When Aubrey first registers the sound of the doorbell, she doesn't fully process the notion that every person she knows is already inside her apartment.
(Or, at least, every person she'd regularly feel comfortable drinking this heavily with.)
That reality descends over her rather quickly, though, when she stumbles through the maze of mostly-passed-out Bellas scattered across her living room in order to make a path to the door.
Aubrey momentarily wonders where Chloe is, as she leans up on her toes to peer through the peephole; she's pretty sure that she had seen the redhead giggling with Emily, though, as she'd dragged the Vampire by the wrist through to Aubrey's bedroom (mostly turned office) a few minutes ago, so Aubrey isn't terribly surprised when she doesn't see her girlfriend among the others.
Still, Aubrey wishes for her presence the very moment that she catches sight of Beca through the door, her image skewed both by the distorted dimensions of the glass and by Aubrey's own (rather tremulous) perception; the brunette is rocking patiently to and fro across the balls of her feet, and Aubrey's breath catches, somewhere, deep in the caverns of her chest.
Aubrey is drunk, and incredibly ill-prepared for this.
And yet, the blonde's fingers instantly grasp at the door handle like it's salvation that awaits her on the other side, and Aubrey throws the wooden divider apart with wide eyes and a grin that is probably far too sloppy.
Beca raises her brows curiously, and pairs the expression with a vaguely amused smile in reply, but Aubrey almost doesn't even care, to be truthful; she's positively elated that Beca is here, and scarcely has the presence of mind to question why.
"Hey, Posen," Beca greets, chuckling softly and angling her head to the side, just a little. "You, uh- you feeling okay?" She asks earnestly, with hints of laughter still coloring her words.
"I'm great," Aubrey insists with a vigorous nod. "There's so much liquor," she sighs delightedly, leaning her temple against the door frame when the adamant motions of her head begin to make her world spin.
But, Aubrey considers fairly, that really could just be Beca.
In fact, that's probably way more accurate.
"That- explains pretty much everything about my night," Beca frowns, then huffs out a barely-audible noise that Aubrey is quick to recognize as aggravation. "Are you going to invite me in?" She asks abruptly.
Aubrey scowls, because she had definitely been right, when she'd mentioned to Chloe about Beca's irritating nature; still, the blonde is sure that she'd actually – somehow – been pleased to see the tiny Vampire Queen, for at least a decent minute or two before she'd been reminded of it, and now she's a little bitter about the fact.
"Sorry," Beca recants swiftly – and with sincere, immediate apology – as she shakes her head. "It's just- Emily's never really done this before, and I'm, like, a little worried about her, or whatever," Beca shuffles her feet uncomfortably, lowering those slate-blue eyes to the floor.
And Aubrey's never really wanted the attention of Beca's gaze – it makes her hot, and itchy, and confused, and Aubrey is never actually sure if that's the kind of reaction that Beca is accustomed to eliciting, anyway – but the blonde fervently believes that those pretty blue eyes bear entirely too much dignity to literally lower themselves to the floor.
Actually watching it happen makes Aubrey's heart burn, just a little.
"I'd just- like to see her," Beca whispers softly. "If that's okay," she rushes to add. "I understand if you don't want to invite me into your home, Aubrey, and I'm honestly just as happy if you send Emily out to me, but – "
Aubrey adjusts her facial expression, at least to one of sympathy, because even if Beca is irritating, and even if Aubrey is far, far too drunk for this (which– yes, both of those things are still decidedly true), it is still very surprising – and almost irritatingly sweet – that Beca is so openly and vulnerably concerned for Emily's welfare.
"We wouldn't have let anything happen to her," Aubrey soothes with a concerned frown. "She's a Bella," she says proudly, frown rising at the edges until it is nothing but a grin, and the blonde hardly remembers why she even felt the need to frown in the first place. "We take care of each other," she smiles broadly and insists.
Beca laughs, and the sound strikes viciously, deep in Aubrey's gut.
She has heard Beca's chuckle, and she's even heard snorts of amusement – and, sure, Aubrey's heard a different kind of laugh from the brunette, too – but Aubrey's never heard this unabashed noise of absolute hilarity bark out from Beca's chest, before, and it's really… something else.
Even her laugh sounds like music, to Aubrey, and the blonde a little bit regrets that she still has yet to hear the Vampire sing, the way that Chloe tells Aubrey she can.
"I both appreciate that and admire it, Posen," Beca smirks teasingly, "but you've made it pretty clear that your interaction with Vampires has been extremely limited, up until recently. Emily's still a baby," Beca shakes her head with a wry grin at the edge of her mouth. "She was only turned three years ago, and she doesn't exactly know all the risks. If she doesn't know them," Beca says pointedly, though still lightheartedly, "I certainly don't expect you to know what to look out for."
Aubrey chews the flesh on the inside of her cheek and slowly nods her comprehension.
That's probably fair, to be honest. Aubrey doesn't know much about Vampires, really, and the girls had already been drinking a fair amount before they'd shoved that bottle of absinthe into Emily's possession; it could've been dangerous – for them or for Emily – and they hadn't really considered that aspect as much as they ought to have.
The blonde is trashed, but she isn't too far gone to acknowledge Beca's point – so she responds to it by widening the door and invitingly arching her neck to admit Beca into the living room with the other Bellas.
Beca offers a lopsided grin and amusedly shakes her head. "That's sweet of you, Posen, but- it isn't really enough."
"Huh?" Aubrey frowns, her features bunching in confusion.
"I need an invitation," Beca explains, brows raised expectantly as she continues to smile. "You know, Vampire and all," she chuckles and playfully elaborates.
Aubrey flushes, because – oh, yes – Beca's chuckle does still light Aubrey's insides aflame, in case she'd even for a second begun to doubt its effect upon her body.
"For serious?" Aubrey demands, anyway, red cheeks and all. "Out of all the myths, that one is still true? You need an invitation to enter someone's home? Do you also lack a reflection?" She folds her arms and scoffs disbelievingly.
Beca snorts and leans in close, her lips toying awfully distractingly against Aubrey's cheek with her answer.
"It is just precious," the brunette purrs, tauntingly low, "that you actually believe I can make my hair do this on a regular basis without the help of a mirror."
Aubrey swallows a thousand different replies to that, aware enough of herself – and so very, very aware of Beca – to know that she just should not speak.
Aubrey is clearly not prepared to do that, right now.
Still, that measure of focus sacrifices any attention Aubrey might have been able to spare in order to prevent herself from doing other things.
Like touching Beca's hair.
The blonde's fingers stretch outward almost reflexively, carding curiously through hair that she has wondered about nearly since first encountering the girl to begin with. It would, admittedly, be a miracle for Beca to make it look this good, without a reflection, but the existence of Vampires at all is still sort of a miracle – or perhaps a curse…? – to Aubrey, and she hadn't really thought much about it.
Still, Aubrey's thinking about it now; Beca's hair is smoother than silk and softer than Egyptian cotton, and Aubrey doesn't know how anyone ever believed those to be the most adequate materials to build bedding from, anyway, because someone should definitely be creating bedding from nothing but this.
(Later, Aubrey will probably balk in disgust at the very thought of a bed sewn from hair, but, right now, Beca's hair is just the softest, most amazing thing she's ever felt, and Aubrey just can't care about anything else.)
Beca inhales sharply and freezes, unnaturally – and inhumanly – still, but Aubrey is hardly disturbed enough to be bothered by it; the blonde only hums a gentle, quiet noise of pleasure and raises her other palm to join the first, sweeping explorative fingers through woven strands of chocolate, and merely beginning again once she reaches the very ends of Beca's hair.
"Aubrey," Beca hisses under her breath, though it lacks any real tone beyond surprise.
It should really be enough to startle her back into someplace that is maybe a little closer to sober than Aubrey can presently claim to be, but it just isn't.
The blonde, instead, curls her arms around Beca's neck and tenderly rubs her cheek against those blissfully soft strands of hair, and she hums out another sound made solely of wonder and utter contentment.
Aubrey could definitely sleep on this.
"Ookay," Beca chuckles uncomfortably, shifting slightly until Aubrey can feel a mild tug against her hips that urges her backward, just half a step.
Aubrey frowns, but Beca rubs awkwardly behind her ear and shifts her weight uneasily on her feet; the blonde forgets her confusion, only for a moment, and thinks that no matter what Beca says, that is more adorable than any belief Aubrey could manage to harbor about Vampiric laws of nature.
"Um… I just- I need to check on Emily," Beca swallows and repeats, quirking a sheepish smile in Aubrey's direction.
Aubrey sighs, disappointed, but nods, verbally offering a sad, "Come in," until Beca grins and slips over the threshold.
She ends up beside Aubrey, almost in front of her – but very close, regardless – tentatively squeezing the blonde's hip, still in the Vampire's carefully loose grasp. Aubrey's next sigh is born more of satisfaction than anything else, and Beca shakes her head with a chuckle as she releases her hold.
"I don't understand you, Posen," she breathes exasperatedly.
"Me?" Aubrey asks incredulously. "You're the one who's dead," she scowls pointedly as she urges Beca toward her room, where she knows Emily and Chloe must be.
"Oh, get over it," Beca scoffs with a needlessly exaggerated roll of her eyes. "So I'm a Vampire; Emily is, too," Beca reminds her sharply, "and you spend time with her every day. I don't understand why I'm so difficult for you to be around."
If Aubrey were any less drunk, she might've chosen to deny Beca's assumption; however difficult it actually is for Aubrey to be in her company, the blonde is too proud to admit such things – and she's certainly too proud to admit that not all of her discomfort is due solely to Beca's species.
Still, Aubrey is very drunk, and, instead, she notices first that Beca seems- unhappy, about this.
… And Aubrey really doesn't want to be the cause for that, even if she's too intoxicated to really fathom the reasoning behind it.
"It bothers you?" Aubrey frowns.
Beca mirrors the expression and pauses their movement forward, peeking around momentarily to verify the unconscious status of the other girls, draped across Aubrey's floor and furniture.
"I – " Beca struggles, a small crease forming just between her eyes that Aubrey instantly wants to soothe away with the gentle, worried pads her thumbs. "Yeah," she growls out, eventually. "Fine. Whatever. It bothers me. Is that so terrible?" She snarls reluctantly, tracking her fingers through her own hair, now, and averting her eyes from Aubrey's abruptly determined green ones.
And- Aubrey's never really wanted the attention of Beca's gaze – not before, anyway – but she suddenly feels like she needs it, now.
"You care what I think of you?" Aubrey mutters in confusion, and frowns harder when the brunette finally returns her exotic blue eyes to Aubrey's with a stare of bewildered incredulity.
"Look, Posen," Beca huffs, "I really don't know what you're playing at, right now, but I've tried talking things through with you, and you're relatively unreceptive; I've tried giving you space, too, and – apparently – all that means is that you never have need to contact me. I don't know what else to try, here, but I feel like I've made my investment in this pretty obvious to you; I'd like to spend time with you, and with Chloe, but not if you're afraid of me, or unwilling to see me for anything but a monster. I'm willing to work with you; I'm willing to answer your questions, and go out in public, if that's what you'd prefer, but I won't just keep pushing for some kind of- relationship," Beca hesitates and decides, "that you aren't willing to share in. I'm not that kind of person, Posen."
Aubrey isn't sure that 'relationship' is an adequate word, or – judging by Beca's uneasy, dissatisfied expression – even the word that Beca means to use, but she's drunk enough to accept that Beca has a point.
She thinks that might be a little backwards, but it's actually irrelevant, because Aubrey knows that this moment – infused with Beca's obvious, painful insecurity, and her frustration and pure helplessness – is one that she will remember, in the morning.
(And probably for every day after.)
"Why?" Aubrey demands.
"Pardon?" Beca frowns and returns.
"Why do you care?" Aubrey rolls her eyes and expands. "You've met thousands of girls – just like me, I'm sure," Aubrey snarks a little, before reining that particularly venomous, jealous beast into quick, urgent submission, "so why does it matter what I think of you?"
Beca quirks half of a tired smile, and shakes her head in resignation. "I've lived a long damn time, Aubrey," she murmurs softly and turns on her heel, moving toward Aubrey's bedroom without any direction from the blonde, before whispering over her shoulder, "but I've never met a girl like you."
Aubrey blinks as the brunette shoulders her way through the door, momentarily disappearing from Aubrey's sight, before she really feels a reaction to Beca's words.
Aubrey thinks she feels- proud.
… That can't be right.
Author's Note: This went way further than anticipated, so expect another chapter on 'game night' next time, and let me know what you think! Thanks so much for all of the support, guys! I'm loving it. :D
Addendum: To the guest who commented on my italics, thank you! I tend to put a lot of emphasis on things, when I get really invested in a story, and I don't usually catch myself until ten chapters later when it's far too annoying to do anything to change it. I edited several of the italics out, and I hope this version is a bit of an easier read.