Disclaimer: Characters you know are not mine. The title comes from the song "The Engine Driver" by the Decemberists, which inspired this story in a very roundabout sort of way.

A/N: So I honestly can't explain this story. All I can do is apologize in advance for its randomness. Hopefully you'll find some sort of charm in it somewhere. This one is for theasbofive, who also partially inspired this story (and definitely inspired the setting) with her amazing story "Caffeine Boost." If you're not reading that, then you're doing something wrong in your life. Enjoy!

"I am a Writer, Writer of Fictions. I Am the Heart That You Call Home. I've Written Pages Upon Pages Trying to Rid You From My Bones"

The first time she comes into the coffee shop, Jesse barely notices her at all. He's staring at his computer screen so intently he worries it might burst into flames but no matter how much time he puts into staring at the screen the words just won't appear. He really needs to work on that whole telekinesis thing. Anyway, he's so busy staring at the blank Word document that when the bell above the shop rings he spares the new arrival only the briefest of glances. She's short, willowy and obviously in a hurry. Those are the things Jesse notes about her. By the time he looks up again, she's gone.

In spite of the fact that coming to the coffee shop everyday doesn't exactly seem to be helping Jesse's creativity, he packs up his laptop every morning and walks from his apartment to the shop. He's sure that one of these days he's going to be struck by inspiration, maybe even while he's ordering his coffee or sitting down in his regular booth. He's going to be ready for that moment when it happens. And, of course, so will his agent, who's been waiting for his manuscript for almost a year. Not that Benji would ever come out and say those words, but Jesse knows that his manager is getting a little antsy. It's not like his first (and, as of right now, only) novel was a runaway success but the publishing company was willing to keep him on the payroll and Jesse figures that he needs to get cracking if he wants to keep it that way.

Of course wanting to write and actually writing are two different things. Which is why Jesse has been coming to this coffee shop for over two months and hasn't had any success. Well, that's not true. He's gotten really great at playing Spider Solitaire. He can almost play with four different suites now. But that's not the point. The point is he hasn't written something down worth saving in several months and his prospects are not looking that great.

This particular morning is not proving to be any more successful for Jesse than the ones before. He's typed a single sentence: the very unoriginal once upon a time. It's all he's written in two days and he doesn't have anything to follow it up with. Chloe, the barista on duty, gives him a sympathetic look but doesn't stop wiping down the counters or espresso machines. The entire staff knows him by now and they also know not to try and engage him in conversation when his mind is being less than forthcoming. Jesse doesn't need any additional distractions; he's doing a pretty good job of distracting himself all on his own.

The bell above the door rings and Jesse looks up, a habit he can't shake from his own days working retail, when the little bell ringing meant that he had to plaster on his fake smile and attend to the customer's every needs. It's not like Jesse recognizes this girl right off the bat; it's been almost two weeks since she first walked in and out and there was nothing memorable about her presence. But Jesse can't help but feel like she looks just a little bit familiar and he's probably seen her in the shop before, because there are a lot of regulars that come and go. The way that Chloe smiles at her and starts chatting only confirms Jesse's suspicions.

Jesse erases those four words of failure off his screen and finds himself staring, once again, at a blank document. So he looks up at the girl, who is definitely more interesting. She's got a pair of those big, serious headphones hanging around her neck, the kind that look like they belong in a sound booth and Jesse can see her iPod poking out of her back pocket. Her nails are painted black and there's no shortage of bracelets around her wrists or piercings in her ears. In spite of her heavy eye makeup, Jesse can't help but feel like she looks beautiful instead of scary, especially when she smiles at something Chloe is saying. She's got a nice smile, genuine, he can tell. And…oh shit, she definitely just caught him staring at her. Jesse ducks his head down, trying to make it look like he's completely and totally focused on his laptop screen but the tips of his ears burn and he knows that he's been busted.

The bell above the door rings again and Jesse looks up in time to see the girl leaving. Why does he feel disappointed? It's not like he knows her or anything, so why should he care if she leaves?

Jesse stares at his screen, his fingers poised above the keys. As always, his brain is stuck. Instead of trying to force out a plot, he finds himself thinking about that girl. Why? He has absolutely no idea. It's not like he's never seen a pretty girl before. But there was something about her. She seemed…interesting, complex. Does she just like music or is it something she does for a living? What's with all the piercings?

Before he realizes it, Jesse has typed those questions out on his laptop, followed by the phrase that's what Jacob Smith thought when he saw the mysterious girl in the coffee shop. Okay, so the name needs a little work but hey, he's writing. Like actually writing. He thinks it's fair to consider this a breakthrough.

Jesse types five pages without thinking, crafting a story of a young guy struggling to write the next great American novel in order to live up to his reputation (yeah, it's not like he has a reputation. That's why it's called fiction). When he first sees a mysterious and beautiful girl in his local coffee shop, he suddenly finds himself able to write again. Okay, so it's not exactly a stretch but no one has to know that he's pretty much just writing about his own life. Jesse's just happy he's actually doing something other than mentally punching the keyboard with his fist.

The following day, Jesse shows up right on schedule. Chloe makes him his usual order and he sits down in his usual booth and opens up his document (with, hey!, five pages) and waits for inspiration to strike. Unfortunately, the sentences don't come and neither does the mysterious girl with the heavy makeup. Jesse doesn't realize how badly he was looking forward to seeing her until she doesn't walk through the door. And not just because of his story, but because he just wanted to see her. Maybe he would have done something more than just creepily stare at her from his booth.

When it becomes obvious that she's not going to show up, Jesse starts to pack-up his computer but then thinks better of it. He starts typing and has nearly three pages chronicling the disappointment that his fictional version feels when the girl doesn't show up the next day. What? Aren't writers supposed to write what they know?

Like clockwork, Jesse goes to the coffee shop and opens his laptop and gets ready for inspiration to strike. The fickle muses must be on his side today because before lunchtime, the bell rings and the girl walks in. Her chestnut hair is pulled into a messy ponytail on the top of her head and her headphones are over her ears and her head is bobbing a little bit to whatever beat is coming through the speakers. She gives Chloe a little half smile and then slides into a booth catty-corner to Jesse's, which affords him a perfect view of her. Christ, he's not trying to be creepy or anything. He's just…she's really pretty, okay?

She pulls out her own laptop and unplugs her headphones from her iPod and plugs them into her computer. And she doesn't look away from the screen for what feels like hours. Not to get a coffee or something to eat or check her phone or go to the bathroom or anything. Her eyes are so focused on that screen it's like if she looks away for a second the whole world will go to shit. Jesse has always been an incredibly nosy and friendly person and he really, really wants to know what she's working on.

There's no one else in the coffee shop but the two of them and Chloe, so Jesse feels confident in leaving his computer unattended to "go to the bathroom." Of course, to get to the bathroom, he'll have to pass the girl's booth and hopefully he can surreptitiously sneak of glimpse of what she's working on. She doesn't look up as he passes or notice when he glances over his shoulder to look at her screen. Not that it makes any sense to him; there's a lot of different lines and lights and colors and boxes to click on and things to change and move around. It takes him several seconds to realize that it's some sort of music program and he only realizes that because his roommate in college thought he was going to be a DJ or something. Maybe she's a DJ. It seems less weird when he's talking about her doing it and not his random roommate.

Jesse goes back to his seat and gets back to writing. He makes sure to include the bit about the mysterious coffee girl making her own music edits and how the (fictional) author can't seem to get the nerve to approach her. And really, what would he say anyway? I'm writing about you, you're pretty, please don't call the police. So maybe the line between fiction and reality is a little blurred right now, but Jesse can work with that.

By the end of the week, Jesse has nearly fifty pages of decent story. He's had to flesh things out a little bit, adding in the nervous manager and a bit more about his writer's personal life but for the most part it's just a story about a guy who can't write unless the mysterious coffee shop girl is around. It's a little bit creepy but in what Jesse hopes is an endearing and vaguely romantic way.

Over the weekend, Jesse shows his pages to his roommate, Donald. Donald was the first person to read his first novel and has patiently read all of his short stories, even when they were really horrible and written in the third grade. Jesse would like to imagine that he's gotten better since then.

"So, is that it?" Donald questions once he's had time to read over the pages. "Is it just about some guy who stares at a girl in a coffee shop?"

Jesse isn't a fan of the way Donald says it, because it makes it sound like stalking. "Well…no. Of course not. That's just all I have right now."

Donald raises an eyebrow. "So what's going to happen next?"

"I don't know." Jesse shrugs. "I haven't figured that part out yet." He mumbles.

Donald stares at him for a minute before smiling slowly. "Are you the guy?" Jesse doesn't even get a chance to answer. "Who's the girl? Have you talked to her? Do you really see her in the coffee shop every day?"

Jesse hates the way that his cheeks redden because it's a dead giveaway that Donald has hit the nail on the head. "I mean…no…not…every day." He mutters.

"Have you talked to her?" Donald questions. "Never mind, I know the answer. Dude, you need to talk to her. Show her that Swanson charm."

Jesse rolls his eyes. "What charm? I haven't dated someone since Stacie."

"Exactly." Donald claps him on the shoulder. "Now is the perfect time to start. How else are you going to get the inspiration for you book?"

While Jesse thinks that Donald does have a fair point, he also feels like it's worth pointing out that if he did talk to the coffee shop girl, it sure as hell wouldn't be because of his book.

And, of course, he writes a fictionalized version of the whole conversation. It fits in perfectly, after all and it gives him a chance to sort through some of what he's feeling about the whole situation. That's why he loves writing so much. What better way to work through the complicated emotions that humans have to suffer through on a daily basis? He's always been better at letting his characters solve the problems that he's feeling but when he's done writing about Jacob Smith (yeah, he needs to fix that), Jesse Swanson doesn't feel any more confident about talking to his real life coffee shop girl.

On Monday, Jesse finds himself back at the coffee shop. While Chloe is making his coffee, he thinks about asking her what she knows about the coffee shop girl but he doesn't want to seem creepy. Unfortunately, Jesse is still standing at the counter when aforementioned coffee shop girl comes walking in and he knows that Chloe doesn't miss the way he looks at her for a beat too long before turning away with his cheeks red. The girl, of course, doesn't notice him but Chloe is smirking as she hands over his coffee. Jesse really hopes that doesn't become a conversation later.

On paper, however, Jesse gives his character the courage to talk to Iris, the barista, and pump her for information about the mysterious brunette. Iris fills Jacob in on Ginny, the world-renowned music producer, who has never produced a track that didn't climb to the tops of the charts. In spite of her reputation, good fortune and beauty, she keeps most people at a distance, even though she has guys falling at her feet. Jesse has fun constructing a small background for Ginny, but he really wants to know the coffee shop girl's real story. She's still as mysterious as she was the first day she walked in.

The girl doesn't say for as long this time. She sits in her booth and scribbles a few things in a notebook while, once again, bobbing her head and tapping her foot along to whatever music she's listening to. In less than an hour, she's packed up her stuff and left again and Jesse finds himself alone with his thoughts and a digital version of the mysterious girl. Even though his character knows a little bit more about Ginny, he still finds himself wanting to know even more. Jesse can definitely relate.

It takes Chloe all of ten seconds to walk over to his table. "So." She says with a smile, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jesse raises an eyebrow. "….so?" Is there something he's missing.

"You like her, don't you?" Chloe questions. "I see you looking at her all the time."

"I…what…no." Jesse sputters, shaking his head. "I'm not just looking at her all the time…"

"I think it's cute." Chloe assures him. "You should talk to her. She's not as scary as she looks."

Jesse makes the mistake of saying, "I don't think she looks scary." Chloe's smile only grows wider and he rolls his eyes. "Don't make this weird, okay? I'm just here to write and she's…doing whatever it is that she's doing. I'm sure she doesn't want to be bothered."

Chloe shrugs. "Okay, if you say so. She's a music producer. She comes here to work on some of her own mixes though when the studio people get on her nerves. We went to school together. We're still pretty tight." She informs him, moving away to throw away a few discarded cups.

Jesse finds it just a little strange that the real coffee shop girl is a music producer, just like his fictional Ginny but he did see her working on her mixes, so it was a natural assumption.

"What's her name?" Jesse questions, looking over at Chloe.

Chloe smirks and shrugs. "You'll have to ask her yourself."

Jesse sticks his tongue out at her but goes back to working on his novel. In spite of knowing a little bit more about Ginny, Jacob still can't bring himself to talk to her. Again, something Jesse can definitely relate to.

Even though Jesse knows that he can just as easily work from home, going to the coffee shop is no longer just about getting his novel done. Now it's about seeing his mysterious coffee shop girl. Some days he finds himself thinking more about the perfect way to finally just introduce himself to her than working on his novel but he never leaves his booth to join her. He doesn't want to be that guy, the guy that bothers her in the middle of what she's doing when she's clearly focusing on something important.

One morning when Jesse comes in for his usual coffee and writing session, he finds Chloe's girlfriend Aubrey behind the counter instead of the redhead. The blonde immediately gives him a sympathetic look. "Chloe told me about your fascination with Beca. I hope Chloe's not bothering you too much. She likes to pretend she's a matchmaker." Aubrey apologizes.

Jesse smiles. "Beca." He repeats. "That's her name?"

Aubrey winces. "I…Chloe told me not to say anything. Pretend I didn't tell you that, okay?" She gives him a hopeful smile.

"Yeah, of course." Jesse mimes zipping his lips. "Your secret is safe with me."

Aubrey finishes up with his order and hands it over to him. "So you really do like her, don't you?" She arches an eyebrow.

"I don't know her." Jesse protests. Stupid Chloe and her stupid gossiping. Now he's going to have to lie to two people now. Because he does like her, he does. Even though he doesn't really know anything about her. He knows it's strange but there's just something…like it's drawing him in and he wants to know more about her.

"She looks intimidating but once you get past that exterior, she's a big softy." Aubrey informs him. "She hasn't had the best luck with boyfriends…she tends to only date assholes."

Jesse arches an eyebrow. "How do you know I'm not an asshole?"

Aubrey just laughs and Jesse rolls his eyes at her. Stacie used to tell him that he was 'just too sweet.' Like being sweet was suddenly a bad thing. Maybe there's someone out there who will appreciate his marshmallow center. Maybe it's the mysterious coffee shop girl Beca. Maybe he's getting way too ahead of himself.

When Beca comes in that afternoon, Jesse ducks his head and remains intensely focused on his screen. He feels like now that Chloe and Aubrey know that he likes her, it's going to be embarrassingly and painfully obvious to Beca as well. But Beca doesn't even glance in his direction, not even during her conversation with Aubrey, which Jesse takes to mean that Chloe and Aubrey have thus far kept his little crush a secret. For which he is eternally grateful.

Jesse watches Beca out of the corner of his eye while he writes about Ginny's inclination for pushing men away. For some reason, her being burned by past relationships just doesn't fit and Jesse knows there's got to be something more there. But he files it away for another time and just watches Beca as she works. He decides that tomorrow, tomorrow he's going to talk to her.

Unfortunately, tomorrow is the same day Benji would like him to come down to the office for a meeting. Jesse has a feeling that he knows exactly what his meeting is about. He hasn't mentioned his work in progress to Benji because he didn't want to jinx it but apparently now might be the time to bring it up. At least, if he actually wants this novel to see the light of day.

Once Jesse pulls out what he's written so far of his manuscript, Benji looks immensely relieved. Jesse honestly doesn't know how he's managed to make it in this business, seeing as he doesn't seem to have a mean or assertive bone in his whole body. The guy is into close-up magic, after all. No one capable of enforcing a deadline or giving a lecture is into close-up magic. It just doesn't happen.

Jesse outlines the story as he has it so far and Benji looks a little disappointed when he learns that there's no concrete ending or direction that Jesse is heading in. "So, what's her deal?" He questions, tapping the stack of papers resting on his desk. "It seems like there's something else going on here. What's the conflict?"

For the briefest moment, Jesse thinks that Benji is talking about Beca and he wants to point out that the conflict is painfully obvious. Meaning, he can't gather the courage to actually talk to her. But then he realizes that Benji is just talking about the novel. "Oh, I…don't know." Jesse shrugs. "I was kinda hoping that it would just come to me."

Benji purses his lips and nods thoughtfully. "Oh…is that how writing is supposed to work?" He looks confused, so Jesse decides not to take his words as a sarcastic dig.

After the meeting with Benji, Jesse heads to the coffee shop on the off chance that maybe Beca is still hanging around. Chloe grins at him when he walks in and Jesse feels like Aubrey hit the nail on the head with her Chloe The Matchmaker Beale comment. "You just missed her." Chloe informs him. "Where were you anyway?"

"I had a meeting." Jesse wonders if it's stupid to be this disappointed about not being able to stare at a girl in a coffee shop. Is he just being an idiot? Probably, but that's pretty usual for him. He turns to go, seeing as there's no point in grabbing coffee now that it's the middle of the day.

"Was it a meeting about your book?" Chloe questions as Jesse walks to the door. Jesse turns back to face her and nods. "What's your book about? Am I in it?"

Jesse can't help but smile. "Yeah, actually, you are."

Chloe looks genuinely pleased and surprised, like she wasn't expecting an affirmative answer. "Really? What's it about? Vampires?"

"What? No. That's so random." Jesse can't figure this girl out sometimes.

Chloe just shrugs. "Hey, writing about vampires have made people a lot of money. You shouldn't knock it; it's obviously a cash cow."

Jesse rolls his eyes. "I'll keep that in mind."

Of course, Jesse would never write a book about vampires. That's completely ridiculous and the last thing he wants is to be lumped into the same category as Twilight and The Vampire Diaries. And yet, something about the idea just won't leave him alone. Maybe he shouldn't write about vampires, but maybe Chloe's on the right track…as frustrating as it is for Jesse to admit.

When Jesse gets to the coffee shop the following morning, Beca isn't sitting at her usual booth but he's still early, so he decides not to take her absence as a bad sign. Both Aubrey and Chloe have the day off, so he doesn't have to put up with their comments about his interest in their friend or deal with their pointed looks and smirks. The girl behind the counter is a welcome relief; Jesse's pretty sure that he's never heard her say a word in the entire time that he's been coming to the coffee shop.

As Jesse grabs his coffee and turns around, he collides with the person walking up to stand in line behind him. Which, of course, happens to be Beca. Because the only luck Jesse Swanson has is the bad kind.

"Oh shit." Jesse says at the same time Beca growls out an impressive string of curse words. "I am so, so sorry. Shit. It's iced." He assures her, holding up the empty cup.

Beca narrows her eyes slightly. "Obviously." She pulls an ice cube out of the front of her shirt and flicks it toward him. "Thanks. My morning was off to a great start."

"Well…let me…can I buy you a coffee?" Jesse questions, trying to come up with the exact words that will make this situation better. He's a writer, after all, isn't he always supposed to be able to come up with the perfect words? Obviously not when he really needs them. "Or…a new shirt?" Her white blouse is most decidedly not white anymore.

Beca arches an eyebrow. "You could call my boss and explain to him why I'm going to be late."

Jesse nods. "Okay, yeah. I can do that." He blurts out, desperate to grab onto any idea that seems favorable to her.

His answer seems to catch Beca off guard. "I was kidding." She informs him frankly. She rolls her eyes at him. "Chill out, I'm not going to melt or anything. You look like you're having a panic attack."

Great. So in addition to dumping coffee all over the girl he's been infatuated with, he also looks the farthest thing from suave and cool. Good going Swanson. Time to find another coffee place.

"I just feel really bad." Jesse tells her. "I usually don't dump my drinks on perfect strangers."

"Good, because that would be a waste of good caffeine." Beca informs him. "Hand me some of those napkins, will you?" She points to the dispenser on the counter.

Jesse practically yanks the whole thing off the counter in his attempt to grab handfuls of napkins. "Shit, yeah, that would have been helpful." He shakes his head at his own stupidity. Seriously. It's amazing he's ever had a girlfriend at all in his life. He reaches out to start blotting at her shirt and Beca raises an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah. Maybe you should…" He hands her the napkins, feeling the tips of his ears redden. Great.

"Yeah, I think I can take it from here, weirdo." Beca remarks, attempting to dry off her shirt. It's pretty much a lost cause. "Oh well. At least now I have a good reason for being late."

"I'm really sorry." Jesse tells her, giving her and her coffee stained shirt a hopeless look. "Sorry."

Beca tosses the napkins into the trashcan. "Yeah, you said that. Like five times." She informs him. "This shirt sucks anyway."

Jesse nods. "Yeah." Beca raises her eyebrows. "I mean no. No. It's a great shirt." He exhales and closes his eyes. "Okay. Can we just pretend like none of that happened?" He gives her a hopeful smile. "Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

"Yes, coffee would be great weirdo. I have a feeling I'm going to need it." She informs him with just the barest hint of a smile on her face. "Make it a large."

Jesse happily pays for Beca's order and his own and they stand in awkward silence while the barista starts making their drinks. Jesse clears his throat. "So, I'm Jesse, by the way." He barely manages to resist the urge to hold out his hand for her to shake because who does that? He's pretty sure the only people he actually shakes hands with are his parents' friends and his publishing house contacts.

"I've seen you around." Beca informs him, crossing her arms over her chest and wrinkling her nose as the damp fabric of her shirt sticks to her skin. "I'll definitely remember to keep my distance next time."

"Normally I'm a little more coordinated." Jesse assures her. "Okay, that's not entirely true. Once I tripped on stage while doing choreography…it was a big disaster." Sort of like right now.

Beca gives him a dubious look. "Choreography? Are you one of those musical theatre guys?"

Jesse shakes his head. "No, definitely not. I was in an acapella group in college."

Beca barks out a laugh. "Okay, that's worse." She assures him in between laughs. "Synchronized nerd singing."

Jesse gives her a faux-offended look. By this point he's used to people making fun of (and not understanding the beauty of) his acapella career and he's definitely fine with letting Beca continue to laugh at him because she has a really nice laugh. "We were national champions. Twice." He informs her seriously. "So…there."

Beca shakes her head, moving around Jesse to get to the counter to grab her drink. Jesse has the very strange desire to knock it out of her hands so that they'll have to stay longer to get the replacement. "I stand corrected." She salutes him with her drink. "Thanks for the coffee. And the one you dumped all over me. I'm sure it would have been delicious." She starts toward the door.

"Anytime." Jesse assures her as she pushes open the door. He stares after her long after she vanishes from view.

That definitely could have gone better.

Beca isn't at the coffee shop the following day, so Jesse sits in the booth alone and scowls at his computer screen while he writes. His story has really picked up now, especially since he's figured out the conflict and found a way to get the ball rolling. So yeah, he might have borrowed a little inspiration from Chloe and thrown in a supernatural element but he feels like he's way more creative than someone just writing about stupid vampires. He's made his Ginny a siren, like something out of The Odyssey, which he feels ties in well with her ability to attract men like a moth to a flame and the fact that she works in the music industry. He's pretty sure that Beca isn't some sort of mythical creature in spite of the fact that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since their encounter the day before. And, to be fair, he's also been replaying his own failures over and over again in his mind but he's been thinking about her too. The sound of her voice and her laugh, of actually getting to talk to her instead of just stare at her from across the coffee shop. It was a nice change.

"So, it was you, wasn't it?" Chloe questions when she comes in for her afternoon shift shortly before Jesse is getting ready to wrap up for the day. "The dorky guy that dumped coffee all over Beca yesterday."

Jesse groans and knocks his forehead against the keyboard. "She told you about that?"

"She told me that some weird, dorky guy dumped his coffee all over her and then talked about some sort of singing competition." Chloe sits down in the booth across from him. "Great work. You definitely made an impression."

Jesse doesn't even bother to lift his head off the keyboard. What's the point? He's embarrassed himself for life. He'll never be able to recover from this moment. So much for actually having a chance with Beca. The closest he's ever going to get to her now is through her fictional counterpart.

Chloe reaches across the table to give him a sympathetic pat. "Don't worry. Maybe you still have a chance."

"Right." Jesse mumbles, pressing a few of the keys with his face. "Don't try and make me feel better."

"I'm not." Chloe assures him. "I think you should still give it a shot. Beca needs a nice guy in her life."

Jesse finally lifts his head and just gives Chloe a look. "Why would Beca be interested in someone like me? She thinks I'm an idiot."

Chloe shrugs. "After all of the time you've been staring at her are you really just going to give up now?"

"Why do you have to say it like that? You make it sound super creepy." Jesse protests.

Again, Chloe just shrugs. "Just calling it like I see it, pal." She gets up, starting toward the back of the store. "Go for it Swanson. You got this."

"Right." Jesse mumbles. Can you blame him for being less than optimistic?

By the time Jesse gets to the coffee shop the following day, Beca's already there, sitting in her usual booth with her headphones on and her attention focused on the screen in front of her. Jesse buys a coffee for himself and replicates Beca's order from the other day and walks over to her booth. He clears his throat but she doesn't respond, either because of her headphones or because she's pointedly ignoring him in the hopes that he'll eventually go away.

Just as Jesse's decided that he can't deny that Beca's ignoring him, her eyes flick in his direction. "What's up weirdo?" She questions. "Why are you just standing there?"

"I…I wasn't just standing here." Jesse protests weakly. "I…brought you a coffee." He holds up the cup. "To apologize, again, for the other day. Because I'm a complete dork and I'm really sorry I spilled coffee all over you."

Beca gives him the once over, her eyes narrowing slightly like she's trying to figure out if she should accept his apology and his coffee or not. Finally, she tilts her chin toward the other side of the booth. "I'll definitely take that off your hands." She says, reaching for the coffee, as Jesse quickly sits down across from her. "But just so you know, I don't come here to socialize. I'm working."

"Oh, me too." Jesse assures her, holding up the bag with his laptop inside. "So, yeah, no problem. I'll just…I can be quiet. And work."

Beca arches an eyebrow. She's really good at that expression, Jesse's noticed. "Really?"

Jesse nods. "Yeah, sure. I don't want to distract you or anything. I can definitely…" He trails off when he realizes that Beca is still giving him that look. "Right. Shutting up right now."

Beca gives him one final, pointed look before turning her attention back to her laptop. Jesse sits there a moment, trying to figure out if she's really just going to sit there and not talk to him while she works on whatever it is that she's doing. It quickly becomes clear that that's exactly what she plans on doing, so Jesse takes out his own laptop and starts working on his novel. It's strange to be sitting across from her and working on the story that was born from the first time that he saw her walk into this very coffee shop. Like Beca might guess somehow that he's writing about her, in a roundabout sort of way. And yeah, okay, fine, it is just a little bit creepy. But the story has taken on a life of its own now, so there.

Eventually Jesse falls into his rhythm and sometimes he even forgets that Beca is sitting there on the other side of his screen. But he doesn't forget for long, because how can he? Even with the piercings and all the makeup, she's gorgeous and her eyes are the prettiest shade of blue that he's ever seen and he swears he can still hear her laugh ringing through his head. He wants to know more about her and he wants her to tell him, instead of getting the information from Chloe or Aubrey.

Jesse doesn't even realize that he's been staring at Beca until she looks up at him through narrowed eyes. "Dude, quit." Her voice startles Jesse back to the present. "What are you doing?"

"I…no." Jesse says, only to realize that she didn't actually accuse him of staring at her. "I was thinking."

"What are you working on over there?" Beca questions, a curious expression on her face. "You haven't stopped typing for like, an hour. Writing a set list for your nerd singing group?"

Jesse makes a face at her. "I assume you're talking about my nationally renowned acapella group. And, no, I'm not. I'm not in college anymore." He shrugs. "I'm writing."

Beca gives the back of his laptop a curious glance, like she can see through to the other side. "Writing? Like a book?" Jesse nods, starting to feel self-conscious. He can't help it; he still gets that way when he talks about his hobby turned profession. "Are you one of those guys who writes Star Wars fanfiction or something?"

"Not since high school, thank you very much." Jesse informs her and Beca gives him a look like she can't figure out if he's joking or not. He's not, but she doesn't need to know that. "I just…I dunno, I just write." He has yet to figure out a way to tell people that he's a published author without sounding like he's completely full of himself, so sometimes he just ignores that fact all together. "What are you doing?"

"Working." Beca informs him frankly. Jesse mimics her previous raised eyebrow expression and she rolls her eyes at him. "I'm a music producer. I'm working on some mixes."

Jesse tries to steal a peek at her computer screen but she narrows her eyes at him. "Can I listen?"

"Can I read your book?" Jesse shakes his head, inwardly panicking at the idea. "Then no. Sorry. Tough luck." Beca pulls her headphones back on and absorbs herself back into her music once more.

So Jesse goes back to his writing. He's written much more than he ever would have thought possible on the day when he just started typing with no purpose in mind. Jacob Smith is definitely head over heels in love with Ginny regardless of her mythical-creature status and that's definitely something that Jesse can relate to. He's not in love with Beca, of course he's not. But he can definitely see how someone could get to that point.

Definitely.

They stay like that for the majority of the day, both lost in their respective worlds and even though they don't do much talking it doesn't seem to bother either one of them. And that's a pretty big deal, coming from Jesse, who can't remember the last time he was around someone and wasn't constantly talking. But it's nice; it's comforting.

Finally Beca shuts her laptop and slips her headphones off her ears. "I'm out of here nerd. Enjoy your writing."

Jesse looks up, surprised. "You're leaving?"

Beca gives him a look. "Uh…yeah. You didn't think I was just going to stay here forever, did you? Some of us actually have lives."

What Jesse wants to say is I have a life, thank you very much. What comes out is "Do you want to go out with me sometime? Like to a movie or something? Or dinner. Or dinner and a movie?"

Beca frowns, wrapping the cord of her headphones around her fingers. "Dude…that's not what's happening here." She tells him. "I have a boyfriend."

Jesse gapes at her. "What?"

"Yeah. Should I be offended that you're so surprised?" Beca questions, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No…no." Jesse quickly shakes his head. "Of course you have a boyfriend." He's more than a little pissed right now at Aubrey and Chloe. That would have been crucial information to have. "Forget I said anything."

Beca shrugs. "Take a deep breath weirdo. It's fine." She assures him. "I'll see you around." And with that, she leaves the coffee shop.

Jesse shuts down his computer and heads home. He doesn't feel much like writing anymore.

The following morning is a Saturday and Jesse usually avoids the coffee shop on the weekends because it tends to be a lot crazier and filled with college students and annoying teenagers doing homework or gossiping or doing other annoying things. But he makes a special trip just to see Aubrey or Chloe and, wouldn't you know, both girls happen to be working.

He walks around the line of people waiting for drinks and glares at Aubrey. "She has a boyfriend." Jesse states without preamble. Aubrey gives him a guilty look as she continues making drinks. "Don't you think you should have mentioned that?"

"Her boyfriend sucks." Chloe pipes in as she continues ringing up customers, not missing a beat. "You're way better."

Jesse turns his glare toward her. "'Go for it Swanson.' Weren't those your exact words?"

Chloe shrugs. "I think you should go for it. Her boyfriend is a huge as…jerk." She quickly corrects herself when she notices that the next person in line is a mother with three kids clinging to her. "He's just going to break her heart like all the other guys have. She has this thing with commitment, so she only dates guys who won't commit and then gets all upset when they cheat on her or whatever."

Aubrey glares at her girlfriend. "Stop psycho-analyzing our friend. I don't think Beca would appreciate you telling her business." She points out and Chloe gives her an innocent smile and goes back to punching in drink orders. "What Chloe means to say is that right now, Beca just needs a friend."

Jesse rolls his eyes. "Right, because that's what all guys want to hear." He mumbles.

"Suck it up Swanson." Chloe decrees. "Your time will come."

Jesse leaves not long after because he doesn't need anymore pep talks from Aubrey and Chloe and he can't stand to be around all these people anymore. He likes the coffee shop during the week, when it's nice and quiet and his. And Beca's. And that's when he realizes that he's going to do pretty much exactly what Chloe and Aubrey have suggested and continue on with…whatever it is that he and Beca have going on right now. Maybe they're not even friends at this point; maybe they're just two strangers whose paths have happened to cross in a coffee shop. But he can live with that. For now.

So on Monday, Jesse finds Beca in her normal booth and she refuses to acknowledge him until he brings over a coffee and they spend the day much like the one before: silently staring at their respective computer screens while stopping occasionally to exchange small talk or, in Beca's case, a bitingly sarcastic comment.

The days that Beca doesn't leave the studio in order to work on her mixes are both depressing and lonely in Jesse's opinion, even though there's not much of a difference, considering the fact that he's still sitting silently in a booth. But it just feels different. He's not sitting silently in a booth with Beca.

Somehow, without any sort of discussion or planning, this becomes their thing. Of course, Jesse would never say out loud that they had a thing because that's stupid but they do. And he likes that. Sometimes Beca even buys the coffee. They start to talk a little bit more, about their projects and what interests they have past music and writing but rarely do they stray into personal territory. Which is fine with Jesse because he really doesn't want to hear any sort of story that involves Beca and her stupid boyfriend, who is, according to Chloe, a British douchebag.

One day, after they've been engaged in this little routine for nearly three months, Beca comes into the shop in a foul mood and doesn't say a single word to Jesse. She puts on her headphones but keeps her laptop shut and just sits across from him and stares off into the distance. Jesse wants to ask her what's wrong, he wants to fix it for her, but he knows better than to pry so he just keeps writing and she keeps staring and three days pass like this. Eventually Jesse learns (first from Aubrey and then, eventually, from Beca herself) that Luke the British douchebag was cheating on her and they've broken up and she's unceremoniously thrown most of his stuff out onto the curb outside of her apartment. This bit of news makes Jesse insanely happy but he manages to keep his face sympathetic and understanding as he listens to Beca's explanation, which comes over the course of several days.

Of course there's a part of Jesse who really wants to try his luck with Beca again, to ask her out and not behave like a complete dick whose shit gets thrown out onto the curb but he knows that would only ruin whatever he has with Beca now. Dare he even call it a friendship? He figures it qualifies. Now he realizes why Aubrey's advice might not have been so bad after all. Maybe being Beca's friend is exactly what he needs to be doing right now.

So friends they remain. Eventually they even become the type of friends who do stuff outside of the coffee shop and maybe even text each other from time to time. Though Beca is not much of a texter, which means Jesse has to reign in his over-eager texting as well. He eventually finishes his book, which ends in the triumph of love and good over evil and all that stuff that makes a book exciting and, according to Benji and the rest of the publishing company, sellable.

Jesse asks Beca out to dinner to celebrate the contract on his new book and even though she firmly assures him that it will be a 'just friends' type of outing, she kisses him when he walks her to her door that night.

Yeah, Jesse can definitely live with that.

Jesse doesn't let Beca read his book until nearly a year and a half later, when he gets an advanced copy from the publisher. "It's just my sophomore effort." He reminds her as he hands the book over. "So don't be too hard on me."

"I'll be careful with your fragile ego." Beca assures him, already settling down on the couch to start reading. "Since you're the writer, maybe you can help me come up with a nice way to say 'better luck next time.'" She teases.

Jesse rolls his eyes at her. "Yes, it's moments like when I remember why you're my girlfriend."

It takes Beca three days to finish the book and she refuses to talk about it until she's read it from cover to cover. Jesse's sitting at the desk in his living room, working on outlining his next project, when she walks over and gives his shoulder a solid whack with his novel. "Is this about me?" She questions, raising an eyebrow. Jesse just stares at her, his cheeks starting to redden. "This is totally about me, isn't it?"

Jesse shrugs, but he knows he's not doing a good job of looking innocent. "Uh…I…well…"

Beca shakes her head. "You were totally writing about me before we were even talking. You are such a creepy stalker."

Jesse might be mistaken, but he's pretty sure he can detect the faintest hint of a smile on her face. That's what makes him stand up and put his arms around her. "Don't consider it stalking….lots of writers base characters off their lovers."

"Don't say lovers." Beca grimaces. "I guess I should be flattered. I mean, I've never had a stalker before." She puts her arms around his waist. "Even though I'm definitely not some sort of mythical creature."

"You can thank Chloe for that one." Jesse informs her. "Though, she wanted to make you a vampire. But I resisted."

Beca makes a face, wrinkling her nose. "Ugh. Thank you for that. I always knew you had good taste."

Jesse smiles at her. "I'm dating you, aren't I?"

"You're such a sweet-talker, nerd."

Jesse shrugs. "That's what you get for dating a writer."

Yeah, Beca can definitely live with that.

End