Hey. Good day, folks :D
As usual, I'd like to thank all of the people who read, favor, follow, and review this story :D
Now I'd like to respond every reviews, starting from jalex1. Chloe will get better dude. In time :)
For Guest Bechloe Fan. I know this damaged Chloe is hard to read. Even harder to read than damaged Beca because usually, Chloe is Beca's savior. Not this time dude. But in time, Chloe will be able to mend :)
For Guest Reader. Actually, in a way, Beca has to fight to stay with Chloe. In a way. And for the forced love, sometimes you just need to pretend until at some point, you forget that you started it with pretending. Like sleeping; at first you pretend to be asleep, and then you fall asleep. Maybe :P
For Guest Big Fan. Damn right. Emily is too far gone to Beca and Ashley's side. So someone really should call her out. Now we just have to call Aubrey out since she's indeed way too deep in enabling Chloe. Find out in this chapter. And for the clingy Chloe. Unfortunately, it's the way Chloe Beale in this story until she gets better :)
For a Guest that asked Aubrey to stop treating Chloe like a child. Couldn't be more agree dude. But... everything in its time :)
For a Guest who loved Chloe but wished for Beca and Ashley as the end game. I feel you dude :)
For RJRMovieFan, just Fat Amy being Fat Amy dude :P And btw, the Bellas will mend. Slowly, starting from this chapter :)
For AmbiguousKnight47, well, since the first movie, we've seen what is wrong with Aubrey. I just... magnified it after Chloe tried to kill herself. Just Aubrey being Aubrey :)
For Guest Huh, thank you for the compliment. Though, is it true Beca had never stood up for herself in other FF? I mean, she's the badass Beca Mitchell. And again, so sorry dude. Can't spill the end game :P
For Prettygleekbitch, hmmm... can I use another everything in its time? :)
For Guest JC, I totally agree dude. Hiding things will only make everything worse, but Doctor Gregory House is right to say that everybody lies :)
Now, for the story. In the previous chapter, you'd seen the day Beca and Chloe finally became a couple. Not in an ideal relationship per say, but... in a relationship nevertheless. This chapter will be about the beginning of their relationship starting from the second day. Just a kind reminder, it's not going to be rainbow and sunshine. But I do hope you enjoy.
There are two songs in this chapter, and it will be Remember Home by Sebastian Kole ft. Alessia Cara, and All I Ask by Adele. Take your time to listen to it in the particular part.
I don't own Pitch Perfect, nor the characters, neither the songs. Let's dig in :)
November 5th 2025.
It's eight in the morning, but Stacie has gone to work, and Emily is going out to get them some breakfast. Therefore, the only people in Chloe's room are Aubrey, Chloe, and Beca. The tiny brunette is still sleeping, Chloe is washing up, and Aubrey is working with her laptop.
After washing up, Chloe simply watches Beca sleep closely, smiling ever so fondly upon seeing how adorable Beca's frowny sleeping face. Then when she can't hold the urge anymore, she starts kissing Beca from her ear down to her jawline.
"Hmmm..." Beca smiles automatically, pulling the person who's kissing her closer.
However, when she hears a soft giggle that doesn't belong to Ashley, she tensed up instantly, and everything hits her back all at once; the break-up with Ashley, and the start of her relationship with Chloe.
Beca takes a deep breath before gently pulling herself away to put some space between them, lying on her side facing the redhead. Then she opens her eyes, looking at the redhead with a sleepy smile and softly says, "Hey."
"Morning Babe." Chloe says fondly with her eyes lighten up.
Then Chloe leans closer to kiss her lips, but Beca is quick to cover her mouth with her hand, muffling, "I haven't brushed my teeth yet."
Chloe giggles again and says, "You are so, so adorable Babe. And I don't mind."
Still with her hand on her lips, Beca muffles, "But I do mind."
Upon seeing the pout on Chloe's lips, Beca gestures her thumb to the bathroom behind her, and nervously says, "I uh... I'll just go shower first."
Then Beca hurriedly hops off the bed and rushes her way to the bathroom after snatching her overnight bag, trying hard not to trip on her feet. The redhead simply giggles upon seeing how adorably awkward Beca is; the Beca she loves.
In the bathroom, Beca stands against the door, trying to calm her nerves by taking a few deep breaths. Instead of thinking about Chloe, she's flexing her neck, trying to tune down her desire to have Ashley's soft skin against hers.
Then the tiny brunette decides to take a long cold shower to brush off the vivid image of her sex montage with her ex-fiancé from her mind. After putting on a shirt and jeans, the tiny brunette walks out of the bathroom and finds that Emily is already back with breakfast.
"Hey Pop." Emily greets the tiny brunette without looking up from her breakfast.
"Hey Kid."
"Becs..." Chloe opens her arms, asking for a hug, and Beca walks toward her.
After sitting next to the redhead, Beca wraps her in a hug and kisses her forehead before letting the redhead nuzzles into the crook of her neck. Then she softly asks, "Did you sleep well?"
Chloe shakes her head and softly says, "I was worried. What happened to you last night?"
"Hmmm." Beca sighs, torn between telling the truth that will possibly hurt the redhead, or lying that she's not comfortable with. Then she takes a deep breath and tries to nonchalantly say, "I had a nightmare."
Chloe pulls away to stare at her girlfriend with puzzled look and asks, "About?"
"Doesn't matter anymore." Beca shrugs nonchalantly.
With her eyebrows furrowed, Chloe keep staring at her girlfriend for a while until Beca softly says, "Let's have breakfast. I have to go to work today."
"Why?" Chloe pouts.
Beca chuckles lightly and teases, "Because that's how work works, Red. You have to go everyday, unless it's weekend."
"Can't you take a couple of days off?" Chloe says with pleading eyes.
"I've taken too many day-off lately, Chlo." Beca tucks a strain of Chloe's hair behind her ear while patiently explains, "You know, I went to Atlanta for a week, and then with the eng- uh... some other stuff... So, I'm kind of out of day off for the next two years."
"Fine." Chloe pouts. "But you have to reply to my texts and pick up my phone calls."
"Err..." Beca smiles nervously. "When I can, I'll reply to your text and call you back. I don't like getting any distraction when I'm working, Chlo."
"But-"
"Besides," Beca hurriedly cuts her off softly. "The more I concentrate on work, the faster it'll be done, and the earlier I can come back to you."
Chloe sighs in defeat and says, "Okay."
With a soft smile, Beca kisses her forehead again and asks, "Breakfast?"
"Breakfast." Chloe smiles.
"Okay then." Beca stands up to take their breakfast, and just before she's going to feed the redhead, Chloe says, "Let's eat together. I can eat on my own."
Grinning from ear to ear, Beca simply replies, "Great idea."
Then they eat together, talking and joking with each other, while Aubrey and Emily look at them from the corner of the room, smiling in relief upon seeing how a day with Beca can make a difference to Chloe.
After they've eaten and taken their meds, Beca kisses Chloe on the forehead and says, "Be good Red."
Then Chloe leans closer to kiss the tiny brunette on the lips, and this time, Beca let her even though she's unaware that she's holding her breath.
After pulling away, Chloe softly says, "Come back as soon as you can."
"I will." Beca replies before walking out from the hospital room.
"Pop!" Emily calls.
Beca turns back around and responds, "Yea?"
"Are you going to the studio?" Emily puts her stuff together into her purse, talking without looking at the tiny brunette. "If you are, I'm coming with you."
"Sure." Beca says, and then she walks out of the door.
Then Emily hugs the redhead and says, "Bye, Chloe. I'll come back with Pop after work."
"Take care of her for me, Em." Chloe softly says.
"Sure." Emily replies before walking out of the room. "By Bree."
"Hm." Aubrey responds without moving her eyes from the laptop.
Beca is very busy that day. She has a meeting with two different artists, and still have to start working on the songs for the musical. Nevertheless, she tries to reply Chloe's texts and call the redhead from time to time.
When the time hits 1 PM, Emily shows up in her office and asks, "Pop, can I borrow Justin and Adele for lunch?"
"Sure." Beca replies without looking away from the sheets in her hands.
"You sure Mitchell?" Justin asks. "We still have a lot to work with."
"It's fine." Beca says casually. "Go have lunch with Emily. I have to stay here to re-check the song before our recording session after lunch."
"Okay then." Adele says. The two artists know better than disrupting the tiny brunette when she's in her working mode.
After the two artists are out of her office, Beca resumes tweaking the idea they've been working on, and then Donna walks in to ask, "Anything you want for lunch, monkey?"
"Anything will do." Beca replies without moving her eyes from her computer screen, and Donna leaves her to work and order lunch for her.
There's a buzz coming from her phone, but Beca ignores it, thinking that it must be Chloe again. However, when her phone buzzes again around ten minutes later, Beca checks it to find she's got two messages from Ashley. The first one is Moz, lunch!, and then the second one is Now!
Beca can't help but chuckling lightly, feeling this warm sensation in her stomach. Then she replies Yes ma'am. Donna is getting me one. While waiting for her lunch, Beca sends a text to the blonde, attaching a picture of her with the artists she is working with that day, stating, Look who I'm working with today. The incredible Adele, and your favorite JT.
Ashley simply replies with a grinning emoji. Nevertheless, that is more than enough to get her through the day with a goofy smile on her face. When the time hits seven in the evening, she calls Emily, asking if the youngest Bella will go back to the hospital with her.
Then they go back together. They are talking about work while walking into Chloe's room, but Beca hasn't even said anything yet when her face is being hit with a pillow.
"What the hell?" Beca retorts in upset. Then she looks around the room to find that all of the Bellas are there, and most of them are staring at her angrily.
There is no surprise there since she's been getting the same look in the last couple of days. However, she is shocked to find that the person who just threw the pillow at her was Chloe, her girlfriend. The worst conclusion comes into Beca's mind; Chloe has found out about her walking out on them three days ago.
Trying to tune down her anxiety, Beca takes a deep breath before asking the redhead as calm as she can, "What's wrong Chlo?"
"What's wrong?" Chloe asks in upset. "You dare to ask me what's wrong?!"
With her heartbeat racing, Beca looks at Emily who shrugs with her eyebrows furrowed, and then she turns to look at Stacie who seems to be torn. Then, she looks back at the obviously angry redhead to ask, "What happened, Chlo?"
Chloe sticks out her phone angrily as she exclaims, "See it for yourself!"
This time, Beca is confused. Nevertheless, she takes the phone and looks at the screen. There is a picture and news about Ashley, dressed in disguise, walking into Beca's studio that day with Troian by her side. It's definitely Ashley with a huge sunglasses, wearing Beca's leather jacket and one of Beca's beanie on her head.
The news stated that Ashley was going to have lunch with the tiny brunette in the studio. However, Beca didn't even know that the blonde was in her studio that day.
"What is it Pop?" Emily asks worriedly.
Feeling a bit relieved yet still at lost, Beca shows the youngest Bella the picture and asks, "You know anything about this?"
"Oh." Emily rolls her eyes in annoyance. Then she looks at the furious Chloe and explains, "Ashley had lunch with me, Chloe. Not with Beca. Beca didn't even know that she was there."
This time, with her arms crossed on her chest, Aubrey coldly says toward the tiny brunette, "You need to get better at lying, Beca. Letting Emily taking your fall is very low, even in your standard."
"Huh?" Beca is dumbfounded.
"She didn't let me take the fall, Bree." Emily says in annoyance. "Ashley was with me. Not Beca. She might not be Beca's fiancé anymore, but she's still one of my best friends. She was broken-hearted, and I wanted to cheer her up. Since Adele and Justin Timberlake, her favorite singers were at the studio, I pushed Troian to take her there. Then the five of us; Ashley, Troian, Justin, Adele, and me; we had lunch together. That's all."
"I don't trust you." Chloe says in upset, talking with raised voice. "You're always on her side. On their side. I trusted you this morning! I told you to take care of my girlfriend! Not letting her meeting her ex!"
Emily simply looks at Beca with wide eyes and tight lips that says Sorry Pop. I've tried. You're on your own now.
After taking a deep, deep breath, Beca walks toward the redhead, ignoring the angry staring from the usual people; Flo, Jessica, Ashley, Lily, and Aubrey. Then she sits on the edge of the bed and takes Chloe's hand in hers, but the redhead pulls it back harshly.
With a long tired sigh, Beca says, "I swear I didn't know anything about it."
"Liar!" Chloe snaps at her, and Beca is taken aback. "No wonder you didn't reach me during lunch! You were with her!"
Beca takes a deep breath again, and as calm as she can, she says, "I'm not lying to you. I was in my office the whole day."
Still, Chloe seems so angry, and she simply stares sharply at the tiny brunette with her teary eyes and her arms crossed on her chest.
"Do you ever have a limit in hurting Chloe?" Aubrey asks in upset. "Seriously. It seems to me you can't live even a day without hurting her and the people around you."
While Beca is ignoring the blonde, Stacie is glaring angrily at her wife as she firmly says, "Let's get out of here. All of us. Let them talk."
After the rest of the Bellas are already out of the room, Beca explains patiently, "Chloe... I knew nothing about it. I swear."
"I don't trust you!" Chloe snaps angrily. "I don't trust you, I don't trust you, I don't trust you!"
Again, Beca takes a deep, deep breath and patiently says, "Chloe, you need to learn how to trust me. If you easily trust the media about me, then we'll fight every single day. There were thousands of story about me cheating on Ashley, and none of them was true. So is this one. You are allowed to be angry, to be mad when things like this come up. But at least ask me about it first, and listen to my explanation before throwing stuff at me."
With a sharp glare, again, Chloe angrily snaps, "You keep talking to, and about her! If you want to go back to her, then go! Leave me! I don't care!"
At first, Beca says nothing but simply staring at the redhead with unreadable look, and then she calmly asks, "Is that what you really want?"
Chloe is taken aback. She thought that Beca would've been panicking, begging for her forgiveness, like Kristen always did. However, that is not the case.
"I don't do shit like this, Chlo." Beca says still as calm. "I don't do passive aggressive where you tell me to go, but in fact, you want me to stay. If I make a mistake, and you walk away from me, then yea, I'll chase you back. I'll do everything I can to get you back. But if you accuse me with something I don't do without at least listening to my explanation, and you ask me to leave, hoping that I will beg you to take me back, then you can bet on your life that I'll leave."
Upon seeing that the redhead is still speechless and most likely terrified, still as calm, Beca says, "So I'm gonna ask you one more time. Do you really want me to leave? To go back to her?"
This time, Chloe sighs in defeat, but says nothing. Beca can see that the redhead is terrified but doesn't want to back down. Therefore, Beca dares herself to kiss her on the forehead gently, and Chloe immediately wraps her in a tight hug as she says, "I'm sorry. I was just..."
"Jealous." Beca finishes her sentence calmly. "I know. I understand. But I'm very serious about you asking me to leave unreasonably. So next time, think before you say those words."
"Hm." Chloe responds. Then Beca sighs in relief, kisses her hairline before pulling away and cups her cheeks. "How are you today? Other than being jealous?"
"I'm fine." Chloe smiles lightly. "Have been missing you all day. And Doctor Grey said that I could be discharged tomorrow."
Beca smiles softly and says, "Great news. I'll try to be here to take you home tomorrow. And what about the therapy. Have you set any schedule with Pauline yet?"
Instantly, Chloe seems nervous, biting her bottom lip while diverting her eyes from her girlfriend.
"Chloe?" Beca calls with a warning tone. "Don't tell me you still won't have the therapy."
"But..." Chloe pleads. "I... I've been there before. And I still... did this. The therapy didn't work for me, Babe."
"Chloe..." Beca says tiredly. "Therapy isn't a one way linear graphic. Life itself has its ups and downs. And having therapy is not only about preventing suicide. It's more about how to regulate your emotion, to function better in daily life without a constant overwhelming fear that I will leave you again. That anybody will leave you."
Now Chloe is on the verge of crying when she pleads, "But Bree said-"
"What did your stupid best friend say?" Beca demands impatiently.
"She said..." Chloe's voice is shaky now. "I don't have to do therapy if I don't want to. And she was right. I was afraid of losing you... But now that you're here..."
"No Chlo." Beca says firmly. "Regardless of the fact that I'm here with you, you need to do this for yourself. Not for me, and certainly not for Aubrey. You clearly need this."
"But I don't like to be in a psych ward." Chloe pleads.
"Who said that you'd be in a psych ward?" Beca asks impatiently. "Your BPD isn't a severe one. Pauline said that your symptoms are now showing more likely to low than to medium. You'll be an outpatient. You'll have the therapy maybe once or twice a week combined with a group therapy, depending on the plan you will discuss with your therapist."
"But I don't want to..." Chloe pleads again while tears start running down her face. "The last time I was in a therapy... people weren't nice..."
"The hell with other people, Chlo." Beca says in upset. "Do you think I wanted to be in a therapy? That I was happy to do it at first? Hell. I hated the idea. But I did it anyway."
"Why?" Chloe sniffles softly while wiping the tears in the corner of her eyes.
"Because it was necessary." Beca says firmly. "I had two choices back then. Either I went to therapy to be better, or Ashley would leave me. For good. She loved me too much to see I wrecked myself while she couldn't do anything about it. And I loved her. I loved her more than enough to swallow my pride. I wanted to be a better person that deserved her love."
The mention of Ashley's name upsets the redhead again. Therefore, she wipes her tears away harshly and says in upset, "Ashley again. Are you saying that I don't love you enough?"
"I'm not saying that." Beca says with her eyebrows furrowed, feeling half-confused and half-upset. "I'm saying, try. Do the therapy regardless of how you feel about it. I, we, Aubrey, Stacie, Emily, and I; we're not professionals, Chlo. We can't offer you the help that you need. And the therapy is necessary to make you better. To make you feel better."
"I already feel better!" Chloe snaps, and again, Beca is taken aback. But the redhead keep on snapping, "I'm feeling much better with you here! So stop pushing me to do something that I don't want to! I know what's best-"
"Chloe!" Beca snaps back impatiently, but then she soften her voice yet still firm when she says, "Listen to me, and you listen close. I, am putting my foot down. And you, are having this therapy. Regardless of how you feel about it."
"No!" Chloe snaps angrily. "You can't push me! If you love me enough, the way Bree loves me, then you'll let me decide what's best for me!"
Beca rolls her eyes and says in annoyance, "I'm gonna talk to your stupid best friend, and I'm gonna pull the foot out from her stupid mouth."
As Beca is walking away from her, Chloe angrily calls, "Becs! Come back here!"
However, Beca ignores her and keep on walking out from the room. Apparently, the Bellas are listening closely from the other side of the door. Beca ignores all of them, staring angrily at Aubrey and coldly says, "Posen. A word?"
In annoyance, Aubrey follows the tiny brunette to the corner of the hallway while Stacie is also following them from behind.
With her face showing anger, Beca crosses her arms on her chest and asks, "In what kind of fucked up world that you think someone with BPD doesn't need a therapy? Are you fucking retarded?"
"Unlike you, I know what's best for Chloe." Aubrey says coldly. "And I know that letting her make her own decision, and backing every of her decisions will make her stronger."
Beca rolls her eyes and says angrily, "Chloe doesn't know any better. And I might not know what's best for Chloe. But you, clearly, as clear as the day, you know nothing about what's best for Chloe. You think that the doctors, the professionals are joking? Do you think they're playing with us when they recommend therapy for Chloe? That this is only about money for them?"
Aubrey crosses her arms on her chest, leaning forward to fiercely say, "Do not talk to me in that tone."
Beca scoffs, "It's the most suitable one. You know, judging from how thick your brain is."
With angry tone, Aubrey angrily says, "I, have kept Chloe safe for years. Without you. And I, will keep her safe again. With or without you. Don't ever think that just because Chloe wants you, then I will let you treat us as shitty as you want!"
Again, Beca scoffs and sarcastically says, "Oh, is that why you only gave me two choices? Because you knew you could keep Chloe safe with or without me?"
Aubrey is taken aback for a second, and she is ready to blow a vessel, but Stacie hurriedly says, "Beca. Stop bringing that up. Aubrey... she doesn't want to push Chloe. Not after the last time she pushed her, Chloe decided to... harm herself. Give her a break, shorty."
With her eyebrows furrowed, and still with her arms crossed on her chest, Beca sardonically says, "Oh. Do you know what we call it from where I come from? Over compensation. You, feel guilty about what happened to Chloe, so now you're enabling her to ease your own guilty feeling."
When Aubrey can't do nothing else but staring at her with wide eyes, Beca continues in annoyance, "And you know what? You're also displacing your anger, your guilty feeling for yourself, to me. That's why you hate me. Because as usual, it's too hard for you to admit that you could make a mistake; that you could be wrong."
Still, Aubrey is unable to say a thing, letting Beca's words sink into her mind while Stacie seems to be torn because honestly, she agrees with the tiny brunette.
Then Beca raises an eyebrow and firmly says, "You can hate me all your way to China, Posen. Hell, to Pluto if you want. But I won't let you drag Chloe down with you just because you have too much ego to save."
It certainly nicks Aubrey's blood vessel, and she yells, "You!-"
"Enough Beca!" Stacie snaps at the tiny brunette, cutting her wife off. "You stop treating my wife like shit."
Beca steps closer to Stacie and firmly says, "Then tell your wife to stop being and acting like shit, Stace. You teach your wife to stop meddling with my relationship, whether it is with Ashley, or with Chloe. From now on, you take care of your woman, and I, will take care of mine."
With that being said, Beca walks back toward Chloe's room, leaving a very unsettled Aubrey crying in her wife's arms.
As for the rest of the Bellas, even though Beca and Aubrey were talking by the corner of the hallway, it didn't mean that they couldn't hear all of the conversation.
Then CR stops Beca right in front of Chloe's room by calling, "Shorty."
"What?!" Beca bites harshly, feeling angry because her slightly good day is now ruined.
"I uh..." CR seems nervous. "I want to apologize. You know, for the other day. For not standing in your corner. And you have every right to be angry with us. Especially since... you're hurting right now from losing..."
Beca closes her eyes and sighs deeply, feeling her anger eases down gradually. Then she says, "It's... okay. I was wrong to hide all of those things from all of you, and all of you just love Chloe so much. I know that."
After getting the explanation from Emily and Stacie about everything the other night, and now finding out the fact about Beca's break-up with Ashley as well as the picture, the rest of the Bellas also come to apologize to the tiny brunette. After CR, there is Fat Amy, then followed by Lily to Jessica and Ashley, and then the last one is Flo.
The tension is still there, but it's much less than before. In the end, Beca says, "I'm sorry. For leaving all of you, and letting you cleaning up my mess with Chloe ten years ago. I also apologize for keeping so many things from all of you. You didn't know any better. I understood why you did what you did, and why you said what you said."
It's as awkward as it can be, but it's a start, and Beca isn't the one to hold a grudge. There are no hugging but only gentle patting on the back and shoulder between all of them. Nevertheless, it shows that they already have understanding for the whole situation and to each other. For the guilt and shame that remain, it will be time's part to ease.
After they have apologized to each other, Beca excuses herself to go back into Chloe's room. She finds that Chloe is crying her eyes out with her face on her palms. Then, with a long tired sigh, Beca approaches the redhead and hugs her gently.
"I... I thought you'd left..." Chloe sobs.
"No..." Beca says tiredly. "I didn't. I was... I was talking to our sisters out there."
"Don't leave me Becs..." Chloe cries. "I love you so much... a- and I can't live without you..."
Beca swallows hard, trying to calm her nerves. It's been so emotionally draining for her lately. Then she takes a deep breath and softly says, "I'm not leaving you, Chlo. Not ever again. But you should be able to live with or without me; without this constant fear that I'll leave. So can you please, please have the therapy?"
Chloe pulls away to stare at her girlfriend with tears running down her face, pleading, "Babe... please... Give it times. I promise I'll do better. Ha- Harvey gave you the same chance. So please..."
With her eyebrows furrowed in frustration, Beca stubbornly says, "Chlo... it was different. For me, there were actually stuff that I should stop consuming. But for you, this is something you can't just... stop doing, and it needs to be treated properly. The sooner the better. Besides, I might have left the addiction behind, but the addict characteristics, the traits, the core problems in my personality, it stayed. And it kept on dictating my life until I got help. Sometimes it still does when things get too hard, even though I've been in therapy for years."
"Please..." Chloe keep pleading. "Please Babe... Can we at least wait? Please... I promise I'll think about it when I'm feeling better..."
Again, Beca sighs deeply and tiredly. She knows well that there is no use persuading, let alone pushing someone in this kind of state. Therefore, she says in defeat, "We'll put this off for now. But we'll talk about it again. Okay? You really need this Chlo. If I didn't think that you'd get better with therapy, I wouldn't be pushing you so hard. I do this because I care about you."
"Th- thank you... for understanding..." Chloe sobs while wiping her tears away. "I- I love you, Babe."
With another defeated sigh, Beca replies, "And I you."
Then Beca gets on the bed and holds Chloe until the redhead falls asleep before gently pulling away to shower. After she's showered, all of the Bellas are already back into the room, and they simply have dinner together, talking casually.
The only person who stays silent is Aubrey, who seems distressed, and Stacie just holds her tightly from aside. Nevertheless, Beca doesn't care even for a bit. She knows that Aubrey needs someone to set her right from the way she's loving the redhead.
Later that night, after she's already lying next to a sleeping Chloe, she got a message, a picture to be exact, from Ashley. It's a picture of Olive and Walter, biting and fighting over Beca's boots. There is no caption in that picture, but it sure gives Beca some comfort.
Then Beca replies, I guess they've missed me too much already. However, wait as long as she can, there's no any reply coming from Ashley.
Suddenly, she remembers about several Bali sarongs that Donna brought from Ashley's place earlier that day upon hearing about the nightmare the tiny brunette had last night.
The tiny brunette hurriedly takes one out from her messenger bag and smells it. It has the mixture of her and Ashley's scent on it; and it feels like home for her. Beca closes her eyes, enjoying the warm sensation in her chest that brings a fond smile on her face.
In the beginning of their relationship, after finding out that the tiny brunette couldn't sleep without a blanket, Ashley bought so many Bali sarongs for her.
It was a win win solution for the two of them, because Ashley couldn't sleep even if it was only a bit warm, while Beca couldn't sleep without a blanket covering half of her body no matter the weather was. Therefore, they had a bunch of those soft fabrics on their bed.
Then, with the Bali sarong covering half of her face down to her chest, Beca falls asleep. As predicted well by Donna, the tiny brunette doesn't have any nightmare that night.
Three weeks later, November 27th 2025: Thanksgiving Day.
Two days after Chloe got out from the hospital, the rest of the Bellas bid their goodbye. Fortunately, their relationship with Beca had become much better, and it seemed like they already mended.
It was somehow still a little bit awkward and tense -no wonder judging by how bad the feud was, but they were getting much better and starting to be able to joke with each other again.
Everybody already accepted the fact that Beca would stay with Chloe without hiding or pretending, and Beca already forgave all of them for the judging and blaming.
Well, everybody else but Aubrey, who had been giving Beca a hard time every chance she got so far.
The blonde didn't back down from siding with Chloe in everything, including every time Beca tried to bring up the talk about therapy. And since the tiny brunette practically had been living at Stacie's in the last three weeks, there was no room for her to talk to Chloe in person.
Ever since Chloe was out from the hospital, there was not a day passing by without a fight between them over everything. Everything Beca did so far turned out to be wrong for the redhead, and it had been exhausting for the tiny brunette.
Chloe, insisting to have Beca almost all the time, and the constant texting or phone call that if the tiny brunette didn't have time to reply immediately, would earn her a wrath from Chloe Beale featuring Aubrey Posen when she got back at Stacie's.
Chloe, showing up unannounced at Beca's studio, insisting to have lunch together without any regard if the tiny brunette was in the middle of a meeting or a recording session.
Chloe, getting her knickers in a twist when she found out that Beca still hung out with Ashley's best friends, who're also her best friends; Troian and Patrick.
Chloe, constantly over the edge, terrified that Beca would leave her for, or cheating on her with Ashley. Therefore, the redhead had become very controlling and overly possessive.
Every moment they had together so far was spent with either Chloe would go wreaking havoc at Beca for being such a shitty girlfriend, or Chloe would be crying her eyes out for wreaking havoc at the tiny brunette.
To make it all worse, Aubrey was always there, standing by Chloe's side, spitting out her judgement and anger toward Beca for making Chloe angry or crying. When Beca couldn't take it anymore, she would snap back, and Chloe would cry. Therefore, in the end Beca would stay silent, simply letting the redhead and the blonde yelling at her while she herself put her attention to count her breaths with her eyes closed.
In addition, Stacie couldn't do or say anything to help Beca, because there were enough fights between her and her wife already lately. The only person who seemed to be on Beca's side was Emily, whose opinions were most of the times being ignored by Chloe and Aubrey.
The lack of sleep didn't help either. Beca always had to stay at Stacie's because Chloe would become anxious and think of the worst every time Beca wanted to stay at her apartment, hence the tiny brunette couldn't have her much needed space to take a break.
Therefore, Beca decided to take so many projects at work so she could avoid going back to Stacie's place early. More than often, she made sure that the redhead was already asleep before going back. It certainly made Beca a worse and shittier girlfriend, and it would make Chloe became angrier.
Based on that, it is more than safe to say that these past three weeks had been ball and chain for Beca. She was indeed exhausted and distressed. The worst part was, she had been missing Ashley so much. There's no denying how much they still love each other.
Thankfully, there were things that help Beca got through everything in the past three weeks. She and Ashley had been maintaining some sort of communications through texting. They texted each other every day with nothing extravagant but only two words Moz, lunch! from the blonde, or a simple Have a good day, Bee. from Beca.
Sometimes, when it became unbearable, they would call each other, trying to find just any reason to hear each other's voice, most of the times talking about their puppies. It was done without Chloe knowing certainly.
Other than that, Beca had been seeing her therapist at least once a week, having acupuncture at least twice a week, hanging out with Patrick once in a while without Chloe's knowledge, and having Donna sparing at least two hours for her to take a nap and meditate during the day at the studio every day.
The good news was, until today, the media hadn't found out about the separation between Beca and Ashley yet. Their publicists and Donna had been doing a very good job and working so hard, flipping upside down to keep it under the wrap, even though there had been questions above the air about why Ashley hadn't posted any of their picture together in Instagram in last three weeks.
Then as for today, thanksgiving had come, and it was especially hard for Beca. In the past five years, Beca and Ashley had always spent holidays together; thanksgiving with Harvey and Donna, Christmas with Ashley's family, and then new years with their friends.
This year, Beca would still spend Thanksgiving with The Specter's family. However, instead of going with Ashley, this time, Beca would go with Chloe. Nevertheless, there was no way to avoid the dinner because Chloe wanted to be introduced to the people that Beca had considered a family in the last ten years.
Thanksgiving Dinner at The Specter's Mansion.
When they've arrived at Harvey's, Stephan rushes her way to greet his godmother and ask, "Bec, where's my favorite aunt?"
Knowing that Stephan is asking about Ashley, Beca smiles sadly and deflects, "It's good to know that I'm still your number two, buddy."
Then Stephan turns to look at Chloe and asks, "Who is this pretty lady, Bec?"
Nervously, Beca answers, "This is Chloe. My uh... girlfriend."
In confusion, Stephan looks at Chloe with his eyebrows furrowed and says, "No, she's not. You're with Aunt Ashley."
Chloe kneels down, smiling as she patiently explains, "Hi, Stephan. I'm Chloe. You must not know yet, but I'm Beca's girlfriend now. She and Ashley are not together anymore."
The boy certainly doesn't notice the tension as he turns toward his godmother and asks, "You and Aunt Ashley are not together anymore? Why?"
"We uh..." Beca doesn't have any idea of how to explain the situation to her almost six year old godson. Thankfully, Harvey comes and saves the day.
"Hey, Steve." Harvey calls his son. "Let's take our guests into the dining room. The dinner's ready."
"Come on, Steve." Chloe smiles, taking Stephan's hand in hers. "Show me the dining room."
As soon as Chloe and Stephan are already way further ahead, Harvey asks the tiny brunette, "You okay there, monkey?"
Beca simply huffs out a long tired breath through her mouth.
"Stupid question." Harvey says sympathetically, wrapping an arm on Beca's shoulder from aside and squeezes it tightly, knowing how distressed Beca has been lately, and the tiny brunette simply gives him a tired smile.
Then both of them walk into the dining room, and upon smelling the food, Beca cheerfully says, "Smelling good, Donna."
"Of course." Donna replies smugly, and when Beca tries to take a piece of tiramisu, Donna slaps her hand playfully, scolding, "It's for dessert, monkey."
"Geez mom." Beca teases, winking toward a giggling Stephan. Then she wraps her arm around Chloe's shoulder, clearing her throat before saying, "Harv, Donna, I'd like you to meet my uh... girlfriend, Chloe. Chloe, these two are my family in the last ten years."
Being the cheerful one, Chloe immediately pulls Donna in a hug, to which the older redhead returns half-heartily.
"It's nice to finally put a name on a face." Chloe says softly before pulling away from Donna and looks at the older redhead, smiling as she says, "Beca has told me so much about the two of you. Thank you for being there for her when we weren't."
Donna simply gives her a wide yet tight smile that Beca clearly knows that it's her fake smile when she's upset. Then Harvey simply offers his hand for a handshake, saying, "Harvey Specter."
Chloe shakes his hand and says, "Chloe Beale. Nice to meet you."
Like Donna, Harvey simply puts on his tight smile. It's not a surprise that after having Ashley around for five years, and knowing how much pressure the Bellas, especially the redhead and Aubrey has been putting on the tiny brunette lately, Chloe is the least favorite person for the couple right now.
When they are starting dinner, Beca tries to take her own food, but Chloe takes the plate from her hand and softly says, "You said that your girlfriend get to do this, Babe. So let me."
Beca simply smiles while Harvey and Donna change subtle look. Then just as the redhead is going to pour gravy on Beca's turkey, Donna coldly says, "You shouldn't put any gravy on it. It's not good for her heart."
Instantly, Beca flashes Donna a warning glare, but Donna simply shrugs nonchalantly.
On the other hand, Chloe clears her throat and says, "Thank you, Donna."
Still not satisfied, Donna adds, "And you should put more veggies on her food."
Although she is feeling uneasy from the not so subtle resentment in Donna's voice, Chloe smiles and replies, "Of course."
Trying to ease the tension, Harvey clears his throat and asks, "So, Chloe. Beca told me that you're a teacher."
Chloe turns to him and cheerfully replies, "Yes, I am."
Then they talk about Chloe's work and other casual stuff with a couple of snarky remarks from Donna that earn deathly glares from Beca, to which Donna ignores.
Suddenly, Donna says, "Monkey, I just want to remind you. You'll have to record an interview for Ellen show on December 10th with Adele, and it will go on air on December 13th."
"Hm." Beca keep on eating, and then Donna continues, "Adele specifically requested you to perform with her."
Beca looks up at Donna and says, "She can sing. I'll just... be a silent guest."
"Well, good luck telling her that." Donna playfully says.
Beca scoffs yet doesn't say anything, and then Chloe asks in surprise, "Babe, you're gonna be in an interview with Adele and you didn't tell me?"
For one specific reason, Beca didn't tell the redhead about it. Now she seems nervous as she says, "It's uh... nothing. Just the usual stuff. I just wrote and produced a song for her. We're uh... friends."
"Babe, it's not nothing." Chloe smiles so bright. "It's huge. I'm so proud of you."
"Uhm... thanks Red." Beca replies, and then she changes the subject by asking her godson, "How's school, Steve? Are you and Bella still friends?"
Stephan nods excitedly, and they spend the rest of dinner talking about Stephan and Bella. Chloe seems to be happy to see that her goddaughter is best friend with her girlfriend's godson, and Stephan seems so happy to learn that Chloe is Bella's godmother.
Despite of the fact that Donna hates Aubrey for the obvious reason, she let her son be friends with Bella, knowing that children shouldn't be included in parents' feud.
After dinner and pleasantries, Beca and Chloe excuses themselves and decides to go back to Stacie's place. On the front porch, Donna kisses Beca's forehead and worriedly says, "You need to take a better care of yourself, monkey. It's been years since you seem so tired and distressed. And since I couldn't always be there for you-"
"I'm fine Donna." Beca cuts her off, knowing that Donna is trying to warn Chloe indirectly. "I'm taking a very good care of myself. You know it well."
Then Donna turns to Chloe, staring coldly at the younger redhead as she says, "You need to treat her better."
Surprisingly, Chloe smiles lightly and says, "I'm doing my best."
"Then do better than your best." Donna replies still as cold. "I'd never needed to worry about her when she was wi-"
"Donna." Beca says firmly while her eyes are glaring at the older redhead, and the older redhead simply rolls her eyes.
Chloe clearly knows what Donna is trying to say, but she brushes it off, turning to Harvey instead to say, "Thank you for having us."
"Just glad to have our monkey around." Harvey says calmly. "It's been a while since we have her here."
"We'll come again." Chloe says as calm.
Then Harvey squeezes Beca's shoulders and says, "Take care monkey."
"Will do, Dad." Beca rolls her eyes in mock annoyance, and then she turns to Donna to say, "Thank you for dinner, Donna."
Donna scoffs lightly, rolling her eyes in half-annoyance and says, "We're happy to have you here. You should come more often."
"We will." Beca says with a warning tone, knowing how angry Donna is because Chloe rarely let Beca go anywhere without her unless to the studio.
Then the younger couple get into the car. As she's paying attention on the road while driving, Beca nervously says, "I'm sorry about Donna. She was just... worried about me."
"It's okay." Chloe replies calmly. "She cares about you. I just need to show her that I care about you too."
It's strange to have a very calm Chloe. Beca had expected another thunderstorm as soon as they were alone judging by how cold Donna was treating the redhead. Surprisingly, it seems to the tiny brunette that it's not the case this time. Nevertheless, she cautiously asks, "Are you sure that you're okay?"
Chloe takes Beca's hand in hers and says, "I'm sure, Babe. I know it's hard for her and maybe Emily too, to see that I can love you better than Ashley. It takes time, but I'll show them that no one can love you better than I do."
Relieved by the calmness that hopefully doesn't come with a delayed storm, Beca sighs, smiling as she says, "Okay then."
"Let's just go home." Chloe says softly. Then she playfully says, "I've missed you so much because you've been so busy lately. Aubrey and Stacie are out of town, and we have the place for ourselves."
Doesn't know what to say, Beca simply smiles tightly.
Posen-Conrad's House.
Beca hasn't even closed the front door yet when Chloe pushes her against the door, and starts kissing her while pushing back her suit.
"Uh... Chloe." Beca feels so awkward and tensed.
"Hm?" Chloe keep on kissing Beca on her neck.
"I- I don't think we uh... should be doing this."
Confused of the hesitation, Chloe pulls away and asks, "Why?"
"Uhm... you just had a surgery three weeks ago." Beca explains one of the reasons why she can't exactly make love with the redhead.
Thinking of how considerable her girlfriend is, Chloe smiles and answers, "Don't worry Babe. Doctor Grey had already cleared me this morning."
"Oh." Beca swallows hard. "Uh... good. I guess."
She might sounds relief, but her mind is frantically finding another reason to avoid having sex with the redhead. However, Chloe has already wrapped her arms around the tiny brunette's neck, hovering her lips on Beca's as she breathes out, "So... what are you waiting for, Mitchell? Get your girlfriend to the bed."
Upon seeing Beca's dumbfounded look, Chloe giggles and pulls Beca into her bedroom. Once they've got into the room, Chloe immediately pushes her girlfriend onto the bed before undressing herself.
On the other hand, Beca is panicking, trying so hard to calm her nerves while Chloe is already starting kissing her again.
When Chloe pulls up to look at her girlfriend's face, Beca is taken aback to see Chloe's blue eyes that have the same shade with Ashley's, and the feeling of cheating on her ex-fiancé becomes stronger.
Chloe can see the terrified look on Beca's face, and she asks, "What is it Babe?"
"Uhm..." Beca blinks her eyes several times to brush off Ashley's image in her mind. "Nothing, I guess."
However, Chloe has seen the look, and she starts rambling in panic, "Am I pushing you? Did I do something wrong? I'm so sorry Babe, I-"
"No, no, no, no. Chloe, it's nothing." Beca hurriedly says to calm the redhead down.
Everything about Chloe is still delicate and fragile. Therefore, Beca closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and flips their position so she is on top of Chloe right now. "Just uh... let me take care of you."
Chloe smiles and pulls Beca down for a kiss. Being true to her words, Beca indeed takes a really good care of Chloe. In the end, the redhead is panting hard and breathless after Beca has done the favor to her.
"Babe..." Chloe breathes out through her ragged breaths. "That was... earth shattering... mind blowing... I couldn't even..."
The only thing Beca could do is smiling weakly, feeling so bad that the whole time, she was thinking about someone else.
However, Chloe doesn't seem to notice because she's already starting unbuttoning Beca's shirt as she asks, "Babe, how could you still fully clothed?"
Hurriedly, Beca grabs her hands to stop her and says, "It's okay, Chlo. Let's make tonight just about you."
In confusion, Chloe asks, "But don't you wa-"
"I uh... I'll be fine." Beca cuts her off, trying to deflect. Lately, it's been easier for her to lie to her girlfriend just to avoid Chloe's wrath. "Uh... you must've been waiting for this for a while now. Just let me... do it to you."
"Well, let's start another round then." Chloe smirks before pulling Beca in a searing kiss, to which Beca returns half-heartily.
Beca is torn, thinking about which one is worse, feeling as if she is cheating on her ex-fiancé, or thinking about her ex-fiancé while she is doing her girlfriend. One thing she knows for sure though, none of those is okay.
It's ironic because Beca won't be able to do the favor if she isn't thinking about her ex-fiancé. However, with the level of how insatiable the redhead is, Beca clearly has no room to decide which is worse, even though her mind is filled with Ashley all the time.
It's not that Chloe isn't hot enough, because she indeed has a body of a model. However, she isn't Ashley, and Beca can only do it with the person she truly loves. Therefore, she just closes her eyes, and go with it.
After a couple of rounds, Chloe finally falls asleep, cuddling up with her bare back pressed onto Beca's front, who is still in her button up shirt and pantsuit, and very much awake. Beca gently untangles herself from the redhead, and heads to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water before walking to the backyard.
After taking a seat on the bench, Beca simply stares at the night sky while drinking her water slowly. In this moment, she can't help but missing her ex-fiancé. She wants nothing else but to at least call the blonde to tell her what she's feeling.
Nevertheless, Beca knew that it wouldn't be fair to the blonde. Therefore, she closes her eyes, letting Ashley's face and the things they've been through come into her mind, and then, a fond smile appears on her face.
After a while, she doesn't know why, a song comes up into her mind, and she starts singing it. It's the song she wrote and produced when she had to stay in London for six months. She wrote it after her fight with Ashley.
One million songs and counting
A million miles I've come
Oh one million eyes have called to me
Still I remember home
Oh one thousand words stuck in my head
And a thousand towns I've gone
Oh one thousand ways for me to say
That I remember home
There had been so many songs she wrote for her ex-fiancé, so many places she'd been even after they were in a relationship, with so many fans calling out her name outside of the booth, and so many women wanted to be with her, yet Ashley had always been the one that made her feel like home.
Baby
Found a star to lead me back to you
Shines like you do
It shines like you do
Send my love so you won't feel alone
Baby as soon as I can, oh, I'm coming home
Every time they were away from each other and she missed Ashley, Beca simply took her time, staring at the night sky, counting the days down to go back to Ashley, knowing that the blonde felt the same, and hoping that Ashley knew that she wasn't feeling it alone.
Oh one hundred nights I've dreamed of you
A hundred visions strong
Oh one hundred times I've cried for you
When I remember home
Oh, found a star to lead me back to you
Shines like you do
It shines like you do
Send my love so you won't feel alone
As soon as I can, oh
Oh you know that I'm coming home
There were so many times Beca felt like giving up on their relationship, so many times that Ashley felt the same, and so many heart wrenching fights that were supposed to tear them apart, but they kept on coming back to each other.
Nights so empty
I'm wondering if you miss me
So baby, I'm coming home
Yeah...
Nights so lonely
I need you to hold me
So baby, I'm coming home
Tonight, the feeling of missing the person she loves the most is overwhelming. The loneliness she's been feeling lately, that she hasn't felt in a very long time, it brings her down to her knees, hoping and wishing upon the star for a do over, for a way back, even if only for a night.
Found a star to lead me back to you
Shines like you do
It shines like you do
Send my love so you won't feel alone
Baby as soon as I can, oh, I'm coming home
As soon as I can, oh, I'm coming home
Soon as I can, oh, I'm coming
After singing the song, Beca just keep looking at the sky, fighting the urge to go and see Ashley, to go back to the person she calls home.
However, try as hard as she might to fight it, eventually, she relents and decides to go to Ashley's place. After making sure that Chloe is still asleep, she hops into her red Aston Martin Valkyrie, and drives as fast as she can to Beverly Hills.
Surprisingly, when she has finally arrived at her former house, she can't bring herself to walk through the front door. Instead, she sits on the stairs at the front porch, staring at the sky, sinking in the feeling of missing Ashley.
One by one, Beca starts to count the dreams she has achieved ever since she's met Ashley, thinking and wondering of how life before Ashley just passing by with her sitting, watching from the sidelines.
Then she found Ashley in her life, and everything changed for the better. She can't help but feeling afraid of what will happen to her when she really leaves this all behind, when she finally let go of her love to Ashley.
Will I be able to leave you behind and get you off my mind this time, Ash?
Suddenly, an idea for a song that will fit into the musical she is working on fills into her mind. Beca pulls out her phone and starts to type the lyric that flows right out of her brain.
After she is out of idea, she stands up and starts to walk slowly toward her car. She turns to look at the house for a moment before getting into her car and drives back to Stacie's.
When Beca has already arrived at Stacie's place, she is relieved to find that Chloe is still asleep. Then she changes her clothes, grabs her Bali sarong, and carefully gets onto the bed. She smiles lightly when Chloe immediately reaches out and stirs closer to her.
Beca pulls the redhead closer before kissing her forehead and then closes her eyes, feeling grateful that a day without Chloe yelling, or crying, or doing both is indeed a good day. With her chest feeling lighter, Beca falls into her slumber.
Unknowingly to the tiny brunette, Ashley was watching her the whole time after getting a phone call from Pascal, telling her that Beca had come. However, she couldn't bring herself to walk out of the door, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hold herself back if she had.
Therefore, she decided to watch Beca from the window until the tiny brunette walked away. Then she went back to the sanctuary and cried for the hundreds times in the last month since they broke up, holding one of Beca's favorite Bali sarongs tightly on her chest.
Ellen Show: December 13th 2025
Things hasn't got any better for Beca and Chloe even though it's been more than a month since Chloe is home. It's like they are in this vicious circle where the more Chloe tries to pull the tiny brunette by being controlling and overly possessive, the more Beca pulls away from her.
As for today, Beca is in her studio, watching the Ellen Show she just recorded three days ago. In that interview, she was performing with Adele. At first, she had refused, but Adele being Adele, she just refused Beca's refusal.
Beca certainly had her reason why she didn't want to perform. The song Adele performed in that show was a song that came up to her when she was showering in the morning before she came to the hospital. A couple of days after that, when she had a meeting with Adele, the British singer loved the song and insisted to make it her newest single.
Now the tiny brunette can't help but worrying about Chloe's reaction if she watches the show.
"Monkey!" Donna calls a bit loudly upon seeing that the tiny brunette is so lost in her own thought. "The show has begun."
With a weak smile, Beca replies, "Yeah."
Then they watch the show together. After watching the show, Beca takes a deep breath, knowing that there will be hurricane waiting for her when she gets back to Stacie's place tonight.
"It was great for your very first interview on TV, monkey." Donna smiles smugly.
"Hm." Beca responds with a sad smile.
Donna doesn't push, knowing that Beca is not excited upon not having Ashley with her in one of the most significant things she's ever done in her life. Instead, she asks worriedly, "Does your girlfriend know about this song?"
"Nope." Beca says tiredly. "I didn't tell that I'd perform a song for Ashley. I didn't think that Adele would ask me to perform with her in this show. And when you told me on that thanksgiving dinner, I just... I didn't think that letting her know about the song would be a good idea."
"Hmmm..." Donna nods absentmindedly. "Will she... be mad?"
"I bet." Beca scoffs tiredly. "I'll just prepare myself. It'll be bad tonight."
With a sympathetic smile, Donna says, "You'll get through it, monkey."
"I have to." Beca smiles weakly.
Donna says nothing else but patting her back gently. Then suddenly, there is a knock on the door, and Beca's therapist for acupuncture comes into the view.
"Ready for our session?" Doctor Edgar asks.
"Sure doc." Beca replies before walking into her small bedroom next to her office.
Ashley's Mansion: December 13th 2015, 04.00 PM
"The show is on, Ash!" Troian calls out from the entertainment room on the second floor.
"Coming!" Ashley shouts while running down the stairs.
Donna had told Ashley that Beca would be a guest on Ellen along with Adele. It wasn't a surprise for her anymore.
Then the blonde simply watches the show, sitting in between Troian and Shay on the couch while Ellen is starting the show with a monologue, and at some point, she calls the guests.
"Let's have it!" Ellen exclaims. "Adele and Beca Mitchell with All I Ask!"
The curtain opens, showing Beca sitting next to a white grand piano, and Adele standing behind a mic.
Ashley puts her sole attention on her ex-fiancé, staring at how Beca closes her eyes, starting to play the piano slowly, and then Adele's heavenly voice follows with the lyric.
I will leave my heart at the door
I won't say a word
They've all been said before, you know
So why don't we just play pretend
Like we're not scared of what is coming next
Or scared of having nothing left
By the first verse, Ashley immediately knows that the song is about their break-up; the eventful night when they decided to break up.
Now I'm scared the hell out of my mind of having nothing left!
It was the same exact words Beca yelled out that night.
Look, don't get me wrong
I know there is no tomorrow
All I ask is
If this is my last night with you
Hold me like I'm more than just a friend
Give me a memory I can use
Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do
It matters how this ends
Cause what if I never love again?
Remembering the love they made that night still feels painful though also bitter sweet, and Ashley can't help it when tears start running down her face silently. She couldn't be more agree when Beca said in the note that she'd never love again, not the way she did with the tiny brunette.
I don't need your honesty
It's already in your eyes
And I'm sure my eyes, they speak for me
No one knows me like you do
And since you're the only one that matters
Tell me who do I run to?
Ashley remembers how her chest was tightened, how suffocating it was when they were simply staring into each other's eyes, fully understood without any word to say, that it was their goodbye.
Look, don't get me wrong
I know there is no tomorrow
All I ask is
If this is my last night with you
Hold me like I'm more than just a friend
Give me a memory I can use
Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do
It matters how this ends
Cause what if I never love again?
The way they touched and held each other that night, it still makes Ashley shivering from the emotion, the heavy feeling of letting each other go. Nevertheless, a light smile appears on Ashley's teary face, agreeing about how the way they ended their relationship mattered for the two of them.
Let this be our lesson in love
Let this be the way we remember us
I don't wanna be cruel or vicious
And I ain't asking for forgiveness
All I ask is
When Beca left, she didn't apologize, and Ashley didn't need one. It was simply a mutual understanding to do the right thing between the two of them.
If this is my last night with you
Hold me like I'm more than just a friend
Give me a memory I can use
Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do
It matters how this ends
Cause what if I never love again?
After the song ends, there is a deafening cheering from the audience, and it pulls Ashley out from her daze. She hurriedly wipes her tears away and keep watching the show.
"Whoa!" Ellen exclaims. "What a crowd today! No wonder! We have one of the most talented music producer of all time, Beca Mitchell, and one of the best singers in the whole world, Adele! The combination of these two could definitely shift the earth!"
With a light smile, Beca and Adele walk to the couch, waving and smiling toward the cheering audience before greeting Ellen and sit down.
"Wow! That song is amazing!" Ellen exclaims in awe. "Beca Mitchell, what a genius!"
Beca responds with a shy shrug and simply says, "Thank you."
Then the short-haired blonde turns to Adele to say, "And Adele! Your voice, your soulful voice. It's crazy and I'm still shivering from it!"
"Thank you." Adele smiles. "Although to be honest, all I did was singing. This little one did all the hard work. The writing, the arranging, the producing. There're too many talents to fit in her tiny body."
Beca chuckles and says, "Thank you. To be honest, when the inspiration hit, I was in a shower, and it came with Adele's voice in my head. So..."
"You were thinking about Adele in the shower when you wrote this song?" Ellen asks jokingly, earning a bark of laughter from the audience.
With her cheeks flushing red, Beca mutters, "Well... now that you put it that way, it sounded a lot dirtier than it actually was."
Then the audience laugh even louder, including Adele. Even Ashley let out a light damp chuckle upon seeing her awkward ex-fiancé.
"You were so into the song back there." Ellen says curiously. "Singing silently along. Is it based on your love life? I mean, the inspiration for this song, did you write it for someone?"
Ashley is not aware that she's holding her breath, even though she knows clearly that Beca will deflect the question, and she is right.
"That..." Beca smirks teasingly. "Would be for me to know, and for you... to never find out."
"Aw... come on. Is it for Ashley Benson? You two are still together right?" Ellen asks again curiously, knowing that there is a rumor about their separation.
"No personal stuff." Beca replies playfully, and when Ellen stares at her intensely, she playfully scolds, "Come on! You have the greatest Adele sitting on your couch. Her talent is more interesting than my private love life. Go nuts."
"Alright... alright..." Ellen smiles understandingly before turning her attention toward Adele. "Let's talk about you Adele. I've heard that you're nominated for Grammy's again. It's for this song, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks to DJ Mitchell." Adele replies, smiling toward the tiny DJ. "And she's also nominated for the same song."
After that, they just talk about Adele's son and future projects. It isn't long until the show is finally done, and the two musicians bid their goodbye to the host and audience.
When the show ends, Patrick asks, "Is that a song about the two of you?"
Troian turns to him, rolls her eyes, and says, "Obviously, Babe. Who else would it be about?"
"Wow." Patrick says with wide eyes. "It's beautiful. Being so close to her, knowing what a dork she is, sometimes I forget about how crazily talented she is."
Still sinking in sadness, Ashley doesn't say anything but smiling weakly. Therefore, sympathetically, Shay wraps her arms around Ashley's shoulder and softly asks, "You okay, Ash?"
Ashley knows that Shay is only trying to be a good friend. However, after breaking up with Beca, she can't shake off this uncomfortable feeling every time Shay tries to hold her. Although she clearly knows that she needs to move on at some point, she's just not ready yet.
Trying not to hurt her best friend's feeling, Ashley gently shrugs Shay off and weakly says, "Not at all."
"You need anything at all?" Shay asks worriedly.
With a restraint voice, Ashley replies, "I need her... I need Beca in my life..."
"Ash..." Shay says stubbornly. "You need to forget about her. She's not coming back, Ash. She's not here anymore. But... But I am. I have always been."
Ashley closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to tune down her annoyance and be calm when she says, "I just broke up, Shay. What is wrong with you?"
Feeling upset now, Shay raises her voice, saying, "There's nothing wrong with me. But everything is wrong with you right now. You need to wake up because she's not coming back. You need to move on, Ash! And I'm just trying to help you!"
"Well don't!" Ashley spits out angrily. "If your idea of helping me is by wooing me when I'm broken hearted, then I don't need your help!"
Then the blonde walks out from the entertainment room, heading to the sanctuary, leaving her three best friends a bit stunned by the amount of anger she just poured out.
Nonchalantly, Troian says to Shay, "You just have to throw it to her face, again, and again. You know that it's not gonna help you to get her, right?"
Shay huffs in annoyance, "Whatever. I'm just trying to wake her up."
"It's only been a month, Shay." Patrick comments calmly. "You need to cut her some slack. She's never had it this bad before. They were together for more than five years, and they were happily engaged. And then everything changed over a night."
"I just-"
"No more I just, Shay." Troain warns. "She's trying her best to deal with the broken heart. You better let her have her phase, or otherwise, she'll end up hating you."
Meanwhile in the sanctuary, Ashley is crying her eyes out while holding Beca's favorite Bali sarong again. Lately, this particular soft fabric has become her comfort since she can't find Beca's navy hoodie anywhere.
Posen-Conrad House: December 13th 2025
Beca comes back from the studio around 11 PM. When she walks into the living room, Stacie and Aubrey are making out heavily on the couch, topless.
Feeling so awkward but unable to pass the chance to embarrass Aubrey, Beca closes her eyes with her hands, and announces her presence by exclaiming overdramatically, "My eyes! My eyes! God! My brain!"
"Beca!" Aubrey yelps, trying failingly to cover her bare chest with her hands.
Still, Beca just keep exclaiming overdramatically, "My eyes! Oh God! My brain is burning!"
Stacie, who is never shy of her sexual activity, just laughs while her wife is flushing red and feeling upset. Then the blonde hurriedly puts on her shirt and scolds, "You can open your eyes now, idiot!"
Still with a teasing smirk, Beca peeks out from between her fingers before nonchalantly says, "God, Posen. I think my eyes almost burn my brain. And Stace, put on your shirt. Don't you two have a room?"
"You are so fucking childish, Mitchell!" Aubrey scolds angrily.
Nonchalantly, Beca simply says, "Chloe must be in her room. I'll just go there now."
"We need to talk." Aubrey says firmly, and Beca knows clearly that it's said toward her. However, she just ignores it.
Right before Beca reaches the stairs, Aubrey is going to snap at the tiny brunette, but Stacie glares at her and calmly calls, "Shorty?"
"Hm?" Beca responds, but she doesn't turn to look at the tall brunette, trying to avoid staying any longer to face Aubrey's wrath.
"She's uh..." Stacie sounds nervous now. "She watched Ellen Show earlier."
Beca stops on her track for a second before replying, "Okay. Thanks for the heads up."
Knowing that there will be a storm waiting for her, Beca takes a deep breath and heads to Chloe's room. After opening the door, Beca finds that the room is dark, but she can see Chloe's figure from the dimmed light in the hallway, curling up on the bed with her back facing the door. Then she softly calls, "Chlo?"
When she doesn't get any answer, Beca walks in and sits on the edge of the bed, looking at Chloe closely. The redhead is obviously awake because Beca can see her blue eyes shining in the dark. With her hand stroking Chloe's head gently, Beca softly says, "Hey Red."
Upon not getting any response, Beca gently puts the back of her hand on Chloe's forehead to check if the redhead has a fever or something. Fortunately, Chloe is not having any fever. Then she softly asks, "You okay, Chlo?"
However, Chloe doesn't say anything. She just pulls Beca down in a searing kiss, and it certainly confuses the tiny brunette. Therefore, Beca pulls away and mutters, "Uhm... Chlo?"
Instead of stopping the kiss, Chloe pulls out her own shirt and says almost in pleading, "Just kiss me Babe. I need you to kiss me."
Still confused, Beca grabs Chloe's hands gently and softly says, "Chloe... talk to me."
"I don't want to talk." Chloe pushes the tiny brunette onto the bed. "I want you to make love to me, and show me that you love me."
When Chloe starts unbuttoning her shirt, Beca grabs her hands again and says, "Chloe, stop. I know you're upset. Talk to me."
"I said," The redhead seems angry now. "I don't want to talk!"
Although she has become upset too, Beca takes a deep breath and says, "Chloe-"
"What is it Becs?!"
Didn't think that Chloe would relent, Beca became speechless. Then Chloe uses that chance to ramble out her anger, "You said you wanted to talk? Okay, let's talk. You said you choose me, but you wrote a song about another woman, and you never wanted to have sex with me, not without me begging you first!"
Stunned by the revelation, Beca actually can't say anything for a moment. Then she sighs heavily and tiredly says, "Chloe... You and I, we're together now. But Ashley and I, we were together for five years. It was five birthdays, five Christmases, five new years, five anniversaries, and five thanksgivings. And I'm not gonna lie to you. We... we were happy. She's the only woman that I've ever loved after you. And though I'm with you now... she wasn't just anybody, Chlo. I was engaged to her. So, can you please... please... cut me some slack. It's not that easy to just... leave without having any feeling left."
Chloe scoffs, "It was easy for you when you left me. We were best friends for four years, Becs. Four years! You didn't feel like you needed to text me, or call me, let alone to write any songs for me. You just... left."
"Not this again, please." Beca says tiredly. "It was different. I was a different person."
In a mixture of anger and fear, Chloe snaps out, "And loving two different women! I can see clearly that you love her more than me!"
Upon seeing Beca's dumbfounded face that most likely showing the truth, Chloe angrily spits out, "Maybe, you don't really love me, Becs! Maybe, you were just afraid that I would try to kill myself again if you didn't choose to stay with me! Maybe, you were confused and you got your feelings all mixed up! Maybe, you're just-"
Beca cuts the redhead off by flipping their position and starts kissing her, that to which, the redhead complies whole-heartily, more precisely, angrily.
When Chloe was starting to spit out her conclusion about their relationship, the only thing that Beca could think of to stop the doubt was by doing the favor to the redhead.
It was mean, and Beca knew that. However, she was afraid that she would tell Chloe the truth and hurt her if they kept talking. Therefore, she did what she thought as an easy way out.
Beca doesn't stop until the redhead falls asleep. Then she gently kisses the back of Chloe's shoulder repeatedly, wanting to show just how much she feels bad about it.
"This would be another sleepless night." Beca thought to herself, sinking in her guilty feeling.
The next morning, Chloe wakes up with a blinding smile on her face, and she doesn't ask about the song anymore.
Stacie keep on teasing them about Chloe's loud moan all night long on breakfast, earning deathly glares from the tiny brunette, while at the same time, Aubrey seems relieved to see how happy Chloe is.
That't it. Chapter 25. Things haven't got any better for the new couple so far. And the next chapter, it will be... darker. Then slowly, things will get better.
So... until then, sit tight and make good choices. Thank you for reading :)
P.s. The song Beca wrote on the front porch, it would appear in chapters to come. Still a long way, but you're free to guess what song it is. Just like the note Beca left for Ashley in the bathroom was a piece of All I Ask by Adele.