin said shaking his head.
"Not cool," Unicycle said picking up his bag.
Benji sighed, he needed to find Jesse and apologize. He grabbed his stuff and raced off to the house but Jesse wasn't home. He checked the radio station, the café, the Bella's practice space, even the defunct pool they used for the riff-offs and he was nowhere to be found. He had one place left to look.
He slowly climbed the stairs of the apartment building dreading the ever climbing numbers. He arrived a 4B and took a deep breath before knocking. The door opened swiftly and Beca popped out looking surprised to see him.
"Oh hey Benji, I thought you were Jesse," she said taking a step back and inviting him in.
"So he's not here?" Benji asked her peering into her living room.
"Uhh. No," she answered slowly. "Is something wrong?" she asked him slowly.
"Yes. No… I don't even know anymore," Benji said with a sigh.
"Okay, well that clears it up," she said with a laugh before sitting down.
"I said something that Jesse heard," Benji said.
"Okay, well he's pretty forgiving," she said encouragingly. "He's forgiven me for all sorts of things I've said that had to have been worse than anything you could have thought up."
"It was about you, well you and him, together," Benji said staring at the floor.
"Oh?"
"I said that if any of them knew you they wouldn't believe you'd ever marry Jesse," Benji said.
Beca looked startled. "Um, and me marrying or not marrying Jesse came up in conversation how exactly?"
Benji flushed, "Um, one of the guys asked if the pool on your wedding date was closed or not."
"Okay," she said still a little lost but knocking on her door interrupted her next question.
Unsurprisingly it was Jesse who grabbed his Beca in a tight hug the second she opened the door. "Congrats Weirdo," he said to her spinning her around while she laughed. "I knew you could do…" he trailed off noticing Benji sitting on his girlfriend's couch.
Benji stood awkwardly and Beca backed a bit away from Jesse.
"I think you two have some things to sort out and I need a shower so I'll be out shortly," she said turning and giving an encouraging nod to Benji before flitting back to her room and private bathroom therein.
Jesse closed the door behind himself and moved forward to the kitchen not even acknowledging Benji.
Benji sighed and followed silently trying to think up an excuse or reason, basically anything but the truth so he started simply.
"I'm sorry, Jesse. What I said was… uncalled for and really not okay," Benji said quietly to Jesse's back as he fished through the fridge for something to drink.
Jesse paused and nodded before turning back around, "Did you mean what you said?" Jesse asked him, his face giving nothing away.
"What do you mean?" Benji asked confused.
"Did you mean what you said, do you really think Beca would never marry me?" Jesse asked his best friend. "I won't be mad, I just want your honest opinion."
Benji paused and thought. "If Beca were to marry anyone she'd probably marry you," Benji said finally. "I have a hard time imagining her saying yes to anyone."
"We've talked about it," Jesse told his friend taking a sip of his water.
Benji froze, "Oh?".
"She told me at initiation night this year she was going to marry me. She was completely blasted at the time but it was enlightening. I've since gotten her to talk about it sober."
Benji nodded.
"I'm going to ask her after graduation," Jesse told his friend quietly. "My Dad knows, so he could get my grandmother's ring out of the safety deposit box for me and I'm pretty sure Beca knows too." Jesse said quietly.
Benji was silent.
"You're my best friend next to Beca," Jesse told him. "I'm not an idiot and I don't want there to be any bad blood between us so if you've got something you need to say to someone, say it before graduation or forever hold your peace," he finished before walking past his friend and letting himself into Beca's room, shutting the door behind him.
For Benji, the countdown had begun and a crack had been made in the wall of his friendship with Jesse.
The weeks passed quickly and seemingly quicker as the ICCAs approached. Semis came and went with a Bellas victory yet again, which seemed to spur the Trebles into further discord despite a close second place finish. The subtle break between the co-captains was felt through the group and while none of the Trebles knew the precise cause they figured the best way to fix it would be copious amounts of alcohol and karaoke. They recruited Beca to convince Jesse and in the process invited the Bellas and the rest of the Barden groups since what fun was karaoke without others to drunkenly sing along. It was settled, Saturday night, Rum Runner's, 9 o'clock, 'Be there or be cut-off'. Like most bad ideas in college, this one began with alcohol and Benji.
As Saturday rolled around Benji desperately looked for ways out of the party. He had been avoiding Beca religiously since his visit to her apartment, which he knew she found odd since she'd tried to hunt him down a handful of times. He knew it annoyed Jesse to lie to her about his behavior too but he just wasn't ready to go down that road with her. He was packing his bag to go home for the weekend for a funeral for some fictional relative (He hadn't worked out the details yet) when Kevin caught him escaping.
"I don't know what the hell is up between you and Jesse but this shit gets sorted tonight," the normally goofy Kevin said seriously. "None of us can take this crap anymore," he said placing a firm hand on the smaller captain's shoulder and borderline dragging him to the kitchen and shoving him on a stool. "Drink this," he told Benji putting a shot glass in front of him.
Benji shook his head, "I really was planning on driving home tonight so…" he started by Kevin cut him off.
"Fake funeral? Mother's Birthday? Or just being a coward?" Kevin said simply. "We're brothers here, and no one should know that more than you. Liquid courage my friend. Bottom's up."
Benji sighed, knowing Kevin was right, not necessarily about the drinking but the cowardly aspect and the brotherly aspect. He missed Jesse and their friendship. Not even Beca could quote Star Wars with him when the movie wasn't playing and he would stop the other Trebles from picking on him when they were underclassmen. The more he thought about it the more Kevin's logic made sense and the more Kevin's logic made sense, the more shots Benji downed.
An hour later a beyond tipsy Benji stumbled into the bar with a considerably more sober Kevin following behind him. He saw Jesse standing at the bar, Beca tucked under his arm smiling at what Fat Amy was saying waving her arms around enthusiastically. One of the Harmonics was on stage singing an early Madonna tune (surprise surprise) and most of the Trebles were at a combined table with the Bellas front and center. Kevin half dragged Benji over to the table and plunked him down in the first available seat next to Unicycle while Kevin tried to squeeze in next to Ashley (His persistence had been cute at first but it was beginning to be annoying). "No more shots for you buddy," Kevin instructed and motioned to Unicycle to cut him off. He nodded and kept waving the waitress away when she'd try to serve them. Jesse, Amy and Beca soon returned to the table and it was quickly apparent that Benji had taken someone's seat. Ever polite he tried to abandon the chair but was waved aside with a smile by Beca who just grabbed her bag from under her (now his) chair and threw it under Jesse's before settling in on her boyfriend's lap.
"If you make any Santa comments, I'll kick you so hard your teeth will rattle," Beca told Jesse with a smile.
"Message received," he said with a smile and kiss to her shoulder. "Are you going to get up there?" he asked her quietly.
"Maybe, this is really a Treble thing. We're just along for the booze," she joked leaning back into him.
He poked her side so she jumped and laughed. "Are you getting up there… what am I even asking of course you are," she said laughing a little more when he tickled her side. Benji ordered a shot when Unicycle was occupied with the newest Bellas.
He did get up there unsurprisingly. He said he was just going to the bathroom but when the opening chords of 'Feels like the First Time' blasted through the speakers Beca blushed and put her head in her hands as the whole room of a capella dorks erupted into catcalls and whistling. He did this to her at least twice a year. She was pretty sure he enjoyed the attention as much as he enjoyed embarrassing her. He'd somehow managed to talk Unicycle and Matt onto the stage with him her were giving an impressive backup show to what was functionally a personal concert for Beca. When he finished he came back and kissed her dramatically before taking Benji's vacated seat.
"Where'd Benji go?" he asked looking around and not seeing his friend. He'd watched the alcohol consumption and had two of the other Trebles making sure to keep an eye on their brothers but Benji seemed more susceptible to it tonight than most.
Beca shrugged, "He just sort of muttered before running off to the back," she said. To say she was miffed to have Benji avoiding her was an understatement.
"Umm, guys?" Kevin said pointing to the stage. "Benji's decided to sing something."
Benji was in a word, plastered. He knew on some level he'd be unlikely to remember most of this evening, but courage had come on the heels of tequila so here he was. As the melody started his eyes locked with Jesse's understanding exchanged between the two friends. Jesse simply crossed his arms and sat silently as Benji opened his mouth to sing and sing he did.
"Jessie's got himself a girl and I want to make her mine."
She recognized the song in the first riff but the meaning wasn't clear to her until she saw her boyfriend's stone-face and the earnest looks she was getting from Benji on stage. Well Holy crap. It certainly explained a lot but now she had three full tables of aca-people (Oh God she was turning into Aubrey) staring at her waiting for a reaction as her boyfriend's best friend professed his love in front of all their friends. Jesse wouldn't look at her, he was staring at a spot on the table in front of him. She was saved from giving a response by Benji's sudden collapse on stage.
"Benji!" she yelled as nearly the full table of Trebles, Jesse included, raced up to the stage to their brother.
"Call an ambulance!" Ashley yelled out, checking his vitals.
An hour later, a frantic ambulance ride, a very uncomfortable call to Benji's parents and a stern lecture from a doctor on binge drinking and Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. Jesse would be okay, mild alcohol poisoning aside. Jesse hadn't left Benji's side since after they pumped his stomach and gave him that sludgy charcoal mixture. Beca, Amy and nearly all the Trebles had camped in the aptly named 'Waiting Room'. At 9am, Beca talked her way into the back to relieve her sleep deprived boyfriend. He didn't want to go but as Benji's parents would be there within the hour, she told him it would do him well to at least have a shower and change. She'd sent Kevin back to the house for things for Benji and made him get Jesse clothes too. He kissed her before heading out the door to find Kevin and the promised clean clothes and shower room the doctor had told him about.
Beca settled herself in his vacated chair with her book when a groan came from the bed. She watched as Benji's eyes blinked open and took in his surroundings before releasing another groan.
"The pounding behind your eyes should be gone by this evening but the sore throat will be at least a week," she told him quietly standing to get him a glass of water.
She handed him the glass with the straw and he took a long sip moaning a bit when it hit his sore throat. "Please tell me last night was a really awful dream," he told her taking in the equipment surrounding him in the hospital bed.
"I kind of hoped the same thing but no, it was real," Beca told him truthfully before sitting back down.
Benji flushed beneath his already pale complexion.
"I'm sorry about all that," he said unable to make eye-contact with her.
"I'm not," Beca said simply.
Benji's head jerked up as he looked at her.
"Not for that reason, no," she said gently as she put a necessary end to his hope. "But I am glad you told me, well sort of told me. I do love you Benji. You're one of my best friends and you're a really great guy…"
"But." Benji said with finality. This is how it usually went. 'You're a great guy but..' he had the speech memorized.
"No, no but, Benji. You are a great guy, full stop and you'll be a great guy for someone else soon."
"If Jesse…" he began but Beca cut him off.
"I don't play 'What if' games, but even if I didn't have Jesse, I love you too much to try to date you. I'd break your heart when I couldn't love you the way you want me to," she told him truthfully.
Benji nodded, understanding fully but still feeling his heart crack a little more at her honesty. "I don't think Jesse will forgive me," Benji said with a sad sigh.
"He already has, whether or not he admits it," she said with a shrug. "He knows you didn't do it to hurt him. Intentions matter to Jesse, he's weird like that," she said with a laugh.
Benji laughed and promptly coughed roughly. Too early to laugh yet.
"I wouldn't get too happy though, your parents are pissed," she said leaning back in the chair.
Benji groaned. "Oh God, my mother is going to be hysterical," Benji said a shot of concern in his voice.
"Jesse talked her down a few times last night but she still sounded a little… high strung," she said diplomatically.
"Picture Jesse's mom but I'm her only child and she dressed me in Sailor suits until I was 12," Benji said with a grimace.
Beca cringed, "Oh dear."
"Exactly."
"He was pretty worried about you though, you know. He stayed in here all night. I just got him to leave to go shower and change before you parents get here," she said looking him in the eyes.
Benji nodded understanding. "I'll talk to him when he gets back."
"And don't you ever do something like this again or I'll kill you myself," she told him seriously. "You really scared us Benji. Everyone is out in the Waiting Room for you."
Benji flushed again, nodding. "I don't think I want to drink ever again," he told her honestly. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck."
A knock on the door had them both smiling and a pleasant "Come in" sounded by Beca ushered Jesse back into the room.
He smiled when he saw Benji was awake. "Hey Bud, you had us worried there for a bit," Jesse said in what had to be the largest understatement he'd ever made.
Benji nodded, embarrassed and opened his mouth to start to apologize when Beca interrupted.
"You know, I'm going to go update the troops and let them know you're awake and not brain-damaged," she said standing up from the chair. She took the few steps over to Benji's bed and surprised him by leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Bye Benji," she said her meaning clear and fully received.
"Bye Beca," he said resigning himself to what would never be.
She crossed back over to Jesse and grabbed his hand squeezing. "I'll be in the waiting room." before walking out the door.
Benji sighed turning to his best friend. "I'm sorry," he said simply. "It doesn't excuse what I did or what I just put you guys through but I'm sorry."
Jesse nodded. "Everyone needs to go a little nuts sometimes," he said fairly. "Most of us don't nearly kill ourselves but to each their own, right?" he said with a small laugh.
"For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure she'll say yes," Benji told him.
Jesse grinned, "You think so?"
Benji nodded and grinned back before frowning "About the whole Rick Springfield song thing," he began but Jesse cut him off.
"If you've sorted it with Beca, we're cool," Jesse said with a shrug. "Besides your mother should be arriving in the next hour or so which makes us more than even."
Benji groaned. "No way, she flew down?"
Jesse nodded "She did indeed. I heard she intends to rent a condo to facilitate your recovery."
"Oh God," Benji said rubbing his head.
"Better you than me buddy, better you than me," Jesse said with a smile sitting in the chair.
Six months later
The tiny U-Haul pulled by Jesse's graduation present of a new Subaru Forester (Beca referred to him as 'Little Lord Fauntleroy' for nearly a week. One of the many joys of having a girlfriend whose father was a Lit professor) contained nearly all their collective things with the exception of Beca's sound equipment and records which had commandeered most of the backseat and at least one of Jesse's suitcases.
It had taken him a few weeks but he'd admitted to Beca he was withholding his admissions letter from her until he knew where she was going to be. She was upset initially, especially since she had assumed Jesse's first choice had been in New York, but calmed down when she herself admitted (under protest) that she would have gone wherever Jesse was and figured something out. This was to be their last huzzah before real-adulthood took over. A road trip across the country, just them, their ipods and miles of open road. They had two months, enough money to enjoy their trip (Beca's graduation present was a nice check and a very generous agreement for 3 months of reasonable rent in L.A..) and a list of ridiculous things to see mostly penned by Jesse but Beca contributed enough the he wasn't worried she'd be bored. He had just one thing left to do and for that he needed Benji's help.
Jesse had been planning this for a while and everything was in place. His father had come through with the ring. His mother had been alerted and with a fair bit of crying and some "My baby boy"s thrown in for good measure she was also on board and flitting around in the background somewhere with her camera ever ready to take surprisingly bad photographs of any event in his life. Beca's father had given his, in his own words "supremely unnecessary permission" and more importantly his blessing though Jesse swore there were tears in his eyes. It was with trepidation that he included the rest of the Trebles. He wasn't specific as to the whys but he knew they had some idea of what was going on. The primary puzzle piece and the one who knew the whole plan was Benji. His role was going to be distracting Beca long enough to gather all the Trebles without her noticing but he was in the grand scheme only a small part of the plan. Amy was lurking around too which thankfully he'd planned for as she presented another issue entirely. A distracted Beca was required for this to go to plan and Amy had the uncanny ability to ruin his plans unintentionally (Or maybe intentionally. It was sometimes hard to tell where Amy ended and insanity began.) so he came prepared with perhaps the only one able to out-bullshit Amy for any length of time, Bumper. Since he invited Bumper, he couldn't not invite Donald who of course had an on-again-off-again thing with Lily who let it slip to Aubrey who then told Chloe immediately and there were Skype conferences on his plans before someone Cced him in on a message and he was let in on how wide the circle had gotten. So functionally, everyone on earth knew about his plans except Beca and Amy and he wasn't even sure they weren't just humoring him. Of course everyone had to see this so under the guise of a graduation party the place was overrun with a capella nerds.
He excused himself from the conversation Beca was having with Chloe and subtlety motioned Benji over. Bumper and Amy were unsurprisingly already insulting each other in a corner and Donald had begun to gather the other Trebles behind the U-haul. He had to take several deep breaths to calm himself down.
"Just like we practiced, right?" he asked his closest friends of the last four years.
They all nodded and gave him encouraging shoulder slaps.
He heard Benji loudly commenting on the newest apocalypse rumors to Beca and he knew he was running out of time. "No or never, right?" he asked mostly to psych himself up for what he was about to do.
"For those of us about to die we salute you," Kevin quipped earning a glare and then a laugh from Jesse.
"Let's do this." Jesse said talking a final deep breath as he counted off "One, two, three, four"
The initial chords of the song caused some confused looking around by most of the people milling about but Beca simply froze.
"Is that what I think it is," she asked Benji before she could make herself turn around.
Benji nodded before moving backwards to join the chorus of Trebles serenading her with what she had begun to think of as their song. (It was embarrassing to realize that what she considered 'their song' was by Foreigner but at least it wasn't Journey which she was sure would have been Jesse's second choice given his penchant for the genre.) She wasn't dumb. She knew this was coming when suddenly everyone she'd ever met was showing up to what was supposed to be a small graduation/Bon Voyage party. She had gotten several strange calls from his mother in regard to her glove size (Her response of "Umm, 'Medium?" had elicited a lot of sighs and further communications with other more obscure measurements "Pointer finger circumference?") that could really only be for one thing. She didn't mention it to Jesse since frankly she didn't want to start and argument between her boyfriend and his mother which she knew would happen if he found out. As Jesse approached she tried to keep a straight face, lest his feelings be hurt but she couldn't help but laugh. At least fifteen Trebles were serenading her and their enthusiasm was catching. When Jesse was directly in front of her Benji took over the lead and Jesse spoke very softly in her ear.
"Beca Mitchell, I love you and everything about you. Will you make me the happiest nerd on earth and marry me?"
Beca was embarrassed to find herself tearing up, especially with Benji and the rest of the Trebles doing their loudest and most enthusiastic version of "Feels like the First Time" she'd ever heard.
"Are you sure about this?" she whispered to him grasping his hands. "Once I say yes there's no going back. You're stuck with me," she told him.
"Is that a yes?" he asked her releasing the breath he'd been holding for what felt like days.
"I asked you first," she quipped back to which he snorted.
"I believe I asked you first but I suppose I'll let you have this one. I've never been more sure of anything or anyone in my entire life. I'll never want to be unstuck," he told her leaning his forehead into hers.
"As long as we're clear," she said with a smile.
"Put me out of my misery, Mitchell, is that a yes?" Jesse said, smiling in near certainty but still needing to hear her say the words.
She nodded, laughing. "Yeah Turner. That's a yes."
He laughed and kissed her until they were both breathless.
"I feel like I should put my fist in the air," Jesse said as they saw their audience start to close in.
"Do it and I'll tell your Mom about the time… ouch" Beca started to threaten when Jesse pinched her side. "Jerk." she told him with a snort.
"Goody-two-shoes," he told her as their parents came over to embrace them both.
Jesse's mother was of course in tears as she embraced her son. "Mama's boy," Beca mouthed over her shoulder and Jesse glowered, "Brat" he mouthed though apparently not quietly enough because his mother swiftly rebuked him.
"Jesse Elijah is that any way to talk to your fiancée of less than 5 minutes," she said flicking the back of his head. Jesse scowled but grinned as his mother hugged Beca tightly. "Welcome to the family Beca. I've never seen my Jesse so happy as he is with you," she said kindly before rushing off to make sure she had enough film to document the rest of the evening. (Yes film, her stubborn refusal to use a digital camera had causer the whole family countless headaches through the years).
Both of their dads, the Bellas, the Trebles and even some random passing pedestrians, greatly amused by the musical display on the sidewalk stopped to congratulate them. The crowd slowly dispersed back into the Treble house where Jesse knew a Barbeque feast was grilling courtesy of the graduating Treble/Bella parents and some more domestic displays of members of both groups.
The last to say his congrats was Benji. He hugged Beca tightly and blushed when she kissed his cheek. "I'm going to miss you a lot Benjamin," she told him with a smile before she turned and went up to the house, shiny family ring on her finger.
They both smiled at her retreating figure before turning to each other and hugging tightly.
"So she said yes," Benji said with a bittersweet smile.
"She did," Jesse said with a contented grin. "I couldn't have done it without you Buddy."
Benji shrugged bashfully. "Yes you could have," before grinning "You would have wasted more time than you already did but it would have worked out."
Jesse nodded, "Maybe, but I like having you around for the ride. Even though you're going to be a big star in New York, don't make yourself a stranger, okay? We still need you to keep us on the straight and narrow. Beca's a lot calmer with you around," he joked.
Benji smiled. "I'm sure I'll visit when I need to check on my Malibu beach house. I'll make sure my assistant has your number," he quipped back.
"You do that Benj."
"Let's go get food, I'm starving and your fiancée is waiting for you."
Jesse smiled, probably the largest smile Benji had ever seen. "Yes. Yes she is."