"I'm not going anywhere, I swear," Beca promised as she leaned on the door frame of the guest bedroom.

Chloe and Aubrey looked her up and down, then looked at each other and back at her. Chloe wrinkled her nose. "Last time you and Stacie left before the crack of dawn," Aubrey argued. Beca wasn't sure what the alternative was. She was not sleeping in their room.

Beca gulped and scratched the back of her head. "You asked me to trust you. That goes both ways. Trust me. I'm not going anywhere." She told them and even though every fiber of her being wanted to leave, she now couldn't. She made a promise.

"Alright, come on babe. Let's go to bed." Chloe took Aubrey's hand and Aubrey gave her one more suspicious look before heading towards their room. "Get some rest, Beca."

Beca closed the door behind her and laid on the bed in the silk blue pajamas Chloe had given her. She sighed and pulled the sleeve down to look at the tattoo beneath it. The cursive header B of the Barden Bellas stared back at her. Looking at it broke her in two. A pool of guilt formed in her stomach. The two girls down the hall were sweet and caring and she was lying to them. She cared about them and they were good friends. The tattoo staring back at her - the one that said they were soulmates - meant she'd never be able to tell them the truth. They were happy. They loved each other - they were soulmates.

"Are you okay?" Stacie asked as soon as she answered the phone. "I really tried to come get you but Aubrey and Chloe were adamant I went back-"

"Hey, it's okay. I'm good." Beca reassured her before she ranted more. "Little rougher up, nothing too bad. I'm at their apartment."

Stacie sighed. "I'm so glad you're alright." She took a long pause to breathe. "Do you want me to come pick you up?"

Beca sighed. "I promised them I'd stay the night."

Beca could hear Stacie smile. "Oh did you now?"

"Don't start. It's way too late for this conversation. It's been a long night." Beca replied, rolling her eyes and putting the phone between her shoulder and cheek. She retraced her soulmate tattoo as they spoke.

Stacie paused again. "You should really give it a chance Beca."

Beca sighed, feeling her bones settle on the bed. "They're really happy together." She said in a low voice.

Stacie didn't wait to respond this time, taking it as her opportunity to speak up. "Your tattoo is proof that you'd make them happier." Then, in a small voice she added. "This isn't like your parents. You're all soulmates."

Beca gulped. She knew these girls for less than a month and fate dictated that she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with them. Her stomach twisted at the thought of lying to them. Why had she gotten involved with them at all? It would've been easier if she hadn't. "Still, I can't imagine fucking up what they have, Stace. They're fucking happy."

"You won't fuck it up. They care about you. You can't avoid it forever, Beca." Stacie told her. "You won't be able to lie to them forever. I don't think you'll be able to lie to your soulmates for much longer. I know you care about them."

Beca closed her eyes. Stacie was right. It was hard enough to lie to them about the cut on her arm. "I just.. I don't know if I tell them they'll expect this level of commitment and I can't -"

"Deep breath." Stacie cut her off. Beca followed her orders. "Good. They know you're guarded Beca. They'll give you as much time as you need. I just… I need you to promise me you'll give this a chance. You can't let your dad's mistakes hold you back. They're good for you. I know it."

"Yeah…" Beca trailed off, repeating stacies words over in her head. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Good. I'll stop by too." In the split second she hung up the phone, her head hit the pillow and she was asleep.

The next morning Beca slept in, since she couldn't leave anyway. Chloe was the one who woke her up. She had an ice pack in one hand and a first aid kit in the other. "Morning sunshine." She said in a low voice through the cracked door.

Beca opened her eyes and the light shining in through the window made her squint. She sat up, slowly. Her head was pounding and she couldn't fully open her black eye. It was swollen, she knew. Her knuckles were sore, but she couldn't see them to know what they looked like beneath the bandage. She groaned. "Morning."

Chloe came in and sat on the edge of the bed. "Aw, I know. Lay back." She did what Chloe told her to and Chloe opened the first aid kit. She took off the bandage on her head and cleaned it up the wound before rebandaging it. Then she put her hand out for Becas and Beca obliged with her bandaged hand. Chloe did the same treatment with her hand and as she finished Aubrey came in with coffee and breakfast on a platter.

"How's it look?" Aubrey asked. Beca sat up and leaned against the headboard. Aubrey sat the platter on her lap.

Chloe scrunched her nose. "She definitely has a concussion." She said. "And her eye is swollen. Hand will be fine."

"I'm right here," Beca joked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Sorry, sweetie." Chloe said. Beca wondered when she started calling her pet names. "How're you feeling?"

"Just a headache. I'll be fine." The coffee slipped into her stomach and Beca smiled. Coffee always made her feel better.

"Still, I sent a message to the Bellas about canceling practice." Aubrey said.

Beca frowned and sat her coffee down. "You don't need to cancel practice. I'll be fine."

Aubrey and Chloe both shook their heads. "No and we're not going to classes today either. We're just going to chill today okay. Just to make sure you're alright."

"Woah, that's a bit much don't you think?" Beca asked. "Really guys, I appreciate your concern but I'm okay. We all have classes today."

Chloe shook her head. "We're trusting each other, remember?" Chloe's eyes found hers and Beca could only nod. Her stomach flipped at the way Chloe was so serious about it. "Good." Chloe smiled at her. "We're all just going to take the day. It's no big deal."

Beca moved from the coffee to the pancakes. They were chocolate chip and tasted better than any breakfast she'd ever had. "Holly shit, these are so good." She mumbled with her mouth full of melted chocolate and pancake.

"Thank you." Aubrey laughed. "I'm glad you like them."

"You made these?!" Beca attempted not to spit it all over the two girls as she spoke. Aubrey only nodded. "Fuck. These are fucking good. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Aubrey laughed. "My mom was a chef.. she died when I was fifteen. It's a hobby I do to remember her by."

Beca's eyes widened and she put her fork down on the plate. "I'm so sorry." Beca told her. "If it's any consolation, you do her memory justice." Beca scratched the back of her head.

"It's okay, it was a while ago now. But thank you." Aubrey smiled gratefully at her. "Eat up before it gets cold."

Beca didn't have to be told twice and in ten minutes the plate and cup were empty. Before she could do anything, Chloe took away the tray and went out to the kitchen. "I threw some clothes in the bathroom for you. Just some sweats and a t-shirt." Chloe told her on her way out.

Beca thanked her and went to the bathroom, showered and changed. When she got out, Beca looked in the mirror and realized why Aubrey and Chloe had gone to the lengths they had the night before and wanted her to stay today too. The gash on her forehead went from her hairline down to through her eyebrow. The black eye went from the bridge of her nose and engulfed half of the gash and her entire eye socket. And they didn't even know about the jagged glass gash that went from her shoulder, down, and around her arm. Beca was glad they gave her a t-shirt and a sweatshirt to wear. It made her much more comfortable and of course it was the only way to hide the deep cut and her tattoo.

When she came out to the living room, the ice pack was returned to her. "Lay on the couch." Chloe told her and she half heartedly smiled before following the instruction. Chloe and Aubrey sat down with her. Aubrey put her legs on her lap and Chloe cradled her head in her lap. Beca noticed that Aubrey brought three cups of coffee with her and had sat them on the coffee table. "So, we have a couple movies we could watch and marathon if you want to do that."

Beca groaned. Aubrey cocked an eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry, we can watch a movie but you can expect me to fall asleep. I can't get through a movie to save my life. I don't have the attention span for it."

Aubrey laughed. "Alright, we could play a game or just talk?"

Beca looked up at Chloe, who looked down at her expectantly. "I can't believe you're skipping classes and you cancelled practice for this." She pointed to her eye.

"Well that," Chloe pointed to her eye too. "Is a little worse than you think."

Aubrey added quickly after, "I'm just glad you're not too stubborn to stop us from taking care of you."

Beca sat up slowly and took her second cup of coffee in her hand. "It's not like I've never been punched before." Beca laughed but the other two didn't seem to think it was funny.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Aubrey told her. "Do you like the coffee? I didn't know how you take it."

Beca nodded, "I like all coffee, but if I had a preference it'd just be something sweet."

"Oh! I didn't think Bitter Beca had a sweet bone in her body." Chloe joked and bumped her shoulder into Becas. Beca couldn't do anything but wince. The pain was real and visceral in response to a collision. And her response was not small enough to go unnoticed. She clenched her eyes shut and the sound was audible to both girls around her. When she opened her eyes, Beca hesitated. She didn't know how to walk it back. "Beca…" Chloe stated slowly. "Did you lie to us last night, about having other wounds?" Beca swallowed hard.

"Show us your arm." Aubrey said when Beca didn't respond fast enough.

Beca stood up and both girls followed her. "It's fine, really." She turned to each side of her, but both exits were blocked. She was trapped.

"Becs, I thought we settled this last night. We just want to help. Please show us." Beca's stomach curled. Either way they'd know something was wrong. She didn't know what to do.

"It's really -" Beca picked up her foot to step over the coffee table and Aubrey pulled her back by her good arm. In an instant both girls were on her, holding one arm each. Chloe ripped the sleeve up as fast she could against a struggling Beca. Beca didn't have any choice in the matter. In a split second, everything she'd been hiding came to fruition.

Chloe looked down at her wrist and the wound she was looking for was long forgotten. Replacing it, was the black ink curled into a capital B on Beca's skin, clear as day. Chloe's same tattoo, Aubrey's same tattoo. Chloe didn't move a muscle and stood still, holding Beca's hand with both of her own. Their eyes met and Chloe's were filled with an emotion Beca couldn't pin down. Beca crumbled beneath the fear of whatever reaction Chloe would have. Then Aubrey peaked around her shoulder and found the same sight of Beca's pulled up sleeve - of her soulmate tattoo.

Beca ran.