Title: I Belong With You, You Belong With Me
Author: heartsmash
Rating: M, for later chapters.
Disclaimer: I don't own these wonderful characters written by Kay Cannon and brought to life by Jason Moore.
Summary: Companion piece to "You're My Sweetheart." Jesse and Beca are apart for summer and this time around it's Beca's turn to meet the family. Named for another lyric from "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers.
Chapter Two
She saw the area code on her phone as it rang and her heart felt like it was in her throat. It was a Baltimore area code and it wasn't Jesse's number appearing with the goofy picture of him that was assigned in her address book. She answered with trepidation, silently promising to kick his ass if he done something stupid to get himself injured.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Beca?" a female asked on the other line
"Yes, who is this?"
"Oh sorry," she giggled, "This is Christina Swanson, Jesse's sister. Little sister."
Beca breathed a sigh of relief as the girl didn't sound like anything was actually wrong.
"I stole your number from my brother's phone."
"Totally cool," Beca told her, stress leaving her body at knowing that it wasn't an emergency. "What's up?"
"Well, my brother's been acting like a mopey lump of crap. More mopey than usual and it's probably because you two are apart. So I was thinking to be an awesome sister that I would arrange to have you come spend a week at our house. Come for the Fourth, we have a ton of family and friends that around for a barbeque and it would be fun. I think it will really cheer him up."
Beca frowned. It worried her that his family was seeing Jesse's disposition as well. Despite sending him mixes of new music and doing her Beca Mitchell best at cheering him up, it didn't seem to be working.
"Christina, let me get back to you but that actually sounds really good."
Beca checked with work and with her boss giving her the green light as long as her projects were on track and the team was aware of where they were at, there was nothing stopping her from going to visit Jesse as Christina had suggested. So giving the girl a call back, they planned her surprise arrival.
"My parents are so happy you're coming to visit. Jesse has told us a lot about you."
"Hopefully all good," Beca responded, knowing that she will have to tone down the sarcasm and disdain for everyday activities and conversation in order to meet her boyfriend's family. She was lucky that Jesse tolerated it as well as he did, but he was no angel himself when it came to witty banter.
"Totally. I think they're hoping you'll be the magic cure."
Beca ended the conversation with Jesse's sister, knowing that she was going to have to do a wonderful job of keeping this secret trip from Jesse's radar.
A week and a half later and multiple conversations with Jesse where she had to pretend to have a lot going on and not much going on for the Fourth that she landed in BWI and found the blue Lexus sedan that had contained her boyfriend on the first day of freshman year, belting out "Carry on My Wayward Son."
A young girl sat behind the wheel with the same dark hair and eyes as her brother, but instead of classic rock she was listening to more mainstream music as she waited at the curb to pick her up.
Beca peeked her head into the open passenger window and greeted the girl who instantly beamed at her.
"Oh! Beca! You're here! Jump in!"
Beca nearly winced at how excited the girl was but she resisted, throwing her duffel into the backseat. She had left her equipment for making mixes at home, planning to make this a true vacation of sorts and put her focus on the boy that had apparently missed her so much that covert operations were needed.
"Jesse still has no idea you're in Maryland, let alone 20 minutes from our house. I love being an evil genius."
Beca smiled. It was hard not to get wrapped up in the younger girl's enthusiasm. And to tell the truth, she was excited to see Jesse in the flesh. She was hell bent on stealing a t-shirt and maybe a hoodie of his to sleep in and soak in the overall boy smell that she loved.
They drove for a bit, pulling off a busy road before heading down a much less active street. When they finally pulled into a driveway, Beca tried not to let her shock show at how magnificent the house was. Gorgeous brick driveway leading up to a double-door two car garage and in the distance, Beca could see that the house overlooked some body of water. Clearly, she had missed the memo that her boyfriend's family was wealthy.
An older woman with a short brunette bob stepped out onto the porch and waved excitedly at the car. She recognized Jesse's mom instantly as she had been in the car when Jesse serenaded her. Grabbing her duffel, she followed Christina dutifully and was pulled into a tight hug by Mrs. Swanson.
"Oh, thanks for coming to our home Beca. Jesse's been so out of sorts recently. I'm sure that you're just what the doctor ordered."
"Ma, let her go. Jesse will be home from work in a little bit and Beca has to be hiding somewhere to make this whole secret trip thing worth it!" Christina cried
Mrs. Swanson rolled her eyes at her overdramatic teenage daughter but released Beca from her embrace. Christina yanked Beca up the stairs to the second floor and put Beca in Jesse's room.
"Stay here, make yourself comfortable. When Jesse comes home, he's in for a big surprise."
"Hey Christina, do me a favor…make this and bring it back up her in a big bowl," Beca said, yanking a packet of microwavable popcorn from her duffel.
Christina's eyes gleamed with mischief at the request and Beca followed her orders otherwise. Although she wanted to explore his room and see what other little nougats of information she could gather from his belongings but that would have to wait. Christina sprinted up the stairs and handed her the bowl, whispering quickly that he had just pulled into the driveway and to act natural.
'No shit,' Beca thought as the girl darted from the room. She could hear Jesse yell at Christina, questioning why she was in there in the first place and she had to smile. He was about to be shocked and she loved it.
Jesse opened the door and didn't notice her right away, throwing his bag down on the ground next to his desk.
"Hey weirdo," Beca said popping a kernel into her mouth.
Jesse jumped back in shock. Beca put the bowl of popcorn to the side before moving across the room to see him. Bunching the front of his dress shirt, she pulled him down for a kiss hoping to rid the shock from his system.
She slid a hand into the thick head of dark hair and captured his lips, reveling in the action after not having been able to do it for almost two months. Reluctantly she breaks the kiss, letting a very confused Jesse ask some needed questions.
"Beca, what the hell are you doing here?" he asked
"You'll have to ask your sister that one. She was behind the whole thing."
"Serious? What the hell is going on?"
Beca loosed his tie and undid the top two buttons on his shirt, remembering how much she had liked that look when they had Skyped weeks earlier.
"Christina called me to say that you've been a little down in the dumps, that I should come visit and improve your mood."
Jesse shook his head in disbelief of his sister's antics but leaned in to kiss her, not really willing to talk about Christina anymore. Beca wound her arms around Jesse's neck and welcomed this make-out session that made her lungs burn due to lack of oxygen. She had lost a great deal of practice over the last two months.
There's certainly no room in her head for conscious thought, not when every bit of her is consumed with the feeling of his lips on hers. One of his hands tangled its way in her hair, cradling the back of her head, angling her towards him as his tongue darts along her bottom lip.
The other hand slid under her shirt to the small of her back, pressing her fully against him. Both of them knew that if they were to move to the bed that clothing would become optional and that was a slippery slope considering his family was one floor away. Dimly, Beca hears the Mrs. Swanson shouting something at Christina, and it brought her back to reality.
When he finally releases her, her breath is sharp and she has to cling to his forearms for a moment to regain her balance. He's breathing hard too, his lips on her temple, his fingers digging into her hips.
"We need to get out of your room or I will not be held responsible for what comes next," Beca told him. It had been a while without kissing him and not to mention without having sex. She had needs and she was not going to fulfill those needs within the first hour of being in his family's home.
Jesse swallowed thickly and suggested a tour of the house. Beca agreed and held onto his hand as he showed her everything. The house was gorgeous, decorated classically with neutral colors, the occasional accent of navy blue or red coming into play in some of the pieces.
"I'm half expecting to find a Sears portrait of your family, all in white shirts and jeans," Beca joked. When Jesse hung his head in mock shame, Beca knew that there was an exact portrait like that coming up on the tour. Beca burst out laughing and Jesse joined in, simply amused by how funny she found it.
"No, it's cute," Beca said seriously, a hint of smile still on her lips.
"Get moving short stuff," he said and corralled her into the kitchen. Jesse leaned against the counter and Beca sidled up next to him. He playfully lifted her onto one of the counter stools as if to mock her once again for her height. Beca gave him a face and Christina groaned.
"You're a lot more lovey dovey than I thought you would be Beca," Christina said as cut tomatoes.
Mrs. Swanson beamed at the couple and shushed her daughter. "Chrissie, they haven't seen each other in two months. They missed each other. That's what happens when you're in love."
Dead silence invaded the room over the four letter L word that his mother had just referenced. Beca felt the heat rise on her neck and onto her face, staring at the counter intently. Jesse coughed nervously.
"Don't think we're there yet ma," Jesse said.
"And on that note…" Beca said
"Right, let's continue the tour," he said and let her out of the kitchen.
"I still can't believe you're here," Jesse murmured. They had gotten right back into her movication, tackling Forrest Gump.
"Yeah, I rock," she replied picking imaginary fuzz off his t-shirt. He had finally changed out of his shirt and tie and into stuff that she was used to seeing him in. The two had not discussed what his mother had brought up earlier while checking out the kitchen and Beca was thankful, as she was not ready to have that conversation yet.
After the tour of the house had concluded, Mrs. Swanson had laid down a few rules which Beca couldn't say she didn't see coming. Numero uno was that Beca would be sleeping in the guest room. Although Jesse's mother hadn't specified alone, Beca was pretty sure that it was implied. Second was that if they were in Jesse's room or the guest room that the door had to remain open.
Jesse had looked like he was going to have a stroke out of sheer embarrassment, to which Beca had quieted him. Beca didn't want his mother to think that she was the one that had corrupted her son…even though for the most part it had been that way. They would find places to be alone just as they had done with one hateful roommate and one roommate who often didn't realize that they wanted to be alone.
Just as Forrest and Lieutenant Dan had successfully taken over the shrimping business,
Jesse's phone buzzed from its perch on his desk. He checked it, made a face but didn't say anything.
"What was that?" she asked
"With all the excitement of you surprising me, I kind of forgot that I agreed to do dinner with some high school friends. No big deal."
"Do you want to go? I can promise to stave off being a buzzkill for at least two hours," Beca responded, looking up at him and giving a flash of teeth.
Truthfully she wouldn't mind meeting more of his friends. Yes, the Trebles and Benji were friends at Barden but these people from Chesapeake City knew Jesse on a whole other level.
"You sure?" he asked with a smile
"If I can handle Bellas boot camp, I'm sure I can handle this or do you wish to make a wager on that?"
Jesse held up his hands in surrender. "No wager necessary. I'll tell them that we're still on."
A/N: Thank you for all the lovely reviews! Feeling inspired by those who have read it and reviewed, so this chapter came about a lot faster.