A/N: Goodness gracious! As I'm sure you're all well aware, we've all been unable to log into our accounts for the past 24 hours or so. But here we are, back up and running! My apologies for the delay on this one. I was all set to post last night, but couldn't access my account. So here we go...

Chapter 11

I'm Talking Loud, Not Saying Much (Titanium)

Despite Chloe's firm stance against Aubrey, in favor of Beca's aca-ideas, nothing really changed. Chloe was growing more and more frustrated by being in the middle. Aubrey continued to insist Chloe back her up in front of the other Bellas. It was clear the blonde was losing control over the group, and she thought that if the two captains stood confidently together, then she'd have more authority over the whole. Beca, on the other hand, was gaining support. Beginning with Cynthia Rose that night in Beca's dorm, one by one, each of the Bellas started to agree that there was no way they could beat the Treblemakers with the routine Aubrey was pushing.

By the time semis rolled around, Chloe felt she was on the verge of spontaneous combustion. She couldn't stand one more minute of being torn between her best friend and her girlfriend. As Aubrey began losing ground, Chloe felt more and more sympathy for her. She couldn't leave her best friend to fall alone, with no one to catch her. On the other hand, Aubrey was making it very difficult to care about her. She grew more stubborn with each suggestion to change their approach. Aubrey continued to pull Chloe toward her in this endless tug-of-war she was playing with Beca, but was able to simultaneously push Chloe away with each hateful word she spoke against the DJ, against their relationship, and against Chloe herself.

Maybe it wasn't Chloe who was about to shatter. Maybe it was Aubrey. Chloe began to pity the blonde. She'd have to learn to let go, and the way things were going, it was clear that was not going to happen quietly. It was going to happen in a large, repercussive explosion.

Beca's creative addition to their performance at Semis came as a surprise to no one, except Aubrey. Sure, none of the Bellas were prepared for the moment, but none of them were shocked by it. And when Aubrey began railing on Beca as soon as the girls had stepped off stage? Well… no one wondered at that either.

"What the hell, Beca? Were you trying to screw us up?!" Actual disbelief was evident in Aubrey's voice.

"Are you serious?"

"Newsflash! This isn't the Beca show." Chloe crossed her arms and steeled herself for the moment. Beca's harmony was the ultimate betrayal, and Aubrey wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"Okay. I'm sorry that I messed you up, but in case you hadn't noticed everybody pretty much dozed off during our set."

"It's not your job to decide what we do and when we do it," the blonde explained. "Why don't you ask the rest of the group how they felt about your little improvisation?"

Beca immediately looked to Chloe, her dark blue eyes pleading. Chloe stared back, but could feel Aubrey glaring at her expectantly. She was, once again, being torn in two by these powerful women, and she didn't know what to do, or say. She could practically hear Aubrey's voice in her head, imploring Chloe to stand strong with her, and Beca's voice clashing with Aubrey's, encouraging Chloe to stick up for herself, for what she thought was right, and not for what Aubrey insisted was best. It was too much. Chloe wasn't strong enough to withstand the pull of these two dominant forces. It paralyzed her. Embarrassed by her own weakness, she looked away, and said nothing.

Beca's voice nearly cracked as she entreated support from Fat Amy. The sound made Chloe's heart ache in her chest. Still staring at the floor, she swallowed down a sob.

"It was cool," Amy said, almost excitedly. But then, catching Aubrey's eye out of the corner of her own, she muttered: "But it did take us a little bit by surprise…"

"Yeah, a lot by surprise!" Aubrey jumped in. Amy's sardonic shrug went unnoticed, and the blonde captain continued, her words biting. "I told you she wasn't a Bella!"

And with that vicious comment, Chloe suddenly found her voice again. "Aubrey, don't." It came out weaker than she expected. But something was better than nothing, wasn't it?

"No, that's okay." Chloe looked at Beca, whose eyes stared back at her. The hurt and, even worse, the disappointment they held, felt like a sucker punch to the gut. "You don't have to pretend you're allowed to have a say in the group, right?"

Beca's cutting words took Chloe by surprise. They shouldn't have. Beca was right. Not only could she not stand up for herself, but she couldn't stand up for her girlfriend. Chloe was pathetic. And even as Aubrey continued to yell at the DJ, the redhead still couldn't bring herself to stop her. Pathetic was an understatement. She wasn't there when Beca needed her most. And as the brunette stormed off, an awful thought immediately lodged itself in Chloe's mind. I deserve this. I don't deserve her.

As the Bellas dispersed, Chloe gave one last attempt to do the right thing. "Aubrey, it actually went really well—"

"Chloe, stop!" the blonde yelled, stomping away in a fury.

Left alone, Chloe tried her best to compose herself. She took a deep breath, and let it go slowly, but the breath quivered as it left her body. She felt tears starting to swell in her eyes. She couldn't shake the painful image of Beca's dark eyes, couldn't shake the words she uttered. "You don't have to pretend you're allowed to have a say in the group." Chloe had failed. And she knew it the instant it happened. Why didn't she stand by Beca? The opportunity was there. Beca had looked to her for support. And she said nothing, did nothing. What's wrong with me? She deserves better than me.

Back in her dorm room that night, Chloe could do nothing but replay the moment over and over in her mind. She watched herself, outside herself, screaming internally to just fucking say something. But she couldn't change it. She couldn't change anything. The Bellas had lost the competition. Their acapella season was now abruptly over. Aubrey was mad at her. Beca was mad at her. What did she even have left?

Having already tried to call Beca four times (all calls going straight to voicemail), she shot a text off.

Chloe (9:23pm): I screwed up. Im sorry. U okay? Please call me.

Spring Break started tomorrow. Before semis, knowing there was a chance the girls might not make it, Chloe had made an appointment to have surgery to remove her nodes. If the Bellas failed, and the season was over, she'd undergo the procedure. If they were going to advance, she'd cancel the appointment. Chloe felt this was the right decision. But what it meant now is that she'd have to go home tomorrow, as planned. Beca was staying on campus, to work the night shift at the radio station, for the week. They had discussed this. But Beca didn't know the older girl was going to have her nodes removed. Chloe didn't want anyone to know. But this now left the redhead in an uncomfortable position. Would Beca think she had just abandoned her, abandoned their relationship? Beca didn't know why Chloe had to go home. What if she expected her to stay?

It was now 10:30pm and Chloe still hadn't heard from Beca in any form. She decided to head directly for the DJ's dorm, to talk to her in person. Chloe quickly crossed campus to Baker Hall in a daze. She wasn't sure exactly what she was going to say Beca. She just knew she had to apologize. From there, she'd have to wing it.

When she arrived at Beca's door, she gave a soft knock and waited a few moments. No response. She knocked a little louder and waited a little more anxiously. Still no response. On the third attempt, Chloe's knock was more of a loud banging.

"Beca! It's Chloe," she called through the door. "Please. We need to talk."

As the door began to open, Chloe felt a rush a relief. The feeling was quickly replaced by confusion as a small Asian girl stared at her blankly. Chloe blinked.

"Oh, hi! You must be Kimmy Jin. I'm Chloe, is—"

"The white girl's not here," came Kimmy Jin's monotone response. She began to close the door, but Chloe thrust out an arm, stopping it.

"Do you know where she is? Or when she'll be back? It's really important that I talk to her…"

"No," was all the girl said before shutting the door in the redhead's face.

Chloe had no idea what to do next. She pressed her back against the wall and slowly slid to the floor, collapsing her face in her hands. Tears started to burn in her eyes as she slid her cell phone out of her pocket with one hand and dialed Beca once more. When all she got was her girlfriend's voicemail message, she hung up, putting the phone down beside her. She ran her fingers into her own hair. She felt frustrated. She felt helpless. She didn't know what to do next.

So she sat in silence and softly cried. She had to be in her car by 8:00am tomorrow if she was going to make it home in time to prepare for the surgery. But she couldn't leave without talking to Beca. She'd stay in this hallway all night if she had to. Beca would have to come home eventually, right?

Chloe spent the night drifting in and out of sleep seated on the floor in Beca's hallway. Each time she'd start to drift off, she'd startle awake a moment later and immediately pick up her phone. Had she missed a call from Beca? And each time she would face the disappointment of realizing that, no, Beca hadn't tried to contact her and another 30 minutes or so had gone by.

Chloe finally gave up at 7:00am. It was clear that Beca wasn't coming home tonight. Hell, it was already morning. She stood and headed to her room to pack a bag for the upcoming week away. Chloe was worried. Where did Beca go last night? Was she okay? Who was she with? Maybe she walked to her dad's and stayed there for the night.

Or maybe she stayed with Jesse. The thought made Chloe's stomach churn. Logically, she knew nothing would ever happen between the duo. Beca was a self-described lesbian after all. But their friendship still made her uncomfortable. It was just weird! They had met because Jesse was doing his very best to get in her girlfriend's pants. Chloe doubted that finding out Beca wasn't into dudes stopped him from thinking about having sex with her.

The more she thought on the subject, the more certain she became that Jesse was exactly the person Beca would have run to last night. There was no doubt about it. She mentally kicked herself for not thinking of it sooner.

Putting together the last of her make-up and toiletries, Chloe grabbed her cell phone and dialed Jesse's number. The phone rang six times, but he eventually picked up.

"Hey, Chloe," Jesse's voice was a barely audible whisper. Chloe could hear a door shutting on the other end of the line. Beca's with him. Relief rushed through her, but was quickly followed by a fierce twinge of jealousy.

"She's with you?" Chloe wasn't wasting any time. She didn't have it to waste.

"Yes," he responded stoically. Now outside of the dorm room where Beca was currently sleeping, his voice was at a regular volume.

"I have to talk to her."

Jesse sighed. "Chloe, I'm sorry. But she really doesn't want to talk to you right now."

Rage began to build inside her. Jesse was probably just trying to be nice, but he sounded so patronizing. And in that moment, Chloe hated him. She hated absolutely everything about him.

"Jesse, I really need to talk to her. I have to leave for the week. I can't leave without talking to her first."

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to. She doesn't want to talk to you."

Chloe became all the more incensed at his words. How dare he talk to her like that! "Put her on the phone, Jesse!" She could tell by the way he paused that the anger in her voice must have shaken him.

But goddamn him. He stood firm. "I can't do that."

"PUT HER ON THE FUCKING PHONE!" Chloe's voice broke. She was exhausted from the night spent waiting on the floor. Her emotions got the better of her, and she began to cry.

Jesse listened to her sobs for a long moment. When he spoke, there was nothing but sympathy in his voice. "I'll tell her you called."

Chloe nodded to herself. A pathetic noise of agreement escaped her. She took a deep, shaky breath. "And, um, Jesse?"

"Mm?"

"Tell her I love her, okay?"

In spite of her hatred for the boy on the phone, Chloe took great comfort in his words. "I will, Chloe. I promise."

A/N: Hope you all enjoy this installment. As a heads up, there's only a few more chapters left to this story. I know. Sad. But on the bright side - I promise it'll end in a much happier place than this chapter did! I'm not ashamed to admit that I love hearing from you guys, so reviews are most excellent. :)