It Was Inevitable

Chapter 27.

A/N: The flu and writers block don't combine very well... apologies! I don't own any songs from this chapter!

'Beca missed you'
'You're someone who wears your heart on your sleeve'
'She was falling for you'
'She's still hung up on you'

Chloe replayed the conversation with Stacie in her head as she sat on her couch, laptop flipped open and the USB loading slowly. It had taken her all her strength to not open it during her last period, to not slip away to whatever was in Beca's head, and to not let it ruin her in front of a class. She'd passed Stacie and Beca on her way out from Barden, Stacie sending her a small smile and a wink as they exchanged eye contact, Beca not even noticing the redhead passed.

As Chloe tentatively clicked open the file of the USB stick, she sighed, calming her nerves. She half expected nothing to be on it, for Beca to have erased whatever was on it the second Chloe broke it off with her. The other half of her thought that maybe she would find something on there that would give her some help, some help in finding out whatever was going on with the petite brunette.
She sighed once more as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Her eyes scanning the screen on her computer. Music. Chloe shouldn't have expected anything less, Stacie assumed it was and she had been correct. Chloe counted the files, each looking like two or maybe more songs put together, based on the titles. Chloe clicked on the first file, dated late September, at the start of the school year. She listened to the mixed beat of 'Release Me' and one of her personal favourites, 'Bulletproof' fill the room. Chloe pursed her lips as she listened to the track, noticing how easily the lyrics and beats slid together to make one track - there was no denying Beca was talented with music and this confirmed it for Chloe. As the track came to an end, she looked at a later date, the beginning of December. Chloe thought back to the coffee's the pair had shared over her couch as they chatted, about the goodnight texts she would receive from Beca which would leave her with a smile plastered on her face. She clicked on the track, eventually identifying the two songs as 'Just the Way you Are' and 'Just a Dream'. Chloe acknowledged how this track was different from the first, the way it seemed to portray more of a message.
After all, the whole USB was 'dedicated' to Chloe, and the redhead pondered as to if Beca had made this mashup for her or about her, or maybe both. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as she closed the file and scrolled to the newest track. She clicked on it quickly and waited for the song, noticing that it was added just two weeks ago. The first thing that Chloe noticed was the gentle strums of a guitar being played, she scrunched her nose slightly. This didn't seem to be a mashup.
And that was when she heard Beca's voice.
Sweet and simple, gently singing over her guitar. Chloe instantly turned the volume up, hoping to hear every little thing that was recorded. She listened to the soft strum of the chords, thinking back to the time she'd caught Beca playing the guitar, and she listened to her soft voice, so different from the one she was used to hearing in every conversation the pair had. Chloe didn't realise the track had stopped playing until it'd been a few minutes. She simply sat staring at the screen, she saw the title of the file was 'Heavy - Cover' and she hit play again, tuning into the lyrics.

'I keep dragging around what's bringing me down
If I just let go, I'd be set free'

Chloe's mind reeled. The song was so different to the others she'd listened to, yet this seemed to be portraying yet another message. She could hear the sincerity in Beca's voice, the slow beat for once making it easy for Chloe to try and read her emotions. Chloe wanted so badly to text Beca, tell her to come to her apartment and ask her about this... playlist. Ask her what this song was about, why she sang an acoustic cover with all her mixes, what she was 'dragging around', what she wanted to be set free of. But instead Chloe sat staring at her blank phone screen. She couldn't. Beca would surely kill her if she knew she was in possession of the USB, she'd promised Stacie that she wouldn't let Beca know she had it.

So instead Chloe scrolled back to the top of the list, and listened to every song, all the way through. Thrice.
And when she finished, she swiped at the tears in her eyes and the ones escaping down her cheeks. She'd found the answers. The playlist, it was both for and about her.
It was about her in the way that the songs seemed to reflect Beca's feelings, both in general and her feelings about Chloe. The redhead noticed that around the time the pair began to mutually develop feelings, the mixes were more upbeat, often with songs featured love in them, and Chloe found herself nodding her head along with the track, much as Beca probably would.
But then she also noticed that around the time the pair split, the mixes were less often, and were sadder or could even be described as angrier. And Chloe found herself wanting to be able to see Beca, see her as she was making the track, see if she too had her eyes glassed over as she stares at the screen, or if she too was just wanted to touch the other one last time.
But the playlist was also for her. It was a way for Beca to express her feelings without having to directly say them to Chloe. And she would have guessed that Beca planned to give it to her, before Chloe ruined things and before the tracks became sad and angry.

The mixes and songs showed Beca's journey, and Chloe almost felt bad for prying, she felt bad that Beca hadn't given this to her and that she had instead basically stolen it from her for her own benefit. She wondered if the brunette was even planning on giving it to her, or if she was simply going to keep building tracks on there until there could be no more. She wondered if Jackie had a playlist, if Beca was frantically searching for this USB, to wipe the memory and replace it with a playlist for Jackie, full of songs of happiness and love that they would listen to as they stroll hand in hand to school the following morning.
Chloe scoffed as she closed the lid of her laptop and gently removed the stick. Pushing it to the bottom of her pocket, along with all momentary thoughts of Beca. It was late, and she really needed to speak to Stacie tomorrow, to try and avoid any confrontation with Beca - although this was basically impossible as it seemed the brunette was taunting her.

As Chloe went to sleep that night, she tried to put together all of her thoughts. Her thoughts on the playlist, on what Beca had said to her weeks ago, and of what Stacie had said that afternoon. She tried to piece it all together, to help her make her final decision.
'Fight or flight Beale' the redhead thought as she turned and buried her head into the pillow, willing the next day to come.