This is just little something that had been bouncing around in my head for a while. Hope you enjoy it.
Note: I don't own Pitch Perfect or its characters.
Beca Mitchell checked her phone for the twentieth time in less than a minute. Still nothing from her girlfriend Chloe. She was supposed to meet her outside the Residual Heat office 30 minutes ago.
"Beca?," Dax called out to her. "Come on. Mr. Jameson is looking for you."
Beca sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Mr. Jameson was the owner and founder of Residual Heat. He had specifically made the trip to Atlanta just for her. She didn't say anything, she just took another quick look to make sure she didn't see Chloe. She hurried toward the conference room to get ready for the big announcement.
"Ah, Beca," Mr. Jameson said taking her arm. "I'm glad you're here. Where's your girlfriend?"
"Sorry, Mr. Jameson," Beca said. "She had an, um, emergency and can't make it."
Beca hated lying. This was the fifth time that she had asked Chloe to be by her side during an important event in her life and Chloe has stood her up for every single one. She was always making excuses for why her girlfriend wasn't there. She knew it would have something to do with some crisis that Aubrey was dealing with again.
Everyone sat down and Mr. Jameson started the meeting. "Welcome everyone. I first want to thank everyone for all their hard work this past year. The Atlanta office has really scored some big names and we are expecting to see some Grammy nominations come our way," Mr. Jameson.
Everyone applauded and got excited. Mr. Jameson got them settled and continue his speech.
"One of the reasons we have been so successful is Beca Mitchell," Mr. Jameson said. "She managed to get Adele to choose Residual Heat to let us, let her, produce her album "25." Beca also helped Adele write "Hello" which as you all know went to number 1 on the charts. We are expecting at least 2 nominations for Beca."
More applause and congratulations for Beca. Beca just nodded and blushed. She wasn't used to all the attention.
"Beca did all this as an Associate Producer, which is unheard of. So, without further ado, I would like to announce that we are promoting Beca Mitchell to Head Producer here at Residual Heat," Mr. Jameson says and pulls Beca to stand next to him.
The room erupts in more applause and everyone stands to cheer for Beca. Beca blushes more and accepts the platitudes.
"Beca," Mr. Jameson says after the applause ends, "I am proud of the work you've done for us. I am confident that you will continue what you've been doing. After you graduate, I would also like for you to come out to LA to be one of our Head Producers there."
Beca is shocked. Her mind goes into overdrive. "They want me to work in LA? As a Head Producer for a major record label? This is my dream. I can't wait to tell. . .," she thinks and stops. "Chloe. I'm supposed to be sharing all this with Chloe. But, she's not here, as usual. What am I supposed to do now?," she asks herself.
Everyone congratulates Beca as they return to work. Beca stays back and asks to speak to Mr. Jameson before he leaves.
"What can I for our newest Head Producer?," Mr. Jameson asks with a smile.
"Um," Beca says out loud. "Can I let you know about LA, sir? I appreciate the confidence you have in me, but I do have some things to deal with here before I can give you a proper answer."
"Of course," Mr. Jameson tells her. "We don't care where you work, here or in LA, as long as you continue doing what you've been doing. I know you have strong ties here. The job in LA is yours whenever you want it. Just let me know, okay?"
"Thank you," Beca tells him.
Later that night, Beca made her way back to the Bellas house. She managed to get to her room without seeing any of the girls. She made sure to lock the door. She dropped her bag on her desk and put on her pajamas. She laid on her bed and was staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. She had been laying there for a while when she heard someone trying to open the door. She knew it was Chloe. She got off the bed and opened the door.
"What do you want, Chloe?," she asked.
"Can I come in?," Chloe asked with a grin moving to enter the room.
"No," Beca said blocking her way.
"Why can't I come in?," Chloe asked her.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?," Beca asked.
"What?," Chloe asked.
"Where were you this morning?," Beca asked through clenched teeth.
"I was with Aubrey," Chloe responded. "She and Stacie had a fight and she was upset."
"Of course you were with Aubrey," Beca says, anger rising her in voice. "You were supposed to be with me at Residual Heat when Mr. Jameson announced my promotion."
"Oh, Beca," Chloe said. "I'm sorry, Aubrey needed me and I totally spaced on it. Let me in and I'll make it up to you."
"No thanks," Beca says coldly. "I'm tired and I'm going to bed."
She closes the door and clicks the lock in place.
"Beca," Chloe yells, banging on the door. "Come on, Becs. I said I was sorry. Open up and let's talk about it."
Chloe could hear movement and waited for Beca to open the door. She does. Beca notices they have an audience. Some of the Bellas had come out of their rooms when they heard Chloe banging and yelling at the door.
"What do you want to talk about, Chloe?," Beca asks her not caring who heard. "About how you're constantly standing me up without even bothering to text or call to let me know why. Or maybe we should talk about how each and every fucking time you stood me up it was because of Aubrey."
"Beca," Chloe says. "She's my best friend."
"And I was your girlfriend," Beca spits out.
Chloe swallowed. She did not miss the fact that Beca had said "was" your girlfriend.
"Beca, please," Chloe says, tears gathering in her eyes.
"I'm done, with this," Beca said waving her hand between the two of them. "I deserve to be with someone who actually wants to be with me. Who actually cares enough to want to share the big events in my life."
Beca closes and locks the door, leaving Chloe sobbing in the hallway. Chloe knocks and bangs on the door trying to get Beca to talk to her. Beca hears CR trying to get Chloe to give Beca some space for now. She hears the other Bellas but can't make out what they are saying. She puts on her headphones and ignores them all.
Beca finally decided to try and get some sleep around 2:00 am. Beca woke the next morning after a restless night. She takes a quick shower, thankful she and Amy had the only room that had it's own full bathroom. She was getting dressed when her phone rang. She saw it was Chloe and declined the call. She also saw that Chloe had texted her several times during the night.
There was a knock on the door. She ignored it.
Her phone rang again and she was going to decline the call when she saw it was her dad calling.
"Hey, dad," Beca said answering the call. "Sorry, I didn't answer right away. I thought it was Chloe."
"Trouble in paradise?," he asked.
"You could say that," Beca answered.
"What happened?," her dad asked.
Beca told him about Chloe standing her up and her offer to be a Head Music Producer in LA. He could hear the hurt in her voice when she talked about Chloe not being there for the announcement.
"Promoted to Head Music Producer?," he said proudly. "That's huge. We have to celebrate."
"Thanks, dad," Beca said. "Maybe can go to dinner or something."
"You got it," her dad said. "Just let me know when you're free."
"Why did you call anyway?," Beca asked.
"Oh yeah," her dad said. "I wanted to ask if you had plans for Christmas. Sheila and I would love to have you spend it with us."
"Chloe invited me to spend it with her family in Tampa," Beca said. "I'm not sure if that's an option now."
"Well, you're more than welcome to spend it with us," her dad said. "Just let me know."
"I will," Beca tells him.
"I'm really sorry about you and Chloe. I hope things work out one way or another," he said.
Her dad told her he loved her and that he'd talk to her later. Beca grabbed her books and threw them in her bag. She threw it over her shoulder, grabbed her keys and left. A few of the Bellas called out to her, but she didn't respond to any of them.
Beca was eating, well trying to eat, lunch at her favorite pizza place. She was staring at an object in her hand wondering what she was going to do with it now. She put it back in her pocket and was considering blowing off Bellas rehearsal. After much deliberation she decided to suck it up and go. She wasn't going to be able to avoid Chloe forever so she wasn't even going to try.
When Beca walked into practice her eyes immediately found Chloe. She could tell Chloe had been crying and hadn't slept much if at all.
"Great! Of course Aubrey is here," Beca thought when she saw Aubrey glaring at her. If looks could kill, well she'd be six feet under. She ignored her and got the girls to start warming up by running a few laps around the auditorium.
Practice was finally over and she managed to avoid looking at or talking to Chloe, thanks in part to Aubrey always being by the redhead's side. Lucky for Beca the practice went well and she was able to avoid having Aubrey intervene. She wasn't the Captain anymore, but she didn't seem to care. She was always "dropping in" on rehearsals and giving her "opinions" on everything from the cardio they did, to the choreography. No one wanted to suffer the wrath of Aubrey Posen so they just let her do it.
"Hey, Becs," Stacie called out.
"Yeah?," Beca said turning back to see what Stacie wanted.
"Congratulations on your promotion," she said. "I heard they offered you a job in LA?"
"Um, how did you hear about that?," Beca said. She didn't miss how Chloe's head jerked to look at her when she heard Stacie mention LA.
"I saw Jesse yesterday and he let it slip," Stacie told her. "Sorry, I wasn't supposed to tell you that."
"Whoa, Shawshank," Fat Amy said. "You're moving to LA? Are you quitting the Bellas?"
"No," Beca tells them. "If I go it won't be until after graduation. Plus, I'm not sure about LA, yet. I need to think about a few things."
"What's to think about?," Fat Amy asks. "It's all you've talked about it for months."
"Leave her alone," Stacie says shooting a quick glance at Chloe. "She may have a good reason to stay here."
The other girls heard this and were offering their own congratulations. Beca thanked them all and made her way out of the auditorium.
Beca was at the radio station stacking CDs and records when Chloe walked in. Beca pretended not to see her until she spoke.
"Beca?," Chloe asked quietly. "Can I talk to you, please?"
Jesse looked from Beca to Chloe and back again.
"I'm going to get some coffee," Jesse said and left the station.
"What do you want, Chloe?," Beca asked as she continued stacking.
"Why didn't you tell me about LA?," Chloe asked.
"I shouldn't have to," Beca said. "You would have known if you hadn't blown me off. Again."
A small sob escapes Chloe. Tears fall from her eyes.
"Beca," Chloe starts but can't say anymore through her tears.
Beca continues stacking, knowing if she looks at Chloe she'll cave and try to comfort her.
"I'm sorry," Chloe finally says through her tears. "I'm so, so sorry."
"I know," Beca tells her. "I know because that's what you've said every single time you stood me up."
Beca knew she was being harsh, but she was tired of letting Chloe do this to her. She tenses when she feels Chloe put her arms around her from behind. Chloe puts her head on Beca's back. She can feel the tears soaking through her shirt.
"I need to fix us," Chloe says. "Please tell me how I can do that? I love you, Beca. You mean the world to me. I need to make things right between us. How can I fix this?"
Chloe is sobbing into her back. She wants to tell Chloe what to do but she doesn't know how to fix them either.
"I honestly don't know," was all Beca could say.
Jesse returned from getting coffee. Beca gently removed Chloe's arms from around her. She finally turned to face Chloe and her heart broke at what she saw.
"I need to get back to work," she tells Chloe quietly.
"Okay," Chloe says trying to hold back her tears.
"Why don't you meet me at our spot after my shift," Beca tells her. "We need to talk. Really talk."
Chloe doesn't trust herself to speak, so she just nods. She looks at Beca with a small smile and turns to leave.
Beca finishes her shift and leaves to meet Chloe. She is barely out the door when Aubrey is in her face.
"What the fuck, Aubrey?," Beca says stepping back.
"I don't know what you did to Chloe," Aubrey said. "But, you'd better apologize and fix it."
"Fuck you," Beca said. "You're the reason we're where we are right now."
"What's that supposed to mean?," Aubrey asks.
"You've had it out for me since Chloe and I got together," Beca said. "You've managed to keep Chloe away from my side every single time that something big came my way. And don't tell me you didn't know what you were doing. Chloe tells you everything."
"So, what if I did?," Aubrey said crossing her arms over her chest. "She could have ignored me and gone to be with you. But she didn't, did she? I guess she cares more about me than you," she says smugly.
"Like you gave her a choice," Beca spits out. "I know how easily you can manipulate Chloe. I've seen it."
"I don't manipulate her," Aubrey says.
"Oh, really?," Beca says with a snort. "Does any of this sound familiar? "Chloe, we've been best friends since since Sophomore Year,' or 'Chlo, I really need you. Beca will just have to understand,' or, and this is my favorite, 'You should do it because I'm your best friend, Chloe.' Ring any bells?"
Aubrey just gives Beca another smug smile.
"Go to Hell, Aubrey," Beca says and turns to walk away.
Aubrey grabs Beca's arm, turns her around and slaps her. Beca lunges for Aubrey and would have punched her if Jesse hadn't grabbed her. He had heard the yelling and came out just in time to see the slap.
Beca fought to get Jesse off of her. Aubrey stepped back looking frightened.
"You'd better get the fuck out of here," Jesse tells Aubrey.
Aubrey huffs but turns and hurriedly walks away. Jesse holds onto Beca until Aubrey is out of sight. He lets Beca go and she turns to him.
"Why did you do that?," Beca screams at him. "She deserved to be punched."
"That may well be," Jesse said. "But then you would have gone to jail. You know she would have called the police."
Beca takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She runs her hand through her hair. She knew Jesse was right.
"Thanks," she said sincerely.
"No problem," Jesse said. "That's what best friends are for."
"I need to go meet Chloe," Beca said. "I'm already late."
"Go," Jesse said giving her a little shove.
Beca hurried to meet Chloe. She was late thanks to Aubrey. She was nearing their meeting spot when she saw Aubrey and Chloe walking away. Chloe had her head down and Aubrey had her arm around Chloe's shoulder.
"What the fuck?," Beca said to herself. She ran to catch up and stepped in front of the two girls, causing them to stop.
"Go away, Beca," Aubrey yells at her. "Chloe's upset and doesn't want to talk to you."
"What did you tell her?," Beca asks getting in Aubrey's face causing her to step back from Chloe. "Did you tell her you slapped me?"
Chloe turned to look at Aubrey.
"What is she talking about?," Chloe asked.
"Nothing," Aubrey says looking nervous.
"Is this nothing?," Beca asked pointing at the red mark on her face.
"Brey?," Chloe says. "Did you do that?"
"She told me to go to Hell," Aubrey said defensively.
"That's not a reason to slap her," Chloe said getting angry.
"Aubrey, please leave us alone," Beca said trying to hold her temper. "Chloe and I need to talk."
"I'm not leaving you alone with her," Aubrey says getting in Beca's face.
"That's not your call to make," Beca says standing firm.
"You don't deserve her," Aubrey says with a sneer.
"Again, not your call to make," Beca says.
"I'm her best friend," Aubrey yells.
"Then act like it," Beca yells back.
"Stop it!," Chloe yells. "Both of you! Just stop!"
Aubrey and Beca are taken aback. They step away from each other.
Chloe turns to Aubrey.
"Aubrey, please leave," Chloe tells her. "I really need to talk to Beca."
Aubrey starts to object when Chloe says, "Please?"
Aubrey huffs and walks away. Chloe turns in the opposite direction and heads back to to her and Beca's spot. Beca slowly follows her.
Their spot is a small clearing that is reached by a small opening in some bushes. They found it by accident one day and loved to meet there because it was secluded and had some logs they used as benches.
Chloe sat down on one of the logs. Beca kept some space between them and straddled the log so she was facing Chloe.
Chloe looked at her and put her hand on Beca's face where Aubrey slapped her.
"Are you okay?," Chloe asked.
"I'm fine," Beca replied.
Chloe pulled her hand away and wiped a tear that had fallen on her cheek.
"I really don't know what to say," Chloe whispered. "I love you, Beca. I was so happy when you broke up with Jesse because you realized you loved me, too. I don't know what's happened to us."
"Aubrey is what happened," Beca says. "This past year has been hell for me. I keep having to compete with Aubrey for your time, and she always comes out the winner, while I'm left wondering I still fit into your life."
"Becs," Chloe says, sliding closer to Beca. "You will always fit into my life."
"Really?," Beca asks. "Because it sure doesn't feel like it. Do you even realize how many times you've blown me off because of her? Five times in as many months. And all of those times was because of Aubrey"
"She needed me," Chloe says.
"I needed you," Beca counters. "I needed you by my side because big things were happening for me. I wanted you to share them with me because they affected my future. Our future."
"Our future?," Chloe asks looking at Beca.
"Have you noticed that I always put you first?," Beca asks. "Before Jesse, who is my best friend. Before anyone else. Why do you think that is?"
Chloe doesn't answer and Beca didn're really expect her to.
"I do it because love you, Chloe," Beca tells her. "I love you enough to be there for you, always. Why can't you love me enough to put me first? Am I not enough for you? Do you want something more with Aubrey than friendship?"
"No," Chloe says with a sob. "She's just my best friend and that's all."
She pulls Beca into a hug.
"I'm so sorry if I made you feel like you weren't enough for me," Chloe says. "I love you more than I can say. You are my everything. I want to wake up next to you every morning. I want to be there when you win your first Grammy. I want to be by your side through all the good and bad times that life throws at us."
Beca pulls back and looks at Chloe. She puts her hands on Chloe's cheeks.
"If you want all that with me," Beca asks, "why did you always pick Aubrey over me?"
"I guess I was feeling guilty," Chloe said. "I told her that if you went to LA that I was going to go with you if you asked. It was after that she started to pull me into whatever crisis she was in. I didn't think about what it was doing to you. I only wanted to assure her that we would be best friends no matter where we both ended up."
Beca looked to Chloe's eyes and smiled. She leaned in and kissed Chloe gently. She took Chloe's hands in hers.
"Why didn't you tell me?," Beca asked. "I would have understood if you had explained it instead of just blowing me off all the time. That hurt."
"I'm sorry," Chloe said. "I should have told you, I just didn't know how. You always became closed off whenever I mentioned the future and the two of us. What would you have done if I told you I wanted to go to LA with you?"
"I probably would have run," Beca said honestly. "Wow, I'm still kind of fucked up."
"Not as much as I am," Chloe said with a small smile.
They both sat there quietly. Both thinking about what this all means for them.
"I was going to propose at Christmas," Beca said breaking the silence. "I wanted to do it with your family around because I knew how much that would mean to you."
"Was?," Chloe says with tears streaming down her face.
"Yeah, was," Beca said.
Beca slides off the log onto one knee in front of Chloe. Chloe gasps.
"What are you doing?," she asks.
"I can't wait another day to do this," Beca tells her smiling.
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a ring. She holds it up to Chloe and says, "Chloe, I love you so, so much. Will you marry me?"
Chloe looks at Beca with tear filled eyes and says, "Yes!"