"Beca, I can't go out there." Jaiden came to a halt just before they entered the crowded lobby and the smaller girl was jerked to a stop. Beca had secretly found herself wishing she had brought the curling iron just in case, but she had hoped the younger girl hadn't picked up on her nerves.
"We're in public, alright Jay? Nothing's going to happen, and if we do bump into them, I will be the first to settle the score, okay? I've got you." Beca assured her solemnly. Jaiden stared into her sister's eyes uncertainly, having heard that before. The older of the two took her sister by the hand and pulled her gently. Jaiden finally managed to move and shifted to walk behind Beca, clinging to her anxiously. The two of them began to weave their way through the crowd, with Jaiden peeking over the older girl's shoulder every few seconds to check the people in front of them. She bumped into Beca's back only 20 feet from the door and felt her grip on her hand tighten significantly.
"They're waiting by the door, so we're just going to go right past, got it?" Beca turned her head enough to whisper the instruction before turning back around and starting forward again. Jaiden finally picked out her mother's face, was well as Ted's and felt her heart rate start to spike. They moved closer and she did her best to stay behind Beca, though the older girl was much shorter.
"There they are!" Beca watched as her mother pointed them out and waved excitedly. She felt a wave of heat rush to her face at the fact that she had the audacity to even be there with him, but forced herself to swallow the surge of anger. The older Mitchell grabbed the door handle and threw it open before shoving her sister through as quickly as she could. She was about to make it out herself when she felt a rough hand on her forearm and heard a "wait a minute". And that was all it took for the brunette to whirl around and land a solid punch straight to her stepfather's jaw.
"Rebecca!" Beca barely heard her mother's shocked outcry over the ringing in her ears. She watched the man she had just punched stagger aside, cupping the side of his face gingerly. Ignoring the sudden crowd of onlookers that was beginning to gather, she whirled around and walked out the door. Beca grabbed an extremely startled Jaiden by the arm and began towards the bus with her, shaking out her stinging fist along the way.
"Thanks for that." Jaiden muttered finally. Her pulse was slowly returning to normal and she glanced back around towards the door cautiously. She could still see her mother inside, tending to a bent over Ted while a small crowd stared at them unabashedly.
"Should have done it a long time ago." Beca replied. Her voice had a touch of bitterness to it; something that did not go unnoticed by her sister. The younger girl reached over and took a hold of her sister's wrist. Beca grimaced in pain as she inspected her swelling knuckles and shook her head.
"Who taught you how to punch?" The 18 year old asked. Beca rolled her eyes and pulled her injured hand away as they neared the bus. Jaiden pulled the doors opened and climbed on; grateful to be somewhere she felt relatively secure. Beca stayed on the steps hesitantly and watched the younger girl take her seat in the back.
"Are you going to be alright if I go back in and round everyone up?" Beca questioned. Jaiden nodded from her seat, obviously at ease enough to be left alone. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She promised before hopping down off of the bus. Jaiden watched her older sister head back into the building, which seemed to have cleared out significantly in the last few minutes. She couldn't seem to spot her mother and hoped that she and Ted had left already. Jaiden knew her sister wanted nothing more than to properly get her hands on the man, but she also knew that in a real fight, Beca wouldn't stand a chance.
Beca wasn't 10 steps into the lobby before Stacie both spotted and cornered her. The taller brunette had an air of franticness about her and it was obvious she had been searching relentlessly for either her or her sister.
"Is she okay?" Stacie asked as if she was almost afraid of the answer. Beca nodded immediately and then turned to look at the bus out of the large windowed wall behind them.
"Yeah. She's on the bus. Look," Beca caught Stacie by the arm before she could rush outside and lowered her voice. "I'm going to tell you this because I know she never will. Jaiden was abused by our stepfather after our parents got divorced. He showed up tonight and she's just scared right now. So if you're going to go out there, don't push." Stacie nodded; her facial features a mixture of understanding and mute distress, and then hurried out the door and into the parking lot. Beca watched the taller girl jog as best as she could in heels towards their waiting bus for a few seconds, and then began back through the dispersing crowd. She found her group of singers posing together with their newly won trophy as Aubrey snapped pictures on her phone. Despite her intense distaste for photos, Beca snuck in and took her place beside Chloe, who turned towards her with a cross between surprise and concern.
"Is she okay?" The redhead asked. The two of them froze for a moment as another picture was taken and then continued their conversation.
"Yeah. Stacie's heading out to the bus right now." Beca replied.
"You guys had no trouble getting out of here?" The younger of the two grimaced at the question and met her girlfriend's gaze with guilty eyes. Chloe picked up on that immediately. "What happened?" She demanded.
"I punched him-"
"Beca!"
"He tried to stop us from leaving." Beca defended herself quickly. "I wasn't taking any chances this time." Chloe's demeanor softened and she sighed down at the shorter girl.
"Well, as much as I hate it when you punch people, that was very brave." She admitted. Beca shrugged and noticed that most of their group was dispersing. She caught Aubrey's gaze and knew that the blonde was trying to figure the situation in the dressing room out.
"Did you tell Aubrey anything?" Beca questioned as she took Chloe's hand in her own good one and began towards the exit with the rest of the other Bellas. Considering that Aubrey was coming back to their apartment for the night, she knew that the issue wasn't going to be all together avoidable.
"Nope. She definitely can tell something is up though. Most of them can. I told them to give Jay some space because she wasn't feeling well." Chloe informed her quietly. Beca nodded, grateful that she was able to cover for her somewhat, and tensed as Aubrey moved closer to them. To her surprise, the blonde didn't say anything, though she could see the wheels turning in her head. She prayed that Aubrey would at least hold off until they were back at the apartment and Jaiden was taken care of. Beca knew that the younger girl would want nothing less than to end up having to explain the reason for her sudden disappearance.
"Let's just try to keep the focus off of her for tonight." Beca whispered. Her girlfriend nodded in agreement before turning to meet her friend with a bright smile. The two began to chat avidly between each other, discussing the set, the new girls, Barden, and God knows what else, as they strolled outside to the waiting bus. The Bella's filed on without much of a fuss; each of them tired and ready to call it a night. After all of the stress of having an upcoming competition, their nerves were all frayed and worn and the singers wanted nothing more than to pass out.
"Fat Amy, are you sure you're good to drive?" Beca paused beside the blonde Australian in the driver's seat; wanting to make sure they were alright to make it home. Fat Amy held an "okay" sign up to her and nodded her response, which actually only put Beca slightly at ease. "Alright then," Beca nodded before starting towards the backseat. Jaiden was resting comfortably against Stacie's shoulder, apparently asleep, and the older Mitchell sibling decided to let her rest. She figured that the younger girl deserved a bit of a break. Not to mention the fact that Stacie looked relieved to have Jaiden beside her again.
"Come here," Chloe pulled the brunette out of her thoughts and into the seat beside her, two rows from the front. The two of them settled into a comfortable position; the exhaustion of the day taking its toll on them, and it wasn't long before they drifted off to sleep for the rest of the ride.
"Hey, aca-lesbians, wake up." Beca's eyes flashed open as she was shaken awake by a very impatient Aubrey. She glanced around in sleepy confusion for a few seconds before it registered that they were back at Barden and it was finally time to go home for the night. She stood up tiredly and pulled a half-conscious Chloe with her, each of them suppressing yawns. They shuffled off of the bus together and then paused outside on the pavement, waiting for Jaiden and Aubrey to join them. Soon enough, the tall blonde approached the couple and Jaiden followed a few seconds later after a quick kiss goodbye from Stacie.
"Ready to go?" Beca asked her. Jaiden nodded, still drowsy from sleep, and started towards her car. The other three girls followed close behind and she popped the trunk so that Aubrey could put her overnight bag in. Jaiden was still relatively on edge from her run in with Ted earlier, and being around a new person certainly didn't help her nerves. She glanced at Aubrey out of the corner of her eye shyly as she shut the trunk for her and then opened the passenger's side door. The blonde offered a surprised "thank you" before getting in and buckling up, which left Chloe and Beca to get into the back seat together.
"At least one of you Mitchell girls have manners." Aubrey shot a teasing look at Beca in the rearview mirror as Jaiden got into the driver's seat. The younger girl rolled her eyes in response before resting her head on Chloe's shoulder. The three eldest women chatted idly on the short drive home-excited for the chance to catch up, and Jaiden realized upon pulling into her parking space that she could likely slip off to bed without it being too much of a big deal. She followed the trio up to their apartment silently and the second they were inside, she made a bee-line for her room. Much to her dismay, Chloe noticed the attempt immediately and caught her by the forearm.
"You're not going to bed already, are you?" The redhead asked with just the slightest hint of a pout. Jaiden sighed and shook her head.
"I guess not. Can I at least change?" Chloe nodded her approval and released the younger girl's arm, having no idea how much the small gesture had caused Jaiden's heart rate to spike. Her nerves were entirely shot and she sucked in a deep breath once she was alone in her room, willing herself to calm down. She knew that rationally, she was safe with the other three women in the apartment, but she simply couldn't bring herself to let her guard down entirely. The brunette locked her door for good measure, and the small click earned a suspicious frown from Aubrey outside.
"So what's her story?" She questioned, finally turning towards Beca and preparing for an interrogation. Her mind had been toying with various possibilities of a back story for the younger girl all night and the blonde was impatient to find out the truth. Beca and Chloe exchanged one quick glance with each other before nodding towards the living room. Aubrey followed them in and sat down with the two girls on the couch, waiting for an explanation expectantly.
"Jaiden lived with my mom after our parents got divorced and…and it wasn't really a safe environment. Her new husband was, um, really abusive and he hurt her pretty badly before getting arrested," Aubrey's eyes widened as Beca continued. Her imagination had failed to come up with anything that dire, and suddenly a lot of Beca's demeanor (which, admittedly, she had detested large parts of last year) made much more sense. "But yeah, he actually showed up tonight with our mom and it really freaked her out. So if she's like, rude or jumpy or something, don't take it personally, okay?" Aubrey nodded in understanding and looked over at the locked bedroom door sympathetically. Just then, the door handle clicked and began to turn, signaling to the three girls that their conversation was now over. Aubrey watched as Jaiden slowly opened the door and slipped out, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, before tentatively walking over to them and perching on an armchair. She half-heartedly returned Beca's questioning smile before averting her eyes to her phone, obviously not wanting to be engaged in any sort of conversation. Not wanting to see her uncomfortable, Aubrey quickly began telling her two former teammates about the latest scandal at her new job and the three of them settled into casual conversation for the majority of the night.
Okay, so I've been reading your reviews and I *promise* that before this story ends, you guys will get your showdown between Beca and Ted. I already have it all planned out, so be patient, and I'll try to update as soon as I can. Let me know what you think of this chapter and thanks a bunch for reading!