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Aubrey's eyes look up from her book when she hears the door shut. No music coming from Beca's phone or her humming something from work.
"Beca?" she calls out. She is on the couch reading a novel for fun. No legal briefs or case notes for once.
Beca's voice comes up from the entryway of the brownstone. "Yeah, Bree, it is me." She drops her keys in the bowl by the door and comes up the stairs. Her, Aubrey, and Chloe had been living together for a little over a year and two months ago Chloe and Aubrey had confessed feelings for Beca.
They have gone out on a few dates, all three of them, which have gone really well. She had feelings for Aubrey and Chloe long before they had confessed how they felt to her. Longer than she had yet to admit out loud to them. They had sat her down one night when she had gotten home from work to tell her how they felt. They had agreed to take things slow due to Beca feeling apprehensive about joining a couple that had been together for three years.
The second Beca comes up the stairs Aubrey can definitely tell something is off. Beca's posture is stiff, tight, stressed out. She has dark circles under her eyes and her brows pinched together. And she is fiddling with her fingers and hands nervously. She puts aside her book and almost pulls Beca into her arms. But she hesitates, their relationship is still new. Beca didn't always want to be touched when she was upset or having difficulty. She knew how to comfort Chloe; Beca still caused hesitation.
"Chloe texted she is going to be late," Aubrey tells Beca.
Beca bites her lip and mumbles, "Yeah, she texted me. I am going to change."
Aubrey nods, eyes following Beca as she heads to her room. She lifts her book again, though she ends up staring at the same paragraph without taking in a single word. Beca had not moved into their room yet and Chloe nor her pushed. They wanted Beca to go at her own pace.
Ten minutes later, Beca comes back out in a soft pair of shorts and a tank top. Her body is still tight, her eyes darting, her hands restless.
Aubrey hesitates, then quietly asks, "You okay Beca?"
Beca nods. "I just...am a bit anxious tonight."
Aubrey’s expression changes — surprise flashing across her face before it settles into quiet concern. She sees her shifting her weight from foot to foot. She gives her a small warm smile and pats the couch. "Come sit next to me."
Beca hovers awkwardly before sitting down, immediately picking at her fingers and shifting in place.
"Did something happen today?" Aubrey asks.
Beca shakes her head. "Not really no."
A few minutes of silence settles between them.
"Beca, you can tell me to mind my own business but do you take something for anxiety?" Aubrey questions gently when Beca still is fidgeting with her eyes darting around the room.
"I haven't before," Beca starts then stops. "But I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago...."
"Okay, did they have some suggestions?" Aubrey probes.
"I am allergic to SSRIs, so the normal prescriptions don't work," Beca explains. She chews on her lip and looks away scared to tell Aubrey what the doctor had suggested.
Aubrey, seeing Beca's hesitation, reaches out and strokes Beca’s cheek. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. No judgment, darling.”
"She suggested maybe trying a THC gummy if I was feeling particularly anxious," Beca whispers, attempting to avoid eye contact.
"Okay, not unheard of, did they have any recommendations on brand, how much to take, or where to get them?" Aubrey questions.
Beca squirms again. "I already kind of got some. Chloe knows I have them because she took me to get some after the doctor's appointment."
Aubrey's eyebrows shoot up. "Okay, so you are obviously anxious enough you are considering taking one tonight."
"Yes," Beca breathes out in response. "Chloe doesn't want me taking them alone for the first time, probably ever, she says they can lower inhibitions at times."
Aubrey nods. "That is true from what I know. She probably doesn't want anyone to use it to their advantage. Chloe worries."
Beca turns slightly to give Aubrey a small smile. "Yes, she does."
"It can also cause increased anxiety, raise your heart rate and blood pressure, make you dizzy, or cause disorientation." Aubrey smiles back.
When Beca doesn't say anything, she continues, "If you want to take one, darling, you can always sit with me."
"What if I get weird? Or experience those things you said can happen.” Beca looks nervous shifting her weight. Keeping her gaze down.
"Then we will deal with it. I'll be with you the whole time."
Beca looks thoughtful for a few minutes still feeling anxious. "Okay, I want to." She gets up and goes to the cupboard above the fridge. She grabs the tin, opens it up and takes one. Then she walks back to the couch and sits back down next to Aubrey.
"How long does it take to kick in?" she asks.
"It can depend. Have you eaten today?" Aubrey answers as she quirks an eyebrow. She knew Beca sometimes would skip lunch if she was deep into a recording session with an artist or was in a groove with her own mixing.
Beca nods. "Yeah, I ate a sandwich at lunch with Emily but nothing really since then."
"That could affect it a little." Aubrey gets up and goes to the kitchen. She fills a glass of water and hands it to Beca.
"Drink some of this."
Beca takes a small sip and then hands it back to Aubrey.
Aubrey sets the glass on the end table.
Beca squirms a bit and then finally scoots a bit closer to Aubrey, not touching but the space between them shrinks. She lets out a heavy sigh.
Fifteen minutes later, she sort of starts to drift closer to Aubrey leaning towards her.
Aubrey smiles and carefully puts her arm around Beca's shoulder giving her an option to move away if she wants.
Beca's heart starts to race and her face becomes flushed. She squirms, feeling a little funny.
"You okay?" Aubrey asks softly when she feels Beca start to squirm against her.
Beca shakes her head trembling a little. "I just feel funny. My heart is racing. And I feel a bit warm."
"Okay, take a couple of deep breaths. It is alright," Aubrey runs her fingers up and down Beca's back.
Beca nods shakily, eyes squeezed shut as she tries to match Aubrey’s slow inhale. The first breath comes out ragged. The second is a little steadier. By the third, her shoulders start to loosen, the trembling in her hands easing bit by bit.
"That's it, in and out sweetheart," Aubrey whispers softly. "Just relax, I got you."
Beca buries into Aubrey, letting out a shaky sigh. Her heart rate slowly starts to slow feeling her body sink further into Aubrey's.
"You smell good," she whispers a few minutes later.
Aubrey smiles and kisses the top of her head. "Thank you." She looks down and notices that Beca's eyes are starting to glaze over.
Beca jumps when the door slams shut. She looks around panicking for a moment.
"Shhhhh, it is alright. It is just Chloe coming home from work," Aubrey whispers in her ear. She pulls her back into her.
Chloe comes up the stairs and sees Beca sprawled across Aubrey. Her cheeks are red. Her eyes are glazed. And Aubrey is stroking up and down Beca's spine in a soothing manner.
She looks at Aubrey and gives a confused look.
"She took a THC gummy tonight. I have been with her the whole time. She had a little bit of a racing heart and some panic, but now it seems to have settled her," Aubrey explains to their girlfriend.
Chloe looks at Beca. "You okay, baby?"
Beca nods—her body now moving at a glacial pace due to the gummy slowing her movements and reactions to things. She lets out a small whimper, "I'm hot."
Chloe nods and moves towards both of them on the couch. "That can happen sometimes, your face is flushed. Do you have something under your hoodie?"
Beca, not answering verbally, sits up and starts to try to pull her hoodie over her head.
When Aubrey and Chloe realize she is wearing a sports bra underneath they move to help her a bit. After the hoodie has been fully pulled off, Beca sighs at the cool air hitting her bare skin. Her shoulders drop.
Beca leans back into both of them letting out a small giggle.
Chloe grins at the carefree sound. "How you feeling there, champ?"
"Good, just thinking how gorgeous and sexy my two girlfriends are," Beca says giggling.
Aubrey shakes her head. "You are gorgeous to Becs."
"I'll give you cute, but like between your legs and Chloe's breasts, it doesn't get more gorgeous than that." Beca is babbling now.
"Oh my," Chloe exclaims. "She must be feeling that if she is talking about breasts and legs now."
"Ohhhh, I have many things I could confess to," Beca giggles again.
Aubrey and Chloe give each other a look over the top of Beca's head. It was so cute to see their friend and hopefully soon official girlfriend let loose a bit.
"Like for example I could tell you I was the one who hid Aubrey's Barry Manilow CD and kept deleting all of his songs off of her Spotify. I couldn't do it anymore. Over and over again." Beca shakes her head scrunching her nose in disgust.
Aubrey playfully swats Beca's arm. "BECA! I had to re-add those every time you deleted them."
"My ears appreciated the break." Beca giggles. "Plus Chloe helped me."
"CHLOE!" Aubrey turns to look at Chloe with a glare.
Chloe puts her hands up in mock defense. "No regrets, babe, it had to happen." She runs her fingers through Beca’s hair and smiles when Beca leans into the touch, eyes fluttering sleepily.
“I don’t say it enough, but I appreciate you both in my life. More than I possibly can say,” Beca softly says.
She nuzzles further into Aubrey pushing in tight.
"We like having you around to Becs," Chloe says softly. She tucks some hair behind Beca's ear and leans down to kiss her cheek.
"Chloe is right, we love having you around," Aubrey echoes kissing the top of Beca's head. "Despite this being new, you being with us feels right."
Beca tears up her emotions hitting her harder. "Can I sleep with you guys tonight?"
Chloe furrows her brow. "Of course, you can, why couldn't you?"
"Because I haven't before, and I wasn't sure if you would want me there," Beca says softly biting her lip.
Aubrey sighs softly. "Oh, darling, of course we want you there. We just didn't want to push you. We wanted you to make that decision."
Beca's eyes flutter again tiredly fighting sleep.
"Bed time, let's go," Chloe tells them standing up.
Beca stands up swaying a bit. "Whoa."
"Careful there, champ." Chloe wraps her arm around Beca's waist.
Aubrey gets up and takes her other side.
Both Chloe and Aubrey settle Beca in the middle of the bed and each crawl to one side of her.
Beca latches back onto Aubrey laying her head on her chest. Chloe smiles and turns to place a hand on Beca's hip.
A few minutes later all three drift off to sleep.
The next morning, Beca stirs nuzzling against something warm. She stretches and opens her eyes realizing she is still laying on Aubrey.
She yawns and stretches feeling Chloe against her back.
“Morning, baby,” Aubrey whispers.
“Morning,” Beca croaks out.
They both hear Chloe groan. “Why are we all awake so early on a day none of us work?”
“Sorry, Chlo,” Aubrey giggles. “But you’ll survive. Your girlfriends want to spend the day with you, not spend the day watching you sleep.”
Beca freezes. “Girlfriends? As in plural?”
Aubrey smiles. “I think that is what I said. Unless either of you have any objections to that?”
Chloe squeals suddenly wide awake. “You’ll find no objections from me.”
Beca looks serious. “Are you guys sure? Like absolutely sure? We have only been on a few dates.
“Yes, we are sure, Beca,” Chloe says seriously.
Beca takes a breath. “Okay because like I said last night, stoned, yes, but I meant it, you both mean a lot to me. More than I tell people sometimes.”
“We know, and we like all of you, Beca, not just the perfect parts of you,” Aubrey reassures her.
“If you are sure, really sure, I would love to be your girlfriend,” Beca meets both of their eyes with the start of tears in hers.
Chloe cups Beca’s cheek. “Nothing would make us happier.”
Aubrey smiles nodding her agreement. She soothingly strokes Beca’s back. “Chloe is right. We want you with us. Permanently.”
Chloe can’t resist blurting out, “So? all three of us are together now? Officially?”
“Yes, Chloe, all three of us are together now,” Beca answers. She snuggles back into both of them sighing contently.