Don't You Forget About Me

Chapter 2

The journey to their destination was a fairly lengthy one, but Beca and Chloe had already considered this and had come up with a few ideas to alleviate the boredom. Together they had compiled a list of songs to sing on the journey, they had remembered to bring four copies so they could all look through the list simultaneously. Aubrey's eyes scanned down the list, then they widened with delight. She nudged Stacie and pointed and they both nodded.

"Hey Beca, can we sing Don't You Forget About Me?" Aubrey asked, and Stacie nodded in firm agreement.

"I didn't know you liked that song." Beca said, looking confused, but unable to turn around without the risk of crashing.

"We love it, it's one of our favourites and we all know that when you sing it, you put your heart into it." Said Stacie, taking hold of Aubrey's hand.

"Okay then. You up for that Chloe?" Beca asked.

"Totes." Chloe replied with a little wink. Beca nodded and did the silent countdown and then they began.

"Won't you come see about me, I'll be alone dancing you know it baby" sang the four aca-girls. Their voices filled every inch of the surf van and they could all hear each other's angelic voices reverberating around the vans interior. Beca sang with all of the emotion and passion that she had sung with at the Lincoln Centre Finals, where the Bellas had emerged victorious. When Beca finished her heart-rending rendition of the Simple Minds classic, she realised from the silence, that everyone else had stopped singing long before. She had been the only one singing for half the song and judging by the looks on their faces, everyone else had enjoyed her singing immensely. Beca saw out of the corner of her eyes that Chloe's whole body was shaking and when Beca turned fully, she saw that Chloe's body was heaving as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Chloe? Aw crap!" cursed Beca, and with a sharp tug of the steering wheel they swerved violently off the main road and into a layby. Beca killed the engine and turned to Chloe. The red head was shaking, the strength of her sobs causing her whole body to quiver and shake. Aubrey was almost as concerned as Beca was and Stacie just looked confused.

"Chloe, what's wrong?" asked Aubrey, her blue eyes filled with concern. Chloe looked up, her own blue eyes sparkling as the sunlight was reflected by her tears. She struggled to speak, every time she opened her mouth, a shuddering breath would escape preventing any words from emerging.

"Beca!" She managed to blurt out in between breaths. Aubrey and Stacie shot an accusing glare at Beca, who looked shocked.

"Chloe, I don't know what I did." Said Beca forlornly, tears beginning to creep into the corner of her eyes. Chloe opened the door of the van and left, shutting it behind her, and then walked slowly across the layby onto the grassy bank. Then she stood still staring out into the distance. Beca looked out of her window at the back of her girlfriend and sighed. The wind was blowing heavily outside as Chloe's hair was whipping around in every direction. The sun was high in the sky illuminating everything that was not hidden away from its beautiful rays. The combination of sunlight and wind made Chloe's hair look like a raging fire, the sort of fire that spreads through forests leaving only ashes in their wake. Beca was transfixed by the spectacle of Chloe's hair, but there was a little voice in her mind that was hoping beyond hope that the violence of her hair did not reflect her emotions.

"Go and see what's wrong, aca-bitch!" said Aubrey commandingly. At this Beca opened the door of the van and climbed out, walking over to where Chloe Beale, her girlfriend, her one true love stood. Beca looked at her. She was looking dead ahead, her breathing was growing more calm and there were no longer any fresh tears flowing from those beautiful blue eyes. However, Chloe's face was blemished by the streaks of mascara that had ran as a result of the tears. Beca placed a hand gently on the red head's shoulder and gently squeezed.

"What's wrong?" Beca asked, her voice filled with concern.

"It was that song." Chloe said, wiping the tears away from her eyes. Beca looked puzzled.

"Was my singing that bad?" she asked, hoping that some humour would perk Chloe up, and bring back her lovely smile. The quip worked and Chloe chuckled and a smile spread across her tear stained face.

"It wasn't your singing." Chloe managed to say between her shuddering breaths and her laughter.

"Well, what was wrong?" Beca asked with concern. The wind blew hard, whipping her hair up in front of her eyes, her vision of the girl she loved obscured by the tendrils of darkness that was her hair.

"That song will always remind me of you and Jesse. It's a good song and the Breakfast Club is a magnificent film, but they're not ours. The Breakfast Club and Don't You Forget About Me will always belong to you and Jesse. Every time we watch that film or sing that song, I feel as if I'm just a substitute. I'm not Jesse and I never can be, we need our own song, and our own movie and our own cute nicknames." Chloe said, the sadness and vulnerability slowly disappearing from her voice and being replaced my assertiveness and a miniscule amount of anger. Beca looked at her, eyes wide as everything Chloe had just said shot around her mind, slowly being processed.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! You are not just a substitute for Jesse, he was never as important to me as you are! Every time I am with you, I feel whole, without you in my life, there's a piece missing. You complete me." Beca said, her mind racing and her mouth racing even faster as she tried to explain her profound love to the red head that stood before her.

"It's okay Beca… I know how much you love me, I can see it every time I look into those wonderfully brown eyes of yours." Chloe said, reaching forward and placing her hand softly on Beca's cheek, and softly moving her thumb up and down her cheek. Beca smiled as she felt Chloe's hand on her cheek, the only thing she was focussed on at the moment was the angelic figure that she was in love with. The sun was positioned directly behind Chloe's head, so the light that was not obscured resembled a halo, convincing Beca that she was indeed dating an angel.

"I love you." Beca said, her voice barely above a whisper, but the wind carried her words to Chloe and she smiled, a smile that outshone the sun.

"Come one, we should probably get back on the road."

"Stacie won't be impatient as long as she can get a phone signal." Beca laughed.

"Yes, but Aubrey is absolutely terrifying when she gets impatient." Chloe warned with a cheeky smile and a wink. They both laughed as they got to the surf van, but before they got in, Beca had to ask a question that had been on her mind for a while.

"Chloe, what is your favourite film?" asked Beca, hoping that it was a film that she liked. Chloe thought about it for a second before answering.

"It's an adorable little rom-com, it's called John Tucker Must Die." She answered with a broad smile. Beca returned the smile, she actually quite liked that film and in that moment Beca and Chloe had decided on what film was going to be theirs. The surf van's engine growled into life and they pulled back onto the road, continuing on their journey towards their surprise destination.