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Beca was stretched as far as she could go and Chloe couldn’t blame herl. In just six hours the Bella’s were going to walk onstage at Lincoln Center and try to keep their title, and that was enough to unnerve the calmest person. So Chloe knew it was up to her to calm Beca.
“I’m here! I’m here!” Beca exclaimed as she ran onto the stage. It took her a moment to realize that she and Chloe were the only ones there. “They didn’t move up our soundcheck did they?”
“No.”
“Damn it Clo.” Beca pulled her hair into a bun on the top of her head. “What are you doing? I was in the middle of--”
“That’s why I did it. You have to stop or you’re going to lose your mind.”
Chloe moved behind Beca and slid her arms around Beca’s waist.
“What are you doing?” Beca whispered.
“Shh.” Chloe placed her hands on Beca’s diaphragm and instructed, “Take a deep breath and hold it.” Beca followed her instructions and then Chloe told her, “Let it out.”
Slowly Beca exhaled. “This is stupid,” she whispered.
“To bad. Now close your eyes.” Begrudgingly, Beca did so. “Good. Now you need to listen to me okay? From this moment on you have to step back and acknowledge that you have no control over what happens next. You can only do your best and know that your best is enough.”
“Fine. I will accept the thing I cannot change. Happy?”
Beca tried to pull away but Chloe pulled her back. “I’m not done yet.”
“Sorry.”
“Now I want you to think back to last year, how nervous we were. But do you remember what you and I did to wipe all that away?”
Beca started to smile. “Wicked,” she whispered.
“Unlimited,” Chloe began to sing. “My future is unlimited...I know you know this.”
With a roll of her eyes Beca began to sing and exactly what Chloe hoped was happening. When Beca started her voice was tired and she held back not because she couldn’t perform but she was a bucket full of nerves. But the farther she got into the song, the more her nerves slid away and she found her voice.
“Bring me down!”
As she hit the final note she fell back against Chloe, trying to catch her breath.
“You’ve got this,” Chloe whispered, brushing some hair out of Beca’s face. “You’ve got this.”