Alright, Stoners. Here is the next chapter. However, instead of my normal ramblings that precede the beginning of the chapter, I gladly pass the baton over to the other half of the team, CJ, to lead you in.
Hello Stoners! For those of you who don't know me, my name is CJ and I am ISP's beta. I've been working with her for a little over a year now on a couple of her stories and I can honestly say, it has been a true honor for me. I started out as a fan of her Faberry story, Little Duckling (which will get finished, we promise!) and because she opened herself up during the process of writing, I was able to connect with her and her story in a way I never had the opportunity to with any other fanfic author I have read.
Over time, I unofficially became her beta and when she sent me this idea she had for a Pitch Perfect story, I have to tell you, at first I was apprehensive. (I'm not even sure if I've shared this with her – umm surprise, ISP!) We were working on this story with characters that we knew inside, out, and backwards, we were deep into the flesh of the story, and now she wanted to take a hiatus from it. To write a story set in a totally different fandom, with characters from a movie. A movie, mind you, that I had only seen once (loved, but still, one viewing, pre-DVD release). A number of doubts flooded my mind and I got nervous, because this was definitely a risk. Did we know these characters well enough? Could we add the details we wanted to while still staying true to them? Would anyone even read it? But at the end of the day, it came down to one thing for me: I trust ISP. Implicitly. Have from the beginning. And so, we took a chance.
And my goodness, I'm so glad we did! The response to this story has been nothing short of overwhelming. Never did I dream that we would get the response we have and for that I wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to read, follow, favorite, or review our story. It has just been incredible and I am honestly humbled by it. I hope that you all continue to enjoy the story and please continue to reach out to us with any questions, comments, or general observations. We love hearing from you and honestly, thank you again so much!
And without futher ado:
CHAPTER 12
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend till you break
Cause it's all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand
Life was about perseverance. Adversity came in many forms: physical, emotional, psychological, the list went on and on. What really defined a person, however, was how one responded to that adversity.
It was easy to get knocked down.
It was even easier to stay down.
The hard part was getting up again.
In their own ways, Beca, Chloe, and Aubrey had all overcome the various adversities in their respective lives. They had learned their lessons, some of them difficult. Some of those lessons had beaten them to their lowest, face-in-the-dirt low. But in the end, each woman had dusted off and continued on, and each of them became better people because of it.
If the hard part was picking themselves up again, all three could argue that the most strenuous challenge was how to proceed after they had found their way to their feet.
After all, a very smart man once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
xxx-xxx-xxx
Beca looked out into the vast expanse of ocean that tickled the edge of Cabo San Lucas's gorgeous sands. That evening she would be returning to Georgia to face Barden and the heartache she left behind. While Spring Break was a nice escape, the reality was that eventually she would have to face the things – and people – she was running from.
In her palm was her phone that bore a message from Aubrey entreating her attention for something Bellas related. What it was, Beca had no idea. She knew their competition season had ended, and to be honest, Beca still wasn't sure she wanted to stay a part of the Bellas this next year. Still, she acquiesced to meeting Aubrey. There was nothing wrong with just hearing the blonde out.
Beca just hoped it was worth it.
xxx-xxx-xxx
Back in Atlanta, Aubrey hefted a sigh. She had just informed the rest of the Bellas, some through text, some through a phone call about their situation. She was met with enthusiasm, and it encouraged her.
A large part of her still held potent hesitation, however. Aubrey Posen was a creature of habit, of meticulous planning and organization.
Beca Mitchell, on the other hand, was barely-organized chaos. She epitomized spontaneity, the type of off-the-cuff, impulsive decision maker that Aubrey could never wrap her head around.
And that was what scared her the most. A cappella was about rigid standards, of meticulous structure. How could someone as spontaneous and unpredictable as Beca possibly understand how to harness the best and richest part of a cappella when she could barely harness herself?
She prayed to the aca-gods that this would not end up erupting in her face.
xxx-xxx-xxx
Beca sat on her couch, her phone in front of her, illuminated from a recent text message from Aubrey saying the blonde captain was on her way. Beca wasn't sure what the blonde could have possibly have wanted, or what was so pressing about the Bellas when it was clear nothing was left for the current team.
Beca thought about the senior Bella, the conundrum that was Aubrey Posen. They had butted heads from the very beginning. It wasn't uncommon to see Beca Mitchell and Aubrey Posen, two forces of nature, battling for dominance during practice. Both women were utterly convinced they were the ultimate authority. Even if she didn't agree with Aubrey's methods, Beca could appreciate the blonde's conviction in 'the Bella way'. And even as they clashed in rehearsals, Beca had seen flashes of the human beneath the cog of Aubrey Posen, Barden Bellas' captain. She had long dispelled the notion that Aubrey was an emotionless cyborg who robotically went through the motions because that's all she knew. She had seen the hurt, had seen the pain Aubrey buried deep inside.
They were alike in that way, Beca mused.
Perhaps, like her father mentioned, the ones that were too much alike understood each other the most.
It wasn't the first time Beca had butted heads with an obstinate force of nature, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last. Beca had butted heads with people with much more power and influence than Aubrey Posen and had come out on top. While she respected the dedication Aubrey held towards that antiquated tradition of the Bella way, she cared much more for the potential that existed in the girls that made up the current group, one that seemed to not fit into Aubrey's Bella mold.
The staccato of knocks jolted her from her thoughts, and Beca rose from the couch. She opened the door to her apartment to find a familiar blonde on the other side.
"Aubrey."
"Beca."
Beca ushered the Bella captain inside, guiding her to the couch. She smirked as Aubrey perched daintily on the cushion, one ankle folded under the other and her hands cradled primly in her lap. One would think Aubrey was waiting for an audience with the queen.
Beca waited for the blonde to speak first. Aubrey glanced down at her hands. She twirled the Barden class ring around her finger, frowning thoughtfully at the light blue gem she had chosen for the center stone (for the Bellas, of course).
"I received a call from the ICCA," she began without any preamble. "The Footnotes' lead singer is still in high school. They've been disqualified." Aubrey took a deep breath. "We're in."
Beca kept her face impassive, carefully schooling her features to not betray even the slightest emotion. She nodded slowly. "Okay. So what does that have to do with me, exactly?"
"This is my chance…" Aubrey paused, taking another deep breath, "our chance to make this memorable." She glanced up, eyes searching Beca's imploringly.
"I need your help."
Beca's chin tilted upwards, and she crossed her arms, leaning casually against her television stand. "You need my help," Beca repeated. "You need the help of an 'alt girl who has never won a competition', huh?" A corner of her mouth quirked upward in the smallest of smirks. She frowned thoughtfully, seemingly absorbing this information. "Interesting."
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Don't be smug, Mitchell. I don't like having to swallow my pride."
"And yet here you are," Beca drawled, her eyes sparkling with barely disguised mirth.
Aubrey huffed out out a disbelieving chuckle. Her eyes went to the television stand where Beca's two newest Grammy awards sat amidst the various knick-knacks that decorated the surface. She rose from her chair, running a reverent hand over Beca's latest album, certified platinum by the RCIA. She glanced over to Beca. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Beca smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Would it have made a difference?"
Aubrey deflated. "I don't know. Maybe." As Beca snorted, she conceded with a hitch of her head. "Okay, probably not."
Beca's mouth quirked in amusement. "So what makes you want to change now?"
Aubrey's shoulders slumped. "Look, you were right."
"Of course I am," Beca asserted with a dismissive wave of her hand. "When it comes to music, I'm very rarely wrong. You're gonna have to narrow it down for me."
Aubrey's eyes narrowed in a mild glare. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?"
Beca's head shook slowly from side to side. "I could," she remarked off-handedly. "Not feeling particularly charitable at the moment, though."
"I watched tape of Semis," Aubrey admitted.
Beca's brows drew together in confusion. "Tape?"
"They tape performances," Aubrey edified. "You didn't know that?"
"No," Beca asserted succinctly. Her brows furrowed. "Why?"
Aubrey looked her like she was insane. "For the captains so we can analyze the performance, duh."
"Analyze the performance?"
"And see where we can make improvements." Aubrey looked at her like she was crazy. "It's an important tool to refining our routines. How do you think I know what changes to make during each rehearsal?"
Beca shrugged. "I just figured you had a set of eyes hidden in your hair."
Aubrey's nose wrinkled at the visual. She crossed her arms. "Really, Beca," she chastised. "This isn't high school! This is real life, and we take this seriously."
Beca rolled her eyes. "Okay, two things. One," she held up the appropriate finger. "Please don't reference Tommy in any manner. I saw the dude strung up from his underwear on the flagpole in front of the student union last month. His word has lost all credibility. Two," Beca lofted the second finger, "pump your breaks, Speed Racer. I wasn't saying anything bad about the fact. I was just surprised."
Aubrey huffed out a sigh. "All I'm saying is that this isn't their first rodeo. The ICCAs have been doing this for awhile."
Beca snorted. "I'll take your word for it." She sat down across from Aubrey. "Alright, then, I'll bite. What did the tape show?"
"It showed that you were right," Aubrey admitted. "I have an amazing group, but I've been so stuck in my ways, I haven't been cognizant of that."
Beca nodded slowly. "Okay. I'm glad you've undergone this epiphany of self-discovery, but what does that have to do with me?"
"Look, I know that I've got an amazing group of girls, but what they bring to the table is just so…beyond me." Aubrey ran a hand through her hair. "The truth is I don't know what to do with them." Piercing green eyes leveled onto hers.
"But you do." Aubrey's eyes softened in recognition.
"You've always known what to do with them, haven't you?"
Beca didn't answer for a long time. She moved to the mantle, her hand stroking a photo right beside one of the albums.
"You know, when I was a kid, it was my mom and me a lot," she began conversationally. "My dad wasn't around, so we kind of just fended for ourselves."
Aubrey didn't comment, just let Beca talk.
"She told me that if I could find the music where people couldn't I could separate myself from every other DJ and music producer out there." Beca's eyes lifted to Aubrey's and there was a seriousness Aubrey had never seen before.
"I've made my living hearing things that people miss and putting sounds together that people didn't think would work or sound good." Beca crossed her arms, her gaze full of intent. "It's what makes me different."
Beca crossed in front to her other Grammy statuette. "Before she died from breast cancer, she told me to promise that she wouldn't let anything or anyone stop me from making music. She told me as long as I loved music to go out there and go get my dream." Beca leveled a very serious stare to the blonde.
"I really hate to break it to you, Aubrey, but I've been told by a lot more important people that they didn't think I could make it." Beca lifted her chin in a show of defiance.
"I proved them all wrong." Beca cocked her head. "You know why?"
Aubrey shrugged.
"I take the risks that they don't," Beca answered. "I'm not sure about a lot of things, Aubrey," Beca remarked, "but when it comes to music, I'm very rarely, if ever, wrong."
Aubrey's mouth twisted into a thoughtful frown, her eyebrows drawing together. "I lost my mom, too," Aubrey offered. "Car accident. It all happened so fast. The beginning of the day, she was there, the end, she was gone." Aubrey shrugged. "My dad didn't have time to prepare for it." Her eyes plummeted down to her shoes.
"He threw himself into work and started ignoring me. I guess it was his way of coping. The only time he would pay attention is just to tell me how inadequate I was."
"I know the feeling. My dad does it all the time." Beca scrunched a hand through her hair. "He cheated on my mom with Dr. Gardner," Beca revealed. "Back in Oregon, they worked at the same college. It was like my mom and I didn't matter enough for him to stay faithful. He ran when things got tough." Beca dropped her head. "I tend to do the same." She scoffed wryly. "I never wanted to be like my dad. Especially not in that way."
"That wasn't your fault," Aubrey conceded. "I drove you away."
Beca shrugged. She canted her head, peering over at the taller woman. "So tell me, Aubrey Posen," Beca drawled. "Why should I help you?"
Aubrey sighed. "Because that arrangement you did was amazing. And when I looked you up online, the stuff I found was amazing." She leveled a gaze at Beca.
"You were right. We have a chance to really change not only the perception of the Bellas but what we are able to do with a cappella. That is going to make us memorable."
"Look, I judged you before I knew you," Aubrey admitted. "I didn't think you were anything but the 'alt girl with the ear monstrosities'." Aubrey ducked her head in repentance. "I'm sorry."
Beca surveyed her. She nodded. "Apology accepted." Beca conceded her own apology. "I'm sorry if I made things difficult."
Aubrey shrugged. "I should have listened."
Beca's chin tilted upward. "But you have to convince me that you're going to change," she challenged. "Why do you want me?"
Aubrey's eyes sought out Beca's, equally as intense. "Look, Beca, I think we can really make a statement. Like you said before, I think we can really change the face of a cappella. You're the one to take us there." Aubrey's expression entreated with slight desperation. "I'm sorry for dismissing you like I did, but if you can forgive me, I think you could win us Nationals."
Aubrey waited as the words sunk in for Beca. She could readily admit that the anticipation was killing her. Beca wasn't betraying anything. Her expression was completely impassive.
A slow, melting smirk appeared on Beca's lips. Her eyes sparkled with calculated glee. "Now, Aubrey Posen, that is an offer I'd be stupid to refuse."
xxx-xxx-xxx
Chloe settled into her bed in her apartment back at Barden. Aubrey was out but her things were in her room. She had gotten the text while recovering in the hospital and had to labor really, really hard not to scream out in unadulterated joy.
Unconsciously, she touched her throat where her nodes had once been. This was going to be a definite change. The recovery was going to be difficult, she wasn't able to talk for a week. Even more pressing was the idea that her singing voice was still building strength as well. Her range was a little reduced, but her vocal coach assured her that with time, she should possibly regain her full range. Chloe took comfort in that notion.
Still, her eyes drifted down to her phone where she had brought up Aubrey's message. Idly, she wondered if Aubrey even thought to let Beca know. Chloe bit her lip. She wondered if she was overstepping her boundaries by extending the invitation to Beca. Regardless if the DJ was still not speaking to her, Beca was still part of the Bellas and definitely deserved to know.
Mind made up, Chloe scrolled through her favorite contacts until she found Beca. Her thumbs flew over the touch screen, typing out a short message. Nothing too contrived, no ulterior motives, just a simple message letting her know they were back in competition and that they planned a meeting for the upcoming week.
Chloe set her phone down with a deep breath and a satisfied nod.
xxx-xxx-xxx
Chloe grabbed her bag, slipping out of the apartment and heading towards the rehearsal room. It was a bit of a trek to the other side of campus, but Chloe wasn't up for driving. She needed the time to think, the time to mentally prepare herself. She wasn't sure if Beca was going to be at the meeting, but she wanted to make sure she steeled herself towards the possibility the DJ still held some animosity towards her.
She was resigned to the circumstances. Beca's hostility certainly wasn't going to just abate in the span of a week; she wasn't naïve enough to put blind faith in that assumption. It was up to her to fix this disconnect that separated them, if not for the possibility of being able to win Beca back but because she truly and genuinely loved having Beca in her life.
There was something about Beca Mitchell, something that made life that much more exciting. It wasn't just the celebrity behind the name or the quality of the work she was able to produce, it was her way that she communicated through music. It was the way music ruled and commanded Beca's life and how she was able to do the same to music. It was the way Beca wasn't an overt personality. Even if Beca wasn't DJ Lady B, the intricacies that constituted the different aspects of the tiny brunette left Chloe little doubt that she would have found herself irrevocably attracted to Beca Mitchell.
Chloe steeled herself mentally, secure in her objective. She was going to get Beca back, no matter what. Chloe squared her shoulders, putting a bit of pep in her step. She now had a purpose, an objective.
Alright, Beale.
Game on.
Chloe's inner missive halted, however, when a sickeningly sweet voice cut through her musings.
Chloe growled low in her throat.
Paige Daniels.
Still at Barden.
She groaned inwardly, schooling her features carefully.
Seriously, though.
Was this movie ever going to end?
Chloe plastered a smile on her face, turning to face the actress. "Paige. Always a pleasure."
"So, how was your Spring Break, Chloe?" Paige began, her conversational tone deceptive in its objective. "I expected to see you in Cabo. Imagine my surprise when…" she shrugged. "Nothing."
Chloe drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Her smile stayed polite but stiffened. "I had other plans."
"Pity you couldn't join us," Paige drawled, flicking a finger through her curly hair. "It really was paradise." She sighed theatrically. "The sand, the sun, and Beca in a bikini?" Paige leered. "So much…delicious skin."
Chloe could feel her hackles rise, and she fought to keep her composure. Chloe had always been the type of person to give people the benefit of the doubt, to truly avoid bearing ill will towards others…
…But something about Paige Daniels inherently wormed its way under her skin.
Chloe smiled tightly. "Well, it's nothing we both haven't seen before," she remarked flippantly, trying to make light of Paige's words.
Paige hummed, her green eyes sparkling with malevolent intent. "Oh, yeah," she practically purred. "That body of hers. For a tiny little thing, she knows how to work it. And I'm sure you know, Beca is the best kisser." Paige bit her lip. "I forgot how good those lips felt, and that talented tongue…" she shivered. "I needed that reminder."
Chloe's gaze narrowed. The innuendo was quite clear in Paige's tone and mannerism. And as hard as she labored otherwise, it ate at her resolve. She had the utmost confidence in Beca's indifference towards Paige Daniels, but she couldn't help but allow that irritation, aggravating, niggling modicum of doubt to creep into her subconscious.
Paige smirked, knowing full-well that her words had an effect on the other woman. She flipped her hair, flouncing away with one last shot over her shoulder. "But, like I said, pity you weren't in Cabo…"
Chloe's jaw tightened as she watched Paige's departure. Her eyes watched the actress, and she could feel her shoulders tensing.
Paige.
Freakin'.
Daniels.
xxx-xxx-xxx
Aubrey paced the rehearsal room, hands wringing and mumbling to herself. She went over what she was going to say to the girls, what she was going to emphasize and what she was going to cover. She likened it to how she would eventually talk to a jury in an opening and closing statement.
She could do this.
…Right?
Aubrey glanced up as the girls started to trickle in, chatting excitedly. It made Aubrey smile to know they were just as excited as she was in this new development. She ushered them into the seats. Chloe shuffled in last, and Aubrey cocked her head at the stormy look adorning her best friend's face. She looked to her watch, her eyes flicking towards the door. Beca was still yet to arrive, but Aubrey shrugged it off. The DJ didn't need to be here for this part of the meeting.
She looked at the white board where the past Bellas pictures were displayed, a constant reminder of the groups that had come before them. Her resolve weakened for a scant moment. Her eyes zeroed in on Margo's face.
God, it would have been sweet, sweet vindication if she would…
No, Posen, she chastised herself. This is no time for doubt, no time for hesitation. This change was necessary.
Aubrey turned back to the group. "Ladies, the aca-gods have smiled upon us!" she enthused, practically bouncing with excitement. "We've been given this amazing second chance to really show them what the Bellas are about!"
"But we're not, are we?"
Aubrey paused, eyes snapping to Chloe. "Aca-scuse me?"
The same sullen, stormy look had not left Chloe's face. "Things aren't going to be any different," Chloe repeated. "It's going to be the same setlist, same costumes, same everything…same Bellas."
Aubrey opened her mouth to respond. "Actually–"
But there was no stopping Chloe Beale. She was on a roll, and she had been holding this in since the start of the year. That frustration combined with her latest encounter with Paige Daniels, combined with the aggravation she felt over her own shortcomings simmered, and with this latest revelation, finally spilled over to its boiling point.
"Oh, no!" Chloe barked, her hand slashing through the air. "You've been talking over me since the day we met. It's my turn to have a say! It's my turn to have a voice." Her foot placed firmly on the ground, Chloe continued her rant. "I mean, seriously, Aubrey? Do you like being the laughingstock of the a cappella community? Do you like being on Bumper's radar nonstop?"
Aubrey's eyes widened, and she fought to keep her composure. Her gaze darted to the entrance of the rehearsal room, wondering what was taking Beca so long. She could honestly use some backup right about now.
It seemed as though Chloe was itching for a fight, and those vivid blue eyes were flashing with aggressive fury.
"Because let me tell you, Aubrey, it's getting to the point where I don't. I'm starting to dread putting on that stupid stewardess uniform and watching people fall asleep during our performances. You say it's all for tradition? Fuck tradition!"
"Now wait just a second!" Aubrey barked, her hands thrust on her hips. "I admit that I may have gotten a little carried away with my mission of vindication, but I am not going to apologize for trying to keep the Bella way alive." She advanced on Chloe. "That was the way that brought us together, Chloe. If you remember, you and I both bought into that way back in freshman year."
"Whoa, there, Sheilas!" Amy appeared between the two, keeping them at arms' length. "Cool down, now. This is happy news…Let's not get nasty…"
Even with Amy between them, the two senior Bellas continued their battle, undaunted with the Tasmanian's presence blocking them from one another.
"Yeah, I bought into that back then," Chloe conceded, "but I'm pretty sure after losing every year for the past three years, I woke up to the fact that it just doesn't work! Dammit, Aubrey, I'm tired of being second fiddle to the Trebles."
"Well, so am I!" Aubrey barked.
"So why haven't we changed?" Chloe retorted. "I want to be different! I'm tired of having Margo's shadow hovering over us! She's not here anymore. You and I don't have to be her little puppets. These aren't her Bellas! These are our Bellas!"
Aubrey leaned forward, unconcerned with Amy's forearm pushing her back. "I know that!"
"So why the hell are we are we still sticking with our setlist?"
"Sorry I'm late I got caught up when–" Beca halted as she took in the chaos. Aubrey and Chloe were nose to nose, bickering loudly, barely held apart by Amy in the middle. The other Bellas were voicing their own displeasure from the outside. Beca cocked an eyebrow, rolling her eyes. Of course nothing would be easy. Making a circle with her thumb and forefinger, she braced them between her lips and blew out sharply. A high-pitched whistle burst forth. In hindsight, she could have just used her Barden-issued rape whistle, but Beca was honestly a bit frightened of the potential consequences.
The Bellas halted, all turning their attention to the entrance. Beca smirked, arms crossing over her chest.
"Geeze, Posen," she drawled. "You really know how to command a room."
Cynthia Rose spoke first. They all looked pretty exhausted from the emotional confrontation. "Beca? What are you doing here?"
Beca cocked her head. "Aubrey asked me back." She shot the blonde a wry look. "We're re-doing the setlist and putting a little DJ Lady B flavor into it." The announcement was met with cheers, and Beca's eyebrows furrowed as she looked up at Aubrey.
"Didn't you tell them?"
"That's what I was trying to explain before someone decided to jump down my throat," Aubrey snapped, eyes burning holes through Chloe.
The redhead flushed. "Aca-oops," she mumbled sheepishly.
"Wait," Amy cut in. "So, just like that?" She looked from Aubrey to Beca and back to Aubrey. "After all of that, everything's peachy keen?"
Aubrey sighed. "Look, guys, I know I've been hard on you all, and I know I've been stubborn." She shrugged helplessly. "I guess I thought I was doing the right thing for all of us. It turns out the right thing isn't necessarily what I've been doing this whole time."
She guided them all to the seats again, standing before her team, Beca beside her.
"You guys really opened up my eyes during Semis, and Beca and I have been talking." The blonde glanced towards Beca who shot her an encouraging look. "I've been made aware of certain…facts. I think she is the key to taking us to the next level." Aubrey drew the blue Bellas pitch pipe from the pocket of her jeans, passing it to Beca. "The truth is, I don't know what to do with you all. Your talents are completely beyond what I'm capable of. But they aren't beyond Beca, so I'm willing to have her take the reins on this."
All eyes turned to Beca who nodded. "And I promise I'm in this one hundred-percent. You won't have to worry about me quitting. It wasn't cool walking out on you guys at Semis." She dropped her head in concession. "I'm sorry."
"We should've stuck up for you more," Cynthia Rose interjected, gesturing to the rest of the Bellas. The girls nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, we pushed you to make the new arrangement," Amy added. "We're just as at fault as you are if not more."
"Well, we don't have to worry about that," Aubrey promised. "It's going to be all of us, together." Aubrey looked to each girl in turn, her eyes settling on Chloe's. "Everyone is going to have a say."
"So what about the Bella tradition and all that?" Stacie ventured. "I mean, not all of it was bad." She shrugged. "I liked being a part of something, knowing it goes back so far."
"You're right," Aubrey agreed. "Not all of the Bella tradition is bad. But I tried to force you guys into the mold when you didn't really fit." She shrugged. "And it's not a bad thing. We can still be Bellas; we just don't have to be those Bellas," she gestured to the pictures of the past teams. "We can be ourselves. Our Bellas." She cast a glance to Beca.
"So, Beca," Aubrey leveled a serious glance to the DJ. "What do we do?"
Beca merely smiled.
xxx-xxx-xxx
They returned to the rehearsal room with an air of triumph about them. With Chloe assuring them she was good to take the lead despite her surgery, Beca had taken Aubrey's suggestion and led them in a rendition of Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are", mashing it up with Nelly's "Just a Dream". There had been a moment during the mash-up, right as Beca led into the chorus of "Just a Dream" where her eyes met Chloe's.
It had taken her back to their very first meeting when those vivid blue eyes leveled on hers as they harmonized in a shower stall. She remembered those baby blues piercing through her, remembered how it stirred something in her. The connection was still there, there was no denying it and hearing Chloe's sweet, lilting timbre burst forward without the hindrance of pain was something that had a pang ricocheting around the walls of her heart.
As the girls began to pack up their things, Chloe sidled up to Beca. Hesitantly, she reached out, laying a tentative hand on Beca's arm. Her breath hitched as Beca's navy blue gaze leveled steadily on hers. There wasn't that sparkle of intense fury that had occupied the DJ's eyes every time Beca looked at Chloe. Instead, there was a glint of acquiescent resignation.
Chloe wasn't sure what was worse.
"Can we talk?"
Beca considered the notion, her head tilting in deliberation. Chloe could see the wheels turning in the other woman's mind as she very clearly weighed the pros and cons of accepting. Chloe's eyes widened infinitesimally as she placed the most innocent, most pleading expression on her face. She entreated Beca silently, willing her to comply, knowing that no matter the circumstance, no matter Beca's current mood, the smaller woman was particularly susceptible to that look.
Sure enough Beca crumbled and softened, nodded almost wearily. Chloe tried to not to let her potent relief show.
"Sure."
They moved to the bleachers, taking a seat on the chairs. A couple beats of uncomfortable silence passed before Chloe offered the first bit of conversation.
"So how was your break?"
Beca's mouth opened then closed as she quite obviously warred with herself. The hesitation caused a rather sobering thought to flash through Chloe's mind. Something happened during those ten days that Beca didn't want to divulge. And Chloe had a sinking feeling that it had something to do with sex. Beca's cheeks pinked, and she squeaked out a response, her eyes darting around the rehearsal room.
"Fine…" She shrugged. "Cabo was excellent." She looked down to her hands, twisting the group of bracelets around her left wrist. "I got to forget about things for a while."
Chloe swallowed hard. "And did you?" She was a bit scared of the answer, to be honest.
Beca huffed out a short laugh, shoulders hunching to her ears as her eyes flicked upward. Slowly, her head shook back and forth, and she spoke as though she was still working it out for herself.
"I don't think that was possible." Her head ducked down to her chest. "And believe me, I tried."
"Ouch," Chloe mumbled.
Beca scrunched a hand through her hair. She fiddled with the ring around her thumb. "I didn't mean it as a dig."
"I deserved it," Chloe offered, a pained expression on her face.
Beca shrugged. "Maybe. But we're adults," she conceded, "and holding a grudge is stupid."
Well, if Beca was being mature about it, so could she. Chloe sighed in submission. "It wasn't stupid. You had a good reason."
Beca shrugged again, not responding. "How about you?" she asked, venturing back into safe territory. "How was your break?"
This time was Chloe's turn to shrug. "Not as exciting as yours, I'd imagine," she remarked. "Just hung around the house. But Carson's home," Chloe commented. "For good now. He's going to Boston University's law school in the fall."
Beca nodded. "Cool."
Chloe blew out a slow, leaking breath, gathering her thoughts and calming herself before speaking. "Beca, I want to apologize."
Beca didn't respond, only listened as Chloe continued, spilling everything out.
"While I was home, I thought a lot about things, and I thought a lot about you."
Beca looked to Chloe, seeing the redhead miles away, as though the conversation wasn't just between the two of them.
"Things happened in my past," Chloe revealed. "And it really influenced the way I handle stuff now."
"What things?" Beca ventured.
Chloe's mouth opened then closed. She hung her head. "It's…hard to talk about," she mumbled. Her eyes pleaded for understanding. Beca nodded slowly. That part of the story would come in time. She leaned back against the seats, her eyes drifting up towards the ceiling.
"Look, Chloe, you hurt me," Beca answered honestly. "I didn't like the way I felt when you did what you did."
"How did you feel?"
"Helpless," Beca remarked. "Like I had no control of anything. Like my emotions weren't my own." Her head shook slowly from side to side. "I really didn't like it."
Chloe inhaled slowly and exhaled just as languidly. "Beca…" She paused, trying to organize her thoughts. Finally, she deflated, shaking her head in defeat.
"I miss you."
A corner of Beca's mouth twitched ruefully. It was as though someone had completely let all the air out of her. There was no more fight, no more aggression, no more vindictive abhorrence…just begrudging compliance. She looked tired.
Beca scrunched a hand through her hair. She glanced sideways to Chloe, seeing those big, baby blues filling her vision. The revelation struck her between the eyes. She had tried to forget Chloe.
The truth was that there was no forgetting Chloe Beale.
And in that moment, she truly knew what it was to lose ones heart.
She didn't respond, merely fixed a determined stare to her boots.
Chloe stood slowly. "I have to go, but can we talk?" she asked. "Later?"
Beca nodded. "Yeah."
Chloe smiled and gathered her things. Her hand reached out, hesitantly coming to rest on Beca's shoulder. "I'll stop by your place."
There was so much more Chloe wanted to do, and inwardly, she warred with herself. Her heart and mind were screaming at her to simply grab the DJ and kiss her into submission of the potent emotions and tension that still lingered between them. Her body could still feel the vibration of electricity that manifested itself with a simple touch.
But the greater sensible part of her subconscious berated her to see reason. To pressure Beca into a resolution too quickly would certainly send her stumbling ass over tit backwards in the haste of her retreat. That would push her further away.
So, Chloe took the difficult but correct course of action.
With a squeeze to Beca's shoulder, she turned and walked away.
xxx-xxx-xxx
Aubrey took a seat beside Beca as the DJ settled on the bench of the piano and plunked out a random set of notes. Beca's face was unreadable as it bowed over the black and white keys.
"That looked encouraging," she remarked.
Beca grunted, knowing what Aubrey was referencing, and her shoulders hunched to her ears. "Dunno."
Aubrey's eyebrows quirked upward in amusement. "Beca, you can't hold this grudge forever. Chloe's personality won't allow it."
Beca chuckled, knowing the truth in Aubrey's words. For as much hurt still resided in the shallow recesses of her immediate emotions, Chloe's vibrant, effervescent nature would find their way past the intricate alleys of Beca's heart to the core.
"I know." Beca sighed, shaking her head minutely. "I just…I need to hold onto this for just a little while longer. Just to make myself feel like it was worth it." She tapped at the keys. "It still hurts, you know. And not just my heart."
Aubrey nodded with sympathy. "I'm sure it does. It's not easy for her to talk about the past, you know. Especially not this part."
Beca's navy blue eyes swept up and down the blonde. Her mouth opened before her mind implored her to reconsider. Beca paused, clearly struggling with herself over whether or not to push the issue. A frustrated grunt expelled from Beca's lungs as she ducked her head, running her hands through her hair in exasperation, and a barely audible "Fuck it," burst from her lips. Eyes steeled with resolve, they lofted back up to Aubrey. "You know why, right?"
Aubrey nodded.
Beca considered that for a moment. "Is it really that bad?" she ventured. "I mean, am I gonna feel like a jackass for holding onto my pride and prolonging it?"
Aubrey sighed, worrying her lip. "I mean, it's pretty bad," she admitted. "Once she tells you, you'll certainly understand, but it still doesn't really condone what Chloe did."
Beca sighed, nodding in begrudging acceptance.
Aubrey cocked her head. "Can I give you some advice?"
Beca snorted. "Sure."
"'It is better to lose your pride with someone you love rather than to lose that someone you love with your useless pride'," Aubrey recited.
Beca huffed. "I didn't know the doctrines of John Ruskin made his way into the realm of Barden's PoliSci curriculum."
Aubrey's mouth dropped in surprise. "How did you know…?" She caught the expectant eyebrow raise. "Right," she grumbled. "You picked it up somewhere."
Beca grinned.
"I took a couple of Art History classes," Aubrey divulged. "It was a little rebellion of mine. I knew my dad would hate it."
"You maverick, you."
"He's right, you know," Aubrey remarked softly.
"Yeah…" Beca drawled. Her hands settled on the keys of the piano. They started to form actual melodies rather than random notes. "But idealism is only in theory. Execution is a whole different story."
Aubrey's head tilted as she observed Beca. "You are strangely profound, you know that?"
Beca chuckled with a shrug, still idly playing, switching effortlessly from song to song. Aubrey watched her curiously, picking up strands of Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me", Sarah McLachlan's "Angel", and One Republic's, "Apologize".
"How long have you been playing?"
"Since I was a kid," Beca answered. "My mom loved all types of music." Beca smiled fondly. "She imparted her love and knowledge onto me. It was our way of coping with my dad never being around. My stepdad's father taught me how to really play." Beca's smile softened with fondness. "He told me, 'Bug'," Beca's voice lowered and roughened to mimic Jed's gruff timbre. "'There are two things in life that will forever make a woman swoon: a big penis and being able to play a musical instrument really, really well. Now since you obviously ain't got one, we're gonna have make you really, really, really good at the other.'"
Aubrey laughed.
Beca hummed. "He's awesome. The type of guy who just has a wealth of life experience and knowledge, you know?"
Her fingers danced across the keys in a recognizable introduction to a classic eighties song. Aubrey smiled softly, her eyes closing as she started swaying.
"I love this song," she sighed.
Beca grinned. She watched the blonde lose herself in the music. She encouraged Aubrey with a nod, her grin softening as Aubrey's light voice accompanied the piano.
Lying in my bed
I hear the clock tick and think of you
Caught up in circles
Confusion is nothing new
Flashback, warm nights
Almost left behind
Suitcases of memories,
Time after
Sometimes you picture me
I'm walking too far ahead
You're calling to me
I can't hear what you've said
There was something raw in Aubrey's voice. It was intriguing to Beca. Normally, the blonde captain was so reserved, so controlled, so precise. But in this moment, it was Aubrey laid bare through song. This was Aubrey without rigid mores, without expectations, without the stifling straightjacket that was their normal performance standards.
She watched Aubrey's eyes drift closed, the senior Bella losing herself in the melody and the music. This Aubrey wasn't concerned with perfection or the pressures of competition. This Aubrey was just singing.
And it was glorious.
Then you say, "Go slow"
I fall behind
The second hand unwinds
If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time
Just as Beca was watching Aubrey, the blonde did the same. Her eyes and ears picked up on the subtle cues Beca was sending her towards the cadence and the tempo of their rendition. A piercing green stare observed long, thin fingers caress the keys lovingly, her mouth curved in a tender smile.
There wasn't any sheet music in front of Beca. She was doing this entirely from memory. It was though Beca was simply instinctive in flowing with the music and Aubrey's cadence of singing.
As the song wound down, Aubrey recalled Chloe commenting on what singing with Beca was like. Chloe had called it a connection of the most intense kind. According to the other senior Bella, the sensation like Beca had reached into her mind, pulling out the musical part of her brain and telepathically linking them together. It was as though Beca just knew how to perfectly complement Chloe, and experiencing this, Aubrey was definitely starting to believe.
If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Beca let the final notes ring though the rehearsal room, and with a grin, she patted the keys fondly.
"Before I had all of that equipment, it was just me and a piano." She smiled. "Sometimes you just have to go back to the basics."
"Back to the basics," Aubrey repeated. She drew in a determined breath, eyes flashing with intent. "Okay, then. What's the first step?"
Beca grinned. "Well, we have to see exactly what we've got." She smirked. "I have a distinct feeling there's a lot we can work with, we just have to let the girls shine."
Aubrey cocked her head. "Like?"
Beca smirked. "Have you ever heard Lilly beatbox? She's pretty amazing."
Aubrey's mouth dropped. "Lilly can beatbox?"
Beca chuckled. "Look, all I'm saying is that we have a lot of pieces in place, and working together with a new arrangement is going to really bring out the best in what we have." She squared up to the senior. "We're gonna do great. I promise."
Aubrey cocked an eyebrow at Beca's confidence. "You really think so?"
Beca's half-smirk appeared. For once, it wasn't as irritating to Aubrey as it normally was. She nodded shortly.
The two surveyed one another. Beca held out her palm. "Let's do this."
Aubrey nodded, determination clear in her clear green eyes. She met Beca in the middle, grasping the offered hand. And like a legendary group before them, sealed their pact with a handshake.
xxx-xxx-xxx
Aubrey and Beca had reached an understanding. Their utmost priority was to revamp the setlist and arrange the songs they would be working with. But, inevitably, two very strong forces of nature were bound to butt heads…and Chloe was unfortunately stuck in the middle.
For as much as they were sure this partnership was going to work…
…It also had the possibility of complete and utter implosion.
"Expand your mind, Posen!" Beca barked, hands firmly planted on her hips.
"There will not be rapping in the arrangement, Mitchell," Aubrey screeched in return, her finger thrust forward with indignation. We will not defame the Bella tradition and a cappella with that drivel! It's bad enough the Trebles do it!"
Chloe watched from the couch, her head following the fencing match between Aubrey and Beca. She had already given her two-cents about the matter, but it was up to Beca and Aubrey to duel it out over what they were eventually going to decide on.
"Why the hell not?" Beca retorted, throwing her arms in the air. "That would be the last thing the judges expect from us! Especially from an all-girl group. Have you ever heard Cynthia Rose's flow? It's excellent!"
"It's shock factor," Aubrey argued hotly. "It's a gimmick, and I won't allow it to compromise our musicality!"
"Who says it will?" Beca countered. "We're layering the rap over vocals. It'll be…" Her argument was cut off by the sharp, shrill cadence of Beca's ringtone. The DJ glanced to the device, frowning when she recognized the number. Holding a finger up to Aubrey, she swiped her thumb across the screen.
"Beca Mitchell." Beca cocked her head. "Uh…oh…okay." She shook her head. "No, that's good news. I would have loved a little warning, and I know Jules wanted in on this record as well." She recoiled in surprise. "What do you mean Jules is already there?" Beca rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine, I'll be there as soon as I can." She started gathering up her things. "Alright, alright…bye."
"Where are you going?"
Beca pointed at her phone. "That was my record label. I've been trying to schedule time with an artist to finish up his next album, but things have been hectic. He got married late last year, and had a sort of existential epiphany concerning his career and where he wanted to go with it." Beca rolled her eyes fondly. "Luckily, he's down South to visit people, and he carved out some time to meet with me to finish up a couple of tracks."
"What about the setlist?"
Beca sighed. "Look, Aubrey, it's obvious we're kinda stuck. Neither of us are gonna bend on this. Why don't we take a break and come back to it. Hopefully, we can come back with clear minds and can make some headway." With that, she breezed out the door, leaving Chloe and Aubrey gazing after her.
"How does anyone work with her?" Aubrey raged, pacing in front of Chloe, her hands thrown into the air. "She is completely obstinate! There's no compromising with her!"
Chloe cocked an eyebrow. "Aubrey, you asked her for help," she reminded the blonde. "You have to be open to the idea that she actually know what she's talking about. That everything she is telling you actually might have some merit."
Aubrey huffed out a snort. "Look, I get it, she's some badass DJ and producer. But Chloe, this is a cappella."
"Aubrey, it's music," Chloe shot back.
"Yeah, yeah, and Beca knows music." Aubrey blew out a deep breath. "I just don't get her," she groaned. "Like her brain is just…beyond my comprehension."
Chloe smiled. "You can't just put Beca in a little box," she remarked. "She kind of defies definition."
"Yeah, but if I don't understand her, how am I supposed to be able to work with her?" Aubrey asked.
Chloe paused. That was a good point. She thought about that for a moment, tapping her pen against her lips. Chloe sighed. "I guess if anyone would get Beca more than anyone, it would be Jesse. He's known her since they were kids."
Aubrey's nose wrinkled at the idea of going to a Treble for help. She shot a pleading look to Chloe.
The redhead giggled, cocking an eyebrow. "How much are you willing to sacrifice for this win, Bree?"
Aubrey sighed. How much, indeed?
xxx-xxx-xxx
Much to her everlasting chagrin, Aubrey complied and found herself in front of the campus radio station. She looked up at the dark, rundown structure with trepidation. With a hefty sigh and a determined square of her shoulders, she opened the door and stepped inside.
An empty desk was the first sight that greeted her, piled high with files. A short set of stairs led down to the main floor. It was even more dark and gloomy inside, the brightest light coming from the booth in the center of the room. Shelves of records lined perimeter and even more could be seen on the upper floor.
It seemed to be empty.
"Hello?"
Jesse Evans's head popped out from the shelves along the second floor. He leaned over the railing. "Hey."
Aubrey glanced up, eyeing him dubiously.
He shot out a wide grin, descending down to the main floor. "Can I help you?"
"I don't know." She looked suspiciously at him. He was a Treble. That was all that needed to be said.
As if he read her mind, Jesse's eyebrows shot skyward, and he lofted his hands as he approached. "Whoa, there. I come in peace."
Aubrey sighed. "Sorry, habit."
Jesse smiled wryly. "I bet. I don't really blame you. Bumper has your class schedule memorized. Just so he can randomly show up to mess with you."
Aubrey wrinkled her nose. "That doesn't surprise me."
"So what brings you here?"
Aubrey's shoulders slumped as she scanned her gaze skyward. "I don't know."
Jesse's lips curved into another lopsided smile. "Look, Aubrey, I'm not the most perceptive person ever, but even I know that's not entirely true." He patted the desk in the center of the room laden down with various mediums of music. "Plus, no one comes to the station 'just because'."
Aubrey took that as his word. She clambered onto the wooden surface, rearranging her cardigan sweater and crossing her long legs primly.
Jesse's mouth curved into his goofy, lopsided half-smile. "So, what's on your mind?"
Aubrey twirled her class ring around her long finger. "Beca," she sighed.
Jesse chuckled. "Really?" His head tilted curiously. "That's interesting."
Aubrey's gaze grew hard, and she leveled a sharp, fierce gaze Jesse's way. "I assume you have the foresight and the prudence to keep this between us and not to whisper a single word to that dicklick you call a captain?"
Jesse chuckled, lofting three fingers. "I swear on my three weeks as a Boy Scout," he vowed. Sobering, he shook his head. "But seriously, I've had a loyalty to Beca since way before Barden and definitely way before this dumb Trebles/Bellas rivalry. Your secret's safe with me."
Aubrey scrutinized him closely before nodded. "Alright." She readied herself, easing into her mission. "You've known Beca for a long time, right? You know her pretty well?"
"Beca and I have been friends since we were kids," Jesse affirmed. "I think aside from her family, no one knows her as well as I do."
Aubrey grunted. "And was she as obstinate and infuriating as she is now?"
Jesse laughed. At the look on Aubrey's face, he waved a hand. "No, I'm not laughing at you."
Aubrey huffed indignantly.
"No, really, I'm not," he promised. Jesse shook his head. "You think it's hard trying to figure her out now? When she's already an adult and secure in who she is? How about trying to do so when she was a kid and still trying to pin down her identity."
Aubrey absorbed that for a long moment. "So how did you figure her out?"
Jesse smiled fondly as he shrugged. "Look, Beca Mitchell is infinitely complicated," he remarked. "To define her is like trying to catch air. You just accept that it's there and it exists but you can't cup it in your hand and show it to people. It's same thing with Beca. Her mind works differently, and she doesn't conduct herself like other girls. You just have to go with it."
Aubrey nodded slowly. "I guess it's just hard to see her as this famous music producer," she admitted. "I mean, it's…" she struggled to find a fitting description, finally settling with the succinct, "Beca."
Jesse nodded. "For sure. That's kind of the cool thing about her. There are certain people that you know are famous because they play up the whole celebrity thing. With Beca, it's different. DJ Lady B and Beca Mitchell are two very separate entities."
Aubrey huffed out her exasperation. "Okay, I get that. Maybe I just can't get past Beca Mitchell to get to DJ Lady B."
Jesse thought about that for a long moment. He could understand that dilemma; he had gone through the same thing. Jesse perked up with an idea. "You know what? You should watch The Breakfast Club," he suggested.
Aubrey's head tilted at the strange request. "Aca-scuse me?"
"Just trust me," Jesse implored her. "Watch the ending of The Breakfast Club. Then Beca will make a lot more sense to you."
It was an odd request, but Aubrey found herself nodding in acquiescence. She wasn't quite sure what the John Hughes classic had to do with Beca Mitchell, but with the way Jesse was gazing at her with barely-contained enthusiasm with a glint of self-satisfaction, she did something she had never, ever done before.
She went in with blind faith.
xxx-xxx-xxx
Aubrey wasn't quite sure why she obliged Jesse, but she did. Hours later in the comfort of her room, propped up on her pillows, her laptop on her knees. The young faces forever preserved in time of Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, and Anthony Michael Hall stared at her from her screen.
She watched a young Anthony Michael Hall, playing his immortal character of Brian Johnson, sitting alone at the long table, shoulders hunched to his ears, eyes gazing out into space. The pencil in his hand wiggled idly as he contemplated the words to put down on the lined paper. She could see the thoughts whirling through his head. This was his chance to make a lasting impression on Mr. Vernon, his one chance to use his brains in a rare moment of rebellion.
Aubrey straightened as Mr. Vernon strode into the library, picking up the letter Brian wrote. Aubrey's head tilted as the voiceover recited the words on the paper.
Dear Mr. Vernon:
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain and an athlete and a basket case. A princess and a criminal.
Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours,
The Breakfast Club
Aubrey thought about that line.
"You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions."
It stuck with her. That notion niggled at her mind, worming through the crevices.
The simplest terms.
The most convenient of definitions.
Aubrey leaned back against her pillows, thinking about that for a moment. She understood why Jesse told her to watch the film.
The simplest terms.
The most convenient of definitions.
Yup, that was her perception of Beca since the beginning. She remembered talking with Chloe that first day at the activities fair. When Chloe had pointed out Beca for an audition, Aubrey had looked, and what she found, she had immediately judged.
As she set her sights on Chloe's prospect, all Aubrey could see was the girl's careless slouch, the heavily lined eyes, the tattoos crawling up and down her arms, and the piercings lining the shell of her ears. The rakish half-smirk aggravated her on principle. The devil-may-care attitude, barely tempered with quick wit, conveyed such disdain towards the Bellas and a cappella that Aubrey couldn't help but rise up in defense for her beloved group and traditional way of thinking. Beca's lackadaisical approach and demeanor had raised Aubrey's hackles from the beginning and had placed Beca firmly in the antagonist category in the greater scheme of things. Regardless of what Beca said, Aubrey treated it like a challenge. It was just the way things were.
In the simplest of terms, Beca Mitchell was 'the alt girl'. In the most convenient of definitions, Beca was their rebel-without-a-cause, the girl who disdained the Bella tradition and wasn't afraid to say so.
And that was all Aubrey could see her as.
To be honest, none of the new Bellas fit. Had Margo been around, every single one of the new girls would have been picked apart one way or the other. However, the other girls could be wrestled, shoved, cajoled and wrangled into the nice, little Bella box. Beca, on the other hand, adamantly and vocally refused to be shoved into their nice box, crossing her arms like a petulant, tenacious child and shaking her head in obstinacy. Aubrey wouldn't have doubted that Beca probably would have kicked the Bella box for spite had she really pushed for the DJ to 'be' a Bella. It was that derision of their tradition that had driven Aubrey to see Beca in that confrontational light. And that lack of respect for the Bella way was what irked Aubrey the most.
Aubrey didn't like disorder. And Beca Mitchell was the epitome of uncontrollable chaos.
She returned her attention back to the movie, watching as John Bender sauntered across the football field, one fist thrust over his head in triumph as the Simple Minds' song sounded over the credits.
Don't you forget about me.
Don't you forget about me…
Aubrey shot straight up, breathing out in delight. "That's it…" She fumbled for her phone, scrolling through her contacts until she found the right name.
"Beca Mitchell."
"Beca! I know what song we can use to tie it all together. It's perfect. Old school and nostalgic and absolutely perfect. The judges and the audience are going to love it. We can–"
"Seriously, woman?!" Beca growled when Aubrey had to pause and take a breath. "I appreciate that we're trying to work in blissful harmony and all, but I am not at your beck and call! You're not paying me to do this!"
"Fine!" Aubrey conceded with a pout. She thought for a moment, offering out a solution. "Can I stop by the studio?"
Beca sighed, knowing Aubrey had that tone that indicated she was not going to be denied. "Hang on." There was some unintelligible murmuring over the phone before Beca returned. "Yeah. Damon's gonna pick you up."
xxx-xxx-xxx
Aubrey forced her features into a façade of nonchalance. She tempered down the urge to swivel her head, taking in the lavish surroundings of the studio she was being ushered through. She had been in a recording studio before, but not one of this magnitude of extravagance. She tried not to peek into the different rooms, but she nearly fainted at the caliber of talent she spotted in some of the different booths.
Damon brought her to the very last room in the corner and poked his head in. Moments later, the door opened and Beca stepped out.
The DJ looked even more disheveled than usual, her unkempt hair poking through a slouchy beanie, her makeup doing nothing to hide the bags beneath her eyes. Beca seemed to vibrate where she stood, shifting anxiously from foot to foot.
Aubrey frowned as she took in the constant wringing of Beca's hands, the fingers constantly tugging or twisting the various pieces of jewelry adorning her wrists and fingers. "You're twitchy…"
Beca shrugged, wringing her hands. "One too many Red Bulls."
"That doesn't sound healthy," Aubrey remarked.
"It's not," Beca answered blithely. "But it's a necessary evil." She tapped the side of her head. "The body needs to able to keep with the mind."
Aubrey nodded slowly, not quite sure she agreed with Beca's chosen method of synchronizing the two, but she shrugged it off.
"So, I have an idea what could be our central song," she began.
Beca nodded. "Sounds good. You'll have to wait though." She hitched a thumb back into the room. "I'm on a time crunch here, and we've got to get this done." She trailed off as the door opened, and her current artist stepped out.
Aubrey's eyes widened as she took in six-feet of nineties, boy band legend. His face had once dominated the walls of her childhood bedroom. The once iconic curly mop of hair was shorn down, and his baby face was now chiseled to manly planes and decorated with a fine dusting of scruff. Justin Timberlake was like a fine wine: he got better with age.
And he was currently standing right in front of her.
He turned his blue eyes to Beca, hitching a thumb towards the doors. "Hey, B, you mind if we take a second? I just got a call from the lady."
Beca smiled, nodding. "No, that's fine. We'll take five. Do me a favor and tell everyone?"
He nodded shortly, thumbs already working on the screen of his phone. "That works."
Aubrey's eyes followed his exit, mouth opening and closing soundlessly. "That was…"
Beca chuckled and nodded in response.
"Ohmigod, he's like my ultimate celebrity crush," Aubrey breathed out. "From way back to his 'N Sync days." She bit her lip. "Would it be, like, weird if I asked if I could touch him?"
Beca smirked. "Just a little bit. But I'm sure he's heard weirder." She crossed her arms, canting her head insolently. "Believe me now?"
Aubrey's mouth opened and closed as she fought for words. Finally, she exhaled. "Geeze, you were serious."
"Dixie Chick serious," Beca drawled in confirmation. She hitched a thumb towards the booth. "You want to hang around and see how it all works?"
"Really?"
Beca nodded with a shrug. "Sure. Why not?"
"I won't be in the way?"
A flash of emotion hit Beca's features before they disappeared behind her normal half-smirk. She shook her head. "Nope." A twinkle flashed through her eyes. "Just keep the squealing to a minimum though."
Aubrey's nose tilted upward. "I'll have you know, Beca, Aubrey Posen does not squeal."
Beca merely smirked as Justin reappeared, tucking his phone back into his jeans. He grinned as he came to a stop in front of Beca.
"We ready?"
Beca nodded in concession. "Ready when you are." Beca gestured to the senior Bella practically vibrating beside her. "Justin, this is my friend Aubrey, she's gonna hang around and see how we work if that's alright."
Justin nodded. "That's fine with me." He turned his heart-stopping grin to the blonde. "Hi, nice to meet you."
Aubrey merely squeaked, tittering girlishly, unable to string together a succession of words for a coherent sentence. As Justin disappeared back into the room, Aubrey whirled to Beca, bouncing on the balls of her feet, hands waving in front of her face. "Ohmigod, he said hi to me!"
Beca's eyebrow shot skyward at the display. "You were saying?"
"Shut up."
xxx-xxx-xxx
Seeing Beca work was a revelation. The moment she returned to the control room, she had ignored Aubrey, focusing all of her attention to the artist in the booth. The petite brunette completely commanded the room, effortlessly instructing her co-workers and the boy band legend. What shocked Aubrey the most, however, was the manner she treated one Justin Timberlake. For the most part, Beca was playfully cajoling, but there were times she was very much quick to challenge her fellow Grammy-winner.
"C'mon, Timberlake, don't be a wimp! Reach for that high note!"
"No, I like that tempo, but watch your falsetto. You want to keep it steady without too much vibrato. Stay mellow."
"Yikes. Yeah, diction sucked on that one. I think you slurred every other word."
Justin slapped a palm over his heart, staggering slightly. "Rough, B!"
Beca chuckled, her arms crossed over the mixing board. She shrugged. "Just trying to make you sound good, Pretty Boy. They're only distracted by your looks until you open your mouth."
A laugh sounded from inside the booth, and Aubrey was astonished when he nodded with a wide grin.
"Hey, can't argue with that."
Clearing his throat and taking a swig of water, he tried again, and his smooth, silky voice soared through the sound system.
Aubrey watched Beca. Her eyes were down to the mixing board, and her head was bobbing to the beat. She seemed to be listening intently, fingers fiddling with various dials and levers to produce the best possible sound.
As the last notes faded, Beca cut the tape and waved him back into the control booth. Rolling over to the computer she layered the vocals with the music. A couple of keystrokes and a click of her mouse, and the song boomed out from the speakers.
It was a hypnotizing effect as the entire room began to unconsciously bob to the beat. Aubrey heard some of the chatter around the room, all enthusiastic and proclaiming the track perfect. Even Justin looked thrilled at what he was hearing. Aubrey's eyes fell on Beca. In contrast to the enthusiastic atmosphere, the brunette was frowning, her arms crossed, one hand cupping her chin, the fingers of her free hand tapping anxiously against the surface of the desktop.
"No."
Beca's single, uttered word cut through the jubilation, and the entire room paused. Justin sidled up to her, his head tilted in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Beca's head shook slowly back and forth. "There's something missing."
Aubrey's jaw dropped at the blatant challenge. To her surprise, Justin simply nodded.
"Okay, so what is it?"
Beca frowned. "I don't know," she admitted. Rolling to the mixing board, she grabbed her headphones, plugging them into the jack. Slipping the cups over her ears, she grabbed a notepad, playing the track.
Everyone waited silently as Beca listened, her chin cupped in her hand, eyes fixated on the screen. Idly, her pen tapped against her notepad to the beat. Aubrey surveyed her carefully. Beca's stare was unwavering, watching something on the screen, but at the same time, her ears were tuned intensely into the intricacies of the track.
Beca grunted, her head nodding in quiet triumph. She tapped a couple of commands into the program, her mouse clicking rapidly. Unplugging her earphones, she replayed the song. The change was subtle, but to the trained ears of all in the room, it made a world of a difference.
Beca smirked, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. "Now that sounds like an RIAA certification waiting to happen."
She squeaked as a muscular arm was slung around her neck, and a large palm tousled her hair. "And that is why you're the best, Mitchell." He clapped a hand on her shoulder. "We good?"
Beca checked over their work, nodding absently. "Yeah. We're good."
Justin nodded, motioning to his posse. "Awesome. I'll call you about the loose ends and things?"
Beca nodded, following him out, ushering him to the front door of the studio. She turned back to Aubrey, motioning that she would be a moment before disappearing out the doors.
Aubrey stayed in contemplative silence, her mouth twisted into a thoughtful frown. She started in surprise as a shadow fell upon her, and she glanced up to find a pretty, auburn-haired woman smiling down at her.
"We never got a chance to meet," the woman commented. She stuck out a hand. "Julianne Avery. You can call me Jules. I'm Beca's co-producer."
Aubrey accepted the offering with a firm shake. "Aubrey Posen."
Jules nodded slowly. "The captain."
Aubrey hefted a sigh. "The captain," she affirmed. "I see Beca's told you about me."
Again, Jules nodded. "Yep," she popped the 'p' with a grin. "Although, I'm pretty sure she joined your little group just to get into your ginger buddy's pants." Jules shrugged. "Hell, if some redhead hottie shanghai-ed my shower in her nudie pants, I'd follow her off a cliff, no questions asked."
"Aca-ugh!" Aubrey groaned her distaste, squeezing her eyes shut. Her hands flapped through the air in consternation. "I really don't need that visual." Opening her eyes, she deflated slightly. "I don't feel very much like a captain," she mused.
Jules shrugged. "Some people would say that the best ones don't and shouldn't." She cast a glance over to the despondent blonde. "Going for help doesn't make you a bad leader, you know."
"I was supposed to have all the answers," Aubrey refuted.
"So you don't," Jules countered. "Whatev. So you find someone who does."
"Does Beca?" Aubrey asked.
Jules grinned. "Most of the time, yeah," she remarked. "And when she doesn't, that's what I'm here for." Jules sensed Aubrey's hesitation and gestured around at the studio. "C'mon, Blondie," she entreated. "How can you doubt that idea when you see all of this? When you've heard what she's able to do?"
"I guess I just don't know Beca," Aubrey admitted. "She's such a mystery to me that it's hard to wrap my head around her sometimes."
Jules smirked. "Yeah, she really is. Sometimes even to the people who know her best."
Aubrey nodded. "And just seeing everything and actually experiencing it." She shrugged. "I don't know what I think."
"It's understandable," Jules sympathized. "Look, basically what you need to know is that with Beca, music is something beyond a passion," she explained. "It's like the essence of her very being. Her understanding of how it works is just…" Jules paused, waving her hand through the air, "beyond everyone else's."
Aubrey cocked her head. "So if she's got such a feel for music, why does she have you and everyone else working with her?"
Jules grinned. "Because there is no such thing as an absolute," she remarked. "Especially when it comes to music. Things are until they aren't, and they aren't until they are." She nudged Aubrey with a smile. "The sooner you understand that, the better off you'll be."
An elegant blonde eyebrow arched upward. "Well, that's enlightening and everything, Jules, but that doesn't help me comprehend Beca any better."
Jules's grin turned enigmatic. "Maybe that's your problem, Blondie," she remarked. "Maybe you're expecting her to fill this persona you've got in your coiffed little head. Stop thinking in black and white and start thinking in grays."
Aubrey frowned as she absorbed that notion.
Jules nudged her gently, smirking knowingly. "Good luck, Blondie."
xxx-xxx-xxx
Aubrey looked deep in thought as Jules departed. Beca entered the control room and began packing up her things. She glanced over to the blonde who seemed to be contemplating something seriously. The DJ smirked, leaning against the mixing board, arms crossed over her shoulder.
"What's on your mind?"
Aubrey frowned, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't know," she began slowly. She looked past Beca into the booth where Justin Timberlake once stood, laying down bonus tracks for his new album.
"I guess I'm just now getting a scope of how famous you are."
Beca chuckled, shrugging blithely. "Being famous is just an unfortunate byproduct."
Aubrey's eyebrows drew together. "'Unfortunate'?" she asked.
Beca nodded. "It's all about the music for me," she explained. "Sure, it's a rush to work with the people I do, but with the fame comes the aggravation as well." Beca smirked. "Being followed by paparazzi isn't all that it's cracked up to be."
"So why do it?"
Beca grinned. "Because music is everything." She ran a loving hand over the mixing board. "It's my passion, my drive, and my purpose." She pointed up to her brain. "Everything that runs through here is beats, rhythms, verses, and choruses." She gestured to her ear. "Everything that these pick up are just another sound bite to me, another effect to use." Beca shrugged. "Some people just hear music. It goes beyond that for me."
Aubrey had never heard such a profound connection to music or even such eloquence from Beca. Sure, she loved a cappella and what it could do for her, but to have that sort of passion for music seemed so much beyond her. Not only that, but the completely instinctive manner by which Beca worked. She didn't over-think her choices, she simply knew they were the right ones. That was something Aubrey couldn't connect with. Everything she had done always had been analyzed and thought over until she definitively concluded it was the correct choice.
Beca grinned widely, casting a fond glance around the control booth and into the recording booth. "But still," she commented. "I can't help but be completely in awe at this whole thing." She laughed. "I just wanted to make music, you know? Just wanted to give the world a soundtrack to life."
Aubrey absorbed that for a moment. "So if you had it your way?"
"If I had it my way…" Beca huffed out a chuckle. "Man, if I had it my way, people would just appreciate my music." She waved a hand. "No pomp and circumstance, no obsessive fascination about my everyday life. Just the music."
Aubrey surveyed her for a long while. "But it says something, doesn't it?" she questioned. "That you're able to affect people that much that they are so intrigued by your life? That you're able to inspire that much fanaticism to virtual strangers just through music?"
"Of course," Beca agreed. "And that's just humbling. But I don't need all of that," she explained. "The Grammys, the fame, that's all nice, but I would still be happy if I was just…playing records on the night shift at WBUJ or even stacking CDs with Jesse."
"Why, though?" Aubrey ventured. "Most people go into this business for the fame and the fortune. Why is it just about the music for you?"
Beca shrugged. "Because without music, my life doesn't really have a purpose," she admitted honestly. "I'm not really good at anything else. But this…" Beca craned her head, looking around. "This I'm good at." Beca's expression grew thoughtful.
"I guess it's kind of a 'the chicken or the egg?' sort of deal," Beca explained. At Aubrey's look of confusion, she clarified, "What comes first." Beca shrugged. "You know, did my passion nurture my skill or did my skill fuel my passion?"
"So what is it?" Aubrey asked, curious of the response. She knew that Beca's answer would be very telling.
"The first one," Beca replied, a nostalgic glint to her dark, navy blue eyes. "I loved music long before I figured out what I could do with it."
Aubrey's mouth tilted downward and to the side, her brows furrowing together. Beca had seen that expression before; it was the one Aubrey sported following her audition. The one that indicated Aubrey was indecisive about exactly what she should think.
Beca nudged the blonde, bringing Aubrey's attention back to her. "But still…Justin Timberlake?" She smiled – a honest-to-goodness smile that Aubrey had only really seen directed Chloe's way – and tilted her head skyward, shoulders shaking in barely contained mirth. "That's pretty cool, right?"
Aubrey laughed, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, Beca," she responded. "That's pretty fuckin' cool."
"Aca-fuckin' cool?" Beca ventured.
"Aca-fuckin' cool," Aubrey agreed.
It was a long, arduous battle, but in that moment, Aubrey Posen got Beca Mitchell. Jesse was both right and wrong. Beca was infinitely complicated, but that complexity could be boiled down to one singular concept: music. And in that zealous fervor, that ardent passion for music, Beca Mitchell was infinitely simple. She needed music to get by.
And that Aubrey Posen could understand.
xxx-xxx-xxx
Chloe looked at the relatively non-descript door in front of her. There once was a time when she would simply barge in, announcing her presence without much preamble. Now, it certainly wasn't her place to be able to do so.
Raising her fist, she knocked sharply, waiting for an answer. She recoiled in surprise, however, when a familiar face greeted her but not the one she was expecting.
"Hi."
Jules' gray-green eyes swept up and down her body. Chloe felt as though she had been suddenly thrust under a microscope, she was under that minute level of scrutiny. "Hi."
Yup, that was quite the chilly tone. "Can I come in?" she ventured meekly.
"Depends," Jules drawled, her eyes sparkling intently. "You gonna take a sledgehammer to Beca's heart again?"
Chloe drew in a deep breath, throwing out a weak smile. She ducked her head, shaking it slowly. "No." She sighed. "It was a complicated situation."
Jules crossed her arms, one eyebrow cocked in challenge. "Well, let me make it uncomplicated for you, then." Her gaze hardened. "I'm having a very hard time not wanting to fuck you up right here and now. I told you not to mess with Beca, and you did just that."
Chloe worried her lip. She clutched her bag to her side, fingers tugging anxiously at the ends of her hair. "Look, Jules, I've apologized to Beca, but that's not enough to make it right. I know that." Her big, blue eyes gazed imploringly up at Beca's co-producer. "I just want to make it right."
Jules tilted her chin in an obvious dare. "Yeah? Why?"
Chloe's lips parted, and a helpless sigh burst forth. It was almost an incredulous chuckle. "Because it's Beca."
Jules faltered, and her lips twitched. Yeah, she knew what Chloe meant. Still, the reality was there. Chloe hurt Beca, simple as that. As Beca's best friend, it was her job to look out for Beca.
Still…
Jules grunted in dissatisfaction, and she stepped aside, letting Chloe in. Arms still crossed, she led Chloe to the couch. "It was still a shitty thing to do, Red."
Chloe nodded morosely. "Yeah."
"You messed her up pretty bad."
Again Chloe nodded.
Jules tilted her head. "So why do it?"
Chloe took a deep breath. "You ever have something in your past affect you so profoundly that you can't help but have it influence every day of your life after that?"
Jules shook her head, her expression shifting to curiosity.
"Well, I have." Chloe ducked her head. "And for a long time, I blamed myself for what happened."
"So what changed?"
Chloe sighed. "Turns out I've been holding my guilt for no reason." Chloe ran her hands down her jeans. "A lot of what happened between Beca and I was because of that guilt. I just want her friendship back."
"Just her friendship?"
"I'd be lying if that was my only motivation," Chloe admitted. "But I'll take that to start."
Jules nodded slowly. Her gray-green eyes glinted with suspicion. "Look, Red, I'm gonna say it straight up," Jules stated bluntly. "I don't like this. I don't like the idea of you worming your way back into Beca's life just so you can destroy her again." As Chloe opened her mouth to protest, Jules held up a hand, staving off whatever comment the redhead had ready.
"No, you don't get to try and defend yourself. Your word means jackshit right now. You weren't there when we had to pick the pieces up from a very broken, very confused Beca Mitchell." Jules extended out a finger, eyes flaring with intent. "So let me tell you this right now. You get this second chance because apparently Beca wants to give you one, but you do not get to breeze in and out of Beca's life as you please. I will not let you."
Beca poked her head into the living room, drawn to the sound of the conversation wafting into the second bedroom. She entered just in time to hear the tail end of Jules's sentence. Casting a curious glance to the recipient of such a threat, Beca tensed when her eyes landed on Chloe. She sidled up behind Jules, laying a calming hand on her co-producer's shoulder.
"Easy there, Tiger. Retract the claws. I'll take it from here."
Jules leveled a significant look at Beca. At the DJ's nod, Jules grunted, hitching her thumb towards the door. "I'm gonna go hang out with Damon."
As Beca's co-producer let herself out, Beca turned her attention back to the senior Bella. "What are you doing here?"
Chloe fiddled with the ring on her thumb. "I told you I was going to stop by," she remarked.
"Yeah," Beca drawled. "Didn't know it was going to be today." She cocked her head. "You really that eager to see me?"
"Eager to make it right," Chloe corrected.
"Huh," Beca hummed. "So how are you going to do that?"
Chloe sighed heavily, her shoulders rising than falling. "You know, I don't know."
Beca cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
"Part of me wants to beg for you to take me back, the other part of me wants to just keep apologizing until you're my friend again."
Beca's eyes landed on hers, steady and unwavering. "Yeah, well part of me wants to forget you ever existed in my life, the other part of me knows my life sucks without you, so…" Beca shrugged. "Aren't we at an impasse?"
"So what is it going to take?" Chloe ventured.
"I'm not sure," Beca sighed.
"Because I'm willing to do it, you know," Chloe murmured, scooting closer. Her gaze was penetrating, imploring. Tentatively, she reached out, laying her hand over Beca's, delighting in the fact the DJ didn't pull away.
"I don't care how long it takes or what I have to do," she insisted. "I will absolutely do it. No more secrets. Just complete honesty."
Beca's eyes met hers once again, a magnet to metal. She seemed to war with herself, her mouth opening and closing, the words fighting forward.
"I slept with someone in Cabo," she blurted out. Her face flushed. "'Cause, you know, we're being honest and all."
Chloe looked thrown. "Oh."
Beca's eyes conveniently found her Chuck Taylors utterly fascinating. "I…uh…was trying to forget about you."
Chloe's breath flew from her lungs in a ragged exhale. "Did you?"
Beca's expression reflected the pain she still very clearly felt. Slowly, her head shook slowly from side to side. "No." Her voice was a whisper. "I couldn't."
"You couldn't?" Chloe dared to ask.
"I tried," Beca admitted. She let out a bark of laughter. "God knows I tried." Beca looked down to where Chloe's hand still covered hers. Almost on its own volition, her grip shifted, intertwining their fingers.
It felt familiar.
Comfortable.
But odd.
Chloe swallowed hard, her eyes also on their joined hands. "So what now?"
Beca huffed out another disbelieving laugh. "I don't know." She shook her head. "I really don't know."
Aaaaand done! I hoped you liked this one, guys. Just wanted to give you a little change of pace for sure. Don't worry, our girls are starting to reconnect, but we definitely have to do this right! The songs used in this chapter are "Stand" by Rascal Flatts and "Time after Time" by Cyndi Lauper. I hoped you guys liked hearing from CJ, it's her help and input that truly makes this fic amazing.
Next chapter, we have Beca and Chloe taking the steps towards reconciliation. As I'm sure you can tell, we're heading towards the ending, but I promise it'll be just as great a journey as the one that got us here.
As usual, thanks so much for the love you show this fic! We love hearing from you, and a special thanks to everyone who had fun with us during our Tumblr Q&A. We had a blast! As always, feel free to let us know what you think here, on Tumblr, or on Twitter. We both have the same handles on all three. I try to respond to all that come in, but some slip through the cracks! And with tax season these last couple of months, I've had little time to myself. But thanks so much for your patience!
Until next time!
*ISP and CJ
