Back again with a longer chapter. I know things get a little confusing here but they'll all come full circle in the next chapter. A bit of sadness, a bit of flirting. We're getting into the good stuff here, people. Also, this is not an acapella universe. Not all of the Bellas or Trebles know each other. Just a heads up. Also, I cannot write music into my stories, so the riff off will actually not be a riff off, just a snippet of Beca demonstrating how one works. Sorry :( Anyway, enjoy this confusing chapter.

Aubrey raised her hand slowly, clearing her throat. Beca looked over at their group, flashing Chloe a quick smile and nodding at Aubrey.

"Yes, Miss Posen?"

"What is a riff-off? And how exactly will it be beneficial to us learning about music theory?" Chloe nudged Aubrey's arm. 'Rude' she mouthed to her friend. Beca just smiled.

"Well, music theory is exactly what you think it is." She gestured to the groups spread throughout the auditorium. "Every single one of the groups is based off of the type of music, artist, or favorite genre that you guys wrote on those sheets on Friday. Your group here—" she pointed to Chloe's group, "gives me more soprano feels. So, if I asked you or Chloe to sing some Alicia Keys, or Brittney Spears, it would be the perfect key for you to sing in."

Chloe's head felt like it might fall off at Beca's explanation. Aubrey did love Alicia Keys, and she sang it around their apartment often, and she sang it well.

"And then the group you'll be singing against, they're more alto all around. More Adele, Stevie Nicks kind of sound. So, when you guys sing together, this will be better for you guys to hear how different voice types can merge together and still sound good. Which brings us to our first riff off."

"And a riff off is?" Aubrey spoke again. Beca gestured to Benji to step forward, and he did slowly.

"A riff off is something I learned in college from an acapella group I was in. I know, I know, kinda lame but it was fun for me." Chloe giggled at that. Acapella was pretty lame. "What you do is I'll let you guys pick a song, and your group sings it. Now, if you don't want to sing in front of the class, that's fine, but I promise no one is here to judge anyone's voice." A few hands went up in the air and Beca just held up a hand.

"Almost done, I swear." She paused for a moment. "This part is a little tricky, but I'll demonstrate it with Benji. When he sings, I'll find another song and pick up a word that matches his song. So, if he sings the word 'probably', my song will start off with that word, but it'll be in a different vocal range. When the other group starts to sing, your group will stop singing and try to find a song that matches a word in their song. If your group can't match a new song, your group is out. When there's one group left, that'll be our winner. Everybody got it?" Most of the class nodded, and Chloe just watched Beca intensely. It was insanely hot to Chloe, watching Beca practically hold the class in the palm of her hand. Beca looked back over to Benji.

"Are you comfortable singing in front of the class, Benji?" He nodded shyly. "Pick a song for me, dude. Any song." Benji tilted his head slightly and thought for a moment.

"Can we do 'Still Into You' by Paramore?" Beca smiled.

"That's perfect, dude." She leaned around Benji to look at the class. "Hayley Williams is a soprano, which fits into Benji's preferred artists. Now, I'm more of a mezzo-soprano, but I can still find the vocal range to change it to more of an alto type of sound."

'Wait, wait, hold on. Was Beca going to sing?' Chloe thought to herself. 'I thought Beca didn't sing?' Chloe felt her throat catch in her throat as she watched Beca take a small breath and close her eyes, bringing her arms up to cross them over her chest. She didn't want to sing, Chloe could see that. But she was going to. She watched Beca nod softly at Benji, and he started to sing.

Can count the years on hand, we've been together

I need the other one to hold you

Make you feel better

It's not a walk in the park, to love each other

He really did have a nice voice, but Chloe was so focused on Beca. How she slowly tapped her left fingers against her right arm, her eyes squinting softly as she listened to Benji sing.

But when our fingers interlock

Can't deny, can't deny you're worth it.

Cause after all this time,

I'm still into you

You, In another life

I would be your girl

The class was dead silent, and Benji immediately stopped singing as they all listened to Beca sing. Her voice was light and a bit deeper than Chloe expected, but still incredibly beautiful.

We'd keep all our promises,

Be us against the world

In another life

I would make you stay

So I don't have to say you were, the one that got away

Chloe felt like she might pass out. Beca could sing. Like she could sing. And she only did for like 30 seconds. Beca just glanced around the class, her fingers still tapping on her arms.

"Did everyone hear where I jumped in with a new song? When Benji sang his last line, I jumped in with Katy's song, and sang it at a slightly lower vibrato to kind of mix the voice ranges." She gestured to Chloe's group. "You guys are up first, pick a song. You have 2 minutes, I'll be right back."

No one in the class got a chance to say anything, as Beca grabbed her phone and quickly walked to the exit. Something in Chloe wanted to follow her out there and make sure she was okay, but she turned to her group instead. Benji had walked back over to them and he sighed heavily, making Chloe smile at him.

"She couldn't get any dreamier, right?" Chloe asked him. His eyes widened slightly but he nodded.

"She's so hot," Stacie cut in. Aubrey just rolled her eyes and wrapped an arm around Chloe and Stacie to pull them in tighter to their group.

"We've gotta beat those ding-a-lings over there. I won't lose to anyone." Chloe just wrapped an arm back around Aubrey, squeezing slightly.

"We're gonna be awesome, now what should we sing?"

After a few minutes, Beca walked back into the auditorium, still speaking softly on the phone. Chloe watched her rub her forehead slightly and frowned at the sad look on Beca's face.

"Yeah, I'll come over right after this last class." Beca was silent for a moment as she walked back over to her desk. "Alright, love you." Chloe's heart felt like it dropped out of her stomach. Of course, Beca was seeing someone. Beca was hot, and talented, and why in the world would she be interested in one of her students?

"Okay guys, have you picked a song?" Aubrey nodded for the group. "Awesome, let's start."

Chloe's group was the best of the entire class, and they beat every other group by a mile. Stacie just did everything sexually and flustered the guys in the other group, Fat Amy was loud but a decent singer, and Aubrey, Chloe, and Benji managed to find new songs every time the other group sang. It was kind of a rush, watching the other group they were competing with scramble to find another song to match theirs. Beca clapped for every group, but when Chloe's group won, she felt like the brunette clapped a little louder. She noticed more than once that Beca was mostly watching her intently with a small smile on her face. After the riff off, they were dismissed by Beca, who quickly grabbed her things and headed out. Chloe wanted to follow her out but decided against it, instead grabbing her things and catching up with Aubrey and Stacie to ride back to their apartment.

"Was it just me, or did Beca really seem like she didn't want to sing?" Stacie asked as she made dinner. Chloe and Aubrey sat around their dining room table, doing homework. Chloe glanced up at Stacie.

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked carefully. She definitely noticed Beca didn't want to sing.

"I don't know, like she seemed anxious or something. It's just weird to me how quickly she ran out to make a phone call after she sang. Why teach a class about music if you don't want to sing?" That made Chloe pause. Why was Beca teaching a music class if she didn't want to sing?

"Not sure, Stace. Come get me when the food's ready?" Stacie nodded as she packed up her things and made her way to her room, dropping everything on her desk and flopping on her stomach on the bed.

She grabbed her phone off of the charger and googled Beca Mitchell again. The same articles popped up but she scrolled a bit further, tapping the link that brought her to Beca's Instagram page. It was private, but she took a risk and tapped request to follow anyway. She clicked back over to Google, tapping the next link. This one was an obituary for Sarah Mitchell. Chloe read along, seeing Beca's name mentioned multiple times. At the bottom, there was a photo of a younger Beca, and an older woman with a gentle smile who looked a lot like Beca. Same hair, same dark blue eyes. She was beautiful, and Chloe could see where Beca got her looks from. She clicked back again, scrolling a bit further until she found another link describing the accident. Chloe felt a bit intrusive, looking into Beca's life a little bit, but she was curious, and she really wanted to know more about Beca. The article described the car accident that killed Beca's mom, detailing how Sarah Mitchell was drunk behind the wheel and slammed headfirst into another vehicle. Chloe teared up reading about it, wondering how that soft smiling woman could do something like that. She slowly read through the article, her eyes widening as she read a line in the middle.

"Sarah Mitchell hit oncoming traffic headfirst, and EMT's reported she was deceased on sight. The driver of the other car was none other than her 20 year old daughter, Beca Mitchell, who received substantial injuries and was transported to Mercy Hospital in Maine."

Chloe dropped her phone on the bed and turned over onto her back. She totally should not have dug into Beca's private life like that, but she kind of did give them permission to in their first class right? Did Beca really stop singing because of the accident with her mom? Stacie yelled out that dinner was ready and she slowly dragged herself to her feet. Her brain felt like mush and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. She sat through dinner with Aubrey and Stacie, listening to them talking about their classes, picking at her food. She showered after dinner and laid in bed, her mind racing about Beca. Chloe groaned and sat up. She really needed to work on the school work she gave up on doing earlier, but she wanted a change of scenery.

A quick glance at her phone told her it was just past 11, and she threw on a hoodie and grabbed her backpack, throwing it over her shoulder as she slipped on her comfiest slippers. Barden Café stayed open 24 hours, and she was suddenly craving a vanilla latte.

The dim outside lights of Barden Café showed a nearly empty parking lot, and she quickly walked in, grabbing a table near the back to set her things down. Jessica was working the late shift and smiled at Chloe, lifting a medium cup with a raised eyebrow. Chloe nodded and Jessica got to work making Chloe's usual order. The redhead pulled a 5 out of her wallet, sliding it over the counter and grabbing the cup that Jessica slid back.

"Working late tonight, Chlo?" Chloe nodded, giving Jessica a small smile.

"The cogs in my brain are working overtime tonight, gotta let them burn out or I'll never sleep." Jessica just laughed and turned back to clean the counters as Chloe sat down at her table. She opened her laptop and opened up her assignment for Russian Lit, sighing as she read over the material. The bell above the door jingled, and she didn't even glance up. Probably just another student burning the midnight oil.

"Hi, B, the usual?" She heard Jessica ask. Chloe didn't hear a response and she just focused on the assignment, mentally cursing herself for taking this class. A few minutes passed before she heard the shoes of the other customer stop next to her table.

"Miss Beale, a bit late for coffee, isn't it?" Chloe glanced up at the owner of the voice, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of Beca. The brunette was wearing a black hoodie and matching sweatpants, and her dark brown hair was tied up into an extremely cute messy bun.

"I could say the same for you, Dr. Mitchell." Beca rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Here we go again with the Dr. Mitchell stuff."

"Well, Miss Beale makes me sound like I'm gonna get spanked later so I feel like we're even." Before Chloe even finished her sentence, she felt her eyes widen. She couldn't control the word vomit and she waited for Beca's response to her insane statement. The brunette just stared with her mouth open for a second before bursting into laughter, making Chloe feel a bit better.

"I apologize, Chloe." Chloe looked back down at her laptop, feeling a blush rise in her cheeks. The way Beca so effortlessly made just the redhead's name sound flirty made her stomach do flips.

"Why are you out so late anyway?" Chloe asked as she exited her assignment and closed her laptop. Beca shrugged.

"Brain's awake, so I'm awake." Chloe nodded, glancing back up at Beca, swallowing the lump in her throat before speaking. Chloe wanted answers about last weekend, she'd save the mom stuff for if she got to know Beca better.

"You're more than welcome to sit, if you'd like."

Beca hesitated for a second, glancing at the door and Chloe felt her heart sink as she looked down at her hands. Beca didn't want to sit here with her, of course not.

"Yeah, sure." Chloe glanced up to see Beca smirking, and she flashed her signature smile. She noticed Beca pause for a second as she stared at Chloe, before shaking her head softly. "We can talk about why you requested to follow me on Instagram first." Beca slid into the seat across from Chloe and slowly sipped her coffee. Chloe noticed the glint from a ring on Beca's finger and sighed internally. Married. Figures.

"You popped up on my feed and I was curious what you do in your free time. Wanted to see what you spent all your weekends doing."

"Why are you so interested in my after-school activities, Chloe?" That damn smirk again. Beca was totally flirting with her, and Chloe glanced back down at the ring on Beca's finger. Two could play that game. Chloe turned on her charm, feeling the same confidence she does when she flirts with whoever she wants to take home that night. She wanted answers about last weekend, and if she had to make Beca chase her to get them, she would.

"Your partner know you're with a student at midnight?" Chloe nodded her head to Beca's hands resting on the table and Beca laughed softly.

"I'm actually divorced I just can't bring myself to take it off. I really loved her, but it just didn't work out. She's still my best friend, though."

"Divorced, huh? Did it not work out because you have coffee with students this late?"

"You're my student, why would that be weird to have coffee with you?" She glanced up to find Beca smirking again. Chloe would have to look into if it's possible to trademark a facial expression because that smirk seemed to be perfectly content keeping its place on Beca's face. Chloe just shifted, feeling the confidence take over her.

"Maybe because I think you're hot." Chloe grabbed her things, standing and slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Maybe because I'd be really interested to see what else you do on the weekends besides being mysterious in bars." Chloe winked and grabbed her coffee. "Maybe…" she looked down at Beca, the resident smirk gone from her face, replaced by an intrigued smile. "Maybe because I'd like to see those pretty eyes wink at me from closer than the DJ stand."

Chloe sauntered past Beca and smirked at Jessica when the barista mouthed over 'That was so hot'. She heard Beca's chair scrape as she opened the door to the café, feeling Beca's presence right behind her.

"So, you know then?" Chloe just shrugged her shoulders.

"Know what?" She heard Beca chuckle as she turned to face the brunette.

"You're going to be trouble for me, aren't you, Miss Beale?" Chloe winked, walking backwards on the sidewalk towards her apartment.

"Guess you'll have to find out, Dr. Mitchell."