Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Beca sits in their hotel room with her Bose headphones on, trying to find new music to put with her mix. For Beca, the hardest part of creating music has always been finding songs. She is very particular as to what she chooses, and every aspect has to be just right. The lyrics, the beat, the base to treble ratio; it all has to be exactly how she envisions it.
Right when she thinks she has found the perfect song to go with her baseline, the audio drum loop takes a weird turn that last only seconds, but to Beca it has ruined the whole song. In anger, she rips off her headphones and tosses them next to her. She lets out a loud sigh and falls dramatically backwards, onto the bed she is sitting on.
"Uh-oh, Beca smash." Jesse jokes knowing exactly why Beca is so angry. He has hung out with his friend through more mix sessions than he can count. She always has the same reaction when a song she thinks she likes takes a turn she doesn't.
Beca lightly throws the pillow that is directly above her head, at Jesse. He dodges it easily and then in a flash gets up and catches it before it can even hit the ground. Beca groans, "I can't even throw a pillow right."
"Whoa, hold up there, Miss Teen Angst. You threw a pillow half assed at someone with super speed. Did you expect to hit me?"
Beca rises into a sitting position and shrugs her shoulders. "You could've let it hit you." Having a friend that's inhumanly fast can have its ups, but it can also have its downs as well.
"I could've but why would I do that?"
"Because you're my best friend and you love me?" Beca states, matching her tone to be questioning like Jesse's was.
Jesse tosses the pillow back onto the bed and then walks over to Beca. He plops down next to her and slings his arm over her shoulder. "Ok, well asking as your loving best friend, are you going to tell me what's up with you?"
"You know how I get when people ruin a potentially perfect song Jesse." Beca says half-lying. She is pissed about the song, but that is just the straw that broke the camel's back. Chloe and Aubrey have been gone for over an hour and a half and Beca hasn't heard a word from the bubbly redhead. Everyone had swapped numbers last night before going to the bar just in case someone got lost from the group. Beca has been waiting for a text from Chloe to tell her what was taking them so long.
"Don't bullshit me Beca. You never get this mad over a mix."
Sighing in defeat, Beca decided the come clean about the whole Chloe situation. "Ok so you know how Chloe is basically a perfect human being?"
Jesse smiles at the thought of the hot redhead and nods his head. "Yah I may have noticed once or twice."
"Well, I may, kind of, possibly be in love with her." Beca mumbles as quickly as she can.
Jesse removes his arm from around Beca's shoulder and scoots away from her slightly so he is facing her. His eyes are wide with shock and his jaw is set firmly. He looks like he is about to say something but holds it in for a second.
"I know it sounds crazy but…"
"Not crazy Beca, insane. At least, coming from you it does." Jesse says, and Beca can't decide if she detects anger or shock in his voice.
"Well maybe love is a little extreme but I definitely feel something! Something strong."
Jesse sits there for a minute, staring at his best friend. Beca doesn't love anyone, well besides him and her dad but that is different. Beca has never opened herself up to the prospect of a romantic relationship with anyone and hearing her say this kind of stuff is more than a little surprising to Jesse. The fact that he has an attraction to the girl as well doesn't help either.
"Awe come on Becs, do dibs mean nothing to you?" He says only half joking. He wants to be happy for his friend for finally being emotionally vulnerable, but wishes it isn't with someone that he has a crush on too.
She punches him lightly and looks down at her hands. "I open myself up like this for the first time in my whole life and this is how you're going to act Jesse?"
"I'm kidding, well kind of but whatever. If you think you like her as much you claim then I relinquish my dibs to you."
"Fuck the dibs Jesse! I just said I think I'm in love with a girl I barely know! You know what, scratch that, a girl I don't know at all! What is wrong with me?" Beca exclaims, looking to Jesse to help her understand.
"Look, you and I both know I've been in your situation. Granted the girl ended up being a lesbian and turned into my best friend, but I know what you're talking about." Jesse says smiling at Beca, recalling when he had met her freshman year of high school.
"Then why am I insane for thinking I'm in love when you thought you were in love at first sight too?"
"Well, A. I realized that I was mistaking us clicking for me thinking I was in love and B. the reason this is insane for you is because you're Beca Mitchell and you don't fall in love or have strong feelings, or whatever you decide this is, for anyone!" Jesse responds.
"So you think I'm mistaking my feelings for more than they are?" Beca asks.
"No I think you're definitely in love with her, which is a concept that I find impossible to fathom."
"Why, because it's not you?" Beca teases, lightly shoving Jesse with her shoulders and he chuckles, rolling his eyes.
"Look I was over you like a month after I humiliated myself by professing my love. That was well over eight years ago anyways, I've more than moved on."
Beca laughs and tries not to be amazed by how long ago freshman year of high school was. "Please Jesse, you were over me a minute after I shot you down because big tits Tori Belker said hi to you when she walked past us."
Jesse's lips curl into a smile at the thought of one of his many exes. While he has never been considered the hottest guy in the room, he is definitely not bad looking and has a charisma and charm that most girls find irresistible. Plus the fact that he is a genuinely nice guy never hurts his case.
"Ok, so what else is bothering you?" Jesse asks trying to get back on topic. He can tell there is something else and he'll be damned if he'll let Beca not tell him.
"What if they left us and I never see her again? What if Aubrey convinced her not to bring us with them?" Beca blurts, surprising herself with how easily her concerns slip from her mouth.
Jesse laughs and Beca scowls at him. "Wow, you've got it bad Rebecca Mitchell. But to answer your question," Jesse reaches for his phone and pulls up a message from Aubrey. He shoves it in front of Beca's face and it reads: We went to get coffee to try to help with our damn hangovers, you want anything?
Beca lets out a breath and realizes how truly affected she was by the prospect of never seeing Chloe again. "Wait why did you get a text and I didn't?" Beca asks realizing she has been left out and trying not to feel hurt. Beca knows she is acting like an annoying love struck pre-teen, but she just can't help it.
"Because," Jesse says grabbing the phone off the bed next to Beca, "You always turn your phone on Airplane mode before you start mixing." He quickly unlocks her phone, turns it off airplane mode and tosses it to her. Beca is embarrassed that she completely forgot that she did that and has been checking it every five minutes for the past hour, hoping for a text.
The phone buzzes in her hand and she reads the newly received message. It was sent 45 minutes ago and reads: Hey Beca! We're going to find a Starbucks because Aubrey refuses to drink the hotel coffee and won't stop bitching about her hangover. I'll pick you up one and if you don't want it I guess I'll make the sacrifice and drink yours too. ;) Oh and pack your bags aca-bitches, you guys are officially coming with us!
"Well now I feel dumb." Beca says a little embarrassed.
Jesse smiles at Beca slinging his arm back over Beca's shoulders and teases, "I'm just glad my little robot's finally starting to express human emotion!"
"Shut up."
"So when do the slumber parties start where we pine over our crushes and eat our feelings in ice cream?"
"Seriously Jesse I'm really going to throw a pillow at you and this time you're not being able to doge it!" Beca threatens. While a pillow is simply a pillow, with Beca throwing it full speed, he can easily break a bone if he doesn't doge it in time. Right before he's about to tell her there's no way she'd do it, the door opens and Aubrey and Chloe walk in.
Aubrey looks uncharacteristically not put together. She has a dark pair of expensive looking sunglasses perched on top of her slightly tangled hair. She is wearing a simple mint green sweatshirt that reads "Princeton Tigerlilies's Give Back" with some charity or community service project that Jesse is unfamiliar with splayed across her chest. Her look is completed with a pair of calf-length black yoga pants. Even though her look is just thrown together, Jesse can't seem to keep himself from staring. Memories of their conversations seep into his conscious from last night and he remembers how much they talked about and have in common. When Aubrey's blue-green eyes meet his he quickly looks over to Chloe, hoping she will think he was ogling at her best friend and not her.
"Are you two ready or what?" Aubrey asks, annoyance clear in her voice. Chloe is behind her with four Starbucks cups in a carrier and a smile on her face that would light up the whole room even if the lights were off. Beca can feel her heart start beating faster when Chloe's eyes fall on hers and the redhead starts walking to her.
"It's black but we have sugar and cream if you want some!" Chloe says, handing Beca one of the cups. The brunette girl takes it and thanks her. While she absolutely despises coffee, Chloe got it for her and there is no way that she is going tell the redhead she doesn't want it.
They finish the rest of their packing and then head down to check out. Chloe is walking with Aubrey, giggling at something the blonde just said. Beca is just looking at Chloe, taking in every perfect aspect of the redhead. Even the way Chloe giggles is like music to Beca's ears.
"Wow Mitchell, you've got it bad." Jesse says quietly to Beca. The two friends are walking a decent distance behind their new companions.
Beca rolls her eyes at Jesse and takes a sip of her coffee. The bitter drink is hot and burns her tongue on the way down. Beca wishes she could protest and tell Jesse that she, in fact, does not, but unfortunately he's right. Rebeca Mitchell is utterly transfixed by the beautiful redheaded conundrum that is Chloe Beale.
Beca finds herself staring out the window in the back seat of a car yet again. She notes how every field looks identical and how instead of corn, they pass cotton now. They are in the Deep South, the change in crops and the big sign that says Welcome to Tennessee is enough to confirm this.
"But Bree I really need to go to the bathroom." Chloe pleads from the front seat for the fifth time in the past hour.
"But Chlo I really told you not to drink the whole Rout 44 sweat tea you got from Sonic."
Beca snorts at the blonde's statement. Aubrey sounds just like a mom chastising her child. If Beca were in Chloe's position, she would have snapped at Aubrey and told her to loosen up. Then she would proceed to bitch her out until Aubrey drove her to a gas station so she could use the damn bathroom. However, Chloe just smiles at her friend and apologizes sarcastically on behalf of her bladder.
"I'm not mad Chloe." Aubrey replies to the redhead.
"Yah, she's just disappointed." Beca throws in jokingly. Jesse and Chloe laugh at her joke and Aubrey cuts her eyes at the brunette through the rear-view mirror. Even though she may have made Aubrey dislike her even more, hearing Chloe laugh was worth it.
"Thank you for that Beca." Aubrey says not letting up on the glare she is sending the DJs way. "I need gas anyways, we'll stop at the Pilot coming up.
Chloe pumps her fist when she hears the gas station they are pulling off at and throws in a childish yes for good measure. Beca stares at the redhead confused for a second before Chloe notices.
"Pilots always have the cleanest bathrooms." Chloe clarifies, smiling at the petite brunette. Beca just rolls her eyes, smiling at the redhead. Chloe smiles back and the turns around, singing to whatever old throwback song Aubrey requested Chloe play a couple of minutes ago.
Beca looks over to Jesse and sees that he is looking at her with one of his usual smirks. He looks from Beca to Chloe and then raises his eyebrows up and down at her. For good measure, he throws in a couple of kissy faces and if it isn't for the fact that Beca is giving him the most threatening look she can, she is sure he would start singing the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song.
He just laughs at her and goes back to staring out of his side of the window, sneaking glances at Aubrey whenever he can. When he tries to look at her through the rearview mirror, he notices that the same black Escalade has been following them for the past hour. It has kept pace with them, not wanting to pass and not falling behind even though Aubrey is driving insanely fast. He is about to tack it up to a weird coincidence; however, when the blonde driver puts her blinker on, so does the car behind them.
Aubrey pulls off at some small town that looks as if the main attractions are the Sonic and Super Wal-Mart, with the black Escalade in tow. The gas station is only a few seconds off the highway and they are there within seconds of their exit. It's surprisingly crowded, littered with 18-Wheelers and truckers. They pull into the fueling station and their companion car opts to park in one of the parking places outside the front entrance of the store component of the station.
"I'll be back." Chloe says before quickly jumping out the passenger's seat and practically running towards the bathrooms.
"Wait!" Jesse half-yells but Chloe is already too far away to hear him.
"Why the hell did you do that?" Aubrey asks looking slightly annoyed at the speedster. The loudness of his voice had startled her and she wants to know why he felt the need to do that.
"Yah Jesse what gives? Some of us are attempting to sleep." Though Beca had only just closed her eyes she had felt herself already drifting into unconsciousness.
"There was a car-" Jesse starts but stops, scared he might just be paranoid. "You know what, it's nothing." He finishes, deciding that he is probably just on edge because of their last gas station stop.
"No way Swanson, spill. Why did you feel the need to wake me up and scare the grandma up there?"
Jesse looks up at the parked car that had been following them and sees a man's face in the side mirror. It's a face he couldn't forget even if he wants to, and god he wants to. The man has dark black hair that contrasts his pale skin. However, most notably, he has the strongest jaw line that Jesse has ever seen. That's when he knows. It's the same man that Beca tried to describe to him when she came to him drenched and sobbing on that rainy Thursday evening. The same man she tries to describe to him after he wakes her up from her nightmares. The same man who attacked them at the gas station, the same man that almost managed to kidnap his best friend. The same man that he hates with every fiber of his being.
"We need to leave." Jesse says his tone so serious that Beca's head snaps up from the phone in her lap to look at him. His face is expressionless and his eyes shine with anger. Beca has never seen him like this before. Not once in their entire nine years of friendship has he ever looked like he does in this moment and she hopes he never will again.
"Yah, I don't think so. I don't plan on breaking down on the side of the road again so I think instead of leaving I'm going to put gas in my car." Aubrey replies hotly through Beca's open window as she starts to fill the car up. Unlike Beca, she hasn't caught on to the change in Jesse.
"What is it Jesse?" Beca asks, trying to find the direction where his eyes are looking. They finally rest on the same black car her best friend is staring so intently at. She sees who he saw, fear and panic running rampart through her body now.
"Fuck." Beca mutters, mouth slightly open from pure shock. She has no idea how they managed to find them or if they even did in fact find them. If this is some weird twist of fate, Beca has had it with the unwanted ancient Grecian intervention.
Hearing what Beca just uttered, Aubrey looks up from the pump she just put in the car and to her two companions. She takes in Jesse's angry expression and Beca's look of pure fear, and doesn't exactly know what to think. Instead of trying to decipher it, she asks, "What the hell is wrong with you two?"
"They're here."
"Who's here Beca? What the…" Aubrey starts as she turns her head to look in the direction her two new friends are. Emerging from the big black Escalade is the same man who has been on her and Chloe's radar for years. Aubrey quickly uses her training and scans the area, cursing herself for not picking up on the fact that they were being followed the whole time. She quickly drops to her knees, the rough pavement scraping them in the process, and searches under the car. Finding a small chip that she knows is a tracker, Aubrey curses and yanks it out from under the bumper. She smashes it between her shoe and the pavement when she stands up.
"I am never stopping at another fucking gas station again." Aubrey mumbles as three men exit the car alongside the tall strong-jawed German. They are making no show of being conspicuous as they come into hearing range of the group, eyes trained on Aubrey. The man Chloe called Pieter says something in German and two of the men begin a slow walk towards the convenient store Chloe is in. Aubrey feels panic creeping in, knowing if they catch Chloe off guard she won't stand a chance.
"Beca what did he say?" Jesse asks quickly.
"I don't know!"
"Beca you took four years of German in high school!"
"That was like five years ago Jesse!"
"What did he say Beca?" Aubrey seethes angrily, desperate to know anything that could possibly help them and hoping the sharpness of her tone will spur Beca into action.
"God give me a second."
"We don't have a second!"
To Beca's dismay Aubrey is right. They are getting closer and closer with every passing second. She thinks, trying to recall the basic vocab she learned. Finally the words fall into place and she has a general idea of what Pieter might have said. "Okay, I think he said something about wanting the red for studying and to do something with the rest of them. It was either take them somewhere or eat cake with them I don't know!" Beca yells frustrated.
"Well I don't think it's anyone's birthday Beca." Jesse says, staring at the people who are mere seconds away from them.
Making a quick decision, Aubrey raises her hand and puts every bit of energy she can into sending the men heading towards them sailing. They fly an insanely far distance and land around half a mile away in some dirt field. Aubrey slumps against the car, arms perched on Beca's open window, her breaths coming out in ragged gasps. She feels even more tired than she did right after she sprinted her 400m at state her senior year of high school.
"Dude are you ok?" Beca asks noting Aubrey's state. It's clear the blonde expended more energy than any one of them should and was clearly feeling the effects.
"Chloe" Aubrey huffs out and Beca realizes what the German had said, actually means. They just want to capture her, Aubrey, and Jesse and possible use them in their army or detain them so they don't start resisting. However, they want to study Chloe. They want to make her into a guinea pig. Before Beca can even think, her body is moving, climbing over Jesse and out of the car. Her legs are carrying her faster than she ever thought possible. They can't capture the redhead, and if it's up to Beca they won't even lay a hand on her. Ignoring Jesse's frantic yells, Beca heads to save her Chloe with resolve as strong as steal.
Hey so I know it's been a long time since I've updated! I've been very busy and have finally figured out where and when I can fit my writing in. To those of you who have reviewed, thank you so much for your kind words! For those of you who haven't, please do! Hope everyone enjoys this chapter, it's not what I had originally envisioned but a reviewer mentioned they wanted more action so I decided to go with it and set the scene up for it! If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I am more than open to them! I have a general direction but nothing's set in stone! Also as you may have noticed, I made it to where Aubrey and Chloe went to Princeton and through a littler research I just randomly picked a currently active female A cappella group there. Thanks again to all my readers and to those who have fav and followed! It means so much to me!