Chapter 14

Beca POV

Hours later, I threw my headphones onto my desk and sat back with a groan. Something was missing from the mix and I couldn't figure out what it was. I had the first 40 seconds solid, but I couldn't decide what to transition to. Needing to clear my head, I got up and got myself a fresh cup of coffee. I sat down on my bed. I took carful sips and tried to let my mind wander. I had been focusing on the individual Bellas voices and I had found ways to play to their strengths, but I needed something different for the next section. My head fell back and slammed into my bookcase. I quickly lifted my head to rub at the tender spot that had I had hit. I glanced down and noticed that a DVD had fallen off the shelf when it rattled under the impact of my head. I picked it up and saw that it was The Breakfast Club. I smiled softly remembering that I'd finally broken down and watched it two days prior, wanting to feel closer to Jesse, who was ignoring my texts. Staring down at the DVD case, I wondered if Jesse would ever forgive me for shutting him out the day of the semi-finals.

I sighed and started to put the movie back on the shelf, when inspiration struck. I quickly moved back over to my desk and set down my coffee cup while picking up my headphones. I immediately forgot the coffee as I cued up Jesse's favorite song. I listened to it carefully. That just might work. Starting the song over again, I found myself nodding. Yes, this could definitely work. And maybe, just maybe Jesse would know that I was trying to apologize, and forgive me. I really wanted my friend back. There was so much that I needed to talk to him about.

I added the song to my mixing program and started working to build the transition. A loud knock interrupted my train of thought and I paused the music to look at the door in confusion. The knock came a second time, more impatiently this time and I got up to answer the door. I was greeted by my two favorite seniors, grinning at me and holding bags of take-out food.

"Hi," I said smiling, as I opened the door wide enough for them to come in.

"Hiya, Becs!" Chloe exclaimed, kissing my cheek as she passed me on her way into the room.

"Hello," Aubrey added before claiming my lips in a lingering kiss that left me feeling lightheaded. Aubrey smirked at my response before moving into the room and carefully setting her tray of drinks on the edge of my desk.

Finding my voice, I asked, "What are you doing here? I didn't think I'd see you guys until later tonight."

Chloe made herself comfortable on my bed, taking off her jacket and pulling Chinese food from the bag as she replied. "We missed you. Plus, Aubrey figured that you'd totally forget to eat if we didn't bring you dinner."

"Dinner?" I asked stupidly looking over to Kimmie Jin's alarm clock. I was surprised to see that the clock read 7PM. I blushed as I realized that I'd completely lost track of the time.

Aubrey huffed, "Chloe, I told you."

Chloe laughed in response. "Yeah, I know, " she said grinning at the blonde for a moment before turning to me and seeing my embarrassment. "Awww, Becs, you're adorbs when you're embarrassed."

This observation made my blush deepened, so I rolled my eyes to cover. "Chloe, 'adorbs' isn't actually a word. And even if it were, I'm not it."

Aubrey laughed and Chloe rolled her eyes at me. "Whatev' comeon over here and eat while the food is still hot."

I looked over at Aubrey and we shared an indulgent smile as she handed me the coffee she had brought for me. I gratefully took the cup, sipping the hot liquid as I sat next to Chloe on the bed. "Thanks for this."

"You're welcome," Aubrey said, taking her food from Chloe and settling in at my desk. We all dug into our meals and Chloe turned to me, excitement evident in her voice as she asked, "So, how's it going? Are you almost done?"

I laughed. "It's going well, I think. I'm about halfway done." I saw Chloe's face fall and I smirked at her in response as I added, "But I finally found my groove so it shouldn't take too much longer."

The red head immediately brightened. "Ok, good. Can we hear it?"

I grinned at her and shot a glance over at Aubrey who was studying my computer screen intensely. I patiently waited for Aubrey to turn guilty eyes on me before speaking. "Yeah, I can do that. It's still rough, but I think you'll get the idea." I set my food onto the bookshelf and moved over to lean over Aubrey as I set up the track to play. A shiver ran through Aubrey's body as my breasts brushed against her arm when I reached over to pull my headphones out of the jack. I smirked at her before pressing play and moving back slightly to lean against my desk as the opening notes of Price Tag played into the silence.

I bit my lip when the song ended. "So, what did you guys think?" I asked nervously.

The two seniors shared a glance before turning back to me, identical excited grins on their faces. "It's totes brill', Beca" Chloe said with a little wiggle.

"It's wonderful, Beca. I can't wait to hear the rest of it. What made you decide to use Don't You Forget About Me?" Aubrey asked.

"Um, I—Well, it's Jesse's favorite song, and he's not talking to me. So, I thought it might be a good way to apologize. 'Cause I miss my best friend." I said in a rush, worried that they'd be angry that I'd used a song for the Treble.

Chloe's eyes were understanding as she said, "That's great, Becs. He'll love it."

I glanced over at Aubrey, worried by her silence. She just smiled at me and I felt her love and acceptance wash over me. I let out a relieved sigh. "So, you guys aren't mad?"

Aubrey stood and wrapped me into a hug. "No, we're not mad. I know that Jesse is a close friend, and I don't want you to lose that."

I pulled back to look into her eyes. "But, at the semi-finals, you said—"

"I didn't mean what I said." Aubrey said cutting me off. "I was just mad and it came out of my mouth before I could stop myself. It was just old jealousies rearing their ugly head at the wrong moment. I'm sorry for what I said. It was completely uncalled for."

"It's alright. You are more than forgiven." I told her, leaning in to kiss the doubt from her eyes. Just before our lips touched, I pulled back. "Wait, what old jealousies?"

Aubrey huffed. "When you first joined the Bellas, I thought you wanted to be with Jesse, and I was jealous. Just ask Chloe, I was really jealous of him for months."

I looked over at Chloe, who nodded. "She totally was, it was adorable. Or rather, it would have been if I wasn't jealous of him too." She ended with a pout.

I was dumbfounded. "Why would you be jealous of Jesse?"

Chloe sighed in exasperation. "Because you spent all your time with him. We weren't even positive you liked girls until the regionals."

"Oh," was the only response I could come up with as I tried to see the situation from their eyes. "So, what made you realize that I liked girls? The way I couldn't stop drooling over you two?" I asked with a smirk.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "No, actually Jesse told Chloe after you'd been arrested."

"What!?"

Chloe giggled. "Well, after you were taken away, Aubrey got into Jesse's face, blaming him and telling him that he had to fix things. He seemed pretty shaken up, so after she stormed off, I told him he was lucky to have you. He agreed and then said it was too bad that you were gay."

"Oh" I said stupidly. Then realization dawned. "So, that's why you guys turned the flirting up to maximum after that night."

Aubrey chuckled. "Possibly."

Chloe just grinned. "Ug," I moaned. "You guys were killing me. I couldn't decide if I should just jump one of you or run screaming half the time."

Aubrey leaned down to gently bite my neck causing heat to rush to my center. "We're sorry, Beca. It was killing us, too."

I pushed Aubrey away. "You can't do that right now."

Aubrey pouted, grabbing my hips and pulling me roughly against her. "Why not?" she purred in my ear.

I shuddered in response, my eyes closing without my consent. When I opened them again, Chloe was standing behind Aubrey, leaning into her back and watching me with eyes that had gone dark with desire. I took a deep, shaky breath and reluctantly said, "If you do that, I won't get the set list finished tonight, and you guys can explain to the other Bellas why."

Aubrey sucked in a sharp breath and let her hands drop to her sides. Chloe's eyes just widened in shock. "That's—that's a really good threat." She said sounding impressed.

I laughed, still feeling off balance. "Yeah, well, I mean it."

Aubrey bit her lip and took a step away from both Chloe and I. I watched her, but she was refusing to look at either of us. After a long moment, she spoke, her voice quiet and uncertain and she deliberately looked at the floor. "Beca, what do you want to say to the Bellas? I mean, about us?"

I was taken aback, I hadn't really thought about it. I looked over at Chloe and saw that she was frowning. "Um, I haven't really thought about it. What about you guys? I mean Chloe just announced your relationship to the other girls yesterday."

Chloe stiffened and I could tell that she had forgotten about her revelation yesterday during rehearsal. She looked at me with wide eyes. "That's true, Becs. But this is different, not everyone will understand or accept this."

Seeing that Aubrey was still avoiding looking at us, I turned fully to Chloe and reached out to run a hand soothingly down her arm. "Chlo, I don't really give a flying fuck was anyone thinks. You and that stubborn blonde over there are the best fucking thing that has ever happened to me." I said, gesturing to Aubrey as I spoke.

Chloe smiled and moved in to pull me into a hug. I nuzzled my nose into her neck and breathed in the scent of her. I felt another set of arms wrap around me and I smiled into Chloe's neck, content to just hold and be held.

Aubrey's voice was still uncertain when she asked. "Are you sure, Beca?"

I shifted around within the circle of their arms until I could face Aubrey. "I'm positive. Bre, I love you, and I love Chloe. And apparently you guys love me too; and that's enough for me."

Aubrey's smile was sweet. "Ok."

I smiled at her for a second before it turned into a smirk. "I don't think it'll be an issue."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.

"I think the Bellas are going to notice a difference. I mean, they're not dumb. I think they'll be able to tell that I'm not about to jump out of my skin whenever you guys touch me," I explained.

Aubrey chuckled as Chloe put her lips against my ear and huskily purred, "Are you sure about that, Becs?"

I gasped, shuddering in response. Chloe just laughed. "Fine. Point made." I grumbled and twisted to break away from them.

"Aww, don't be like that, Beca. We're just teasing you." Chloe pouted.

"Yeah, Mitchell, just relax." Aubrey added, ever so helpfully.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

Chloe bounced across the room and yanked me in for a searing kiss. "I love you," She said when she broke the kiss.

"Huh?" I asked, my brain having turned into mush under the heat generated by that kiss.

Aubrey laughed coming up on my other side and kissing me with just as much passion. "I love you, too, Beca" She said as she pulled back.

"Yeah—I, um, I love you both, too." I finally managed. They smiled.

After a long moment where we all just smiled at each other, Aubrey finally sighed. "I suppose we should go, so you can get back to work."

I groaned, "Yeah. I guess so."

"You're still coming over when you're done though, right?" Chloe asked.

The thought of crawling back into bed with the two seniors brought a smile back to my face. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Great! Well, we'll see you later then." Chloe said before giving me a light kiss and moving over to the bed to clean up the dinner trash.

"Work fast." Aubrey said in a surprisingly needy voice that made me instantly wet.

I swallowed hard and nodded. "I will."

Seeing my reaction to her, Aubrey's eyes darkened. She leaned in and gave me an overly careful kiss on the lips before heading to the door. They said good-bye and were gone. I took a deep shuddering breath and raked my hands through my hair. It was going to be a long night.

It was after 2AM when I was finally satisfied with the mix. I had taken a little extra time to figure out the breakdown of solos, knowing that it would make things easier the next day at rehearsal when I started teaching the music. My back was aching from the hours I'd spent hunched over the computer and I wanted nothing as much as I wanted to just curl up and sleep. But I had promised the girls that I would go back to their apartment, so, I quickly changed into sweat pants and a tank top that I could sleep in and grabbed a jacket before locking my dorm room and heading out.

Chloe had texted me an hour earlier to let me know that she and Aubrey were going to bed and that I should use my key to get in. I felt a little nervous about just walking into their apartment, especially knowing that they were asleep. But, the image of Chloe's disappointed face kept me moving. Fifteen minutes later I found myself staring at their door, anxiously jiggling the keys. This is stupid. I told myself. They gave you the key. They want you to be here. Just put the damn thing in the door and go crawl into bed with the two most gorgeous women you've ever met.

I laughed at myself and shoved the key into the lock. As quietly as possible, I pushed the door open and stepped into the silent apartment. I smiled when I realized that they had left a light on in the living room for me. I locked the door behind me and left my jacket and shoes by the couch before creeping down the hallway to their bedroom. I felt a little bit like a burglar as I gently pushed their bedroom door open. There was just enough light coming in through the window to allow me to see the shape of their bodies in the bed.

As I carefully moved closer to the bed, I could see that Chloe was lying on the far side of the bed, with Aubrey lying in the middle. I smiled, realizing that they had left room for me on the side of the bed closest to the door. Seeing that they were sleeping naked, I quickly shed me clothes and gently lifted the blanket and slid into the bed. I rolled onto my side facing away from the girls. I didn't want to wake them, just laying next to them was enough. I felt contentment stealing over me and I let out a little happy sigh and shut my eyes, exhaustion weighing heavily on me. Aubrey shifted to wrap an arm around my waist and I smiled thinking that she had turned to me in her sleep.

"You came," she whispered in my ear.

"I said I would," I replied quietly.

"I'm glad." Aubrey said kissing my neck lightly.

"Me too."

Without warning, Aubrey tightened her grip and rolled us both over. I couldn't help the yelp of surprise that fell out of my mouth. Aubrey just chuckled as Chloe's eyes shot open, grinning immediately upon seeing me now sandwiched between them.

"Hi. Sorry I woke you." I said, chagrinned.

"It's alright. I wanted to stay up and wait for you, but Aubrey insisted we try to sleep." Chloe said, her voice husky with sleep.

I smiled, leaning over to give her a kiss. "Well, I'm here now. So, you should go back to sleep."

"Ok," the redhead said smiling and snuggled into my side. I shifted so I could lie on my back. Chloe immediately put her head on my shoulder and threw a leg over mine. "Sweet dreams, Chloe." I whispered kissing the top of her head.

"You too, Becs." Chloe mumbled as sleep took her.

I smiled and looked over at Aubrey. She was propped up with her head resting on her hand smiling at us. I reached for her. She leaned down to gently kiss me before resting her head on my available shoulder and curling into my side.

"Night, Becs."

"Good night, Bre." I said letting out a contended sigh as sleep dragged me under.