TEN

"Alright, let's try this again, but this time give me a lighter beat."

I nod toward Fitz as he follows my instructions to a tee. The guy has insane beatboxing skills and even though it hasn't been easy to make him realize that I actually know what I'm doing we're slowly getting there.

"Okay, hit it."

"Regrets collect like old friends, here to relive your darkest moments. I can see no way, I can see no way. And all of the ghouls come out to play."

Kommissar takes lead, her voice carrying loud and clear through the studio. It takes me a few seconds to focus on the task at hand. Her blue eyes are trained on me and I can see her lips curling into a smirk as she continues.

And every demon wants his pound of flesh, but I like to keep some things to myself. I like to keep my issues drawn, it's always darkest before the dawn."

I tap my foot against the dark hardwood floor and nod along to the beat. I point toward Pieter and he gives me small nod before he takes over as Kommissar finishes the last note.

"I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain. That's what people say, that's what people say. I go on too many dates, but I can't make them stay. At least that's what people say, that's what people say."

Who would've thought that Pieter would be such a willing participant when I proposed a mellow mash-up of pop songs that are nowhere near DSM's comfort zone. But this is what I'm trying to do here. I want to see if they can be less like machines and more like… well, people.

I'm not trying to change their sound, been there done that, but I want them to broaden the set of skills that they have acquired over the years. I feel like they could become an even better group if they take on other styles and use them to make their sound more diverse.

The other members of DSM are positioned behind Pieter and Kommissar respectively, each of them adding to the overall harmony of the arrangement. Due to the size of the group, there's just a certain fullness about their sound that the Bellas could've never produced.

I've made sure to align the beats of both songs and Pieter is doing a great job slowing down the pace as he draws out several notes.

It's pure pleasure hearing Kommissar take over again. Her voice is slightly rough and hauntingly beautiful. She's an amazing singer and this is the first time I hear her sing such a slow song. It shows off an entirely different facet of her voice.

And judging by the number of eyes glued to Kommissar as she sings, the rest of DSM is similarly fascinated.

"And I've been a fool and I've been blind, I can never leave the past behind, I can see no way, I can see no way, I'm always dragging that horse around. All of his questions, such a mournful sound. Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground, so I like to keep my issues drawn. But it's always darkest before the dawn."

It's Pieter's turn again before they start merging the refrain and I start grinning happily when DSM nails the mash-up like they've done it a thousand times before.

"I shake it off, I shake it off."

"Shake it out, shake it out."

The last voices slowly fade out and I'm barely restraining myself from clapping like a five-year-old.

"That was amazing," Carolin says and grins at me. I've never actually seen her this happy and I stare at her for a few seconds before I nod.

"It was. I didn't expect anything else from you guys."

"It is a wonderful arrangement," Kommissar says and her hand gently brushes across the small of my back as she walks past me. I try not to react but Pieter raises his eyebrow at me as if he knows exactly what is going on.

"We will continue with the dance routine and return to our new arrangement tomorrow," Kommissar orders and the other DSM members immediately scatter to work in small groups.

She certainly knows how to keep DSM in line and I admire her self-confidence with which she exudes such authority. I doubt I would've been able to lead any other a cappella group aside from the Bellas. We are friends and we work together because we want to and because we like each other.

Anything else would've been impossible for me to handle and there's just no way I would ever willingly take on a role like Kommissar did.

She's not actually that hard-as-nails woman she pretends to be, not when there is no need. And I'm absolutely grateful that I get to see glimpses of this other side of her.

"Hey Beca."

I turn to find three DSM members standing in front of me. Fitz, the beatbox guy, Andrea, one of the more talented vocalists, and another woman whose name I just can't remember.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Well, we just wanted to let you know that we think your arrangement is awesome," Andrea says and Fitz nods.

"Yeah, and we really appreciate that you're here, you know, working with us."

"Uh…thanks, it's really great, so yeah, cool."

I smile at them and I just know my face is barely passing as awkward. I'm not good with these things. Honestly, it took ages until I could actually appreciate the Bellas compliments and getting them from leather-wearing Germans is something I need to get used to first.

Fitz and the other woman leave again to start with their dance training but Andrea shuffles around briefly before smirking at me. I'm pretty sure she is the dark-haired one who took the solo at the riff-off in the creepy guy's mansion.

"Hey, if you ever want to hang out, go to a bar or something, just let me know, alright?"

"Sure," I answer with a smile and watch her hurry back to her group.

"So you're going to go out with her?" a deep voice whispers against my ear and I jump slightly. I whirl around and look at Kommissar. Her eyebrow is raised and her lips pursed, always a sign that she isn't entirely happy.

"What? No. She wasn't asking to go out on like a date or anything."

"Really now?"

"Yes, I mean, I'm pretty sure."

Kommissar narrows her eyes at me and I grin. "You're not jealous, are you?"

My back is turned toward the room and I slowly reach out to rest my hands on Kommissar's hips without anyone seeing. Luckily she is wearing simple black pants and a blue shirt over her tank top. I'm not sure what would happen if I put my hands on one of those leather pieces of hers and I'm not even remotely ready to find out.

I lean forward a little and raise my chin until my lips slowly travel along her jaw. "There's absolutely no reason to be," I whisper and I can feel a tiny shiver run through her body.

No one would be able to tell what is going on by looking at her face, she seems completely unaffected on the outside, but I know better.

She is the Kommissar right now and there's only so much she will allow herself to display in front of her group.

I'm not going to push it so I slowly step back and her icy stare is clearly leveled at me as I skip across the room toward Fred who is already waiting to head out to the control room to work on her original songs.

This is actually fun. Das Sound Machine is a professional a cappella group and I'm starting to see why they are so disciplined and hardly ever mess up. It was pure luck and perhaps a little bit of emotional manipulation that we won Worlds but DSM still took it like the pros they are.

Oh and this thing between Anja and me? Yeah, I have no idea what's going on. I know she's always sort of watching me and I just want to keep kissing her, but we really haven't had the time to talk about it.

DSM actually got an offer to perform at a local a cappella gathering, a friendly competition or something like that. Yeah right, as if they would ever go into anything without wanting to win it.

So they're basically gearing up for that comparably small performance like it's another Worlds and I can only admire them for it.

"Hey Beca, ready to go back to that last verse we worked on yesterday?" Fred asks as we enter the control room.

I smile at her and she shyly ducks her head.

"I think I have an idea what to do with it."

A/N: the songs in this chapter are "Shake it out" by Florence and the Machine, and "Shake it off" by Taylor Swift. there's actually a mash-up version of this on youtube.