A/N: Hey y'all. So I know it's been a while but I've spent the past month in Europe with some spotty WifFi connections so it really shouldn't surprise any of you that my updates have been basically non-existent. But don't fret! I haven't given up on this story and I don't plan to until it's done which should be a whiles away. I wanna thank everyone for following and favorting the story. The response to this is kind awesome. To qualm any fears about when my next update will be: I'm planning on a weekly sort of thing because I really won't have time to write until the weekend. If you're lucky I'll post the next chapter tomorrow but I wouldn't feel particularly lucky. That's about all I gotta say so it's good to be back and enjoy!

It's a little after nine in the morning on a Saturday and Beca is already completely done with the day. It's ridiculous really. She woke up this morning ecstatic because today was the day she was going to join the Bellas. Well, technically she still had to try out but come on.

Beca may think she's inadequate at a lot of things but not singing. Never singing. She knows she sounds good. It's one of the few constants in her life, the clear sound of her own voice. It's why the fire was so hard for her. Suddenly she couldn't talk, she couldn't sing and she didn't know how to handle that.

Thinking back, learning two new languages while confined to a hospital bed under strict orders to be a mute probably wasn't the healthiest course of action, especially when Beca wasn't even sure if she would be able to speak again. But there was nothing to do in that fucking room but relive ash and smoke and screams and Beca really, really needed a distraction.

(She never particularly liked hospitals before this but being essentially trapped in one for three months with her nightmares made Beca absolutely abhor them. The day she was released was one of the happiest she can remember)

Torturing herself by putting so much effort into learning languages she might never speak makes Beca think she's probably a masochist. The brunette doesn't regret it though because she thinks Les Misérables is better in its original French and Dante's Inferno was definitely better in its classic Italian.

(Her appreciation for literature is the only thing she'll ever thank Warren for despite how much it pains her to do so)

Now, though. Now Beca has her voice back and it hasn't changed. It's as good as ever and she has exactly no doubts that she'll get into the Bellas. The fact that both the singing group captains practically begged her to sing for them just cements that idea in the DJ's mind.

So the brunette woke up happy. She is going to get into the Bellas and ensure that she gets to see Chloe and Aubrey at least every week. Probably more than that depending on how often the seniors schedule practice. The thought alone gives her warm butterflies that she is purposefully ignoring exist because she only wants to be friends. Beca hopes if she tells herself that enough it will eventually become true. She sincerely doubts it ever will.

She pulls herself out of bed and dresses quietly so she doesn't wake Kimmy Jin. She's craving a double shot café mocha (she and Stiles both have a huge sweet tooth and a dependency on caffeine – Stiles more so than Beca), the DJ wanders out of her dorm room a little before six and ambles off campus to her favorite coffee shop in Barden – The Pro-Caffinators. It's across the street from a Starbucks so it's never particularly crowded but that's one of the reasons Beca likes it so much. That and Tom and Stella, the owners of the shop.

She made friends with Tom and Stella the day after she moved in. She wanted her usual cup of coffee at five in the morning and refused to step foot inside Starbucks with all its loud yelling and nonsensical sizing. Then she saw The Pro-Caffinators, a small little place tucked between a pub and a bookshop and Beca just had to go in.

The shop was warm and smelled like rich grounds and vanilla and Beca was in love. It was perfect. The DJ knew she'd be spending many an afternoon curled up in a corner booth studying or working on a mix while she nursed her caffeine of choice. Of course, you'd never know Beca was happy to be there. She had her fuck-off glare firmly in place, unconsciously slipping it on the moment she came in contact with people.

Stella was unperturbed, having to constantly deal with many a soul who was decidedly not morning people. But Tom saw her and decided to make it his mission to make her laugh. The shop had just opened so the daily pun wasn't up yet.

(Every day Tom writes a joke on the chalkboard above the register. It's usually coffee related, sometimes not and often accompanied by a little cartoon. The puns are terrible and clever and it puts a smile on Beca's face every time she reads the board)

So while Beca waited for her coffee, the silver haired man subtly placed himself in front of Beca, purposefully thinking of pun ideas out loud and watching her reaction to each one. At first the brunette ignored him, just wanting to get her coffee and go. But the puns and the jokes just got funnier and funnier and Beca stuck around even after Stella handed her the double shot mocha because she was smiling, causing Tom to smile in return.

But the older man continued, determined to get his laugh. It happened a few jokes later ("What's the difference between a Starbucks latte and a whore? Nothing, they both suck and empty your wallet!") and Beca was snickering in amusement. Tom did his soon to be customary victory dance and declared Beca his new quality control for the joke board.

The brunette remembers giving him a look and asking "What makes you think I'll be back?" And Tom smirked in a way Beca didn't know sixty-year olds could and replied "Because friends don't let friends drink bad coffee and you're holding that cup like you're a non-believer who just found religion."

Beca glanced down at the paper cup she was clutching protectively to her chest; both hands wrapped securely around it then glanced back up at Tom. She slowly tilted her head forward, silently saying point won and Tom pumped a fist in the air, cheering energetically like a much younger man. Stella whapped him with her dish towel and told him to act his age to which Tom replied "But I'd much rather act my shoe size" with a wink in Beca's direction.

Right then Beca decided that she wasn't ever going anywhere else for her coffee and she doesn't.

She learned about a week after she started going to The Pro-Caffinators that Tom and Stella didn't have anyone else working behind the counter with them. So she offered to work a few shifts when she was around, to ease the burden of two of the nicest people in Barden. The shop never has rushes like Starbucks but it was still a lot of people for one person to handle.

(Tom was a lot of things but a barista was not one of them. He baked for the shop instead while Stella manned the counter. His espresso crinkles are to die for)

Stella thanked her but politely declined saying that they couldn't afford to hire another employee, part-time or otherwise. Beca shrugged and said okay before walking behind the bar and preparing the next persons order. Stella just looked at her and shook her head saying that the brunette was one of a kind. She then proceeded to lightly slap Beca with her ever present dish towel and showed the student the proper way of making a Café au Lait.

(An unintended consequence of Beca's new unpaid part-time job is that Stella refuses to make her pay for her coffee)

(Beca puts the money in the tip jar instead)

(Stella always gives Beca the tips, much to the brunette's chagrin)

(Tom laughs and says they're stubborn in all the same ways)

Beca doesn't help out every day. Sometimes she just grabs her morning coffee and goes, other times she stays at the shop all day, making orders or reading in her corner booth, only leaving for classes. It's nice, having a place where she can be alone without being alone. And she adores Tom and Stella. They're cute in a way only old happy couples can be. They talk to her when she wants to talk and leave her alone when she doesn't and ask about her life in that grandparent fashion that Beca has never had before.

Today is no different. She gets her coffee, smiles at Tom's joke ("A yawn is a silent scream for coffee") and rolls her eyes at his answering crow of victory, silently counting down the 3, 2, 1 before Stella hits him with her dish towel. Then she sits in her corner booth with The Great Gatsby until seven when the shop picks up, people coming in for their morning fix.

Beca slips on her black apron and helps Stella make the drinks but never stands in front of the register herself. Talking to strangers isn't one of her favorite pastimes. Except Stella is busy making a half and half with two pumps of hazelnut and a sprinkle of vanilla and Beca isn't doing anything.

So the brunette huffs, puts on her big girl britches and a ridiculously fake smile then steps up to the register.

Only to be met with a mop of brown hair and an irritatingly smug grin, both of which is the reason for her day turning to shit.

Beca doesn't hate Jesse.

The DJ can see why someone might think so. She glares when he stands in front of her, snarls when he touches her, rolls her eyes when he talks about movies, doesn't speak to him if she can help it and only replies with biting sarcasm if she can't. But she doesn't hate the kid.

Honestly, Beca doesn't think she's known Jesse long enough to hate him. They met two Tuesdays ago at the radio station and have had four shifts together since. She had arrived right on time for her afternoon shift and met the station manager Luke who is a little too British for her taste. He also calls her Becky but before the DJ can tell him her name is actually Beca, Jesse Swanson runs into the room and the opportunity to correct the Brit seems to pass. Beca will forever be Becky in his eyes. Great.

Jesse is childish and eager and seems to recognize her. It's weird because she knows she doesn't know him and he's nowhere near old enough to remember her from before. Plus he doesn't feel like a Barden native so really, there's no way for him to know who she is. Yet he's convinced and Luke doesn't care so Beca shakes it off as unimportant, and figures the kid's probably in one of her classes or something.

Unfortunately for Beca because Jesse apparently recognized her, he seems to think he's her new best friend. He keeps of chattering about how stacking CD's lame, which it is but it's also paying your dues. You start at the bottom to get to the top. It's something Beca has always understood. So she stacks without argument and is exasperated at Jesse's bitching.

He's trying to commiserate with her about how much this sucks but doesn't seem to understand that she doesn't care. Eventually the other brunette gets the message and stops trying to talk to her (much to Beca's relief) and they stack quietly, the only sound being the radio playing in the background.

It's fine. The DJ wouldn't say nice because it's not but it's not awful either. Well, it's not until their shift is over at 3 and Jesse insists on walking Beca to her next class. He's shocked when he learns all her classes are before noon (despite her surly attitude, Beca is in fact a morning person) but insists on walking her to wherever she's going next.

She was planning on going back to the coffee shop and giving Stella a hand with the afternoon rush or hand Tom ingredients as he (hopefully) makes caramel butter pecan bars.

Except now that's not going to happen because The Pro-Caffinators is her place and Beca doesn't like sharing things that are hers. Just ask Derek. You wouldn't believe the hell Beca gave him for daring to date her brother (they're friends now but it was a long scary road getting here). Instead, Beca decides to spend some time in the library working through her calculus problem set. That way Jesse (who is still following her like a lost puppy) won't find her coffee shop and will hopefully leave her alone.

He doesn't.

The brunette boy decides that he wants to go to the library as well and of course picks a seat right next to hers. Beca lasts all of half an hour before she's excusing herself, sneakily grabbing her stuff and fleeing the library.

It's an hour later sitting next to Tom as he mixes a fresh batch of caramel that she realizes Jesse was probably flirting with her. She groans audibly and buries her head in one hand, waving off Tom's concern with the other. She lets herself wallow in self-pity for a bit (dealing with some teenage boy's crush when she is no way interested is not her definition of fun) then decides to very clearly tell Jesse that she's not going to date him.

Which she does. The next day they have another shift at the same time. The moment Jesse walks in the door Beca marches up to him and says "We're not going to be dating. Like ever. It will literally never happen." The boy blinks nonplussed before nodding confusedly. Beca just nods back because that settles that and continues to stack CD's ignoring Jesse completely.

Apparently that does not settle that. In fact, it made it worse. Jesse seems to have taken her declaration as a challenge, upping the flirting and keeps on 'escorting' her places because their lives are apparently one of his movies and she's a fragile damsel. Never mind the fact that she knows two martial arts and has a slight fascination with throwing knives.

(But not guns. If she never touches a gun again, it'll be too soon)

Granted, Jesse doesn't know that and Beca has no inclination to tell him because sharing information about oneself is how friendships are formed and the DJ does not want to be Jesse's friend. So she just grits her teeth and ignores him harder (if that's possible) and hopes beyond hope that he'll eventually leave her the fuck alone.

He doesn't, obviously, and now he's in her coffee shop with a shit-eating grin that makes her want to break all of his teeth.

Beca takes it back. She definitely, without a doubt, hates Jesse Swanson.

"So is this where you run off to after our shifts? I got to say it's a cozy place. I like it. I think I'm going to have to come here more often." Jesse says with a white smile and boyish charm. He sounds pleased with himself and Beca is barely holding back the urge to scream. She should probably answer him, tell him to stay the fuck away from her place, to say something but she's afraid of what will come out of her mouth if she does.

(She can be as vicious with her words as Judy was, dismantling a person with their insecurities until all that's left is a sad little soul with broken armor. It's not a talent she's proud of and no matter how much she dislikes Jesse, he doesn't deserve that. No one does)

Stella, bless her soul, seems to realize something's up before Beca can explode on the boy because she glides up behind Beca and gently prods her out of the way of the register. The DJ takes the out Stella is giving her and retreats back to the coffee machines pretending to be busy.

"What can I get you young man?" Stella asks, kind and grandmotherly but Beca can pick out a protective edge in the older woman's voice that confuses her. Yet, she ignores it in favor of listening to Jesse's response.

"The number of the beautiful brunette behind you."

Beca grits her teeth at that and doesn't have to think hard to imagine the pleased smile Jesse is undoubtedly wearing. He probably thinks he's smooth and it just rubs the DJ the absolute wrong way. Stella, too judging by her response.

"I'm afraid it's not policy to give out the numbers of our employee's." Beca stifles a snort of amusement because Stella and Tom refuse to call her an employee, instead introducing her as a friend of the place when need be. And the thought of them having an actual policy besides not letting Tom anywhere near the coffee machines is hilarious.

"But it is policy to make an order so what can I get you?" Stella finishes pleasantly and there's a pause like Jesse's not sure what to say, clearly not having expected to be shut down so fast and easy by Stella who is honestly the textbook definition of a sweet old lady.

"Uhh, just a regular coffee please?" He asks eventually and Beca glances back to see him scratching his head and she really wants to laugh but the DJ knows it'll probably only end up encouraging the boy so she stays quiet and goes about making his drink.

She finishes quickly (there's no slow way to make a regular coffee) but before she can hand it to the other freshman, Stella takes it from her hand and passes it to Jesse with a smile and a "You're welcome" to his "Thank-you."

He stalls a bit at the counter, probably hoping to strike up a conversation with her but Stella stares him down with a pleasant smile until Jesse turns away awkwardly and sits down at a table. Beca thanks whatever gods exist that he didn't choose her table. She's still pissed as fuck that Jesse even dared to enter The Pro-Caffinators but her anger is currently outweighed by the gratefulness she feels towards Stella, especially when the older woman doesn't even ask for an explanation, just breezes by with a "He really didn't seem you're type, dear. Too much sausage in his soup, you know what I mean."

Beca adores Stella. And Tom. She absolutely adores them both. For forever and always.

The next few hours pass by in a rush of orders and pointedly ignoring Jesse. He still hasn't left the coffee shop, only leaving his booth to buy one of Tom's lemon squares and an iced tea. Each time Stella handles the order, preventing Jesse from interacting with Beca and the DJ grows fonder and fonder of graying woman with each of Jesse's failed attempts.

It's nearing twelve when Beca has had enough. The Bellas auditions are at noon and she still needs to run back to her dorm to change her shirt (someone had spilled coffee down it around eight before Jesse entered the shop) so the brunette boy needs to go so Beca can leave.

The DJ doesn't dare go before him because it's painfully obvious that Jesse is waiting for her to leave so he can 'escort' her wherever she needs to go. Seeing as that's her dorm where she lives, it's not happening. Stella seems to pick up on her frustration because she pats her arm consolingly and offers her another lemon bar because that's about all the older woman can do. It's not against any sort of rule to hang around a coffee shop. In fact it's pretty much expected.

Beca takes it and smiles gratefully, causing Stella to give her another little pat before going back to the register to field customers. Beca eats the bar slowly, savoring the citrus flavor. Tom really is a phenomenal baker. When it's gone the brunette is actually a little disappointed. She debates getting another one (it's not like Stella will ever charge her for it) then regretfully decides against it. She'll get another one later.

That decided, Beca looks up and scans the coffee shop, expecting to see Jesse at his table and is pleasantly surprised to see he's nowhere to be found. She glances at the display window and happily watches as Jesse walks past it and out of sight.

Finally she thinks then resolves to wait another ten minutes before leaving herself just to make sure he's actually gone, despite the fact that its 10:45 and auditions will already have started by the time she gets to her dorm. Beca just hopes there are enough people that she can get changed and make it to the audition hall before try-out are finished. She swears if Jesse makes her miss this, she'll hunt him down and skin him herself.

God, I hope this goes well Beca thinks as she races out of The Pro-Caffinators tossing a quick bye to Sheila and Tom over her shoulder. Her day started awesome then turned awful and the brunette hopes that a certain pair of seniors can make it awesome again.

She runs through the Barden campus with one thought in mind: Bellas, here I come.