"Humor me," Jesse said when Beca refused to wear the Darth Vader Christmas sweater.

"It's not even Christmas," she noted.

"So?" Jesse shrugged. "Benji is playing along why can't you?"

"Benji loves the sweater you got him."

"I really do. It's so awesome," Benji beamed, looking down at the sweater on which Yoda was printed sporting a Santa hat and had sentence 'The season to be jolly it is' printed as well.

"Please?" Jesse pouted, giving Beca his puppy dog eyes, and earned an eye roll from Beca.

"Fine," she grumbled and took the sweater Jesse bought for her from him.

"Happy Sithmas, Beca." He grinned at Beca once she wore the sweater over her t-shirt.

"Let's just watch the movie and get it over with," Beca sighed then frowned at the look Benji and Jesse shared. "What? You're not gonna make me watch me all of them, are you? You can't keep me here against my will, Swanson, it's against the law!"

"Relax," Jesse said in response. "I wouldn't dare do that to you. I just want you to know that Sithmas is a thing now," he told her.

"What do you mean?" She adjusted the sweater after throwing her hair over her shoulders.

"Sithmas. Benji and I decided that we're making it an annual event. It's six days starting today it's all about Starwars. You're welcome to join us because it won't be just the movies. We're gonna bake Starwars themed cookies and play Starwars video games among other stuff. It's gonna be fun."

"It sure does sound like fun," she told him every one dripping with his sarcasm. "But I have a life, thanks."

Jesse shook his head in amusement. "I'm gonna go make popcorn. Benji, could you set the movie?"

"Yes, of course," Benji answered instantly and headed in the TV's direction while Beca trailed behind him, picking Thororeo, and taking a seat on the couch in the living room.

Beca didn't hate A New Hope and because Jesse bribed her with lasagna for dinner she agreed to watch the second film in the original trilogy but lost interest somewhere in the middle and not because of the movie itself. Jesse wasn't mouthing lines and dropping trivia and she had seen enough movies with him to know that it wasn't a good sign.

Distracted by Jesse, she could not bring herself to focus on the movie when he spent around five minutes staring at his phone with his lips pursed in a thin line, obviously angry about something.

Sitting between Benji and Jesse, Beca could look and see what he was staring at but it didn't feel right to sneak a peek. "I'm gonna go make more popcorn, don't pause," Jesse mumbled, grabbing the bowl, that Benji set on the coffee table, and stood up.

Benji oblivious to Jesse's change of mood, nodded absentmindedly. Meanwhile, Beca followed him with her eyes and couldn't help but get up after him.

"Ran out of popcorn? Don't take out on the bowl," she said, witnessing it when Jesse forcefully placed the bowl on the kitchen island. "I'll take that it's not the popcorn," she added when she saw the pack of popcorn kernels on the kitchen island.

"You okay there, nerd?" she asked when he leaned against the counter after he pulled a beer from the fridge.

"I think I just screwed everything up with Amber," he informed.

Amber. Beca had been heard a lot of this woman from Jesse who was so into her it's was disgusting and adorable at the same time.

"What happened?" she asked, sure her voice was even and wouldn't betray her because the woman's name sparked nothing but jealousy within Beca.

He took a sip of beer before he answered, "She told me she's planning to move out of the small town she lives at. I suggested she'd come down here since she didn't have a clear destination and just wanted as far away from Idaho as possible. Barden is far enough, right?" Beca nodded at his question when he paused.

"She told me she'd think about it… this happened a few days after I ran that thought I had by you. Remember when I asked if you thought I should invite her to fly over for a few days?" Beca nodded again.

Of course, she remembered, she remembered a lot from that day.

"I decided not to invite her over since she might move here altogether." He took another sip of beer before he set the bottle down and proceeded to make popcorn.

"Did she decide not to move here?" Beca guessed.

"Her sister lives in Ohio and she's strongly considering moving there."

"Oh."

"There's more. She also got pissed at me when I offered to help her financially when she told me she wanted to go back to school. Accused me of trying to buy her affection." He chuckled humorlessly. "What's wrong with wanting to help?" he grumbled, closing the microwave a little too forcefully.

"Nothing is wrong with wanting to help," Beca replied carefully. "But it doesn't mean you should help." Noting the frown that formed on his forehead she continued, saying, "Jesse, you want those you care about to be happy… solve their problems and like be a better version of themselves," she sighed.

"Yes, that's exactly what I want, what's wrong with that?" he asked.

"Don't you think that it's not exactly your job?" She grimaced and saw puzzlement on Jesse's face. "Yes, you can help and have the solution to the problem but it's not your problem, is it?" He shook his head. "Unless a person explicitly asks for help you shouldn't fix their problems for them. It can come off as infuriating. It can seem like you don't trust them to figure it out by themselves," she explained and saw how his confusion was replaced by a thoughtful look as he nodded.

It was probably the only thing wrong with Jesse and it wasn't even that wrong.

"Sometimes you just gotta step back." She shrugged.

"I know, I know. I just forget to do that sometimes…" It was so hard to step back and let Beca figure things out on her own when she was fighting with her parents but he managed to do it, he didn't know why he couldn't do it with Amber. "How do I fix this?" He scratched his head, gripping his hair before he gulped down some beer.

"Just tell her she misunderstood your intentions. If I were you, in order to change her mind about moving to Ohio and come here instead I'll just have to sell her Barden… use a PowerPoint presentation." She smiled when he let out a small laugh. "I can help you out if you want. Barden is Dubai in comparison with that shithole Ohio."

Beca didn't know how to deal with her feelings but knew how to be a good friend. And, a good friend would help their friend be with who they liked.

Whenever her mind wandered, she would think of Jesse but it didn't mean she wanted to pursue anything with him.—not that she didn't imagine how it would be like if she did actually pursue something with him. Her imagination was pretty neat but it wasn't enough for her to go for it.

To sum it up: Beca was falling in love with him and wanted him badly yet didn't want to date him because she was ridiculously afraid of commitment and rejection.

"Ohio isn't that bad, Becs," Jesse told her. "But I'll definitely let you know if I ended up going forward with the PowerPoint presentation."

A few days later, Beca received a text from Jesse telling her that he wanted help with the PowerPoint presentation because he fell short of reasons to pick Barden over Ohio.

"What are you watching?" Stacie questioned as she tossed her jacket on the arm of the chair.

"We're marathoning Friday thirteenth movies," Fat Amy answered her.

"Why?" Stacie frowned. "It's neither October nor is it a Friday thirteen."

"We need new hobbies, that's why," Beca answered, who was obviously rooting for Jason, her eyes never leaving the screen as Jason murdered some nameless one-dimensional chick.

"I'll get it," Stacie told them hearing knocking on the door.

"Does napping count as a hobby?" Cynthia Rose wanted to know.

"Yep," Fat Amy and Beca answered in unison.

"Well, I'm gonna get into it," CR yawned, stretching before she got up.

"Benji, hey," Beca greeted spotting her next-door neighbor and supposedly rival.

"Beca," he smiled nervously.

"What's up?" She sat up.

"Yeah, what brings you to the Bellas' mansion?" Fat Amy asked.

"Um." The boy scratched his temple. "I kinda need your help with something," he told Beca, meeting her gaze.

"What kind of help? I'm getting serious Veronica Mars vibes. If so I'm down," Stacie chimed in.

"We both are," Fat Amy nodded. "Who are we exposing, Benji?"

"Ignore them," Beca was saying as she got up, gesturing for him to follow her as she headed to the kitchen. "Beer?"

"Yeah, sure." She heard him say and grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge.

"So," he cleared his throat, accepting the beer from her. "There's this girl," he began to say and got red once the words left his mouth and the rest came out as a jumble of words that sounded nothing like English.

"Benji," Beca called, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Breathe and form simple sentences, okay?" She patted his shoulder and smiled at him when he nodded and blew a breath.

"Janice from Into to Philosophy, remember her?" he asked unsure she would because she rarely attended the course since the professor rarely counted attendance.

"Yeah." She didn't remember Janice, she just wanted him to keep talking.

"Ran into her the other day at the library. She asked if I wanted to hang out sometimes. I said yes. I didn't know she meant it as a date. Not until today because she texted me." He reached into his pocket and pulled his phone to show her. Beca accepted his phone and leaned against the counter to read their exchange.

"Oh, I know this place," she told him. "It's fancy." Beca looked up from his phone. "How can I help?"

"I've never taken a girl out before." He chuckled humorlessly.

"It's fine, Benji. I've never been on a date either." She shrugged.

"Because you don't want to go on dates not because no one wants to go out with you," he mumbled.

It was more than simply not wanting to go on dates but she wasn't going to correct him.

"You want me to help you get ready?" she figured.

"Yeah, and like tell me what sort of stuff I should talk to her about. If you have time, of course."

"I was watching Friday thirteenth when you came, Benji. I clearly have a lot of time." She gulped down some beer. "But you only have two hours so let's get cracking, shall we?"

"Thanks, Beca." He grinned.

"Do I need to get a camera or would our phones suffice for the investigation?" Stacie, who had taken Beca's spot on the couch near Fat Amy, questioned when they came into the room.

"We're not going to track anyone down," Beca told her friend, picking up her combat boots before she sat down to wear them.

"Bummer," Fat Amy sighed. "Well, what is it then?"

"I have a date tonight and Beca is helping me get ready," Benji spoke when Beca kept quiet.

"Who's the lucky girl?" Fat Amy wondered. "It's a girl, right?"

"Yes, a girl," Benji nodded his head. "I don't think you know her; Janice."

"I'm gonna need a full name, Treble. Since you're Beca's friend, we shall do a full background check on her arse."

"Janice Tompson," Benji hesitantly shared. "Thanks?"

"What are you wearing?" Stacie went on to ask.

"I don't know. That's partially why I'm here." He scratched the back of his neck, feeling uncomfortable with the way Stacie was looking at him.

"You need to show off that ass," she told him. "Wear a shirt that brings out your eyes. Shave the sideburns. And, do something to your hair." She tilted her hair to look at Beca. "Whatcha think, Becs?"

"Huh?" Beca looked away from Benji's face. "Yeah, sounds good."

"Oh my god, you were totally staring at his lips," Stacie was quick to notice.

"Yes but not for the reason currently in your mind," Beca answered. "I was just wondering about Benji's kissing game." She felt bad for putting him on the spot but she wasn't going to let the girls have anything to tease her about. "Do you think you're a good kisser, Benji?" Her question was met with a string of incoherent words from Benji ended when Stacie kissed him, taking the boy by surprise and not holding back.

"Yeah, he's good," Stacie announced, pulling away."I bet he's also good in the sack," she added, running her hand up his chest. "Statistically, nerds are almost always good in the sack."

"Okay, I don't want to see you prove that so you're backing off now, Stacie," Beca told her friend before she reached and peeled Stacie away from Benji.

The walk to the trebles' house was less than two minutes long and once they stepped foot inside the house, Beca remembered why she rarely hung out there. There was porn playing on the big flat screen in the living room in the middle of the day while some of the trebles sat in the Jacuzzi they had installed right in the middle of the living room.

"Do you want something to drink or eat?" Benji asked and Beca shook her head before she took the stairs. He brought a couple of bags of chips and coke cans from the kitchen anyway.

"The restaurant is pretty fancy which means you shouldn't wear a printed t-shirt," she said once he joined her in his room. "Stacie's right about wearing a shirt that brings out your eyes…" Beca trailed off, opening his closet. "What color are they?" she asked, realizing she didn't exactly know the color of Benji's eyes.

"Grey-ish," he answered and held a can of coke towards her.

Beca took the coke and step closer to him, tiptoeing to get a better look at his eyes. "There's some green in there, too… you have really pretty eyes, Benji," she complimented. It wasn't just the color, the shape of his eyes was also pretty. And, up until now, she never noticed how long his eyelashes were.

Falling back on her heels, she popped the can open, and turned back to his closet.

"Thanks, Beca," he smiled shyly at her compliment and rubbed the back of his neck.

"This is should work," she told him, pulling a steel grey shirt. "Might need a little ironing. You guys have an iron?"

"Yeah, I think we do. I'll go see." He left the room while Beca looked for pants that would go well with the shirt and settled for a pair of dark jeans.

She placed the clothes on the bed then took a seat on his desk's chair, grabbing one of the chips bags and opening it.

"Found it," Benji announced as he walked through the threshold.

"Great." Beca looked up and watched Benji plug the iron into the power outlet near his bed. "So, why on earth would you want first date advice from a person that never went on a date in her life?" she asked as he placed his shirt properly on the bed before he ironed it.

He shrugged. "I know you will genuinely try to give advice on how I should behave regardless of your lack of experience in that area."

"Well, I wouldn't hold my breath, but here goes," she deadpanned, grabbing a Darth Maul action figure from his desk. "Don't start off with Starwars, you won't shut up about it and we want her to get to know you and vice versa. Spending the whole time fanboying over Starwars won't let that happen." She clicked her tongue.

Benji nodded in agreement and reached for the iron to start ironing his shirt.

"Ask her about herself, her interests, favorites, if she's a cat person or a dog person, you know whatever keeps the conversation going." She leaned against the chair, playing with the action figure.

"If she says or does something you don't agree with speak up." She paused to think of other things to bring to Benji's attention. "Try not to forget how to breathe. I know you tend to get anxious about everything but she asked you out so she must really like you." Benji was very likable and cute, he didn't seem to see it but Beca did and so must've Janice. "So, yeah, don't let your anxiety get the best of you and have fun." She smiled at him.

"I will," he beamed. "So, how have you been, Becs?" he asked.

"Fine." She shrugged. "I've been trying to drink more water throughout the day and I really feel better. I mean I have to use the bathroom a lot but I can feel my organs celebrating so it's worth it."

She had been drinking less liquor and more water: her body appreciate it and so did her wallet.

"Oh, that's good to hear." He paused and Beca could tell he was trying to think of a way to make a transition to how she felt about Jesse. He thought she should either tell Jesse or stop being friends with him and had been trying to tell her that for a while. She knew he was trying to bring it up because she had successfully dodged the topic every single time he tried.

Beca didn't want to talk about it because it frustrated her and the ultimatum didn't sound appealing. She knew Benji was just trying to be a good friend: he didn't annoy her with his, so far unsuccessful, attempts.

"Where are you spending winter's break?" Benji asked as he watched Beca turn around in his desk chair so he could change into his 'date clothes.'

"In Michigan with my grandmother," she answered automatically.

"You gonna drive up there?"

"I might. I don't know." She shrugged and pulled her phone from her pocket when it chimed with a text to find out that it was from Jesse informing her that the PowerPoint presentation she had helped him make worked.

She was happy for him. She really was. She wasn't even sure why it made her so upset to know that the woman, that Jesse had been rambling about for a while and really wanted to move to Barden so that he could peruse something her, was going to move to Barden.

Beca shot Jesse a quick reply telling him he's very welcome and tossed her phone on the desk.

"What do you think?" She heard Benji ask and spun the chair around in order to face him, forcing a smile on her face.

"You look awesome, Benji," she told him and she meant it.

He beamed before he got a good a look at her and frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she lied. "Let's talk about what happens after your date ends."

If he didn't believe her when she told him that nothing was wrong, Benji didn't voice it. He just listened to her give her so-called advice and nodded along.

Beca went back to the Bellas' house right after finishing with Benji and found the girls still watching Friday 13th. She suggested they played a drinking game and they naturally agreed. Liquor made everything better. Beca had been so good to her liver and felt entitled to get hammered.

"Would you guys fuck Jason?" Stacie asked after taking a sip of beer. "I would."

"No, I wouldn't fuck a psychotic maniac," Beca answered. "Besides, isn't he dead?"

"For me, the dead part is the deal breaker," Fat Amy told them. "For all, we know his dick could have worms."

"Eh, I'll still do him." Stacie shrugged.

"We know, Stacie. You'd do anyone… dead or alive apparently," Fat Amy noted.

"Touché," Stacie grinned.

"There must be a deal breaker. You can't want to hump anything you lay eyes on, Stacie," Beca said.

"Yeah, you're right, I wouldn't have sex with a Nickelback fan," Stacie replied earning a chuckle from Beca. "Ugh, talking about sex is making me wanna have sex." She reached for her phone and unlocked it going into her contact list. "Let's see who's up for some," she muttered.

"How many fuck buddies do you have?" Beca asked, bringing her beer to her lips.

"Fifteen? Maybe sixteen. I don't know. I cut 'em off as soon as they start asking if I could stay for breakfast. So, I don't know. But it's in that range."

"How do you do it without catching feelings?" Beca then questioned, making sure to come off casual and not too curious.

"They're just dicks. I don't even remember their actual names."

Beca nodded, realizing that she did the whole fuck buddy thing wrong. Jesse wasn't a nameless guy she boned and that was probably why she fell in love with him.

"This has been fun but I'm off to get some real fun," Stacie told the two as she reached for her shoes.

"Be safe," Beca called after her once she reached the front door. "You're going out, too?" she wondered when Fat Amy grabbed her own shoes and wore them.

"Yeah, I'm craving a smoothie."

"A smoothie? Now?"

"Yes, there's a good place downtown." Fat Amy threw on her jacket. "Bye."

"Bye," Beca echoed as her friend made her way to the door and brought the beer she was holding to her lips, chugging what was left in one breath and deciding to finish watching the movie then go to bed.

She didn't even realize she was alone in the house until she got up to get more beer and it made her feel lonely. Not to confuse her loneliness with fear, because she wasn't afraid of being alone. She just didn't want to be alone. She could do something about since it was Friday and there was definitely a few parties on campus she could crash but she didn't want that.

Hopping on the couch, she grabbed her phone to send out a text to Benji to see if his date ended then ask if he'd like and watch Friday 13th movies with her and tell her all about her date. When he didn't reply right away, she assumed he was still with his date and scrolled down her texts only to find an unanswered text from Pete, the intern. He was telling her about a friend of his that happened to be a DJ who was wondering if he could play his music in the night slots.

Beca: 'Bring some of his stuff.'

She was drunk but not enough to forget how to do her job. She wasn't going to agree right away. She had to listen to this DJ's music sober then decide.

Pete: 'Are you at the radio station? I have a flash drive full of his remixes. Do you want me to bring it now?'

Beca: 'No, I'm home. But if you want you can drop it off.'

It was so unnecessary to say that and she knew it.

Pete: 'I'll be there in 10 minutes tops.'

She could have told him to show it to her next Monday but she didn't. She was feeling a tad lonely and he was fun—she wasn't very sure of that but she was drunk, everything was fuzzy, she assumed he was fun.

Beca figured she'd order pizza and invite him to stay and dine with her. They could talk trash about Friday 13th and get trashed together… She was already trashed but it didn't matter he could get to her level, there was enough beer.

AN: So far the reviews have been positive. Most of you dig direction of the story has taken and I don't wanna screw it up.

With what I have planned for this story, I think the slow burn is gonna be worth it. I mean I don't wanna bore you out but just know that I want them to get together when they're ready to be together and not because they wanna be together— if that even makes sense— so yeah, bare with me.

Thank you for stopping by and leaving your feedback, it's so awesome.