Yay Worlds. (Fallen Leaves 'verse-style.)

References: I hope you all remember who Laura and Alice are (see: Mixing the Bitter With the Sweet). And, oh, my dear sweet Anna Camp and that behind-the-scenes video.

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It's cool. She can do this. They can do this. She'd graduated, hadn't she? A professional record producer had heard their song and had deemed it acceptable. And there was nothing in the rule book that said what they planned to do was against the rules.

And Beca had seemed fine, when she'd last seen the other girl, and if anyone had any reason to share her pre-performance freaking out - as Beca had been low-key doing for the past few months - it would be Beca. Instead, Beca had been in conversation with Emily and her mom, showing none of the nerves that had hounded their entire group of Barden Bellas since the previous summer, at that disastrous Kennedy Center performance.

In fact, all the other Bellas seemed to be handling their nerves well: they were excited, and definitely nervous, but everyone had agreed that no matter the outcome of Worlds, they would be fine.

So why the hell couldn't she catch her breath?

"Freaking out?"

So not the time.

Chloe closed her eyes, and wished Alice away.

"The future of the Barden Bellas all resting on the shoulders of Chloe Beale and her ragtag team of Barden Bellas." Alice continued, sidling up to Chloe, joining her at the edge of the tent that served as their green room, and glanced out at the view of the crowd. The former Bellas team captain, who had been the leader during Chloe's third year in college, feigned nonchalance as she observed, "So many people, too. Larger than Lincoln or Kennedy Center. Wonder what the world's gonna say if you screw it up."

"I won't." Damn it, voice, why wobble?

"You better not." Alice stepped in front of Chloe and grabbed her shoulders, forcing Chloe to look her in the eye. "I didn't fly all the way to Denmark to watch you humiliate yourself. I win, Chloe, and you and Aubrey screwed that up for me once, you do not get to do that to me again. Do you understand?"

Chloe stared at her, dumbfounded. "That's your motivational speech?"

"We're winning this, and you better make sure your friends understand that." Alice hissed.

"Alice, leave her alone."

Both Chloe and Alice quickly turned to find two blondes behind them. One was Chloe's best friend. The other, the one who had spoken, was Alice's worst nightmare.

"Laura. Didn't know you were coming." Alice said quickly, immediately releasing Chloe, her eyes darting from one blonde to the other, then away.

"Funny enough, would you believe I was in the neighborhood?" Laura, the Barden Bellas team captain when Aubrey and Chloe were freshmen and who considered Aubrey like a surrogate younger sister, smiled pleasantly at Alice. She turned to grace a smile at Chloe. "It's nice to see you again, Chloe."

"Hi, Laura." Chloe smiled back. "What neighborhood would that be?"

"Sweden." Laura answered.

"Steven works in Lund." Aubrey explained to Chloe, referring to Laura's husband and then-boyfriend back during her days at Barden University.

"When Aubrey told me about Worlds, I realized I didn't really have an excuse to miss this." Laura continued. She smiled guilelessly at Alice, genuinely happy to see so many of her friends – even Alice –while also knowing just how discomfited the woman probably was. "And see all my Bellas again."

"Did she." Alice's polite statement was said through grit teeth at Aubrey.

Chloe watched the exchange of forced pleasantries, intrigued. She knew the two of them had their differences: Alice had been a forceful sophomore when Laura had been team captain, and had thought that Laura's kindness and emphasis on sisterhood and camaraderie was a hindrance to achieving ICCA victory. Laura, for her part, being a third-generation Bella Legacy, only marginally cared about ICCA glory, since her own grandmother had been a Bella before female a cappella groups could compete at the collegiate level. It was weird to realize that they had all since graduated from Barden University, and Laura, Alice and Aubrey were all professional women in their own right, but their dynamics – Alice scared of Laura and derisive of Aubrey, Laura protective of Aubrey and Chloe, and Aubrey deferring to both older women – were almost all still the same.

"You know what?" Laura let go of her hold on Aubrey's arm, and hooked her arm with Alice's, not giving the dark-haired girl an escape. "I'm sure Chloe has some last-minute instructions for Aubrey. Come on and introduce me to people."

Chloe watched as Laura steered Alice away from her and Aubrey, and turned to her best friend. "You sneak. Did you know she was coming?"

"She said she'd try." Aubrey replied. "Sorry Alice got to you and we didn't get here sooner."

Chloe waved her apology off. "She didn't get to me."

Aubrey gave her a scrutinizing once-over. "You're hyperventilating."

"What? No." Chloe scoffed, making her shortness of breath even more evident. "My breath is always this short and shallow and oh my God I can't breathe." She clutched the side of the tent, her knuckles quickly turning white with the ferocity of her grip.

Aubrey shook her head, reaching over to ease Chloe's grip on the tent and leading her outside, away from the Bellas, and to the side of the tent that didn't have a view of the crowd. "Chloe."

"This is too big. I can't…" Chloe shook her head. "The trick's baby steps, right? This isn't a baby step. This is a huge step. Not just one, even. Two. I can't graduate and win Worlds at the same time, the odds are totally not in my favor."

Aubrey chuckled. "You have like two dozen Bellas' worth of an army backing you up. I'd say the odds are pretty good." She paused. "You have a Bellarmy."

"Bellarmy." Chloe scoffed as she gave Aubrey a wary look. "It's possible you got cheesier over time. And how are you the calm one between us now?"

Aubrey shrugged. "Stacie would say awesome sex. I'm not gonna argue."

Chloe frowned, and then sighed, forlorn. "Awww. I miss sex." She really did. Carrying a torch for someone so close but she couldn't have had greatly hindered her sexual activities, that was for sure. And the pressure and stress of the past few months, coupled with having to face the fact that she no longer had a good enough reason to stay at Barden much longer, had made sex fall on her list of priorities.

"I'm just going to point out that it's the World Championships of A cappella," Aubrey reminded. "You probably won't lack for people who'd like to sing duets with you in showers."

Chloe made a face at her. "Funny."

"Just get through this performance and we'll find you someone." Aubrey suggested. "Worst case, we'll drive down to Amsterdam or Germany and find you someone who'll live up to their sexually-satisfied country ranking."

Chloe gave her a curious look.

"I'm dating Stacie Conrad." Aubrey reminded, as if that explained why she could name two countries that ranked highly in an international survey of sexual satisfaction off the top of her head. And it probably did.

Chloe whined. "How are you the one who freely talks about sex between us now?"

Aubrey laughed. "Have you met my girlfriend?"

"Ooh!" Chloe perked up, adequately distracted. "Has Laura met Stacie? Has the fairy princess met her precious baby unicorn's sinnamon roll?"

"You're mixing metaphors and internet memes now." Aubrey noted. She frowned. "Not to mention greatly confusing me. Am I the unicorn in that sentence?"

"Shut up, you know you are. Have they met?" Chloe pressed.

Aubrey shook her head. "Laura came straight here and I haven't seen Stacie since you left the hotel."

"Oh, I want to be there!" Chloe exclaimed. "I want to see that magic happen."

Aubrey pursed her lips. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"Are you kidding? They're going to talk about how cute you are and how smart and pretty Aubrey is." Chloe grinned. "And you're gonna have to sit there and listen to all of it." She paused, considering. "If they start an Aubrey Posen fan club, who do you think would be president?"

Aubrey gave her a measuring look, only partially out of concern. "Did that hyperventilation attack cause a lack of oxygen in your brain?"

"Don't be mean!" Chloe shoved her.

"That's not mean, that's an actual show of concern!" Aubrey protested.

"Chloe, stop attacking my girlfriend." Stacie told Chloe, approaching the two of them. She grinned at Aubrey. "Hey, you."

Aubrey grinned back, sufficiently distracted from attempting to reassure Chloe, and welcomed Stacie with a kiss as the taller girl stepped closer and eased into Aubrey's personal space.

Stacie smiled into their kiss. "This doesn't count as our first trip to Europe, by the way."

"The state of our hotel bed would like to differ." Aubrey reminded.

Stacie chuckled, pecking Aubrey's lips again. "What can I say? Sightseeing turns me on."

"How is Aubrey the one getting regular sex?" Chloe complained, interrupting them.

Stacie glanced questioningly at Aubrey, who rolled her eyes and shook her head, dissuading Stacie from picking up Chloe's thread of conversation. Stacie nodded slightly, and jerked her head towards the Bellas' tent. "Did you see the Bellarmy in there?"

"Oh my God, the corruption goes both ways." Chloe groaned.

"Like us!" Stacie quipped, earning her mutual groans. "What? That was funny. And it was right there for that joke. What's wrong with you two?"

Aubrey opened her mouth to explain Chloe's nervousness, but was beaten to it by a question.

"Can I join your Aubrey fan club?" Chloe asked Stacie.

Stacie paused, her brow wrinkling in confusion, and Aubrey didn't help much by shaking her head. "Um… okay…?" She gave the two of them a confused look, but then shook her head and focused on why she had sought them out. "Chloe, we're due backstage in fifteen." She turned to Aubrey. "You got this?"

Aubrey looked confused. "Got… what?"

"The Bella alumnae." Stacie reminded.

"The what?" Aubrey questioned, confused. "Why would I-?"

"Didn't Beca tell you?" Chloe asked. "You're in charge of the alumnae."

"I'm what now?" Aubrey asked. She shook her head. "Why wasn't I aware of this before right now?"

"Just get through this performance, Aubrey." Chloe mocked, earning herself a glare from the blonde.

"Get ready." Stacie said, pulling out Aubrey's Bella scarf from the back pocket of Aubrey's jeans, and took Aubrey's arm.

"What—" Aubrey pulled her hand back.

"You have to wear the scarf, Aubrey." Chloe reminded. She lifted her arm to show her own scarf around her wrist. Stacie also lifted her hand to show the same.

"That's not happening." Aubrey told them flatly, placing the scarf around her neck. She ignored the weary eye rolls from the women with her.

"Fine, be a nerd." Chloe said, turning towards the tent.

Aubrey rolled her eyes after her, and turned to follow Chloe into the tent, but was held back by Stacie. She looked up questioningly at her girlfriend.

"We can win this, right?" Stacie asked.

Aubrey smiled at her, and gave her a quick kiss of reassurance. "We have the blood of the founding Bellas on our side, and Beca might actually have a future in music; of course we can. We can, and we will."

Stacie looked rightfully confused, but she followed Aubrey back into the tent for final words before Bellas past and present parted ways before their performance. They parted ways just inside the tent, but Aubrey was intercepted as she was heading to the group of alumni when Chloe emerged out of nowhere and caught her arm. "Aubrey."

Aubrey turned, and found herself caught in a tight hug from Chloe. Gently, she wrapped her arms around Chloe and returned the hug. "You OK?"

Chloe nodded into her shoulder. "One last performance for us, right?"

"Actually—"

Chloe squeezed Aubrey, before letting her go. She smiled at her best friend. "Chaubrey forever."

Aubrey forced a smile, opting for the moment not to correct Chloe's fatalistic air. "You and me."

Chloe grinned, and ran off to join the current Bellas as they left the tent to head backstage.

Laura came up to Aubrey, sidling up beside her as they watched the current Bellas cheer each other on, a far cry from the more demure countenance of Bellas past. "Chloe really failed Russian Lit three times?"

"She really did."

"On purpose?"

"Yes."

"Hot prof?"

"Hardly."

Laura pursed her lips thoughtfully. "You gonna tell me the story behind that?"

"Probably not."

"You and the tall drink of water you came in with?"

"If I'm drunk enough."

"If they win this, I'll buy you a round." Laura told her.

Aubrey laughed. "If we win this, I'll buy you a round."

"Deal." Laura glanced at Aubrey, and smiled, tugging at Aubrey's scarf. "Chloe never learned to do this knot properly, did she?"

Aubrey laughed, because she loved Chloe, dearly, but it really should have been a sign that Chloe would be the point of transition between the old, traditional Barden Bellas and the new, inventive group, when Chloe continually failed to learn how to tie the scarf in its traditional manner properly.

Stacie turned when she heard Aubrey's laugh, and frowned when she saw her girlfriend with another blonde, someone who hadn't been at rehearsals back in the US, the newcomer standing too close to Aubrey to her liking. "The hell-?"

"Stacie." Beca called for her attention.

Stacie shot another glance towards the Bellas tent before turning her attention to her team, who all stood in the wings watching DSM's performance.

Back in the tent, Aubrey stood with Laura, the two of them listening to the speakers that broadcast the performance onstage, and Aubrey wondered if her friends felt the same trepidation she did in regards to DSM. Beside her, however, was a perfectly calm Bella Legacy in the form of Laura. "How are you not nervous?"

"I saw them perform Light 'Em Up at a music festival in Amsterdam a few months ago, I guess they did a remix to hide that fact. And this is almost exactly like their performance last year, if YouTube isn't lying to me." Laura told her. "With almost the exact same judges, so…" She shrugged. "What are your friends performing before we come on?"

"They're starting with Run the World."

"Beyoncé?" Laura asked. She nodded in approval. "Yeah, that could work, and make this DSM's to lose. Who doesn't like Beyoncé, at least a little, other than LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett?"

"Who?"

Laura laughed. "Exactly."

Emily, clearly struggling to keep calm in her nervousness, turned to Stacie once their cheering after Beca, Chloe, and Fat Amy's motivational speeches were over. They were getting ready to take the stage after DSM, and took one last glance over at the tent. "You think their huddle's as good as ours?"

Stacie followed her gaze, and then turned back to Emily. "Depends if Aubrey's more motivational speech than empty platitudes today."

Emily frowned, confused. "What does that even-"

They were interrupted with a symphonic "Aaahh" that had once been the end of a traditional Bellas huddle.

The group paused at the sound, and glanced over at the tent.

"Okay, that's just not fair." Beca observed, shaking her head at the fact that at least two dozen women could harmonize that easily.

"How do they all know what key to sing in?" Flo wondered aloud, because from her experience, it took a lot of effort to get that right. Beside her, both Cynthia Rose and Lilly only shrugged in response.

"Pitches, we've got this!" Fat Amy declared, cutting off their momentary distraction, and prompting another round of cheers.

Beca turned to Chloe. "Ready?"

Chloe smiled at her, nodding. "Let's do this."