Here's the second one-shot! This one is sad, may be a tear jerker. The first time I listened to this song I bawled like crazy. So, here it is! AU, she's known Jesse forever.
Song suggestion: Daddy's Little Girl by Frankie J
Rated T for character death
ONWARD!
Beca sat in the cold room, slumped against the chair with red eyes and tear stained streaks next to the still figure that was her father, watching the shallow rise and fall of his chest. She hadn't slept for days, the bags under her eyes started turning purple. The cancer had spread to his brain. He didn't want any more chemotherapy, it just prolonged the inevitable, so he let the cancer reach stage 4 – and he didn't bother to tell her until a month ago, after her first year at Barden. Beca couldn't help but feel guilty; she had been nothing but bitchy and selfish to him – when all he wanted to do was spend time with her for the last months of his life. So she stayed with him and cried more likely than not, talking to him and joking in the brief moments that he was awake. Tears started to spill over at the thought of the first time she had lost her father, when a hand settled on her shoulder. She turned to see her source of sanity, the only reason that she was able to function at a time like this, her home – Jesse Swanson – her best friend, her boyfriend, her happiness. They'd known each other since third grade, and he was always there for her. He made her feel safe, especially through her parents' messy divorce.
He drops his suitcase by the door
She knows her daddy won't be back anymore
She drags her feet across the floor
Tryna hold back time to keep him holding on
Beca's parents had been arguing more and more in the last couple months, she didn't know why – and most of the time, neither did they. And as time passed, the little arguments turned into fights and Beca's entire life began spiraling out of control. There were days where Beca had to cook herself because the argument had gotten so heated that they locked themselves away in different rooms and forgot to feed her.
Beca wanted attention – so she started acting out. She was disobeying her parents and her teachers, getting into fights, hanging out with older kids who had a bad influence on her. This completely back-fired and only made the matters worse and her parents fought even more, blaming each other for twelve year old Beca's behavior. The only person who kept her from getting herself killed, what her best friend – Jesse Swanson.
And finally one day, they snapped. After six long months of tortures arguments, Beca's mom ruthlessly kicked him out with the accusation of him having an affair. Which he was not – but that's what her mother kept drilling into her brain.
He packed a suitcase and dropped it by the front door before turning back to the house searching for Beca – who was hiding beneath the dining room table sobbing into her hands while her mother continued to yell a string of profanities from upstairs directed to Beca's father. He followed the sobs to a disheveled Beca and crawled under the table and pulled her into his arms, rocking her back and forth in attempts to comfort her. He told her that he would be back and that he would see her again and they'd go out for ice cream every Friday like they usually did – but Beca knew the truth. She knew her daddy wouldn't be coming back anymore, but she nodded anyway, reassuring her father that she would be okay.
They crawled out from under the table together and started walking towards the door. He didn't want to leave her, but he didn't have anywhere to go and he'd rather her stay at a real house rather than an old tattered motel. He held her have tightly as they walked, Beca dragged her feet, trudging toward the front door, trying to prolong the time with her dad.
Daddy Daddy don't leave
I'll do anything to keep you
Right here with me
Can't you see how much I need you
When they reached the door, Beca clung to her father's body like her life depended on it, pleading for him not to go and not leave her. Telling him that she'd do anything to keep him in her arms forever because she needs her daddy, but the loud cursing from her mother hasn't ceased.
Daddy Daddy don't leave
Mommy's saying things she don't mean
She don't know what she's talking about
Somebody hear me out
He apologizes and tells her that she means the world to him and it hurts him so much to have to leave her but he has to go. Beca continues to cry, telling her dad that mommy doesn't mean it, that they could stay together forever and be happy. That this'll all blow over and mommy will say sorry and they can all love each other.
He doesn't have it, he hugs her one last time and gathers himself, allowing a single tear to roll down his cheek and fall to the floor. She stands there with her hands firmly by her side, clutching the fabric of the pants to keep herself from crying; only allowing herself to sniffle vigorously – because she needs to be strong. For both her daddy and her mommy, she needs to be strong for all of them. They promise to go have their weekly ice cream on Friday, and then he kisses her forehead and leaves. He's gone.
Father listen
Tell him that he's got a home and he don't have to go
Father save him
I would do anything in return
I'll clean my room
Try hard in school
I'll be good
I promise you
Father, Father
I pray to you
She runs up the stairs to her bedroom and slams the door shut, then goes to kneel beside her bed with her elbows propped up on the mattress and her hands clasped tightly together, resting against her forehead…and she prays. She prays that her daddy will come back home, that she'll clean her room when told and she'll do her homework in Mr. Smith's class, that she'll stop being bad and start to listen. She prays and pleads that she'll wake up and this will all just be a horrible nightmare and her dad will come in any minute to tell her to get ready for school and that her pancakes are ready.
But that doesn't happen.
And she doesn't get her ice cream on Friday.
She doesn't spend the rest of the day there, she goes to Jesse's house – a place where she'll have a shoulder to cry on. And Jesse comforts her like he always does, he tells her everything will be alright, he kisses her forehead and gives her immense amounts of juice pouches while they lay in his bed and watch movies that Jesse "forces" her to watch.
She gets angrier than usual, because that's how child depression works. They don't get sad or mope around, they lash out and become more aggressive. Her mother thinks she's acting out, but Jesse knows the truth, behind the hard exterior is a scared, grieving little girl who just wants her daddy back. So that's why she goes to Jesse's often, because he understands, because he forgives her every time she lashes out at him. He just hugs her when she comes over and apologizes, because he knows her.
Jesse's place becomes a second home for Beca, they do their homework together, she eats dinner there often, and she even sleeps over from time to time.
Everything changed when she turned fourteen and started noticing boys, and girls started noticing Jesse. Jealousy burned in the pit of her stomach every time he noticed a girl flirting with him, but Jesse never noticed. He was totally oblivious to the fact that almost every girl was drooling over him, why? Well, because he only had eyes for Beca.
When Jesse came to Beca with a shocked expression, telling her that Ashley had asked him to the Freshman Dance, she blew up. She told him that he could go have fun with that skank and that she didn't need him anyway. That made him confused as hell, so he grabbed Beca's shoulders and shook her until she listened. He told her that he turned her down immediately because he wanted to ask her to the dance. Beca felt guilty and tried to apologize, but Jesse assured her that everything was fine as long as she agreed. And she did. And they've been inseparable ever since – well it's not like they weren't before, but now they could parade around so everyone knew that Jesse belong to Beca and Beca belonged to Jesse.
They were dating for three years, when her dad called her out of the blue and told her that she could go to school for free. She wanted nothing to do with him, her mother pounded the mentality that Beca's father was a horrible cheater into her brain – and after six years of constantly hearing it, she believed her. So it was an understatement to say that Beca was shocked when her mother encouraged her to go, she obviously knew something that Beca didn't. It was also an understatement to say that Beca was overjoyed when Jesse gave up going to NYU for Barden because it has a "great Music Theory and Composition" program.
When she first arrived at Barden, she thought it'd be a nightmare, but thanks to Jesse (and connections her father had to get them a co-ed apartment as freshmen) she really enjoyed it there. They both joined the group The Treble Bells and made a lot of great friends (even though at the beginning, Beca refused to join the A Cappella world of lame organized nerd singing). They went on to win the ICCAs that year, and Beca decided to stay at Barden and finish college. She even got closer to her dad again, and she finally got that 'Friday ice cream.'
They had been dating for four years, when she found out her dad had been diagnosed with lung cancer and only had a month to live.
And that brings her to where she is now
Now she hasn't slept in weeks
She don't want to close her eyes cause she's scared that he'll leave
They tried just about everything
It's getting harder now
For him to breathe
Her dad's eyes flutter open and he smiles softly at her when the nurses bring in the keyboard from the therapy department. He asks her to sing for him, because she wants to hear his daughters beautiful voice. She laughs, and obliges happily, she'd do anything for him, so she positions herself in from of the keyboard, and Jesse's hands lay supportively and lovingly on her shoulders. She asks for a request and he tells her "Frankie J, you know which song…and Jesse, I know you love my Beca, take care of her…and…when the time comes…I give you…my blessing." His voice is hoarse and weak, it makes her want to crumble and burst into tears, but she doesn't – for his sake. She knows she has a limited time with him, so her hands fly across the keys with ease, and before she starts singing, she whispers "I love you, daddy." And he whispers it back, "I love you Beca bear." The nurses began tearing up, and turn down the volume of the heart monitor because they know he'll be gone soon. And she starts to sing, pouring all of her emotions into the song because God knows how much she means each and every word.
Daddy Daddy don't leave Daddy Daddy don't leave Father (father) listen (listen)
I'll do anything to keep you
Right here with me
Can't you see how much I need you
The doctors are saying things they don't mean
They don't know what they talking about
Somebody hear me out
Tell him that he's got a home and he don't have to go (don't have to go)
Father (father) save him
I would do anything in return
I'll clean my room
Try hard in school
I'll be good
I promise you
Father, Father
I pray to you
His breathing begins to slow; a small smile graces his face as he listens to his daughter's voice. His eyes drift closed to the heavenly lullaby.
Please don't let him go (don't let him go)
I'm begging you so (I'm begging you so)
There open his eyes
Need a little more time
To tell him that I love him more
Than anything in the world
Is daddy's little girl
The beeps from the heart monitor grow fainter and farther apart when she starts to finish that last chorus.
Father (father) listen (listen)
Tell him that he's got a home and he don't have to go (don't have to go)
Father (father) save him
I would do anything in return
I'll clean my room
Try hard in school
I'll be good
I promise you
Father, Father
The line goes flat and he's peaceful, completely motionless, and he's still smiling. And the long beep is still going.
She was Daddy's Little Girl…
She finishes and the nurses unplug the heart monitor and announce his time of death. Her daddy was gone, and this time for good. She felt numb, no more tears came, no emotions rattled her brain, she didn't know what to do. And then a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. She melted into Jesse's hug, because she knew he'd always be there for here, and her dad is watching over her right now.
Jesse was her source of comfort – her personal therapist.
Jesse was her best friend, her boyfriend, her happiness, and her sanity.
Jesse was her home.
Raise your hand if you have sad feels! *raises hand* well, that was the second one-shot, I hope you liked it! The next one will be MUCH happier, I promise!
Keep the reviews coming! They're very encouraged, along with song suggestions!
Much love,
Oreo xoxo