And for once you let go

Of your fears and your ghosts

One step, not much

But it said enough

"I should have taken that cardio tip more seriously." Fat Amy says panting. The Bellas had just done a run through of their performance for regionals. Beca was on edge from feeling guilty about breaking the oath.

"How much have you done?" Aubrey asks Fat Amy. Beca doesn't hear what Amy responds to due to her thoughts are elsewhere but assumes it is along the lines of nothing. The Australian has a deep hatred for exercise.

"Chloe, you have to be able to hit that last note." Aubrey says to Chloe, taking a swig of her water bottle. Chloe shakes her head sadly.

"I can't, it's impossible and it's because of my nodes." Chloe says dramatically. Beca resists the urge to roll her eyes at the red head.

"Well if you can't do it, then someone else needs to solo." Aubrey says, setting down her water bottle. She looks around the room like a hawk looking for prey.

"I think Beca should take my solo," Chloe says, looking between Aubrey and Beca. Waiting for a reaction from one of the girls, she stayed quiet hoping that neither erupted with their distaste for each other.

"Yeah Beca would be excellent. But someone else might also be equally as excellent." Fat Amy says, subtly. She looks at the ground hoping someone will take her offer.

"And they might be shy and not want to come forward and say that they want a solo," Fat Amy adds, looking up at Aubrey. Beca looks between the two girls hoping that Aubrey agrees. Chloe stares at Aubrey almost begging her to read her mind saying 'please pick Beca,'

"Well Beca doesn't want a solo, so…" Aubrey says, trailing off. Beca shakes her head slowly, not sure if Aubrey actually noticed.

"I would be happy to do it if I got to pick a new song and do an arrangement." Beca said, taking a step closer to Aubrey. Aubrey shook her head vehemently.

"Well that's not how we run things here." Aubrey says crossing her arms over her chest. Beca sighs at Aubrey's stubbornness.

"Aubrey, maybe Beca has a point. Maybe we could try something new." Chloe says cautiously. Beca mentally thanks the redhead for standing up for her.

"A-ca-scuse me? You can sing Turn the Beat Around and that's the last I wanna hear of this." Aubrey says. Beca has to resist to rolling her eyes.

"That song is tired. We're not gonna win with it. If we pull samples from different genres and layer them together, we could make some…" Beca says before Aubrey interrupts her with a condescending tone in her voice.

"Okay let me explain something to you because you still don't seem to get it. Our goal is to get back to the finals and these songs will get us there. So, excuse me if I don't take advice from some alt-girl with her mad-lib beats because she's never been in a competition. Have I made myself clear?" Aubrey says taking a large breath after finishing her tirade.

"Crystal. I won't solo." Beca did not want to have to solo if it was going to be such a hassle to switch their arrangements.

"Fine. Fat Amy?" Aubrey said looking over at the blonde.

"Yes, sir?"Fat Amy asked, hopefully.

"You'll solo." Aubrey said.

"Yes! Yes" Fat Amy says enthusiastically while drawing a heart shape on her t-shirt.

.

.

Beca was walking over to her dorm room across the quad from the gym where the Bella rehearsals were. Aubrey just made her so angry! How did one human being act like that?

She forced herself to put the debacle behind her and focused on another problem at hand. Jesse. Hopefully he has left her dorm room. It was ten in the morning hopefully he was awake; Kimmy Jin would most likely be back.

Beca felt slightly guilty about Jesse, just leaving like she did. But that was one thing that she did, Beca Mitchell ran away from the problems that scared her, and it sucked. How would she deal with seeing the nerd again? She probably wouldn't see him again until regionals. They didn't have any shifts at the radio station in the next day or the day of the competition. Their next shift was the day after regionals. Beca hoped that they would be better by then. She enjoyed having him as her friends, even though she would never admit it.

She opened the door to Baker hall and a gust of cold air greeted her. Silently she walked through the halls and up the stairs, avoiding any other person nearby. She put her key in the lock and pulled the door open, inside Kimmy Jin was sitting at her desk working on some paper or homework.

Beca let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Kimmy Jin was the only person in the room. She doubted that Jesse would stay here while Kimmy Jin was working. Kimmy Jin had a good death stare.

.

.

The Bellas just finished up their set and Beca was trying to hold back from chuckling at Fat Amy's performance. Aubrey was furious and Chloe kept trying to calm her down from projectile vomiting all over the other Bellas and the audience.

The Treble made their way up to the stage and Beca watched as they all jumped around and got into their places. Beca looked at the dark figures on the stage and scanned them looking for Jesse.

When the Trebles started singing and Beca was able to see Jesse moving around and interact with the Trebles. He did an incredibly sexy hip thrust that made it so Beca was trying not to make it obvious that she was clenching her thighs together. After that he was pointing at her and she glanced at Aubrey to see her staring at her strangely.

Beca turned back towards the stage to see Jesse run his hand down his chest and she almost melted again. For some reason he seemed to be singing to her. The rest of the Bellas were watching the Trebles perform in awe.

The Trebles jumped off the stage after they finished their set and were slapping each other on the back as they passed where the Bellas were standing. Beca stared at the floor as Jesse passed and she knew that he was watching her every move. Eventually the Trebles went back to where they were standing before they performed.

After about fifteen minutes one of the announcers walk onto the stage. He has an envelope in his hand and says pleasantries trying to charm the crowd and performers.

"In third place, The Sockapellas!" The announcer boomed into the microphone. Beca clapped politely while waiting for the announcer to get on with it.

"In second place, the Barden Bellas!" He shouted into the microphone. Beca heard Aubrey huff in annoyance behind her. Beca was thankful that they got second at all she expected them to get third place.

"And defending their title in first place the Barden Treble maker!" The announcer said, but most people only heard parts of it after the deafening applause. The Trebles ran up to collect their trophy; jumping around and congratulating each other. Beca's eyes watched Jesse's form as he congratulated the other Trebles.

The Trebles went out of the auditorium where Beca saw some group of old guys setting up. After a couple minutes the Bellas followed them out. Beca walked out to see Bumper talking to a couple of the guys as they got closer they could hear the partial argument going on between them.

"Please, please. Please say you're looking for a fight. Please, please say you're looking for a fight." One of the guys that the Trebles are talking to. This instantly picks Beca's interest.

"Yes! I will fight. I would fight him, but I tore a quad within the midst of the dance…" Bumper says, stretching pathetically. Beca rolls her eyes at his blatant lie.

"Hey Gandhi. Hey, you, are we doing this or what? Hit me." One of the other guys demanded at Jesse. Beca considered walking over to him to teach him a lesson herself. Where did that come from? Since when did she want to protect Jesse? Beca looks over to see Fat Amy pretending as if she was in the middle of the fight; she was throwing small punches into the air.

"What?" Fat Amy asked, Aubrey looked at her as a mother would look disapprovingly at her child. Beca tried to keep her chuckles at bay during their exchange.

"I've wrestled crocodiles and dingoes simultaneously." She adds emphatically. Aubrey only huffs in annoyance. She obviously doubts that Amy is telling the truth. But Beca for some reason believes that the blonde is telling the truth.

"Come here!" One of the guys from the group, which Beca learns is called the Tonehangers; yells at Donald as the room turns into a fight.

"Why do you want me to hit you? I don't wanna do that." Jesse says to one of the Tonehangers that is harassing him. Jesse had told Beca before that he is totally against violence. Beca almost cringed at the tone in Jesse's voice.

"I need to feel something. Hit me as hard as you can. Hit me hard. Take this. Take this. I want you to hit me." The man pleads at Jesse. Beca can almost feel the apprehension radiate off of him.

"I'm just gonna…I'm just gonna check on them." Beca says, walking down the steps towards the fighting boys.

"The kraken has been unleashed. Feel the Fat Amy force!" Fat Amy says and then follows Beca. Aubrey puts her head into her hands and prays that something bad will not happen.

"Hey." Beca says to get the guy's attention that was bothering Jesse. She clenches her fist and throws her punch at him. He goes flying to the floor and immediately Beca grabs her throbbing hand, trying to contain the profanities threatening to escape.

"Oh my god. Oh my god." Jesse said starting to move towards her, but stopped halfway when the Tonehanger started talking.

"That's fantastic!" The Tonehanger said with awe in his voice. An almost malicious smile lit up Amy's face.

"Amy, don't. Amy!" Beca started calling when she saw Fat Amy pick up the trophy and hold it above her head.

"Feel the fat power!" Amy yells and holds the trophy out of the small brunette's reach.

"Fat Amy! Kick me in the balls!" The man begs. Beca wishes that the man would stop trying to provoke her. Whenever someone provoked Amy it always ended badly.

"Amy!" Beca shouted trying to get her attention.

"Give me the sharp weapon; I wanna put it up his butt!" Amy yells. Amy and Beca start fighting over the trophy. One of them lets go of the trophy and it goes through one of the windows shattering the glass. Beca stands in shock as the police officer across the street comes over. The other a cappella singers run away to hide.

"Amy!" Beca yells at the retreating figure.

"Vertical running! I'm vertical running." Fat Amy yells as she tries to run down the halls away from the incoming police officer.

.

.

The cold night air bites at her exposed skin, as she exits the police station. She can see Jesse waiting for her on a bench.

"Hey Hilary Swank from Million Dollar Baby." Jesse says while putting his hands up. She lightly punches her fists into his hands as they walked.

"Hey, you know you just have to say, "Hey, Million Dollar Baby." You don't have to reference the specific actress." Beca said playfully.

"Damn. Prison changed you." Jesse said while rubbing his hands.

"Thanks for bailing me out." Beca said playfully as she kept walking.

"Well I didn't." Jesse said as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"You called my dad?" Beca asked, clearly irritated. Beca's dad's car pulled up to the front of the police station and Jesse was extremely nervous.

"I know, I know, but they we putting you in handcuffs, Bec. It looked pretty serious." Jesse said quickly trying to explain himself.

"That doesn't mean you call my dad." Beca said exasperated. How else can she get the message to him? She does not want to talk with her dad.

"Who else was I gonna call? Okay, why are you yelling at me? I'm the only one here." Jesse said putting his hands up in surrender. Before Beca could process what she was saying the words flew out of her mouth.

"I didn't ask you to be." Beca says.

"I was just trying to help you, after everything." Jesse says, trailing off. Beca almost loses it, she doesn't need his help, and they slept together once. That does not mean that they need to be constantly looking out for each other.

"I don't need your help, you're not my boyfriend." Beca said trying to get her point across.

"Got it." Jesse said tensely.

"Dad it's not a big deal." Beca said trying to calm her dad, who looked like he was about to blow. Jesse stood back and tried to stay out of the way of the father and daughter spat.

"Yeah it is a big deal. I get a call in the middle of the night saying my daughter's been arrested for destruction of property." Her dad said. Beca ran her hand along the tip of her hair, a nervous habit she have had since she was young.

"It was a misunderstanding and I was protecting my friends. I was putting myself out there. Making memories." Beca said, trying to make an impact on her father. Her father promptly ignored her and kept ranting.

"If you think I'm paying for you to go to LA after a stunt like this, I'm not. Get in the car." Beca's father said getting back into his car. Beca huffed in annoyance and paused mid step.

"You're not even gonna hear what I have to say about this?" Beca asked incredulously. She could not believe how her father was acting. He was the one acting like a child.

"No, not tonight. Just get in." He said.

.

.

Beca walked tiredly down the hall after her dad had dropped her off, but not before a long lecture on how she should act. Beca opened the door to her dorm room to find all of the Bellas in the room. They were either sitting by her desk or on her bed.

"Hey!" They all yelled as she entered. Beca was surprised at all of them waiting for her. They were the Bellas and Aubrey was with them.

"What up, Shaw shank?" Amy said and Beca was pretty sure she was referencing to a movie that Beca had never seen.

"Did you get yourself a bitch? Did they spray you with a hose?" Multiple Bellas asked at once. Beca looked at them strangely at their questions that had nothing to do with what had happened.

"I did a turn at County." Lily whispered. Beca ignored her comment and looked over the whole group of Bellas in her dorm.

"You guys waited up for me?" Beca asked trying to mask her surprise.

"Of course we waited up for you." Chloe said giving her a concerned look. They all knew that Beca had commitment problems, but none of them knew why.

"They've been here for hours. It's a real inconvenience Beca." Kimmy Jin said before walking out. Beca looked behind herself at Kimmy Jin's retreating figure and let out a small laugh.

"Beca, I'm glad you're here. I'm calling an emergency Bella meeting."Aubrey said standing up. Most of the Bellas groaned at Aubrey. Beca stayed standing by her closet watching the interactions.

"Our score sheet revealed that the Sockappellas almost beat us. And Fat Amy, you need to do it exactly how we rehearsed it, okay? No surprises." Aubrey said, scolding the group like a mother hen. Beca rolled her eyes; this is partly what she had said before. They could not go on singing songs like what they sang that night.

"We should be taking risks. It's not enough to be good, we need to put ourselves out there, be different." Beca says taking a step closer to Aubrey.

"Beca's right. The Trebles never sing the same song twice." Cynthia Rose says, looking over at Aubrey, almost waiting for a monster to strike at her.

"The audience loves the Trebles, they tolerate us. We could change the face of a cappella if we…Oh my god, that sounded so queer balls. What's happening to me? Um...let me show you this arrangement I've been working on." Beca said, trying to get rid of her thoughts of changing a Capella. That nerd is having an effect on her. He should not be able to have this effect on her.

"I didn't know you were into this stuff." Chloe says leaning down to peek at the computer screen.

"Yeah." Beca says, focusing on pulling up her files.

"Okay, I have the pitch pipe, and I say that we focus on the set list as planned. From now on, there will be no more wasting time with work or school or boyfriends or partners. Sorry, Cynthia Rose." Aubrey says, clapping her hands to get the Bellas attention. Beca bristles at Aubrey's statements and resists from trying to rip off her head.

"But Aubrey, this stuff is pretty cool. I mean…" Chloe says trying to leave an impact until Aubrey interrupts her.

"Okay rehearsal tomorrow. 8:00am sharp." Aubrey says and then promptly leaves the room.

.

.

"We had sex, Beca." Jesse said running a hand through his hair. He swears that she does this on purpose just to annoy him.

"No way!" Beca says sarcastically. She knew that it was a bad idea to come down to the radio station after the excruciating rehearsal from hell. She did not want to discuss what happened with Jesse.

"It was just a onetime thing and will never happen again." She says with finality. She misses the way his eyes dim and he stares at the floor. She never noticed that he might have wanted more with her.

Beca looked up at his face to see him staring at the floor and scanned the room for an escape point.

"Yeah, just a onetime thing." Jesse says coldly.

"I'm going to sort some upstairs." He says, walking away from where they were standing. His steps leave a sense of dread with her. Beca knows that their friendship will not be able to be the same.

Once he walks all the way up the stairs and Beca is sure that he is gone she walks back to the box she was already sorting though. She picks up a c.d and stares at the cover before setting it back down. She leans her head against the edge of the box and wills herself to keep her emotions to herself.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review, follow and favorite it motivates me to write more. And I would really like some opinions on what you guys think of this story. Sorry about the crappy ending. I thought that this would work best at the moment. The song at the beginning is You Are in Love by Taylor Swift and the song from the first chapter is Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift.