Pixie1913: Alice would be that petty, wouldn't she?
RJRMovieFan: Thank you.
FromTumblr: It's all in the process of going down now.
SunDanceQT: Cause you're a sucker for Mitchsen.
Vickstik: I remember this one Silent Hill game that my friend and I were on, I can't remember which number, but Pyramid Head kept fucking us up with his giant knife. And, finally, when we looked up how to beat him, it literally just said to run away from him until he got bored, lol. I feel like that's where we're at now.
Malexfaith: This part is almost done. The story as a whole will go on for a lot longer.
Mwallace: With more yet to come.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!


Arrhythmia


A storm is coming;
Desire burns.
A war is calling;
The tides are turned.
Empires rise,
Empires fall.
We live or die,
To take the throne.
- Ruelle


"I don't hear it again," Beca says.

Aubrey stops walking – possibly even stops breathing. The sound is so sporadic. Should she yell to see if anyone responds? No, if it is Luke, that would let him know they're taking the bait.

"It reminds me of somebody hammering," Beca says.

It does have that very distinct noise of a hammer, not hitting the wood, but hitting the nail itself.

Clink.

Aubrey is about to step forward again when she hears her name. It's distant, but she would know Chloe's voice anywhere. "Chloe!"

Beca catches her before she can launch herself toward the sound of Chloe yelling. "I'm telling you, this could be a trap. Chloe is the perfect bait, Aubrey. They might be luring us in to kill her in front of us, or to kill us in front of her."

Aubrey pushes her away, stumbling backward over a tree root that knocks her to her bottom. The only way that's possible is if Chloe doesn't know she's being used as bait. Aubrey firmly believes that Chloe would never call her to her death – or to watch Chloe die. They would never do that to each other. She has to sit there and wait for the trees to stop spinning around her before she can grab one of them and pull herself back up.

"Aubrey…"

"I tripped." Aubrey kicks the root with her toes for further proof. "Chloe!" She rubs her throat. Her voice is so hoarse, Chloe is never going to be able to hear her. "Yell to her, Beca."

"Chloe!" Beca yells at the top of her lungs.

"Beca?" Chloe screams back, "Beca!"

xxxxx

"Come out tonight."

"To who?" Aubrey was trying to focus on the Hallmark Christmas movie she was watching on her laptop. "Chloe, you're going to strangle me with garland."

Chloe squeezed her way between Aubrey and her desk until she was straddling Aubrey's lap, with the blue garland wrapped around the back of her neck – doing a really good job at blocking Aubrey's view. She laughed. "I meant to a Christmas party," she said, "Not to a person. I think everyone already pretty much knows we're dating. I'm not exactly subtle."

"Well, it's going to be a shame when you have to tell them all I broke up with you, because you wouldn't get out of my way." Aubrey tried to lean around her. "For serious, Chloe, you make a better door than you do a window. I can't see."

"Aubrey, this movie is not important." Chloe craned her body around and closed the laptop. "Come out with me."

Did she really just…? She shut Aubrey's laptop. Aubrey needed a moment to fully grasp this.

"Please." Chloe leaned in close to her face. She smelled like peppermint – meaning she was probably stealing candy canes from the Bellas' tree. "I want you to come."

Aubrey just stared at her – still thrown off that Chloe had turned off her movie.

Chloe crossed the ends of the garland over one another against Aubrey's chest. "We can get dressed up, get drunk, find somewhere to hide so I can undress you…"

"Or," Aubrey tried to reason with her, "I can finish this movie, and then we can have sex here. Is this the same party you made me go to last year?"

Chloe avoided looking her in the eye, staring at her lips instead. "I'm sure there will be different people."

It wasn't the people that were the problem. "Do you remember what happened last year?" Aubrey asked.

"Nope. Did we have hot sex somewhere outrageous?" Chloe answered.

"We didn't have sex," Aubrey informed her.

"Oh." Chloe finally looked her in the eye again, disappointed.

"You texted your hot English professor that you wanted to see the balls hanging from his Christmas tree."

Chloe made a sound of disgust.

"To which he responded by asking where you were – but you couldn't remember the address, so you told him to just type your name into his GPS."

"No wonder he was weird the last few days before break," Chloe said.

"And, then, when I wanted to leave, you started crying, because there was a song on you liked, so you didn't want to go. And then you disappeared, and I ended up puking up some drink that tasted like pine in the yard, because I couldn't find the bathroom or you."

"Ew."

Aubrey gave her a look.

"I mean the drink; I'm sorry you threw up. Did you drink the Christmas tree water they poured in the half empty vodka bottle to make it more festive?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to assume yes," Aubrey answered – so she did remember some of it, "And when I finally did find you, you were asleep in the cat bed with the cat."

"Was it cute?" Chloe asked.

"To see you sleeping in the cat bed?" Aubrey asked.

"No, I can't imagine that was very cute," Chloe answered, "I meant the cat."

Aubrey was two steps away from strangling one of them with that garland. All of that, and she wanted to know if the cat was cute.

Chloe smiled and pulled the garland away from Aubrey to wrap around her own neck, flinging one of the ends over her shoulder. "It'll be more fun this year. You know campus security has been cracking down on alcohol consumption on campus." She wrapped her arms around Aubrey's neck. "We can have a few drinks, I can take your clothes off, then we can come home and finish your movie together."

"Or-"

Chloe leaned forward and brushed their lips together. "I'll wear that green dress you like," she offered, "You can wear that red one I like…"

Aubrey did like that green dress.

"Please?" Chloe begged.

"Fine. Two drinks, and then we come home."

"Four," Chloe bartered.

"Three."

Chloe bit her lower lip. "Three and you have to kiss me under any mistletoe they have hanging up."

"Deal."

xxxxx

"Chloe, keep yelling!" Beca calls.

"Beca!"

Aubrey can hear her crying – but she can't see anything. They appear to be getting closer to her, but wherever she is, she isn't moving any closer to them.

"Chloe, where are you?" Beca yells.

"I don't know!" Chloe sobs. "I think it's, like, a drain or something? It's like a grate in the ground and – and – where is Aubrey?!"

"We're both right here!" Beca tells her.

Chloe's cries take on a new tone of relief.

Aubrey scans the ground until she sees a concrete slab with a metal grate in the middle of it. It almost reminds her of a sidewalk drain – only rusted and made of thick metal bars, some of which have either been removed or fallen out of their slots. "Chloe!" She drops to her knees down next to it.

There is blood all over the side of Chloe's face. On her hands. Her shirt. The metal bar she's holding, which she then drops into the ankle deep water she's standing in. "Aubrey!" She stretches her hands up toward the bars, unable to reach them.

Aubrey puts the gun back in her pants, then lowers herself onto her stomach to reach down and grab her hands. "Are you okay?" It's hard to assess the damage from where she is – where all she can see is there is a lot of blood.

Chloe squeezes her eyes shut and nods. "Please, just get me out." She clings to Aubrey's hands with a weak grip.

"I'll get you out," Aubrey promises her, "Just hold on."

xxxxx

"This is definitely not where you brought me last year," Aubrey said as they approached Sigma Beta Theta's house.

"Honestly, it all just kind of blurs together for me at this point," Chloe said.

Aubrey shook her head. "Maybe that's a sign you party too much?"

"What?" Chloe asked in a high-pitched tone of disbelief. "I don't think that's what that means."

Aubrey hummed her disagreement. Honestly, Chloe's love of parties didn't bother Aubrey all that much. Chloe was…a responsible type of irresponsible, however that made sense. The only problem was, she constantly wanted Aubrey to go with her to these loud, chaotic events where everyone was stumbling around, making poor choices they'd either forget or regret in the morning. She didn't understand the appeal like Chloe somehow did.

"At least these guys are pretty chill," Chloe commented.

Aubrey could agree with that. There were people just milling around the yard, drinks in hand, chatting. This, she could deal with. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. She reached for the doorknob once they approached the door.

"Um, hello." Chloe grabbed her hand, "You can't just go back on your end of the deal." She pointed up.

Aubrey glanced up at the mistletoe. "I didn't see it," she assured her. Unlike Chloe, she didn't spend the holidays running around on the lookout for holiday foliage – which was odd, because that actually sounded a lot more like Aubrey than it did Chloe. She pecked Chloe's lips.

Chloe looked disappointed.

"What?" Aubrey asked, lowering her voice, "You want to have sex on the doorstep?"

"I wouldn't be against it."

"Chloe, just go inside," Aubrey responded flatly.

Chloe didn't budge.

"We can go home…" Aubrey motioned back the way they came.

"Don't be shy," Chloe teased her.

Aubrey arched her brows. "I'm not sh-" She was cut off by Chloe pressing their lips together in a real kiss. In an effort to open the door and maneuver Chloe inside, Aubrey missed the doorknob and accidentally pressed the doorbell – which had been programmed to play a Deck the Halls sound effect.

The door opened, and Aubrey and Chloe quickly broke apart. "It's a party," the guy who opened it said casually, not addressing their shenanigans at all, "You don't have to ring the bell." He stepped out of their way.

Aubrey ducked her head. "Yep."

Chloe took her by the hand and dragged her inside – letting the guy shut the door behind them. "This seems your speed."

Sigma Beta Theta wasn't exactly known from being wild. There were a few Christmas themed games happening – like pin the nose on Rudolph, and a lot of people dancing to some Christmas remixes playing loudly, but not loudly enough to make Aubrey's eardrums feel like they were about to explode. This was actually okay. She hung her jacket by the door, then helped Chloe out of hers too.

"Drinks?" Chloe asked.

Aubrey nodded. If the night continued to look like this, she might consider staying longer. They walked into the kitchen where an overwhelming variety of liquor awaited them. "Did you know that too many choices actually deters people from making a choice at all?" she asked, looking at it all.

"Are you saying you need me to mix you a drink?" Chloe asked.

Aubrey neither confirmed nor denied her lack of knowledge when it came to choosing a drink that was going to taste good without knocking her on her ass or leaving her puking for hours the next morning.

"I got it," Howie said as he walked up beside them, "Hey, Aubrey."

"Oh. You don't have to do that." Aubrey watched him grab a green solo cup from the selection of that and red.

Chloe started pouring herself a drink. "Hi, Howie."

Howie didn't look at her. "Hey…" He paused. "What's your name again?"

"Chloe."

"Right, yeah, Chloe. Hey." Howie stirred the drink he poured with a candy cane, then hung it over the edge and handed it to Aubrey.

Aubrey took a sip. She should have let Chloe choose her drink, because this one was a little too good.

"It's just vanilla vodka," Howie said, "In case you want another one."

"Thank you," Aubrey said.

Howie nodded – and they just stood there for a few seconds, looking at each other, and then looking anywhere except at each other. "I guess I'll see you later."

Aubrey nodded. "Yeah."

Howie gave her a wave as he stepped away toward the living room. "I'm gonna go dance."

"Okay," Aubrey said, and swirled her drink around with the candy cane.

"Later."

Didn't he already said that? "See you later, Howie." Aubrey watched him walk away. Aca-awkward.

Chloe laughed into her cup once he was gone.

Aubrey looked at her. "What?"

"Maybe we need to come out to Howie," Chloe said.

"Why?" Aubrey asked.

"Oh my stars, he was literally in love with you right there," Chloe replied.

"He was being nice," Aubrey said.

"Because he wants to take your pants off," Chloe said.

"I'm not wearing pants," Aubrey replied, even though she knew full-well what Chloe meant.

"That's going to make my life easier later." Chloe took the candy cane out of her drink and licked it, then put it back in the cup. "Mm."

"It's good, right?" Aubrey took a long swallow.

"That's really good – even just from the candy cane." Chloe took a drink of her own drink. "Want to go dance?"

Aubrey nodded. She took another drink, then turned and poured a little more vanilla vodka in it to fill it back up. "Ready."

xxxxx

The grate is padlocked. Aubrey sits on her bottom beside it and tries kicking the bars with the heel of her foot – hoping if some have broken off, the rest can too. But they're all fastened tight. "Shit." She kicks it again. Her heart is pounding so hard, she thinks it's going to break a rib. "Chloe," she says, getting up with the assistance of adrenaline, "I need you to stand against the wall, and cover your head."

Chloe does what she's told. She presses herself face first into the cement and curls both arms over her head.

Aubrey pulls the gun back out. Her hands are trembling beyond her control. She can barely even feel one of them. She positions herself with her feet hip-width apart, and uses both hands to try to point the handgun at the lock. It feels like the barrel is shaking all over the place. She needs to calm down. Only, she's shaking from a lot more than just anxiety – she knows it. She draws in then releases several deep, supposed-to-be centering breaths.

The first shot misses. Not by much. The bullet breaks apart and shatters pieces of metal and cement in various directions. She looks down to make sure Chloe is okay. That's what she's worried about – not shooting her, but, rather, stray pieces of shrapnel. "Okay." She shakes her hands one at a time – alternating the gun between them. "You can do this." She rolls her shoulders. Everything just feels too shaky. She tries to conjure up some words of wisdom – but, for once, she can't think of a single thing. Just stop shaking.

Sheer willpower isn't doing anything. "Beca," Aubrey says, "Come stand behind me."

Beca moves behind her.

"Put your hands on mine," Aubrey instructs her, and waits until her arms are around Aubrey and her hands are covering Aubrey's hand, "Just keep me steady." It helps. Beca isn't trembling nearly as badly as she is, and manages to hold her hands still enough for her to aim. The second shot hits the lock, and the third sends it flying across the cement.

Aubrey drops the gun. She's on her hands and knees in a matter of seconds, prying open the grate and letting it fall to the side with a great clatter. She doesn't even have to call for Beca. They're both suddenly leaning forward, trying to pull Chloe out without falling in themselves.

Chloe scrambles to Aubrey the moment she's out, nearly knocking her onto her back. She can't seem to get closer enough to her – even when her arms are wrapped around her and her entire body is pressed into Aubrey's, her face buried completely in Aubrey's shoulder. "I thought you were dead." She keeps trying to pull Aubrey closer to her, gasping for air, beginning to hyperventilate. Her fingers grasp Aubrey's sweatshirt and then her hair and just keep moving like they're unsure of where to hold. "I thought you were dead." She alternates between gasping and sobbing – occasionally sounding like she's trying to both at once.

Aubrey squeezes her, but at the same time she feels frozen. Chloe is smearing blood all over her. It's not that Chloe is smearing blood all over her that bothers her, it's that Chloe is smearing blood all over her. "Beca," she breathes, cradling Chloe's head against her shoulder, "I need something out of our bags. A towel, a shirt, anything."

Beca nearly rips the zipper right off the bag. "Fuck." She tears through things for a few seconds before pulling out a t-shirt. "Here."

Aubrey takes it then eases Chloe back. "Let me see." She wipes the tears and blood away from Chloe's eyes with her shirt sleeves before placing both of her hands on Chloe's head to find where it's coming from. There is a gash on the side right where her hairline is, and a bruise starting to form all around it. "What did they hit you with?" She balls up the shirt and tries to put pressure on the wound, fighting off guilt as Chloe yelps in pain.

"They didn't." Chloe places her hand on top of Aubrey's, trying to loosen it, but Aubrey doesn't budge. "I was…I was trying to get away. I fell. Into the wall. Into a brick." She places her hand on her forehead and lowers her head down to Aubrey's shoulder again. "It really hurts, Aubrey."

"It's not that bad," Aubrey assures her, only it looks like it is that bad, "The head has a lot of superficial blood vessels, so it tends to bleed a lot if injured." She slides her free hand under Chloe's shirt to rub her back – because she knows that her words are probably useless to Chloe. Chloe doesn't need words like Aubrey does to calm down. She tries to hold her closer, but it's hard when she's trying to stop her head from bleeding.

Chloe keeps crying into her shirt, slowly gliding her hand up and down Aubrey's upper arm. "I want my mom." She grips Aubrey's sleeve and pulls it forward, pressing her face uncomfortably hard against Aubrey's shoulder. "Bree, I want my mom."

Aubrey wants her too. "We're going to go into the town," she tells her the plan, trying not to let her voice waver, "We can hide in one of the houses, and wait this out. I'm sure your mom will get the first flight in, and then we can go to Florida for awhile."

Chloe shakes her head. "I want her to come home with us."

"Or that." Aubrey prefers that too. She wants to go home. "We have to get up." She grabs the gun and slides it back into her pants, then does her best to help Chloe up and stand up herself – fortunately Beca silently assists. "Can you walk okay?"

Chloe nods.

"Hold this on your head, even if it hurts." Aubrey replaces her own hand over the shirt with Chloe's. She wipes some of the blood from her hands onto her jeans, the wraps her arms around Chloe's shoulders. Now they just have to find the town.

xxxxx

"Who let Bumper in?" Aubrey complained, following Chloe to an area with room for both of them to dance.

"Who let him drink?" Chloe replied, looking at him.

"Who convinced him he could sing?" Aubrey gave him a disgusted look. "You're ruining the song!"

Chloe laughed and smacked her arm.

"He is."

"You don't that have to yell it across the room," Chloe said.

"How else is he going to know?" Aubrey retorted, "Someone has to tell him."

Chloe grinned and shook her head, taking a sip of her drink before jumping in on the song.

It's a wonderful feeling,
Feel the love in the room,
From the floor to the ceiling.
It's that time of year;
Christmastime is here.
And with the blessings from above,
God sends you his love,
And everything's okay.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.

She pressed up against Aubrey as she danced, enticing her to join.

Usually, Aubrey hated dancing. Not with The Bellas – she loved that. It was the unstructured dancing that felt awkward – and, even though she knew she had rhythm, she never quite felt like she was doing the right thing with her body. It was different with Chloe though, when they were dancing together. Chloe made it easier – 'fun', she might even dare say. She grabbed Chloe's hand and twirled her around to join her, singing along with her.

No matter what your holiday,
It's a time to celebrate;
And put your worries aside,
And open up your mind.
See the world right by your side,
It's Christmastime.

"Finally, some talent," Howie commented.

Chloe gave Aubrey a look that caused them both to momentarily huddle against one another in a sudden burst of giggles. They both took another drink, then jumped back into the song at different times, mid-lyric.

"I have talent!" Bumper announced, "You're all going to regret not appreciating it."

"He's so fucking weird," Chloe whispered.

"I'm going to be famous!" Bumper told them all, "I'm going to be all over the news! You'll wish you were nicer!"

Aubrey shook her head. "Never."

Chloe laughed. "I love you," she said, and kissed her.

xxxxx

"We followed the sun here," Aubrey thinks out loud, "So, we should definitely go West – which is that way."

"Are you sure?" Beca asks.

Aubrey nods without hesitation. "Yes."

Chloe sniffles. "Aubrey has a really good sense of direction."

It's light enough that they can see now, at least. The sun casts a dim light through the clouds that makes the entire world feel greyscale. "If we can manage to get back to the church, we can find the town from there." She just has to navigate them back to the tunnel – then hope she can find her way to the church without going underground again. The sight of Chloe's blood on the wall is going to haunt her along with the deer for the rest of her life, no matter how short it is, and she never wants to set foot down in those tunnels again. Even just the thought is too much. "Chloe, tell me if you need to stop and rest, okay?"

Chloe nods, starting to calm down. "Aubrey, I'm okay," she tells her and wipes her nose on the back of her hand, "I'm just scared." The blood soaking into the shirt tells Aubrey a different story.

xxxxx

They were both in heels, but somehow Chloe was so much faster than Aubrey. Then again, Aubrey might not have stopped after just three drinks like she said she was going to. Neither did Chloe. But Aubrey was a bit of a lightweight, and Chloe not quite so much. She followed her around the side of the house, behind the bushes, a rush of warmth cascading through her entire body as Chloe turned her around and pushed her up against the wall.

Chloe tried to stand taller and giggled as she held the mistletoe she had stolen from the front door over Aubrey's head, then dropped it on her by accident.

Aubrey managed to catch it and held it high in the air with a laugh as Chloe tried to grab it back.

"Kiss me," Chloe demanded.

Aubrey did. Possibly with a little too much force. She fell forward as Chloe fell backward against the bush – which graciously prevented them from falling completely to the ground.

"Ow, sharp." Chloe couldn't stop laughing. She got them back upright and pressed Aubrey into the wall again, pressing their lips hard against each other.

Someone cleared their throat.

Aubrey and Chloe broke apart – at least their lips did, and they turned to see Howie a few feet away.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked.

Howie looked down at his dick then back up. "Peeing?"

"Ew, gross," Aubrey said, unflinching at Chloe smacked her.

"There was a line to the bathroom." Howie zipped up his pants. "What are you doing?"

"There was a line to the bedroom," Chloe answered, her hand traveling to rest against Aubrey's neck.

Aubrey should have been embarrassed, but she was just giggling again at Chloe's response.

"Can I join?" Howie asked.

"What?" Aubrey and Chloe asked at the same time.

"Every guy's dream," Howie said, looking directly at Aubrey, "Uh, you know," he looked away, "two girls at once."

"Give us a second," Chloe said. She turned to Aubrey. "Why not?"

"Because I'm with you, and I love you," Aubrey answered without missing a beat, "Also, it's weird."

"I told you, sex and romance are not always mutually exclusive," Chloe said, "And people have threesomes all the time. It's completely normal."

"He is really cute, isn't he?" Aubrey asked, looking at Howie.

"So cute," Chloe agreed, "And he really wants to have sex with you. We can totally use him for sex, and then just go back to our normal lives tomorrow – and there's more vodka inside if you regret it."

"I can…hear you," Howie stated.

"Sorry, one more second." Chloe dragged Aubrey back a few feet.

"I have a lot of reservations," Aubrey whispered.

"Like?"

"For starters, I've never," Aubrey hand-motioned, "with a man."

"It's so much easier," Chloe whispered back, "You barely have to do anything. Guys get off just by seeing a boob, half the time. And if he sucks, you just fake it."

Aubrey frowned.

"I've never faked it with you," Chloe read her mind, "Not even close."

Aubrey looked at Howie. He was really cute. And she was really fucking drunk. And Chloe was making it sound tempting.

Chloe pressed her lips closer to Aubrey's ear. "I want to watch."

xxxxx

Nothing feels familiar – but, also, it was dark when they were running through the woods earlier. Aubrey keeps an eye out for the tree they used to shelter them from the rain. It's only now she realizes that, while clouds still crowd the sky, the rain has completely tapered off. Or, maybe she realized it before and she forgot. Everything is becoming a blur.

"How long do you think we were running around out here?" Beca asks.

"Beca, I don't even know how many days I have been on this island," Aubrey admits, "I don't know how long we were out here."

Beca falls quiet again.

Chloe leans her weight into Aubrey – rubbing her eyes with her thumb and fingers every now and again like she does when she has headaches.

"Do you need to stop and sit down?" Aubrey asks.

"No," Chloe mumbles.

Aubrey doesn't believe her for one second. "I do."

Beca looks at Aubrey. "I think-"

"I need to sit down," Aubrey is quick to enforce her decision.

"I was saying," Beca replies, "I think I hear water."

Aubrey listens. She hears it too. It sounds close. Maybe they can take a second and she can try to wash some of the blood off Chloe and clean her head. She switches directions and leads them that way.

"I didn't say we should look for it." Beca follows her.

"I didn't know you were in charge," Aubrey retorts.

"Why do you do that?" Beca asks, "Why do you get so defensive when someone disagrees with you? We were just fine."

"You weren't disagreeing," Aubrey answers. When was Beca every just disagreeing? "You were challenging my decisions."

"No, I wasn't," Beca argues.

"Guys, please stop," Chloe pleads.

Aubrey quits talking. She continues to lead them toward the sound – stopping when she reaches what looks like the edge of the world. The ground in front of them just stops. She looks down below, at least 200 feet down, at a river.

Chloe jolts backward, slamming into Beca, who catches her. She drags Beca back away from the edge with her.

Aubrey finds it difficult to move – in as much awe as she is terror. She looks to her right at the giant suspension bridge connecting their side of the cliff to the other side of the island. Wow.

"Aubrey, get back from there," Chloe begs her.

Aubrey glances behind her then takes several steps back. "Maybe there's a way out over there," she says, "Another dock or-"

"You want to cross that?" Beca asks.

Aubrey doesn't know. It just seems like staying where they are, even if they try to hide, is just going to get them killed.

Beca looks at the bridge. "I'm in if you are…"

Chloe isn't in. She shakes her head, continuing to back away until she backs into a tree. She moves behind it and rests her hands and forehead against it, bursting back into tears of panic. And it's clear there is nothing they can say or do that is going to get Chloe onto that bridge.

"We won't go," Aubrey tells her.

Chloe starts rubbing her eyes again.

Aubrey takes a step toward her to help her, when Luke's voice freezes her. It freezes all of them. Chloe stops crying and looks up.

"Hey!" Luke yells.

Aubrey pulls out the gun again and looks around.

Beca turns in a full circle, looking between the trees. She stops once she's facing forward again. "He's on the bridge."

Beca is right. Aubrey sees him step onto the bridge – oblivious to their presence only several feet away. She backs up slowly until she reaches Chloe, replacing the tree that Chloe is physically attached to with herself. What is he doing? She watches him walk with determination toward the middle, while rubbing Chloe's back to calm her back down.

"That's the bartender," Beca says.

Aubrey looks at the other side of the bridge.

Walking directly toward Luke is Nikki.

xxxxx

Aubrey's throat felt dry. That was the only part of her that felt dry in response to Chloe's words. Why would Chloe want to watch her have sex with someone else? But, then again, why was she getting so turned on by the thought of Chloe watching her have sex with someone else? "What do I do?"

"Just walk over there and kiss him," Chloe answered, "You can go from there."

Aubrey nodded. She was so nervous. Not the normal probably going to puke kind of nervous – a different, more pleasant kind. "I can do this."

"You can do this," Chloe agreed.

Aubrey spun around with confidence and marched herself back over to Howie – who was still just standing there, but with an unopened condom in his hand. Just kiss him. She pressed their lips together, shivering under the new sensation. His mouth was cooler than Chloe's, and his stubble tickled her skin. She liked it. It was nowhere near as much as she liked kissing Chloe, but still, she enjoyed it. She placed her hands on his face, gliding her thumbs over his cheeks. It felt so different than what she was used to, and it wasn't bad. Her hands slid down to his neck then his chest as he pressed her back against the wall.

She could take it from there. She reached down and unbuttoned his pants then slid down his zipper. It didn't take a lot of effort to push them down past his hips. He really should have considered wearing a belt with those.

Howie kissed from her mouth down to her neck, finding a sensitive spot that made her moan and arch her back away from the wall. He pressed his hips against hers – and feeling him hard wasn't nearly as weird as Aubrey thought it was going to be. This was what having sex with a guy felt like. Huh. She pushed down his underwear, and, fortunately, he put the condom on himself. She was sure she could have managed, but it sure deterred the awkwardness of it.

Aubrey's gaze found Chloe as Howie lifted her dress and slid her underwear down. It was Chloe, not Howie, that had her going. It was seeing Chloe staring at them like she was refraining from jumping in at any moment and pulling Aubrey away for herself getting her so worked up. Howie felt good – especially as he slid himself inside of her, but it was nowhere good as locking eyes with Chloe in the moment made her feel.

It went faster with Howie than it did with Chloe – and, sometimes, it went fairly quickly with Chloe. But Aubrey wasn't complaining. He was focused. She liked that. She leaned her head against the wall as he kissed her jaw, then her mouth. His hands rested on her waist, not really moving like Chloe's did. It made her realize that her arms were draped loosely around his neck. It didn't take very much effort – just a lot of rocking their hips back and forth. She closed her eyes once she was close.

And then he stopped.

Chloe's hands were on both of their chests, gently pushing him back. "She's mine," she informed him in a low voice, "Only I get to take her that far."

Aubrey's legs nearly gave out from under her. Fuck. She lifted up the front of Chloe's dress and found her way down the front of her underwear as Chloe took over for Howie. Howie was watching them now, watching Chloe claim her, but it didn't seem to bother him one bit; he just used his own hand. Aubrey figured this was probably the best day of his life, judging by his shocked expression. It was impossible to focus on just one person at once, but Chloe already felt so close from watching them that Aubrey didn't really need to focus anymore.

The moment Aubrey toppled over the edge, too drunk to think about muffling her cry, Chloe came too, and judging by Howie's groan, so did he. That was…something. She collapsed into Chloe – tingling with pleasure, absolutely exhausted, and a little bit sick as the reality of how drunk she was caught up with her body.

"Home?" Chloe asked, holding her up.

Aubrey nodded. She had hit maximum excitement for the night.

"If you tell anyone, we'll kill you," Chloe told Howie.

"Who would believe me?" Howie asked.

xxxxx

Aubrey can't move.

Beca can. She closes the distance between them, her hands finding Aubrey's shoulder.

Luke lifts the rifle – and before Aubrey even has time to process, he shoots. The shot echoes. Nikki collapses.

"I thought she was already dead," Beca whispers.

Aubrey had too.

"Do we run?" Beca asks.

Aubrey's chest is heaving for air. She can't run like this anymore. Chloe can't run like this.

Luke turns to face them. He knew they were there.

Aubrey cradles Chloe closer to her, and slowly steps back.

He looks at them, then bends down and places the rifle on the ground in front of him.

xxxxx

Aubrey woke up in Chloe's bed, absolutely dying. But her pajamas were on and her makeup was off, so, that was a step up from the usual. The satisfaction was short-lived as flashes from the night pieced themselves together in her head, and she groaned. Did she have sex with Howie? Did Chloe watch her have sex with Howie? Her head pounded, and her mouth tasted like the entirety of Christmas died and slowly decayed inside of it. She took a few deep breaths, trying to determine whether or not she was okay. "Chloe."

"By the bed," Chloe mumbled into her pillow, "Gimme a sec."

Of course. Aubrey nearly fell off the bed, trying to slide herself sideways to the floor. One day, she'd remember to go feet first – not headfirst. Why would she go headfirst off the bed? But she did. Every fucking time. This shouldn't happen as often as it did – which wasn't that often, but still often enough that it was an all too familiar position to end up in. She dragged the trashcan over, then slouched forward with her forehead rested on Chloe's bedframe so she didn't have to hold her own head up if she puked. It was at least less shameful than the communal bathroom.

"S'bright," Chloe complained.

It was bright. Aubrey curled her arms over her head – killing two birds with one stone in blocking out some of the light and gathering her own hair up out of her face. "You let me have sex with Howie."

"Do you regret it?" Chloe asked.

Did she? Aubrey didn't answer. It had felt good. She wasn't sure Chloe could see her shake her head.

"Wanna do it again?" Chloe asked.

"No," Aubrey answered with all the confidence in the world. All she wanted to do was throw up and get it over with. Vodka was created by Satan to lure innocent, unsuspecting people like Aubrey straight to hell. Throwing it up felt like throwing up fire – about to be vanilla and peppermint fire – everything she imagined Christmas in hell must feel like. Disgusting.

"I think I'm dying," Chloe told her.

"I'll finish the job for you, as soon as I can move," Aubrey assured her shakily.

"Thanks."

Aubrey didn't want to talk anymore. She sat there just breathing, almost falling back to sleep like that. She wished she could just go back to sleep. Her stomach heaved without warning instead.

"Oof." Chloe rolled over and felt around until she found Aubrey, gently stroking her arm as she threw up. "You okay?" she asked when she was done.

"Yeah." Aubrey tried to catch her breath. "Chl-" She heaved again.

Chloe groaned and inched her way closer to the edge of the bed, reaching over to rub Aubrey's back. "You sure?"

Aubrey just needed a minute. She kept quiet until she was sure it was over for the moment. "Chloe, did I leave my jacket at Sigma Beta Theta's?"

Chloe's silence was enough of an answer.

xxxxx

What is he doing? Aubrey can barely feel herself breathing, even though getting air is a struggle. She can barely feel herself rubbing Chloe's back.

Luke takes several steps backward until he's against the rail of the bridge. He turns and climbs up onto it.

"Is he…?" Beca asks.

He is.

Luke climbs over the rail, stands on the edge of the bridge, and turns around to face them again.

And then he lets go.

Beca tucks her face into Aubrey's shoulder.

And Aubrey watches him fall – unable to look away. Roughly two hundred feet down. Hitting the water like it's a slab of cement.


Only one will stand at the end of it all.