Back again with another chapter!
Just a reminder that this story will be over in 4 more chapters.
Enjoy
"Okay guys, let's go again. We need to work out where Beca is going. Make sure she comes on after the Out of the Woods/Never Forget You part, just before Crazy Stupid Love." Aubrey comments, pointing out where the girls need to stand and Beca pretends to walk in from 'offstage' which was really just tape that was on the floor. The girls continue to finish their performance, hoping Chloe will be too stunned to move from her spot center stage that way Beca can serenade her with the Bellas help.
"Good girls, this is going to work out well if it goes to plan." Aubrey smiles and Beca turns, smiling to the Bellas and the blonde captain.
"I can't thank you guys enough for this. You have no idea how much I want Chloe in my life now. I was too stupid to realize it before but now, I'm 100% certain. I love her." Beca confesses and the Bellas all grin before moving into a group hug with the small brunette. The moment being ruined by Aubrey's phone ringing. The blonde pulls out the hug and grabs her phone, checking the caller ID to see it's the redhead missing from the Bellas rehearsal, on purpose. Aubrey turns to the Bellas and shushes them, informing them that it was Chloe before answering.
"Hey Chlo, what's going on? You okay?" Aubrey answers the phone and watches as the Bellas start to muck around, putting a finger to her mouth to shush them again.
"Hey Aubrey. I'm fine. I was just wondering where you were. I'm about a minute away from the rehearsal space. I wanted to work through the performance again, I mean it's only 4 days now." Chloe replies through the phone and Aubrey freezes. She turns to the Bellas and sweeps her hand across in front of her, pointing at Beca between her sweeps. Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose working out that Aubrey was trying to say that Beca needed to go.
"Oh yeah, well I'm here with the Bellas now. We were all here a little earlier for some reason, we are all inside. So you'll be here in a minute." Aubrey replies as she watches CR, Fat Amy and Stacie grab the small brunette and start pushing her toward the door.
"Actually I'm just coming in now." Chloe retorts and Aubrey watches as Chloe walks through the front door and turns to see Stacie, Fat Amy and CR talking near the back exit, Beca was nowhere to be seen and Chloe hadn't seen her so the Bellas were in the clear.
"Hey so are we ready to do this?" Chloe grins and the Bellas all nod their heads before sitting down and listening intently as their two captains went over the rehearsal plan for the day.
Beca stands in the public toilets of Baker Hall, her eyes fixated on the tiny piece of silver in her hand, her razor. The same piece of metal that caused so many of the scars on her body and was also the resolution to expressing her pain and blame on herself. It was how she punished herself, how she felt and what she deserved all in one hit. Beca continued to stare at the razor before speaking, initially to herself but also to all the voices that murmured in the background of her mind.
"I'm making my choice now, it's this or Chloe and I love her. She makes me happy. I am strong enough to do this so long as I have her so…" Beca's voice drops away as she turns her hands over, allowing the razor to drop into the toilet then flushes it, watching as the metallic razor that caused so much for Beca disappear. She then pulls out the two tins that she had left from Tom. She forgot that she still had them. She hesitantly opens the first tin and tips the contents of it out before flushing then moves onto the last tin, the last of the deadly things in her life, the last of the things that she thought helped her but only made things worse. Beca uses her shaking hand to flush the toilet and watches as all the drugs disappear also. Beca takes a deep breath as she turns and walks away, mumbling away to herself, reminding herself that she could fight this internal struggle.
"I am strong enough. I can do this. As long as I have Chloe, I'll be okay." She says.
Stacie walks into her dorm room to find her short roommate sitting on her bed.
"Hey you. It's so good to have you back. I thought we lost you for a bit there." Stacie smiles as she moves to sit next to Beca. She watches as Beca plays in her fingers, Stacie knew this was a sign that she was nervous. Beca immediately starts to cry and Stacie wraps her arm around her best friend's shoulders.
"What's wrong?" She asks and Beca lifts her head, Stacie noticing that Beca was crying but she was also laughing. The tears were happy tears.
"It's over. I got rid of them." Beca smiles as she puts her head down again, Stacie tries to figure out what Beca is talking about until she realizes Beca wasn't playing with her fingers but with the scars on her wrists from her suicide attempt.
"I flushed them, the drugs, the razors, they are all gone." Beca laughs again and Stacie laughs herself bringing Beca closer and whispering in her ear.
"It's because you are so brave and so strong. What you did took so much strength to do and you did it. I'm so proud of you." Stacie whispers before pulling Beca in further for a hug.
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet? (I will Never Forget You)
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods?
Are we in the clear yet? (And I'll love you til the day I die.)
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
In the clear yet, good (Til the day I die.)
Well I don't know how you do it to me
You make my brain just stop
Sink my part to my feet
It's like a rollercoaster
But I'm only going up
I'm in crazy stupid love
"Hey Aubrey!" Chloe calls out after she stops singing and her best friend appears in the doorway of Chloe's room.
"I don't think the transition from Out of the Woods to Crazy Stupid Love isn't working. Instead of having Out of the Woods with Never Forget you, can we swap it and put Crazy Stupid Love beforehand?" Chloe asks and Aubrey thinks about it for a moment, remembering that any changes that are made will need to be told to Beca so she can plan her moment just right.
"Yeah shouldn't be too much of an issue. We'll need to let the girls know at rehearsal tomorrow, same choreography and everything right? Just swapping the songs?" Aubrey confirms and Chloe nods, thanking the blonde co-captain. Once Aubrey leaves Chloe's room again, she pulls up the group message that doesn't include Chloe and writes a text. 'Set has changed slightly, nothing too huge. Meet an hour before normal rehearsal tomorrow and when Chloe turns up, don't give away that you already know the new set.' She hits send and all the Bellas, including Beca who woke up after falling asleep warmly wrapped in Stacie's embrace, receive the text and all reply saying they will be there.
The Day Before Finals:
Aubrey had been stressing for the past month, with Beca pushing the Bellas to go to Finals without her. In the back of her mind, she knew part of the reason that Beca was in the hospital to start with was because of her. The senior had pushed Beca back at Semis, saying she wasn't a real Bellas when in fact, Aubrey and Chloe had discussed Beca taking Aubrey's place as co-captain when Aubrey graduated. Aubrey could not be more happy with how much happier the shorter girl looked around the other Bellas but one thing lingered in the back of both Beca's and Aubrey's mind. What is Chloe's reaction going to be when she sees Beca the next night?
Beca sits in her dorm, Stacie lying on her bed listening to Beca as she sings the new song that she will be singing to Chloe when she appears unexpectedly during the Bellas Finals performance. Beca starts to play again after changing a couple of the lyrics but keeping to the same melody so the Bellas wouldn't have to change anything else. Stacie sits up in her bed and listens as Beca starts to sing.
All we have is this moment
Tomorrow's unspoken
Yesterday is history
So why don't you be here with me?
All we have is this moment
To put a love into motion
Yesterday is history
So why don't you be here with me?
Be here with me now
"You know that's probably my favorite song that you've written so far. You know why?" Stacie asks from her seated position on the bed. Beca turns to her best friend and shakes her head. Stacie stands up and moves over to Beca, leaning down so her head is resting on Beca's shoulder.
"Because it's from a heart of happiness not despair. I mean sure, all your other songs are great, amazing even but this is the first happy song you've written. Not just because you are in love with Chloe either, but because you are free now. You don't have to worry about your father or try to fight off the voices on your own. You've accepted help and it's the smartest thing you've done." Stacie explains and Beca smiles.
"I haven't got all the lyrics ready yet, the melody and harmony will stay the same so you and the Bellas won't have to change anything no matter what I sing but I need something to inspire me." Beca suggests and Stacie moves back to her bed with a nail file in hand. She starts to file away at her nails when she speaks up, not thinking about what she was about to say.
"What about the fact that you would have died if it wasn't for her?" Stacie says without her internal filter. Beca turns to the taller brunette and stares straight in Stacie's green eyes.
"What are you talking about?" She asks and that is when Stacie realizes what she said and immediately jumps up, halting the action of filing her nails.
"Shit! You weren't supposed to know that." Stacie starts to stress out.
"Know what? Stacie, what aren't you telling me?" Beca asks as Stacie paces back and forth in front of her. Stacie stops pacing after deciding to just tell Beca the truth and hope she didn't react badly.
"So when you were in the hospital, the doctor told you had a kidney removed and your liver replaced, remember?" Stacie asks and Beca nods in response, remembering back to the day herself.
"Well your other kidney started to fail and they needed an immediate donor. Chloe knew you were both the same blood type so she volunteered. If it wasn't for Chloe giving you that kidney, you would have died. Chloe saved your life Beca." Stacie finishes and Beca sits back in her desk chair in shock at the truth reaching the surface. Beca suddenly, swings back around to her desk as fast as she can, attracting Stacie's attention.
"What are you doing?" She asks as Beca wrote away furiously on her pad.
"Stacie, you just gave me the inspiration I needed to finish this song." Beca answers as she continues to write furiously on the paper in front of her. Stacie deciding to move back to her bed and listen to music whilst Beca wrote.
There we go… Next Chapter is Finals Time!