Okay, I know I'm a little late with this so I'm sorry. I'm also sorry to say that updates may become every two weeks, which I know is a long time for an amateur story but I'm struggling here. Anyway, I had to change this chapter a little bit because it was supposed to be Chloe who said 'Beca?' but someone requested Aubrey and I panicked. Anyways I hope you guys like it!

Beca froze. For some reason she seemed to think that if she stayed completely still nobody could see her. It was a childish hope really, comparable to the 'if I can't see you, you can't see me rule'. So of course it didn't work.

'Beca? Are you-' Stacie was cut off as Beca shushed her furiously. Chloe had stirred slightly in her sleep, turning over to face Beca. Luckily she didn't fully wake up, her eyes staying closed and soft snores permeating the air.

Beca shuffled off the air mattress carefully, freezing every time it jolted. Eventually she found herself sitting on the plush carpet of Aubrey's room and, after untangling her legs from the duvet, made her way to Stacie, who was standing at the door of the room.

She took Stacie's arm, pushing her back out of the open door until they were standing in the small hallway just outside. Closing the door with extreme care, Beca ran a hand through her hair and turned to face Stacie. The taller girl looked slightly confused but also concerned. Probably due to Beca's behaviour but it was better than waking Chloe up. See, Beca could lie to Stacie, tell her that she had to use the bathroom and just really didn't want to disturb anyone. Stacie would maybe tease her about being a softie or something but buy it none the less. Chloe however would see straight through the lie and use those eyes of hers to get the information. Aubrey would do the same but with her eyebrows instead. Beca shuddered, could probably get a confession from even the hardest of criminals. If both of them had woken up….. Beca shook her head, not really wanting to dwell on it.

'Are you okay Beca?' Stacie asked, pulling Beca from her thoughts.

'Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just listening to make sure we didn't wake them.' Beca said, not whispering but not speaking at her normal volume either.

'Okay, but what were you doing up anyway?' Stacie tilted her head to the side, a habit that Beca had picked up from the girl.

'Had to pee, what about you?' Beca replied quickly, attempting to move the conversation on.

'I woke up thirsty, went to get a drink. Are you sure you're okay?' Stacie's eyebrows drew together, her expression even more concerned than before.

Beca felt a stir of panic before squashing it down. She crossed her arms and pulled a smirk onto her face.

'Yeah, Stace, I'm pretty sure.' She said, nodding her head slightly sarcastically.

'Kay.' Stacie was biting her lip, unsure of herself. 'It's just you swore.'

Beca's expression must have changed slightly as Stacie hurried to carry on.

'When I came in you swore and you sounded kind of upset. I thought I woke you up but you weren't looking at me, so….' Stacie trailed off, her eyebrows raising in a silent question.

The panic came back full force, making her head spin. She couldn't push it down this time and so just hoped to God that it wasn't apparent on her face. Tilting her head to the side, she quirked an eyebrow at the taller girl.

'Me? Upset? Really, Stace? I thought you knew me better.' She said.

'What about the swearing then?' Stacie asked, also crossing her arms. It didn't look like she letting this one go. Beca groaned internally.

'Chloe was wrapped around me. I was trying to figure out a way to get up without waking her up.'

Stacie continued to stare at Beca for a while, her eyes narrowing in scrutiny. Beca struggled to keep her face passive as panic rampaged through her body. Finally, the girl sighed and uncrossed her arms to reach for the doorknob.

'Better go to the bathroom then Mitchell. You're probably bursting by now.'

With that Stacie disappeared into the dark room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Beca made her way into the bathroom, which just so happened to be across the hall from Aubrey's room. Closing the door and locking it, she put the seat of the toilet down and dropped onto it. She folded her arms across her knees and placed her head on them with a sigh. She could feel tears building in her eyes, though she had no idea why. It was probably the lack of sleep, she told herself. The tears began to drip out of her eyes of their own accord, splashing onto the tiled floor. She pulled her head up and wiped them away, angry with herself. Her hands made their way into her hair, tugging on it sharply.

'God, you're just being stupid now.' She whispered to herself, in a desperate attempt to stop the tears that were now cascading down her face.

She tightened the grip she had on her hair, using the discomfort to distract herself from everything. Beca had no idea what to do. Clearly she hadn't given Stacie enough credit when it came to being observant. She had known there was something wrong straight away. She must have known otherwise she wouldn't have kept pressing. Christ, this was becoming a disaster. Her stupid nightmares were ruining everything. The worst thing was that nothing bad had actually happened. Yes there was a crash, and yes Beca had been scared, but her mom was alive. The only bad thing here was Beca's head. The imagination she used to create her mixes during the day was turning against her at night and there wasn't a single thing she seemed to be able to do about it. And she had tried.

Sleeping pills only made it harder to wake up, trapping her inside her own head and keeping her there as different scenarios played through her mind. She had only tried them once before flushing the rest. Staying up until she was too exhausted to dream sometimes worked but doing that lead to slipping grades and falling asleep in class. That ended up with Beca seeing the school guidance counsellor and a call home. Her mom had freaked.

Alcohol never worked and it just gave her a headache when she woke up. Speaking of which, Beca winced as she finally acknowledged the throbbing in her head. It wasn't as bad as it could have been all things considered and it might actually have been due to the incessant tugging of her hair but Beca wasn't exactly sure. Relinquishing her hold on her hair Beca rubbed at her scalp slightly and turned the tap on. Using her hands as a cup she drank a few mouthfuls of water before turning the tap off again.

She braced her hands on the sink as she looked into the mirror above it. Her face was pale, as usual, but the skin underneath her eyes looked sunken and bruised. It stood out sharply and Beca sighed as she realised how much make-up she would need to apply to cover it all up. Though the tears had long since stopped, Beca's eyes were red rimmed and there were dried tracks all down her face. She looked awful.

Beca was startled out of her moment of self-pity by a tap on the door.

'Beca, are you still in there?' Stacie's muffled voice came through the wood. The knob rattling as the girl tried to open the door.

Beca's eyes widened as she scrubbed at her face hurriedly, striding over to the door. Beca had no idea if the other girls were light sleepers, but she sure as hell wasn't going to chance it right now. She twisted the lock sharply and opened the door just enough for Stacie to see her face. Apparently she hadn't scrubbed hard enough because the next thing she knew Stacie had pushed her way into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

Beca started twisting the hem of her top, a habit usually reserved for her sleeves. She always did it when she was nervous or upset, normally without even realising it. Stacie was looking at her, concern plastered across her face. Beca pulled her hands away from her top cross them over her chest, this girl didn't give up.

'What, I can't go to the bathroom by myself now? Jeez Stace, when they said it was a tight knit group, I don't think they meant this tight.' Beca said, allowing her natural defence system take over. Well, to be honest, sarcasm was her natural everything.

Beca expected Stacie to come back with an equally sarcastic retort, or even better, she'd leave. However, Beca's nerves (and annoyance) grew as Stacie also crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. The stance said it all. Stacie wanted the bullshit to stop and she wanted it to stop right now.

'You've been in her for twenty minutes and you've been crying. Why?'

Beca was taken aback slightly by that. Had it really been twenty minutes? How did she not notice that?

At Beca's lack of response Stacie sighed, dropping her arms to cross over her stomach.

'Look Beca, I was ready to let it go earlier, but then you didn't come back to the room and I got worried. I'm still worried, I mean Christ Beca! You look like shit.'

'Gee thanks.' Beca said, rolling her eyes.

'Beca I'm serious.'

'There's nothing wrong Stacie. It's late…or early or…whatever and I'm tired, I'm going to bed.'

With that Beca tried to reach behind the taller girl for the lock. Stacie's hand on her arm stopped her. The girl stepped into Beca's space, knowing it would force the small girl to step backwards, away from the door.

'Stop lying Beca.'

'I'm not lying!' Beca wrenched her arm from Stacie's grasp, suddenly angry. She glared at the girl, trying to force her away from door with sheer will power. She was beginning to feel trapped and she didn't like it.

Stacie's face softened, as did her posture. Her eyebrows drew together and she looked almost….upset.

'Please Beca, just tell me what's wrong.' Beca opened her mouth to protest but Stacie cut her off.

'I know something's wrong. I know what it looks like when someone's been crying, so I know that you have. I just want to help, but I can't if you don't let me.'

The combination of exhaustion and the earlier tears was not good and Beca realised that her eyes were once again filling up. Refusing to let Stacie see, she leant against the glass surrounding the shower ducking her head. Her attempts at making it look as though she were tired evidently failed though, as tears began to slowly drip down her face, gravity pulling them to once more splash on the tiles.

Stacie saw this and moved forward, reaching out an arm in hopes of providing comfort. She sighed though as Beca flinched away, refusing to even look up. She let her arms slap against her thighs in defeat, knowing she would have to play dirty.

'Fine. If you're not going to talk to me, I'll just wake Aubrey up.' Stacie watched as Beca stiffened slightly. 'After all, she is the captain and deserves to know if something's wrong with one of us.'

Stacie continued to stand there, hoping that Beca would prefer to talk to her. However, when Beca remained frozen in place, Stacie sighed again and turned to go. She had been serious about waking Aubrey, as much as she was afraid to do so. Just as she was about to take her first step away, Beca's hand shot out to encircle Stacie's wrist. Stacie smiled, though it dropped slightly as she heard Beca mumbling. Leaning in she tucked her hair behind her ear, trying to hear Beca more clearly but again all she heard was a mumble.

'I can't hear you Beca.' Stacie said softly, trying not to ruin whatever trust Beca had put in her right now.

Beca sighed loudly and finally raised her head. Letting go of Stacie's wrist she used both hands to wipe at the tears falling down her face. Hers eyes rolled slightly and she gave a small huff of laughter.

'It's really fucking stupid.'

'Bet you it's not.' Stacie soothed, bringing her arm up to rub Beca's shoulder and she was pleased when the small girl didn't move away.

'Bet you it is.' Beca replied childishly with a smile on her face, showing Stacie she was just joking around. The smile fell though as she said, 'It's nightmares.'

'Nightmares?'

Beca's eyes were looking everywhere but at Stacie, a small blush creeping its way up her cheeks. She nodded in a jerky fashion in answer to Stacie's question.

'Nightmares…' Stacie repeated, more to herself than anything.

'Look, I know it's really stupid and I know I'm an idiot. I'm sorry for keeping you up with this. Let's just go back to sleep and ignore it okay?' Beca pushed past Stacie and moved towards the door. She managed to unlock it before a slim hand covered her own shaking ones.

Stacie turned Beca around, knowing the girl must have been really shaken by this to allow this much touching. Ducking her head until she found her eyes, Stacie made sure Beca was listening.

'It's not stupid okay? If it has upset you this much then it is definitely not stupid.'

Stacie held eye contact fiercely until Beca gave another jerky nod in response to her words. She smiled, satisfied.

'Now, you wanna talk about this or do you wanna raid the fridge?'

Beca barked out a laugh, making Stacie even more pleased with herself. Wiping at the remaining tear tracks, Beca grinned.

'Well this is a sleepover, so raiding the fridge pretty much mandatory.' She said. 'Come on, I know where Aubrey hides her chocolate.'

So, just in case you didn't read the top notes ( I know I don't always) there is IMPORTANT info up there! So please read. Hope this chapter was okay and please review, it really makes my day :)

- Taylor