AN/ Hey guys... it's been a while.. I'm so sorry I haven't uploaded to this in a lifetime, because I honestly thought I wouldn't have any more ideas for it, and for anyone who's read my Choni fic, you'll know how - since July - I've been through heaven and back through hell again. Nevertheless, I'm still here, and I'm proud to say I finally have a chapter for you guys. I hope people are still here and remember this and haven't given up on me yet. Thank you so much to everyone that has supported this up to now, and if anyone out there continues to support this, it would honestly mean the world to me.

That said, here's the next chapter...

"Little girls, listen closely,

'Cause no-one told me,

But you deserve to know

That in this world, you are not beholden,

You do not owe them,

Your body and your soul…"

"Oi, Mitchell," a voice boomed, and Beca found herself groaning at the familiar Aussie accent. "You need to get the hell out of bed."

"What do you want, Amy?" the brunette moaned, lacking any sense of amusement as her eyes darted to the alarm clock on the bedside cabinet, feeling a throbbing pain in her head and a parched throat. She could taste whatever she'd been drinking before going to bed, and something told her it'd been Smirnoff. The light was passing through the curtains and Beca winced, not liking the exposure to it when she realised she was hungover. That didn't normally happen in her room.

"You need to leave my house," the Aussie replied, "because I'm meeting up with Bumper at eleven."

"Uh, what am I doing here?" Beca asked, slightly confused as to why she was at Amy's house, and in bed there. "What happened?"

"Jeez Shawshank, how much did you drink last night?"

"Amy, please stop with the interrogation and explain why I'm here with seemingly no memory of how I arrived at your house."

"Bec, you should probably call Chloe…"

"Why?"

"You really don't remember, do you?"

"Do you honestly think I'd be asking questions like this if I did?"

"Bec, I don't know how to say this…"

"Just say it."

"Chloe kissed that guy at the party last night."

"What party?" Beca asked, her brain only really processing the latter part of the sentence. What had Fat Amy said before party? Something about Chloe… Chloe kissing?... Chloe kissing a guy? "Wait, what?"

Fat Amy looked sheepishly at the brunette curled up in her guest bed. "I'm sorry Becs."

"Would you like to fill me in on whatever happened yesterday?"

"Not really, Beca."

"What did I do, Amy?" Beca asked, pretty sure she already knew the answer.

In response, the Aussie silently gestured towards the pile of bottles on the floor. "The same thing you always do."

"Fuck." Beca deadpanned, and Amy nodded her head. "Where's Chloe?"

"Last time I saw her she'd ran in the toilets with Demi in hot pursuit. Lovato looked like she was going to commit murder."

A hazy memory of a glass smashing against the floor floated into Beca's mind. Something colourful spilling against the tiles. Her jaw dropping pretty hard. A lot of swearing. A lot of hand movement, which Beca knew she only did when stressed or nervous. Given what Fat Amy had revealed, Beca had a feeling she had been a combination of the two the night before. A heartbroken Chloe, a redhead with eyes glazed over with tears, who winced at whatever Beca had said and run off, sobbing. A silence surrounding them, as if everyone else in the room had frozen to discover what had happened between the two.

"Amy, do you know where my phone is?"

"It's downstairs. I wasn't letting you do anything you'd regret."

"Thanks," Beca replied dryly, pressing her fingers against her temples and moving them in gentle circles, massaging the skin as if it would alleviate the pain inside her head. "Would you mind - ?"

"Already got it," the Aussie replied, handing Beca her iPhone.

The brunette winced when she unlocked it, seeing the picture of her and Chloe she'd set as a background. There was something not quite right about this whole set up. Chloe kissing someone else? That wasn't her girlfriend, not at all. Chloe didn't even like guys. Not like that, anyway.

Scrolling through her phone, she debated her next move. Talking to Chloe was inevitable, but it was not exactly something Beca wanted to do until she had all of the facts. That didn't stop her finger hovering over Chloe's name in her contacts, ever so tempted to call the redhead. Instead she sighed, selecting the contact below.

It only took three rings for the girl on the other end to pick up.

"Mitchell? You okay?"

"I need you to tell me everything that happened last night, Lovato."

Two hours later, Beca sat cradling a cup of coffee in Lauren's living room, desperately trying to absorb what Demi had just told her.

Chloe hadn't kissed that guy. Not willingly, anyway.

He'd made a move on her at the bar, slipping something in her drink when the redhead wasn't looking, clearly not knowing who the girl he was talking to was. Half an hour later and Chloe was long gone down the winding route to drunken deliriousness, unable to quite resist his unwanted advances the same way she would have been able to sober, leading to the man inching closer, and closer, and closer… until eventually his lips were on hers.

She pushed him away, but it was a moment too late, because Beca – along with Lauremi – had just walked into the room, Beca with a cocktail in her hand, to see her kissing another man.

The crash when the glass shattered against the floor instantly silenced the crowded room, acting as a magnet for the attention of everybody in there. Eyes were immediately drawn to the tiny brunette, and the glances quickly followed the woman's gaze towards Chloe, who, standing by the bar, had jumped away from the man with a sheepish expression.

Beca had watched her girlfriend kiss a total stranger at a party to celebrate the opening of Beca's new label.

Chloe had kissed that man, and now that man was walking away towards the men's' toilets.

And Beca? Beca had lost her grip, both of the glass in her hand and on her relationship. She felt herself shatter in that moment, and felt everything draw to a standstill.

Regaining some composure, Beca waited for the guy behind the booth to turn the music back up before approaching Chloe.

"What the fuck do you call that?" she muttered, her voice barely audible, noticing the way the redhead had taken a step back when she stood next to her.

"Bec, it's not what it looks like…"

"Then would you like to tell me what it is, because what it looks like is something I really don't want to imagine, let alone see on my big night."

"Beca, I didn't mean – "

"You fucking kissed him, Chlo."

"I didn't! Well I did, but it wasn't me. I didn't – "

"Didn't what?"

"Bec – "

"Chlo," Beca snapped, "I can't even begin – "

"Please, not here."

"You're right. Not here. Not in front of everyone."

Beca just looked at Chloe, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Beca – " Chloe whispered, her voice cracking.

"Tonight," Beca stammered, "tonight, it's meant to be my big night. Our big night, for god's sake. It was meant to be something special, not just for me but for both of us. And now look what's happened!"

"Beca – you don't – I'm sorry!"

"I'm sorry too," Beca replied, feeling the walls within her suddenly begin to build, growing taller and stronger until she knew they were impenetrable. "Maybe I shouldn't have let Demi plan this big do to celebrate the label opening. Maybe I shouldn't have got here that tiny bit later. Maybe I just should forget it."

The brunette just turned around and walked away, the people in the crowd parting to let her through, leaving Chloe stood, stunned by the bar.

Demi made her way over towards the redhead, her face straight but her eyes showing her true feelings. The glint, the flash, within them barely concealing her controlled anger. "What did you do?"

"Dem – " she whispered, bursting into tears in front of the singer.

She just stood, looking at Chloe, silently trying to put the pieces together to try and explain everything. Instinctively, she opened her arms, letting the redhead crash into her. It was at that moment that the smell hit. Recoiling, Demi stood back, her own past making her know that smell all too well.

"Chloe," she began, unsure of how to word her question. "What have you had to drink?"

"Not a lot," the redhead replied. "A glass of wine from the bottle me and Bree were sharing, a strawberry daiquiri from the bar… and like two martinis compliments of the man in the jacket."

"The man in the jacket?"

"Yeah," Chloe mumbled, dropping her gaze. "It was weird. They just… I don't know… they just made me go a bit… funny?"

"Did you see the bartender make them?"

"I'm not sure. They didn't taste like they normally do but I guess it's a different bar…"
"Chloe, I think he might've slipped something in there."
"Dem… I've messed up…"

"Maybe Chlo, but I don't think this is all your fault…"

"Bec hates me…"

"Come on, Beale," the singer said, guiding the drunk redhead towards the door, gesturing to Lauren to follow them, "we're heading home and we're gonna sober you up."

"Sober… that's a good thing… Beca always sobers me up…"

The singer smiled softly as they arrived at the car, opening the door to the back so Chloe could get in, and checking to make sure the seatbelt was done properly.

"Beca will probably need sobering up herself," Demi muttered beneath her breath to Lauren, who had climbed into the passenger seat. "After what she just saw…"

"She's text to say she's staying at Amy's and not to worry about her," Lauren whispered, not wanting to draw Chloe into their conversation. "I'm pretty sure that there gives us plenty of reason to worry."

"Beca Mitchell saying that kind of thing makes me worry. I'll give her a text when we've got Chlo back at Bree's – "

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the drunk redhead throwing up in the back of the car. A lurid smell made its way into the front, and Demi grimaced.

"She threw up in my car," the singer muttered, slightly losing her edge. "she's thrown up."

"Demi!" Lauren snapped, forcing Demi to snap out of her thoughts. "Eyes on the road!"

"Where should I?"

"Just get back to mine. It's closest anyway."

"But what about Bec – "

"We'll sort Bec later."

"But she's with Amy."

"Who'll look after her, Dem," Lauren replied. "Let's just get home and we'll clear up this mess in the morning."

Whether the musician meant the sick in her car or her best friend's relationship, Demi didn't know, but she trusted her girlfriend, and knew that she was right. Beca was in safe hands, even if they weren't her own. They needed to look after the drunk girl in the back, and do what they could to make a bit more sense of this situation.

The night had been nothing short of a disaster.

To say the night had been nothing short of a disaster might possibly be the understatement of the year, Beca thought, when she sat in Lauren's living room with her coffee.

"Well shit," the brunette said, giving a hollow laugh to try and calm the growing paranoia inside. "She really didn't…"

"No, she didn't kiss him," Lauren replied. "We think she'd been roofied."

"That fucking… I'm going to…"

"You're going to fix things with your girl, Mitchell," Demi declared, "because she might have been as drunk as a skunk, but she remembers enough to be trying to avoid you. She knows you got mad at her."

"But it was all just a mis – "

"Chloe was gone this morning before we could properly explain," Lauren interrupted, shooting Demi a warning glance. Even if her girlfriend was Beca's best friend and loved the brunette unconditionally, she knew Demi's temper could – and would – get the best of her if Beca decided to counter her. "She hasn't been picking up her phone, and it's probably a good idea if you go and find her, talk this out."

"I'll give her a call," the brunette decided, standing up and walking through to the kitchen with her mug. "I'm so sorry for all of this."

"I know you are, Mitchell," Demi said, pulling the smaller girl in for a hug, "which is why you're going to go set all this right with your girlfriend. Call me when you've found her and you know she's okay."

"I've effed up well and good, haven't I Dem?"

"Not the most eloquent way of saying it, Mitchell, but yes, you have. Now go get your girl."

Beca didn't need to be told twice, and she climbed into her car, debating her options.

She drove downtown to Aubrey's and upon arrival heard from the blonde that Chloe had only been there that morning to shower and change, having changed her plans when she found her best friend and Stacie in the lounge.

"And where did she say she was heading?" Beca demanded, still slightly hungover, and not in the mood for small talk.

"She was on the computer," Stacie drawled, " muttering something about plane tickets and how expensive they are if you book short notice…"

Logging on the computer, Beca spun herself round in the chair, waiting for the ancient thing to load.

After what felt like an eternity and two reboots later, the music producer had managed to get into the thing, and onto the internet, browsing over Chloe's browser history.

11:07 – Flights LAX to TPA

11:09 – /bookings/lastminute/LAX-23dr43refe-TPA

11:19 – Book Your Flight

At seeing the words 'book your flight', Beca loaded the page, and realised her girlfriend had been looking at flights to Tampa. She then viewed the links that followed, noticing they were all to secure pages, presumably the ones where Chloe had booked a ticket.

Looking at the time of departure, the brunette realised the flight the redhead had booked was due to leave LAX in an hour. There was no way she'd be able to reach Chloe before she was on the plane.

Which meant she had one option: she had to go after her.

Sighing, Beca pulled out her phone, searching through her contacts. She sent an email to Malcom, asking him to get a jet for her on the LAX runway and to charge it to her usual account. She then tapped on the contact below, not feeling the conversation.

"Beca?" a voice asked from the end of the phone. "Why on heaven's earth are you calling at this time?"

Of course, the time difference! Beca had forgotten.

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped, her mind a million miles away from practicality while she was absorbed in the mess last night had caused. "I have something you need to know. Chloe's flying in, and Mama Beale, I'm following her out. Please could you make sure she's at yours by the time I land?"

AN/ Mama Beale is about to enter the story. What do we all think Mrs Beale is going to be like? I'm excited to write her character and to explore her relationship with Chloe and Beca. Thank you so much for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please follow, favourite and leave a review to tell me what you think and what you'd like to see come in future chapters... are there any particular Demi songs you'd like to see used?... I love talking to you guys :)