A/N: Sorry it's not as quick as I hoped but it is still faster than usual :) Huge thanks to everyonelovesagoodBhloe for betaing this chapter for him.

Seconds flowed into minutes, which flowed into hours, which flowed into days, which flowed into weeks, and before anyone realised it a month had passed. Life returned to normal for everyone except for the three that continued a bedside vigil, refusing to give up on the redhead. Aubrey had taken a leave of absence from Barden, taking the nightshift by Chloe's bedside and sleeping throughout the day. Tyler had stopped going to school and Beca had stopped caring as they took the dayshift and slept at night. Beca had fought Tyler on it at first but he had quickly returned to making havoc and Aubrey's replacement was quick to issue a warning in the form of his first Barden suspension. When it had ended two weeks ago Beca hadn't made him go back, instead still working through the books Chloe had once bought for him in Chloe's room. Tyler's teacher, Benji, had been understanding and during his weekend visits with his friend he would bring schoolwork for Tyler to try to keep up to date. Chloe's doctors had very clearly said that it was Chloe's decision to wake up and they could do nothing. Beca and Aubrey had agreed for the first time when they started yelling at the doctors as Chloe was moved into a long-term care facility. They weren't ready to give up on her as others had. Even the police seemed to have stopped searching for Tom after his disappearing act. He was still out there, somewhere, living and breathing without machines unlike the redheaded beauty that remained unconscious. Beca had filled with hatred for the man that had ruined this stunning person's life and she could feel that Tyler had as well, which made her hate the man even more. Aubrey had contacted Chloe's parents but they had refused to visit, transferring power of attorney and all responsibility to the blonde. Beca and Aubrey had been forced to forge a companionship, often calling each other to ensure someone was with Chloe at all times, just in case. They were the only people that still cared, even after all Chloe had done for the people in her life.

Aubrey had nightmares, which led to her preferring to sleep during the days, in which she replayed that day over and over again and tried to find the signs of what Tom had been doing to Chloe for the last year. Aubrey was supposed to be her best friend but she had constantly steamrolled Chloe's attitude towards her boyfriend as rude and selfish. Aubrey needed her friend to wake up so that she could apologise because the guilt was tearing her apart.

Beca had dreams. The dreams painted a future in which she had asked Chloe on a date and the music teacher had accepted. Beca had taken her to a diner where the wait staff sang and then they had walked through a park filled with buskers before playing mini golf. It had been childish, romantic, filled with music and it made Beca hate waking up. In her dreams she fell in love with bright blue eyes and red hair and in the harsh reality of the day those eyes were missing and the hair was dull.

Tyler spent hours staring at the drums he had pulled from storage and reassembled. He'd spent hours learning all the songs from The Little Mermaid so he could play them to Chloe but now it just sat uselessly in the corner. Chloe had taught him to love music again and then she had taken it away. His sister had stopped smiling, had stopped talking, and Tyler had become someone who was just there, feeding himself, taking himself to bed, and crying every night.

Exactly a month after the attack Beca was staring at Chloe's face, without really seeing, while Tyler was doing schoolwork, when Beca's phone rang. She didn't hear it at first, too distracted in her daydream. She'd changed the ringtone to Titanium as it was the one song she could remember Chloe loving, even if it was in a dirty way. What she did hear, though, was the beeping. Beca had memorised the sounds of all of Chloe's machines, just in case there was ever a change she refused to miss it. The song played and the beeping increased. Beca blinked. Her phone stopped ringing and the beeping returned to normal.

"Tyler," Beca said so suddenly that Tyler jumped. "Go get a nurse, now."

Tyler looked over at Chloe's bed and machines, not seeing or hearing anything different. "What is it?"

"Just go Tyler!"

Tyler jumped up, hearing hope in Beca's voice that he hadn't heard for weeks, and raced from the room. Beca pulled her laptop from her shoulder bag and set it on a side table right next to the bed. She turned the volume to the max and waited for Tyler to return with the nurse.

"Is something wrong?" The nurse, Ashley according to the name on her badge, asked as she came into the room. She was quiet and Beca had never even had a full conversation with her but she seemed nice enough.

"Watch," Beca demanded, pressing play on her laptop. The music filled the room, most likely disrupting other nurses and residents with the volume but Beca couldn't care less because it happened again. Chloe's heart rate sped up again, this time even more so.

Ashley quickly moved to the bed and checked Chloe's pulse. "Stop it," Ashley said.

Beca pressed stop and they watched as it returned to normal.

"What does it mean? Is she waking up?" Tyler asked excitedly.

"I'm not sure. Keep watching her, I'm going to get the on-call doctor in," Ashley said as she rushed from the room.

Tyler moved around to the opposite side of the bed as Beca as they both grabbed Chloe's hands, staring at her face.

"You should call Miss Posen," Tyler commented.

Beca nodded and quickly pulled out her phone, not removing her eyes from the pale face.

"Aubrey Posen," a tired voice answered.

"Aubrey, it's Beca. You need to get down here." Beca heard something rumbling for a second before Aubrey's voice returned much more alert.

"What's happening?"

"We don't know. I played Titanium and her heart started speeding up. A doctor is coming in," Beca explained.

"I'm on my way," Aubrey assured, hanging up the phone quickly.

Aubrey drove like a woman possessed and beat the doctor to the facility even though the hospital was half the distance away. Doctor Wilkins, the same doctor that had been in charge of Chloe's case at the hospital entered the room briskly, acknowledging the familiar faces within the room as he began to check his patient. Tyler, Beca and Aubrey all moved to one side of the bed in order to give him space. He opened her eyelids and shone a penlight into her eyes, muttering to Ashley to make a note of what he saw. Next he pulled a pin-type device from his pocket and uncovered Chloe's feet. Watching very closely he lightly stuck Chloe's toe and her foot jerked back.

"Oh my god," Aubrey breathed, covering her mouth with a hand as Tyler and Beca just stared on with wide eyes.

The doctor did the same to the other foot and received the same reaction. He recovered Chloe's feet and muttered once more to the nurse to make a note. He moved to a medical cabinet in Chloe's room, unlocked it, and grabbed and filled a syringe, which he injected into Chloe's fluid IV. Chloe's entire body seemed to jolt as soon as it entered her body.

"Chloe?" Aubrey spoke, taking a step closer to the bed and standing directly beside Tyler. Chloe's head tilted slightly, moving towards Aubrey as if she had heard her voice.

"Again," the doctor instructed.

Aubrey swallowed thickly and took another step so she could grab her friend's hand. "Chloe? Sweetie it's Aubrey. Can you hear me?" Chloe's eyes didn't open but her head moved a little more so it was facing Aubrey directly. "Chloe? Can you hear me?" Aubrey tried again. "Show me that you can hear me, please do something," Aubrey begged, tears coming free when Chloe's eyes still didn't open.

"Chloe," the doctor spoke in a clear and loud voice. "If you can hear us, squeeze your hands," he ordered.

"She did it!" Aubrey cried when she felt a slight pressure on her hand. "She did it!"

The doctor lightly picked up the other hand. "Chloe. Squeeze our hands." She did.

"Oh god Chloe! You're still here," Aubrey cried, relieved. "Why won't she open her eyes?" Aubrey questioned.

"She's in a very deep coma, it takes awhile to become alert again," the doctor explained.

"Wait. Is she still in the coma?" Beca asked. "Isn't she fine now? You said she would never wake up."

"It's a very complicated situation Ms Mitchell. The brain is a complicated organ and we are unable to judge the damage in its entirety until she can communicate with us properly. Medically we categorise a coma in three different ways; Best motor response, verbal response and eye opening. Ms Beale had been on a score of three, showing no response to any stimulus or pain and showed no signs of awareness. It is extremely rare for a patient with a level three on the Glasgow Coma Scale to ever improve."

"But she has improved," Beca argued, feeling confused by the medical jargon. "She's reacting."

"Yes she is but this won't be a quick improvement. It will be a long and steady road to recovery and we still need to determine the extent of brain trauma."

"So how long?"

"I can't say. I-" The doctor was cut off when Chloe jolted again, this time raising an arm.

"Chloe?" Aubrey asked as Chloe seemed to keep trying to raise the same arm.

Chloe barked a cough and her body jolted again.

"Nurse," the doctor said, quickly realising the problem and working with the nurse to remove Chloe's breathing tube. Chloe sucked a deep breath and her body calmed again, returning to the motionless stance it had been in for weeks.

"She can breath on her own," Beca grinned, explaining it to Tyler who smiled back up to her. "What's next Doctor?"

"We wait," he explained. "We can't know how slowly or quickly she will return to consciousness, she may not even return completely. You three should continue to communicate with her, talk to her, read to her, anything will help her. Nurse Ashley will be by hourly to observe her condition and keep me informed. Both of us will be available should you have further questions. Meanwhile you three will just need to be patient with her recovery."

Ashley and Doctor Wilkins soon left, leaving Tyler, Beca and Aubrey once again alone in the room.

"Are you gonna stay or…" Beca asked of Aubrey.

Aubrey chewed her lip. The doctor had said Chloe may not do anything more for a while and she really wanted to be able to stay awake and talk to her tonight which would mean getting sleep now. "I should get some sleep so I can stay awake tonight. Will you be with her?"

Beca nodded. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll call you."

"OK." Aubrey gently released Chloe's hand and headed for the door. "Beca?" Aubrey started. "Call me with anything. Even if it's something small. Just let me know."

"I will."

Aubrey left and Tyler slowly moved back to the small table to continue his work, glancing at Chloe every few minutes. Beca reclaimed her chair next to Chloe's bed and softly picked up the redhead's hand. "Hey Chloe, it's Beca."

Chloe didn't seem to react. Her had didn't squeeze and her head didn't move.

"Beca Mitchell, Tyler's sister from Barden Elementary," Beca joked. "Just because you know so many Beca Mitchells." Beca brushed some hair away from Chloe's face, brushing her cheek slightly. Chloe's head moved in response and Beca grinned. "I've missed you. God I've missed you so much. I'm kinda a mess actually. Maybe you shouldn't open you eyes because I may scare you back into a coma."

"That's not funny," Tyler stated from his seat, not even looking up from his work.

"Chloe gets it," Beca smirked. The redhead did seem to understand her poor attempt at jokes like no one else. "You'd be pretty disappointed actually. I haven't been to work in… at least a month and Ty hasn't been to school in weeks."

"Don't tell her that!" Tyler gasped.

"Shh! Focus on your work you terrible child," Beca joked and Tyler rolled his eyes. "Kidding aside, there's nowhere I would rather be than right by your side, helping you through this Chloe. Although maybe I would love it if right by your side was down by the beach or something. I hate that I let this happen to you and I promise that I will never let you get hurt again. You need to help me out though and wake up. We need you Chlo, me and Tyler and Aubrey, we need you." Beca felt a light pressure on her hand as Chloe did her best to squeeze it. "That's cool. You know that I'm not great with words so I'm just gonna play you some music, OK? Don't worry, we can start with Titanium. I'll try to think of something a bit more interesting for tomorrow maybe." Beca pressed play on her laptop and quickly turned the volume down a bit from where it had been. She grinned as Chloe's head turned towards the music and she occasionally squeezed a hand. She was still in there.

The next few days were torture as they waited for something to happen with no improvements. Doctor Wilkins seemed to have disappeared again and Ashley had cut back to daily visits.

"I hate this," Beca admitted to Aubrey one morning during their cross-over time. Tyler was busy hunting supplies for the day in the children's room. "She moves and you know she can hear you but I need more. I need to see those eyes of hers and hear that voice."

Aubrey looked up from the piles of coma advice papers that she had printed out. "I understand. It says here though that it just takes time, just like the doctor said."

"I don't accept that."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. They may have found an understanding but the woman could still drive her insane. "Of course Beca. Leave it to you to just blatantly ignore medical advice because it doesn't work for you."

Beca glared at the blonde but turned back to Chloe. "Have you ever asked her to try and open her eyes?"

"You heard me."

"I mean since then. Maybe we can ask her to try again." Beca leaned over the bed and held Chloe's hand warmly in her own. "Chloe. Can you hear me?" Nothing. "Chloe, squeeze your hand if you can hear me?" Nothing.

"Beca don't push her," Aubrey worried.

"Chloe?" Beca tried again. "Squeeze my hand." Beca's voice hand grown steadily louder the more she'd repeated herself. Chloe finally reacted; lightly squeezing Beca's had as she had been for the last few days. "OK Chloe, good start. Now I need you to open your eyes." Chloe moved her head so it was at least facing in Beca's direction but her eyelids didn't move. Beca found herself growing frustrated even though she knew it wasn't Chloe's fault. "Dammit Chloe open your eyes. I need to see you!" Beca yelled.

"Beca! Stop it!" Aubrey cried, jumping from her chair, but she stopped in disbelief when she saw Chloe's eyelids start fluttering.

Beca gasped but decided to continue, just as intensely. "Come on Chloe, you can do this. Open those eyes. Do it!" Eyelids slid open and bright blue eyes were revealed.

Aubrey and Beca sighed in relief, both feeling a heaviness move off their chest. Both waited expectantly, as if Chloe was going to say something, but instead she just continued to stare.

"What do we do?" Beca asked awkwardly.

Aubrey tsked at the brunette, slightly jostling her as she leaned over to be in Chloe's line of sight. "Hey Chloe, how are you?"

Silence.

"You thought she'd answer?"

"Stop it. She can hear you."

"You stop it."

"You are so infuriating."

"At least I'm not a total bitch."

"At least I'm-"

"She's smiling!" Both women looked up suddenly to find Tyler on the other side of the bed staring at Chloe. They hadn't even heard him enter. They looked at Chloe and sure enough she had a slight smile on her face. It was barely noticeable but it was there.

The next improvement came quickly when Chloe said her first word the next day. Doctor Wilkins had returned after hearing her eyes were now opening occasionally and decided to run a few more tests. He'd seemed pleased with the results and had told Beca, Tyler and Aubrey that he wanted to start encouraging her to speak. That had instantly led to Aubrey and Beca both standing over Chloe encouraging to say their names. She had finally forced out a muffled sound that was more like a jumble of letters than an actual word. Aubrey and Beca kept trying, suggesting different words before Chloe finally said "Music" in a clear voice. It was now later that night and Beca and Tyler had gone home, leaving Aubrey with a resting Chloe.

"Bree?"

Aubrey looked up and smiled at her now awake friend. "Hey Chloe. Need some water?"

"Yes."

Aubrey quickly grabbed a cup with a straw and fitted it into Chloe's mouth. Chloe was regaining some movements but not enough to hold the cup on her own just yet. "Better?"

"Yes."

Aubrey put the cup back and took a seat on the edge of the bed. It looked like Chloe was trying to say something.

"What… hap…en…"

"What happened? You don't remember?"

"No."

Aubrey considered the best way to tell her friend about the accident before deciding to just rip the Band-Aid off. "Tom came to the school and attacked you. He hit you and your head hit the desk. You've been in a coma for over a month."

"Tom?"

Chloe seemed to be struggling to understand and Aubrey wasn't exactly sure what to say or do. "Yes Tom. I didn't know that he had been hurting you or I would have never let him get to you, I swear it Chloe."

"Hurt me?"

Aubrey sure even more confusion and realisation dawned on her. "Chloe do you not remember Tom hitting you at all?"

"No."

Aubrey gasped and sat back. That had been happening for over a year according to what she had told Beca. "You told Beca he had been hurting you for over a year."

"Beca?"

Oh no. Aubrey grabbed a picture from the desk. It was of Tyler, Beca and Chloe, the one Beca had taken with Chloe's phone. She held it up so Chloe could see it. Beca had been in the room this entire time but Aubrey had had no clue that Chloe hadn't know who she was. "Do you know this person?" Aubrey asked, pointing at Beca in the picture.

"Nurse."

Aubrey shook her head sadly. "No Chloe. That's Beca. Beca and Tyler, see?" Aubrey held the picture even closer, hoping that it would inspire some sort of memory but Chloe only continued to look confused. "You don't remember Beca and Tyler?"

"No."

Beca felt genuinely happy and hopeful when she walked into the facility the next morning. Beca had convinced Tyler to spend the day relaxing with Jesse so that she could focus completely on Chloe's wellbeing. Her good mood vanished when Aubrey rushed to the door and stopped her from entering.

"What are you doing?" Beca questioned.

Aubrey glanced at Chloe who seemed to be asleep again, and pulled Beca outside. "I don't know how to tell you this."

"Just say it Aubrey."

"I was talking to Chloe last night. She doesn't remember anything from the last year."

"So? The doctor said some memory loss was normal," Beca shrugged.

"Beca. She doesn't remember Tom hitting her… and she doesn't remember you and Tyler."

Beca felt her eyes sting and her heart twist. "What do I do?"

"I don't know."

"Can… can I go in?" Beca asked sadly.

"Chloe may not remember you Beca but I do and I know that you two had a real friendship. I'm never going to stand in the way of that again so in my mind you will still stay with her during the days and I will stay with her during the nights."

Beca was filled with gratitude for the blonde. "But she doesn't know me."

"Think of it this way: you finally get a chance to talk to Chloe without her cutting you off. Take the opportunity to introduce yourself to her again. You already know her, she just needs to know you."

"You're great at this motivational stuff. You should do it for a living."

"You mean like be a teacher?"

"I feel stupid."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and the pair walked back into the room to find Chloe with her eyes open again. "Morning Chloe. This is Beca Mitchell, your friend. She is going to spend the day with you and I'll be back tonight but tell her if you need anything and I'm just a phone call away. OK?"

"OK."

"Hey Chloe."

"Hi, Beca."

Beca awkwardly hovered next to the bed for a moment before taking a seat. "So I heard you don't remember me."

"Sorry."

"Oh, hey, don't be sorry. In a way it gives me a chance to make an even better first impression on you. I think so far in our friendship I've called you mean, multiple times, and a growth. I'll try not to do that this time." Beca frowned and reconsidered her words. "Except I just told you that I did that so I've probably stuffed it again."

"How… did…we…meet?"

"My little brother, Tyler, goes to Barden Elementary. He is in fifth grade and you are his music teacher, tutor and all round favourite person. You drive him to and from school because my car carked it and you are the world's nicest person. We have this banter thing, which people find crazy but we love it."

'Tell me… about you."

Beca could tell Chloe was improving. "Well I work at the radio station where I play my mixes. You're a huge fan of them, by the way, because I played you a mix of Titanium, your lady jam," Beca winked and was happy to see that Chloe at least recognised the mention of Titanium. "I'm Tyler's guardian because our parents died in a car accident, something that you were the first person to get him to talk about. You didn't tell me that though, he did, one day when we were here with you. You… you're my best friend Chloe and it's been torture not being able to text you when I'm bored or missing you. You mean a lot to me."

Chloe didn't say anything in response. Beca wasn't sure if it was because she was overwhelmed because she didn't actually know Beca or if she just didn't have anything to say.

"Do you want to hear some of my mixes?" Beca asked instead.

"Yes."

Another week passed slowly and Chloe was talking in complete sentences and had started relearning to walk at the rehabilitation unit in the facility. She had regained control of her upper body and was acting more and more like the Chloe they knew and loved, minus a year of her life. Beca had intentionally kept Tyler away, not wanting to tell him that Chloe couldn't remember him, but he had pushed her on it the night before and she'd caved. He'd taken the news easily and had asked to visit to try and remind her.

Beca frowned as Chloe and Aubrey's conversation stopped when she and Tyler entered the room. Chloe was still treating her like a stranger, which she was, and Beca was jealous of the way she acted with Aubrey, the friend she could remember. Chloe was sitting up in bed, looking comfortable and nothing like she had just come out of a deep coma.

"Hi Beca," Chloe greeted, friendly enough.

"Hey. Someone wanted to come and say hi," Beca said as she gestured down at Tyler who waved awkwardly.

"Oh! You must be Tyler!" Chloe greeted, showing an honest smile.

Beca's shoulder slumped. How come even Tyler got the real side of Chloe? It was just like when they first met and Chloe gave the boy all her attention, ignoring Beca. Oh. Beca suddenly remembered Chloe mentioning that she had totally judged her wrong at first, right up until Beca's passionate speech about needing Chloe to help Tyler. Well, she just needed to change Chloe's mind again. While Beca was lost in her thoughts Tyler made his way to the bed and jumped up onto the side of it so he could speech to Chloe properly.

"I'm glad that you're awake. I missed you."

"Thanks angel," Chloe responded on instinct, not realising the impact of her words until Aubrey, Tyler and Beca all looked at her with odd expressions.

"What did I do?" Chloe questioned.

"That's what you call me. Angel. That's what you call all of your grade fives," Tyler explained.

Chloe grinned and tapped Tyler's heart, just as she had done many times. "Well I guess that means you're still in here then."

Tyler's eyes watered and he leaned forward carefully to cuddle into Chloe's chest. "I was so scared when he hurt you."

Chloe jolted back, a little too quickly because her vision blurred for a moment. "Wait. You were there?"

Tyler nodded and Chloe looked at Aubrey, her face panicked. "Why didn't you tell me a student saw it happen?"

Aubrey shrugged apologetically and Chloe focused on Tyler again.

"I am so sorry Tyler. Did he hurt you?"

Tyler shook his head. "Of course not. You were there."

"Tyler that's sweet but-"

"No you don't understand," Tyler tried again. "You saved me."

"What?"

Tyler took a deep breath and started his story. He'd had time to learn it well after telling for the police over and over again. "I got an A for my test and I wanted to show you 'cause I knew you would be proud. Mr Applebaum said I could. I got to your room and you were yelling and he was yelling. Then he hit you and you hurt your head. I came in to try and help you but you tried to make me leave."

Chloe closed her eyes as she saw a flash as if it was happening before her eyes but it wasn't… it was in her memory.

"He tried to hit me but you stopped him and you hurt him. He tried to hit me again but you moved in front of me so he would hit you instead. He hit you here."

Tyler tapped Chloe's temple and Chloe could suddenly feel the pain again, but she forced her eyes to open and stay conscious.

"Then you also hit the desk. Here." Tyler tapped Chloe's eyebrow where a scar now sat, the only indication that something had happened as the bruises had long since healed. "Then you didn't wake up."

Chloe closed her eyes and there was another flash. Her heart monitor started picking up her distress and Beca rushed forward to grab Tyler from the bed as Aubrey touched Chloe's shoulder.

"Chloe? What's happened?"

Chloe fought again to open her eyes but they remained closed, violent images forcing themselves to be seen. Tom hitting her, hurting her, forcing himself on her. Chloe could hear Aubrey's voice fading and knew that she was going back into a coma. The doctor had warned that too much brain activity could do this. She kept fighting but the images kept coming, stronger and stronger, in fast forward until one. It was recent and it was muted. Chloe could see Tom and his anger but nothing else. She saw Tom's hand rise but it never landed. Someone had stopped him.

"You need to open your eyes pretty face."

The voice was loud and clear through her subconscious and it connected itself to the face of the small brunette behind Tom. A new stream of images began to play in Chloe's mind but instead of drawing her under these images forced her to the surface. A broken down car. A movie night. Leftovers for dinner. Softball. Lunch in a diner. Beca. Tyler. Family.

Chloe's eyes opened and the brunette from her memories was leaning over her, tears in her eyes.

"How could I forget you, rainbow."

A/N: Let me know what you thought. Peace.