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"Now you know how I felt." Beca said. She was curling her hair with Stacie's straightener, in front of Stacie's mirror. They were talking through the mirror as Beca prepared for a night out with Chloe and Aubrey. Their first date. After all of those months waiting for it to happen.
"It's just hard. I mean, I just don't want to pressure her. Half the time she's a deer in headlights, ya know? She's so nervous." Stacie cradled her legs closer to her chest as she spoke from the edge of her single bed. Beca wouldn't ever admit it, but Stacie sounded like she was describing Beca and the mess she was since she'd met her soulmates. Emily was similar but in an entirely different way. She was nervous, but in the nervous way that you ended up rambling for five minutes to ask one question. Beca was the nervous type that kept to herself. Beca often thought it was a shame that Emily was so nervous. She was talented. If she embraced it, she could really get somewhere.
"Sure She's a little younger than you expected, Stace, but she's not a mouse you're preying on. She'd be ecstatic if you just told her." Beca said. She checked the time to make sure she isn't wasting any. She wouldn't be late under any circumstances.
Stacie shook her head and laid her chin on her knee. "You sound like me a couple months ago."
Beca wielded the flat iron like a sword at her roommate. "Hey. You're the one who wanted a soulmate so bad."
Stacie rolled her eyes. "And look at you giddy over the fact that you have two." Stacie smirked and Beca rolled her eyes. She unplugged the straightener and started on her makeup - dark under the eyes, a dark red lining her lips. A minute later, Stacie added. "What if it's too late?" Her voice was small.
Beca swiveled around in the desk chair she'd moved in front of the mirror. She scooted it over to Stacie's bed. "Stacie Conrad. Are you avoiding your soulmate because you're scared?" Stacie looked down at the bed. "Stacie, she's going to love you. And I know you're already falling for her. You should give her a chance. That's what you told me, remember? You've got to try?"
Stacie took a deep breath. "You're right, I know you're right."
"Come on, grab your coat." Beca pat her shoulder. "You can come to the flower shop outside town with me. We'll get Emily a bouquet that says… I'm sorry I didn't tell you I'm your soulmate earlier - do you want to go on a date with me so I can make it up to you?" Beca laughed and Stacie got up.
"I know you're like secretly a flower freak, but you really think there's a bouquet for that?"
Aubrey wasn't sure what she'd been expecting when Beca demanded that both girls let her plan the date. I asked the two of you out! She had said, Which means I get to plan it! Aubrey was a little upset she hadn't gotten to do the planning. She loved to plan. Especially when it came down to dating. It probably had a lot to do with her need to control everything. She didn't really like that Beca wanted everything to be a surprise. It made her nervous. If she didn't know what they were doing, she didn't know what to wear or whether or not she should eat before. She had enough nerves about the date - excited nerves, but still nerves. Beca had already run for the hills a few times. Aubrey was afraid that if this didn't go well, they'd have to take another twenty steps back before they could go out again. And she really wanted it to go well. All week she had butterflies fluttering in her stomach and Chloe was all smiles. Aubrey was sure that if the three of them were stable, nothing in the world could break them. Aubrey and Chloe had both been so sure that they couldn't be happier together, but with Beca, they were complete - whole.
Beca gave her only a single hint after Aubrey asking her twenty thousand questions. She told her to dress casual and no high heels. Aubrey and Chloe destroyed their bedroom looking for the right outfits to wear that Saturday morning. Each outfit they asked the other if it was right- which led to an onslaught of pep talk compliments between them. Chloe ultimately decided on a white v-neck, long black blazer, and blue skinny jeans, ripped in the knee. The dip in the neckline made Aubrey bite her lip. She almost opted for just a black lace bra under the blazer, but Aubrey told her she couldn't wear it unless she wanted the date to get cut short. In return, Chloe told her not to wear a signature of her own - her plunging neckline, white halter top. Aubrey settled on a black and white shirt under a leather jacket with black leggings. Both girls seemed to be edging towards the punk badass look that Beca seemed to love so much. Each of them went for different hairstyles than their casual looks. Aubrey put her hair up, curled the ponytail, and curled her grown out bangs off to the front side. Chloe straightened her hair out. Aubrey took up a bright red lipstick that Chloe could hardly resist smudging. Chloe chose a light pink.
Beca picked them up in Stacie's car just before six - early enough to reassure both girls that she wouldn't have missed it for the world. Her hair was also out of it's usual style - she'd curled and teased it. She was wearing an acid washed grey shirt, with tears on the sleeves. Over top, she wore a black studded vest. She had black jeans on with a single rip on one of the knees. She'd clipped her hair just a little behind her eyes and they shined against the backdrop of her dark eyeliner. She had a star choker wrapped around her neck. Aubrey's mind immediately thought about how good Beca looked in a collar. Than again, overall She was absolutely breathtaking. Chloe and Aubrey were dumbstruck at the door, watching her walk up to their door. She had a confident stride and two bouquets of combined flowers - each the girl's favorites. Orchids for Aubrey, sunflowers for Chloe. Through the fuzziness of fog Beca's beauty had brought to her mind, Aubrey noted that Orchid and Sunflower bouquets weren't drug story flowers. They took a special trip to a flower market and Aubrey couldn't even think of one nearby.
"The two of you look stunning." Beca looked them over and Aubrey felt her eyes raking over her body. Beca's eyes almost looked darker. Aubrey swallowed a lump in her throat. Her stomach flipped. The three of them seemed to be in a trance for a minute, taking each other in. "Uh." Beca cleared her throat. "These are for you. Aubrey, Orchids and pink Camellia. And for Chloe, Sunflowers and pink roses." Aubrey and Chloe each took them and looked them over. The amount of thought that went into them was so sweet and gentle. They took them in and Beca helped get the bouquets set up with water and plant food. Then they set off.
"Can you pretty please tell us where we're going?" Aubrey pouted. "We're already on our way."
Beca laughed and bopped her on the nose, before turning her attention back to the road. "Exactly, we're already on our way. Sooo you can wait." Beca smiled and turned up the music. It was one of her mixes.
"Is that… you?" Chloe asked, listening into the mix of songs - Beca's audition song being one of them.
"Good ear, Beale." Beca praised and Chloe
Smiled.
"I love your mixes so much." Chloe bit her lip and Aubrey knew that look well. Chloe wasn't subtle when she was flirting. "You're really talented Beca." She was genuine - but most definitely flirting.
"Well, you're the only reason we're listening to them, Beale. I hope both of you know that I do not casually listen to my own singing." Beca joked and Chloe rolled her eyes.
Aubrey followed Chloe's lead. "I would if I were you. We really can't wait to see what you come up with for the ICCAs."
Beca smiled, but Aubrey could see the nerves swimming into her expression. "I know it's been a whole week and you haven't gotten to hear it and I know we need to get started on the choreography, but I really just want it to be perfect-"
"It will be." Aubrey told her, putting a hand over the one Beca had been resting on the center console. "We trust you." Beca smiled, sheepishly.
Then they turned into a parking lot. The parking lot of a bowling alley. And it's not like Aubrey was expecting something else. Aubrey and Chloe weren't all over fancy dates or anything. But bowling? Nothing seemed further from Beca's style. Punk, badass Beca seemed more like a nightclub person. Aubrey wasn't complaining, she was just surprised.
"I know, I know. It's totally not what you expected." Beca said. "And I have a lot more planned later, but bowling's got a special place in my heart." She put the car in park and scratched at her neck, obviously nervous. "My mom and I used to go every other weekend. There wasn't much to do around my hometown and after dad left- we just… could use the pick-me-up. And it's not like we could do a whole lot, money and all-"
"I love it." Chloe cut her off and kissed her on the cheek.
"I absolutely cannot wait to kick your ass at bowling, Mitchell." Aubrey added, mischievously.
Beca bit her lip. "You're on Posen."
Truth was, none of them were good at bowling. They could hardly get a combined score over a hundred. But it wasn't about that. They each had fun pretending to be good and laughing at one another's gutters. They played three or four rounds before sauntering off to another predetermined location of Beca's choice. Their second location was a speakeasy in Atlanta, in the basement of a nightclub Aubrey and Chloe had been to once or twice before. The downstairs needed a passcode for entry, which they didn't even get to hear Beca whisper it to the bouncer. Inside was even better than Aubrey could've ever imagined. It was the 1950s all over again with music entertainment to match. They danced, drank, and talked the night away. After that, Beca wisped them away once more.
"Seriously Becs, this is too much. You didn't have to do all of these. And you definitely didn't have to pay for all of it. You're a college freshman." Chloe told her on their way to the next secret location. Aubrey and Chloe were more than a little drunk at that point - but Beca seemed to want them sober enough for the last activity.
"If I want to take the two of you out for the night, I can and I will."
They were back at Barden for the last activity at a location all three knew all too well. It was well past one in the morning and Beca had brought them to the empty pool on Barden's campus - where they'd had a riff off a few weeks before. "Sh." Beca mumbled before either said anything. "You'll see."
Inside, the Bellas were waiting for them. All bunched up in a group and smiling like dorks. Aubrey wasn't quite sure why and couldn't quite figure out what the secret her and Chloe were missing out on was. The Bellas were all smiling like the surprise was massive. It almost made Aubrey nervous.
"Alright pitches, let's do this." Beca clapped her hands together as they approached. "We're going to remix this shit. Aubrey, pick a song."
Aubrey only stumbled for a second. "Bruno Mars, Just The Way You Are."
"Tricky, but okay. We can do that, right girls?" The girls agreed enthusiastically and Beca took out a pitch pipe. "Chloe, you've got the melody?" Chloe nodded. She blew and the song went off without a hitch. Beca cued Chloe in on the melody. Chloe sang and Beca gave it a few measures to let her get comfortable. Just as Beca seemed to have planned, Chloe and Aubrey naturally fell into the prepared music of their fellow Bellas. Once the melody was stable, Beca started singing "Just a Dream." The way the two songs melded together was heaven to Aubrey's ears. Beca kept her eyes on them, always steadily looking over her and Chloe. It set her skin on fire to feel Beca's eyes on her like that. The two songs were every pent up emotion that the three of them had been feeling for months. It was everything Aubrey ever wanted. She loved that Beca took the time to coordinate with the bellas, knowing how much stress and anxiety it had caused Aubrey waiting on Beca to finish the mix she'd been planning on for the ICCAs. With this mix alone, Aubrey felt more confident that they could make it to the end of the competition. The group felt like one whole - like a family. At the end of the mix, the girls were all of Aubrey and Chloe. They had a pride that was exuberating off them. A pride that wanted their co-captains approval. Aubrey and Chloe were quick to give it to them - applauding and enjoying the enrichment of their hard work. Beca's smirk was one of equal parts pride and complete joy. Her surprise had done what she'd wanted it to - it had made her dates happy.
Aubrey took note that Beca had chosen an outfit that was short sleeves. Aubrey hadn't even been too sure that Beca owned short sleeves before this. She hadn't bothered to hide her soulmate tattoo either. It filled Aubrey with an overwhelming sense of pride. Beca wasn't hiding them anymore, even if she wasn't screaming it from the rooftops. Anyone in the pool could see the tattoo, though Aubrey was sure no one had. If the bellas had - they would've forgotten the performance all together to ask a million questions about their relationship. Aubrey was glad no one had seen it. She wasn't even sure she knew what to label their relationship, which means answering any questions the Bellas had would prove difficult. Aubrey was just glad that Beca wasn't afraid anymore.
The end of their date was sobering. It had gone by in the blink of an eye. None of them wanted it to be over as Beca walked them back to their apartment door. "Come on, Becs. Our relationship hasn't exactly been traditional. You can stay the night. Pleaseeee." Chloe begged when they reached the porch.
Beca held firm, smiling at Chloe. "No, no. I promised the two of you an official first date and I do not go home on the first date." She winked and Chloe rolled her eyes.
"Just to snuggle…" Chloe pouted as Beca swung their held hands back and forth.
Beca looped her free arm around Aubrey's waist and pulled her in. Aubrey bit her lip - any kind of touch from Beca made her shutter. "I told you before Beale, I don't go home on the first date. But… you know what does happen on a first date?" Beca bit her lip and looked between them. Neither girl responded. The air felt thicker. Aubrey wasn't sure she could breathe. Beca leaned in to Chloe and just barely brushed her lips over Chloe's. It was a soft first kiss, where their lips moved slowly against one anothers. Chloe pulled Beca closer by her neck and intensified the kiss. Aubrey was surprised that she wasn't at all jealous - she was turned on. She bit her lip when Beca pulled away from Chloe - forcing Chloe to let her go. Chloe pouted only for a second before her eyes were dark on Beca as Beca turned to Aubrey. Aubrey thought her heart was surely going to jump out of her chest as Beca leaned in. Beca's lips were soft and sweet, offering Aubrey the opportunity to take control of it. Aubrey took the liberty of placing a hand on Beca's cheek as she prolonged the kiss - it was everything Aubrey had ever wanted in her life. When Beca parted from Aubrey, she left their foreheads against each other. "I've got to go… before I take this further than I should." Beca said, just above a whisper. Beca pulled herself out of their grasp, hand out of Chloe's and Arm off Aubrey's waist. Aubrey missed the contact as soon as the air embraced her bare skin. Beca swallowed, visibly. "Goodnight girls."
Chloe bit her lip. "Goodnight."
Beca walked back to the car, but turned just before she got in. "Oh, I forgot to ask." Her smile was as bright as the stars. "Would it be okay, if I called you my girlfriends? From now on?" Aubrey and Chloe could only nod eagerly at their girlfriend. "Good." Beca almost said it to herself. She looked between them, winked, and got in the car.
Beca drove off. Chloe and Aubrey watched her for as long as she was still insight - then looked at each other. Chloe bit her lip and looked at Aubrey like she was going to tear her apart. Aubrey knew the way Chloe was looking at her. Her eyes were an entire shade darker. "I hope you know I'm about to take every frustration I've had tonight out on you."
Aubrey backed toward their open door and Chloe followed her - stalked her prey. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
