AN: Thank you for the feedback my fellow human beings.
"This is really good," Beca said right after she swallowed the cake she barely chewed. "When did you learn to bake?" she asked.
"I took a class a while ago," Chloe informed her.
"Well, it paid off… just don't eat too much cake you might get diabetes," Beca gestured between Chloe and her husband.
"Don't worry about that. We burn off what we eat," Chloe assured her and winked.
Tom, Chloe's husband, glanced up from his laptop for a second.
"I'm gonna go work in a different room," he said as he stood.
"Okay," Chloe smiled at him, and so did Beca they made eye contact.
"You just made him uncomfortable," Beca said, watching Tom walk into his and Chloe's bedroom.
"He'll be fine," Chloe shrugged. "So, New York, huh?"
"Yeah," Beca nodded.
"You gonna move back in a year?"
"I already answered you," Beca deadpanned.
"You gave a vague answer," Chloe Shrugged.
"Do I want to live in New York? Nope, I barely tolerate that place. Do I want to fuck up my career by turning down this promotion? Nope, I might as well just resign. Do I want to mess with Jesse's feelings for a year then leave him? Nope, the last thing I want is to make him suffer," she took a sip of champagne then sighed.
"You still haven't given me a clear answer," Chloe stated.
"I don't have a clear answer," Beca mumbled, reaching for her bag when she heard her phone.
"It's him, isn't it?" Chloe smirked, eyeing her friend who was holding back a smile when she saw the caller id.
"Shut up," she glanced at Chloe then made her way to the front door and unlocked it.
"Hey," she greeted, picking up and locking the door behind her.
"Hi. Sorry about earlier. My friend will not have let me live down what I was going to say to you if he heard me," he told her.
"And what's that?" she questioned, leaning against the door.
"I can't wait to see you. In two weeks, I'll get to hold you. I'm pretty sure that I will not be able to focus on anything until then-"
"-Okay, I'm gonna stop you there before it gets too cheesy," she interrupted him and heard him chuckle.
"Sorry," he apologized. "I'll try to keep the cheesiness at a minimum level. I can't make you any promises, though."
"It's fine," she shrugged.
"Have I told you how much I miss you?" he sighed.
"I don't think you did," she replied in amusement.
"Well, I do. I miss you so much... I sound like a broken record, don't I?" he asked.
"No, you're good," Beca assured him. "I miss your face, too," she confessed.
"Just the face, nothing else?" he asked suggestively making her chuckle.
"Shut up."
"Jeez, your mind is dirty," he clicked his tongue, "I was hinting at a completely different thing."
"I'm sure you were," she said sarcastically.
"My company, that's what I was hinting at. Don't you miss my company?"
"I do," she admitted then pulled the phone away to see what time it was to find it 8:41 pm which meant it was 11:41 pm in NYC.
"You went to bed really late and it's 11:41 pm now, how the hell are you still up?" she questioned.
"I don't think I'll be able to go to bed."
"Why is that?"
"I'm way too happy for sleep. I think I'm gonna go compose," he informed her.
"Well, have fun and don't get drunk and wake me up in the middle of the night to play it for me," she warned.
"I won't. Promise," he assured her. "You'll listen to all of the stuff I wrote when you get here."
"You've been doing a lot composing, huh?"
"Yeah, turns out being miserable has some perks… Anyway, how's the promotion celebrations going?"
"I wanted to go out clubbing but Chloe is tired, Amy is out of town, Emily's mother is here, and I don't feel comfortable dragging acquaintances clubbing on a Monday," she told him.
Ever since college Beca's group of friends stayed the same. The Bellas were the only true friends she ever had and only three of them lived in L.A.
"What are you doing then?" he asked.
"I'm at Chloe's, we're just hanging. She made a cake."
"Cake. That's nice."
"Yeah," she agreed.
"I don't hear Chloe which means you either locked yourself up in a room or got out of the apartment for privacy."
"The latter."
"When you get back inside tell Chloe I said hi," he told her.
"Will do."
"Shit!"
Beca heard a distant crashing noise accompanied with barking.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I forgot to feed Bender," he informed her, "so he took matters into his own hands- paws in his case."
"You forgot to feed your dog!"
"Yeah, I had other things on my mind."
"It's almost midnight in New York!" she exclaimed. "You let your dog starve the whole day?"
"Shut up, I feel awful already. And for the record, I fed him when I came home around 1 pm… Hey buddy," he sighed, "I'm sorry."
"How bad is it?" she asked when the dog stopped barking.
"Not so bad. It should take me roughly 15 minutes to clean up the mess he made."
"I should leave you to it then."
"Okay," he sighed. "Good night."
"Night," she replied before hanging up. She knocked on the door and stepped in when Tom opened it for her. "I was on the phone," she informed him, noting the curious look on his face. Tom nodded at her words and locked the door.
Beca laid in bed, later that night, unable to fall asleep. She had a lot to think about: her promotion, leaving L.A., her home of almost 4 years, leaving her friends, selling her car since it would be of no use in New York City- bless whoever can drive in that place- Beca thought—and Jesse. She couldn't wait to see him.
Glancing at the time she saw that it was almost 1 am, she sighed and closed her eyes, pulling the covers closer and hoping to fall asleep.
The couple of weeks Beca had left in L.A. past quicker than she had expected. She had a lot to do, be it: cleaning her desk, selling her car, ending her apartment lease, packing her belongs and sending them to New York, where they would be waiting for her to unpack them once she rented an apartment.
The label was going to pay for her stay in a hotel for a month until she figured out where she was going to live. She had one thing figured out when it came to that and it was the borough. The borough's Brooklyn because the branch office was there.
The fact that Jesse also lived in Brooklyn was a plus. It would be a pain in the ass to see him on a regular basis if he lived in Staten Island.
She spent her last night in L.A. on Chloe's couch.
"Can't fall asleep?" Chloe asked when she woke up in the middle of the night to get herself a glass of water and heard Beca hum a song.
"Yep," Beca titled her head to look at her friend.
"Excited or scared?" Chloe asked, taking a seat on the couch next to Beca.
"Both," Beca sat up, sighing when she checked the time to find it 2:41 am.
"You should get some sleep," Chloe leaned against the couch. "You got a long day ahead of you."
"I'll sleep on the flight."
"You can't sleep on flights," Chloe tilted her head to look at her friend. "You didn't when we traveled to Europe for the worlds."
"I'll have Ambien- How do you know I didn't sleep the whole flight? Were you watching me, Bale?" Beca demanded in mock horror.
"You had dark circle under your eyes when we landed and you were grumpier than a grumpy old man forced to babysit," Chloe yawned.
"Go back to sleep, Chloe."
Chloe nodded stifling another yawn then got up.
"Try to sleep," Chloe patted Beca's cheek before making her way to her bedroom.
Beca watched Chloe until she walked into her bedroom then changed her position, closing her eyes, trying to fall back asleep. She gave up on sleep when she looked at the time and saw that it was 3:07 am and decided to wake Jesse up. With the time difference, it would be 6:07 am in New York.
She texted him: 'WAKE UP.' 10 times.
No respond.
'Get up.'
'I can't sleep.'
'Jesse'
'Get the fuck up.'
'And talk to me.'
'I feel ignored.'
'Oh my god, are you dead?'
'WAKE UP.'
'Who's going to feed Bender?'
'I'm up.' He replied.
'It's the middle of the night there.'
'What are you doing up?'
She read his next with a really stupid grin on her face.
'I told you, I can't sleep.' she texted.
'Is everything alright?' his reply came fast.
'I just wanted to wake you up.'
'YOU'RE GOING DOWN FOR THIS!'
'I don't care.'
'When is your flight?'
'I didn't tell you when you asked me before I'm not telling you now.'
'Oh, c'mon Becs.'
'No.'
'Please?'
'No.'
'Fine.'
Beca wanted to check in the hotel then go check on her belongings at the self-storage unit. She had a feeling that if she saw Jesse first she wouldn't get anything done. She was planning on paying Jesse a visit at work. She asked him when he drunk dialed her about the time he gets off work on Thursdays since she would arrive on a Thursday and he told her that he worked until 5.
"Classy," Beca said in appreciation as she eyed the room her label booked her. She put her suitcase aside and hopped on the bed, wondering how many people have had sex on it.
She played with a lock of her hair between her fingers then got up after a few minutes.
After checking on her belongings, she took the subway, heading to where Jesse worked as a school teacher. Thanks to Google map, she got the school at 4:47 pm. She took a seat on the sidewalk across the street and waited.
Hearing the bell ring, her heart started to race. She watched the students as they started to rush out of the school and got up, looking around for him until she saw him. He was chatting with some other teacher, wearing a shirt and dark jeans, his hair looked like it needed a new haircut.
She couldn't move, she wanted to but she couldn't. She kept watching him until he looked at her and grinned before quickly excusing himself and starting to make his way to her.
She waved nervously, watching him as he got closer.
"Hi," he greeted when reached her, "you look great."
"You too," she replied, leaning in then pulling away, hesitantly, and sort of shyly.
"C'mere," he cupped her face and leaned in, pressing his lips against hers. He kissed her passionately, deepening the kiss when she rested her hands on his shoulders and pulled him closer to her.
Keeping in mind that they were in public, Beca eased out of the kiss, sighing when he rested his forehead against hers before looking up to meet his gaze.
Smiling, he wrapped her in his arms and buried his face in her neck.
"I can't believe you're here," he squeezed her in his arms. "I can't believe you're with me."
"Me neither," she wrapped her arms around his waist.
Taking a deep breath, Jesse placed a kiss on her neck and pulled away, unwrapping his arms from around her then took her hand in his.
"I didn't expect to find you waiting for me, to be honest," he said as they started to walk.
"I know."
"This was a very pleasant surprise," he squeezed her hand.
"I know."
"I love you," he confessed softly.
"I know."
Jesse chuckled and looked back ahead of him then felt her hand when she held his chin and tilted his head.
She leaned up and brushed her lips against his, "I love you too," she mumbled before she pecked his lips.
Jesse had to blink a couple of times to register what had just happened. He dreamt she said it. He thought she said it when he drunk dialed her. She slurred it when she drunk dialed him. But it was the first time he heard her tell him she loved him.
"I'm starved," she said as they continued to walk. "What do you recommend I eat?" she asked, amused by the blank look on his face.
"Um, I don't know," he blew a breath, "pizza?"
"Pizza?" she frowned.
"Yeah, we're in New York," he shrugged.
"All right… There's a pizza place over there," she nodded at the place.
"We could order Pizza," he started to say and watched as she tilted her head to look at him, "from my place if you want."
"I'd like to see your place," she casually swung their hands as they walked then glanced up to find him smiling at her.
"Welcome to mi casa," Jesse unlocked the door and stepped back, letting Beca walk in first.
"Cozy," she said eyeing the place. "Hey, buddy," she bent down when Bender came running to them and played with him.
Jesse tossed his messenger bag on the couch.
"Beer while we wait for Pizza?"
Bender followed Jesse to the kitchenette so she straightened.
"Yeah, sure," she nodded, picking up drawings she noticed on the coffee table.
"Sammy is quite the artist," Jesse said when he saw her from the kitchenette.
"For a year and half old toddler, she's pretty good, I think." She looked up.
"They're a bunch random scribblings but thanks for saying that," he handed her a beer. "Pizza should be here soon."
"Thanks," she held the beer his way before bringing it to her lips.
"You welcome," he smiled at her then made his way to the couch and hopped on it.
"School year is ending," she drummed her fingers on the beer after she put down the drawings, "what are you planning on doing for the summer?"
"I got a job stacking CDs at a radio station," he informed her.
"That should be fun," she snorted sitting next to him.
"It's good money and a little effort," he shrugged.
"You might have some hot young station manager," she took a sip from her beer and heard him chuckle.
"Or a grumpy, cynical, angry at the world, 50 something guy," he threw his arm over the couch.
"It could go either way," she tilted her head, leaning in when he wouldn't stop staring at her lips then pulling away when the doorbell rang. Jesse sighed, getting up.
"I could help you find some part-time job," she said, watching him walk back with two pizza boxes in hand.
"No, I owe you a lot already," he put down the boxes on the coffee table.
"We're friends. You don't owe me anything."
"Best friends," he corrected, sitting next to her before opening one of the boxes and heavily sighing as he eyed the pizza. "I think I'm in love," he joked, grabbing a slice.
"Paw," Beca gave her hand to Bender when he came to her, smiling when he lifted his paw.
"Good boy," she praised him, bringing a slice of pizza to her mouth. "He's so soft," she mumbled, patting the dog.
"I know right?"
"How old is he?"
"8 months," he answered.
They got into a comfortable silence as they ate and played with Bender.
"Thanks for dinner," Beca sucked her teeth eyeing Jesse as he got rid of the boxes.
"Yeah, no problem."
"I think I should get going."
"Why? You just got here," he paced to the living area.
She didn't know how to answer him.
"Did I do something?" he asked.
"No," she nervously chuckled, deciding that the coffee table was a great sight to stare at.
"It's not even 8 yet," he checked the time then looked back at her, "I'll drop you off later."
Jesse sat down next to her and nudged her, "you bored of me already?" he asked.
"Yeah," she looked up.
"Well, I can't get enough of you," he took a lock of her hair between his fingers.
Beca knew that she had tell him about her plans to move back to L.A. but the way he was adoringly looking at her was keeping her from breaking the news just yet. She also knew that if she got any closer to him there was no turning back.
He leaned in and softly kissed her. She kissed him back forcefully, cupping his face and climbed on his lap when he pulled her to him.
"Beca," he mumbled.
"Mhmm?"
"We should take it slow," he said as he hungrily placed kisses on her jawline, neck, and collarbone.
"Why?" she started to unbutton his shirt, bringing his lips to hers.
"I wanna take you out on an actual date," he took her hands after pulling away.
"A date?" she heavily breathed.
He nodded.
"We'll go out on a date," she cupped his face and leaned in.
"When?"
"Jesus, Jesse," she pulled away, "we're kinda in the middle of something," she playfully slapped him.
"I can't afford to lose you again," he held her hand.
"Jesse, I'm here now," she held his chin up. "Don't worry about tomorrow."
She gazed into his comforting brown eyes and felt bad for keeping the fact that she was going to leave in a year from him.
"Okay," he cracked a smile. He noticed the thoughtful look on her face and decided not to overthink it.
"C'mere," he cupped her face and kissed her.
"I think someone is jealous," Beca chuckled, hearing Bender bark.
Jesse sat up and helped her wrap her legs around his waist before getting up.
"Sorry, buddy," Jesse pulled away just enough to apologize to his dog before walking into his bedroom and kicking the door closed behind them.