This chapter probably isn't the best. In fact, it's pretty crazy. O, jumbled. I've really no idea where to go with this anymore so I kinda winged it.

Acapella parties, Emily concluded once they got there, could actually get rather wild. It was certainly interesting to watch everyone else get drunk, including Alex, who was only four months (the young woman had said so) from being twenty-one. Alex and Chloe were definitely the most interesting ones, that much was for sure.

"EVERYBODY IN THE POOL!" Chloe screamed, before launching herself into the water with a decent sized splash and a squeal; when she resurfaced, pushing her hair back, she cried again, "Everybody in the pool! Everybody...in the…"

She trailed off, dejected. No one was paying her much mind, aside from the few strange looks she got before everyone else went about their business.

It was Alex who seemed to take pity on the redhead, made her way over, and cannonballed into the water, resurfacing and shaking her head like a dog as she pushed her own hair back. She turned to grin at Chloe, who surged forward to envelop her in a tight hug; when she pulled away, Alex turned and yelled, "BECA, GET IN THIS POOL RIGHT NOW!"

Beca, who had been in the corner with Jesse and her own drink, went wide eyed and shook her head, shouting back, "NO WAY, DUDE! NOT DOING IT!"

Alex crossed her arms and scowled, before turning to Chloe, mouth moving rapidly; the redhead nodded, and the two climbed out of the pool together, making a beeline for the DJ, who attempted to hide behind Jesse. Jesse attempted to talk them out of it, to no avail, and soon, they had grabbed his girlfriend by the arms and dragged her to the pool, Beca struggling furiously the whole way, obviously shouting obscenities.

Emily did not know, for she could not hear much over the loud music, but she definitely heard Beca's scream of rage as she was thrown unceremoniously into the pool by snickering Chloe and Alex.

Beca glowered at them, but they both only waved and laughed again, before disappearing into the crowd of people dancing.

"Er, hi," spluttered a shy Treble boy. "You...I...me...movies?"

He was so nervous he couldn't even speak straight, and Emily genuinely felt terrible as she awkwardly replied with, "I'm sorry...it's just, I just started here, and…"

The boy quickly shook his head, cheeks tinting pink. "No, I-I'm sorry, I'll just—" He threw something down, and as smoke rose up above and around them, he hurried off.

Well, that was...interesting…

Emily shook her head and went to get a soda, deciding that she may as well attempt to have a little fun after this by dancing.

~~~xxx~~~

When Emily awoke the morning after the party, she opened the curtains and allowed the light to shine through; it was at least 10 AM by now, but that was understandable because everyone had been up so late. Who knew Acapella people could party so hard?

There was a muffled groan from across the room, and Alex's head popped out from underneath the covers of her bed, eyes glaring out from underneath a tangle of wild brown hair, the red streaks glinting in the light.

Emily wasn't too intimidated; Alex was squinting far too much for it to be a truly frightening glare, anyway.

"Close—the fuckin'—curtains," came the grumble, before the older girl rolled onto her stomach and pulled a pillow over her head. "Close'm. And no more booze for me, either. Don' lemme near it."

Well, someone obviously had a potty mouth after drinking, not to mention a bad attitude.

"Sorry," apologized Emily, closing the curtains and taking a seat on her bed again. She supposed everyone would be like this, or most of everyone, because they had all drank and she had not. She grabbed her notebook, flicked on the lamp by her bed, and began to work on her song lyrics.

She seemed to lose herself in her work, however, because when she glanced up at the clock on Alex's nightstand, it said 11:15 AM, and said girl was sitting up in her bed, rubbing her eyes.

Emily watched as Alex leaned over to grab a bottle of water from beside the bed and then rummaged around through a drawer in her nightstand, coming up with two pills. She downed them quickly and gulped down the rest of the water, before flopping back against her pillows with a long sigh.

The older girl sat there for a few moments, before disappearing out the door without a word. Emily could only stare after confusedly, and when Alex returned a few minutes later, she carried a tray laden with two grilled cheeses, one glass of orange juice, and another of water.

"What's this?" Emily could not help but asking, scooting over to make room as Alex dropped onto the bed, just barely managing to not upset the drinks on the tray.

"Breakfast," Alex mumbled, rubbing her temples, before reaching out to grab her grilled cheese and take a large bite. At her prompting, Emily did the same, sipping on her orange juice.

"Oh. Thanks." The younger brunette did not quite know what else to say and instead took another bite.

"I'm sorry," Alex's hoarse voice was louder this time, easily hearable, and she paused to take a drink of her water. She cleared her throat. "Shouldn't have snapped at you earlier. The light...it hurt. Had a pounding headache. Figured breakfast might make up for it."

"Food is the way to a girl's heart," agreed Emily after a moment, smiling despite herself and tentatively reaching over to grab the older brunette's hand. "Really. Thank you. I get it, my parents have had hangovers before...I just didn't think about it."

"It's fine," Alex waved her free hand and gulped down the rest of her water. "Bet the other's will be worse off than me. My headache is already fading, no worries. Just...please don't open the curtains yet."

"Okay. Should we wake the others, or…?

There was an abrupt change in Alex, then, who seemed to grin despite herself, went to her side of the room, produced a pair of sunglasses, and put them on. "Yes, yes we should."

Emily was not sure if she liked that grin or not.

~~~xxx~~~

Alex put a finger to her lips and made her way over to Beca's bed, while Emily crept to Fat Amy's, ready to wake them. However, the oldest brunette suddenly paused, glanced back, and whispered, "On second thought...get away from there. You get the curtains."

Emily frowned slightly, puzzled, but nevertheless went to the window and yanked the curtains open, flooding the room with light.

"WAKE UP!" Alex shouted, leaping from Beca's bed to Fat Amy's and back again. "GET UP!"

"Sh'th'f'up…" came the mumble from Beca, who rolled over, groaning, and threw a pillow over her head in a move similar to her cousin's. It was not hard to tell what she had said.

Seems like everyone has a dirty mouth in the morning, thought Emily, who cringed when Fat Amy's arm shot out to catch Alex mid air, making her crash to the floor. The blonde began to spew curse words. Very dirty.

"Are you okay?" she reached over to help Alex to her feet, and the girl hastily shoved her sunglasses back onto her face.

"Yeah," the older brunette nodded, glaring at Fat Amy. She raised her voice, shouting once again, "EVEN THOUGH SOMEONE DECIDED TO MAKE ME HIT THE FLOOR REALLY HARD!"

The older girl grumbled something to herself and rolled over.

~~~xxx~~~

"STACIEEEEE!"

Stacie jerked awake as Emily yet again took charge of the curtains while Alex yelled, obviously not feeling nearly as terrible as the others because of the loud noise due to the pills she took this morning.

"CR!"

Cynthia-Rose peeked out from beneath her covers, glowering blearily, and flipped Alex off. Stacie, on the other hand, managed to wrap a long leg around the other brunette's and pull her down onto the bed, tangling their limbs together as she scrunched her eyes closed and whispered, "Shhh…"

She covered Alex's mouth with one hand after a moment of near misses, stroking the bridge of her nose with a finger as she whispered again, "Shh...n'more yelling...I'll let you take a peek later…"

Emily stared on, unsure of what she should do. Should she help, or risk getting pulled into the bed as well?

"That's it, I'm out," Alex hurried out the door, cheeks a furious red, and Emily quickly followed.

"Did you know that would happen?" she could not help from asking.

"No, no I didn't. Next room."

~~~xxx~~~

Since they had not even made it in the door of Lilly's room (because of course she would get a room to herself) without having knives thrown their way, the two brunettes decided instead to go for Jessica and Ashley's room instead.

"This time," Alex told Emily. "You're yelling. I'll get the curtains."

"I don't want to yell," Emily tried to hastily excuse herself, but Alex merely shoved her toward the bed Jessica and Ashley were curled up in, and she barely managed to stop herself from falling as she stumbled over. She peered back at her comrade. "Do I have to-"

"Yes," the older girl nodded firmly and grabbed the curtains.

"I...o-okay…" a bit frightened of what would happen, Emily nevertheless said loudly, "Jessica, Ashley, get up!"

"Pitiful," said Alex as she opened the curtains, and she scowled when the two best friends in the bed did nothing but wince, yawn, and curl closer together. "Come on, time for Chloe and Flo."

~~~xxx~~~

"Since you can't yell to save your life, I guess I have to do this one."

"Sorry," Emily apologized, though she could not help but smile despite herself. This was fun, she had to admit.

"Whatever," her partner in crime waved a hand and approached Chloe's bed, glancing back only once. "In my will, you get nothing."

"Thanks so much." the younger brunette laughed.

Alex ignored her in favor of her newest target. "CHLOE! CHLOEEEEE, GET UP! THE BELLAS HAVE BEEN SHUT DOWN!"

"WHAT?" the redhead screamed, bolting upright in bed and glancing about wildly just as Emily ripped open the curtains. "WHY HAVE THE—ALEX!"

"YO, FLO!"

Flo mumbled something about headless chickens and burrowed into her comforter.

"Alex," Chloe scrunched her nose, cheeks flushed from sleep, red hair a complete mess, and her blue eyes shone with tears. "How could you? The Bellas mean everything to me!"

The sunglasses were removed, and Emily watched Alex's eyes widen as the brunette muttered to her in awe, "And I thought my eyes were good...crap, I actually made her cry…"

"And now my head hurts," the oldest girl frowned, and her lower lip trembled. She peeked up at Alex through her lashes and held out her arms. "Cuddles?"

"Huh?" the second newest Bella's eyes got even wider, if possible, and she seemed to panic. "I, uh...Chloe, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you...oh God…"

A lone tear trailed down the redhead's cheek, and it had Alex scrambling to the bed in a second, allowing herself to be wrapped up in their captain's arms and pulled back into the bed. Over her shoulder, Chloe smiled at Emily, no trace of tears at all, and winked.

Apparently, not only was payback sweet, but the rather touchy girl got the cuddles she had wanted, too.

"Guess I'll see you later, Alex," Emily announced, closing the curtains and backing toward the door.

Alex watched her the entire way.

~~~xxx~~~

That night, when everyone was suitably less hungover and angry at Alex, it became movie night. They were going to watch Disney movies, as per Chloe's demand, and Alex was not sure what to make of her life as she had the redhead snuggled into her side and Emily on the other, leaning into her shoulder. She was squeezed on the couch with the two other girls, Beca, and Stacie, whilst Cynthia-Rose took an armchair, Fat Amy the other, and Lilly and Flo took the floor alongside Jessica and Ashley.

Alex decided to simply roll with it and leaned back into the couch, smirking over Chloe's head at Beca, who rolled her eyes and mouthed, Whore.

Bitch, Alex returned, though neither was meant maliciously as they turned their attention to Frozen.

"Oh, I love this part!" cried Emily as Anna begun to sing about wanting to build a snowman.

The other brunette squinted at the screen, not sure whether if she should sing along like some of the others were doing or not. After all, most Disney movies were not typically her thing; action and comedy, sure.

The song soon changed, however, after baby Anna and Elsa both grew into young women and a ball was held after Elsa's coronation, during which Anna met her "true love", Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.

"He looks like a creep," said Beca, who had never seen the movie.

"You got that right," Alex agreed, reaching over to fist bump her cousin. "Total creeper."

"Alex," Chloe tugged at her arm and said earnestly, "Come on, sing with me!"

"I don't even know the lyrics."

"Come on!" big blue eyes pleaded with her. "You can just follow along!"

"But—"

"Please?"

Alex let out a resigned sigh and replied instead with the next line in the song, "I love crazy!"

Chloe grinned widely and began to sing. "All my life has been a series of doors in my face, and then suddenly I bump into you!"

Alex disregarded singing the next line to instead look up the lyrics on her phone and then continued after Chloe's next line.

"But with you…"

"But with you…"

"I found my place…"

"I see your face…"

"And it's nothing like I've ever known before!"

"Love is an open door!"

"Love is an open door!"

"Love is an open door!"

"With you!"

"With you!"

"With you!" Chloe grabbed Alex's hands and shot her a playful smile as she swung them.

"Love is an open door…"

The brunette shook her head after that and sat down, much to the redhead's chagrin.

"Come on!" Chloe pouted. "Please?"

"Nah," Alex lazily sprawled back. "I'm done singing for now."

She allowed Emily to lean into her again, and felt her cheeks heat up slightly when the younger girl entwined their fingers. On Alex's other side, a resigned Chloe had cuddled back into her and was playing with the red streak in her hair as she watched the movie.

She had no idea what to do now.

~~~xxx~~~

Alex's first meeting with Lilly was in the girl's bedroom, and she wasn't sure to be frightened or in awe of all the weapons and creepy things in there.

Lilly was sitting cross legged on on one end of the bed, merely staring at her, unblinking, before motioning for her to take a seat. Carefully, the brunette did so at the end of the bed.

"So…" she began, fidgeting. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," said Lilly evenly.

"Well...what for?"

"I wanted to discuss teaching you how to use dangerous weapons," the older girl finally blinked at her. "I can't be the only one who knows how to defend us all."

"Oh," Alex perked up at the idea. She had always wanted to use a sword, or learn how to properly use a knife, but her parents had always said no, so she had never gotten the chance. They had said something along the lines of never trusting her with sharp objects. "Really?"

"Yes. The others are hopeless. And they don't listen. Did you know I can see the future?"

The brunette was startled at the sudden change in topic. "Uh, no? Can you really?"

"Yes. Would you like to know when and how you die?"

"I'll pass."

"Why?"

"Because, then, I'll just be counting down until the day I die. Seems kind of dumb, doesn't it? I wouldn't really be living after that."

Lilly actually smiled. "Good answer, you're smart. Weapons training starts when I summon you. You may leave now."

Raising her brows, Alex nodded, and left the room rather confused.

~~~xxx~~~

"So, Lex," Beca meandered about the kitchen as the cousins attempted to cook dessert together after her arrival. "Chloe and Emily seem pretty attached to you already."

"I guess so," said Alex absently, moving to place the tray of brownies and cookies, then another of cake in the oven to bake, before closing the door and leaning against the stove. "Why?"

"Well?" her cousin gave her a pointed look. "You've been acting pretty strange lately. Do you, you know…" she waved the fork she had in her hand. "Like one of them, or…"

"I don't know, Becs," the taller of the two laughed. "They're great, really, but I've been here two weeks."

"I'm just trying to tell you I wouldn't be opposed to your possible relationship with our Legacy or captain," Beca raised her hands in surrender. "Or both. People do that."

Alex's face flushed as that scenario came to mind. "Uh, I think I'm okay. Yeah, I'm all good...j-just stop talking."

"Aw, my sweet, confident little cousin is blushing!" Beca teased.

The younger brunette tackled her, the food forgotten as they rolled on the kitchen floor, tickling and slapping and tugging at each other, bumping into the table as they went. Unfortunately for them, a bag of flour (Alex would later curse their mothers for telling them to always make everything from scratch) had been left sitting open on the table, and it tipped over top of the cousins, covering them.

"Alex!" Beca shrieked, smacking the other girl over the head as they both bolted upright. "You didn't put away the flour? Really?"

Alex was about to respond, but heard giggles, and both brunette heads shot up to see their fellow Bellas (well, Fat Amy, Emily, Stacie, and Chloe) standing in the doorway, their phones out.

Alex groaned and fell face first into the flour, throwing her hands over her head. "They're not seeing this, they're not really here…"

"Oh, but we are," Stacie purred. "And can I say, I really like this side of you, Alex. So domestic."

"Shut up, Stacie!"

"This is adorable!" Chloe exclaimed, a large grin on her face.

"Shut up, Chloe! You too, Emily, I hear you laughing…"

"Not a word, Amy," Beca warned.

Emily clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her giggles, to no avail.

Chloe continued recording, even when Stacie crouched down by Alex, lifted up her hair, and got very close to her ear to whisper something that had the brunette shooting up, face red.

"Some friend you are," she spluttered. "Y-You're not...you're…"

"Come on, Lex," Beca also groaned. "We're supposed to be the cool ones here!"

"Here, Alex," said Emily, taking pity on the older girl and holding out a hand.

Gratefully, Alex accepted it, scowling at them all as she grumbled, "I'm not gonna do that cliche flour fight thing in the kitchen. Save the fuckin' food, I'm gonna go clean up."

"I'll help!" called Chloe, hurrying after her, up the stairs and to the nearest bathroom.

The brunette raised a brow at the redhead when she entered, trying to salvage some of her dignity. "I was going to take a shower."

"I know," the older girl winked, and Alex felt her cheeks warm again, but quickly forced it down, only quirking her brow higher.

"You going to join?"

"I've already showered with Beca, so," Chloe shrugged.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, yeah," the redhead waved a hand carelessly, while Alex was wide eyed. "I heard her singing in the shower her freshman year, I'd been in there myself...well, we sang my lady jam together and I convinced her to audition for the Bellas."

Alex gaped at her. "Lady jam?"

Chloe grinned. "Titanium."

"Okay," the brunette said slowly, shaking her head, disbelief coursing through her as she thought of Beca doing something so unlike her. "Are you going to leave, or…"

"Oh!" Chloe paused long enough to reach for a towel and hand it to Alex. "You'll need this. There you go." she smiled. "And, you really do look adorable, by the way."

Alex shook her head again, but watched as her friend left.