Pitch Black

-5-

The next few days were busy since the Bellas are joining an A Cappella competition with their goal to hopefully perform at Lincoln Stage so they're all focused on their rehearsals.

"Hey, I heard the Treblemakers are joining the regional competition too." I told Chloe while we were both busy with school works. Yes, I still take my classes seriously even if I basically memorize everything they teach here at Barden U.

"Oh, they always join which Aubrey hates. She just hates the Trebles so much that she made it an oath that no one in the Bellas are allowed to have a romantic relationship with any of the Trebles."

"Wow. She hates them that much? Did she have an ugly past with one of the---" I was cut off when my phone's ringtone echoed. I checked the caller ID and saw that the one calling is Beca. Speak of the devil.

"Sorry, I gotta take this." I pushed the answer button and put the phone in my ear. "Hey, Becs. What's up? Why are you not home yet? It's already getting dark." I said.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, I went to the mall and bought some stuffs. It's raining hard and I forgot to bring my umbrella. Can you come pick me up? I don't think the rain is gonna stop anytime soon." I can sense the utter disappointment in her voice which made me chuckle.

"Alright. I'll be there in 15 minutes. I'll meet you at Starbucks, 'kay?" She let out a cute 'yay" as she said okay and reminded me to drive safe.

"Was that Beca? Where is she?"

"She's at the mall. Shawshank forgot to bring her umbrella and it's raining hard. I'm gonna go pick her up. Wanna come with?" I asked as I stood up and fixed my notes and books.

"Nah. I'll pass. I don't wanna be the 3rd wheel in your sudden date. You two kids have fun." She winked at me which made me scoff a bit.

"What date are you talking about? I'm just gonna go pick her up and go home with her, dude. You are all having the same thoughts. There's nothing between me and Beca. Now, if you'll excuse me, Ms. Ginger." I teased Chloe and grabbed my car keys, extra jacket and an umbrella big enough for two people.

I drove off as soon as I texted Beca I'm on my way to pick her up. She replied within just a matter of seconds saying she's waiting at Starbucks already. The drive took less than 10 minutes. And I found a parking spot just near the entrance of the mall. I made sure everything is well secured before walking into the mall.

I roamed my eyes around the mall as I make my way to Starbucks, seeing cute little kids running around with their older sisters or brothers, and even lovers around me. 

I reached my destination and as soon as I enter, the sweet smell of coffee indulged my sense of smell. I saw Beca sitting at the corner of the cafe, tinkering with her laptop. She looked so cute in her current state that I had to take my phone out and snap a quick few shots of her. Satisfied with the number of her stolen photos on my phone, I walk up to her and said 'hey' to get her attention which didn't work, so I decided to poke her cheeks which worked well since she almost screamed by the sudden touch I did, making me chuckle.

"Jackass. You scared the s**t out of me." She said with her right hand on her chest. "Hehe, sorry. I called for your attention the first time but you didn't turn to me so I decided to do that which worked in an almost crowd attracting way." I chuckled while she just rolled her eyes.

I called the attention of a waiter which to my surprise was one of our clients from the past, Grace Smith. Guess she still recognized me cause she happily went to our table keeping her smile.

"Miss Lee! Long time no see! I haven't seen you since 3 years ago after that mi---" I immediately cut her off before she can even finish and spill IU's and my real lives.

"It's nice to see you too, Grace. I'll have my usual coffee and siders. How about you, Becs?" I turned to Beca who seemed to be confused and curious about what just happened and what Grace was about to say. "Uhm, I'll have the same thing HaEun ordered." she said as soon as she snapped back to reality.

"Great, I'll be back with your orders in 5 minutes." Grace excused herself, making me sigh in relief quietly. If she stayed longer, our jobs are basically over.

"You two seemed to know each other well. She mentioned she hasn't seen you since 3 years ago after that mi---, well she didn't finish what she was gonna say since you cut her off. What was she trying to say?" Ah, s**t. I knew she'll ask me about this.

"Oh that was nothing. She was pertaining to that mini-tour I gave her when she visited Korea 3 years ago. Nothing really big deal with that."

"Hmm. I see." She plainly answered as she returned her attention to her laptop. I observed her as she continued to "focus" on whatever she's doing on her laptop, her aura suddenly changed from that happy-to-see-you to a doesn't-give-a-f**k-about-your-presence-in-front-of-her.

A few moments passed by and our orders already came. 2 cups of black coffee with a slice of red velvet cake as the siders. "Here are your orders. Let me know if you need anything else." Grace smiled at us.

"Thank you, Grace. We're all set." I responded and she left and went back to serving tables.

"You know, if you wanna pretend you're busy with something on your laptop, at least make sure I can't see the reflection from the mirror behind you." I plainly said as I took a sip from my cup.

Beca looked behind her and let out a slightly loud 'tch' as soon as she realized I knew all along she was just scrolling on her f*******: Newsfeed.

"okay, Mitchell. Spill it. You've been acting weird after Grace approached me and talked to me. You were also looking at her like you're ready to kill her after she served our orders. What's with that? Were you jealous?" I joked.

"Damn no. Hell no." She immediately answered which took me by surprise. "I mean... why would I be? You're not my girlfriend, I don't like you like that and you don't like me like that either. So why should I get jealous?" She explained and I somehow felt a slight sting in my heart after hearing her say she don't like me like that.

"Chill girl, I was just kidding. And besides, Grace is married. An unhappy one if I may add."

"What? How would you know if you haven't even seen her even once for the past 3 years?"

"The mark on her left finger indicates there used to be a wedding ring on that area, the tanned lines of the ring is still quite visible which means, she just removed the ring from her finger 2 weeks ago, tops. And if you're gonna ask where's her wedding ring, the ring is on her necklace. Instead of throwing it away, she kept it and used it as a necklace pendant instead. Which means, even if she's unhappy with her marriage, she still loves her husband which is why she can't throw the ring away." I explained as I took another sip of coffee and looked at Beca who is basically shocked with my observations.

"How can you tell so much with just that short time she was here at our table?" She asked, still in shock making me chuckle. "I'm just too observant, Becs. Too observant that sometimes I can end up giving a deduction about a certain person or matter just by observing them for a few seconds." I said.

------

We were about to leave when suddenly a group of masked men barged into the shop, pointing guns at everyone.

"NO ONE MOVE! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!" One of them, which I assume is their leader yelled. Everyone followed right away including Beca. Well... everyone including Beca but except me. I just remained on my seat with my left leg over my right leg and just boredly looked at the hostage takers. I intentionally let out a loud and bored sigh, getting the attention of their leader.

"ARE YOU DEAF LADY!? I SAID HANDS IN THE AIR!!" He pointed his g*n at me.

"Well... yeah, I heard you. But you did say no one move so I didn't put my hands in the air cause that will be considered as moving." I said.

"Are you trying to be a hero by being a smartass, lady?! You want your companion to get hurt?!" He put the edge of his g*n on my forehead. I still didn't move.

"Oh no, no. Nothing of that sort. You're just really stupid. Probably even the dumbest person in this shop right now." I smiled. Intimidated, he attempted to swing his hand to hit me in the face but I kicked his knee, pushing it back and making him fall as he scream in agony.

His minions charged at me. I sighed once again. "And I thought their leader is the only dumb person here." I stood up and grabbed the chair I was sitting on and slammed it on one of them, breaking the chair, leaving me with the two stands. Using it as my only weapon of defense.

Each one of the hostage takers fell down unconscious after trying to pin me down and 'avenge' their leader.

"Next time, if you wanna scare people for a very long time, try using something else rather than a toy g*n that you can buy from Toy Kingdom or Toys R Us." I said as I grabbed my wallet, left some cash and note on the table saying 'Sorry for breaking a chair' and grabbed Beca's hand and walked out of the shop and went straight to the mall's exit. Seeing that the rain has finally stopped, we didn't use the umbrella anymore and just went straight to the car.

As soon as we were both in the car, Beca almost threw herself at me as she let out a cry. I know she was scared the whole time when the hostage taking happened but I never knew she was this scared that she would end up crying so loud.

"Hey, Becs. It's okay now. We're safe. You're safe." I gently whispered in her ear as I stroke her long hair and rubbed her back.

"I was worried as hell when he pointed that g*n at you. I really thought something bad will happen to us." She said between her cries.

"Hey... I'll never let anything bad happen to you or to any of the Bellas, okay? I promise. And I'll never do that stunt if I knew they were using real guns. I told you, I'm too observant. I'll protect you with my whole life. You and the girls." I hugged her back until her cries died down.

Once her cries died down, I suddenly heard soft snores. I blinked a couple of times. Did she just...? I looked down to her to see if I was right. Beca's eyes are closed, and she's letting out soft and cute snores. Yep, Beca Mitchell just fell asleep while hugging me. I chuckled and tried to wake her up but her hug on me just became a bit tighter than earlier. I just set the car into auto transmission instead so I can still drive home properly even if she's hugging me. My right arm wrapped around her shoulder while my left hand is on the stirring wheel. I called IU to let them know what happened and that we're both fine and now on the way home. The rest of the Bellas let out a huge sigh of relief after I assured them that we're both fine.

I pulled over our garage and called one of the Bellas to take Beca's stuffs while I carry her to our room. Emily and Cynthia Rose went to help with her stuffs. I placed Beca down to her side of the bed and slowly went out of the room. The rest are already in their rooms and 

Emily and CR bid me good night as soon as we're out of our room. I went downstairs and went straight to the kitchen, only to find IU making two cups of coffee.

We both sat down at our dining table and talked about something serious.