[Chloe]

"I'm seriously tired of this shit Chloe!" Aubrey was pale and shaking, one hand gripping the edge of her desk as she stood facing me, trying not to throw up.

"Bree, how many times do I have to apologise?" I was still trying console her over the fact that Beca and I had missed rehearsals that day. She shook her head, eyes downcast.

"Fine. Don't accept my apology. I hope you know how much shit I put up with for you Aubrey!" Her head snapped up as my tone changed from timid to furious in a matter of seconds.

"Why do you have to so jealous of Beca? I've already told you that you're my best friend in the whole world, you know how thankful I am for how much you helped me. I've been trying to reassure you all along that Beca won't replace you, but you're sure making it harder on yourself! Why do you keep pushing yourself away from me? Can't you see that I'm happy and have room for you both in my life?" I trailed off, breathless from my outburst. She stared at me for a few moments, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"Come here." I said, more quietly now as I pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. It's just that... I'm used to things being under my control, you know? Well, that's how I like things anyway. That way, I know that I won't let anyone down, not if I take everything on board and try my best. So... When you just ran off after Beca, I didn't expect it at all. I didn't see it coming and I couldn't control you or your feelings. Not that I really want to but you know I guess I'm just messed up." She sobbed into my shoulder, and I patted her back soothingly.

"It's okay, Bree. We all are, really. You just need to trust me. Can you do that?" She nodded meekly as she drew back, dabbing at her eyes.

"Crap! I need to re-do my make-up." she stated, the normal, brisk Aubrey back. I smiled as she bustled off, the epitome of efficient. This was how she was. I knew that she had control issues due to the way her parents had always treated her; as high-flying business executives with no time for 'petty emotions', they had raised her harshly from the beginning, leaving her an efficient, determined, yet somehow empty adult. She had driven most people away with her scary commitment to things and controlling personality by the time we moved in as roommates together in our first year at Barden, so I guess in the way that she helped me to pick myself back up again, I helped her to fill herself up. I taught her to be more trusting and calm, and how to feel. She'd come a long way in these past years, as had I, and I smiled as I recalled that fact. Sure, she could still be difficult, but at the end of the day I did love her as my best friend and she knew it. When she returned, we sat and watched movies for a bit, and she told me what I missed at rehearsal.

"It was a travesty," she moaned, "Fat Amy attempted to breakdance, and let's just say it didn't end well, for anyone..." she winced at the memory and I giggled. Suddenly, a text flashed up onto my screen.

"It's from Beca." I said, the surprise evident in my voice. "She wants to know if she can come over, apparently she wants to talk to you..." Aubrey shrugged and smiled.

"Of course." I grinned, and shot Beca a quick reply. 'Sure thing! We have pizza xox'

The reply was quick, 'Man now that food is involved expect me there faster xox'

I laughed, and turned back just in time to shriek at the climax of the romantic subplot in the movie.

"I knew they would end up together!" cried Aubrey, and we squealed as the couple on the screen finally confessed their mutual feelings and kissed. Five minutes later, there came a knock at the door. I scrambled up to answer it.

"Why, ms. Mitchell, what a surprise. Do come in." I winked, opening the door to allow the smaller girl in. She rolled her eyes, unable to conceal her grin, and dumped her bag by the door.

"So, pizza you say?" I heard Aubrey laugh from the couch. We made out way back over, and sat curled up together, me in the middle.

"Pizza can come after whatever it is you came here to say." I chastised her, poking her nose. She sighed, and shifted so that she was better facing Aubrey.

"Aubrey," she began, and they looked at each other awkwardly for a moment before she continued.

"Look, I know I haven't always been particularly pleasant to you, but I want you to know that I'm just a snarky kinda person, and I don't mean it. I really appreciate everything that you've done for Chloe, and I...I'd um, really like it if we could be friends?" She left the last word as more of a question, and Aubrey broke into a broad smile.

"Of course we can Beca! Similarly I'll confess that I can be a bit uptight at times," Chloe coughed jokingly and Aubrey swatted at her arm before continuing. "But, even though I can come across as a cold-hearted bitch, I think you and I are pretty similar in that we both just build walls. I'm sorry about how I've treated you." I looped my arms around them both, dragging them into a massive group hug.

"I love you guys!" I squealed, squishing them into me, ignoring their protests as they tried to fight free.

"Jeez, Chloe, have you been working out or something?" Beca cried, her voice muffled in my arms. I laughed.

"Nope, I'm just used to being the overly affectionate one who has to trap people for hugs!" We all laughed as I released them, and they smoothed down their tousled hair.

"So, pizza?" Beca reiterated, and I gestured to the box on the table. She grabbed a slice, and I retrieved some ice-cream from the mini-fridge.

"After all, this wouldn't be a proper girl's night without ice-cream." Aubrey and I nodded in mock seriousness as I handed out the spoons and containers in a ceremonial fashion.

"This is a girl's night?" Beca queried, looking apprehensively at Aubrey and I as our faces betrayed shock.

"Beca! I know you don't watch movies but this is a stereotypical girl's night!" Aubrey cried. A thought dawned on me.

"Have you... never had a girls night?" she blushed and shook her head timidly. I shrieked and shoved the ice-cream at her with more force now, also placing a ton of pillows around her.

"Initiation night! Wooh!"

[Beca]

Aubrey and Chloe initially looked horrified that I didn't seem to know they layout of a standard girl's night, but that quickly transformed into glee when they realised that they would get to teach me the ways of said girly-ritual time. First came junk food and a chick flick, (to which I protested, but they insisted, Chloe holding me down and plying me with kisses until I relented, and actually ended up quite enjoying it...) quickly moving onto beauty routines, such as painting each others' nails and doing our hair. I soon realised that this wasn't going to be as much fun for me as it was for Aubrey and Chloe, but I went along with it for their sakes. They curled my hair into massive ringlets and painted my toe-nails, a different colour for each, before setting up a mound of pillows to lounge in as we gossiped. Gossip quickly turned to something that I had seen of Fat Amy and Bumper, the head Treble.

"Yeah I totally saw them together at aca-initiation night... Let's just say, he's not called 'head' treble for nothing..." I hinted heavily, and they screamed, Aubrey throwing a pillow at me before covering her ears.

"Oh god! I did NOT need that visual! Ugh, that was the one rule... I can't say I'm surprised though, Amy is one for breaking the rules as such." Chloe stuck her tongue out in mock distaste, and I giggled.

"So, Bree, did you hook up with anyone at initiation night?" Chloe asked, and Aubrey blushed, stuttering out an excuse.

"Oh my god, you so did! Who?!" I laughed, leaning in closer to elicit a reply. Chloe's face looked like that of an eager puppy, and Aubrey glanced helplessly between us.

"No! No, it was... It was just a college thing! We were drunk, it doesn't mean anything. It totally doesn't matter." She tried to brush it off, but we were determined now.

"Auuuubreeeeeyyy." I whined, and Chloe pouted.

"Oh god! Fine. Fine, see if you can guess, I actually can't say it!" Aubrey sighed.

"Hmmm... was it a Treble?!" I grinned as she wrinkled her nose at the suggestion.

"The very notion! No, it most certainly was not. It's better than that at least."

"If it's not a treble, then that leaves the BU harmonics..." I mused.

"I'm pretty sure every guy in that group is gay." Chloe stated, and I continued.

"The high notes..." Aubrey snorted, and looked at the ceiling.

"Then that just leaves... The BELLAS!" Chloe gasped as I stated what I'd been suspecting all along.

"BREE! Who was it?!" Aubrey sighed again, and rubbed her temples.

"Fuck. It was Stacie. We were drunk!" She shrieked as we gasped and gaped at each other.

"Dude..." I laughed.

"Well, she is hot at least." Chloe giggled, and I whacked her lightly.

"Oy, eyes on the prize." I flirted, winking. Aubrey pretended to gag.

"Oh, please, save it for later! And honestly, if you tell anyone you are so dead." We nodded seriously before dissolving into another fit of giggles. Okay, so I was starting to warm up to this aspect of girl's night. We talked some more, before Aubrey yawned pointedly and reminded us that she had an early class the next day.

"And Bellas is at 3pm tomorrow, I don't know if it's possible for you two to oversleep and miss that one but I'm sure you'll find a way if I don't remind you." She winked and got up to leave, retreating into her bedroom and closing the door. One of many advantages to being a senior that I had noticed; the dorms were much spacier, with separate bedrooms and even a small kitchen area. Chloe and I alone now, I trailed my hands across her thighs, and moved to sit atop them, now draping my arms over her shoulders.

"Hi." I whispered, leaning in for a delicate kiss.

"Hi." She replied into my mouth, before suddenly gripping me and standing me up, carrying me into her room and depositing me onto the bed. She closed the door quietly behind her, and flopped on top of me, capturing my lips in another kiss.

"So, how'd you enjoy girl's night?" She giggled quietly, lips brushing my ear.

"It was alriiiight... Could be better though..." I retorted, and even in the dark she saw my teasing smirk.

"We'll see about that." she purred, pushing me back into the pillows.

x

The next step for the Bellas was semis. We crowded around the wings of the stage watching on in horror as a group called The Footnotes did a flawless, showy version of 'Blame it on the Boogie', fronted by a talented freshman who threw knowing looks at us as we huddled together, whispering furiously, evidently panic-stricken.

"It's over! There's no way we can beat The Footnotes AND The Trebles!" Fat Amy was groaning, contributing to the rising panic. Aubrey did her best to calm us.

"We only need to place second to advance to the finals, which means we only have to beat one of them, okay? We can do this, so long as we do it exactly as planned!" Aubrey had been stricter than ever during rehearsals, despite revealing her light side to Chloe and I during 'girl's night'. Chloe told me that it was just because she was anxious to redeem herself after the incident at last year's finals. Aubrey had projectile vomited everywhere during her solo, probably scarring everyone present for life and losing the Bellas the finals. In truth, I thought that they wouldn't have won anyway, not with their totally outdated setlist, but Aubrey had placed all of the blame on herself according to Chloe, and this just fueled her determination this year.

"Besides, it's our last year, this is her last chance to win. It means a lot to her." Chloe reminded me one night, getting that far-off look in her eyes that appeared whenever she started talking about this being her final year at Barden, or the future. I had yet to tell her of my plans for LA, but figured it could wait. And so, with Aubrey in mega-control mode, I hadn't been able to discuss my mix ideas with her, and we were stuck singing the same song again today. We were announced, and Aubrey and Chloe lead us confidently onto the stage. As we launched into the song, I noticed a large portion of the audience switch off almost immediately. The sound guy got out his phone and started checking it, and several members of the audience and judging panel visibly sighed and sat further back in their chairs to endure our dull performance. I felt a sudden, rising anger. We were better than this. We actually had a lot of potential; okay, we have seemed like a group of misfits singing weird acapella songs, but in reality I knew that we could win this thing, if only I could convince Aubrey to change the set. But then it hit me that if we lost this, it was already too late. And we were sure to, what with The Footnotes and The Trebles in the way. I knew that I had to act right now if we were in for any chance at all. I had the song in my head already, it'd been there as we'd been rehearsing earlier that day. It stuck because I'd already been mixing it recently, and had been surprised when it fit perfectly. As Aubrey began her section of the solo, I closed my eyes and took the leap.

"This time, maybe, I'll be, bulletproof," I sang, projecting my voice as I didn't have a microphone. I noticed the other girls blanch and glance over at me, shocked, and Amy stumbled during her dance, evidently thrown off. I took my focus off of Aubrey's terrifying glare and the nerves that had suddenly set in as I continued to sing 'Bulletproof' by La Roux, and instead thought about the lyrics. They reminded me of the day that Chloe had barged into my shower to cajole me into joining this group, and it had quickly come to be 'our song' in my mind, as cliche and cheesy as that sounds. On top of that, they related to my current emotions. Maybe this time, what I was doing would be good enough. Maybe no one would shoot me down, maybe I would be bulletproof. I looked up and saw some of the judges nodding in approval, and felt happy for a moment. That came crashing down around me as soon as we got off stage. Aubrey turned on me, squaring up to me, eyes blazing.

"What the hell Beca, were you trying to throw us off?" Underneath the anger, I could hear that she was genuinely upset, but shook it off.

"Seriously?! Okay, I'm sorry if I messed you up, but in case you hadn't noticed, everybody pretty much dozed off during our set!"

"It's not your job to decide what we do and when we do it. This isn't the Beca show. Why don't you ask the others how they felt about your little improvisation?" Chloe bit her lip and looked down at her hands. My gaze fell on Amy.

"Amy?" I asked quietly. She glanced up at Aubrey, then back to me.

"Yeah, it was cool... it's just took us a little bit by surprise..."

"Yeah, a lot by surprise." Aubrey adjust her scarf smugly. "I told you she wasn't a Bella." She remarked to Chloe, who immediately jumped in.

"Aubrey, don't-"

"No, it's okay, you don't have to pretend you're allowed to have a say in the group, right?" I cut her off, my attempt at casual sarcasm overcome by the emotions that I couldn't stop myself from feeling. Was this what happened when I opened up to people?

"Your attitude sucks, you're a grade A pain in my ass and I don't care if you're with Chloe, that doesn't give you some sort of free pass to do whatever the hell you want." Aubrey continued, stepping forward to loom over me.

"If this is what I get for trying." I shrugged, backing down as I turned and walked briskly away. I heard someone calling my name as I pushed through the exit doors and out onto the street. I walked in the dark until I saw a taxi and hailed it, instructing it to take me back to Barden. All the way back, all I could think was what a mistake I had made in opening up. This was the very reason I'd built up my walls in the first place, to avoid getting hurt like this, but now I couldn't stop the emotions. I hadn't numbed anything in weeks, and I had almost forgotten now, so as I rushed back into my dorm, stripping off my uniform as quickly as I could, I was already fighting the crushing pain in my chest.

Chloe wasn't there to hold me through it.

Fuck.

I slipped into my sweatpants and a shirt, the ones that she had worn recently, hoping that her lingering scent would be enough to anchor me down, but it wasn't. It wasn't nearly enough. I lay on my bed wrestling with myself, fighting back tears and for once wishing that Kimmy Jin was there to glare at me, to save me from myself.

Dizzy with a mixture or remorse, self-hatred and undeniable tiredness, I finally dragged myself up to a sitting position. Maybe history was doomed to repeat itself. Maybe this was the sign I needed to tell me that I would never be good enough, that I should just leave now. Maybe it was my time. I sat there mulling over these thoughts for a few moments, then stood up to take action.

x

[Chloe]

After yelling at Aubrey for her outburst at Beca, I myself sprinted out of the building where semis had been held, frantically searching for a cab. I was worried about Beca. She looked so upset when she had walked out, and if it wasn't for my anger at Aubrey then I'd have followed her straight away. I was regretting not doing that now. What if she didn something truly awful? At the least I was worried that she'd relapse slightly, when she'd been doing so well, but the real thought that spurred me to run faster than ever before was that she had the potential to try to leave again. And I wasn't there, when she needed me most, and I was hating myself for it in that moment. I finally hailed a cab and instructing the driver to go full speed to Barden, I began trying to call her with increasing urgency. We arrived in under 15 minutes which, all credit to the driver, was an achievement, but it wasn't quick enough to soothe my panic. Removing my heels, I ran barefoot all the way to her room in Baker hall, finally reaching her dorm and banging frantically on the door.

"Beca!" I called, pressed to the door, unable to stop the sobs that were forcing their way up my windpipe from escaping. I heard nothing from inside, and I banged on the door again, desperate to get in.

"Beca! Let me in, Beca I'm so so sorry, I'm here now! Please, Beca!" I thought I could hear faint noises coming from inside now, but I still couldn't hear a reply.

"Oh god." I muttered, pressing my forehead to the door. Suddenly, a voice came from behind me.

"Uh, Chloe?" It was Kimmy Jin, Beca's roommate, and I had never been so glad to see her in my life.

"Oh thank god, please let me in, I'm really worried about Beca." I pleaded, and taking in the sight of my tearstained face and wild eyes, she handed me her key without question. My fingers fumbled as I tried to get it into the lock, but then it was in and I opened the door and the next thing I knew was white noise. And screaming. I think that was me.

What had I done?

AN: Drama was required. enjoy the cliff-hanger :)