Hey, friends! So, I think this is going to be a lot of fun. We're looking at about 20 chapters right now, although that might be subject to change. Anyhow, this is where it all starts- I wanted to make sure to explain how things fizzled out with Beca/Jesse. Even though I totally don't believe Beca and Jesse belong together, I don't hate the dude and I think Beca and Jesse still mean a lot to one another as friends. I just wanted to let y'all know where I was at with that... and also, to let everyone know that we'll be losing Jesse as Beca's boyfriend pretty quickly. So here we are! Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1 (September 1, 2015)

Beca took a sip from her yellow cup. She wasn't precisely sure to whom the cup originally belonged, as it was one her and Chloe had often fought over in college. Beca would use it for a few weeks until it disappeared from her room and Chloe would be drinking from it at a party the next night. Several weeks later, inexplicably, Chloe would notice it back in Beca's possession. This 'Battle of the Cup,' as it became to be known, went back and forth for a few years. Finally, when Beca started working at Residual Heat full time, Chloe relinquished the cup to Beca for good. Chloe wanted to make sure Beca had at least one thing by which she would remember Chloe.

Beca's phone buzzed. Frowning, she glanced down to see a text message from Jesse.

Text Message:

Jesse: Becaw, want to hang out after work tonight?

Beca: Yeah, sounds good!

Jesse: Great, I'll make dinner. It'll give me a great excuse to try out that pizza stone I got at TJ Maxx the other day.

Beca: Always the Maxxinista, Jess.

Jesse: Oh, but of course. And you, dear Be-caw, are my guinea pig.

Beca: Aw, I bet you call all the girls that.

Jesse: What other girls? Only you, Be-caw.

Beca: Haha thanks. So I'll swing over there after work. Hopefully 7, maybe 7:30?

Jesse: Sounds excellent, I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my soon-to-be-famous girlfriend! ;)

Beca: Alright weirdo, text you after work.

Jesse: Can't wait!

Beca put her phone down and got back to work without much thought. Work was more demanding than Beca had necessarily expected, not that she was complaining in the least. Since taking up work full-time with Residual Heat after graduation, Beca had worked hard, long hours. In her mind, she had a long way to go before she would ever be a music producer and she was still making up for lost time. If everything had gone according to plan, Beca would've left Barden after freshman year and moved to L.A. to start paying her dues. Of course, any sense of planning and convention flew right out the window the day the Bellas won Nationals at the end of Beca's freshman year. From that point onward, leaving Barden was a total non-option for Beca.

Totally worth every moment, Beca thought, smiling to herself as she worked away on her laptop.

Currently, Beca was co-producing a track for Fifth Harmony. This was, by far, the biggest name Beca had the pleasure of producing for since becoming a full-time employee. She knew that successfully creating a hit song could fast track her career. Similarly, if this song fell flat, it would probably be years before Beca so much as stepped inside the production booth. Her boss was really taking a chance on her, even if he still did call her Reggie. Fifth Harmony had been inside the studio just last week to record the audio for their track. Beca had been tasked with post-production of the track, which if she was being honest, was her favorite part. During post-production, you could play with the effects and move around the audio to create the best possible sound. Basically, it was her job to make sure the sound and message Fifth Harmony wanted to portray come across.

As always, when immersed with mixing, Beca lost track of time. Her phone began buzzing and she snapped out of focus.

"Shit!" She said, mentally kicking herself as she picked up the phone. "Hey, Jesse? I'm so sorry I lost track of time."

Jesse understood Beca's dedication to her job. In fact, her passion for music was one of the things he loved best about her. That being said, it still stung a little bit each time she blew him off. It wasn't the actual blow-off, but rather, that she never even took a second to call him or tell him that she was having to stay late at work. Sometimes he felt like she didn't prioritize their relationship the same way he did.

Jesse told Beca not to worry about losing track of time, and he meant it. Beca told him she was leaving work and would be over to his place shortly. Jesse hung up the phone before blowing out the single lit candle on his table. He had gone the extra mile by preparing a candle-lit dinner for Beca that night. Of course, nothing went according to plan, he thought, wistfully shaking his head. Reaching into his pocket, Jesse grasped the ring box, feeling to make sure it was still there.

In good time, Jesse told himself, taking the ring box out of his pocket, and putting it in his dresser drawer.

Half an hour later, at 9:30, Beca came bursting through the door of Jesse's apartment. Jesse had moved in with Benji in an apartment near downtown Atlanta after graduation.

"Jess, I had no idea how late it was, I really must've lost track of time!" Beca said.

"Well, Miss Mitchell, I know just how you can make it up to me!" Jesse said with a wicked grin on his face.

"Oh no, that look. Do I even want to know what you're thinking right now?" Beca quipped.

"Two Words. Star Wars… Episode Five."

"I'm pretty sure even a person with a lobotomy could tell you that's really four words. You know this, yes?" Beca asked, lightly punching Jesse's arm.

"Oh Be-caw, always with the sarcasm. But yeah, buckle in, because this is going to be the most awesome movie nights of all movie nights." Jesse enveloped Beca in a large hug, and planted a smacking smooch on the top of her head before sitting down on the couch. Beca smiled, relenting. Although she hated movies, she liked that Jesse liked them. And he had been so patient and supportive with her these past few months as she adjusted to her job.

Plopping down on the couch next to him, she deadpanned, "Alright, let's get this party started."

After the movie began, Beca promptly fell asleep. She didn't mean to, honestly, but the long hours at work wore her thin. As the movie was ending, Jesse gently shook her awake.

"Hey there, Becs, as much as I know you want to hunker down and watch Star Wars Episode Six, I think we'd better get you to bed." Groaning, Beca pulled herself up from the couch into a sitting position.

"Yes. Bed." Beca looked groggily around the room searching for her car keys.

"Dude, just stay here," Jesse reasoned. "You're tired. And besides, I love having my little Be-caw with me. You know, to cuddle, at night," he said, hugging her from behind and burrowing his face into her hair playfully.

"Oh my God, you're such a nerd," Beca said, smiling. "Look, I want to stay, but I gotta get into work early tomorrow and need to be at my place. With my clothes and stuff."

"Makes sense," Jesse said, letting go of Beca. "I could come stay with you," he offered sweetly.

Beca should have been flattered by this. She wanted to be flattered by this, but inexplicably, his offer raised her stress level even more. Honestly, the only thing Beca wanted was to have a moment to herself before crashing in her own bed alone.

"Jess, that's really nice, but honestly, I'm going straight to bed. How about this? Tomorrow's Friday, so after work, we'll have dinner and spend the whole evening together. Me and you. And then the next morning, we'll go out to breakfast. Anywhere you want. On me," she said, winking playfully.

Taking the hint, Jesse agreed. "Anywhere I want, you say? Hell yes, IHOP!"

"Anywhere but there," Beca groaned. Beca loved breakfast food, but Jesse was far more keen on IHOP than Beca.

As Beca was in her car driving home, she began to feel slightly guilty. Jesse was so supportive of her. And as of late, she felt like being in a relationship with him was a chore. Did she still love him? Absolutely. Was she still in love with him? Now with regard to that question, she wasn't so sure. Beca never felt the fireworks or rainbows, or whatever the hell people were prattling on about, when talking about "love." She thoroughly enjoyed Jesse's companionship, but if she was leveling with herself, she just didn't feel that unequivocal "loving" feeling. Sighing to herself, Beca made a mental note that she needed to try harder with Jesse. All relationships change and especially given the changes of moving from college to adulthood, it was probably normal that they were having some growing pains. Maybe if she just made more of an effort, things would be okay with them, Beca thought.

These thoughts came to an abrupt halt when Beca received a phone call. Looking down at her phone to see who was calling, Beca's heart skipped a beat. Chloe. She hadn't spoken to Chloe in a week.

"Hello?"

"Becs!" Chloe's infectious energy practically radiated from Beca's phone. "What are you doing?"

"Well, considering it's after midnight, going to bed because some of us have to work in the morning." Beca suddenly envied Chloe's job at the temp-agency and its lenient, stress-free lifestyle.

"Well, Becs, right now, I'm at The Sound Table with some friends from work. Becs, can you hear me, am I talking loud enough?"

Despite the strong EDM bass in the background, Chloe was, in fact, talking loudly enough. "Yes, Chlo, loud and clear. Pretty sure the car next to me can hear you."

"Beccccccaaaaaaaa, you should come out here. I miss you. I promise I'm not just telling you this because I'm drunk, which by the way I've had like four and a half drinks, but I promise I'm only slightly drunk. Like, totally fine. But anyhow, I just needed to tell you that I-" Chloe trailed off momentarily. To someone at the bar, Chloe said, "No, do not touch me…"

Beca pressed her ear closer to the phone. Chloe was now having a full-on conversation with someone at the bar. Was she okay? Listening on, Beca heard snippets of a conversation. Beca gleaned that some dude was coming onto Chloe and despite her requests, the dude wasn't leaving her alone.

Calling across the phone line, Beca yelled, "CHLO, CHLOE, CAN YOU HEAR ME?" After calling out several more times, Chloe finally returned to the phone line. Her earlier cheery mood had been replaced by a shaken and upset tone.

"Becs?" Her voice couldn't have sounded smaller if she tried. "Can you please come get me?"

In a heartbeat, Beca answered, "Absolutely. Stay put. And Chlo? Be safe. I'll be there in five."

Automatically, Beca pulled a U-Turn and high-tailed it to The Sound Table. She hoped to God that Chloe wasn't in trouble. Beca swore, if whoever this guy was so much laid a hand on her friend, she would end him.

The effect of Beca's illegally fast driving caused her to show up at the bar in record time. Pulling over to the side of the road, Beca didn't have so much as a chance to turn her car engine off before an energetic redhead with a larger-than-life personality threw herself into the passenger seat and launched herself across the center console to envelop the smaller girl in her arms. Chloe's greetings were never less than over the top, Beca had to admit. And somehow, despite Beca's resistance to human contact, Beca never seemed to mind when Chloe threw herself at Beca. Placing a quick kiss on Beca's cheek, Chloe settled into her seat. Beca tried to hide her embarrassment over the fact her face was turning scarlet by cutting to the chase with Chloe.

"Chlo, what the fuck happened in there?" Chloe's bright blue eyes dimmed a little bit.

Looking directly forward at the dashboard, Chloe started, "the bouncer kicked him out, and then you came and got me… it's okay now."

"Alright, I'm glad you're okay, but back up. I'm missing most of this story."

"I went out with some of my new friends from work. And we were dancing and having fun, you know, and these guys came up to us and started dancing with us. It was okay at first, but then I wanted them to go away… and when I left, this one guy grabbed my arm." Beca, who was now driving, cut her eyes over to a very distraught Chloe. Beca, not really knowing what to say, reached out and awkwardly patted Chloe's arm. Chloe grabbed Beca's hand and held it in her own.

Continuing, Chloe said, "I pushed him off of me and then he left me alone for awhile, but then when I called you he came back and started grabbing me… Inappropriately. And I told him to get away from me and he started calling me names and then that's when the bouncer made him leave." Sniffling, Chloe used her free hand to swipe away the tears that had begun flowing at this point. Beca's heart felt like it was hurting.

"Chloe, that's really awful. I'm so sorry. No person deserves to be treated that way and I'm so sorry it happened to you." Squeezing her hand, Beca continued, "Look, you're one of my best friends and also an amazing person, inside and out. That pathetic fucker from the bar can never take that from you. Okay?"

"Thanks," Chloe sniffled, squeezing Beca's hand. "And Becs?" Normally a pet name which would cause Beca to groan, as all pet names would, but coming out of Chloe's mouth, it seemed okay. More than okay, really? Beca had secretly come to like when Chloe called her 'Becs.'

"Yes, Chloe?"

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

Not that Beca even momentarily considered saying no, but she shot a sideways look to Chloe. Chloe's eyes were even bluer, if that was possible, from the recent crying.

"I kind of took that as a given," Beca chuckled. Chloe's subsequent smile made Beca's heart leap. Beca, herself, couldn't help but smile back.