Chapter Text
“Beca,” Aubrey looked over at Beca from her spot in the driver's seat, “You’re not a failure just because your dreams didn’t work out exactly the way you wanted them to.”
Beca knew Aubrey was being sincere, never once in all the years they had known each other had Aubrey been the type of person to sugar-coat something just to make someone feel better—especially not Beca. They had known each other since they were kids, and something about Aubrey's brutal and consistent honesty drew Beca in, causing them to be inseparable throughout a good portion of their childhood. It also helped that their families were close, forcing them together whether they liked it or not.
Beca and Aubrey were both the outcasts of their families, even from such a young age. Aubrey was the youngest of four, and being raised by a single father and three older brothers didn’t necessarily bode well for her future. Beca, on the other hand, only had one older sibling, but her sister was thirteen years older than her making it hard for them to form much of a strong bond.
Beca’s sister, Quinn, and Aubrey’s oldest brother, Conrad, were the same age and started dating when they were both sixteen years old, forcing the Mitchells and the Posens even closer together, and when a shy, little three-year-old Beca didn't have any other friends, a bold four-year-old named Aubrey seemed to be her best bet.
By the time Beca was five, Conrad had already gotten down on one knee, asking Quinn to be his wife. He was going to enlist soon after they graduated, and the two of them didn't want to be separated. Beca didn't really understand how young they were, all she saw was her sister walking down the aisle of their church wearing a white dress, and couldn't help but be fascinated by the idea of devoting the rest of your life to your one true love, forever.
Beca didn't know why Quinn was crying outside the airport before she left soon after their wedding. She was about to go off and live with her husband, how could that ever be something sad? Beca was even more confused when Quinn hugged her tight, whispering in her ear, “I'm so sorry for leaving you. Whatever happens, just remember that it's not your fault.”
It didn't take long for Beca to figure out what that meant.
Her parents fought. A lot.
Beca had never really noticed it before.
Sometimes she and Quinn would be in the living room together, Beca distracted by the TV while Quinn was reading a magazine on the couch, then out of nowhere Quinn would just take her upstairs. Beca was never allowed in Quinn’s room, except for those moments. Everything seemed softer when she was in there, maybe it was the way her window faced the sun in the summer, or maybe it was the smiles Quinn would give her, or maybe it was the music coming from the record player in the corner. Beca always loved those moments, especially when Quinn would turn the music up louder and tell Beca to close her eyes and listen. That was truly the beginning of Beca’s love for music, she could feel the music in her blood, leaving her feeling more full than ever before.
Looking back, Beca knows what Quinn was doing. She was trying to hide her from the awful words their parents would spit at each other in the other room, but once Quinn moved away, Beca had nothing left to protect her.
Except, of course, for Aubrey.
Beca spent a lot of nights at Aubrey's house, especially during the summer, so much so that some people in the neighborhood used to joke that she was the fifth Posen child, even though her dark brown hair and deep blue eyes were a stark contrast to the mostly blond haired and hazel eyed family. There were even some weeks in which Beca would sit with the Posens at Sunday Mass rather than with her own parents.
It took two years after Quinn left for Beca’s parents to get a divorce.
Suddenly, there Beca was, seven years old, at the Atlanta International Airport, with her mom’s hand gripped tightly in her own, ready to board a plane headed to Seattle where Beca’s grandparents lived.
It wasn't easy, saying goodbye to her dad.
But it wasn't nearly as hard as saying goodbye to Aubrey.
Beca could barely stand the weekly phone calls she made to her father, but ran straight to her mother every time she got a letter from Aubrey, asking her to read it for her, and then immediately to help her write her response. Eventually, Beca was big enough to read and write her own letters until they both figured out how to use email, and by the time they were in high school, they were texting almost every day.
Every winter Beca flew back to Georgia alone to spend her Christmas break with her dad, and completed the same routine for two months every summer. She never really spent much time at her dad's house, it was too hard being back there after everything, and just like before, she found herself more at Aubrey's house than her own.
It was almost ironic, the fact that it was summer again. It felt eerily similar to the summers she used to spend with her dad. She felt the same sensation when she walked out of the airport and was immediately blanketed by the heavy, muggy Georgia air. Sure, California was hot, but Georgia was different, wetter.
“I know, I know.” Beca avoided eye contact with Aubrey and ran her fingers through her own hair, trying to ignore the sweat already building on her brow. “It just sucks that I’m back here.”
Beca had moved to LA when she was eighteen years old. The summer before her junior year of high school, Beca’s father spent her entire visit trying to convince her to go to college, something Beca never had any interest in doing. Beca found a loophole, opting to enroll in running start, a program that allowed her to take courses at her local college and earn credits for both college and high school at the same time. By the time Beca graduated from high school, she was also receiving an A.A. from North Seattle College.
It worked well enough, and her dad was no longer hellbent on making her go to college, something he would have insisted she move back to Georgia to do so she could enroll at the University where he worked. Barden University may have also been where Aubrey was attending, but not even she could have held Beca back from choosing her dreams.
So, Beca moved to LA soon after graduation, spending the past seven years trying—and unfortunately failing—to make it big as a music producer. She started out well, and was able to produce a few hit songs (and a lot more with independent artists that never blew up) and work her way up the ladder at her job. However, all it took was one shitty client that Beca refused to work with and suddenly, she was unemployed.
Once Beca told her what had happened, Aubrey forced her into a conversation that she wasn’t necessarily too keen on having.
“There’s no shame in coming back, Beca.”
“Yes, there is. I’m just proving to my dad that he was right, that I couldn’t do it.”
“That’s not—”
“I don’t wanna go back, Aubrey.”
Evidently, it didn’t matter what Beca wanted. Not when she couldn’t find another job producing that would take her after she got fired. Not when the money she had left in her savings was becoming concerningly low, but still enough for a one-way ticket back to Atlanta, Georgia.
“It’ll be okay,” Aubrey reached across the console to squeeze Beca’s knee, “Atlanta has a decent music scene, and we aren’t too far from the heart of the city out here.” Aubrey removed her hand and brought it back to the steering wheel.
Aubrey had picked Beca up from the airport and was driving her to her new apartment. Beca had already shipped the majority of her belongings ahead of time, but she didn’t have that much left. She had resorted to selling the most of her stuff back in LA when she needed the money to get by, but it still wasn’t enough.
As it turned out, Aubrey just happened to own a building that had an empty second floor with a full apartment.
(Like seriously, what recently graduated lawyer owned just one single building, and allowed their unemployed childhood friend to live upstairs for free?
The answer was Aubrey, apparently.)
Beca didn’t quite understand how or why Aubrey purchased the building, but she wasn't really in a position to ask questions when she had nowhere else to go.
They didn’t speak much more during the drive, and for that Beca was thankful. She was physically and emotionally exhausted after the tumultuous couple of months she had since being fired. She spent a long while trying to find any studio that would take her, even as an assistant, but she had been blacklisted as a bitch by anyone and everyone in LA who had to do with music.
Apparently, when a famous artist tells you that you’ll never find another job producing if you turn him down, he means business.
Darren Carlisle was a big up and coming artist with an underrated temper. The media portrayed him as a nice guy with a soft heart and rock-hard abs, but he became nothing but cold the more Beca insisted that no, she wasn’t interested in him, and no, she did not want to go on a date with him.
Beca tried to go to her boss an explain what Darren was doing—you know, literal sexual harassment, and all that—but he just told her that, “one date couldn’t hurt,” and she should just, “be a team player, Beca, he’s gonna be great publicity for the company.”
When Beca went off on him after countless attempts at telling him ‘no’, Darren went to her boss himself and asked for Beca to not only be removed from his team, but from the company all together, threatening to find a new studio to work with if they didn’t comply.
Beca couldn’t afford to sue for wrongful termination. Beca could barely even pay for her groceries.
But, Aubrey was there for her, just as she had been their entire lives. Even if this was probably the worst it could possibly get, Aubrey was still there.
Beca was shaken out of her thoughts when Aubrey parked the car in front of a small two story building. “Here it is, your new home.”
“‘Best Friends Veterinary Clinic’,” Beca read the sign on the front of the building.
The building was smaller than some of the others on the street, and was mostly brick, with large windows on the front of both the first and second floor. The clinic itself wasn’t that big and couldn’t have had more than three exam rooms, but there was still a decent amount of people in the lobby, some sitting with their pets. Beca watched through the windows as a redheaded woman in scrubs walked into the lobby with an excited dog on a leash and towards what she assumed was their owner.
Beca looked up the building and saw two windows on the second floor that looked into the apartment above the clinic.
“The apartment up there—” Aubrey pointed towards the windows, “—is completely empty. It’s not the nicest, but it’s probably the only place you’re gonna find out here where you won’t have to pay rent. Your entrance is around the back.”
Beca brought her gaze back towards Aubrey, “I still can’t believe you’re a sleazy landlord.”
“I’m not a landlord.” Aubrey checked her blind spot over her shoulder and pulled back onto the road. “My friend owns the clinic downstairs and she couldn’t afford the old owner's absurd rent prices. So, I dipped into my trust fund and now she doesn’t have to worry about finding a new place.”
“The literal definition of a landlord is someone who owns land and rents it out to other people.” Beca knew she was kind of being an asshole, but she also knew Aubrey probably didn’t expect anything different.
Aubrey continued driving around the block. “It’s not like I’m profiting off of her, she pays for her utilities and I won't let her give me any more than that. Her plan is to someday buy it from me so she can own it herself. Besides, if I didn’t own this building, you’d currently be homeless.”
“Whatever,” Beca grumbled, “I still think you're sleazy.”
Aubrey ignored her and parked her car in a spot at the back of the building. “So, here is your entrance. You also have a parking spot, and even though you don’t have a car, it’s still reserved for you. There’s a motion activated light out here so hopefully it shouldn’t be creepy at night, but you’re a tiny woman with even tinier arms, so you should probably carry pepper spray just in case.”
“Wow, you’re really doing a great job of selling me on this place.”
Aubrey got out of the car and started walking towards the entrance, ignoring Beca once again, and leaving her to scramble to get out of the car with her duffel bag in hand.
The front of the building was open and exciting, but the back was almost exactly the opposite. There weren’t any windows, essentially leaving it as one giant brick wall with one single door that was offset by two dumpsters. Aubrey was already halfway to the door by the time Beca caught up with her.
Aubrey turned around once she reached the door, holding up a key between her forefinger and her thumb. “This is the key to the apartment.” She dropped the key into Beca's open hand. “This outside door opens with a pin. Sometimes people from the clinic will use this door to get in from the back entrance, but no one else should be going upstairs.” Aubrey punched in a pin and opened up the door. “The code is 2370, which I’d recommend you put in your phone, because I’m not going to answer your call at 2:00am just because you forgot it.”
Beca looked at Aubrey while she held the door open. “You’d really leave me stranded?”
“Yes.” Aubrey walked in through the door without another glance at Beca.
Beca followed her through the door. She looked around the small and kind of dingy hallway and saw one single door on the ground floor.
“That’s the entrance to the clinic,” Aubrey said, pointing to the door Beca was just looking at, “You might run into people from time to time, but nobody should bother you.” She led Beca up the wooden staircase where there was another door at the top of the landing. Aubrey slipped a key into the deadbolt to unlock it, then did the same with the handle. “And this is your apartment.” She opened the door, having to give it a small shove with her shoulder before it gave way, and held it open to allow Beca to walk in first.
Beca walked in through the door, dropping her bag right beside it and looking around the apartment. There were some boxes containing the few of her belongings that she hadn't sold, mostly sentimental things that she wouldn't have been able to get any money for anyway. There was a small, outdated kitchen immediately to her left, but the rest of the apartment was essentially one giant room, with the large windows she could see from outside along the wall opposite the door. She could already see the potential the space had. She could put a couch and a TV to the right across from the kitchen. She could put her bed along the wall of windows, which she would definitely need to buy curtains for, and probably sooner rather than later.
Beca continued walking around the apartment, finding the (again, outdated) bathroom past the washer and dryer in the hallway leading to the kitchen. She heard Aubrey’s voice carry from the kitchen, “I took the liberty of stocking the fridge and the pantry for you. I also got you some things like toilet paper, dish soap, laundry detergent, you know, the essentials.”
Beca walked back into the kitchen. “Aubrey, you really didn’t have to do all of this.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Aubrey waved her off, “I have a Costco card that I don’t get to use nearly enough.”
“No, I mean all of it, picking me up,” Beca gestured around the room, “the apartment,” she pointed towards the fridge, “the groceries. It’s all too much.”
“Beca, you know me.” Aubrey turned around to open the fridge, as if taking inventory of the things she had already bought. “If I thought it was too much, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Beca walked up behind Aubrey, wrapping her arms around her waist in the process. Neither one of them particularly enjoyed much physical contact with a complete lack of inebriation, but Beca couldn't find any other way to express her gratitude. “Thank you,” she whispered against Aubrey’s back.
Aubrey closed the fridge and wrapped her arms around Beca’s, whispering just as softly, “You'd do the same for me.”
Beca pulled back from Aubrey, turning away and taking a moment to compose herself. After months of uncertainty and instability, she finally had a place to rest, all thanks to Aubrey.
Luckily, Aubrey didn’t linger on that topic, most likely knowing exactly what Beca meant with just those two small words.
Beca heard Aubrey speak from behind her, “Does pizza sound good for dinner? There’s a good place not too far from here that delivers.”
“Yeah, you know what I like.” Beca began walking out of the kitchen before Aubrey had a chance to respond. “I’m just gonna hit the bathroom real quick.”
Beca walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind herself. Everything seemed to be catching up with her all at once. Not only did she lose her job and have to move to a different state because she couldn’t afford to live in LA anymore, she was back in Atlanta. She was back in the one place she told herself she would never return.
Atlanta was everything that Beca spent her entire life running away from.
Yet, here she was, in an old apartment above a vet clinic that Aubrey owned for some reason, in fucking Atlanta.
Beca had to remind herself that this was all temporary, all she had to do was get back on her feet and then she would be on the first flight out of here.
Maybe she could go back to Seattle, there was a more than decent music scene up there. But then again, with Seattle came a whole other slew of memories that Beca had been trying to get away from.
There was always New York. Nobody would care about who she was or where she came from, all she would have to do was prove to them that she was talented, which if there was one thing Beca got, it was music.
Honestly, as long as she made it out of Atlanta, sooner rather than later, Beca really couldn’t complain much about where she ended up.
Beca could hear Aubrey talking through the door, likely on the phone placing the dinner order, and figured that she couldn’t stay in the bathroom forever. She took one last deep breath and opened up the door, walking back out into her apartment
Their food didn’t take long to show up, and Aubrey insisted on paying, which Beca complained about, but honestly was glad. She didn’t really have extra money lying around to spend on pizza.
They spent the next couple of hours setting up and lying on Beca’s blow-up mattress talking and catching up. They still kept in contact often, or at least as often as they could with full-blown careers and lives in completely different parts of the country, but it was never the same as actually being there with each other.
Beca always found it easy to be with Aubrey, after knowing each other for so long, they just seemed to get each other in a way that no one else seemed to do.
It was easy for Beca to forget, even if just for a moment, that her life had completely flipped on its head. She felt like a kid again, sitting on her bed with her best friend, talking and everything and nothing, almost like she had nothing to worry about. She did, of course, have things to worry about, she was unemployed and currently living in a rundown apartment in the one place she vowed she would never come back. But sitting there with Aubrey, Beca allowed herself to forget all of that. For the first time in far too long, Beca took a deep breath and allowed herself to just be.
Beca eventually found herself slumped over onto Aubrey's shoulder, barely able to keep her eyes open. It was almost 8:00pm, which definitely wasn't late—especially for Beca who was still on LA time which was three hours behind—but she still felt exhausted nonetheless.
“Alright,” Aubrey said, shifting out from underneath Beca, causing her to groan, “Let me out of here before you start drooling on me.”
“I don't drool,” Beca grumbled, rolling over as Aubrey stood up.
Aubrey hummed disbelievingly. “You keep on telling yourself that.”
“Bitch,” Beca mumbled under her breath, but still loud enough for Aubrey to hear. She stood up from the mattress, and walked over to where Aubrey was gathering up her things to leave.
“And you wouldn't have me any other way.” Aubrey shot Beca sickeningly sweet smile, one that caused Beca to roll her eyes. Aubrey chuckled softly and nodded her head towards the door. “You don't have to walk me out, the door is literally right here.”
“Dude, you're my first guest, just let me do my thing, okay?” Beca insisted, walking towards the door to hold it open for Aubrey. “Goodbye, Aubrey,” Beca said as Aubrey walked through the door, purposely sounding overly polite.
Aubrey matched her tone, “Goodbye, Beca.” She started walking down the stairs, but turned around halfway down. “Don't forget—” Aubrey pointed at Beca, “—dinner tomorrow at my place.”
They had made plans for Beca to go to Aubrey's place the next night, as she hadn't been back since Aubrey’s graduation, and hadn’t been to the place she lived now. “Yeah, yeah,” Beca waved Aubrey off, “I'll be there. Get the fuck outta here already.”
“Okay, bye for real,” Aubrey called out, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs.
Aubrey was just about to reach the door that led outside when suddenly the door to the clinic opened up, the same redhead Beca had seen before through the front windows walking out and almost running into Aubrey.
“Oh,” The woman said, “Excuse me, I’m sor—” she finally looked up, noticing who she almost hit. “Bree? Hi! I didn't know you were still here.”
Bree?
“Yeah, I was just helping Beca get settled in for the night.” Aubrey looked up to Beca who was still standing at the top of the stairs. “Beca, you remember my friend Chloe from college, right?”
Right. Chloe, from college.
They had only met once in person before when Beca flew out for Aubrey’s—and evidently, Chloe’s—graduation from Barden. It was nothing more than a mere introduction before Chloe seemed to steal Aubrey’s attention and swept her away for some group picture with a bunch of other girls wearing matching green caps and gowns.
From the stories Beca had heard paired with the fleeting interactions they had during facetimes and phone calls, Chloe and Beca did not seem like the type of people who would get along.
Chloe seemed to be about everything to do with happiness, and sunshine, and cheer.
And Beca, was none of that.
She looked different than Beca remembered, her hair was a little bit shorter and she looked a little bit older (which made sense considering she was, quite literally, older), not to mention the blue scrubs were definitely a different look than the made up face and light pink dress she had on at their graduation.
“Right, yeah,” Beca lifted her hand to throw a small, unenthusiastic wave to Chloe at the bottom stairs. “A cappella Chloe.”
Chloe's smile seemed to somehow brighten. “The one and only.” Beca couldn't believe that Chloe was that chipper at 8:00pm after a full day's work, and honestly, she thought it was gross. “Bree mentioned that you were going to be moving upstairs.” Beca had to fight back a grimace at the nickname again. “I guess we’ll probably be seeing a lot more of each other, huh?”
“Yeah, sure. Sorry, I've actually had kind of a long day, so I'm just gonna...” Beca trailed off, gesturing behind herself at the open door to her apartment.
“Oh yeah, of course, don't let us keep you.” Chloe’s smile still never wavered, and Beca would have bet that her cheeks were aching at that point.
Chloe sent a wave up to Beca, and Beca just threw her a tight lipped smile over her shoulder, walking into her apartment without another word. She shut and locked the door behind her, leaning against it. She looked around the apartment again, it seemed a lot bigger, a lot emptier without Aubrey there. She heard laughter coming from outside her door. She recognized the familiar sound of Aubrey’s laugh, but there was another, new laugh paired along with it. It was fuller than Aubrey’s, less restrained, it seemed to fill the entire stairwell, as well as Beca’s apartment, perhaps the entire building. It lingered for a little bit, before fading all together, leaving Beca—Beca’s apartment feeling emptier than before.
She trudged over to the blow-up mattress still on the floor of her room, hoping that this wouldn't become a normal occurrence, noise—laughter trailing up the stairs and seeping into her space.
It didn't take Beca long to realize that she shouldn't have been so naive.
Less than twenty-four hours to be exact.
She lived above a veterinary clinic, of course there would be noise.
And of course she lived above a veterinary clinic that opened at 8:30am, even on the weekends.
It was a rude awakening to say the least, the sound of what had to have been a rather large dog barking below her.
Beca had planned to spend the majority of her day job-searching and sending her resume to different recording studios, hoping that her reputation wouldn’t somehow precede her all the way out here.
Instead, all Beca could focus on was the sound of another dog barking to join the first. She groaned and rolled over in bed, pulling her pillow on top of her head to try and block out the obnoxious noise, as well as the morning light seeping in from her uncurtained windows, to no avail.
When the barking didn’t let up after half an hour, Beca decided to get up for the day because there was no way she would ever be able to sleep with all the fucking noise. She walked over to her duffel bag to grab some clothes, and made her way to the bathroom. Beca decided to take a shower, being too tired to take one last night and still feeling gross from her day of travel.
Beca got out of the shower feeling refreshed. Aubrey had gotten her name brand shampoo and conditioner, which was a significant improvement to the cheap stuff she had been using for the past couple of months. If Beca closed her eyes and ignored the weird brown spot of the ceiling of the bathroom, she could almost pretend that she was back in LA before everything turned to shit.
Her daydream didn’t last long though, considering the moment she turned off the water she could hear everything downstairs again. The dogs had stopped barking, but she heard a different noise coming from the clinic, one that almost sounded like…
Yup. It was a fucking bird.
It didn’t take Beca much longer to come to the conclusion that there was no way she would get any work done in her apartment that day, and decided to head down to the coffee shop next door to her building, hoping to get at least something done before she headed to Aubrey’s for dinner.
“Stop over-exaggerating, Beca,” Aubrey said, turning away from Beca to check on her lasagna in the oven.
Beca set down her wine glass on the counter after taking a sip. “Aubrey, it is unbearable. I even considered buying those ridiculously overpriced noise canceling headphones so I could actually hear myself think.”
Aubrey walked over to pull two potholders out of a drawer and opened the oven again to pull their dinner out. “I’m sure it won’t be so bad once you get some more furniture and fill out the space a little bit better.”
“Or I could just shove toothpicks in my ears,” Beca mused, watching Aubrey walk over to the preset dining table with the lasagna in hand.
Aubrey turned back to Beca with her hands on her hips. The stance would have been more intimidating, but Aubrey still wore both of the potholders, chipping away at her authoritative exterior. “It's a vet clinic, Beca, they have animals and animals make noise. There’s not much for them to do about it.”
Beca dragged her feet and walked towards the table, not unlike a child throwing a tantrum. “Euthanasia is always an option.”
“Stop complaining before I start thinking that you’re ungrateful that I found you somewhere to live, and for free might I add.” Aubrey set the potholders on the counter, walking back over to the table to sit down.
Beca found her seat at the table across from Aubrey. “You’re right. Sorry, Aubrey, thank you for finding me the shittiest—I mean, the best free apartment I’ve ever lived in.”
“Damn straight.” Aubrey grabbed the bottle of wine to top off both of their glasses. “Also if you’re that bothered by the noise, I’m sure you could say something to Chloe.”
Beca groaned loudly and rolled her eyes.
“Oh my god,” Aubrey said through a laugh, setting the wine bottle back on the table. “You can’t possibly tell me you hate her already, you don’t even know her.”
“I don’t hate her per-se. She’s just so…” Beca trailed off, failing to find the right word to describe Chloe.
“Happy? Nice? Friendly?” Aubrey offered, slapping Beca’s hand away when she tried to serve herself some of the food, and taking the spoon from her hand to put some lasagna on Beca’s plate.
Beca rubbed the back of her hand, still stinging from where Aubrey hit her. “Yes, exactly.”
Aubrey served herself after finishing with Beca’s plate. “And why do I get the feeling you think that’s a bad thing?”
“It’s not bad, it’s just weird and unnatural.” Beca grabbed her fork, still gesturing with it in her hand. “Like how can anybody be that cheerful all the time? This isn’t a fucking Lifetime movie.”
Aubrey grabbed her napkin, ready to place it on her lap like she did with every meal, something Beca noticed her whole family had done for as long as she’d known them. “I don’t know what to tell you, she’s been like that since we were in college. It was a rare day to find Chloe Beale without a smile on her face.”
“Oh yeah, Bree, tell me all about that,” Beca teased using the nickname Chloe called her. Aubrey ripped off part of her napkin to ball it up and threw it across the table at Beca’s face, just nearly missing her eye. “Hey,” Beca exclaimed, “No throwing things at the table!”
Aubrey unfolded her napkin the rest of the way to lay it across her lap. “Just give her a chance and I’m sure she’ll grow on you. It’s practically impossible to not love Chloe. Trust me, I would know.”
Beca grumbled into her wine glass, knowing full well that there was no way in hell that she would ever grow to love the spunky vet that worked right below her apartment.