Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Pitch Perfect, only the plot line. I know, it's depressing.

Beca's first failures at trying to say "I Love You"

11:44 a.m. - Saturday

"Geez Jesse, I'm fine, I can walk."

"You sprained your ankle! It might even be broken. We've got to take you to the hospital."

"It's fine! It's not broken, just let me down."

She started squirming so much, he had no choice, but as soon as her foot touched the ground, Beca let out a loud yelp and a pained look crossed her face.

"That's it," Jesse said with a hard look at Beca, "We're going to the hospital." He quickly scoops her up again before she can protest.

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it, Bec."

He's relieved when he sees Benji across the quad. "Benji! Can we burrow your car?"

"Yeah, of course. What happened to Beca?" Benji asks with a worried look on his face.

"She hurt her ankle. It might be broken."

"It is not. It's fine."

"And she's being stubborn."

"Benji, tell Jesse it's no big deal," she sends a pleading look to Benji. "He's blowing things way out of proportion."

"Sorry, Beca," Benji said, "But it looks pretty serious; I can see your ankle swelling up already."

They were making their way to the car; a panicked looking Benji and a serious looking Jesse with a struggling Beca in his arms. They're about thirty feet away when Fat Amy takes a good look at the sight and struts over.

"This looks like two evil Trebles kidnapping our Bella captain to go tie her up in a bag and find a lake to throw her in…you boys need help?"

"Amy!" Beca shouts with an exasperated look on her face.

"Just messing with you, Shawshank! I'm going to rescue you with my super fat dingo wrestling skills," Amy states proudly. "The kraken is about to be unleashed!"

Beca takes a moment to process this and then shakes her head, "Amy, Jesse and Benji are overreacting to a minor sprain. Tell them it's no big deal."

Jesse scoffs, "Right. Tell me this is 'no biggie', Amy." He shows her Beca's ankle which is now an ugly shade of purple. Beca herself isn't looking so hot either; she has sweat on her temple and her face is pale.

"Yeah, um, yeah, Shawshank you might want to get that checked out."

Beca mutters something that sounds suspiciously like 'traitor'.

They reach Benji's car and while he gets into the driver's seat, Fat Amy calls shotgun. Jesse opens the back door to carefully lay Beca down across the two seats, runs to the other side, and gently lifts Beca's feet onto his lap when he sits down.

The ten minute car ride to the hospital is spent with Fat Amy showing off her wrestling scars and explaining how she got each one, Benji trying to focus on the road and not the incredibly inappropriate scar placements, and Beca scowling with her arms crossed, trying to ignore the pain and the way her skin tingled where Jesse was carefully examining her injury.

Beca's in Jesse's arms again once they reach the hospital and get out of the car.

"Don't you get tired of carting me around everywhere?" She huffs.

Jesse grins, "You're tiny. And I'm your big, buff boyfriend. It's my job to cart you around everywhere."

Beca scoffs, "You're not that buff. Luke's way more packed than you are."

"I know you don't mean that," Jesse says with amusement written all over his face. His brow then furrows. "You look really pale, Bec. I know your ankle is hurting you more than you're showing right now."

"Kind of. Maybe. Yeah, it hurts like a bitch." Beca releases a pained groan as she rests her head on his shoulder. She smiles softly when she feels him kiss her head lightly.

Benji comes back from the front desk, having made a bee-line for it as soon as they had entered the hospital. "Okay, we're gonna have to wait a bit, but don't worry, I brought my magic kit to make time pass faster."

"Yeah," Fat Amy drawls, "I'm going to go see what they have in the cafeteria….anyone have any cash?"

Benji sighs when she stares directly at him, "Sure. But I only have a fift-" The bill's snatched out of his hands as soon as it's out of his wallet. "Okay then, I'm gonna go look for the bathroom. It was actually where I was headed before, well, yeah. Be right back."

Jesse finds a couch to set Beca down and then sits on the arm rest next to her head.

"We really don't need to be here, Jesse."

"Are you still going to complain about this? We're here, Beca. And you can barely walk. I'm certainly not going to take you back to campus. So, unless you want to try hopping on one foot…"

"I get it. Fine. Nerd."

"I'm starting to think that calling me that is your defense mechanism whenever you can't think of anything witty or sarcastic to say."

"….Weirdo."

Jesse rolls his eyes, "How'd this happen to you, anyway?"

Beca's just staring at him. "You just rolled your eyes at me. That's my thing!"

"Beca, focus. I was on my way to your dorm when I saw you on a bench trying not to pass out. And how are you still conscious right now?"

She stares down at her ankle. "It doesn't hurt as much anymore. I think it's gone numb."

"Beca," Jesse says more forcefully, "How long were you on that bench? What happened?"

She heaves a big sigh, "I fell, okay? I tripped down some stairs." She mutters the last part, embarrassed.

Jesse tries to hold in a snort but fails miserably. "So, I guess your bad-ass rep went out the window after that, huh?"

"Shut-up," Beca mutters trying a hold down a smile.

She's on the verge of falling asleep with her head on Jesse's thigh and his hand running through her hair when a nurse calls her name.

She comes out with a wheelchair and heads for the couple in the waiting room. Jesse helps Beca onto the seat and the nurse starts to wheel her toward the examination room.

"Wait! No, he has to come with us." Beca says, suddenly pale again.

The nurse concedes and not a half-second later, Jesse's walking with them.

Once they're in the room, they take x-ray shots of Beca's ankle and the nurse asks them to wait a minute for the results and walks out of the room.

Jesse worriedly strokes Beca's cheek when he sees that she's gone pale again. "Are you okay?" He asks.

"I don't like hospitals," Becas says with a scowl on her face. "They're just so cold and mechanic."

"We'll be out of here soon enough. They're gonna need to put you in a cast though." Beca just groans.

The nurse comes back with results and it turns out that her ankle is not broken, but it is badly sprained. An hour later, after the doctor has taken her prognosis and Beca's ankle is put into a cast, they can finally leave.

"Good thing your insurance covers the crutches," Jesse says once they're out in the waiting room again.

"Look, Jesse! Look at my walking sticks!"

"Aaaaand the painkillers are obviously a plus," Jesse says while trying not to laugh as Beca stares down at her crutches with a look of fascination on her face.

"Ey, Shawshank. How's the ankle? I would've picked a more pop out color, but I guess white's cool. The color of…peace, yeah." Fat Amy's walking toward them with a grin on her face and Benji's trailing behind her looking mentally scarred.

Jesse chuckles, "What's with the look, Benji?"

"Amy was just telling me some very interesting stories about her life in Tasmania. Ones that I would very much not like to relive again if that's okay," Benji says with a nauseous look on his face.

"Ehh," Fat Amy shrugs.

"Let's leave! I wanna watch a movie." Beca says excitedly.

Jesse looks at the other two seriously, "Yes, we must leave. I need to take advantage of this. Maybe even record it afterwards. Do you have any idea what this means for our progress in movication?"

"…Are you sure you're not the one drugged?" Amy asks looking suspiciously at Jesse. "And where can I get some?"

Once they get back to campus, Fat Amy turns to Beca. "Don't bother waiting up for me, Shawshank. I have a 'study date', if you know what I mean." Beca just smiles and gives her a thumbs-up.

"Bye Amy. Thanks for the ride, Benji. I'm gonna stay over at Beca's tonight," Jesse says.

Benji nods as he helps Jesse help Beca out of the car and then turns around to head to his dorm, "See you guys tomorrow."

Jesse starts heading over to Beca and Amy's dorm when he realizes that his girlfriend isn't following him.

Beca's wearing a look of intense concentration on her face as she stares down at her cast.

"Bec? Everything okay there?"

Beca lifts her head to stare up at Jesse. "I don't know how to walk, Jesse! Where did my foot go?"

Jesse laughs out loud, "You're supposed to use the walking sticks, Bec. But you know what? I don't think you're in any shape to mobilize yourself with those right now. Hang on, climb onto my back." He crouches down low so that she won't have to put much effort into hopping on one foot. "There you go. Now hold tight, okay?"

Beca nods and Jesse starts walking once he picks up her crutches, trying to balance them on one hand while holding on to Beca's right leg with the other.

When they finally get to her dorm, he lets her down to unlock the door with the key he manages to find in his girlfriend's back pocket after a couple of minutes ("I have a key?") and is trying not to burst out laughing at the way she had hissed, "Not in public, Jesse!" when she thought he was trying to grope her while searching. Not that he denied it.

Half an hour later, she's passed out on Jesse's shoulder after having watched a good twenty minutes of The Breakfast Club and when the movie's over, Jesse promptly does the same.

8:56 p.m.

Beca wakes to the feeling of Jesse's hand running through her hair and the battle noises playing from his laptop. "Seriously? Troy? Isn't that movie, like, three hours long? How can you keep watching it?"

"Sorry, did I wake you? And this is only my third time. It's a good movie, Bec."

She just sighs and buries her head into his chest. "No, you didn't wake me. I'm just not tired anymore."

"How are you feeling? Do you need any more meds? Though, I wouldn't recommend them. If you accuse me of groping you one more time, you might bring out the rape whistle," he chuckled.

Beca frowns, "I said what? And no, thanks, I'm fine. You didn't have to stay, you know."

"Are you kidding? I don't even want to think about what it would have been like if I had left you on your own while you were drugged up on meds," Jesse jokes.

Beca snorts into his shirt. "I am always in my right state of mind, nerd. Meds, or no meds."

"Riggghhhtttt," he says lifting her chin up. "I have some pretty good blackmail, you know. It involves a recording of you admitting that our movication is basically what you live for," he laughs, kissing the pout off her face.

"I did not say that. It may not be the most horrible thing on the planet, but I in no way, shape, or form have admitted to actually liking it," Beca says rolling her eyes.

"Nope. You said you loved it," Jesse says smugly. "But seriously though, Bec, is your ankle okay?"

Beca heaves a loud sigh, "Yes nerd, my ankle's fine." She reaches up and gives him a thorough, languid kiss. Because even though she acts annoyed, she really does find it sweet that he worries so much. She likes the fact that Jesse's never afraid to show how much he cares for her. When he first spotted her on the bench, she remembers how his eyes lit up when he saw her, but as soon as the look of pain on her face registered, he had picked up his pace and practically run over anyone who was in his way. As soon as he had seen her ankle, he had picked her up despite her many protests and ignored all the stares they had received on their way to the quad.

She had seen it in the car, too. The reverent look on his face, as he had carefully situated her ankle on his lap, and proceeded to gently run his fingers over the swollen skin. Trying not to focus on the pain, she had sat there and watched him. Jesse's face had always been expressive but she had seen it so clearly then. It had almost scared her. He cared for her a lot. He would carry her for miles and miles if it meant that she wouldn't be putting too much pressure on a strained ankle.

And then at the hospital, when he was checking her face every few seconds to check for any indication of pain or discomfort. And if there was any, he would be there, pushing back a strand of hair from her eyes or intertwining his hand with hers and squeezing. God, she loved him.

As soon as this thought registers in her mind, she freezes. Jesse had pushed her back onto the bed, mindful of her ankle, and was now kissing her neck. Her hand has frozen in the middle of stroking his hair and for a minute she just stares at the ceiling with wide eyes. As soon as he senses something's wrong, he puts his weight on his elbows beside her head and looks at her.

"Beca? What is it? Is it your ankle?"

She snaps out of her daze, "What? No, no. I just…remembered that I…have to call my dad…for something."

"Okay," Jesse says with an adorably confused look on his face. "So, you want to call him now?"

"Um, no. I'll call him tomorrow," she says pulling him down to her lips again.

So, she's in love with Jesse. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise really. She knew what she was getting into from the beginning. He had always been the exception to all of her rules. Don't let anyone in, except Jesse. Don't talk about your family problems with anyone, except Jesse. Don't fall in love 'cause it's stupid and useless; except that with Jesse, it wasn't. And if she was being honest with herself, her heart had known she loved him for a long time now. Her mind has just recently caught up. She sounds like such a cliché right now.

She knew he loved her, too. He had never said it, but she could see it in his eyes whenever he looked at her. She could remember at least a dozen times where he had opened his mouth to say it, but at the last minute had quoted some dumb movie instead. She knew why he wouldn't say it. He didn't want to scare her. They had only been an official couple for a few months and it would be moving too fast. Except that, it didn't feel that way.

Jesse had always known her so well. He knew she wasn't ready. He could see the glint of fear in her eyes when he would almost come out and say it. But he could also see the hopeful look in them. He was waiting for her. He was waiting for her to be able to accept it wholeheartedly and maybe even say it back.

And now that she's accepting it completely, she will. She'll tell him, because he's been so patient with her and he deserves to know.

Beca pulls away breathless from their kiss and cups Jesse's face in her hands. "Jesse, I-"

Except that she can't say the words. They were stuck in her throat. All she had to do was blurt them out. Come on, three little words.

"I-"

Jesse's now really confused. "Yeah?"

Beca gulps, "I think my ankle is hurting a bit. Do you have my meds?" A coward. She's a coward.

Jesse pulls back to rummage through the drawer where he had stashed her meds and hands her a pill with a bottle of water.

"Thanks," She says swallowing the pill. She has to try again. "Jesse, I have to tell you something. I-"

Her phone rings and she exhales heavily. The caller ID says it's Amy. "What's up, Amy?"

"Yeah, just wanted to remind you that we have a Bella meeting tomorrow at ten a.m. sharp. I know that you get distracted with your Treble and whatever kinky shit you two do when I'm not around and I wouldn't want you to miss any more rehearsals."

"Amy! That only happened once! I'll be there tomorrow."

"Cool. Bye, Shawshank."

"Amy saying inappropriate things again?" Jesse asks with an amused look on his face.

Beca shrugs, "Eh. Could have been worse."

"So, what did you want to tell me?"

Beca sighs, "I want to watch another movie. Maybe Breakfast Club, again?" It just wasn't the right time. He might think she's high on meds again.

Jesse smiles, "Sure. As long as you don't pass out halfway through it."

She chuckles, "No promises."

He puts the movie in and settles down against the pillows, then pulls her into his arms. Beca rests her head on his chest and breathes in his smell. Do guys always smell this good?

Just as the movie's starting and she feels him run his fingers through her hair, she thinks, I love you.

Review? Do it for Jesse and Beca!