Chapter 4

"This is it Beca" Aubrey said opening the door to Chloe and her apartment. It was the first time Beca would be seeing it. Aubrey and Chloe had signed the lease before Beca had disappeared. They hadn't moved in yet though so this was the first time Beca was seeing their apartment. Beca didn't really say anything as she glanced around the apartment, she only allowed a small smirk to slip across her face when she noticed that the DVD's were organized alphabetically. The Kitchen and the living room in the apartment were the same room with the key separation of the two coming in the form of an L shaped couch that was pointed away from the kitchen area and towards the TV against the left wall. Aubrey walked through the gap between the kitchen and the living room and pointed towards the laundry room which was also located to the left of the apartment

"Beca the bathroom is just through the laundry. You'll have to walk through the laundry to get to the bathroom. Bedroom wise, the room right next to the laundry is Chloe's and just a little more to the right down that little hallway is my room and yours is right opposite it. Our doors are facing each other."

"Okay."

"We can go grab your mixing equipment from your dorm tomorrow if you want Beca?" that was Chloe's contribution to the conversation. That was the statement actually got a reaction other than a smirk from Beca. She smiled, while it wasn't as bright and vibrant as Beca's smiles used to be before, it was still a Beca smile, a smile that Aubrey had begun to think she wouldn't see again.

"That'll be nice Chloe thanks."

"Would you like something to eat Beca? I can make some Macaroni and Cheese if you want?"

"Nah it's okay Aubrey I think I might just go to bed if that's okay" The sound of Beca's voice so soft and unsure just served to break Aubrey's heart some more. All the self confidence that Beca used to have seemed to be gone, replaced with fear of accidently saying the wrong thing.

"Of course, you can go to bed Becs I just thought you could be hungry"

"Oh well I'll go to bed then" Beca made a vague hand gesture down the hall towards her room.

"Night Becs"

"Night."

Aubrey and Chloe didn't really say much after Beca left. They just found themselves standing there watching the light flick on in the spare room, Beca's room, before the door closed and the hallway returned to darkness. Wordlessly Aubrey turned around and maneuvered herself around the dining table to get to the couch before sitting down. While waiting for Chloe to come join her on the couch she allowed a sigh to escape. Chloe came to join Aubrey moments later after sparing another glance down the hallway.

"Aubrey- "

"Look Chloe I do not want to be rude but I really do not want to talk right now okay?"

"Okay. Okay. We'll just watch some TV then okay?"

"Okay"

It was two hours later that both Aubrey and Chloe found themselves pulled from the mindless television they were watching by the sound of screams coming from Beca's room. Aubrey felt like she was flying with the speed at which she jumped off the couch and ran to Beca's room, skidding around the corners to get there. Only upon her arrival she found that she couldn't open Beca's door.

"Beca?" Silence. "Beca, Babe?" Silence. "Beca are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Beca thank god. What happened?"

"Nothing"

"That did not sound like nothing Becs. Can I come in please?" Aubrey tried and failed to keep the pleading sound out of her voice. The echoes of Beca's screams were still echoing in her head. All she wanted was to lay her eyes upon Beca to make sure that she was okay. Aubrey was sure the screams were because of a nightmare but still she wanted to check. Make sure her girlfriend truly was okay. If you ever could be okay again, after going through something like Beca had.

"Aubrey just leave me alone." Aubrey didn't really know how to proceed from there. Beca wanted to be left alone. So why was it every cell in her body rebelled against that idea? Beca was scared, was hurt, wasn't thinking clearly. She forced herself to think through the options. If Beca wouldn't let her in, she would have to stay outside. But how to let Beca know she was there?

"Becs how about we make a compromise?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I will sit right here outside your door and talk to you, or the wall, or whatever. Just talking really and when you feel safe enough to open your door I will be here. Okay?"

"Okay."

"So did I ever tell you the story of how sophomore year Chloe almost set our dorm on fire?"

"No."

"Here it goes then you are going to love this story it's just so Chloe…"

&*!#.&*!#.&*!#.&*!#.

Aubrey was winding down in her retelling of her latest story, the fourth that night. Apparently, Stacie, leading the Bellas in cardio, suddenly remembered the answer to a calculus problem. It must have been a great relief for her because she shouted it out so suddenly that Amy startled, fell, and sprained her ankle. She was just winding down the story when she heard the sound of objects moving in Beca's room. It seemed like Beca had done more than simply lock the door, she'd barricaded it. When the sounds ceased, Aubrey readied herself for the door opening so that she wouldn't fall over. The door opened slowly. There was silence. When Aubrey looked up she found Beca looking down at her with the most tender look on her face, as if she couldn't believe that Aubrey was actually there. Beca opened and closed her mouth a few times enough times that Aubrey started to wonder if she would actually say something.

"Aubrey you can uh you can come in if you want to?" The smile that appeared on Aubreys face as she stood up was unintentional but not unwelcome. As she followed Beca back into her room she couldn't help but marvel that it was the desk that Beca had used to barricade herself into the room, that could not have been easy. When Beca climbed back into bed Aubrey found herself hesitating. Completely out of the ordinary behavior for Aubrey but still, she hesitated. But considering the last few days, the last year really, the hesitation was warranted.

"Becs do you want me to lie on the bed with you?"

"Please" Beca's voice was so soft and hesitant that Aubrey had to strain to hear her but when she did she allowed herself to climb upon the bed. She forced herself to stay on top of the covers rather than under. The room was silent. Aubrey could hear the sounds of Chloe moving around in her room. In fact if she closed her eyes she could see Chloe moving in around in her room based solely off the sounds. Aubrey was broken out of her musings by Beca's still shaking hand landing on her arm.

"Bree?"

"Yes Beca"

"Can you, do you mind maybe, would it be possible for you to keep talking?"

"Have I told you the story of how I broke my arm?"

"No"

"Well as you know my dad is a General in the army and one day I decided that I wanted to show him that I was my own person. Not just some military drone so what I did was…." And so she continued until Beca's breathing slowed down and she drifted off to sleep.

AN: So I've taken to calling this the chapter of DOOOOM in my head because it just refused to be written. So I know it's not my best chapter or longest but it's done it's written and it's posted so YAY. I'm so happy to be done with this chapter because dude I have so much awesome stuff coming up in further chapters you guys are going to love it. Or maybe not *rubs hands together gleefully*

As always I live for validation so review maybe?

Love you guys.

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