Thank you so much for the support last chapter - and a special thank you to the people who have consistently been reviewing/sharing their opinions with me since I started.

Chapter 11

Beca stifles a yawn as she makes her way back down the hallway towards the bedrooms after getting washed up in the bathroom. It can't be any later than nine-thirty, but for some reason, her shift today at Fig's, combined with the fact that she had a pop quiz in physics, really wore her out.

She tucks her hands into the pocket of her sweatshirt, before poking her head around the doorway of Macy's room. "All ready for bed?"

Macy looks up from her position on the mattress, shrugging slightly. She started sleeping in her own bedroom a little over a week ago. The transition wasn't instant, and oftentimes Beca will wake up in the middle of the night to Macy climbing into bed with her, but she's slowly getting more and more comfortable with the idea of staying in her own room.

Beca pauses, her sister's non-answer setting off yet another red flag in her mind. Macy hasn't really talked all afternoon, which, most of the time, isn't a cause for immediate concern. But she barely ate her snack at Fig's, and she pushed the pasta around on her plate at dinner, which is enough of a tell-tale sign for Beca that something isn't right. She walks into the room, sitting on the edge of Macy's bed. "You okay, Mace? You've been pretty quiet today."

Keeping her eyes trained on the book perched on her thighs, Macy doesn't answer. She's always been a quieter girl – but this isn't personality-type quiet. This is her 'Something Happened, and I Don't Know How to Process It' quiet.

Beca lays a tentative hand on her sister's knee, not liking how she seems to be closing herself off more and more. "What's going on?"

Macy eventually closes her book and places it on the bedside table, her eyes lingering ever so slightly on a framed picture of their parents. It's one of the only photos that they have of Warren and Amelia Mitchell, with Beca remembering to grab it before they had to leave their childhood home forever. The photo was taken a few years before the accident when they were on vacation. They were sitting out on the deck of their rental house, Amelia sitting on her husband's lap, and both of them smiling brightly as their eldest daughter had snapped the photo.

When Macy turns back around, her eyes are bleary, and she quickly averts them, not wanting Beca to see her getting upset. Of course, it doesn't work because her sister knows her better than anyone, and before Macy has a chance to say anything, Beca is walking to the head of her bed, nudging her shoulder before sliding underneath the covers beside her. She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding as Beca wraps her arm around her shoulders, pulling the younger girl close into her side, just waiting for Macy to say something.

It takes a moment, with Beca starting to run her fingers through Macy's curls before her little sister gets the courage to say anything. "Benji wants me to come over for a sleepover this weekend."

Beca pulls away slightly, trying to see Macy's face, but the younger girl is curled into her side, playing with the loose thread on her sweatshirt.

She's pretty sure that she can count on both hands (and still have fingers left over) the number of times Macy has gone over to another kid's house. Following their parents' accident, Macy struggled to make friends with the other kindergarteners, the young kids not really understanding why Macy would spontaneously burst into tears during class or why a random old lady that she referred to as 'Sharon' picked her up from the bus line. As she got older, those differences changed, but her naturally quiet demeanor that shone through when around other people and quickly-developing anxiety still set her apart from her classmates, resulting in not many kids being 'brave' enough to introduce themselves.

Even when Macy, herself, conjured up the courage to talk to someone and slowly started to form a friendship with them, it always ended rather abruptly following any discussion that had to do with her parents or the fact that she lives in foster care. As much as Beca hates how much her sister has struggled to find a friend, on some level, she does understand the confusion that can come along with being a kid and hearing something that big. That doesn't mean that Beca forgives those kids for treating Macy like shit, though. Not in the slightest.

That being said, Beca automatically understands why Macy has seemed so off this afternoon – her mind undoubtedly plagued with fears of past failed friendships, in addition to the challenges that she's been facing due to their previous placement.

"What did you tell him?"

Macy's answer comes out at a volume just above a whisper. "I told him I had to ask my mom."

Beca's eyes flutter closed as she lets out a sigh. "Mace…"

"I know. It was stupid."

Beca holds moves her hand down from Macy's curls to pull her in closer to her side. "No, kiddo, it's okay. I get it." And she does, she just wishes that Macy hadn't felt the need to lie about herself to keep Benji around. "Do you want to go over to his house?"

Macy shrugs, removing her hand from Beca's sweatshirt and interlacing their fingers instead. "I don't know. I've never been to a sleepover before."

"Mhmm… it would be a big step." Beca gives her sister's hand a soft squeeze. "Are you worried about anything in particular, or just the fact that it's a sleepover?"

She goes quiet for a moment before starting again. "I really like being friends with him. He's funny, and he doesn't treat me like I'm some sort of freak. He's nice to me, and if I sleep over, I can't keep lying to him. That wouldn't be fair."

Beca doesn't hesitate to answer. "Okay, first of all, you are not a freak and you never have been, so I don't want to hear you talking like that." She's had this conversation with the twelve-year-old on more than one occasion, and nothing enrages her more than the fact that little punks that have had everything handed to them, can (and have) make her sister feel like she's less than. "Second of all, you do not owe anyone an explanation about anything. If you want to tell Benji about mom and dad and about being in the system, then feel free, but don't do it out of obligation."

With Beca fully aware that she did exactly what she is telling Macy not to do a mere three days earlier, the older girl isn't surprised by Macy's next question. "Have you told Chloe yet?"

Macy has seen her sister spending more and more time with the redhead. While she hasn't walked her to class since that one morning, she has seen Chloe and Beca chatting together in the courtyard while Beca was waiting for Macy to come out of the building. And, after they were hanging out together at the football game, Macy wouldn't be surprised if they were becoming friends.

"I have." Beca draws her fingers down the side of Macy's arm, internally chastising herself for the answer. "But I wanted to, and I was comfortable enough doing so." Okay, so she doesn't need to know the whole truth.

Macy can feel the back of her throat start to burn. "I want to tell Benji, but I don't want him to stop being my friend because of it."

Beca's heart shatters as she is once again reminded that she cannot take away all of Macy's pain. What are you supposed to say to something like that? She can't tell her sister that she should tell Benji because she doesn't know if that will end up backfiring. She can't tell her not to say anything, because Beca knows first-hand how difficult it is to keep up that charade. There's really no in-between, and there's definitely no way to know which is the right answer. "Do you trust him, Mace?"

Macy shrugs. The last week or so that she's spent with Benji has been great. After meeting him in the library, they've basically spent every moment they could together at school. They have a lot of the same interests, he doesn't force her to talk if she doesn't want to; it almost feels as though they've been friends for years, instead of days. "I think so."

"Okay…" A small smile appears on Beca's face at her sister's revelation. "If you trust him, and you don't want to keep it a secret anymore, then maybe you should talk to him."

Macy nods into Beca's side but remains quiet, her mind already drifting to the other issue at hand. This sleepover has been weighing heavily on her since Benji proposed it during homeroom. She should've known that it was going to come up eventually; he had mentioned it within five minutes of meeting her. But, now that the possibility of spending the night away from Beca is actually a concrete plan waiting for approval, the situation got very real, very fast.

With her sister's body still tense next to hers, and her hand still firmly wrapped around Beca, the older Mitchell sister knows that there are still some more things that Macy wants to discuss. "Why else are you nervous?"

Macy uncurls herself slightly, meeting her sister's watchful eyes, and mumbling, "you know why."

Beca sighs. Of course she knows why. It doesn't make it any easier to hear, though.

Before she can stop herself, Beca plants a kiss on top of Macy's head, tapping the side of her arm a few times. "Sit up for a second, munch." Reluctantly, Macy does as she's asked, folding her legs in front of her as she rests against the wall that her bed is pressed up against. It takes a moment before she acknowledges her sister, Beca's eyes wide and waiting for her to do so.

She takes Macy's hands in hers, never once breaking eye contact. "Macy, I can't imagine how terrified you must've felt at the Barry's, and I am so sorry for that." Their tearful eyes mirror each other, Beca's throat tightening with emotion. "But, Mace, I am not going anywhere. I will tell you that as many times as you need to hear it, and I will do everything in my power to make that come true, but I don't want you living in fear for the rest of your life."

A single tear slides down Macy's cheek. She knows she's being unreasonable, and she knows that it's been well over a month since it happened, but she can't help feeling as though every single time she leaves Beca, that she's never going to see her again. She's begun to hide her feelings a little better and can muster spending the day apart from her, but that doesn't stop the fact that she still lets out a sigh of relief every time she sees her sister after their time apart, and Macy can wrap her arms around her waist again. "I just don't want anything to happen to you while I'm gone."

"Oh, munch…" Macy's lip starts to quiver as more tears fall, completely breaking down as Beca gathers her back in her arms. Beca rocks slightly from side to side, holding Macy as close to her chest as she can, with Macy's tears soaking into her sweatshirt. "Nothing is going to happen to me, kid, especially not while you're at a sleepover for one night."

Macy doesn't seem convinced, a million what-ifs running through her mind as she neither accepts nor denies Beca's statement. The older girl tries again. "Macy, if you don't want to go over to Benji's because you're not ready or you just don't want to, that is fine. I don't care either way. But, if you don't want to go because you're afraid of what could happen when you're not around, I want you to reconsider. Benji is a good kid, and I can see how much you like hanging out with him. I think a sleepover will be fun."

Macy sniffles against Beca's chest, thinking over what Beca said. She does want to have fun with Benji, and it would be cool to go over his house for a sleepover (he already promised that they could eat junk food up in his room). Most of all, she just wants to be normal and have a normal friendship and go to a sleepover like a normal kid without having to worry about anything. "You'll have your cell phone?"

Beca brings a hand up to the top of Macy's head, running her fingers back down through her curls. "I'll have my cell phone the entire time. You can call me whenever you want – to say goodnight, to just say 'hi.' I may not be at his house with you, but I'll still be there for you." She taps the light brown bracelet on Macy's wrist, gently reminding her of the same one that's on her own. "Right?"

Finally, Macy looks up at Beca, a small smile appearing on her face. "Right."

The next morning, Beca and Macy arrive at Barden with an extra pep in their step. Although Macy is nervous about talking to Benji, she's equally as excited about telling him that she can go to the sleepover. After her talk with Beca, the weight of her concerns being lifted, she slept straight through the night. No nightmares, no sneaking into Beca's bedroom halfway through the night. She woke up feeling refreshed and energized, a sight that brought a smile to Beca's face.

As they walk off the bus, both sisters spot a familiar effervescent redhead heading in the same direction. She isn't normally at school when the busses pull up – well, except when she's trying to corner Beca – but, nonetheless, there Chloe is, walking towards the front door of the school with her attention on her phone.

When Chloe looks up from her phone screen, though, the first thing she notices is the Mitchell sisters walking towards her. "Good morning, ladies!"

Beca grins that stupid grin of hers, saying, once they're within earshot, "What're you doing here so early?"

Chloe rolls her eyes, waving in the general direction of the building. "I have to meet with my Spanish teacher about a paper we have due next week. Apparently, she doesn't take appointments during lunch or after school."

Half-heartedly listening to Chloe and her sister's conversation, Macy lets her eyes wander around the rest of the students coming into the school. Sure enough, it doesn't take long for her to find Benji, his Star Wars shirt being enough of a giveaway. A smile growing on her face, she turns back to Beca, giving her hand a gentle tug. "I'm going to go meet up with Benji, okay?"

Beca nods, clearly surprised at the fact that she isn't being asked to walk her to class. It happens more often than not, but with Macy's big talk with Benji supposedly happening today, Beca was expecting to have to give her some extra motivation before she sought the boy out. "Okay, have a good day, munch."

"You, too." She wraps her arms around her sister's stomach, giving her a quick hug, before pulling away. "Love you. Bye, Chloe!"

Both seniors chuckle as Macy makes a run for Benji, Beca barely being able to return her sister's sentiment. She does anyway, sure that her 'love you too' didn't fall on deaf ears, before turning back to Chloe. "She's in a creepily good mood this morning and I am not sure what caused it."

Chloe slides her phone into her back pocket, still watching as Macy greets her friend across the courtyard. "Well, not everyone can be all doom-and-gloom all the time like you."

Beca feigns denial, "I am not."

The redhead ignores Beca's comment, instead, pointing at where Benji has started pulling a book from his bag, handing it to Macy excitedly. "Who's Macy's friend?"

Beca looks at where Chloe is pointing, a small smile appearing on her face at the sight of how happy her sister looks. "That's Benji," she lowers her voice, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear as they both continue to watch. "Macy is supposed to be telling him about the whole foster care thing today."

Chloe's eyes widen, breaking her concentration with the seventh-graders, and turning to her own friend. Chloe is still relieved that Beca had decided to tell her, even if there was extreme pressure to do so. She has kept her promise, not telling anyone except for her mom, and feels as though the revelation as truly brought them closer. "Really? Why now?"

"Apparently, Benji invited her over for a sleepover this weekend. She didn't want to say yes until she told him what was going on." Beca's still incredibly proud of Macy for coming to the decision regarding whether or not to tell Benji on her own; not that she was truly hoping for one outcome over the other. There's just something about Benji that makes her think that telling him the truth will be good for their friendship. Maybe her reasoning is jaded because she had a positive response from Chloe, but Beca is still optimistic.

A grin slowly starts to spread on Chloe's face. "A sleepover?"

Beca nods uneasily. "Yeah?"

"I love sleepovers."

Laughing slightly, Beca's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Chloe, I hate to break it to you, but I don't think you're invited."

Chloe rolls her eyes, the two of them finally stopping their slightly-stalkerish observing of Beca's sister and resuming their walk into the building. "Obviously I'm not invited to that one, but that doesn't mean that we can't have our own!" At Beca's slightly scared expression, Chloe waves her off. "Oh, come on! It'll be fun! We can get Stacie and Aubrey to come, and it'll be a slumber party!"

Beca grimaces slightly. As exciting as that sounds, she was already planning on just sitting in her room all night and chilling out, at the ready for the likely event that Macy calls. "I don't know…"

"Please!" Chloe jumps slightly, reaching out to Beca's hand and taking hold of it, her eyes pleading with the brunette. "I promise that it'll be fun!" Chloe bats her eyelashes slightly, already feeling Beca starting to waver on her original stance. She tries one last time. "Pleaseeeee?"

Groaning, Beca tips her head back in exasperation, muttering, against her better judgment, "Fine."

And there's Chapter 11! I planned out the rest of this story last night and it looks like there's going to be around 30 (!) chapters in total. I'm really excited about where it's going and I hope you all are as well :)

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!