A/N: Thank you to everyone who followed/reviewed! This is my first time posting anything I've written, so I'm glad you guys like it! I will be abroad for pretty much all of June, so I won't be posting anything during that time, but I'm planning on knocking a few out before I leave to hold you over. If there's anything you guys want to see written out, leave prompts in the reviews and I'll do my best. Thanks again!
This one is another stream-of-consciousness sort of thing, this time written from Stacie's perspective. Set during junior year.
I don't own the rights to Pitch Perfect (though if I did, there would have been WAY more Jesse in PP2) or the songs mentioned. Or the quotes. Or anything really.
"He looked at her the way all women want to be looked at by a man." – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
In the two years since the Barden Bellas won the ICCA championship for the first time, tensions had greatly diminished between the Bellas and the Treblemakers. This was largely due to Aubrey's graduating and no one else caring enough to enforce the "no Treble-boning" rule, but also because of the relationships that had formed between members of the two groups, namely Beca Mitchell and Jesse Swanson. The pair were so damn cute together that no one had the heart to use the previously heated rivalry between their groups as an excuse to pull them apart.
It's a good thing for the Trebles, Stacie thought as she sipped a drink, since the Bellas had now beaten them at the ICCAs twice and therefore had major bragging rights, but since the groups were such good friends now, the girls tried to keep it to light-hearted teasing. Stacie had to admit she was also grateful for the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of smoking hot (though sometimes not totally straight) guys on a regular basis. Like tonight. The Bellas and the Trebles had organized a joint outing to a karaoke bar near the Barden campus and were currently showing up everyone by singing whatever they wanted, regardless of whether the DJ had the karaoke track.
Stacie watched from a table as Chloe and Beca carried the tune of "Just Give Me A Reason." After the first verse, Beca surprised the crowd by mashing up "I Knew You Were Trouble." while Chloe stuck with the original song. Anyone who wasn't a Bella or a Treble seemed shocked at the musical mastery that was currently happening onstage, but the aca-people in the crowd, though enthused by Beca's performance, knew it was a pretty normal occurrence and their cheers died down quickly.
Well, except Jesse's. His cheers could be heard above all else, and even after it died down to the normal bar chatter, Stacie could still hear him shouting "That's my girlfriend!" at the complete stranger standing next to him from halfway across the bar. As the song hit its final notes, Beca and Chloe struck a pose and Stacie found herself watching for Jesse's reaction, hoping to see something written on his face that she could use to tease Beca about later.
But there wasn't just lust in the way Jesse was looking at Beca (though there was plenty of that, when a boy was horny Stacie could tell). It was…pride? Adoration? Stacie wasn't sure what to call it, but she was able to tell from that look that Jesse was absolutely head over heels for Beca. He worshipped her, but instead of laughing at Jesse for being totally whipped, she felt a pang of jealousy toward Beca. Which was weird, because Stacie definitely did not want someone to look at her like that. Nope, she was totally cool with sleeping with whoever and leaving in the morning.
As Beca walked toward her, Jesse caught her from behind, spun her around, then enveloped her in the biggest bear hug. He pulled away and looked at her, and there it was again, Stacie thought. The look that says "There's nothing in the world I love more than you." As the pair walked toward her, arms around each other's backs, Stacie smiled and considered the possibility that maybe she did want a real relationship. Maybe she wanted someone to look at her the way Jesse looked at Beca. Stacie was just about to tell Jesse that he had changed her entire outlook on relationships, but Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose grabbed her elbows and led her to the stage and she thought "Eh, better not."
Not my favorite, but there ya go.