Love, Beca

1 - Barden Bliss

"Buddy, come 'ere." The brunette called as she ran up the stairs, battling two at a time.

Quiet footsteps were heard for a few seconds before a small beagle puppy was trailing behind her. She grinned at the dog and continued to run up the stairs.

"Beca." Beca's stepmother called from the kitchen once she'd reached the second floor. "We don't need another accident like yesterday." She reminded her.

Beca scoffed as she thought back to the incident from the previous day.

She had just gotten home from school, instantly dropped her bag to the floor and ran to greet Buddy. The brunette was so pleased to see her dog after being apart for six hours that they ended up in a heap on the floor. Beca was fussing over him, giving him a belly rub and laughing at the dog's antics. She was too preoccupied to notice just how excited Buddy was, only noticing the puddle on the kitchen floor when it was too late.

"Sorry, Kat." She shouted back.

Beca and Buddy scurried into her bedroom, shutting the door behind them. The puppy immediately jumped up onto her bed and made himself comfortable amongst her blankets.

The sight made Beca smile, knowing that even though Buddy was a family pet, he chose her room to sleep in every day.

The brunette shuffled over to her desk and reached for one of her vinyl records from her collection that had previously belonged to her mother. She placed it on the turntable, a smile tugging at her lips as 'The Charming Man' by The Smiths began playing.

The guitar riff at the start of the song was one of her most loved sounds.

The Smiths were her comfort band for a while, (as well as a collection of other artists). Their music really helped her get through her darkest times.

Beca released a sigh when she finally collapsed onto her bed beside Buddy.

As she gazed up at the empty ceiling, she pictured the glow in the dark stars her best friend had in her bedroom. Stacie had had them since she was a child and they were too difficult to ever remove without marking the ceiling. Beca had asked her parents for them in her room when she was younger, but her father had called them 'tacky' and shut her down pretty quickly.

Her head tilted to the left, her eyes drifting to the framed photo. It was a picture of Beca with her friends, Stacie, Jesse, Aubrey, Chloe and Luke, taken at The Pancake Shack last summer.

The brunette's lips curled upwards as she reminisced, remembering every laugh they shared that night. It was the second gig her band Kick Affiliation had performed, although the audience wasn't that big – they had only just started the band so they didn't expect much of an audience anyway – the applause they received had been a loud one.

The performance rush mixed with the alcohol she had consumed allowed her to drift blissfully the entire night and live life in the moment. It was seriously one of the best nights of her life.

The frame next to it contained a photo of her family – her father, Katherine, Emily and herself. Beca had a pair of headphones around her neck and was scowling at the camera so it may have looked like she didn't want to be there – but that was just how Beca was. Beca took her headphones with her everywhere.

Music had always been a part of Beca's life; her mother had taught her how to play the piano as she was growing up and her father was always playing music throughout the house. It was never quiet in the Mitchell household and Beca loved that.

To Beca, silence was always a bad thing. Unlike most people, Beca needed noise to be able to concentrate, whether it be muttered conversations from across the room, or music playing in her headphones. So, if it was silent, Beca's thoughts would take over instead, forcing her to think about things she would rather not.