Runnin' Through the Six with My Woes
Or: Four Times Aubrey Hated Beca Having Powers…and the One Time She Only Strongly Disliked It
1.
Aubrey returned to the Beta Epsilon Lambda Lambda Alpha house around one in the afternoon—her Macroeconomics class had run a little later than normal and she was starved. She'd briefly greeted some of the other girls who were gathered in the living room, in various states of study, and headed directly for the kitchen. She was starving.
Usually she would have packed some snacks, but she'd been uncharacteristically behind schedule that morning due to an extended pre bedtime phone call with Jesse.
She grabbed a loaf of bread from off the countertop and tossed it on the center island before she headed to the fridge for her various sandwich fixings.
Expertly, she assembled a nutritionally balanced and delicious looking turkey and avocado sandwich in only a matter of moments.
She'd turned around for only a few seconds to rinse her knife, but when she turned back to retrieve her lunch, her perfect creation had vanished.
"What the-"
Aubrey looked around, thinking for a moment that she may have placed it on the opposite countertop next to the sink, but it wasn't there either.
She furrowed her brow, confused. There was no way someone had come into the kitchen and swiped it—she would have heard them and threatened the perp with the knife she'd been working with.
She shook her head and then walked to the living room.
As Aubrey walked in she scanned the crowd. Almost immediately she spotted the missing sandwich—in Beca's hands.
Aubrey seethed internally, feeling her blood reach near boiling. Clearly under Chloe's tutelage, Beca had been able to move past simply levitating objects to her by thinking about them to teleporting them.
And Beca was using that power for sheer evil because, damn it! That was her sandwich! And that was the last of the turkey breast and Aubrey would be damned if she was the one to go to the store for more after having her meal stolen from her.
She clenched her fists at her sides and tried not to punch the wall as she screamed out-
"BECA!"
Beca merely smiled benignly, innocently in return as she popped the last bite into her mouth.
2.
Chloe and Aubrey stood before the rest of the Bellas as they were running through another brainstorming session for the spring fundraiser.
"Ok ladies," Aubrey said as she grabbed a dry erase marker from the tray under the board. "As you know, our fall fundraiser fell short of our goal. So we need to make up those dollars in the coming weeks leading up to Christmas with our caroling rounds, but mostly in the spring! So what we need are some fresh ideas on how to get the community and their wallets involved."
The rest of the girls murmured amongst one another, unsure of what else they could possibly do, short of selling scantily clad "Girls of Barden" calendars—an idea they knew 100% would be shot down by Aubrey, and also met with a long, long lecture.
"What about teaming up with Jesse and the guys from Oral Magic?"
Aubrey glanced warily towards Beca and squinted her eyes a little. She rarely offered suggestions during these meetings—something that Aubrey was equally annoyed yet grateful for.
"Elaborate," Aubrey granted, pursing her lips slightly. If this was Beca finally trying to make an effort, she was not going to let that opportunity pass by.
"Every since Jesse and Benji started that a cappella group, the campus community, and the city as a whole, have been eating their performances up," Beca said as she adjusted her position on the couch slightly. "So what if we book the auditorium and hold a spring showcase. Cost of admission can be a donation of however many non-perishable food items or $20—all of which will go to the food pantries. As a group, we all actually have decent voices. I could come up with some arrangements with Jesse and the guys and maybe we could do some numbers with them?"
Aubrey was stunned silent for a moment. It had actually happened: Beca was an active member of the group instead of a passive one.
"That is a great idea, Beca!" Aubrey commended as she looked to Chloe, who was beaming with pride.
They nodded to one another and Aubrey began to write the suggestion down on the board.
"Now," she continued writing as she turned her attention back to the group while still writing. "What else have we got?"
"Um, Aubrey?" Chloe whispered.
The giggles began almost immediately.
Aubrey turned to Chloe who, in response, tilted her head toward the board.
Where she'd intended to write an abbreviated version of Beca's idea was something else. Something horrifying…
I SMELL MY FARTS
Aubrey felt her face heat up and looked from the board to the marker and back a few times. Someone had put a spell the marker.
She balled her hands into fists as her breathing rate increased.
She spun around, flames dancing in her eyes.
"BECA!"
3.
Aubrey and Jesse walked in to the Beta Epsilon house foyer, ready to work on editing his essay for History of Rock and Roll.
Beca's voice boomed from the living room.
"Wingardium leviosa!"
The couple glanced in and saw Beca—who stood on the coffee table—and a few of the other Bellas as her captive audience, concentrating intently on the book that was levitating above her.
Jesse's face transformed to childlike wonder as he quietly gasped.
"I didn't know Harry Potter spells were real!" he exclaimed excitedly as he glanced to his girlfriend, whose right eye had begun to twitch, in that very "I'm annoyed with this hobbit" way.
"They're not," she huffed as she ripped her hand out of his and marched into the living room. "BECA!"
4.
Aubrey sighed heavily.
It had been a rough couple of weeks, with the intense study sessions she'd been putting in—just because it was her senior year of her Undergraduate degree didn't mean she could slack off—and she'd been neglecting Jesse a little bit. He understood; he had his own midterms to concern himself with, anyway, as well as his shifts at the campus radio station. Still, she felt bad. So she invited him over to the sorority house for a movie night.
Unfortunately for me, my best friend has decided to still date the most annoying person on the planet, Aubrey angrily griped in her head as she glared at the other side of the couch for what had to have been the millionth time that night.
She had carefully selected the night's feature after a thorough debate (with herself) and plucked the DVD case from the den's bookcase of movies. As she walked toward the entertainment center to put the disc in, Chloe, with Beca begrudgingly in tow—literally, Chloe was leading her by the hand into the room—picked that moment to be social.
"Oh, what are we watching?"
"Chloe, really?" Beca asked disbelievingly. "You were serious about wanting to double with them tonight?"
"Oh, sweet! Are we doubling tonight?" Jesse asked as he walked into the den armed with drinks and a large bowl of popcorn.
Aubrey wanted to throw a fit, but she was so tired from all of the exams that she just didn't have the energy to fight about it.
So, she threw on a tired smile and nodded, and they all sat down to watch one of Aubrey's favorite movies.
At least that was the intention. Jesse was engrossed in the movie, of course, because Jesse loved movies and hardly anything could pull his attention away. Aubrey tried valiantly to keep her attention on the screen, but certain noises from the other end of the couch were horribly distracting. Which is why she found herself glaring in the direction of the other couple in the room rather than enjoying the misadventures of the Brady family in the 1990s. It was like Beca and Chloe had plugged themselves into the surround sound system—kissing noises that weren't her own with Bose quality sound and amplification was not what she wanted to hear that night.
The moment she heard Chloe let out a tiny moan was the final straw.
"You could at least MUTE your disgusting kissing noises, Beca!" Aubrey said with a raised voice.
Chloe and Beca were suddenly visible again on the other end of the sofa and Beca shrugged, only the tiniest bit remorseful.
"I haven't figured out how to do the cloaking spell while masking the sound yet. It's still a work in progress," she offered with a lackadaisical smile.
Aubrey glowered at Chloe, not having to verbally communicate that it was Chloe's responsibility to train Beca—both in magic and, if there truly was a God, being a decent human being.
"Don't take it out on us just because you're mad that Jesse isn't paying attention to you," Beca quipped.
"I am not taking anything out on you, Beca. You two are the ones being impolite with your PDA!"
And, because the fates just seemed to really hate Aubrey, her favorite movie was turned into a weapon against her. Beca had opened her mouth to retort, but instead, Marcia fucking Brady hit her where it hurt the most.
"Sure, Jan."
Beca smiled, then cackled victoriously, while Aubrey sat helpless, her mouth agape.
She huffed and turned angrily to Jesse and slapped his arm. He barely flinched.
5.
October, 2024
"Guys, can you spread those tables out a little further, please? We need as much space for a dance floor as possible!" Aubrey called out from the small stage she stood on. "Beca, I swear to the goddess Hecate I will rip your head off if you blow a fuse."
"Relax, Aubrey," Beca replied, continuing to plug more cords and extenders into any socket she could find as she set up the DJ booth and various lights.
After years of toiling away at internship after internship, sound mixing for film school shorts and multiple webseries that hardly anyone watched, and scoring on low budget indies, Jesse had finally landed his first big budget film. Aubrey, meanwhile, had been mainly located in New York for the past six months trying to broker a merger between the latest social media outlet to explode and whichever search engine was willing to pay the most money for it.
This was the first time in what felt like forever that she actually had some semblance of free time in her schedule, and they hadn't really had the opportunity to celebrate Jesse's accomplishment. So, she'd rented out his favorite dive bar for a surprise party.
"I'll relax when we've yelled surprise and I get a couple of drinks in me," Aubrey muttered and headed off toward Chloe, who had just finished setting out the food, which was good because people would be arriving any minute, which meant Jesse would be there soon after. "Chloe, did you-"
She was interrupted by some snaps, some crackles and some pops. Beca had blown a fuse.
Of course she did, Aubrey thought. Of freaking course.
"BECA!"
"My bad!" Beca called out. "No worries, ok? I got this."
Aubrey couldn't believe she hadn't been more watchful—Beca could be really careless about little things when they weren't exclusively about her or Chloe.
She was about to march back over in Beca's general direction so she could berate her properly, but music cut her off—a cappella music.
"What the hell is-"
"Illumino," Beca whispered.
The room slowly illuminated, twinkling with tiny orbs of soft light. After a brief intro, Jesse's voice came through. Aubrey turned to the stage and saw her boyfriend, as well as various members from Oral Magic.
Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's a time to change
Since the return of her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June
Jesse smiled at her look of confusion and continued to sing.
But tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated?
The melody changed slightly and a new song was thrown in.
Forever could never be long enough for me
To feel like I've had long enough with you
Forget the world now, we won't let them see
But there's one thing left to do
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star?
Together could never be close enough for me
To feel like I am close enough to you
You wear white and I'll wear out the words "I love you"
And "You're beautiful"
Now that the wait is over
And love has finally shown her my way
A group of new, female voices joined in as the boys faded and did backing. She glanced to the right and saw several members of the Bellas—including Beca and Chloe—singing.
And though the road is long
I look up to the sky
And in the dark I found, lost hope that I won't fly
And I sing along, I sing along, and I sing along
The backing vocals swelled and the glowing orbs grew brighter as Beca and Chloe harmonized. Aubrey felt herself moving towards the stage, her legs unconsciously following her heart and her brain.
I got all I need when I got you and I
I look around me and see a sweet life
I'm stuck in the dark, but you're my flashlight
You're getting me, getting me through the night
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes
Can't lie, it's a sweet life
You're my flashlight (light) (light) (light)
The girls faded back vocally, simply and softly repeating "You're my flashlight" with the harmony while the boys took back over.
Now that the weight has lifted
Love has surely shifted my way
Promise me…you'll always be
Happy by my side
I promise to…sing to you
When all the music dies
And marry me
Today and every day
Beca, Chloe and the rest of the girls joined back in, bouncing back and forth with the guys, but Aubrey couldn't take her eyes off of Jesse.
I got all I need when I got you and I
I look around me and see a sweet life
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind?
Was it everything you wanted to find?
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight
You're getting me, getting me through the night
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance, five hour phone conversation?
The best soy latte you ever had and me?
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes
I can't lie, it's a sweet life
Stuck in the dark, but you're my flashlight
You're getting me, getting me through the night
Cause you're my flashlight
And marry me
Today and every day
Say you will
Say you will
Marry me
Jesse walked down to the front of the stage and stepped down in front of Aubrey as everyone slowly ended their riffs.
"Aubrey," Jesse began, launching into a long, sappy, sentimental story about how he'd loved Aubrey for so long and how he was completely taken that first time he saw her at the activity fair—and had the bruise for days later to prove it.
He talked about how they'd been through, quite literally, the impossible; how, even those times when life took them away from one another—they'd broken up a couple of times along the way; once while Aubrey was in law school and Jesse was still working through his undergrad career, and again while Jesse struggled through crappy mixing job after crappy mixing job and Aubrey was working her butt off to earn her keep at the first law firm for which she was an associate—they always found their way back to one another.
He finished with how, no matter what, he wanted her by his side.
And then he pulled out the ring.
And, with tears in her eyes, she said yes.
When they finally got the power back on and the drinks flowing, Aubrey finally found Beca.
"Beca-"
Beca's eyes widened slightly, "Dude, please don't rip my head off. I've grown accustomed to it being, y'know, attached. It was part of Jesse's plan for me to blow the power, I swear."
Aubrey smirked, "Your head is safe, for now. I just wanted to say-"
"Hey, don't ok?" Beca interrupted, holding her hand up to stop Aubrey. "Jesse's my best friend and he asked, so…" she shrugged.
"And Chloe's got you wrapped around her little finger," Aubrey chuckled.
Beca blushed and gaped. "She does not!"
"Ha!" Aubrey barked out a laugh and looked at Beca dubiously. "Sure, Jan," she retaliated happily and practically floated away.
She'd been waiting a decade to say that and, damn, did it feel good.