A/N: This chapter was almost impossible to write. I had to leave it and come back at least 5 times. A lot of angsty emotional stuff ahead so hold tight. Sorry if it's like previous chapters, I really struggled with it for some reason. Maybe because I just prefer light fluff. Oh well.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect or Titanium (yes, I know, no one needs to go listen to that song as I'm sure it's been on constant repeat ever since it became Bechloe's song. I hope you like what I do with it)
MONDAY
Sunday came and went and all too soon it was Monday morning. Chloe awoke slowly, keeping her eyes shut as her body became aware of the world around her. She could hear birds in the distance and she could feel the sun from the open window. In this moment between conscious and unconscious there was nothing wrong; the world was perfect. Then Chloe opened her eyes, yawned, and felt the world crash around her as she clutched her throat. She'd gulped honey and refused to speak all day Sunday. She'd ignored calls from Stacie, Aubrey and Beca. She'd even ignored the knocking at the door, praying the person would leave quickly. Chloe had given herself a day, one day to see if it was simply a sore throat from overuse. One day for the pain to go away and for life to continue as it had. She'd hoped and she'd prayed and she'd begged… but she had still woken up today with a painful tickle in her throat.
Chloe pulled the blankets over her head and rolled into a ball, letting her tears overcome her and ignoring the fact that she should be in the studio.
Beca spun around on her chair with her phone pressed to her cheek. This was the forth attempt at calling Chloe only to receive no answer. Beca looked up at the door as she heard a knock, slumping back down when she saw it was Luke.
"Still no Chloe?" He asked judging the frown on her face.
Beca shrugged. "She's not answering. This isn't like her… well, it doesn't seem like her."
"Have you tried that manager of hers? She seems like the type to go Big Brother all over her clients."
Beca scrunched her nose. She definitely didn't want to call Aubrey but her worry got the best of her and she dialled the number.
"Beca?" A hesitant voice answered.
"Yeah. Hey. Is Chloe with you?" Beca asked, the first nice words she'd ever spoken to the blonde.
Beca was met with a moment of silence. "Is she not at the studio?" Aubrey's voice sounded small, almost sad.
"No and she isn't answering my class."
More silence. "She didn't answer mine yesterday either."
Beca could tell Aubrey was more thinking out loud than sharing the thought but it still caused Beca to panic slightly. Chloe had ignored her calls on Sunday as well but she had just assumed it was because of Saturday, she hadn't known there was an actual problem.
"When did you last see her?" Beca asked finally.
"Saturday. We spoke during her break but then she disappeared. You?"
"Same."
"OK… I'm going to go to her house and see if she's there. Thank you for calling-"
"Wait!" Beca interrupted before Aubrey could hang up. "Can you let me know when you find her?"
"I'll get her to call you."
"Thank you Aubrey."
Aubrey hung up the phone without replying. Beca looked up to see Luke still in front of her giving her a worried look.
"She hasn't heard anything?"
Beca shook her head. "She'll call soon." Beca turned back to her laptop needing work to distract her from her worry. "She'll call."
Chloe could hear a faint banging from somewhere in her house. She snuggled further into her blankets and ignored it hoping that it would stop. It did.
"Chlo?" A voice suddenly came from somewhere behind her.
Ignore them and they'll go away, Chloe thought to herself as she kept her body still thinking that the person would think she was asleep. She was wrong because the next thing she knew her safe cacoon was being pulled open and she was faced with brunette hair.
"Chloe?" Stacie's voice was soft as she took in Chloe's red cheeks and eyes. "What's wrong?"
Chloe's lip quivered and she broke into a fresh bout of tears.
"Sweetie!" Stacie gasped, quickly pulling the redhead into her arms. Stacie rocked Chloe softly, whispering into her ear and stroking her hair. "It's going to be OK Chlo, it is. Shhh, it's OK."
After a few minutes Chloe calmed enough for Stacie to pull back.
"Talk to me. What's going through that head of yours?"
Chloe turned her watery eyes to Stacie. Saying it out loud would make it real. "It's my throat. There's something wrong."
Stacie gasped and grabbed Chloe into her arms again. "Let's go to a doctor OK? Don't jump to conclusions without a doctor."
Chloe nodded and let Stacie pull her into the bathroom to quickly get dressed enough to go outside. Their car pulled away mere moments before Aubrey's pulled up.
Aubrey used her key to barge straight into Chloe's house. She scanned every room finding nothing and no one. "Chloe where are you?" Aubrey asked herself as she pulled her phone out to call Beca. When did the hobbit become her go-to?
"Why were you at my house this morning?" Chloe asked suddenly realising that Stacie must have been there for a reason. The pair were sitting in an almost empty waiting room in the typical stiff chairs.
Stacie held up the magazine she was reading, smirking as she showed Chloe her own image on the cover. She placed it back down and turned to Chloe with a serious expression. "I needed to confront you about something and you've been avoiding me since Saturday."
"Confront me?" Chloe asked, scrunching her nose up at the idea.
Stacie gave a laugh at Chloe's innocent expression before sobering. "You really hurt me Chlo. I was ready to resort to fisticuffs."
Chloe's face scrunched even more. "What did I do?"
Stacie melted at her friend's expression, as she felt completely ridiculous for wanting to resort to violence. "One the same day I told you about Aubrey you decided to kiss her," Stacie explained. "At the party for your future girlfriend's brother," she added.
Chloe's face dropped into a confused pout. "I didn't kiss Aubrey."
Now Stacie was confused. "Yes you did. I saw you. Inside the house, remember?"
Chloe tilted her head as if she was thinking it over. Suddenly her face lit up with recognition. "Oh no! You've got this all wrong Stace."
"So you didn't kiss Aubrey?"
"No I totally kissed Aubrey but it doesn't mean what you think it means. We finally talked about her in-the-past feelings about me and sorted it all out. That kiss was just to solidify the lack of attraction between us. Trust me, it was like kissing my grandma," Chloe pulled a face of disgust. "We are best friends and sisters, nothing more."
Stacie sighed. She should have known that Chloe would never do that. "Sorry for getting the wrong idea."
"Sorry for giving you the wrong idea." Chloe leaned her head on Stacie's shoulder and linked their arms.
Stacie picked up the magazine again, quickly flicking to the centrefold where Chloe was posing in a swimsuit. "I'm glad you're not my grandma," Stacie practically purred.
"Gross Stacie," Chloe laughed.
"Ms Beale?" A man asked as he stepped into the room. Chloe nodded and stood to follow.
"Chlo. Need moral support?"
Chloe reached out a hand and linked it with Stacie's as the two went to face the doctor together.
"Any luck?" Beca spoke into the phone.
Aubrey sighed in response. "No, nothing. I have no clue where else she would be!" Aubrey was sounding more and more stressed with every phone call to the producer.
"What about Stacie? Have you tried her? Maybe they are off doing something together?" Beca suggested, trying to ignore the tinge of jealousy. Stacie and Chloe are just friends, Beca told herself, even if they did go off together inside of the house for longer than a 'toilet break'. So what if Stacie looked wound up and Chloe's lip-gloss was smeared.
"Yeah… Maybe I'll try her." Stacie hadn't spoken to Aubrey since the party on Saturday and she had a very real inkling that the leggy brunette was ignoring her for some reason. They had remained close after the breakup but on Saturday Stacie had looked at Aubrey with a mix of hurt and anger.
Aubrey hung up and spent a few minutes staring at her phone, preparing herself to ring.
"Stacie pull over," Chloe all but yelled.
Stacie quickly pulled over and glanced at the building Chloe was staring at. "Chloe that's not a good idea."
Chloe ignored her and jumped out of the car. "I'll be right back," she said as she closed the door.
"Chloe!" Stacie yelled too late. Stacie pounded her steering wheel but refused to break down. The doctor had quickly sent them to an ENT in the same building who had given Chloe the worst news imaginable. Stacie had known Chloe for 5 years and the one thing she was sure of was Chloe's love of music. Who would the redhead be without it?
Stacie was pulled from her thoughts were Chloe reappeared with a bulging paper bag. "Chlo-"
"Just drive Stacie," Chloe snapped.
Stacie sighed and did as she was asked. Chloe needed to deal with this as best she could.
Beca slammed her front door as she walked into her apartment.
"Beca?" Jesse called from the couch after he got over the surprise of the very loud nose interrupting his movie.
Beca walked straight past him and into her room, slamming that door as well.
Jesse groaned as she stood from the couch and walked over to Beca's room, letting himself in without permission. He was surprised to see Beca curled up on her bed with a deep frown on her face.
"So I'm guessing you either asked Chloe about Stacie and it went badly or you lost the balls to ask," Jesse suggested as she sat on the edge of Beca's bed.
"She didn't show up. Aubrey's been looking all day but no one has seen her," she grumbled.
Jesse straightened. "So this is what worry looks like on you?"
Beca growled. "Why can't she just call and let us know she is OK?"
Jesse patted Beca's shoulder. "Sucks having people to worry about, doesn't it."
"Shut up Jesse," Beca muttered as she rolled away from him and made herself into an even smaller ball.
"I'm here if you need to talk Beca," Jesse offered and he rose and left the room, shutting the door behind himself.
Stacie pulled into Chloe's drive and grabbed her arm to stop her from jumping out. "When you need to talk-"
"I don't," Chloe cut her off, pulling her arm away and practically running inside of her house.
Stacie sighed and hit her steering wheel again. She was about to pull out when her phone started ringing. Aubrey. With a deep breath Stacie answered, "Hey Bree."
"Hi…" Aubrey was confused. Stacie had answered just like she normally did, not anger anywhere in her voice. "Have you, um, have you seen Chloe today? Beca said she didn't show at the studio and I've been looking all day but-"
Stacie's eyes widened. Crap. "Aubrey, I'm so sorry. I've been with Chloe today," she cut the blonde off.
"Seriously Stacie? Neither of you could be bothered to call?" Aubrey couldn't help the way she snapped at the brunette.
"Aubrey calm down. Chloe got some pretty bad news today, OK? She's going to need to take some time off." Stacie knew it wasn't her place to tell Aubrey but she also knew that Chloe wasn't in the state to deal with explaining this to anyone.
Aubrey's concern for her best friend replaced all other emotions. "What happened?"
Stacie took a deep breath and told Aubrey everything that the doctor had said. Once she hung up she headed home to have her own pity party.
Beca blinked her eyes open when she heard her phone ringing. She didn't even realise she'd fallen asleep. It was Aubrey. She quickly answered it. "Did you find her?"
Beca jolted up in bed when she heard what sounded like sobbing on the other end of the phone. "Aubrey? What happened? Is she OK?" Beca felt her heart beating furiously as she panicked, every single worst-case scenario flew through her head, each of them ending in Chloe dead. No. Beca couldn't live in a world like that. Only one week and Beca refused to live a life without the redhead in it.
"Chloe won't be in tomorrow," Aubrey said eventually.
Beca barely heard her. "Aubrey, tell me what the fuck has happened to her. Is she OK? Is she in the hospital?"
Aubrey chocked back another sob. "She's fine. She just needs some time. I'll let you know when she'll be back. Bye Beca."
"Aubrey!" It was too late. Beca didn't even think about it as she pulled on her shoes and a jacket, grabbing her keys and heading out. She ignored Jesse in the living room and ran out of the building and to her car. Her mind was a complete mess as she drove straight to Chloe's. She'd only been there once so she was surprised when she made it without getting lost or crashing in her state. Her car had barely stopped when she was already at Chloe's door practically banging it down.
Beca knocked for five minutes but no one answered. She decided to try her luck and turned the handle. It wasn't locked.
"Chloe?" Beca called as she walked into the darkened house. All the curtains were closed and no lights were on. "Chloe?" Beca called again as she made her way through the house checking all of the rooms. She reached the end of the hallway and heard what sounded like singing coming from a closed room to her left. Beca knocked and pushed it open. "Chloe?" The sight in front of her pulled at whatever remained of her heart. Chloe was sitting, hunched, on the floor beside her bed. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders with messy hair flowing over it. She was drinking straight from an almost empty bottle of Jack Daniels and there was a second unopened bottle next to her. She was signing into the bottle in her hand and Beca recognised the lyrics as the song they should have recorded today.
Beca hesitated by the door before slowly moving to Chloe's side and sitting in front of her. "Chloe? What happened?"
Chloe responded with a hollow laugh that caused Beca to recoil. "Life! Life happened! Same story as always. I'm doing fine, great even, then there is a viral video of my fiancé screwing some chick in my bed. I get myself back up, accept the fact that fact that I need to take a forced break from Broadway, move on, start feeling happy, find someone new and bam! I have fucking nodes." Chloe laughed again and chugged the rest of the Jack Daniels before opening the second bottle. "Story of my fucking life! I try to be good and nice and… good but no! Life doesn't like that! Life wants to kill my mother, take my dad, make me fall in love with a cheater, ruin music. Well fuck you too life! You fucking win! I'm done! You hear me? Done!"
Beca could only watch as Chloe broke down, screaming at the ceiling, drinking and crying. Beca had no clue what nodes were and she had no idea what was causing Chloe's breakdown. She just knew that she couldn't sit her and listen to Chloe give up. Not the Chloe that sung songs about being bulletproof and titanium. That gave her an idea. During one of Chloe's silences when she gulped down the Jack Daniels Beca began to sing Chloe's song back to her. She wasn't one with words so she hoped Chloe's words would do.
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
Chloe's eyes met hers with an intensity that made her gasp. Chloe put down the bottle and immediately began to sing with Beca.
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
Shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
Shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
Beca kept her eyes locked with Chloe's as she stood and pulled the redhead to her feet. She tucked some of the messy red hair behind an ear. "No matter what life throws at you just remember: you are titanium. You can beat this Chlo. I believe in you."
Chloe nodded and let Beca tuck her in to the bed.
"I'm going to put these bottles away and let you get some sleep, OK? The world won't be as dark tomorrow, I promise." Beca leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Chloe's forehead, needing to prolong their contact just to prove to herself that Chloe was actually still here and mostly alright. Chloe's eyes closed at the contact so Beca moved away slowly, quickly grabbing the bottles as she went.
She pulled out her phone the second she was in the kitchen and dialled what had recently become a familiar number.
"Look Beca-" the voice answered.
"What are nodes?" Beca cut in.
Aubrey sighed. "You went to see her?"
"I know I shouldn't have but I needed to see if she was alright," Beca admitted.
"Is she?" Aubrey asked, deciding not to snap at the hobbit for caring for her best friend.
"She's had a bottle and a bit of Jack Daniels but she's asleep now," Beca whispered, keeping her voice low so as to not disturb Chloe.
"Thanks Beca. Nodes, like vocal nodules? The rubbing together of your vocal chords at above average rates without proper lubrication. They sit on your windpipe and they crush your dreams."
Beca frowned. "So… what are they?"
Aubrey sighed exasperatedly. "Essentially it means that it hurts Chloe to sing. She either needs to stop or have an operation to remove them."
"Well that's easy," Beca spoke, not liking the fact that Chloe was in pain but still not seeing the problem. She knew Chloe had been hurting on Saturday. Why hadn't she done something more? "She has the surgery, problem solved."
"No Beca," Aubrey snapped. Good, they were back to that. "That's not easy. Do you know how risky that is for a singer like Chloe? There is an incredibly high likelihood that if Chloe has the operation she may never be able to sign again, or at least not like she can now. You know how important her voice is to her, it's what you two bonded over or whatever."
Beca could feel her heart shatter and her stomach churn. She felt physically sick. "OK. No surgery. She can keep signing through the pain." Beca knew it was a bad idea but she was desperate for any solution that could help Chloe.
"If she keeps singing then she WILL lose her voice."
"So what? That's it? She has the operation and MAYBE loses her voice or she doesn't and then she definitely does? No, there has to be another option," Beca rushed as the panic grew in her chest.
"There isn't she was with a doctor all day today and he said it's pretty serious. She's probably been hurting for a while and just ignoring it."
"But what about the album?" Beca tried.
"Who cares about the stupid album?" Aubrey snapped. "What about Broadway? What about everything else? Don't be so selfish Beca."
Beca hung up as Aubrey continued to rant and sunk to the floor. Why was this happening?
TUESDAY
"You stayed."
Beca looked up from her phone with a start. She hadn't heard Chloe enter the kitchen. "Hey. Yeah… sorry that's probably really weird. It was late and I didn't want you to be alone in case you needed something so I slept on the couch."
Chloe's smile warmed Beca's heart. "It's not weird that you stayed but it's weird that you slept on the couch. There's like two spare bedrooms with perfectly fine beds."
Beca laughed. "I didn't know that. Why do you have a house with so many furnished rooms?"
Chloe shrugged. "I liked it and you never know when you're going to have a breakdown and need a friend to spend the night," she winked at Beca and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge, handing one to Beca. "Thank you… for last night."
"Any time. How are you feeling this morning?"
Chloe pressed the heel of her hand to her head and gave a half-smile. "Like I had a bottle of straight Jack Daniels."
Beca laughed again. "I meant how's your throat."
Chloe shrugged and turned back to the fridge, busying herself by looking for something to make for breakfast. "We'll see in the studio today."
Beca frowned and shook her head. "Nuh-uh. You aren't coming to the studio today."
Chloe closed the fridge and faced Beca. "Excuse me?"
"Chlo, you can't sing."
OK. That was the wrong thing to say.
Chloe's eyes watered and she took a step away from Beca.
"No, I didn't mean it like that," Beca said quickly, stepping closer to Chloe. "I mean that I don't want to see you in pain and right now singing hurts you. You're gonna need to take some time off Chloe." Beca reached a hand forward but recoiled when Chloe hit it away.
"Don't. You don't get to tell me what to do. I want to sing so I will sing. The pain is my responsibility and it's manageable."
"For fucks sake Chloe don't be so stupid," Beca snapped, angry at the way Chloe had closed into herself after the week she'd spent forcing Beca to open up. "It is too dangerous to sing right now so if you even try to set one foot inside that studio today I will rip up that fucking contract myself."
Chloe's face resembled a kicked puppy. "Why do you even care?"
This was Beca's chance to tell Chloe how she felt, what she'd realised she'd felt on Saturday when Chloe had made Josh light up… before she'd snuck off with Stacie. Chloe was with Stacie and she'd been leading Beca on, tricking her that she had feeling but could only manage friendship. Chloe had pushed through Beca's walls so easily in just a week and made her feel more for her than anyone else. Chloe had the means to completely tear Beca apart, something not even her father had managed. And that was fucking scary. So Beca looked into Chloe's broken eyes and did the one thing other than music that she was good at: making people go away.
"You know what, I don't fucking care. You sing until your voice breaks down entirely. It's your fucking life and I'm glad to be out of it." Beca turned and left, ignoring the sound of Chloe sobbing behind her.
WEDNESDAY
Grace had a pleasant surprise when she opened her door to find a timid Beca standing on the other side.
"Beca!" She chirped pulling her daughter in for a hug. "Since when do you knock?"
Beca only shrugged in response as she entered the house. "Is it OK that I'm here? You're not busy or something?"
"Don't be silly, you're always welcome here. Now, what's on that mind of yours?" Grace cut to the chase as they sat on the couch.
Beca gave an awkward laugh. "You know me too well."
"Of course I do. You're my daughter. I probably know you better than you do yourself."
"I made a mistake ma. I did something really bad."
Grace frowned as she took in the hopeless look on her daughter's face. "Start from the beginning and tell me the entire story, don't leave anything out."
Beca took a deep breath and started from Saturday at the party when she'd seen Stacie and Chloe and ending when she walked out on Chloe yesterday morning. For her part Grace sat back and listened with an open mind. However, when Beca finished Grace hit her upside the head.
"Ow Ma! What the hell?"
"Since when did I raise my daughter to hide from love and treat nice people so horribly?"
Beca slouched into the couch. "You're my mother. You should be on my side."
Grace hit Beca again. "I am always on your side but as your mother it is also my responsibility to knock some sense into you."
"Way to take that literally," Beca quipped only to look down after a fierce glare.
"I highly doubt anything happened between Stacie and Chloe on Saturday. I don't know Stacie but I did spend a good deal of last week with a redhead that spoke of you constantly. That same redhead sung through her pain at your little brother's party and then as her livelihood was being threatened you decided to call her stupid and abandon her because you were scared of what you felt and worried she'd hurt you? Well Beca, you've now hurt her and you're going to either need to find a way to live with that or find a way to make it up to her." Grace stood and moved to leave the room. "And I will support whichever you decide to do but only one of those options will make me proud." She left the room, leaving Beca to sit alone with her thoughts.
THURSDAY
Chloe had finished off the second bottle of Jack Daniels as well as the bottle of vodka she'd found forgotten in her fridge. She felt like absolute hell. Her head, throat and heart had taken their toll on her body and she could barely move. She'd taken to sleeping on the floor of the bathroom because the trip from the bedroom had become too hard. Beca hadn't called, not a word. Chloe wasn't sure why she expected her to; it was obvious their… friendship… was over. Chloe wasn't sure what had happened in the moment even though she had been unable to stop replaying it in her mind on a continuously loop since Tuesday morning. Chloe had been hurting and had lashed out. She was hurting; she had that right. But instead of being the woman that had sung titanium to her Beca had become someone she didn't recognise. Chloe had physically seen Beca pull all her defences back up but she couldn't understand why. What had Chloe said that had caused Beca to retreat?
Why do you even care?
What was wrong with that question? What hidden meaning had Beca read in those words that had caused her to react like that? Chloe was so lost in her own world that she didn't hear Aubrey come in.
"Chloe?" Aubrey asked, sticking her head into the bathroom, her heart breaking at the sight of her best friend on the cold tiles. "What are you doing?"
"Hurts to move," Chloe murmured, head hurting to talk.
"I'll bet," Aubrey commented. She'd seen the empty bottles in Chloe's room. She wouldn't be surprised if her best friend had alcohol poisoning on top of a hangover. "Listen Chlo I wanted to give you space because I figured you'd need it and I thought Beca would be here-"
"Don't… say her name," Chloe glared from the floor.
Aubrey's brows flew up. "Whoa. What happened?"
"Not much. She called me stupid, said she didn't care about me and that she was glad to be out of me life," Chloe said darkly.
Aubrey's shock became rage. "I knew that fucking midget was bad news. What kind of social retard attacks someone while their entire life is collapsing around them. If I ever see her again I will have her vocal chords ripped out by wolves. I'll-" Aubrey stopped her rant when she her Chloe hold back a sob.
"Chlo," she whispered, kneeling next to her best friend. "What has she done to you?" Aubrey murmured as she tucked some red hair behind an ear.
Chloe looked up at Aubrey with big, watery eyes. "I know I haven't even known her for two weeks but… I thought this was something special. Whether it was friendship… or something more… I thought she felt it too. I was sure we were both feeling it."
Aubrey stroked her friend's hair softly. Somehow it didn't surprise her that Beca's angry words had affected her more than Tom's video. She'd known Beca was different from the moment they met, it's why she pushed so hard for Chloe to keep distance between them but now it was too late. Chloe was broken and Aubrey once again hadn't stopped it. Aubrey just hoped that this week wasn't what it took to finally bring down Chloe Beale.
FRIDAY
Beca spun around in her chair again. She hadn't spoken to Chloe since Tuesday and it was eating away at her insides. She deeply regretted the words she'd said in the heat of the moment. Chloe hadn't deserved that. Chloe had been hurt and Beca had kicked her while she was down just because she was scared of commitment. After speaking to her mother she'd decided to apologise… if only she could find the guts to show her face around the redhead.
Beca was pulled from her thoughts when the door opened, revealing the woman that had been on her mind since the day they met.
"Chloe," Beca whispered only to flinch when she saw the hard look in Chloe's eyes.
"Have you finished the backing for Titanium?" she asked, her voice filled with a fury that Beca had never seen in the cheerful woman.
"Y-yeah," Beca fumbled.
"Play it," Chloe ordered and she entered the sound booth.
"Chloe," Beca spoke through the speaker. "I don't think you should-"
"I said play it," Chloe snapped.
Against her thoughts against it Beca cued the track and pressed play, the music filling the area with the best beats Beca had made to date.
You shout it out,
But I can't hear a word you say
I'm talking loud, not saying much
I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet
You shoot me down, but I get up
It started easily enough and Chloe seemed fine. It didn't stop Beca from hovering a finger over the switchboard, ready to stop it at any moment.
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
You shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
Beca stared hard at the woman in front of her. Her voice was coming out crystal clear but even though Chloe refused to look at Beca, Beca could see pain. This song was difficult and required Chloe to use her upper registrar, Beca couldn't imagine how hard this must be for her.
Cut me down
But it's you who'll have further to fall
Ghost town and haunted love
Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones
I'm talking loud not saying much
The relief was evident on Chloe's face when she reached the verse after pushing herself so hard for the chorus. Beca watched as Chloe closed her eyes and gripped the microphone, preparing herself for another chorus.
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
You shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
I am titanium
I am titanium
Beca's finger pressed lightly on the button, not yet stopping it but preparing to. Chloe was barely holding it together. Her voice was strong but the hesitation and fear was written all over her face.
Stone-heart, machine gun
Firing at the ones who run
Stone heart loves bulletproof glass
There it was. Chloe's voice cracked one the word and Beca stopped the music.
"Dammit," Chloe yelled, hitting her palm against her forehead. "Again," she ordered Beca.
"Chloe," Beca said hesitantly. "That's not a good idea."
"Play. It. Again. Beca."
Beca pressed play.
You shout it out,
But I can't hear a word you say
I'm talking loud, not saying much
I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet
You shoot me down, but I get up
All Beca could see on Chloe now was fierce determination. You can do it Chloe, Beca thought, hoping her encouragement would push Chloe to whatever she was here fighting so hard to achieve.
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
You shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
Chloe's voice dropped as she couldn't reach the high note. Beca stopped the music again.
"Again," Chloe ordered again.
"No," Beca refused, moving slowly towards the booth and Chloe.
"What are you doing? I said play it again. I can do it," Chloe snapped but Beca could see the anger was gone, now there was just pain.
"No," Beca said again, stopping when she was within arms reach of Chloe.
"Beca."
It was soft and it was a broken cry for help. Beca took a step and pulled Chloe into her arms. "Shh Chlo, it's OK. You're gonna be OK. I'm so sorry. I will be here now, don't worry, I'm gonna be here," Beca murmured into Chloe's neck and she held the sobbing woman firmly. Beca's fear was gone. Chloe needed her so Beca would get over her commitment issues. She needed to.
"I'm so sorry Chloe. I'm here now. I love you."
A/N: Yeah… let me know what you think of this chapter cause I'm not feeling really hesitant and I'm totally open to a rewrite at a later date. Oh yeah! There will be a couple finally finding happiness in the next chapter so brace for fluff :) Peace.