He was waking up at home, in his bed. He knew this because there was a shaggy weight on his chest, and his sister's dog Ginger often liked to crawl into his bed and park her shaggy butt on him while he was sleeping. Her hair sometimes tickled his nose, and her shallow snuffy breaths were what usually woke him up. Also, he could smell coffee and pancakes, and hear oldies playing on the kitchen radio.

Wait, scratch that. He could smell ramen and burnt popcorn, and he could hear a bow-chica-wow-wow soundtrack playing.

Which meant he was not at home, but in his dorm. Which also meant Ginger was not sleeping on his chest, but –

Beca.

He dragged his eyes open and attempted to still every other part of his body, save his breathing. Glancing at the clock, he could tell it was just after 11 a.m., and it was Sunday. He did a mental inventory of what was going on in his bed.

Sometime during the early morning hours of their sleeping, Beca had decided to treat him like a body pillow; her head was on his chest, hair splayed out over his arm. Her right leg was thrown over his, and tucked between his two, toes pressed against his calf where his pants had ridden up. Her right arm was across his torso, clutching his t-shirt. In all, he found it incredibly adorable that she had cuddled up to anything like she was doing to him.

For his own part, his right arm had apparently found its way around her, holding her onto him with a hand that had very naturally settled under the hem of her shirt. It was currently residing on her lower back-slash-rear end, and he wisely moved it on top of the shirt, pulling the material down slightly. Now that he was coming to, he was also aware of his very masculine innate response to having a sleeping female that he was strongly attracted to pressed up against him for all hours. He shifted slightly, trying to think of the Queen or something to pull his disobedient hormones into check before Beca awoke.

He wished he could see her face, and her expression as she slept, but instead he looked down at the top of her head, and listened to her deep, meditative breaths. He gloried in the intimate feel of her body pressed against his with just layers of thin cotton between them, and he counted the minutes until she started to stir, his fingers rubbing slow circles on her back.

First it was her leg that slid along his skin as she stretched. She took a deep inhale and sighed out, arching her back a bit as she snuggled in deeper to his chest. He then heard a sharp inhale, and felt her entire body go taut. He counteracted by tightening the arm that was holding her, and putting his other arm along hers to hold her in place.

"Before you freak out, can I just say something?" Jesse said. Silence met him; she was not acknowledging she was awake yet, so he spoke to the crown of her head.

"Okay. Yes, we are apparently lying here in what would appear to be an odd position. But nothing happened; we were just sleeping. And sometimes, it's nice to just hold on to another person. And our bodies know we need that, and that we trust each other, right," Jesse rambled, hoping to find some conclusion soon, "And that's probably why they did it. Don't overthink it. It's nice, right? Just let yourself relax – you were relaxed a second ago. Is this really so awful?"

Beca sighed as she released a fraction of the tension in her muscles. She did not look up at him, but asked, "How's that psych 101 working out for you?"

"Pretty good so far, we'll see how long this lasts," he said.

She snorts and moves her hand to rest over his heart, and he almost feels it stop. He slowly pulls both arms around her fully and tightens. She never lets him hug her, not really a real hug. Only a side hug, or an around-the-neck from behind hug. He is memorizing the shape of her in his arms. That is the exact moment when he realizes, he loves this girl so much.

It's not just affection, or attraction, or whatever he thought it was. It's love. He is amazed by her, he cares about what she cares about, and what she wants, and what she thinks. He wants to be around her all the time and make her laugh and support her when she needs it. He wants to hold her like this, and he thinks about forever.

During this musing, Beca tilts her head back to look up at him, and it breaks his reverie, but adds to his newfound discovery. Beca looking up at him from his chest, from his bed. He is geeking out.

She smiles a little shyly, a blush blooming on her cheek. "Hey," she manages, her eyes bouncing between his eyes and his mouth.

"Hey," he says, because what else is there to say in this perfect moment? The deep blue-grey of her eyes is searching, diving down into his soul. She repositions a little, turning to prop her chin on her hands stacked on his chest, and looking him square in the face. "Sorry I molested you in my sleep," she said, a teasing glint starting up in those eyes.

He broke his hold on her, putting his left arm behind his head to prop himself up more as well. "I can take it. Didn't I tell you it would only be a matter of time before you got all squiddy and draped yourself all over me?"

Apparently, the reminder that he was a Treble and she, a Bella, was not the perfect thing to say right then. Awesome move, Swanson.

Her face fell minutely, her eyes cutting to the right.

"Don't freak out," he said, his anxiety evident even to himself in his voice.

"Jesse…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm starting to freak out."

"Beca," he started to try his rationalizing speech again, rubbing a hand across her back.

"Ohmigod, I don't have pants on!" she realized, sitting up.

"And, now you're officially freaking out," he said, releasing her as she jumped out of the bed and scurried over to her pile of clothes on the floor. She whipped her pants up her legs (boy shorts! she was wearing boy short underwear!) as he sat up. She picked up her bra, staring at it in complete horror. She turned her eyes on him.

"You did that," he said, pointing to her hand. "I take no responsibility."

She folded it in half, brutally shoving it in her back pocket. She was gathering up the pool of t-shirt surrounding her and twisting it into a knot at her belly, zipping and snapping her pants smartly. "Keys, keys," she started mumbling, patting her pockets.

"They're in your coat. Beca, would you just calm down? Nothing happened!" Jesse was starting to feel like a huge fungus that she could not wait to be at least 50 yards from, the way she was reacting. "Am I THAT awful to wake up next to?"

She halted in her movements and looked right at him sharply, her face immediately penitent at his hurt tone. "No, that's not it. You're - ," she said, looking completely at a loss as to what she should, or could, say. "Jesse, you're the most confident person I've ever met. You know you're great. But I'm not, I mean, I can't –" and she gestured to his bed pathetically, looking around helplessly, and his heart sank slightly. But he would not be him if he didn't soldier on.

"Is this because of the oath?" He said, causing her to throw another shocked face his way. "Yeah, I know about it. You forgot I live with the Keith Burns of acapella here. And honestly, Beca, if you're letting a little rule get in your way, you're not the girl I thought you were."

She ignored the jab. "Yeah, the oath. I already told Aubrey to suck it," She grabbed her jacket off the floor and rapidly riffled through the pockets.

"Okay, then what's the problem? C'mon Bec, don't tell me we don't work."

Her riffling slowed and turned contemplative; he took advantage of the opening.

"We have fun, right? I'm hilarious, you love it. We work well together, and not just at the station," he slid off the bed and took a step, holding out his hands in desperation. "Beca," and he waited until she looked up, "I really care about you."

Her hand finally closed on her keys and pulled them out of her jacket, a piece of paper fluttering to the floor.

"Hey, don't lose that. Those are some wise words there," he said, reaching down to pick up the fortune from the night before, holding it out to her.

A pleasant surprise is waiting for you.

She stared down at it as if it was going to literally snap out and bite her.

"I was right last night, right? Karaoke was a pleasant surprise. What if I'm right, right now?" He asked.

She looked up at him slowly, the fear in her eyes slowly dissolving, replaced by a slightly hysterical laugh, and, as he waited it out, by the fond warmth he sometimes saw when he caught her looking at him when she thought he didn't know. She heaved a huge sigh, and dropped the hand holding her keys and the other holding her jacket down to her sides. His heart was in his throat as he waited for what was next.

"Oh, fuck it," she said, dropping her things and lunging for him in one motion, her arms closing around his neck as he grabbed her around the waist and lifted. Their lips met in a frantic smash, the intensity of the moment pulling their bodies together like magnets. Beca's hands were in his hair, and he never could have imagined it would feel this good to hold her, and this unbelievable to kiss her. His lips sought hers over and over again, and he felt her sigh against him. He was so focused on the moment, he didn't hear the keys in his lock.

"Uh, Jesse?"

Damn that Benji and his eagerness to return to campus. Damn his social ineptitude, that he didn't just quietly close the door and disappear for another hour.

Jesse opened his eyes at Beca's absence from his lips, looking down at her. "Uh," she said, slightly releasing her hold on his neck. He released her and let her feet fall flat against the floor.

"Oh, hey Beca! I didn't see you there," Benji said cheerily, dragging his laundry bag into the room and slinging it across the floor. He leaned back out in the hallway for the rest of his stuff.

"Yeah," she says, eyes targeting her boots and then darting back to Jesse's. "And, I'm out," she said, throwing his words back at him from the other week. Her body was definitely craving a release from this anxious situation, but he could see some humor in her eyes as well. It wasn't totally a lost cause.

Jesse reached down for her keys and jacket, handing them to her after she shoved her feet in her boots, stomping a bit to get them fully on. They both turned their focus to the door when they heard a clanging, only to see Benji trying to get through the opening with a large wooden box that had sword handles sticking out of it in various directions. Eventually he fit it through on an angle and practically fell as he dropped it inside the room.

"You guys want to see my new trick?" Benji asked, eagerly. "I'm expanding from close-up magic."

"Um, why don't you show Jesse and I'll see it next time, if you both survive," Beca replied, glancing at Jesse with laughing eyes. She edged toward the door, pulling her jacket on and closing it over the Trebles shirt. Jesse trailed after her, as if he didn't want to let the connection they had established be cut.

"Better button that up," he said, leaning against the door frame as she headed down the hallway. "Don't want to get accused of a walk of shame."

Beca turned and walked backwards, trying to keep the grin off her face. "Oh, I'm not ashamed," she said. "I'm rather pleasantly surprised, actually." And she turned and headed off.

"Watch those swords, nerd," she called over her shoulder. "I like most of your parts where they are."

The grin that erupted on Jesse's face was interrupted only by the sound of a dragging metal and he remembered his earlier aggravation.

"Benji!" he exclaimed as he walked back into the room, closing the door behind him. "We need to talk."

I am going to keep this pretty much on canon with the movie, just a slight deviation here, and perhaps the next chapter...but I think these could have plausibly happened in the movie and not diverted the storyline too much. Thanks for your reviews, even the guests that I can't reply to! Hopefully you are enjoying their interactions!