| When Words Fail | Jesse Swanson x Reader

Riff Off [7]

Claire walked alongside Beca as the Barden Bellas made their way to their spot on the floor. An alarm, courtesy of the voices of another opposing A Capella group, began to ring loudly, gathering the attention over everyone around. Claire's eyes found the front, where she saw Justin with his hands outstretched. Bystanders and A Capella groups clapped and yelled as he stepped forward.

"Welcome to the riff off!" He shouted, looking from his left to the right. Bystanders continued to clap as the A Capella groups began to cheer. "Who's ready to get vocal?" Justin shouted, and the crowd erupted in shouts again. Claire glanced over at the Treblemakers, and her gaze met Jesse's. He mouthed something to her and she smirked. She mouthed a sentence back, and he held his hands up in defeat, making her giggle softly. Her gaze met Aubrey's briefly, and she ignored the glare she flashed her.

"Let's see, our first category," Justin paused as he flashed a flashlight at the wall and a wheel began to spin. When it stopped, he lowered the flashlight and spun around. "Ladies of the 80's!" He announced, and people began to clap and cheer again. Aubrey smiled and rushed forward, but the Treblemakers beat her to the middle and began singing Hey Mickey by Toni Basil. Aubrey scoffed and mumbled something as she returned to the group. Claire smiled as she noticed the fun Jesse was having as he sang along. Another A Capella group interrupted the Treblemakers, forcing them to step back as they began to sing Like A Virgin by Madonna. Aubrey's eyes brightened and she spun around to face the group.

"Okay, guys," She called over the singing, "Watch and learn." She smiled, raising her hands in the air and turning to approach the group. Claire watched as she cut them off confidently. "Like the one in me, that's okay. Let's see how you do it, put up your dukes, let's get down to it." She began to sing, the girls soon catching on and joining her in singing Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar together. Claire met Jesse's gaze and she winked as she continued to sing, making him chuckle. None of the girls noticed as a girl from another A Capella group stood up, and cut them off, singing off key to It Must Have Been Love by Per Gessle. Everyone went quiet as they listened, but soon began laughing. The girl didn't stop until Justin began talking.

"The negative side affects of medical marijuana folks." He joked as he pointed his hands at the girl. "You are," He paused and was joined in two claps by the audience and A Capella groups, "Cut off!" They all shouted together. The girl giggled as she returned to her group on the concrete ground.

"So, you just pick any song that works?" Beca asked Chloe, Claire listening to their conversation lightly.

"Yeah." Chloe nodded with a small smile.

"And, you just go with it?" Beca asked as she pushed a large strand of hair behind her ear. Chloe hummed her agreement. "Cool." Beca mumbled, looking over at Claire, who shrugged with a light smile. Justin pointed the flashlight at the wall again.

"And, the next category is " He paused and spun around again. "Songs about sex." He nodded.

"Sex?" Aubrey asked as people began to cheer. The Treblemakers began to move forward, but one of the girls from Claire's group beat them to it, and started to sing S & M by Rhianna, Claire rushing to join her in front of the Treblemakers. The girl began to sing and grind against Claire for show, but she didn't mind, since she was focused on singing and acting the part in front of her friends. The girl stepped back a bit, giving Claire a small solo.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me." She sung, rolling her shoulders back a few times at the boy in the front. Jesse watched her carefully. She stepped back and motioned towards the boy as he turned to mumble something to Jesse. When the boy cut her off by singing Let's Talk About Sex by Salt-N-Pepa, the girl from her own group sighed and retreated back to the Bellas. The boy got close to her and she felt someone tug at her arm, turning and following Aubrey back to the group reluctantly. She stopped her momentarily.

"Wait, I've got one more." She mumbled. Aubrey looked at her hesitantly, but didn't stop her from returning in front of the Treblemakers. She cut them off by singing I'll Make Love To You by Boyz ll Men, and making them step back. However, she didn't expect Jesse to step up as he began to singing Feels Like The First Time by Foreigners. She smirked and retreated back to the group as he sung louder. He pointed at her, making her giggle.

"I know I can't help myself, it's all in the world to me. It feels like the first time, it feels like the very first time." He sung, and she teasingly blew him a kiss. He was cut off by Beca running out into the middle and rapping the lyrics to a song. The entire place went quiet as Jesse told her to keep going. Claire thought about the lyrics before smiling and stepping forward.

"Shorty get down good lord." She sung alongside Beca, making her smile.

"Baby got em' open all over town." Beca continued while Claire paused.

"Strictly biz, she don't play around, cover much grounds, got game by the pound." They sung, the bigger girl joining in. Beca turned to Claire and they smiled at each other.

"Getting paid is her forte. Each and every day, true player way. I can't get her out of my mind." The two sung together. The bigger girl joined the girl from before in a small humming solo.

"I think about the girl all the time!" Beca and Claire sung loudly, giggling afterwards as the rest of the girls joined in. They continued to sing happily, even dancing a little until they came to the end of the song.

"I like the way you work it." Beca sang, looking over at Claire with a smile.

"No diggity." She sang back, the both of them making their way through the Bellas as they continued.

"I gotta bag it up, we out!" The continued. Everyone in the area clapped and cheered as Beca and Claire laughed and gave each other a hug. When Claire detached herself from the hug, her eyes met Jesse's, and he smiled at her. He mouthed something to her, and she set her hands on her hips and smiled, winking at him.

"Tough blow, ladies." Justin clapped softly. The Bellas stopped celebrating for a moment to listen to him. "The word you need to match was 'it', and you sang 'it's'." He told them. Beca scoffed as he began talking again. "You are," He and the Treblemakers clapped twice, "Cut off!" They all shouted. Claire filled with anger.

"Are you serious?" She growled as the boys yelled and cheered for themselves. Justin handed the leader the microphone as Jesse gave Claire sad eyes.

"I'm sorry, that was awesome!" He shouted over his loud teammates. Claire couldn't bring herself to be upset with Jesse since he hadn't done anything wrong.

"I never heard that rule! Ladies, ladies, come on, come back." Aubrey shouted over the boo'ing. The boys ran past them as they retreated to their original spot.

"Guys, what we just did was great, right?" Beca asked as they stopped walking.

"Calm your pits, Beca, we still lost." Aubrey huffed with arms crossed.

"Yeah, but it was spontaneous, it was awesome. We were actually listening to-" She was cut off by Aubrey, and Claire gave her a sympathetic look.

"Okay everybody, hands in. Ah on my count." Aubrey announced as Chloe mimicked her in putting her hand in front of her.

"On three or after three?" A tall girl asked. The girl next to her spoke up.

"On three." She nodded, but a few girls objected. Aubrey huffed and looked around.

"That's not how we do it." She snapped, and the tall girl sighed heavily.

"Why can't we figure this out?" She thought outloud, a few other girls humming in agreement.