AN: So, it's 3am where I am, but here I am because I felt really mean not giving you a quick update. I'm really glad you liked the first chapter and I apologize that it was such a sad start to the story but this one's better (I hope). So, enjoy (:
Disclaimer: Only the plot's mine, sadly. The characters and the movie are NOT. (Though I wouldn't mind having a Jesse all to myself)
Bobby pin: A flat wire hairpin whose prongs press tightly together; used to hold bobbed hair in place.
"Shawshank! I'm home!" Amy chanted when she entered the apartment she shared with Beca.
Beca didn't respond and Amy frowned. She put the box of Donkin Donuts she bought on her way home –as a brunch– on the table and went to Beca's room and to no one's surprise, the door was closed.
Amy frowned, once again, because maybe Beca was still sleeping but she shrugged it off and knocked on her door loudly and repeatedly.
"Up, up, up, flazy butt!" She smirked to herself because she liked combining words, like flat and lazy, per example. "I got us a delicious and nutritious brunch!"
But even then, Beca didn't answer and Amy thought: 'Fuck it, I'm going in'.
She opened the door and without even checking if Beca was actually there, she starting talking as loudly as she could, alternating her stare between the ceiling and the floor.
"I would cover my eyes to avoid seeing your bare ass, but thinking about it, there's nothing to worry about because you're as flat as a runway model and nobody even flinches when they're shaking their miseries on the runway!".
Amy finally paid attention and realized Beca wasn't there. She then went to her own room and found Beca rummaging through her stuff.
"Sneaky Shawshank. What d'you think you're doing?" Beca then turned around and gave Amy a tiny, mischievous smirk, before continuing her 'inspection', as she liked to call it.
"I'm gonna borrow a few bobby pins, if that's ok". The petit brunette said without turning around to see Amy, who was sort of petrified, because, well… Since Beca and Jesse broke up last winter, she hasn't been exactly the same.
Beca went back to being the old Beca, the freshman Beca who hid behind her bedroom dook and who did nothing else but mix music and sleep. Sometimes she decided to go to her classes, but even that wasn't a part of her routine. So yeah, Amy was surprised to see her out and about, asking to borrow some bobby pins.
"Got a hot date, I see. You go, sexy flat butt". Amy tried to crack a joke and make her smile but she realized her mistake right away.
"No dates, Amy. You know that". Beca said and her mood swing was more than obvious to Amy, who stood under the door frame awkwardly. "I'm going to turn in my application for an internship during spring break and I wanna look presentable enough".
Amy raised her eyebrows as she remembered hearing Jesse talk about an internship with Benji. Clearing things up, she wasn't eavesdropping, they just happened to be at the university's coffee shop where she happens to be working.
"Where at?" Amy asked, trying to not sound so interested but then realized her question was a bit vague. "The internship, I mean". She added.
"New York". Beca simply responded and Amy widened her eyes because now she was one hundred percent sure her friend and her ex-boyfriend –that she still had feelings for– were applying for the same thing.
Beca's voice took Amy out of her thoughts. "I need to submit my application and a demo to the offices they have downtown and I want to keep my hair out of my face… For once". Amy just looked at her with the best poker face she could pull off.
"Please, Amy?" Beca insisted.
"Meh. Nope. Sorry Shawshank. You'll have to find someone else. I've learned my lesson with you and bobby pins". The blonde girl walked over to where Beca was standing and took the pins from her hands. "I'll let you borrow them when you learn how to take proper care of these babies, right here".
Beca tried her best not to laugh at the image of her friend/roommate who was now pretending to coo the bobby pins.
"Ok, fine!" She gave in and Amy grinned in victory, which was really rare when the one you were having the discussion with was Beca Mitchell. "You're the most selfish aussie I know". And she walked towards the door, grabbing her application forms, her flashdrive and her bag.
"That's because I'm the only aussie you actually know!" Amy yelled back, still in her room, before she heard the door closing behind her friend.
"Benjamin! Donald! Which one of you dickheads took the flashdrive that was on the kitchen counter?!" Jesse yelled, standing in the middle of the apartment. His eyes looked like they were going to pop out and he waved his arms around as he 'spoke'.
None of his roommates bothered in answering the question that the anxious looking Jesse had thrown at them and thanks to this, he started tapping his foot non-stop, which was driving Donald a bit crazy and making Benji fear his best friend.
"Benji! Please tell me you weren't practicing magic tricks with my stuff again!" Jesse yelled again, but this time he did get an answer.
"Nope, mate. Not me. Sorry". Benji quickly said –a bit scared– as he got out of the bathroom and practically ran towards his own room.
Jesse just watched him pass by and sighed, but he didn't have time to say anything else when Donald got out of his own room and made his wave over to Jesse with a frown on his face.
You see, Donald didn't love the idea of getting out of bed on a Saturday, and he usually never did, but Jesse was getting on his nerves because since the godawful break up he was a handful of anxiousness and paranoia at its best.
Donald stood right in front of him, just looking at him with his angry frown.
"Well have you seen it?" Jesse asked.
"Stop yelling and go look for it in your room. Why would you leave that thing on the kitchen counter anyways". And then Donald went to grab a bottle of beer.
Jesse rolled his eyes but decided to actually do what Donald suggested.
He looked under his bed and found close to nothing and some dust. "Bobby pins". He muttered and sat on the floor, his back resting on the side of his bed. His thoughts shot straight to the origin of these bobby pins and that was a few months ago… When Beca and him were still together…
He decided to shake that thought out of his head, because he didn't really want to start crying and weeping, at least not now… Not today. He got up and went to search through his desk, next to the computer and on the drawers. And oh surprise, in the last drawer, there they were again: bobby pins.
"Damn it". He tried to ignore them again but as he kept looking through the last –and biggest– drawer, they kept appearing; multiplying… Just like germs or something of sorts.
He sighed, heavier and louder this time, and sat on his desktop chair and he decided it couldn't be that bad to just take a quick trip down memory lane. I mean, remembering good times has never hurt anyone, right?
Beca and Jesse were lying on his bed, late at night, after what they like to call 'an eventful night', because well, it was one of those nights where everyone got what they wanted: Jesse got her to watch whatever chessy movie he suggested and she, instead, got to make sweet sweet love to him afterwards.
It's not like Beca hated the movications, because she didn't –not that she'd ever admit that to Jesse– it was, actually, her favorite way of spending time with Jesse: cuddling on either her or his bed, eating junk food or take out and then cuddling some more until she fell asleep or the movie ended.
It was perfect and she loved cuddling with Jesse because she loved hearing the constant beat of his heart. Well, sometimes it wasn't constant but that was her fault because sometimes she liked to mess with him and plant butterfly kisses on his jaw line and then she stopped abruptly and resumed their innocent cuddling, which made him flustered and with an uneven heart rhythm.
"What are you thinking?" Jesse took her out of her train of thought. He was playing with her hair and he felt a bit prouder of himself when he analyzed her now messy braid.
"Nothing, really. Just that I kind of like cuddling and I feel like a stupid school girl for admitting that to you". She said and he smiled. His girlfriend was turning into a sucker for romance and he loved it.
"Look who's the sucker for romance now. Oh how the tables have turned". He joked, which earned him a soft punch on his stomach.
Jesse snuggled closer to Beca and rested his head on top of hers, taking in the faint scent of her lavender shampoo. Then Beca moved her head and the moment was ruined because something stabbed Jesse in the eye.
"Ow. Way to kill the mood, Bec". He complained, rubbing his eye. "Those things are lethal weapons, seriously".
Beca chocked down a laugh. "Sorry". She said before taking out all of her bobby pins and placing them on his night stand. "There. Fear no more, my dear".
"I don't know, I'm still injured, you know. You may have to kiss it away or something". Jesse said, eyeing Beca, who just rolled her eyes and resumed their little moment by plating little kisses all over his face, which made him shudder with happiness.
Jesse sighed and he wondered if he would ever feel that amount of happiness and joy ever again. He then noticed that his fist was clenched tightly around the bobby pins and he decided to put his thoughts into words, because, really, they deserved it right now and then wrote:
After we broke up
I still found traces of you
In my room for several months
And I've always since wondered
How on Earth could someone lose
that many Bobby Pins?
"Beca Mitchell?" The receptionist called out her name, and she stood up nervously. She straightened her clothes and took a couple of deep breaths.
She walked over to the lady who guided her to another room that was farther down the hallway. They stopped walking when they were in front of the last door.
"Okay, wait here until you hear someone call your name". And then the apparently kind woman took off to her spot behind a desk at the lobby.
Beca looked around the place: plenty of busy people, executive people. She felt out of place, she just wanted to get out of there and get the internship so she could start field work. She then heard voices from inside the cubicle where she was supposed to hand in her stuff.
"Please tell me we're done with these interns, I'm really tired and all of them are blah". A female voice said.
"Calm down, boss. Just two more to go and if it's worth it, I think these two are the keepers". This time, a man's voice made its way to Beca's ears which made her even more nervous.
"You better be right, Andy. You better be right".
Beca thought about it for a minute and hoped that the man –Andy, she presumed– was right about her and the other prospect and she also hoped that whoever it might be was chill enough to be around 24/7 for two entire weeks.
She then heard the door open and the man calling her. "Beca Mitchell?". She nodded. "Come in".
She obeyed.
Just afterwards, Jesse bursted into the building, agitated and trying to stabilize his breathing. He walked over to the front desk to where the woman who guided Beca was sitting.
"Hello, my name is Jesse Swanson. I'm here for the Internship at –". He was interrupted by the blonde who seemed to be in her almost forties and was obviously annoyed to be where she was.
"Down the hall, last door to your right. They are with another prospect right now but it shouldn't take long. Just wait there until they call your name". He nodded and followed her instructions.
His mind was racing, all thanks to the stupid sneaky flashdrive that seemed to be playing some sort of hide-and-seek round with him just when he needed to get out of his apartment and let's not forget about the fact that he also had to deal with the overwhelming amount of bobby pins scattered around his room that he never took notice of up until today. Another friendly reminder that he couldn't forget about Beca even if he wanted to. In fact, he was absentmindedly playing with a couple of those right now, because, guess what, he found another one on his jean's pocket.
He heard the door open next to him but decided not to look, because he didn't really want to see the face of his 'rival'. Might sound childish, but he preferred it that way; just not knowing a thing was easier.
He closed his eyes, trying to control his nerves and anxiety, and took a deep breath as well, but that didn't quite help when he smelled the lavender scent in the air around him. He shot his eyes open and looked to his left and he spotted her, her small frame and her light brown hair styled as a braid. He laughed and looked down shaking his head, because he really did feel sorry for himself; because he couldn't escape her.
Something caught his eye then, on the ground, yet another bobby pin. He facepalmed. Maybe it was a signal, you know? Maybe it was god's way of telling him that no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't stop running into Beca and wouldn't stop caring about her as well. Not that he wanted to stop, anyways.
"Jesse Swanson?" A man's voice dragged him back to reality.
"Yes". He answered.
"Come on in". Jesse smiled and just before he got in his phone buzzed with a text message.
Good luck with the internship. –B
And he couldn't help but grin at his phone before going inside.
Ta daaa! This is considerably longer and not as heavy on the sad part and I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully I'll give you an update on Monday (:
As always, thank YOU for the reviews/follows/favs, they make my day. Criticism is always welcomed and again, I'm truly sorry if there are really stupid grammatical errors, you can sue me for not having English as my first language.
'Til next update (: x