A/N: I do not own anything related to the Pitch Perfect franchise (admitting that makes me very sad), nor do I own any song lyrics or anything else I may use that is not mine. I had this story idea for a while and finally gained the inspiration to flesh it out and publish it here. Here goes nothing!
Even if things get heavy we'll all float on alright…
There are moments in time where, in retrospect, you'd give anything to have seen the look on your face. Such a realization could be instantaneous, popping into your mind as the event is happening, or the thought occurs when, hours or days later, your mind finds itself stuck in that very moment, your jaw once again on the floor, once again attempting to process what the hell had happened. Chloe Beale had a lot of these moments. And she often wondered why she had them as often as she did.
Chloe never let these moments get to her, always ever so resilient and continuing on with her life, conquering the urge to let it consume her entirely. Dwelling on the past and 'what ifs' was never an option; Chloe lived in the moment, enjoying life as it was thrown at her, or as the case often was, as she threw herself into life. This was important to remember in order to begin to fully understand Chloe Beale.
Aubrey Posen knew this very well; having been best friends with Chloe since high school, Aubrey was easily able to sense when Chloe happened to be nearing the point of combustion. She knew the telling signs; the nervous fidgeting of Chloe playing with the thumb ring she always wore; the biting of her bottom lip as one of her hands ran through the back of her hair, a look that says get me out of here, now, as her eyes lock on whoever happens to be delivering the latest unforeseen life development to Chloe. Aubrey also knew that it took a lot for her best friend to crack and get to this point; very little got to her because of her ability to roll with the punches, often wishing this quality would somehow transfer to herself through osmosis, from the place of highest concentration to that of the lowest concentrated area.
Aubrey wasn't sure how she was going to survive without her best friend while she lived in Washington DC for an entire semester. She was used to seeing her just about every day since their freshman year at St. Bernadette's, a prestigious all girl high school, where in the first week of classes, Aubrey was assigned to sit next to Chloe in honors literature. They had read Julius Caesar over the summer, and their terrifying yet brilliant teacher, Mrs. Graham, was leading the class discussion on the scene where Caesar is stabbed. That day, Mrs. Graham, was standing next to Aubrey and Chloe's desk cluster, Aubrey being closer to their teacher. Without any warning whatsoever, Mrs. Graham, in the midst of reading from the play, pulls a letter opener (appropriately in the shape of a dagger) out from her sleeve, pointing it towards Aubrey, the whole ordeal being in good fun. While Aubrey was slightly shaken but ultimately unfazed by the action, Chloe let out a shriek, flinging herself across the desks and grabbing Mrs. Graham by the wrist, knocking her into another student's desk, the dagger shaped letter opener falling to the floor as she flew off Aubrey's desk herself. While Chloe was reprimanded for her actions, Aubrey knew that she had found a lifelong friend, and that she would try her best to protect her the same way Chloe did against their semi-harmless English teacher.
It was certainly a welcome surprise when Chloe revealed she was also accepted into the same internship program as Aubrey. Despite wanting to pursue degrees in medicine and public health after graduation, Chloe was able to complete the semester long internship while also being able to graduate on time, a perk of taking college courses in high school that had put her an entire year ahead of schedule. Both had accepted internships of their choosing; Aubrey had acquired a position at the White House, and Chloe would be working in the Senate health policy office working on issues that would be relevant to her future studies. They had even managed to be roommates for the semester in the internship program's housing arrangement. Granted, they had to share their apartment with one other person who they didn't know, but they were together which was what mattered. Their apartment was located in Washington DC's Capitol Hill neighborhood, where a number of the houses in the area were renovated and reserved specifically for interns. While some of the houses were just that, able to hold 10 or 12 interns, Aubrey and Chloe were assigned to one of the three apartment-like units within their house. They preferred it this way, only having to deal with three people to a kitchen and bathroom rather than twelve.
Chloe and Aubrey had the apartment to themselves for almost a week, as they chose to give themselves ample time to adjust to the new city before working full time at their internships. Orientation was to be the Tuesday after Labor Day, with their internships beginning the following day. Until then, the two friends settled into their new home for the next four months, familiarizing themselves with the surrounding areas and how to get to their internships sites. Chloe was thankful the Senate Office Buildings were within walking distance; she and Aubrey traversed the Metro numerous times that week when exploring the various areas of Washington. Not only did they run into numerous... characters in the Metro cars, they also endured the horror of being trapped inside one of the cars for a number of minutes due to a train ahead of theirs malfunctioning.
One afternoon, the Sunday before orientation, Chloe had come back to the apartment alone after a run, Aubrey having gone to the Eastern Market to pick up fresh produce to use for dinner later that week. Trudging up the two flights of stairs before entering the apartment, Chloe was welcomed by the faint beat of a song. Confused, she looked into the bedroom she and Aubrey were sharing, unable to find either of their laptops as the source of the music. Walking back into the living room, Chloe discovered oversized headphones on the coffee table, not belonging to either her or Aubrey, in addition to a zippered hoodie being thrown over the couch.
"Our new roommate must be here!"Chloe thought, "But where could she be?"It didn't take long for Chloe to find the answer, as she followed the music to the closed single bedroom across the hall from her own. While Chloe normally would have knocked on her roommate's door and introduced herself right then and there, the overwhelming need to take a cold shower after enduring a run in 90 degree weather with upwards of 100 percent humidity overcame her, and Chloe gathered her towels and made her way over to the bathroom, humming to herself. After getting out of the shower, towel secured around her body, she realized the music sounded much closer than before, realizing that her new roommate must have moved into the living room. She had to give points to whoever she was, as she was playing Blackstreet's 'No Diggity' from her laptop, one of Chloe's favorite songs.
"Getting paid is a forte, each and every day, true player way"Chloe sang as she ran a towel through her long red locks.
"I can't get her out of my mind, I think about the girl all the time" A second voice sang; Chloe smiled to herself at the exchange as she softly sang Teddy's part of the song.
"I like the way you work it, no diggity, I got to bag it up"
"Hey yo, hey yo, hey yo, hey yo" Chloe softly sang back, walking out of the bathroom.
'Hey yo that girl looks good' The other girl sang, who Chloe saw seated in the over-sized living room chair facing away from the bathroom. Chloe walked around to the other side of the living room, having no shame whatsoever to introduce herself to her new roommate. After all, she practically sang an entire impromptu duet with her, and Chloe didn't feel the need to hide anything to anyone, even if she happened to only be wearing a towel. The girl had brown hair that seemed to fall past her shoulders, her face bent down towards the screen of her laptop which she appeared completely engrossed in.
"How would you know, you're not even looking at her" Chloe wryly pointed out.
"Gut feeling" The girl quipped, a small smirk on her face forming from where Chloe could see. "Hi, I'm-" she began to introduce herself as she looked up from her laptop screen towards Chloe. "—No."
"Not exactly a conventional name, but I admir—"Chloe stopped mid sentence abruptly, locking eyes with the girl not even ten feet away from her. "Shit."
At that moment, the apartment door opened and Aubrey walked in, hands full with two large paper bags full of groceries. Puzzled by why Chloe would randomly be standing in silence in the living room in a towel (at least she had the decency to be wearing one this time, she reasoned), she understood as the saw the look frozen on Chloe's face. A look that meant trouble. The one that said No. Fucking. Way. Is. This. Actually. Happening. And then Aubrey looked toward the direction of Chloe's gaze and understood; she was looking back at someone she hadn't seen since their high school graduation, who she hadn't even spoken to since well before then. Aubrey took a deep breath to collect herself before she ever so carefully spoke as to not scare their neighbors below.
"Beca Mitchell, I'm going to say this in the only way I can currently manage; what the hell are you doing here?"
A/N: Song lyrics at the beginning are from Modest Mouse's "Float On." Also, Chloe, Aubrey and Beca are all the same age, and characters introduced in later chapters will be within a year or two of one another.