It was lonely in the house when everyone was gone. Well Cian was upstairs but he and Chloe don't talk all that much. Nella wasn't all that great company either, despite how cute she was dressed in her lime-green onesie. She was on a steady sleep-eat-cuddle schedule that kept Chloe busy but the same routine was growing a bit boring. She loved Nella dearly but she missed hanging out with Aubrey or having late night chats with Beca.

Beca had been distant lately. Chloe understood it, Beca didn't know how to act around babies. It scared her but Chloe was still a bit lonely. She tried texting Aubrey last night but she never got a reply. Some best-friend, too afraid of her father's opinion to stick up for her.

Her friends gave her a lot of space. They thought that's what she needed, time to bond with the baby and catch up on sleep but in reality Chloe was bored. There was never anything on TV, she had no one to text and her newborn baby wasn't exactly much of a conversationalist.

"Nella Bella what are we going to do?" Chloe asked the babe. She played with her feet lightly bouncing them up and down. Nella squirmed a little, flopping her chubby arms against the sofa.

She was a month old today. She'd most definitely gotten bigger. She was still in newborn clothes. They had a better fit though, Chloe didn't have to roll the sleeves up umpteen times anymore. It kinda made Chloe sad, her tiny doll wasn't as tiny anymore.

It was nice outside today. It was really warm for late spring. Chloe considered taking Nella out the back garden. The most sun Nella has seen was the walk from the house into the car and back. It might be nice, relax in the sun for a bit but Chloe was still terrified that Nella might get burnt too badly or catch some weird disease, so inside they remained following their tired routine of feeds and cuddles.

Chloe sighed and picked up her phone. 10:30. Another four and a half hours until Beca is home. That is if she was even going to acknowledge Chloe when she did come home. Lately she was running up to bedroom and camping out there until dinner was ready. Before Nella, Chloe would have simply followed her up but Chloe has a sneaking suspicion that Beca doesn't want her to follow. Chloe understood that and she respected it but she still missed Beca.

Beca was the one that helped her feel like she belonged in this house and without her, Chloe felt like she was on uneven ground again. That they were all just waiting 4 months until Chloe turned 18 before casting her away. She could try going home. They've had time to calm down after the whole debacle. Maybe they'd be happy to see Chloe again and be willing to accept Nella. Chloe might even find it in her to forgive them. She definitely could.

She can't see her father changing his mind though. He made his decision and her mother would never go against it. Alice never even once tried to call her and see if she was safe. She had seen Chloe at school before Nella was born. She knew that she had found somewhere to stay but she never asked where, never even said hi. Everything just felt incredibly lonely right now. Even though she was surrounded by people she knew cared about her, she felt like she didn't fit in. She knew she didn't.

Beca drummed her fingers along the table at lunch. She sat with Fat Amy and Stacie but she was barely in the conversation. They were talking about something that had happened in art that morning. Beca didn't really care too much. She didn't do art. She can't draw for shit, it was common knowledge amongst her friends. She did history instead, it was probably her biggest regret. It was her weakest subject and she hated basically everyone in the class. It was good for napping though. The annoying neighbour boy would always try and start conversations with her, he never quiets got the message that Beca would rather sleep than talk to him.

It felt weird sitting with Chloe's friends without Chloe. Before she and Chloe became friends and Chloe unofficially welcomed her into their group Beca used to just sit at the back of the cafeteria and keep to herself. She was never really apart of a "girl group" before then. She watched with annoyance as she watched Aubrey march head high down the rows of tables before plonking herself on front of Beca.

She had a school lunch, today was lasagna. Beca never understood why if Aubrey was so rich she didn't just bring in her own fancy lunch. She seems like more of a fennel-salad person than a greasy-school-lunch-lasagna one. Beca knew that Aubrey was just here to get her Chloe fix from Beca, she couldn't care less about the brunette.

It confused Beca that Aubrey can act like she and Chloe are still best friends in school and bombard her with questions about Nella when she never gives the redhead a call.

"So how was Chloe and baby this morning?" Aubrey asked with a smile that Beca doubted was genuine. Beca shrugged her shoulders and looked away from the prim-proper blonde.

"I was in a rush, I didn't really get to see them much." Beca grumbled, picking at the skin around her thumb. It was only half-a-lie but a lie that Aubrey saw through. She gave Beca a skeptical look, her sea-green eyes squinting. Beca tried not to look too intimidated under her frightening gaze.

"Maybe you should wake up earlier." Aubrey suggested with a condescending tone as she began unwrapping her knife and fork from their plastic covering.

"Maybe you should call your 'best friend' instead of asking me how she is all the time." Beca grumbled under her breath.

"Excuse you?!" Aubrey asked angrily. Beca looked up. Aubrey's face was twisted in shock and anger. "Chloe knows I can't call her. She understands. Maybe you should keep your stupid opinions out of it!"

Beca smirked slightly as she watched Aubrey move down the table sitting next to Stacie instead. Hopefully that put an end to the irritating Nella questions. She could vaguely hear Aubrey moaning to Stacie about her and asking her if she thought that Chloe was upset with her.

The annoying neighbour boy walked over to their table. "Hey, what was that all about?" He asked Beca. Beca rolled her eyes and scoffed. Of course he'd have the audacity to ask.

"It's really not any of your business." Beca told him before standing up from the table and walking outside.

Their school let them eat lunch outside as long as it was on school grounds. Beca thought it was stupid and that they should just let them go home for lunch. Normally the only people who are outside are the people who are really into sport and the people really into weed. Beca was neither of those but she needed to get out of there.

Yes those girls have grown on her greatly over the last 9 months but they weren't her friends. Beca didn't need friends, she didn't have friends before Chloe and that was fine.

"Hey wait up." She heard from behind her. Beca groaned loudly and reluctantly turned around.

"What do you want, Jesse?" Beca asked tiredly. He had a goofy smile on his face and was struggling to keep him book bag on one shoulder.

"You just looked pretty annoyed back there I'm just making sure everything was okay."

Beca could tell that he genuinely cared and that pissed her off. She constantly shits on him and he still cares.

"Yeah I'm fine you don't have to worry about me." She tells him before stomping off again. She runs a hand through her hair.

She sits down on the steps of the bleachers. They weren't really allowed wander that far, especially when they were in the middle of a season but Beca didn't care.

"Hey!" Beca heard a voice. She groaned expecting to see a teacher but instead locked eyes with some senior she recognised. She never spoke to him before. She knew that he came to the school through the same program as Amy but she didn't know where he was from. "Aren't you friends with that pregnant girl?" He asked lighting a cigarette casually. He had an English accent.

Beca sighed, this was her reputation after nearly two years of being in the school. "She's not pregnant anymore so…" She stood up from the bleachers and was about to make her way to find somewhere else to hide.

"You want one?" He asked taking a drag.

"One what?" Beca asked confused. These types of people rarely spoke to anyone else in the school let alone her.

"A smoke." He clarified as he pulled one out of the box. Beca stared at him in confusion. Why her? Why now?

"Um.." Beca said unsure of what to do.

"You ever smoke before?" He asked her. Beca shook her head no. Luke smirked, before announcing, "I'll teach you."

He handed Beca the cigarette between his two fingers and light it for her.

"Suck in, hold it, breath in a bit deeper, blow out." He instructed. Beca did as told before coughing loudly.

"I'm not very good." She said in an attempt to hand him back the cigarette.

"Go on try again." He egged, so Beca did. "It's Luke by the way"

Chloe looked up at the clock, it was 3:15. Beca and Kayla should've been home by now. Claire doesn't get home from work until 6:00 tonight. She sighed, she was looking forward to the pair coming home. Even if Beca wasn't in the mood to talk to her, Kayla was always good company.

She grabbed her phone and soaked Beca's number. It rang through, leading her to Beca's voicemail. Chloe sighed and hung up. Maybe she got held back after school, she wasn't the most angelic student, or Kayla's bus could be late.

Chloe debated asking Cian if there was something on after school but decided not to. She never quite felt secure around him lately. She saw on snapchat that all of their friends were home from school, so where was Beca? Reluctantly she texted Stacie asking if she'd seen Beca at the end of school. Stacie was probably the closest to Beca in their group, Chloe thought she used to be but lately she's not so certain.

She was surprised when Stacie started calling her. The most she had heard from her friends was the occasional text in the group chat and the odd snapchat since they came to visit her.

"Hey Stacie." Chloe said softly, Nella was asleep next to her.

"Has Beca not come home yet?" Stacie asked nervously. Chloe was alarmed at the concern that was laced in Stacie's voice.

"No, she's meant to pick Kayla up but they aren't home yet." Chloe told Stacie. "Did something happen at school today?"

"I didn't think it was big. Beca and Aubrey had a 'fight' at lunch and Beca stormed off. She wasn't in class then afterwards so we figured she went home." Stacie told her.

"Oh my god. What if something happened?" Chloe asked nervously. "What about Kayla, oh god?"

"Calm down, Chlo." Stacie's voice was assertive. It was mostly just to calm Chloe down since she was worried too. "I'm sure Beca is fine. She's probably just burning steam. She'll be back soon."

"I think this is my fault?" Chloe said helplessly as she stood up and began to pace.

"Why? What'd you do?" Stacie asked confused, Beca never mentioned being annoyed or fighting with Chloe.

"She's been avoiding me lately, I don't know what I did but I think I did something. I have to get Kayla."

"I'll pick Kayla up for her." Stacie offered.

Stacie lived a half hour away whereas Chloe was only a ten minute walk. As much as she didn't want to bring Nella out yet she'd have to or else the twelve year old would be left standing at a busstop.

"Thanks Stace, but I don't want her waiting outside that much longer. God, where on earth is Beca?"

"I promise if I hear from her you're the first person I tell." Stacie promised.

"Thanks, I'll talk to you." Chloe said and hung up the phone.

Chloe surrounded the sleeping baby with pillows in case she suddenly decided to learn how to roll over before heading upstairs to find the baby carrier.

She never bought Nella a stroller, she never had any real use for it until now. It was pretty warm outside so Chloe prayed the baby wouldn't burn. She had a tiny sun hat protecting her face but that was it. She tried as carefully as she could to place her in the baby carrier without waking her up but it didn't work. A whimper escaped the tiny baby and she began to cry after being rudely awoken.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, go back to sleep." Chloe whispered as she rubbed down her tiny button nose. It didn't put her to sleep but she quietened down and snuggled in against Chloe's chest, she grabbed two handfuls of Chloe's shirt and stayed like that.

The pair walked as quick as they could to Kayla's bus stop to find the twelve year old sitting boredly at the pavement. The twelve year old knew her own way home and was more than capable of doing so but Claire was very adamant that Beca had to walk her home, it was safer. Brandon used to do the same for Beca and Cian when they were younger before he moved out.

Chloe managed the 10 minute walk in seven minutes and she was pretty proud of that considering she was carrying 10 pounds on the front of her.

"Chloe?" Kayla asked confused. She wiped her shorts clean and picked up her book bag. "Where's Beca?"

"She's running late, sorry you had to wait so long." Chloe answered quickly. Kayla didn't need to know that her sister had been missing from school since lunch and had forgotten to pick her up from the bus stop.

"Oh." Kayla mumbled. "Nella's hat is cute." She said changing the subject.

Luke worked part time at the local radio station. They didn't broadcast pretty far but they let him chose the tracks that did get air time. Beca thought that was pretty cool. He offered to show it to her sometime.

The pair of them were sitting in Luke's car. Before lunch was over they both left and got McDonalds. They'd been driving about since then, just listening to music. Luke's music style was a lot similar to Beca's.

Beca was actually enjoying spending time with someone who wasn't constantly asking her about Chloe or Nella. She felt a bit guilty, for not wanting to talk about Chloe but she was fed up with it.

"So Beca I've told you all about me, now it's your turn." Luke told her.

"What's there to tell? Um…. I want to produce music. Once I'm finished senior year I'm headed straight to L.A." Beca offered.

"You don't like it here in Atlanta?" Luke asked jokingly.

"I don't like it here in Georgia." Beca barked back. It was a truly horrid state. "I don't understand why you came on exchange here of all places."

"Take what you get." Luke answered with a shrug. "Do you drink?" He asked Beca glancing over at her before returning his gaze to the road.

"Man you're really corrupting me today aren't you." Beca laughed.

"I didn't mean it like that. Just a couple of friends of mine are having a party on Saturday. I was wondering if you want to come." He asked

Beca was surprised. She'd never been to a real high school party before, let alone invited to one by an English exchange student she'd met that day. "Yeah I'll see if I'm free." Beca mumbled.

"Put your number in here and let me know. I'd love to see you there." He said as he passed his phone over to Beca. Beca went to put her number in when she saw the time.

"Oh my god is it 4:30?!" She asked surprised.

Luke looked up at the clock on the dash and nodded. "Why you gotta be somewhere?" He asked

"I was meant to pick my little sister up from school two hours ago." Beca groaned rubbing her eyes. Kayla was going to snitch on her and her mom is going to find out she ditched school.

"You need me to drop you home?" Luke asked. Beca sighed and nodded. She knew this bliss was too good to last.

"Please."

She gave him the address at 15 minutes later she was home, thankfully she noticed the time before her mom finished work.

"Thanks for the ride." She muttered before jumping out of the car and towards the door.

Before she could even put her key in the door Kayla swung the door open. A bitter look plastered across her face. "Where were you?" She asked angrily.

"Omigod, relax. I got caught up at school, you know actual important stuff." Beca lied and pushed Kayla out of the way. Kayla scoffed angrily.

"Well you could've let me know." Kayla told her angrily before stomping up the stairs into their bedroom. Beca sighed. She couldn't hide from Chloe and Kayla since Kayla had stolen her hiding spot.

"Where were you Becs?" Chloe asked her, she appeared in the doorway into the living room after Kayla stormed off. Nella was perched on her chest very much alert for once.

"You heard, I was caught up at school." Beca told her. Chloe looked at her disappointed.

"Why are you lying to me, Beca?" She asked sadly. You could see it clearly in her eyes. Beca never wanted to upset Chloe, she'd never want that, she isn't even too sure why she felt the need to lie to Chloe too. "I know you left school at lunch."

"Did Aubrey finally call you just to tell you that?" Beca asked, deflecting the question.

"Aubrey? What? No. Stacie told me, she's worried about you too. Where were you?" Chloe asked confused about Beca's accusation.

"I wish everyone would just mind their own business." Beca groaned moving past Chloe to get into the kitchen.

Chloe sighed and sat on the sofa watching as Beca got herself a bottle of water. "I can't help it if I worry about you Beca." Chloe mumbled.

"I was just out with a friend, happy?" Beca asked condescendingly. Chloe's brow furrowed, she can't understand why Beca is being so cold with her.

"Who? It wasn't any of the girls." Chloe asked skeptically.

"Look can we just drop this?" Beca asked.

"I don't understand why you won't tell me!" Chloe yelled angrily startling Nella. The baby let out a soft whimper before starting to wail. Chloe sighed and Beca grumbled. Chloe stood up and rocked Nella gently up on her chest glaring accusingly at Beca.

"Don't blame me, you're the one that yelled." Beca claimed defensively.

"Only because you won't tell me anything anymore." Chloe grunted in frustration. "Beca I have no one!" Chloe cried angry tears forming in her eyes.

"Oh my god, do you even hear yourself? Chloe you have everyone. My own mother pays more attention to you than she does any of her real kids. All I hear every day at school is 'how's Chloe doing' and you're telling me you've no one. You literally have a tiny person with you all the time! Please, I have no one." Beca retaliated.

Chloe stared at her dumbfounded. How can Beca stand there and claim these things. "Fine. Enjoy having no one, I'm going upstairs." Chloe told her calmly as she collected Nella's stuff awkwardly as she tried to calm her cries and walked upstairs.

Beca rested her elbows on the countertop and buried her face in her hands. She doesn't want to fight with Chloe, she never wants to fight with Chloe.

A.N so that's Chapter 5.

I was also wondering if anyone knows what colour Aubrey's eyes are. I wrote that they were green because I think they look green but on the wiki it says blue. Confuses me a little.

Please leave a review if you have any suggestions or if you liked it, you're support is always appreciated. Until next time