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They're stacking CDs at the radio station. Beca's busy daydreaming up ways of stealing an old Amy Winehouse record when Jesse makes his way to the shelf across her, his head peeping through the gaps.
"Are you doing anything for Halloween?" He asks suddenly, staring at her with genuine interest.
She snaps out of her daydream, silently cursing him for interrupting her evil plot-making. "What?"
"Halloween. Do you have any plans?"
She pauses to think a little. The Bellas have invited her to a Halloween party, and she quite honestly doesn't want to go. It's been two months into the semester and a little over three weeks since she joined the Bellas, and she wasn't so sure about hanging out with them all outside of practice. She likes them enough to tolerate them in practice, but Beca's just not into the party scene. Call her a boring old lady, but she'd rather stay in her dorm than dress in a costume and drink her night away.
"There's a party that the Bellas are all going to, but I don't think I'm going," she replies, shrugging off Jesse's gawking.
"Aww, why not?!"
"Not my thing- celebrating Halloween, I mean."
"Oh right, I forgot that you're allergic to everything fun."
She glares at his smug face. "Why, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to the party and then I promised Benji I'd go trick-or treating with him."
Beca's heart twitches ever-so-slightly. Sure, she's only been there for two months, but already Benji has became one of her favorite people. She feels for the guy for being rejected from the Trebles, and Jesse's kindness for his roommate was one of the only redeeming qualities he had going for him.
(Well, other than that amazing voice and kinda-attractive face.)
(Oh, come on, Beca wasn't blind. Or deaf, for that matter.)
"That's oddly sweet of you," she admits reluctantly, avoiding his reaction by focusing on the stack of vinyls in front of her.
"Is that a surprise to you?"
Her eyes roll. "Yes, because you're an annoying weirdo most of the time."
"That's mean," he frowns. "Okay, well hypothetically speaking, if you were to dress up for Halloween, what would you be?"
She shrugs. "I dunno."
"Okay, let's narrow it down. If Benji's Luke, and I'm Han, then you'd be..."
She proceeds with caution. "...Darth Vader?"
He groans, making her grin. "No! Princess Leia. That would make you Princess Leia."
She snorts. "Yeah, in your dreams."
"I said hypothetically, Beca. But you do speak the truth."
"I always do," she says bluntly, moving towards the stack of CDs waiting for her in the cart. "Sorry, but Star Wars is pretty lame. I'm not subjecting myself to that kind of geekfest."
"First of all, I'm offended. Star Wars is awesome," he argues.
She rolls her eyes.
"Second of all, this is all, hypothetically speaking, for Benji."
"Yeah, well, as much as I like Benji, I still wouldn't. I have a reputation to uphold."
He eyes her suspiciously. "No offense, Beca, but we aren't exactly at the top of the social latter, being in a cappella groups and all."
She scowls. "Okay, but I'd like to keep whatever ounce of dignity I have left."
The next day, the radio station is suspiciously quiet throughout her shift. Jesse's hunched over the desk, organizing CDs into their respective genres. By this point, Beca's used to his babbling and occasional humming, so it was odd to hear nothing but the radio music playing against the background.
By the time their shift ends, she manages to catch him on his way out. She nudges him with her elbow, offering a reluctant smile when he's caught off-guard.
"Hey, weirdo. Are you okay? You've been eerily quiet this shift."
He shrugs, eyes flickering to the small brunette. "Yeah, I'm fine," he says, but Beca's unconvinced.
He was acting a bit squirrelly, now that she thinks about it. His pace quickens with every step, only getting more and more difficult for her to keep in step with her short legs. She eventually pulls on his arm, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"Dude, just tell me," she heaves, finally letting her breath catch up with her.
"You won't be happy," he warns.
She bites the inside of her cheek, eying him curiously. "Oh, great. Just spit it out."
They take a seat on a street bench. "You know my hypothetical theory yesterday?"
She nods.
"So I might have jokingly mentioned it to Benji and now-"
"Now he wants to do it," she fills in for him, groaning as she finished her sentence. "Jesse, you weren't supposed to do that, you dumbass!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't think he would take me seriously."
"Are you kidding me? Of course he'd take it seriously, he's Benji. You of all people should know that by now," she reaches and pinches his upper arm, making him yelp in pain.
"I said I was sorry! For the record, I still think it's an awesome idea."
"No."
"Aw, c'mon."
"No."
"Fine. I'll talk to Benji about it."
Benji ends up running into Beca later that day. She's on the quad when he bounds up to her, wearing his usual cheeky smile.
"Hi, Beca!"
"Hey, Benji. What's up?"
"I'm really excited about Halloween. I've always wanted to have a Han Solo and Leia Organa to my Luke Skywalker!" He grins. "I've been Luke for the past ten years but now that I have you two as friends, we complete the trio! How great is that?!"
She forces a toothy grin, clenching her jaw tightly. "Um, yeah. Yup."
His face falls upon seeing her reaction. "Do you want to do this, Beca? You really don't have to if you're uncomfortable with it. I understand."
She's disheartened at the thought of ruining poor Benji's excitement, but she's also grateful for his understanding. "I don't know, Benj. How about a compromise instead?"
And that's how she gets roped into dressing up for Halloween.
She shows up at the party wearing cat ears over her halo braid and whiskers painted on her cheeks. She's wearing a tight crop top and leggings, both in white, hoping she passes as a cat instead of Princess Leia.
(Hey, if she's going to dress up like a nerd, she ought to slut it up on the only acceptable day of the year.)
(You know, for the sake of her reputation.)
She has a couple of drinks with the girls, who compliment her costume by slapping her ass or pinching the exposed bit of skin on her stomach. She doesn't see Jesse until around an hour into the party. By this time, she's bored, and seeing him came a relief to her. He approaches her, and Beca can't help the sly grin when she sees his eyes roam her body.
"Beca, hey!" He sputters, the smell of booze clinging faintly to his lips. "You look great."
"Thanks," she says curtly. "You don't look as great as Harrison Ford, but you're close."
He rolls his eyes playfully at her. "Thanks, I guess. Although, this room is getting pretty hot and crowded. I'm about ready to leave, if you are."
She looks around quickly, making sure the Bellas were too distracted to notice her escape. "I mean, we have another hour until we meet up with Benji. But we can leave, this place is boring me anyways."
He offers his hand, which she takes gingerly, and together they leave the crowded room. Beca doesn't miss the way Aubrey catches her eye on the way out, the blonde's death glare seeping into where Jesse and Beca's hands were linked.
She snickers to herself. Aubrey really needs to get laid.
They walk, side-by-side, around the quad. She can't really see him in the darkness, but she's strangely comfortable. "Did you have fun at the party?"
"Yeah, up until people started doing body shots off of Bumper. It was not a pretty sight," he shivers. "What about you?"
"It was okay. Like I said, Halloween's not really my thing," she shrugs. She's fully aware of their fingers still laced together, but she chooses not to say anything about it to avoid the awkwardness. Maybe it's the alcohol in her system, but then again, she didn't have enough to drink to make her feel the usual warmth in her chest. It was a different kind of warmth, not something she could place her finger on.
She shakes off the thought. "I can't believe you and Benji managed to rope me into this."
"You could've said no."
"Who can say no to Benji?" She chuckles. "He's a sweet kid, I don't mind."
"Yeah," he agrees quietly. "You know, Beca, in a galaxy far, far away, we would be married."
"What?"
"Han and Leia."
"Are you forgetting that I haven't actually seen Star Wars?"
He fake gasps, clutching a hand over his heart. "I choose not to remember that."
"Yeah, well, in this galaxy, we're not married. Sorry to crush your spirit."
"You're a mystery, Beca Mitchell," he hums. "Well, I'll go and call Benji to tell him we're early."
Benji ends up with the heaviest bag of candy. Beca, sans cat ears and whiskers, decides to accept the boys' offer to watch a movie for the remainder of the night. They watch the classic Hocus Pocus, which Beca happens to actually like. About two-thirds into the movie, Benji crashes from his sugar rush. Beca and Jesse are left alone, sitting against the frame of his bed, hands picking at the leftover popcorn and m&m's remains. Her mind is a bit fuzzy from the booze that Jesse's managed to sneak into his dorm, and he's equally buzzed.
The movie ends, and Beca may or may not be sniffling over Binx's death. Jesse offers to bring Beca home, even though Beca can see the dull of sleepiness in his eyes. She lets him, even after she insists that she can go by herself. They take the short walk across dorm buildings, quietly taking in the strange tranquility that the moon has to offer.
"Thanks," she breathes once they get to her door. "I didn't think I'd have a good time, but I did. So, yeah, thanks for that."
He shrugs. "It's not a problem. I'm glad you decided to hang out with us, even if we are big nerds." He air quotes 'nerds,' grinning when she shakes her head in disdain.
"For the record, you are big nerds."
"Says the woman wearing a Princess Leia costume, which is wildly inaccurate, by the way. She would never wear a crop top."
"You make no sense," she shakes her head, laughing softly. "In this galaxy, she does."
"I'm not complaining," he says boldly, smirking. "It's a good look."
She fights the blush from rushing to her cheeks. "Twenty-first century Han Solo isn't a bad look, either."
"That's one hell of a compliment coming from the girl who said Harrison Ford looks better than me."
She grins, smacking his chest lightly. "Goodbye, Jesse."
He lingers for awhile, when Beca doesn't make the move to open her door. They're left standing there, staring at each other with a sleepy twinkle in their eyes. The space between them shrinks, and suddenly his face was only centimeters away from hers. Her breaths are uneven when finally, she decides to close the space between them, taking his lips with hers. The kiss is chaste and gentle, and it lasts only for a few moments before she pulls away, her mind buzzing and her heart beating rapidly in her chest. He's equally trying to grasp what's just happened, she takes from the size of his dilated pupils.
Somehow, his hand has made it to her waist, pulling the two closer as he goes in for another kiss, this one longer and hungrier than the first. She pulls away after sucking his bottom lip softly, looking into his eyes as she lets go.
Maybe this time it was really the alcohol playing with her actions.
(She's probably going to regret this in the morning, but a part of her hopes she won't.)
"Afraid I was gonna leave you without a goodbye kiss?" He jokes all-too casually. Still, she can see his nerves begin to take over.
"Is that a Star Wars reference or something?" She says, breathless, her arms resting on his shoulders for comfort.
He nods wordlessly. "I'm proud you caught that one."
She shakes her head. "You should go and get some sleep."
He blinks back dreamily, a little smile on his face. "Okay."