Thank you so much for the support last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one, too!
Small content warning for all things Jack related towards the middle of the chapter (after the first line break).
Chapter 23
Beca relishes her time off from school. Besides the fact that she doesn't have to worry about classes, or tests, or projects, she simply gets to spend time with her sister and her friends.
While the majority of her time over winter break was spent working at Fig's, that didn't stop her or Macy from enjoying their mornings, afternoons, and the occasional night with CR. They fooled around at the diner, and even went over to her apartment a couple of times. It was all good fun, and Beca simply enjoyed being able to relax and spend quality time with both of the girls.
Just because she was working, though, doesn't mean she didn't get to see Chloe. In fact, most days that Beca worked, Chloe would swing by the diner for a little while. She sat with Macy at the counter, they entertained each other, and struck up conversation with Beca when she could. Honestly, the brunette was just happy to see Chloe's face, even if they didn't get to spend as much time together as she would have liked. It was just nice to see her, hear her laugh, and the gentle shows of affection that she initiated weren't half bad either.
Things with Chloe are… good. Well, good in the sense that they've only gotten closer since the morning after the kiss. They still haven't made the jump into 'official' territory, and there really hasn't been much time for them to actually spend time together, just the two of them, but both seniors are happy with where things are going. They may not be girlfriend and girlfriend yet, but there's still plenty of hugs, handholds, gentle brushes against each other's thighs, and yes, the occasional kiss.
The first time they saw each other after that morning, Beca talked to Chloe about keeping the PDA to a minimum, especially when they are around Macy. The older Mitchell sister knows that the younger girl is still apprehensive about the whole thing and doesn't want to stress her out more than she already is. Chloe readily agreed and has stayed true to their promise, even as they returned to school at the beginning of January.
So, yeah, things are good. Really good. Beca is happy, Macy is happy, Chloe is happy. They've fallen into place amongst each other, and Beca, especially, has never felt better.
"Ugh, why do I even have to do this?!" Macy groans over her math homework, holding her head in her hands in frustration. "It's not like I'm ever going to have to use this in real life!"
Both Chloe and Beca let out a soft chuckle, as Chloe reaches over and places her hand on Macy's back. She draws soft circles over her shirt, grinning up at Beca who is watching the exchange from her position behind the counter. "I hear you, Mace, I really do."
They've been sitting at Fig's for the last few hours, the natural lull in customers between the after-school rush and dinner time being a nice reprieve for Beca. Though she's still working, she's been cleaning the plastic menus at the counter while Macy and Chloe at least attempt to work on the younger girl's homework. Since returning from break a few weeks ago, her math class transitioned from pre-algebra to algebra lessons, and Macy is not pleased.
Beca brings the towel back down over the menu, fondly watching her sister and her… Chloe… as the redhead tries explaining why it's okay for letters to be in the same equation as numbers.
"But that doesn't make any sense!"
"Are you still working on that math homework, Macy?" CR comes out of the kitchen from doing inventory, laughing along with the three other girls at the counter. "It's been over an hour!"
Macy glares at the manager, "Why don't you do it if it's so easy."
CR holds up her hands in surrender, biting back her mirth as she turns to head back into the kitchen. "My bad, my bad… as you were."
Chloe taps the paper in front of the seventh-grader, using her own pencil to underline a specific part of the problem. They have been working on the assignment for a while, but Chloe doesn't mind. Besides the fact that she loves the little spark of pride that crosses Macy's face when she gets a question right, it's just another excuse to spend time with both the younger brunette and her sister. "Don't forget that you have to combine like-terms first."
As Macy mumbles something under her breath, turning back to the problem, Chloe's phone buzzes beside her. She quickly glances at it, assuming that it probably isn't important and not wanting to disregard what Macy is doing beside her. But she stills upon seeing what the notification is. "Oh my God."
Beca pauses from her cleaning, looking up at Chloe with concern as she stares at her phone with wide eyes. "Chloe? You good?"
Chloe's face pales as she picks up the device, now all eyes on her. "It's an email from Barden Admissions."
Beca's heart stops in her chest. Chloe, Aubrey, and Stacie have been freaking out for the last few weeks wondering when the admissions decisions would come. While Aubrey and Stacie have simply been getting more and more excited, Chloe has expressed her nerves on more than one occasion to Beca, and now it's finally here. "Are you going to open it?"
Chloe shakes her head, flicking her attention from the phone to Beca. "No! I can't! If I got an email, it can't be good news, right? Isn't there the whole big envelope versus little envelope thing? If I only got an email that must mean that there's no way I got in!" She flips the phone over on the counter, "Nope. Not opening it."
As Beca stifles a laugh, Macy turns to Chloe. "You have to open it! You can't just leave it there!"
The phone starts vibrating again on the counter, this time, in such a pattern, that all three girls standing around it know that someone is calling. Chloe carefully lifts the device, even more fear covering her face as she sees the caller I.D. "It's Aubrey… she probably got her letter in the mail and she probably got in."
Beca slowly shakes her head, a grin growing on her face. As much as Beca isn't versed in the art of college admissions, she finds it hard to believe that Chloe didn't get in. She's never seen the redhead get below an 'A', she's on the Student Council and a whole bunch of other committees. Isn't she the kind of student that colleges would want to admit? "Chlo, the only way you'll know for sure, is if you open the email."
Chloe gulps, just as her phone starts to buzz again, this time with a call from Stacie. She practically cries, "I can't do it! I can't look!"
"Why don't you just have Beca open it?" Macy asks quietly. She's really enjoying having Chloe around so often. Although she's still apprehensive about the whole more-than-friends thing, there's no denying that Chloe is one of the sweetest people the younger girl has ever met. And she loves that Beca never seems to be sad around the other girl.
Chloe flips her head around to Macy, red curls flying. She nods, a smile growing on her face, before turning to Beca with her phone outstretched in her hand. "Yes, that is a great idea. Can you open it? Please, please, pleasseeee?"
Beca, now, looks at the phone in fear. Her poker face is not the greatest, especially when it comes to Chloe. If, for some absurd reason, Chloe didn't get in... the truth would almost instantly show. "No, I don't think –"
"Please! Please, Beca, I'm begging you. I don't think I can do it." And, of course, knowing just how much influence Chloe has over the brunette, she bats her eyelashes and does her best version of her puppy dog eyes.
Beca throws her head back in an exasperated sigh but sticks her hand out to accept the phone none the less. Who is she kidding... both of the girls sitting in front of her have Beca wrapped around their individual fingers. Chloe giddily puts in her password, gives the device to Beca, and waits with bated breath for her to read the email.
Beca carefully opens Chloe's email app, the red 'one' in the top corner making her heart beat even faster. She taps it with such a force that it doesn't open right away, and, before she can stop herself, she opens the email. Her eyes don't get much further than the first word. "You got in!"
Chloe's jaw drops slightly open, not quite believing the words that are reaching her ears. "I got in?"
Handing Chloe's phone back to her, grinning like a madwoman, Beca repeats herself with the same amount of excitement. "You got in!"
"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God! I got in!" Chloe jumps up from the stool, her hand covering her mouth as she screeches with glee. "I got in!"
In a flurry of motion, Chloe runs around the counter, launching herself into Beca's arms and feeling such a wave of relief overcome her. She got in. She's going to Barden University, the school she's been dreaming of going to since forever. She did it! Chloe laughs into Beca's hair as their grasps tighten around each other, sharing in the blissful moment. Neither one of them wanting to pull away, simply swaying back and forth in each other's arms, laughing together.
"I'm so proud of you," Beca whispers into Chloe's ear, which only makes the redhead's smile widen.
When the two seniors eventually separate, the delight is practically radiating off of Chloe. She did it! All of her fears about college have seemed to slip away, and the only, minor ache in her heart is that Beca isn't going to be going to class alongside her anymore. But, it's okay, because they'll figure it out. Barden isn't too far away, and Beca has said that she wants to stay close to the city. Chloe has already promised Beca that she isn't going anywhere, and the brunette has said the same sentiment to Chloe many times over the last three weeks of stressing over the college decision. They're going to be okay. It took them this long to find each other, and neither one of the seniors are willing to throw it all away just like that.
A sudden realization crosses Chloe's mind after being caught up in the moment. "I have to go call Aubrey and Stacie!"
Beca laughs, letting her hand linger a little longer than normal around Chloe's wrist. "Yeah, you kind of do."
"Oh my – okay! I'll be right back!" She turns on her heel and with a little skip, goes outside to call her other friends.
By the time Beca breaks away from watching Chloe jump up and down even more while she's on the phone, Macy can't hide the fact that she's staring at her sister.
"What are you looking at?"
Macy grins, shrugging her shoulders. "You just seem happy."
As Chloe spends her night celebrating with her future roommates and her parents, Beca spends her night doing one of her least favorite things in the entire world: cleaning. The household tasks had slowly started accumulating over winter break. She's always done her and Macy's laundry, and even does the dishes most nights, but at some point, over the course of their stay with Jack, he started piling his dirty clothes on top of theirs. He started retreating directly after dinner to the couch with another glass of scotch or whiskey or whatever he drinks, leaving the girls to clean up. Then the comments about vacuuming and how he never has time to clean the bathrooms came around. So, somehow, Beca became the one in charge of doing those tasks.
After shaking her hands off in the sink, Beca grabs the towel from off the counter. Luckily, she doesn't have much homework tonight and can probably finish it in an hour if she actually sits down and does it. Macy is supposed to be upstairs right now working on hers, but Beca will bet a thousand dollars that she is just reading. Kevin gave her another two books to get her through the end of the month, and she's already half-way through the first one.
Turning the kitchen light off, Beca quickly searches for the empty laundry basket. She started a load of laundry when they got back from the diner, and she heard the buzzer go off on the dryer about a half-hour ago. The last thing she needs to do before climbing into bed, is fold the dry clothes and then she's free.
She climbs down the stairs to the basement, which has freaked her out since moving in. It's dark and dingy with weird smells. There's a water pump or radiator or something that always makes creepy noises. The worst part, is that the washer and dryer, that are at least fifteen years old, are pushed into the far corner of the room where the light barely reaches. It's only mildly terrifying.
Placing the basket on the closed washing machine and opening the dryer, Beca starts humming quietly to herself. She's been doing a lot more of that lately. There hasn't been any more outright singing, and she hasn't gotten the chance to go back to Chloe's piano, but there is a new lightness that comes along with thinking about music now, as opposed to the dark cloud of doom that previously permeated any of Beca's thoughts about notes or riffs or lyrics.
Getting lost in the song and the mundane task of pulling the still slightly-warm clothes from the dryer, Beca doesn't hear the stairs creak as someone joins her in the basement. She also doesn't notice the watchful eyes on her, staring as she reaches over the side of the dryer, straining to get the last sock that is just out of arm's length.
What she does notice, is his cupped palm as he runs his hand below her waist, grabbing at the denim-covered flesh.
Beca's heart practically leaps into her throat as she pushes herself out of the dryer, turning around with fury in her eyes. "What the hell?!"
Jack steps backward with an innocent smile plastered to his face. "Sorry, just trying to help."
Beca glares at him, her hands shaking slightly and her heart pounding in her chest. There haven't been a lot of signs. There was the whole hand-on-back incident before Thanksgiving, and then the hand-on-thigh after Chloe's Christmas party. There has been the occasional brush against her while they pass in the kitchen or the hall, or the way she can feel his stare on her while she walks away. Beca has tried to ignore it, tried to push away the nausea that comes with even thinking of what could possibly happening. But this… this only confirms her fears even more.
She lowers her voice to a growl, trying to seem as intimidating as her five-foot-two stature allows her to. "Keep your damn hands off of me."
A small smirk appears on the older man's face, never once breaking eye contact. "Feisty."
Trying her best to push away the churning in her stomach, Beca grabs the basket quickly and walks around Jack – definitely keeping her distance – before practically running up the stairs.
This cannot be happening.
She and Macy were supposed to be able to live here until Beca turns eighteen. They weren't supposed to have to leave again. They weren't supposed to be placed in a house that would make them need to leave again. Beca doesn't want to call Meghan, in fact, that's the last thing she wants to do. Then there will need to be some sort of investigation, Jack's denial, and then they'd have to move.
They can't move.
There is no way that Meghan would be able to find them a new placement in the same district as Barden. Not only would that mean Macy needing to leave Benji, but that would mean Beca needing to leave Chloe, and that's something that she can't even fathom. Not after everything they've been through.
But, there's also a twelve-year-old little girl in the house. She can't not say anything and risk her safety by staying, can she? Macy hasn't said anything to her about it, and she hasn't been acting any differently around Jack, but what if she's hiding something because she has the same fears as Beca? What if Beca's fears are putting Macy in danger?
Beca would never be able to forgive herself.
She forces down another wave of nausea as she haphazardly tosses the few pieces of laundry that Jack had in the wash, onto the floor of his bedroom, her hands shaking the entire time. She takes a few minutes to compose herself, blowing air out of her mouth and blinking the image of Jack standing there looking so…disgusting, out of her mind, before making her way into Macy's room.
Sure enough, she's reading.
"Did you finish your homework?"
Macy nods a little too enthusiastically, peering over the top of the paperback as Beca starts to fold some of her clothes, her fingers blatantly shaking as she does. Macy keeps her gaze on her sister, the older girl's back to her, as she answers. "A little bit ago!"
The way Macy responds brings Beca a little comfort, falling back into the natural groove of talking with her sister. "You sure about that?"
A sheepish grin appears on her face, answering Beca's question for her, but Macy quickly clarifies. "I only have to do my science worksheet, but me and Benji are going to do it tomorrow in homeroom! I promise!"
Beca bites back a laugh as she puts Macy's clothes away. "How's Benji doing?" Beca sees the younger boy occasionally, and Macy had gone over his house a few times over break, but most of the things she knows about her sister's best friend, is through what Macy tells her.
Macy closes the book slightly. "He's good. We're going to do our social studies project together."
"That's good. What's the project on?"
"The different branches of government. We have to make a poster." Beca places the last pair of jeans in the drawer, before making her way back over to the bed. "I might have to go over his house to finish it, though."
A small smile starts to appear on Beca's face. Much to her disappointment, Benji managed to turn her sister against her and she is actually enjoying the various Star Wars films and whatever other movies they watch together. "Mhmm…I'm sure that's the only reason why you want to go over."
"What?" Macy's voice reaches a higher pitch, acting far less innocent than she actually is. "I don't know what you're talking about." At Beca's eye roll, she breaks. "Please? We're supposed to be watching New Hope next."
Beca pretends to think about it for a second, but caves quickly. "Just have his mom text me."
"Yay!"
Beca can't help but chuckle. Macy looks so carefree. She looks like an actual kid. Beca is not going to let anyone ruin that. "Hey, you want to stay in my room tonight?"
Macy's eyebrow quirks slightly in confusion; the question, along with the way that Beca was acting when she first got into the bedroom, making Macy slightly nervous. "Why? Are you okay?"
"Everything's fine… it's just been a while." It's not exactly a lie. It has been a few weeks since she last climbed into Beca's bed. But, there's something about tonight that makes her want to keep Macy close.
"Oh… okay. Sure." Macy marks her page, before climbing out of bed and coming around to Beca's side. She looks up to her with a toothy grin, navy orbs meeting navy orbs. "I love you."
Beca chuckles, wrapping her arm around her sister's shoulder and pulling her close, not minding the wet curls that connect with her sleeve. "I love you too, munch."
The next morning, Beca walks off the bus looking like a zombie. She didn't get any sleep the night before, her ears listening carefully for any sound of a creaking floorboard or someone walking around the house. She's not sure what she would've done if Jack were to come into the bedroom, but she wasn't going to let him catch her off guard. It was easier to relax with Macy sleeping soundly against her side, but the fear was still there – and still is.
Luckily, at breakfast, nothing was said about the night before. Beca and Macy ate their cereal as usual, Jack sipping on his coffee and the seventeen-year-old refusing to look him in the eye. He told them to have a good day at school, reminded them that he might be a little late for dinner, and let them go about their morning routine. If Macy noticed a difference, she didn't say anything, and continued to get ready with her normal early-morning reluctance.
It wasn't until they left the house, did Beca finally breathe a sigh of relief.
But even now, walking through the courtyard after getting off the bus, Beca's mind is still swimming with the events of the previous night, wondering what – if anything – she should do. Deep down, she knows she should call Meghan. That's what she's there for, right? But their social worker has already messed up so many times, Beca doesn't really want to give her the chance to mess up again; especially with Macy doing so well right now and everything seeming to fall into place.
And Beca can keep Macy safe, can't she? She's been doing it long enough. She just needs to make sure that she doesn't leave Jack alone in the same room with her. That should be simple enough.
Yeah. She can do that.
"Benji's already here." Macy looks up at her, gripping the straps of her backpack. "I'll see you after school?"
Beca nods, forcing a smile on her face and doing everything in her power to look as normal as possible. If this is going to work, she can't let Macy find out. She'll ask too many questions; she'll get too anxious in the house. Beca needs to act like everything is fine. "Sounds good. Have a good day."
Macy takes a few steps, waving as she shouts, "Love you!" before running off to join her friend.
While shouting her own 'love you, too,' Beca watches her little sister carefully. She sees the giant grin on Macy's face as she greets her friend. She sees how Benji animatedly begins a story about something that Macy looks so interested in. She sees how the two of them laugh, completely absorbed in their conversation. She sees how peaceful Macy looks, and how much joy she has.
Beca can't risk taking her away from that.
"Hey, you."
A familiar voice breaks her concentration, Beca turning to face Chloe, who is wearing her normal 'I-love-mornings' face, her eyes as bright as ever. Unfortunately, Beca's own smile doesn't reach her eyes, even as she tries to force it to. "Morning."
As soon as Beca faces her, Chloe knows something is up. She looks tired – a type of tired that Chloe hasn't seen in a while. It's her 'I've-been-up-all-night' tired, where her skin is a little paler and the blue bags under her eyes stand out a little bit more. "You okay?"
Beca gulps, nodding and trying to be as convincing as possible. She wraps Chloe in a brief hug, wishing she could stay in the safety of her arms forever, before pulling away. "Yeah, sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night."
Chloe's eyebrows furrow with concern as they start walking to class. Their hands brush up against each other as they hang by each girl's side. "I'm sorry… is everything okay?"
Again, Beca forces a tight-lipped smile on her face. "Yeah, just couldn't fall asleep." She tries her best to recover. "How was your night?"
Although still not convinced with Beca's answer, Chloe launches into a story about how her dad brought home a cake from work and they stayed up late celebrating. The redhead gets more and more excited as the story goes on, and as Beca watches and listens, one very definitive thought crosses her mind.
There's no way she's going to be able to leave Chloe either.