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

[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."

[pitchslapped]

She sees him wince and immediately feels like an asshole because this might be a mess but it totally is not Jesse's fault. She drops one hand under the table and squeezes his knee, a comforting touch, not designed to be sexual.

"Well, well done tailor," she says. "Three piece is a good look on you. Not that I don't love the hoodies. I love the hoodies."

[a_capella_boy]

Jesse gave her a reassuring smile before sliding his foot forward to rest against hers. Nothing crazy but a clear sign that he wanted more contact with her, or constant contact if he could get it.

"Don't worry, I'm still very much into the hoodies. What about you? Is that dress indicative of your daily style now?"

[pitchslapped]

The inside of her ankle touches his and she leaves her hand on his knee under the table. It's not much. It's something, though. She looks down at herself and the considerable amount of cleavage on show.

"What? This old thing?" she says. "I pretty much dress the same as I always did, only less earspikes. I've got stealing your t-shirts down to a fine art."

[a_capella_boy]

Jesse gave a more relaxed smile as he felt her ankle brush against his. It was such a small thing but it meant a lot, especially coming from Beca. His gaze followed her own to the rather amazing cleavage she was displaying tonight.

"Is that where some of my shirts have gone? I thought someone was stealing them out of my laundry."

[pitchslapped]

"What? I like the way they smell," she says, rolling her shoulder in a shrug. She adjusts the strap of her dress against her shoulder and raises her eyebrows when Jesse's eyes linger considerably lower than her face. "And future you likes it when I steal shirts."

[a_capella_boy]

"Maybe I'll allow it so long as I don't lose too many of my shirts," Jesse said. He kind of liked the idea that she would do that though. Hopefully someday he'd actually get to see her in one of his shirts since she probably didn't wear much else besides them.

[pitchslapped]

"We'll see," she says, smirking at him as she pages through the menu, trying to pick food. "You could always stop letting me stay over."

[a_capella_boy]

"That's not going to happen," Jesse said. They'd been spending a lot of time together, practically every free minute, but he was liking it. It felt familiar, reminiscent of college, and he didn't want that to stop. "I'll just put a padlock on my dresser."

[pitchslapped]

Beca huffs a laugh. When the waiter comes, she wars with herself for a moment and then she orders a burger because if she can't eat a burger in front of Jesse then she's never going to be able to.

"Good," she says, suddenly uncharacteristically shy. "Because...I kind of don't want to stop staying over?"

[a_capella_boy]

Jesse got a burger also, figuring that just going casual for the meal was a good idea, despite how fancy they were dressed. He didn't feel like he needed to put on airs or anything around Beca. If they wanted to dress fancy and eat burgers, they could.

"It's because I actually have furniture and art work and a stereo and TV in my apartment, isn't it?"

[pitchslapped]

"Hey! I have furniture," she points out. "And a laptop! And a whole six pack of Diet Coke, so screw you, Mister." She grins at him and takes another sip of her drink, squeezing his knee. "You know why I like spending time at yours."

[a_capella_boy]

"You are a hot tub away from being on cribs," Jesse said. Actually the idea of Beca on an episode of Cribs was absolutely hilarious and he wondered what sort of ridiculous stuff she would buy if she were rich. He'd have to ask her about that some time.

"Well, I think you know why I keep letting you hang around," he said, reaching down to squeeze the hand on his knee.

[pitchslapped]

"It's so you can torture me with your Blu-Ray collection, isn't it?" she says, but, under the table, she threads her fingers with his and squeezes.

[a_capella_boy]

"You've got me. You have me completely pegged. I am holding you hostage to force you to watch movies," Jesse said. Really though, having Beca stay at his place so much made him the happiest he had been in months. "You do have a habit of making yourself at home though, you know that?"

[pitchslapped]

"I learned from the best," she says, rolling her eyes at him. "What time did I fall asleep last night? We've got to stop watching movies on the bed, man. It's too freaking comfortable."

[a_capella_boy]

"You fell asleep about halfway through the movie," Jesse said, shaking his head at her. It was kind of adorable to have her fall asleep in bed next to him, even if it did mean she ended up spending the night and sometimes he slept on the couch. "But it's fine, I figure you would."

[pitchslapped]

"You didn't have to get up," she says, reaching for her drink as she says it. "I can sleep next to you without tearing your clothes off, you know."

On 4 August 2015 at 23:43, a_capella_boy - DW Comment < dw_null@dreamwidth.org> wrote: