Chapter 27
(Beca & Chloe)
That Saturday, Beca made a concerted effort to sleep late, but still ended up awake at 8, Chloe already in the kitchen. She yawned and stretched before padding into the other room for coffee. She found Chloe singing and dancing to the radio, and stood leaning in the doorway to watch. She didn’t know what had gotten into the ginger, but she liked the result.
Chloe was so caught up in dancing and coffee, she didn’t notice Beca right away. When she did, she danced her way to the door for a kiss. “I wasn’t expecting you this early.” She kissed Beca again before moving to make her a cup of coffee as she took a seat at the table.
“You’re in a good mood this morning,” Beca commented as Chloe went about breakfast, still dancing.
The ginger kissed the top of her head as she danced by. “You, my love, are done with two long, exhausting weeks of recording demos all day. I plan on spoiling you this weekend and sending you to bed a better kind of exhausted.” She looked over her shoulder and winked.
Beca chuckled. She had been too tired to much more than eat at night. Reaching out, she caught Chloe’s robe and tugged until she came closer. “I could start exhausting you now,” she said with a smirk.
Chloe giggled and leaned down for a slow, deep kiss. “Soon, love. Breakfast is almost ready.” She pulled away gently to finish cooking. Just as she was sitting down, her phone dinged with a text from Aubrey. “Something is up and I don’t know what.” Frowning, she replied quickly.
“What happened?”
“Can I call? While she’s asleep?”
“Of course. We’re both here.” She warned Beca that Aubrey was calling just before the phone rang. “Bree? What happened?” Aubrey filled them in on Emily’s mood since Thursday evening. “She swears nothing is going on at work and that it isn’t my fault. I just don’t know what to do anymore.” They could hear the tears in her voice.
Beca answered first. “The first thing you need is to take a breath. We’re going to try to help.” She heard the blonde take a deep breath. “Good. Now. I haven’t heard about any drama at the label, and Theo would have told me, especially if Emily was involved. Okay? She isn’t lying about that. Does that help at all?”
“Yes.” Aubrey took another deep breath. “Thank you, Becs. But then, if it isn’t work, I don’t know what it could be other than me.”
“Sometimes,” Chloe spoke up, “there is no reason. Sometimes people just get in a dark place. They don’t know why either. It really comes down to a choice.”
“What choice?”
“To stay and be there for her, or to leave. Both are valid. But, Bree?”
“Yeah?” Aubrey’s voice was hushed.
“Be sure before you leave.”
“I’m not leaving her, Chloe. She means the world to me. How could I possibly walk away when she needs me so much? How could you even think that?” Now she sounded offended.
“I didn’t think you would, Bree. I just wanted to warn you in case you surprised me. Just keep being there for her. I think with your help, this will be short-lived.”
Aubrey sighed. “Okay. Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, guys. Talk soon.”
They returned to their food after hanging up. Lyric came begging for bacon, making them laugh. Instead, Beca opened the jar of treats on the table and dropped a few on the floor. “I’ll feed you as soon as I’m done, silly boy,” she promised. The hefty orange cat meowed back and laid down heavily on Beca’s foot. Shaking her head at him, she looked back to Chloe. “You think Emily’s legit depressed, not just in a mood?”
The ginger nodded behind her mug. “It sounds like it to me. She’d need a real professional to be sure, of course. I don’t know if she’d be open to that or not.”
“I have no idea, either,” Beca agreed. Finishing the last bite of bacon, Beca stood and cleared her plate before feeding the cats. She poured coffee for both of them, which they brought into the living room with them. “Did you ask Aubrey about tracking the food for the reunion? I didn’t think this morning’s call was the time to bring it up.”
Chloe nodded, leaning against Beca on the couch. “She said she’d do it, no problem. But you’re supposed to be relaxing this weekend, not planning.” She poked her partner in the side playfully.
Beca chuckled and conceded. “Okay, that was my last reunion question.” She draped an arm around Chloe and coaxed her closer. “I seem to remember you had plans for me?” She grazed her teeth over her earlobe.
“I do, indeed,” Chloe replied huskily. “And you’ve been very patient about it.” She turned her head to nip the soft flesh beneath Beca’s ear, making her breath hitch.
Quickly but carefully, they set their coffee aside and got each other undressed before crashing into each other for a breathtaking kiss. Chloe clawed Beca’s back, then gave her a slight push to sit on the couch. Beca looked up at her with smoldering deep blue eyes that made her shiver. The ginger descended on her partner, kissing and biting her neck as her hands roamed freely, building the anticipation. When Beca was nearly vibrating with pent-up pleasure, Chloe drifted her hand between her thighs to stroke gently, drawing a long, low groan from Beca.
“Come for me, love,” Chloe rasped in her ear, feeling Beca’s nails on her back as she sank her fingers inside her. Beca lifted her hips urgently to meet her thrusts. Soon, she was writhing and whimpering as she came.
“Holy fuck, Chlo,” she said breathlessly, clinging to her partner as she was gathered into loving arms.
“I love you, Beca Mitchell,” Chloe murmured.
Beca kissed her softly. “I love you, too, Chloe Beale.
***
On Monday, Beca headed straight to Emily’s office, hoping to find her in higher spirits. She heard the guitar playing inside and smiled to herself as she knocked. The music stopped, and after a moment, the door opened.
“Hey, Becs. Come in.” Emily closed the door behind them and sat at the desk. “What’s up?”
“You tell me. Em, you look miserable. What’s going on?” Beca pulled another chair over and sat in it backwards.
“There doesn’t have to be a reason for everything. Sometimes, people just have bad days.” Her voice was a mix of fatigue and irritation. “I know you talked to Bree. She told me.”
“Then you know I know it’s more than a bad day. Maybe it’s time to talk to someone and get some help.” Beca steeled herself, having no way of knowing how the songwriter would react.
Emily narrowed her eyes at her friend. “Now everyone is a doctor. I’ll be fine. I just need time.” She turned to look at the papers on her desk.
Beca stood. She wouldn’t get anywhere today. “Okay, Em. I’ll be in my office if you want to do lunch.” She headed out and back to the elevator. She was worried about Emily, but she couldn’t force her to do anything.
Beca ordered lunch and ate in her office, just in case Emily reached out or showed up. But when 5 came, she still hadn’t heard from her and made her way to the car. She sent Chloe a quick text and headed home.
She arrived just as the delivery driver was leaving and was greeted with a kiss and a burger and fries in the kitchen. There was concern in Chloe’s sky blue eyes, and Beca guessed she had talked to Aubrey again. “What did Bree say?” she asked as they sat down.
Chloe sighed. “She came by this morning. She said there’s been no change, that Emily is snappy when she talks at all. Did you see her today?”
Beca told her partner about her visit to Emily’s office. “She’s definitely snappy. I didn’t stay long so I wouldn’t piss her off.” They ate dinner in silence, each wrapped up in thoughts about their friends’ dilemma.
***
Wednesday evening, as Chloe was clearing the table, her phone rang. It was Aubrey, and she answered. “Hey, Bree, what… Wait, slow down… Okay, we’ll be right there.” She hung up and looked to Beca. “Emily came home and saw Aubrey upset and locked herself in the guest room. She’s not answering Bree at all.”
Beca stood. “Let’s go.”
Ten minutes later, Aubrey was letting them into the apartment, her eyes red from crying. She threw her arms around Chloe. “I don’t know what to do, Chlo,” she said in a wavering voice.
“You take care of Bree while I try to talk to Emily,” Beca suggested, heading for the guest room with its closed door. Sitting on the floor, Beca knocked lightly. “Em, it’s Beca. You don’t have to say anything; let me do the talking. I know you feel awful right now. I know you’re hiding for Aubrey’s sake. But she’s really worried, Em. She wants to help you, but you won’t let her. Hiding won’t make you feel better; it’ll only leave you lonely.” She paused as she heard movement inside. “If you come out to talk to Bree, Chloe and I will leave so you have privacy. But we can’t leave while Aubrey is still so upset. I’m gonna go see how they are. We’ll be here when you’re ready.” There was more movement, but no answer. Beca stood and found Chloe and Aubrey in the kitchen, the blonde shakily sipping a glass of wine.
“Did she say anything?” Aubrey asked, desperation in her voice.
Beca shook her head. “No, but I did plenty of talking. Let’s give her a bit to think about what I said.” She accepted the soda Chloe fetched her from the fridge.
Aubrey put her face in her free hand. “I hope she listens to you. What if she doesn’t come out?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Chloe answered softly.
They sat quietly for half an hour before they heard the door open. Aubrey jumped, but Chloe put a hand on her wrist. “Let her come to you on her own terms.”
Moments later, Emily shuffled in, her head down and arms wrapped around herself. She moved to stand next to her partner. “I… I’m sorry, Bree. I wish I knew how to fix this. You shouldn’t have to deal with it.”
Aubrey reached up to lay a hand along her jaw. “I’ll deal with anything to help you. Just give me a chance and don’t… don’t give up on us.”
“Can I sit with you?” Emily whispered. Aubrey took her hand and drew her down into her lap.
Beca caught Chloe’s eye and gestured with her head that they should leave. Quietly, they made their way out to the car.
***
Over the next few weeks, Beca’s free time was largely spent planning the Bellas reunion. She had found and rented a small hall and created a curated playlist that should remind them all of their college glory days. Aubrey had gotten everyone to commit to what they were bringing and forwarded the list to her.
She and Chloe kept up to date on Emily, as well. She seemed to be improving, and she hadn’t locked herself away again, but she still had days Aubrey could barely get her out of bed. Beca had arranged for them to record a few demos at work, but with Emily’s emotions bleeding into her playing, she hadn’t submitted them.
The weekend before the reunion, Chloe insisted Beca take the two days to relax. “Everything that can be done at this point has been done. There’s nothing left but the party itself.” Beca agreed, and they spent Saturday binging cooking competitions on TV. That evening, they treated themselves to dinner at a nice steakhouse and came home to drink.
Beca turned on the playlist for the party for a test run. She set it to shuffled, and accepted her drink from Chloe. “Dance with me?” she requested. Chloe giggled and they danced until their drinks ran out. Beca took their glasses for a refill while Chloe lounged across the couch. When she returned, Beca sat in from of Chloe, leaning back against her. “I hope next weekend goes well. It’s been a long time since we were all together.”
“Everything will be fine. It’ll be like our old Bellas parties. You remember how fun those were.” Chloe ran her fingers through Beca’s hair softly.
“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry I keep going on about it.”
Chloe chuckled. “No worries, love. Let me distract you…”