Work Text:
Beca wasn't entirely sure how it had gotten into her backpack. Most likely she had swept it in with all her stuff after Bellas, she did tend to spread herself and her belongings out. It was a little black sketchbook, not even the size of a regular notepad. No name, nothing to give away its owner's identity. She opened it and was impressed by the caliber of the work. She wasn't exactly an artist, but these were some seriously good drawings. Some looked too intricate, too detailed to be pencil.
The first few were still life drawings, things and places. Then it progressed to people. The Bellas, mostly. A professor here, a random person walking through what Beca recognized as the quad there. But mostly Bellas. The mystery artist had captured the essence of Chloe's bubbly personality perfectly in her eyes. She'd nailed Stacie's perfect physique and playfulness, Cynthia Rose's easygoing smile, Amy's mirth. As she flicked through the rest of the pages, she realized she didn't see herself in any of them. She hit blank pages and stopped. That was weird.
She didn't know how to go about finding out who owned it. But she secretly wanted to know, because this girl had drawn every single Bella save for herself. She left it on her desk while she tried to work on a mix, but her curiosity got the better of her. She texted Chloe.
Hey Chlo, found a sketchbook jammed in with my stuff after Bellas. Any idea who the resident artist is? No name.
Then she waited a while, did a little mixing, until Chloe texted her back.
Yeah I know who it belongs to. Bring it to pizza night and I'll return it.
That was odd. She couldn't figure why Chloe wanted her to pass it on so she could return it. It belonged to one of the Bellas, didn't it? Why wouldn't she just tell her who so she could return it herself.
Just tell me who I'll take it back. Not busy. Her phone rang and she answered it.
"Chloe?"
"Yeah," she said. "Look, I can't tell you who owns that sketchbook."
"Why not? Clearly it's someone I know," Beca said.
"Yeah, but I know for a fact this person might be a little embarrassed about the contents of that book," she said.
"Is it yours?" Beca asked.
"Mine? No way," Chloe laughed. "I can barely get a recognizable stick man out."
"Well, I had a look through it and I can't see why anyone would be embarrassed, they're really good," she said.
"You obviously haven't looked at all of it," Chloe said.
"What do you mean? It's only like a third full," Beca said, confused.
"You haven't seen all of it," she said. "Just bring it tonight, okay?" She hung up and Beca was more confused than when she started. She picked it up again, and leafed through it. She didn't get what the big deal was. Then she turned it upside down to open it from the back, and her eyes widened in shock.
It was her.
It was an insanely good drawing, she could even admit that as the subject of the piece. She turned the page. Her again. She kept turning pages over. Almost thirty in all, and each of them was of her. Her at Bellas, her with headphones on, her with the girls. She sat there, openmouthed. What the hell did it mean? A third of the book was taken up with a wide array of people, a third was yet to be used and a full third of it was of her face. She called Chloe back immediately.
"You looked through it," she answered.
"I did," she said. "Tell me who it is. I gotta know Chloe. I need to know what it means that someone's been drawing my face over and over."
"Normally these sorts of things are pretty obvious," Chloe said. "But I can't."
"Are you saying that whoever this person is, they're into me?"
"I'd say that's a reasonable guess," Chloe said.
"Tell me who it is, Chloe," she insisted. "Don't you think I deserve to know who it is?"
"I can't," Chloe said. "I promised them I wouldn't, and I won't break that promise." It hit Beca all at once. There were two people that Chloe would insistently stand by above all others. One was herself. The other…
"Aubrey," Beca said. "Aubrey drew these?"
"What? No," Chloe said in an unconvincing tone.
"Holy shit," Beca said. "But – I mean… Seriously?"
"She's going to kill me," Chloe said. "Don't tell her I gave it away."
"Yeah, okay," she said. "I'll bring it back tonight." She hung up and stared at the closed book on her desk. Aubrey had been drawing her likeness in great detail. Aubrey was interested in her. It was almost ridiculous to think of. Aubrey Posen, Bellas captain, probable valedictorian, so stunningly gorgeous she could be a supermodel, had the whole entire world at her feet, Aubrey Posen, was interested in small town Washington, tattooed, so awkward it was almost painful, her.
It was something Beca hadn't considered before, mainly because there was nothing about Aubrey that didn't scream "way out of your league". But if Aubrey was interested, that changed things. She sat there for almost an hour before she decided to do something about it. She stood up and grabbed the notebook, jammed it into her bag and went in search of Aubrey. She knew she'd promised Chloe she wouldn't give her up but she'd understand.
She went to the apartment first, still with no real idea about what she was going to say. Chloe wasn't there, but Aubrey was.
"Chloe's not here," the blonde said. "She'll be back a little later."
"That's fine," Beca said. "I came to see you." Aubrey looked confused, but held the door open. Beca entered, noticing that Aubrey was wearing low slung yoga pants and a tank top with a sports bra underneath. She still looked like a supermodel to Beca, no makeup, hair out loose. It was almost unfair for a person to look that good for no reason. She gestured to the couch and Beca sat down.
"What's on your mind?" Aubrey asked. Beca withdrew the little black book from her bag and set it on the coffee table. Aubrey's cheeks lit up scarlet and her eyes dropped. "Oh. How did you get it?"
"I must have swept it in with all my crap after Bellas," Beca said. "I had all that sheet music on the piano and..."
"I don't really know what to say," Aubrey said. Beca couldn't believe it, Aubrey couldn't even look at her. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Beca said. "Aubrey, why on earth would you apologize for those drawings? You're really talented. I had no idea you could even draw like that."
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"Why aren't you doing a fine arts degree?" Beca asked.
"My dad thinks art is stupid," she said simply. "He says it has no place in the real world. The real world is for facts and logic, not emotions and creativity. There was no way he'd be paying for an art degree."
"Well, pardon my language, but your dad is a fucking moron," Beca said. "He obviously has no idea how talented you are. I was mesmerized by this book before I even saw the pictures of me."
"He has no idea I still draw. Are you angry?"
"No," Beca assured her. "Surprised? Yes. Also a little confused. Do you think you can tell me about it?"
"Honestly?" Aubrey said. She brought her leg up underneath herself. "I didn't think it would turn into a thing. I drew you and I really liked how it turned out. I kept drawing you and I realized it wasn't the drawing so much as the subject matter."
"So you're saying you're into me? I didn't even know you liked girls," Beca said.
"I like girls pretty exclusively," Aubrey said. She bit down on her lip before saying anything else. "When I'm drawing people I try and capture something about them."
"I noticed. You're good at recreating the essence of the girls on paper."
"It's easy to pick for most people. But with you..." she picked up the book and found a specific drawing. "This. You with your headphones on. Your eyes are closed and you've got this smile on your face. Not the sassy little smirk you like to throw out, but a real genuine smile. I swear I've never seen anything so beautiful, and I'm betting you don't even know how gorgeous you are." It was Beca's turn to blush.
"I wouldn't say I was gorgeous," she mumbled.
"But I would," Aubrey said. "I'm kind of hooked on waiting for those moments. The in between moments. Don't get me wrong, I like you all the time, but whenever I catch you like this it just knocks me out. Like if we hit a sweet spot in Bellas and it all really comes together you just grin and let your guard down for just a minute. Chloe's known about this for a while. She's been encouraging me to do something about it."
"I just-" Beca shook her head. "Don't you understand how far out of my league you are?"
"I'm pretty sure that's for me to determine," Aubrey said. "Cut to the chase, Beca. What did you come here for? If it was just to return my book, you could have given it to Chloe. You came to see me."
"I don't even know. I just had to know what it meant. I had to hear it from you."
"Well now you know. Would you, you know, consider dating girls to be an option?" Aubrey asked delicately. Beca looked up. Aubrey was looking at her almost hopefully.
"Well... yeah, dude, I'm gay," Beca said. "And yes you're incredible, but I never figured for a second you'd be interested in me. It's insane, you're like this unattainable girl, but here you are telling me that you think I'm gorgeous."
"I do, though," Aubrey said plainly. "I think you're gorgeous. I can barely keep my eyes off you, in case the dozens of sketches didn't give it away. And I'm not unattainable, to you. If that's something you want. And right now, if it's okay, I'd really like to kiss you." She didn't move until Beca nodded her head just a fraction. She moved closer, and Beca felt her heart begin to thud. This was crazy. Surely Aubrey would pull away.
But then their lips touched and the nagging in her head was silenced. There weren't any fireworks or explosions or shooting stars. Just a heat that travelled from her lips and coursed through her entire body. Beca realized she'd forgotten to breathe and now she was running out of oxygen. But she really didn't want to stop, because Aubrey was as skilled with her mouth as she seemed to be with everything else. Aubrey pulled back a moment.
"Was that alright?" Instead of responding, Beca pulled her in again and the blonde fell on top of her. They shifted together to get comfortable, not letting the other go. Beca's arms slid around Aubrey's neck as the kiss intensified. Aubrey was propping herself up with one as the other ran up her ribs. Her tongue curled into Beca's mouth, her teeth nipped at her lip between kisses, her breath ran hot against Beca's own. Beca let out a moan as they pressed closer to each other.
Beca's hands moved, sliding up into Aubrey's top. The sports bra provided little challenge and Beca was soon grasping her breast. Aubrey reached a hand up and yanked her tank off, then momentarily sat up to take the bra off and toss it aside.
"Chloe," Beca said, eyes locked on her chest. Aubrey looked at her blankly.
"I... What?" she said, a look of disbelief crossing her face. "Seriously?"
"No, Chloe will be here soon," Beca clarified, looking back up into her face. "We were supposed to hang out. She probably doesn't want to see this."
"Let's take it to my bedroom," she said. "Chloe will get the picture. She's been hoping for this almost as much as I have." She extended a hand to the brunette, tugging her up and into a steamy kiss. She didn't even notice that the blonde had undone her shirt until she was pulling it off and dropping it on the floor. Beca let herself be pulled into the bedroom and undressed by an impatient Aubrey, onto the bed and back into her arms.
Later, when they were worn out and starving, Beca put one of Aubrey's Barden U shirts on and headed for the kitchen.
"Hey Aubrey!" she called. Aubrey appeared in the sports bra and a pair of tiny briefs. Beca pointed to the counter.
Heard some VERY loud noises coming from the bedroom. Decided to hang out with Stace instead, took the pizza, sorry! I'll be back tomorrow.
PS - Finally! :)
"So it's safe to say she knows," Beca said.
"Are you mad?" Aubrey asked.
"I'm only mad that she didn't leave us some pizza," Beca said. "I'm fucking starving." Aubrey smiled and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl from behind. Her lips found Beca's neck, the smaller girl tilting her head to give her more room.
"We can just order our own," she said. Her tongue flicked out and grazed a spot under her ear. Beca shuddered and promptly turned, pushing Aubrey up against the fridge.
"Later," she said.
The next morning Beca woke in an unfamiliar bed. She sleepily opened one eye and remembered what had happened last night. She turned and saw Aubrey sitting up, little black book propped against her knees, pencil working in swift strokes.
"What are you drawing?" Beca asked.
"You," Aubrey said with a shrug. She tilted it so Beca could see. It was her right now, blankets somewhere below her shoulder blades, hair askew and tattoo visible on her shoulder. Beca took the book from her and studied it.
"I still can't believe you've been drawing me."
"I still can't believe you're in my bed," Aubrey countered. "Which brings up an awkward conversation."
"Like what is this?" Beca asked. Aubrey nodded.
"You know where I'm at," Aubrey said. "What about you?"
"Honestly I'd never considered it because you're... well, you, and I'm me. But figuring out that you were interested, well... I'm not promising I'm going to be any good at the dating thing, but I would be absolutely out of my fucking mind if I didn't admit that I want to try."
"So we're dating?" Aubrey asked with a hopeful smile.
"I should hope so, I don't normally spend an entire night having really amazing sex with just any random," Beca said. Aubrey kissed her, tongue driving into her mouth with teasing pressure. "One condition."
"What's that?" the older girl asked.
"I don't care if you draw me like you were doing just now, but I do care about who sees it," she said. "If you're going to draw me in bed, you're the only one who gets to look at those drawings. I get that it's art, and it's fucking good art, but it's still my body."
"Deal," Aubrey said pulling the smaller girl toward her. "Guess I'll have to be more careful about where I leave my little black book."