I had some wonderful feedback so thanks to everyone who reviewed :) Hope you all enjoy this one! Some big stuff goes down so it's very exciting ;) Get ready for some serious blasts from the past!

2 - WAITING ON A BECA TO FALL

That first summer had been perfect.

After their performance, after the kiss, after the winning and after she had given in to her feelings for Jesse, they had been incredible. They celebrated that first night just the two of them, skipping the celebratory party to instead celebrate the beginning of them; the beginning of forever. All night they stayed out, driving down any road they fancied, finding secluded spots to revel in the next step of their relationship. Jesse would hold her hand and Beca wouldn't pull away, strangely enjoying the feel of his constant touch.

They enjoyed every second together that they could. When it was time to go home for the summer, they said goodbye by throwing toilet roll all over the station and running all the way back to her packed up dorm room, falling onto her bed in a haze of adrenaline, the prospect of leaving each other too hard to bear.

Of course, they had visited each other, but too much time was spent apart. They craved each other with a burning passion. And upon their return to the second year at Barden, things got busy. Taking over the rivalling acapella groups meant less time together. Jesse reasoned that this made every moment they did have together extra special and – though she rolled her eyes at him every time he said it – Beca believed it too. Jesse persuaded her to watch all his favourite movies (which was a lot), and Beca fell asleep every time, the warmth of his body so close to hers sending her into a peaceful slumber.

And it continued this way, until that one fateful Sunday. The beginning of the end.

Beca sighed heavily, looking up at her ceiling despondently. The mid-afternoon sun was warm on her skin through the window and she debated going down to the beach for a moment. Today was a rare day off for her, and though she had planned to work on another mix to keep her mind occupied, she couldn't quite gather the energy to get out of bed and walk the 20 steps to her set up. To her, it seemed more like 20 miles.

With nothing better to do, her mind drifted. She wondered what the Bella's were doing right now – probably perfecting their set for semi-finals. What songs did they pick? She paused; did they make it the semi-finals? She had no way of knowing. She hadn't spoken to any of them since she left, she realised guiltily. She tried to imagine what they were like now. And what about Chloe and Aubrey? They were off in the big wide world now. What were they doing? How were they coping? The amount of questions she had embarrassed her; these girls used to be her friends. Now… Well, Beca wasn't too sure.

Jumping out of bed, she stretched like a cat as she walked towards her computer. Just one peak, she reasoned with herself, wiggling the mouse so the screen lit up.

Opening Youtube, Beca hesitated before typing in 'Barden Bella's'. She closed her eyes and hit enter, opening them slowly to see the list of videos. That wasn't too bad was it? She scrolled through until she found the video from the most recent regionals and opened it, waiting impatiently for it load.

And then there they were, her Bella's, walking onto the stage nervously. They began to sing and dance to Set Fire To The Rain by Adele. Beca couldn't help the smile that grew on her face. Something swirled in her chest as she watched, and she didn't even notice the tears until one fell onto her keyboard. They were really good!

When the video ended, she searched back to find their performances from the year before, eager to watch more. She found the regionals set from the year before and drank it up, but this time the tears fell for a different reason. The Bella's were… Bad, she noticed in shock. Some of them forgot the words, forgot their cues. Dance moves were unpractised. The songs didn't blend together. Beca stopped the video, her head in her hands. She had left them and they had struggled to bring it together. Guilt was overwhelming her, making her toes tingle and her throat tight.

Beca shook it off. This was a year ago – they had pulled it back since and were great. She wiped her tears and went to close the window, but something jumped out at her. There, in the Recommended videos – TREBLE MAKERS TAKE BACK THEIR CROWN! Even in the tiny thumbnail, she could see him, his hand raised, kneeling on the stage. Before she was even aware of what she doing, she opened the video.

'Run, run, run, run, runaway baby before I put my spell on you,' he sang to the audience. Transfixed, she watched his every move. He was beautiful – she didn't know how else to put it. Something stirred in her stomach – just through this one video, his performing was reawakening that part of herself she had suppressed when she came to LA. Heart beating faster, Beca's breath was taken away as he sang, 'your poor little heart will end up alone, 'cause lord knows I'm a rolling stone, so you better run run runaway, runaway baby.'

She craved Jesse with every fibre of her being.

No! she scolded herself. Do not think about him! A year ago she had stopped herself thinking of his name, his eyes, his hair, his arms… She could feel her mind drifting again, and she quickly closed the video, pushing back and walking quickly towards her shower. She needed to clear her head and get her focus back. Beca had had her fun delving into the past, and that was it. No more looking back. Her life was here now – that part of her was dead, that part of her life was gone.

Jesse was exhausted. Dragging his messenger bag behind him, he climbed the last of the stairs in the Treble house and forced his feet to move, one in front of the other, towards his room. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept – when he wasn't in class, he was in rehearsals with the Treble's, and when he wasn't there he was working at Hector's. He had spread himself paper thin, but he kept him occupied and most of all, stopped him thinking about the future, which he liked best.

Jesse flung open his door and dropped onto his bed. He didn't care that his door was wide open, that he was still fully dressed and stunk of beer, or that he had last minute prep work to do for the Treble's. Nothing would make him move from his surprisingly comfortable position.

"Jesse glad you're back!" Benjie walked into his room. Jesse groaned into his pillow.

"Whatever it is can wait," he said harshly, his voice muffled. Jesse used his toes to slip his shoes off, falling to the floor with a soft thump.

Benjie hesitated, looking at his friend. He worried about Jesse a lot. He gave himself too much to do and it was stopping him from focussing on the important things. Benjie knew he didn't have a plan for after college. He knew that his friend was struggling, and he knew exactly who to blame for Jesse's spiral into this person with no sparkle left.

During his pause, Jesse had fallen asleep. Benjie heard his soft snoring and pressed his lips together. Deciding it was best to let him sleep, Benjie turned to leave but noticed Jesse's shoes. The tiny mess they made in the otherwise pretty clean room irked him. Putting them away wouldn't do any harm would it? Benjie walked quietly back and put them gently into the wardrobe, careful not to make any noise. And what harm would putting Jesse's bag on its hook do? Again, Benjie tip toed across the room for the bag, taking the strap out of Jesse's relaxed hand and lifting it slowly. However, the disturbance caused something to fall out of the open bag, and Benjie winced, ready for the onslaught of insults.

When none came, he opened his eyes to see Jesse still passed out. Benjie bent down towards what had fallen; Jesse's open wallet. Straightening back up, Benjie went to close it when something caught his eye. Unable to resist, Benjie pulled the tattered piece of paper out of the back of the wallet. What he found on the paper made his heart clench for his sleeping friend.

Jesse,
I know you will hate me for this. I hate me for this. But know I will never forget you and all you've done for me. You saved my life in more ways than one. You're an incredible person – find someone just as incredible who deserves you.
I love you.
Beca x

Benjie folded the paper back up carefully and put it back in Jesse's wallet. He had seen the note once before – a year and a half ago, when he came back to the dorm to find Jesse standing like a statue, a tear falling from his cheek to the paper held tightly in his hand.

The fact that Jesse still carried the note around worried him, even more than he had been worried about his best friend beforehand. The note meant Jesse was far worse than he led Benjie to believe. He was clinging to all he had left of Beca and it was very unhealthy. She was just a girl, but even as Benjie thought it he knew it wasn't true. Beca had been Jesse's girl; she was his soulmate, and it seemed Jesse was refusing to let go of the idea that she was the only girl for him.

Closing his door softly, Benjie began to think – Jesse needed to move on, so how could he get him to forget about Beca?

8 hours had passed since Beca had watched the videos. 7 hours ago she had stepped out of the shower, feeling convinced that she'd washed away the thoughts of her past. 6 hours ago she hit a road block with her mix, and 3 hours ago, she had reactivated her Facebook.

She reasoned that this was just curiosity – checking in on old friends without actually having to have the awkward conversation with them about where she had been for so long and why she had run away without an explanation. Scrolling down even further on Denise's page, she found more pictures of the Bella's. She drank them in, absorbing everything she could. She looked at the tiniest details, learning the faces of the new members, nodding at new haircuts and smiling at how there was always a Bella's scarf somewhere in there. Beca glanced up from her computer to look at her own, tied around the desk lamp. It was a bit faded now and probably quite dusty since it hadn't been touched since she moved into her apartment 14 months ago. She rubbed a corner between her thumb and finger carefully, as though it might harm her if she touched it too long.

Averting her gaze back to the screen, she rested her chin on her hands as she looked at the picture of the whole group, grinning for the camera and holding up red beer cups. Behind them, she realised they were in the abandoned pool, and this must have been from the riff-off. For the millionth time that day, her mind took her back to their first riff-off. To how he had sung to her, how it had felt as everyone began to join in on her song. It had been mind-blowing to have all those people singing with her.

Smiling sadly, she continued to flick through the pictures, surprise filling her as she spotted herself in one. There she was, pulling a stupid face with the rest of the Bella's as they held their trophy. Beca remembered this night – they had won the ICCA's for the second year in a row. Her gut tightened for two reasons – Jesse had taken this photo, and this had been just a week before the accident. She looked at everyone's happy faces; they had no idea what was about to rock their world.

Saving the photo, she set it as her computer background. She knew it was against her rule to not look back, but honestly, her entire day had been one big rule breaker. Maybe it was good to have that one reminder. Her last happy memory before shit hit the fan.

Exiting to her homepage, Beca hovered over the log out button, unsure. She had made sure her Chat was offline as soon as she reactivated, but she had an overwhelming urge just to peak at it. Just to see who else was there.

No. She hit log off before she could think twice, closing the window and rushing to her bed. No more checking in. They were all happy and that was what mattered. They had moved on. Barden had moved on. Just because she hadn't quite managed it yet didn't mean the rest of the world had stopped spinning and continuing.

Beca put her pillow over her head, trying to block the very loud thoughts out. She was frustrated and she wasn't sure why. In all her time spent in LA, she had never felt lonely until this day. Now, she felt the effects of the bubble she had made herself to sit safely inside. Inside her bubble, no one could touch her. No one could hurt her. No one could disappoint her. A sob slipped between her lips as she remembered back to sitting in her dad's kitchen.

"I tried so hard to make things right between us, but you just shut me out."

"Yeah I shut everyone out, don't take it personally. It was just easier."

"It's also really lonely."

Beca huffed, trying to stop the tears that were streaming down her face. She'd done it again; blocked out everyone who cared about her. And for what? To live in a tiny crappy apartment and work for a man who she hated? She'd been selfish to leave at a time when they all needed to be together. Because of her flight instinct, the Bella's had not only lost one member; they had lost two.

Beca didn't realise she had cried herself sleep until she woke to a loud banging. The pillow she had been holding over her was now squeezed between her arms as she hugged it. Beca groaned as she rolled over, her bones stiff and her eyes sore.

"Beca?" The banging continued and she realised it was on her door. She pulled the pillow back over her head. She was lethargic and was in no mood to talk to anyone, no matter how desperate they seemed to be.

"Beca Mitchell!" Beca huffed, throwing her pillow in the direction of the door.

"Go away!" she whined.

"I heard that, and I'm not going until you face me."

Beca frowned. She knew that voice… Chloe?

So our estranged couple still have some unresolved feelings, and of course... Chloe's back! Cue dramatic music! Please leave me a review letting me know what you thought about it all, and as a nice present for New Years, here's a sneak peak at the next chapter...

"Everyone misses you." Chloe looked at her pointedly, and Beca knew who 'everyone' translated into. "You bought us all together that year and made us better. And right now, the Bella's need you again. It's time to face your demons and man up, accept your responsibility, and see this whole thing through."

See you all in 2013!