A/N Hey guys. So so happy you guys are reviewing this. A lot of you really get how I feel about the situation. I'm pretty sure I have an endgame in mind, but I am not willing to divulge that information lol. Please continue to review. It really does help. I'm so glad I was able to turn some readers against Chloe. Normally people just side with her because she's so bubbly. It's harder for Beca, considering her darker persona.
Anyways. Hope you enjoy. Oh. Trigger warning applies here for alcoholism.
Cause and effect.
Beca woke up sweating and shaking. She didn't know what was wrong with her. She ran to the bathroom, as fast as she could on unstable legs, and started vomiting. What the fuck is happening to me? As the contents of her stomach ended up in the toilet, the rest of her body started shaking even more. She turned on the shower and tried to get in, but her legs wouldn't support her weight so she fell and landed on her wrist. As she laid there cursing and holding her wrist, she thought about calling Donald. He would help, he would get her a doctor. She probably had food poisoning, but then again, she couldn't even remember what she ate last, so that probably wasn't it.
Stacie heard Beca screaming as she walked out of her room. She ran towards the noise and found what she assumed was Beca's room. When she entered she could clearly make out Beca cursing and whimpering. She ran to the door that had light shining from under it and threw it open. The first thing she noticed was Beca in the fetal position on the floor. She was covered in sweat and trembling all over. She then noticed Beca holding her wrist with a pained look on her face. "Beca, are you ok? What happened?" Stacie said as she walked into the room. When she got close enough, a smell hit her. It was horrible. She knew that smell. It was the smell of a long night of drinking coming back up the next day. Stacie made a disgusted look and flushed the toilet. "Jesus Beca, how much did you drink last night? I didn't even see you take a sip of your drink when we were talking."
As Beca laid there in pain she tried to get her words to come out. She needed Stacie to get her phone for her, but the pain in her wrist was clouding her mind. "I don't know Stace." Beca winced. "Can you just. I don't know." Beca tried to breathe through the pain. "I think I broke my wrist when I fell."
"Shit ok, let's get you to a hospital."
"What?! No!" Beca hates hospitals. "Just grab my phone and call Donald. He'll know what to do."
"Know what to do? I know what to do! You need to go to the hospital!"
"Jesus Christ, Stacie! Just get the fucking phone!"
Stacie conceded and started looking around the room. "Where the hell is it, Beca?"
"Nightstand. It's on my nightstand."
Stacie found the phone, but it was locked. "What's your code Beca?"
"Mitchell. It's Mitchell."
"Wow. How secure." Staie said as she got into Beca's phone. She finally got to Donald's contact and started calling.
"Beca, hey! I was just about to call you. Can you come in tomorrow? There's an artist I want you to meet. I think you'll-"
"Donald, shut up. This is Stacie Conrad."
"Who? Why the hell do you have Beca's phone? Where is she?"
"Well that's why I'm calling you so just let me talk!" The phone stayed silent and Stacie sighed. "Beca is hurt. She hurt her wrist. She said to call you. You'd know what to do."
"Is she sweating?"
"Yeah? Why?" She heard Donald sigh.
"Ok. Here's what I need you to do. In her nightstand, there is a bottle of Jack. Bring it to her. I'll call her doctor and have him come check her out to see if it's broken. I'm out of town at the moment, so let her know I won't be able to make it. Have her call me after the doctor checks her out."
"What?! Why the hell would I bring her whiskey? It's noon and she needs to go to the hospital."
"Look, just fucking do it. I don't have time to explain. I need to call her doctor." With that, Donald hung up.
Stacie looked at the phone in a daze. Stacie wasn't stupid, she started piecing shit together. The shaking, the vomit. The outburst. Beca is an alcoholic. Fuck! Stacie didn't want to enable Beca, but she didn't want her to be dealing with withdrawals whilst dealing with a broken wrist. Stacie sighed and went to the nightstand. Sure enough, there was a bottle of Jack. Stacie grabbed it and walked back into the bathroom. "Here. Donald said to give you this."
"What? Why?" Beca said with a look of pure confusion.
"Hmmm. I don't know, Beca. Maybe because you're a fucking alcoholic and you won't be able to get through a doctor visiting without it!" Stacie regretted her words as soon as she said them. She didn't want to attack Beca, but the words came out anyways.
"Fuck you, Stacie! I'm not a fucking loser! I drink sometimes, so what? That doesn't make me a fucking alcoholic!" Beca was angry. Normally she would be excited about that fact, but this was different. This felt wrong. Stacie didn't know her any more. She had no right to make assumptions. She didn't know what the fuck she was talking about.
"Fine. You're not an alcoholic. Do you want the whiskey or not?"
Beca rolled her eyes. "Well yeah. I'm kind of in fucking pain here! It'd be nice to have something to take the edge off! Doesn't mean I'm an alcoholic!"
"I said you weren't! Just take the damn bottle!"
Beca took the bottle and took a big swig as she watched Stacie walk out of the bathroom. She started to cool off and calm down after a few minutes. The sweats, headache, and trembling dissipated. When she felt ok enough, she got in the shower. She wanted to wash all the sweat off. Fucking alcoholic my ass. I was just in pain. Only reason I took it. And everything else was absolutely food poisoning. Had to be.
Stacie was sitting on the couch in the den. She was trying to figure out what the hell to do. She had already texted Aubrey and let her know she was awake, but she didn't think Aubrey would be enough. After figuring out Beca had an even bigger issue, she knew she needed more reinforcements. She sent out a group text to the Bellas, making sure to not include Chloe.
Stacie- "Hey guys. So. I came to see Beca. She needs your help. She won't admit it, but she does. We need to rally up and be here for her. Can you all get free? Maybe take vacation or something?"
Fat Amy- "No fair! You beat me to it! I'm in LA already. Got here this morning. Why she moved here, I have no idea. Don't see the appeal."
Lilly- "I don't have any contracts right now. I will be there in 5 hours."
CR- "Well. I could possibly take a couple weeks leave. I'll have to have it approved though. I've got time saved up so unless my CO wants to be a dick, I don't think it'll be a problem."
Jessica- "Yeah, of course! Ash and I are on summer break anyways! Benefits of being a teacher! You down Ash?"
Ashley- "Of course! Let's do it! Never been to California!"
Flo- "I can see if my friend will run the truck for me for a while. If I split the profits down the middle with him, it shouldn't be a problem. I need to install a camera first. Make sure the little shit doesn't steal from me."
Flo- "Lilly, could you call me? I need help setting up a camera."
Lilly- "Yes. I will also teach you how to set up something to where if you catch him doing something, it will chop his dick off. Or maybe stab him in the eye. I don't know. How big is your truck?"
Flo- "Sounds perfect."
Fat Amy- "You know. I always knew joining an acapella group would get me thrown in jail. If anything happens, we are all now accomplices. I'm not going to jail for you pitches! Everyone delete this chat and burn you phones."
Stacie- "All of my friends are so fucking weird."
Jessica- "Hey!"
Stacie- "Sorry honey, not you. Anyways. I've got some shit to do. Just let me know when you're coming. Just come to Beca's. She's got the room and we'll tie her up if she tries to kick you out."
Aubrey- "That would probably not end well."
Stacie- "You afraid of Mitchell, Posen? Damn. Who knew?"
Aubrey- "Oh please. Get real. Come open the door."
Fat Amy- "What?! You're there too?"
Stacie got up and opened the front door for Aubrey. "We have a big fucking problem."
Beca heard that as she walked down the stairs. "And what problem might that be? Other than my broken wrist?"
"Broken wrist? What the hell?" Aubrey said as she walked past Stacie and over to Beca. "What happened?" Aubrey asked and tried to grab Beca's arm.
"Let's not touch me, ok?" Beca said as she pulled away from Aubrey. "What problem Stacie?" Beca glared at the taller brunette.
"Um. Nothing. Just need a rental car. Don't plan on going anywhere for awhile. Aubrey, will you go with me?"
"What? No. I need to talk to Beca." Aubrey said, clearly confused about what was going on. About that time an elderly man came into view in the doorway.
"Hey doc. Come on in." Beca said as she moved away from Aubrey.
Stacie sighed in relief. "See. Beca will be busy for a bit. He's gotta check her out. So. Come with me."
Aubrey didn't budge.
"Now Posen!" Stacie shouted.
This made Aubrey jump. At first she was irritated but when she looked in Stacie's eyes, she saw her begging to comply. She nodded. "Ok. Fine. I'll be back later Beca."
"Yeah sure whatever. Come on doc, let's go to the den."
Stacie and Aubrey made their way to Aubrey's rental. "So. Enterprise?"
"Sure. Just drive" Stacie said.
Aubrey drove down the long driveway and stopped before getting onto the street. "So are you going to tell me what happened?"
"Yeah. I think-" Stacie sighed. "No. I know. Beca is an alcoholic. She needs help. Like really fucking badly. What the fuck do we do Aubrey?"
Aubrey thought for a moment. "Well. I think you did the right thing in getting the Bellas to come out here. I think it'll be good for her. But. Now don't hate me. But I think we should tell Chloe."
"What?! Why the hell would we tell her anything?"
"Honestly, I think she really needs to know what she did. Plus, what if seeing Chloe is the push that Beca needs?"
"Yeah, or it will push her even further over the edge! Aubrey! Chloe fucking broke Beca!"
"Yeah, I know. But Beca never actually dealt with what happened. She shut down, and checked out. How can you get over something if you never actually deal with it? She needs to really process everything. She needs to really feel everything. She needs this, I think, in order to truly heal."
"I don't know. Sounds like it could go really fucking badly." Stacie said, trying to mull over Aubrey's words.
"Well. How about we tell Chloe. We see how she reacts. We'll see if she has any ideas. I mean. She was the closest person to Beca before everything went down. If anyone knows what to do, it would be her."
"Bullshit. If she really knew Beca, she wouldn't have done what she did. Well. Maybe not. But if she actually cared for and loved her then she wouldn't have done it. How can I trust her around Beca? She clearly didn't care enough about her back then. What makes you think she cares now?"
"I don't know." Aubrey said. She was caught off guard by the emotion Stacie was putting off. She had never seen the girl so shaken. Stacie was always so carefree. Always making jokes. Now? She's so serious. So focused. It was alarming. "Let's just test the waters. If we end up thinking that Chloe would only hurt the situation, we'll keep her away from Beca. She doesn't have her address or anything. We can keep it that way."
"Yes she does! Lilly sent it in the old group chat Chloe started!"
"Ok. Well then we can't stop her either way. And if she decides to come out here, maybe her knowing the full story will keep her from doing something stupid."
Stacie sighed. She knew Aubrey would tell Chloe eventually, but maybe if Stacie agreed, she could control what and how things were said. "Fine. But I want to be the one to call her."
"Fine."
XXXX
Chloe was in the middle of her shift when her phone started ringing. She saw it was Stacie and made her way outside.
"Hey Stacie. How are you?"
"I'm fine, Chloe. I'm not calling for me. I'm calling for Beca."
Chloe's heart started racing. "What about her?"
"Well. She needs help. And all of the Bellas are going to help her. And whether I like it or not. That includes you."
"Um. Ok? I really don't know what you're talking about."
"I know you don't which is why I'm going to explain some things to you." Stacie sighed. "Chloe. You fucking destroyed Beca. Like. So fucking bad."
"Obviously not, Stacie. She's doing very well for herself."
"Yeah! Career wise! But she's a fucking drunk, Chloe! She has no one here for her! Her fucking manager is an enabler! She doesn't care about anyone or anything! She's just existing. And barely! She needs her family! And at one point, she used to be your family too! So I suggest you sack the fuck up, and figure out how to fix this! Beca doesn't deserve this! She deserves so much better than what you did to her!"
Chloe was crying. Beca really didn't deserve the shit Chloe did to her. She had no idea Beca was so far gone. She should've known. She should've known that Beca didn't take everything as well as she let on. Then she heard what sounded like Aubrey on the other end of the phone. "Stop being so fucking mean."
"Aubrey? Is that you?"
"Give me the phone! Just give me the damn phone."
Chloe heard rustling.
"Hey sweetie! Yeah it's me. Sorry about Stacie."
"I didn't know she went with you."
"She didn't. She actually got to Beca before I did. Look Chlo. Beca really does need help. What should we do?"
"What do you mean 'what should you do?' How would I know? I clearly am not the right person for the job."
"Chloe Beale, you get your head out of your ass! It's not a hat! Now you may not be with Beca anymore, but at one point, she was your friend, your family. And whether you like it or not, you fucked that up. Not her. So you need to get over yourself and help the rest of your family clean up your mess!"
"What do you want me to do Aubrey?! I can't just leave!"
"You know, that's funny. Because all of the other girls managed to agree to put their lives on hold to come be here for Beca, but you? You just keep coming up with excuses. Excuses for not moving to LA when Beca asked when you were still together. Excuses for cheating. Excuses for lying to the girls. Who the hell are you? Because my best friend is not this selfish. Or did I ever really know you?"
"That's not fair!" Chloe sobbed. She couldn't lose Aubrey. She already lost Beca, probably the other girls too, but she can't lose Aubrey. "You know I didn't want to move to LA because I would've had to of switched schools and lost my friends. And you know why I cheated! I never said it was a good reason, but it's the only one I have! I know I fucked up! I know that, and I regret it everyday! Beca was perfect. She loved me more than anyone ever has, and I know I ruined it. I don't need the constant reminders. What am I supposed to do? Grovel at her feet? Beg her to take me back?"
"I don't know Chloe. But I do know that by you not running after her, you showed her that you didn't love her the way you claimed. Yeah. You cheated, but then you also abandoned her. You left her out to dry. You left her alone."
"She didn't want me to run after her! I was trying to respect her!"
"By fucking a guy on her couch on your anniversary?!"
"Wow. Thanks for that. Really fucking helpful Bree!"
"Look. I'm sorry. Just. Ugh. We don't know what to do. She needs closure. And honestly. You're the only one that can give it to her."
Chloe sighed. She really had no idea how she could possibly help. "Ok. I'll see what I can do." Chloe hung up. She needed to think. She was terrified to see Beca again. She knew she still wanted Beca, but how could she possibly ask for forgiveness. Should she even ask for forgiveness? That seemed even more selfish than the cheating. Was Beca really as broken as Stacie and Aubrey said? If so, what could she do about it? I'm so fucking lost.