Beca's first semester at Barden University was actually starting to feel like it was going by fast. Between classes, working at the radio station, and the Bellas practice, days blended together and flew by. The cardio from the Bellas practice was the only thing that reminded her of the passage of time because each day she was more sore than she had been the day before. She wasn't really into the setlist that Aubrey had set up, but she told herself it didn't really matter. She wouldn't admit it verbally, but she enjoyed hanging out with the girls from the Bellas and it was nice to hang out with them from time to time outside of practice. Even the riff-off was kind of fun. Time with the Bellas filled in the few gaps she had in her schedule over the course of the month and at night she'd work on more mixes. She'd even convinced Luke to let her play one or two on the night shift. All in all, everything was going pretty well for her. She'd managed to keep her tattoo hidden and so long as she did that, it'd be smooth sailing all the way to Los Angeles in the summer. She could stay friends with Aubrey and Chloe without ruining their relationship. Good friends. Just like they were already becoming. And if Stacie would stop mentioning the tattoos, she could forget all about the soulmate thing.
So, with everything going as well as it was, Beca couldn't quite figure out what went wrong at the nationals tournament. She tried to piece it together from the holding cell at the local jail near the theater used for the nationals competition (forty minutes from Barden University). She had gone to check on Jesse, her coworker, who had gotten into a bit of a fight with another performer. She couldn't exactly figure out why she punched the guy - but in her defense, he was literally asking for it. And it wasn't her fault that keeping Amy from fighting resulted in breaking the glass wall in front of a police officer outside. She couldn't have really known that would happen. Beca rubbed her temple and winced when she felt the black eye she'd sported from the running commotion of scattering people when the police officer saw the broken window. She sighed. Eventually, after a few hours of waiting, a police officer came to let her out around 2 am, telling her that someone paid her bail. She prayed that Stacie had somehow got the cash before her dad caught wind of what happened.
When she walked out of the police station, Beca was surprised to find Aubrey and Chloe with folded arms, leaning on a rental car. Beca stopped in her tracks when she saw them both. "I-" She didn't have the words. "What're you doing here?"
Aubrey sighed. "We sent Amy back with the bus and had her drop us off to get a rental car. Come on, get in."
Beca swallowed, dryly. "What about Stacie?"
"She went with the Bellas after having a heated argument with us about coming too. We promised we'd have you give her a call when we get back to our apartment." Chloe told her. The ginger approached her while Aubrey unlocked the car door for Beca. Chloe briefly looked at her black eye. Chloe gently rubbed a thumb over it and Beca winced, looking down to avoid looking at Chloe. She was so close Beca could smell her perfume. "Come on," Chloe whispered. She took one of Beca's hands - the one without injured knuckles.
The car ride wasn't exactly filled with any time of conversation. She could sense that both girls were upset with her. Beca tried to think about how long it would take her to pay them back for the rental car and bail. Eventually, she spoke up. "I can pay you back… for all this I mean."
"The money is not a problem." Aubrey said.
Beca shook her head, "I don't feel comfortable letting either of you-"
"Let it go, Becs. We're not letting you pay us back." Chloe said and Beca felt guilty for her tone of voice. They were mad at her and Beca had never cared so much about someone being mad at her.
"You can drop me back off at the dorms, I-"
Chloe looked back at her. "Becs, baby. You're not exactly in the position to ask us for anything right now." The statement made Beca swallow. She'd never been alone with the two of them without Stacie. She clenched her fists to keep her hands from shaking. "You're staying at our apartment tonight. I want to take care of that gash." Beca put her hand just above her eye and felt what Chloe was talking about. She had a cut from her forehead through her eyebrow in addition to the black eye. Not knowing what to say, Beca sunk into the backseat. The car ride felt longer with the prolonged silence. When they arrived, Beca was relieved that the ride was over.
Inside, Chloe had Beca take a seat at the dining room table. She got out a first aid kit and started cleaning up the gash with a wet washcloth. Aubrey knelt down beside her and took her hand, flipping it over to see her knuckles. "You really did a number on yourself, Mitchell."
Beca gulped. Another moment of silence passed between the three of them. "Thank you." Beca mumbled eventually. "For bailing me out and everything."
"Do you know how much worse this could've been?" Chloe stopped for half a second to look Beca in the eye. Her eyes were almost too much for Beca to look at. They pierced through her. It made her stomach drop.
"I was just trying to help Jesse, I really couldn't have known…"
Aubrey looked up at her too. "Beca, you punched a stranger. Do you have any idea what could've happened to you? You didn't know him or those other guys he was with. Any one of them could have hurt you much worse than this." Aubrey shook her head and Beca felt anxiety fill her body.
Chloe shook her head and grabbed a bandage for her cut. "We were so worried about you."
Beca tried to stand up, but Chloe pushed her back into the chair. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to cause the two of you so much trouble, I'm really sorry, I do a lot better on my own and I'll quit the bellas tomorrow-"
"Hey," Chloe put a hand on her cheek and Beca couldn't breathe. "Hush. You didn't cause either of us any trouble. We care about you, Beca. That's not going to change with or without the Bellas. Which you're definitely not quitting, by the way."
Aubrey finished with her hand and wrapped her knuckles up. She turned Becas hand around and Beca resisted the urge to pull it away. She could see the vague outline of her tattoo through the white long sleeve undershirt she had on under the bellas uniform. Aubrey looked up at her. "Did you get hurt anywhere else?" As she spoke, she put her hand on Beca's sleeve and started to push it up her arm.
Beca pulled it back on instinct. Aubrey and Chloe both looked at her as she held her arms tight over her chest. "Uh. No. I'm fine."
Aubrey's shoulders fell and she looked up at Beca. "You can trust us, you know." She said and put a hand on her knee. "I know you're afraid to trust people and everything but we're not going to hurt you, Beca."
Beca swallowed. She didn't know what to do or say. "I've really caused you enough trouble. I mean… I'm not even a good Bella."
Chloe shook her head. "Beca, you're great in the Bellas. Just because you and Aubrey don't always get along because you have different ideas about how to make the Bellas better doesn't mean you're a bad Bella. And stop saying that you're causing us trouble. Please let us take care of you."
Beca eased her shoulders and let her hands fall back into her lap. "I don't have any other injuries." It was a white lie. On the same arm as her tattoo she had cut herself on the shattered glass. Her undershirt was cut too, but it was hidden by the bella uniform loosely hanging over top of it.
"Thank you." Aubrey whispered softly.
Again, Beca looked anywhere but at either of them. Aubrey's eyes could swallow her whole. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Chloe told her. "Just, please be more careful. We hate to see you get hurt like this."
Beca nodded. "Come on." Aubrey put out her hand to Beca and Beca took it. She led her towards the bedrooms. "Let's get you to bed."
