Enjoy. Beta'd by my wonderful girlfriend as always. Thanks, honey!

The Bellas' house was unusually empty by the time Beca returned and though normally she'd appreciate the solitude and silence to work through her thoughts and emotions in peace, this time, it felt like it was stifling her, pressing in on her from all sides.

After a solid hour of trying to get started on Chloe's birthday mix—see: blankly staring at the screen while listening to the same section on a loop—without making any real progress she'd stormed out of the house and walked through campus, enjoying the scenery of the place that had become home. She didn't actually have a destination in mind but clearly, her subconscious did.

Before long she found herself standing at her father's doorstep. Her four years at Barden had gone a long way to help repair Beca's relationship with her father. It wasn't a stellar relationship by any means, nearly eleven years' worth of accusations and resentment had left a permanent scar in Beca's being, but it was a far cry from what it had once been.

Monthly dinners had become commonplace and he was actually involved in her life.

He'd made it to nearly every Bellas performance and had made an effort to get to know the girls. It was nice to have a parent be an active part of her life for once and now Beca could say—with only the slightest hint of bitterness in her voice—that she could trust and confide in her father.

So it was no wonder that she found herself seeking him out now. She rang the doorbell and waited anxiously until her father's delighted face greeted her.

"Bec! What a nice surprise," Warren said as he stepped aside, motioning for her to come inside, "What brings you by? I didn't think I'd be seeing you until Saturday."

"I um… wanted to talk to you about something. Maybe. If you have time," Beca said once they were in the living room.

"Of course, sweetheart. Is everything okay?" He asked.

Beca stared at her lap, nervously playing with her fingers as she pondered how to even go about asking the questions she'd had for so long. After a minute, she sighed and turned her wrist over displaying her new acquisition.

Beca saw the slight shock that passed through his features, but to his credit, he didn't do any of the things she had been expecting.

Warren merely looked back at his daughter with an expression that seemed almost apologetic, "When did… did this happen?"

"Today actually. Jesse wanted to, know, I guess. We broke up."

"I'm sorry, honey," He said, rubbing a hand up and down her back soothingly.

"What do I do dad? I'm not ready."

"Oh, Bec. No one ever thinks they are. But these things are one hundred percent accurate. Whoever this person is, will wait as long as it takes you to be ready," he said pulling her into his chest.

There had always been something so incredibly comforting about him and Beca had been hard press to admit it was one of the things she missed the most about him in her early teens. And one of the main reasons she'd resented him for so long.

"If they're so accurate, how come you and mom aren't together anymore?" Beca asked unable to keep the anger out of her tone.

Warren didn't answer for a long time, long enough Beca started to wonder if she would get an answer at all. Eventually, he tightened his arm around her shoulders and sighed, "I told your mother we should've talked to you about this a long time ago."

Beca pulled away, setting some distance between them so she could look at him as he talked.

"When you're mother and I met, we were very young and we both had a long, long countdown on our timers. More than twenty years," he started.

"Wait, what?" Beca frowned as she processed the new information.

"We had a lot in common, Laura and I. At first it was pretty casual, but we got in too deep," he continued with a far off look on his face like he was lost in the memories of years long gone. "We fell in love; and before long we were living together, married, talking about starting a family. We thought a clock would have nothing on what we had. Then we had you and it was the happiest we ever were."

"What happened?" She asked softly.

"We started to realize we needed more than what we had. That we really weren't such a perfect match after all," Warren walked across the room to a large bookshelf and produced an old photo album. He flipped through a few pages before sitting down next to her again. He pointed to a picture Beca had never seen before.

Warren and Laura Mitchell stood in an open field, at the top of a mountain, it seemed, with the distant view of a city behind them. They were wrapped up around each other, looking so young, happy and carefree it made Beca's heart ache a little. She had no memories of them ever being like that.

"We were so young Bec when we decided to get together. Instead of growing together, we grew apart. We started fighting more and more and disagreeing on the simplest things. The only thing we managed to agree on was that staying together for you wasn't fair to anyone."

"Has mom met hers?"

"No. It should be any day now though if I remember correctly."

"Why didn't you ever tell me? You basically lied to me my whole life."

"You were always so against them, Bec. When you turned fourteen and refused to let your mother make an appointment we decided not to force you. I figured we would find a more appropriate time, but then you met Jesse and seemed so happy there was no reason for us to potentially ruin it for you," He closed the album and set it on the table in front of them before returning his attention to her.

"Does that mean the Step-Monster's your soulmate?"

"Beca…" Her father said tiredly. A warning.

"Sorry, sorry. Is she, though?"

"Yes."

Well, that certainly put a spin on things. It's not like she could hold onto her grudge forever when really, her dad and Sheila had been destined to meet and be together from the beginning.

Stupid timers.

"What I'm saying is, your mom and I were so happy Bec I never thought it would get any better. I couldn't have imagined how much better and easier it was going to be with the right person. You have nothing to be afraid of honey, I promise," Warren said.

Having successfully avoided most of the Bellas upon her return, Beca was intent on staying in her room for the rest of the night. Stacie and Cynthia-Rose, who had been the only ones in the living room when she came in, had given her odd, mildly concerned looks. But they had quickly learned through the years to stay out of Beca's path when she got in a bad mood.

She was still in the process of powering up her equipment when her phone chimed with an incoming message.

She smiled knowing exactly who it was. Sappy, predictable, nerds these girls were.

Beale [6:40PM]: What's wrong, grumpy pants?

Who said anything's wrong?

Beca answered as she leaned back on the bed.

Beale [6:41PM]: Stace. And CR. What happened?

Having Chloe as a best friend was sometimes a blessing and a curse. Chloe just… she cared so much about everyone in her life, it had taken Beca some time to get used to having an unconditional source of support and encouragement by her side. From someone who didn't really have to be any of those things the first place.

And Beca knew, in the most rational parts of her brain, that Chloe wouldn't hold against her the fact that she'd somehow ended up with one of the shortest countdowns possible after years of insisting she'd never get a timer. Guilt still washed over her as she thought of the inevitable conversation.

But it probably wasn't something she should discuss over text while Chloe was in Miami for her brother's birthday.

She decided, finally, on what could probably classify as a half-truth.

Jesse and i broke up.

Instead of the text she'd been expecting, her phone lit up with an incoming call, Chloe's face beaming at her from the contact picture she'd set for herself on Beca's phone a few weeks ago. From their last group shopping trip, she remembered.

"Hey."

"Hey. Are you okay, Bec?"

Beca sighed, running a hand tiredly over her face. Was she? She honestly didn't even know. She wasn't hurting nearly as much as she thought she should've been, for having just ended a three-year relationship. That was what hurt the most, she guessed. "I don't know, honestly."

The background noise at the other end of the line became muffled then as Chloe, Beca guessed, moved away from the music and conversation she could just about make out.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Chloe asked gently.

"Not right now, no. Tell me about your trip home?"

Chloe was silent for a moment considering, Beca knew, whether to push the issue and make her open up or just this once, let her off the hook with the whole 'sharing your feelings' thing.

"My brother dyed his hair blue," Chloe started, launching into story after story of her long weekend at home.

Beca let herself fall into the chatter letting Chloe do most of the talking. If she had been paying more attention, she would've caught the underlying anxiety in Chloe's voice. And if she hadn't been so in her head, she would've recognized the restlessness that seemed to permeate the entire conversation.

"I really wish you were here," Beca said as Chloe was in the middle of what was supposed to be a funny story about her dog.

"I- me too. I don't like you being alone tonight."

"When are you getting back?"

"Not until Monday morning."

Probably for the best, Beca thought. Chloe would be miles away when her timer zeroed out. When she met her soulmate. "I miss you, nerd."

Chloe laughed and Beca could so clearly see the smile that spread across her face and the way her eyes lit up in delight every time Beca willingly expressed her affection.

"I miss you too, dork. I'll be there soon."

"You better be."

"It's late, I should let you go. And I should probably get back in there."

"Okay. Say hi to your brother and your parents. I'll um- I guess I'll see you Monday?"

"Bright and early. Try to get some sleep, please. Love you, dork."

"Love you, nerd," Beca said with a smile.

Left to her own devices for the rest of the night Beca tossed and turned on the bed until she finally gave up sometime before midnight.

Amy was spending the night with Bumper so she thankfully had the room to herself, but it also meant there was no one readily available to distract her from the timer that was nearing zero. She briefly considered calling Chloe but it was midnight. She was probably asleep.

She sat up against the headboard drawing her knees up to her chest and stared at her timer as it counted down its final minutes.

000d 00hrs 03mns 20s

Beca wondered then if her soulmate, wherever he or she was, whoever he or she was, was staring at their timer too. If they were as scared as she was in that moment, facing the reality of the situation. It was easy to distance yourself from it when you know it's not something you'll have to deal with for years to come but she—and by consequence her perfect match—had been left with no more than a few hours to adjust.

Tears unexpectedly filled her eyes as the countdown reached zero.

000d 00hrs 00mns 00s

She let her head fall back against the headboard and tears filled with pent up anxiety, sadness and if she was completely honest maybe a little anticipation, fall freely down her cheeks.

After a restless night of tossing, turning and worrying Beca had resolutely decided to not step foot out of the house today.

If the only people she saw today where the Bellas, there was no way she'd meet her perfect match. That was totally how it worked right?

Right.

She'd dressed in an old, faded flannel shirt and left the sleeves down. The last thing she needed was one of the girls seeing the damn thing and ruining her plan.

But of course, plans never go the way you want them to.

Having Chloe out of town for the weekend, the girls had resorted to Beca's weak-spots to get her to sit through some superhero, action movie after a late breakfast plying her with sweets and popcorn.

'Bonding Time' Amy had called it. More like 'Torture Time'.

They were nearing the end of the movie when the front door opened.

Chloe walked into the room, duffle bag slung over her shoulder and try as she might Beca couldn't keep her eyes off of her in that moment.

Beca looked into Chloe's eyes—how had she never noticed how blue her eyes were before then?—red-rimmed and tired but brimming with excitement and it was like everything moved in slow motion from there.

A hush fell over the room as two, distinct, melodic chimes reverberated across the walls.

Beca could feel the Bellas' eyes on her burning holes through her skull and the unspoken questions dying to burst forth.

But all she saw, all she knew in that single moment was Chloe.