A/N: Hi all! Sorry for the little delay for this, honestly this chapter was a bit of a block for me. But I pushed through because this is a building block chapter. I hope you like it!

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Ch 3

Chloe couldn't shake the strange interaction she'd had with Beca Mitchell.

Part of her was upset, even offended, that the woman assumed Chloe had approached her to have a quickie in the backroom of the club. However there was a larger part that was completely focused just on what had happened after.

There was something in her voice, in her eyes, as she seemed to explode on Chloe. The words spewing quickly like a desperate warning she couldn't control. Of course Chloe wasn't completely ignorant to the uglier side of the business. She knew it existed; thankfully she'd never had any first-hand experience with it other than some rude comments she'd made the mistake of reading from some people online. She credited that to being surrounded by good people. People who she believed truly had her best interests in mind and not just their banking account.

Thank God for Aubrey.

Once her parents realized and accepted this was truly something she wanted to pursue, the first thing they'd done was enlist a lawyer to make sure no one who offered her anything would be taking advantage.

A move which had already helped her avoid a few contracts that would have done just that while they searched for someone to take her on and represent her. When she'd met Aubrey, all ambition to prove herself and no nonsense in her honesty, Chloe knew without needing to be told that she was the one for the job. It worked out perfectly that the two were close in age and easily able to become best friends.

She trusted Aubrey with protecting her dream and her life.

Maybe Beca hadn't been lucky enough to have an Aubrey of her own.

When she got home that night, and really every night since, Chloe had been doing research of sorts. She didn't dare let Aubrey know about this sudden passion with reading every article and watching every video online she could find on Beca Mitchell. She'd searched and watched so many that her YouTube suggestion page was filled with clips of interviews and footage of the girl.

She watched her way through them with whatever free time she had, moving backwards through Beca's career and watching her get younger and younger. It was like travelling through time as she saw her go from a seemingly detached young woman to a fresh-faced child.

Currently Chloe was lying in her hotel bed with her phone playing an interview from one of her earliest moments. Even though the quality of the video wasn't as good as others, she could still see the spark in the little girl's eyes as she answered questions and told stories of her experiences.

She couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her mouth as she watched little Beca in her yellow dress. It made her wonder if she could go back through the videos in sequence and find the exact moment that spark vanished from her eyes; when the bright spark began to dull.

Her eyes scanned the little girl's arms as she gestured in the midst of her story, imagining the ink that would appear there was time went on. Suddenly she paused the video going back a few seconds to see the moment again.

Beca was swinging her feet back and forth, like children did when their feet don't reach the floor, but when something off-camera caught her eye she stopped and sat up straighter. Chloe figured someone on set was policing her and had told her to stop. It made Chloe's smile drop a bit wondering why someone would be so keen to cut down a child's excitement like that.

She realized that the amount of pressure she felt as a grown woman in the industry had to have been smothering to a child in the same position.

Against her will, she suddenly remembered an old link she'd found on one of the higher pages of her internet search. A link that took her to an outdated site with nothing but a large ticker that now read all zeroes, above it in bold, red letters the words: BECA MITCHELL IS 18 IN…

She shook her head at the proof of how awful people could be. It disgusted her to the point of near nausea.

When her current video finished, Chloe put her phone on the charger and lay back with a sigh. The clock read 2 a.m. and she had to be up early.

She had her first table read for the movie in the morning. Meaning she would be seeing Beca for the first time since that night in the club. She hoped it would go better than that meeting had; otherwise the next few months were going to be pretty uncomfortable.

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Beca woke with a start as the door to her room was loudly pushed open. The amount of whiskey she'd consumed the night before was better for letting her actually get to sleep than any other sleep-aid she'd tried. Of course the side effects upon waking were more unpleasant, though not unfamiliar.

She lifted her head and squinted against the already present headache and saw Angela at the foot of the bed, looking about as impressed as she usually was when she woke her.

"Ugh," she groaned and dropped her head back down, draping her arm over her eyes.

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine," her mother responded cynically, her arms finding an easy home on her hips, "Get up."

Beca groaned again and let her arm flop back to the bed. But it wasn't the mattress she hit. Her palm slapped against skin and she heard a small squeak come from beside her. She turned to look next to her and saw she wasn't alone in the bed, her hand landing on the back of the woman's exposed thigh. A brunette pushed her face deeper into the pillow and smiled as she spoke.

"Mm, five minutes. I'm still recovering from the last one," her voice was slightly muffled by the pillow, but Angela still heard it and crossed her arms, "But I'm happy to see those rumors are true."

"Just what every mother wants to hear," Angela remarked.

The unexpected voice caused the girl to gasp and spin around, reaching down to gather up the blanket and cover her bare chest.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Better question: Why are you still here?" Angela asked.

"Wha-" the woman – Beca thought her name was…Rachel- looked to her for back-up.

Beca only sighed and rolled out of bed, crossing the room in just her underwear to head to the minibar. Her journey was halted when her mother grabbed her arm and held her in place from behind her.

"What's this?" Angela asked, critiquing the mostly white bandage that covered her from the roll of her shoulder and down the blade. Her eyes took in the few specks of blood staining through it. Angela didn't wait for an answer and instead pulled at the tape and peeled it back to see what she had done to herself. As soon as she got a peek of it, she angrily ripped the rest off, revealing the new tattoo now adorning the once clean skin.

"Hey," she hissed, "Easy still tender."

"Another one?" Angela judged, not hiding her upset.

Beca ignored her and turned her body to get a look at the healing spot in the mirror. Pleased with what she saw, she continued to the small fridge. Her mother continued to glare at her as she pulled out one of the remaining bottles. Beca caught the look and rolled her eyes.

"Hair of the dog," she shrugged and downed the small container in one go.

"Uh, Beca?" Rachel – yeah it was Rachel, she was pretty sure – questioned, her eyes going back and forth between the women, still clutching the blanket.

Beca rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"I got to get dressed," she said simply, "Stay or go, whatever you want."

Rachel grabbed her clothes and dressed quickly, not bothering to mask her irritation as she tugged harder than necessary to dress as she stared daggers at Beca.

"Well, looks like the sex isn't the only rumor that's true about you."

"Yeah, guess you can believe what you read sometimes," Beca answered.

Angela had already pulled out the usual cash for silence. She moved to hand it over, preparing her usual speech about not saying a word, but was met with a scoff; the money fluttering to the floor after it was slapped from her hand.

"Go to hell," she told her and then looked at Beca, "Both of you."

Beca grabbed another bottle from the fridge as she heard the door slam. Looking down at the bottle she muttered to herself.

"Already there."

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Beca arrived for the table read in her favorite gray zip hoodie and black beanie with big white letters reading 'No' stitched on the front; glad it was one of the few professional occasions she wasn't expected wear some ridiculous designer outfit. Nobody dressed up for a read through, so Angela didn't get on her case about it.

She grabbed a coffee from the craft table as she walked in, looking for the caffeine burst to pull her through, at least until this was over and she could use an alternative method. She took her seat, marked by her character's name card. A detail Angela had reminded her of just before she left her in the car to go do whatever the hell her mother did when she wasn't up Beca's ass.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back to wait for everyone else to take their seats so they could start. It was only a minute later that her eyes opened back up when the person who sat down beside her spoke.

"Hello again."

She turned and saw a beautiful, fresh-faced redhead.

"Uh, hi," she returned. Beca had never seen eyes so blue… or had she? Based on the greeting she received, it was obvious they'd met before and Beca searched her brain for the event. She was sure she would've remembered those eyes. Yet, nothing was coming to her, "Sorry, have we…"

Chloe was sure her surprise was obvious on her face. It never occurred to her, with how obsessed she felt after that night, that Beca would've forgotten. Then again, it had been clear Beca wasn't exactly sober then. Chloe did her best to recover her composure and continue what she hoped would be a better conversation than their first.

"Yeah, um, I guess there was a lot going on, but yeah," she cleared her throat, carefully selecting how much of the memory she would share since Beca didn't come across too great in it, "About a month ago, at the after party for the Shadows premier."

She left it at that, allowing her the opportunity to, hopefully, remember the details on her own.

Beca listened to her words and tried to think back to that night. She didn't remember much of it, no surprise. She had taken a few pills her mother gave her; that combined with the drinks didn't allow for much clarity. She remembered the music and… vaguely she recalled an exchange with a woman she thought for sure had been aiming for the usual hookup.

But that hadn't happened; in fact Beca was pretty sure she'd ended up yelling at her instead. Other than that she didn't…Oh.

"Oh," she said slowly as realization dawned on her. She awkwardly drummed her fingers against her thigh and looked at Chloe, "Well, this is kind of awkward, huh?"

Chloe gave her an understanding smile, "A little."

"I'm-I'm sorry about that, really," she tried to apologize, "I shouldn't have, you know, any of it."

"It's ok," Chloe answered, "Everyone has a bad night now and then."

She used the excuse to dismiss Beca's apology, but she got the feeling that Beca's bad nights were a little more frequent than most. She offered her a bright smile.

"Let's try again," she suggested and held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Chloe Beale."

Beca felt a grin appear on her face despite herself. She couldn't help it.

"Beca Mitchell."

She took Chloe's hand in hers and shook it up and down a few times. She couldn't help but notice how warm and soft it was in her own. She wondered if she'd felt this stir in her stomach a month ago. Beca honestly couldn't imagine seeing that smile for the first time and not being struck by it. She was surrounded by false ones all the time, seeing the warmth and sincerity of Chloe's was like breathing new air.

"Well, I'm delighted to meet you," Chloe said and added with a chuckle, "properly."

Beca smiled, a real smile this time, "Me too."

After a moment, Chloe seemed to realize they were still holding hands and pulled hers back with slight blush forming on her cheeks.

"I, uh, I have to tell you, I'm a huge fan of yours."

"Oh?" Beca questioned, feeling the strange blossom die down a bit at the statement.

"Totally! I'm super excited to work with you," Chloe gushed with excitement, "I know it will be good for me."

"Yeah, sure."

Chloe's brow crinkled together as Beca's demeanor changed before her eyes and she turned back to the table, flipping open the cover of the script set out in front of her. One minute she seemed to be warming up, even smiling, the next she appeared to be pulling away and shutting down a bit. She leaned towards her and spoke softly.

"Hey, are you-"

"Good morning everyone!" a loud voice spoke to the room, getting everyone's attention and ending all the individual conversations happening around the table, "Welcome to our first read through for Bulletproof. This is the first time we've all been together at once, so before we start, I just want to say a few words. First of all, I know I've met some of you, but for those I haven't, I'm Gail McKadden, Abernathy-McKadden professionally, and I'm the writer of our little project here."

Beca heard the table clap for the blonde, but kept her hands where they were. The woman laughed at the applause and waved her hands through the air.

"Oh, stop; thank you. Now, I don't want to lay it on too thick, but this story is," she put her hands over her heart, "my baby, and to see it grow like this is, if you'll forgive the cliché, a dream come true. I'm so thrilled you all want to be a part of it and I just know that my dream is in good hands."

She laughed and wiped a couple fingers under her eyes, the table applauding once more. Gail sat down at the head of the table.

"Let's go around the table and introduce our lovey cast and characters," she nodded to a blond man sitting to her left.

"Hello, I'm Luke Strohm and I'm playing David Hunt."

Chloe recognized him from some of his work in indie films and briefly wondered to herself if the Englishman would be hiding his accent for this part as well. She determined that she'd find out soon enough and went back to paying attention for the rest of the introductions.

Next was a petite woman with light brown hair and a kind smile.

"I'm Laura Alden," she said with a wave, "I'll be Kara."

A dark haired young man was next, "Jesse Swanson, I'm Brett Church."

Beca wasn't paying attention as the more names, some bigger than others, were given around the table. So she didn't notice it was her turn until Chloe tapped her thigh under the table to discreetly bring her back.

"Beca Mitchell. Binx."

Chloe waited a moment, as if giving Beca a chance to say anything else if she wanted. When it was obvious she wasn't going to, Chloe happily took her turn with a bright smile for the table.

"Hi, I'm Chloe Beale and I'm playing Addison Wilde."

A few more members introduced themselves and their character before finally the director spoke; apparently deciding to stand for his introduction.

"Good morning, I am Jonathan Smith and I'll be captaining this voyage. I'm sure we'll all bring out the best in each other."

Once he sat back down, Gail excitedly clapped her hands.

"Wonderful!" she declared, "Now let's get started."

Beca took her chance to ignore her surroundings once again, knowing her first highlighted words weren't for a few pages. She cast her eyes sideways to the girl beside her, watching her listen with rapt attention, pencil already in poised in hand to add her own notes.

She sighed to herself and let herself begin to space out again.

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A/N: In case it helps anyone, in my head Laura is Dominique Provost-Chalkley, but she'll be using her American accent for this story, not her actual British one.