A/N: Well, first of all, Merry Christmas to my readers who celebrate it! And happy holidays to everyone else. This story is almost done (I told you it'd be short), and I'll be sad to see it go. But will definitely be an interesting finale that I'm hoping not a lot of you will expect... SOOO without further ado...

"Look, Beca, you're right. I love Tom, but I'm not in love with him anymore. Because of you. I'm in love with you."

Beca has to do a double take as she tries to process the words Chloe just spewed from her mouth. She wished she could pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but her broken arms said otherwise. She soaks in the words. Memorizes the way Chloe's voice sounded when she claimed to be in love with her. Burns the look of the pained and truthful face of Chloe into her brain. Then tries to gauge how any of that was actually possible. How Chloe could have seemingly left Tom. How Chloe felt the same way about Beca that Beca did about her. How Chloe would just throw it all away for her. How Chloe could choose her.

And she can't fathom an answer for any of those statements. Because Chloe would have never left Tom for Beca. Chloe would never give up the security she knew for four years for a person like Beca. Beca was having a hard time believing anything she just heard. Because five minutes ago, all Beca felt was her heart shattering worse than her wrists. She felt angry that Chloe had left her. She felt angry that Chloe would always get her worked up and then leave to go back to Tom. She fell in love with her best friend and now her best friend suddenly left her boyfriend and was confessing her love to Beca?

Surely, she was dreaming.

(She's not).

"Beca, please say something." Chloe pleads as she stares at the unreadable look on Beca's face.

"Why?" Was the only thing that Beca could muster up the courage to speak.

"Why what? Why say something or-"

"Why me?" Beca interrupts.

Chloe sighs loudly as she paces back and forth in front of Beca's bed. She bites her lower lip. She had never really thought of why she was in love with Beca, she just knew she was. "I can't explain it. You're just... you're just you."

"How long? How long have you had feelings towards me?"

"Since we kissed." Chloe admits as her pacing stops.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Chloe knew this was coming. Knew the question would be asked. Why would she stay with Tom when she knew she was in love with Beca? Sure, Tom was her security, but it was more in depth than that. "Because, I didn't want to lose you. Tom's future, it was secure. And you, Beca, you're a rising star. You're finally getting noticed. I didn't want to risk having you before you got whisked away to some record deal and left. Our future was uncertain."

Now, Chloe knows her answer seems a bit... outlandish. She knew for a fact Beca would probably never actually leave her. That while music was her passion, Beca would probably give it all up for her. But she doesn't know. She's never known because they've never talked about it. Chloe has always craved stability, it helps her get by. Which is why she stayed with Tom. Being with him was stable, it was secure.

But Beca... Beca had so many opportunities that Chloe didn't want to take away from her. Beca could be the huge musician she always wanted to be. Labels would seek her out and she'd leave. Or, she'd stay and give up her dreams for Chloe. And Chloe would never want that.

"Life is uncertain, Chloe." Beca states flatly. "You can't settle for 'stable' when life throws curveballs. It's always changing. You have to change with it."

"I know but..." and Chloe freezes. She freezes because she knows Beca is right. Beca's always right. Beca had every right to be skeptical, to be angry at her. She led her on for five months and now she's standing next to her bed, telling her how much she loved her and that she left Tom for her. And she knew, she knew it wouldn't be easy gaining Beca's trust after everything that transpired over the last few days.

"But?"

"I don't know." Chloe sighs as she rubs the back of her neck. "I love you. That's all I know. And I'm scared, okay?"

And Beca breaks down. She breaks down because cool, confident Chloe was scared of her feelings. And Beca was, too. Scared that it wouldn't even work out. Scared that Chloe could potentially break her heart just like she probably had Tom's, though Beca still doesn't know the full story. Scared she couldn't give Chloe what she wanted. Up until now, their relationship had been solely sexual. And while they maybe had feelings, they were pushed to the back burner and weren't brought up until the other party was gone.

And frankly, Beca doesn't know how to deal with any of this. Because one part of her wants to kiss Chloe senseless and the other part of her wants to run, just like Chloe had once.

"I- I need time to think..." Beca stutters out and she's instantly regretting it when she sees the pained look on Chloe's face. "I- I just... please, Chloe."

"Okay." Chloe says in a defeated voice. But honestly, what was she expecting? For them to just be okay after she hurt Beca?

(Well yeah, but...)

She knew that wasn't the way this would work.

"I understand." And then she's conflicted. Conflicted on if she should just leave, or show a gesture of affection to prove to Beca that she really wanted her, all of her in every aspect.

Chloe slowly and cautiously makes her way to the edge of Beca's bed, leaning forward and pressing a small kiss to the brunette's forehead before instantly pulling away, tears starting to fill her eyes. She presses her lips together in a tight smile before turning around and heading for the door. Hoping. Hoping to hear Beca tell her to stop. Hoping to hear Beca tell her they should talk about it and work it out. But she doesn't. Beca doesn't and Chloe has to stop her heart from breaking more than it already had done.

And Beca watches. She watches the love of her life walk out of the door to give her space. To give her time to think about things. She watches Chloe act in selflessness and she can't help but fall in love with her more, but with hesitation. Always with hesitation.

She needed advice.

Aubrey wakes up to the sound of her phone blaring through her apartment at 7 in the morning. She groggily groans before reaching for her, keeping her eyes shut as she answers it.

"Hello?" Aubrey yawns into the phone and waits for whoever called her to answer.

'Hi...' Chloe's shaky voice echoes through the receiver. 'I need to talk to you.'

Aubrey nods, even though the redhead can't see her and sits up in bed. She rubs her eyes before opening them and letting out a deep sigh.

"What's up, Chloe?"

And then there's silence. So much silence that Aubrey has to pull the phone away from her face to see if Chloe was still there.

She was.

"Chlo?"

'I'm in love with Beca.' Chloe flat out states before going silent again.

And Aubrey has to process what one of her best friends just told her. Because it doesn't make sense to her. She knew that Beca and Chloe had what she thought was meaningless (on Chloe's side) sex. She knew that Beca was in love with Chloe. But Chloe being in love with Beca while she was in a committed four year relationship? It hit her like a bus.

'And I'm sorry for leaving last night as quickly as I did but I- I couldn't face her. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. But...' another pause of silence. 'I just don't know what to do.'

"You need to talk to her." Aubrey admits, knowing that this was probably the only thing that would make sense to the redhead.

'I can't. She probably hates me. I would just disappoint her and break her heart more. I can't do that...' And Aubrey knows by this point that Chloe's sitting there, biting her lip, like she always does when she gets nervous.

"Why would you break her heart more?"

'Because I can't leave Tom.' Chloe says with such fear in her voice that Aubrey grows increasingly worried.

It's not that she hated Tom. She actually liked the guy, sometimes. But in the recent months, everyone had seen a behavior change in him AND in Chloe. Chloe was always worried about what he would think about the things she did that he told her not to. And Aubrey wonders how she could so easily sleep with Beca with that fear in place. And then it clicks. Love can make people do crazy things.

"Chloe, I love you, right?" She hears Chloe grunt in confirmation and continues. "I don't think your relationship with Tom is healthy, anymore. You need to leave him."

'I can't! Bree, he's been my support for four years.' Chloe defends and Aubrey rolls her eyes.

"And so has Beca. Beca's been there for you since before Tom. She's been there from the moment you became college roommates up until now." Aubrey convinces.

'I just- I can't.'

"You're not happy, anymore, Chloe. For gods sake, take a risk and be happy." Aubrey groans, quite tired of hearing everyone's excuses. "Look, at first, I told Beca not to sing the song because it would change everything. And it did... but she still took that risk in hopes you'd understand. In hopes you felt the same way. You do feel the same way, so why are you fighting this?"

'Because I'm scared that I'll end up breaking her heart regardless.' Chloe admits. 'I'm scared that I'll do to her what I did to Tom.'

Aubrey groans loudly as she tries to come up with something nice to say instead of sounding rude, but she can't. It's never been in Aubrey's nature to beat around the bush. She was as blunt as they come.

"You're not doing anyone any favors by continuing down the path you are. You're betraying Tom and leading Beca on. It's not fair to either of them. You have to make a choice."

"What would you do?" Beca asks as she sits in her bed, Jesse sitting on the edge of her bed.

"What do you mean?"

"Like okay... so let's just say for a second you were in my shoes. Let's just say that Aubrey cheated on someone for you..." Beca starts, knowing that Jesse was the most unbiased party in their group. "And she left them because she was in love with you. What would you do?"

Jesse stays silent as he tries to play out the scenario in his head. He furrows his brow before coming up with an answer he was hoping Beca agreed with. "I'd give her a chance."

"Wouldn't you be scared she'd just do it again?"

"No, no... I wouldn't. Beca, it's rare that once you're a cheater, you're always a cheater." Jesse offers. "Look, being in love with someone... it's a whole different ballpark. If they were just cheating to cheat, then yeah, I'd be concerned. But Chloe didn't cheat on Tom just to do it. She did it because she's in love with you. And maybe yeah, she should've left Tom... but we all know how stubborn she can be."

"I just don't- I don't want to give her the power to break my heart more than she has." Beca says skeptically.

"She may have the power to, Beca, but you have to trust that she won't. It's a two way street." Jesse shrugs as he scoots closer to the small brunette, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Look, from what I can see, you're both in love with each other. And it's unconventional, but you need to give love a chance before you lose it and her forever."

Beca sighs loudly. She knows Jesse is right and she kind of hates it. She hates it because Jesse had told her that she could lose Chloe forever. He shed light on her situation and she really fucking hated it.

Because if she continues being stubborn, continues fighting this just because she's scared of what Chloe could potentially do to her, then she could lose every opportunity of happiness. Every chance to be loved and love in return. And she can't stand it. The thought of losing Chloe almost scares her more than the fact that Chloe could break her heart. Because if she doesn't give it a chance, she'll never know.

And she wants to know.

Beca finds herself in front of the door of Chloe's apartment. She had only been here twice, with Aubrey and Jesse to pick Chloe up. She never felt like she belonged here and now, she was. She holds breath as she works up the courage to somehow knock. She lifts her leg, ready to kick the door lightly with her shoe when it opens.

"Beca." Tom breathes out, closing his eyes before pressing his lips together.

"Uh..." Beca draws out as she stares at Chloe's now ex boyfriend who had a small box in his hands. "I'm sorry."

She goes to turn around and leave, but Tom's voice stops her. "Wait."

Beca sighs, standing with her side facing Tom before looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"You can go in. I was just leaving." Tom says calmly and Beca's honestly shocked. She was expecting Tom to be pissed, to be mad at her, but he's not. "I, uh... didn't want to leave the house unlocked but I left my key so..."

"So, it's true." Beca whispers out, feeling a pang of guilt in her heart.

Tom nods his head and Beca turns to face him, but keeps her head lowered. "I didn't mean for this to happen, Tom. I'm so sorry."

"It was bound to happen, anyway." He shrugs, readjusting the box in his hands. "She's been in love with you for five months."

Beca just nods, staying silent as Tom moves out of the way. Beca takes his place in front of the door as he starts heading down the hallway.

"You're not mad?" Beca calls out down the hallway.

Tom stops and shakes his head. "All I want for her is to be happy. It's not like I was exactly 'boyfriend of the year', either. But she's happy because of you and I can't stand in the way of that. I'm not mad at you, Beca. Love is an unstoppable force. And I'm not going to ruin that for you two for the sake of me."

"I... uh..." Beca stammers out, but she doesn't know how to respond. She can tell Tom is hurt, she knows that feeling of heartache. She's been feeling it for months. And now, he's the one who has to feel it while she gets the girl. While she's the one who gets that happiness. He sacrificed his happiness for Chloe's and her own, and Beca feels guilty. Guilty that she gets Chloe and Tom gets nothing. But she can't turn back, now. The damage had been done and she knows that they all have to keep moving forward.

"Just take care of her, Mitchell. That's all I ask."

A/N #2: Two more chapters left. Well, one chapter and an epilogue. But this story may turn out like you thought or you hoped. This is just a forewarning.