When The Stars Align

Chapter 18: Past, Present & Future

Chapter 18

Folding the last bit of clothes that were scattered around Beca's room, Chloe observed the few photos the brunette had framed in there. There were ones of landscapes, there were pictures of Amy, Jesse and Stacie, there were some of new faces, and there was one of a blond girl, kissing Beca's cheek affectionately as the brunette took the photo herself.

The redhead hoped Beca still had a little bit of love for Chloe, just enough for the redhead to start anew with the girl she unknowingly fell in love with back in Barden.

After receiving the box that Beca had delivered to her door step after graduation, Chloe tried to stop her from leaving, but the brunette was too far gone, almost at the end of the town border, and then she was gone. Chloe got home and reread all the letters and decided that tonight, she had to end it with Jacob.

The redhead remembered that horrid day.

She was dressed practically, she didn't make an effort now, but she wanted to give this one to Jacob, an end that she didn't really want to make obvious of. As she got down the stairs, she heard a conversation going on with Jacob and her mother, Chloe's father and siblings away in a carnival just a town away.

"Thank God that horrid girl was gone, I can't have my daughter associating with her." Chloe frowned as she heard her mother, was she talking about Beca?

"I assure you, missus Beale, I won't have Chloe anywhere near her after our wedding." Jacob vowed, just as Chloe got down from the stairs, face scrunched with confusion.

"I don't think that's something you can just do, Jacob." The redhead said defyingly.

Then all hell went lose, Chloe's mother ranted on everything good that could happen for her with Jacob, Jacob nodding in agreement, but Chloe kept shaking her head and swearing that she would and could think of marrying Jacob. Then the boy grew menacing, he took Chloe by her wrist and dragged her to her room, Mrs. Beale closing the door as if she never heard her daughter beg to let her go as Jacob ripped her little black dress and take her on her very bed.

Mr. Beale couldn't believe what happened, but he was powerless under his wife, who threatened to leave his incapable ass and his children, Mr. Beale didn't let Jacob and Chloe get married, in Chloe's begging, Chloe couldn't file a criminal case against Jacob because of her mother, and when they found out that Chloe was pregnant, decided to buy the Mitchell property and let the two live there.

Rubbing her bruised neck, Chloe stood up from Beca's bed and put the clothes aside, then catching a glimpse of Sophie's blue dress and flashing back to the day when Chloe decided to leave.

Her throat was hurting from the resent abuse Jacob bestowed upon her, and a tear slipped on her cheek as she remembered seeing him with a woman on their bed, it didn't hurt her heart, it hurt her dignity. She was unmarried, to a drunk man, she had a daughter out of a loveless affair, she was the shame of the town and she couldn't be helped by anyone.

Jacob became an alcoholic over the years that came, Sophie just turned four, he punched her every night, he would strangle her, he would kick her when he wants to, and it pained Chloe to actually believe that he was way better than everyone else.

Then he got home that night, in a drunken rage, he threw things and yelled, then he saw Chloe and started verbally harassing her, then he brought up his fist and was about to strike when Chloe got hold of a pan and hit his head, sending him to drop on the floor, passing out from the powerful blow.

The redhead remembered quickly packing a suitcase of her things and waking Sophie up from her nap, taking the car keys from Jacob and leaving Barden on an intend of finding Beca. After catching drift that the brunette was in New York, the redhead drove all the way to Boston, left the car and commuted to New York, finding the building where the brunette lived and waiting outside.

Now she felt like she wasn't welcomed in the brunette's apartment, she felt like she wasn't welcomed in the brunette's world at all. Beca decided to live outside her apartment instead of sharing with Chloe, it had been two days since she left and Beca still hasn't returned.

She must really hate me, Chloe thought, that's why the redhead decided to look for a job and buy the apartment across from Beca's loft, it had been weeks anyway, it was time to check the mail, she just had to find the mail box key Beca undeniably left at the apartment.

It was five more days before Beca decided to return to the apartment, feeling her heart beat faster in hurt as she saw the red sign on her door and the padlock to keep the apartment locked. She was hurt because Chloe had to leave again, and she left without saying anything else to the brunette, no letter taped on the door for her other than the red eviction notice.

Dropping down on the stairs leading to her floor, Beca tried to think if she should just run again or try asking for help, then she heard a door open, to her surprise, it was the apartment across from her and the person who came out was Chloe.

"Now don't you look cute sitting there like a lost pup, get inside of here..."The redhead didn't look at her with disappointment or sympathy, she just smiled at Beca and invited her in.

The brunette, despite the shock, stood up and slowly approached the apartment, "You bought this apartment?"

The redhead nodded and said, "The landlord wouldn't take my money when I tried to pay for you, so I just bought this apartment, I got the job at the city library and they paid me half of my pay yesterday." Chloe explained and Beca looked down as she entered the small apartment, "I still didn't get to buy a sofa, but I did buy two beds now."

The small apartment was warm and welcoming, something very different from her's, which was messy and cold.

"That's good, Chlo." Beca's voice was weak, she felt like a disappointment.

Chloe outdid her in just five days of her disappearance, the redhead got a job, an apartment and two beds in just those days, she had none for a month now.

Chloe noticed her downcast look, her worn-out appearance and Chloe realized that this Beca still had hope for life, and the redhead, in her positive mood, decided to bring back the light there somehow.

"Your things are in my room, the shower's hot too." Chloe didn't wait to see Beca's surprise in her face, she didn't wait for Beca's response either, as she went to the kitchen to start dinner.

But she did hear her daughter welcome the brunette, "Hi Beca..."

The redhead smiled, she was determined to let Beca live again.