AN: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED, FOLLOWED AND FAVOURITED UP TO NOW – IT MEANS A LOT!

OKAY, SO THIS PART HAS BEEN SPLIT INTO THREE CHAPTERS BECAUSE IT'S KINDA LONG. I'M GOING TO POST THE NEXT PART TOMMOROW IF THIS PART GETS 10 REVIEWS, OTHERWISE, IT'LL BE UP ON FRIDAY.

MEAN (I KNOW) BUT YOUR REVIEWS ALWAYS MAKE ME SMILE, SO WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS. HAPPY SUNDAY GUYS ;D

"You know me, and honestly, I'm better without ya,

Don't you got me checking on my phone by the hour.

Baby, I'm hoping and praying, my knees weak, I'm shaking

'Cause you know that I always needed saving.

Now I'm fucking lonely, and you didn't want me,

Trying to show me that you didn't own me; but all you do is leave me, fucking lonely.

Knees on the concrete, cut up and bleeding for no Goddamn reason, but all you do is leave me

Fucking lonely…"

PRESENT DAY:

Beca sat in the studio, doing some last minute tweaks on Demi's new track. The album had been going swimmingly, because Beca had found the one thing that could help her heal her broken heart. Everything was just so relatable, and the music she produced just fitted naturally with Demi's words. Beca couldn't wait for Demi to drop the new album next month. Hopefully, it would catch Chloe's attention, and the music would say what Beca couldn't. That Beca still loved her. That Beca was desperately unhappy. That without Chloe, Beca was nothing.

Working on the album had provided a much needed distraction for Beca. Instead of sitting alone at home, she had somewhere to be, people to see, and most importantly something to do. But it was more than a distraction, it was like therapy. Beca wasn't any good at talking to people about her problems (except for when she was drunk), so the music was like an outlet for her emotions. She could pour her problems into her music, hide them away, and keep her composure in front of other people.

When she dated Jesse Swanson (a long, long time ago – they broke up pretty fast when Beca admitted her feelings for Chloe were more than platonic) he'd told Beca that she had too many walls. Beca had never understood what he meant. But now she did. She didn't let anybody see exactly what was going on inside. She had perfected the mask of complete control, giving everybody the impression that she was fine. Very few people knew the ins and outs of her personal life – sure they knew she was a producer, and she used to sing a cappella at college, but beyond that? They knew nothing. And that's just the way Beca wanted it to be.

Hiding behind multiple layers of sarcasm, Beca generally pushed people away without even trying. She would smirk, and glare, and raise eyebrows at everything. She would be moody and distant. She had tattoos and (as said by one Aubrey Posen at Fat Amy's wedding) "scary, scary earspikes) which helped her create the impression of her being an all-round badass.

Only Chloe, Demi and the Bellas had seen the Beca behind the mask. Only those people knew that, for all Beca Effin Mitchell was a badass, she had a really big ('fat' in Amy's words) heart, and was a big softie. She might act like she gave a damn about nothing, but truthfully, she took everything to heart. She cared more than she liked to let on, because according to Beca, caring is the thing that sets you up for disappointment.

They all knew how badly Beca had been affected by the breakup – they also knew how Chloe had been broken by it as well. The Bellas had seen first-hand the icy interactions at Aubrey's Fourth July barbeque between the two, and all said that you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. But the thing is, they didn't know what to do about it all. If they were honest, they didn't know how they were meant to help Beca. They felt like they didn't know Beca anymore, because the DJ was never there. Most of them didn't even have Beca's number, and – after they broke up – it wasn't as if Chloe was going to ring her. Nor would Aubrey, who was absolutely livid with Beca for breaking her best friend's heart.

That's why, as she sat in the studio working, Beca was beyond shocked when her phone began to ring. Nobody ever called her these days, except work people, but they all knew she was at work. So who would it be? Rummaging through her bag, Beca searched for her phone, doing a double take when she saw the name on the screen. Swiping across, Beca lifted the iPhone to her ear, mentally cringing thinking about the conversation that was going to come…

"Hey up Shawshank!" boomed a familiar Aussie down the phone.

"Hi Amy," muttered Beca softly, vaguely irritated that Fat Amy had chosen to ring her at work.

"Where were you last night?" Fat Amy asked, her voice full of concern for her friend.

"I was busy, Amy."

"Too busy for the Bellas' reuinion?"

"Far too busy. I don't even sing these days, you know that."

"Beca, you can't hide at home forever. I know for a fact you weren't busy last night."

"I was working Amy."
"No you weren't, Beca, don't lie. You were at home – alone – and you ordered in a sixteen inch pizza to yourself."

"I never – wait a second, how do you know that?"
"You ordered it from the same guy Aubrey uses, when he delivered ours, he was gushing on the doorstep about meeting *the* Beca Effin Mitchell."
"It's DJ Mitchell nowadays."

"You'll always be Beca Effin Mitchell to me Shawshank."

"Thanks Amy."
"But really Beca, why didn't you come last night? We all missed you, even Aubrey missed the 'angry Bella' – her words not mine."

"I just didn't think it would be that good an idea, not with Chloe around."

"Seriously shorty, do you really think you can hide from your problems forever?"
"It's been going pretty well these last three months."

"Only because you never leave the house apart from when you go to work Beca"
"Amy, have you been stalking me again?"
"Don't need to."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I know you too well. But really Beca, when did you last do something with somebody else?"
"I ordered takeout with Demi on Tuesday."
"Lovato?"
"Yep."
"Doesn't count."

"Amy, I don't want to play this game. Demi is my friend; we hang out most weekends."
"She's still your client. Come hang with us this Saturday."

"Amy, I can't."
"Why?"
"I'm busy."

"Doing what?"
"Work stuff."
"Skip it. Come round to mine – Legacy has big news."
"Tell me it then."
"I can't because I don't know it yet; she wants everyone to be there on Saturday"

"But Amy…"
"Come on Beca, I'll make sure there's tonnes of booze in."
"And what am I meant to do about Chloe? Do you honestly think she's going to be okay if I just wander in on Saturday night? Does she know I'm going?"
"She's the one that told me to call you."

"What? Amy, don't be ridiculous."

"Not going to lie Shawshank, but I thought you would've spoken to her by now."

"Don't you think I've tried Amy?"
"Have you even seen her in person since Aubrey's July 4th Barbeque?"
"What do you think?"
"I take that as a no."

"It's a disaster waiting to happen Amy. I'm telling you that now."
"She misses you Beca, she misses you like mad."
"And don't you think I miss her? It fucking kills me every time I think about her."
"Beca, letting you go broke her."
"Being abandoned broke me too Amy."
"Now you know how she felt Beca."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You kinda abandoned her, Beca. You know it's true. Where was she whenever you went away for work? By the end of it, she couldn't deal with being left behind every time you were off being a big important music producer. She'd stay up all night worrying about you, whether you'd got back to your hotel, whether you'd eaten. She lived for when you gave her a call, and when you didn't call, she didn't know what to do with herself."
"I know Amy, I know."
"But it didn't stop you, did it? When you missed important things in her life, she'd brush it off, and pretend she didn't care. But she did care. I'm not surprised she got sick of it. Beca, she was always there for things important to you, but you weren't there when she needed you."

"Amy, I don't want to talk about this. It's over, berating me now isn't going to change anything."

"You shut yourself off from everything Beca. You've spent the last three months in a bubble of self- pity, and it's about time you snapped out of it. Put yourself in her shoes!"
"Amy, please stop."
"It's not too late to fix things Beca."

"I really don't think me coming on Saturday is a good idea Amy."
"I really think that you need to stop running from your problems Beca."

"Amy…"

"Saturday, my place, eight o'clock. Be there Beca."
"We'll see."

"Do it Beca, you know you want to. I know you miss me. I've missed you."

"We'll see."

"Come on Beca – it'll be fun."
"Seriously doubt it."
"You said that about a cappella…" God, she'd missed chatting with Fat Amy.
"Fine, I'll be there."

"Good, I can't wait."
"But Amy,"

"What Shawshank?"
"The second anything gets awkward or I think it's too weird, I'm leaving – okay?"

"Don't be so dramatic."

"See you Saturday Amy," Beca said, struggling to keep her face straight.

"Love you too Shawshank," Amy laughed, cutting the phone call off.

Beca turned back to her computer, the smile on her face quickly vanishing. What was she thinking? Why had she agreed to go on Saturday? Chloe was going to be there. They hadn't spoken in the better part of a month. And the other Bellas… well, what had they been told about the whole "Bechloe breakdown"? She had a nasty feeling that Aubrey wouldn't be that pleased to see her. But then again, Amy had said she was missing her "angry Bella". Beca smirked at that, it must have been pretty hard for Aubrey to not have Beca (along with her earspike and tattoos) to belittle.

Then, a new thought crossed Beca's mind. Aubrey had probably been the one to pick up the pieces of Chloe's broken heart after she'd called it off. With her family living over a thousand miles away in Tampa, she doubted Chloe went back to them. Not when she had a job. So moving in with Aubrey was probably Chloe's most likely move. It would have been Aubrey whom Chloe went to when she was trying to recover from the fallout of their breakup.

The breakup that should never have happened. Beca sat filled with regret. Why hadn't she fought for Chloe? She'd certainly been lost without her ginger. Why had she let everything blow so epically out of proportion? Sure, work had been pretty overwhelming, but was that really an excuse for how she'd treated Chloe? Beca wasn't sure. Truthfully, she knew that she was the one in the wrong, but that didn't stop her blaming Chloe for what had happened.

Beca's argument was that Chloe refused to say anything to her. She hadn't explicitly let on during their phone calls that there was something up. But then again, it wasn't really as if Beca had given her a chance to. Any time she called Chloe, it was a fleeting call at 1AM before she went to bed, or – worse – a call in some crowded club, where (after drinking far too much) drunk Beca would search for familiarity in the one way she could. It was no surprise that Chloe had gotten sick of her, of everything. Sitting at her desk, her eyes flitted over the photo of the Bella's at worlds in 2015 – how had it been three years ago?

She looked at how happy they all were, remembering how close they had all been. God, she missed those days. She missed the days before she made it big, back when she could run little gigs and be home to Chloe in time for tea. She missed being happy. Looking around the room, she couldn't help but feel immensely dissatisfied with her life. Sure, her dream of being a music producer had come true, but at what cost? Frustrated, Beca crumpled up a piece of paper on her desk and threw it into the trash can by the door. It missed.

She turned to her computer, saving the track. She switched it off, deciding now was probably be a good time to leave. She checked the clock, which told her it was coming up six – she needed to be at Amy's for eight if she was going. Grabbing her bag, she swung it onto her shoulder and wandered over to the door. It was time to go and face what she had avoided for months – but first, she needed to dress to the occasion.