****** THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM THE-BREATHS-OF-CHLOE EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM. *******

THE LAST CHAPTER WAS NOT, I REPEAT, WAS NOT A DREAM. IT REALLY DID HAPPEN. CHLOE REALLY IS SORRY FOR BEING AS ASSHAT THREE YEARS AGO.

****** NOW BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING. ******

AN: So yeah, there's that. :) There was some concern in the lovely reviews, that the bar scene from the last chapter was a dream (not that I blame the concerned parties one bit lol) but no it was not. To date there have only been two dreams and they have both been revealed. So no worries. :) Now who wants to know what Chloe's been up to since she left Beca three years ago?

Side note: A big shout out and thanks goes out to xcombixgirlx for providing some of the phrasing in this chapter! ;)

Disclaimer: I honestly don't know why I'm still doing disclaimers any more. Ya'll know it's not mine, if it was, you'd be watching this instead of reading it :)

Beca was sitting in her office looking over a few contracts that she had been putting off lately. She didn't want to be doing it but all of her other paper work was done and this was the last thing on her desk.

She was elbow deep in the last contract when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye close to her office door, she looked up but saw nothing. She thought it was kind of weird but figured it was just a combination of her hangover from the night before and her eyes playing tricks on her after staring at paperwork all day. Beca pushed her chair back from her desk and leaned back, rubbing her eyes, fully intending on going to get some coffee and taking a much deserved and needed break. When she felt something touching her left knee. Beca dropped her hands from her face and looked up, startled. There was no one there. She felt something touch her knee again this time feeling like someone was trying to crawl into her lap, she looked down at the source of the feeling and saw a small boy standing there with his arms raised looking like he was asking to be picked up.

Beca eyed him cautiously, she didn't know of anyone on this floor who had a child this age, and couldn't think of any reason at all why he would be in her office. Eventually Beca picked him up and set him on her lap.

"Hi lady" The little boy said brightly

"Hi" Beca responded still not sure where the boy had come from, who he was, or why he was in her office. "Do you know your name?" Beca asked.

The boy nodded and said something that sounded like Zay.

"OK Zay, do you know where your mommy or daddy or who the hell ever is supposed to be taking care of you is?"

The boy frowned up at Beca and said "Bad word, lady!"

"Right, sorry." The apology seemed to make him feel better and he smiled again. Beca tried again, "Who is your mommy?"

The boy thought for a second and then shrugged. Beca wasn't sure if he didn't understand the question or just didn't know anything other than her name was mommy. Beca didn't know anything at all about kids and wasn't sure when that kind of awareness became a thing.

The little boy broke her train of thought when he poked her in the cheek with his tiny finger and said "Pretty."

Beca looked at him strangely, was she seriously getting hit on by a toddler? "Uh, thanks kid."

The boy giggled at the look on Beca's face and poked her in the nose.

At the sound of his giggle there was suddenly no doubt in Beca's mind who this boy belonged to. As she looked closer at him she realized she should have seen it when she first looked at him. His floppy red hair fell in messy waves across his forehead and he was staring at her with huge, impossibly blue eyes, he even had her giggle. Either someone had cloned Chloe and messed up the chromosomes or this was Chloe's little boy sitting in her lap. How did she not know that Chloe had a kid? Why had Chloe not told her when they were talking last night?

"Let's go find your mommy." Beca said to the little boy.

"OK lady." He responded brightly.

Beca picked the boy up and set him on the floor before getting up herself. She wondered if she should take his hand or something to keep him from running off, was that a thing people did? She thought so but she wasn't sure. It's not like there way any traffic up here he could run into or anything. She looked down to reach for his hand and saw him reaching up like he wanted to be picked up again.

"Oh, ok, I guess that works." Beca said earning a quizzical look from the boy.

She picked him up and sat him on her hip and wrapped her arm around his waist like she had seen someone in a movie do. This is a pretty effective way to carry a kid, Beca thought to herself as she walked out of her office with the boy on her hip.

As she passed by Jenifer's desk, she heard something that sounded like a strangled cough. She stopped to see her assistant choking on the drink of coffee she had just taken.

"Shit Jen, are you alright?"

"Bad word lady!" The boy chided again.

"Sorry kid." Beca said immediately

"Why do you have a kid on your hip? Where did he come from? Who the hell does he belong to?" Jenifer choked out.

"Bad word lady!" The little boy said pointing at Jenifer sounding exasperated at the adults' inability to keep their language in check.

"It's ok Zay, don't pay any attention… to either of us." Beca said comfortingly to the boy in her arms patting his back with her free hand, causing him to nuzzle into her shoulder happily. Beca felt her heart melt a little bit.

Jenifer looked at Beca like she had just sprouted a third arm out of her forehead.

"Jen I don't really know the answer to any of those question but I'm trying to find out. Have you seen Chloe recently?"

Jenifer's face hardened a bit at the mention of the redhead.

"No I haven't seen her."

"OK, well if you see her before I do, can you tell her I'm looking for her please?"

"Sure." Jenifer said clipped.

"Thanks!" Beca said walking out of her pre-office with the boy on her hip.

The tension between Jenifer and Chloe lately had been clear. Beca wasn't sure what was going on between them, but she desperately hoped that whatever it was would work itself out soon. They were the two most important people in her life and the three of them working as a team would be so much easier than the two of them constantly trying to out snark each other.

Beca checked Chloe's office first, when she didn't find her there, she decided to send her a quick text and just wait for her rather than wander around the building looking for and probably missing her.

Beca thought to make the situation a bit easier she'd send Chloe a picture of Zay so she knew for sure that he was ok. Beca pointed her phone at him.

"Zay, smile."

The boy immediately responded by striking a pose and smiling brightly. If Beca had had any doubts that this little boy belonged to Chloe they were all gone now.

Beca sent the picture along with a message that said

Excuse me ma'am but does this belong to you?

Within seconds Beca's phone chimed

Oh thank God! Where r u?

Beca shot back quickly.

Your office. We'll wait here.

Ty!

Chloe came running out of the elevator and through the door of her office. When the little boy saw her he screeched "Mommy!" as he held his hands out to her.

Chloe scooped him up, as Beca held him out to her, and pulled him into her chest, mumbling into his hair about how bad he had scared her. When Chloe was finally done hugging the boy she pulled him back from her chest setting him on her hip the way Beca had done and looked at him sternly.

"Young man, don't you ever run off like that again. You almost gave Mommy a heart attack!"

The boy looked down ashamed, Beca couldn't help but think that seeing that look on his face was just slightly more heart breaking that when she had seen it on Chloe's face the night before.

"Sorry Mommy." Came his sad response.

Chloe kissed him on the forehead and said

"It's ok, just don't do it again."

"OK" He said, his smile returning.

Chloe turned to Beca

"Thank you so much Becs, I thought I was going to go…"

Chloe was cut off by her son tugging on her sleeve

"Mommy!"

"What Zay?"

"Pretty lady." He said pointing to Beca and smiling his mother's thousand gigawatt smile.

Chloe looked at Beca, smiled the same smile and looked back to her son.

"Yes, she is very pretty isn't she?"

Beca felt her entire body blush, it was bad enough having one redheaded, blue eyed Beale smiling that smile and telling her she was pretty, but she wasn't sure her heart could actually survive two of them. She spoke up to try and distract from the deep shade of red she knew she was turning.

"That's a pretty smooth little dude you've got there Chloe. That's the second time in ten minutes he's told me I'm pretty."

Chloe laughed and was just about to respond when a tall dark haired man walked up behind her. Zay yelled "Daddy!" and reached out for him.

Beca's heart fell into the pit of her stomach and she was suddenly aware that throwing up was a very real possibility.

The man picked Zay up and spun him around saying "Hey little man" Before pulling him in for a hug and kiss and then settling him on his hip just before kissing Chloe on the Cheek

"Hey Chlo."

"Hey Gabe."

Beca watched the exchange, feeling worse by the second. Chloe was married, she didn't wear a ring, but Beca knew that a lot of business people didn't. God why hadn't she thought of that before, of course Chloe was married, she was beautiful, talented, educated, outgoing, determined, Beca could have gone on for hours about all the things that Chloe was. There was no one in their right mind that wouldn't want Chloe as their wife. Beca heard the man, Gabe, speaking and halfway tuned back in.

"Sorry I'm so late, and thanks for bringing little man to work with you."

"Not a problem." Chloe said and then added "Oh Gabe, This is Beca Mitchell."

"Wow, DJ Blue, in the flesh." Gabe said stepping forward and reaching out to shake Beca's hand before adding "I've heard a lot about you."

Beca smiled what she hoped came across as a genuine smile and shook Gabe's hand. "Well don't worry the media lies a lot."

Gabe laughed "Well that too, but I actually meant from Chlo. She's told me all about her days as a Bella and how much fun she had leading the group with you."

Beca didn't know what to say. Chloe had told her husband about her? How much did he know? She was really starting to think that she was actually going to throw up and that at this point it even seemed preferable to standing here with the love of her life and her happy family. Beca was about to speak when Zay tugged on Gabe's sleeve and said "Daddy!"

"Yeah little man?"

The little boy pointed to Beca again. "Pretty Lady."

Gabe laughed and poked Zay in the stomach earning a giggle from the boy. He looked back at Beca "This one's gonna be a real ladies man when he grows up."

Beca forced another laugh, this one a little easier and more genuine because she really did like the little boy "Yeah that's the third time he's said that to me."

"Doesn't surprises me," Gabe said laughing "He's been seeing pictures of you since he was just a baby, Chloe keeps them all over the place. The Bellas on graduation day, the Bellas at the worlds, you and her in Copenhagen, you and her from your retreat senior year."

Chloe blushed a deep crimson red.

Beca couldn't take any more, she laughed as much as she could in response to Gabe and then said.

"Well it's been great to meet you Gabe" Beca looked at her watch "but I've got some paperwork I've got to get done before the end of the day, and it's not gonna do itself, unfortunately." and laughed lamely at her own attempt at a joke.

"That is true it never does. Well it was really nice to meet you, and I suppose I'll be seeing you around."

"Yep I suppose you will." Beca said trying to smile. "I'll see you later Chloe" She said to a still blushing Chloe. As she walked out of Chloe's office she poked Zay in the stomach saying "Bye Zay" he smiled his mom's smile again and beamed back at her.

"Bye lady."

Beca sat in her office staring at her desk. She was devastated. Up until tall, dark, and husband had walked in she honestly believed there was a chance she could make Chloe fall in love with her again.

It suddenly dawned on her, when Chloe said her life had gotten complicated last night, this is what she meant, she was trying to let her down easy. Trying to find a way to say, without saying, that she was married. She really did just want to be friends and nothing else. She already had the everything else all packaged up with a nice bow on top.

A soft knock on Beca's office door brought her out of her thoughts, she sat up in her chair and grabbed some paperwork trying to look like she had been doing something.

"Come in." She called

The door opened and there stood Chloe.

"Hey Becs." Chloe said softly.

"Hey Chlo."

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah of course, come on in, have a seat. I was just going over these contracts." Beca said holding up the papers in her hand and pointing to the chair in front of her desk. She was trying to sound normal, but she was pretty sure she was failing miserably.

Chloe walked into the office and sat down. She looked at Beca for a moment, an odd look on her face.

"Beca, your papers are upside down."

Beca wanted to slam her head into her desk, but instead just said lamely.

"Well I guess that explains why they weren't making much sense." before letting out a nervous laugh and putting the contracts down.

Beca looked up and saw Chloe look down at her lap and chew the edge of her bottom lip. She knew that meant Chloe had something she wanted to talk about but didn't know how to start.

After a moment Beca, not being able to take the heavy silence any more, blurted out much louder than she meant to.

"Your husband is really nice. Cute too." Beca face palmed herself in her head. Cute too? Really? Way to make this more awkward that it already was Mitchell.

Chloe looked up at Beca, shock showing plainly on her face.

"Beca, Gabe isn't my husband."

"Oh, sorry" Beca said "Boyfriend then."

"Not that either." Chloe said

"Oh" Beca said, a slight spark of hope reigniting in her chest. "Man nanny?" She asked hoping to ease the awkwardness a bit.

Chloe burst out laughing "No, he is Zay's father, but we're not together, we never were really."

Beca's looked at Chloe confused.

Chloe looked worriedly at Beca for a moment before she spoke.

"The night I got back to Chicago after visiting you three years ago, I was a total mess. I hadn't realized that I was an asshole yet, but I still felt so empty and alone. Stupidly, I decided drinking was the only thing that would make me feel better; so I went to my favorite bar. They had a live band that night and Gabe was the guitar player. After his set he came and sat next to me at the bar. He said I looked sad and asked if I was ok. We started talking and drinking and one thing led to another.

The next morning over breakfast we decided we had had fun and should stay friends, but that was it. Two months later I was making the call that no one wants to make after a one night stand, even if you are still friends with the guy." Chloe finished waiting expectantly for Beca's response.

"Oh" Beca said still processing Chloe's speech.

"Yeah" Chloe said.

"Wow"

"Yeah" Chloe said sounding sad "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Zay, I just didn't want you to think any less of me."

"Why would I think less of you?" Beca asked confused.

"Beca, I got pregnant because of a one night stand"

Beca sighed, Chloe was probably the smartest person she knew, but God, could she be dense sometimes.

"Chloe, I could never think less of you than I already do." Beca said sounding sincere.

Chloe's face showed a mix of confusion, hurt, shock and indignance all at the same time and it took Beca a second to realize what she had said that would cause such a look.

"NO! Shit! That came out way, way wrong!" Beca almost screamed, before shaking her head and continuing "You know I'm bad at this stuff. What I mean is I think the world of you and nothing could change that."

Chloe laughed as her face relaxed and she smiled at Beca.

"Thank you, Becs. That really means a lot to me."

"It's just the truth Chlo." Beca smiled back and then changed the subject abruptly sensing the conversation was heading into dangerous waters.

"Gabe seems to be a really good dad."

"Yeah he is. He really stepped up when I told him I was pregnant. He took me to all my doctor's appointments and made sure I had everything I needed. He spends lots of time with Zay when he's not touring. He even asked me to marry him after I first told him."

"Really? Wow! Why didn't you?"

"Because, as much as I cared about him, I wasn't in love with him, and I didn't want my child to grow up in a home where their parents weren't ridiculously in love."

Beca smiled, she knew exactly why Chloe felt that way.

Beca had met Chloe's parents a few times while they were in college and it was obvious to anyone who cared to look, that the couple was in fact, ridiculously in love. Mr. Beale had met Mrs. Beale on their first day of college, and Mr. Beale had spent the next four years wooing the woman relentlessly, never even looking at anyone else. He had told Beca once that the second he saw Mrs. Beale walk into the quad, he had leaned over to the friend he was sitting with and said "see that redheaded girl right there, I'm going to marry her." His friend had told him to not jump into anything, but Mr. Beale had already jumped and was in a freefall. Two months after they both graduated they had gotten married. That had been over thirty five years ago but the last time Beca saw them they had still looked like newlyweds.

"Beca? You ok?"

Chloe's voice brought Beca out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh yeah sorry, when you made that comment about being ridiculously in love it made me think of your parents. How are they doing?"

Chloe smiled, she loved talking about her family almost as much as she loved them.

"They're doing great, same old Mom and Dad. They said to say hi by the way."

"Good! I'm glad to hear it! Tell them I say hi back."

"I will. Thank you again for finding Zay. I'm not sure I've ever been that scared in my life."

"Hey no problem, he seems like a great kid. Plus I didn't really find him, he kinda found me. I was sitting here going over those contracts and he walked right in and tried to climb up in my lap."

Chloe laughed. "That sounds like him. How did you know he was mine anyway?"

"Are you kidding me? He looks like your clone! He's even got your laugh."

Chloe smiled a sweet smile at Beca. The one that she used to pull out anytime Beca noticed or remembered something Chloe didn't think she would.

Beca's heart skipped a beat, this friendship thing might be a bit harder than she originally thought.

"So Zay? Is that short for something?" Beca said wanting to keep the redhead in her office but really needing her to stop looking at her the way she was.

"Yeah it's short for Zavier. It was Gabe's grandpa's name."

Chloe was just about to continue when her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen.

"Shit, this is Katy Perry's agent. I gotta take it."

"Yeah no problem, go ahead." Beca said quickly as Chloe answered her phone and walked out of her office.

Beca was doing her best to concentrate on the contract she had been distracted from earlier, when her office door slammed shut making her jump. She looked up and saw Jenifer stomping across her office before sitting down hard in the chair in front of her desk.

"Jen? You ok?" Beca asked, not being sure what was going on.

"Have you ever just wanted to punch someone square in the tits?" Jenifer said almost yelling, obviously pissed.

"Jen! What the hell has gotten in to you? Who do you want to punch square in the… Who do you want to punch?" Beca amended not being sure she was ok with using the word tits in normal conversation.

"Uggggg! It's not important." Jenifer said crossing her arms over her chest and glowering at Beca.

Jenifer knew that something had gone down between Beca and Chloe the night before. She didn't know what it was, but it was clear in their interactions this morning. Yesterday they could barely say two words to each other that weren't about business without one of them getting awkward and running away, but this morning, they were all light touches and shy smiles. Still awkward but more comfortable than she had ever seen them and it made her want to puke.

The conversation she had just overheard from Beca's open office door didn't help matters. How many times could one person fall into shit and still come out smelling like roses? First Chloe had almost destroyed Beca, then she had gone and had a one night stand and gotten pregnant. She gets an adorable kid, a gorgeous baby daddy who is also a musician, a dedicated father and a great friend, a great job with a new PR firm, an account with a big record label, and Beca.

Jenifer wasn't sure why it bothered her so much, it wasn't like Chloe had done anything to her personally. Hadn't stolen her boyfriend or job, but it did bother her, especially the fact that Beca was just so open to letting her back in to her life, no questions asked.

"JEN!" Beca yelled.

"WHAT!?" Jenifer snapped back.

"Geez, take it easy killer. I've been talking to you for five minutes now. I was just trying to get your attention."

"Sorry." Jenifer said a little easier but still surely.

"It's ok, but seriously what's got you so ready to kill someone… Wait it's not me you want to punch is it?" Beca said covering her chest with her hands

Jenifer couldn't help but laugh seeing Beca sitting there with her hands on her boobs trying to look scared.

"No it's not you. I've just had a long day, and there was a conversation, and an idiot, and it was ridiculous, and that's all I'm saying."

"Well that's not cryptic at all." Beca said laughing, having absolutely no idea what Jenifer was talking about.

Jenifer grinned at her "If it was meant to make sense it would have."

Beca rolled her eyes.

"Anyway I just needed to vent for a second. Thanks for listening." Jenifer said getting up to leave Beca's office, in a slightly better mood but not really feeling any better about the situation itself or how upset the whole thing was making her.

"Anytime." Beca said a little bewildered watching Jenifer walk out before shaking her head. Why do the two most complicated women in the world have to be the ones that mean the most to me, she mused, laughing to herself.

As Chloe had walked out of Beca's office, she had seen Jenifer glaring at her. She didn't know why the woman hated her so much. They had only known each other for a little over two months and in that time Chloe hadn't really interacted with her at all. The only time they really even spoke was when Chloe needed to know where Beca was and had no one else to ask. There was no way she could have offended her and Chloe knew from experience, rather than cockiness, that she was not the type of person that people just didn't like upon meeting. She just couldn't figure out what had gone wrong.

The reason it was bothering Chloe so much, was she knew that Beca and Jenifer were close and if she and Beca were going to try to get back to where they had been, and be as much a part of each other's lives as Chloe was hoping they would be, it would make things a lot easier if she and Jenifer could get along.

Suddenly she had an idea. She got up and walked down the short hall to the area Beca called her pre-office, where Jenifer's desk was, she knocked lightly on the door frame of the open door. When Jenifer looked up, her face quickly took on an annoyed look, and she said curtly.

"Beca's not in"

"Actually Jenifer, I was hoping to talk to you." Chloe used the woman's first name hoping to set a nice tone to the conversation.

"Of course Ms. Bales, what can I help you with?"

Chloe bristled internally, she was trying to be nice dammit. She knew it wouldn't help if she let her annoyance show. So instead she softened her voice and spoke again.

"Listen, somewhere along the line I think you and I got off on the wrong foot. So I was hoping maybe we could start over. Try to actually get to know each other a bit. Maybe over dinner tonight? My treat." Chloe added trying to sweeten the deal.

Jenifer looked at Chloe like she had a venomous snake wrapped around her neck and was asking if she wanted to pet it.

"You want to go out to dinner… with me?" Jenifer asked a mix of shock and horror, clear on her face and in her voice.

"Yeah. I mean, I know Beca thinks the world of you and I think the world of her, so it's inevitable that we'll be seeing a good bit of each other. I just thought it would be nice to take another stab at…" Chloe trailed off not really knowing where to go from there. While she wouldn't mind being friends with Jenifer she had the distinct feeling that would never happen, she'd settle for just being able to be civil with each other at the office.

At the mention of Beca's name, Jenifer felt her temper flare. Bales was actually going to use that to try to get her out to dinner? What did she want out of this? Jenifer didn't believe that she just wanted "to start over" for a second. Maybe she wanted to get her alone to tell her to stay away from Beca. That's gotta be it, Jenifer thought. Well if little red riding hood thought she could intimidate her, she had another thing coming.

"Sure Ms. Bales, that sounds lovely." Jenifer said her voice dripping with feigned sweetness.

Chloe smiled a tight smile, she wouldn't let Jenifer get to her. She would maintain her calm. WHY THE HELL DOES SHE HATE ME SO MUCH? Chloe finally screamed in her head. Before saying.

"Great! How about seven thirty at Mario's?" Suggesting the Italian steak house she knew the entire office ordered lunch from whenever possible.

"Sounds great, see you then." Jenifer said switching tactics and trying to sound as menacing as she could.

Chloe looked at her with a blank face, and turned to walk away. This might be a little more difficult than she had originally thought.

"Little red riding hood, get ready to meet the big bad wolf." Jenifer said under her breath as she watched Chloe go.

Chloe had been sitting at the restaurant for just over twenty minutes when Jenifer finally showed up. She was a little pissed but decided in the name of starting over to give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe traffic had been bad. Chloe stood up from the table and held her hand out to Jenifer as she walked up.

"Jenifer, good to see you." Chloe said smiling.

"Ms. Bales." Jenifer replied curtly, shaking Chloe's hand quickly.

Chloe had had enough of the name game, they were, after all supposed to be adults, as they sat down she said "Look, I was really hoping we could have a pleasant evening. Could you please just drop the Bales thing for tonight?"

"Fine" Jenifer said begrudgingly.

"Thank you" Chloe said back relieved.

They sat in silence as they looked at the menus until the waiter came and they both ordered. With nothing more to distract them from each other, the silence grew more and more uncomfortable between them, until Chloe couldn't take it anymore.

"So this is a nice place huh? This is my first time here."

Jenifer was not in the mood for small talk. "Look Ms. Ba... Look, I'm not really one for small talk. OK? So why don't you just say whatever it is that you brought me here to say."

Chloe looked at her confused "I don't know what you mean. I didn't bring you here to say anything in particular. I told you, I'd just like chance to get to know you and for you to get to know me."

"Right." Jenifer said sarcastically. She was being rude and she knew it, but she didn't care.

Chloe was taken aback. "If you're so sure I have something to say. Why don't you tell me what you think I brought you here to tell you."

"Fine. I think you brought me here to tell me to stay away from Beca."

"WHAT?" Chloe almost screamed, and then quickly dropped her voice as a few of the other diners turned to find out what the commotion was about. "Why in the living hell would I want to tell you to stay away from Beca?"

"Because I may be the only one who can talk some sense into her when it comes to you."

The statement pissed Chloe off quite thoroughly, but Chloe Beale was nothing if not a trooper, she just had to keep her temper in check and get to the bottom of this.

"Jenifer, why do you hate me so much? You started in on me as soon as you met me. You never even gave me a chance to prove I'm not whatever it is you think I am"

"Oh, I know what you are."

"And what is that exactly?"

"A horrible person who has done nothing but hurt my friend."

Chloe had had it, she was done playing Ms. Nice guy. She would not sit here and listen to this woman talk about her relationship with Beca this way. "You know nothing about Beca and I, or what we've gone through. So please stop trying to throw whatever it is you think you know in my face."

"Oh I don't know anything about it. Huh?"

"No." Chloe said with finality, her voice low and dangerous.

"I know that three years ago you left Beca sobbing in the airport because she confessed her love for you."

Chloe's expression quickly changed from one of rage to one of disbelief as her jaw fell open at Jenifer's words. How the hell did she know that?

"I know that in the years you had known her you never told her how you felt, and then when she finally told you, you freaked out and left, only to come back three years later, when it was convenient for you, when you felt better about life. You know what else I know? I know that I've been the one that has had to deal with the consequences of what you did. I'm the one who has had to deal with Beca's depression. I'm the one who has basically had to keep her label afloat for the last three years because she was too distraught and lost in her own head to do it herself. I'm the one who has had to make sure that she'd eat and sleep once in a while. I'm the one that has had to see her wither and almost die and has had to be in constant contact with her because as long as she was texting me I knew she hadn't killed herself." Jenifer's voice broke on the last statement and she paused briefly to collect herself before she cleared her throat and continued. "I'm the one who, when she had a dream about you two months ago, held her while she sobbed about how much she had hurt you and didn't deserve another chance with you. So don't. fucking. tell. me. that I don't know anything about your relationship. I know that you are poison to that woman. You are the one that doesn't deserve her, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you don't get to her again."

Chloe had started to cry while Jenifer was talking, she hadn't known any of what the other woman had just told her. She knew that Beca had to have been sad that they had lost touch, had maybe even been a bit depressed for a while just like she herself had been, but for three years? Chloe had assumed that Beca had moved on, she figured there was even a chance that she was seeing someone now.

"I didn't know…" Chloe said more to herself than to Jenifer.

"Maybe if you cared about her a fraction of the amount that she cared about you, you would have bothered to check." Jenifer spat back.

"God, I'm so sorry." Chloe said to the image of Beca three years ago, sobbing and holding herself in the airport, that had appeared in her head.

"That may work on Beca, but not on me." Jenifer said thinking Chloe was talking to her.

Chloe looked up as if she was just remembering Jenifer was there, before saying softly the anguish clear in her voice.

"I have to go."

She opened her purse and laid a hundred dollar bill on the table and got up to walk out.

Jenifer watched her go without a word, she had a feeling she knew that she was headed to Beca's place, but that couldn't be helped at the moment. Beca would probably be pissed that Jenifer had told Chloe all the things she had, but she hadn't said anything that wasn't the truth. Even so she still needed to come up with something to not only pacify her feisty little boss, but also to try to keep her away from the redhead for as long as possible. "Operation tit punch" is so a go. Jenifer thought.

AN: Ah-ha so that's what Chloe's been up to. Huh? :)

OK so here we are. More rebuilding with even more to come and now a kid, a gorgeous musician baby daddy, an incredibly angry best friend and plenty of spilled secrets to complicate things. The plot thickens…

So honestly who had a little heart attack when Beca thought Chloe had gotten married or did you guys see right through it? And what do you guys think of Gabe and Zay? Not to mention "Operation tit punch"? Talk to me! ;)

Electronis Zappa: Impending rebuilding in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, :)

Xcombixgirlx: OK you're killing me smalls! What are the key words that are keeping you from forgiving Chloe? I'm dying here! :) I know, that song from the last chapter is amazing isn't it! I had an idea for the song I wanted to use but then I heard that one and it was just too perfect! Did you listen to it while reading the lyrics? I actually listened to it on repeat for the whole chapter, about ten hours of writing lol Operation tit punch is a go, and thank you again for all the phrasing! :D

Jalex1: Yep Beca owns the bar. I mentioned it the chapter when Beca and Jen went there for karaoke (6 I think) but it was just a passing comment. And yes we are finally on the road to rebuild, it won't be easy but we'll get there.

Becs: :) Thank you! Glad you're still along for the ride! :)

FlameHazeKatsu: I actually thought about going down that road, or at least having Beca think that was what was going on, but it just didn't seem right to put them through that. Lol! Yes talking, talking is good! And no worries there will be progress really soon! And thank you glad you are enjoying it! :)

LillyD11: Was it a dream or wasn't it? ;) Just kidding, like I said earlier it was all real, we really are on the road to good! Not that I'm promising there won't be any more dream sequences. ;) I will, however, do my best to reveal them quickly though. No more like chapter 7. Lol

Guest: Hope springs eternal my friend! :) Lol ok sounds good I can't wait for the big reveal! :) I totally know what you mean, if I didn't have my password saved I'd be totally screwed lol!