Author's Notes: So I've been totally and utterly blown away but the kind feedback I've received after the first chapter so it motivated me to finish of the second faster than I thought. Bit of a sad chapter but it kinda had to be done. Some warning for Jesse fans out there (sorry I really like the character but he just has to go for the story to work) and also the story is about to earn that M rating. I hope you like it!

Traveling I only stop at exits
Wondering if I'll stay
Young and restless
Living this way I stress less
I want to pull away when the dream dies
The pain sets in and I don't cry
I only feel gravity and I wonder why

-All good things come to an end, Nelly Furtardo

Chapter 2 – Trouble in paradise

It was three days after the car show and DSM was just finishing up their set at the Atlantic charity gala. They had work hard to prepare their new piece and it had apparently paid off, given the riotous applause that issued behind them. The team had worked in rotating groups all of yesterday at the hotel. Mina took one group for three hours to work on vocals while Pieter took the other for three hours of choreography. The third group was given three hours to rest and eat. After all three groups had rotated through; the entire group was assembled for four hours of rigours final rehearsals before finally eating dinner and going to bed exhausted.

Mina and Pieter had worked throughout the previous night to build the set's vocals and choreography. It was sheer will and stupid amounts of caffeine that had gotten them through yesterday's training with no sleep. Both Pieter and Mina were feeling the strain and it was making them much snappier than usual.

Mina had no need to worry that her team thought she was going soft after the car show. She had reinforced her ice queen status by making no less than three members cry during rehearsals. Thankfully they had gotten a few hours of sleep the night before the Gala, otherwise Mina wouldn't have been held responsible for the carnage that would have ensued when she snapped from sleep depravation.

Pieter had fared slightly better than the Kommissar as he had the enviable ability to sleep anywhere at any time. He was concerned though that Mina was pushing herself too much and would soon crack under the pressure. As DSM's lieutenant it was his job to stop any caffeine hallucination massacres from occurring.

As the team boarded their tour bus post show, Pieter decided to take matters into his own hands. He stood at the front of the bus to make his announcement.

"Thank you all for your hard work over the last two days. To reward your efforts there will be no scheduled practice for the next 24 hours. You may spend your leisure time as you wish." He projected across the bus

This announcement was met with loud cheering throughout the bus as DSM celebrated their well earned freedom.

Pieter spotted the Kommissar in her seat looking mutinous over the impromptu news. He quickly moved up the isle and took the seat next to her the head her off at the pass.

"Mina think about it" he whispered to her "we all need a break even you"

Mina glared at him "but we have another performance in a weeks time. We don't have time to frolic about" she muttered back sarcastically

Pieter sighed; he could see the badly disguised bags under her eyes and the slight tremor in her hands that indicated too much caffeine and too little sleep. He decided to sweeten the deal a little since Mina was even more stubborn and mean than usual when she was tired

"To make it up to you, I promise to take you out to dinner tonight. There's a German alehouse down the road from the hotel and it will be just us no DSM to worry about. Just like old times. I'll even let you vent about your hormones and shit." He whispered with a smirk

He could see from her expression her resolve was weakening so he decided to push it a little further

"It will be my shout," he murmured suggestively with an eyebrow wiggle

The Kommissar cracked "you have yourself a deal sir" she replied with a smile.

Pieter grinned back happy to see best friend relax a little after a stressful few days. Her smile turned a touch predatory

"I've been meaning to test out that expensive wheat beer while we are here. I heard they really charge a premium on imports" Mina cackled with glee "I want to see how close it is to real home brewed German Beer. I guess I will need to try a large range to compare properly." She mused

Pieter grimaced and started to mentally calculate what was in his bank account. Mina leaned in close to him and added

"Ohh by the way this is for the hormonal problems you mentioned" she whispered before punching him hard in the arm

"Hormones my ass" she muttered to herself as she settled back into her seat and closed her eyes. She still wore a slight smile though as she tried to fall asleep.

Pieter quietly chuckled and congratulated himself on a good plan before settling in for a short nap too. After all it had been a long three days.

It was three days after the car show and Beca was just leaving the recording studio after a long day and little sleep. She had spent the day listening though what felt like hundreds of demos, all while fending off texts from Chloe about when their new set was going to be ready. She was exhausted from living a double life.

After swinging into a MacDonald's drive through on her way home and getting a very large strong coffee, Beca felt much more alive. It was a forty-minute drive to campus so she settled into the car seat more comfortably and prepped a current favourite album to accompany her on the drive home.

It was about half way into her trip when her mobile started ringing. "I kissed a girl and I liked it. The taste of her cherry chap stick."

The song sounded surprisingly loud in the small confines of her car. For a second Beca couldn't work out where it was coming from, before grimacing and pulling over to fish out her sabotaged phone from her bag.

Fat Amy must have changed it last night as a joke after she had fallen asleep on the sofa for the second night running. She must have thought it was funny after the awkward flirting with DSM's leader. Next she would be dropping 'lesbihonest' references during conversations.

Beca sighed and answer her phone "Hey it's Beca" she announced

"Hey babe I've got dinner sorted for our date night tonight" Jesse's voice floated through the speaker.

Beca's stomach sank. She had totally forgotten about their date night. She had already promised to spend time with the girls after she had fallen asleep on them the last two nights and she had a bunch of work to get done for tomorrow.

"Ohh ummm I'm so sorry hun I've just been swamped with a stack of work today and I'm totally beat. Is there any chance we could have a rain check? I will totally make it up to you on the weekend" Beca begged

Their relationship had become a little strained over the last year as they both worked hard to finish University and start their careers. They had been talking less and less. This had lead them to create date nights to try and rekindle things like they were in first year.

Jesse sighed, "Becs you cancelled the last date night and stood me up on the one before that"

Beca cringed. She had been a pretty crappy girlfriend lately. She was just so much more obsessed over her work these days that it seemed like such an effort to hang out like they use too.

"I'm really sorry, It's just been so stressful with the internship and Bella dramas. It just feels like there's not enough time for us, for any personal life. I'll try really hard for the next one yeah?" Beca replied resting her head back on the car seat.

Jesse was silent for a long moment and all Beca could hear was the cars whizzing past her.

"It just feels like I'm the only one trying here" Jesse's words were like a punch to the guts

"No it's not like that! It really isn't" she exclaimed

"Well it sure as hell feels that way" Jesse replied with heat "I just feel like I'm not worth your time nowadays. You always have something better to do even when you're with me your distracted or obsessing over your life, never me. We haven't even had sex in like two months. Its not like I can even keep you happy that way." He yelled

Beca's heart twisted and anxiety bubbled through her stomach. She really didn't enjoy confrontation. She just wanted to run away from this conversation and forget it happened.

"It's not like that! I do want to be with you! I love you. We can make this work!" Beca said desperately

She loved him, she was just starting to wonder if she was in love with him or with the stability and comfort he gave her.

"Whatever" Jesse replied harshly "I just don't know where your at anymore. I think I need a little time I guess" with that he hung up

Beca stared at her phone in shock. What did that even mean? She quickly texted him I'm sorry hun I will make this ok I promise. Are we still ok as a couple?

It took a long time for him to reply back and Beca just stared out the windscreen wondering what the hell had happened to her easy comfortable life. First the Bellas, then the new job and now this.

Her phone dinged as the message finally came through Yeah we're ok just need to sort some things out.

Beca breathed a sigh of relief and rested her head on the steering wheel. At least that was something she could go on. She sat back up before shakily indicating to pull back onto the road, looking for traffic.

Pieter walked Mina to her hotel room door before kissing her on the cheek and wishing her a good nights sleep. Mina yawned her reply as she entered her room and staggered tiredly into the bathroom to prepare for bed.

The last few days had exhausted her. She could feel the weight of the sleep deprivation deep in her chest. The beer tonight had given her a slight buzz and helped her to relax slightly. Unfortunately her mind was still buzzing, cataloguing information at a hundred miles. Her mind was telling her that she was 6 hours ahead in Berlin time which would be 7am now, her usual morning wakeup.

To try and force her body into sleep, Mina decided to take a long hot shower. Undressing efficiently she turned the taps on and make it as hot as her skin could stand, before getting in and putting her head under the showerhead.

The water coursed down her face, soaking her hair. Mina rested her forehead on the cool tiles closing her eyes. Her eyes burned dryly, she had been awake for way too long. Maybe the new recruits were right, she really did need to get laid. She turned her face upwards facing into the spray and slicked back her hair. It was after all a very long time since she had been laid properly, not counting rushed and unsatisfactory one-night stands.

Mina sighed and switched off the taps. The shower clearly wasn't working if she was getting depressed over her non-existent sex life. An image of the cute brunette popped into her head as she was winding a towel around herself. Her lips curled up, now that would be a tempting offer. She wouldn't mind stripping the little mouse to see if she was really that feisty underneath.

Shaking her head slightly Mina padded into the bedroom and scooped up her laptop. She figured that responding to dry emails would numb her brain into something resembling sleep. Dropping the towel and tucking herself into bed, she opened up the computer screen and logged into her emails.

You have 0 new messages

Mina grimaced. It figures.

She pursed her lips and drummed her fingers lightly on the keyboard, at a loss over what she should do now. The cute brunette flickered through her thoughts again. Mina's lips curled into a small smile as she remembered her vow to research after the car show. Feeling more interested, she moved to click on the search bar. It was time to find out more about the little mouse.

It was easy enough to find the Barden Bella's official page, which was complete with brief character bios, photos and a list of titles they had won. Mina scrolled through quickly to skim read until she came across the girl's photo.

Her name was Beca Mitchell; she was 22, captain and musical director of the group, and hoped to be a music producer one day. Mina avidly read the rest of her brief profile and filed away bits of relevant information about Beca. She continued to search but the rest of the website was pretty standard and didn't carry any more real information, just lots of publicity and event booking material.

Curious to find out more, Mina loaded a search engine and typed in Beca's name. The results generated were mostly links to the Acapella Comcast service, the Bella's youtube channel and most interestingly a link to Beca Mitchell's Facebook page.

Feeling more than a little stalkerish, Mina quickly clicked on the link and navigated to the About Me section. Her heart sank a little as she read. Beca Mitchell had a boyfriend of over three years named Jesse.

Mina felt a little despondent; it looked like she had been reading the signs wrong the night of the car show. Beca was not only taken but also interested in guys. Maybe it had been so long since she had gotten laid that her brain was now projecting her sexual frustration onto cute girls.

Disappointed, she shut her laptop down and snuggled under the covers and briefly wished she could find someone so that she wouldn't have to sleep alone every night.

Beca was most of the way to the Bella's sorority house before guilt overtook her. She really felt bad about the fight with Jesse. He had supported her when she had applied for the studio internship and she felt really bad that she wasn't there for him tonight. Maybe she needed to reorganise her priorities to spend more time with him.

She came to a snap decision and continued driving past the turn off for her house. She would just surprise Jesse now and make it up to him with some steamy sex, she thought. Her stomach unclenched slightly from the ball it had glued itself in since the fight began. She had a something of a solution to her problem with Jesse and she could work of some of the lingering sexual tension from her half remembered dreams since the car show. Killing two birds with one stone she thought with a small grin.

Beca pulled up along the road out the front of the Treblemaker's sorority house. Her heels made barely and noise as she walked through the grass to the front door. Not bothering to knock she used her key to enter the house. It was very quite downstairs as the boys were all out watching Benji's latest magic show at the pub. Beca abruptly felt a little more ashamed of herself. Jesse could have been watching and supporting his best friend's show instead of waiting for his absent girlfriend.

She quickly moved up the stairs intent on grovelling apologies to him. She turned at the top and moved across the landing towards Jesse's room. Music issued from under the door as she approached.

Beca hesitated for a brief second at the door. She would kneel down and grovel straight away with her best puppy dog expression. He couldn't be mad at her long with that right?

Beca quickly opened the door before she could overthink anymore.

Jesse was kneeling behind a blond girl on all fours on his bed. They were both stark naked and he was balls deep inside of her, mid thrust. Beca felt all the air go right out of her lungs. It felt like she had been winded and had her heart ripped out all in one.

The door issued a load creak as it continued its swing open. Beca was rooted to the spot in horror at the scene before her. Her brain just couldn't process what was happening right now.

Jesse, heard the door squeak and glanced behind him in surprise. His eyes widened dramatically as he caught sight of Beca. He quickly pulled out of the blond girl and clutched at the bedding to try and cover himself. The blond looked around at the interruption and squealed upon seeing Beca. She quickly rolled over to also cover herself guiltily.

"What the hell" the girl exclaimed "I thought you said your girlfriend was busy tonight" she yelled at Jesse

He flushed and glanced down. Beca took a second to process this. She could feel this huge rage building inside of her at these words.

"You fucker!" she screamed. "I was coming over to make it up to you and I find out you've been cheating on me. Fuck you!" Beca was breathing hard and ready to break something or a lot of somethings.

Jesse reached out in a placating gesture in an effort to reassure her.

"It's not like that Becs. I just got lonely. It's you I love babe." He pleaded

The blond girl exclaimed at this

"I thought you loved me not her" she yelled "You said you were going to break it off with her since she's such a cold fish. You said you would choose to be with me Liar. I've waited three months to be with you!" She snatched up her discarded clothes and stormed out of the room with her mascara starting to run.

"THREE FUCKING MONTHS" Beca screeched in disbelief at Jesse. "You just couldn't keep it in your pants. I guess I wasn't worth that much to you" She said as the tears started to well up

Jesse cringed inwards slightly "Becs you didn't even seem sexually interested in me. Frankly you were pretty shit in bed by the end." He said

Beca felt that comment hit hard in her self-esteem. The pain just fuelled he rage

"Well at least I could last longer than 5 minutes" she mocked "fuck you Jesse"

She turned to walk out as the tears started to get worse. Thinking twice she turned back and crossed the room in a stride.

CRACK!

Beca slapped him across the face with a satisfying sound. Reaching the end of her composure she turned and fled down the stairs and out to her car. She could barely see the road as she turned the keys in the ignition. Her breath came in gasps, as she turned back onto the road intent on getting home to lock herself in her room and cry for the next week.

The car span out slightly from too much acceleration, as she pulled out onto the road. She made the fortunately short journey home by sheer familiarity only.

Her heart felt like it was not working right. She had thought that Jesse was the one. He had been her rock over the last three years and had helped her to get over her commitment issues after her parents very messy divorce.

After her parents had split Beca had found it so hard to trust anything they said. Half the time they had used her to get back at one another. The other half of the time they had pushed her to the side, as they were busy rebuilding new lives for themselves.

Then Jesse hand wormed his way into her heart and Beca thought that she had found someone who was there just for her and only her. Someone who would fight for her and be in her corner no matter what. It felt pretty fucking awful to know she never had that. It had always meant far more to her than any presents or gestures. After all her parents had used gifts all the time but they had always fought their own battles, never hers.

She pulled up and staggered out of the car sniffling and crying. Not caring about her surroundings she quickly made her way up to the front door and straight through into the hallway intent on little else.

A blast of noise brought her back to the present. She had forgotten that Chloe had organised a Bella movie night amidst all of the drama. The group had turned to see who was coming through the front door since the living room was just there on the right. Chloe and Fat Amy were the first to notice Beca's tear stained face and upset state. The both ran over to her and enveloped her into a hug without a word. The rest of the group quickly followed suite. They all ended up in one big ball in the hallway with Beca sobbing in the middle.

After a little while she calmed down enough to stem the tears slightly.

"Thanks weirdos" she sniffled with a watery smile. At least there were some people that still had her back.

The rest of the Bellas were in shock. They had never seen Beca this upset before and they were worried. Chloe took the initiative and dragged Beca over to the sofa and the rest settled closely around them. Stacie passed Beca a mug of her favourite expensive hot chocolate and Beca accepted it with a small smile and a quiet thank you.

The girls settled in, ready to hear the full story as Beca slowly began to speak about what had happened that night

SOOO there it is I guess. I hope you liked it and I'll be working on the next chapter to post soon. Thanks for reading !