Hey guys! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback, I really really appreciate it:) I am so enjoying writing this, remember it is AU, some people have commented on Beca being slightly out of character but this is her journey to get better. So we'll start to see the good ol' Beca Mitch soon as she starts to heal, the first step is telling Stacie-which is in this chapter;) R&R xo


"Seriously Stace? You were serious about this audition?" Beca whined as she dragged herself out of bed after Stacie's impromptu wake up call.

"Dixie chick serious" Stacie was already up and dressed, her and Beca were completely the opposite when it came to mornings because Beca was definitely not a morning person. "Now hurry up and get your tiny DJ ass out of bed before we're late" Beca pulled the covers over her head once more only to have them pulled back off again. "Come on, up and at 'em"

"How? How can you be so cheery, it's like ten a.m." She cursed under her breath as she stood from the bed.

"Because we had a lie in duh" She smiled before going through Beca's wardrobe.

"Duh" she mocked under her breath, "Hey, I'm capable enough of choosing my own clothes" She snatched the black skinny jeans out of Stacie's grasp and mumbled a "Thanks"

"I know you are, but you need to look hot. You always wear too much, why not try a camisole or a short sleeve shirt?" she racked through Beca's wardrobe.

"Just because you think it's acceptable to dress as a whore doesn't mean I do, now get back to your street corner and let me get dressed"

"Wow, you're mean when you're tired. Fine, wear what you like... it's not like there will be a super hot blonde and redhead watching or anything..." she trailed off.

Shit. Chloe and Aubrey, I can't face them after that colossal excuse of a conversation yesterday. Hell, they hate me already.

"Earth to Alt-girl" Stacie's mocked in a high pitch voice just as Aubrey had done the day before, she clicked her fingers in front of the smaller girls face and smiled.

"I'll meet you there okay, just go and I'll see you soon" Beca rolled her eyes.

"Bec's it starts in fifteen minutes hurry the hell up, I'll see you soon" She opened the door and shouted "Love you"

"You too"

Beca sifted through her closet trying to find something that could be deemed as relatively attractive, "stupid Stacie making me go to this crap" She grumbled. She picked out a navy blue long sleeve plaid shirt and slid it over her arms, she had a white vest top underneath and decided to leave the shirt undone to reveal her female attributes. She wasn't even sure why she was trying so hard, all she knew was that she was definitely nervous to see the two girls again. She slid on her extremely tight black jeans and a put on a pair of low rise white converse so that the ankle bracelet she received from Stacie was on show.

She quickly put on some makeup, she used dark eyeliner and bended out the edges so that her eyes stood out without the harsh effect. Goth was definitely not a look she was going for today, so she went for the smoky edgy look instead. Her look was coming together nicely but her hair however was definitely not being compliant today, she slept on it wet. Damn. And now she looked as though she had, had a fight with a hurricane and a leaf blower. She quickly ran over to Stacie's side of the room and pulled out a pair of straighteners.

Shit. It was 10:30. Auditions started at 10:30.

Beca ran down the hallway and out on the quad towards the auditorium trying to make it there in time, she burst through the door to hear the last few lines of "Since you been gone" being sang by a very emotionally unstable girl who appeared to be crying the lyrics instead of singing them. The song finished. Shit She'd missed it. Stacie shot her a "where the hell were you" glare from across the stage and she simply shrugged in reply. Oh well. It's not like she was bothered about this any-

"-Wait" The redheaded girl shouted causing Beca's eyes to go wide. "There's one more" Beca turned to look over her shoulder to see if it was really her they were gesturing to. Oh shit.

"Come on" the blonde girl signalled smiling, wow her smile. She seemed so much calmer and nicer today. Crap. Focus woman.

Beca walked over onto the stage and waved, "Hi, I'm erm... Beca..." she trailed off looking down at her feet, the nerves were evident as they started to break through her façade. "Sorry, I didn't know we had to prepare a song"

"It's okay, sing anything you like" The redhead smiled.

"May I?" She gestured to the cup on the desk and the two girls just nodded at her.

"Loser" Some brown haired boy shouted from the back of the crowd causing Beca to go red, she looked up at the girls who smiled reassuringly, "Go on" the blonde girl whispered.

She sat on the stage positioning herself behind the plastic cup which was laid face down on the stage, she cleared her throat and began tapping out a rhythm with the cup. The entire room was silent, waiting for the fragile girl to make her move. As she broke into the words a new found confidence began to emit her body, it was as though when she was preforming she was a different person.

"I got my ticket for the long way round,
Two bottles of whiskey for the way,
And I sure would like some sweet company,
And I'm leaving tomorrow so what'dya say.

When I'm gone..." The words floated around the room beautifully, she was sweet and loving. But her voice had edge as though in that moment she wasn't just Beca Mitchell, But Beca Mitchell music extraordinaire. She was a canvas and the painting was her voice.

When she finished no one said anything, the whole room was quiet. She was unsure wether the reaction was positive or negative, but decided it was best to just walk off the stage instead of drawing any more unwanted attention to herself. She saw Stacie at the side and gave her a subtle wave before hurriedly walking over to her, she was just about to reach her when she was blocked off by an obnoxious boy with brown fluffy hair.

"Hey, you were amazing out there. My names Jesse, and you're Beca right?" He stuck out his hand towards the smaller girl who gracefully took it and smiled.

"Hey, yea I'm Beca but I need to get over there to-"

He cut her off with his irritating smirk "-Don't worry I wont keep you long, I just wanted to say hey and give you this" He handed over a small piece of paper with a number on it, presumably his. This interaction not only caught the attention her sister, but the two beautiful seniors whom she had just unknowingly serenaded with her song.

"She was amazing, I'm gobsmacked...and kinda turned on" The redhead whispered.

"Me too" The blonde said in awe, earning smirk from the redhead. Aubrey shook her head slightly "Gobsmacked. Not turned on. Thats just you my dear"

"Wait" Chloe said as she watched a tall brunette boy walk over to Beca "What the hell is he doing?" she huffed.

"Is he? Aww hell no. Did he just give her his number?" Aubrey began to stand but was stopped by a tanned hand gripping her wrist.

"Bree not here, she'll think we're freaks and we might scare her away. We'll just see how it plays out"

"Fine" She sat back down and crossed her arms as she watched their interaction.

Beca took the piece of paper from the boy and realised that it was his number, why did he give her this? "Thanks, but whats this for?"

"Don't get hit on much do you?" He queeried with his boyish grin.

"Oh um... No, not really. Thanks but I'm not really interested at the moment" Beca gave a slight smile and tried to offer the piece of paper back to him but his hand closed over the top off her hand.

"Keep it just in case, even if you just need a friend. You seem like a cool girl, anyway I have to go. My shift at the radio statin starts soon" The boy turned to leave but was stopped by Beca.

"Wait what? Station? You work there, dude thats totally awesome"

"Yea it is, I just stack CD's at the moment but hopefully one day Luke will actually let me in the booth. You know it's just an intern thing and I'm pretty sure he's looking for someone else I could-"

"Yes!" She said a little too loudly causing several people to face her, she composed herself and spoke a little quieter, "Sorry, yes. I would love that. A lot."

"Yea sure, it'd be nice to have a friendly face around there. Can I take your number and I'll give it to Luke, he'll be excited to call you" Jesse handed Beca a pen who in return scribbled her number on the back of Jesse's hand.

"Thanks Jesse, I guess I'll be seeing you around" She smiled and waved at him as he turned around.

"I Guess you will" He threw over his shoulder smiling at the girl.

Beca ran over towards Stacie and flung her arms around her neck who in turn pick her up and spun her around before lowering her to the ground. "You were amazing out there Bec's! And you look totally hot, I'm loving the whole "I'm a badass but check out my cleavage" vibe, And hey, who was that hot boy?"

"Thanks I wasn't sure if they'd like it or not but I had fun, I was so nervous. And who Jesse? ew no, but guess what? He totally works at the radio station and he's going to hook me up" Beca said with a rather large grin across her face.

"Oh so that's why you gave him your number, thats amazing. I'm so proud of you, from where I was standing it looked like you two were in a very deep 'flirt-a-thon' I totally thought he was hitting on you" Stacie brushed the back of her hand against the brunettes cheek.

"He was" She chuckled "But I shot him down"

"Bec's you need to stop doing that or you're going to end up being an old spinster. You'll never lose your V-card acting this way" Beca's face and neck flushed immediately. "Hey loosen up Bec, I'm joking. You'll find someone don't worry"

"I'm not worried" She smiled, Stacie took her hand and started walking with her.

"Wanna go to a coffee shop? My treat" She said as she brought Beca's hand up to her mouth and kissed it delicately on the her knuckles which were bruised from the night before, Beca nodded at the question and followed Stacie out of the door.

"What the hell was that" Aubrey said as she stood up from her seat following Chloe out of the auditorium. "She just totally got hit on by that boy and then gave him her number THEN she walked over to that tall bimbo girl and jumped into her arms before walking out hand in hand. What the hell" Chloe rubbed Aubrey's arm.

"I know Bree, I don't like it either. But don't jump to conclusions, you know how shy she was on stage and at the fair. There's no way that she could flirt with that guy in front of her girlfriend. We'll find out tonight anyway, it's the party we can just talk to her"

"Yea I guess so, it just makes me so mad. Come on, lets go get some coffee while we figure out who our new Bella's are"

"Deal" the Redhead smiled as they walked towards the coffee house.

...

"One cappuccino decaf and...Becs what do you want?" The taller girl looked down to Beca and smiled.

"Can I have a hot chocolate with whipped cream please" Stacie smirked at her younger sister, "What?"

"You're just so adorable, you're such a softie" She smiled before handing over some money to the cashier and taking their drinks.

"I'm not, I'm a badass who is going to lead you astray. Just ask Dad" The girls laughed softly as they walked over to a table fit for four, the coffee house was quite busy.

"So kiddo, are you excited for this Bella thing because you're obviously in?" Stacie said.

"I guess so, I mean it'll get Dad off my back wont it and at least we'll be together? Besides we don't know that we're in" she dipped her finger in her cream and popped it into her mouth.

"Yea it will, well I'm excited. We can have girly sleepovers and not to mention the two hot captains hey Becs?" She winked at the girl who just rolled her eyes.

"So. I know this isn't exactly a subject that you want to approach but I just want to ask okay. What did Dad mean by 'I know what happened in high school' or whatever?" Beca took in a deep breath and let out a shaky one, the taller girl reached across the table and took her hand knowing how hard it was for her to open up.

"Listen I just want you to know that everything that happened had nothing to do with you okay, it wasn't your fault. I just need you to know that before we continue" Beca traced her thumb over Stacie's hand and lazily drew patterns.

"Bec's, you're scaring me. What happened?" Stacie's voice was quiet.

"I need to answer me first, you don't understand how hard this is for me and I'm still not sure how much I'm willing to tell" She made eye contact with the taller girl for a brief second knowing that she was serious, her eyes were slightly glazed over and Stacie nodded so that she agreed.

"Bree what do you want? I'm going to have a mocha I think"

"Hmmn I'll have the same, but this is my treat, it was my suggestion" Aubrey said as she took out her purse.

"Thank you baby" Aubrey smiled at the term of endearment used.

"Oh man, theres no where to sit. Wait, is that Beca and Stacie?" Chloe asked as she started to walk towards the pair.

"Chloe wait, what are you doing?" She placed her hand on her shoulder.

"I'm just going to say hi, it's called manners." She smiled and continued her quest.

"Oh no, I know what you're doing. You're meddling" Chloe gave the blonde a knowing wink.

"Okay good. So listen I had a really hard time in my senior year, some regrettable things happened, and some still-" Beca's confession was stopped short by an extremely beautiful redhead.

"Beca, Stacie. Hey guys, fancy seeing you here" Stacie rolled her eyes, not at the girl but at the timing said girl had. Beca was so close to opening up.

Stacie's glance didn't go unnoticed by the blonde, "Something wrong? We didn't mean to disturb you guys" Aubrey said.

"Oh no,sorry" Stacie shook her head "Sorry for being rude, you just caught us in the middle of something but it's fine do you guys want to take a seat? It's kind of packed in here" She smiled.

"Yea sure, thanks Stace" Chloe said as she took a seat beside the tall brunette while Aubrey sat next to Beca.

Beca remained silent for several minutes, her eyes were still welled up because she was thinking about her past and how much everything had changed in the last year, she closed her eyes for a brief second and opened them again offering the two newcomers a soft smile. "Hey" She said quietly while shifting the cream around in her drink.

"Oo is that a hot chocolate? They're incredible from here" The redhead smiled trying to engage the younger girl into the conversation.

"Yea, they're really good. I've never been before so Stacie treated me" She smiled at her sister.

"Hey Bec's you the keys to our room right? I left mine when I basically had to push you out of bed this morning" She winked.

"Yea I do don't worry" Aubrey shot Chloe a glance who furrowed her eyebrows.

"So how long have you guys known each other?" Chloe enquired trying to dig deeper into their relationship.

"Oh erm I'm not sure, how long has it been Bec's?" Stacie said.

"Like five years?" Beca said quietly while sipping her drink

"Well we knew of each other for a lot longer, but we've been like close since about five years ago" Stacie squeezed her hand which drew in the attention of both Chloe and Aubrey.

Aubrey chuckled to herself at the redheads attempts of trying to investigate and decided to take matters into her own hands, she turned to face Beca straight on and asked "So have you been dating the whole five years then?" The small brunettes face dropped immediately she pulled her hand away from Stacie's grasp and dropped her gaze to the table.

"Nooo, we're not?" Stacie laughed nervously "We're not dating, we're sisters..." She trailed off.

Chloe nudged Aubrey under the table and smiled, "Sorry, we just presumed because you're so close and you look nothing a like. If you're sisters how have you only been close five years?"

Stacie looked over to Beca who's cold gaze was locked onto her jittering leg, "Step-Sisters, but this ones like blood. She's my rock, she's been through a lot"

Beca looked up hesitantly and smiled, "Yea me and Stace became real sisters when I had just turned fourteen, she says I'm her rock, but I don't know what I would have done without her"

"Aww thats cute. You guys must really love each other" Chloe smiled at the girls.

"Yeap we do. And I'm the proudest sister ever, Beca has just scored a job at the radio station, one of the boys at the audition hooked her up, Jesse or something"

"Stacie" Beca warned, she hated being centre of attention, never mind her sister boasting about her.

"What? I'm aloud to be proud aren't I, it's a funny story because I thought this guy was totally hitting on Beca. And God knows she needs some loving, but she shot him-"

"-Stacie please" Beca raised her voice, chastising the older girl. Unfortunately for Beca she had inherited an extremely unconventional gene from her mother which meant that any embarrassment definitely wouldn't go unnoticed as her skin always flushed a horrible shade on red.

"Sorry" Stacie whispered sending a shy smile to her sister knowing that she had overstepped her boundaries.

Aubrey and Chloe each shared a knowing smile, before Aubrey broke the slightly awkward silence, "Anyway guys, we probably shouldn't say this but be prepared to be kidnapped tonight, it's a Bella tradition. We'll probably be at your room at around ten, which dorm is yours?"

"We're in? Beca was sure that she made a fool of her self, see Bec's I told you." She smiled at the girl who just placed her head into her hands. "Awesome, well we're dorm 266 in baker hall"

"Oh yea, I know where that is. Great we'll see you guys later then I guess" Chloe said and smiled at the pair.

"Yea we should be off anyway, we'll see you later." Stacie stood up from the table "Coming Beca?" Beca stood up abruptly and walked over to Stacie.

"Yes, yes. It was nice talking to you, bye" Beca waved and turned to walk out.

"Bye Beca" they both said in unison.

"So, Beca's girlfriends actually her sister. She totally shot that guy down... and, she's stone cold single. I'd say that this had been a pretty successful day but that would be an understatement." Chloe beamed causing Aubrey to chuckle.

"Yes it has, she's so cute and innocent. I never expected her to be so shy" Aubrey stood from the table "come on lets go home and figure out tonight" Chloe stood up and followed her out of the shop.

...

Beca jumped off her bed and reached for her phone noticing that it was now nine so only another our before the initiation, she looked over at Stacie who was currently texting one of her many boyfriends on her phone and decided that she should probably talk about the day, "Stacie, listen about earlier when we were cut off?"

"Yea? I remember, you were just about to tell me when luckily for you Chloe and Aubrey came over" Stacie didn't remove her eyes from her phone, even though it wasn't Beca's fault she was still pissed that the younger girl never told her what happened.

"Well if you'd be less ignorant then maybe I'd start where we left off" This caught Stacie's attention, she dropped her phone and perched herself on the edge of her bed.

"Okay, I'm listening"

"Thanks, as I was saying earlier I had a really hard time in my senior year. You weren't there anymore and because of that kids weren't as kind. Like I said earlier I blame you for none of this, but I will refer to it a lot so please don't take it to heart." Stacie nodded not wanting to interrupt her.

"They were mean, really mean. I was the freak who's mom died again, the weirdo who spent all her time making music, and the loser who's own father even didn't love her. That's just scratching the surface, but none of thats important. The important part is that I didn't deal with it well, things... happened. And thats what Dad was referring to. I had no idea he knew, I was-I am in a dark place and he never tried to help me... he-he just expected me to get over myself? I'm a failure Stace. Just like he said" Beca dropped her head to stare at the ground, she tried to blink away the impending tears but had no avail.

"Beca I'm so sorry they did that to you. I'm so sorry Dad did that to you, but you have to expand a little? What do you mean you're in a dark place still?" Stacie's composure was calm which helped the situation a great deal.

"I... I can't Stace" Beca shook her head.

"You can't what baby? You can tell me anything please sweetie" Stacie stood from her bed and walked towards the crying girl, she sat down beside her and pulled her shaking body into her side. "I love you, no matter what. I will never leave you"

"I know. It's just so hard. I'm not just admitting it to you by saying it out loud, I'm admitting it to myself and I don't know if I'm ready for that." She fisted her eyes trying to wipe away the tears.

"I know baby, but you'll never know if you're ready to admit it unless you do it. The first step to recovery it honesty, to yourself and everyone around you" Beca nodded at her sister.

She took a deep breath, her mind was a battlefield, should she or shouldn't she? Stacie was her sister and should know, but it was so private that she didn't want anyone to know. No one knew but the woman who found her lying on the floor of the girls bathroom; her school counsellor. Was she prepared to tell another soul?

"Please" that one simple word changed everything. Beca looked at her sister and saw the guilt and worry in her eyes, dragging this out could only make matters worse. As soon as Stacie said "Please" Beca knew exactly what to do.

She stood from her bed and walked in front of stacie so that she was facing her, she took a step backwards so that there was some distance between them. She looked Stacie in the eyes and gave her a quick smile, confusion spread across her face but all would make sense shortly. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she placed her right hand on the sleeve of her shirt, gripping the cuff with her fingers. Beca began sliding the shirt up her arm very slowly, so that small red lines of intricate pattern began to reveal themselves up and down her wrist.

Stacie gasped and brought her hand to her mouth, "Beca no" her own tears began to fall as Beca revealed her inner demons to her, she quickly slid back down her sleeve and stood there in silence.

"Why?" Stacie was barely audible.

"It's the only way I know I'm still alive. I deserve every cut that covers my body. I deserve pain." Her voice was cold and harsh.

"You don't deserve any of this, you deserve to be happy. I will help you be happy. I love you so much Beca, and I'm so sorry you did this to yourself" Stacie stood up and tentatively took a step towards the girl, she slowly wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her in closely. "Thank you. For trusting me"

"I'm so sorry. I'm a failure, I'm so weak."

"No baby, no. You are strong, this proves that you are strong. And you will be so much stronger when we overcome this okay"

"Okay" Stacie said 'we'. She didn't leave, she's still here. She wants to help, she-

*Knock* *knock* *knock*

"Shit, that has to be them. Quickly answer the door I just need to wipe my eyes, I'll be two seconds" Beca nodded and walked over to the door, she quickly dabbed her eyes trying to compose herself and took a deep breath before opening the door.

Unfortunately she must have looked a lot worse than she realised as the smiles on the two senior's faces soon dropped into ones of concern, "Beca are you okay" Aubrey reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to flinch at the gesture. She wasn't one to be touched, she trusted Stacie and it took years for her to be able to hug the girl therefore she definitely wasn't ready for this. Not now at least.

"Hey guys, sorry you caught us at a bad time." She cleared her throat as her voice failed her "Stace will just be a second and then we can go" She tried to smile however very unconvincingly.

"What's wrong sweetie? You've been crying" Chloe asked calmly, she stepped through the boundary of the room and into Beca's personal space. She tried to step backwards but was countered with Aubrey who had managed to snake in around her.

Beca lifted her hands into the air signalling for them to not come any closer, "I'm fine. I swear. Stacie will just be a second" God, come on Stacie. This is the longest 'two seconds' I have ever endured.

"Here, I'm here! Come on lets go" She came out the bathroom cheerfully yet her eyes were still very bloodshot and puffy.

"Fine, you don't have to tell us. Just know we're here if you want to talk" Aubrey whispered into the younger girls ear before walking out of their dorm.

"Thanks Aubrey"

"Now come on lets go" Chloe and Aubrey watched as the two walked in front of them with their arms linked, was this what they had interrupted in the coffee shop? What the hell happened? With anyone else they would leave it, but Beca wasn't just anybody else. If something or someone was hurting the girl, they had to find out. They had to help her.


So another chapter down! Another coming shortly (tomorrow most likely) thanks guys, love ya xo