A/N - Evening all! (Well, it's evening in good ol' Blighty!)

Sorry this is a bit late in getting out... I started tinkering with this chapter then realised I should have left well alone! Anyway, just so I don't get in 'trouble' with my beta for publishing something that they haven't looked at, I deleted my faffing and am sending this out, as intended. Thanks, as always, J!

Hope life is treating you all well and that you enjoy this (shorter than normal) chapter. Next one will be out in a couple of days. waatp xx

.oOo. Chapter Forty .oOo.

Chloe finally began to feel human two days later and by Saturday evening, was back to her chirpy self. The few drinks she'd had, combined with not enough sleep, had seen her almost call in sick for her evening shoot, on location in Santa Monica.

She knew she must have looked pretty green when, upon walking into the kitchen the morning after their night out to Avalon, everyone who was sat round the kitchen island enjoying the strong, hot coffee and breakfast baguettes that Aubrey had ordered from Sweet Butter Kitchen, leaned as far away as possible from the kitchen counter that Chloe was propped up against. Lilly even got up and moved to the kitchen table as Aubrey nudged a large triple espresso towards Chloe, muttering - and Aubrey never muttered - that Chloe needed it more than she did.

Chloe pulled on the fridge door, baulked at the bright light and batted the top of her head to pull her sunglasses down over her face, hissing slightly as she shut the door.

"There's a breakfast sandwich for you Chloe, if you-" Aubrey began.

"-Dear God, no," Chloe moaned, looking around the room. "Where's Beca? Is she still in the pool house?"

"You just missed her," Stacie explained, and swallowed her mouthful. "Luke came by about ten minutes ago and picked her up."

"That must have been the car door that I heard," Chloe keened, rubbing her hands over her face. "I thought it was Trent and Helen bringing the kids back and I panicked and jumped out of bed."

"You are due to collect the girls from them…" Stacie checked her watch, "... in about half an hour, and join them for lunch."

Chloe audibly groaned, "Oh God, I did agree to that, didn't I? I don't think I should drive-"

"-We thought so too, so I called Helen and invited them round for an afternoon by the pool instead," Stacie said before taking an enormous bite of her Bistro Breakfast Sandwich that she was devouring quicker than she meant to. With a weary eye, Cynthia Rose moved her own breakfast sandwich, guarding it as she could see Stacie eyeing it up.

"I think that's worse," Chloe moaned again, blinking rapidly. "Why did I drink so much last night? Why did nobody stop me?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Stacie cackled. "You're hilarious when you get going and you were too busy busting some serious moves on the dance floor for us to stop you."

"Seriously? Is that why my hips hurt this morning?" Chloe complained, subconsciously tracking her hands down past the curve of her waist to settle on her hips.

"You'll see, when you look at our group's WhatsApp messages," Stacie said with a mischievous wink. "Oh, I also added Beca to that this morning by the way. She's one of us now."

"That's fine," Aubrey said, a little primly.

"I don't think I want to know what I did," Chloe whimpered. "My head is killing me. Did I eat sawdust or something?"

The group laughed politely.

"Urgh, what time did you say Helen and Trent will get here?" Chloe asked, shaking her head as if she was trying to clear the fog a little. "And they are coming for lunch?"

"I'm sure you can get away with sunbathing or reading a script with headphones in if you need to. They know you're filming at the moment. And yes, they are coming for lunch. I've already ordered it from The Tower Bar, that's the new place you love in West Hollywood. I paid extra for fast delivery and hoped you wouldn't mind."

"Yes, that's fine," Chloe rubbed her temples. "I can't ignore Trent and Helen when they come; they'll need entertaining and I don't think I've got it in me today."

"Beca said she'd be back to help out though," Cynthia Rose reminded Stacie.

"Yes, there was a meeting she couldn't get out of and Helen said they'd be here around two so Beca said she'd be here for one thirty at the latest," Stacie explained.

"She did?" Chloe said, her voice rising a little as she looked round the group hopefully. "She's going to come back home?"

"Uh huh," Stacie nodded, shooting a look at Aubrey.

"I don't know what I'd do without her… without any of you, really," Chloe was looking at Stacie when she said it, but gave a lame gesture in the general direction of the breakfast sandwiches that were beginning to make her feel a bit nauseous.

"Probably be drunker than you are right now?" Stacie quipped, causing a small laugh to ripple though the group.

"Don't think I had that much to drink, I managed to get myself to bed okay."

"Yeah, you need to thank Beca for that, girl!" Cynthia Rose laughed.

"For what?" Chloe looked confused.

"For putting you to bed." Cynthia Rose confirmed.

"Huh?" Chloe looked at Aubrey for confirmation, and received a nod back in return. "Oh crap!"

"She also gave Aubrey the pool room to sleep in for the night and slept on the sofa, and loaded the dishwasher and tidied up the kitchen before she and Luke left for their meeting. We don't deserve her!" Stacie announced with a flourish.

"I thought I'd done so well with myself too," Chloe moaned again, scratching hard at her palm until Aubrey placed her own hand over Chloe's itching fingers, in an effort to get her to stop.

"She didn't look bothered in the slightest," Cynthia Rose offered in an effort to stop Chloe looking so distraught.

"Defended your honour too," Stacie quipped. "Wouldn't hear a bad word said about you."

"I'm sure that's not true," Chloe said, as another wave of nauseousness swept over here.

"It was a great night though," Emily said quietly, finishing up her sandwich.

"It really was. And my God, Beca can really sing. How has she not recorded something and put herself out there already?" Cynthia Rose asked.

"Beca sang," Chloe mumbled, more to herself.

"Do you not remember anything from last night?" Stacie laughed.

"I do," Chloe protested, not taking the teasing to heart at all. "I was just remembering how beautiful it was. She was singing Guns 'n' Roses, right?"

"Yup, and Poison by Alice Cooper and even managed to rap a bit to Monster." Cynthia Rose looked more than impressed.

Chloe turned to Emily, "Em, your song… don't you think Beca would sound good singing that?"

"Flashlight?" Emily asked and Chloe nodded. "Her voice is stronger and it would need changing up. I mean, it's not that good."

Emily jumped as the small group all made scoffing noises at the same time. Surprisingly it was Aubrey who spoke first.

"You have a real talent with song writing, Emily. If you weren't so good at your job, working with me, I'd be encouraging you into the showbiz world. Let's face it, we have the contacts," Aubrey nudged her head towards Chloe, an uncharacteristic glint in her eye.

"You know I write songs?" Emily's eyes widened in surprise

"Of course I do," Aubrey shook her head in confusion,

"I don't do it during working hours," Emily shot back. "I mean, I don't really do it anymore anyway. Flashlight was a one off,"

"The random singing is what then?" Cynthia Rose asked. "You're always humming or coming out with lines."

"And I'm always finding verses or rhyming words scribbled on post it's round the office," Aubrey laughed, amused.

Emily's face flushed bright red before she muttered a very quiet sorry.

"You should totally take Beca up on her offer," Cynthia Rose nodded.

"What offer?" Emily asked.

"You were talking, last night, about how you scribble lyrics on occasion and she was telling you how chords follow her around all day long too," Cynthia Rose reminded Emily.

"What's the offer then?"

"Sounded like Beca was reaching out for a collaboration on something?" Chloe sighed, as she rubbed at her face again.

"How did you get that?"

"I guess, it's working in the industry. Major hints can be hidden away in general conversation," Chloe explained, feeling her stomach begin to turn again.

"It didn't sound like that to me," Emily's brow furrowed.

"I can put in a good word for you, if you like?" Chloe offered.

Emily flushed red again, "it's okay, I'll talk to her myself at some point."

Chloe's yawn broke the conversation, and she looked around apologetically.

"Sorry guys, I think I'm going to go back to bed for an hour or so. I feel pretty broken right now."

.oOo.

Chloe woke up an hour and a half later, against her will. She groaned as she turned over in bed, eternally grateful for her blackout blinds and the darkness of her bedroom. She felt marginally better but wished with everything she had that she could stay in bed for the rest of the day and not have to deal with Trent and Helen.

She loved them both, despite all that had happened, and saw no need to cut them out of her life just because things had gone south with David. She wouldn't dream of doing something so cruel as denying them access to their grandchildren and as that thought filtered through her foggy brain, she realised how she'd, in fact, done exactly that to Beca.

She'd pushed the court case to the back of her mind over the last few weeks, almost believing that it had never happened. She knew she and David and put everyone through hell, even those that were on her 'team'. She thought back to the first day in court and everyone who'd come along to support her and how Beca had had no one on her side, not even her best friends had come along. Even knowing that Beca had asked them to stay away didn't quash the uneasy feeling in her stomach that decided to reappear along with the niggling headache that the hangover brought her.

Wondering if a hot shower would help her feel more human, she begrudgingly pushed back the covers and unfolded herself from her very comfortable bed, and she haphazardly drew the covers up, tucking them underneath the pillows. She looked over to David's side for the briefest of moments, wondering how she would feel sharing a bed with a new partner.

Unable to decide if that meant she was ready to start dating again, or she was simply just horny, she focussed her attention on controlling her stomach, and padded her way to her bathroom. Discarding her clothes and leaving them on the floor by the shower door, Chloe reached in and switched on the shower, almost shrieking in shock as the cold spray hit her directly on her back.

"Jesus!"

Muttering a few more cuss words under her breath, she shivered as she held out her hand under the spray, waiting a few seconds for it to warm up, before she stepped inside the shower cubicle. She clumsily reached for the shampoo as she stood under the warm water before turning up the heat, sucking in her breath as the temperature turned to almost scalding immediately.

"Not my day today," she growled before tipping too much shampoo into her hand and slathering all over her curls.

Chloe took her time in the shower, almost too long, and was feeling less groggy when she stepped out. She wrapped herself up in a large towel, and rubbed at her hair, cursing to herself when she realised what she was doing, knowing she'd not get the curls under control that day. Stepping into her dressing room, she selected a simple outfit of casual black shorts and a blue tank top and laid it out on her bed before slipping on her favourite bikini - the one that Beca had borrowed on her first trip to the house - and rubbing lotion on her skin.

She picked up her phone to check for messages and was shocked to see that it was almost three o'clock. Cursing herself again for drinking too much the night before and being completely unfocussed, she grabbed her sunglasses, pocketed her phone into her shorts and headed downstairs.

Finding the house strangely empty, she stood in the large hallway, listening for any sounds coming from the playroom. Trent and Helen were usually incredibly prompt so she was surprised not to find them in the house. It was only a quiet shriek from outside that had her remembering Stacie's earlier comment of them coming round for an afternoon by the pool.

Chloe quickly crossed into the kitchen and out of the doors onto the deck. She immediately sucked in her breath as she took in the scene in front of her. Beca was sitting on one of the pool loungers, surrounded by the girls who were trying to climb all over her and she was talking animatedly with Trent as Helen swished her legs in the pool, turning occasionally to make a short comment on whatever Trent and Beca were discussing.

She began walking towards the group, plastering a large, and hopefully not obviously fake, smile on her face, feeling completely indebted to Beca in that moment and noted, with a little surprise the genuine look on Beca's face as she turned, hearing Chloe's soft footfalls on the steps leading to the pool.

"Hey!" Beca grinned, smiling broadly. "I was just telling these guys about you reading your script for your night shoot tomorrow."

'She remembered!' Chloe thought to herself as she braced herself as three little bodies detached themselves from Beca and ran towards her.

"Hi Helen... Trent! I hope they weren't any trouble for you last night," Chloe remarked, wrapping her arms around the girls tightly as they all began talking at once. "I'm sorry, I've been distracted since you got here."

"Hi Chloe dear, no need to apologise. We do understand how busy you get," Helen said kindly, pulling her legs out of the pool and standing up to wrap her arms around Chloe, kissing her cheek softly. "And of course the girls were wonderful."

"G'pa said we could watch a movie and he made popped corn too Mama!" Kate announced while Alex began to hop from foot to foot, waiting her turn to announce her favourite thing.

"And I did the blankie fort wiv Nana and we fell'ded asleep in dere," Alex grinned.

"And Jessie helped set the table for dinner, didn't you?" Helen said, stroking Jessie's hair.

"Yup," Jessie nodded, pulling away slightly to stand next to Beca. It was a move Beca recognised immediately that Jessie was a little overwhelmed, which surprised her slightly as she hadn't seen her act that way for a while.

"Shall we go and get Mama a drink?" Beca asked Jessie as she took a seat next to Beca. The little redhead nodded and held out her hand for Beca to take. "What can we get you Mama?"

"Um, water would be good, please," Chloe smiled, feeling like a fraud in front of her in-laws, as Beca rose to her feet, turning to face Chloe.

"Are you sure?" Beca asked with a cheeky look on her face.

"Um, yes."

"I mean water isn't a real drink, is it?" Beca mimicked Chloe almost perfectly, remembering what Chloe had said about her drink the night before.

"Umm, I'm not sure-"

"-It's okay, we'll be back in a minute. Kate, Alex, you stay with Mama."

Chloe watched Beca head towards the house with Jessie in tow. She wondered if Beca was feeling a little uneasy with Trent and Helen being there, although the older couple didn't seem too uncomfortable in their surroundings.

"So, how's filming going?" Trent asked Chloe, patting the seat next to him as Helen took Kate and Alex's hands and guided them towards the steps of the pool.

"It's going okay, thanks. We're a bit behind and I got a couple of night shoots coming up, and they are usually quite hard to manage."

"Yes, Beca was just talking about that," Trent said. "She's got a good head on her shoulders, that one."

"She does," Chloe mumbled, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed as she looked in the direction of the kitchen. "Excuse me a second, Trent."

"Of course," he nodded in reply and turned his head to watch his grandchildren splash in the shallow end of the pool. Chloe glanced at the girls before heading back to the house. She caught Beca and Jessie talking in the kitchen as she approached.

"Beca, hi," Chloe said, the unease evident in her voice.

"Hey, you okay?" Beca said easily.

"Yeah, um, about last night..." Chloe trailed off.

"What about it?" Beca asked.

"I understand you had to deal with me... at the end of the night?"

"Uh huh," Beca nodded to confirm.

"I'm sorry about that."

"No need to apologise," Beca looked a little confused, as she handed Jessie a torn off piece of sandwich that she'd just gotten out of the fridge.

"I went beyond my limits and-"

"-Chloe, you got a little drunk, that was all! No one died!" Beca laughed, tentatively reaching out a hand towards Chloe but withdrawing at the last moment.

"I don't want Helen and Trent reporting back to David that I'm a bad mother," Chloe sighed.

"I'm not following."

"That I was out drinking and-"

"-Oh geez, I think you've got a long way to go before you get that title. Everyone is allowed a night off every now and then. The girls weren't in danger for even a second."

"But then I wasn't ready for them coming back home today and i-"

"-Seriously, Chloe, calm down!" Beca laughed. "No harm done."

Beca picked up a glass of orange juice and handed it to Chloe.

"It's not water, and it's got a little vodka in it to take the edge off while Trent and Helen are here. Call it hair of the dog or whatever?"

"I'm sorry, it's what?"

"Hair of the dog. Is that a Luke expression? He's always said the best thing to cure whatever ails you is to have a little more of it," Beca shrugged.

"Yes, of course... gosh, I'm really not firing on all cylinders today."

"Neither is Jessie," Beca said, turning and stroking the head of the little girl next to her.

"Is she not well?" Chloe asked immediately.

"She's okay, just think she partied a little too hard last night with Nana and Pops and is coming off a major, major, major sugar high right now."

"I didn't notice, I'm sorry," Chloe groaned.

"No, but I did. Stop trying to do it all yourself. It's okay. I'm here too."

"And I'm extremely grateful for you right now."

"That's okay," Beca blushed a little. "We'd better get back outside or they'll be in to find us."

The afternoon passed pleasantly, despite Chloe snoring lightly, laying on one of the sun loungers. Beca enjoyed the afternoon talking with Trent about football and sports that she wasn't particularly interested in but had enough knowledge to be able to hold a conversation about.

She shared the story with Helen about her almost drowning and Chloe rescuing her before switching to stories about the girls when Helen seemed to want to take Beca under her wing, fearing there might be some lasting damage with regards to the swimming incident.

Chloe stirred around six thirty, not feeling much better but managed to say goodbye to her in-laws without giving away that she was feeling rough. Chloe insisted on putting the girls to bed and Beca busied herself in the kitchen and tried to ignore the girls jumping on the beds upstairs.

As soon as Chloe came back down, Beca had ushered her back up to her bedroom with a small plate of lunch leftovers and a very large bottle of water, two Tylenol and a flannel for her head.

"Go on, I've got it under control here," Beca said, as she pushed Chloe towards the stairs.

"But I've hardly been helpful today," Chloe protested.

"It'll take me five minutes to get all of this straightened out and I've got a ton of work to do so I'm heading to the pool house myself in a few minutes to make a start on it," Beca explained. "Stacie is coming by to spend the morning with the girls so you've got the morning to yourself. I've got them in the afternoon and evening, so if you are around for lunch, then great, we'll see you then."

"Thank you Beca. As I said earlier, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Beca nodded awkwardly and turned to head back to the kitchen. She wanted to clear up the remains of the day and get to the pool house as she was quite behind with work but didn't want to let Chloe know. As she packed up the last of the leftovers, feeling quite pleased she'd persuaded Chloe's in-laws to take some of it without too much of a fuss, she heard Chloe climb the stairs and head into her bedroom.

Beca wiped down the kitchen surfaces and closed the door quietly behind her, thinking she should text Chloe and remind her to remotely set the door alarms downstairs as she crossed by the pool. Pulling on the pool house door, she felt strangely at home in the small space.

She busied herself getting a drink and a handful of chips as she pulled her work laptop out, laying it onto the small workspace by the kitchenette. She fired up the machine, loaded up her emails and took a healthy gulp of her drink.

She scrolled through the first couple of emails, requesting meetings and deadline dates for future projects and skim read a couple from Luke updating her on the day's activities. She paused at one of the emails from Universal's HR department as the title caught her eye. She opened it quickly, grimacing as she took in the contents of the email.

"Well, fuck."

.oOo.