A/N: Sorry for the long wait.

It had been three days, and Jesse hadn't left his room for more than using the bathroom or grabbing a drink from the kitchen. He ignored both of his parents, avoiding them and pretending like he didn't hear them when the spoke to him. They gave up trying to get him to come out for meals by lunch time the second day. Jill was losing her patients with him, and David was giving up on his son and wife both. Throwing himself into work and ignoring what was happening in his personal life.

It was nearing dark, and Jesse was sitting on the floor, his back pressed against his door, waiting, listening. He heard the clicks of the light switches on the first level. He counted the forty-eight steps it took his mother to walk through the first level, up the stairs, passed his room and into her own. Nearly an hour later, he counted his father's thirty-two steps, taking the same path to bed. He always stayed up later than his Wife, he liked to watched the nightly news, something Jesse never understood.

The house was dark, and silent for another hour, just until he was sure both of his parents were sound asleep. Then, he slowly rose to his feet and walked across the room, stopping at his dresser and grabbing his pocket knife, then continuing to the already open window. Pulling up his hood, he silently climbed out the window onto the second story landing. His footsteps were barely audible as he crept across, passing his parents window, not bothering to hide his shadow, and jumped down onto the soft grass below. Then, fishing the keys to his dads truck that he had snagged off the table by the door earlier that evening, he got in and put it in neutral, silently rolling it out of the drive way before starting it and heading in the direction of Chloe and Aubrey's house.

XXXXXX

"So, I know that it's obviously very soon after the breakup with that ass-hole, and there is still a lot of crap she is going to have to deal with before he is out of her life for good, but when do you think Beca is going to realize that she and Chloe are meant to be together?" Stacie asked Aubrey, as she twirled some spaghetti around her fork and popped it in her mouth.

Aubrey shook her head loading her own fork. "I don't know, but they have been inseparable since she was released from the hospital. Maybe seeing that we finally stopped pretending we didn't have feelings for each other," She smiled at Stacie pointedly, "they will too. I know Chloe is doing her best to be whatever Beca needs, without adding any extra stress on her." She said sitting back and picking up her glass of wine. "I don't want them to rush anything, and I don't think Beca is ready for another relationship, so you keep quiet." She smirked at her date as she took a sip from her glass.

They were on their second date, at a little Italian restaurant not far from campus. Aside from the obvious excitement and the newness surrounding their relationship, nothing much had changed. Things didn't get awkward and they didn't suddenly start acting shy around each other. They had been close friends for years, with an obvious attraction to each other from the beginning. This was comfortable, and they were both aware that they had something special. The love was already there, and now they really had the opportunity to show it. It was exciting, but they didn't feel the need to treat each other any differently. They were best friends first, now they could take that relationship further.

They continued their discussion, over their plates of spaghetti, and glasses of wine, moving from the topic of Beca, to Aubrey's plans for the Manor she was renovating. Neither of them was aware that for the last few minutes, they had had an audience of one. Across the street, Jesse stood in the shadows of a closed businesses awning. He had happened to see them as he drove by, on his way to Aubrey's house. He always took a different route, so he wouldn't catch anyone's attention and, on this night, he just happened to cut through the main street area since he was driving instead of walking. He first saw Aubrey's car, and got excited, thinking he would be seeing Beca out and away from the close watching eyes of all of her friends. Instead, looking through the window of the restaurant, he could see Aubrey and Stacie, alone having dinner.

He checked the time, noting that it was well after ten-thirty at night. A late dinner, meant Aubrey worked late, and that Chloe and Beca were probably home alone. His smile was menacing as he walked across the street, keeping his eye on them through the window, making sure they didn't look up and see him, before ducking behind Aubrey's car.

Luckily it was pretty deserted out, and the restaurant was one of the few businesses still open on the block. He bent down, pulling his four-inch pocket knife out of his jeans and plunging it into her tire. After pulling it out, and seeing that it had in fact deflated the tire, he moved on to the car behind Aubrey's. He didn't know the owner, but if all the cars on the street got their tires slashed, it wouldn't be as likely that they would trace it back to him.

Aubrey would immediately know who did it. But if multiple cars were targeted, she might think it was a random act of vandalism.

He hit three more cars, before continuing on towards the house. Hoping it didn't dull his blade too much.

XXXXXX

Chloe was curled into a corner of the couch, the tv on low and the only light on was the lamp on the table next to her. The house was dark, and quiet, Beca was already asleep in Chloe's bed. She would be heading there as soon as Aubrey got home, unable to go to sleep before knowing her friend was home safe and the alarm was set.

She stood up, grabbing the empty wine glass from the table next to her and wandered into the kitchen to refill it. She chuckled at a joke made on the show she was watching and stretched as she rounded the counter, picking up the wine bottle. She poured the last of it into her glass, dropped the bottle into the recycling bin and headed back for the couch, glancing down the hall toward her room, blissfully unaware of who was making their way to her home.

XXXXXX

This new route took Jesse down the street that was directly behind their house, and taking a chance, he parked the truck and cut through the back yard of the house that was behind theirs. The backyards were separated by a wooden fence and he knew that Chloe's bedroom window faced the backyard. He felt a tremor of anger go through him, as he crept through the neighbor's yard, knowing Beca was probably asleep in that room. In Chloe's bed. He pushed back the rage that filled him, knowing they probably shared the bed. His girlfriend, sleeping in another person's bed. He reached into his pocket, gripping the knife and fell back against the fence, breathing harder than he should be.

This had gone on long enough. This game she was playing with him. She had succeeded in pissing him off, and she was going to pay for it. She knew better than to act this way. To put him through all of this legal bullshit, she had gone too far. And now? Now she would be punished. He let go of the knife and pushed off the fence turning toward it and looking up. It was only six feet high. He was five foot ten. It took nothing to heave himself over the fence and land with a dull thud on the other side.

He looked to see there were no cameras on the back of the house. How stupid could Aubrey be? Three cameras on the front and nothing on the back. Why didn't he think of this sooner? He smiled, standing up from the crouch he had landed in and without fear of being seen, made his way across the back yard. He had been in it a few times before, when Beca would drag him along to weekend cook outs and obnoxious get togethers.

He reached the window he knew was Chloe's and sighed in frustration, seeing the curtains were closed. He looked around the backyard, seeing the patio table and chairs were neatly set just outside the back door. The grass was perfectly maintained and he knew in the daylight, he would see the flower garden on the opposite side of the yard and the cherry tomato's that were growing not far from the back gate. A perfectly normal backyard. A perfectly normal house on a normal street. A quiet street.

He stepped away from the window. It was peaceful. Aubrey wouldn't be home for a while, he doubted she knew how to change a tire. He needed to get into the house, he needed to be let in.

He needed to shatter the peace.

XXXXXX

Chloe had finished her wine, and had drifted off into an alcohol induced slumber on the couch. Her breathing was heavy and she didn't hear her phone buzzing next to her. Three missed calls from Aubrey and four from Stacie. She didn't hear her phone ringing. She didn't hear Beca making her way out of the bedroom, her eyes tired but curious.

The edges of the closed curtain were illuminated in red and blue lights. She gently moved Chloe's hair out of her face, smiling when it didn't wake her up and decided to let her sleep. Moving her eyes back over to the window, wondering what was going on outside she pulled the curtain open and looked to see a police car with its lights on across the street and a few houses down.

Her eyebrows knitted together when she looked to see Aubrey's car wasn't in the driveway. Taking a breath she closed the curtain, and turned back to Chloe. She took the blanket from the back of the couch and covered her with it, before picking up the empty glass and walked into the kitchen.

She had just finished cleaning it when she heard Chloe's phone vibrating. Moving as quickly as she could with a sprained ankle and cracked rib, she answered it before it woke up the other woman.

She felt relief seeing Aubrey's name on the screen.

"Hello?" She answered quietly.

"Beca? Where is Chloe? Is everything okay at home?"

Beca looked down at Chloe and moved away from her.

"Chloe is asleep, everything is okay. Are you okay? What time is it?" She asked pulling the phone from her ear to see it was after midnight.

"I'm okay, I was out to dinner with Stacie, but someone slashed the tires of all the cars on the street. It's a mess, the restaurant owners' tires were slashed too and they called the police. So, we are still here to give a statement and all that since so many cars were targeted."

"Oh my god, do you need a ride home?" Beca asked looking toward the front window at the lights again.

"No, Stacie is putting on the spare as we speak, I didn't know she was handy with cars."

Beca could hear the smile in her voice and smiled herself.

"That's good. Weird though, there are police outside here too. A few houses down, but I don't know what is going on."

"That is weird, is the alarm set?"

"Uh, I don't know, I can't tell." She said looking over at the alarm panel.

"Okay, let me walk you through it. I'll feel better knowing the house is secure." Aubrey said.

Soon enough the little panel beeped and the house was armed.

"Okay, stay safe, I will be home soon."

"You too Bree, see you soon."

They hung up and Beca walked back over, setting Chloe's phone down. She let out a breath, feeling herself becoming tired again. She carefully bent down and left a soft kiss on Chloe's cheek before making her way back to the bedroom.

XXXXXX

With his hands cupped against the glass, Jesse was peering into the living room from a crack Beca left in the curtains when she looked outside.

He felt the blood rush to his face as Beca kissed Chloe's cheek. He almost slammed his fist against the glass. He wanted to shatter it. He had made the risky decision to sneak around to the front and peek in the living room window. He almost had a heart attack when two police cars raced passed and stopped at a house a few doors down. Perfect.

He stepped away from the window, his hood still up, his clothing dark. He didn't have much of a plan. Acting on pure anger and adrenaline. What he was about to do, right under the noses of the people that had him locked in a cell not long before. He had seen her answer the phone. Then she set the alarm and walked back to the bedroom. She was alone in there.

He felt his stomach begin to flutter.

Cracking his neck to the side and rolling his shoulders he hurried back around to the backyard and up to Chloe's window. The lamp was on now and he could see the silhouette of Beca through the light drapes. This was it. He raised his fist and in the next second the glass shattered.

XXXXXX

Chloe bolted up right at the sound of breaking glass. She was confused for a second, not recognizing where she was. She looked to the front window, seeing the lights from the police cars down the street. Her brow furrowed, and a second later she heard a strangled scream from the bedroom.