I'm sorry to say that the clue in this chapter is a little obvious, so you guys don't really need to guess. BUT, if anyone wants to make any predictions at all, I'd love to hear them!
For chapters 2 and 3, Verum guessed correctly! Chapter 2 was the Barden University cup, and Chapter 3 was "Titanium." Good job!
Now, off with the story!
Day 4- Can I Just Die From Embarrassment?
Beca's half surprised that there's no present on her doorstep when she wakes up in the morning. Shrugging (and trying to convince herself she's not disappointed), she walks back into the kitchen and pours herself a bowl of cheerios. After going to see Jesse's grave yesterday, Beca can say she's gotten the best night's sleep in about a month. She even slept better than before she found out about Jesse's passing, which she chooses not to think too heavily about.
She pauses mid-bite when her phone rings, and an involuntary grin spreads across her face when she sees it's Chloe. She knows she should be used to this by now, considering it's been their thing since the USO tour, but it's still the thing that gets her day going.
"Good morning, Chloe." She answers, smiling at Chloe's surprised laugh on the other end.
"Beca! You sound like you slept!"
"I did, actually. Better than I have in a long time. And, I don't have a headache." Her cheeks are actually starting to hurt from how much she's smiling right now, but she can't seem to stop it. Chloe's excitement is contagious.
"That's aca-mazing! This calls for a celebration!"
At this, Beca groans. "No, Chlo. You know I don't fare well at parties."
"You always did fine in college." Chloe argues back, and Beca can almost see the smug look on her face.
"That was different."
"How so?"
"Because…" She trails off, trying to think of an answer other than the way you grinded on me when you were drunk made me want to stay there forever. "Uh…"
"Exactly. Come on, it'll just be us Bellas. Tomorrow night?"
"You do know Zac's party is the day after tomorrow, right? We need to be fresh and alive so we can fully enjoy it."
"Yes, Beca, I know." Chloe sighs, unintentionally making Beca feel bad. "Honestly, it would most likely be me, you, Emily, Stacie, and Aubrey."
"True…" Beca sighs. "FINE. But just us five, and it has to be here, at my house."
"YAY! Thank you so much, Becs!"
"I thought this party was for me?" She fondly rolls her eyes, momentarily forgetting that Chloe can't see it.
"It is for you. It would just make me happy, too." She laughs. "Damn it, I'm at work. Hey, did you get gift number four yet?"
Beca chuckles. "No, not yet. But I'll call or text you when I do."
"Awes. I love you!"
"Love you too." Beca sighs as she hangs up, her heart beating a little harder to keep the blood flow going. This sort of extra work her heart has to do is from pain though, not from excitement. Pain, because she knows Chloe will never feel the same as she does.
"God, I wish I didn't have to go to work today." She mutters to herself as she puts her now empty bowl in the sink, then makes her way to her bedroom to get dressed. She pulls on a red skirt and a black and red flannel button-up shirt, then grabs a red and white scarf and throws it around her neck. She's always loved Christmas, so she tries to dress up according to the season at least three times a year.
She grabs her stuff, then pulls on her coat and heads outside, flinching against the harsh wind. She groans when she realizes she can't even see two feet in front of her, so she slowly makes her way to the road, praying a taxi will pass by soon. I hate the fucking snow, she texts Chloe while she waits.
Aww, be nice Becs. It has nothing against you. A second later: you're so short it probably never noticed you're there.
Haha, funny. She texts back, shoving her phone in her pocket as she sees a taxi slow down in front of her. She climbs in and tells the guy, "NYC Recording Studios." He nods, then does a double-take when Beca takes her hood off. "Please sir, I'm in a hurry." She adds as she does her seatbelt, and he quickly nods and starts driving again, glancing at her every few seconds in the mirror. I'm in a taxi, and this guy's reaction is hilarious. She pulls her phone back out to text Chloe.
Well, you are rich and famous now, Beca. How old is he? She glances at him, observing his gray hair and wrinkled face.
About 60's maybe?
Ewww, gross.
Right? She laughs out loud. If I disappear, you know why.
Imagine the ransom amount.
I'd rather not. She shudders at the thought of being kidnapped for money. If anything, he should kidnap someone close to me and try to get my money, not the other way around…
True…
Chloe, don't trust taxi drivers.
Oh don't worry, been down that lane. The winky emoji at the end lets Beca know that Chloe has a much more errotic meaning in mind, and she cringes.
I did NOT want to know that.
You asked.
Did not.
Yeah you did.
Technically I did not.
Mmhmm.
HAHA, I win!
Whatever Beca. Go to work.
Beca laughs out loud again, startling the taxi driver on accident. "Sorry."
"It's fine. Boyfriend?" He asks, and she takes a sharp breath of air that results in her coughing. "Are you ok?"
"F-fine." Her eyes start to water with pain, but she does her best to blink the tears back as she clears her throat. "No, not a boyfriend." Before he can ask more, she says, "I'm not dating anyone."
"Oh." He opens his mouth, presumably to ask another question, and she's grateful when Chloe texts again.
I meant it. Get something done today.
Since when are you my boss?
"Miss Mitchell." Beca looks up. "We're here."
"Oh." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out two $20s. "Here, keep the change." She throws it over his shoulder and hops out of the taxi, practically running into the building.
"Good morning, Miss Mitchell." Jaxxon greets her with his usual smile, and she gives him a small wave. "There is a, uh, present in your office."
"Oh?" Beca can't help but get excited, and she takes the steps two at a time in her haste to see what it is. When she gets there, her jaw drops. Theo's sitting on her desk, feeding what looks to be like a parrot.
"Someone bought you four birds. Two parrots and two mockingbirds." He says, waving her inside. It's only then that Beca notices she's stopped walking, and she quickly enters, closing the door behind her.
"Wow." She breathes out, spotting a note on top of the birdcage. She rips it off and opens it, scanning it quickly before actually reading it.
Beca,
I couldn't think of anything for four calling birds; I know, I'm terrible. Instead, I decided to just get you birds. If you call out I love you to them, they will give you your hint. Good luck!
"Uh…" She cringes, then calls out, "I love you?" Theo gives her a confused look, but then starts laughing when the red parrot flies off of the desk and onto her head, followed by a short yelp from Beca.
"I was a Bella." The parrot announces, then takes off as Beca tries to whack it off her head. She glares at Theo when she sees him put his phone down, and his grin falls off his face.
"You're in on this, aren't you?" She asks suspiciously, and he sighs before nodding. "Who the hell is this?!"
"I can't say. But I was told to get a picture of you with the birds, so…" He shrugs, then starts messing with his phone again. "I'm sending it to her right now."
"Oh my gosh." Her face turns red, and she looks anywhere but him as she cries out, "can I just die from embarrassment? Is that possible?"
Theo shrugs again, turning his phone back off and looking at the young star in front of him. "Uh, Beca…"
"What now?" She whines, and he laughs nervously.
"You have bird shit in your hair."
"Oh. My. God." She takes a deep breath through her nose, counting to five before letting it out. "Whenever I find out who the hell did this to me, I'm going to kill her."
Theo shakes his head and stands up. "No you won't. But go ahead and use the showers to clean up."
At this, Beca's jaw drops in astonishment. "How come I never knew we have showers here?"
"Because I knew that, if I told you, you might never leave." He shrugs, then walks out.
Chloe, I'm going to kill whoever it is that's doing these gifts. She stares at the screen, waiting for an answer, but Chloe doesn't respond. Figuring she's probably busy with a patient, she throws her phone in her desk and heads to the front desk, trying her best to smile at Jaxxon's surprised face. "Hey Jax, where are the showers?"
Once he recovers, he says, "down the hall, last door on the right." She nods her thanks and starts walking in the pointed direction, only stopping when she hears a laugh.
"Seriously? It's not funny!" She yells, and even stomps her foot. She then facepalms, shaking her head at herself for acting like a child.
As soon as she gets into the bathroom with the showers (how she's never even noticed this door before, she's not sure), she strips and turns one of the showers on. She hums "Titanium" as she waits, chuckling at the memory from 10 years ago.
Once it's warm enough, she steps in, cringing when she sees white and yellow in the water that flows off the top of her head. She waits until it's clear again to run her hands through her hair, silently praying there isn't still some there. She sees a bottle of coconut shampoo, and she squeezes a small amount on her hand and runs it through her hair, scrubbing the top extra well.
Once her hair is washed, she quickly dries off, puts her clothes back on, and makes her way back to her office. "Looking better, Miss Mitchell." Jaxxon says as she passes, and she shoots him a sarcastic smirk.
"Not looking too bad yourself, Jax." She replies, then takes the steps back up to her office. When she's in and has the door closed behind her, she grabs the parrot that's out of the cage (thankfully, it just happened to be sitting on her desk) and puts it in with the others, locking the cage's door once it's in. She then scans the whole room, making sure there's no bird droppings anywhere.
Once she's satisfied with how the room looks, she flops in her chair behind her desk and pulls her phone out, seeing a missed text from Chloe. Uh-oh, did something go wrong?
A bird shit on my head.
Oh my gosh that's amazing.
Thank you SO MUCH, Chloe.
I'm sorry. Are you ok?
Beca rolls her eyes; of course she's ok. It was just bird shit, dude. It's not like it killed me.
Well, from the way you complain, you'd think you were dying.
Go back to work, Beale. She rolls her eyes, trying to stop the smile that's threatening to spread across her face. It's amazing how one simple conversation with Chloe can put Beca in a good mood, even if it only lasts five minutes after the conversation has ended.
I could say the same to you, Mitchell.
Touché. Call me later?
Sure. Hey, get ahold of Legacy for me and see if she can come to the party. I'll contact Stace and Bree.
Alright, talk to you later.
Love you 3
Love you too. She puts her phone back down on her desk and sighs, stretching for a minute before picking it back up and dialing Emily's number.
"Hello?"
"Hey Em."
"Becs, hi! How are you?"
"I'm doing ok. I'm actually calling on a favor for Chloe." She winces, waiting for some sort of remark or joke, but it doesn't come.
"Oh? What's up?"
"She wants to have some get-together tomorrow, and she wants to know if you can come."
"Oh!" Beca can practically see the delighted grin on her face from here, and it makes her smile softly in return. "Benji gets off work early tomorrow, so yeah, I can come. Where?"
"My house. If they can make it, Aubrey and Stacie will be there too."
"Oh yay!"
"Yeah. Yay." She grunts with much less enthusiasm. "I'll let Chloe know you'll be there then."
"Hey, I called yesterday, but you never answered. Are you ok?" She sounds worried, and Beca's eyes widen, remembering how she powered her phone off for the day while she was at the cemetery with Chloe.
"Yeah." Her voice breaks, and she groans. "I mean, no, not exactly. But I will be."
"What happened?!" Emily sounds worried, and Beca sighs again.
"I, uh… Chloe and I went to visit Jesse's grave." Beca doesn't actually know if Emily knows about Jesse's death; she is married to his best friend, after all.
"Oh. I was actually surprised you didn't go to the funeral."
"It was too hard. I didn't come to terms with it until yesterday, actually. Chloe went with me, for moral support. It was… a lot better than I thought it would be. I definitely needed it." She surprises herself by admitting it out loud.
"Well, you can't always keep everything locked up inside." Emily says sadly, and Beca nods.
"Trust me, I know that. That's why I opened up about it and went. I was never going to get past it if I didn't face it, right?"
"Right. Well, I should get back to work now, but I'll see you tomorrow night. Text me when."
"I will. Bye Legacy."
"Bye Beca." Emily hangs up, so she quickly texts Chloe. What time tomorrow night?
Uhh, 6 should work, right?
Yeah.
Awes! Is Emily coming?
Yeah.
Yay! I'll let you know tonight what Bree and Stace say.
Alright, cool. She switches over to her chat with Emily and texts her the time, receiving a thumb's up emoji in response.
Figuring she should probably get some work done, she fires up her laptop and grabs Emily's latest lyrics from her desk drawer, trying to commit the words to her memory as she listens to the "finished version." She knows she has to tell Theo at some point that it's done, but for now, she just wants to enjoy the work she did on it. She's come a long way from never letting anyone other than Jesse and Chloe hear her work, and now that she's there and comfortable with it, she hates feeling like she has to hide it anymore.
Almost as if he's a mind reader, Theo knocks on the door lightly three times before letting himself in. Beca pushes her headphones around her neck and says, "what's up?"
"I just wanted to see what you're working on, is all." He shrugs nonchalantly and sits on the edge of her desk. Beca narrows her eyes at him; he never interrupts her working without a reason.
"What do you want, Theo?"
He sighs. "Fine, you got me. I got a call from Justin Timberlake."
"And?"
"And he wants you to perform 'Perfect for Me' with him at his niece's birthday party tomorrow. She's demanding that 'Poppy' sing."
"Fine." She groans. "But I'm doing it for Justin, not for the kid." Beca has never been good with little kids, other than Emily's son Jamie, and she knows it. "Was that all you wanted?"
"Nope." He pops the 'p' and suddenly grins. "I have some good news…"
"What?" She perks up, knowing the wide smile on his face is most likely a good thing; Theo has never lied to her, and she trusts him- to an extent, which is her career only.
"'Survive' just hit platinum." He says, his eyes flickering between Beca's as she takes the information in.
Once it finally sinks in, she stands up and screams. "Seriously?!" He laughs in confirmation, and she screams again. "Oh my gosh, that is amazing! I have to tell the Bellas! Can I tell them?"
"Who are you and what have you done with Beca Mitchell?" He retorts sarcastically, and she whacks his chest. "Oww, I was kidding."
"You better have been." But she clears her throat and sits back down. "This is my first platinum hit. Ever."
"I know." He nods. "Which is why you're going to throw a party."
"What?" She screeches, and he flinches in immediate response. "No way in hell am I throwing a party, dude. Sorry not sorry. I already promised Zac Efron that I'd go to his Christmas party on Saturday. That's enough for me." She crosses her arms for added effect.
"Come on Beca. You're the hottest rising star in the United States and much of Europe right now!"
"Exactly." She quickly cuts him off. "And I don't want to make myself seem like some high-class celebrity who celebrates every chance she gets. I want to be known as the person who's always looking toward the next best thing."
He pinches the skin on the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes in a deep sigh. "Beca, you have to let people know you're friendly-"
"That's bullshit." She cuts him off with a sharp laugh. "I'm not friendly and you and I both know it. People love me for my sarcasm and wit- it's what I'm known for. I'm not going to change who I am now, just because one of my songs got some recognition."
"A lot of recognition." Theo points out.
"Still, I'm not throwing a party, and that's final." She moves her hands to rest them on her hips, raising an eyebrow as if she's almost daring him to argue.
"Ok, fine." He grunts and stands up, rubbing his face. "You weren't kidding when you said you were going to be a handful."
"No, I was not." She responds proudly, giving him a sarcastic smirk. "Now, are you going to let me get back to work or what?"
"Yeah." He exits the room, closing the door behind him. Allowing her true smile to come back, she grabs out her phone and opens the Bella's group chat that they started after graduation.
Guess what guys? She hits send and stares at the screen expectantly, waiting for an answer.
To her relief, it's Emily who answers first. What?! She realizes Emily should've probably been the first to know, but it's too late now.
Survive just hit platinum, dude.
Guys, that's aca-mazing! Aubrey responds with a smiley emoji. I'm so proud of the both of you.
Thanks. Emily and Beca both manage to send at the same time, and Beca laughs. More comments about how amazing they've done start flooding through almost immediately after, but it's the message from Chloe that really stands out to her.
I always knew you could do it 3 I love you.
Awww, I love you too! Emily responds before Beca can, and she shakes her head, an amused grin covering her features. Chloe texts back a laughing face, and Beca decides not to respond, turning her phone off and going back to work instead, a wide smile still on her face for hours after.
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Beca's laying on her couch, reading a book when she hears someone knock on her door. Her brow furrowing in confusion, she stands and walks over to the door, opening it to see red hair and blue eyes in her face. "Hi Chloe, what's up?"
"Can I talk to you?" She asks timidly, and only then does Beca notice she's crying.
"Of course." She steps aside, allowing Chloe entrance into her home. "Are you ok? What happened?"
She doesn't respond to Beca's questions until they're both sitting on the couch. "I ran into Chicago today."
"What?"
She nods slowly. "Yeah. He said he wants me back."
Ok…" Beca sighs sadly. "What did you tell him?"
"That I'm over it, over us." She sniffles, looking at her hands. "But none of it was true."
"Then why did you say it?" Beca whispers, her heart plummeting in her chest.
"Because…" Chloe trails off and stares into Beca's eyes for almost a minute (53 seconds, Beca counts) before saying, "I don't know."
"If you want to be with him, then tell him that."
"Really?" Chloe's eyes widen with shock. "After last time, I thought you were going to kick his ass."
"Oh don't worry, I still want to." She mutters, and she's grateful when Chloe's lips turn upward in a tiny smile. "But I can see how much he means to you, so go for it. If you want. It's your choice."
The smile falls off her face as she sighs again, looking away once more. "I don't know if I want to though. I can't hurt him again. I don't feel anything romantic towards him anymore, but I miss what we used to have. I can't do that to him, it's not fair."
Beca nods. "Then don't."
"You're amazing, did you know that?"
"So I've been told." Chloe laughs at this, making Beca laugh as well.
"You're such a dork." She pulls Beca in for a hug, who immediately wraps her arms around the ginger in return. "I love you."
"I love you too." She murmurs into the side of her neck, rubbing slow circles into her back comfortingly. Slowly, and oh so carefully, Beca leans into the back of the couch, pulling Chloe with her gently.