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cyaneyesullivan · 3 years ago

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listening to WAP and having thoughts...

i took my interest off petekey for a while to focus on other stuff, but everytime i listen to Fall Out Boy, the wonder and amazement spark back immediately... i’m still completely blown away (among other things) by how much Pete must’ve liked (loved) Mikey to keep up with it for so long -- or how much he feels in general. and even if the songs aren’t about Mikey (i have discussed this briefly), it doesn’t change the fact that Pete is absolutely tormented by his own emotions. it’s kind of fascinating.

with that being said, i’m in the mood to list off all the suspicious lyrics ever written by Pete that makes me go “damn, Mikey really did a disgusting number on him” or like, “poor Pete man”

disclaimer: again, these lyrics, let alone songs, might not be about Mikey, but i choose to believe so. i have to satisfy my fixation and bedazzlement on the fact that petekey highkey happened in the summer of 05.

i’m only including my favorite songs or i’ll be here all night.

italic = my favorite lines

in no particular order:

Bishops Knife Trick (a LOT to unpack in this one): - And I’m living out of time, eternal heatstroke - Spiritual revolt from the waist down - To the places that we never should have left - I’ve got a feeling inside that I can’t domesticate, it doesn’t want to live in a cage, a feeling that I can’t housebreak - And I’m yours, ‘til the earth starts to crumble and the heavens roll away - I’m struggling to exist with you, and without you - I’m sifting through the sand, sand, sand, sand, looking for pieces of broken hourglass - Trying to get it all back, put it back together, as if the time had never passed - I know I should walk away, know I should walk away - But I just want to let you break my brain - And I can’t seem to get a grip - No, no matter how I live with it

Heaven’s Gate (some interesting elements here that describe Pete’s all-consuming yet destructive love) - If there were any more left of me, I’d give it to you (this one is just a personal favorite, not particularly related to Mikey) - Go out in the world, start over again and again, as many times as you can - ‘Cause everything else is a substitute for your love - I’ve got dreams of my own, but I want to make yours come true (another personal favorite lol) - You’re the one habit I just can’t kick

The Last Of The Real Ones (i adore this song but it leaves a lot of space for vague interpretation, so I’ll just list off my favorite lyrics that give me goosebumps when I think they’re meant for Mikey) - You are the sun and I am just the planets, spinning around you - You were too good to be true, gold plated, but what’s inside you? - I know this whole damn city thinks it needs you but not as much as I do, as much as I do - I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me - That ultra-kind of love you never walk away from - I am a collapsing star with tunnel vision, but only for you - My head is stripped just like a screw that’s been tightened too many times, when I think of you - Just tell me, tell me, tell me I, I am the only one, even if it’s not true, even if it’s not true

Just One Yesterday (oh my lord, this one lmao -- honestly the whole song has this odd vibe that it’s a pointed jab at Mikey) - Anything you say can and will be held against, so only say my name - I’d trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday (any notion that suggests Pete is obsessed with the past is a win) - I want to teach you a lesson in the worst kind of way - I don’t have the right name or the right looks, but I have twice the heart (i just feel like maybe he’s implying he’s not a girl and that does not please no-homo Mikey) - If I spilled my guts, the world would never look at you the same way (lol) - And now I’m here to give you all my love - So I can watch your face as I take it all away

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet (my ultimate favorite of FOB. unbeatable. i had to put it here if only to honor it) --> i talked about it before -- there are no obvious marks of petekey here, but i made a post on it in the past

Immortals (lolol) - I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass (hourglass, time, past, bottom half, Pete is still waiting for Mikey, blabla) - I try to picture me without you but I can’t - ‘Cause we could be immortals, immortals, just not for long, for long - And live with me forever now, pull the black out curtains down (blocking public exposure?) - I’m still comparing your past to my future - It might your wound but, they’re my sutures (Pete’s heartbreak = big inspiration that keeps him writing lyrics therefore having a career?)

Centuries (obviously) - Some legends are told, some turn to dust or to gold - But you will remember me, remember me for centuries (they must have done super crazy shit back in 05) - And just one mistake, is all it will take, we’ll go down in history (presumably, their story must be so nuts it will end up in a massive gossip explosion) - Mummified my teenage dreams (his songs lol) - No it’s nothing wrong with me, the kids are all wrong, the story’s all off, heavy metal broke my heart - Bruises on your thighs like my fingerprints - Cause I-I am the opposite of amnesia (notable, since there is concrete evidence of their ‘lovestruck summer’ in the form of a million of his lyrics) - You look so pretty but you’re gone so soon - We’ve been here forever, and here’s the frozen proof (again, his lyrics, photographs, dramas, tweets etc)

Irresistible (honestly, the whole song lmao) - Mon cheri (i’m only putting this one down because, little story: i didn’t know about petekey when i first listened to this song, and i’m french, and when i heard this for the first time i was like, wtf, people keep wanting to use french words and end up using them wrong. well, oops. maybe the use this time wasn’t as faulty as i thought)

HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T - I neve really feel a thing, I was kind of too froze - You were the only one, that even kind of came close - I took too many hits off this memory (memory = joint? lmao) - Another day goes by (without Mikey?) - So hold me tight, or don’t (basically, settle or fade) - Oh no, no, no this isn’t how our story ends - I got too high again when I realized I can’t not be with you or be just your friend - I love you to death but I just can’t, I just can’t pretend, we were lovers first - Confidants but never friends, were we ever friends? (interesting point since they never really had a lasting friendship. it’s a well known fact they helped each other with their own monsters (so, confidants), but after the whole summer fiasco, their friendship was at best on and off, and even then, there’s a lot of mourning on Pete’s end. poor guy) - ‘Cause I’m past the limits, the distance between us, it sharpens me like a knife

Jet Pack Blues - I’m the last one that you’ll ever remember - And I’m trying to find my peace of mind - She’s in a long black coat tonight (someone, in a significant night, has been in a long black coat too) - Did you ever love her? Do you know? Or did you never want to be alone? (notable, Pete is questioning whether or not his ‘love’ could stem from loneliness, because this shit happens way too often than should be) - Don’t you remember how we used to split a drink? It never matted what it was - I think our hands were just that close, the sweetness never lasted, no Novocaine (i like this one in particular because it just seems to suggest that Pete will never be finished with this, and will haunt Mikey forever, either to get revenge for being left behind or relive that one unforgettable summer) - I will always land on you like a sucker punch (omg lmao) - I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare - If you knew, knew what the bluebirds sing at you, you would never sing along - Because they took our love and they filled it up, filled it up with novocaine and now I’m just numb - I don’t feel a thing for you (sure) - I’m just a problem that doesn’t wanna be solved - I feel like a photo that’s been overexposed (i wonder if it’s because of all the junk he posted on livejournal) that concludes it! of course, there are so many more obvious songs, like Fourth of July and Bang the Doldrums, but i don’t love those songs, so i didn’t include them. and side note, the lyrics hit that much harder when Patrick is the damn singer and makes everything hurt. but i’ll rant about that in another post, maybe.

(it doesn’t really matter who sees this or doesn’t -- i just wanted to put this out somewhere. petekey will forever be so interesting. the impact Mikey (or whoever Pete wrote about) had on Pete is just unbelievable to me.)

end.

#fall out boy #my chemical romance #fob #mcr #mikey way #pete wentz #petekey #the summer of like #2005 #i can't get over this #i feel bad for pete

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chloes-yellow-cup · 6 years ago

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Nowish - Part 8

Bechloe. Staubrey. Bellas Squared/Stechlobree.

A story in which I convinced myself by accident that this could work. Let me try and convince you too.

Nowish Master Post - Everything on one page.

A Shared Lifetime - All my fics

Recommended Mood Music on Spotify. Artistic license taken with song release years.

Note on the links: The ones about music lead to YouTube vids for fun. Rest are GIFs or links to whatever gift idea I have.

The Party and the Aftermath.

~B~

Saturday, July 1st, 2017

Beca looked around and grinned.

Their backyards were full of people.

Music makers mixed with science nerds mixed with lawyers mixed with dance teachers.

The party had started at noon and showed no sign of stopping. There was so much laughter and yelling over the music that she was surprised her head wasn’t pounding as it usually did in crowds. But the day was so far – and she knocked on the wood of the bench she was sitting on – nothing but net. She frowned, not sure where she’d heard that phrase or why her brain dredged it up now. She was sure it had to do with sports. One of them. Whatever, she was having fun in a crowd for once.

A flash of red caught her eye when Chloe turned around and looked at her as the music changed.

Ok, so maybe Beca was having a lot of fun. In fact, this may have been the third time in the past five hours that “It Was Always You” by Maroon 5 had come up in her playlist. The first time, none of the key people had thought anything of it. The second time, Chloe had given her a ‘look.’ Similar to the one she was giving right now. But now… Now Chloe’s eyes twinkled at her, somehow full of something knowing. Beca could see that she’d figured out it was intentional and what it might possibly mean. Beca winked and could hear Chloe’s laugh over the music.

Today was a great day.

The next time it played, which if Beca was still able to count after everything she’d been drinking, made the fourth time it had come up.

“You must like this song.”

Beca turned around slowly, having learned if she did it quickly, her head felt like it flew fifty feet to the side before settling back on her neck. “What?”

Aubrey shrugged, almost spilling her drink. “I know you have enough music that I could listen to it twenty-four-hours-a-day, for thiiiiiiirty years and not hear a repeat. But I’ve heard this one already today.”

Beca just blinked at her, hoping she looked innocent. “Oh? I hadn’t noticed.”

“I swear, this is like the third time I’ve heard it.” Aubrey closed one eye, peering at her. “Are you drunk?”

“No, you’re just blurry.” Beca cracked up but with her balance gone, she fell to the ground. That was literally the best joke that Jesse had ever said and she loved when she got the chance to use it.

Aubrey closed the other eye and opened it again. “Were you always on the ground?”

“Nope. Help me up.” Beca shot her hand up and wiggled her fingers. Aubrey carefully took it and tugged but Beca overestimated her own force as she pulled herself up and they collided. “Oops.”

“Hey, no mashing of my wife without me.” Stacie frowned playfully as she came over. “Rude.”

“Beca fell over. I helped her up.” Aubrey added helpfully.

“Ah. Water for both of you then.” Stacie stepped over to one of the many coolers sweating around the lawn. She pulled out four bottles and handed them each one. “I’m gonna go find Chlo. She’s usually more sensible… but sometimes not.”

“She’s so smart.” Aubrey sighed as she watched Stacie walk away. “And pretty. Don’t you think she’s pretty, Becs?.”

“Oh yeah. I mean – All of that. And handy to have around.” Beca opened the bottle and downed half of it in one go. She wasn’t sure water had ever tasted so good. “I’m gonna go find out if Jeff’s finished making the burgers. I need to eat.”

“Oooh.” Aubrey’s eyes lit up.

“C’mon, Blurry.” Beca took her hand and they headed for the giant BBQ – once again Beca’s insistence that size matters - that normally no one but Stacie ever used throughout the year.

By the time their guests started yelling for them to bust out the Karaoke machine, Beca – and the rest of her girls, she assumed – had sobered up considerably. She was still drunk, but she wasn’t falling down anymore. Her lips twitched in a lopsided smile as she thought that she’d have to thank Stacie for that one day.

She stepped back once the machine was set up and turned to the group. “First up, my beautiful wife.”

Chloe stepped forward, “Why thank you.” She pushed Beca toward a chair. “I got it. Go sit.”

Beca went willingly to where she’d set her beer while she arranged the machine and settled into one of the lawn chairs littering the area.

Chloe tapped on the microphone to test it then smiled widely. “First I would like to say thank you for everyone who braved the heat to be with us today.” The audience cheered at her. “You guys have all made the 2nd annual Posen-Conrad/Beale-Mitchell – boy that’s a mouthful – 4th of July bash even better than the first.” She leaned over and pushed the button to start the music she’d selected and Beca had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing.

She’d already been snickering at ‘mouthful’ because she was mentally 16 and lived in the gutter when she was drunk. But at the first few notes, she’d started chanting to herself. ‘Don’t look at Aubrey, don’t look at Aubrey.’ She knew she would lose it if she did. She rolled her lips together, trying to hold it together.

Because of course, the first song Chloe decided to sing was ‘It Was Always You.’

Woke up sweating from a dream With a different kind of feeling, oh All day long my heart was beating Searching for the meaning, oh

Then, to Beca’s amusement, delight and, she could finally admit to herself, a thrill of something close to desire, Stacie jumped up next to Chloe for the chorus.

Hazel eyes, I was so color blind We were just wasting time, uh uh babe For my whole life, we never crossed the line Only friends in my mind, but now I realize

It was always you Can't believe I could not see it all this time All this time It was always you

Now I know why my heart wasn't satisfied Satisfied It was always you, you

No more guessing who Looking back now I know it was always you Always you

Beca was looking around to see who else might be paying attention to any special meaning in the lyrics when she caught sight of Aubrey. She had her ‘considering face’ on as Beca’s eyes skated over her, and it caused another bubble of laughter to rise up so she moved on quickly. Which meant she missed it when Aubrey joined the other girls until her voice came through the speakers.

All my hidden desires finally came alive No, I never told lies to you so why would I start tonight

Beca’s eyes jerked back to their impromptu stage, her pulse beginning to race. Chloe stood in the middle, Aubrey and Stacie flanking with an arm around her, using the one microphone. Beca swallowed thickly and fell back on a hopefully less ‘bitch’ variation of her Resting Bitch Face to try and remain calm and cool on the surface.

But underneath… It felt like lightning was flashing up and down her body and she was afraid if she moved, she’d break the spell. Or leap into the middle of them and kiss… someone. Or all of them.

The thought slid slowly through her mind, almost as if her own brain didn’t want to startle her. ‘This may… be too on the nose for such a public space.’

Then she noticed that while Chloe sang directly to her, which was normal as her wife, Stacie and Aubrey appeared to be singing directly to each other. Beca didn’t think the rest of the cheering, and completely trashed, crowd noticed how often the two of them split their attention between her and Chloe as well as each other. Or what their eyes seemed to be promising her when she met them.

But Beca did.

And the way they all looked at her during the last chorus made her feel like she was getting the most public, secret, no-touching lap dance in the world. Her thighs clenched involuntarily and she rubbed her suddenly sweating palms on them. Arousal swept through her, making her breath catch and quicken.

As the song came to an end, she snapped out of her daze and whistled her appreciation while the crowd around them clapped and stopped their feet.

Maybe she should drink a little more after all.

The three of them took their bows and stepped toward her wearing matching mischievous smiles.

Yeah. Yeah, she should definitely drink more.

~B~

Sunday, July 2nd, 2017

Beca groaned and tried to close her mouth; everything hurt, even her jaw and especially her head. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was as dry as her father’s humor. Her body felt like it was under a heavy weight and her limbs didn’t want to move when she tried stretching. She realized why her mouth was parched when her cheek hit the giant drool spot on her pillow.

“Here.” A soft voice said from above her.

Beca felt her hand taken and pills were placed in it. Her fingers curled around them. She’d be grateful if she had any energy.

“Down the hatch. I’ve got water.”

Beca whimpered her thanks and slowly moved her hand and head toward each other until she could scoop the pills in her mouth.

“This is going to be trickier unless you want me to just pour it on your face and hope you get some in your mouth.” The voice sounded amused.

Beca nodded, but she held her hand out and felt a cool plastic bottle settle against her palm. She lifted her head off the pillow and pushed up enough to swallow some blissfully cool water while someone gently helped steady her. She’d been wrong yesterday; this was the best tasting water she’d ever had.

She drained the water and let her head fall back to the bed as the guiding hand took the bottle back. She tried to speak but all that came out was a croak.

“If that was thank you, you’re welcome.” A hand ran lightly over her hair, soothing, as lips pressed to her temple.

Beca nodded and fell back into sleep. She hoped she’d feel better when she woke up again. She’d figure out who the voice belonged to then. They were kind of awesome.

When Beca woke the second time, she felt much better, not hurting as much as before. She experimentally tried to stretch but her body still felt weighted down. She put a bit more force into it and that’s when she realized she was naked and not alone.

‘Ok, that’s not unusual.’

She flexed her legs from her hips to her toes to wake them up, then her arms from shoulder to fingers.

That’s about the time she realized Chloe was lying naked across her back. That also wasn’t unusual. She smiled sleepily as one hand twitched back to awkwardly caress a bare hip.

“Morning sleepyhead.”

Beca frowned, her eyes still closed. That was Chloe’s voice alright. But it didn’t come from above her.

She forced her eyes open and met the twinkling blue ones she loved more than music. Chloe was on the other side of the bed, lying on her side, one hand propping up her head. Fully dressed.

Except that shouldn’t be possible, because someone was definitely draped across her back. Naked. She could feel them breathing. She knew were naked, because she could feel two -

She managed to croak out a quiet “Oh god.” Chloe winked at her.

Then, to make matters truly worse, she heard Aubrey’s dry tone from behind her by the door. “Dirty bird.”

There was a voice in her ear. “Shhh.” A long arm stretched down and pushed its way between Beca and the mattress. “Sleep time, Bree.” Stacie wiggled around until she was on her side and used both her arms to scoop Beca into her chest to spoon her tightly under the sheet.

Beca’s eyes were wide open now, locked on her wife’s, who just smiled wider.

‘We’re both fucking naked. In The Expanse.’ Beca felt her word tip sideways and all she could do was stare at Chloe as she slipped into full panic. ‘Chloe is dressed. Bree is also probably dressed. Oh god. What did we do?’

“If you and my wife feel like it, I’ve got food over at our place.” Despite the pain in her head, Beca craned her neck around to try and look at Aubrey, but the angle was wrong. “That is, if you guys don’t want to have round two this morning.”

Beca’s mouth dropped and stayed there until she felt Chloe slide off the bed. “I got out clothes for you guys, they’re sitting on the dresser. There’s more water on your table.” She headed out the door with Aubrey.

Stacie’s arm tightened. “So much noise. Why so much talking.” She buried her face in Beca’s hair as she shifted her hips closer and tighter into Beca’s ass. “Wha… wait.” Beca felt Stacie lift her head and could only assume she was looking around. “Bree?”

Beca let her head fall back to her pillow and met Stacie’s still dazed and confused eyes. “Surprise?”

Moving slowly, Stacie unwound her arm from around Beca’s waist and pushed the sheets up enough to look down at their bodies. “Beca?”

“Yup. Heh.” Beca used the moment to slide to the edge of the bed.

“Why are we naked.” Stacie spoke slowly.

“Wish I knew.” Beca groaned as she sat up and pushed over to swing her legs over the side. “Almost as much as I wish I knew why my head hurts so much.” She slipped down to the floor and gingerly made her way to the dresser. She pulled on her underwear and shorts first before wrestling herself into the sports bra Chloe had set out. She turned with her tank in her hands.

Stacie was sitting up in bed, the sheets pooled around her waist, obviously not worried about her current state of undress beyond ‘how had this happened.’ “Becs. What… why are we- Where are…?”

That, at least, Beca could answer. She decided to leave out the color commentary though. “They’re over at your place. Aubrey made us breakfast.” A quick glance at the clock showed her it was almost noon. “Or, brunch, I guess. She didn’t really say more than ‘food’ before she and Chloe left.”

“They were here? While we were like that?” Stacie pushed herself to the edge of the bed. “Holy fuck, The Expanse is even bigger from the fucking middle.”

Beca froze with her shirt halfway over her head before pulling it down.

Stacie actually looked abashed. “That may have been a poor choice of words, considering the situation.”

“Uh.” Beca didn’t want to admit to it, but it was driving her nuts. “Stacie. What happened?”

Stacie groaned as she pulled herself to her feet. “I don’t remember. I take it you don’t either?”

Beca shook her head and immediately regretted it. She picked up the other stack of clothes and brought them over to the bed. “Nope. Not a second. Last thing I remember was Bruce singing a bad rendition of ‘I Will Always Love You.’”

Stacie made a face. “Oh. I wish I didn’t remember that instead.” She stood and pulled on the clothes. “Why do these fit me?”

“Because we had a clothing exchange the last time I pushed you in the pool when you slept over. ‘Packing a bag’ seemed stupid when we’ve got a million drawers.” They each had their own drawer and a few hangers in the other house, as well as their own toothbrush. It was just so much easier that way.

“Oh. Right.” Stacie picked up the bottle on her side of the table. “Did you give me ibuprofen?”

“No, it was one of them. I don’t know which, but they gave me some too. It helped, a bit.” Beca walked back over and grabbed the bottle left for her. “They are never going to let us live this down,” she said idly.

“Live what down? If I’m going to get dragged for something then I’d like to remember. Especially if it involves waking up naked in bed with someone other than my wife.” Stacie drained the last of her bottle, thankfully ignoring the scarlet color Beca was sure she just turned. “Let’s go eat and get it over with.”

They took turns using the bathroom before they stood side by side at the sink to clean up. Beca frowned. Her hair was a rat nest and took far longer than it should have to comb out. It didn’t help that each tug felt like it was pulling her brain out through her scalp. That’s when she noticed the large goose egg just beyond her hairline. “What. The. Fuck. Happened.”

Stacie peered at it. “Holy crap, B. I,” she frowned. “I hope I didn’t cause that.”

Beca gingerly felt the bump. “I’ll feel better once we know what the hell happened last night. I hope.”

They felt marginally better with freshly washed faces, combed hair and brushed teeth. They also liberally used Beca’s mouthwash to try and remove the dead animal taste before they tried to eat.

Foregoing shoes, they carefully made their way down the stairs and through the house to the back yard. Beca groaned. “Oh god, they’ve already cleaned up.”

Stacie started to shake her head and stopped, one hand on her forehead. “No, we tried to stay on top of it throughout the day. I do remember that.”

“Oh, right! Thank god. This would be much worse if they’d had to clean up both yards while we were passed out together.” Beca’s teeth clicked together as she tried to bite back the last bit before it slipped out. “Uh.”

“Yeah.” Stacie frowned. “Maybe.”

They both made their way into the kitchen and stopped just past the door.

“That took less time than I anticipated, honestly.” Chloe was just setting plates down for her and Aubrey and waved at the table. “Sit, I’ll get yours.”

“Yeah, you guys look like you’re going to fall over.” Aubrey looked them over. “But still, you look better than you did before I gave you the Advil.”

“That was you?” Beca slid into the chair across from Aubrey as she nodded. “Thank you, “ she breathed out, as heartfelt as anything she’d ever said.

Stacie leaned down, somewhat hesitantly, and went to kiss Aubrey’s cheek.

“What, my lips aren’t good enough for you anymore?” Aubrey’s voice was teasing and Beca felt herself relaxing.

“I… That’s not even funny, Bree.” Stacie scrunched up her nose and kissed her properly. “Not funny at all.”

Chloe set down a plate in front of Stacie then Beca who was relieved to see it was nothing heavier than a turkey sandwich and a salad. “I don’t know. I thought it was funny.” She put her hand on Beca’s shoulder. “This one didn’t even try to kiss me at all.”

Beca’s eyes went wide but before she could leap from her chair, Chloe had leaned down in front of her and captured her lips. Beca let herself sink back again once Chloe let her go. “Oops. Sorry, Chlo.”

“I imagine you’re both still a little…” Aubrey tilted her head from side to side, searching for the right word as she ate a forkful of salad. “Muddled.”

“That’s one way to put it.” Stacie took a bite of her sandwich and groaned softly. “Just the right amount of mayo.”

Chloe smiled from where she was ladling what smelled like chicken noodle soup into bowls. “You’re welcome.”

Beca took a bite from her sandwich finding it both exactly what she needed yet hard to swallow. She kept wondering three things: what had happened, was she about to get yelled at and, overall, how she really felt if what she thought happened had happened. Ultimately, she felt a bit like a dog creeping around with her tail between her legs, waiting to get swatted despite how… unconcerned they both seemed.

Chloe brought over the soup and finally sat down on Beca’s right, her left hand automatically going to rest on Beca’s thigh, like this was any normal lunch. So Beca tried to follow their lead and focused on filling her belly and hopefully soaking up any residual alcohol. Though she didn’t think that’s all that was twisting her stomach.

Stacie finally looked up after they’d mostly finished the meal. “Ok. What happened.” All three of them looked at her. “We - I can’t remember. I’ve tried. How the hell did I end up naked and spooning Beca.”

Beca felt her head sinking into her shoulders, waiting for the yelling. But then the opposite and absolutely last thing she would have expected happened.

Chloe and Aubrey started laughing. Hard enough that tears immediately started rolling down their cheeks and they had to hold onto the table to stay upright.

Beca and Stacie looked from each other to their wives and back, identical looks of bewilderment on their faces, which caused Chloe and Aubrey to laugh harder.

“Did…” Beca cleared her throat. “Did we break them?”

Stacie’s eyes were narrowed. “I’m not sure if I’m feeling better or worse here.”

Beca ignored the laughter beside her. “What do you mean?”

“Obviously we did something that they’re not mad about. Which means…” Stacie actually growled. “That we did something that I can’t remember. We can’t have done nothing, we were naked. And that pisses me off. Not only have I been thinking about what that might be like for years, I have never gotten so drunk that I don’t remember sex.” She sounded so offended and pissed off that Beca felt her lips twitch. Plus, she was a bit flattered that Stacie was that mad that she didn’t remember sex with Beca. And that she’d been thinking about it for years.

There was a loud clatter as Aubrey fell off her chair and rolled onto her side, laughing so hard she’d gone silent.

Beca whispered. “Holy fuck. We did break Bree.”

That’s when Chloe fell out of her chair.

It took a good five minutes for both women to calm down enough to be able to talk. Beca and Stacie had managed to get them up, still giggling, and into the living room. Now they sat, wedged between their wives, waiting them out.

Beca was starting to feel like Stacie, so torn between the infectious giggles they were feeding each other, and being annoyed that something had happened – something she’d maybe sort of finally been thinking about herself – between them and she couldn’t. Fucking. Remember.

Finally Aubrey let out a huge gasp and relaxed against the back of the couch. “Oh my god. That was fucking amazing.”

Beca blinked. Aubrey rarely swore. Her emotions swung back to nervous.

Chloe pulled Beca over and cuddled into her. “Totes.”

Stacie interrupted. “That’s great and all, but… ” She pointed between herself and Beca, “Still in the fucking dark here.”

Aubrey patted her arm and pulled her phone out of her pocket, causing Chloe to let out a couple hysterical giggles. “Beca, can you hook this up to the AppleTV?”

“Uh. Sure.” She gingerly stood and took the phone. She could barely do this without a hangover, even though it was like, only four button pushes, but she muddled her way through and handed the phone back to Aubrey. “You just have to hit play on whatever video you’re about to torture us with.”

“Oh. My. God.” Stacie breathed out, torn between admiration and shock. “You filmed it? Us? It?”

Beca had been in the act of sitting and felt her legs give out. “Holy fuck.” She immediately regretted her choice of words.

Aubrey only nodded. “Indeed.”

Chloe cleared her throat. “So. Uh.” Her voice quavered, “Saddle up.” She was shaking as she tried not to laugh. Aubrey did it for her, high and piercing before she clamped down on it and shook her head as she mouthed ‘Sorry’. “It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” Chloe slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle the giggles she couldn’t hold back.

Stacie threw her arm around Aubrey and started laughing. “Oh my god. What the fu… Jesus. Ok. I’m good. Lessgo.”

Beca swallowed for what felt like the twentieth time since she woke up. “Uh. What she said.” She was relaxing though. Obviously whatever it was wasn’t bad if the two of them couldn’t stop laughing. In fact, Bree had tears running down her cheeks again as she found what she wanted and hit play with another burst of hysteria.

The video opened to a wavering shot that Beca eventually recognized as her own living room.

Chloe’s voice came from off camera. “Hurry, you’ll miss them!”

“You can’t rush art, Chlo!” Aubrey was obviously the one filming.

“You can if you’re missing the beginning!” Chloe came into view at the entry to the hall.

The camera wavered, and Beca felt a little ill at the motion, but she found herself forgetting that as voices came from ahead. Aubrey moved into the foyer and panned up to show Beca a few steps up and Stacie standing at the foot, allowing them to be more or less level with each other.

“I… Stace. Stacie. Stace. Staaaaaaaaaaacie.” Beca watched her drunk self pat her friend on the face. “I wanna know what it’s like to be you.”

Stacie snorted. “You are so drunk.”

DrunkStacie took hold of DrunkBeca’s arms. “But.. Becs.” She shook DrunkBeca lightly.

“Ooh, no. No shaking.” DrunkBeca’s cheeks ballooned out a little. “Bad things.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” DrunkStacie nodded until she remembered her earlier thought. It lasted a good thirty seconds. “But. Becs.” She leaned forward confidentially. “You’re already hot.”

Beca laughed. “HA! I’m not the only one trashed as fuck!”

Chloe shushed her. “You guys wanted to know, you have to watch.” Aubrey nodded. They both practically vibrated with their failed attempts to stop laughing.

Stacie and Beca looked at each other and said “Yes, dears.”

DrunkBeca shook her head then winced. “Oooh. Bad move. No no, that’s not.” She grabbed DrunkStacie’s face and pulled her close. “I wanna know what it’s like to be talllllllll.”

DrunkAubrey panned over to DrunkChloe, who was using the wall to hold herself up as she laughed. “Shhh. They might stop.”

DrunkChloe shook her head. “Oh no, when Beca’s this far gone, not much will deter her from whatever goal she has in mind.” DrunkChloe leered. “That’s usually trying to find the fastest way into my pants. I kinda like that about her.” Then she winked. “Gets my motor going. And I think you all know what I mean.” She clicked her tongue.

DrunkAubrey laughed. “That’s my line.”

DrunkChloe waved dismissively. “Yeah but you use it after you quote your dad and no one ever understands what your dad means. I just make sex jokes when I say it, so everyone does know what Iiiiiii mean.”

Stacie laughed. “She’s got you there, Babe.” Her attention jerked back to the screen when she heard her voice get louder.

“Beca, that’s… That’s so cuuuuuuuute.” The camera wavered back to the two of them. “Of course I’ll help you be tall!” DrunkStacie turned her back to DrunkBeca. “Hop on!”

Beca found she was holding her breath as she watched her drunk ass try to climb onto Stacie’s back. “There’s way too much air gap between you two, idiot.”

Chloe, who had covered her mouth again, pulled her hand away long enough to say, “Did you just call yourself an idiot?” She put her hand back, eyes wide.

Beca frowned. “What? No, I called…” She pointed at the screen. “Oh.”

She watched as DrunkStacie finally figured out that was never going to work and leaned back to make it a bit easier. DrunkChloe stepped forward, hands out and ready to catch or balance anyone if they started to totter.

Beca watched, fascinated despite the slight embarrassment she was feeling, as she basically jumped onto Stacie’s back so their heads were almost even – with this positioning, DrunkBeca was actually a bit taller. Her arms went around DrunkStacie’s shoulders while her legs went around her waist. Beca was relieved to see DrunkStacie grab underneath her knees to keep her from slipping.

DrunkBeca looked around. “Duuuuuude. Everything is so tiny from up here! How do you avoid stepping on anyone!?”

DrunkStacie took a step forward. “Like this.”

“Woah! Fuck! Slow the fuck down, Gigantor.” DrunkBeca pulled on her shoulders. “Dude. I’m not used to this. Go slow with me, fuck.”

Giggles from both DrunkAubrey and DrunkChloe echoed from off camera before DrunkAubrey’s voice very clearly said “That’s what I said the first time too.” More giggling. “Except I used ‘fuck’ more. Then I asked her to go faster. Much faster. And I’m sure you know what I mean this time.”

Beca looked at Aubrey, mouthing ‘Oh my god’ before looking back at the TV. Aubrey’s face, and Chloe’s for that matter, was contorted and red as they tried desperately to muffle their giggles.

DrunkChloe’s impressed voice layered over DrunkStacie carefully taking another step forward. “Oooh. Stacie is really rubbing off on you, Bree.”

DrunkStacie spun toward them - causing DrunkBeca to let out a screech of terror as she leaned backward with the movement like spinning the Tea Cups at Disneyland - and winked. “Every chance I get.”

DrunkBeca wrapped her arms around DrunkStacie’s head, “DUDE! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!?” She gulped for breath. “I’m dying! Help, I think I’m dying! I see spots again, oh god is it because we’re so high and there’s not enough oxygen?!”

Beca buried her face in her hands. “Oh my god. Please kill me now.”

Chloe and Aubrey gave up and covered their mouths with pillows as they continued to laugh, completely unable to stop.

Stacie shook her head. “No way. If I gotta live through this, so do you.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re not watching yourself relive a bear trap.” Beca ignored the literal scream of laughter that Aubrey let out on the other side of the couch.

DrunkStacie let out a yelp, “I’m blind!” Her hands shot out like she was going to run into something while standing still.

“Oh no! What happened?!” DrunkBeca leaned forward, slipping her arms down around DrunkStacie’s neck.

“Oh. No. Must’ve just blacked out for a sec.” DrunkStacie nodded. “I’m good. You good?”

“Dude. Let’s get the show on the road!” DrunkBeca kicked her legs a bit.

“I’m not a horse, Beca.” DrunkStacie sounded insulted.

“But…” DrunkBeca waved a hand at the floor. “Legs!”

DrunkAubrey moved backward as DrunkStacie stepped forward, catching the edges of DrunkChloe standing up and following behind.

“Is it everything you imagined?” DrunkStacie turned to look over her shoulder.

DrunkBeca shrugged. “Eh. I thought you’d be taller.”

Beca let out a bark of laughter. “And Jesse said that line was never used in real life!”

Chloe fell over on her side, clutching her stomach with one hand. “Oh, I can’t. It hurts. Oh my god.”

Aubrey looked over. “And there’s so much more to go.” Her voice sounded like she was holding her breath just to get the words out.

Beca and Stacie exchanged a look before looking back to the TV in time to watch DrunkStacie bounce off the door jamb out of the living room.

DrunkBeca flipped it off. “Dude. That thing just jumped out and tried to trip you.”

DrunkStacie glared at it. “What a dick.”

“Where do you think we’re going?” Beca asked idly.

Stacie shrugged. “Hell, probably.”

DrunkAubrey followed them, and, Beca was pleased to point out, bounced off the same frame they had. DrunkChloe laughed until there was a small thud and an unbelievably adorable ‘Damnit, it got us all!’ from off camera.

Then DrunkBeca’s head bounced off the light hanging in the kitchen.

Beca winced. “Well. That explains the goose egg.”

Stacie whistled. “Shit, it was my fault. I’m sorry, B.”

Beca shrugged and pointed at the screen. “Well, drunk me obviously didn’t see it. She just apologized for running into it.”

Chloe sat up, calming slightly in her worry. “Oh, babe. I didn’t even check.”

“I can tell, drunk you just fell over laughing. You probably got bruises from all that, yourself.”

“A few.” Chloe smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.” She kissed Beca on the cheek.

“Forgiven.” Beca reached over and squeeze Chloe’s hand.

“Hey.” Beca looked up at her drunken slurring voice. “Hey! I got an idea.”

DrunkStacie came to a stop by the dining room table. “Wha’sat?”

DrunkBeca leaned down and whispered loud enough for the neighbors to hear. “I bet you can't buck me off your back like a bronco."

DrunkChloe immediately started singing "Pony" by Ginuwine and grinding her hips as she danced into the frame.

Beca sat up. This sounded… Bad. Well, not Chloe; she looked and sounded hot, as always. And while she made a mental note to have Chloe sing it for her at a future date, Beca couldn't really spare the time to think about that right now.

Stacie muttered a quiet “Oh shit.”

DrunkStacie thought about it for a whole two seconds. “Deal.”

DrunkBeca cheered. “C’mon Bucky, let’s see what you can do.”

Beca frowned. “Bucky?”

DrunkChloe broke off singing and echoed her question. “Why Bucky?” DrunkAubrey immediately picked up singing where Chloe had left off.

The way DrunkAubrey was singing was highly suggestive and made Beca shift subtly on the couch. She looked away from the screen for a second and saw that Stacie had goosebumps. Beca couldn’t stop herself from leaning a little closer to her and whispering "Is that how she sounds around you when you guys are... um... alone?"

But her voice wasn't quiet enough with the sharp ears around her and it was Aubrey who answered. "Wouldn't you like to know. Wait – hold that thought for just a second." Chloe let out another soft burst of giggles.

Stacie only winked at her as Beca frowned and looked back at the TV.

DrunkBeca shrugged. “Seems like a good horse name.”

“Oh.” DrunkStacie looked like she was ready to burst into action when DrunkAubrey’s voice froze everyone as her singing abruptly ended. Which Beca was really kind of happy about, because Stacie actually was Aubrey’s ‘pony’ which made it all the more evocative and distracting.

“WAIT!” It was a voice that had stopped many a Bella in their tracks and Beca snapped her attention back to the TV by pure reflex. “Take this outside into the grass.”

DrunkBeca swayed and pushed until DrunkStacie got the idea and turned to face the camera. “Bree.” DrunkBeca’s tone was the overly patient ‘explaining to an idiot’ that only the truly intoxicated could get. “Stacie’s not a real horse. She doesn’t eat graassss.” She paused and an extremely dirty leer passed over her face.

Beca felt herself flush. She knew that look and it meant she was thinking something truly filthy. She had half a second where she hoped she wouldn’t say it, though she knew it was futile. DrunkBeca totally had a word vomit problem and Beca hated it.

But to her surprise, DrunkAubrey was the one who finished what Beca was likely thinking. “I know that, Beca.” It was the same syrup sweet voice she’d used at the retreat. “She eats me.” The satisfaction in her tone practically dripped through the TV.

Beca fell back against the couch and laughed. “Ok, that was almost worth the price of admission.”

“Bree!” Stacie’s voice was full of laughter. “I’m so mad at myself that I don’t remember this! But I love you two so much for your drunken evil genius in filming it.”

Aubrey held up a finger. “Just wait.”

DrunkBeca’s face was still leering. “I’d like to see that.”

Beca felt all the color drain out of her face. “I… oh.”

Stacie nodded, grinning. “Oh.”

Chloe spoke up. “Wait.”

DrunkAubrey replied, “Maybe if you play your cards right.”

DrunkBeca yelled, “Hot damn!”

Beca flushed. “Oh my god.”

“Are we praying now?” Stacie’s voice was light. “Because this is like my prayers are answered.” She looked around as they all stared at her. “What?”

DrunkStacie crouched down to go through the back door that DrunkChloe had opened. But she didn’t crouch enough and DrunkBeca had gone higher instead of lower and her forehead skimmed off the edge of the frame.

“Fuck. Again?” Beca’s fingers gingerly traced the knot on her head.

“Sorry.” Stacie patted her knee.

“Me too.” Chloe kissed her cheek again.

Once everyone was in the backyard they’d decreed DrunkChloe to be the official time keeper and moved into the grass by the pool. Suddenly the camera lowered, like DrunkAubrey had fallen, and the angle was crooked.

DrunkChloe dropped her arms and looked over. “Bree. What are you doing?”

DrunkAubrey answered like the reason should be obvious. “Artistic framing, Chloe. Duh.”

Beca swallowed her giggle. “I didn’t know you had filmmaker aspirations, Bree.”

Aubrey shrugged. “Stacie keeps telling me I need a hobby.”

“Oh.” DrunkChloe turned back to the drunken rodeo. “You guys ready?”

DrunkStacie nodded, “Yup. Hold on tight, 8 Seconds!”

DrunkBeca threw both her hands in the air. “Wait!” When she started to fall backward DrunkStacie leaned forward to counter balance her. “I said WAIT, Bucky! Shit!”

DrunkChloe began to tap her foot. “Well?”

DrunkBeca started to wrestle with her shirt. “This needs to come off.”

DrunkAubrey moved to a different angle, but still low and ‘artistic’. “Why?”

“Skin to skin contact, duh.” DrunkBeca finally got her shirt off and waved it over her head. “Makes it better.” She seemed oblivious to the fact that Stacie’s shirt was still on.

DrunkChloe sounded confused. “A rodeo?”

“Everything.” DrunkBeca’s voice was dead serious as she nodded.

Beca rolled her eyes. “Oh my god.” She needed to come up with something else to say, but her brain was skipping the tracks. This was just… embarrassing. But Jesus fuck was it hysterical.

“Ok. Whatever.” DrunkChloe’s arms came up. “Ok. You ready?”

DrunkBeca waved her shirt over her head. “Ready!”

DrunkStacie braced herself. “Ok, hold on, 8 Seconds –“

DrunkBeca leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You already said that, Bucky.”

“Shut up.” DrunkStacie cleared her throat. “I’m going to give you the ride of your life that doesn’t involve… uh…”

DrunkAubrey supplied, “A bed?”

DrunkStacie nodded, “Sure, that too.”

DrunkChloe shouted “GO!”

DrunkAubrey tsked. “Not even a countdown, Chlo? It’s like you’ve forgotten everything.”

Beca watched, fascinated, as DrunkStacie took off around the yard, her arms still wrapped around DrunkBeca’s legs so there was no chance she was going to fall off anyway. As DrunkBeca continued to wave her shirt over her head, whooping and hollering, Beca knew she was going to have to apologize to the neighbors at the next meeting.

DrunkAubrey had moved to the side, continuing to find the best ‘artistic angle’ as DrunkChloe shouted encouragement to DrunkBeca. “That’s my girl, ride ‘em cowboy!”

Then the angle changed and the pool came into view.

Beca tensed, though she knew, obviously, that she hadn’t cracked her head open on the concrete.

DrunkStacie tried to cut the corner but DrunkBeca’s weight threw her normally perfect balance off.

Beca’s head tilted in sync with DrunkStacie’s entire body on the screen.

DrunkAubrey scrambled to her feet, causing the worst shaky cam in cinematic history, just as there were twin screams and a giant splash.

DrunkChloe’s voice filtered in from offscreen with a quiet, “Ah shit.”

The video went black.

Beca and Stacie sat in silence, staring at the screen. Chloe and Bree had exhausted themselves and were sprawled on the couch on either side of them like limp ragdolls.

“We didn’t have sex.” Stacie didn’t pose it as a question.

Aubrey bit her lip. “Nope.”

“Then how did we end up naked in bed together?” Beca was still running her fingers over the lump on her head.

Chloe cleared her throat and nodded at Bree. “There’s one more… tiny…”

Aubrey scrolled over and hit play.

Beca sighed. Eventually this had to end, right?

The camera started out focused on the dresser in Beca’s room. “Bree, I don’t know if I’m doing this right.” DrunkChloe was apparently filming this time.

“Kinda got my hands full here, Chlo.” DrunkAubrey’s voice sounded strained. And annoyed. “Why. Are. You. So. Squirmy!” There were some rustling sounds that Beca couldn’t quite place. “Stacie was easier to deal with and she’s all limbs!”

DrunkBeca’s voice crooned out of the speakers as the camera slowly panned over to the bed. “Bree. Aubs. Aubreeeeeeey. Breeeeeeeeeeee.” There was a drunken giggle. “You have the warmest, softest heart. I love you so much. You and Stace. Staubreeeeeeey.” She added, almost as an afterthought, “After my girl, of course.” She sighed gustily. “She’s the best.”

There was a pause before DrunkAubrey answered. “You’re sweet, Becs. But, those aren’t my heart.”

DrunkChloe stifled her giggles as the camera shook, pausing on a section of floor that looked like it had Stacie’s wet clothes and part of Beca’s on it.

DrunkStacie let out a peal of giggles. “Boooooooooooooobs. Bree has the bestest boooooobs.”

The camera finally focused on the bed where DrunkBeca’s shirt was off and DrunkAubrey looked like she was trying to wrestle off her wet skinny jeans. Beca was mortified to see she had her hands on DrunkAubrey’s chest and was smiling blissfully at her. DrunkStacie was lying in her wet underwear on the bed beside her.

DrunkBeca sighed wistfully. “Boobs. I’m a boob man.” She jiggled DrunkAubrey’s chest, paused, and then cracked up as she did it again.

DrunkStacie rolled her head to the side and reached out one hand and poked DrunkBeca in the boobs. “Booooooobs.” She poked again. “You’ve got great boobs too, B.” She turned her head the other way and looked at the camera. Or, more accurately, below. “And Chlo. You’ve got great boobs too.” She sighed lustfully. “I’m surrounded by great boobs.” She looked down and groped herself. “Including mine.”

DrunkAubrey stared blandly at her. “I’m so glad you’re amused with yourselves.”

Beca’s mouth dropped open but nothing came out. She was officially beyond speech.

DrunkAubrey looked over. “Chlo. I think I’m going to need your help getting Beca’s pants off and both of them into dry clothes.”

DrunkChloe jerked and it shook the camera. “Oh. Right.”

Once again the screen faded to black.

Beca exhaled and decided to ignore the fact that she’d full on groped Aubrey. “Actually, that didn’t answer all of it.”

“Well,” Chloe cleared her throat. “I helped Bree get you out of the rest of your wet clothes, because I was not buying a new mattress for The Expanse because your swim ruined it.”

Aubrey took over. “And by the time we’d turned around with your pj’s, Beca was scrambling up the bed like a spider monkey and worming her way under the covers, complaining that she was ‘cold now.’” Aubrey paused. “At the top of her lungs.”

Stacie just raised her eyebrow.

“You, being the good friend you are, told her you’d keep her warm. With your boobs.” Aubrey turned and smiled at Beca serenely, which Beca in no way trusted. “And you - you said she was like a furnace with breasts just before you passed out.”

“Aw. You love me.” Beca choked on a laugh as she shoulder bumped Stacie and let out a sigh of relief. “So… there was no… uh.”

Chloe looked at her. “You should definitely be able to say ‘sex’ by now, Beca.”

“Right, whatever.” She waved her hand in the air. “That.”

Aubrey shook her head. “Nope, no sex.”

“Thank god.” Stacie exhaled loudly. When Beca’s head jerked up she raised her hands. “You have no idea how mad I was that I didn’t remember if we’d had sex.” She looked past Beca and threw a pillow at Chloe. “Jerk, you let me think I banged your wife and couldn’t remember.”

Chloe looked offended. “Just my wife?”

“She was the only one with their bare ass in my junk when I woke up, so yeah.”

Beca spoke up. “Which leads us to: What about you two? Where’d you sleep?”

Chloe shook her head. “Oh, we totally just changed and crawled into bed after you. It was like 3am by the time we all crashed. I was exhausted.”

Stacie perked up. “Oh. We made an early night of it? I mean, compared to last year."

Aubrey nodded. “We’d been up maybe an hour before you, and I gave you the ibuprofen to try and stave off the worst of the headache.” She looked over at Beca apologetically. “You might be kinda doomed, though, with your head.”

Beca shrugged. “It’s actually kind of fading. Could just be I can’t feel it under the layer of embarrassment.”

Chloe kissed her cheek. “I still love you.”

Stacie kissed the other. “Me too.” She did it again. “Bree too.”

“Alright, alright.” Beca slapped at Stacie. “You already had your feel.”

Stacie gasped, spinning to Aubrey. “Did she do the thing?”

Aubrey sighed and made a face. “I owe you twenty yellow.”

“Yes!” Chloe pumped her arm.

“Oh god, we’re still missing something?” Beca groaned. “I can’t take much more of these reveals.”

Chloe was smug. “I bet Aubrey that Stace would ask if you did your sleep groping.”

“Oh my...” Beca closed her eyes and prayed for the couch to swallow her.

Aubrey said, “She totally did.”

“Ha!” Stacie laughed. “And I was naked this time!”

Beca threw out, “Yeah, but you don’t remember it.”

Stacie frowned. “Oh. Shit.”

Beca looked over at Aubrey. “Hey, Aubs?” Maybe she could redeem herself here…

“Yes?”

“So, is it?”

Aubrey’s entire face seemed to frown in confusion. “Is… what… what?”

Beca’s voice was completely blank. “Was that your sex voice?” She truly hoped how much she wanted to know that answer didn’t show. If it did, it could cause her attempt to pay Aubrey back for putting them through all that to backfire.

But to her immense relief Aubrey turned bright red and thumped Stacie’s leg when the brunette opened her mouth. “Don’t encourage her, Stace.”

Stacie pouted. “Aw, but it’s fun!”

Beca sat quietly for a bit, letting the others continue to joke around her. She took careful stock of her body and decided that she actually wasn’t that bad off, it must have been the uncertainty of what had happened the night before that had really been making her feel like crap. Now that she knew nothing actually had, she felt more like herself. Which meant she was rapidly descending into the gutter where she normally lived but didn’t normally indulge in.

‘Until lately, I suppose.’ Now it seemed to be her default setting and Naked Stacie and Sex Voice Aubrey certainly hadn’t helped things this morning.

Her mind unexpectedly returned to what she’d been feeling during karaoke the night before. She had been relatively sober then so every thought, every flicker of desire was there the moment she landed on the memory.

After a few minutes, Beca felt Chloe’s eyes on her and looked over. Beca knew she had defaulted to her less severe resting bitch face of neutrality, but Chloe always was able see through it. Beca flushed when Chloe gave her a knowing grin before turning back to her conversation with Aubrey.

Beca took a deep breath as an idea thread its way through her mind.

Tuning back into the room, she realized Aubrey and Chloe were discussing what they would do for dinner, and Stacie was opting for pizza because it was easy and there were no dishes to do afterward.

“Why don’t we go back home and all of us can freshen up. I, for one, still feel like I need a shower. And maybe a short nap.” Chloe ran a hand through her hair. “We can order pizza and you guys can come over. Say like, 2 hours? 3?”

Beca cleared her throat, wondering if she dared, but what came out of her mouth was “We can watch a movie or something.” They were never going to believe she meant that. Like, at all.

The room fell silent and she could feel them all staring at her.

“Like, on demand. I’m sure there’s something I’ll wanna watch.” She hoped they didn’t notice her breath hitch in her throat when she said it. She hadn’t meant it that way, but her mind had dropped into the gutter like Stacie into the pool.

“Sounds good, B.” Stacie slapped her on the leg. “We’ll make a movie fan out of you yet.”

“I’ve been trying for yeaaaaaars.” Chloe rose to her feet. “Good luck.”

“I think I can convert her.” Stacie sounded confident, and maybe not like she was talking about movies anymore.

“Stacie can wear anyone down, eventually.” Aubrey’s gaze slipped over Beca and she knew Bree wasn’t talking about movies.

“One can only hope.” And Beca, who knew every inflection of Chloe’s voice, had the last confirmation she needed.

Or Beca was under the influence of a concussion and they were just talking about hanging out. In all their clothing.

They said their goodbyes and walked across to their house, Chloe’s hand warm and secure in her own.

‘Now time to see if I can put my money where my mouth is. Oh Beca, don’t start thinking about putting your mouth places.’

Chloe squeezed her fingers and smiled.

‘Oh boy.’

#bechloe fanfiction #bechloe #staubrey #bellas squared #wlw #beca mitchell #chloe beale #aubrey posen #stacie conrad #anna kendrick #brittany snow #anna camp #alexis knapp #stechlobree #Pitch Perfect #bechloe fluff #staubrey fluff #Nowish #A Shared Lifetime

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buri-art · 8 years ago

Text

Detective Genius: Part 8 of 8

Chapter Eight: The Stunning Conclusion! The Justice-Selling Nurse and the Case of the High Road

Synopsis: Yoon is a financially struggling nurse and recognizes a trauma victim, Taejun, as someone from his boarding house. The victim’s brother, Kyoga, suspects foul play and offers Yoon money to figure out who caused this. The landlord, Soo-won, discourages Yoon from getting involved, but in order to support himself and his adoptive father Ik-soo, Yoon investigates the suspicious other residents–and then some. Genre: Modern Day AU, (Attempted!?) Murder Mystery in Classic ‘Who Done It?’ Style, General. Could be read as comedy, drama, or melodrama. Words: 2,602 Warnings: I don’t kill anyone, but I do make them suffer a little (sorry, Taejun, somebody had to be the victim). Probably nothing that would make people squeamish, as the focus is on the plot. Find the other chapters in the master post.

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It was getting close to 1am. Hak and I exchanged glances in the hall outside Yona’s door. “You sure you don’t want to bring Soo-won for this?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “I think he’s been trying to help her cover for something.”

“That sounds likely to me too.”

Hak gave two soft knocks at the door, then grabbed the door knob as though this was what he’d usually do. He opened it a creak and asked, “Yona?”

“Hak!?” her voice rang out in surprise, followed by the sounds of shifting around and moving things and harsh whispers. Hak furrowed his eyebrows and pushed the door open, revealing Yona at her closet door, trying to stuff a man about her height inside. He had long, unbrushed blonde hair, a ratty green scarf and long, dirty coat, and a stench that made me gag even from a distance. He was eating a handful of crème puffs.

Hak stared at the Yona. Yona stared at Hak. I stared in disbelief, and the blonde man said, “Hi.”

There was no more use in trying to hide her putrid visitor, so Yona invited us all to sit inside while she explained. Yona and I sat on the floor while Hak and the other man sat on the beanbags. “His name is Zeno,” she said. “He’s a homeless guy I met a couple weeks ago while I was having a bad day. I didn’t really feel like I had anyone to talk to about it—if I told Hak that Taejun was bothering me, Hak would want to fix the problem himself, and if I told Soo-won about Hak, Soo-won would smile and ask why I don’t just let Hak handle it, and if… well, I don’t really have any other friends besides Hak and Soo-won. I was feeling so powerless, and when Zeno asked me for something to eat, I thought, ‘why not?’ and took him out to dinner. I found out that Zeno is really, really good listener. I felt so much better, so invited him home with me.”

“You did what?”

“See! I knew you’d get mad, Hak! Oh—please don’t tell Soo-won. Please?”

“What kind of single young girl brings a homeless man back to her apartment—”

“This one,” Zeno pointed to her. “It wasn’t going to be for free, though. Zeno offered to teach the miss how to protect herself.”

“And why did you accept?” Hak asked, still incredulous.

She puffed out her cheeks and looked away. “I thought it’d be nice not to have to trouble you so much.”

“I should be troubled if your misplaced sense of generosity is going to get you into danger.”

“I knew you wouldn’t understand! Zeno’s not like that at all! And besides,” she sounded more sheepish as she looked over to Zeno, “It’s not just that I was paying him to teach me. Zeno’s a good friend to me, so I wanted to let him sleep and eat indoors sometimes.”

“Aw, Miss, Zeno appreciates it. I’m glad I can be your friend, even if I can’t come inside.”

“Just a moment, Yona,” I said, rubbing my forehead as a few more of the pieces started coming together. “Letting him into your apartment is one thing, but stealing things is another.”

“Stealing? What do you mean?”

I pointed to Zeno’s handful of crème puffs. “Food, Yona! Joon-gi had been complaining about those going missing.”

“Ah!” she gasped. “Wait, those weren’t for everyone?”

“No, the freezer is only down there for extra space. You can’t help yourself to whatever’s there.”

Her cheeks turned almost as red as her hair. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

I sighed. Typical rich person misunderstandings, I guessed. “It’s alright. Soo-won already replaced… say. Zeno, you’ve never taken the elevator, have you?”

“Nope.”

“We’d have smelled him there for sure,” added Hak.

“Soo-won must already know,” I said, much to Yona’s shock. “He helped cover your tracks. Or rather, he mopped them up. And now that I think about it, it must have been your footsteps that Yuno was hearing in the staircase.”

“Oops. Sorry, Zeno tried to be quiet.”

“So,” squeaked Yona, “Was that all?”

Hak and I looked to each other, then to the floor. It seemed he was going to let me do the talking, so I dug the shard of china out of my pocket and held it up to her, and by the look on her face I could tell she recognized it. “We came to talk to you about Taejun,” I said. “There was a witness when he was injured in the alley last night. A young homeless man with a squirrel said he saw this fall on Taejun’s head.”

“Zeno knows him!” the blond man volunteered. “That kid’s got really good eye-sight. If he says he saw something, then he saw it.”

“Yona,” I went on, “Would you mind telling us in detail what happened?”

She frowned, but under everyone’s expectant glances, she knew she had no room to escape. “He hadn’t bothered me for days after the man in the room above mine scared him and Hak hit him. Then yesterday he came to my room and said he wanted to start over.”

“Start over?”

“I don’t know what he meant. He was being so strange, saying he wanted to speak my language or something. He started talking about the flowers he brought, like which flowers meant what kind of love…”

“Aw,” smiled Zeno. “That’s sweet. He probably looked all that up himself.”

“Looks like that’s not her language,” added Hak.

“And there was a pineapple in the middle. He was saying it meant I was perfect. I told him he was nuts, and he said he didn’t bring any nuts. But then he said, ‘no wait, I have nuts! Really!’ and he had me against the wall, so I used what Zeno taught me and jabbed him in the ribs!” she said with some demonstration, which made Hak look surprised, curious, and mildly impressed. She continued, “he backed away and grabbed the flowers and said, ‘don’t take that the wrong way, just take the flowers, they’re my feelings’ and things like that. So I took the flowers. I took them and I threw them out the window.”

“Including the pineapple?”

“Including the pineapple.”

“Miss,” Zeno’s eyes were wide. “What a waste of a good pineapple.”

For the time being, I resisted adding that defenestrating pineapples was dangerous. “And what happened after that?”

She frowned. “He seemed really hurt by that. He looked out the window after them, and his voice was a little strange when he looked back at me, like he was about to cry.”

“And then?”

“He said that even if I don’t accept his feelings, even if I toss them out the window, they’re still his to keep. And then he left.”

“Probably to go gather his hurt feelings from the alleyway,” said Hak.

“Presumably,” I said, and then looked to Yona and held up the shard again. “Then, whether it was with lethal intention or not, that was when you dropped the dish on his head.”

Her eyes grew wide and wavered, but she sat completely still. Hak and Zeno turned their eyes toward her, and she began to shake.

I kept my gaze locked on her. “Well, Yona?”

“I… I didn’t.”

“But Yona, this is part of your dish set, isn’t it?”

“It is, but… I didn’t do it.”

I wanted to believe her. I really did! But if it wasn’t her, then who was it? I wished she’d hurry up and admit it so it could be out of my hands. If the poor couldn’t run from justice, then she shouldn’t be able to either. She could pay Kyoga for Taejun’s pain and suffering and then we would all be done with it. I wished she’d hurry up and admit it!

“If she says she didn’t do it, then she didn’t.”

All of us turned to Hak. He stared back at me, stern in his eye contact.

“Hak,” said Yona.

“It’s sucks being accused for something that’s not your fault. If she says she didn’t do it, then hear her out.”

“Let’s not rush into this, Lad,” said Zeno. “Miss, could anyone else have had the same dishes?”

“Yes, I gave a few of them to Yuno.”

“But Yuno wouldn’t have done it. She likely has an alibi and no motive. Plus, her room faces the south.”

“Lad, what exactly did the kid with the squirrel say?”

I thought for a moment. “He didn’t say much. First he said there were falling flowers and a pineapple. Then when I asked him what hit Taejun, he found the shard and gave it to me. Then when I asked what floor it came from, he said the fourth.”

Zeno’s eyes and mouth both swung wide open. “Oh no! That’s the problem!”

We all drew closer. “What?”

“The boy can’t count!”

It felt like a speeding car had gone to a screeching halt and crashed inside my brain. He couldn’t count?

“Zeno has tried to teach him, but he doesn’t pick it up much at all. He always gets close, but he gets the numbers all mixed up.”

“Then that means it could have been any of the floors on the north side, not only the fourth.”

“But then who was it?”

Even if the car that had been cruising along in my mind had crashed, the wheels and gears that had popped off were still going, rolling in every which direction. The dish that fell was not necessarily from the fourth floor. Something dropped from Joon-gi’s room might not have knocked him out. Kija didn’t know Yona or Yuno well enough to have gotten the dish from them. Yuno would have had it, or she would have given it away to someone else. If she gave things away, it was usually plants, like the ones she gave to Ik-soo.

She gave plants to Ik-soo yesterday. Our room is the third floor over the north alley.

Now, even my breath came to a skidding halt.

##########

Ik-soo and I had a long, long talk that night. I still can’t remember the last time I had cried that hard.

It started with me yelling and accusing him of not being careful enough, and telling him what he had done. Then it was him realizing it and apologizing for it. He sank in guilt, I swelled in anger. I lectured him about what this was going to mean for us now; especially if Kyoga wanted to hold us responsible. Ik-soo apologized, and looking deeper, he drew a confession out of me about only getting involved for the money, not for justice.

Ik-soo didn’t lecture me back. He knew he didn’t need to. Instead, he got us talking about what we were to do next; how we were to make amends, how we were going to brave a new financial struggle. He stroked my head as I sobbed, and he said we’d have more tough times ahead. But we’d do it on the high road, he said, and wherever it would take us, we’d go together.

It was a long and exhausting discussion, but I didn’t regret it in the least.

*********

With my eyes still red and puffy, I got busy early that Monday. I started upstairs in Kija’s room by making sure Jaeha was hydrated and recovering, as well has having Kija and Hak present while I made a phone call. I used my position as a nurse to reexplain Hak’s situation to Joo-doh, and Kija backed me up by admitting he had not taken adequate precautions to warn Hak of the effects. Joo-doh was surprised, but understanding. Hak was visibly less stressed once he was cleared from doubt, and he accepted Kija’s apology. Jaeha, meanwhile, was happy he still had anything else of his insides. (He later apologized to Yuno for the volume on his TV downstairs, and they eventually became friends. Geun-tae was never sure what to makes of this.)

Down at the bottom of the apartment, I caught Soo-won vacuuming the front hallway. He greeted me with a wide, cheerful smile. “Good morning, Yoon!”

“Soo-won!” I pointed at him. “What kind of a landlord are you?”

He paused and stared back, green eyes gleaming. “One who likes to clean?”

“No one should feel like their guests have to sneak around the stairs. The elevator is for everyone’s use.”

“Oh,” he chuckled. “That is a little unfair, isn’t it?”

“Speaking of unfair,” my volume dropped, “Ik-soo and I might need to renegotiate our contract again soon. We’ve had some expected expenses pop up that we need to take care of.”

His smile turned wry, and his eyes softened. “I was afraid you might.”

“We understand if you have your limits.”

“I do,” he nodded. “Let’s see first if you need it. There’s always other ways to make arrangements and work things out.”

I nodded back, my eyes still stinging from all the events of the past several hours.

**********

After that, I went out to the hospital, where I had my most important arrangement to make. Kyoga, not expecting to see me until that evening, was very surprised that I showed up early enough to take some overtime hours. Before that, I wanted to take my time to explain the sequence of events to him, accept the blame on Ik-soo’s behalf, and offer him the money we had immediately available. There were the biggest bills I had ever taken out of an ATM, all smooth from their lack of transactional use. I promised that this would be the first of enough installments to cover the costs of Taejun’s treatment.

I felt that money in my hands longer than I had ever handled any cash. I had to wait several moments for Kyoga to process the information, and then put his hand to mine. He pushed back, shaking his head with such force that his long locks swished this way and that. “This isn’t necessary.”

“But it’s our fault—”

“It was clearly an accident, and you’re sorry. Besides, my brother has some fault for being out there anyway. He’ll recover soon enough, there’s no reason to press charges.” He looked over at Taejun, who stared blankly out the window. Kyoga let out a small sigh through his nostrils. “I only hope that his heart will recover soon too.”

**********

A few hours later, on my shift, I came in to check on him. Kyoga had gone home for the day, and Taejun was curled up on his bed with his knees against his chest.

“You should be able to go home tomorrow,” I said, forcing optimism.

“I don’t want to go home. I can’t face Yona. Ohhhhh, but I don’t have anywhere else I can move! I was delinquent on all my payments everywhere else, so that’s the only place that’ll take me in! That’s it! I’m going to be homeless! I’m a bum, that’s all I am! They should have just left me there in all that trash!”

“For what it’s worth,” I replied, “The homeless guys I’ve met are pretty nice.”

He sniffled and searched my eyes with his teary ones. “Are you sure?”

I assured him he would be fine, and in my heart, I felt Ik-soo and I were probably going to be fine too. As long as there was still a high road to take, we’d try to stay on it. (But maybe we’d try to stay away from high windows.)

#Akatsuki no Yona #Yoon #fanfic

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