Prompt: maybe B/J meet while they're both on vacation with friends and things get steamy on vacation – zvforever


NUMBER THREE

Jesse's not quite sure how he got roped into buying drinks for all of the Treble boys but here he is, absolutely melting in the heat, pushing his way through the crowd of disgustingly warm bodies. It takes him a whole six minutes before he finally reaches the counter and when he does, he grins triumphantly…but then his grin is swiftly wiped away when he sees that the bartender is on the opposite side of the room.

Great, just great.

He sighs, pulling the bundle of notes that the other Treble boys had shoved at him from his pocket, beginning to wave them around in an attempt to flag down the bartender when he suddenly hears the distinctive sound of an amused snort from his left. He blinks, whipping his head to the side, raising an eyebrow as he sees a striking but undeniably attractive brunette casually sitting on top of the counter, watching his every move with a smirk on her face.

"Amateur," she says, as she realises that she's gotten his attention, glancing up at the way he's still wildly waving his hand around with a shake of her head and he can't help but stare indignantly back at her.

"Excuse me?"

She just shrugs in response, swiftly leaning towards him and plucking one of the notes from his hand before he can stop her and he watches, frozen to the spot, as she quickly glances over at the bartender. Once she's satisfied that he's still suitably occupied, she smoothly slips around the counter and he swallows hard as his eyes are instantly drawn to the tiny silver of skin between the bottom of her shirt and the waistband of her jeans that the motion reveals.

"Okay, what do you want?"

Jesse blinks, hastily dragging his gaze back to her face, his eyes wide as he registers what she's just asked him and what she's about to do. "I—What are you doing?" he hisses, his eyes frantically moving between her and the bartender, his heart suddenly pounding even though he's on the right side of the counter and if anyone's going to get caught, it's her, not him… "You can't do that!"

She rolls her eyes again, her hand on her hip, giving him such a look of disapproval that he instantly regrets his last words, wishing he could have taken them back and acted a whole lot cooler about the whole thing…but he's revoltingly hot and uncomfortable at the moment and what she's doing, he's pretty sure it's borderline illegal and he can't let it go. The last thing he wants today is to get arrested.

"Like I said: amateur," she repeats, with a shake of her head, quickly turning to grab a beer bottle from behind her and opening it, leaving his note behind the counter as she slides back over, pushing the ice-cold bottle into his hand...but he doesn't take it, he just stares.

"Dude, it's okay, it's not going to kill you. Besides, it's not like you didn't pay for it," she tells him, her eyebrows raised as she tries to hand it over to him again but to no avail, "But if you don't want it…"

He continues staring at her, his eyes widening as she raises the bottle up to her own lips, tipping the bottle back as she takes a sip and he swallows hard, transfixed, as he watches a drop of liquid escape her mouth and—

"—Hey, wait, that's mine," he says, as he forces himself to drag his gaze back to her eyes, feeling more than a little flustered [be cool, Jesse, be cool], suddenly remembering exactly where he is and what has just happened.

She shrugs at him, taking yet another torturously slow sip but there's now a smirk on her face, clear as day, and he knows he's been caught. As he continues to gape at her, not quite sure what to say, she just leans in, winking at him and he flushes instantly, reaching up to run a hand through his hair.

"Thanks for the drink," she says, as she raises the bottle up to her head in a mock salute before she promptly saunters away from him without a second glance and he can't help but follow her retreating form with his eyes until she's gone, lost in the crowd.

…And then he swears because he's now five dollars short and he's still in desperate need of a drink.


"Earth to Flatbutt," Amy says and she glances up from her laptop, instantly recoiling as she's greeted by the sight of Amy's backside in her face as she dances around in front of her in an attempt to get her attention.

"Dude, what are you doing?" she manages to get out as she leans back as far as she can go in her chair, completely horrified, glancing over at the other girls for help but they're all simply staring back, smug looks on their faces, all of them a little relieved that it's her, not them that's getting this…view.

Amy just shrugs, turns back around, seating herself back down opposite her. "It's not my fault you weren't listening to me," she says innocently, as if she's done nothing wrong, and Beca rolls her eyes, returning her gaze back to her laptop screen, sighing as Amy instantly reaches over to pinch her arm hard, getting her attention again, "There's a hot guy on your left that's been eye-fucking the side of your head for the last ten minutes."

She blinks, eyebrow raised, as she watches Chloe and Stacie both unsubtly swivel around in their chairs to stare at whoever this poor boy is, both of them making noises of approval as they turn to face her again, wide grins on their faces.

"He's cute," Chloe says.

"Yep, I'd definitely tap that," Stacie agrees.

She sighs, her curiosity piqued, carefully sliding her eyes to her left, her eyes widening in recognition as she spots him, the guy from the bar, the guy who she may or may not have flirted with just because she was bored and he was there…and besides, she hadn't really expected to see him ever again, especially not so soon. She guesses she shouldn't be so shocked though; thanks to Aubrey stupidly leaving the planning of the Bellas yearly vacation to Stacie, of all people, they're currently at one of the biggest student holiday destinations where everyone frequents the same few bars, the same few beaches, the same everything.

Beca watches as he slowly raises the bottle in his hand, crookedly saluting her in the same way that she had saluted him yesterday and it takes her by surprise but she finds that she can't help but bite her lip to stop herself from laughing because he's completely over-exaggerating his movement and he looks like such a weirdo and all his guy friends are giving him really odd looks in response.

"Beca, do you know him?" Chloe asks, narrowing her eyes, and Beca tears her gaze away with a firm shake of her head, returning back to the mix she's in the middle of editing before she lets out an exasperated sigh as she hears Chloe speak again, excitedly bouncing in her chair, clapping her hands together, "He's coming over!"

Before she knows it, all of the Bellas have very indiscreetly vacated their chairs, leaving her completely alone and she glares at their retreating backs.

Idiots.

"Hey there, girl-from-the-bar," she hears a familiar voice say a few seconds later and she sighs yet again, glancing up from her screen [why can't everyone just leave her in peace?] to see him sitting opposite her, grinning, his eyes warm. "I think you owe me a drink."

Beca blinks up at him, eyebrows raised as she purses her lips together, shaking her head. "I don't owe you anything," she retorts, sliding her eyes back to her laptop again, "It's not my fault you weren't showing any interest in it…"

He shrugs in response, giving her a smile as he leans across the table, looking much less flustered than he had been yesterday during their brief encounter and she narrows her eyes. What is he up to?

"So…what's up?" he asks, his face mere inches away from hers and she stares, a little taken aback by his easy confidence, having trouble matching this guy with the guy from yesterday…

"Uh, nothing," she finally replies, giving absolutely nothing away, biting the inside of her cheek as he simply tilts his head to the side, unfazed, before promptly getting up and sliding into the seat right beside her. She blinks, ducking her head slightly, letting her hair cover her face to hide the traitorous blush she can feel rising up her neck at his sudden proximity. [Okay, so maybe there was another reason to why she had decided to speak to him yesterday; the girls were right, he did have a certain charm…]

"Hey, this looks pretty cool," he says, completely oblivious to her reaction, his eyes scanning the screen of her laptop, leaning forward to get a better look, "Are you a music major?"

She nods slowly, not entirely sure where he's going with this.

"Awesome, me too," he says, grinning widely at her, suddenly holding up his palm towards her and she blinks at him, a perplexed expression spreading across her face.

He gives her a weird look, his other hand reaching out to gently grab her wrist, pulling her hand towards his, letting their open palms collide. "High five," he says, in the dorkiest way possible, adding in ridiculous sound effects and she stares at him, feeling herself flush, partly because that was really stupid of her and partly because he's still pressing their hands together and all she can think about is how much larger his hand is compared to hers and how warm and weirdly good his skin feels pressed against hers…

The thing is, it's been about fifteen seconds now and he still hasn't let go of her wrist. She clears her throat, trying to regain some composure as she fixes her eyes on him, blinking a little as she sees that he's staring intently at her and she can't help but stare right back, her eyes taking in every inch of his face, his jawline, his eyes.

"Do you want to, uh, maybe...return my arm?" she asks, when the silence between them starts to get uncomfortably long, smirking a bit as he releases her as if he's been burnt, awkwardly running a hand through his hair, looking more than a little guilty. Clearly, this…thing between them, whatever it is, it goes both ways.

"So, girl-from-the-bar," he addresses her when he's recovered, an easy smile returning on to his face as he turns to her once again, his eyes sparkling, "What's your name?"

"Beca," she says, slowly, "My name's Beca."

She figures there's no harm in letting him know; after all, she's only here for another seven days and then she'll be back at Barden and she'll never see him again…


It's ironic, Jesse thinks, that the one girl that he meets whilst on vacation is the one girl that he can't stop thinking about but Beca's so witty and so...effortlessly beautiful that he just can't seem to shake his attraction towards her.

He talks to her for three whole hours until she apologetically excuses herself when she gets a phone call from someone named 'Fat Amy' [he's still not quite sure whether she's joking about that nickname…] but through their conversation, he finds out that they live in neighbouring states and he knows it's stupid, he knows it is, but he can't help himself from thinking that maybe, just maybe, this is a sign.

Okay, maybe not.

"Swanson, what's on your mind?" Donald says from beside him, interrupting his thoughts, as they're both lying in the shade on the beach, keeping an eye on Bumper and making sure he doesn't get himself put into jail for indecent exposure [it's happened before, okay? No-one is safe around Bumper…] "You look like you're thinking too hard."

He shrugs.

Donald turns, squints at him and then a look of realisation spreads across his face and Jesse groans; he's learnt from his short time with the Trebles that Donald is way more perceptive than he looks and he is not going to let this go. "You're thinking about that girl from yesterday, aren't you?"

Jesse sighs, sitting up, running a hand through his hair but eventually, he nods. "I don't know what's wrong with me but I can't stop thinking about her," he says slowly, his eyes wistful as he stares off to the ocean where Bumper is chasing a terrified-looking Benji around the sand, "I just—I can't help myself."

Donald shakes his head sympathetically, clapping a firm hand onto his shoulder, "Jesse, don't do this to yourself," he advises, "It's not going to work out; just try and get her out of your system."

He bites his lip, grits his teeth and nods stiffly in response, following Donald as the other boy promptly gets up and starts walking towards the other Trebles, his mind still filled with thoughts of Beca—

"—Hey, Swanson, isn't that her?" Donald says, stopping so suddenly in the sand that Jesse can't help but walk straight into him with a grimace. He quickly apologises, taking a step backwards before the other boy's words sink in and he slowly lifts his gaze in the direction Donald's pointing in, his eyes widening as he realises he's right.

"No, man, come on, don't go over, be cool," Donald says, but it's too late and Jesse's already started walking away, his gaze fixed on the group of girls he can see sitting in a circle on the sand or, more specifically, fixed on a very bored-looking Beca.

It takes her approximately five seconds before she spots him walking in her direction and he grins, raising a hand in greeting as she slowly lifts the water bottle in her hand to her head, saluting him…and now that he thinks about it, she still owes him that drink. He watches, a little mortified, as suddenly, eight girls whip their head around to stare at him before all simultaneously rising up and walking towards the water, leaving Beca alone despite her protests.

She rolls her eyes.

"Well, that was embarrassing," she remarks, as he draws close, slowly lowering himself down onto the sand beside her. "What's up? Are you stalking me or something?"

Jesse just grins in response, giving her a shrug as he leans back onto his elbows, watching her every move, the way the sun's bouncing off her face, the way her eyes are glinting at him. "Nope, I'm not stalking you," he replies, leaning his head towards her as he lowers his voice, adding, "But hey, if you want me to, I'd be more than happy to…"

He trails off as she starts punching him in the shoulder, a laugh escaping her lips, and he yelps, smiling at her, his hands quickly reaching to grab her wrists, stilling her movements and suddenly, she's staring at him and it's not so funny anymore. He swallows, watching as her gaze moves from his eyes to his lips and then back again but then he sees a tiny flicker of doubt in her eyes and the moment's gone.

"Hey, Jesse," she says, a little hesitantly, dragging her eyes away from him, staring at her lap instead, "You want to go and get some ice-cream?"

He smiles, promptly getting up and shaking the sand off his shorts before making a big show of offering her his hand. She rolls her eyes, the corner of her lips quirking upwards in amusement, but she takes his hand and he doesn't let go.

If anything, he holds on a little tighter, smoothly slotting his fingers between hers as they walk.


Beca feels out of control, thrown, her head spinning. She doesn't understand why she's letting some boy she barely knows hold her hand as they walk towards the ice-cream stand but all she knows is that although their whole situation is just so cliché, so predictable, she doesn't mind it.

Not even a bit.

…And Jesus, that fact annoys her, more than anything, because she's never been the type of person that lets in other people so easily, without a second thought. This goes against everything she's ever stood for, everything she's ever known and it's just so…frustrating. The problem is, Jesse's charming and he makes her laugh over the smallest, tiniest, most insignificant things and she can't stop herself from gripping his hand a little bit tighter even though she sort of hates herself for doing so.

"Hey, you okay?" Jesse says from beside her, abruptly stopping in the middle of the sidewalk as he turns to glance down at her, a concerned expression on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replies slowly even though she's really not and he narrows his eyes just a bit, searching her face, before he shakes his head, swivelling her around to face the ice-cream stand in the far distance.

"Last one to get there has to pay," he says suddenly, with a grin, and she blinks in surprise as he quickly drops her hand, running off away from her and she bites her lip, fighting the urge to laugh before she starts chasing him.

"You are such a dork," she yells at his back, rolling her eyes as he turns around to face her, running backwards, bumping into a couple of unimpressed strangers, and she thinks she can just make out that he's sticking his tongue out at her.

By the time she's finally managed to catch up with him, she's out of breath and he's pushing an ice-cream cone into her hand. "Nice of you to make it," he says, an amused look on his face as she scowls at his words but accepts the ice-cream all the same.

"I thought I was supposed to be paying?"

Jesse just shrugs, leading her away from the stand and she falls into step beside him, their arms brushing as they walk and she feels herself flush just a little at the sensation. "It's okay, you can buy next time," he tells her and she opens her mouth to retort but then she notices him wince from the corner of her eyes and her words die away. She knows exactly what he's thinking: there might not be a next time.

She eyes him, watches the way he's studiously staring at his ice-cream, suddenly looking unbelievably awkward, and she takes a deep breath, making her mind up. "You free tomorrow?" she asks casually, unable to hide her smile as he glances up at her in surprise and then nods.

Sure, this whole thing is unfamiliar and weird and she's still not entirely sure what to make of it but she hasn't felt so at ease around anyone in a long time, even the Bellas. She doesn't know why; maybe it's because she knows that in seven days, she'll probably never see him again or maybe it's just because of him...


The next six days pass in a blur. He meets her for ice-cream [and this time, she pays], takes her out for dinner, lies beside her on the beach listening to one of her mixes, and he makes it his goal to find out everything that he possibly can about her, what she likes, what she dislikes...but, unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end and it's crazy just how fast time has gone and he can't quite get his head around the fact that she's leaving tomorrow morning, leaving him, and this might be the last time he'll ever see her.

"You alright there, weirdo?" Beca asks, nudging his shoulder as they sit side by side at the bar, the same bar where he had met her that very first time, and it's funny but he thinks that for once, he's actually grateful for the fact that Bumper always manages to bully him into being the one that buys the drinks for everyone.

"Yeah, I'm…I'm good," he replies, turning to give her a half-smile and she frowns straight away, fixing him with an intense stare that he can't quite escape from.

The seconds drag on but she doesn't say anything, shaking her head ever so slightly and he thinks she knows exactly what he's thinking. He opens his mouth to say something, anything, to break the heavy atmosphere that has fallen but he promptly shuts it again as he feels her fingers suddenly grasp his wrist and she tugs him outside.

"Come on," she says, "Let's walk."

Jesse smiles, nodding, and he wraps an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer, as they talk about absolutely everything apart from her imminent departure. He's in the middle of telling her a ridiculous story about Bumper and the other guys when suddenly, he feels her slide her arm around his waist and he stops, mid-sentence, glancing down at her in surprise...but she's just staring straight ahead, an unreadable expression on her face, and so, he resumes his story.

It's been nearly a week and sure, it's been obvious since day one that he's attracted to her [and, he thinks, vice versa], but he hasn't made a move, not really, because the whole thing's just too complicated…but as he feels her tighten her grip slightly, her thumb tracing, no, burning patterns into his side, he can't help but think that this could be his last chance and that maybe 'complicated' isn't the worst thing in the world.

But then he shakes his head hard, remembering Donald's words from earlier that week; this, whatever this is, it won't work out and he'll just be hurting himself, hurting her, if he acts on his instincts.

"Jesse," she says, getting his attention as she leans against the wall outside of her hotel hours later, staring up at him, "It was…nice to meet you."

He swallows, nodding, a bittersweet smile on his face as he stares at her, trying to commit every little detail about her to memory. He's always hated goodbyes but he thinks that this is possibly the worst goodbye he's ever had to go through. He just wishes they had more time together, he wishes that they had met under different circumstances.

He takes a step back away from her, letting her leave but then suddenly, she's giving him an odd, calculated look, swiftly closing the distance between them that he's just created and her hand's reaching out to grip his shirt as she pulls him flush against her and he freezes.

"Jesse," he hears her say softly, her eyes locked on his, and it's that, the simple call of his name from her lips, that spurs him into action and without wasting any more time, he bends his head down to her level, feeling her fingers sliding themselves into his hair, as he presses his mouth firmly against hers. He thinks he can feel her smiling against his lips as her fingers gently push against the back of his head, pulling him impossibly closer, as his hands slide to rest against her waist and he starts to coax her mouth open...but then he remembers exactly where they are and exactly what situation they're in and instead, he loosens his grip, tilting his head slightly to press a chaste kiss against her cheek.

"We—We shouldn't," he says, his hands still gripping her hips, and he watches, captivated, as she takes a deep breath, steadies herself, and then nods, giving him a small smile. He slides them both down onto the ground until they're leaning against the wall, seated on the grass, and he takes her hand in his, interlacing their fingers.

"It was nice to meet you too," he tells her, moments later, repeating her words from earlier and she laughs because, frankly, their whole situation is crazy and ridiculous and she doesn't know how else to react and, as he stares at her, watching her tilt her head backwards, he can't help but laugh too.

"Hey, weirdo," she says later, when they've just said their goodbyes for the second time, boldly reaching out a hand and sliding his phone out of his pocket, quickly inputting her number, "Call me, okay?"

Jesse nods, slowly taking the phone back from her, smiling as he sees that she's entered herself in as 'that girl from the bar'.

If it's meant to be, it'll work out somehow, he knows it will, he hopes it will.


She doesn't hear from him.

He doesn't call.


It's stupid, she knows it is, but two months later and she still can't stop thinking about Jesse. He never called her and she guesses this is a sign that she didn't have as much of an effect on him as he had on her and she should just try and forget about him…but it's not that easy. She supposes, if she really wanted to, it wouldn't be so hard to seek him out online – after all, they're bound to have some mutual friends, right? – and she's gotten close to trying a couple of times but then she just shakes her head, shutting her laptop down, berating herself for still clinging onto the boy who clearly couldn't care less.

The Bellas notice the change, notice how she's suddenly throwing herself into rehearsals in an attempt to distract herself and at first, they're concerned, but then they've qualified for Regionals for the first time ever, thanks to the mixes she had practically forced onto Aubrey, and she starts smiling a little more and they stop worrying so much.

"Dude, no, I don't want it," she says, as Aubrey tries to push a file into her hand, "It's weird."

Winning Sectionals has affected all of them but especially Aubrey. The blonde girl has become so obsessed with the whole thing, so determined to win and get to the top of the a capella world, that she's spent the past two weeks researching their 'rivals' at the upcoming Regionals competition and compiling a file on them.

"Take it, Beca," Aubrey insists and, with a sigh, she slowly takes it from the other girl, leaning back in her chair as she starts leafing through it, if only to appease the blonde. Her eyes widen in disbelief as she sees just how much effort Aubrey has put into the document but then again, she guesses she shouldn't be so surprised; the girl is a total perfectionist, after all.

"Oh shit," she hears Amy comment from behind her and she blinks as suddenly, the Australian girl has quickly leaned forward and smoothly plucked the file from her hand.

"Hey! I was reading that," she says, in protest, because okay, so maybe the whole thing that Aubrey's done is more than a little weird but she supposes it's not the worst thing in the world to get to know a bit more about their competition. She may not show it as openly as Aubrey but she wants to win just as much.

"Uh, Flatbutt, I think we might have a problem," Amy tells her and she raises an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes as the other girl stares at her with an overly sympathetic look on her face, "Just promise me you won't freak out, okay?"

She shoots Amy a weird look but nods once, blinking in surprise as Amy swiftly slides into the seat next to her, slowly handing her the file, open on one of the pages she hadn't gotten around to reading yet, and her eyes widen in utter disbelief as they land on an all too familiar face.

Jesse.


It's not that he doesn't want to call her because he does, of course he does; no, it's that the week they had, it was absolutely perfect, like something out of a movie, and he's scared that if he does call her, it'll ruin everything and so, he puts it off, telling himself he'll call the next day…except the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months and now he thinks it's just too late for him to call her and he hates himself for having been such a coward and he tries to forget about the whole thing.

It doesn't work; sure, he's been kept busy, thanks to Bumper working them ridiculously hard, making them rehearse in between classes until all of them can't wait for Regionals to be over, but the last thought before he goes to sleep each night is always about her. He's an idiot, he really is: why hadn't he just called her?

"—Hey, Swanson, isn't that the girl you met during the Trebles trip?"

Jesse blinks, interrupted from his thoughts, glancing at Donald in surprise, as they're sitting in the audience at Regionals, waiting for the other acts to finish performing their sets so that they can leave. Donald just tilts his head towards the stage and slowly, ever so slowly, he slides his eyes towards the front of the auditorium, his mouth falling open as yes, Donald's right, Beca is there right in front of him.

He can't stop a slow smile from crossing his face as he watches her focus on the performance, singing her heart out, working the stage with ease, recognising the mix that they're currently performing as one of the ones that she showed him on the beach that week…

…But then she's frowning slightly, scanning the crowd until suddenly, she's unmistakeably staring right at him and he blinks, unable to tear his eyes away as the song unexpectedly changes to a tune that he instantly recognises as being the Simple Minds song from 'The Breakfast Club', one of his favourite movies. He stares, absolutely mesmerised, following her every move as she walks forward to centre stage, her eyes fixed on his, an unreadable expression on her face as she sings directly at him: don't you forget about me.

He swallows, winces.

He should have called.


Once the performance is finished, the first thing she does is scan the crowd for Jesse again. She's not mad at him for not calling, even though she knows that she probably should be, no, she just wants some answers. It doesn't take long for her to find him as he hasn't moved from his position even though the rest of his group has long gone and she's surprised to see that he's staring right at her, looking unbelievably guilty, as he slowly lifts a hand to his head, giving her a salute similar to the one that she had given him all those weeks ago.

"Beca, hey," he says, when she's standing right in front of him, fixing him with the most neutral expression she can muster up as she watches him run a hand through his hair, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"God, Beca, I'm really sorry. I'm so sorry," he tells her, seconds later, his expression sincere and she forces herself not to say anything and instead, just gestures for him to keep going. He lets out a sigh, seating himself back down, staring at the floor, avoiding her gaze. "It's stupid, I know, but I—I was scared," he says quietly, and there's something about the solemn tone of his voice that makes her instantly realise that he's telling the truth and that he feels awful about the whole thing and so, she slowly slips herself into the seat beside him, just listening, "I wanted to call, I swear, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you…but I just didn't want to ruin the week we had. I don't know, I guess I—"

"—You're an idiot," she interrupts, relief washing over her as she realises that he had wanted to call her and that he hadn't, as she had previously assumed, forgotten all about her, and he glances up in surprise but then slowly, looking a little shamefaced, he nods in agreement. "You're an actual idiot."

"I'm so sorry," he says again and she just shakes her head at him, leaning against his shoulder as she just thinks about everything he's just told her.

If she's honest, even though she's had weeks to prepare for this, she still can't believe that he's here, that the universe has found some way to make their paths cross again, and even though she's never believed in fate or superstition, she has to admit that this is one crazy coincidence and maybe, it's their second chance.

She takes a deep breath, making up her mind as she lifts her head up from his shoulder, grabbing his hand and tugging him upwards. "Come on, weirdo," she says, as she starts to pull him out of the room and towards the bar where all the a capella groups are congregating in front of, "I think I still owe you a drink."


Jesse can't believe his luck, he really can't; somehow, Beca's here right beside him and she's buying him that drink she owes him despite his multiple protests and god, he doesn't deserve this. It's in that moment, when she pushes a bottle into his hand, that he vows that he's not going to let her go this time and that he's going to put all his efforts into making the last few months up to her, even though she swears she's not mad.

"Hey, Beca, give me your phone," he says, as he takes a sip of his drink and she blinks up at him in surprise before nodding, sliding it over.

He quickly inputs his number, under 'that idiot from the bar', and hands it back to her and she glances at the screen, rolls her eyes, but then smiles, nudging her shoulder gently against his. It doesn't surprise him in the slightest that despite not having seen each other in months, they fall back into a relatively normal banter and it doesn't take long before she's pulled his hand around her shoulder and he's grinning down at her.

He's determined to make this work, he will make this work, no matter how complicated and difficult it's inevitably going to be.

"Call me, okay?" she says, as they're saying goodbye for the third time and he nods, this time meaning it wholeheartedly. She smiles up at him, raising a hand in farewell but before she can turn away, he's grabbed her wrist, tugging her firmly towards him, a hand reaching under her chin to tilt her head up, giving him better access as he bends his head down, pressing his lips against hers and it isn't long before he feels her respond.

Okay.