♫

AFTER THE BUS RIDE THAT INCLUDED ELLE IGNORING EVERYONE, THEY FINALLY ARRIVED AT THE GOD-FORSAKEN RETREAT. Elle knew that this weekend was gonna be a lot of work. Emotionally, physically, in any way possible really. And she did not have the energy for that work.

"This place is sweet!" Emily grinned as she climbed out of the bus with her lopsided summer hat almost slipping off—with no hand free because of the many suitcases she had in her hands.

"It's nice, right?" Chloe agreed, following after Flo who was struggling to pull her giant suitcase from off the bus.

"I need to find somewhere to charge my laptop." Beca huffed, following Elle who was still in a huff off the bus. "How'd you hear about this place?" She asked, looking at the wooded land around them.

"From yours truly. Hello, Bellas." They heard a familiar voice pronounce beside them and they all turned to look at the blonde that was once the leader of the Bella's.

"Aubrey!"

"Aubrey!"

"Aubrey!"

They all called, running over to the blonde and throwing their arms around the girl. Even Elle. "Okay, girls. Oh, wow. Hi! You must be Emily." She hugged them all back, turning to Emily who was hanging back at the end. "Hey, hey. Hey. Hi." She continued to greet them all. She had truly missed the girls that made the Bella's the Bella's.
She took note of them all looking around at the wooded land around them, including the large cabin to their left. "Welcome to The Lodge at Fallen Leaves, where Fortune 500 companies send their employees to build teamwork skills." She explained proudly.

"You run this whole place?" Elle asked, slightly amazed that she had created such a large and well-functioning business.

"You know, I realized I had a knack for barking orders and bending people's will. So I made a career out of it." She grinned warmly, but that changed real fast. "Which reminds me, fall in line, Bellas!" She screamed suddenly making Elle practically jump out of her skin.

"She ain't changed," Amy grumbled, steadily making her way to line up beside the others.

"No slouching! No straggling! I see you, Jessica." She called out the girl who was reluctant in making her way to join the others, slightly hiding behind Ashley. "It is with great sorrow and regret that I had to watch our once proud organization become a national disgrace!" She reprimanded the girls.

"Can I have the keys to the minibar?" Fat Amy asked nervously, not meeting Aubrey's intimidating gaze when she asked.

"Zip it." She snapped and Fat Amy gasped and turned away from her. "The Worlds signifies a sh*t at redemption. You don't have a chance at winning until you find your sound again. You have totally lost your harmony!" She lectured, looking over at Elle who was looking down at her shoes and slightly moving her feet.
"So, for the next two days, you will be doing everything together until you regain it. Ladies, get ready to be transformed. You are surrounded by the strength of your fellow Bellas and the support of a proud female tradition. And a few dozen bear traps. So don't stray too far from the marked paths. Okay, great, let's go!" She rambled, listing the rules and their aims all on one go.

"All right. Well, maybe I'll just start with a hot shower, maybe a little foot rub." Fat Amy suggested as an alternative.

"Fat Amy, there are no guest rooms for you," Aubrey stated matter of factly. A frown almost immediately appeared on the blonde's face once she broke the news.

"Then where are we staying?" She asked confused.

♫

It was later that night and they were all positioned inside the tent, all their heads lay upon pillows that were lined along the middle, half laying one side, half the other. "I don't understand camping. We're voluntarily living like dogs." Florencia huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in the claustrophobic tent.

"This is the worst. The air we're breathing right now is at least 90% fart." Beca added angrily, laying her head in between Chloe and Lily.

Fat Amy then huffed. "That reminds me, I need to see a man about a horse." She grumbled, standing up and then walking out the side of the tent, poking her head inside once she was fully out. "Oh! Did anyone happen to pack a spare roll of toilet paper? Or a moist towelette?" She asked and everyone shook their heads. "Nope. Does anyone have a T-shirt, size extra-small?" She asked as a last resort but once again nobody said yes. "Okay. Side of the tent it is." She sighed and Elle slightly grimaced, turning away from the opening of the tent and rolling over so she was facing the side of Chloe's head.

"What are we doing here?" She heard Beca grumble from the other side of Chloe.

"We're bonding." The redhead insisted. "You seem so tense. Do you need a back rub?" She suggested and Elle laughed at the expression she saw Beca pull through her peripheral vision.

" Several body parts are rubbing my back right now, thank you." The brunette hummed, tucking herself closer into herself so she wasn't being touched anymore.

"You know, Beca, we're very close, but I feel like this retreat is really gonna let us discover everything about each other. Elle, you're in on this too," The redhead turned to the brunette on the other side of her, grinning at the two girls happily.

"Is that right?" Elle huffed, rolling over so she was turned away from the girl and instead was facing the space where Fat Amy had been lay previously.

"You know, one of my biggest regrets is that I didn't do enough experimenting in college." The redhead admitted.

"You're so weird." Elle sighed, hugging her pillow that she was lying on and trying to smell the washing detergent on it rather than the smell of farts that the tent held.

"Thanks." Chloe grinned.

"I wanna go home," Beca added, rolling to face Lily on the other side of her. She was already rolled over and almost at once started to lick Becas nose.

"I hope the sun never comes up." Cynthia hummed much against the judgement of the others.

"Why do I get the travel pillow?" Flo complained, struggling to get comfy on the one she had.

Stacie then suddenly gasped. "Were you touching my goodies?" She asked Cynthia who was lay beside her.

"Yes." She answered honestly, failing to think of an excuse fast enough.

"Oh, guys, I've got a little... It won't... I just need some help getting it out. Can you sing something? The pipe's a bit blocked." Fat Amy complained from outside.

♫ "I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel

I'm cold and I am shamed
Lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed
Into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn." ♫

Chloe was the one who started it and then a few of them joined in. Even when they were just lay on the tent floor they couldn't make themselves sound as good as they had done previously. The Bella's cracks were still showing.

"Thanks, Chloe." She hummed from outside.

"What kind of white shit is this?" Cynthia huffed, wrapping her pillow around her head to try and block out the singing.

"Coming out like froyo now." The blonde outside the tent thanked them and yet also disgusted them.

It was a far too early start for them all the next day. Elles french plaits had luckily stayed intact throughout the night. It's not like she had much room to move anyway. "Up and at 'em, Bellas! Come on! Let's go! Let's go! Let's wake up! Let's do this! Come on! Pick up the pace, girls! Come on!" Aubrey screamed at the girls to move them up and out of the tent. "Today we are going back to the basics to re-learn how to sing as a group, while also enduring death-defying team-building trust exercises." She added and Elle wondered if she was the only one who seemed concerned by how it sounded.

"What a great idea!" Chloe agreed with a smile.

They spent almost the whole day doing just as Aubrey said and Elle couldn't deny that she enjoyed the adventurous side of it. She didn't enjoy how much complaining came along with it—even though a lot of it was her own—and she also didn't enjoy that fact that deep down she still hadn't stopped thinking about a boy that wanted nothing to do with her anymore. And by the end of the day, Beca was the first one to break.

"Sorry, what are we doing?" She asked—sick and tired of what they had been doing—of which she thought it was a waste of time. She still had dirt in her hair and her shirt, her bun was falling out and the hair was sticking to her forehead. She was tired.

"We're rediscovering our sound." Chloe insisted.

Beca snapped her head to the redhead. "Are we? 'Cause it feels like we're just singing songs that would never go in our set." She insisted snappily.

"Beca, come on." She sighed.

"No, none of us know how to beat Das Sound Machine, but I know it's not gonna be by doing this." She added while the rest of the Bella's took a seat on either the floor or the bench, listening to them argue.

"This is just an exercise in finding harmony, Beca. Sometimes you have to break things down before you can build them back up again." Aubrey reasoned.

"I've got more important things to do!" She suddenly admitted without meaning to.

"What could be more important than this?" Chloe asked with a frown. She had no clue about Beca's internship. Especially since she hadn't told anyone besides Elle.

"Nothing. Forget it." She sighed, taking a step away from the argument and breathing out deeply.

"No, you don't think that we haven't all realized you've been a little checked-out lately?" Chloe shouted back.

"Chloe relax." Elle sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Don't tell me to relax. You've been just as checked out. I get that you and Jesse broke up but even before that." She spoke, getting Elles attention almost immediately.

"Come on, Beca, just tell her." Fat Amy encouraged, taking the blame away from Elle who was biting down on her lip anxiously.

"I heard that. Tell me what?" Chloe asked, her voice catching slightly.

"Oh, you misunderstood me. I clearly said..." She mumbled a litter of words that sounded like nothing. "Listen, I don't want you guys to fight. You're Beca and Chloe. Together you're "Bloe." And everyone loves a good bloe." Fat Amy reasoned.

"So... Okay. I've been interning at a recording studio and a legit music producer wants to hear my work. God forbid I have something going on outside this group." Beca shouted once Amy had convinced her.

"Okay. So why would you keep something like that from us?" Chloe asked with a frown, throwing her hands in the air frustratedly.

" 'cause, you're obsessed! You all are. We're graduating, and the only person thinking about life after the Bellas is me and Elle." She shouted and Elle sighed knowing that she was now just as involved.

"What is so wrong with being focused on the Bellas? This has been my family for seven years." She shouted, gesturing to the group who had all now migrated to sit on the same bench, squished as close together as possible to fit on the bench that was surely gonna break under all their weight.

"Yeah, 'cause you're too scared to leave! Sack up, dude!" Beca screamed again, gesturing her previous actions.

"Girl fight!" Cynthia encouraged.

"Okay, so you've been lying to us for the entire year and now you're just gonna flake out? Now you're gonna flake out when the Worlds is, like, right after graduation?" She stressed both angry and afraid. Not only that the girl hadn't trusted her enough to tell her but also because she had kept it from her on purpose.

"Oh, my God! Enough about the Worlds! I... I'm out of here." Beca finally gave up.

"Oh, okay, you're just gonna leave now?" Chloe scoffed.

"We all have to, eventually, Chloe! It might as well be now!" The girl defended.

"Wait, Beca..." They tried to stop her.

"If you all knew what was good for you, you'd follow me." She added, seemingly being the only one who didn't notice the bear trap she was about to walk into.

"Beca, the sign!" They all shouted.

"Oh, my God!"

"Oh, my God!"

"Oh, my God!"

"Oh, no, Beca!"

"Beca!"

They all screamed when it strapped her up and swung her up into the tree in the net. "What the hell? I'm stuck! I'm stuck! I'm seeing spots! I'm seeing spots!" The brunette girl screamed, struggling around.

"Well, well, well. Look who needs our help." Chloe taunted.

"Not cool, guys!" Beca screeched in reply.

"No, what's not cool is you taking out your frustrations on us!" Chloe countered while the rest of the group crowded around the pair who were still arguing even when one of them was still stuck in the tree.

"Really? That's what you're gonna say to me right now? Help me! I'm dying! I'm dying!" The girl continued to cry out.

"We need to get her down!"

"We need a ladder!"

They all insisted but Aubrey turned her down. "No, we don't believe in ladders." She denied it quickly.

"What?" Elle asked with a frown. What kind of adventure cabin didn't have a ladder?

"They suggest a corporate hierarchy that is counter-productive to my team-building program." She shrugged and Elle frowned once again. She had no clue what corporate hierarchy was.

"What kind of operation are you running here? Seriously, this whole place is, like, full of booby traps! And guess what? Boobs should never be trapped! Unless it's for support if you have lower back issues." Fat Amy argued, holding her boobs while she did.

"Okay! If I'm about to die, I'm sorry! I didn't mean any of that stuff I said! I love all of you! I love all of you awesome nerds, and I love being a Bella. I'm just so stressed out right now... Oh, my God!" She cried out and was interrupted when the trap she was in dropped down sharply.

"Oh, my gosh!" Emily panicked.

"Jessica and Ashley, I don't actually know which one of you is which." She admitted, looking through the holes in the net as if she was in jail and looking at them through the bars.

"I'm Jessica! I'm Jessica!" They both screamed at the same time.

"What?" Elle grumbled.

"Don't worry, we're gonna get you down! Focus up. Get information, we can do this. Flo, get up. Okay. Fat Amy, come on! Yes! Let's focus. Work together as a team. Don't worry, Beca, we got..." Chloe instructed them all. But of course, they were too late. The net suddenly dropped to the ground and squashed all of the girls underneath it. Elle was lucky that she was fast to avoid it or she would have been squashed too.

"She's alive." Chloe sighed

They all looked up and saw Lily hung upside down in the rope that was once holding the girl. "I sleep upside down like a bat." She whispered, the group all shared confused looks. But was it really strange at this point?

♫

The group had finally settled down and were gathered around an open fire, marshmallows, cookies and chocolate split evenly between them so they could make S'mores. Elle was sharing a bench with Fat Amy, a blanket was wrapped around the pair and Elle had her head rested on the girl's shoulder.

"It's just everything's changing so fast and I'm putting all this pressure on myself, you know? I don't wanna fail." Beca explained and they all nodded in understanding.

"But if you just would have said something..." Chloe sympathised.

"Yeah, I know. But I'm weird about that stuff. I thought I could figure it out on my own, and I can't. Maybe I don't have anything original to say." She sighed, looking down at the burnt marshmallow on the end of her stick. "I wish I could do what you do." She spoke to Emily.

She smiled slightly. "Well, I feel the same way about you. You're so good, it's intimidating. All I've ever wanted is to be one of you. Not a Legacy, but a Bella." She said sadly. She just didn't feel like she fit in at first. They had all known each other for so long and she had just appeared and she wasn't as close with them as they were with each other.

"You are a real Bella. Of course, you're a Bella. You are one of us. You paid the registration fee." They all echoed making her smile happily again. She hadn't felt like she fit in, until now.

"That's for life, dude." Beca smiled again. "Do you wanna collaborate on something?" She asked seriously.

"Wait. Are you being serious?" Emily asked surprised. "Yeah. Yeah! Wow! Man! Yes! Who else feels like a winner tonight?" She cheered happily, clapping her hands together enthusiastically.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but I'm afraid, too. To move on, to graduate. It's really scary." Chloe joined in, fiddling with her nails.

"Yeah, it actually does seem like it, because you're barely holding it together." Fat Amy said honestly.

"Well, it doesn't have to be scary, Chloe. When I was graduating, I never pictured myself running a retreat in the middle of the woods, but here I am. Take it from someone who has dealt with some serious control issues. Like my dad always said, in the minefield of life, you must be prepared to lose both feet. And I think you all know what I mean." Aubrey spoke inspirationally.

"I don't," Amy mumbled making Elle laugh.

"Then it's decided. This year I will graduate. The Worlds will be my swan song. I mean it. I'll pursue my passion. I'll teach underprivileged children how to sing, or I'll dance exotically. Whatever offers the most money." She told them seriously.

Cynthia then stood up once she had finished talking. "Yo, check this out. I'm moving to Maine to get hitched. And all y'all can come. Everybody's invited. Yes, yes, yes." She said excitedly while all of the girls looked up at her with equal enthusiasm.

"Okay, okay, guys. Stop asking. I'll tell you." Florencia laughed, standing up, her blanket falling from around her shoulders. "So, after I graduate there's a chance I will be deported. I will try to re-enter this country, but I will probably die at sea." She said and they all looked at her with dampened faces. "So, let's live for tonight! Yes! Yeah! Yes!" She cheered, relighting their smiles.

"All right. Lilly, any plans?" Chloe asked.

"Just gonna travel through time." She whispered quietly.

Chloe nodded and then turned to the brunette who was lying on Amy's shoulder. "Elle, you've been quiet all day," Chloe said sympathetically. The girl looked up from her s'more and looked at the girl. "You okay?" She asked.

Elle nodded, smiling up at her. "I'm just tired." She shrugged and Chloe raised her eyebrows at the girl.

"I'm sorry about Jesse." She said sympathetically.

"It's fine—I mean it isn't—but you know." She huffed and they all nodded. She had been trying to push the boy and his stupid smile to the back of her mind all day. And she had—sort of—she just wished she had the chance to tell him about her music opportunity. But if she wasn't going to tell Jesse. Then she wanted to tell the Bella's. "I sort of have something to tell you guys." She said nervously.

The group looked at her sceptically and she stood up, Fat Amy stealing her blanket when she did. "Go on." Beca encouraged.

"Okay, so, Over the summer I got an opportunity to record my music for a record producer." She began and they all looked interested. "So I met up with the manager of the music producer and recorded some of my songs. And... I've been signed and my music is officially being produced." She said excitedly and all the Bella's started to cheer. Beca and Chloe practically launched themselves on her and yanked her into a