A/N: Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. TW: Deals with grief and substance abuse.


Beca had just checked into her hotel in Tampa, Florida. She'd had to book a flight and hotel at the last minute, and she was relieved that her father had graciously allowed her to use his points to dramatically reduce the cost to fly down to Florida and stay for a few days. She'd been staying with her aunt in New York for the summer. She'd originally planned to grab dinner before heading out, but she didn't have much appetite. She decided to change clothes instead and arrive earlier than she'd originally planned. She got herself dressed nicely, freshened up her hair and makeup, and then found herself not wanting to do what she'd traveled to Florida to do. She finally took a deep breath and decided to just go ahead and order the Uber.

She thanked the driver and tipped her through the app. The woman must have sensed that Beca wasn't up for conversation, or maybe she'd taken the time to notice that Beca would be going to a funeral home and was dressed nicely. She hadn't attempted conversation beyond a polite greeting, leaving Beca to her thoughts.

She walked into the funeral home and was greeted by a polite man in a nice suit. "Last name, please?" he asked Beca.

"Beale," she said, her voice already thick. She hadn't realized how upsetting it would be to say that name out loud in a funeral home.

"Follow me," he said. Beca quietly and slowly followed the man, still dreading what was to come.

Beca walked into the room and was immediately pulled into a tight hug. "Beca, you're here!"

"Hi, Mrs. Beale," said Beca.

"Beca, it's Lynn," she replied. "I'm so glad you could travel on such short notice. It means so much to all of us."

"It's no trouble."

"How was your flight?"

"It was fine."

"Will you be staying with us at the house?"

"No. I got a hotel room."

"You didn't have to do that."

"The last thing you need to do right now is to have another person under your roof. I appreciate the offer, though."

A red-haired young man in his late twenties walked over and greeted Beca. "Hi, Beca. I'm so glad to see you again, but I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Hi, Steven." She went to shake his hand, only to be pulled into a hug. That's a Beale for you, she thought.

Beca was also greeted by Chloe's other brothers, Danny and Chris, also with hugs. Her discomfort with the hugs had temporarily allowed her to forget her grief.

It was a huge crowd of people. All available seats were taken, and there were a ton of people standing around. Beca knew Chloe's immediate family well, but she didn't know any of her extended family. She finally asked Steven to help her through the crowd, not wanting to get pulled into a conversation with someone she didn't know. Conversations were always awkward at viewings, and Beca didn't want to explain over and over again that she was Chloe's best friend from college.

Finally, Steven walked Beca toward the front of the room. "Here she is," he said.

"Beca! You're here!" exclaimed Chloe. Her face was tear-stained, but she'd managed to crack a smile at her best friend.

"Oh, Chloe, I'm so sorry. I got here as fast as I could," said Beca. She pulled Chloe in for a tight embrace and let Chloe cry on her shoulder. Beca hated seeing Chloe cry under any circumstances, and she soon found herself joining her.

"Beca, it's just not fair. He left for work, and then his assistant called to tell my mom he'd collapsed, and then we were at the hospital and discussing his funeral. We were supposed to go out for a father-daughter dinner date that night. Now I'll never have one with him again."

Beca rubbed Chloe's back to try and soothe her. "Chloe, you couldn't have known. At least he didn't suffer."

Chloe pulled away and nodded and sniffled. Beca handed her a tissue and got one for herself. "I'm glad you're here," Chloe said.

"Of course," said Beca. "It's what friends do. Besides, I always liked your dad. He made me feel like part of the family, and he always made me laugh."

"He liked you too," said Chloe. She led Beca out of the room and into a quiet corner of the hallway. The two of them sat down on a bench. Beca was relieved to be out of the crowded room. She hoped it would help her calm Chloe down if she was calm herself.

"How have you been holding up? I feel awful that it took me two days to arrange to travel here."

"Speaking of that, how did you manage?"

"My dad let me use his airline and hotel points."

"Oh. I should thank him next time I see him. Wait, why aren't you staying at my house?"

"Chloe, the last thing you guys need is another person under your roof," said Beca. "I already thanked my dad for you. So, how have things been? Have your brothers and mother been helping?"

"Well, it's no fun planning a funeral, but he and Mom did some pre-planning back when my grandmother died. So, at least we knew his wishes and didn't have to pay anything extra."

"That helps. Have you been sleeping?"

"Not much," said Chloe. "I just keep seeing his body in that hospital bed every time I shut my eyes. It's awful." Chloe began to cry again, and Beca imagined she was reliving the experience again.

"Come here," she said, wrapping Chloe in another embrace and rubbing her back. "Sometimes, these things just happen. You said he'd gotten a clean bill of health recently. Even his doctors were shocked when he had a massive stroke. It definitely sucks, though, and it's not fair."

"It doesn't make it hurt any less. I just wish I'd had more time with him."

"I'm sure," said Beca. "Remember when we got our apartment and the moving truck broke down? Your dad had us all in stitches while we were waiting for the tow truck."

Chloe gave a watery laugh. "Yeah, he was good at making us laugh."

"It made me a lot less upset about the truck we rented."

"That was some rotten luck," said Chloe.

"Hey, Chloe. Do you want to get out of here?"

"I can't," said Chloe. "I'm the daughter. I have to stay."

"Chloe, you're grieving the sudden loss of your father. There's nothing you 'have to' do right now." Beca made air quotes when saying "have to."

"Do you really think it's okay if I leave?"

"Tell your mom and brothers so they don't worry, but I'm sure they'll understand if you need to get away from here for a little while."

"Okay," said Chloe. "I'll be right back." Chloe went off to tell her mother and brothers that she needed to step out for a bit. Beca was surprised that Chloe hadn't wanted her to come along, but she had decided to follow Chloe's lead when she got the news. Beca had lost her own mother at the beginning of her senior year of high school, so she had a rough idea of how Chloe felt. Beca's mother had been sick for years, though, so Beca had had time to emotionally prepare. The loss her mother had still stung, but she'd known it was coming.

Chloe returned, snapping Beca out of her thoughts about her mother's passing four years prior. "Okay, Beca, let's go."

"Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know," said Chloe. "I just don't want to be here, and I don't want to be at the house."

"Do you want to come back to my room? We can order room service and watch TV. I'll watch anything you want. "

"You have no idea how awesome that sounds," said Chloe, cracking a small smile.

Beca smiled back. She ordered an Uber, and the two girls headed to the hotel.

Beca went through her suitcase and handed Chloe a pair of pajamas. "Here," she said. "Put these on. You'll be more comfortable."

Once they'd both changed into pajamas, Beca grabbed the room service menu and handed it to Chloe. "Get whatever you want. My treat."

"Beca, this isn't cheap," said Chloe.

"It's fine. I've got it. Just order something. I know you haven't been hungry, but you need to try and eat something. You'll feel better."

Chloe looked through the menu. "I think I just want mac and cheese right now. The comfort food sounds good."

"It does. I'll order two," said Beca. She handed Chloe the remote. "Find something on TV while I call room service. I don't care what it is. Even a movie."

Chloe put her hand on her heart in exaggerated shock. "A movie? Wow, Beca!"

"Chloe, you're my best friend. I'd walk through fire to see a smile on that face again. Sitting through a movie is nothing. Well, as long as you don't care if I fall asleep halfway through."

"Thanks, Bec," said Chloe, starting to sniffle.

Beca handed her a tissue. "Oh no, we're not starting that again. Go find something on TV while I call room service."

Chloe dried her tears and nodded. She ended up choosing the Disney Channel, which was showing The Little Mermaid. Beca hung up the hotel phone and sat on the bed with Chloe. "Hey, there's some good luck. It's your favorite Disney movie!"

"Yeah," said Chloe. "I always identified with Ariel when I was a kid. I guess it's because of the red hair."

"And the constant singing," said Beca.

"Beca, we're in a collegiate a cappella group. You sing almost as often as I do."

"Okay, fine," Beca conceded.

Chloe snuggled up to Beca while they waited for room service to deliver the food. Chloe was in the middle of joining Ariel in "Part of Your World" when room service knocked on the door. She didn't stop while Beca grabbed the food.

She was belting out the last lines of the song as the room service waiter left.

Out of the sea
Wish I could be
Part of that world

"Okay, Ariel, come get your mac and cheese," said Beca.

"Thanks," said Chloe as she put a fork in her food. She took a bite, swallowed, and then said, "This is the first time since that horrible phone call that I've wanted anything to eat."

"I'm glad I could help. I didn't have much appetite after my mom died. My aunt – the one you met at the last ICCA's that I'm staying with this summer – did a similar thing for me. She'd flown down from New York, and she took me away from everything. The change of scenery worked wonders for me."

"I'm so glad you're here. I've been so lost and confused. My mom and my brothers are great, but they're all dealing with their own grief too."

"I'm glad to help. If you're done, we should get back to the movie. I think they're about to sing 'Under the Sea.'"

"Beca, can you sing it for me?" Chloe asked.

Without another word, Beca joined in with the Sebastian character, even making an attempt at copying the accent.

The seaweed is always greener
In somebody else's lake
You dream about going up there
But that is a big mistake
Just look at the world around you
Right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things surround you
What more is you lookin' for?

"For someone who doesn't like movies, you were spot on with those lyrics and that accent."

"I..."

"You're a closet Disney lover!"

Beca turned red but didn't reply.

"You're so busted," said Chloe.

"It's worth it to make you smile," said Beca, her face breaking into a grin.

The two girls sat back on the bed. Chloe cuddled up to her best friend again. After a few minutes, Beca noticed Chloe had nodded off. She decided to let her sleep, knowing how elusive sleep had been when she'd lost her mother. Beca was uncomfortable sitting in that position, especially with Chloe as dead weight on her shoulder, but she didn't want to move and wake her. She dealt with the stiff joints for another half hour before gently laying Chloe down. When Chloe barely stirred, Beca decided to text Chloe's mom.

B: Hey, Lynn, Chloe's in my hotel room. She fell asleep watching TV. Do you mind if she stays here? I promise I'll take good care of her.
Lynn: It's fine with me, as long as you don't mind.
B: Anything for Chloe.
Lynn: Good night and thanks for everything.

Chloe stayed asleep for a while. Beca went to bed herself around 10 in the other bed. Chloe woke up screaming around 1 am.

"Chloe, sssshhh, it's okay, I'm here," said Beca, climbing into Chloe's bed and putting her arms around her best friend.

"I just...and I saw...and..." said Chloe, unable to form sentences.

"I know," said Beca. "That must be upsetting. I'm here with you, and I'll help."

"I should go back..."Chloe said, trailing off groggily. "My mom and my..."

"Chloe, I texted your mom. She knows you're here. It's okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, stay here," said Beca.

"Okay," said Chloe. "Can you stay in bed with me? I like it when you cuddle me."

"Of course," said Beca. "Try and get back to sleep."

Beca held Chloe tightly, knowing how much she would have liked having someone to hold her when she cried about her mom.

After a while, sleep still hadn't come for Chloe. Beca noticed Chloe was fidgeting. "Can't sleep?"

"No," said Chloe. "I'm keeping you awake. I'm sorry. You should get back into your bed."

"Chloe, I'm here for you. There's no need to be sorry," said Beca. "I think I have something that can help." Beca opened the mini-fridge in her room. She poured a small glass of wine for her friend. "Don't make a habit of doing this, but I know it helped my dad sometimes after my mom died."

"Thanks," said Chloe. She drank the wine and settled back into bed. She yawned.

"Better?" asked Beca.

"I think so, but can you cuddle me?"

"Sure," said Beca. She climbed into bed with Chloe. Chloe's breathing began to even out, and Beca waited for a little bit to make sure Chloe was really asleep before climbing back into her own bed.


The next morning, Beca woke up to find Chloe sitting at the small table in the hotel room, staring out the window.

"Have you been up long?" she asked Chloe.

"Not really."

"You should have woken me up."

"I kept you up enough last night."

"It's really hard to sleep under these circumstances. It's okay. Are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast?"

"No."

"You have to eat. Come down with me and just try."

Chloe went to the breakfast room with Beca. She put some toast on her plate and got herself a cup of coffee. She picked at her toast while Beca ate.

"The funeral is today. I don't want to go."

"Because going means admitting he's gone?"

Chloe nodded.

"Are you going to give a eulogy?"

"I'm going to try. I wrote something, but I don't know if I can say it."

"I can go up with you if you want. I'll take over if you need me to."

Beca could see tears forming in Chloe's eyes. "You'd do that?"

"Yeah," said Beca. "My aunt had to finish reading mine at my mom's funeral."

"I wish I'd been there for you."

"You didn't know me back then," she said, glancing at Chloe's plate. "Please try and finish your toast."

Chloe managed to slowly finish her toast. She and Beca headed back to the hotel room. She helped Beca with her hair and makeup, and then the two of them took an Uber back to Chloe's house so she could get changed for the funeral.

Beca read Chloe's eulogy for her father to herself, and she helped Chloe get ready for the funeral, insisting she wear waterproof makeup.

Beca and Chloe got into her mom's minivan with her two younger brothers and headed to the funeral.

When it came time for Chloe to give her eulogy, she stood up at the podium, Beca by her side. She began:

"Hello. As I stand here, I see friends and relatives that have come great distances to be here for my dad. I am humbled and quite frankly impressed at how he must have touched your lives. I can only speak for myself, but when I think of how he touched my life, the first word that comes to mind is 'admiration'."

Chloe began to sob at this point, so Beca handed her a tissue. Chloe handed her the paper and motioned for her to continue for her.

"Okay, so I'll just fill in here and finish reading what Chloe wrote:

I could stand here and list all the ways I admire him, but then we'd be here all day and night. I would like to share a few reasons why I admire my dad. First and foremost was his love and commitment to my mother. And not just marital commitment. He was committed to making her happy. If it was important to her, it became important to him. They were happily married for over thirty years, and, had he known four days ago would be his last day, his only concern would have been for Mom's well-being, and not his own impending mortality.

I also admire him because of the kind of father he was to us. Yes, he loved us very much, but he also instilled in us a core value system that defined who he was. And that was a man who kept promises and honored commitment. He was a man of integrity. Whenever we stumbled, he could have let us complain and advised us to take the easy way out and quit, but he'd have none of that. He fully expected us to see things through, all the way to the end without drama. 'Do it. It just needs to be done,' he'd always say to me.

If you're here today, and I thank you for that, that means that he touched your life in some way or another. That means that you'd miss him in some way or another.

Yes, he will be missed.

Friends will miss his coffee and corny jokes and his company.

My mother will miss having her best friend by her side.

I will miss my father, the source of my convictions. I will miss my inspiration."

"So, that's what Chloe had to say. I'll just add in, as her best friend, that Mr. Beale – Will, as he wanted me to call him, was a super great and funny guy." Beca went on to tell about how the moving truck had broken down when they were moving into their apartment, and he'd gotten everyone's mind off of things with his humor.

She took Chloe's hand and went back to their seats. Chloe squeezed Beca's hand, still unable to speak, but Beca knew it was a silent thank you.

Chloe spent the rest of the funeral quietly crying and holding Beca's hand. Beca kept the tissues handy, comforting her best friend just by being there for her.

They went to the wake, and Beca did her best to coax Chloe to eat something. She knew Chloe didn't have much appetite, but she managed to get Chloe to eat a good sized meal over the next three hours.

Chloe managed to stay for the entire wake, but she asked Beca if she could stay with her at the hotel. Beca was set to leave the next morning, but she happily agreed to have Chloe stay with her. She missed her best friend, as she always did during school breaks. It would be four more weeks before their senior year at Barden would begin, and she also hoped another night away from home would help Chloe sleep better.

The movie Brave was showing on the Disney Channel. Beca chuckled at Chloe's movie choice. "Another Disney movie with a redhead?"

"Come on, Beca, Merida is pretty badass!"

"Well, I do admire her refusal to just marry some prince."

The two of them watched the movie. Neither was very hungry that night, so they skipped dinner.

"I can't believe you were awake for the whole movie. You're such a closet Disney fan."

"One word to the Bellas about this and you'll regret it!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "You're nowhere near as badass as you'd like to think."

"Whatever," said Beca. "Okay, we need to get to bed. I have a flight to catch tomorrow morning, and I don't want to miss it."

They changed into their pajamas.

"Can you lie down with me?" asked Chloe.

"Sure," said Beca. She climbed into bed with her best friend. Chloe immediately scooted closer to Beca and wrapped her arms around her. Chloe is the only person I'd ever let do this, thought Beca. Chloe fell asleep before Beca, so Beca climbed out after she was sure Chloe was asleep and got into her own bed.


Chloe made it through the night without waking up with any nightmares. This time, Beca was awake first. She was relieved to see Chloe still peacefully sleeping. She grabbed a change of clothes and slipped into the bathroom to take a shower.

She blow-dried her hair and exited the bathroom to find Chloe sitting up in bed.

"Morning, Chlo. Sleep better?"

"Yeah," said Chloe. "How am I going to sleep without you tonight?"

"You'll manage," said Beca. "You can always call me, no matter what the hour. You know that, right?"

"Okay," said Chloe.

"Since you have your car here, would you mind dropping me off at the airport? If not, I can take an Uber."

"I'll take you," said Chloe. "Besides, it will give us some more time to spend together. It's going to be a long four weeks until school starts again."

"It will fly by," said Beca. "Get dressed so we can go get some breakfast."

Chloe dressed quickly and they headed down for breakfast. Chloe ate a little better, and Beca didn't have to coax her to eat. Beca felt a little better about leaving Chloe, feeling like she was slowly improving. They chatted the whole way to the airport, and Chloe gave Beca a tight hug before letting go so she could catch her flight.