Chapter 1
“Alright, girls,” Aubrey announced, clapping her hands quietly as they entered the hotel. “For rehearsals tomorrow, we have the noon time slot. No skipping out, and go through the set list tonight; we need as much practice time as possible tomorrow.”
The other Bellas looked around at Beca, momentarily confused at the self-appointed power shift.
“Uh, yeah, what she said,” She added, fumbling to swipe the key to her room. Beca faltered as Chloe didn’t immediately follow behind her, peering back into the hallway to find her slowly trailing behind Emily, waiting for her expectantly. “Oh, are we invading her room tonight?”
“They gave her the room with the good tub,” Chloe replied, sending her an almost imperceptible wink.
Once Beca had finished abandoning their bags in her room, she found that she was the last Bella to file into the room. Emily had already thrown herself onto her bed, though what caught Beca’s eye was the large brown box on the counter, held together by a thick red ribbon.
“So,” Beca started, drawing out her words. She held out her pointer finger, making a circular motion around the box on the counter. “What’s going on with this situation here?”
“It’s a gift from a friend,” Emily replied, her lack of clarification adding a tinge of mystery to her words.
Chloe raised an eyebrow. “Have you opened it?”
Emily shook her head.
“Why not?” Aubrey asked, almost as if she’d been offended on the person’s behalf, despite not knowing their existence.
“You should open it, Legacy,” Amy said, coming up next to where she lay on the bed. “Bumper used to send me gifts like that all the time, and if this is any similar, it will be filled with a nice dark chocolate, maybe some fancy shit on top.”
The other Bella’s seemed to perk up at the idea of sharing chocolate, ushering her to open it.
Emily stood slowly, a pit forming in her stomach. She pushed past the girls, coming up to the counter. She traced a finger across the side of the paper box, delaying the inevitable. She carefully pulled apart the bow, lifting the lid off the box.
The girl’s gasps filled her ears as her gaze fell upon a sweater. She reached out, rubbing a hand against the silken, periwinkle wool. She was grateful there wasn’t a price tag because it would likely have cost more than every hotel room booked for them. And, of course, it was in her size; they’re always in her size.
She slipped her fingers under the fabric and into the brown paper underneath it to find a purple-tinged bottle labeled Olé in gold lettering. The tag on the bottle, too, had been removed, though Emily had seen it in passing on display marked well over two hundred dollars in a shop downtown.
Under the sweater also resided a lacey bralette in a deep burgundy color, which Emily quickly re-covered before grasping the small note card at the edge of the box. The note was done in hasty but beautiful Russian cursive.
-Think of me too, Kate Bishop.
“What does it say?” Cynthia-Rose asked, reaching out to tilt the card so she could see while Chloe peered over her shoulder. “Can you even read that shit?”
“It’s just the brand,” Emily quickly replied, slipping the card back into the box before replacing the lid.
“Are you sure this is from just a friend ?” Beca teased, a grin plastered over her face.
Emily didn’t reply, her gaze hollow as she stared at the box.
“I need to step outside,” She said abruptly, grabbing her phone off the counter, already dialing a number before she had made it to the door.
“Is it just me, or was that really weird,” Amy asked, her eyes widening with emphasis.
“Do you think it’s from, like, an ex?” Aubrey asked, coming up beside them.
Chloe sighed, “I don’t know, but I do know that the note was not a brand name.” Beca turned her head slowly, staring at her in disbelief. “What? You can only take Russian lit so many times before actually learning a few things.”
“If I had an ex with this much money, I don’t think anything could make me leave him,” Flo muttered, glaring at the paper box in front of them.
“I’m going to head out and visit my friend for a while.” The door loudly clicked shut as Emily reentered the room, using her phone to motion towards the box. “But you were all invited too if that interests you or if you aren’t busy or anything.”
Chloe was the first to accept the invitation, almost as soon as it was given, followed by Beca. Flo quickly declined, saying something about having an early bedtime since she shared a room with her brothers, while Lilly muttered something the others couldn’t quite hear as she made her way from the room.
The rest of the Bellas grabbed their coats, following Emily as they walked down the streets of Rota. They pushed past large crowds as they walked, the Bellas struggling to keep up with her brisk pace.
After cutting between building after building, the sun had just begun setting under the busy road in front of them.
“You seem to know your way around,” Aubrey points out after their dozenth turn.
Emily cringed, tactfully glancing away to keep her feelings hidden from the rest of the girls. “I travel a lot. Especially with family.”
It wasn’t a total lie, or really a lie at all, for that matter, but guilt still festered under her skin. Lying about trivial things was one thing, but the Bellas were so close to the truth about her life that it was agonizing to cover up.
“You didn’t think to mention that when we had to put all our heads together even to read a map?” Amy irked. “It took Beca an hour to find a cafe a quarter mile away.”
“Come on; you guys had it covered, and really, we were only lost for a few minutes. You guys just kept going in circles.”
Over the horizon, Emily spotted a familiar figure walking towards them, one she’d never be able to miss. She smiled to herself, eyeing the woman’s hair, which looked almost gold in the sunlight. She was wearing an oversized brown coat that Emily had sworn she’d seen before, with a lace top underneath, hugging her figure.
Emily made it a point not to stare, though she could feel herself drifting back as the woman slid her sunglasses to the top of her head, pushing back her hair to reveal a menagerie of jewelry.
“Should I buzz you in, or should I expect you in through the window again?” The woman asked once they’d met in the middle, a slight smile in her voice as her eyes glazed over Emily’s body.
“Why would we come in through the window?” Aubrey asked, confused at the stranger speaking to them.
“You did not tell them about that time at my apartment in Berlin?” She looked over to Emily, whose head was buried in her hands to hide her embarrassment. “I caught her trying to climb in, and I ask her, and she tells me, ‘Yelena, I didn’t want my dad to see me come in. He would take away my credit cards again.’ And where was her dad? A hotel three miles away. That one was probably the funniest.”
“Ohhh,” Beca said, drawing out her syllables. “You’re the friend. I didn’t expect you to… be a woman.”
Yelena hummed in response, glancing at her before shifting her gaze back to Emily.
“You are really pretty,” she gawked, a sense of assertiveness in her voice before dropping it to a timid mutter. “And very intimidating.”
“Yes, I know,” Yelena replied, holding eye contact with her in silence for just long enough to become awkward.
“Gosh, you are embarrassing me so much right now,” Emily whispered angrily, though her eyes betrayed that emotion.
Yelena laughed, reaching out a hand to cup the side of her face through her hair, rubbing a thumb against her chin. “Yes, I know. But you like it more than you tell me.” Yelena pulled away quicker than it had come, turning towards the apartment building between them, ushering them after her. “Let us get inside before the sun sets. This block gets rude in the evening because none of their daddies taught them to hold their alcohol.”
Yelena quickly pulled a small key fob from her pocket, swiping it at the door and kicking a nearby wedge under it as she entered.
“So we can probably rule out creepy ex,” Aubrey whispered to Chloe and Beca as they trailed behind.
“Unless she’s gay,” Beca replied. “But why would Emily bring us here if they were on bad terms? Why would she go at all if they’re on bad terms?”
“Maybe this woman has something on her?” Chloe added, question in her tone. But the girls sighed in defeat, knowing everything they’d said had been a reach.
“Emily seems happy to see her,” Aubrey said after they began walking up the stairs, Emily’s chatter in front of them drowning out the silence. “I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”
Chloe furrowed her brow. “But what about that gift? And her reaction? That part just doesn’t add up.”
Their conversation was stopped short as Yelena unlocked and opened her front door to reveal a spacious and most likely costly apartment. The woman threw her small handbag onto the counter to greet a large akita coming around the corner.
“This is Fanny. Say hi, Fanny,” Yelena said, picking up the dog under its arms, it's legs dangling against the floor as she brought it's face to eye level. “She does not like people; she is a lot like me. Except for that one, she likes that one.”
Emily held a small smile as she moved forward to greet the dog that Yelena had dropped back to the floor. The blonde leaned against the counter, sending a sharp glare to Chloe that had not been missed by her or either of the other girls involved in the conversation.
“There is vodka on the counter, more under the sink, and drinks in the fridge. You are welcome to help yourself, except for you. I have something to show you.” Yelena grabbed Emily’s hand, pulling her into the bedroom and sliding the door ajar behind them.
As Cynthia pulled cups from a cupboard in the kitchen, Beca stepped out into the living room, taking in her surroundings. The apartment was entirely decorated, full of nondescript decor, plus a handful of personal items and photo’s that could be easily gathered. There was even a guitar in the corner of the room. Every room had tall, curved ceilings, half of which were glass, letting in the dim sunset lighting across the room.
There was a large window towards the corner of the room with a sill large enough to sit. A large stack of sketch pads caught Beca’s eye, most of which had their paper removed. Her question was soon answered as Amy followed behind her, catching her drift and motioning toward a stack of papers in a large manilla folder on a shelf.
Beca flipped open the folder carefully, revealing the top drawing to be of Emily. Beca smiled at the expertly renditioned image of the girl’s face, finding such attention to detail sweet. She picked up the drawing, peering under it to see another illustration of Emily. Beca soon discovered that almost every sketch in the stack was of her, her smile very quickly dropping as she came upon a sketch of Emily very clearly in the lacey bralette from the box.
“Okay, that’s really weird,” Amy announced, her voice barely above a whisper as she quickly turned her attention to something else.
Beca quickly realigned the papers, rushing back into the kitchen and pulling Chloe and Aubrey aside.
“There is a massive stack of sketches of Emily in the next room,” Beca cautioned, ensuring her voice was only loud enough for the two of them to hear. “She’s naked in, like, half of them.”
Aubrey’s face paled. “Do you think she knows? Could she have posed for them or something?”
“I don’t think so; one of them was of her in the bra she got from that gift.”
“Okay, let’s not make a scene,” Chloe said. “Let’s just pretend we’re having a good time, take Emily back to the hotel, and talk about it there.”
Yelena and Emily reemerged soon after that, Yelena brisking by them to grab the vodka bottle Cynthia had just finished with. Cynthia quickly passed out the drinks she had made as everyone settled onto the couches. Yelena passed Emily the remote, telling her to put something on as she settled her arm on the back of the sofa, behind the brunette. Yelena offered her a sip from the bottle, but she shook her head, motioning subtly toward the girls around them. If any of them had noticed the offer, they didn’t show it.
They were halfway through an episode of Friends before the Bellas began asking questions.
“So, where are you from, anyway?” Amy asked, referring to Yelena.
“Ohio, if you can believe it,” Yelena smiled. “But unfortunately, I was raised in Saint Petersburg.”
“It was kind of the opposite for me,” Amy began. “I was born in Tasmania, but my dad liked to have me spend a lot of time in America. Still kept the accent, though.”
“Yeah? What is your dad like?” She asked, a glint in her eyes.
“When I was younger, he tried to buy my love with dirty money, but I saw him just today, and I think he’s really turning around. He’s even coming to our next show.”
Yelena hummed, a ghost of a smile on her face. Emily shot her a questioning glance, but Yelena refused to meet it and focused intently on the television.
“How did you guys meet?” Aubrey asked carefully, flitting a glance between the two of them.
Yelena snorted. “A mutual friend introduced us.”
"Is he considered a mutual friend if you hate his guts?” Emily chided, clearly irritated with the woman’s antics.
“You hate the man who introduced you?”
“Not anymore,” Yelena sighed. “I thought he got my sister into some trouble, but it was just her being herself.”
The room was primarily idle chatter as the episodes passed until Chloe finally asked a question that had bothered her for a while. “Where’s the bathroom?”
“Through the bedroom and on the right,” Yelena replied, pointing to the sliding door. Chloe took note of Emily’s figure drifting closer to the other woman. She gritted her teeth to keep herself from saying something other than a muttered thanks.
Exiting the restroom, Chloe noticed a small shoe box under the edge of the bed, which had been hastily tucked under, the duvet dragged in with it. Chloe glanced at the half-shut door and then back to the box. Finally, after a moment of thought, she caved, pulling it out from under the bed.
She suppressed a gasp as she removed the lid to reveal a small collection of items. There was a tank top, a small necklace, a black pair of panties, a toothbrush, and a couple of hair ties, but what drew everything together was a small Christmas earring. It was a little silver present bow that Chloe knew clear as day Emily had worn to one of their Christmas parties. She rummaged deeper into the box now that she knew what she was looking at. Underneath it all was a small stack of letters and photos of Emily and them together. Her eyes were particularly drawn to the dozens of pictures of the brunette sleeping.
Chloe dropped everything back into the box, shoving it where it had once been. She scooted herself away, sitting on the floor, staring in awe at what she’d just found. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair, glancing back at the door. She’d already been gone too long, and it wouldn’t be wise for her to take any longer.
Chloe sat back on the couch, eerily quiet and noticeably more interested in the show than when she’d left. Yelena would have noticed had she not been gazing a hole into the side of Emily’s face.
“I think we should probably get going soon, Ladies,” Chloe announced abruptly after checking the time on her phone.
There were many chimes of agreement, and the Bellas began lifting themselves from the couches and making their way toward the door.
“What?” Yelena asked quietly, looking over at Emily with soft eyes.
Emily gave her a reassuring smile before briskly following Chloe. “Hey, I think I’m just gonna hang out here a little longer. I’ll see you guys back at the hotel.”
“I don’t think you should do that,” Chloe replied quickly. Emily could see Beca glance between them before deciding to stay out of it. Emily’s face contorted at her words, but Chloe cut her off before she could say anything. “Can we talk in the hallway?”
“Legacy, I’m sorry,” Beca started as they entered the hallway. “This woman has the biggest stack of papers I’ve ever seen that are just countless drawings of you naked.”
Emily’s face fell, the words seeming to attract Cynthia’s attention, as well.
“She has your underwear in a box under her bed, Emily,” Chloe added, using her hands to punctuate her sentence.
“Oh, okay,” Beca said, exasperated alongside the other Bellas, who had yet to learn that information.
Emily scoffed. “Why were either of you going through her stuff?”
“I’m sorry, that’s what you find weird about this situation?” Cynthia asked, raising a brow.
“I think it’s weird that my friends would look for dirt on someone I also happen to hang out with sometimes.”
“Emily, neither of them went looking for what they found,” Aubrey interjected. “She didn’t try to hide it at all.”
“That’s probably because most people don’t expect fucking guests in their home to poke through their shit.” Emily frowned. Any guilt she had felt earlier dissipated in seconds. “Go back to the hotel. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
They stood in the hallway, unable to move for a moment. They were collectively stunned that the woman who barely uttered the word 'gosh' was so easily able to cuss them out as she had done.
Kate took a deep breath as she closed the door behind her, hanging her head slightly.
“I know what they think of me,” Yelena said quietly, having appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Do you think the same?”
Kate’s breath caught in the back of her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut tight before opening them and lifting her head to stare at the other woman.
“No,” she replied. “Nothing could make me hate you. But if you see them again, you should probably use my name once and a while. They’re already starting to think you aren’t who you say you are.”
“I am not calling you Emily Junk,” Yelena scoffed. “That is a stupid name.”
“And Kate Bishop isn’t?”
“No. Because it’s your name. They are your friends. Not friends on your mission, but your real friends. You should be able to be yourself around them now.”
Kate’s eyes widened as Yelena walked closer, leaning against a nearby counter as she had done just a while beforehand. She wasn’t close enough to touch, but she was close enough for Kate to see her blown pupils and feel her breath on her skin.
“I can’t tell them. I’ve lived in the lie too long, Yelena,” she breathed, just barely loud enough for Yelena to hear. The woman flashed her a sad, knowing glance, pushing the boundary between them and moving closer.
“Come sleep with me. In the bed,” Yelena muttered, reaching out a hand to push Kate’s hair behind her ear.
Kate knew the implications that popped into her head weren’t what Yelena had meant, but she couldn’t help a flush of pink from falling over her.
Yelena led Kate into her room by the hand, pushing her beside next to the bed. Yelena quickly slipped off her clothes, throwing on an oversized shirt as sleepwear.
Before Kate could do the same, Yelena’s fingers gripped under the hem of her shirt. Yelena’s knuckles carefully dragged against her skin as the woman pulled her shirt over her head. Yelena’s hands didn’t even graze Kate’s sports bra, but her eyes did. Yelena gazed intently over her as though she thought her eyes could touch.
Kate didn’t pull away, nor speak, and instead let herself fall hostage to her own emotions. Her breath quickened as Yelena got close, the blonde’s fingers carefully undoing the waistband of her sweatpants. She let Yelena pull her feet out of her sweats, watching as she threw their clothing into her own laundry basket.
Yelena stood inches from her, her gaze flickering down at her hips and their legs. Her eyes rested at the waist of Kate’s underwear, her handing reaching out almost imperceptibly before pulling away.
Yelena quickly grabbed some clothing from her closet, dressing Kate in sports shorts and a large sweater. Yelena sat at the edge of the bed, reaching out to pull Kate in by her clothing, wrapping her arms around the woman’s waist. She buried her face into the sweater, settling her hands over the dip near Kate’s spine.
Kate hesitated for a moment, hands hovering over the girl’s head before delving her fingers into the blonde mess of hair. She flattened out Yelena’s hair, brushing through the occasional knot. She pushed back the blonde’s short whisps of hair, pressing everything back behind her ear with her palm.
Yelena’s eyes were open, but she stared straight ahead with soft eyes, unable to meet Kate’s. Kate let out a sudden yelp as Yelena flipped them into the bed, straddling her. Yelena pinned her at the shoulders, pressing her into the thick duvet as stray strands of hair fell into her face.
Yelena paused only long enough to feel Kate’s hands itch towards her thighs before flopping into the bed, pulling Kate onto her side with her legs still around her hips. Yelena put one hand on the side of her neck and the other on her cheek, pulling their faces close, but not close enough to touch. She closed her eyes, feeling Kate’s legs curl up against her.
They lay silent for a moment until Kate spoke in a soft, cautious tone. “Are we friends?”
Yelena opened her eyes to find that Kate had been staring at her. She furrowed her brow, studying the other woman’s expression for a moment. “Of course we are.”
The clarification Kate wished to ask for died on her tongue. She let out a long breath of air she’d been holding, and instead, she ducked her head to curl against Yelena’s chest.