author's note: this will be either a three or two shot (i'll probably upload them soon)
i swear i could never burn out under your starlight
Beca's mother died when she was seven, when she could barely comprehend anything yet. She remembered her father crying for days after she passed, her brother crying, and her crying. Beca doesn't quite remember what happened after that. She grew up too quickly, her father got drunk too frequently. And her brother looked too tired all the time.
Luke was eleven when their mother died, he was eleven when he started taking care of Beca. He started hating his father when he turned twelve.
Their father was never fully sober now, Beca couldn't remember a time he didn't stumble over his steps and slur in his words. He abuses them sometimes when he gets overly agitated. Luke took all the hits for Beca, shielding his little sister with all that he had.
He blamed them for their mother's death.
"Your mother died trying to save you."
"She wouldn't have died if not for you."
Beca tries to forget the way her mother shoved them off the road, she tries to forget the sickening crunch as the oncoming car slammed into their mother's body. She tries to forget the stillness of her mother's body and the blood running down the side of her head. She couldn't do it.
Luke sits by her bed sometimes, when she couldn't sleep. And he'd read their mother's favorite book, over and over again to her as she falls asleep. Luke would trace Beca's sharp nose and smile at her. "They're just like mom's." He would say, and Beca would break into a watery smile. She'd stare into his deep gray eyes and she'd grin. "You have mom's eyes." And Luke'd nod, taking Beca's face into his warm palms and kissing her forehead.
She didn't have any friends, she didn't bother trying. Beca always walked alone, to school and back home, she didn't speak much to anyone, she shrugged when teachers asked her questions. Once she sat alone by the curb near the playground, her fingers fiddling with a few twigs and weaving together a flower crown. She eyed the ice cream truck by the roadside. They never had much money to spare, so Beca knew never to ask for any of these things. She should be satisfied with three meals, she is satisfied, she never did complain, but seeing children grab cones of ice cream from their parents only managed to send a twinge to the nine year old's heart. She blinked when someone shoved a chocolate ice cream cone in front of her face. A redhead stood in front of her, her blue eyes twinkling as she licked from her own vanilla cone. Beca cocked her head questioningly. The redhead passed the ice cream come to her with a you looked like you wanted one so my dad got you one. Beca looked up at the tall blond man standing behind the girl in a blue sundress and a smile broke out on her face. She didn't smile much, no, but she flashed him a toothy grin. Thank you she quickly said, letting the tip of her tongue press against the cool ice cream which was starting to melt. He nodded at her, a warm smile on his face and Beca blinked and her heart clenched.
(Her father wasn't half as nice as him.)
Their father died when Beca turned seventeen. Luke had taken care of her well enough, better than anyone could've in the past ten years, and he could take care of her again, without the drunk excuse of a father.
Beca was eighteen when she met Jesse.
"Hey! I love that song." The over enthusiastic brunet sat down next to Beca on the quad, pointing at her huge headphones. Beca furrowed her eyebrows at him.
Who the fuck invited him to sit here?
She slid the pair of headphones down and secured them around her neck. "What?"
"The song you were listening to, David Guetta, right?" The boy grinned, tapping his finger against the shell of her headphones. Beca scowled and pulled away from him.
"Jesse." He stuck out his hand at her. She wrinkled her nose and looked away, ignoring his outstretched arm.
"Beca." She rolled her eyes and crossed her legs.
Beca's made her first friend, she thinks. No one initiated talking to her, Jesse's the first.
Jesse liked to hangout with a bunch of seniors, Beca noticed. He pulled her along one day during lunch, dragging her to the corner of the cafeteria as he introduced each one of his friends. The first one was Bumper. He was big, bigger than Jesse at least. A smug smile plastered on his face as he nodded approvingly at Beca.
There were six of them in total. Before long, they were pulling out cigarettes and lighting them. Jesse received one from Bumper and Beca squinted at him. He shrugged and took a long puff.
They handed Beca one and she hesitantly placed it near her lips. She sucked in, tasting the smoke and nicotine and she coughed, holding the cigarette away from her face. The guys laughed a little and Jesse pat her on the back.
"You'll get used to it." Bumper nudged her and took a long drag.
Beca's been spending all her time with them now, they'd bring her out to unexplored places in the city and show her things she hadn't thought about before. Jesse managed to persuade Luke into letting Beca out at night, Luke agreed finally with a, "hurt her and I'll break off your limbs." And Jesse laughed and assured him Beca's safety.
They go around town, vandalizing and breaking other's property. Beca usually hung around at the back with Jesse, smirking at their unruly behavior and making a snarky comment once in a while when they'd shoot them a remark about how they were too chicken to join in the fun.
They do this every night, until one night when Bumper decided it wasn't fun anymore, to just vandalize walls and break windows. He produced a small lighter and smirked at the group, they all grinned and fist bumped him while Beca stood away from them. She kept quiet as they located a house at the end of the street.
Beca knew this house. It's ironic how the a fire fighter lived in it when the gang was scheming to light it on fire. She almost stopped them, but Jesse draped one arm around her shoulder and she didn't feel like losing her only friends just yet. She watched as a few of them lugged back a container of petrol. She watched as the petrol splashed against the white walls of the house. She watched as the first flicker of the flame spluttered out from the lighter, and she turned around. Beca could hear the gang cheering behind her as they watched as the flames licked at the house, rising up slowly. People were waking up and running in panic now, shouting and screaming was heard and Jesse only poked her arm quickly.
"Let's go." He mumbled as the group ran. And as Beca took her first step, her eyes met with bright blues, a tall blond middle aged man fireman lifting a teenager out of the burning house. Smoke was billowing through the windows and the door and Beca blinked. The girl was passed out, and his eyes were shining with unshed tears. He stared hard at Beca and her heart skipped a beat. She gave the unconscious girl in his arms one last glance before sprinting after her friends.
They were detained by the police, sent in one by one for questioning.
Beca saw the firefighter again, the captain, in fact, now that he was in his uniform. She guiltily looked away from his piercing blue eyes. You're better than this, kid. Fell from his lips as he passed Beca, he dropped a name card in Beca's lap and walked off, a shaky breath falling from his lips. The blond man had swollen eyes and tear tracks down his cheeks and Beca's breath hitched. She heard someone died in the fire, she heard some woman died in the fire. The fire captain's wife died in that fire.
They went overboard this time.
Luke was waiting for her by the door of the station, his eyes filled with disappointment and his mouth twisted into a disapproving frown. Beca refused to look into his eyes and merely brushed past him. He grabbed her arm and she winced at the force he applied. She stared hard at him, unshed tears threatening to fall.
Luke pulled her in and engulfed her in a hug, up till now, he's the only one Beca allowed to hug herself. She let herself sob into his t shirt, clawing at the material and repeating sorry as if it were a mantra. Luke shook his head and kissed her forehead gently. And she could almost pretend she was ten again, away from all this mess she made, away from what she's become.
They arrived home and Luke tiredly sighed. You can do better than this, Bec. He retired into his room with a soft click of the door and left Beca standing in the dark hallway.
You can do better than this.
(She slipped the name card from earlier into a book on her desk and never removed it again.)
Luke received a scholarship a year later, a fully sponsored scholarship to study in Britain. He was hesitant about accepting it but Beca pushed him to accept it. She knew he's worked hard over the last ten years. He had to let go of his younger sister, she could take care of herself now. She's no longer the broken and clueless seven year old.
(Luke's been taking care of Beca, now it's time for him to take care of himself.)
Beca stopped hanging out with her friends after Luke's request. She'd promised him, never to come into contact with them again, and Luke seemed relieved by that.
It was a Monday when Beca's life changed forever. A redhead caught up with her as she trudged home, her dirty sneakers slapping loudly against the concrete side walk.
"Hey," the redhead nudged her arm and she turned with a scowl. "Your bag's unzipped."
Beca arched an eyebrow as the girl zipped up her bag for her before walking side by side with her. The girl was merely a few inches taller than she, her hair a little longer than shoulder length and when Beca looked into her eyes, her heart stopped. Beca squinted at her red hair and back at her sparkling blue eyes again. She turned and ran, not bothering to look back even when the redhead shouted after her.
Two days later, Beca dug up the name card the fire captain had given her a year ago. She twisted the phone in her hands before pressing in the numbers and hitting call. A low voice picked up not long later.
"I'm Beca Mitch—" She managed to get out before he cut her off.
"Beca Mitchell." His voice was solemn and she cocked her head to the side. "How can I help you?"
"I want to join the force."
Six years later, Beca Mitchell was the captain in the group of fire fighters.