CHAPTER 7

***Apologies***

Beca blinks in confusion as Jesse kneels before her and hands her a single red rose which she takes automatically.

For a fleeting moment there's a real fear that Jesse's proposing. She slowly let's out a sigh of relief, when this proves not to be the case.

He can see by how she's holding herself that she's tremendously angry. She's not smiling; instead, her eyebrows are low and furrowed, and her mouth is set in a thin line. He notes that Beca is biting her lower lip as she figures out what she wants to say.

"I'm so sorry Becs."

Beca frowns, and chews at her lower lip. "Jesse…"

"Please Becs; I know I was an ass last night. Let me make it up to you."

Beca looks around, in addition to the Bellas and the musicians Jesse brought, there are a fair number of people gathering about viewing the spectacle Jesse has concocted to prove he's sorry.

She sighs and looks down into his puppy dog eyes. "Look Jesse, I really appreciate the effort you've gone through to prove how sorry you are…"

Jesse quirks a look and asks, "You do?"

Beca shrugs, and answers bluntly, "Well no you big nerd. What movie did you steal this idea from?"

"Ten Things I Hate About You," Jesse mumbles.

Looking around at the audience they have, before focusing on the need who's still down on his knees. "I can appreciate that this is how you express yourself and you love the big movie-esque gesture. But we need to talk, and I really don't want to do it with an audience."

"Oh! Right, right sorry about all this. Let's go; I can drive us someplace," he says hurriedly.

"I don't know, Jesse."

"Please Beca," pleads Jesse.

"Fine," Beca gives in. "Let me tell the Bellas that I'm catching a ride with you."

"Yeah, I need to take care of the band."

She rolls her eyes. "Not a line I thought I would hear today." And with that she turns on her heels and walks back to the Bellas and Chloe. "Uhh, I'm going to catch a ride with Jesse." For some reason Beca can't look Chloe in the eyes while she says this, so she studies her shoes.

This does allow her to miss the sadness that touches Chloe's eyes. "Where are you going?" Chloe asks curiously.

"Not sure exactly, but Jesse and I really need to talk," Beca says, though without any enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I guess you do…"

"Look, I'll try to get back tonight for the get together at our place."

Chloe's face falls as she realizes despite her best friend's declaration, she won't be there. Beca has a long history of good intentions, but never really being able to extricate herself from her boyfriend. "Oh… Don't worry about that…" She assures her best friend, but can't help but feel jealousy towards Jesse and a bit of sadness. Though this is becoming true every time his name comes out of Beca's mouth.

After quickly informing the rest of the Bellas that she really needs to speak with her big nerd, and assuring everyone that she'll talk to them later, Beca heads over and hops into Jesse's car.

As they're pulling out of the parking lot Beca looks over sees Chloe watching them depart, and Beca finds the redhead's sad eyes, and feels the sadness in her heart. But then Chloe gives a reassuring smile and wave, and Beca feels better.

[X+*X*+X]

Jesse drives the two of them to a small park not far from his apartment. Beca had made it clear she didn't want to go back to his place at this time. He had to admit that this hurt.

As they pull into a parking spot, Jesse can still feel the tension, and even before he's had a chance to turn off the car, Beca is out the door and walking up the path towards a group of semi secluded benches they know.

"Damn it," curses Jesse as switches the car off and jumps out to follow, only to remember he hadn't actually released his seatbelt as he's tossed back into the driver's seat. Silently he thanks the universe for not letting Beca see this feat of coordination. With a hushed curse Jesse undoes the seatbelt and takes off again after Beca.

He spots Beca a couple hundred yards ahead, seating herself on one of the benches that face out over the pond. He speeds up his walk to get there as quickly as possible.

Once there, he looks out over the quiet pond, it's surface glittering in the sunlight. It's peaceful, and he needs that right now. His thoughts are all over the place.

Feeling his mind settled he sits next to Beca on the bench. He's barely settled before the small brunette turns and punches him square in the shoulder.

"Ow," before he can reach up and rub his shoulder, Beca punches his shoulder again, right in the same spot. "Ow, what was that second one for?"

"The first was for being such a dick last night. The second was for that stunt at the restaurant."

Beca turns back to the front, looking out over the pond. "I don't need an audience for our life."

"Damn Becs, that hurt," he says rubbing the spot where she punched him twice.

"Seriously dude, I'm like five foot one and a hundred and twenty pounds. Sack up."

They sit in silence for a while after that. Jesse knows he needs to say something, but is really nervous. Beca's a lot more pissed at him than he was expecting.

In the end, it's Beca that breaks the silence. She catches Jesse off-guard when she stands up and starts pacing back and forth. Finally she stops about six feet in front of him, takes a deep breath and says, "Jesse this hasn't been easy for me, so I'm going to come right out and say it."

"Don't Beca. Just don't, okay. Save the speech, I'm not ready for it. I thought we were doing okay, not great, but okay."

Beca looks at him confused, "What are you talking about you big nerd?"

He's staring a hole in the ground, swaying back and forth. He places his thumbs in his front pockets and bites his lower lip. Beca can't help thinking that he really looks like a lost teenager right now. "Can you say something, please." She was sick of the silence. It's going to make her go crazy, more so than she already is.

Jesse stammers out a response, "I… well, you see… uh… You're breaking up with me…"

"What? Why would you think that?"

He's silent as he continues staring at the ground.

Beca walks back over and hugs him, "Jesse?"

"Isn't that what you say when you're breaking up with someone?"

"No, that's what I say when I tell you that you've been a real dick lately, and last night you took it to asshole levels. I love you Jesse, I'm not my dad, I don't run when it gets tough, but lately there's been too many times that you've been a real asshat."

He looks away from her, down to the ground. She didn't know what this meant. They sat in silence for a bit.

Beca gives him a pointed look and asks, "Why did you behave like that last night?"

He ponders for a few seconds before responding, "Okay so you know I love you Beca, right? I really love you."

He looks at her and sees her tentatively nod and then over the pond again. He runs a hand through his short brown hair and blows out a mouthful of air. He'd actually been wondering this himself. For the last five or so months, he'd been struggling with recurring thoughts that things were going off the rails when it came to his personal life. Which is a bit ironic as the rest of his life seems to be coming up smelling like roses.

Jesse looks at her sincerely, "I feel like we're drifting apart like… things aren't how they should be…"

"Jesse…"

Holding up his hands, he continues, his eyes pleading for her to let him continue. "Look I want you to know I mean every word. I really want to apologize, for last night, and for the past few months.

"You're my world Becs. I've such high expectations of our lives together, and I have goals for us. I think I neglected to think that you might have some needs of your own.

"When you let me know you had other plans, when you and Chloe became roommates, I was hurt. All I want is for us to be together, for us to build a life together. You know; a home, kids, grandkids."

He looks her straight in the eye, so she can see the sincerity "Beca, you're right. This isn't how I thought this would all go," he points back and forth between them. "Everything here is so much more than I anticipated, yet we're so much less."

Beca makes a funny noise, half-exasperation, half-annoyance. But the more she thinks about it the more she can't argue with him, not really.

His voice is soft now. "Recently our relationship has just been feeling static, like we're stuck; not moving forward, and I don't know why."

She doesn't know either. She knows she loves Jesse. He's the nicest guy she's ever known, well other than Benji, because he may be the nicest person in the entire world, Emily a close second. As she thought about it, Benji and Emily's kids might be actual angels on earth.

Beca shakes her head realizing her mind is going off on a tangent. "I need to know what you are feeling Beca, and what you want to do. Where do you want to go from here?"

Beca wants to answer, but no answer is forthcoming.

Jesse continues unaware, "I want to know what's happening with us, Becs. We were so happy back at Barden, and now we're just not. Like from talking all the time and hanging out, till it seems like we never have our time."

"I didn't mean to be such an ass last night, because you mean everything to me." He looks at her with all sincerity, "I've been missing you."

Beca chews on her lower lip, looking at the ground as she tries to formulate a response. Looking up she tucks some loose hairs behind her right ear. Jesse looks a bit like a lost child now, and it breaks Beca's heart. "Jesse, you're exaggerating…"

"Come on Becs," Jesse implores his girlfriend.

"We barely spend any time together lately."

"Jesse, I spent the night on Monday and Thursday. We partied pretty late on Thursday if I remember correctly."

He tentatively reaches out and takes her hand. "I don't want us to be just texting good mornings and goodnights."

"I don't want that either, Jesse."

"I love you Becs, even if I didn't show it last night."

"Jesse, I love you too, but seriously you have to get past this. You need to get your shit together, Jesse. No repeat performances of last night." Beca says it firmly, letting Jesse know she's serious.

"Yeah, I know, I was a dick last night," Jesse mutters. "But, hey, you are still my girl, right?" He responds brightly with a cheesy wink and finger point, "and my best friend."

She seems to fight it, but eventually his puppy dog eyes win, and she finds the corners of her mouth tug upwards.

"So maybe we can talk about moving in together?"

She rolls her eyes, "I'm still not ready for that, and you being a jerk last night is not really a compelling case for me to change my mind."

He sighs. "Come on, Becs, I just want us to get back to where we were. Give us living together a try…"

The smaller brunette looks at him with softer eyes and sighs, "Jesse…"

"Okay, I get it; now is not the time to get into that. I just want you to know that I still want that. I'm going to make it up to you, Beca, and I'm going to prove we should be together." He stands before her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I need you in my life Becs. I just hope you still need me."

Beca's eyes flitter back and forth, searching his. For what, she isn't quite sure, but she does know she still loves Jesse and she needs the big nerd to be in her life. No matter what the status, she needs him to be.

She takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh, "Jesse, if I'm honest, this isn't all on you. I might not be ready to move in, but I do know it was important to you. I need to do more as your girlfriend. Let's face it, that's never been my forte, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't try."

Beca puts her hands on his hips and steps a little closer. "So I suggest we should go away, maybe to Palm Springs, or something. A weekend getaway."

A smile finds its way on Jesse's face and he nods ecstatically. And Beca kisses him, it's a soft kiss, a peace offering, a promise to try harder. Her hand then moves to trace his jaw, bringing his face closer to hers for a proper kiss.

[X+*X*+X]

Chloe is just sitting back and enjoying the mellow buzz that comes from a night of good friends and good wine. She's watching two of her best friends' happily chattering away. Aubrey wanting all the scoop on the latest Bellas; Emily happily giving a full synopsis of this past year.

Between the three of them, in the past thirty minutes or so, they'd already emptied two bottles of wine and the evening was far from over yet. Judging by Emily's rosy cheeks, she was already a tad tipsy

Still Chloe couldn't shake off the feeling of something missing, or rather someone. As she knew, Beca hadn't made it home while the majority of the Bellas had been over. Now everyone has left save for their two houseguests, which Chloe is kind of thankful for. A more chill evening is just what the doctor, and her kidneys ordered.

"I'm glad everyone just wanted to chill this evening," comments Emily, as she lets her head fall on Chloe's shoulder.

The redhead smiles and gently leans hers so that their heads are touching. "Yeah, it was nice just to talk." Seeing so many of the Bellas again has been amazing, and it made Chloe realize how much she has missed them and their crazy antics.

"The candlelight was a nice touch," adds Aubrey, looking around the living room. "The soft light gave their faces a warm glow.

Chloe smiles and raises her glass.

"The food was also a nice touch," added Emily, as she reaches over the coffee table that's laden with chips, cheese, crackers, vegetables, and dips, plucking a couple cheese cubes.

"Well you can't have wine without cheese," says Chloe with a wink.

Aubrey picks up a new bottle of white wine from the table and carries it over to Chloe and Emily. Each woman holds up their glass and Aubrey pours.

"Such service," says Emily.

"Only the best," replies Aubrey with a laugh. "You know, Chloe, I was leery of this label, but I'm happy you insisted."

"I told you, always trust the Ginger. This one was recommended to me by another teacher. It turned out to be light, fruity, and rather refreshing."

"Well I love it, Chloe, remind me to get more."

"So you and Beca are going to teach music to kids?"

"Yeah Ems; well that was the plan. We literally had just talked about it before she had the major breakthrough at Club Exchange. So I don't know how much Beca's going to be a part of this now. She'll probably be too busy." Chloe's voice takes a slight wistful quality, as she knows an opportunity may have been missed, which seems to be the story of her friendship with one tiny badass DJ.

Aubrey senses the shift and covers, "I still can't believe you convinced the hobbit to let people, worse kids, to enter your home." Says Aubrey with a smirk.

"Be nice Bree, but yeah, I can be quite convincing," answers Chloe with a satisfied smile.

Emily sits up. "So you're still going to go forward?"

"Yeah, nothing has changed for me. I can use the extra cash, and it's a step in the direction of me starting my own school."

Both Aubrey and Emily perk up at this tidbit of information. Each can see in the other's eyes that this is a new revelation.

Chloe is rambling though, and doesn't notice her friend's reaction. She's staring at her wine glass as she continues, "Besides this way I can get Beca a system she can use to work from home, without her freaking out, or trying to turn it down."

Impossibly the eyes of her friends grow.

Chloe from her position on the floor next to Emily, gestures to the empty spot on the opposite side of the room. "I have a line on an electric piano, that I think will meet our needs. It'll go right there perfectly. I might also be able to get a couple guitars."

Emily interrupts excitedly, "I can teach guitar."

Chloe pauses, looking at her younger friend. "You can?"

"Yeah…"

"That'll be perfect. I mean I play a little, so was going to offer the basics, but if you can really teach, then we're golden!"

"Yeah, I've been playing since I was seven…"

"Can you teach me? I want to improve my skills."

"Of course Chloe," Emily gives a happy little clap. "This is so great! Now I can make some money while I'm out here."

Chloe's about to respond when her attention is drawn by the sound of the front door opening. She smiles as she sees Beca come in and head into their living room.

"Beca, I was just thinking about you." Chloe says, "I didn't think you'd be home tonight." She twirls the wine glass in her hand.

"Me?" Beca looks around, expecting to see more people. "Why?"

"I don't know. I just didn't." Chloe smiles shyly. She had thought about teasing Beca about makeup sex, but for some reason she's just too melancholy at the moment to find humor in that topic.

Beca looks about confused. "Where is everybody?"

Aubrey answers, "Well Ashley, Jessica, and Denise left about thirty minutes ago. Fat Amy had to beg-off, so she never made it." The blonde pours Beca a glass of wine and hands it over to her DJ friend.

Beca accepts the glass with a nod, but snorts at the update about Amy. Her eyebrow raises as she says, "Really?"

Chloe smiles, "I'm pretty sure she and Bumper are having celebratory sex. There was something about a tub full of chocolate."

"Dude! Seriously, I don't need that image in my head. You may have ruined chocolate for me," Beca groans melodramatically.

Chloe smirks, "I'll find a way to make chocolate good for you again." Chloe lets her eyes take on a smoldering quality, which Beca reads easily. The brunette grabs Chloe's wine and downs the rest to cover her blush.

"Hey that was mine!" There's a small smile that ruins Chloe's scold.

Beca shrugs and smirks, "Cost of putting that image in my head Beale."

Chloe lets her voice drop and asks, "Which image?"

Beca swallows, and loses her smirk. She looks about, "I need more wine."

Emily decides to change the subject, "So Stacie was taking CR and Maria to a Jazz club, so they left an hour ago."

Beca's a little surprised by this, "Jazz club?" She notes an imperceptible shake of Aubrey's head.

Emily misses Aubrey's negative head shake and continues, "Yeah, I heard Stacie from across the room, she mentioned taking them to an awesome sax club. I really wanted to go, I love to listen to a great saxophone player, laying down some sweet sound..."

Emily looks so wistful, but Beca's confused and looks over to Chloe questioningly. The redhead is turning red trying to fight the urge to burst into laughter. In answer to Beca's unasked question, Chloe mouths the answer, "Sex club". Beca's eyebrows shoot straight up as her eyes grow three times in diameter.

Emily doesn't notice Beca who is also now fighting the urge to laugh. "... Marie seemed keen on me joining, Stacie and CR a little reluctant. Chloe and Aubrey convinced me to stay in. Chloe wanted to talk about the music lesson idea you two are doing. So I was just telling Chloe that I can teach guitar, as well as piano and singing."

Biting her lower lip to keep cool, Beca says, "That's great, Ems."

Using an exaggerated nod to cover her giggles, Chloe jumps in. "Yeah it is. I was telling her about the plan to do music lessons here, Becs."

Emily turns excitedly to Beca, "You don't mind if I join your venture, do you Beca?"

Beca accepts another glass of wine from Aubrey, who had retreated to the kitchen to ostensibly get a new bottle of wine for Beca, but to really keep from laughing at the Legacy's innocence.

"Thanks Posen. No that's great Ems. It'll mean Chloe has support with this venture even when I can't." Turning to Chloe, she asks, "So I take it, we're going forward with this?"

Glancing over the rim of her glass, Chloe nods, and says, "Of course. Why wouldn't we?" She conceals the disappointment in her heart that she won't be sharing this task with her favorite DJ.

Beca shrugs, "I can't promise to be available."

Chloe flashes her million dollars smile, "It's okay Becs. I still want to do this, and it'll give Emily something to do."

"Yeah," says an excited Emily, who just may be the cutest person on earth at the moment. She holds up her glass towards Aubrey. "Please fill my glass again, would you?" She says, her voice giddy.

The blonde smiles at the younger girl's antics, and lifts the bottle of wine, and pours a small amount in. She doesn't want her drinking too much.

Beca smiles and holds her glass out for more. "Did I miss anything this evening?"

Aubrey shrugs, "Not much. We all talked about Amy's offer."

Beca looks around, "What's the verdict?"

Chloe smiles, "We're all in. Emily is going to be staying with us for the summer…"

Emily looks at Beca, and asks, "You don't mind, Beca, do you?"

Beca smiles at the excitable young girl and gives a slight shake of her head no. "What about you Posen?"

"Oh, I'm staying, but I'm definitely getting my own place."

"That's a relief…" Beca deadpans.

"Shut it, Hobbit, you know you are excited to have me here, and will miss me when I'm gone."

Beca rolls her eyes and says, "Sure…"

Chloe jumps in with a huge smile, "Well I would!" She leans over and gives Aubrey a tight hug.

The four women fall into an easy silence, as they think about the upcoming summer. Chloe is the one to break the silence."So Becs, I still want to get the piano. Are you still in?"

Beca cracks the smallest smile. "Only because you want it."

Chloe cheers, "Yay! Well all, tomorrow is a work day."

Aubrey holds her glass up. "So drink and be merry; for tomorrow we die…"

Everyone laughs.

"Or just go to work." Laughs Beca more.

Chloe's heart flutters and her cheeks warm as she hears Beca's laugh. Chloe hopes the lighting of the candles hides it. She loves Beca's laugh. When she laughs, Beca is at her most beautiful. Chloe can't help wishing she would do it more. Beca doesn't do it often enough, so moments like these are all the more precious.

Of course Chloe can never tell Beca how lovely she is, unless she hides it in plain sight as light teasing. No, telling Beca would ruin the moment and make the alt-girl self-conscious. So Chloe does what Chloe always does and deflects, "To good wine and better friends." Chloe says raising her glass to her lips.

"To good wine and good friends," echoes Aubrey.

"Good wine and friends," adds Emily.

"To great wine and BEST friends!" Beca says as she raises her glass with a smile.

The four women get up and start picking things up, to clean up and put the food away.

"Hey guys, I do have one question…"

Chloe says, "Sure Becs."

"Is Lily spending the night?" Beca gestures to the young Asian woman, sitting cross-legged in the corner. She's just sitting and watching, a small smile on her face. She rises, gives a small nod, says something that sounds like hunting and vampires, and is gone.

Chloe, Aubrey, and Emily all say in unison, "I forgot she was here…"