Shoot me down

chapter 5

"Aubrey I can explain," Chloe said hastily as she stood up, but Aubrey wasn't listening. She had already launched into a full blown rant about how she was always the last to know things, and how stupid she was for thinking it was Cynthia-Rose who batted for the other team, and how out of all the girls available Chloe had to go and pick Beca, who would do nothing for her credibility. On that note she fell silent, realising what she had said. Beca stared at Aubrey taken aback by her audacity, and then walked out of the apartment without so much as a look at Chloe. Remembering the conversation in the bedroom about her self-esteem, Chloe turned to Aubrey and said plainly, "You really shouldn't have said that."

It took a whole night of apologising for Chloe to even consider talking to her flatmate again, and by the morning they were on normal speaking terms again. However Aubrey wasn't entirely off the hook – she was made to swear never to complain about the relationship again, and definitely never be so rude to Beca again. After the way she stormed out yesterday, Chloe debated whether to go and see Beca that day, but soon decided against it. Instead, she settled for texting her just to check she was alright. Anxiously she waited for a response, but it never came. She glared at Aubrey across the room, worrying that the hot-tempered blonde had ruined one of the best things going in her life.

Hours passed, hours which were spent on one sole task – staring at her phone hoping Beca would reply. The clock hit 3pm and Aubrey picked up her coat to go to Bella rehearsals. "Are you coming?" she asked. Chloe looked at her with daggers in her eyes, giving Aubrey her answer. "I think Beca and I are excused from rehearsals today, don't you?" she snapped. Aubrey nodded, accepting her friend's harsh tone as penance for what she said to Beca. The door shut and Chloe let out a long sigh, giving up on her phone ringing any time soon. With a defeatist attitude she walked into her room to find some work to get on with, but an hour later she still hadn't done anything. She couldn't focus, so when her ringtone resonated through the room Chloe thought she was imagining it.

The tune persisted and coming to her senses Chloe flew across her apartment and pounced on her phone. Without even bothering to look at the caller ID she rammed the phone against her ear and said anxiously, "Hello?" Every cell in her body shook when she was answered not with Beca's voice, but her father's. "I need you over here. We've run out of shopping – get some on the way." He hung up without even waiting for his daughter's response. Subconsciously Chloe put a hand against her healing ribs. Thankfully the pain wasn't too bad as she'd started on the painkillers the night before, but she couldn't help but wonder if her father was going to undo all of the work the medication had done.

Chloe grabbed her purse, coat and keys and walked out of the apartment, bumping into Aubrey on her way, who was just coming back from rehearsals. "Where are you off to?" Aubrey asked, hoping she and Beca had reconciled. To her dismay, Chloe said, "My parent's," and kept on walking. She pulled her coat on and wrapped her arms across her chest, trying to keep warm as she stepped into the cold air. Her hands began to shake, but whether it was from the cold or from fear of her destination she didn't know. In all honesty, she didn't want to know.

It was the afternoon when Beca woke up, which was understandable seeing as she had stayed out last night until gone 4am. After Aubrey had made it clear just what she thought of her Beca had left the apartment, but instead of going home she wandered around town for a bit. She stayed out in the cold night for hours until she felt ready to go home. It was a technique she had used for ages when bad things happened. Now, it was mid-afternoon and she lay in bed thinking over the events of the previous night. Aubrey's voice kept running round and round her head, and she didn't have the willpower to get out of bed. It was high school all over again. Lazily she reached her phone from her desk and checked the one new message from Chloe.

Feeling bad for not texting back earlier, she rang Chloe and hoped she didn't hate her for walking out. "Beca? Oh my god, are you okay? I feel awful about last night, I've spoken to Aubrey and she's admitted she was out of order and she's really sorry. So am I," Chloe blurted out the second she answered her phone. "I'm fine," Beca said, grateful that Chloe had words with the aca-bitch. On the other end of the phone came a lot of noise, so Beca asked, "Where are you?" Chloe hesitated, which wasn't a good sign at all. Eventually she replied, "I'm just in the shop picking up some bits." Beca sussed her out in an instant, knowing full well that she had gone shopping for supplies only the other day.

"You're going over there aren't you?" she asked, not really needing an answer. Chloe explained about her dad's phone call, and Beca felt her stomach sink. She tried to convince her not to go, but it was useless. "Fine, but leave your phone on. Put it in your pocket but leave the line open so I can hear what's going on and I'll get help if he goes too far. What's the street name? I'll be right down the road but I swear I won't come to the house unless I have to," Beca said, and Chloe refused not wanting her girlfriend to hear what her dad was like. Eventually she gave in, and told Beca the street name and said, "You stay in the street. Whatever happens, you stay outside. No matter what you hear, no matter what he does to me you stay outside."

Half an hour later, Beca was lingering around Westwood Drive with her phone pressed against her ear. Chloe had already gone in the house and was in the midst of a conversation with her dad about the shopping, and everything was going well. At least it was until Chloe had to explain why she wasn't able to buy any alcohol because of her age. Beca's heart rate picked up when she heard over the phone, "You stupid bitch." Every part of her wanted to run up to the door and burst in before anything got out of hand, but she knew that would probably make things worse.

It took a moment for her to remember why she wanted to listen to this, but then Beca recalled the fear she felt when she was left imagining the worst. Also, at least this way if Chloe's dad went too far and knocked her unconscious or worse, Beca would be right down the road. She took in deep breaths when she heard the deep voice shouting at his daughter, but nothing could have prepared her for Chloe's screams. Unable to bear it any longer, she brought the phone away from her ear and held it by her side. Taking in deep gulps of fresh air, after a few moments she returned the device to her ear and clenched down on her jaw.

She felt so helpless and tears spilled down her cheeks, which she quickly brushed away reminding herself that she had to be the strong one. Suddenly amid the screams she heard Chloe cry, "Beca!" Her feet took off and she stopped a few doors down to listen on the phone. The only sound she could hear was Chloe quietly sobbing and saying, "No," over and over again. Then, there was a loud cracking noise followed by a scream and Beca felt her stomach churn. Moments away from running to her girlfriend's aid, she was stopped when she heard the man say, "Get out." She heard Chloe clamber to her feet and open the front door, then hung up when she came into sight.

Chloe reached the street corner out of sight of the house, and Beca came running up to her. She stood there with a bloody nose and a tear stained face, but still she insisted she was fine. "What was the cracking noise?" Beca asked, and Chloe held up two swollen fingers. She sniffed and said, "Don't worry; I don't think they're broken. I can move them a tiny bit." Beca tenderly took them in her hand and said, "It's probably just a sprain or small fracture. Do you want to go to the hospital?" Chloe shook her head with determination, and the two girls headed back to Beca's dorm.

Thankfully Kimmy Jin was out with friends as usual, so the place was empty. The two girls stood by the sink, wiping the blood away from Chloe's face. Then, Beca fetched two plasters and some cotton wool. She placed the cotton wool in between the two fingers before strapping them together with the plasters and admitted, "I don't know if this will work. I fractured my fingers a couple of years back and this is what the doctors did to me." Chloe nodded then went to sit on Beca's bed. Both girls knew that her injuries weren't too bad compared to what could have happened, but Chloe was still shaken up. "Can I stay here with you tonight? I just feel safer when you're around," she asked. Beca nodded, and then walked over to sit next to her girlfriend. She brushed a lock of flame behind Chloe's ear then rested her hand on her cheek. "We've got to stop this," she said, and to her surprise Chloe nodded. Beca placed a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose, and then stood up to find an extra set of pyjamas for the night.