The pair woke early the next morning to the sound of the door slamming shut. Startled, both girls jumped, Chloe's arms instinctively wrapping around Beca protectively. They both relaxed when they saw it was just Beca's roommate, Kimmy Jin. She threw them a disgusted look, before walking to the closet to unpack her bags.
"Good morning, Kimmy Jin!" Chloe always attempted to be friendly, even though she was usually met with silence. "Did you go home for the weekend?" She asked, not really expecting an answer, but figuring it was worth a shot anyway. Kimmy Jin grunted in response. "That's… nice!" Another grunt. "Okay, good talk, Kimmy Jin." Chloe shook her head, perplexed, before turning her attention to Beca. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Actually… I did. Minus the heart attack I just had, of course." Beca glared at her roommate.
Chloe glanced at her phone, checking the time and her messages. "Well, it's 6:30…"
Beca groaned and laid back down, shoving her face into a pillow. "Wayyy too early to be conscious." She mumbled.
Chloe chuckled. "Agreed. But, if you want, we can go out and grab breakfast before my 8am."
Beca opened one eye and peeked at Chloe's face, immediately regretting it. She could never say no to Chloe when she looked so damn hopeful. "Fine." She muttered. "I think I should take a quick shower first, though."
"Oh, totally. I didn't want to offend you, but you stink, Becs." Chloe laughed when Beca threw a pillow in her face. "Kidding! Kidding!"
"Yeah, whatever, Red. Do you want a change of clothes or are you gonna rock the 'walk of shame' look?" Beca looked pointedly at Chloe's disheveled appearance. Chloe agreed to a change of clothes, and Beca handed them to her before gathering her shower stuff. Chloe pretended not to notice the way Beca hesitated just before going out into the hallway, checking the peephole to see if there was anyone there. Things seemed so normal, what with their casual banter returning, that Chloe had almost forgotten why she had stayed the night in the first place. Almost. Chloe's phone was filled with unread messages from the Bellas asking about Beca's condition, and she briefly wondered what the hell she was going to tell them. She knew it wasn't her story to tell, but she didn't think it was fair to keep them in the dark. They cared about Beca too, and she could only imagine how worried she would be if she was in their place. Plus, Chloe had no idea how to handle this situation on her own. Last night had been easy, simply holding her while she cried, but now the full weight of the situation crashed down on Chloe's shoulders. She had dealt with bad break-ups before (Aubrey's love life was worse than a soap opera), but never anything to this extent. The pressure of doing the right thing was stifling, and Chloe was terrified that she would mess up.
Chloe halted her thoughts before they spun out of control, wanting to keep up a happy demeanor while she was with Beca. Throughout breakfast, Beca's eyes darted around, looking for the one familiar face she was terrified of seeing. Chloe desperately tried to distract her to no avail. "Beca, you can relax, okay? I've never once seen him come in here., and even if he does, I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you." She gently placed her hand on top of Beca's.
"I know, I'm sorry. It's stupid. I keep seeing him everywhere, in every guy that walks by."
Chloe squeezed her hand. "It's not stupid. You have every right to be scared. It'll pass." At least, she hoped it would.
"I know. I'll be okay." Chloe wondered who she was trying to reassure, Chloe or herself.
"So, I was thinking… Did you want to stay at my place for a bit? I know the situation with Jesse last night freaked you out, and I figured that you could lay low at my apartment for a couple of days, at least until you figure out what you want to do. I mean you don't have to if you don't want to. I was just thinking that you could… If you did want to. But-"
Beca cut off Chloe's rambling before it got out of hand. "What about Aubrey? Won't she be mad about you offering up your place without asking her?"
"She'll understand." Beca gave her a look, completely unconvinced. "Seriously! You overestimate how bitchy she is. She's actually a very nice person outside of practice."
"I'll believe that when Hell freezes over. Or maybe not, considering she's probably the one who froze it, what with her ice heart and everything."
"You're terrible." Chloe scolded.
"Okay, okay, too far. I'm sorry." Beca picked at her food, absentmindedly. "I think it's a good idea though. Your place." She clarified when Chloe shot her a confused look.
Chloe's face instantly brightened. "Okay! I'm in class until 4…" She paused, suddenly looking uncertain. "Is that okay? I can give you the key and you can go now if you want."
Beca understood the underlying question. Will you be okay by yourself? She hated that Chloe was afraid to leave her alone, but, more than that, she hated the fact that she was actually petrified at the idea of being alone. "No, that's fine. I should probably go to class too. My dad gets suspicious when I miss too many."
"Are you sure? I'm sure your professors would understand if you e-mailed them saying you were sick." Honestly, Chloe was afraid that Jesse would try to track her down between classes, at a time when Chloe couldn't possibly be around to stop him.
"I'm sure. I'll be okay." Beca looked at the time. "You should probably leave for class. I'll walk you."
The walk was shorter than they hoped, and within minutes they were standing in front of Chloe's classroom. Neither of the girls wanted Chloe to leave, but they knew that she had to. Chloe gave her a long hug, whispering, "Call me if you need me, okay? I love you.", before disappearing into the room, leaving Beca feeling more alone than ever before.
Surprisingly, Beca found her day to be better than expected. She had shockingly managed to avoid any familiar faces (she had no idea what she would say to any of the Bellas if she saw them) and had even found class to be a great distractor. She had never thought she would enjoy her philosophy class, but actually discovered it to be rather interesting once she paid attention. She was just on her way to her dorm to pack for Chloe's when a hand on her arm stopped her.
She spun quickly and nearly threw up at the face in front of her. "Beca, hey." Though Jesse's voice was soft and his grip loose, Beca felt panic bubble up inside her. Jesse seemed to sense her fear, and he released her arm, looking confused. Beca knew she should walk away, but her feet seemed rooted to the ground. "Are you okay?" Jesse looked genuinely concerned. Beca didn't answer, not wanting to open her mouth for fear that she would pull an Aubrey and projectile vomit all over the place. "Okay… Look, it's obvious that you don't want to talk to me. I know you've been avoiding me. I just… I don't understand, Beca. Did I do something wrong?" Beca's brow furrowed in complete confusion.
"What?" She seemed to have found her voice.
"You got to help me out here, Beca. I know we had a fight and you were upset, but I didn't think it was bad enough for you to avoid me for three days. What's going on? Is this because I got drunk at the party afterwards? The Trebles told me they saw you talking to me at the party, but I don't remember any of it. I was totally wasted. Did I say something wrong?"
Beca's mouth fell open. There was no way he couldn't remember what happened, right? He was drunk, but he wasn't that drunk… Right? Beca couldn't help the doubt that was beginning to overcome her.
"If I said or did something wrong Beca, I am so sorry. I just… I was upset about our fight and I though alcohol would help and it clearly didn't. It was stupid. I should have just gone and talked to you. I love you, Beca, and I don't want to lose you."
Beca's mind raced. Jesse seemed so genuine, but she couldn't believe that he could just forget. She was more confused now than ever. "I… Jesse, I just need some time to think, okay?" Her voice sounded foreign to her, as if it were coming from someone else.
"Okay…" Jesse seemed uncertain. He placed a hand on her shoulder, brow furrowing when she flinched away from his touch. "I'm worried about you, Beca. You don't seem like yourself. Whatever's going on, you can talk to me. You know me, I would never hurt you."
Beca stared at him in disbelief, the sincerity in his words only causing more conflict in her already racing mind. "I need to go now." She managed to get out before quickly turning and walking away, leaving Jesse standing there in confusion.
"Please call me!" He shouted, but Beca ignored him and disappeared into the safety of her building. She quickly made her way up to her room and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was empty. Sitting down on her bed, she hugged a pillow to her chest, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
Beca jumped when her phone went off, alerting her of a text from Chloe. Coming over soon?
She sighed; she was supposed to be staying at Chloe's to avoid seeing Jesse. It's a bit late for that, she mused. She knew that she should tell Chloe about what had just happened. Chloe would be able to help her sort out all of the confusing thoughts running through her mind. She hesitated though, unsure of how the red head would react. Her phone rang again, this time signaling a message from Jesse.
Hey, I didn't mean to freak you out by ambushing you today. How about we get dinner later and talk about things?
Beca groaned and put her face in her hands. Her instincts were screaming at her to stay away from Jesse, but she hoped that talking to him would help solve the battle going on in her brain. She briefly considered texting Chloe and asking her advice, but decided against it, knowing that the red head would be completely against the idea. As she should be. Logically, Beca knew that she should ignore Jesse, pack her bags, and go to Chloe's as soon as possible. She groaned again in frustration, going back and forth between the two texts.
Before she could second-guess her decision, she typed, "Yeah, I'll be there", and hit send.
A/N: Oooh who do you think she sent the text to? What do you think of Jesse; is he telling the truth about not remembering? What's going to happen next? Hope you guys are enjoying it so far. You're all awesome :) Thanks for reading! Until next time!