My Fake Husband

A Pitch Perfect Story

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar.

Song Recommendation: Marry You by Bruno Mars

Author's Note: This one is a little shorter than the other chapters, but I needed to end it where I did, so I will make it up later. To see the engagement ring, go to this website, but remember to remove the spaces! www. unique-wedding-rings wp-content/uploads/ Round-Black-Diamond- 14K-White-Gold-Ring. jpg

The following Monday, Beca and Jesse went shopping for the ring. The weekend before had been spent buying her entire wardrobe, a new bedroom set for her, and a bunch of other items that she had lost when the truck was stolen. Plus, they had to tell all of their friends that they were secretly dating for a year and had decided to move in together since Jesse's sublet was about up. To say that their friends were shocked would be an understatement, especially Chloe, who kept shrieking that she told them so. Beca and Jesse had agreed to keep the engagement a secret for awhile, because they didn't want to give everyone a heart attack or a reason to be suspicious of their relationship. They didn't know how many people immigration would want to talk to, and Bumper and Amy were completely schooled in their created back story, but they needed it to seem realistic to people like Chloe and Hat, so if they needed "proof" from them, then they would play it off like it made sense, because Jesse and Beca acted this way or looked at each other in this way, so they should have known all along.

While Beca was in the jewelry store picking out the ring that she wanted to wear, Jesse strolled through FYE, looking at the DVDs to add to his collection. He had about five rom-coms tucked under his arm, and he was looking at a display of horror movies when a song came on the radio station that they were playing that triggered an idea. They still hadn't figured out a way to tell their friends that they were engaged, but the song made him think that maybe he could "surprise" propose to her at their housewarming party that they were hosting about a month later on a Saturday. He put the movies that he was buying down on the floor between his feet and pulled out his phone, texting his plan to all of his friends. When he was finished texting, he returned to picking out movies, grinning to himself.

About fifteen minutes later, Jesse walked out FYE with about twenty movies in his bag, heading in the direction of the jewelry store. Beca had texted him, saying that she was finished and that it was his turn to go looking for a ring. He winked at her as he left, walking over to the pretty woman behind the counter. "Hi," she said, her eyes lighting up at the idea of making a sale.

"Hey, so my girlfriend just left a few moments ago. Her name was Beca. I don't know if she mentioned what we were doing here…"

"Oh, right!" The woman grinned. "I think that this is the cutest thing that you two are doing, picking out the rings, and then comparing them to see who picked out the ring that is more her. So, what do you get if you win this bet?" She said, leaning forward, leaning her chin on her hand.

"Well, she promised to be my slave for a month, so I have to win." He told the woman looking at the displays.

"Interesting," the woman purred suggestively, winking when he glanced back at her. "That should be fun for you if you won." He tried to not let the woman's suggestion get to him, but he couldn't help the blush that settled on his cheeks. "So, do you have any ideas about the ring you want to give her? Like the size of the cut, or the style?"

Jesse took a moment to picture Beca in his mind. He wanted to find a ring that really fit her. She was eclectic, different, unique. He wanted a ring that reflected that. He didn't want the classic style of ring. "Something different." The woman nodded. She pulled out a few trays of rings. He studied them, chewing on his lip. Some of them were different colored stones or had interesting designs, but none of them seemed like Beca to him. "Do you think I could just wonder around and look at all of the jewelry for now to see if something jumps out at me?" The woman nodded her head, and he could tell she was nervous that she would lose the sale. "I promise that I will come back to you when I am done." He assured her.

Jesse wondered around the displays, looking at the rings, necklaces, bracelets, watches, and earrings. He stopped next to a display when something caught his eye. He flagged the saleswoman that had been helping him over to him. "Did you see something you like?" She asked him, glancing down at the display. "Oh, these are just necklaces."

"Do you make custom rings?" He asked her, and she nodded her head.

"Yes, we do. Do you have an idea of what you would want?"

"Yeah, Beca isn't like most girls. Most people would probably be turned off by this idea for an engagement ring, but I think she would love it." He pointed to one of the necklaces. The woman's eyebrows rose.

"You want to give her a black diamond?"

"Yeah, Beca loves black. She wears a lot of it. She constantly has her nails painted black. She wears a lot of dark eye makeup. It's her thing. Did you see the scary ear spike? She is the definition of alternative and different." He smiled as he thought about her. "I think she would love a black diamond."

"Okay…if your sure." The woman grabbed a pad of paper and a pen. "How many diamonds? What kind of style? How big?" Jesse directed them back to the other ring displays to look around them.

"I was thinking one big round one in the center, you know. Nothing too obvious, if that makes sense. Like not that square one that could like poke someone's eye out." He said, pointing to a ring. He saw a ring that had a series of smaller diamonds along the band with one larger in the very center. "I like that idea. Like line the band with little black diamonds." He said, pointing to another ring. He looked around the rings, seeing that there was another ring that looked like two rings intersecting each other. That seemed like Beca's style to him, because she wore a couple of bracelets and rings that looked like they were tied and double-banded. "I want that style, too." He said, pointing to the ring. "With both of the bands lined with the little black diamonds."

"What if you did the large black diamond with a ring of smaller diamonds around it? Like this?" The woman sketched the ring with all of Jesse's ideas and her added idea. He grinned when he saw it, because it just stood out to him as being Beca.

"That's perfect." He said quietly. "That's Beca." He grinned at the woman. "Thank you. I want all black diamonds and white gold for the bands."

"Done." She wrote it down on the pad of paper. "For what it's worth, I hope she picks yours." The woman said. He hoped so, too. He put a lot of thought into the ring, trying to find something that seemed like her. Now there was more at stake than just winning the bet—he wanted to prove to her that he knew her. He pulled out his phone, texting her that he figured out her ring.

"How long would it take to make this if she picks it? We are throwing a party in a month, so I want to have it ready to surprise everyone."

"I can talk to the jeweler for you while you wait for her to arrive." He smiled, telling her the exact date of the party. The woman wondered off to the back with the sketch.

"Hey, nerd." Jesse turned when he heard Beca's voice behind him. She had a small box of Cinnabon cinnamon buns in her hands, and his mouth began watering, because he was starving. "You found a ring?" She said, eyes flashing. He could tell she was so sure she was going to win this bet, but he was so sure that he was going to win.

"Sort of."

"Sort of?" She said, cocking an eyebrow. She walked over to stand beside him. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked as she put the box down on the counter, crossing her arms. Her face looked victorious.

"I found a couple of rings that I liked, and I wanted to combine them."

"Wait, what?"

"It's a custom ring."

"Jess, you can't be serious! I thought we were picking out something small and stupid that was cubic zirconium or something, considering this is a sham wedding." She said quietly.

"Yeah, but you are going to be wearing this ring for two years. No one is going to believe that we love each other and are going to be married for the rest of our lives if it doesn't look like I actually put some effort into the ring. After we break up, you can give the ring back to me, and I will sell it. No harm, no foul."

"But, a custom ring is going to be expensive. And time consuming."

"Well, we aren't going to tell them that we are engaged until the party or after it, so it won't matter if the ring isn't ready until then." He could see that she was still uncomfortable with the idea.

"What does this ring look like?" He grinned.

"The woman helped me with a rough sketch. She is in the back talking to the jeweler." He told her. A few moments later, the woman returned, smiling.

"If this is the ring that you two agree on, he said that he could get it finished for you in about a month." The woman told them. She turned to face Beca. "You ready to see the ring that he picked out?" Beca bit her lip, looking from the saleswoman to Jesse. She nodded her head, and he rolled his eyes, pulling her against his side with an arm wrapped round her neck. "Here you go." She showed Beca the sketch.

Beca gasped at the drawing of the ring. "Black diamonds?" She said, turning to face him. He nodded his head. "I didn't even realize you could get black diamonds." She looked down at the ring, seeing that there were a lot of little diamonds and one big round diamond in the center. She saw that the intersecting design, and she ran her finger over the drawing. "I hate you." She muttered, crinkling her nose. "You were supposed to lose."

Jesse laughed, turning her to hug her. She pouted into his neck, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "So, I won then?"

"Unfortunately," she muttered, pulling away from him. "It's not fair." She muttered, which made him and the saleswoman chuckle.

A month later, Beca was standing at her party, still ring-less. Jesse had called the jeweler earlier that day, and apparently the ring would be finished a few days from then. It was probably better that the ring wasn't ready for the party, because they were still being harassed about not telling anyone that they were dating anyways, and it had been a month since they had told everyone. Chloe was still freaking out, her mouth running a mile a minute about how right she was. Out of the corner of her eye, Beca saw Jesse walk over to all of his friends, whisper something in their ears, before moving on to the next friend. She wondered what was going through his head, but she tried her best to remain focused on manning the music via her iPod and be berated by Chloe.

"Hey, Beca, do you think I could steal my wife for a moment?" Dean asked after he wondered over a few moments after Jesse whispered something in his ear. She narrowed her eyes for a moment before nodding her head. Dean grabbed Chloe's hand and pulled her away with him. Her eyes immediately traveled around the party to find Jesse. He was talking quietly to Bumper, who nodded his head and went to find Amy. Beca could tell that he was up to something, but she wasn't sure what it was. She watched Bumper say something to Amy, who shrugged before making her way to Beca.

"Hey, Flat Butt." The Australian woman said when she arrived.

"What's going on?" Beca asked her, crossing her arms.

"What do you mean?" She could tell that Amy wasn't lying when she said that she had no idea what was going on. "Bumper just asked me whether you and your special friend made any distinct plans about the you-know-what. I said I didn't know, but I would ask you about it. You guys do realize that time is running out, right?" Beca rolled her eyes. She grabbed Amy by the hand and pulled her towards a more secluded corner.

"We know. We didn't want to throw an engagement at everyone right away, especially after telling them that we were secretly dating for a year and now moving in together. My dad and step-mom are paying for the wedding, so I have been looking into possible locations that could be used for both the wedding and the reception. Jesse's Jewish, and I'm atheist, so I would prefer not to have it in a synagogue. I don't think he and I are even gonna have a rabbi do the wedding, but still the glass stomping thing. I dunno. We still have to talk about it."

"Okay, so you guys are remembering the time crunch, then." Amy said, eyes widening. "Considering these things take time."

"I know! I'm about to say that we just go to city hall, sign the paper, and then throw the wedding part later. But, we need the pictures, marriage license, et cetera for proof." Beca shrugged her shoulders. Suddenly, the music stopped playing, and she furrowed her brow in confusion. "What the hell? Excuse me…" She started to move past Amy when all of Jesse's friends from college began singing a cappella what appeared to be the instrumentals of a song. She froze, not knowing what the hell was going on. She glanced at Amy in confusion, and then Jesse began singing. She groaned when she realize what he was doing. She covered her face in embarrassment when everyone turned and looked at her.

"It's a beautiful night,
We're looking for something dumb to do
Hey, baby
I think I wanna marry you."

Beca dropped her hands, and she saw Jesse walking towards her with a huge grin on his face. She crossed her arms, glaring at him, shaking her head. She couldn't believe that he was doing this to her.

"Is it the look in your eyes?
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares, baby?
I think I wanna marry you."

He was about five feet from her now, and the entire room was deathly quiet. She could see Chloe practically hyperventilating across the room, held back by Dean, who was singing with his hands wrapped around the redhead's waist. Beca reached back to grab Amy's hand, gripping it tightly.

"Well I know this little chapel
On the boulevard; we can go
No one will know
Oh, come on, girl.

"Who cares if we're trashed
Got a pocket full of cash we can blow
Shots of patron
And it's on, girl."

As Jesse sang this verse of the song, he shook his drink; the ice and his bourbon clinked and swished around in the glass. Beca took a big sip of her own drink, trying her hardest not to punch him in the face for surprising her like this. She kind of figured if this were a real proposal, it would be seen as romantic, but it wasn't real, and he gave her no warning that this was going to happen. She hated him in that moment.

"Don't say no, no, no, no, no
Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
And we'll go, go, go, go, go
If you're ready, like I'm ready."

He could tell that she was pissed at him, and his eyebrows rose when he sang this part of the chorus, as if to subtly remind her that she had to say yes in front of their friends. She rolled her eyes, finally letting the smile slip onto her cheeks, because this shit was embarrassing to endure. She was going to kill him the moment everyone left the party.

"Cause, it's a beautiful night
We're looking for something dumb to do
Hey, baby
I think I wanna marry you

"Is it the look in your eyes?
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares, baby?
I think I wanna marry you

"I'll go get a ring
Let the choir bells sing, like oooh
So, whatcha wanna do?
Let's just run, girl."

As he sang this verse, he pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket, and her eyes widened. He lied when he said that the ring wasn't ready! He had this planned a hell of a lot longer than she realized. Her jaw dropped open, eyes wide. She raised a hand to cover her mouth.

"If we wake up and you wanna breakup
That's cool
No, I won't blame you
It was fun, girl."

He winked at that, because they were going to breakup eventually. She blew out a breath, digging her nails into her palms to keep from punching him. She was mortified right now.

"Don't say no, no, no, no, no
Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
And we'll go, go, go, go, go
If you're ready, like I'm ready

"Cause it's a beautiful night
We're looking for something dumb to do
Hey, baby
I think I wanna marry you

"Is it the look in your eyes?
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares, baby?
I think I wanna marry you

"Just say I do,
Tell me right now, baby
Tell me right now, baby, baby

"Just say I do,
Tell me right now, baby
Tell me right now, baby, baby

"Cause it's a beautiful night
We're looking for something dumb to do
Hey, baby
I think I wanna marry you

"Is it the look in your eyes?
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares, baby?
I think I wanna marry you."

As Jesse sang the last four lines of the song, he dropped to one knee, holding the closed black box up in front of her. Beca held back the desire to kick him in the balls. He grinned at her, and she shook her head, not wanting to look at him in that moment.

"Rebeca Charlotte Mitchell, will you marry me?" He pulled the top of the box up, revealing the ring that he had designed for her a month ago. It took her breath away when she finally laid her eyes on it. It was so pretty and so her. She stared at him for a moment. Fuck, she hated him.

"Yes." She literally had to force herself to say those words, and he could tell, because he looked like he was about to piss his pants over how much he was enjoying embarrassing the shit out of her in front of all of their friends. He jumped up, sliding the ring on her left hand and dropping the box to the floor. She didn't have time to prepare herself before his arms slipped around her and his lips were on hers. She froze for a second, but her arms wrapped around his neck, as if they had a mind of their own. Her eyes drifted shut, and she found herself responding to the kiss, getting lost in the way that his lips felt against hers. This was their first kiss without alcohol in their system, and, shit, was he a good kisser!

Beca felt his tongue stroke along her bottom lip, and she immediately opened her mouth to Jesse, allowing his tongue to slip inside and deepen their kiss. She didn't even realize what she was doing; she was so lost in the kiss, the feel of his body pressed against hers. Her fingers slid into his hair, and she scraped her nails along his scalp. She felt him grin against her mouth, kissing her more forcefully, and his fingers digging into her back. After a few moments, she felt him ease up on the kiss, slowing it down to a few light pecks before he pulled away completely.

Jesse rested his forehead against hers, and she opened her eyes to look into his, finally registering that everyone was cheering and applauding around them. She blushed, burying her face into his neck in even more embarrassment. That moment was way too serious, and she needed to find a way to control her breathing. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. She felt him press a few kisses to the side of her head, cheek, and then against her ear, and he whispered, "they totally bought that." She clamped her eyes shut, not wanting to pull her face from his neck, because that kiss made her forget that this was all fake for a moment. Sure, she said yes knowing that it was fake, but the moment he kissed her she forgot where they were, what they were doing. It just felt so right to be kissing him. Fuck, this was way too confusing. She knew that she was going to have to fake kisses with him until they could finally admit to everyone that all of this was fake. She finally pulled away from him, not meeting his eyes and smiling at everyone who was rushing up to them to say their congratulations.

Beca locked eyes with Amy, who seemed to register that she was upset about something. She barked that everyone needed to back off or else "Flat Butt might go running for the hills, screaming," dumping Jesse before they even got to the altar. Beca smiled appreciatively to the blond, excusing herself to compose herself, hoping she looked like an overwhelmed woman did when she just got proposed to in front of all of her friends (her family). She snuck out front to get some air, grabbing a bottle of wine on her way out the door. She sat down on the front step, drinking straight from the bottle.

"Hey, there you are," Jesse said from behind her. She heard the door shut and then felt him sit down beside her, taking the bottle from her hands. He took a pull from the bottle, handing it back to her. "That went well, I think."

"I fucking hate you." She told him, taking another huge gulp.

"Oh, c'mon, that was great! Everyone loved it. I think Chloe is in there beating the shit out of Hat for not being so romantic." He laughed, nudging her shoulder, but she couldn't even crack a smile. She wrapped her free arm around herself, still refusing to look at him. "Everyone totally buys into the engagement. Donald's wife filmed it on her phone; she promised to send us the video." He said, and she could hear the pride in his voice.

Beca took another pull from the bottle, looking at the ground between her feet. "Great; that's just what we need." Jesse took the bottle from her, taking a sip. They sat in silence for a few minutes, and she felt his eyes on her.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, and she shook her head. He studied her for a few more minutes. "That was quite a kiss…" He said, and she swallowed, trying to keep her composure.

"We're good actors." She said a moment later, looking at him when she was sure that her features were composed. She thought she saw a flicker of disappointment on his face, but, surely, her mind was playing tricks on her. Or, it was the wine. Wine always was the worst for her of all the alcohol.

"Right…good acting." He stood up, holding a hand out to her. "Should we get back inside?" She took a need breath, nodding her head. She laid her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up. She was pressed against his chest. Her left hand and his right hand were entwined on their sides, and she was gripping the bottle by its neck in her right hand on the other side. His eyes flickered across her face. His thumb stroked along the tops of her knuckles of her left hand, catching on the ring. He glanced over her shoulder. "I think they are watching us from the window," he whispered, leaning forward to close the distance between them. His left arm slid around her waist as he kissed her lightly.

Beca wanted to break the kiss, but it would look bad if she pulled away from Jesse in that moment. She forced her eyes shut, forced herself to return the kiss, but she tried her best to harden her heart and silence her head. She was uncomfortable with this, because it messed with her. She wasn't supposed to react like this to a stupid kiss. She had to get used to this, because it was fake. This is fake, she repeated over and over in her head. There was nothing going on. This was fake.

Finally, Jesse broke the kiss. He pulled back, smiling softly at her. His eyes flicked to the glass door behind her. "Let's go inside." He whispered. "I think Chloe is about two seconds away from having a nervous breakdown about not being able to attack you about how perfect we are for each other." He cleared his throat, stepping back and dropping her hand. Beca nodded her head, turning on her heel and practically running into the condo.

A few hours later, Beca was lying in her bed, facing the wall with the door on it. Jesse was lying on the bed beside her, facing the opposite way. Ashley and her husband were staying in the guest room (Jesse's room), so they had to pretend like they were sleeping in the same room. Ashley had winked and said that she and Tom were used to sleeping with earplugs due to their noisy neighbors in their apartment complex. Beca tried to take a deep breath, keeping calm. She felt her heart pounding, fearful that it might pound right out of her chest. She wasn't getting a wink of sleep that night, knowing that he was beside her. She moved her left arm carefully so that the palm of her hand was lying right in front of her face on the bed beside her pillow. Her eyes were locked on the ring on her finger. For the first time since she agreed to do this for Jesse, she wasn't sure if she could actually go through with this wedding. She had always told herself in the last month or so that she was doing a good thing for someone else, that Jesse didn't deserve to lose the job that would lead him to his dream job, to be forced out of the country he had spent the last eight years in—the country that was now his home. But, after tonight—seeing all of their friends congratulate them, be happy for them, be supportive of them—she didn't know if she could hurt all these people. She didn't know if she could lie and pretend that what they were doing was real.

Beca felt the tears burn in her eyes, and she tried to keep her breathing even. She didn't want to alert Jesse to the fact that she was freaking out. She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to take quiet, deep breaths. It didn't work. She felt like she was going to throw up. She sat up, covering her face with shaking hands. She felt him shift beside her, sitting up. She started crying softly when she felt his arms slip around her waist. "Shh, it's gonna be okay, Beca." He whispered softly in her ear.

"No, it's not." She whimpered, shaking her head. "I lied to the most important people in my life tonight." She tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn't let her go. "Please, let me go. I just…I can't…" She didn't know what she wanted, but she couldn't have him touching her.

"No, I'm not letting you go. Becs, please. Don't do this." He said quietly into her hair, tucking her against his chest, resting his chin on her hair. "I need you; I know this is hard, but I need you to not run now. It's killing me, too. I'm lying to my best friends, my family, too. I just…I need you to do this for me, because if we don't…if we don't go through with this, it's over for me. I lose my family. I lose my home. I have to go back to Canada, where I have no job, no friends, and no family. I have nothing. I lose the only life I know."

Beca wiped at her cheeks, trying to calm down. She didn't want to be the reason for Jesse losing everything. It just hurt to lie to everyone she cared about. It hurt to lie to herself, because if there was one thing that she had realized in the last month was that finding someone to spend your life with wasn't that bad. She found herself wondering if maybe she could get past what her parents did to her as a kid. Maybe she could find someone that loved her enough to break down those walls. If she did this, she was cutting herself off from that possibility. She was attaching herself to someone who didn't love her, forced to live a lie, to pretend, everyday for nearly the next three years. Beca just stared into the space in front of her, listening to the sound of Jesse's heart pounding behind her. She wasn't sure if she could do this. She felt sick, because no matter what choice she made, someone was going to get hurt. The question was: will it be her or him?

Author's Note: I'm sorry for it go downhill! But, this is a seriously big thing that Beca and Jesse are doing, especially for Beca. She isn't the type to just get married, so this is really hard for her, because it is going against everything that has been engrained in her since she was young girl. She is scared and confused. She has no idea what she wants, but she knows that she doesn't want to be the bad guy who screws over Jesse, but she is really thinking about the ramifications that come from marrying him and having to stay married to him for two years.