A/N: Hey, okay, I'm finally at uni and I've managed to write I am also supposed to be going out soon so I better be quick. Good news, my sister has finally started reading this story and she's hooked and has and will continue to harass me about the next chapter so I will probably update this more frequently. I have also discovered that my real passion is writing not Maths which I will be doing for the next three years so this will be getting me through, so let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy it,

So on with the next chapter...

Chapter 31

After Stacie's announcement the dining room went into chaos. Everyone started to shout and rant as they stuffed a few more mouthfuls of food in before throwing their plates down by the sinks to be cleaned and rushing back out to practice and finish whatever they could in the little time they had left. Beca and Jesse looked at each other, a little unsure what to make of it. Whether they should follow suit and try to put together what they could or whether to eat while they had the chance and use the short break to recover and go back refreshed. The latter seemed like the best option but it was really a question of in which scenario they could get more work done. The rumble of Beca's stomach quickly decided for them as they set to eating as quickly as they could and watching the stampede of people trying to all get out of the single exit.

By the time Beca and Jesse returned to their allocated practice space, about 10 minutes after the rest but not as hungry, there was already a full on argument between their group about how the routine should look when performed and what songs they should sing. Beca sighed in annoyance as they approached, it was clear that this whole competition thing was not working very well. Everyone was still fighting. It wasn't until Jesse pulled her to a halt that she noticed something different.

"Look, they're fighting but they're not fighting in the same groups." Jesse pointed out. It was true. While their group was split into two and arguing, it wasn't a group of Trebles and a group of Bellas, it was two mixed groups.

"How about we put a stop to it?" Beca suggested a slight smile pulling at her lips from Jesse's observation. Jesse nodded as he slipped his arm around her waist and her hand slid into his back pocket. They walked forward as a united front, perhaps to reinforce the point to Carly more than anything, it least that was Beca's story.

Fourth Year at Barden

Beca woke up early that morning. It was the day of her graduation and she had gone to bed early the previous night. Not that she had really slept much. Since the truce had been broken the pranks were back in full force; frequent but thankfully not as extreme, though Beca had taken a back seat in them. She had focused solely on her studies and put the Bellas on a back burner for the time being. Last night however she had been cornered by some of her closest friends in the Bellas, some of who had already graduated; they had come back to see the last of their generation of Bellas and best friends graduate. The Bellas were all naturally quite close but somehow they were never quite as close as they had become in Beca's first year. Aubrey was the only one who hadn't pushed her, probably because she already knew the truth, but the others had demanded some kind of explanation for why Beca had pushed them away so since the Trebles started the war.

She hadn't even realised she had been doing it. She had become so consumed first with the war and using it to hold onto Jesse in some twisted way then with separating herself from the war and everything involved with it, her friends included, that she didn't even realise when she stopped really being friends with them. She still cared about them, and they still seemed to care about her but when she thought about she realised she had no idea what was going on in anyone of their lives with the exception of Aubrey. She knew she couldn't tell them the truth, at least not the whole truth but she also knew she had to tell them something and after over two years the lying was just too hard and felt too heavy to keep building on. Instead she had settled on a half truth. She explained how Carly hadn't really spied on them, or at least Beca 'wasn't sure if she had' but that she had set it up so it appeared that she had slept with Jesse, how Beca had been upset and too embarrassed to admit it, so she had just ignored it, until everything got too much and then she found out the 'truth' about the Trebles. She had let her story trail off there; content to leave them thinking they knew everything that had happened.

That snippet of truth had fixed her friendships with them to a degree, though she knew some of the damage she had done could never truly be repaired, at least now they understood some of her pain, some of her reasoning. They finally thought they could understand. She had then spent the night tossing and turning over everything. Today she would graduate. This would be the last time she would ever see Jesse, the end of her time in the Bellas, in Barden; the place she so hated in the beginning and now couldn't imagine life anywhere else, and it would perhaps be the last time she saw her friends, the ones she had in all honesty lied to again in an attempt to tell them some of the truth, there was a saying about that, she had some vague recollection, something about a half truth being a whole lie, perhaps. Well, it fitted her to a tee.

She managed to drag herself out of bed and into the shower, her family was all going to be here today, by family she meant her dad, Sheila, and her mom. Her relationship wasn't great with either parent, she had gone through a good phase with her dad during her sophomore year but like she had with everyone else she began to push him away again and she had not made much effort since to put it right, though since finals she had been trying a little more with him, only him.

The graduation ceremony it's self seemed to simultaneously take forever and no time at all. She watched as Jesse, Benji, Lily and Fat Amy also collected their scrolls and they all tossed their hats in the air. Beca had then gone out for lunch with her mother, then dinner with her dad and the Stepmonster. By the time she got back to the Bellas for the passing of the pitch pipe it was about 9 o'clock and Beca was totally exhausted, not to mention depressed as she reached the end of her chances to ever see the love of her life again.

At exactly 9:30 all the Bellas, including the ones that had graduated and were there visiting, gathered in the foyer for the passing of the pitch pipe. It had been over three years since it had happened and it hadn't been quite as formal that time. This time it was being done 'properly'. Beca had picked Amanda to be the next leader. She had been a Bella for 2 years and she showed promise while she was a little less war obsessed than some, though Beca had no delusions that she wouldn't become that way, and she still had 2 years at Barden so she could lead for a couple of years, perhaps start to rebuild the Bellas from the wreck they had formed from the past year.

Once the pitch pipe had finally been handed over the newly graduated Bellas were officially released from the oath. Beca had at the time ignored the sighs of relief from Amy and Lily. Their ceremony had just finished when an invitation was slid under their outer door. Chloe was the first to read it.

"All graduated Bellas are invited, for one night only, to celebrate at the Treble house Party. No current Bellas allowed!" She read. A lot of muttering and outrage followed.

Beca had no choice but to focus solely on her own group in the last two and a half hours they had left, much to the chagrin of the other groups, and as a result they had managed to put together semi-decent performance. It was then time for them all to get onto the bus, after quickly packing an overnight bag. Stacie had now joined the group Carly was originally in, though she wasn't happy about it, she still maintained her group cold beat them. Beca had gladly laughed it off, relieved that Stacie wasn't going to hold it against her.

Beca had quickly managed to shove a few things into a bag for overnight before rushing back to get on the bus. Jesse had reluctantly allowed her to go on her own so they had split to grab their bags separately. By the time Beca had got back to the meeting point at the bus Jesse was already waiting for her and Beca had to remind herself that from her experience men always seemed to be faster at getting ready, well gathering their clothes up anyway, and that it wasn't just another strange quality of Jesse's.

Luckily the bus that came for them was new and Beca couldn't help wondering if perhaps the old bus had been part of the university's plan anyway, they seemed to want to fix the feud and end it once and for all, and for all the trouble they had that day, and night, it was when they all finally stopped fighting and began to actually get on and work together. They had all started to bridge the gap. Ever since them the fighting had been considerably less, it had by no means stopped but it was much better that it had previously been. The newest ones had even been getting on well with each other; it looked promising that they would end the war. Beca was hopeful that they would.

Eventually once everyone was gathered at the bus they were all allowed to board it. Jesse was once again firmly attached to Beca with no intention of letting her go again. Beca sighed pretending that she minded when in reality she had no complaints. She felt stronger with him by her side, and with Carly in their group now she definitely needed to be as strong as possible. The bus was totally packed full by the time everyone was on, only a slight split with some of the Bellas and Trebles for the seating, many were all mixed. Unfortunately Carly was able to get the seat in from of Beca and Jesse. Beca felt Jesse squeeze her hand for what felt like the hundredth time that day, and in all possibility could have been, in an attempt to relax her somewhat.

It didn't take too long once everyone was on the bus for them to get on the road. Once they reached the interstate Carly decided to speak up.

"So, Beca, why don't you tell us all how this war started?" She challenged in front of the whole bus. Beca felt her heart start to race as a familiar panic, that she had not felt in a long time, began to rise in her. All eyes had turned to her, she froze, unsure how to respond, she knew now wasn't the time to tell it, not when they were all about to compete and had to work together. But would they see it that way? Or would they force her to tell this story? Could she even find a way out now regardless?

Okay, I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think. And I really better go now. Kate please leave a review and I will email you a response. Okay, so different day now, I didn't have a chance to respond and post on Saturday and we didn't leave the club until 4am, then it was gone 5am before I got the chance to go to bed so it just didn't happen. Anyway, Guest reviewers. My sister has apparently reviewed while signed in on my account so I didn't actually review to my own story. To Guest, Thank you, but where would be the fun in that? And Stacie was explained in this chapter so... Thank you again. To Swain64, Thank you. I haven't heard that version yet but I love the original. I will be sure to have a look at it and see if it will fit in anywhere. Thank you again. To Guest 2, (I don't like to number because it feels impersonal but I don't know how else to do it) Thank you, I can promise that I won't abandon it, I just have less time to write now, though Kate won't take that as an excuse so updating may be more regular. So don't worry, It's still going. I do plan it finish it at chapter 35 though I am considering a series of one shots that take place in both past and future with in the story but that's just an idea until finish this one. So, thank you again. And to everyone, Thank you and see you in the next chapter. (*smiles*)