First date

[pitchslapped]

It's ridiculous. She has no idea why she's so nervous.

Back at Barden, they'd never actually done this. Yeah, they'd gone out to dinner together, obviously, but they'd never really bothered dating. After that first kiss at Lincoln Center, they'd just sort of fallen into being together, completely. No awkward dinner dates required. Still, Jesse wants to start over, and Beca can see the wisdom in that. They both different people than the other one remembers. They need to figure each other out again.

She spent most of the day looking for a dress. Hopefully, he'll like this one. God. Why is she so nervous?

Comments

[a_capella_boy]

"Just like college was supposed to only be a semester?" Jesse asked. He had no doubt that whatever Beca did with music she was going to be great at it. He was perfectly happy to remind her about it. By the way she flushed a little though he knew she appreciated the support. "And I just realized, you got completely shafted out of your diploma and degree by coming here, didn't you?"

[pitchslapped]

"Yeah, I actually did," says Beca. A waiter comes by and she orders a cocktail she can't pronounce the name of. "I was about five minutes from graduating. Still. I know Music Production enough to land a job so...it's not like a need a piece of paper."

[a_capella_boy]

When the waiter came by Jesse ordered himself a craft beer, figuring it was best to avoid the harder stuff for the moment. Besides, being a jazz club there was a good chance they might get a decent contact high.

"I think it's pretty safe to advertise yourself as having a degree in Music Production," he told her. "But you're right. I doubt you're going to need that to get the job you want."

[pitchslapped]

"We'll see how it goes," she says, holding out her hand to him, wiggling her fingers. "I guess I'm going to be answering the phone a lot at first."

[a_capella_boy]

"Also, I bet you could get some DJing gigs on the weekends if you wanted," Jesse said, his hand sliding across the table to hold hers. It was such a simple way to have contact but he understood that since right now it was all they had, she would want it a lot. "DJ Toner, guaranteed to raise the roof."

[pitchslapped]

"DJ Toner?" Her eyebrow twitches, and she grazes the pad of her thumb along the length of his. "Really?"

[a_capella_boy]

"Okay, maybe it's a work in progress, I'm just staying I'm sure you could get gigs," Jesse pointed out. He knew that it wasn't what Beca really wanted to do but he knew that she loved doing it. It was fun watching her get excited about it.

"You could also help me on the sound mixing for my movie, if it ever gets out of development hell."

[pitchslapped]

"With the stuff at your apartment, maybe. I don't have any of my mixes with me but I could start putting things back together." She pulls a thinking face, eyebrows drawn together for a second before what he says sinks in and her eyes widen. "You're making a movie?"

[a_capella_boy]

Jesse was pretty sure that Beca could get a decent side business going in a pretty short time but that was up to her. He would suggest or encourage but he wouldn't push something like that on her. When she asked about his movie he made a bit of a grimace and ran his hands through his hair.

"Yeah, there's not exactly a thriving movie industry here so I figured if I'm going to score a movie I'll have to make it myself. I raised funding any everything but it's been a nightmare trying to get all the proper permits."

[pitchslapped]

"That's awesome, though," she says, leaning her chin into her free hand, the other still threaded with his, her thumb still stroking against his skin. "Tell me all about it."

[a_capella_boy]

She looked so adorable like that it almost wasn't fair. He felt a weird fluttering in his stomach seeing her gaze so intently on him. It was definitely a good feeling, like she way she ran her thumb along his hand.

"It's pretty dumb," he said with a shake of his head. It had seemed like a good idea at the time but now he realized how cliche it was. Still, it was a labor of love and he wanted to finish it. "It's about a guy that works at a record store but kind of hates music. It takes place in one night as he tries to get home across town but he can't because of a big concert."

[pitchslapped]

"Okay," she says, taking it in, nodding. "Is there a love interest?"

[a_capella_boy]

"There is. The whole thing is full of cliches but I feel like for a first time writer, director, producer and all that it would be good to not get too crazy with it," he said, giving a rueful smile. It was taking forever but Jesse wasn't going to give up on, not after he'd been working so hard.

[pitchslapped]

"For a movie, it sounds pretty okay," she says. She's better with movies than she used to be - actually watches them of her own volition, sometimes - but it's always fun to needle Jesse a little. "What's the love interest like?"

[a_capella_boy]

Jesse appreciated that Beca didn't try to tell him it was an incredible idea, because frankly he knew that it wasn't. But it was something and he was proud of what he had done so far. Someday he hoped the permits would all go through and he could actually do the movie.

"She's just your basic manic-pixie dream girl," Jesse joked. "Actually, she's a girl that he meets and is pretty crazy about who turns out to be a pop singer."

[pitchslapped]

"So far so good," she says, grinning. Her cocktail arrives and she takes both of her hands back so that she can take a sip. "Oh, my God, this is delicious. God. Right. So what do you need me for, Mr Writer-Director-Composer?"

[a_capella_boy]

"We'll have to remember that they have excellent drinks here too," Jesse said, taking a sip of his beer, which was pretty awesome. When she offered to help he couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face. Beca getting involved was certainly a very nice thing to have happen.

"Sound mixing is a nightmare. I've been practicing but you have to layer so much it's pretty beyond me. More than two layers of squiggly lines and I'm lost."

[pitchslapped]

"I'm assuming you're not going to be paying the going rate," she says, raising her eyebrows at him, smirking against the rim of her glass. "So how on earth am I going to be compensated, Jesse?"

[a_capella_boy]

"I actually do have funding for the movie, you know," he teased back. It was funding that was just sitting there but... he still had it to use once everything was ready. "But I probably can't pay you what you're worth, so I'll just have to find someone else to help."

[pitchslapped]

"You are absolutely not going to find someone better than me," she says, grinning. "So we are totally going to have to figure something out."

[a_capella_boy]

"Oh, what's your usual going rate then?" Jesse asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He kind of thought he knew what she might be hinting at but he didn't want to assume. He wasn't sure how comfortable with that, even joking about it, he was. Yet. "I'm guessing you want some home cooked meals?"

[pitchslapped]

"That'll do as a start," she says, taking another sip of her drink. "Throw in some handholding and you might just have yourself a deal, bigshot."

[a_capella_boy]

"Wow, I was going to add a kiss on the cheek but if you're going to go cheaply then how could I say no?" Jesse said, smiling a bit at her. Hand holding was something that Beca could get all on her own, no coercion needed.

[pitchslapped]

"A kiss on the cheek. Right." For a moment, Beca's smile freezes because, God, this is harder than she thought, but then she brightens again, reaching for a menu. "That's a good suit, by the way. Who taught you how to dress, Swanson?"

[a_capella_boy]

Jesse winced at Beca's tone and the look on her face. He shouldn't have brought that up and made a mental note not to do anything like that again. This was amazing for her but it was miserable for her. Jesse had gotten back Beca but she had essentially lost him. She was here out of default because she couldn't have the Jesse she actually wanted.

"It turns out if you go to a tailor and tell them you don't know what you're doing, they'll help you out."