Pitch Perfect 1. Chapter 1

No, no, no, no, no. Not again.

I was running down the street and trying to catch a breath at the same time. Aubrey's going to kill me. The only thing she can't stand is when someone is late. And by someone I mean me. She can't stand when I'm late. And she can't stand me.

But it's not my fault. I can't be blamed for being late when my shift starts at seven which means I have to get up at six to get ready. What normal person can wake up that early in the morning anyway?

My chest hurt so bad I wished I could just stop for a second. But I didn't and soon I was able to see the small one story building with ugly pink doors and windows and (even uglier, if possible) big sign that said "Bella's Bakery".

I ran in and finally managed to breathe again. But not for long.

"You're late," I heard an annoying voice. I didn't have to look up to know that the voice belongs to Aubrey, my uptight boss and passionate bakery owner.

"I've been late before, what's the big deal?" I asked. I didn't think this through. Aubrey was already furious and my imprudent comment made her even more furious. She looked like a bull ready to attack the matador. And I was the matador.

"It_ is_ the big deal, Beca! Your shift starts at seven and it's," she looked at her watch before continuing, "7:12 now. Twelve. You're twelve minutes late. And you're always late! Since the day I hired you! What was I thinking when I hired you?!"

"I guess you weren't thinking, as usual," I replied. I cursed myself inaudibly the second I said that because the look Aubrey gave me...too scary for words.

"What did you say?"

I opened my mouth to repeat, but I closed them instantly. I needed this job.

"You listen to me, Beca Mitchell. If you're late again, just once again, I will not hesitate to fire you! Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal," I answered, for the first time today not trying to be rude and disrespectful.

"And lose the attitude, Beca. It's not charming," she said firmly.

"What attitude?"

„Stop acting dumb! You're doing this on purpose, I know you are! You're trying to drive me crazy and you've been trying to do it since the day I hired you!"

She stopped yelling and tried to calm herself down. This could've end ugly. I know it has before. She has a horrible and disgusting habit of burping uncontrollably when she's angry and/or nervous. It happened every time she yelled at me for being late which means it happened on a daily basis.

"Everything okay?" redhead girl asked when she came from the kitchen, a huge soothing smile on her face.

"No, everything is not okay, Chloe!" Aubrey yelled again. Chloe put her hands around Aubrey trying to calm her down.

"Shh, don't yell. We don't want you-know-what to happen now, do we?" Chloe asked practically whispering. Aubrey shook her head.

"Come on, let's go to your office," Chloe slowly led Aubrey through the kitchen to her office. I stepped behind the counter and grabbed my pink apron. It was in contrast with my black jeans and plaid black and red button up. I was tying my apron around my waist when I heard Aubrey scream from the kitchen: „You're supposed to be making cupcakes, Amy, not eating them!"

Burping began. The girl had problems.

* * *

I really didn't understand why Aubrey was so mad at me for being late a few minutes. We open at seven, but our first customers don't show up until around eight, if then. The place was called Bella's Bakery, but we were more of a cake shop than a bakery. We didn't have any kinds of bread at all, just cakes and donuts. And coffee. And that's mainly what our customers were buying at eight am – coffee and donuts. Breakfast on the go.

It was eight and fifteen and we only had two customers by now. I was standing behind the counter doing nothing while Chloe was arranging cupcakes by color. I'm pretty sure the girl had some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder. Or maybe she was just bored.

I looked at the clock on the wall. Eight seventeen. My shift ends at two. Six hours to go.

I leaned on the counter, turning my back to the front door and facing the kitchen. I saw Amy pairing two cupcakes together and trying to put them in her mouth. Surprisingly, she succeeded.

I heard Chloe sigh.

"I'm going to help Amy in the kitchen," she said as she left the room. I continued watching her trying to explain Amy that she is not allowed to eat the cupcakes. But Amy used every time Chloe turned around to put another cupcake in her mouth. I couldn't help but smile.

"Hello," I heard a cheerful voice behind me. I turned around only to see a tall man with puppy eyes and a huge smile on his face.

"Hi," I said, not even trying to return a smile, "How can I help you?"

"I'm Jesse. I just started working at a video store," he pointed his thumb over his shoulder. I looked at the small building (all the buildings were small here) across the street and then I looked back at Jesse.

"I really don't care," I said, "Do you want to buy something or not?"

"Can I have three croissants?" he asked politely, a huge smile still on his face. It kind of annoyed me.

"We don't have croissants," I replied quickly.

"But this is a bakery. Aren't you supposed to have croissants?"

"Well, I'm supposed to have a better paycheck, but I don't. Life isn't fair, buddy."

He smiled brighter after I called him buddy. I guess my attempt at cynicism isn't working on him. Or maybe I'm becoming a little rusty.

"What do you have then?"

"We have donuts."

As if his smile hasn't been wide enough already, it just became even wider. He looked completely ecstatic.

"You have donuts with sprinkles? I love donuts with sprinkles! I grew up in Philly and we had a great little bakery down the street that sold donuts with sprinkles, but they stopped making them back in '98. Can you believe I haven't eaten donuts with sprinkles since '98?"

I honestly didn't know how to answer that. He could've gone to another bakery. But I didn't say that, that would continue the conversation and I didn't want that. I wanted him out of _this_ bakery. He looked way too happy watching the donuts I've never seen a twenty something year old man getting so excited over some donuts. I've never seen anyone getting so excited over donuts.

"That does sound unbelievable, but all I need to know is if you're going to buy a donut or not?"

"Yeah, I'll take six. Do you sell coffee here?"

I nodded while I was putting donuts in a donut box.

"I'll have three lattes then."

He looked around the bakery happily, still grinning widely. I could swear he was on some kind of drugs.

"This is a pretty sweet bakery. Wait, is your name Bella?"

"It's Beca," I answered while preparing lattes.

"Why did you call the bakery Bella's Bakery then?"

"I didn't, Aubrey did," I replied again without looking at him.

"Oh. Who's Aubrey?"

"The owner."

"Why did she call it Bella's Bakery if her name is Aubrey?"

"Dude, I don't know! Can you just let it go?"

He just grinned brighter in reply. Couldn't he be serious for like a second? I gave him the box of donuts and three cups of coffee.

"That would be 11.20," I said trying to sound calm. He gave me twenty dollars and I opened the cash register to give him the change when a middle aged women walked in.

"Now go. I have another customer," I said putting the money in his hand and practically shooing him.

I saw Jesse still standing by the cash register while I was preparing coffee for the woman. After about a minute he left. Thank God.

* * *

It was quarter to two when Stacie walked in the bakery wearing shorts and a little too tight top. It was warm outside but not that warm. She passed by me walking like a supermodel on a runway to the staff room to leave her bag and then she came back.

"I had such a rough night," she admitted, but I cut her off: "Before you continue, I don't wanna know."

"Relax, it's not what you mean. A conduit or whatever broke so I had to call the plumber. He was really bad, it took him hours to fix it. Or replace it or whatever he had to do. And then we did it," she winked at me, "If you know what I mean."

"Gross," I said quietly.

"Trust me, it was everything but that. Especially with all that chocolate syrup..."

"What? Chocolate syrup?" Amy came from the kitchen licking a spoon covered with white creme.

"Oh, I was just telling Beca about..." Stacie began her story again, but was now cut off by Amy: "You know I love dirty stories with a lot of juicy details, but your stories make my tummy feel sick."

"But Amy, this story involves two things you love most: sex and food," Stacie said hoping to get another opportunity to describe every little obscene detail of her sex life. Amy thought about it for a second before saying: "Alright, let's hear it."

"Oh, Stacie, you're here," a lively voice said entering the room. Chloe took a pink apron and handed it to Stacie: "Put this on and go help Amy in the kitchen. Beca," she looked at me "just clean the counter and you're free to go."

"Yes! Finally," I exclaimed happily and started cleaning the counter, wanted to finish as soon as possible. It was then when I first noticed a little pink napkin (everything was pink in here. Guess whose brilliant idea that was.) neatly put against the cash register. I grabbed it and just before I threw it in the trash I noticed something written on it. Just one sentence.

_It was nice meeting you, neighbor. :)_

My eyes automatically landed on a small video rental store across the street and one particular person came to my mind.

What a _dork_.

* * *

A/N This is my first fanfic so if you're going to review it, please don't be too harsh. But constructive criticism is appreciated. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Aubrey wasn't exactly my favorite person. Actually, I wouldn't even put her in my top 10 favorite people. Or top 100. And I didn't even know that many people. I tried to avoid her, but that turned out to be a lot harder than I expected.

Aubrey hated me and I assure you the feeling was mutual. She knew how much I hated waking up at 6 am and how much I hated the morning shift, but she still didn't want to let me the take the afternoon shift instead. Even after I explained to her multiple times that I wouldn't be late if she gave me the afternoon shift. But no, she would never do anything for me that could be considered a favor.

I had a crazy, but maybe not so crazy theory that she loved yelling at people, especially me. Maybe it was some kind of an illness? Every morning she would wait for me to come to work (late, of course), her arms crossed on her chest and a ridiculously angry look on her face. Then the rant began. Every morning for the past year and a half.

I really didn't understand why Aubrey was so angry at me. I was late a few minutes, so what? Amy was always eating more cakes than she made and Stacie was the one seducing the customers. And when I say seducing, I mean literally jumping on everything that moves. And some things that don't move. If Chloe didn't work here I would be employee of the month.

Aubrey, obviously, didn't think the same.

I was trying not to make any snarky remarks while I was listening to Aubrey's yelling once again. Her face turned into a shade of red which I called "The Aubrey". Chloe was again trying to calm her, since she was the only person who could actually do that. If it wasn't for her, Aubrey would never stop yelling.

"Wow, she really doesn't like you," Amy said taking another bite of the cupcake. It truly amazed me how we still had enough cupcakes to sell considering Amy ate everything she baked.

"Really? I haven't noticed," I replied tying my apron. Did it really had to be pink along with everything else in this bakery? I felt like I was working in a Barbie shop. And I had a real size Barbie as my boss. Years of refusal to play with Barbie when I was a kid is finally getting back at me. Ain't life wonderful?

"Come on, Shortshank. Isn't it a bit too early for sarcasm?" Amy asked.

"Amy, the Shortshank joke wasn't funny the first time you said it and it's not funny now."

"Someone's a bit cranky this morning, huh?" Amy teased. I really didn't have the strength to deal with this now. I just wanted to sleep. Just five more minutes. I closed my eyes. Five minutes...

"Beca. Beca. Be-caw! Be-caw!" someone screamed in my ear. I winced and tried to look wide awake. The first thing I saw with my still half closed eyes was a bright smile. Bright smile on a very happy man. Man I had met just yesterday and he already annoyed me probably more than Aubrey. No one can be this happy and upbeat. No one. I quickly glanced at the clock on the wall. 8:13. It's too early for this.

"What do you want?" I growled.

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Jesse said cheerfully. I felt the strong urge to punch him. But I didn't.

"What do you want?" I repeated.

"The usual."

I looked at him, confused. He was here only once. How can he consider his order usual? What did he even order yesterday? I really wasn't in the mood for riddles.

"What do you want?" I asked again sounding as harsh as I could. He should know that he should be afraid of me. But all this seemed to entertain him and I hated myself for giving him such pleasure.

"You don't remember what I ordered? And I thought I was your favorite customer," he quipped.

I violently grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. Our noses were only an inch away.

"What do you want, _nerd_?" I snarled.

"Woah, do you treat all your customers like this?" he said still smiling brightly. I suppressed another urge to hit him as hard as possible. I was pleasantly surprised with my newly developed skills of self control.

"What are you doing, Beca?" I froze at the voice behind me. Aubrey always had to show up at the most inconvenient time. Even though I couldn't see her I knew she crossed her arms on her chest. She always did that when she was angry. Actually no, she always did that when she talked to me.

I let Jesse's shirt go and took a deep breath to calm myself before I spoke: "Can't you see I tried to mount him?"

I noticed Jesse chuckle. Too bad Aubrey didn't like my twisted sense of humor as well.

"Beca Mitchell, my office. Now!" she screamed. I mock saluted her before I replied: "Your wish is my command, my lady."

I really didn't know how to shut up.

Aubrey called employees to her office only when they did something really bad which made her really angry. Need I say that I have been a regular visitor?

Aubrey's office wasn't very big and (what shocked me when I first came there) it wasn't pink even though some files on the desk and several picture frames on the white wall were pink. Another crazy theory of mine was that Aubrey tried to drive us all crazy with the all the pink in the bakery while she planned her next rant in peace and quiet of an overly tidy small office.

"Every day, Beca. You're doing this to me every day. You are late, you're rude to customers, you're freaking them out with that ear monstrosity and you don't respect me whatsoever. You're rebellious, disrespectful, arrogant, grumpy, inconsiderate, uncooperative, unfocused and a huge pain in my ass! Why is that, Beca?" she yelled at me as soon as I walked in.

"I'm multi-talented. I can talk and piss you off at the same time," I answered without thinking.

Oh, boy. This is going to be ugly.

Aubrey started screaming.

"You spiteful little brat! You've been ruining my life since I hired you!"

Chloe ran in the office to calm her down. God bless Chloe.

"Aubrey! Aubrey, no! Calm down! Come on, breathe! Breathe! Breathe, Aubrey!"

Aubrey grabbed a ceramic cat from her desk and threw it at me. I ducked down on time so it didn't hit me. The girl was _crazy_.

While Chloe was taking care of Aubrey I took the chance to get the hell out of there. Amy was standing outside the door. I knew that she heard everything. She didn't even had to eavesdrop like she usually does, she could've gone to the end of the street and still hear everything.

"Woah, that was rough," she said.

"I'm used to it," I replied. And I was used to it. I was some kind of a record holder in this bakery. Aubrey yelled at me for two whole hours once for being rude to a customer. I (somehow) fell asleep and then she yelled at me for falling asleep. That was her longest lasting rant ever. And one hot July day I visited her office six times. So she could yell at me, of course. And did I mention I got fired the first day? Obviously, I was hired again, thanks to Chloe. I still don't know what she had to do to convince Aubrey to hire me again.

"I would normally offer to unleash my dingoes at her, but she's my boss and I really don't want to get fired," Amy continued.

"I know, Amy. Thanks anyway."

I was pretty sure that Amy brought her pet dingoes (Muffin, Cookie and Cupcake) to the USA illegally, but I never asked her much about that subject. All I knew for sure was that the three fellas and her accent were all she brought from Tasmania with her.

The thought of Aubrey being chased by three vicious beasts put a smile on my face, but it quickly faded after I saw Jesse still standing in front of the counter.

"Why are you still here?" I attacked him angrily. He looked a bit taken aback, but the smile was soon back on his face.

"I'm still waiting for my donuts and coffee," he explained.

"I thought Chloe –" I trailed off and decided not to waste my breath. Instead, I gave him a box of donuts and three lattes.

"So you do remember my order?" he teased.

"Screw you," that was the best thing I could come up with.

"Ouch, Bec. That hurts," he put his right hand over his heart trying to look hurt. And then he smiled again.

"That's it. Get out," I said harshly pointing my finger at the door.

"But – "

"No buts, get out!"

"I just –"

"Get _out_!" I threw a donut at him and he daftly caught it which made me even angrier.

"Thanks for the free donut," he said happily, putting the donut in his mouth and taking the box and coffees in his arms. He slowly walked out of the bakery.

"And stay out!" I yelled at him after he left. He heard it.

* * *

It was stupid to even think that Jesse is not going to come back again. The next day, at exactly 8:15 he walked in the bakery, grinning. I rolled my eyes when I saw him. I put the lid on the coffee cup I made for my current customer, a cop.

"I thought I told you to stay out," I told Jesse.

"Yeah, but you didn't really mean it. You know you can't stay mad at me for long."

"Oh, I meant it."

"Is there a problem here?" the cop interfered. Jesse shook his head.

"Actually, there is, officer," I said, "This man is constantly molesting me."

The cop looked at Jesse angrily. I noticed fear in Jesse's eyes and had to bite inside of my cheek so I wouldn't laugh.

"Is that so?" the cop asked approaching Jesse slowly. He was at least a head taller than Jesse so Jesse looked like a helpless dwarf next to this guy.

"No, no. That, that is not true. I just come here to buy breakfast for my co-workers," Jesse tried to defend himself.

"The lady said you were molesting her. I could arrest you right now, boy," the cop said with a muffled voice.

"I'm, I'm…I didn't do anything."

The cop stared at him before he burst out laughing and I joined him. Jesse was confused. The cop looked at me and asked "How did I do?"

"You did great, Greg. Here's your coffee. It's on the house," I handed him his coffee which he took gratefully, his big body still shaking from laughter. I wasn't very close to customers like Chloe and people didn't come here to drool over me like they did when Stacie was working, but I was smart enough to know that being friends with cop couldn't be a bad thing. And I was right.

"Thanks, Beca."

Greg left the place still laughing and I noticed Jesse's confused look.

"What was that?"

"That was awesome. You should've seen your face," I said.

Jesse was still a little shocked, but a smile quickly appeared on his face. Of course.

"You got me this time. And look, you're actually smiling," he noticed.

I stopped smiling as soon as he said that and tried to look annoyed.

"You should smile more often, it looks good on you," he complimented me and I just shot him a look.

"Pardon me, you're obviously mistaking me for someone who gives a damn," I said harshly.

"Can't we even talk like normal people?"

"We could if you were normal."

"I'm not normal?" he asked.

"No, you're a dork."

"Well people always told me to be myself."

"Whoever told you that couldn't have given you worse advice."

He was smiling, but I saw my words hurt him just a little. I felt kinda bad, but I wasn't about to apologize to this nerd. Instead, I gave him his box of donuts and three lattes. He took the food and kept staring at me with his warm brown eyes.

"If I throw you a stick will you leave?" I asked when his gaze made me feel uncomfortable. He headed towards the doors.

"And stay out!" I repeated my words from yesterday. He just grinned wider.

"You know I can't do that."

* * *

A/N Thanks for all the lovely reviews, follows and favorites, you guys put a huge smile on my face. I'm kinda worried that I have disappointed you with this chapter. I realized that the story sounds a lot better in my head than it does when I write it. Does that happen to others or is it just me? Anyway, I hope you like it. Reviews are appreciated.

And just to answer that question, I am planning to bring more characters from the movie. Benji , Donald and probably Lily will appear in the next chapter :)


	3. Chapter 3

Even though I hated my job, there were some things I loved.

For instance, listening to Amy talk about her crocodile wrestling days or watching those three high school boys who always came just to drool over Stacie. I simply _loved_ how they always started stuttering when she asked them what she could do for them.

I loved Aubrey's facial expressions when she was listening to Amy and Stacie's stories (mixture of disbelief and disgust) and I loved having Chloe around, the only person I could call a friend. I would probably lose my mind without her.

And now maybe, just maybe, I liked when Jesse came every day. _Maybe_.

"Morning, sunshine," he said cheerfully one day as he entered the bakery. I automatically started preparing his order. "I trained you well," he added looking at me putting the donuts with the most sprinkles in the box.

I didn't say anything so he continued, "You know, I don't think it's fair that I come here to visit you every day and you've never come to visit me. I work just across the street you know?"

"I do."

"So why do you never visit?" he asked. He was completely serious, not a hint of his smile. That fact alone left me speechless and also the fact that he wanted me to go to the video rental store. Why would I go there? It's not like I'm a movie buff. Even if I was, I wouldn't go to video rental store to get a movie. Does anyone even go to those places anymore? And just when I decided to tell him all that, I saw that hopeful look on his face – that look he wasn't even aware of – and I just couldn't tell him that. God, I was becoming such a softie. Pull yourself together, Mitchell.

"I, um, – "

"You don't have to come just for me," he added quickly, probably hoping I wouldn't get the wrong impression or something, I don't know. Dorks aren't exactly my area of expertise.

"But, maybe you'd like to visit Donald, Unicycle and Benji?" he asked.

And that's when it hit me. Perfect lie why I don't have to go to that geeky place across the street. I inwardly thanked Aubrey for dating Unicycle. And for breaking up with him.

"Aubrey doesn't let us," I lied. He blinked in confusion, so I continued:

"She dated Uni several months ago and that didn't end well."

Okay, so this part was true. I didn't even know they were together until they broke up. I didn't know what exactly happened – no one did, except maybe Chloe – but I'll never forget seeing Aubrey so broken. I actually felt sorry for her.

"She doesn't let you to come to our place because she used to date with Unicycle? That's crazy!"

"Well you know Aubrey, she has crazy written all over her," I shook my head slightly as if I couldn't believe how insane Aubrey can be when I actually couldn't believe that this dork believed me. I almost smiled.

"You know what?" he asked looking very determined, "That is not okay. I will put an end to this. I promise you Beca Mitchell, you will be able to come to our video rental store again."

And then he left leaving me completely speechless once again. One big sarcastic _yay_ was all I could think of. And how did he know my last name? I never told him that.

Creepy dork.

* * *

"Here you go, kid," I said as I gave some guy his coffee and change. The queue was now longer and Chloe was helping me serve the customers. I smiled when I saw who the next person in line was.

"Hey, Lily. How are you?" I asked the quite girl with long black hair and big eyes as I started making her two coffees. I never heard her speak as her voice was quieter than a whisper and I guess that was why I really liked her. She never annoyed me with her detailed stories about how she spent her weekend or a description of a really cute guy she just saw (I only tolerated Chloe's babbles because she looked so funny and adorable telling those stories).

I saw Lily opening and closing her mouth which meant she said something. I tried to look very happy about that even though I hadn't heard a single word she said.

"That's great!"

By the look on Lily's face I knew whatever she said wasn't great so I erased the smile off my face and handed her two cups of coffee. She said something, again, too quiet for me to hear and turned to leave.

"Tell Cynthia Rose I said hi!" I yelled after her.

"Such a sweet girl," Chloe said looking at Lily.

"Uh, Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"You have customers," I said looking at the not so very happy old lady.

"Oh, right."

I focused on my next customer when I heard Aubrey's angry voice from her office.

"We don't deliver," she said firmly. After a few seconds she continued: "Well, that's just another reason why you should come here if you want to buy something. No, I – You know what, fine."

I heard her high heels approaching and I knew I was in some kind of trouble.

"Beca."

What did I just say?

"Grab some donuts and three lattes and take it to the boys from the video store," she said emotionlessly.

"What? Why? They can just come here!"

"Apparently they're very busy."

Yeah, right.

"Chloe can do it. Or Amy. Or you. You never do anything."

She shot me one of her scariest looks.

"I said you'll do it," she said before returning to her _chambers_.

I sighed and grabbed one box and put several donuts in it. While I was making lattes I remembered my earlier conversation with Jesse. How didn't I realize it before? Of course _he_ had something to do with this.

* * *

I walked the short distance between the bakery and the video store and felt the frustration grow inside me as I stood in front of the small building with lame movie posters on windows.

I opened the door and walked into a labyrinth of shelves filled with DVDs. The video store wasn't very big, but somehow I still managed to get lost. Who wouldn't get lost in a freaking _maze_?

Just when I decided to leave the donuts and coffee on the floor in the middle of an aisle I was currently in and get back to work, I ran into someone. Fortunately, that someone wasn't Jesse. It was Donald.

"You lost?" he asked, mischievous smile on his face. Even though I didn't like to admit it, I kind of liked Donald. I talked to him like twice and was glad to find out that he had some pretty witty replies to my witty replies. (If that makes any sense.)

"Kinda. How do you even find your way out?" I asked.

"We leave a trail of breadcrumbs," he replied putting some DVDs back on the shelf. I knew he was kidding, but I still looked down just to be sure.

"I assume this is our lunch," he was looking at the food I was holding. I nodded. "Follow me," he said disappearing behind one of the shelves. I hurried up to catch him. I didn't want to get lost again.

He brought me to the counter where Jesse and another nerdy boy were watching a movie on a laptop. No customers.

"So are all the people who visit this place invisible?" I asked. Jesse looked up and put a huge smile on his face. Again with the smile.

"Yeah, you actually just stepped on Jim's foot. He's not looking very happy," Jesse joked, but before I could respond, the other boy interjected grabbing my hand and shaking it.

"I'm Benji. You must be Beca. Jesse told me _so_ much about you."

"Oh _really_?" I raised my eyebrow and looked at Jesse. I expected him to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable, but he looked kinda proud.

"Yeah," Benji nodded, "Hey, do you want to see a magic trick?"

"No," I said without thinking, but when I noticed Benji's disappointed look I quickly changed my answer, "I mean, yes. Yes, I wanna see it."

My words put a huge smile on Benji's face and I couldn't help but smile as well. I realized Jesse was looking at me and his look wasn't cheerful as always. It was thankful.

Benji did a quick move with his hands and a small hedgehog appeared in them. I just hoped he didn't keep the poor animal in his sleeve or wherever for too long.

"Wow, Benji! That was … great!" I said. Benji looked even happier.

"Hey Benji, where did you put Harry Potter movies?" Donald asked.

"Oh, they're right here," Benji disappeared behind one of the shelves. Jesse was still staring at me which made me feel a little uncomfortable.

"Thanks," he said completely serious.

"You're welcome. You know how much it costs so just give me the money. I have to get back to work."

He handed me the money.

"I meant, thanks for being nice to Benji."

"No problem. He's a nice kid," I replied and the silence continued. It wasn't awkward silence, but it felt like something remained undiscussed.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" he asked.

"For what?"

"I did it, I brought you here! Just like I promised," he grinned and old overly excited Jesse was back. I didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't even wanna be here.

"You know what? I'm going to do you a favor. I'm going to let you borrow any movie you want without making an account," he said smiling like he has done the most amazing thing for me.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I don't like movies."

He looked a bit taken aback. "You don't like movies?" he repeated, confused, "How can you not like movies?"

I shrugged. "They're boring and predictable."

He was looking at me like I said I hated puppies.

"Come with me," he said and led me to one big shelf that didn't look anything different than all the other shelves. He let go of my wrist and took a movie from the shelf.

"Breakfast Club, 1985, one of the best movies _ever_. You must watch it."

I looked at the DVD.

"Movie about five teenagers? I don't even like them in real life, so I definitely don't wanna watch them if I don't have to."

"But that movie is timeless."

"So is teenage drama. What else do you have, dork?"

He took another DVD from the shelf.

"Titanic?" I asked raising an eyebrow, "I don't do romance."

He didn't give up. He showed me another movie.

"Rocky? Yeah, I think I'll pass."

"Come on, Bec. There's gotta be at least one movie you wanna watch."

I was about to shake my head when I noticed something interesting on another shelf. I headed there and stopped to look at the DVD's titles. After couple of seconds I came back to Jesse holding a DVD in my hand.

"I wanna watch _this_ movie," I said smiling mischievously. Jesse frowned.

"I meant a classic or something."

I did my best to look serious.

"This is a classic. A bad student and a naughty teacher," I waved with the porno in front of his face.

"Beca, Beca, Beca," he shook his head slowly, "You really need a movie education. You need a moviecation. And I'm gonna give it to you," he exclaimed happily.

"Only if we watch this movie first," I said decisively.

* * *

A/N Thanks again for all the reviews and follows and favorites, it's very much appreciated :) As I promised Donald, Benji and Lily are in this chapter as well, although their appearances are brief. But you haven't seen the last of them.

I'll try to update every week, but I don't know how that will turn out cause I'm writing two other stories as well.

And finally, I hope you all had a great Valentines Day (even though I personally hate it, I would rather celebrate Forever Alone Day)!


	4. Chapter 4

I ran in the bakery catching my breath. I was late more than usual and was already mentally prepared for Aubrey's rant when I realized something great. She's not here. I went to the kitchen and found Amy and Chloe eating cookies.

"Where's Aubrey?" I asked inwardly thanking God for her obviously not being here.

"Who cares," Chloe said taking another bite of a cookie.

"Cookie?" Amy asked.

"Thanks," I took a cookie and went behind the counter facing the two girls. I put a cookie in my mouth so I could tie an apron around my waist. As soon as I made the knot I took the cookie out of my mouth looking at it as if it was disease.

"This is raisin cookie! I thought it was chocolate chip cookie. Raisin cookies that look like chocolate chip cookies are the reason I have trust issues."

"I didn't know you have trust issues," a voice behind me said.

"Jesus Christ!" I screamed and jumped a little, my cookie falling on the floor. I didn't have to look at the person behind me to know it was Jesse. I could practically hear him smile. I picked the cookie from the floor and threw it in the bin then turned around to face Jesse and - surprise, surprise – he was smiling alright.

"You scared me," I said.

"Sorry, didn't mean to," he faked an apology, "So, trust issues, huh?"

"I don't have trust issues," I stated firmly making it loud and clear that this is not a subject to discuss. I guess he got my message.

"Okay then," he said, "Can I get my donuts and coffee? Donald and Unicycle work afternoon shift so I left Benji all alone there. I'm afraid he might hurt himself trying to do that trick where he is locked up in a box with chains. Last time he almost suffocated."

"Who put the chains if he's in the box?" I asked while carefully choosing donuts to put in the box.

"I did. Now he just needs to find the way out."

If he dies, you'll be accomplice in crime."

"He's not going to die. Just...hurry up."

"You guys must be really bored there," I said shaking my head.

"Yeah, well, it's not like we're super busy and all. The only people who still go to video stores are those who don't know how to use Netflix. But, I'm not complaining. I mean, any job is better than no job at all. And over the past couple of weeks I met quite a few interesting people. All movie nerds."

"Like yourself?" I asked, nodding my head in the direction of his shirt while putting a new donut in the box. He looked at his black T-shirt with the words _if you're a nerd, I'm a nerd_ written on it and chuckled.

"Yeah, this is my favorite shirt. And one of my favorite movies actually," he took the pink carton box I handed him.

"There's a movie about nerds?" I asked thinking how that movie is probably perfect for him. He laughed.

"No, that's from The Notebook. If you're a bird, I'm a bird," he gave me a does-that-ring-a-bell look, but I just looked at him deadpanned, having absolutely no idea what he's talking about.

"Don't tell me you never heard of The Notebook. Allie and Noah? Greatest love story ever?"

"The only Noah I know is my neighbor who keeps me awake every night," I said pouring latte in a polystyrene cup. I noticed Jesse looking at me with some undefined look and then I realized how my last statement must have sound to him.

"Oh, no! No, no! It's not what you think. Noah cries all night. He's a baby. That's why he's keeping me up," I explained as I put the lid on the cup.

"Oh, okay. Yeah, I thought he and you – "

" - oh no. No, no, no," I said quickly, handing him the coffee.

"You know, I feel guilty," he said after a few seconds of silence.

"Why?" I asked while pouring latte in another cup.

"You always give me donuts and coffee and I never gave you anything ..."

"This is not my gift to you, it's my job. If I don't give you what you want, I'll get fired."

"Don't worry, Beca," he said completely ignoring my last statement, "I'll bring you something tomorrow."

"Didn't you hear what I just said? Oh, you know what? Forget it," I handed him another cup.

"Thanks. Just two cups today. It's just me and Benji remember?" he smiled as I started filling the third cup with coffee.

"Alrighty then," I said taking a sip from the third cup while Jesse was paying full attention to his box of donuts. He was looking so focused as if he was trying to solve a really difficult algebra problem.

"Say, which one do you think has more sprinkles, this one or…" he pointed at the another donut, "this one?" he asked completely serious.

"I don't know," I shrugged not really giving a damn about the donuts," Don't you ever get fed up with donuts? I mean you eat them every day."

"This is the most breakfast-y thing you have here. I'm pretty sure my mom wouldn't be very happy if I ate chocolate cake every morning."

I felt a little stab of jealousy when he mentioned his mom. It's nice to hear a twenty-something year old man has a good relationship with his mother and that she even cares what he has for breakfast (even though that sound a bit like an overly attached mom). Relationships with my parents were not so great, to say the least.

"We have other cakes too, you know? And cupcakes. Well, only the ones Amy doesn't eat," I said and he chuckled.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll stick with donuts."

"Your choice."

"Okay, well, I have to go now. Make sure Benji's still alive. I would ask you to come watch E.T. with us, but since you don't like movies – "

" – I don't."

He paused for a second.

"I don't get it. How can you not like movies?" he asked. Here we go again. He asked me that question every time he came after my little trip to the video store the other day. And every time my answer was the same.

"I told you, they're predictable therefore they're boring. Why would I watch it if I already know what's going to happen? There are better ways to spend your free time. Why do you like them so much anyway?"

"Because they're awesome and entertaining _and_ they're going to be my job one day."

"Aren't movies already your job?" I asked when a moment of realization hit me, "No, wait. _Please_, don't tell you're another wannabe actor."

"What?" he laughed, "No! Although I find it flattering that you think I'm handsome enough to make it as an actor – "

" – I never said that," I cut in, but he ignored me.

" - that's not what I wanna do. I wanna score movies. Bring people to tears, blow their minds, you know?" he looked at me, his brown eyes filled with excitement, "I feel like only music can do that."

I admit I found Jesse a little annoying, well, a lot lately with all the talk about movies (he actually said he is going to make a movie buff out of me – give your best shot, kid), but I also started to like him more and more. Okay, not _like _him, tolerate would be more appropriate word. But now, when I know he likes – no, he _loves_ music (so much he wants to make a living out of it) - I can't help but like – I mean, _tolerate_ - him even more.

"Have you already composed something?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah, I…I did, but it's not finished yet, I'm still working on it," he said, a bit taken aback by my question.

"Can I hear it when you finish it?"

"Yeah, sure."

I simply nodded in reply and then felt an urge to tell him something about myself, which I don't normally do. Before I could think twice, I blurted out,

"I wanna make music too."

"Really? Like, be a singer or …"

"No, I mean really make music. Produce music."

Then it hit me. I just told this to Jesse. Well that's just great. He's going to want to know all about it and he won't be able to stop talking about how we have something in common now. Maybe he shows up tomorrow with matching t-shirts with some really lame sign on them like the one he's wearing right now. Everything is possible.

"Oh, well what are you doing in a bakery then? Why aren't you producing music" he asked.

"That's a long story."

"I have time."

"Don't you have to go check if Benji's still breathing? If he suffocates, I will hold you responsible for his death," I warned.

"Dully noted," Jesse answered.

"I'm taking a break from music," I said after a few moments of silence.

"Wow, that was _such_ a long story," he said sarcastically and I instinctively rolled my eyes.

"Well, I shortened it because unlike _some_ people I actually care about Benji's life. And don't try to be sarcastic, it doesn't suit you."

"Okay, I will leave that to you. I can't be good at everything, right? But with a face like this and amazing sense of humor, who needs sarcasm?"

"You have a huge ego, you know that?"

He chuckled and was about to say something when Aubrey stormed in the bakery. She didn't even bother to greet us (read: yell at me for, I don't know, _existing_), she just paced to her small office slamming the door behind her.

"I think you should go now," I said quickly, "Aubrey seems pissed enough already, I don't want to make her even more furious."

"Okay then," he said and left a ten dollar bill on the counter," I'll see you around." As I was putting the money in the cash register I heard his voice from the door.

"Beca?"

"Yeah?"

"It was nice talking to you," he said politely, forming a charming smile.

"I'm in a good mood. It happens. But don't get used to it, dork," I warned.

"Oh, and Beca?"

"Yeah?"

"I hope you didn't forget about your moviecation," he added as he opened the door, ready to leave.

"I hope you didn't forget about our deal," I winked, a mischievous grin spreading across my face.

"That porn thing was serious?" he frowned a little.

"I never kid with porn," I said erasing the smile off my face so he would take me seriously.

He thought about it for a second before saying: "Is that your only condition?" I nodded quickly in agreement, before he could change his mind.

"Well then, that's settled. See you later, alligator."

I just rolled my eyes. He smiled and walked out the door carrying donuts and coffee. As I was watching him cross the street, I heard someone behind me say:

"Now that's a fine piece of man candy."

I turned around and saw Amy licking the spoon and Chloe smiling mischievously at me. I knew that smile. I knew it all too well. She always smiled like that when she wanted to set me up with someone. No matter how many times I told her I didn't need a boyfriend and I _didn't want_ a boyfriend, she wouldn't give up.

"Who? Jesse?" I asked genuinely surprised," He is like the king of dorks."

"Yeah, a hot king!" Amy exclaimed.

"Okay, so he's not exactly _displeasing_ to the eye, but still..." I admitted glancing quickly at the building across the street. I dozed off for a while when I noticed the smell of burnt cupcakes coming from the kitchen.

"Oh, crap!" Amy said, quickly walking toward the kitchen because, as she loves to point it out, she doesn't do vertical running.

"So," I heard Chloe approaching slowly when Amy left, "He's not displeasing to the eye, huh?"

I looked at Chloe who was still having that mischievous smile on her face. I knew where this was going and I didn't like it.

"I don't like him like that, Chloe," I emphasized every word hoping that my stubborn friend would get the message, but obviously she didn't.

"Hey, those were your words, not mine," she said raising her hands like she was surrendering, "But you have to admit it, he is hot."

I looked at her and noticed that victorious look in her eyes. I knew she wouldn't give up and she knew I would give in eventually.

"Okay, he is hot," I said. Chloe squealed and I immediately regretted telling her," So what? That doesn't mean I like him."

I was a bad liar and Chloe could see right through me so she would know if I lied. But so what if I thought he was hot? And so what if I can't help but look at his firm biceps sometimes? But I would never tell him that of course. His ego is already gigantic, he doesn't need additional boost.

I winced slightly as the phone started ringing.

"You should probably get that," I told Chloe, hoping the phone would save me from this awkward conversation about Jesse.

"Amy will get it," she waved her hand dismissively.

"Okay, but can we please stop talking about Jesse? I know how you're desperately trying to set me up with someone, but can you please _stop_ playing the matchmaker? I told you, I don't like Jesse like that."

"Okay, so how about I come to your place tonight so we can talk about how much you don't like Jesse. That sounds fun, right?"

Before I could reply, I heard Amy calling me from the kitchen.

"Beca! It's for you!"

"Only if you bring liquor," I told Chloe.

"It's a date," I heard her chirp behind me. I came to the kitchen where Amy was standing, holding the phone in her hand. She smiled mischievously when she noticed me.

"It's the sexy beast," she winked.

"What do you want, Jesse?" I asked, sighing exasperatedly.

"So I'm the sexy beast, huh?" I heard his amused voice from the other end of the line.

"Don't flatter yourself. What do you want?"

"Just wanted to tell you that Benji's okay. I thought you would like to know that."

"Thanks. Tell him I'm glad he's not dead."

"Will do."

"Okay, if that's everything I have to go now. If Aubrey finds out I'm talking to you when I should be working..."

"Yeah, I know, I know. Bye, Becs."

"After while, crocodile."

* * *

A/N Sorry for the late update. I've very busy, very sick than very busy again, and this past couple of weeks have been crazy, so again, I'm sorry. I know this chapter probably disappointed some of you because I didn't include that porn watching scene, but don't worry I'm working on it so it's going to be in one of the next chapters.

On the side note, I think this baby Noah part was poorly written. Let me know what you thought about it cause I'm thinking about cutting that part out. It's not important for the story so...

And I hope you understand the ending too. It's really late here, so I don't know if anything I've written makes any sense to other people...

And, as always, reviews are appreciated. :D


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Pitch Perfect, Friendship, Romance