5: Childhood


About thirty minutes later, once the intern had already been busy stacking CDs and records, Kamila came running into the station, "Beca! Where have you been? You haven't answered our calls. It's like 1:45!"

"Shit!" Beca exclaimed, "Jess, we'll finish later," she quickly kissed her boyfriend, grabbed her bag and ran out the door with Kamila trailing behind. "Thanks, Kam. I completely lost track of time and my phone was in my bag,"

"No, it's alright. We've got like 5 minutes to spare. It's a good thing they don't get here tlll 2."

"Yeah, it is. Man, if you only knew Aubrey. She'd get on your ass about being late. Even if it's just a minute."

"Ha, I've heard enough stories to know about her and Chloe," she laughed, "Jesse said you met her in the shower?"

"No, not exactly, but that's where she kind of pushed the idea of auditioning for the Bellas."

"That's funny, I was practically pushed too," Kamila said sarcastically.

"That's right," Beca chuckled at the thought of her boyfriend's pushy ways. "But for the record, I'm glad Jesse tricked you into karaoke that night. To be honest with you, I was kind of worried when I saw you,"

"Worried? Why?" The petite girls made their way down the path to the auditorium. Beca nervously laughed about what she was about to say.

"At the activities fair, I saw you talking with Jesse and I didn't know you knew him,"

"Ohhh, I see where this is going," Kamila grinned, "You thought I was making a move on him!" She laughed at the thought and grimaced at the fact that they were talking about her brother. Beca laughed too, realizing how ridiculous she sounded. In between laughing, Beca managed to say, "It's not my fault I didn't know he had a sister!"

"Jesse never told you? I mean he's always talked about his precious Beca but I never really saw a picture of you so when I met you at our dorm, your name didn't register in my head,"

"Yeah, I'm more of the person who takes the pictures- not be in them,"

"Same here!" Kamila exclaimed. Beca just smiled back, thinking of the picture Jesse kept in his wallet. She wondered if Kamila even had a clue of her picture hanging around her brother at all times.

"Yeah, Jesse never really mentioned stuff about his family. I mean there's the occasional 'my dad told me this, mom did this' and he mentioned siblings but never the specifics."

"Wow, isn't that stuff like... mandatory info for being in a.. relationship?" Kamila hesitated, not sure if Beca'd mind the term. The two are pretty much exclusive, right? Even though their families have never met? Kamila battled with her questions in her mind and didn't realize Beca was waiting for an answer to a question she didn't hear. "I'm sorry, I blacked out, what were you saying?"

"It's fine, I was just telling you that we're here," Kamila came face to face with the big auditorium doors. "Are you ready to meet the troubling two?"

Kamila chuckled. Aubrey and Chloe couldn't be that bad. The moment they walked through the doors, Kamila's hands immediately reached up to cover her ears from the deafening squeals that Chloe let out when she saw Beca. The redhead made her way and locked the brunette in a bone crushing hug. "Heeeey, Chloe," Beca managed to get out, "this is.. Kam..ila," as soon as Chloe let go to hug Kamila, Beca breathed in as much oxygen as she could before Chloe surprises her with one of her hugs again.

"Hi! I'm Chloe! I heard so much about you from the girls!"

"Aw, all good things I hope." Kamila smiled, and just then Aubrey approached with her professional welcoming smile. "And you must be Aubrey," she extended her hand and Aubrey just grinned and pulled her into a hug,

"Sorry, we're huggers," she whispered into Kamila's ear.

"I can tell," she laughed.

"So! I hear you guys have already been practicing for the riff-off," Aubrey mentioned.

Beca laughed at Aubrey's immediate jump into 'business' talk, "Yes, what we could practice at least,"

"Have you already picked a set for Regionals?"

"Aub, that's like two months away."

"Yes, but you need to start preparing," Aubrey's tone started to get frigid and Kamila instantly jumped in to warm up the environment again,

"Uhm we've got choices that we're playing around with.. right, Beca?"

"Yeah, what she said." Beca breathed in deeply and put on a smile, in appreciation for Kamila's help. Those gosh darn Swansons, she thought. The four made their way to the rest of the group to play catch up on the two graduates' current life.


4:07 PM Mon, Sep 15

From: JJ

How is everything?

Kamila's phone buzzed in the middle of Aubrey and Beca's discussion of the set list. Their argument had been going on for twenty minutes, now. A distraction is exactly what she needed. And coffee. She needed coffee.

4:08 PM Mon, Sep 15

To: JJ

Extremely bored. Ur girl and her nemesis have been arguing for the past half hour

4:09 PM Mon, Sep 15

From: JJ

How's Beca handling..

4:09 PM Mon, Sep 15

To: JJ

Tbvh, she's actually not blowing up.. and Aubrey's not blowing chunks

4:11 PM Mon, Sep 15

From: JJ

U seriously just made me actually lol for the first time in my texting life :'D

4:11 PM Mon, Sep 15

To: JJ

It's what I do, bro. U still at the station?

4:12 PM Mon, Sep 15

From: JJ

Nah, left an hour ago. With the guys rn. Would u like me to come to the rescue?

4:12 PM Mon, Sep 15

To: JJ

Yes pls and bring coffee

Kamila slipped her phone back into her pocket and stood up to try and at least help out with the bickering two. "Alright," she clapped her hands together, "It's uh almost 4:30 and I've got a class to get to and almost everyone in the group left like half an hour ago and you guys still haven't come to a compromise, so.. I'll be your compromise,"

"A-ca scuse me?" Aubrey asked while Beca rolled her eyes. The two were best friends, especially after they won last year. But just because Aubrey had loosened the reigns a bit, doesn't mean she's any less uptight and any less the perfectionist that she is.

"Why don't I come up with a setlist, I'll have Beca check on it once in a while, and once I'm all done, I'll send it to you to.. y'know- give us your feedback. I know Beca hasn't been focusing on Regionals since she's got the Riff-Off to worry about and her classes so I could take the set-list for Regionals as if it was one of my projects," Kamila quickly turned to Beca, worried that she might have overstepped, "I mean if it's alright with you, I just didn't want you to be overwhelmed and-"

"Kam, that's really nice of you, that'd be great," Beca immediately cut her off, thankful for little Swanson, Beca turned to Aubrey with a grin, "It's all settled. I mean it's not like you have any say in what we do now, but I know, I know-" Beca saved herself knowing Aubrey would feel offended, "You still want to at least be caught up with us and stuff and I'll give you updates every now and then."

Aubrey relaxed, "Thank you, that's all I want," She smiled at Beca and gave her a quick hug then turned to Kamila, "And you, I'm very surprised, you remind me a bit about a certain someone.. and speaking of that someone.. Hey, Jesse!" Right then Jesse walked through the double doors with a coffee tray in one hand, "Aubrey! What a nice.. surprise?" Funny, Beca hadn't mentioned Aubrey to visit.

"Oh, Chloe and I were just stopping by to see what's going on in the group,"

Kamila made a mad dash to her brother's side and grabbed the coffee tray. "You're a lifesaver," she mumbled and walked back to the row of seats while Beca chuckled and greeted her boyfriend.

"Hey, nerd" she pecked him on his cheek and grabbed his hand.

"Well, I guess I better be leaving then," Aubrey looked at the two having a moment, "Becs, call me?"

"Yeah, yeah. I will," she smiled while still gripping her loved one's hand. As soon as Aubrey left, she let out a sigh of relief. "I thought she'd never leave!" Jesse laughed at her ridiculousness and the sight of his sister downing her frappucinno.

"Yo, Mila! Slow it down!"

"Shut up. My coffee, my way of drinking it. Anyways, I'll see you two later, I'm running late," Kamila grabbed her backpack and went running out the doors.

Jesse turned back to see Beca now erasing their whiteboard, "Weeell, now that we're alone,"

"Nice try, Jess.. But I've got so much to do, my brain is gonna explode with trying to figure what to do first."

"Well, let's just relax first then," He gave her an innocent smile, "C'mon.. You practically ran out earlier today, and I missed you."

"Hmm, okay. I can spare an hour with you." She smiled and finished up with the board, grabbed her bag and her boyfriend's hand.

"You hungry?" He asked.

"Starving,"

"To the diner, it is!" He shouted, while raising his arm pointing out the door.

"You're such a dork." She laughed while shaking her head. "I'm dating a dork."

"Well, so am I," He retorted. He squeezed her hand and made their way out to their favorite diner on campus.


"So, ready for the riff-off tomorrow?" He asked while dipping his fries in ketchup.

"Eh, you could say so,"

"Why, Miss Mitchell- you don't sound so sure!"

She raised an eyebrow at him, challenging his remark, "Oh, no don't get me wrong.. You can't exactly be ready for a riff-off since you won't know until it starts but, I can tell you this.. This year, we're winning."

"You sure about that, babe? I mean you might repeat last year. It and it's is a very easy mistake to make again,"

"Oh, just you wait, Swanson," Beca replied before taking a sip of her milkshake, "just you wait."


Tuesday, Sep 16 9:00 PM

"Welcome to the riff-off!" Justin shouted. "Now, as you all know- winners get this now crappy microphone since last year, the winners got a little crazy and broke it. So, this year, we're adding a little something extra! Two tickets to a concert this weekend. Let's get vocal!"

The acapella groups all huddled right before Justin spinned the virtual wheel. "Alright, first up- TV theme songs!"

As soon as the category had been chosen, Kamila ran up to the middle of the pool and began one of her favorite TV theme songs,

When I wake up in the morning

And the alarm is out of order

I don't think I'll ever make it on time

By the time I grab my books and I give myself a look

I'm at the corner just in time to see the bus fly by

It's alright, cause I'm saved by the bell

The rest of the Bellas started to harmonized while Lilly dropped a cool beat,

If the teacher pops a test I know I'm in a mess

And my dog ate all my homework last night

Beca and Kamila took the lead in harmonizing while the other girls carrie the tune,

Riding low in my chair she won't know that I'm there

If I can hand it in tomorrow it'll be alright!

It's alright cause I'm saved by the bell.

It's-

Jesse immediately ran to cut off his sister, It's a rare condition, this day and age,

to read any good news on the newspaper page. Kamila cursed under her breath, it doesn't help that her and Jesse used to watch marathons of every tv show you could possibly name.

Love and tradition of the grand design, some people say it's even harder to find.

Well then there must be some magic clue inside these tearful walls


Cause all I see is a tower of dreams


real love burstin' out of every seam.

All Trebles are now jamming out to their tune while the Bellas huddle to come up with another song. They started off strong and they can't lose their roll now,

As days go by,

we're gonna fill our house with happiness.

As days go by-

Kamila stepped in once again but with Beca ready to harmonize with her. By step,

Day by day

A fresh start over

A different hand to play

The deeper we fall

The stronger we stay

And-

Jesse and Benji came face to face with the girls to cut them off,

And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there,

I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-air,

The Trebles immediately got down and busted out their always so smooth moves while Jesse raps the best he can, knowing the ladies would be swooning,

In west Philadelphia born and raised

On the playground where I spent most of my days

Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool

And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school

When a couple of guys, they were up to no good

Started making trouble in my neighborhood

I got in one little fight and my mom got scared, And said,

Benji moved a little forward and imitated an old woman's voice that made everyone watching laugh,

'You're moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel-air'

I whistled for a cab and when it came near the

The girls were now starting to panic a bit until Kamila got the best song idea yet, she quickly approached Fat Amy to do the best beat boxing she could to help out with Lilly. She then whispered to Beca and the other girls and Beca knew that everyone was gonna have a laugh and travel down the road of childhood. While Benji sang his line, Kamila slowly walked forward, getting ready to dramatically cut him off,

License plate said "fresh" and had a dice in the mirror

If- Kamila made the cut off sign and began, if you could gaze into the future

Fat Amy echoed for her, (future ,future)

You might think life would be a breeze (life is a breeze)

Seeing trouble from a distance (yeah!) (go Kam)

But then it's easy (oh no)

I try to save the situation

Then I end up misbehaving (ohohohoh) Beca then ran up to start rapping,

Hey now, what you say now bout to put it down

Come on and take a ride with rae now

And the future looks great now

and eveything's gonna change now

Everyone around the pool started to sing along,

That's so raven (it's the future i can see)

That's so raven (it's so mysterious to me)

That's so raven (it's the future i can see)

That's so raven (it's so mysterious to me)

Yeah!

As the Bellas finished, the Trebles bowed down, giving up. Jesse grinned and clapped, proud of both his little sister and his girlfriend. The ladies hugged and jumped up and down, excited that not only did they win the prize but they won the right to brag about it to the guys for the rest of the year.

"Congratulations, Bellas!" Justin shouted. "Now, settle down everybody. I know you all had a kick out of that one, especially since the High Notes and the BU Harmonics were too busy reminiscing their childhoods to even try to participate.. Here are your beloved prizes, ladies," He handed Beca the microphone and handed the concert tickets to Kamila. Once Kamila had a look at the tickets, her smile had vanished. The tickets slipped away from her hands and faster than you could blink, she ran out of the pool.

"Kammy!" Jesse yelled out at her. He tried to run after her but stopped when he noticed the tickets on the ground. Beca picked them up to read them and let out a sorrowful sigh. She looked up at Jesse with worried eyes, knowing now why Kamila had panicked and ran out. She handed Jesse the tickets to see for himself.

"Oh no," he let out. Beca nodded, understanding his remark.

"Black Eyed Peas.. apparently they're doing one last show together." She mentioned. Jesse didn't say anything but looked at her with sad eyes. She knew what he had to do and kissed him on the cheek. "Go."


A/N: So? What do you think? This chapter kinda got outta hand. I was only supposed to stop at the Aubrey and Chloe part.. but this literally came out of nowhere. Let me point out something from last chapter though. If you connected the part from the very first chap of this fic about Kamila mentioning her parents having this weird thing with the alphabet, I hope you noticed that when you found out their older brother's name. So, it goes Ian, Jesse, Kamila. Alphabetically. Haha, that's just a fun little thing I wanted to do. Also, I dropped a ton of references in this chapter. Obvs the tv theme songs but also the part about the coffee. If you watch Castle, Kamila's obsession with coffee is inspired by Kate Beckett's love for coffee. ;D I also alluded Jesse's rapping to Skylar's rapping at the vma's last year and also made sure Beca had to rap just like in the movie. If you could name all the shows these songs were from, I applaud you. Also, if you thought a riff-off was easy to write- noooo it wasn't. But I had fun bc I'm a tv nerd. Anyways, what do you think is gonna happen next chap? I love reading your reviews. They actually help me write. Whether they're negative or positive. My hand's cramping now, hope you liked it!

P.S try and bare with my grammar/spelling errors. sorry.

P.S.S check out the cover art for this story, i put a lot of work into it- link is in my bio. xo

P.S.S would you guys be okay with me updating on fridays? you guys were lucky yesterday bc i've been really sick the past week and been in the hospital with my laptop and now that i actually have to go back to school on monday with no excuses, i'm going to be m.i.a but i figured if i just wrote my chapters out through the week (during class bc when do i ever work), i'd type them up on friday and upload them friday night. i don't know how you students do it on here, updating almost every day. i wish i had that kind of power... or determination. or talent. anyways, before i start degrading myself, just wanted to ask for your opinion about update days and also, would you guys like more lovey dovey stuff? i've got a knack for drama/sadness bc.. heh- that's me. and this story was originally very sad and i know there's not much sad fics in the pp category on ffnet- well none that are jeca at least. so, let me know if you'd like me to continue down the melancholy road or pick it up and go towards the happily ever after stuff. wow this is a long author's note. i bid you goodnight, au revoir, arrivederci.