RECAP: Chloe decides to finally tell Beca what she felt for her, but Tom coincidentally shows up and ruin the moment. Beca unknowingly gets jealous and ends up meeting Jesse at the park who surprise her with a proposal. Finally fed up with how tangled and stretched the red thread that connects the two, Fate decided to intervene.
I do not own Pitch Perfect
(song/s featured in this chapter: Your Love is a Song by Switchfoot; Meant To Be chapter title a nod to TLC's song)
2: Meant To Be
Beca could feel the intense push and pull at the pit of her stomach. Something was hurting her, a lot, and all she could do was wish for it to go away.
Because the night ceased to be unpredictable, getting engaged and all and seeing Chloe with Tom, the unexpected kept popping up. As soon as Beca got back to the apartment she shared with Chloe, with Jesse in tow, she saw the redhead quickly packing her things. Panic hit Beca like a thunderbolt. Why was Chloe packing?!
Beca saw the smile in Chloe's eyes died after she saw Jesse with Beca. "So that's why you haven't been answering my calls." she commented. She tried to keep her voice enthusiastic, but happiness could barely touch it, especially when Jesse raised Beca's hand excitedly pointing out the fact that they were engaged. At that point Beca just wanted to deck Jesse in the face, she was trying so hard to remember how Jesse accepted her smile as a yes and why she hasn't protested. They were still too young after all.
Chloe went back to packing her suitcase and threw Beca an envelope with an invitation on it, and surprisingly enough, a letter addressed for Jesse also arrived.
"Wait, Chloe, why are we being invited to participate in a play in New York? And whoa, plane tickets already here! It says the flight's leaving midnight! What about our jobs? And hang on, all expenses paid?" Beca exclaimed as she read the details of the letter.
Without turning Chloe decided to address Beca's questions one at a time. "Yeah, the Bellas and the Trebles all got invited. Well, the teams that we were part of at least. Bree just sent me a text as well. Apparently, it's for some huge charity, and proceeds from the success of the play will all go to those who need it. I called in at work, and so did Aubrey, and they said we have permission to take time off. The director-slash-writer-slash-producer got them all to say yes for our leave. We're all heading to New York."
"Better start packing then Becs, I'll help. Good thing I'm already packed." Jesse commented which earned him a glare from Beca.
"I can handle it." Beca replied as she ran into her room and started packing. Beca, ever the multi-tasker, started to play the messages Chloe left her on her phone. She also received some text messages from the other Bellas. It's confirmed, they were all going.
And it's also been confirmed that Beca was the biggest idiot in the world. She heard Chloe's message of moving the meet-up to their place, having ordered coffee and some pastries to go thanks to Tom's sudden intrusion. They weren't back together! Beca thought, feeling the ebbing guilt slowly taking over her again, although she wasn't exactly sure what she was guilty off.
Jesse had to part ways as soon as they reached the residential tower that they were going to call home during their stay at New York, which made Beca feel the growing coldness that surrounded Chloe. Chloe's shining blue eyes were always filled with happiness and energy, they looked too sad and defeated at the moment. She sounded so excited in her voice mails, a sharp contrast to how she was acting now. Beca barely noticed the entirety of the flight to New York, she had her headphones and lost herself to the music, Jesse looked like an excited little boy already making notes and plans, Chloe was just deflated, remaining silent the whole way.
As soon as they reached the flat that was for the Bellas, Beca felt the familiar atmosphere of living with her friends, noting how some color and semblance of a smile returned to Chloe's cheeks and lips. She immediately ran into Aubrey though, and they locked themselves in their shared room after giving a hug to each of the other Bellas there.
The Bellas were quick to notice the unusual characteristics that had suddenly possessed the redhead. They couldn't help but wonder why when Emily pointed out the ring on Beca's finger.
"You're engaged!" the Bellas chorused in shock and confusion. Beca, feeling tired from all that has happened that day, only give a grunt and proceeded to follow Amy, who had volunteered to help her, to get her stuff in their room.
They were in one of those incredibly huge theaters off of Broadway the next day as two separate shuttle buses had picked up the Bellas and the Trebles. They made their way through the main entrance, not knowing where to enter the building in the first place, all feeling the rush as excitement and nervousness mixed about their big debut for the musical they have been invited to participate in.
As the huge double doors that led to the orchestra seats swung open, Beca caught a glimpse of a tall blond with a familiar built. He looked around and grinned as he saw his favorite Barden acapella groups, not that he would admit it.
"Becky!" Luke called out as he watched the two teams fill the space of the theater.
"Luke, what on earth are you doing here?" Beca asked.
"I got called to assist with pretty much everything for marketing and promotions and well, apparently extra roles for the play." Luke said, shrugging at being the main go-to man.
A voice filled the room through strategically placed speakers. "You're not the only one here to help."
"Is that Justin?" Aubrey wondered and Luke nodded to confirm the blonde's suspicions.
"He's handling stage and lights and pretty much everything related to it." Luke explained.
"So, Beca's engaged" Amy started to say followed by a sound of approval from the Trebles and a groan from all the Bellas, "and we're here for a play that will undoubtedly launch us all into bigger stardom, 'cause let's face it, we're pretty big stars as it is. But where's our director, what's his name, Fate Valentine."
"Her name." Luke corrected. "She was around here somewhere earlier."
And right on cue, as Luke mentioned the director, a young woman, with hair as brown as Beca's, amber like eyes, and a grace that resembles the delicate movements of an angel, had started to appear on the stage. She was dressed simply in a red shirt, brown leather jacket, jeans and sneakers. She had absentmindedly started singing a song as she checked that everything was in their place around the stage, making note of the sets already prepared at the back.
Her voice was soft, providing a good contrast to the original version of the song she was singing. But to Beca's ears, it sounded like the perfect tweak to the song. All eyes were on her.
I hear you breathing in
Another day begins
The stars are falling out
My dreams are fading now, fading out
I've been keeping my eyes wide open
I've been keeping my eyes wide open
Your love is a symphony
All around me
Running through me
Your love is a melody
Underneath me
Running to me
Oh, your love is a song
She stopped singing as soon as she reached center stage, beaming at all the talented faces that looked at her in some strange admiration. "Hello everyone." she started to say. "My name is Fate Valentine, the one responsible for all of you being here. Sorry for the short notice, but the whole play-thing kinda' happened on short notice too."
Fate heard a number of murmurs of agreement, but nonetheless, both parties were excited to get started.
"Will it just be us?" Emily asked to which Fate nodded before verbally confirming with a yes.
"And I bet you're all wondering what the play is about. Well, boys and girls, ladies and gents, if you would allow me to, I shall explain. First off, the play is a musical, with musical numbers performed acapella style. I already have a set list for each act prepped and ready to go. But what's this, what's the story, you may ask. What's the title to begin with?
"The title of our beloved musical is 'Red Thread'. What's it about, it's about a girl who, initially, distances herself from the world, building walls around her thanks to past events that had taught her it's better to be alone than get hurt by the ones you let in. She makes fast friends with two people and falls in love with one of them. Now the play in itself will explore a number of themes as it tries to explore the theory about the red string of fate.
"The red string of fate is a myth about how a red thread is tied to the ankle of one person and is connected to another, the person they are destined to be with, the person's soulmate if you will. The red thread that connects them may stretch and get tangled but it will never break. No matter the situation, the circumstance, the time, the place, two people who are fated will be fated to be with each other. They will fall in love with each other, an inescapable truth. But the happy ending isn't settled, after all, we may not get to choose who makes us happy, who we love, but we get to choose if we want to pursue that happiness, we get to decide if we want to fight for that love."
"Ok, so how's the play going to go? Are we going to audition for the parts?" Stacie asked.
"No. It's already been decided my dear. The play is divided into five acts. Act one is our typical start, an introduction of our characters, particularly our love triangle. Through a chosen number of songs and mash ups we get to show how each character interact and how the two love interests falls for our main star." Fate stated, before pointing at Beca.
Beca looked surprised. "Wait, dude, I'm the lead?"
"I think it is fitting. Sorry, no protests would be entertained. You are our lead star Ms. Mitchell." Fate stated. "Act two presents the-should-be-happy ending, boy gets girl kind of thing."
"Oh then I should play the boy who gets the girl since I'm engaged to Beca." Jesse piped up.
Fate resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the annoying puppy who kept entangling Beca's thread. "Well Mr. Swanson, you are my choice for the role." Fate responded and Jesse excitedly wrapped his arms around Beca who simply didn't know what to do. Being co-captain of an acapella team was one thing, the star of a play another.
"Now everything isn't easy as another person falls in love with Beca's character, a fitting rival. Quick, Ms. Mitchell, who is your best friend?" Fate asked.
Without thinking twice Beca answered "Chloe"
"Perfect then as Ms. Beale shall play the role of the rival for Beca's character's love and affection." Fate exclaimed which elicited a gasp from Chloe. "No, Ms. Beale, you can't turn it down either."
Fate decided to give the Bellas, the Trebles, and the three people involved in the mess she needed to fix a minute or two for everything to sink in. The Bellas knew of course, about Chloe's feelings for Beca. The Trebles could tell as well. Only Jesse seemed to be oblivious, and of course Beca.
Fate grinned, her desired effect revealing themselves in the faces of her hand selected cast, before she continued speaking. "Act three is about the back and forth of whether or not our rival shall pursue our star's affection and about the boy making sure of his desired happy ending. But, as always, we get to include a plot twist. A tragic turn of events that would rock the core of the two love interests.
"That's when we move into act four. The rival being there, a constant presence in our heroine's life, the source of conflict and confusion. We get thrown an important question, under the circumstances where she has made her decision in the past, was a misappropriation of love possible? Could it have happened? Is Chloe's character only there to test the already established relationship? Or is her character at the end of the thread of Beca's character?" Fate pauses as her eyes search the room for any sort of reaction but all she met was silence and a dawn of realization on the faces of two of the smartest people in the room, followed by confusion.
"That's when we'll move to act five where we get the truth. We get thrown a number of questions, who do you really love? Who have you been in love with since the beginning? We get to see someone who chose the dark path be saved by two people who becomes her best friends, she falls in love with one of them. Here we face what all the events have been building up to, a conundrum of misplaced feelings, a transfer of affection, confusion, and the need for the courage to face the most terrifying truth about love – it leaves us vulnerable and bare. But will we choose who makes us happy despite all the hurt that may come just to reach it? Or will we settle with the safe bet?"
"Will all those be questioned at the end?" Aubrey asked, her tone sharp, she was getting the feeling that this was more than just a play.
"Hopefully yes. But what's good about the different acts is that we get to explore the details that lead to the culminating scene where the decision will be made. We'll face that when the time comes. But we also get to explore the different aspects of fate and love through the other relationships in the play. Amy will get to play the girl Beca's character will have a budding close friendship too, the one she'll run to when she needs to face the truth. Benji will play Jesse's character's best friend, while you Ms. Aubrey Posen, will play Chloe's. Benji's and Emily's characters will be in a relationship demonstrating young and innocent love, Amy and Bumper will display a relationship that was never meant to be more than just a casual fling, Lilly and Donald will be the couple who brings out a different side of the other, Cynthia Rose will be the voice of reason when it comes to choosing happiness and love, being the only one who is actually in a happy and loving relationship." Fate continued to explain, eliciting excited responses from the different members of each group.
"You, guy who is strangely carrying a unicycle" Fate said pointing at Unicycle a little confused, "you and Aubrey will represent a strange chasing-after-the-wrong-one relationship."
"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey interjects, interrupting Fate.
Fate shrugs. "Of course, the missing piece of that relationship is the-right-one who Stacie will get the chance to play."
All eyes flickered between Fate, Aubrey, Unicycle, and Stacie. Stacie was blushing, which came as a surprise to all, but her face wasn't flushed as red as Aubrey's. After a minute or two, Stacie shrugged. "I'm down with that." she said with her usual flirtatious air of confidence.
"Perfect then." Fate says. "So without further ado, shall we begin?"
There was a chorus of approval around the room, even from the still flustered Aubrey. The only two people who were still unsure about what was going to happen or how they feel about the whole thing were Beca and Chloe. Chloe was unsure she could keep the distinction between her character and herself, afraid she might end up revealing her true feeling to Beca. Beca was unsure of what to feel about the prospects of possibly unveiling something she knew deep down inside her was true.
Fate smiled. The play, after all, was designed to show how each of them truly felt, especially Chloe and Beca.