Y'all are amazing - we passed over 200 comments last chapter. I really cannot believe it. Thank you all so, so much for all of your support. I can't express how grateful I am.

Flynntrust13 - Thanks so much for your kind words! The predictions on how Callie is going to react has sort of been half and half, so we'll see what everyone thinks of this chapter! And same with Beca's reaction hehehe...Thank you so much for reading and for your support!

Guest (Jul 14) - Hahaha Bechloe takes on Parent Trap - I like it I like it. We'll just have to wait and see what happens ;) Ugh let me tell you - these last five or so chapters have been dragginggggg in the writing department because I just want to start working on the Life Unexpected fic but I told myself I can't start working on it until LOF is done. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to start working on it by the end of July, and have the first chapter published by mid-August! Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

Icedragone - Bella is definitely playing cupid and a little bit of a nosey teenager hehehe. The predictions for Callie's reaction have been about half and half - so we will see what happens! Yeah ugh Chloe really has gotten the brunt of it :( Happiness is coming her way though! Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

Wolvezzz - Interesting interesting prediction! The predictions for Callie's reaction have been about half and half - so we will see what happens! I can't wait to see what Callie does with the information either ;) Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

Jody1990 - *quickly rewrites the entire chapter so that Callie can stomp down the stairs and do exactly what you wrote* - that was hilarious and something that TOTALLY could have happened. No comment on whether or not Callie is gonna lose it - read on, friend ;) Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

RJRMovieFan (Ch. 23/24) - Chloe and Beca just need to live happily ever after and that is all. Forget all of this other nonsense. As much as I want to write a nicely, realistically paced fic, I just want them to kiss and make up already. Sigh. I'm so glad you enjoyed Ch. 23 because I was not feeling it so I really appreciate your kind words. And yes - definitely a domino effect from Callie - but will it be good or bad? Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

Guest (Jul. 16) - Oh no is right. What did Bella dooooo? Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

Guest (Jul. 20) - I hope your finals went well! Thanks so much for your kind words. I'm so glad you enjoyed the previous chapters and yeah Chloe is definitely getting the brunt of it :( She deserves her happiness and it is coming for her! And I agree that she should def tell Beca how she feels though... don't be sad! I'm really really excited for you to read the epilogue, I can't wait to get it down on paper - and I have another fic in the works, so I'm not going anywhere. Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

Chapter 24

Content Warning - Implied/referenced abusive relationship, guilt, guilt, and more guilt

"Go ahead and start getting ready for bed, Henry. I'll be down to help you with your teeth in a second."

Henry slides his jacket off, jumping up so that he can hang his hood on the hook that is positioned perfectly for his height. "Can we read Harry Potter, Mama?"

Beca nods, glancing out of the corner of her eyes at Callie, who is slowly taking off her own jacket. "We sure can. Once you and Cal are washed up, we can read a chapter or two."

He bounces with a little grin, sugar coursing through his veins from the crème puffs that Stacie had made for dessert for dinner that night. He disappears down the hallway with a skip in his step, leaving Beca in the front entryway with her daughter.

The same daughter that hasn't spoken a word since they left the Conrad-Posen house, and very rarely spoke throughout the entire dinner.

And it's not like silence and Callie are strangers to each other. There are still plenty of times where Callie retreats into herself and simply sits with her thoughts rather than entertaining those around her. But this silence, the one that was accompanied by a lack of eye contact, a slightly furrowed brow all through dinner, and an avoidance of not only Beca, but Chloe, Stacie, and Aubrey, too, is vividly reminiscent to Callie's bouts of silence from right after the accident.

What worries Beca even more is that she has no idea what caused it.

Callie had been in a perfectly fine mood right up until the moment she went running upstairs with Bella. Beca, Callie, and Henry, spent the afternoon at Chloe's apartment working on a puzzle before calling a car to bring them to Stacie and Aubrey's. Beca hadn't seen any signs of Callie's anxiety, even looking back in hindsight. She hadn't wanted to make a scene at dinner, so she waited until now.

Now, when Callie is very clearly hanging back to talk with Beca – perhaps as much as Beca wants to talk with her.

Beca takes Callie's jacket from her outstretched hand, hanging it on the hook beside her own. The weather is getting colder – and fast. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it's no doubt that the temperatures are dipping with each passing day.

A soft smile appears on Beca's face as Callie shifts from foot to foot, worrying her lip between her teeth as she seems to contemplate whether or not to head down to her room to put her pajamas on, or share with her mother what is clearly on her mind. "Do you want to go get ready for bed, Cal?"

Callie doesn't answer; instead, she simply shrugs her shoulders and casts her gaze down to the floor.

Holding her hand out and making a grabbing motion with her fingers, Beca tilts her head towards the couch. "Come sit with me, then?"

This time around, there is no hesitation. Callie slips her hand into her mother's, allowing herself to be pulled into Beca's side, before heading in the direction of the couch.

Beca drops dramatically onto the cushions, taking Callie down with her and wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders. She plants a kiss on top of Callie's curls, her head still cold from the brief walk from the car into the apartment building. "Did you have fun with Bella tonight?"

Callie runs her fingers over Beca's hand, shrugging once more. "Yeah."

"Yeah?" Beca's clears her throat, trying to get rid of the surprise in her voice. After Bella and her came downstairs, Callie kept to herself. She didn't even interact with Bella. "What'd you guys do?"

"Just talked."

"Hm…" Using her other hand, Beca starts to run her fingers over Callie's forehead. She feels her daughter relax further into her embrace, tension easing from her shoulders. "What'd you talk about?"

Callie lets out a heavy sigh, never once lifting her gaze from the floor. She's been replaying Bella's words in her head since they talked upstairs in her bedroom. More specifically, she's been confused listening to and thinking about what Bella had found out last weekend.

Earlier That Evening

Bella closes her bedroom door behind her and turns around with a grin.

Callie is still laughing. "Why are you so excited?"

The older girl pulls her over to her bed, both of them sitting crisscrossed across from each other. "I have something crazy to tell you."

Callie widens her eyes, her own smile growing. She pulls one of Bella's throw pillows onto her lap, waiting with a bit of impatience. "What? Did something happen?"

Bella nods vigorously, bouncing a bit on her mattress. "It's about Aunt Beca and Aunt Chloe."

"What do you mean?" This time, cautiousness creeps into Callie's question, her heart rate stalling at the insinuation.

Bella's giddiness does the opposite of make Callie excited for the answer. Instead, she grows more anxious waiting for Bella to reveal whatever she is holding in.

"Bella, just tell me."

"Okay, okay!" She shifts once more on the mattress, never once breaking eye contact with Callie. "So, last weekend after my moms got back from Aunt Jessica's baby shower, I heard them talking to each other in the kitchen about your mom."

Callie's eyebrows crinkle together. "Why were your moms talking about my mom?"

Bella waves her off. "I'm going to tell you! So, I heard them talking and apparently – you're never going to believe this – your mom and Aunt Chloe are in love."

The way Bella freezes in her explanation makes Callie fully aware that her cousin is waiting for a far greater reaction than the one she provides. The one where Callie's face remains as confused as it was in the beginning, no words of excitement or surprise coming from her mouth.

Bella bounces again, waiting expectantly. "Well? Isn't that amazing? And crazy because, let's be honest, I had no idea. Did you?"

Slowly, Callie shakes her head. But not in response to Bella's question. More so because she is trying to make sense of everything that she is hearing. "What do you mean 'in love'?"

The grin stays on Bella's face. "I heard my Ma say that they've been in love since your Mama's first year at Barden. That was so long ago. They're practically soulmates, Callie!"

Callie mulls the words over in her head. In love. Soulmates. She's never heard anything of the sort before – not when it pertains to her mom or real life. Sure, she's seen the Disney movies with the whole 'one true love' thing, and how all of the princesses live 'happily ever after' when they find said one true love, but those are just movies. As far as she knows, with Beca never having corrected her otherwise, there seems to be a disconnect between the content of Disney movies and real life.

So, instead, Callie focuses on the one word she recognizes. The one that her mother has told her – showed her, lived with her – since she was born. Love. "Well, I mean, my Mama has said she loves Chloe before. And she obviously loves me and Henry, too. She tells us that all the time. And Karla, too. And your moms…"

Callie is cut off by Bella shaking her head. "No, not that kind of love. I mean like in love, in love. Like the kind that you feel for that special person that means the whole wide world to you. The one that you never want to be without. The one that you marry. Callie – your mom and Chloe could get married! You could be in the wedding!"

Callie is shaking her head before Bella even finishes, her chest growing tight as she continues to listen to Bella's excitement. It's too much – it doesn't make any sense, and she tells Bella just that. "No – that can't… that doesn't make any sense. My mom can't be in love with Chloe."

Bella falters, her smile shrinking for the first time since they got into the bedroom. "Why not? Is it because they're both girls? Because if it is, you should know that girls can marry girls just like boys can marry boys and you can marry whoever you—"

"No, that's not what I mean. I know girls can marry girls. But…" Callie squeezes her eyes shut, trying to make the words rattling around in her brain make sense. "Mama and Chloe are friends."

Bella lets out a little giggle, not quite understanding Callie's distress. Normally, she would be quite attuned to it, but in this case, having been sitting on this news for a week, her excitement may be clouding her judgment. "Well, duh. I think you have to be friends before you can be in love with someone. My mom always says that Ma is her best friend."

"Yeah, but—" Callie lets out a frustrated groan, eyes still shut to the world. She speaks slowly in hopes that her brain catches up to her train of thought. "Mama and Chloe are friends. They can't get married."

Bella laughs again, this time with a slight mocking tone. "Well, if they're in love, they have to get married. That's what you do."

Callie shakes her head, tears burning at the back of her eyes. "No. They can't get married."

Finally, some of Callie's discomfort starts to become visible to Bella. Worry instantly swells inside of the older girl's chest. "Callie—"

"No! They can't – they can't get married. Okay? Just, if we—if we don't say anything, it won't happen. Just, just pretend that you didn't hear it—okay?"

"Cal?"

Callie blinks hard, coming back to the present as Beca lightly taps her thigh. She doesn't even remember what she asked her. "What?"

Letting out a light laugh – though it's laced with concern – Beca repeats herself. "I asked what you and Bella talked about."

"Oh." Callie digs her teeth into the inside of her lip, the surface already marked from where she's been biting it all night. The pressure in her chest is increasing, and she knows that if she wasn't holding on to her mom's hand, her fingers would be shaking right now.

But she can still hear Beca's voice – the voice of reason – in the back of her mind as she feels herself slipping away from reality.

Just ask.

"Mama?"

Beca lets her fingers trail up and down the side of Callie's arms, her dark blue eyes looking down at her daughter with worry. "Yes, bug?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

Beca stiffens, knowing full well what a question from Callie could entail. It could range anywhere from 'why is the sky blue?' to 'what did it feel like when we took an airplane in the middle of the night to come to New York?' While Beca is more than willing to answer any questions that Callie may have, it's just the uncertainty of it all – the uncertainty of what may come up – that makes her slightly uneasy. "Of course you can. What's your question?"

"It's about Theo."

Beca slowly nods, putting on a supportive smile. "Go ahead, Cal. It's okay."

Callie gulps, digging her nails into her thigh until Beca gently takes her hand back, holding it tightly in her own. "Were you…in love with Theo?"

Beca stills at the question, her gentle ministrations stopping as Callie's words sink into her. Despite the initial shock, she answers with very little hesitation. "No, bug. I wasn't."

Callie looks up at her mom. "You weren't?"

"No... I'm not sure I can really describe what Theo and I had between us, but it certainly wasn't love."

Callie reaches up and scratches her head. "But you were married. For a really long time, too."

Still not exactly sure where this line of questioning is going, Beca treads carefully. "We were. But remember how we've talked about the word 'manipulation'?"

"Yeah. Theo manipulated you – he made you feel so bad you did things you didn't want to do."

"Exactly. And that's how it was with the marriage. I felt like I had to. I didn't want to; I didn't feel the feelings you typically have when you marry someone. But I did it because I was scared of Theo and what he could've done."

Even more tension leaves Callie's shoulders as she continues talking with her mom. "So, when you get married, you have to be in love?"

A light laugh escapes Beca's mouth. She finds it slightly humorous that they're having this conversation, mostly because Callie has never been one to really enjoy the Disney princess movies (perhaps that's Beca's fault in more than one regard), but she truly doesn't understand where these questions are coming from.

"I mean, yeah, that's the idea. When you get married, it's promising to spend the rest of your life with that person. You love them so much that you can't imagine living without them."

"So…" Callie mulls Beca's words over in her head, the gears spinning and comparing what she is hearing now, to what Bella told her that afternoon. "Getting married is a good thing?"

A sad smile crosses Beca's face as she realizes, not for the first time, what a skewed sense of the world Callie has – all because of her. Because it's clear that, to Callie, the concept of marriage may seem very different compared to someone who had two parents who loved each other growing up. "It's a very good thing, Cal. And I hope that one day, you find someone you love so much that you want to get married, too."

Callie scrunches her nose up in disgust. "Ew. I don't think so."

A small snort escapes from Beca's mouth. "No? You don't want to get married?"

Callie continues to shake her head. "Nope. What about you?"

"What about me?"

Callie turns her attention back up to her mom. "Are you going to get married again? Can you even get married more than once?"

Beca bites down on the corner of her lip. It's not like she hasn't thought about it before. "You can, but um… I don't know, bug. Probably not me."

"How come?"

"I don't know, babe…that's a tough question. I'm not sure I'll ever know the answer to it unless I end up finding that person."

Much more at ease now, Callie simply sinks deeper into Beca's embrace, her next question spilling from her lip before her brain can catch up to her. "What about Chloe? Are you going to marry her?"

Had Beca been drinking water or eating something, she would have choked. In fact, she practically chokes on the air she's breathing in, by the sheer surprise associated with her daughter's question. Because seriously – where the hell did that come from?

Heat rises to Beca's cheeks as she shifts so Callie is forced to look in her eyes. If she were capable of forming a follow-up question, she would. Instead, her incredibly clear mind can only manage a "What?"

Callie's eyes widen and her jaw slowly drops open with the realization of what she just asked. She inhales deeply, whispering on the exhale, "I was supposed to ask something before that."

"Callie, what are you talking about?" Beca's heartrate picks up, still blushing and still deeply concerned with where Callie got even the slightest hint to the idea of her and Chloe getting married.

Callie grimaces, looking up at Beca with wide eyes. "Please don't be mad."

"Callie—"

"Bella heard her moms talking about how in love with each other you and Chloe are, and then she said that you guys were probably going to get married and—"

"Callie. Stop, for one second, please." Beca moves backward so that she can hold Callie at arm's length, her gaze frantic. "Cal – slowly. What are you talking about?"

Beca can barely comprehend what her daughter is saying as she describes the conversation that she had with Bella today. How the young teen was so convinced that Beca and Chloe were in love with each other that they were going to get married (and tried convincing Callie of the same thing). And how Callie didn't really know what to tell her cousin – though she did manage to tell her that the whole marriage thing was off the table, having previously believed that marriage, like the one her mother had with her father, was destined for tragedy and regret. That marriage was something to be mourned, not celebrated.

But Beca does get that much out of her daughter's rambles. She gets how Callie was originally scared because of the prospect of supposedly losing Chloe to this so-called marriage. She gets the fear, she gets the confusion.

And really, she should be more focused on that. She should be more focused on reassuring Callie and assuaging her fears.

Yet, all Beca can focus on is the beginning part.

How Bella heard Aubrey and Stacie talking about how in love Beca and Chloe are. How something happened within the hours that followed Aubrey dropping Beca off at the apartment after Jessica's baby shower, to somehow lead to this proclamation – the proclamation that seems to be mutually shared between Beca and Chloe.

The ability to speak completely alludes Beca, her jaw hanging slightly open as she stares off over Callie's head, the young girl still rapidly trying to explain herself.

But Beca's not paying attention. She's not paying attention to anything that Callie is saying or what may or may not be happening in the back bedroom as Henry is supposed to be getting ready. Her mind is blank, save for Callie's one singular sentence.

And then Bella heard them saying how in love you and Chloe are.

Her chest is tight, and her mouth is dry. Her head is pounding, and her stomach suddenly has a gut-wrenching ache. Because maybe – maybe – there had once been a time where Beca would have loved to have heard those words. Where she would have done anything to hear those words and to be assured that her feelings for a certain redhead were requited.

But that was another lifetime ago.

That was before everything.

And now…

What the actual fu—

"Mama?"

Beca blinks back to reality, looking down at Callie, whose eyebrows are knit with worry. She shakes her head, desperately trying to bring some sense back to the forefront of her mind. "Um, Cal, why don't you go get ready for bed?"

Callie's mouth tugs down into a frown. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, of course not. I j-just—" Beca takes a deep breath, trying to keep the panic from becoming too unbearable. "I'm not mad. But I do need a minute if that's okay. Can you go see if Henry needs help getting ready?"

Slowly, with Callie not instantly leaving for fear of what might happen, she eventually makes her way down the hallway. As soon as she is out of sight and out of earshot, Beca drops her head into her hands with a shaky breath.

This – this is too much. This wasn't supposed to happen. This…situation was supposed to have been ignored by the both of them for the rest of their lives.

Chloe was supposed to go back to being the aunt. The best friend. The person that means so much to her kids.

The person who would end up leaving if anything were to ever happen between the two of them.

Beca was supposed to spend the rest of her life with her kids, spending the rest of her life making sure she doesn't ruin any more of theirs.

How is she supposed to do that when clearly something happened and now—

She presses the heels of her hands into her eyes until she sees flashes of light in the pit of blackness.

She needs to talk to Chloe.

Beca doesn't sleep at all that night. She spends the late hours of the night tossing and turning until she finally forces herself to lay on her stomach to try and calm the incessant pounding of her heart against her chest.

It doesn't work.

The kids went to bed easily enough, though Callie was definitely still hesitant about leaving Beca's side, especially after seeing the clear anxiety on her mother's face. All things considered, though, it was a relatively easy bedtime, leaving Beca alone with her thoughts for an even longer amount of time.

At this point, Beca's anxiety is clouding any sort of rational thought.

She should be excited – she would have been excited had this been fifteen years ago when Beca should have said something to Chloe before leaving for Los Angeles.

Or, you know, in any of the years leading up to that day.

But instead, she's experiencing nothing but panic.

Panic for what this all means.

Panic for what Chloe is thinking.

Panic for what she should do.

Panic for what this will do to the kids.

Because right now it's only fear and panic. Not joy. Not any sort of relief.

She can't even imagine what any sort of conversation with Chloe will entail. She just knows that it needs to happen.

And whatever follows, well…

Beca bites into the inside of her lip – the same spot that is raw from her chewing on it all night – and stares at the door in front of her. Chloe's door. The one that she has been staring at for the last ten minutes, trying to work up the courage to knock on ever since she dropped the kids off at Aubrey and Stacie's (with little explanation as to why).

But she needs to do it. Because something happened. Something big. And it could have an even bigger consequence.

She knocks on the door.

Beca is pretty sure that her heart is going to break through her ribcage as she waits for Chloe to answer. She can hear her turn down the music from her speaker, and then the light shuffling of feet across the hardwood before Chloe is unlocking the door. She opens it with a surprised smile, her eyebrows twitching together in confusion. "Bec? What are you doing here? I thought I was coming over to your place for dinner tonight?"

Beca gulps, her eyes flicking into the apartment – anywhere besides Chloe's piercing blue eyes. "No—yes, I mean you were – you are. I just—can we talk for a minute?" Beca's blubbering inability to speak is so eerily reminiscent to their early days of friendship, back during Beca's first year of Barden. When she couldn't get her God damn feelings under control.

Ha. Look at her now.

Concern instantly floods Chloe's features. She holds the door open further, motioning for Beca to come inside. "Of course. Is everything okay?" Beca fiddles with her hands. She wrings them out in front of her, keeping her eyes cast to the ground as Chloe closes the door behind them. "Beca, what's wrong? Are the kids okay? Did something happen with Theo?"

Shaking her head, Beca finally chances a glance up at Chloe. "No, nothing happened with Theo. The kids are fine. This is actually about you. Or me. Or the both of us, I guess."

"Okay…" Chloe perches herself on one of the counter stools. She wraps her cardigan tighter around her. "What's going on?"

Thinking back on it, Chloe had been slightly more distant when they first got back from Jessica's baby shower. Beca had originally chalked it up to exhaustion and fatigue, but that Monday and Tuesday at school, she had been short with the brunette, focusing a whole lot more on Callie and Henry than perhaps counts as a typical amount of attention. To her recollection, things had gone back to normal by the end of the school week – obviously; they went to dinner together the previous night, and Chloe was supposed to be coming over for dinner today – but there was definitely a temporary disconnect.

Upon further pondering – fixating, running the last week over and over in her head – Beca realized that something had to have happened last weekend.

"So—" Beca runs her hands through her stringy hair, head pounding both from lack of sleep and water. She's thought about how she should phrase this all morning. Now, standing in front of Chloe, it's like all of her mental preparation has disappeared. "Did…did something happen at Jessica's house?"

Chloe falls silent for a long enough time that Beca looks back up at her. She sees how the color drains from her face, and the slight look of fear painted across her eyes.

Well, there's Beca's answer.

Chloe takes a deep breath, and Beca finds herself inhaling and exhaling with her as well. Eventually, she answers.

"I heard you singing to Callie. I hadn't heard it before, I thought that—"

Something inside of Beca, breaks. Whether it's because of keeping these answers - these feelings - pent up inside of her for over a decade, whether it's the stress from the last night, whether it's a combination of everything finally coming to a head, Beca isn't sure. But once she starts, she can't stop. "I wrote it. Right after I moved out to LA, I wrote five songs that I never gave to Theo. The one you heard was called All You Never Say."

Chloe gathers her loose hair and pulls it over her shoulder, her voice cracking. "That was fifteen years—"

The words spill from Beca before she can stop them. "It was about you, Chloe. All of them were."

Chloe slowly shakes her head. "Bec—"

The back of Beca's throat burns, tears already starting to prick at the back of her eyes. "Whatever you heard – whatever made you upset or made you uncomfortable – whatever made you tell Aubrey and Stacie that… whatever it was, it was true."

Something flashes across Chloe's eyes, accompanied by the brief presence of shock, then…something more, on her face. Beca starts to say something more – more word vomit, more anxiety-induced explanations – before Chloe cuts her off. "Can I say something?"

Beca's chest is so tight that it hurts, the pain building in her chest, in her head, and in her heart. But Chloe keeps talking.

Chloe lets out a shaky laugh. There's something there. Beca is pretty sure that it's relief. "I-I feel the same way. I've felt—"

Beca's voice cracks. "Chloe."

"Wait, let me finish." Chloe shakes her head, pushing herself back up from the chair, and taking a step closer to Beca. "Homecoming. Your freshman year. That's when it started, Beca. At the party that you convinced that senior guy to let you play some of your mixes? Watching you up there – I knew you were going to be someone special to me. And then – Beca, I've loved – I'm in love with you and I have been since then."

Pain. So much pain. Beca looks away from Chloe, feeling as though someone is stabbing her in the chest over and over again.

But it's the one answer that she decided on. The one answer that has made the most sense ever since she started thinking about all of the possible outcomes last night.

"Chloe, I can't."

Chloe falters, tears continuing to streak down her face. "Wait, what? I thought you said—"

"I did. And-and I do. But Chloe, I can't."

Chloe shakes her head again, willing Beca to stop talking, but her chest loosens with each word. So do the emotions spilling from her.

"I'm not… I can't do another commitment like that, Chlo. I'll… I'll mess it up. I'm a mess and the kids – they are just starting to get back on their feet. I can't risk that. I can't risk them loosing you. I can't risk losing you."

Chloe takes another step forward, while Beca takes a step back. "Why would you – Beca you won't lose me. You can't lose me. I know that you are still healing. I-I've been here. And that wouldn't change."

"But it would." Beca runs her hands through her hair, breaking inside. "It would, Chloe. I would mess it up between us so quickly – I don't know how, how to do this."

"Bec—"

"Chloe, I don't want to hold you back anymore. You-you deserve to have a life. An amazing life. I-I can't give you that."

"Don't you see that you already have?! I was completely lost without you, Beca. As tough as these last few years have been, having you back in my life – meeting your kids – Beca, the only thing I would change about the whole thing would be you not needing to live through hell before coming back."

"You deserve more, Chlo – someone that—"

"Someone that is you, Beca. You, Callie, Henry; you are my family. You are my life."

"Chloe, I'm going to end up hurting you. I already have. Do you not remember your face when you first saw me in the grocery store? Because I'll never forget it. What about before the restraining order hearing? When I told you I didn't want you in there? Chloe, I. Am. Going. To. Hurt. You. And that is the last thing that I want to do."

Chloe's face contorts with anger, her voice rising with each second. "Don't you think that is a decision that I should make, Beca? Sure, I was upset. I was upset when I found out that you contacted Aubrey instead of me. I was upset when I couldn't give you whatever you were looking for. I was upset when you wouldn't let me support you in the way I knew you needed. But I wasn't mad at you, Beca. All of that – I know what caused it. I get it—"

"You don't get it! That's the thing! No one will ever get it. That's why I can't, Chlo. I can't bring you down with me."

Chloe's throat aches with the tightness of her tears and emotions. She glares at Beca through tear-filled eyes. "So that's it? After fifteen years – you're giving up?"

"I don't want to, Chlo. I really don't. But I can't – I can't risk this. Not with you. Not when-when the alternative is losing you forever."

Chloe's mind races with the words that she is hearing from Beca. This can't – this can't be happening. Yet, Beca is standing right in front of her, and Chloe knows she isn't imagining things.

It's far too painful to be in her imagination.

But, as her and Beca stand in front of each other, eyes equally bloodshot and throats equally as raw, someone else's voice breaks through in her memories. Aubrey's, with her sage wisdom being louder than Beca's painful words ringing in her head: You can't keep living like this.

And for the first time, Chloe finds herself agreeing with the little voice inside of her head.

She digs her nails into the palm of her hand, forcing herself to meet Beca's eyes. "I don't… I don't know if I can keep doing this, Bec. I've been doing it – living, like this, with you being right there – for too long. I'm tired, Bec. It's – it's depressing, and I can't… as much as I love you, I think I'll need… need some time to p-process."

Beca runs her fingers tiredly under her eyes. She looks exhausted, with fatigue weighing heavily in her posture and every other part of her being. The tears keep breaking free, though. "You're—you're done?"

Chloe forces herself to muster some sort of small, barely there, smile. She nods, slowly. "I'll be there for the kids. But us… friends…being this close…Bec, I don't think I can. Not right now, at least."

Beca's stomach churns and she feels empty. Like a piece of her has broken off and floated away. "I'm so, sorry Chlo."

Chloe can barely meet her eyes. "Me too."

Don't hate meeeeee :(

One chapter left and then the Epilogue. Thanks so much for reading and for your support! I look forward to reading any thoughts you may want to share :)

See you next week!