Chloe

The next morning, Chloe took one last peek at the parking lot, relieved to see Beca's car parked in its usual spot. She decided to get some coffee and donuts for breakfast, figuring maybe she'd bring some over to Beca's as a peace offering.

Once she got back, she carefully selected a donut for herself and one for Beca. She quietly told Aubrey and Stacie through the shut bedroom door that she was heading over to Beca's and to help themselves to coffee and donuts if they'd like.

She took a deep breath and walked over to Beca's and knocked, hoping for the best.

Beca

When Beca awoke the next morning, she called her dad.

"Hi, Bec, is everything okay? It's awfully early."

"Everything is fine, Dad," lied Beca. "I was up." It was a small lie. She was physically fine, but, emotionally, that was a different story.

"Okay, so, why are you calling?"

"Right," said Beca. "Is there any way you can transfer my plane ticket?"

"What? Why?"

"Luke, the station manager at the radio station, offered to let me work the night shift for Spring Break. I was wondering if you could switch my plane ticket so Mom so she can visit me."

"Sure, I think I can do that," he said. "Let me pull up the information on the computer."

The two of them worked out the details, and she had him send the flight details directly to her mother.

"Thanks, Dad," she said. She heard a knock at the door. She looked through the peephole and saw Chloe on the other side, nervously chewing on her lower lip. "Dad, I need to go. I'll talk to you later."

"Sure, Beca."

She said goodbye to her dad as she opened the door just a crack.

"Hi, Beca," she said. "Can we talk? I brought breakfast." Chloe held up a paper tray with two disposable travel mugs and a bag from a nearby donut shop.

"What is there to talk about?" said Beca, scowling.

"Beca!"

"No, you made things clear last night."

"What?"

"I know where I stand," said Beca. "You didn't stick up for me, and you wouldn't even look at me. I thought you loved me, but-"

"I do love you!" exclaimed Chloe.

"Well, you have a piss-poor way of showing it."

With that, Beca shut the door. Chloe knocked on the door a few times, calling her name. Beca ignored her and put on her noise-cancelling headphones. She figured it best to channel her anger into making some more mash-ups. Spring Break was a week away, and she wanted to put her best stuff out there. She was aware that there wouldn't likely be very many people listening, but she also wasn't sure if/when she'd get the opportunity again.

Beca texted Jesse after Chloe left.

B: I'm really sorry for yelling at you last night. Have a nice break if I don't talk to you before then.

Beca waited a few minutes, but Jesse didn't reply. She went to work on a few more mixes, almost forgetting to eat lunch and then head to the station. She ended up grabbing a protein bar and eating it in the car.

She got to the station, finding Luke there, looking a little perturbed.

"I wasn't sure you were going to be here, Becky. I mean, Beca."

"Sorry about that," said Beca. "I was working on some new stuff."

"Right," said Luke. "Here's the key to the station. Come into the booth so I can show you how to work everything."

Beca followed Luke to the booth. Things worked mostly as expected, but she was glad for the tips and tricks he'd shared.

"So, I guess that's everything. I'm sure you'll do great."

"Thanks."

"And, no sex in the booth either."

"That's...of course not," said Beca.

"That's it, then. You'll start at 11 pm, a week from Monday," said Luke.

"Great," said Beca.

Jesse walked in a few minutes later, wearing headphones. He waved briefly at Luke, but he acted as though Beca didn't exist.

Chloe

Chloe couldn't believe Beca had shut the door in her face. She'd never seen her so upset. She knocked and called her name several times before giving up. She walked back into her apartment, unable to avoid the tears that had come.

Stacie and Aubrey were sitting at the table enjoying the coffee and donuts.

"What did the hobbit do now?" asked Aubrey.

Chloe put down the coffee and donuts she'd intended to share with Beca and walked straight to her bedroom. She tied her Bella scarf on the door and shut and locked it. She cried and cried, this hurting her throat more than anything had ever bothered it.

She'd hated that she'd been put in this position - having to choose between her best friend and her girlfriend. And, it seemed, she'd definitely made the wrong decision.

She'd heard Aubrey knocking on her door, but she ignored it. Aubrey knocked harder.

"Leave me alone!" yelled Chloe.

Chloe heard Stacie telling Aubrey to stop and let Chloe have some space. This seemed to work, and all Chloe heard after a while was the television and some soft conversation. Chloe slipped on her earbuds and played an instrumental playlist on Spotify. It calmed her a little.

She heard knocking again after a while, this time much softer.

"Chloe?" Aubrey called. "I made you some tea."

Chloe opened the door. "Thanks."

"How's your throat?" asked Aubrey.

"It hurts," said Chloe, taking a sip of the tea.

"Does that help?"

"A little. Do we have any honey?"

"I don't think so," said Aubrey.

"Beca always adds honey."

Aubrey's lips formed a thin line at the mention of Beca.

"Why did you have to yell at her?" asked Chloe.

"She changed the set without asking."

"And, how was she supposed to ask?"

"It wasn't her job to change the set."

"You know she was trying to help, don't you?" asked Chloe.

"She has challenged me at every single turn."

"That's because she wants to make us better!"

"I don't think so."

"It doesn't matter now, anyway. The season is over."

"So, what's going on with you and Beca?" asked Aubrey, softening.

"I don't even know. She shut the door in my face when I tried to talk to her."

"That sucks. I guess she doesn't care about you as much as you thought."

"Don't you get it, Aubrey? That's how she feels about me!"

"What?"

"You lashed out at her last night, and she thinks I chose you over her."

Aubrey simply looked back at Chloe. She opened her mouth several times to speak but shut it.

Chloe continued. "You forced me to choose between my best friend and my girlfriend. I'm so used to letting you have your way, and I fucked up. I should have been the one person she could count on to be on her side, and I wasn't there for her. No wonder she's angry."

"She still shouldn't have done what she did," said Aubrey, folding her arms.

"Neither should I," said Chloe. "What would you have done if I'd yelled at Stacie?"

Before Aubrey could answer, Stacie ran into Chloe's bedroom, wearing only a shirt, asking, "Yell at me? Why would you yell at me?"

"You're still here?" asked Chloe.

"I thought I'd stick around when Aubrey said she'd talk to you. Thought I could provide some stress relief."

Chloe just shook her head while Aubrey looked at her girlfriend. "I thought you were going to go study," said Aubrey.

"Ehh," said Stacie, shrugging.

"Well?" asked Chloe.

Aubrey looked back and forth from Stacie to Chloe.

"Just what I thought," said Chloe. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'd like to be alone right now."

Aubrey walked out of Chloe's room, looking dejected. "Stacie, you probably should go. I really have some thinking to do," said Aubrey as she shut the door behind her.

Chloe heard Stacie tell Aubrey goodbye and give her a kiss. Chloe finally breathed out after she heard both the front door and Aubrey's bedroom door shut. She was going to apologize to Beca; she just had to figure out how.

Aubrey

Aubrey lay on her bed, closed her eyes, and thought. While she still thought that Beca was wrong to have made a change and thrown off the entire group, she really shouldn't have put Chloe in that position. She definitely wouldn't have taken it well if it had been Chloe yelling at Stacie. The more she thought about it, the more she thought it would have been a better choice to pull Beca aside and discuss what happened privately. What she'd done hadn't been fair to Beca or any other Bella.

Still, the season was over, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She finally decided she owed it to Beca to apologize to her. She knew texting her was the coward's way out, but she also knew that there was no way Beca would take a phone call from her, much less an in-person apology. She'd shut the door in her own girlfriend's face that morning.

AP: I've thought about last night, and I shouldn't have yelled at you, especially not in front of the others. And I know you would never help the Trebles. I'm sure you're mad at me, and I deserve that. I'm sorry.

She didn't bother waiting for a reply. Instead, she walked across the hall to Chloe's bedroom.

"Chloe?" she called again, knocking softly.

"What?"

"Can we talk?"

She heard Chloe sigh as she opened the door.

"I've done some thinking," said Aubrey. "I've apologized to Beca. I shouldn't have yelled at her in front of everyone, and I definitely shouldn't have accused her of helping the Trebles. They walked in and were an easy target. And I'm sorry for putting you in the position I did."

"Apology accepted," said Chloe. "I love you, Bree, you know that?" Aubrey nodded. "I'm not going to throw away years of friendship over this. But, please, don't ever put me between you and whoever I'm with, okay?"

"Okay," said Aubrey. "Have you talked to Beca yet?"

"I don't know what to say," said Chloe. "And she won't even talk to me."

"What about singing to her?" asked Aubrey.

"That gives me an idea," said Chloe.

Aubrey's phone reminder went off. "Oh, shit! I totally forgot! We have to get the bus back!"

"Right," said Chloe. "Do we have a gas can?"

"No," said Aubrey. "But there's an auto parts store on the way."

"Great, we'll take my car."

They went to the store, bought a gas can, and put a gallon or two of gasoline into it. They were relieved to find the bus where they'd left it, untouched. They put some gas in it, and Aubrey drove it to the nearest gas station and filled the tank. Chloe followed Aubrey in her car to the rental place. They'd managed to get it back only about a half-hour before they closed.

Chloe

The next morning was Monday, and Chloe decided to continue to give Beca her space. She'd already made a mistake trying to talk to her too soon. She even managed to avoid singing in the shower, not that she felt much like it knowing her girlfriend was upset with her.

Chloe spent much of the week catching up on schoolwork that had piled up when she'd been spending her time at Bella rehearsals or on dates with Beca. She even managed to get together with her group for her Russian Lit project twice that week.

By Thursday night, she and Aubrey had completely hatched a plan to get Beca back.