"Are you nervous?" Jaiden looked away from the mirror in front of her and found her sister standing in the doorway to their dressing room. Several weeks had passed, and the Bella's were at their first competition for the year; Regionals. The group had come along nicely and all seemed relatively confident in their ability to win, except for Chloe. The redhead had been, for lack of a stronger term, worked up for nearly two weeks, worried about the slightest possibility of something going wrong.
"Not really. You should really be checking up on your girlfriend, though." Jaiden replied as she continued to struggle with tying the yellow patterned scarf around her neck. Beca noticed her weak attempts and stepped forward to help. As she reached up to take over, Jaiden let her hands drop and stayed still as Beca finished the knot and straightened the accessory on the girl's neck.
"There," Beca announced as she finished.
"Thanks," Jaiden muttered, offering a small half smile down towards the older girl.
"We better get back there for warm-ups or Chloe will throw a fit." Beca advised her knowingly. Jaiden nodded and followed her out of the dressing room, into the hallway. The two girls made their way to the backstage area silently, occasionally stepping to the side in order to let one of their panicking competitors pass. Beca had been able to pick up on the fact that Jaiden was a bit more nervous than she had let onto. Public performances had never been Jaiden's forte and combined with the fact that she still wasn't an avid acapella fan, Beca knew she hadn't been looking forward to it. The tiny brunette knew that her words would do no good, so instead she put her hand on Jaiden's shoulder and squeezed once. Jaiden turned to her as they finally got backstage and nodded in acknowledgment.
"There you are!" Chloe breathed a sigh of relief as the two Mitchell siblings finally walked through the stage door and joined the circle. The Bella's were on deck and the older members put their hands together in the center of their group without instruction. Jaiden followed suit, looking between them in anxious confusion.
"Let's kick some ass, alright nerds?" Beca looked between her fellow singers encouragingly and locked eyes with her sister for a few seconds before nodding. With that, the group threw their hands up and sang a brief note just as their name was announced over the speakers. The group of women turned and started onto the stage, taking their positions before the lights could go up.
Beca took her place center stage and fiddled with the round pitch pipe in her hand until she knew her girls were set. Receiving an affirming nod from Chloe, who stood straight to her right, she blew on the device.
I can move mountains, I can work a miracle
Work a miracle, oh, oh
Keep you like an oath, may nothing but
Death. Do. Us. Part.
Beca handed the mic off to Fat Amy, who took her place center stage and began to unleash the fury that was her performance persona.
She wants to dance like Uma Thurman,
Bury me til I confess.
She wants to dance like Uma Thurman
And I can't get you out of my head.
The robust blonde spun her way over to Stacie and handed her the mic. She narrowly managed to avoid a kick in the face as the taller girl effortlessly raised her foot above her head and winked at the judges.
The stench, the stench, of summer sex
And CK eternity, oh hell yes.
Divide me down to the smallest I can be
Put you, put your v-v-venom in me.
Beca watched as her sister pulled the second mic out from behind her back and broke out the synchronized choreography. The younger girl anxiety was evident as she shot Beca a quick, terrified glance, and began to sing.
Climbing out the back door, didn't leave a mark
No one knows it's you, Miss Jackson.
Found another victim, but no one's gonna find
Miss Jackson, Jackson
Chloe grinned as the crowd applauded at the song change and caught Beca's eye across the stage. She and the younger girl had argued for quite some time about the song choices, being that the redhead hadn't been entirely on board with more alternative songs.
You put a sour little flavor in my mouth now
You move in circles, hoping no one's gonna find out
But we're so lucky, kiss the ring and let 'em bow down
Looking for the time of your life
Beca took the mic from Stacie as they crossed paths downstage and flashed a bright smile at the audience. She turned towards her sister and could tell that the younger girl was a little overwhelmed by the spotlight, so she broke out of the choreography in order to catch her attention. The older Mitchel sibling danced her way to the front of the stage and her sister followed suit, meeting her in the middle. Beca winked at her encouragingly just before they began to sing back and forth.
Give it to me, I'm worth it
Are you nasty?
Give it to me, I'm worth it
Are you nasty?
Out the back door, goddamn, but I love her anyway.
The song ended with the last line sung in unison and the crowd stood, cheering loudly at the performance. Jaiden breathed a sigh of relief and dropped the microphone away from her mouth as she stared out into the audience. Her mother had promised to come today, and it was the first time she would see her since Beca and Chloe had accompanied her home. The older woman had called to check on her a few days later, apologizing profusely for what had happened and promising that Ted was going to his meetings and working on getting sober. Jaiden had emphasized the fact that she wanted nothing to do with the man. Despite her frustration with the fact that her mom didn't have the strength to pull away from the man, Jaiden couldn't bring herself to hate her.
"Come on," Beca pulled her seemingly frozen sister off of the stage, along with the other Bella's, and Jaiden finally snapped out of her thoughts. The two siblings were quickly bombarded with hugs from their fellow singers and Jaiden suddenly found herself face to face with Stacie. The taller brunette smiled down at her and Jaiden leaned up to kiss her casually. The two of them had officially become a couple after their third date, when, surprisingly, Stacie had been the one to ask.
"You sounded great, babe." Jaiden smiled at the compliment and then grunted in pain as Fat Amy hugged her from behind, quite harshly.
"Baby Mitchell, you kicked so much ass. But before you and your Amazon girlfriend have victory sex, we actually have to go back on and accept the trophy we have surely won." The Australian informed her. Jaiden rolled her eyes at the insinuation and grabbed Stacie's hand as all of the teams were called back onstage for the awards. Once again, the amount of people in the audience caught her off guard and she tensed, something that did not go unnoticed by Stacie. The older girl tightened her hold on Jaiden's hand, fully aware of her girlfriend's slight stage fright.
"And in third place…the Sockapellas!" Jaiden heard the announcement in the back of her mind, but she was too busy searching the audience for her mother. Eventually, just as the Treblemakers were announced as the second place winners, she picked out the woman's face about four rows back. Jaiden's already shallow breathing caught in her throat when she spotted the individual in the seat beside her.
"In first place, The Barden Bellas!" Jaiden felt several pairs of arms throw themselves around her at the announcement, but her eyes remained locked on the fourth row. A slow panic was building up inside of her and the applause and screaming around her blended into a cacophony of noise. She wrenched her hand out of Stacie's, at last able react, and sprinted off of the stage with nothing but fear guiding her actions. She made it out the stage door with her pulse pounding in her ears and ran, with no actual destination in mind. Only to find safety.
Beca had just been about to hug her seemingly astounded sister when the 18 year old booked it off of the stage. The older Mitchell sibling frowned in worried confusion and looked around for Chloe, who was watching Jaiden flee with a nearly identical expression to her girlfriend's. The two of them untangled themselves from the group of Bella's and hurried after Jaiden, with Stacie trailing behind them. Beca heard the sound of an additional pair of heels behind herself and Chloe and paused for a moment, turning around.
"Stace, hey, I appreciate the concern, but can you just give her some space for a bit? She's not…she's obviously upset about something and she's just not going to want a ton of attention right now." Beca's request came out much blunter than she anticipated and she winced as she watched the taller girl's face fall. Nevertheless, Stacie nodded and pursed her lips, obviously reluctant to stay behind. "Thanks," Beca added awkwardly. With that, she turned back around and went to chase after Chloe, who was still in hot pursuit of her sister.
"Chlo, wait up!" Beca called as she caught sight of the redhead the entire way down the hallway. Her girlfriend paused for a moment, allowing her to catch up, and then rounded the corner with her.
"What do you think's going on? Do you think she's sick?" The redhead asked nervously. They made their way back towards the dressing room, which was the only place they could really think to look. Upon coming to a locked door, the two singers exchanged troubled looks.
"Jaiden?" Beca knocked on the door loudly, not bothering to hide the desperation in her voice. "Jaiden, unlock the door."
"Beca?" Jaiden's reply was a cross between hopeful and scared, which only left her two pursuers even more distressed.
"Yeah, it's just me and Chloe. What's going on? Can you let us in?" The brunette asked, wiggling the door handle. To her relief, she heard the lock click and Jaiden opened it slowly. Beca and Chloe both slipped into the room before she could change her mind and watched as the younger girl shut and locked the door again as soon as they were in.
"She brought him. She brought Ted. They're in the fourth row." Jaiden blurted out. Beca's eyes widened in realization and she froze for a second, processing the information. Then her expression darkened and the brunette began looking around the room. Chloe watched as her girlfriend finally grabbed a curling iron and started towards the door with it in hand. The redhead quickly caught her by the shoulder and held her back.
"Hey, no. Beca, don't start something. This," Chloe tugged the struggling, 5' 2" brunette back forcefully and caught her gaze, "This is what you need to handle right now, not him." Chloe shifted her eyes to Jaiden for a brief second and then back to Beca, hoping she would calm down enough to see her point. The last thing she needed was for Beca to get arrested for the second year in a row. The younger of the two huffed, but stopped pulling away from Chloe and put the hair styling tool down begrudgingly.
"Grab your stuff and I'll walk you out to the bus, okay?" The older Mitchell sibling sighed. Jaiden nodded slightly and moved towards her space in front of one of the lighted mirrors. Just then, there was a knock at the door and the 18 year old looked towards her sister, alarm evident in all of her features.
"Chloe? Beca? Are you two in there?" Jaiden remained on edge at the unfamiliar voice, but watched as the other two girls relaxed significantly. Chloe moved towards the door, causing Jaiden to take a few steps back, and Beca immediately crossed over to her.
"It's okay, it's an old friend of ours," She assured her. Jaiden's eyes remained fixed on the opening door and she watched as a blonde woman stepped in and pulled Chloe into a tight hug. When she pulled back and turned towards Beca, her smile dimmed only slightly and she nodded at her.
"Not the set list I would have chosen, but congratulations nonetheless." She said finally. Beca smirked and stepped forward to hug the taller woman good naturedly. After a quick embrace, she stepped back and looked at Jaiden, who was staring at the open door in subtle distress.
"Aubrey, this is Jaiden, my younger sister. Jaiden, this is Aubrey. She was co-captains with Chloe last year, when I joined." Beca introduced them quickly and then began to tug Jaiden towards the door. "We actually have to get to the bus right now, but we'll meet you guys back at the apartment, okay? Chloe, can you get her stuff?" She requested apologetically. The redhead nodded in understanding and was left alone in the dressing room with a very confused Aubrey.
So there was a bit of a time lapse there, but I wanted to be able to get things moving for you guys, so let me know what you think!