"Jess?" I mumbled through the doorway. She locked eyes with me as I stood stiff in the doorway, "I have some work things I need to take care of. Do you mind?" Both girls looked at each other and laughed while shrugging. "Jessica, no embarrassing stories. Don't scar the poor girl okay?" I spun quickly on my heels and headed for the car as fast as my legs would take me.

"Whoa shorty? What's going on?" Stacie set down the glass she was cleaning as soon as I stumbled in through the doorway. I lost my footing and fell flat on my stomach and every ounce of strength I had washed away as tears streamed down my face. Stacie scrambled from behind the bar and lifted me to my feet. I stared at her, mouth agape, eyes glazed over. "Becs? Talk to me."

"She deserves better than you." I repeated. The words of Chloe's mother echoed over and over in my head. "Stacie I'm so stupid. She deserves better than me. She deserves better than anything I could ever offer her." I finally focused my eyes on my best friend. Just as every nerve on my body felt like a nuclear bomb went off inside of my chest. Every rib in my chest shattered and my lungs forgot how to breathe. "I-I-I can't..." I grabbed at my chest as the edges of my vision began to go dark. "Stacie I-I can't do this!"

"Hey, now. You fucking listen to me Beca Mitchell." I struggled to squirm out of her grip with no luck. "You are the single most beautiful human being. You have such a beautiful heart. Do you remember that night that Chloe's mom showed up at the college to bring her home? All because she thought she was wasting her time on the Bella's. No one could find Chloe after she had disappeared. The Bella's were exhausted and were about to call it a night. You didn't give up, you kept searching until you found a very drunk and very broken Chloe Beale sitting in the bottom of the riff off pool. She wouldn't come home. You stayed there with her until 8 am. You were cold and afraid and you didn't leave her. Do you remember that?" My head felt like it was splitting in half.

"I remember it like it was yesterday. I was so terrified. I was afraid she was hurt and I was afraid her mom was going to take her away from us." The memory flooded my mind, a memory I had lost in the accident.

"Chloe?" I whispered as I walked up to the broken angel in front of me. "Chloe, I just wanted to say I was sorry. We should have told your mom to get lost or something. We should have protected you." Chloe wasn't looking at me. She laughed softly before she lifted a bottle to her lips. "Chloe what are you doing?" I asked horrified, I'd never seen her like this before.

"Do you remember when we met Beca?" Her voice was raspy and broken. She took a long pull again. I plopped down and took the bottle away gently. She turned her head slightly but wouldn't look at me.

"Of course I do. I thought you were the strangest, most beautiful human being I'd ever seen." I sighed. "I never imagined this is where that day would lead." I answered honestly. Chloe stared at her hands. "I was so ready to be in LA. I didn't expect this life. The Bellas or you." I shivered in the early morning light.

"My mother dropped in that day. That morning before I met you, she came by and told me that I was a waste of space and she should have given me up for adoption. That she had made the biggest mistake in the world by having me." Chloe grabbed the bottle from my hands and screwed the top off. "She left a single razor blade and a bottle of pain killers on my desk. As she walked out of my room she said that if I ever loved her I would do this one single favor for her. I had decided that I was going to kill myself that night but then I met you. You made me feel something extraordinary. It was addicting, you were addicting. Being in your presence made me forget the years of emotional torment that she made me feel. All the horrible things she said, all the bruises and cuts she left in my skin. Being around you made me feel like I had a purpose. I wanted to be your friend. It made sense. Then I fell in love with you Beca. But right now? I feel exactly as I did that day, watching my mom walk out of my room in horror. Beca? What's the point?" Chloe looked me dead in the eyes and I had to swallow hard to contain the shock when my eyes laid upon the gash underneath Chloe's sapphire eyes. I opened my mouth and closed it twice.

"Chloe, the point? I need you more now than ever and forget your fucking mom. Chlo, you are literally the most wonderful woman to ever walk this earth. You are beautiful, funny and so fucking compassionate. You love so strongly it's almost intimidating. You have this passion and desire to help other people. You never give up. I love that. The point Chloe is that I want to spend everyday of the rest of my life with you. Chloe, I want to marry you." The words flew out of my mouth before I even had time to think about it. "I was going to wait. I have a ring back at the house. This isn't at all how I planned on asking you."

"Beca." Chloe stared at me emotionless. "Ask me again if I survive the night." Chloe's words cut deep but I understood that she didn't want to make a promise she couldn't keep.

"Well, then I'll sit here with you and make sure you do." I stated as I took a pull off the bottle and leaned back on my hands.

"I remember Stacey. What do I do?" I asked with tears streaming down my face, each cutting deeper than the last. I'd never felt so lost or confused in my life. The wait of the forgotten memory weighed even heavier on my chest than I could handle.

"What are you going to do Beca? You have a decision to make. Once you make it there's no going back." Stacey stared at me, her gaze leaving a whole different kind of pain in my chest. I got up without a word and walked out the door. Staggering blindly through my tears into the road. The rain had begun to fall heavily now, the cold water was the first sense of relief I'd felt all afternoon. I pulled my phone out and dialed a number. The voice on the other end centered my breathing.

"Becs? What's up?" Chloe's voice cut through the fog. I numbness had began to creep through my soul.

"Chloe, what's the point? If I'll never be good enough for you, if I'll never truly deserve your love, what's the point?" My voice sounded foreign to me as I hit my knees in the middle of the empty street. I couldn't find the strength to move. I heard Chloe inhale.

"The point is, I want to spend everyday for the rest of my life with you." I heard her voice echo through the phone before the call ended. I looked up to see her red hair plastered to her face as I remained motionless. "I love you. I want to marry you." Chloe said with tears mixing in with raindrops on her perfect face. "I'll ask you again when you survive tonight." Her words were soft but stern as she knelt down in front of me.