Previously on: The Trouble With Dreaming Is, You Still Have To Wake Up

"Well um I'm here with Jes-Jesse you remember him?"

You're sure a flash of something, flashes across all four faces confusion on Chloe, and Luke's, more like annoyance on Aubrey's part and utter shock on Jesse's

Everything feels weird now with everyone just standing there in surprised, more like flabbergasted suddenly tense silence. Jesse, Chloe, Aubrey, and you- and Luke...

You're waiting for someone to crack...

but all that comes is Jesse' voice, your waiting any second, for him to deny it

but what he does say instead, while glancing at you first you can see his left eye twitching, and at the same time extending his hand to Luke is "Jesse Swanson, Beca's boyfriend"


Okay Maybe claiming that you were with Jesse wasn't the best idea...

Really, you think? You're only figuring this out for yourself now?- See you're even having a fight with yourself, which isn't usually a very good sign, not that you need any more people pissed at you, well there's only two so far; Aubrey and Jesse who are both giving you the silent treatment, how very mature of them.

You tried to get Jesse to one side and you think he heard you thanking as well as trying to apologize him. He did say "Don't, Beca"- but you aren't minding them. You're more concerned with Chloe.

Who, after what you said just pleasantly excused herself and went back to the table with Luke like nothing big had happened, but that doesn't quite explain how she's acting.

You haven't spoken a word to her all night, at least not directly nor she to you. You never really got a chance to after the whole standoff well it felt like a standoff at the bathroom. When you'd gotten yourself back to the table, everyone had pretty much sobered up and were ready to get some real sustenance in their stomachs and luckily, there was still time... or so Fat Amy said-it was almost eleven forty-five in the evening, for a real sit down dinner.

So you all found this restaurant, more like a diner and the people who apparently knew Amy (everyone you've run into so far, seems to know her) they were closing but they were convinced to keep open their kitchen for you guys, to serve yourselves, they didn't even need to be persuaded they pushed together all the tables and summoned up all the chairs they could find just to accommodate all of you.

That's all great and all, except you are on one end of the table with Jesse who sat with you to keep up with appearance's sake while Chloe, Luke and Aubrey are on the other.

Everyone else seems oblivious to the drama of the night, or maybe they just shrugged their shoulders and chose to ignore or accept everything just as it is.

I mean, they really wouldn't know if you were with Jesse or not- all they know is that you came with him... maybe they too had shared speculations to the true nature of your relationship with him,

You're supposed to be joining in with the rest of the conversation but you're too busy watching Chloe, in a hopefully non-obvious, stealthy way...

"Stop staring at her, you'll freak her out", Jesse mutters to you, okay maybe tone it down a bit, but you're confused...if what you said didn't bother her why is she so off, so detached all of a sudden, she's barely touched her food. The laughter won't quite reach her eyes, okay you're still watching her but you can't help it,

This is driving you crazy, now that she's right there you are trying so hard to understand what's going on with her-trying to read into every expression, every word, phrase spoken, and it's frustrating beyond relief...you are exhausted...you are gonna go crazy trying to understand Chloe.

Or maybe she's just tired did you think of that, she was in London the last week, then Sydney then she flew straight into Tasmania. It it were you, You wouldn't be in the mood for socializing as well,

But you can't seem to shake it off, because it's weird. This is weird the way Chloe is acting, you can't quite put your finger on it...she's cautious almost timid and dare you say it shy-Chloe was and is many many things but one thing she never was is shy especially around you.

She could be feeding off of your own vibe-but you've always given off awkward antisocial vibes and it's never stopped her before, so why now? You hate it, this was mostly your fault- the distance, the loss of intimacy with Chloe...you chose this...you let this happen...you were either too busy, too heartbroken and in pain-you cared mostly about moving on and you succeeded to a point that now she can't even act normally around you. Her disregard for your tough girl act your carefully laid walls, it's something that you'd relied on... it was always the dynamic between you two, her seeking you out...while you tried pushing her away-at least, that's how it once was in your relationship with her. So Good job Beca you finally succeeded you've pushed her much further than even she can stand.

You finally come up for air from your Chloe induced haze and catch the gist of the ongoing conversation on your side of the table, You see the groom-to-be Benji making his way to Fat Amy,

"Woah Babe, Benji -it's supposed to be girls only in this side alright?" Okay why didn't you notice before that it was mostly girls except Jesse on your side,

"But I missed my girl"

"So wait basically this is most of Barden Acapella group" you say, voicing out your inner musings from earlier "Who knew the Trebles and the Bellas would become one big close-knit happy family huh?"

"Yeah the only one that's missing is Bumper, where is that guy didn't he get signed as a back-up for JT?" They all turn to you, "Hey just because I'm in the Music Industry doesn't mean i know everything that goes on in there" you say,

"But you're the rising star producer-you gotta be in on everything, how else do you keep up with the competition?" Donald says,

"Please, he barely qualifies as the competition. Okay, fine... Bumper actually got signed and he now has his own album which only happened quite recently, He's going to release his first single any day now i think it's called Bumper Allan: I love myself"

"or Bumper Allan Ultimate Douche" Donald says

"And yet you were his best-friend" Unicycle says, you still weirdly don't know his real name but you're sure he prefers it that way

Lily whispers something in defense of Donald which makes him smile and Unicycle shudder the rest of you don't hear what she said and you really think it's for the better

"So you can say, he's doing pretty well" you conclude,

"That's a matter of perspective...Because i think he missed out on something when he left Barden early"

"What do you mean Benji?"

"He missed the chance to grab this Babe up, I heard he actually came quite close-but lucky i was there to mend her broken heart after" The girls all simultaneously aww while the boys groan hoot then applaud. Neanderthals.

"Oh you-can you believe I'm marrying a complete cheese ball, it's alright i love all things milk based" Okay...anyway...moving on

"What do you think Aubrey- Are the wolves ready to pounce and rip out all our vocal chords?" you ask Aubrey, wrong move

She turns red "I think all of that went out the window-when you started dating Jesse" meow, hiss hiss the kitty bares it's claws, at least she's talking to you

"Yeah B, how long have you guys been dating?" Cynthia Rose asks

Both you and Jesse turn to each other, but it's Jesse who answers "Oh, Beca's the one that keeps track of that kind of thing- for me it went by so fast I'm like how'd all of that happen, How did we even stand each other for so long? I mean she hates movies, that's weird right?" Weird, i'll show you weird,

"He likes watching the same boring predictable movies over and over again, and he really gets into it, he cries whenever he watches the Breakfast Club and maybe i could enjoy watching movies if he didn't quote ever single line aloud complete with actions every... single... time " Ooh you sure you touched a nerve he does love his movies,

"Well Beca, she's a control-freak, who likes to get her way like all the time. She'll go crazy like all out raving mad...if she doesn't. I mean you all saw a glimpse of that awhile ago " He really is pushing your buttons here,

"Did i forget to say that Jesse's a Lazy ass slacker who- " Before you get in too deep into the slew of insults and consequently rise suspicion amongst everyone there, you cut it short, "Well nonetheless i guess they got it right when they said opposites attract, that's why i keep him around, why i keep ending up with him "

"Yeah...and it always feels like the first time, it feels like the very first time...it feels like the first time..." He did not just start singing, you cut him off with a nudge before he gets the others to sing along, "It's just all so fresh like we suddenly just got back together again."

"Yeah we've been on and off" You finally tell Cynthia Rose and hope this answer will suffice

"And on again and off again and then Beca wanted to try new things, then she didn't and then she decides to be true to how she really feels and then she doesn't-" You kick his shin under the table, enough you get it

"Ouch Honey, not in front of everyone, wait till we get into our room later" He pinches your side, it may look sorta cute to other people but that freaking hurt,

"Aw look at the two of you, I'd never guessed it that you guys would still be so happy together after all this time" Aubrey says taking in your interaction with each other, her smile so stiff you're afraid cracks are going to start showing all over her face.

"Me too" Jesse mutters to himself

"Well i'd like to think we're full of surprises" You say aloud to mask what Jesse had just said,

"Beca sure is, She likes to spring things up on me so fast that i can't even retaliate-and like the fool i am, i let her, because i love her so damn much. "

How can everybody else not feel the animosity between the three of you, how could Chloe not read between the lines,

Denise decides to change it up, to ask the new couple, "Okay what about Chloe and Luke since you guys seem to love to travel together have you gone to the romantic cities like Paris, or Venice or Verona in Italy"

You wish you could feel relief that the attention has shifted from the both of you but you'd rather go through the whole fake romantic history with Jesse all over again than listen to Chloe's current one,

"Well I have taken Chloe to those places before, we went to Le tour Eiffel, "

"Ooh he speaks fluent french," Stacie should really keep her hunter in her pants, or tightly locked behind bars she's practically eyefucking him-which you realize maybe that's what you were doing with Chloe, but you refuse to put yourself in the same ship as Stacie...yours is purely innocent, while hers is well you know Stacie-like.

"He just said The Eiffel tower" you say

"Shush!" says everyone else. Honestly, how're they all lapping this up?

"We rode the gondolas in Venice but it's not as romantic as they make it seem in the movies, the gondoliers these days don't sing unless you pay them to do so," Well most of the boys are in their own conversations anyway and the one's that are listening are probably trying to get a leaf out of Luke's book ooh that rhymed, for getting laid ew, NO

"Oh how romantic, speaking of romantic, We already heard about how you guys met but how'd you ask her Luke?"

"Um i'm not sure i follow...ask her what?"

"To be your girlfriend, acaobviously" says Aubrey like everything is getting on her last nerve, it probably is

"Wait no, i'm sorry for the confusion... but Chloe and mine's relationship is strictly platonic, she's like a little sister to me...We travel a lot together because Chloe and I just started this online blog radio travel show we're actually being paid by lonely planet, It's actually doing really well."

Hold the phone. You want to scream a big loud whatdafuck? ...in the minute of stunned silence you and Jesse share a loaded glance, if you interpreted his expression correctly it's saying I'm going to kill you-and yours on the other hand you think is somewhere between apologetic and confused and mindblown, if that could be an expression.

I mean what the hell is going on here?

But she's with Luke right, he's her plus one...what happened to them being inseparable or something

Everyone else is as confused as you but it's Stacie who has the nerve to ask in her own very special way, "So you guys aren't fucking?" reign it in girl, can she try being any less obvious

"Stacie!" Aubrey says truly scandalized, it's the most genuinely Aubrey-like reaction you've gotten from her the whole dinner you should probably explain things to her, but even Chloe and her don't seem to have a lot to say to each other.

"What, it's what everyone's thinking-or maybe it's just me, I'm just skipping past all the niceties - it's to the point saves up on time .."

"But you can ask another way, Chloe you don't have to answer that," Aubrey says,

"So you guys aren't together?" your voice comes out before you can help your self it sounds strangled, you're hoping no one else noticed,

"No" Luke says,

Chloe just shakes her head, this is the first time you said something to her, her eyes are boring into yours...

You hate that you feel something jump inside of you. A flicker of hope maybe. But why just because she was single didn't mean she was giving a signal that she was ready to date women. That she was ready to date you. That she was ready to date period.

Before you know it, and you really can't help it-you are telling yourself not to got here, but your mind is already coming up with ways to woo her. C'mon a girl like Chloe, or just Chloe would be snatched up by circling vultures before she could even say the words I'm single.

"So Chloe's free then," Greg says jovially to Hat, Kollo, Steven Brian and Michael. Oh now that's what got all the other boys attention,

don't you dare

You try, with the power of your laser eyes, to discourage them from all the way on the other end,

You can still feel several sets of eyes on you as well. Oh you almost forgot, Aubrey is practically melting a hole in your head, okay how can you be planning all that when you have other things to worry about

You acted rashly you can't blame them-but they should give you a break... I was drunk, sue me...can't be the best excuse, though it is tempting.

Now what to do. You can't just take it back by saying "silly me, I forgot we'd already broken up-i was just playing a joke so i could gauge your reaction maybe to see if you were secretly in love with me as well" , No that'd be even more pathetic...

So this reunion wasn't starting off as smoothly as you'd like it to be...

But it is just the start, you still have almost 2 weeks and then some to straighten things out, Things couldn't possibly get any worse could it?


Or couldn't it? dun dun dun-You'll just have to stay tuned to find out, won't you?