The next week was packed with practices and team meetings. When the girls weren't on the field training, they were going over plays or analyzing the footage from their previous games. Beca, Chloe, Aubrey and Dawson spend even more time together preparing for the games to come. Beca was now officially a co-captain, after the team had agreed to grant her that position. Chloe would take on the role of assistant-coach during the games, as she was unable to play.
The practices were going really well, the girls picked up the plays quickly and everybody was playing better than ever. Beca asked Jesse to come in to train Cynthia Rose, who was getting harder to beat each day. Aubrey still had some trouble with all the changes, but besides Chloe and occasionally Beca, she had found that Stacie was very good at comforting her. She hadn't been able to cash in on that date yet though, because she was too busy with hockey and school. They had met for coffee a few times though, and she found that Stacie was very easy to talk to.
Chloe had decided that after the last match of the regular season, the girls would have a party. They were already placed for playoffs, so they had something to celebrate. Aubrey agreed after Chloe told her that it would be good for team building. However, Chloe knew that her friend knew the real reason, she needed to keep herself busy to distract her from the fact that she wasn't allowed on the pitch. It was frustrating, because she was feeling fine, but Aubrey, Dawson and even Beca all argued that it was probably due to the painkillers.
Game day came and the girls were ready. Although it was only a week, they had made great progress and were in no way intimidated by their opponents. The only nervous person was probably Beca, because Aubrey had asked her to give the captain speech before the game. She was never a big public speaker, although she had been forced to make some exceptions over the course of the year.
After the warming up she joined her team in the huddle. She looked around at the girls she had grown fond and finally looked at her co-captain. Aubrey nodded, which prompted Beca to start her speech..
"Girls, I know we have only been preparing for this game for a week, but we have been playing together the entire year. Most of you have played hockey almost your entire lives. So let's show them how it's done. Trust your instinct and trust your teammates. Communicate with each other. Only one thing is more important." She locked eyes with Aubrey. "Have fun!"
Seventy minutes later Barden didn't just come out on top. They crushed their opponents. Cynthia Rose barely touched a ball and most of the game was played on the opponent's half. Dawson didn't even have to make any adjustment during half time. Everybody was ecstatic when they walked off the field.
The girls were still in good spirits when they gathered at Dawson's apartment. Beer was flowing freely and music was blasting from Beca's computer. Beca was sitting in the corner looking at the girls. She had never expected to make friends in college, let alone enough to fill an apartment. She was never the type to have a lot of friend that were girls, but it was actually pretty nice.
Aubrey emerged from the kitchen and walked towards her. "I think you should go talk to Chloe, she's in the kitchen. She says she's fine, but I'm pretty sure that's not true. She might talk to you."
Beca nodded. "Thank Aubrey, I will take care of her. You should celebrate, go dance with your girlfriend." Beca gestured towards the middle of the room where Stacie was dancing with a few of the girls. "We haven't even been on a real date, so I don't think she is really my girlfriend," Aubrey replied. "Well, then go do something about it," was Beca's answer.
She didn't wait to see if Aubrey would take her advice, but instead made her way to the kitchen. There she found Chloe frantically opening and closing cabinet doors. She stopped and looked at her girlfriend for a second before stepping in. She pulled Chloe in for a hug. "Tell me what's wrong."
"I can't find a fucking bowl to fit the snacks in," she said while waving at the bags of chips on the counter. "Where would she put them. I looked everywhere. Maybe she just doesn't have them, but what person doesn't have bowls in their kitchen. I should have brought some from home. Maybe I could go and run home to grab some."
"Wow, Chlo, slow down, talk to me," Beca said. "I just need to find some bowls, then it'll be fine," Chloe responded, careful not to make eye contact. She removed herself from Beca's grip and started opening more doors. Beca wasn't having any of it though, and she moved towards her girlfriend and forced her to look at her.
The look of worry on her face caused tears to form in Chloe's eyes. "It's just so goddamn frustrating. I want to play, but all I can do is sit on the sidelines and cheer. This is my senior year and I will not even be able to finish the season. I'm going crazy."
"You don't know that, your next checkup is before the finals, maybe you'll get cleared then. And you are very important for the team, you keep everyone happy and sane."
"But that's not enough for me,," Chloe shouted. "What if I don't get cleared. Or what if we don't make it to the finals. What if I blew my last chance to make my dream come true?" Tears were streaking down her cheeks. Beca took her girlfriend in her arms. She looked over her shoulder to see Dawson standing in the doorway with a questioning look. She nodded at her to indicate that everything was okay. Dawson exited the kitchen again, leaving Beca and Chloe behind.
Beca held on to her girlfriend until she calmed down. She pulled back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I'm ruining this party for you," Chloe said quietly. "You have nothing to be sorry for, you are way more important to me than any party. And we'll figure something out, okay?"
Beca promised to take care of the snacks while Chloe freshened up in the bathroom. She looked in several cabinets, but sure enough, there were no bowls to be found. Then she remembered she saw a trick in a YouTube video once. She opened one of the bags and started rolling it from the bottom. It worked perfectly, the bags could now serve as bowls.
"When did you get so inventive?" Chloe asked her when she reentered the kitchen. She looked a bit better now, though still a little pale and very tired. Beca shrugged. "I guess I'm just awesome," she replied. Chloe chuckled and kissed her. "That you are."
They carried the snacks to the living room and were received with loud cheers. The other girls had started some sort of drinking game and were all already very drunk. Even Aubrey, who was currently sitting on Stacie's lap, seemed to have had a few beers. Cynthia Rose offered the both of them beers, but Chloe had to refuse because of her painkillers. When Beca rejected the offer as well, Chloe turned to her.
"You don't have to do that for me. I'm fine, you should go enjoy yourself with the girls." Beca shook her head. "I love those girls, but I'd rather spend the evening sober with you. Besides, it's not like they will remember most of this anyway."
Chloe sat down in one of the chairs that was still empty. She watched the game the girls were playing, but she wasn't really paying attention. Beca looked around the room and found Dawson in the back looking at Chloe. She made her way over to her coach. and stood next to her for a while.
"You should take her home, she looks tired and she isn't enjoying herself," Dawson said. "I know. But would you be okay with that? I mean, the party was our idea and I wouldn't want to leave you to deal with the mess," Beca responded. "That really considerate of you, but it's fine. I can handle this," Dawson replied.
Beca thanked her coach and made her way over to Chloe. She crouched down next to the chair. "Baby, I'm going to take you home," she said. Chloe looked at her like she wanted to protest, but decided to just give in, because she really wanted to go home. She nodded and got up to get her bag and jacket. Beca announced to the girls that they were leaving, which earned a round of complains. Luckily one deadly look was enough to shut the girls up.
As she turned around to gather her stuff as well, Aubrey got up and walked towards her. "Is everything okay?" she asked. "Can I help?" Beca shook her head. "Bree, it'll be okay. You should have fun tonight, relax a little. I will take care of Chloe."
Aubrey nodded and made her way back to Stacie's lap. Chloe appeared next to Beca with both of their stuff. Beca grabbed her hand and together they walked out into the cool air. They walked to Chloe's apartment in silence, both of them deep in thought. Chloe was still worrying about whether or not she would be able to play and what her life could possibly look like without hockey. Beca was racking her brain, trying to think of a way to help her girlfriend. She was feeling completely useless and wanted to do something to help Chloe.
Silently they walked into the apartment. Chloe didn't get much further than the couch, where she crashed. Beca took her jacket and put it away, before walking over to the couch. She nudged Chloe, so that the girl would make some space for her. When she was seated, Chloe put her head on her lap and closed her eyes. Beca noticed that she wasn't too far from sleep herself, but she didn't want to move, so she leaned back into the couch and closed her eyes as well.
Beca woke up with a start. She heard noise coming from the door. She first looked down to see if Chloe was still asleep and she found her girlfriend still lying peacefully in her lap. She tried to turn around to look at the door without disturbing Chloe. She saw the door open and Aubrey walking in backwards. Attached to her lips was a very drunk Stacie. The girls were unaware that they were not alone in the room.
Beca was trying to decide between alerting the girls of her presence before things got steamier or just to pretend she was asleep, hoping they would move to Aubrey's bedroom. While she was still deciding, she saw too big blue eyes looking up at her. "Oh my god, are they-," Chloe whispered, and Beca nodded. Chloe looked at her with horror in her eyes.
At this point, Aubrey and Stacie had made their way further into the apartment. They were still a long way from the door to Aubrey's bedroom, when Stacie started to lift Aubrey's shirt. This was really more than Beca ever wanted to see, so she cleared her throat loudly to alert the two tall girls of her presence. Both girls turned in shock and Aubrey's eyes grew wide. Stacie, however, had a playful glint in her eyes.
"Stacie, please keep it in your pants until you're in her room," Beca said with a smirk. She knew Aubrey was probably horrified and couldn't handle a joke right now, but Stacie could handle a little bit of teasing. "Ay ay, captain," she said and she pulled Aubrey towards her bedroom, leaving Beca and Chloe behind in a state of shock.
"Let's go and get you to bed," Beca said as she started to get up. Chloe followed her into her bedroom where they both brushed their teeth and changed. Beca was the first to get ready and she climbed under the sheet. Moments later Chloe joined her. She laid one arm across Beca's stomach and buried her head in Beca's neck. She hummed softly while she got comfortable.
Suddenly she started chuckling. Slowly her soft chuckles turned into a full on laugh. Beca looked at her like she was going crazy at first, but eventually she couldn't hold back her own laugh. It took them a while to calm down again. When they did, Chloe pressed a kiss on Beca's lips. "You are never going to let her forget this, are you?" she asked her girlfriend. "Nope," Beca said with a grin.