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 Six
Leaving Jesse's grandmother's house provided a sense of relief for Beca. She just hoped that she could stop focusing on the conversation that she had overheard and instead concentrate on the amazing boy that wanted to take her out that night.
Parker dropped them at the Swanson house and while Beca would have loved to use their alone time in the house to their advantage, she desperately needed her second shower that day. All day in the sun had left her feeling less than attractive.
Standing under the hot spray, she let the water soothe the tension in her neck. Beca never thought in a million years that out of all the people that she would most offend with her sense of style would be Jesse's grandmother. Experiencing Aubrey over the past year seemed like cake in comparison to how the elder Mrs. Swanson acted.
Beca didn't waste much more time and got ready quickly so as not to keep Jesse waiting. He smiled at seeing her ready to go.
"Ready to let loose you party animal?" Jesse asked her and did a few moonwalk steps.
Beca just shook her head at his goofiness before following him out the door. The party was at some kid's house that Jesse went to high school with. Even though it almost across town, the couple walked in the warm night.
"Did you have fun today?" Jesse asked, taking her hand.
"Yes, of course," Beca answered with a smile even though the answer to his question was not as truthful as it could be. She had had fun with him – she had loved singing with him, his brother and cousin, she had enjoyed participating in the balloon toss as well as meeting more of his family – so it wasn't a complete lie. So sue her, she wasn't ready to burden him with the information that she had learned earlier.
The walk was otherwise quiet but it was a comfortable silence, a quality that Beca had come to love about their relationship.
When Jesse and Beca arrived to the party, there were no parents in sight, just a lot of drunken teenagers who had pilfered the liquor cabinet, the contents of which were on a table near the patio doors. Two kegs had been set up and there was quite a crowd of people waiting for their turn for beer. There were people in the pool and in the house. It seemed like there was absolutely no sense of control, which was mildly amusing to Beca.
She spied Harrison and Chris, the latter who was pumping one of the kegs to fill his cup. Harrison, apparently very friendly after meeting her only once, picked her up and spun her around. When he finally put her down, Jesse helped her steady herself. His look of concern was replaced with a smile once she assured him with a smile of her own.
"Don't do that once she starts drinking or you'll regret it."
"Got it chief," Harrison responded handing Jesse and Beca red Solo cups of their own.
Some kid that Beca didn't know came over to see Jesse and instead of letting her feel awkward and out of place, Harrison pulled her with him as he and Chris looked for a spot to themselves. They found a few chairs by the pool that were unoccupied.
"How was your day at the Kennedy compound?" Chris joked.
Beca made a telling face and took a sip of her beer.
"That bad huh?"
"It wasn't that bad. The part that sucked was learning, unintentionally, that his grandmother is not a fan of me."
"You two have met before?" Harrison questioned, confused.
"That's just the thing. It was our first time meeting and she immediately dislikes me because of my tattoos and eye makeup. She didn't even get to know my sunny disposition," Beca told them, the latter piece accompanied by a wry smile.
Harrison snorted lightly at her joke before nodding his understanding and took a sip of his beer.
"What?" Beca asked.
"Jesse's grandmother is infamous for this crap. There's a reason that the only Swanson house we visit is the one you've been staying in. Grandma S scares us."
Beca smirked at the boys. It was obvious that Jesse was in good company when it came to these two as they were funny as hell and they seemed to care for Jesse. She finished her beer and looked at the empty cup with disdain.
"Sounds like after the day you've had you need something stronger than beer," Chris said and pulled Beca by the hand into the back of the house to see the liquor assortment that had been uncovered.
Remotely, this sounded like a bad idea to her but she couldn't agree more with Chris. It had been a day she wished to forget and this was the one way that she could actually do that.
"Gin, Jack, Malibu...ahhh trusty friend, Mister Ketel One," Chris said and picked up the bottle from the crowd. Without measuring, he quickly poured the vodka into her cup into her cup and filled the rest with Coke.
Beca winced at how strong it but immediately felt the warmth that drinking it created in her stomach.
"You two are bad influences, for the record," Beca stated.
"Us? No way." Harrison said mimicking the presence of a halo above his head with his finger.
Beca looked back to where they had been earlier to try and find Jesse but he was no longer in the spot she had left him in.
"Hey guys should we find Jesse? I don't see him." She reached for her phone but Harrison was quicker, already tapping out a message.
"He's a big boy. I'll text him, tell him we're taking you to the pong table for some fun and to find us."
Satisfied with the answer, she followed Harrison and Chris into the house. There were people everywhere but they finally found where beer pong tables had been set up.
"We've got winners," Chris said aloud to those who were playing already.
Two games later and still defending champions, Beca needed some air. Although they had beaten the other two teams, she had still consumed a good deal of beer from the cups that they had hit and that was on top of her two previous drinks.
"You play," she told Harrison and left to find the way outside. Not really recognizing how they had gotten to where the game was being played, she got turned around and instead of finding her way to the backyard where everyone else was, she ended up out the front door. Which would have been fine except for what she stumbled upon or who, for that matter.
"Jesse," Beca said, the alcohol that she had consumed making him a tad blurry. But the blurriness didn't make it any less clear that he was sitting on the porch, his arm around Molly's shoulders and she was rubbing his back. The look on the blonde's face was the cherry on top to the day that she had encountered.
"Great, awesome," she mumbled and walked away from the pair trying to inhale the oxygen she so desperately craved as well as put distance between her and that situation. Beca would deal with him later.
Jesse bolted after her and was shouting her name but she didn't want to hear it. Beca was focusing on inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth, so that the owners of the house weren't surprised with a new decoration on their walkway.
"Beca, stop being a bitch and listen to me."
She whirled around and glared at him. "Excuse me? I'm sorry but was I the one just caught cuddling on the front steps of some random persons' house by his girlfriend? Didn't think so."
"It's not what it looked like."
"It looked like you had your arm around her and she was so thoughtfully rubbing your back. Do I have it wrong?"
"I…" Jesse started but faltered with what else to say. He looked like a kicked puppy and Beca momentarily hated putting that look on his face. It was too reminiscent of semi-finals, which had almost ruined everything for them before it got started.
Harrison and Chris somehow managed to find the pair who were on the verge of screaming at each other.
"Chicky, bro maybe we can take this somewhere else? We don't need the cops handing out MIPs."
Beca pulled out her phone and sent a quick text. Within seconds she got a reply, one she desperately needed.
"No, we need to settle this. She doesn't believe me that nothing was going on."
"Where have you been this whole time? Were you with her?" Beca asked
Jesse hesitated and Beca knew it was true. She didn't why they had been together all that time or what else had gone on but it was enough. The bile over this information combined with the alcohol that she had consumed couldn't be stopped and she got sick on the grass.
"Bec," Jesse said and reached out to help her.
"Leave me alone," she said sternly before gagging again. Beca felt horrendous.
A car pulled up to the curb and Jesse was shocked when he saw Christina get out of the car.
"Oh jeez, Beca are you okay?" the younger girl asked, taking in the scene in front of her.
"I'll be fine once I've puked up everything including the lining of my stomach," she deadpanned.
"Let's get you back to the house," Christina directed.
Jesse went to the car as well but Christina's threatening gaze told him to find another way home. Christina left with Beca, leaving Jesse frustrated and Harrison and Chris confused.
"Guess it hoes before bro...literally," Chris said
"Who let her drink that much?" Jesse asked, running a hand through his hair as the taillights disappeared down the street.
Harrison scratched his head and looked off into the distance. Chris avoided Jesse's gaze altogether.
"We uh we're just trying to cheer her up. She had a rough day."
"Rough day? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Bro, I've said too much. You need to talk to her," Harrison said, giving his friend a sympathetic pat on his shoulder. "I think she just wanted to be with you tonight, she kept looking around for you. What were you doing with Molly?"
"She was drunk in the backyard so I got her away from the party so she could grab some air. We started reminiscing and I guess I lost track of time."
"You should have been with Beca. I'm a dumbass and even I know that," Chris surmised.
Jesse sighed, knowing that his friend was incredibly right.
"Shall we start walking gentleman?" Harrison said and led the three away from the party and into the night.
Beca had been able to avoid getting sick in the car but barely made it to the bathroom once they got into the house. Christina got her some water and stayed with her until it seemed like the worst was over.
"Thanks Christina," Beca said. She felt miserable, not just from getting sick but because of everything that the day had turned out to be. Christina walked her to the guest room.
"My brother's a bonehead and I'm sorry for whatever he did. I just hope that you two will be able to get over this."
"It's not just him but thanks, I hope so too," Beca said. Christina closed the door and Beca changed before cuddling under the covers. It would do no good to cry so she shut her eyes tight and tried to sleep.
She was barely drifting on the edge of unconsciousness when there was a knock on the guest room door.
"Bec?" Jesse questioned softly.
Beca didn't answer him, even though a part of her wanted to. She didn't have the energy to keep fighting. She heard his feet shuffle away from the door and Beca did her best to find sleep again.
The next morning, Beca woke up and showered as quietly as possible not wanting to deal with Jesse just yet. Avoidance was the best policy until she was ready to forgive him for the situation that she had seen with Molly and until she knew exactly what she was going to say to him about his grandmother.
She went downstairs and found Shannon drinking coffee.
"Well that was easy. Jesse mentioned something about having to drag you out of bed."
Beca gave a tight smile. "Yeah, totally forgot about shopping this morning."
"We can get going if you want. It will get you out of the house."
Shannon's green eyes seemed to hold knowledge over what happened last night.
"Christina told you didn't she?"
Shannon brought her mug to the sink and told her how she knew. "She might have texted me very early this morning saying you would definitely need an escape this morning."
Beca didn't know whether to kiss Jesse's sister or kill her.
"I don't know anything else, she didn't gossip. But I am here if you want to tell me."
With a nod, Beca agreed to get her bag and they could head out. At least this would provide her with the space that she needed to hopefully forgive and forget.
A/N: I hope this is enough drama for everyone that requested it. And just in case you don't know, an MIP is a minor in possession and a misdemeanor in most states.
Thank you for continuing to read and review! I love all of your feedback and it gets me writing faster for the next chapter.