It was just past 7:30 am on a foggy Friday morning when Beca Mitchell said goodbye to her mother and stepped onto the ferry that would take her into downtown Seattle. She had visited with her mom for the last few days and now had to return to her press tour for her debut album. She was scheduled to be on Seattle's iHeart Radio show that morning and then had various press interviews that afternoon.

Beca was hoping if she kept busy today she wouldn't have to think about what happened one year ago today. She stood at the second deck railing staring out into the waters of Puget Sound trying to think of anything but Chloe Beale. She had no control over it, so her memory went back to that day exactly one year ago. They were in Paris and Beca had just given her first solo appearance.

Beca couldn't believe that she and Chloe had finally gotten together a few weeks before the USO tour. Beca had just finished her first solo concert and was on a high when she spotted Chloe walking toward the back of the Citadel. She followed after Chloe, ready to take her girlfriend to the celebration that DJ Khaled's label had planned for her. She saw Chloe go through an arch and followed her. Her heart dropped as soon as she stepped through the arch. There, in front of her, was Chloe kissing Chicago.

"What the hell, Chloe?"

Chloe pulled back from the kiss and looked at Beca. She asked Chicago to give them a minute. He nodded his head and walked away. Chloe looked at Beca.

"I'm sorry, Beca, but I didn't mean for you to see that before I had a chance to talk to you," Chloe said nervously seeing the pained look in Beca's eyes. "I didn't want to say anything earlier because I didn't want to mess up your performance. I think, I, um. I think I need some time to figure some things out."

"Figure out what exactly?"

"Figure out what my feelings are for Chicago. And you."

"What's that supposed to mean? I thought you loved me."

"I did, do," Chloe told her unable to look her in the eye. "I do, but, I also have strong feelings for Chicago. Since you're going to L.A., I thought I'd stay here with him for another week and see how things go."

Beca felt her heart shatter and her eyes teared up. "You told me you were in love with me."

"So much is changing. You're going to be in L.A.; I'm starting Vet School in New York. I don't know, Beca. It's all so confusing, and I'm not sure about anything anymore."

"So, just like that? You no longer love me, but some guy who you've known for all of five days. You can't be with me because I'll be L.A. and you'll be in New York. But, you can be with a guy who's on the other side of the world from you."

"I'm sorry, Beca. I can't explain it, but there's just something about him. It just happened. It has nothing to do with how I feel about you."

"It has everything to do with how you feel about me," Beca yelled. "Or should I say, how you don't feel about me?"

Chloe stood with tears falling down her cheeks. "I don't want to hurt you, but I feel like I owe it to myself to see where this thing with Chicago goes. I'm sorry. No matter what happens, I hope we can still at least be friends."

"Are you serious?" Beca was hurt and angry. "What do you expect me to do? Leave you here and go off to L.A. and sit and wait for you to decide to fully dump me over the phone or by text? No thanks! Stay with Chicago and don't worry about me. I'm done!" Beca turned and walked away from Chloe. She yelled back over her shoulder, "Oh, and as for being friends, fuck you!"

Beca heard Chloe let out a sob as she continued to walk away. She listened, but Chloe never called out her name like she used to whenever Beca walked away from her. She didn't let the tears fall until she was almost back to the hotel.

A little while later, Beca found Theo and told him she wanted to fly to L.A. immediately. Theo made the arrangements and had Beca on a plane early the next morning. She avoided everyone and turned off her phone. She ignored texts and phone calls, especially those from Chloe and the Bellas. She never looked at or listened to any of them. Once she was in L.A., she got a new phone and new number and never looked back.

Beca hadn't spoken to Chloe, or any of the Bellas for that matter, since that day. Amy and Aubrey both tried to reach her through the label, but she gave the receptionist a list of people who she did not want to talk to, no matter what. The list consisted of Chloe and all the other Bellas. She half expected Amy and Aubrey to show up at the studio one day, but they haven't.

Beca was brought out of her thoughts when the ferry lurched causing her to grab the railing to keep from falling. Suddenly, the ferry lurched again and she was thrown to the deck. She tried to stand and grabbed onto a doorway. There was a loud noise and she was thrown into an inside observation room. She hit her head on something and then there was nothing but darkness.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

It was just past 2:00 pm in Atlanta when Chloe found herself sitting at the bar she, Stacie and Aubrey had become regulars at since it was just a few blocks from their shared apartment. She knocked back another tequila shot and slammed the glass down on the bar.

"Another," she said getting the bartender's attention.

The guy sitting two seats away from her was watching her. "Are you celebrating something? Or trying to drink away a memory?"

"Trying to drink away a memory," Chloe said and downed the shot.

"May I ask what memory?"

"One year ago today is the day I lost my best friend and the love of my life. She was my everything, and I lost her because of some guy who turned out to be a major dick and married."

"Wow," the guy said. "If you're not with the guy, why haven't you tried reaching out to her? Sometimes a simple apology goes a long way."

"She ghosted me," Chloe replied twirling her finger around her glass to let the bartender know she wanted another. "Cut me totally out of her life."

"Can't say that I blame her," the guy said. At Chloe's glare, he held up his hands saying, "Sorry."

"It's okay. You're right and I don't blame her either," Chloe said. "I just wish I had the courage to find her and beg her to forgive me. Even if she doesn't love me anymore, we were once best friends. I miss that. I miss her."

The guy took a sip of his drink and heard the sounds of a phone ringing. He looked over at Chloe since it sounded like it was coming from her direction. Chloe hadn't made a move to answer it.

"Your phone is ringing," the guy told Chloe.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

Beca's head jerked up and she sputtered. The water was all around her and she was being held up by something or someone. Her head was killing her and she had no idea what was happening. She put her hand to her head and groaned.

"You hit your head," a voice said close to Beca's ear.

Startled, she tried to look over her shoulder but couldn't see because it was fairly dark.

"I'm Ben," the voice said.

"Beca," Beca told him. "What happened? How long was I out?"

"Something hit the ferry," Ben said. "Or the ferry hit something. Whichever, the ferry partially sank. We're in an air pocket somewhere inside the ferry. I was thrown around quite a bit, so I have no idea where. I think you've been out for about an hour, maybe a little longer."

Beca let this information sink in. She tried to look around but could only see flashes of sunlight reflecting in the water. They were silent and Beca felt herself wanting to close her eyes. Beca could feel herself relaxing and then stiffening.

She took a deep breath and said, "We're not getting out of this, are we?" Beca's voice was thick with tears.

"Don't think like that," Ben said. "I believe we're going to make it."

Beca realized Ben was supporting her entire weight. "I can swim," Beca said. "You can let go of me."

"Only for a few minutes," Ben said. "And only because my arms are feeling kind of numb."

Ben loosened his grip on Beca and she moved her arms to keep herself afloat. Beca's eyes adjusted to the dark and could see that Ben's head and shoulders were above the water. Ben reached his arms up and shook them a few times. He then rubbed up and down his arms.

"How are you not sinking?," Beca asked looking at him.

"I'm standing on what I think is a table," Ben said. "We're in a large air pocket so we should be okay. I don't want you to have to try and stay afloat on your own. So, please give me a couple of minutes, and I'll hold you up again. I'm worried about that hit you took to the head and I don't want you tiring yourself out."

"How did you come to be holding onto me?," Beca asked.

"I kept struggling and finally made it out of the water into this air pocket and then you popped up next to me," Ben said. "Not gonna lie, I thought you were dead at first. I turned you over to check and you took a breath, so I found something to set my feet on and started keeping your head above water."

"Thank you for that," Beca said. Beca tired quickly and let out a yawn.

"I've got you," Ben said pulling Beca back to him. "Close your eyes and rest. You're going to need all the strength you can to get out of here."

"What about you?," Beca said. "You can't keep holding me up. You're going to get tired again."

"I had some time to think while you were out and I've got an idea," Ben said. "I'm standing on a table. I'm guessing there are other tables in the water. What if I can find another one and stack it on top of this one? We might be able to sit and keep our heads above water."

"I'm kind of short. You might need a third table," Beca said and laughed.

Ben chuckled. "I think we'll be fine with two."

It was dark and Beca could barely see Ben's features, but she could tell he was worried.

"We can both get the table," Beca said.

"Okay," Ben said. "You hold onto my belt and we'll go together. Are you ready?"

"No," Beca said. "But, let's do it anyway."

Ben let go of Beca and she grabbed his belt. They both went under the water. Ben led the way and ran into an object and determined it was another table. They maneuvered it next to their original table but had to resurface for air.

They were both breathing heavy and waited until their breathing had settled. "We just need to lift the table and stack on top of the other. We shouldn't have to be underwater as long as last time. You ready?"

"Ready," Beca said.

They both dipped back under the water and managed to maneuver the table on top of the other. They resurfaced and Beca sat cross-legged on the table. The water was up to her chest but she felt better knowing Ben was more comfortable.

Beca put her hand to her head and Ben told her it was okay for her to rest. Beca was afraid to close her eyes, but before she knew it, she had dozed off. She jerked awake after and was sitting between Ben's legs with her back to him. Ben had his arms wrapped around her waist, holding onto her. The water was now up to her shoulders.

"Sorry," Beca said. "I'm just really tired."

Ben didn't say anything. They stayed quiet for a bit.

"I called my wife," Ben said softly. "Just in case we don't, um. Anyway, my phone's waterproof. Is there anyone you want to call?"

Beca let out a small sob. She really wanted to call Chloe and tell her she still loved her and that she was sorry for walking away.

"No," Beca said.

"It might make you feel better about things," Ben said.

"Could I just talk to you about it?," Beca asked.

"Sure," Ben said. "Tell me whatever you want."

Beca moved out of Ben's arms and sat cross-legged facing him. She spent what felt like an hour telling Ben all about Chloe. How they met, even the shower incident. She told him about how she finally told Chloe how she felt about her and Chloe had told her she felt the same way. She stopped for a moment.

"You can stop," Ben said. "I don't need to hear any more."

"No," Beca said. "It still hurts but it's part of our story."

"Then tell me," Ben said.

Beca then recounted how they ended up in Europe on a USO tour. And, about how she found Chloe kissing Chicago and how Chloe had decided to stay behind to see how things went with him.

"That must have sucked," Ben said.

Beca chuckled. "Maybe a little."

Ben started to say something when it felt like the ferry dropped and the tables they were sitting on shifted throwing them both into the water. Beca fell backward and Ben tried to grab her but his weight caused the table to fall toward him and they lost each other in the water.

Beca felt like she bounced off the table leg and then was being turned this way and that; she didn't know which way was up. She panicked slightly but finally managed to get her head above the water line and took in a big breath of air. She kept herself afloat and coughed a bit before her breathing returned to somewhat normal. The air pocket she was in felt smaller than before. She pushed the hair off her face and began to panic when she realized that Ben hadn't surfaced.

"Ben!"

Beca went back under the water to see if she could find Ben. She came back up and went down again until breathing became an issue and she had to stop. It was too dark to see and she hadn't been able to find Ben. The tears came and Beca started feeling dizzy. She shook her head to clear it.

"I'm going to make that phone call now," Beca mumbled. She had trouble keeping her head above water as she reached to pull her phone out of her jacket pocket. She managed to get her phone out and sunk down into the water. She struggled back up. She laughed and cried for a bit when her head popped out of the water. "I'm glad I paid extra for the waterproof phone," she said and laughed a laugh that was tinged with both a little bit of humor and a whole lot of hysteria.

Beca fought down her panic and found Chloe's number. She was glad she put all the Bellas' numbers back in a few months ago. It was during one of those odd times she thought about calling and changed her mind. She took a deep breath before pressing the call button. The phone started ringing.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

"Your phone is ringing," the guy told Chloe.

"Let 'em call back," Chloe said and got the bartender's attention.

The bartender walked over and set a bottle of water in front of Chloe and walked away.

"This isn't what I wanted," Chloe yelled after him.

"Aubrey's on her way," the bartender told her.

Chloe huffed and tried to stand up, only to flop back down on her stool. She decided to sit there and drink the water.

"Chloe," Aubrey said and sighed when she spotted her best friend.

"Brey, leave me alone," Chloe said teary-eyed. "I just need this today. Please?"

Chloe started crying and Aubrey paid her tab. She helped Chloe up and led her out of the bar to her car. She buckled Chloe in and got behind the wheel and drove off.

"Have you eaten today?," Aubrey asked. Chloe remained silent. "Let's get some food in you and then I'll take you home."

"I just want Beca," Chloe cried. "It's been a year, Brey. One year today. I should never have kissed Chicago. I should never have told Beca I was staying with him. I should never have let her walk away." Chloe let out a sob and let the tears fall. "I still love her, Brey. Why did I have to fuck it up so bad with her? She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you," Aubrey said.

"Then why did she shut me out of her life?"

"She didn't just shut you out of her life," Aubrey snapped at her."She shut us all out."

"I never thought she'd run away and just erase me, us, from her life," Chloe said.

"She was upset by what happened between you two. I don't want to be a bitch, Chloe, but you broke her heart. Something you swore you would never do. And for what? Some married douchebag who just wanted to get into your pants? You're smarter than that."

"Apparently not," Chloe mumbled and stared out the window.