After

Beca stayed in touch with most of the Bella’s after their reunion. Well, more like, they all kept texting her and – unlike 5 years ago – she responded.  

That’s why Beca wasn’t as surprised as four months ago when she found an invitation from a former Barden Bella in her mailbox. It was Emily’s, she and Benji were getting married. Beca wondered whether he’d finally found the courage to ask her or if she had been the one to get down on one knee.

Six weeks later, at the wedding. Beca was pretty fond of herself. First off, she’d managed to find a dress she didn’t disgust. Secondly, she’d thus far succeeded in avoiding any conversation with someone other than the Bella’s. And thirdly, she’d come up with the best wedding gift ever: a Bella-performance. She’d produced a set with a few marriage themed songs and sent video instructions to their former team members. Everybody seemed really excited with the idea to once again sing together.

Now their time to shine had arrived. Beca was kind of curious about how it would all go down after all those years. And she started to worry when she noticed how much Fat Amy and Jessica were drinking, she hoped so hard they wouldn’t screw up their lines.

Luckily that didn’t happen and it actually went pretty great. Beca saw how the others were having a blast of a time, and how much Emily was enjoying their surprise. She wished she could say the same about herself. But every time she turned around, it was like she was staring into an empty hole. Without Chloe at her side, performing wasn’t the same. The Bella Sound was different.

After their performance, Beca went straight to the bar. She needed some booze to get rid of the sadness which was once again taking over. She didn’t even care to walk away and just dropped down in a seat at the bar, hoping no one would come over and talk to her.

“Hey, aren’t you one of those singing ladies?” Yikes, why could nothing ever go the way she wanted it. Beca looked up to see who was disturbing her, ready to give her a glance of her famous bitch face, when her jaw dropped. A stunning blonde twenty-something had taken up the seat next to her. Well she was worth an answer: “Yep, that’s me, one of those a-cappella girls.” “Oh that’s how you call it, yeah it’s not really my thing you see.” Beca liked how straight forward this woman was, and she had to admit a-cappella might be a little strange. “I guess you’re also tired of all those happy feels people are spreading tonight?” the other woman asked her. “Well yeah, that’s why I preferred this quiet corner.” “Oh you want me to leave you alone?” “No, it’s fine. You seem to share my opinion on weddings. It’s Beca by the way.” “Clarke Griffin, used to live next to Benji when we were kids.” “Was he always such a weirdo?” the girl, Clarke, smirked, “Worse.”

They ordered some more drinks and talked for a while. For the first time in forever Beca felt she might be making a new friend.

Clarke’s phone rang. When she swiped to ignore the caller with the intriguing name of ‘Bellamy’, Beca caught a glimpse of her screensaver. It was a picture of Clarke, kissing this gorgeous woman with a lot of eye shadow, but like really a lot, even Beca Mitchell was honestly impressed: “I like your girlfriend’s makeup.” Clarke grinned, “Me too”, she hesitated for a while before she continued: “but she… Lexa’s no longer my girlfriend, she died last year.” Gosh, Beca wasn’t expecting this, no wonder Clarke had come to the bar, Beca could barely come out of her bed the year after Chloe passed away, let alone attend weddings. “I’m so sorry dude.” Beca raised her glass, so did Clarke: “to Lexa”, she said with so much grief it made tears come up to Beca’s eyes.

“We met in Afghanistan”, Clarke went on, “she was the Commander and I was a military doctor.” Beca could see Clarke was actually glad she’d found someone to talk to. Beca didn’t mind listening, she never was much of a talker, certainly not concerning heavy emotional topics. “I quit the army after Lexa got shot and died in my arms.” Clarke wiped away some tears, “she was such a brilliant woman. I’ve never met anyone who’s half as smart as she was. And she was such a badass, or at least that’s what she’d want you to believe.” She smirked at that thought, “The one moment she could act stone cold, but when we would be alone a few minutes later, she was just such a cinnamon roll. A super-hot cinnamon roll.” Clarke went through her phone to show Beca some pictures of Lexa and told her the stories around them. How they’d once been attacked by a troop of wolves, how the Taliban had set up a trap and nearly burned their camp to the ground, how Lexa had fought and won man-on-man fights... Beca was genuinely interested in all of them and soon she was asking her not only about the war, but also more personal questions. She was really starting to like Clarke and the sound of her voice.

“How about you?” Clarke asked after a while, “isn’t there someone in your life to drag along to weddings?” Beca swallowed, she wished they could keep talking about the other woman’s life, but sadly that’s not how conversations worked. “No, the thing is, there was Chloe”, it felt weird to say her name out loud to a stranger, “my girlfriend, she also passed away, five years ago.” Clarke touched her arm consolingly, “Oh Beca, sorry I asked,” “Nah, don’t be, you’ve also told me about Lexa.” She took a deep breath before she told her what a fantastic weirdo Chloe had been and a short version of the day she died. Beca hadn’t told this story to anyone except for the cops and her father. And that was five years ago. Once she was finished, they both were crying their hearts out, drowning in agony about their lost loved ones. “Well, at least we can sob together now.” They both laughed and emptied their glasses.

They went back to the looser talk. They chatted about their jobs, the series they were hooked up on, the other guests at the party... When Beca started to yawn, Clarke took a look at her wrist-watch, it was 3.10 a.m., “Oh gosh I had no idea it was running so late”, she said “I’ve to get up early tomorrow to catch my flight.” “I’m sorry I’ve taken up so much of your time.” “Don’t be Beca, it felt so good talking to you.” “Same, my intention was to just get drunk and try to forget I even went here, but I’m glad that turned out differently.” They both stood up and hugged, “May we meet again”, said Clarke. “Soon”, was Beca’s response. While Clarke was walking away, Beca turned around to go check on her friends. Maybe she would even dance.