Chapter 2

6 Months Earlier.

"Let's do it tonight!"

The words echoed out from ten voices at once, nearly drowned by the screaming of the crowd. The Lincoln Center for Performing Arts was packed to bursting for ICCA National Championships, and every single person in the room, competitors and audience alike, seemed to be jumping to their feet and screaming their heads off as the Barden Bellas finished what some would later call the "most amazing piece of a capella music in history".

The energy of the crowd was intense, and Beca loved every second of it. She could tell, judging by the gigantic grins on the faces of her nine fellow Bellas that they were loving it too. As the screaming, cheering, clapping, and inundating wave of noise continued to roll over the stage, the Bellas broke apart, jumping and cheering, knowing they'd just knocked one out of the park. Beca couldn't help her little half-turn, having felt Chloe pressing against her side as the group had held its pose. She saw the redhead looking at her, straight at her despite everything else, and her face was alight with passion, joy and something that Beca just couldn't define. It was only for a heartbeat or two, but it felt like so much longer, and then it was over. The rest of the team was cheering, dancing raucously and hugging each other. And one of the most shocking parts, Aubrey Posen smiled the largest grin Beca had ever seen before pulling her into a hug. A hug that said "You were right, I was wrong. You earned this." After Aubrey's hug, she felt Chloe's arm slip around her waist, and felt the redhead pull her and Aubrey into a group hug, one that ended far sooner than the brunette wanted, if she was to be honest with herself.

As the announcer started saying "Weren't they incredible, wow!" the Bellas all began filing off the stage. Beca, in the lead, felt so charged with energy, with an amazing desire to do … something that she couldn't hold back the huge grin on her face, so uncharacteristic on the badass brunette DJ. She could feel from behind her the emotions of the other Bellas as everyone laughed and talked all at once, excited and knowing that they had just done something completely awesome. Walking swiftly off stage she quickly approached the aisle where the Bellas would sit while the judging took place, and saw Jesse smiling at her. Knowing she had to do something to channel this feeling inside her, she walked towards him, putting her hands around his neck in a casual manner as he said, "See, I told you. Endings are the best part."

His speaking nearly caused her to drop her arms. Something about his tone, or the words he said, felt wrong to her. This whole insane idea in her head, if she stopped to think about it, felt wrong, but she was too caught up in the moment to do anything other than go with it. So, instead of dropping her arms and looking for someone else, she instead said, "You're such a weirdo." Then leaned in and kissed him.

It was that kiss, more than anything else so far that night, that shocked her to her core. As soon as she felt his lips pressing against hers, she knew it hadn't been the right thing to do. Her mind flashed briefly to another pair of lips, but she shoved that thought away, too stubborn to give up now that she'd started this. Despite whatever consequences would come, this was definitely easier than... Than that.

Best. Night. Ever!

That was the first thought in Chloe's head as the Bellas finished their performance. The crowd had loved it, like seriously, seriously loved it. Her face had been one gigantic grin from the second they had stepped on stage and Beca took Aubrey's pitch-pipe and blew that note. The way the brunette had looked on stage was mesmerizing to Chloe, so much so that she wasn't even sure how she had gotten through her performance. The pure, unadulterated life that Beca had exuded on that stage had been intoxicating, and Chloe knew that tonight, tonight she'd finally be able to tell her what she had wanted to for the last 8 months.

Since she had seen the DJ in the quad at the activities fare, there had been a spark. Watching the way her eyes darted downwards during their shower meeting, later. Everything that had happened had been building to this, in Chloe's mind. And now, with a performance like that, there was no way that the ICCA Championship trophy wasn't going to be theirs. And then, at the after-party that was already planned, a precaution for winning or losing, she'd talk to Beca.

It was probably the hardest thing for her to do, though. The waiting… As the girls all stood on stage, basking in the cheers of the crowd, she had to intentionally pull Aubrey into the hug after she reached for Beca to avoid kissing her right there on stage.

As everyone moved towards the steps off the stage and the announcer came back on, Chloe saw Beca taking the lead, as was only appropriate, but wanted to catch up to her. She deserved a real hug for everything that the DJ had put together for tonight. Once off-stage, Chloe found herself trying to make her way through the group to catch Beca, but before she got far, Aubrey took hold of her arm, stopping in the aisle way.

"Oh. My. God! Chlo! We did it! I can't believe it, but we did it! That was …." Aubrey's obvious exuberance after that performance was completely and one-hundred percent expected. Her blond roommate, overcome with emotion at what was a most magnificent performance grabbed Chloe by both arms and started jumping, just a little bit, in a circle, before pulling the redhead into a tight hug. Even though Chloe was now facing the stage, away from Beca, and couldn't see Aubrey's face, she knew the blond girl, her oldest and best friend in the world, was crying as she felt the wetness on her cheeks from the other girl's tears.

As much as Chloe wanted to catch Beca, she couldn't deny Aubrey this, and so held on tight, expecting this hug to last a long time. She was, therefore, caught a bit by surprise when she felt the blonds grip tighten, then suddenly drop away after only a few moments. Pulling back, she took a look at Aubrey, expecting nothing less than a mortal wound having stopped the hug in process. What greeted her was something close, a jaw-dropped, eye popping, unbelieving stare across the seats towards something Chloe couldn't see. Chloe turned slowly, fearing what she might see, and noticed that all the Bellas had stopped dead as well, though a few rows up from where Aubrey had stopped her for a hug.

When her eyes finally found the source of everyone's amazement, Chloe felt her world cracking like a sheet of glass struck by a hammer. Beca Mitchell, HER Beca, kissing that Treble, Jesse. It can't be… Was her first thought, thinking that the Treble had somehow forced her into it, especially based on the rigidity with which the brunette DJ held herself. But, after the brunette didn't shove him away, Chloe knew her dreams were crashing around her, and couldn't help the gasp and sob that broke from her mouth uncontrollably.

As loud as it was, the inside of the Performing Arts building still reverberating with cheers for the Bellas' performance, no one seemed to have heard Chloe's anguished sob as the rest of the Bellas all approached Beca, cat-calling and whistling their approval. Everyone, that was, except Aubrey, apparently. As before Chloe could even react, Aubrey had pulled her into another hug, this one remorseful as opposed to congratulatory, and whispered into her ear, "I'm so sorry, Chloe! I'm so sorry…"

The after-party was already in full swing when Beca finally walked into the joined rooms that the ten Barden Bellas were sharing for their over-night stay in New York City. Beca had arrived slightly after the rest of the girls, having been detained in the lobby of their hotel by Jesse, who of course wanted to talk about everything. After listening him ramble on for at least ten or fifteen minutes about how great this was, how happy he was, how much things were going to change for them when they were back at school, Beca had finally had to interrupt him.

"Jesse, Jesse. Jesse! Stop for a sec. I gotta get upstairs, the others are waiting for me. We can sort 'this' out later, when we're back at school." She finally managed to get out, which broke through his cheer droning.

As his words stopped and what she said sank in, his face fell a little, but he spoke up quickly, "Alright, sweet. I'll just come up with you, we can party together."

"No, no. This one's for Bellas only. Rules, you know?" She said, secretly delighted that Aubrey had mentioned that fact this morning. "And, no doubt, we'll be partying late into the night, so I think it'll be best to table this till we get back to campus. I'll see you tomorrow."

She leaned in, meaning to kiss his cheek, but he apparently had other ideas, and next thing she knew, his lips were pressed against hers. After a moment she pulled away, then turned to walk towards the elevator to head upstairs, her thoughts in such a jumble that she didn't even hear his spoken goodbye. She liked Jesse, didn't she? He was funny, and sweet, and had been chasing her for months now. She thought he'd be a good boyfriend, but did she want a boyfriend? Of course she did, she thought, of course…

The elevator dinged as it reached her floor, her thoughts still chasing each other round and round in circles in her head. As she walked down towards the rooms that the Bellas had, she determined to try and push everything aside for the time being. At least for the night, tonight was their night. Before she even got to the room she could hear the music, and the singing, and knew that the girls were in full swing.

As the door opened everyone turned, and Stacie and Fat Amy both screamed out her name when the swinging door revealed her to the room. Hands grabbed her and dragged her inside, next thing she knew she was being hugged, Stacie she thought, and a cup was being shoved into her hand by CR. The music was still blasting, and it was looking to be an interesting night. Hell, she even spotted Aubrey drinking, talking in the back of the room with Chloe. The redhead caught Beca's eye as Stacie let her go, and smiled, raising her cup. Something about it, though, seemed off to Beca, not as cheerful as normal, a little sad, she might say if she had ever seen a day when that redheaded bundle of joy was ever sad.

Whatever was bothering Chloe, though, Beca never got to find out, as the drinking began in earnest, now that their leader had shown up for the party. The girls were thrilled, as well they should be, and so a lot of singing and dancing, and yes drinking, was to be had. They were also all quite interested to hear news about her and Jesse. And not a one of 'em was shy about teasing her about it all night. As the night went on, the teasing got a bit dirtier, until Beca finally had to shout at 'em all to shut up about Jesse. Aubrey and Chloe had gotten the drinks, and as was usual for college, no one seemed put off by all the under-age drinking going on, but by this point in the school year it was almost too late to comment about that anyway.

Throughout the night Beca, and all the others, went through more than their share of little red and blue cups filled with various alcohols, and it was quite late, well past four in the morning, when things started quieting down. Stacie had already passed out on one of the beds in the other room, CR and Jessica having piled on later as a joke, though by the looks of it they were all sleeping now. Fat Amy had claimed a couch for herself, after making a comment about having "drunk a little more than she should tonight", which earned a drunken laugh from all the conscious Bellas as it was a line from their performance. Denise and Ashley were both in their own beds, both having passed out an hour ago. Beca wasn't sure what was up with Lilly, but the still extremely quiet Asian girl was in her own bed, though she didn't seem to be sleeping.

Aubrey was still sitting off by the window, singing quietly and occasionally looking over at Beca, an odd mixture of looks, actually. Sometimes they seemed friendly, sometimes as though Bree was a proud parent looking at her kid who had just won something, but other times it seemed like she wanted to have a very serious talk that Beca would no doubt regret. But, drunk as Beca was, she didn't feel like confronting the blond, in fact, she didn't really want to do much aside from lay here on her bed and hum softly to herself. It took her a few minutes before what she was humming, "Titanium", and when she did, she laughed.

Hearing Aubrey moving, Beca rolled over, squinting to try and get the spinning to stop so she could see if Bree was coming towards her. After a minute the blurriness cleared up, and she saw that Aubrey was making her way towards her own bed, which meant that just Beca was awake. Wait, Chloe… Sitting up slightly, Beca looked around the room, realizing she hadn't see much of the redhead tonight. Though she did recall looking for her a couple times after she had had more than a few drinks, having missed the constant presence of Chloe by her side which she had always enjoyed, secretly, during the school year, however she had never been able to find her. As Aubrey finally lay down, Beca was starting to rise, unsteady on her feet as she was, when a sound of running water reached her ears. Realizing that the sink in the bathroom was running, and that must be where Chloe was, Beca settled back down into her bed.

A few minutes later she heard the bathroom door open, and soft foot-steps began shuffling their way across the room. Turning towards the bathroom, Beca could just barely make out Chloe walking across the room, taking the overly cautious steps of someone who had had more than a few drinks herself. Sighing softly, Beca rolled over, trying to not think about what would normally happen now, if they were back on campus in her dorm.

She couldn't count the number of times over the last eight months that, after a long night of chatting, singing, or practice, the redhead would just choose to crash in her dorm room instead of walking back across campus to the room she shared with Aubrey. On those nights, usually when Kimmy Jin wasn't around, instead of jumping in her roommate's bed, the redhead would just kick off her shoes and jump right in beside Beca. The first time it happened, Beca had been so shocked she had frozen, and spent nearly the whole night wide awake as Chloe hugged her and snored softly. Pulling her mind back into its current drunken haze, knowing that Chloe would be using her own bed tonight with all the Bellas around, Beca just pulled her covers up a little more, trying to get comfortable.

A grin broke out over her face, buried into the blankets as it was, when she felt her mattress dip a little and a very slurred voice spoke, "Mine isn't comfy enough… Scoot over." Beca complied with a laugh, making room in her bed as a drunken Chloe climbed in behind her and immediately wrapped her arms around the brunette and pulling her against her tightly which caused Beca to laugh. Hearing the sound, Chloe giggled and said, "You're drunk…"

"I'm not drunk… You're just blurry." Beca replied sleepily in a drunken slur. After a minute Beca just sighed and closed her eyes and in her drunken state she didn't realize that the slight shudders she felt weren't normal, nor were the tears that occasionally fell into her brunette locks. Sleep washed over here after a few minutes, and because of that, she missed Chloe's whispered words, "Why him, Beca? Why not me?"