Disclaimer: I own nothing

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Tessa nudged her friend in the passenger seat. With a very elegant snort, Beca jerked awake and looked around blearily. When she recognized that she was in a car and hadn't fallen asleep in yet another staff meeting (it happened more times than she liked to admit), she relaxed slightly. "So where're we?" Beca asked blearily as she looked around.

"Dominic's," Tessa answered with a slight smirk. Beca sat straight up in her seat and suddenly her eyes were sparkling with an unnatural amount of mirth. "I thought you'd appreciate the gesture," Tessa informed the tiny DJ as they both exited the car. "I was even nice enough to call up Jesse and Kat with all those girls staying in your apartment and invite them out as well."

Beca flashed Tessa a smirk that doubled as her grin and the two headed into the restaurant. As soon as they entered the establishment, they were hustled into the party room, which was just a side room with more tables and chairs shoved inside than was probably legal due to fire codes. Instead of bothering the wait staff with drinks, there was a bucket of ice and several pitchers of assorted beverages in the middle of the table. The two women settled down and waited for the rest of their party to arrive. Tessa shifted slightly in her seat before propping her feet up on the chair next to her and relaxing back.

Beca quirked an eyebrow and asked, "Saving that for someone?"

Tessa sneered back and said, "Yes my boyfriend. You should look into getting one." Beca snorted and Tessa rolled her eyes. "Or a girlfriend, same difference."

"Actually, from what I understand one comes with a penis and the other comes with a strap on and fun bags," Beca pointed out drily.

Tessa rolled her eyes again (honestly she did that a lot around Beca) and her features twisted into a frown. "How long has it been Becs?"

Beca pointedly avoided eye contact and instead swirled the ice around in her water glass. "How long has it been since what?"

"Don't pull that bullshit with me," Tessa warned her with a deeper frown and a scowl.

Beca shot her a look and said stubbornly, "I've seen quite a few women lately Tessa."

"No, you've seen quite a few women's bikini lines. There's a difference," Tessa insisted. "When's the last time you went on an actual honest to goodness date, one that doesn't include you performing at a club and getting wasted afterwards?" Beca pursed her lips and didn't dignify Tessa's question with an answer. Truthfully, Beca didn't think she had one. Sure, she'd been forced into a few awkward dates the first couple of months she was first out in Los Angeles by Manny and a few other coworkers, and later Sid and Tessa both forced her out at least once a year. However the pity dates barely got past the second date and most definitely not past the third date. And besides, in the past year she'd been all around the country.

Her first year in Los Angeles, Beca had established herself as a hell of a club artist under her pseudo-name. The second she was making her mark as CC Hale on the Top 40 Charts. And from then on it all just spiraled from there. If she ever stopped and took a step back to just look at how far she came, it sort of made her head spin. But the one thing that was constant in Beca's life is that she was still alone. Not all the time, pretty rarely in actuality.

She spent more time than was considered healthy camped out in her office at TSR, surrounded on all sides by their antics. Between Manny talking about such and such club up in Portland she absolutely had to check out, Sid telling her about this new artists she absolutely had to listen to, and Tessa forcing her to write the letters to the various media sources she absolutely had to keep appeased about her life, Beca was always busy. And when she went home and collapsed in her bed, Teddy was there to curl into her side.

Her dog was the closest thing to a girlfriend that Beca had had in a long, long time. She even brought him into work when it was looking like she was going to be locked into a long assignment. He was like her fluffy alarm clock, reminding her to eat, get out of her chair for a walk around the block, and occasionally crash for a nap. But still. No human to sleep next to, or do other, more entertaining, things in the bed.

Beca was brought out of her (mildly depressing) musings by the arrival of Jesse and his carpool. Denise, Jessica, Ashley, and Lily all slipped into seats around the table. Jesse, however, marched right over to where Tessa and Beca were sitting. Gently, he lifted Tessa's feet and slid underneath, letting her settled them back into his lap.

Beca quirked an eyebrow at the couple's comfort with each other and made a silent gagging motion. Lily, who had taken the chair opposite Beca, sniggered quietly. Beca smirked at the Asian girl and the two of them started chatting. Beca for one was delighted that she wasn't the only one who could hear Lily, although the girl had dialed back the terrifying murder comments. As the two caught up, Beca learned that Lily was working as bounty hunter for a bail bond agency in Flagstaff, Arizona. Apparently she spent more than her fair share of time in Vegas as well and had actually been at one of Beca's shows in sin city as well.

"Wait," Beca interrupted the Asian in confusion. "I've never done a show in Vegas."

"But CC Hale has," Lily murmured, her voice lowered so no one would catch her words but Beca with her disturbingly good hearing. For the first time, Beca was extremely glad she was apparently the only one who could or would listen to Lily. However, that didn't stop her from glaring sharply at the Asian, daring her to say her statement louder. Lily quirked an eyebrow but she said nothing else. Beca took a deep and shuddering breath before turning to Cynthia-Rose on the other side.

"Soooo," Beca started with a knowing smirk. "You and Stacie huh?"

"Soooo, you and Los Angeles huh?" Cynthia-Rose said back. Beca rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, Los Angeles," she agreed. She'd been hoping that this particular line of questioning wouldn't come up until later if at all. Apparently that was wishful thinking. Cynthia-Rose appraised the younger woman, her dark eyes searching every inch of Beca's face.

Back at Barden, Beca would be unnerved. She'd be squirming and looking anywhere but at her accuser. Now, she knew better. If pretending to do press releases about working with CC Hale, who was actually herself, and speaking in some bizarre form of twisted third-person had taught her anything, it was a hell of a poker face. So she met Cynthia-Rose's eyes evenly and betrayed nothing. Cynthia-Rose, in possession of an impressive poker face herself, stared back at her for a few moments.

Their silent standoff was interrupted by the sudden arrival of an attractive brunette plopping down in Cynthia-Rose's lap. Cynthia-Rose broke her stare to give Stacie a quick peck on the lips and wrap her arms around the woman's midsection. Beca gave her head a mental shake and she twisted to face the right way at the table. She scanned her surroundings, apparently everyone was now here as she noted Fat Amy talked loudly and jovially with Tessa (how she had missed the ramblings about teeth and dingos, Beca would never know), Aubrey and Kat were sitting across from her and talking about something (but the way that Kat was entirely enthralled by the blonde it was likely the cure to cancer. Note, grill her friend about that later), and then Beca was looking into what felt like endless blue eyes.

Somehow, Chloe had managed to slip into the chair next to Beca's without the brunette noticing. "Hi there," Beca breathed, her voice a smidgen raspier than she would have liked.

"Hi!" Chloe's voice was as bright as Beca remembered. It was like swallowing a warm gulp of tequila that warmed her right down to her toes. "So," Chloe's grin was wide and playful but there was something ever so off in her eyes. "Do you come here often?" Beca felt her mouth easily twist in the smile that she distinctly remembered being ever present in the red-head's presence as she shook her head at the horrible pick up line.

Still, she tilted her head and smirked crookedly while replying, "Yeah actually. The wait staff is some of my personal favorites in the entire country." Beca watched in amusement as a little furrow appear in Chloe's forehead as she contemplated Beca's answer. Her unasked question was quickly answered when a man in jeans and the restaurant's official polo shirt and baseball hat walked up to the table.

"Hello, my name is Bumper and I'll be taking care of you today." Chloe's jaw dropped open and many Bellas snorted slightly into their various drinks. However, everyone's reactions paled drastically compared to Aubrey Put-Together Posen's. With a dignified snort and cough into her water, the beverage was sprayed deliciously over the table and quite a few people sitting got slightly soggy.

"Bumper? Bumper Allen?" she managed to sputter out between coughs while Kat whacked her on the back in a misguided attempt to clear the blonde's airways. The Treblemaker turned waiter looked at the blonde in confusion, most likely trying to remember where he knew her from. And when his face suddenly twisted into a face of abject horror, it was evident he had evidently placed the blonde.

However, the man's ever so eloquent response to Aubrey's professional inquiry was a blunt, "Fuck." Within a few seconds, he had twirled on his heels, his waiter's apron flapping in the wind, and he was gone. It took quite a few seconds for everyone to gather their facilities and then the table was filled with raucous laughter. Every time it seemed like the giggles and snickers were under control, someone would mention either Bumper's name or his profession and a whole new round would overtake the table.

Finally, it was Chloe who was wiping a few stray tears that had leaked out as she laughed herself to tears, who asked, "How in the hell did you find Bumper was a waiter?"

Beca smirked and answered though her response was directed towards the whole table, "It was actually Jesse who told me. Ask him." As one, every Bella turned and looked at the ex-Treblemaker with eager eyes.

"How?" Stacie demanded.

Jesse held his hands up in surrender before explaining, "I was looking for somewhere quick to eat like two years ago. I was working really odd hours and this was one of the only places still open. I kept coming and eventually ran into the King of Smooth out there and the rest is history. I drag Benji out here and make him wear his old Trebles hoodie as a sort of torture device every once in a while." That set off a whole new round of joyous laughter. The small talk continued amongst the various groups that had naturally occurred and Beca once again found herself alone with Chloe Beale in a room full of people.

"So Becs," Beca couldn't help the warm feeling spreading through her extremities once again, this time at the nickname, she really couldn't. "How's LA treating you?" the redhead asked curiously.

Beca shrugged and said with a smirk, "Not too badly Chlo. What about you?"

"Oh LA's treating me just fine," the older woman said with a shit-eating grin. Beca rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair as she recognized she'd been unconsciously leaning towards Chloe the whole interaction.

"Not what I meant Beale and you know it." Chloe grinned again, her smile so radiant it was damn near blinding. "Where'd you end up anyway?" The question had a bizarrely sobering effect on Chloe as the redhead's face fell and she looked away quickly. Beca was confused, it wasn't as if she'd overstepped some sort of boundary was it? Asking where someone lived and worked was a pretty standard icebreaker question wasn't it?

Oblivious to the thought war waging inside Beca's head, Chloe bit the inside of her cheek and responded slowly, "I live out in Chicago. Just finished up my senior year of medical school at the University of Chicago and I'm starting at Chicago General in a couple of weeks." Beca quirked an eyebrow.

"Sounds intense," she said with a whoosh of admiration. Chloe smiled shyly and ducked her head with a bashful blush .

"Oi lezbros!" Fat Amy's iconic voice echoed easily around the table and quite honestly probably around the restaurant if the sudden silence was an indication. Both Beca and Chloe looked up from their conversation to find everyone staring at them with various looks of amusement on their faces.

"Yeeeees?" Beca drawled, refusing to allow the blush she could feel on her neck creep any higher and give her away. Judging by said looks of amusement growing a little more amused, she was not succeeding.

"We were just asking these flat-butts what exactly you do?"

"Yeah and does it have anything to do with the mafia?" Stacie chipped in seriously, staring at Beca intently. The mafia? Why the hell would anyone suspect she was in the mafia? She was fairly certain that someone had to be at least five foot six to be in the mafia. It was probably like question two: What is your height?

So… what did she do… damn.

Really this question should be easy and straightforward for a normal person. However, normal people did not have the jobs that Beca did. She was on one hand a simple DJ, but a DJ at some of the best clubs around Los Angeles and around the world. On the other hand, she was a simple recording artist, but also a recording artist that was a Grammy recipient, worked with some of the best artists and producers, and was under a completely false name. So… how to answer the question provided. Beca bit her bottom lip and unknowingly twisted her lips in thought.

Finally, after a pause she said thoughtfully, "I work at a recording studio downtown. While I am fairly confident that I myself am not a willing member of the mafia, there is a rather large chance that my boss and my boss's family owns half of the Mexican mafia and maybe like twenty-seven cartels."

"Who Manny?" Tessa piped up from down the table, drawing every attention towards where she was snuggled up against Jesse.

"No, she means Franny. Of course she means Manny. Dude has enough cousins they probably count for half of the population in Mexico and Honduras," Jesse said through a snort.

"And his cousins have bailed your ass out more times than anyone else," Beca pointed out with a quirked eyebrow. Jesse blushed and mumbled something that had Tessa rolling her eyes and whapping him chidingly on the shoulder.

"Which recording studio?" Aubrey asked curiously, her eyebrows raised challengingly.

Beca scratched the back of her neck and said sheepishly, "Ah, Turnstyle Records." The silence that hung in the air could have suffocated Beca if not for the blessed sound of her cell phone ringing. Beca couldn't actually remember the last time she was so grateful to see Manny's afro on her screen. The picture wasn't even of his face, it was just his afro.

"Hey Manfred, what's up?" Beca answered flippantly as she stood up from the table and moved off to the side of the room to offer up some semblance of privacy. Unbeknownst to her, every person in the room, Jesse, Kat, and Tessa included, was eavesdropping in on her side of the conversation shamelessly.

"Yeah I know. Yeah, New Year's Eve. Right, downtown. Yeah, the one that I helped set up. Yes I know who's going to be there. Yes I know that. Manny, trust me I won't screw this one up. I know how important this one is to TSR. Yes I am inviting Kat and Tessa. No, we will not let Tessa get into the tequila. Yes, I promise I will hire a babysitter for her. Anything else? Manny, relax. I've done this hundreds of times. Manny, look I'm at a lunch and I'm being very rude. Alright. Have fun. Yes. Have a nice day." With a nearly dignified roll of her eyes, Beca ended the call and turned back to the table she had left. Coming face to face with twelve pairs of eyes watching her every mood.

This time it was Tessa who broke the silence. "What club are you at on New Year's?"

Beca shrugged and said, "Yours truly is going to be locked into a tiny little booth overlooking 7-OnUP."

"No way, are you shitting me?" Jesse exclaimed in excitement.

"Yeah I am," Beca snickered, enjoying Jesse's gob-smacked face. "I'm just doing sound check and making sure everything's all set for the headliner. Last I heard, CC Hale will be tearing it up o the turntables, not me choir boy. Sorry to disappoint." Tessa narrowed her eyes at the same time that Jesse rolled his.

Fortunately, no one noticed either's reaction because they were focused far more on Kat's. "No way, you're gonna be at 7-OnUP on the craziest night of the year? Awe punchkin, you've got to get us in!"

Fat Amy couldn't help the snicker at Beca's nickname. "Punchkin? Awe little ankle-biter I thought your days of clobbering poor innocent bystanders was over."

"Innocent?" Beca questioned with a snort. "The person I punched had their hand so high on my thing I was running out of leg for her to terrorize. I issued a verbal threat twice loudly, clearly, and delightfully enunciated. She choose to ignore it and as such I kindly invited her to remove her and from my person in a loud and physical fashion."

The Bellas all smirked as they recognized that as eloquent speak for "told her to get off me and then punched her".

"Doesn't matter," Kat said with a flippant wave her hand. "Us at 7-OnUP on New Year's Eve. Yes or no?"

Beca's brow furrowed. "Us? Who is this us?"

"Why me, the choir dweeb, his lovely better half, the accountant, and these ladies," here Kat gestured around at the gathered Bellas. Everyone looked at Beca hopefully. She held her hands up in a placating gesture. She took a glance around, taking in Fat Amy's crazed and enthused look, Lily's flickering eyes, Aubrey's skeptical look, and Chloe's never-ending hopeful blue eyes. Oh, she was screwed.

"I'll see what I can do," she conceded with a soft sigh. The wide grins she received would have been worth it, if not for the accompanying whip sound from Kat's direction. Beca allowed herself a self-pitying groan. She now had to beg Manny for eleven VIP passes. May the afro have mercy on her soul.

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Alright, question time for the readers. Does anyone know a story about Beca travelling around the world? It's a one shot, several thousand words long, it's a Bechloe pairing, and it ends with Beca on Chloe's porch. Any of you know it? Please? Thanks lovelies

Update: Fic has been located, author is happy, huge shout-out to llvr. Thanks for making my night!