A/N: Hey, nerds. It's been a while. I just want to thank all the people who kept reviewing and commenting on this story. I sort of lost interest in it when school started up but classes are over now so hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things. Starting with this brand new chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it! But seriously, thanks to everyone who kept with it. If I ever slack off, don't let me forget it. Eventually I'll be guilted back into writing ;D
The world is dark. It's an all-encompassing blackness that presses down viciously on Beca, thick and slimy as it envelopes her. She thrashes and screams but the black restricts her movement until her violent kicks do next to nothing to move her from its icy grip. Her breathing becomes quick and desperate as the blackness crawls up her body, hardening as it goes. Breathes become screams as her legs are pinned, then her wrists, her arms, her chest. It slowly crawls up her neck and Beca feels its malevolent glee as it presses down on her neck, cutting off her air supply.
She tries to fight but it makes it worse and the black keeps inching its way closer to her face, seemingly slowing down to draw out her torture. The brunette tries to scream once more but as soon as her lips part, the black rushes in. It forces its way down her throat and Beca chokes, feeling it coat her lungs and hardening. Terror rises up like a tsunami and crashes into her system as Beca begins to hyperventilate. Or at least try to. No air seems to enter her lungs as she struggles to breathe through the black that's now covering her mouth, her nose, her eyes, everything until she's encased in a solid obsidian shell. It's killing her, Beca knows. She feels her awareness start to flicker as her panic takes over her senses.
She screams and shakes violently, trying anything and everything to dislodge herself from the awful black cocoon, knowing that if she doesn't she'll be dead in less than a minute. Pain sears through her chest and her lungs feel like they might burst from lack of oxygen. Beca can feel death behind her, whispering dark promises in her ear as her struggles slow involuntarily, absence of air taking its toll. Icy fingers wrap around her wrists and start to tug, seemingly trying to wrest her very soul from her body. Beca doesn't want to go but doesn't seem to have a choice. Her fear redlines as she feels herself slip from her own body, dragged away by death. A flash of red and gold dance across her vision and Beca finds a sudden surge of strength, tearing herself from Death's grip.
Then she's falling, falling through the black, desperate screams ripped away unheard by the air that's rushing around her. She slams painfully into the ground, eyes screwing up tightly as the impact jars her bones. Air rushes gloriously into her lungs and Beca spends a few seconds motionless heaving in desperate gulps of air. Slowly however, ever so slowly she becomes aware that the ground she's lying on is wet. The brunette shifts her hands slightly and the slightly tacky substance sticks to her fingers. The feeling of falling returns with a vengeance as her stomach drops out underneath her. Full body tremors overtaking her body, Beca slowly opens her eyes. She nearly vomits and tries to ignore the tangy smell of copper filling her senses.
Red. There's red everywhere just as Beca knew there would be. The once white floor around her is now stained vermilion with a half an inch of partially dried blood. It covers her hands as Beca slowly pushes herself upwards onto her knees. She glances down and sees herself covered in the scarlet substance. Shaky hands touch her face and are met with the feel of warm blood dripping from her chin. Her eyes squeeze shut then slowly open, dragging unwillingly from the soaked floor to the spattered walls. Finally her eyes raise high enough and she meets two pairs of eyes, one once a steely blue and the other a honey brown. A scream lodges itself violently in her throat and Beca chokes on it staring in horror at the bodies slumped together in front of her. A vicious laugh rings in her ears and she's unable to breathe through the scream she so desperately wants to release. The ground gives out beneath her feet and she's chased by oh so familiar wide dead eyes as she falls and falls and falls and f –
Beca hits the floor with a vicious thump, scream still strangled unwillingly in her throat. She tries to scramble up only to end up throwing herself back down on to the floor. Her frenzied mind barley acknowledges her feet tangled in knots from her blankets. Hard kicks do little to remedy the situation but Beca can't calm enough to detangle them. Her fight or flight instincts are raging inside her, screaming at her to run. The brunette reaches down blindly and tears at the cloth around her ankles. She thinks something might have ripped but it doesn't matter because she's free. The sound of Kimmy Jin's angry grumblings is lost to her as Beca bolts from the room, door left swinging open as she tears down the hallway. Time loses meaning as she runs, the world blurring around her until she finds herself flat on her back on the roof of one of the academic buildings staring absently at the stars burning brightly in the sky above.
The night air is soothing with cool tendrils of wind brushing against the brunette's overheated skin. The sounds of nature around her calm her jack rabbiting heart, the usually irritating chirping of crickets settling her mind. The dreams still linger in the corner of her mind and the young woman sighs. Night terrors are nothing new to the aspiring DJ. The beginning dream she's had for years, a constant reminder of her fear of small dark places. As she grew older the manifestation of her claustrophobia grew more and more violent until every time she had that particular terror, she often woke feeling as though she were dying. The escalation of her fear wasn't exactly surprising considering when she was in small places, she did actually feel like she was dying. It made sense that her subconscious mirrored her waking fears, no matter how pissed off she was about it.
The second half of her dream, however… it was recurring too, but Beca hadn't had it in over a year. That day used to be the prominent feature of her nightmares until the fire usurped it as her number one terror. Usually her nightmares started with some form of suffocating blackness then evolved into burning flames surrounding her while heavy hands pinned her down so she as unable to move. The return to that night at the police station is disorienting and entirely unwelcome. Beca almost preferred the burning dreams to the blood of the station. At least in the fire she was the only one who got hurt.
Her mind wanders involuntarily, the phantom smell of smoke tickling Beca's nose and she huffs in frustration. She makes herself force all of her bad memories out of her mind. She just spend the night reliving her terrors, no need to bring them up again in the form of flashbacks. A bitter chuckle escapes her raw throat, sore from suppressed screams. PTSD sure had a way of granting Beca with the best the disorder had to offer. A sigh works its way through her thinned lips and the brunette lifts a hand to rub at her tired eyes. She's unsurprised to find tears drying on her skin and resolves to wash her face when she musters the energy to return to her room. The moon is still hung high in the sky so she guesses it's still probably early in the morning. It usually is when she wakes up violently from her warped imagination. It's incredibly inconvenient not only because she never can quite fall back asleep after she wakes up struggling for breath. Not to mention that the nightmares put her on edge for the rest of the day so she's often snappy and irritable.
"Which sucks," Beca groans quietly into the empty air, comfortable talking aloud on the empty roof. "Considering that today's supposed to be Bella's initiation and I'm probably going to be an asshole all day." The brunette bit back the urge to curse. Fuck her life, honestly. She was looking forward to this and everything! Okay, well maybe not the party afterwards – Hood Night, Aubrey called it? It would be a lot of people, drunk people at that. Beca didn't know how she felt about going. But it was Friday, about a week after auditions so if Chloe was to be trusted, then the freshies have suffered enough. It was time for the chosen to become Bellas.
A light snort escaped at her slight melodrama. Beca had hung out with Chloe and Aubrey once more since auditions and their fervor had rubbed off on her. The pair had come into the coffee shop on Wednesday and talked with Beca for a bit during one of her 'breaks'. Which is to say, when Stella decides that Beca has worked enough for a shift. In all honesty, Beca could probably go longer – working at the café isn't exactly strenuous – but Stella insists on breaks every two hours or so and Beca decided not to fight her on it. Well, she decided to stop fighting after she lost that same fight three times in a row.
(Tom laughed in her face just as he did when she lost the tips argument. Beca stole his favorite mixing spoon in retaliation and hid it behind one of the coffee machines. She takes vindictive pleasure in the fact that he still hasn't found it yet.)
It was one of her longer breaks, the trio getting wrapped up in a conversation of Bella traditions and past events the seniors had been to as younger members of the group. Both were very tight-lipped at what exactly some of these traditions consisted of despite Beca's pestering, claiming that the surprise was half of what made them so memorable. Beca fucking hates surprises but the two women seemed so excited that Beca decided to let them have their secrecy. The DJ wanted to find their smug grins at her defeat irritating but she only found them endearing. Stupid seniors and their stupid pretty smiles.
Beca did manage to find out about the after party of initiation: the infamous Hood Night. Why it was called that was beyond her though the smirks decorating the seniors faces gave her pause. Beca remembers shrugging and deciding that she'd find out sooner or later. About an hour had passed in conversation with the older girls before Beca realized that she was still working. She had jumped up and ran over to apologize to Stella who brushed them off with a wave of her dishtowel. Still, the seniors had decided to leave to allow Beca to continue working, apologizing themselves as Beca saw them out of the shop. The DJ waved off their apologies much as Stella had though it didn't seem to placate the Bellas. It took a few more reassurance but eventually their mild guilt faded and with another fleeting hug from Chloe and a shoulder squeeze from Aubrey, the pair were off.
It was a nice afternoon, one Beca definitely wouldn't mind repeating especially because she now has the means to. The young woman absently reaches for her phone only to realize that she is in her pajamas and her phone is probably still on her bedside table. She huffs to herself but isn't really surprised. It wasn't like she really stopped to think about much before she sprinted from her dorm. A loud groan fills the air when she realizes that if she doesn't have her phone, she probably also doesn't have her card to get back in the buildings.
"Fuck me." Beca complains, rubbing a hand down her face. The RA on duty tonight is Kendra, if she's not mistaken and Beca knows from past experience that a bomb siren wouldn't wake the junior up once she's out. Beca will have to wait until around 5 A.M. for one of the girls on the BU Crew team to let her back into her dorm instead. Those fucking crazy people have practices every other day at 5:45 A.M. Beca isn't quite sure how they do it. She's not naturally a morning person. It's sad really – she only functions well in the morning hours through conditioning. Her nightmares usually wake her up around 3 or 4 and because she never could fall back asleep, she often just gives up and starts her day ungodly early. It happens so often that even when she doesn't have nightmares she wakes up early – though it's usually 5 or 6 rather than 3 or 4.
However, seeing as she's an unintentional morning person Beca needs a coffee or two to get her going. Hence, her fondness of the Pro-Caffinators – Stella and Tom notwithstanding. How the crew people do it is beyond her. And to do exercise! Jesus, Beca can't bring herself to do anything other than zombie shuffling until 9 or so – excluding panic induced sprints. Actually rowing that early is a feat and Beca is suitably impressed. She idly wonders if any of them have to take quick dips in the Chattahoochee before practice just to wake up. Cold shocks do wonders for the system. She smiles a bit imagining the expressions on their faces as they make contact with the chilly water.
Her fingers twitch for her phone to check the time and Beca suppresses another sigh. The position in the moon tells her that it's about 4 now so she only has to wait another hour or so until she can go back into her dorm. Even with the light of the half moon, it'll be too dark in her room for Beca to see Kimmy Jin's glare when she gets back. For that the little brunette is grateful. She doesn't feel particularly up to dealing with her psychotic Asian roommate right now. Though, Beca thinks sardonically, Kimmy probably thinks I'm the crazy one with all the running out at 4 in the morning shit I pull. Her night terrors are awfully common – once or twice a week if she's lucky. The longest Beca's gone without a terror is a week and a half about a month ago.
Another twitch towards a phone Beca is more than aware is still in her room tries the little amount of patience the DJ has left. She locks her hands behind her head to keep them still and stares up at the night sky. While she does kind of want to know the time, Beca really just wants her phone so she can text Chloe or Aubrey. It's all she's wanted to do since she got their numbers that Wednesday they came to the coffee shop. She'd pull out her phone and pull up one or both of their numbers, ready to type something then would huff and slide her phone back in her pocket. Then pull out her phone a couple minutes later and do the same thing. Beca still hasn't texted them and figures 4-ish A.M. isn't exactly the brightest time to start. Probably best she doesn't have her phone, then.
Beca fancies to believe that the sky has lightened a fraction when she goes back to staring at it but knows it's just wishful thinking. Oh well. An hour isn't all that long to wait. The stars glimmer down at her and Beca unconsciously begins naming them: Polaris…Capella…Aldebaran…Betelgeuse…
She gets through all the stars she recognizes and the constellations, even the few visible planets when the sky starts to lighten. It took longer than she though it would – the Georgian night sky is similar enough to the Floridian to really throw her off. Everything was shifted just so and it was disorienting. It's like when someone moves everything you own just three inches to the left. Beca did that to Stiles's apartment and he spent about a month tripping over shit until her figured it out. Listening to his bitching about the furniture jumping out at him was more than enjoyable.
Beca waits a few more minutes until the sky lightens another shade or two then hauls herself to her feet. She easily makes her way to the roof access hatch and drops back into the Philosophy building. One of the more secluded side doors never did quite close properly and Beca exploited that particular flaw more than once to get to the roof. It was one of her favorite places on campus. The brunette yawns as she climbs down the stairs and slips out of the door, beginning to trudge back to her dorm. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wait long before someone lets her in. Her mind wanders to golden hair and blue eyes which leads to her recurring curiosity about the initiation ceremony. Different theories dance across her mind as she walks and Beca decides that she wouldn't mind if she had to wait.
Chloe groans pitifully as she wakes, giving her muscles an almighty stretch before she drops back down onto the bed with a happy sigh. She turns her head to the side and squints at her clock. 9:30 flashes back at her and she grunts before burying her head in the pillows once more. Mere seconds later, cerulean eyes snap open and the redhead jackknifes up cursing colorfully as she falls out of bed. She gets tangled in her bedsheets and unknowingly has a similar method of untangling herself as a certain brunette – tearing at them until they release her from their devious clutches.
"Evil blankets!" Chloe curses. "Always trying to murder me first thing in the morning." She quickly gets dressed, falling over once more when she incorrectly guesses the holes of her jeans. "Fuck!"
The curse floats out of their bedroom into the kitchen where Aubrey sits peacefully with a cup of coffee and the morning paper. The blonde has to suppress a laugh as the thumps from their bedroom get more erratic and the curses louder and more colorful. Her girlfriend never was a morning person. It often lead her to sleep in as long as possible – which inevitably turned into oversleeping which lead to frantic mornings where Chloe scrambled around trying to get all of her things together as quick as possible so she wouldn't be late to class. Well, frantic for Chloe.
Aubrey was a morning person, often getting up at six before the sun rose. She'd go for a run then come back and take a shower. It's usually be around 8 at that point. Aubrey used to try to wake her girlfriend up around then but the redhead slept like a rock. The blonde gave up after a week or two living with the girl and just moved onto making breakfast instead. Sometimes the smell of food would wake up the other girl but more often than not, Aubrey would sit at the island and eat alone, reading the morning paper with a cup of coffee. It was quiet, something that was hard to come by once Chloe was up. Aubrey loved her girlfriend dearly but the redhead was loud. The blonde came to love her quiet mornings before Kit woke up. Besides, Chlo's version of a morning routine was funny as hell.
Speaking of, Aubrey thinks with amusement as her girlfriend practically falls out of their bedroom. The blonde gives her girl a once over and does have to hand it to the other senior, she always manages to look phenomenal with minimal effort. Chloe stumbles over to the kitchen and leans over Aubrey in a loose hug to kiss her clumsily then reaches blindly for the cup of coffee Aubrey prepares for her every morning. This time, the Bellas captain doesn't smother her snort of laughter as she slides the cup into Kit's reach.
"Shut up." Chloe grumbles falling into her seat and shooting the slightly older senior a death glare that made her look as threatening as a baby seal. Which was to say, not at all. Chloe huffs playfully at Aubrey's resulting chuckle and practically chugs the caffeine. Aubrey chuckles harder and notices her girlfriend reach down and rub her shin with a slight wince.
"Lose against the dastardly bedsheets again, Kit?" Aubrey comments, never one to pass up an opportunity to tease the other girl.
"They have it out for me Bree!" Chloe whined, smacking her girlfriends shoulder. "I swear, those fuckers hate me!"
"Probably because we're the fuckers, not them. Almost every night, too." Aubrey comments idly laughing when Chloe rolls her eyes.
"Cute, Bree." She drawls and the blonde shrugs.
"I thought so. Now, eat up Kit. We have class in," Aubrey checks her watch, "Fifteen minutes."
"'Kay." Chloe mumbles around a forkful of eggs. She chews a bit then swallowed. "You got everything ready to set up initiation later?"
"Of course!" Aubrey says, affronted. "I've been ready since before auditions! You're the one who insisted we wait a week before we posted the results!"
"Pretty sure that was Bumper, babe. He just likes torturing newbies as much as I do." Chloe replies, rolling her eyes. "And we can't have our initiation before the Trebles do. Otherwise Hood night isn't nearly as fun." She finishes her breakfast in a few quick bites then puts the plate in the sink. At Aubrey's pointed throat clearing, the redhead huffs and makes a dramatic show of placing the plate into the dishwasher.
"Happy now, your majesty?" Chloe asks sarcastically as she grabs both her and Aubrey's bags, handing off the caramel colored one to her girlfriend and keeping the black for herself.
"Ecstatic." Aubrey deadpans leaning over to kiss the redhead. The blonde hums happily as she pulls away, handing her girlfriend a bottle of water. Chloe would forget otherwise and complain through text for Aubrey's entire Lit seminar. The redhead smiles happily and leans back over for another kiss, perky personality beginning to shine through.
"Ready for classes, babe?" Chloe chirps, dragging her girlfriend towards their door. Aubrey shakes her head with a laugh. It took a little bit of coffee but once the caffeine started hitting Chloe's body, she was all systems go. Granted, the caffeine wouldn't actually kick in for a little bit but the placebo feeling was just as effective.
"Yes ma'am." Aubrey says with a mock salute, waiting for Chloe to finish locking up their apartment. When she's done, they lock arms and walk to the elevators. Soon they're hurrying out of their building, cutting through back alleys to get to the academic buildings. Its lucky how close their apartment is to the campus, otherwise they'd probably be late to class nearly every day. Granted, Aubrey could probably leave without Chloe, lord knows she gets up early enough, but the blonde likes walking her girlfriend to class every morning. Even if she has to speed walk a little to get to the law buildings that are almost halfway across campus.
They soon arrive at the science buildings and Aubrey leaves Chloe at the door with a quick kiss to the cheek and a "Bye, Kit!" thrown over her shoulder. Aubrey always wants to kiss her girlfriend goodbye properly but she knows that her father has people on campus keeping him updated about her. Overprotective nature is what Aubrey tries to convince herself of the Senator's reasoning but she's pretty sure his spies just make sure that she isn't tarnishing the Posen name. Unfortunately for her, dating a girl – even one as wonderful as Chloe – would be considered tarnishing the name. Both she and Chloe know this and both of them agree that right now it's just not worth invoking the Senator's ire. So they have to be a little discrete. Being best friends for forever gives them a lot of leeway for physical affection. But Aubrey knows that the minute Chloe gets tired of hiding, she's going to tell the Senator she's found the love of her life and that'll be that. Hopefully. Maybe. Oh, god, she's going to throw up.
Aubrey pauses near a lamp post and leans against it briefly, trying to control her breathing. Okay, so she's actually terrified of having to tell her father about her and Chloe. Like acutely, viscously terrified. All her life, she's wanted her father's approval and the blonde knows deep down coming out would mean she'd never get it. The blonde knows that when it comes down to it, she'll pick Chloe every time. So does Chloe. But a really big part of her isn't ready to let go of her lifelong goal of pleasing the Senator. Chloe knows that. Chloe will wait. Her beloved Kit is going nowhere. Aubrey tells these things to herself over and over again as she waits for the nausea to pass.
Once it does, she scolds herself for getting worked up over something that is essentially a non-issue. It exists but right now? Right now it doesn't matter. That settled, Aubrey glances at her watch and nearly curses. She has about two minutes to cross half the campus. It's one of those times that Aubrey is especially glad that she's tall. Longer legs means longer strides means quicker pace. The heels don't hurt either.
She's walking especially fast today, people clearing from her path because they're clearly not willing to mess with the determined air she's projecting. Aubrey smiles to herself. Sometimes a good bitch face comes in handy. Then, a second later the blonde finds herself on the ground, wind knocked out of her.
"Hey!" A familiar voice bites out irritably. "Watch where fucking going, asshole! You're not the only one with classes to get to! Jesus, did you heels make you too tall to see where you step?"
Aubrey jerks her head up angrily at the insults but freezes in surprise when she sees a pissed Beca crouched, trying to collect her scattered notebooks from where Aubrey knocked them out of her hands. The younger girl quickly got her materials together and stood, allowing the blonde to see the dark coffee stain running down the DJ's tank top.
"Oh, I'm sorry Beca." Aubrey says, momentarily forgetting Beca's rude words and scrambling up off the ground. She sees Beca glance up sharply from where she was couched, reaching down again to pick up her reusable mug. Her expression loses a bit of its hostility when she finally notices who ran over her. "Is there anything I can do to help?" the blonde asks.
"Oh, hey Aubrey." Beca sighs, voice softening just a touch. She stuffs some papers in her bag and glances at her watch, cursing loudly. "Fuckity fucking hell, shit!" She looks at Aubrey even as she turns to walk away. "You're fine, Blondie. I just really got to go." Another peek at her watch and another curse and the brunette was off running calling over her shoulder, "See you later!"
Aubrey doesn't have it in her to respond as she watches the girl ran off, displeasure filtering back in at the way the brunette spoke to her. The blonde's eyebrows furrow in annoyance. She understands being upset at being knocked down but she didn't deserve to get her head ripped off. Maybe the alt girl was having a bad day or something. Still, she seemed especially full of venom, more so than the Bella's captain thought the situation required. Aubrey huffs and hopes that Beca will be in a better mood later for Initiation. No one wants a grumpy gills bringing down the party. The blonde glances at her own watch and curses in a very similar way to the departed brunette, taking off running as well. At this point, it's a wasted effort. Aubrey is going to be late to class no matter what, but it's better to try and fail then never try at all, right?
Aubrey rolls her eyes at herself and hopes that at Beca got to her class on time. At least that way, one of them did.
Beca sprints into the music building feeling a pang of regret for how she snapped at the blonde earlier. Still, the regret doesn't hold a candle to the irritation she still carries with her as she skids around corners. Stupid nightmares. Stupid traffic, she growls in her head. Stupid 8 A.M. classes. Stupid inconvenient red lights that wouldn't let me cross the damn street. Stupid people who don't know how to walk down a sidewalk. The brunette includes Aubrey in that statement as unfair as she knows it is. It's not necessarily the senior's fault that the pair collided – it was probably a mix of both their faults. But Beca is snappish and on edge from her nightmare and it's far too easy to place the blame on the blonde right now. Besides, Beca will just apologize later for her attitude, you know, if she's not late.
All I wanted was a coffee after my 8 A.M. from hell, before I had to go to rehearsal, Beca bitches in her head. And instead of drinking it, I'm wearing it. Perfect. The girl rounds another corner but takes it too fast and nearly unbalances, catching herself at the last second. "Fucking hell!" She grits viciously, pushing off with her hands as she continues to run. Soon enough the open doors come into view, discordant sounds of tuning instruments filling the hallway. With an extra burst of speed Beca enters the concert hall, dodging empty cases and sliding onto her piano bench the exact moment her conductor stands to begin practice. The older man raises an eyebrow at her disheveled state and the brunette manages to pant out a "Sorry for being late, sir" as she struggles to regulate her breathing.
"Ooh, a whole second late." A voice teases quietly next to her. Beca glances over and sees one of the orchestra members, Veronica, looking at her with her instrument propped between her knees. She's a member of the strings, new if Beca isn't mistaken. A sophomore perhaps, not yet entirely familiar with the way a college orchestra is run. The other girl discretely points to the clock on the wall behind them and says "You're not the half an hour early you usually are so it must have been the apocalypse." The DJ shakes her head and glances at her conductor apologetically once more.
"Early is on time, on time is late and late is fired." The brunette parrots back the adage her old maestro beat into her head all those years ago. Punctuality was important, even more so for musicians who need to tune their instruments and warm up. If even one musician is late, the entire orchestra is late and that is simply unacceptable. Maestro Yasin had made sure she understood that.
Edward. Beca feels a small pang of nostalgia for her old mentor, a man she hadn't thought of in years. But, she supposed losing herself momentarily to her thoughts, I haven't played classical music in years either. Doesn't help that we're working on Rimsky-Korsakov. He always was Edward's favorite composer.
The brunette is pulled from her musings when her teacher, Maestro Caldera clears his throat. "Quite right, Miss Mitchell. I expect you to play two more run-throughs after rehearsals to make up for the lost time. Freshman or not, I will not tolerate lateness. We are professionals here." Beca resists the urge to sigh and wonders not for the first time how she got roped into this. Well, no she knows exactly how she became the BU Orchestra's piano accompanist. The actual accompanist badly sprained her wrist after a nasty dive for a wayward disc in an Ultimate game. Caldera had complained endlessly about the idiocy of the sport and was on a warpath looking for an acceptable replacement.
He had stumbled upon Beca accidently when she was messing around with the piano in her musical theory class after the lesson was over. It was a moment of weakness for Beca. She hadn't played on a real piano in years. Her electronic keyboard in her room was well and good but nothing quite compared to the feel of ivory beneath her fingertips. The older man must've heard her and had burst into the room with a fervor that only musicians could accomplish, demanding pieces for her to play for him. Startled and more than a little reminded of the demanding nature of her old Maestro, Beca had almost involuntarily complied. She felt lucky she had decided to not play her best or else Caldera might have tried to actually recruit her to orchestra. Still, he was impressed enough to make her the temporary replacement until their permanent accompanist healed up enough to return to playing.
She hadn't meant to accept but Caldera said that as head of the Music department, he would trade the hours she spent at practice for some of the lower level credit courses that were pre-req's for her major. Once she heard that, Beca jumped on the opportunity. In all honesty, she could probably test out of all the required introductory courses but her professors seemed insistent on making her take them anyway. Dicks. Now she had to sit through re-learning a bunch of things she already knew. Professor Caldara's offer would allow her to jump right into the higher level courses Beca knew she belonged in. So the brunette accepted. Now, however, surrounded by an uncomfortably large number of reminders of her old life, Beca wasn't so sure.
The DJ is saved from her thoughts as Caldera turns to the strings section. His sharp grey eyes cut to Veronica and the cellist straightens instinctively, hands tightening on the neck of her instrument. "And it would be wise, Miss Kevins, to remember Miss Mitchell's advice. Early is on time, on time is late and late is entirely unacceptable."
The cellist nods demurely and Beca can see her eyes widen slightly in surprise that their conductor heard her quiet tease. Beca isn't as shocked – conductors have the sharpest ears of anyone she knows. Comes with the territory, she supposes. Caldera clears his throat and claps his hands. "Wonderful. Now, Miss Mitchell, if you would?"
Beca doesn't respond verbally but automatically straightens her back, hands poised at the ready for her signal to begin. It comes a second later with a minute twitch of Caldera's baton and she begins to play, quickly losing herself in the music as the orchestra swells around her.
Practice ends two and a half hours later but Beca has to stay behind to perform her two extra run-throughs of the piece. She only makes it through one before she's begging her Maestro to let her go to go to her next class. He agrees reluctantly with the demand that she returns back to the auditorium the minute she gets out of class for another three run-throughs. It'll make her miss lunch but Beca knows better than to argue and so rushes off in a foul mood that isn't helped by her passionate hatred of Chemistry. It's a good thing that she managed to snag the lab on Wednesday nights and not Friday nights or else she honestly might murder someone. She's pretty sure with Stiles's help she can pin it on Kimmy Jin.
Another tortuous class – science really isn't her thing – and Beca is right back where she started a few hours ago – sprinting through Barden. Her stomach growls as she takes her seat on the worn piano bench but she ignores it, waiting patiently for Caldera's permission to start. It feels like ages until Caldera deems her efforts satisfactory and all Beca really wants is a giant hamburger. Her stomach feels like it's about to eat itself but her eyes also feel ridiculously droopy. She checks her watch and groans pitifully when she realizes it's almost 5. God, I want to pass out she thinks to herself before her stomach gives another angry growl and she amends that thought. As soon as I eat. Then sleep.
A loud knocking on her door unceremoniously wakes Beca up. She tumbles off the side of her bed once more, grumbling as she rubs at her eyes. If she's being truthful, she usually starts her mornings on the floor. It doesn't help that she sleeps with about half her body hanging off the edge with only two strategically sprawled limbs to anchor her to the mattress. Honestly, at some point she just had to recognize that she was basically asking for it. Physics can only do so much for her before gravity wins.
Her back cracks spectacularly when she stretches and despite the discomfort that sleeping in skinny jeans causes (she seriously needs to stop doing that – the rashes weren't worth it) Beca manages a sleepy smile at the relief the pops bring. Her scowl immediately falls back into place however when the knocking continues. The brunette marches angrily to the door, muttering viciously under her breath and glaring at Kimmy Jin who's sitting quietly at her desk, fully capable of both hearing and answering the door but choosing not to. People think the Asian is emotionless but Beca can practically feel her pleased grin. "Bitch." Beca mutters under her breath. Nap time was sacred to girl. With a sleeping schedule as irregular as hers, she takes the rest whenever she can find it. Namely, between the hours of 3 and 5. Of course, because Caldera insisted she stay behind Beca not only missed lunch but her siesta as well. She glances back at her electronic clock and notes with a groan that it's almost 9. She hopes that her long nap won't fuck up her sleep schedule more than it already had.
Beca reaches the door and throws it open, biting out an angry, "What?"
Chloe has her fist suspended in mid-air, poised to knock again. Her face is frozen in a mask of shock and slight hurt at the tone Beca used to greet her with, blue eyes wide and mouth slightly open. She doesn't seems to know how to respond and Aubrey answers for her.
"Well good afternoon to you too, Beca." The blonde says briskly, voice clipped. Beca winces slightly and remembers the greeting she gave to the older girl earlier that day. Aubrey was probably still a little miffed if her tone was anything to go by. Beca watches as Aubrey reaches up and grabs Chloe's still suspended fist and brings it down between the two girl's sides. "May we come in or would you like to yell a bit more? You seem particularly good at it today."
There's a barely audible snort from inside the room and Beca whirls around, eyes hardening as she glares at Kimmy Jin. "You got words to share, Kimmy?" The brunette grits. Her Asian roommate spins around and locks eyes with Beca, distaste clear in her gaze. Their staring contest goes on for long enough to make Chloe and Aubrey uncomfortable from the still open doorway where they're standing. Beca can see them shifting slightly from her peripherals and feels bad about it. But she keeps her focus on Kimmy Jin who (like a coward, in Beca's opinion) disengages from the standoff a moment later.
"I have a study group." She states in that irritatingly monotone voice and Beca's teeth grit harder. The Asian sneers at her as she shoulders past the brunette, back pack in hand.
"God, I hate that bitch." Beca spits once her roommate is out of sight.
"Really? I couldn't tell." Aubrey says sarcastically, still waiting impatiently outside the door. Chloe is hovering beside her and is looking nervously between the other two girls. Beca lets out a sigh, feeling her guilt spike. She waves the other two girls into the room, swiftly bending down to grab her blankets and throwing them semi-neatly back into her bed. Gesturing for the seniors to sit, Beca slumps into her desk chair with an apologetic grin.
"Sorry about that. Kimmy is actually insufferable." The DJ says as Chloe cautiously takes a seat on the bed. Aubrey remains standing, arms crossed and practically screaming her displeasure. Beca rubs a tired hand down her face and decides that an apology is probably in order.
"I'm really sorry for snapping at you just now and earlier, Blondie." Aubrey's glare sharpens and Beca wisely determines that perhaps the nickname is slightly unwelcome at this point in time. Go figure.
"Look, all I wanted was a cup of coffee after my stupid 8 A.M. Philosophy class because I was running on about three hours of sleep and I had rehearsal at ten." The DJ notices the blonde's posture soften so she continues. "So of course traffic was shit and I end up running late but just when it might look like I could be on time, I run into you and spill a perfectly good coffee down my shirt without being able to take single sip out of it."
"Did you end up being late?" Aubrey asks, dropping her arms.
"Sure did!" Beca exclaims with false cheeriness, smiling a bit when Chloe giggles a bit. She flashes the redhead a brief smile then turns back to Aubrey.
"What about you? You end up late as well?" Beca asks.
"Unfortunately." Aubrey sighs with an eye roll and lowers herself next to Chloe on the bed. Beca tries not to grin too hard at the small victory. "Sounds like we both had some shitty mornings though yours seems especially awful." The blonde shrugs a bit and offers an apologetic smile of her own. "I get why you were a little cranky."
"Well, maybe more than a little." Beca admits with a wince. She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. "I'm not the nicest when I'm tired."
"I noticed." Aubrey replies but it sounds more like a tease than a snipe so Beca relaxes farther.
"Why'd you get so little sleep, Becs?" Chloe asks from beside her girlfriend. She's leaning forward earnestly and is looking at Beca with a surprising amount of concern.
"Ah…bad dreams." Is the brunette's reply. Beca just is not feeling particularly up to discussing the matter. Chloe seems to understand because she backs off and offers a comforting grin.
"I understand." Chloe says lightly. "But if you ever want to talk…" She trails off meaningfully and reaches out to gently touch the backs of Beca's hands before quickly withdrawing. "Our apartment is still fully stocked with ice cream and good music."
Beca lips quirk at the reminder of the offer Chloe made last Saturday. She wouldn't be taking them up on it anytime soon so she remains quiet. Maybe someday, though the girl thinks to herself.
"In the meantime," Chloe continues clapping her hands together once she realizes Beca isn't going to respond. "You should probably take a nap or something. Catch up on your lost z's."
"Well, I was." Beca says, eyebrow arching high. "Then there was a bunch of knocking on the door that my dick of a roommate wouldn't answer so it kept going until I finally woke up. By falling ever so gracefully on the floor."
"Ah." Chloe says, looking a little guilty. "We were wondering what that thump was." Beca notices Aubrey wincing in sympathy.
"Well," the brunette replies with an airy wave of her hand. "Now you know why I was bitchy when I opened the door. Seriously, I'm really cranky half-asleep. Just ask Stiles. He's almost lost fingers trying to wake me up"
"I guess we can forgive you then, even if it's a little late for a nap." Aubrey laughs, shoulder checking a giggling Chloe. Beca watches them trade small shoves for a few moments and ignores the small pang of envy in her heart. The two of them really are the cutest things.
"I'm so pleased, you majesties. And don't judge me!" Beca retorts, shoving the emotion aside. "Now, not that I don't love your company" – because I do, I do, I really do – "but what are the two of you doing here anyway?"
"Ah!" Chloe exclaims and whips a piece of fabric from thin air. "It's time for Initiation!"
"Uh-uh." Beca drawls slowly, eyeing the dark blue satin warily. "And what, exactly, does that entail?"
"Kidnapping." Aubrey says matter-of-fact and Beca can feel her eyebrows climb her forehead. But all she says is, "Isn't that kind of illegal?"
"Only a little bit!" Chloe says with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Besides, we're only kidnapping people for like, twenty minutes tops."
"Because that makes it better." Beca replies sarcastically. "Also, aren't you not supposed to announce that you are kidnapping your kidnapees?"
"Well, normally we don't silly!" the redhead says dismissively. "But after the last time we surprised you…"
"… we figured you might appreciate a little warning." Aubrey finishes with an easy shrug. But her eyes shine with sincerity and a similar expression is clear in Chloe's as well. Beca has a hard time not feeling touched but tries to brush off how much.
"Probably a good idea." She says nonchalantly. "One of you would probably end up with a black eye otherwise." Beca says it like a joke but it's really true. Violence is her go-to reaction to surprise.
"Good idea we thought ahead then." Aubrey says, raising her eyebrows and Beca shrugs unapologetically.
"Now, here!" The dark cloth is shoved into her hands by Chloe. "Put it on so we can go. We have like nine other girls to kidnap."
"What is it?" Beca asks lifting the cloth up and extending her arms, trying to find an opening.
"It's a hood." Aubrey explains and Beca freezes. "That's why Initiation is called Hood Night, because that's how all of the acappella groups kidnap their new members."
"Yeah, no." Beca says violently shoving the piece of fabric at the seniors, trying to calm herself down. Memories of her night terror flicker in her mind at the mere reminder of being stuck in the darkness again. Even if it was just a hood.
"May I ask why not?" Aubrey says carefully.
"I have a thing with small dark places." Beca explains stiffly.
"It's a satin hood?" Chloe says in confusion.
"It's small." Beca replies tersely. "Look, I know it's just a thin piece of fabric but it's going to be around my head and I won't be able to see and I can't, aright?" Beca feels herself getting worked up and forces herself to take a deep breath and holds. She waits a few beats then exhales slowly. Her eyes raise to meet the seniors. "I just can't. Sorry."
"Hey, it's fine." Aubrey says, touching Beca's hand softly. It twitches backwards in retreat and the blonde quickly pulls away. Beca tries not to mirror the frown that overtakes Aubrey's face. The DJ feels kind of terrible that she'll let Chloe touch her but the moment Aubrey tries to do the same, she finches. She's not afraid of the blonde or anything, it's just….Chloe just feels safe.
"Sorry." Beca mutters again, stuffing her hands in her pockets. She studiously looks anywhere but the girls sitting on her bed.
"Like Aubrey said, it's not a problem Beca." Chloe says. She stands up and pulls Aubrey up with her. "You can just help us kidnap the other girls. So long as you promise to close your eyes when we say." Chloe orders, wagging a finger in the younger girls face. Beca swats it away with an eye roll, feeling the slight tension in the room dissipate.
"Whatever." Beca retorts smartly. "Now get out of my room. I fell asleep in these clothes and I need to change."
"You are looking astonishingly wrinkly, right now." Aubrey comments and snickers when Beca forcibly pushes her out of the room, followed closely by Chloe.
"Out!" Beca orders again and once both girls are over the threshold, closes it smartly in her face. Chloe and Aubrey smile at each other, then at the door when they hear muffled talking through it. "Give me a minute then we can go kidnap the other newbies."
There is a bit of rustling and a few thumps but the door swings open a few seconds later. "But, if someone calls the cops on us," Beca stands in the doorway, stern finger pointing at the pair of Bellas, "I am running and leaving your asses to be pinched, understood?"
"Understood." Both girls swear in unison, innocent smiles decorating their faces.
"Good." Beca snorts, turning to lock her room. "Because Peter would totally hear about it and tell John and I don't need a both a Detective and a Sheriff giving me shit about breaking the law at every family gathering. It's only funny when they do it to Derek and Stiles."
With that, Beca spins around, completely ignoring the confused looks on Chloe and Aubrey's faces. There's a beat of silence then
"…how is that worse than a kidnapping charge?"
"Hell if I know, Kit."