Your gonna miss me when I'm gone

chapter 32

Aubrey frowned as she walked down the corridor. She wasn't sure why she was here. Since Beca had recovered, she had tried to avoid the hospital as much as possible. It just hurt too much.

Being mean to Beca had been her defence. Her way of protecting herself. But now, Beca was nice to her, and vice versa, and it was the worst kind of pain. But now she knew that wasn't the case. Now she had to keep her head up and keep the smile on her face.

She took a deep breath and then entered the room. Dark blue eyes met hers and she felt the crushing weight of sadness upon her again.

"Beca. You wanted to see me?"

Beca smiled, oblivious to the blonde's internal turmoil. She was actually really nervous about why Aubrey was here. She was really hoping that the blonde wouldn't shoot her down.

"Well, you see, I thought that because the Bellas are back in the competition that you might want this. But thinking about it, you probably won't, because of tradition and whatnot-"

"Beca! You're rambling."

Beca smiled sheepishly. She was actually quite cute when she was nervous and rambling, Aubrey thought.

"Right, well," she reached over and opened her laptop, "I made a set list..." she watched Aubrey's face for any signs of anger or rebuttal, and seeing none, continued. "Well, there are just some songs that I threw together really, but I thought that it might sound kinda cool done acapella..."

Aubrey tried not to show how happy she was. She realised that she needed to change the set list when the Bellas were officially brought back into competition and had been thinking about how to ask Beca to help since. But it seemed now that the brunette had solved her problem for her.

"Uh-huh. Well? Let's see then."

Beca was shocked. Had Aubrey just accepted her help, after everything? She pressed play on her laptop and let the beginning notes of the song begin. Beca knew that there were bits and pieces that could be changed, but she had really wanted to show Aubrey. She watched the blonde's face throughout, but to little avail. Aubrey sure knew how to hide her emotions.

Finally the song ended and Aubrey's eyes met Beca's.

"It's good. Really good."

Beca let out a breath that she didn't even realise that she had been holding. Aubrey liked it? That was something that she wasn't expecting. She didn't even really think this far ahead. She had expected the older girl to shoot her down straight away.

"What? Really?"

"Yes Beca. I'm not entirely stuck in 90s." she smirked before frowning. Beca noticed the sudden change in mood and a look of concern adorned her features. Aubrey whipped out her phone and began typing furiously. Finally she looked up at the quiet brunette. "Emergency Bellas meeting." She explained.

Beca's face fell. She knew that after the stunt she pulled at the seki-finals that she wouldn't be welcomed in the Bellas anymore. Her sadness wasn't overlooked by Aubrey however.

"Beca? What's wrong?"

The small brunette hesitated. "Shouldn't you be going to the meeting?" suddenly the blonde understood Beca's sudden change of mood.

She couldn't stop the warm smile that spread across her features. "Beca, I called for the meeting to be here. In this room. You can't quit being a Bella that easily."

Beca smiled at the older girl. "Really? Even after the semi-finals?"

"Beca. Don't push your luck." Aubrey didn't mean it to sound so harsh, but she really didn't want to admit how much the Bellas needed Beca. She knew that the other girls thought that she was too harsh and that the set list was outdated. Deep within her, she had known it all along as well. But her desire to make up for the puke gate was overwhelming. She hated that it had taken all of this to give her the courage to actually listen to Beca and use her help.