AN: Music: The Weight of Us - Sanders Bohlke

"There are thieves who rob us blind, and kings who kill us fine..."

Jesse does not go to the station the next day. He does, however, see her go inside. It's nice to know that the events of last night had not affected her usual routine. He, on the other hand, will have to go a different direction.

He walks away from the station, lest she sees him. Or he sees her. It doesn't really matter, as long as he can stay away. Spring break is almost upon them, and as much as he hates it, he dreads the time that he will have to spend alone, thinking about his severed relationship with the one person that matters at this point in his life. Perhaps it will do him good, having alone time.

"But steady, the rights and the wrongs, and bathe us in innocent song..."

The days grow longer, but not because of natural astronomical phenomenon. He feels her absence more than he feels the pain that she brought him, and all that sunshine is just dragging it out. He's not sure if he loves her; fuck, that was never even in the equation before now, but he changes his routine because she dumps their non-existent romance, and he's hurting, but he still cares enough to casually ask Luke about her, since he won't be dropping by at the station any time soon. And if she wants him to stay away, if that will make her happy, then he'll sail halfway around the world, hold his bleeding heart in his hand until it shrivels up. Well, shit. If he's not in love, he's certainly not out of it either.

"I'm not ready... I'm not ready..."

He turns a corner as he walks down the halls. It's the last day of school before break, and he bumps into her. Quite literally, as they play a little game of dodge-me-not and dance from left to right. She only looks him in the eye when he takes her shoulders, his thumbs brushing against her collarbone, as he moves them both into the general direction of not in front of each other. They stand awkwardly for a little while longer...

"For the weight of us..."

Their eyes meet, but it is devoid of words, of anything. Jesse's hands are still on her shoulders, and she would've pulled away, she really would, had she not glimpsed the desperation in his eyes. She takes him in, one last time, as his jaw tenses with all the words unfulfilled. He looks at her and studies her beautiful face, refreshing the sting of her recent outburst in his mind. He looks away. He can't do this. He excuses himself as he brushes past her.

"For the weight of us..."

He leaves her there, and only then does she realize that she has been holding her breath. She can't bring herself to move, can't even think, as soon as she had felt his hands on her skin, those same hands that she had countless observed in the station, with a microphone, gesturing wildly, pointing at her as he sings his soul out. She shuts her eyes, collects her breath.

"For the weight of us..."

She heaves a sigh, her frustration evident. The wave of the tension leaving nothing in its wake as she goes on her way, the heat of his hands on her shoulders imaginary.

"For the weight of all of us."

He walks as fast as is casually acceptable. He had lingered a little more on her skin, and had risked leaning down on her small frame and showing her how much she means to him. He had felt his heart race against his will, and despite being so damaged, he still wants her. He doesn't know how that's even possible, but he convinces himself that he should stop. This is not an option anymore.

"There's a cold heart buried beneath. And warm blood running deep..."

She walks as fast as she can, her heart racing to keep up with her legs and her emotions. Of all the things she could have bumped into, it would be him. Fucking aces. She works hard to ignore how his fingers had felt, how she had so wondered for the longest time, and now that they had come into contact, it had to be that she has made a solemn promise not to think of him ever again. She wants to scream at the universe, she wants to kick the living daylights out of the fucker who invented these feelings, but her automated response kicks in. She embraces the all too familiar cool of numbness. Whatever. That's her mantra now. Whatever.

"Secrets are mine to keep. Protected by silent sleep..."

He goes inside his dorm, kicks the door close, sits on his bed, and buries his head in his hands, all in one swift movement. Shaking, he opens his laptop to get his mind off of her. He had worked so hard to stay away, to keep his distance, because he is in serious need of an intervention. She drives him crazy, and his mind can't fucking handle it. So he puts on a random movie, sticks his earphones in, and pays more attention to Mean Girls than the movie had ever warranted out of him.

"I'm not ready... for the weight of us."

She gets to her dorm and stops, leans her forehead on the panel. She stays in that position for longer than she would care to count.

"Time has come. Let us be brave..."

He shuts down his compter just as Lindsay Lohan is about to hurl at the guy who looks sexy with his hair pushed back. Judging by the object of his thoughts, the movie had been unsuccessful at providing a distraction. He is still thinking about her.

"Shake off all of your sins..."

She finally opens her eyes, satisfied that her heart has stilled. She vows never to be affected like that again.

"Time has come. Let us be brave..."

He lies there, eyes on the ceiling, contemplating the blankness of it. He lies, completely still, hoping sleep would take him somewhere Beca does not exist. For once.

"Let us be brave."

She lingers on the edge of her dreams, the smooth caress of the strings lulling her deeper as the song serenades her. Her headphones leak out the final strains of melody as she falls asleep...

She dreams of him.

AN: I tried making the last two chapters into one long one, but it was difficult, so instead, I'll be posting multiple chapters whenever I update. I hope that's okay. :)

I know the last chapters seem rather heavy, but I'll be getting on with a few lighter parts later on, so yeah. Tell me what you think? :)

Up next: Aubrey and Beca confrontation...

Coming soon: Donald and Lilly beat boxing...