A/N: 1) So this is my very first story, hopefully it doesn't suck, but let me know what you think - any review is helpful :)

2) Also, this is going to be a one-shot, I think, unless anyone is interested in more?

3) This is set loosely in the first movie at some point, and I realise the characters might be slightly different or softer around the edges, but it's what I had to do to make the story work.

4) I hope you enjoy reading this, and thank you for looking at it!

In the life of Beca Mitchell, there were some days she wished she had never gotten out of bed. To everyone else, her life seemed, for the most part, normal. Oh how very wrong they were.

On this particular day, as she walked into the auditorium 5 minutes before Bellas practice was due to start, Beca knew it would be one of those days. She could just tell; it was a proverbial 'gut feeling' she got, and she groaned internally at the thought. But the short brunette continued on, dragging her feet slightly as she made her way to an empty seat, alongside her fellow Bellas, and slumped down into it, awaiting instructions from Aubrey.

The one thing that may have (Beca would never admit this) made her day a bit better, was the warm and blindingly bright smile she received from her best friend Chloe. The two had been hanging out quite a bit ever since the redhead's declaration of their becoming 'fast friends'. Beca couldn't help it when the corners of her mouth lifted up immediately, but she nonetheless turned it into her signature smirk, amused by her friend's excited nature.

But both girls were quickly snapped out of this wordless exchange when Aubrey clapped her hands together, demanding everyone's attention.

"Alright Bellas, we are going to start off with some cardio, and then move on to practicing the set list we've been learning for the competition, and finish up with learning more choreography for the routine. So let's get started! 50 laps everyone!"

Whilst Aubrey's enthusiasm in this little speech was something to be scoffed at, especially by Beca, the authority in the blonde's voice commanded enough respect for the girls to immediately follow her orders, and begin their run up and down the stairs.

Beca on the other hand wasted no time in hesitating to groan – this time out loud – at having to run laps. But despite this, she stood up and followed the other girls, not having the energy to fight Aubrey on this one – as much as she loved winding the Bellas captain up.

At about the halfway mark of their cardio workout, Beca began to feel unwell – she knew today would suck – but she continued on, not wanting to make a scene about this. At one stage, her stomach was hurting to the point that she was holding it as she ran, but no-one noticed, due to Fat Amy's antics of trying to get away with 'horizontal running' instead. And anyway, Beca could easily pass it off as having a stitch.

As they approached the last 2 laps, Beca could feel her face losing colour, as the pain kept a tight hold of her, and she was beginning to sweat excessively, also a by-product of her stomach pain.

And so when Aubrey finally called for the Bellas to stop, as their 50 laps were completed, and generously gave them a 5 minute break, Beca made a beeline for the bathroom, hoping desperately that she could get a moment alone, whilst the rest of the girls stopped to take a much needed drink of water.

Beca's haste in escaping did not go unnoticed by either of the Bellas co-captains, however Aubrey for one did not seem to care much about it, and Chloe, well, she figured if there was something wrong, Beca would tell her. She did however make a metal note to keep an eye out for her friend, just in case.

A few minutes later, Beca re-entered, looking a little better, but feeling exhausted. She stopped by her bag for a quick drink, and moved to join the rest of the girls, who were warming up their voices before they sang together.

Chloe shot Beca a questioning look, as if to ask what was going on, but the brunette merely shook her head and shrugged, hoping to indicate that she was fine, but also kind of shrugging off her friend.

Singing practice went by uneventfully, Aubrey even giving the group a compliment when they nailed it for the first time. Though Beca had been holding her stomach for the majority of it. However, once again her actions could be explained away under the pretense of helping her sing, with holding her diaphragm in.

An hour later, came another small drinks break, in which Beca disappeared once again. After leaving the stall in the bathroom, Beca approached the sink to wash her hands, and stared at herself in the mirror, assessing her appearance.

She splashed some water on her face and slapped her cheeks in an attempt to give them more colour, and look a little livelier. It did little to hide her ill look and the Bella just huffed in frustration, re-entering the auditorium.

The choreography-learning part of this practice consisted of Aubrey and Chloe going over steps in front of the group, as they followed. But after 20 minutes of Beca stumbling around, struggling to keep up with everyone else, Chloe took her off to the side to work on the choreography at Beca's pace.

As they continued to practice the moves, Chloe couldn't help herself from checking up on Beca.

"Becs, what's going on, are you okay?"

Despite Beca's best efforts to hide it, Chloe did not miss the sliver of panic that passed through the brunettes eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just having an off day." Beca tried to reassure her friend, before questioning her about the choreography, in an attempt to distract the redhead. Chloe saw through this too, but decided to leave it alone for the time being.

A few minutes later, however, Beca's stomach started up with intense rolling waves of pain and nausea, causing her to stop what she was doing and bend over, holding her stomach.

Chloe was quick to bend down in front of her so she could see the girl's face.

"What is it Beca?" Now she definitely wasn't going to let it go. There was something going on with Beca, and she needed to find out.

But before she had a chance to respond, Beca was sprinting to the bathroom, knowing she was about to puke. Chloe followed her, passing Aubrey who watched on in confusion. She too had noticed that something more was going on with the short brunette, not just on this day, and joined Chloe in wanting to find out. So she decided to call an end to Bellas practice – she had put the girls through enough torture for the day – and sent them on their way, before heading towards the bathroom.

Beca had run into the first stall she found, having barely enough time to lock the door behind her, before she proceeded to throw up into the toilet. As this was going on, Chloe tried to talk to Beca through the door, worried for her friend, but all she got in return was an "I'm okay, I'll meet you outside", in between breaths.

The redhead reluctantly left the bathroom, only to run into Aubrey right outside.

"Bree? What are you doing here?" She was slightly alarmed at the look on Aubrey's face, which consisted of something akin to anger or perhaps irritation, mixed with confusion.

"I want to know what's really going on with Beca. I need everyone 100% focused here so we can get to the ICCAs." Aubrey responded simply, though she was also worried about the girl – something she would never admit.

Before Chloe could respond to this, the door opened and Beca appeared, still looking worse for wear, as expected. Her expression was interestingly sheepish and she almost looked embarrassed to the girls. At this point, looking at the expressions on their faces, Beca realised that any attempt to brush it off or hide her situation would be futile, and the only option was to reveal herself, despite her deep reluctance.

Chloe was the first to speak up.

"Beca will you please tell us what is going on?"

However, Aubrey immediately cut in, not giving Beca a chance to answer.

"Look, it's obvious to both of us that something is wrong, and it has been going on or the last month. Don't even try to brush this off as a one-time thing. You have been losing concentration during practice and falling behind on choreography every week, you look pale, and now I'm starting to think all the times you've been holding your stomach is because of something completely unrelated to the practice routine. And not to mention your lack of mouthing off at me and fighting my decisions."

"Well maybe I agree with you?" Beca weakly responded, as more of a question than anything. It was clear she couldn't deny all of Aubrey's observations. This time it was Chloe who answered in a soft and reassuring tone.

"Come on Beca. We are truly worried about you. As your Bella captains and your friends, you can trust us."

Beca looked down, avoiding eye contact, in what was probably the first time she had shown weakness in front of these girls.

"Yeah I know." She looked back up at the two, sighing in resignation, "I'll explain it all to you, but I need something from my dorm, so I'll explain there, okay?"

Both girls nodded their heads and followed closely behind Beca in silence as they made their way to Baker Hall. The younger girl was grateful for the quiet, so she could gather her thoughts and prepare herself for the coming conversation.

Telling someone about this was never easy, and there was no guarantee of a positive response, which was daunting in a way, because Beca had actually come to like being a Bella. But, she realised, Aubrey was right: Beca had been showing signs for the past few weeks. She had been naïve to think she could hid it forever when they spent so much time together, what with the Bellas practices and such.

As the three arrived at Beca's dorm, she was relieved, not only to see that her roommate Kimmy Jin was nowhere in sight, but also to finally have her heating pad and Tylenol to help her stomach. The brunette went straight for the Tylenol, taking two tablets and swallowing them down before reaching for her heating pad and falling back onto the bed with it. She turned it onto the highest setting possible and sighed in relief as it began to warm up, soothing her stomach.

At this stage, she didn't care that she was doing all this in front of her Bellas captains; they would know the whole story in a matter of minutes anyway, so there was no point hiding. And besides, Beca was in a serious amount of pain and discomfort.

Now that that was sorted, Beca invited the older girls to sit down so she could explain. Chloe sat down on the bed next to Beca, who was leaning against the wall in a sitting position, whilst Aubrey took a seat on the desk chair next to Beca's bed.

Beca took a deep breath then let it out before speaking.

"Here goes…."

"I have Crohn's disease." Beca stopped before she elaborated, to look at the expressions of Chloe and Aubrey. She had assumed that neither of them would know what 'Crohn's disease' meant, and she was right. The expressions she found were confused with furrowed eyebrows; that of someone who had never heard of the condition before.

"Uhm…, uh well I'll give you the basics just so you understand. It's a digestive disease; my intestines are sucky and like to play up sometimes. In other words, there are times when I get stomach aches, nausea, fatigue, lose concentration, and some other things." Beca's eyes averted, wandering around the room as she said the last part, feeling awkward about it all. "That's it in a nutshell I guess."

At this, Chloe turned to face Beca, an expression of sympathy adorning her face.

"How long have you had this Beca?" She was thinking that being sick for an entire month was extreme.

"Oh, um 6 years." Both girls gasped at this. Beca frowned, before realising their interpretations. "This is a lifelong deal. Once you get it, it doesn't go away. But it's okay, there are medications that help control it."

Beca was surprised when all of a sudden Chloe leaned over and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this Becs, but I'm here for you whenever you need."

Beca leaned back and gave a small smile, grateful of her friend's seeming acceptance. "Thanks Chlo."

She turned over to Aubrey, curious as to the blonde's perspective.

"You know Aubrey, I don't think I've ever seen you speechless." She joked.

Aubrey looked up at Beca. "Ha. Ha." She said dryly, but adding a small smile to show she wasn't being serious. "No, I was just processing. I guess I'm sorry for pushing you so hard in practice."

"No it's okay, you didn't know I was sick."

"Well next time tell us, you idiot."

"Hey!" Beca acted offended by Aubrey's name-calling, but it was all just light humour.

"Stop bickering the two of you!" Chloe put a stop to their antics.

"But I still expect you to come to all of the Bellas rehearsals Beca, got it?" Aubrey got back into her one-track-winning-ICCAs-mindset.

"Yes sir!" Beca saluted mockingly.

Chloe was concerned at this though, because she didn't want Beca pushing herself when she was sick like she had that day.

"Isn't that a bit harsh, Bree? What if Beca is really ill?"

Aubrey seemed to take this into account, "Well then I guess if you are too sick to come, that's okay. But I want you to do everything you can to stay healthy, right?"

Beca nodded.

"And if you're struggling at practice, let me or Chloe know and we will figure something out."

"Yes, I will. I'll try my best to stay focused. And Aubrey?"

"Hmm?"

Beca looked down, almost not believing what she was about to say. "Thanks for not kicking me out for being sick."

Yep. Now her badass reputation would never recover. She just thanked Aubrey, and in a way admitted to enjoying being a Barden Bella.

Aubrey was taken aback by this, but pleasantly surprised to see that Beca cared about the Bellas. "Of course, Beca. I'm not that cold-hearted." She paused, before continuing. "Well I have to get going, I have an assignment due tomorrow that I need to finish. I hope you feel better Beca. See you at home Chlo." Aubrey smiled to the both of them before leaving the dorm.

After she left, Beca let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding, relieved at how this conversation had gone.

"Well that went better than expected."

Chloe laughed lightly, "I told you she wasn't too bad."

"Yeah, but you never know with this. Everyone reacts differently."

"Well I think anyone who reacts badly is an idiot! You're just more of a badass for battling this disease on your own."

At this, both girls laughed, knowing how important Beca's badass reputation was to her. She sobered up a moment later though.

"But seriously Chlo, thank you." She hoped the meaningful look in her eyes was enough for Chloe to understand how much it meant to her to have the redhead's support.

"Anytime Becs." Chloe replied.

An hour later, the two were in the same comfortable position, watching Friends on Kimmy Jin's flat screen TV. How Chloe had convinced Beca to watch it, the brunette couldn't comprehend. For now, she'd blame it on her illness affecting her resolve. Or maybe her judgement. Whichever sounded more legit.

Every now and then, Chloe would come up with a question about Beca's condition, to which she would receive a response without hesitation. The redhead made no judgements on Beca's answers, and took it all in, eager to learn.

Both were content to sit there for hours, enjoying each other's company. For Beca, she was glad to have a distraction, after her illness had affected her so much that day. For Chloe, she was happy that Beca had finally let her in and allowed her to be there for her friend.

One thing was for sure; Beca was glad she got out of bed that morning.