I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of the characters. But after the rumors of Beca and Chloe finally getting together, I just had to write this. Especially after the movie. The song is "Can't Forget You" by "My Darkest Days". The second is from "Westlife" "Please Stay."
Dedicated
Beca stared at the screen. The beat drummed in her ears, her voice made a bunch of seemingly random and meaningless noises over several tracks and created music, and the track recorded the silence of the studio endlessly, waiting for her to sing. She was already several measures late to start, but she couldn't help it. Ever since she had been signed onto a professional job as a singer by DJ Khaled, she had gone back and forth with near-bipolar episodes of producing songs and staring into space as thoughts of the Bellas ran through her mind. Some more than others. One more than most.
She missed the girls, her family. She missed living with Fat Amy in all her weirdness. She missed Chloe. Her friend. Her sister. The one person who she could go to with absolutely anything, even more than Amy. She knew that she needed to talk to Chloe. It had been a couple of weeks. The first time had been a few days after they split up again when Beca had broken down crying and called Chloe for comfort. During that conversation, it had gone back and forth between who was comforting who. Chloe had been needing comfort first when telling Chloe that she and Chicago had not, in fact, ended up as a couple, as Chicago apparently had been looking for easy sex, which he had found not only with Chloe, but apparently with the lead singer of Evermoist on the same day. After that, Chloe had needed comfort when talking about how she had told Beca about losing her luggage on the way to college. Then about how busy and stressed out she had been at the time. In the end, they had been comforting each other about wanting to see each other again often. Over the next three months, they had yet to see each other once. But they had talked a few times. Still not enough.
"You should call."
Beca jumped, pausing the track and turning to Theo as he leaned against the door frame. "Call who?"
"Chloe," Theo snorted. "Every couple weeks you get depressed and can't function, and then everything starts to weigh down on you until you finally snap and call her. Then, you go back to making amazing music. Hell, I could probably get her signed if you wanted, and she agreed. Then she could be here with you."
"No," Beca said, a small smile playing on her lips. "That's not the life she wanted. Maybe I'll call."
"Alright," Theo smiled. "Oh, hey, don't forget that you have that live performance in three days. You still need to choose songs. And they want to hear one a cappella cover, so be thinking of what you want to do."
Beca nodded, turning back to the track and raising her hand to resume it, only to stop, staring at it. Theo was right, she needed to call. She couldn't work otherwise. She sighed, taking the headphones off and taking out her cellphone, dialing the only number she had memorized as she walked to the door to her bedroom in her hotel suite. She shut the door, sitting on the bed as the phone rang. She waited. And waited. It never took Chloe this long to answer. She had even answered on the first ring during a date once. That date had also been the last with that guy, but Chloe swore it wasn't Beca's fault.
Finally, someone picked up. "Hello?"
Beca felt her throat close as the male voice reached her ears. Maybe she had dialed the wrong number? She checked. Nope. Right one.
"Hello?" the voice asked again.
"Um, hi, is there a Chloe Beale there?" Beca asked, feeling stupid.
"No," he said. "She just stepped out. Can I take a message?"
"Um, could you just tell her Beca called?"
"Oh you're her huh?" he said. "Yeah she talks about you a lot."
"Really?" Beca asked.
"Yeah, I don't really listen, mostly just smile and nod so I can keep tappin' that ass, but yeah, she said something about long distance and not wanting to talk anymore," he said nonchalantly, even as Beca was trying not to sob and break her phone in rage at the same time. "Anyway, I'll give her the message."
And with that, he hung up. Beca screamed into her pillow, but even as she tried to latch onto the anger, the scream turned into sobs within minutes. She wasn't even sure why she was crying. Finally, she sighed, standing and walking back to the booth with her phone. She set it there, putting a basic beat playing, leaving one ear uncovered. After about three hours of staring mutely at her silent phone, she finally knew what song she wanted to sing. The only one that described what she was feeling. She began to set up the background music, having it set perfectly within minutes and beginning to sing. It was a cover, and one that she honestly didn't want to perform. Because she knew if she did, she'd be crying on stage before she got halfway. Just like she was now. But maybe if she did sing it, she could finally function like a human being.
Beca woke as her phone buzzed. She rolled over, staring at it. A text. She sighed, clicking on the lamp and opening the message, a hollow feeling forming inside her instantly. It was from Chloe.
"Sorry I didn't call back. Figured you were busy like usual. Sorry I missed the call. Went to the store without my phone. How's it going? School's gotten a lot better. Tons of fun people. Classes are great. Having so much fun. Good luck with the music. Love your songs. Bye."
Was that really all Chloe could send? "Sorry I missed your call, I'm doing great without you?" She set the phone down, feeling the hollow feeling spread as she sobbed into a pillow. She hated this feeling. She had felt it before when she and Jesse had first broken up and he had subsequently found a girlfriend in a week. Except then, she had had Amy and Chloe to help. Now she had a pillow. Finally, she set the pillow aside, drying her eyes and staring at the ceiling. That was it. Chloe was moving on. Beca had to do the same. So she had to say it. Just once.
Beca walked out to the edge of the stage, taking the stool from Theo and he gave her a concerned look.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked.
"I have to do this," Beca said, already fighting tears. "I have to say it. This is the only way I know how."
She walked back to her microphone, setting the stool down and sitting on it, staring at the crowd, eyes scanning their faces futilely. She wasn't there. She couldn't be. She wouldn't be. She was in medical school. Several states away. And she was functioning alone. No. Not alone. Without her. Chloe was functioning without her.
"Um, I was told that I was allowed to do an a cappella cover, but I actually don't have my...my old group with me, so you'll have to try and bear with me just a little. Oh, and you'll have to bear with me if I'm a bit...emotional during the song too. I think you'll see why. Anyway, I'm dedicating this one to C...to...someone very special to me that's been there for me since we met, even before I knew their name. Anyway, I suppose I should start singing now, huh?"
She allowed a weak smile on her face as she disguised wiping a tear from her eye as scratching her forehead. Then, she began to sing the background parts, setting them to loop in the background on the switchboard she controlled her usual background pieces with. Once the tracks were set, she took a deep breath, tears already trying to spill over again, the crowd deathly silent. Then, she began to sing.
"Whoever said this pain...would ever go away...didn't know what it meant to, be here without you. Is everything you see...reminding you of me? And does it hurt when you breathe too? Cause it does when I do. Cause it does when I do." She sniffed, tears spilling over sooner than she expected. "When anybody says your name, I wanna run away. I keep remembering, and I can't forget you. Doesn't matter what I try, it happens anyway. With every single day, it won't go away." She played a loop recorded before. "The way I feel about you." She wiped her eyes as she continued. "And when it's said and done, you're the only one. And I can't regret you, so I can't forget you." The tracks played, filling the space that should be music as she turned away from the mic, sniffing and trying to get herself under control enough to keep singing. nearly failing. "I hate to feel this way, my days all feel the say. And Yesterday was proof, that tomorrow will too. No matter what they say, can't drink it all away. 'Cause all that I do, is think about you. Is think about you."
She sang the chorus again, voice quitting as she got to the word forget. She turned away from the mic again, sniffing and wiping at the tears now coating her cheeks, glad she had gone without makeup. Then, she turned back, determined to fight through it, despite the sympathetic looks from the crowd.
"Stop haunting my dreams. Please set me free." She felt the waver in her voice, fighting to keep it under control. "Stop haunting my dreams. Please set me free." She set the loop tracks to play at the proper spots, setting her hands in her lap, her fingers curling around her skirt to keep from shaking. "When anybody says your name, I wanna run away. I keep remembering I can't forget you. It doesn't matter what I try, it happens anyway. It's been forever and I can't forget you. With every single day, it won't go away. The way I feel about you. And when it's said and done, you're the only one. And I can't regret you..."
She sat back, the loops playing out the end of the song as she fought not to start sobbing. She hadn't said who it was, but Chloe would know. Chloe had been the one to show her the song. Chloe had been the one to do a lot of things. Chloe was the one who got her to be a Bella. Chloe was the one that accepted her first, and fought to keep her in the Bellas when Aubry wanted her gone. Chloe was the reason Beca had bothered opening up to Jesse at all in the beginning. If Chloe hadn't been there, Beca wouldn't be a professional singer now. She owed everything she had to Chloe. So she had to say it. Just once.
As the song finished, Beca stood, carrying the stool back behind stage, the deafening applause and cheers drowning out the sob that escaped as soon as she was turned away. Once she was backstage, she broke, Theo met her with a comforting hug, but it didn't help. It wasn't Theo she wanted a hug from. She pulled away, walking away from everyone and sitting down, trying to calm herself as the workers began to clean everything up. After a bit, she looked around, seeing that it was almost entirely empty, besides her.
"If I got on my knees and I pleaded with you...not to go, but to stay in my arms," a hauntingly familiar voice sang, Beca almost afraid to open her eyes. "Would you walk, out the door...like you did once before. This time...be different. Please stay. Don't go."
Beca opened her eyes as Chloe's voice broke and a sob escaped. Chloe was kneeling before her, tears running down her cheeks and a hand to her mouth to silence her sobs. Beca stared at her in silence, her own tears returning but not falling yet. Chloe was trying to speak but was sobbing too hard. Finally, Beca spoke.
"When I called, your boyfriend said you didn't want to talk. And your text made it sound like you were doing fine. I just...I had to tell you so I could say goodbye."
At the mention of a boyfriend, Chloe had stopped sobbing, too confused to even do that. However, understanding flooded her just before she heard the word goodbye, at which point a sob forced its way out, starting the flood anew.
"No!" Chloe sobbed. "I-It's awful! I hate everyone but my roommate! The guy was her boyfriend! He's a dick! My classes are horrible! My teachers are dicks! And now I'm losing you!"
Beca knelt, pulling Chloe into a hug, letting her tears fall as Chloe sobbed into her shoulder. "You're not. If you ask me to, I'll quit as a singer and come back with you."
Chloe pulled away, staring at her in shock. "You can't do that! This is your dream! This is all you've ever wanted!"
"I don't want this anymore, Chloe," Beca said. "Hell I can't even do the job most of the time because I can't function without you. I stare at an empty screen and listen to music but I can only ever hear your voice singing Torn in an overly cramped tent."
Chloe smiled, wiping her eyes. "It's hard to focus on school without having someone to sing to. My teachers don't like it."
Beca smiled, gently brushing her thumb over Chloe's cheek and touching her forehead to Chloe's. "If you want, I could get you signed. You could sing with me. Get your degree online, or go to school in your free time."
Chloe smiled but it faded slightly. "I...Are you sure you..."
Beca sighed, leaning forward and pressing her lips to Chloe's. Chloe sighed, arms wrapping around Beca's back as their tongues met. The kiss felt like it lasted hours, but it was probably only a couple of seconds. Chloe sighed at the loss of contact but smiled.
"I'm going to transfer to a school that's closer," Chloe smiled. "We can talk about me getting signed later."
"Really?" Beca asked, receiving a nod. "I love you!"
She hugged her, her own eyes widening for a moment at what she had said before she smiled.
"I love you too Beca," Chloe said. "I'm sorry I never said before now."
Beca kissed her again before standing, helping her up, both drying their eyes.
"Well, we'd better get going then," Beca said. "I'm kidnapping you for tonight, and Theo's going to come looking for me soon."
Chloe smiled, lacing their fingers together. "Oh no. I'm being kidnapped? What ever shall I do?"
"I think I can find a job for you," Beca smiled as they walked outside together, never planning on being anything other than that.
THE END
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