When Beca woke the next morning her eyes were heavy with exhaustion. She had barely cracked them open before she squeezed them shut again and nestled down into her comforter. Birds were chirping too loudly outside and she could tell the sun was trying to fight its way through the curtain into her dorm.
She gave a big stretch, her toes splaying out and her arms stretching up. Damn, she thought, this dorm has way better beds than my last one. Her eyes snapped open: she was not in her dorm.
Bams' room was glowing slightly as light spilled in around the edges of the curtain. It was dead silent. Beca rolled over expecting to find Bams fast asleep, but instead found an empty bed. Slightly disappointed, she pushed herself up into a sitting position to find out where the other girl had gone.
It didn't take long: the bathroom door opened and Bams appeared dressed in running shorts and a UConn shirt that had been cut into a tank top. Beca couldn't help her excitement.
Bams laid eyes on her and her face lit up, "You're up!" She walked down the hall, opened the curtain, letting the light pour in and sat down on the bed at Beca's feet. "How did you sleep?" She was looking at Beca with such care Beca was sure her face would turn red soon if it wasn't already. No one had ever made her blush more than Bams and she was sorely hoping to get it under control soon.
Beca stared at her wordlessly for a moment. Bams didn't feel real somehow, with the sun streaming in around her, making her grey hair shine and her face glow. She looked more angelic than human. Beca wondered how long it would take for the shock of her being Aubrey's sister to wear off. It felt like it might not ever.
Before Beca could answer, Bams spoke again, "You stare at me a lot," she informed her. She would never admit it, but it took a lot more confidence than she felt she had in that moment to make herself say it. But she knew it was true. She also knew that it was a two way street and Beca had caught her a fair few times.
Beca cast a glance around the room, buying herself a few seconds to come up with a response. She settled on her usual sarcasm, "Yeah, well, still trying to comprehend how you and Aubrey are actually related—"
"Touché."
"But…um, I slept really good thanks, How did you sleep?"
"Fantastic," she got to her feet with a big stretch. "Hey I was gonna go shoot around for a bit…" she looked nervous all of a sudden. "I know you might be sick of me but if you wanted to come that would be cool." She said it in a huge rush before offering an uncomfortable smile as she swung her arms back and forth.
Beca was actually surprised her jaw hadn't dropped. Did bams really want to keep hanging out with her? Did she really think that she, Beca, could possibly be sick of her? The thought was preposterous.
"I don't want to intrude—" beca started before she was cut off.
"You're not. I promise. But don't feel like—"
Her heart soared, she wasn't just asking to be polite. "I just need to go home and change?"
Bams' face split into a wide smile, "of course. And I know watching me shoot is probably not the most fun—" she called from inside her closet as she grabbed a pair of basketball shoes.
"I'm actually really excited to see you play," beca informed her, once she had come back into the room. Beca got to her feet with another stretch.
Bams felt her heart skip a beat, she was suddenly very nervous for Beca to be there. Nerves were something she was very unfamiliar with. Especially when it came to basketball "You're, like, supposed to be pretty good or something," for the first time Beca found the confidence to wink at her.
Without missing a beat, Bams' face flushed red and she laughed nervously. Victory Beca thought. this was one of the first times she was able to turn the tables and make Bams squirm.
Suddenly there was a small clatter from the kitchen. Bams head snapped to the door, grateful for the distraction.
"Oh, the girls are up!" She avoided responding to Beca, turning on her heel, hoping her face would return to its normal color. She pulled open the door and disappeared into the living room, Beca steps behind her, worrying about how Aubrey would respond to her coming out of her sister's room at 7 in the morning.
The living room was drowned in bright sunlight, Chloe's door was propped open, and the woman in question was in the kitchen sifting through pots and pans. Thankfully, Beca thought, she was alone. The warm smell of coffee floated across the living room to them; Beca perked up instantly, lifting her nose to the smell.
At the sound of the door opening Chloe looked up from the cabinet she was going through. She wasn't surprised to see Beca follow behind Bams, but she pretended she was anyway. Her eyebrows raised momentarily and she shot a look at Bams who was striding into the kitchen nonchalantly.
"Good morning," Chloe said pointedly, waiting for someone to say something, "Becs! I wasn't expecting you," she glanced at Bams who was looking through the fridge, doing her best to avoid Chloe's gaze. Beca slid into a seat at the bar across from Chloe who was cracking and whisking her eggs.
"Oh…um, I wasn't eith—" Beca was grateful to be interrupted.
"We stayed up super late talking, it was easier for a sleepover," Bams explained, reappearing with a Celsius in one hand and a protein bar in the other. Chloe shrugged, acting like she wasn't too interested in the reasoning even though she was dying to talk to each of the girls alone. Bams, however, knew Chloe too well to think she was in the clear.
Chloe stepped over to the stove, her back to both girls as she said, "well, I'm glad to see you two are getting along." Beca couldn't see her face, but she could hear the smirk in Chloe's voice, a part of her wanted to melt on the spot.
"Yeah," Bams said distractedly, rolling her eyes, with her back turned to the other girls as she set about grabbing a Togo mug from the cabinet. Sometimes Chloe was too conspicuous.
"Where's Bree?" She asked, turning around with the mug in hand to lean against the counter. Beca sat with her chin on her hand, patiently waiting for bams to be ready and desperately wishing Bams had grabbed two mugs, but was too nervous to ask.
"She had to go home and get ready for work," chloe said offhand, pouring her eggs into the hot pan, they sizzled loudly as she began stirring them around.
"Oh right, I forgot she's like a whole ass human now," she looked at Beca, "Bree's dad got her an apartment across town and she got a job at this boring law firm—how do you take your coffee?" She poured some into the mug she had grabbed. Once again Beca found herself unable to answer immediately. She had never had someone be so attentive to her.
"I thought Aubrey's dad paid for this place for you guys—" She said after telling bams her coffee preference, "—he's not still doing that is he? I mean that's ex step dad of the year award right there."
Both Bams and Chloe burst out laughing together, wiping tears from their eyes as they pulled themselves together. "Alex likes me. But not that much," Bams said as she stirred Beca's coffee and placed it in front of her to try. No one had ever really made her coffee for her before. It was perfect.
A small smile appeared when beca told her just as much. "Good—"
"Yeah and ya know, I don't think Alex likes me…at all," Chloe said thoughtfully. Once again Bams couldn't resist chuckling. "Shut up, Bams—"
Beca interrupted them, "wait so…no offense, but how are you guys affording—"
Chloe, sliding onto the bar stool next to Beca's, her coffee and plate of eggs and avocado toast steaming in front of her, said plainly, "are you alluding to my lack of financial independence, Becs? Bams is my sugar mama this year." Beca looked at her curiously.
"Did she not tell you she's rich?" Chloe asked, shoveling eggs into her mouth at the same time. Beca scrunched up her nose, Chloe was just as beautiful as she was a disgusting eater.
"I'm not rich," Bams interjected hotly. "I just…make money—"
Beca looked back and forth between the two girls, Bams who was embarrassed and Chloe who seemed entirely unconcerned. "Um," she didn't want to know, but she had a clue as to what Chloe was alluding to, "so you like stream—"
"Fuck," Chloe snorted into her plate, her head bowed over as she choked on a bit of egg. Beca slapped her back, looking very concerned and confused at the same time. "Sorry," Chloe said, finally sitting back up, her face beet red.
Bams, whose ears were tinged maroon now, finally spoke. "No," she said, boldly, "I—i have a contract with puma—" Beca wanted to slap her forehead in embarrassment. She could not believe she just asked Bams if she had an onlyfans.
"And gatorade," Chloe mumbled.
Beca looked over at Chloe looking very impressed, "Why— why are you embarrassed of that? That's like really tight and way cooler than an only fans."
Bams laughed, shaking her head, "I don't know…it sounds sort of pretentious—and then the rich comment," she glared at Chloe.
Chloe had stopped paying attention and was on her phone, "look," she said through a mouthful of toast, she nudged Beca and slid her phone towards her. It was open to an ad of Bams sitting with her elbows on her knees, head bowed, with a basketball at her feet, decked out in puma gear and a pair of bright orange shoes. The ad read "dawn in 'cuse Stewie 3s" next to her feet.
"Damn…you look…really good," Beca heard herself say before she could stop herself. She immediately wanted to die when a small smirk appeared on Bams' face. Chloe didn't take her eyes off Bams who was point blank avoiding her gaze; they both knew each other too well to not pick up on the subtle hints of what they were thinking.
"Thanks, babe," Bams said with an air kiss, continuing to ignore Chloe's solid stare. Beca was starting to realize that everything Bams did made her stomach do a backflip. She had no clue what that was about, but she didn't mind at all. "Ready?"
"What are you guys up to?" Chloe asked while Beca nodded and got to her feet, clutching her coffee. Knowing Bams, she was fairly certain the two girls would not be parting ways.
"Gonna go shoot around a bit—"
Chloe laughed merrily and then stopped abruptly, "oh you're serious. Beca's going…to shoot with you?" She looked at Beca with an eyebrow raised; she shrugged; she was just along for the ride at this point as saying goodbye to Bams seemed like a less than desirable decision.
"Moral support," she told her.
After bidding Chloe goodbye, Beca found herself in the parking lot of the apartment complex. "This is your car?" She asked incredulously, her mouth slightly agape as she took in the dark green, near mint condition vintage Ford Bronco Bams was unlocking.
Bams opened the door and climbed in, "no, I was actually just gonna see if I could Hotwire it…come on with the stupid ass question" she joked as she pushed the passenger door open from the inside. Beca, smirking from the comment, climbed up into the truck, trying her best to be as graceful as possible.
That didn't happen.
With her legs being far shorter than Bams' she struggled to pull herself up. Bams had to help her up by hand in the end. "You're so tiny. it's precious," she informed a very bashful Beca once she was settled and they had started the drive to her dorm.
"You're an ass," Beca shot back, looking around herself curiously at the same time. Bams' car was yet another extension of herself: very organized, very chaotic.
A rosary hung from the mirror, not because Bams was religious, she was just a 'slut for the aesthetic.' Various rocks were stuck in the dashboard, some crystals, some looked as if Bams had simply picked them up off the ground. There was a national parks pass sticker in the corner of the windshield and a line of army men making their way across the radio. There were basketballs, shoe boxes, and folded blankets in the back seat. It smelled strongly of weed and incense, much like Bams room.
Beca couldn't have picked a better car for Bams.
"And you're gay," she added jokingly, motioning to the car around her. Bams' laugh rang out and she squeezed the sides of Beca's knee with her right hand, making Beca, who was strapped in, jump five inches off the seat. She gasped, holding her chest before begging Bams to never do that again.
"Sorry, it's really messy in here, I didn't really get to unpack yesterday," Beca told Bams as she unlocked the door and pushed it open.
She wasn't lying, it looked like a bomb had gone off, with clothes and half opened boxes littering the room replacing shrapnel. The only part that was organized was Beca's mixing and music equipment that neatly covered her desk and her roommate's side of the room. It was pristine in comparison to Beca's tumultuous area.
The roommate in question wasn't home, a relief to Beca as she didn't really like her that much from their first meeting. Brittney was a sorority girl majoring in anthropology. She definitely had a different vibe than Beca. It somehow made Beca miss her previous roommate Kimmy Jin.
"Do you need help with any of this?" Bams motioned to the chaotic mess. She felt bad she was keeping Beca from unpacking.
"Oh, no, it's alright," Beca said as she sifted through a pile of jeans to find the pair she wanted. "I like to take things nice and slow," she said, standing up with a pair folded over her arm, "no way I could have gotten everything done you did yesterday. Your place looks like it took weeks—"
"We moved in last week," she said off hand, as she went over to Beca's desk to peruse her music stuff. "Aubrey said you're really great at this…"
Beca, who had been trying to locate a shirt, stood up straight holding a grip of them, "she really said that?" That was a pleasant surprise, she had only thought Aubrey had stopped talking shit, not that she was throwing out compliments.
"Wild, right?" Bams said offhand as she picked up a few shirts and folded them neatly for Beca anyway, depositing them on the corner of the bed when she finished. From the corner of her eye, Beca watched her grab a few more, fold them and add them to the pile all while looking around and examining her things.
Beca felt slightly embarrassed at the mess, yesterday really had been too busy for her to do anything more than sort through her things, so it was nice that Bams had taken it upon herself to help a little.
"Where are we going?"
They had just left Beca's dorm behind and were loaded back into the Bronco. Bams had managed to fold a surprising amount of clothes in the time it took Beca to get ready and the room was already looking better.
Beca was freshly changed with her laptop sitting in her lap, a small smile on her face as she enjoyed their early morning; she wasn't normally a morning person, but today she was. She was looking forward to watching Bams play, but they had just turned left and were driving off campus rather than right towards the athletic complex. She turned in her seat to stare through the back window as Barden University fell away behind them.
"My courts," Bams said distractedly, she was driving and fumbling through the glove compartment searching through the small pile of cds living in there.
Beca knocked her hand away, "how about you focus on actually getting us there then," she suggested lightly. Bams mumbled an apology and put both hands back on the wheel. Beca continued the search through the cds, pulling them all out so she could shuffle through them. "You have your own courts?" She asked as she picked up each cd to study.
"Nah. The courts I grew up on—"
"You're from here?" Beca was surprised that somehow that hadn't come up the night before. Bams nodded.
"wow so you really had to like…come back home this year…" Bams sighed and nodded again, running her hand through her wavy hair before propping her left elbow on the door. "I'm sorry dude," she mumbled; Bams hadn't expressly told her why she felt the need to attend Barden, but from the sounds of it, it didn't seem like she had had much choice. Beca would pry more later, but for now she could see Bams didn't want to share.
They drove for about 15 minutes, passing through the small quiet town of Barden. Residents were starting their day: old people roaming around the quaint downtown for a morning walk, and employees making their way to their small town jobs.
Barden was a sweet town. Bams watched as it streaked by the windows, small brick buildings turned into large kudzu covered trees, a little river ran under a bridge they crossed. Bams had missed it, she couldn't deny, but she was also missing Storrs a lot too.
Finally she turned off onto a narrow side road that turned to dirt after a few feet. "You are gonna kill me aren't you?" Beca asked as the trees grew thicker together, throwing more and more patches of shadow on the sunlit ground. She had no clue where they were, having never ventured too far outside of the campus.
Bams groaned and tossed her head back, "it was supposed to be a surprise." She beat her open palm on the steering wheel with each syllable. Beca snapped her fingers in disappointment.
"Aw, shucks. Hate I ruined it for you."
"I'll just have to make it more painful as payback," she shrugged then,"Welcome to my favorite place."
She took one final right turn and the thick trees opened up to a clearing on the bank of the river that wound its way through Barden. There was a singular basketball court, a grill, some picnic tables and a few trees lining the bank. Bams pulled right up to the edge of the court under a vast tree, parked and reached into her back seat for a ball and her shoes.
Beca gathered her things and climbed out of the car, trying to hide her excitement at watching Bams play. After all the talk she wanted to see what everyone was going on about first hand. She wandered over to the closest picnic table and sat down, setting her lap top up in front of her, making sure she could see the court clearly over the screen, and pulling a pair of headphones out of her bag.
It was another beautiful day, the sun beamed down on the court from a mostly cloudless sky. The noise of the river babbled around them, broken up only by the occasional bird call or song from a bug. Beca settled onto her perch, turning on her computer and pulling on her headphones, leaving one off her ear so she could still hear.
Bams was changing her shoes and stretching her shoulders out next to the bronco, shaking each arm after she finished. Cracking her neck she picked up her ball and walked onto the court.
As soon as her feet touched the court a change seemed to come over her, almost like a massive weight was taken off her shoulders. She breathed deeply, dribbling between her legs as she walked towards the top of the key closest to beca. Beca watched intently, she had never really cared for sports before, but she'd also never really been so interested in another human before.
Bams lined up at the top right corner of the post and took a shot that swished through the net, Beca resisted the urge to clap for her. She seemed really in her own world; Beca didn't want to disturb her. She took another shot from the same place, it sailed in and she moved to the free throw line after collecting her rebound. She sank three free throws and repeated her two shots at the top left of the post.
"Very good, many records broken," Beca called over the top of her computer. Bams flipped her off and then sank a three. The playful banter made Bams' heart flutter in her chest like it hadn't in a long time. She watched Beca out of the corner of her eye as she made an easy layup; meeting her sister's former nemesis was a far different experience than she had expected, but she couldn't complain.
Beca was nothing like Aubrey had described her. Of course, she hadn't expected her to really get too many parts of Beca's personality right, but she was genuinely shocked by how great Beca really was. She wasn't the annoying, rude, and disrespectful girl Bams had been led to believe, well maybe not led to believe, but encouraged to believe.
She wasn't sure if Aubrey knew she had hurt her feelings when she compared the two of them so frequently, but Bams was realizing Beca was genuinely a very sweet person, a very sarcastic, dry, little badass, but sweet nonetheless.
Bams was enjoying herself so much for the first time in months that she was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact they would eventually have to separate for awhile. Beca's presence was infectiously calming to Bams and she greedily gobbled up all the time she could spend with her.
After awhile of watching Bams run around and get sweaty Beca turned her focus to the mix she was working on for the Bella's. As the winners of the ICCAs their stock suddenly skyrocketed in the a Capella world and Beca was getting offers left and right for them to come perform. A couple of them were bogus, but a lot of them weren't. And even a few included a small paycheck for the girls.
She was determined to have the most diverse and Interesting sets in a Capella; something that had bothered her so much about the Bella's originally was how boring they had been. With their final performance last year they absolutely blew boredom straight out of the water. Beca's dream was to outdo their last performance every time they performed again.
Music started flowing through her headphones when she pressed play, listening to the last bits of the song she had worked on. She had spent all summer working on different setlists for the girls and she was really excited to show them all the songs she'd worked on so far; she just needed to finish up the last couple.
Beca enjoyed this. Hanging out with someone and doing her own thing. Every once and awhile she would glance up and watch Bams play for a bit; then Bams would take a break and come hang out to hear what she had done so far.
"You're so talented," she informed her rather loudly. She watched Beca giggle silently and realized she was yelling. She quickly took off the headphones, "I'm yelling aren't I?" Beca nodded, still giggling.
She was reminded horribly of her interaction with Jesse last year, it nearly mirrored this one; she wasn't sure if she was laughing because Bams made her or if it was uncomfortable laughter at the memory.
"You okay?" Bams noticed a dark look cross Beca's face. She snapped to and, claiming all was well, smiled as brightly as she could. "Alright we'll unload that later," Bams said gently; Beca felt that tug at her heart that was starting to become familiar as she watched Bams ambled back onto the court.
After nearly 2 hours Bams laid flat on the court breathing heavily, the ball rolled away toward Beca. It nudged her foot and she looked up from her computer to see Bams. A small smile appeared, she had no clue what the other girl was doing, but she was being Bams and that was all that mattered.
"Whatcha doing?" Beca asked, she had gotten up and walked over to stand at Bams' head and look down at her. Bams cracked her eyes open and squinted against the sun before smiling at Beca.
"Tapped out," she said as her breathing slowly returned to normal, her face was red and shiny with sweat. "Wanna go somewhere else with me?" She asked suddenly, sitting up crisscrossed.
M"I would love to," Beca said quickly. She wasn't sure of the last time she had spent this much time with someone, she never had spent this long in a row with Jesse, but she was still sorely hoping it wouldn't end anytime soon.
Five minutes later Bams was pulling to a stop outside of a two story blue craftsman with a red front door and a basketball goal in the empty driveway. Beca leaned forward in her seat, looking at the house closer, this had to be Bams' childhood home. Excitement ran through her as she got ready for another peek into Bams' life.
Turning the engine off, Bams nimbly jumped out of the bronco, "I just need to grab a couple things," she called over her shoulder as she slammed the door shut, sometimes it was a little tricky to get closed. Beca took this to mean wait in the car and didn't follow.
"Do your dad and Shiela live—Beca?"
Bams had just begun to unlock the front door when she turned to look at Beca only to find that Beca was not there. She spun around wildly to see her sitting passenger side, scrolling through her phone mindlessly. She backtracked.
"Whatcha doing?"
Beca jumped in her seat and quickly took her feet down from the dashboard, "ah, waiting…for…for you…yeah, final answer." For once there wasn't a massive height difference and both girls were profoundly aware of the lack of typical space between them. Bams leaned against the doorframe to peer in at beca who was suddenly finding the sun behind bams too bright. She squinted her eyes against it.
"You were—you were inviting me inside weren't you?" She asked, flaring her nostrils. Bams silently nodded, "okay, I'll just—" she struggled to push the door open, shaking and straining with effort.
Bams, doing an absolutely Oscar winning performance of "girl who doesn't think this is funny at all," slipped her hand onto the car door and pulled up the lock. The door clicked and Beca, still wrestling with the handle, tumbled out. Luckily, Bams caught her before she hurt herself and righted her on her feet.
"You are something else," Bams joked. Slowly, but surely, everything about Beca was becoming more and more charming to her. She grabbed Beca's shoulder and squeezing it lightly steered her towards the house. Beca grumbled a response while she simmered in her embarrassment.
The more Beca examined the house as they drew closer, the homier and more inviting it seemed. It was beautiful. There was a flower bed lining the edge of the house filled with brightly colored annuals. Slate blue siding, featuring intricate white woodwork covered the exterior where a multitude of large, white trimmed windows were scattered on the facade, letting in floods of natural light.
They climbed the set of stairs to the small front porch that was flanked with tapered columns and home to the red door that popped against the color of the house. Bams went back to unlocking the door while Beca looked up at the ceiling and smiled. Much like many old southern homes it was painted a sky blue.
Pushing the door open, Bams led the way into the house. Old wooden floors creaked under their feet as they entered the foyer. Already Beca could see this house was as beautiful inside as it was outside. A staircase was just to the right of the foyer leading up to the second floor. Its wood banister was carved to match all the doorways.
The house was silent. Bams' mom wasn't home and beca was severely grateful. She wasn't sure she was quite ready for that moment yet. Bams was chewing her lip, almost holding her breath as she watched Beca take in the house around her. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous, after all Beca had spent the night in her own home just the night before. But that was different than her childhood home.
"Ah, my rooms upstairs if you wanna come with me? You can wait down here though—"
"I'd love to see your room."
Bams' face split into a smile as she turned to climb the steps, Beca trailing along behind. The staircase was just as creaky as the floors had been, if not more so. They climbed groaning stairs, Beca nearly running to keep up with Bams who was taking the steps three at a time.
"Your legs are insane," Beca panted as she reached the landing where Bams was waiting patiently for her.
Bams offered her a close lipped smile, "so is your ass—" Beca's eyes widened, "—that was maybe a weird response," she added thoughtfully. "Totally stand by it, but sorry if I made you uncom—"
"You didn't," beca said with a small smirk. "Lead the way," she motioned for Bams to continue the path to her room as if nothing had happened. Bams paused briefly, then deciding Beca wasn't feeling weird, turned on her heel and led the way down the narrow hall to the room at the very end silently cursing herself.
"Man two of my bedrooms in less than 12 hours?" She joked, turning the knob and pushing open the door onto the small, neatly organized room. A bright patch of sun fell on Bams' bed. It was made up with a dark blue comforter and striped blue and white sheets. A desk and another keyboard stood in one corner and a bookcase sat teeming with an assortment of literature. The place where the snakes had lived was empty and obvious, the only thing that seemed amiss in an otherwise perfect room.
If Beca had thought the corner of Bams' room at the apartment had housed all her accolades she was severely wrong. Nearly an entire wall was a shrine to Bams' career. MVP and MOP trophies lined shelves. Defensive, offensive and just regular old player of the year trophies were placed on even more. There were signed shoes, jerseys and pictures. A large frame holding five different pictures showed Bams with one player that seemed to span over the course of a few years.
Beca leaned in closer to examine Bams at a younger age. The first few pictures she was clearly much shorter, barely coming up to the player's shoulder and her hair was a light dirty blonde; the newer pictures showed Bams at the same height as the other woman with the iconic charcoal hair Becs was coming to love. The very last picture with the two of them looked a lot more personal, the woman had her arm slung around Bams shoulders and Bams was smiling hard.
Hovering nervously behind, Bams was wringing her hands as Beca looked about her room. This room was a lot more personal than her new one at barden. She was never quite sure what Beca was thinking at any point and this time was no better.
"Who is this?" She asked after a moment, pointing to the woman in the picture.
"Breanna Stewart. Stewie. (Beca remembered the adidas ad in which Bams was wearing a pair of "Stewie 3s") She's one of the best basketball players in history. My absolute hero." Beca nodded along as Bams spoke.
"You were wearing her shoes in that ad?"
Bams grinned broadly, "yeah. Here," she led Beca over to a section that was all of the puma shoot. There were more individual shots in various puma gear and then a few shots of Breanna and Bams together.
"Wow, dude, that's really awesome. A true Troy Bolton—"
"You haven't heard me sing yet," she warned.
Beca rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure Aubrey would have you audition if you're shit. Also, how the hell have we listened to music for hours and you haven't sung a word?"
"Nerves," Bams informed her simply.
It was true. Something about Beca made her extremely nervous, whether she was learning about her basketball life or singing for her. Up until this point she had considered not singing a single lyric until auditions out of anxiety, but with the way Beca was looking at her now she wasn't sure she would last that long.
"I wouldn't expect you to be nervous," Beca quipped.
"Ugh," Bams groaned heavily then grabbed an acoustic guitar and sat on the edge of her bed. Beca sank down beside her.
Bams counted to herself then started playing. She hoped her voice wouldn't shake, not only was she going to sing for Beca, but she was singing a song she wrote. When she opened her mouth it was to find her voice strong:
How did your heart mend so easy?
Mine still bleeds (Ooh-ooh)
Hard to believe you don't need me
All those memories we made are burnin' in my brain
And I'm stuck in yesterday, for me, it's still the same
Tell me how (Ooh-ooh)
How did your heart mend so easy?
Mine still bleeds
Beca was surprised to hear her at such a different octave than her sister, lower, more raspy somehow. Excitement coursed through her veins as she thought of all the ways Bams could be used with the Bella's.
The ghost of you still floats around my room
It lets me know that letting go's just not easy with you
Now every night I lay here in this bed we made for two
But I'm sleepin' alone while you're out therе with somebody in theirs
Oh, I hope that shе cares
In the way that I did, you abandoned me here
I'm lost up in my head again, I'm caught inside myself
You promised that it wouldn't end
But you let me, you let me down
How did your heart mend so easy?
Mine still bleeds (Ooh-ooh)
Hard to believe you don't need me
All those memories we made are burnin' in my brain
And I'm stuck in yesterday, for me, it's still the same
Tell me how (Ooh-ooh)
How did your heart mend so easy?
Mine still bleeds
When you needed it most, as you cried, I was soaked
Now it's weeks since we spoke, had your mom drop my clothes
And she tried to console me that love comes and goes
And there's nothing you owe me
But you let me, you let me down
How did your heart mend so easy?
Mine still bleeds (Ooh-ooh)
Hard to believe you don't need me
All those memories we made are burnin' in my brain
And I'm stuck in yesterday, for me, it's still the same
Tell me how (Ooh-ooh)
How did your heart mend so easy?
Mine still bleeds
Beca watched her soundlessly. watched her fingers pluck at strings, watched her mouth form the words she was singing, watched the way her shoulders moved as she drew in breath between lyrics. The music pressed in on her ears, the sound of Bams' voice permeated her brain forming a little home there. She had never heard the song before, but her heart ached as she listened to the pain in Bams' voice.
And still Bams sang on, eyes shut against nerves, her voice growing more confident with each word. It helped a good bit that she didn't know how hard Beca was staring at her.
Don't give up just because it's hard
Come back and heal me before I'm left scarred
You tell me, "We took this too far"
As soon as I let down my guard
When you needed it most, as you cried, I was soaked
Now it's weeks since we spoke, had your mom drop my clothes
And she tried to console me that love comes and goes
And there's nothing you owe me
But you let me, you let me down
How did your heart mend so easy?
Mine still bleeds (Ooh-ooh)
Hard to believe you don't need me
All those memories we made are burnin' in my brain
And I'm stuck in yesterday, for me, it's still the same
Tell me how (Ooh-ooh)
How did your heart mend so easy?
Mine still bleeds
She stopped playing and singing, suddenly opening her eyes with an anxious grin. She held onto the neck of the guitar, puckering her lips and looking anywhere but beca.
"Yeah so that's…that's it. That's me singing," she chuckled and placed the guitar back on its rack.
Beca tried to not act disappointed that Bams was done singing, but she also didn't want to show how amazed she was with her. At least anymore than she already had. Which was a lot.
"Soooo, welcome to the Bella's," she said, breaking the silence that had followed. Bams smiled bashfully, "really, Bams, you're amazing. What song—"
"I wrote it—"
"You wrote it?"
"Yeah a couple weeks ago that's why it's sort of shitty—"
Beca's mouth fell open, Bams couldn't be serious. "Shut up, it's awesome…" she bit her cheek hard to ensure she was ready for her next sentence. "you know I can help you with…with recording and everything. I can't write songs worth crap, but ya know I can mad produce. It would be fun…like a project."
Bams' bashful smile turned into an excited one. "Beca, that would be so cool, I would love that."
They were silent for a moment, just smiling at each other, enjoying the moment. Beca's mind wandered to what she had been thinking as soon as Bams had said she wrote it.
"Are you okay?"
Bams looked at her curiously, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Ah, just that…it's just that the song is…it's a little…sad," she stammered, then suddenly wished she hadn't. She played with a loose string on her pant leg, completely avoiding Bams' even though she could feel her eyes on her.
"Um," Bams paused, like she was thinking hard about how to answer. It was her turn to look nervous. "Yeah, I'm great—" her voice had gotten higher and Beca finally looked at her, her face gave away that she didn't believe Bams a bit. "Really," she insisted.
"It's just that it sort of sounds like—"
Bams sighed with a sad smile, she looked out the window for a moment and didn't say anything.
"I'm as okay as I can be, Becs," it was the first time she'd used Beca's nickname and Beca felt her heartbeat quicken. She sounded sad, almost defeated.
Beca pulled the string out of her pants finally and started winding it around her fingers. "Wanna talk?"
"Not now," Bams smiled sadly and Beca knew the conversation was over.
Bams tried not to let the caring question bother her, but no one had asked in awhile. Most people in her life knew something had happened, but knew her too well to pry. She stood up with a stretch and wandered to her desk where she took a deep, calming breath then turned around, ready to act like nothing was bubbling under the surface.
She did a poor job. But Beca left her alone, choosing to redirect instead.
"Do you have more that you've written?"
This worked. Bams grinned then grabbed a notebook on her desk, "Loads. I'll play them for you sometime." She tossed the notebook to Beca who cracked it open immediately and started to scan through the lyrics; she was impressed.
While Beca looked through her song book Bams scooped up her laptop, grabbed a capo off the desk and asked "you hungry?"
The instinctual part of Beca started to say no she was fine, but just then her stomach growled loudly. bams smiled. "Breakfast."
Beca almost corrected her and said lunch but upon checking her phone discovered it was only 9:30 in the morning. The hours seemed to have lengthened significantly.
"Damn, I'm never up this early."
Bams was leading the way down the stairs, she stopped and looked at Beca who was a step behind her, but was still a head shorter. "I feel special—"
"You should. It's not happening again."
"Mhm. Sure."
Soon the brightly lit kitchen was filled with the noise and smell of breakfast being made as the girls chattered away about music and the Bellas. Beca sat at the island overlooking as Bams flipped pancakes and laid down bacon on a sizzling pan. There was something calming about watching Bams wander around the kitchen, lost in thought, humming to herself as she went.
"Are you sure the other Bella's are gonna be okay with me not auditioning?"
"How about you sing for them and then shut up because they're gonna love you."
"That's exactly what I've been telling her."
Beca nearly fell out of her barstool as she whipped around to see who had spoken. Bams jumped too, but not anywhere near as dangerously as Beca, she smiled when she saw the women standing in the kitchen doorway. This had to be Bams' and Aubrey's mom.
If you had brought Veronica Montgomery to Beca the year before and informed her that this was Aubrey's mother she would have laughed loudly in your face and complimented you on such a good joke. As it was, Beca was not surprised at all by Bams' mom.
She had dirty blonde hair with streaks of purple throughout that fell just past her shoulders, a smattering of piercings could be seen poking through her tresses. She wasn't tall, but she carried herself with 6'11" worth of confidence. Much like her youngest daughter she seemed to have an ever present smile on her face. This was confirmed by ever so faint lines that appeared when the smile wasn't in place. Her eyes were grey like Bams, but all three of them shared the same eye shape and nose.
"Hey, mom," Bams looked over the moon to see her mom. She cast a Quick Look at Beca who had turned a light shade of green. She had not anticipated meeting their mom this early; she usually had a hard time with parents liking her and she really wanted this case to be the exception.
Veronica also glanced at Beca, an eyebrow raised at her youngest daughter.
"This is my mom, mom this is—"
"Beca Effing Mitchell," Veronica finished the sentence with a light chuckle. "I'd recognize you anywhere," Beca turned quickly from green to scarlet, this was absolutely not the response she had expected. "Veronica, but you can call me ronnie," she stuck her hand out, Beca cautiously took it in her own. Ronnie laughed again.
"No need to look so scared—"
"She doesn't bite," Bams said with her back to them. She was sliding pancakes onto three different plates that were already loaded with eggs, toast and bacon. She grabbed all three and deposited them on the island in front of Beca and the two empty places next to her. "Breakfast, mom," Bams pointed to the stool as if to tell her mom or else.
Beca snorted at the interaction. Ronnie rolled her eyes and slid into the third spot leaving the stool next to Beca open for Bams. Daughter mothering mother.
Bams sat down in between them, brushing Beca's thigh with her hand while she put her napkin on her lap. Beca's thigh burned where Bams had touched her. "Let's say grace—"
"Bams, What the fuck are you on?" Her mom asked her, leaning back to properly look at her; Beca nearly spit out the sip of coffee she had just taken. Bams clapped her on the back as her laugh rang out.
Ronnie was entirely different than Beca had expected. Though Bams had said only complimentary things about her mom Beca couldn't help being a bit concerned she would be like a grown Aubrey.
As it was, she clearly wasn't. This woman was as opposite to her eldest daughter as her youngest was.
They all tucked into their food, eating silently for a moment before Ronnie started questioning Beca about herself. Beca had never had a parent be so interested in her before, usually friends' parents looked at her like something sticky stuck to their shoe. The raccoon eyes and heavy piercings weren't really a crowd favorite. Ronnie did not mind in the slightest.
She listened with rapt attention and asked questions at the right place. Bams sat happily eating between them, looking back and forth and listening to them without interjecting. Most of the questions her mom was asking were things she and Beca had already spoken about in detail.
"So, what's the plan for the Bella's this year? I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the group. You've got a big act to follow." Beca knew Ronnie was referencing their last performance, but had the slight feeling she was also poking a bit of fun at her eldest daughter.
As long as Beca didn't projectile vomit across the practice hall and implement a crazy strict cardio regime she figured the previous year wouldn't be hard to top. "No offense to Aubrey," Beca said hurriedly, not wanting to insult Ronnie's kid directly in front of her. She waved off Beca's comment.
"She's a much better version of herself now," she insisted earnestly. This brought the conversation back around to the year ahead for the Bella's.
"Well, we've already gotten a lot of offers to come perform at different events. Apparently people actually like a Capella." Beca's last statement sounded more like a question than anything else. The two women next to her laughed together; Beca could tell Ronnie was enjoying her.
"Let me tell you they did not when I was there—"
"Oh right you were a Bella too! Did you guys really do Aubrey's set?"
"100%. I was so happy to see you got her to change things around. I don't think I can tell you the last time I saw Aubrey that happy. So thank you," she smiled warmly at Beca who blushed and quickly busied herself with the last bits of her pancakes after a mumbled "you're welcome." Bams nudged Beca's leg with her knee as if to tell her not to be embarrassed.
"She's bashful, mom," Bams told her, smiling fondly at Beca, "and a bit too humble—"
"I can see that," Ronnie said.
Beca was not used to people thinking highly of her or being so nice to her. Not that her parents weren't nice to her, they just weren't so nice to her. Chloe was pretty great always, but there was something different about a mom appreciating her when she really didn't need to.
The three women sat chatting for another half hour; Ronnie was so easy to talk to Beca felt the time was flying by.
All too soon Bams and Beca were washing and drying dishes together and cleaning up the mess around the kitchen. Beca was amazed that after all this time they'd spent together she and Bams couldn't seem to stop talking, they took to conversation like they were starving to know everything about each other.
Bams didn't want the time to move so quickly; she was enjoying being with Beca so much, but she knew that soon it would be drawing to a close. There was only so long she could hold her captive before Beca would need a break from her.
But Bams wasn't tired of Beca; she would have happily spent her whole day with her and the next one and the next one and the next one.
She didn't know that Beca felt the same exact way. And if she had she probably would have exploded from happiness and been unable to continue their hangout as she would be a million pieces of herself.
In what felt like no time the kitchen was sparkling, Bams had packed away her laptop and her tattoo machine into the bronco, and they were bidding goodbye to Ronnie. On the way back to barden Beca couldn't stop talking about how great Bams' mom was.
It was leaving a permanent smile in place for Bams. She had hoped Beca would love her mom just as much as she had hoped her mom would love Beca. Her plan seemed to be successful. She chuckled silently to herself, thinking about how Aubrey would have died this time last year if she knew how well Beca and her mom would get along.
"Thanks for hanging out with me for so long," Bams said softly as she pulled to a stop in a spot outside Beca's dorm. She put the car in park and turned in her seat to look at Beca; she didn't know if she was making it up but Beca looked like she was a slight bit disappointed.
"Thank you," Beca said. "I really had a great time with you; and your moms awesome. You're awesome—"
"No you're awesome" Bams insisted with another smile.
"Okay, okay we're all awesome," she grinned back before falling silent. She couldn't bring herself to open the door and leave her. Another moment passed in silence, the two girls were just smiling at each other; neither ready for the other to leave.
Eventually they shared a long hug, continuously thanking each other for their time before Beca jumped down out of the car and turned around to look at Bams one more time through the open door. "Have a good day, Amber Sinclair" she said, mimicking Bams habit of using everyone's first and last names.
"Miss you, Beca Mitchell," she blew a kiss through the window after Beca shut the door before pulling out of the spot and disappearing with a wave.
Beca stood watching her until she turned the corner then turned on her heel and made her way upstairs, down the hall and to her door. She unlocked the door, a huge smile on her face, and entered the dorm where she shut the door behind her and leaned against it, eyes closed, a massive smile still in place.
Song is BLEED by the kid laroi