A/N: This is the second half where the actual infamy takes place. Like I warned in the last chapter, it's different but I like it. Hope y'all do to. Part of me wants to keep saying that I won't make daily updates but I seem to keep proving myself wrong. Guess we'll all just have to enjoy a good thing while it lasts. Anyway, enjoy!

III.

Almost everyone in Beacon Hills knows Stiles has panic attacks. It's a small town and word travels. It doesn't help that when he was younger and the death of his mother was still fresh, he used to have attacks everywhere – school, the library, the supermarket. Anything that reminded him too much of his mother sent him struggling for breath.

A lesser known fact in Beacon Hills is that Beca gets panic attacks too. It surprises her sometimes, how few people know. Beca had often been the center of most gossips in the years since she was taken in by the Sheriff. Yet at the same time, it doesn't surprise her at all. She rarely had an attack outside of the Stilinski household or Stiles's jeep. She'd refuse to succumb to her panic until she was somewhere where no one else could see her.

It often meant that her attacks, while less frequent than Stiles's were much more severe.

There are a few things that set her off. Small spaces, waking up in the dark and not immediately knowing where she is, cars, people touching her – especially when she's deep in thought, her nightmares, people yelling too loudly at her and lastly, people surprising her when she thinks she's alone.

A very energetic, very familiar – and very naked – redhead definitely falls under that last category.

Beca screams.

The redhead obviously wasn't expecting it, if the violent way she flinches back is any indication. But Beca wasn't expecting someone to NAKEDLY interrupt a very personal and private moment so the brunette does not give a single FUCK about what the older girl was or was not expecting.

What Beca does do is scream. Loudly. Loud enough to cause an equally naked and equally familiar blonde to come running into her stall as well. It does absolutely nothing for Beca's state of mind.

The brunette throws herself backward until her back hits the cold wall of the shower and slides down until she's in a huddle on the floor. One of them rushes forward and touches her shoulder and Beca jerks back like she'd been branded, shrieking "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Both girls recoil but the brunette doesn't calm. She distantly hears one of the seniors from the activities fair say something but Beca isn't sure what. She's too busy trying to count her breaths, in and out, until her heartbeat settles and the panic goes away.

It's not working.

It's not working and Beca can feel her panic rising up and swallowing her whole like the fucking darkness did in that fucking closet and she really shouldn't have brought that up because now everything really is going black and the DJ hates the black, hates the way it feels, the way it tastes and she just wants everything to stop.

But it's not. It's just getting worse. Her breaths are coming faster and faster and more and more uneven and irregular and what sounds like alarm is rising higher and higher and more and more frantic in the senior's voices.

Beca can't tell what's going on around her anymore. She feels rather than sees two shapes crouching in front of her, trying to talk to her but Beca just can't make out words or faces or anything. She just knows they're there like she knows the sky is blue. It's a certainty, a tangible and it's exactly what she needs.

Her hand shoots out and grabs a wrist of one of the girls in front of her. The DJ only knows it's a wrist because she can feel the steady thrum of their heartbeat under her fingers. Beca grabs it and she squeezes, probably uncomfortably tight but it's something to anchor her, something to focus on instead of the panic drowning her alive. So she grabs and squeezes and feels the strong pulse beat.

Badumbadumbadumbadum.

It's fast, frenzied and Beca realizes that these girls probably aren't accustomed to handling a panic attack. They're probably freaking the fuck out. A part of Beca wants to reassure them that it's fine, that it'll pass in a little while, and that she'll be okay. But the larger part, the one still fucking panicking doesn't believe any of that shit so no one's reassuring anyone right now.

Beca doesn't think her vocal cords are functioning anyway.

But apparently her ears do because she hears one of them (the blonde? It's whose ever wrist she's holding) tells the other to go get something. An…ow? What the fuck is an ow?

A few moments later there's a familiar softness around her shoulders. Towel. Beca thinks in an 'oh' tone of voice. She told her to get a towel. Well, that's nice. At least we're all not flashing each other.

It never ceases to amaze the brunette that even when 99% of her is losing her shit, the remaining 1% manages to stay sarcastic. That's talent right there.

The towel helps. It's such a small thing but the towel makes her feel less vulnerable, more in control. Enough to slightly unfreeze her vocal cords because Beca realizes that this is actually one of her worse panic attacks and if she doesn't start to calm down, she will probably end up passing out. And passing out means being taken to a hospital and no….just…just no.

Did she mention earlier that hospitals giver her panic? No? Well they do. Really badly. It's actually her worst trigger. They also give her nightmares which lead to more panic and Beca is not dealing with any of that shit. Not tonight. So she needs to calm down and she knows she can't do it on her own. She's going to need both the seniors to help her.

The blonde's heartbeat is helping, so is the towel but she needs the redhead to count for her. Beca needs her to coach her breathing until it settles in a somewhat normal rhythm. She needs the redhead to be Stiles because Stiles is in Mongolia and her phone is in her room so Stiles isn't coming and she can't call him so she's on her own.

Beca should really start thinking less negative thoughts because they aren't making anything any better.

"C…c…ou…nt." Her voice is quiet and strangled and neither senior hears her. The brunette tries to try again but her vocal cords aren't cooperating and god-fucking-damn it. Her lungs are fighting to expand against the steel bands that have to be wrapped around them but it's not working and she can't get enough air. The panic is swelling up again and Beca knows that soon she's going to freeze up so it's now or never.

The seniors above her are still talking, have been for the three minutes (has it only been three minutes?) since her attack started. The DJ needs their attention. So she grabs the blonde's wrist harder and squeezes tight until the blonde stops talking and looks at her.

"Count." Beca gasps again, firmer. She knows they heard her because now they're looking at her in confusion instead of helplessness. It's not much better but it's a start. "Breath." Beca manages, trying to focus on the older girls' eyes but only able to make out towel-clothed blurs and blobs of red and yellow hair.

"Co…unt…..cou….n…t…br….br….b….rea…the"

The redhead seems to get it which is good because her breathing is getting more erratic and Beca can't keep her eyes open anymore, can't stay in the bathroom and is being dragged kicking and screaming into the black depths of her panic. She fights the pull and searches for her anchors to the real world.

. .

She focuses on the too fast tempo of the heartbeat in the wrist she still has a death grip on and strains her ears for the sound of the redhead's melodic voice. It takes a while but eventually she hears

"…four… out, two, three, four. You're doing so well, just keep it up okay? In, two, three, four…out, two, three, four…that's it, two, three, four….out, two, three, four…"

Beca disregards everything else and throws all of her willpower into doing exactly what the voice says. To breathe in, two, three, four…out, two, three, four. It takes a while. Her breath is choppy and uneven when she tries to match the instructions. She'll manage the count for the inhale then fuck it up on the exhale or vise-versa.

But eventually her breaths begin to even out and the panic slowly starts to abate. Her eyes flutter open and lock with bright blue ones and the DJ keeps focusing on the "…In, two, three, four… You're doing so much better, keep with me…out, two, three, four…."

Beca isn't sure how long they all sit on the uncomfortably hard floor of the bathroom. It's long enough that the water they're sitting in starts to chill and the blonde's heartbeat settles back to a slower, more regular rhythm.

…ba-da-dum… ba-da-dum… ba-da-dum…

Sometime later, after Beca's breathing evens out completely and her eyes – heavy with exhaustion – slip shut, the redhead stops talking and moves to get up.

Beca flips a shit.

She flips because right now she cannot handle either of these girls leaving. They need to sit there, right in front of her until Beca feels okay enough that they can go. And Beca is not that okay, not even a little bit. So when the redhead goes to move, the brunette's eyes fly open and her body jackknifes forward, left hand reflexively tightening on the blonde's wrist, right latching onto the redheads arm.

A guttural noise of protest tumbles from her lips.

The redhead looks shocked for a moment, staring at the hand with a vice grip on her limb. Her eyes snap to the DJ's, utterly confused before comprehension suddenly dawns.

"I'm not leaving." She soothes but Beca doesn't relax because it's just words and the senior is still moving and stop fucking moving damn it!

Her fear must be reflecting in her eyes because the redheaded senior stills before gently reaching over and prying Beca's right hand from her arm. She doesn't give the DJ time to protest before she's lacing her hand through Beca's fingers and shifting so she sitting on the brunette's right side.

"There." The redhead says, patting their entwined hands with her free one. "See? Just moving around a bit. We won't go anywhere until you tell us to." Beca looks at the blonde who nods in agreement with a reassuring smile on her face so Beca forces herself to calm back down. She glances down at the hand holding her right, thankful that its owner seems to understand what she needs right now. Then she glances at her left and immediately drops the blonde's wrist like a hot iron.

"Sorry." The brunette rasps, guilt pouring from her in waves. Around the blonde Bellas wrist is a nasty circle of painful looking bruises in a hand shaped pattern. Beca didn't realize she'd been grabbing the older girl's arm that hard. She feels immediately awful. The DJ didn't even ask to use the blonde's heartbeat as her own personal metronome.

"It's fine." The blonde says. She had immediately looked over when the brunette dropped her wrist, thinking something was wrong. Despite the fact that the girl didn't want to be touched, it seemed like she needed something anchor her to the real world. The blonde was more than happy to offer her services.

The older girl sees where Beca is staring and is trying to relieve the younger girl of her guilt. "You needed it and it was our fault you freaked out anyway."

Beca turns her head to the left to stare, unknowingly arching a brow.

"You're fine." The blonde says again and a faint smirk crosses her lips. "If I was upset with you, trust me you'd know."

Beca stares at her a little while longer before nodding slowly. She still feels guilty about the bruises but less so now. The blonde does look the type to not keep her displeasure unknown.

"Ice. Later. Help swelling." Beca probably sounds like a Neanderthal right now with her one word sentences but she's tired and doesn't want to put the effort into actually sounding like she's from the twenty first century instead of paleolithic times. The blonde is kind enough not to comment, just nodding and quietly thanking her for the advice.

Beca makes some sort of affirmative sound in response and smiles when the blonde twines their fingers together too. Her eyes fall shut again and she lets her mind drift.

The brunette knows that she should probably get up and tell the two Bellas that they can leave. The floor their sitting on is cold and wet and a towel isn't exactly proper sitting around clothes nor is a shower stall a popular hangout. But Beca feels so comfortable sandwiched between these two girls.

It's an odd feeling. Normally when she's this close to other people who aren't Stiles or John, she freaks and punches them before running away. Violence probably isn't a good first reaction to people touching her but honestly? If they can't tell from her fuck off glare to fuck off then they're just asking to be hit.

Sitting with these girls is different. It feels safe in the same sort of way she associates with the Stilinski men but at the same time not. It's softer yet heavier as if it's made of something completely different than the familial care of Stiles and John.

Beca likes it so much she doesn't want to move. And neither of the Bellas seemed inclined to go anywhere so Beca doesn't feel guilty keeping them there on the cold, hard floor with her.

Suddenly (or maybe not, time doesn't make a lot of sense to Beca after a panic attack) the redhead is humming. Its sounds like an angel and all the DJ want is to hear what she sounds like when she sings. She wonders if the blonde sounds just as good and figures she must if she's a co-captain of an a cappella group.

It takes the younger girl a while to figure out what song is being hummed but when she does she's snorting incredulously.

"Really?" She asks. "Titanium?"

The redhead looks completely unapologetic. "It was stuck in my head." She shrugs. "Besides, that song is my jam." A beat of silence. "My lady jam."

Beca dies. She's laughing so hard that tears are coming out of her eyes. The redhead looks bemused but the blonde has her head buried in her free hand, cherry red in embarrassment.

The DJ gets enough control over herself to gasp "You interrupted shower sex with your smokin' hot girlfriend to burst naked into my shower because I was singing your lady jam?" Beca looks at their faces and starts cracking up again, head shoved back against the shower wall as she laughs.

The redhead looks surprised and a little smug.

The blonde looks dumbfounded and impossibly even redder in embarrassment.

"Yes." "Shower sex!?"

The two speak at the same time, one voice still completely unapologetic and the other high and shrill.

Beca manages to calm down so she can answer. She's surprised to find that neither girl has yet to let go of her hands. She's even more surprised that she doesn't yet want them to.

"That hickey on your neck isn't exactly subtle, Blondie." Beca smirks and resists the urge to start laughing again when the blonde Bellas free hand flies up to cover the angry looking red mark starting to purple on her flesh. She manages to resist even though the wide-eyed fish stare the older girl has is absolutely hilarious.

She loses it when she glances over at the redhead and the other girl looks so pleased with herself that Beca can't handle it. She's already back in hysterics. It takes a few minutes but eventually her chuckles die down and Beca leans back with a happy sigh.

"God, I needed that."

"Happy to help." Blondie grumbles still flushed red. Beca knocks her shoulder against the blondes and out the corner of her eye sees an unwilling smile on the older girls face. The redhead is watching both of them happily and with something else that Beca can't seem to place.

"So will you sing for us?" the redhead asks abruptly.

"Excuse me?" Beca asks bewildered.

"Titanium. Can you sing it for us, please?" the redhead is flashing Beca some grade-A puppy dog eyes but seriously?

"Dude, NO!"

"Please? Your voice is really, really pretty and I just want to hear it again."

Beca's eyebrows are somewhere in her hairline. "So you want me to sing your lady jam, minutes after your aborted shower sex while we're all basically naked? I'll say again: NO!"

The redhead waves off her protests. "It's still my favorite song and you were singing it earlier. Besides it's not like its anything we haven't seen before."

"Oh my god." Beca says, turning redder than the blonde had been.

"And we are wearing towels so it's not like we're actually naked."

Beca's head whips over to stare at the blonde. She's looking at her expectantly and a little pleadingly and the DJ is nonplussed.

"You were mortified all of twenty seconds ago." The brunette points out dumbfounded. "What the hell happened?"

Blondie shrugs. "I really want to hear you sing. Chloe was right, your voice is fantastic."

"Chloe?" Beca asks looking at the redhead, who nods in confirmation. "And I'm Aubrey." Blondie says, squeezing the brunette's left hand a little.

"Beca." The DJ says and both seniors beam at her.

"So, you're going to sing right?" Chloe asks again, apparently not one to be deterred.

Beca sighs resignedly. Why she's letting these girls convince her is beyond the DJ's scope of understanding. "You're really going to make me do this?"

Both girls nod eagerly, faces lit up in anticipation. Oh, that's why. Beca thinks. Because they're gorgeous and apparently you can't say no to pretty girls. Or at least these pretty girls.

Chloe must be getting impatient because she says "You might as well give up because we can do this all night long." Beca chokes on her breath and stares at the redhead because was Beca imagining it or was that a sultry tone in the Bellas voice? Chloe is looking back innocently but there's a sparkle in her eye that makes the DJ suspicious.

Aubrey snickers quietly and squeezes Beca's hand again, silently encouraging her to go ahead. The DJ sighs and resigns herself to her fate.

"I'm bulletproof nothing to lose…" Beca starts, already comfortable with the way her voice is filling the space. She doesn't see the dreamy smiles on the Bellas faces as she continues so sing softly "Fire away, fire away. Ricochet you take your aim –"

"Fire away, fire away." The DJ's eyes snap open (when had she closed them?) and she stares at Chloe who is smiling contentedly as she blends her voice with Beca's. It's the best thing the brunette has ever heard in her life and she doesn't want it to stop. So she doesn't.

"You shoot me down but I don't fall –"

"I am titanium." A third voice joins their duet and if Beca thought her and Chloe were good, with Aubrey singing too it's just magic. It's ethereal and unreal and Beca is smiling so hard it's almost starting to effect the way her voice sounds. But it doesn't and Beca loses herself in the way her alto mixes with their high sopranos.

"You shoot me down but I don't fall. I am titanium."

The two Bellas voices trail off but Beca doesn't want to stop yet, doesn't want to break this moment they're all in. So she keeps singing.

"Cut me down, but it's you who have further to fall. Ghost to own and haunted love." Beca is singing by herself but she knows instinctively that the older girls are just waiting, enjoying the sound of her voice until it's their turn to sing again.

"Raise your voice. Sticks and stones may break my bones. I'm talking loud, not saying much."

There's a beat then Chloe and Aubrey join in and it's perfect.

"I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away. Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away."

"You shoot me down but I won't fall. I am titanium. You shoot me down but I won't fall. I am titanium."

Beca lets the song end this time, allows the final notes to fade out into the air. There's a beaming and satisfied grin lighting up her face and she knows without looking that there's matching expressions on the Bellas face's.

The three of them sit there in silence for a little while, stunned by the absolute magic of what they just did.

It's broken by a familiar perky voice.

"You have to audition of the Bellas!"

Beca shakes her head and laughs at the eager tone in Chloe's voice. She hears an echoing chuckle to her left and knows that Aubrey feels the same.

"Just consider it!" Chloe pleads, taking her laughter as rejection. "It's tomorrow and your voice is fantastic and – "

"Yeah, yeah, alright Ginger Spice." Beca interrupts, waving their conjoined hands in a dismissive manner. "I guess I can tryout."

Chloe gives a little squeal and claps her hand excitedly before freezing and looking unimpressed at Beca.

"Ginger Spice?" She asks playfully glaring. The brunette shrugs unapologetic.

"I'm very creative." Beca deadpans to the amusement of Aubrey.

"And on that note." The blonde snickers and looks over at the younger girl. "You good?"

Beca smiles softly, oddly appreciative of the concern and nods. "Yeah, I'm good."

She stands up and pulls both the Bellas up with her, reluctantly dropping their hands after. They all stand there in a loose circle smiling at each other until Beca fiddles awkwardly with the corner of her towel.

It's just hitting her that she's standing half naked in a bathroom with two of the goddamn prettiest girls she's ever seen who are in a very similar state of undress. Knowing that the two of them are in a relationship is doing very little for her libido. She kind of just really, really wants to throw the both of them down and kiss and lick and bite every available inch of wet, tanned skin.

Beca clears her throat awkwardly and flushes red. "Uhh, I still need to shower guys so…." She trails off refusing to look anywhere near either of the seniors and their long, long legs that Beca wants to wrap around her waist–

"Oh!" Chloe says, like she's suddenly realizing that, yes she did interrupt Beca's shower because this was not some casual meet-up at the local coffee shop. But the redhead still doesn't move and – is she checking Beca out?!

The redhead's eyes are definitely wandering, Beca is sure of it. She glances over at Aubrey to see if the blonde noticed and her jaw drops when she sees Aubrey's eyes snap up to meet hers, a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

But then Chloe is grabbing Aubrey's arm and pulling her out of the stall, so Beca doesn't have time to call them on it. She does have time to cast an appreciative glance of her own at their retreating forms. Towels, while maybe not flattering are sure as hell sexy.

"See you at auditions!" Chloe shouts over her shoulder as she disappears. Beca shakes her head and turns back on her shower. She hears the sound of the two seniors getting dressed and are starting to leave when an idea pops in her head. She smirks.

"Hey Blondie, Ginger Spice!" She yells and hears them stop walking.

"Yes?" Aubrey calls back. The DJ's smirk grows.

"For your next sexscapade, do me a favor and stay out of the freshman dorm, yeah? You're seniors. It's unbefitting of your higher stature."

There's the sound of someone stumbling and burst high, clear laughter. Beca thinks it's her new favorite sound.

"Will do, Beca!" Chloe hollers, laughter in her voice. She hears Aubrey shush the redhead. The words are muffled but the mortification is clear as day. The blonde must not be as utterly shameless as her girlfriend. It seems funny to Beca because of what she remembers of the activities fair, Aubrey was a pillar of confidence. They both were, really.

Beca shrugs. She doesn't blame Aubrey for her embarrassment. Not everyone is as exhibitionist as the redhead clearly is. She hears some more giggles and a few more hissed whispers before the door to the bathrooms bang shut and Beca is alone. Hopefully for real this time.

One thought does cross her mind.

Looks like I was right. I am going to the Bellas auditions tomorrow. She doesn't even try to deny how excited she feels about it.

Beca laughs tiredly (still exhausted from her attack) and starts softly singing into the spray, rubbing shampoo into her hair.

"I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose…"

IV.

"Oh my god, Chloe! I can't believe you did that!" Aubrey hisses as they exit Baker Hall and start walking towards their apartment about ten minutes away. The redhead just laughs and teases "You're the one who was too impatient to go home."

"I didn't see you complaining and that is not what I meant." Aubrey snaps, pinking. "I can't believe you burst into that poor girls shower! You literally gave her a panic attack!"

Chloe had the decency to look guilty. "I didn't mean to!" She defends weakly. "Her voice was just…" The redhead's eyes unfocus "…it was amazing, Bree. Don't try and tell me any different."

"I'm not." The blonde says. "But there were a lot of ways you could've handled the situation and running into her shower naked wasn't one of them."

Chloe looks at the ground. It wasn't the invasion of privacy that Chloe felt bad about. The redhead didn't have many boundaries. When she heard the angelic voice floating through the bathroom, she didn't think twice about running from the stall she was sharing with Aubrey to the one three curtains down and invading.

What she was feeling guilty for was the reaction the girl had. How was Chloe supposed to know the girl would be thrown into a panic attack? She didn't mean to freak Beca out; she just wanted to know who was singing so beautifully.

Chloe brightens up and sends a glance over at Aubrey. "But I did find our girl, didn't I? And I was right!" The redhead crows. "She can sing!"

"And of all the places we could've found her." Aubrey says, shaking her head incredulously. She's still not pleased with the way Chloe acted. But Aubrey knows her girlfriend and knows she didn't mean anything bad to happen. The ginger was just curious and has a tendency to act before she thinks. Her impulsiveness is a great counter to Aubrey's own caution despite how much trouble it gets them both into.

At the same time, she has to hand it to her girlfriend. She did find the beautiful alt-girl they'd been searching for since the activities fair. "Beca." Aubrey says, tasting the way the name sounds on her tongue. "It suits her."

"It does." Chloe agrees with a smile. She reaches over and grabs Aubrey's hand, twining their fingers and giving a squeeze. "I still want to get to know her. She's funny and her voice really is phenomenal."

"And I agree on all three counts, kit. Lucky for us, some redheaded chick got her to audition for the Bellas." The blonde teases and Chloe giggles, lifting Aubrey's arm and spinning herself.

"Think she'll really come, Bree?" The redhead asks draping Aubrey's arm over her shoulders.

"She'd damn well better." Aubrey huffs and pulls her girlfriend closer. "Or else we'll end up stalking the Baker Hall's 6th floor shower until we meet her again."

"Always with a plan." Chloe laughs but knows that if the brunette doesn't show they'll probably end up doing just that. "Speaking of plans." She says changing the subject. "When we get back I think I'm going to go through my med textbooks for information on panic attacks. We haven't really talked about them in class. It's more of a psychological problem than a physical one, so they haven't really come up."

"I think I'm going to abuse Google myself and try to find the best ways to handle them." Aubrey confesses. "That was probably thirty of the scariest minutes of my life. I didn't know how to help."

Chloe nods in agreement. The brunette girl looked so tiny and so scared huddled in the corner of her stall, trembling and gasping for breath. Her eyes were wide and wild and Chloe was sure she wasn't actually seeing anything. It was terrifying for the Bellas to watch and the redhead aches to think of how awful it must have been for Beca.

The senior bites her lip when a thought crosses her mind. "Do you think the fire she was in had anything to do with her attack?" Chloe asks hesitantly, knowing that past traumatic experiences can sometimes cause panic attacks.

"I don't know, Chlo." Aubrey responds truthfully. "And I don't think we know her well enough to ask."

Chloe nods her head in understanding. They definitely don't. "I just want to help her." Chloe says quietly and the blonde stops walking to draw the other senior into a hug.

"We will." Aubrey promises, chin resting on Chloe's shoulder. The blonde remembers the glimpse of angry red burn scars decorating the brunette's back and her resolve hardens. "We'll definitely help her."

Chloe relaxes into her girlfriends embrace and breathes in the comforting smell of citrus. No matter what they're going to befriend that little alt-girl. That's their goal. Anything else can wait.

The Bellas auditions are tomorrow and Chloe hopes Beca is there. She has zero qualms about stalking a freshman bathroom but it's a tedious process (she speaks from past experience – don't ask) and it would be so much easier to talk to the girl at tryouts.

Beca Chloe thinks as she pulls away from her girlfriend and they continue their trek to their apartment. An image of a sexy towel clad brunette pointedly looking anywhere but at the two girls in front of her, ears tinted pink with embarrassment floats around her mind. A grin erupts on the redheads face.

She can't wait for tomorrow.