AN: This is my first story. Beca is both Beca and Cathy by the way. Just in advance, I actually don't have anything against Jamie. I thought he was a great boyfriend to Cathy before they got married, but he's supposed to be the antagonist and with the lyrics, this is how I imagined the situation. Hope you enjoy.

Lincoln Centre, 2012…

"WE DID IT, BECS!" Chloe excitedly squealed.

She was practically jumping up and down as she held her best friend's hands and tried to get her to join her, but she frowned when she made no sort of move to do so.

"Beca? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I just…I have something to tell you! Can we just…" Beca nervously responded, instinctively fiddling with the slightly taller girl's slim fingers to try and calm herself down.

They were forced to practically yell over the crowd's adoring hollers and applause and the other Barden University Bellas' celebratory cheers.

They had just won the finals of the 2012 International Championship of Collegiate A Capella over their biggest rivals, the Barden University Treblemakers. They had also just been awarded a pretty nice-looking trophy, so you could say they were pretty proud of themselves.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. Come on," the redhead replied as she guided the small brunette to the side of the stage where it was a little quieter, slightly worried by the anxious look on her face, "What's up, Becs? Is everything okay?"

They had just accomplished the one thing that they've been working for the entire year and everyone was ecstatic. Everyone except for Beca apparently and that was a concerning sign.

"Yeah. Yeah, no, I-I'm fine, I just—Um, I love you," the tiny DJ confessed in a pretty ungraceful manner, looking anywhere but into the older girl's bright, electric-blue eyes.

Chloe giggled nonchalantly and responded, "I love you too, Becs."

"No, Chlo, like, I-I mean I love you," the short freshman repeated, but when she realized that the ginger still wasn't getting it, she let out an awkward, breathy laugh and ran a hand over her face in frustration with herself.

She tried to piece together a proper way to explain, but she knew that that would end with them being there until the following year, so she just went for it. She was a singer, she had to be good at improv anyway, right?

"Okay, I-I really hope this won't make you think that I'm a weirdo or creep you out or anything," Beca started to elaborate, "So, what I'm trying to tell you is that I love you in more of a platonic way and I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, but, I mean, can you blame me?

"You're so sweet and caring and beautiful. Since the moment I saw you at that stupid activities fair, I felt something light up inside me. Ever since, you've always been on my mind 24/7. You're the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning and the last thought on my mind at night when I fall asleep. Hell, you even invade my dreams sometimes…but in-in a good way. God, that sounds so creepy.

"Um, okay, but remember on Hood Night you told me that we were gonna be really fast friends? Well, you were right, but I always thought that maybe…we could be more."

Chloe stood there wide-eyed and slightly slack-jawed, completely in shock. She couldn't believe that Beca liked her like that. It didn't not make sense when she looked back at their relationship now, but she just didn't see herself as being the kind of person the younger girl crushed on. Apparently she was though and now she was sort of stuck in this dilemma between not wanting to lose her best friend but also not wanting to lead her on any more than she might've already.

As she tried to find the right words to express these conflicting feelings, she saw the twinkle of hope and pure adoration in the younger girl's eyes.

This was going to be difficult.

"Becs, I…You're amazing too. I'll never think that you're a creep and I'll never be uncomfortable around you. I just—I don't like you like that. I-I'm so sorry. I love you but just as a friend," the senior tried to say it as gently as she possibly could.

Her heart ached slightly when a flash of disappointment and hurt crossed Beca's face, however it was gone in an instant and covered up with a very small but genuine smile.

"Yeah, no, it's-it's okay. I didn't think you'd…I mean, I just…I had to tell you. I had to, you know, get it out there. Um, but I really hope this doesn't…affect us," the small brunette stuttered, trying to ignore the dull heaviness in her chest.

"Of course. You're one of my best friends and I don't wanna lose you either," the redhead agreed, then jokingly added to lighten the mood, "I mean, I get it. I'm basically a goddess."

The two chuckled, then Chloe questioned, "Are you sure you're really okay though?"

Beca felt her hand lightly brush her arm and knew what she was implying. She couldn't deny the instinctive impulse. The slight urge to feel the cold blade on any of her limbs. To feel her skin splitting while warm blood ran down whatever part of her body for stupidly thinking that there could be a chance that the senior would actually like her back. Nevertheless, she ignored it as much as she could and kept her smile on her face.

"Yeah, I'm okay," the tiny DJ replied.

"Are you sure?" Chloe asked again.

She wanted to make sure that Beca wasn't going to do something she'd regret later and she definitely didn't want to be the cause of it. The younger girl would never trust her or want to see her again.

"Promise," Beca reassured her, pulling the slightly taller girl into a tight hug to prove it.

She was admittedly pretty devastated that the redhead didn't like her back, but she could deal just as long as Chloe didn't leave.

If the redhead left her, she honestly wouldn't know what to do. Her life would become so much more meaningless. She couldn't bare even just the thought of losing her best friend, but she was still there. She was still with her even if it wasn't in the way that she'd hoped for and that was okay.

New York, 2020

Chloe hastily knocked on the big sliding door, calling to the woman through the heavy wood, "Beca! Come on, open up! Please! Beca, you gave me a spare key, so we're coming in either way! We just wanna know that you're okay!"

No answer.

"Is she coming?" Stacie asked from the bottom of the stone stairs just outside the front door.

Meanwhile, Aubrey was standing beside her, looking around every once in a while in case one of the two they were searching for came walking down the sidewalk.

The redhead up the stairs turned with a sigh and shook her head sadly.

None of the three had heard from the small woman for a week now. That wasn't normal. They were all still best friends and they still could barely go five hours without shooting a simple "Hey" text, so to say they were worried was an understatement.

"Chlo, just use the key. They'll understand...probably," Aubrey told her.

She knew Chloe had just added that part to coax the brunette into answering if she was indeed home. She didn't really—none of them did actually—want to use the key for fear of invading their privacy, especially since Beca was…well Beca, but this was starting to become strange and they were all concerned, needless to say.

The redhead sighed, reluctantly taking the key Beca had given her and unlocked the door. The three girls carefully and as quietly as possible entered the apartment, softly closing the door behind them. Well, as softly as they could with an old, creaky, heavy sliding door.

"Beca?" Chloe called out, her voice ringing throughout the silent apartment.

"Where could she be? Do you think they're out? Maybe they've been on a trip and she just didn't tell us," Aubrey wondered aloud, though they all knew it was a weak reason. Beca told them basically everything.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Then I guess we probably shouldn't be in their house," Chloe unconvincingly agreed.

The three girls turned to leave, but Stacie suddenly stopped them all. "Wait! Do you hear that?"

They all froze and made no noise whatsoever.

A soft sound cut through the silence, echoing from somewhere further in the apartment. It sounded like a small, choked sob and it sounded like it came from Beca. This immediately alerted the girls of something wrong and their concern intensified tenfold.

"Beca?" Chloe called out again, a little more frantically.

The crying instantly stopped. She must've thought they'd left already and now she knew she was caught.

"Bathroom," Stacie simply mouthed as the three started towards said room.

Beca was crying in the bathroom. Not good. Not good at all. They all knew what that could potentially mean, but they didn't want to consider the possibility.

"Beca, are you okay?" Aubrey asked once they were in the bedroom.

Nothing. Now they were panicking.

"Beca?" the leggy woman called for her again once they rounded the large bed and entered the tiny kitchen.

They got to the bathroom door and noticed that the light was on as there was a stream of it seeping through from the cracks between the door and its frame.

"Beca, are you in there? Is it okay if we come in?" Chloe questioned as she pressed a hand and the side of her head against the wood, but again, there was no response.

"Maybe we should let her come to us," Aubrey softly suggested, gently placing her hand on her best friend's shoulder, then starting to make her way back to the living room.

The other two were about to reluctantly follow when they heard a few loud thuds come from inside the bathroom. They immediately spun around and yanked at the knob, only to find it locked.

"Beca?" Stacie and Aubrey yelled to her in panic as they knocked loudly on the door.

The redhead desperately searched through the drawers to find a key and almost hopped in celebration when she succeeded, but she knew that there was no time. She hurriedly inserted the key into the keyhole and swiftly shoved the door open.

"Oh my god! Beca!"

AN: Thanks for reading.