A/N: I finally finished it! All I can really say is sorry and thank you for your patients. I will post the next chapter as soon as I finish it. The musical selections are as follows:

Unguarded by Rae Morris

Only You by Ellie Goulding

(Thank you for the recommendation, you know who you are!)

I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

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Guest (sad one): Thank you! I will start writing the companion piece seriously after this fic and the two summer chapters.

Awesome: Thank you! :) I completely agree with you. They have a ways to go yet, but they are slowly getting there. I'm glad! Lily is one of my favorites to write for. She is so versatile.

Guest (Sad about epilogue): I'm sorry buddy, but it must eventually end. I'm doing my best with the fluff. If there is not enough fluff by the end of this fic, you could always send me a prompt? That was my thinking behind the whole 'deleted scenes' thing. Want more of something? Send me a prompt. Yeah, Chloe's POV will probably be a lot angstier. Dude, don't be. Your review made my day! :)

Mia: I know, but she is getting there. I will work on it!

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Chapter 29

Beca stole herself for what she was going to do because once she knocked that would be it. Her plans to move to Miami to be with Chloe would be finalized. She was both excited and terrified. Excited because, well, it was Chloe. She loved her and moving to Miami would ensure a future with her. Yet Beca was terrified because this was it. She would finally have to go through the ropes of making if official and telling everyone. Something she had never actually done before. At least not with someone she actually cared about because Jesse definitely didn't count. With that situation she didn't have to tell her friends and family members. They just sort of walked in on them making out.

This new big step started with her dad. Which was why she was outside his office, poised to knock. She was there purely because Sheila had to be practically popping out of her shirts with her baby bump. Beca really didn't want to see that, even if she didn't have anything against the woman. Then she would have to ooh and awe at her over stretched stomach and the alien growing inside. Then there were the other questions. 'When are you due?' 'Have they started kicking?' 'What is the sex?' 'Will the birth be natural?' All questions Beca did not want the answer to. Especially not the question involving the sex of the baby because wouldn't it be perfect if they were having a little girl. The perfect replacement child for the perfect replacement family. It made Beca's jaw clench just thinking about it.

Really telling her father she was leaving school to go chase a girl seemed like the perfect payback. She wasn't even sure if he knew she was gay. Normally she would be over excited about his possible reaction. The realness of it all and the fear that came with it was kind of ruining it for her though. Then there was the fact that out of her two, her dad was the only one that at least pretended to care, checking in on her occasionally. It ruined it all even more. If she was being honest, she didn't want to disappoint him. Especially not by being that cliché girl that followed their lover across the country. Really it was just a state away, but the implication was still there. Then she was cursing herself because when did she start caring so much.

In her berating of herself, Beca's bag accidentally knocked against the door. Then her dad was beckoning her in. Really she could run, but that would just put it off and she was trying to have a backbone about the whole having feelings thing. So she went in.

Dr. Mitchell was certainly surprised. Half of the papers on his desk went flying and he almost spilled his coffee in his eagerness to get up and greet his unexpected guest. There was a few minutes of scrambling to pick up all of the papers that had spilled across the floor. He straightened out his clothes after placing the papers back on his desk and beckoned Beca towards the seat opposite his on the other side of his desk.

"Beca, please sit down. What brings you to my humble abode?"

Beca flopped unceremoniously into the offered seat, her bag slumping at her feet. Then she straightened up some, self-consciously.

"I, um, wanted to, ah, talk to you about next year."

"So it's the bright lights of the city then? Off to L.A. to pay your dues it is then?"

Beca shifted uncomfortably. "Actually… nooo."

"Oh, well did you like the classes you took? We can change a few things. Did you decide on a major?" He excitedly shifted through the papers on his desk, producing a list of courses. "This is what the English department has to offer." He placed the sheet gently in front of her.

"Actually… No to that too." Beca winced, preparing for the inevitable disappointment.

Dr. Mitchell froze for a moment before shifting a few more things on his desk, finding a large catalogue of classes. "Well that's okay. You have plenty of time to decide on a major. English is not always for everyone. We can go over it tonight if you would like? Sheila is making roasted chicken and vegetables. You can drop by?"

Beca pushed her hair back from her face. "No, I, uh, meant no to, um, going to Barden too."

His face fell, completely blank, his gaze dropping to his desk. It was not long before his eyebrows began to twitch together in puzzlement. Then he was looking at her, truly concerned. "What are you planning on doing then?"

"Well, I-I sort of- I want to move to Miami and DJ there."

There was another pause. "But… But it has always been L.A. Why Miami now? What has changed?"

Beca wasn't sure how to tell him about Chloe. How to start it. Really, so much had changed and it was mainly due to Chloe. She found herself playing with her fingers like Chloe would if she was there. The thought of the ginger made her smile. Then there was the idea that that would be permanent. There would always be a redhead, her redhead, nervously playing with her fingers or just holding her hand in Miami. There would always be Chloe. The idea made everything seem easier.

"I met someone." It just kind of slipped out. She could not take it back. It was said and now everything that came next would come. Her father, who she never told anything significant to, knew an important fact about her life. He was guaranteed to learn more as their conversation went on. Especially if Beca expected him to fund her move to Miami.

Her words caught Dr. Mitchell off guard as much as they caught herself. Luckily his recovery was a lot quicker or they would have been waiting a good ten minutes before anyone spoke. He took ten seconds.

"Was this Jesse's idea?"

"No."

"So Jesse is not the someone?"

"Ew, no." She couldn't hold back her obvious disdain.

"But you were dating?"

"Yeah, like two years ago. Now he's like a brother."

"Do I know the guy?"

Beca wasn't really sure if her dad would remember Chloe. He always seemed so caught up in his work. It seemed unlikely he would remember the cute curly redheaded little girl next door. Then again younger Beca never shut up about her.

"Um, maybe. Her name is Chloe."

He only seemed to stutter for a moment, freezing mid gesture, before continuing again. "A girl then?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Beca maybe spoke a little too forcefully.

Dr. Mitchell rubbed his beard. "No, it is just… different." He cleared his throat. "How long have you been together?"

That question was kind of loaded because they were not quite official. They were basically dating without the labels. So technically, it had almost been a month, but in reality they were not dating. They were just two friends that made out all the time, liked feeling each other up, and slept in the same bed in varying forms of dress. She couldn't exactly tell him all of that. So Beca chose to look at her hands, her one thumb playing with the ring on her other thumb.

"We're not…"

"You know that sounds insane Beca. You want to move to a new state by yourself, might I add, to be with a girl you are not even dating. Does she even know you exist?"

That last comment made Beca's blood boil. "Yes, we've been off and on all year."

He looked confused. "So you are seeing each other?"

"No, it's-it's complicated."

"So, let me get this right, you want to move to a different state for its complicated?"

"Well you did it." It was really all she had to fire back with because he was right. From an outside perspective, without all the facts, she sounded insane.

"That was different!"

Her shoulders set in defiance and jaw clenched, getting defensive. "Why? Because you had a wife and kid? Sorry for the inconvenience."

"No, it is not because of that." His voice was steadily rising, but he must have realized his anger was building because he paused. A deep breath later, he began more calmly. "I never saw you that way. I had a job and a place to live. Do you even know of any apartment complexes in the area?" It was obvious she didn't. "How are you going to live?"

"I can DJ at night clubs." He started to take a breath as if to speak, but she shut him down. "No, let me finish. I have contacts in Seattle. They know people I can call and they gave me references."

"That is okay to begin with, but what about long term? You need a back-up plan and that is where Barden comes in. If you just gave it one more year you could earn an associates and-"

She cut him off there because they had this conversation a million times in relationship to L.A. "No, we agreed on a year."

"But this is different. You at least had direction and drive towards something. This is you chasing after a relationship that does not even exist. It's a pipe dream, Beca. It will end in a week, maybe a month, then where will you be?"

"Happy."

"Really and how do you know that?"

Beca tilted back in her chair easily, calmly even, because she knew exactly what to say.

"How did you know it was going to work out between you and Sheila?"

There was a pause, Dr. Mitchell obviously not expecting the question. "I didn't."

"Then why did you do it?" Her tone was slightly challenging, she already knew the answer.

"Because I loved her."

As much as that answer hurt, it was a relief because he seemed to get it. His daughter was in love. He just sat there, a look of realization slowly spreading over his face. Then it was his turn to ask a question.

"How do you know she feels the same?"

"I don't…"

"You realize what I did was for the best. What you are doing is self-destructive."

Beca scoffed at him because if what he did was 'for the best' she would hate to see what he did when he was actually trying to hurt someone. He had wrecked their family. Her mom was a workaholic all in an attempt to never have to deal will the loss and heartbreak she experienced at his hands. Hell, her screwed up view on relationships was probably partly due to him leaving.

"No." Her voice was cold. "You did what was best for you." Then she was done, no longer wanting to bring up the past. "It's fine if you don't want to pay for it." She gathered up her stuff and headed towards the door, sparing him one last look. "I'll figure it out myself." Beca had just started to turn the door knob when he spoke again.

"I'll do it." She refused to look at him. "I never meant to hurt you or your mom. When you fall out of love, sometimes it is better to let them go instead of just hurting them more by staying. I'm sorry you got caught up in the middle of it all. I just wanted you to be happy. That was my goal since you were born. If moving to Miami makes you happy, I will pay for it."

Tears started to prick around the edges of her eyes. What he said both deeply moved her and hurt. He just confirmed everything she thought was the reason for him leaving without saying the details. She always thought he didn't love them anymore. That he didn't love her or her mom. Yet at the same time he contradicted it because she never thought he actually cared, but there he was saying all the things she once wanted to hear. It wasn't really what she wanted to hear anymore. She just wanted to hear the truth. She wasn't sure what was true. He couldn't have it both ways, not caring, but yet still caring. She didn't have time to think about it, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible, the tears at the edge of her eyes ready to fall. She let out a small, "Thank you." Then she was gone. There was only one person she wanted, wiping away the tears that had started to fall. She wanted Chloe.

She didn't have to do much. A quick call and she was meeting the Ginger in the back corner of the library by a grouping of beanbag chairs. She didn't have to say anything. Chloe just wrapped her up in her arms, pulling her close into her front as she settled them into a beanbag. Several kisses were pressed to the top of her head as fingers expertly massaged her neck, shoulders, and back. Beca, surrounded by the smell of summer and spring, felt like she was finally able to breath. Her body fully relaxed against the older girl's body, safe. Chloe didn't prod her, she just sat there with her, waiting until she was ready. Beca couldn't help thinking this could be it as Chloe's fingers danced up her spine. The arms she laid in could be the last pair she laid in. She was strangely okay with that, a giddiness settling in her stomach at the thought of it, pure joy. Then she slowly sat up, feeling calm again.

Chloe was there to greet her, wiping away any remaining tears and pressing a kiss to her lips.

"Hey, you." It was soft and reverent.

The younger girl sat back a little so she could wipe the snot from her nose on the back of her hand. Instead of looking disgusted, Chloe was smiling fondly at her, pressing another kiss to her forehead.

"Hi." Beca finally spoke softly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Beca sighed because she knew she'd have to. "It's-it's just my dad bringing up old feelings. He just-he admitted leaving-leaving my mom because he didn't love her anymore. He didn't love us anymore. He destroyed her. And-and then he basically told me he always cared about me. He-he has a-a, uh, funny way of showing it because he was like never around."

Chloe was interlacing their hands. "It's his loss." She pressed another kiss to Beca's forehead. "You're a very lovable person." It was spoken as a whisper against Beca's forehead. As if it was a love confession and not just a general statement. When Chloe pulled back her expression was serious, maybe even a tad hesitant, no fake smiles in sight. She tugged at their interlaced hands as she spoke. "You're amazing Beca Mitchell."

She knew Chloe hadn't said the actual words, that she loved her, but it was pretty damn close. That was good enough for Beca, a small smile peeking out. A similar smile was mirrored on Chloe's face. The actual words were right on the tip of Beca's tongue, ready to bubble up when Chloe's phone went off.

"That means I have to go. Class a waits. Are you okay? It is just Russian Literature, I can totes skip it?"

Beca gave her a quick peck. "No, go. I'll be fine."

Chloe looked back at the reminder on her phone. She seemed to contemplate something before making an exclamation of surprise. "I totes put down the wrong time. I have another hour."

"Chloe!" She knew the other girl was lying.

Chloe raised her hand. "Scouts honor." She nodded at the end.

"Don't you have a paper due today?"

Chloe paused for a second before seamlessly continuing, her smile full of reassurance. "That's next week." She began pulling Beca more into her.

Beca raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yep, no problem. Totes got it covered, babe."

Beca let it go, content to be worthy of missing a class for. She really just wanted to cuddle up with the other girl and forget about her day. There would always be time to give Chloe crap about calling her babe later. At the moment she just wanted to be preened over. Eventually they did have to separate, Beca refusing to let Chloe miss two classes on her account.

They walked hand in hand across the quad. Beca grumbled the whole way as Chloe just beamed at her, a true smile in place. Then they were separating with a quick kiss, Chloe's body rocking from side to side with Beca's hands in hers, before finally letting her go. Then there was a glance over her shoulder, with a lip bite, as she told the younger girl she'd see her later.

It left Beca with a dopey smile. Too lost in her own thoughts to notice her surroundings. Her mind was a collage of Chloe. Chloe's smile, the way her body pressed into her, and, most importantly, all the different versions of the older girl that fell outside of happy. She stretched her hand out, wishing she could still feel the other girl's fingers slotted between hers. That was when she was grabbed.

Her first reaction was to struggle. To fight against the people grabbing each one of her arms. Her next reaction was to yell, "What the fuck! Get off of me!"

She thrashed from side to side, to busy just trying to get free to bother looking at who was grabbing her. Her captors pulled her off the path and towards an opening behind a building. There were two others already standing there. As soon as Beca noticed that the two other people waiting were Cynthia Rose and Lily, she stopped struggling because that meant her captors had to be Amy and Stacie. That was when they released her.

Beca stuttered forward, catching herself before she fell. Then she was smoothing out clothes as if she hadn't just been dragged across the quad, screaming for dear life.

"For a little thing you have some fight in you. We should do tag team croc wrestling together. You can bait them while I take them down." Amy ceremoniously started and Stacie finished.

"And quite a belt on you." The way Stacie said it, her eyes briefly roaming, made it seem like she was thinking about how that belt could appear during other activities.

Beca chose to ignore them and her, surely, quickly reddening cheeks. "Couldn't you have messaged me? Or is this a ritual killing like I thought?"

She could have sworn she heard Lily say those only happened on Tuesdays, but chose to ignore it, focusing on Cynthia Rose instead. "Would you have come?"

"Point taken." Beca ruffled her hair. "Sooo… Why are we here?"

"We want to have another Bellas night tonight in celebration of Aubrey and Chloe graduating." Cynthia Rose calmly explained.

Beca looked to each one of them, confused. "Aren't you already throwing a party?"

"Yeah, but this will distract them from the real plan." Stacie explained.

The smallest Bella wasn't really convinced, but motioned for her to further explain, crossing her arms. "We figured we could recreate the initiation night only with just the Bellas. So I'd kidnap Aubrey and you'd kidnap Chloe." Lily looked a little too excited about the idea. "Amy is in charge of drinks and one bottle of red wine." Amy saluted them. "Cynthia Rose will get snacks and Lily will trail Aubrey and Chloe and give us updates if they get off course. It's all planned. We just need you and someone to grab Chloe. We will meet up at my dorm room. My roommate is gone for the weekend."

"Wait… How is Lily going to follow two people?"

"She said she could do it. Right, Lily?"

They all looked to the girl in question. She had a self-satisfied smile in place as she gave a solid nod in the affirmative. Then they were all looking at Beca for her reaction. That was when she realized that she was the deciding factor. A slow smirk came into place as she realized she had power. She could probably request things. There was one thing she would actually really like to do.

Beca looked at Stacie solidly in the eyes, setting herself into a more confident stance. "I want to kidnap Aubrey."

Stacie seemed to stutter for a moment mentally, then she was crossing her arms and setting her jaw. "Why? Don't you hate each other?"

'She's been okay." Beca shrugged. "I just think it could be a good bonding experience. Maybe take a walk around the lake."

"That's fine. I'm sure Chloe would love to hear about your drunk love confession and the ten minute ramble about beautiful and hot she is as we put you to bed. Especially that one part about her smile being bright enough to keep a small village warm all winter."

Beca's eyes went wide, gulping. She had been out played. "I'll take Chloe."

The leggy brunette smiled. "Great!"

Stacie seemed far too excited for this whole thing to just be a casual night hanging out with her fellow Bellas. Then Beca had a sudden brain wave. Her smirk instantly came back.

"You're just doing this so you can blindfold Aubrey."

"Yep!" Beca was surprised by the other girl's honest answer and general confidence about the situation. If things were reversed, Beca would be a bumbling, stumbling, and blushing mess. Then Stacie just continued on delegating tasks like Beca had never said anything. "Everyone needs to bring a sleeping bag and pillow. There are only two beds and those go to the captains. Beca, I have a sleeping bag you can borrow in case you need it."

Everyone gave Beca a strange knowing look before looking back at Stacie. The meaning was completely lost on her. She didn't really understand what Stacie meant by her word use of 'in case'. Where did they think she would be sleeping? Amy was there to distract her from that line of thought per usual.

"Should I get a step stool?" Everyone gave her a weird look, obviously confused. Their reactions just seemed to spur the Aussie on. "You know for those of us whole are more vertically impaired." Amy, not so subtly, nodded her head towards Beca. Then she whispered at a volume loud enough for everyone within a five foot radius to clearly hear her. "So Beca's stubby little arms don't take Chloe out when she is trying to bag her."

Beca got seriously defensive. "Dude, I can manage perfectly fine," she gritted out.

Cynthia Rose pulled Beca off to the side before she got more pissed because Amy definitely wouldn't stop. Everyone dispersed afterwards, Amy following a couple of feet behind Beca and CR. Cynthia Rose unfolded a black hood from her back pocket and handed it to Beca with a smile.

"This is for when you go get your girl."

Beca took it, but was still slightly on edge and grumbled out, "She's not my girl."

Which was accurate. They weren't official. There was no way to refer to the other girl besides using the words 'friend' or 'Bella sister'.

Amy came up beside them. "Yeah, because I play tonsil hockey with all of my friends and leave marks across their chest and neck."

Beca chose to ignore the Aussie, choosing to maintain a conversation with Cynthia Rose. "Does Stacie even know Aubrey's schedule? How is she going to find her?"

Cynthia Rose smiled to herself. "Oh, I'm sure Stace knows exactly where to find her."

"What do you mean?"

"Stacie spends more time in Aubrey's apartment than she does in her dorm room, if you know what I mean."

In case it wasn't clear enough, Amy decided to push her way between them and yell in a sing-song tone, complete with Jazz hands. "They're scissor sisters!"

Beca spent the rest of her walk back to Chloe's room red faced and embarrassed, everyone giving them strange looks after Amy's outburst.

Amy and CR eventually went off together to stock up on drinks and snacks. Then it was just Beca left to wait for Chloe. She sat just around the corner from where her room was. The older girl had a very distinct sounding set of keys, full of little key chains and charms. Her plan was to wait until she heard the tell-tale keys. Then she would pounce like Chloe had done to her on initiation night.

While she waited, Beca spent her time looking up places to rent around Miami near the downtown area. That way she would be close to all of the clubs and her future places of work. There were a few places that weren't too badly priced, considering it was a prime real-estate area. None of them were that big, new, or showy, but she saw potential in them all. After all, they would be located fairly close to Chloe. They represented something other than just a house. They were her new life, a new Beca. A Beca that would be loved and have self-worth. Someone she never thought she would be and with the one person she thought she would never see again, yet alone date. Maybe she could ask Chloe if she wanted to move in with her after a few months. The ginger would probably be at her place more than half the time anyway. She found herself looking for places with big bay windows or balconies because someone who was pure sunshine should be bathed in light. Beca could not see her ginger in anything dark or only lit by artificial light. She started to imagine mornings with Chloe. Slow lazy days.

The petite girl got so into what she was planning, she almost forgot about why she was sitting in the hallway. There was the familiar sound of Chloe's keys, all her keychains clanking against each other. There was a soft humming of some pop song that Beca couldn't place. For a brief moment she wondered if that was what it would be like to wait for Chloe to come home. If there would be soft humming as keychains clanked as she came in through the front door. Then the sound of keys being putting down, as the humming continued, Chloe flipping through mail. Ending with Chloe finding her in her office or on the couch making mixes, easily curling into her side with a kiss to the cheek.

Then she was snapping herself out of it because she needed to act quickly. She slipped around the corner and approached Chloe from behind as quickly as possible while being relatively quiet. The hood was produced and un-furrowed it as she went. Chloe must have heard her because she was just beginning to turn around when Beca slipped the hood over the ginger's head. Beca pressed her body into Chloe's, speaking roughly where her ear was.

"It's just me."

Chloe must have recognized her body before she spoke because as soon as Beca pressed herself into Chloe, the older girl had relaxed. She was compliant, completely trusting in Beca. She followed the younger girl with ease. The first thing Chloe did was find Beca's nearest arm. Then she was running her hand down it until her hand met Beca's hand and then she interlaced them. Her other arm wrapped securely around Beca's bicep, pulling her close into Beca's side. With a muffled, "I'm ready," they set off towards Stacie's dorm room.

Chloe must have been trying to guess where they were going because it took her a full five minutes to ask about it.

"So what's the plan Becs?"

Beca squeezed her hand. "Just a Bella's night."

"All of this for a Bella's night?"

"Well there are a, um, few guests of honor."

After that they just talked like they normally did when they saw each other in the evening. They went over the high and low points of their days, anything interesting that happened in class, and just spent time together. Given, it was a little weird with the bag covering Chloe's head. They received a lot of strange looks. Especially given that it was not rush week and therefore very uncommon to see random people with black bags on their heads walking around campus. Beca was surprised no one had called the cops. Maybe the fact that they were maintaining a continuous normal conversation stopped them. She wondered how many pictures of them would be online by the end of the day.

When they arrived at Stacie's dorm room they fell silent, a quick squeeze of their hands their last form of communication. Cynthia Rose was there to let them in. Instead of separating like they had at Beca's initiation night, Chloe kept a firm grip on Beca's arm. She didn't have to worry because Beca wasn't planning on going anywhere.

A few seconds later Stacie came in with a very upset Aubrey Posen. Really, they heard them before they saw them. Then the loud muffled exclamations of outrage became crystal clear as Stacie pulled the ranting girl into the room with her, an amused smile in place.

"Oh my god! Are we finally here? Wherever here is. Thank god! I swear if you grab my ass one more time I am breaking your finger. If that is you Mitchell, I do not care how upset Chloe gets, I will end you. Then I will resurrect you and sue you for sexual harassment. If you think I am a bitch now just wait until I-" That was when Stacie pulled off Aubrey's hood. Aubrey instantly went quiet, obviously surprised. "It's you." She stated it at a low volume, as if she should have known that.

All of the Bellas burst out laughing.

Chloe pulled on Beca's hand, still in a hood. "Becs?"

"Oh yeah, right!" Beca scrambled to gently and quickly pull off the hood. She came face to face with Chloe Beale giving her one of those looks that she always saved for when she thought Beca was doing something adorable. Beca melted a little at the look, getting shy.

"Hey." Chloe softly let out, biting her bottom lip.

"Hi." Beca ran a hand through her hair.

She was sure they were going to kiss, Chloe hooking her fingers into Beca's belt loops, pulling Beca's hips flat against her's. Of course that was when Amy interrupted their moment, fake gagging.

"Save it for the bedroom. Then Amy looked around, realizing that they were in fact in a bedroom. "Not this one."

Besides the slight pink tinging of Beca's cheeks, there was no reaction to Amy's comment. They were all used to it by now. Chloe pulled the shorter girl into her as she turned to shoot Amy a less than enthusiastic look, obviously peeved about the missed kiss. She pressed a long kiss to Beca's cheek and then nuzzled into the younger girl's neck. It placated Beca for the time being.

Amy's attention shifted to another couple in the room as Aubrey spoke. "Where are we?"

Amy was more than happy to answer the question. "We're in Stacie's room, but you should know that already."

Aubrey knew how to handle the situation. "You know what might be fun tomorrow at practice? A whole day dedicated to cardio."

Amy shut up after that. Then everyone got settled. Amy went over the alcohol. There was a big bottle of wine that she poured the whole contents of into an even bigger cup that looked like one of those fake goblets you could buy at a party store. Cynthia Rose made the call for a pizza delivery and started opening bags of chips and a veggie tray, which was probably for Aubrey. Lily went around the room lighting candles. Which maybe wasn't the best idea, but it was happening. Chloe just remained attached to Beca, occasionally pressing kisses to Beca's neck and asking her how she was doing. Beca softened under the administration, sinking further into her embrace.

Aubrey took the time to look over Stacie's side of the room. The leggy brunette trailed after her like a child concerned about what contraband their parent might find. The blonde paused to look closely at the mass of star charts tacked to the wall above Stacie's bed. There was string that went from highlighted spots on each chart to notecards full of notes and mathematical equations. The rest of the wall was full of mini glow in the dark stars. Finally, after looking over the charts for a while, she turned to Stacie.

"This looks very impressive." She was completely sincere.

Stacie, who didn't bat an eye when Beca accidently opened a file containing her porn stash when borrowing her laptop, had light pink cheeks. She stuttered for a moment before explaining it all. "I-I'm studying how galaxies form. If the numbers of stars and other items can be calculated. Then we could come up with a constant or projection of the likelihood a galaxy will form."

"Smart too." Aubrey took the tiniest of steps closer to Stacie. The taller girl's cheeks reddened just a tad bit more.

Amy seemed to straighten up more, taking in a breath as if to speak. Only Stacie shut her down before she could begin. "Shut up, Amy!"

The Aussie pouted, mumbling under her breath, "I didn't even say anything."

Stacie looked to Cynthia Rose, Lily, and Amy in turn. "Is everything ready?"

They all nodded. Stacie placed a stool in the middle of the room and two small boxes on top of the stool, "Let's start then." Amy brought forward the large goblet of wine. She set it on the stool after taking a quick sip. Then she stood beside Stacie. "Future graduates step forward." Chloe reluctantly detached herself from Beca, who chose to nonchalantly stand behind her, having no idea what was going on. Aubrey stood next to Chloe. All of the other Bellas filled in, forming a circle around Chloe and Aubrey. As things began, Beca shifted more so she could see Chloe and gage her reaction to everything.

Stacie was the one initiating everything. She lifted the cup of wine and gave it to Aubrey, then Chloe, encouraging each of them to take a sip. "This signifies a reminder of a promise you made at the beginning of your journey as friends. The relationships you have built." Stacie then passed the wine around the circle for other Bellas to drink from. "This is what binds us from the beginning and what will remain after. The blood of our sisters forever living in our veins."

Once the glass made its way back to Stacie she took a sip and put the cup back on the stool. She then picked up the boxes on the table and handed one to Chloe and Aubrey each. They each opened then, revealing a necklace. It was a silver old fashion looking photo locket with a dark night blue backing. Each locket had each girls's first initial written in white text, a musical note incorporated into the letter on the front.

Beca could already tell Chloe was starting to get teary eyed. She instantly tensed, ready to step in, but the older girl was okay for the moment. Then Stacie started up again.

"Take the locket in your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your name, will uphold the meaning of what it means to be a Barden Bella everywhere I go. I will remember my sisters and the bond of music we have. If a Barden Bella is in trouble, I will be there because we are a family and that will never change. Whether we are minutes or continents a part, I am a Bella first. That will remain forever. If that ever changes, I pray Lily never finds me." The last line made them all laugh. Chloe's face was streaked in tears, probably as caught up in the meaning behind the words as Beca was. That the Bellas would never stop being friends. Chloe and Beca were stuck with them.

"Beca." Stacie pulled the tiniest Bella out of her thoughts. "Will you put Chloe's necklace on her?"

Stacie didn't have to ask her twice. In part because she wanted to check on Chloe and also because she just wanted to. She approached slowly with soft touches.

"Hey," Beca took Chloe's free hand. "Do you want me to put it on?"

The other girl nodded, smiling through her tears as she tried to stop them. The younger girl slowly slid the necklace from her hands. Then she moved to stand behind Chloe, pushing red tresses to the side. Beca placed a small kiss to the exposed skin before closing the clasp to the necklace strung around Chloe's neck. She made sure it was centered at the back before moving back to the front of Chloe. She picked up the charm that fell just above Chloe's breasts.

"It looks like it belongs," was all Beca said and Chloe was tearing up again at the meaning. That she belonged there with the Bellas. Beca knew what the older girl would need, pulling her into her arms as Chloe's body racked with sobs. She could feel Aubrey's eyes on them, but ignored her. This was there moment. Beca found her mouth doing that thing again where it let things slip it didn't mean to say just yet. Still afraid of the consequences of casting them out into the world. Of making them a reality.

"I love you."

+/+/+

A/N: The stuff Stacie says about galaxies was all drawn from a brief internet search, a documentary, and what little I remember from an astronomy class I took during my undergrad. So please go easy on me. This chapter was supposed to have some Bella shenanigans and the actual party after the initiation ceremony, but it was taking a while to write and was so long. So there will be an extra chapter, making a total of 31 chapters. If you have any suggestions for fun games for the Bellas to play, let me know. I'm headed to google. I don't want to just repeat the same games from the last time the Bellas got Beca drunk. Although, that could be fun with Aubrey and Stacie. We shall see…