A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favourite/followed. Thank you for being so patient in waiting for me to get out this chapter. My little holiday was just what I needed to get the creative juices going. The fic is going into a new direction after this chapter.

Rating: T

Characters: Beca/Jesse, the rest of the Pitch Perfect cast (eventually), plus some other characters.

Warnings: Mature situations referenced and swearing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect or the songs used in this fic in any way. I'm just playing with them.

Hurricanes – Chapter 10 – Confrontation

Dream Sequence

Five year old Beca Mitchell was staring at the TV screen, enthralled at Pinocchio's nose growing longer. She giggled, and looked around for her mummy and daddy so she could show them how funny this was. She slipped off the couch and went towards the kitchen.

Her daddy was sitting on a chair, his head in his hands, glancing worriedly at his wife, who was opposite him, looking blank, but her eyes had a haunted cast to them. Little Beca knew something wasn't right.

She whispered, "Mummy?"

Her parents didn't seem to hear her.

The pitter-patter of her feet echoed in the silence and Beca said louder, "Mummy? Daddy? You ok?"

David mustered up a small smile for his little girl. "Hey sweetheart," he murmured to her, groaning with effort to hoist her up off the ground when she reached him, embracing her tightly. "Everything's ok now I've got a special hug from you. Why don't you go give mummy one too?"

"Okay," Beca replied sweetly, running around to her mother's side and reaching her hands up. "Mummy, up! I want to give you special hugs!"

Vicki gazed down at her only daughter sadly, restraining tears at seeing her own eyes back at her. "Okay baby, you can come here," she said, picking her up awkwardly, hugging her loosely. Beca didn't like this hug. She felt like she was going to fall off. "Can I go back to daddy now?" she asked.

Something flickered in Vicki's eyes before they went blank. "Sure Beca," she replied softly, letting her daughter slide down.

David knew his wife's emotional state was fragile at best and gently took his little girl by the hand. "Come on Beca, you can show me Pinocchio while mum has some private time."

Behind their retreating backs, neither father or daughter saw the absolute hate in Vicki's eyes at their joined hands.

End dream sequence

Beca's eyes snapped open. That wasn't exactly a dream, more of a memory – although she had never seen her mother that spiteful towards her at such a young age. Was that her brain filling in the gaps provided by her father, the truth after all these years that Vicki had been insanely jealous of their father-daughter bond and sought to ruin it?

She didn't have time to ponder it when two things happened one after the other.

The first being that Jesse was still in her bed, curled around her and keeping her warm although they were both still fully clothed. His arms were banded around her waist and she could feel the light puffs of air from his slow, even breathing. She blushed, embarrassed at being so cutesy, but it was surprisingly natural, comfortable.

That wonderful feeling was soon destroyed by a shrill scream of rage from outside her door.

Happiness dropped into fully fledged panic for Beca and she bolted up, realising that Jesse was in her bed and the door was closed. Her mother must have checked the cameras which meant…

"BECAAAA! GET UP NOW!"

"Fuck," Beca swore, scrambling out of bed just as a groggy Jesse, woken by the screaming, sat up.

"Wha-?"

"Jesse, get up, she's so pissed off," Beca said frantically, not knowing what to do, what to say, anything so that she could protect Jesse from her mother.

His head lulled from side to side and he slowly rose and murmured, "I don't understand, who was screaming?"

Jesse was answered when the door was thrown open, banging painfully against Beca's outstretched arm, a furious Vicki standing in the doorway dressed in nothing but a closed silk robe and hatred.

"HA! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! You thought you'd pull one over on me, you think I'm stupid," she raged, jabbing her index finger towards Beca's face, making her inch back towards the bed, moving her body before Jesse. "I should have known you would have disobeyed me, that you're a dirty, filthy, rotten liar, Beca Mitchell. He's only my friend," Vicki mocked in a babyish tone, waving her hands about wildly. "What utter bullshit! Best friends all right, with all the benefits."

"We weren't doing anything!" Beca rallied back angrily, all hopes of speaking to her mother rationally spinning down the drain. "He just fell asleep in my bed with me in it!"

Vicki glared at Jesse, viciously spitting out, "You broke my rules. Are you that stupid? You couldn't understand the meaning of leave the door open if you're in the same room? I told you not to mess with common propriety!"

Jesse was usually a very patient person. But he had been woken up from a very pleasant sleep with the girl of his dreams in his arms by this bitch of a person, made to feel like an idiot, and also made to feel guilty for getting caught – because it further ruined Beca's relationship with her mother. Laying his hand on Beca's shoulder in a sign of support, he simply replied, "I believe you broke your own rules last night Ms. Parting. I don't think it's a measure of common propriety to let the whole house know exactly what you're up to. If you get my drift."

Vicki's face darkened in her anger and she hissed, "That doesn't concern you boy."

"Then my relationship with Beca doesn't concern you either, what we have and haven't done," Jesse said firmly.

Beca was staring at him like he was crazy. The composed, steady look confirmed it for her. Yep, her boyfriend had to be fucking insane to be so calm! While a small part of her was flattered he was standing up for her, she was too worried about how her mother would react to this show of defiance. She turned back, more torn than she had ever been before (except for when it had come to the past year with the Bellas). "Mum, look, just cool off-"

"Don't you TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" she shrieked, acting more like a two year old having a temper tantrum than a mother. "You've had a boyfriend all this time!"

"Why the hell is that such a big deal!?" Beca finally lost her patience, screaming right back. She had enough of trying to be the bigger person in this mockery of a familial relationship. "You can't control me any more mother. I'm my own person and I will never be forced into a mould I'll never fit into. I'm so sick of you taking out your anger on me. You've been so bitter for so many years that I got on better with dad, that you couldn't biologically have any more children, that you lost the two that almost got to four months and was stuck with me, the disappointment. You've been depressed for so long, not seeking any help and it's turned you into a completely different person since you've had me!"

When the truth came free, Beca clapped a hand over her mouth. Oh god, what had she done?

She had spilled her guts in front of Jesse and her mum.

She would have laughed at such a soap opera situation if it wasn't for the stark stunned silence in wake of her words. For as much as she was tense, a great weight felt like it had been lifted off her shoulders.

Jesse's eyes were wide with shock and conveyed his deepest sorrow for such a breaking of bonds.

Vicki on the other hand expressed defeat for a few moments before her prevalent anger took over. "How dare you," she whispered in an icy tone.

"Dad told me the truth," Beca said quietly, holding her ground. It was the worst time for this to happen, but it had to happen sooner or later.

Vicki slumped, turning around as if she couldn't bear to look at them. "Get out."

"Ms. Parting-" Jesse attempted to reason softly, but was cut off by Vicki's snarled, "You are no longer welcome in my house. Get out, Mr. Swanson."

Jesse stilled, but didn't resist. Without a word, he pushed past Beca and Vicki – ignoring Beca's strangled protest of 'no' – and into the guest room, grabbing his suitcase and beginning to pack. He resolved not to create any more angst in fighting against the decision. He was smart. He knew when to bow out gracefully. He listened as his girlfriend and her mother turned their attention on each other and wished that he could turn back time to last night so he could have refused Beca's heartfelt plea to stay.

Seeing Jesse taking her mother's treatment on the chin, Beca whirled around and hissed, "You can't just do that!"

"I just did." Vicki's hand shot out, slamming the door shut to enclose the two of them in the room. "You are a disgrace to me, Beca. Airing our dirty laundry like that," she said in a quiet, blank tone. "Now, I will overlook this egregious deviation from normal behaviour if you enrol yourself in a quality pre-law program and promise to never speak to that boy again."

In that moment, everything became crystal clear for Beca. No more being stubborn or resistant to what she knew in her heart this whole time.

She took a deep breath, took a long, hard, look at her mother, and said in a loud and clear tone, "Fuck. You."

"Beca!" Vicki gasped in anger, expecting her daughter might just behave for once.

She waved her mother off, turning away and yanking her suitcase and duffle bag from underneath her bed. "I'm not going to put up with this anymore. You want Jesse gone? I'm going right along with him. Don't look for me, don't come after me, and if you even try to blackmail me or anything stupid and immature like that, I will deny you gave birth to me. As far as I'm concerned, I don't have a mother. She abandoned me the day I became an individual," she said, locking all the hurt, the pain of the boiling anger and disbelief away behind an unemotional mask. "You don't have to worry about me any more – I'm no longer your problem."

Vicki gaped at the sheer audacity. "You listen-" she started, but Beca whirled around, her eyes sparking with annoyance.

"Stop pushing it! Give me half an hour and you can go back to your sad, pathetic lawyer life without me."

Vicki wanted to grab her daughter and shake her until she saw things her way. She wanted to scream.

But something had gone through her thick skull.

She couldn't control Beca anymore. Not without legal ramifications.

Full of spite and malice, Vicki murmured, "Fine. If you aren't out of here after an hour is up, I will call the police, for from that point on you will be trespassing."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Stormy blue eyes, the same shade in colour, locked in a battle of wills for a few more minutes before Vicki stomped out in a huff. After her mother's bedroom door slammed, Beca sighed, shuddering as the tension left her and the reality of the decision hit her.

She was leaving.

She was going to be leaving this house for the last time.

No more guilt, no more disappointment, no more looking over her shoulder to make sure her mother wouldn't be there to negative every single move she made.

Relief was slow in coming, for Beca knew that she couldn't go straight down to Atlanta. Her father and Sheila were away in Chicago for a conference and wouldn't be back at their home for another week. Even if she took her time driving down to Atlanta, she couldn't be certain it would take a week, and she wasn't looking forward to spending money for a place to stay.

And what about Jesse?

Beca was chucking clothes into her bags hastily, the pressure of what to do weighing down on her.

It wasn't until she had finished packing her clothing that she had a sudden idea.

If Jesse was up to it, that was.

Meanwhile, Jesse had finished gathering his belongings and peeked out into the hallway, noting that things had been silent except for the sounds of some things banging around in Beca's room. He carefully walked in, watching as the slight form before him shook every now and then, her face cold and composed.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. For screwing this up.

"It's okay," she replied. It was never your responsibility or your fault. I mean it. She glanced through her hair at him and continued, "I'm sorry. Now we have to get you back home and your parents are gonna hate the fact that your flight fare is going to be wasted, they're gonna think I'm a mental case and…"

Jesse moved to envelop her in his arms. He didn't care about the flight. It was money. He could always earn more. "We're going to be fine. Don't worry about the fact I'll probably miss my flight. Why don't we take a road trip down to North Carolina? Stay with me for a while. My parents won't see things badly if we tell them what happened," he said.

"I don't want to impose-"

"Beca," Jess said firmly, pulling back and looking into her eyes. "Let's just go. Let's just leave our worries here in Boston and we'll deal with them as they come up."

Beca nodded slowly. She was thankful that Jesse was so 'go with the flow.' "I have an idea."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Chloe's living in New York and she's been bugging me to visit. You think we should on the way down south?" she suggested.

"Why not, as long as she's happy to have us. Just, one thing," Jesse said. When Beca raised an eyebrow in question, Jesse mentioned, "Make sure she doesn't try and corner me in the shower."

Although weak, the reference got Beca to smile. "I'm sure it won't come to that," she said dryly.

Jesse jerked his head towards the door. "C'mon kid, let's blow this popsicle stand. Let's pack everything up in your car, and you won't ever have to see these four walls again."

Gathering up the last of her books, posters and other belongings, Beca glanced around the stark, bare room, now devoid of the flavour she had given it through her possessions. Oddly, sadness came creeping in. This was what she had known for so long and now she was forging a path that was better for her. She was angry that it had taken her so long.

But at long last, she had hope.

A/N: I hope it was worth the wait! Reviews are very much appreciated. Even if I don't reply to them because I forget/get busy/fall asleep on my laptop, I do read them and take in your feedback eagerly :D