- Part 1 -
Arrhythmia
I know it's late, but I can't help but think here,
That the day hasn't shown all its cards.
Now it's out to the stars of the ocean;
Let's not retrace our steps to the car.
Picking out all the stars that we like,
Between finger and thumb.
You laugh as you pass me the night,
As if it's too fragile to hold.
-Snow Patrol
Aubrey's face is a blank canvas as she approaches the blazing fire and the already partially-drunk wedding guests whose hoots, hollers, and pointlessly loud conversations are starting to carry across the beach. The Trebles are all downing beers and shots while most of the Bellas (save for a few) have opted for wine coolers. She steps around a bunch of blue and red ice coolers and makes her way over to Chloe - who has, unsurprisingly, chosen a bottle of Yuengling which is dug into the sand next to where she's sitting, next to an empty shot glass. Fat Amy is sitting on a log beside her with a plate full of four hot dogs (which doesn't really look like that many next to Chloe's plate, which has two hot dogs and a ridiculous amount of macaroni salad.) Neither look like they're speaking, both staring at their plates and focusing on their food.
Beca's ring is burning a hole in Aubrey's pocket, but she stays composed (despite her anger that Beca broke it) and stops in front of Chloe.
Chloe looks from her plate to Aubrey's feet then trails her gaze upward to Aubrey's face. She swallows a mouthful of macaroni salad then smiles at her. "Welcome back from your 'something'," she greets her. She glances around at the ground before locating her beer. She picks up the bottle and tilts it against her lips.
"Are you ready to go, Chloe?" Aubrey wants to get back to the inn to hide the ring in her suitcase before Chloe can find it in her pocket and ask her about it. She's not sure why Chloe would be reaching into her pocket to begin with, but this is Chloe.
Chloe lowers the bottle from her mouth. She licks her lips and shakes her head as she puts it back in its original spot in the sand. "We just got here," she answers. She puts her plate on her lap and leans forward at the waist then reaches for Aubrey's hand, grabbing her by the tips of her fingers. "Sit down." She drags her over to the log then releases her hand and pats the space beside Amy.
Amy looks up from her hot dogs. She leans in closer to Aubrey and lowers her voice. "I was telling Chloe that we should tell ghost stories and -"
"That's nice." Aubrey sits down beside her. She frowns when Amy continues to lean in her direction and she practically has to lean over Chloe's shoulder. "Amy," she reprimands her.
Amy sits back up in slow motion.
Aubrey eyes her out of the corner of her eye and follows the suit. She shakes her head and looks at Chloe again when she's finally able to sit up straight. "I think that we should go." If she's lucky, she can even convince Chloe to finish her food within the next three minutes so that they're not around when Beca gets there.
Chloe looks up at her and frowns. "Aubrey, stop." The irritation in her voice is almost palpable. It's clear to Aubrey that she's already had more than just one shot and some beer. She settles down and rests a hand on Aubrey's knee. "We can make this a fun night, okay?" She squeezes her leg then drops her hand back down to her side.
Aubrey clenches her jaw and folds her arms across her chest. How is she supposed to argue when it's only going to start a fight? She can practically feel Fat Amy staring at them like they're about to start World War 3. She sighs and stares a Chloe. "Fine," she concedes. She reluctantly slides her bag off her shoulder and drops it on the ground behind the log.
"Thank you." Chloe bumps Aubrey's leg with her upper arm then takes a bite of one of her hot dogs. She rips off a piece of the bun from the end she bit off of and offers it to Aubrey.
"You couldn't tear it off the other end, Chloe?" Aubrey uncrosses her arms and takes the bread. She bites off half of it and presses it against the roof of her mouth with her tongue as she faces the fire.
"If I do that, how am I supposed to hold it when I get down that far?" Chloe asks. She eats the part of the hotdog missing the bun.
Aubrey slowly chews the bread and realizes that Chloe is serious about her question. She swallows. This conversation is pointless, but Aubrey decides to humor her. "You turn it around and eat it from the other end. It's not rocket science."
Chloe turns the hotdog around in her hand and stares at it like it might actually be rocket science. "Oh." She tears a piece of bun off from that end as well and offers it to Aubrey.
"You're drunk already, aren't you?" Aubrey stuffs the piece of bread she's already holding into her mouth then snatches the new piece from Chloe's hand.
"I am not drunk," Chloe denies. She pauses. "Yet."
"Uh huh." Aubrey absently scratches her nose. She leans forward and rests with her arm on her leg. "How many shots have you had, Chloe?" she asks in a honeyed-tone.
"I haven't had that many drinks." Chloe stops to lick some ketchup off her thumb. "You weren't even gone long enough to have that many!"
Aubrey smirks and nods once. She eats the other piece of bread then grabs Chloe's bottle of beer to wash it down with.
"Hey!" Chloe spins to face her and reaches for the bottle with a wide grin spreading across her face. "Get your own."
Aubrey holds the bottle out of Chloe's reach (which isn't that challenging considering Aubrey is already taller than she is and is sitting on a log while Chloe is sitting on the ground). "You've had enough," she informs her with an entertained smile, "And this makes up for you stealing mine on the boat." She leans away from Chloe as she lowers the bottle and takes a swig of its contents - accidentally bumping into Amy, who she forgot was beside her. She lowers the bottle and swallows. "Sorry, Amy," she apologizes and places a hand on her shoulder.
Amy just nods and continues eating.
Aubrey blinks and turns to face her, expecting a verbal answer and more rambling about things she couldn't care less about. She momentarily wonders if she offended her by cutting off whatever she was saying about ghost stories. Is she supposed to apologize for that? Amy doesn't acknowledge her. Aubrey waits for what she deems to be an acceptable amount of time before it just looks like she's staring. The silence is uncomfortable and maybe even slightly offending (because they have a lot they should be catching up on this week). She opens her mouth and tries to come up with what she's supposed to say to start conversation then just blurts out, "Why are you not talking?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Aubrey can see Chloe look up from her plate and lean forward to look around Aubrey's legs at Amy.
Amy looks up. She looks at Aubrey and then at Chloe and then back at Aubrey again. She motions to herself. "I'm just really shy, Aubrey," she whispers.
Aubrey opens her mouth to speak, but she doesn't know how to respond to that. She replays Amy's voice in her head to make sure that she heard her correctly. Her eyes narrow in confusion and she glances at Chloe, who becomes overly focused on her plate of food again. "I'm missing something here," she states and looks back over at Amy.
"No, you're not," Chloe assures her. Aubrey blatantly ignores her. Chloe is a terrible liar sometimes.
"Amy..." Aubrey applies light pressure - just enough that maybe she'll crack.
"What am I supposed to say?" Amy singsongs to Chloe in a low tone out of the side of her mouth.
Chloe lifts her plate and places it on Aubrey's lap - momentarily distracting Aubrey from the matter at hand.
Aubrey lifts the bottle of beer she's still holding away from her lap and frowns. "I'm not a table, Chloe," she admonishes.
"Hobo Pies," Amy announces out of nowhere. She pushes herself to her feet and grips her plate.
Aubrey looks up at Amy then follows her gaze to Beca's dad, who is cooking some kind of sandwich over the fire.
"Dr. Mitchell better watch his jaffles," Amy hums and marches in his direction.
"Amy!" Aubrey calls after her. Her features fall slightly. They've barely had a chance to speak since they've arrived. She straightens up and bites down on the inside of her lower lip as it threatens to stick out and reveal her disappointment. She'll settle for just looking irritated. "What kind of person would want to eat something with the word 'hobo' in its name anyway?" she mutters to Chloe.
Chloe rests her arm on Aubrey's lap and taps her fork on her plate as she watches Amy walk away. "What's a jaffle?" she asks as though she's the one posing the important question. She shakes her head and looks back down at her plate then stabs several macaroni with her fork.
Aubrey doesn't dignify her question with an answer. She glances down and steals Chloe's fork then replaces it in her hand with the beer bottle before Chloe can close her fingers. From out of the corner of her eye, she can see Beca walking across the beach. A permanent scowl becomes etched in her features. She glances down at the fork and resigns herself to being a 'victim' of Chloe's love for campfire food until they can leave.
xxxxx
The Trebles hum a ridiculous harmony of 'Here Comes The Bride' as Beca steps into view of everyone surrounding the fire. She spreads her arms out to the side - only to draw more attention to her presence. And Jesse approaches her and kisses her hard on the lips. She kisses him back for a short amount of time before pulling back and shaking her head, whispering something in his direction. He simply grins and makes a kissy face at her. She slugs his shoulder.
Chloe's discomfort radiates, and while everyone around Beca and Jesse stares at them, everyone around Chloe and Aubrey glances at Chloe. She shifts the plate of macaroni salad, which Aubrey was actually enjoying, onto the ground then moves to sit beside her on the log. She inhales and looks off to the side then takes a lengthy swallow from the bottle of beer, tilting her head back to finish off the bottle. She swallows then lowers the bottle. "I'm going to go get another," she states and places her hand on Aubrey's leg, using it to push herself to her feet. She moves her hand to Aubrey's shoulder once she's standing. "Do you want anything?"
"You don't need another one, Chloe." Aubrey leans over and moves the plate so that it isn't in her way. She tilts her head to look up at Chloe. "Sit down."
Chloe rolls her eyes. "It's just one more." Her fingers slide off Aubrey's shoulder and she walks across the beach toward the coolers. She tosses her empty bottle into a box with everyone else's empty bottles then bends over and starts rustling through the ice in the coolers for what she wants.
Aubrey glances from Chloe to Beca - who is too caught up in Jesse and a few other Trebles to notice her effect on Chloe. She lowers her hands to the log and picks at the bark with her nails as she turns to stare at the fire. At least Bumper is nowhere to be found. But on second thought, that is actually more concerning than relieving. She looks away from the fire again as Chloe returns and sits down beside her, offering her a peach flavored cooler. She takes it and uses the loose sleeve of Chloe's sweatshirt to twist open the cap.
Chloe uses the bottom of her sweatshirt to twist open her beer. She tosses the cap onto the plate and raises the bottle in Aubrey's direction.
Seeing nowhere else to put her bottle cap, Aubrey tosses it on the plate along side Chloe's. "To Craphole Island." She raises her bottle and clinks it against Chloe's.
"To Mystery Friggin' Island," Chloe challenges with a smirk, not yet taking a drink from her beer.
Aubrey can't help the grin that spreads across her face. "The Magical Forest," she accepts the challenge.
"Monkey Island," Chloe shoots back without pausing even for a second to think.
"Mount Vesuvius," Aubrey quips.
"The Heart of Darkness," Chloe comes back easily.
"God Forsaken Rock." Aubrey's drink is getting warm. She holds up a hand to stop Chloe from spouting out another name. "I'm not watching LOST with you anymore. This is proof that it's not good for you." She takes a sip of her drink.
"You started it." Chloe tucks her legs up beside her on the log and scoots over, pressing into Aubrey's side and leaning against her. She tilts her beer bottle against her lips then rests it on Aubrey's knee and lowers her head against Aubrey's shoulder.
Aubrey is about to take another drink but stops and looks down at Chloe. "Are you cold?" She glances at her beach bag, ready to grab the blanket she brought, but Chloe shakes her head. "Tired?" she guesses again. She's not sure how Chloe could possibly be tired after sleeping all day.
Chloe glance up at her and shakes her head again. "Mm mm." She nuzzles her face against Aubrey's shoulder with a quiet sigh and looks at the fire.
Aubrey blinks. She can't think of another logical conclusion as to why Chloe is being this clingy. She decides it's probably because of Beca, hesitates, wraps an arm around her, then lets it go. But she forgets to look away from her.
The flames of the fire flicker and dance, shooting up toward the sky and illuminating Chloe's face in a way that makes her eyes glimmer as she stares at the burning wood with a look of intense thought - her lips pursed and her brows drawn together. She tucks a strand of hair, deep red in the light, behind her ear then scratches her head and watches a sudden flare of sparks disappear into the night sky - her eyes following the last glowing ember until it burns out. Her chest expands against Aubrey's side, pressing them closer together, as she inhales an idle breath. She finds Aubrey's hand with her own - intertwining their fingers and lazily sliding her thumb back and forth across her skin. The corner of her lips quirks up in a slight smirk that quickly plays across her entire face as she glances up at Aubrey and catches her staring. "What?"
"Nothing," Aubrey answers without missing a beat. She immediately looks away and toward the fire, trying to suppress a smile. She's read the entire dictionary (twice) and a good portion of the thesaurus, and she wonders if Chloe knows that there are no words to adequately describe her in either of those. There should be a word to describe the crooked smile that spreads across Chloe's face as she tucks half of her face into Aubrey's shoulder. Aubrey rolls her eyes at herself. She's not sure when she became such a sap, or if she even thinks that's a bad thing. Chloe is always sappy after all. She covers for herself anyway. "I'm just hoping no one mistakes your red hair for the fire. I don't want to cut it again, this time because you have roasted marshmallows stuck in it."
Chloe playfully elbows her in the side then lifts her head and holds her beer bottle up to her lips - pausing before she takes a sip. "They wouldn't roast over my hair," she points out. She downs a gulp of beer. "But they might melt next to other parts of me." She elbows Aubrey's side a few more times.
Aubrey groans and swats her arm away. "Next to your burning ego," she agrees then focuses on her own alcohol.
"You are so mean!" Chloe pouts and lightly shoves her.
Aubrey nearly chokes on her drink. "Chloe, stop." She has a feeling her words are useless and leans over to put her drink down before Chloe can manage to make her spill it on herself. "You're drunk."
"No, I'm not." Chloe maneuvers herself so she's kneeling on the log, facing Aubrey. She slides her arms around Aubrey's neck, holding her bottle by the neck of it and letting it rest over Aubrey's shoulder. She leans her forehead against the side of Aubrey's head and inhales a silent breath. "You smell really good," she murmurs.
"And you smell like beer." Aubrey pries Chloe's fingers away from the beer bottle. Chloe also smells like blackberries from a fruity perfume she wears, and simply like Chloe - which is even better. But Aubrey doesn't give her the satisfaction of knowing she smells good as well. She places Chloe's bottle next to her own then turns and wraps her arms around her, forcing her to sit down correctly so that she doesn't fall off the log or something. Chloe curls back into her and Aubrey keeps her arms around her to keep her still.
"Be quiet!" Amy yells from across the other side of the fire, causing everyone to look in her direction. "Be quiet!" She clears her throat and steps into view with a beer in one hand and a flashlight in the other. "I'm going to tell a ghost story." She pauses. "Well, it's more like a scary story, but..." She shrugs.
Aubrey stares at her. Is everyone drunk but her? She glances at Chloe who breaks out of her grip and leans forward with interest. Aubrey keeps one arm wrapped around her. She wants to remind her that last time she heard a horror story, she slept with the light on for a week. But at least she isn't thinking of Beca. Aubrey sits up straight, ready to hear the story.
Amy focuses the flashlight under her chin and strikes a pose with one arm out to the side. She zeros in on the ocean. "Once upon a time," she starts dramatically then closes her eyes and lowers her arm to her side in a fluid motion.
Aubrey has low hopes for this story already. She glances at Chloe and they share a look.
Amy lowers her voice and speaks in a raspier tone. "Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack closed down..."
"No, I'm pretty sure that was KFC," Stacie interrupts her.
"No, it was Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack," Amy resumes her regular voice and straightens up.
"No." Stacie shakes her head. "And if you're going to tell a real horror story, it would be Victoria's Secret that shuts down. Or maybe that adult shop on Route -"
"Enough!" Aubrey cuts them off. It's routine. She doesn't even realize what she's done until the words slip out of her mouth. But people are starting to look back and forth between each other and the humiliation Aubrey is feeling is akin to that time at Sigma Beta Theta's Annual Fall Mixer. She should not still feel responsible for the Bellas, yet somehow it's as though their words and actions still reflect on her. That, and she just doesn't want them embarrassing themselves. She lets go of Chloe and gets to her feet then marches up to Amy and steals the flashlight from her hands. "Sit down," she commands under her breath and motions her away with a wave of her fingers.
Amy flops her arms against her sides and walks over to Stacie. She sits down beside her and Sophia - who is fast asleep, sprawled out on a blanket.
"Does anyone here have a real horror story?" Aubrey spins in a circle, holding the flashlight out to anyone willing to stand up and take it. "Anyone?" She'd tell one herself, but storytelling has never exactly been her forte. No one else would understand the horrors of Global Warming or a stock market crash. She turns to Chloe, who she has no doubt is creative enough to come up with something on the spot. "Chloe?" she volunteers her.
Chloe presses her lips together and off to the side and makes her 'thinking face' for a second. She shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders.
"I got one," Cynthia-Rose announces and gets to her feet. She walks over to Aubrey and holds her hand out for the flashlight.
Aubrey isn't sure if she's relieved to be handing the spotlight over to another Bella or not, but she places the flashlight in Cynthia-Rose's hand and backs up over to Chloe again. She glances behind her then sits down.
"Sorry," Chloe whispers and looks up at her.
Aubrey glances down at her and smiles. "It's okay," she whispers back. She turns and looks at Cynthia-Rose again. Chloe leans forward again with her arms on her legs.
"A long time ago back in, like, '75, yeah, '75, a couple, young couple, decided to get married right after college," Cynthia-Rose starts.
Beca's eyebrows shoot up. Jesse leans back against a log, an entertained grin plastered across his face.
"Now the bride's mama's sugar daddy lived in this swag mansion in Palm Beach and was able to afford this big ass wedding," Cynthia-Rose continues. She clears her throat. "Now, long story short, the wedding was nice and they got married."
Chloe leans over closer to Aubrey. "Do you think they used the word swag back in '75?" she whispers.
Aubrey glances at her out of the corner of her eye. She shakes her head then resumes listening to the story.
"After the wedding, they had a reception in some old building and everyone got wasted," Cynthia-Rose says.
"I'm down for that," Beca murmurs. Jesse leans over and whispers something in her ear that makes her laugh. Aubrey realizes she's watching them and quickly snaps her gaze back to Cynthia-Rose.
"When there were only about twenty people left, the groom decided that they should play hide-and-seek in the building." Cynthia-Rose fiddles with the flashlight, turning it on and off. "Everyone agreed and the groom was 'it'. So everyone else went and hid in the building and the game went on."
"Where did the fat people hide?" Amy interrupts her.
"Probably in the refrigerator," Stacie suggests.
Amy looks at her. "How did they fit with all the food?"
Stacie shrugs. "Maybe they ate it."
Amy nods in agreement.
Cynthia-Rose frowns at them. "After about twenty minutes," she interrupts their conversation loudly then resumes her normal voice, "Everyone had been found, except the bride."
Amy raises her hand. "Maybe the fat people ate her too."
"There are no fat people in this story," Cynthia-Rose argues.
Amy pulls her head back.
"That's prejudice," Stacie informs Cynthia-Rose.
"Actually, that's discrimination," Amy murmurs. "Prejudice is if there were no..." She makes a hand-motion toward Cynthia-Rose.
"I thought that was homophobia," Stacie replies.
Cynthia-Rose sighs and makes another attempt at her story. "Everyone tore the whole building apart looking for her and -"
"Well, they obviously didn't tear the whole building apart if they couldn't find her," Stacie cuts in again.
Aubrey suddenly feels like she's surrounded by an entire group of two-year-olds, and only hers are the ones misbehaving. She leans forward and shoots a look at Stacie and Fat Amy. "Stop talking," she hisses so Cynthia-Rose can continue and get her story over with. Chloe leans forward farther and glances at Amy and Stacie then leans back again. She rests her head against Aubrey's shoulder and plays with her fingers.
"And after a few hours," Cynthia-Rose keeps going, "The groom got furious, thinking his wife had gone off with some other guy. Eventually, everyone had to go home." She turns the flashlight over in her hands. "The groom filed a missing person's report, but he gave up lookin' for her after a few weeks. He went and got himself a new bitch and moved on with his life."
"After only a few weeks?" Beca asks incredulously. "He didn't even look for a few months?"
Aubrey drops her shoulders in defeat and rolls her eyes.
Jesse looks over at Beca. "I'd only give you a few days," he comments. Beca glares and shoves him.
"Now, a few years later, some little old lady was cleanin' the place up," Cynthia-Rose says. "She happened to be in the attic when she saw an old trunk."
"Is that where the fat people hid?" Amy asks.
Cynthia-Rose narrows her eyes. "The old lady dusted off the old trunk, and opened it out of curiosity." She pauses. "Then she screamed at the top of her lungs, ran out of the building, and called the police." She flicks the switch of the flashlight, turning it off, then stands there in silence.
Everyone sitting at the campfire glances around at each other - except for Aubrey, who sits up a little straighter. To her, the end of the story is obvious. The trunk had been where the bride had hid. She glances down at Chloe, who is still staring intently at Cynthia-Rose. "Are you for serious, Chloe?" she whispers. Chloe shoves her leg but otherwise ignores her.
"Why?" Amy finally pipes up.
"The bride had decided to hide in the trunk for the game," Cynthia-Rose answers, speaking slowly. She holds the flashlight under her chin. "And when she sat down, the lid fell and knocked her unconscious and she suffocated. When the old woman found her, she was rotting, her mouth in the shape of a..." She pauses for a brief second then quickly flicks on the flashlight. "Scream!"
It's Chloe nearly leaping out of her skin that causes Aubrey to jump. Aubrey slides backward off the log and hits the sand, still sitting with her legs draped over what was once her seat. "Chloe!" She groans and tries to brush the sand off of her hands against her shirt.
Chloe turns and looks at her. She furrows her brows and gives her a perplexed stare. "What are you doing?" she asks. "It wasn't that scary."
Aubrey gapes at her. "I give up." She turns and tugs her beach bag nearer to her then leans backward with her legs still propped over the log - using the bag as a pillow. She folds her arms and glares at the sky.
Chloe watches her with a slight smile then turns and slides down off the log onto the sand beside her. She lays down with her head on the other half of the bag and looks up at the sky. For a moment, she's silent. Then she lets out a quiet sigh. "It's pretty out here," she comments and folds her arms across her stomach. "I wish we could see the stars like this in the city."
Aubrey tilts her head to see around the log and watches someone else take the flashlight for another story. No one seems to be paying any attention to what she and Chloe are doing, putting her at ease. "You'd be teaching me all the constellations if we could," she points out, no stranger to Chloe's enthusiasm for astronomy. Chloe's face lights up like Aubrey has just acknowledged some long lost passion that Chloe thought she forgot. She turns her head in Chloe's direction and watches her stare in awe at all the stars.
"Maybe we should move out of the city. You know, after your internship is done." Chloe turns her head. Her nose brushes against Aubrey's. "We could get a real house."
Aubrey isn't sure she likes where this is going. Sure, she's thought about getting a real house with Chloe - but it would just be an illusion of permanence. What happens when they move on? One day, they will have to go their separate ways. A summer home where they can vacation together is the better choice. "I don't know, Chloe," she answers, not wanting to start something with an outright 'no'. "We can talk about it when we get home."
"Okay." Chloe nods her head. But her disappointment is written clearly across her face, and Aubrey has to look away. Chloe rolls onto her side and props herself up with one arm, resting her other hand on Aubrey's upper abdomen. She hesitates, which Aubrey finds shocking considering the amount of alcohol she's consumed. "But can I ask you something?"
"Now is not the time, Chloe." Aubrey pushes herself up into a sitting position and brushes the sand off her back.
Chloe looks at the ground and props herself up on her elbows. She gives a small nod then moves to sit back up on the log. She crosses one arm over in front of her and rests her other elbow on her leg, propping her head up with her fist and staring forward at the fire.
Aubrey looks away. She shifts herself back up onto the log as well and focuses on brushing the sand off of herself - determined to not miss a single grain.
"Well, well, well," Bumper's voice is suddenly the equivalent of sandpaper against Aubrey's eardrums. Her head snaps up and she subconsciously shifts closer to Chloe, accidentally bumping into her.
Chloe lifts her head and her hands falls to the small of Aubrey's back. "Are you okay?
"I'm fine." Aubrey nods at her then resumes her futile attempt to pick all of the grains of sand off her shirt. The air is suddenly lacking oxygen. She clenches her jaw and watches as Bumper steals the flashlight they were using to tell stories with.
"Let's get this party started!" Bumper announces.
"You're acting weird again, Aubrey," Chloe whispers.
Aubrey glances at her but then her gaze is drawn to Beca as she stands up and approaches Bumper from behind.
"Bumper," Beca tries to get his attention.
Bumper holds the flashlight out to the side and spins around in a circle. "If it isn't the -" He doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence.
Beca's fist connects with his face and knocks him flat on his ass.