Chapter 3 Got a hole in my soul, growing deeper and deeper.

How can I say this without breaking?
How can I say this without taking over?
How can I put it down into words
When it's almost too much for my soul alone?

—Hurts Like Hell by Fleurie

Beca didn't think she could handle sitting at this table for a second longer. Her manager, Isaac, continued to drone on about...she didn't even know. That was how uninvested she was in the conversation.

"Beca…Beca!"

"Huh?"

"Are you even listening?"

Beca rolled her eyes and picked up her neglected coke can. She took a long sip while trying to figure out if she had retained even a sentence of his diatribe.

Isaac sighed, "This is serious, Beca. Vh1 is willing to pay big if you're willing to sit down for an interview about the Bellas. The head exec, Darrel Watson said—"

Beca cut in with "Tell Darrel that I'm not doing the damn interview, just like I told him the first time he called me. Let him know that his attempts to use you in hopes that I'd change my answer are futile…" she paused at the small chime from her phone and picked it up.

"Beca, I don't understand why you won't just do it. it's only an hour an it'll be good publicity for the new album. The Bellas were big and I don't understand why you refuse to even acknowledge your former band."

Beca's eyebrow furrowed as she read the incoming text from her former bandmate, Fat Amy, as if mentioning her was the cause of the sudden message. Little Koala, I'm know you're coming to town. You better meet me for lunch when you get here." Beca rolled her eyes but replied Fine, nonetheless, because she knew refusing Fat Amy would only spur the drummer to seek her out and possibly throw her over her shoulder to carry her to lunch.

Putting her phone down, she looked back at her manager. "Look, Isaac, I don't have problem doing the interview but I'm not talking about my old band. Yeah, The Bellas were big but there was a lot of shit that happened behind the scenes on our way to the top. So, forgive me for not wanting to reflect on that time in my life."

Isaac was going to respond but they were interrupted by a kid, probably in his late teens, running up to their table.

"Dude, you're Beca Mitchell. Can—Can I get your autograph and maybe a picture?"

Beca smiled, always appreciative of her fans, and nodded, "Sure."

The fan crouched down next to her seat and held out his iPhone. He quickly snapped the picture and Beca could see the star struck countenance he wore on the phone screen.

"Thanks, man," he said, reaching into his bookbag to pull out a magazine, Revolver, and opened it to the centerfold which ironically enough displayed The Bellas. Isaac raised his eyebrow in amusement and Beca rolled her eyes as she accepted the pen from the teen.

Beca nodded and quickly wrote thanks for being a fan of her music and then quickly signed her name next to her picture.

"Man, you have no idea how fucking cool this is. You're like my favorite guitar player and I'm so glad you guys are getting back together."

Beca's head snapped to Isaac in bemusement and the agent was conveniently distracted by his phone. She looked at the teen then down at the magazine for the first time taking the time to question why the Bellas were in the latest edition of Revolver. She read the headline, "A True American Dream: The Bellas Reunite for Domestic Tour." She offered a tight-lipped smile to the young man and handed him his magazine. He thanked her again and ran off, his phone in hand probably to call a friend to brag. When he was out of sigh she turned to her agent and all but screamed, "What fucking tour?"

Chloe held her hands in the air, a baton nestled in her left, allowing the silence to hold in the room. She silently counted another four beats before dropping her hands. "Alright, instruments down. Great job guys." She looked at the clarinet section leader, "Aaron the time you've put into your instrument is really showing. You're not rushing through the notes. Now all—" she was interrupted by the sound of the door to the band room opening and slamming shut. Chloe didn't have to look to know it was her principal bassist.

"Glad you could finally join us, Auggie."

The out of breath teen waved a magazine in the air. "They're…they're getting back together." He panted. This garnered the attention of many of her students much to her chagrin.

"Who's getting back together," a student from the brass section asked.

Before Auggie could answer, Chloe clapped her hands together to get their attention. "You can discuss that on your own time. Now Auggie, why are you late?"

Still trying to catch his breath, the freshman once again raised the magazine crumbled in his sweaty hand. "Miss Beale, I swear I meant to get here on time. I even took the 7:15 bus instead of the 7:30 but then I saw this," he waved the magazine.

One of Chloe's students, the Timpani player, Jason, called out asking what was so special about a magazine.

The young bassist shook his head as he pulled in large breaths of air. "It's not the magazine. It's what's in the magazine." He opened the booklet to the centerfold and Chloe nearly choked from the sudden dryness in her mouth. She tried to remain impassive, busying herself with the sheet music in front of her as she watched out of her peripheral as Auggie showed them the two-page spread of the Bellas. Chloe didn't have to look to recognize the picture. It was from their first shoot after signing with In Motion Records. What she didn't understand was why they were in a current edition of Plectrum magazine, a very popular and very credible music magazine. She could hear Auggie reading bits of the article and tried to pay attention while appeared uninterested.

"Beca, Aubrey, Chloe, Stacie, Fat Amy, and Cynthia Rose—Six women who left a permanent mark in Rock music.

Earlier this week, the band's rhythm section, Emily (who went on to fill the role of keyboardist in 1995), Fat Amy, and Cynthia Rose met at the latter's Atlanta home where they sat down with In Motion exec, Mel Burton to book six dates in venues across the country. The tour, which is sure to attract not only national but international attention, has been timed to coincide with the Twentieth anniversary of The Bellas' first EP, "American Dream." Yet, it would be remiss not to mention that only half of the band has signed on for the three-month tour. Without the band's lead singers, Chloe and Aubrey, or the lead guitarist, Beca, many are skeptical that this tour will ever happen.

Auggie turned the page to continue reading when he was stopped by one of his classmates, the first flautist, who asked, "Who are they anyway? I've never heard of them,"

Chloe watched Auggie turn and sneer at the young lady. "That's cuz you listen to that top 40 billboard bullshit. I wouldn't expect you to know about bands like The Bellas."

Another student grabbed the magazine from Auggie and said, "Hey, that girl looks like Ms. Beale."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Chloe found a dozen students looking up at her.

Another student, one of the trombone players, nodded, "Yeah she does except the hair is all different and Ms. Beale has glasses and—"

"Alright, that's enough" Chloe said and tapped her baton on the stand in front of her as she told the students to take their seats. The class took a few minutes to refocus but afterwards she was able to finish leading the band through warm ups. Although, not long after she did have to confiscate the magazine from Auggie, who had it tucked in between sheets of music in an attempt to discreetly read it.

The magazine sat in her desk for majority of the day and it wasn't until her free period that afternoon, was she no longer able to resist opening the magazine. It didn't help that she had received an email from Emily inviting her to lunch at the end of the week. For so long she had managed to put her former band out of her mind and all in the span of a few hours, it was all being forced back into the forefront of her mind.

She ran her fingers gently over the picture of her younger self. It had been so long since she'd worn her hair in its natural shade that seeing the red hair on her teenage self, it made her pause. She released a soft sigh as she gently trailed her fingers over the pictures of the other band members, pausing the longest to look at the pictures of the women who had been her closest friends, Aubrey and Beca, before turning the page to pick up where Auggie had left off.

The tour is slated to kick off this coming June in Atlanta, Georgia, and the committed trio hopes that by then, Aubrey, Chloe, and possibly even Beca—who has seen great success as a solo artist—could come on board.

I am also allowed to reveal that Abe McDonald, the man that made a Shotgun Daises reunion possible will return as the group's PR exec. Also, legendary manager, Gail Abernathy, who masterminded the band's image the first time around is returning to complete the Bella's dream team.

If there's a man who knows a thing or two about getting one of the world's biggest bands back together, it's Abe McDonald. He reunited Shotgun Daises in 2006, three decades after they split—and he states Aubrey, Beca, and Chloe would be mad to miss a reunion.

In an exclusive interview, Abe, told me: "I saw the little one [Beca] recently and said to her, 'You need to stop running from what you did all those years ago,' — because they changed everything."

Fingers crossed the band's three front women take Abe's advice. The Bellas were a phenomenon who changed rock— and Plectrum has charted their every twist and turn since their start. Their millions of fans deserve a final chance to see them together again and prove that despite the various paths their lives have taken, the Heart and Soul of each of these women still remains at the Rockshow.

Chloe sighed. While she had never forgotten her former band, she tried not to commiserate on the loss of what once brought her a lot of happiness. She accepted her part in their breakup a long time ago and cheered from afar when she'd see articles on their successes. Every now and then she'd do a google search just to see where each woman was in their life.

All the reports on Fat Amy were her stumbling out of nightclubs with muscled guys, rumors of her with latest high profile boyfriend, or being drunk and rowdy at celebrity parties. It looked like she was considered a 'D-list celebrity' having had a failed string of solo projects and with the ever present tagline in reports 'washed up drummer.'

Emily was engaged to a prolific orchestra conductor. Both were employed by the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, and there were lots of pictures of her doing charity work and accompanying her fiancé to various high profile events.

Cynthia Rose had gone on to gain success as a music producer, being responsible for the discovery of several still popular groups and artists. Beca had also been very successful after the dissolution of their band and had gone on to release four successful albums to date. She wasn't afraid to admit that Beca's third album, Luisa, is one of her favorite albums. And Aubrey, like Chloe moved back to Georgia and found a quiet life. There were reports on fan sightings of her going shopping or in and around town but she rarely stopped for pictures so no one could confirm if it really was her.

The seventh period bell rang reminding Chloe that she was still at work. She sighed and closed the magazine. She looked at her phone, remembering that she had agreed to meet Emily and she wondered if this lunch was an ambush to get her to agree to the tour. She wondered if Cynthia Rose and Fat Amy set up a similar situation to meet with Aubrey and Beca. With a chuckle, she stood up to greet her next class, I hope, for their sake, that Aubrey and Beca don't figure out what they're attempting to do. Because if they do… she shuddered and tried not to imagine it.

Chloe had long ago prayed for an opportunity to make amends with the five women she loved more than life itself and she felt for the first time that maybe this tour was God giving her that chance.

Aubrey rubbed the temples of her forehead, sighing as she marked yet another question wrong on the midterm in front of her. She didn't understand how a student could declare engineering as a major and not put any effort into passing classes, such as hers, that were crucial to their degree. She wrote the number 64 in large letters at the top and circled it before placing the stapled sheets onto the pile of exams she'd already graded.

As she reached for another, a small chime sounded from her macbook. Thankful for the distraction, she ran her fingers across the trackpad to wake up her screen. Her eyes widened when she read the name of the messenger. Cynthia Rose

Cynthia Rose (11:14 am): Hey, I'm going to be in Atlanta in a few days promoting a show. I would really like to see you. Maybe we can meet for lunch?

Several thoughts ran through her mind at first, the primary question being how Cynthia Rose got her email address. She quickly stopped pondering it when she remembered that anyone with access to the internet could probably find she worked at UGA. A knock at her office door pulled her out of the cyclical thoughts and she let out a long breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Aubrey?"

She looked up blankly to see Marc standing in the doorframe. "Hey," she murmured and look back at her computer.

"Everything ok?" he asked, walking into the room and pulling the chair from around her desk to take a seat next to her.

"Cynthia Rose," Aubrey replied, adding after Marc raised an eyebrow in question, "the bassist from my former band. She invited me to lunch." Her eyes continued to scan the message and silence stretched between them before Marc let out a low whistle, "Well, that's a bit out of the blue."

Aubrey nodded and let out a hollow laugh which did nothing to relieve the tension in the room, "No shit," she said and sighed when Marc looked at her in surprise because she rarely swore.

Marc reached over and placed a hand on her knee, squeezing it as a sign of support while Aubrey sat quietly trying to digest what Cynthia Rose's message meant for her. Her mind reeled as the mental levees burst and her brain was flooded with memories of a time she wanted desperately to forget. She hadn't spoken to anyone from her old life for the past fifteen years. Of course, after she left that early Sunday morning to return to Missouri, they had all tried to contact her but after a year of two of not responding they gave up. Beca had tried for a little longer, but Aubrey pushed away the thought of Beca, her name painful even now.

"So, are you going to go?" Marc asked and Aubrey looked up at him with a painfilled frown. Marc scooted to the edge of his seat to pull her into his arms. Aubrey rested her forehead against his shoulder and released a deep exhale. He kissed the crown of her head and said, "It's not like you're meeting with the entire band. Didn't you say that you used to be really close to Cynthia Rose. Maybe it'll do you some good to reconnect."

Aubrey looked up to meet his eyes, "I…I don't know."

"Hey, what about this," he began, rubbing soothing circles on her back, "I'll drive you there. If it gets to be too much, I'll be right outside to take you home."

Aubrey pondered his suggestion in silence before sighing and pulling away from his embrace. She sat up turned back to her screen. Before she could change her mind, and ignoring the knots in her stomach which told her that this was probably a bad idea, she quickly typed out a message to Cynthia Rose, agreeing to meet with her. She sat back in her office chair with an exhale.

Turning her head to look at Marc, she said, "What're you doing here anyway. You're never on campus on Tuesdays."

March chuckled and sat back in his chair while crossing his arms. "I'm going to take that as a sign that you forgot about the department meeting today."

Aubrey palmed her forehead and sighed, "Dammit. I did."

"Then consider yourself lucky that I was considerate enough to stop by," he joked only to laugh harder when Aubrey scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"You think Percy will be pissed if I skip? I need to finish grading."

Marc shrugged. "He probably will but I wouldn't worry too much about it. You know how these meetings go—"

"Two hours of endless talking about nothing."

"Exactly. But I probably should go," he said and stood. "Unlike you, I have no ungraded exams to excuse me." He leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead before making his way towards the door.

"Oh, screw you, Marc," Aubrey said with a laugh, "Everyone doesn't have four G.A.s at their disposal."

Marc only gave a smug smirk and a shrug as he crossed the threshold out into the hallway. Aubrey shook her head at his antics, a small smile on her face as she turned her attention back to her work.

"Crap, that's what I meant to tell you," he said, peeking his head back in the door. "It's probably nothing but with this whole lunch thing, I thought it'd be best to let you know there's a rumor going around about a tour for the Bellas."

She frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"I overheard Henry talking about it. Apparently, he read on some site about a reunion tour for the Bellas."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and returned to grading. "It's a rumor."

Marc shrugged, "Like I said, it's probably nothing but I don't want you to be caught out unaware."

She nodded and waited for him to leave before dropping her pen and dropping her head into her hands. She knew it was too good to be true, Cynthia Rose reaching out just for the sake of wanting to reconnect. There probably was some sincerity to her invitation with the intention of reconnecting but if there was a talk of a tour, she knew CR probably felt she was in the best position to convince Aubrey. Until she left the band, CR and Stacie were her best frienes of all the women.

Aubrey wondered why she hadn't heard of this rumor until now, before remembering that she didn't use any form of social media and that all of her colleagues and friends that new of her past life had learned very quickly not to mention anything about her former band if they didn't want to piss her off. Because of that, it wasn't surprising that if they knew, no one told her. She thought about what it would mean to be famous again, the lack of privacy, the crazed fans, the tabloid gossip, the betrayal. She had managed to build a quiet life for herself and a modest career in engineering before going on to teach. When she left all those years ago, the mundaneness of her current life was necessary after living in a goldfish bowl with her every move and word scrutinised for so long.

No one in her life really cared that she'd once been in a band, that she'd once been famous; people had learned not to mention it, at least not around her. Her mother still had the awards and platinum discs at home, but Aubrey had made her put them in the attic so they weren't on display whenever she visited her.

Deciding to just bite the bullet and see if the rumor was true, she pulled up her web browser and with shaky hands, Aubrey typed "The Bellas" into the search engine and pressed enter.

Her lips parted slightly in surprise at the amount of recent search results that came back. The tabloid reports on some of the other women, the number of people still talking on social media about them, fan pages that were active and so much more. She had no idea that her former band was still so popular. Aubrey had occasional seen things in gossip magazines about Beca and Cynthia Rose while waiting in the line at the grocery store, but she had always made sure to distract herself with counting the items in her cart until she had reached the cashier and could no longer see the magazines.

Aubrey had built up a quiet life in Athens with nothing but work, Marc, his family and one or two friends. She no longer grew her hair past her shoulder and no longer straightened it. Instead it was dyed a very dark brown, that looked brown in certain lights, and left it to fall in lose curls at her shoulders if she wanted to put the effort in. Other times she would leave it in a bun, secured at the back of her head. She had even been using the name Aubrey Reid for many years so that most people she met would never guess that she had once been a sixth of one of the largest rockbands in the nineties. Aubrey felt a pang in her stomach every time she clicked on a link with a photo of Beca. She'd managed to avoid most media over the last fifteen years and she had blocked out most memories of her time in the band.

Looking at photos of the group, of Beca, of old photos of herself with the band, it all brought back such a surge of feelings. Waves of emotions she had repressed for fifteen years flooded over her. She revised her search term and typed "The Bellas reunion." Her eyes narrowed and she cursed out loud as she scanned the recent results.

"I'm going to kill you CR," she murmured to herself as she clicked on the first link.

Three Days Later

Emily stepped out of the crosswalk onto the sidewalk and made her way to the patio area of the restaurant where she was set to meet CR and Fat Amy. She only had to look around for a few seconds before she spotted CR waving her over. She made her way to the table that was situated not far from the entrance of the restaurant. She looked at Fat Amy on her left who sat in the small booth and once she saw that the drummer had no plans to move over she sighed and took a seat next to CR.

"Oh, don't look so upset Legacy." Fat Amy said. "I need the space, CR doesn't."

The other two rolled their eyes.

"I know we agreed to invite them separately so that they wouldn't be suspicious but they're not stupid. I'm sure they've heard about the tour by now." Emily said as she looked at the plastic menu in front of her.

"Yeah but each article mentioned that neither of the three signed on. If anything, they'll each want to show up to confirm that they aren't doing it," Fat Amy said.

"Do they know that the others will be here?" Emily asked.

Cynthia Rose scoffed, "Of course not. Otherwise, they wouldn't show."

"Cynthia Rose?" the three looked up into the confused face of Chloe. However, before they could speak, two voices coming from opposite directions stopped them.

Beca, seeming to have approached from the west side of the street and Aubrey, seeming to have made her way from the opposite direction, each shouted, "What are they doing here?"

So here's the next chapter. In the process of editing chapter four now so expect that in a few days. For some reason, using asterisks as a break aren't showing up when I publish it so I'll have to go back in and add a break line. So I apologize if the previous chapters seem to run from one scene to the other without some sort of indicator that the scene has changed. Not quite sure how you guys like the format of alternating between the past and present with each chapter. Please let me know. So I'll probably end up using maybe spotify or creating a post on tumblr with links since I know everyone doesn't have spotify and if you use the free service you can only shuffle the songs. Also if I used spotify I can't show the album covers I created to go with each album. Would you guys rather I release the playlists as each album is mentioned in the story (there are 6 Bellas albums and beca's recent solo album)? Anyway, it's somewhat late and I'm going to head to bed. Please review if you have the chance.

Update: I've uploaded to tumblr the info for beca's solo album that she talked about in chapter 1. post (slash) 163390635453 (slash) so-heres-the-first-album-for-when-the-music. I know it's a pain to have to put that into the address bar with the way I've written it, but if you just search the tag on tumblr "when the music fades (pp)" or "when the music fades" it should come up.