Chapter Six
"It didn't work? What do you mean it didn't work?"
Stacie had her fork raised halfway up to her mouth and her eyes were wide with surprise. They were having Sunday brunch at this cafe near Stacie's and Chloe had the uncomfortable job of reporting what happened on Thursday night. Chloe knew Stacie would react that way. Even Aubrey was staring at her, waiting for some sort of explanation.
"What can I tell you? It didn't," Chloe reiterated.
"But you both made sure they met up right?" Aubrey asked, gently patting Errol's back as the tiny baby slept on her shoulder.
"Yeah we did."
"So they spent the evening together?"
"Yep."
"And he sent her home? It was late you said."
"It was," Chloe answered. "It was almost midnight when they appeared at the door and I had to use my ninja skills to spy on them. It looked great from where I stood. She was smiling. He was smiling. She was wearing his jacket. HIS jacket."
"So where did it go wrong?" Aubrey picked on further.
"I don't know," Chloe shrugged in defeat. "If they stayed out that late, surely it meant they had a nice time. I was expecting Beca to float inside, starry eyes and smiley face. But she didn't. And, get this - she was in a foul mood and moping the last couple of days."
"Did she say anything at all?" Aubrey questioned.
"You know how Beca is," Chloe answered. "That girl is built like a fu - sorry, Bree- she's like a freaking tank when it comes to hiding her feelings. She didn't say a word."
"Is it him? Maybe Jesse said something?" Stacie wondered. "Did Benji give any clues?"
Chloe rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Y'know, I haven't ask Benji."
"Ask him then," Stacie said. "Like it or not, Benji is invested in this. Maybe he can find something out?"
Chloe was already dialling Benji's number and talking to him before Stacie could finish her sentence. Both Aubrey and Stacie eavesdropped, hanging on to Chloe's every word. A few "uh-huh"s and a long drawn out "Ooohh" later, Chloe ended the phone call and huffed a frustrated sigh.
"Jesse didn't say anything," she reported back. "Benji said sorry for bailing on Thursday and Jesse just waved him away. Didn't even tell him he met up with Beca."
"This is so weird," Stacie commented, stabbing her croissant in annoyance.
"But -" Chloe continued, holding a finger up for emphasis. "Benji also said Jesse had been very moody these few days and things seems a bit off between him and Sara."
"Now that is interesting," Aubrey spoke up, her green eyes gleaming. "Is Jesse moody because things are off between him and what's-her-name or did something happened with Beca?"
"Who knows?" Stacie piped in. "So what do we do now?"
Chloe's face suddenly split into a wide grin and her blue eyes twinkled out in mischief.
"Benji says it's time he throws a little party."
A couple of weeks later
"Tell me why are we going to Benji's again?"
Beca was clutching a bottle of red in the backseat of Stacie's car and wondering for the umpteenth time how the girls, yet again, managed to persuade her to do things. This time it was to attend Benji's little soirée. Chloe and Stacie had breezed in a couple of days ago and told her about the party and said they were going.
"He thought it would be nice to throw a little dinner party," Chloe said from the front seat. "Nothing too big. Just a few friends. Something nice to eat and a few drinks, that sort of thing."
"Yeah. Right," Beca replied, slumping into the back seat.
"Come on, Bec," Chloe said, turning slightly in her seat to face Beca. "Benji had worked very hard on this. He had this cute little menu. Hors d'oeuvres, mains, cute little individual desserts. It's all very grown up. It would be awesome!"
Beca was sure it would be.
But she was still very reluctant to come.
It was not that she didn't like Benji. He was just the sweetest, most harmless guy Beca had ever met and under normal circumstances, Beca would not hesitate. It was just she was only too aware who else would be invited. She had received a text from Jesse yesterday, asking whether she was going to come.
Beca didn't reply.
In fact, she had not replied to many of his texts lately.
She had just sat there looking at his incoming text, chewing her lip, debating with herself whether she should reply. In the end, she would close down the message and ignore it. She didn't know exactly why she was acting this way. Maybe she was just so fucked up head-wise when it comes to Jesse. She would be lying if she said there was nothing there. Spending that evening with him just brought home what a great guy he was, that there was definitely chemistry between them and hell, she wanted to jump him so bad it hurts. So Beca decided she should stay away until she could worked through her stupid feelings and be a proper friend.
"Why are you so grumpy, Bec?" Stacie spoke up from the driver's seat, interrupting Beca's thoughts. "Come on. The party's going to be fun. It's not like you won't know anyone. We'll be there and so is Jesse. You guys are tight, aren't you?"
"Whoah! What's with the Inquisition?" Beca answered defensively. "We are not tight. He's just a friend. Like Benji is my friend. We don't talk like all the time or..or go out together. Or hang out. Like at all. Nothing like that kind of friend. More like acquaintances, really. Yes. Acquaintances. Besides, Jesse has a girlfriend. It would be weird."
Beca sputtered to a stop.
Shit.
She overcompensated. She so overcompensated and right now, Chloe and Stacie were glancing, open mouthed at her flushed face in the rearview mirror.
"Okaaaayy," Stacie drawled, turning her attention back to the road and taking the final turn before coming to a stop outside Benji's house. The three of them got out of the car and stared up the pathway.
So, this was Benji's place.
They were to have this nice, civilised, grown-up dinner party with a few close friends at this neat little house in this quiet suburb. Except, at the moment, the lights were all on. People were spilling out onto the lawn and loud music was blaring out at ear-deafening level. The place looked like there was a frat party going on full swing. And wait, was that a trampoline? Two guys were jumping up and down, one of them shouting "43rd rules!' at the top of his voice. That guy looked remarkably like Bumper.
"This is going to be fun," Stacie remarked gleefully as they walked up the pathway to the house.
The porch had small groups of people talking and drinking and making out. The door was opened and they walked right into a heaving mass of people cluttering the hallway. The living room had some sort of impromptu DJ spinning his IPod playlist and there were people dancing. The place stank of drink and weed. So much for a little intimate soirée.
The girls finally ran into Benji, coming out of his kitchen, looking hapless and harassed.
"Hi! You made it!" the curly-haired man said. He looked slightly relieved seeing the girls and hurried over to welcome them.
"Benji, what happened?" Chloe said after giving Benji a hug. Stacie just waved at him from where she stood whilst Beca awkwardly handed over the bottle of wine. Two burly guys walked past carrying a keg.
"I don't know exactly," Benji replied, looking confused. "Somehow my invite was posted on the inter-station bulletin board and we've got all these people turning up - " He was distracted when a few people playing tag ran past and nearly collided into his entertainment system. "Hey, be careful!"
"So you don't know these people?" Beca asked, looking round.
"Ummm...I know most of them," Benji answered. "Firefighters from other stations mainly but I think there's a few students from a nearby college."
"Dude, you may have minors here?" Beca said. "You'll be in a lot of troub-"
"Ease up, Beca," Stacie quickly interrupt. "Benji's stressed as it is. Do you need help, Benji?"
"If you don't mind, can you help do a snack run? I think some peole had been smoking pot and there's not much left of the hors d'oeuvres I've prepared," Benji asked. "And Bec, I really need your help with Jesse."
Beca blinked back in surprise. "What? Why me?"
"I'm sure Benji will explain, Beca. Meanwhile, we'll go and get more snacks," Chloe said brightly, tugging on Stacie's arm. "Some chips and cheeseballs ok? Ok. See you later, Bec."
"Wait -" Beca spoke up but her protests fell to deaf ears. Chloe and Stacie did a magnificent escape, leaving her with a nervous looking Benji. How did those two moved so fast? Beca sighed, turned towards Benjj and fixed a stoic expression on her face.
"Ok, Benji, what's up with that nerd?"
"He's been weird all day. Well, he's been acting weird these past few weeks and I don't know what the hell it is," Benji said. "Have he said anything to you?"
"Umm...we've -" Beca mumbled a little guiltily. "We've not been talking."
"Something is bothering him big time," Benji replied. "Normally, I would talk it out of him but - oh my god! Put those things down! They are collector's items!"
Benji broke off to bellow at two guys fighting with his lightsabers. They just laughed, before dropping the light sabers and running off. Benji rushed over to pick them up, cradling them protectively against his chest. He made his way up the stairs with Beca following close behind.
"Where do I find Jesse?" Beca hollered at him.
"What?" Benji shouted over his shoulder.
"Jesse. You wanted me to talk to him."
"Oh. Try the backyard," he said carelessly, still trying to protect his precious lightsabers. "He's slowly drinking himself stupid so he would be near the alcohol."
"What about Sara?" Beca shouted. "Maybe Sara should talk to him. She's his girlfriend!"
Benji stopped in his tracks and turned to face Beca, who was panting after that quick climb up the stairs.
"Things don't seem to be ok between them," Benji said. "I think he really need a friend right now, Beca. He needs you."
Beca didn't have an answer to that and she was aware she was opening and closing her mouth like a fish now. Benji had a pleading look on his face and she didn't have the heart to refuse him.
"He might be in the garage. Or the kitchen. Please can you find him? I don't want him drunk and making stupid mistake," Benji added. "Now if you would excuse me, I need to keep these in a safe place."
Beca slowly nodded and Benji hurried off to his locked bedroom. She turned to make her way down the stairs to look for Jesse Swanson. Great. Just great. That nerd was probably having problems with his girlfriend, Sara, and she, Beca Mitchell had to help both of them kiss and make up.
"Ok, Beca is looking for Jesse now," Benji whispered into his phone. He was standing in his darkened room after locking up his light sabers in his closet. They were on top of the Darth Vader helmet and his scale model of the X-wing fighter and Millennium Falcon.
He heard Chloe squealing down the phone line.
"Good work, Benji!" Chloe said. "Looks like the plan is going ahead. Stacie and I am going to drive around and we'll double back in an hour."
"Ok," Benji replied. "Umm.. you're still bringing the cheeseballs, right? It's just that I think I've heard them raiding my freezer already. They are really hungry, Chloe."
"You mean that wild party is not part of the plan?"
Now, think. If I were a guy intending to get blind drunk, where would I be?
Beca had walked round and round the place at least three times but couldn't find that troublesome nerd. She had been pulled into a conga in the kitchen, someone tried to grind up behind her in the living room and she had walked into a couple having sex in a bathroom. Twice. Still no sign of Swanson. And all this loud, bad music was beginning to give her a headache. Someone jostled into her and she was about to yell at the person when she found herself face to face with the the very blonde, very beautiful Sara.
"Sorr -" Sara was about to apologise when she recognised the tiny brunette she nearly toppled over. "Hey, I know you! We've met before."
Beca quickly assessed the situation. Ok, she couldn't quite escape. Her way was blocked by this huge blondie here and she was actually staring at Beca with an expectant look on her face.
"Hey Sara," Beca reluctantly answered. "Yup, we've met. At the fire station. My school was visiting?"
"Oh. Yeah. Jesse introduced us. It's Becky, right?" Sara said. Without waiting for a reply, Sara barrelled on. "How did you get in here? I thought it's just Benji inviting all the firemen from nearby precincts, which is really stupid, if you ask me. No one parties harder than a fireman. He is so going to have his whole place thrashed by the time we're finished. I hope he has enough insurance."
Sara was sniggering as she took a gulp of her beer and she grinned at Beca.
"Oh look, you don't have a drink," she said. "Here. Have one."
She had swiped an unattended cup of beer off a table nearby and handed it to Beca. Beca looked at the cup suspiciously. There was no way she was going to drink that. She just took it to stop Sara pushing the beer against her and spilling it all over her top. Who drinks unattended alcohol anyway? That was just asking for trouble.
Sara was too occupied with necking her beer and swaying on the spot to the loud music to notice what Beca was up to and the brunette took the opportunity to surreptitiously checked Sara out. She didn't look sad or someone who might have a fight with her boyfriend. In fact, Sara looked downright cheerful. If there was trouble in paradise, it didn't look it. Beca plucked up the courage to ask.
"Hey Sara, have you seen Jesse?"
"What?" Sara yelled above the noise.
"Jesse? Where is he?" Beca shouted back. "Benji wanted me to look for him."
"Might be in the kitchen," Sara replied with a shrug. She then laughed. "Probably surrounded by his calendar groupies. There's a few of them about tonight. You know he was in that naked foreman calendar, right? He was Mr. September. Damn hot."
Yeah yeah. She knew. She had the calendar by her bed, just in case she need it for.. umm, research purposes.
"Those sluts are barking up the wrong tree," Sara continued gleefully. "They're not getting any from Jesse. He's taken!"
Yeah. Beca knew that too.
"Can I tell you a secret?" Sara said excitedly, clutching onto Beca's arm. She leaned in closer and Beca could smell the alcohol on her breath. "Don't tell anyone because it's not official yet. Jesse and I...We are moving in together!"
"What?" Beca yelled back, surprised. Ok, why the hell was Benji saying Jesse and Sara's relationship was in trouble? They were going to move in? Already?
"Yep," Sara nodded with a self satisfied smirk. "Although he's been a little odd lately and not talking much. Poor babe must be nervous to ask me to move in. I don't know why. I move in yesterday if he asked me."
"So he hasn't asked you?" Beca was clutching at straws.
"It's a matter of time." Sara replied confidently. "We are getting along so well together. And between you and me, I could really move out of my crappy apartment into his house. It looks amazing."
"Yes, it is," Beca agreed. "His grandma left it to him. It's been in the family for some time."
"Exactly! It's the kind of home you wanna have a family in, y'know." Sara said, giving Beca a wink. "Watch this space."
"Don't you think this is moving really fast? You've been together what? Four months?" Beca answered. "I mean Jesse couldn't even make up his mind on what colour shirt to buy, let alone deciding on something big like this. He sent me like ten different photos of those shirts and even then I had to tell him to buy the blue one."
Sara was looking a little less excited now.
"Three actually," she replied slowly. She was now scrutinising Beca with a suspicious look on her face. "Hang on. You seem to know a lot about Jesse."
Beca promptly shut her mouth.
"Your name's Becky, right?" Sara asked.
"Beca," she replied self-consciously. "It's Beca actually."
Sara was giving her this unnerving stare and Beca had this sudden urge to flee.
"Let me get this straight," Sara frowned down at her. "You are Beca."
"Yes."
"The Beca all the station crew said Jesse tried to heimlich at a restaurant once?"
"Yes."
"The Beca who went to the funfair on a date with Jesse. He threw up on you at a rollercoaster and then sprayed you with mud and water?"
"Yes."
"But you still came over his place, both of you got drunk, had sex and you broke his nose?"
"Technically, we didn't have sex," Beca clarified. "I passed out on top of him before we got any further."
Yeah, despite what it looked like, they didn't have sex that time. When they got into that comfortable phase of being text friends, Jesse had owned up. They were getting hot and heavy. His top was off. Her plaid shirt was tossed onto the sofa but when he was drunkenly trying to unhook her bra, Jesse found Beca had fallen asleep and was snoring against his neck.
But there was no time to reminisce on that now because holy shit-o moly, Jesse's girlfriend was towering over her and looking really scary.
"You are the Beca that Jesse had pizza with and had to walk home a couple of weeks ago? The one he had been texting non-stop these last few months?" Sara continued, spitting each word like a bullet. "The Beca everyone at the station was saying he is still mad about?"
Beca cringed at each accusation, cowering as Sara continued to tower over her.
"Yes?" she managed to squeak out.
"You are THAT Beca?" Sara yelled.
Beca closed her eyes, expecting a blow. When she didn't feel the might of the righteous girlfriend on her pale, scrawny ass, Beca opened one eye. Sara was still standing in front of her, mouth wide open and crazy eyed. She then proceeded to shut her mouth, took a deep breath and with all the calm she could muster, Sara woodenly said "Excuse me" before turning on her heels and walking away.
Beca felt like her insides were going to drop. Everyone in the near vicinity had witnessed what had happened and were all staring open mouthed at her.
"Thank you for not hitting me," Beca called out pathetically to Sara's retreating back.
Sara didn't turn round. And then Beca realised she has to find Jesse Swanson before his bent-on-the-rampage girlfriend did a number on his ass.
This was useless.
Beca had rushed around Benji's place twice again and still couldn't find Jesse. She couldn't find Benji either and now Beca was wondering whether she had landed in some Alice in Wonderland kind of place where spaces melt into one another and nothing made sense. She tried calling Jesse's phone but the reception was crap. Beca had to walk out onto the back porch where reception was strongest and found five missed calls from Luke.
"Yeah. I'm at a party," Beca was now saying to Luke. Of course she had to return the calls. It was what all good girlfriends do. Luke was saying something now which she couldn't make out. "What? Sorry, I can't hear you. Reception's bad and it's fucking noisy! I'm having a massive headache."
"Do you want me to pick you up?" Luke shouted back.
"What?"
"You have a headache. Do you want me to pick you up?"
Beca glanced at the time. It was nearly ten. She had no idea where Stacie and Chloe were. They were supposed to be back at least an hour ago. She couldn't find Benji. She couldn't find Jesse. And Jesse's Amazonian girlfriend was stomping somewhere on the property raring for a fight. Yeah, she should get out while she could.
"Yes please. Pick me up. I'll text you the address."
Beca ended the call and swiftly typed the address. Luke was probably finishing up at his station downtown and would take forty-five minutes. She could sit tight for that amount of time. She just have to find a hiding place somewhere.
Beca was heading back inside when she heard a breathy girly voice purring. "So...were you naked behind that fire hydrant? You have to be, right? It's a naked calendar."
Another female voice was cooing now.
"Y'know, I wrote some fan mail to you after that calendar came out. Perhaps you remember them? It was from Michelle?"
Then she heard that slightly embarrassed chuckle. One she knew quite well. Beca took a few steps to her right and peered round. There was a nook of some kind she had missed and just as she suspected, there was Jesse Swanson sitting down on a bench flanked by two girls.
The pervert! His girlfriend was somewhere in this place and he was making out with these two?
Well, technically he wasn't.
They were pawing him, though, with their dirty, skanky hands and he was trying to push them away. But one of them was now laughing and had her head close to Jesse. She was probably whispering something slutty whist trying to nibble his earlobe and Beca saw red.
"Jesse! There you are!" Beca yelled, loud enough to make those two sluts jumped apart. Jesse had a shell-shocked look on his face and Beca took the opportunity to march across to where they were. "Where the fuck have you've been? I've been looking all over for you."
"Umm..." Jesse tried to work his vocal chords and failing miserably. Beca stopped forward and grabbed his wrist. Despite her small size, she practically jerked Jesse to his feet.
"Your wife is going to give birth any moment and here you are getting drunk," Beca accused him. She turned to the two girls who were staring at her. "Leave this one alone, girls. He's good for nothing. Have seven kids at home and on his third wife already. Likes to make them pregnant and leave them. Run. Run far far away."
The girls were flinching in horror, flicking their gaze between Beca and Jesse. Beca was already twisting Jesse's arm and pushing him forward towards the house.
"What the -" Jesse mumbled. "Bec, what are you doing?"
"Saving your ass," Beca muttered back. "Don't stop. Keep moving."
It was not until they were just entering kitchen that Beca must have shoved him a little too hard and Jesse stumbled, stubbing his toe against the doorway.
"Oww," he complained, hopping on one foot. "Beca, stop."
"What?" Beca muttered dangerously. "What do you mean stop?"
"I hurt my foot," he pouted, raising his foot to show her. "See? It hurts."
Jeez - Beca rolled her eyes - Is he drunk and trying to act cute? Because it was totally working and now she was confused as to why she had pushed Jesse all the way into the kitchen. And could he stop smiling sappily at her like that? It was distracting. She was trying to be q good friend and save his ass. His girlfriend was on some kind of mad rampage here and could murder him on cold blood.
"Can I know what this is all about?" Jesse asked. He still had that drunk, derpy smile on his face and he was casually lounged back on the kitchen corner. "I get it those two girls were coming on a little strong but you don't have to worry there, Beca. I wasn't the least bit interested in them."
"What the fu - dude, I don't care if you had a threesome with those two skanks -"
"You rescued me and honestly, that is the sweetest thing ever -" Jesse barrelled on. "- but I want you to know I was just minding my business, drinking my beer when they come on to me. I wasn't into them, Bec. Like, at all."
"Jesse, stop -" Beca swiftly hollered. "For god's sake, listen to me -"
Jesse was shaking his head now, frowning.
"I don't get it, Bec. What's up with you?" he complained. "I thought we were friends. We had such a nice time hanging out that night. Ok, I get it you don't want to hang out with me because of Luke. I get that. It's fine. But you ignored me for weeks. Weeks. I didn't get a text back. You didn't answer any of my calls. I was worried I did something terribly wrong."
Throughout his whole diatribe, Jesse had reached out for the bottle of tequila on the kitchen stand and down a shot in between. He grimaced as the alcohol burned.
"Now you appear out of nowhere -" he continued, pouring and licking some salt from the back of his hand. " -saying you were looking for me and looking all jealous when some other girls made a play at me. I'm so confused -". He then sucked on a wedge of lime.
"Your girlfriend Sara is looking for you!" Beca yelled. "And when she finds you, dude, you are in SO much trouble."
That was the moment when Jesse nearly swallowed the lime. He was choking and quickly thumped his solar plexus, being the trained EMT he was. The lime flew out of his mouth. And hit Beca straight in the eye.
"OWWWWW! Jesus effing Christ!" Beca yelled out, immediately cupping her right eye with her hand. It stung. It so fucking stung. The lime. The pip. That acidic juice. Whatever it was, her eye was stinging and Beca was doubling up in pain.
"Oh my god, Beca." she heard Jesse saying. "I'm so sorry. Are you ok?"
"My eye!"
"Let me look at it. Can you open it?"
"No, it hurts."
"Come on, baby. You can do this," Jesse coaxed her. He was trying to gently pulled her hand free. "Take away your hand. Let me look at it."
"For the last time, I can't open my eye. It fucking hurts," Beca bellowed back. Her eyes were streaming now and her right eye was on fire. "It's burning."
"Oh god," Jesse mumbled before speaking in what he hoped was a confident sort of voice. "We need to get your eye cleaned. I know where Benji keeps his eye wash. Let's go to the bathroom."
"Fuck the bathroom," Beca cried. "I wanna go to the hospital."
"Beca, listen to me," Jesse switched to his professional mode, all trace of drunkenness gone. "There might be a foreign object in there. You might get corneal abrasion. I won't know until I see it, OK? Most of the time, an eye wash and some drops are all that you need. If it's really bad, I'll send you to ER, I promise."
Why the hell did all these stupid things keep happening to her? Her eye really fucking hurt but the man was a trained EMT; so like it or not, he'd probably know what he was doing. As soon as Beca nodded, Jesse was tugging her hand to follow him. She was half blind, the place was smoky and crowded and Beca was stumbling a little.
Jesse stopped and asked, "You ok walking? Do you want me to -"
"Don't you fucking dare carry me. I can walk."
Somehow they managed to make it to the bathroom. Miraculously it was empty - no couple fornicating inside. Jesse immediately guided Beca to sit on the covered toilet before rummaging around for the eyewash. He was about to do it for her when Beca tore him another one about being able to wash her own eye, thank you very much. He did hovered when she was bent over the sink and helped her change the solution at every wash. Once he was satisfied she had flushed her eye enough times and it was no longer burning as bad, Jesse turned her round to face him.
"Ok, let me look at it," he said.
It didn't hurt that much so Beca tentatively opened her eye.
"It's dim in here so I'm going use a flashlight, OK? I just want to check there's nothing in here," Jesse said, reaching into his pocket and fishing out a small flashlight. "Tell me if the light hurts."
Beca nodded. The light was glaring but not that uncomfortable. He was carefully checking her top and bottom eyelids for any speck or debris, his hands gentle on her face.
"I'm really sorry," Jesse apologised. "I should have just swallowed that lime."
"Don't be stupid," Beca replied. "You might choke and I'm not that good with First aid. You could actually die."
He was chuckling quietly.
'This whole place is overrun with firefighters. I would have been ok."
"Dude, half of them are drunk and the other half probably on weed," Beca answered. "Trust me, you would be dead. Better for you to spit that stupid lime out."
"You sacrifice your eyeball so I won't die?" Jesse said in amusement. "I'm touched." He seemed satisfied her eye was clean. clicked the flashlight shut and slipped it back into his pocket. His hands were immediately back touching her face, tipping her head up for a closer check. "Looks all clean. Just a little red. I think you might need some drops."
"Where did you get the flashlight?" Beca asked, a little curious now.
"Always have one on me. You never know when you need one," he answered, smiling down at her.
"Nerd." Beca quipped back, trying hard not to return his smile.
She failed.
He was so close. They were standing almost nose to nose. He smelled a mix of tequila and that nice aftershave he always wore. She would only need to tiptoe, angled her head slightly and she could feel his lips against hers. Beca remembered how soft they were. He seemed to be waiting for her to make the first move. His hands had slid down, lightly holding her upper arms and his warm, irresistible chocolate eyes gazing down at her.
"So. Eye drops." Beca broke the spell. She nodded slightly, turning away. "I'l get some on my way home."
Jesse's smile was a little rueful as he took the hint and stepped back.
"Yes, you should," he spoke softly. "Who did you come with?"
"Stacie and Chloe. In Stacie's car," Beca replied, not meeting his eye. "But I don't know where they are now."
"Let me drive you home."
"No, dude, you've been drinking," Beca protested, tucking her hair self-consciously behind her ear. "Besides, Luke's picking me up in half an hour. I called him just now."
There was a beat of silence from Jesse.
"Yes. Of course Luke's picking you up," she heard him saying.
"I think I better wait outside."
Beca didn't know why she felt so awful all of the sudden. Jesse had straightened up and she could feel his gaze on her.
"You should," Jesse answered. "Let's get out of there. I need another beer."
He took the few paces towards rhe door and Beca stared at his broad back. Sne bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything. He looked slightly hurt just now and she couldn't help thinking it was her fault somehow. No. She was doing the right thing. This was crazy. They nearly kissed just now and the shocking thing was she really, really wanted to. She should wait outside at porch for Luke to arrive and take her home. Being in the same place with Jesse was proving to be rather dangerous.
He was also taking an inordinately long time to open the door.
It shouldn't take this long. You put your hand on the knob, twist and push. Jesse was doing all that. Except the door didn't seem to budge and he was now frantically rattling the knob.
"What's wrong?" Beca spoke up.
"It wouldn't open," Jesse answered. "I think it's jammed shut."
"Don't be stupid. Maybe you didn't undo the lock," Beca said, coming round to look.
"I'm telling you it's shut," Jesse said, clicking the lock back and forth.
It wasn't the lock.
"Stand back," he ordered and when Beca took a few steps back, Jezse tried shoving his shoulder hard against the door. The door would not budge.
"Looks like none shall pass," Jesse commented drily.
The lame joke went over her head.
"Are we locked in?" Beca began to panic. "Oh my god. We can't be!"
She proceed to hammer her tiny fist against the door and yelling for help at the top of her voice. Jesse jowned in. Someone should be able to hear the racket and rescue them but no one came.
"Help!" Beca yelled again, still hammering the door.
"Bec, stop. It's not working."
"What do you mean it's not working? HELP!"
"Bec, I'm telling you no one's going to open the door," Jesse said. "Stop. You're gonna hurt your hand."
"Why is no one coming?" Beca complained plaintively. She had stopped knocking on the door now. Jesse was right. Her hand was starting to hurt and her throat was a little sore from all at shouting.
"Wild party. Shut door. Rhythmic banging," Jesse reasoned. "They're going to avoid opening that door for a little while. And this bathroom kinda out of the way."
"Shit," Beca swore, sinking down to sit on the loo. He was right. No one will open the door. "What do we do now?"
AN : Hey, lookie, a new chapter. Thank you for your reviews and reads. Hope you like this one. Also shout out to Molly with her pie-baby. And Yuraed, ACBC huh darling?
