Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect or Shania Twain's I'm Coming Over
Two Years Later…
Beca Mitchell took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She had to admit, the air out here in Georgia was a lot easier on the lungs than the carcinogen infested smog that riddled LA's atmosphere. A combination of car fumes, pollution, and the weight of a city of crushed dreams and tears painted LA as a very different scene than what was portrayed in the movies. Oh well. It's not like Beca ever watched those movies anyway. Beca tucked her hands into the back pockets of her jeans as she made her way back into her father's house.
If you'd told her two years ago that she'd be back in Georgia and staying in her father's house, she would have blatantly laughed in your face.
Granted, it was only for a few days and in between a tour up and down some fabulous clubs of the East Coast and her return to LA and TurnStyle Records, but nonetheless, here she was in the very place she'd spent half of her childhood fighting like hell to get away from. Irony, Beca mused, was a bit of a bitch.
As Beca moved back into her father's surprisingly spacious house, she heard her two half-siblings shouting and screaming back and forth to each other. She was quickly reminded why exactly she'd left when two blurs nearly crashed into her, screeching the whole way.
"Paul! Hanna! Knock it off!" Annnnd there was the pops.
"Oh let them go Warren, they're just being kids." Cue delusional step-monster. Yeah… Beca couldn't wait to get back out to California where at least she could curse out all the people that got in her way.
Beca continued on into the kitchen, snagging a cup of coffee as she went and dodging her half-siblings once again. For there only being three of them, there always seemed to be at least one of them underfoot at all times. If it weren't so damn annoying, it'd actually be pretty impressive. As it was, Beca was extremely grateful that she was flying out tomorrow morning. Otherwise she'd probably be getting arrested very, very soon for child murdering.
Beca had spent the first four days out in Georgia staying and catching up with her mother. Then, on Christmas Eve she'd swapped houses and was spending the rest of her visit with her father. Beca hadn't spent Christmas (of frankly any holiday for that matter) with her dad ever since she was eight and he'd walked out of her life. It had been another five years until Beca had even heard from the man. While Beca and her mother had torn it up in New York for that first half-decade after the divorce, her father was busy starting over with his new wife. Imagine Beca's surprise when she was presented with not only a step-sister who was seven years old but also a half-brother who was four and a half-sister who was a year and a half old when she saw her dad for the first time in five years.
It was another year and a half before she'd even speak to him again. She could tell that her father had his new shiny family and didn't need her. But when Beca's mother got an amazing job offer that just couldn't be turned down that had the two of them packing up and relocating back to Georgia, she didn't have quite as many excuses not to see her father or her half-siblings anymore. She didn't let that deter her. Still doesn't, as a matter of fact.
"What're you thinking about?" a deep voice broke through Beca's reminiscing. Beca looked up coolly, no one back at TSR has heard of knocking so she's not even fazed by someone startling her anymore, and saw her father with his own cup of coffee. Beca shrugged and contemplated not even answering but that seemed rather counterproductive since their relationship was finally at a cordial enough place that she doesn't jump to her defenses in an instant and he longer calls her career a hobby.
"Just how we ended up here, you know?"
"In the kitchen?" Dr. Mitchell joked as he moved to pour a second cup of coffee and Beca rolled her eyes at her dorky father. "Any day in particular?"
"Not really," Beca admitted truthfully. Internally she couldn't help but marvel that all if took for her and her father to get on better terms was for her to move across the country. Who knew? The two Mitchells sat in silence as they listened to the muffled sounds of the TV in the living room. Beca Mitchell took this time to just reflect, an action always made easier when coffee was around.
Warren Mitchell took this time to appraise his daughter. She looked good. A lot better than Warren ever actually remembered her looking, at least in his presence. She'd eased off that forsaken eyeliner and had relaxed somewhat since he'd last seen her. Sure they'd talked on the phone, but mostly they ended up swapping pleasantries and conversations stayed centered about work. Dr. Mitchell could gladly say he had never been happier to be proven wrong then when his daughter found a way to make money doing what she loved. The fact that she actually made more money than Warren did as a tenured English professor when she was only twenty was just icing on the cake.
Beca was healthy, happy, successful, and loving life out in Los Angeles. Warren Mitchell couldn't ask for more for his baby girl. He'd probably never tell her that he still called her that in his head, it'd be awful for her so called 'badass' image, but it was true. Warren loved Hannah and Paul and he loved Taylor as if she was his own daughter. But he also loved Beca. He just had a hell of a harder time expressing it. It seemed to be a hereditary thing.
"Good morning," both the Mitchells nodded in greeting to Dr. Mitchell's wife as she came in and took Warren's proffered coffee mug. While Beca and Shelia would never be best friends, they could at least now stay in the same room without biting each other's heads off, a feat that made Dr. Mitchell's life a hell of a lot easier. "Do you have any plans today?" the blond professor directed the question at her estranged step daughter.
"Yeah," Beca nodded as she took an almost dainty sip of her drink. "Jesse came back in from Florida last night and I was planning on spending the day with him." Both Shelia and Warren nodded and requested that she send on their greetings to him, to which Beca agreed. A quick glance at the clock had Beca excusing herself and preparing to drive back into the mouth of the giant. College.
Jesse Swanson was literally bouncing up and down in excitement. It had been too damn long since he'd seen one of his best friends and he honestly could not wait. When Jesse heard that Beca was back in town, even it if was just for a day, he had nearly shrieked in eagerness. It was a very manly shriek, though, so it was okay, no loss of man points there.
When he saw the familiar name show up on his cell phone screen and Beca's voice telling him that she was outside his apartment building, he'd once again given his manly shriek. It was so very manly (don't let Benji tell you differently), thank you very much. Jesse had had to remind Benji on more than one occasion and still his roommate didn't believe him. Oh Benji, so little trust, so little time. Jesse's somewhat delusional internal musings were interrupted by a loud triple knock on the door that had the warped wood rattling on its hinges. Jesse grinned widely and flew across the floor to yank open the door. Standing there before him was a girl he'd missed immensely.
"Becaw!" he crowed joyously and moved to swamp the shorter girl into a lung-crushing hug.
Beca laughed as best she could seeing as her lung-capacity was currently being severely limited and she wheezed out, "Hey Jess! Didja miss me or something?" Jesse didn't dignify that with a response and just squeezed the mini DJ even tighter. "Oxygen, man," Beca coughed, only half joking.
Jesse gave her one last over-exaggerated squeeze before setting the pint size DJ on the ground to give her the 'I haven't seen your face in over six months' once over. Beca certainly hadn't changed a whole lot since Jesse had flown out to LA this past summer for an internship on a movie set.
Her brown hair still fell past her shoulders in lazy curls and she was wearing a grey beanie to ward off the nip in the air. She still wore the same dark eyeliner and the signature smirk, Jesse didn't know what he'd do if he ever saw her in anything else. Probably accuse her of being an imposter and call the police. However, Beca had decided to forgo her traditional plaid shirt and tank top and instead gone with a grey and purple striped sweater and a wrapped scarf underneath a leather jacket. Her skinny jeans were tucked into knee length high-heeled boots which brought her up to Jesse's eye level instead of her normal shoulder height.
"So what's up buttercup?" Jesse asked expectantly as he slipped into his jacket, his keys and wallet already in his pockets, and slammed the door behind him.
Beca's face twisted into a grimace at the god awful nickname and she said, "Not much. I just got signed to work a duet with Usher." Jesse's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped open. "As in you and Usher singing together?" he asked, well more like sputtered.
Beca shook her head as she and Jesse walked over to her car, unlocking it as they went. "I'm producing this one, not recording. And I'm not even the main producer."
"But you're still getting paid to work on a track with Usher?" Jesse demanded eagerly and Beca nodded, a small grin working its way onto her face. "Becaw!" Jesse shouted, grabbing Beca for another hug, adding in a dramatic swing around for good measure. Beca laughed, the sound carefree and ringing, before hitting Jesse's arm slightly and demanded to be put back down on the ground. "This is amazing!"
"Yeah," Beca said with the grin still in place.
"How long have you been working on the production end of things?" Jesse asked curiously as he got into Beca's rental car. The last time he'd asked, all Beca would divulge was that she was on the payroll of one of the newest and most explosive recording corporations on the west coast as a club DJ.
Beca turned on the car and started pulling out of the parking lot of Jesse's apartment complex before she answered, "I met Sid at that party six months after I moved out to LA, so it's been like a year and a half in production?" Her nose scrunched up ever so slightly as she tried to quickly do the mental math.
"Wait, you met your boss at a party?"
"Sid's not my boss," Beca protested, her nose wrinkling again at the mere thought.
"Close enough," Jesse said with a flippant wave of his hand. "And stop avoiding the question."
Beca rolled her eyes but she answered anyway, "It was a corporate Fourth of July cookout, but the way that Manny parties, it may of well had been spring break down in Cabo."
"Have you spent spring break in Cabo to compare?" Jesse asked teasingly, but when Beca didn't answer, he got curious. "Have you?" Beca didn't answer; she merely let her face twist into a coy smirk. "Have you!"
"Anyway," Beca drew the word out tauntingly. "Sid and I pretty much hit it off and we stayed in touch after the party. Somehow he got word that I did all of my own stuff on my tracks and he all but forced me to work on a song after one of his other producers got pregnant and suddenly went into labor. It was fun, the song turned out well, and I've been working in production ever since."
"Unbelievable," Jesse breathed. "You're a producer and an artist at one of the most up-and-coming recording companies in the United States. You're doing double duty. You're double dipping." Beca merely laughed.
The two of them exchanged easy and light conversation as they drove in and through campus. Presently they pulled up to a small diner on the far outskirts of BU's campus that they used to frequent all the time as freshman seeing as it was just a five minute walk from the radio station. In fact, it was from here that Jesse had purchased practically never ending burgers for Luke the suspiciously British senior. Hopefully they'd get some privacy out here.
In the corner booth, Lily looked up from the small lighter she was clicking on and off, the flame appearing and vanishing. Huh. Beca was back. Lily mumbled something that had anyone been listening would have them flinching and backing away slowly. As it was, Lily just returned to trying to set the laminated menus on fire without the restaurant staff catching her at it. Again.
"So how's life been out in LA?" Jesse asked as the waiter walked away, their orders having already been taken.
"Eh, it's pretty good," Beca said off-handishly. Jesse didn't dignify that with a response, he just quirked his eyebrow in disbelief. Beca's smirk broke out into a full on grin and she said with conviction, "It's great Jess."
Jesse grinned again. "So when are you releasing your next single, you know your stuff, not someone else's?"
"Don't know," Beca said with a shrug as she sipped at her soda, much like she had done with Manny two years ago in a café in Los Angeles. "My last couple of singles have done pretty well but right now I just want to focus on getting back to the people, you know? I've been performing in more clubs all across the country and it feels good to remember how I got started."
"What are your songs called?" Jesse asked curiously as he took a hearty sip of his own drink. Beca was just about to find a way to redirect the question when the waitress came back and carelessly placed the two's orders in front of them. Jesse and Beca shared a look before wordlessly swapping entrees. The waitress rolled her eyes and snapped her gum before walking away.
Beca waited until the woman was a good distance away before turning her attention to the burger in front of her. She wasted absolutely no time in slathering her patty in ketchup and then the fries got the same treatment. As the two old friends tucked into some of the best burgers in Georgia, they sat in a comfortable silence.
It was quite some time before Jesse remembered that Beca had never actually answered his question. "So what did you say your last song was called?"
"I didn't," Beca mumbled sheepishly. "But the last one was 'You Look Better When I'm Drunk'." The sip of Sprite that Jesse was currently in the process of swallowing soon got sprayed all over Beca. She blinked several times, her lips pursed in agitation, and she slowly and deliberately wiped her face off with a napkin. Jesse coughed painfully several times and pounded on his chest multiple times in a vain effort to get the fluid from his lungs.
"Are you serious?" he was finally able to cough and hack out.
Beca rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, Jess. I'm serious. Why the hell would I lie to you?"
"I don't know! You get some sort of perverse joy in getting my hopes up only to crush them cruelly in about seven seconds?"
"Not quite Jesse," Beca said with a smirk. "Although I do enjoy watching you squirm."
"Well aren't you just a delight," Jesse said drily. "Wait, I thought 'You Look Better When I'm Drunk' was a CC Hale song?"
"Yup," Beca said softly.
"And you weren't just the producer on that or something?"
"Nope."
"So you sang CC Hale's newest hit song?"
"Yup."
"But she got all the credit?"
"Not quite…" There was a sort of stunned pause as Jesse slowly started putting all the pieces together.
"Beca, please tell you're not one of the newest, hottest artists that just released two Top 40 songs, who has an album due out in a month and a half, and recently won a Grammy."
"Okay. I am not one of the newest and hottest artists, I didn't just release two Top 40 songs, I don't have an album due out in a month and a half, and I didn't just win a Grammy."
"Beca did you just lie to me?"
"Through my teeth."
"Holy shit!" Jesse exclaimed loudly, completely ignoring all the looks that the diner's patrons and employees gave him. "Holy fucking shit!"
"Keep your voice down, would you?" Beca shushed the boy and looked around inconspicuously. Fortunately, the dirty looks had abated, and the two went back to being ignored.
"Holy fucking shit," Jesse whispered reverently. "I know a celebrity. I know a fucking a celebrity. You're a fucking celebrity!"
"Yes, yes, thank you," Beca said impatiently. "I wasn't aware."
Jesse at least had the decency to look bashful and he mumbled, "Sorry. I sort of lost my cool there for a second."
Beca snorted and shot back, "Can't lose what you didn't have."
"Ouch," Jesse winced. "Okay, I might have deserved that one."
"Might have?" Beca asked questioningly.
Jesse stuck out his tongue at her and acquiesced, "Alright, definitely. No need to get sassy about it." Beca rolled her eyes and the two went back to the easy and comfortable bickering, Jesse questioning Beca nonstop about CC Hale. Beca paid the bill without even batting an eye and refusing to let Jesse even look at the receipt. As they were leaving the restaurant, bumping shoulders and shooting insults and barbs at each other, they ran into a figure.
"Oh, sorry," the girl said sincerely.
"It's fine," Beca said quickly in an attempt to move all this along and leave before she was recognized. That plan was all but shot to hell when the girl's eyes lockd onto Jesse. The girl's slight blush when she saw Jesse and the glare she sent Beca's way hadn't escaped Beca's notice. It also hadn't escaped her gaze that Jesse stiffened slightly and shuffled awkwardly on his feet.
"Oh, hey Jesse!" the girl said brightly.
"Hey Marie," Jesse said, his voice cracking slightly at the end.
Beca smirked before touching Jesse's shoulder in as dainty a manner as possible. "Sweetie," she said in a sickeningly high-pitched voice. "We need to go or we're going to miss the movies."
"What?" Jesse was very, very confused. However, he saw Beca shoot him a wink from behind her dark-tinted aviators and he decided to hell with it. "Right, sorry dear," he shot back at her with a smirk of his own. The girl, Marie, watched the interaction with a crushed look on her face as Jesse and Beca walked away, arms interlocked with each other. When they got a sufficient enough distance away, Jesse dropped Beca's arm like it was made of hot iron.
"What the hell was that for?" he demanded angrily.
"You like her, right?" Beca asked pointedly, wiggling her eyebrows dramatically. Jesse blushed and shuffled his feet and Beca had her answer. "Well I was just helping out a friend."
"How?" Jesse asked incredulously. "Now she thinks I've got a girlfriend."
Beca quirked an eyebrow and sighed at Jesse's denseness. "She's in the Bellas, right?"
Jesse's eyes widened in surprise and he said, "Yeah, she is. How did you know?" Beca rolled her eyes.
"She was wearing a white sweatshirt with a giant, big-ass blue 'B' on the front. It doesn't exactly take a genius to put the clues together, Einstein."
Jesse shot her a glare and he asked, "Alright, so the girl I'm crushing on is in the Bellas. What does that matter if I'm now apparently dating you?"
"Well you and I are going to have a heart-wrenching break up today after the movies and you are going to the Bellas' Traditional Christmas Party and you are going to put on your very best kicked puppy look." Jesse was about to shoot back a haughty reply when he stopped and thought about it for a second. It was actually a pretty good plan. He really, really didn't want to say that out loud however, although judging by the look on Beca's face, she already knew.
"Shut up," Jesse grumbled and Beca smirked victoriously.
"Now let's go nerd," Beca said, tucking her hands easily into her pockets and walking away.
"Hey, wait up!" Jesse called out and he jogged after her, catching up quickly. "Do you think we could swing by the Science building? I've got to ask a professor a really quick question."
"Yeah, sure," Beca said with a shrug and the two started the walk across the quad, for once just walking in companionable silence. As they walked, they passed a surprisingly large number of students in the open-spaced quad. Beca didn't recognize any of them, though halfway through she stopped bothering to try and pick anyone out in the sea of unfamiliar faces. She just bobbed and weaved her way behind Jesse. As she was just ducking past an abnormally muscled boy whose biceps looked like someone had stuffed them with cantaloupes, she accidently brushed against another body.
"Sorry," Beca said swiftly, not bothering to turn her attention to the person she'd bumped into. She quickened her pace and soon caught up to Jesse and the two of them entered the Science Building.
One of the freshman Bellas and self-proclaimed Mini-Stacie, Prada Jones, spun around on her heel, following the hottie that had bumped into her closely as she walked away. "Damn," she said appreciatively, her eyes fixed firmly on the girl's backside. "That is one hot piece of ass."
"Keep it in your pants whore," Cynthia-Rose said with a laugh, her arm wrapped comfortably around her girlfriend's waist. Prada said nothing, just kept on staring and gave her lips a slight lick. Cynthia-Rose turned to catch a glimpse of the girl that Prada couldn't seem to take her eyes off and said, "But you are definitely right." The younger Bella gave the figure one last appreciative glance before hurrying off to catch up with the two older girls.
Beca leaned comfortably against the wall outside the Biology professor's office, waiting as patiently as she could, though she'd been cramped up on the wall for twenty minutes. As she slouched and shifted, flicking through several emails that had popped up in her inbox, someone slid next to her. Beca looked up with a slightly quirked eyebrow, expecting to see Jesse with his shit-eating grin. Instead she came face to face with another, all together to familiar, girl.
"Hey," she said in what Beca could describe as a sultry voice. As it was, Beca could only wonder when the hell Jesse was going to get done. Because she needed to be out of this building as of yesterday "What's your name?" the girl, however, was not to be deterred by Beca's silence.
Beca couldn't help but exhale in relief. Thank god she'd had the foresight to cover up as many of her distinctive features as she could. The long sleeved, distinctly not plaid shirt covered the tattoos on her forearms. The beanie covered up all of her ear piercings. Her aviator sunglasses which she was still wearing even in the dim lighting of the hallway covered her unique navy blue eyes. Unless someone knew exactly who they were looking for, they'd never connect Beca with… well… Beca.
Beca shot the girl a look and lied effortlessly, "Hayley. Why?"
The girl fluttered her eyelashes and said, "I like knowing the name of the prettiest girl in the room."
Beca quirked an eyebrow and pointed out drily, "You do realize we're in a hallway, right?"
"Fine, hottest in the hallway," the girl amended with a shrug. She shifted slightly and moved to stick her hand out for a handshake. "Stacie," she introduced herself when Beca cautiously gripped her hand.
"Riiiiight," Beca drew the word out and looked around awkwardly.
Fortunately, Jesse emerged from the office, shouting a jovial, "Thanks a lot Dr. Terwilliger!" over his shoulder. Beca straightened up quickly and shot Jesse a hepless look with a pointed glance backwards.
"Come on hon," Jesse said, immediately wrapping an arm around Beca's waist and pulling her flush against his side.
"Thanks," Beca breathed and let Jesse all but drag her away from the girl still standing defiantly in the hallway, blatantly staring at the two as they exited the building. As soon as they were outside, the two friends started cracking up, their sides heaving up and down in time with their laughter.
"Dude, she was eyeing you like a piece of meat!" Jesse exclaimed in between snickers.
Beca laughed along with him and said, "You're telling me. I was afraid I was going to need that rape whistle from freshman year." That started a whole new round of giggles and the few people passing by shot them odd looks that were promptly ignored.
"Now let's go!" Jesse proclaimed when he could breathe normally again, his hand thrown dramatically in the air.
Beca regarded her friend with a sort of amused exasperation as she asked, "Where exactly are we going?"
"It's movie night!" Jesse declared excitedly, and he grabbed a hold of Beca's arm before she could let go. He started dragging the much smaller girl behind him as he made his way back to where the car was parked.
"Wait, Jesse," Beca protested as she squirmed and wriggled in a vain attempt to get Jesse to let go of her. However, his grip was unyielding and she was left shouting, "Jesse!" as she was pulled across the quad.
Fat Amy glanced up to see the captain of the Treblemakers dragging a smaller figure behind him via a strong grip on the girl's forearm. Huh. Odd. Amy hadn't pegged the Treble as a gang-banger. Should she stop him or say something. Eh… better not.
"Flat butts," Fat Amy muttered with a bewildered shake of her head as she returned her attention to her newest boyfriend who was sobbing at her feet. Sheesh, the way these Americans sobbed you'd think they'd never been dumped before.
"So when do you leave?" Jesse asked through a yawn as the end credits of Breakfast Club started scrolling. As he shifted on his couch (having an apartment instead of a dorm was SOOOOO nice), he couldn't help but draw parallels from when he and Beca were sitting on her cramped sofa bed over two years ago and he'd asked the same question.
Beca stretched and yawned widely as she responded drowsily, "Tomorrow, flight leaves at five in the morning."
"Why the hell is it that early?"
Beca cracked a smirk at that and explained, "I want to get back to LA as soon as possible. If I sleep on the plane tomorrow, I can still get back in time to put in a couple hours at the studio."
"Ew, work," Jesse comically wrinkled his nose and flopped on a pillow. Beca rolled her eyes and stood up to leave.
Jesse groaned at the prospect of moving, but nonetheless stood up stiffly to wrap Beca up in yet another hug. "Have a safe flight, call me when the chaos starts up, and get me a signed picture of Usher, would you?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Beca mumbled into Jesse's shoulder as she gave him a quick squeeze. "Now let me go."
Jesse released his grip on Beca's shoulders and walked her to the door. As she was about to leave, Beca suddenly turned around and asked, "Are you still thinking about trying to get out to LA after school?"
"Yeah," Jesse responded despite his confusion at the change in conversion. "But I don't know if it's going to happen. Trying to find housing and shit out there is just a pain in the ass."
That must've been the answer Beca was looking for because she smirked mischievously. "You know I've got a spare room right?"
Jesse brightened up, immediately picking up what his friend was hinting at. "Are you serious?" he demanded. "I thought you were still in the TSR sponsored housing."
Beca shook her head and admitted, "I moved out of that apartment almost a year ago Jess."
Jesse's mouth spread into a wide grin and he said cockily, "So you wanna be my roomie?"
"Technically wouldn't you be MY roomie?"
"Shush."
Beca laughed and said, "Yeah, sure. I mean it makes sense. You need a place to stay until you get up on your feet and I've got the space."
"Becs you are literally the best person in the world."
Beca shrugged and said, "Well I do try. I'll email with you details later if you want."
"Yes," Jesse's head was nodding up and down so fast that Beca was shocked he didn't give himself whiplash. "God yes."
"Alright then," Beca said with a chuckle. "I'll see you later then dork."
"Bye nerd," Jesse shot back and the two parted ways, Beca heading back to her father's house to pack and then drive up to the airport in the wee hours of the morning and Jesse to do a paper that he'd procrastinated horribly on. None to surprisingly, both were looking forward to a year and a half from now.
Get a life – get a grip
Get away somewhere, take a trip
Take a break – take control
Take advice from someone you know
Come on over – come on in
Pull up a seat – take a load off your feet
Come on over – come on in
You can unwind – take a load off your mind
So yeah, that just happened. We're finally starting to gain some traction now, speeding up a little bit. Are you all excited, 'cause next chapter we're gonna have some fun shit going down.
On a side note, I didn't forget the letter Beca wrote the Bellas. That'll resurface later.
Goal for you all, 90 reviews total. Okay. GO!