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#dancing along to the songs and my dad telling us we got rick rolled by that one alkaloid song
thatstagecanstarry · 3 years
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i still havent recovered but lets set things straight. masamisan pretty
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in-ky · 3 years
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An Old Scent [1] - Negan x Reader (A/B/O AU)
Summary: During summer break, you decide to come back home to visit your dad, Rick. Over the course of your stay, you realize that your dad's friend is pretty hot.
Warnings: Eventual smut, A/B/O dynamics, cheating, age gap, Negan
A/N: yay first fic! this will have four parts! i hope everyone enjoys. this is an au where the apocalypse never happened. 3.2k words
I squinted as I stepped out into the bright Virginian sun. People swarmed all around me, creating the steady hum of airport ambience that I had grown accustomed to over the years. I had just gotten off a four-hour flight home from college and all I wanted to do was shower and curl up in bed. But I couldn't. Oh, no. First I had to endure a fun thirty-minute car ride with my best friend since second grade. I scanned the curb in front of me for her small black car and caught sight of a tall woman waving at me. I grinned and walked forward, tugging along my baggage behind me.
"Ugh, it's so good to see you, Bee." I sighed as I enveloped my friend into a large hug. She let out a laugh and swayed us gently.
"It's good to see you, too," She hummed, rustling my hair "I forgot how short you were." Bee was an alpha; tall, muscular, and very quick to remind me of our differences. Of course, it was in a 'joking with love' kind of way. I was an omega; small, rounded, and very quick to punch her gently in the abdomen.
"I forgot how much of a jerk you are." I quipped, huffing and wheeling my bag to her trunk.
"Oh, come on, babes, don't be like that," Bee laughed, opening the driver side door and waiting for me to walk back to my side. "Now get in, we've got a lot of catching up to do."
---
"How are your heats going?"
"Jesus, that's what you want to start with?" I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. Bee shrugged.
"We don't have to if you don't want to," She clarified, turning out onto the street "I'm just saying, I know they've gotten pretty bad as we've gotten older. Did you try out those tips I sent you?"
"Yea, I did," I said quietly, looking at the trees rushing by on the side of the highway "They worked for a while but..."
"But you need an alpha," Bee sighed, finishing the sentence for me.
"That's the plan for this summer," I agreed "Might finally settle down."
"You know, I'm always here if you need me." She said with a wink. I scoffed at her.
"I'm not that desperate," I laughed, shoving her lightly "Not yet, at least."
"Anyone take your interest back in Colorado?"
"Not really," I hummed, tilting my head in consideration. "There was this one guy. We dated for a few months but towards the end he became a total knot-head. He couldn't keep his hands off me. I thought it was cute at first, but after I started to miss a few classes...well, that shit got old pretty quickly." Bee made a disgusted noise.
"Ugh, men," She grunted, wrinkling her nose "I'm glad I never went through that phase. I'm perfectly happy with chicks, thank you very much. Much less of a pain in my ass."
"Oh, they're not so bad," I smirked "I think it's just alphas in general." She glared at me momentarily and I stuck my tongue out at her. We drove in a comfortable silence for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company. That was always something I loved about Bee. We never had to fill every second with chatter, we could just exist together in the same space and be just as content. She started to hum along to the song that buzzed softly from the radio and my eyes tracked a hawk. Soon enough, we reached our exit and Bee turned the car onto a smaller road, starting the countdown to my arrival home.
"Are you excited to see your dad?" Bee asked, killing the silence.
"Yea, I am," I smiled. We hadn't always had the best of relationships, but the distance that college gave had done wonders for us. A few texts and calls had worked perfectly for us. When he invited me to stay a few weeks during summer I gladly accepted. I wanted to see just how well our relationship had strengthened. Plus I knew he really needed someone.
"How's he doing?" There was genuine concern in Bee's voice. A few months ago, my mom had revealed that she had been having an affair with one of dad's work buddies. She left with him and took my brother down to Georgia.
"I think he's okay. But you know dad, he's not really an emotions guy. He was starting to get some closure but then the divorce papers came in the mail. That really hurt him," I told her, twisting a strand of my hair around my finger. "I just don't know how Lori could do that to him, you know? She won't even let Carl up to visit. The new baby's cute, though. Looks just like Shane." Bee hummed in acknowledgement.
"Well, tell him I said hi, alright?"
"Will do." A few more seconds of silence passed. Until we stopped at a light. Bee looked up and spotted a billboard that sported a very familiar, very handsome face.
"Holy shit!" Bee shrieked, slapping my arm.
"Ow, what the hell?" I hissed, grabbing my shoulder. She pointed frantically at the sign.
"That guy! Isn't that, shit- the hell's his name?" Pulling my eyes from my lap, I let them settle on the object of her excitement. All of the color drained from my face. It was an add for a law firm. There was an old geezer posing proudly on the left, and to his right, was the man who haunted my wet dreams for the majority of high school.
"Negan." I gulped.
"Yea, your dad's hot friend you never shut up about." Bee groaned, pressing on the gas and moving us away from the sign. Negan was a lawyer/make-shift-law-professor and baseball coach at the local community college. He had a sort-of contract with my dad's department. Many times I had come home after school to the two of them puzzling out a case on the kitchen table. Negan was an alpha of alphas, something that got my little omega heart (and other things) pumping until I couldn't breath. His humor and dominating persona made me blush a deep crimson color any time I saw him. Sometimes I would spend hours sitting on the stairs just listening to him talk to my dad. His voice was something else. I had gushed to Bee about him countless times during our times at high school. But I hadn't seen him since my graduation party.
"I wonder if you'll see him again," Bee teased, nudging me again to pull me out of my trance of memories. Then, she did a dramatic gasp. "What if he's your mate?" It was my turn to slap her in the shoulder.
"He's older than my dad!" I squealed, burying my now-blushing cheeks in my hands.
"You're an adult I don't think it matters."
"I think he's engaged."
"Just 'cause there's a goalie doesn't mean you can't scoooore." Bee pulled a face at me and I returned her grimace.
"Whatever, you're lucky we're almost at my house." I huffed, falling back into my seat with my arms crossed over my chest.
"Oh, yea, omega? What are you gonna do?" I rolled my eyes as she laughed off my grumpiness. We rolled to a stop in front of my driveway and a leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks so much, Bee, I really appreciate you," I grinned, popping open the door.
"No problem, babes," She winked, unlocking the trunk "But I swear to the gods, you better fucking call me and give me updates on everything, especially if you run into Mr. Hotcakes." I rolled my eyes once more and promised her I would before closing the door. I retrieved my bag and gave her a wave as she drove down the street. When she was out of view, I took a deep breath and turned around, walking up the driveway to the front door.
I knocked heavily on the dark oak door. While I waited for someone to answer, I decided to look around at the home I had left behind about a year ago. My childhood home had changed now and then over the years, but there were still some iconic pieces of memories in the front yard that could never be forgotten. My personal favorite was Eddie the garden gnome. He was a standard gnome: small and stout with a large white beard that led into a pointy red hat. His eyes were shut and his mouth was curved into a smile. However, he was missing a nose. I grinned as I recalled the unfortunate mishap that caused Eddie to become deformed. I was about twelve, and carl was five. He had gotten a kid's baseball from Negan for his birthday and had begged me to teach him how to play, since I was on the local softball team at the time. I relented and set it up in the front yard. Eddie was our outfielder. Eddie didn't have a mitt. Well, he did, but it was his face. Carl absolutely smashed the first pitch I tossed at him and hit poor Eddie right in the face, shattering his round, pink nose into pieces. Carl bursted into tears and I had to promise him that he did not in fact kill our precious protector of our house. Lori ran out frantically and comforted her son before giving me a thorough chewing out for damaging Eddie. We never used the set again. That she knew of, anyways. Negan always let us play in his yard, though. I smiled at the memory, but the clicking of the lock to the door pulled me from my train of thought. The door swung open and I was met with the smiling face of my father.
"Sweetie, I'm so glad you made it!" He laughed, pulling me in swiftly and squeezing me tight.
"It's good to see you too, dad." I croaked, letting out a small chuckle. I tapped on his shoulder as a signal for him to let go.
"How was the flight?" He asked as he stepped out to grab my bag. I told him it was good but that the screaming kids had given me a bit of a headache. He gave a small laugh and gestured for me to enter. I thanked him and he rolled my bag in behind me. We exchanged a few words but as soon as I walked through the kitchen into the doorway of the living room I was hit by a wall. Not literally, no, but rather a wall of overwhelming scent. It was a delicious swirl of campfire and whiskey, with a hint of cigarettes and leather. I paused for a moment, my eyes forced closed and my lungs taking a deep breath of the intoxicating air. Colors danced across my eyelids. My whole body was flooded with warmth and my toes tingled. I felt safe and calm, and there was something else; something deep within my stomach that I couldn't quite identify, something I never felt before. My eyes snapped open when I felt my father's hand rest firmly on my shoulder.
"I hope you don't mind, sweetie, but I invited company over while I was waiting for you to arrive," He smiled at me. I got a good look at him then. He looked the same, his hair was a bit longer, a bit greyer. But his eyes were different. They were darker, rounder, rawer. I gave a soft smile and told him it was fine. He guided me into the living room. It was then I realized where that deadly smell was coming from. Or, rather, who it was coming from. "Negan, you remember my girl." In that moment, I held my breath as I scanned Negan. He looked fucking amazing, just as he always had. Perfect dimples guarding a charming smile, all surrounded by a gorgeous salt and pepper beard. His hair was longer than it was when I had left, not slicked back, but it still framed his face perfectly. Negan's body was draped casually over the sectional couch, legs crossed at the ankle on the ottoman. His arms were on the top of the couch and his wrists were dangling. He knew he was hot. That bastard. I suddenly became aware of his eyes raking over my form and I shifted from one foot to the other.
"'course I do, Rick," Negan said, voice silky and deep. I couldn't help but let a small shudder run down my spine. All I wanted to do was kneel down in front of him and curl up at his feet. I forced my inner omega down, shaking the thought from my head. "How could I forget the little slugger?" I cringed inside at the nickname. Especially the use of the word 'little'. I begged that he didn't still see me as the kid down the street. Instead as a grown woman. A grown omega.
"Hi, Negan." I greeted with a small smile, swallowing to relieve my dry throat. Now that I was next to him, his scent was clogging all my senses. I gripped onto the couch and lowered myself onto the cushion, hoping to ground myself. It helped, just barely. My heart was pounding, my instincts telling me to submit to this man in front of me. Why, though? Why now? He had never smelled this good before. No alpha had. Was I getting close to my heat? I did have a stomach ache, but that could be from Negan alone.
"Hey, sweetheart. How's college goin'?" Negan asked, sipping on his drink. He kept eye contact with me the whole time. Rick handed me a glass of soda and I thanked him.
"It's good!" I said after taking a sip, thankful for the hydration in my coarse throat "Towards the end it got a little hectic, but I was able to stay on top of everything, thankfully."
"You're studying film, right?" He asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.
"That's right," I grinned, crossing my legs to relieve some of the pressure the movement caused to build up in my lower abdomen "You still teaching law?" This caused him to chuckle. Literally music to my ear.
"If that's what you want to fuckin' call it." Negan sighed, falling back to his original position, hands resting in his lap "I talk, the kids kinda listen. I just do it for the coaching job, really. You remember how much I love that damn sport, right?"
"Baseball?" I asked, raising a brow "You mean the only thing you talked about at all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners you were invited to?"
"Touché." Negan grinned. Goddamn that smile. Butterflies erupted in my chest, beating hard against my ribcage, begging to throw myself at his chest and bury myself in him. Rick cleared his throat and smiled at me to get my attention.
"I want to know more about your college experience!" He beamed, rubbing a hand through his beard "Any special alphas you've got your eyes on?" I heard Negan choke slightly on his whiskey. A small bubble of pride rose in my chest. I laughed at his words.
"Dad, I don't think Negan wants to hear about my love life."
"Shit, doll, I don't mind," He grumbled "I don't get to hear any drama now-a-days"
"What do you mean?" I giggled, tilting my head "You argue for a living. Your job is to literally deal with drama."
"Yea, but that's complex drama," He growled, waving his hand dismissively "I wanna hear simple, schoolgirl 'he loves me, he loves me not' kind of bullshit."
"Well sorry to disappoint," I snorted, running a hand through my hair "but no, there's no one I have an eye on." Dad's smile turned into a frown.
"Shame." I heard Negan whisper. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hear it. It was quiet, barely above his breath, and he said it while twirling his whiskey, following the words with a large gulp.
"You really should start looking, dear." Dad said with a sigh "You know it only gets harder as you get older."
"Dad please, I don't..." I cut him off "Listen, I appreciate you trying to understand this stuff, I really do, but I don't really want to talk about it with my father." He looked at me with an understanding smile.
"Sure," He nodded "But if you ever need anything, anything at all, you just let me know, alright." I nodded.
"Well, this sure has been fun, Ricky-boy," Negan grinned, getting to his feet and stretching his arms far above his head. "We do have that big court case in the mornin', though, and I need my shut-eye."
"Big case, eh?" I asked, rising from my seat as well. Dad nodded and excitement sparked in his eyes.
"You should come! It's an open court and I would love for you to see what I do. I know you always wanted to as a kid, but your mom made you wait until you were older. Well, now's the perfect time!" He rambled, grasping my shoulders.
"W-Well, I dunno, I don't want to be a distraction," I stumbled, taken aback by my father's display of enthusiasm. I turned to Negan, as if asking for permission. He just laughed.
"Oh-o, doll, I don't get distracted. Not in there, not anywhere. Don't you worry about a goddamn thing. You should come, Rick seems like he really wants you to."
"Okay, then," I grinned, nodding in commitment "I'll see you there in the morning then." I looked up to Negan and we locked eyes for a brief moment. But in that moment, something within me quivered. He brushed up against me and smirked down at me.
"See you tomorrow, sweetheart. It was nice to see you. You're lookin' great." It took all my willpower not to let out a whimper as he walked past me, taking his glorious scent with him.
My dad said that he should also get some rest, but that I could stay up as long as I wanted to. I was pretty wiped from my flight so I opted to follow him up the narrow staircase, tugging my bag behind me. I hugged him goodnight and stepped into my room. It hadn't been touched since I left last summer. The forest green bedspread was still perfectly tucked into the mattress and two plump pillows were perched at the head of the bed. My muscles ached for the soft release of sleep. I put my suitcase down by my dresser, taking a moment to smile at some old photos of me and Bee as kids. I showered and brushed my teeth before getting into the comfortable bed. I looked up at the ceiling and giggled softly at the glow-in-the-dark stars shining overhead. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I wasn't thinking of anything in particular, but for some reason, all of my dreams were plagued by the sweet smell, sound, sight, feeling, and taste of Negan.
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getreadytosmash · 3 years
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Honey, it ain’t home
Note:PLEASE be aware that this fic contains child abuse/neglect and death as well as implied transphobia and know that I do not regret hurting my kids feel free to toss fish and squid at me UwU
“(Wake up, scum)!”
The voice range into Skaar’s cage and eventually a small grey child sat up and stared back to the cage master. Green on black eyes almost seemed to light up the darkest corner of his cage. Shrinking back from the yelling was never a good thing, so the slave was sure to crawl forwards until he was enough in the light that made the cage master nod with satisfaction.
“(You have a fight later),” They knocked a hand against the cage, red skin pulling back into a smirk when Skaar flinched back and bore his fangs without thinking. The stone of his skin stood out far more than any other slave here. “(Make sure you’re in top condition, the King will be watching).”
No one knew where he came from. No one cared. 
The mention of a king got a flinch from him then and Skaar was careful to not say anything that could have potentially set the master off. The last time he had been too loud and the electrified whip across his back - bright flashes he had barely had the time to comprehend before something flew across - left Skaar screaming as wrong coloured blood dripped out of his back. 
Greyskin and wrong eyes with wrong blood. He looked every bit like the monster that they all said he was. 
The cage was going to open soon. Skaar could see his sword being brought out, the shocking prods with dazzling and painful light as well as a bucket of water to dunk his head into and to wash away the old blood from the before fights. He was kept away from the smooth feeling of Earth and solid cold metal was all he could live and sleep on until he was forced out into the ring. Skaar didn’t know why they were so certain on this, but any idea of asking was immediately followed by the fear of what could come for such a thought. 
He would fight and he would kill and then Skaar would scream when he was hurt over and over. It was a hellish life and the only time the grey-skinned monster felt better was when he was asleep and the planet felt like it rocked him to sleep. 
The rattling of his cage startled Skaar and he looked up to see the Cage Master banging the pain stick, a smirk on their face as they leaned against the door, water splashing from the bucket in their free hand. Fear cradled his heart and if he wished that someone would save him, please. 
“(Let’s get this over with, killer of killers. The less I have to touch a monster, the better.)”
~~~~
Rick screamed, and he hated the fact that it took only eight hits of the cane to do this to him. Sure, he had grown past six, but it still stung his pride far worst than it did physically to know that he was giving Sister Maude what she wanted. He didn’t want to scream for her, listen to the lecture she always gave or the way his back pulled and stretched around his caning injuries later on.
He didn’t know what he had done wrong this time, but it always seemed to be something. Sometimes he was too messy, too loud, just too much for anyone and that was why he was alone. Sister Maude said these things and Rick had nowhere to go so he was stuck here, grunting in pain as cold words were the only thing to soothe him.
“Time after time I warn you about this happening, Richard.” Sister Maude’s scowl could be heard clearly, even though Rick couldn’t see her at the moment, or at least didn’t want to. “You start these fights for, what? Attention? To cause more problems for the poor sisters? Answer me!”
The cane came down much lower than it usually did, and the fourteen year old shrieked when the cane hit much lower than it usually did. Pain rushed up his back and Rick fought to not scramble away. Trying to run would only mean that a worse punishment would follow. “N-no!” 
When it finally ended, Rick bit back any last noises, not wanting to give the nun anything else to tell him off over. Besides, it was better that it was Rick on the receiving end of these punishments instead of anyone else. Usually he had it coming, whether it was because he was too loud when trying to learn a new song on the guitar his father had left for him or when he was trying to take away any attention from the younger kids here. No one deserved to be yelled at or made to feel like nothing and Rick had been here long enough that he was used to it.
Besides, it was like Sister Maude always said, Rick had nowhere to go and no one wanted a fourteen year old anymore, he had to keep the younger kids safe so it was up to him to make sure that they got adopted or at least taken to a better place than this. God knew he would want that. 
“You won’t be given dinner tonight.” Sister Maude spoke and Rick felt a roll of nausea when he heard that. He already hadn’t eaten for most of the day. “You’ll go straight to your room and if I or any other Sister, must hear that horrific strumming, your guitar will be removed. Am I clear, Richard Jr?” 
He wanted to run. Run away and never come back, sink into the ground where his parents were and never come back up.
“Yes Sister Maude.”
~~~~
“Brian, please.”
Aunt Rebecca’s voice is hushed, like she doesn’t want Jennifer to hear her and Uncle Brian arguing. Or at least, her aunt arguing. Uncle Brian doesn’t seem to really wanting to argue back, which was odd and silly since Jennifer always liked to debate stuff, like when her and Dad would have a mock argument over the pros and cons of eating sugary pancakes for breakfast vs the gross healthy oatmeal Dad always wanted her to eat. 
“No Rebecca!” Uncle Brian’s voice was much more harsher and Jennifer was in bed, safe and sound, but she still tensed up and tried to not flinch. Bruce was sleeping on the floor in his own makeshift bed and she didn’t know if he was secretly awake too. “Every time we come here, I have to stand around and see what the hell Elaine lets her kid do, it’s disgusting, she should be ashamed of herself along with Morris.”
“Brian-” 
“We only come here because I want you to be happy and apparently what makes you happy is coming to see my family, bringing that wretched monster-” Jennifer’s heart clenched and she fought to look at Bruce. “And to remind me of everything I’ve been through? Isn’t that inconsiderate of you?”
She wants to tell Uncle Brian that he’s wrong. That Jennifer is a really good dancer and she can argue well and her hair is finally long enough to go into those pretty long braided ponytails. Aunt Rebecca was the best aunt, who took her and Bruce to the cool museum and one time that beach and aquarium, but Jennifer knew she wasn’t allowed to talk about that part to Uncle Brian ‘cause she knew that he wasn’t going to be happy about them going to such a cool place without him. 
Jennifer secretly thought that everything should have been done without Uncle Brian and they would all be for the better. Aunt Rebecca and Bruce wouldn’t have those awful bruises anymore and Bruce wouldn’t think that he was a monster. But Dad always got this weird look on his face and would glance at Mom and she would just turn away, scowling into the window and not smiling for the rest of the morning or afternoon. 
“We aren’t going to come here anymore.” Her uncle’s hushed voice drew Jennifer’s attention away form her thoughts again. “I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to see all of these reminders of being a fucking child again.” 
Aunt Rebecca must have tried to say something, because there was an odd noise before he kept on talking. “It’s sick. I feel sick looking at Elaine’s kid in those dresses. Everything here is sick and I have half a mind to know what’s causing it-”
His voice came closer then, like Uncle Brian was reaching for the door handle and wanting to come into her room. Jennifer pulled her covers up higher and she didn’t miss the hitching noise that came from the floor. The only thing that stopped her from calling out to her parents was when Aunt Rebecca’s voice rose somewhat. Not a lot. She never yelled as a choice. 
“Okay, okay.” Her voice sounded soothing now. “We’ll leave first thing tomorrow and- and you won’t have to come back here. I’ll make something up to Elaine and Morris.”
“Or you. I don’t want you coming here either, Rebecca. I need you with me.”
“...Okay.”
The voices faded away more from her door and Jennifer blinked in the dark. She didn’t feel tired anymore though, instead, Jennifer felt wide awake and like she had just missed a step of the stairs or like she was standing on a tall bridge, ready to fall at any moment. She wanted to say something, but Bruce had curled up further into his bed and Jennifer didn’t want to wake him up just in case he had been able to fall asleep. 
She didn’t think either of them would be able to sleep again if one of them said something. 
~~~~
The plumes of smoke rose into the air, forming from such intensive heat that Thad was shocked that it didn’t go anywhere further. The summer day was hot, the kind where you wanted to sit with some ice cold lemonade or to run as fast as you can through New Hampshire trails with friends laughing and chasing you, eager to win the game. 
Momma- Mom was waiting back at the farm where Mr Thomas was gonna show Thad those frogs by the river after he had helped her out with some chores Mom had shooed him away from, claiming that he was young enough to not have to worry about helping out so much. Thad wished that she would let him help, let him be useful enough around the house, especially now.
He had always liked red and orange and yellow. Warm colours, colours of war that Dad had always said fit Ross men. Aunt Betsy would always smile at these colours falling from the trees before threading her fingers with Uncle Jeff’s hands. 
These warm colours blended and danced together, threading into the sky in a swirling blaze that could bring tears to anyone’s eyes, even a man’s. 
The heat caught Thad strongly and even though he was standing far away enough for it to be safe, the heat still made it hard to breathe, like the air itself wanted to take everything away. 
But it already had done that, just not to Thaddeus. 
The roaring of the flames mixed with the odd ringing in his ears and while Thad couldn’t feel the energy to rub at them, he still winced slightly at the sound. The ringing was joined by a horrible screaming, the kind of screaming that you only heard once and never wanted to hear again ever. 
Henry was nearby, screaming and tearing at the ground and himself. He was strong for a ten year old, only a year older than Thad, due to the boxing lessons he took up. Thad would watch him sometimes and the sun on his face would only flush him further as he laughed and watched Henry hit the heavy sandbag. Henry offered to teach him some stuff and Thad found himself eager for it. 
Only now though, Henry didn’t seem to have any of that same easy-going assurance. His voice was raw from screaming for the past hour, struggling from where Mr Thomas has rushed over when the explosion hit and had immediately taken Henry into his arms, holding tight to ensure that the ten year old couldn’t run into the flames.
Henry wouldn’t look at Thad. Green eyes were glassy with terror and tears and he screamed harder towards the flame, directing Thad’s attention over to it.
He didn’t want to look. But Henry’s father was in the plane, the centre of fire, and he had finally stopped screaming himself. Thad looked and felt his chest clench with..something. He didn’t want to know what, didn’t want to give it a name as he stared into bloodshot and burning as his previously white skin went all sorts of hues of red and black, charring and burning and rotting away.
He stopped struggling and he stared and he gaped and Thad thought he would have screamed if he could. 
Mr Thomas screamed at Thad to get away and later on, his aunt and uncle and mother and Mr Thomas would fuss over him. Dad would slap him on the back and tell Thad that this was a lesson in shirking his duties for personal reasons. Thad would be sick and he would dream of burning red hues and charred skin for the rest of his life. He would look into a mirror one day and see the same horrible hues and blackened eyes staring back at himself.
For now, Thad stared.
~~~~
“God dammit, Robert,” Daddy’s voice was high and dizzy and Bruce maybe would have sounded the same way if he could talk right now. “What did you make me do?”
Mommy was on the floor and red coated the ground around her and tinted the top of her dress and Bruce wasn’t anywhere near her because Daddy was too close and Daddy would do the same to Robbie and he felt sick and he felt that feeling where he got angry and something made him want to scream and run but his legs felt too buzzy like the tv static and he couldn’t run there was nowhere-
“Look at me!”
The voice sounded like a monster now and Robbie stared up with wide eyes, glassy and wet and his chest heaved with everything bad in the world. Daddy had blood on his hands. 
He looked like he wanted to have Robbie’s blood on his hands too.
He felt sick. 
Robbie’s head didn’t feel like it was working right now and that was never a good thing when Daddy was staring and looking so angry. His green jacket was tainted now and Robbie was only glad that he didn’t have the same rushing feeling of the monster in his head - the other monster that wasn’t him - wanting to scream and hit Daddy back. 
“You made me do this. You made me into this.” Daddy snarled and he stunk of his drinks and Robbie couldn’t even flinch back without his head hitting into the car. “I could have been better, Robert. Rebecca was going to fix me. She was making me better and then you came along and it was all just a giant fucking reminder that I can never have anything good.” 
He stepped forward and this time Robbie’s head did smack into the car. He didn’t wince though, he had been hit harder.  
Daddy’s chest heaved and Robbie wished that a sorry could fix this all. He was sorry he was born and made Mommy feel like she had run away, sorry that he made Daddy so unhappy. But his head felt like it was full of cotton and thoughts slid away and feelings took their place of screaming grey static. 
Robbie’s eyes fell onto the green jacket Daddy wore, right where green was tinted with the red and they stayed there. 
He wished Daddy could say sorry for taking Mommy away though. 
Daddy loved Mommy, but he didn’t seem to care about the fact that Robbie loved her too. 
Mommy didn’t move from the ground. She must have been cold there and Daddy didn’t seem to know what to do about that. He stepped away, covered his mouth and paced for a little while. Robbie heard sirens and Daddy screamed into his hands, a muffled and agony filled noise that made Robbie flinch back again, a hollow bang following it easily. 
“You...” Daddy sounds hoarse now. The bad scary when he came into Robbie’s room sometimes, standing near the big monster and he would stare for an hour before leaving again. “You aren’t going to let them know it was me because it wasn’t, okay? It was you, it was always you!”
Stepping closer, Daddy seems to loom over him, the same way the scaled monster in Robbie’s room does. 
“You made me into this because that’s what monsters do. Rebecca...Rebecca loved you for some deluded reason and she wanted you to live so-” Daddy laughs wetly and Robbie wonders what’s so funny. “So you’re going to live. Live with what you did to me and her and you will never forget this, no matter what-” 
And then he leans down and Robbie stares into brown eyes that are dilated and he notices a smear of blood on Daddy’s cheek. “You’re heartless Robert. You kill everything near you, monster, but I won’t let you kill me.”
He stepped away then and the sirens were closer and Robbie felt like static grey and blood tinted green were all that he could feel and see. A small sob finally slipped out of him.
Robbie wished that he wasn’t the only monster, that maybe Jen or the monster in his head was real so they could be here and share a hug or try and help him take away some of that awful feeling in his chest.
He reached out a finger and caught it in the stiff pinkie of Mommy. She was still warm and even though Robbie wanted to hug her, he resisted that urge.
This was good enough for a monster like him.
~~~~
“No! Put it down, Phil!” Sam stared in horror and horror was the correct word right now because his brother was currently holding his most important book, the one that Mommy had given him before she left. 
She was going to be back soon, it had only been a week, but until then Sam had thought it would be good to keep the book she had given him safe, especially since she would want to read it with him when she got back. It was all about sharks and their different habitats and Mommy liked it when she could have fun talks with Sam afterwards and even about who would win in a shark fight to the death. 
But now, in his big brother’s hands, Sam feels his worrying problems push themselves to the front of his mind and he feels like it’s harder to breathe when he doesn’t have the book.
His brother wasn’t nice at times, the bruises up his chest and arms and the missing tooth proved that, Although Mommy and Dad said a lot that it was an accident, right? And Phil was nicer when Sam agreed that it was an accident. Phil didn’t mean to play so roughly, or to push Sam about hard enough for him to get hurt, but it still sent thrums of panic up his back to see his book in Phil’s hands. 
“Why should I?” Phil was already taller than him by lots, despite being thirteen. He grew a lot over the summer and that only served to make him so much more scary when Sam was still eight and waiting for his own growth spurt. Sam tried to keep it to himself, but maybe Phil knew, especially when he got this weird smile on his face when he stepped closer and Sam had to look up. 
“Mommy gave me-”
“Mommy gave me!” Phil copies him and he makes his voice so much higher than it needed to be and Sam’s face feels hot and awful at it. “Do you hear yourself? All this talk of being some sort of big boy now and you’re still too stupid to know that Mom isn’t coming back.”
“She is!” Sam argues back and he feels his chest clench already, panic and bad ideas forming at the words. 
What if she wasn’t coming back? What if she got hurt and couldn’t and-
What if she didn’t want to come back?
Phil seems to catch some sort of look on Sam’s face and his smile turns ugly and Sam wants to back away and run but Phil still has his book and the last time he did that, his brother had grabbed him by his then-long hair and had yanked hard enough that Sam had a headache for hours. It was part of the reason why Sam had gotten Momm- Mom to cut it all off. 
“She doesn’t want to come back and why would she?” Phil stepped closer and jabbed a finger into Sam’s chest, ignoring the small cry of pain. “Dad just sits on his ass all day and only gets up to yell at us now, nothing I do ever seems to be good enough for him or her and don’t even get me started on you!”
Maybe he shouldn’t ask, but Sam’s chest feels so tight now and he knows he should try the breathing exercises Mom tried to show him, but he can’t right now. Everything is piling up more and more, like the dishes in the kitchen that are starting to smell. 
“What about me?”
“You, Sam Sterns, are a freak.” Phil practically spits the word and Sam tries to not flinch. “You’re annoying and talk so goddamn much so no wonder Mom wanted to leave when you’re always causing problems over being scared of everything or wanting to look different and I’m so fucking sick of sharks!”
He swore and Sam stared with wide eyes, but a wail escaped him when Phil seemed to reach the height of his anger and ripped out pages of the book. Sam reached over for it but Phil shoved his hand into Sam’s face and roughly shoved him away, ripping more pages out and chucking them into the mud.
His book was ruined. The pages were too torn up now and dirty to read and nothing would fix it. Tears rose to Sam’s face and he shoved a hand into his mouth to bite down on the oncoming sob from his book being ruined. The hurt in his chest grew and he felt like screaming and he was shaking now, hands reaching down to touched the ruin pages and his fingers shook as he touched muddy ruined words. 
He didn’t want to say anything else, not when breathing was so hard right now and his face felt flushed. Phil just stood over him and he knew that he was going to have worse. 
Later that night, after a trip to the medial room, Dad didn’t even bother asking how Sam broke his wrist. The mud and tears and ruined book seemed to be enough for him.
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numba99 · 4 years
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Fatal Attraction - Part 5
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Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Summary:When a mysterious man shows up at your job, you find yourself inexplicably drawn to him - and him to you. But behind the beautiful face is the dark lifestyle of a man who has made his wealth through becoming the most powerful drug dealer in the city. Word count: 4k whew my longest work ever I think (there are probably some typos towards the end forgive me!!!)
Song: I wanna be yours // Arctic Monkeys
Warnings: blood, stitches (please ignore if its not medically accurate I tried y’all), smut
Your eyes fluttered open as warm morning sunlight entered the room. With each slow blink, details from last night came back to you. For a few moments you were certain it wasn’t all just a dream, but the bruises on your knuckles told you it was very real.
You looked down at yourself, you were in the pajamas you had packed, but you had no memory of putting them on. You peeked inside your shirt, seeing your bra was still on. Mika must have got you into your pjs because you would have never left your bra on to sleep, no matter how exhausted you were. You thought it was sweet, though, he could have been a creep and stolen a look at you while you were passed out, but he didn’t. He really was a criminal with morals.
Speaking of your favorite criminal, you rolled over, happy to find him still in bed with you. He was closer to the other edge of the bed, which in a king-sized bed felt like a mile away. His back was to you, allowing you to sneak up behind him and wrap your arms around him.
“Morning,” he mumbled softly. His eyes were still closed, but he smiled when you pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Morning,” you whispered, cuddled against him. He was so warm and solid, curing the little chill you always seemed to feel in the morning, no matter the temperature outside. You couldn’t imagine anything that would be worth leaving this bed for.
“I wish we could stay like this forever,” Mika said, as if he could read your thoughts. He turned towards you, his eyes somehow even more beautiful with a hint of sleepiness in them.
“Who says we can’t?” you asked with a playful grin.
Mika chuckled, “Just about everyone who buys my product.” You thought it was interesting the way he spoke about what he did. It was all very professional, like he was working in a legitimate business. You didn’t mean that in a way to belittle what he did, clearly he did well for himself and you really didn’t have a problem with it. You wondered, though, if it was a show for you, like he thought you were more comfortable hearing “product” rather “drugs.” 
“Can they wait five more minutes?” you asked, not ready to leave this little slice of heaven just yet.
“Of course they can,” Mike replied, kissing your forehead.
“I have to say,” you began, absentmindedly running your finger over his arm, “I was a bit surprised about last night.”
“I’m glad I didn’t freak you out too much with Thomas. I was nervous you’d flip out on me,” Mika replied, watching how you touched him. He loved how delicately your hand moved along his toned forearm.
“No not that... well yeah I guess that surprised me too,” you laughed lightly. That was an understatement, but not what you were thinking of. “I mean the window thing. Not exactly what I would expect from a guy that wants to take things slow.”
Mika shrugged, “It was just the way you handled yourself, I don’t know, it got to me I guess. You're not very easy to resist, y/n.”
You were sure his words made your cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. “Guess it’s good you live so far up, or else some people would have gotten a good show,” you joked.
“I’d never let anyone else see you like that,” Mika said, laughing, though there was an edge of seriousness in his voice. You guess Mika was not a man that liked to share.
You laid together for a little while longer, but hunger got the best of you both eventually. You meandered out to the kitchen, thinking you would just be having some cereal or something. You should have known by now that Mika was not just a cereal type of guy.
“A chef?” you asked, not sure why you were even shocked. He was in the kitchen, churning out a little breakfast spread for the two of you. 
“I thought you’d be hungry after last night,” Mika replied. Your stomach growled as if to agree with him. You loaded your play with pancakes, eggs, and some fruit for good measure before settling down on one of the stools at the kitchen island. 
“Do you mind if Chris joins us?” Mika asked. You shook your head, your mouth was too full to reply verbally. 
At first you were sure Chris didn’t like you, but you think he was just very protective of Mika, which you appreciated. You guessed he thought you either just wanted him for his money, or got yourself into something that was way above your head. The former couldn’t be further from the truth and the latter, well, maybe there was a hint of truth to that. You didn’t know exactly what this lifestyle would entail, but you were prepared to do whatever it takes to keep up. You weren’t about to become a liability to Mika. With the look of approval you caught from Chris last night after handling Thomas, you think he was finally starting to see that too.
Chris came in form the elevator a few moments later, greeting you with a reserved smile, but a smile nonetheless. That was progress in your book. “We still on for tonight?” he asked as he filled his plate with eggs.
“Yeah, I’ve texted the guys to be ready at our normal spot at midnight,” Mika replied.
“What’s tonight?” you asked, not following the conversation.
“We’ve got a shipment coming in,” Mika explained, “Nothing big, really. It’s more of a decoy if anything. Dimitri’s trying to figure out where we import from so he can hijack the big one we having coming in soon.”
“Can I come?” The both shook their heads immediately.
“This isn’t like last night,” Mika replied slowly. You could tell he was trying to choose his words carefully. “Last night was secure. These things are... harder to plan for. Things can... go south fast. I don’t want you in the middle of that.” No matter how heavily he sugarcoated it, you knew he was saying there was chance he could get seriously hurt tonight, or worse. 
“You could die,” you heard yourself say. You didn’t want to sound scared or like you couldn’t handle this. Mika didn’t need another thing to worry about, and a small part of you was scared that if he thought this was going to freak you out too much he’d break things off.
“Please don’t worry, y/n,” Mika insisted, “I’ve done these countless times and I’m still here. Hell, this one is probably the safest one we’ve done in a while because we are anticipating Dimitri watching. We’ll be ready for him and any of the shit he pulls.”
Chris slung his arm around Mika’s shoulder and added, “I’d never let anything happen to Mika, I promise.” You gave them your bravest smile. It did make you feel better to hear that, but still you couldn’t complete ignore the nerves in your stomach.
“What am I supposed to do while you’re gone?”
“Isn't tonight your normal night to work a shift at the club?” Mika asked. You wondered if he planned it that way. He was right though, you were supposed to work tonight. You had almost completely forgotten about Rick’s shitty club; it felt like a lifetime ago.
“Ugh, yeah a do,” you groaned, “That place fucking sucks.” 
“Do you wanna quit?” Mika asked.
“I would love too.”
“So do it,” Mika replied casually, “You don’t need to work, I’ve got you covered.”
“Mika, I can’t, I don’t wanna mooch of you. It’s not fair,” you replied.
“You're not mooching, I want to do it,” Mika countered, “But if you want to work, I definitely support it. I’ll help you find a different job even. I just... I don’t really like the way other men look at you when you dance if I’m honest.” Yeah, he definitely didn’t like to share. You thought it was hot, though, how he spoke with such seriousness.
“Okay deal,” you replied, “I’ll work my final shift tonight and then look for something new. God it will be so nice to be able to tell off Rick once and for all.”
Chris let out a laugh, “Kinda wish I could see that.” You smiled, glad that he really seemed to be warming up to you.
“So I gotta ask,” you shifted the topic, “How did you to meet?” Mika and Chris exchanged a glance as if sharing a silent exchange of who wants to tell the story this time?
Apparently it was Chris’s turn. “Guess it’s not so crazy. I used to live with my family up in Massachusetts, but we didn’t get along well I guess you could say. My parents put a lot of pressure on me to excel in everything. They even wanted me to be a pro hockey player, I mean can you imagine?” Chris and Mika chucked before Chris continued, “Anyways, when I told them that isn’t what I wanted they basically kicked me out and cut me off. I moved to New York and started selling to get by. And that’s when I met Mika.”
“My dad used to have me scout guys,” Mika picked up the story, “Trying to figure out who we could recruit to work for us. I just clicked with Chris unlike I have with anyone else. He's one of the few people I trust completely.” Chris smiled bashfully at Mika’s words. You could tell they meant a lot to each other and you were happy Mika had such a great friend.
“I’m glad you have each other,” you replied. Specifically glad that Mika had Chris. It would make you nervous (well more nervous than you already are) for Mika to be out doing this without someone to have his back. Especially someone like Chris who, the more time you spent, with the more you were convinced he could wrestle a grizzly bear.
The rest of the day was pretty quiet. Mika was extremely calm for someone about to go out and break the law while being watched by some lunatic mobster. You spent much of your time laid beside him, his hand lazily tracing lines over your body as he made phone calls to the other guys finalizing the details. You wished you could get in his head and see if he actually had any fear, or if he was just being brave so you wouldn’t freak out.
Eventually, it came time for you both to go to your respective jobs. Hopefully it would only be your final time doing it. “Hey, don’t look so scared,” Mika said softly, tucking his finger under your chin and pushing it up so you had to look at him. “Everything gonna be okay, I promise. By the time you’re done with your shift at the club I’ll be home. You won't even have time to miss me.”
You couldn’t help but smile softly at the way he spoke to you. It filled you with such a sweet warmth and comfort. “I’ll be racing you back,” you teased, trying to show him you weren’t as nervous as you truly were.
“I know you will be,” Mika smirked, “So on the off chance you beat me to it, or if you need anything at all while I’m out, Lias is gonna be. We always have one person stay back in case- just for precaution. If you need anything call him.”
You nodded, wrapping your arms around him tightly. Mika gave you a peck on the lips and you returned it, which ended up in full blown making out in his living room. 
“Jesus there are plenty rooms in this apartment you guys need to find one,” a voice quipped. Lias had let himself in. You and Mika both rolled your eyes and laughed. “Chris and the guys are waiting for you in the car downstairs.”
“Thanks Lias. Make sure you keep your phone on you if we need anything,” Mika turned to you and kissed your forehead before saying, “I’ll see you soon.” You gave your bravest smile as a goodbye and watched him disappear into the elevator. You wanted to go out with him so you could spend as much time with him as possible, but Mika was concerned about being seen with you. As far as he knew, Dimitri didn't know where he lived, but he still didn’t wanna risk it if he was watching.
So after ten minutes passed, you set off to the club one last time. Despite your nerves there was a go giddy excitement coursing through your veins. There were so many times you fantasized about telling Rick off and now you were finally going to be able to do it.
That was all you thought about during your shift. Well that and Mika, but you were trying to not make yourself a nervous wreck and that was the best distraction. It definitely wasn’t your best night in terms of tips but you really couldn’t give less of a fuck. It wasn’t about the money. You were just there to fill the time. Each song brought you closer to giving Rick what he deserves. Each song brought you closer to Mika.
And finally it was time. You eagerly changed back into your street clothes, hugging the girls you worked with goodbye. They didn’t ask questions about why you were quitting. That was best part of this profession, the girls you worked with understood life could be... complicated. You were glad you didn’t have to come up with a lie.
“I’d like to talk to you, Rick,” you stated, shutting the door to his office behind you. It was less office and more closet he turned into a makeshift office to feed his sense of self importance.
Rick smiled a sleazy smile, “Finally gonna take me up on that offer to fu-”
“Oh would you shut the fuck up,” you snapped, stunning him into a brief silence.
“You can’t talk to me like that,” Rick fired back. He could be loud, but you were scared of him. He was coward and he wouldn’t lay a hand on you. Even if he did, you knew Mika would crush him in a second if he heard.
“I can do whatever the fuck I want. Because I quit,” you began, “You are never going to lay one of your disgusting fucking fingers on me again. Or any of these girls for that matter. None of them want to fuck you, they're just to scared to tell you off because you’re their gross, manipulative boss.”
“Why don’t you j-”
“I’m not fucking finished,” you cut him off, “If I hear you even so much as make one creepy comment towards any of these girls I promise you it will be the last thing you ever do. Got it?” You hadn’t realized you were getting closer to him as you spoke until you were right in his face. You never saw him look so afraid. It felt good.
“Got it,” he gulped.
“Great,” you flashed a mean-spirited smile, “Don’t even bother paying me for the shift tonight. I don’t need your money.” With that you left, feeling on top of the fucking world. You almost forgot about what Mika was out doing. Almost. 
Once the high of quitting wore off, you were practically running home. Had you not been so caught up in wanting to see Mika so badly, you may have thought more about how you were already referring to Mika’s place as “home” even though you haven’t even moved in. That didn’t matter right now, you just wanted to see his face.
You rushed into the apartment, nerves creeping in as you noted how quiet it was. You found Lias in the living room where you left him. Alone.
“They’re not back yet?” you asked, holding out hope Mika had slipped away to the bathroom.
“No, um, should be here soon,” Lias told you, though there was something off in his voice. He knew something he wasn’t telling you.
“Lias... did something happen?” Your heart was pounding your ears.
“It’s nothing really everything is-”
“Lias fucking tell me what happened,” you snapped. You couldn’t bare another moment in suspense. 
“There was a fight,” Lias relented, “Not Dimitri’s people, but they were attacked.” Before you could ask what he meant by that, the elevator doors lid open. Chris walked in with his arm around Mika, who was bleeding down his face from his forehead.
“Oh my god,” you gasped. You knew head wounds bled more than other wounds even if they weren’t that bad, but the amount of blood dripping down his face was startling. 
“It’s not as bad it looks,” Mika insisted. You rush over to him as Chris sat him down at on one of the stools in the kitchen.
“Seriously, you should see the other guy,” Chris added with a smirk, “Poor guy won’t be getting a date any time soon.” Mika and Chris had a laugh, as if Mika wasn’t still currently bleeding. You inspected the gash above his eyebrow, a little less than an inch long. You ran a finger over the skin around it and Mika winced.
“This is gonna need stitches,” you stated, getting a close a look as possible. It didn’t appear to go down to the bone, thank god.
“We can’t go to a hospital,” Mika told you, “Hospitals take names and ask questions.”
“Have you got a first aid kit?” you asked.
Chris nodded, “Should be a fully stocked one in the closet upstairs.”
“Grab it and bring it to the bathroom. Lias can you get some towels, please? Either dark ones or old ones. This will stain.” You held out your hand, which Mika took, but not without a quizzical look. You led him to the bathroom.
“Do you know how to do stitches?” Mika asked as you sat him down at the toilet. You turned on the tap, letting it run warm.
“I was studying to be a nurse before I left college,” you explained. By that time Lias had dropped off some black towels. You soaked one, gently removing the blood that had dripped down his neck.
“Is there anything you can’t do?” Mika asked, eyeing you with wonderment. You were trying to focus on wiping the blood around to wound off without pulling it open more, but his eyes on you clouded your thoughts.
“Long division,” you joked, mostly for yourself. You needed to lighten the mood. Once you got enough of the blood off, you instructed Mika to press the towel against his head to prevent anymore from coming out. Just then, Chris brought in the first aid kit.
“Need any help in here?” he asked.
“No, thank you,” you replied, your eyes scanning the interior of kit. You were relieved that it had everything you needed. Chris said something you didn’t really catch as you pulled out the disinfectant. You poured it on to the gauze and handed it to Mika. “Put this over the cut. It’s gonna sting, but it’s gotta get clean.” 
Mika followed your instruction without question, though he did wince when the gauze touched his skin. “Jesus this hurt more than the actual cut.”
“Sorry,” you replied empathically. 
“Not your fault baby,” he replied, his free hand finding the back of your thigh and rubbing it lightly. You ignored how it made your stomach flip as you tried to thread the need. It took you three tries.
“Try to hold still,” you said quietly as you positioned yourself over him. Your hands were shaking slightly, it had been awhile since you had done this. After a deep breath you were able to proceed, and you were surprised how easily it came back to you. Mika was an amazing patient, only a few little twitches of a frown as the needle went through his skin and the sutures closed up the wound.
“All done,” you said, letting out the breath you didn’t realize you're holding. You took a step back to admire your work. You were surprised at how good they looked. 
Mika stood up and checked himself in the mirror. “Wow, you’re amazing, you know that right?” he marveled at you. It made your knees weak.
“You were the bravest patient I ever had,” you told him. He didn't need to know your only other patients included little kids at summer camps.
“Hope you don’t mind how they make me look,” Mika teased, wrapping his arms around your waist.
“I think it suits you,” you replied. It was weirdly hot, in a way. “Plus, I’ve always loved a scar on a man.” You gently thumbed his forehead, just a few inches above the wound.
Mika’s eyes clouded over lightly. At first you couldn't quite place it, but when his lips found your neck you realized it was lust. “How can I repay you?” he asked in a tone that told you he already had an idea.
You slipped your hand under his jaw, making him look at you. You took a second to admire the look in his eyes, before whispering. “Like this.” Your lips were on his in an instant. You kissed each other hungrily. Your hands tangled through his hair while his found your ass. He gave you a slight squeeze and you jumped up, wrapping your legs around him. 
He was able to carry you effortlessly to his bedroom without ever losing contact with your lips. You fell into the clouds of his bed sheets gently, as Mika admired you from above. As much as his stare intoxicate you, you needed him. You reached up, pulling him on top of you.
Clothes feel off between kisses and gentle moans. Mika made it clear the other night that he was well-versed in foreplay activities, but right now you just wanted him. Nothing besides him inside you would satisfy the ache you felt between your legs.
Mika sensed this, reaching down to run his finger through you folds. He made sure you were wet enough for him and you were more than certain you were. Though when he removed the last of his clothes, there was a sliver of doubt in you. He was big, both long and thick.
“We’ll start slow,” Mika smirked, noting the look in your eye when you saw him. You didn’t have time to be embarrassed about being caught staring, he was already getting himself ready to push into you.
It didn't happen with you fistfuls of sheets and some gasps, but he managed to get himself all the way inside you. Mika was normally very composed, but you could see his willpower was crumbling as he felt your tightness around him.
Mika kept yo his word, moving slowing until you both adjusted to the feeling of the other. It didn’t take too long before he was able to move with more speed and strength. He felt unbelievably good inside you; you never felt so full in your life. His strokes were long but fast. It was the perfect mix of needy and passionate. He’d been thinking about this moment as long as you had.
Your orgasm approached surprisingly quickly. You clawed at Mika’s back, feeling the pleasure build to a near unbearable level.
“Fuck, Mika,” you gasped when you couldn’t hold on any longer. The sweet warm sensation of bliss filled you completely. You moaned into Mika’s neck as he kept going until he came along with you. The sounds he made were music to your ears.
Mika slowed up and let you both ride out the last few moments of your highs. He was panting lightly by the time he fell beside you on the bed. He had you in his arms within seconds.
“I guess neither of us understand the concept of slow,” you teased.
Mika chuckled, kissed the top of your head, “You get me. That’s why you’re my girl. Forever.”
27 notes · View notes
wyntertimes-blog · 4 years
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* Getting loose with Ivanka and Jay Kay
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* PLUS: Cock rings on the 6 O'Clock News
>> Strange times <<The poll winners' party
It probably won't surprise you to learn that champagne corks were popping at 10pm prompt at the Baby Shard on Thursday night, as the Times and the Sun celebrated the projected result of the exit poll.
It's also unlikely to surprise you to learn that Rupert Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks, Les Hinton and all the usual News UK suspects were there too, getting their fourth and fifth trolleys of booze brought in to the office by the time Blyth Valley announced.
The one thing that might surprise you though is that in among the revellers was... Cate Blanchett.This year's series of Love Island has taken three of the top ten spots in Ofcom's list of most complained-about shows of 2019.
>> Straight shooter <<Randy Andy makes 'em standy
It's been a bruising few weeks for Prince Andrew since his cataclysmic interview with Emily Maitlis – but he's probably brimming over with remorse and humility now, right?
Erm.
Earlier this month, Handsy Andy went on another of his (straightforward) shooting weekends. At breakfast one morning, everyone else in the party was sat quietly reading the papers when Andy came into the room.
As no-one stood up for him when he entered, he bellowed "OH HO HO! LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN, SHALL WE?" Then walked out of the room and re-entered, so that everyone could oblige him.There's a This Morning team WhatsApp group entitled "We Hate Phillip".
>> Big Questions <<Who's asking what this week?
What could have caused the Mail to pull a recent exclusive of theirs about a French masseuse meeting with Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace back in 2000? The story made the paper's front page at the end of November but, save for a report of the Mail's report in the New York Post, there's no trace of it online now.If you subscribe to Popbitch, chances are your internet search history is something you'd rather was kept private. Protect yourself online (plus bypass digital censorship) by using a VPN. CyberGhost is currently offering Popbitch readers a 79% discount on its 18 month plan, which protects up to seven devices, for just £2.15 a month.
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>> Westwood ho <<Getting loose with Ivanka
Before she became the accomplished businesswoman and occasional threat to global security that she is today, Ivanka Trump had teenage ambitions of becoming a fashion model.
Thanks to her family connections, she was seen for a number of jobs in the late 90s and became a bit of a favourite of Vivienne Westwood. Westwood's team used to make a point of letting the models pick the music they put on in the studio as a way of helping them to relax and feel comfortable on a shoot.
Ivanka's choice of music, every single time? Jamiroquai. Which she would then sing along to.
Peanut from the Kaiser Chiefs is preparing to run his 100th park run over the Christmas holidays.
>> Bah humbug <<More drama at the BBC
The BBC is going heavy on trailing their version of A Christmas Carol this year, making a big song and dance out of the fact it stars Guy Pearce, is written by Peaky Blinders' Steven Knight and has been exec produced by Tom Hardy. One person who's been a little left out in the cold though is director Nick Murphy.
Poor Nick was so miffed that the BBC didn't invite him to take part in a special Q&A event about the show that he ended up turning up anyway to rage at the head of BBC Drama there. His ire hasn't just been reserved for TV execs either as he's started taking pot shots at Tom Hardy on Twitter too, claiming that the catering department was more involved in production than Hardy.
There may be some lingering resentment there, as Hardy was set to star in A Christmas Carol (as well as produce) until he suddenly decided to bail out. But if you ask us, Nick, you had a lucky escape.
On set at Hardy and Knight's previous BBC1 collab, Taboo, crew members reported that Hardy wasn't shy about staying in character, stark-bollock naked, for much of the time. And we can only imagine what it would have been like trying to direct with the Ghost of Christmas Past's dick and balls wafting all around.
Nick Cave Watch: Everyone's favourite goth dad was spotted at an Elton John concert in Melbourne this week.
>> Picture this <<More corporate creepiness
One of Jeffrey Epstein's former employees claims that Epstein kept a 6ft portrait of his mysterious 'fixer' Ghislaine Maxwell above the pool in his sprawling New Mexico mansion. Not just any old portrait though. One of her naked and "posing provocatively".
He wouldn't be the first icky businessman to have had a life-size nudey portrait of a close associate on their wall though. West Ham's porn-purveying chairman, David Sullivan, was once well known in the football world for having a huge painting hung in his basement office.
Of his now Vice-Chairman at West Ham FC, Dame Karren Brady.Andy Coulson has been advised by friends that having his own name in his new PR firm (Coulson Partners) is enough to stop most major organisations from hiring them. So far it's advice that he (and his ego) seem unwilling to take.
>> Shaky casting <<Merry Christmas everyone!
This year's bleak seasonal murder drama, Responsible Child (based on the real life story of a 14 year-old killer who was tried as an adult and jailed) has been getting rave reviews.
Whether it was the shocking nature of the story, or the impressive performance of the child actor who inhabited the role, we couldn't tell you, but for some reason most of the reviews have failed to mention the most important thing about the production.
The kid who plays the murderer is the grandson of Shakin' Stevens.
This week's Media Masters podcast is a chat with historian and broadcaster David Starkey. His outspoken, unforgiving style and trenchant opinions have earned him a reputation as being "the rudest man in Britain". In this in-depth interview he explains the impact it's had over his career.
[Listen/Download on Media Masters]
>> One love <<The race for Xmas No.1
Now that The X Factor is an utterly spent force, and December streaming is dominated by seasonal classics, the annual race for Christmas No.1 has become a much more unpredictable beast.
Re-releases are subjected to permanent ACR restrictions ('Accelerated Chart Ratio') with streaming, which basically means that old, established classics have to generate twice the number of streams as new tracks in order to compete. (Without this, three of the top four last Friday would have been Mariah Carey, Wham! and The Pogues.)
So who's in the running this year? There's another tedious song about sausage rolls from Ladbaby (hideous; but for a good cause). There's the inevitable Ed Sheeran (this year on Stormzy's record). And of course, there's the now traditional Facebook campaign choice.
Facebook campaigns are a bit of a lost cause but it has to be said: of all the songs that the British public could have picked to champion this year, Jarvis Cocker's "(Cunts Are Still) Running The World", is a pretty good one.
[Join the campaign]
REO Speedwagon's original of Can't Fight This Feeling has been streamed more than Bastille's John Lewis ad cover since its release in mid-November.
>> Electile dysfunction <<Another cock up on the Beeb
On election day, there are very strict rules in the UK which forbid news organisations from discussing politics until polling is closed. Which means that news teams have to ignore the biggest story of the day and compile their news bulletins from whatever innocuous filler they can drum up instead.
As part of their non-political Six O'Clock News broadcast last Thursday, BBC1 chose to air an item about the postal service and people sending tiny items in oversized parcels. Alas, it seems there was a very good reason that the Six O'Clock News hadn't touched that story previously.
One of the parcels that was prominently displayed as part of the pre-watershed segment clearly showed a cock ring.Nominative Determinism of the Week: The Senior doorkeeper of the House of Commons... Phil Howse!
>> 2019: The Annual <<A last little gift from us
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>> Hmmms <<Cats, dogs, Muppets
Rowan Atkinson deepfaked Dior advert
[Ready to lose your libido?]
The reviews of Cats are restoring our faith and trust in journalism
[Read on Prospect]
Picture of dogs in mid-air, catching frisbees
[Cute: what more do you want?]
Need to stock up on wine before the holidays kick off? Naked Wines is offering Popbitch readers the chance to get a case of six sumptuous bottles, plus free delivery, for just £19.99.
[Get your orders in soon!]
What do you get for the man who has everything?
[Try an annual Wank-Pass]
40 years since the Muppets/John Denver Christmas special
[Watch on YouTube]
A crash course in the 100 most memorable memes of the decade
[Read on BuzzFeed]
The real life, bricks-and-mortar Popbitch Popquiz will return in January. Don't let dry January stop you having any fun. Join us at Smiths of Smithfield for another seven rounds of trivia, music and smut with our host, Tom Webb!
[Tuesday 14th January]
[Tuesday 28th January]
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September Song (2/3)
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I’m sorry @kitten-wrath that this took so long, but I do hope you like it. @hoodoo12 @xerxezra thanks for brainstorming with me. Also, Ice Cream Rick belongs @porkchop-ao3. References to the flowers can be found here (The Language Of Flowers) and pizza rolls here (Sick Day)
Also, special thanks go to @her-victori for reading a majority of my fics in a short span of time. You Rock! As well to random anons who leave me sweet words in my ask box.
If you haven't read the first part of this fic then here's the link. (Read Part1 Here)
In this fic the reader tries to be more reserved and mature for Rick, but what will he think?
______
Chapter 2: These Precious Days
The mom and pop ice cream parlor which could be found at the edge of town offered over twenty flavors and twice as many topping options. Rick thought you'd prefer this quiet atmosphere over the crowd that would've surrounded Ice Cream Ricks truck in the Citadel; he was right. Though it really was a shame since Ice Cream Rick was actually pretty nice. After ordering, you two sat by the window with the best view of a lonely backroad and a white GMC truck.
“I-I-I like that you went for the rainbow jimmies.” Rick commented as he popped a mini gummy bear into his mouth.
“Hmm? Yeah, I like the texture.”
Which was true, but it wasn't the whole truth. You loved sprinkles on just about any dessert they could be placed on. They were fun, colorful, and your dad's favorite topping. They reminded you of good times. You continued. “And they're a classic. Wouldn't you agree?”
“I-I do. Would you say that y-your favorite flavor?”
Savoring the flavor of your chocolate ice cream, you nodded. “Yeah.”
Smiling softly, he seemed to be ruminating on this information, before storing it away and eating a spoonful of his pistachio ice cream. After a little while, he managed to get a bit of it on the side of his mouth, which made you giggle. And because old habits die hard, you picked up a napkin and wiped his face clean. Under your fingertips, his skin had that masculine roughness that came from constant shaving. Of course, you were familiar with it, but these slight reminders that came about by chance never failed to amaze you.
However, you were quick to pull your hand back because he wasn't a fan of public displays of affection, though it seemed to have the opposite effect, with him reaching out and placing your hand back on his cheek, and leaning into it. “I'm glad y-you were able to come with me today.”
Seeing as the shop owner was in the back room, you relaxed a little. “I am too.”
Rick was always a little funny when he got sentimental, which was why it didn't surprise you too much when his eyes bore through you as he said. “Me encanta estar c-contigo.”
“Rick,” you began, wanting to let this facade go and declare every single word of affection your heart felt inclined to say, but just as soon as you thought you were going to crack, you restrained yourself, and simply said. “your ice cream is going to melt.”
Several beats of silence passed, and he acknowledged what you had said, but he went on. “You - I-I sometimes wish I could carry you in my pocket, and have you look after me all the time, but th-that's silly isn't it? It's not realistic, and that w-would be selfish.”
“If it's you, then I don't think it is. While it wouldn't necessarily be practical to miniaturize me and carry me around, isn't the beauty of a relationship knowing that you're always on someone's mind and that they are out there somewhere caring and thinking about you?”
“Certainly, but what I-I meant to say is that it'd be nice if this was our life. If I could keep y-you and if you and me ugh - all th-the time…we - if we….” he faltered, fixing his eyes on something else in the room.
“You don't mean eating ice cream do you?”
With a sigh, he relinquished the hold he had on your hand, “N-no.” and continued to eat his ice cream; resigned, and slightly embarrassed. You couldn't help but feel a slight disappointment. It's not like he wanted to say the magic words. Right?
________
After ice cream, you two visited the bookstore on the corner of Kinder St and Lavue Ave; which had not only a coffee shop but a toy store connected to it. As soon as one entered into it, you were met with the latest best sellers, books on travel and wellness, as well as souvenirs; it was one of few places that didn't bother you if it was cramped. To your left next to the window were those mint boxes which said Adventure Awaits, and it filled you with gladness as picked one up; thinking of little things you'd put in it after all the mints were gone. For his part, Zeta-7 seemed to know exactly what he was going for, disappearing in the back where all the used books were. Not knowing whether to follow or look around, you just did as you pleased.
Past the Keychain holder, above the box of mini hands, you found a Mister Rogers mug. You loved that wholesome old man who used to teach lessons and play with puppets on PBS; Rick reminded you of him too. On the label, it said that when you added hot water to the mug, Mister Rogers would change from a suit jacket into his cardigan. Seeing as Zeta-7 hadn't returned yet, you decided to buy it and continued to look around until he soon returned with an older book in hand. “I-I-I hope I hadn't kept you waiting long.”
Facing the bookshelf, pulling out books that you were mildly interested in, you answered. “I knew you would show up eventually.”
Noticing the stack of books you had, he asked sweetly. “M-m-mi corazón, do you want me t-to hold those books for you? They look a-a little heavy.”
You weren't sure how long you could keep up this facade of being mature and not melting into a puddle everytime he said things like that, with him being as darling as he was. Nonetheless, you nodded and he lightened the burden on your arms.
“Wow,” he brightened. “I-I didn't know you liked Alexandre Dumas.” And picking out another book, he wondered. “Have y-you ever read this?”
“The Man In the Iron Mask? No,” you admitted sadly. “but when I was in high school I did read about a third of The Count of Monte Cristo. I even have a postcard that my old English teacher sent me from Europe that had a picture of one of the buildings that was used in the movie.”
“That's s-s-so cool. Do - do you enjoy classic literature?”
Wholeheartedly, you replied. “Isn't it the best kind?”
“I-I-I don't know,” he softened. “but I don't know what I'd do without them.”
You thought of his home library then, with its eclectic mixture of languages, colors, and topics, and it made you feel warm in your soul. “If your home library tells me anything, it's that you have a healthy appetite for books.”
He glanced at your lips after you said this, but made no attempt to follow whatever thought which might've come to mind. Instead, you two carried on a lengthy discussion on books, how many were a social commentary of the time period, and how they influenced the world you lived in. For once you didn't have to pretend you knew something you didn't, cause you did know. Quite intimately in fact. And within the small spaces between shelves and bodies, where you'd normally feel claustrophobic, you were safe amongst all the friends you had yet to meet amongst the pages, and with Zeta-7 whose warm words and tall body shielded you from the curious eyes of the cashier.
_______________
A stack of books sat quietly in the back seat of his car. Crickets chirped, and there were random feral cats here and there, but there was only you and him as far as you were concerned. September Song by Willie Nelson played on the car radio as he led you into a natural waltz next to the town lake, and moonlight reflected in his eyes. If you hadn't been so afraid of drowning, maybe you would've preferred to dance on the dock, but like this, it felt right.
Oh, it's a long long while
From May to December
But the days grow short
When you reach September
When the autumn weather
Turns leaves to flame
One hasn't got time
For the waiting game
With your head resting on his chest, he hummed along to the melody. More than once you heard a sniffle but assumed it was just Zeta-7 caught up in the moment again.
Oh the days dwindle down
To a precious few. ..
September, November. ..
And these few precious days
I'll spend with you.
These precious days
I'll spend with you.
You thought every day spent with him was precious, and you had to admit that you weren't sure at the beginning of your relationship if it would've worked out, but you were glad that the both of you took a chance, and had been pleasantly surprised ever since. And after all this time, now that it was the fall again, you wondered what the next year and the year after that would be like; the possibilities are endless. However, your train of thought was broken when Zeta-7 stopped dancing and stood there; covering his face, wanting to disappear.
“Rick?”
“I'm - I'm sorry, but I-I-I-I can't do this.”
“Can't do what?”
“I-I-I can't pretend that everything's o-okay. Something's th-the matter isn't it?”
“No there isn't.” you denied.
“Then why are y-y-you so quiet? Are w-we breaking up? Are you - are you leaving me?”
You literally wanted to smack yourself for being such an idiot. “No! Why would you think that?”
Using his phone, he paused the music and passed a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm himself. “Y-y-you haven't been yourself all evening. I thought for a moment that maybe th-things were alright back in the bookstore, but you - I know y-you were holding back. I know how much you love books, and writing is y-y-y-your passion, but you were hesitant in sharing your opinions on either subject. M-mi corazón,” he pleaded, the lines about his forehead and mouth deepening. “please b-be honest with me. Is this it?”
“No, it's not.”
Your plan, which you thought has been working went horribly wrong. So much for trying to act like an adult for once. Man, you only wanted to entice him, which you somewhat succeeded, but because of your stupid games, you'd led him to believe that you were unsatisfied with your relationship. If anything, you were unsatisfied with how you handled this. “Believe me Ricky, you haven't done anything wrong. In fact,” you sighed, your chest aching from the bloom of anxiety. “you've only been sweet and charming. But I….oh, I was only trying to impress you.”
“Huh? Wh-what?”
“Exactly. Whatever I thought I'd accomplish, it…..I only managed to mess it up. Again. You probably wouldn't get it,” Or maybe he would, but you weren't feeling like yourself. “but sometimes I feel like all you did was pull me out of my little bubble so I could wreak havoc. I'm not any different from hundreds of other versions of me, am I? Cause, if I'm like them, then how did I end up with you? How did I get so lucky to be with someone so wonderful? I hope they are happy because I am with you.”
With a hand pressed over his heart, a single tear made its way down his cheek. “M-me too. I'm so happy with you.”
“Somehow, despite all my inadequacies, you want me. I mean, is it stupid to believe that I just wanted to be different from all those other copies? That I just wanted you to think I was mature?”
Zeta-7 looked at you with a wistful hope in his eyes.“No, it's - it's not stupid. You - you did that f-for me?”
“Who else dear honey man of mine? Maybe it can't be helped and I'll just be what I am,” you confessed. “but for a moment I wanted to be different. So I gave myself the look and didn't overreact. And most of all, kept my mouth shut so you wouldn't get bored of my rambling. I know I talk too much.”
“N-no, that's not - have I led you t-to believe you weren't good enough?”
“Not on purpose, but I can't help but feel that way sometimes. We both know I'm not that special. I mean, the only impressive thing I've ever done is eat 37 pizza rolls, and not kill the flowers you gave me. I'm so sorry,” you cried, “I'm sorry you got stuck with an idiot.”
He pulled you in for a tight embrace, smoothing out your hair. “D-don't ever say that.” he cooed. “You're - you're clever, lovely, and always give me something t-t-to smile about.”
“Anyone can do that.”
Pulling back a little, he gave your shoulder a squeeze and softened. “N-no, not at all. Y-you give away dreams, smiles, and kindness. You're reliable, and I-I can trust you. And there is no one in the universe th-that could compare t-to you when it comes to being the perfect woman. If anything, I'm th-the defect here.”
“No, you're perfect Ricky.”
Placing a lock of hair behind your ear, he continued. “I'm glad y-you think so, but this isn't a-about me. You - you dressed up today, in a-a elegant dress that I'd n-never seen before,” and pressing a kiss behind your ear, he whispered with a little gleam of pride in his eyes.. “wearing the perfume I-I-I made you. Smelling like a-a dream.”
Again, how anyone considered this charmer a doofus you'd never know. “I had been saving it for a special occasion.”
“Everyday with you is - is special.”
“Oh Rick. That's…thank you.”
Pointing at your feet, “And I noticed that you're closer t-t-to my height today, but your feet must be hurting by now. Would y-you like to take them off?”
Oh, your feet were screaming. And now that you weren't pretending, you slipped out of your shoes which made you lose about four inches. Picking up your shoes and shoes and dusting them off, he continued. “That must feel better. I-I-I had to wear heels for a case once. It ugh - it's not practical when y-y-you have to run.”
“Right? I don't see how other women do it, cause I can't. I'm not even sure why I own them. I should just burn those things.”
You'd say it was half relief, half joy that made him laugh wholeheartedly at this, and you didn't see how it could be so funny. You poked him and pouted, and he delighted in this. “See?” he chuckled, looking at you in that funny way he did from time to time.
“See what?”
“This. This is th-the girl I fell in love with,” he stated matter of factly. “the one who likes t-to be comfortable, speaks her mind and prefers those jeans with th-the rip on the side. Not to mention those graphic t-shirts. Or cute pj's.”
Your breath caught a little at this confession. How could the smartest man in the universe adore an impertinent person like you? Maybe the same way you could love the smartest man; you just do. In your girlish voice, you said. “I only wanted you to be proud of me.”
Holding you a fraction tighter, he pressed a light kiss to your temple and chuckled sweetly. “Y-you already do princess. Today y-you made an effort for me, and that's impressive, but honestly, I want you t-t-to be comfortable and dress up how y-you like. You as yourself is what impresses me, because you have s-s-so much spirit, and I - that's what makes y-you gorgeous.”
This time you didn't even try to hide your blush.
“Oh Rick, hearing you say that really does make me feel silly. Why did I do this to myself? What was I thinking?”
“I believe y-you're still trying to figure it all out like the rest of us, and I can't get mad at you for th-that because you're wonderfully human. You had good intentions, and th-that's what counts.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“I al-already have.”
TBC
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Hey @calmyourpitches! Merry Christmas and enjoy your “little” Mitchsen fic (;
As Beca made her way down the stairs, her laptop bag over her shoulder, and two other suitcases in her hand, her mother called after her.
“Beca! Didn’t you forget something?” She asked sweetly.
“Of course, let me just bring the suitcases down okay?” The brunette responded before continuing her way down the stairs. When she reached the front door, she set everything down and sprinted back up into her mother’s arms. “Goodbye mom, I will miss you.”
“Goodbye honey, I’m sorry that I can’t bring you to Barden myself. Try to be nice to your dad, okay? After all, he is granting you this college education for free.” The older woman smiled and squeezed her daughter tightly.
“I will try, but no promises. I’ll visit you during the Christmas break alright?”
“I’d love nothing more. Goodbye now, your taxi is surely waiting.” The women smiled at each other before Beca turned around and walked down the stairs again. She was gonna miss her apartment and her mom.
She grabbed her suitcases, swung the bag over her shoulders and went outside. Since she didn’t see a taxi, she sat down at a nearby bench, deciding to kill time by mixing two songs together. 10 minutes later, a car honk made her look up from the screen, and she got up to put her suitcases and her bag into the trunk. She was going to hate college, she knew it. If she wasn’t allowed to go to LA straight away, she was gonna show her dad what happens if you don’t grant your child their wish.
The ride was quiet due to Beca not being up for small talk, and rather listening to the new mix she made to find out if any improvement could be made. Before she knew it, the taxi pulled up to Barden and she got out. Taking her laptop bag again, she looked at the building in front of her. Suddenly, a blonde girl appeared out of nowhere. “Hi there! Welcome to Barden University! What dorm?”
Startled, the only thing Beca could manage was “Baker Hall. I think.”
“Okay, so what you’re gonna do now…” The brunette wasn’t listening as a car pulled up next to her and a boy sang to “Carry On Wayward Son”. He noticed her looking and sang to her. Just as he was singing and mimicking the instrumental, the car continued driving and he was out of sight. Beca shook her head and turned her attention back to the girl. “Here is your campus map and here is your official BU rape whistle. Don’t blow it unless it’s actually happening.” She said with a wink.
Nodding and raising an eyebrow, Beca took the whistle in her mouth and continued her way to her dorm.
When she found her room, she discovered that her roommate was already there. “Hey, you must be Kimmy Jin. I’m Beca.” The girl just eyed her up and down, and being unsure what to do, she tried to lighten the mood. “No English?” Another glance. “Yes English. Just tell me where you’re at with English.” When the girl didn’t respond, Beca turned around and started setting up her equipment.
Suddenly, it knocked on the door. “This is the campus police, hide your wine coolers!” Her dad poked his head in laughing, making Beca roll her eyes. “Chris Rock, everybody.”
“You must be Beca’s roommate.” He said as he discovered that his daughter wasn’t alone. “I’m Dr. Mitchell, Beca’s dad. I teach Comparative Literature here.” Kimmy Jin also just eyed him up and down without saying anything. Feeling the awkward silence, he spun back around. “So, have you guys been out on the quad yet? In springtime, all the students study on the grass.”
“I don’t want to study on the grass, dad. I want to move to LA and get a job at a record label and start paying my dues.”
“Oh, here we go again. Beca, DJing isn’t a profession, it’s a hobby. Unless you’re Rick Dees or someone awesome!”
“That’s not… I… Ugh. I wanna produce music, I wanna make music, dad!” Beca tried to argue.
“But you’re going to get a college education first. For free, I might add, end of story.”
“I’m going to the Activities Fair.” Kimmy Jin suddenly interrupted. Seeing her way out, Beca quickly spun around to follow suit. “Me too, I’m going to the Activities Fair with my super good friend, Kimmy Jin. Bye dad!” And with that, she left, leaving her dad standing in their room.
The girls didn’t talk, and the brunette kind of awkwardly followed the Asian girl around until Kimmy Jin found a booth for Korean students. Knowing she lost the girl, Beca wandered around, keeping her eyes open for anything that was related to music. When she found a DJ booth, her heart fluttered and she tried her best not to run to it. When she reached it however, she noticed that there were no music symbols anywhere.
“Ah, DJs. Deaf Jews.” A girl behind her suddenly said, mimicking a scratching noise.
“Shalom!” The guy behind the booth greeted them.
“That’s not a real word but keep trying! You will get there!” The obese blonde shouted, making Beca cringe.
“Not a lot of Jewish people where you’re from, huh?”
“No… I did do Fiddler on the Roof in high school, though. It was like me and some Aboriginals. It was really Jewish.” The girl replied. Beca nodded her head politely, slowly exiting the conversation. “It was full on Jew.”
Keeping her eyes open for real music booths, she thought about the girl she just met. She was weird. The confidence that seemed to radiate from her made Beca feel like not everyone would get along with her. She was so deep in thought that she almost jumped in surprise when a redheaded girl held out a flyer for her. “Hi, any interest in joining our acapella group?”
Looking at the flyer and then back up to the girl, she smirked. “Oh right, this is like a thing now.”
“Oh, totes! We sing covers of songs but we do it without any instruments. It comes all from our mouths.” The redhead answered.
The only thing Beca could muster was “Yikes.”
“There are four groups on campus. The Bellas, that’s us. We’re the tits.” Registering that there was another girl standing next to the redhead, Beca looked at her. She was blonde and wore a pink dress that fit her quite well. Her posture screamed that she had a stick up her butt and she likes to control things.
“That could be interesting in the bedroom…” Beca thought and immediately, inappropriate images flooded her mind.
“So, are you interested?” The redhead suddenly said, snapping the brunette out of her thoughts. Panicking, she tried to come up with something.
“Sorry, it’s just… It’s pretty lame.” She ushered out, internally patting herself on the shoulder for that save.
“Acascuse me?” The blonde girl said. “Synchronized lady dancing to a Mariah Carey chart topper is not lame.” She added with an annoyed laugh.
“Great, my theory is right. She doesn’t like people talking against her and standing up to her.” Beca thought.
“We sing all over the world and compete in national championships.” The redhead chimed in.
“On purpose?” Beca almost laughed.
“We played the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, you bitch!” The blonde suddenly said, making the brunette raise an eyebrow at the snarky remark. Obviously, her friend was trying to calm her down. “What Aubrey means to say is that we’re a close-knit, talented group of ladies whose dream is to return to the national finals at Lincoln Center this year. Help us turn our dreams into a reality?” She added with a hopeful face.
“Sorry, I don’t even sing. But it was really nice to meet you guys.” Beca smiled and walked away. “Aubrey, huh?” She muttered, walking to a new aisle of booths. Finally, she found a booth about a radio station and signed her name. “Better than nothing.” She thought.
Later that day, she received a call about her internship. She had to start the next day. When Beca asked if she could play music, the phone call ended. Shrugging, she went to bed.
x
The next day Beca woke up, she groaned and rolled over, grabbing her phone. As she was stretching, she checked the time. 10:46 am. Her eyes went wide, realizing she was supposed to be at the radio station by 11. Hurriedly, she stood up, got changed and brushed her hair. After applying her trade mark, her eyeliner, she ran out of the door and across campus.
She could already see the building in the distance, but didn’t notice what was in front of her. Before she knew it, she collided with the blonde from the activities fair.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” Aubrey angrily said before getting back up.
“Sorry, I’m late.” Beca replied as she shoved the notebooks the blonde dropped into the blonde’s hands. The brunette turned around and continued her run to the radio station, leaving a confused and angry Aubrey behind. With a huff, the other girl turned around and walked away.
When Beca arrived at the radio station, she went inside, catching her breath.
“95.7, WBUJ, music for the independent mind.” A voice, presumably the host, said.
She looked around, being in awe at how much CDs and Vinyls there were. She couldn’t wait to be inspired for some mixes. And hopefully, she could play them too. Looking inside the booth, she didn’t see anybody. Beca could swear that she saw the host two seconds before.
Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a blonde guy. “Hey, I’m Luke, the station manager. You must be Becky, the intern?”
“Actually, it’s-“ But before Beca could continue, someone barged in, yelling.
“Hey man, what’s up? I’m Jesse.” Beca immediately recognized him as the boy who sang to her in the car. Oh boy, this is going to be great.
“I’m Luke, you’re late.” The blonde guy replied before walking over to a desk with a box full of CDs.
Beca followed suit. “Hey, I know you.” The brown haired boy suddenly said.
“No you don’t.” She replied.
“Yeah I do. I remember you. I sang to you. You were in a taxi. Wait, is your dad a taxi driver?”
“Dude, shut up.” Luke interrupted. Beca threw him a thankful look. “So, your job is stacking CDs. Start with this box. When you’re done, there is more. You guys will be spending a lot of down time together, so please… No sex on the desk. I’ve been burned before.”
The brunette girl made a gagging noise as Luke walked away. “This sucks.” She sighed. “I wanted to play music.”
“Not me. I’m here for one reason only. I really love stacking CDs.” Jesse said. Beca gave him a weird look. “So what’s your deal? Are you one of those girls who’s all dark and mysterious, and then she takes off her glasses and that amazingly scary ear spike and you realize that, you know, she’s been beautiful, the whole time?”
“I don’t wear glasses.” Beca shot back.
“Then you’re halfway there.” Jesse smiled goofily.
Beca rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the CDs. This was going to be a job that sucked, but maybe she could schmooze her way up to Luke so he would play her mixes or even let her take over the station. With a satisfied hum, she started stacking the CDs.
x
Later that day, Beca grabbed her shower utensils and headed for the shower rooms. Since she didn’t get the chance to shower this morning, she felt happy about cleaning all the sweat and dusk off of her. The radio station was in serious need of some deep cleaning. When she removed her clothes and threw her bath robe on, she started singing Titanium, knowing that nobody was showering at this hour. She selected a stall and turned on the water, waiting for it to heat up.
“You can sing!” A voice suddenly exclaimed, making Beca jump and turn around in shock.
“Dude, what the fuck?!” The brunette said to the redhead who she recognized from the activities fair.
“How high does your belt go?” The girl said, turning off the shower.
“My what? Oh my god!” Beca didn’t knew what to do, she only knew her rape whistle was too far away so that she could blow it. It was in her room, to be exact. So she hid behind the shower curtain.
“You have to audition for the Bellas!” The redhead stated, putting her hands on her own hips.
“I can’t concentrate on anything you’re saying unless you cover your junk.” The brunette looked at the ceiling to avoid looking at the very naked woman in front of her.
“Like what you see?” The ginger suddenly smirked, adding a wink. Beca almost choked on her spit.
“I would kindly request you to step out of my shower before I blow my whistle.”
“I can’t see the whistle anywhere on you.” The girl laughed. “Anyways, that was David Guetta, right?”
“You know him?” Beca looked at her, shocked.
“Are you kidding me? I love him!” The other girl replied. In her excitement, she ripped the curtain away from Beca.
“Seriously?” The brunette sighed, turning her private parts towards the wall. “I’m nude.”
“Yeah, duh, we both are. Anyways, Titanium is my jam! My lady jam.” The redhead winked, making Beca uncomfortable. “Can you sing it for me?”
“Dude no! Get out before I call for help. Seriously.”
“I’m not leaving until you sing, so.” The ginger looked at her expectantly. Beca sighed in defeat before turning around and picking up from where she left. The other girl chimed in at the chorus, and the brunette was surprised how well they sounded together. Maybe, just maybe, she will ask the girl to record a duet one day.
When they finished the song, they actually smiled at each other. Beca couldn’t believe she just sang with a complete stranger in the shower. Naked. She looked down and back up. Very naked.
“Oh yeah, I’m pretty confident about… All this.” The girl motioned to her body. “I’m Chloe, by the way.”
“Beca. No offense, but would you please go for real now? I really want to shower.” The brunette smiled awkwardly.
“Sure, if you audition for the Bellas.” Chloe shrugged and Beca sighed.
“Fine, when?”
“Next week at the drama stage. We meet at 2 pm.” The redhead smiled. “Nice tattoos by the way.” With that, she walked away, leaving Beca alone in her shower stall. Shaking her head, she turned the shower back on and stepped beneath it.
x
A week later Beca was pacing back and forth. It was now 1:55 pm and she had still not decided if she wanted to go or not. If she didn’t go she won’t be able to go to LA. If she went and endured it for a year, she could chase after a dream and make music. But what would happen if she ended up hating being a Bella? What if she quit halfway? Would her dad still allow her to go? If she was being honest with herself, deep down, she knew she wanted to join. She could actually sing and maybe show off her mixes so that the Bellas could dance to it. The only thing that sucked was that it was acapella. Professional music producers would sneer when they saw she had been part of a lame acapella group in college. But on the other hand, she felt this weird need to completely shake that Aubrey girl to the core. She was interested in her. Why was she such a stuck up bitch? Maybe there was more to her than she was showing.
The brunette sighed. She looked at the door and knew what to do. She grabbed her keys and made her way to the drama stage.
x
Standing in the door, she watched a nerd finishing up the last bit of “Since You’ve Been Gone”. Not being sure as to what to do, she looked at the flyer on the door. She noticed that this was the audition song. Shit.
“That was everybody for this year.” A guy on the stage said. “I’m really not impressed this year.” That’s when the girl realized she was too late. With a huff, Beca wanted to turn around when…
“Wait! There’s one more!” Chloe called out, turning everybody’s attention to her.
The brunette awkwardly walked in. “I uh… Didn’t know we had to sing that song.”
“Oh that’s okay! Just sing anything you want.” The redhead smiled at her.
“Uhm… May I?” Beca asked, motioning to the cup filled with pens. When Chloe nodded, the brunette grabbed it and put the pens on the table before placing the cup upside down in front of her. She took a deep breath before tapping out a beat and singing the Cup song, a song she will spend a lifetime regretting since the Bellas, especially a certain redhead, will always tease her with it.
After she was done, Chloe beamed at her and Aubrey was skeptically looking at her. But she had a glint of something else in her eyes. Had she actually impressed the blonde?
x
Later that day, Beca was walking along the sidewalk when suddenly someone put a bag over her head. She was about to scream when she heard Chloe’s voice next to her ear. “Shush, don’t scream. You can do that in the bedroom later.” The brunette could practically hear her wink. “You’ve been chosen to be a part of the Bellas. This is your initiation. Would you please let me guide you to our secret location?”
“Wow I have never experienced such a nice kidnapping. Will you get me food while we’re at it? Maybe a massage? How about a million dollars?” Beca replied sarcastically, and Chloe laughed.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” With that, she wrapped her arm around the brunette’s waist and they started walking. After what felt like hours, Chloe stopped. “We’re here.”
“Cool.” After the redhead didn’t move, Beca grew self-conscious. “Uhm, Chloe? You can let go of me, right?”
“Oh right.” The redhead in question retracted her arm and the brunette could hear her walk away. Unsure of what to do, Beca continued to stand around, after a while contemplating to take her sack off. Just when she was about to do it, she felt someone grabbing her arm and ushering her to god knows where. She could feel someone standing next to her when the person stopped her.
“We have gathered here to announce the new Bellas and to initiate them.” A voice behind her started to say, making Beca jump. “The sopranos. Jessica, Mary Elise, Lilly.” The brunette could hear something being pulled off, presumably the sacks. Nice, finally. “The mezzos. Cynthia Rose, Stacie, Kori. And our Altos. Fat Amy, Denise, Ashley and Beca.” When her name was said, the hood came off, and the brunette was greeted with candles literally everywhere. She saw something flicker next to her, which made her turn to the podium with more candles on it. Beca scrunched up her face.
“Now, we shall begin by drinking the blood of the sisters that came before you.” Aubrey said, walking over to a table and lifting up a fancy looking wine glass. The brunette almost choked on air. She had joined a fucking cult.
“Dude, no!” She exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, it’s Boone’s farm.” Chloe whispered to her and winked again. Begrudgingly, Beca took the glass and drank a sip before giving it back to Chloe.
After every girl took a sip, Aubrey handed everyone a scarf. “Please place the scarf into your right hand.” The redhead even showed it to them where they had to place it as if they were kindergarten kids. But just to be sure, Beca looked around to check if it was the right hand. “Repeat after me please.” The blonde continued. “I, sing your names.”
“I.” The girls said in unison before singing their names, which created a cringe worthy moment.
“Promise to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a Bella woman.” Aubrey said.
“Promise to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a Bella woman.” The girls parroted.
“And I solemnly promise to never have sexual relations with a Treblemaker, or may my vocal chords be ripped out by wolves.” Aubrey finished with a smile.
The other girls just looked at her in shock, but repeated the words anyways, even if with hesitation. “And I solemnly promise to never have sexual relations with a Treblemaker, or may my vocal chords be ripped out by wolves.”
“Congratulations, you’re all Bellas now.” The blonde smiled and the others squealed. Beca, however, still tried to take in the fact that she possibly just joined a cult. Would that mean she’d come in one day and they would perform a satanic ritual? Or would they start drinking real blood from horny fuckboys they seduced?
“Now, follow us to the initiation party!” Chloe exclaimed, and a tall busty girl squealed. “I’m so ready!” The girls excitedly made their way to the exit, but Beca stood frozen in her place.
“Beca?” Aubrey called out to her. After receiving no response, she walked over to the brunette. “Earth to Beca? You coming?”
“Huh, what?” The girl in question asked, shaking her head.
“Why were you just standing there? If this happens often, I’m going to kick you out of the Bellas, just so we’re clear. I want my girls to be fully attentive to me. If something goes wrong, they’re going to be punished. You don’t want to be punished, do you, Beca?” The blonde said.
“Woah, chill out dude. I was just lost in thought. No need to be like that. Besides, I could be into that kinda stuff, you never know.” Beca answered with a wink. Aubrey just gave her a baffled look and stared at the smaller girl in front of her, not knowing what to say. Smirking, the brunette walked towards the exit. “Are you coming now or what?”
“This feud is not over yet!” Aubrey angrily exclaimed and stormed past Beca. Chuckling, she followed the furious blonde.
Arriving at the amphitheater, the brunette cringed at the sight in front of her. People were already drunk, and some were already making out.
“Alright ladies, welcome to aca-initiation night. Prepare to soften the beach.” Aubrey announced before walking off. The other girls followed her, but Beca chose to stay where she was. When the obese blonde from the Activities Fair walked past her, the brunette spoke up.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”
“Just living the dream. I still can’t believe that they let my sexy fat ass in.” The girl laughed. “I’m Fat Amy by the way.”
“Fat… Amy? Why not just Amy?” Beca asked.
“So twig bitches like you don’t say it behind my back, duh! If you’d excuse me, I need to seduce some confused frat boys. What was your name again?”
Before Beca could speak up, a voice called her name. The girls turned their heads to Jesse approaching them. “Beca! Beca, hey!”
“Ah, alright. I’ll leave you guys to it.” Fat Amy said and walked off.
“Oh great, what are you doing here? Are you stalking me?” The brunette girls asked the boy.
“Are you a Bella now? Funny, I never pegged you as the type who likes acapella.” Jesse smiled goofily. “But now you’re one of those acapella girls, and I’m one of those acapella guys, and we’re gonna have aca-children. It’s inevitable.”
“Dude, I think this is the perfect time to say it. There is never going to be something between us because I’m gay.” Beca shrugged.
“Oh, okay… Well, can we be friends then? We could be each other’s wingmen and such!”
“Woah, this is the most positive reaction I’ve gotten when I turned a guy down.” The brunette looked suspiciously at the boy in front of her. “You’re being genuine, right?”
“Of course! There will be other girls that will like me for who I am.” Jesse smiled.
“Cool. Are you sure you’re gonna remember everything tho? You seem stupid drunk.” Beca chuckled.
“Am not! I’ll prove it to you!” The brunette boy pouted.
“Okay, so if I were to push you, you’d come back without hesitation?” The girl chuckled and proceeded to push him.
Jesse proudly came back without falling. “See, coming right back. But I think you should get a drink, you need to loosen up a bit. Be right back.” With that, he walked away, leaving Beca alone. Not for long though, because a redhead grabbed her hands and pulled her towards her.
“Hey there stranger.” Chloe chuckled.
“What’s up?” The brunette smiled.
“I am so glad that I met you.” The redhead grinned and came closer, so that their faces were only inches apart. “I think that we’re going to be very fast friends.”
“Well, you saw me naked, so.” Beca winked.
“You need to be careful though, Bree was shooting daggers at you and that Treble. If you hook up, keep it a secret.”
“Oh, we won’t hook up. I’m gay and I told him that. We’re most likely just going to be friends.”
Chloe seemed to be pleased with that information. “Well, that’s good. But anyways, I promise you, being a Bella is going to be aca-awesome.”
“So awesome that no one is going to impeach Aubrey? I feel like she is going to be like a general, dictating everyone around.” The brunette said, glancing over at the blonde girl.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s a good girl and actually pretty nice once you really get to know her. Her parents just never took her out of the shrink-wrap.” Chloe smiled reassuringly.
“I don’t know what that means. But okay, if you say so.”
“I feel like this year is going to be interesting for all of us.”
“Oh yeah? Why?”
“I just feel like you’re what the group needed. Maybe you’ll be able to convince Aubrey to use songs from the 21st century and not those boring songs we always perform.” The redhead grinned.
“Wait, you’re performing boring songs? How boring?” Beca looked shocked.
“Uhm… like 20th century boring. 80s and all that.” Chloe shrugged.
“Oh boy what did I get myself into?” The brunette groaned and shook her head.
“A family for life, I tell you! Anyways, I need to go, this ginger needs her jiggle juice! See ya later!” The redhead shook her ass playfully and winked at Beca before walking off.
“Make good choices!” Beca laughed and looked around. That’s when the DJ decided to turn up the music.
“Come and dance you losers!” He yelled and everybody cheered, making their way to the dance floor. Jesse was coming back with two cups in his hands.
“Here you go. This is awesome man! I’m so ready for college.”
“Yeah it’s really something.” Beca accepted the drink that was handed to her and took a sip.
“We are the kings of campus!” He yelled, making the brunette girl cringe. Just when she thought it couldn’t get worse, she saw Aubrey coming at her.
“What do you think you’re doing? You took an oath!” The blonde exclaimed.
“If I remember it correctly, that oath was about sexual relations. Not talking.” Beca smirked.
“So? You’re going to talk, then you’re going to drink and before you know it you hook up. That happened to a lot of Bellas in the past.” Aubrey spat out, stepping closer to the smaller girl.
“Dude, I am 100% positive that there’s no hooking up happening. So you can chill and maybe get yourself a drink to loosen up? Visit a doctor so he can remove the stick you got stuck in your ass?”
“How dare you talk to me like that?! You’re just trying to distract me so you can hook up with that damn Treble!”
“I’m fucking gay so the only people I’ll be hooking up with are 100% female. And last I checked that doesn’t go against the oath.” The brunette crossed her arms, glaring into the other girl’s eyes.
“Whatever. If I see you kissing that boy anyways, you’re going to be in so much trouble. Consider this your warning, if I catch you two making out, you’re out of the Bellas.” Aubrey huffed, avoiding Beca’s glare.
“Oh, and what about that girl over there? Dancing and humping that Treblemaker?” The brunette said, pointing to the dance floor.
“What?!” Aubrey’s head whipped around and saw them full on making out. “This is unacceptable! Kori!! You’re out of the Bellas!” She yelled, turning everybody’s attention, including the pair in question, at her. The next thing that happened was the girl running off, crying.
“Woah, was it really necessary to cause such a scene?” Beca asked.
“Don’t tell me how to run the Bellas.” With that, Aubrey walked away, leaving the brunette alone.
“I don’t know what just happened but damn she is a bitch.” Jesse said, shaking his head.
“Tell me about it. I think I’m gonna call it a night. See you around, Treble.” Beca smiled and turned around, walking towards her dorm.
x
The next day, Beca went to the auditorium for her rehearsal. “This is going to be so fucking awesome.” She thought as she walked in and met some other Bellas who were already there. The girls introduced themselves and the brunette kindly reintroduced herself back, and they chatted until Aubrey spoke up.
“Okay. Sit down, please. Sopranos in the front, altos in the back.” The girls did as they were told and sat down. “As you can see, Kori is not here with us. Last night she was trebleboned and had to face her consequences. She has been disinvited from the Bellas.”
“Yeah we all know after the scene you caused yesterday.” Beca muttered, but Aubrey still heard her.
“Well that’s how serious I am about this oath. I’m Dixie Chicks serious. Now, has anybody else something to confess?” The blonde looked around, but kept coming back to Mary Elise.
Knowing that the girl had been caught, she tried to justify herself. “I’m sorry, it was an accident. I didn’t-“
“Save it. Turn in your scarf and go.” Aubrey said, holding out her hand.
Begrudgingly, Mary Elise gave her the scarf. Just as she was about to leave, the blonde spoke up again. “Take your chair and drag it behind you.” The girl silently nodded and dragged her chair behind her before storming out, crying.
“Was that really necessary?” Beca asked, staring at the blonde in disbelief.
“This is war, Beca. And it’s my job to make sure that my soldiers are prepped at go time with three kick-ass songs sung and choreographed to perfection. If you have a problem with it, you can-“ But before Aubrey could finish speaking she put her hand up to her mouth and made quiet gagging noises. Beca looked baffled at her and Chloe put a hand on the blonde’s back and whispered comfortingly.
“Calm down, Bree. We don’t want what happened last year to happen again, do we?” Even though it was quiet, the girls all heard it. Lilly raised her hand.
“What happened last year?” She asked so quietly that the girls had to lean in closer.
“Excuse me? What did you say?” The redhead asked.
“What happened last year?” The girls leaned back, understanding her. “And do you guys want to see a dead body?” Even though it was quiet, Beca heard it loud and clear and decided to scooch away a little.
“Well, I’m going to be honest with you. I…” Aubrey took a deep sigh. “Whenever I get too riled up or nervous, I projectile vomit. That kinda happened last year during finals.”
Lilly suddenly whipped out a tablet and typed something into YouTube. Then she tapped on a video and played it. It showed the Bellas performing, Aubrey and Chloe in the front. The blonde took the mic from another girl and sang god knows what until suddenly, she vomited all over the front row. Some Bellas let out a disgusted noise.
“Okay, enough now. It happened, it’s in the past.” Aubrey interrupted them, pulling their attention back to her. “Now, we will practice every day for at least two hours, and I trust you will add your own cardio.”
“Why cardio?” Beca asked.
“Yeah no, don’t put me down for cardio.” Fat Amy said, making the brunette grin.
“Moving on. This is a list of all the songs we have ever performed. And you will notice that we only do songs that were made famous by women.” Beca accepted the list and raised an eyebrow. There really was nothing from this century on here.
“This list is boring. We need new songs. Songs from this century.”
“Not going to happen. We don’t stray from tradition.” Aubrey said firmly to which the brunette just raised her eyebrow.
“Whatever you say, General.”
Choosing to ignore the girl’s comment, the blonde continued. “Now, this board portrays how we will become champions.” She turned it around. “We will start with running some laps. Then we will do vocal warm ups and start with the choreography. Any questions?” When nobody raised their hand, Aubrey nodded and started with the plan.
x
Five hours later, Aubrey finally called it. The girls groaned in relief and picked up their stuff and began walking out. “Beca, a word.”
The girl stopped and turned around. “Yes, general?”
“First, stop calling me that. Second, you know you’ll have to take those ear monstrosities out for Fall Mixer, right?”
“Man, here I thought you would actually compliment me on my hard work today.” Beca said sarcastically.
“I don’t like your attitude.” Aubrey stated.
“You don’t even know me. Plus, you’re not the boss of me. So I will continue doing whatever the fuck I want.” The brunette smiled.
“I swear to god, I’m going to kick you out.” The blonde said through gritted teeth.
“You lost two girls already. I’m pretty sure you need me more than I need you, so.”
“Fuck you.”
“That’s all you can say to that? That’s weak.”
“I will make your life a living hell.” Aubrey said, stepping closer.
“I would like to see you try. This is going to be interesting.” Beca smirked.
“I’m going to slap that stupid smirk off your face.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
Chloe awkwardly cleared her throat, turning the attention of the girls, who were only inches apart, to her. “No need to fight you guys. I’m sure you two can figure this out.”
“Whatever.” Beca said before walking off. She hated Aubrey with a burning passion, but there was something so irresistible about her as well. Shaking her head, she walked to the showers.
x
A week later, they performed for Sigma Beta Theta. Needless to say, it was a disaster. After the frat guy dismissed them, they walked back to campus.
“Well I hope you all remember how you’re feeling right now, so you’ll never want to feel this way again. Chloe, your voice didn’t sound Aguilerian at all. What’s the matter?” Aubrey said.
Chloe dramatically whipped around, making the girls stop in their tracks. “I have nodes.” She stated.
“What? Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me?” The blonde asked, shocked.
“What the fuck are nodes?” Beca questioned.
“Vocal nodules? The rubbing together of your vocal chords at above average rates without proper lubrication.” Aubrey explained.
“They sit on your windpipe and crush your dreams.” The redhead said with teary eyes.
“Well, isn’t that painful? Why would you keep on singing?” The brunette questioned.
“Because I love it! It’s my life.” Chloe sighed. “The key is early diagnosis. I am living with nodes. But I am a survivor. I just have to pull back. Because I am limited. Because I have nodes.”
Beca rolled her eyes at how dramatic the redhead was being.
“Chloe, this is horrible. I will take that into account and see what we can do about this.” Aubrey smiled.
“Woah, the general can actually be nice? Who would’ve known.” The brunette said.
“Shut it, Mitchell.” The blonde glared.
“Make me.” Beca smirked.
Aubrey was taken aback. Flustered, she turned around and walked away. The brunette just chuckled. The Bellas exchanged glances between each other as to what just happened.
x
Beca was sitting out on the quad when Jesse suddenly put a blanket down next to her. “Uh, what is this?”
“A picnic.” The boy responded and threw her a juice pouch. “As much as I love spending time stacking CDs with you, we need to do something out of the radio station, too. You know, hang out and stuff, like friends usually do.”
“Are you insulting me? Are you saying I don’t have friends?” The girl fake gasped.
Jesse chuckled. “No, you weirdo. So, I was thinking we could watch some movies. I have E.T., Star Wars, Jaws, The Breakfast Club and Rocky. Best scored and soundtracked movies of all time. That’s what I wanna do when I grow up. Score movies, move people to tears, blow their minds and all that.”
Beca groaned. “Do we have to? I would rather talk about my parent’s divorce. Or visit a gynecologist.”
“What? Do you not like movies?” Jesse asked, raising his eyebrow, to which the brunette girl just responded by taking a sip out of her juice pouch. “What?! What the hell is wrong with you?”
“They’re fine. I just doze off somewhere and never make it to the ending. The endings are so predictable too. Like, the kid sees dead people, the guy gets the girl and Darth Vader is Luke’s father.”
“Oh, so you’re telling me you just knew the biggest cinematic reveal in history? Just like that?” The brunette boy asked.
“No, everybody talked about it when it was revealed. I have ears. But for real though, Vader in Dutch means father. His name is literally “Dark Father”. Kind of obvious, don’t you think?” Beca said.
“Whatever. You need a moviecation. And I’m gonna give it to you.”
“Oh yeah, in between the Bellas rehearsals which are always.”
“Are you guys getting ready for the riff off?” Jesse asked.
“What the fuck is that?”
“I don’t know much about it, I just know it’s tonight and we compete against the other acapella groups on campus.”
“Tonight? Shit, that’s what Aubrey meant with a trip. I swear, I imagined worse things, but I hope this doesn’t suck.” Beca groaned and dropped her head in her hands. “Hopefully we don’t have to perform those old and boring songs.”
“We’ll see. I need to go, my class is starting soon. See you tonight!” The boy waved her goodbye and left.
x
The acapella groups gathered around in the pool when the announcer spoke up. “Welcome to the riff off! Are you ready to get vocal?” Everybody cheered in response. “The winners get the greatest price of all. A microphone used by Hoobastank when they performed at the Schnee Performing Arts Center.” The crowd went crazy and Beca just stared at him. “To win, you must steal the song from the other group by picking off a word they’re singing, and make it the first word of your own song. If you can’t think of a song, you are-“ He claps. “Cut off! If you repeat a song, you are-“ More people join. “Cut off! And most of all, if you suck, you are-“ Everybody joined in. “Cut off! Now, let’s have a look at the first category!” He pulled out a weird device which projected a spinning wheel onto the pool wall. “Let’s see our first category. It’s… Ladies of the 80s!”
Beca groaned as Aubrey ran forward, but the Treblemakers cut her off before she could sing anything.
Oh Mickey, you're so fine
You're so fine you blow my mind
Hey Mickey, Hey Hey Hey Mickey
Oh Mickey, you're so fine
One of the BU Harmonics stepped up and cut the Treblemakers off.
You're so fine and you're mine
I'll be yours till the end of time
Cause you make me feel
Yeah you make me feel
So shiny and new
Like a virgin
Touched for the very first time
Like the
Aubrey turned around. “Okay guys, we’ll sing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot!” She turned back around and started singing.
Like the one in me
That's O.K.
Let's see how you do it
Put up your dukes
Let's get down to it
Hit me with your best shot
Why don't you hit me with your best shot
Hit me with your best shot
Fire away
A girl from the High Notes stepped up and started singing, obviously completely high.
Away - ay...
It must have been love
But it's over now
But it's over right now
“The negative side effects of medical marihuana, folks.” The announcer interrupted the girl. “You are…” Everybody clapped. “Cut off! Let’s check out the next category.”
“So we just pick any song that works? Even from this century?” Beca asked, turning to Chloe.
“If it fits the category, yes.”
“And you just go with it?”
“Yep.” The redhead smiled.
“Man, that’s nice. Why can’t we always be like this?” The brunette sighed.
“Alright, the next category is… Songs about Sex.”
Just as a Treblemaker stepped forward, Cynthia Rose emerged from between the Bellas.
Na na na
Come on
Na na na na na
Come on, come on, come on
Cause I may be bad
But I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air
I don't care I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me
Cause I may be bad
But I'm perfectly good at it
Sex
Beca chuckled, that category was clearly fit for Stacie. Before she could continue her humping with Cynthia Rose, a Treble stepped up.
Sex baby
Let's talk about you and me
Let's talk about all the good things
And the bad things that may be
Let's talk about sex
Alright
Let's talk about sex
A little bit, a little bit
Let's talk about sex, baby
Aubrey, who ushered Stacie back, lost her again when she turned back around to cut the singing Treble off.
Baby, all through the night
I'll make love to you
Like you want me too
And I
Jesse stepped up, cutting Stacie off.
And I guess it's just the woman in you
That brings out the man in me
I know I can't help myself
You're all in the world to me
It feels like the first time
It feels like the very first time
It feels like the first time
It
Watching Jesse made Beca chuckle. He seemed to love music so much. Knowing she had to make the Bellas win the competition though, she ran up to the brunette boy and cut him off.
It's going down, fade to Blackstreet
The homies got RB, collab' creations
bump like acne, No doubt
I put it down, never slouch
As long as my credit can vouch
A dog couldn't catch me, straight up
Tell me who could stop when Dre making moves
Attracting honeys like a magnet
Giving them eargasms with my mellow accent
Still moving this flavor
with the homies Blackstreet and Teddy
The original rump shakers
Everybody was baffled that Beca could rap. Even her group, that should have backed her up, looked at her in shock. Uncertain, the brunette continued to sing.
Shorty get down, good Lord
Baby got 'em open all over town
Thankfully, Fat Amy came to the rescue and began singing with her.
Strictly biz, she don't play around
Cover much ground, got game by the pound
Getting paid is a forte
Each and every day, true player way
Beca looked at Aubrey, who just stood there, staring at her in disbelief. Not breaking eye contact, she sung the next lines.
I can't get her outta my mind
I think about the girl all the time
“Did she just…  blush?” The brunette thought. Shaking her head, she continued to sing.
I like the way you work it No diggity, I got to bag it up, Baby
I like the way you work it No diggity, I got to bag it up, Baby
The other acapella groups and even the audience joined in to sing with them. Beca walked around, grinning like an idiot.
I like the way you work it No diggity, I got to bag it up, Baby
I like the way you work it No diggity, I got to bag it up, Baby
I like the way you work it No diggity, I got to bag it up, Baby
I like the way you work it No diggity, I got to bag it up, Baby
We out!
The crowd cheered while the Bellas celebrated their victory. Or so they thought.
“Tough blow ladies.” The announcer spoke up. “The word you needed to match was “it”. And you sang “it’s”. So you are…” Everybody clapped again. “Cut off! The winners are the Treblemakers!”
“I’ve never heard that rule!” Aubrey exclaimed before walking away. “Come on ladies, come back.” The Bellas followed her. “Before everybody goes to bed tonight, I need you to make a list of everything you did wrong.”
“But guys, what we did was great, right?” Beca spoke up.
“Calm your pits, Beca, we still lost.” The blonde huffed.
“Yeah, but it was spontaneous, it was awesome. We were actually listening to…”
“Okay, everybody, hands in.” Aubrey cut her off.
“No, I refuse to accept that you want to punish us for doing something great! You don’t want to admit it, but you also know that this, what just happened, was better than anything you ever did in this Bella career. So why don’t we continue doing that?” The brunette asked angrily.
“Yeah I’m with Beca on that one. This was so great today.” Cynthia Rose said and went to stand next to Beca.
“Yeah, I agree.” Fat Amy replied, putting an arm around the smaller girl. Slowly, all the Bellas went to stand next to Beca.
“Chloe?” Aubrey asked, looking with hurt in her eyes to her best friend.
“I’m sorry, but I agree with Beca. We need new songs, we need to stray from tradition and be better than last year.” She said apologetically before walking over to the girl.
“Oh, I see how it is. I’m the jerk, the one that dictates everyone around and controls everything. It isn’t like I’m the captain of this group or something!”
“Aubrey, it’s totally okay how you run the Bellas. We just want newer songs.” The brunette tried to reason.
“No. Honestly, fuck all of you. I’m done.” The blonde said and walked away.
“It’s best just to give her space. We’ll meet tomorrow at 9 am for practice. Good night guys.” Chloe smiled, and the Bellas bid their good nights. Then, the redhead looked at Beca. “Can I walk you to your dorm?”
“Why? You scared that someone will steal me?” The brunette chuckled.
“No you weirdo. I just want to get to know you better.”
Beca nodded and they started walking. After some silence, she spoked up. “I feel bad. Aubrey didn’t deserve the whole group turning against her.”
“Hey, you tried to convince her to use a new set list. You’re not the first, I tried as well, but even though I’m her best friend, she just won’t listen to me.” Chloe sighed.
“What makes her not loosen up?”
“Her dad. He’s in the military and always trained her to be the perfect daughter with perfect grades and all that. She doesn’t want to disappoint him.”
“Her dad can fuck off. Nobody can be 100% perfect.” Beca sighed. “I just wish she would accept the fact that new songs would help. I know that she also knows it’s better. She just needs the nudge to do it.”
Chloe looked up to the sky. “I always see you out on the quad with your headphones in and staring really intently into your laptop. What are you doing?”
“Stalker much?” The brunette chuckled. “I like to mix songs together. I started it when I was around 14 and never stopped doing it. I want to move to LA and become a music producer.”
“Wow, that’s cool! Can I listen to it?” The redhead asked as they stopped in front of Beca’s dorm room.
“Well, I’m usually not comfortable showing them, but… What have I left to lose? If Kimmy Jin isn’t here, you could listen to them right away.” The smaller girl answered and unlocked the door to reveal an empty room. “Well, I guess it’s settled then. Have a seat on the bed.”
Chloe nodded happily as she sat down on the bed, eagerly waiting for Beca to hand her the headphones, when she did, the redhead immediately put them on, letting the music consume her. “Shit Beca, this is really good! I like it.” She smiled.
“Thanks, Chloe.” The brunette blushed.
“We could show this to Aubrey, maybe she will realize that the Bellas wouldn’t be lost with new songs, but that you can mix them together and we can work on the choreography.”
“You think?” Beca asked, plopping down next to the redhead.
“I’m sure of it.” They smiled at each other, and Chloe took in a deep breath. “The Bellas aside, I wanted to ask if you might want to go on a date with me? I really want to get to know you better.”
“Oh, uh… No, sorry. I’m not interested in you.” Beca scratched the back of her neck. “I see us as friends. Nothing more.”
“Oh, okay. Nothing wrong with asking.” The redhead smiled softly. “Well, I’ll be going. See you tomorrow, and bring some samples with you, will ya?”
“Will do. Good night, Chloe.” The brunette smiled and closed the door behind the girl. She sighed and put her head against the door. “Why is everybody crushing on me?” She thought. Shaking her head, she went to bed.
x
The next day Beca walked in to the Bellas panicking. “Woah guys, what’s wrong?”
“Beca, Aubrey hasn’t been home all night and she didn’t show up here!” Chloe cried.
“Shit. I’d say we spread out, look all over campus. Exchange numbers so we can message each other. She surely is somewhere.” The brunette said. “Ashley, Jessica, you’ll look for her in the school building. Maybe she is in a classroom. Cynthia Rose, Stacie, you check the dorms. Maybe she crashed somewhere. Denise, Fat Amy, you search the quad. Chloe and I will look around college. Maybe she went to the lake. Is everybody’s task clear?”
“Yes!” The girls said in unison.
“Wait, where is Lilly?” Chloe asked.
“I guess she already went to look for her. Now, go.” The Bellas went outside before splitting up. Chloe and Beca started their way to the lake.
“I’m so worried, she never did that before. I hope she’s okay.” The redhead said, sniffing.
“Hey, I’m sure she is. We’ll find her in no time.” The brunette smiled reassuringly.
When they arrived at the lake, they decided to split up and walk around either side so the search would go faster. Beca shoved her hands in her pockets and looked around, trying to spot a certain blonde. After a while, she stumbled over a treehouse. Deciding it would be worth a look, she climbed up, opened the trap door only to reveal Aubrey, sitting in a corner with her knees pulled up to her chest and her head on the knees.
“Hey, Aubrey.” The brunette said softly.
“Go away Beca. I hate you.” The blonde mumbled.
“Okay, bye.” Beca smirked, starting to climb back down.
“No wait. Please don’t go.”
Beca went back up and fully entered the tree house. “Nice hideout. Do you come here often?”
“Maybe so.” Aubrey answered, her head still on her knees.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you yesterday. I was just trying-“
“Save it.” The blonde cut her off. “Why am I never doing enough for anybody? Not even my dad is proud of me. I always tried to live up to his standards but he was always disappointed.” She sobbed and slammed her fist against the wall.
“Maybe he doesn’t want you to live up to his standards. Maybe he is disappointed because you don’t try to do your own thing. Maybe he set such high standards because he knew you could never reach them, and wanted to inspire you to break out from that and find your own way to do things.” Beca suggested, sitting down next to the blonde.
“Oh yeah, great. I’m sure he thinks that way. You don’t even know him. Not like I do.” Aubrey angrily said, wiping her tears.
“Well, maybe so. I just made some suggestions. I always make my dad disappointed in me because I don’t do as he says. Honestly, I just joined the Bellas so it would benefit me. He said if I joined a club and I didn’t like it by the end of the year, he would help me move to LA and fulfill my dream. But, then I joined and I felt this need to fix this group. To help it become better.”
“Wow, how great. You still would’ve left us after that year huh? Destroy everything and then leave, am I right?” The blonde looked up at Beca, glaring into her eyes.
“If you asked me a month ago, I would’ve said yes. But honestly, I can’t really think about leaving you all behind. I want to help you. And probably stay for these four years of hell. But I can only help if you let me.”
“Tsk, how would you even be able to help? Do you know how to think of a choreography? How to filter out all the musical instruments in a song so the acapella version sounds good? How to even put together an arrangement? I bet you don’t, so why would you be able to help?” Aubrey spat out.
“In my free time, I like to mix songs together. Create mashups. That’s my thing. I add the songs with a similar beat together. Chloe thinks they’re good. She listened to it last night and encouraged me to show you. Do you want to?” The brunette asked with a hopeful look on her face.
“The Bellas are shattered anyways, so why the hell not.” The blonde huffed, looking out of the window. Beca got out her phone and started playing a mashup of Bulletproof vs. Release Me. With each second that passed, Aubrey’s face softened more and more, until she turned to look at Beca. “Wow, this sounds really good.”
“You think? Even good enough to use it for our competitions?”
“Out of the question!” The blonde exclaimed, making Beca scooch back a little in shock. Then, the blonde chuckled. “We can consider it. But for the Regionals we have to go with our routine, we don’t have time to rehearse something entirely new.”
“Woah, is Aubrey Posen actually being nice and genuine to me? Wow, I think I must be dreaming.” Beca pinched herself and Aubrey slapped her leg playfully. “Well, I think we should head back.” The blonde nodded and the brunette sent out a text to everyone that she found Aubrey and they would be coming back to the auditorium. They jumped down the ladder and bumped into Chloe.
“There you are! I was so worried!” The redhead said, engulfing her best friend in a hug.
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. I just needed to be alone.” Aubrey said apologetically.
“It’s okay. Let’s go back.” Chloe smiled and the three girls walked back.
x
The regionals were a disaster. If it wasn’t for Amy’s solo, they wouldn’t have advanced to the semifinals. Beca looked at Aubrey who looked like she was about to throw up. She decided to let it slide, but when they entered the entrance hall, she witnessed the Treblemakers fighting with what seems to be another acapella group. When she saw Jesse being begged to hit one of them who obviously looked like he was into that shit, she stepped down the stairs and punched the guy in the face.
“Oh, that was awesome! Do it again!” He exclaimed.
Fat Amy appeared behind the brunette and snatched the trophy out of Jesse’s hand, getting ready to hit the guy again. “Feel the fat power!” She shouted.
“Amy, don’t!” Beca yelled.
“Fat Amy, kick me in the balls!” The man shouted excitedly and Amy obeyed, hitting him right in the crotch. “Oh that hurt so good.”
“Amy, give the trophy back!” The brunette girl exclaimed, grabbing onto it.
“I want to put this sharp weapon up his ass!” The obese blonde said, pulling on the trophy.
“Oh, cherry on top!” The guy grinned, holding out his ass. But it would never come to it. The trophy suddenly broke in half and went flying through the window, smashing it. To their luck, there was a cop just standing outside who looked up from giving a van a parking ticket and walked towards them.
“Vertical running! I’m vertical running!” Amy exclaimed and ran away, leaving Beca standing there, alone, with half a trophy in her hand.
“Ma’am, I am going to arrest you because of destruction of public property.” The police officer said and handcuffed the brunette girl.
“This is a misunderstanding, really. Can’t we talk about this?” Beca smiled innocently.
“You can talk at the station.” The officer said, ushering her out.
“Fuck.” The girl mumbled.
x
After Jesse, or more like her dad, bailed her out of jail, she was beyond pissed. She knew that her dad wouldn’t be all too happy, but when he said she wasn’t allowed to move to LA anymore, she grunted. Way to ruin dreams. She stomped into her room, only to find all the Bellas waiting for her. Immediately, all her anger faded. “You guys waited up for me?” She smiled.
“Of course we waited up for you!” Chloe said, smiling.
“They waited here for hours. It was a real inconvenience, Beca.” Kimmy Jin said before leaving the room.
“Beca, I’m really glad that you are here.” Aubrey said, making the brunette look shocked at her. “Now that we’re all here, I’m calling an emergency Bella meeting.”
“Oh no…” Fat Amy mumbled.
“First up…” The captain said.
“Oh yes…” The obese girl mumbled again, making Beca snort.
“The score sheets showed that we were almost beaten by the Sockapellas. Fat Amy, you need to do things exactly like we rehearsed them, okay?”
“Have you considered that they almost beat us just because we were boring and Amy saved our asses?” The brunette girl chimed in. “We should be taking risks, it’s not enough to be good, we need to put ourselves out there, be different.”
Aubrey glared at Beca. “And you think your little arrangements will really help?”
“Uh, yeah? Mostly because they contain songs from this century.” The brunette shrugged.
The blonde scoffed. “Actually, no. We’ll perform this arrangement again, just like we rehearsed it. Your pseudo-mashups suck and you’re a grade A pain in my ass. I’m the captain and you don’t have a say in this group.”
Everybody looked shocked at their leader. Beca felt tears starting to form, but she swallowed them and glared at Aubrey. “Honestly, fuck you. Get out of my room. All of you.” When no one moved, she screamed. “Out!” The Bellas hastily picked up their stuff and went out, Chloe shooting the brunette an apologetic look. The blonde stared angrily at Beca but followed suit.
“Rehearsal at 8 am sharp.” She just said and Beca slammed the door shut behind her. Then she threw herself onto her bed and let the tears flow. “Why the fuck is she suddenly so mean?! She liked the mashups and even had some plans for a choreography. I thought we would be friends!” She thought and let out a loud sob. Apparently the blonde was a backstabber. Beca threw a pillow against the wall and tossed and turned until she eventually fell asleep.
x
The brunette hated the months until the semifinals. Aubrey was being unbearable again, so Beca went back to her snark and sarcasm. Yes, during the time where she showed the blonde her mixes and the regionals, the girl was actually being nice and refrained as much as she could from any comment. But since they were back to square one, why should she continue being nice?
The day of the semifinals was here, and Beca woke up, turning on the campus radio to listen to music when she got ready, something she did over the months, in the hopes that Luke would finally play her mixes. It started to frustrate her. Was she not good enough for him?
Suddenly, she almost dropped her eyeliner pen. The radio station played a mix. Not any mix, her mix. She quickly got ready and stormed as best as she could in her stupid outfit to the radio station. She barged in and walked over to Luke, excited. “You’re playing my song right now! This is my track! Do you like it? You put it on the radio, that’s so awesome!”
“It’s a sick beat. The DJ at the garage does a brilliant version of this, but yours? It’s better.”
“Hell yeah it is.” The brunette smiled.
“I’m gonna listen to her tonight. Wanna join me?”
“I can’t, I need to go to a competition. Otherwise I really would have.”
“Oh, flight attendant competition?” The blonde boy asked.
“No, the Barden Bellas. We have semifinals tonight.” Beca grinned sheepishly.
“I wouldn’t have pegged you as an acapella girl. Good look though.”
“Hey Beca, let’s go grab lunch before the performance!” Jesse spoke up.
“Sure, why not? Bye Luke!” Luke waved them goodbye and they went outside.
“I kept bugging him to listen to your mixes by the way. I saw that he always threw your USB-Sticks into the admission basket but he never got them out. I’m glad he finally listened to me.” The brunette boy confessed.
“Thank you Jesse! I was getting worried sick that he just didn’t think I was good enough.” Beca was genuinely touched. No one did that for her before. “I’m sorry about the other night. It just kind of ruined my dream of moving to LA after this year.”
“Ah, don’t sweat it. I’m sure if you talk to your dad you can fix this.” The boy smiled and they went into the campus café.
x
Beca hated it. She hated that everybody was nodding off. She hated that they were forced to do this again. She hated that the Footnotes were making fun of them. But most of all, she hated Aubrey. She had no clue what she did to mess things up, but it pissed her off that the blonde set their relationship back to square one. So she did what she could do best. Go against the captain.
When Aubrey started her solo, the brunette started to sing Bulletproof, earning the audience’s interest back. Even though the blonde shot her a glare, she didn’t care. Satisfied, she proceeded, like everything was normal.
After the performance, Aubrey stormed after her. “What the hell Beca?! Were you trying to screw us up?”
“Are you being serious right now?” Beca asked.
“Newsflash, this isn’t the Beca show.”
“Okay, I’m sorry that I messed you up, but in case you haven’t noticed, everybody pretty much dozed off during our set!” The brunette defended herself.
“It’s not your job to decide what we do and when we do it.” Aubrey spat back. “Why don’t you ask the rest of the group how they felt about your little improvisation?”
Beca looked around. Everybody was avoiding her eyes. “Amy?” She asked weakly.
“It was cool… It just caught us a little off guard…” The blonde in question replied.
“It caught us a lot off guard! I told you she wasn’t a Bella, Chloe.” Aubrey said, crossing her arms.
“Aubrey, don’t.” Chloe tried to ease the situation.
“Save it. You don’t have to pretend you actually have a say in this group. Thanks to General Posen, everybody is unhappy here.” Beca said angrily. “I really tried to save this group, I really thought I had a chance. Turns out I don’t and everybody is a backstabber here. I’m done with this group. Fuck all of you.” She turned around and stormed out of the door. She heard Benji calling her name, but she was too angry to talk to anyone right now. She went outside and called a cab, telling the driver to go back to Barden.
When she got back, she found a lot of text messages, mostly from Chloe, asking if she was okay. She turned off her phone and went to the garage where she was supposed to meet Luke. She got herself a drink and gulped it down.
“So, how was the competition?” The blonde boy asked.
“I don’t wanna talk about anything of what happened this night.” The brunette replied, looking at the DJ.
“Well, okay. Do you like her mixes?” Luke asked, following her line of sight.
“Yeah, she’s good. I don’t want to sound cocky but I prefer my mixes more.”
The boy chuckled and spoke up. “Listen, Becky. I want you to take over the radio station during spring break. Play your music.”
“Are you being for real right now?” Beca asked, her mouth open.
“Yeah. I want to go home and who better to ask than you?” He smiled and the brunette punched him playfully.
“Don’t you think I want home too?”
“Well, if you want to, I’ll just put something random together and loop it.”
“No, I was joking. I would be more than honored.” Beca smiled. “By the way, my name is Beca. Not Becky.”
“Well, why didn’t you say anything?” Luke asked, tilting his head to the side.
“I honestly don’t know.” They laughed.
“Well, I’ll be heading over to my girlfriend. See you around.” The blonde boy smiled and walked away, leaving the girl all by herself. She decided to have another drink before heading home.
x
Spring break was lonely. Everybody she knew left to go home, but she couldn’t due to her mom being in Europe. She spent day and night at the radio station, occasionally putting on some automatically generated playlist so she had a break of a few hours or could sleep. Those hours where she was awake were usually filled with Beca wondering what the Bellas were up to and if they missed her. She wondered if Aubrey still drilled them to death. She generally wondered what Aubrey was up to. She just couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that the blonde was suddenly so cold to her again. What in earth did she do?
She decided to go to her dad. As much as it pained her, she still had to convince him to let her move to LA. And maybe he could offer her some advice as to what to do with the Bellas. She sighed and knocked on his door.
“Beca? What are you doing here?” He asked.
“I need you.” She simply said and walked past him into the kitchen. Her dad immediately poured them her favorite tea and sat opposite of her.
“What happened, honey?”
“I quit the Bellas. Aubrey absolutely broke me apart. She just… She is such a bitch and so stubborn.”
“Well, you can’t go against everyone. Some people have to learn it the hard way that not everything works their way. I think Aubrey is one of those people.”
“It’s just so frustrating dad. She said she liked my mashups and we even started to become friends or something. And then suddenly she shows me the cold shoulder again, completely ruining whatever we had and she started being mean again.”
“Hm, maybe you said something that upset her? Not everyone takes your comments well.” Her dad suggested.
“Ugh, I don’t know. It’s kind of like she has shut me out.”
“Just like you do?” Dr. Mitchell asked.
“Huh?” Beca asked, looking at him.
“Well, you shut everyone out if you can’t stand being vulnerable around them. You shut me out too. I tried to make things right between us but you just wouldn’t let me.”
“It’s just easier, you know?” The brunette sighed.
“But also really lonely. Pushing everybody away, even those who you love most…”
“Dad, what do I do? How can I fix this?” Beca asked, looking down onto the table.
“It’s up to you. I would suggest waiting until Aubrey comes to you. Maybe she will have realized by now that the group doesn’t work without you.” Her dad said and hugged his daughter.
“Thanks dad. Will you still not let me move to LA?” The brunette asked.
“Well, I think you should fix everything here first and then decide if you still want to go to LA. Whatever your decision is, I’ll support you.” The man smiled.
“Thank you, dad.”
x
The last day of spring break came and the students came back. Beca was just walking back to her dorm from the radio station when she bumped into Aubrey. “Oh great.” She thought.
“Beca…” The blonde said, looking her up and down. The brunette knew she was in a bad shape. She was paler than before, lost a little weight and had bags under her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Pf, since when do you care about me?” Beca said bitterly.
“I’m sorry about what happened, can we talk?” Aubrey asked.
“No, I don’t think so. Good day.” The brunette turned around and was ready to walk away when she felt a hand wrapping around her wrist.
“Beca… Please.” The voice was begging. Begrudgingly, she turned around.
“Fine, but not here. Let’s go to my room.” They walked to Baker Hall and into Beca’s room. “Talk.” She said after closing the door behind them.
“After you left, the Bellas fell apart. Like, really fell apart. Over spring break, I had time to reflect on this year, and I want to genuinely apologize to you. You were trying to revolutionize the Bellas, and I didn’t let you. I guess that was because you didn’t take any shit from me and always fought back. That made me furious, and I never knew why.” Aubrey chuckled. “I came to the realization that I really did control everyone and everything, and I scared people so much that they didn’t dare to talk against me. That was until you came along. You shook me to the core and opened my eyes. And I really like your mashups. I just felt really hurt when you said that this performance with The Sign and Eternal Flame sucked. I mean, I also put work in it so we could perform it. Just like you put work in your mixes.”
“But why did you have to be so cold to me again? I actually started to like you. You basically shut me out. Just like I normally do with people.” Beca sighed sadly.
“I just wanted to show you that we didn’t suck if everything went like it was supposed to. It honestly killed me that we went back to square one. But with your comments it eventually became easier to hate you again, because some things you said really weren’t nice. So I wasn’t nice, too. And I guess I went too far during the semifinals.” The blonde sighed. “I’m really sorry Beca. I want to start over. I honestly missed you.”
The brunette sighed and looked out of the window. She looked back at the blonde. “Even if I were to accept your apology, I couldn’t do anything. We didn’t advance to the finals.”
“Actually…” Aubrey said, making Beca look at her with interest. “Benji found out that the lead singer of the Footnotes was still in high school. We advanced into the finals. And I’m asking you, Beca Mitchell, if you want to arrange a killer mashup and plan out the choreography with me, making us win the finals and beat the Trebles?”
“Well. I will accept. But if you dare to break my heart again, I’m never coming back. Do you understand?” The brunette stated, holding out her hand. The other girl took it and shook it.
“You got my word.”
“Then you got my help.” Beca smiled softly.
Aubrey stepped forward and hugged the shorter girl tightly. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”
The brunette awkwardly wrapped her arms around the blonde and squeezed her a little. “No problem.”
“Well, we will meet tomorrow at 2 pm. Will you drop by?” Aubrey asked, letting go of the girl.
“No, you suck, I got better things to do.” Beca sarcastically said. “Of course I’ll be there. See you tomorrow.”
They smiled contently at each other. “Thank you again Beca. You don’t know how much this means to me.” The blonde said before turning around and leaving the room, leaving the brunette behind.
Beca couldn’t explain it, but she felt immediately better. She was happy that Aubrey seemed to care about her. She missed the blonde just as much as the girl did her. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come.
x
The next day she was making her way over to the auditorium when she bumped into Jesse, who began telling her about his spring break. She listened, avoiding the questions what she did during that time. After a while she saw it already was 2:30 pm.
“Shit Jesse, I need to go. See you later!” She said, dashing to the auditorium. When she came in however, she saw that everybody was fighting. Beca took in the sight before her. There was vomit on the floor, where Lilly made… Vomit angels? It was disgusting. Cynthia Rose was obviously groping Stacie while the busty girl blew the rape whistle. The other girls stood around, screaming. Fat Amy, Aubrey and Chloe wrestled for the pitch pipe. “Woah, guys! Guys! Stop!” She exclaimed, making everybody stop in their tracks. “What’s going on here?”
“Nothing.” Aubrey said, standing up straight. There was a vomit stain on the blonde’s shirt, indicating she was the one who vomited.
“Doesn’t look like nothing to me. What happened?”
“We couldn’t live with this dictatorship anymore.” Fat Amy said. “We wanted to break free.”
Beca took in a deep breath and looked at Aubrey. “Well, what if I told you Aubrey and I kissed and made up and we’re going to arrange something new for the finals?”
“Wait, you two kissed?” Chloe asked, making both girls blush.
“What? No, it’s a saying.” The brunette stuttered. “Anyways, I think it’s important for us to get on the same level. Find our sound.”
“I agree.” The blonde said and threw Beca the pitch pipe, but she couldn’t catch it and it landed in the vomit.
“Well, maybe not here. Let’s go to the pool.”
They made their way there and Beca turned around. “Ok, here we are. Aubrey, would you pick out a song for us please?”
“Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are.” The blonde answered, smiling.
“Okay. Chloe, are you okay with taking the lead?” The redhead nodded and Beca started with the intro.
Oh, her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shinin'
Her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her tryin'
She's so beautiful, and I tell her everyday
Grinning, Beca started singing Just A Dream.
Uh, uh, I was thinkin' bout her, thinkin' bout me, thinkin' bout us, who we gon' be (I know, I know when I compliment her, she won't believe me)
Her eyes wandered to Aubrey, who was looking back at her, smiling widely.
Opened my eyes, and it was only just a dream (And it's so, it's so sad to think that she doesn't see what I see)
It was only just a dream (But every time she asks me do I look okay? I say)
The Bellas began clapping and stomping to the rhythm, all clearly enjoying what was happening.
When I see your face (So I traveled back, down that road, Will she come back, no one knows)
There's not a thing that I would change (I realize yeah, it was only Just A Dream)
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are (It was only Just A Dream)
When I see your face (So I traveled back, down that road, Will she come back, no one knows)
There's not a thing that I would change (I realize yeah, it was only Just A Dream)
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are (It was only Just A Dream)
When I see your face (Face)
They finished and everybody was grinning from ear to ear, and Beca and Aubrey were staring at each other.
“Hands in, girls.” Aubrey said, holding out her hand. Everybody put their hand on top of hers, before they counted to three and, for the first time, made a perfect harmonized sound. That was, if there wasn’t suddenly a bass note. Chloe clasped her hand over her mouth.
“I’ve never made that sound before!” She said.
“Usually you aren’t supposed to. Chloe, what did you do?” Aubrey asked.
“I might have gotten rid of my nodes via surgery?” The redhead admitted sheepishly.
“Chloe!” The blonde gasped.
“Yo, with her messed up vocal chords, she can hit the bass notes. We could perform so much more songs!” Cynthia Rose spoke up.
“That’s true. I have a rough arrangement planned out in my head too.” Beca smiled.
“This is so nice.” Lilly suddenly said, loud and clear for everyone to hear.
“Woah, what?” Stacie gasped. “You can talk?”
“No need to shout.” Amy said, making everybody laugh.
x
The weeks before finals were filled with Aubrey and Beca planning out an arrangement and choreography, them teaching the Bellas and successfully mastering it before the finals. They grew closer, too, due to them staying up late together. Chloe found them more than once cuddled up in bed when they passed out from their sessions. The redhead smiled at the sight and took pictures for blackmail purposes later.
The day of the finals was finally here and everybody was nervous. They huddled up and watched the Treblemakers perform, having to admit that they had really outdone themselves. But they had the element of surprise on their side. When the announcer walked on stage, they turned to each other.
“I love you, awesome nerds.” Beca grinned.
“Yeah, you guys are the best. Even though most of you are pretty thin, you all got fat hearts, and that’s what matters.” Fat Amy said, making everyone chuckle. “Okay let’s just smash this!”
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Barden Bellas!” They walked onto stage and immediately received positive feedback from the crowd due them not being dressed like flight attendants anymore. They stood in formation and Beca began singing.
x
When they ended their performance, the crowd was going wild. They gave the Bellas a standing ovation as they cheered. Beca and Aubrey looked at each other with so much pride.
“Are they really cheering for us?” The blonde asked in disbelief.
“Yes they are, doofus.” The brunette replied, making Aubrey hug the smaller girl.
“Thank you for making this possible.”
They walked off the stage, and soon, the announcer told them the winners.
“On third place, the Hullabahoos. On second place, disappointingly, the Treblemakers. But, therefore, taking the first place and winning this competition…” He trailed off, letting the drum roll take over the silence. “The Barden Bellas!”
The girls cheered and ran onto the stage. Fat Amy took the trophy and lifted into the air. “We won, bitches!”
While the girls were hugging each other, Aubrey stood there, taking in the cheering crowd. Then she proceeded to look at her girls, especially at one girl. The one girl without whom none of this would have happened. She walked over to Beca, grabbed her cheeks and pressed her lips onto hers. The crowd cheered louder, but she didn’t care because the other girl kissed her back, wrapping her arms around the blonde’s waist. She could hear the Bellas whistling, and when she broke away from Beca, the girl smiled at her.
“So I take that as a sign that you like me?” The brunette said, smirking.
“Oh shut up.” Aubrey giggled and kissed her again.
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