Epilogue V - Jesse

"What are you up to? Xx"

Beca looked down at her phone screen as she saw the message from her girlfriend pop up and she smiled, quickly replying: "Nothing much just missing you x"

The brunette sat back in her seat and looked out of the cab window. She still found it odd for it to be so dark at 9pm. Having lived and worked in New York for a couple of years now, Beca had become adjusted to the blinding light that the 'City That Never Sleeps' provided the second the evenings drew in. Now, in the depths of South Carolina, with nothing more than the odd street lamp here or there, the nights sky was scattered with bright stars that shon out at her.

Beca glanced down at her phone again as Chloe responded with a monkey covering it's mouth emoji, followed by a smiley face with hearts for eyes emoji. She grinned again, her heart skipping a beat as she imagined the reaction Chloe was going to have the moment Beca turned up at her parent's lake house to surprise her. The redhead was going to freak. And there was only about fifteen minutes to go before she arrived.

The meeting with her boss this morning had essentially been an opportunity for him to catchup with the young woman during his brief trip to their New York HQ. Yet somehow, miraculously, it had turned into him congratulating her on the success that her trip to Europe had been. Not for her or The Bella's but success for Residual Heat, as Beca had ensured to promote the company at every possible opportunity. During interviews, on Twitter, on stage. Interest in the company from overseas had increased dramatically and it hadn't gone unnoticed by the top-dogs at Residual Heat. As a reward Beca's boss gave her the rest of the week off 'to visit her family who were all congregating at the family lake house' (she knew he hadn't been listening to the details).

When she tried to protest, despite her heart dancing inside, he insisted that it was the first and only time she would ever be given this opportunity. That was enough for Beca, who had quickly shut her mouth, and took the opportunity with open arms. She had patiently remained at the office for two more meetings before hastily slipping away, thrilled that she'd have time to grab a free coffee at Chloe's coffee shop. What she hadn't bargain on was who she would bump into at the coffee shop.

Beca dove through the door of the coffee shop, letting out a long sigh as she pulled her soaking umbrella from above her head, shaking it slightly to the side before collapsing it and placing it behind one of the coat stands that had actually been her suggestion at the beginning of last year. As always the shop was heaving, the sound bouncing off the walls of customers talking loudly over the rumble of the coffee grinder and milk frother behind the coffee shop counter. From the looks of things all tables in the building were taken, but Beca knew where there would be a free seat. So she snuck past the customers who were patiently waiting to give the staff their coffee order in the long queue, and towards the end of the bar where she knew the free chair would be stood beside the small table that probably had paperwork spread out all over it. It was where she so often, if not always, sat whenever she waited patiently for Chloe to be given a break, which was usually the moment Beca arrived. Chloe of course wasn't working at the coffee shop this week, and was instead away at her family's lake house. And as such, Beca had no idea whether any of the staff would make an effort to acknowledge her let alone give her a free coffee.

Fortunately a bubbly "Hey Beca!" was sounded from one of the staff members (who Beca thought was called Libby? Maybe?) which, intern, caused a wave of friendly "Hey Beca"'s by the rest of the team. Unfortunately, the moment she turned her head whilst walking to acknowledge them her petite frame collided with a taller, broader frame. A…familiar frame. The shock and embarrassment of literally bumping into someone meant Beca didn't really register the person's familiar voice as he apologised until she looked up at him. Her heart lurched, her stomach twisted, and her chest tightened as she looked up at those deep dark brown eyes belonging to a face that opened up into an awkward smile as the two recognised each other.

"Beca? Hey!"

Beca felt sick. There stood before her was her ex-boyfriend. Jesse. Jesse was here. At Chloe's work. Okay, so it was a coffee shop in New York City and anybody is allowed to come here, but still…Chloe worked here! Beca could feel how dry her mouth had become and she cleared her throat while Jesse patiently waited for her response, take-out coffee cup in hand. It was a miracle it had survived their collision. "Jesse…um…wha-…how…what are you doing here?"

Even with the loud hubble of chatter around them and loud coffee machines beside them Beca still heard him chuckle, a bemused grin on his face. Or maybe she could just remember what that particular chuckle sounded like, so she'd heard it anyway? She saw him glance around the coffee shop, particularly behind the counter at the staff who were busy bustling around making and serving their customers. But the glance was short-lived, and Beca's heart raced as Jesse resumed his focus on her, "I'm in New York for a couple of days attending a film composing workshop. We're staying up by Central Park."

Beca had somehow lost all ability to speak. Or even form words in her head. Seeing Jesse here, out of context within this coffee shop, had completely thrown her. She figured moving to the other side of the country from him would almost guarantee never having to bump into him, particularly not like this. It didn't matter that she was currently lost for words. She knew Jesse would keep speaking, despite her silence. He'd always been one to hate silences, particularly long silences. It had so often been the reason why they had argued during their relationship. Jesse had always accused her of shutting him out, demanding she tell him what was going on in her head so he could try to understand her.

It had been so draining because usually her silence was just because she had nothing to say, or that she was busy spending time trying to quietly work out how she was feeling herself. Beca never saw the awkwardness in silence and that was another reason why she loved Chloe so much. If Beca ever went silent around Chloe the redhead would just go about her own business, or continue what she was doing, or continue talking at Beca, usually not about anything relevant or useful or demanding, until Beca was ready to speak again. She never forced the brunette to talk to her. She never demanded that Beca tell her how she was feeling or what she was thinking. Chloe simply got her. Chloe knew how to handle her. And that was why Chloe was her best friend. That was why Chloe was now her girlfriend.

"Hey congratulations on the tour by the way. I was keeping a keen eye on The Bella's Instagram…" if Beca hadn't still been so hepped-up on the bizarreness of seeing Jesse stood before her, having not seen him for over two years, she would've noticed the expression on his face darken slightly as he continued talking, "Looks like you had a great time."

Beca felt her phone vibrate in her hand and she glanced down at it while she spoke, "Yeah…" it was Chloe, who had sent her a text asking her how her meeting with her boss went, "…it was definitely memorable...Nice to be home though." the brunette said without really thinking about her wording. She looked back up at Jesse and swallowed loudly as she saw his lop-sided grin grow from the corner of his mouth. They were staying in Central Park, lucky them. Whoever 'they' were in addition to Jesse.

"So…what are you doing…here? Like, here in this coffee shop. If you're staying mid-town I mean…". It was a straight forward question that Beca prayed wasn't going to lead to an answer that went something along the lines of him trying to find her and romantically win her back. She was finally happy. Happier than she had been for such a long time. Maybe happier than she had even been? Having Jesse here was an inconvenience.

"Oh…well…" She watched him make a slow sweeping glance around the shop while he spoke, "you Bella's have all been talking about this place so much on your Twitter accounts…" his eyes arrived at the coffee bar to his right and he stood there, looking at each staff member, as though expecting to see someone, "I figured I should see what all the fuss was about while in The Big Apple." And Beca gulped as Jesse brought his focus back to her with another grin, holding up his take-out coffee cup to prove his motive. Again Beca relished the silence, hoping that her ex would soon feel so awkward that he would bid her farewell and immediately leave. But he didn't. "Hey how's Chloe doing?"

"Uh…" Beca felt her heart jump into her mouth and she knew from Jesse's expression that he was looking earnestly for her reaction to his question. Her brain raced at a million miles an hour as she tried desperately to think of any way that Jesse could have found out about her and Chloe dating. But she couldn't. Fortunately the silence had been too much again for Jesse, and the young man continued, "I mean, she moved up here with you right?"

Beca felt a huge wave of relieve rush over her. That's why he was asking. Because he knew she must see Chloe a lot because the redhead had moved to NY with her instead of him. "Right…yeah…no she's good. We've got an apartment down in Brooklyn. She teaches dance and stuff, as well as working here…" Many people would describe Chloe's work-life as unstable for a twenty seven year old. They would put her full-time job at the coffee shop first followed by her part-time volunteering at the neighbourhood theatre if asked what she was doing with her life. But not Beca. Beca was proud of Chloe for perusing something she loved, even when it was in a voluntary capacity. So she always opened with that. She always opened with Chloe's favourite 'job' which was teaching dance. "…she's down in South Carolina visiting her family this week."

"Oh…" the grin on Jesse's face dropped as he looked at her curiously, "and you didn't go with her?" Beca furrowed her brow slightly. No she hadn't gone with her. Yes, she and Chloe had essentially been joined at the hip since moving to New York, but Jesse wasn't to know that. The funny thing was, that was now her plan. Her boss had informed her she could take the rest of the week off as paid leave. So Beca had immediately booked a flight out to Columbia Metropolitan Airport with the intention of surprising Chloe by turning up at her family's lake house. Sue Beale had been good enough to text her the address the moment Beca had asked if she could come down to stay for a few days and not to tell Chloe as she wanted it to be a surprise.

"Um…well I was going to be working this week but my boss has just given me the rest of the week off so…I'm actually going to travel down there later today." And not wanting to make it sound too much like she was going to go down there with the specific intention of seeing Chloe because she missed her so much and couldn't stand the idea of another night alone in their apartment, Beca quickly added, "Free holiday and all that" with a casual shrug, as though it wasn't a big deal.

Beca had no idea if it had worked. If Jesse really did believe that she was going down to the Beale's lake house because it was a free holiday. But Beca was rolling with it. And she saw Jesse's eyebrows rise slightly, "oh…I was going to see if you wanted to meet up for a drink later to catch up…"

Beca felt her stomach lurch again. Even if she hadn't already planned on flying down to see Chloe, she couldn't think of anything worse than meeting up with Jesse for a drink. Not because he wasn't a nice guy. But because she struggled to get through many conversations with anyone without mentioning Chloe. Mentioning Chloe to Jesse would lead to them talking about the redhead in more depth, which would lead to her eventually telling Jesse that she and Chloe were in fact dating. Which could potentially open up a can of worms because Jesse hadn't really liked Chloe much during college. And Beca hadn't ever had time to consider that it was perhaps because he was jealous of how the brunette had acted around Chloe back then. Chloe had managed to break through Beca's bubble, the bubble that was her personal space and feelings, the bubble that had so often kept Jesse out. Jesse. Her own boyfriend at the time.

There were so many times, particularly when they had been drunk at college parties, where Beca had chosen to dance and grind with Chloe instead of Jesse. He'd been to almost every one of their Bella performances except for senior year, and each time he'd noticed just how often his girlfriend would be paired up with Chloe during routines, and just how comfortable Beca seemed having her hands and arms draped over the redhead during those routines and vice-versa. When he'd found out that Chloe was the key choreographer for The Bella's that's when he'd started becoming openly brooding and angry with the redhead, drunkenly calling her out on her feelings for his girlfriend during aca-parties. But Beca didn't always know about those moments. Chloe had never told her and Jesse had usually forgotten by the morning.

"Yeah I can't meet up with you Jesse," She said as she moved past her ex-boyfriend, slowly stepping backwards towards the paperwork-table, still addressing him as she spoke, "but good luck with everything."

Beca thought she'd feel guilty, but she didn't. Yes they had broken up amicably and yes he was a nice guy and yes his decision not to go with her to New York had paved the way for Chloe to go with her instead. Had paved the way for her deep feelings to develop for the redhead that eventually culminated in her revealing them to Chloe a few weeks ago. In an odd way it was thanks to him that she and Chloe were now together. But it was possibly also thanks to him that they hadn't got together sooner. And while Beca was happy with the way things had finally turned out between her and Chloe, there was still a tiny part of her that wondered what could've happened had Jesse not been in their way during college.

Beca and Chloe could've been fast approaching their third, fourth, or fifth year anniversary had Beca not been with Jesse in college. Anniversaries had been something she'd hated when she'd been with him. He'd always made such a big deal about them. But the idea of being able to treat Chloe to something should they end up celebrating an anniversary, the idea of doing something that would make those bright blue eyes shine while that dazzling smile beamed at her made Beca realise just how comfortable Chloe made her feel about commitment and life and love. So much so that saying goodbye to Jesse in person wasn't a difficult or regretful action.

"Right…yeah…good luck Bec. Say hi to Chloe for me."

And Beca watched Jesse leave the coffee shop before turning to the coffee shop counter as one of the staff members (Mike maybe?) approached her with a smile, holding out a take-out cup of coffee, "Hey Beca. Black Americano with two sugars yeah?" and Beca took the cup with a grateful smile, relieved that she could now escape back home to pack her things and dash to the airport.

The cab pulled up to the lake house, and Beca stepped out of the vehicle. She gathered a wad of notes, thanking the cab driver as he handed her luggage to her in return for the money. The woman turned on the spot, taking a deep breath as she looked at the large house before her. She couldn't get over the size of it. It was almost as big as the house her father and step-mother owned in Atlanta. And this was just the Beale's holiday home!

Beca's heart was racing, her palms feeling clammy as she wandered up to the large front door, dropping her luggage beside her and knocking as confidently as possible on the wooden exterior. After a few moments of waiting a light just inside the door lit up and Beca held her breath. She couldn't work out if she was excited or nervous, but her heart was certainly confirming she was at least one of those things. She heard the door being unlocked, before swinging open slowly. And there her eyes caught a pair of bright blue eyes that blinked at her for a couple of moments, as the young woman before her tried to process her presence.

"Um…hey Chl-" was all Beca was able to say before a loud gasp and squeal fell out of Chloe's mouth as the redhead lunged forward and threw her arms around her neck, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Beca what are you doing here?" Chloe said as she stepped back from her girlfriend but clung to her hands that hung by their sides. Beca's heart had stopped racing and now felt as though it had grown a million times larger than it had been as she drank in the expression on Chloe's face. The redhead wore no make up and had her hair up in a messy bun. But Beca didn't care. Chloe looked beautiful.

"Sam gave me the rest of the week off because I promoted Residual Heat so well while we were away in Europe so-" and again her sentence was cut short as Chloe let out another short squeal before pulling Beca into another tight hug.

"I've missed you so much" she heard her girlfriend mumble in her ear, but Beca froze as she noticed Chloe's parents wandering through to the entrance hall behind the redhead. Beca cleared her throat, quickly dropping her hands from around Chloe's waist.

"Beca, so lovely to see you again!" Sue Beale said with a warm smile, taking the opportunity of her daughter stepping away from the new guest the moment she had noticed her parents, to move forward and give Beca a quick hug. The Beale's were huggers. That was their thing. Every member of the family both immediate and extended. They hugged as a form of greeting when meeting friends and family, and hugged when saying goodbye. When Jerry and Sue Beale had first met Beca several years ago they had been pre-warned by their daughter that Beca was not a hugger. She hated open affection. Jerry had joked that they'd kill her with kindness if she didn't watch it, something Chloe had begged him not to do or say. So they had been on their very best behaviour, accepting the awkward wave from Beca as a form of greeting. Over the years, however, and the more comfortable Beca got with each encounter with The Beale's, the more open she was to them giving her a traditional Beale greeting. Now, it was just second nature.

"How was your flight?" Jerry asked as he stepped back from the hug he had also given the brunette. The two younger women hadn't noticed a change in the parent's demeanour, both too thrilled to be around each other again, but both Jerry and Sue were looking at Beca in a new light as she stood beside their daughter. Because Beca was no longer just their daughter's best friend, she was now Chloe's 'secret' girlfriend. The woman their daughter clearly loved. She was family.

"Yeah great, a totally smooth journey the whole way here, thanks Jerry." Beca said with a smile, and she noticed her girlfriend's jaw drop.

"You knew she was coming?" Chloe asked her parents accusingly, sensing how calm they seemed, and the couple grinned with small nods.

"Yes I got a text from Beca earlier today asking if she could come and stay for a few days." Sue said with a knowing smile and Jerry nodded. Beca turned to look at her girlfriend who had begun grinning, tears in her bright blue eyes, clearly over the moon that her mother and father had been in on this surprise. "Anyway, we're off up to bed sweetheart." Sue Beale said affectionately as she curled a strand of her daughter's red hair behind her ear.

"We are?" Jerry piped up, furrowing his brow slightly, but the moment he noticed his wife's expression as she looked at him he quickly changed tact, "I mean…yes of course we are because it's…" And he glanced down at his wristwatch, "…nine thir-…only nine thirty?!" The man looked shocked at how early it was but, seeing his wife's stern expression again, he stood up straight and cleared his throat, "Which…is pretty late for us old folk so…"

"So we'll leave you two to catch up." Sue Beale said kindly as she turned back to Beca and Chloe with a warm smile on her face, "Now Beca, I don't know if Chloe told you but her brothers are arriving tomorrow with their families and we've already made their bedrooms up. So this means you'll need to share with Chloe if that's alright?"

Beca swallowed quite loudly, noticing Chloe's broad grin out of the corner of her eye as the redhead looked at her, and she managed to mumble a quiet, "um…yeah of course." She wasn't sure which piece of information she was more surprised about, the fact that tomorrow she was meeting the rest of Chloe's immediate family that she'd heard so much about, or that Chloe's parents were essentially giving her the go-ahead to share a bed with their daughter during her stay with them. She was sure they wouldn't be allowing this if they knew that Beca and Chloe were more than just friends...

"Chloe you can show Beca where everything is…" Sue began, and Chloe nodded.

"Beca, you know the Beale rule, help yourself to any food or drink." Jerry said, a friendly smile on his face, and Beca smiled. She knew the rule alright. After graduating from Barden University and before moving to New York, Beca had moved back home to her Dad's in Atlanta, Chloe to her parents' in Lexington. But with only a three hour drive between their houses and Beca's often strained relationship with her father, the brunette had spent many a day visiting Chloe. As a result she had become accustomed to the Beale household rule. If something was there that could be eaten it should be eaten without any permission necessary, unless it had someone's name written on it.

"Breakfast will probably be out on the kitchen table in the morning about 9 but get up whenever you're ready." Sue finished, and Beca began salivating already at the thought of breakfast. When The Beale's did breakfast, they did breakfast. Sue Beale, having grown up with five older brothers and having brought up three sons, knew how to cook well and in mass portions. However much Beca hated getting up in the mornings, getting up for a 9am Beale breakfast would be no problem at all.

"Thanks Mom" Chloe said as her mother stepped forward to hug her goodnight. Beca received one more hug from Sue Beale before she stepped back to join her husband. The parents paused, looking at the two women, smiles on their faces, before bidding them goodnight and slowly ascending the staircase.

No sooner had Jerry and Sue Beale reached the top of the stairs and were out of sight, Chloe flung her arms back around Beca's neck and smashed her mouth against hers. Beca immediately felt a warm rush tingling its way through her body like an electric spark, from her lips, right the way down her body to her toes, as Chloe kissed her hard. Beca snaked her arms around the redhead's waist, pulling her body tight against hers. She could hear her girlfriend hum as she traced her tongue along Chloe's bottom lip, and before long their tongues began dancing with each other as Chloe's fingers tangled themselves within Beca's hair.

Beca couldn't be sure how long they'd been stood there for, but soon the two women had been forced to part, gasping for air. Beca felt Chloe rub her nose affectionately against hers, a dreamy smile plastered across both their faces. "I really missed you" she heard Chloe whisper, and Beca's smile broadened. However much Chloe imagined Beca had missed her too it was nothing compared to the reality of how much Beca really had missed her girlfriend. She had honestly missed her more than anyone or anything that she had missed in her whole lifetime. But she was never going to tell her that.

So instead Beca simply raised her eyebrows, "It's only been two days, Beale" she teased, though she placed an affectionate kiss on the tip of Chloe's nose. She adored that nose. The way some of Chloe's ginger freckles appeared to gather and sit on it, as though eagerly awaiting the sun. She'd once spent an hour one morning in Paris lying beside Chloe whilst the redhead slept, and patiently tried to count each freckle on her face. She'd lost count at around the ninetieth freckle, but mostly because she'd either thought she'd counted the same freckle twice, or missed a few, or Chloe had simply shuffled in her sleep causing the brunette to lose count.

"Two days too long" Chloe whispered with a grin, closing her eyes slowly and returning her lips to Beca's, and Beca felt herself melt back into Chloe's arms as they continued quietly making out in the entrance of the Beale family lake house, ignoring the fact that they had still forgotten to close the front door.

I loved writing this 'epilogue' (if you can call a chapter over 4800 words an epilogue)

So pleased to have finally written this interaction with Jesse which I've been dying to do for a while.

In the next chapter the Beale brothers will be descending on the lake house :)

Update in another couple of days (working a lot over the weekend) xx

bechloeorbhloe you're very kind, and I admit your review helped me relax enough to write way more than I'd intended.

spashleyforever23 thank you thank you! At the rate my imagination is going I don't know if this story will ever end!

FranciumJoker you legend - thank you so much for your review. I've tried really hard to write Beca's character as close to MovieBeca's character as possible, or at least tried to make her character progression natural rather than far fetched.

Zombiekiller1013 I know right? I've based them a lot on my own family who, not to boast, totally rock. Sounds like your parents also totally rock. I'm so pleased they're handling it pretty well too!