A/N: So, I'm running my first half marathon next Saturday and I'm nervous as hell, so of course this is how I deal with it. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect
What the hell was she doing here? Couldn't she just have shut her big drunk mouth? Or at least not be too freaking proud to actually follow through with her drunk promise? No, now she would follow through with this stupid promise, she would just have to suffer for the next 4 to 5 hours, and then everything would be over.
Everything started with some German girl that's been nagging her on one of her nights out with her best friend, Stacie. Beca had seen the girl before, and each time the tall, blonde woman would go out of her way to taunt Beca. She didn't know what the blonde had against her or what she did to bring this upon herself, but she knew she wanted it to end. At one point she had had a few beers and the intimidating girl walked up to her again.
"If it isn't my favourite little mouse," the girl said with a thick German accent. "You shouldn't drink too much beer, your small body would not be able to handle that."
"Leave, or I swear to god…" Beca started, but she was interrupted by a demeaning chuckle.
"You're going to do what? Oh little mouse, you shouldn't make threats, you couldn't follow through anyway, with that small weak body of yours."
This ticked Beca off, sure, she wasn't very fit, but she wouldn't just stand here and be insulted. "My body is not weak," she responded.
This earned her another chuckle, the blonde looked her up and down and subtly flexed her muscles for good 's when everything went cloudy for Beca. This was probably due to a combination of too much beer and anger. She vaguely remembered telling the muscular blonde that she could run marathon if she wanted to and that she would prove it. The next thing she knew, she had her phone out and was registering for a local marathon that would take place in six months. She also remembered Stacie, who had been standing next to her, trying to stop her, but her drunk self was apparently extremely stubborn.
The next morning she woke up with a huge hangover. She stayed in bed for as long as she could, but eventually managed to make it out of bed. She drank a glass of water and took an aspirin to battle her headache. Next she checked her email and was surprised to see one from the local athletics association. She opened the email and read it through, it appeared to be a confirmation of her registration for the upcoming marathon. She read it through another time before calling Stacie.
"Stace, what happened last night? Why do I have an email saying that I signed up for a marathon?" She heard a chuckle on the other side of the line and grunted. This elicited a laugh from her best friend.
"Oh Beca, I guess you should learn to control your big drunk mouth," Stacie said when she was done laughing. "You know that annoying German girl, she told you you were weak and you wanted to prove her wrong, so you signed up for a marathon."
"Why didn't you stop me?" Beca asked.
"Yeah right, because that is so easy. Besides, I'm not your babysitter. Can't you just cancel?"
"If I cancel she will just keep bugging me each time I run into her. I could just run it, I mean how hard can it be?"
Soon enough she found out how hard it could be. She had decided to try and go out for a run, just to see how far she could get. She dug up some old sneakers from the bottom of her closet and threw on an old T-shirt and a pair of comfortable shorts. She downloaded a running app on her phone and put it in her pocket.
After ten minutes Beca had a few revelations. First of all, running was fucking hard. Who even does this for fun? Secondly, she had no idea how far a marathon was, but it was probably a hell of a lot longer than the one mile she had just ran. Thirdly, running on an empty stomach was not a good idea.
When she got home she first took a shower, and then sat down to do some research. She soon found out that a marathon was 26.2 miles, which seemed like an insane distance to run. She also found some tips on how to train for a marathon. She found a training plan that seemed reasonable. She wanted to quit and never speak of it again, but she could already imagine the look she would receive if she showed her marathon finisher's medal to the annoying German.
"Are you going through with this?" Stacie asked her that night when they had dinner together. "Do you even know how long a marathon is?"
But Beca's mind would not be changed. Over the next few weeks she found that she was actually improving pretty steadily. Soon enough she was able to run for thirty minutes straight. She invested in some good running shoes and a better outfit than her old cotton shirts. She started watching her protein intake and even got up early some mornings to squeeze in a run. She found that she was starting to enjoy it, but she wouldn't admit this to her best friend. Although Stacie still thought she was crazy, the tall girl also supported her completely and Beca was thankful for this.
Six months later she found herself at the starting line between a few hundred other runners. Stacie was lined up somewhere along the course, ready to cheer her on. Beca felt nervous, although she had a pretty solid race plan. She hopped from one foot to the other and looked around her. Everybody around her seemed as restless as she was feeling, they were all stretching, running in place, or making some last-minute adjustments to their outfit.
Soon enough everybody was pushing forward and Beca heard the starting signal. The mass of people started to move. Over the first few hundred meters the crowd spread out and Beca was able to find a comfortable pace. She put in her earphones and drowned in her own music. She was running faster than planned pace by the time she reach the first aid station, but was going strong.
Things went downhill quickly after that. She knew she should have known better than to start at a too high pace. She had read it everywhere, start slow, finish strong. But of course she let herself get carried away and dived in head first. By the time she reach mile 15 she was really struggling. Her legs were on fire and her breathing was uneven. She was switching between running and walking, but she knew she couldn't do this for another ten miles. She walked to the side of the road and bent over, resting her hands on her knees.
Suddenly she felt a hand on her back and heard the sweetest voice behind her. "Hey, are you okay?"
She straightened her back and turned around. She was captured by worried, bright blue eyes. She nodded and thanked the stranger. She studied the stranger and found that it was a beautiful girl with red hair drawn back in a tight ponytail, a cute pink with green top and grey shorts. She had a bib pinned to her top.
When Beca saw the bib, she felt bad for making the girl stop mid run. "I'm fine, really, you should keep going. I don't want to ruin your time."
The girl smiled at her. "It's fine. I could use a breather. Do you want to run with me? We could be each other's pacers."
Beca looked at the girl. She was feeling awful, but somehow she didn't want to admit to this gorgeous girl that she was thinking of quitting. The girl seemed so optimistic and friendly. The least she could do was run with the girl for a while, until she would get sick of the slow pace and drop Beca. She nodded and walked a few steps before starting to run. The breather had done her some good and the additional motivation she gained from running with a beautiful girl next to her wasn't too bad either.
"I'm Chloe, by the way," the redhead said.
"I'm Beca," Beca replied, before focussing on her breathing again.
To Beca's surprise she was actually able to keep up with the redhead. She had stopped looking at her time, because it would only put her down, and now was just focussing on running and keeping up with the girl next to her. They had passed Stacie a few minutes back, and as she went over to greet her best friend, Chloe went over as well, hugging the blonde that was standing next to Stacie. She didn't have too much time to think anything of it though, because they needed to get going.
When they reached 20 miles, the high Beca had been on for the last few miles together with Chloe came crashing down. She felt like she couldn't breath, her legs felt like lead pipes and the prospect of having to go another six miles hung over her like a dark cloud. She started to slow down and even though she wanted to keep running with Chloe, she just couldn't keep going any more.
At the next aid station, Chloe stopped and grabbed a cup of water. She handed one to Beca as well. When they had both downed their water, she grabbed Beca's shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
"Becs, I get that you're probably feeling like crap right now. And having to run the remaining six miles must feel like having to climb a mountain, but you can do this. You're experiencing the wall, but everybody does at some point in a marathon. It's just in your head, you can work through this. You just have to keep going, and I know you can. You have already finished more than twenty miles, it just a little more to the finish line. Think about what you will do after you finish. You can grab a nice cold beer, get some Taco Bell and put your feet up. You know what, I would love to buy you a beer if you finish, how does that sound?"
Beca looked at the beautiful redhead that for some reason was still trying to help her to finish this race. "Are you asking me out on a date?" she asked with a smirk.
"Only one way to find out," Chloe said with a mischievous look before running off. Somehow that did the job and soon enough Beca was on her heels again. They ran in silence for a while, both concentrating on their run. Before she knew it Beca saw the 24 mile mark, followed by the 25 and the 26 mile mark. And then the finish. She would finally be done. She digged deep to find the strength for a final acceleration towards the finish line. As they crossed the finish she felt Chloe grab her hand and hold it in the air. She had done it!
Right after they finished she collapsed against the redhead, not minding that the other girl was sweating at least as much as she was. When she finally was able to stand up straight again, someone hung a medal around her neck and she saw Chloe sporting the same accessoire. They walked around in search for their respective best friends, and soon enough Beca heard a familiar voice call her name.
Chloe and Beca both walked in the same direction, as their friends were standing next to each other. They both received extensive congratulations and careful hugs. They didn't hang around too long, though, because both runners needed a Beca made her way home she had Chloe's number in her phone and the promise of a beer at her favourite bar later in the evening.
After a shower and a meal, Beca made her way over to Stacie. They would go to the bar together and meet Chloe and her friend there. Beca found out that while she was working her ass off, Stacie had been chatting up the blonde called Aubrey. She faked outrage before congratulating her best friend.
The promised cold beer as well as a beautiful redhead was waiting for her when she arrived. Chloe looked amazing with her hair down and dressed up in a black dress. Stacie and Aubrey were talking with each other and were oblivious to their surroundings, while Beca recounted the story of how she wound up running a marathon in the first place to Chloe.
Of course the good time Beca was having was interrupted by a loud German. "If it isn't our little mouse. It seems like you have only gotten tinier since the last time I saw you."
"Fuck off," Beca replied, not feeling in the mood to deal with the blonde.
"It's not nice to be rude," the blonde replied, faking indignantly.
"She said to get lost," Chloe now said. "We were having a private conversation."
"Oh, you got yourself a protector. Good thing, since you are such a tiny, weak mouse."
At this, Beca suddenly remembered that she was smart enough to pack her finisher's medal. She grabbed it from her purse. "I think this is enough prove that I am not weak. Now please go away," she said while showing her medal.
The blonde looked impressed for a minute, before putting on her old mocking look. "Well, congratulations, tiny mouse, it looks like you're not completely worthless after all. What a surprise."
That was it for Beca, but before she could make a move, Chloe stepped in front of her and did the thing Beca had been dreaming to do for ages. The redhead swung her arm and punched the girl hard in the face. Then she turned around and grabbed Beca's hand.
"Let's get out of here."
Beca happily let herself get dragged from the bar. As soon as they stepped into the cold air, Chloe put one hand around her waist, the other in her neck and pulled her in for an amazing kiss. When they broke apart, Beca looked at the beautiful girl in front of her.
Maybe running a marathon wasn't such a bad idea after all.