It's the last day of February and Chloe is sitting in the Concord Theatre with Aubrey and the rest of the Bellas in the seats reserved for them. The Trebles and the other a capella groups are there impatiently waiting as well.

There's nobody else in the theatre yet, and Chloe wonders if they've all been played. Well at least if they have been, it isn't just the Bellas. It's three minutes to seven, and Chloe can see Aubrey's knees shaking. Chloe's honestly worried about their chances in this competition. She knows Aubrey's been really excited for it, but their second performance is almost as boring as their other one.

Chloe really wants Beca to be there with them, but they had received another letter with a confidentiality agreement in it that they all had to sign and send back to the label or be disqualified from the competition. All the Bellas had readily signed the agreements and Aubrey had sent them back ASAP. Sadly, that meand that Beca isn't even allowed to be there. If only she had been able to convince Aubrey and Beca that Beca should be a Bella for this.

"Hello, ladies and gentleman," a man says as he walkd onto the stage. "My name is Gavin Truman, I'm a producer for Hawke records and I will be one of the people judging you today. There are four other judges here today, I'll introduce them momentarily. We're going to have you guys run through your first performances. When you're done, the other judges and I will make comments and ask questions. When you're not performing we ask that you remain in your seats and watch the other groups perform. After the first set of performances we'll break for about an hour. You can eat, go for a walk, do whatever you want, just make sure you're all back in time for the next set as we will not wait for any missing members. Any groups missing members when we reconvene will have the options of carrying on without them or drop out altogether. I personally suggest you use the break to incorporate any suggestions we might have offered after your first performance. The second set of performances will carry on exactly like the first set, although we will change the order of performances. At the end of the night, we will eliminate one group from the running and ask them to leave. The remaining groups will hear the details concerning the next round. Any questions before I introduce the people who will be judging you?"

Chloe wants to ask why this is only open to the a capella groups at Barden. Surely they could have used groups like Pentatonix or Straight No Chaser. But Chloe, to her credit, keeps her mouth shut, and without a reminder from Aubrey.

"Good," Gavin says. "First off, we have the CEO of Hawke Records, Mr. Paul White. He's been in the industry for more years than he would care to admit, and I value my job too much to admit them for him."

Paul looks younger than they could possibly be implying. Chloe thinks he couldn't be more than thirty. He's tall, perfectly tan with a full head of dirty blonde hair.

"Right then, I really don't need to be here," Paul says. "But we've never done something like this before, and I'm excited about where this could lead us. So please, try and make this worth my while."

"Next we have our featured artist, herself," Gavin says as Paul takes a seat in the auditorium somewhere further back, where Chloe can't see at the moment. "Taylor Monroe. She knows exactly what she wants, so this is the lady you want to impress."

Chloe hears Bumper yelling something as Taylor comes out onto the stage. She's glad she can't actually hear what he's saying.

"What's up?" Taylor says. "I used to be in an a capella group when I was younger, so I'm really excited to be incorporating a bit of it into my album."

Taylor takes a seat, probably near Paul, and Gavin introduces Martin Little, one of the A&R execs.

"Our final judge is a fellow student of yours here at Barden University," Gavin says. "She's our newest employee, and our youngest one at that, but she has an amazing ear and we're sure she's going to rise pretty quickly in the music industry. Give it up for Beca Mitchell."

Chloe's jaw drops. Like hits the floor and keeps going, drops. She watches as her girlfriend shuffles onto the stage. "Uh, hi," Beca stammers out. "Gotta say an intro like that, is pretty cool." Beca looks around at all the other groups before finding Chloe's eyes and beaming at her. "I can't believe this is happening, I'm just gonna find my seat," Beca says as she shuffles off the stage, but not before shooting a wink Chloe's way.

"Chloe is this a set up?" Aubrey whispers.

Chloe shakes her head. "No, I had no idea she was going to be here. I didn't even know she got a job with Hawke Records, but it explains so much, now that I think about it."

"Why wouldn't she tell you?" Aubrey asks.

"Well, I'm gonna guess because of this. She probably can't show favoritism," Chloe says.

"Do you think they know?" Aubrey asks.

"I'm not sure," Chloe says. "I think they have to; I don't think Beca would risk a shot at her dream job by withholding information."

"Okay then," Gavin says. He looks down at a notecard in his hand. "We're going to start with the Barden Bellas," he says. "You've got three minutes to prep, and then you're on."

Chloe goes to stand with the rest of the Bellas on the stage as they wait nervously for the comments from the judges.

"Have I seen you guys before?" Martin asks. "That routine seems awfully familiar."

Chloe feels Aubrey's hand tighten around her own as she sees Beca's head fall into her hands and Taylor Monroe's eyes light up in recognition. This is going to be a long night.

"I'm a little hesitant on the song choices," Martin says, "I like that they're classics, but I'm hoping your next performance shows us something a little more modern. Your timing was on point, and your vocals were good. Your choreography isn't bad, but it isn't great either. Taylor?"

"First, I want to say that if your captains can stay after, I'd love to talk to them," Taylor says. "I've definitely seen you guys on Youtube. I really like that you're an all female group, but your performance was a bit stale. I want to see you guys do something with more of a club beat. Beca?"

"So let me start off by saying that just because I know you guys, doesn't mean I'm going to take it easy on you. That being said, Chloe, I love you, and I know you love your vocal range, but I can hear you straining. You're going to want to start singing Alto instead of Soprano. For now, it's going to sound better and preserve your voice," Beca says.

Chloe's eyes widen. She's not sure that Beca's even registered that she's said it, but Chloe certainly did. She's not entirely focused on the rest of Beca's speech. She hears it, but it doesn't entirely process because all she can think about it how Beca's just said she loves her.

"Ashley, you were a little flat in that final verse, and Denise you were sharp during the whole first song. Your set is tired. Like so tired, it makes me want to fall asleep and nap," Beca says. "Paul?"

Chloe had wanted to go talk to Beca during their hour break, but Aubrey had grabbed her and the rest of the Bellas and gone into full on Captain mode immediately. When Chloe had gone to protest, she looked over at Beca who was deep in conversation with the other judges.

Now Chloe is antsy, because she really just wants Beca in her arms right now, but they've just finished their final performance and the judges are ripping into them.

"Beca?" Chloe hears Gavin say.

There's silence, as Chloe sees Beca looking out over the Bellas.

"I'm disappointed," Beca says, "Because the only real difference between this performance and your earlier performance is that you fixed the couple of pitch issues I pointed out to you. It's the same type of music, the same style of choreography, the same soloists. And because I know you guys, I know you're not reaching the potential that you have. Because Aubrey, I've heard the rasp you can put in your voice, and Cynthia Rose, I've heard your flow in the practice rooms, and Lily, I've heard you practicing with Donald, and Chloe, I know you love how high you can go, but I think you overlook how low you can go. I'd really like to see you girls branch out a little more and utilize all the talent that you have in your group."

"I wanna hear your flow," Chloe hears Taylor pipe in.

Beca laughs.

"Ladies and gentlemen please excuse us while we deliberate," Paul says.

Chloe watches Beca as she and the Bellas make their way back to their seats. It's only a couple minutes before Gavin comes back to the stage.

"Thank you for all your hard work and your time tonight," Gavin says. "The first group advancing to the next round are the Treblemakers."

Chloe had seen that coming. After all, they are the reigning National Champions. And even though Chloe hates to admit it, they always put on a good performance. She thinks they would be much more tolerable if Bumper wasn't such a ginormous git. Oh and Jesse. Yeah, Jesse still pisses her off too.

"Also advancing to the next round, the BU Harmonics," Gavin says.

Chloe's starting to get nervous, because she seriously thought they would rank above the BU Harmonics. They'd never really entered her mind as competition before. It had always been the Bellas and the Treblemakers competing against each other.

Chloe lets out a nervous breath when they announce that The High Notes had been eliminated and the Bellas were moving onto the next round.

The next round, as it turns out, will be two days after semi-finals. Gavin had stipulated that for the next round(s) they are not allowed to perform anything that they used tonight or in competition. They need three performances for the next round. The first one will be of their own choosing. The second will be an arrangement that all the groups will perform. And the final will be an arrangement that Beca creates specifically for each group. They are not allowed to approach Beca for any help related to the competition. And all Beca will be doing is creating and distributing the sheet music.

Chloe's excited. Partially for herself and the Bellas, but mostly for Beca. This is huge for her girlfriend and she can't wait to celebrate with her.

But first, she and Aubrey need to talk with Taylor apparently.

Aubrey and her wait patiently as Taylor talks with Paul and Gavin, then Martin and finally Beca. It's only Taylor, Aubrey, Beca and her left in the theatre. Everyone else has gone home.

Taylor looks over in their direction and smiles, she says something to Beca, and Beca looks over at them and beams. She beckons them over.

"Taylor, I'd like to formally introduce you to my beautiful and amazing girlfriend, Chloe Beale," Beca says as she wraps and arm around Chloe. Chloe shakes Taylor's hand and pulls Beca close to her. "And this is Chloe's best friend and co-captain, Aubrey Posen."

"Aubrey, Chloe, this is Taylor Monroe. I actually met her," Beca says. She looks at Chloe, "when I came back from that summer with my dad." Chloe and Taylor are both looking at Beca sadly, because they both know how hard that was for her.

"She's the one that got me this job," Beca says.

"Actually I've already met Aubrey," Taylor says.

"You have?" Chloe, Aubrey and Beca say at the same time.

"Yeah, um, two years ago your dad's step-brother married my step-mom's sister. Wow that sounds complicated?"

"Oh, you know Uncle Keith?" Aubrey says.

"Well enough to be invited to the wedding, I guess."

"Oh," Aubrey says.

"Yeah, well I should probably get going, I've got a lot of writing I need to do," Taylor says. "But it was nice meeting you guys."

"Yeah, I should probably get some work done, too," Beca says. "Now that I've got four arrangements to get done within a week. I really wish they would've given me some warning on that."

"They're big on surprises," Taylor says.

"Come on,babe," Chloe says. "Let's go home."

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