For a moment he just stood there, incapable to move, simply staring at the door through which Beca had just left. His heart was beating very fast, and his ex-girlfriend's words were pounding inside his head.

I still miss you, and there's no point in denying it. I think, deep in my heart, I still love you.

"I'm happy I got to meet her at last," Jane's words brought him back to the real world. "She is exactly like you told me. I like her, she seems like a good person."

She still loves me. Two years since we broke up and we last saw each other and she still has feelings for me.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Beca is… pretty great."

"She has nice eyes, too."

"She does."

"They are blue, right?"

Jane's interest in Beca's eyes was confusing Jesse. He nodded. "More like cobalt blue. Although when I first met her I thought they were brown."

"They do seem brown from afar. They are nice eyes," Jane smiled. A beat. "Are you okay?"

Jesse tried to sound as uninterested as possible. "Yeah. Why shouldn't I?"

"I figured that reconnecting with your girlfriend of three years after not seeing her for two would make you feel weird. You two have history."

Jesse sat down at the couch and Jane sat beside him. She was still holding baby Jamie in her arms. "I won't deny her visit took me by surprise. You know I loved her very much and it wasn't easy for me to let her go. And… I guess a part of me wanted to know how she's doing. If she was happy."

Why am I feeling like this?

Jane held his hand. "I know. She was important for you, it is completely normal you were curious about her life," he didn't say a word. "Jesse, I understand," she insisted.

Jesse looked at his wife. From day one he had been honest with her—perhaps too honest—about his feelings for Beca. When they started dating Jane knew Jesse still missed her and she had accepted it. She had been comprehensive and supportive and, surprisingly for him, he ended up falling in love with her. It had been quick and most people he knew had told him marrying after only a few months was a mistake, but he hadn't listened. He couldn't believe he had fallen in love so soon after Beca and he wanted to take the next step right away. He hadn't thought about Beca one single time since his wedding to Jane.

Until today.

He squeezed her hand. "Thank you for being so supportive, Jane. I mean it. I can't imagine another person willing to talk so openly to their spouse about their ex-partner."

"I know what Beca meant to you. In a way I'm happy she came. Now you know she's okay and happy and you get to have closure."

Do I?

"Yeah, I guess I do," he said as he got to his feet. "I'm going to take a bath; I won't take long."

"Okay," she said, and smiled at him. He smiled back at his wife and child and went to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He leaned back against the door and let out a sigh.

I think, deep in my heart, I still love you.

A memory came rushing back at him. Beca grabbing him by the neck and kissing him after performing at the Finals. The lightning bolt he had felt as he kissed her back and pulled her closer by putting his hands on her waist. Both of them giggling like kids. Jesse wishing that moment would last forever...

He took off his clothes and got in the shower, immersed in thought.

A year and a half later...

October 2018

"He asked me to marry him!"

Beca looked at her friend with her eyes wide open. "He what?" Chloe had a big smile on her face. "Oh. Well, based on the look on your face I guess you said yes."

"I did!" Chloe squealed, overly excited.

"Wow. That is great, dude. I'm very happy for you," and she honestly was. "I'm glad you found someone who, you know, is willing to put up with your shit and all your craziness."

"Why, thank you, Beca. You are very sweet."

"I mean it, I'm not being sarcastic. You deserve to be with someone who loves you and supports you. Matt is that person," she refused to call him 'Mattie'. It was just too ridiculous. "He is a good man."

"He is," Chloe said, with dreamy eyes. "I know it's a bit fast but it feels... right. It doesn't feel rushed or reckless."

"Well, you have known each other for three years and have been a couple for almost a year and a half. It's not like he proposed after a few months of dating or something."

"Like Jesse and his wife?"

The mention of Jesse's name took Beca by surprise. "Who said anything about them?"

Chloe shrugged. "I don't know, it is a familiar case of marrying on an impulse."

"No, not at all. What Jesse and Jane have is an entirely different thing."

"In what way?"

Beca took a second to articulate her answer. "Yes, there's people who marry out of nowhere but I don't think it was their case," she said, weighing each word as she spoke. "He loved her and he wanted to be with her."

"But still it was soon, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but my guess is when you love someone you want to be with them as much as you can."

Chloe smiled. "Time."

"Yeah, time."

There was a brief silence as they both took a sip of their coffee.

"Do you wish you could have spent more time with Jesse than you did?"

Once again, Beca didn't answer her friend's question straight away. "There's no point in thinking about that now, is it?"

But she did. Of course she did.

"Jesse. Jesse!" Jane called him out as she entered the apartment. He was making dinner and trying a new recipe he had discovered on Facebook.

"Hey babe, I'm on the kitchen," he said. Jane approached him and she gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "How did it go with Richard?"

"I have some very interesting news. You are not going to believe what he told me."

"Nothing your brother does or says surprises me anymore."

"You know he is graduating soon, right?"

"Right."

Richard Kimble was a film student at UCLA and he wanted to be a director. He was a sensible man and he enjoyed taking risks, which Jesse believed were great qualities of a director.

"He invited us to collaborate with him on his senior thesis project. He wants to hire us!" She exclaimed, with excitement. Jesse wasn't sure he understood.

"He what?"

"Hire us, as in a formal job."

"Doing what, exactly?"

"He would like you to score his film and for me to write an original song! Isn't that exciting?"

Jesse couldn't believe what Jane was telling him. He covered his mouth with his hands. "Oh my God. Are you serious?"

"Of course I am! It is about two lovers who reunite years after they separated and wonder if they should rekindle their relationship or leave it all behind."

"Sounds very nostalgic."

"Wait 'til you hear the name: The Time We Lost."

"Very fitting."

"He has everything ready to start filming next week."

It was happening, it was finally happening. They had been waiting for an opportunity like that for a while, but he never imagined it would happen so soon. He was thrilled.

"I-I can't believe it. Did you say yes?"

"Obviously, I figured you were going to accept."

He let out a happy scream and they hugged. Their celebration was cut short by a crying baby.

"Crap, Jack is up," Jesse said, a bit angry at himself for screaming so loud.

"Did you feed him?" He nodded. "Changed him?"

"Yeah, I think I just scared him. Don't worry, I'll go check."

He left the kitchen and went to his and Jane's bedroom. He walked over the crib and smiled at the crying baby lying in it.

Jack had been born on May 4th, Star Wars Day, and Jesse thanked God for that every day. He was a feisty little boy and already so different from his older brother. They were a year apart and Jesse's parents had criticized him for having another baby so soon after the first one, and raising them both was proving to be quite a challenge for the young couple. Jane didn't pay much attention to what people thought, and she said as long as they were happy they would be okay.

Still, sometimes Jesse couldn't help but think that they had rushed into having another child. He loved his sons dearly and they were his whole world, but the thought of having two children under the age of two at twenty-five years old made him anxious.

He leaned forward and took the baby in his arms. "Hey little guy. What is wrong with you?"

The baby's crying decreased once Jesse began caressing the back of his head.

"Did you hear the news, Jack? Mommy and daddy earned their first job. Isn't that great?" The baby looked at his father and Jesse made a funny face. Jack giggled. "We are going to write music for your uncle Richard's story. I don't know all the details yet but it is about separated lovers. It is called The Time We Lost," he walked around the room while still holding the baby. "You know, sometimes I wonder if your mom and I lost time as a couple because we married young and had kids so soon after marriage. Don't get me wrong, I love her very much, but what if we didn't enjoy our relationship enough and we settled down too quickly?" He stopped pacing. "Maybe I lost time with Beca, too. I look back and I realize we could have spent more time together than we did. I regret that," Jack babbled, which made Jesse laugh. "Right, there's probably no point in thinking about that, it's in the past; but I can't help it."

The baby was now calm. Jesse's words had soothed him down and now he was looking at his father with his eyes wide open. Jesse kissed him on his forehead as Jane entered the room.

"Is he better?"

"He is. I think he just wanted some human contact."

Jane put her arm around Jesse's shoulder and held the baby's foot with her other hand. "We all do."

What Jesse didn't know was that Jane had listened to every word he had just said to Jack.