delusionofcontrol: I try to add some humor in every now and again, so it's probably not just you. I want your list of theories, damn it. -gives you Aubrey's pout- Aubrey and Chloe have lived together for 8 years, so, Aubrey is definitely picking up on some things that Chloe does.
YantoWilde: WBND is in the House MD fandom. It's on my page.
aca-everything: I have NO idea what you could possibly be insinuating. None. Zilch. Nada. Don't worry though, you won't be the only one this story kills.
Escape-fic: I can never find a coherent way to explain what I mean, and I'm the one writing the story. The music will continue to be sporadically addressed, so no one forgets about it.
TeddyD100: You're not the first person I've converted over to Chaubrey! Welcome on board the ship!
Truly123: I guess I should add in a few good smut scenes then? -wink-
LookAtAllTheLeavesInTheFire: The only insane thing would be to stop reading. -confident smile- Keep writing! Practice! Don't judge your writing compared to mine though. (My writing isn't even that good.) But everyone has a different style, and when you compare your writing of your own unique style to someone else's, you see your writing as worse than it is.
Arrhythmia
I have seen what the darkness does; say goodbye to who I was.
I ain't never been away so long; don't look back, them days are gone.
Follow me into the endless night; I can bring your fears to life.
Show me yours and I'll show you mine.
Meet me in the woods tonight.
Yeah, the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams.
Holy darkness got a hold on me.
-Lord Huron
Off to the right of the beach, trees loom over the sand and cast ominous shadows as the sun sets. Aubrey swallows thickly and approaches the area with caution - her knuckles turning white from how tightly she is gripping the mugs she's carrying. Her hands almost start to shake but she forces them to stop with sheer determination. Out of all the places to meet, of course Beca chooses the tree line. It probably has a path leading to the cliffs and can conceal whoever might be watching them behind thick foliage. She turns her head and cranes her next to look back at the group of others as she gets further away from them and further away from the open beach. It crosses her mind that perhaps Beca is causing her to stray from the group on purpose.
Of course Beca is leading her away from the group on purpose. Aubrey realizes she's being ridiculous. They're not going to talk at the bonfire where everyone can hear them. She turns her head to face forward again and breathes a quiet sigh when she notices Beca sitting on the ground in the distance, propped up against a tree. Did she just feel relief from seeing Beca? Her upper lip curls in a mixture of disgust and aggravation.
"Beca," she hisses when they're close enough to be in hearing range of each other. She glances back toward the fire, wondering what Chloe is doing and if she found Stacie yet, then looks at Beca again and resigns to the fact that she is stuck with her for a few minutes.
Beca lifts her head and drops her arms from where they were resting on her slightly bent knees down to her sides. She presses her hands down into the sand and sits up straighter then brushes her palms off on her jeans. "Thought you weren't coming," she states and looks around at the ground before up at Aubrey.
Aubrey stops a few inches away from her. "Thought or hoped?" If Beca actually thought she wasn't going to show up, she didn't know Aubrey very well. When Aubrey Posen said she would be somewhere, she would be there - whether or not she was being joined by the very reason she was in such a trying situation to begin with.
"I was being civil." Beca forces a smile at her.
Aubrey rolls her eyes - then stops herself before she can respond and reminds herself that she and Beca are not getting off to a bad start tonight. She draws in a breath and extends her arm, offering Beca one of the mugs. "I made this for you." It takes effort for her not to grit her teeth.
"You what?" Beca looks at the mug incredulously then looks up at Aubrey again. "What is that?"
As if making a peace-offering wasn't already challenging enough. "It's hot chocolate," Aubrey explains. She holds the mug out a little further and her eyebrows raise in an insistent look.
Beca reaches up and takes the mug from her. She looks it over then holds it up to her face and smells it.
"It's not poisoned, Beca," Aubrey snaps. She clenches her jaw and lowers herself down onto the sand. "Even if it was poisoned, I'd make sure the poison was odorless," she assures her.
Beca lowers the mug a few centimeters and raises her eyebrows. "I was just smelling the cinnamon." She raises the mug to her lips then murmurs, "I hate Bosco. It's full of DDT. Aubrey put some in my mug and tried to poi-"
Aubrey tosses a handful of sand in the direction of Beca's legs.
Beca smirks and tilts the mug against her lips.
Aubrey holds her breath and waits for a reaction. It's taken her years to perfect that recipe - trying different amounts of the ingredients each time she makes it (even though Chloe says that every version tastes great). She wants it to taste just like when her mother made it. She thinks maybe she finally has it almost right. Or maybe she's just forgotten what her mother's recipe tastes like.
Beca swallows and lowers the mug. She raises it in Aubrey's direction then places it in the sand beside her - digging it into the ground so it doesn't fall over.
The wordless gesture has no meaning - despite that Aubrey wastes a good three seconds of her time trying to decipher it. She's not sure why she needs Beca's approval anyway. She doesn't. She turns and faces the ocean. Waves lap the beach and a cold breeze blows sand in her direction. She puts down her mug and brushes the grains off of her arms and hands. "I thought you needed to talk to me," she tries to keep them from falling into an awkward silence.
Beca turns to the side and pulls her laptop bag closer. The corner of it hits her mug, but she grabs it before it falls over and spills.
Aubrey draws her legs up toward her chest and wraps her arms around them. She sighs quietly then turns her head and watches Beca dig through her bag out of the corner of her eye.
Beca pulls a photo out of her bag and hands it to Aubrey. "That was on Jesse's pillow," she says and glances at it then resumes digging through her bag.
It's the same photograph that had been on Aubrey's refrigerator. Aubrey slides her thumb across the glossy paper - tracing the graduation hat that Chloe is wearing. Chloe looks so happy next to Beca. She can't look at it. "You thought I put it there," she reminds Beca and attempts to hand the picture back to her.
Beca takes the photo and stuffs it back into her bag. "Yeah, well, you didn't plant this," she states and holds out a closed fist.
Aubrey lifts her hand and hesitates for a moment (because God only knows what Beca is trying to give her) before sliding it palm up under Beca's hand. Beca uncurls her fingers. Electric shocks tingle the nerves from Aubrey's hand up to her elbow as Beca's fingers brush against her palm. She slowly pulls her hand back and looks down at the ring that Beca released. Her throat constricts and she snaps her gaze upward to look at Beca. "You don't still have this." Her brows furrow and she looks back down at the ring - engraved on the inside with Beca's name. She figured Beca would have thrown it out - considering Chloe had bought it for her to symbolize their 'friendship forever' or something.
Aubrey glances down at her own ring - on the ring finger of her right hand. It's identical to Beca's (only with her own name engraved) and to Chloe's. Chloe thought they would make meaningful gifts - and they did. Aubrey never takes hers off.
"Yeah, I didn't for awhile," Beca answers and fumbles around in her bag.
Aubrey looks at her again when silence follows that statement.
Beca looks at the ring out of the corner of her eye. She sighs. "It was locked in a trunk in my dad's attic. It showed up on my pillow after I got back from the cliffs."
The knowledge that Beca took a gift that Chloe had devoted so much thought to and threw it in some attic causes Aubrey to start twisting her own ring around her finger. It's not her place to be offended, she tells herself. She originally expected Beca had trashed the ring. She prides herself in that she'd never do that. Not even if she and Chloe parted ways. "I could have made a copy of my ring with your name on it," she points out, unsure of how this is Beca's proof that she isn't behind this. She needs to know that they're really on the same page. "I know where Chloe had the rings made."
"I bet you broke into my dad's house to make sure you had the chip under the 'e' just right too," Beca quips.
Aubrey immediately flips the ring over to see what Beca is talking about. Sure enough, there is a chip in the silver. "You better not let Chloe see that you broke this, Beca," she snaps. "Do you have any idea how much this cost?" She doesn't wait for Beca to attempt guessing. "It cost a fortune." Breaking it is still better than losing it or throwing it out, but that doesn't quell Aubrey's anger.
"Dude, I know how much it cost," Beca matches her tone.
"Obviously, you don't," Aubrey argues. "Because if you knew how much it cost, you wouldn't have -"
"I don't need to take it to the Antique Roadshow to get an exact appraisal," Beca bites back. "I know how much it cost, Aubrey."
"The Antique Roadshow is not the -"
"Can we focus on the fact that someone broke into my dad's house and stole the ring?" Beca asks with a tense laugh of disbelief.
Aubrey closes her mouth and frowns. Fine. She can concentrate on the problem at hand. For now. "Who do you think it was?"
"Trebles," Beca suggests and picks up her mug. "Who else would it be?" She takes a sip of her hot chocolate.
"That was my guess too." At least they can agree on something. Aubrey remembers her own mug and picks it up. "So you think Jesse's involved?" She swirls her mug.
Beca lowers her mug and shakes her head as she swallows. "No," she answers and places her mug back down on the ground. "I think they're trying to screw with him." She brushes her hands together. "Some pre-wedding joke or something." She looks back up at Aubrey.
It doesn't shock Aubrey that Beca would defend him. She didn't expect anything less. She opens her mouth to inform Beca that that doesn't make any sense, but on second thought, it actually makes a lot of sense - and she's torn between whether or not she believes Jesse has anything to do with it (especially considering it's involving Beca's relationship with Chloe). The Trebles could be screwing with Aubrey and Chloe to screw with Beca, and screwing with Beca would screw with Jesse. 'Crazy' on the mirror could have just been a side-prank to get Aubrey going. She can feel her irritation bubbling inside of her. "Did they do anything else?" She sips her drink in an attempt to make the question seem more casual.
Beca looks at the ocean. "Just some prank calls," she answers. "Jesse said he got one too." She pauses. "They keep playing-"
"Wedding of the Winds," Aubrey finishes her sentence.
Beca glances at her. "Felix Mendelssohn's Wedding March," she corrects her then looks away. She leans back against her hands and Aubrey finds herself putting her mug down and mimicking the position - slipping Beca's ring onto her pinky then bending her finger so it doesn't fall off and get lost in the sand. Beca continues speaking. "Jesse said he was going to tell the guys to fuck off."
"Language, Beca," Aubrey reprimands her.
"I was quoting." Beca forces a tight smile.
Aubrey rolls her eyes. She sighs to herself and presses the pads of her fingers into the sand, staring at a few shells and stones that litter the sand in front of her.
"So, did you and Chloe move your exhibitionism to the brush or something?" Beca asks out of nowhere.
Aubrey snaps her head to the side and scoffs. "Aca-scuse me?" She glares at Beca, wishing she'd just let the topic go. She finds no need to bring it up and go into further detail about what happened in the kitchen, unless they're addressing the fact that Beca got what was coming to her with Chloe's outburst. "That's none of your business, Beca."
The look on Beca's face could be considered a grimace, but Aubrey isn't sure. "I was asking what happened to your arm," Beca elaborates. She lifts a hand and brushes it against her pants.
Aubrey doesn't quite know what she means and immediately looks down at her arm, twisting it around so she can see the back of it since the front looks fine. She notices a brush burn from where she must have scraped her arm when Bumper tripped her. She must have been too busy with Sophia to notice it earlier. She lifts her hand in a subconscious attempt to hide the injury from Beca then grits her teeth when the sand on her hand causes the raw skin to burn for the first time. "I'm going to destroy that dick-lick," she mutters under her breath - not meaning to say the actual words out loud. Beca arches a brow.
"This conversation is over," Aubrey announces. If they have finished discussing the Trebles pranking them (being tripped by Bumper does not count), Aubrey has no desire to continue speaking. She grabs her mug and gets to her feet.
Beca picks up her mug as well and practically scrambles to her feet, kicking up sand in the process. "Did Bumper do that to you?" she asks.
"I don't know what part of 'this conversation is over' you didn't seem to understand." Aubrey tries to brush the sand off herself then just gives up. She adjusts the bottom of her shirt with one hand then turns and takes a few steps back toward the bonfire.
"Dude, wait," Beca draws her to a halt again.
Aubrey stands still and waits for her to continue. The silence extends past three seconds and she turns around and raises her eyebrows are high as they will go. "What?" she urges her to continue - debating just walking away like she had planned to do. She doesn't know why she even stopped. What else could Beca have to contribute?
"I think we should tell each other if anything else happens," Beca replies. Her words don't sound as reluctant as Aubrey thinks they should.
Aubrey briefly wonders if Beca is as scared as she is, but it's a fleeting thought. The Trebles are nothing to be scared of - and Posens don't admit to fear anyway (Or, they shouldn't. Not even in their own heads. She's really doing a grand job at that one.) She presses her lips together and bites the corner of them as she stares at Beca and debates the idea in her head. It's not as though she would have to tell her about the mirror incident - as they're not agreeing on telling each other anything else done in the past. Something else may happen in the future that Aubrey doesn't think other people (see: Beca) need to know about - but anything else that does happen should not be taken lightly. "Fine," she clips.
Beca shifts her weight from one foot to the other. "Should we oath it or something?"
Aubrey has to consider that as well. It's not as though Beca took the Treble oath seriously. Aubrey could very well be telling Beca whatever the Trebles do to her while Beca tells her absolutely nothing. "No," she answers firmly. She stretches out her hand and curls all of her fingers in toward her palm except for her pinky - the same one with the ring on it.
Beca blinks then grins in disbelief as she stares at Aubrey's hand. She looks up at her. "Are you serious?" she asks through nearly-clenched teeth and laughs under her breath.
Does she not look serious? Aubrey frowns. "Dixie -"
"Chicks serious," Beca finishes for her. She salutes her (making an obnoxious clicking noise with her tongue as she does so) and winks. "Got it."
Aubrey's nostrils flare in frustration. "This is more serious than placing your right hand on the Bible, Beca," she informs her. "Now do it."
Beca goes to reach out her hand but then realizes she's holding her mug. She wastes a fraction of a second (which is a fraction of a second too long, in Aubrey's opinion) of Aubrey's time switching the mug to her other hand then awkwardly locks pinkies with her. "Do we have to say anything?" she asks and looks around. Her gaze finally settles on the waves lapping the beach just diagonal over Aubrey's shoulder.
Does Chloe ever say anything when she demands a pinky promise? Aubrey can't remember. "We tell each other anything weird that happens," she says simply. She nods at Beca for her to repeat it.
"We tell each other anything weird that happens," Beca repeats slowly. "Not that anything could be weirder than this." She extracts her pinky from Aubrey's and wipes her hand on her jeans.
"Aren't you a little old for cooties, Beca?" Aubrey folds her arms. "Stop being a child. I've touched more than your hand before."
Beca looks down at her hand with an expression that signals she didn't even realize what she was doing and she stops rubbing her hand against the side of her pants. It's hard to tell in the moonlight, but Aubrey is almost certain that Beca's cheeks flush a light shade of red. It's satisfying somehow and brings a smug smirk to Aubrey's face. But it quickly fades, and Aubrey draws them back to what they should be focused on.
"We can't walk back to the bonfire together," she informs Beca. She takes a step backward toward the wedding party. She hesitates and almost has to swallow down bile before continuing with, "Chloe isn't going to know about this."
Beca takes a half of a step forward and tilts her head, squinting her eyes at Aubrey. "You didn't tell Chloe about any of this?"
"Chloe has enough to worry about, Beca," Aubrey reminds her and ignores Beca's glance away from her. "She's not going to know about the Trebles and she's not going to know that we talked. Do I make myself clear?" She wonders if she should pinky promise this as well. Is there any promise that is more serious than a pinky promise?
"Don't you think Chloe has the right to-"
Aubrey has zero interest in what Beca has to say when it comes to Chloe's well-being, because Beca is most-definitely always wrong. She has proved that much. There is no reason that they need to drag Chloe into this. "I swear to God, Beca," she growls at her, "If you tell her, a few Trebles breaking into your father's attic will be the least of your worries. You're not going to stress her out more than you already do. Do I make myself clear?" She tightens her arms across her chest.
Beca doesn't argue. She immediately takes a step back. "Crystal," she answers briefly.
Aubrey nods in approval. "So, you're going to wait here five minutes after I leave, and then you're going to walk back," she directs her, done discussing Chloe with her.
"Five minutes?" Beca asks and looks toward the bonfire.
Aubrey rolls her eyes. Beca is acting like she said five hours. "Five minutes is an adequate amount of time-"
"What am I supposed to tell Jesse when he asks where I was?" Beca asks.
"How am I supposed to know?" Aubrey doesn't even know how Beca sees that as her problem. At least Beca was intelligent enough not to tell Jesse where she was going beforehand. "Make something up. You have five minutes to think about it." She feigns an encouraging smile then turns around and starts her trek back toward the bonfire with hope that Beca won't interrupt her with anything else. Unfortunately, hope is all that it is.
"Can I have my ring back?" Beca calls after her.
Aubrey glances down at the ring and the chip that Beca so carelessly put in the silver with probably no regard to Chloe's feelings. "No, Beca," she calls back to her. "You can't."
She slips the ring off her finger and stuffs it in her pocket.