A/N: Hey guys! I'm back a day or so earlier with chapter 19! Give me two days for 20… Anyways, special thanks to the special asshole guest for striking again. I'm not even… I don't really have any energy for you…

But anyways, thanks to all who's supported this fic so far! And thanks for putting up with my angsty chapters and painful drama. On that note, do rejoice, this is the last heartbreaking chapter I'll ever write but Bechloe-wise, things will start looking up, I promise.

Songs featured include snippets of 'Broken' by Lifehouse, 'Nothing' by The Script, 'Mr. Brightside' by The Killers, 'I'll Be Over You' by Toto, and 'This Love' by Taylor Swift (to the other guest who suggested the song, I definitely have not forgotten! I hope you would agree that it was used wisely ;3).

I don't own pitch perfect.

For some reason, the music blasting through the whole place was fitting. A remix of 'Mr. Brightside'

Coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss

Eli… he said it… he said…

Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke
And she's taking a drag
Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head

Beca tried to get a grip of the situation. But the words were a knife to the heart. Besides, why would Chloe miss the call? Maybe she was hearing the news with other people right now. Maybe…

No, she had to keep herself in check

But she's touching his chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, let me go

But she can't. The thoughts that kept swirling in her head were haunting her. The ache in her heart wasn't disappearing either. She thought, she figured, that maybe she had hope. That there was hope. And now the hope was gone, she lost the fight.

Nothing was left but desolation. She's lost Chloe forever.

I just can't look its killing me
And taking control
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis

It all left a bitter taste in her mouth as she reached the bar and ordered for the strongest drink they had. One drink. Two drinks. Three. She wanted to numb it. The pain. Four. Five. Six. It felt like that before, when she walked away from Chloe. It felt like a part of her was being ripped away.

But no, it felt much worse now.

She was at a point of almost perfect bliss. Things were finally turning out right.

Looks like she paid the steepest of prices in the end.

But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
Cause I'm Mr. Brightside

And she was shaken to her very core.

At some point Beca realized that her assistant, Jack, was talking to her. She wasn't entirely sure what she mumbled in response, or if it was even coherent in the first place. She needed to get out. She needed to breathe. She felt like the crowd was suffocating her, like she was drowning.

Chloe has said 'no' before, why now? What could have happened?

Did she really move on completely?

Were those stolen glances meaningless after all?

Or was it just her, hopefully wishing that maybe she could get Chloe back? That maybe there was still something there?

She felt incredibly blindsided by all of it. The fact that Chloe wasn't the first person who told her either, she figured, if anything, Chloe would have given her that respect, especially because of what they had.

But what did they have? Somehow, Beca thought it was something incredibly special even though all she had was one memory of happiness with Chloe – the New Year's Eve memory. Maybe it wasn't as special as she thought anymore.

Or what if she had just hurt her that bad? Beca knew she did, but was it beyond repair, with an absolute finality? Or does what she had with Eli just outweigh everything else?

No, she wasn't going to even think about it. Beca felt sick to the stomach with the thought of it.

Beca soon found herself outside of the club. The cool evening breeze once again breathing her some life.

Or maybe she just really needed air, she was starting to feel nauseous at the club. She left silently, without saying a word, walking around aimlessly through London. She wanted to cry. She just really, desperately needed a cry, and she wasn't entirely sure if she already was crying or not. But if she could, she'd cry a river of tears, mourning for what she has lost. She should have, she very well should have just died in that accident if living meant feeling this kind of pain.

She knew it was her decision to leave back then. It was what seemed to be the right thing to do. But now if she could turn back the time, she would. She'd stop herself from leaving – but then again, a part of her knew that even if she did, things would have imploded and maybe they were better off with her decision of leaving in the first place.

No, if she could, she'd turn back the time and stop the accident from happening in the first place.

Then maybe, just maybe, she could be happy with Chloe.

As soon as my heart stops breakin'
Anticipating
As soon as forever is through
I'll be over you

A man had started singing in a drunken tone. His friends all trying to shut him off, calm him down, as he swayed from side to side, rambling incoherent words. Looked like it was a night for the broken hearted.

Beca wasn't sure how but she ended up at a bar. Things were starting to make sense again, throb and ache in her chest, and so drink her sorrows away she must.

She drank more slowly this time though, taking her time as she nursed her heartbreak.

It's not like you said anything Mitchell, Beca chastised herself. If Chloe was happy, she should be too. She loved Chloe, and she wanted the best for her. Of course she wanted her to be happy, despite the own pain she felt.

But this didn't feel like just pain, it felt like dying on the inside.

And a part of Beca knew that Eli wasn't exactly the best for Chloe. Even if in the end it wasn't Beca herself either, she did think Chloe deserved better.

They say a few drinks will help me to forget her
But after one too many I know that I'm never
Only they can see where this is gonna end
But they all think I'm crazy but to me it's perfect sense

The song had been playing for a while but Beca only realized she was humming it when she started to drink from her newly served glass.

And my mates are all there trying to calm me down
'Cause I'm shouting your name all over the town
I'm swearing if I go there now
I can change her mind turn it all around
And I know that I'm drunk but I'll say the words
And she'll listen this time even though they're slurred
Dialed her number and confessed to her
I'm still in love but all I heard
Was nothing

And it was like she couldn't escape her. Everywhere she turned, all she saw was Chloe.

The song felt familiar too.

Like the barrage of songs she's encountering reminded her of a time long ago, of some time ago when she had been sulking in her own corner.

All of a sudden she could hear Luke's voice.

…if you really didn't love her, and love her with all your being whether you were aware of it or not, then why is your heart still breaking? Why won't it mend?

"Why won't it?" Beca found herself asking, and this time she was sure she was indeed crying. She could see the tears leaving stains on the bar counter.

"I think I should start cutting you off there, missy. 'Sides, we're nearly closing off." the rather portly bartender said. "You want me to call anyone for you?" he asked but Beca shook her head, paid her tab, and left before the bartender could call for a cab for her.

She liked walking. Walking felt like she could clear her head.

Luke's words kept hammering through her mind. Over and over again like her father's words did.

Love is an addiction Beca

Luke had said again, the words echoing in her head, the distant memory trying to break through.

And heartbreak is the worst kind of withdrawal

She could hear him still talking. Luke wasn't there of course, and all Beca could see and hear from reality was the mixture of lights and sounds the city at what felt like one or two in the morning. She eventually found herself by the River Thames, on the Queens walk, near the London Eye at the South Bank.

She was wondering how she got there, she really barely noticed, and how she got there in one piece considering she could barely keep her balance.

The broken lights on the freeway left me here alone
I may have lost my way now, haven't forgotten my way home

The song went on. She wasn't sure where she caught ear of it, but it was stuck in her head along with Luke's words. She walked closer to the bank, leaning on the railings. Her head was pounding so painfully so.

All she wanted to do was see Chloe. Fight for her, Eli be damned. She wanted to show her she had options, prove to her that after all this time, despite all that has happened, she still loved her.

Never really stopped.

She's the unexpected

This time she heard herself say in her thoughts and a swirl of images from her father's kitchen started appearing in her mind.

Beca closed her eyes, she knew she was tired, of course she did, and this could just be her being tired. She opened them again, and this time she saw her reflection on the water, from where she was leaning on the railings.

Love someone who's worth the pain, and never let that person go.

She heard her father's voice say again, followed by a quick flash in her head of hugging him briefly.

Beca blinked. She was back to reality, her head still throbbing painfully. But more than that, all she wanted was to see Chloe then and there, tell her she loved her, and show her she could fight for her.

And if she could, she would. She'd fly all the way to LA that very moment. Even swim if needed be.

The throbbing of her head became worse, and she felt herself sway as she leaned closer to the railing. Flashing of things she could barely understand kept appearing in front of her, interspersed with the view before her. But one thought prevailed. Get to Chloe and tell her how you feel. She'd do anything to reach her right now. If she could reach the water she could swim. She can do it. Reach Chloe.

And Beca could feel herself almost toppling over.

Before she blacked out completely.

Chloe found herself in such an odd position. For one thing, she felt lighter than ever. She ran into Jesse on her way out of the apartment, and the Treble immediately picked up that there was something on her mind. They soon found their way at a local bar, just a few blocks off their apartment building.

And, Chloe would have to admit, even when things turned out for the better between her and Jesse, never did she ever think that one day she would be pouring her heart out to her once upon a time unspoken rival for Beca. In a way, it unburdened the heaviness in her heart.

Like a cloud was lifting. Thankfully, Jesse was an incredibly good listener.

But the cloud didn't want to stay lifted at all.

Chloe was sipping on her glass of wine when Eli walked into the bar and immediately made her way to the two of them. Really, she wasn't sure what she feels at the moment, still being torn about whether or not he threw the ticket away on purpose.

"Chloe." Eli started, the gentleness back in his voice. "Please, let's just talk about this."

"Eli, we did." Chloe replied. "I just… we can't keep going like this."

"Chloe…" he said, trying to reason with her. "I'm willing to wait, you know? No matter how long it takes for you to realize that I'm for you. You're my princess, and I'm you're knight in shining armor. I don't care how long it takes, I'll piece your heart together and I'll keep the bad things away."

"And I don't think you're listening to me." Chloe replied, her tone starting to rise. "Eli, I just… I can't love someone when I still love someone else."

Eli chuckled, his mood changing. "How can you love someone who's hurt you already?"

"Life isn't perfect. And… I don't know. The pain will go away. The love stays. Eli, I'm only human, I don't even know the meaning of life, I just know we can't go on."

"Huh." Eli replied. "See, at first I thought it was next door neighbor guy here, but I guess I was wrong. It's like she's got this spell on you, really, it's sickening. I thought when you said that you were engaged before and that because of an accident, your fiancé left you, you were talking about some asshole somewhere. But then I started seeing it, you know. You cared about more about your best friend you never really mentioned until New York. You cared more about her going to London than anything. Than me proposing."

"I'm sorry." Chloe apologized, knowing that she should have been transparent about Beca. She was trying a way to articulate things to Eli, make him understand but he wouldn't shut up. She wanted to deescalate the situation, be more mature.

"You're really choosing that girl? Really? What does she have that I don't? Honestly, don't you think it's sick?" Eli went on. "Chloe, you belong with someone like me, not some girl. No matter how successful with all her galavanting adventures around the world."

"She's not…" Chloe started to argue, her voice rising a little more. She could feel a fire rising from within, making her blood start to boil. Eli was acting like a class 'A' ass.

An ass who just won't shut up, seriously.

"What? Is she really that addictive? Is it the success? It's probably the success. What else would you see in that squirt? What, you need the best of both worlds? Chloe, I'd understand that. I mean, if you really need to. Long as I have my girl back to me."

Chloe wasn't sure if that was when everything clicked. She was pretty much sure that it started when she found the shredded ticket. She was doing all that she could to stop herself from slapping him right then and there.

Eli was nice. He was a good guy. Kind. She didn't know that there was this sick and hateful side to him. It made her feel blindsided by everything, their whole relationship. She almost could, she really almost could. If she had not known Beca, if they never were… maybe…

And that made her even angrier than ever. They said don't judge a book by its cover. When it applies to human, Chloe forgot to be more careful. There was no such thing as 'perfect' in terms of people. If that person is, they probably aren't and that's the first sign you should run.

Eli was the knight in shining armor. And people keep forgetting that the shining armor part was actually a warning. He needed the shiny piece of metal to confuse and distract you, all so that you could not see the dark hollow rotten core.

A knight, a brave knight, is one with scars. With dents and tears in their armors and shields, the proof that life had tested their mettle.

Yeah, Chloe felt like the stitches that held her eyes shut were slowly being pulled away.

Jesse was starting to shake at the corner of the bar. Chloe could tell he was trying to keep his temper in control.

"What? Do you want hopeless guy here too?" Eli then spat out, he was really crossing a line. "Or is it the Brit?"

"Eli…" Chloe said seething. It was a warning.

"Doesn't matter really." Eli then sneered, throwing Chloe's phone on the bar. "Not like she'd call anymore. I made it clear Chloe. You're mine."

Jesse beat Chloe to the punch with the phone. Eli did the honor of unlocking it already and opening the call logs. "You talked to Beca…" he let slip.

"I made a point." Eli continued to sneer. "She won't be calling anymore." he repeated.

"What did you say Eli?" Chloe asked, her anger reaching the summit. "What did you tell her?"

"She's not going to bother us, I made sure of it my princess." Eli then said in a sickly sweet tone, stepping forward to approach Chloe.

But Chloe wouldn't have it.

She was going to slap him. But slapping him would be too merciful.

Chloe didn't even notice it, not until her fist connected with Eli's face, knocking him down. His nose was bleeding right after and Chloe wouldn't have noticed it was her who punched her if not for her hand hurting really, really badly.

"Damn it." Chloe let out as she shaking her own fist. Was it really supposed to hurt that bad?

"What was that for?" Eli threw back angrily. Every guest at the bar starting to gather around them.

"For being an ass you sick, sick idiot." Chloe shouted out, trying her best not to cry despite her eyes already welling up. Her hand still hurts. "You think you can just say the right things, at the right time, play with people's emotions, pretend and manipulate your way into things. God! I don't know what's more infuriating, you being an ass right now or you lying to me. Somehow I feel it's me believing in your lies in the first place. I was hurt, true. I was brokenhearted and alone, didn't mean you should have used that to your advantage and get the girl. You exploited the moment, and here I tought you just really cared and you were genuine. God, you sick bastard!"

"Chloe." Eli growled, trying to get up.

And to retaliate, since Chloe was also pissed she ended up hurting herself when she punched him, Chloe kicked him right where it hurts, keeping him down. "Really choosing pint-sized squirt over…"

"Over what? You? Yes. Definitely yes" she said cutting in. "And even if it's still not Beca in the end, I'll take anyone over you. I'd rather be alone, truth be told. And as for Beca, I loved her, with all my being Eli. And I still do. I never stopped. I just tried fooling myself that I can move on." Chloe continued. "And God, my hand still hurts!"

"That's probably a fracture, we should get that checked out." Jesse said and the very helpful bartender was already handing him a towel wrapped around a bunch of ice for Chloe's hand. Maybe ease the pain.

Jesse started to usher her out when Eli tried crawling up, reaching for her. Jesse didn't waste any time, throwing a punch just as he got on his fist, hitting him squarely on his jaw. "That's for Beca." Jesse said. "And when we get to the bottom of this, don't you think you're getting away easily."

Chloe could still feel the anger rising in from within her, Jesse promising to call both Luke and Beca at the hospital after trying to call the DJ a few times already.

They didn't get to see the bartender and the guests start pouring and throwing their drinks at the fool who thought he was perfect.

It's been hours and Luke's shaken to the core. Beca was missing.

She shouldn't be missing.

His first impulse was to actually punch Fitz again when he saw him, thinking maybe he did something again that could have made Beca upset.

"We're actually on okay terms Walker. I was talking to her earlier, I think she went out to call her girl, or not her girl but the girl she wants to be her girl." Fitz had explained.

"Chloe? Beca was calling Chloe? Interesting." Luisa then said, walking into the scene.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Luke asked incredibly confused.

"Oh what, did my little mouse not tell you? We're friends now." Luisa had given as a reply. Luke was going to ask what exactly she meant by that when Kaelyn showed up with Jack in tow, Jack explaining that she was rambling on about things being too late, that she was getting married. All while getting herself incredibly drunk in a very short span of time.

And Luke could only guess who she was.

Luke wanted to ask himself why Chloe would get married, and to Eli. The ticket was supposed to push her to the right direction… or… is it the reason why she didn't come with us? She chose Eli? Luke thought to himself, but at that point, he really couldn't spare any more of his thoughts for Chloe. His main concern was Beca. And Beca was clearly taking things hard.

Really, really hard.

They decided to split up – him, Kaelyn, Luisa, Jack, Jack's boyfriend Milo, and Fitz – believing it would be the best and fastest way of finding Beca.

He tried calling Beca a few times but it was a wasted effort. She turned her phone off. So as he scoured London – or at least the immediate radius he thinks Beca would end up traveling in her drunken state – he started ringing Chloe's phone.

But no one was answering.

"What on earth is going on?" Luke asked himself through gritted teeth, trying his best not to throw his phone away from his anger. He was getting more and more worried about Beca the more time passes by without any sign of her.

Kaelyn just texted him before his phone died out, but the glimpse of the message told him all he needed to know. Beca wasn't home.

Jack thought it would be wise to check the office, but she wasn't there either.

So where was she?

Luke continued his search. Eventually hailing a cab to get around town faster. He found himself on the Westminster Bridge when he saw a faint figure by the lamp on the Queens Walk, leaning by the railings. He eventually got off the cab, asking the driver to wait for him, running towards where he though he saw the figure. He wasn't sure if it was Beca but at this point he figured, he could try.

In truth, it looked like he got there almost a little too late, and if he had been, he wasn't sure what he would have done.

Beca could have drowned.

But thankfully Luisa didn't and before Beca could fall into the river, she managed to haul her away with one hand.

Luke found himself releasing a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He collapsed on his knees near where Luisa laid Beca down.

"Looks like the little elf passed out."

"Ugh, she's really going to give me a heart attack one of these days." Luke found himself saying. "So you really are mates now?"

"Mitchell isn't half bad." Luisa replied with a shrug. "Take her home, she needs to rest. Get to the bottom of things later."

"Chloe's getting married." Luke said absent-mindedly.

"Somehow, I don't think I believe that." Luisa then said. "Something doesn't feel right, and the redhead, I don't think she would just drop Beca and hurt her this way. If anything, I'd think she would want to talk to her personally if she really was moving on."

Luke nodded. "I think you're right, but… I don't know. I don't really know what to think."

"You really care for her, don't you?" Luisa then asked, nodding at Beca as she lifted her up and passed her to Luke.

"She's family." Luke simply said before turning to leave.

Once again, he found himself carrying her home.

And no matter how long it took, he'll always be there to help pick the pieces up and help her become whole again.

Amy didn't waste a minute to get to the hospital when Jesse texted her about the gist of what happened. Thankfully she was there keeping Chloe calm.

Yeah, Jesse has never seen Chloe this mad. Ever.

He didn't even think Chloe could get this mad.

It did help her process with the pain of her swollen hand at the moment, so there was that. With Amy assisting Chloe with anything she needed, Jesse took his chance to ring up Beca and sort things out, figure out whatever sick thing Eli could have told her.

She won't be calling anymore

God, just the way he sneered when he said it, Jesse was ready to pound the guy.

But onto matters more important. Luke wasn't answering. Beca too. And Jesse wasn't entirely sure what was more worrying really, the fact that Beca was hard to reach or Luke.

Because Luke not answering is definitely an indicator of terrible things happening.

And Jesse was most certainly not happy about that.

"Do you want some tea?" Kaelyn asked, her voice soft and gentle. Luke shook his head in response.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." he replied with a weak smile and Kaelyn nodded, tiptoeing out of Beca's room at her London flat, leaving the two of them alone.

Beca was fine. Luke's cousin was a doctor and so he gladly came in to check on her when he called. She was unconscious, heavily drunk, but fine nonetheless.

But somehow, Luke knew it won't all be better until he sees Beca wake up. So he resigned himself to watching her over the night, waiting out the coming dawn that was barely hours away.

He was still dying to know what exactly happened, but his phone was still charging by the socket near Beca's bedside table.

There was a knock on the door and Kaelyn quickly popped back in bringing him anyways. Chamomile to help him relax. It was an intense evening. But that wasn't all that Kaelyn brought with her, handing Luke her phone. Luke gave her a curious expression on his face but Kaelyn simply shrugged. "Says he wants to talk to you. Been trying to call you all evening before realizing he could actually call me too. Also was trying to call Beca, didn't tell him anything yet though." she said in a low voice.

"Thanks." Luke replied, accepting the phone. And with a deep sigh, he asked Jesse "What do you want Swanson?"

-break-

"Luke! Man, where have you guys been, I've been calling you and Beca all night long!" Jesse exclaimed. It was the truth. He really had been. Endlessly too.

They were at Bumper and Amy's apartment. Bumper was getting a bat ready and rallying the Trebles he knew lived in the city to go grab al of Chloe's things from her apartment with Eli. There was no way Chloe was ever stepping foot in that place. Amy made a suggestion of adding a few more 'muscles' with them, saying she already called Lilly and that she'd meet the whole group a block away from Chloe's apartment building. Anne, Jesse's girlfriend just got there. She was helping Amy with Chloe – who was currently pretty drugged up on pain meds at the moment – making sure that she would be okay.

So yeah, Jesse took this to be the perfect time to retry calling Luke, and thanks to Anne suggestion of calling Kaelyn, he finally got a hold of him.

"Been a little busy Swanson. My phone's dead, Beca's fell off into a river at some point." Luke replied grumpily.

Which was the first indication that things are not good in any way.

"I heard Beale's getting married." Luke finally said with a sigh.

"No!" Jesse almost yelled. He decided to bring his voice down a notch when he saw Amy peak out of the guest bedroom, signaling for him to lower his tone. "Look, that's why I've been trying to call. We have a little situation here, you see. But no, Chloe's not marrying the psycho. They broke up, actually."

"Keep talking…" Luke said flatly and Jesse wasn't entirely sure if he's mood was getting better or not. "And be quick about it."

"Yeah, right. Uh, so Chloe lost the ticket, she thought Eli threw it out on purpose then they sort of argued? I'm not sure. I ran into her on the way out of the building and we decided to go grab drinks and talk. She said they broke up, this despite Eli proposing again. We talk, mostly about feelings and Beca, then Eli shows up with her phone. He said Beca called and he was acting all jealous and all, throwing in a bunch of insinuations about me and Chloe or Beca and Chloe – and by the way, dude's incredibly homophobic, it really grinds my gears – then he goes on giving Chloe a speech about him being her shining knight and she's the princess and they belonged together. Anyways, he says he made that clear to Beca, Chloe's concerned, dude acts more like an ass and I think Chloe got to the point of no return and punched him! Chloe Beale actually punched a living person!"

"Wait… wait… Chloe punched him? Chloe Beale? Sweet, kind, sometimes scary redhead?"

"Yep. Also, scarier to see her really mad up close and personal. By the way, she also kicked him in the nuts. He tried getting up but I threw in a punch there for Beca… and hang on, why do you think they're getting married?"

"Because that's what he said to Beca." Luke replied flatly and Jesse was starting to understand why Luke's voice sounded grave and tired and weary. He was starting to understand that feeling of foreboding that's been gnawing at him since the hospital.

"Wha-… How's Beca?" Jesse asked, dreading to hear the worst. "That prick! So that's what he said... Luke, please tell me Beca's handling things fine. Can I tell her personally that everything's fine? Wake her up?"

"She's… we'll she took it real hard. You know… we know and we can see it. The way those two feel for each other. I think Beca's quite aware too. She got real drunk, or so it seems, and we had to look for her all over London. Not fun."

"You said something about a river?" Jesse then asked, a panic building inside him. "She didn't jump into a river, did she?" he asked, keeping an eye on the door of the guestroom, making it's closed, and bringing his voice down even lower.

"I don't think that was her plan. Maybe she wanted to swim all the way back to America? She nearly fell is all that I know for sure. She's still unconscious. Not sure what knock her out cold, I think she passed out before committing herself to jumping into Thames."

"Beca…" Jesse then found himself saying. A new found wave of anger building inside him for Eli. A new found rage he was trying to contain. "Thank God you found her in time then."

"I didn't." Luke said almost wordlessly, and Jesse could tell from the crack in his voice how much the thought of what might've happened was affecting him. "Someone else did. Lucky there was or else I don't know what I would have done to that sorry excuse of a sod."

"Who?" Jesse asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Just really thankful is all." Luke said before heaving a deep sigh. "How's Chloe?"

"Oh, right. We're at Amy's now. I called her earlier and she's all 'my place is the base of operations' mode. She sent an SOS to the Bellas and we decided to meet on what we should do. Be here for Chloe and they most definitely want payback. Aubrey's planning on jumping in via video call. Said she and Stacie would catch the first flight in. She's really out for blood. I called her when we went to the hospital, see Chloe… she doesn't exactly know how to make a proper fist… she has a Boxer's fracture, her hand's kinda' swollen right now, like Beca did before. Remember? It's actually kinda' funny. It's on the opposite hand VS what Beca broke. Like a complementary mirror image. Where are you right now? What happened after Beca nearly fell?"

"Took her home. Letting her rest. I'll tell her tomorrow. But man, ugh, I wish I can be there right now so I can rip that guy apart. He better not run into me…" Luke said seething.

"Don't worry. That's going to all be taken care of." Jesse then said. "Ugh, I just… that guy… Now that I know what he's done… It just makes me sick. And I don't know what makes me even sicker, he's ideals of a happily-ever-after fairytale romance that just sounds so twisted the way he said it, or that I had those same ideals, about a guy finding a girl, getting the girl, you know?"

"Jesse, you and him, totally different mate. You make mistakes, you learn from them. And you learned with Beca. You're not too out of touch with reality." Luke then said. "Now do me a favor, please tell me you're not planning on doing something borderline illegal with the Bellas. I'm all up for retaliation, teach the guy a lesson, but do not scar him for life... Physically… or maybe scar him for life a little? Just nothing illegal." Luke said and Jesse chuckled. He says this sounding exasperated even though Jesse knows Luke himself was ready to murder the guy. If kissing Beca when she didn't feel the same way had Luke pushing him up against the wall with a deadly look in his eyes, then messing with her mind and emotions like that was definitely a one-way ticket to hell.

"Don't worry Luke, we've got this. I don't think anything would be illegal per se… It's not like we're killing him or locking him up and enacting various horrific tortures from different time periods. I do have some ideas though. And don't worry, we're keeping Emily out of this, protecting her innocence and all.''

"See, you say that and immediately I think you're going to do a milder version of what you promise you won't do so you can loophole your way out of this in case."

"We're the masters of loopholes, so don't you fret Luke." Jesse then said.

"I… oh I don't even want to know. Just let me know the outcome…" Luke replied sounding exasperated yet again. "Keep me posted. And, Swanson, I know Chloe deserves the truth with what Eli did, but maybe don't tell her about the river incident until I talk to Beca. I don't want Chloe to freak out too much."

"Right. But I think the Bellas deserve to know ASAP."

"Definitely." Luke then replied before yawning at the other end of the line. "I'll keep you posted too Swanson, alright? Give him hell for me."

"Oh we definitely will." Jesse then replied. Justice needed to be served.

A few hours into the morning and Lilly was back with Bumper with boxes of Chloe's things. The Bellas were all at the apartment, and Stacie and Aubrey were all set-up on their video call while getting ready for an early morning flight. Jesse explained the situation to them, Chloe happily dozing off in the guestroom and Anne whipping them up something to eat.

The Bellas were all furious, Aubrey the most. Well, technically Amy was ready to go flay the man alive so Jesse wasn't entirely sure who he would be most afraid of at the moment. The Bellas were already coming up with ideas, Jesse was both terrified and impressed by the dark machinations of their mind, but he has a brilliant plan of his own.

Jesse coughed, trying to get everyone's attention. "Pavlov's dog." Jesse initially said. "You guys know it, right?"

"Yes Swanson, we know about Schrodinger's cat as well. What's your point? There is a point, right? You're not just naming experiments, actual and theoretical ones?" Aubrey then cut in, her tone icy and sharp.

"Yes, there is a point Aubrey. Pavlov's dog is a classical conditioning experiment. Then Ii harken back to the day where you haunted Tom with that song back in Barden to the point that whenever I saw him and that song was playing, it drove him insane. That and the whole pheromones lesson I had with the woodland creatures… I was thinking of applying a song to the concept of conditioning… except this time a great variety of popular songs that should express our sentiments… and say have the same bad thing happening to him on repeat in conjunction with a particular song ala the 75th Hunger Games featured in Catching Fire I think we have our revengenda all set."

"I kinda' like where Swanson's going with this. I'm in." Cynthia Rose then said.

"Will there be any mutilation of any kind?" Flo asked. "I might know a guy."

"No, I promised Luke nothing illegal." Jesse then replied. "But mean-spirited pranks should be fair game."

"I kinda' feel bad about doing these, but if it's on a guy like Eli…" Ashley started to say.

"He messed with Beca's minds and emotions, and who knows what he could have done with Chloe!" Jessica rationalized.

"I don't know. I liked the mutilation idea. He did mess with my best friend and her happiness." Aubrey muttered before Stacie gave her a look. "Fine, nothing over the top then."

"In other words, we're all in Jesse." Denise then said, speaking in behalf of the group.

"So what do you have in mind?" Stacie then asked, "I still have the right contacts, just so you know."

"I think I might actually have a brilliant plan for that We might need some Tazmanian devils at some point." Amy then said. "Yes, yes, Lilly, I hear you. I like all of your unspeakable horrors of ideas and we'll get those in there too." She added after Lilly whispered something Jesse could only guess was delectably mortifying, and soon the Bellas wasted no time in preparing Eli's own personal hell.

There was still a pulsing pain in her head, but she could feel herself slowly coming to.

Water.

That was the last thing she knew.

The last thing she saw.

Did the pulsing pain she felt mean she was dead?

No. Maybe not.

The radio was playing softly in the background, or maybe Luke's playlist, she wasn't sure. She never opened her eyes, she didn't bother. She'd rather just sleep.

But the song was a warm welcome, lulling her back to sleep.

Clear blue water, high tide came and brought you in
And I could go on and on, on and on, and I will
Skies grew darker, currents swept you out again
And you were just gone and gone, gone and gone

It was late at night. Luke picked her up from her internship at Residual Heat. She's been nervous the whole night. Week. Month really.

Technically ever since the thought popped up in her head the Christmas before.

"What's in that little head of yours Becky?" Luke asked on their way back to Barden.

Beca decided to just let it all out. Tell someone, because she's been keeping it to herself the whole time and it was going to kill her.

If she could, she would shout it out to the rest of the world.

"She's the one." Beca then said. "Luke, she's the one."

"I'm assuming we're talking about Chloe?" he asked rather interested in where this would lead to.

"Yes."

"Well I already know that." Luke then said simply.

"No, I mean. She's it. She's the one Luke. Chloe. She's the one I want to marry someday. Who I want to marry period. She's the one for me. The real actual one and I… I…"

"Wait, Beca, are you telling me you're…? You're planning to propose?" Luke asked in disbelief. Happy but still trying to process things.

"You think she'd say yes?" Beca found herself asking uncertainly.

"Within a heartbeat." Luke said, smiling proudly at her.

In silent screams,
In wildest dreams
I never dreamed of this

Beca groaned and pulled the covers over her head. Somehow the scene changed and she was out ring shopping with Aubrey. They were arguing all day about the perfect ring.

"I can't believe I asked you for this. Maybe I should have just one myself."

"Mitchell, if you're proposing to my best friend, you have to do it the right way and with the right ring."

"Gee, don't you think I know that?" Beca replied sarcastically.

The two ended up bickering the whole day through, in the end, Beca was even pickier than Aubrey and they couldn't agree on anything.

This love is good, this love is bad
This love is alive back from the dead
These hands had to let it go free
And this love came back to me

Beca kept tossing and turning around. Somehow she went back in time before the ring shopping. It was Thanksgiving, at Chloe's parents' house.

It was a rare event, getting a chance to be alone with just her mom and dad. Beca was nervous the whole night, but now was her chance and she just got off the phone with Luke who had been building her confidence up.

"What is it darling?" Chloe's mom, ever intuitive asked her.

Beca started rambling on and on about how unorthodoxed it might be but she knew for sure that all she wanted to do was make Chloe happy.

"And um, well, I… I wanted to ask the two of you for Chloe's hand in marriage. I mean, if you would give me your blessing, I'd very much like to propose to your daughter and ask her to marry me." Beca finally got the sentence out and she was met by two beaming smiles that confused Beca on whose smile was bigger.

If anything, the whole thing endeared her to them even more.

Tossing, turning, struggled through the night with someone new
And I could go on and on, on and on
Lantern burning, flickered in my mind for only you
But you're still gone, gone, gone

Beca pulled the pillow closer to her face. Burying it more and more.

The ring was still a problem and Beca decided to ask help with someone who had an experience or two with ring shopping.

Her dad.

Thankfully he listened to her predicament with a gentle smile on her face. He was happy for her more than anything.

"Don't ever let her go Beca. No matter the hurt or pain. Chloe's special."

"I know. But it would seem no ring ever matches her in terms of being special."

"I might have a solution for you." Her father said, disappearing for a while in his study before reappearing with the most beautiful antique ring in the palm of his hand. "This was my mother's." he started to say. "I never actually used this to propose to anyone, but I think Chloe is the right kind of special for it, don't you agree?"

Beca smiled, touched by the gesture. She stood up from her father's couch and wrapped him in a tight embrace. "Thank you so much dad."

"Anything for the two of you." he then said with a warm smile.

Been losing grip,
Oh, sinking ships
You showed up just in time

She turned around and settled for laying on her back. The throbbing kept coming and going.

Beca was unsure it would work, but she had to try. She was at the radio station, desperate with her attempts at reaching Chloe.

But she had to keep trying.

She took a deep breath, turned the volume down on the song, removed the voice changer on the mic and started speaking.

"Chloe Beale, if you are listening, then you know what I have to say." she started. She could feel her heart beating loudly against her chest, but she had to keep speaking. "You're not allowed to come crashing in, barreling your way through my defenses and uprooting my monotonic life and then just leave. I won't let you. You're the greatest thing that happened to me and… God, I don't know why I'm starting to get emotional right now…" she continued, her voice cracking up a bit as she was slowly being overwhelmed by what she felt. "But… But… you're the reason behind every song, I hope you know that. You're my symphony. And I was lucky to have met you. I can't believe I almost didn't. I was chasing away some other dream when you crash landed right in front of me so unexpectedly. You changed me and you keep on bringing out the best in me. And I… I won't just give you up without a fight…I… Chloe, I lo- Chloe?"

This love is good, this love is bad
This love is alive back from the dead
These hands had to let it go free
And this love came back to me

Beca jolted up, waking up fully this time. Her face in her hand. The realization of it.

It was there.

Not all there.

Still had some holes in between but it was there. Almost all of it all there.

Her memories.

This love left a permanent mark
This love is glowing in the dark
These hands had to let it go free
And this love came back to me

She looked up, Luke was staring at her intently, quite upset. He got up, walked towards the windows and tore the curtains open, letting the sun and all of its bright glory to shine inside the room and reach Beca.

"Dude! What the hell!?"

"I could ask you the same bloody question Rebecca!? What on earth were you thinking!?" Luke started not at all calm.

She got an hour long lecture after that.

Your kiss, my cheek, I watched you leave
Your smile, my ghost, I fell to my knees
When you're young you just run
But you come back to what you need

The rest of the day Beca found that the missing pieces kept coming back slowly. Even more easily now than before. Luisa dropped by to check on her and she asked for that number of the doctor friend of hers, a specialist on cases like hers. Maybe that person could help.

And maybe she could truly keep her promise to Chloe. Especially now that Luke told her Eli had been lying.

Her first impulse was to call, but then Beca realized she didn't know what to say. She wanted to be able to sort everything out first.

Besides, Luke said the Bellas got it.

And if anything, Beca's faith in the Bellas is unwavering when it comes to these things.

This love is good, this love is bad
This love is alive back from the dead
These hands had to let it go free
And this love came back to me

There was still the question of what's next. Luke's initial lecture on not getting drunk and wandering near rivers came with many follow ups that day. Towards the night, they found a moment alone, and Beca knew she had to tell someone.

This love left a permanent mark
This love is glowing in the dark
These hands had to let it go free
And this love came back to me

Luke stared at her in disbelief. "It's really back."

"Yeah, maybe the almost traumatic thing from last night jump started my memories, I don't know." Beca said simply. "I might take a sabbatical for now, you know, take my time. Luisa knows this person, doctor, in Paris. I might head there and stay for a while. A month tops before returning to LA. You know, initial consultation and visits. There are still some missing pieces Luke, t's not all back. But I'm taking a more proactive approach to this. Last time was when I just got out of the hospital and I was entirely frustrated of everything. This time… I won't give up Luke."

Luke smiled and looked at her with pride. "So long as you don't step anywhere near the river Seine."

Beca chuckled. "I promise." she said with a smile.

It was back. It was really back.

This love, this love, this love, this love

And it was like a breath of fresh air.

"Luke, one more thing." Beca called out before Luke disappeared into the guest room.

"What is it?"

"Don't tell anyone else yet. I want to do it on my own, and in my own terms."

"I promise Beca." Luke said, walking back towards her and wrapping her in a tight hug. "I'm just glad you're okay, and that you're back."

Beca chuckled and smiled. She could swear Luke was actually crying, but she was crying too, staining his shirt with her tears of joy.

She promised to make her way back to Chloe.

Funny how the night before she never felt further away, and now, she's never been closer to Chloe, to her home.