A/U:

Don't own anything PP/FOB related

I really had fun writing this, I hope you have fun reading it! :) Leave a review. Or don't. Be happy and free.

The song this chapter is (oviously) called 'Dance, dance' from FOB.

Happy pride month everybody 8D

Chapter 3 - 3 vantage points

Two songs later, Jesse announced they would have a break after the next song.

"I hope you can all… dance, dance! Give it up, Becaaw" he signed behind him.

Amy let out a loud "whooooh" and held her beer up when fast beats followed Jesses order, and for a few seconds only drums and bass were sounding through the room. Then he joined in with the first lines:

"She says she's no good with words but I'm worse

Barely stuttered out

A joke of a romantic stuck to my tongue…"

Stacie nodded to the beat and turned to her friends. "I mean… musical and personal taste aside- they're really good, aren't they? We should have come earlier."

Amy mumbled an answer. "Yeah, well, Jesse's a real perfectionist and he wants to make a good impression in case some talent scouts are out there or whatever. Something about to do this for a living, bla bla... I remember Beca being even grumpier than usual because of all the practice he made them do before this" she snorted, sipping her beer.

"Oh yeah? How do you know her?" Chloe tried to conveniently request while looking to the stage, moving her head in a crooked manner to catch glimpses of the small drummer. She didn't notice that Stacie noticed though, arching an eyebrow. This was at least the fifth time Chloe behaved this way.

"I happen to be her roommate, best friend and secret dream of lonely nights" she blankly replied, whipping her hair back.

All three women just looked at her.

"What?... okay, the last part was a lie. She knows I'm out of her league… and the boys are already lining up I'm afraid" Amy winked exaggerated and their faces softened.

Stacie tilted her head back, facing Chloe past Aubrey. "Does someone else happen to have a small secret dream of lonely nights?" she purred quietly only for Chloe to hear, fishing for a reaction. Chloe acted as if she did not hear anything, but Stacie could swear that her skin shifted a little to match her hair color. Interesting.

The brunette whipped back forward. "Anyway. Practice really paid off I'd say. I think I'm gonna pay the Applebaum-clan a visit before they take off for their break. Who's coming with me? Aubrey you should talk to him to lose that frowning face." With these words, she tapped the blonde's nose with one finger. Aubrey ducked away, not answering.

"Chloe? I'm pretty sure someone could use a refreshment up there" she nodded towards the stage. "I for one will get this guitar chick something to drink." Stacie turned to the bar and talked to CR.

The song echoed through the pub.

"Why don't you show me the little bit of spine,

you've been saving for his mattress, love…"

Chloe thought about it for a moment. She really wanted to have a proper look behind those drums; stupid curiosity of hers. And she could always pretend to just say hello to Benji. What was there to lose? She was here to have fun.

"Hey, get me two beer please?" she shouted towards the bar, smiling at CR and Stacie.

"Good girl! To distraction!" Stacie endorsed her and they chinked their drinks, heading towards the stage while the last refrain played.

"Dance, dance, we're falling apart to half time…"

Aubrey watched them leave and was conflicted. Amy could see the wheels spinning in her head und leaned in. "You know, a little birdie told me he likes the red mountain dew… just in case you finally decide to take a shot, squib"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aubrey snapped.

"C-O-W-A-" Amy began to shape with her mouth.

"I'm afraid I don't know this word in any language" Aubrey hissed and likewise turned to the bar, leaving a few moments later with two red cans.

You're welcome, twig bitch Amy thought, smirking to herself as she watched the blonde departing.

Angle 1

Stacie and Chloe made their way through the crowd and waited for the song to end. The audience cheered when the last notes hit the room. "Ok thank you, see you in a few minutes" Jesse said and turned the microphone off. Not long after that, the usual tape music came up and the crowd dispersed for the most part. Stacie turned to the woman behind her. "I think it's easier if you walk up there, not so much drunk students" she said quietly, pointing in a direction near the drum set. "Have fu-un" she warbled and ditched her friend, walking up to Emily, who was extracting the guitar from herself, putting it on a stand.

There were no other people around, so when Stacie came closer, Emily looked up mischievously. "I was just starting to get jealous of Jesse who gets all the fans, but there you are at last, good-looking."

Stacie's tongue was tied for a second, she didn't expect this. "Well, I'm not the only one good looking it seems" She held up a coke for the younger girl. "What do you mean, there I am at last?"

Emily just took the bottle, put it to her mouth and swallowed slowly. Stacie watched her, and suddenly she felt as if thrown into a coke commercial from the 90's. Time stopped, it seemed. The younger girl's skin glistened, every muscle in her face working to take in the liquid and Stacie could swear that a bead of sweat slowly trickled down at the side of Emily's face, to the bottom of her neck. Her jaw fell open in slow motion.

Then, words reached her ears and retrieved her to reality.

"Hello? Hey! Shut your mouth, there's a bus coming!" the girl in front of her said.

"What?" What the freaking eff was that? Stacie quickly turned her head around - everything seemed perfectly normal.

"Everything alright? You look as if you zoned out for a moment" Emily chuckled, holding her drink.

"I'm, eh-" Stacie started, but got interrupted by the shriek of someone a few steps away.

"-oice just so awesome. Maybe could sign here?"

Some girls apparently wanted to get an autograph from Jesse, and one of them grabbed her shirt and showed him her cleavage.

"Wow, that's… something to look at. It was a great choice to come here for this gig, I mean look around, Stacie, everyone is so hot! Guys, Gals and everybody else!" Emily altered the pronunciation to make it rhyme. "A good time to be open for everything" she winked.

What the hell is going on here? Why is she so… confident? Conrad, get yourself together! "It is indeed… Wait, you still know who I am?" Stacie managed to say, surprised that she was called by her name. Okay, I can talk. That's a start.

"Of course, how could I forget Benji's hot college friend. We did meet when he moved into his dorm, me and my dad helped him because his parents had to work?" Emily answered.

"I know, I… just wouldn't have thought you'd remember. You're all grown up now, I see" Stacie smirked and obviously took a long view up and down Emily's statue. Better. This is my game after all.

"Well, it took you long enough to get up here. Too busy staring?" Emily shot back, lifting an eyebrow playfully.

Stacie was dumbfounded. She could not think of a good-enough answer and was more than happy to be rescued by a sudden cymbal crash going off. Stacie looked over and saw Chloe talking to the small female drummer, then her eyes went back to 'seductive Emily' and now Benji was standing behind her.

"Hey Stacie, you came! What's up? Look, we'll have a break for a few minutes; what about getting all together after this? Ask Chloe and Aubrey, we could get a large table or something… did I hear Amy whooping earlier as well?" Benji said.

"Hey Benji, of course! You're awesome! Yeah, Amy's here, she's with us, sitting at the bar" Stacie answered easy and looked back to Emily. She however didn't catch the small grin that was all over the young girl's face - when their eyes met, Emily was looking all seductive again.

"I should probably get back to her... I mean Amy. Talk later?" Stacie managed, feeling her self-confidence weaken again.

"I'd look forward to that" Emily responded, biting her lower lip.

Stacie just smiled, afraid of making things worse. She turned around and practically fled the scene. Wow. You, Conrad, have just made a fool out of you…

When she was out of earshot, Benji leaned to Emily. "Oh my god, did it work, Em? I think you just 'stacied' Stacie herself" he said, barely able to hold in a laugh. He reached for his rear pocket, pulled out a 20 $ bill and put it in Emily's hand. "You've earned it"

"Oh, I feel pity for her though. At one point she looked like a deer, staring into headlights" Emily replied giggling.

"Nah, she'll get over it. I think it's time to take some of her own medicine from time to time. And-" Benji announced, rubbing his hands, "tonight's not over yet. We all need a little fun… but don't be too hard on her, she's my friend and a nice girl, after all."

"Can't argue with that. She really is smokin'" Emily replied.

"…seriously?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry Ben, but hell yes. I wouldn't mind getting something else than just this short-term money." Emily said smirking, turning around to leave.

Angle 2

Aubrey made her way through the crowd towards the small stage. Well played Posen, now what? Go over and ask 'Hey, are you like completely gay or is it worth a shot talking to you?' Aubrey snorted about her own thoughts when a few women bumped into her on their way to the same direction she was heading. Drops of red liquid spilled over her left hand.

"Excuse me?" she shouted and followed them a few seconds later. Okay, this is on.

Aubrey took the small step onto the wooden stage and positioned herself some footsteps beside the annoying girls and Jesse. She saw Benji in the corner of her eye and waved at him and he waved back with a big smile on his face.

She could hear snippets of talk between the group next to her.

"O-M-G Jesse, your voice is just so awesome. Maybe could sign here?" One of the girls grabbed her shirt and offered Jesse her cleavage while the other giggled and held up a sharpie. "Or you could just write your number down! But in case you need another one-" she continued, handing him a piece of paper with something written on it.

Aubrey winced internally. When she saw Jesse laughing nervously and holding up his hands defeated, obviously overwhelmed by their dedication, she decided to step in. You got this Posen.

"Hey Jesse, Benji asked me to get you something to drink" she casually mentioned, pushing the girls aside with her body. "What the hell, girl?" one of them screamed but they backed off, maybe a little too tipsy to start a fight. "Call me!" was the last thing they heard.

"Uh, thanks?" Jesse turned his head to Benji, who smiled affirmatively. He took one of the cans. "You know each other?"

A bright noise was coming from the corner the drum kit was located. They turned their heads irritated, but Aubrey decided not to be distracted by this.

"Yes, we're friends from college. English major. I'm Aubrey" she held her can up.

"I'm Jesse" he grinned, looking into her eyes while taking a gulp. "So ehm, have you, … I mean, how come I've never seen you before?"

"Good question" Aubrey stared back. Maybe you think about an actual answer, idiot. "I'm always busy with studying and so on, but I have to say that I regret not getting my priorities straight. You're all very good!" That's better.

"Thank you. I'm glad you came tonight then." he smiled back.

"Me too" Aubrey answered; her eyes locked into his. "So, as much as those girls and I have nothing in common, I must agree, you do sing pretty great. Do you have a singing education or…?"

Jesse chuckled a bit flattered. "No actually, I think it's all about practice. Maybe I got a little lucky when nature distributed its goods." he shrugged his shoulders, trying to appear humble enough.

"You sure did." she thought of another intelligent thing to say, when Benji came over from the other side, putting one hand on Jesse's shoulder.

"Hey Aubrey, good to see you! I already met Stacie, it's really nice to see you all here at last!"

"Hi there!" she waved at him. "Well I already admitted that it was definitely a mistake not to come around earlier" she answered, eyes still on Jesse.

Benji's eyes shortly varied between her and his band leader. "So…I just told Stacie - we'll get a large table when this is over, get together for a drink?"

"Okay, sounds good. Then I won't keep you away from your break. See you later" Aubrey replied.

"With pleasure!" Jesse said smiling, tossing down his drink.

"Later!" Benji shouted and pulled his lead singer with him. Aubrey slowly went back to their seats, taking a sip from her can. Urgh, really? Disgusting… The can was put on the nearest table and was forgotten before the show went on.

Angle 3

Chloe stood in front of the stage, being left alone by Stacie. So much for going together.

She went in the direction her friend pointed at and shortly found herself standing next to the drum kit. Beca was leaning forward, halfway under the snare drum, apparently looking for something.

"Hi!" Chloe shouted cheerfully, but there was no reaction. "Hell-o?" she asked again and Beca came up but didn't look in her direction. "HEY" she almost shouted and the small woman turned her stool, but it shortly became clear that this was only by coincidence. Beca was about to stand up and when her eyes met Chloe, she squeaked, obviously startled by the woman's sudden presence.

Beca reached for her ears and pulled out two small earplugs, breathing irregular. "Wow, dude, you sure scared me"

"Oh my god, I am so sorry, that was not what I was looking for" Chloe apologized.

"What were you looking for then?" Beca asked suspiciously, looking up and down the redhead. "Hey, you clearly want to see Jesse; he's dead ahead. Although it could be a bit crowded, it seems as if he has a few admirers already…" She peeked through her set up in Jesse's direction.

While Beca was talking, Chloe took the opportunity to cast a glance over the short brunette. She was even cuter from up close; wearing loose jeans, a black Santa Cruz t-shirt and a plain green snap back backwards. Her hair fell onto her shoulders from under her hat and she was sweating.

"Why would I want to see him? Actually, I thought you could need a refreshment" Chloe answered smiling, unconsciously citing Stacie. She held out one of her beers towards Beca, who jerked an eyebrow.

"Okay… usually the ladies are all head over heels for Mr. Handsome there, your voice is so nice; did you learn how to sing? what's your number and stuff like that" Beca mimicked the typical fan girl and Chloe snickered. "I'm just the drummer" she shrugged and looked at the bottle from Chloe. "Oh sorry, I don't drink"

Chloe looked puzzled when Beca refused. "What, like ever?" Yes, like ever. Smooth question, Chloe. Not.

"No, like alcohol" Beca chuckled. "But thanks anyway, I'm good" she grabbed a water bottle from the ground next to the base drum and downed it.

"Oh, okay, sorry again. I feel kind of stupid now" Chloe started. "I just wanted to say Hi; you're really good with all this I mean… this is kind of a set up. You should be getting more attention if you asked me."

"Then maybe I should ask you more often,…?" Beca's voice went higher to signal a question; she didn't know the name of this beautiful woman in front of her and she was still not sure how she deserved this visit.

"Oh, I'm Chl-" Chloe shifted while she began to answer. Then she became aware that whatever she leaned against was yielding and she tumbled a few steps to recover herself, accompanied by a loud crash from the cymbal.

Beca jumped around a drum. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine, thanks" Chloe managed to say, blushing. "Gosh, usually I'm not that clumsy" she said embarrassed. Get a hold of yourself Beale!

"Hey, usually I don't have so pretty visitors, so I think we're even?" Beca answered, scared of her own boldness. Where did that come from, Mitchell? Must be the adrenaline…

"I think I can live with that." Chloe smiled.

"So, …about this, uhm, refreshment-" Beca rambled. There's my old me again. Yay.

"Oh, I'm sure CR has something else for me to take care of you" Chloe replied, not catching the slight innuendo of her own answer.

Beca could feel her neck and face redden and grabbed a small towel from her seat. "Listen, I gotta gay-" Her eyes widened. "GO! Go, have a break… see you around" She turned and quickly left. Mitchell, you just won the clown-of-the-evening-award! Congratulation. Here's hoping to never see her again.

Chloe had trouble not to laugh out loud. Okay, this was by far the cutest awkward thing I've ever seen.

"I'm Chloe, by the way" she shouted after Beca, suddenly remembering that she didn't answer the question. When she turned to go back, she felt cold against her stomach. She looked down and saw that more or less half a beer somehow must have spilled on her when she almost fell a few seconds earlier. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

A/N (06/07): just a short comment: I won't be able to update every week unfortunately; I'd neglect birtdays, real life and my thesis :/^^ However, I know now where I want to go with all this and currently I'm writing ch. 4. Bear with me :D