Strangers in the Night
A Pitch Perfect Story
Chapter 7: Something in Your Eyes
Disclaimer: I don't own anything familiar.
Author's Note: In case there are people who are confused about the dates in the chapters, I want to clear some things up. First, I didn't want to put every one of the milestones on a Tuesday, because that would make Jesse think something weird was up. I know I would be a little confused and wary if something always happened on a Tuesday. Secondly, the milestones are added to the previous week. Using this chapter as an example: I put the 2 week milestone on a Wednesday, May 8th. For the 4-week one, I added 2 weeks to that Wednesday. When they get to the 8-week milestone, I will add 4 weeks to the date that I chose for the 4-week one. Make sense? Otherwise, if you do the math, it is technically 13 weeks from April 23 (their first date) to July 23 (their 3-month anniversary). This chapter isn't as long as the previous chapter.
The title comes from the first line of the second verse.
And so the m-rated stuff begins!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Beca flung the door of her apartment open and pulled Jesse in by his shirt. She barely kicked the door shut behind her before she pushed him onto the couch and climbed into his lap. Her lips immediately attached to his. This was it. This was the day that her shirt would be off, and he could touch her boobs. It was going to be glorious. It was going to be amazing. She moaned into the kiss when she felt his hands tighten on her hips. They slowly slid beneath her shirt, stroking across her lower back and stomach, making her hum and shiver against his body. She pulled out of the kiss and grabbed the hem of her shirt, yanking it up. She wasn't playing around today. She didn't need any semblance of a warm up. No, she needed her shirt off and her tongue glued to his right now. She bit her lip as she let his eyes rake across her nearly topless upper half. He had already seen everything when she wore a bathing suit, but she had chosen to wear her sexiest bra, which was sheer and lacey, leaving very little to the imagination. Her eyes shut as his hands made their way up her stomach to cup her through her bra. This was it. She laid her hands of her his as he kneaded her breasts gently over her bra, making her head fall back. God, it felt so good. The only thing that was better than that was if it was his hands on her bare breasts. She opened her eyes, taking him the lazy smirk on his face as he pinched at her nipples, making her moan. He was clearly enjoying himself. If it weren't for the fact that it felt amazing to have him touching her like this, she'd probably huff and not let him touch her to teach him a lesson for being so full of himself.
She reached behind her back and unsnapped her bra clasp. The second there was any give to her bra, he tore it away from her body and proceeded to lean forward. She knew that his mouth was going to attach to one of her breasts, so she cut him off by grabbing his face and pulling it towards hers. The kiss was as fierce and heated as the ones they shared on the beach, complete with teeth gnashing and bruising pressure. Yes, God, she needed this. She wished that this make out session was just really hot foreplay that led to the best sex imaginable; she wished that she could let them do what they both obviously wanted to do. The feel of her breasts brushing against his cotton t-shirt felt awesome, but she needed his shirt off now. She ran her hands down his back to the hem of his shirt. She gripped it, sliding it up.
He immediately tore his lips from hers, sitting back slightly, allowing her to pull the shirt over his head. Once the shirt was off of him and tossed somewhere behind her, she gently scraped her nails down his chest. She then proceeded to run her finger over the slight ridges of his abs. Yeah, she couldn't wait to run her tongue along those ridges. She leaned forward, but stopped when there was barely an inch between their bodies and their lips, using her hands on his chest to hold her body up. She wanted to kiss him, but she wanted to build up to the feel of his naked chest against hers—she wanted to build up the tension and the lust, and if it tortured him some in the process? Well, that was just icing on the cake…a very delicious, sexy, hot cake. She kept her eyes open, locked with his, as she brushed her nose against his. Every time he tried to close the distance between them, she pulled back, keeping their mouths apart, smirking at the way he frowned at not being able to kiss her. Finally, he grabbed hold of her wrists and pulled her hands away from his chest. She started to fall forward, losing her balance, but he released one of her wrists to catch her by the waist. His hand fell on her back, and he pulled her body forward so that her chest pressed against his, their lips meeting.
God, the way that Jesse's bare chest brushed against Beca's felt so good. The scratch of his chest hair against her nipples, the hard muscles against her softer body-it was so perfect. She wished that she could press her entire naked body against his. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he placed his second hand on her back, letting both of them roam. She shivered when his nails scraped along her skin, making her moan into the kiss. All of this was so heavenly. It was so perfect. It got even more perfect when his hands began stroking up and down her sides before slipping between them to slide up her stomach.
The moment that his hands cupped her breasts, she felt like her entire body was on fire. She moaned, pulling out of the kiss to rest her forehead against his. She kept her eyes clamped shut, biting her lips as she breathed heavily through her nose as he kneaded her breasts with his hands. The things he was doing to her body were sinful, and they hadn't even gotten below the belt. She cried out when he began twisting and pinching her nipples gently. Her nipples were always so sensitive, and her mouth went dry as rolled them between his fingers. "Oh, God..." She moaned, opening her eyes. He stared right back at her, and it was almost too much-the eye contact, the feel of his hands against her breasts, the heat of his lower half against hers. Holy shit, he could probably make her orgasm just from this alone. God, she wanted to try that… "Jesse..." She whispered, leaning forward to catch his lips with hers.
The kiss was gentle in comparison to the others. His hands stilled on her breasts for a moment. He pulled them away from her chest, burying them into her hair, pulling her against him. They kept the kiss soft, slow, languid, however. She scraped her nails through the hair on the back of his head, pressing her chest against his so tightly that she could feel the hammering of his heart through his chest. Eventually, one of his hands slid from her hair and down her spine. She shivered, arching her body, following its path. Goose bumps broke out on her body as he stroked his fingers from her back to her stomach. She tensed when she felt his fingers stop on her skin just above the button of her jeans. Suddenly, the phone rang.
Beca jumped, breaking the kiss to run a hand down her face. The phone continued to ring, but she made no move to climb off of Jesse's lap. She just stared down at him, panting as she tried to recapture her breath, not saying a word. The answering machine picked up, and she immediately threw herself off his lap, diving for the floor to grab his shirt and yank it over her head.
"Rebeca Christine Mitchell, I know you're home. I called your office, and that British fellow you went to college with told me you'd already left for the day. Now, it's too early for you to be drinking, even if you and your friends are complete-" Beca grabbed the phone and answered it, all in the hopes that she would get him to stop talking.
"Jesus, Dad! I got the phone as soon as I could, okay?" She closed her eyes, feeling completely mortified that her father called her in the middle of a topless make out session. Dude had to have a sixth sense for when she's nearly naked, because he tended to call her at the most inopportune moments, most of them being when she was about to get into the shower, was getting out of the shower, or was in the process of doing something dirty with a guy. It was fucking weird. For once, however, she was relieved that he called at the worst time. She needed an excuse to end the make out session before it went too far.
"I'm sure. Listen, I was calling to find out if you were coming home next weekend for Sheila's birthday. Jenna and her husband will be coming in, and then Trevor is coming with his girlfriend, and Georgie would love to see her big sister. I would hate it if all of the party guests saw that you were too busy to fly back home for your step-mother's birthday. Please tell me that I'm wrong and that you're actually coming."
Beca squeezed her hand into a fist. "Yes, Dad." She snapped into the phone. "I was able to work my schedule out with Luke and the artists I'm producing for today, and I'm sorry that I didn't call you the second I got home from work." She took a deep breath trying to calm down. "I was too busy getting plane tickets together. I'm on the redeye on Thursday night, which will arrive in Atlanta at ten after six on Friday morning. Then, I fly out on Monday morning at eight."
"Good. I'm glad that you won't embarrass Sheila and me by not showing up, but please bring something appropriate to wear. Something that will cover up those horrendous tattoos. Oh, and take out those terrible ear piercings."
"Shoot! I planned on wearing only a thong to Sheila's birthday party, letting all of my horrendous tattoos be on display. I also planned on getting my tongue pierced and a tattoo of an arrow pointing towards my crotch with the words 'this way to Happy Land,' but I guess I will nix that idea." She snapped into the phone.
"Now, Beca. Is that really something appropriate to say to your father?"
"Dad, I'm twenty-six years old. I can get all the tattoos that I want. I can get as many piercings as I want. I can wear what I want." She squeezed her fist so tightly that her nails started to dig into the palm of her hand (and she had short nails). "Besides, if you didn't have your embarrassing daughter to complain about to Sheila, the perfect Jenna and Trevor, or all of your fancy and snooty friends at the hospital and college, what would you have to complain about? Obamacare and how the president is ruining our country? Look, I was in the middle of a vicious game of tonsil-hockey with a half-naked guy, so I gotta go. Tell Georgie that I love her and that I can't wait to see her. Bye, Dad." She hung up the phone and slammed it back in the charger.
Beca kept her back to Jesse for a while, trying to regain her composure. She jumped when she felt his lips on the back of her neck and his arms wrap around her waist. "You okay?" He said quietly in her ear. She nodded her head, tense in his arms. She didn't like that he had witnessed a one-sided conversation with her father. "So, you're going back home next weekend?" He said, massaging her hips with his hands.
"The step-monster's birthday is on the eighteenth, the big five-oh. They are throwing some big party with all of their fancy friends at the college and the hospital. The perfect step-siblings will be flying in with their significant others." She pulled away from him and grabbed her shirt and bra from the floor, sitting down on the couch with them in her hands. "The only one I'm looking forward to is my younger sister, Georgie."
"I didn't know you had a younger sister."
"She's my half-sister, but I don't hold the step-monster's genes against her. I actually feel bad for the kid." She joked, running a hand through her hair. "Georgie's awesome. I can't believe she's turning fifteen next December."
"Must be hard to be away from her." Jesse took Beca's hand in his, interlacing their fingers.
"Yeah, it sucks, but I'm hoping that my dad will let her spend some of the summer with me now that she's a teenager. She keeps telling me that she refuses to go to Barden and wants to go to school here in LA so that she could be near me. I think my dad is so scared that she's gonna turn out like me. She wants to sing, and the kid does have a set of pipes on her, so it'd be fun to show her what I do by getting her into a recording session."
"I'm sure she'd love that. You're a really great sister. I never really got to do the older brother thing. It sucks being an only child."
"Shit, and here I was hoping that you were going to tell me that you had a secret twin brother that is ten times hotter than you who's the prince of some foreign island whom I could seduce and be made a princess. The religion on said island follows the assumption that good things happen when you give women, especially princesses, many orgasms, so your twin brother and the many, many attractive men that live on the island would spend their days pleasuring me in the most amazing ways." The look on Jesse's face was amazing, making her head fall back as she laughed really hard, clutching her stomach.
"Wow. You're gonna ditch me for my hotter, rich, royal, foreign twin brother? Really, you're gonna give up Blair Delaware for that? I'm so offended."
"I guess you could come, too." She shrugged her shoulders. "It'd be just one more hot guy to worship and pleasure me."
"Once you get a taste of the pleasure I can give you, you're not going to want anyone else." She shivered at the idea, because she'd already gotten a small taste of what he had to offer, and it was beyond intense and amazing. She swallowed, sucking on her bottom lip. He leaned forward, tugging at the hem of his shirt, trying to undress her again. "Let me show you..." He whispered into her ear. Shit, shit, shit...
"Jesse, I'm not sure I'm really in the mood since we got interrupted by my dad calling us. My dad somehow has a sixth sense for when I'm nearly naked, so I'd rather not risk it again today." He groaned, resting his forehead onto her shoulder.
"I can't talk you into it?" She shook her head. In her mind she was shouting that he didn't need to; if she really had the choice, she'd have been ready the second she hung up the phone. "You're not gonna let me work my best magic to try to convince you that we can get back to where we were before?" She shook her head again. Oh, God, she wished that he would work his best magic on her. Shit. "Well, since the mood has officially been killed, are you hungry?" She nodded her head. For him. She was hungry for him. "Let's go get some dinner. I'm gonna need this back." He tugged on the sleeve of his shirt, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "And, I'm telling you that the second you take my shirt off, I'm definitely gonna be ready to go again."
"Well, that's why I'm gonna get redressed in the bedroom. Be back in a second." She stood up, taking her shirt and bra with her to get changed. She reemerged from her room, tossing his shirt at his face. "Let's go, weirdo." She grabbed her bag, making sure she had her phone, some money, and her keys in it, while he pulled his shirt back on. He sighed, grabbing her hand, and pulled her to the door.
"You're driving." He told her, making her cock an eyebrow.
"You only want me to drive so that you have a reason to come back here, right? Let me guess, you're gonna conveniently leave your keys in my apartment, and you'll have to come back upstairs to get them, right?"
"Sheesh. I guess I'm driving then..." He pouted, holding the door open for her. "Let's go, crazy pants."
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Today, Beca was having the worst luck. Her alarm didn't go off that morning, so she was late for work, meaning she was late to a meeting with Luke. He wasn't pleased. Then, the stupid intern at the office bumped into her, making her spill her super hot coffee down the front of her white dress shirt, essentially ruining it. It was pretty much her only nice professional clothing, and she had worn it because she had a big meeting with some movie people who wanted her to produce songs on the soundtrack album. She made the intern drive to the mall and buy her a new white dress shirt. Then, the asshole movie people didn't show up until over an hour late, and they expected her to stick around to make up that time well past when their meeting was supposed to be over. She had to sneak to the bathroom and call Jesse to let him know that she would have to meet him at the restaurant, because she barely had time to run home and get changed into "date clothes" as Chloe would call them. Then, when she was leaving work, finally, she got a flat tire, had to wait forever for AAA to show up, and she was already ten minutes late for their dinner reservations, so she didn't have time change at home. She went straight to the restaurant, breaking several traffic laws in the process.
"Oh, my God, I had the worst day imaginable!" She said, arriving at the table. He jumped up and pulled her into a hug, and she let herself melt into the hug, feeling the tension leave her body as he massaged her lower back with his hands. She'd missed this nerd. They hadn't seen each other much over the last two weeks. The weekend before she was in Atlanta, and their schedules only allowed one breakfast date and a couple of ten-minute long texting sessions during which they texted their open nights and days to each other before they were finally able to schedule a date throughout the last few weeks. She was also very excited for this date, because it was four weeks after their first date. His mouth could be on her boobs, and they were allowed do grind. Holy shit, she was looking forward to the real dessert of this date. His ass better be following her to her apartment for some much needed making out. "I'm sorry I'm late." She said into his neck, breathing in the smell of his spicy cologne.
"Its fine, Beca." He leaned back slightly, raising a hand to cup her chin. "Hi," he whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips. She stood up on her toes, letting him kiss her more firmly. Yeah, she missed this. Suddenly, her stomach twisted, and she needed to put distance between them. She realized that she was enjoying spending time with him way too much. She missed him when they weren't together; a simple hug and kiss was enough to make her feel less tense and stressed. This stupid dare was making her depend too much on another person, and she knew better than anyone how much love and relationships didn't work. She couldn't afford to let herself think that it was okay to let her guard down around him.
She stepped back, giving him a tense smile. "I'm starved." She said, sitting down in a chair.
"Me, too. Did you want to catch a movie after dinner, or do you think that you're gonna be too tired and just want to relax?" He asked as he began flipping through the menu.
"I could use soft music, candles, and a massage." She told him. "Oh, and wine. Lots of wine." He chuckled, looking up from the menu.
"I could help you with all of that."
"I think I will probably take you up on that offer." They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments. "You know…I'm not that hungry after all."
"Really?" He swallowed.
"Nope. I think that I'd probably be fine with ordering some Chinese food later." He nodded his head.
"Alright, let's go." He stood up, grabbing her by the hand and dragged her out of the restaurant, telling the hostess that she was sick on their way out. He walked her to her car, pressing her against the driver's seat, kissing her hard.
"What was that for?"
"Just something to inspire you to drive fast." She laughed, rolling her eyes. She watched as he practically ran to his car across the parking lot, shaking her head. She climbed into the car, all the while trying to figure out how she could keep things from progressing beyond the grinding phase.
Thirty-three minutes later, Beca and Jesse were on her couch, kissing and tearing at each other's clothing. "Shit. You're never, never, never allowed to wear shirts with buttons ever again." He muttered as he pulled out of the kiss, focusing on undoing the buttons as quickly as possible.
"Don't pop a button off, please! I made the intern buy me this, because he ruined my first one. I need one good work shirt." She gasped out as his mouth latched onto the skin just below her collarbone once he got the first two buttons undone.
"What the fuck, Beca? You have another shirt underneath? Why!?" He groaned when he unbuttoned the fourth button and found a white tank top underneath. She couldn't hold the laugh in, no matter how hard she tried. It erupted out of her, and she buried her face in her hands. "You're laughing? I'm trying to undress you, and you're laughing?"
"I'm sorry!" She said, dropping her hands and laying them onto his shoulders. "I'm really sorry." She whispered with a smile when she saw the pout on his face. "I'll do it." She stood up and stood in front of him. She slowly raised her hands to where her shirt was half-unbuttoned. She kept her eyes locked with his, taking her time with undoing the buttons of her shirt. Finally, she was finished, and she let it slide off her arms and fall onto the floor. She pulled the tank top over her head, standing before him in just her bra and black jeans. "Should I keep going?" She said quietly. He shook his head, standing up. He walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"You're beautiful, Beca." He whispered, leaning down to kiss her. She rose up on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck. His hands slid up her back to the clasp of her bra. He unsnapped it, stepping back far enough to pull the bra down but keeping his lips locked with hers. She reached for his shirt, tugging it up. He broke the kiss, letting her pull his shirt off. She took his hand in hers and led him to the couch. She sat down, pulling him down with her. She leaned back on the couch, resting her head on one of her throw pillows. He swallowed, following her, kneeling between her legs. His lips latched onto her neck, one hand gripping her side and the other finding her breast.
Beca moaned, arching her body into Jesse's chest. "Oh, God, Jesse…" She gasped when he rolled her nipple in his fingers. It felt so good. He kissed his way down her neck to her chest, pausing slightly to suck on her collarbone before going any further, waiting for her to stop him. She dug her nails into his hair. "That feels so good…" She felt him grin against her skin, kissing his way down to her breast. His lips found her other nipple, and she cried out. It was like a jolt of lightening from her nipple through her stomach to between her legs. "Fuck," she whimpered. "My nipples are like…fuck, Jesse…super sensitive." She hated how breathy she sounded, but he literally had the most sinful mouth. He pulled his mouth from her breast, looking back up at her. She whimpered when he lifted his head even further away from her chest. "Where are you going?" She pouted, sticking out her bottom lip. "I was enjoying that."
"Oh, I know…" He grinned down at her. "I was just wondering if you've ever come from just touching your breasts…since they're so sensitive." Her eyebrows rose, because she wasn't expecting that at all. She had thought about the first time he touched her breasts on this very couch—about how he could make her orgasm just from touching her alone. She didn't realize that he would wonder the same thing. She swallowed, taking a shuddering breath.
"Nope…" She said when she caught her breath again. "I've never attempted that…"
"Well, I think we should try…" His mouth returned to her breast, while his other hand immediately landed on the other one. She moaned at the combination of him sucking at her nipple and kneading and massaging her breast. She jerked her body against his, burying her hand in his hair. He switched breasts, making her shiver and cry out again.
"Jesse, please…" She wrapped her left calf over her the back of his leg, digging her nails into his scalp and his upper back. Why did he still have his shirt on? She tugged at his head, using both hands to lift his face from her chest. "That's so good…really, really, really good, but I need your shirt off right now." He laughed, sitting back to pull his shirt over his head. She sat up, pressing her lips to his skin in the center of his chest, just over his heart. It was his turn to bury his hands into hair. She kissed her way to his right nipple, sucking it into her mouth just like he was doing to her.
"I thought we were trying to get you to come, not me?" He chuckled, which turned into a moan when she grazed her teeth over his nipple lightly. She smiled against his chest before she began kissing her way down his chest to his abs. She stroked her tongue down the ridges of his abs. "Fuck!" He groaned, and she kissed her way back up his chest to suck on his other nipple.
"I've wanted to do that since the beach." She said, leaning back to stroke her nails down his chest.
"Next time you want to do that, don't hesitate!" He cupped her face in his hands and pulled her face to his. The kiss was heated, and it only intensified further. She pulled him by his neck back down, eager to get his mouth and hands back on her chest. He laughed into the kiss, pressing his body firmly against hers. She rolled her hips against his, feeling the start of his erection pressed between her legs. She moaned, wrapping her legs around his waist, grinding her crotch against his. "Fuck, Beca," he gasped, rocking his own hips against hers.
Jesse slid his body down Beca's, pulling his hips away from hers, making her whimper at the lack of contact. His mouth found one of her breasts, with his hand on her other breast, making her moan. After several minutes, he switched breasts. She couldn't catch her breath. She knew she sounded like a woman straight out of a porno, with all of the breathy moans and heavy breathing, but she couldn't help herself. She felt like her entire body was on fire, and she was breaking out into a sweat. It felt like there were fireworks sprouting from her nipples, spreading throughout her body. She was sure that he could feel how aroused she was through her underwear, jeans, and his t-shirt. She jerked and arched her body against him, moaning louder. "Jesse…" She gripped his head against her chest, crying out as the orgasm hit her. He began easing up on her chest, kissing both of her breasts gently. He slowly kissed his way up her chest and neck, finding her lips. She could barely kiss back, because she was recovering from the aftershocks of her orgasm.
"That was so hot." He said against her lips, and she just closed her eyes, nodding her head.
"I'm so glad it was good for you…" She said breathlessly.
"You okay?"
"Mmhmm. Just need a minute. Fuck." She opened her eyes. "Yeah…totally love your mouth. So, so, so good." He laughed, kissing the tip of her nose.
"It only gets better, Ms. Mitchell."
"I don't doubt it, Mr. Swanson." He laid his head on her chest, running his hands up and down her sides, making her squirm slightly from the sensation.
"This last month has been amazing," he said, his breath tickling her skin. She reached up, running her hand through his hair. "I've really loved getting to know you."
"You're not so bad yourself, nerd." He picked up his head and stared into her eyes.
"Beca, I…" Beca was afraid of what words were going to leave Jesse's mouth. She wasn't ready to hear them, whatever they were, so she leaned up, pressing her lips to his. He hesitated for a moment, as if he knew that she was kissing him to stop him from saying what he wanted to say, but he eventually began to kiss her back. It was only four weeks in, and already she wanted to bail. No longer were her thoughts on the dare ending and getting laid, but instead they were on being afraid of how she was getting used to having him around, how she needed to kiss him, hold him, touch him, be with him. Most of all, her thoughts were always on when he was going to leave, because people always left. Love didn't exist. It wasn't real. It was a farce created by religious freaks who wanted to oppress people's sexuality and natural tendency to sow their wild oats with everyone they could. Relationships weren't worthwhile. They didn't work out. It was all too much, and she was freaking out. He pulled out of the kiss, giving her sad smile. She swallowed, turning her head away from him, rubbing at the tip of her nose with her finger. "Too much." He whispered. It wasn't a question; it was a statement. He was stating a fact. Everything about this was too much. He pulled his body off of hers, reaching onto the floor to grab his t-shirt from where it had been tossed earlier. "How about I go get us that Chinese? What would you like?"
She furrowed her brow as she sat up. Did she royally fuck everything up? Was this the moment when he left, and she would have to go back to the girls and say the dare was over, because he left? He stood up, pulling the shirt over his head. He walked over to where her shirts and bra were lying on the floor. He walked them back over to her, holding them out to her. She immediately felt the need to cover up, so she slid her bra onto her body before pulling her dress shirt on, not buttoning it. "Um…sweet and sour chicken with brown rice, please." He nodded his head.
"Be back in a bit." He turned away, but she caught his hand. She tugged on his hand, waiting until he turned around before she stood up. She went up on her toes, leaning forward to press a light kiss to his lips. She held onto his hand as she pulled away from him. She grabbed her car keys from where she left them on the floor, beside her work stuff. She held them out to him.
"Take my car. You'll be able to park in my spot and not have to search for one on the street. Hurry back?" She chewed on her bottom lip. He smiled softly at her, and she could tell that he was moving out of whatever weird little funk he was in.
"Of course." He squeezed her hand.
A half an hour later, Jesse walked through the door of Beca's apartment. He had a bag of Chinese food in his arms, and she sat up from where she was lounging on her couch, reading yet another romance novel. It was so normal for him to walk through the door of her apartment, which made her feel strange, because it shouldn't be normal for a guy to walk through her door like he was meant to be there. All of this was a weird combination of strange and normal, and she couldn't catch her breath exactly. He set the bag down on her end table, kicking off his shoes. He started towards the kitchen, opening cabinets until he found her plates. She slid her book mark into her book, closing it. She set it aside, rubbing the palms of her hands on her legs. He walked back over to her with two plates and some utensils. He set them down and began digging food out of the bag. "I told you I was bad at this." She said, chewing on her bottom lip. He glanced up at her, his brow furrowed. "If all of this is, like, too much for you, I understand. I'm a mess." He sighed, putting down the container of food he had in his hand. He walked around the end table and sat down next to her.
"First of all, you're not bad at dating. You're doing a pretty good job at it." He took her hand in his, interlacing their fingers. "Second of all, you are a bit of a mess, but that's what I like about you, Beca. You're not easy to get to know or be around, and I like that. I like that you keep me on my toes. I like that there is all this banter and chemistry and tension. It's more fun that way. I've been with women who were too easy." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "I don't mean about sex. I mean that they were the type of women who agreed to everything I said just because it meant that they didn't have to make the decision. I've also been with women who liked to put on a show, to act like everything was perfect all the time. Life's never perfect. It's hard, and it sucks most of the time, but it is the people you surround yourself with that make it worthwhile. It's what you do with your life that makes it fun. Those women—they were boring and exhausting. You're exhausting, but in a good way."
"I feel like that is a backhanded compliment." She joked, running a hand through her hair. "I'm really trying, Jesse. I appreciate that you're being patient with me as I actually try this whole dating thing. You deserve someone who's not going to bail the moment you get between her legs, which is generally my track record."
"I'm over it…really, I am, but you keep telling me that you're a one night stand type of girl, and yet you've slept with your boss multiple times in college." She sighed. It always came back to Luke.
"Okay, so the thing about Luke is this. He was older. He was really attractive. He was tattooed. He was pierced. He loved music. He wasn't looking for someone to settle down with. He was everything that my father would have hated in a guy for me to sleep with. And, finally, he was available. It was easy for us to go to hear a DJ play at a local club, drink, and then go fool around at his apartment. It was easy for us to decide to get a bite after working the late shift at the radio station and to then hookup afterwards. It wasn't all of the time, but when it did happen, there was no expectations from either one of us that it would happen again. When it did happen again, we treated it like it like it was no big deal. He was my friend and boss, and occasionally we would sleep together. That's all it was."
"If he was exactly the type of guy that you were interested in, and you guys obviously liked each other enough to be friends with benefits, why didn't you try to date?"
"Because freshman year I barely had friends. Because I was the type of person who pushed everyone away. Way worse than I am now. I had so many walls up that I never really let anyone in. How the girls got in, I have no idea, but they did. The only reason you're even here right now is because of them." She bit her lip. There was more truth to that statement than he even realized. He literally wouldn't be here, beside her in her apartment, if it weren't for Aubrey and the stupid dare.
"So, I guess I should thank them the next time I see them, then?" She rolled her eyes, trying to keep the smile off her face. "I'm not the perfect relationship guy that you see me as, you know? I've made mistakes, too. I'm not some expert in all things relationships. The way I see it is that we're both new to this." He waved his hand between the two of them. "We've never been Beca-and-Jesse, so we're both going through a growing phase, trying to figure out what it is that Beca-and-Jesse is. I don't want you to feel pressured into being in a relationship with me. What I do want is to continue to hang out and get to know you. I really like you. For now, all we have to be is just two people who go on dates and do dirty things with each other. No labels. No expectations. Just hanging out and having fun." She swallowed, sucking on her bottom lip. He used the r-word several times in his spiel, but, at the same time, what he said relaxed her. He understood that she needed time to ease into all of this, even beyond the sex aspect of the dare. She wasn't ready to be someone's girlfriend. This was the longest she'd ever been with a guy (Luke so didn't count!), and it was too much to add on the labels of relationship, girlfriend, and boyfriend. Not now. Besides, she was a grown woman, not someone's girlfriend.
"Good, because I never want to be referred to as your girlfriend. I'm not a girl. I'm an adult woman, thank you very much."
"Wow. The first part of that made me nervous there…" He chuckled. "So, if we ever get to that, what should I call you? My woman friend? My lady friend? My significant other? My partner? My lover?" She grimaced.
"Stop. Just stop. All of them…yuck. Seriously, never refer to me as your lover. Ever." She visibly shivered over the gross feelings that all of those words gave her. Well, significant other and partner weren't that bad, technically, but they were bad, because they would never be used to refer to her. "I'll just be…Beca." He nodded his head, leaning over to press a kiss to the top of her head.
"Beca it is." He said against her hair. "Shall we dig in?" He reached for a plate and handed it to her.
Author's Note: So, what does everyone think that Jesse was going to say to Beca? Hmmmm. So many possibilities. Also, our lovely couple had a conversation about relationships and where they are. I hope it seemed genuine, you know? I don't want them to rush into being a couple, because Beca's not that type of girl. Excuse me, woman. Yes, I know they didn't engage in some genital-genital rubbing, but they've got 4 weeks in this stage, so there's plenty of time for that to happen. Haha genital-genital rubbing reminds me of that time I learned about bonobo monkeys (they're a type of "smaller" primates, cousins to the chimpanzee-and I say small in quotes because an adult male chimp is nearly the size of an adult male human, but they are smaller than gorillas, which are the largest of primates, even humans. Bonobos are slightly smaller than chimps, if I remember correctly), and they engage in g-g rubbing to resolve conflicts amongst themselves. Hehehe Some fun facts for you...aww, I feel like Jesse!
This chapter's thecurlingiron funny suggestion was Jesse has a twin brother who is the prince of a foreign island. I took liberties with that suggestion. ;) Haha
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