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The first year they lose was the best year they lost.
Coming into the competition was stressful. Bumper had just quit and Benji had to learn all of the choreography in a matter of days. Jesse unofficially became co-leaders alongside Donald.
And he wasn't talking to Beca.
So yeah, he wasn't exactly pumped that first ICCAs.
He felt great after performing, he always does, but knowing the Bellas were up after them wasn't an easy feeling. Watching Beca sing always makes him happy, but at the time he wasn't too enthralled with the idea of having to sit through their set and not make those silly little lovestruck eyes at her.
But then she started singing a song— their song— and he couldn't believe his ears. She was singing to him like he was the only person in the room, and, hell, it was amazing. She was apologizing in the best way possible; she was telling him that she understood and that she was willing to fight for him. It blew his mind.
So naturally, he didn't care about winning. Maybe the guys were a little disappointed, but they already had at least a dozen of those trophies. Losing one wouldn't hurt.
He got the perfect happy ending to an eventful freshmen year, and that was all that mattered.
The next year, however, Jesse vowed to take back that trophy.
"Hey, Becs," he called one day, bounding up to his girlfriend to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I might be stepping out of line, but could you tell me what you're planning for Regionals?"
Beca gave him a narrow stare. "No?"
"Aw come on, give me a hint. So we don't end up singing the same thing," he reasoned, walking stride for stride with her down to the campus housing area.
"What, are you scared that we'd do better than you if we did?"
"No!"
"Okay, then tell me what you're planning," she poked him on the chest in an intimidating fashion, but really, the gesture made her look adorable.
He faltered slightly. "Um, I can't."
"Then why should I?" She questioned. She snorted and patted him affectionately on the shoulder when he didn't say anything.
He pouted. "You just wait and see, Mitchell. The Trebles are still reigning Regional champions!"
"We're using last names now?" She laughed. "Okay, Swanson. Bring it on."
However, he changed his mind when he saw them perform at Regionals. He knew they were beaten from the beginning, with his girlfriend being a music mastermind and all. He felt really lucky to watch her work her stuff on stage, and he felt even luckier when she was doing body shots off him later that day.
By the time Nationals came around, he stopped caring. He performed the hell out of that stage in Lincoln Center, and the crowd loved their energy. But what he was really looking forward to was the Bellas' set, an arrangement of "Suit and Tie", "Started From the Bottom, "Shake It Off", and "Do My Thang."
It was mind blowing.
There wasn't anything quite as heart warming as watching his girl do what she loves.
(Plus, he could finally make those silly little lovestruck eyes at her.)
Afterwards, they ditched the after parties and got ice cream together for their one-year anniversary.
The Bellas ended up winning everything that year. The new Trebles weren't exactly pleased with the results. In fact, they were pissed. A lot of them quit after they lost, much to Jesse and Benji's disdain.
They still had two years to conquer the a cappella world again.
They surprisingly found a few guys who were actually interested at the activity fair their third year. Many of them promised to be at auditions and some even sang with them. Benji and Jesse thought they finally had a shot.
Until the old Trebles who quit last year began to rally.
"Down with the Trebles! Dethrone Jesse Swanson and Benji Applebaum!" They wave around their signs outside of auditions, effectively scaring off potential new members. Jesse stared at the group, speechless.
Benji panicked. "Jesse, what are we gonna do?!"
"Just ignore them, Benj. We'll walk past and pretend they don't exist."
They get into Schnee Performing Arts Center swiftly, but when they sit down, they had no resumés to look through, and neither did the other groups. He scanned through the rows of seats and laid eyes on Beca, who was wearing the same confused expression on her face.
"Um, where are the a ca losers?" Fat Amy asked loudly, her forehead scrunched when she peeked her head out of the stage wings.
"There's a crowd outside," a new member from last year's Trebles, Blake, echoed.
"Why aren't they inside?"
"They're protesting us."
Beca sat up from her seat and looked at Jesse. "Us?"
"Yeah, members from last year hated being second place and they're boycotting," he answered, a little too coyly.
"Fuck, are they scaring off auditions?!" The brunette strode out of her seat and beckoned Jesse over with a flick of her wrist, motioning him to come with her to investigate the protesters.
Sure enough, they've blockaded the door with their bodies, a line of a cappella hopefuls uncomfortably waiting.
"What the fuck?! Jesse, fix this!" Beca yelled, pushing her boyfriend to confront the angry set of guys.
Jesse cleared his throat. "Uh, look guys, I know that we had our differences in the past but if you could leave that would be awesome."
The protesters laughed and continued chanting.
"HEY," Beca screamed, her tiny hands balled into clenched fists. "If you don't leave this area in the next fucking minute, I will personally rip out all of your throats and feed them to the wolves."
Angry and irritated Beca might've been scary, but scary Beca was also undeniably hot.
(He had flashbacks of her punching that Tonehanger square in the jaw for him. Those were the days).
He couldn't help it, okay?
"You might wanna listen to her, guys. She punched a grown man and went to jail over it."
Okay, that might've been a bit of a stretch, but what they didn't know didn't hurt.
Beca played along with it. "It's true. So get out."
The pack of guys left, disgruntled and mumbling about how "stupid a cappella is anyways."
The group of waiting students get escorted into the building, and everything after that went by smoothly. The Trebles gained a few great members, and Benji and Jesse thought that they finally had enough to challenge the Bellas.
They lose again, but the scores were a lot closer than they usually were.
Their third nationals had been a heated one. The guys were fired up and ready to beat the Bellas, but all Jesse thought about was, "hey, it's mine and Beca's second year anniversary. I better do something nice."
So, he managed to steal her away from the girls for a couple of hours that day. He took her around New York City and they played tourist for a bit, thoroughly awestruck when they spotted a Bellas billboard in Times Square. Beca got recognized a few times, which was exciting and unreal, with Jesse being the main photographer.
They eventually ended up in Central Park once the Bellas were finished practicing. While Beca was away, he managed to bundle up a few items to take with them to the iconic location, a gesture that he hoped would make her smile.
"What's this?" She asked, wearing the same confused expression on her face the last time she had said that phrase.
He smiled to himself and rolled out a hotel towel onto the grass before sitting on it. He took a few of the hotel's refreshments and other snacks out of his backpack and took his laptop out. "Pick a movie, any movie."
She squints at him, suspicious. "Jaws, E.T., and The Breakfast Club? Why does this feel familiar?"
He gave her a cool shrug. "Well, they are some of the best scored and soundtracked movies of all time."
He grinned when he saw the realization spread on her face, a smile forming at the edges of her lips.
"Oh my God. You're such a nerd," she laughed, giving him a sound kiss.
He pulled her into his lap and placed the laptop on hers, gesturing to the series of films in front of them. "What kind of nerdy boyfriend would I be if I didn't recreate our first date on our two-year anniversary?"
"Um, that wasn't our first date?"
"Aw, just work with me here."
She shrugs against his chest. "I'm just saying. I remember our first actual date, which explains why I didn't get your references at first. I remember us ordering almost everything on the menu of that tiny diner across from your dad's deli and almost passing out at the smell of their weird bacon."
"You'd think a place across a deli would have good bacon."
She laughed and sat up a little to give him another kiss, this one longer and a little more than handsy. "Thank you for this, Jesse," she paused to kiss him again, smiling even after he pulled away. "I pick The Breakfast Club."
At Lincoln Center, Jesse couldn't really concentrate on anything because his mind was reeling. First of all, he and Beca had just had amazing sex in some random room backstage. Second, the Bellas went up first that year, and watching from the wings was really messing with his head (there was something about the way their performance looked awesome at every angle imaginable). Third, the stunt (er, magic trick) the Trebles were about to pull on stage could get someone killed, and that was slightly worrisome.
Luckily, Benji's magic worked and it only surged the adrenaline flowing through his veins as he sung his heart out on stage.
However, there was really nothing like performing directly in front of your girlfriend, singing for her while she gave you smoldering looks across the way as her own version of those silly lovestruck eyes. He loves her, and she loves him, and trophies weren't really on their minds at the moment.
(Except, well, when the Bellas are announced as national champions for the third year in a row.)
(But it only lasted a heartbeat.)
It was really mind numbing how that one moment on stage made him feel invincible, and he was sure it'd never go away.
He was wrong about that feeling.
He was expecting to close out his college career at Barden on a strong note.
And it did.
The Barden Treblemakers finally won their trophy after three long years of losing it to the Bellas.
It was a hollow victory to him. The boys are ecstatic and going nuts over their giant trophy and the fact that they got to choose the audition song for next year. Hell, Benji wouldn't stop crying.
He loves his group, but still, the win didn't feel nearly as good as it should've felt.
Not when they won without the Bellas even in the competition.
So, yeah, they won without any real competition.
Of course they won. They've been winning ever since the Bellas got kicked out of the collegiate league.
Yet, that wasn't the real reason why Jesse felt off inside.
It was because Beca wasn't there. It was weird not having someone to make silly little lovestruck eyes at for the whole world to watch. It was weird not having her there to sing to.
Lincoln Center felt empty without her.
Sure, the trophy was satisfying. Sure, he was finally a national champion. Sure, he had finally achieved it all with his a ca family.
But he'd rather have Beca.