Author's Note: I'm really, really, really sorry this took so long. Real life and other stuff came along and distracted me. Then there was writer's block. I hope the next chapter won't take this long, but I never thought this one would. Part of why it has taken so long as this is now a Team Zog project, so there was also waiting for the Smeghead. He had the final draft awhile ago, but PAX , work, real life, and this bizarre need to become unconscious for hours on end prevented him from being able to finish his part. I offered him the chance to have his own note and he just said to let you know we've got other stuff, both old and new in the works. He's working on a marvelous idea that hopefully you'll see soonish, and I've got more than a few new projects I'm wanting to start, but I can't tell you who they involve yet. I do want to mention that the months long war between us over morals, ethics, or the lack thereof is over, I was forced to capitulate. Don't worry, you'll understand what I'm talking about at some point and eventually learn why he's actually wrong, but that's another time. If you've made it this far without skipping to the story, you rock. Now on with the show awesome nerds.
"And our next category is…Songs about sex." Justin called out as the wheel came to a stop on the pool wall. From their vantage point on the edge of the pool, Casey saw the excitement of the crowd watching and cheering, encouraging the two remaining a capella groups as they each searched for an appropriate song for the category.
"Speaking of." Josie quipped, bumping her shoulder against Casey's in reference to her prediction that the older girl would get lucky with Beca. Of course, since it wasn't the first time that the sister to the Treblemaker had made a reference to Casey and Beca getting horizontal, or vertical Casey wasn't that picky, the older girl simply rolled her eyes and watched as the Trebles seemed to be getting ready to take this category.
"It'll happen when it happens. But who knows what a Bella victory could spark…" Casey replied as she cheered along with the rest of the crowd to encourage the singers. She hadn't missed the subtle elevation in Aubrey's panic as the topic of sex hung in the air.
"You ok? You seem distracted." Josie asked as all eyes fell on Cynthia Rose who had jumped out singing Rhianna's S&M. Eyeing the girl who went out to back up Cynthia, Josie couldn't help but add, "Thinking of what you and Beca will get up to later?"
"Something like that." Casey said as Stacie and the rest of the Bellas joined in. Casey know that if Beca was aware of this conversation that the short brunette would die of embarrassment. She, on the other hand, was only slightly put off. She liked girls, she liked having sex with girls. And, since she knew that Josie was in the same boat, she had no problem admitting that to the relative stranger.
"Girl in the maroon coat is hot." Josie said as she watched Stacie dance. She was glad that it wasn't that chilly of a night, which meant that the girl had said maroon coat open, displaying her ample bosom for all to see. Watching the way she grinded back against the black girl as she sang, Josie asked, "Think I have a shot with her?"
"I can see it happening." Casey said with a nod, glancing down to see Beca smiling up at them as she provided backup, oblivious to how close Aubrey was dancing with Chloe. From the little she had heard about the girl from Beca, Stacie she thought her name was, Casey suspected that Josie being a girl wouldn't bother the sensual freshman. Throwing a wink down to her brunette, Casey said, "I'll talk to Beca, we'll make it happen."
"Aww thank you." Josie replied as Donald cut the Bellas off with Salt-N-Pepa's Let's Talk About Sex. She was starting to feel a little conflicted now as the hot brunette girl, she'd have to remember to get her name, stood in front of the Treblemakers challengingly. With a bit of a sigh she said as much to Casey, "Now I don't know who to root for…"
"You're welcome, us geeky gay girls need to stick together, after all." Casey said, turning her attention back to Chloe who was smiling at Beca as Aubrey went to retrieve Stacie. She wasn't quite sure what the redhead's intentions were towards her girlfriend, but she had noticed that Chloe seemed to pay an awful lot of attention to Beca. Turning her gaze back to the action in the center of the deep end of the pool, Casey saw something interesting going on as Stacie shook off Aubrey's hand which was pulling her back towards the rest of the Bellas. Seeing Stacie heading back into the middle, Casey nudged Josie in the shoulder as she said, "Hey she's going again."
"God, I just love her voice." Josie said as Stacie began singing Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love to You. She could feel the sensual caress of the attractive brunette's voice from across the pool, and it was doing dirty, dirty things in her brain, and making other parts of her feel uncomfortably warm as well. Sadly, before she could really begin to enjoy the feeling, her own brother stepped forward to cut in. Again the Georgia Tech freshman wasn't sure whether to feel happy that her brother had found a place here at Barden, or upset that he seemed to be winning this battle of voices with the sexy girl that Josie wanted to get alone.
"WAY TO GO, JESSE!" she called out, realizing she should at least show some support for her brother, whatever the conflict raging inside her said. She added a whistle when her brother's team stepped up and joined in, singing back up for Jesse as he sang Feels like the First Time. Realizing she had totally just derailed the thread of the conversation she cast an apologetic look to Casey and said, "Sorry about that."
"It's ok, you should be excited for him." Casey said, chuckling at the interplay between Beca and Jesse as he sang. She knew she didn't have anything to worry about, Beca had mentioned how Jesse intended to be her "lesbro" or something. So without worrying about getting jealous of the Treblemaker she was able to laugh as Beca blew him a kiss and he just strutted in front of his team.
"He knows his music, he'll be able to counter quite a lot." Josie said. Her brother was a showboat, he always had been, and this was the kind of stage he lived for. Plus, as she said, he knew his music. He had always had more eclectic tastes than she had, and she knew that in a situation like this one, he'd be a great ally to have, or a terrible opponent.
"It's far from over though." Casey pointed out as she saw a spark in Beca's eyes. She knew enough about Beca to know that her girl definitely knew her way around a music library, and once she got over her normal shyness at being the center of attention, she'd find a way to shine in the spotlight cast by the numerous flashlights from around the pool's edge. Soon enough, Beca was running up to him and cutting him off, impressively rapping No Diggity. Casey didn't miss Chloe's jaw dropping in awe, and neither did Aubrey, though Casey was having a hard time keeping her eyes off Beca as her girl dominated the entire pool by herself, none of her fellow Bellas coming in for back up.
After about thirty seconds, though it probably felt like 30 minutes to Beca as she kept looking back, hoping one of her friends would jump in to help, the others seemed to pick up on the song she had chosen. Fat Amy was the first, coming with her signature style, and a slap to her stomach to emphasize the lyrics, and Casey was finally able to look away from Beca to see Josie watching her girl as well with her mouth hanging open.
"Wow." Josie said when she finally found a semblance of the human language that she could utter. It wasn't long, though, before the performance by Beca, now accompanied by all the Bellas except Aubrey, who looked a little lost, caught them up. Singing along with the chorus, Josie just smiled and shrugged as she saw Jesse looking up at her with an expression of mock betrayal and hurt on his face. She knew it was just an act, though, because she could see that her brother was as impressed by the performance as she was. The Bellas might just win this after all…
Aubrey panicked when Justin had called out the category. Her 'relationship' with Chloe had been going on for a few weeks now, and thankfully she had been able to keep things slow, truthfully telling Chloe she wasn't ready to take things to that level yet. Thankfully the redhead didn't push, but Aubrey didn't know how long that would last, and this could add fuel to the fire. Pushing that to the side, she turned to Stacie, figuring she would be able to dominate this category.
Thankfully Cynthia Rose stepped up, and they were doing quite well till Donald cut them off. She had to admit, she found it hard to take her eyes off Stacie. She was even a little proud when the brunette stood defiantly in front of the Trebles, but she went to retrieve her anyway. The pride returned when Stacie shook her off to have another go at it, even if it was short lived.
Even though she knew Beca had no interest in Jesse, Aubrey still found their interactions while the boy sang unnerving. Everyone that mattered knew nothing would come of it though, so for the time being she tolerated the situation. She was pulled from her line of thought when Chloe kissed her cheek.
"What about Joan Jett's Do You Wanna Touch Me? You like her." Chloe suggested
"Yeah, it's got 'time' in it..." Aubrey trailed off before realizing that Beca had ran out and had started rapping something she couldn't place. The blonde could only stare as Chloe was very clearly impressed with the sight before her. She turned her attention to the brunette pain in her ass and continued to try and place the song, the line 'Rump shakers' clearly surprising her. Thankfully, Fat Amy and the others eventually caught on. The sound of the eliminated teams and the other spectators joining in as well gave Aubrey some relief, the munchkin might actually win this for them. She was owning the pool, happily laughing and waving at her girlfriend on the pool's edge. Soon enough she finished. They'd won.
"It's a tough blow ladies." Justin said as he made his way up to them. The blond noticed an odd look on Justin's face, however, as he stepped into the spotlight. In an instant she knew that, whatever was going to come next, she wasn't going to like it. The silence that was settling over the empty pool was broken as Justin continued, "The word you needed to match was 'it', and you sang 'it's'. You are CUT OFF! THE TREBLES WIN!"
"I've never heard that rule!" Aubrey called out in surprise. She was pissed, one might even say livid. This was a complete outrage. Beca had finished the song, but didn't precisely match the word. She herded her girls to her. That was the stupidest reason she'd ever heard to cut a team off. Of course, the rules weren't specifically defined in this sort of situation, she realized as she quickly thought over all the rules for this "event". Naturally she knew what it was, seeing Justin now getting high fives and backslaps from the Trebles. He had always favored them, the biased prick. Grinding her teeth at the unfairness of it all she snapped at the Bellas, the only release she could get right now.
"Ladies, ladies, come on, come back. Before everybody goes to bed tonight, I need you to make a list of everything you did wrong." Aubrey commanded, still pissed they lost on a technicality. She knew, deep down at least, that while they might have gone a direction she wouldn't have picked, no one really did anything wrong. But she couldn't punish Justin for his biased decisions, so this would have to do. Even Chloe speaking up to try and calm her didn't help.
"Baby, don't be so harsh." Chloe chided, reaching out and putting a calming hand on Aubrey's back. She knew that her girl wasn't pissed at the Bellas, rather it was Justin and the insufferable Treblemakers that had earned Aubrey's ire. Gesturing towards Beca, Stacie and the others she added, "We had it. That mic should be ours."
"Not according to Justin." Aubrey said, casting an angry glare to the celebrating Trebles. She saw Justin over there, still slapping Bumper and his team on the back, and had to stop herself from yelling across the pool about how he always played favorites. Before she could do anything rash, though, Beca spoke up.
"Hey guys, what we just did was great right?" Beca asked, looking around at the girls. The brunette's hopeful look, obviously still charged from the rush of getting the whole pool singing along with her song, was met with mostly downcast looks. The Bellas knew where the power lie within the group, and it wasn't in Beca's hands.
"Calm your pits Beca, we still lost." Aubrey said, almost rolling her eyes at the girl. She almost added another of her dad's favorite sayings from when she was growing up, but Chloe's hand on her back made her think that now might not be the best time to tell that rest that second place was just the first losers.
"Yeah, but it was spontaneous. It was awesome." Beca defended herself. Defiant till the end, the short freshman stood her ground, and Aubrey had to admit, somewhere deep inside her, that she could respect that. Of course, she'd never say it out loud as the tiny alt girl was a gigantic pain in her ass.
"It sure was, sweetie." Casey said as she joined them, giving Beca a big kiss. Aubrey tried not to smirk as Beca kissed the older girl back, though obviously discomfited by the blatant PDA. After a few seconds though the pair separated and Casey slipped an arm around Beca's waist and looked at all the girls in the circle as she said, "As far as I'm concerned, you guys won."
"See hun, the crowd agrees with us." Chloe offered, smiling politely at Casey as she snaked her arm around Aubrey's. Though Chloe's tone was polite, Aubrey had known the redhead long enough to know that the PDA from Chloe, though relatively normal, was definitely in response to Casey kissing Beca.
"That doesn't matter." Aubrey huffed, untangling her arm from Chloe. She was slightly irritated at Chloe's attempt at mollifying her, and had to stop herself from saying something else which might upset her supposed girlfriend. Taking a deep breath, she held out her hand and said instead, "Whatever, hands in. 'Ah' on my count."
"On three or after three?" Stacie requested clarification and soon the others were offering their interpretations. It all made Aubrey want to scream and she tried not to clench her hand into a fist. This wasn't that hard of a concept to pick up, during her time in the Bellas it had been so common that most of them did it by reflex. She just didn't understand what was different now. Apparently neither did Stacie as the busty brunette said, "Why can't we figure this out?"
"Screw it, the moment's lost." Aubrey said, pulling her hand out and taking Chloe's. With a glare for each of the girls, including Casey, and another for Justin and the Trebles, the blond growled her frustrations as she said, "Let's just go home."
"You could all come to my sorority." Stacie suggested. Aubrey would have preferred just about anything else other than that, but one look at Chloe's face and the blond knew that her girlfriend wanted to keep hanging out with the others. The others seemed up for the idea as well as a chorus of agreement sounded from the Bellas.
"That sounds fun." Casey piped in, leaning in to whisper in Beca's ear. The brunette glanced to where the Trebles were still being congratulated before smiling and nodding as she turned back to her girlfriend. The older girl caught Josie's attention and indicated for her to come over. "Stacie, we have someone we want you to meet."
The room was full of laughter and light teasing as the previous question in Never Have I Ever caused quite a few glasses to be raised and drunk from. After the debacle in the swimming pool all the girls had agreed to come back to Stacie's sorority and hang out for a bit. One side effect of the sorority was that alcohol was available for all who wanted it, provided they didn't get out of hand. Naturally the conversation, lubricated by the available drink had turned a little more personal as the girls got to know each other, and when Amy had suggested a game of Never Have I Ever, most of the Bellas agreed that it would be fun. Beca, and surprisingly Aubrey, had been holdouts, but peer pressure can change a lot of noes to yeses, and that was how Beca found herself holding a half full cup of some flavored vodka as Amy took up the challenge of the next round.
"Ok, I've got a good one. This should get a lot of you, apparently" Amy said as the girls all sat in a circle, drinks in hand, waiting for whatever the Tasmanian had to say. Amy, to no one's surprise, had had more than a few drinks already as she had "never" not done quite a few things. Beca wasn't in the slightest bit surprised, though, when the Aussie girl finally said, "I've never had sex with a girl."
"Good one Amy!" Jessica praised as Beca, Casey, Josie, Stacie, CR, Denise, and Chloe all took drinks. Beca just rolled her eyes at her fellow freshman as she drank from her cup. She had to admit, though, that the girls that were actually raising glasses for that one surprised her, though she couldn't really say why. Casey and Josie she'd known about, obviously, and CR and Denise weren't a shock either. Stacie on the other hand, while surprising, wasn't too far of a stretch for the sex hungry brunette. Chloe, again was a known entity, but what surprised her was that…
"Wait hold up Bree." Stacie said when she noticed Aubrey hadn't taken a drink. The tall brunette managed to beat out Beca in noticing aloud that Chloe's girlfriend had yet to take a drink, probably because Stacie seemed quite adept at handling her alcohol. In the end, though, it didn't matter Stacie asked the same thing that Beca's mind was goggling over. Looking back and forth between the group's redheaded and blond leaders, Stacie asked, "What's going on? You and Chloe haven't had sex yet?"
"We will when Aubrey's ready. This is all new to her." Chloe said, squeezing Aubrey's hand as she looked away from the girls. Beca thought she could detect a bit of frustration in the redhead's tone, but it was really subtle and Beca could easily have imagined it. Though the last time Beca had been around her, Chloe had seemed a little tightly wound. Guess now she knew why.
"I wouldn't be waiting, Chloe's hot." Beca said, earning her a glare from Casey. As soon as the words had left her mouth, Beca was already trying to swallow them back. Of course, this wasn't the first time her really bad habit of speaking before thinking had gotten her in trouble with people, and judging by the glare from Casey she was most likely in trouble. Figuring she might as well steer into the skid and see if she could do some preemptive damage control, Beca quickly added, "Well she is, it's a fact. Like water is wet, and I'll be going to LA in May. That doesn't mean you aren't, I'm just saying she is."
"Just stop talking now, Mitchell." Josie said from her spot next to Stacie as she watched the interplay between the girls. Beca opened her mouth to keep arguing her point, but saw that not only Josie, but a few of the other Bellas were subtly shaking their heads as well. Chloe, on the other hand, had a small smile on her face but was trying to hide it.
"I'm sorry, I just, there's how you two met and..." Casey trailed off, searching for the right words. Beca could see that her girlfriend's lip was quivering just a bit and it finally started to dawn on her how much her off-hand comment had actually hurt the older girl. However what floored Beca the most, were the next words that Casey said, in fact they seemed to have surprised Casey as well because her eyes darted around the room almost as soon as she'd finished saying, "I worry that you like her more than me."
"How they met?" Amy asked, slightly confused. Amy looked back and forth between Chloe, Casey and Beca with a bit of confusion. Never one to let something be, the Aussie girl asked, "They met at the activities fair yeah?"
"No that's not what i meant..." Casey started. Beca saw Casey close her eyes briefly and pause to take a breath. Her own brain was slightly panicking now as she saw her girlfriend steeling herself to speak and jumped into the slight pause in the conversation.
"They don't know." Beca cut her off. Her eyes darting to Chloe briefly, who also looked a little panicky. Apparently the redhead hadn't told Aubrey about the whole event either, if Beca had to guess, given the redhead's response. Beca desperately wracked her brain, trying to come up with something, anything that would divert the conversation. What Casey said next, however, made the brunette freshman wince just slightly and close her own eyes.
"Really? I dyed my hair so we could recreate it." Casey said, almost able to hear the ears of everyone in the room perking up as she did. Looking away from Beca she let her gaze travel over the girls sitting around the room and Beca could see that Casey might regret saying what she did. Of course, now that the cat was out of the bag…
"Ranga?" Amy asked as she looked at the redhead. Naturally it was Amy who spoke up first, usually the spokesperson for the group and the one with the least amount of shame that Beca had seen, not counting Chloe herself. And it was just as obvious that the Aussie didn't expect Beca's girlfriend to yield any more information than she'd already let slip.
"There's more to the story." Chloe responded cryptically, her gaze moving from Amy's inquisitive stare to Aubrey, who rolled her eyes, obviously in the know about what had happened, Beca's guess being wrong. Turning back to face the Aussie freshman, Chloe leaned back against Aubrey's legs and just smiled, silently telling her that that was all she'd say on the matter.
"Ok, that's it, truth or dare time." Stacie broke the silence that had stretched over the room as the Bellas, Josie and Casey included, had looked back and forth between the pair for what felt like a good couple minutes. Obviously the leggy brunette realized that Chloe wasn't going to crack and decided to try and force the story out.
"I'll go first." CR said quickly, obviously trying to get things going before Chloe or Beca could object or back out. Reaching across the small coffee table she was leaning against, CR grabbed an empty vodka bottle and set it to spinning. All eyes in the room were watching it turn, and it was obvious to Beca that the rest of the Bellas were cheering it to land on herself, Chloe, Aubrey, or Casey. She was a little surprised, though, that there wasn't a groan as the bottle came to stop on their visitor from Georgia Tech.
"Give me a dare." Josie said, grinning at CR in a taunting manner. Beca had to admit that the girl had some serious guts, willing to take a dare as the first pick in a game surrounded by people she didn't even really know.
"Do a body shot off Stacie." CR said, issuing the dare. To no one's surprise Stacie was definitely a more than willing participant in the dare, though Beca's certain she wasn't the only one who was a bit surprised when Stacie pulled her shirt off before getting in position. In fact, as she looked towards her redheaded captain to gauge Chloe's reaction, Beca thought she saw Aubrey's face look more than just surprised. The look was gone so fast, though, that Beca told herself she was just imagining things as Josie spoke up.
"I really like it here." Josie said as she carefully placed the shot glass between Stacie's breasts. After the small glass was tucked safely in the ample flesh barely restrained by lacy cups, Josie then moved so she was straddling the mezzo. Before she had a chance to take her shot, though, Stacie gently licked a couple fingers and ran them over the skin just above her right breast and poured some salt on the now damp skin. With an even more mischievous grin than before, Josie leaned down and swiped her tongue across the salt flecked skin before wrapping her lips around the rim of the shot glass and tossing her head back. With a huge smile on her face, Josie reached out and took the shot glass from her mouth before leaning in and capturing Stacie's lips in a searing, but brief, kiss which drew catcalls from the awestruck Bellas.
Despite the amazing show in front her, Beca made sure this time that she was watching Aubrey and Chloe when Josie performed her dare. Chloe seemed fully engaged in the activity, laughing with the others as Stacie, ever one to take things to the next level, spread the salt over herself. But when their visitor from Georgia Tech kissed Stacie, Beca definitely thought she saw Aubrey's eyes harden, just for a second.
Before Beca could start to speculate on the matter, however, Josie had climbed off Stacie's lap to sit back down on the floor and had given the bottle a spin. Stacie, for her part, just sat back down on the floor, not even bothering to put her shirt back on. As the bottle spun to a stop, Beca's line of thought regarding their blond leader ended as Josie grinned at her. As Beca hesitated whether she wanted a truth or a dare Josie spoke up, "Either way, you're telling the story."
"It's ok Beca, I don't mind." Chloe said, putting her hand on Aubrey's leg as she smiled at the brunette freshman. When Beca's eyes turned to meet hers with a questioning look, Chloe just shrugged and, after glancing at Bree said, "Besides, you told your girlfriend, I've told mine, why not tell everyone else. It's cute."
"Fine." Beca sighed reluctantly. She wasn't really thrilled about the story, even though it wasn't that embarrassing, honestly. But, with everyone in the room now leaning in towards her, she figured she could at least give a basic rundown of what had happened. Taking a deep breath, Beca looked around the room as she started, "So there I was, showering like a normal person..."
"Singing Titanium" Chloe supplied with a smile on her face. Beca could see Aubrey shaking her head and, seemingly, barely restraining her eyes from rolling.
"Yes, singing Titanium, and next thing I know my curtain is pulled open and there is a naked redhead in the cubicle with me amazed that I could sing and asking how high my belt went." Beca finished, not bothering to restrain her own eye roll as Chloe chuckled, obviously remembering the scene. Trying not to blush a little as the memory of exactly how naked said redhead was, not to mention how naked she had been, Beca was caught off guard as Chloe seemed to read her thoughts.
"Oh come on Beca, you loved it." Chloe laughed, her own thoughts on the encounter easily able to track how the brunette had checked out her. Gesturing up and down at herself the redhead grinned at Beca and added, "You were checking me out, I saw you."
"I'm only human." Beca defended herself as all eyes were on her. Gesturing vaguely towards Chloe and "all that" of which she should be proud, the brunette tried to look apologetic, but she had a feeling based on Casey's frown, that she didn't look very apologetic at all.
"At least you were able to cover up before Tom came over." Chloe added with another giggle, remembering the look of horror on Beca's face as her sometimes sex-buddy had walked in afterwards to compliment Beca on her singing voice.
"Ugh don't remind me. I'm still mentally scarred by that, thank you very much." Beca said with a shudder. Taking a sip of the drink in front of her as though needing to cleanse herself of the memory, Beca shuddered again and said, "You know his was the first dick I've seen in person right? I had really been hoping to avoid that, but sadly I didn't. At least I still have my gold star."
"Gold star?" Aubrey asked, a curious look on her face. She was glad that the topic had shifted away from Beca and Chloe being in the shower, as that was something she didn't really want either girl remembering. Or how great they had sounded, as Chloe had told her numerous times before auditions, and how they just seemed to "click" right away.
"A lesbian that's never been with a man." Stacie informed, one of her hands casually caressing her own breast as she thought of Chloe and Beca in the shower together. Based on the fact that she didn't even seem to really be paying much attention to her, Beca had a feeling that she wasn't even aware that she was groping herself in public, again. As the taller brunette turned to Beca she said, "And Chloe's right, Beca. It is a cute story."
"I hate you all so much right now." Beca said, rolling her eyes and trying not to blush anymore. Deciding she was better off distracting the girls from the story she just told she reached out and spun the bottle. A smirk grew on her lips as the bottle slowed to a stop pointing at Aubrey and she said, "Truth or dare Aca-tator."
"Truth, I don't even want to know what you'd dare me to do." Aubrey said reaching out to take a sip of her soda.
"You're probably right." Beca said with a laugh as she thought of what truth she wanted to extricate from the blond captain. The brunette also hoped that whatever question she asked could shift the focus away from herself and Chloe being naked in a shower together. As the thought of a diversion came into her mind, she realized that she might have already touched on the perfect distraction, which prompted her to ask, "So, are YOU a gold star?"
"Well I'm not a lesbian, so I can't be, right?" Aubrey asked, trying to deflect the question as a discussion of her sex life had NOT been the means through which the Bellas bonded she wanted when the idea had initially been proposed. Especially as that might lead into questions of why she wasn't having sex with Chloe.
"Evading the question." Beca said, not willing to let their blond dictatorial leader slide on her truth. Plus, she realized that as soon as Aubrey had chosen to dodge the question, she might have an actual chance to coax the group's attention elsewhere.
"Not really, Stacie said 'lesbian', and though I'm dating Chloe, neither of us are gay." Aubrey explained, doing her best to lawyer her way out of giving an answer. Beca, on the other hand, knew that Aubrey was just trying to worm out of answering by not really addressing the question. Which the blond tried to fix as she added, "Whether or not I've had sex with a man is none of your concern."
"That means no." Beca said with a smirk. The fact that Aubrey was dodging it so hard made Beca suspicious of why, but in the end she just assumed that the blond simply wasn't comfortable talking about her sex life with the room. Not that Beca could blame her, especially given the earlier revelation that the two co-captains weren't yet sharing a bed, or at least not having sex. With a rueful shake of her head added to the smirk, Beca said, "That explains so much."
"That doesn't mean no. That means I'm not telling you." Aubrey said defensively. Almost kicking herself she realized that she had just opened the door to Beca grilling her further and tried to quickly think of another way to divert the brunette. Blurting out the first thing that came to her mind, Aubrey said, "I've had boyfriends."
"Yes, but did you fuck them?" Beca asked, unknowingly taking the bait that Aubrey had offered to her. Even as Aubrey smiled and Beca realized that she'd asked an unrelated question to her Truth or Dare question, she could see that, at least for now, people seemed to be diverted from herself and Chloe in the shower together.
"I answered your question." Aubrey said reaching for the bottle and feeling like she'd dodged a bullet as Beca took her bait. Considering the number of girls sitting in the circle for this game, hopefully she could avoid any more questions like that until everyone was far, far drunker and much less likely to remember what she said. Giving it a spin, Aubrey smiled as it landed on Stacie
"Dare." Stacie said with a mischievous grin before the blonde even had a chance to open her mouth. The brunette rested her arm on Josie's leg as they all watched the wheels turning in Aubrey's head.
"I dare you to take your bra off..." Aubrey started, softly, almost as if she were unsure of herself. Before she had the chance to add "for the next twenty minutes" Stacie had already removed the garment and tossed it carelessly behind her. The words died on her lips as the tall brunette settled back down, her hands casually reaching up to give her now exposed breasts a squeeze.
"Hey Beca, can I talk to you?" Chloe asked as she saw the brunette leaving her classroom. Suppressing the sigh she'd wanted to let go seeing as she may or may not have been waiting outside of Beca's classroom like a stalker, Chloe stepped up beside the short freshman who smiled at her. Aubrey had been in a fit since the game of Truth or Dare the other night, and though the blond hadn't said why, Chloe had a suspicion. And as Aubrey's more outgoing and forthright girlfriend, Chloe felt it was her duty to address the issue and try to make sure it never came up again.
"Sure I was just about to head to the quad and work on a mix I got an idea for, you can walk with me. What's up?" Beca asked, nodding her head towards the sunlit grassy area visible through the doors down the hall. She'd come up with an idea for a new pair of songs that she thought would work well together while her teacher droned on about differentials, and had been anxious to sit down with her laptop and headphones. Calculus, seriously, in what universe would she ever need to know calculus?
"Do you have to be so mean to Aubrey?" Chloe asked after a few seconds as the pair strolled out into another sunny afternoon in Georgia. When Beca nearly tripped over her own feet at the question, the redhead caught her arm and helped her stay upright, and almost giggled at the look on Beca's face after she was stable. Feeling that a little further explanation was needed, as Beca could be considered to be being "mean" to Aubrey simply by being in the Bellas, Chloe quickly elaborated, "You really put her on the spot, she doesn't like to talk about her personal life, if it's not her classes or the Bellas, she doesn't like to talk about it."
"And you're dating her?" Beca asked, a bit surprised. From everything that Beca had gathered about the redhead, someone who was that uptight and closed off would be a terrible match for the boisterous, outgoing, effervescent redheaded shower invader. Finding that her favorite tree was unoccupied as it normally was, part of the reason why it had quickly become her favorite place to sit while on the quad at Barden, Beca headed off in that direction as Chloe seemed to struggle to come up with an answer.
"There was a caveat, an implied 'in public'." Chloe explained after a few moments thought. Trying hard not to stare down the brunette's shirt as Beca took a seat, Chloe realized that, once again, further explanation was needed. Beca, being someone whom she only just recently met, had no way of knowing the nature of hers and Aubrey's relationship. Sighing as she tried to sum up everything, Chloe did what she usually did, and spoke without thinking much about what she was saying, "We've known each other for like nine years now. She's really passionate about the things she cares about, and I like that. I like people who are passionate about things. It's why I like you. I can see the passion."
"You barely know me Chloe." Beca pointed out, gesturing for the redhead to join her as she pulled her laptop from its case and fired it up. As the machine powered up, the redhead shook her head slightly at the proffered seat, but looked genuinely confused at Beca's reaction. Of course, after the shower incident Beca could honestly say that Chloe knew more about her than anyone at the school, save Casey, but for the normally closed off brunette, it was still a perfectly logical statement.
"I know the important stuff." Chloe responded, as though the conversations that they'd had, granted there had been more than a few, seemed to Chloe to be enough to "know" someone. As she opened her mouth to say more Beca's phone vibrated loudly to let her know a text was coming in. Pausing while the younger girl answered, Chloe saw Beca smiling at the screen and instead asked, "Sweet message from your girl?"
"What? No." Beca looked up at Chloe, looking a little surprised. Turning the phone so that Chloe could see for a second before realizing that Chloe wouldn't know who "Thora, Goddess of Electricity" would be. Going back to tapping out a reply, she said, "Sorry, you won't know what that means. I tend to give people nicknames. It was from Jessie's sister. She gets bored in her classes quite easily so we text lame puns and stuff. She was just saying their parents are letting them have some people over Thanksgiving night and that Casey and I should come if we can."
"Ah, sounds like fun. Aubrey and I will be in Maryland pretending we're not dating. At least around her parents." Chloe explained. Glancing at her watch she realized that she had to get going to her next class. However Beca mentioning nicknames now had her curious. Trying to sneak a peek at Beca's phone she put on her sweetest smile and asked, "So if you call her Thora, what's my nickname?"
"That, Red, is classified." Beca said mysteriously as she locked her phone and then, just for good measure, sat on it. The look of indignation on Chloe's face was worth it as the redhead's smile slowly turned from a smile to a pout. Quickly looking away from the infamous, to her at least, Chloe Beale Pouty Face, Beca noticed that her laptop had finished booting and was waiting for her to sign in. Without lifting her gaze from the screen she said, "So, anything else you need? Aside from telling me to leave our illustrious Aca-Tator's relationships out of further conversations, that is."
Realizing that she didn't have time to properly coax the information from the young freshman if she hoped to make it to her next class she made a mental note to come back to this conversation. Maybe another visit to the freshmen dorms was in order. Giving the top of Beca's head a look that said that this conversation wasn't over, seeing as the brunette still hadn't looked up to meet her gaze, Chloe shook her head and said, "Nope, that was all I wanted to say. I have a Russian class to get to, so I'll see you at practice."
"Do svidaniya comrade Beale." Beca said in the best Russian accent she could muster, finally feeling it was safe to look Chloe in the face and catching the tail end of the look the redhead had been giving her. Offering up her trademark smirk and a small wave, Beca was sad that the Chloe was leaving, though it did mean she wouldn't have to show the redhead what she had labeled her as in her phone, for the time being at least.
"Ty takaya krasivaya." Chloe answered, returning the wave and giving Beca one of her own trademarked gigawatt smiles. She knew that the young freshman had no idea that she'd just called her beautiful, but after what Beca had said about her the other night at the post-Riff Off party, she felt it was only appropriate. Except that it wasn't, because both girls had girlfriends, but that was future Chloe's problem, the redhead thought as she turned to hurry across the quad to the Humanities building, oblivious that her interactions with Beca were being watched.
"Knew I'd find you here." Casey said as she walked up to Beca after Chloe had left. If Beca's mind had been more on the present and less on the mix on which she was currently working she might have noticed the odd tone Casey had as the other girl watched Chloe walk off across the quad. Instead the brunette freshman was clueless, as usual, and simply glanced up at her girlfriend with a smile.
"Hey." Beca said with a smile as the older girl sat down next to her. Her attention quickly returned to her mixing deck, though as she reached a point in the mashup that required her special talent to make things work. Shooting an apologetic look at her girl, Beca fiddled with a couple of the sliders on the software until she found the sound she was looking for. As she finished up what she was doing she paused the mix and said, "Don't mind me, just got an idea for a mix."
"What is it?" Casey asked, glancing at the screen. Despite how many times she'd seen Beca messing with this software, however, she still couldn't make much sense of the mass of sliders and displays that dominated the screen.
"Weird Science and She Blinded Me With Science." Beca explained pointing at the two song titles displayed on the screen as she felt her phone vibrate underneath her. Checking it, she smiled briefly as she saw it was just a brief reply from Jesse's sister. Pulling her headphones off her head gestured vaguely towards her phone as she added, "Got the idea from Josie. She invited us to some party at her place Thanksgiving night. I told her I'd talk to you about it."
"I don't think I'll be going to that." Casey said as she took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say. Beca, her attention no longer diverted by her new mix, finally noticed the odd note in Casey's voice and looked up at the older girl with a curious look on her face. Casey saw the look and let out the breath she'd taken in as she looked into Beca's dark, navy blue eyes and said softly, "I think we should break up."
"What? Why" Beca asked, clearly not expecting this. The young freshman was stunned by what Casey had just said, her hands sitting still on her keyboard as her brain tried to process the words Casey had just said. To say that these words blindsided her was a serious understatement. Granted things hadn't been perfect, especially since the post-Riff Off party, or rather the game of Truth or Dare, but Beca had not expected this. Before she could even articulate more, the older girl answered her.
"We just want different things out of life." Casey started, trying to find the right words to express how she was feeling without hurting the younger girl. Beca could see that Casey was picking and choosing her words carefully, and so instead of interrupting to ask what the hell she meant, the short brunette patiently waited as the older girl found the right words. Taking hold of Beca's hand, which was trembling slightly, Casey spoke in her gentlest voice as she said, "It's not that I don't think you're taking this relationship seriously exactly, but you said yourself just the other night, you plan on going to Los Angeles next spring. I'll still be here. I'm not done at Barden yet…"
"That doesn't mean we have to break up." Beca said, closing the lid of her laptop to focus more clearly on the discussion. As much as she normally shunned contact with other people, she squeezed Casey's hand in her own as her mind struggled to make some sense of things. She remembered the conversation, and if she was honest with herself she remembered the other girl's expression when she'd said it, but it didn't mean that things had to end. Beca tried to point this out as she said, "I mean, we could do long distance and then you can come to L.A. when you graduate."
"I don't think that's really fair to either of us." Casey said, playing with her still red hair and glancing at Beca's laptop. The red hair that the sophomore had dyed for her, and then kept because it looked good on her. Deep down, Beca knew that she'd be shit at a long distance relationship. Hell, hadn't these last few weeks proven she was shit at an in-person one? Before the young brunette could really get behind that thought, Casey said something that completely diverted Beca's attention. With a sad smile, the now redheaded girl said, "Plus I don't think I'm the one you really want to be with. Let's just end this now and we can still be friends. You're amazing Beca, I don't want to hold you back from what you really want. And as much as I wish it was, it isn't me."
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Beca asked, reaching out to take Casey's other hand. Beca, ever the master at evading things she didn't want to confront, chose instead to ignore the first of Casey's words, and focus on the latter part. Friends, she might be able to do that.
"It's what I think is best, for both of us." Casey said, squeezing Beca's hands before letting them go. As if a weight had been lifted from the redheaded sophomore's shoulders, she sat back up, looking at Beca with a comforting smile as the brunette considered and accepted the situation. When she saw that Beca wasn't going to yell, or scream, or cry Casey nodded to her now ex-girlfriend and added, "Maybe somewhere down the road, we can find each other again. But right now, we should end things while we're still friends instead of dragging things out and ending up resenting each other. Go to the party without me, enjoy yourself. I'll be ok. We'll be ok. I think we should take a cue from Green Day. It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life."
"I have you know." Beca said softly, looking in Casey's eyes as she put on a brave front. Inside, though, it hurt a little. She didn't know, or didn't want to acknowledge, that Casey might be right about how she wasn't the one she wanted. Right now she only had more proof that relationships didn't last. But maybe, just maybe, she could salvage a friendship out of all of this. Nodding at the other girl, and adding a slight smile for the Green Day lyrics, Beca settled her hands onto the top of her laptop as Casey made to stand up.
"I'm glad." Casey said with a wistful smile and a sad look in her eyes. Standing up from where she was sitting, she took one more look at the younger girl. Beca wasn't sure what to make of Casey's expression as the sophomore looked down at her so she felt slightly relieved when the older girl said with complete sincerity, "I hope all your dreams come true and you find your happiness."
Beca's gaze followed the sophomore as she retreated across the lawn for a few moments before the reality of everything settled in. Letting out a sigh, she glanced down at her phone and typed out a brief message.
Beca: Can I come over?
Aphrodite: Of course, anytime.
Note 2: Sorry if Chloe's Russian is bad, I used google translate. Obviously I also don't own Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day either. I'm more into stuff from Dookie. Yes I'm old. I'll shut up now and go about doing whatever it is I do. If you liked it, hated it, whatever leave a review the box is likely right down there if you're not using an app or something. I'm open to prompts, so long as they're from a ship I like/write. Have a great whatever it is whenever you read this.