"Guess who's back... Back again... I am back... Tell a friend..."

I know it's pretty unforgivable for me leaving you guys on hiatus for so long. I don't think anything I say will make it better... But hear me out?

Between my insane work hours, grad school, coaching, being a bridesmaid in three weddings (in three different widely spread out states!), and a really, really shitty breakup... I haven't really taken the time to flesh this chapter out. But alas, here it is. All these months later...

I looked back on previous chapters I've written and I've seen the influence of Christina Grimmie throughout this piece of fanfiction. I miss her. I miss her amazing talent and love of life and her genuine goodness in this sea of bad.

And in this crazy world where nothing is ever certain or safe, please know that I can't explain to each of you how much it means to me to know that something I've written impacts all of you... but THANK YOU. That's all I've ever really wanted is to know something I am doing is making someone out there in the world happy. If only for a few minutes.

Thank you for your support. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your messages. Your reviews. Your follows. Everything. It means so much.

Hope I do not disappoint with this chapter...Enjoy.

Last night

- Ryan Cabrera

You and I are the same

Perfect in our own weird way

Do you believe that things can change

Do you believe they stay the same

Beca reached over to thank the cab driver and handed him a tip as her and Chloe arrived at the police station.

The whole cab ride both girls had been listing off possibilities about how Amy and Aubrey could've landed themselves in the situation that they did and making bets about if it involved Amy unleashing the 'kraken'. The sun had just been starting to rise which meant Amy and Aubrey had been there a few hours at least.

Exiting the cab, Chloe reached down to link her fingers with Beca's and tug them towards the door.

Beca's voice caught in her throat at the emotion slowing overcoming her at everything that had happened in the past several hours, so much so that it stopped her in her tracks.

"Chlo," Beca whispered in place, her anxiety getting the best of her.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked looking at Beca's fidgety actions.

"I-I just want to make sure, I want to make sure we are okay, are-are we okay?" Beca questioned looking at the ground. After their…. Festivities…. They really hadn't gotten to sort much out, other than the complete memorization of the way each other's bodies looked, felt, and worked to a science. Oh, and other than Beca repeatedly saying those three words to Chloe that she had never used with another human being. But other than that, everything was seemingly… normal.

"Bec…." Chloe questioned. "We will figure it out, we will figure everything out," Chloe said reassuringly. She hated how insecure Beca still was.

"I-I'm not going anywhere, okay? Like, until you tell me to get out of your life, I'm not leaving, I promise you that, I really need you to know that," Beca said completely certain fighting the welling in her eyes. She had said it over the past month with Chloe and she said it to Chloe last night, but still. She needed to say it.

"Why don't we talk about this later, Bec," Chloe said as Beca nodded in understanding feeling some of the anxiety lift off her chest. Chloe pushed her forward towards the entrance of the police station, but as soon as Beca went to grab the door from Chloe, the redhead spun around surprising Beca.

"And remember that thing you told me about Beale's always pushing harder?" Chloe said.

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to be some kind of sex joke or…" Beca said with a smirk.

"Shut up! Oh my God Ms. Mitchell, I totally did not even think that way!" Chloe said with a shove to Beca's shoulder and Beca swore she saw Chloe's cheeks redden, but maybe that was the color of the sky mixed in with her still flushed face.

"Well, that's a first," Beca grinned, thankful for the fact that Chloe hadn't seemed offended at her comment.

"You know what I meant, and I will keep pushing harder, I'm a Beale," Chloe said with a wink and walked through the door, tugging Beca along behind her.

"That's what she said," Beca said with a slight jab to Chloe's side.

"I'm rethinking everything!" Chloe giggled.

As soon as Beca went to ask for Aubrey and Amy to the guard at the reception area, they spotted Stacie waiting in the small lobby area.

"Beca! Chloe!" Stacie shouted from the metal chair and approaching with Cynthia Rose. "It's about fucking time you bitches showed up!"

"Ma'am, I told you, you'll be joining your friends if you don't stop with the language," the guard warned.

"Oh please, Brian, like you'd be able to lock me up, unless you're into that of course," Stacie said back with a wink.

"STACIE! Jesus, please explain what in the hell could've possibly happened in just a few hours, I thought you guys had it under control," Beca huffed.

"I don't know shorty, why don't you tell us?" Cynthia Rose said looking over Beca's still slightly flushed face, still out of place hair, and still half crooked smile.

"Was that an answer? Please tell me I'm not in charge of calling Jesse, please don't make me call Jesse…." Beca grumbled.

"Well… I mean…. If these stupid police would just let them leave, it'd really be no big deal, I mean… I didn't even know these were like actual laws, I think it's like a Vegas thin-"

"STACIE!" Chloe yelled.

"Okay, fine…. Apparently it's frowned upon to take your shirt off and spin it around your head like a helicopter," Stacie said.

"Amy didn't do that…" Beca said covering her eyes in disbelief.

"No, you're right, AMY didn't…" Cynthia Rose laughed.

"My best friend did not do that…" Chloe said trying not to laugh.

"Oh, not only that, the shirt hit an undercover cop that was on duty in the face and let's just say he was less than impressed," Stacie laughed.

"What about Amy?" Beca questioned.

"Wellllllllllllllll… Remember that time Bumper threw a burrito at her off the bus?" Cynthia Rose said.

"Yeah…She threw a burrito at someone?" Beca asked as she realized Chloe's fingers were still linked with hers.

"Well not a burrito exactly… a loaded hot dog," Stacie said.

"You're serious?" Beca said.

"Oh, and not just any someone… that cop that arrested Aubrey, she said it was illegal to arrest someone at their bachelorette party," Cynthia Rose added.

"Oh my God," Chloe said in disbelief.

"Ummm…. Yeah and one more thing…." Stacie said biting her lip, she knew this would cause a rise.

"Well, look who it is… Chlo, couldn't stay away from the best lovin' you ever had for too long could ya?" Brad said as he was escorted out of the police holding room by an officer.

"This is God, this is God testing me…" Beca said under her breath darting daggers towards Brad.

"Brad, what the hell," Chloe asked confused and pulled Beca closer to her side. She was afraid. And afraid that the brunette might do something stupid.

"I'm sure your blonde friends will tell you all about it, unless of course, you wanna get out of here and we can go have breakfast and I will tell you myself," Brad said with a wink to Chloe. It made her uncomfortable, but it wasn't the first time a guy had made her uncomfortable. She usually didn't have someone to stand behind though to try to deflect the attention.

Chloe didn't seem like the type that steered away from attention, but she found it hard to take a compliment. She usually seemed cool, collected, and confident. But those who knew Chloe, knew how introverted she would become in situations like these. It's why she often found herself in situations like this.

But never did Beca allow her to have to deal with people being disrespectful to her, and never, never did Beca make her feel disrespected. The brunette always went out of her way to make Chloe feel safe. She realized at that moment the same brunette had been trying to get her attention. Perhaps, in their years apart, this was the thing Chloe had missed the most of all.

"Chlo? You went somewhere for a minute, are you okay?" Beca whispered close to her ear after realizing this encounter was rattling Chloe. The anger that Beca had felt towards Brad had dissipated at her concern for the redhead.

"I-uh-yes. I'm-I'm fine," Chloe nodded.

"Did-did you want to go with him? It's fine if you do, but you seem afraid-or-something-or," Beca rambled, she didn't want to step in again unless Chloe gave her the go-ahead.

Last time Beca had stepped in, she had pissed Chloe off and she didn't want to overstep her boundaries just when they were getting back on track.

"Beca-Beca, no-please-no," Chloe said clinging to Beca and cowering behind her a bit going into her shell.

It had been a really long time since Beca had seen Chloe in this frightened state other than the night she had been at the after party with Brad. In fact, last time Beca had seen it first hand was with some douche-bag in college who grabbed the small of Chloe's back at a small party off-campus. She remembered the cold chill she felt shake her whole being when Chloe's eyes had locked with hers and she had felt Chloe's fear for her. Not only fear, but an overwhelming urge to always protect those bright blue eyes from anything that could ever potentially harm her.

"Brad, I'd gladly like to say for the both of us, kindly fuck off and try not to get hit by a bus on the way out," Beca said with a grin – but a glare intact to let him know she meant business.

"Alright Chloe, I'll listen to your little messenger," Brad smirked shooting Chloe one last wink. "Can't wait until you hear how I got in here with your buddies," he said with one last look before leaving the station.

"Let the door hit you in the ass on the way out," Stacie shouted after him while flipping him off.

"Ma'am! Language! Last time I warn you," the guard yelled to Stacie.

Chloe hated this part of herself. She hated that she was getting worked up over a guy that she regretted even sleeping with… but she had many regrets about that aspect of herself. Panic attacks came more frequently than she would ever like to admit. She normally dealt with them on her own finding Billie as her comfort, she wasn't used to someone standing next to her – grounding her to the floor.

"Hey-hey, Chlo, breathe. Breathe," Beca said tucking some red hair behind Chloe's ear.

"Be-Beca…." Chloe said breathing labored.

"Come on, let's sit you down," Beca said wiping the sweat from Chloe's forehead and leading her by the small of her back to the nearby bench in the lobby. "Good, breathe in and out."

Beca sat next to Chloe rubbing her back up and down for a few minutes until Chloe's face color and breathing returned to normal.

"Th-thanks Beca," Chloe said gripping Beca's arm and leaning into her neck to breathe the familiar scent.

"How long? How long have you been having those? You scared me," Beca whispered running her fingers through Chloe's curls.

"I-I don't know, a few years, Billie has always comforted me before," Chloe said with a shrug.

"Don't act like this isn't serious, you scared me," Beca said again.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Chloe said with a kiss to Beca's cheek. "Stop worrying."

"I'll always worry about you," Beca said kissing their linked fingers.

"Don't mean to interrupt you two, but we can go get the fugitives now," Cynthia Rose said.

"Let's go get those hellians," Chloe said with a giggle jumping up, placing her mega-watt smile intact. Beca was jealous of Chloe's quick recovery in most things, including the fact that she never looked like she was upset or crying at all.

Stacie and Cynthia Rose led the way down the hall, but concern was still etched on Beca's face.

"Chlo, we are talking about that later, you're not getting out of that so easy," Beca said tugging Chloe's hand back.

"What? Are you a 'Beale' now? Pushing me harder?" Chloe said with a sweet smile at Beca's concern.

"You didn't have a problem with that last night, Ms. Beale," Beca said huskily near her ear. The softened tone sent shivers down her spine.

"Oh my God!" Chloe laughed with a jab to Beca's shoulder.

It was still early in the morning by the time they had left the station and gotten a cab back to the hotel, but they had a flight back to L.A. to get ready for.

"Thanks for bailing us out, but if we could never speak of this again, that'd be aca-awesome," Aubrey embarrassingly stated, sunglasses still covering her eyes, as they all walked down the hall of the hotel.

"Please! If you think we aren't going to tell that story for decades, you are definitely mistaken blondie," Beca exclaimed. "Actually, I'm about to go down my contacts list in my phone and call everyone I know."

"Um, not so fast, Mitchell," Aubrey said snatching the iPhone from Beca's grasp.

"HEY!" Beca pouted.

"What happens in Vegas, does not stay in Vegas!" Cynthia Rose joked.

"So, Bree, you're telling me that Brad ended up there all because YOU threw a drink in his face? Seriously? That doesn't even make sense…. And, by the way, aren't you like a fancy-pants lawyer, wonder how that'll look on your record," Chloe teased.

"I still can't believe you two got arrested and somehow Lily is just in the room like nothing happened," Beca said shaking her head in disbelief.

"She's a sneaky little wrangla, that one, can't trust that Asian, she's probably been here plotting all along," Amy said stuffing a muffin in her face.

"Where'd you get that muffin? Nevermind, I don't want to know the answer to that," Beca said as they all strolled in Aubrey and Jess's room.

Lily and Jess were gathering up items in the hotel room. Well, Jess was. Lily was hanging off the end of the bed with her hair spewed in a million directions, yet, her bangs were somehow perfectly in place.

"No, Amy, while you idiots were out getting arrested we decided someone needed to pack for the plane we need to leave for…. In ONE hour," Jess said bustling around the room and looking at her watch.

"I pack like a ninja warrior," Lily whispered pointing to the remainder of the bags already packed by the door.

"Such…. Bright… lights…" Aubrey mumbled, sunglasses still on as she threw herself onto the bed.

Chloe walked to the kitchen and began looking through her bag for the container of Tylenol she had. She got a cup of water from the sink and went and handed two tablets and the water to Aubrey.

"And THIS is why Chloe is my Maid of Honor, do you guys see this?" Aubrey said sitting up to take the pills. Chloe chuckled and tapped at Beca's leg to sit on the floor in front of the brunette leaning her back against Beca's front.

"Yeah, yeah, we are all over here taking notes," Amy said as she lay starfished on the floor.

"Oh, right, Beca… We took a vote, you have to call Jesse," Stacie said pointedly at the brunette.

"Wait… what? You guys voted? Were you in on this?" Beca said turning to the redhead who was sitting between her legs in front of her.

"I swear I had no idea there was a vote, Bec," Chloe giggled in her arms.

"Well DUH! We couldn't ask Chloe for her vote, you two were both MIA, don't think we aren't coming back to that later," Stacie added.

"Okay, but why do I have to call him? Can't we just tell him later when he gets us at the airport?" Beca interrupted with a pout.

"You owe me Mitchell, remember my bridal shower?" Aubrey grunted from the bed.

"SO not fair Posen-soon-to-be-Swanson-devil-lady," Beca huffed, giving a pat to Chloe's hip as she got up to go across the hall.

"Thanks shortie," Cynthia Rose bellowed.

"Aubrey, you can't use that again for like…. Six months," Beca yelled from the hallway slamming the door to her and Chloe's room.

"So, red, let's get back to you and the little one being MIA, were you going at it like dingos? Or even better like koalas?" Amy asked.

"Seriously, Amy? You guys JUST got arrested… Shouldn't you be worried about…I don't know…Calling Bumper? Not worrying about me and Beca?" Chloe puffed.

"Ummmm…. Yeah. But that's not nearly as exciting as the possibility of Bloe, everyone loves a good Bloe," Amy continued.

"UM, HELLO! Why is no one else getting ready? We need to leave soon, people!" Jess said cramming clothes into her bag. "CHOP! CHOP!"

"Jess is right, I'm going to go start getting my stuff together, you guys help my best friend out please," Chloe threatened to the others as Aubrey still lay groaning in bed.

When Chloe walked back into her and Beca's room she saw Beca pacing the huge bathroom explaining their short jail visit to Jesse on the phone. She chuckled a bit as she saw Beca scratching the back of her neck and heard her stumbling over her words.

She decided to start getting her stuff together while Beca was on the phone. Sitting herself on the couch, she grabbed her bag and placed her pajamas and makeup bag in it. She stopped to take a deep breath and try to replay the past 24 hours. Everything had changed so drastically, but Beca always felt like coming home and she'd been lost for so long.

She chanced a look to Beca, who happened to be sitting on the bathroom sink and eyeing Chloe down, Chloe assumed she must be getting quite the earful from Jesse. Beca winked to her and started back into her conversation with Jesse.

Chloe's heart still fluttered at just the small act by the brunette, it was so easy to see why she was so successful and adored by her fans.

She noticed something peeking out from the corner of Beca's bag by the bed and walked over to further investigate.

There that photo was, Beca had said she carried it with her everywhere, but it really was here, in her hotel bag, in Vegas. Chloe picked it up to carefully inspect it yet again, the corners were completely worn, almost white around all the edges of the frame. It sent a tingle throughout her whole body at feeling so important to someone.

Chloe doesn't know how long she had been sitting there, and she doesn't know when exactly the tears began forming, but she knew why Beca loved that photo so much. Anyone with eyes could see how genuinely happy the two people looked.

"Chloe?" Beca said slowly approaching and sitting on the bed next to her. "What's going on, you're crying…"

"I'm scared Beca, I'm scared of what you make me feel and if you'll leave again… I almost didn't make it the first time," Chloe sobbed louder, keeping her eyes trained on the photo in her hands.

"Chlo…." Beca whispered leaning to tuck some red strands behind her ear.

"You just… left. You left me. I'm just scared that you'll do what you did before and I'll just wake up one day and you'll be-you'll be-go-gone," Chloe said between cries. "You just left me that note, and you didn't even tell me you had the deal… you just-just left."

Beca felt the tears forming in her own eyes and took a minute to think of how to respond to convince Chloe she was IN this. She always let her mixes speak for her, but this time, she needed to use her own words to convey to Chloe just how important she was. How important Chloe always was. How important Chloe would always be.

"Okay, first, breathe. Deep breath," Beca soothingly said trying to get Chloe's breathing to return to normal.

Once Chloe calmed slightly, she leaned over and grabbed the frame from Chloe's grip and placed it back in her bag. She hated that she had made the redhead feel this vulnerable. Beca turned on the bed to fully face the redhead and began rubbing the hands in her grasp slowly.

"I would never do that to you again, Chloe. Last night… Last night was incredible, but I want that to be how we spend all of our nights. I want to make you feel loved and special every day. You deserve that. You deserve that so much. And I will spend every last day I have on this Earth proving to you that I will never leave you again, not without a promise to always come back. Because I will, I always come back to you. I love you Chloe Beale. I've never said those words to another person besides you. I love you. I think I've loved you from the moment I saw you at the activities fair. I told you this last night and I meant it, you're it for me. You always have been, and I will fight with everything I have in me to prove I am enough for you, that I belong," Beca said with conviction.

"Bec, you DO belong, I got that tattooed on my body for crying out loud, you're home to me, Beca. And I don't ever want to feel like I don't have a home again, I-I can-can't do that again," Chloe said through tears.

"And I will never make you go through that again, I know that I'm nearly impossible, but you make me better, you make me feel like I DO belong," Beca added kissing Chloe's knuckles.

The room was silent for a moment as Beca let her process everything she had said. In college during silences, Chloe always made Beca sing despite her protests. After a while, Chloe didn't even have to ask anymore, Beca would just start singing softly.

She found herself doing it now. Her former "badass" self would've given this girl such a hard time.

I watch you spin around in your highest heels

You are the best one, of the best ones

We all look like we feel

And Beca definitely couldn't stop the smile on her face as the redhead joined her in the next line.

You have stolen my…

You have stolen my heart.

Their harmony still gave her chills throughout her body. It was just another thing she would never get used to. The ideas were exploding in her head about how to keep the redhead in the studio full-time.

Chloe slowly leaned in to press her lips to Beca's; the salty taste was on both their lips.

"ACA-PITCHES! We can hear your lady harmonization from the hall! You're making the Hunter want to go out and play," Stacie yelled.

"YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE LIMO LEAVES, PITCHES!" Amy yelled with a sharp thump to the door. "Ouch, damnit Lily what the hell, I thought your telepathy powers worked and the door would open."

They heard Aubrey groaning and Lily whispering.

"Yeah, yeah, we will be down, sorry we took your key Lily!" Chloe yelled to the closed door.

"Ms. Beale, how did you steal that key back, you little sneak!" Beca grinned.

"I have my ways, don't you worry about that," Chloe smirked back and made her way to gather the rest of her clothes. Some of it was still strewn across the room from being shed the previous night.

The next few minutes they worked in silence to pack their things hurriedly and make it down to the lobby to wait for the limo. They arrived in style; they may as well leave in it too.

While waiting outside the hotel for the limo to pull around, a small crowd had gathered and the whispers started around them. Chloe could hear people asking if that was THEE Beca Mitchell and THEE Jess Jakle.

"Hey, Bec?" Chloe said uncertainly tugging the brunette's hand.

"What's wrong? Did you forget something in the room?" Beca said turning to her. She had been glancing around at the crowd but made sure to keep her hand locked to Chloe's to feel grounded.

"I-um-I love you, too, you know?" Chloe said weakly.

"I know you do, I've always known," Beca said with a smile connecting their lips softly. Chloe swore she saw camera flashes.

"People can see us," Chloe blushed.

"I don't care," Beca said pressing another quick kiss to the redhead's lips before grabbing Chloe's bag and handing both of theirs to the limo driver.

They all piled into the limo and let out a sigh.

Aubrey had still never let the sunglasses leave her eyes and fell back against the seat curling into a ball.

"Amy! No!" Beca said as she watched the blonde leaning over to pop a bottle of champagne.

"Um, yes! We came in style, we are gonna leave that way too, little shortstack," Amy said back as they all heard the bottle pop.

"Might as well pour me a glass too, then," Aubrey said with a groan.

"Yeah, nothing says style like getting arrested," Beca smirked and begrudgingly took the glass being handed to her by a very threatening-looking Lily. She figured she was better off just taking it.

"To Aubrey's unforgettable weekend," Cynthia Rose said as they all raised their glasses for the toast.

"Definitely unforgettable," Chloe said in a whisper kissing Beca's cheek.

Yeah.

Definitely unforgettable Beca agreed.

Last night's the last time
I'll shut my eyes
I wanna leave my best side behind when I go
I want you to know that last night's the last time I'll run and hide
I wanna believe I lived my life on fire when I go

So, there it is. Songs used: Last Night - Ryan Cabrera, and the song they sang together was Stolen by Dashboard Confessional.

Thank you for sticking with me.

Leave a review if you fancy?