We're here at day two of SpookFest, which will leave you not wanting to sleep, as we welcome you to Beca and Chloe's nightmare. Thank you to BeChloeIsLegit, RidiculouslyOverObsessed, Cheeyathebard and annakendrick47 for making SpookFest a reality. This prompt was based on Alice Cooper's 'Welcome to My Nightmare'
Is This a Nightmare?
Chloe had hoped this retreat would help the Bellas regain their sound, but it was easy to see that her best friend was at the end of her patience. The redhead understood that they were singing a bunch of songs from decades past, but they were fun, and Aubrey was coming up with some great team building exercises. Why couldn't Beca give it a chance?
She saw the petite woman give an exasperated huff, before she asked, "I'm sorry, what are we doing?"
"We're rediscovering our sound," Chloe replied, trying to keep an upbeat tone.
"Are we?" Beca exclaimed. She waved at all the Bellas as she continued, "'Cause it seems like we're just singing songs that would never go in our set."
Chloe tried to soften her best friend, "Beca, come on."
The younger woman looked so fed u. "None of us know how to beat Das Sound Machine, but I know it's not going to be by doing this."
"This is just an exercise in finding harmony, Beca. Sometimes you have to break things down before you can build them back up again," Aubrey offered.
"I've got more important things to do!" Beca exploded, cutting Aubrey off.
"What could be more important than this?" asked Chloe truly perplexed by this statement. She knew Beca had been pulling away from the Bellas and her, but for her co-captain to blatantly say she had more important things than the Bellas.
The angry brunette immediately tried to backpedal. "Nothing, forget it."
"No, you don't think we haven't all realized we've been a little checked out lately?
"Just tell her Beca," said Amy.
"Tell me what?" Chloe asked. She had overheard Amy, which just served to confirm that Beca had been hiding something from her.
"Okay," Beca said in a huff, finally fed up with the Bellas and this entire retreat. "I've been interning at a recording studio and a legit music producer wants to hear my work. God forbid I have something going on besides this group."
"Okay," Chloe retorted. She was actually quite hurt that her best friend would keep such amazing news from her. "Why would you keep something like that from us."
"Because you're obsessed! All of you!" Beca yelled. "We are graduating and the only one thinking about life after the Bellas is me."
"What's wrong with focusing on the Bellas?" Chloe yelled right back. "This has been my family for the last seven years."
"Yeah because you're too scared to leave," Beca retorted. "Sack up dude."
The two captains just stood there, just staring at each other. Chloe was not sure how this had escalated so quickly and she was feeling so much hurt it was beginning to feel like physical pain.
"Okay," Chloe said. "So you've been lying to us for a year and now you are going to just flake out before World's."
"Oh my God," Beca said, exasperated. "Enough about the World's. That's it, I'm outta here."
Beca turned on her heel and started walking towards the tent where her stuff was.
"Oh, okay," Chloe said. "You're just going to leave now?"
"We all have to eventually Chloe," Beca said. "It might as well be now."
"Fine then," Chloe yelled. "We don't need you anyway!"
Beca simply flipped her off but didn't turn around again. The brunette was too furious to see the redhead begin to sob or fall to her knees. She couldn't believe this was happening. How had this weekend become such a nightmare?
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
It took time for Chloe to settle down. All the Bellas tried to offer sympathy, but in truth the only thing that was going to help Chloe was to talk to Beca. When this realization struck Chloe she pushed herself up and past the Bellas. She took off in a full on sprint. She raced through the forest, heedless of the bear traps. She needed to make things right with Beca, nothing else matters.
She did not stop till she was in the Bellas lone tent. It quickly became apparent that her worst fears were realized as all of Beca's belongings were gone. It was a nightmare. Without hesitation Chloe took off towards the main lodge. Years of cardio came in handy as she raced all the way to the main lodge.
Upon entering the lodge, Chloe was frantic as she looked about. She realized she must look a bit crazy as she moved about the grand room of the lodge. When she was sure Beca wasn't there, she ran into the foyer. Again she looked about, desperate to find her best friend. It couldn't end like this.
Pushing through the door Chloe was momentarily blinded by the midday sun. When her vision cleared her heart sank. She recognized the car that was pulling away from the lodge.
Reflexively Chloe sprinted after the car. She pumped her legs faster than she had ever run before. Yet no matter how fast she ran, she continued to fall behind. She lifted her hand and shouted.
"BECA!"
Yet the car continued to pull away.
"Beca…" Chloe whispered.
Is this a nightmare?
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
The Bellas returned to their house, tired and feeling worse than when they had left on Friday. Chloe immediately made her way to the loft where Beca's and Amy's room was.
"Beca?" Chloe called as she ran up the steps. "Beca? Becs…" The redhead faltered as she saw the empty room. Worse, she noticed that all of Beca's possessions had been removed.
The redhead slowly dropped to the floor at the top of the stairs. It was her worst nightmare come true. Beca had quit; quit the Bellas… quit her…
I can't believe this nightmare...
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
The Bellas approached the stage as Das Sound Machine finished their performance. The German's had killed their mix of 'My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark' and 'All I Do is Win'
From where Chloe was standing, DSM had completely torched the groups who had competed on the stage before. Yet she was confident. The girls had come together after Beca's betrayal, and they had really worked hard on the set-list. Granted Chloe didn't have Beca's talent, but with Cynthia Rose's help, and Stacie's, they had been able to build something great.
"Where is the tiny maus?" Kommisar asked the Bellas as they made their way to the stage. "I so wanted to hear so many more compliments. She is so adorable trying to be feisty."
"She left," Chloe said indignantly. "But we don't need her to kick your asses all over the stage."
"Oh my," Kommisar responded. "That is delightful news. We should really send her a fruit basket."
"Oh-ja," Pieter agreed. "A fruit basket, ja. Yum yum."
"You see Bellas," Kommisar said. "With the Tiny mouse you would have had a chance to beat us. A small chance, tiny like the maus. Without her, you are all lost little puppies."
Glaring at the smug Germans, Chloe couldn't find any words to say, mostly because in her righteous anger she couldn't form any words. Yet a part of her knew Kommissar was right. She loved Beca partly because the woman was the most talented person she had ever met. Beca not being there was a nightmare come true for the redhead.
"I would wish you good luck Bellas," Kommisar said before walking out of the backstage. "But it will do you no good."
"Don't listen to them girls," Chloe said with true conviction. "We can do this. We just have to go out there and do it the way we rehearsed."
"Yeah, we got this," Cynthia Rose agreed.
"I know a lot of the people in the audience will wonder why the most talented woman on the American team is Australian, but they will also see you're all pretty talented too," added Amy.
"We got this Bellas!" Chloe said, "On three!"
The Bellas all put their hands in, and on three each hit their note perfectly. They all missed Beca, and there was a sense of confusion about their captain abandoning them; they missed her, but were also upset that she would be so self centered.
At a signal from the stagehand, the Bellas took the stage. They were ready to give the performance of their lives.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
The Bellas had given an amazing performance, maybe the second best they ever gave. It wasn't quite as good as the one where they first won Nationals, but Chloe reasoned without Beca there, it just couldn't be as great as that night at the Lincoln Center.
Now they stood waiting to hear their fate.
"And the second place goes to…" the emcee paused for dramatic effect. "The Barden Bellas of the United States.
The crowd erupted in applause and cheers as the emcee continued, "And the winning team is Das Sound Machine of Germany!" The roar of the audience grew even louder.
Chloe fell to her knees.
Her worst nightmare had come true.
It was all her fault. She was the reason the Bellas would now be disbanded. Her drive had driven away the most talented of the Bellas, and the girl she had secretly been in love with. Her neuroticism had pushed Beca away and the Bellas had paid the price.
What a nightmare!
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
What had happened to the joy, the happiness, the love?
She had walked away from Chloe, when the redhead had made one last desperate attempt to find the Bellas sound.
The redhead closed her eyes, and allowed herself to dissolve in the sorrow, when the men showed up and started taking things away from the Bellas house. She protested, trying to take back household items, yelling at the men that those weren't theirs to take, but they simply looked to the Dean, who nodded and instructed them to continue. The furniture was to be sold off to pay for various bills that had been accrued.
Just as the house was starting to look hollow, the Bellas made their way out with their personal items. Jessica and Ashley were the first, and they gave Chloe a hug and left together. Flo was next, and said something about being used to this as the army had kicked her family out of three homes back in her home country. Cynthia Rose and Fat Amy were next. They walked by without saying anything to her. Chloe knew they rightly blamed her for the fall of the Bellas, and she couldn't blame them. It was all her fault.
As the house emptied of the rest of the Bellas, rather than feeling hollow, it began to feel soulless. When they were all gone, Chloe wanted nothing more than to leave herself, but she had one last act to perform as the last Bella captain.
When all were gone, and the movers had taken all of the Bellas furniture, Chloe stepped up to the Dean, and handed the keys to the house, and with that the Bellas were no more.
Now Chloe stood on the street in front of the house that had been her home for the last six years, with nowhere to go.
This is such a nightmare!
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
"What do you mean I didn't graduate?" Chloe asked in shock.
"You're short three requirements," the administrator said. She was very patient, but there was a bit of condemnation.
"That can't be. I should have enough credits for two majors and three minors," Chloe argued.
"Oh you do have enough for the three minors, but unfortunately you have to have a major completed to graduate."
"But I passed Russian Lit, so I should have enough for my Literary degree, and I finished all requirements for my Creative Writing degree. Heck I should just about meet all the requirements for my English degree."
"Oh you do," the woman behind the counter agreed. "If you finish these four requirements, you will actually have three degrees."
"But how?"
"The requirements were changed at the end of last year. The good news is with those four classes you will have all three degrees."
Reading through the information about the changes to the requirements for graduation. "Wait, this last course, it's a requirement for all three degrees?"
"Yes dear," replied the woman. She said it kindly with a lot of enthusiasm, as if she were giving Chloe good news.
"But it's only offered in the Spring semester," Chloe pointed out.
"I'm afraid so," the woman said, "but think, when you've finished, you will have three degrees." The woman was really trying to put a positive spin on this.
"What a nightmare," Chloe mumbled, "another year of college."
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
"I'm sorry ChloBear, we just don't have the money for one more year."
"I know Mom," Chloe sighed into the phone. "To be honest I'm not even sure I want to do one more year."
"But you're so close, ChloBear," Chloe's mother pointed out.
"But all my friends are gone, the Bellas are gone, Beca's…" Chloe trailed off, not able to finish the sentence. The pain was too raw.
She held the phone to her forehead, feeling a major headache coming on. She was so close to moving on, to have it taken away was soul shattering. Could she even do one more year of school. She was so tired, and now without her Bellas family, without Beca, she really didn't have the energy.
She was so ready to just give up.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
Chloe started the day by checking her phone. No replies to any of her job enquiries. She was starting to worry. Trying not to think about how much she needed a job. She had to get an apartment, and figure out how she was going to finance one more year of school.
She thought about the anguish she had suffered in the short time since the retreat. The blood, sweat and tears time extracted from her had come to naught. She knew she had screwed everything up, and now she had lost her home, the Bellas, her friends, her future, and her best friend.
When Beca left, Chloe felt a sense of betrayal so deep that it shattered what little was left of her into a billion tiny little pieces. Beca had taken every little piece of her heart clinging to her as she shut Chloe out of her life.
The redhead had reached out to Beca, but the brunette had blocked her, and changed her number. Chloe had even sent several letters, but they were all returned to sender. It didn't seem real, but Beca had cut Chloe out of her life completely.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
Depression swallowed Chloe whole.
Without Beca nothing seemed worthwhile.
She hadn't been able to continue school, so she didn't have her degree. She didn't have time for school anyway, as she worked three jobs to make end's meet.
One day she heard a familiar voice on the radio, and she sat stunned as she realized it was Beca. Having moved to LA, Beca had realized her dream and had been signed by a label. They made her a star, and just as Chloe had always believed, Beca had blown up.
The worst moment though came the first time Chloe had watched Beca on a late night talk show. Chloe had of course made sure she could watch it.
It was a mistake.
First the host had congratulated Beca on her recent engagement to her longtime boyfriend. The camera had flashed to Jesse, sitting in the audience looking so happy and a bit smug. Chloe had never hated him more. Beca had just gushed about their relationship.
The host had then talked about Beca's meteoric rise to the top. He had learned that Beca had been a part of the Bellas and started delving into their story. He easily made a joke out of the Bellas, reminding the audience about Muffgate, and a cappella in general. What made it worse was that Beca just went along with his jokes, joined in on them, and even began to offer her own embarrassing anecdotes about her former teammates; especially the loser co-captain who couldn't graduate year after year because she was too scare or stupid… or both.
Chloe sat there stunned, then began to sob. She noticed the full bottle of vodka sitting on the coffee table, and remembered she had a full bottle of prescription sleep medicine she had recently got to help her deal with insomnia. With shaky hands she opened both bottles, threw back a couple pills, then gulped down a good portion of the vodka. More pills, then more vodka, more pills then more voka...
This is how I end my nightmare...
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
Beca was at the end of her rope. This retreat that Chloe had dragged the Bellas to was just too much. She needed to be back at Barden, trying to find her voice, to show Sammy she had something to offer. Instead she was in the middle of the woods, singing a bunch of songs she would never include in a Bellas performance, all the while she had to put up with Aubrey barking orders.
She had had enough.
"I'm sorry, what are we doing?" Beca asked. She was just so tired of this bullshit.
"We're rediscovering our sound," said Chloe. Beca knew her friend was trying to be upbeat, but at the moment she found it really grating.
"Are we?" Beca exclaimed. Her temper flared as she indicated the Bellas who were standing about uncomfortably as she continued, "'Cause it seems like we're just singing songs that would never go in our set."
Chloe tried to soften her best friend, "Beca, come on."
The younger woman looked so fed up. "None of us know how to beat Das Sound Machine, but I know it's not going to be by doing this."
"This is just an exercise in finding harmony, Beca. Sometimes you have to break things down before you can build them back up again," Aubrey offered.
"I've got more important things to do!" Beca exploded, cutting Aubrey off.
"What could be more important than this?" asked Chloe. She looked so hurt by this statement.
The angry brunette immediately tried to backpedal, she hated hurting the redhead. "Nothing, forget it."
Unfortunately the redhead couldn't let it go. "No, you don't think we haven't all realized we've been a little checked out lately?
"Come on, Beca, just tell her," Fat Amy stage-whispered.
"I heard that. Tell me what?" Chloe asked. Beca rolled her eyes, of course Chloe heard that, she was way to invested into Beca's business.
The petite brunette gave Amy a look, letting her eyes flash over towards the angry redhead. "You misunderstood me. I clearly said, 'Rum pond, Teca. Rust smell her'," said Fat Amy.
"Oh for God Sake, Ames!" Beca grumbled under her breath. Even for Amy, queen of the BS stories, that was so lame, Beca almost exploded on her.
"Listen, I don't want you guys to fight. You're Beca and Chloe, together you're Bhloe. And everyone loves a good Bhloe. So…"
"Okay," Beca huffed, finally fed up with the Bellas and this entire retreat. "I've been interning at a recording studio and a legit music producer wants to hear my work." The young deejay was really riled now. She was tired and frustrated and ready to take it out on Chloe. "God forbid I have something going on besides this group." It should have been a relief to finally be unburdened of holding that lie, but it wasn't.
"Okay," Chloe retorted. "Why would you keep something like that from us?"
The question was reasonable, and Beca realized how dumb it had been to keep it from her friends. Of course as often is the case, when one finds they've been stupid, she doubled down. "Cause you're obsessed, all of you!" Beca yelled. "We are graduating and the only one thinking about life after the Bellas is me."
The pain on Chloe's features were plain to Beca, and she regretted her words, yet she was too far into the argument. There was a part of her that wanted to take out all of her frustrations on the one person who was always in her corner, and supported her no matter what.
"What's wrong with focusing on the Bellas?" Chloe yelled right back. "This has been my family for the last seven years."
"Yeah because you're too scared to leave," Beca retorted. "Sack up dude." Again she was shocked at the cruelty of her words. She couldn't believe she was saying them to Chloe, her best friend.
"Okay," Chloe said. "So you've been lying to us for a year and now you are going to just flake out before World's."
It was like she was consumed with a burning rage. Chloe's words just set her off "Oh my God!" Beca yelled, exasperated. "Enough about the World's. I've had enough of the Worlds! That's it! I'm outta here."
With that Beca turned on her heel and started marching towards the tent where her stuff was.
"Oh, okay," Chloe said. "You're just going to leave now?"
She was too deep into the anger spiral now "We all have to fucking do it eventually Chloe," Beca said. "It might as well be now, unless you're a loser!"
"Fine then," Chloe yelled back. "We don't need you anyway!"
"Fuck you Chlo!" Beca yelled back as she flipped her off but didn't turn around again. The brunette was too furious to see the redhead begin to sob or fall to her knees.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
Once Beca reached the main lodge she unlocked her phone and hit Jessie's number. After a couple rings he picked up.
"Becaw," Jessie answered.
"Hey Jesse," Beca said weakly, her voice catching.
Jessie knew her better than most, so he immediately noticed Beca was not okay.
"What's wrong," he asked, worriedly.
"Can you come pick me up from the retreat I told you about?" Beca said. "I need a ride."
"I can be there in a couple hours," Jesse said.
"That's fine," Beca sighed. "Anywhere is better than here."
"Okay Becs," Jessie said softly. "I'll be there soon."
"Thanks," Beca said and she ended the call. She felt bad, but she just couldn't do it anymore. She heard footsteps behind her but refused to turn around.
"Go away Chloe," Beca muttered and still didn't look back. "You can't change my mind."
"I'm not here to change your mind," Chloe responded. "I'm here to make sure you don't forget any of your stuff." The brunette turned around surprised as the redhead dropped Beca's bag at her feet. "Since you've quit the team, I expect you to remove your property from the Bellas house."
"What!?" Beca was truly shocked by this.
"You quit the Bellas," Chloe shrugged as she crossed her arms over her chest. "As you're no longer a Bella, you can't remain at the house. I will expect you to have your property out by the time we're back from the retreat."
"You're kicking me out?" Beca asked incredulously.
"No you quit," Chloe responded coldly. "Seems you really are your father's daughter; you lie to us, lie to me, then you run away when you're called on it."
The redhead's words stabbed at Beca, but before she could respond, her former best friend had turned and left the foyer.
"Chlo…" Beca broke down in sobs as the totality of all she had lost suddenly came crashing down upon her.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
"So Reggie, what do you have for me?"
"Ummm-yeah, so I have been trying to find my voice, to show I can do more than mix, and this is what I came up with." Beca punched play on the mixing board, and sat back as her music began to play.
She was really nervous, because truth be told, she wasn't really happy with what she had come up with. It didn't seem to be much more than her usual mixes. She had sung more on these tracks, but it wasn't really original work.
Sammy had her play all the way through and then go back to some specific points. Beca's hope began to grow, as he continued to listen.
"Okay, I've heard enough," said Sammy. Beca hit stop, and then sat back.
"Well Reggie, I hear some improvement over what you first brought me," started Sammy. "But again I was expecting more. There are spots where you almost hit the mark, but you just don't quite have it. You definitely have potential as a backup singer. You're good at providing background vocals, but I just didn't get a sense of real creativity."
With every word, Beca's heart sank further. She fought back tears.
"Look, maybe you just need more time. You know, pay your dues. I'm willing to keep you on as an intern. You up for that?"
"Ummm-yeah," Beca choked out, doing everything she could to hold back her tears.
"Great Reggie, you keep at it, I'm sure you will get it someday."
Beca continued to sit there, ready to break into tears after the Producer had left. She had sacrificed her friends, the Bellas, Chloe, and failed.
What a nightmare!
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
With a deep breath, Beca walked up to Emily's home and rang the doorbell. The petite brunette was nervous. She hoped this would work. Emily had once told Beca that she was constantly writing in her notebook ideas for songs. Maybe working with her would help Beca find the voice that her boss was looking for.
The door opened and the younger woman stood there. The taller brunette was smiling as she opened the door, but as her eyes landed on Beca, her smile dropped and her features hardened.
"Beca? What are you doing here?" Emily asked, even as she crossed her arms.
The petite brunette couldn't help notice the frostiness of the younger woman's words, and she cringed under her glare.
"Umm-yeah, uhh-I wanted to talk to you," Beca replied, suddenly feeling very exposed. She never really liked putting herself out there, she hated vulnerability, yet she really didn't have a choice.
"Now you want to talk?" Emily asked incredulously. If anything her hard stare grew harder.
"Umm-yeah…" Beca swallowed, her mouth suddenly very dry.
"Not before Worlds? Not when we could have used you? We came in second, Beca, with you there we could have won." It still stung to hear that the Bellas had been disbanded.
"Yeah, sorry about that…"
"Why are you here, Beca?"
"Well, it's like, ummm-you're song is really great from what little portion I've heard," Beca said softly. "I'm willing to produce your song for the record studio. You know the one I've been interning for, and I was wondering if you would be interested?"
"Let me get this straight, you bailed on your friends, on the Bellas, and now you want me to work with you?"
"Umm—yeah…"
"You know my dream for years was to be a Bella. To be like my mother, to have similar experiences. I was so excited to join last fall, and to meet you. But now because you had to throw a temper tantrum, to walk away like some spoiled diva, that was taken away from me."
"Look, ummm-I'm sorry, but…"
"Fuck off, Beca!"
"Emily! Please…"
Beca wasn't able to finish, as Emily slammed the door in her face.
God this has become my worst nightmare.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
Beca looked around, alone with the new interns for the label. She pulled over a chair from the corner, setting it next to her computer. She quickly hid her web searches, she had been trying to find some inspiration, to no avail. The others probably didn't care, or would even understand, but she felt like they were some sort of admittance to her failure to move up from a glorified gopher.
Her boss, Sammy came in, all business as usual. "Right, we have a lot to go through, so lets get started." He then proceeded to lay out a number of changes that had happened due to a couple of clients leaving the studio, and some new work coming in. He read off all of their assignments and Beca realized she had been assigned all new work, as all of her old assignments were divided up among the four new interns.
What was worse, she was going to be reporting to Dax!
Her entire plan for work today... for this week, had been thrown out the window just like that. Still, she was a professional, and would at least give her best effort despite still being just an intern at the label.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
"Becaaw! Welcome home!" Jesse smiled as Beca walked in, he was busy at work at the stove with dinner. "I know you said you wanted to go out tonight, but I was thinking you might be tired from your internship, so I decided to cook up your favorite."
Beca forced a smile while she kicked off her shoes and tossed her purse onto the table next to the front door. Jesse knew her well, concern quickly filling his mind. "Did something go wrong?" He immediately asked.
"Oh well, sort of. I don't think my boss likes me. Or thinks I have much of a future." Her face twisted into a frown as she took a seat at the table. Their apartment was small, but well lived in. They had lived there ever since she had left the Bellas. It was okay, but the truth was she missed the Bellas, she missed Chloe.
Something wasn't right though l. Jesse was putting too much effort into this dinner. He only put this much effort when he has to apologize or has news.
"Jesse, what's going on?"
"Ummm-uhh-I don't know what you mean," Jesse stammered.
He had reason to apologize then.
"Jesse…" Beca sighed, not wanting to play this game.
"Well, I have been accepted into Film school…"
"That's great Jesse!" Beca said truly excited for him. He wasn't finished.
"It's USC…"
"In California?"
He nodded. "Los Angeles."
She paused, but managed a weak smile. "I'm happy for you. When do you start? Next Semester?"
"Actually they have a summer program, and I got accepted. I need to be there Monday…"
"Like less than a week, Monday?" Beca's voice raised as she realized Jesse would be moving out in under a week.
"My flight is this Friday, at 8:00AM."
Beca just stared at him. He had put a lot of planning into this. All without giving her any warning. She got up from the table and numbly walked towards the bathroom.
"Beca…" Jesse feebly called out to her, but she didn't respond as she closed the bathroom door, and let the tears flow down her face.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
Sitting there, in the same seat she had for two years now, Beca could only wonder if things would be better if she had just gone to LA back in her freshman year. She could have just avoided all of this. Tyler the Creator was in today, but Beca wasn't in the studio, but instead she was ordering sushi.
SUSHI!
"I should just go to LA," Beca mumbled. "Jesse's already out there." Thinking about it, she realized there wasn't anything tying her down to Atlanta anymore. She had no job, she was done with school, done with the Bellas. Jesse was already out there, so she could stay with him. The distance was straining, but they were still together.
The decision was made. She typed up her letter of resignation., planning on putting her two week notice. It was at that point she saw Sammy coming out of the studio.
Realizing now was as good a time as any, Beca stepped up to the producer. "Ummm-boss, do you have a minute?"
Sammy looked down at her over his shades. "Not really."
"Oh yeah, right, umm, sorry, I just wanted to say I've really appreciated the chances you've given me here…"
"I'm sorry, who are you again?" Sammy asked in frustration.
"Ummm-Beca Mitchell… you know you listened to some of my stuff last year…" Beca rubbed the back of her neck.
"Oh, you're still here? I thought you had left," said Sammy. Then under his breath he continued, "Man take a hint will you."
"Beca stood there frozen for a couple heartbeats, then desperately tried to salvage the moment. "So yeah, I just wanted to thank you for the opportunities, as this is my last day, so thanks for everything."
"Oh, we'll good luck, I got to get back, but yeah good luck," said Sammy as he pointed back to the studio. He left without another word, and Beca couldn't believe how badly that had gone.
It was her worst nightmare.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
Hiking her duffel bag up on her shoulder, Beca made her way up to Jesse's fourth floor apartment, grumbling about the elevator being out of order again. She's only been here a couple times since Jesse moved out, and the elevator has never been working properly. She doesn't really like his apartment, it's always felt stale and never been a place she could picture herself.
Finally arriving at the door, Beca drops her bag with a heavy sigh. She prays that Jesse is home. Everything has happened so fast since she left the internship at Residual Heat, her head has been swimming. She had tried to get ahold of Jesse a couple times, but hadn't had any luck. She had scored a cheap 'red eye' ticket that fit her tight budget, and so bought it l, packed up her bare essentials, and flew in early this morning.
She hears someone moving on the other side of the door, so is thankful he's home. She goes to knock, when the door suddenly opens and a young blonde woman starts to come out. They both freeze for a heartbeat in their shock.
"Beca!" The young blonde shouts and engulfs the surprised brunette in a bone-crushing hug. A hug very similar to those Chloe used to give her. "Oh my god! Beca! This is so cool! Jesse is going to be so happy you're here! He just stepped out, but he should be back any minute. Did he know you were coming?"
"Ummm-no…" Beca started. "I had tried calling, but got his voicemail."
"Oh it must have been when we were on the retreat," the blonde said. "No phones were allowed. Which as you know was really hard on Jesse, but he soldiered through."
"Yeah, hard to picture Jesse without his phone," Beca started. "Umm-I'm sorry, but who…"
"Oh! There he is!" The blonde pointed to the stairs behind Beca. The petite brunette turned to see her boyfriend frozen carrying a drink carrier with two coffees. He looked like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. Unfortunately for both Beca and Jesse, the blonde continued, "Look Jesse! It's your little sister Beca!"
Beca risked whiplash as she turned her head towards the blonde, then back to Jesse.
Jesse broke out of his shock, and put on his most fake smile, as he said, "Yeah! What a surprise! Beca why didn't you call?"
"Oh she did," the blonde jumped in, as Beca was finding the ability to talk difficult. "But it was while we were at the couple's retreat."
"Oh," Jesse said. "Guess I should have checked my voicemail."
"Well I've got to get to the set," the blonde practically skipped to Jesse, and gave him a quick kiss. Jesse at least had the decency to look chagrined. Beca and Jesse just stared at each other for the longest time. Then Beca scooped up her duffel bag, and started towards the stairwell.
"Beca…"
The petite brunette held up her hand, her index finger pointing directly at Jesse. The seething anger she was showing was enough to shut Jesse up. Memories from their freshman year flashed through Jesse's mind. He didn't doubt his ex could still throw a mean right hook.
When she was sure Jesse wasn't going to talk, Beca turned back towards the stairwell.
"I'm sorry…"
Beca swung about and hit Jesse with her duffel bag. He crashed hard, and the furious brunette was ready to bring the bag down on him again, but she stopped.
"You're not worth it," Beca huffed. She then kicked him. "But I am that petty." With that she left, unsure of what she was going to do next.
What a nightmare!
She doesn't know where she messed up with her life, which decisions led her to be this miserable. She hates everything about it.
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
"Thanks for putting me up Ames."
"No problem Shortstack, it's great seeing you," the blonde Aussie replied enthusiastically. "I've missed you."
"I missed you too," Beca said sincerely. She paused for a heartbeat and then continued, "I'm really sorry about the way I left the Bellas."
"Water under the bridge, Shortstack," Amy said, waiving off any more apologies from the petite brunette. "It sucked to lose to those leather fetishists, but we gave it our best, and my awesomeness almost got us over the line, but oh well."
"Yeah, I ummm may have followed it online, and you all were so good. Chloe, Stacie and Cynthia really put together a great performance…"
"And…" Amy made a hand motion for Beca to continue.
"Uhh-it-uhh…" Beca squeezed a tight smile as she thought, then finished, "They really designed it to highlight your natural born talent.
"Thank you!" Amy shouted. "It's good to hear from someone who caught that. Of course you being a professional now, would recognize the talent I was bringing to that particular performance."
A silence settled over the two that left Beca feeling a bit uncomfortable, so she decided to take the conversation in a different direction.
"I'm so glad you settled out here in LA."
"Yeah, me and Bumper," Amy said proudly. "Can you believe it? Me and Bumper. You know he's a contestant on 'The Voice'?"
"No," Beca answered honestly. That did come as news. "That's really exciting news."
"Yeah, my BumpBump is rocking the Voice…"
Beca just had to mumble, "BumpBump?" She hoped she said it soft enough for Amy not to notice.
This seemed to be the case as Amy didn't miss a beat, "And I've started my own one woman show."
This intrigued Beca. "You have a one woman show?"
The excitement radiating off of the always enthusiastic Aussie told Beca her old college buddy had been chomping at the bit to tell her all about her newest endeavor. "So it's a one woman retrospective of Amy Winehouse; of course with my particular flair and improvisation!"
"Oh-umm, that's interesting," Beca said as she leaned back ever so slightly. The blonde Aussie looked like she was ready to explode. "Ummm-what's it called?"
Jumping up, Amy announced loudly, "The Fat Amy Winehouse Extravaganza…" She let her voice trail off at the end as if she were hearing the echo. At the same time she had waved her hands apart as if she were revealing the marquee.
Beca was pretty sure her friend was actually picturing that title on a marquee at that very moment. "Wow! Ummm-that's… Uhh-Fat Amy Winehouse… That's…"
"Extravaganza," Amy corrected. "The Fat Amy Winehouse Extravaganza."
"Right! The Fat Amy Winehouse Extravaganza." Beca replied. "And where do you perform?"
"Grauman's Chinese Theatre," Amy responded immediately.
"Grauman's Chinese Theatre? The one on Hollywood Boulevard? You perform at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre?" Beca asked incredulously.
"Well," Amy started. "Not so much in the Chinese Theatre, but more Hollywood Boulevard, out in front…"
"Oh," Beca wasn't sure what to do with that information. "That's… uhh-amazing Ames."
"It really is," Amy sat back truly pleased with herself. "You know performing is in me and BumpBumps blood. We get so pumped when we perform, we often, well always, end up doing it like dingoes in heat."
"Oh," Beca replied. "That's nice…"
"Yeah the number of times we did it right there," Amy pointed at the spot Beca was sitting, "is just mind blowing. Even more than we did it in your bed back at Barden."
"Wait what?"
"Like recently, I was on my back right there, and Bumper had me hook…"
"Okay," Beca said as she stood up from the couch. "I think I might get a new set of sheets to use while I borrow your couch."
Amy seemed to ponder this, and then nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."
Again wanting to change the subject, Beca decided to tread on possible shaky ground. "Umm-so-uh-do you hear from the other Bellas?"
"Oh yeah! We're all still tight. You know…" Amy paused and made the face she always made when she had secretly farted and thought no one noticed. "Well you don't know, obviously." She then lit up. "Yeah, we've gotten together a few times. I mean there was CR's wedding to Denise. Then there was the Jeshly wedding…"
"Who?"
"Jessica and Ashley," Amy explained. When Beca continued to look confused, Amy explained, "You remember, the blonde and brunette who did a lot of the backup vocals."
"Oh yeah!" Beca said as realization struck. "I could never tell which one was which."
"Nobody could; which is why we used Jeshly when they got married. It just made it easier," Amy joked. She then started to say, "And of course we'll all be getting together for…" Smy stopped as she remembered something. Her face betrayed just how much she thought she had stepped in it.
Of course this only piqued Beca's curiosity more. She fixed Amy with a hard stare, one that had worked in the past. "Getting together for what?"
The always verbose Aussie suddenly was at a loss for words. She sat frozen, but under Beca's intense scrutiny, she looked down at the coffee table and the stack of letters. On top there was a pink card shaped envelope that stood out. The fancy writing caught Beca's attention; she still recognized that handwriting.
Picking the envelope up, she pulled the card out and saw it was an invitation.
Curtis & Cathleen Beale Happily Invite You to the Wedding of Chloe Beale to Captain Chicago Walp
"Chloe's getting married?"
"Well yeah," Amy answered. "Aubrey helped her get a gig doing backup singing on a USO tour in Europe and the Middle East. She ended up meeting Chicago and after a bit of wooing, she finally agreed to a date, and well the rest is history. Which me and the Bellas were super thankful for."
"What? Why were you and the Bellas thankful for Chloe getting together with some guy named Chicago? I mean who names their kid Chicago? Or is he the kind of schmuck who goes by a nickname?" Beca felt her voice going up as she felt her tension rising.
"Well," Amy started. She seemed to be thinking through her words. Never a good sign in Beca's experience. "Chloe took your leaving exceptionally hard. She was in such a funk. I mean we're talking about deep deep depression."
Beca's eyes widened at hearing this. "Chloe, suffered from depression?" Her voice was soft and sorrowful.
"Well yeah, I mean she had been so in love with you for so long, and so lost you, and had to Captain the Bellas to their disbanding, it just shattered her. Almost made me think she might have a soul."
"What?"
"Yeah it all just was too much, that's why Aubrey set her up with the USO gig. Pretty sure our old Captain would have set me up, but you know she had to take pity on the Ginger. I'm sure in the future she'll get my Fat Amy Winehouse Extravaganza onto the USO circuit."
Beca stared at her friend uncomprehendingly. "What did you say about Chloe?"
"She might actually have a soul?" Amy tried to clarify.
"No! Before that! About Chloe loving me?" Beca demanded.
"Well yeah. She was over-the-moon for you. Why do you think she hung around Barden for three years?"
"She didn't pass her Russian Lit course," Beca answered feebly.
"You do realize Chloe's favorite novel was 'Anna Karenina', right? She had the works of Tolstoy, Checov, and Dostoevsky on her bookshelf. She could have pulled an 'A' at any time." Amy said all of this as if it was common knowledge. "Stacie was pretty sure Chloe actually could speak Russian and French. She caught her a couple times."
"Maybe she just didn't want to graduate, or give up being a Bella?" Beca's words were getting softer.
"Nah, she took a lot of guff and ridicule, one only does that for true love," Amy said as a matter of fact.
"Why didn't she tell me?" Beca asked.
"What, and end your friendship? Be the girl who fell in love with her straight friend? Pretty sure she didn't want to risk it." Amy tried to bring up the mood. "But it's okay now. She's moved on. You are straight, so better for her to find love elsewhere."
"This can't be happening," Beca said despondently. "This is a nightmare!
Pitch Perfect SpookFest
Chloe woke up with a start, sitting up and clutching her chest! She was hyperventilating, and it took her a moment to regain her composure. She looked about in confusion. She was in a tent, surrounded by the Bellas.
Beca woke with a start, clutching her chest. She was confused. She was back in the tent surrounded by the Bellas.
Both women stared at each other confused by what was happening.
By silent mutual agreement, both women nodded towards the tent flap. Each got up carefully so as not to wake the Bellas.
They left the tent and silently walked down to the lake. The night was super still and neither woman really wanted to break the silence.
When they arrived at the docks, both women started talking at once.
"You have an internship at a music studio?"
"You're in love with me?"
"What?"
"What?"
"How do you know I have an internship?"
"How do you know I love you?"
"Wait, that's true?"
"Wait, that's true?"
Chloe went to say something more, but Beca held up her hand to silence the redhead. Beca then asked, " Are you in love with me?"
"Why are you asking?" Chloe asked instead.
"I just had a very real feeling dream, that I left the Bellas, that I left you, and my life fell apart," Beca answered, cringing at how ridiculous that sounded.
"What?"
"Yeah, I just woke from a dream, where I basically lost it while we were at this retreat and I left early," Beca whispered.
"How does that lead you to think I'm in love with you?" Chloe whispered back. Her mouth was suddenly dry.
"In my dream, I learned you fell into depression after I left. I learned that you were in love with me. Is it true?" Beca asked
"Yes," Chloe sighed, "I'm in love with you." She then scrunched her nose. "So you do have an internship with a genuine music studio?"
"Yeah," Beca replied. "Did Amy tell you?"
The redhead shook her head. "I just experienced the most intense and realistic dream, where you blew up while we were here at the lodge, and quit the Bellas. I failed to win at Worlds, the Bellas broke up, I didn't graduate, and basically my life went to shit."
"So we both just had a dream where I quit and our lives went to Hell?"
"Yeah," Chloe answered. "That's really spooky."
"So basically, we need to change what's going to happen, to make sure our lives don't go to shit?" Beca asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Chloe said with a soft smile.
"So, Chlo, ummm-I'm sorry I haven't told you, I scored an internship at a music studio called Residual Heat. It's been stressing me out, and I was worried that I was letting you down, so I didn't tell you the truth. I also realized that I am in love with you which has left me terribly confused."
"Beca!" Chloe hissed. "You can't do that!" The redhead smacked the petite brunette's arm.
"Not the reaction I was expecting," Beca grumbled.
"You can't finally tell me about your internship, and I can't even focus on congratulating you because you drop the L-bomb on me."
Before she could complain more, Chloe was taking her face into her hands, and was planting a kiss upon Beca's lips.
They both kissed the other deeply, getting lost in the moment.
"I love you Beca Mitchell," Chloe breathed.
"I love you Chloe Beale," Beca breathed out too.
A cough startled both women. They turned.
"Agghh!" Both women screamed.
Lily was standing three feet away, just staring at them.
"Glad my dream walking worked, you're welcome," at least that's what Beca and Chloe thought Lily said. Before they could ask though she was gone.
"Let's not look too deeply into that," Beca suggested.
"I agree," Chloe nodded, and allowed herself to be pulled into another kiss.
The End