I own nothing, not Pitch Perfect and not Christina Peri's Arms
It sounded stupid, but Beca had to admit that once she realized that Aubrey no longer wanted to strangle her with her own headphone cords, she relaxed around the older woman and enjoyed her presence. Although, remembering Aubrey, maybe it wasn't so stupid. The conversations between the old Barden alumni and the pop star in her kitchen were flowing easily and both Aubrey and Kat delighted in telling each other whatever embarrassing story of Beca they could remember. And FYI, there was a significant amount of them.
Kat was in the middle of retelling the story of how Beca first met her Public Relations expert (hint: Tequila. LOOOOOOTS of tequila) when a loud shout echoed through her apartment. It didn't take a genius or even someone who had talked to Fat Amy in the past five years to know that she had woken up and decided to shout, "UP AND AT 'EM ACA-BITCHES!" as a wakeup call to the other poor, unfortunate Bellas.
While Aubrey winced slightly at the volume and how uncomfortable it had to be to wake up to that, the others didn't seem as fazed. This was the second time that Aubrey had seen Beca not even blink at loud noises or strange people and she had to admit, it was odd. Back at Barden, when Beca's headphones were actually around her neck and not her ears she used to jump at every little sound and touch. She still seemed adamant on her 'No touching the bad ass' rule, however she didn't start at anything. Aubrey even had a sneaking suspicion that a car could drive through her apartment wall and Beca would just blink and start cursing out the driver without missing a beat.
Distantly, she wondered what exactly had changed, but she held out on asking the other woman out of respect. After all, Beca had just taken Round 1 of re-meeting the Barden Bellas and now had to handle the rest of the squad. Aubrey wished she could offer Beca some words of wisdom on how everything was going to be okay, but she came up with nothing. They didn't really teach you how to handle unexpected college reunions in law school.
As such, Aubrey just pursed her lips, leaned forward onto the counter and kept right on talking with Kat in a vain attempt to distract herself from what was about to come. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the furtive glances that Jesse shot both her and Beca, but she paid them no mind. She just focused on the sound of Kat's voice and let it calm her down.
"So by the end of the night, there the two of them were," Kat plowed right on through her story, either not knowing or not caring about the sudden tension that had enveloped the room. "Beca's got on a t-shirt that's like an XXL and hangs down past her knees and no pants and Tessa was running around in nothing but her sports bra and jeans, somehow both of their left shoes ended up tossed in a fountain, Tessa was hanging upside down from the chandelier, and there were two goats and a chicken in the corner booth. To this day, any time Jim the bartender even sees the two of them together he hides the hard stuff and will only serve them watered down appletinis and the Mexican woman down the street makes what looks like a devil sign at Beca."
Aubrey couldn't stop laughing, tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried to get her giggles under control and to stop wracking her body. Kat was leaning forward on the counter opposite Beca who was full on laughing. No, it wasn't the first time Kat had told someone the story of her and Tessa's first meeting, but it was one of those things that never really got old.
"You should tell her the one where we ended up stranded in Canada," Beca advised her dark-haired friend.
Before Kat could start, however, Fat Amy strolled into the kitchen. She took one look around and calmly walked forward before full on slapping Beca across the face. Beca gave a surprised yelp that sounded suspiciously like, "Fuck!" and she stumbled away quickly from the large Aussie.
"Amy!" Aubrey gasped, her laughter quickly stopping as Beca was, for lack of a better term, assaulted by Amy.
"Are you okay Captain?" Amy asked, using her sarcastic nickname for Aubrey, but her tone full of genuine concern.
"What?" Aubrey stuttered in disbelief. Amy had just full on bitch-slapped Beca in her own home and she was asking if Aubrey was alright? "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
Amy's face scrunched up and she declared, "Because I saw you crying. Clearly I had to defend your honor against this evil midget fucker." Beca didn't even have the chance to snort at the nickname Amy had given her as she was too busy moving her jaw around in an attempt to gauge if anything was broken. Aubrey couldn't help but bark out a laugh when she heard Amy's reasoning, though she did feel slightly bad when Beca shot her a glare. The area that Amy's hand had connected with was already turning an angry red.
"Amy, I was laughing," Aubrey said by way of an explanation, hoping that the Aussie would refrain from any more violent tendencies.
"Really? You can laugh?" Amy asked in a dead serious voice. "Are you sure?" Aubrey rolled her eyes and didn't dignify that with a response.
"Dang shorty," Kat whistled from where she'd let the drama unfold (not the first time she'd seen someone get slapped, though usually it was Beca doing the slapping. For someone so small, the woman had a hell of a right hook). "She clocked you didn't she?"
"Shut up," Beca mumbled as she moved over to the fridge and slapped a bag of frozen vegetables on her cheek in a vain attempt to keep the redness from excessively spreading. "Next time you get punched."
"Nope," Kat shook her head and happily popped the 'p'. "That was a slap so you still have to take the next punch. I took the last one from that one deranged fan in Phoenix."
"Yeah but I took two in Munich," Beca pointed out, her eyes closed in the bliss provided by what she thought were frozen peas. However, Beca despised peas in every form so she wasn't exactly sure why she'd even have the stupid food in her freezer, but hey, they worked.
While Kat and Beca were bickering over whose turn it was to get assaulted (it happened more than one would think), Aubrey was trying to patiently explain to Amy that she was not, in fact, crying and that she could, surprisingly, laugh. To Aubrey's ire, Amy seemed to be more dubious on the second fact than the first one. Somewhere along the line, Amy became (rather belatedly) curious as to who exactly she'd just slapped over her captain's honor. She strode over until she towered (damn did everyone but Beca grow since she last saw them?) over the small brunette woman and offered her hand.
"My name is Fat Amy, sorry about slapping you," Fat Amy said bluntly. Beca smirked and shook the larger woman's hand while vaguely hearing Kat sputter in indignation behind her.
Finally, the pop star was able to get out, "You call yourself Fat Amy?"
"Yeah," Amy started to elaborate but Beca cut her off.
"She does it so twig bitches like us don't call her it behind her back," she said, her half-smirk becoming a full blown one. Fat Amy's eyes flew open wide and then narrowed in concentration as she studied the small brunette, trying to remember where exactly she'd seen the woman before.
Suddenly her eyes were opened wide again and she was gasping, "Shawshank?"
Beca grinned crookedly and asked, "What's up nerd?" If the smirk and stature weren't enough, the nickname was.
"You skinny bitch!" Fat Amy all but roared and she moved forward to envelope the shorter woman in a hug.
"Hello… yes… delightful to see you too… Amy, release me please. I can't breathe. RELEASE!" Fat Amy gave the small figure one last bone-crunching squeeze before finally setting the girl back on her feet. "Thank you," Beca wheezed slightly. She slapped the bag of frozen peas back over the red slap mark and leaned back to appraise Fat Amy. The woman had changed very little since college, and by very little, Beca meant she couldn't see a damn thing different. It was actually a little eerie.
"What's up with you flat butt?" Fat Amy asked happily as if she hadn't just all but laid the brunette DJ out on the floor and then squeezed the living day lights out of her.
Beca chuckled slightly and she responded easily, "Not much Amy, not much."
"Bullshit," the larger woman said bluntly. Beca quirked an eyebrow at the remarkable similarities between Aubrey and Amy's responses to the question of what she'd been up to in the past five years. For some reason, she just wasn't convincing enough. She'd have to work on that.
"Ah, little bit of this and little bit of that," Beca tried to use the same excuse she had used on Aubrey. And just like with Aubrey, she got a disbelieving snort as an answer.
However, before Amy could loudly and no doubly rudely call Beca on her lie, she was interrupted by a rather sensuous voice rasping in Beca's ear, "Hi there." Beca's gaze swept up and over her shoulder and made eye to scantily-clad-chest-area contact with Stacie Conrad. "I'm Stacie. What's a little hottie like you doing in here?" Beca smirked and didn't respond. Fortunately, she didn't really have to. It was at that moment that more of the Bellas decided to make an appearance. Cynthia-Rose, Jessica, Denise, and Ashley were all standing blearily in her kitchen and Beca wasn't really sure how to handle that.
"Stacie, stop molesting strangers," Cynthia-Rose chastised her girlfriend gently. Stacie smiled apologetically and moved over to wrap around Cynthia-Rose's form, much preferring to molest her girlfriend on any given day. Beca hiked an eyebrow sky high at the word girlfriend and shot a somewhat accusing glance at Aubrey as if to say, 'And you didn't mention this why?' Aubrey just shrugged unapologetically. The various relationships of the Bellas hadn't really been at the forefront of her mind that morning. "Sorry about that, she can't really help herself," Cynthia-Rose apologized for Stacie who just smiled unashamed. "But who are you exactly?"
Before Aubrey or Beca could come up with a witty retort (Beca actually had more than just a few floating around on the tip of her tongue), Fat Amy, who had found the food, said, "It's flat butt!" However, since she'd shoved what looked like an entire half an orange into her mouth, it sounded more like, "Ighhm flahh bahh."
"What?" Denise asked with a confused expression on her face. Fat Amy gave a disgruntled grunt and started trying to chew her way through the orange so she could actually answer the question. Halfway through, Lily walked into the kitchen fully dressed.
"Hello Beca," she said at a normal volume as she moved past the tiny DJ to where Amy was standing by the never ending food. All of the Bellas, sans Lily, were in varying states of shock. Aubrey couldn't believe that Lily had recognized Beca in an instant and hadn't even looked twice. Amy was in shock that Lily had had the audacity to snag a slice of fruit from her plate. Stacie was in awe of how hot the pipsqueak bad ass of their college days had become. Cynthia-Rose, Denise, Jessica, and Ashley were all astounded to learn just who was cooking in the kitchen. And Beca was just surprised that everyone else could finally hear Lily.
Beca recovered from her stupor first, only having been thrown for a few seconds, and she flashed her signature smirk, "Hey Lily." Lily gave a short nod of acknowledgment and went back to selecting from her many food options.
"Holy shit shortie you're kind of hot!" Annnnnd Stacie was back. Stacie's offhand comment apparently broke the rest of the Bellas out of their dazes because as one they were all trying to talk to her. Beca was surprised to learn that they weren't shouting, yelling, or accusing her (although after Aubrey's reaction she was slightly less surprised).
From what she could gleam from all the voices at once, and she'd gotten pretty good at it from work, most of what they were saying fell into 4 categories. 1. How have you been? 2. What are you doing out in LA? 3. When did you get so hot? 4. I'm sorry. Beca laughed at the women, they really hadn't changed a lot, and did her best to answer as many questions as she could. "I've been good. I live out here. I wasn't actually aware that I got any hotter. And it's all good, I'm sorry too."
For the next twenty or so minutes, the majority of the Bellas and Beca caught up, Beca asking most of the questions, seeing as she had five years of small talk to make up for. It took Beca awhile, and by awhile she meant about twenty seconds, to notice that a certain bubbly redhead was noticeably absent from the mass of aca-nerds. However, when no one else mentioned it, Beca did her best to put Chloe out of her mind, even though it was basically an impossibility at this point.
While she had dreaded meeting the Bellas and Aubrey, she hadn't been overly close with any of them. She certainly wouldn't say they were friends. Maybe acquaintances. Or whatever the hell was halfway between acquaintances and friends. However, Chloe had been dead on with her prediction that they would become 'fast friends'. Outside of Jesse and Benji, Chloe had easily been one of Beca's best friends. It didn't happen as often as it used to, but every now and then when she would catch a glimpse of bright red hair in a coffee shop and she'd be immediately taken back to textbooks, lattes, and baby blue Princess eyes.
Aubrey noticed Beca looking around the other Bellas from time to time as they talked and swapped life stories. She was clearly looking for someone and Aubrey had a damn good guess as to whom. While the others were still talking, Aubrey stood up from her stool and slipped out of the kitchen and back towards the bedrooms. If she'd glanced back over her shoulder at the gathered girls, she'd have seen a pair of pale blue eyes following her every move.
Jesse watched Aubrey disengage from the group of girls out of the corner of his eye. What was far more interesting, however, was the fact that he wasn't the only one that was watching the blonde. Seated next to him on Beca's (apparently) ten thousand dollar couch was a pale-eyed pop star that was tracking Aubrey's every move.
As soon as Kat had heard the stampede of the rest of the Bellas down the hall way, she'd surrendered her bar stool and moved over to where Jesse was slumped sleepily on the couch. She'd kept a wary eye on the Australian, still not 100% sure of her intentions after she slapped one of her best friends, but had stayed out of the way as she let them all get reacquainted.
However, her eyes kept straying to one ex-Bella in particular. Kat liked Aubrey, she was fun to talk to and despite the stories that Beca had relayed to her, the blonde seemed like a rather easy person to get along with. The fact that the blonde was also a bit of an old styles music aficionado was just an additional bonus. While Beca had wicked music taste, she also tended to gravitate towards alternative and club hits while Kat was firmly in the pop and 90s era. It was just the way she was and apparently also the way that Aubrey was.
As such, Kat found herself naturally gravitating towards the taller blonde and her eyes following Aubrey as she left the room. When Aubrey emerged a few minutes later and slipped back into the fray of women like she'd never left, Kat found her eyes narrowing suspiciously. Her eyes only got narrower when Aubrey suggested that all the Bellas go back to the bedrooms and get prepared for the day. The Bellas looked skeptical of Aubrey's intentions, but the no-nonsense voice she'd used and the sharp glare had all protests dying down quickly and the women all moving to follow her suggestion (more like order).
Kat was about to stand up and confront the ex-Bella captain on behalf of her best friend, when suddenly out of the master bedroom came a red blur. The blur, which turned out to be a tall redheaded woman, skidded to a stop in the kitchen. The woman's back was to Kat but in the dead silence of the apartment, Kat could clearly hear the woman gasp, "Beca?"
Beca saw Aubrey sneak off but honestly thought nothing of it. She wasn't even especially concerned when the blonde reappeared and all but demanded that all of the Bellas, who she'd been chatting with, go get dressed and ready for the day. Knowing Aubrey, she probably had a schedule and time table planned out down to every last mili-second.
However, when there was a thump from somewhere in the back of the apartment and suddenly there was a flurry of activity in front of her, Beca soon began to feel some semblance of alarm. Not a lot, because hey, not much could truly startle her after Manny had hidden that case of Roman fireworks underneath her desk chair last Fourth of July, but a little. No, it wasn't the how but rather the who that had all the air knocked out of her lungs.
"Beca?" Chloe Beale, in all her ginger glory, breathed in disbelief. Beca felt her eyes go wide as she looked at Chloe. Yeah, logically she knew that since the Bellas were having a reunion, it only made sense that Chloe would be an integral part of that. But damn did seeing her long-ago crush really just throw the DJ for a loop. Even though she had clearly just woken up, Chloe was as breathtaking as Beca remembered. She had the same flawless skin, same wavy red hair, but her eyes. Holy shit her eyes. Beca's memories did those baby blues absolutely no justice.
"Chloe," Beca couldn't help but breathe right back at the older woman.
Chloe stared in confusion at the foreign ceiling, blinking every now and then. It took her a few moments to remember where exactly she was and how in the hell she got there, but once she was acclimated with her surroundings, she shuffled to snuggle further down into the blankets of the bed she was in. as she shifted around, she heard a soft crinkle and a slightly pointy piece of paper digging into her stomach. With a whiny groan, she blindly flung her hand around the center of the blanket, finally finding the offending paper after more than a few tries.
She grumbled as she readjusted herself and squinted at the small scrap, her eyes taking a few moments to register what exactly was written on the paper (and honestly, reading this early? Someone was truly evil…) and several moments longer to try and register what was written on it. 'It's Beca's apartment.' Yes, Chloe remembered Beca, no one could just forget Beca Mitchell, but what did she have to do with anything? And what about her apartment?
It took Chloe a lot longer than she'd like to admit, but when she finally put the pieces together, she sprung out of the bed and made a mad dash for the kitchen. She didn't care that she'd just woken up, that she was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of short shorts and that her hair was probably a wreck. All she cared about was finding out if what Aubrey had written was true.
She barely registered the looks on the Bellas' faces as she rushed past them in the hallway because then she was at the kitchen. In the kitchen and face to face with her. Her. Her chocolate brown hair fell past her shoulders in lazy brown curls, just like Chloe remembered. Her face was slightly more angular than when Chloe had last seen her, but it still had that gorgeous and striking quality about it. But her eyes. Oh lord above help her, because Beca Mitchell's eyes were even more captivating than Chloe remembered.
"Beca?" Chloe faintly heard herself gasp as she counted drinking in the appearance of the other woman. Surprisingly, it appeared that Beca was doing the same.
Beca gave her a lopsided smile that could have melted any stone heart and said nearly reverently, "Chloe."
And then Chloe was moving, her body reacting before her mind did. All it took were three short strides and Chloe Beale's arms were wrapped solidly around Beca Mitchell like she never wanted to let go and clutching to her for dear life. To Chloe's surprise, Beca didn't hesitate to reciprocate with a squeeze of her own and to nestle her forehead in the bend of Chloe's neck and shoulder. And Chloe knew that she'd have to say something eventually, apologize for that night five years ago, but for now she was content to just hold Beca and have Beca hold her like everything was finally right in her universe.
I never thought that you would be the one to hold my heart
But you came around and you knocked me off the ground from the start
You put your arms around me
And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go
You put your arms around me and I'm home
And we have contact! That one wasn't too much of a cliffhanger now was it? Evangeline Kathrine reviewed that she thought she sensed some Kat/Aubrey going on and that wasn't even sort of my intention when I first wrote Kat in, but it intrigued me. I kind of like it too. Let me know what you thought!
Additionalyt, I'm thinking of doing like a companion series of one-shots or something like that of these characters based off of texts from .com (they're hilarious and I can totally see these characters doing stuff like that). So it'd be something like this:
Tessa: Tonight, tonight is the night that I conquer tequila!
Beca: I've got a meeting at 8:30 tomorrow morning and therefore will not be bailing you out of the drunk tank
Tessa: … Hoe…
But fleshed out into an actual story line. Thoughts?
And hey, thanks for sticking with me for so long J