"You're up," Jesse said as he walked in holding a shopping bag.

"I got up around 6," she told him. "I thought I told you to set the alarm to 5:30."

"I didn't hear you," he walked to her bed and eyed the box she put aside. "How was your nap?" he asked, placing the shopping bag on the bed where she was sitting Indian style in the middle.

"Pretty refreshing," she leaned up and pecked his lips. "What did you get for dad and Sheila?" she asked when he sat down and kicked off his shoes.

"An apron for your step mother that has this cool sort of cheats for recipes and a magnetic bottle opener and cap catcher Dr. Mitchell." He pulled the presents and put them on the bed.

"I'll help you wrap these up," she told him as she grabbed wrapping paper.

"What did you get them?" he asked.

"A slow cooker for step monster and a champagne sabre for dad," she nodded at the already wrapped presents that were on her bedroom floor.

"How did you get a sword on board?" he asked watching her carefully cut the paper.

"I didn't. I bought it here. I bought both their Christmas presents here," she looked up for a second. "I'm getting really good at winging everything."

"Okay," he paused, thinking back at the time he told her she winged everything she did, in a fight, "I apologized for saying that," he reminded her.

She smiled at the look he had on his face. He looked like a puppy. Thinking about puppies made her think of Jesse's dog, Bender.

"Dude, Bender is all alone in New York," she said in horror.

"Nope," he pulled his phone. "He's with Kate," he opened his messaging app. "She offered to watch over him when I told her that I was working a double shift," he showed Beca a picture of his dog wearing an elf hat and looking pretty happy.

He noted how she frowned hearing his neighbor's name. "We ran into each other in the elevator. She told me that she wasn't going home over the holidays. Before we took off to Barden, I texted and asked if she could watch over him until I'm back and she said yes."

"That's pretty convenient."

"You're not mad, are you?" he asked reaching for her hand.

"No, of course, not," she clasped their hands together and smiled at him when he brought the base of her knuckles to his lips and placed a kiss on them.

Jesse's neighbor Kate, who she never liked, reminded her of how Jesse never liked Matt. And, thinking of Kate made her think of how she should tell Jesse already about the fake girlfriend thing. Him almost losing his grip because of jealousy was the reason she hadn't yet.

"How are things downstairs?" she asked.

"Pretty festive," he paused. "I'll finish these. You should go down."

"It's fine. I like wrapping gifts," she shrugged then glanced up to see him rub the back of his neck thinking.

"Am I gonna find rose pedals all over my bed later?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"No, what made you think that?" he stopped rubbing his neck.

"A womanly hunch," she shrugged, finishing up her dad's present and putting it aside. "And you look like you're plotting something," she added, hearing him chuckle.

"I'm not plotting anything," he shrugged, playing it cool.

Later that day.

"Beca," Dr. Mitchell called, watching Beca walk into the living room along with Jesse after they both insisted they do the dishes— it was more like, Beca said she'll do it and Jesse jumped after her.

"Here," he extended his arm, holding a small box.

"I thought we were done with gifts for the night, dad," she took it from him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and watched her remove the paper before she opened it.

"That was your grandma's," he told her when she kept looking at the ring her dad just gave her. "She gave it to me before passing away and told me to give it to you."

"I'm sorry I missed the funeral," she apologized for missing her grandmother's funeral because she couldn't drop work. He gave her a small smile as a reply.

"Why give it to me?" she asked.

"There's no grandson," he shrugged. "And, she was pretty sure you prefer women and could give it to your future wife," he added and watched Beca look up.

"I like men," she said and glanced at Mae who chuckled, thinking back at the time the Bellas discussed Beca's sexuality over thanksgiving dinner.

"Yeah, I told her," he said and watched Beca wear it.

"Thanks, dad," she thanked him, he extended an arm and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm just delivering, Bec," he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Now, who's got a suggestion for what movie we gonna watch?" Dr. Mitchell asked, removing his arm from around his daughter.

"I do," Jesse quickly answered. "Elf."

"Is it on Netflix?" Mae asked.

"I don't know," Jesse paused. "But I have the Blu ray."

Jesse bought the Blu ray when he and Mae got out.

Dr. Mitchell and Sheila went to bed after they finished the movie while the rest decided to watch Bad Santa next.

"I know I said we should watch die hard," Mae yawned, getting up as credit started to roll. "I can't. I just can't," she shrugged.

"It's only, 11:40," Jesse glanced at his watched.

"I need my beauty sleep," she stretched.

"Good night then," he smiled at her while making lazy trails on Beca's arm, who was curled up fast asleep in his arms.

"Night," she said then turned on her heels.

Jesse waited until Mae reached the second floor before he sat up.

He cleaned up the living room; took all the glasses, bowls, bottles of beer (that he didn't go near, of course) to the kitchen. He washed the dishes then walked back to the living room and turned the TV off.

"Jesse?" Beca sleepily called.

"Hey, you're up." He watched her sit up.

"Yeah," she rubbed her eyes and stood up.

"C'mon, let's go to bed," she reached for his hand. He picked her up bridal style instead.

The walk to her bedroom was quiet, Beca had her head rested against his chest and didn't look up until he unlocked her bedroom door.

"Your womanly hunch was right," he said, watching her eye the Christmas lights he had set up on her bed's headboard and the wall.

"You like it?" he asked, closing the door behind them.

"I'm feeling the Christmas spirit," she kept eyeing the lights.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom," he sat her down on the bed.

Beca slipped of her jeans and took off her sweater and the tank she was wearing underneath, staying only in her underwear, before she hopped off of the bed and walked to her suitcase to pick something to wear to sleep. She glanced at the en-suite bathroom's doorway feeling Jesse's gaze.

"What is it, nerd?" she asked, seeing that he looked like he wanted something.

"I love you," he smiled at her as he made his way to her.

"You too," she leaned into his embrace, when he placed a hand on her waist, then kissed his softly. She was surprised when he kissed her back with more force than he usually did. She dropped the t-shirt she picked and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He picked her up and helped her wrap her legs around his waist then slid her on the bed and climbed on top of her never breaking the kiss.

It had been more than three months since he kissed her with any reluctance and it was weird at first then it clicked.

"Jesse, are we gonna have sex?" she breathlessly asked, abruptly pulling away. "And I mean you inside me kind of sex not oral," she quickly added.

"I had a long speech prepared on how you deserve to be treated all figured out then I saw you in your underwear and I kind of forgot it all."

Beca was about to tell him that he didn't answer her question but didn't when he got off of her and pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Good thing I took notes," he blew a breath, unlocking his phone's screen. "All right, here goes nothing," he cleared his throat. "You're out of my league. No, we don't even belong to the same league. You've been helping me find my old self back without once asking for anything back—" he looked up from his phone when she sat up and then took his phone away from him.

"You don't need to give a speech," she put it on the nightstand then cupped his face."I don't ask for anything back because you've been nothing but good to me. You are nailing this so there's no need to feel you're not treating me right," she pressed her lips against his, kissing him softly. "Pun very much intended," she added, pulling away and making him chuckle.

"God, I love you," he said as felt her move her arms and wrap them around his neck.

"I love you, too," she mumbled when he leaned in leaving less than inch of distance between them. "I'm serious, Jesse, I can wait," she scratched the back of his neck.

"I know," he brushed his lips against hers then pulled away to look her in the eye as he talked. "Since you don't want to hear a full length speech, let me just say that recently I realized that I have this very awesome woman who cares a lot about me without expecting anything in return and I shouldn't be scared of giving her everything I have to offer." He took a lock of her hair between his fingers and shrugged.

"Does the blow job I gave you have anything to do with this realization?" she asked when he went quiet.

"No," he shook his head. "It was on the road," he leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I almost forgot how talented you are in that area," he said into her ear then pulled away, "There's this thing you—"

"—you really gonna talk about blow jobs?" she asked in disbelief.

"Sorry," he apologized, shaking his head.

"It's okay," she pulled him down, grinning when he kissed her.

Beca rested her weight on her elbow when Jesse walked out of the bathroom after getting rid of the condom. She watched climb the bed then leaned against his chest when he invited her. She leaned up and kissed him, cupping his cheek when kissed her back. She was secretly checking if he regretted having sex and he seemed relaxed.

He pulled away first and smiled at her.

"You think we woke anyone up?" Beca asked, rested her head against his chest and grabbing his arm to look at the time on his watch to find it 3:22 am.

"Nah," he looked down at his shoulder where she bit him to keep herself from moaning loudly. There were scratching marks on his back as well. "I doubt it." He watched Beca sit up and look around then shake her head, "Yeah, this isn't gonna work," she said after moving her legs.

"What's wrong?" he ran his finger over her shoulder.

"My legs gave up on me that's what's wrong— it's not wrong, actually," she paused. "It's pretty amazing," she leaned in and kissed him. He grinned and rolled her over, climbing on top of her as they made out.

"No, wait," she pulled away. "You're distracting me," she added, slapping his hand away.

"What do you want me to get you?" he asked, sitting up.

"That gift over there," she pointed at, "next to my suitcase."

He walked to it and picked it up. "Wow, this is big."

"You got me and my family Christmas presents," she watched him walk back to bed.

"You didn't have to me anything," he shrugged, climbing back to bed.

"I know," she nodded. "I didn't give to your earlier because I'm selfish enough to want to be the only one around when you open," she smiled watching the grin on his face as he removed the paper.

"I figured that since you got an internship you'd need a new bag," she said when he held the black leather messenger bag.

"I still have to interview for it but thanks, Bec," he pressed his lips against hers in soft kiss before he shifted his attention back to the bag.

He ran his hand over the bag then opened it to check the inside. "I also put in some stuff you might need," she shrugged. Jesse pulled pack of blank music sheets, a clipboard, a notebook and a file folder along with some pens and pencils.

"I know that it's usually just getting coffee and snacks for everyone at first but you will come around to compose at some point," she said as he eyed the stuff she got him. "And you will get it. I know you will."

"I love these," he put them back in the bag. "I love everything you got me," he put it down. "Thanks, Bec," he thanked her. "Thank you for everything," he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers, then hugged her tightly. She placed a kiss on his cheek and pulled away then curled up and closed her eyes feeling him peck her temple.

"Jesse, could you hand me my phone?" she asked. He reached for her phone on the nightstand and grabbed, "here."

"Looks like it's not just us up this late," he deadpanned when she unlocked her phone to find a text from Matt. "Do you always text in the middle of the night?" he asked.

"No, we don't text in the middle of the night. Matt's probably drunk," she told him, looking up. "You used to drunk text me all the time," she reminded him. He nodded, placing a kiss on her forehead and watched her tilt her head and set the alarm at 8 am.

"That's early, Bec," he rested his cheek on her head.

"I'm going to keep on hitting snooze until one us wakes up," she yawned.

"Great plan," he said, eyeing her lock her phone and toss it on the bed.

Next day.

Beca rang the doorbell and stuffed her hands in her pocket then looked between Jesse, who was standing to her left, and Mae, who was standing to her right.

"Be nice," she said then tilted her head to look at Jesse. "Please," she added.

"Bec, I'm always nice." He clenched his chest dramatically.

The three of them looked at the door when it opened and girl stepped out of the house.

"Can I help you?" she asked. She looked like she just woke up and it was nearing 2 pm.

"Hi, I'm Beca," Beca introduced herself, praying to god that the girl wouldn't make it awkward. "Um, Beca—"

"—Mitchell," the girl's eyes winded as she cut Beca off. "You're smaller in person," she added, eyeing Beca.

"Yeah," Beca smiled tightly at the girl who looked between Jesse and Mae. "These are my friends, Jesse and Mae."

"Hi," Jesse grinned. Mae waved.

"C'mon on in," she opened the door wide open, inviting them in. "GIRLS!" the girl yelled stepping back, "BECA MITCHELL IS HERE."

Jesse and Mae exchanged looks when they heard how high the girl's voice went.

Beca took a look around at the house and smiled. It wasn't the same house she lived at but it felt like it.

In mere minutes she was surrounded by current Barden Bellas.

"You guys are ready for tonight's riff-off?" Beca asked as they sat in the living room.

"Yeah," A tall blonde enthusiastically said.

"What the hell is a riff-off?" both Mae and Jesse asked in unison.

"It's something awesome," Beca smirked.

"You should come, if you can," an Indian chimed in.

"Yeah, Bec," Jesse agreed with the girl, amused by the look on Beca's face. She really didn't want to do it.

"The trebles are hosting it in their house this year," the same girl continued.

"You could sing with us," a hazel eyed brunette quietly suggested.

"I wanna see you sing, again," Mae brought the mug of tea they served her to her lips, "live." She took a sip.

"You're the recording artist, you should sing," Beca tried to turn it around. Jesse and Mae seemed to love how she was struggling.

"Yeah," the blonde agreed with Beca. "You both can join us for the night." She gestured between Beca and Mae.

"You should totally do it," Jesse grinned.

"If you can sing the trebles would take you in. Two of their lead vocalists left for the holidays," the blonde told Jesse.

"I'd love to," he said in excitement. "This is gonna be awesome," he said as held Beca's gaze. He had no idea what a riff-off was but how bad could it be?

"The rule is simple." A guy clasped his hands together as he spoke. "You can only sing Christmas songs which their title begins with the letter that comes on the screen." He pointed at the screen. "Otherwise you are." He clapped and so did everyone, except for Mae and Jesse. "Cut off," he said and they all echoed.

"Winner takes home a 100 dollar iTunes gift card," he told everyone then pointed at Beca. "From our very own BU graduate Beca Mitchell."

Beca awkwardly waved at them.

The original prize was a pair of beats headphones. Beca figured they have an actual prize to compete for so she stepped in.

"Wait, she shouldn't be competing with the Bellas. That's cheating," One of the BU harmonics said.

"No, it's not," the presenter shook his head. "She's a Bella," he shrugged.

"What about the other one?"

"I'm Jewish," Mae pointed down at the huge star of David on her sweater. "I don't know that many Christmas songs," she shrugged.

"Can we start?" A treble asked, slightly annoyed by the interruption.

"Yeah," the presenter nodded.

The first letter was I.

The trebles were first to jump, singing 'I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus'

"I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus

Underneath the mistletoe last night.
She didn't see me creep
Down the stairs to have a peek

She thought I—"

They were cut off by the High notes, singing 'I'll be home for Christmas'.

"—I'm dreaming tonight

Of a place I like

Even more than I usually do

And though I know it's a long way back

I promise you..."

The letter changed to G, so the Bellas were quick to jump in, singing, 'Good king Wenceslas.'

It went on for quite some time. They kept interrupting each other. Going from letter to letter.

Beca was pulling back and didn't jump in on multiple occasions because the BU harmonic member was right, she shouldn't be playing.

Jesse and Mae were having the time of their lives, not actually participating in creating the harmony but jumping at the chances they got when they knew a song that would work.

When the letter changed to S, Jesse practically pushed his way to the front to sing TLC's 'Sleigh Ride.'

"Let's have a very merry Christmas

And a happy New Year

"a happy new year"

The trebles backed him up.

"Give with love and joy and happiness

And lots of good cheer

I want you to have

A very merry Christmas

And a happy New Year

Filled with love and joy and happiness

And lots of good cheers."

Jesse winked at Beca who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Just hear those sleigh bells jing-a-ling

Ring-ting-ting-a-ling too

It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you

Outside the snow is fallin

And friends are calling you

It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you—"

Beca couldn't just let him have it. She stepped in front of him, interrupting with Onyx, Salt‐N‐Pepa, Diddy, Puff Daddy, The Christmas All Stars, Snoop Dogg, Rev Run,Mase & Keith Murray's 'Santa baby'

"—you with the Cadillac and asked him "yo what's up with that? "

He said "There ain't no Christmas kid" and I can't get him back

Back in the days, Christmas was deep

My moms put presents under the tree while I played sleep

And peeped ha! Santa Claus never gave me nuthin

Seen them mad faces, lying and frontin

So do some good to the ghetto, Mr. Chris Kringle

Come and stay awhile, kick it with god's angel

Take and acknowledge my wisdom and understand

That santa claus is a black man

Word up."

Beca looked at the Bellas when they didn't back her up and saw that they didn't seem to know the song.

"Keep going," Jesse nodded.

"Santa baby

Just slip a benzo under the tree for me"

The Indian girl began to sing the hook, barely remembering the words. Beca grinned and joined her as the rest of the Bellas began to harmonize.

"A '98 convertible, light blue

I'm looking for a fly guy, like you

So hurry down the chimney tonight..."

They all kept repeating the last line and acknowledged that the Bellas had just won.

Jesse kept looking at Beca as the Bellas collectively hugged her, celebrating their victory, then all went to get celebratory drinks. He saw Beca's grandmother's ring when it fell so he walked to where she was standing and it picked up.

When Beca managed to get away from the aca-celebration, she found Jesse sitting on a couch, sipping a ginger ale, while a passed out treble slept against his shoulder.

"You having fun, nerd?" Beca asked, hopped next to him.

"Yeah," he nodded. "These kids make me feel like I'm a dinosaur," he told her as he eyed college kids behave their age e.i. have fun.

"You are kind of like a dinosaur," she rested her elbow on the couch and turned to face him. "That cute baby dinosaur from The Land Before Time," she took his ginger ale and sipped from it.

"Ducky?" he guessed.

"Yep, yep, yep," she said, quoting the movie and handing him back his ginger ale.

"Where's Mae?" he asked her.

"She's doing a keg stand in the basement," she leaned in to look at the passed out guy. "Did you check his pulse?" she asked.

"Yes, I did." He looked at him as well. "I made him drink water, too," he tilted his head to look at her to find her looking around.

"Is this what you're looking for?" he asked, pulling her grandmother's ring from his pocket and holding it up for her.

"Yes," Beca nodded and took it from him then wore it.

"Oh, my god," a girl exclaimed catching the part where Beca said yes.

"What?" another asked and followed the girl's gaze.

"Congratulation!" the passed out treble got up to see them as both Beca and Jesse froze.

"No," Beca shook her head but it was too late. They started to congratulate her and Jesse without giving them a chance to explain. It got out of control when they started to sing for them A-cappella.

"Guys," Beca called. "Jesse, do something," she elbowed him. He whistled really loudly which worked.

"No one is getting married," she started to say. "Jesse was helping me find my ring that I dropped. That's all. I'm not going to marry him. Period."

Her tone hurt Jesse a little. She made marrying him sound like the last thing she would do. He swallowed it down and told himself that she was just trying to get it through the thick drunk skulls surrounding them that no proposal happened.

Jesse spend the rest of the evening playing a stupid game that consisted of just saying a number then throwing a dice and hoping it's what you said. While Beca took care of the drunks and truly felt like the grown up in the room.

She was holding a girl's hair's back as she puked when her phone rang.

"What's up?" she asked, picking up and cradling the phone against her shoulder.

"Good evening, fake girlfriend," Matt said in amusement, sounding pretty drunk.

Beca glanced at the time and saw that it was nearing 10 pm.

"What's up?" she asked again as she rubbed the girl's back.

"I'm just calling to check up on you, so how are you?"

"I'm good." She stepped back and picked up the bottle of water she brought from the kitchen. "You?" Beca handed the girl the water. "Everything all right there?" she asked the girl when she finished drinking.

The girl nodded.

"Wash up," Beca told her.

"Matt, you there?" she asked Matt, watching the girl wash her face then handed her a towel.

"Beca, would you, like, fuck me?" he casually asked.

"I'm hanging up now—"

"—Wait, that's not—wait, wait," he hiccuped. She didn't hang up. "I meant, like, am I fuckable?" he asked.

"Dude, what's going on?" she asked.

"Just answer me, please?"

She took a moment to think about it, he sounded really weird. She figured she'd give him an honest answer. Matt spent more time at the gym than he did at work, he's buffed. His eyes were forest green and she avoided looking right into his eyes because would end up staring. Personally wise, he was mostly an asshole who had some growing up to do but was also a sweetheart.

"You are," she answered. "Who hurt your self-esteem, buddy?" she asked as she walked out of the bathroom, guiding the drunk girl to the first couch she found.

"It's just hit me that I never actually been loved. The only girls that went out with me did it 'cause I'm like a party god," he slurred.

"Oh, boy," Beca murmured.

"No one really fucked me 'cause they like like me," he paused to take a sip from his drink. "I just went down my feed on Facebook and most my pals from college look happily in love."

"Matt, you're 25 years old, you'll find someone," she said in an attempt to comfort him. "Are you at your parents' house?" she asked, changing the subject because if she let him continue with his rant he would take forever.

"Yeah, on the porch," he told her. Porch meant beach house at the Hampton. It was late and cold and he was going to catch a cold if he stayed there.

"Why don't you put down whatever it is you're drinking and go drink some water instead?" she carefully asked. It did the go sober up talk so many times with Jesse over the first six months he lived in New York she became an expert.

"No."

"Matt, do you really think getting hammered will solve shit," she sighed. "I thought so too," she said when he groaned. "Now go drink water and catch some sleep," she told him.

"Anything else?"

"Eat," she shrugged, looking up to see Jesse sitting on the floor playing the dice game, not far away from her.

"Okay," he chuckled.

"I have to go now, bye," she said and hung up the phone before making her way to Jesse.

He glanced at her when she sat down next to him.

"Who was that on the phone?" he asked, throwing the dice, even though he knew it was Matt since he heard her say his name.

"Just a friend," she waved it off.

"He texts you in the middle of night and calls you drunk," he quietly said in annoyance. "And, he's just a friend?"

"Yes," she frowned at his tone.

"I used to do these things," he said avoiding to look at her.

"Whoa there," she held his chin up. "Don't compare yourself to Matt or anyone else for that matter."

He gazed into her eyes and noticed how her tone changed when she said Matt's name.

"What is it, Bec?" he asked as she looked away for a second and let go of his chin.

Beca decided to tell him about what she did for Matt and get it over with. He could tell she was keeping something from him. And, she hated keeping it from him.

"The night I went with Matt to his parents' party, I pretended that I was dating him," she paused to note his reaction.

He had a stoic expression on his face as he asked, "why?"

"He went behind my back and let his parents believe that he and I were seeing each other." She watched him as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I only played along for the night 'cause his dad's a huge dick to him but likes me. They made some progress and I couldn't ruin it by telling his dad the truth."

"While pretending did you kiss him in front of his family?" he asked after a beat.

"No," she answered. "Dude, I wouldn't cheat on you," she defensively added.

"Well, we're not really dating," he shrugged and got up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she followed him as he made his way to the front door.

"No one knows abut us," he said, shrugging. "I'm your dirty little secret that no one should know about," he turned around and told her as he unlocked the door to get out.

Was he jealous that she was doing what she used to do for him when he called drunk? Yes, very much.

Was he overreacting? Nope, he didn't think he was.

"You know very well that what you just said is not true," she said, locking the door behind her. She kept her cool because him getting jealous was what she was expecting.

"No, Beca, you don't want to be linked to me. Like, just now, you freaked out when they thought you agreed to marry me," he raised his voice and pointed inside the house.

"Yeah, I freaked out. Who wouldn't?" she asked as she crossed her arms. She was prepared for jealousy not getting yelled at. "A bunch of drunk kids started congratulating us on getting engaged. What was I supposed to do?"

"Not act like it's the last thing you would do maybe?" Okay, maybe it wasn't just jealousy that was clouding his thoughts. He was annoyed with her reaction and the news about Matt set him off.

"Listen, you're making a deal out of this and I don't want to fight over it," she sighed, rubbing her eyes. He was starting to piss her off and she didn't want to fight.

"What, I can't argue with you now?" he asked. "I know, my track record is shit but I'm pretty sure that talking and being honest are the keys to maintaining a relationship."

"Being honest?" She arched an eyebrow, looking up.

"Yeah," he nodded. "You're keeping things from me." He shrugged.

"Have you asked yourself why I'm keeping these "things" from you?" she asked, using air quotations. "Here's a hint: take a look at yourself right now," she nodded at him. "I'm gonna get Mae. We're leaving," she told him and turned on her heels, leaving him on the porch.

He looked down at his shaking clenched hands and tsked feeling the dreaded dryness in his throat. He held his head, closing his eyes and sucking in a deep breath in an attempt to control his breathing.

Jesse swore under his breath, feeling like the biggest jerk in the world for the way he talked to Beca.

AN: Thank you for reading people. I'd very much would like to hear thoughts on the all the stuff that happen in this chapter and what you think would happen next.