A/N: hey kiddos, happy friday! I hope your day is going well so far!

There's only a few more chapters left after this one, which is crazy! I'm going to be sad when it's finished!

Also, I have an idea for a NYE one shot that I'm going to hopefully try to fully form & get up in time for Sunday (although I'm now realizing that Sunday is really soon lmao).

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please follow/favourite/review!

The roads had been fine when they left. It had only been snowing lightly, and it wasn't sticking in the Swanson's neighbourhood, and that was true for the first two-ish hours of their drive. "I should have checked the weather for the drive," Jesse mumbled, fists clenched tightly around the steering wheel, not once taking his eyes off the road. The snow had started coming down incredibly hard, and the highway was in rough shape. It was difficult to see anything through the windshield aside from the occasional brake lights cutting through the blizzard-y conditions. The mixtape, which had been pushed into the CD drive the minute they got in the car, was now playing silently in order to help Jesse focus on his driving.

"We could turn back," Beca offered quietly, not wanting to cause a distraction. She knew the suggestion was futile. They were more than halfway to her mom's house, and they were probably safer crawling on the highway than trying to maneuver the windy roads that would follow the next exit.

"I got a text from my mom when we stopped for gas saying that things were even worse back that way," he sighed, briefly stretching his cramping fingers away from the wheel and Beca hummed in acknowledgment. They fell quiet again, the only noise coming from Beca's phone dinging occasionally when texts came through from her mom, asking how things were going.

Jesse reached for the radio knob, turning the songs back up. At the rate they were moving, the music wouldn't hurt, and neither would the sound of the girl quietly singing along next to him.

The drive had taken an additional few hours due to the weather conditions, so it was getting late by the time they pulled up to Beca's mom's house. The streetlights had turned on as they had taken their exit, and the snow had slowed down, but the road conditions were still terrible. "I am so sorry," Jesse apologized with a sigh, shutting off the ignition and leaning back into his seat.

"Hey," Beca said softly, putting her hand on his arm. "It's not your fault. We were both stupid for not checking. Don't blame yourself." He looked over at her with tired eyes, leaning across the console to kiss her. "Now come on, let's go inside."

The driveway was mostly snow-free, likely thanks to Austin, Beca's mom's boyfriend, shoveling it not too long ago. They stumbled on numb legs to the front door, lugging Beca's suitcase behind them, and rang the doorbell since the girl didn't have a key on her. "Shan! Beca is here!" She heard his voice call before the door swung open. His familiar face greeted the pair, ushering them quickly inside and out of the cold. "Beca!" Her mom smiled, hustling down the stairs to pull her into a hug. "And Jesse! It's so great to meet you. I'm Shannon, and this is Austin." The Treble shook hands with both of them, exchanging formalities.

"Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee maybe?" Shannon offered. Beca was slipping off her boots and jacket, shoving them into the foyer closet.

"Oh, I should actually get going. It's going to be really late by the time I get home."

"Dude, seriously?" Beca whipped around, looking up at Jesse with wide eyes. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No, but-"

"Hey, one bad decision today is more than enough. There is no way in hell I am letting you drive home right now!" He was grinning at her, which caused her frown to deepen.

"Okay," he said. "I'll stay."

"Good." She was still frowning when he tucked her under his arm and into his chest.

"I'm just going to go call my parents. And Shannon, coffee would be great, thank you," he smiled, squeezing Beca's side before slipping out the front door to make his phone call.

The Bella is trying really hard to ignore the look her mom is giving her, too aware of her questioning eyes darting back and forth between the door Jesse walked out of and herself. Shannon hadn't been briefed on the Jesse/Beca situation since the kiss at Nationals, not that there had been much to brief her on from then up until the last few weeks. "We're definitely talking about that later," her mom grinned, disappearing into the kitchen with Austin following behind her.

A cold rush of air came with Jesse when he re-entered the house. "Hey, Weirdo," she smiled up at him, moving out of the way so he could shake the snow off his coat.

"I think my mom would have killed me if I tried to drive home," he told her.

"She wouldn't have been the only one." There was a pause. Jesse was raising his eyebrows at her. "I'm glad you're here."

"Glad to be here," he grinned. "Now, let me see where the infamous Beca Mitchell works her mixing magic."

"You're ridiculous," she told him but started up the stairs to her room.

Beca liked having Jesse in her room. Last night, they sat on the floor and he had gone through all of the records she had that didn't make it to Barden, and asked about all of the mixing equipment that wouldn't have fit in her room at the Bella house. He'd fiddled around on the keyboard that was tucked on a desk in the corner, showing her a melody he hadn't been able to get out of his head. It was nice, having him on her turf for a change.

It was also nice when she woke up with her legs tangled with his and her sheets smelling like him. "I shouldn't stay too long," he whispered when she rolled over to face him. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

"I know," she hummed sleepily. "We should probably get going."

"Five more minutes," he smiled, tugging her into him, wrapping himself around her.

The five minutes turned into ten, which turned into thirty, which could have turned into more had Jesse's phone not started ringing. It was Laurel, telling him that the roads were had cleared up overnight, and that it was safe for him to drive home.

It didn't take long for Jesse to get ready to go after breakfast, since he hadn't been intending to stay over in the first place. He definitely did his best to prolong his leaving for as long as he could, but eventually (when his mom called for the third time, reminding him that Christmas Eve was tomorrow and he needed to get home) he had to say goodbye.

"I'll see you in, like, two weeks," Beca told him, patting his arm. "I think you'll survive."

"Oh, it's you I'm worried about," he teased. "I'm just really not sure how you're going to get by with the lack of fun facts and juice pouches."

"I somehow think I'll manage," she grinned, pulling his face down to hers and kissing him quickly. "Drive safe, okay?"

"I will," he nodded. He looped his fingers through her belt loops, tugging her closer before speaking again. "Try not to miss me too much."

"You're such a weirdo," she hummed as he covered her mouth with his once more. "Call me when you get home."

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Nerd. See you in a few weeks." She waited for him to walk to his car, both of them waving as he pulled out of the driveway, then slipped back inside. Shannon was waiting for her in the foyer.

"Dude!" Beca cried, startled. Shannon ignored her daughter's shock, smiling slyly.

"So you and Jesse finally happened, huh?"

"It would seem that way," she hummed, wandering off into the kitchen with her mom trailing behind her. She sat down at the island, picking at some uneaten toast.

"Since April?" Her mom inquired, leaning towards her from the other side of the counter, so they were face to face.

"No," she shook her head. "A lot more recently than that."

"What happened then, if it wasn't your big serenade?"

"A lot of things," she shrugged. "Nothing specific. Everything kind of just built up until it didn't have to anymore."

"You're really not giving me much to work with here, kid," she laughed, pressing for more information.

"I just stopped pushing him away, I guess. And accidentally mentioned that I loved him." Beca was trying really hard to be casual about the whole thing, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. They both knew that it was, though.

"You love him?" She asked softly. Beca could hear the smile in her voice before she looked up.

"Yeah," she said. Her mom was beaming at her. "I guess he was right about us after all."

Beca was at her desk, working on a mix that had potential to be a set for the Bellas. It was New Year's Eve, and she had gotten some new equipment for Christmas, which she had been messing around with for the last few days. Her headphones were on, and she was listening back to what she had so far loud enough that she didn't hear anyone enter her room. She felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump and yank her headphones off. "Jesus!" She cried, swiveling around in her chair to face Austin. He looked nervous and wouldn't stop playing with his hands.

"Hey, kid," he nodded, settling onto the end of her bed. He could hear the mix playing quietly.

"What's up?" She questioned. She liked Austin. He had been in her and her mom's lives for a long time, and felt like more of a father figure than Doctor Mitchell did half the time.

"There's something I want to talk to you about," he said.

"Shoot."
"Okay, well, you know I love your mom so, so much, and you, of course. We've been doing this thing for a really long time, and I wanted to ask you if it would be alright if I asked Shannon to marry me?"

"Yeah! Hell yeah!" Beca laughed at his relieved facial expression, as if she could possibly say no.

"Oh, thank god," he grinned, getting up from the bed and pulling her into a quick hug.

"When are you gonna do it?"

"Tonight, at midnight." He wiped his palms on his jeans.

"You don't have anything to worry about. Mom's going to say yes."

She was right.