Ten months later…

May 2016

"Are you already used to your new roomates?" Chloe asked Beca. They were having lunch together in a small cafeteria, just like every Wednesday.

"More or less. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss fat Amy. She snored but at least she was a good cook. These girls could even burn water!"

"They couldn't be perfect."

"No. There's no such thing as the perfect roomate." She took a sip of her coffee. "Guess who called me this morning."

"Who?"

"Benji."

"Aw, I love Benji. So sweet and respectful."

"I know."

"How's he doing?"

"He is doing fine, he is living in Atlanta to be close to Emily. He called me because he is in town and he wants us to have dinner tonight."

"Well, you two have always been good friends."

"Don't you wanna come? We'll have pizza."

"I'd love to, but I have class. Tell him I say hi."

"Beca, you look amazing." Was the first thing Benji told her as they hugged.

"Thank you, Benji. You too."

It was nice to see Benji again after so many months. He was one of the handful of Trebles Beca tolerated, and she considered him one of her closest friends.

"What brings you to New York?"

"I'm visiting my cousins, they live in Queens. I remembered you had recently moved here and I thought it would be nice to say hi."

"Well, I'm happy to see you. Chloe wanted to come but she's in class."

"Right. She's studying acting, isn't she?"

Beca nodded. "In Juilliard."

"Yeah, I remember Emily mentioned it. Tell her I have very fond memories of her, and that I think of her as a dear friend."

"I'll tell her."

They ordered cheese pizza and beer, and spent most of their time talking about their years in Barden.

"You know, I was extremely happy when I found out the Trebles had accepted you. I knew that would make them harder to beat, but if there was someone who deserved to be a Treble, that was you."

"You are very kind to say that." A smile appeared on his face. "It was a dream come true. I had an extraordinary time as a Treble, best three years of my life."

Beca remembered Jesse used to say that as well. An idea crossed her mind.

He is his best friend. I guess I lose nothing by asking him.

"Speaking of Trebles," she said in a very casual tone. "How's Jesse? I haven't heard from him in a while."

Her question obviously took him by surprise.

"Jesse? Um, he is doing great! Music school is amazing. He has been really busy lately, but things are going great for him." He tried to sound as casual as he could but failed miserably.

Beca raised an eyebrow. "Benji, what's wrong?"

"Why do you think there's something wrong?"

"Dude, you are a terrible liar. It doesn't surprise me, though, you are too pure for that." He took a sip of his beer and Beca noticed his hands were shaking. "See? You are all nervous and shaky. What's going on with Jesse? Is he sick?"

"No, it's not that."

"Ah, so there is something." Beca crossed her arms. "What is it? You know I'm gonna find out anyway, so you might as well tell me the truth."

Benji let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, I'll tell you." He took a deep breath. "Jesse is getting married."

Beca's heart dropped to the ground, and for a moment she felt as if time had stopped turning.

"W-What?" She managed to say, visibly in shock.

"You heard that right. Jesse is getting married."

"To whom?"

"Her name is Jane Kimble, she is a friend from USC. She is also studying Music and is a lyricist. That's all I know."

"How long have they been together?"

"Nine months, if I remember right. They got engaged a few days ago, and the wedding is set to take place next month."

Beca's head was spinning, a million thoughts crossing her mind at the same time.

Ten months? That means they started dating a month after we broke up.

"I'm so sorry Beca, I really am. I know how difficult this must be for you." Benji lowered his head, as if he were ashamed of what had happened.

Beca forced a smile, an act that ended up being unexpectedly painful.

"You don't have to be sorry about anything, Benji. I mean it. Jesse and I broke up almost a year ago, he has every right to move on with his life."

"It's just you two were together for three years and I always thought you had something very special going on."

"Maybe we did at some point, but that's over. I suppose this girl is very special, otherwise Jesse wouldn't be marrying her."

"I don't know, I haven't met her. Although I doubt she is as special as you."

Beca smiled. "It's very kind of you to think of me as someone special."

Benji smiled back at her. "I'm sorry you had to find out about Jesse's marriage by me."

She placed a hand on his across the table. "You are a good friend, Benji, and I'm glad I heard about it from you."

That night, Beca found herself unable to fall asleep. Benji's words had been echoing inside her head for hours, and she kept tossing and turning in bed. She reached for her phone in her nightstand.

B: I need to talk to you ASAP. Call me when you read this text.

She checked the hour.

A quarter past four. I guess she'll read it later.

Beca left her phone in her nightstand and covered herself with her blankets, and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, her phone started ringing.

It was Chloe.

"That was quick."

"Are you okay? I got scared by your text."

"Yeah, don't worry. I thought you'd read it in a couple of hours, at least. Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I'm binge-watching Stranger Things. Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I have a lot in my mind right now."

"I can imagine, otherwise you wouldn't have texted me at four in the morning. What happened?"

"You better sit down before I tell you. This is gonna knock you off your feet."

"Okay, I'm ready."

Beca then told Chloe about Jesse's impending marriage. Her friend let out a gasp.

"Jesse is getting married? I can't believe it!"

"You better do."

"How? When? To whom?"

"I don't know the details, I only know she is a friend from USC. They are getting married next month."

"A classmate from USC—what's her name?"

"Jane Kimble, if I remember correctly."

"What is she studying?"

"Benji said Music, but he didn't specify. Why do you ask?"

"I'm gonna have to hang up, but I'll call you in a moment."

About twenty minutes later, Chloe called her back.

"Hi, sorry about that. I just had to make a few phone calls."

"What are you up to? I hope it's nothing Chloe-ish."

"Me? Never. I called a friend who is studying Screen Scoring at USC."

"That's what Jesse is studying."

"Precisely. As a matter of fact, he is good friends with both Jesse and his new girlfriend. I called him and asked him a few questions about future Mrs. Jesse Swanson."

A feeling of panic grew in Beca.

"Oh God, I thought you were done with your 'special researches' after the Tommy Bridgewater fiasco."

"Relax, I have everything under control. If that one failed was because Stacy has no idea how to handle delicate information, but I know you do."

"Please tell me there's no delicate information involved in this one, too."

"Not really, no. Actually, this girl seems completely ordinary. Do you wanna know what my friend told me?"

"What choice do I have? You are gonna tell me anyway."

"She is from North Carolina, she double-majored in Drama and Psychology and she is currently studying Popular Music at USC. Capricorn, dog lover, sports enthusiast. She is a decent actress and a fine dancer and singer, a real triple threat, but music is her true passion. She has been writing songs since she was four years old and she is quite talented, apparently. My friend describes her as hardworking and sensitive, with a fine sense of humor and a bit of a workaholic, too." Chloe made a pause. "Would you like me to continue?"

"Yeah, what the hell."

"She is obsessed with movies, too, and she is a big fan of musicals. Her greatest dream in life is to win an EGOT. Ambitious girl, I'll give her that."

"Jesse once told me he also wanted to win an EGOT." Beca pointed out. "Anything else?"

"Oh, they were introduced by a common friend. She felt attracted to him from day one, but he made it clear from the beginning that he wasn't single. He also said his lady would join him in a few months."

Beca grimaced. "I see."

"They began dating after he returned from Copenhagen, and the rest is history."

"Well, what do you think of all this?"

"You want my honest opinion?"

"Yeah."

"Based on the small amount of information I gathered, they seem to be quite compatible."

"I thought so, too."

"What about you? What do you think?"

"I have mixed feelings. I'm happy to know he found a nice girl to share his life with, but at the same time I can't help feeling betrayed."

"It's understandable. After all, you guys were together for quite some time."

"I'm not sure three years qualifies as 'quite some time'."

"To me it does, and certainly to you too. I'm not sure it does for Jesse, though."

Beca sighed. "You know, him getting married is not what bothers me. What bothers me is that he is doing it barely a year after we broke up."

"As if your relationship wasn't important to him."

"Yeah, precisely. I'm still kind of grieving for our relationship, and he's already looking for wedding caterers."

"So you are angry at him for not waiting for you?"

"More like… hurt. I wouldn't say I'm angry, it would be very stupid of me to hold a grudge against him for marrying someone else, don't you think? Especially since I'm the one who broke up with him. He said he was ready, I was not, so he simply found someone who was."

"What do you mean with: 'he said he was ready'? Did you two ever talk about getting married?"

"Not exactly. He mentioned once or twice his desire to start a family and how much he wanted to have children. He said he was ready to share his life with a special someone, and every time he said it he winked at me. Still, we never actually talked about getting married."

"Did you ever think of marrying him?"

Beca thought before answering, and her mouth curved into a smile.

"If he had asked me I would had said yes. I wouldn't have married him in that moment, though, but in a few years along the line."

"I still think you are allowed to feel angry."

"Look, we are not kids anymore. He made a decision and so did I, and if they love each other I hope life threats them better than it treated us. He deserves it, and so do I."

This was all you
None of it me
You put your hands on
On my body and told me
Told me you were ready

For the big one
For the big jump
I'd be your last love
Everlasting you and me
That was what you told me

I'm giving you up
I've forgiven it all
You set me free

Send my love to your new lover
Treat her better
We've gotta let go of all of our ghosts
We both know we ain't kids no more…