A/N: And here is chapter 6 featuring awesome friends Stacie and Amy, observant Cynthia Rose, and a few songs listed below! I'm skipping over a lot of the usual jazz of the riff-off (guys, we've seen it go down a lot of times already) but I'm keeping the obligatory scene with Beca's awesomeness just cause…
Also a bit of Bechloe ;) Enjoy!
I don't own pitch perfect.
"You do know I still have a social life, right Becky?" Luke said over the phone.
Rehearsals were a pain and sometime Beca would lose sight of why she was doing this in the first place. She didn't need the pain and exhaustion, she could be enjoying her free time, mixing beats and making music. The goal was to get through one year of college as pain free as possible and get the hell out of Barden.
In less than a year, it's hello LA.
So why was she a Bella again?
She didn't need the roots. She didn't need to develop relationships with people when she'll cut ties with them soon anyways. When it's either she was going to say goodbye soon or they'll just walk away, out of her life forever.
"Becky, you are still there right? Aubrey didn't march into your room and murder you yet?" she heard Luke say.
"No, just thinking." Beca mumbled, rubbing the side of her head as she sat up from her bed. The door of their dorm room opened to let in Amy and Stacie. They seem to be too deep in their own conversation to notice Beca's own dilemma, and Beca might have been thankful for that. Or at least she was hoping they won't be eavesdropping.
"You're not allowed to quit the Bellas Beca." Luke sternly said. "I can see it's doing you good."
"It's killing me is what it is." Beca groaned, trying to keep her voice down as she slumped back down on her mattress. "Can't you do just an hour? I'll try to get there as fast as I can."
"Beca, you know I'm out of Barden right now. I can't make it back on time. I mean, I would teleport back there if I can, but I can't. If you told me earlier, I would've skipped on this trip with my friends."
"I didn't know earlier!"
"Well, you have to make a choice." Luke simply said. "And you know I can't make it for you Becky."
"I know." Beca grumbled
"Good. Now let me be all vague and big brotherly when I tell you, follow your heart Beca. Don't over think this. Let me know if you need anything. For my part, I'll do my best to get back there soon."
"Thanks Luke." Beca sighed before hanging up. She had a few hours left before the riff off, a few hours left before the start of her show. If she could be in two places at the same time, she would. But she couldn't. Luke, along with Matt and his other buddies, left early after his last class for the day. The plan was to get back to campus early in the morning but Beca was hoping that he'd try to get there and come to her rescue.
Or, you know, answer the question on why she was a Bella in the first place and judging from that answer decide what she'll do.
It shouldn't be hard, making the decision. She wanted LA.
And successful radio show equals LA.
So why was making the decision so hard.
Stacie cleared her throat and Beca looked up to see both her and Amy sitting on Amy's bed looking at her expectantly. Beca sighed as she dragged herself up and looked at the two friends she surprisingly made during her first weeks in Barden. "Thanks for earlier."
"It was the least we could do shorty, although, you don't really make it easy." Amy said with a light chuckle. "Do you really have to buttheads with the Aca-Nazi all the time?"
"She hates me. God knows why." Beca grumbled.
"At least she sees you Beca." Stacie sighed. "What's your plan?"
"I… I really don't know. I mean, it's not like I'm missing an actual important competition or anything, but if I don't show up Aubrey would want my head, Chloe would try to argue with Aubrey why she shouldn't do it, and maybe we end up starting another world war. And I don't want that. I don't want to drag you guys into that. Especially Chloe. And I… I…"
"And if you go, I'm guessing no one's going to man your radio show, huh Midnight DJ?" Stacie replied catching Beca off guard. Her eyes widened, like a deer caught in the headlights, before Stacie pointed at her mixing set-up. "It's not really hard to guess, we – or at least I – had our suspicions. We confirmed it when we followed you one night, I hope you're not mad."
Beca opened her mouth to say something but then closed it when she realized that she had nothing much to say. She wanted to be mad, she and Luke – and by extension Matt – were keeping it a secret. Mostly it was because her dad already hated the fact that she chose to do an internship at the radio station, aka still pursue her LA dreams by paying a small part of her dues here, instead of fully immersing herself in the college experience. She can't have her dad back-out on the deal if he finds out, if he feels disappointed in her.
He already left once, she wasn't going to let him leave her hanging again.
Especially when he made his way back in her life, offering a chance to fix their relationship.
Albeit, it came with a lot of conditions imposed by both sides.
Hey, Beca was really trying.
"Oh please, Beca, say something." Amy then said sounding a little panicky when Beca just sat there in silence.
"I'm not mad." Beca said honestly before taking a deep breath. She really isn't. Mostly because moments earlier they were backing her up, keeping her secret. They were trying to understand her when she was making it so damn difficult.
She was never really good with this things. Trusting people, building relationships. But if she managed to build a relationship with Luke, maybe, just maybe, she could allow herself to start learning to trust other people too.
She was already learning to trust Chloe – truth be told, she probably already did – and she knows a part of her was already starting to trust Amy and Stacie too.
Beca made a half-smile, "Thanks again, you know, for earlier. And for not telling anyone. And for supporting my show, I know you've called in a couple of times."
"Not just us. Chloe too, so I've noticed." Stacie said pulling out a small spherical device in her pocket and handing it to Beca. "Here. I got bored the other day and decided to make this for you. It changes the register and tone of your voice without going all rustic and deep throat-y. I figured you could engage your audience more by talking to them."
"Wow, thanks Stace." Beca said in awe.
"You built that because you were bored." Amy then said, equally shocked.
"Well I am an engineering major." Stacie replied. "And I'm on a scholarship too, didn't I tell you that?"
Both Beca and Amy stared at her in disbelief before the taller brunette snapped her fingers to get them out of whatever shock had taken over them. "But back to the matter at hand. Do you think Luke can get back in time for the start of your show or not?"
"No. Yes? Maybe. He might be late though, and other than him, his roommate is the only one who knows I'm running the midnight shift. Well, there's the two of you too."
"And we cannot miss the riff-off to. Aubrey would kill us." Amy then noted.
"That and the fact that we wouldn't know the first thing about being a radio DJ." Stacie pointed out. "How about a compromise?"
"What do I do?" Beca asked sounding desperate for an answer.
"We can cover for you with Aubrey, tell her you weren't feeling well – I mean, hey, you've been punished with extra cardio almost every day this week that we can easily convince her you're really sick. If Luke shows up before it's over, then come join us. Tell her you started feeling better. If not, we've got you. We'll text you with updates."
"And what if the Aca-Nazi demands to see Beca's body?"
"You're making it sound like I'm dead." Beca interjected.
"Well, you might as well be." Amy reasoned. "But seriously though, what if she wants proof?"
"Your dad's place?" Stacie offered.
To which Beca's eyes flared up and said "No!" louder than she intended to.
"How about Luke?" Amy then asked.
"Off campus apartment with Matt."
"Then we can just say you're at your step-bro's place." Stacie then said. Beca nodded slowly in agreement, it was the best plan they could hope to have.
And the plans Amy kept coming up with were all sorts of… questionable, to put it in a way…
Hey Mister DJ, put a record on
I wanna dance with my baby
And when the music starts
I never wanna stop
It's gonna drive me crazy
Beca couldn't sit still. She just started with her shift at the radio station actually doing her own intro with the device that Stacie gave her – who knew she was a genius!? She had just started to play the first song on her list, her thoughts on the riff-off probably going down elsewhere. Luke had been texting her on updates of his whereabouts, promising to get to the station soon
Music, music, music
Music makes the people come together
Music makes the bourgeoisie and the rebels
Beca's phone also kept buzzing with updates from both Amy and Stacie who were subtly texting her whenever they can. The text saying that it was just about to start.
Well, here's to hoping their plan works out.
"What are you two doing?" Chloe asked in a hushed tone as they gathered closer to the center of the abandoned pool.
"Uh, upda- I mean, checking in on Beca. She really wanted to be here." Amy rambled on with Stacie feigning an innocent smile.
"Oh, I hope she's okay." Chloe replied and Amy noticed the change in her expression.
"You really care about our shorty, huh Red?" Amy asked.
"She's special." Chloe said quickly before turning her attention to Aubrey who she noted was starting to stress out.
Amy couldn't help it, she kept nudging Stacie as soon as Chloe turned around.
"Amy, I appreciate you keeping the hope alive, but right now we have to keep our head in the game. If we lose, not only will Aubrey kill us, we let Beca down too. We have to hold up the fort until she gets here, otherwise, Aubrey might blame her for losing because she wasn't even here."
"Right. I know. I just can't help it." Amy said with a shrug.
But there was no time left for talking.
It was time to get down to business.
"Becky!" Luke said as soon as he entered the station half an hour into Beca's shift.
"You're late!" she said, ignoring her step-brother's protests and questions about what she had attached to the mic. "Just don't speak as always. I'll be back as soon as I can. And why do you have a skateboard? Did you come here using that? Can I borrow your skateboard?" Beca rambled on as she rushed to get to where she needs to be, grabbing Luke's skateboard before he could even say yes. She was out the door in record time.
She also got to the abandoned pool in record time.
Faster than If she would have ran.
Stacie and Amy looked like they were doing a fine job at defending the Bellas when she pulled up to halt, with only the Trebles standing in their way to win the contest. Her friends didn't disappoint, but then again Beca knew by now, she could count on those two for always.
And then Jesse cut in. From what's being projected down on the tiled wall of the empty pool, Beca picked up on the category. The Bellas pulled away from the Trebles, trying to come up with a song to cut them with when Beca made her grand entrance by skateboarding down the pool, coming from behind the Bellas. She jumped off the board right in front of Jesse, causing him to stumble on some of his words before quickly picking it up.
But Beca only let him go on to cut him in with the perfect song in mind.
It's going down, fade to Blackstreet
The homies got RB, collab' creations
Bump like acne, no doubt
I put it down, never slouch
As long as my credit can vouch
A dog couldn't catch me ass out
Tell me who can stop when Dre makin' moves
Attracting honeys like a magnet
Giving 'em eargasms with my mellow accent
Still moving this flavor
With the homies Blackstreet and Teddy
The original rump shakers
To say that everyone at the pool was in awe was an understatement.
Beca was taking the Trebles down single handedly before the Bellas finally backed her up, the crowd growing wild.
The Bellas won.
And Beca's never felt as alive as she did in that moment.
Or technically they would have.
But the incredible biased emcee decided the Trebles won due to a technicality.
Beca was about to argue about the stupidity of the results when Stacie and Amy pulled her back, "Let it go Beca. We won, we don't have the prize, but everyone knows we're the winners." Stacie said, placing an arm around Beca with Amy doing the same thing.
She walked right in the middle of the two as they rejoined the Bellas, Beca's hands nervously clutching Luke's skateboard with a smile at her face. She could see Chloe grinning at her like she did when she auditioned. It was enough to ignore Aubrey's glare.
"That was amazing as always Beca!" Chloe said, pulling Beca in a tight embrace as soon as she was close. Beca smiled, allowing herself to relax in Chloe's in arms. No she wasn't going to let Aubrey ruin it. She felt like she was on a high.
And somehow, for some reason, it felt nice.
It felt warm.
It felt right.
"I thought Amy and Stacie said you were feeling sick. Are you feeling better? You are okay right?" Chloe said after letting her go. She let her hands rest on Beca's arms, holding her close so that there were only mere inches keeping them apart.
"Ye-yeah. I was feeling better so…" Beca mumbled.
"Nice entrance though, Mitchell." Cynthia Rose commented. "Seriously, I did not expect that."
"Yeah, it was like you came in time for your dashing rescue of the Bellas." Denise added.
"We still lost though. Which means we have to work even harder. We're not going to let those primitive boyband wannabe's what they want." Aubrey said, surprisingly without yelling at the top of her lungs. "And I suppose that wasn't actually bad Mitchell." she grumbled. "Although if you were really ill, how on earth did you do that thing with the skateboard?" she then asked, quirking an eyebrow. Maybe she was impressed a little bit – maybe, but Beca knew she'll never admit that – but of course Aubrey won't let her suspicions of her go.
"Ah, she was overwhelmed with her love for us and need to save us in the nick of time, of course." Amy reasoned, pulling Beca away from Chloe's grasp. "But now, don't you, um, you know, need to take that round the clock medication or something shorty?"
"Yeah, we better get you back to the dorm." Stacie then said.
Before Beca could even utter anything else she was whisked away by her friends, allowing her to get back to her shift
And once again, she was thankful for Amy and Stacie.
She's not going to lie, she missed immediately missed Chloe's warmth though.
She was the first one in the auditorium for once and Cynthia Rose thought it was the strangest thing in the world.
Not having Aubrey ready to whip them into shape or Chloe to try to bring the level of her best friend's insanity down a few notches was a weird sight.
But having the whole auditorium they use as a practice space to herself was quite an experience Cynthia Rose decided she was going to cherish.
It didn't last long though, with the Bellas starting to file in one by one.
"I swear it happened last night! I can't believe I missed it. Def tuning in tonight." Ashley said as she walked into the rehearsal space side by side with Jessica.
"Well, maybe if we didn't go to that stupid frat party after the riff-off we would have caught it. I mean, who isn't even tuning in to the Midnight DJ?" Jessica replied.
"What about the Midnight DJ?" Cynthia Rose asked, immediately becoming interested in their conversation. What can she say, she was a fan of the show.
"Well apparently, the DJ talked with the listeners last night and all, taking requests and special shout outs too. There was a block of time though where no requests where no calls were taken, but that's that." Ashley explained.
"Maybe there was a glitch in the system? It didn't sound like whoever the DJ is was using their own voice." Jessica offered as an explanation.
Cynthia Rose was about to offer her own opinion when Stacie and Amy came in with a very grumpy looking Beca.
"See Beca, you're early for a change." they heard Amy said.
"Whatever." the tiny brunette replied as she slumped down her seat looking very much irritated.
"You totally owe us Beca. And I intend on collecting." Stacie then whispered as more of the Bellas came in. She was trying to keep her voice down but since Cynthia Rose was near enough, she managed to pick it up.
She would have asked what it was, but then Aubrey and Chloe finally came in and Aubrey Posen was definitely on full commander mode that bright and early.
She kept the question hanging on the back burner for now though. It could wait.
It probably wasn't even important anyway.
But nevertheless she was curious.
Beca Mitchell didn't strike her as the type who made friends but she seemed to be friends with Amy and Stacie, making her curiosity grow even more.
It never occurred to Beca how hard it was to actually be a part of an acapella team.
It most definitely did not occur to her how hard it would be to be a part of said acapella team with a drill sergeant of a captain – or rather, co-captain since technically Chloe was also one of their leaders – and juggle it with a campus radio internship and a midnight show.
So she was glad to have that moment all to herself. Her first afternoon class got cancelled and she really didn't need to be at the station. Jesse currently had his shift, Amy and Stacie had their own classes. No Bella's practice until later that afternoon too.
It was her first moment of quiet.
And she welcomed it, her trusty headphones on, just chilling under the shade of a tree in the quad.
I saw you talking on the phone
I know that you are not alone
But you steal my heart away
Yeah you steal my heart away
Beca smiled, her jumbled thoughts becoming less and less entangled. She still confused on a lot of things, like why she's even sticking with the Bellas, why she hasn't upped and left yet, why she's actually sticking to the deal she's made.
But so far, it's been all worthwhile.
I don't know where we're going
I don't know who we are
"Hey stranger." Chloe said, sitting down right next to her. Beca looked up and smiled, she wasn't expecting on seeing the redhead at all. She was already thankful for the moment's rest by herself, but she wouldn't complain about having to share it with Chloe. "Cutting class?"
"No. Cancelled." was Beca's simple reply, loosening her headphones over one ear.
Normally she'd put on her headphones when she didn't want to be disturbed, when she didn't really want to talk.
But Chloe was different.
She always loved to hear Chloe talk.
Hear her voice, her laugh. Just any sound she makes really
"Right. I'd assume if you cut class your dad would freak out."
"Oh, he's already dragged me into my philosophy class once." Beca admitted. "Not going to let that happen again."
Maybe it's the way you move
You got me dreaming like a fool
That I could steal your heart away
I could steal your heart away
Chloe chuckled. "What are you listening to?" she asked, nodding towards Beca's headphones, her ocean blue eyes on Beca's own fingers, she was unconsciously tapping the beat of the song.
"Um, you wanna' listen?" Beca asked, taking her headphones off and offering it up to Chloe.
No matter what it is you think
I'm not the kind of girl to blink
And give my heart away
Stop tryin' steal my heart away
"You sure?" Chloe asked, a smile playing on the corner of her lips before Beca nodded, offering her headphones once again to the redhead by raising it up.
Chloe gingerly took Beca's headphones from her and carefully placed it on, smile ever persistent on her face.
Beca didn't mind. She loved seeing Chloe smile.
It made her days brighter.
And while Beca shrugged off the feelings taking over her, while she buried away the inevitable words that would surely bear the veracity of her emotions, she let herself accept that one little piece of truth.
She really loved Chloe Beale's smile.
I can feel your heartbeat
He said to me
I can feel your heartbeat
He said to me
I can feel your heartbeat
Running through me
Heartbeat
Feel your heartbeat
She said
I can feel your heartbeat
She said to me
I can feel your heartbeat
She said to me
I can feel your heartbeat
Running through me
Songs featured in the chapter: 'Music' by Madonna; 'No Diggity' by Blackstreet ft Dr. Dre and Queen Pen; 'Heartbeat' by Enrique Iglesias ft. Nicole Scherzinger