A/N: This is loosely based on my own experience with heartbreak. It's an AU, but it has a lot of canon in it.

It was Monday, Valentine's Day, and Beca was excited to spend another one with her longtime boyfriend Jesse. They'd been together for 3 ½ years. They were seniors together at Barden University. Jesse had secured a job in LA after graduation, and Beca was working hard at her internship at Residual Heat Recording Studio. They went out for a nice dinner and then spent the night together in Jesse's apartment.

The week went on as usual with classes and Bella rehearsals for Beca, Treble rehearsals for Jesse. Normally, the Bellas would get together with the Treblemakers every Friday night. This particular Friday, though, the Bellas had an extra rehearsal. They hadn't quite finished the choreography for their set for the regionals, and they wanted to take some more time to get it down. This would give the girls the weekend to practice it on their own, rather than having to wait until the following Monday to finish. The Bellas agreed they'd meet the Treblemakers later that evening.

The Bellas met the Trebles at a nearby Denny's. Jesse didn't pay much attention to Beca, but she didn't pay a lot of attention to him either. She was too busy discussing the choreography with the other Bellas. They finished their food and everyone left. Beca drove Emily back to her dorm and then headed to her apartment. She shared it with Fat Amy, a fellow Bella. Fat Amy was at her boyfriend Bumper's for the evening. Beca was looking forward to just relaxing after a really tiring week. When she pulled into the parking lot at her apartment complex, she saw Jesse sitting in his car, parked on the street. She was really confused as to what he could be doing there, but she got in the car when he motioned for her to get in.

"I don't want to date you anymore," he said. Beca felt her soul drop. She was shocked. Truth be told, she hadn't been happy in the relationship for several months, but the words were still soul-crushing. "We haven't been interacting like a couple for a while."

"I guess I've been feeling that way too," said Beca, still numb with shock.

"We can still be friends if you want," said Jesse.

"I don't think so," said Beca. She got out of the car and angrily slammed the door. She walked angrily up the steps to her apartment building.

When she got into the apartment, she didn't even cry. She was just numb with shock. She needed someone to talk to, but Fat Amy was at Bumper's. She knew better than to even try to interrupt that. She texted Emily. She figured Emily was likely still up since she had just dropped her off. Emily was young, and they weren't that close, but she could really use a listening ear.

B: I know it's late, but I need someone to talk to. Are you still up?
Legacy: Yeah.
B: Can I call you?
Legacy: Sure.

"Hey, Beca, what's up?"

"Jesse broke up with me," said Beca, shocking herself with how calm she sounded.

"He what?" asked Emily.

"He broke up with me," she repeated. "He was parked in the lot at my apartment complex after I dropped you off, and he motioned for me to get in the car. The first words out of his mouth once I got in were 'I don't want to date you anymore.'"

"Oh my stars, are you okay?"

"I don't know. I think I'm in shock."

Emily let Beca vent about what a jerk Jesse was. She listened to Beca complain that she should have dumped him first, and a lot of other things that probably only made sense to Beca. Beca thought Emily was very sweet to let Beca complain and never bothered to point out that Beca had been contradicting herself.

"Oh, shit, I just realized I'm going to have to go to my cousin Jordyn's wedding without a date. Ugh. I really don't want to spend the whole afternoon answering the questions about Jesse."

"You could take someone else," suggested Emily.

"I bet Chloe would like to go," said Beca.

"Probably. You talk about her all the time. I bet she'd be fun to bring."

"What do you mean I talk about her all the time?"

"Beca, you're always telling me that Chloe's cute, and if you were into girls, Jesse would have a reason to be jealous."

"I do not."

"You do."

"Oh. I don't know." Beca glanced at the clock. "Okay, Legacy, it's getting late. I shouldn't keep you up. You get some sleep, and I'll try. I don't expect I'll be too successful, but it's not fair to keep you up."

"Okay," said Emily, yawning. "Good night."

"Good night. Thanks for talking to me. I feel a little better already."

"That's good," said Emily. She ended the call.

She was right that she didn't sleep much that night. She put the TV on, but there was nothing on in the wee hours of Saturday morning. She finally nodded off about an hour after hanging up with Emily but woke up around the same time she normally got up during the week. She fixed a small breakfast but hardly ate any of it. She spent a lot of her morning on her laptop working on new music mixes. She figured it would be easier to just try and take her mind off of things.

She made herself some lunch, but she picked at it too. She never could eat when she was nervous or upset. After giving up on trying to eat lunch, she headed to her dad's. She'd promised him and Sheila that she'd join them for her stepbrother's birthday celebration. He was turning ten, and they'd arranged for him and five other classmates to see a kids' movie that afternoon and then get pizza. Beca had agreed to come along to have an extra pair of hands available. Beca was less than thrilled to be spending her afternoon with a bunch of ten-year-olds, but she welcomed the distraction.

She arrived at her dad's, and he could tell she was upset. "Jesse broke up with me!" she told her dad, and then immediately burst into tears, crying for the first time since Jesse had told her it was over. "He doesn't love me!" she wailed. Her dad pulled her into a hug.

"Hi, Beca," said Sam, Beca's stepbrother. He turned to his mother. "What's wrong with Beca?"

Sheila redirected Beca's stepbrother to his room, respecting their privacy. Beca got along better with Sheila than she had when her dad first remarried, but she certainly wasn't a "second mom" to her. Her dad fixed her a cup of coffee.

"Here, have this," said Beca's dad. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Beca shrugged.

"Okay, we can just sit if you want," he said.

"He's a jerk," said Beca, wiping her eyes with the tissue her father had handed her. She'd mostly stopped crying at this point.

"I figure you probably noticed, but I really didn't like Jesse. I'd learned to tolerate him."

"Yeah," said Beca. "You never told me why."

"Honestly, it's nothing I could ever put a finger on. I guess he just gave me a bad feeling. I never thought he treated you like you deserved."

Beca sniffled. Her dad continued. "It breaks my heart to see you so upset, no matter what I thought about you dating Jesse."

Beca nodded. "Thanks," she said weakly.

"I'm really glad you came to Sam's party anyway. I think it will help get your mind off things. Why don't you go up and say hi to Sam? He's probably worried."

"You know I love my stepbrother. Of course, I came out to help. I'll go up and see him." She headed to her stepbrother's room.

"Hi, Sam."

"Hi, Beca," he said. "Are you okay?"

Beca sighed. "No, but I will be. Are you excited for today?"

"Yes!" Sam exclaimed with a big grin. He was always so excited to see Beca.

Sam's face turned serious. "What's wrong? Why aren't you okay?"

"Jesse's not my boyfriend anymore, Sam. I'm pretty sad about it."

"Oh," said Sam, thoughtfully. "Well, if he made you sad, then I don't like him either!" He crossed his arms and made an exaggerated angry face.

Beca smiled. Her stepbrother was awfully cute sometimes. "Thanks, Sam," she said, giving him a hug. "You're a good kid."

She took her own car to the movies. Her dad and stepmom had convinced her to take her car so she could transport a few of the kids to the pizza place. She was also less than thrilled about this idea, but she couldn't turn Sam down when he asked her so earnestly. She met Sam and his friends in the lobby at the theater. Sheila had already purchased tickets and candy for everyone in advance, so they went straight to the theater.

Beca sat with the kids and helped Sheila pass out candy. They had bought six packs of candy ahead of time so they could avoid the lines at the snack bar. When the lights went down and the movie started, Beca found herself nodding off. After a night of practically no sleep, even coffee wasn't enough to keep her awake for a kids' movie. She was awake just as the movie ended, relieved that the kids didn't seem to have noticed she'd fallen asleep. She put a fake smile on her face and asked who wanted to ride in her car. She did have one rule, though. She got to pick the music. Sam immediately asked to ride with Beca, and one other kid went with him. The rest of the kids rode with Dr. and Mrs. Mitchell. Beca pulled up one of her mixes on her phone and plugged it into the car's sound system, making sure to choose a clean one. Sam proudly told his friend Michael that Beca had made the mash-up herself. Michael said, "Wow, Sam! Beca is the coolest!" Beca just laughed to herself. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

Beca, Sam, and Michael met everyone at the pizza place. Beca managed to eat a slice of pizza and sip a soda. She ended up popping two aspirin shortly after. Her head was pounding. Her dad looked at her sympathetically. "Well, honey, just remember you're rid of one BIG headache now." Beca managed a weak smile.

The other kids' parents picked them up after pizza, so Beca drove herself back to her apartment alone. Just as she walked in the door, Fat Amy grabbed her into a bear hug. "I can't believe Jesse dumped you! I'm going to kick his ass!"

"How did you find out?" asked Beca.

"Legacy texted everyone last night after you got off the phone. Why didn't you call me, your best friend?" asked Fat Amy.

"I know better than to even try to contact you when you're at Bumper's," said Beca.

"Good point. The Bellas are taking you out tonight to get your mind off of Jesse. Go get changed."

"But I don't want to go out. Can't I just sit here and wallow?"

"Nope. We took a vote, and we're taking you out."

"Why didn't I get a vote?"

"Not how it works, Shawshank. Now get ready to go out."

Beca knew there was no arguing with Fat Amy when she set her mind to something. Just before she got dressed, she noticed a few texts from Jesse. They must have come in while she'd been asleep at the movies with Sam and his friends.

Asshole Ex: Hey! I got a cool new app I want to show you.
Asshole Ex: The Trebles and I are going to the movies tonight. Do you and the Bellas want to join us?

So much for him accepting that she didn't want to be friends. She ignored him, hoping he'd get the message. She changed out of her flannel and skinny jeans and into a black shirt and plaid skirt. Fat Amy drove, and they met the Bellas at a nearby karaoke bar. All the Bellas took turns buying Beca shots. Soon Beca was drunk and definitely not thinking about Jesse or anything else, for that matter. They took turns singing various karaoke songs. Beca went up and sang "Titanium" by David Guetta. She hadn't quite gotten to the chorus when she found Chloe had joined her, harmonizing. She knew Chloe was an amazing singer, but she had no idea Chloe even knew this song. She locked eyes with Chloe while they sang, and Beca soon forgot anyone else was even in the room.

Beca talked to Chloe after they were done. "You know David Guetta?"

"That song is my jam, my lady jam," replied Chloe. "It really builds." Normally Beca would have been a little grossed out, but after the alcohol and singing with Chloe, she found herself surprisingly turned on.

"Oh? I'll keep that in mind," Beca said, winking. Where did that come from? Beca had known Chloe for years, but she hadn't really thought of her like that. Was she bi? Was Chloe bi? She couldn't think about it anymore; she was way too drunk. Beca was so thrown off by this that she forgot to say anything to Chloe about her cousin's wedding.

The Bellas all left the bar at closing time and headed back to their dorms or apartments. Beca was happy that Fat Amy had agreed to be the designated driver. Usually, Fat Amy was the first one downing shots. Before Beca went to bed, she saw there were more texts from Jesse. He had switched from stupid small talk.

Asshole Ex: I guess you're avoiding me now.

Duh, thought Beca. She didn't respond, hoping Jesse would get the message this time.

The next morning Beca woke up with a really nasty hangover. Fat Amy had been nice enough to leave her some aspirin and a glass of water. This really wasn't like her, and Beca was touched at her consideration. She downed the aspirin and laid back down. Once the pounding in her head was reduced to a dull ache, she made her way out of her bedroom to the kitchen. She picked at some toast for breakfast. She hadn't really gained her appetite back yet, and the hangover wasn't helping.

"Up and at 'em, Beca! You have to get ready!" said Amy, holding Beca's Bella uniform.

"Ready for what?" asked Beca, groaning.

"We're singing the National Anthem at the Barden University gymnastics meet," replied Fat Amy. "I'm even going to try to correctly sing the words this time!" Fat Amy was from Australia and hadn't really tried hard to learn the words in the nearly four years she'd been in the US.

Beca groaned. "I'm not going."

"Yes you are!" said Fat Amy. "Otherwise you'll be sitting around the apartment moping, and I won't have it." Beca gave in and quickly got into her uniform and put her hair up. She tried applying some extra makeup to hide the dark circles under her eyes. It helped a little, but she was sure everyone could see what a mess she was.

The Bellas sang the National Anthem at the beginning of the meet and left soon after. Beca definitely wasn't the only one hungover. She was amazed at how all of her fellow Bellas could still manage to sound so good when they all probably felt about as bad as she did. It was an amazing group of women.

Beca went back to the apartment and worked on a new mix. She was trying to find something that sounded good with "Titanium." She couldn't get the song out of her head after singing it at the karaoke bar, probably because her thoughts kept drifting back to how good Chloe sounded singing it with her.

Aubrey, the leader of the Bellas, called a Bella meeting that evening. Beca loved her singing group, but she hated Aubrey's meetings. She meant well, but she was such a control freak. She and Beca clashed a lot when Beca first joined the group, but Aubrey eventually learned that Beca had an amazing ear for music. Now it was Beca's responsibility to arrange the songs for their sets.

What Beca didn't know was that this was another attempt from her Bella sisters to take her mind off of Jesse. Beca arrived at the meeting to find that it was actually just a small party with drinks and snacks, no alcohol this time due to nearly every Bella having woken up hungover that morning. She was happy to hang out with her fellow Bellas, and found herself drawn to Chloe. How had she not noticed how gorgeous Chloe was before? She had an amazing body, and the most beautiful sky blue eyes she'd ever seen. Beca and Chloe made small talk most of the evening, and they were the last two to leave.

"Beca, I'm really sorry about Jesse. I just want you to know I'm here for you if you want to talk or go out and get away from here," said Chloe.

"Thanks, Chloe. I may take you up on that," said Beca. "By the way, I was wondering if you'd like to go to my cousin's wedding next month with me. I think we'd have a really good time, and you'll save me from endless questions from my relatives as to why I'm not bringing Jesse."

"That sounds like fun, Beca. I'd love to go. Text me later with details and what you're wearing so we can coordinate." Chloe gave Beca a big hug before they parted ways.

Beca went back to her apartment, greeted Fat Amy, and went straight to her room. She noticed more texts from Jesse. The last one said:

Asshole Ex: I haven't told the Trebles what transpired. Call me so I know what you want to do.

She thought it was interesting that he'd said "what transpired" instead of just saying they'd broken up. She texted back.

B: The Bellas already know, so you can tell the Trebles whatever you want.

She thought for a moment and added:

B: And, while we're at it, consider yourself excused from Jordyn's wedding. I know you didn't want to go anyway, and I sure as hell don't want you there now. I'm bringing someone else.

That night, when she tried to fall asleep, she kept thinking about Chloe. It felt a bit like she may have a crush on her. She'd had a few small crushes on girls before, but always dismissed them. Could Beca be bi and not realize it? She definitely still liked guys, but she had to admit to herself that all she could think of was kissing Chloe. And maybe a little more. She chalked up her thoughts to being on the rebound and tried to push them out of her mind. After all, she and Jesse had been officially broken up for less than twenty-four hours. It was crazy to think about anyone else in that way so soon.

This caused her thoughts to drift back to things with Jesse. When Beca thought about it, things really had been over for a while. She could count on one hand the number of times they'd been intimate in the last few months. There had been a few rumors that Jesse had been awfully handsy with another girl at a New Year's party. Beca had heard the rumors, but she hadn't even bothered to concern herself about them. When she thought about it, she realized she was angrier at herself for not ending things earlier than she was with Jesse for ending them. Of course, the annoying barrage of texts was causing a whole new problem. She'd deal with that later.