Chapter Text
beca doesn't hate her job. she really doesn't. she does find it kind of ironic that she, of all people, is working at the movie theater when she can't even sit through a whole movie without falling asleep. but beca's always been a fan of irony.
it's not even that bad, really. she always works the closing hours on week days, so there's almost never that many people around. plus, her co-worker, cynthia-rose, is pretty chill and never bothers her too much. beca even considers her her first real friend. they trade responsibilities, eat left-over popcorn and cover for each other when they can't come to work or have to leave early. sometimes they even make bets, like which movie each person in line is going to watch, or how long it will take for jesse, a goofy boy who comes religiously every monday at 9pm, to realize that beca's not interested in having any of his aca-children, as he keeps calling them. beca thinks three more days of rejection will do the trick. cynthia-rose goes for a month.
"hey, man," cynthia-rose taps beca's shoulder, making her turn around. she quirks her eyebrow with a questioning look as she takes off her headphones. "so, the last movie ends in about 20 minutes. can you clean and close up? i really gotta go."
"what is it this time?" beca frowns. "cause if you're going to that gambl-"
"nah, chill, it's not that", cynthia-rose waves it off. "i just got myself a date and i don't want to be late."
"you just got yourself a date at," beca checks the time on the little clock at the top of her computer screen, "11:43 on a tuesday?"
cynthia-rose winks at her and, okay. so not really a date. maybe more like a booty call.
"okaaaay." beca saves the mix she's working on and closes her computer. "sure, i can clean and close up. have fun on that date of yours."
"i sure will," cr wiggles her eyebrows before making her way out of the movie theater.
"gross," beca mumbles as she stands up.
they've cleaned almost everything already, so she only has to make sure everyone leaves and clean up after the mess they leave on their seats.
she heads over to the projection room and watches the ending of la la land for the fourth time that week. she doesn't really mind. for a musical rom-com, the soundtrack isn't half bad. not to mention the ending had actually surprised her. the end credits go by fast and beca turns the projector off when they're done. she waits two more minutes and makes her way downstairs.
she figures everyone must have left already.
she's proved wrong when she enters the room with the cleaning equipment.
a red-haired girl is sitting in the middle of the room, popcorn all over her lap, crying like a kid who just found out santa claus isn't real. beca doesn't really know what to do. this hasn't happened to her before. people always leave when the credits start to roll. they don't stay on their seats. never. even if they're crying.
she's never liked the part of her job that requires her to talk to people. she feels awkward. selling tickets and food is different, she just repeats the same thing over and over. it's not really talking. what she doesn't like is when people complain or when she has to tell someone to be quiet or kick them out.
not wanting to deal with it, she hopes that if the girl sees her cleaning she'll get the hint and leave. so, she starts cleaning the room, growing impatient when she realizes the girl isn't leaving. she's done in fifteen minutes, but the ginger is still there. the cries have died down a bit, but she's still sobbing and hasn't moved an inch.
beca sighs as she moves towards the center of the room and into the aisle the girl's sitting on. she dreads the interaction already.
"um..." she starts, but the girl doesn't look at her. "okay, dude, so i'm sorry for whatever happened to you. but i really need to clean your seat and close the theater so i can go home."
red hair waves around as the girl looks up to lock eyes with beca. she can't deny she's a bit shocked at how gorgeous this girl is, even after ugly crying for a half hour. her blue eyes are swollen, but they're still the most beautiful eyes beca's ever seen in her entire life. whoa, whoa, no. she did not just think that.
"so..." beca says after a minute of awkward silence.
the redhead keeps staring at her, and she doesn't look like she's planning on talking or leaving anytime soon. beca sighs again. she sits down next to the ginger and prepares herself for what's to come from the words she'd rather not say.
"um... okay,” she stutters. she really doesn’t want to do this. “so... are you, like, okay?"
but the girl remains quiet, and, really, beca should be getting kind of annoyed. after all, she gets annoyed by almost everything. but there's something in this girl, and for some reason she doesn't like seeing her like this. so, before she can contain herself, she starts talking again.
"was it the ending of the movie? cause i personally thought that it only having music really made it stand out from like, other movies and stuff. and it made it a lot more emotional, ‘cause that's what music does, you know?" a hint of a smile starts to grow on the girl's face. she nods, a new spark in her eyes at the mention of music, encouraging beca to keep talking. she really doesn't know why she does. "plus, i couldn't really predict it. and i liked that. i don't really like movies cause it's so easy to know how they're gonna end, you know? but not this one."
by the time she's done with her little rant, the redhead is no longer sobbing and is just smiling at her widely. she looks at beca's eyes and just doesn't say anything.
"so, um..." beca breaks the silence again. this must be a new record. she's always the one trying to maintain them. she tells herself it's for the sake of going home, but deep down she knows it's not just that. "was it the movie?" the redhead shakes her head. "okay, so what happened?"
"i-" she starts.
her voice is raspy, probably because she hasn't talked in a while and because of the ugly crying. still, beca finds it oddly attractive. ugh. she needs to stop thinking these things.
the girl coughs and takes a deep breath.
"i found out this morning that i have nodes."
beca looks at her for a few seconds before mumbling her confusion.
"...what?"
"and now i am limited," the ginger keeps going, looking away at the screen in front of them for a moment. keeps going as if beca understands everything she's saying, when that couldn't be further from the truth. "because i have nodes."
her voice breaks a little at the last word, and before beca knows it, the girl's pushing up the armrest that separates them, hiding her face in the crook of her neck and sobbing again. warning sirens and red lights start going through beca's head, screams about personal boundaries and how this girl is not respecting them at all. but she can't find it in herself to tell the girl to back off, so she pats her arm awkwardly and thinks about what she can possibly do now.
she doesn't know how to comfort people. this really isn't her thing. when her dad left, she taught herself how to cook and started making dinner for her mom. when cynthia-rose broke up with her girlfriend, she offered to cover for her for a few days and started their tradition of making up dumb bets. she doesn't do comfort. she doesn't know how to. she just does things to show that she cares, but she doesn't talk about her problems or anyone else's problems. ever.
the problem is, she doesn't know the girl that's crying on her shoulder. she doesn't know her, so she doesn't know how to show her concern. maybe she should start by knowing what the hell this girl is talking about.
"what are nodes?" beca blurts out after what feels like an eternity. she cannot believe she’s purposefully engaging in conversation with another human being.
the girl shifts a little on her shoulder, resting her head on it so that her voice is heard.
"vocal nodules," she answers. "they sit on your windpipe and they crush your dreams."
well, it seems like this girl is pretty much set on giving her nothing.
"okay," beca sighs. "i’m sorry, but i really don't know what the hell you're talking about."
"i sing in an acapella group."
"oh, right," she decides to keep the conversation going even if she doesn't understand anything. talking keeps the girl from crying. "so that's like, a thing now."
"oh, totes! we sing covers of songs but we do it without any instruments. it’s all from our mouths."
"yikes," Beca whispers. the girl completely ignores her.
"my doctor says i need to have surgery. but that will probably affect my vocal range," she shakes her head. "so, i thought maybe if i came to the movies i would forget about how this could be the end of my acapella career and i just-"
"wait, wait, wait," beca stops her. the girl looks up at her this time. "you're telling me, that you found out this morning you have nodes." the girl nods. "so, you came to the movies to forget about how you can't sing," she keeps nodding, "and you decided to watch la la land?" she stops. "the acclaimed musical la la land?"
the girl's eyes widen at the realization.
"okay, so maybe i chose the wrong movie for this occasion."
beca rolls her eyes but can't help but smile.
"you think?"
the girl smiles back at her.
"okay, so i totally did," she giggles, moving back to her own seat. beca tries not to think about how she's totally craving the touch of this stranger, because she is beca mitchell, and she doesn't do touching. the redhead covers her face and wipes away the tears. "i'm sorry, about all this," she signals herself. "you must think i'm crazy."
"it's okay, happens all the time," beca tries to brush it off, getting a sincere smile in response.
"does it really?"
"actually, no," beca laughs. "no, it does not."
the redhead shoves her lightly with her shoulder as she joins in. but the laughter dies down in a couple of seconds and then they're just left in the quiet, stealing glances at each other from time to time. and, really, this should be awkward, given that's basically how everything in beca's life is. but it's not. she's never been this comfortable with someone this fast.
she blames it on the fact that it's past midnight and she's had a really long day.
(she knows that’s not true.)
beca's brought back to reality by another small shove on her shoulder and she looks up to see a pair of swollen blue eyes staring at her.
"i'm sorry," the girl says, a guilty look on her eyes. "i really didn't mean to keep you here for so long."
"i'm pretty sure you already said that," beca responds, raising her eyebrows.
"i know," the girl chuckles. "i just wanna make sure you know i mean it," she stops for a second and smiles before saying, "beca."
beca's never really been a fan of her name, not even the short version she goes by, but the way it sounds coming from the girl's voice is making her change her mind about that. that's the main reason it takes her so long to realize this stranger just called her by her name. the confusion must be written all over her face, because the girl grins at her.
"you've got a name tag," she explains, pointing down at it.
beca looks down at her chest, and sure enough there it is.
"oh, duh."
the girl smiles at her for a bit longer, her expression showing no signs of how upset she was just a few minutes ago. beca feels cold fingers pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. she's glad they're almost in the dark because she's quite sure her cheeks are starting to show a slight shade of red.
"thanks for not kicking me out."
beca snorts. how many times is this girl going to repeat herself? it feels like she's just saying things so she doesn't have to leave, like she's stretching this moment for as long as it can be stretched. oh. maybe she is doing that. beca kind of wants to stretch it too. that mere thought makes her realize she probably should go to sleep, because no fully conscious beca would want that.
"sure," she finally answers. "i already told you it's fine, dude"
a chuckle escapes the ginger's mouth as she stands up. maybe she took beca's words as her cue to leave? beca suddenly feels like rewinding and saying something else.
"okay, so i've already taken too much of your time," the girl says, shaking her shirt to rid it of any pieces of popcorn that may have fallen on her. "i'm sorry, again, beca."
she says her name like she's savoring it in her mouth, hand stretching out and playing with the strand of beca's hair that she'd previously put behind her ear. everything about her demeanor has shifted. beca is stuck to her seat, her mouth dry. she can't believe this is the same girl that was ugly crying on her shoulder not even ten minutes ago.
"i'm sorry you had to see me like this tonight." the girl's eyes are now staring at her own with a mischievous look in them, a smirk making its way into her face. "i promise, most nights i'm much more fun. you'll see."
she puts the strand of hair back behind beca's ear, winks at her, and makes her way out of the room, leaving a very confused brunette on her seat.
beca doesn't move for another five minutes.