Chloe - POV

I walked in the door of my penthouse apartment and kicked off my shoes. I dropped the mail on the kitchen counter and poured myself a glass of wine. I sat down at the counter and went through the mail. There was a green envelope with a return address from Aubrey Posen. I opened it and found an invitation to a 5 year reunion for the members of the Barden Bellas that Aubrey Posen had put together. The first all female group to win the ICCA National Championship. It was going to be held in Atlanta, near Barden University.

I looked at the invitation. I hadn't really seen or spoken to any of the Bellas since I graduated 5 years ago. Aubrey and I had been best friends all through college but we hadn't really kept in touch for the past few years. I had no one to blame for this but myself. After what I did to Beca Mitchell, none of the Bellas really wanted to have anything to do with me. I felt so guilty about what happened that I stopped talking to Aubrey because she was still friends with Beca and I couldn't handle it.

I've been keeping tabs on all the Bellas; especially Aubrey and Beca. Aubrey had become a lawyer and was working for her father's law firm in Chicago. Beca had made it big as a music producer and artist in LA. She had already won about 8 music awards for her own albums as well as for producing other artists in the 5 short years she'd be in LA. I knew where they were and what they were doing. What I didn't know is if either of them wanted to even see or speak to me again.

I put the invitation down, and picking up my wine glass, I thought back to the last time I saw Beca Mitchell.

****5 Years Ago (Barden University Graduation)****

I had been standing and looking around hoping to find Beca so I could talk to her before my dad found me. Suddenly, Aubrey and Beca both came up to me.

Aubrey hugged me first. "Chlo!," she said. "Can you believe it - we're college graduates!"

"I know," I said, "I didn't think we'd ever get here."

Aubrey moved aside and Beca grabbed me in a hug. She kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear, "Congratulations, babe!"

I was about to ask Beca if we could go somewhere to talk when I heard someone calling my name. I looked around and saw my dad and Ray walking toward us. I subtly moved away from Beca and turned and ran into my father's arms. He grabbed me up and said, "We're so proud of you, Chloe."

Ray stood back and just smiled at us. I turned back to Beca and Aubrey. "Daddy," I said, "You remember Aubrey?"

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Beale," Aubrey said.

"Nice to see you, too, Aubrey," my dad said.

"And this is Beca Mitchell," I said pointing to Beca. "She's my, um, other best friend."

I noticed that Beca had a hurt look in her eyes when I introduced her as my "other best friend." I looked at her pleadingly with a "just go with it" look.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Beale," Beca said.

"Pleasure's all mine," my dad said and shook Beca's hand. My dad then turned to me and pointed at Ray and said, "Chloe! Where are your manners? Aren't you going to introduce your fiance to your friends?"

"Shit," I thought. "This is not how this was supposed to happen." I noticed that when my dad said the word fiance, both Beca and Aubrey's heads shot up looking at me."Um, yeah," I said. "Sorry about that. Ray, these are my two best friends Aubrey Posen and Beca Mitchell. Aubrey, Beca, this is my, um, fiance Ray Matthews."

"Nice to meet you both," said Ray reaching out to shake hands.

"Nice to meet you, too," Aubrey said shaking his hand.

He reached his hand out toward Beca. Beca looked at his hand and looked over at me. I couldn't look at her and was staring at the ground.

Beca finally shook Ray's hand and quietly said, "Nice to meet you, too."

Ray put his arm around my waist and stood there grinning like an idiot. All I wanted to do was grab Beca and tell her it wasn't what it looked like. I didn't though. I just stood there like a coward. I could see tears forming in Beca's eyes as she looked directly at me and said, "I really need to go. I'm supposed to meet some, um, friends and I don't want to be late."

I noticed how she put extra emphasis on the word "friends" and my heart sank. I touched her arm and said, "Becs," but before I could say anything else Beca shrugged my hand off, said, "Don't!" and quickly walked away.

I watched her leave, tears forming in my eyes. Aubrey watched Beca leave and looked at me. "You have some serious explaining to do," she mouthed to me and walked off.

"You two ready for lunch, Chlo?," my dad asked looking at me and Ray.

Before I could say anything, Ray squeezed my waist and said "Let's go. I'm starving."

****End of Flashback****

I wiped the tears from my face and poured another glass of wine. "Don't." That was the last thing Beca had ever said to me her. I had gone to look for Beca the next morning to try and explain things but she was gone. All of her stuff had been packed up and taken away while everyone was out at the various graduation parties the night before. She didn't say goodbye or tell anyone where she was going. I tried texting and calling her for days but Beca never responded. Beca finally had her number disconnected.

Five years after graduation and I was not necessarily where I wanted to be, but where I was, according to my father, supposed to be. My father had spent the first 2 years after I graduated grooming me to be his successor as the President and CEO of the Beale Corporation. My father resigned from the post 3 years ago and I took over.

The first thing I did was to divorce Ray, my husband of less than two years. It wasn't a real marriage in any sense of the word. It was an business arrangement that our fathers made to bring together the two family corporations. The Matthews' played my father; their business was in worse shape than we knew. The ink had barely dried on our Marriage Certificate when the Matthews' used the Beale name to get millions of dollars in loans to keep their company on their feet. After a year the loans were due and the Matthews' couldn't pay. I convinced her dad to buy the loans and take complete control of the Matthews Company.

Ray had cheated on me every chance he got. Not that I cared; I didn't want him. I hired a private detective to get proof of his infidelity and received a folder that was 4 inches thick on all of his indiscretions. I was able to use it to keep him from contesting the divorce. Although it still took me paying him 5 million dollars to just walk away before our marriage was officially over.

I picked up the invitation and decided to call Aubrey. Who knows maybe Aubrey will forgive me for being a lousy friend and, maybe, just maybe, she'll know if Beca is going to attend the reunion.

Aubrey - POV

"Aubrey Posen," I said as I answered my phone.

"Hi, Aubrey," Chloe said. "It's Chloe. Chloe Beale."

"Chloe? How are you?," I asked.

"I'm good," Chloe responded. "I got the invitation to the Bellas reunion and wanted to RSVP. I will be attending and look forward to seeing everyone."

"That's good to hear," I said. "Will you be bringing your husband?"

"Uh, no," Chloe said and added, "We're divorced so it will just be me."

"Oh," was all I could think to say.

"So, has anyone else RSVPed yet?," Chloe asked, trying to be nonchalant.

"Just you, Jessica, and Ashley so far," I told her. I knew what Chloe was really asking, but I wasn't going to tell her that Beca had agreed to not only attend but to perform as well. I also wasn't going to be the one to tell her that Beca was bringing a plus one.

"Oh," said Chloe. "Um, it will be great to see them."

There is silence as neither girl could think of what to say next.

Chloe took a deep breath and sighed. "I miss you, Brey," she said tears forming in her eyes. "I've been a really shitty friend and have no excuse for not keeping in touch."

"I miss you too, Chlo," I told her honestly. "I'm not exactly friend of the year either. I could have tried to stay in touch as well, and I didn't. I guess the whole trying to keep my friendships with you and Beca separate just made it easy to not pursue you when you stopped calling."

"I felt the same way," Chloe said. "I couldn't stand that you were still friends. I wanted to ask you about her every time we talked. It just hurt too much."

"I get it, Chlo," I tell her. "But now that we're talking, let's keep in touch. You were, are, my best friend and I don't want to lose you again."

"Thanks, Brey," Chloe said. "I have to go but we'll talk again, soon. Okay?"

"Definitely," I said. "Bye, Chlo."

I hung up the phone and thought back to our graduation day.

****5 Years Ago (Barden University Graduation)****

I found Beca wandering around in search of Chloe. She finds me first and hugs me saying, "Congratulations, Brey!,"

"Thanks, Mitchell," I said. "Have you seen Chloe?"

Chloe and Beca had been dating since practically the first day of the school year. They met and just clicked. Chloe had asked Beca to keep their relationship quiet until she could get her family used to her dating a girl. Beca still had not met the Beale family and Chloe had not told them about Beca.

"No," Beca said. "I've been looking for her but haven't found her yet. We can look for her together."

We walked around for about 5 minutes before we found the redhead standing and looking around.

We went up to Chloe and I hugged her first. "Chlo!," I said. "Can you believe it - we're college graduates!"

"I know," said Chloe. "I didn't think we'd ever get here."

I moved aside and Beca grabbed Chloe in a hug. She kissed her on the cheek and whispered something in Chloe's ear.

Chloe pulled out of the hug and was about to speak when someone called her name. She looked around and saw her dad and another younger man walking toward her. She turned and ran into her father's arms. He grabbed her up and said, "We're so proud of you Chloe."

The young man stood back and just smiled at them. "Daddy," Chloe said, "You remember Aubrey?"

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Beale," I said.

"Nice to see you, too, Aubrey," Mr. Beale said.

"And this is Beca Mitchell," Chloe said pointing to Beca. "She's my, um, other best friend."

I noticed that Chloe had introduced Beca as her "friend." I could see it bothered Beca; a lot.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Beale," Beca said.

"Pleasure's all mine," said Mr. Beale shaking Beca's hand. He turned to Chloe and pointed at the other man that was with him and said, "Chloe! Where are your manners? Aren't you going to introduce your fiance to your friends?"

At the word fiance, my head shot up to look at Chloe. "Um, yeah," Chloe said. "Sorry about that. Ray, these are my two best friends Aubrey Posen and Beca Mitchell. Aubrey, Beca, this is my, um, fiance, Ray Matthews."

"Nice to meet you both," said Ray reaching out to shake hands.

"Nice to meet you, too," I said politely, shaking his hand.

He reached his hand out toward Beca. Beca looked at his hand and looked over at Chloe. Chloe was staring at the ground and wouldn't look at her.

Beca limply shook Ray's hand and quietly said, "Nice to meet you, too."

Beca and Chloe's demeanor both changed. I don't know what was going on with Chloe but I could see Beca shutting down. I saw what looked like tears in Beca's eyes. She looked directly at Chloe and said, "I really need to go. I'm supposed to meet some, um, friends and I don't want to be late."

I noticed, and I'm sure Chloe did too, that Beca put extra emphasis on the word 'friends." Chloe reached out for Beca and said, "Becs," but before she could say anything else Beca shrugged her off and said, "Don't!" and walked away.

Chloe just watched her leave, tears forming in her eyes. I watched the scene unfold. Chloe and I looked at each other. "You have some serious explaining to do," I mouthed to Chloe and walked off to search for Beca.

I wasn't able to catch up with Beca. The next day she was gone and no one knew where she went. I texted and called her. She texted back and just said "I'm fine. Please don't contact me anymore." I heard it was the same message she sent to all the Bellas who tried to reach her. All the Bellas except for Chloe. She never responded to any of the texts or voicemail messages that Chloe sent.

****Back to the Present****

I shook my head at the memory. Chloe had told me the next day, when I had come back to our apartment to find Chloe sobbing, that Beca was gone .

I heard from Beca 6 months after graduation. Beca was in need of a lawyer because she was already becoming well known and wanted to know if our firm could handle some legal work for her. Our firm didn't have anyone who handled entertainment law but I was able to recommend a firm that was in LA. We've kept in touch ever since.

Beca - POV

"We need one more take," I told Adele. "Pick it up from the first chorus and that should do it."

"Alright," said Adele.

I finished the recording for Adele and did my 'magic' to make it into a multi-platinum selling song.

I love her job. I had only been at it for 5 years and had become the fastest rising music producer in the U.S. winning 8 grammys so far. I was also doing quite well with my own albums, winning 2 grammys, including "Best New Artist."

I stretched and finally decided to call it a day. I needed to head home and work out the show I was going to perform at the Bellas reunion. I was really surprised when Aubrey asked me to attend the entire weekend reunion, as well as perform. I didn't think any of the Bellas would want to see me after I just up abd left without a word. Aubrey and I spoke of it quite a bit and Aubrey made me see that I shouldn't cut all of the Bellas out of my life just because of what happened between me and Chloe.

Ah, Chloe. I honestly thought she was "the one." Right up until the day I found out about Chloe's fiance. I had been totally blindsided and left Barden that same night without a word to anyone.

****5 Years Ago (Barden University Graduation)****

Aubrey found me wandering around in search of Chloe. I hugged Aubrey and said, "Congratulations, Brey!,"

"Thanks, Mitchell," she said. "Have you seen Chloe?"

Chloe and I had been dating since the first day we met. She had tried to get me to audition for the Barden Bellas. I laughed at her and got called a bitch by Aubrey (and yet I still auditioned and got in). Before I left the Bellas booth I asked Chloe for her number. I was surprised when she gave it to me and I called her that afternoon to ask her out. She said yes and we had been together ever since. Chloe had asked me to keep our relationship quiet (only the Bellas and my dad knew about us). She said she needed to get her family used to her dating a girl. It seemed like fate was against us because our schedules for going home never meshed, and then Chloe's dad got sick around Christmas/New Year's. I still had not met anyone from the Beale family and Chloe had not told them about us either. I figured today would finally be the day I would get to meet Chloe's family as her girlfriend.

"No, I've been looking for her but haven't found her yet. We can look for her together."

We walked around for about 5 minutes before we found the beautiful redhead standing and looking around.

We went up to Chloe and Aubrey hugged her first. "Chlo!," she said. "Can you believe it - we're college graduates!"

"I know," said Chloe. "I didn't think we'd ever get here."

Aubrey moved aside and I grabbed Chloe in a hug. I kissed her on the cheek and whispered, "Congratulations, babe."

Chloe pulled out of the hug and looked like she was about to say something when she heard someone calling her name. She let me got and looked around and saw two men, one of whom I presumed was her dad, walking toward us. The other was younger and I thought maybe it could be her brother. She turned and ran into her father's arms. The older man grabbed her up and said, "We're so proud of you Chloe."

The young man stood back and just smiled at them. "Daddy," Chloe said, "You remember Aubrey?"

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Beale," Aubrey said.

"Nice to see you, too, Aubrey," Mr. Beale said.

"And this is Beca Mitchell," Chloe said pointing to me. "She's my, um, other best friend."

WTF? Chloe had introduced me as her "friend." It bothered me; a lot.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Beale," I said politely.

"Pleasure's all mine," said Mr. Beale shaking my hand. He turned to Chloe and pointed at the other man that was with him and said, "Chloe! Where are your manners? Aren't you going to introduce your fiance to your friends?"

At the word fiance, my heart shattered. I wanted to say something, but all I could do was look at Chloe. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. Chloe would not look at me.

"Um, yeah," Chloe said. "Sorry about that. Ray, these are my two best friends Aubrey Posen and Beca Mitchell. Aubrey, Beca, this is my, um, fiance, Ray Matthews."

"Nice to meet you both," said Ray reaching out to shake hands.

"Nice to meet you, too," Aubrey said politely, shaking his hand.

He reached his hand out toward me. I looked at his hand and looked over at Chloe. Chloe was staring at the ground and still wouldn't look at me. I knew right then that there no longer was an "us."

I limply shook Ray's hand and quietly said, "Nice to meet you, too."

I needed to get out of there. I knew the tears would start falling and I didn't want to have to explain why I was crying. I looked directly at Chloe, forcing her to finally look at me, and said, "I really need to go. I'm supposed to meet some, um, friends and I don't want to be late."

I made sure to put extra emphasis on the word 'friends." Chloe reached out for me and said, "Becs," but before she could say anything else I shrugged her off and said, "Don't!" and walked away.

I went straight to my dad's house and told him I needed to leave for LA immediately. I was crying so hard that it took a while to finally tell him what had happened with Chloe. He understood and went with me to my dorm to pack up my stuff. I was grateful that everyone was out celebrating at the various graduation parties so no one would know what I was doing. I didn't see or speak to any of the Bellas before I left.

I stayed at my dad's that night. My dad drove me to the airport early the next morning for my flight to LA. He also took care of shipping all my stuff to me.

The Bellas, including Aubrey and Chloe, texted and called but I ignored them. I finally decided to let Aubrey and the Bellas know I was okay and asked that they stop trying to contact me. I never responded to any of Chloe's texts or voicemail messages. I finally got tired of her constant texts and phone calls and cancelled my number. I got a new one but only gave it out to very few people. I didn't want to hear from her. I heard her wedding took place about 6 months after graduation.

****Back to the Present****

I arrived home and dropped her keys in the bowl near the door. Suddenly, I was engulfed in a hug that pushed me up against the door.

"I'm so glad you're home," Trish told me. "I'm starving and I was waiting for you so we could eat together."

"You should have eaten," I said with some concern. "Did you take your medicine?"

"It's only a little late," Trish said. "Don't worry about it. Let's eat."

"Okay, okay," I said and followed Trish into the kitchen. I helped her sit down at the counter.

"You stay put," I told her. "I'll get fix our plates. You want water or juice to drink?"

"Water, please," Trish responded.

I got two bottles of water out of the refrigerator and placed them on the counter. I watched as Trish opened one of the bottles and took a drink. My thoughts went back to when we first met six months ago. We had become fast friends and now we were engaged.