A Simple Truth

Author's Note: Please forgive me, as I haven't written a fanfic in years! But this little idea came into my head and I had a 5 hour bus journey to fill. That and I'm a little obsessed with Pitch Perfect at the moment. Enjoy!

Pulling her headphones off her head, Beca wiped away the tears that had fallen. It was the tenth time she'd watched The Breakfast Club but she still couldn't get all the way through without crying. The tears weren't all about the movie. Mostly they were for the loss of Jesse in her life. It had been over a week since she knocked on his door and saw the hurt in his eyes.

His statement of "I'm done" hurt her the most. She knew she had shouted at him, and pushed him away, again, but he had always come back. Not this time. She had pushed him too far and now he was gone.

Despite his comments, she had still tried to contact him. Beca had left him more messages without a response. He had asked her why she pushed people away and her answer of "I don't know" was not good enough and she doesn't blame him. Deep down she did know, but how could she admit to him that she was scared? Scared that she'd get hurt, scared he'd leave her. He was open with his feelings, he wouldn't understand.

So instead, she spent her spring break working at the radio station and watching his movies in her room alone. At least she won't be alone too much longer. Term starts again in a couple of days and she will have her ever chatty roommate Kimmy-Jin to keep her company. "That's something I suppose," she states to the empty room.

And to top it all off she thinks she's coming down with something, as she reaches to touch her forehead, which is starting to feel hot.

With the thought that Jesse will be returning, she decides to contact him one more time. But since phone messages aren't getting through, maybe he'll read an email.

Picking up her laptop, she starts to write.

Kimmy-Jin was looking forward to getting back to school, but first she had to greet her weird, and of late rather emotional, roommate. The crying was starting to get annoying, but at least that boy hadn't been round in a while. Bracing herself for whatever witty comment the white girl is going to throw at her, she turns the key in the lock and opens the door.

She automatically glances at the decks on the table, but find them abandoned, and instead, the girl is curled up in bed, with her laptop open in front of her, and DVDs covering every available space on her bed.

Dumping her stuff, Kimmy-Jin waits for her to wake and complain about the noise, but no comments come. In fact, she doesn't even stir. Unconcerned, Kimmy-Jin, goes to get a shower after her long journey.

Upon her return to the room, Beca still has not moved. This is starting to be become unnerving. It's not like her to completely ignore her or be asleep in the middle of the day.

Cautiously approaching her, Kimmy-Jin gently shakes her shoulder. This gets no response. Trying again a little harder, she gets rewarded with a noise, but it concerns her more. She realises that Beca seems to be shivering and unresponsive. This is not good.

Movies were his escape, where he could lose himself in the storyline and the soundtrack. But recently, Jesse's film choices had a distinct genre. Rom Coms all fuelled his mood at the moment. But now, he sneered at the happy endings. Because that isn't real life. In real life, people don't melt into your arms, they run from them.

It was starting to worry his parents, to the point where he decided to go back to Barden early to get some time alone, without people asking if he was ok. Now he was shutting people out! Isn't that ironic!

So here he was, watching another soppy movie in his dorm room, trying to shut out all thoughts of a particular girl. It was going well until that certain girl called. He wasn't going there, not now. So he refused the call and went back to the film. She can leave him another message that he isn't going to listen to.

Seconds later though, his phone rings again, and this time, a number he doesn't recognise flashes up. Intrigued, he answers.

"Hello?"

"Is that Jesse?" the woman's voice asked. A voice that he recognised, but not sure where from...

"Yes? Who is this?" He demanded. He was starting to get worried.

"It's Kimmy-Jin, Beca's roommate." Confusion rushed over him. Why was she phoning? Had Beca asked her to call, thinking he might answer her call?

"Look Kimmy-Jin, I don't know what she's told you..." he started to explain.

"I think you better get over here. Something's wrong. I can't wake her." She sounded so calm but he knew that there was real concern in her voice. This was serious.

"I'm coming straight over," Jesse said jumping up and just remembering to bring his keys and jacket, he dashes out of the room and across to Beca's dorm.

Kimmy-Jin didn't like to make this much fuss but she was actually worried. But it could all be nothing, and that Jesse boy was the only person she thought of calling.

After a couple of minutes, there was a sharp knock at the door and she opened the door, to an out-of-breath boy. She opened the door wider to allow access and pointed to where Beca was still passed out on the bed.

Jesse instantly went to her. Feeling her forehead, she was burning and yet she appeared to be shivering too.

"Beca? Beca, wake up," he calls, gently shaking her in the hope that she will miraculously wake up.

"I've tried that." Kimmy-Jin said annoyed that he thought she'd hadn't tried to wake her already.

"How long has she been like this?" Jesse asked frantically. The condition Beca was in frightened him. To see her so vulnerable without the usual cockiness was not like her at all.

"I don't know."

"Well you should know, you're her roommate!" He shouted at Kimmy-Jin.

"It's not my fault. I've only just got back from Spring Break. Shouldn't you know? Aren't you her boyfriend or something?" Kimmy-Jin shot back.

That stung. He should know. He was supposed to be her friend, and she had tried to contact him and he ignored her. What if she had been calling for help and he had refused the call? Guilt washed over him. This was his fault.

"She needs a doctor." Kimmy-Jin simply stated from across the room. She wasn't going anywhere near the clearly upset boy.

"Could you call for a paramedic, I need to call her dad." Jesse said, finally composing himself enough to act.

The call to her dad had been short, but he was on his way over now along with an ambulance. Holding her hand, Jesse whispered soothing words to calm a clearly distressed Beca, who was still not responding.

The first to arrive was Beca's dad and even he was shocked by her condition. Jesse quickly ran through everything that he knew and that paramedics were on their way. Jesse couldn't help the guilty look on his face, as he was interrogated by Professor Mitchell. Especially when Kimmy-Jin mentioned that she had been crying before Spring break. Jesse could barely lift his eyes from the floor. That was definitely his fault.

Finally the paramedics arrived and Beca was taken to the hospital. Jesse was offered a lift to the hospital in the professor's car. The ride over was tense, uncomfortable, and silent. Jesse was ok with that as his head was too busy trying to process everything he had heard and seen. It hadn't escaped his notice that Beca had been watching movies, movies he had recommended, including the empty case of The Breakfast Club beside her laptop. She had been watching them, voluntarily. That was because of him.

So were the tears Kimmy-Jin mentioned. Had he been too harsh? Clearly it was on her mind, but she had shut him out. What was he supposed to do?

When they arrived at the hospital, they were already working on Beca, hooking her up to various machines and putting in a drip. The doctor approached the pair.

"Do either of you know how long she's been unconscious? It's important for us to establish a timeline of her condition."

"I saw her last week, when she came to see me," Professor Mitchell explained. "What about you Jesse?"

"I haven't spoken to her since before spring break," Jesse admitted.

"No contact at all? Messages, emails anything?" the doctor pressed. Professor Mitchell just shook his head. Jesse was about to answer when he remembered.

"Wait! She sent me an email the other day." Grabbing his phone out of his pocket, his accessed his emails. And sure enough there was an email from Beca labelled 'Final Apology'. "She sent me an email yesterday, at 4am in the morning."

"That's about 36 hours ago," the doctor calculated. "That's good. Does she sound different in the email? Does she seem to be peter off towards the end?"

Jesse started to scroll down the email, which was longer than he had expected. Finally he got to the end, and he couldn't help the look of surprise on his face as he read the last line.

"Well?" the doctor enquired.

"No, it sounds like her," Jesse said, putting his phone back in his pocket, trying to ignore the looks he was getting from Professor Mitchell.

Equipped with the information, the doctors and nurses got to work diagnosing Beca, while her dad and Jesse looked on.

"So what happened between you and my daughter?" Professor Mitchell asked breaking the silence as they stood there watching the doctors work on Beca.

"Sir," Jesse started, but was interrupted.

"Firstly, call me Simon and secondly, I'm not blind. Something is going on. Did you two have a fight?"

"Sort of." Jesse plopped himself into a chair in the corridor and put his head in his hands. Simon didn't press Jesse to explain further, but he guessed he would.

"She wouldn't let me in. I tried to get close to her, but every time I did she just pushed me away." Jesse realised he shouldn't be talking about this to Beca's dad of all people, however, it felt good to talk to someone. He looked at Simon, wondering if he had crossed a boundary, but Simon had this small smile on his face.

"She pushes everyone away. She told me that when she visited last week. That's my fault really. She didn't take the divorce well. But I think she was finally starting to realise what she was doing. She seemed genuinely upset when I saw her last. I think your fight had something to do with that."

"She's been trying to apologise to me ever since, but now I'm pushing her away," Jesse scoffed, leaning back in his chair. Saying it out loud, made it sound worse.

"You said she sent you an email?"

"Another apology."

"Have you read it?" Simon pushed. Jesse didn't need to answer, he knew the answer. "I know my daughter. The fact that she's trying this hard to make it up to you means something. I suggest you read it. She isn't going anywhere right now."

It was at that moment, a nurse approached to get Professor Mitchell to fill out some paperwork, giving Jesse some space to read the email. Scrolling to the top, he became to read the words Beca had written for him.

Dear Jesse

I'm not sure how much of this you are going to read, but I beg you to read it all the way to the end. I need you to know that this is the last time I'm going to contact you, but I felt you deserved an explanation of why I'm, well, me.

You asked me why I push people away and I didn't answer honestly. I do know why. And it all stems from my parents' divorce. Growing up, I had a happy family life. We would go out for day trips, and be that family that other families envy. You know the one, parents with perfect smiles, with a bouncing child between, who all just look so perfect. That was my family. My parents were close, clearly in love and enjoyed spending time together and with me.

As I grew up, I thought my life was perfect, living in this bubble that would never break, shielding me from all the nasty things in life. So you can imagine my surprise when I came home from school one day to find that dad had left and wasn't coming back. I was devastated. They had been having problems, but they didn't want to worry me, so they hid it from me. But they had both been unhappy for a while. But finally dad had had enough and decided to leave. It was such a shock to me. I had no warning. My perfect family was broken. I couldn't believe that it was happening, that someone who the day before could be so loving, could leave the next day. The pain I felt was intense. My mother tried her best to comfort me, but I blamed her too. She had lied to me, kept this secret from me. She was just as bad. There was no-one in my life I trusted. How could I trust anyone? The people I trusted the most had lied to me and broken me.

So I decided to not trust anyone. If I kept everyone at bay, then I had no chance to be hurt again. I delved into my music. It became my escape, how I transport myself out of the world of pain into something better. So, I started planning my life, without regard for others. When I arrived at Barden, I didn't want to be here. I wanted to go to LA and produce music. But dad said I had to at least do a year, and join in. If I joined a club and stuck it out for a year then he would pay me to go to LA. Since I liked music and could sing well, the Bellas was the best idea I could come up with.

I had my life planned so well. I would do the Bellas for a year, putting in minimal effort and then after a year, my dad would let me go to LA. And then I was arrested. You couldn't have known that calling my dad would cause me to react like that. For normal people, that is naturally the person you want to see at that moment. But I wanted to independent so the idea that I had to rely on him to get me out of trouble angered me so much. I am sorry that I took that out on you. You didn't deserve it. You didn't know about our strained relationship and you were just looking out for me. And despite my reaction, I was glad it was you waiting for me outside the police station.

By the Semi-Finals I became more than aware that you had feelings for me. And instinct kicked in. I wanted to run. Stop myself from getting hurt. But I was stuck here. My dad had still not relented about LA and I was angry. It felt like everything I had been working towards was gone. But there you were, trying to cheer me up, trying to get me involved, initiating my movication. I found myself slipping. I found myself enjoying your company, even seeking it out on occasion.

And then at the Semi's Audrey picked up on my growing attraction to you I realised that I was in fact falling for you, and I got scared. Scared that someone had managed to break down my defences and now I could be hurt. So when you jumped to my defence I attacked you. I couldn't admit it; I couldn't do it, because otherwise I'd get hurt again. What I said to you was awful and I'm so sorry. Once again, you were trying to help, and I just pushed you away. As I walked away, I should have been happy. I had got my way. I was alone, and no-one could hurt me.

Yet here I am, pouring my heart out to you, because I have been hurt again, but by my own hand. I pushed away the one person in my life I truly care for, the person who broken down my walls and show me friendship and love. I feel like one of your heroines in your movies. That's how soppy you've made me; I've even watched your stupid movies.

And just like the heroines in your movies, I'm too late. I've already lost you. You're done. You'll move on, and I'll have to watch knowing that I am the reason for my own pain. But it was only when I came by your room, I realised how much I had hurt you and that no amount of sorrys would make it better.

So all I've got left to say is thank you. Thank you for being you, thank you for trying and thank you for being in my life. Because without you, I don't think I would have known was love truly was.

I'm so sorry for everything. But before I finish I do have one thing to say. Something I never thought I would ever say, to anyone, but here I am saying it:

I love you Jesse.

Jesse felt somewhat exhausted by the time he had finished reading the email. He didn't know what to make of the email. Part of him still wanted to push her away, but the other wanted to hold her tight.

He stepped out of the building to get some fresh air and to think.

She loves him. It wasn't even in past tense. Meaning that she still does. He knew how he felt about her if he was honest. How long he had waited to hear those words that have been on the tip of his tongue for so long. She was right about one thing, she was like a heroine in a movie, but was this like all good love stories where her hero would realise his true feelings and make a grand gesture to prove she's not too late? He still wasn't sure. She was right when she said she had hurt him too. Could he get past that and try again?

Walking back inside the hospital, he finds the doctor talking to Simon.

"...it's not as bad as we first thought. She has had a virus that has caused the fever. All she needs is rest and fluids and she will be on the mend. Her vitals are improving as we speak. It was a good thing you brought her in when you did. Any longer and it could have been very serious."

"Thank you doctor," Simon smiled as he shook the doctors' hand. He looked towards Jesse. "That's good news."

"It is," Jesse replied.

"So what did my daughter have to say for herself?" Simon said glancing at the phone in Jesse's hand.

"More than I ever thought she would."

It was at this moment that a nurse appeared. "I'm sorry to interrupt gentlemen, but she's waking up."

Simon charges into her room, with Jesse hanging back at the door, giving father and daughter some room to talk.

"Hey sweetheart, you had us all worried. I almost had the coast guard called," he smiled, sitting down on the edge of her bed. Beca looked up to her father and at his comment rolled her eyes. "Well, at least we know there is no lasting damage to your sense of humour. Same old Beca. I'm going to call your mom to let her know. And anyways, there is someone here who would like to see you."

Simon moved out of the way, and finally Beca could see Jesse standing in the doorway. Upon seeing that Jesse was there was all a bit much for Beca, who instantly started tearing up. It took Jesse only two strides to be at her side. Leaning so that their foreheads were touching he knew exactly the words to say.

He didn't need a grand gesture like the heroes of movies. This wasn't a movie. This was his life, and it wasn't the end. He just needed a simple truth:

"I love you too."