A/N: Hellooo guys! So I've decided to bring not just one, but a few old friends back into Beca's life! (and yes, there will be an ex. *wink*) We'll meet someone in this chapter first, and then the others in the next few chapters! Anyway, I'm really excited to start writing some flashbacks again! :D
Guest, Oceane-BS. AK-Bechloe-Staubrey, kimmania, anapfischer, F. Reed. Gay: Thanks for the reviews guys! xx
Southamerica5: Hmmm, might be a liiiittle early for a proposal song… ;)
SharonE: Haha yep, they'll definitely meet at some point!
Chapter 29
"So, what took you guys so long to get here? Did you get stuck in traffic?" Jesse asked, looking at Beca.
They were currently sitting in a booth in the bar. Cynthia Rose had to go to the weekly family dinner at her mom's house with her wife, so only Emily and Aubrey managed to make it tonight. And since Fat Amy still had about an hour before her shift started, she was in the booth with them as well.
Beca shot Chloe a subtle glance, before clearing her throat a little, "No, we… uh, something just came up. Sorry Jesse."
"Yeah right." Fat Amy winked exaggeratedly at Beca, and then at Chloe as well.
"What are you doing?! Stop winking Amy!" Beca spluttered, her face starting to turn red.
Chloe laughed at her awkward girlfriend, coming to her rescue and changing the subject, "So Jesse, who's this new singer?"
"Well, this new kid's a gem I'm telling you." Jesse smirked, "But Beca set the bar pretty high to be honest, otherwise it wouldn't take me nearly a month to find a new singer."
"She sure did!" Chloe turned to look at Beca proudly, "Let's see if this new singer of yours is half as good as Beca."
"Oh god." Beca rolled her eyes playfully at her girlfriend, "And let's also see when my girlfriend can stop bragging about me." She chuckled.
"Never." Chloe grinned.
"You know, Beca," Emily chimed in, "Now that I think about it, I've never heard you sing live. I mean, I've heard your songs on Chloe's phone, but I can only imagine what you sound like when you sing live! It must be amazing."
Beca smiled, "Thanks Emily." She turned to look at Chloe with an arched eyebrow, "You have my songs on your phone?"
"Of course, I have to be fully prepared so that I can show you off any time I want!"
"Well, Bec, you want to sing something now? My newly found gem won't be here for at least half an hour. We have our guitar and keyboard on the stage anyway." Jesse suggested, "Unless our superstar doesn't sing in bars anymore?" He joked.
Baca snorted, "Yeah Jesse, I'm apparently a diva now." She looked over at the stage and saw that there were indeed a guitar and a keyboard on the stage. So she shrugged, "Well, actually I kind of miss singing here, so I guess I'll sing something for you guys?"
Chloe and Emily squealed excitedly when Beca stood up from the seat, making everyone else laugh a little. Beca caught a glimpse of Aubrey before she left and suddenly had a mischievous idea. She smirked, leaning closer to Chloe and whispered, "And lucky for you, Doctor Beale, you are finally going to hear a special acoustic version of my new song, so listen carefully."
"Oh my god! Seriously?!" Chloe asked ecstatically in a hushed voice.
"Seriously." Beca laughed.
"Jesus, are you singing or not? We are all waiting here. And what's with all the whispering?" Aubrey rolled her eyes slightly, sipping her drink.
"Alright alright, I'm going. Didn't realize you were actually looking forward to my performance, Posen." Beca glanced at the unsuspecting blonde again, before leaving the booth and stepping onto the familiar stage. Finally, it's time for some payback! Aubrey has no idea what she's about to hear. Beca thought and snickered inside. This whole evening was going to get very interesting.
"Hey there, umm… I'm just here to sing a little something for my friends before the official singer arrives. So… yeah, here it goes."
Beca looked up one more time and winked at the redhead, adjusting her position on the stool a little and started to strum the guitar.
Chloe watched Beca with a giant a smile on her face. Over this past month, she could feel some changes about the brunette. Everything from the way Beca held herself, to the way she spoke, and to that look of unassailable confidence in her eyes all made Chloe feel incredibly giddy with pure joy and pride. She just loved seeing Beca being this confident and assertive again. She loved hearing Beca talk about her job, the things she learnt, or the people she got to meet in all excitement, feeling herself also fall into an enraptured trance just by looking at the sparks twinkling in those stormy blue eyes.
Her heart started to pound in her chest with anticipation when Beca opened her mouth and started singing out the words. However, not even one minute into this song, she instantly understood why Beca was being so secretive about it and she started to regret inviting Aubrey here tonight because she was definitely going to face the utter rage from her best friend later.
I woke up with a fear this morning
But I can taste you on the tip of my tongue
Alarm without no warning
When I kiss your lips, feel my heart beat thump
–
And now we're way up, dancing on the roof of the house
And then we make love, right there on your best friend's couch
Beca winked at Chloe when she was singing this line, and Chloe's cheeks were immediately on fire. The redhead broke eye contact with Beca and quickly buried her face in her hands. Beca laughed inside at her girlfriend's adorableness while smirking at Aubrey's instantly paled face. Well of course, when they were alone in Aubrey's apartment helping set up her birthday party, they only had a small make-out session on the couch. But Beca just felt like adding that line to the lyrics anyway merely to scar Aubrey for life, as payback for calling her hobbit for so long. She knew Chloe would definitely give her a hard time about this later but it was worth it, and she was super proud of herself.
She stifled a giggle and continued to finish this song, with her signature lopsided smile playing complacently on the corner of her lips.
And then you say "love, this is what it's all about"
So keep on kissing my mouth and put that record on again
–
I don't want to hear sad songs anymore
I only want to hear love songs
I found my heart up in this place tonight
Don't want to sing mad songs anymore
I only want to sing your song
Cause your song's got me feeling like I'm
Chloe listened to this song with a palpitating heart, and she wasn't even sure what she should be feeling right now. On one hand, this was such an amazing song and those lyrics had the power to bring back a thousand sweet memories in a split second, making her blush and giggle simultaneously. On the other hand, she also felt she should be mad at Beca, because right now, she could practically feel the shock and rage waves radiating from Aubrey who was sitting next to her. Chloe closed her eyes briefly, deciding to immerse herself in Beca's beautiful voice for now and worry about everything else later. Seriously, Beca Mitchell was going to be the death of her!
I don't want to hear sad songs anymore
I only want to hear love songs
I found my heart up in this place tonight
Don't want to sing mad songs anymore
I only want to sing your song
Cause your song's got me feeling like I'm
–
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love
Yeah, you know your song's got me feeling like I'm
Beca finished with a last stroke on the guitar, finally letting herself burst into laughter. She placed the guitar back in place and strolled back to their booth casually.
"So, what do you guys think? You like the song?" She snickered and sat back down next to her straight-faced girlfriend.
"Well, I'm pretty sure we all love this song." Jesse grinned, "Oh wait, maybe except Aubrey."
Emily giggled as well, "You sounded amazing Beca! Is this a new song?"
"Yep, it's a new one completely based on my real-life experiences—"
"Oh my god, Beca!" Chloe spluttered with a flushed face, shooting a glare at her girlfriend.
The redhead jumped a little when Aubrey suddenly reached out a hand and gripped her arm tightly. She swallowed, slowly turning her head to face her best friend while biting down on her lip nervously. Okay, this looked really bad, because peering into Aubrey's pale face, Chloe couldn't even tell if her best friend was going to stress vomit or pass out in the next second. So she hurriedly began,
"Bree, I can explain, we—"
"Wait a second, you two have never been to my apartment together except… on my birthday, which was a month ago— OH MY GOD! CHLOE!" Aubrey raised her voice at the end of the sentence, the shock in her eyes beginning to turn into pure horror when she recalled that the two did look a little weird when she came back home from the office that day.
Chloe flinched a little due to the loud volume, "It's not what you think Bree! You have to believe me! We didn't actually— I swear! I don't know why Beca put that line in the lyrics, I—"
"So you guys didn't… do anything? You were just doing the task as I asked you to?!" Aubrey cut the redhead off incredulously, narrowing her eyes while trying to breathe normally as best she could.
"Well, t-technically… I mean we kind of made out for a while at some point, but we didn't— we would never—" Chloe groaned, turning to Beca and nudging the amused brunette with her elbow, "Hello?! A little help here would be appreciated Mitchell!"
Beca laughed, deciding it was probably enough teasing for the night. "Alright Posen, we didn't have sex on your couch that day if that's what you're worried about, but as for other places in your apartment—"
"BECA!" Chloe scolded, seeing Aubrey was on the verge of having a cardiac arrest right there.
"Okay okay! I was kidding. Like Chloe said, we just made out a little on your couch that day, nothing more." Beca smirked, seeing Aubrey relax a little, "Now I hope you know there will be consequences when you call people names behind their back, Posen. So, you know, stop calling me you-know-what."
Aubrey rolled her eyes, "Fine, you look like a troll anyway."
Chloe threw her head back with a long groan. Seriously, why couldn't these two just have a nice and peaceful conversation for once?!
"My god, this is even more fun to watch than my favourite Aussie soap opera I gotta say." Fat Amy whispered to Jesse and Emily, watching Beca and Aubrey bickering while Chloe tried to get them to calm down. "We seriously need to have them come here more often. And get some popcorn too."
"Well Jesse, is your mysterious new singer coming or not? I'm starting to get really intrigued you know." Chloe asked, after finally getting Beca and Aubrey to agree on a truce for the night.
Jesse checked the time on his phone, "Well, should be any minute now, I just texted h—"
"Beca?"
Beca frowned at the familiar voice coming from behind her. She turned her head around and her eyes immediately widened,
"Benji?! Oh my g—" She was instantly tackled in a bear hug by the younger boy before she even finished saying the sentence.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Beca! It's really you! I can't believe I'd see you here! Man, it's been so long! Why didn't you tell us you moved to New York?!" Benji exclaimed happily, while squeezing his arms around the small brunette tightly.
"O-kay, kid. You can let go now." Beca chuckled and patted Benji's back a little awkwardly.
"Still not a fan of hugs I see." Benji grinned and let go of the brunette, standing back properly.
"Wait a minute, you guys know each other?" Jesse chimed in and looked back and forth between Beca and Benji, surprised.
"Yep! Small world huh? I've known Beca since I was only 15! She's basically like my big sister, well although somehow she looks tinier than the last time I saw her!" Benji told Jesse excitedly and sat down beside him, laughing when he saw Beca scrunch up her face.
"That's because you got taller dork! Now what are you doing here?!" Beca asked while glaring at him slightly, surprise still remaining in her tone.
"Well, I'm the new bar singer here!" Benji lifted the guitar in his hand a little, "I just finished my bachelor's degree in vocal arts and figured I should give Broadway a try. Then my agent suggested that it's probably better to move to New York for more opportunities! So, I got here a few weeks ago and thought I should find a gig since I had a bit of free time in the evening."
Beca smiled, "Look at you, already having an agent huh?" She leaned forward and threw a light punch on the boy's arm, "Pretty fancy, kid."
Benji grinned, finally noticing that Beca was sitting with a few other people, so he offered them a polite smile along with a shy wave, which reminded Beca that she should probably introduced them.
So she gestured at Benji, "Umm, guys, this is Benjamin Applebaum. I knew him back when I was in LA—"
"Benji is fine." The young artist chimed in and grinned.
"Yeah, Benji, forgive me for trying to do a formal introduction." Beca rolled her eyes slightly, "And Benji, I suppose you already know Jesse, and these are my friends— Fat Amy, Emily, Aubrey and my girlfriend Chloe."
Benji smiled at each of them. However, when he heard Chloe's name, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the redhead for a second longer. Then suddenly, he realized something. "Hold on one second!" He widened his eyes and leaned closer to Beca, "It's her, isn't it? THE Chloe? You are back together?" He tried to whisper, but his voice was still loud enough for the whole table to hear.
Seeing Beca nod, Chloe frowned in confusion and asked the younger singer, "I'm sorry? Do you know me?"
Benji laughed, "Oh yeah, I know you. Beca used to talk about you, you know." He wiggled his eyebrows at Beca.
"Oh god." Beca groaned and blushed slightly. She had a feeling this unexpected meet-and-greet was not going to end well, so she decided to take the initiative and change the subject before this giant dork said something else that he shouldn't be saying.
"How's Sophie?" She asked Benji.
"Oh she's doing great! She's still teaching psychology at the university, but she's the head of school now."
"Nice, and the firecracker?"
Benji laughed, "Abby is alright too. She decided to continue doing a master's degree at the School of Chicago Art Institute, full scholarship."
"Damn, I should've stolen some of her paintings back then." Beca joked and sighed dramatically, "Might get super rich when she gets famous."
"Way ahead of you, I've already hoarded some." Benji answered smugly, "I could give you one. But only one, no more."
Beca rolled her eyes, "Keep them dork, I'm pretty sure the ones you managed to steal are probably all her doodles that she intended to throw away."
"Hey, that doesn't mean they are not good okay?!" Benji protested and pouted.
"So, how did you guys meet?" Chloe asked happily. Beca didn't usually talk much about her years in LA, so the redhead was really excited that she got the chance to meet one of Beca's friends from LA.
"Umm, we met a few months after I first got to LA and—" Beca started but was cut off by Benji almost immediately.
"Oh no, you are not telling this story. I have a feeling you are probably gonna finish it in like 3 sentences. But this is such a great story, so I'll tell it properly." Benji cleared his throat and looked around the table, making sure that he had gotten everyone's attention.
"Well, it was one summer afternoon in LA, and I was out playing the guitar in this park near our house for fun, while my twin sister Abby was sitting not too far from me, practicing sketching. Yeah, she's a painter." Benji added a little proudly, ignoring glares from Beca. "Anyway, I still remember that I was singing the super classic 'Can't Help Falling in Love', you know, channelling my inner Elvis and all—"
"Oh my god, do you have to go this detailed?" Beca whined.
"Shush Becs, I want to hear this!" Chloe nudged her grumpy girlfriend and looked at Benji expectantly.
"Yeah superstar, you should really listen carefully and learn. You sure are one terrible story-teller." Fat Amy added matter-of-factly.
Beca huffed and sat back, folding her arms and listening to Benji talk animatedly about that afternoon when they first met. She chuckled inside when she thought of that whole event. Yeah okay, maybe Benji was right, it sure was one hell of a story.
Beca was roaming aimlessly in an unknown street somewhere in LA, with her guitar strapped to her back. She had been wandering around the city for almost an hour now, hoping to find a quiet place to sit down and write her songs peacefully.
It had been three months since Beca arrived in LA, and that was about when her initial excitement of moving to a new city started to wear off. Admittedly, it wasn't exactly the fresh start that she imagined, but it was as close as it could get. Beca figured she was doing okay. She managed to find a quite stable gig at a club near east Hollywood. She would go there six nights a week, singing some covers or sometimes even her own songs, and it actually paid her pretty well to cover all her expenses in this pricey city. She had rented herself a tiny studio apartment. Not much but cosy enough. And above all, she was still doing what she loved, singing and playing her music for a living, so that was something, right?
But then, she started to get this feeling again in the pit of her stomach, this perplexed and empty feeling, like she was walking down an endless road all by herself, while it was all vast and hazy in the distance. From time to time, this freakishly long road would divide into branches, and that was actually what fazed Beca the most. Which way should she go? Should she change her direction and go into a different path? Or should she stick to her original one? More importantly, how on earth could she know that she was going the right way?
Most of the time, she felt like she was just winging it, without a single clue whether she was making the right decisions or not. But hey, she was still in her early twenties, and that was probably how it was supposed to be, right? To make mistakes and learn from them, hoping to figure out which direction to go and what she really wanted along the way. So for now, maybe it was okay to not have all the answers. Maybe it was okay to just move forward boldly and see where life would take her.
Normally, Beca would just stay in her apartment during her free time and try to write some songs, but it was hot that afternoon and her fan just so happened to stop working. And she was also pretty sure that she broke it even more when she tried to fix it. Therefore, with a sigh, she decided to take her song-writing session outside and well, perhaps a change of environment might give her some new inspiration anyway.
Without any destination in mind, Beca strolled around casually, taking some random turns whenever she felt like it, and then this nice little park came into sight.
She went into the park and walked around for a bit before finally spotting a vacant bench underneath a giant oak tree. So she quickly went to sit down and took the guitar off her back, letting out a sigh of relief.
The air was warm that day. Beams of sunlight poured through the narrow openings between the leaves and glistened on her skin. There were flower hedges and bushes growing all around the park, and not so far from where she was sitting, a small stone fountain was gushing water in changing patterns tirelessly. The dancing water sparkled brightly in the sun, adding some much-needed cooling comfort to this scorching afternoon. Next to the fountain, a few kids were running around happily in the playground area, while their parents chatted among themselves in small groups.
Beca closed her eyes and leaned back, inhaling deeply and smiling when she smelled the freshly cut grass. The gentle breeze rustled the leaves above her, caressing her cheeks and tousling her hair a little. She listened intently to the soothing sound of the fountain burbling in the background along with the distant chirping of birds, feeling herself gradually slipping into a calm and relaxed trance-like state. It was moments like this that she could finally manage to forget everything else, forget… someone, just for a little while to catch her breath in her life, before she had to jump back to reality and get back on that long road again.
She was on the verge of drifting off to a nap when a deep and tender voice suddenly crept into her peaceful bubble, startling her a little.
Beca snapped her eyes open and looked around, noticing that a teenage boy was standing near the fountain now. He was singing while strumming an acoustic guitar, and it sounded like he was singing the classic 'Can't Help Falling in Love'.
Intrigued, Beca stood up and picked up her own guitar, starting to walk towards the young singer to get a closer look.
The boy was wearing a Star Wars T-shirt and a pair of jeans, while hues of sunshine melted into his messy chestnut hair. He looked like he was only 14 or 15 years old, with an endearing nerdy look and slightly chubby cheeks.
Beca stood at the side a few feet from the teenager and quietly watched him sing. She wondered what it felt like to just find a random spot on the street and start singing. She had seen some of the street musicians near her apartment and they all looked so happy and content during their street performances, but she had never had the guts to try it herself.
Within the minute, a few other people started to gather around the boy as well. Some of them even went over and put some change in the boy's open guitar case.
The song was almost over, and Beca was a little impressed because the boy had a really nice voice. His guitar fingering could use a little more practice, but overall it was still pretty decent. She narrowed her eyes and listened with a thoughtful face. There was something about his voice that felt a bit off, but she just couldn't figure out what it was. Thinking she must be paranoid, Beca tucked that thought in the back of her mind with a shrug. After all, this was a nice performance to say the least.
The boy soon finished the song and started to take a few bows with a goofy grin on his face as the crowd clapped and slowly dispersed.
This kid has some serious potential. Beca thought to herself and smiled a little, starting to walk away as well. But then, something clicked in her mind, making her stop in her tracks. She turned around hesitantly, seeing that the boy was now drinking from a bottle of water.
"Hey kid," Beca called out. She wasn't sure what came over her, but since she already got the boy's attention, there was no going back. "Nice performance. But try raising the key a little for that song, it might suit your vocal range better. The original key is a bit too low for your voice."
"Oh okay…" The boy seemed a little baffled, immediately putting down his water bottle.
"And you know, it's okay to make slight changes and add your own personal touches to the song. You don't have to imitate everything from the original." Beca shrugged.
The younger singer blinked, "Oh umm… thanks for the advice. I'll try that."
Beca nodded, starting to move away back to her bench, when a slightly aggressive voice sounded from behind her, catching her attention.
"Hey you! Tiny lady with the guitar!"
Beca frowned, turning back around again, seeing a girl with a shoulder length bob appeared out of nowhere and was standing next to the young boy now. She looked about the same age as him, with the same chestnut brown hair and same dark blue eyes, only the girl was currently glaring at Beca for some unknown reason.
"What?" Beca asked incredulously.
"Who do you think you are to tell my brother how to sing his songs?! He sounded perfectly fine to me!" The young girl didn't even bother to be polite at all.
"Are you for real?!" Beca was a bit taken aback. She couldn't believe it. What was this girl's problem?!
"Abby," The boy tugged at his sister's arm, a little timidly, "Let it go, she was just trying to give me some advice."
"Well, I'm not letting you feel discouraged just because a random stranger decided to make some self-righteous remarks about your singing. She probably goes around all day and judges other people just to feel better about herself." The girl huffed, shooting another glare at Beca.
"Excuse me?! What is your problem?!" Beca was getting angry as well, "I was just trying to make a friendly suggestion. And for the record, I didn't even mention that your brother's guitar fingering clearly needs more practice!"
"Huh? Wha—" The boy turned to look at the infuriated older brunette before he got cut off by his sister.
"Shush Benji, let me handle this!" The girl moved closer to Beca, eyeing the guitar strapped to her back, "Well, if you really know it so well, why don't you show us what a perfect guitar fingering is, huh? You can talk if you are truly better than my brother. Oh, and what else did you say? 'Add personal touches to songs'? Why don't you show us that as well?" She challenged.
Beca snorted, "I don't have to prove anything to you. Besides, I don't just randomly burst into song on the street, kid." She rolled her eyes and tried to walk away again.
"Well, a true artist would never care where they sing. And FYI, next time when you judge someone else, make sure that you actually know the stuff, otherwise it's just embarrassing." The girl scoffed from behind, "Do you even play the guitar? Are you one of those hipsters that just carry a guitar around to look cool?"
Okay. That was it.
Beca spun around abruptly to face the smug girl, "Fine! You want to know what a perfect guitar fingering is?! Watch and learn, you little brat!"
She pulled the guitar off of her back and around front with a little too much force, startling the two teenagers standing near her.
"Try not to blink, or you'll probably miss a lot." Beca stated plainly and stormed to the spot where the boy was singing not long ago, immediately starting to strum her guitar.
–
25 minutes later, Beca had already played 3 of her songs along with her own version of 'Can't Help Falling in Love', attracting more and more people around her. And since she didn't carry her own guitar case that day, people started to put money into the boy's open guitar case beside her feet now.
She had to admit, it did feel pretty great singing out in the open. She could feel a rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins and she wondered why she'd never thought to try this before. Plus, what made her even more satisfied was the looks on the two siblings' faces. The boy was staring at Beca in awe the whole time, with his mouth slightly open. And his sister? Well, Beca could basically see the girl gritting her teeth in frustration while still trying to act casual with her arms crossed in front of her.
With a smirk, Beca finished the song she was currently singing and walked back to the two teenagers. "Anything else to say?" She asked and looked pointedly at the now silent girl.
The younger brunette rolled her eyes and looked away without a word.
"I thought so." Beca snickered, pleased. She glanced at the dumbfounded boy, "Keep singing kid, you have some real talent you know." She offered him a small smile before turning to leave.
"Wait! The money, you should keep—" The boy suddenly snapped out of his trance and stopped Beca.
"You keep it kid, I took your spot anyway." Beca shrugged.
"No, I would never have that many people listen to me sing." The younger singer insisted, "You should take it."
"Really, it's fine kid." Beca laughed, "Keep practicing and you'll attract more people than me before you know it."
"Ohh, okay… hey, umm… you are probably gonna think this is weird but… can—can I ask you something?" The young boy was chewing his bottom lip nervously.
"What?"
"I was just wondering… if you could teach me how to play the guitar like you? I've been taking guitar lessons but none of my teachers are as good as you." He asked, looking at Beca expectantly.
Beca blinked, "Wow kid, I'm flattered. But I'm not a professional music teacher or anything. I just sing at clubs and stuff."
"But you are literally better than all of my teachers, like ten thousand times better!" The boy insisted, "I can pay you, you know, like as the rate for professional guitar tutors?"
"Benji! What the hell?! Are you out of your mind?!" The girl slapped his brother's arm, leaning closer and whispering to him furiously.
Beca was going to refuse anyway, but seeing the girl's reaction, she suddenly changed her mind. "Well, how about this? You don't have to pay me and I'm not going to be your tutor or anything. Let's just come to this park a few times a week. We can play the guitar here like earlier and I'll… show you some tricks up my sleeve." Beca suggested.
"R-really?! Are you serious?" The boy gasped, ignoring the death glare from his sister.
"Yeah, why not? I kind of enjoy playing music out in the open now. So I think I'm gonna keep doing that from now on anyway." Beca smirked, seeing the younger brunette roll her eyes again. Okay, she admitted that she only suggested this to get under the girl's skin.
"Oh my god! That's perfect!" The boy exclaimed and remembered something, "Ah pardon me, where are my manners?! I'm Benjamin Applebaum, you can just call me Benji. And this is my very rude twin sister Abigail." He nudged his sister in the side.
"Abby's fine." The young brunette said reluctantly.
"Cool, I'm Beca."
Benji grinned, "Well, Beca, what are you doing now? Our house is right over there across the road, do you want to come in and have a soda or something? That's the least I could do since you let me keep all the money."
"Uh, I don't know—" Beca was a little unsure.
"Come on, just for 20 minutes? I have a lot of questions that I want to ask you!" Benji pulled his puppy dog eyes, "Like, I'm really bad at barre chords! And and like how do I use my pinkie properly? I feel like I'm not doing it right sometimes…"
Beca chuckled lightly at the excitement painted all over the boy's face. It was nice to see someone this passionate about music like her. "Fine, but only for 20 minutes. No more." She gave in and started to walk away with the ecstatic boy, wondering what on earth she had gotten herself into.
Abby stood there and watched his brother in disbelief, "What the heck is wrong with you Benji?! You can't just invite a stranger to our house! Hey! Are you even listening to me?! Sophie's gonna be mad I'm telling you!" She yelled from behind them.
"Oh relax Abby," Benji turned his head and yelled back, "Sophie's always saying that I should make more friends. Well, Beca's my friend now, she's not a stranger!"
Abby huffed, noticing that Benji's guitar case was still lying there on the ground, "Hey, you're just gonna leave your guitar case and the money here— Hello?! Benji?!" She shouted but the two had already walked too far to hear her.
"I swear to god, if he isn't my brother..." She muttered, going to pack Benji's stuff and pick up her own sketching equipment, before going back home as well.
"So that's it. Beca couldn't get rid of us since then." Benji grinned and then sighed a little sadly, "I wish we could've spent more time together but… Anyway, Beca's still my mentor. She taught me pretty much everything I know about guitar. You know, before I met her, I was just a kid that really liked singing and Beca made me realize that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. And I know Abby felt the same way too. She'll probably kill me for saying this, but I know it was also Beca that inspired her to pursue her own dream."
"Oh god, please don't get all mushy on me!" Beca rolled her eyes slightly, "And I think it's time to tell you the truth kid. I only went to the park every week back then for some extra cash." She joked but felt her heart warm at Benji's words.
Chloe turned to look at her girlfriend and smiled. She reached out and linked their fingers together under the table, stroking the back of Beca's hand with her thumb lightly.
Beca glanced at the redhead before giving her hand a little squeeze back, her own lips curling upwards as well.
"Okay, whatever you say, mentor." Benji snickered and checked the time, "Well, I guess it's probably time for me to sing."
"Not so fast Benji." Jesse stopped the young artist from standing up, "I'm sure we all want to hear more stories and see you embarrass Beca even more! Stay and talk with us, you'll sing later."
Benji laughed, "Really? I would love that actually! You guys want to hear the time when Beca got attacked by a squirrel while we were singing at the park?"
"Oh my god…" Beca muttered and covered her eyes with her hand. This was definitely going to be a long night for her.
A/N: Sooo… if anyone's still reading… thoughts on Benji / Abby / Sophie? :)