But The World Keeps Turning

Chapter 7: For Crying Out Loud

They all walked back to the fire, now together with Ashley. Chloe was clanged onto Beca, like her life depended on it and, in fact, all of the Bellas were divided in small groups, just hugging each other, trying to find some consolation. No one dared to speak. The only things that were heard were several sobs from some girls and the crashing waves and the sputtering of the fire on the background. They sat down on the sand, in a small circle, close to the fire, trying to find some comfort in its warmth, but this comfort never came. Beca had her legs crossed, supporting herself with one hand, the other one was stroking Chloe's hair, who had laid herself on her lap, curled up in a ball, muffling her cries in the soft fabric of Beca's pants. The Bella's realized that there was a possibility that not only Cynthia had passed away. It was also very possible that they would never see Denise and Jessica again. The thought of that, only made them miserable.

The only one who was sitting alone was Aubrey, who stared into the fire with a vacant look, not moving at all. Beca grabbed her hand to get some kind of response from the blonde. Aubrey looked at Beca and tried to give some sort of smile, but her fake smile only caused her to cry. She moved closer to Beca and buried her face in the crook of the brunette's neck, sobbing loudly. Aubrey was the first one to say something since Cynthia Rose had died.

"Why? W-Why did she had to die Beca? Why she? Why Denise and Jessica? What did we do to deserve this?"

"Well sooner or later she would have probably eaten us alive, not that it would surprise me, so she's better off dead"

Until the end of me,

You'll be the death of me.

I dare you to cross the line again,

Beca looked up to the place the voice had come from, only to meet two eyes with a provocative look. It had been Bumper.

"W-What did you say...?"

"You heard me"

"Shh Beca, he didn't mean what he said" Aubrey tried with might and main to calm Beca down, before something even something worse would happen.

"Like hell I meant what I said"

"I mean," Bumper started to laugh, "She's an African dyke! You of all people should be the most afraid of her! She would try to rape you now there is no form of authority. I mean it's kind of natural for her species."

Cause deep down inside,

There's something that waits to be-

Beca's jaw dropped and Aubrey and the other Bellas looked at him, not believing he actually said that. Suddenly, Beca dashed forwards, hitting Bumper as hard as she could, right in in his face. He fell down backwards, clenching his nose, which severely bled. Beca struck him again with her fist, in his unprotected stomach, as hard as she could. He collapsed, gasping for air. Before she could hit him again, her fist was stopped by a stronger someone. She looked up, furiously, to see the person stopping her. It was Jesse.

The thinning line between,

You and my sanity,

Is quickly fading.

Takes just a breeze to cause a storm,

"Calm down Becs, you shouldn't get yourself so worked up!"

"Worked up?! Worked up?! Did you actually hear what he said?!"

The thinning line between,

You and my sanity,

Is quickly fading.

Takes just a breeze to cause a storm,

Takes just a breath to cause a scream,

It takes me to cause a tragedy.

"I know, well, he's kind of right you know. I mean lesbians are kind of gross, don't you think?"

This guy was unbelievable. Beca stood there, shocked. Not fully understanding what was happening.

She looked to the other Trebles, hoping she would get some support. But she didn't get any.

"He's right. It's a miracle she hasn't raped you guys yet."

That's it. Beca had had enough and all of the other Bellas looked as shocked as she did.

Beca glanced over to Jesse, furiously, like she was about to kill a man.

"Jesse. Zippo."

"I ain't giving you shit"

Beca moved towards him, fists clenched and her pupils dilated, until she stood mere inches away from him.

"Now."

Jesse, fully understanding what would be the consequences of his stubborn refusal, tossed the zippo a few feet away into the sand. Even while Beca was a few inches shorter than the man, she still looked terrifying.

"Thanks" she said sarcastically.

Beca grabbed the zippo and pulled Aubrey and Chloe onto their feet.

"Bella's, we're leaving."

Before the Bellas walked away, Beca turned around for one last time, looking straight into Jesse's eyes.

"And don't you EVER call me Becs again."

_______________________________________________________________________________

The Bellas made sure they were far away from the Trebles. They were only able to see a small light that was once their shared fire. No one had spoken on their way. The place they had chosen was a flat, sandy beach, not too close to the trees.

"That'll do for the night..." Beca said with a stern tone in her voice as she picked up some sticks to start a fire. Flicking the zippo she brought the wood to a burn and sat on the ground looking into the flames. Their furious movements reflected in her eyes, capturing her emotions perfectly.

Everyone was still dull and just stood there, watching Beca making a fire, not knowing what to do. Eventually, they helped Beca gathering small pieces of wood for the fire and when they got a decent fire burning, they sat down in a circle around it. Amy was the first one to speak.

"You did right Beca, he was a shithead back there"

She blinked as she gave Amy a slight smile. Chloe patted her on the shoulder: "We Bellas have to stick together, even if..." she looked to the ground, her mouth forming a frown.

Everyone looked down as the silence continued when suddenly Aubrey spoke up: "What are we going to do with her?"

"What do you wanna do with her? It's not that's she'll come back." It sounded more cynical than Ashley intended.

"What Aubrey means to say, is that we can't just leave her on the beach. I – I just can't." Chloe said.

"Do you want to bury her or something?" Amy asked.

"It's just... I'm raised as a proper Christian and I know Cynthia Rose was a Christian, so I would like to bury her. I know she would have wanted that." Aubrey answered.

"But that implies going back there" Beca interrupted her.

"I know, but I really can't live with the fact that she still lays there, exposed... Dead..."

It remained silent for a moment. They all had mixed feelings about going back to the place where their friend laid dead, but they all didn't want to leave her like that. She deserved better than that and they all wished that the same would be done for them if something like this happened.

"So... What's the plan?"

Because deep down inside,

There's something that waits to be;

Cross the line again.

Because deep down inside,

There's something that waits to be

Broken.