Long way round

chapter 10

Jesse's voice broke through the alcoholic fog that Beca was currently surrounded by and caused the young DJ to step back from Chloe and look for her ex. Of course searching for him wasn't difficult as he was less than ten feet away, at the edge of the "dance floor", looking right at Chloe and her as the pair stepped apart. Beca, her eyes focused on Jesse, failed to see how the redhead's expression changed when she stepped away so suddenly, as though Beca was afraid of being seen so close to her. Chloe's mouth, which unknown to Beca, had been about to speak words that might forever change their friendship, closed slowly as the redhead's soft blue eyes watched Beca focusing so intensely on her ex.

Of course, with her back facing towards Chloe, the redhead also couldn't see how Beca's expression darkened from a look of gleeful happiness when she caught sight of her ex at the party he was supposedly not invited to. That thought, combined with the alcohol coursing through her system, had the brunette DJ stalking away from Chloe without a word and grabbing Jesse's hand as he reached out towards her once Beca was close enough. Dragging the Treblemaker front-man through the crowds, Beca eventually found a room devoid of people and pulled Jesse into it. She vaguely realized that he had been trying to speak, trying to free his hand as they walked, as Beca's grip had been rather tighter than she'd intended. But at the same time, with how furious she was at him she didn't really care.

"What the hell, Jesse?" She said to him, anger simmering just barely below her surface, "What the hell? That's what I should be asking you."

"I don't know Becky, I felt it was a rather valid question given the circumstances." Jesse said, anger also heating his voice as he intentionally mispronounced her name like their boss Luke had all throughout the previous year. "I thought I knew you better than that, but I guess you really did want that redhead after all."

"Dude, seriously? You're going to come at me like that? How many times do I need to explain to you that we're just friends? Granted we're probably really drunk friends right now, but we're still just friends." Beca said, stepping a bit closer to Jesse angrily and forcing the young man to take a step back at the heat in her words.

"That's not what I was seeing." He protested, losing a bit of the anger in his voice. "If I hadn't said anything, I bet you two would be making out right now, in the middle of that dance floor."

"Yeah, so fucking what if we would have been? It's not your problem anymore, nor your concern!" Beca fired back angrily, though her mind was reeling at the thought of it. "I don't know how else to get it through to you Jesse. We. Are. Just. Friends!"

Jesse took another step back, his anger being diffused by the look Beca was giving him. "Yeah, friends with benefits, maybe..." He muttered after a minute of her glaring at him. Even still, he made sure it was loud enough for her to hear, hoping for one last chance to prove he was right and she was wrong.

"Fuck you, Jesse! You know what, even if that were the case, which it isn't, it still isn't your fucking problem! You aren't my boyfriend anymore, so you just need to back off, ok!" Beca said, finally throwing her hands up in the air and storming out of the room, leaving the Treblemaker sputtering by himself.

She intended to go find Chloe, to talk to the girl, but a thorough search of the house turned up no redheaded former Bella, nor her blond roommate. What she did find though was Stacie, Fat Amy and Miranda doing shots in the kitchen. And that sounded like the perfect thing for right then, as she'd just seen Jesse being escorted from the house by two of the older sorority sisters.

"Pour one for me too." She called out as she strode into the kitchen, seeing the girls about to throw back a round. Stacie shrugged, and poured one more. None of the three girls had been anywhere near the "dance floor" when Jesse had made his scene, and so they were all unaware of what had put their leader into such a foul mood, judging by her face. Still, didn't stop Beca from grabbing the first shot poured, lifting it up and saying, "To forgetting shit.", then throwing it back before any of them could react.