Hey guys, thanks for the reviews and I'm so glad for the follows. I probably sound stupid for repeating it, but deal. I love that you stick around. Be forewarned, this chapter contains a foreign language. If you do not speak French, there will be translations in the Author's Note.
"Chloe," Beca said exasperatedly to the red-headed senior, "Do you understand how hard it is to find an old fashioned popcorn maker and kettle corn kernels?"
Chloe laughed, but sobered at Beca's exhausted expression. "Present for Jesse?" She inquired.
"Yeah," Beca affirmed, smoothing her hair down against her neck at the mention of Jesse's name. The marks were still a vivid purple and red against her pale throat and she knew Chloe would be very excited for the details of their creation. Which Beca didn't really want to divulge.
"That's so cute!" Chloe squealed, breaking Beca out of her thoughts. "Is it an anniversary gift? How long have you guys been together anyway?"
Beca had to stop and think about it. "Uhm…"
"You don't know?!" The senior exclaimed. "How could you not—"
"Shh! I'm counting." Beca muttered. Chloe quieted and watched her count silently. "The ICCAs was March 30th?" At Chloe's nod, she continued. "We went out the day after. And today is May 15th. So about a month and a half. But that's just the official number..."
Chloe squealed again and bit her knuckle. "You guys are so totally cute. So, do you want some help finding that popcorn maker?" Beca nodded and Chloe all but dragged the shorter girl to her car. The red Camry was parked under a tree in the shade. "Get in! We've got work to do."
The car ride was spent singing loudly and obnoxiously to the radio, Chloe flirting with hot guys in the cars they pulled up to, and Beca trying to ignore her by texting Jesse.
I think Chloe is trying to perform some sort of mating call on the guy in the car next to us.
Oh, wow. She should be careful, she could cause an accident.
I'm more worried about her running red lights; she's not really watching where she's going…
Yeah, where are you guys going?
Beca thought for a moment before typing: She's taking me to this French bakery she heard about.
Huh, bring me something?
D'accord.
You speak French?
Oui monsieur, et toi?
Uh, I took Spanish. And then forgot all of it.
Beca laughed at him, she could just imagine his silly grin. She was having fun imagining the possibilities of speaking French and confusing him. She smiled evilly to herself.
"Who are you texting?" Chloe interrupted. "It's Jesse isn't it? What about my me-time? Where's the Chloe love?"
Beca rolled her eyes, but messaged Jesse and let him know that she'd talk to him later. He texted back to remind her that he would be back from hanging with Benji around 7:30 and then they could have their movication. Beca smiled at her phone fondly before slipping her phone in her pocket. She looked over to see the creepiest smile on Chloe's face.
"What is that look for?" She said, a little freaked out.
"The way you look at your phone, and laugh at whatever he's saying. Aw, you're going to be the death of me if you keep this up."
"Oh, shut up." Beca grumbled, folding her arms like a little kid. Sometimes it annoyed her that she was so obviously crushing on Jesse. She glared at the inside of the car while Chloe just smiled and hummed along with the radio. "Can I see your GPS?" Beca asked.
"Yeah, what for?" Chloe wanted to know.
"I told Jesse you were taking me to a French Bakery. I've heard about one around here, we need to stop there. I told him I'd bring him something."
She typed in La Bonne Soupe to check the address, before setting the GPS back in its stand. "It's not far from the kitchen appliance store we're going to. Just a block or two, we can walk there after we're done finding the popcorn maker."
The kitchen store in question was an old place that had been there for years. It wasn't full of fancy gadgets or shiny cooking toys. It had classic mixers and food processors that looked over fifteen years old. It wasn't too difficult to find the popcorn pot they were looking for, but it was difficult to keep Chloe from knocking anything over. She was snooping around the shop and had a very close call with a jar of wooden spoons and a large mixing bowl.
Beca took the popping pot back to where an older man was sitting at a register. "Very good choice," he said as Beca handed him the item. "I've been waiting for someone to buy this."
Beca smiled, "My boyfriend has a bit of a sweet tooth, so I want to make him kettle corn. Do you know where I can get kernels?"
The old man chuckled, "I'll get you a bag from the back. My wife makes a mix herself. She has a sweet tooth too."
As the man walked into the back, Beca caught Chloe peeking at some fragile looking pans. "Chloe!" She hissed, "Get over here before you break something."
Chloe joined her and the old man reappeared with a burlap bag. "The kettle mix is in its own bag inside, the kernels are loose, so be careful how you hold the bag. There are instructions on this here card." He handed her the sack. "Mind the flying kernels, if there are any. Have fun making it."
After a quick stop at the bakery, Beca and Chloe were headed back to campus. Besides Jesse's gift, they had bought brie en croute, two baguettes, and a few jars or jam. It was only 6:45 when they got back to their dorms, which allowed Beca just enough time to change. She wanted to surprise Jesse with what she had bought for him, so when she arrived at the treble maker's house fifteen minutes later, she unlocked the door using the key he gave her. She had already looked up how prepare the brie, so she heated the oven and slid the pan of French cheese inside.
"What are you doing, girl?" Beca whirled around to see Donald leaning against the wall.
"Jesus, fuck! You scared me. I'm making something for Jesse, if you must know." She replied, in a mock-annoyed tone. "Why are you here? I thought the trebles were going clubbing tonight."
Donald laughed and playfully pushed her out of the way so he could look in the plastic bags she brought with her. "I decided to stay in tonight. I don't much like going clubbing anymore. I already have a girl." Ever since the riff-off, Donald and Stacie had been making goo-goo eyes at each other. Beca was glad that Aubrey had relented on the no-treble rule. "Damn, looks good, Mitchell. I'll be wanting some of that."
Beca pushed him to the door, "Go hang out with Stacie. I'm sure she'd love to make something for you." Donald knew this was a weak attempt to get him to leave, but he did anyway. As he got to the door, Beca called after him. "Hey, what's Jesse's favorite flavor of jam?"
"I don't know, I'm not his girlfriend." He teased.
"Better not be!" She could hear his laugh fading into the distance.
Beca glanced at the clock on the wall. 7:06. She put the jam in the fridge, cut up the baguette, and checked the time on the brie. A brief internal debate concluded that she wouldn't be waiting for Jesse to get here to pop the kettle corn. She read the label on the bag of kernels. Easy enough. The more difficult problem was finding the oil she needed for the pan. She finally found it in a cupboard above the stove. She wondered momentarily who did the cooking, seeing as most of the Trebles enjoyed take-out and no-effort meals.
She had just finished washing the popper when she heard her phone go off. She set it on the stove with some oil so it could heat up while she answered the message.
I'll be at the Treble house in five minutes or so. Meet me there?
Sure, I'll just get changed now. Be over soon.
Beca smiled, and checked the heating oil. She opened the lid, put in a few kernels, closed it and turned the crank. It took a little while for the first kernel to snap, but the other two followed quickly after. She added a cup of kernels along with some of the mix the man gave her. Lid closed again, she turned the handle once more. The label said about three minutes. She was just beginning to pour he popcorn in a bowl when she heard a car pull up.
Shit, shit, shit!
She hurried to clean up her small mess, and erase her trace from the kitchen. She was scrambling to Jesse's room when the jiggling of keys could be heard. The lock rattled and Jesse was inside, calling for Donald who he must have known had stayed home. When no one answered, his footsteps came closer. His light was out and his door was closed; little did he know, his girlfriend was on his bed waiting for him.
His frame was momentarily silhouetted against the light from the hall, then he turned on his light. He wasn't looking in her direction, so she found this the perfect moment to begin the dialogue she'd been practicing.
"Bonsoir, mon beau." She spoke just loud enough for him to hear. He yelped as his face snapped in her direction. She was reclined on his bed with the bowl of hot popcorn resting on her lap. "Venez-vous ici souvent?"
"Jesus, Bec, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" He scolded me teasingly.
She pretended to pout. "Aren't you going to ask me what I got for you?"
"You have something for me?"
"Not including the kettle corn which I will help you eat? Yeah."
"What is it?" He said curiously. Beca jumped up from is bed, handed him the bowl and walked into the kitchen. She could hear him munching on the snack as he followed her. She displayed the baguette and opened the fridge to show him the jams, surreptitiously checking the timer on the brie. Two minutes. Beca decided she would use the extra time to her advantage.
"Embrasse-moi." Knowing he didn't speak French, she coupled the words with actions that would give him a hint. She tapped her lips with her finger and wound her arms around his neck. Her nerd didn't miss a beat. He pulled her into him and captured her lips in a kiss so sweet, she trembled. His tongue darted out and traced a line of fire across her lips; she opened them invitingly. He tasted the inside of her mouth, tickling the area right behind her teeth, nibbling on her bottom lip. "Tu me rends folle." She murmured softly, "You're driving me crazy."
He smiled and kissed her, placing butterfly kisses on her nose, eyes, and finally her mouth. His actions were interrupted by the timer, which rang out and made Jesse jump. "I think it's your plan to give me cardiac arrest before the night is over." He groaned.
Beca smirked at him, grabbed an oven mitt, and pulled the French cheese out of the oven. The shell was golden brown and it smelled heavenly. Her mouth watered. She set it down on the counter next to the slices of bread, "Careful it's hot." She opened the fridge and pulled out the three jars she brought with her. "Pick your favorite."
Jesse selected the small jar of raspberry jam, and Beca grabbed the blackberry. The cut a small amount of the cheese pastry, placed it on a slice of baguette, and smothered it with blackberry. It made music in her mouth. Jesse followed suit, biting in and eyes widening.
"What is this?" He said with his mouth full. "It's amazing!"
Beca swallowed, "It's brie en croute. Brie cheese baked in a pastry shell. My mom introduced me to it; I've been hooked ever since."
"Well, milady, it's time for our movie. We'll bring these with us." Beca placed the slices of baguette into a bowl, carefully picked up the brie with an oven mitt, and walked to his room. Jesse picked up the bowl and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. Once in his room, they set the food out, and settled in. Jesse grabbed his laptop and two DVD cases. "So! Pirates of the Caribbean or Avatar? Choose wisely."
Beca smiled cheekily at him, closed her eyes and pointed. When she looked, her finger had landed on the face of a blue guy.
"Avatar it is! There are some really interesting facts about this one. It's written by James Cameron and it was originally supposed to be made in 1999, as a follow up to Cameron's Titanic, but it was so expensive no one wanted to fund it. The effects Cameron wanted were really advanced. It was shot with 60% CGI and used motion capture technology. It's the top grossing film of all time, it put Titanic at second. The Na'vi language was an original language, written especially for the film."
Beca's face must have shown that she didn't really care for the technicalities, "Besides, it's got one of the most beautiful scores I've ever had the luck to hear." He concluded.
Beca smiled, pressed play, and snuggled into his arms as they began to watch.
A/N: Do you guys like the French? Should I keep it?
Bonsoir, mon beau. ~ Good evening handsome.
Venez-vous ici souvent ~ Come here often?
Embrasse-moi ~ Kiss me.
Tu me rends folle. ~ You're driving me crazy.