Jesse was sipping hot chocolate that Sheila made for everyone as he stood in front the window in the study. It had been snowing the whole day. It really felt like Christmas with all the decorations set up outside by everyone in the neighborhood, the smell of cinnamon rolls that Eliza and Sheila were making in the kitchen, and the sounds of Charlie Brown Christmas special that Fat Amy, Benji, Eric and Gracie were watching in the living room.
He pulled his phone from his pocket feeling it vibrate. "Hey, Adam," Jesse greeted picking up.
"No, it's me," Chloe said. "My phone's battery is dead so I'm using Adam's."
"Oh, hey, Chloe," he smiled. "How are you doing?" he wondered.
"I'm okay. A little bummed out that you're not here for Christmas."
"Me, too," he mumbled. "Save me some of those meatballs that you still haven't showed me how to make."
She chuckled, "I'll make them for you when you visit."
"Thank you." He paused. "So, what's up?"
"I just called you because I couldn't get through to Beca."
He knew why she couldn't reach Beca: she was due for an upgrade since her current phone's battery got drained rather quickly.
"Is she with you right now?"
"She's somewhere around the house. I'll go find her for you," he said. "How's everyone over there?" he wondered as he looked inside the living room.
"We're okay. The party went really well."
"It was never even a question that the party wouldn't turn out great."
"Thanks," Chloe beamed.
"It's the truth." He stood by the kitchen and only saw Ella, Eliza, and Sheila there.
Jesse figured she was upstairs and headed there. "Way to announce a pregnancy," he smiled a little to himself. "I don't think anyone can top that."
"It's not a competition," she stated. "But, yeah, I totally win at announcing pregnancies."
"By a mile!" He could hear quiet chatter from one of the rooms and walked towards it. "Hold on a sec, Chloe," he told his sister-in-law as he approached the room.
He knocked on the already open door to announce his presence and couldn't help but notice the slight tension in the room between Beca and her mother's boyfriend Adrian. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation," he mumbled.
"It's fine," Beca replied. "We're done talking."
"Chloe wants to talk to you," Jesse told Beca, shaking the phone.
Beca took the phone from his hand and brought it to her ear, "Sup, Chloe?" she was saying as she left the room.
"You alright, man?" Jesse couldn't help but ask, noting the distressed look on Adrian's face as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah, yeah," he assumed. "I'm alright."
Jesse didn't believe him but nodded anyway and exited the room. He followed Beca's voice and stood in front of Eric's room, which used to be hers growing up.
Beca was playing with a pen between her fingers as she spoke on the phone while she leaned against the desk. She glanced at him for a second as he entered the room that he spent the night on its floor.
While the house was big, there wasn't enough room for him once everyone arrived.
His back definitely didn't appreciate sleeping on the floor but it wasn't that bad.
Jesse walked towards to the window seeing that it was still snowing and eyed the neighborhood.
"Is that hot chocolate?" He heard Beca asked, having hung up the phone.
"Yeah, want some?" he asked without tearing his eyes from the view outside. "It's getting cold, though."
"No, I'm good," she mumbled.
He tilted his head, hearing her hop on the bed.
"You alright?" he asked, seeing that she buried her face in the pillow.
"Yeah," she answered, her voice muffled.
"That's what Adrian said when I asked," he told her and watched her lift her head.
"Adrian is an idiot," she said. "He's a huge idiot." She rested her weight on her elbow as she turned to face Jesse. "Mom thinks he's cheating because of how weird he'd been acting. I went to talk to him because there's no way in hell I'm letting them fight here. Christmas has to go well for nana's sake." She blew a breath. "Turns out he's been acting weird because he's going to propose and all the sneaking around was to get her a ring."
"That's sweet," Jesse found himself saying.
"Here's the kicker, though." She laid on her back. "He thinks she's gonna say no and isn't sure if he should propose anymore."
"Oh, okay." Jesse scratched the stubble on his cheek.
"I personally think he's full of shit. Dude changed his mind about proposing altogether and is trying to pin his decision on mom," she said. "I know mom isn't the perfect girlfriend. She can be such a dick sometimes and I'm surprised they lasted this long. But I also can tell that he just got cold feet and is looking for excuses instead of owning up."
"What are you gonna do about them?" Jesse wondered.
"Nothing." She shrugged. "It's none of my business. I only got involved because I don't want nana to hear about it. Now they know that they're gonna have to bottle it up until they're back home and break up there if they're gonna break up."
"Come on, Beca." He frowned. "You can't just stand by."
She rolled her eyes. "I can. And, I will."
"Well, you shouldn't." He shrugged and sat down on the foot of the bed. "You should talk to your mom and see what's really up with her and if Adrian is right."
Beca looked at him in disbelief as he brought his now-cold chocolate to his lips.
"Gracie needs her big sister to step in when her parents are acting like idiots." He smiled when she groaned.
"Fuck. Fine. I'll talk to mom," Beca grumbled. "Happy?"
"Very," he nodded, watching her swing her legs and sit up.
"Relax, Beca. They won't make a scene." Jesse lightly nudged Beca's shoulder when she rested her elbows on her thighs and buried her face in the palms of her hands.
"I'm not worried about them," she said in response. "It's just that Dad and I can't agree on what we're gonna do about nana," she shared with him. "He thinks moving her to a nursing home would be the best course of action to take once Eric moves out and she no longer has someone living with her." She blew a breath, running her fingers through her hair with one hand while resting her cheek against her other hand. "I know, and so does he, that nana would hate living at a nursing home. She doesn't wanna leave her house ever."
"How about you hire a caregiver?" Jesse suggested.
"That's what I suggested," she replied. "But knowing nana, she won't have it. She'll insist that she'll be fine on her own and that she doesn't need help."
"So that's where you get it from," Jesse thoughtfully said and could see her lips twitch upwards in a smile.
"Yeah." she nodded.
"Well, explain to her that she doesn't really have a choice. It's either a caregiver or nursing home."
"I'm like a watered-down version of her when it comes to stubbornness, so convincing her is easier said than done her," she explained.
"I'm aware." He brought the mug to his lips and finished it. "Good luck." He patted her back.
"Thanks," she smiled tightly at him. "Here's your phone." She held his cellphone in his direction.
He accepted it from her. "Hey, Beca," he called as he watched her stand up. "Wanna go for a walk?"
"A walk?" she frowned. "In this weather?"
"Fine. A drive." He got up.
"Why?" she puzzled.
"To a clear your mind," he replied. "You're a little stressed out and your grandmother will eventually pick up on that."
"I'm fine," she assured and received a look of disbelief from Jesse in return.
"I'll be fine," she rolled her eyes. "I don't need time off, I need Christmas to go well."
"It won't when you're all grouchy," he confidently said. "It's the day before Christmas and you're not very jolly. In fact, you are giving me serious Grinch vibes," he sighed. "Do I need to keep an eye on you in case you decide to steal Christmas?" he asked in mock-worry, smiling to himself when she smiled while shaking her head.
"Good," he smiled himself. "So, what do you say? Do I go grab my coat?"
"Yeah," she said. "Guess we could drive up to the mall now and get it over with," she deadpanned.
"Beca, be less grumpy when you tell Gracie that we're headed out to see Santa, would you?" he said, pretending to be annoyed with her attitude.
"Let's just go," she mumbled.
Jesse followed Beca out of the room and as they reached the staircase, that was facing the front door, they heard a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Beca said and rushed down the stairs to unlock the door while Jesse followed at a much slower pace.
"Bumper?" Beca called in confusion as soon as she opened the door.
Jesse shared her confusion because he recognized Bumper. He went to college with the guy, who he remembered being quite the douche.
"Beca," he greeted, glancing inside the house. "Is Amy around?" he wondered.
"What are you doing here?" she questioned.
"I came to see Amy," he replied then cleared his throat. "She's here right?"
"Bumper?" Fat Amy said in puzzlement.
"Heey!" he greeted quite awkwardly.
"What are you doing here?" she repeated Beca's question as she slowly walked towards the front door. "How did you even get here? How did you know where to find me?"
"Uh. I took a bus. Then another bus. Then hitched a ride and almost got robbed. Quite the journey to get here." He scratched his head. "You accidentally took my phone instead of yours. That's how I was able to track you down," he let her know as he held her cellphone in her direction.
"You came all the way from Barden to get back your phone?" Beca crossed her arms cross her chest. "What do you have on it? State Secrets?" she deadpanned which earned her a light chuckle from Jesse.
Only he seemed to find her quip funny, though. Bumper looked like a scared puppy and Amy was uncharacteristically quiet.
"Can I come in?" Bumper hesitantly asked, addressing Fat Amy.
When Amy didn't reply, he grew worried.
"Yeah, get in," Beca told him, extending an arm to lock the door once he walked inside.
"Thanks," he smiled curtly. "Oh, wow." He sucked in a deep breath. "Smells really nice in here." He looked around him. "Jesse Swanson?" he exclaimed, his eyebrows translating very well how surprised he was.
"Hey, man," Jesse smiled curtly.
"Shit! How long as it been?" he wondered. "Ten years?"
"Twelve," Jesse answered after doing the mental math.
"Tomato tomato," Bumper shrugged. "Really good to see you!"
"Yeah, nice seeing you to, Bumper," Jesse said in response.
"Can I use the bathroom?" Bumper wondered, meeting Beca's gaze.
"It's over there." She nodded at the nearest bathroom and watched him pace towards it.
"Amy," Beca called as soon as Bumper shut the door behind him. "Will you deal with him quietly?" she requested.
Fat Amy nodded slowly.
"Cool." Beca titled her head to look at Jesse. "No mall," she let him know.
They ended up going to the mall and taking Amy and Bumper along with them. While Beca and Jesse took Gracie to meet Santa, Bumper and Amy went for a walk around the mall to talk privately.
Gracie tightened her hold on Beca's hand as they approached the man sporting the classic red outfit.
"Gracie, say hi to Santa," Beca smiled at her sister who just stood there eyeing the man.
Jesse watched Beca encourage her sister to step closer to Santa and engage in a conversation with him. Gracie was quite excited to meet Santa but she was also a very shy child. Luckily Beca knew how to get her sister to relax around the man.
It was a side of Beca he'd never seen before. He had a feeling she was this gentle and sweet only around her sister, so he refrained from making any comments about it.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Jesse wondered as he, Beca, and Gracie who was swinging hands with her sister while eyeing the polaroid picture of her and Santa, walked around. Beca followed his gaze and saw Bumper and Fat Amy sitting on a bench on the other side of the mall across from them.
"How he drove all the way here to hand her back her phone and take his," Beca deadpanned.
"Bumper is gonna get his heart broken isn't he?" Jesse rhetorically asked.
"Probably," Beca said with a shrug.
"Poor guy."
"Why?" Beca took the photo from her sister's hand when she held it her way and stuffed it in her pocket. "He knows Amy. And, he definitely knows that she doesn't want a real relationship."
"He just traveled across states in the cold fully aware of how likely it is that he's gonna get rejected. He's in love." Jesse'll admit, he felt bad for Bumper and truly hoped he'd get his happy ending.
"That's just stupid. And, kinda manipulative if you ask me."
"Manipulative?" Jesse puzzled.
"Yeah, the whole traveling across states thing. It's manipulative to use his own actions as a reason for her to agree to be with him. This is why I hate rom-coms." She shook her head. "They romanticize this behavior and make it seem like the girl just has to take the guy because he pulled a grand gesture."
"I doubt Bumper is smart enough to be manipulative," he added.
"Yeah, he's definitely not the brightest," she agreed.
Tilting her head in the direction where Amy and Bumper were sitting, Beca said, "Shit."
"Beca!" Jesse exclaimed right as Gracie gasped. "I can't believe you just said a bad word!" he scolded, glancing where she was looking.
"Oh, they made up!" he beamed seeing that Amy and Bumper were kissing. "Why are you bummed out?"
"Because Benji's gonna take the couch in the living room and I'm gonna have to sleep in the basement since unlike Benji I don't have dust allergy," she grumbled.
"Huh?" he was confused.
"It's Christmas eve, Bumper won't find a room in a motel around here." She rubbed her forehead. "And, I'm not gonna sleep in the same room as the two of them, Jesse," she told him.
"Right, 'cause they're probably gonna be snoring super loud," he nodded to himself, earning an eye-roll from Beca.
Christmas eve at Ella Mitchell's house was something else. He was used to Chloe's Christmas parties and dinners which were pretty damn awesome. She always made sure everyone had the best time possible. She's a very thoughtful host.
The Mitchells were like that but not because the host knew all about their eating habits and likes and dislikes but because everyone chimed in. You like a certain meal for Christmas? You get into the kitchen and you make it. You had a preferred drink? You go and buy it.
The dinner table looked more like a feast and he had no doubts that nothing was going to waste.
He at least knew that he was going to eat a lot and so were Beca and Benji who he shared a couple of joints with right before dinner. It was Beca's idea to smoke some pot in order to get the munchies as a proactive measure.
"These are really good, Beca," Dr. Mitchell was saying as he ate one of the meatballs that Beca had just placed on the table. The man was having a hard time believing his daughter not only made something, but it also tasted good.
"I know right," she agreed. "Jesse's sister-in-law gave me the recipe," she let him know.
"She gave it to you?" Jesse rhetorically asked, overhearing her. "I've been asking for it for a year and she wouldn't give it to me." He placed the bottle of wine had just brought from the kitchen.
"Yeah, told her I was making it for you, dude," she mumbled. "Figured you'd have something you like from Christmas with your family." She shrugged.
"Thank you." Jesse was touched by the gesture. It was really thoughtful of her.
"Sure, man." She smiled curtly at him and headed back to the kitchen.
They had a tradition of playing games in order to determine who was going to wash the dishes. No one wanted to do them, so the competition was real. Jesse didn't realize how serious they were about the Christmas games until he got a rundown of the rules.
They were thorough.
Benji, winner of last year's games, organized this year's games. Ella wasn't obliged to play since no one was going to let her do any sort of labor, but she wanted to participate, nonetheless. Benji had the right to pick one person to be help him out and by that give them immunity and he picked Eric.
So, the people that were playing to win were Dr. Mitchell, Sheila, Eliza, Adrian, Fat Amy, Bumper, Beca, and himself.
Some games were required to be played in pairs. Some were in groups. Some were individual. And, they were all fun.
The last game was similar to the newlyweds' game, which Beca objected to since there were three couples playing and they had better odds of winning than her and Jesse.
"Beca, we got this," Jesse assured when her objection led nowhere.
"We can't lose, you hear that?" Beca told him.
"You really don't wanna do the dishes."
"Yeah, there's a mountain of dishes waiting, Jesse," she grumbled, bringing her glass of wine to her lips.
He handed her one of the small whiteboards and makers that Eric gave him. "I lost last year, I'm not losing this year, too."
"Well, I think the odds are in your favor this year," he said.
"What do you mean? All of our scores are close."
"They're all drunk, Beca," he stated. "We're not," he slurred.
"You're drunk, too, Jesse," she said in disbelief. "And, so am I!"
"No, I'm not," he denied. "You're kinda blurry but I wouldn't say I'm drunk."
"We're so gonna lose," she sighed.
The way the game went is that each one in the pairs had a set of questions to answer about the other. Both had to write the answer on the whiteboard. If the answers matched, they got a point.
First few questions were pretty easy. Questions like 'how was better at cooking?' and 'What's their favorite color?' Softball questions. Jesse knew they weren't going to all be easy, but he was confident about how well he knew Beca.
"Who said 'I love you' first?" Benji asked.
Jesse smiled a little at the memory of fever dreaming Beca who told me she loved him as he wrote down on her name on the whiteboard.
She said it first both in her sleep and awake and he vividly remembered them both.
The memories warmed his heart, but he tried not to think too hard about them to avoid going down memory lane. He had to focus on winning the game.
"What is the first movie you watched together?"
Breakfast Club. Breakfast Club's ending to be specific. It was the night they started their no strings attached relationship. That night he sang to her in a failed attempt to get her to sleep over. Good times, Jesse thought to himself.
"Baby, it's cold outside," he sang the line under his breath while holding Beca's gaze as he held up the board and earned an eye-roll. She remembers. He ginned, looking back at Benji.
"What were they wearing the first time you met?"
Denim shorts, a gray t-shirt with Pink Floyd's darkside of the moon's album cover, dark blue converse, and sunglasses.
He remembered very well the day they met. How could he forget?
"That's very detailed, I'm a little crept out," Beca mumbled, eyeing what he wrote.
"My memory is sharp." Jesse grabbed the beer that he'd placed down on the floor to take a sip while he thought about the day they met and how they ended up in bed. Now that he thought about it, he never done that with anyone except for her. He never hooked up with a total stranger. It wasn't like him to do that sort of thing. He hadn't thought about it before, but he must've been very attracted to her to go through with it.
He swallowed when his thoughts got to inappropriate and shook them off. The questions weren't even sexual. Jesse decided to blame the liquor he'd been drinking. Beca was right, he was drunk. He was also slightly turned on, he realized.
Despite his very distracting thoughts, Jesse did well answering the questions. And, so did Beca.
They didn't come last, so they didn't have to wash the dishes nor did either one of them come first.
Eliza came first in terms of overall score.
Fat Amy did the worst in the last game.
Looking at Bumper, Jesse could tell that he didn't really appreciate how poorly she did answering questions about him.
"Careful there's a broken step," Beca let Jesse know as they walked down the steps of the stairs to the basement.
"Okay." His vision was a little blurry so he really couldn't see that well, but he tried not to fall on his face.
"Thanks," Beca was saying as he pulled the old sofa bed, which he was told was difficult to open because it was so old.
He had to pull some effort, but he managed to open it.
"You welcome." He stepped back and watched her throw a blanket over it.
She looked at him feeling his gaze and he smiled at her. If he wasn't so drunk and turned on, he would have mistaken the way she looked at him for checking him out. "Looks like your mom and Adrian made up," he said, distracting himself from his indecent thoughts. "They were all over each other just now," he snorted.
"Yeah," she nodded, placing a pillow on the sofa bed. "I think it's the last game we played," she paused. "The questions probably reminded them of why they're together in the first place."
"Yeah, probably." He nodded. "It sure did bring back a lot of memories," he mumbled, unsure why he was feeling heat in his cheeks. Probably the liquor, Jesse figured. "Good memories," he added as he looked around him. "Is that a pool table?" he wondered.
"Yeah," Beca answered, sitting down and kicking off her slippers before she climbed on the sofa bed and stuffed her hands in her sweatshirt's pockets to pull the bag of weed and rolling paper she had there.
"It's old," he noted, placing his hand on the edge of the pool table having reached it.
"Yup." He heard Beca say.
Looking up, he arched his eyebrows in surprised. "Wow, that looks old, too."
"Yeah, I think it was made in the 50s," Beca said in response, seeing that he was making his way to the jukebox.
"Does it work?"
"Nope," Beca sighed. "The pool table is also in poor shape. Grandma bought them from a bar when it closed down 'cause that place meant a lot to her and grandpa."
"Has she tried to get fixed?" he wondered, eyeing the antique jukebox.
"It was functional when she bought it. It just was too expensive to fix when it broke down."
"How expensive?"
"I don't know, man." Beca shrugged. "I was like eight when it broke down."
He tilted his head hearing her ignite the lighter. He watched her take a hit from the joint then walked the small distance between them to take it from her when she held it his way offering to share.
"Should you even be smoking pot?"
"What do you mean?" she asked back.
"You need your voice for work, Beca, and weed would damage your voice."
"You're not wrong but as long as I'm not smoking frequently, I'll be fine." She paused for a second, turning thoughtful. "And, I've significantly cut back on weed since October."
"Yeah, I remember you said something about your coughs getting bad," he said and handed her back the joint after he took a drag.
"I never planned to quit altogether, though," she clarified. "I guess I got busy with the musical stuff and had to take care of my voice… and I haven't been getting that many migraines, which are the main reason I smoked pot in the first place."
"So, they were stress related," he figured. "Stress triggered your migraines."
"I guess," she mumbled.
"Wait does this mean you're getting a migraine now?" he found himself wondering.
"No, I just felt like getting high. I'm already drunk. This is my last chance to get fucked up before going back to New York," she deadpanned.
Being a stage performer meant she had to stay in good shape, so she wasn't going to be drinking nor smoking weed for a while. She could do both moderately but Beca strove for excellence in her work, which was quite admirable. She allowed herself cheat days since it was Christmas but ever since she booked the show, she had been eating better and working out.
"Besides, dad is sobering up before bed and Benji didn't drink so they're in charge in case of an emergency," she was saying as he began making his way towards the old TV he spotted along with a VHS tape player.
"Does the TV work?" he wondered, seeing a box full of VHS tapes.
"I think so, yeah," Beca replied.
He proceeded to plug the TV and VHS player, reaching inside the box when he saw that they both worked.
"Let's see," he mumbled to himself. "Home videos?" he glanced at Beca.
"Mostly," she answered getting up as well and walking towards a bunch of boxes not too far from the sofa bed.
Jesse looked through different tapes, picking the one titled 'dance recital 10/3/2000'
He stepped back after grabbing the remote control. "Aw," he coed.
"What?" Beca looked up from the boxes she had been looking through, with a see-through plastic box containing Lego in her hands.
"You were so small!" he laughed. "Well, you're still small. But like you were so tiny," he snorted.
Jesse ended up playing several tapes which were all from Beca's childhood while she played with her old Lego set on the floor.
"I'm kinda jealous that your childhood is so well documented," Jesse was saying as he accepted a joint from Beca while eyeing the Lego that were on the floor by the sofa bed.
There were videos from when she was six, around the time she moved in with her grandmother, up until her senior year in high school. Her grandmother went to every event, school related or otherwise, and filmed it. There were several of home videos from holidays and birthdays some of which were sad when he thought about. It was almost always just Beca and her grandmother. Dr. Mitchell was rarely in any of them.
"I'm kinda jealous you grew up with both your parents under the same roof as you," she said in response. "I'm hungry," Beca sighed.
"I could eat, too." He handed her back the joint. "Leftovers Sammy?" he suggested.
"Sure," she shrugged and sat up.
"No, I got it." Jesse stood up and stretched.
The house was extremely quiet, which made sense. It was very late and both he and Beca should have gone to bed a while ago. They just lost track of time, or at least he did. He liked going through all of those old VHS tapes from Beca's childhood.
Jesse made them sandwiches, grabbed a couple of beers, a bottle of water, and headed back to the basement.
"You still up?" he checked, seeing that she was laying on her side on the sofa-bed.
"Yeah," Beca answered, only sitting up when he was in front of her.
"What did you put in this?" she asked, frowning as she chewed. "It's so good!"
"I put everything I found. Of course, it's amazing: You're high as a kite." He shrugged. "Everything tastes like heaven."
"I'm not that high."
"Oh yeah?"
She nodded. "I mean I'm high, but I still know what I'm doing."
"Okay." He groaned, stretching. "God!" Jesse rubbed his lower back.
"You fucked your back up further by sleeping on the floor," she noted.
"Yeah," he sighed. "But it's fine. I'll be fine," he assured.
"No, you won't," she said through a mouthful of food. "When we finish eating, I'll give you back rub and then you might be fine."
"Beca, you don't have to."
"I want to." She shrugged.
Less than five minutes later, Jesse took off his sweater and t-shirt he had worn underneath and laid on his stomach.
He could feel Beca climb on the sofa bed, too, and tilted his head to see what she was up to.
She climbed on top of him in a way that she could rest her knees on the sofa.
"Would've been ideal if we had some oil," she sighed while rubbing her hands together to heat them up a little. "Oh, well."
Jesse closed his eyes, feeling her place her hands on his back.
"So, is it just your lower back that hurts or everything?" Beca asked.
"All of it but my lower back hurts the most," he let her know.
"Okay," she mumbled and went quiet as she started to massage his back.
Beca was very focused on what she's doing, he knew that because she was very quiet.
He wasn't.
Jesse couldn't help the noises that were coming out of him in response to the back rub.
If he was sober, he would've been slightly embarrassed because he kind of sounded like he was receiving a blow job and not a massage.
He tried not let himself wander off and enjoy the massage a little too much but it was a bit of a challenge when he was already slightly turned on. All the touching didn't help his case.
"All done," Beca mumbled.
He smiled a little when she scratched the back of his neck before he titled his head to look at her. "Thanks." He rolled over so he was facing her while she was still on top of him.
"Sure," she smiled back. "Anywhere else you need release?"
Okay, that was definitely a suggestive tone she used.
Despite his current state, Jesse knew better than to initiate anything. The ball was in her court. If he read her right, which he was pretty sure he did, she was just as turned on and doing a shitty job at hiding it.
Jesse shook his head, resting his weight on his elbows. "I can do you if you want," he said in response, his smile growing wider when she chuckled.
He didn't mean a back rub and she knew it.
Jesse glanced down at Beca's hands when she placed them on his abdomen as she leaned in closer to his face, closing his eyes when she pressed her lips against his.
He tried to restrain himself and let her control the kiss, opening his mouth when he felt her tongue, and laid back on his back as she pressed her herself against him.
Jesse wasn't sure if it was the pot that they smoked but he was quite certain that he just had the best sex of his life.
He was still trying to catch his breath when Beca leaned in and kissed him.
She was caressing his hair as they kissed, which was lulling him to sleep.
"I'm gonna regret this in the morning," she mumbled, pulling away but continuing to play with his hair.
"Why?" he questioned.
"Well, you know? I don't sleep with friends."
"We're not friends, though," he sleepily said. "We're best friends," he grinned, earning an eye-roll.
"When d'you get this?" he asked, as he rubbed his thumb against Beca's rib cage, deciding to change the subject. He was on a high and so was she. He didn't want to ruin the moment just yet. He didn't want to deal with anything just yet. They had sex, it was euphoric. He wanted to fall asleep with her curled up in his arms and address everything in the morning when they're sober.
"A couple of years ago," she let him know as she rested her head on the pillow, facing him.
"Is it the letter Z?" It was small and his vision was blurry, so he leaned in to eye her tattoo closely.
"It's a thunderbolt," she answered.
"Oh, yeah, I see it." He nodded and laid back, resting his head on the same pillow as her. "Cool."
"Thanks," she smiled.
"So, is it music related?" he wondered. "It has to be."
"No, it's not music related."
"You're into the Flash?" He very much doubted that.
"It's for Thororeo," she let him know.
"Thororeo?!" he said in surprise.
"I saw a cat that looked exactly like him. I was in Barden so I thought it was really Thororeo. Wasn't him but he had a microchip, so he was safely returned to his owner." She sighed. "I spent the rest of the day thinking about Thororeo. Happened to be Pete's twenty-first birthday that day so we went out and got super drunk. Pete wanted to get a tattoo for his birthday. I was drunk and at a tattoo shop, so I got one, too." She shrugged. "For Thororeo 'cause he was on my mind."
"Why a thunderbolt, though?" He was exhausted so he wasn't even going to try and figure it out on his own. "Could've went with a small minimalist cat drawing or like whiskers or something like that."
"There was a thunderstorm the night I found him, remember?" She scooted closer to him and curled up against his chest.
"Oh, right, right, right!" He ran his hand over his face before he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "It's a sweet tribute to our furry not-so-little baby." He ran his fingers up her arm.
"Don't call him that," she deadpanned.
"I call like it is. He might not be the same specie as us—He's a far a superior specie—but he's our baby, Beca," he yawned and rested his cheek against her head.
"So this makes me the neglectful parent that bailed, right?" she checked.
"No, it doesn't it. Those rules don't apply when you're a parent to a cat. He knows you love him. He doesn't need you around. Superior specie, 'member? He can sense you even when you're miles away." He rubbed his eyes. "His whiskers are actual sensors and that's how he can sense your presence even when you're far away." He felt like he was rambling and repeating himself and blamed it on his sleepiness.
"Okay, I believe you," she mumbled. "Good night, weirdo."
"Good night," he said, no longer fighting sleep. "I love you," he murmured next without really thinking about it.
"You, too." He heard her say in a barely audible voice and smiled as he was falling asleep.
Jesse was alone when he woke up. Everything from the night before came back to him and it brought a stupid grin to his face.
His perfect mood was ruined moments later when his anxieties set in. Yeah, they had a great time but she told him she was going to regret it the morning and he was all by himself in the sofa-bed, which wasn't a good sign.
Jesse rubbed his face, got up, and stepped on one of the Lego pieces that Beca didn't bother to put back in the box once she was done playing with them, because his anxieties and hangover weren't painful enough.
He sat back on the sofa bed to look at his foot and rubbed the spot that hurt. Why did they have to make Lego to be this painful when stepped on? He grabbed his clothes and wore them before he began making his way towards the staircase.
He totally forgot about the broken step and ended up stepping on it. "Motherfucker!" he exclaimed when pain shot from his ankle, having twisted it. "Jesus!" he blew a breath before he attempted to move his ankle. He couldn't do it which couldn't be good. "Okay," he mumbled, gripping the handrail and slowly but surely climbed the stairs.
"Morning," he greeted, Eliza, Gracie, and Benji who were in the kitchen when made it there.
"It's almost noon, Jesse," Eliza said in amusement before she got a good look at him. "What's wrong?"
"I sprained my ankle climbing the staircase," he informed.
"Oh, yeah, there's a broken tread in the basement staircase," Eliza nodded to herself. "Can you move it?" she wondered as she was pulling a frozen peas bag from the freezer.
"Nope," he mumbled, sitting on one of the stools.
"Thanks," Jesse tried to smile at Eliza when she handed him the bag of frozen peas, pressing it against his ankle right away.
"Looks really bad, mate," Eliza truthfully said.
"Yeah, you should probably get checked," Benji agreed.
Jesse nodded in agreement.
"I'll drive you to the hospital." They heard Beca, who he didn't realize was at the door, say and all tilted their heads to look at her.
She made eye contact with him for half a second before she left the kitchen.
The drive to the hospital was quiet. He wanted to talk about the night before, but it could wait until he had some painkillers in his system.
Besides, there was a snowstorm in action and Beca could barely see the street as she drove. He didn't want to distract her from the road by getting into a conversation that she very likely didn't want to have.
Jesse's ankle suffered a bad a sprain. But it was just that, a sprain. He got some painkillers for the pain and was sent home.
"You've got to be kidding me," Beca mumbled when the car wouldn't start.
She shook her head when Jesse unbuckled his seat-belt and sat up, ready to go see what was up with the car. "No, I got this," she told him before she climbed out the car.
Jesse lowered the window when she knocked on it. "The car is low on coolant," she informed. "Is there any on board?" she proceeded to ask, given the fact that it was his sister's car she was driving.
His immediate reaction was to laugh to which she frowned.
When he first met her, she was on the side of road because her dad's car broke down. He helped her with it because she didn't really know that much about cars and figure out the problem: lack of coolant in the reservoir.
It might be the painkillers working at last, but he really found the coincidence funny.
"Um, yeah, check in the trunk," he said.
"Okay," she mumbled and stepped back.
He leaned against his seat and closed his eyes briefly, only opening them when Beca climbed back inside the car.
"You have snow all over you," he told her when she successfully started the car. He reached over to brush it off of her hair when she ran her fingers through her hair and made zero difference.
"Thanks," she quietly said.
"Sure," he smiled at her, tucking her hair behind her ear. Hearing his cellphone ring, he stuffed the hand he was tucking her hair with into his pocket to pull his phone.
"Hey, Benji," he greeted.
"Hi, how's your ankle doing?"
"Just a sprain thankful," he sighed.
"Oh, that's great!" Benji beamed. "Hey, can you pass the phone to Beca?" he requested. "Her phone went straight to voicemail when I called her."
"Everything alright?" Jesse frowned.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry it's not an emergency."
"Okay. Well, here you go." He held the phone in Beca's direction. "Benji wants to talk to you."
"Sup, Benji?" she said upon bringing her phone to her ear.
Jesse watched Beca roll her eyes at something Benji said. "Just keep them out of earshot from her until I'm home. I'll be there in like ten minutes tops." She sighed hanging up and frowned a little when she looked at the screen of the phone.
"Why is Amber moving out of your house?" she asked, looking up.
He was sure his face translated very well how puzzled he was.
She held up his phone in a way he could see the unanswered texted he received from Amber letting him know when she'd be moving out of his house.
He really was fine with her living in his house in Barden for as long as she wanted since he wasn't there, but she insisted that she had to move out. She already found a place and was going to move into it by New Year.
"We broke up," he answered.
"When?" she frowned.
"Uh, the night of Donald's party." He scratched the back of his neck.
"Were you planning on telling me about this at some point?"
"You have a lot going on. It just didn't' seem worth mentioning, I guess." He shrugged.
"Of course, it is, Jesse," she said. "Well, do you wanna talk about it?"
Her question made him chuckle. "No, not really."
"Okay," she curtly said.
She was being a good friend, offering to talk about his breakup with his girlfriend of 4 years, and he was shutting her out which wasn't really fair.
"Look," he sighed. "We drifted apart," he told her.
"So, it was mutual?"
"Yup." He nodded. "We had a good run and I'll definitely look back on this relationship fondly."
"Dude, didn't you preach to me about things not being black and white and that you wouldn't end a relationship without trying to save it first?"
"I'm all about trying 'till the last minute but I can't do that when we've both fallen in love with other people." He was testing the waters to see if she was ready to talk so he carefully watched her as soon as the words left his mouth.
She tightened her grip the phone in her hand and that was the only reaction he could see to his words. She maintained a really impressive poker face as she tossed his phone in his lap and proceeded to buckle her seat-belt.
She placed her hands on the steering wheel and blew a breath while staring right ahead of her. "Why did you come to my place the day after Donald's party?"
"I told Amber everything that happened that night and she said that we don't have to be friends to be in each other's lives. She thinks you want more than a friendship and she called me dense not figuring that out on my own. So, am I really dense or did you really mean that you wanted me out of your life for good?"
"You came over to ask that?" she quietly asked.
"Yup," he replied. "I'm glad I didn't get to ask you then. I glad because I wasn't a hundred percent sure of how I felt about you," he let her know. "I am now."
"Me, too," she said in response while intensely looking at the steering wheel. "Last night kinda put an end any doubts I had." She ran her fingers through her hair then said, "I was really worried that it's one-sided… again." She tilted her head to look at him and finally dropped the poker face: she was relieved.
"Oh, god, no," he was quick to say. "It's definitely not one-sided." Jesse took a moment to look at her. "You don't remember do you?"
"Remember what?" she puzzled.
"I said I love you as I was falling asleep and you said it back. I can see why you don't remember, you were really faded."
"Yeah, I don't remember that part."
"You probably said it back in your sleep," he figured.
"Probably," she agreed.
"This went way better than I expected," he admitted, relaxing into his seat.
"What did you expect was gonna happen?" she asked.
"Oh, you know, an argument that would have me monologuing about why we belong together." He shrugged. "I started to think of what I could say on the drive to the hospital because you were so quiet." Knowing Beca, quietness was never a good sign. "Stuff like 'You're right, we can't be friends because we're meant to be together'."
"That's very corny."
"It's supposed to be corny, Beca," he was saying as she put the car in reverse and pulled it out of the parking lot. "Have you ever seen a rom-com?"
"I have. Too bad you're not gonna get your big rom-com moment." She smiled tightly. "Real life can be pretty anticlimactic."
"It's alright." He shrugged. "I don't have enough energy for a heartfelt monologue so it wouldn't be a natural anyway." He was hungover so his throat and mouth were dry. He had a headache as well, but it should be gone soon thanks to the painkillers finally kicking in.
"What did Benji want?" he wondered.
"Amy and Bumper are being passive aggressive towards each other and Benji thinks they're gonna end up making a scene in front of nana," she informed. "He doesn't know what to do with them."
"But you do?"
"Oh, yeah," she nodded. "No one is ruining Christmas at nana's, not on my watch."
"Can either one of you tell me why you're acting like a couple of teenagers?" Beca asked, addressing Fat Amy and Bumper who Benji made sure they stayed in Eric's bedroom until she got there.
Jesse was also in the room, but he was only there to grab his toiletry bag from his suitcase before he went to take a much-needed shower.
He decided to stick around because he could see why Benji thought Beca would know what to do: she sounded like a very stern and kind of scary.
"He started it," Fat Amy defensively said. "He keeps nagging and nagging and nagging. It's insufferable."
"Bumper?" Beca tilted her head to look at him. "Do you have anything to say about this?"
Bumper, whose arms were crossed across his chest as he leaned against the desk, said, "Didn't know calling her out counted as nagging," he deadpanned.
"Hey, enough of the passive aggressive bullshit," Beca snapped. "You're in fucking thirties, man, act like it." She then turned to Amy, "You, too, need to grow up." She paused for a second. "This shit show needs to end. It's been going on for far too long and you really can't expect him to stick around for much longer if you don't make up your mind soon, Ams," Beca knowingly said.
"And, you." She tilted her head to look at Bumper. "You seriously need to stop letting her walk all over you."
"I'm not pointing a gun at his head; he can leave whenever he wants," Fat Amy said in the very same defensive tone.
"Yeah, right," Bumper snorted. "Like you wouldn't show up at my door in two months and act like nothing ever happened."
"I won't." She shrugged.
"Do you even love me or am I just some guy you use for sex?" he asked.
Up until that point, Jesse was quietly standing in the corner where he had left his suitcase with his stuff in his arms. He decided that Bumper's question was his cue to leave. It got too personal. He made eye contact with Beca who was standing in the middle of the room as he was making his way out.
"Wait," Beca quietly said when Jesse reached the door. "Amy," she then called. "I spent three years with this nagging thought in the back of my head that I made a horrible mistake by walking away because I wasn't ready for a relationship. And, yeah, I got over those relationship-related fears that I had and dated other people and even fell in love again, but it wasn't the same." She shrugged. "I'm not really sold on the whole soulmates crap but I very much doubt I can find someone that can make me feel the way Jesse does," she admitted.
It was very out of character for her to pour her heart out like that so to say that Jesse was surprised would an understatement.
Jesse noticed that Beca's words seemed to be getting to Fat Amy. So, he figured that by sharing, she was trying to relate to her friend.
"I know that it might not work out between us and I also know that he'll always have my back and so will I." She glanced at him briefly, a small smile on his lips. "So, if you really think Bumper's just some guy you have fun with from time to time, do him and yourself a favor a cut your losses before it's too late." She paused for a second. "If you wanna yell at each other don't do it anywhere Grandma can hear you," she then told them. "You can spend the night in the basement," she said to Bumper.
"Thanks," he quietly said.
"Come on," she said to Jesse, who was at the door waiting for her.
"That was so corny," he said adoringly gazing at her once they were out of earshot.
"Shut up," she rolled her eyes. "She needed to hear it."
"I didn't know I needed to hear it," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and leaning in.
"Not before you brush your teeth." She cupped his face. "Your breath stinks," she mumbled before placing a peck on his cheek before she stepped away to unlock the bathroom door.
"Are you gonna shower with me?" he wondered.
"Why do you think I told you to wait for me?" she asked back.
"To hear your corny speech, duh." He grinned when she shook her head in amusement. "Seriously, though, it was short and sweet just like you," he earnestly said.
"Now, that's corny," she snorted, her eyes traveling between his eyes and lips.
"I know," he mumbled as he gravitated towards her lips.
"Brush your teeth," she said, pulling her head back.
Jesse exhaled through the nose and unzipped his toiletry bag to pull his toothbrush and toothpaste as he walked to the sink.
He could see her start to undress as he began to brush his teeth.
He brushed his teeth thoroughly and gagged trying to brush his tongue because there was no way he wasn't going to kiss her.
"You still like your water boiling hot?" he asked, using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth, as he watched Beca check the water.
"Yup," she answered, glancing at him. "Why are you still dressed, weirdo?" she wondered as she stepped into the shower.
"I was busy." He was staring at her perfect body that he couldn't wait to touch.
His sweater and t-shirt were on the floor in seconds but he had to be careful taking off his pants.
"Your foot looks really bad," Beca noted, pulling her head away from the shower, as he stepped closer. "Does it hurt?" she worried, a frown forming on her forehead.
"I'm sure it will once the painkillers wear of," he sighed, looking down at his foot.
His ankle was swollen and so was the side of his foot, he could tell that it was going to bruise badly.
Jesse made sure to pull the shower curtains to avoid wetting the floor then around to look at Beca.
He was a thirty-four-year-old man and he could feel butterflies in the pit of his stomach.
"What?" she asked, noting his growing smile.
"I love you," he said, reaching to cup her cheeks.
"I love you, too," she said back, closing her eyes when he leaned in for a kiss.
They hadn't been kissing for long when they heard the bathroom get unlocked. Well, Beca heard it and pulled away. He didn't. He was preoccupied and the shower made it hard to hear anything, he was surprised Beca could.
"Sorry," they heard Eliza apologize. "I just came for the first aid kit."
"Everything okay?" Beca couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah, yeah, your dad tried to help out in the kitchen and cut himself," she let her know. "He's wondering where you are by the way 'cause he wants to talk to your nan."
"Tell him I'll be there in half an hour," she said.
Half an hour? Jesse mouthed in phony outrage and received an eye-roll from Beca.
Eliza was quiet for a few seconds. "There aren't enough towels for the two of you," she then noted.
Jesse and Beca shared a look just then because neither one of them bothered to check if there were enough towels in the linen cabinet.
Their clothes were on the floor, so they weren't surprised Eliza could tell that Beca wasn't alone.
"Um, I guess I'll bring you more clean towels," she figured.
"Thanks," Beca said loud enough for her mother to hear.
"Sure," Eliza replied. "Don't put too much pressure on your ankle, Jesse, the painkillers are just helping with the pain," she added in amusement before she left the bathroom.
"Why didn't you lock the door?" Beca asked.
"I thought you locked it when I went to brush my teeth," he countered. "What's wrong?" he questioned when she pulled her head back as he leaned in for a kiss.
"We're not gonna do anything until mom brings the towels and one of us locks the door behind her."
"Well, we can't just stand here and waste water," he was saying as he reached for the shampoo bottle that he knew belonged to Beca because it was strawberry scented. "God, this smells good," he mumbled after sniffing the shampoo having opened it.
Beca took the bottle from him and put it away. "Let's clean you up first," she decided and grabbed his shampoo instead.
Whatever energy he had was gone by the time they were out of the shower, Jesse barely managed to get some food in him before he went to take a nap.
He sucked in a deep breath, smelling Beca's shampoo, and opened his eyes to see her sleeping with her back to him.
She must've joined him on the sofa-bed while he was asleep after she finished talking with her grandmother.
Jesse stroked her hair and pulled his hand back when she shifted before she rolled over to face him. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up," he apologetically said.
"You didn't," she sleepily said and got closer to him, burying her face in his neck.
"How did it go with your grandma?" he quietly asked.
"She agreed to hiring a caregiver as long as she can pick 'em herself," she let him know.
"That's great," he was saying as he resumed stroking her hair.
"Yeah," she mumbled. "Dad's gonna stay with her until we get the caregiver which she wasn't too thrilled about but agreed to."
"Oh, I see what you did there," he chuckled. "She wouldn't be too picky because the longer it takes to hire a caregiver the longer your dad has to stay."
"Bingo," Beca confirmed.
It wasn't that Ella didn't love her son; she just didn't appreciate his constant lectures about her health.
"What time is it?" Beca quietly asked.
Jesse grabbed his phone and hit the home button. "Almost five," he let her know while tapping to open the text he received from Donald.
"Beca, check this out," he said in amusement, holding his phone in her direction so that she'd see the photo he received of Thororeo in an elf costume.
"Donald's having so much fun with Thoroero," Jesse said.
"Doesn't look like Thoroeo is, though," Beca noted, eyeing the grumpy looking cat.
They both tilted their heads hearing someone walk down the stairs.
"Beca, are you down here?" They heard Adrian ask.
"Yeah," she answered and sat up. "What's up?" she asked once he made it down the stairs and was in view.
"I'm proposing to your mother tonight and I need your help," he told her.
"Tonight?" she puzzled.
"Yeah, tonight." He nodded.
"Well, what do you need?" she wondered.
"I can't sing for shit and you know that." He paused. "I was hoping you could help with the music arrangement to make me sound less like a dying goat."
She thought about it for a second then nodded, "Sure, man."
"Cool." He beamed.
"What's the song?" Jesse asked when Beca didn't.
"Kid British's Elizabeth," Adrian informed as he watched Beca get up.
"Go get Benji and Amy," Beca told Adrian and scratched her head, looking around her before she went to look through a bunch of boxes.
"Okay," Adrian rapidly nodded. "Thanks, Beca."
"Careful about the broken step," Jesse called after him when he rushed to the stairs.
"What are you looking for?" Jesse wondered as he got up as well.
"Old toy instrument I had growing up, they're in here somewhere," she told him. "I have an idea that might just work if I find them." She moved to a different box.
"You know the song Adrian wants you to create an impromptu arrangement for?" He started to go through boxes as well. He didn't even know the band.
"Yeah," she nodded. "He always sings it to her."
"Aw, that's sweet," Jesse smiled.
"Found 'em," she announced.
Jesse watched Beca work on the arrangement using toy instruments in complete awe and admiration of her talent.
She wanted to involve her little sister in the proposal by having her play the toy Maracas.
And, for a toddler Gracie was a fast learner. Granted, the maracas wasn't a difficult instrument to play and she had her sister play it with her so she could follow her the whole time, but it was still very impressive.
Benji got assigned the toy drums.
Amy played the xylophone.
Bumper, who offered to help, sang backup for Adrian, who Jesse helped figure out how to sing properly despite not having a naturally good singing voice.
Beca made sure the arrangement was super easy to follow so it didn't take them long to learn.
What was also easy was setting everything up without Eliza growing suspicious. They pretended that they were just playing with Gracie.
Adrian was quite nervous the whole time but once it was time, he took a shot of vodka and went for it.
He didn't sound half as bad when he had Bumper singing backup for him and the rest harmonizing.
When he got down on one knee, the music didn't stop. "Elizabeth Moore, will you marry me?" Adrian asked.
Without skipping a beat, Eliza replied, "Yes."
Like everyone else, Jesse's eyes were on the newly engaged couple but when Gracie who was sitting on Beca's lap the whole time hopped off and rushed to her parents as they were pulling away he shifted his gaze to Beca.
Her eyes were kind of glassy, which he found very heartwarming. She was happy for her mother, it made sense she'd get a little emotional.
He made his way to her and sat down next to her on the couch, wrapping an arm around her and feeling her lean into him. "Looks like your little speech from earlier worked," Jesse mumbled so only Beca could hearing him.
She tilted her head to look where he was looking and saw that Bumper was tightly holding Amy's hand.
"Good. 'Cause I really don't wanna give up the sofa-bed," she sighed to which he snorted because she initially wasn't too keen about spending the night in the basement.
"Me neither," he said, rubbing her arm.
"Hey, I texted dad about the jukebox and pool table. He knows a guy that could repair them."
"Do you know how much he'd charge?"
"Said he'd have to look at them first but since he's dad's pal, he won't charge you much."
"Awesome."
"Yeah, he's from Ohio by the way," he grinned, hearing her groan.
He made sure to leave that little detail last because he knew what kind of reaction he'd get: her irrational hatred for Ohio was always funny.
"As long as he can get the job done," she sighed. "I'm willing to overlook the fact that he's from Ohio."
"Who are you?" he questioned in phony shock.
"Shut up." She rolled her eyes.
"No, seriously. You've changed." He frowned. "What happened to you?"
"It's very exhausting to hate," she told him. "It's better to just be indifferent about things I'm not too crazy about now."
"You know what that is?" he rhetorically asked. "Growth!"
"Sure," she snorted.
While he wouldn't say she changed, Beca really grew up a lot in the years that he lost touch with her and was looking forward to getting to know her again not just as his best friend but as his better half.
AN: The story has reached its conclusion. I hope you liked it. Thank you so much for spending a few minutes of your day reading it and for all your lovely words. :)
Expect an epilogue to wrap everything up in the upcoming days (hopefully) if not weeks. idk. I'll try not to take forever. Thanks again. Love ya. Stay safe.