Beca hears Saddle up wrapping up their performance in the distance. They were pretty good. Their group, along with Young Sparrow and DJ Dragon Nuts, actually seem like genuinely nice people. She definitely didn't get the 'stick up my ass' vibe she got from Evermoist.

The brunette believes that just because you're competitors, doesn't mean you have to be bitches to one another. Unless shes given a reason, she's very respectful of other groups and acknowledges that there are people in the world that are just as talented as the Bellas are.

Evermoist though? They're like the girls Beca dealt with back in high school.

The woman shakes her head and tries to clear her mind from that. That was years ago, and she didn't have time to dwell on that when the conversation her and Theo had was still fresh in her mind. She knows that if she's focused on that during their performance, she's won't be on her A-game.

Beca takes a deep breath and slowly exhales, letting all of her worries release out into the air. She walks up next to Aubrey and crosses her arms over her chest as she observes Evermoist.

Aubrey glances over at Chloe and Emily before she waits a heartbeat or two to look over at Beca. The woman sees her out of the corner of her eye and mumbles a "later" to the blonde.

The crowd immediately erupts in roars as soon as Evermoist starts to sing. Emily, Chloe, Aubrey, and Beca were the only ones watching, since the other women decided a few seconds before Beca got there that they wanted to touch up their makeup.

"Wow, they really can shred." Emily comments as she watches in amazement, the woman bounces on the balls of her feet, like a puppy anxiously waiting for their owner to open the door. Aubrey nods her head and swallows hard.

"They're better than Saddle up even."

"We just gotta keep them out of our heads." Beca huffs. She runs her hands down her legs and drums her finger on them, pushing and turning imaginary knobs.

Whenever there's too much on her mind and the pressure is borderline unbearable, mixing has always been that one constant thing that she can fall back on.

And since Barden, Chloe is too.

The Other Bellas come up from behind them and Lilly places her head on Beca's shoulder. The brunette lifts her arm and lightly pats her cheek. One of the backstage crew members appears and informs the women that they're up next.

"Great." Aubrey says nervously. Chloe grabs ahold of her best friend's hand and gives it a little tug. The blonde squeezes her hand and gives her a reassuring smile.

"We're gonna aca rock this." Chloe winks and Aubrey giggles with a nod.

"Hell yeah we are."

Evermoist finishes their song and Calamity glances over her shoulder at the Bellas with a smug smile. The women look at her in disgust and scoff. Calamity spins her head back to face the crowd and grabs the mic, her lips press up against it.

"Thank you so much. We are," She takes a deep breath and practically moans into the microphone.

"Evermoist." The crowd keeps cheering and clapping as the band gets their things together and heads off stage.

"Oh, wow!" The announcer makes his way onto the stage in utter amazement. "Who doesn't want to see that on "Salute the Troops" next week huh? Keep it going. Whoo!" The crowd continues to cheer clap. On the other side of the stage, the Bellas watch as Evermoist introduce themselves to DJ Khaled.

Beca spots Theo lurking in the corner and visibly freezes. Aubrey catches sight of this and glances over at the brunette. She follows her line of sight and and squints, she can't see the person's face, but based on Beca's death stare, she can assume it's Theo.

"He's going to wrap Khalid around his disgusting finger." The brunette says under her breath, loud enough for only Aubrey to hear. "He's not gonna hurt you or the Bellas. I'll kill him if he does." Beca crosses her arms over her chest and continues to stare at the man. Aubrey opens her mouth to say something, but her attention is back on the stage when their group is announced next.

Very few people clap from the crowd as the Bellas get into their positions. John and Gail watch from the side stage with their equipment.

"The Bellas reunited finally onstage. They're gonna rock these groups with their mouth music." Gail chuckles as she hold the microphone in her hand.

"And as predicted, Gail, the Bellas are in over their heads, lost in a sea of seamen." Gail gives the man an odd look, but eventually shrugs it off. It isn't the weirdest thing hes said.

Cynthia Rose is in the middle of the stage and starts rapping the first verse of Cheap Thrills

Cynthia Rose- "Up with it, girl, rock with it girl"

Flo- "Bellas!"

Cynthia Rose- "Show them it girl, bada-bum-bum. Bounce with it, girl, dance with it, girl. Get with it, girl, bada-bum-bum."

Beca- "Come on, come on, turn the radio on. It's Friday night and it won't be long. Gotta do my hair put my makeup on. It's Friday night and it won't be long."

The crowd gets into it and claps along to the beat. Off to the side, Saddle Up, Young Sparrow and DJ Dragon Nuts are nodding along and clapping with the crowd, while Evermoist is trying to not look impressed. But they were all thinking the same thing; they're much better than they thought.

Flo- "Till I hit the dance floor"

Cynthia Rose- "Bada-bum"

Flo- "Hit the dance floor"

Cynthia Rose- "Bada-bum"

Beca- "I got all I need."

Theo watches the woman intently and bites his lip. "She's definitely working for Khalid." He says to himself. Beca looks over during the performance and manages to flip him off when she does a quick spins. She finally releases her frustration and belts out the next lyrics.

Beca- "Babaaaaay! I love cheap thrills! Cheap Thrills. Hey ye ye ye ye hey yeah! You're worth more than diamonds more than gold. Go on and make the beat just take control!"

Chloe smiles and turns to look at Aubrey. She's happy her best friend was able to look past Beca's "ear monstrosities" all those years ago and gave her a chance.

When Aubrey claimed that Beca had ruined their performance back in her Senior year, she felt terrible when the woman stormed out. Right before the brunette turned her back, Aubrey saw the tears begin to pool in the woman's eyes. That's when she realized how much Beca truly cared for the Bellas and was genuinely trying to help them win. She had acted like she didn't want Beca back in, when in reality she was happy she didn't get a text saying she moved out of the country. She just felt like she had to act that way because that's the type of front she put up. The next day the blonde texted her and asked her to meet up for coffee. It had taken her a bit, but eventually she apologized and it was the first time they've really talked since one of them had been going for the other's throat. After that, they were able to find common ground and became friends.

That's why Aubrey does what she does after the performance.

Beca exits the stage immediately and the blonde notices the look on her face. The crowd cheers loudly and the Bellas smile and bow, happy they've still got it. Aubrey takes the opportunity and tries to discreetly slip by to catch up to Beca. Chloe notices, of course. Her eyebrows furrow when she sees Beca storming off with Aubrey following after her. She's about to head off in their direction, when the announcer comes to the stage.

"Well well well! My apologies ladies, you were amazing. Give it up for the Bellas!" The crowd cheers again and multiple people whistle in response. The Bellas wave and say "thank you" and a few of them even curtsy before they make their way off of the stage. Cynthia Rose glances over at Evermoist and looks them up and down before smiling deviously and winking. Calamity rolls her eyes in response and she turns on her heels, the other women following behind her. Saddle up however has no shame and even if they wanted to, they couldn't hide how impressed they were. The leader of the group nods to them and gives them a small smile. Emily giggles and waves, skipping off the stage.

The Bellas are now off the stage and they all are talking excitedly and complimenting each other on how well each of them did. Chloe only hears about half of what they're saying. Her thoughts and worries clouding most of her mind.

Why has Beca been acting so weird? Does Aubrey know?

Chloe feels like she's at a soccer game. Beca's kicking the ball between both feet, trying to keep all of her emotions and heartache to herself, until life slides in, throwing off the rhythm shes created and she goes tumbling down. But no matter how hard she falls, she throws out a hand and keeps everyone at an arms' length, insisting she can stand up on her own. And even as she gets up and people ask if she's okay, she nods and continues to play. Most will believe her and are convinced that she's alright. But the ones who know her, they see the battle in the slight limp in her walk and the faint whimpers in each step she takes.

"We really showed them, huh?" Jessica's now in Chloe's view and it takes her a few seconds to register what the woman had said.

"Oh yeah, totes..." She trails off as she looks over the blonde's shoulder, trying to see if she can catch a glimpse of either if her best friends.

"If you're looking for Beca, she's with Aubrey. But she looked pretty upset." This makes the redhead's eyes snap to hers.

"What do you mean? Is she okay?"

"Well," Jessica scratches the back of her neck. "I don't know, but I've never seen her look that pissed. I mean, back in Freshman year I was so sure that her resting bitch face was permanent." Chloe chuckles at this. Yeah, she definitely remembers that. But it was only a matter of time that her bubbly personality would rub off on the brunette. "But, Aubrey looked pretty concerned, so maybe she knows what's going on."

"Beca's been off for a while now." Chloe crosses her arms and looks down. "And she's avoiding me." She mumbles the last part, but if Jessica weren't giving her her undivided attention, she'd miss it. The blonde smiles sympathetically and nudges her arm.

"I'm sure she just doesn't want you getting wrapped up in it." Chloe smiles sadly and nods her head. Jessica loops her arm through the redhead's and tugs lightly. "Come on, let's go get ready. It's movie night!" She squeals, and Chloe couldn't help but giggle. Chloe, Jessica, and Ashley had bonded back at the retreat. She wishes she could've connected with them sooner.

——————————————————————-

"Beca, wait up!" Aubrey yells as she starts to jog to Beca. With so many years in the Bellas she was able to do so in high heels. That also meant Beca had too.

"I just really wanna be alone right now," Beca yells over her shoulder, unaware of how close the blonde really is. "I need to-" A strong hand is grabs her shoulder and whips her around. Aubrey's hand is on her hip and her heels are dangling in the other.

"Was that him? The one who was watching you earlier?" Beca nods and looks down at her feet.

"Yeah. Hes basically been stalking me ever since we got here." She crosses her arms over her chest and bites the inside of her cheek. "He's seriously freaking me out."

Aubrey looks past Beca and then glances sideways behind her to make sure no one is watching before she grabs her by the bend of her elbow and pulls her off to the side.

"Chloe's gonna lose her friggin' mind." Aubrey mumbles. The brunette pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs.

"I know, I know, I'll think of something."

"You're literally an open book."

"Not helping!" Beca throws her arm in the air and lets it slap down on the side of her leg. She runs brings her hands up to her face and runs them down it, groaning. up. "The girls cannot know what's going on." She huffs and her arms fall back down her sides. "This stays between us, okay?" Beca's eyebrows lift in confirmation.

"Okay." Aubrey nods firmly. "But," She takes a deep breath and exhales shakily. "You promise nothing will happen to you?"

"As long as the Bellas are safe, that's all that matters." Beca turns her head to the side, clenching and unclenching her jaw. Aubrey reaches out and places her hands over hers.

"You're a Bella, Beca."

"Aubrey," The woman shakes her head and faces the blonde. "I don't care-"

"No, listen."Aubrey squeezes her hands and tilts her head down. "We're going to figure this out and no one is getting hurt."

"If something happens-"

"Nothing is going to-"

"If something happens," Beca repeats. "Please keep them safe." A tear runs down her face and she sniffs.

"I will." Aubrey releases her hands and pulls Beca into a hug, letting a few tears slip from her eyes.

About thirty seconds pass and they finally release one another. Beca chuckles softly and wipes under her eyes.

"If someone came up to me four years ago and told me that we'd be doing this," The brunette waves her hand back forth between the two of them. "I would've thought they were insane."

"Me too." Aubrey laughs. She feels her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulls it out.

Fat Amy: "Get your small lumps over here, it's movie night!"

Aubrey rolls her eyes and sends her a quick text letting her know they're on their way.

"Who was that?"

"Amy. The girls are waiting for us to watch a movie." The blonde slides her phone back in her pocket and motions to head in the direction of the hotel. Beca falls into step beside her and both head women to the building.

"This is not gonna be easy..."