A/N: I felt a huge weight of responsibility to write and upload this as soon as possible so here we go. The next chapter:

Epilogue XXVII – Beca's Past

Chloe tapped lightly on the bedroom door, her breath hitching in her throat as she waited patiently for Beca to give her permission to enter the room. Alba was at her feet, sat obediently, letting out a soft whine. After several moments Chloe let out a sigh and turned on the spot, "Come on Alba," she said in a quiet voice, "let's leave Mama be…" and the redhead walked through to the kitchen with her puppy following close behind her.

Chloe stared at Beca's phone in her hand as it vibrated, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. She had two options here. She either answered the call and spoke to the woman who had caused her fiancée so much heartache over the years, or she ignored the call and left the phone down the couch. This was a woman who had abandoned her child. Chloe couldn't even begin to imagine what life would've been like for her had her mother left her when she'd been thirteen.

That look on Beca's face when Carrie had spoken to her. Chloe had never seen her look like that before. The walls had been put up, she could tell, but there was this vulnerability in her eyes that broke the redhead's heart. As though she was looking at teenage Beca. And it was this memory of the woman she loved that fuelled Chloe's next action.

"Beca!" Carrie called out through the phone the moment the call was answered but Chloe merely frowned.

"She can't come to the phone right now." Chloe said in a low voice. She could feel her heart beginning to race a little faster, her adrenaline pumping around her body. She heard Beca's Mom hesitate.

"Who... Is this Chloe?"

Chloe froze. That had to be a complete fluke surely. Did…had Beca mentioned her at all in the brief phone call they'd endured moments ago? She couldn't see why she would. The brunette had been too busy processing what her mother was telling her to mention the redhead, "How-"

"Instagram…" came the immediate answer and Chloe rolled her eyes. Instagram. Of course. Fat Amy had posted that photo on The Bellas Instagram page of her, Beca, and Alba snuggled up on a bench in Washington Square Park the other week. Both she and Beca had agreed it was a cute photo, but if either of them had realised that this was a platform that Beca's estranged mother was using to essentially stalk the petite brunette then neither of them would have allowed it. She had to get to her friends before they posted anything else on there.

"Look can I please speak to her?" Carrie asked desperately, "I need to explain what happened."

If it were any other circumstance Chloe would probably be tempted to give the woman a second chance. That was what made up most of Chloe's nature. She was kind and forgiving and empathetic. She relished in seeing the other side of the story and giving everyone the opportunity to give their argument. But there was another part of Chloe's nature, the one that was bubbling through now. Her fierce protectiveness – specifically her desire to protect Beca. Her anger simmered away but her pause had clearly been too long for Beca's mother who spoke in a softer voice,

"Look you're her girlfriend. You can speak to her for me. Get her to talk to me maybe…?"

"How do you know I'm her girlfriend?" Chloe asked quickly, her breathing beginning to increase. If Carrie said Instagram again Chloe was going to kill Fat Amy.

"There was an Instagram Live Video last year…of you guys when you were on tour?"

Chloe closed her eyes and let out a short exhale. That fucking Insta-Live Video. Chloe could still see it playing in her brain. The way she'd kissed Beca and announced to the room they were dating… Chloe brought her hand to her brow to try to keep herself calm. Even Alba could sense the frustration in the often kind redhead's voice and moved away from her favourite owner as Chloe spoke, "You really need to stop talking."

Chloe stood up, brushing her hair back from her face, "Look I'm sure you may regret some of the decisions you made but you were a grown adult and made them anyway. Beca was a kid. She was your daughter. She needed you and you abandoned her!"

"Listen I don't know what she's been telling you but none of its true-"

"It's not true you walked out on her and her Dad when she was thirteen?"

"Uh..well yes that's true.."

"It's not true that you didn't try harder to contact her?"

"I sent her birthday and Christmas cards-"

"My great Aunt sends me Birthday and Christmas cards..and I still see her once a year!" Chloe tutted as she almost tripped over Alba, who had jumped down onto the apartment floor, and she walked over to the window of their lounge to look out of it. She needed to keep moving, the adrenaline now racing around her body. She was in 'fight or flight' mode and right now she was ready for a fight. "My great Aunt - not even my immediate Aunt - My Mom's Aunt sees me more than you see your own daughter!"

She knew she was winning by the way Carrie remained quiet. But at the end of the day, in this situation, there was no winner. Carrie had lost her daughter which was entirely her own fault. And Beca had lost her mother through no fault of her own. Chloe wanted to fight for her fiancée. She wanted to say everything she was sure Beca would've wanted to say at some point, but she also knew she was walking a very thin line. She knew Beca and she knew Beca was going to be pissed off with her regardless of whether she'd answered this call or not. Unlike Beca, however, Chloe was able to reel in her frustration. And that was what she did.

Chloe leant her forehead against the window with a gentle thud and sighed, "Carrie I think its best you don't call again. Please."

"She called me, remember?" Carrie protested. Chloe remembered alright. It had been her suggestion. Her fault. She should've never suggested it in the first place. "Why?" The mother asked.

"Why don't you wait until you see it on Instagram." Chloe said with a thick voice and before Carrie could say anything more she hung up. The redhead let out a heavy exhale of breath. Beca couldn't know about this. She should never know that she answered her phone.

Half an hour later and Chloe had done pacing the apartment. She'd done the washing up and had tidied the lounge. She needed to tell someone what had happened. And her most natural go-to person when it wasn't Beca was her best friend. So she picked up her phone and brought up WhatsApp.

CHLOE: Hey Bree. I need to confess something xx

Chloe jumped as she saw Aubrey almost immediately call her phone but she declined the call. She couldn't give Beca a reason to listen in on what she was about to tell Aubrey.

CHLOE: Can't talk. Beca's in the apartment xx

AUBREY: Oh God. Everything okay? xx

CHLOE: I think I've made a bad decision.. xx

AUBREY: Oh Chloe! You and Beca are made for each other! Don't call off the engagement.. xx

CHLOE: Oh no Bree I'm not calling off the engagement! Xx

CHLOE: LOL

CHLOE: I persuaded Beca to call her Mom xx

AUBREY: Oh God! And? Xx

CHLOE: She's the worst Bree! Beca ended up hanging up on her but…she called back…and I answered without Beca knowing… xx

AUBREY: Crumbs… Yeah that's a pretty bad decision xx

CHLOE: What do I do? Xx

AUBREY: If it were me and I'd answered a call from Stacie's estranged Mom I'd tell Stacie, but Stacie's the laid-back one in our relationship. Telling Beca though? Nope. Don't do it. What she doesn't know won't hurt her xx

CHLOE: I told her off...? xx

AUBREY: Told who off? Xx

CHLOE: Beca's Mom. I got pretty mad at her… xx

AUBREY: Oh. Well…maybe tell Beca then? At least you were fighting her corner for her? Xx

AUBREY: Apparently Beca's talking to Stacie at the moment xx

CHLOE: She is? What's she saying? Xx

AUBREY: Not sure. Stacie hasn't texted back yet xx

AUBREY: Oh she's explaining about the call between her and her Mom. Sounded horrible xx

CHLOE: It really was :( xx

AUBREY: Oh Chloe!

AUBREY: She overheard you talking to her Mom! xx

Chloe swallowed loudly, staring at her phone screen. Oh God she'd heard? Chloe suddenly felt her palms go a bit clammy. This could now go one of two ways. Beca would be happy or she'd be mad. Either way this wasn't how she'd expected to be feeling by this time in the day when she'd woken up this morning, newly engaged to the woman she loved.

AUBREY: Ok Stacie can't quite work out if Beca's annoyed about it. May be worth speaking to her? xx

CHLOE: Who? Stacie? xx

AUBREY: Beca! xx

Chloe looked up from her screen quickly as she heard the door to the bedroom open and her heart skipped a beat as she strained her ears for any movement. But there were no footsteps. Chloe watched as her puppy scrambled off the couch beside her and tottered out of the lounge presumably through to the bedroom to find Beca. A small smile spread over Chloe's face as she heard Beca mumble a "hello" to Alba. The brunette then let out a chuckle as the puppy presumably attempted to lick her chin.

Chloe pushed herself up from the couch and nervously began making her way out of the lounge and through to the bedroom that sat at the back of the apartment. The bedroom door was open and she tentatively stepped over the threshold and held her breath as she looked over at her fiancée.

Beca was sat on the edge of her side of the bed, her head hanging as she stroked Alba's furry tummy, the puppy laying on her back on Beca's lap. Chloe brought her hands behind her and leant against the cool wall, swallowing loudly. Beca didn't look mad. But she didn't look happy either. She looked…unpredictable? Which was an unusual thing for the redhead to try to deal with because she'd known Beca a long time. She thought she knew everything there was to know about Beca. Well, she thought she knew everything Beca would ever allow her to know. Chloe knew that the topic of her mother was always a no-go area. So the only information Beca had ever disclosed to her was that her mother had ran out on her and her Dad when she'd only been thirteen. And that the woman sent her a Birthday and Christmas card every year. But that was it. That was the only information Beca had ever disclosed to her, and Chloe knew Beca well enough to never push her too far.

"I caught my Mom in bed with another man when I was eleven…" Beca said quietly, not taking her eyes off their puppy as Alba began to doze off, loving the feel of her owner glossing her fingertips through her fur. Chloe shuffled her feet uncomfortably as Beca continued to confess something she may have never revealed before, "…I was supposed to be at school but I skipped it…wanted to get home and practice on my new guitar…stupid of me really…I should've just stayed at school…"

The room fell silent as Beca continued to look down at the puppy. Chloe felt her stomach churn. She could only imagine how heart breaking and confusing that must have been for the petite brunette. And only eleven years old? That was the age her eldest niece was now. She couldn't imagine the heartache Eva would go through if she ever caught…well Chloe couldn't bear even thinking about it.

Beca let out a long sigh, "Mom begged me not to tell my Dad. So I didn't. I wouldn't have known how to. And…I kinda stopped talking for a little while after that…just…stopped. I guess I figured if I couldn't tell my Dad what I'd seen then I probably shouldn't say anything at all in case I accidentally told him. And it drove him crazy." Beca shrugged, shaking her head slightly. Her tone was still quiet. Vulnerable. Cautious. But she continued:

"Mom took me out for a 'girly trip' to the mall about a year later. We ended up meeting that dude I'd caught her with. She tried to get me to talk to him…but I ran off…" Chloe swallowed loudly again. She was normally pretty good when it came to listening to people's problems, but this was a whole other ball-game. Because this was the deepest secrets of her fiancée's past. The moments that contributed to her personality. She'd once heard Aubrey call Beca 'messed up' behind her back. Chloe had immediately defended the brunette, having had a huge crush on her at the time, which had been one of the earliest moments that they'd known Beca. But she could have never imagined the reason behind the petite DJ's frostiness was down to such an uncomfortable past.

"Three days after my thirteenth birthday I came home from school and…she was gone! All of her things had been taken. She'd packed up all of her stuff and had left…presumably with that dude…" Beca shook her head slowly again as she resumed stroking Alba's belly. Chloe was holding her breath, not daring to interrupt her fiancée in any way.

"I was stood in the middle of the lounge for an hour and a half…staring at the photos of our stupid 'perfect' family…I hadn't realised how many things in the house my Mom owned until they were gone…" Beca paused her stroking again as she let out another quiet sigh, "…my Dad got home and…I dunno, he freaked out a bit…and cried a lot…and I just…stood there…numb…" Chloe looked at Beca's expression, desperate for her to look up at her. To invite her to sit beside her. But Beca remained stationary, staring over at their puppy's face as Alba stared at the brunette as if to ask why she'd stopped tickling her. "…the only escape I found was in music…my mixes…that became my soul focus…to pull me away from reality…the reality that my Mom had screwed me up…that I was never going to feel normal again…"

Alba scrambled to turn around on Beca's lap but to the couple's surprise she didn't go to lick Beca's chin, but rather pulled herself into a tight ball and let out a long sigh before drifting off to sleep. Beca let a sad smile escape onto her face for a fleeting moment as she stroked the puppy's ears thoughtfully, "Hearing my Mom's voice a little while ago…it just brought all those shitty memories back…" Beca said with another sigh, and she bit her bottom lip then looked up. Chloe's heart skipped a beat as she saw just how vulnerable the woman looked, "But then in here I realised how lucky I am to not have to deal with her any more…" Chloe thought she could detect a soft smile daring to wisp its way onto Beca's face, "…and how lucky I am to have you in my life…and your Mom…and your Dad too…and your brothers now I come to think of it…" Chloe found herself letting out a small giggle as Beca began smiling.

The redhead slowly moved over to the bed and took a seat beside her fiancée, "Beca you know I'll never leave you, right?" she said affectionately as she brought her right arm around her fiancée's waist and for the first time in Chloe's memory she felt Beca lean into her slightly, "None of us Beale's will. We're the tightest-knit family on the planet. And you're a part of it too!"

"I know…" Beca mumbled, and Chloe placed a quiet kiss on the woman's head. They sat in silence for a little while, Chloe's left hand joining Beca's as they both stroked their puppy's head and ears.

"Thank you for telling me." Chloe whispered to her fiancée, "It can't have been easy."

"Thank you for telling my Mom off…" Beca mumbled, pulling from Chloe's embrace to look at her. Chloe had been terrified that the brunette might be pissed at her. And perhaps if it had been the Beca she'd known seven years ago. Heck, if it had been the Beca she'd known only four years ago perhaps she would've been pissed. But the Beca she knew now was her fiancée. Someone who had a tendency to accept affection a little more openly. Someone who appreciated Chloe, and the moments that Chloe was protective of her. "…that can't have been an easy decision to make either."

Chloe shrugged, giving Beca a soft smile, "Nobody hurts my fiancée and gets away with it." Beca smirked and nudged Chloe with her shoulder, then resumed her focus on their puppy.

"Where were you when I was thirteen…" Beca muttered.

"Who, me or Alba?" Chloe asked lightly, knowing full well Beca had meant her, but also knowing that this was a good way to get Beca to smile, "Because Alba was only born a few months ago so technically when you were thirtee-"

"-I meant you and you know it!" Beca said with a chuckle, rolling her eyes at her fiancée and Chloe sat up straight with a smug grin on her face, seizing the opportunity to lighten the mood.

"I was sixteen, a hopeless romantic, and completely oblivious to the fact that I would have to wait another five or so years before I got to meet the love of my life…" Chloe said, giving Beca a wink. But the brunette merely rolled her eyes again.

"Ugh! So cheesy Beale…" Beca said looking back down at their puppy, and more specifically how good Chloe's engagement ring looked on her long slender finger.

"Oh you love it really…" Chloe said, bringing her hand back around Beca's waist and placing a loud kiss on her cheek. The brunette didn't shy away but she did make another "ugh" sound which was an automatic response to this form of affection that stemmed from her freshman year with The Bellas – who for some reason had loved winding the petite brunette up by placing kisses on her cheek. Suddenly Beca let out a yelp as Alba scrambled to her feet and lunged at her chin to lick it over and over again, "Kiss attaaaaack!" Chloe yelled, giggling as she and Alba overpowered the petite brunette to lay out on the bed. Chloe kissed Beca over and over on the cheek as their puppy licked Beca furiously on the chin. And Beca let out a loud hearty laugh while she pretended to hate it.

I hadn't realised how much of surprise Beca's Mom was going to be to people. As I said to someone on Tumblr yesterday, because I've known about Carrie and the back-story between her and Beca in my head for months now it wasn't such a surprise to me to be writing her in the previous chapter all of a sudden.

A huge thanks to the feedback on here, AO3, and on Tumblr because it really helped me feel confident that the decisions I'd already made about what to do with Carrie were the right ones. She was never going to be forgiven. That was never her purpose in this story. Actually her main purpose was to address the "what about Beca's Mom?" questions and to show a protective side of Chloe for once. Beca has Sue Beale (and in a tiny way she has Sheila?) so she doesn't need her Mom swanning in like it's some sort of fairytale...

Things will perk up a bit in the next chapter :)

kimmania - Thanks for reminding me I hadn't updated the AO3 copy of this story. I hadn't been at my laptop in a couple of weeks which is normally how I access AO3 :) so I hope you're pleased with the updates. And thank you so much for your comments on there too :)

glugalde - I hope many of your questions were answered in this chapter. There'll be a chapter about what the cards say at some point.. haha this is what I'm talking about with it being so out of the blue for everyone - I'm so surprised so thank you for your review! I do have some curve-balls coming up in later chapters... life can be one big curve-ball sometimes.
And I'm so pleased you've been reading the one-shots! They're now all up on my AO3 account too under "Pitch Perfect Ship One Shots" :)

Lolly - Thank you so very much for your review. It was the review that decided it for me really. I had two drafts of how Chloe's conversation with Carrie would go but I never intended Carrie to become a recurring character. Her actions when Beca was a kid were total dick-moves and didn't deserve to be rewarded, particularly as Beca likes her life just fine without her. And beyond that, this was more of a nod to a couple of my friends who have actually experienced with their own Mom's what Beca went through. It's utter shit. And I want to thank you again for taking the time to share your review and opinions. It means a lot dude!

laco0417 - Hehe yes a short one but an important one. My one-shots are all on AO3 so have a little look on there maybe?

Zombiekiller1013 - Thanks for the review buddy. Hope this chapter is what Beca (and Chloe?) deserved. And wow, thanks for sharing your story!
Haha yes I know what you mean, I'd never even considered Staubrey until I started writing them and now I love them and their funny little relationship :) *consults chapter outline list* aha! There's going to be some wedding dress shopping trips coming up in a couple of chapters time so expect some Bellas shenanigans including the first time Stacie and Aubrey have been around The Bellas since their European Tour...

Until next time gang! Thank you for your comments and reviews! They really helped motivate me to write this next chapter asap x