- Part 1 -


Arrhythmia


Come up to meet you,
Tell you I'm sorry.
You don't know how lovely you are.
I had to find you,
Tell you I need you,
Tell you I set you apart.
- Coldplay


Aubrey learned from a brochure Beca sent Chloe in the mail that they would be staying in a boutique hotel built during the prohibition in the early 1900s. The pictures don't do it justice. It's built like a mansion. Aubrey has stayed in few grandeur hotels before, thanks to her father, but The Candlewick Inn is nothing like any place she's ever vacationed. She tries not to look too in awe as she steps off the golf cart and admires the three story building in front of her. She doesn't want Beca to show up and know that she thinks she actually did something right for once. But the place is surrounded by gorgeous foliage and acres of land, and it's a pleasant change of pace from the cramped city. It doesn't even smell like seawater despite being less than a mile away from the marina. Instead, the heavy aroma of flowers and crab apples lingers in the air. It's sickeningly strong and sweet, and Aubrey loves it. She inhales deeply and holds the breath for a moment before slowly exhaling.

"You gonna have to drag me home from this place," Cynthia-Rose says as she's the first to march toward the building then up the steps to the entrance.

"There's five minutes left of continental breakfast," Fat Amy announces and passes Cynthia-Rose on the way to the door. Everyone else begins to follow them into the inn. Aubrey grins.

Chloe stands up and slips her arms around Aubrey's waist from behind. She presses her chin against her shoulder. "I told you it wouldn't be as bad as you thought, Aubrey," she says. "It smells kind of weird though." She nuzzles her nose against Aubrey's shoulder blade.

Aubrey rolls her eyes. Of course Chloe can stand the disgusting ocean but thinks that apples smell 'weird'. Aubrey wouldn't expect anything less. "Ooh, our bags," she says as she cart rolls past them. She pats Chloe's arms to be released then follows swiftly after the man rolling the cart until he stops. She grabs both of her bags.

"Aubrey, they're going to take them to our room," Chloe says and follows her with her arms folded. She makes no attempt to wrestle her own bags out from the pile.

Aubrey politely thanks the man with the cart then turns to face Chloe once he's rolling it away again. "When your bags don't show up, you're not using my toothbrush again," she says simply. Not that Chloe asked to use it last time that happened. Chloe has a habit of just assuming Aubrey won't care if she uses her things. She's more of the 'it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission' type, and it's enough to drive Aubrey up a wall. She adjusts the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "You're not wearing my clothes either." She thinks maybe that's the wrong thing to say, because Chloe has no qualms with running around naked.

"I'm already wearing your socks," Chloe says matter-of-factly and looks down at her sneakers. She makes a face. "Mine were all in the hamper."

"Chloe, I thought you were doing laundry yesterday morning," Aubrey replies in exasperation.

Chloe shrugs it off. "I got busy," she replies simply.

"What could you possibly be doing on a Saturday morning?" Aubrey asks. She's not sure she really wants to know. Most of the time Chloe's version of being busy means she didn't even wake up until noon.

"There was a Supernatural marathon on," Chloe replies with a grin and bobs her head. "Sam and Dean are hot."

Aubrey can't deny that last statement, but she looks at Chloe in annoyed confusion nonetheless. "You can't do laundry and watch Supernatural at the same time?" she asks.

"It always makes me scared that something is going to, like, pop out of the dryer and drag me in," Chloe says and looks dazed as though she's actually imagining that happening. Aubrey thinks Chloe really needs to stop watching so much television during her free time – that shouldn't really be free time, mind you. "If Sam Winchester looks at my body, I don't want it to be burnt to a crisp in our dryer," she continues, "I'd rather be possessed by a demon." She furrows her brow. "Maybe by Meg, but only because I can see you being the one possessed by Ruby."

"Chloe, Sam Winchester is not a real person," Aubrey says slowly. "The only person who is going to see your body burnt to a crisp in our dryer is me after I throw you in it because I got sick of doing your laundry." She turns on her heel and begins lugging her things up the stairs toward the inn's entrance.

"I don't think you understand the concept of television, Aubrey," Chloe says and follows her.

Did she really just accuse her of not understanding the concept of television after claiming she didn't want Sam Winchester to find her dead in their dryer? Of course she did. Aubrey rolls her eyes and refrains from arguing. Her point would be moot and she's not going to waste her energy. She pulls open the inn door and ushers Chloe inside then follows her. "How do you even watch that show when you can't even stand to see a fish get killed? You close your eyes and flinch during the scene in Tangled where Rapunzel hits Flynn with a frying pan."

"That's different," Chloe claims. She stops and turns to face her.

Aubrey stops and leans against the handle of her suitcase. "Why? Because Rapunzel isn't as attractive when she hits people as Sam is?" she asks.

"Not because of that," Chloe defends herself and shakes her head. "I don't watch Beca when she hits people, and she's hotter than Sam," she says as if that backs up her statement.

Beca walks in the door just as she says it. She gives the two of them a weird look that makes Aubrey feel like she's being judged by everyone around them, despite that no one else even seems to realize they're there. Beca's lips press together and she doesn't look like she holds much interest in what the two of them are actually discussing, even though it involves her now. That doesn't stop Chloe from including her in on the conversation.

"Sam Winchester takes out the bad guys," Chloe informs Beca with a smile.

"I, I don't know who that is," Beca says. She shakes her head then keeps walking.

"Sam Winchester started an apocalypse," Aubrey reminds her in a hushed tone.

"I didn't watch that part," Chloe replies, still smiling. She shakes her head. "It scared me."

Aubrey is going to throttle Chloe one of these days. Really, she is. She makes a mental note to do that before she puts her in the dryer. She gives up on the conversation and turns to face the interior of the inn.

The inside is equally as gorgeous as the outside. Hardwood floors are covered by patterned carpets that match the maroon drapes. There are old photos on the walls and flowers in vases. The place seems rather understaffed for the amount of maintenance that must be required though. In the middle of the lobby, there is only a short, stout woman who looks to be in her sixties that is handing out room keys and tending to the masses. She seems at ease working hard to make sure everyone knows where they need to go. Aubrey assumes she must have worked in the inn for a while, and maybe that she even owns the place. She's smiling cheerfully as she greets everyone and seems to be making small talk as she tells them where their rooms are. It's almost as if she's inviting them into her home.

Aubrey places her bag on the floor then lowers her hand onto the table beside her. Her fingers brush against something and nearly knock it over, but she quickly manages to grab it before it falls. She glances down to see what she's touching, and the piano figurine quickly holds her attention. She looks at Chloe, who has her hands clasped in front of her as is watching everyone in silence now, then slides her fingers across the wooden object. There is a metal crank on the side and she realizes it must be a music box. She turns to the side and places her other hand on the table then presses down on the piano keys, wondering if they make noise. They don't. Her brows furrow in interest either way.

She doesn't notice the woman who was handing out keys approach her and Chloe after everyone is finally settled. "You know, that thing has been around longer than I have," the woman comments, "It was my late husband's great grandfather's, passed down over the years." She doesn't pause as Aubrey looks at her. "We never had any kids, so now it's here. It's probably worth more than half of the stuff in here put together."

Aubrey snaps her hand back and immediately stops touching it. She usually knows better than to touch things that don't belong to her. She rushes to apologize when Chloe cheerfully cuts her off with, "Aubrey loves pianos. She's amazing at playing them."

"Chloe, I'm not that good," Aubrey denies modestly.

"What are you talking about?" Chloe replies in sincere confusion. "You're great."

"Look at those piano playing fingers you have," the woman comments and grabs Aubrey's hand. She looks at her fingers then clasps Aubrey's hand between both of her own hands. "My husband had those long piano fingers too. His piano is still in the ballroom. You'll have to play it for me."

Aubrey opens her mouth to reject the offer then shuts it again and looks at her hand. She's used to Chloe constantly touching her, but not other people. She glances over at Chloe, who just grins and nods eagerly. "Maybe sometime this week," she says, hoping that will earn her her hand back. It has been a while since she's had the opportunity to play a piano. Her hand is dropped and she tries to seem casual as she folds her arms.

"Ooh," the woman says enthusiastically and picks up the music box. "But first you have to play this."

Aubrey doesn't realize she's offering it to her until it's thrust out in front of her. She slowly unfolds her arms and shakes her head. "No thank you," she says with a polite smile. She's not going to touch something that's worth more money than she has in her bank account. She awkwardly rubs her throat and shakes her head.

"Aubrey, you were just looking at it like it was made of gold," Chloe states. She's never any help at all. But then she is, because Aubrey really wants to wind up the piano and listen to whatever it plays.

"No one has touched this since my husband died." The woman's voice is so matter-of-fact that Aubrey wonders how long ago he passed. "I would be honored for another music lover to wind it up again."

It sinks in that she's not getting out of this. Aubrey slowly takes the piano from her like it's made of glass that could easily be shattered. She winds up the crank then stares at it as nothing happens.

"Open the panels above the keys," the woman directs her.

Aubrey does as she's told. She slides the thin wooden panels off to the sides and the keys begin to bounce up and down. For a moment, the box is silent. Chloe clutches her arm and leans over to get a better look at it. It takes a second, but Wedding of the Winds begins to creak out. It obviously needs to be oiled, but both Aubrey's and Chloe's eyes light up nonetheless. Chloe squeezes Aubrey's arm.

Aubrey is slightly mesmerized. Or a lot mesmerized. She grins then makes an 'o' shape with her mouth as her eyes follow the keys. The music quits before the keys do. The crank makes a clicking noise before everything comes to a stop. "That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," she says. She wants to play it again, but she carefully hands it back.

The woman has tears in her eyes as she takes it and places it back on the stand.

"Your entire inn is gorgeous," Chloe points out and looks around.

The woman places one hand on Chloe's shoulder and the other on her cheek as she smiles at her. "You are precious," she coos. Chloe grins and looks almost shyly at the floor. Aubrey rolls her eyes. Chloe is anything but shy. She watches them for a moment, wondering how two people who have just met can be so comfortably touchy-feely with each other, but then she's snapped out of her thoughts by the woman finally introducing herself properly.

"I'm Maggie and I own the Candlewick," she says as steps back and clasps her hands together in front of her. "You two are obviously Aubrey and Chloe."

Chloe grins and nods. "That's Aubrey," she says and points to Aubrey. "I'm Chloe." Aubrey is pretty sure the woman somehow already knows that, but she doesn't have a chance to say anything.

"There is a special room booked just for the two of you," Maggie says without missing a beat as Chloe stops talking.

Aubrey furrows her brows and looks off in the direction that everyone else went in. She didn't book any special room for herself and Chloe. She didn't even know there were any special rooms. "But I booked-"

"Don't worry about the price," Maggie cuts her off. "It's the same rate as the room you originally booked. The bride and groom called me last week and they requested this room especially for you."

Great. If Beca booked it for her, it's probably a death trap. Or a jail cell that she'll never get out of. Or infested with some sort of bugs. Aubrey looks at Chloe to see if she knew anything about this but Chloe just looks at her in confusion and shrugs. Her expression is enough that Aubrey knows she honestly had no idea about this either. "We can stay in our regular room," Aubrey intervenes. "We don't want to be an inconvenience."

"Aubrey, come on," Chloe says and shakes her head. "If Beca booked us a special room, the least we can do is stay in it."

"Chloe, I booked us a room," Aubrey says. She doesn't need any favors from Beca. "We can stay in that one." She lifts the strap of her bag back up onto her shoulder then turns and grabs her suitcase with that same hand.

"Now, there is no need for arguing," Maggie cuts in. She grabs Chloe's hand then takes Aubrey's also. "I promise you are going to love this room." She walks with Chloe and half drags Aubrey back toward the way they came in.

Aubrey blinks a few times then picks up speed to follow them when it hits her that this woman has a tight grip on her hand and is not letting her get away. She realizes in horror that she's suddenly being dragged away by Chloe and Chloe thirty years from now. She hopes Beca gets stuck in a 'special' room with the two of them together. It'll be the perfect payback for whatever is wrong with this room.