I'm so happy with the response! Hope you like this chapter, it was a bit of a bitch to edit lol
Chapter Four - Wish You Were Here
I can be tough, I can be strong
But with you, it's not like that at all
There's a girl that gives a shit
Behind these walls, you just walked through it
To say Aubrey was shocked when she received a message from Emily with a link to an Instagram profile would be the understatement of the year.
Her eyes widened as she opened Calamity's Instagram and her feed was filled with pictures of her and Beca. They were almost always matching outfits, Beca had gotten her ear monstrosities back, got more tattoos and she looked more like Freshman Year Beca. Well that and she actually looked gay. Not that she didn't before but sometimes she had on masculine clothes, her hair pulled back and, of course, Calamity wrapped around her neck.
She's DATING Calamity?! Aubrey was quick to send to Emily.
Not just dating, actually, Calamity proposed last week, there's a highlight in both of their profiles, was Emily's response.
Aubrey didn't answer, she went back to Instagram and found the highlight in Calamity's profile. She couldn't deny it was sweet and not something she imagined Calamity doing. So many roses and candles, it was amazing.
Shit, you know what this means right? Aubrey sent it to Emily.
You have to tell Chloe before she finds out, Emily answered.
Chloe's been so much better, this will destroy her, Aubrey sent but didn't expect a response. She took a deep breath and waited for the redhead to get out of the shower.
It'd been a year and a half since Beca disappeared and Chloe was definitely doing better. She wasn't 100% fine just yet but the dark circles under her eyes were gone and she was functioning a whole lot better. She hated that she had to show this to her, this would absolutely destroy her.
"Hey Bree, everything okay?" Chloe asked as she came into the dining room/kitchen where Aubrey was working on her computer.
They'd managed to get a bigger apartment, with an actual bathroom and separate bedrooms. So now they didn't have to shower in the middle of the apartment or share a bed anymore.
"Actually, I need to tell you something, Chlo," Aubrey said with a sigh. "You should sit,"
Chloe frowned but took a seat anyway, eyeing her friend weirdly.
"I hate doing this to you now that you're doing so much better," Aubrey sighed, "but I found Beca,"
Chloe's eyes widened.
"You did?" she asked.
"Actually, Emily did," Aubrey said. "And I hate to say this but.. Beca's engaged,"
Chloe's face dropped. For a moment she didn't say anything.
"To who?" Chloe asked.
"Calamity," Aubrey watched her reaction carefully. Chloe tilted her head and a second later it hit her.
"Evermoist Calamity? That girl from one of the other bands?" Chloe was getting angry. Better yet, she was getting furious.
"Yeah," Aubrey said. "She proposed last week, there's a highlight in their Instagrams,"
"I can't believe it!" Chloe said.
"There's more," Aubrey said. "Beca produced Evermoist's first album and the girls call her Ferocity now. That's her Instagram handle, that's why we couldn't find her."
Chloe grabbed Aubrey's phone and looked at Beca's profile. She looked shocked as she went through it, but when she looked up at Aubrey, there were tears running down her face.
"She's engaged?" she asked. Damn it, she was feeling so much better, why couldn't she just move on like the brunette had done?
"I'm sorry, Chlo," Aubrey said.
"And she's in LA, of course," Chloe said, wiping her tears. "Why didn't I think of that?"
There was a moment of silence as Chloe went through the girl's feed, looking at the pictures.
"She's changed," Chloe said.
"Yeah," Aubrey said. "A little bit,"
"I doubt we'll be hearing about the wedding," Chloe said.
"Yeah," Aubrey sighed and watched Chloe carefully, "Do you wanna talk? How do you feel?"
"I'm pissed!" Chloe said. "How could she? She disappears, leaving no trace behind, leaving me heartbroken and then we find out she was all happy this whole time dating the girl from fucking Evermoist?!"
Aubrey said nothing as Chloe dropped her phone.
"I need to talk to her," she said.
"Wait, what? Why?" Aubrey asked.
"To ask her if the sky's blue," Chloe deadpanned. "To confront her, Bree, that's why! How fucking dare she!"
"Chloe, maybe it's not such a good idea," Aubrey said.
"I don't care, I wanna give her a piece of my mind," Chloe said, grabbing her own phone. "You just don't do that!"
"Chloe," Aubrey said. "Think about it, please don't go starting a fight,"
"She's the one who started the fight! By leaving and not even saying anything," Chloe said, sending Beca a direct message on her Instagram.
Aubrey said nothing, giving up on trying to rationalize with her best friend. Chloe could be very stubborn once she got an idea, it was hard to get her to give up.
"She's got like 2 million followers, she probably won't see her DMs," Aubrey said.
"Then I'll call the studio and leave her a message," Chloe said. "She has to listen."
Aubrey grabbed her hand and finally made her look into her green eyes.
"Chloe, why are you doing this?" Aubrey asked.
"Because she hurt me, Aubrey, she hurt me and she didn't even care, she just left!" Chloe said, tears falling from her eyes again.
oO0Oo
By the end of the week, all the Bellas knew about Beca's engagement and they were all shocked. Everybody missed the brunette and they all were confused when she disappeared. All the girls tried texting her or calling but nobody was successful. Not everyone shared Chloe's anger, Cynthia Rose said Beca was lucky, Calamity was hot, while others just wished they could've known sooner so they could congratulate Beca. Stacie, Flo and Emily were quiet.
CR: Yo girls, I live in LA, I could probably find the happy couple
Stacie: How would you do that?
CR: I know where Khaled's studio is, I could find her
Chloe: Yes, go find her and punch her in the face for me
Amy: whomp, Red's mad
Chloe: I am mad, how dare she?
CR: I'm a lover not a fighter, I can find her but there will be no punches
Chloe didn't answer.
Jessica: Maybe find her and say we all miss her?
Emily: Ask her why she disappeared like that
Stacie: Send her a Bella message, convince her to talk to us again
Stacie: BTW, did you see she identifies herself as Ferocity?
Chloe: that little mitch!
Chloe: *bitch!
Aubrey: CR, if you do get in touch with her, let us know!
CR: yes ma'am
And the group chat went silent.
The next few days, all Chloe did was wait for Cynthia Rose's response. She was dying to know if she managed to get in touch with Beca and in case she did, what the brunette had to say.
It was two weeks after their discovery that Cynthia Rose messaged the group again.
CR: yo, got some news
Jessica: Spill
Ashley: say it omg
Emily: it's about Beca, right?
CR: I got in touch with Beca
Chloe: AND? OM-aca-G CR please let us know the whole thing
Stacie: ya, you're killing us
CR: she was different, she was happy to see me, but she didn't want to see you guys
Emily: What? Why?
Stacie: starting to hate her
Chloe: Starting to?
CR: she's afraid you won't forgive her for disappearing, she's embarrassed
Jessica: awww come on, of course we forgive her, we miss her
Emily: we just wanna talk to her or see her again
Stacie: we want to understand her decisions
CR: I'm going to dinner with her and Ruby tonight, I'll try to reason with her
Stacie: Ruby?
CR: Calamity
Emily: please let us know how dinner goes
CR: Guys I want her to talk to you as much as you, I have to lay the ground first
Aubrey: you're right
Aubrey: good luck CR
And the group chat was quiet again. Chloe almost threw her phone away in frustration, but Aubrey was glad she didn't. She was actually glad the redhead was dealing with this differently than she'd initially thought. She thought the girl would be broken all over again. Anger was much, much better than zombie Chloe.
The next morning, the two girls sat down to read the messages from Cynthia Rose.
CR: updates
CR: Beca told me she left because she couldn't deal with liking one of us and pretending it didn't hurt her, so she had to take a break, so she moved to LA
CR: she met Evermoist and got to date Ruby and before she knew it, an entire year had gone by and she didn't have the balls to contact us
CR: she was avoiding us because she needed time for herself, but yes y'all are going to get an invitation to her wedding
CR: she wants to talk to you guys again, she wants to apologize and see how you're doing
Stacie: okay, we're all spread around the country, though
Emily: is she getting back in the group chat?
CR: she wanted me to see if you guys would be down to coming to LA to meet Ruby
Aubrey: all of us?
CR: yes, she asked for everyone
Aubrey: did she say a specific date or are you her secretary?
CR: lol she asked me to see which date would be best for you guys
Stacie: I can only come for a weekend, I can't stay away from Bella for too long
Emily: You know the 4th of July is coming soon, how about that?
Jessica: works for me
Ashley: I'm in
Flo: me too
Amy: yep
Aubrey: I'll confirm for me and Chloe
Chloe: no need to, we're going
CR: oh yes, I'll let her know guys
Aubrey looked at Chloe with a frown.
"Are you sure you're okay with that?" Aubrey asked.
"Yeah," Chloe said. "I'm not gonna punch Beca's face, but I have to talk to her. At least to get some closure."
Aubrey nodded, feeling more at ease. Her friend was being a lot more mature, she was glad she had given up on punching Beca.
oO0Oo
And I remember all those crazy things you said
You left them running through my head
You're always there, you're everywhere
But right now I wish you were here
As Chloe finished packing her stuff and met Aubrey by the front door, she had to remind herself to take a deep breath as the two got out of their apartment and went to the lobby to call a cab. They hadn't seen Beca in a year and half and as much as it hurt at first, Aubrey was looking forward to it, hoping seeing her would bring Chloe some closure, she hated seeing the girl hung up on her.
As they sat in the cab and drove through New York, Aubrey looked at Chloe, who looked very nervous and placed a hand on top of hers.
"You know I'm here for you right?" Aubrey said. "I hope it all goes well."
"Thanks Bree," Chloe said sincerely before looking back out the window.
They met Amy at the airport. The Australian was living alone now but they still met up regularly, meaning every week if not everyday. They were in the same flight to LA, they were the first ones to leave since they lived the farthest.
"Chlo, you nervous?" Amy asked. "I don't think all the Bellas know what went down when Beca left,"
"I'm a bit nervous," Chloe nodded.
"It's okay, they don't have to know," Aubrey said.
"Yeah, I just wanna talk to Beca," Chloe said.
Amy nodded and they remained quiet, either listening to music or reading something, waiting to board.
The flight was excruciatingly long, but Amy was able to get them first class tickets so they'd be more comfortable. One of the perks of finding out she was suddenly a millionaire.
Chloe couldn't sleep though, she stared out the window and imagined what it'd be like when she finally saw Beca again. Would the brunette be awkward? Would she act like nothing ever happened? Only time would tell.
Since the Bellas would be getting in at different times, Beca made arrangements for them to be taken to their hotel and then they'd meet in her favorite bar, which she reserved just for them.
"Apparently, Beca's swimming in money, too," Amy said as they got in the car that would take them to their hotel.
"Winning two Grammy's can do that to you," Aubrey said.
"She won a Grammy?" Amy asked.
"She won two, get with the facts, Ames," Aubrey said. "For the album she produced and rumor has it she's nominated for another four."
"Whoa," Chloe said.
"I know," Amy said.
The three girls had a few hours before meeting the rest of the girls and Beca, so they decided to take a nap, Chloe needing one more than ever, she was exhausted.
Four hours later, Aubrey woke her up by calling her and told her to be ready in 30 minutes for them to leave. Chloe took a shower to try and get rid of the jetlag and look somewhat presentable.
Well over the year, due to anxiety and depression she'd been dealing with in the beginning, she lost about 20 lbs and was still struggling to get them back so people still said she looked like a walking skeleton. Her health was alright though, aside from the weight, she was healthy.
When she was ready, Chloe was happy to be reunited with her Bella sisters in the lobby, exchanging hugs while they waited for the van that was taking them to the bar.
"Red, you look like you're about to be blown away by a medium-sized wind," Stacie said, hugging her nonetheless.
"Yeah," Chloe said awkwardly. "Lost some weight due to stress,"
"Show me that stress because my baby's a year and a half and I still haven't lost the baby weight," Stacie said to which Chloe chuckled.
As the driver got to the hotel with the van, they met with Cynthia Rose before going off to the bar.
It was one of those rooftop bars that were so typical and screamed LA and with the amazing evening they had, being outdoors was going to be no problem at all.
Chloe felt the anxiety levels rise up as she stepped outside and the girls looked around the bar. She spotted the familiar brunette with her turtleneck black top sitting by the bar, but she got up when the girls got there.
Chloe stopped in her tracks but was thankful when Emily nudged her forward so she kept going until everyone was standing in front of Beca.
"Hey guys,"