So I forgot to mention on the first chapter how this story is going to work. There's basically two story lines; Beca and Jesse becoming friends and Beca and Jesse dealing with all that Iris brings. It's going to jump between each other, so basically every odd chapter is them becoming friends, and every even chapter is about their life at college. I know it seems a little confusing, but hopefully you'll get the hang of it. Any references to their past will be detailed in later chapters, including her nickname.

Also, I've changed the summary for this story to fit better, because the original didn't work as well. Sorry if that's a little confusing.

So here we go, first chapter of the second story line, set about two and half years after they first meet in the park.

2 – COLLEGE IS FOR LOSERS

"Hi there! Welcome to Barden University! What dorm?"

She eyes the girl in front of her warily. Does she know that talking to Beca in that squeaky, over chipper tone of voice may just be enough to send her over the edge? She stops herself from wanting to strangle the girl – committing a crime that serious might not be something her dad particularly approves of, especially on her first day – and instead tries to remember what she'd read in her information pack.

"Uh, Baker Hall, I think."

"Okay," the girl says with wild eyes. Beca really hopes that not everyone here is like this. "So what you're going to do is…"

"Beca! Hey, Beca!"

She turns her head away from the annoying blonde in front of her, glancing to where the strange banging is coming from, and can't help smiling when she sees Jesse leaning out of a car window, his parents waving at her from the front. She chuckles at how eager he looks, the excitement of their first day at Barden obviously getting the better of him.

"Jesse," she calls, completely ignoring the girl who is supposed to be giving her directions. "You know you look like a puppy doing that, right?"

"Did you just imply I'm cute?" he says with a sly smirk, and she rolls her eyes, stepping towards his car and saying hello to his parents.

"What do you want, Swanson? What, it's not enough that I have to put up with the fact you stalked me to college? Now you have to make your presence obvious as well?"

His smile just grows. "You're the one who begged me to come here after your dad blackmailed you into attending college."

"Technicalities." She smiles back. "I'll meet up with you later yeah?"

"Duh." He pinches her cheek. "Look at you! You're a college chick now!"

She slaps away his hand, faking enthusiasm. "Look at you; you're a college loser now!"

He presses his rejected hand to his chest. "I am wounded, really and truly." But he grins again. "Text me when you finish unpacking?"

"If I must."

She watches him drive away, singing along to Kansas loudly through the still open window, before turning back to her taxi. She's glad to see the over eager blonde has left, and starts to arrange her bags awkwardly on the trolley some guy in a yellow shirt left for her. She thanks her driver and takes one last lingering look around the crowded campus, full of people just like her who are about to start their college years, yet are absolutely nothing like her. They volunteered to be here; are happy to be here. Beca wants nothing less.

Beca scuffs her toe in the dried grass, sighing to herself. Her roommate had promptly abandoned her within moments of reaching the fair, and now she's standing alone, trying to see what it is about college that is so appealing to so many people her age. How can you want to be here? It's just a large collection of buildings where kids get drunk, take drugs, and take majors in things that will never teach them much of anything.

If she had disliked her too preppy, too rude roommate during their awkward, mostly one sided exchange in their dorm room, she definitely doesn't like her now she's left her to face this hell alone.

She starts walking, figuring she best make the most of it, and pulls her phone out of her pocket as a crowd of frat boys pass her chanting. Jesse: She just has to text Jesse. He'll come find her and then she'll listen to his optimism and counter it with her pessimism and she won't be so lonely in the middle of the crowd.

Except she never finishes typing the text, because suddenly there's a set of arms around her waist and she's being lifted off the ground, swinging her around in the way only her dorky best friend is capable of (and can get away with, because if anyone else even attempted it they'd be on the floor sobbing with pain). She squeaks in surprise before he puts her down, laughing at her flustered, angry glare.

"Jesse you idiot, you scared the shit out of me!" she protests, smacking his arm, causing him to laugh harder.

"Good to see you too, Bee," he says, rubbing the spot she hit him. "This is Benji, my new roommate," he introduces, pointing at the guy next to him wearing a stripy shirt tucked into his jeans. She raises an eyebrow but keeps her mouth shut. "Benji, this is Beca, the world's worst best friend."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Benji says with a nod. He looks like even more of a nerd than Jesse.

"Yeah." She rubs her hands together. "So you planning on looking around or can we go do something that's actually fun?"

Jesse smiles at her, slinging an arm around her shoulders as they begin to walk. "My lovely Beca, look around you! This is your future; lets get involved!"

She sighs, her crossed arms bumping into his side as they walk. "I'm being forced to be here against my will, why would I actually volunteer to take part in things?"

He just laughs her off. "Just you wait, you'll crack. Even you can't resist the conformities of college."

She pulls a face, because there's not a chance in hell that's happening.

"Follow me," Benji says, stepping ahead. "There's only one group on this campus worth joining."

They follow him doubtfully, Jesse's arm still around her, which causes him to stumble a little when a gathering of teenage boys suddenly break into song and she stops dead in her tracks.

"As far as Barden goes, that's what being a man is all about," Benji continues a few steps in front of them. One of the boys lifts his shirt, beckoning at her with his finger. Jesse looks at her stony expression.

"No," she says immediately before he can even open his mouth. "Oh no, not a chance."

"Come on, Bee, lets at least go check it out."

She eyes the shirts some of the boys – because they certainly aren't men – are wearing. Treble Makers. Oh god, she really hates terrible puns. "Absolutely not. You can go if you want but there's no way I'm getting any closer to that… Mess."

"You're such a spoilsport," he says, but he stays with her, letting her go and stuffing his hands in his pockets. He's watching them out of the corner of his eye, she can see, though that might just be him watching his new roommate standing a little too close, staring and – oh no – is he clapping along? "You meet that Idris girl yet?"

She grimaces. Jesse has grown fond of teasing her new roommate about her name over summer when they found out, and now she'd met her, Beca regrets defending her. "Yeah, she's already shaping up to be the worst roommate ever. Like I needed another sign not to be here."

"That bad?"

"I introduced myself and she stared at me like I was some kind of inferior being that had had the nerve to be under her foot when she stomped down."

"Ouch." Jesse winces. "Tough luck there."

"Benji seems… Okay."

"His side of the room is literally covered in Star Wars memorabilia."

Beca groans. "I'm never coming over to your dorm."

"It's fine, really," he says with a small chuckle, "Your eyes adjust after a while."

She just looks at him like the complete weirdo he is. "You've found your soulmate, haven't you?"

"Aw, don't worry Bee, no one will take ever take your special place in my heart," he says sincerely, his arm again around her shoulders. She grabs his hand hanging around her, playing with his fingers.

"I don't know," she says casually, in complete contrast to what she's actually doing, "I think I could take advantage of this; finally get rid of you."

"You love me really," he jokes, but she stiffens, immediately letting go of his hand.

"You should go save Benji," she says quickly before he can notice. She steps away and his arm falls back to his side. "I'm going to have a look around, see if I can spot anything lamer than this…"

She trails off at a loss for words so he fills in for her. "Organised nerd singing?"

She rolls her eyes. "Shambles, more like. I'll see you in a bit."

She walks away and takes a deep breath to steady herself. Okay, so its possible things haven't gone exactly to plan over the course of her friendship with Jesse… Yes, so sometimes she dreams of pouncing on him and tearing off his shirt in a way that involves actual physical intimacy. And okay, on occasion he will look at her and she'll have to use every bit of inner strength she has to not kiss him until she's dizzy with the feeling of it. And on maybe more than one occasion, when they have fallen asleep watching a ridiculous movie or something equally as eye-roll worthy, when she wakes up before him to find his arm wrapped around her and her head on his chest, she will let herself believe that it's easy between them, that it isn't going to cause an awkward moment when he opens his eyes to find her snuggled up against him.

But that's very nearly almost all of it.

Jesse's just a friend.

A friend that makes her heart pound double speed every time he touches her.

A friend that makes her forget how to breathe when he strokes her hair or hugs her close.

But everyone has one of those friends, right?

She huffs out a large breath. Even she knows how crazy she sounds.

Spotting a promising sign through the large array of strangely coloured banners, she walks quickly towards it and away from where she left Jesse. 'Barden DJ's'. Maybe Jesse is right. Maybe there's something for her here after all.

Or not, as she soon realises.

She edges away from the table, thankful for the scary Australian girl who has distracted the DJs (deaf Jews, to her disappointment) enough for her to make it away without somehow signing up to anything. She wanders aimlessly, torn between the threat of going back to her room too quickly and bumping into her dad again, and the threat of how insane she'll go if she stays at this fair for a moment longer.

Suddenly, facing her dad actually looks appealing.

"Boo."

She jumps, shoving Jesse when he settles into her pace beside her. "I know we joke about the stalking thing a lot, but it's really out of hand today."

"I just can't bear to be away from you," he says with a smile. She swallows down the urge to kiss the dimple that appears and looks around them to distract herself.

"Where's Benji?"

"Nursing his pride. One of the Treble Makers was a total jerk to him."

She glances over at him at the edge in his voice. "Oh my God, Jesse, tell me you aren't actually thinking about joining those guys!"

He shrugs her indignation off. "Why not? I'm good at it, and it actually looks kind of fun."

"How am I friends with you?" she asks herself, goose bumps spreading up her arm when his elbow grazes hers.

"Universal rule. You have to be friends forever with any guy you fall on top of."

She looks over at him in her periphery. "That wasn't even my fault, you're the one who terrified me."

They pass a guy in tiny Speedos and Jesse laughs quietly at the look on her face. "Hey, maybe I could join the swim team?"

Beca makes a show of looking him up and down. "Nah, you don't have the body for that kind of thing."

Jesse, however, remains amused and unfazed. "That's not what you said –"

She slaps a hand over his mouth before he can finish his sentence. She glares at him accusingly. "Were you just about to break the Secret Vow?"

He licks her hand and she removes it, wiping it grossly on his shoulder. "You're disgusting."

He grins. "That's not –" But he stops at her glare and instead looks around them, his smirk still playing on his lips. "Hey look!" He points forward to a large white sign, reading the name aloud. "Barden Bella's. What do you think that is?"

"I don't really care," she says dryly, but he's already pulling her by her hand over to the stall, his strength overpowering her resistance. "Jesse! Let me go!"

"Hey!" Jesse calls over to the two girls standing in front of the table, grabbing their attention. She swears under her breath, muttering about how much she hates him. "No you don't," he teases before looking at the blonde, who is staring at them like they're freaks.

"Hi there!" the redhead greets warmly when they reach the stall. "Any interest in joining our acapella group?"

Beca takes the flier offered to her gingerly. "Oh, right, this is like a thing now."

"Oh, totes," she says like it's completely obvious. "We sing covers of songs but it's without any instruments; it's all from our mouths."

Beca's mind casts back to the singing boys from just before as Jesse snatches the flier out of her hand to look it over. She has no desire to be involved in any form of aca whatever it is she said. "Yikes."

"There's four groups on campus," the girl continues, the blonde still eyeing her strangely. Jesse's still holding her hand and it's distracting her from paying too much attention. "There's us, the Bella's, we're the tits." She gestures to somewhere behind Beca. "The BU Harmonics, they sing a lot of Madonna." She hitches her pen behind her. "Uh, the High Notes, they're not particularly motivated… And then there's…" Finally she turns to where the Treble Makers are singing to a new song a little ways off in the distance.

"Oh, cool, the Treble's," Jesse speaks up, his eyes still taking in the flier. "They looked pretty awesome just before."

The blonde glares at him, her eyes lowering to their joint hands, and Beca pulls her fingers away quickly, Jesse glancing at her in surprise like he hadn't even noticed they were doing it. "The Treble's aren't awesome," the blonde hisses, but the redhead puts her hand on her arm, encouraging her to take a few breaths.

"So are you interested?" She's smiling at her, and Beca is at a complete loss for what to say.

"I'm sorry, it's just, it's pretty lame," she admits, failing to hide the smile at the thought of her actually taking part in something like that… Over her dead body. Jesse snorts, coughing to hide his amusement at her words.

"Aca-scuse me?" the blonde says in disbelief. "Synchronised lady dancing to a Mariah Carey chart topper is not lame."

The redhead speaks up again, "We sing all over the world and compete in national championships."

"On purpose?" Beca nudges Jesse when he has to stifle laughter again.

"We performed at the Carb Energy Performing Art Center, you bitch," the blonde defends viciously. Jesse finally looks up from the ridiculous flier, his eyes flashing angrily, and the redhead rushes again to salvage the situation.

"Oh! What Aubrey means to say is that we are a close-knit, talented group of ladies whose dream it is to return to the national finals at Lincoln Center this year." She smiles and Beca can actually feel the cheesy line coming. "Help us turn our dreams into a reality?"

"Sorry, I don't even sing," Beca says before Jesse can do any more damage. "But it was really nice to meet you guys."

She pulls Jesse away by his wrist, slapping his shoulder when they're far enough away. "You idiot, what did you do that for?"

"I wanted to know what it was!" he protests. "Though I don't think I want you joining that club. You'll have murdered that blonde girl before the first meeting is out."

"True."

"And I don't really fancy taking that long journey once a week to visit you in jail and sneak in your favourite cookies."

"Good to know where you stand with this all."

"Hey look!" He points up at something else, and she rolls her eyes. Not again. "Internships!"

Her eyes prick up at that, and she quickly looks to where he's pointing. The stand looks pretty harmless in comparison to some of the ones they've passed, so she lets him lead her over, glancing at the list of internships on offer.

"Oh Bee check this out!" He points at the sheet of paper in front of him on the table. "Radio station. That could work for you."

Beca takes a second glance, her interest peaking for the first time since she got here. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."

He grabs an application form for her as she reads the 'more information' section. "It says they're looking for two interns. Bee! We could apply together!"

She lifts her head to crinkle her nose at him. "That sounds horrific."

He nudges her playfully, completely used to her dry sense of humour. "Come on, it'll be fun! It can be our new version of piano class."

"Why would I voluntarily put myself in the position of working with you?" she jokes. "Besides, you'd never actually do anything; I'd have to do your work while you wound me up."

His eyes twinkle at her, taking another application form. "Sounds fun, right?"

She snatches her form out of his hand and tries really hard to not smile at how incredible he looks with the sun beaming down on him. "You're such a pain in the ass."

Beca lets her eyes close peacefully as she lies there happily on her dorm floor a few hours after the activities fair, crossing her ankles and taking a relaxing breath. Jesse is beside her, his hands behind his head and his biceps substituting her pillow, and he's staring up at her ceiling, both of them lost in thoughts. She lets the moment wash over her, how comfortable she feels just existing alongside him. It's enough for her. Lying there on her floor doing and saying absolutely nothing, she knows she'd be quite happy to be stuck in this moment forever.

"Beca?" he whispers through the silence.

"Hmm?" she hums back sleepily.

"We did it. We made it to college."

"You only just realised?"

He must have turned to look at her, because his exhale disturbs her hair. "No, I mean as in, we actually got in to college. It wasn't some mistake that they sent us acceptance letters. I just, I can't believe we're at college."

"Me neither," she mutters back bitterly, thinking back to her dad. No, she thinks, don't let him ruin this moment.

He's quiet again for a moment. "Beca?"

"Yes, Jesse?"

"I'm really glad your dad blackmailed you into coming here."

She smiles softly. "I'm not doing it just for him."

Her eyes are still closed, so she can only hear him shifting beside her. "What do you mean?"

She takes a deep breath. "The blackmail wouldn't have worked if you didn't agree to come with me."

She feels him shrug. "There's no where else I'd rather be."

Beca forgets how to breathe for a minute, but he's already changing the subject. "Can you believe just 24 hours ago we were up at our spot? Seems like forever ago."

She opens her eyes and rolls so she's facing him, trying not to be distracted at how close his face is. "You know, I think I'm going to miss that place."

He smiles. "It's okay, I'm sure we'll pick a new one here soon enough."

"It won't be the same."

"I suppose, but you know, that's life. Things change. Nothing stays the same."

She frowns and looks down at the rise and fall of his chest. They don't normally have such serious conversations. In the two and a bit years she's known him, their talks have almost all been on light topics, ones that don't dip past a line where things can get too serious. She knows everything about him, and he knows almost everything about her, but they don't discuss things in detail. Their bantering works best for them, and on the rare occasion when their skills as each other's best friends are put into practise, they're there for each other unconditionally. But those moments are never talked about after they happen.

"Nothing?"

"Almost nothing," he amends, moving his arm underneath her so it wraps around her, pulling her close to him. She immediately holds him too, closing her eyes at the comfort it brings. "We'll always be together."

She draws tiny stars on his chest. "You think?"

"I know."

"Jesse," she begins nervously, unable to look up at him. "I um, I have to tell you something."

"What's up?"

"Last night, when we were talking, and I said –"

The door opens and she turns her head to see her roommate glaring at them, clutching a frozen yogurt pot. Beca quickly untangles herself, half relieved for the disruption, and quickly gets up from the floor. She holds a hand out to help Jesse up who is looking at her strangely, but she just shakes her head minutely. Don't worry about it, it says to him. He seems to accept it, because he turns to grin at her new roommate.

"Hi there! I'm Jesse, a friend of Beca's. You're Ida right?"

Beca glares at him as her roommate ignores his offering of a handshake. "Iris," she corrects shortly.

Jesse withdraws his hand, turning to give Beca a she's definitely crazy look before grabbing his jacket from her desk chair. "See you tomorrow?" he asks, and she nods.

"I'll text you after class," she promises, and she watches him go with a strange hollow feeling in her chest, shooting Iris a dirty look when the girls smiles slightly and kicks the door shut, sitting down at her desk and taking a victorious mouthful of her ice cream. Beca sighs, falling back onto her bed. What the hell is she doing here?

"Hey, I'm Beca, um…"

"Over there." The man at the desk points her in the direction of a door labelled 'Studio' and she walks through, opening the door to reveal a large room full of metal shelves and band posters plastered to the walls. She looks around a little anxiously, looking for someone through the mess.

"95.7 WBUJ, music for the independent mind," a British accent echoes around the room, and she spots a blond guy leaning back in his chair from a booth on the other side of the room. She works her way through the shelves towards him, figuring he's as good a bet as any in finding out what exactly she's supposed to be doing, but when she gets there he's out of view.

The door opens and she jumps a little as the guy emerges, his t-shirt tight and his arms covered in various tattoos. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Have you been standing there long?" he asks, turning a dial on the wall that quietens the music volume.

"No, no, I just got here, I wasn't just standing here." He walks back into the booth and she tries to follow him.

"Freshmen aren't allowed in the booth." She steps back, apologising quietly though she has no idea why. "I'm Luke, station manager, you must be Becky, the intern?"

Becky? "Uh, It's uh –"

"Hey man," Jesse walks into view, a hurried smile on his face. "What's up, I'm Jesse."

"I'm Luke; You're late."

Jesse glances over to her, his eyes gleaming in amusement. "My class overran."

"You didn't have class this afternoon," she says casually, dropping him in it with a sly smirk. He narrows his eyes at her, but Luke doesn't seem to care too much about the reasons behind his tardiness. They follow him around to a desk as Jesse starts rambling, a habit he has when he's put in a new environment.

"I know her." Jesse points at her and Beca wants to hit him to shut him up. "We're the bestest of friends."

"No we're not." She glares at him.

"Yeah we are."

"No, we aren't." She turns back to Luke who is just watching them, unamused by their bantering.

"Okay, well, you guys can figure that out while you're stacking CD's." He pats the top of the box he'd grabbed from inside the booth. "When you're done, there's more." He glances between them, already looking bored with their presence. "You guys are going to be spending a lot of down time together so please just, no sex on the desk."

Beca and Jesse look at each other and Jesse wiggles his eyebrows.

"I've been burned before."

"Yeah that's not going to be a problem," Beca says dryly, rolling her eyes when Jesse pouts like he's heartbroken. Luke exhales heavily before walking away, leaving them to it.

"He seems like a top notch guy," Jesse muses as he puts his bag under the desk. "Great tats, definitely your type."

Beca picks up a CD from the crate, her eyes flickering down the track list. "I suppose."

"He's definitely attractive," Jesse continues, "Excellent bone structure, fancy British accent… I think we just met my nemesis for the shareholder of your heart."

She looks up at him in surprise before realising he's kidding around. "This sucks," she says quickly, trying to change the topic before she ends up embarrassing herself. "I wanted to play music."

"Not me, I really love stacking CDs. It's my secret hobby." She glances up from the crate to look at his sceptically. "You know they had a job going at a lab that tests the effects of marijuana on your appetite? But I was like, no, I wanna stack CDs with my amazing best friend who is looking at me like I'm the weirdest guy on the planet…"

She presses her lips together to stop smiling. "That's because you are the weirdest guy on the planet."

He grabs some of the CDs that she's already checked out and walks over to a shelf, eyes flickering over the stickers to find out where to put things. "Good thing you're the weirdest girl on the planet then, hey? We're meant to be."

She throws a CD at him and he catches it awkwardly. "You have never been more unattractive to me."

He grins. "Does that mean you found me attractive before?" She feels her body temperature rise and he gasps. "You did! You totally had the hots for me at some point!"

She scoffs. "Whatever, nerd."

"Oh my God you're doing that thing! That's your tell! You're totally hiding something!" He walks back towards her, his expression failing at staying serious. "Okay, tell me honestly, was it at prom? Because I'll be the first to admit I looked great at prom."

She takes a stack of CDs and walks to a shelf that hides her from him so she has time to collect herself. "Dude, no! Would you get over yourself?"

He appears at the other end of the shelves and makes her jump. "It's okay, Bee." He walks towards her with a shit-eating grin. "Best friends are allowed to think the other is attractive. It would be wrong if you didn't find me attractive."

She leans against a shelf, staring up at him and his taller build. "Does that apply both ways?"

"Of course."

He has no idea what he's walked into. "So you found me attractive at some point?"

Jesse doesn't even blink, answering honestly, "You are attractive, Beca. Any guy would be lucky to have you."

It throws her off her game for a second, her smile slipping slightly. "What?"

"Not that I'm going to let just any guy be with you," he continues, walking past her and back to the box. She follows him, confused. "They have to be up to a certain set of standards."

"How can you even say that? Not a single guy showed any interest in me at high school." But then it hits her, and she gasps loudly. "Jesse! Oh my God tell me you didn't!"

He's looking down at the cover of a record, hiding his face the best he can. "Didn't what?"

"Tell me you didn't warn away any guys that might have actually liked me!"

His jaw tenses and she gapes at him. "No…"

"You totally did!" She shoves his shoulder, laughing in amazement at what he had done. "You asshole!"

He looks up, a bashful look on his face. "Well none of those idiots were even close to good enough for you!"

"I can't believe you!"

She won't admit it to herself or him, but she's surprisingly not angry. She's actually quite touched at how protective he is over her; she knows he's done stuff before, defending her honour when anything threatened her or something. But this… This is different. Because even though it's stupid what he did, she can't help but see in his eyes how much he cares for her, and how he only ever really has her best interests at heart.

Beca doesn't know how to say thank you, so instead she teases, "Does that mean Luke meets your standards for me?"

Jesse's eyes bug. "What?"

"Well, you basically implied just a minute ago that I should go for it with the guy." She puts a hand on her hip and tries not to grin. "Does that mean someone finally passes the test?"

"That guy?" Jesse uses a CD to point at Luke, lounging back in his chair, completely oblivious to what they're doing. "Please. You're so far out of his league that if he even stands near to you for too long he'll explode."

"And I suppose by your standards, you're the only one so far who's good enough for me?"

He smirks but it softens as he looks at her. "Oh no, Beca - even I'm not good enough for you."

Okay on a scale of one to ten, how confusing was that? I'm trying to make it easyish to follow - like the tenses are different for each part, but I know it's still going to have its issues. Iris is here, she's making her impact, so things are going to get dramatic in the present world! Next chapter sees Beca and Jesse starting junior year of high school, and things are about to get a little complicated...