And here we are, chapter 15 and I really like this one. Sorry for the wait! But it's a longish one and it took me some time to write it. Hope you guys still enjoy yourselves.

Feel free to leave a review and thanks to all the new story followers!

A big hug for everyone who reviews frequently, you guys make my day!

Thanks to all the Guest reviews!

One especially: I was thinking about your suggestion a lot, making a chapter about that kiss with both PoVs. I tried to fit it in but it really didn't. However, I think it will be a part of the epilogue, so thanks a lot for suggesting it.

I won't write normal Chapters in two PoVs because that would take me forever and I try to fit into the person while writing and sooner or later I would mess up.

Also, Beca sometimes seems a bit ooc but believe me, she still is her crazy but charming self and we're not far away from her finding out Chloe's secret.

Summery: Stepmonster 2.0

Beca grew up with her mum after her father left them. She lost contact to him a while ago but now he wants to bond again. Why? Well she has to find out, but why does she have to go to Barden, where he's teaching when she wants to have a go at being a DJane in LA? Bonding, with her father and his new family? Now that is something she doesn't want to do, more so since she knows that her stepsister, or how she prefers to call the unknown girl, stepmonster 2.0 is attending Barden as well.

Pairing: Beca/Chloe and Friendship: Chloe/Aubrey and Jesse/Beca

Disclaimer: If I would own Pitch Perfect, there would be Bechloe!

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Chapter 15: Heavy Rain

Beca's PoV:

The winter is here, I can see it. Not that we actually have snow here at Barden but the temperature has dropped quite a bit, the trees have lost their leafs and the people are getting grumpier by the minute. No, not all of them, just those who hate the christmas season.

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I don't feel cold, no actually my sarcastic self feels like it's the middle of the summer, or spring, I can't decide. The thing is, I haven't felt sarcastic in a while.

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You can blame Chloe for that. Ever since she kissed me two weeks ago I feel like I'm on cloud nine. Only problem right now is that with all the Bella practises we have scheduled at the moment I couldn't spend any time with Chloe at all.

We exchange knowing looks, though. Lots of knowing looks and smiles, actual smiles from me.

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I think she is waiting for me to make a move, to be the one that initiates the next step, the one that initiates the next date, or would it be the first date? I'm so confused by that sunday afternoon.

But I remember everything, the clothes she wore, the fucking burgers we ate, her pajamas.

I've had so many burgers over the last two weeks I can rival Luke, believe me. It just feels good to get a burger and go to the park, reliving that evening again and again. Most of the times I bring my laptop to work on my mixes and I just feel like there can't be anything better to relieve tension in the whole world. I feel inspired by this place and even though it is winter and more often than not I freeze while sitting here working, I can only imagine how beautiful this place will be in spring. Chloe took me to a bit more secluded area, telling me that I would like this place. How someone that loved being around people as much as Chloe does could find such a place is beyond my imagination.

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Christmas is getting nearer and nearer. Both mom and dad invited me to celebrate with them and who do you think I would choose out of them? Clearly no surprise.

I hate how my old man wants to introduce me into his new family and life. Always Sheila this and Sheila that and "Oh, Beca. You have to meet her daughter, you two would really get along, Beca". So much to that, I can't even remember her name. Was it Coco or Cora?

That reminds me, he didn't want to push me to meet them over the last weeks. Maybe that one time dinner was enough? This could be his attempt to really spend a christmas with me but I still don't feel like choosing him over my mother.

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Anyway, I will call my mother later today and tell her that I will come over for christmas.

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Most people belive that I hate christmas just because it fits my general attitude. That is bullshit. Believe me, some of my happiest moments in life happened on christmas. I like christmas trees and decoration, I love buying presents for christmas and I really really love how friendly people normally are this time of a year even though I don't give a damn the rest of the year.

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My dad proposed to my mum on a christmas morning, just like his father had proposed to my granny on one before. Okay, bad example for a happy memory. But with all the problems we had as a family, this was the happiest day of the year.

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As an only child I usually got a lot of presents but what really matters was the fun I had going christmas shopping. As a child my old man would take me with him, but it was always my choice what to buy for whom. Then I would decorate the tree and the whole living room with my mum while dad made dinner for us.

After he left I just took over his part, minus the cooking, making it the happiest day of the year for mom and me. I intend to do that this year as well.

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Bellas practise is over and everyone is in a good mood. Jessica and Ashley were talking through the whole evening, whenever no one was singing. What has me impressed is that Aubrey just let them. One would think that she is getting weak with us, or maybe she's just feeling the holiday brightness.

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"So, Ash and I will be visiting my family in Seattle over christmas. Our flight is on monday evening." Jessica is practically beaming, most likely thinking about the week away.

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"Yeah, I'm finally getting to meet that lush brother of her." Ashley is grinning widely. Obviously they've planned this for quite a while.

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"At least I'm not the only one getting some over christmas."

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"AMY! Please show some manners." Ah, there it is, that unmistakable screech that belongs to the phenomenon of Aubrey Posen.

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"What? It's true. I'm flying over to Australia to meet my boyfriends and collect my gifts of course. Christmas on a beach is still the best. And the sex-"

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"AMY! Enough!" Yeah, wouldn't have thought that I would be grateful for Aubrey's interruptions one day.

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"I will leave monday morning. 5 am, not my favourite time to fly to Philly."

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"Yeah, I know what you mean Cyn, but it's the only flight that day. We could share a cab to the airport." I almost forgot that CR and Denise have a history together. If you know what happened you can feel the tension between them.

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Seems like everyone is leaving.

"I'll be staying here." Or not. "Christmas is the perfect time to hunt. Wouldn't want him to starve." Stacie enlightens us, always. "Lonely boys are easy targets."

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"I have to do community service." Did my mind play with me or did that really come from Lily? No one seems to have heard it, must really have been my imagination.

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"Well, since I'll fly out to meet my dad in Shanghai I will cancel Bella practises for the next week, however, doing cardio is important, so please do not neglect that." Sure Aubrey, I will exactly do that all week...NOT. Bitch, it's christmas!

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I've noticed that Chloe was awfully quiet. She's been acting out of character the whole evening.

"Chlo? What about you?"

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"Oh, I'll stay here. Got a lot to study for and a nice book to read." Really? What's wrong with her?

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"Good! You can come hunt with me then, you know, you're an eye candy. Together we'll be unstoppable." WHAT? Nonononononono...

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"Err, I don't know Stacy." Oh my god, Chloe's looking over to me, searching for help.

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Hell, what am I gonna say to that?

"We should celebrate on saturday! All the Bellas, having an aca-christmas. Singing, playing games, drinking, exchanging presents." Did I just say that? What are you doing to me Chloe?

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Everyone loved the idea except for Chloe, whose face lost all its colour. She excused herself and left, saying that she wasn't feeling too well.

We were all stunned as the doors shut themselves after her retreating form with a loud bang. I've never seen her behave like that and neither have the others. Only Aubrey seems to be unfazed by her attitude today.

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"She looked pale and did you see how fast she left? I bet she's pregnant, not that I would mind seeing one of you twig bitches gain some weight."

We all turn around to Fat Amy giving her a not funny look.

"Okay, okay. Jesus it was just a thought. Fun sponges."

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As we all make a move to leave I hear Aubzilla calling for me to stay and help her clean up the room a bit. Great, of course me. Of all the people she could have chosen she had to take me. One would think that if she hates me as much as she always tells me she would try everything to be as far away from me as possible.

I earn some looks of sympathy, lucky bitches. Maybe Aubrey will give me an ultimatum to finally take my piercings out or tell me to die.

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"Beca, what are your intentions with Chloe?" Wow, not what I expected, this is worse. She's giving me the talk...

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"You really wanna know? I could describe it pretty lively but I don't want to harm your brain anymore than it already is." Beca: One , Aubrey: Zero ! Score!

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"Haha, you're unfuckingbelievable. I still don't get what she sees in you." She steps in front of me, looking down on me and I feel intimidated, I mean she's practically towering over me.

She can see the fear in my eyes, I think, at least that would explain the smug grin she is sporting right now. Yeah, we're even now.

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"Fine! I really like her, okay. I can't tell you where this is headed but I like being with her."

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"I noticed. She even makes you less bitchy when she's around. Just one more question for today though. Will you be at Barden over the holidays?"

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"What kind of question is that supposed to be? I'm going to visit my mother." Is that a look of disappointment?

"What? Would you be happier if I stayed or what? I don't get it. Normally you'd do anything you can to keep me away from Chloe. Where's the difference this time?"

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She seems to be struggling with herself to give me an answer.

"I don't like you, Beca. To be honest I hate you, mostly for the not so obvious reasons but that doesn't matter right now. Chloe is my best friend, has been for years. Me telling you this does not mean that I accept you or like you. I owe you one for regionals, you took the blame for that incident and kept the Bellas out of it. You can consider us even after this."

She gets lost in her own head for a moment.

"Chloe hates christmas. I won't tell you why, I'm not the one who should tell you that. All you have to know is that in this season she's the most vulnerable. I hate that I can't be here for her but this is the only time I will get to spend with my dad this year and she would hate me for not going.

So, if you decide to stay...I can't belive I'm going to say this...please be there for her."

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It's saturday morning. I haven't had much sleep over the last nights, my mind too occupied by Chloe. Aubrey's behaviour gives me chills but I'm thankful that she confides in me. We even acted civil around each other over the last days. Still, I can't seem to find rest, my mind going miles a minute.

My mood isn't the best, thanks to the weather and going to the park in this heavy rain won't make me feel any better.

My mom was a bit hurt as I told her that I want to stay at Barden over christmas but she didn't make a fuss about it. Everything has changed over the curse of this year so maybe this wasn't so big of a surprise. I'll see her in mid January anyway, when she'll come to see the Semi-finals. And until then I will have Chloe and my mixes to work on.

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My shopping trip went well, at least I think so. I can't wait to give the others their presents. We decided to celebrate at Stacie's flat. I didn't even know that she had a flat just out of campus! Decorating Chloe's and Aubrey's home even though Chloe hates christmas wouldn't have worked that well.

Right now I'm getting ready to head over. Denise decided that it is best to pick me up with her moped, an early christmas present from her grandparents. Hopefully the rain will subside a bit until then. The presents are carefully placed into my bag and I'm just about to put my leather jacket on as I hear a horn. Denise must be here, so I hurry out, grateful that the rain indeed has died down.

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Okay, maybe the rain isn't my biggest problem today. Denise and I are the last to arrive at the party, fashionably late. Only we're not really the last ones because Chloe decided to be a no show. Aubrey is freaking out and even if I would normally laugh at how hilarious it is that Aubrey treats Chloe like a little girl, the reason why she is stressed out gets to me as well.

Chloe left their flat early this morning, leaving Bree a note that she wouldn't show but Aubrey should bring the presents she bought with her to the party. Here's the problem, the real one. Aubrey has already driven by all of their friends and their favourite coffee shops to make sure that she's alright (and if I could make good guess, bitching at her for "running away").

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I'm about to run out of Stacie's flat and go search for her but the others tell me not to, stating that maybe she just has to cool down and that she'll sure as hell will show up. They don't know why she behaves like that and neither do I, so I look straight at Aubrey, trying to analyse her thoughts.

She doesn't look happy with the decision to leave her be.

"Aubrey?"

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"No, they're right. She picked up one of my calls an hour ago and lets just say that she was quite unfriendly to me. We should let her breath for a bit but I will drive another round through Barden later."

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"Okay, besides, she wouldn't want us to be fun sponges and not have a party now, would she?"

Fat Amy's laugh hollers through the room and I'm so grateful for her. She always lifts the mood with her craziness.

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We should change our name from Barden Bellas to Barden Party Bellas. Okay, not my best joke. But I mean it! We always have so much fun when we're all together, eating, drinking, singing and dancing. So far no one has started talking about Chloe again but when we ordered chinese takeout Bree chose two dishes. I would bet my headphones that it's Chloe's favourite. Fat Amy and Lily tried to eat it, they were still not satisfied after their own order but Aubrey slapped their hands away.

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I've never seen this expression on Aubrey before and that gives me the chills. She looks hurt, hurt by the fact that her best friend abandoned her, left her on her won today.

It clicks in my head then. Aubrey needs Chloe far more than Chloe needs Aubrey. I've always thought that that's the reason why Chloe puts up with Aubrey's attitudes when really it's something deeper.

Maybe one day I will get their connection but right now I don't understand much of it.

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After we sang some more, Stacie declared that it's time to exchange presents. So here we are, sitting in a circle on the floor of the living room, every one of us with a hugh bag behind themselves.

As captain Aubrey has to start giving out the presents and really, she has the smallest gifts of us all.

Turns out she got every one of us a wristband with their names on them. Mine is a deep red with bold black letters on it. It's actually pretty nice and it fits perfectly.

Jessica bought me a new flash drive that looks like a key, Ashley a new bag for my laptop, Denise bought me some sunglasses, CR and Stacie bought me a book about Sarcasm and English Humor and Fat Amy and Lily had Tee's made for everyone with Barden Bella and an arrow that points up.

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We laughed a lot and everyone loved their presents. I can't seem to shake the feeling that I got myself an aca-awsome family. Yes, I just thought that.

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As they all went back to singing and dancing I made my way to the kitchen. I lean against the wall, looking out of the window. It started to rain again and it seems like it's getting heavier by the minute.

This is where Aubrey finds me but instead of being bitchy to me she just leans against the wall on the other side of the window, mirroring my position and looking out into the grey horizon.

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"I'll leave now and make another round through campus. There's this boy she was seeing on and off the last semester, I haven't checked with him. maybe they're still friends."

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"Tom. Yeah, she said something about them being friends." If she really is there then what does that mean for us?

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Aubrey gives a silent nod. We stare out of the window for another minute or so.

"Do you wanna join me? Maybe you can be more convincing than me."

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"I don't think there is one person out there that could be more convincing than you, Aubrey. Well, maybe Chloe." Though she convinces people different from you. "I don't really want to meet Tom again."

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"Okay, just give me a call if she shows up or calls." I've really never seen Aubrey so insecure. This is creepy.

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"Definitely."

And with that she leaves. I feel like crap for not joining her, for not searching for Chloe but I can't change that I feel hurt by the thought that she went back to her ex, talking to him instead of me, hiding at his instead of coming to me. I could have hid her from the others.

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Half an hour later and still no sign of Chloe. She wasn't with Tom and now I fell even worse for not having faith in her. Aubrey is still driving from one friend to another, even trying those who haven't been around that much.

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The others leave me mostly to myself. I do sit with them but I'm in my own head, not really playing along with their game of truth and dare. Watching the empty bottle making her circles is kind of relaxing. It hits me then. I only know of one place where Chloe could be.

I jump up from the floor and make a run for the door. My actions are to fast for anyone to realise that I'm leaving. I don't crap my purse or my jacket, I just run in the direction of the park.

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The others will understand and I really have to know if she is there. It's stupid and I know it. The rain was present the whole day and it feels like it's still getting heavier by the minute. I'm not even half way there but I'm soaked to the bones. Today cardio really pays off.

I've never been one with much stamina, always being the first to give up running in high school, even before the fat kids did. But today I won't stop, I don't care if my legs are hurting or those nasty side stitches decide to make an appearance.

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If she is there would that mean that she was just showing up at her sacred place or was it because she too felt like that place belonged to us now? Either way, I have to make sure she's all right.

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Just one more turn and I'm there. I slow down. What if she isn't here? I make my way through the last couple of trees right to where I know that old little bench is that I've visited so much these couple of weeks.

The bench is empty. Of course she wouldn't be here, not with this heavy rain. I'm so stupid, I left everything at Stacie's flat so I can't even make my way home to change my clothes.

Where are you Chloe?

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"Beca, is that you?"

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Am I dreaming? Chloe is here, after all. She must have been sitting right behind the largest oak tree, out of view.

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"Chlo..."

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She's all soaked, her red curls clinging to her face. Her lips are almost blue and she's shivering constantly.

"Chlo, we were so worried about you. Look at you, you're freezing."

She doesn't move, she just looks exhausted and her eyes look like she's been crying for a long time.

Since she doesn't move I do, placing my arms around her carefully I pull her in for a hug. She's so cold that my first reaction would normally be to pull away but I fear that she will fall or freeze to dead without me supporting her and giving her what warmth is left in my body.

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She's taller than me and heavier. Pulling her with me I sit down and lean against the nearest tree, cradling her on my lap. Her head falls to the crook of my neck and her body seams to relax instantly. I let her rest for a few minutes. She seems so peaceful when she has her eyes closed.

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Aubrey must still be worried sick and the others probably are too, judging by how fast I made my leave. My phone is still at Stacie's, along with my other things. I kiss Chloe on the forehead and her eyes open instantly, looking at me with so much love that I know it then. We are made for each other. If she isn't my soul mate then who the hell could that be?

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"Chlo, I need to call the others. Where's your phone?"

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"Promise you won't leave me? Ever?" She barely gets the words out. All this crying must have affected her nodes as well.

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"I promise." I do.

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I called Aubrey and told her where we are. She said that she'll be here as fast as she can and that she would let the others know.

Chloe fell asleep on me and I'm afraid that it's not good to sleep when you're this cold but she just seemed so exhausted. I try my best to keep her warm, holding her tight and rubbing over her back with my hands. What on earth cold make her hate christmas so much? She could have killed herself staying out here in the middle of the winter in this fucking rain. It's a good thing that Barden doesn't get too cold in winter.

I leave another kiss on her forehead but this time she doesn't wake up.

"I love you Chloe." And it's true.

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End Chapter 15