A/N: Just a heads up, this one is a bit shorter, but it will be continued soon!

The victory was celebrated extensively. Aubrey even cut the team some slack on the next training. However, they were all too aware that they still had one game to go. They were topping the poule, but weren't ahead by much. Everybody wanted to win and send a clear message to the competition, so by the second practice of the week they were back to training relentlessly.

The morning before the game, Beca woke up early. She packed her bags and made her way to the meeting spot. This last game before the winter break was an away game, but luckily they didn't have to go very far. She wasn't surprised to see Chloe and Aubrey already present. She greeted Aubrey with a small wave and Chloe with a hug and a kiss.

Soon they were joined by the other girls. When everybody had gathered, they got on the bus. Beca sat down near the middle while Chloe joined Aubrey in the front. The two captains always talked strategies on the ride, and today was no different. Apparently Aubrey knew most of the girls quite well and heard some rumours about the new recruits. Beca didn't want to focus too much on which girl on the other team was or wasn't a good player, so she put on her headphones and drowned out the chatter around her.

They arrived quite early and their coaches weren't present yet, so Aubrey allowed the girls to grab some coffee in the canteen. Most of the girls didn't waste the opportunity, but Beca wasn't up for coffee. Since Chloe was still talking to Aubrey and Beca didn't feel much like talking anyway, she decided to step outside for a breath of fresh air.

Once outside, she noticed that their opponents were gathering as well. They were wearing red track suits and were talking in small groups. Suddenly, one of the girls called out her name. Beca was stunned when she saw a grinning girl walk towards her. She hadn't seen this girl in more than six months, and hadn't planned on it either. The last time seeing her former best friend and high school team captain wasn't under the best circumstances, so Beca was confused why the other girl seemed so happy to see her. She certainly wasn't.

"Hey Beca, are you playing for Barden now?"

"What do you want, Naomi?" Beca said, while trying to keep her anger in check.

"Wow, no need to be this hostile, I'm just trying to be friendly."

"Well, you could have been friendly a year ago."

"I know we both said some things and feelings were hurt, but I was hoping that we could talk about it over a cup of coffee some time."

Beca laughed hollowly, she had no idea where Naomi got the nerves. The feelings that were hurt were predominantly hers, and she had no intention to bring back those memories. She had left for Barden to please her father, but also to be far from her former high school and all people in it. She shook her head while laughing and wanted to turn around to get away when she felt a hand grab her arm.

"Listen Beca, I just want to resolve things, there is no need for you to be rude."

The tone made her shiver and she wanted to get away. She didn't believe Naomi really had good intentions, and she didn't think anything could be resolved. When she tried to walk away, Naomi tightened the grip and wouldn't let go. She was looking down on Beca and looked very threatening.

At that moment, she heard Chloe call her name. She called out for her girlfriend and was relieved when she saw her walk around the corner. They made eye contact and Chloe picked up on the silent cry for help from her girlfriend. She quickly walked towards Beca and put her arm around her. When Naomi saw the redhead approach, she let go of Beca and took a step back. Chloe extended her arm and introduced herself as Beca's girlfriend. At this, Naomi excused herself rather rudely.

Chloe looked at her girlfriend questioning, but the girl was already shaking her head. She knew that Chloe had a lot of questions, but she couldn't do it right now. They had a game to focus on.

"We will talk later," she said, before walking towards the changing rooms.

Despite trying her best to concentrate on her own game, Beca kept catching glances of Naomi warming up on the other side of the field. She tried her hardest to drown out everything, but was unsuccessful. Because of her lack of focus her drag flicks were all over the place. Both coaches and Aubrey had already asked her for an explanation, which she didn't give. This frustrated her blonde captain, who had now resorted to shouting at Beca, which in turn rubbed the freshman the wrong way.

"What is wrong with you today, Mitchell? Come on, you need to focus," Aubrey shouted after yet another failed drag flick.

At that point Beca couldn't take it anymore. She was fed up with Aubrey yelling at her, but even madder with herself for getting distracted by the incident. In her frustration she snapped at Aubrey.

"You don't think I'm trying? I really don't need you yelling at me!"

She turned around and walked off the field. She needed a bit of time to clear her head. She vaguely heard Aubrey calling her, but was already too far away to hear what she was yelling. She felt the other girls of her team look at her, but didn't care. She just needed to get out of here. She made her way to the changing rooms and sat down on one of the benches. She dropped her head in her hands, shut her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing.

She heard footsteps approaching and looked up just enough to see a familiar pair of hockey shoes. She felt her girlfriend sit down next to her and put her hand on her back. Chloe waited patiently for Beca to talk, but when she didn't, she decided that her girlfriend needed a small push.

"Sweetie, could you please talk to me," Chloe asked finally. She had wanted to give Beca all the time she wanted, but knew there wasn't a lot of time left before the game would start, and they needed Beca to play. When Beca didn't respond she got up from the bench, crouched in front of her and grabbed her wrists. Gently, she pulled the hands away to reveal a pale face.

"Becs, I know you don't want to talk, but you can't play like this and we really need you. Talking might help you calm down a bit. Does it have something to do with that girl from earlier?"

A combination of the worried look Chloe was giving her and the weight of bottled up emotions made Beca open up.

"That girl was Naomi, former best friend and captain," Beca said, checking if Chloe remembered what she had already told her.

"You told me about her before, she spread a rumour about you," Chloe said.

"That's the one," Beca said while nodding. "Well, I didn't tell you the entire story. We dated for a while. At first it was a lot of fun, she was already my best friend, so it was easy to be something more. We hung out a lot during the summer holidays, but after the competition started again, things started to change. She couldn't handle me scoring more and getting more praise. In response she became very competitive in everything. She tried to bring me down every chance she got. I eventually ended it, which was when she started to spread those rumours. But that wasn't the end."

Chloe shifter her hand to Beca's leg and gave her an encouraging look.

"She had expected me to leave the team, so she could be the star, but I wanted to finish the season. Right before the championship game a local newspaper wanted an interview, but they specifically asked for me, and I was supposed to be featured on the front page. She was so mad about this that she called the newspaper anonymously with another rumour. She told them that I had sexually assaulted her. The newspaper didn't know if it was true, but didn't want to take the chance and pulled the story. Our school heard about it, but they couldn't expel me, since there was no evidence and they didn't know who had called. They did kick me off the team. My teammates made sure those last few weeks of high school were hell, I got out of there as soon as I graduated."

Chloe's face had gone from concern to surprise to outright horror. She was getting up and pulled Beca in for a hug. While Beca's expression was blank, Chloe had tears in her eyes. She was lost for words. After a while she released Beca and looked at her.

"Thank you so much for telling me. I can't believe anybody could be this mean. She needs a high five, in her face, with a chair!"

This made Beca smile a bit. They heard the sound of a whistle and Chloe looked shocked.

"I have to get to the field. If you want to, you can stay here for a bit. We can explain it."

Beca shook her head and stood up. She didn't want to let her team down. They ran back to the field together and joined the huddle that had already formed on the top of the D. They received some questioning looks, but ignored it for now. Aubrey didn't even grand Beca a look, but ignored her completely as she finished her speech. When the huddle broke, she told Beca to take a seat on the bench. Beca obliged, not wanting to anger Aubrey anymore right now. Talking to Chloe had relieved some stress she was feeling and she was ready to kick some ass as soon as she was allowed back on the field.