An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Additional Tags: beach, Summer Vacation, summer job, Summer Love, Walks On The Beach, Alternate Universe
Summary:
Beca gets a summer job on the beach with her friend Stacie. She runs into Chloe and develops an immediate crush.
Honestly I never thought I’d be sitting here making this post. But here I am.
Here’s collaboration between @pleaseactsurprisedxx and I.
Thanks Nik for being patient with me. You rock!
the beca + cooking character study that ATTACKED my brain that nobody asked for
* * *
Beca Mitchell hated cooking.
At least, that’s what she would like to be put on the official record.
Not all children of divorce are forced to grow up fast. Beca knows this, in a very tangible way. She had friends growing up whose parents were also divorced, and life continued much in the same way for them as it did before their parents separated. Sometimes they’d even joke that life was better now since they got double the gifts on holidays, double the parties for their birthday.
Beca always let them have their moment, didn’t feel the need to shut down what optimism they could find in whatever turbulent custody schedule their parents’ lawyers had worked out. Didn’t feel like shoving her own thoughts about her divorced parents in their faces.
By the time she was 12 years old, Beca could make a few pretty decent casseroles. They weren’t all that complex, mostly just cheese, noodles, and different sauces mixed together in a glass pan. But after about 6 months of living off of PB&Js, Lunchables, and Spaghettios, waiting for her mom to snap out of whatever work-induced daze she’d been in since her dad walked out on them, Beca decided that they needed actual food.
So, she’d rolled up her sleeves and designated herself the man of the household.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Things were fairly quiet over the next month. Beca and Chloe exchanged small, but thoughtful gifts for Christmas, and the two spent the better part of their winter break days together.
At the start of February, Mrs. Junk appeared to be getting stressed about the upcoming a cappella regional competition. She’d been snapping at the group, especially when she heard several groans after she pulled out the uniforms they’d be wearing for their competitions.
Beca lamented this at lunch.
“I couldn’t help groaning. Where did Mrs. Junk get those horrible things? I don’t want to look like a flight attendant, and I think every single blouse had pit stains in it.”
“I know the department is on a budget, but those things are awful,” said Cynthia Rose. “I don’t know what I hate more - the skirt or the high-heeled shoes!”
The others at the lunch table agreed that the uniforms were awful.
“And, honestly, the songs she picked really suck,” said Beca. “If I’d known that a cappella would look like this, I would never have joined. The Treblemakers are real crowd-pleasers. Our set, well, isn’t going to be anything close to that.”
“I think it’s a good tradition,” said Aubrey. The others groaned.
“What tradition?” asked Stacie. “This is the first year for our group. It’s not how I’d pictured it. If this is what we are presenting to the school, nobody is going to join the group next year.”
“It’s not the first year,” said Denise.
“What?” asked everyone else.
“My mom and my aunt and uncle all went to Barden. The Bellas were around from the seventies until the mid-nineties. My mom showed me her yearbook. The weird flight attendant uniform was what the Bellas wore from the seventies up until the group disbanded in 1994.”
“Seriously?” asked Cynthia Rose. “I guess that’s why she wanted us to sing that old Ace of Base song. It was a big hit back then.”
“I was venting about the older songs to my mother last week, and she told me that Gloria Estefan released her own version of ‘Turn the Beat Around’ that year as well,” said Stacie.
“I’d bet money that this is the last set the old group performed,” said Cynthia Rose.
“Beca, you have to help us do something about this,” said Chloe.
“Me?” asked Beca. “What can I do about it?”
“Yeah, you,” said Chloe. “Play one of your mixes for Mrs. Junk.”
“I can try, but I’m not sure I’m going to convince her to change anything. Regionals are in two weeks.”
“Why don’t you show her after that competition is over?”
“Wait, what are these mixes?” asked Cynthia Rose.
Beca felt her cheeks turn pink. “I mix music for fun. Well, it’s for fun right now. I want to move to LA after graduation and produce music.”
“Can we hear some?” asked Stacie.
“I put a few up on SoundCloud recently. I’ll text the link to you guys if you want it.”
Beca couldn’t hide her grin when she saw that everyone in the group wanted to hear her music.
That night, Beca and Rory had dinner at home. Their dad had gotten home from work in time to cook for everyone.
“So, how was school today, girls?” he asked.
Beca was about to vent to her father about the horrible uniforms and old songs in the a cappella group, but Rory spoke first.
“We talked about families today. Did you know there are all different kinds of families?”
“What do you mean?” asked Sheila.
“Some kids have two mommies, and some kids have two daddies. And some kids have parents that live apart.”
Beca shot her stepmother a look, hoping for some sort of permission to tell Rory the truth about their family, but the woman continued to look directly at Rory.
“Mrs. Abernathy said that there are kids who live with aunts, uncles, or grandparents. And sometimes kids have stepmothers or stepfathers. And stepbrothers and stepsisters.”
Beca looked back and forth between her father and stepmother, but neither would make any eye contact with her.
She quietly asked to be excused from the table and headed straight to her room. She couldn’t listen to this conversation anymore. She heard her father ask Rory what stepmothers were, and she heard her rattle off what sounded like a correct definition.
She texted Chloe to see if she was available to talk. When she replied that she was, Beca called her on FaceTime.
“What’s up, Becs?”
“Dad and the stepmonster. I just can’t.” Beca groaned in frustration.
“What happened?”
“Rory told us at dinner that they’d had a lesson in school about different kinds of families. I looked at both of them, thinking that this is the moment I can stop this charade. Sheila is not my mother, and Rory is more than old enough to handle the truth. Anyway, neither one of them would look at me. I lost my appetite and asked to leave the table after that.”
“That sucks, Bec.”
“I know. My mom invited me to Seattle to see her for spring break. Now that I’m eighteen, I’m not restricted by the custody arrangements. I really want to go, but I know they’re going to use Rory as an excuse to tell me I can’t go.”
“You should go, Becs. They can’t tell you no; you’re an adult.”
“Yeah, but I still live ‘under their roof’ so I’m ‘under their rules.’” Beca used air quotes to emphasize how she felt hearing those words.
“What’s the worst they can do?” Chloe asked.
“They could force me to stay with my mom and finish high school there.”
“Would they do that? It seems a little extreme to me.”
Beca shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past them.”
“I still think you should go to Seattle. Spend some time with your mom. Maybe she can talk some sense into your dad, at least.”
“Maybe you’re right,” said Beca. “Thanks, Chlo. I’ll let you go. I’m sure we both have homework.”
“Sounds good. See you tomorrow, Beca.” Chloe blew a kiss toward the phone screen.
Beca “caught” the kiss and chuckled before ending the call. She wondered how Chloe had managed to turn her into such a cheeseball.
“Guess what I found out from my neighbor?” Denise asked as she came to the lunch table.
“Hi, Denise. What’s up?” asked Chloe, giving her a wink.
“Sorry about that. I’ve been ready to burst since last night!”
“Well, then, out with it,” said Cynthia Rose.
“So, I was babysitting for the people next door yesterday. They asked me about babysitting on the night of the regional competition. I explained why I was unavailable, and my neighbor said she was a Barden Bella in the early nineties. She graduated in 1994, as did the rest of the group. I guess they didn’t have enough people interested the following year. Anyway, she pulled out an old VHS of their last competition. It’s the same uniforms, the same songs, and the same choreography they did that year. Every single move, note, and formation. All of it. Cynthia Rose was spot on.”
The rest of the group exchanged looks at that comment, and several of them muttered about that being crazy.
“It gets even weirder, though. I saw Mrs. Junk in the video. I mean, she was younger, but there’s no mistaking her face. She’s basically teaching us her old set!” Denise exclaimed.
“What? I wonder why,” said Stacie.
“Maybe she couldn’t think of anything else,” said Aubrey.
“She should have told us,” said Chloe. “We totes could have helped.”
“We’ve got to say something to her,” said Cynthia Rose.
“Why don’t we wait until after the regionals? Assuming we make it past those,” said Beca. “We’re way too close to the competition to change anything right now.”
“You need to share your SoundCloud page with her, Beca,” said Stacie, and the others nodded in agreement. “I listened to all of your mixes. If we did something like that in an a cappella competition, the judges wouldn’t know what hit them.”
“I guess that depends on whether or not Mrs. Junk agrees.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Beca and Chloe agreed to keep their relationship as private as possible, although their lunch table group figured things out by the end of the Homecoming Dance. Beca wasn’t sure that her father and stepmother would understand, and neither of them wanted their younger sisters blurting out something to their kindergarten class.
By the time December rolled around, Beca and Rory were at the Beales’ after school nearly every day. They frequently stayed for dinner once Chloe’s mother discovered that the girls were eating Easy Mac or frozen pizza on the nights that their parents worked late. She tried to teach Beca some easy recipes, but Beca never felt confident enough to try any of them on her own.
One weekend, shortly before Christmas, the Mitchells invited the Beales to their home for dinner. Beca was relieved when she saw her stepmother come home with a premade frozen lasagna and some garlic bread for dinner. Her stepmother was almost as bad at cooking as Beca, but even she could heat up a premade dish in the oven. Her dad made a tossed salad, and he let Beca and Rory each choose a dessert from the bakery.
The Beales arrived on time, and Beca and Rory finally got to meet Chloe’s older brother Steve, who was home for the semester break. Beca thought he looked quite a bit like his sisters, although his hair was more of a brownish red. She was surprised when recognition showed on her father’s face upon meeting him.
“Hi, Steve! This is certainly a pleasant surprise.”
“Hey, Dr. Mitchell. I didn’t realize you were Beca and Rory’s dad,” he said. He then turned to his parents and sisters. “Dr. Mitchell was my comparative literature professor this past semester.”
Chloe’s mother said, “Hi! I’m Lynn. Steve spoke very highly of your class.” She shook Beca’s father’s hand.
“I’m Francis. Steve was an excellent student.”
Chloe and Annie’s father introduced himself as Joe; Steve and Francis began a conversation about some of the novels they’d discussed in his class. Beca followed her stepmother to the kitchen to help bring the dishes to the dining room.
The two families sat down to eat and enjoyed some light conversation. Beca was relieved that her father and Steve had finished their conversation about comparative literature. She’d already had enough of it in her AP English course lately.
As Beca was sipping her water, Rory asked, “Beca, if I kiss Annie, can she be my girlfriend, too?”
Beca spat her water across the table in surprise.
“What?”
“We saw you kissing last week,” said Annie.
“And we heard you two talk about being girlfriends,” added Rory.
Beca sat silently for a few beats before grabbing some napkins to clean up the mess.
“Is this what you two do while you’re at the Beales’ house?” asked Sheila, more than a bit of anger in her tone.
“No!” exclaimed Beca.
Rory seemed to sense that she’d said something wrong. “It was only once,” she said in a small voice.
“Beca, I guess the cat is out of the bag now,” said Chloe. “Yes, we’re girlfriends.”
“But you two are way too young for that,” said Lynn, winking at Annie and Rory.
Sheila opened her mouth to say something, but Beca saw her dad subtly shake his head at her.
“I’m glad I now know the reason my grumpy teenage daughter has been less so,” said Francis. “But, Rory, Miss Lynn is right. You and Annie are too young to date.”
“But you can still be best friends,” said Chloe, spotting the dejected looks on Rory’s and Annie’s faces.
“Well, I think it’s great that our girls are so happy,” said Joe. “The lasagna is excellent, Sheila. May I pass you my plate for another piece?”
Sheila’s cheeks turned pink as Beca stifled a snicker. She wasn’t about to tell anyone that the lasagna had been made by Stouffer’s.
Beca’s dad brought out the desserts. Rory had chosen brownies with M&Ms on them, and Beca had chosen a cherry pie, knowing that it was a favorite of Chloe’s.
The desserts were a hit. Once Rory and Annie cleaned their plates, they asked to be excused to Rory’s room.
Beca and Chloe stood from the table, and before they asked to be excused, Sheila exclaimed “But don’t you two head to Beca’s room!”.
“Oh my god,” said Beca, placing her hands over her face.
“We’ll head over to the den,” said Chloe. “I think some of the cable channels are showing a bunch of old Christmas specials.”
Chloe took Beca’s hand and led her to the den.
“That was so embarrassing,” said Beca. “I had no idea Rory and Annie saw us.”
“I thought I heard one of them giggle last week when we thought we were alone.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I guess our little sisters are sneakier than we thought. I glanced around afterward and didn’t see anyone. I thought I imagined it.”
“The stepmonster hates this. I just know it.”
“Your dad doesn’t seem to mind,” said Chloe.
“It doesn’t matter. Sheila does and says whatever she wants, and I’m supposed to deal with it.”
Chloe patted Beca’s arm. “I’m sorry. That sucks.”
“She’s such a pain in the ass. She was pregnant with Rory when I moved here, and she was adamant that I not tell Rory she’s my half-sister,” Beca said in a low voice. “I know it was her idea, and my dad just went along with it.”
“I hope he doesn’t in this case,” said Chloe, putting an arm around Beca and giving her a kiss on the forehead.
“It was bad enough that I ended up here. My mom got custody at first, but she was squandering all of the child support on dates with her stupid boyfriend. They’d be at some fancy restaurant, and all that would be in the house was some expired orange juice and maybe a jar of peanut butter. I called my dad one night crying about it, hoping he’d send my mom more money. He told me he’d been sending more than he was supposed to. I got upset and confronted my mom. She got mad at me for telling my dad, and I moved across the country a few months later.”
“Do you miss Seattle?”
“Sometimes. It was hard to move here, adjust to living with my dad and his new wife, and change schools. I was really angry with my mom at first, but now I understand she was going through something. I’m sure my dad leaving her for Sheila was awful for her. I wish she’d made a better choice, but she didn’t. She’s happily single now, and we really enjoy our month together in the summer. We talk a lot, too. I’m sure I’d spend more time with her if it didn’t cost so much to fly across the country.”
“I’m glad you two were able to work things out.”
Beca reached for the TV remote and flipped channels until she found a Christmas special. She spotted “The Year Without a Santa Claus.” Chloe declared this her favorite special, and it didn’t surprise Beca in the least that Chloe knew the Snow Miser/Heat Miser songs.
“You’re such a dork,” Beca said while smiling and laughing.
“But I’m your dork.”
Beca and Chloe exchanged a chaste kiss.
The Beales didn’t stay much later, wanting to get home to get Annie in bed at a reasonable hour. Beca sat in her room after they left, working on another music mashup.
Beca got up after a while and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She could overhear her father and stepmother in the next room.
“Sheila, what’s the big deal? Beca is dating a girl. And a rather nice one with a wonderful family, from what I’ve seen.”
“But, what about Rory? What kind of example is that for her? She already said she wanted Annie to be her girlfriend!”
“Look, Sheila, I went with you when you said that Beca shouldn’t tell Rory that they’re really half-sisters. But I’m going to put my foot down on this. Beca is my daughter. She’s happy and in love, and the gender of that person doesn’t bother me one bit!”
“What should we do about Rory?”
“She wants to imitate her sister. So what? We told her she could be Annie’s best friend and that she was too young to date anyone.”
“I just don’t think this is something she should parade in front of Rory.”
“She’s not parading,” said Beca’s dad. “Besides, I’d bet money that there’s at least one kid in Rory’s class who has same-sex parents.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Beca Mitchell/Chloe Beale
Characters: Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale, Stacie Conrad, Aubrey Posen, Fat Amy (Pitch Perfect), Emily Junk, Lilly Onakuramara, Jessica Smith (Pitch Perfect), Ashley Jones, Flo Fuentes, Cynthia-Rose Adams, Theo (Pitch Perfect), Kelly Clarkson, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Drug and Alcohol Abuse Mentioned
Summary:
The title is from the song of the same name. After signing with DJ Khalid, Beca’s first album skyrocketed her to fame. Everyone knows who she is, and she is in high demand. As time passes, expectations are high for Beca’s next album to succeed even more. Unfortunately, Beca isn’t as confident about that as everyone else, so she uses drugs and alcohol to get her through the long rough days. First, she goes to rehab, and once she completes the program, she sets about making amends with everyone she harmed while under the influence. Not sure how to approach them, Beca speaks to them the only way she knows how; through her music.
The song is used in the fic but not as the story, just a part of it where Beca sings it. You can find the song here if you wish to listen to it (it’s a really good song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1EwKwayzLM
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
By October, Beca and Rory found themselves on afternoon playdates with Chloe and Annie several times a week. They were usually at Chloe and Annie’s home because everyone preferred it that way. While Beca would say that the playdates were for Rory, she found herself looking forward to them just as much as Rory. She and Chloe had become fast friends themselves.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Beca went to school the next morning, and she happily remembered that this was one of the days that she had the “Barden Bellas” for her first period class. Beca was enrolled in the “Madrigal Singers” group, something she’d earned by auditioning back in the tenth grade. It was reserved for the top singers in the school, and Barden High frequently won the county championships. The “Barden Bellas” was new that year. Barden High’s a cappella group, the “Treblemakers” had won the national championship the prior year, but they only ever admitted males to the group. Mrs. Junk, one of the choir directors, insisted on another group. She suggested the name of the “Barden Bellas,” which would be a group for women. Mrs. Junk assured the students, however, that the group would be more inclusive, allowing transgender and non-binary students. She said they could always change the name if someone came up with a more inclusive idea.
Beca walked in, sat with the other members of the alto section, and immediately heard an enthusiastic, “Hi, Beca! I didn’t know you were in this group!”
She looked up to see Chloe seated in the soprano section. “Oh, hi. I didn’t know you were in this group, either.”
Chloe walked over and sat in an empty seat near Beca. “I just enrolled in this class. I dropped Introductory Russian.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Thanks go out to @bechloeislegit for being an awesome beta and bouncing ideas with me!
Beca Mitchell hastily parked her car on a side street near Barden Elementary and practically ran toward the kindergarten classroom. She’d been told to arrive early to get a parking spot, but she’d scoffed at the idea. She’d walked home from kindergarten when she’d been a little girl in Seattle accompanied by a neighbor who was in the fifth grade, and she’d done just fine. It seemed that now, twelve years later, everyone had to pick their child up at school. She wondered if Barden even had school buses.
She spotted Rory hugging a little girl with red curly hair. It was just like Rory to latch onto another kid and declare them her best friend. She’d done the same thing in preschool.
“Rory!” Beca exclaimed. “We need to go home.”
“But Annie is my new best friend,” argued Rory. “And my name is Aurora. I’m a big girl in kindergarten now.” Rory and Annie were hugging each other tightly, refusing to let go.
Beca rolled her eyes. “I’ve never called you Aurora before, and I’m not starting now. Come on!”
A redheaded girl who appeared to be about Beca’s age came running as well.
“Sorry I’m late, Annie,” she said. “I see you made a friend.”
“Aurora is my new bestest friend.”
“I see that, Annie, but we need to go.”
Beca and the other girl tried to separate the little ones, making them only hold tighter.
