Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect or anything associated with the films franchise.
"Hello, Beca. It's nice to finally meet you, I'm Stacie. The hot one." Stacie turns in her seat to face Beca in the backseat. She holds out her hand for Beca to shake which is accepted as soon as Beca closes her door. Stacie pointedly checks out the short brunette, and she's pleasantly surprised when Beca doesn't shy away under her gaze. Instead, Beca does her own checking out of the tall brunette.
Beca winks, "No doubt about it." Stacie smirks, she's really going to get along with this one. As if barely noticing the brunette, Chloe pipes up in the conversation.
"Becs! You're coming?" Chloe asks bouncing in her seat as her tiny brunette friend clicks her seatbelt in the spot next to her. Beca smirks and turns to face Chloe.
"Of course, you know you've got me whipped, baby girl." She playfully grins and waits for Chloe's response.
She bites onto her bottom lip to hold in her laugh as Chloe dramatically flips her hair. "I don't blame you, hot stuff," the redhead husks the last part. "You're only human after all."
They continue on like this, oblivious to the tension up front. Stacie is gripping the steering wheel a little tighter than necessary and Aubrey is biting the inside of her cheek.
"Becs, if you really wanted to explore my-,"
"We're here!" Stacie interrupts Chloe, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. The tall brunette doesn't know exactly why she was a bothered by their bantering, but she is happy it's over. And apparently Aubrey is too based on her huff of relief. The two girls in the backseat look up front in confusion, then they remember that they actually had a destination they were heading to. They all exit the car and head towards the main entrance where there are three long lines of people buying entrance bracelets- which are basically unlimited ride tickets. Beca sighs when she sees the familiar fair sign that she seen just a few days earlier.
Once inside, Stacie leads them to the spot she told the rest of the Bellas to meet up at. When they get there, Beca is bombarded with greetings and short jokes from all the girls after Chloe introduces her. After all the greetings are finished, the girls split up into three groups. Everyone is thrown when Beca chooses to go with Amy, Cynthia Rose, and Flo instead of Chloe, Aubrey, and Stacie, but nobody questions it. They eventually all go their separate ways.
"So short stuff, to what do we owe the pleasure of your presence?" Amy asks as they wait in line for some greasy fair food.
"Yeah, why din't you go with the babes?" Cynthia Rose asks from beside Amy. Beca is about to answer but she's interrupted by Amy.
"Well it's not all the babes, I mean, here I am with you guys." Amy feels the need to put in. Beca chuckles.
"Right, uh," she shrugs, "I want to get to know everyone before you all go, and you guys seemed pretty cool so, here I am." The answer is good enough for the girls. It's then their time to order in line, but Beca declines wanting anything. She just gets a water and they're on their way, no way is she going to eat the questionable greasy fair food.
A couple of snacks and a respectable amount of time later, the four girls find themselves in line for a small rollercoaster. They all look excited except for Beca who is hesitating on telling the girls what's on her mind.
"Uh, guys," she speaks up. "Y'know, I'm not really a big fan of rollercoasters. You guys go ahead and I'll go get some cotton candy or something."
"Are you sure, Be-"
"Wait," Amy interrupts Cynthia Rose, "are you afraid of roller coasters, short stuff?" Beca starts to fidgit under their expectant eyes.
"What? Me? N-no, of course not. I just- I don't like the feeling." She explains but the girls don't buy it. She sighs. "Okay so, I have this tiny fear of heights. It's no big deal."
"Don't worry, shorty. Your secret is safe with us." The blonde sends an exaggerated wink Beca's way. Beca thanks them and then walks around to pass time.
Beca manages to stumble upon a familiar looking blonde at a game tent during her aimless walking. She watches from a distance as Aubrey attempts to pop balloons with the darts she has in her hand. But wait, why is Aubrey alone? And why does just the sight of her make Beca's heart flutter? Beca's heart never flutters. Ever. She ignores the feeling and walks towards the blonde. She arrives just as Aubrey is huffing in defeat.
"One game, please." Beca puts three dollar-bills on the table.
"Commin' right up, young lady." While the game manager goes to remove the darts in the wall, she turns to the blonde.
"You looked a little disappointed there." Beca teases.
Aubrey rolls her eyes but smiles none the less. "It's harder than it looks, I've tried it like a hundred times now."
"A hundred, huh?" Beca quirks a brow. "You must really want that- giant stuffed panda?"
"It's so cute!" But not nearly as cute as that smile you're giving me now...wait, what? Snap out of it, Posen! Beca chuckles at Aubrey's reasoning and the blonde's heart warms at the sound.
"Here you are, young lady." Beca says her thanks and picks up the four darts. "Hit any four for a small prize, four of those small ones for a medium prize, and you see that small black dot there?" Beca nods, the dot is about the size of a nickel in the top center of the board. "Hit that dot and you win the big prize." Beca let's out a long low breath as she prepares to throw her first dart. Nobody knows, besides Chloe, but she is actually pretty great with her aim. As a kid, when her parents were arguing through their divorce, she would sneak off to Chloe's house and they would hang out in the redhead's garage just throwing these things.
Not wanting to come off as to self absorbed or anything, she purposely misses the first three. She can hear Aubrey stifling her giggles at the misses, the sound forces her to smile. Just before throwing her last dart, she feels Aubrey's warm hand on her lower back and a fresh whisper in her ear.
"You have this." The blonde encourages. The words and proximity make Beca's knees weak, not Aubrey's intention, but they also send a wave of confidence through the short brunette. Beca inhales and aims, still trying to ignore the hand on the small of her back. The next thing she hears is the sound of the metal sticking to the board and a soft gasp from the girl beside her.
"Beca...Beca, you did it!" Aubrey cheers. Beca slightly frowns because, in the midst of her cheering, the blonde had removed her hand from Beca's back. Although, one look at Aubrey's beaming smile and Beca finds it impossible to stop grinning.
"Nice job, young lady! Here you are, enjoy!" Beca had nearly forgot about hitting the black dot and winning the prize due to her focusing on Aubrey. She thanks the man and takes the stuffed panda that's got to be at least half her size.
"Uh, here you go." Beca wears a shy smile holding out the bear for Aubrey to take. But the blonde doesn't take it, instead she hesitates.
"Oh-No, Beca, you won this, it's yours, I can't just take it."
Beca smirks, "You're not taking it from me, Aubrey. I'm giving it to you. I want to give it to you."
The blonde's stomach does a flip, but she still looks uncertain. "Are you sure?"
"Nope, I just love messing around with beautiful blondes," Beca jokes with her natural sarcasm. She doesn't even catch her accidental compliment, but Aubrey does. "I'm positive, Aubrey. It's for you."
The older girl slightly blushes both at the compliment and the gesture and how Beca does it all so genuinely. "Thank you." She only meant to go in for a hug, but she was just as surprised as the other girl when she kissed Beca's cheek, and she notes that it was fairly close to the brunnette's lips. Aubrey is suddenly happy that she's hugging Beca because now the girl can't see her panicking face. Plus, in Aubrey's opinion, hugging the shorter girl is sorta, kinda, maybe, just a little, tiny bit comforting. Chloe kisses people's cheeks all the time. Aubrey tries to reason her actions. But I'm not Chloe. But it felt so natural, like a natural reaction, so it isn't that weird. Right?
On the other hand, Beca is internally freaking out. She has no idea how to respond right now. Okay, first thing's first, after an internal debate and some clear hesitation, Beca returns the hug and wraps her arms around the blonde. And it feels so oddly satisfying. And then there's her cheek, the peck was so close to her lips. The spot has the burn and tingle of a slap but without the pain. It's on fire in the best way possible. If I had just slightly turned my head...Beca shakes away those thoughts. She shouldn't be thinking about (almost) kissing Aubrey. Right?
A ring tone snaps them out of their moment. Beca pulls out her phone.
"Sorry, it's Luke, this'll be real quick, promise."
Aubrey waves it off, "It's okay, take your time." She feels that hint of jealousy again at the mention of Beca's boyfriend's name. A boyfriend whom the girl has no romantic feelings for, Aubrey reminds herself. Wait, why do I care? I barely even know her.
"Oh my go-" Chloe's shouting is cut off by Stacie's palm.
"Sshhh! They'll hear you!" Stacie whisper yells to Chloe.
"Sorry, but did you see that?" Chloe whisper yells back. They had seen the whole interaction between Aubrey and Beca from behind another game tent where they were hiding. "Stacie, Beca hates hugs. I mean, she'll probably pay a million bucks to avoid hugs, but she just hugged Aubrey for a very, very friendly amount of time, if you know what I'm saying."
"Yeah, I get what you mean." Stacie nods. "Plus, did you see Aubrey kiss her cheek? That was also very, very friendly. For Aubrey at least."
"Yeah, totes. I'm a little hurt actually, she's never done that to me." Chloe pouts. Stacie chuckles and kisses Chloe's cheek.
"Does that help?"
"A little," the redhead giggles. "Too bad for that call, I bet they would have stayed hugging there the rest of the day. It looked like they were enjoying it." Stacie hums in agreement. "Should we go back to them now?"
They watch as Beca hangs up and rejoins Aubrey. The girls both smile automatically once they lay their eyes on one another. "Hmm, I think we should see what else happens."
"I'm on the exact same page," Chloe agrees. "We can fallow them and just watch their interactions." Chloe thinks about what they're going to do. "Wait, that doesn't make us like stalkers or anything, right?"
"I don't think so. I mean, it's not like we're strangers or anything so..."
"True, I think it just makes us creepy friends." Stacie nods to Chloe's words. "I can live with that."
"Same. Let's do this." They discreetly follow the two girls ahead of them.
"So, why were you alone anyways?" Beca asks as pink cotton dissolves in her mouth. She holds the stick of cotton candy in-between herself and Aubrey as they share it.
Aubrey holds her panda in her left arm. "Well, I was playing that game for a while. I was distracted but I think Chloe and Stacie said something about getting a snack and that they'll be right back, then you came." The blonde rips off a piece of candy and plops it in her mouth. Beca accepts the answer before the fall into a comfortable silence.
"Oh-" Beca halts causing Aubrey to do the same. "You've got something right here..." Beca's hand wavers as she reaches for Aubrey, unsure if this action is too intimate. Her hand is already half way there, so she can't retreat now. She gently places her palm on Aubrey's jaw and uses her thumb to wipe away some cotton candy on the edge of the blonde's mouth. Time seems to slow down and Beca spots herself just staring at Aubrey's flawless, soft looking lips. When she looks up, she finds the blonde staring at her with a look of adoration in her eyes. Her urge to lean in gets stronger and stronger, but before anything happens, an all too familiar squeal steals her attention.
She whips her head around but finds nobody. And suddenly she realizes how intimate her move actually was. She timidly removes her hand from the blonde, but states confidently, "perfect."
Stacie tackles the squealing redhead as soon as she hears her. They fall in a pile of hay behind a tent.
"You're going to get us caught, Beale," Stacie whispers and removes her hand that was preventing Chloe from talking. Once the hand is gone, Chloe's smirk is revealed.
"You know, Stace," she gestures to their bodies, "there are other ways to get on top of me." Stacie looks down at their bodies, and for the first time in Chloe Beale's life, she witnesses Stacie blush. It's barely noticeable, but it's there.
"Whatever," the tall brunette tries to quickly remove the attention from herself, "let's go see what they're doing now."
"So, uh," Beca thinks of something to change the subject. They continue walking, "still wanting to save lives, huh?"
Aubrey smiles, "yeah."
Beca's smile fades, "Do the 'rents still try to persuade you to be a lawyer?"
The blonde sighs, "It's mainly just my father."
"Oh, I know the feeling."
"You do?" Aubrey curiously looks at the brunette.
Beca shrugs. "Yeah. I mean, it's not as intense as being a doctor or lawyer, but my dad didn't want me to move out here. He wanted me to get a full college education, still does. I think he's waiting for a day where I will fail and go back to do what he wants. But that's never gonna to happen."
"Why not?" Aubrey watches Beca's eyes grow a glint as she talks.
"This is my dream, you know?" Beca smiles. "If I can't do this, then I don't want to do anything else. I know that sounds really stubborn, and it is, but it's true. Producing music is all I've ever wanted to do, so I'm going to make it happen." Aubrey finds herself grinning, she really likes this ambitious side of Beca.
"I think you can do it." Aubrey says. Beca smiles at her and they're both silent for a minute.
"I think you can do it too, you know." Beca says, barely audible.
"What?"
"Aubrey, I know I don't know you that well, but I know you're going to make a great doctor. I can see it, and I hope your dad can one day too." Aubrey's lost track of how many times Beca has warmed her heart now in just today. The girl has some sort of natural charm, and is all accompanied by full sincerity. And Aubrey, she just can't get enough of it.
"What are you two doing?"
Chloe and Stacie nearly jump out of their skin when they hear Amy behind them. They pull Amy, Cynthia Rose, and Flo behind the ticket booth they're hiding being so they're not caught.
"We're spying on Beca and Aubrey, we think there's potential for something there." Chloe informs.
"So that's where she went, we lost her earlier." Cynthia Rose says. They all watch as the blonde and brunette exchange words, then Aubrey is pulling a reluctant Beca to the ferris wheel line.
"Ooh, that won't go well. Beca told us she's afraid of heights." Amy states. Chloe nods. She recalls Beca never wanting to sit on the roof with her or go rock climbing, along with other little things back when they were younger.
Beca let's Aubrey lead her to the ferris wheel line. She really doesn't want to get on the ride, it's literally the one she always avoids at all costs when she goes to the fair, but she can't find the words to tell the blonde. She looks at the ride and worries her bottom lip. She starts to fidgit with the ring given to her by her mother. Nope, no way she can do this. She turns to tell the blonde just that, but that is an obvious mistake. She relishes at the sight of Aubrey looking so excited for the death trap.
The girls watch as Beca bites her bottom lip in nervousness. The brunette unconsciously taps her left foot before turning to Aubrey.
"Here it comes..." Amy whispers in anticipation.
Beca peels her eyes away from the blonde and looks at the death trap. What the fuck am I doing!?
"Holy shit," Chloe mumbles. She points with disbelief, "she just... Beca just got on the ride."
Aubrey enjoys the ride as they start to go up, oblivious to the panicking mess next to her that Beca is trying very hard to hide. She can't let Aubrey see her being a baby because of some distance from the ground, because of her badass reputation of course. Yup, it has nothing to do with trying to impress or please the blonde.
There's a slight breeze as they reach the top that Aubrey appreciates along with the view of the skyline. As they edge near the peak, Aubrey feels a soft hand slip into hers, she smiles. She likes this, she feels content, which confuses her to no end. Why is this all of a sudden?
Before her mind can wander, however, she gets distracted by her hand being squished. She looks over to the small brunette in concern and finds the girl with her eyes squeezed shut, one hand gripping Aubrey's, and the other gripping the railing, her knuckles going white.
"Beca, are you okay?" She places her free hand on top of the brunette's that's gripping her hand.
Beca unconvincingly nods, eyes still shut. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just-..heights aren't my best friend, that's all." Aubrey absorbs the information and tries to think of something that will calm and comfort the brunette.
She moves her hand to Beca's shoulder. "Beca, look at me," she says, but the girl doesn't move.
She moves her hand to Beca's cheek, "Beca, please..." The short brunette slowly opens her eyes. "You're going to be fine, promise." Beca nods looking at Aubrey, but then she starts breathing harder when she looks at how high they are. Aubrey notices that Beca is staring to panic so she places both of her hands on either side Beca's face and gently pleads for the brunette to look at her again. "Beca, look, I promise you're going to be okay. I'm here, I'll make sure you're fine." While talking, Aubrey had scooted closer to the girl in reassurance. They maintain eye contact and Beca begins to truly believe the blonde, but now she's nervous about how close they are.
"Thank you." Beca says sincerely, Aubrey managed to calm her down in a weak moment, something Beca's not entirely used to. She thinks Aubrey is going to move away, but she's pleasantly surprised when the blonde makes no effort in moving. Instead Aubrey nods and stays close. Their fingers brush against each other on their touching laps, but they aren't holding onto each other anymore. They both smile and enjoy the ride. Well, Beca does as much as she can, she tries to focus on either the sky or Aubrey to distract her from how high up she is.
She steals side glances of the blonde throughout the ride, and then something clicks. She remembers what the psychic had told her earlier.
"I see blonde hair and... green eyes I believe. Yes, a lover."
She looks at Aubrey and just shockingly stares at her. Eventually Aubrey looks over and shyly smiles.
"What?"
"Fuck." Beca mutters but Aubrey doesn't catch it. "Sorry, it's just... I just noticed you have blonde hair and... and green eyes."
A/N: Thanks again guys for reading this, I was supposed to update on Tuesday but I'm a slow typer so it's late. Sorry about that, but I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Also, 106 follows!? That's amazing, so thank you so very much, guys. Sorry for all the spelling mistakes but I am so tired and can't proofreading it right now, but I also don't want to delay an update. Lastly, please rev./fav./follow and I'll see you next chapter.
-Nessa
