A/N: Part two of chapter twenty-two as promised. I skipped ahead a bit, purely for length reasons. I started writing from where I left it and realised it would be way too long, so I hope this isn't too disappointing. Also, I realised the chapter title was now pointless, so I made an even crappier title with very little creativity...

"You're Just a Kid" (Mathematical Part 2)

"I can't see you anymore."

Beca remembers the words like they were yesterday and she still feels the sting it delivered.

When she first met Chloe at the college party, she had no idea things would get so intense so quickly. For a long time after their fateful conversation at an on-campus coffee shop, Beca wished she'd never met Chloe and never known the heartache she experienced. To finish her DJ set and go home, like she had set out too in the first place.

It still baffles her that Chloe was able to rip out her heart and stomp on it so easily when they'd only known each other a little over twenty-four hours.

"But I'm eighteen, I graduate in the summer, I don't see why you'd want to ruin something before it's even begun."

"Because I'm twenty-two, Beca!" the redhead shouted, her outburst causing a couple of customer's to look in their direction.

It was the way she ducked and snapped her head to the window in shame. If Beca's looking back on it, that's probably what hurt the most and replayed in her head many nights after.

"You're eighteen" Chloe whisper-shouted through gritted teeth, you're in high school! How's it going to work, Beca?"

She regretted the way she flinched when Chloe spat out her name; a patronising and condescending tone dripping from her lips.

"I'll pick you up from school and we'll go watch a movie?" Chloe laughed bitterly.

"I don't even watch movies, so..." Beca added sarcastically, stirring the spoon in the coffee mug in front of her.

"You're just a kid!"

Those words were the final straw and Beca was up and out of there like a shot, willing herself to keep the tears at bay until she in the safe confides of her car.

XXX

Beca's mind was reeling. She scrambled down an unmarked path in order to stay out of sight and rushed her way back to Baker Hall.

From the moment she graduated high school, Beca had practically packed all of her belongings already, eagerly waiting for her departure date for Los Angeles. High school wasn't the thrilling experience people had spoken of at the graduation ceremony as she sat in a crowded hall. She counted down the seconds she could finally escape the place she had been forced to spend the last four years of her life.

There was a strong sense of relief to know that Beca no longer had anything holding her back from pursuing her dream career in music. The brunette found comfort in knowing she was able to close that chapter of her life and start afresh in a new place. Other than Jesse, Beca hadn't made many friends, so leaving Georgia wasn't going to be emotionally challenging; she was eager to finally put her hometown behind her.

But her Dad had other ideas.

Three days shy of her flight date; Dr Mitchell sat her daughter down and told her LA was no longer on the cards.

"College first, LA after – This isn't a discussion, Beca."

Beca kicked all of her packed boxes around her bedroom in frustration, she yelled and screamed, seeing nothing but red. Her Father's constant ever changing conditions and empty promises caused something to snap inside of her that night, all of their past problems and disagreements resurfaced, resulting in a screaming match.

Her Dad was supposed to be an adult, but she's sure he shouted louder. He was suppose to be a supportive parent, but instead he was trying everything in his power to shatter her dreams in hopes that eventually the fire inside of her would finally burn out if he hosed enough water on it – the first spray was refusing to buy DJing equipment; the second was graduating high school; and now, the most powerful force of water being Barden University.

He cancelled her flight, unpacked her boxes (what was left of them) and shipped her off to college.

It was her first day moving into her dorm when she caught a glimpse of a woman from her past handing out flyers at a kiosk at the activities fair.

Chloe.

Six months ago Beca was a different person; she was naive and hopeful – Chloe and her Dad had done a good job of taking that from her. They hardened her exterior and made her see that if you wanted something in this life you had to work for it, all by yourself.

She pushed the door open to her room and sat by her desk. Chloe was twenty-two, if not twenty-three already, why was she still at Barden?

The sudden shock of recognition had stunned her but now she had time to think about it, Beca wasn't all that surprised. The redhead was the only reason she called a cab to the college campus and followed her Dad's orders. Although she hated herself for it, there was a small part of Beca that hoped her college experience would reunite them.

She shook her head with a bitter laugh and grabbed her headphones. There was too many thoughts racing through her mind right now, she needed music to soothe her head and slow them down.

XXX

Three weeks into the college life she had been forced into and Beca had been very unproductive. She attended as little classes as possible and slept until the late afternoon. Her nights were filed with music and perfecting mixes, whilst everyone else went about their education. Beca was doing just another to fly under the radar, without her Dad finding out and barely leaving her dorm.

She saw Chloe at a bakery a couple of days ago and since then she had never returned; no matter how good their cinnamon buns were. She had abandoned her order the moment the redhead walked through the door. She was engrossed in deep conversation with the same blonde from the activities fair.

Chloe was in an a cappella group; the Bellas. Beca had been curious enough to find out, but unsure of what to do with the new information; approaching Chloe was never going to happen, but she couldn't seem to rid that feeling of curiosity – most people would say that was signs of caring, but Beca would argue that point all day.

She couldn't possibly care for someone that broke her heart seven months ago.

It was late one Friday night when the DJ decided to attend her first official college party. Her Dad had left her three angry voicemails about her missing classes, causing Beca to seek out a release – alcohol always seemed to work.

In her last months at school, Beca attended every party with Jesse she could, relaying on the cheap beer and fireball whiskey to help her escape her head for a night. Tonight seemed like a good time to relive old habits.

She was sat on a sun lounger around a crowded pool not too far from her dorm. Her third cup of beer was tightly clasped in her hand as she watched the party from afar. As the night went on, Beca moved onto harder drinks, with stronger percentages and finally let loose. She had struck up conversation with a blonde Australian woman who had handed her a shot with grin.

Turns out Fat Amy is actually from Tasmania ("with a T") and had proved to be good company. They were talking about college extra activates when the word "Bellas" was casually dropped into conversation. Beca was quickly backing away, attempting to quietly slip out, until she spotted Chloe making her way over.

If Beca wanted to she could have turned on her heels and fled the party unseen - much like at the activities fair - but for some reason her feet were no longer cooperating, planting themselves onto the concrete, unwilling to move.

Chloe was dressed casually; jeans and a light blue blouse; and Beca tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach – the woman was no longer worthy of those, she lost the right to make Beca feel like that the moment she called her "just a kid" in a half empty coffee shop.

Suddenly ocean blue eyes were locked on ones and steel blue ones, recognition flickering on Chloe's face.

"Beca?" she asked, puzzled and surprised.

The brunette couldn't speak; the voice she was just using had died in her throat.

"I can't believe- Are you studying here?"

Fat Amy patted the smaller woman on the shoulder and made her way through the patio doors, with a quick "catch you later, guys."

"Yeah."

That was all Beca could manage - a one word answer and slight shrug of the shoulders. She downed the beer in her cup, her eyes darting towards the backyard gate she walked through a few hours ago.

There was a silence, before Chloe was stepping closer and wrapping her up in a hug. The embrace was longer than it should have been, the redhead holding her tightly for a second too long. Beca awkwardly let her hands rest on Chloe's hips, loose and stiff.

"Let's get a drink and catch up."

Beca wanted to laugh in her face. She wanted to not so politely decline, but her legs were disobeying her body again and instead following Chloe over to the sun lounger she was previously sat on with a new drink in her hand.

"So, how've you been?" Chloe's voice was upbeat, like she was trying her very best to keep conversation positive. Beca wasn't going to play along; she finally regained her voice.

"Really, that's what you're going to ask me?" she spoke defensively, raising her eyebrows at the woman beside her.

"Beca, I-"

"No, Chloe – save it. You broke my heart, you know that? I know it was only a drunken night at a party but I felt something, something I'd never felt before and I know you did too, I could see it in your eyes in the morning. But then you just brushed me off; waved me away like it meant nothing. Do you even know how that made me feel?!"

She couldn't hold it anymore. Beca had spent so much time thinking of the words she would say to Chloe if they ever saw each other again and the ones she just spoke were not nearly enough. The alcohol was clouding her mind, but there was some sort of weight leaving her body, a heavy weight she had been carrying for so many months - maybe this was the closure Jesse had told her she never had the chance to have.

"But what do I know; I'm just a fucking kid, right?"

She stood up to leave, but there was a hand grabbing her wrist and pulling her back.

"I'm sorry" Chloe rushed out, "I regret how I handled it, you have to believe me."

Beca opened her mouth to speak, before Chloe was continuing, "I felt it too, at the party. As soon as I saw you in that classroom, I freaked out, OK? I should have handled it better" she sighed with the shake of her head.

"I'm sorry."

The way Chloe's eyes pleaded, along with the hurt in her eyes made Beca feel weak. The sincerity in her voice and the genuine apology made her want to find the forgiveness she was so sure she'd never have.

She shook it off.

"Can we meet for lunch tomorrow?" Chloe asked cautiously.

"No, that's not a good idea" Beca breathed out, before turning and rushing out of the party and back to her dorm.

XXX

It had been two days since they had spoken at the party and Beca couldn't stop replaying the conversation in her mind nor could she stop picturing Chloe's pleading eyes and hear her sincere apology on loop in her ears.

The redhead shouldn't be able to do that.

Treat Beca like she meant nothing and then make her feel better after seven months of hurt and despair with a possible drunk apology at yet another college party.

The DJ was making her way to philosophy class; already ten minutes late. She began to pick up the pace, almost breaking into a run. If she was late to this class again she was going to get a disciplinary and she did not want to deal with another heated discussion with her Dad. She pulled her phone from her pocket to quickly check the time when she was running into something solid.

A body collided with hers, knocking the device from her hand and a foot heavily stomping on her toe.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

Beca didn't even have to look up to know who she just bumped into, because of course it would be Chloe. The universe was clearly against her; fucking typical.

"Beca?"

The younger woman retrieved her phone from the gravel path and nodded her head in response.

"Look, I gotta go."

"No, wait, please! Don't rush off again."

The hand was back on her wrist, the same way it had been a couple of nights before. Beca looked down at it, hoping Chloe would let go; she didn't. She could feel her resolve slowly crumbling under the redhead's gaze.

"What? What could we possibly have to talk about?" she asked impatiently.

"About what's between us."

Beca wasn't sure what to say to that...

"I know it's still there, or else you wouldn't be so angry and I wouldn't be so sorry" Chloe added after a few seconds of silence. She sounded confident and surer, demolishing the last poor constructed piece of her resolve.

Before she could reply, Chloe was pulling her hand and leading her away, through the trees planted along the path and out of sight from the busy commute. Beca tried to speak when she was suddenly cut off by Chloe's lips and being pushed up against a wall.

The redhead's lips were as soft as they had been seven months ago and they moved as expertly as they had then. Beca couldn't help but kiss them back when Chloe was pushing her body flush against hers and tangling fingers in her hair. The brunette ran her tongue along a bottom lip and deepened the kiss, letting her hands rest on the taller woman's hips but this time she wrapped them securely around her waist, tightly pulling Chloe closer to her.

In Beca's last months of school she definitely gained far more experience in the art of kissing and other areas than she had when she first met Chloe. It seemed the technique she had picked up was appreciated, if the hips grinding into hers had anything to do with it. Beca couldn't stop her smirk upon hearing a soft moan leave the redhead's mouth.

Eventually, both woman parted, purely from a lack of oxygen and stayed with their arms wrapped around each other, Beca's phone discarded somewhere on the grass.

"Was that a good kiss for a kid?" Beca challenged.

"Beca, don't" Chloe said softly, leaning her forehead on hers.

"I never stopped thinking about you, you know?" she whispered, her blue eyes searching Beca's.

"Yeah, me too" she mumbled, planting a soft kiss on Chloe's lips.

XXX