The follow up to the first drabble I wrote. This is a direct follow up to the scene where Chloe confronts Chicago. Hope you enjoy.

As Aubrey pulled up into the driveway of the home Chloe shared with Chicago and killed the engine, Chloe glanced up at the modest two storey and couldn't help but see nothing except a hollow shell.

A cold, lonely looking building that lacked warmth, comfort. In fact, as she looked at it she realised it wasn't a home, it was merely a house. Bricks and water that glued together a relationship that was never made to fit.

Looking at it now Chloe realised just how empty that house had been. Empty of joy, empty of love. It had essentially become a prison. One Chloe had confined herself to in some vain attempt to overcome the crushing feelings of loneliness, loss, grief and heartache.

In Chicago she thought she had found an easy escape to an existence that would at the very least carry her through the rest of her life. Thought she had found the answer to the prayers of her friends and family who were so desperately seeking hope for her so she would carry on.

Chloe could still vividly remember the anger she had felt when her family, her friends, insisted that she try to move on. The notion so unfathomable to Chloe she packed her bags and left for Beca's parents' house, determined to be around the only two people who could come close to understanding her pain.

It had been Beca's parents who had eventually talked her down and made her realise that she couldn't spend the rest of her life closed off from the world around her. That's not what Beca would've wanted for her.

"The reason my daughter fell for you is because of your openness and warmth and that kind, generous heart. She would hate to think that she was the reason you lost that," Carrie Mitchell had told her late one night on the porch of the Mitchell household under the stars.

"Don't shut off the parts of you Beca loved most. That's not what she would've wanted," Carrie reassured as she wrapped an arm around Chloe's shoulders and tugged her into a hug.

"And don't be afraid to keep living. Beca still lives in you, in all of us. We need to keep living for her. You have so much love left to give Chloe. Share it with the world because that's what Beca would want."

With those words echoing in the back of her mind Chloe had returned home and tried her best to do exactly that. But try as she might something always held her back from completely letting go and embracing the new world she was living in.

And in that moment, she thanked God that her heart had held her back. And she was even more thankful that fate had intervened before she had made an irreversibly damaging decision. Or so she hoped.

"I'm gonna stop by my hotel and gather my things and I'll be right back. Will you be okay?" Aubrey asked as she regarded her from the drivers' seat.

Chloe turned her gaze away from the house and gave a meek nod of the head before finding the courage to step out of the car and make her way towards the house.

Walking up to the front door, she pulled her keys from her purse and put them in the lock, twisting them and opening the door, giving Aubrey a small wave to indicate that she was fine and she could go.

Once the blonde pulled out of the drive and took off down the street, Chloe stepped inside the house, tossing her keys in the bowl on the stand by the door and tossing her shoes aside.

She flicked on the lights and glanced around the eerily empty space, her mind still racing. Shaking herself of the thoughts swirling in her mind she took off for the stairs, her only goal to pack her bags with as many clothes and personal items as she could take in one go.

She wasn't sure how long she would be in Georgia, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt, she wouldn't be stepping back inside that house for a while, if ever.

Racing to her closet she pulled out a number of suitcases and placed them on the bed, opening them and filling them to the brim. Some of the cases would be making the trip to Georgia, others would be kept at her folks house until she knew what her next move would be.

As the closet began to empty, leaving little more than Chicago's belongings, Chloe changed into more comfortable clothes and then made her way to the spare room, the one Chloe used as a home office, flicking on the light and heading for the closet where she kept spare blankets, towels and linens.

Once inside, she leaned down and swept away numerous spare blankets until she found what she was looking for. A box, buried deep inside the closet, hidden from view from anyone who wasn't looking.

Pulling it free, she sat there in the closet and placed it beside her, lifting the lid to expose the many precious items Chloe had been unable to part with. Reams of photographs, some framed, some loose, trinkets and jewellery, letters and notes. Memories so near and dear to Chloe's heart.

She picked up the last frame and held it so carefully in her hands, her eyes welling up at the image staring back at her. Two women so deeply in love, newly engaged smiling lovingly at the camera. Beca's chin resting on Chloe's shoulder and her arms wrapped delicately around the redheads' waist as Chloe's own hands lay over them, holding them in place.

Reaching up a hand, Chloe stroked the image of her fiancées face, the one she thought she would never see again, a tear drop landing on the glass that protected the image behind it.

Everything had been so different then. So easy and carefree. This was an image of two women with their whole lives ahead of them and the promise to stand by each other's side on that journey.

And as Chloe soaked in the image, she made a promise to herself that they would find a way back. That they would finish that journey together.

Placing the frame to one side along with some other pictures, Chloe reached in and retrieved the very last thing inside. A small velvet box. A ring box to be more exact, and she carefully flipped it open to reveal the diamond ring inside.

A round cut diamond set into a white gold band, elegant, classy and understated with just enough sparkle to catch the eye of any passer-by.

When Beca had presented it to her, Chloe was caught by just how well her fiancée knew her. While the redhead may have been the human epitome of sunshine and rainbows, on the flip side she enjoyed the simpler things in life. Beca had picked a ring that complimented who Chloe was without being so bold as to outshine her. Because in Beca's eyes, Chloe was far more bold and more beautiful than any ring.

With Chicago the sentiment had been the opposite. He had picked a ring that was all glamour, a ring that spoke louder than Chloe, one that was designed to out shine her, to make heads turn and boast of their engagement.

It was a pretty ring and many girls would've envied it, but it wasn't Chloe. And it's presence was a painful reminder every day of the fact that while Chicago may have been aware of her, he didn't know her. Not like Beca.

Taking the ring from the box, Chloe slipped the ring back into her ring finger where it belonged, flexing her fingers as the familiarity of the weight of it came flooding back. Wiping the tears from her face, she put the case back in the box with the other items. Standing up she exited the closet with the box and just as she was about to leave, out of the corner of her eye she spotted the familiar red white and blue that had been resting on a shelf to the side of the room.

Putting the box down, Chloe approached the shelves and her eyes landed on the triangular shape of the folded up American flag, and the framed case with several very distinguished army medals enclosed inside.

Both had been presented to her at Beca's funeral and they had been the only items she had kept on display in the house. She couldn't bear to look at pictures of Beca, couldn't stand the thought of trying with Chicago with her loves image at the forefront of her mind every day reminding her of what she had lost, of who she had lost.

But those items, the ones on the shelf, they spoke of the bravery, the sacrifice and the courage Beca possessed. The love she had for her family and friends that she was willing to die to make the world a better place.

They were enough to remind Chloe of Beca without overwhelming her. And every day they gave her the strength and courage to keep moving forward and to keep living for Beca.

Reaching up, Chloe took both items into her hands and walked back to the box on the floor, placing them on top before exiting the room with the only things from the house she wanted.

An hour later, and with her bags all packed and everything she was taking with her now laying ready by the doorway, Chloe took one last look around the house to make sure she had remembered everything.

As she wandered into the living room, her eyes drifted to the mantel piece over the fireplace at the framed pictures that sat there. She glanced over the images, photos of family gatherings from the last year and a half, photos of a woman with the man she should've been happy with. Photos of a woman whose smile never quite reached her eyes.

Just looking at the pictures brought Chloe back to how she really felt on that day. Of holding everything inside and telling herself that everything would be okay. Eventually. With time.

And then her gaze landed on the image of her and Chicago, their engagement photo. Chloe could remember the day he surprised her with the shoot, having booked a professional photographer to set up and capture some shots, and Chloe had reluctantly participated.

In the photo, they're facing one another, Chicago's arms wrapped around Chloe while her arms lay resting between them, palms flat against his chest. He's gazing down at her with the smile of a man who was holding the whole world in his arms. Her gaze was facing down at her hands, a hint of a smile she hoped masked her unease.

Picking it up Chloe stared at the image of the man who had destroyed her life, the man in the image who was smiling at her knowing exactly what he had done, and Chloe saw red.

Twisting on the spot she threw the frame across the room and watched as it smashed to pieces off the wall before landing on the ground. Turning around she swiped her hands along the mantle knocking every frame off its perch.

Her gaze turned to the framed pictures on the walls as one by one she yanked them down and shattered every one of them. Everything in that house reminded her of him and it enraged her further.

The framed napkin from the restaurant Chicago had proposed in that he had gifted her. The engagement and house warming presents that littered the house. Everything Chloe could physically pick up was left shattered and broken on the ground.

Just like her heart.

By the time she had exhausted herself the house looked like a complete wreck. The door suddenly swung open to reveal a stunned looking Aubrey surveying the scene around her, eyes ultimately landing on Chloe who shook her head, leaned her back against the wall behind her and slid to the ground, her sobs the only sound to break the silence between them.

Dashing across the living room, Aubrey collapsed beside her best friend and pulled her into her arms, holding her close as Chloe clung to her for dear life.

"I can't lose her again Bree. I- I can't," Chloe rasped as Aubrey's eyes caught sight of the familiar engagement ring back on Chloe's finger and she shut her eyes against the onslaught of tears that were threatening to escape her.

"You won't, okay. You won't lose her. We're gonna go to Georgia and we're gonna get Beca no matter what," Aubrey said, though she herself was weary of making such bold statements.

Because the truth of the matter was, they didn't know what was waiting for them in Georgia. They didn't even know if the Beca that had been brought home was remotely the same as the Beca who had left. If time and the trauma she had been through had changed her beyond recognition or if she had somehow survived with her mind in-tact.

A lot had changed in two years. More than any of them could comprehend with the knowledge they now held. But in that moment, as she sat on the floor holding her best friend, she knew they had to try, that they had to fight until there was nothing left to fight for.

Because Aubrey knew, she knew deep down that if Beca didn't come back, if she and Chloe didn't find their way back to one another, that Chloe wouldn't survive losing her a second time. And Aubrey couldn't accept that. She had watched as her best friend had almost lost herself once she wouldn't stand for it again.

They had to bring Beca home. One way or another….