Thank you for the support last chapter! This one is a little shorter than normal because it's just a filler chapter, but in the next one, things will start to pick up.

I also realized that I never put a disclaimer, so here it is:

Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.

Chapter 4

There's something to be said about the relief that comes along with Friday night. They made it through the week, they have the weekend to look forward to, and, honestly, who doesn't love not having to set an alarm for the morning? Friday nights just bring about an added sense of serenity.

Nestled in one of the city's neighboring suburbs, Chloe and Aubrey sit side-by-side on Chloe's bed, already dressed in their pajamas, and both of them looking intently at their respective laptops. Neither one of them have spoken for a while, each of them absorbed by the glowing screens and perfectly content with each other's company.

Although, after about an hour of staring at the laptop, Chloe groans, leaning her head back against the wall. "You know, we could just not go to college."

Aubrey scoffs, barely looking away from Barden University's admission page. Their first deadline is at the beginning of November, and while Aubrey's basically had her application completed since the summer, it reassures her to double and triple check the requirements. "Yeah, okay, Chlo."

"No, seriously. We could ditch the whole college thing, go out on the road, have an adventure… it'd be a lot easier than all of this."

Aubrey shoots her best friend a sideways glance. There's no way that her father would get on board with that plan, and, by default, there's no way that Aubrey would agree to it either. Which, Chloe knows, and is why the blonde also knows that she isn't being serious. "Yeah? You want to go all vagabond and see the world?"

Chloe grins. "Why not? We could go to Italy, and Spain, and Denmark, and –."

" – and end up living in a box because we wasted all of our money," Aubrey smirks to herself. As much as she knows Chloe is joking, her father always tells her that there's at least a little bit of truth behind every joke. "What's going on?"

Chloe pushes her laptop off of her lap, turning so that she's laying on her side and fully facing Aubrey. "It's just a lot. All of the letters of rec, and the essays, and the applications, and the interviews, and the internships…" She sighs, puffing out her cheeks and causing the few loose curls hanging down from her bun to fly in different directions. "And then, like, what if I don't get in and it's not even worth it…"

"You're going to get in, Chloe." As far as Aubrey is concerned, they all are. Attending Barden University has been their plan since they were in middle school. Aubrey was going to go for political science in preparation for law school, Stacie for pre-med, and Chloe for education… that's been the plan since the beginning. They've worked their asses off all through high school to make it a reality. They've pulled good grades, done the extracurriculars… there's no way that they can't get in.

Chloe nuzzles deeper into her bed, curling her arms around her pillow. It pains her to think about the fact that these high school moments are going to start becoming less and less frequent. Eventually, she won't be going to any more football games, or pep rallies, and the amount of sleepovers she's going to have at her home with the girls is going to start dwindling. Of course, the best-case scenario would be to follow the girls' plan all along and dorm with Aubrey and Stacie and live out their college dreams together… but what if that doesn't happen?

"You don't know that, Bree." Chloe's voice softens. "And then, what if you and Stace get in and I don't… I'm going to end up going to some clown college and never see you guys again."

Aubrey rolls her eyes. "That would never happen. Even if all three of us don't get in, we'll figure something out."

Unfortunately, Chloe doesn't know if that's true. Aubrey doesn't "figure things out." She plans, and plans, and plans, and she expects the universe to follow said plans. It's not like Chloe would ever expect her and Stacie to just go along with whatever she needs to do, but she's afraid that they'll end up leaving her in the dust.

Sensing that she has done little to assuage Chloe's nerves, Aubrey reaches out and takes her hand, trying to ignore the tears that are starting to swim in Chloe's bright blue orbs. "Chlo, don't stress, alright? Everything is going to work out. I promise."

Unbeknownst to Aubrey and Chloe, about a half-hour away, another senior is trying to come up with the words to have a very different kind of conversation.

While Beca couldn't be happier that the week is over, the fact that she has to go over to Chloe's house on Saturday has been looming over her head ever since Mr. Harrington had assigned the project. She's been putting off talking to Macy about it for as long as possible, especially after Beca majorly screwed up on Wednesday afternoon with her trip to Mrs. Abernathy's office. It never seemed like the right time to say anything, but now, less than twenty-four hours away from when Beca is supposed to be at Chloe's, she knows she has to say something about their weekend plans.

As she haphazardly throws her clothes that she just took out of the dryer into the small dresser on the opposite side of the bedroom, Beca glances over at her sister. Macy is laying on her stomach on Beca's bed, her feet slowly swinging back and forth as she focuses intently on an open book in front of her. They ended up eating dinner with CR at Fig's, so when they got back to Jack's, it was straight into the pajamas for the sisters.

Macy really didn't talk much all Wednesday night and even the majority of Thursday. She wasn't necessarily mad at Beca, but the entire situation scared the crap out of her, so she's spent the last few days still trying to wrap her head around it. And, when she did talk, she didn't mention what had happened in the hallway. Macy just wanted to forget about the whole thing and she really didn't want to get Beca involved. Telling her sister that two random seniors had come up to her and knew about Beca's whereabouts, didn't fit into that plan.

As for Chloe and Stacie, both of them waited all Thursday and all Friday for Beca to say something to them about her little sister. At first, they had been going back and forth about whether to bring it up, but Chloe didn't want to embarrass Beca or make her feel bad about the whole situation. So, they waited, but, since Macy never told Beca, Beca didn't know that they were waiting for her to broach the subject.

"Did you know that Philadelphia Cream Cheese wasn't even invented in Philadelphia? It was invented in New York."

Beca snorts, turning around to give Macy her full attention. "Oh yeah? Where'd you learn that?"

"CR gave it to me to borrow." The younger girl holds up the book briefly, before putting it back down in front of her before Beca can read the title. Macy has always been a book worm, which is something that she got from their father, without a doubt. Even though Beca can hold her own in the classroom, it's mostly from repetition and nothing else. With Macy, she just absorbs everything (not that she every truly has the confidence to share that with other people, though).

Tossing the last flannel into the drawer, Beca shuffles across the room, sitting down on the corner of her bed. "That was nice of her."

She rubs the page in between her fingers, never once turning away from the information printed in black ink in front of her. "Mhmm."

Beca takes a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to have the dreaded conversation with her sister. "Speaking of CR, I uh… I wanted to talk to you about something."

This catches Macy's attention, who finally looks up from her book and pushes it off to the side slightly. Just the tone of Beca's voice causes her to start worrying. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine." She runs her hand over the comforter on the bed. It's hideous and old, a faded mustard color, but it keeps them warm. Here goes nothing. "What would you think about spending a few hours at Fig's with her tomorrow?"

Macy's eyebrows furrow in confusion as she pushes herself into a seated position. She tucks her legs under herself, her fingers instantly going to the leather bracelet on her wrist. "What do you mean?" Tomorrow is supposed to be the one day this week that Beca has off; Macy just assumed that they would be hanging around Jack's together.

To put it more accurately, Macy had hoped that they would just be hanging around Jack's together.

Beca, too, turns to her bracelets for comfort. "I have to go over to this girl's house tomorrow so that we can work on a group project. CR said you could hang out with her." Well, actually, Beca had asked CR if it would be okay for Macy to hang out in the diner while she was at Chloe's. Not that Cynthia Rose would ever say no – it's not like Macy is a troublemaker, and she loves the girl – but it's a little different when Beca isn't working or isn't there at all.

As much as she hates to admit it, Macy's heart rate starts to quicken just at the thought of Beca's proposition. She can feel her palms start to turn clammy, and her mouth runs dry. "Why do you have to go to their house? How come I can't go with you?"

"Well we can't have them here, munch." That would just require way too much detail and sharing than Beca would like. Plus, who knows if Jack would even be okay with it. The guy barely talks to Beca and Macy as it is. "And, as much as I would love for you to come with me, I think you'd have a lot more fun with CR, don't you?"

There's isn't any hesitation in her answer. "No."

"Mace…"

Macy shakes her head, her damp curls moving back and forth with the motion. "I don't get why I can't just come with you. I'll be quiet, you won't even know I'm there." She still hasn't gone through a full school day without going to see Beca. What makes her think that this would be any different?

"It has nothing to do with that, Macy." It has everything to do with the fact that if Beca were to bring her twelve-year-old little sister to Chloe's house while they worked on the project, she can only imagine the line of questioning that she would have to endure. "Why don't you want to hang out with CR?"

She leans up against the wall, trying not to pay attention to the millions of highly unlikely – but albeit terrifying – scenarios that could happen. "It's not that I don't want to hang out with her… it's just that I don't want you to be gone for that long."

Beca pulls her other leg up onto the mattress, laying her hands on her ankle. "It's only going to be for a few hours. I'll have my phone on me the entire time, so if, for any reason, you need to reach me, you can." If Beca had enough money to buy and pay for a phone for Macy, she would in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, working a waitress job where the majority of her income comes from tips, seems to only provide enough income for one phone bill.

Macy stays quiet for what feels like an eternity, before her question comes out in a volume that can only be described as a hesitant whisper. "Where is the house?"

Relief washes over Beca. The fact that she's asking questions and is at least trying to process the idea of her being away for tomorrow afternoon, is a good sign. "The girl's name is Chloe. Her house is about twenty minutes away from Fig's." Chloe had texted her the address during class this morning after Beca reminded her that she had no idea where she lived. She had then taken her phone and changed her contact name to 'Chloe Beale :)' which made Beca smirk, despite herself. "I'm going to take a bus to the stop nearest to her house, and then I'll walk the rest of the way."

"What time?"

"Two o'clock, so we'll go to Fig's around one-thirty, and I'll be back to pick you up by five at the latest." Beca searches Macy's face for further protest, but all she's met with, are nerves. She offers the girl a small smile. "Okay?"

Slowly, Macy gives Beca a small nod. She can do this. It's only a few hours. Beca is going to have her phone. CR won't let anything happen. Everything's going to be fine… right?

Thanks so much for reading! As long as there is still interest, I'm going to try and upload a chapter every other day. So, please leave a review/favorite/follow if you enjoyed it and want to see more :)