Thanks so much for all of the support last chapter!

I'm not a fan of this one - it's short and has only a few small bits of significance but I guess it's kind of necessary for the last few chapters. Bear with me this week for the blah writing and short chapter.

I went back and edited the last chapter because I forgot to put it in the A/N when I was writing it at 2am, but I just want to give a special thanks at the beginning of this chapter, too, to the Guest who suggested that Beca be a music teacher at Chloe's school. I loved the idea and had to include it.

Isaiah Flamez - Beca and Chloe of course :) Thanks so much for reading!

Flynntrust13 - oh a huge bechloe moment is brewing for sure... keep an eye out for the next chapter ;) Sorry this upcoming chapter is so short! The next one will certainly make up for it. Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

Becabeale47 - I'm so glad you came here, too! I am so glad you're enjoying the fic - thank you so much for your kind words! I'm sorry if this next chapter is a disappointment - hopefully the next one will make up for it! Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

Icedragone - I'm afraid that's all we're going to see of the other Bellas for now! Excluding this chapter, the next three are focused primarily on Beca, Chloe, and the kids. I'm glad that you enjoyed the choice for Beca's job! It was suggested by a lovely Guest and I fell in love with the idea, too. Some more build up with the pining in this chapter, but I guess we'll see if it's successful in Ch. 24 ;) Thanks so much for reading and for your support!

Jody1990 - I'm glad you are feeling lighter after last chapter! This one isn't too bad either! But next one... eee no comment. I definitely agree with you about thinking Chloe having proven she's safe enough for Beca - she for sure has. Hopefully Beca feels the same way :) Thanks so much for reading and for your support!


Chapter 23

Content Warning: Referenced/Implied abusive relationship

"Aubrey? What are you doing here?"

Chloe opens her apartment door with furrowed eyebrows, tugging her cardigan tighter around her torso. Her head is already achy, her body heavy with exhaustion. She wants to just curl up on the couch with a glass of wine and some trashy reality television, rather than have to think any more. She didn't get any sleep the night before, and after walking on eggshells since the night prior – she doesn't really want to socialize either.

Aubrey, on the other hand, seems bent on coming into the apartment. She's wearing the same outfit that she did on the ride home from Jessica's house this morning – jeans and a nice blouse – her hair still as perfectly done as it had been and showing none of the same exhaustion that Chloe currently is.

Then again, Aubrey didn't hear her best friend potentially singing about some form of supposedly unrequited love last night.

"Can I come in?"

Chloe nods, opening the door further. She just saw her a few hours ago when Aubrey and Stacie had dropped her off, but who is she to say no? "Of course. Is everything okay?"

Aubrey holds back a small laugh because the funny thing is, she's been wondering the same thing about Chloe since last night when she suddenly became very withdrawn after coming back from checking on Beca. After being friends with Chloe for as long as she has, it's not difficult for Aubrey to notice a change in her behavior – especially with how obvious some of Chloe's feelings and emotions can be. Aubrey has become especially tuned in to those changes, particularly in regard to one Beca Mitchell, who Aubrey long knew about Chloe's feelings toward even before Chloe seemed ready share the weight of that knowledge with someone else.

Which is why Aubrey was able to pick up on that change last night. She was able to notice how, at breakfast this morning, how exhausted – and not at all Chloe-like – Chloe had been.

She was able to notice that, even though Chloe remained by Beca as she had promised, there seemed to be a chasm between the two women, one instigated by Chloe herself.

She was able to notice how quiet Chloe was on the car ride home, chalking it up to motion sickness when Beca asked her if she was okay through a whisper in the backseat.

She was able to notice how Chloe barely said goodbye to any of them, but especially Beca, when Aubrey and Stacie dropped her off at her apartment.

She was able to notice that Chloe's face had the same expression that it always did when she was thinking about everything she had lost out on with Beca – sad eyes, the corners of her mouth fighting to turn upwards, but never being able to.

The entire time, Aubrey couldn't stop herself from wondering what was wrong with her best friend, and what needs to be done to fix it. Hence, why she's at Chloe's apartment a mere three hours after dropping both Chloe and Beca at their respective homes, and after greeting her own daughter with lots of hugs and kisses when her grandmother brought her back for dinner.

When Chloe closes the door behind her, Aubrey walks deeper into the apartment. She places her purse on Chloe's counter, making note of the somber instrumental music coming from Chloe's speaker in the corner. Aubrey knows that Chloe will listen to instrumental tracks when grading papers, but also used to listen to them when she was studying for school – but never anything this sad, and never when she is just relaxing in her apartment.

Aubrey levels her gaze with Chloe. "What's going on with you?"

Chloe crinkles her eyebrows once more, going to lean up against one of her stools. She tightens her cardigan again, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. "What are you talking about?"

"Chlo… you've been acting weird since last night. Did something happen?"

Chloe waves off Aubrey's concern, her cheeks becoming slightly tinged with pink. "No, of course not – I'm just tired; it was a long weekend and—"

"What happened with Beca, Chlo?"

To Chloe's credit, she tries valiantly to keep up the façade. She sputters, her mouth opening and closing as she tries to come up with an excuse, anything, to avoid actually answering Aubrey's question. But it doesn't last long, because after a few short seconds, Chloe's blue orbs become even brighter as they fill with tears, instantly spilling down her cheeks.

"Oh, Chlo…"

Aubrey lets out a quiet, resigned sigh, before pulling her best friend into her chest. They've been in this position – for this exact reason – far too many times in the last fifteen years.

Aubrey would be lying if she wasn't expecting something like this to happen – again. Ever since Beca returned to New York, Chloe has been one-hundred percent committed to being there for Beca 'like she always was'.

Meaning, she was going to force the platonic relationship that they had dutifully committed to in college, both women ignoring the ever-present feelings that they've always had for each other.

Aubrey understands that from Beca's perspective. It has long been clear that Beca was not – and remains, to Aubrey's knowledge – ready for getting into another romantic relationship. And how could she be? Aubrey doesn't blame her, at all, but the blonde is also aware that Chloe has been in love with Beca since college.

Chloe has struggled with those feelings since college.

And now, as a grown woman who has never been interested in pursuing any sort of long-term relationship because of her feelings for Beca, Chloe's commitment to ignoring those feelings and simply squashing any sort of desire to pursue something further – have been steadily killing her from the inside out.

The process of which, Aubrey has been given a front seat to.

When Chloe has started calming down, Aubrey leads her over to the couch. They sit side by side, Aubrey never once leaving Chloe alone, before asking again. "What happened, Chlo?"

Through tears and sputtering breaths and occasional sniffles, Chloe tells Aubrey – animatedly, with hands waving and emotions flying – about the night before. How she had gone to make sure that Beca and the kids were okay, and how she had heard Beca singing and had stopped to listen because – why wouldn't she? But when she was listening and she heard what Beca was singing, and the words that she was saying. The meaning behind those words, and the potential implications of them.

Did she actually have feelings for me?

Has she felt the same this entire time?

Did I really waste fifteen years of my life?

Did I really have a chance and miss it?

The questions spill from Chloe's lips, tears streaming down her face. Aubrey rubs her back, just like she does every time they have a conversation like this, listening to Chloe's fears and worries and pain.

"I hate seeing you like this," Aubrey mutters the words, words that she has said to Chloe on more than one occasion. After Beca left. After Chloe tried going on dates. When Beca came back. And as much as she knows that Beca is the source of that pain – it's definitely mutually inflicted, if Beca's words are indicative of the feelings she has for Chloe. "You can't keep living like this."

"Bree, you-you know I can't s-say anything to her. Not now," Chloe looks at her with wide, bloodshot eyes, her voice catching in her throat.

Aubrey gives her a helpless shrug. "And where does that leave you, Chlo? Living your life, playing the dutiful best friend while you're dying on the inside? How is that fair to you?"

Chloe manages to let out a sigh, her body allowing her breathing to catch up with her. "How is this fair to her. After—after everything?"

Aubrey shakes her head, grasping on to Chloe's hands and hoping the contact conveys her conviction. She knows that she had held that stance at the beginning. But things are different now. Beca is healing, she is free. The kids are doing better. She by no means can make a decision like this for Beca (or Chloe, for that matter), but at this point, Chloe bringing something like this up isn't selfish anymore. Sure, there is still some risk – but not ones associated with Beca fleeing in the middle of the night and putting herself in a far graver situation.

"I am not going to tell you what to do here, but I see the way you struggle when you're around her, Chloe. Anyone can see how much you love her, and how much she loves you. You guys have just never taken the leap to tell each other how you feel. Sure, there are still some risks; Beca could still not be ready – she might not ever be ready. But isn't knowing that better than living the rest of your life in absolute misery and not knowing?"

Chloe brings a shaky hand up to wipe the tears from her face. "I don't know, Bree."

"And that's okay. You don't have to do anything tonight, or tomorrow, or even months from now. It's just something to keep in the back of your mind. You deserve to be happy, too."


When Aubrey gets home, she slides her shoes off with a heavy sigh. Her back aches as she bends down to place them neatly on the mat in the laundry room, straightening out Bella's, too, from where she carelessly kicked them off when she got back from her Nana's house. She leaves her purse on the hook by the door, rubbing the back of her neck to relieve some of the tension, while she ignores her heavy heart as she heads into the kitchen.

"Hey, babe. How was Chloe's? Did she say anything?" Stacie keeps her back to Aubrey at the kitchen sink, still rinsing the dishes from dinner.

Aubrey sits down at the counter with a heavy sigh, hanging her head in her hands.

Stacie shuts the water off, turning around as she dries her hands on the kitchen towel. "Uh oh. That doesn't look good. What happened?"

Aubrey looks up at her with an exasperated sigh. "Guess."

"Something with Beca?"

"Mhmm."

"Did they get in an argument?"

"Nope." Aubrey pops the 'p' in her answer, shaking her head. "She wrote a song about Chloe."

Aubrey catches Stacie's wide eyes. "She did what? Recently?!"

"I have no idea. When Chloe went to check on her last night, after Karla called, she heard Beca singing to the kids – a song that she's never heard before – basically about wishing that there was a sign saying whether or not Chloe loved her and how all she wants to hear is that she loves her."

Stacie's jaw slowly drops open as Aubrey finishes telling her what had happened. How Chloe had listened to the rest of the song before she left with tears in her eyes. How she had disappeared into Jessica's bathroom for twenty minutes, trying to calm down and trying not to look like she had been crying. How she had come back and Beca was back on the couch on that point and how she couldn't be around her at that moment but had promised she wouldn't leave Beca's side, so she had to sit there until Beca said she was going to bed. How she couldn't bring herself to look at the brunette for the rest of the weekend. How she doesn't know what to do. How she doesn't know what to say.

How her heart was broken again.

"That's…"

Aubrey nods. "A lot."

Stacie murmurs in agreement. "And Beca has no idea that Chloe heard her?"

"Nope."

"And Chloe has no idea when Beca wrote the song?"

"Nope."

"Or even if it's about her?"

Aubrey raises her eyebrows, giving her, her most incredulous look she can muster. "Really, Stace?"

Stacie grimaces. "Okay, okay – yeah, you're right. What is Chloe going to do?"

Aubrey shrugs her shoulders, accepting the glass of wine that Stacie hands to her. "I told her that she should say something to Beca."

"You did?"

"Chloe's in so much pain, Stace. She always has been." Sighing, Aubrey brushes a stray piece of hair from her face. "Beca and Chloe have been in love since your first year at Barden – and things are a little different now than they were two years ago."

Stacie comes over to stand behind her wife, slowly massaging the tension out of her shoulders. She knows that Aubrey is correct, especially about this. Especially since she called Beca and Chloe's feelings for each other over a decade ago and has seen how it has affected Chloe since then.

"I just hope that it works and doesn't blow up in her face."

Aubrey leans into her wife's touch, reaching up to capture her lips in a chaste kiss. "Me too." She stays in Stacie's arms, looking around the kitchen as she does so. "Where's Bella?"

Stacie looks around the corner in the direction of the staircase. "She's getting washed up… I told her we would watch a movie when you got back. She should be down soon."

As Stacie and Aubrey break from their embrace, wondering about the whereabouts of their daughter, said-thirteen-year-old lets out the breath she was holding as she stayed hidden on the staircase. She feels the excited smile growing on her face, replaying the words that she just heard Aubrey say loud and clear, in her head.

"Beca and Chloe have been in love since your first year at Barden – and things are a little different now than they were two years ago."

There's no doubt in Bella's mind that her moms are talking about her Aunt Beca and Aunt Chloe. But what's shocking is that they're talking about them being in love.

Just like her moms are.

And thinking back on it, Bella can sort of see where they're coming from. Despite knowing that Aunt Beca didn't really talk to her Aunt Chloe when she first came back to New York – then again, her Aunt Beca didn't really talk to anyone – they've become closer than ever. They always come over to Saturday night dinner together, they're always talking and whispering and sometimes just laughing at a joke between themselves. She knows that they sometimes hang out in their own apartments, and Aunt Chloe really, really loves Callie and Henry.

Sifting through her memories, Bella can also clearly remember Chloe looking at Beca the same way Stacie looks at Aubrey, and vice versa for Beca to Chloe.

How had she not noticed it before?

Bella holds back a squeal and a little jump. This is just like the movies she loves to watch.

She wants nothing more than to scream this from the rooftops, but she has one person that she needs to talk to about this first. The one person who this will impact just as much as everyone else. The one person who is both one of her best friends, and part of her family. The one person who she has been trying to get to love the cheesy romance movies that she has fallen in love with since entering middle school. The one person who needs as much happiness and excitement in her life as possible.

The one person who will love to hear about her mom being able to be happy.

She can't wait to tell Callie!


Bella tries her best to act as normal as possible when she goes out to watch a movie with her moms the night that she hears the secret about her aunts being in love. But the truth is, she has been bursting at the seams all week, waiting for Saturday night dinner so that she can talk to her cousin about the big news.

How could Callie not get excited about her Mama marrying her one true love? Especially after everything that happened with her dad.

Luckily, she was able to contain her excitement enough that neither of her own moms seemed to notice a difference. Sure, she was in an especially good mood, but she just chalked it up to it being Thanksgiving vacation next week, and with Christmas being a little over a month away.

She will admit, though, it gets harder and harder to hold it in as the clock slowly approaches four in the afternoon when she knows the Uber will be pulling up to the house with Chloe, Beca, and Callie and Henry.

Bella is hanging over the back of the couch, looking out the window, when the blue car parks outside of her house, snow falling lightly from the sky. She jumps up with a surge of giddiness. "Moms! They're here!"

Aubrey pokes her head into the living room with furrowed eyebrows. "Okay? You can get the door, Bells – we don't have to."

Ignoring her Ma's comment, Bella backs off the couch, practically sprinting over to the front door. She flings it open, causing Beca to startle backward as she was reaching forward to take the doorknob.

Both Aunt Beca and Aunt Chloe break out into smiles, Callie and Henry standing in between them.

Chloe laughs, "Well, hello to you, too, kiddo. How's it going?"

Bella bounces on the balls of her feet before calming herself down and reminding herself that she can't afford to have anyone ask her what is going on. But she does find herself staring at her aunts, taking extra caution to pick up on any unspoken feelings between them.

"Hi! I'm good. How are you?"

Before either of the women can answer, Callie grins up at her cousin. "Hi Bella!"

Beca smirks. "Jeez, Bella, if we had known you were waiting for us, we would've come earlier."

Bella lets out a shameless giggle as Beca, Chloe, Henry, and Callie all make their way into the house. Callie has barely shrugged off her jacket before Bella is taking her hand. "Come on, Callie! We…have things to do!"

Henry takes a step forward. "I wanna come!"

Bella falters while Callie looks up to her with the adoration that is reserved for all of the people Callie admires. "Uh… you can't. We need to do… girl stuff."

Bella watches as Beca and Chloe exchange a brief look of confusion, before Chloe takes over, tugging Henry's hand toward her before he can start crying. "Come on, monkey. You can come hang out with us – I bet Stacie and Aubrey have some chocolate milk in the kitchen for you."

Beca shakes her head, planting a kiss on Callie's head as she starts to follow Chloe. "Have fun, girls. We'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."

Not giving Callie a chance to answer, Bella starts pulling Callie up the stairs, the younger girl laughing as they head towards Bella's bedroom. This is it – the moment she's been waiting all week for. She can't wait to see Callie's face when she tells her.

Bella closes her bedroom door behind her and turns around with a grin.

Callie is still laughing. "Why are you so excited?"

Bella pulls her over to her bed, both of them sitting crisscrossed across from each other. "You'll never guess what I found out."


Thanks so much for reading! I look forward to hearing any thoughts/comments you want to share!

Only 3 chapters left! See you next week :)