A/N: Haha I just love reading all your theories! Let me know what you think or what your theories are after this chapter okay? Every chapter is one step closer to the truth ;) And about Beca's best friend… are you all good guessers or am I just predictable? xD

Ps. Things will start to fall apart quickly in the flashbacks so… yeh… [Nervously looking down]

Guest (Chapter 13 with pun): Haha, THANK YOU!

theretheygoagain: Oh she will, but she also needs to learn the truth first ;)

Chapter 14

Stacie walked into the apartment that she shared with her childhood best friend Beca. Normally this time, Beca would be in her room Skyping with Chloe. But today was different. The brunette was lying on the couch, face down, with a few empty beer bottles scattered around the coffee table.

Stacie frowned, Beca usually wouldn't drink that much. However, lately she caught Beca drinking quite frequently, often with a miserable face. And no matter how many times she asked Beca to talk to her, the stubborn brunette just wouldn't say a word. She sighed, counting the beer bottles and wondering what happened this time. She put her bags down and moved to the couch to flip Beca over, seeing she was sleeping. Stacie sighed and started to pick up those beer bottles when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She put the bottles down and pulled out her phone, seeing it was Chloe. Again.

Apparently lately Beca had been missing a lot of their Skype calls and she wouldn't pick up her phone as well. Therefore, Chloe had to call Stacie to know what was going on so she wouldn't worry. Stacie wanted to tell Chloe what was really going on, but one night, Beca basically broke down crying for an entire hour and begged her not to tell Chloe if the redhead ever called. Stacie had known Beca since they were 6. She was her best friend, of course she would cover for her. But Stacie got to know Chloe pretty well ever since the two had been dating. So she felt bad for lying to Chloe as well. She just hoped whatever problems Beca had, she could figure them out soon and get herself together.

So, with a sigh, she picked up the phone. Chloe's worried voice immediately came through. "Stacie? Is Beca home yet? She wouldn't pick up the phone or the Skype calls."

Stacie answered, "Yeah she's home. I just got home actually and saw her asleep on the couch. Her phone and laptop are all in her room. So that's probably why she didn't hear you call her. It seems like work has been kicking her butt lately."

"Oh, okay. Thanks Stacie."

Stacie felt bad for lying, but hey, she didn't exactly lie. She just left out the part that the reason why Beca was asleep was actually because she drank like what, 5 beers?

"Do you want me to wake her up so you can talk to her?" Stacie asked.

"No, no, Stacie. That's okay. Will you at least tell her that I called when she wakes up? And if she's not too busy, maybe call me back?"

Stacie could tell the redhead was on the verge of tears. She sighed, "Of course I will, you take care Chloe. Bye."

After ending the call with Chloe, Stacie looked back at the sleeping brunette, "You better get your shit together soon. This is not how you treat your girlfriend, especially someone like Chloe." And with a sigh, she covered Beca with a blanket and went back into her own room.

Beca arrived at the bar and slammed her bag on the table before plopping herself down on one of the bar stools in a huff.

Fat Amy looked up from her spot behind the counter, unimpressed, "What now Mitchell?" She rolled her eyes slightly.

"Charlie!" Beca yelled.

"Who?" Fat Amy was confused, "Who's Charlie?"

"My car Amy! How can you not know my car's name?!" Beca scolded.

"What? I thought only some teenagers would name their cars? Actually, scratch that, I'm not sure anyone still name their car nowadays." Amy said, holding back her giggles.

Beca glared at Fat Amy, "Well, I still name my car okay? And Charlie broke down. Again!"

Amy laughed, "Big deal? Get a ride for a few days until your Charlie comes back all attached."

"Amy, you seem to forget I work basically like an owl. Who would give me a ride at 4am in the morning?!" Beca huffed, "And I have to go to the restaurant at 6pm with my guitar."

"Don't be dramatic Beca, and you seem to forget Jesse and I work the same hours as you at the bar. So we'll take turns to give you a ride and as for the 6pm ride, I have the perfect person." Amy smirked.

Beca watched suspiciously as Amy typed something on her phone and then looked back at the brunette, grinning suggestively. Beca's eyes suddenly widened, "No, you didn't! Please tell me you didn't ask her?!"

Before Amy could reply, Beca's phone chimed. She went to pick up her phone and saw a text message from Chloe.

Beca! I can't believe Amy had to go behind your back to ask me to give you a ride! I don't mind really! And you are not the only one naming your car! Mine is Ed. (ps. Don't tell Amy this or I won't give you a ride anymore!) – C

Beca laughed at the text but glared at Amy anyway, "I hate you so much."

Amy grinned, "Thanks, I love you too! And you'll thank me later superstar." She winked.

Beca rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

At around 10:30pm, Chloe arrived at bar, without Aubrey this time. She had gotten along quite well with Jesse and Amy, plus she was comfortable around Beca anyway so she didn't need Aubrey giving her unapproved looks all the time whenever she talked to Beca.

The brunette saw her coming in from the stage and smiled at her. Chloe smiled back and went over to her usual booth. Fat Amy had already gotten her drink ready on the table, so she just sat down in that corner booth, sipping her drink while listening to Beca's soft voice contently.

Beca's voice always gave her a sense of calm, peace and clarity. A chuckle, a giggle, a murmur, a squeal, a grunt. She loved all of them. And when Beca sang, her voice would grow more magical. She used to love falling asleep with Beca humming beside her, letting the brunette's soft voice lure her into her sweet slumber, feeling warm and safe inside. Wherever she was, as long as she could hear Beca's voice, she knew she would be okay. She just didn't think that one day she wouldn't be able to hear it anymore. And she was lost, trepid and perplexed, until she had to force herself to get used to life without Beca's voice, without Beca. And she managed this life for 8 years. But now, now she got another chance to hear Beca's voice again. How she wished she could still hear it every day, every night before she fell asleep, and every morning when she just woke up.

5 unanswered Skype calls, 3 unanswered phone calls tonight. Chloe closed her laptop and sighed. Still no luck tonight apparently.

She checked the date, it had been 27 days till now, that Beca ignored her calls in both forms. It had been 27 days that she hadn't heard Beca's voice, hadn't heard the brunette told her she loved her or she missed her.

And she chose the word 'ignore' because she finally stopped convincing herself that Beca was just really busy and forgot to call her back. Because she wasn't even expecting some hour-long phone conversations. Even just a simple 'good night', even just for a second, she would take it. She just really needed to hear Beca's voice. But Beca couldn't even do that. She would sometimes text the redhead, saying something like she was busy or some occasional 'good morning' or 'good night' greetings. But they were hardly enough for the redhead. They weren't communicating properly anymore and Chloe didn't know what was wrong. Ever since Beca left New York, she had been really distant. Chloe wished she could go with her gut that day and refuse to let the brunette leave until she figured out what was really bothering Beca that day and maybe found some clues. Was it something that she did? Or was it something that she said? She wanted to ask Beca, and if it was something she could fix, she would drop everything to fix it. But Beca wouldn't even give her an opportunity to know what went wrong.

So, there was only one explanation. Beca was avoiding her or ignoring her.

Chloe teared up at the thought and had to mentally stop herself continuing to think worse scenarios.

Was there someone else? No, Beca wouldn't do that to her. Right? Right… But she hadn't talked to the brunette in nearly a month after all. A lot of things could happen in one month.

Tears started to stream down Chloe's face. She just wanted to know what was wrong so she could fix it! She felt helpless, like she had all the powerful tools at hand, but she could only stand there, watching a skyscraper collapse brick by brick helplessly. She couldn't use all those tools that she had because she didn't even know what was causing the collapse.

Chloe wiped her tears, and went to pick up the guitar that Beca gave her, hugging it tight. These 27 days without Beca's voice, she went to sleep with Beca's guitar every day. And she had probably stroked the engraving ten thousand times in order to remind herself what it said was true. But she was terrified at same time that if she stroked it too much it would disappear. What would it mean if the engraving blurred, or disappeared one day?

Chloe couldn't take it anymore. She had to see Beca. She had to know what was wrong.

She opened her laptop and booked a plane ticket that weekend to go back. Even if it was just for one day, if she could fix their relationship, it would be worth it.

And since Beca hadn't bothered to pick up any of her calls yet, Chloe couldn't exactly tell her she was coming back. She thought about texting the brunette, but eventually decided against it. She wanted to surprise Beca. And she wanted to play something on her guitar for the brunette for once, a melody she wrote during these 27 days while missing Beca's angelic voice, while missing Beca.

Chloe was passionate about music and she had a decent voice, but she knew she was never as good as Beca, which the brunette disagreed strongly. Sure, sometimes certain melodies would randomly appear in her mind and she would hum them out, but she never thought too much about them and would forget about them shortly after. Beca had caught her doing so a few times and gotten really excited after learning those were her own tunes. She then told Chloe that they should write a song together, with Chloe composing and Beca writing the lyrics. Chloe laughed, but seeing the sparks in her girlfriend's eyes, she agreed and started to jot down the tunes whenever they decided to appear in her mind. But usually they were all fragments and would never make it to a complete song. This time, it was different, she actually finished it. A song which she didn't have a name for, but she thought she would leave that to Beca. Although it sounded like a sad song, but it would be their song. And she couldn't help but become hopeful imagining Beca's reaction to it, imagining the glint of excitement she may see in Beca's soft stormy-blue eyes.

Beca finished the song and went off the stage to take a break. She walked towards the redhead and sat down next to her.

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Beca asked, sipping her water.

"Nothing." Chloe offered her a small smile. She stirred her drink, "Have you tried this special long island iced tea that Amy newly developed? It's really good! Usually I would go with her Moscow Mule and I thought that was good. But this is something else!" Chloe pushed the glass towards Beca.

Beca smiled a little, "Yeah I don't doubt it, Amy always says she's the best bartender in Tasmania so…" She pushed the glass back to Chloe.

Chloe pouted a little, "Oh come on, just a sip. You know they say alcohol can stimulate a musician's senses. One sip wouldn't make you tipsy anyway."

"Actually, Chlo, I just don't drink anymore. I've been sober for almost 8 years now." Beca said softly.

Chloe was surprised at hearing this, "Oh, Beca… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed."

"That's okay, you didn't know."

Chloe didn't know what to say. She wanted to ask Beca what happened. But when she finally gathered the courage to ask, she was interrupted by someone sliding into their booth. And she felt Beca stiffen next to her.

Chloe looked up, frowning to see a pretty blonde woman sporting a huge grin sitting at the opposite of them. She had a pair of hazel eyes with a chic choppy bob, and was wearing a red leather jacket with jeans, while stepping on a pair of black heels. Chloe was confused and noticed that the blonde wasn't even looking at her at all. She was staring at Beca intently with her stupid grin.

"Olivia." Beca said through gritted teeth, emotionlessly.

"Beca Mitchell." The woman's smile grew even wider, "And they say this bar has a really good singer, never thought I'd bump into your cute little butt again."

Chloe frowned. What was with that tone? And who was this woman that just straight up ignored her?!

"Actually, Olivia, shouldn't you be in some club in LA? Bars in New York aren't really your scene you know." Beca replied plainly.

Olivia pouted, "Stop calling me Olivia, you know I love it when you call me Liv." She then winked at Beca.

"Olivia, if you don't mind, my friend and I have a conversation to continue. It's rude to disrupt and just slide into other people's booth." Beca said coldly.

Olivia frowned and finally turned her attention towards Chloe. She eyed Chloe for a few seconds, before looking back at Beca, "Well, aren't you gonna introduce us? Bec? Is she an artist too?"

"No, she's not. And there's no need for introductions, it's not like you need anyone's names anyway." Beca said.

Olivia frowned, "Come on Bec, no hard feelings okay? I offered you your share, you chose not to take it. And I just want to let you know that if you ever change your mind, you can always come back you know."

"No need." Beca said, standing up.

"Beca don't be naïve, look at you now. You shouldn't be singing at some random bar. You could have already moved into some beach house in Malibu by now if you were still with us." Olivia tried again.

Beca just gave her another cold look. She took Chloe's hand and dragged her up as well. "Come on Chlo, let's go." Chloe nodded, and quietly walked out of the booth with Beca and into the back room.

Once the door was closed, Chloe was just about to launch into a thousand questions, but when she turned around and saw the brunette, she instantly shut her mouth and quickly moved to stand in front of her.

Contrary to the cold and collected self that Beca just showed outside, now, the brunette was leaning against the wall, her hands were shaking slightly and she was trying hard to control her breaths. Out of instinct or habit, Chloe immediately grabbed Beca's hands and held them in front of her, "Hey it's okay, Beca. Breathe, it's okay."

She continued to whisper to Beca, helping her clam down. After a few minutes, Beca seemed to be breathing normally again. She looked up at the redhead's concerned eyes and offered her a small smile.

"Thanks, Chloe… I know you probably want some answers…" Beca trailed off, "Tomorrow is your day off, isn't it?" She asked. After seeing Chloe nod, she continued, "Well, if you want to come over to my place at noon, we can have lunch together. I still need to thank you for agreeing to give me a ride so… and then I'll tell you all about it I promise. But not tonight."

"That's okay, Beca. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I want to." Beca reassured, "Will you… will you come tomorrow?"

Chloe smiled, "Of course."

Beca smiled back, "Can you let Jesse know that I kinda want to leave early today?"

Chloe nodded.

"Thanks." Beca said, moving away.

"Wait," Chloe said, "How are you gonna get home? Do you need a ride? I could—"

Beca interrupted her, "That's okay Chloe, I want to walk around for a bit anyway and then I'll just call a cab since I don't have to carry my guitar around today. Thanks though."

Chloe nodded. And when Beca didn't move, she got a little confused. She looked at Beca and saw that the brunette was looking down at something while clearing her throat a little. Chloe followed Beca's line of sight and looked down as well. And that's when she suddenly realized she was still holding Beca's hands.

She immediately dropped them, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't—" Her cheeks were almost the same colour as her hair now.

Beca chuckled lightly, "That's okay. Good night Chlo." And with that, she left.