Three months later, and Beca is miserable.

Okay, maybe not totally miserable, because her life is actually pretty fucking fantastic right now. Like, she has Chloe and Aubrey. Life can't really give Beca anything better than that.

Beca's pretty sure that there isn't a movie in cinematic history that even begins to capture the kind of relationship that she has with Aubrey and Chloe. She could probably ask Jesse to confirm that for her, but that would involve telling Jesse about it, which they've collectively decided to shy away from doing right now.

Because, okay, most of the time Beca doesn't even think about it. None of them do, really. Her relationship with Chloe and Aubrey just kind of is. And it's perfect for them. But when Beca does slow down and take a minute to consider it, yeah, they all know it definitely falls outside of the societal norm.

But it's perfect. And they have plans to tell the Bellas right after Aubrey and Chloe graduate, during what Beca thinks is likely to be the wildest rage in Bella history, if Chloe has anything to say about it.

So, no, Beca isn't totally miserable. But, right at this very moment in time, Beca forgets that. Because she feels miserable.

She hadn't gotten to sleep until late the night before, which was mildly irritating in itself, but what had been way more irritating about it was the fact that Beca knew Aubrey and Chloe had the last of their finals in the morning. So, okay, as much as Beca wanted to shove her shiny new key (not-so-new, actually, since they'd given it to her pretty much a week into this whole arrangement) into the lock of their apartment door and crawl into bed with them, she really didn't want to wake them. Beca knew they needed their rest, and she wasn't about to interrupt it.

So she'd walked from the radio station to her dorm, damning Jesse the entire way for conning her into taking his late-night shift, and had been drenched by the torrential downpour of rain that Beca was pretty sure Aubrey would have warned her about if the weatherman had ever actually fucking called for it. And Beca had been grumpy and sodden once she finally arrived at her destination, so she'd dragged her feet into the shower, ignoring Kimmy Jin's death glare when she eventually made it back to her room, and Beca collapsed on top of her bed.

And, okay, Beca would probably have woken up and forgotten all about it in her eagerness to track down her girlfriends and ask about their exams. She would probably have definitely done that, if she hadn't woken up to an ache that stretched all the way into her bones and a pounding in her head that foretold that Beca was about to have a really sucky day.

So Beca groans out a dissatisfied noise and raises her throbbing head to check the clock, and she notes (without caring, even a little) that it's a little past noon. But, okay, even though classes are finished, Beca still has things to do today. And she's pretty sure that she has rehearsal in a couple hours for some end-of-the-year frat party that Beca seriously wishes Aubrey hadn't agreed to let the Bellas perform at, right now.

Seriously. Like, Beca totally loves those girls, and she's been really happy about the extra time she's gotten to spend with them post all of the ICCA madness. But Beca really just wants to sleep some more.

So she sets her alarm with the intent to lie down for another hour before practice.

But a soft knocking at her door rouses her from the bed forty minutes later, and, even though Beca totally wants to ignore it, she thinks she probably knows who's at the other side of that fucking door. So Beca blinks away some of her grogginess and forces herself to move toward it, snatching up a hoody that she's pretty sure belongs to Chloe on the way – because Beca's fucking freezing right now – and after she tugs the material of the sweatshirt down to cover her abdomen, Beca curls her fingers around the knob and widens the door.

And, okay, yeah, Beca totally knew that Aubrey and Chloe would be there, but the corner of her mouth twitches upward when she sees them, anyway. Because she actually can't help it.

"Hi," Beca rasps out, and she immediately winces, because not all of that rasp was due to drowsiness. Beca hadn't really gotten past the hurt in her head and body long enough to realize it, but her throat is definitely sore, and she can hear in the nasally sound of her voice that her nose is definitely stopped up, too.

"We came to check on you," Aubrey frowns, "because you weren't replying to our texts or calls. We were a little worried about you."

"And right to be," Chloe murmurs softly. "Oh, Becs," she sighs, "you look terrible."

"Way to kill my ego, Beale," Beca replies dryly, but she allows Chloe to cradle her in a hug anyway, and tucks her cheek against the redhead's shoulder.

Because, okay, Beca will deny it under the pain of death, but she gets embarrassingly affectionate when she's sick.

"You were fine yesterday," Aubrey says, and her frown deepens as she pushes herself into the room, setting her purse at the end of Beca's bed before she perches herself atop it. "What happened to you?"

Beca shrugs, and replies dully, "I got rained on."

"You were out in that storm last night?" Chloe cries worriedly, pulling herself away from Beca just enough so that she can lock onto Beca's eyes while she hugs warm fingers around the base of Beca's neck.

"Beca, why?" Aubrey asks desperately.

"It's not like I did it on purpose," Beca grumbles defensively, taking Chloe's hand and tugging her onto the mattress, too, where Beca promptly flings herself down to lower her calves over Aubrey's lap and plop her head into Chloe's. "I was on my way back from the station and the sky just started weeping on me," she finishes dejectedly, nuzzling her cheek against Chloe's thigh.

Aubrey sighs and Beca hums softly when she feels the blonde's fingers reach up to tighten against Beca's uncovered legs. "You have your gig tonight," Aubrey reminds her gently, her fingertips dancing some intricate pattern beneath the bend of Beca's knee that makes Beca shiver a little. Because, yeah, Beca's still really fucking cold, and the heat from Aubrey's touch is bringing around a contrast that definitely reminds Beca that she needs some more fucking clothes. "Now is a really bad time for you to get sick, Beca."

"I know that," Beca huffs hoarsely.

And she does. Because, okay, no, this isn't Beca's first gig. Luke had somehow wrangled Beca several DJ slots at The Garage over the past few weeks, and this is her fourth one this month. But she's still new enough that not showing up just isn't even an option that she has available to consider. Beca has to go.

"At least you're done with finals," Chloe coos sympathetically, carding her fingers through Beca's hair.

And Beca leans her head into the touch like a fucking kitten, practically purring like one, too, and she attempts a weak scowl in Aubrey's direction when the blonde's expression softens to express the "aww" that Chloe has no problem giving voice to.

"Shut up," Beca grouses.

Chloe giggles warmly and lowers herself (somewhat awkwardly, from her position) to fold a tender kiss over Beca's temple.

"We have to get to rehearsal soon," Aubrey points out reluctantly.

"Okay," Beca nods, reaching over to flip the alarm off and moving to stand.

But Aubrey glares and circles her arms around Beca's shins, keeping them firmly lodged against her lap, before she demands, "What the hell are you doing?"

Beca's brows furrow. "Going… to practice?" She tries, but it's more a question than anything else, because, dude, Aubrey just said that it's time to get going. Right?

"Absolutely not," Chloe denies, shaking her head fiercely.

"You're not going anywhere, Mitchell," Aubrey decrees strictly. "You're going to lay down in this bed and get some rest before we go to the club tonight."

"Dude, no!" Beca argues, urging herself to sit up, and she feels Chloe scoot closer so that Beca's back presses against her chest, the redhead's palms coming to rest over Beca's stomach.

"Dude, yes," Chloe retorts, her chin settling over Beca's shoulder.

"You can come to rehearsal in the morning, if you're feeling better," Aubrey decides. "But, Jesus, Beca, you're practically radiating heat right now, and you obviously feel like shit," she says (ever so tactfully, as usual, Beca snorts to herself). "You won't be any good to us there, anyways, so there's no reason at all for you to put yourself through that when you feel this badly."

Beca frowns. Because, okay, she can see what they're saying, and maybe they're even right – even if Beca staunchly refuses to say so – but, "You guys have two practices left before graduation, and then the party tomorrow night. I don't want to miss them. I want to be there, with you."

Chloe strokes her nose up the length of Beca's cheek, and she can all but feel the teary smile that accompanies it when she whispers softly, "And we love that you want to be there with us for our last Bella moments. But, Becs, we just want you to focus on getting better right now. So Bree and I promise to let you come tomorrow, as long as you skip out on today's practice and sleep, okay?"

And, alright, that does sound okay to Beca. But she knows how this works, so she turns to Aubrey and raises her brows like, so? Do we have a deal, or what, Posen?

Aubrey sighs exasperatedly and nods her head. "Fine. But if you're not feeling any better, you can't participate at practice," she negotiates. And Beca opens her mouth to protest that stipulation, but Aubrey intercedes, "We'll let you perform with us at the Beta house, but if you're still sick, you'll have to save your energy for the actual event, alright?"

"Fine," Beca agrees gloomily.

"Okay," Aubrey nods, and lifts Beca's legs out of her lap, carefully repositioning them back on the bed once she's shuffled herself from beneath Beca's weight.

Chloe stands up, too, and Beca's pretty sure that she's pouting now as she scrambles beneath the blankets, curling up on her side to watch them leave and tucking the comforter beneath her chin.

"We love you, Becs," Chloe murmurs, and her eyes look a little conflicted, like maybe she's second-guessing their decision to confine Beca to bed rest. Or maybe like she wants to stay behind, too.

"I know," Beca sighs. Because she does. There hasn't really been a single moment of the last three months where Beca hasn't known that they love her. "I love you, too," she echoes with a weak smile.

Aubrey shifts to Beca's bedside and flutters her fingers delicately against Beca's temple, tracing a gentle path downward until Beca's jaw is framed in her palm. The blonde leans down and ghosts a kiss that catches against the corner of Beca's mouth. "Get some rest, okay?"

"Okay," Beca agrees. And, really, she's fucking exhausted right now, so she doesn't think that'll take much work, like, at all.

But when they reach the door, Beca calls out, "Wait!" And her voice croaks a little (okay, maybe a lot), and she scowls at the strain that the cry put on her throat. But she's successful, because they both halt in their tracks and turn around to face her.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asks, eagerly shifting forward to brush a soothing hand over Beca's shoulder.

"Nothing," Beca assures quickly. "I just… forgot to ask how your exams went," she says sheepishly.

Aubrey grins and shakes her head. "Beca, you have other things to worry about right now," she says, but when Beca's face drops to a frown, Aubrey adds, "but we did fine."

"Aubrey aced hers," Chloe says confidently. "I was a little thrown off on the last essay question, but other than that, I think I did okay, too."

"Good," Beca nods. "I'm really proud of you both, you know," she says quietly, and she's pretty sure it's barely a whisper, but, damn it, her throat hurts. And, okay, so maybe saying things like that isn't exactly Beca's strong point. But she really is proud of them, and she kind of wants them to know it.

"Thank you," Aubrey says warmly, and Beca can tell she really means it. Because she knows that the phrase is one that Aubrey strives to hear, because she's never really heard it enough from the people who actually matter.

"You're the sweetest, Becs," Chloe beams, and lowers a kiss over Beca's cheek. "Feel better, okay? We'll be back soon."

So Beca nods again, and when they leave, she burrows into her bed for some seriously needed sleep.

Beca can't even bring herself to be a little bit surprised when Chloe clambers over the center console and into the back seat after a particularly rough cough escapes from somewhere deep inside Beca's chest. And she isn't surprised when Aubrey scolds Chloe for doing it at the next red light, either.

But, okay, Beca doesn't really care. Because Chloe encourages her to curl her knees up, and she gently threads her fingers through the strands of Beca's hair until Beca covers her head over Chloe's heart, and she dozes in and out of some kind of daze until they pull into the parking lot.

Beca sighs when they arrive, but, okay, she is kind of surprised when Chloe winks at her and slips a small cup of cough syrup into Beca's palm while Aubrey's fiddling in her purse for her wallet.

Beca raises her brows, because she knows the cough syrup is some left over from a cold that Chloe picked up, like, six months ago, and she also knows it has a little splash of codeine in it, and that even if Beca kind of needs it, Aubrey would so not be okay with the non-prescribed usage of it. But Beca's already been kind of nervous about hacking through her set, so she downs the liquid and murmurs her gratitude into Chloe's hair when the redhead helps her out of the car.

Beca briefly chats with the bouncer about letting the rest of the Bellas through the rope when they arrive, because Aubrey and Chloe had happily announced, upon admitting themselves back into Beca's dorm room, that they'd invited the others to join them in the hopes of cheering Beca up tonight. And Beca thought it was super sweet of them, so she'd hugged them both and whispered 'thank you,' because, while she'd really meant what she'd said about wanting to be there for Aubrey and Chloe during their last few practices as Bellas, she'd also been pretty upset that she was losing out on the small amount of time that she had with the rest of the girls before the summer rolled around.

But three hours later, and Beca's still feeling miserable. A little hazy from the cough syrup, but definitely still miserable. And she's eager to get the night over with, and on with their plans to shack up at Aubrey and Chloe's for the weekend.

She tries to get into the feel of it, because, dude, this is Beca's fucking thing – this is what she does, and she's fucking good at it – but she feels terrible.

And, also, she's not really very happy with what she can see happening down on the floor.

The Bellas (or who had showed up of them, which really only included Amy, Cynthia-Rose, and Stacie) had conquered a well-positioned table at the corner so that Beca could see them from the DJ booth (and, Beca thinks, probably so that Chloe and Aubrey can see her, because she knows it kind of turns them when Beca does her 'DJ thing,' even if Beca doesn't understand it at all), but Beca kind of wishes that they hadn't sat there.

Because, okay, some douchebag keeps sending over drinks for Chloe – and Beca knows they're not even the kind that Chloe even likes – and the redhead keeps accepting them. And, okay, yeah, Beca knows what she's doing, because Chloe wasn't even fucking kidding when she said that she thought Aubrey's jealous tendencies were sexy. But even from her booth across the club, Beca can see the muscle of Aubrey's jaw flexing with tension.

And, dude, Beca can tell the difference between when Aubrey's gearing up for possessive sex and when she's all out preparing for battle, and this is definitely the latter. But Beca's pretty sure that Chloe doesn't know the difference, otherwise she definitely wouldn't be keeping this up. Because when Aubrey prepares for battle, it results in a lot of screaming that Beca just knows means that she won't ever get to sleep tonight.

So Beca queues up a mix that she's been working on for Aubrey that blends the blonde's favorite Black Eyed Peas song with the 'timeless classic,' Aubrey calls it, of 'I Love Rock and Roll,' in the hopes of calming her down a little. And it works, because when Aubrey hears it, her shoulders fall just enough to let Beca know she's noticed, and she pitches a warm, happy glance in Beca's direction that makes Beca smile, even though she's miserable.

But another hour later, when Beca's set is about to close and she's making her way out of the booth, she sees the douchebag from earlier wandering down in Chloe's direction. And Aubrey sees it, too, Beca knows, because her entire body goes rigid and she frowns something seriously serious before searching Beca out in the crowd. Beca can all but hear the reprimands that are about to fly out of her mouth when the blonde jock-looking guy finally approaches Chloe and tries to strike up a conversation.

So Beca sighs, carefully inserts herself between them, and says to him firmly, "Dude. Our bed's crowded enough as it is. Go troll somewhere else."

And, okay, Beca's irritated, because she totally feels like she's about to collapse with exhaustion (even though she's slept all fucking day), but she thinks the cough syrup might be affecting her a little. Like, she knows she's kind of outing their relationship right now, but her head is swimming a little, and she can't exactly remember why that's a bad thing.

"Excuse me?" The boy asks, and his brows furrow inward with confusion, but he also sounds a little defensive, and maybe like he's not understanding Beca's message, here.

And that's just not going to work out for Beca. Because she knows what Chloe's doing, but Aubrey definitely doesn't, and if Beca doesn't do something about this guy, she's pretty sure that Aubrey will. And Beca's pretty sure that it's definitely better for everyone involved if she handles it, instead.

So she rolls her eyes and says slowly, "She's taken, man. Find some other hot chick to take home tonight, okay?"

And when he huffs and stalks away, Beca falls into an open seat that Beca's almost definitely sure was reserved for her, and, with her head against her arms, resting solidly against the table, Beca turns to Chloe.

"I swear on all the music on my hard drive that if you do another thing to invoke Aubrey's jealous rage before I fall asleep tonight, I will rip out your ginger soul and feed it to the pet wolves in Aubrey's closet," she says blankly.

Chloe winces and looks at Aubrey a little sheepishly, but she combs her fingers through Beca's hair and murmurs, "Sorry."

"Give that to Aubrey," Beca says, nodding her head at Chloe's newest drink. "She looks like she's going to be sick."

"Probably because you just pretty much told all of the Bellas that we're in a relationship," Aubrey swallows thickly. "Thanks, Mitchell. That was really smooth," she says, but she doesn't actually sound angry, which kind of surprises Beca a little.

So Beca shrugs. "We're moving in together next week, Bree. I'm pretty sure they would've figured it out eventually, and, plus, I really need to – "

"Woah, woah, woah," Cynthia-Rose says, holding her arms up.

"Yeah, hold the phone, aca-bitches," Fat Amy says, staring between them incredulously.

"You're together? Like, all of you? Together?" Cynthia-Rose asks.

Beca groans and ducks her head further into her arms. Okay, no, she hadn't really been thinking this part through. Because, yeah, they'd decided that they were going to tell the Bellas next week, so it's not so bad, but still… she wasn't really up for this right now.

"Yes," Aubrey says, downing her drink fluidly and dropping the glass to the table with a soft clatter.

The table hushes with silence, tempered only with the roar of the crowd around them, until Stacie turns to Cynthia-Rose and asks casually, "Am I, like, totally gay if I think that's hot? Because I do," she says decisively. And then she looks mildly contemplative for a moment before she adds, "I think it's super hot."

"Ehh," Fat Amy replies, bobbing her head from side to side. "Maybe, like, a liiiiitle bit," she says, in that high pitched voice she gets when she's about to confess something she maybe feels uncomfortable with. But Beca can never really tell with Amy. "But then that might make me a bit gay, as well, soooo…" Fat Amy trails off.

Okay, so Beca might be better at reading Amy than she thought. Kudos to me, she thinks wryly.

"Please," Chloe scoffs happily. "We're, like, the hottest thing since the caveman invented fire. You're totes not gay. It's just a fact," she chirps confidently, reaching out for Aubrey's hand and tightening her fingers gently.

"Well, she might be gay," Cynthia-Rose supplements grumpily. "I mean, you never know, right?"

"CR," Beca sighs, "I'm pretty sure you definitely do know that you're gay."

"Maybe I am, too. I'll figure it out later," Stacie shrugs, totally oblivious to the fact that she's totally just made Cynthia-Rose's fucking year. "Let's get another drink," she demands, flinging her arm into the air to catch the attention of a bar employee making rounds through the tables.

"Wait," Aubrey frowns. Because obviously she'd been expecting more, and, for some reason that Beca just can't fathom, is not okay with accepting this victory for what it is. "So you guys are… alright? With us?"

"You're still our captain, Captain!" Fat Amy declares loudly. "And we still love you all just as much, even if Mitchell here hates us for it."

"I don't hate you," Beca mumbles defensively.

"Then tone down that 'tude you've got going on, Mitchell," Cynthia-Rose grins. "We're having a good time here."

"Beca's sick," Chloe sighs. "She's grumpy because she doesn't feel well."

"You do look kind of… awful," Stacie decides sympathetically.

"Yeah, you guys should take your girl home," Cynthia-Rose nods, understanding creeping over her face as she actually takes a moment to absorb the dreadfulness that Beca's sure is layering over her whole fucking body.

"Yeah," Beca agrees eagerly. "Take me home."

And some of the tension in Aubrey's shoulders falls away as she turns to look at Beca, and Beca doesn't really get it – not until Aubrey asks softly, "Home?"

"Yeah," Beca confirms with a small smile. Because she does get it now. Because she's going back to Aubrey and Chloe's tonight – they've already decided. "Home. With you and Chlo."

"Okay," Aubrey says breathily, and she clears her throat. "Okay, Beca. We'll take you home."

"I might swoon from your adorableness right now," Chloe grins. "You're both the best. C'mon. I have to sneak Beca some more cough syrup, so let's go."

Beca snorts, but it melts into a cough that attacks at Beca's lungs. "Jesus, Chlo, your stealth needs some serious work."

"I'm totally stealth," Chloe frowns. "I'm like a fucking ninja, I'm so stealth."

And Beca sighs. Because, no, Chloe isn't stealthy – like, at all – but Beca's happy, anyway. Because she's here, with Aubrey and Chloe. And she's here with her friends. And, okay, so they're all a bunch of fucking misfits, but it's still totally awesome that they accept Beca and Chloe and Aubrey for what they are.

And this is really fucking nice. Even if she is a little miserable.

Author's Note: Okay, so I lied. It's shorter than the others, but it turns out that I needed the distraction. And this scene was kind of fucking with my head all day, anyway. Hope you liked this (actual) final installment! Also, search YouTube for 'Black Eyed Peas Vs. Joan Jett' to hear the song.