"Why don't you have a car?"

"Subways are more practical to get around in New York," Beca answered as she bit her nails.

"Good point there," Matt nodded. "But when you know your ways around the city you don't get stuck in traffic jams."

Beca sat up when Matt took the turn that led to the street Jesse lived on.

"I shouldn't be here," she murmured once he pulled over.

"Cool. Let's get out of here then," Matt started the car again.

"Wait," she put her hand on his arm. "He's probably going to shut the door in my face but this is right... right?" she watched Matt rub the back of his neck. "C'mon dude I need advice and you're here so you're going to tell me what should I do. You told me about your parents, it's your fault that I'm here!"

"You should go. You might regret not trying. And, regrets suck. I'll be here in case it didn't go well and you need a ride home," he said as he stared ahead of him, shutting the car's engine. "Good luck," he tilted his head to look at her.

"Told you I don't need that," she let out a nervous chuckle then unlocked the door.

Walking to the building she knew she was going to get a door shut in her face but the Arthurs gave her hope. It doesn't have to suck if he's willing to compromise. They could make it work. Then he might follow her to L.A when his kids are old enough which will be in years. But if he's the one for her, she was to going roll with the distance.

It sounded easier said than done but the Arthurs did it.

Exhaling loudly, Beca pushed the button to ring Jesse's bell and waited. She smiled when the doorman came into her vision to unlock the door for her.

"Long time no see, Ms. Mitchell," he smiled at her.

"Yeah," she eyed the middle aged man. "How are you, Isaiah?" she asked.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." Isaiah locked the door behind them. "The buzzers are broken," he informed her. "I haven't seen Mr. Swanson get out so he's home."

"Thanks," Beca nodded at his words. "Good seeing you," she said then started to make her way to the elevator.

"You too," he watched her until she stepped inside the elevator.

Yeah, I should have thought this through—Beca thought as she stood in front of Jesse's apartment after knocking a couple of times.

What were they going to talk about in the middle of the night after two months of radio silence?

She told him to leave her alone and he did.

What if he moved on?

Yeah, I should have called first— Beca took a step back then turned on her heels and started to make her to the elevator. Hearing a door get unlocked she paced and hid in the the first turn she found which led to the staircase.

"I swear I heard someone knock," she heard Jesse's voice.

"The movie is pretty loud you probably imagined hearing it."

Beca closed her eyes when she heard his neighbor Kate talk.

"You're probably right," he shrugged. "Hey, I'm gonna go get more popcorn. I'll be back in a few."

"Okay. Well, let yourself in."

"Yeah," Jesse unlocked the door to his apartment.

Beca waited until he was back in Kate's apartment before she walked to the elevator and quickly got out of the building. She paced to Matt's car and got in. Matt took one look at her then started the car and drove off.

"Um, Beca where do you live?" Matt asked after 15 minutes of silence. Without a word, Beca leaned forward and typed her adresse into the GPS.

"So, what happened?" he asked.

"Nothing," Beca sighed. "I changed my mind. Like you said earlier, it's a pain in the ass," she shrugged, recalling his words at the party when they talked about his parents long distance relationship.

Matt nodded, concentrating on the road.

Jesse forgot to lock the window in the living area and it looked like it was going to rain so he went back to his apartment and walked straight it. It was late but he was able make out a shape of a woman pacing to a car parked not far from where he lived. He rested his hands on the window and leaned forward, trying to get a better look.

It can't be her.

What would she be doing here?

Could it be her that was knocking?

He leaned back and closed the window after watching the car drive off. The buzzers were broken so if she got in it Isaiah would have let her in.

Jesse couldn't wait until the morning to ask Isaiah. He had to know if he imagined the knocking on the door and if it's Beca that he saw.

"Hey, man," Jesse said spotting the doorman.

"Mr. Swanson."

"Jesse, please," Jesse had been living there for over 9 months and the man wouldn't drop the formality.

"I hope it wasn't a problem that I let Ms. Mitchell in?" the doorman asked. He had seen Beca when she paced out of the building.

"Beca was here?" Jesse's question sounded like a statement. "I knew it's her," he scratched his stubble.

"Yeah. The doorbells are broken so—"

"It's totally fine that you let Beca in," Jesse interrupted him, hearing the apologetic tone in the man's voice.

"Good night," he smiled at him then turned on his heels, turning thoughtful as he walked.

What does she want from me after two months? She's wearing a dress and heels, from where did she come? Who's driving?

He had too many questions that could only be answered by one person: Beca.

Jesse finished watching the movie with Kate absentmindedly then went back to his place, still lost in his thoughts and the many questions he had for Beca. Questions that had to wait until he ran into her or if she decided to come see him because he had some dignity after all. He spent two weeks trying hard to make her see how wrong it was to break up but as far as he knew she was moving on with her college boyfriend and was it for him.

It would become pathetic if he kept following her around while she was dating someone else.

For the past two months he tried to stop thinking about her and wanting her but he's been there before and knew it wasn't going to work so he kind of made peace with the fact that his feelings for her weren't going to fade anytime soon.

A week later

It was becoming a habit of Beca's to stay at least an hour after everyone had left work. She barely had a social life anymore. She was trying to minimize her human interactions so that she wouldn't get attached to anyone before going back to L.A.

She was listening to a demo when Matt barged into her office.

"Why are you still here?" she asked, pausing the song and taking off an earbud from her ear.

"I came back for you."

His words made her arch an eyebrow.

"It's the weekend. I'm taking you out for drinks," he said.

"Thanks but no thanks," she wore back the earbud.

"Look, I didn't want to tell you this but," he walked to her and took off the earbud from her ear, "people at work are starting to wonder."

"About what?" she watched him rest his hands on her desk and lean in.

"You. You're more distant that the usual. You check in first and leave last. I think I heard someone say you got some sort of disease," he grimaced.

"Yeah, it's called being antisocial."

"C'mon Beca. I'm buying."

Beca glanced at the time and seeing that it was 6:30 pm, she sighed. "Okay. I'll buy my own drinks, though."

"I insist," he straightened up. "Morgan's?" Beca said as she gathered her stuff.

"Yeah," he nodded then remembered Jesse still worked there. "We can go somewhere else if you want."

"It's the closest bar to work," she shrugged. There's that and the fact that she had been there enough times to know that since school year had started Jesse worked lesser shifts at the bar. Matt nodded at her words then started to make his way out.

They walked to the bar since it was a few blocks away.

Getting inside, they weren't surprised by how crowded it was.

"We can go somewhere else," Matt when he followed Beca's gaze and saw who she was looking at.

"No," she titled her head. "No need for that. C'mon let's find the others."

Morgan's bar was their co-workers hangout place. "They're here, right?"

"Yeah," Matt nodded, looking around. "There," he pointed at them and started to walked their way.

Beca followed him, resisting the urge to glance at the bar when she felt a gaze on her. She had a pretty good guess as to who was looking at her. "Hey, Matt, what are you having?"

"I'll start with a Manhattan," he shrugged.

"Cool, I'll go get us drinks," she told him then started to make her way to the bar.

Standing by the bar, Beca took a moment to take in Jesse's apparence: Still the same yet looked like he lost some weight. She felt happy just looking at him smile at something a costumer say. She was staring at him and hoping no one would notice. The staring didn't last long because of a tapping on her shoulder. She tilted her head and found a guy sitting on a stool and smiling at her. He was easy on the eye, she'll admit that much, and he looked drunk.

"Hey," he greeted, taking a sip from his drink. She smiled tightly then looked back ahead of her, glad that Marcus, the bartender, had come to take her order. It saddened her a little that Jesse wasn't the one taking her order.

"What's your name, beautiful?" he asked. She ignored him. "C'mon, tell me your name and let me buy you a drink," he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Beca shrugged off his hand then tilted her head, "thanks for offering but no."

"Fine, no hands," he chuckled putting his hand up.

"Let me guess what you're ordering and if I'm right I'll buy it... Martini?"

Beca shook her head.

"You're into strong booze?" he eyed her from head to toe.

"Dude, I appreciate the offer but I can buy my own drinks."

"I wanna get to know you over a drink that I pay for then we see where w go from there," he winked.

"I'm not interested."

"C'mon, just one drink, babe."

"You heard her. She's not interested," Jesse said and Beca tried not to show any sign that she was happy that Jesse decided to acknowledge her.

"You shut up until I ask for a drink, okay?—even then you just nod and take my order."

Jesse chuckled and nodded at his words before shifting his attention to Beca.

"What can I get you?" he asked her. His tone wasn't harsh nor friendly. It was indifferent.

"A Manhattan and a pint of beer, please."

Jesse nodded at her order then started making the Manhattan.

"Put her order on my tab."

Jesse looked up for a second at Beca who was getting irritated.

"I told you I can buy my own drinks. I'm flattered but no, thank you."

"What are so cocky about? You should be glad I noticed your ugly ass, bitch."

"Yeah, you're getting out now," Jesse put down the drink he was making. "Sir, you're becoming a disturbance so I'm gonna ask you to leave," Jesse rested his hands on the counter. "Don't make me escort you out there."

"Who do you think you are?" the man stood up and pulled Jesse from his t-shirt, clenching it.

"You don't wanna do this, man," Jesse said, trying to remove himself. He really didn't like fighting.

"What are you gonna do, punk?"

Jesse managed to get himself from his hold then walked around the counter. "You need to leave," Jesse said and noting how he glanced down at Beca, he put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.

What happened next was too fast for Jesse to register: Beca was telling him to back off and that she was fine and didn't need his help. He was going to start arguing with her when he felt a hand grab him and slam his head against the edge of the counter.

"Oh my god!" Beca said watching Jesse lose consciousness. "Asshole," she looked up at the man responsible for it and didn't think twice before she punched him.

"You crazy bitch," he exclaimed in pain. He said other things that she didn't quite hear as he got dragged out of the bar. Beca shifted her attention to Jesse, ignoring the throbbing pain in her hand.

"Jesse," she patted his cheek then lifted his head holding it with both her hands then frowned feeling warmness in one of her hands. Her eyes widened when she pulled her and and saw that it was covered in blood. He wasn't completely out and that reassured her a little.

"Holy shit," Matt said, rushing to her side. "You sucker punched him."

"He's bleeding. Matt where did you park?" she asked, looking up to meet Matt's gaze. It was Friday night she didn't want to wait for an ambulance since Matt bragged about how he could get around even when there's traffic.

"It's down the street. I'll go get it," he nodded and ran out of the bar.

The other bartender rushed to her side, helping her get Jesse to stand. "Thanks," she glanced at Marcus as he supporting Jesse's weight.

When you only had a shot of vodka and you wake up with a headache something is definitely wrong.

"Where am I?" Jesse held his head, waking up.

"The hospital," Beca curtly answered. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like I've been hit to the head by a baseball bat," he rubbed his eyes getting off of the bed. "Easy," she reached for his arm and held it to keep him from falling.

"D'you remember what happened?" she asked, helping him sit down. He took a moment then nodded.

"Good," she got up. "I'm gonna go get a doctor," she started to make her way out of the room.

She came back less than a minute later with a doctor. He checked Jesse's vitals then sent him home with painkillers and told him to come back to the hospital in 10 days to get the four stitches removed.

"How did we get here?" he asked. "Taxi?"

"No, Matt drove us here," she told him as they walked. "He offered to wait until you woke to drive you home but I know you don't like him so I declined the offer."

"Good call."

On the way to the subway station Jesse noticed Beca's swollen hand and stopped her from walking by gently taking her hand in his.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you. I punched that asshole."

"It looks bad," he ran his fingers over her knuckles.

"Looks worse than it feels," she shrugged.

"This is your fault, you know?" he let go of her hand.

"My fault?" she arched her eyebrows.

"Yeah, the whole thing," he nodded. "If you would have stepped back and let me handle it he wouldn't have had the drop on me," he continued to walk.

"Well, if you just minded your own business in the first place, nothing would have happened."

"Well, he was being a rude to a costumer I can't let him act like that in the bar. He had to leave."

Good point— Beca paced to catch up with him. They continued to walk in silence.

Jesse broke the silence after they got in a subway and missed her stop. "Beca, you missed your stop," he said.

"I'm gonna make sure you get home safe then head back to my place. I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't listed as an emergency contact—you should update your emergency contacts," she looked up from her hand, feeling a need to explain why she stayed with him even though it was the obvious thing to do. "Benji is on there and he's more than 1400 miles away."

"Why didn't you get something for your hand?" he asked, eyeing her hand.

"I was busy worrying about you to do something about my hand."

He nodded satisfied with her answer then looked out of the window for the rest of the trip.

"The doctor said you don't have a concussions or anything bad but if the headache gets bad you should go get it checked," Beca said once they reached his apartment complex.

"I will," he nodded. "Sorry for ruining your evening," he apologized.

"You'd do the same," she shrugged.

Confident that he knew her well enough to understand her body language, Jesse extended his arms and pulled her in a hug. She looked like she wanted to hug him but was hesitant so he did it for her. He was surprised by how tightly she hugged him but didn't voice his surprise, instead he hugged her back as tightly. "Be careful, Jesse," she loosened her hold, stepped back and turned on her heels.

"Beca, wait," Jesse called then paced after her.

"Yeah?" she tilted her head.

"Um, wanna come up? We can have some tea and get you some ice for your hand."

"I don't know," Beca started to say but was cut off by Jesse. "—I just wanna properly thank you. That's all."

"By inviting me to your apartment to drink tea?"

"Yeah," he nodded. He wanted to ask her a lot of questions but it didn't feel right to ask them on the way. A mug of tea and cookies sounded like a better setting.

"Okay," she hesitantly agreed. He didn't bring up their past and that was good sign? She didn't know what to make out of what was happening.

"How are Sam and Sandra and the baby?" Beca asked.

"They're good," he shrugged unlocking the door.

"Did you find out the sex of the baby?"

"Yeah. We're having a boy," he smiled to himself. "I know that I said I didn't want him but now, only five months away, I honestly cannot wait to meet him."

"That's nice," she smiled when he looked at her.

"I made these earlier today," he placed a plate full of cookies on the coffee table then rushed back to the kitchenette and came back holding a resealable food storage bag that had carrots in it. "For your hand," he handed it to her.

"Thanks," she took it and placed it over her knuckles as he walked back to the kitchenette. She played for a while with Bender until Jesse came back with two mugs of tea and handed her one.

"So you struck a deal with the owner despite your job at the school?" Beca asked when Jesse sat down next to her.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I wasn't supposed to be working tonight but Mae asked me to cover for her," he grabbed a cookie then glanced at Beca when she unzipped her leather jacket.

"Is that my blood?" he asked noting the blood stains on her shirt.

"Yeah," she sighed and looked down at her shirt. "Blood stain is hard to get off of upholstery: I didn't want to ruin Matt's car so I let you bleed on me," she shrugged.

"You should go clean up."

"I'll clean up when I'm home. You got blood all over you neck. I'm sure it made its way down your back," she said looking at his neck.

"Really?" he tried to look over his shoulder and at his back.

"Yeah, you should probably shower," she said when looked back at her.

"I will," he took a sip from his mug. "Hey, Beca, can we talk about the last time you came here—"

"—Jesse."

"—I'm not talking about the night you got your closure," he turned to face her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled, taking a bite from the cookie.

"Beca, Isaiah told me he let you in. And, I saw you. I saw you through the window you were pacing a car in heels so you can't tell me you were drunk and don't remember. Why did you come?"

"Tea's great," she put the mug on coffee table, "and so are the cookies. I'm gonna get going now," she said as she got up.

"It's all I've been thinking about the whole week. Just tell why so I can go back to trying to forget about you in peace," Jesse rubbed his eyes.

"Matt told me about his parents," she started to say and watched as he looked up and waited for her to keep talking. "They've had a long distance thing for a lot of years and despite the odds they're still together. It's really stupid how it got me worked up and before I knew it I was knocking on your door."

"That's why you came here?" he frowned. she nodded then put the food storage bag down, avoiding eye contact. "You came in the middle of the night to ask me if I'd get into a long distance relationship with you?"

"Dude, I told I know that it's stupid and it hit me when I got to your door. It's a lot to ask from you especially since I broke up with you and we haven't talked in two months."

"It is a lot," he agreed. "And very selfish," he added. "Do you ever stop to think of what you're doing or do you just fucking wing it with everything?"

"Okay, you're being an ass right now," she watched him get up.

"Yeah. I know I am." he nodded. "I asked if you'd have a long distance relationship with me before coming here in the first place. You said no, which is fine. I begged you to stay with me and you used me to get closure then left. I swallowed my pride and chased you around because I truly thought you're worth it and what did you do? You went out with your college boyfriend!"

Beca watched him as he struggled to keep his voice even and not yell at her but the way his knuckles turned white were enough for her to see how angry he was.

"Not waiting until I got the door was a great call."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for dragging you along and dumping you but you're not better than me, Jesse. You just had to keep on pushing me until I did things I'm not proud of because you can't accept how things are." She took a few steps back when he stepped forward. "There was no closure," she shrugged, "I lied to get you off my back. Nick asked me out and told me he'd wait until I'm ready. I only kissed him because I knew it would make it seem like I moved on," she told him. He called her selfish which wasn't wrong but he didn't seem to see how selfish he was as well. "We had spend a week together when you suggested a long distance relationship. It would irrational to pursue one simply because we fell for each other. So, no, Jesse, I don't just fucking wing it." She walked backward when he took a few steps forward and softened his expression.

"You're right, I did make the right decision by backing out and not waiting until you showed up. Who am I kidding? We can't work even if we tried," she shook her head then turned on her heels, making her way to the front door.

AN: Be honest, did you expect a lovey dovey reunion? I hope this one entertaining enough. I'd like to hear thoughts and what d'you think is gonna happen next.