*Hey guys, so I had some questions about this story so here are the answers.
This takes place right after the ICCAs and I want quite sure where I wanted the location to be but I've decided on Walwut, Washington. A town of my imagination :)
Aubrey sits on her bed, again reading her cliché romance novel. Usually she only reads books that will help her learn or improve academically, lots of facts books and that sort of thing, but she decided it's summer. She deserves to relax and read for her entertainment for a change. After she had left the Mitchell residence the day before, she hadn't resumed reading, her mind kept wandering to what living next to Beca would bring about so she couldn't focus. All she wants is for the girl to not bother her to much, but she's not keeping her hopes up. Beca always seemed to be amused by annoying Aubrey, surely nothing has changed.
At least Chloe can help calm them down if things do get out of hand, when she gets back from Europe though. That's only in about two weeks, Aubrey concludes that nothing too outrageous can happen before then. Chloe. Aubrey can't wait to see her face when she finds out Beca Mitchell moved in the house next to theirs of all the places in the world. The redhead would surely have a hear attack.
Anyways, Aubrey soon begins to sit straighter as her page turning speeds up. She's about half way through her novel and her fingers are starting roughly turn each page. Her eyes are like darts, and it's possible there was a slight tear in the page she just turned, but her mind is too distracted by the ink to care. Her greens roam the page, the page that reveals who really poisoned William...and she's so close to finding ou-
Ding Dong.
Aubrey is snapped out of her enengrossment by the doorbell. She looks up to her door then to her book then back to her door.
Ding Dong.
Groaning, Aubrey bends the page corner and closes her book. She stomps her way downstairs to answer the door. Why is nobody ever home? Or at least when she needs them to be?
Swinging the door open, Aubrey is met with an exasperated looking Beca. When the brunette sees Aubrey's glare though, she brakes out into a timid smile that Aubrey can say she has only seen one time before. It was after Beca had tried telling a very cheesy joke, no one had laughed except for Stacie who, if Aubrey remembers correctly, is a goner for nearly any joke thrown her way. Gosh, she had only seen this smile one time. She suddenly feels a little guilty that she never tried to spend any time with Beca, even after they became friends. She doesn't let her feelings show on her exterior though, she can fix this. Especially since they're neighbors now.
"Hey, Aubrey." Beca greets.
"Yes?" Aubrey asks, a little colder than intended. She doesn't have to start spending time with Beca at this exact moment.
"It's great to see you too," there's the sarcasm. "Um. So, get this. Believe it or not, I was actually just kicked out of my house."
"What?" Aubrey wasn't expecting that. "You know what, that's not difficult to believe."
"Ha ha, very funny. My mom probably won't let me back in for a couple hours," Beca explains. The brunette then holds her hands behind her back and slumps her shoulders, looking down at her shoes scuffing the ground. "I was wondering if I could maybe kick back here till then?" This nervous Beca is definitely not what Aubrey is used too. Was her attitude before just for the sake of her reputation? Or does she genuinely think Aubrey will rejected her? The latter makes sense since Aubrey doesn't really have any reason to help the girl who annoyed her for around a year, but she's not that mean. Sometimes.
"Come in."
"So, this is your room. Not as perfectionist-like as I would've imagined." Beca admits while peering around the room. There's clothes hanging off the rim of her laundry basket, pens scattered on her desk, her bed pillows aren't fixed since she was using them, little things showing a more relaxed side of Aubrey. The blonde isn't sure if she should be offended by Beca's words or not.
"Thanks? Just please don't touch anything, and you can sit anywhere."
"I meant it as a compliment." Beca smiles. Aubrey feels...warm? when she sees Beca's smile. She assumes it's because they're friends now. She hates when someone doesn't like her, of course every one has their critics though, but she's happy Beca is a friend. She sits on her bed and grabs her novel, ready to resume reading.
"Hey, Beca?" She asks before opening her book. The brunette turns around from a picture she was looking at on the wall.
"Yeah?"
"Why were you kicked out of your house?" Beca shrugs and takes a seat on Aubrey's computer chair.
"I don't know. My mom and I were both just sitting in the living room. I was on my phone and she was, reading? Yeah, I think she was reading. Then she just gets up and forces me out of the house. I don't know what I did, but she looked annoyed. Maybe a character died or something."
"Oh." Aubrey absorbs the information. "Well, I'm just going to start reading my book again." That's weird. Her mom just kicked her out?
"Alright." Beca nods. "I'm going to be on my phone, you won't even know I'm here."
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap...
Aubrey tries really hard to focus on the page she's reading, but Beca's foot tapping is seriously getting to her. She takes a deep breath and continues.
William stabbed- tap. William stab- Tap. William stabbed hi- TAp. Will- TAP.
Aubrey couldn't ignore it anymore, it just seemed to get louder the more she tried to focus.
"Beca, if you don't stop, I can't promise you'll leave here alive." Aubrey's voice is full of irritation as she slightly raises her voice at the brunette. Beca looks at Aubrey over her phone with a mystified expression.
"Stop? Stop what? I'm not doing anything!" The younger girl defends herself.
"You're tapping your foot!" Aubrey argues back. "I'm serious, Beca. I will break your leg."
"Oh." Beca gives a nervous chuckle. "I didn't even realize. I'll stop now."
They resume back to how they were. After a couple of minutes, Aubrey subtly looks over her book at Beca. She squints her eyes and her lips slightly upcurve at the sight of Beca sticking her tongue out in concentration while she types out a text. She then shakes her head away of distraction and goes back to reading.
Beca finds her front door unlocked. Her mom must be done reading.
"Mom?" She calls out. "I'm back."
"In the kitchen, cooking dinner."
Beca enters the kitchen and makes her way to the fridge, pulling out a water bottle.
"Where did you go when you left?" Nancy asks while stirring noodles.
"You mean after you kicked me out of my home?" Beca counters setting down her now half full water bottle.
"I don't recall." Nancy answers with a little to much innocence for Beca's liking.
"I went to Aubrey's." Beca had found that she enjoyed being there. Even if they barely talked.
"Oh, poor girl. I shouldn't have had forced her to deal with you."
"Hey. I'll have you know, I was an awesome guest. The whole neighborhood is calling for my visit."
"Oh yeah?" Nancy counters turning to face her daughter who's leaning on the center island.
"Yup."
"What did you guys do?"
"We wer-" Beca is cut off by a loud knock on the door. "Are you expecting someone?" Nancy shakes her head.
"Can you get it? I don't want my food to burn." Nancy hides her growing smile by resuming her cooking. Beca makes her way over to the door. Upon swinging the it open, she breaks into a face splitting grin.
"Lauren!? Mat!?" Beca asks in disbelief.
"Beca!" They yell out in unison, smiles gracing their features. As soon as Beca realizes that she's not dreaming, she attacks them with a hug. Though, with her tiny frame, she doesn't do any damage.
"I missed you guys!" Beca takes a step back to get a good look at them. "Mom said you weren't due for a few more days."
"Yeah, she was really excited to surprise you, kido." Mat slightly ruffles her hair before Beca slaps his hand away. She playfully glares at him. "Oh yeah, forgot. You're 'not a kid anymore', whatever that means."
"Beca? Who's at the door, dear?" Nancy calls from the kitchen.
"Dinner's almost ready, we should go." Beca says and the trio makes their way to the kitchen. Mat takes the lead while Beca stays to walk side by side with her half sister. Lauren is just two years older than Beca. Their mom was originally with Mat, then they found out Nancy was pregnant. Since they were pretty young, they thought they wouldn't work out so they split up. A couple years later and Nancy was married and expecting another child, but with Jonathan Mitchell. It was a marriage wanted by their parents, but they both knew they weren't in love. They really tried to work things out, but after 7 years, they just weren't feeling it anymore. The divorce really hurt Beca who was too young to understand that her parents weren't in love. Nancy later reconnected with Mat, and they have been going strong ever since. But Beca knows now. She knows they'll last till the end of their days because she's never seen her mom look at anyone else with so much love and adoration. Not even her dad.
Her mother never changed her maiden last name, though. Nancy was lucky that her and Jonathan had the same last names. But even after marrying Mat, Nancy kept Mitchell to assure Beca that she's not alone. She didn't want the girl to feel left out by being the only one with a different last name. And for that, Beca is grateful.
As for Lauren, Lauren is Beca's best friend. Growing up together, they obviously know very much about one another. They hook their arms together while walking. Lauren looks over to Beca.
"Were you really surprised?" Beca looks at Lauren's deep green eyes that sometimes come off as gray the way her deep blue ones do.
"Yeah, I thought I still had a few days to be free of you."
"Tough luck, sister. You're stuck with me until you head out to LA."
"Oh, boy." Beca smiles.
After having dinner and watching their parents be way to cute together, Lauren and Beca make their way to one of the empty rooms. Beca brings along her laptop so they can listen to music. Once everything is set up, she reaches in her pocket to pull out her flash drive with the latest songs she worked on. When it's not there, she begins to have a mini-panic attack.
"Fuck," Beca spits when she suspects where it might be.
"What?" Lauren asks from her spot on the mattress on the floor.
"I think I left my flash drive at Aubrey's place." Beca huffs and lets herself fall onto the mattress.
"Who's Aubrey? And how do you know people already?"
"She lives next door and she's co-captain of the Bellas."
"If she lives next door then why can't you go get it? Wait, is she the one that burst into your shower stall naked?"
"No, that was Chloe." Her sister keeps questioning before she can explain who Aubrey is.
"The girl who was obsessed with sex, who you almost fucked too?"
"What? No, why does everybody think that?" Beca's eyebrows scrunch together.
"The one who...ate her twin in the womb?" Lauren guesses, unsure of herself.
"No no no, I've already had this conversation with mom. She's the girl who was a bitch at first, but you know. She's not so bad." Beca admits.
"Woah, that sounds like a compliment coming from you. So why can't you just go get your flash drive from her?"
"Because I was at her house earlier for like two hours. We're barely even friends, I don't want to start annoying her like crazy...yet. We're going to her house for a barbecue or some shit this weekend, I'll get it then."
A/N: Hey guys, thanks for bearing with me. I'm not the best at coming up with those crazy interactions between characters sometimes, so if you have any ideas or requests just leave them and I'll see if I can fit them in somewhere. Please leave a review and fav/fallow. See you next chapter.
-Nessa