Strangers in the Night

A Pitch Perfect Story

Chapter 13: "Let's talk."

Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.

Author's Note: So, I had a plan for how I wanted this chapter to go, and it totally didn't go as planned at the end. Suffice to say, it got to 18 pages SINGLE spaced, and I still wasn't where I wanted it to be, so I cut off the last 6 pages to put into Chapter 14. So, yeah, these 12 pages are just…I don't even know. I couldn't cut them out, because they're important for the next chapter, so…enjoy?

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Beca sniffed, running a hand through her hair. Jesse was staring at her, arms crossed, waiting for her to speak. She studied him; he didn't change into Evan's clothes that she had left on the bed. He was dressed in his khakis and the white button up, which wasn't fully buttoned, showing a hint of his chest hair. She tried to ignore the way that just the smallest piece of his chest, the curve of his collarbone, and the length of his neck drove her insane. She sniffed again, rubbing at the tip of her nose, lowering her eyes to study the back of her cell phone, which was lying on the cushion beside her. "Let's talk." He repeated.

"There isn't anything to talk about, Jesse. We got into a fight, and I'm sorry that it happened. If you want to go, I understand. If you want to break up, I understand. However, if you stay, you should know that there isn't really anything to talk about." She didn't look up when she heard his strangled groan.

"That's bullshit." She kept her eyes on the back of the cell phone. "Beca." She still didn't raise her eyes. "Beca, look at me." She wrapped her arms around her knees once again, squeezing them tightly against her chest. "Goddamn it, Beca! Look at me." She jumped when he slammed his fist onto the coffee table. She raised her eyes to see that he was red in the face, and his hands were fisted and lying on the coffee table. The tension was visibly rolling off of him. She swallowed, setting her jaw.

"Was that necessary?"

"You were ignoring me."

"So, you decided to try to break my coffee table?" She glared at him. "Is this something I should expect whenever you don't get your way? You act like a little kid and throw a temper tantrum?"

"No, that's your shtick, remember? You stomp off and slam doors."

"I think you should leave, Jesse." She released her knees and stood up, grabbing her cell phone in the process.

"No fucking way. We're gonna have this fight and move on. Sit down."

"Don't tell me what to do." She snapped as she marched into the kitchen. She had a killer headache, because she barely had half a mug of coffee this morning. She opened the cabinet where she kept her mugs. Before she could even reach inside it for a mug, it slammed shut, loudly. She jumped again, crossing her arms as she turned around to find herself boxed in at the counter by his frame.

"You can't just keep walking away whenever you get pissed off, Beca. Go. Sit. Down." She glared at him.

"I told you not to tell me what to do."

"Why can't you just grow up, Beca!"

"Fuck you, Jesse!" Beca pushed at his chest, making Jesse stumble back a few steps, because she caught him off-guard. She took advantage of the space and marched out of the kitchen toward her living room, shoving her feet into a pair of flip flops and grabbing her car keys from where he had left them the night before.

"Where the hell are you going?"

"I'm leaving since you won't!" She yelled over her shoulder as she yanked open the door to the apartment.

"There you go, Beca. Running away again!" She ignored him, slamming the door shut behind her. She didn't let herself stop; she kept going, getting onto the elevator. She didn't want to give him the chance to stop her, and she wasn't going to let herself get emotional over their fight. She closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against the cool metal of the inside of the elevator as it went down to the ground level. The door opened, and she opened her eyes, pulling away from the wall.

"Beca." Beca cursed under her breath when she came face to face with Jesse again. "You can't just walk away like that." He blocked her exit from the elevator, climbing on with her. He pushed the button for her floor. She glared at him, reaching around him to slam her fist into the button for the ground floor again.

"Leave me alone."

"No."

"I don't want to be around you right now."

"I don't care." The door to her floor opened, but neither one of them moved. "Are we getting off?"

"I will, but only if you stay here."

"I go where you go, baby." He snapped. "That's what it means to be in a relationship."

"Does that mean you'll go to hell, then?" She responded. The doors to the elevator closed, and they began their descent to ground floor again.

"You have a timeshare there, right? You think I could spend the night on your couch when we get there? It'll take me a bit to find an unoccupied corner to set up shop in." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Just leave me the fuck alone, Jesse. I don't want to be around you right now."

"Yeah, well, I'm not leaving until you talk to me. I'm not leaving until you stop acting like a little kid."

"Insulting me isn't going to get you really far, Jesse."

"Look, I'm sorry that I called you a little kid, but I'm really freaking frustrated right now. I'm just trying to get you to talk to me. I don't get why you're acting like this. Why is it so hard for you to open up to me?"

"I really want you to leave me alone."

"No, Beca. No, I won't leave you alone. I'm never going to stop being around you. I'm never going to stop pushing you to open up to me. I'm never going to stop." He said the last sentence quietly, and the look on his face was made her heart beat faster and her stomach tumble. The look made her uncomfortable. What he was saying made her uncomfortable. She was relieved when the elevator door opened onto the ground floor once again. She took a deep breath and gave him the coldest look she could muster. She needed to get away from him. She needed to breathe.

"Jesse, you need to let me get off this elevator before we both say something we're going to regret." He stared at her for a few moments, dropping his arms to his sides.

"Do you want to break up, Beca? Is that what you mean by one of us saying something we regret?" He said in a quiet. "Are you saying that you want to call this," he paused, waving his hand between the two of them. "Do you want us to be over?" She swallowed. "Well, do you? Do you want to break up?" The door to the elevator closed again. He just stared at her, and she sniffed, looking away from him.

"Maybe I do." She knew that the words would get him to leave. She wasn't even sure if she really wanted to break up with him. She just needed him to leave her alone. She just needed to breathe. He was being a total dick and pissing her off, and she had her pride. She needed space to…she didn't even know what she wanted. She just knew that she wanted to be alone. She looked back over at him, and the look on his face made her stomach clench. She swallowed. He studied her with a mixture of confusion, anger, and sadness blended into one expression. He nodded his head once, taking a step back.

"Then, we're done." She barely heard him, but he turned around, hitting the button to open the doors to the elevator and got off of it, leaving her behind. He didn't look back. She watched him disappear out of the front door of the apartment complex, and she kept waiting for him to look back. He never did, and the doors closed, effectively cutting off her view of the street. She squeezed her cell phone tightly in her fist, not moving for a second. After a few moments, she reached out to push the button to her floor.

Before she realized it, the doors to the elevator slid open, revealing her floor. She stepped off of it, making her way back to her apartment, shutting the door behind her. She leaned her back against it, furrowing her brow. What just happened? Did they really break up? Were they really over? Did she want them to be over? Did she want him back? Without looking at the screen of her phone, she unlocked it, the passcode being twelve-fifteen for Georgie's birthday, hitting Chloe's number on her speed dial. Before she completed the call, though, she paused.

Beca's passcode was twelve-fifteen, because December fifteenth was Georgie's birthday. She swallowed. Jesse had told her that he had his passcode as zero-four-two-three for a while. Was that in reference to their first day? She blushed, because it was weird for her to remember a date. Well, in her defense, their first date was only a few days after her birthday, so it wasn't weird to associate the two together. After all, her birthday was the start of this whole bullshit dare, and that was the only reason why the two of them started dating. So, if zero-four-two-three referred to their first date—God, he was such a fucking douche to change his passcode to their first date—that meant that zero-six-zero-two was a date that was significant for him. But, was zero-six-zero-two significant to them? And, what was two-three-two-two, then? Was the two-three a reference to their first date again? Then, what was the two-two? Did they have a significant event on the twenty-second of May? They hadn't reached the twenty-second of June yet.

She blew out a breath, closing her eyes. She didn't want to think about it anymore. She was getting a serious headache, and most of all, she needed a drink. She hit the call button, pressing her cell phone to her ear. She closed her eyes, listening to the ringing of the phone, waiting for her friend to answer the phone. She sighed when Chloe answered the phone, and the first words out of her mouth were, "did you tell him the truth?"

The brunette shook her head, and then frowned, because she realized that her best friend couldn't actually see her. "No, I didn't. We got into an even bigger fight, and I just…I need a drink. Can we go drinking?"

"Beca, it's not even three in the afternoon. It's too early to go drinking."

"Fine. I'll just go by myself. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She started to hang up, but Chloe's voice calling into the phone stopped her. She sighed, pressing it against her ear again.

"Wait! Beca, wait!" Chloe paused. "Are you okay? Just…I'll come with you okay. I'm on my way over. I'll drive." The phone went dead, and she walked over to the couch. She sat down, burying her face into her hands, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. She felt numb. She didn't think she felt sad, maybe a little angry, but, mostly, she felt numb. So, they got into a fight and broke up. That's what couples do. People do that all of the time. Not every relationship succeeds. If she really thought about it, most relationships do not succeed. For every three or four real relationships that people have in their lifetime, the majority of those relationships fail. And, for those people that have more relationships than that or just date people and never actually get into a relationship with those people, the number of failures goes up even more. She knew from the beginning they were bound to break up. She lifted her head from her hands and just leaned back on the couch, staring into space. She didn't know how long she sat there, staring into space, but she jumped when the door to her apartment flew open. Chloe stumbled in, followed by Stacie and Aubrey.

"What happened? You guys got into a fight?" Aubrey said, standing by the door with her arms crossed. Chloe dropped onto the couch beside Beca, wrapping her arm around the petite brunette. She shot the blonde a dirty look, turning her attention back onto her younger friend.

"Are you okay?" The redhead asked her.

"If we're going out, you can't look like that." Stacie told her with a grimace on her face. Beca rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine. We got into a fight. We had some words. I just really want to go and get drunk, okay?" She didn't want to tell them the truth about what happened between them. At least, not yet. She needed some liquid courage to get through the annoying lecture she was bound to get from her blonde friend.

"Where's Jesse, Beca? Why aren't you working things out?" Beca glared at Aubrey.

"Do you work out every single argument you have with someone the same day it happens? I needed space. I just need to get out of here and to get drunk."

"Aubrey, just leave her alone for a second." Stacie said when the blonde opened her mouth to retaliate. "Let's just go find a bar that's open." She turned back to Beca. "Let's get you changed." She held her hand out to the brunette, who rolled her eyes. Beca placed her hand into the busty brunette's hand, and she squealed as her friend yanked her up. She found her face being pressed into her busty friend's chest. She groaned, especially because Stacie bounced, so that her boobs jiggled in her face.

Beca finally extricated herself from her friend's chest, and the four girls made their way to the petite brunette's bedroom. Stacie shoved a slinky black dress at Beca, one that looked a lot like the neon blue dress that was painted on the taller girl's frame. However, Beca's dress was not as skin-tight as her friend's. Aubrey sighed, leaning against the dresser with her arms crossed. She was dressed in a pair of loose jeans and a pink frilly blouse. Chloe was dressed in a yellow dress and white flats. As Beca changed, she glanced at the blonde.

"Have you gained weight already?" She said over her shoulder as she unsnapped her bra. She tugged the dress over her shoulders, adjusting her breasts slightly.

"A little." Aubrey said quietly. Beca reached beneath her skirt to tug her bikini style panties off and pull up the black lace pair up her legs.

"WHAT?! Really?" Chloe's head flew up from where she was texting on Beca's bed. All three of the other girls looked at her—Aubrey with hesitation over what the redhead's reaction may be, whereas Beca and Stacie looked at her with veiled irritation. The redhead rolled her eyes and stood up, dropping her phone onto the purse she brought with her. "I just wanna see her belly. If she knows what's good for her, she'll let me get over my…thing…over you ruining—" She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I'm excited that you're having a baby, Aubrey. I'm so happy for you, because you deserve to be a mom. Sure, I'm a little nervous about my wedding, but that's just because I'm stressed out and nervous because I'm getting married. I'm just…you understand, right?"

"I get it, Chloe. You're trying to make your wedding perfect as if that's going to make your marriage perfect." Aubrey smiled as she walked over to the redhead, wrapping her arms around her. "I just fear that you're putting too much pressure on yourself." She released the redhead. "A perfect wedding doesn't make a perfect marriage. Marriage is so fucking hard, Chlo. Marriage is hard and messy, and it can suck sometimes, but I love being married to my best friend." She glanced around the room at all three of them. "I love all of you, and you are my best friends, too, but Tom is different." She smiled, laying a hand on her belly. "Tom is my best friend, and my whole world. He's giving me the best gift in the whole world. My baby." She blew out a breath. "I just…I need you to understand that it's going to be hard, but it's worth it. So…just…relax, okay?"

"Hold up. Is Aubrey telling someone else to relax?" Stacie asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Shut up, Stacie." Aubrey muttered, rubbing her belly. Beca rolled her eyes at them.

"Thank you, Aubs." Chloe said, laying her hand on the blonde's arm. "I'm just so scared that Evan's going to wake up and decide that he doesn't want me."

"You have nothing to fear!" Beca said, wrapping her arms around the redhead's body. "Stop it. Evan's madly in love with you. He'd walk in front of a bus for you. He'd go to the moon and back for you. He loves you so fucking much. You need to relax. He's not going to walk away from you." She swallowed, trying to keep herself form thinking of how Jesse had done just that earlier. She pressed a kiss to her friend's cheek. "Let's see that belly, and then let's hit the down for some drinks and dancing."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and pulled up her shirt, revealing her slightly swollen belly. There wasn't much of a bump, but she had definitely put on a couple of pounds. All of the girls cooed, immediately rubbing their hands over the blonde's skin. "Shit, you guys got cold hands." She gasped out, tightening her hands on the fabric of her shirt. The girls kept rubbing the bump for a few more moments before they finally pulled their fingers away.

"Let's get our dance on, ladies." Stacie said, with a huge smile on her face.

Forty-five minutes later, Beca was a bit drunk. Correction, she was kind of plastered. She was slurring her words, leaning against Stacie as they danced, stumbling from the bar to the dance floor, and making a general fool of herself. Stacie loved drunk Beca, so she kept buying her shot after shot and pulled her to the dance floor for song after song. Chloe and Aubrey kept trying to keep a handle on their drunken best friends, and they kept sharing concerned glances over what got Beca so booze-happy. The petite brunette usually was able to handle her liquor well, but the second they got to the bar, she started pounding drink after drink, not slowing down at all. They finally grabbed both girls by the arms and drug them to a table, passing them waters.

"You just need to cool down a bit. You're all sweaty." Chloe said, giving them a cheery smile. "Relax for a moment." The petite brunette shrugged, chugging the two waters placed in front of her. She closed her eyes, pressing the damp, empty glasses to her forehead, trying to cool down a bit.

"Hey, Beca. How're you doing?"

"I'm good!" She grinned at the blonde, slamming the empty glasses back down on the table. "I'm still thirsty! TO THE BAR!" She cheered loudly, and Stacie giggled, clapping her hands.

"We'll head back to the bar in a moment. Why don't we just take a small breather, okay?" Chloe patted her friend's shoulder, grimacing as she wiped the sweat onto the front of her dress. She glanced over at Aubrey, chewing on her bottom lip. "Do you think you're ready to tell us what happened with Jesse?" Beca scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"You're just sooooo worried about finally getting laid!" She crossed her arms as she stared at the redhead. "The dare's off! Jesse and I are—" She scrapped her finger across on her neck, making a noise that indicated she was cutting her throat.

"Wait, what?" Chloe and Aubrey said at the same time. They both moved closer to the brunette, with Aubrey wrapping an arm around Beca's shoulders, and Chloe an arm around her waist.

"Oh, shit. For reals?" Stacie said, pressing a hand to the top of her head. "What the fuck?"
"What happened, Beca?" Aubrey asked as she squeezed her friend's shoulder.

"I was right! Relationships are stupid and bullshit. You two lucked out." She shrugged her shoulders.

Beca suddenly felt extremely sober. She let out a breath, pressing a hand to her stomach, which churned uncomfortably. She didn't think she was going to get sick, but she almost wished that she could blame the feeling on the alcohol. No, this churning and swirling and tumbling was the result of her confusion over what happened with Jesse. She didn't know what to do. She was still so confused, but she knew one thing. She missed him. She hated that. She hated herself for letting him worm his way into her life, and she hated that she wished that he was here now with her. She hated that she let herself begin to rely on someone else aside from the girls and Georgie…and, well, Luke—on him. She licked her bottom lip.

"Sweetie," Chloe pressed a kiss to the top of Beca's sweaty head, and she closed her eyes, trying to will away these thoughts and feelings. She didn't want to miss him. She wanted to get over him. She opened her eyes.

"So, I gave it a shot, Aubrey. I was right, and you were right…sort of. I couldn't make it a full ninety-one days in a relationship. However, I was right, because relationships suck. So, yeah…I'm super horny and pissed. I need to get laid. If you'd excuse me, I'm gonna go find tonight's entertainment." She pulled away from the other girls and headed in the direction of the bar, where several guys were joking around and talking. She laid her eyes on a buff guy with a buzz cut that was so short, she couldn't tell what shade his hair color was. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"Well, hello there." He grinned down at her, and she noticed that he was wearing what appeared to be a pair of dog tags over his white t-shirt. She smiled at him, running her fingers up and down his arms.

"Care to dance?" He stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her waist. He backed her up to the dance floor, and the two of them swayed to the music.

Beca did her best to ignore the way her stomach churned faster, so she closed her eyes and turned away from the man, pressing her back against his chest. He ground his hips against hers, and she couldn't help but think that he didn't fit her the right way. How he wasn't Jesse. She opened her eyes, frustrated with the annoying thought in her head. She needed to forget about Jesse. Things were done with him. She needed to get back to the life she had before. She turned around again, wrapping her arms around the stranger's neck. She pressed her lips against hers, kissing him hard. He kissed back just as furiously, but the churning in her stomach burned its way up her chest and into her throat.

"I'm going to be sick," she exclaimed as she pulled herself out of his arms and ran in the direction of the bar bathroom. The other three girls were hot on her heels, holding her hair back as she threw up in a disgusting toilet that probably hadn't been cleaned in a month, kneeling on a floor that probably hadn't been cleaned ever. She finally finished emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet before she fell back against Chloe, who was rubbing her back with the hand that wasn't holding her hair.

"You okay, sweetie?" Aubrey asked her.

"No. I just…I need to go home." She pressed her hands against her face, feeling the tears that were slipping down her cheeks. She convinced herself that she was crying, because she had gotten sick. She was really drunk, and she was going to be super hung over the next day.

"C'mon, Beca. Let's get you out of here." Aubrey said as she and Stacie helped the two of them up.

On the drive home, Beca leaned against the car door, staring out of it as the wind blew in her face. She kept thinking about the kiss with that guy. Had she met him eight weeks before, that kiss would have been hot…perfect. That kiss would have preceded hot, anonymous sex with no strings. That kiss would have meant a good time. Now, that kiss felt wrong and gross. That kiss was nothing like the kisses she shared with Jesse. She hated that he was a way better kisser; it was like the stupid, asshole nerd ruined all future kisses for her. She discreetly raised her hand to wipe at her cheek, removing the evidence of the lone tear that slipped out of her eye. That was the only tear she was going to allow herself to shed over him and their failed relationship. She was Beca Mitchell. She was strong. She was independent. She didn't need a man to be happy. She had a fabulous career, a great apartment in the city she loved, an awesome baby sister, and amazing best friends. She had a great life. Then, why did she feel like there was a hole in her life that was roughly the same shape and size as one Jesse Swanson?

Friday, June 21, 2013

Beca smiled as the four girls were seated at a table, taste testing cakes for Chloe's wedding. Chloe had originally decided that she wanted a red velvet cake with chocolate cream cheese icing, but now she wanted something different. She wanted something sweet, but fruity. She wanted something that would go with her tropical wedding theme. Right now, the girls were stuffing their faces with chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting, vanilla cake with chocolate butter cream icing, lemon cake with vanilla butter cream frosting, white cake with orange-flavored (and slightly orange-hued) icing, and the list went on. Random flavors that the girls didn't even realize could be in cake. Pistachio? Was there really a pistachio-flavored icing?

"Mmmm! I love this orange and white thing." Beca said, pointing at the now empty plate, aside from a few crumbs and swipes of light orange icing.

"Beca! You're not supposed to eat the whole thing." Aubrey chastised her. She picked up a fork and took a small bite of another cake—it was purple and yellow; grape and lemon? Beca didn't know what flavor it was, but it was cake, so it was bound to taste fucking awesome. She watched with a cocked eyebrow as the blonde raised the small sliver of cake to her mouth. She cocked her head to the side as she carefully chewed the bite before swallowing it. She then took a sip of water to cleanse her palate. "That is how you taste test. Nix the blackberry with the lemon butter cream." She shook her head at Chloe, grimacing slightly. "That got the baby a little riled up. Excuse me. I gotta hit the ladies'." She quickly rushed off to the bathroom, missing the eye roll that Beca shot her.

"I can taste test the way I want. Shit, can I get a whole cake of that white cake with the orange icing?" She asked as she swiped her finger across the plate, trying to get any little trace that was left.

"Why don't you get a cupcake version of it to go?" Stacie suggested as she ate a bite of what was labeled as death by chocolate, because it was three thin layers of chocolate cake with a chocolate ganache between the layers and iced with dark chocolate icing, topped with shaved chocolate pieces and a white chocolate drizzle. "Holy fuck that was good." She said, taking another bite. "I vote the death by chocolate."

"How are we doing over here," an older, gray-haired woman said as she sashayed over to their table.

"They're all so good, Marjorie. I just can't decide which one I like best." Chloe pouted, biting her lip as she studied the plates in front of her. "Uggh. I just…UGGH!" She covered her face with her hands.

"Okay, Chlo, come down. We'll figure it out. You've got time before the wedding is here. Just take a deep breath. Let's narrow down what flavors you liked of the cake." Beca said, rubbing a hand over the redhead's back.

"Yeah, we know that you like anything chocolate, so that's definitely a possibility. What else did you like? The vanilla? The white cake? The strawberry? The carrot? Lemon?"

"I love chocolate cake. I really liked the death by chocolate one." Chloe said, sniffling. "It was just a little too much chocolate, though. I think that the chocolate cake with the chocolate ganache layers was great, though."

"Okay, so why don't you do that as the inside of the cake then." Beca smiled at her. "What icings did you like? I'm partial to that orange-flavored icing." She winked, before turning her gaze back to Marjorie. "You got any more of that in the back?" The woman chuckled, nodding her head.

"I can send you home with another slice of the orange crème cake on the house." Marjorie told her.

"Sweet!" Beca turned back to Chloe. "So, did you want a vanilla icing, or a salted caramel, or lemon? The orange one? There's strawberry, too. Or the pistachio."

"Or the blueberry one. Or the vanilla that was dyed that pretty pink." Stacie added.

"You would like to do a tropical theme, correct? I definitely think that our fruit-flavored icings would be a great touch. The lemon, orange, strawberry, and blueberry icings would go great with the chocolate cake and ganache."

"Oh, Chlo, orange-flavored chocolate things that look like clementine oranges are your favorite chocolates. Go with a cake version of it."

"Oh, that does sound good!" Chloe said, biting her lip. "But, none of you are wearing orange."

"So?" Beca and Stacie said at the same time. "Look, you've got orange in Carly's matron of honor dress, and orange in the flowers. We'll put the cake on one of the tables with the turquoise tablecloths, rather than the pink one. The orange would look really cool with some edible sugar flowers in white, orange, and turquoise, tying in the theme. There you go. I solved your issue."

"That does sound pretty." Chloe said, smiling again. "Is there any chance that I could taste the chocolate cake and ganache with the orange icing?"

"Sure, I can bring out some orange icing, and you just swipe your fork through it and then eat the lower portion of the cake." Marjorie said, hurrying to the back. She returned about three minutes later, holding a bowl of orange icing and a to-go box that she presented to Beca, who squealed excitedly. The girls slid their forks through the icing before digging them into the lower portion of the cake that Marjorie had knocked over for them with another fork. They all hummed with delight over the chocolate and orange flavors.

"That was definitely good." Chloe grinned. "It's missing a little something."

"I bet it would taste good if there was a bit of orange in the ganache, tying the icing better to the cake. Marjorie, is there any chance you could add some of the orange extract to the ganache?" Beca suggested.

"Of course! Anything for our bride."

"Then that's what I want. I want the chocolate cake with the orange-chocolate ganache—just a little hint of it, not too much orange in the ganache—and the orange icing with the sugar flowers in white, turquoise, and orange." She grinned at the older woman. "Guys! That's my wedding cake!" She squealed excitedly.

"What did I miss? Which one did you pick?" Aubrey said when she finally returned to the table. She ran a hand through her hair. "I swear, I thought that the peeing thing came in the later trimesters, but after I puked, I had to pee and literally took a three minute long pee." She muttered, shaking her head.

"Gross." Beca muttered. Aubrey rolled her eyes at her friend before turning her gaze back on Chloe.

"So? Which one is your cake?" Chloe quickly gave Aubrey a bite of the chocolate cake with orange icing, explaining that Marjorie's team were going to add a little orange-flavoring to the ganache. Aubrey praised the idea for the cake after Chloe relayed the description of it to her.

"Beca, how are you doing?" Stacie asked as they walked down the street, doing some window shopping in the late afternoon. Beca paused in front of a store, staring at an ugly, bedazzled shirt like her life depended on it, trying to ignore the question. Stacie sighed, stepping behind Beca, wrapping her arms around the petite brunette's waist and resting her chin on her shoulder. "Really, Becs. Are you okay? You know, Donald mentioned that Jesse's been a mess…" She trailed off when she felt Beca tense against her body.

"What's the deal with you and Donald?" She said, trying to change the subject. She twitched when the busty brunette shrugged her shoulders, which made her boobs rub against Beca's back. It felt weird, hence her twitch.

"We're hanging out. It's fun." Stacie said, humoring the smaller girl. She raised her head off of her chin to glance at the blonde and the redhead who were standing on either side of them. Beca ignored the exchanges of looks from her friends and kept pestering Stacie.

"Uh-huh. You told me that I need to put my big girl panties on and just admit that I liked the nerd, so I think it is time for you to do the same with the four-eyed pompadour." Chloe giggled before she composed herself at the glare she received from Aubrey and Stacie.

"It's no secret that I like him, Beca. I just don't need to have a relationship with a guy to like him and have fun sexually with him. We don't do pizza dates or watch movies or go bowling or anything like that. We text whenever we're horny and have some free time. If the other person is free, we meet up, fuck, and then go our separate ways. Occasionally, we will chat a little, but we're not dating. You and Jesse were actually having dates. You and Jesse were an actual couple."

"Whatever." She tried to shrug off her friend. She didn't like thinking about Jesse. The last few days were weird without him. She even broke down and added Candy Crush to her phone, but she felt weird after a few games. She was so used to getting random little texts from him, telling her that he missed her or that he couldn't wait to show her a certain movie. She was so used to seeing him kick off his shoes and lounge around on her couch. When she came across his boxers from Tuesday when she was doing laundry, she stared at the two pairs for over an hour before she had to shove them into a plastic bag to hide in the back of her closet.

"You miss him?" Aubrey asked her.

"No," she scoffed, not looking at the blonde. "I'm over it."

"Then, why haven't you hooked up with anyone since that guy you kissed at the bar the other night?" Stacie asked her, finally releasing her. Beca turned around to glare at her.

"I just haven't wanted to."

"That's bullshit." Chloe rolled her eyes. "You miss Jesse, and you don't want to hook up with anyone else, because still care about him. Why don't you try to call him?"

"No." Beca shook her head. "No fucking way. He and I are done. We've been done for a few days now, and I'm fine."

"You're a mess." Aubrey said, as she fumbled with her purse to pull her buzzing cell phone out of it. She rolled her eyes as she stared at the screen. "It's Tom. He's such a fucking idiot. We've known that we're pregnant for nineteen days, and already I can tell that he's going to be constantly calling me and texting me about what formula to get or what baby food or what type of fucking diapers to buy." She shook her head as she read his text. "We've had the same fucking cable and internet carrier for the last four years that we've been living together here in LA. How the fuck does he not remember what the number is to call them when our TIVO gets fucked up?" She rolled her eyes.

Beca furrowed her brow when Aubrey mentioned knowing that they were pregnant for nineteen days. Nineteen days ago was the second of June; it was the night that they all went to the karaoke bar in celebration of Aubrey and Tom getting pregnant. It was also the night the Beca met Hayley, and Jesse referred to her as Just Beca, as in his girlfriend. That was what the other passcode—zero-six-zero-two—meant. She swallowed. So far every passcode was a significant date. Their first date, and the date that she agreed to be in a relationship with him. What was the last passcode then? What was two-three-two-two?

"Tom, seriously? How hard is it to remember what RCN's number is? It's literally one-eight hundred-ring-rcn. One-eight-zero-zero-seven-four-six-four-seven-two-six." Aubrey was saying into the phone. Beca bit her bottom lip. Maybe the two-three-two-two wasn't an important date. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and unlocked it. She acted as if she was going to dial out, but instead, she studied the number keys. It was then that she was able to realize just what those four digits meant. Two was B, three was E, two was C, and finally the last two was A. It spelled out Beca. His passcode was Beca. She glanced up at her friends, who were smiling, obviously amused at Aubrey's conversation with Tom. The blonde hung up the phone, rolling her eyes and complaining about how much of an idiot he was.

"I gotta go." Beca said suddenly. All three of them looked at her in confusion. "I, um, yeah, I gotta go." She pushed past Chloe and Stacie, waving her hand in the air for a taxi.

"Beca, wait!" Stacie rushed over to her, just as she was climbing into the taxi. "He moved." She smiled softly at her friend, fooling around with her phone. "Donald, he, uh, he helped him move. He gave me his new address…if you know, maybe, you wanted to use it. Just in case. I don't think that…well, I don't think he'd be expecting you to show up, but…" She trailed off, finally finding the text that she was looking for. She turned to the driver, telling him the address of Jesse's new apartment. "Good luck."

"Thanks, Stacie." Beca whispered. The busty brunette closed the door after Beca was fully seated inside the taxi, stepping back. The three girls waved at Beca as she drove away. She had no idea what she was doing, going to see him after not having spoken to him since the early afternoon on Tuesday, but she had to try. He made his goddamn passcode Beca. That had to mean something. They meant something. She didn't know why she was so blind to it before. The last few days without the nerd had been hell; she could finally admit that to herself. She missed him, and she was going to try and get him back. If she didn't, after finally figuring out what those passcodes meant, she was always going to regret it, to wonder. If, well, if he was over her—if he moved on, then it would totally suck, but she had to try. She had to know if it was really over for them.

Author's Note: If you all take a moment to review for this chapter before going onto the next chapter, that's cool. If not, I understand. That being said, I wasn't going to post this chapter until I was almost ready to post Chapter 14, because I knew I should expect a lot of not so nice reviews.