LOVE LIKE THESE

PART ONE – CHAPTER THREE

THE ONE WHERE SHE GETS A JOB

Beca groaned as Aubrey's alarm clock rang throughout the apartment. I have to get used to this, she thought, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed as she sat up. A glance at her own clock informed her that it was 6 o'clock in the morning and her whining became louder.

"Aubrey Joann Posen!"

Her half-closed door flew open as the tall blonde dominated its doorway. Aubrey looked wide awake in her purple silk pajamas; her toothbrush sticking out of her mouth covered in foam.

"What?" She queried, pulling out her toothbrush.

"Why are you so loud? It's only 6am!" The small brunette whined as she rubbed her eyes sleepily.

Aubrey tsked her new roommate, brandishing her toothbrush. Beca quickly pulled her comforter to her face, trying to avoid the flying foam and spit.

"We have what people called a day job, Mitchell."

Despite her morning daze, Beca cringed, wondering if Aubrey meant anything more behind the seemingly sarcastic answer. The blonde shook her head and returned to the adjacent bathroom to finish up her washing. Beca could hear the water running and the squeaking of the closing and opening of the tap. The house became silent again when Aubrey finally finished her morning routine and returned to her bedroom to get dressed. Beca let out a sigh of relief as she buried her face into the soft pillows, trying to fall back asleep.

She did not have such luck.

After several rounds of playing toss and turn with her bed, Beca gave up. She laid face-up, closing her eyes in an attempt to cheat her body into slumber when she felt the side of her mattress dip. Beca slowly lifted her head to see who the intruder was. A shock of red hair answered her and she felt herself pulled upwards to a sitting position. Chloe cradled her face and shook it slightly.

"Becaaaaaa!" Beca grimaced at the brightness of her voice. "Come join us for breakfast! I've made pancakes!"

Beca shook her head to get rid of Chloe's hands and quickly launched herself under her comforter again.

Sighing, Chloe thought for a moment before her face lit up as if she'd struck eureka. She pushed the comforter away from the small brunette (who protested almost vehemently – if not for the fact that her face was still stuck to her pillow) and grabbed her arms, hoisting them over her shoulders and started making her way to the door.

"Chloe?! Chloe, what are you doing!" Beca yelled, her legs dangling a couple of inches above the ground.

"Helping you to get to breakfast."

"But I'm not hungry!"

"Yes, you are. I can feel your stomach rumbling." Beca's face flushed and she kept quiet as Chloe carried her across the hall into the kitchen where Aubrey was waiting.

"Do you know that every time your stomach rumbles, it's like a mini earthquake in your body and it's not very nice for your health?"

Beca arched her eyebrows as the redhead set her down in a chair before jogging around the table to her place next to Aubrey. She remained standing and started dishing out the pancakes she'd made. The smell of Chloe's breakfast must have roused their neighbors from across the hallway because it took only a few moments before the women's front door flung open and three hungry faces occupied its place.

They stared at the three women seated at the dining table, who looked shocked at the sudden intrusion, and started talking at the same time.

"Do I smell pancakes and scrambled eggs, or is that a figment of my delicious imagination?"

"Chloeeeeee can I have two please? I'll score my first movie for you!"

"My most beautiful ladies! I'll link you up with an one-on-one with Coldplay if you could be so gen-"

"Guys, stop. Chloe's made extra – as usual. You guys can drop this daily chorus and just grab your breakfa-" Aubrey got cut off as Luke reached past her to grab the plate of food the redhead had prepared for them, muttering a thanks as he strode towards his roommates in glee. Aubrey scowled at the retreating figures – Jesse and Bumper high-fiving their blonde friend as they made their way back to their own apartment.

Beca shook her head in amusement and continued to pour maple syrup on her own stack of pancakes. Her smile faltered as a stifling yawn hit her. The brunette reached up to her face and wiped away a stray tear.

"What's with the unhappy face, Mitchell?"

"You tell me, Posen. I woke up to someone else's alarm clock in the dead of the morning, having foam and spit all over my face when I did, and then get manhandled all the way from my bed-" She yawned. "-and to the kitchen."

The two women laughed as Beca groused. She narrowed her eyes at her two roommates and moved to grab the nearest jam bottle.

Chloe looked from Aubrey to Beca and back to her blonde best friend. She nudged the woman and motioned at Beca with a nod. Aubrey eyed her before clearing her throat.

"Beca, we have something to tell you."

Beca paused mid-bite and looked up, worry scribbled all over her face as she braced herself. She'd been staying with them for over a week and Aubrey had questioned her more than once on why she hasn't found a day job. It's not that the blonde was requesting rent – not since the entire apartment belonged to her. It seemed more that taking time to make mixes did not strike the blonde as a legitimate reason for not having a proper paying job. Whilst she certainly did not think the same as Beca's dad, Aubrey still remained pragmatic and had been trying to persuade the brunette to look in the classifieds.

"Yeah?" Beca's voice was apprehensive as she waited for Aubrey to continue.

"I've talked to the director of the school where I teach; you know – Bellas School of Music?" Beca nodded. "Well, we've been looking at installing new programs to attract a bigger student base and I've told her about your DJ-ing skills."

Beca felt her eyebrows rise and her eyes well with tears as she listened to Aubrey.

"I've got you a job, Beca. As a teacher. You'll teach a bunch of kids how to DJ and do whatever that is with a turntable-" Beca rolled her eyes good-naturedly as Aubrey tried to imitate scratching a vinyl in mid-air, "- and at the same time, continue making your mixes. The classes are scheduled in such a way that each teacher has breaks in between. These breaks do, however, depend on the popularity of your classes."

"Do you get many breaks then, Posen?"

"Trust me, save for the mandatory lunch hour, I'm packed to the brim." Aubrey smirked.

"Aubrey's really popular with the kids. She's an excellent piano teacher." Chloe beamed at her best friend. "So how about it, Becs?"

"You gon' take the job?"

Beca sighed, debating her options. She did need the money now and it's not like she wouldn't have time to make mixes at all – she wasn't even sure if she would be a good enough teacher to score more than a class of students. Most of all, she couldn't just mooch off of her two friends. Deciding to give it try, she nodded.

"Why not?"

Beca shook her legs anxiously as she sat in the plush green armchair outside the director's office. Aubrey had been inside for the past hour discussing further details with her boss and had asked the smaller brunette to wait. Chloe had gone for her first vocal lessons of the day and Beca found herself wondering how the redhead would sound when she sang.

"She'd probably sound awesome." Beca smiled dreamily as she pictured the redhead standing in front of her class to demonstrate a song.

"Beca? Beca. Mitchell!" Aubrey snapped her fingers in front of Beca, throwing her train of thoughts off of its tracks. Beca blinked and looked up at the blonde.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"No-Nothing."

"Ms. Posen?" An older lady in a navy blue power suit stood in the office doorway and peered at the two girls over her half-crescent glasses. Her steely blue eyes roamed from the blonde to the brunette before resting on the shorter girl who fidgeted uncomfortably at the scrutiny.

"Yes, Mrs Geller. This is Beca Mitchell whom I've talked to you about."

"I can see that," Mrs Geller answered, taking in the brunette.

Beca was dressed in what she'd thought to be her most formal outfit: a crisp white button-up over a black pair of skinny jeans. Her beat-up red Chucks stood out along with her chunky headphones that rested on her shoulders. Her sleeves were folded up haphazardly to her elbows revealing her watch and leather bracelets. Aubrey has reminded her to keep her make-up to the minimum and Beca did just that. She even chose her black frames over her usual contact lens to look "studious" and "more fitting for school". Both Aubrey and Chloe had a good laugh when they saw the brunette emerge from her room.

Mrs Geller cocked her head and beckoned the girls to follow her into her office. Once she closed the door, she motioned for them to sit while she leaned against her desk – her eyes not leaving the brunette. Beca felt her heart beat faster as the principal studied her like she's a prey ready to be caught and eaten.

"She's scary. And she looks like Prof McGonagall." Beca mouthed to Aubrey who quickly silenced her with a glare.

"Ms Mitchell?"

Beca stuttered a yes, surprised at being addressed suddenly. Aubrey bit the inside of her cheeks to stifle a laugh. The intimidated badass DJ was funnier than she'd thought.

"Aubrey showed me some of your sample tracks and I've listened to them." The older woman reached around for her iPad and pulled up a track to play. Beca's mix of Halo/Jars of Hearts began to fill the entire room. "I liked this one."

"You do?"

"Yes, and I'd like it better if you'd join our institute to teach our students the art of DJ-ing and mixing. What do you think?"

Beca nodded, feeling the tension lift as relief washed over her and the color returned to her pale face. She looked over to Aubrey, who nodded her encouragement with a toothy grin.

"Yeah, I'd like that too."

Chloe paced the hallway, looking up only to acknowledge a passing student as she became buried deep in her thoughts. The creaking of the opening office door roused her attention and she quickly walked over.

"How was it?" She asked Aubrey, who emerged first from the administrative office. The blonde looked at her forlornly and Chloe felt her heart give way.

"What? But her stuff is so good! How could Mrs Ge- You know what, I'm gonna talk to her." The redhead pushed the blonde aside, ignoring her protests when a second figure appeared in the doorway and Chloe crashed into her.

"Ouch!" Chloe rubbed to soothe her nose while Beca did the same with her forehead. When the pain eased, the redhead removed her hand and saw Beca standing in front of her.

Chloe wasted no time and quickly gathered the brunette into her arms, rubbing her hand up and down the small girl's back as she whispered, "It's okay, Becs. I'll talk to Mrs Geller and if that – God forbid - doesn't work, I'll get Luke to play your tracks on his radio show and Bumper to get his company to hear your stuff, alright?"

She pulled away, holding Beca at arm's length.

"I'll do whatever it takes to help you, okay Becs?"

Beca nodded, throwing a confused look at the sniggering blonde. "Um, Chloe?"

"It's okay, Becs. It's okay to be sad."

"I'm not sad."

It was Chloe's turn to be confused. She looked at Beca properly for the first time since the brunette emerged from the director's office and saw the glee radiating off her face. She narrowed her eyes and turned to her best friend for an explanation. Aubrey held her hands up in defense.

"Hey don't give me that look, Chlo. You didn't give me a chance to explain." She walked around to Beca and placed her hand firmly on her shoulder.

"She got it – she's starting tomorrow."

The squeal from the redhead was all it took to send the two best friends into a bouncing huddle of excitement – their hands linked together as they jumped up and down with joy before turning and sandwiching their brunette friend in the group hug.

In that fleeting moment, a thought flew by Beca's mind and she let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. Maybe – and just maybe, everything was really going to be alright.