AN/ OKAY THEN GUYS, THOSE TEN REVIEWS CAME IN SUPER DUPER FAST. THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT, IT'S AN ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE DEAL FOR ME!
I'M SORRY IT'S TAKEN SO LONG TO UPLOAD, AND MY EXCUSE IS THAT I'VE BEEN BINGEING ON RIVERDALE AND COMING TO TERMS WITH A LOT OF STUFF. JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, HOW HAVE YOU GUYS GOTTEN OVER A CRUSH? LIKE, IT'S REALLY BAD, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET THIS PERSON OUT OF MY HEAD. THE SOONER I FIND OUT, THE SOONER I'LL GO BACK TO BEING ABLE TO WRITE PROPERLY, BECAUSE THINKING ABOUT THEM HAS GOT ME PRETTY DISTRACTED.
ANYWAY, HERE'S THE NEXT PART OF TMYLM. IT'S A BIT LONGER THAN USUAL (SORRY!) BUT IT MAKES ME FEEL PRETTY HAPPY. I'M MIDWAY THROUGH THE NEXT CHAPTER, SO I'LL POST IF I GET, SAY… 15 REVIEWS? DOES THAT SOUND FAIR?
FIFTEEN REVIEWS IT IS. READ AND ENJOY…
"I see the future without you, the hell was I doing in the past?
Now that I've learned all about you, a love just like ours wouldn't last.
I won't fall for your games, so don't hate me when I say,
That you don't do it for me anymore, no, you don't do it for me anymore…"
"I told them to stick their lousy job." Beca announced as she and Chloe walked into Lauren's house.
They wandered into the lounge, where Demi and Lauren were sat, caught in a loving embrace whilst watching Harry Potter. Both women looked up in shock as the pair walked in and sat down on the other sofa. Neither could quite grasp what Beca had said. She'd quit… her job?
"Morning Beca," Lauren deadpanned, breaking the silence that had grown to be just a little too long.
"You quit?" Demi asked, shocked because for all Beca had threatened to resign over her contract, she didn't the producer would actually have to.
"Yep." Beca said, "I've had enough of their crap, and it's time to move onto bigger and better things."
"Well, good on you Mitchell." Demi replied, still trying to absorb what Beca had told them. "So what happens now, then?"
"Operation BDL."
"BDL?" Lauren repeated, "You mean –"
"Yep."
"How are we going to-?"
"Don't worry about the logistics, Kittens, I've got it all under control."
Demi had remained silent during this exchange, clearly in deep thought.
"Y'alright there Lovato?"
"Huh? Yeah." Demi said, shaking herself out of her thoughts.
"What's up Demi?" Lauren asked, concerned by how unsure her girlfriend sounded.
"Nothing." Demi responded, her voice filled with fake confidence.
Lauren raised an eyebrow at Demi, as did Beca; both silently telling the singer that they didn't buy it. Demi shook her head at the pair.
"Jeez guys," Demi began, "there is literally nothing wrong – chill."
"It doesn't seem like it Lovato."
"I promise I'm completely fine." Demi stated, and after she realised how long the pause had gotten added, "So operation BDL then?"
"Looks like it." Beca said, running her hands through her hair like she always did when she was anxious. "I can't believe I've just quit my job…"
"No regrets though, right Mitchell?"
"None whatsoever Lovato."
"You're just overwhelmed by it, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I suppose so. It's weird I guess."
"Beca," Demi began, "You don't have to pretend that you're completely fine, you know. You clearly aren't."
"I'm good, honestly."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"As long as you are Mitchell."
"I am."
"Good." Demi paused a second to think. "So I guess I should set my agent the task of breaking me out of my ties with Soundproof Studios…"
"Idk, depends."
"Well, I don't exactly want anybody else producing my music, Mitchell. You are the best in the business."
"Don't say that Lovato, or I'll think you only use me for my talents."
"I thought you already knew that?" Demi laughed, as she got up and wandered through to the kitchen, gesturing for Beca to follow her. The producer obliged, and got up off of the sofa, leaving Lauren and Chloe in the lounge.
As the pair entered the kitchen, Demi shut the door behind them.
"Are you sure you're okay, Mitchell?" Demi asked, looking at her friend in concern.
"It's just a job, Demi, I'm fine."
"Beca, that job was your dream. You've worked there for the last three years…"
"Yeah, but when your dream comes true, you need to make a new one."
"You loved that place."
"Well, they clearly didn't love me enough to give me what I wanted."
"Fair enough."
"Like, I can't believe that they just let me quit." Beca vented, "I work for them for all that time, and produce them all of those Grammy winning albums and they're perfectly fine about me going. Like, they were totally unbothered by me until I said I was off. That fucking woman tried to belittle me. They tried to bribe me into staying."
"What did the woman say?"
"That anyone can produce music. Who the hell does that woman think she is, Demi? Has she ever had to work with some of the idiots she's signed to her label? I don't think so. And the nerve…"
"Beca," Demi soothed, "you need to calm down."
"Demi, that woman told me that anybody can do what I can do. That I'm nothing special. What if she's right?"
"Beca, look at me," Demi began, directing her gaze so she was looking Beca straight in the eyes, "not anybody can produce not one, but ten, Grammy nominated, and award winning, albums in the space of three years. Only you can do what you do. That woman is an uptight bitch who needs dragging down a peg or two. She's just being petty because she realised she's lost the best damn producer in the world."
"But what if she's right Demi?" Beca said in a small voice, a voice that was flooded with doubt. She looked at Demi with an unfamiliar glance. Demi had seen Beca's eyes shine when they were happy, glass over when she was heartbroken, and turn to stone when she was angry. But never had she ever seen them filled with… fear?
The singer immediately understood why Beca kept asking her these things, and her heart broke a little. Nobody had a right to make Beca doubt herself. Beca was amazing, and she needed to see that. Demi desperately wanted to punch that bitter slapper's lights out for making Beca scared. This was going to be Beca's first big risk in her life, and Demi knew Beca was going to gain so much from it.
"She is wrong Beca, believe me. She doesn't have a fucking clue."
"But what if I've just quit my job, and things go wrong? What if our plans to create our own label fall through?"
"Beca, stop doubting yourself. You're Beca Effin Mitchell, for god's sake, three time winner of the Producer of the Year award, and reigning acapella world champion."
"What if being Beca Effin Mitchell isn't enough, Demi? What if we can't get it off of the ground?""Why are we even having this conversation, Beca? Artists are going to flock to us if they think they've got even a shot of working with you; you're that good. We will get it off of the ground; mark my words."
"But what if we don't? What if, we do all of this, and it all fails? What will happen then? I'll have no money and no job. What would I have that would make Chloe want to stay?"
A small voice piped up from in the doorway.
"I'd have you, Beca, and I'd be content because that's all I ever wanted."
Beca and Demi were both snapped out of their thoughts as they watched Chloe join them in the kitchen.
"Seriously, I know when something's amiss with you Beca. Your happiness in the car wasn't real. Becs, you're scared shitless of what could go wrong, but you're missing the most important thing."
"What am I missing Chlo?" Beca asked, feeling guilty for, even in secret, implying Chloe was only with her because she was rich.
"You're missing out everything that could – will – go right for you."
"Chlo-" Beca began, only to be interrupted.
"You're forgetting that you have clients – Nick, Halsey, Dua – talented artists, who love you; Demi included. You forget that you were the thing that built the foundations that allowed them to stand up and shine. You forget that they'd be damned if they didn't have you producing their music anymore. Demi's completely right – artists will flock to you."
Chloe smiled softly at Beca and walked over to her girlfriend, wrapping her arm around Beca's waist and pulling the smaller girl close. She held her tightly, and gently rested her head on Beca's shoulder. Feeling Beca relax into the embrace, Chloe found herself feeling relieved. She remembered how Beca had always wanted to make sure her girl 'never needed to want anything' and how she wanted to 'spoil her' because that's how Beca thought she'd make her happy. But why couldn't Beca see that all Chloe needed to be happy was Beca?
Whispering quietly, she said, "And if it all goes wrong, there are always other labels."
Pulling away from Beca only slightly, she looked into the brunette's eyes, checking her girlfriend understood. Beca let a small smile slip onto her lips, before replacing it with the straight expression she always wore in public.
"Oh, please, Mitchell, give up the act!" Demi announced dramatically, speaking to Beca in mock anger. "Honestly, I've seen you cry your heartbreak into a tub of Ben and Jerry's already, so a smile seriously isn't going to ruin your badass reputation."
"Thanks, Demi, Chloe seriously needed to hear that…"
"Nah, I think she did." Changing the direction of her gaze to look at Chloe, Demi added, "I take it you know why she was crying before?"
"I think I do."
"Good. I hope that you'll never be the reason Beca cries again."
"I make no promises, but I'll make a conscious effort to try not to be."
"That's okay then. Treat her right, and she'll treat you like a goddess."
"I never had any intention of treating her wrong."
"That's the spirit, Chloe!" Demi exclaimed, nodding in approval. "Just had to make sure you understood, you see."
"It's never been clearer-"
"Erm, Demi, can you stop trying to intimidate my girlfriend? Please."
"Oh, Beca," Demi added, a slight glint appearing in her eye, "Chloe knows this doesn't come close to intimidation."
"This is 'fun girl talk,' right Demi?" Chloe asked.
"Oh god, the two women I love most in my life are turning into Betty Cooper and Cheryl Blossom and I don't think I'm okay with that." Beca groaned dramatically.
"There is no way I am Betty Cooper, Mitchell, so don't even go there." Demi muttered through gritted teeth.
"Oh, Demi, drop the act already," Lauren laughed as she made her way into the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling out the orange juice. She grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and poured the juice into it. Looking up at the other three, she silently giggled at the way they had frozen watching her. Smiling, she continued, "We already established that Beca's Toni, I'm Veronica, so that, by process of elimination leaves you as Betty."
"Betty is the worst though…" Demi whined. "She's so clingy and has no value. She just determines her self-worth by the guys she's with…"
"Well," Lauren sighed in exasperation, "We offered you Josie, but you said she's a bitch."
"Why can't I be Cheryl?" Demi whined.
"Because I'm Cheryl Blossom." Chloe said, "That's right, I'm Head Bitch In Charge, so you better watch out and go back to the sad breakfast club, Betty." Laughing gently, she added, "Seriously though, do you see any other gingers?"
The other three looked at Chloe in stunned silence. "What?" The redhead asked, "Why are you all staring at me?"
"You watch Riverdale?" Beca stated.
"Totes."
"For real?"
"Yah, it's mine and Bree's Wednesday night show."
"OMG! It's ours too Chloe!" Lauren gushed.
Chloe suddenly roared with laughter.
"You're telling me that you three get together every week to watch Riverdale?"
"To watch Cheryl." Beca corrected.
"Can't get enough of those redheads, can you Beca?" Chloe mused.
"Clearly not."
"I actually don't believe it. Beca Mitchell watching Riverdale."
"What's so shocking about it?"
"You wouldn't watch Grease because it's 'so cliché'…"
"And?"
"Riverdale takes cliché to the next level."
"But Riverdale has Cheryl Blossom." Beca shrugged.
"We should totally watch it all together," Lauren suggested, grinning at how red Beca had gone. Watching the show was Beca's guilty pleasure, but she refused to admit it to anyone else.
"Kittens, that's the best idea you've had all day!" Chloe agreed, smiling it the other woman. "Could I ring Bree and see if she'll come?"
"Definitely," Demi said, "we need to go over the legal stuff to work on making our own label, and Bree knows the law better than anybody."
"We're seriously going to start working on it today?" Beca asked, slightly shocked at how quickly Demi had decided to begin getting on with it.
"Well, Beca, Rome wasn't built in a day."
Beca rolled her eyebrows at her best friend. "But Rome doesn't need to be built today. If we're all watching Riverdale, we won't be able to focus on that."
"I think we will, Becs." Lauren said, "If needs be, you, Demi and Aubrey can work in the kitchen."
"No!" Beca insisted. "I - that wouldn't work, and we can't be distracted by Chery- I mean the TV."
"Did you just say we can't be distracted by Cheryl there Beca?" Chloe inquired.
"Yes. No. Maybe?"
"That's cute."
"I'm not cute, Beale."
"You are totes adorbes, Beca."
"Shut up now."
"Or what?"
"Or, or, or I tell everyone!"
"Tell everyone what, Beca?" Demi asked.
"That we're back together." Chloe blurted out.
"Wait, what?" Lauren said, looking between the two in shock. Demi, on the other hand, just looked at them knowingly.
"Thank you for stating the obvious there Chloe." Demi deadpanned.
"What the hell, Lovato?" Beca asked. "How did you know?"
"Mitchell, 'friends' don't stand with their arms wrapped around each other. Seriously, it takes a lot more than a few words to convince me of something, you know that."
"Wow, and I thought we were being discrete."
"Oh, Beca, you know you were never any good at keeping quiet…" Chloe said suggestively.
"Not now Chloe!" Beca exclaimed, her cheeks burning red.
"Yep, you two are definitely back together." Demi concluded, "Well, that's cute."
"It makes me smile," Lauren added, looking at her own girlfriend who looked impossibly happy as well.
"Yes, it's all very smile worthy." Beca deadpanned, "But the real thing to be celebrated here is Lauremi."
Out of the three women in the room, only Lauren looked at Beca with confusion.
"What's Lauremi?" Lauren asked, already knowing what Beca's answer would be.
Demi sighed.
"Lauren + Demi = Lauremi!" Beca said. "I've had that one settled for a while. That and Staubrey."
"Staubrey?" Lauren inquired.
"Stacie and Aubrey?"
"Wait… they're together?"
"Beca *thinks* they are," Chloe exclaimed, "but Aubrey's in a relationship with Jesse."
"Yeah," Demi nodded, "but her and Aubrey were being pretty flirty at Disney…"
"And," Beca added, "her relationship with Jesse is only 'casual', Chloe. That's Posen for no strings attached."
"But Aubrey and Stacie, Becs? Aubrey's so smart, and Stacie's so… not."
"Stacie has a PHD in Psychology and is a qualified therapist, I'll have you know. She's an absolute genius, but she doesn't like letting people know."
"Nevertheless," Chloe continued, "they have like zero things in common."
"We didn't though, and what about opposites attract?"
"You know what," Lauren pondered aloud, "I think I'm with Beca on this one."
"Of course you are Lauren!" Beca laughed, giving the girl a high five.
"They were being way more than friends that day…"
"I'm not convinced…" Demi mumbled.
"Me either." Chloe said.
"Then why don't we test the theory?" Lauren suggested, and the others all looked at her like she'd grown another head. "C'mon guys, don't look at me like that." Chloe just raised an eyebrow at her, while Demi shook her head and Beca rolled her eyes. "We should invite Aubrey and Stacie round to watch Riverdale tonight…"
"Not wanting to be a buzzkill, Kittens," Beca started, "but I really doubt teen drama is going to make them be flirty."
"Yeah, but my lounge has three sofas each big enough to fit two. Me and Dem sit together on one; you two on another-"
"Which leaves one sofa to Stacie and Aubrey…" Chloe said, completing Lauren's sentence. "And you think they'll curl up-"
"Which will make Stacie get all touchy-feely," Beca contemplated, "and possibly end up with the two snuggling up together on your couch…"
"Where we can watch and see if it's romantic or not." Demi concluded.
"Well, I for one am very impressed Lauren." Beca announced. "That sounds like a sneaky-ass plan worthy of Patricia."
"Who's Patricia?"
"Fat Amy." Demi interjected.
"Ahhh," Lauren nodded, "well then, I'm proud."
"Amy would be proud of that one," Chloe admitted.
"It's still not as good as when she and Staubrey conspired to get you two back together using me." Demi boasted.
"I knew those aca-bitches were meddling!" Beca declared. "I told you! You didn't believe it, but I was right!"
"You were right Beca," Chloe deadpanned.
"I think this justifies us meddling with their love life then," Beca said, smiling at the group. "Chloe, ring Aubrey, I'll text Stacie. Lauren order some food and Demi, you just sit still, look pretty."
"Awww… I love a good romance."
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Kittens," Chloe said, "We don't even know if they're a thing."
"Well I think they are."
"Either way," Beca interrupted, "none of us will find out until they arrive, so we better call them."
"Alright mom," the other two women groaned, rolling their eyes at Beca.
"Hey Lovato!" Beca shouted, poking her head through the doorway into the lounge.
"Yeah?" Demi replied.
"I want to watch the dance off episode…"
"Ugh I hate that one."
"But I love it."
"It's not your house, Beca, so you don't get to pick."
"It's not your house either Demi."
"It's my girlfriend's house."
"Give me the remote, Lovato."
"No."
"Okay, I'll rephrase that: give me the remote or else."
"Or else what?"
"Or else, this!"
Unexpectedly, Beca jumped at Demi, snatching the remote out of her grasp.
"Hah!" she exclaimed, running out of the lounge and through into the kitchen. Standing in the kitchen, she dangled the remote above her, smirking smugly because she knew Demi couldn't reach it.
"That'll be enough of that nonsense, children," Chloe said, effortlessly pulling the remote from Beca's hand. "Seeing as neither of you is mature enough to pick, I'll do it myself."
"But…" Demi mumbled.
"No fair!" Beca exclaimed.
"You two have the combined maturity of a five year old, you know that?"
"Thanks mom," the two said to Chloe in unison, rolling their eyes in exasperation.
"Just go, calm down, don't kill each other," Chloe said, smirking as the two went back through into the lounge. She turned and grinned at Lauren, who was stood on the other side of the kitchen crying silent tears of laughter. "I don't know what you're laughing at Kittens! Honestly, whoever said the biggest kid you'll have to raise is your partner was completely right!"
"They have zero maturity when they're together," Lauren giggled, "It's a mystery to me how they ever get any work done."
Chloe nodded, "It's like dealing with a pair of teenagers."
"God, imagine what any kid with Beca's genes would be like as a teenager…"
Chloe giggled. "They'd be a rebel without a cause that had a score to settle with the world."
"Emo kid," Lauren chortled.
"Nah, not an emo. They'd be happy like their ginger mom."
The two stood silently thinking how cute Beca would be as a mum.
"You ever think you and Mitchell will have kids?"
"I don't know, I hope so, but I guess we're just taking it slow right now."
"Well, she's mad for you."
"I'm crazy for her. I can't believe she's quit her job for me Lauren."
"I can. She would do anything for you, and getting away from the company that thrived off of making her miserable wasn't much of a sacrifice."
"It was though; music production is her dream."
"Yeah, but I think Beca's slightly taken with the idea of being one of the big bosses."
"She is quite bossy."
"She'll be a real Head Bitch In Charge when we get things sorted."
Chloe laughed hysterically at that. "We need to get her a shirt that says that."
"I endorse it."
The pair giggled, and were interrupted by the doorbell.
"Go, join Beca, Chloe. I'll get that. It's time for us to have a little fun…"
AN/ SO, LOTS OF FLUFF THERE THEN. WHAT DID YOU GUYS THINK? HOW DO YOU GUYS RECKON THEIR PLANS TO MAKE THEIR OWN LABEL WILL WORK OUT? DROP ME A REVIEW AND SAY… REMEMBER, REVIEWS ARE LOVE, AND FIFTEEN WILL GET YOU THE NEXT CHAPTER AS SOON AS IT'S READY!