'Everything must come to an end... Even the Bellas.'

That's the very last thing you want to be hearing out of the mouth of one of your biggest rivals right now. If only because despite it being Kommissar's usual shit-talking before a performance, it's much more true than you'd like to admit. Now, if you'd been the one to say that it would have been philosophical and poignant, but from that bottle-blonde harpy, its only purpose is to rile you up. You're ashamed to say it's working.

Especially when said woman cupped your girlfriend's face. And rather than knocking her away, a dazed Beca had just murmured, 'Your hands are so soft.'

Typical, really. It's nearly time for your final performance together as a group, yet somehow, Beca still finds time to accidentally flirt with other women. You watch, arms crossed as Beca turns to jello and forgets about her loving, patient girlfriend that she spends hours making out with on a regular basis. Seriously, what is it about this woman? What does she have that you don't, besides the height, accent, talent...

Whatever, your hair is better, you decide. At least you're all natural. And your boobs are awesome.

(Although, maybe you should start moisturizing more.)

As she walks away, Kommissar catches your eye, a muscle pulling in her face that hides the barest glimmer of a smirk. She knows exactly what she's been doing, the bitch. You swear, as soon as this performance is over, you're going to shove the trophy in her arrogant face. And then make out with Beca right in front of her just to rub salt in the wound. In fact, even if you lose you're going to do that, because Beca's definitely the better win out of all of this.

On the other hand, your "prize" isn't really acting like one right now. 'Ha!' Beca shouts defensively after Kommissar. 'Your sweat smells like cinnamon – dammit!' Beca throws her hands up in frustration at herself, letting out an exasperated breath. You clear your throat pointedly; Beca jumps as though remembering she has a girlfriend for the first time. She flushes (whether in shame, guilt or embarrassment, you're not sure) as well she should.

'Good try,' you tell her mildly, arms folded across your chest. 'Maybe one day you'll actually remember I exist before she sticks her tongue down your throat.'

'Okay, I know that looked bad, but in my defence, I don't like cinnamon.' She's lying, you know, because you've seen Beca scoff down cinnamon bagels more times than you've sang Whitney Houston. And that is saying something.

You raise your eyebrows. 'Is that all you have to say?'

'I'm sorry and I promise I won't do it again?'

'That's a start,' you reply. 'Keep trying.'

'Uh...' She has to think for a bit, which is somewhat insulting, but very Beca. 'She's nothing on you? I don't deserve you?'

'Getting there.' You point your finger in her face, inches from her nose. 'But don't think you're out of the dog house.'

Her eyes widen in panic, and she glances sideways at all your friends who are watching with interest. 'You're beautiful, and your hands are way better than hers?' she mumbles, clearly shy about saying such things with an audience.

However, Emily intervenes. 'Okay, I really don't wanna know anymore about Chloe's hands,' she says, shuddering. 'I mean, I'm sure they're lovely, but no. It's like thinking about my mom and dad having sex.'

'... I really think you bring that up too much to be normal,' says Amy, frowning. 'Besides, there's nothing like a bit of lesbo drama before our last performance. Never thought I'd say this, but I might actually miss it.'

'Don't worry, Amy, next time Chloe and I argue I'll call you so you can listen in.'

'Or Cynthia Rose can,' Stacie adds. 'I'm sure married life for lesbians has like, ten times more drama. Speaking of, have we ever even met your fiancée?'

'Sure you have,' she replies. 'You remember Denise, right?'

A ripple of shock passes through the Bellas. Jessica and Ashley are the only ones who don't look remotely surprised, along with Emily, who just seems confused. Of course - she never met Denise. 'Jessica, Ashley, you knew?' you exclaim.

'I thought everyone knew.'

'I told you at least three times,' says Cynthia Rose.

Emily asks timidly, 'Could someone tell me who Denise is?'

'One of our ex-altos,' you explain; Cynthia Rose interjects with, 'One of our best altos.'

'Rude,' mutters Flo.

'Sorry,' says Beca. 'Still, you guys are getting married now? That's awesome, dude. Congrats.' Cynthia Rose grins in response, and she looks so happy that it brings a smile to your own face. You happen to glance at Beca as you do so - because your gaze is magnetically attracted to her - and of course it gets misinterpreted. 'I don't like that expression... Please don't get any ideas, Chloe.'

Stacie lets out a little squeal. 'Ohmigosh, if you guys get married, you have to make me a bridesmaid.'

'Ooh ooh, me too!' says Emily excitedly. 'I love weddings. Oh, and we can all sing at the reception!'

'We're not getting married!' Beca shouts frantically. 'Stop making plans for our non-existent wedding! Focus on Cynthia Rose's instead.'

However, you clear your throat. 'Well, actually, Beca...' The others go silent, staring at you in shock as you slowly take Beca's hand in yours. She herself has gone completely pale. 'Listen, I was going to wait to ask you this, but I...' You trail off dramatically, holding the moment for as long as you can. But you can't keep up a straight face when Beca seems like she's going to throw up at any moment. '... I'm just kidding. It's way too soon.'

The others laugh, but Beca clutches her heart with one hand and hits you in the arm with the other. 'Oh my God, you asshole,' she wheezes, 'you actually scared the shit out of me then. I'm already worked up enough as it is.'

'Consider it revenge for all the stunts you've pulled with Kommissar.'

'Okay, okay! Point taken.'

As the conversation finally dies down - minus a few jabs about Beca's panic over the prospect of marrying you - the sounds of DSM starting to wrap up their own performance start floating in. You're grateful for the useful banter with the Bellas, as it helpfully tuned them out and stopped you focusing on what's coming next. You feel the way you did back during your first go at senior year, way back when you performed at Nationals all that time ago. It's been too long since you last performed, and admittedly the last few live gigs you did were complete disasters. From the restless, uncomfortable way the girls are shifting around now, you can tell the nerves are starting to settle in for them too.

'I can't believe this is the end,' Emily says, voice hushed and barely carrying over the volume of the speakers. 'I feel like I've only just started becoming a Bella, and it's nearly over already.'

'Well, it won't be the last for you,' Beca points out. 'You're carrying on the Bella torch. You've got at least three years of this junk to come. Pun intended.'

'I know, but it won't be the same without you guys.' She can't even get the sentence out straight. You look around and notice that Emily's lip has started trembling. Cynthia Rose reaches out and pinches it, holding it in place.

She says warningly, 'Do not cry, Junk - if you start then the whole group is going down. And I'm not going out there with my eyes all puffy.'

'Right, yeah. Sorry: happy faces. Got it.' Emily tries to put on a small smile, but she can't hold it for long. You have to look away because your own eyes are beginning to sting. It's funny that she's the one getting emotional when she's the only one still staying, but if she feels anything like you do about losing these girls, you can't really blame her.

It's not really losing them, per se. You'll still be friends. The connection you've made with these girls isn't likely to fade away quickly, despite all the drama leading up to this moment. It's funny; considering how everything up until now felt like a series of never-ending obstacles, it's amazing how things just seemed to… ease, following that trip to the retreat. You could suddenly understand things in class. The tiny little things that you used to get on your nerves so much just wash over you. Now you actually have somewhere to go after graduation, it doesn't seem as likely that your entire life will going to crash down if you don't win at Worlds. Whatever happens, the Bellas as you knew it will be disbanding – you might as well have one last hurrah, and enjoy it rather than stressing yourself out.

Or so you try to tell yourself. Of course, everyone's been saying exactly that to you for ages now, but it never quite sank in. You wonder if the real issue was you all along - if things could have been easy from the start, but you just had to make things difficult by getting yourself in a panic about nothing. Beca just snorted and threw a crumpled up piece of paper in your face when you mentioned this, because, 'You're only now figuring this out, dude?'

Well, she can talk. Dating Beca is not all that different to being friends with Beca, in some ways – she's still moody when she's not eaten enough, takes far too long to tell you what's wrong, and she eats your cereal and lies about it. There's very little difference there, besides the fact that you can threaten to withhold unless she gets her own box of Cheerios. Not that that works anyway, because she still insists on lying – but you always know.

At first, the lack of substantial change to your day-to-day life now you're "officially" dating Beca confused you. You'd always imagined life would be completely different, to the degree that you ever actually let yourself imagine the two of you could be together properly, anyway. You consider that it's possible you've been potentially almost-dating Beca for far longer than you thought, an oddly warming thought. The Bellas certainly seem to think so, at any rate. They didn't care for your attempts to sit them down and tell them what was going on ('We knew ages ago, guys; Amy read all the dirty texts on your phone a while back.' She at least has the decency to look guilty).

Actually, most people reacted like that to the news you guys are together, at least on your end. Now you've graduated, your parents were too relieved you're not adding another year of debt to your growing financial belt to be bothered who you're bringing home. Not that they would have been bothered anyway; Beca is far from the first person, girl or boy, that you've introduced to your family. Still, she's certainly the smallest if your family's reactions are anything to go by ('Darling, are you sure she's eating enough? Tell your brother to stop gorging himself and let Beca have seconds').

Beca, however, hasn't been quite so lucky. In recent times Beca has suddenly had to have a crash course in trying to awkwardly drop the fact she's in a relationship with another woman into conversation. It's a fine art, one she's never had to master before. Mentioning her boyfriend is far easier, and less likely to raise eyebrows or elicit questions about who the man is in the relationship.

The first time she managed to drop it into conversation successfully she actually texted you about it, all capitalised and fully punctuated, which counts for excitement with Beca.

Well done! How did you do it? X

You were cringing before you even finished reading the text properly: Oh, well Luke asked me for a pair of scissors and -

Still, she'll learn, at least with people whom she doesn't really know very well. Beca's family, and Jesse, on the other hand, were quite another story. She can't just drop it into conversation with them – or rather, trying to do that would probably not have been the best method. Surprising her dad with a sudden lesbian relationship probably isn't the birthday present he had been expecting.

Oddly enough it's you that ends up tipping Dr Mitchell off, completely by accident. You ran into him on the quad on your way back from the library (because to graduate you actually need to study, and you definitely had a lot to catch up on). You both recognised each other at the same moment. Despite your efforts to subtly turn back in the other direction, he made a beeline straight towards you.

'Chloe!' he called, just to make it clear you couldn't escape. His smile had that pinched, slightly awkward quality that reminded you far too much of Beca. And once you made that connection you really wished you could unmake it, because seeing Beca's father in your mind when she smiles was so not your aesthetic. 'Hello! I wasn't expecting to see you.'

'Hi, Dr Mitchell,' you replied uncomfortably, shifting the stack of books in your arms. You'd always been on pretty cordial terms with Dr Mitchell. However, since you were now dating his daughter – completely unbeknownst to him - it was hard not to worry you'll spill something you shouldn't. Later you realise that wasn't an unfounded fear, but back then you just tried to not make eye contact, lest you blurt out something inappropriate about where your hands have been.

If you could have avoided talking about Beca you should have been okay, but unsurprisingly that's all he wanted to discuss. You were just starting to wonder if he'd believe you if you said you'd left something in the oven (the... library oven...) when the topic of Worlds came up.

'And I hear you girls are off to Copenhagen soon!' he said, smiling. 'That must be exciting, eh?'

'Oh it is, Dr Mitchell.'

'I imagine that must be a lot of pressure, though... Competing in front of an international audience?' He frowned. 'I know you guys are used to the competitive lifestyle, but I always worry. How is Beca handling it?' It struck you as sad, or at least somewhat odd, that her own father was asking you how she's handling it. He must read this from your expression, because he added, 'She tells me she's fine, but you know I can't read that poker face.'

You chuckled. 'She's okay. Nervous, I'm sure. But all of us Bellas are in the same boat, so we all supporting each other.'

'Well, I'm glad that she has you guys around her, I suppose,' he said. 'And Jesse.'

Your next comment kind of bypassed rational thought and came out of your mouth anyway. Even though you knew Beca hadn't told her dad about the two of you, you didn't realise he wasn't aware Beca and Jesse weren't together anymore. As such, you scoffed.

'Of course. I mean, if Jesse actually ends up coming.'

You quickly realised your grave misinterpretation of the situation when he blinked slowly at you and looked confused. And really, what would actually make you think Beca would have discussed something so important with her father? Honestly. How could you have expected something so incredibly difficult?

'Why wouldn't Jesse come?'

You could only gape at him, open mouthed, because you honestly couldn't think of a decent way to get yourself out of this situation. It's not like you actually said anything about them splitting up; he just guessed from the look on your face. Thus, it's completely an accident and totally not your fault that you landed your girlfriend in a rather annoyed phone call from her father asking why on Earth she hadn't told him about the break up.

Beca glared at you the whole time, drawing her finger across her throat in a threatening manner while her dad berated her for keeping secrets and always being so closed off. You attempted to bake her cookies as an apology but she just bit into it viciously, staring at you with narrowed eyes.

In the end - after an hour of this - Beca just ended up blurting out, 'I'm dating Chloe now. Bye Dad!' and hanging up. She half threw her phone away from onto the kitchen island, staring over at you with panicked eyes. Only a few moments later, her dad started ringing again.

'Well,' she said, while her phone continued to buzz angrily, 'that went well.'

Thankfully, it actually did. Eventually you convinced Beca to call her dad back, and although he's understandably even more miffed about the whole thing, he can at least somewhat understand her reticence now. And while you do get a few uncomfortable talks with Dr Mitchell and Beca's mother – since of course she soon found out from the family grape vine – they're nowhere near as awkward as the talk you had with Jesse. Even when Sheila stiffly asked a white-knuckled, and teeth gritting Beca, 'So, are you a… lesbian now?'

The word seemed to alarm Beca somewhat; she had been tossing this subject back and forth for a while now. She looked at you desperately, pleading for you to change the topic, but you don't know how. All you can think about are scissors. 'Maybe,' she said finally. 'Maybe not. I like guys too, but it's not like other girls aren't…' She trailed off, going a little pink in the face when she met your eye. You were both thinking the same: Kommisssar. 'Anyway, Chloe's a girl. So I guess there's that.'

'Is she really?' Dr Mitchell had asked, sounding somewhat amused. 'I thought that was the whole point.'

Beca just rolled her eyes. She didn't appreciate you pointing out that deflecting tension with jokes seems to run in the family.

Thankfully, telling Jesse was a deliberate choice on Beca's part, despite the anticipated awkwardness. Beca insisted on you being in the same room as her this time. It didn't take long at all for him to work out, mostly because he's already guessed by the time Beca has sat him down very seriously on Amy's bed, and then joined you on her own. Your very presence probably tipped him off pretty quickly, anyway.

And, ultimately, his response was, 'Well. That was fast.'

You could detect a hint of ice in his words, and it took a lot of restraint on your part not to fling something spiteful back. Especially when an expression of hurt flashed over Beca's face. But still all she did was mutter, 'These things happen, I guess.'

'Right,' he said. Jesse sounded calm, but his leg was bouncing, toes tapping against the carpet haphazardly. 'So that's why you were acting weird when you told me Chloe had feelings for you.'

Beca squirmed. 'Jess, I'm not gonna apologise for moving on. That's not why I brought you here, or why I wanted to tell you.'

'Then why did you tell me?' he demanded.'We're not together anymore, Beca. It's not like I have any say in who you date now.'

'Because I still want us to be friends, Jess, and I thought you should know first.'

'You want us to be friends?'

Perhaps Jesse didn't mean to say it so incredulously, but Beca still flinched.

'Of course,' said Beca softly, twisting her fingers together. 'You saying you don't?'

By that point, you were starting to regret agreeing to sit in on this conversation, because the tension was beginning to build and may spill over at any moment. You couldn't help but feel like you're being regarded as the villain here, despite the fact you hadn't done anything wrong. But you could empathise with how difficult this situation must be for Jesse – hanging out with your ex and her new girlfriend couldn't have been the most thrilling of experiences. You didn't even need to empathise with Beca and guess how she's feeling, because you could feel every restless, distressed movement through the bed's mattress.

Jesse rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully, leaning back a little - considering the question. In the end, he avoided it entirely, which made Beca's face drop. 'So, I'm guessing you're not going to L.A. anymore,' he commented. 'Are you staying in Barden with Chloe indefinitely then?'

Beca bristled, but you were ready for a comment like this. 'I'm graduating this year, Jesse.'

He seemed mildly surprised. 'Oh, okay. Good for you. What are you doing after that?'

'You're not my dad, dude,' snapped Beca. 'Or Chloe's for that matter. You can't give any input on what we decide to do together.'

'If you didn't want my input then why bring me here?' he shot back.

'Because I was hoping for your support!'

'How can I support you if I don't even know what you're doing?'

'We don't know exactly,' replied Beca determinedly. 'We're gonna work it out.'

'You mean you don't know already?'

'What, am I supposed to give up on someone I care about because we don't have our entire future planned out on a whiteboard yet? Give me a break, Jesse.'

Jesse huffed, getting to his feet. Beca started to protest – you didn't, because you weren't too bothered if Jesse left at this point – but all he did was begin pacing.

'I just don't get it,' he said, frustrated. 'You've always known what you wanted to do. You wanted to go to L.A., become a music producer, get rich and famous. I thought I was gonna be part of those plans with you, but now I'm not - I get that. I understand, even if I don't like it. But what I don't understand -' He directs this part at you - 'is why Chloe told me to tell you about my job offers in L.A. if she already knew that wasn't going to happen. What was that about? Were you just trying to be cruel for no reason? To rub salt in the wound?'

Beca started to talk; however, you stepped in this time, feeling awful that he could think you would be that mean to him. 'Don't worry, Jesse,' you said quietly. 'We weren't together then. I thought Beca would be better off with you, too: that's why I made her tell you.'

You heard Beca breath in sharply, murmuring your name. But you didn't turn to look at her because Jesse was staring at you; you stared back, not sure what he was trying to communicate or read from you. You' were fully expecting him to say something barbed, purely by virtue of how difficult this situation was. It would still have been surprising to you, because it was Jesse, after all, who had never once been deliberately cruel or vindictive to either of you.

He broke first, and your faith in Jesse was proved to still be fruitful.

'Damn it,' Jesse grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. 'This would be a lot easier if you'd decided to date someone I didn't like, Beca. Some muscle-headed douchebag. Then I could just hate him in peace but no, you had to go and date a girl I already know is pretty awesome, with frigging… Bambi eyes. I mean look at that!' he said, gesturing at you. 'How's a man supposed to be bitter and hateful when they've got that staring back at them?! Seriously.'

Beca chuckles, relaxing a little now the tension has been broken. You yourself felt your heartrate finally slow. 'No idea. I still struggle with it.'

Jesse suddenly let out a frustrated yell, making both you and Beca jump. 'Sorry, had to get that out,' he said sheepishly, now sounding calmer. 'It's been a long year.'

'Tell me about it,' said Beca; you nod in agreement.

After a moment's thought, Jesse went on, 'Thanks for telling me, I guess. It's not really that fun for me to hear about, but I appreciate that you wanted to tell me rather than let me find out on my own. And I suppose if it was gonna be anyone, at least it's Chloe and not like… Bumper.'

'Gross, dude. That's Amy's territory.'

Jesse smirked, some of his usual cheerfulness finally poking through. 'Bumpeca. Becper?'

'Jess, stop.'

You had to look away from them grinning at each other, because there was definitely some lingering affection there. And just because Beca is your girlfriend now doesn't mean you enjoy being reminded of the fact she wasn't always that way.

Thankfully, Jesse seemedaware of this too. 'If you don't mind, this is really uncomfortable still, so I think I'm gonna head off.'

'Yeah, sure.' Beca watched him put his coat back on and start getting ready to leave, but you can tell there's still something on her mind. It was just a matter of waiting for her to get the nerve to say it. Sure enough, eventually she cleared her throat to get Jesse's attention.

'Jess, I…' Beca made several sounds, but nothing particularly coherent comes out. You had no idea what else she could want to say, so you were no help either.

'Out with it, Beca, I'm growing old here.' His tone was light, but you could sense he was somewhat agitated having to linger in this room.

She took a breath. 'Do you think you'll still come support us in Copenhagen?' asked Beca in a small voice. 'I know everything is… complicated. But it's a really big deal for me, and us. For Barden. And it'd be really great having my best friend there.'

Part of you protested: hey, aren't you the best friend? But you realised voicing this childish concern definitely wouldn't help the situation, so for once, you managed to keep your mouth shut.

As for Jesse, at first you thought he'd just say no outright, but eventually he agreed to think about it. 'I can't make any promises,' he warned. But you know what Jesse is like – and if that's anything like you, he'd try his best to go simply because he wants to make her happy.

Typically, he couldn't just leave it there; he stopped in the doorway for one last dramatic speech.

'I'm not gonna lie and say I'm super fine and happy about all this,' he said, gaze shifting from yours to Beca's. 'because I'm not. I mean, I support you, guys, because I care about you. But it's still a little hard, you know?' He sighed. 'But… I guess I did miss having my best friend around...'

You wanted to nudge Beca and remind her to breathe, but that might have been too obvious.

'And also,' he says, 'I already forked out on an airplane ticket to Copenhagen, and I'm cheap as hell.'

It'll be strained, but you hope that they'll get there.

DSM is finally done and are currently soaking up the attention of the Beca turns back from watching again. 'Okay, shake it off!' she says, in her captain's voice, but it's unclear if she's talking to herself or the rest of you. 'So, uh. This is the final performance, guys!'

The captain's voice cracks and she suddenly sounds oddly vulnerable. She looks to you, pleading for help, so you step in. 'We need to go out there and beat DSM!' You smile, making eye contact with each of them in turn. 'This one's for us.'

And of course, Amy has to get in there too. 'Guys, there's gonna be some haters out there. They're gonna look at us, Team USA, and be like, "Why is the most talented one Australian?". Well, guess what - I am fat, and that's close enough,' says Amy, clapping her hands on her stomach. 'We are gonna show them who we are - a bunch of ethnically diverse, for the most part feminine -' You see Cynthia Rose frown - 'amazing singers. Let's just get out there and ac the world!'

Amy hip thrusts, leaving no ambiguity about what she really means; the girls cheer in response. you join in but as though you're on autopilot. The seconds tick by, for that is all you have left now. Beca nods to you; you nod back. The other girls nod too; one last signal to each other that it's going to be fine. That you all have each other. When the moment finally comes, and The Barden Bellas are called on, the familiar yank of anticipation beneath your navel is momentarily dizzying.

In your usual formation you run out onto the stage, still cheering, and take your spots. The shouts of the crowd, probably among the largest you've ever performed to (and certainly the biggest in the last year) fades into a distant roar in the back of your mind, while you begin to clap your hands against Beca's.

You turn to her.

She winks.

You sing...

... and all too quickly, it's over. Just like that, before you could even properly process the fact that you were on stage, singing for the last time. It was impossible to hold onto that fact and sing and dance at the same time, so you had it back behind the movements which were automatic to you now - but now it's all you can think about. Then for a moment, you're pretty sure you blacked out and started hallucinating. All you can do is gape at Beca, because they've just called your names and announced that the Barden Bellas have won the World championships.

You've won.

And now what?

Staring out over the endless sea of heads in the crowd, all in the same moment you feel elation, relief and sadness crash over you. It's almost certainly the last time you'll ever stand here - with these girls, singing these songs. Feeling that rush after a win, where your heartbeat is thrumming in your fingertips and adrenaline is making your head swirl. It's exhilarating. It's amazing. It's -

- really hard to concentrate on the fact that you've won through your tears. Later, you don't even remember the walk backstage. But you remember the cheers and the impromptu group hug that occurs when Stacie and Lilly throw their arms around you and Emily gets trapped in the middle. Finally Emily lets loose the tears she's been holding back, and just like Cynthia Rose said, it sets everyone else off.

You're all sweaty, crying, cheering. Amy's hair is sticking up. Ashley and Jessica are crying over each other. Lilly is practically strangling the life out of Flo as she hugs her. Aubrey has pulled off her Bella's neckerchief and is using it to try and mop up her face.

And Beca. Somewhere in the hubbub Beca slips her sweaty hand into yours and holds on for dear life.

'I love you guys,' Beca half sobs into her sleeve. She laughs brokenly when you plant a kiss on her cheek; she's shaking. 'Oh, God - I'm gonna miss all of you.'

It's the first time you've seen her cry over this and it tears at you. Standing surrounded by the best friends you've ever had - and may ever have, for that matter - you feel so full and yet empty at the same time. So hopeful about what you're moving onto, but at the same time, so sad knowing what you're letting go too.

You're all sweaty, crying, cheering. Messes in all senses of the word. But they're your messes, and you don't ever want to let them go. You've been avoiding having to confront this exact feeling for some long - knowing it was coming and accepting that it would is nowhere near the same as actually experiencing it.

The old Bellas, bar Aubrey, are smiling sadly in your direction. They know how it feels. They've been part of this Bellas family too and known what it's like to finally have to let go. Somehow, beneath all the sadness, it's comforting knowing they all feel the same way. It's not just you anymore, alone and worried about where you're going to end up. You've reached the end of this journey together, and you'll start a new one together. Whatever happens, you know they'll be there too. Maybe it doesn't matter where you're going next anyway, as long as Beca - and they - are there with you, holding your hand and cracking dumb jokes. Supporting you, matching on every note and harmony.

But what if they don't? What if you all lose contact and just end up one of those people who only keep in contact via Facebook? You're already worried, even while you're still holding each other. You won't know for sure until you get there, and by then it might be too late.

Still, you trust them. They got you this far; you trust them to keep stumbling on with you into the darkness and to not let you fall. They're your flashlight, to quote Emily's song, the one that's brought you this win, and got you all to this point. You're so proud - you couldn't have picked someone better to lead the Bellas after you and Beca. You know, with her at the helm, the group will never truly fade away.

And with friends like these, you're sure that's an impossibility anyway.

A/N: I didn't expect this to turn into some massive fic about growing up and graduating... It was meant to be a one-shot about jealousy. Ha! Oops. I hope I managed to get across that weird mix of hopefulness and sadness you get when leaving a place or moving on from a momentous thing that was built up. That's how I feel right now, about many parts of my life.

I'm so sorry about the wait between chapters. But in a way I'm glad there was a wait as it meant I had things to do and people to spend time with that were more important ;) I haven't cared much about shipping for a while - fanfic has always been an escape and a way of dealing with personal stuff going on my life, but now I'm doing better it's difficult to find stuff I feel like writing. So this may well be my final long fanfic, at least for PP. And I'd like to get back into doing original stuff. But never say never, right? In any case, I didn't want this hanging over me anymore in 2016.

Thanks for sticking around til the end guys. I really hope you enjoyed this fic, the epilogue, and the extensive waiting didn't put you off too much.

Happy New Year, kids.