Archive of Our Own ^beta

Beca hates Stacie Conrad.

No - scratch that. Beca loathes Stacie Conrad.

Why? Because Stacie Conrad is the most infuriating person to have ever wriggled her way into Beca’s life. Which, sure, isn’t that impressive considering people don’t just worm their way into her personal bubble, so it’s not like there are a lot of candidates competing for the title.

People and Beca don’t mix.

Stacie Conrad, however, has always been the exception.

//

They met at age 14, the summer before high school was set to start, when Stacie moved into the house next door. Beca wouldn’t have even noticed, probably, but Mr. and Mrs. Kaminski were really fucking old and had the ambulance come to their house at 3am at least four times since Beca could remember. So when their kids finally carted them off to the old-geezer’s palace (Beca, her dad would say. It’s a retirement home. Be nice.), Beca was beyond relieved.

She does not enjoy waking up at 3am to sirens.

The day the Conrad’s moved in should’ve been like any other day, really. It was hot and humid, the sun beating down on Beca as she sat outside in her hammock and fucked around with the music programs on the laptop she got for her birthday. It was the step-monster’s old one, which was lame, but whatever. It was hers now. 

A few cars pulled into the Kaminski’s ex-driveway, but Beca barely noticed, her eyes glued onto her laptop screen. It’s just that she happened to look up at the same moment that the most magnificent fourteen-year-old girl that she had ever seen stepped out of her new neighbor’s cherry-red mini-van.

Stacie Conrad must’ve been five-foot-six-and-counting already at age fourteen. Puberty had smiled upon her, granting her the two gift’s that Beca did not, and likely would never, receive - legs and boobs.

While Beca barely needed a sports bra, let alone an A cup, Stacie had already learned Victoria’s Secret, and that was the power of the push-up bra.

Beca’s pretty sure that’s the day she realized she was not 100% purely into the almost exclusively disappointing male population. 

From that moment on, Beca’s sexuality might as well have been a contender for the Indy-500 and she was clearly about to head off one of the straight-aways and right onto the curves of Stacie Conrad’s body.

Bi bi biiiiiii forever heterosexual labels.

When Stacie Conrad stepped out of that mini-van, Beca Mitchell became a changed woman.

//

So sure, at this point, Stacie Conrad wasn’t exactly infuriating.

She was simply a casual bystander in the destruction of what had once been Beca’s very certain identity. One can hardly blame the girl for existing.

Beca got over it.

The infuriating part? Well. That came later.

//

Stacie Conrad should, for all intents and purposes, not have been Beca’s friend. Like, ever.

Beca was the quiet type, sticking to her small cluster of friends (aka Jesse and Emily) and was not really into sports, or school spirit, or anything that had Stacie Conrad’s weekly-manicured fingers all over it.

But Beca was also Stacie’s neighbor, and that meant one thing: 

Car pool.

“Hi, Beca!”

Beca’s not sure it was puberty’s doing, but along with legs and boobs, Stacie Conrad had also been granted the gift of morning cheerfulness.

Beca, obviously, had not been.

“Hey,” she’d grunt morning after morning as she climbed into the red minivan, Mrs. Conrad pulling away from the curb and turning on NPR as she drove them to school before heading to her shift at the hospital.

Beca usually sat in silence on these mornings, content to let Stacie and her mom have only relatively interesting conversations with each other.

Now, if it was up to Beca, she would be listening to her music, her expensive headphones that cost her birthday money plus four months of her allowance clamped down over her ears. Unfortunately for her, her dad believed this to be rude, or something equally lame, and had forbidden her from even taking her headphones with her to school.

He also believed they might get stolen, but...

Whatever. Her dad may be a college professor, but he’s also a moron. As if Beca would ever let those headphones out of her sight long enough for some twerp to steal them.

So yeah, much to Beca’s dismay, her ten minute car ride to school was typically spent listening to Stacie tell her mom all about whatever was currently going on with her life. It was usually cheerleading, sometimes boys, and always – always – Stacie’s grades.

As far as Beca could tell, Stacie’s mom is what Beca’s mom would call a “successful professional with a lacking personal life.”

(Beca’s mom is a new-age hippie and has lots of opinions about people like Stacie’s mom.)

Stacie’s mom has a very established and prestigious career at Barden University’s teaching hospital. She’s very driven and focused and expects Stacie to be equally so. Consequently, Stacie’s mom seems to be one of those parents who believes that happiness can be visually measured in things like cheerleading titles, a cute boyfriend, and straight As.

As Beca had none of those, she’s certain Stacie’s mom viewed her as a failure, but it’s not like they ever really talked so. She couldn’t say for sure.

For her part, Stacie seemed to take all this in her impressively long stride, and kept her mom updated on all categories of her life. Beca’s pretty sure that level of closeness with your parents should be illegal, but Stacie never appeared to have any qualms about sharing her life with her mom, and by extension, Beca, who now knew everything there was to know about Stacie Conrad.

And what she learns is that Stacie Conrad is a secret genius.

Beca’s pretty sure it’s not fair, but God had clearly blessed Stacie with not only the body of a demi-goddess, but also a beautiful brain, one that’s absorbent of all kinds of information, including but not limited to knowledge regarding complicated math laws, 167 digits of pi, rare physics theorems, and clever cuticle care tips.

You’d think a brain like that would surely place a freshman girl, the new kid, in the nerd category, but as someone who might easily overturn the laws of physics some time in the future, Stacie also had no problem breaking the set-in-stone commandments of high school.

Beca, in moments of dry bitterness, might’ve said it’s because Stacie slept her way to the top of the social ladder, and in all honestly, that could partially be true. But Beca knows Stacie has a charisma about her (also boobs) that made it easy for her to settle into the high school food chain without a hitch.

Beca’s not jealous, obviously. She would die in Stacie’s place. Seriously, gross.

She just found it impressive, is all.

Her neighbor clearly had it all figured it out, even at age fourteen. Stacie was a new breed of high schooler, full of facts and opinions and surprises wrapped inside the body of a hot girl.

She should’ve been the type of girl that Beca hates.

But like she said, Stacie Conrad has always been Beca’s exception.

//

Much like the day she moved next door to Beca, the day Stacie Conrad officially became her friend should’ve been like any other day.

Stacie’s mom drove them to school, Beca sitting only half-awake in the backseat while Stacie rambled on about some homework she’d been doing the previous night.

“Did you get that last set of problems, Beca?”

Beca had blinked, her brain moving at a sluggish pace because everyone knows that high school should not start before 8am. Well. Everyone but the school board.

“Huh?”

Stacie had turned in her seat to look at her, eyes wide and questioning. “You know those last problems that Mrs. Mahon assigned for homework last night.”

Beca raised an eyebrow. “Uh. I’m just in Geometry. I won’t take Trig until next year.” Let alone Honors Trig, but Beca didn’t say that.

“Oh,” Stacie scrunched her nose in thought. “For some reason I thought you were in the period after me.”

Beca shook her head. “Nope.”

Stacie had hummed, turning back to the front seat just as they’d arrived at the school. As per usual, Beca grumbled her thanks to Stacie’s mom and hopped out of the car, slinging her backpack over one shoulder and heading up the front walk.

Stacie’s mom pulled away and Stacie immediately overtook Beca with her long legs. “See you tomorrow, Beca!” Stacie had smiled and Beca, like usual, had just stared after her, cursing whoever decided high school couldn’t be an afternoon activity.

So yeah, the morning was progressing as normal.

Until it wasn’t.

“Hey Conrad!” There was a loud whistle and Beca turned her head to see some kid from the wrestling team jogging to catch up to her neighbor.

Stacie had slowed her pace, her arms crossing over her chest as she cocked her hip to the side as he reached her. Beca couldn’t hear what he was saying, but as she finally caught up to the pair, the kid, in what was the most un-suave movement Beca had ever seen, had reached around Stacie, his hand wandering over the pleats of her cheer skirt.

Two things happened at once.

First: Stacie’s arm swung quickly through the air, her palm hitting the boy’s cheek with a violent smack.

Second: The Gym teacher, Mr. Lopez, walked out of the front door just feet from where they were standing.

“Conrad!” Mr. Lopez bellowed. “Explain yourself!”

At this point, Beca had caught up to Stacie, her mouth falling open in shock as her neighbor stared coolly at the wrestler, whose face had morphed into an expression of injured surprise, one palm held to his cheek where Stacie had slapped him.

“She slapped me,” the boy said, his tone more one of awe than accusation.

Stacie pursed her lips. “Damn right I did.”

Mr. Lopez exhaled heavily, the action ruffling his thick mustache. “Watch your language, girl.”

“She slapped me,” the wrestler said again, and Beca resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Some of these jocks sure had a way with words.

“You groped her,” Beca muttered, trying to push her way past the group and into the school to find Jesse.

“Conrad,” Mr. Lopez said, either completely ignoring Beca (which would not be unusual) or having not heard her. “Detention. And you, Wallace!” The teacher slapped the kid on the back. “We have a match tonight. Tighten up your jock strap and stop messing around.”

Beca paused, her hand reaching for the door to the school. She turned around in time to see Mr. Lopez rip a detention slip from a pad of paper and hand it to Stacie. The girl just glared at the wrestler, her glossed lips twisted in displeasure.

“Get to class, the both of you.” Lopez shook his head.

“See you later, babe.” The wrestler winked at Stacie and Beca fought the urge to throw up in her mouth a little.

“In your dreams, Wallace,” Stacie sighed. She was already turning away from the boy, clearly deeming him not worthy of her time and attention.

Wallace just smirked and raised one his eyebrows suggestively. “In last night’s dream, definitely.”

Beca really had no allegiance to Stacie, nor did she have any stake in the matter. But if Beca did have one thing, it was a hatred for skeevy boys.

And a strong left hook.

Her knuckles cracked on impact as they connected with the wrestler’s right cheekbone.

“Fuck,” she cursed, pulling her hand back and shaking it out, her knuckles open and bleeding. The wrestler let out a howl, his neck snapping back on impact, hand coming up to hold his face.

Lopez whipped around, immediately took in the sight, and hollered. “Mitchell! Principal’s office! Now!”

Beca huffed, her right hand cradling her left delicately. She scowled, glaring in the direction of Wallace who was now hopping around like a monkey and hooting in pain.

Beca took her uninjured right hand and flipped him her middle finger as Lopez pulled her by her backpack through the door of the school. The last thing she saw before the doors closed behind her was Stacie Conrad, mouth open in surprise, head tilted to the side, eyes following Beca as she was dragged to the inescapable hell that was the Principal’s office.

//

Beca got a three-day suspension, but Wallace got a black eye so it was pretty much worth it, if you asked her.

That day after school had gotten out and Beca was lying in her bed, her knuckles throbbing and music blaring, Stacie Conrad knocked on her bedroom door, pushing it open and strolling into Beca’s room.

She sat down at the edge of Beca’s bed, offering up an ice pack for her sore knuckles.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said as Beca took the ice pack from her. Beca placed it on her knuckles, hissing at the cold.

“I know.” She shrugged. “Dude’s a dick.”

Stacie had nodded, her head tilting to the side as she listened to the music pouring out of Beca’s speakers. “What is this song? It’s catchy.”

“Umm. It’s just a mashup I made.” Beca felt herself fidgeting self-consciously. “It’s nothing special or anything.”

“You made this?” Stacie grinned when Beca nodded, her eyes sliding over to meet Beca’s. “You know Beca, you’re like, really cool.”

Beca just blinked because it was no secret that to people like Stacie Conrad, she was most definitely not cool.

“Thanks?”

Stacie had just smiled, flipping over on her stomach and making herself more comfortable on Beca’s bed. As the playlist continued on, Stacie would comment on the songs and Beca would just listen, holding the ice pack to her hand and blinking owlishly at the girl in front of her.

The day that Beca returned after her suspension, Stacie sat next to her at lunch, causing Jesse to spill his milk carton all down his front in an embarrassing display of surprise. The same thing happened the day after and even the next day, until Jesse finally got a grip and accepted what was now a routine.

Sometimes after cheerleading, Stacie would show up in Beca’s room, a plate of cookies that she’d made with her sister in hand, and homework under her arm.

They’d hang out with Jesse and watch movies on the weekends, the both of them throwing popcorn at the screen at the cheesy parts. Stacie would help her with math and Beca would show her new songs she’d discovered, and after football games where Stacie cheered, the three of them would walk to Dairy Queen and get hot fudge sundaes.

Beca knows it doesn’t make sense because a girl like her and a girl like Stacie should never have been friends.

But somehow, they just were.

//

Now, this story isn’t about Stacie Conrad. It never was.

But this story does start with Stacie and the first day of their junior year of high school.

That’s when Beca met Chloe Beale.

//

“Hey!”

Beca just grunts at Stacie as she slides into the front seat of her friend’s new Volkswagen Passat.

“Well, good morning to you, too, Grumpy Gill.” Stacie smiles, pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes and putting the car in drive.

“Says who?” Beca grumbles. Any morning that begins before noon, and for school, no less, is not exactly what she considers a good morning.

Stacie pulls onto the main road, her hands steady on the wheel. Beca had passed her driver’s test over the summer, but she was much more comfortable letting Stacie drive them around. Beca often got worked up at the other drivers on the road because in her opinion, they were a bunch of fucking idiots hell bent on cutting her off. Stacie was much more patient.

“We’re still picking Em up, right?” Stacie asks and Beca nods, fiddling with the radio. She knows the only thing on is crappy morning talk shows, but it’s a habit she’ll probably never break. “Ooh, go back!” Stacie says as Beca passes over a Katy Perry song. She rolls her eyes but flips back. Better Katy Perry than John and Gail in the Morning.

Stacie hums along as she turns into Emily’s driveway and honks the horn. A minute later, the front door swings open and out bounds Beca’s cousin in all her long-legged glory.

“Morning, Em!” Stacie grins at the girl as she shuffles into the back seat.

“Morning guys!” Emily beams and Beca resists the urge to groan because for some reason she managed to surround herself with the only teenagers in existence who were actually excited to be up at ungodly hours for school.

By the time they pull up to the school, Beca’s woken up a bit more and takes in Stacie’s outfit for the first time. She’s wearing tight jean shorts and a blue v-neck.

“Are cheerleading tryouts not today?” She asks Stacie as they climb out of the car.

“No, they are,” Stacie says, locking the car and flipping the long ends of her hair out from under her backpack straps. She and Emily start to head off toward the school and Beca increases her pace to keep up.

“Why aren’t you in your uniform?”

Stacie shrugs. “I’m quitting cheerleading,” she replies, voice light and airy as if she were commenting on the weather.

“What?” Beca almost stops in her tracks, but that would mean she’d have to jog to catch back up to them and she ain’t about that life. “Why?”

“Just felt like it,” Stacie says, winking at Beca. Beca can’t tell if Stacie’s joking or not.

“Good for you, Stace!” Emily smiles supportively. “You shouldn’t do it if you don’t want to.”

Stacie laughs lightly. “Thanks, Em.”

Beca just quirks her eyebrows, not believing it for a second. Stacie quitting cheerleading is like Beca joining extracurricular activities. Not gonna happen.

“Well, I’m off to Lit,” Stacie says. “See you in AP Bio, Becs.”

Beca scowls. “Why did I let you convince me to take that, again?”

Stacie hums around a smile, popping her gum obnoxiously. “Because you’re terrified you’ll get stuck being lab partners with Kimmy-Jin again and the only way to ensure that doesn’t happen is if you’re in class with me.”

“Well, we could’ve taken like, genetics or something,” Beca grumbles under her breath, but Stacie hears her and barks out a laugh.

“Not a chance, Beca-bee. I’m in the running for Valedictorian and I’m not letting your fear of science stop me.”

Beca rolls her eyes at the nickname. “Fine. See you at lunch, Em.”

“Bye guys! Have a good first day!” Emily waves and goes in the opposite direction down the hall while Stacie dips into the nearest classroom just as the warning bell rings.

Beca sighs.

Why must school start so early?

//

“Becaw!”

Beca rolls her eyes and sits down at their usual lunch table. “Already with that?”

Jesse grins, waggling his eyebrows. “Someday you’ll admit that you love me and we’ll get married and have children. It’s inevitable.”

Beca mimes gagging. “Not even in an alternate universe, dude.”

Jesse places his hand over his heart in a show of offense. “I’m wounded.”

“Good.” Beca says, breaking off some of the crust of her sandwich and throwing it at him. At that moment, a kid Beca’s never seen before slides onto the bench next to Jesse, carefully setting down his lunch tray on the table.

Beca stares at the intruder until Jesse clears his throat. “Oh. Beca this is Benji, he’s new.”

Benji smiles widely, lifting his hand in a wave. The gesture causes a quarter to fall out of his sleeve and Beca watches as the coin jumps across the table and spins to a stop in front of her.

“Uh.”

“Benji likes magic, isn’t that cool?” Jesse smiles at her telling her to be nice, so Beca plasters a grin on her face.

“Yeah, dope…”

There’s a second of awkward silence that’s thankfully broken when Emily arrives, swinging her leg over the seat next to Beca. “Hi guys!”

Beca lifts her hand in a wave and stuffs more of her sandwich into her mouth.

“Emily, this is Benji.” Jesse jerks his head in Benji’s direction and Beca watches as the kid’s face turns bright red when Emily smiles at him and shakes his hand enthusiastically.

Emily starts to talk about her classes and how she thinks her sophomore year will already be better than freshman year and it’s only the first day. Beca half-listens, her brain still not back in the swing of school. She only really pays attention when Stacie shows up, sliding into the seat on the other side of Beca.

“Oh my God you guys.” Stacie exhales in a rush. “Look!”

They all look at her as she dramatically slams a flier down in the middle of the table. Beca blinks, taken aback, and Jesse leans over to read the flier out loud.

“Join the BellaTones – BHS’ Competitive Co-Ed a Cappella Team. Auditions Monday at 3pm in the Auditorium.”

“We have to audition!” Stacie says, her eyes lit with a fire that Beca has only seen when she’s on a mission to solve a particularly difficult Physics problem or offering to give Beca a makeover.

Beca blinks in surprise. “What? Don’t you have cheerleading then?”

Stacie stares at her. “I told you, I’m quitting cheerleading.”

Beca’s mouth falls open. “I thought you were kidding.”

“Why would I kid about that?”

“Uh, I don’t know…” Beca drawls. “Because you love cheerleading?”

Stacie rolls her eyes. “I’m bored with cheerleading.”

“But.. but?” Beca stammers. “What about all that stuff you said last year, about the physics of the flips and dismantles and stuff?”

“Dismounts, B. I said dismounts.” Stacie taps her hand gently. “And I don’t know, it’s just too much of the same. I wanna do something new. I want an adventure.”

“Well, I’m in!” Emily grins, her fingers sliding over the flier. “That sounds fun!”

Jesse nods. “Definitely, me too. What about it, Benji?”

“Sure,” Benji says and Jesse high-fives him.

Beca crinkles her nose. “No offense, guys, but a cappella sounds lame.”

“You’re lame,” Jesse says, sticking out his tongue.

“Says the five year old,” Beca scoffs.

“Come on, Beca-bee.” Stacie nudges her shoulder. “You love making music. This isn’t any different. It’s just not on your laptop. It’s with your mouth.”

Stacie winks and Beca snorts. “Yikes.”

“Please, Beca,” Emily whines, puffing her lip out in a pout.

Beca shakes her head. “Not gonna happen. Extra-curriculars aren’t my thing.”

“Okayyyyy,” Stacie sings. “But if you want a ride home, you’re going to have to wait until the auditions are over.”

Beca shrugs indifferently. “Fine.”

Stacie gives her a look, that disappointed one she does sometimes when Beca blows off her homework or teases Jesse too much about his hair gel.

Whatever. A cappella sounds lame and Stacie’s sad eyes aren’t going to get Beca to audition.

No fucking way.

//

So at this point, you’re probably wondering why Beca thinks Stacie is the most infuriating person on the planet. Stacie seems like an angel, right?

WRONG.

Don’t believe her?

Just watch.

//

Beca slumps in her seat in the auditorium, her feet hanging over the seat in front of her and scowl firmly plastered on her face.

The auditions are taking forever and most of the kids really suck. Like embarrassingly so. Beca can’t tell if they’re tone deaf or if it’s like that part of the American Idol auditions where people purposefully sing badly so they can get on TV.

Either way, she’s ready to go home.

“Stacie Conrad!”

Stacie pushes out of her seat and glides up to the stage as one of the four seniors in charge calls her name. It’s the girl that sounds like a drill sergeant, the blonde one, or at least Beca thinks so. She can only see the backs of their heads from where she’s sitting.

The team’s coach (aka the school’s choir teacher) peaced out about a half hour ago, leaving the seniors to handle the last of the auditions. Beca thinks there are only a few more kids, and all of her friends but Stacie have already auditioned, so hopefully she’ll get to follow Mrs. Haldrin’s example soon.

Stacie’s audition is good, as Beca knew it would be from countless study sessions turned karaoke nights and back-and-forth car rides to school. Stacie even uses some of her dance skills from cheerleading to her advantage, making Beca roll her eyes so hard she thinks they’re going to get permanently lodged in her skull.

When her audition is over, Stacie gives a little waggle of her fingers and a wink in the seniors’ direction before she struts off the stage and back to their row. Beca huffs as Stacie smirks at her.

“Saw you checking me out, Beca-bee.”

“Nope.” Beca lolls her head to the side. “Can we go now?”

“Okay everyone!” The blonde senior stands up and looks back at them. “Is there anybody else who would like to audition?”

There’s a beat of silence then –

“I would!” Stacie calls, forcing her voice to go deeper. Beca crinkles her eyebrows in confusion, but as the blonde senior looks over in their direction, Stacie grabs Beca by her bicep, forcing her hand in the air.

“Dude!” Beca hisses at Stacie, but the blonde has already seen, pointing her finger first at Beca before jabbing it up toward the stage.

“Let’s see it, then.”

“No – I mean. What?” Beca scowls, wrenching her arm out of Stacie’s grasp.

Stacie smiles at her innocently. “You heard the girl. Get your cute butt on stage!”

“Stacie – ”

“Let’s go,” the blonde calls. “We don’t have all afternoon.”

And Beca hates Stacie Conrad.

No – scratch that. She loathes Stacie Conrad. Stacie Conrad is the most infuriating person that Beca has ever met. Because everyone in that auditorium is staring at her, waiting for her to sing a song that she does not want to sing.

Fine. If Stacie wants to play games, then so be it.

She glances over at her friend and smirks before she pushes out of her seat and slouches up to the stage.

She’s totally going to American Idol this shit.

She meanders up to center stage, looking out at the gaggle of seniors at the director’s table. There’s the blonde girl and a redheaded girl plus two guys who look three breaths away from zonked out.

“Please state your name and year,” the blonde senior demands, eyes unimpressed as she takes in Beca in her skinny jeans and low-cut tank top. Beca resists the urge to roll her eyes.

“Beca Mitchell. Junior.”

“Well, any day now, Beca.” The blonde senior sighs, clearly as fed up with these auditions as Beca is.

The blonde’s redheaded counterpart nudges her subtly, her head tilting to the side in an apology. For the first time, Beca lets her gaze flit away from the blonde.

The redhead smiles warmly at her, nodding her head encouragingly. “Whenever you’re ready, Beca.”

Beca glances back behind the seniors to see Jesse giving her a thumbs up. Stacie’s smiling innocently. Emily’s hopeful, wide eyes stare at her as if Beca is about to perform a magic trick more impressive than an entire David Copperfield show.

Beca internally groans, cursing Stacie.

She’s totally not about to American Idol this shit, is she?

“Can I borrow your cup?” Beca jerks her head in the direction of the redhead’s yellow cup of pens.

The blonde says nothing, just twists her lips in displeasure.

Beca ignores her, eyes on the other senior. The girl briefly glances at the blonde before nodding. She dumps out her pens and tosses the cup to Beca with an encouraging smile, one that hits Beca in a way that makes her stomach flip.

Beca sits down on the stage and crosses her legs. She takes a deep breath, counting in her head, and then she starts.

The song is nothing special really, just this thing she found on the internet over the summer when she was bored because Stacie was at cheer camp and Emily had piano lessons and Jesse was off visiting his grandparents in Utah.

It only took her three afternoons and by the time Jesse came back from Utah, she’d perfected it.

It seems second nature now as she claps before flipping the cup, letting it hit the stage with a muted plunk. The words come out of her mouth – I got my ticket for the long way ‘round – and she stares at her hands, the rings on her fingers catching the stage lights as she taps the top of the cup.

Sometimes she glances up in between cup flips, her eyes roving over the seniors directly in front of her. The blonde senior at least looks a little impressed and the two guys have sat up and opened their eyes, which Beca thinks is probably a feat in itself.

And the redhead, well, she beams that same encouraging smile, intense and bright and maybe just a little too much.

Beca looks back down at the cup.

She finishes quickly, deciding to cut the song short, and she stands up immediately. Jesse wolf-whistles from the rows of seats and Beca grits her teeth and clenches her fingers to stop herself from flipping him off.

Her gaze meets the redhead’s as she tosses the cup back to her, the girl’s eyes wide in what Beca thinks is awe. She clears her throat.

“Cool, so is that it?”

The blonde stands up again. “Okay, thanks for auditioning. We’ll let you know by Wednesday.”

Everyone in the audience stands up to leave and Beca scurries down the stage stairs and back to her friends. They meet her in the aisle as they walk back up toward the doors and into the auditorium lobby.

“Beca what was that song?” Emily gushes, bouncing ahead of her and turning around to walk backwards. “It was so cool.”

“Yeah, Beca, what the hell?” Jesse nudges his shoulder against hers and she pushes him off. “Where did you even learn that?”

Beca shrugs, rolling her eyes. “You can learn just about anything on YouTube.”

“Dude, you’ve been holding out on us. Not cool!” Jesse shakes his head.

Beca feels a long arm swoop over her shoulders. “Beca here is going places,” Stacie proclaims, leaning in close to Beca as they walk down the hallway. “Aren’t you, B?”

Beca opens her mouth to tell Stacie to shut up, but a door in front of them that leads to the performing arts hallway swings open and the redheaded senior steps into the hallway, her long hair falling over her shoulder as she shoots off a text. She looks up, smiling when she sees them.

“Hey,” she says, and Beca’s pretty sure she imagines it, but the girl seems to be speaking directly to her. For some reason that she’s not sure of, she steps out from under Stacie’s arm.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Jesse says, lifting his hand in a wave.

The redhead’s eyes leave Beca’s, landing on Jesse with a smile. “Good audition, guys. All of you.” She leans forward, hushing her voice to a whisper. “Don’t tell Aubrey I told you, but I think you’ll make it.” Then she winks and leans back with a smile.

Jesse fist bumps Benji and Beca rolls her eyes when the redhead looks back at her as if to say, I’m not with them. Even though she clearly is. Whatever.

“Beca, right?” The girl says, tilting her head questioningly in Beca’s direction.

“That’s what my driver’s license says.” Beca grins toward the girl as Stacie snorts next to her.

“Actually it says Rebeca, but.”

Beca shoots a glare in Stacie’s direction, but her friend smiles innocently.

The redhead giggles at them, waggling her fingers in a wave. “Well hi Beca. I’m Chloe.” Chloe’s phone buzzes and she glances down at it before looking back up at their group. “I’ve gotta go, but thanks for auditioning and we’ll let you guys know soon.”

Beca nods as Chloe’s eyes flit to hers and hold them for a second. “It was nice meeting you,” Beca says and Chloe smiles brightly.

She waves again and heads down a different hallway of the school. Stacie loops her arm around Beca’s shoulders again and they push out of the school and into the parking lot. They say bye to Jesse and Benji and head toward Stacie’s car.

“Okay,” Stacie begins when they get in the car. “So, anyone notice any first day of school cuties?”

Beca rolls her eyes, but Emily laughs from the backseat. “Benji seems nice.”

“He has a nice smile,” Stacie agrees, starting the car. “How about you, Bec? Any prospects this year?”

Beca snorts. “Yeah right.” But as Stacie starts going on about some guy in her Lit class and this one girl from AP Spanish, Beca can’t help but think about the way Chloe’s smile had engulfed her when she was on that stage, its brightness hooking her and reeling her in.

Whatever. It’s not like she’ll see Chloe again. There’s no way she’s joining an a Cappella team, audition or not.

Just. No way.

//

Beca’s sitting in the dark. It’s 1am and she has her headphones on and her laptop out and she’s going to finish this mix even if she doesn’t sleep.

Her phone lights up next to her on the bed, and she tears her eyes away from the computer to look at it.

She has a few unread messages from Stacie that she didn’t notice before and a new one.

Stacie (11:34pm): We find out if we made the BellaTones tomorrow.

Stacie (11:42pm): Don’t pretend you’re not excited!

Stacie (11:58pm): Beca-beeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Stacie (12:08am): Fine I’m going to bed make sure your ass is at the car on time tomorrow love you xoxo

Stacie (1:13am): OMG DID THEY GET YOU

Beca feels her eyebrows crinkle. The first four texts are normal enough but did they get you? Stacie what the hell?

Suddenly, her bedroom door swings open and the lights come on. She squints into the brightness, her dilated pupils trying to focus on the girl now standing in the middle of her room.

“Oh. Good! You’re already awake!”

Beca blinks, trying to clear her vision because a cappella senior Chloe is not standing in her room right now because that doesn’t make sense.

It doesn’t make sense, right?

“I – ummm.” Beca’s still sitting in her bed with her headphones on and she pulls them down around her neck and saves her mix really quickly. “You’re in my room. At…” She glances at her phone. “1:16am.”

“Yep!” Chloe grins, her head swiveling side to side as she takes in Beca’s bedroom.

Beca stares at the redhead, wondering what the fuck is going on. She has to be in some other dimension or something because people – except maybe Stacie – don’t just burst into her room at one in the morning.

They just don’t.

“Why?” Beca draws out the word, confusion lacing her tone. She rubs her hands up and down her bare arms, suddenly self-conscious that she’s in a tank top and a girl who is practically a stranger (a hot stranger no less) is in her room.

“Oh!” Chloe grins, bouncing over to the side of Beca’s bed. “You made the BellaTones! Congrats Beca!”

Beca feels her mouth fall open. “And you couldn’t have waited until school to tell me this?”

“Nope!” Chloe shakes her head. “I’m kidnapping you!”

This night is getting weirder by the second. “Kidnapping?”

“Oh yeah.” Chloe winks. “It’s tradition. But don’t worry, there’s no bad hazing or anything. It’s totes just fun! Like a sleepover!”

“But what about school?” Not that Beca cares that much about school but.

Chloe shrugs. “Hope you can do math after pulling an all-nighter.”

“But – ”

“Come on, get up!” Chloe pouts at her. Beca thinks she has whiplash from trying to follow what’s happening right now. “I’m not really supposed to ease you into it, I’m kinda just supposed to grab you and go. So please hurry before Aubrey gets impatient.”

And Beca doesn’t really want to join this a cappella team, but Chloe’s pouting at her and she’s a little disoriented because it’s 1am so she climbs out of bed, grateful she’s wearing a set of flannel pajama pants.

“Can I get dressed?”

Chloe grins impishly. “Nope.”

Beca quirks an eye at Chloe’s jeans and hoodie combo, but decides not to comment on it. “How did you even get in here?”

“Your mom let me in!” Chloe’s started moving around Beca’s room, completely ignoring personal boundaries and grabbing Beca’s backpack and a hoodie that’s draped over her desk chair.

Beca scowls. “The step-monster is not my mom.”

Chloe freezes, looking at Beca over her shoulder with an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Your step-mom let me in then. She was really nice about the whole thing when I called her this afternoon.”

“Whatever.” Beca stuffs her feet into her shoes, leaving the laces untied and taking her backpack from Chloe. She grabs her phone off the bed. “Let’s just... whatever.”

“Yeah, for sure, except…” Chloe pulls a yellow bandana from her pocket. “I have to blindfold you.”

Beca’s really not a fan of this night. “Dude, no.”

Chloe just holds the bandana up and moves behind Beca. “It’s tradition. Now stand still.”

Beca grits her teeth, her body tensing as Chloe’s fingers brush over her cheeks. She closes her eyes as the soft fabric of the bandana presses against them. She feels Chloe tying it in a knot around the back of her head.

“Is that too tight?”

Beca snorts. “If I say yes, will you let me not wear it?”

“Are you always this cheery or is this an attitude reserved for just me?” Beca can hear Chloe’s teasing smile in her voice and she feels heat creep up her face. She doesn’t like that Chloe can see her while she can’t see Chloe.

“That’s an attitude reserved for being jerked from your bed at one in the morning and being blindfolded.”

The sound of Chloe’s laugh comes from right in front of Beca and Beca’s body turns rigid, uncertainty crawling up her neck. “Oh, please. You weren’t even sleeping. It could’ve been worse.”

Beca huffs. “I doubt it.”

“Well, you could’ve been naked and in the shower.” Chloe’s voice is right next to her ear, her hot breath hitting the side of Beca’s face. Beca twitches and resists the urge to yank the bandana off of her eyes.

She tightens the grip on her backpack and decides to ignore that statement. “Are we going or what?”

“Oh yeah, totes!” Chloe grabs Beca’s hand and pulls her along. From sheer muscle memory she knows they’ve left her room and have reached the stairway.

“I swear to God if you let me fall down the stairs…” Beca says as she feels Chloe take a step down slowly.

“Don’t you trust me?”

Beca can’t say that Chloe has given her any reason to trust her, but for some reason she feels herself nodding, even as her mouth turns down in a grimace. Chloe guides her down the stairs, one slow step at a time until Beca feels her feet hit the hardwood floor at the bottom. She exhales in relief.

“See, no biggie.” Chloe laces their fingers together tighter. “You know, Beca,” Chloe says and Beca hears the sound of her front door opening. “I think we’re going to be really fast friends.”

Beca’s not so sure about that, but she is certain that they’re going to be something.

She has a feeling that with Chloe, it’s always something.

//

Chloe leads her down the walk and helps her slide into the backseat of a car before getting in the driver’s seat.

“Okay, Beca you just scoot to the middle because we have one more person to pick up.” The car starts and she feels it vibrating underneath her as Chloe pulls away from the curb. “Oh, and just a reminder guys, no talking, or else!”

Chloe punctuates her threat with a giggle and Beca stiffens as she feels someone shift to the left of her. Beca makes herself as small as possible so as to not touch whoever it is. She hopes it’s Stacie, but the air around her doesn’t feel like Stacie. She doesn’t smell her perfume, but instead catches the faint scent of campfire.

She’s seriously starting to regret taking that stupid audition seriously.

They drive for a few minutes, the only sounds in the car are Taylor Swift blaring from the radio and Chloe singing along.

“How much longer?” An unfamiliar voice with a heavy accent says from the front passenger seat. Beca thinks it’s… Australian maybe?

“Not much,” Chloe answers. There’s a brief pause, then – “And Amy, I said no talking!”

“You’re lucky I’ve made it this long, Red.” The voice – Amy? – mutters. Beca snorts.

Finally, Chloe pulls up somewhere and stops the car. She turns it off, sings out a “be right back!” and then leaves them in silence.

“You bitches have any food?” Amy asks after a minute.

“I barely have a shirt,” Beca mutters. The person next to her squeaks something out, but Beca doesn’t quite catch it.

Amy groans. “This is inhumane. Gingersnap should’ve at least allowed us to get a midnight snack.”

Beca doesn’t say anything, and the car lapses back into silence. A few minutes later, the car door to Beca’s right opens and she feels rustling as someone plops down into the seat next to her. A wayward leg kicks her accidentally and Beca feels relief flood her as a familiar voice chirps, “Whoopsie! Sorry!”

“Em?” Beca whispers as the car door closes again.

Emily gasps excitedly. “Beca!”

Chloe laughs as she gets back in the car. “Oh right, you guys know each other already!”

“Yep!” Emily nudges Beca with her elbow. “My whole life. We’re cousins.”

“That’s so cute!” Chloe says, starting the car back up.

“Oh, are we allowed to talk now?” Amy asks dryly.

Chloe pulls away from the curb again and turns the radio back on. “No!”

They drive for a few minutes and Beca feels herself relax as Emily leans into her. At least she’s not alone. She wonders where Stacie is.

Finally Chloe parks the car and turns it off. Beca has no idea where they are. She hopes she can take this dumb blindfold off soon.

"Okay, you guys just hold tight and I'll be right back!" Chloe's door opens and shuts, and then they're in silence again.

Beca sighs as Emily hums happily. "I can't see anything you guys," her cousin says. “I wonder where we are."

"The grocery store on Main and Thurman," a quiet voice murmurs from next to Beca. "We went over the pothole on Jefferson and I counted the turns since then. A right, three lefts, another right."

Beca blinks, but before she can reply, the car door to her right opens. "Alright aca-bitches, get your asses out here!"

Beca snorts, but follows Emily as they slide out of the car. She blindly reaches out as her feet hit asphalt, desperately hoping that she doesn't fall over like a total loser. Cool fingers grab onto hers immediately. "Gotcha," Chloe's voice whispers.

Beca pulls her hands back. "I got it."

Chloe just giggles. "Okay."

"Chloe!" The other voice scolds and Beca recognizes it as the blonde senior's. "Listen up, ladies! These are the rules: everyone gets a partner. One of you will remain blindfolded while the other has a list of items that you must get inside the store. The catch is that the blindfolded partner must be the one to get every item from the shelf. First team back at the front of the store wins."

"Are we allowed to get items that are not on the list, like say a bag of chips or an entire chicken?" Amy interrupts.

"I would advise against it," the blonde senior - Aubrey, Beca remembers - responds. "The last team back will have to participate in an additional challenge."

Beca rolls her eyes under her blindfold. She knew this a cappella thing was more trouble than it was worth.

"Alright, these are the teams!" Aubrey says as if she's reading from a list. "Amy and Lilly. Chloe with Cynthia Rose. Jessica and Ashley. Beca with Emily. And Stacie is with me."

She hears a loud huff from next to her and Amy opens her mouth again. "Beca and the chipper chipmunk are related. That's hardly fair if this is a trust exercise." Amy's voice deepens with sarcasm on the words 'trust exercise' and Beca bites her lip to keep from grinning.

"I'll go with Beca!" Chloe chimes in, and despite having barely met the girl, Beca can imagine the doe-eyed eagerness on her face.

"Fine," Aubrey sighs, clearly past caring. "Chloe, you go with Beca. Cynthia Rose, you're with Emily."

There's a quick clapping of hands next to her and someone hip checks her. "Hey partner."

Beca raises an eyebrow which she's not sure is seen with the blindfold on her face. "Hi."

"Okay!" Aubrey says. "On your marks, get set, go!"

There’s a quick moment of silence where Chloe grabs Beca's hand, then the people around her start moving. She hears Jessica trying to find Ashley, both of them still blindfolded, and Cynthia Rose is telling Emily she already took her blindfold off but she promises to lead her through the store safely.

"Come on, Becs!" Beca raises her eyebrows again at the nickname. "Aubrey and Stacie already have a jump on us."

She starts pulling Beca by the hand, telling her when to step up on the curb and to avoid a cart that wasn't returned to its proper designated return area, which Chloe is quick to inform Beca, she finds super rude.

"Uh. So what do we have to get?" Beca asks when they step into the store. She can't really see still, but the fluorescent lights manage to seep under the blindfold a little.

"Hmm," Chloe hums and Beca hears the crinkling of paper. "A six-pack of toilet paper, saran wrap, and juice."

Beca scowls.  "Is Aubrey hazing us by making us do her grocery shopping?"

Chloe laughs. "Nope. You'll see. It's tradition."

"Right." Chloe still has her hand and she's not really pulling Beca along as much as she’s just swinging their hands between them.

"Yo bitches. Move your slow asses out of the way,” a voice booms in Beca's ear and she jumps. She hears Emily laugh and guesses that must be Cynthia Rose before she hears their footsteps hurrying away.

Beca wonders why Chloe isn't leading them faster, but doesn't really care because she's not going to run in the grocery store at 2am for an a cappella scavenger hunt.

Like just. No.

"Aren't there supposed to be boys on this team?" Beca asks after a few seconds because she realized Aubrey didn't call Jesse or Benji or any guy's names for that matter when assigning teams.

"Yep!" Chloe chirps. "They do their own thing first and then we meet up later." She gives Beca's hand a squeeze. "Your friends made it though, don't worry. Bumper didn't want to let Benji in, but Aubrey convinced him that we needed more guys."

Beca considers telling Chloe that she just met Benji and they're not really friends, but decides not to for some reason. "Cool," she says instead.

“Okay, stop please,” Chloe says and Beca stops walking. “Okay turn to your left.” Beca turns slightly. “Great now step forward two steps.”

“What am I, your puppet?”

“Yes.” Beca can tell Chloe’s grinning. She sighs and takes two steps forward. “Okay now the toilet paper is at your eye level.”

Beca grits her teeth, trying to ignore how stupid she feels blindly reaching up to grab toilet paper she can’t even see. Her left hand hits soft packaging and she feels around until her right hand grabs the side of the package. She pulls it down into her hands.

“Awes!” Chloe says and Beca hears clapping. “Now we have to get saran wrap.”

There’s a brief moment of silence where Chloe doesn’t say anything and Beca becomes annoyed, once again, that she can’t see what’s going on. “Are we going?” She asks.

“Yes, but…” Chloe makes a small sound of frustration. “I can’t lead you when you’re carrying that with two hands.”

“Oh.” Beca crinkles her nose. “Umm.” She shifts her hip and hefts the toilet paper under one arm. Then she holds out her hand awkwardly.

This night is so weird, but when Chloe’s fingers tangle with hers, she doesn’t hate it.

Whatever. She’s getting used to it.

//

“Why are you wiggling your nose like that?” Chloe says when they get to the next aisle.

Beca freezes. “Because this blindfold is making my nose itch and I’m allergic to pointless scavenger hunts.”

Chloe gasps, scandalized. “Beca, this scavenger hunt is not pointless.” She opens her mouth to argue, but then she feels a gentle scratching on her nose and snaps her mouth shut. “There. All better?”

Beca clears her throat before shrugging. “Yeah. Let’s just finish this so I can take the blindfold off.”

“I think you just want to look at me again, Becs. It’s okay, you’ll see my pretty face soon enough.” Beca wants to say Chloe is kidding, but she’s almost one hundred percent sure she’s being serious.

“What a relief,” she deadpans. Chloe laughs lightly and Beca feels a small feeling of accomplishment spread through her at the sound.

Maybe this scavenger hunt isn’t that pointless after all.

//

They lose the challenge.

Beca’s sure they would’ve beat Amy and Lilly, but it took Chloe five minutes to decide what kind of juice she wanted.

“Now that we have our losers,” Aubrey says when they’ve met back outside. Beca rolls her eyes. “You may remove your blindfolds.”

Beca sighs in relief as Chloe unties the knot at the back of her head. She blinks at the bright light seeping out of the entrance to the grocery store before glancing around at the people standing by her.

Chloe and Aubrey stand just to Beca’s left. Emily is shaking hands with a girl who Beca assumes to be Cynthia Rose. Stacie stands on the other side of Aubrey, her attention focused on the blonde as she folds up her blindfold and hands it to Stacie. A large blonde girl opens a bag of chips and Beca guesses that must be Amy, and the smaller girl next to her must be Lilly. Two other girls shake hands and smile warmly at each other, and Beca assumes that they must be Jessica and Ashley.

“Beca,” Aubrey says, and Beca looks over at her. “As the last one back here, you must complete an additional challenge.”

Aubrey stares at her and Beca raises an eyebrow. “You need me to buy you tampons?”

Aubrey purses her lips in annoyance, but it quickly morphs into a smirk. “No. You get the pleasure of stealing the annual Bella watermelon.”

Beca blinks. “You want me to… steal… a watermelon. Dude, no.”

She immediately imagines every bad sitcom she’s ever seen where girls steal department store merchandise under their dresses. She looks down at her pajama pants. Yeah… that’s not gonna happen.

“It’s tradition,” Aubrey says, her smile way too wide to be comforting. Beca’s eyes slide over to Stacie, who looks more intrigued than worried. Beca sighs. You can’t trust anyone to bail you out of illegal activities in this world, can you?

Chloe nudges her. “I’ll be your look out.” Then Chloe juts her chin toward the end-of-summer watermelon display outside the grocery store, but still in sight of the doors. “Nobody’s watching anyway.”

“If you’re too scared, we can – ” Aubrey starts, but Beca is a sucker for being dared like this.

“I can do it.” She narrows her eyes as Aubrey grins.

“Perfect.” Aubrey swings her keys around her finger. “We’ll meet your troop at the destination then, Chlo.”

Chloe nods and throws Emily her keys. “You guys go start the car and Beca and I will get the watermelon.”

Emily salutes. “Aye aye, cap’n!”

Emily, Lilly, and Amy run off to the car and Beca watches as the headlights beam at them from the closest row.

It’s just Beca and Chloe then, standing under the moon, the fluorescent lights spilling out of the store and casting shadows around them. Beca imagines this probably looks suspicious and moves toward the watermelons.

“So you really do this every year, then?” She asks, if only to distract herself as she peers over the side of the display. She doesn’t know what she’s looking for, but she guesses if she’s going to do this she’ll at least try to find a good watermelon.

“Yep,” Chloe says, rocking back and forth. “Ever since I was initiated.”

Beca hums. Then she takes a deep breath and hefts a watermelon into her arms.

“Okay, go!” She takes off jogging toward Chloe’s car, her movements stunted by the fat watermelon in her arms. She hears Chloe’s jingle of laughter behind her before the girl overtakes her.

“Hurry up, snail!” Chloe opens the door to the backseat for her.

Beca huffs as she slides in. “Sorry I was carrying this huge ass melon!” The door shuts and Chloe takes her place in the driver’s seat. Beca tries to catch her breath as the car pulls away from the store.

Beca’s head slumps back against the headrest and Emily pats her on the knee. Amy turns around to stare at her from the front seat.

“That was some badass shit, Smalls.” She nods approvingly and Beca just squints her eyes suspiciously. “Wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t your first time juggling melons.”

Next to her, Emily snorts in an attempt to not laugh. Beca rolls her eyes and when she looks up, Chloe is grinning at her in the rearview.

Beca shakes her head, the weight of the watermelon settling on her lap.

//

Chloe pulls up in front of a house a few minutes later. The street around them is quiet and dark, the only light coming from a few porchlights up and down the street.

Chloe smiles to herself as she turns off the car and unbuckles her seatbelt. She twists around in her seat and raises an eyebrow.

“Okay ladies! So when we get out, everyone be quiet and grab some toilet paper.”

Beca feels Emily shift beside her and the girl’s voice comes out in an exaggerated whisper. “Are we t.p.ing them?”

“Mhmmm,” Chloe hums, tearing into the package in Amy’s lap.

“Americans are so weird,” Amy mutters. “But I’m always down for a prank.”

Chloe tosses them all two rolls and they climb out of the car. Beca sees the rest of their crew is already sneaking into the designated yard. Cynthia Rose winds her arm back, and Beca watches as a roll flies through the air, a tail of white trailing behind it. It hits the large tree in the front yard with a small thump. The quiet rustling of leaves, no louder than the wind would cause, whispers in the air around them as the roll falls back down to the ground, its white tail of paper draping itself over a branch and getting caught in the tree.

“Damn girl,” Stacie nods approvingly as Beca walks up. “Good throw.”

Cynthia Rose chuckles. “Seven years of softball wasn’t for nothing. You know how I do.”

Beca feels herself grinning. “Do you guys know whose house this is?”

Stacie’s arm falls around Beca’s shoulders. “Well look who it is, our little criminal.” Stacie guides her lips close to Beca’s ear. “Orange is the New Black style huh, Beca-bee?”

“Oh please.” Beca shrugs the arm off. “Watch how it’s done nerds.”

Beca feels a rush of exhilaration pump through her bloodstream as she quietly moves toward the tree. She and Jesse used to sneak out and t.p. his asshole neighbor Pieter so many times that it eventually wasn’t even fun anymore.

She’s got this on lock.

She drops one of her rolls on the ground and pinches the other between her thumb and pointer finger. Then she grabs the branch closest to her and uses the trunk as leverage to climb up and swing her leg over the branch.

Taking a deep breath, she reaches her hand to the trunk to steady herself. Then she carefully stands up and grabs the next closest branch. It’s a bit of a reach but she walks herself up the trunk a few steps until she’s safely up a level higher in the tree. She repeats this a few more times until she’s a little more than halfway up the tree and doesn’t think she can go any higher.

She sits down on the branch, her legs hanging freely in the air, her shoes brushing against some leaves on the branch below her. Through the leaves she watches a few of the girls she just met sneak around the yard. Lilly tiptoes quietly up to the porch of the house and starts saran wrapping columns and the drainpipe, quiet as a mouse. Jessica and Ashley have teamed up to get the car in the driveway, rolling the paper under and tossing it over the vehicle back and forth. Cynthia Rose is trying to teach Stacie and Emily how to properly throw the roll so it gets caught in the tree and unravels when it falls back to the ground.

“Psst,” a voice whispers from below, and Beca cranes her neck to look directly down at the redhead peering up at her. “Is there room for one more up there?”

Beca smirks. “Be my guest.”

Chloe’s smile is visible even in the darkness and Beca leans upright again as she feels the tree start to shake with the careful tugs of someone climbing within its branches. A minute later, Chloe’s grabbing onto the branch she’s sitting on. Beca reaches her hand out as Chloe swoops her leg over and the girl grabs onto it. She pulls Chloe up the rest of the way.

“Didn’t think you had it in you,” Beca grins as Chloe settles next to her and tries to catch her breath.

“Well there’s a lot you don’t know about me, Ms. Mitchell.”

Beca snorts. “How rom-com of you.”

“You don’t like rom-coms?”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m not really a movie person.”

Chloe hums, and the sound mixes with the breeze and the dull thump of a roll of toilet paper hitting the ground. “What about… movie musicals?”

Beca ignores that and raises an eyebrow in Chloe’s direction. “So, just wondering, do you guys ever do anything that’s legal or is tonight actually an initiation into a crime-gang?”

“I’ll have you know,” Chloe begins and nudges Beca with her shoulder. “That this is actually our first illegal activity of the night.”

“Right,” Beca drawls, her eyebrows pinching together to convey that she and Chloe have very different ideas of the meaning of the word ‘illegal’. “After breaking into people’s houses in the middle of the night and stealing fruit from your local grocery store.”

“Okay, first, we had permission to enter everyone’s house. We didn’t break anything.”

“Still – ”

“And second…” Chloe grins. “I paid for that watermelon before we went out of the store. You just didn’t know because you were blindfolded.”

Beca blinks in surprise. “So you just wanted me to… think… I was stealing it?”

Chloe shrugs. “Okay, well full disclosure, everyone else thinks you stole it, too.”

“Why…” Beca looks at Chloe more fully, trying to understand the crazy happening behind those eyes.

Chloe purses her lips. “I don’t know, I just started doing it the year I was initiated. This girl Alice made Aubrey steal the watermelon.”

“So?”

“So….” Chloe shrugs again. “Aubrey and I have been best friends since 3^rd grade. And I wasn’t about to let her ruin her perfect record on account of peer pressure from someone who honestly wasn’t very nice.” Chloe scrunches her nose slightly in displeasure and the action looks so out of place on Chloe’s face that Beca feels herself soften.

She smirks. “Since third grade, huh? Wow.”

“Mhmm.” Chloe hums around a smile. “She told someone off for stealing my Teddy Grahams. Best friends ever since.”

Beca can’t help the laugh that bubbles up her throat. “Sounds like how Stacie and I became friends.”

“Really?”

“I mean,” Beca grins. “There may have been punching involved and I might have been suspended, but it’s like, basically the same thing.”

Chloe’s eyes widen comically. “Suspended?”

“Yeah… My dad wasn’t too happy.” Beca shrugs. “And you’re encouraging activities right now that could further tarnish my permanent record. What do you have to say for yourself, Beale?”

“Well.” Chloe’s lips lift, mischief twinkling at the edges. “So far, all you’ve done is sit in this tree actually, so to be quite honest with you, I’m beginning to think you’re all talk and no walk.”

Beca scoffs. “I’m about to t.p. the shit out of this tree.”

“Sure.”

“Fine.” Beca carefully pushes herself up so she’s standing and pinches her toilet paper roll between two fingers. Then she reaches around the trunk and pulls herself onto a branch on the other side of the tree. “Watch and learn, nerd.”

She starts unrolling the toilet paper and wrapping it tightly around the tree branches nearest to her, breaking the roll off here and there.

“You know,” Chloe’s voice comes from the other side of the trunk. “I don’t really condone this type of thing usually, but tonight’s an exception.”

“Why’s that?” Beca asks, still concentrating on wrapping the roll tightly around the branches.

“Well, it’s rude, for one thing. Illegal. Wasteful. Do you know how many people don’t have access to toilet paper? And the way you’re wrapping it around the tree will make it impossible for these people to get it off unless they climb up here themselves.”

Beca just shrugs. “Well, yeah, that’s the point. But no, why is tonight an exception?”

“Oh.” Chloe peers around the trunk. “Well just because of whose house this is.”

Beca raises an eyebrow questioningly as she unwraps the last of the paper. “Whose?”

“That,” Chloe grins and takes the cardboard roll from her, “is need to know only.”

“Then why would you even bring it up,” Beca scowls.

“Just so you know that I don’t approve of this behavior typically.”

Beca rolls her eyes. “Noted.”

“Good. Now get your cute butt back on the ground. I think we’re done here.” Chloe gestures for her to start climbing down and Beca has never really been a follower so she carefully lowers herself until she’s close enough to drop to the ground and land in a crouch.

Chloe lands next to her a moment later.

Cynthia Rose, Emily, and Stacie have used their rolls, too, so they all take a few steps into the street to admire their handiwork. Long sections of toilet paper hang from every branch, cocooning the tree in a curtain of white. 

“Damn. That tree’s so white it belongs at a Trump rally,” Cynthia Rose whispers in awe.

Chloe nudges her, a giant smile on her face. “Not bad, right?”

Beca rolls her eyes, but she has to admit it’s one of the best t.p.ed houses she’s ever seen.

“Alright, Bellas!” Aubrey whispers but still manages to yell somehow. “Good work, but let’s not push our luck. Move out!”

Beca hears Amy chuckle from behind her. “Sir, yes, sir.”

They head to the cars and manage to get in and pull away from the house without being detected. Beca takes one last glance out of the back window as they’re turning off the street. Looks like a snowstorm in August.

She grins and settles into Emily’s side in the back of the car, feeling more at ease than she has all night.

//

Their final stop for the night is Chloe’s house, an elegant place in a gated neighborhood that Beca’s never been in. Chloe smiles and waggles her fingers at the guy in the security booth as she punches in the gate code, and he waves back at her like it’s not totally suspicious that a bunch of high schoolers are out at 3am on a school night.

“That’s Marv,” Chloe says as they pull through the gate and into the neighborhood. “He’s so nice, and he has the cutest golden retrievers.”

Beca just curiously watches the houses pass.

Finally they pull into a driveway, and Beca appraises the house in front of them with wide eyes.

“Wow, Chloe, your place is really nice!” Emily chirps as they get out of the car and head into the house.

“Thanks! I’ll tell my mom you said so.”

They file after Chloe through the front hall and into the living room, Aubrey’s group just behind them. Chloe tells them they can set down their stuff and make themselves comfortable. Jessica and Ashley flop down on one of the huge sofas, and even Aubrey visibly relaxes, pulling the sleeves of her hoodie over her wrists and sitting cross-legged in front of the coffee table. Beca rolls her eyes when she sees the girl pull out some homework.

Everyone starts spreading themselves out in the family room and neighboring rooms. Emily and Cynthia Rose start playing foosball in a media room down the hall, and Lilly and Amy have completely disappeared. Stacie settles next to Aubrey, glancing at what she’s working on. Chloe turns on some music and heads into the kitchen. Beca’s not really interested in watching Aubrey do her homework so she follows and boosts herself onto an island stool to watch Chloe set out some snacks.

She purses her lips when Chloe turns up the music. Chloe raises her eyebrows across the island. “What?”

“Aren’t your parents, like, sleeping?”

“Oh,” Chloe shakes her head. “My mom’s out of town.”

“What about your dad?”

Chloe hums, setting their watermelon on a cutting board and grabbing a large knife from the rack on the island. “He died when I was little.”

Beca feels her stomach drop. “Shit. I’m sorry.”

Chloe shrugs and shoots her a small smile. “It was a long time ago.” She starts slicing into the watermelon and Beca frantically searches for something to say.

“Do you need help with that?” Is what she finally lands on and wants to kick herself, but Chloe just shakes her head and grins at her.

“I think you’ve done enough on behalf of this watermelon.”

“Not if I had a say in it,” Beca grumbles.

“We all make the choices we make.”

Beca scoffs. “Not voluntarily. I didn’t even audition for this voluntarily. Stacie forced my hand in the air!”

“But you went on the stage.”

“Only because my friends, like, made me.”

Chloe raises an eyebrow, her focus still on the melon. “You could’ve said no.”

“Well – ”

“Maybe you secretly wanted to join.” Chloe muses and Beca makes a noise of protest. “And maybe you wanted to steal that watermelon.”

Beca’s mouth falls open. “And why on earth would I want to do that?”

Chloe shrugs and pops a freshly sliced watermelon cube in her mouth. “Well, only you know the answer to that.”

“There’s no answer.”

“If you say so.” Chloe hums, but gives Beca a wink before moving to put the watermelon into a big ceramic bowl.

Beca slumps on her stool, her eyes narrowed at the girl across the counter. “Whatever dude. You like, don’t even know me.”

Chloe beams at her. “I know, but I will. Isn’t it exciting?”

She almost grunts out something kind of biting, but Chloe’s eyes sparkle with hopeful anticipation and, well, whatever, it’s almost 4am and she’s had zero sleep and she’s not feeling as quick as she usually is. Sue her.

“What’s not exciting is the prospect of school in a few hours.”

“And don’t forget practice after! Every day after school, Monday through Thursday!” Chloe chirps. Then she grabs the bowl of watermelon and bounces out of the kitchen, quirking her head like Beca should follow.

Beca sighs and slides off the stool. She has a feeling this is going to be one of the most exhausting days of her life.

//

They spend a few hours playing foosball and goofing around and getting to know each other. Beca reluctantly admits it’s fun, even if Aubrey yells at her for closing her eyes for even the briefest of seconds.

Apparently they really aren’t allowed to sleep during this experience. She kind of wants to tell Chloe she thinks this is a form of hazing, but thinks better of it. It could be worse she thinks. What if they had to like, recite a pact of sisterhood by candlelight or sip vodka from a maxi pad while solving a Rubik’s cube or something?

(Yeah, she knows that’s a crazy thought, but like she said, she’s had zero sleep.)

Finally around 6:30 they gather their stuff for school and head out for breakfast.  They crowd into the back corner of Waffle House and two minutes later are joined by six guys who suspiciously look like they haven’t been awake all night.

Beca narrows her eyes at Jesse when he slides into the empty chair across from her. “Why do you look like you actually got a good night’s sleep?”

His smile stretches to his ears, looking like something out of an amusement park caricature. “I’ve been drinking Rebulls since 3am. It’s lit.”

“Kay, yikes.” She shakes her head and hides her smile behind her menu. “That doesn’t seem healthy.”

“I know right?” He starts laughing and can’t stop and she spends the next ten minutes pretending she actually doesn’t know him.

They all get introduced and she learns that besides Jesse and Benji, the boys are Unicycle, Kolio, and the seniors, Bumper and Donald. Beca feels like there’s some tension between Aubrey and Bumper, but they mostly ignore each other and breakfast remains a quiet affair in which they all stuff their faces and stifle yawns into their plates.

Beca’s waiting in line to pay her check after Chloe when there’s a loud “MOTHERFUCKER!” hissed out behind them. She turns around to see Bumper thrusting his phone in the rest of the boys’ direction, another string of curses coming from his mouth. Beca cranes her neck to see a picture message on his phone of the very house they vandalized the night before. She takes a small step away from the boys and bumps into Chloe. They both freeze.

“My house got t.p.ed last night,” Bumper growls, whipping around to stare at Aubrey. “Was this you, ladies?”

Aubrey coolly raises an eyebrow. “While your cohort was egging Mr. Lopez’s house, we were doing the mature thing and bonding together at Chloe’s. In fact, I’m offended you would accuse us of such a thing. It probably was one of your moronic friends.”

Bumper scowls, his eyes narrowing as he looks back and forth from the phone to Aubrey. Then he shoves his phone in his pocket and storms off to the parking lot. Beca turns back around to pay, meeting Chloe’s eyes, which have a mischievous crinkle to them.

Beca shakes her head. “So the exception is your teammate?”

Chloe’s eyes widen innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Then she grins, unsubtly winks, and struts off, leaving Beca alone at the counter and wondering what the hell she’s gotten herself into.

//

By second period, Beca thinks she’s getting a second wind and might make it through the day without falling asleep.

She’s totally got this.

//

She falls asleep in fourth period, fifth period, and sixth period.

She totally doesn’t have anything… except the threat of detention.

//

They have practice in the auditorium after school. Everyone looks worse for wear except Lilly, whose eyes have widened to an impossible size and, as long as Beca watches, never close.

(It takes Beca twenty minutes to realize Lilly isn’t even blinking and actually might just be sleeping with her eyes open. She stops peeking over at the girl after that.)

The practice is pretty lowkey, probably because Aubrey looks completely strung out and even Chloe’s expected optimism has dulled. They basically just go over the competition schedule and the breakdown of the numbers. It’s pretty much decided that the girls have one number, the guys have one number, and then they all do one together.

It doesn’t seem too cohesive to Beca, but whatever. She doesn’t care enough to like, point that out and earn Aubrey’s wrath.

She doesn’t have a death wish.

//

She pretty much falls asleep on the way home, only half-listening to Stacie and Emily gush about everything that’s happened since the night before. She does manage to hear Stacie comment on how Aubrey is in her AP Psych class and how Cynthia Rose is in her Lit class. Emily complains about how she almost got detention for falling asleep in History.

(Join the club Emily.)

Beca says nothing and when she gets home, she naps until dinner, eats, then passes out for the rest of the night.

//

The first few weeks of school are uneventful.

She goes to class, avoids doing her homework if she can help it (and is scolded by Stacie for doing so), gets a C on her math test, and has BellaTones practice every Monday through Thursday.

BellaTones practice is, for lack of a more extreme word, hell.

Aubrey makes them run laps on the track, which is especially awkward because the cross country team runs with them sometimes and Beca can’t stop staring at their legs in their shorts. They spend a lot of time learning choreography, which Chloe comes up with so it’s only partway embarrassing, but the songs they’re singing are really outdated and get stuck in Beca’s head when she’s trying to sleep or do her Bio homework.

Two days a week they separate into boys vs girls and work on their individual performances, and the other two days a week they come together to work as a whole group. Those days are the worst (even if Beca likes the music for their group performance better) because Aubrey and Bumper are constantly snapping at each other.

She mostly goofs off in the back with Jesse on those days until Aubrey and Bumper get too annoyed with each other and Chloe tells them all they can go home.

At first she thought it was weird they split into boys and girls for two of their three performances, but after experiencing their group trying to work together for a month, she decides it is definitely for the best.

//

One of their group practices is especially bad. They have their first performance coming up that weekend at a small, friendly competition hosted at a high school about twenty minutes away. It’s just a lowkey competition and doesn’t affect their chances for sectionals or anything, but it’s their first performance so Aubrey is stressing out about it.

Bumper insists their choreography is boring and too “girly” and “staged”, to which Aubrey says they can’t just “do whatever they want” or they’ll look stupid. This is pretty much the norm, but with the performance so close, both of them seem extra unwilling to budge on what they want.

Eventually Aubrey ends the practice an hour early out of frustration, but Beca doesn’t mind because she has a mix in her head that she really wants to get home to work on.

She grabs her backpack and nudges Stacie to get out of there.

“Actually,” Stacie frowns and looks over her shoulder where Aubrey is packing up. “We have a Pysch test tomorrow and since we finished early, Aubrey asked me to go to the library and study with her.”

“Oh.”

“But if you need a ride, I can say no, it’s not a big deal.”

Beca shakes her head. “Nah, it’s okay. I’ll grab a ride with Jesse.” She rolls her eyes and waves Stacie off. “See you tomorrow, nerd.”

Stacie smirks as she hefts her backpack on her shoulder. “I love youuuuuuuuuuu.”

“Ew bye.” She slouches over to where Jesse is talking to Benji and Emily. “Jess, can you give me a ride?”

“Becaw!” He squishes her in a hug and she stands still until he releases her, but he’s used to that and laughs. “We’re going to see that new zombie movie, do you wanna come?” He gestures toward Benji and Emily. “It starts in twenty-five.”

Beca grimaces. If there are two things she hates, it’s movies and zombies. Zombie movies? No fucking thanks. “Er… pass.”

“Yeah I figured. But I think I could get you home in time.” He looks at his watch, and she knows he’s being his usual too-nice self and most definitely would miss the beginning of the movie.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” She shrugs. “Thanks anyway.”

“Okay.” He shoots her a puppy dog pout before waving and heading to the parking lot.

She pauses to consider her options. Her dad has a late class today and the step-monster is at a conference in Florida, so she can’t call them. She resigns herself to start walking, which isn’t the worst thing, but she’s pretty sore from Aubrey’s cardio yesterday, and it’s still like a half hour walk home.

“Hey,” a chipper voice calls from behind her as she’s pushing out of the school. Beca turns to see Chloe swinging a set of keys around her finger. “Need a ride?”

“Uh,” Beca considers saying no because she doesn’t want to cause any inconvenience, but then she feels a raindrop on her arm, quickly followed by another. “Yeah, actually. That’d be cool. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

She follows Chloe to her car, grateful for the ride when it starts raining harder as they’re pulling out of the lot.

“So,” Chloe starts, fiddling with the radio at a stoplight. “How do you like the BellaTones so far?”

Beca twists her lips, because she’s not a liar, but also she’s not really interested in like, offending Chloe. “It’s okay. Is it always so… tense?”

Chloe laughs a little, her nose scrunching. “Kind of. It used to be worse when we had three group performances. Last year we started splitting up and the arguing went way down.”

“It’s just kind of… weird.”

Chloe nods, and Beca watches as she bites the edge of her lip. “We used to have two different teams actually. The Bellas and the Trebletones. But they cut the funding after my freshman year, so now we’re just the BellaTones.”

“Oh, like a mashup,” Beca says.

Chloe glances over at her. “A what?”

“Um, a mashup? You know, like, when you take two songs and put them together.”

Chloe scrunches her nose. “Like a remix?”

“Sort of.” She swipes across her phone. “Can I put a song on?”

Chloe hands her the AUX cord and Beca plugs her phone in, scrolling through the list of her mixes that she has saved on her phone. She picks one that she thinks Chloe will like and waits.

“So see, it’s like a mixture of two songs…” She watches as Chloe beams and bops her head to the music. She relaxes back into the seat, a warmth spreading through her that reminds her of when she made Chloe smile on that stupid scavenger hunt. She likes how easy it is to please Chloe.

“Yeah,” Chloe grins. “I like this. They don’t play stuff like this on the radio. Where’d you find it?”

Beca shrugs and looks out the window, watching as Chloe turns into her neighborhood. “I made it, actually.”

She can feel Chloe looking at her. “You made it?”

“Mhmm.” Beca hums. She glances back at Chloe. “Like on my laptop.”

Chloe pulls up to her house, the car idling at the curb. “Is that hard? I can’t even imagine how you’d do that. This is really awesome.”

“I mean, it’s not as hard as it sounds once you know how to do it.” Beca feels her face heating up. “I can show you, if you want.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah,” Beca nods. “If you want.”

Chloe beams at her. “Yeah, I’d love that.” She turns off the car and they head into the house. Beca’s dad is still at his class, so nobody’s home.

Beca leads Chloe up to her room, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious about her dirty laundry on the floor. She tries to inconspicuously kick a pair of underwear under the bed.

“I love your room,” Chloe chirps, spinning around and taking it in.

Beca rolls her eyes. “You’ve already seen it, remember?”

“Well, yeah, but,” Chloe leans in closer to a picture of Emily and Stacie on her mirror. “I didn’t really get the chance to look around that much.”

“Right,” Beca drawls, slouching to her desk and opening her laptop. She brings it over to her bed and sits cross-legged while waiting for it boot up.

Chloe skips over to the bed and sits next to her, like really makes herself at home, and Beca is thrust back to when Stacie brought her ice that day she got suspended. She thinks about Chloe saying they’re going to be fast friends, and how Chloe’s arm is resting behind hers on the bed, her chin close to Beca’s shoulder as she leans in to see the screen.

She clears her throat and starts explaining about the programs she uses and how to pick songs that go together. She’s glad it’s pretty distracting, otherwise she thinks she’d spend the whole time wondering why every time Chloe’s arm brushes hers, she gets goosebumps.

//

Her dad brings back a pizza and asks Chloe to stay for dinner.

Chloe laughs at his dad jokes and he loves how she teases Beca about her dancing.

Beca’s isn’t quite sure how she feels about these recent developments, but for whatever reason, she sort of doesn’t hate it.

//

Joining a cappella, Beca decides on the bus ride to their first competition, was definitely not worth it. Turns out that she has to get up earlier for competitions than she does even for school, and on a Saturday, no less, so she isn’t really feeling it.

No, she thinks as she slouches in her seat and listens to Aubrey and Bumper throw insults back and forth. She isn’t feeling it at all.

“You could at least pretend you’re having a good time,” Stacie says, sliding next to Beca in the seat even though there are like, six other empty ones on the bus that Beca can see.

Beca scowls, or she would, but her face is naturally like that in the morning so she doesn’t really have to put in the effort. “Why?”

Stacie grins knowingly at her. “Because Emily brought you a present.”

“Look alive, Coz!”

Long arms drape over the back of her seat and hands appear in her line of vision holding what Beca considers, at least in this moment, to be one of the world’s most sacred treasures.

Starbucks.

She takes the cup from Emily like it holds the secrets of the universe. Or at least the secret to being a functional human at this time of the day. “But,” she whispers, looking around them for a sign of their fearless blonde captain. “Coffee is forbidden. Bad for the throat, or whatever.” She rolls her eyes at the rule.

“Don’t get caught, then,” Stacie winks.

“Did I ever tell you guys that I love you?”

Stacie quirks an eyebrow. “No.”

Emily laughs. “But we know you mean it.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“Okay, well I love you,” Beca murmurs, her hands greedily cupped around her coffee.

Emily giggles again and pats Beca on the shoulder before slumping down in her seat. Stacie settles in next to her, a pen tapping against her notebook and some Physics worksheet. Beca groans.

“How can you do Physics at a time like this?”

“Genius never sleeps, Beca-bee.”

“Well maybe it should,” she mutters.

Stacie just hums in acknowledgement and Beca shakes her head. She takes a few sips of her coffee, relishing the almost immediate effect it has on her. It’s probably all in her head, she thinks, but she also doesn’t care.

By the time they get to the competition, she’s awake enough to admit that maybe this a cappella thing isn’t the worst. She’s actually sort of having fun listening to CR and Stacie unofficially warm up by singing Low. Off to the side Benji is telling Emily how performing gives him such a rush, and Lilly and Donald are beat-boxing together.

She looks around at her teammates prepping for the competition and actually feels… excited.

Then again, maybe she just had too much coffee.

//

They get to watch a few of the other groups perform until they’re allowed to warm up in a green room backstage before they’re set to go on. She thinks most of them are pretty good, but nothing super special, and Beca feels like they have a chance of winning, even if their songs aren’t as great as they could be.

She’s mostly just happy this competition is about to be over and they’ll get to work on new songs for regionals. She’s getting really tired of hearing Ace of Base in her dreams.

After they finish their group warmups, they just mingle quietly backstage until it’s their time to go on. Beca sits off to the side, listening to the group currently singing some rendition of Rihanna’s Umbrella and wondering if she should work it into her next mix.

A little ways away, she notices Chloe’s listening too, chin balanced on her knee, uncharacteristically alone. In fact, Beca realizes, she hasn’t really seen Chloe dancing, or smiling, or humming, or doing anything very Chloe-like all morning.

“Stacie,” Beca murmurs, getting Stacie’s attention from where she’s peering through the curtains. “Do you know if Chloe’s, like, okay?”

Stacie glances over at Chloe, frowning. “Her mom couldn’t make it to watch.”

“Oh.”

The group on stage finishes their performance and Stacie offers her hands out to pull Beca up. “Aubrey told me that Chloe’s mom is, like, a badass lawyer and she’s in Nashville and New York a lot. Chloe’s on her own most of the time.”

“Oh,” Beca says again because she doesn’t really know what else to say. The boys are heading on-stage to start and everything feels flurried and electric. She watches as Aubrey pulls Chloe off the floor and suddenly she’s smiling, checking Aubrey’s makeup. She stretches her arms over head and laughs, the perfect picture of her usual self.

It’s almost as if Beca had just imagined Chloe could be anything but.

And then she doesn’t have time to think about it anymore.

Then, they’re on.

//

They come in third, much to Aubrey’s dismay. Beca thinks that’s pretty good, even if there were only ten teams, however it strikes up another string of arguments from Aubrey and Bumper the entire bus ride back to school.

Still, part of her kind of thinks they’re right. The guys were unorganized and the girls’ song was kind of a snooze-fest. They probably could’ve won if they weren’t at each other’s throats all the time.

Whatever, though. She’s not about to bring that up to either of them.

Like she said before, she doesn’t have a death wish.

//

Stacie (9:01pm): Hey, can’t give you a ride tomorrow. Or at all this week. Have a Psych project. Sorry, B!!!! Make it up to you love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu xoxo

Beca (9:12pm): whatever

//

“Hey, don’t forget I can’t – ”

“Give me a ride today,” Beca rolls her eyes and takes a huge sip of water, out of breath from the choreo they just finished. “Yeah, I know.”

Stacie smiles at her gratefully. “Or the rest of this week.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Stacie imitates with a smirk and Beca resists the urge to stick out her tongue. Stacie laughs at her before grabbing her bag and blowing Beca a kiss. “See you tomorrow morning!”

Beca sighs, resigning herself to ask Jesse for a ride again. Which is fine. But his car smells overwhelmingly like movie theater popcorn and she was sick of The Breakfast Club soundtrack after the first five times she rode with him.

Still, she needs a ride, so. Whatever.

He’s talking with Benji, Emily, and Chloe as she walks up, but Chloe is saying goodbye and starting to head to the parking lot. Beca suddenly remembers what Stacie told her at their competition a few weeks ago, how Chloe’s mom is always gone, and she thinks back to that big house, and what Chloe said about her dad, and she feels an instant pang of sadness for Chloe.

She changes paths and follows after Chloe, yelling a goodbye to the others over her shoulder.

“Hey!” She calls when she catches up at the school doors. “Chloe!”

Chloe holds the door open for her with a smile. “Beca,” she says, her voice softening in a way that makes Beca feel like she should blush.

“Hey. So, sorry to ask this, but is there any chance you could give me a ride home? Stacie has a Psych project this week with Aubrey.”

“Yes, of course.” Chloe tilts her head in the direction of her car. “Do you need one the rest of the week too, then?”

“Umm,” Beca hesitates, following Chloe to the car. “If you don’t mind?”

Chloe’s smile seems so genuine that Beca wonders if Chloe is always this nice or if she just doesn’t want to go home. Or maybe she just really likes Beca. Maybe it’s all three? “No, not at all.”

“Cool, thanks.” Beca buckles up and settles into her seat. She likes Chloe’s car so much better than Jesse’s. It smells like Bath and Body Works. “If you want, you could, like, stay for dinner. My step-mom is making lasagna. She’s a pretty good cook.”

Chloe crinkles her nose. “I don’t want to intrude.”

“Nah, it’s fine. We could do homework or something, if you want.”

“Well, okay. If it’s alright?” Chloe beams and Beca’s pretty sure it’d be impossible to take it back at this point. Not that she wants to.

“Yep,” Beca nods and reaches for the AUX cord. She feels like they’re friends enough now that it’s fine to do this. “If I can play my music, though, otherwise you can just drop me off and leave.”

Chloe huffs out a laugh. “Oh, well if that’s the only condition.”

“And give me a solo for our next competition.”

“Hm,” Chloe frowns exaggeratedly. “Actually, I think we were gonna give it to Amy.”

Beca scoffs. “Amy?”

“Yeah, do you have a problem with that?”

“I mean she’s kind of unreliable,” Beca argues. “What if she doesn’t stick to Aubrey’s very strict choreography?”

“Well,” Chloe winks. “I guess we’ll just have to take our chances.”

Beca grins, feeling the playfulness of the exchange rush through her entire body.

“Yeah,” she says. “I guess so.”

//

Chloe (8:31pm): Thanks again for having me over!! I had a great time and the lasagna was really good. Tell Sheila thanks again!

Beca (8:35pm): She likes you more than she likes me and says you’re welcome any time

Chloe (8:37pm): Haha! So tomorrow then?

Beca (8:40pm): You’re gonna have to start doing my chores if you’re gonna eat all my food Beale

Chloe (8:42pm): :) deal

//

Chloe really does come over the next day. And the day after that.

And every day that week.

//

“Can I borrow your laptop?”

“Mhmm,” Beca hums, deep in concentration as she tries to do her math homework. She’s really been slacking this week without Stacie there to walk her through it.

She spends a few more minutes figuring the problem out and flips to the back of the book to check her answer, frowning in frustration when it’s not even close to what she got. Whatever. She’ll ask Stacie tomorrow morning.

Rolling off her bed, she cranes her neck toward the desk to see what Chloe is looking at on her laptop.

“Barden University?” She comes up behind Chloe and gestures toward the campus website she’s reading. “My dad’s a professor there.”

“Really?” Chloe asks, eyes flicking over to look at Beca. “What does he teach?”

“Comparative Literature. Stacie’s mom works at the teaching hospital there, too.” Beca peers over Chloe’s shoulder. “What are you looking at?”

Chloe shrugs. “I applied there and was just looking how to set up a campus visit. It’s funny,” she smiles a little. “We live so close, but I’ve actually never been on the campus.”

“Oh,” Beca says. “It’s pretty nice, I guess.” She scrunches her nose, watching as Chloe hovers over some pictures of the familiar campus. “Where else did you apply?”

“Um, Georgia, Ole Miss, Louisiana State, ‘Bama, Emory, and Auburn.”

Beca grins. “The mains.”

Chloe nudges her lightly. “Yeah.”

“Do you have a preference?”

Chloe twists her lips, her finger still hovering over the mouse. “Not really. Barden and Georgia are close, so I guess I’m leaning toward either of them. But they’re all good schools.”

“Yeah,” Beca agrees. “Do you know what you want to study?”

“Maybe music. Or teaching. It would be cool to be an elementary school music teacher or something.”

Beca pictures Chloe surrounded by a bunch of tiny children singing and holding those recorders they were forced to play in fourth grade. It’s probably the cutest thing she’s ever imagined. “I think you’d be awesome at that.”

“Thanks,” Chloe beams. Then she crinkles her nose. “And if that fails there’s always vet school. Or exotic dancing.”

Beca snorts, her laugh getting caught in her throat. It causes Chloe’s smile to stretch and Beca, in a moment of softness that feels somehow both foreign and natural to her, squeezes Chloe’s shoulder. They stare at one another until Beca looks away.

“Um,” Chloe says, voice gentle, like she regrets what she has to say. “I actually have to get going.”

Beca’s shoulders slump, but she tries to get a grip, uncertain what that’s about. “Oh, you’re not gonna eat all my food tonight?”

“No,” Chloe shoots her a smile, standing up and grabbing her backpack. “Your food is safe for the evening. You’re welcome.”

“Wow, how generous of you.”

“Of course,” Chloe laughs. “You need the nutrients. Wouldn’t want you getting any smaller.”

“Wowww,” Beca says again, affecting an irritated tone. “Kay, you can leave now.”

Chloe just grins and pulls her into a hug. “So, thanks for having me over this week. I had a really good time.”

“Doing homework?” Beca asks, if only to distract herself from how good Chloe smells and how soft she feels and how Beca’s stomach is suddenly buzzing.

“Yeah, and hanging out with you.” Chloe pulls back, squeezing Beca’s arms once for good measure.

Beca fights every instinct in her that wants her to awkwardly look away. She’s too cool for that, dammit! “Yeah,” she says. “Me too.”

“Maybe we can hang out again some time,” Chloe suggests, a hint of hopefulness in her tone that Beca finds really endearing.

“Yeah, for sure,” Beca nods. “I’d, uh. Like that.”

“Awesome,” Chloe smiles again. “Aca-awesome.”

Beca scrunches her nose. “Ew, what?”

But Chloe just laughs and waves, calling a “see you on Monday!” over her shoulder as she heads down the stairs and out of the house.

Beca peeks out of her blinds and watches as Chloe gets in her car and drives away, wondering why all of a sudden, her face feels abnormally warm, and her heart abnormally light.

//

Her routine goes back to normal the next week, and Stacie goes back to giving her a ride after BellaTones practice.

Beca would never say it out loud, especially to Stacie, but every day she kind of wishes she was getting into Chloe’s car, and instead of Stacie, Chloe was coming to her house to do homework.

It really has nothing to do with Stacie.

Instead it has everything to do with Beca, and how over the weekend, she realized she totally probably definitely (like, basically absolutely) has a crush on Chloe Beale.

//

Okay, so Chloe’s not her first girl-crush.

She’s had them before. Like when Stacie first moved in, Beca maybe (and she will find you and kill you if Stacie ever finds out) had the smallest of crushes on her new neighbor. But like, who could blame her. Everyone in their school has a crush on Stacie. She’s smart and hot and popular.

What’s not to like?

But that passed quickly enough, and Stacie became Beca’s friend, and that was that.

And still, even after that, there was a German exchange student their sophomore year that made Beca tongue-tied in every possible way a baby-bi could be in the presence of such a tall and attractive European who hadn’t, like the rest of their school, been present for all of Beca’s awkward middle school years.

Once again, who could blame her?

So, this girl thing, Beca’s not completely unfamiliar with it.

It’s just that Chloe – her crush on Chloe – is not like the others.

Those crushes had left Beca confused and, more than anything, simply curious. Those crushes had to led to Beca kissing Maddy K. behind the baseball dugouts last summer just to see what it would be like. And she definitely liked it, but it had been what it was, and she had no interest in pursuing anything further with Stacie or Maddy in any capacity past the innocent occurrences bred from that curiosity.

But her crush on Chloe, well, Beca can’t stop thinking about it.

She can’t stop thinking about Chloe.

She spends the entire weekend obsessing over why hanging out with Chloe feels so easy. She analyzes why whenever Chloe smiles, her heart starts beating extra fast, and why she thinks Chloe has the prettiest laugh and the most gorgeous smile, and why, above all else, she wants to talk to Chloe, like, all the time.

And sure, it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out. Chloe, besides being one of the most beautiful girls Beca’s ever seen, has a capacity for kindness that appears to be unending. After practice one day that week, Bumper, after having just gotten finished ranting about the girls’ extreme lack of appeal and talent, realized he didn’t have enough money to buy his usual energy drink from the vending machine, and Chloe, in a display of kindness that confused everyone, gave him a few dollars like it was no big deal.

She also cares. Whether it’s asking Stacie about her Psych project or helping Cynthia Rose jumpstart her truck, Beca has seen Chloe constantly go out of her way to make sure everyone is doing okay.

It makes Beca feel weird and mushy on the inside, and in an uncharacteristic move, she buys Jesse’s lunch one day, just because.

Chloe is contagious, Beca thinks over the next few weeks. And she can’t stop thinking about her.

//

“Do you think Chloe’s, like, bi or something?”

Beca almost spits out the sip of Dr. Pepper she just took. “W-what,” she stutters through a cough. Has her crush been that obvious?!

“I dunno, like. Do you think she’s bi? Or maybe pan?” Stacie hums thoughtfully, poking at her salad. Beca clears her throat.

“Uh? I don’t know. You can’t just ask that dude? And why would you even say that? I mean, I don’t know. How could we know?”

Stacie raises one of her very sharp and perfect eyebrows at her across the island. They’re in Stacie’s kitchen, working on some homework and just hanging out for the weekend.

“I mean, she just has that energy about her, don’t you think?”

Beca fidgets, fingers clenching around her pencil. “I mean, maybe. It seems rude to discuss it, though.”

“Pfft.” Stacie rolls her eyes. “It’s just us. And we’re both bi, so like, why would we care?”

“I guess.” Beca shrugs. “But maybe she’s straight. Or maybe she’s a lesbian. I mean, you’re right though, why would we care?”

“Well, she’s definitely not a lesbian,” Stacie muses. “She has a boyfriend.”

 Beca drops her pencil. “What?”

“But still I saw her being so cutesy with Jessica the other day in a way that screamed not-straight.”

Beca frowns. “I – er. Hmm. Maybe, but like.” Beca picks her pencil back up, tapping it on the counter. “This isn’t our business, Stace.”

Stacie sighs. “I know, you’re right. I just, like, really love when people aren’t straight, you know?”

Beca snorts, causing Stacie to smile at her. They go back to their homework, but Beca hesitates.

“Chloe has a boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” Stacie nods, her mouth around her pen cap. “His name is Tom. He’s pretty cute. Aubrey told me they’ve been together about a month or so.”

“Oh.” Okay, so that’s… upsetting. She can handle it, though. She thinks…

Stacie shoots her a sympathetic look that makes Beca feel like maybe she does know about her giant crush on Chloe. Beca bites back the wave of disappointment building in her chest, forcing her face back to its usual indifference.

“Aubrey sure tells you a lot of things…” She looks over at Stacie suggestively. “Anything you’d like to share with the class?”

Stacie narrows her eyes. “Ummm, anything you’d like to share, Ms. Stared-At-Chloe’s-Butt-For-Ten-Minutes-At-Practice-Last-Week?”

Beca scowls. “I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“I caught you, B.”

“Staring isn’t a crime.”

“So you admit you were and have a big fat crush on Chloe?”

Beca scoffs. “You didn’t deny your crush on Aubrey.”

“You didn’t deny your crush on Chloe, and otherwise why would you be asking about her boyfriend?” Beca grimaces and Stacie immediately softens, her hand coming out to circle Beca’s wrist comfortingly. There’s a pause, then. “Sorry.”

Beca shrugs. “It’s fine. She’s allowed to have a boyfriend, obviously.”

“It’s okay to be disappointed, still.”

Beca shrugs again and Stacie releases her wrist. “I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Stacie taps her pencil. “Fine, I like Aubrey. She’s like, so hot, Becs. Not just her bod, but like, her brain.”

Beca chuckles through an eye roll. “Sounds great for you, then.”

“I know, right?”

“Do you think she likes you back?”

Stacie’s smile means that Beca doesn’t want to know, but probably is about to. “Well, we made out. Once. And it was super hot. But like, I’ve made out with a lot of people, so.”

“Right.”

“Time will tell.”

Beca taps her pencil again. “Uh huh.”

“And we’re done with this homework,” Stacie declares, closing her book with finality. “We can finish later. I want ice cream.”

Beca lets her book fall shut, relieved, and pushes off her stool while Stacie grabs her keys.

“You know,” Stacie says, as they’re getting in the car. “There is one thing you have going for you.”

“What’s that?” Beca asks, buckling her seatbelt and preparing for whatever dumbass thing Stacie is about to say.

“She’s definitely not straight.”

Beca just rolls her eyes and turns up the music so she doesn’t have to hear Stacie devolve into an annoying fit of giggles.

//

This new information about Chloe’s boyfriend turns out to surprisingly not really bother Beca too much.

Life progresses as it normally does. Beca goes to school, she thinks about Chloe, she goes to rehearsals, she sees Chloe, she goes home, she does homework, she thinks about Chloe.

Lather, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Normal stuff.

That is, until their next competition, just before Thanksgiving, when Beca finally actually sees Chloe’s boyfriend.

They’ve just finished performing (another typical badly choreographed boys’ number, a stiff girls’ number, and combination number where nobody was in sync), and are cooling down backstage when a tall brunette guy caring a bouquet of flowers taps Chloe on the shoulder.

She spins around, hand going to her mouth in happy surprise, and Beca watches (somewhat in disappointment and somewhat in disbelief) as Chloe throws her arms around his neck and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

And it’s fine, like, really, except that Beca now has a face to put to a name and a picture of affection to put to a person that she never really bothered imagining before.

And now it’s, like, there, in real life, caught on a tape of memory that replays in Beca’s head all the time.

So, yeah, that part pretty much blows.

//

She’s not jealous, exactly. Chloe’s obviously allowed to be with someone else. Plus, she doesn’t even know about Beca’s crush.

And Beca, you know, doesn’t even really wish that she was with Chloe in the way Tom is. That much. Okay… sort of.

She’s just annoyed and kind of sad because she wants to hang out with Chloe, like, all the time, and she knows unrequited crushes are basically a staple of high school, but she just never thought she’d have to deal with one.

And on top of that, they totally blew the competition and got like, fifth place, and Bumper and Aubrey won’t shut the fuck up and Beca totally just really wants to scream at them to get a grip or at least roll her eyes conspiratorially with Chloe, but Chloe is too busy fixing Tom’s hair and giving him googly eyes.

Okay, so, like, maybe she’s a little jealous.

Whatever.

Fuck high school.

//

Oh, and she gets another C on her math test.

Like, seriously, fuck high school.

//

Stacie (7:12am): Hey you should ask Chloe what she’s doing for Thanksgiving

Beca (11:29am): Uh why????

Stacie (11:43am): omg did you just wake up???? Also trust me, just ask

Beca (11:46am): It’s break I’m allowed to sleep in

Beca (11:47am): and wtf why are you being so shady

Stacie (11:50am): Aubrey just maybe told me she was spending it alone and we know how much papa mitch loves extra company

Beca (11:55am): k

Beca (11:55am): so are you and aubrey like dating now or what

Stacie (11:58am): :)

Beca (12:01pm): that’s not an answer

Stacie (12:02pm): :)

Beca (12:04pm): k whatever

//

Beca (2:22pm): Hey

Chloe (2:28pm): Hey :)

Beca (2:30pm): sup

Chloe (2:33pm): listening to music and baking haha! Whats up with you

Beca (2:34pm): Baking? Baking what

Beca (2:35pm): And nothin just chillin

Chloe (2:37pm): Snickerdoodles!

Beca (2:39pm): cool. big plans for thanksgiving?

Chloe (2:40pm): Nooo not really. My mom’s gonna be out of town so I’ll probably just do something lowkey

Beca (2:43pm): Oh you’re not spending it with anyone??

Chloe (2:45pm): Nope! Just Meredith Grey

Beca (2:46pm): Who?

Chloe (2:47pm): hahahaha. She’s a character on Grey’s Anatomy

Beca (2:49pm): Oh I see

Beca (2:50): Well, do you wanna spend it with my family? We have extra room and my step-mom always makes too many mashed potatoes

Beca (2:58pm): just thought I’d offer

Chloe (2:59pm): Oops sorry I had to take the cookies out of the oven! That would be super fun, but is it okay? I don’t wanna step in on your family time

Beca (3:02pm): No yeah it’s totally fine. My dad says you basically have to come because you shouldn’t be alone on such a community holiday

Beca (3:02pm): haha

Chloe (3:05pm): aww! Okay well that’s super nice of him :)

Beca (3:07pm): yeah no prob. I’ll text you the details tmrw I think my step-mom is still deciding when we’re gonna eat

Chloe (3:08pm): okay :) thank you beca <3

Beca (3:09pm): (:

//

“BECA! YOUR FRIEND’S HERE!”

Beca shuts her laptop, calling down to her dad. “Okay be there in a sec!”

She looks in the mirror, smoothing down her hair and running her pinky finger along her smudged eyeliner. She’s not nervous, exactly. She’s hung out with Chloe before.

It’s just Thanksgiving is such a weird holiday. And usually her family is fine, none of that drama some families have. But it just feels like it means something when you spend it with other people.

And Chloe is, well. Chloe. She kind of makes Beca’s stomach do somersaults sometimes. It feels kind of meaningful, even if it probably isn’t.

“BECA!”

“COMING!”

She hurries down the stairs, smiling when she sees Chloe standing in the entrance hall. She’s wearing a checkered blue dress, her hair down and wavy. She’s unreally pretty.

“Hey,” Chloe smiles, all cute in that Chloe way.

Beca’s stomach starts its gymnastics routine.

(Look out Simone Biles.)

“Hey,” Beca grins. “You, umm. Look really nice.”

“Thanks. So do you.”

Beca internally rolls her eyes, because like, she’s wearing a button up and skinny jeans, but you know. Whatever. “Thanks.” She gestures upstairs. “I think the food is almost ready, but like, we can just chill ‘til then.”

“Cool.”

They thump up the stairs and then they’re in Beca’s room and she’s acutely aware that they’re alone. Which shouldn’t be weird, because they’ve been alone in her room before, but that was before Beca realized she was totally into Chloe and then they at least had homework to distract them.

“Um.” She clears her throat, trying to think of something to do.

Chloe, the ever socially graceful one, just sits down on the floor like every other time she’d been over, folding her legs underneath her and reaching for Beca’s laptop. “Can we listen to the mix you were working on last time I was here?”

“Yeah, sure.” Beca settles cross-legged next to Chloe and pulls up the mix on her computer. “I’ve made like five since then,” she laughs.

Chloe beams, nudging her shoulder gently. “Let’s listen to all of them, then.”

“Okay,” Beca agrees because Chloe’s smiling her pretty smile and well. Beca’s like super bi, what do you expect, okay?

She presses play on the first one, leaning against her bedframe to listen. Chloe leans back too and Beca pulls her knees up to her chest to get more comfortable. It’s always different to listen to her mixes with someone else. She never knows if she should be self-conscious or not. She likes her mixes, she thinks they’re good (otherwise she would still be working on them, duh), but she wants other people to like them too. And it’s fine if they don’t, she’ll survive, but still. She wants them to.

Chloe’s fingers tap against her legs to the beat. “I love this. I seriously wish they’d play stuff like this on the radio.”

Beca laughs lightly, biting at her nails. “I mean, they do if you listen to the right channels. College stations and indie stuff.”

“Oh, you’ll have to show me, then,” Chloe says.

“Sure, whenever you want.”

“It’d be fun to do something like this a cappella,” Chloe muses, and Beca tilts her head, trying to imagine it.

She twists her lips in thought. “Actually, that’d sound super cool.” She perks up. “Could we do that?”

Chloe hums and meets her eyes. “Maybe. It’d be hard to get everyone to agree to it, probably.”

Beca rolls her eyes. “Yeah, no kidding.” She sighs in frustration. “They drive me nuts. We could be pretty good if they’d just, like, chill for one second.”

“Yeah,” Chloe agrees. “I mean, Aubrey and Bumper were both pretty accustomed to doing things their way, so having to compromise with the other isn’t exactly easy.”

“Why are we one team again?”

Chloe laughs. “Budget cuts.”

“Right.” Beca makes a noise of irritation.

“The Trebles might not be disciplined enough to do something like this anyway. Bumper doesn’t give them many technically difficult arrangements.”

“I guess,” Beca frowns. “But at least their performances are interesting.” She cringes. “No offense.”

Chloe just shrugs. “I know Aubrey’s controlling about the songs, but it’s proven to be successful in the past.”

“Yeah, but don’t you ever want to try something new?”

Chloe meets her eyes, and the air suddenly thickens in a way that causes goosebumps to erupt on Beca’s arms. “Yeah,” she says. “All the time.” She glances down at her lap. “But sometimes we stick to what we’re used to because it’s easier.”

Beca hums thoughtfully. “It just seems… limiting. We could be like, way awesome if we just took a risk.”

And Beca can’t believe she said that, because she barely gives a fuck about a cappella, but Chloe beams at her. “Oh, so you care about the BellaTones now?”

“Ha.” Beca rolls her eyes. “I just know it’s important to some people. And whatever. Aubrey’s arrangements put me to sleep.”

Chloe nudges her again. “You like a cappella, admit it.”

Beca grins and shakes her head.

“BECA, CHLOE! FOOD’S READY!”

Chloe just laughs. “Saved by the bell, I guess.”

“Whatever.” Beca can’t stop smiling. She stands up, offering her hands to Chloe. “Hey, you know what would be a better name than the BellaTones?”

Chloe pulls herself up, squeezing Beca’s hands once before letting go. “What?”

“The Trebellas.”

“Dork,” Chloe smiles.

“Just saying.”

“You definitely inherited your dad’s sense of humor.”

Beca gasps. “Oh my God, take that back.”

Chloe giggles and moves around Beca, tapping her butt on the way past. “Never.” She heads down the stairs, Beca following close behind.

“You’re dead to me, Beale. Dead to me.”

//

Dinner is delicious and Beca actually has fun with her family.

Chloe raves about the food, is the perfect guest (“these flowers are from Chloe by the way, Beca, aren’t they pretty?”), and sometimes smiles at Beca like she created everything good in this world from puppies to sunshine.

Once, Chloe even grabs Beca’s hand, squeezing it as she laughs at something Beca said that wasn’t even supposed to be that funny.

Beca is afraid to think that she isn’t imagining it (because she probably is), but it feels like when Chloe looks at her, everything between them goes soft and fuzzy.

But that can’t be, because Chloe has a boyfriend, so that just doesn’t make sense.

//

“Favorite ice cream?”

“Rocky Road. Favorite movie?”

“I don’t watch movies. Favorite color?”

“Blue. Or yellow. Favorite food?”

“Mac and cheese. Favorite… um,” Beca struggles to think of a question, looking up at the ceiling for inspiration. “Celebrity crush?”

“Gina Rodriguez.” Chloe grins. “Favorite – ”

“Gina Rodriguez?” Beca interrupts. “Who is that?”

“She’s in Jane the Virgin, she’s totally badass.”

Beca frowns. “Never heard of it.”

Chloe opens a new tab on Beca’s laptop, Googling a picture. “You don’t like to watch things do you?”

“Not really.”

Chloe shows her a picture of Gina Rodriguez in boxing gear. “She’s like, totally badass and super nice. She’s always responding to fans on Twitter and stuff. And she’s like, super hot obviously, and she pretty much came out as bi.”

Beca squints. “Same.”

“Right?” Chloe giggles. “Well. Maybe pan. Or just fluid. I’m still exploring my identity.”

Beca feels herself smiling fondly. “That’s cool.”

“Well I mean in theory, anyway,” Chloe amends. “I’m not like, cheating on Tom with a bunch of girls.”

“Right.” Beca glances away uncertainly. “So what’s he up to tonight?”

“He’s just with his family,” Chloe says through a yawn, laying back on Beca’s pillow.

Beca tries to pretend the sight doesn’t make her stomach compete for the metaphorical gold medal on uneven bars. “Oh. He didn’t invite you over?”

Chloe hums in thought. “I’m not sure we’re there yet as a couple, I guess.”

Beca raises an eyebrow. “Oh, but we’re there as friends?”

“Yeah, totes,” Chloe grins. “I told you we’d be fast friends.”

“You said that as you literally broke into my house in the middle of the night, blindfolded me, and led me to do illegal activities.”

Chloe frowns. “I don’t really find that relevant.”

Beca scoffs. “It is one hundred percent relevant to your craziness.”

“Hm,” Chloe shrugs. “That may be so, but I stand by it.” She nudges Beca with her foot. “You had a good time, and you like the BellaTones, and you love being my friend.”

“I had an okay time and I tolerate the BellaTones.”

Chloe grins. “And you love being my friend.”

Beca rolls her eyes, flopping back next to Chloe on the bed. “I guess there are like, worse friends to have. Or whatever.”

Chloe smiles smugly. “I love being your friend, too.”

“Whatever.”

They look at each other and Beca has to force herself to not think about what it would be like if she could just lean in and kiss Chloe. Instead she thinks about how blue Chloe’s eyes look and how bright her smile makes the room and how soft her hair is.

Casual stuff.

“Okay,” Chloe continues after a moment, fingers squeezing Beca’s arm in a loose grip. “So, favorite band?”

Beca laughs and plays along, trying not to focus on just how good it feels to be with Chloe and why every time Chloe looks at her, it feels like something more than fast friendship growing between them.

//

Chloe (10:27pm): Thanks for having me again!!!

Beca (10:30pm): thanks for coming

Chloe (10:32pm): I had the best time! :) I wish I could spend all holidays with you and your family haha

Beca (11:49pm): yeah me too

Beca (11:53pm): (:

//

Beca (10:12am): you were right

Stacie (10:15am):  I usually am but about what

Beca (10:16am): Chloe isn’t straight

Stacie (10:18am): !!!!!!!!!!!!

Stacie (10:19am): GIRL. I knew it!!!

Stacie (10:19am): !!!!!!!!!!!

Stacie (10:20am): WAIT how do u know?!?!?! OMG DID U KISS

Beca (10:22am): omfg chill no it just came up and she told me

Stacie (10:24am): k STILL ahhh yay!!! that means you have a chance

Beca (10:27am): she still has a bf chill

Beca (10:28am): and you never told me if you and aubrey are dating

Stacie (10:30am): :)

Beca (10:31am): k whatever bye

Stacie (10:31am): :)

//

December arrives and brings with it a wave of stress for everyone.

Semester finals and projects hit them all quickly and the seniors find themselves in a time crunch to get their college applications done and submitted.

Since they don’t have any more competitions until after the New Year, BellaTones practice rolls back to twice a week, just so they have time to rehearse the two carols they’ve been asked to perform at the school’s performing arts holiday concert.

For her part, Beca finds herself actually kind of missing the practice, which gave her some sort of structure to plan her homework and studying around. Now she feels she has unending amounts of time to put it off, which leads to her not wanting to do anything but work on her mixes and watch shitty reality shows at Emily’s.

(She’ll never admit this, but she really enjoys Dance Moms. Those moms are fucking crazy.)

The week before finals makes everyone a little nuts, but nothing gets at Beca more than the BellaTones decision to do a “Secret Santa”.

Beca’s already pressed for money getting presents for her family, Stacie, Emily, and Jesse, but now she’s pulled Lilly out of the hat and, besides not really having the cash for it, has no clue what to get her.

And it’s not like she can ask anyone because of that whole secret thing, so basically she stresses about it the whole week until it’s the night before they’re supposed to exchange gifts and Beca still hasn’t bought anything.

Oh, and because the gods (or the “aca-gods” as she’s heard Chloe say on numerous occasions) hate her, her dad has his late class again and her step-mom’s car is in the shop, so Beca has like, no way to get to any kind of store to buy something.

She has seriously never regretted joining the BellaTones as much as right now.

So Beca does what she always does when she’s majorly fucked up.

She calls Stacie.

“Can you please give me a ride to the mall? I haven’t gotten my secret Santa yet.”

“What? Beca we’re exchanging tomorrow.”

Beca rolls her eyes, even though Stacie can’t see. She knows that. “I know that’s why I’m calling you because I’m freaking out and need to go!”

“Bec, I can’t. Can’t your dad take you? I have my AP Spanish test tomorrow.”

“He’s at his class. Please it’ll only take an hour,” Beca whines.

Stacie hesitates and Beca is positive she’s gonna give in. Then – “I’m sorry babe, I really can’t. I’m mad stressed.”

“Stace – ”

“Ask Chloe, she’d probably take you.”

Beca’s mouth falls open. “I can’t just… ask Chloe.”

“Why not?”

“I dunno, because like…” She trails off because like. Yeah.

“Thought you guys were fast-friends.”

Beca scowls. “I regret telling you that.”

Stacie’s laugh is probably even more obnoxious over the phone. “Just ask. Can’t hurt. Now honestly I have to go or my mom is gonna see me slacking and flip shit. You know how she gets passive aggressive.”

“Ugh yeah, whatever.”

“Good luck love you! Bye!”

“Ugh bye.”

She hangs up and glances at the time on her alarm clock. She still has a few hours until the mall closes. Sighing, she shoots off a message to Chloe.

Beca (5:45pm): Hey I’m really sorry to do this but is there any way you could take me to the mall really quick… I have to get my secret santa and I don’t have a ride :/

She frantically waits for Chloe to respond, snatching her phone up from her bed when she does.

Chloe (5:48pm): Hey! Yeah, totes :) I can pick you up in 20?

Beca (5:50pm): you are a life-saver thank you

Chloe (5:51pm): no problem see you soon!!

//

“So where to?”

They’re moving through the mall, trying to make their way around crowds of people doing their last-minute shopping. Every kiosk and railing, storefront and mannequin is decorated for the holidays, and Christmas music plays over the mall speakers. Children wait in an excruciatingly long line with their parents to see the mall Santa, the ones who are old enough sucking miniature candy canes into sharp tips and poking each other with them, their fingers sticky and wet.

Beca hopes the costumed elf employees are getting paid a lot because nobody deserves the torture of listening to children who are terrified of being placed on Santa’s lap cry all day just for the sake of a bad picture.

“Um, I’m not sure,” she replies, glancing around at the stores in the immediate vicinity. “I don’t actually know what I’m getting yet. That’s why I put it off so long. I just have no clue.”

“Well, are you thinking clothes? Or maybe a book?” Chloe suggests, pointing at the bookstore to their left.

Beca shakes her head. “Neither. Ugh,” she groans. “This is so hard. I don’t want to be lame, but maybe I’ll just get a gift card.”

Chloe tsks. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We can think of something. How about a gag gift, you know, something more joking than serious?”

“Yeah…” Beca avoids a group of preteens standing in a group in the middle of the walkway (is that really necessary?) before catching back up to Chloe. “I guess that could work.”

Chloe grabs her by the arm and pulls her into some store Beca’s never been in. It appears they sell all kinds of weird things, from board games to funny shirts to prank stuff and even sex toys. Alright then, she thinks.

She tries to imagine giving Lilly any of this stuff and it all just seems a little off. The mall’s closing in thirty minutes and she’s about ready to give up, but then she spots a book that says Time Traveler’s Journal on it.

She opens it, thumbing through the pages.

List of things to bring is the headline on one page. Agenda reads another. People met in the past. People that shouldn’t make it to the future (THEORETICALLY).

There are pages to draw maps and time-machine schematics, some to journal time travel experiences, and more.

It’s not the greatest gift, but it’s nine dollars, so whatever.

She pays for it, then grabs Chloe from where she’s looking at whoopee cushions, and they head out of the store.  

“So what’d you get?”

Beca rolls her eyes. “Well, I can’t tell you or the surprise will be ruined.”

“Ooh,” Chloe grins at her. “Are you my secret Santa?”

“You’re nosy. You know I can’t tell you that.”

Chloe smirks and nudges her while they walk. “It’s okay I know you’re not.” She laughs. “But I’ll pretend I don’t.” Beca looks at her questioningly. “I overheard Ashley asking Jessica what to get me,” Chloe says.

“Well that’s a bummer.”

Chloe shrugs. “I don’t mind. I’m sure I’ll like it either way.”

“You’re too good.” Beca shakes her head. “Come on, I’m getting you a big cookie.”

“For knowing you’re not my secret Santa?”

“For taking me here and also because I want a big cookie.”

Beca leads them to the cookie kiosk and pays for them each to get a cookie the size of their heads. They sit down on a bench and eat them, watching the last of the mall-goers scramble into department stores and make their purchases before the mall closes for the night.

“The mall is decorated so pretty at Christmas,” Chloe muses through a bite of cookie. “I love tinsel.”

Beca feels a softness fill her chest and looks at Chloe. She wants to tell Chloe she’s pretty. “Yeah. Christmas is pretty dope, I guess. I get kinda sick of my family by the end of the break though. Too much family time isn’t good for my mood.” She laughs. “I become like that grumpy cat.”

Chloe grins at her. “Weird, I already see you like that.”

“Shut up.”

“Kidding,” Chloe giggles. “Yeah, it’s kind of a weird time for me, too. My mom is actually usually home around Christmas, but I can never tell if she’s going to be in a good mood or not.”

Beca frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Chloe shrugs, taking another bite of her cookie. “My dad, he died a few days before Christmas, so it’s always a weird time.”

“Oh.” Beca doesn’t know what to do, but finds herself tentatively reaching to squeeze Chloe’s knee next to hers on the bench. “I’m sorry, dude. I guess I shouldn’t complain about my family, that was a pretty dick move.”

Chloe shoots her a soft smile. “No, it’s fine. Everyone’s situation is different. And honestly, I get sad about it, but I was four when he died, so I don’t really remember him except for these like, snapshots of memories that I’m not even sure are real.” She pauses. “It’s more just my mom. Some years, she does alright. Obviously she’s sad, but she’ll be in good spirits, and will tell me stories about him and it’s fine. But other years, she’s not so great. So I’m always just a little nervous as it’s coming up. I never know which one it’s gonna be.”

Beca turns to look at Chloe more fully. “That must be really hard. Like, taking care of her and stuff.”

Chloe crinkles her nose. “I mean, I guess. I never really thought of it like that before. She’s just my mom, and she lost someone she loves. I think anybody would be sad sometimes.”

“Yeah, of course.” Beca taps her fingers against her thighs awkwardly. “But still. I mean you’re just a kid.”

“Yeah,” Chloe smiles softly. “I know. But it’s okay.” She shrugs. “I still love Christmas. The lights and the hope, and everything seems fresh and crisp. It’s beautiful.” Chloe grins then, bumping Beca’s shoulder with her own. “Just like you. Now come on, I think the mall is closing.”

Beca crumples up the trash from their cookies and tosses it in the can on the way out.

The ride back to her house is mostly silent, and she stares out of the car window wondering how Chloe can be so full all the time. Full of laughter and hope and an unending willingness to give herself to people. Chloe, who is almost always alone, and has spent most of her life without one parent and trying to help the other heal, who always is willing to lend a helping hand and can find beauty in everything…

Chloe is just so good.

Beca’s heart aches.

“Thanks again for taking me,” she says as Chloe pulls up to her house.

“No problem. I had a really fun time, actually.”

And Beca believes her, because that’s just who Chloe is. “Me too. And umm,” she hesitates, her hand on the door handle. “If you ever want to talk or hang out for whatever reason, just let me know.”

Chloe smiles, like she knows what Beca’s getting at. “Okay,” she says, her voice softer than Beca’s ever heard it. “I will.”

“Okay. Thanks again. See you tomorrow!” She calls as she’s getting out of the car. She waves over her shoulder and heads into her house.

Inside, Sheila’s already in bed and her dad’s in the kitchen doing dishes. “Hey, Bec,” he smiles at her. “Did you get everything you need at the mall?”

“Yup.” Beca sets the bag with Lilly’s gift on the counter, watching as her dad scrubs away at a big pot, a pile of dishes for drying already on the rack. She thinks about Chloe going home to her likely empty house, about how Chloe is able to make her dad laugh so easily when Beca can’t.

“Can I dry for you?” She asks, already moving to grab a towel. She picks up one of the plates from the rack and starts drying it.

“Thanks,” he beams. “That’s nice of you.”

“Christmas spirit, I guess.”

He flicks some suds at her. “How jolly of you.”

She scoffs. “Don’t push it old man.”

He laughs at that, lifting his hands in a pacifying gesture. They work in silence until they’re done, and then he settles in his chair in front of the news and she heads up to bed.

“Night,” she calls back down when she reaches the top of the stairs. “Love you.”

“Love you too! Goodnight!”

And she knows it’s not much, but as she crawls under her covers and plugs her phone in, staring at the ceiling and wondering if Chloe’s doing the same, she feels a little lighter, a little freer.

She kind of thinks she’s starting to understand why Chloe is the way that she is.

And she lets that thought lead her in to sleep.

//

The next day, she gives Lilly the present she bought.

Lilly doesn’t unwrap it, but stares at the snowman wrapping paper, smiles, and quietly says, “I knew you would get this for me. I love it.”

Beca almost asks her if she’s going to open it, but after having seen weirder things from Lilly over the course of the semester, decides maybe it’s best to just let it be. “Er. You’re welcome.”

Lilly glides off and Beca feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns around and comes face to face with Aubrey.

“Uh.”

“I’m your secret Santa,” Aubrey declares, albeit stiffly, and thrusts a wrapped gift into her arms.

“Oh.”

Aubrey sniffs haughtily. “Don’t mask your excitement for my sake.”

“Sorry, I was just. Yeah. I’m gonna open it now.” Beca quickly starts peeling off the paper, her finger sliding under the meticulously taped edge. It’s a book, and she flips it over to read the title. “Composing a Cappella: A Beginner’s Guide.”

“Stacie told me you make music,” Aubrey says, looking at her expectantly.

“Uh.” Beca pauses. “Yeah sort of. Not like – ”

“I’m sure next year this may be helpful for you, since Chloe and I will be gone.”

Beca tries not to grimace. She’s not exactly happy about the thought of Chloe not being here. She’s not even sure she’ll even want to stay in the BellaTones next year. “Yeah, I’m sure this will come in handy. Um, thanks. A lot.”

Aubrey nods, a forced smile on her face. “You’re welcome. Happy holidays.” Then she marches away, the heels of her shoes making an intimidating click against the floor.

Beca tries to shake off the unsettling feeling of awkwardness that comes over her every time she talks to Aubrey and watches as the girl approaches Stacie and points at her watch before briskly moving toward her bag. Stacie glances around until she meets Beca’s eyes, then gestures at Aubrey’s back. Beca just rolls her eyes and nods, and Stacie mouths sorry, blows her a kiss, and follows Aubrey out of the side door.

Beca wants to be annoyed, but if Stacie is going with Aubrey (as she so often does these days) then Beca can’t find it in her to be mad because that means she has an excuse to ask Chloe for a ride.

She knows she shouldn’t do this to herself, because Chloe still has a boyfriend, but it’s just rare that Beca finds someone she actually wants to be around a lot. She doesn’t have a problem with most of the BellaTones, but her social battery is limited, and she ends up tolerating their company more often than not.

But with Chloe it’s different.

Plus, it’s not like Beca is acting on her feelings for Chloe. They’re friends.

And anyway, she thinks as she gets into the passenger seat of Chloe’s car, Chloe always smiles and gets super happy when Beca asks her to hang or for rides. Anyone who thinks the world should be deprived of Chloe’s smile is just wrong.

That’s all there is to it.

//

She decides to give Chloe a CD of some of her mixes as a Christmas present. She doesn’t know why really. She’s never given anyone a physical copy of her stuff before.

But every time Chloe gives Beca a ride, she always asks Beca to play some of them for her, so she just figured she’d give Chloe a CD so she can listen whenever she wants and not have to wait for Beca to ask her for a ride.

And okay, some of her more recent mixes are a little bit Chloe-inspired, but she doesn’t find it necessary to point that out.  But she figures, hey, if they’re sort of about Chloe then Chloe should have them right? She doesn’t have to say anything about it, but at least Chloe will listen to them.

She wants to give Chloe the CD after the performing arts concert, but Tom is there so she doesn’t. Instead, she borrows her dad’s car later that night and drives to Chloe’s.

It’s sort of late and the gate is closed, so she rolls down her window to talk to the security guy, Marv.

“I don’t have a code,” she says. “But I just want to give a Christmas present to my friend.”

“I don’t have any notes here that any of our residents are expecting company tonight,” he says, leaning out of the security booth window to talk to her. “I’ll have to call them.”

Beca barely refrains from rolling her eyes. “It’s kind of a surprise for my friend Chloe, can’t you just let me in? I’ll be back in like, five minutes.”

He stares at her with deep eyes, and Beca gets the feeling he’s sizing her up. “Chloe Beale?” he asks at last.

“Yeah.”

“Nice girl.” He nods, almost to himself. “When my wife died, she baked me about a hundred cookies.” He tilts his head at Beca. “I’ve been here twenty years. I remember when she was just a kid. She’s always been like that, wanting to help others.”

Beca shifts in her seat, unsure what to say, but Marv continues.

“She could use a nice friend, you know what I mean?”

Beca nods. “Yeah.”

There’s a loud buzzing and the gate in front of her starts to open. She smiles gratefully at Marv.

“Don’t take too long, now.”

“I won’t. Thanks a lot.”

Beca drives through the gate and into Chloe’s winding neighborhood. It’s a few days before Christmas, and the large houses and well-manicured lawns all have pristine and neat decorations lighting up the street. She parks in Chloe’s driveway and grabs the wrapped CD before jogging up to Chloe’s front door and ringing the bell.

The house is quiet, but there are a few lights on. She wonders if Chloe’s mom is home.

After a minute, the door swings open and Chloe stands there, wearing a large t-shirt, the shortest shorts Beca’s ever seen, and a curious expression on her face. “Beca?”

“Uh. Hey.” Beca’s eyes flicker down to Chloe’s legs then back up to her eyes. She’s never seen Chloe in her pajamas before. It’s a little… distracting.

Chloe beams brighter than the Christmas lights hanging on the roof above her. “What are you doing here?”

“I, uh, brought you something.” She holds the wrapped gift out and Chloe takes it.

“You didn’t have to get me anything?” She crinkles her nose. “You weren’t my secret Santa.”

Beca grins a little at that. “Yeah, I know. It’s nothing big, don’t worry. Just thought you’d like it.”

Chloe unwraps it, her mouth opening in surprise. She bites her lip, her fingers sliding over the plastic case through which Beca knows she can see the CD, the words written in Sharpie. To Chloe, From Beca. Merry Christmas.

“You made me a CD?”

“Uh.” Beca bounces on her toes a little. “Yeah. I just thought you might like it.”

Chloe holds the CD to her chest, a smile breaking over her face. “I love it.”

Beca laughs. “You haven’t even listened to it.”

“I already know I will.” Chloe bounds out onto the front walk, her arms coming around Beca’s neck. “Thank you, Beca. This is really sweet.”

She squeezes Chloe around the middle, a swooping sensation in her stomach. “Yeah, no problem.”

Chloe exhales and Beca feels it against her, the two of them chest to chest, stomach to stomach. Beca’s never had such a good hug before. It’s comfortable and terrifying and she doesn’t know how to breathe properly until Chloe lets go.

The front door still hangs open, the light from the entrance streaming over Chloe’s back, casting her face in shadow. Their eyes meet, Chloe’s so soft and gray it makes Beca ache, and her palm comes up to rest against Beca’s cheek.

Beca swallows, her heart pounding.

Then Chloe steps back, her hand falling away and hovering in the air between them. She suddenly looks like she might cry.

“I – ”

“Chloe? Who’s at the door?”

Beca jumps in surprise and Chloe brings her hand back to her chest, glancing over her shoulder. “It’s Beca.”

Beca peers into the house to see Tom hanging on the doorframe and looking out at them curiously. He’s handsome and disheveled and Beca suddenly feels very stupid.

“Uh. Anyway,” she clears her throat. “Merry Christmas, Chlo. I’ll see you later.”

“Bec.” Chloe has that same near-tears shine to her eyes and Beca’s heart aches.

Beca smiles at her reassuringly, slouching backward down the walk toward her car. “Have a good holiday!”

Tom waves at her from the doorway, but Chloe just stares after her while she gets in the car and backs out of the driveway. She’s still there when Beca’s turned down the winding street and Chloe’s house disappears from view.

She feels her heart dancing erratically in her chest, her fingers gripping the steering wheel until they turn white. She doesn’t breathe properly until she’s left Chloe’s neighborhood, waving at Marv as she coasts through the exit gates, watching in her rearview until they quietly close behind her.

//

Besides a standard Merry Christmas text on Christmas, Beca doesn’t hear from Chloe for a week. When Chloe does finally text, it’s in the BellaTones group chat to tell them she’s having a New Years’ Eve party and they’re all invited.

She catches a ride with Stacie and they pick Emily up on the way. Soon they’re jamming to Stacie’s year-end Spotify throwback and laughing as they enter Chloe’s neighborhood. Beca waves at Marv as Stacie tells him they’re here for a party at Chloe’s and he buzzes them through.

The house is packed with BellaTones and other students, but it’s large enough that Beca doesn’t feel claustrophobic. Chloe has the TV and sound system turned to the top 40s station, and some of her classmates are dancing in the family room. She can hear more down the hall playing on the foosball table and the kitchen is full of kids talking and drinking.

Beca grabs a can of beer from a cooler and follows Stacie on her hunt for other Bellas, but Stacie, being the friendly and popular socialite that she is, stops every few feet to talk to someone from cheerleading or her classes so eventually Beca grabs Emily’s hand and drags her out of the kitchen.

They find Jessica, Ashley, and Cynthia Rose in the dining room playing King’s with some of the boys. Benji’s face is bright red and Jesse already has that glazed look in his eyes that means he’s moving from tipsy to drunk, and quickly. She and Emily slide between them and Jesse ruffles her hair playfully. She swats him away while Donald reaches for a card in the middle pile.

“About time you got here,” Jesse says, taking a drink when Donald reveals a five.

“It’s only 10:30.”

 “I know dude, catch up.” He points at her full beer and she rolls her eyes and gulps a few disgusting sips down. “Yas kween! Chug!”

Beca pushes at his face. “Never say that again.”

“Haters gonna hate, Becawwwww.”

“I hate when you’re drunk.”

He laughs and reaches for the middle pile. “EIGHT!” He turns on Beca with an evil smirk. “DATE.”

She scowls and they both drink. It’s not long until she’s starting to feel the beer in her stomach, her face hot and smile coming easy. Next to her, Emily is giggling into Benji’s shoulder, his arm around her waist. She absentmindedly wonders where Stacie went and then it occurs to her she hasn’t seen Chloe around despite the fact that this is her house.

“Have you seen Chloe?” She asks Jessica across the table.

“Yeah, I saw her earlier for a second. She was in the living room with Tom and Aubrey when we got here.”

Ashley nods next to her. “I haven’t seen her since we came in here, though.”

But then it’s Beca’s turn and she forgets about Chloe when her card cracks the seal on the unopened beer in the middle that’s acting as the King’s Cup. She groans as everyone around the table whoops excitedly, chanting at her to chug as she plugs her nose and starts to gulp it down.

Someone grabs another beer and they start the game again.

Before long, Beca really has to pee, so she bows out of the game and hurries down the hall to the bathroom. She knocks on the closed door, frowning when someone yells from the inside that it’s taken. Jogging up the stairs, she opens the first door she comes to, hoping it’s a bathroom.

“Oh, sorry.”

She goes to close the door when she realizes it’s a bedroom and someone’s in it, but then Chloe’s voice calls out.

“Hey.”

Beca peeks her head back around the door, taking in the sight of Chloe sitting on the floor, her back against the bed. “Uh. Hey. Was looking for a bathroom.”

Chloe points to an open door in her bedroom that leads to a connected bathroom. “You can use mine.”

“Cool, thanks.”

She lets Chloe’s bedroom door close behind her as she enters and it blocks the laughter and music from below, immediately making the room ten times quieter. She uses the bathroom then looks at herself in the mirror, frowning. Her eyeliner is smudged and her cheeks red. She looks drunk AF.

She does her best to fix her makeup with her pinky, but it’s probably a lost cause. Oh well.

When she opens the door back into Chloe’s bedroom, she glances around. She hasn’t been in here before. There are fairy lights on the walls and a tall bookshelf in the corner. Chloe has a puppy calendar tacked to the wall above her desk, which is neat and organized, the exact opposite of Beca’s.

“What are you doing up here?” She asks, sliding down next to Chloe on the floor. Beca recognizes Fleetwood Mac playing quietly through Chloe’s phone.

“Just needed a breather for a second,” Chloe says with a shrug.

Beca hums in acknowledgement, wondering if Chloe’s been crying. Chloe’s eyes are a little red, but her makeup is crisp and clean, deepening the blue of her irises. She might just be drunk too.

“You look pretty,” Beca says and she’s drunk enough that she doesn’t really think twice about it. Chloe does look pretty. She always looks pretty, but maybe it’s something about the soft lighting and the quiet music and the way Chloe’s just looking at her with wide eyes.

Chloe smiles, her nose scrunching. “So do you. I like your shirt.” She tugs a little on Beca’s purple flannel. “It’s very you.”

Beca looks down at herself. “Thanks.” She tilts her head to the side, studying how Chloe’s hair falls over her chest and the way the blouse she’s wearing slides down her arm, exposing her shoulder. “Are you going to hide up here for the rest of the night, then?”

Chloe nudges her, rolling her eyes. “I’m not hiding.”

“Kinda seems like you’re hiding.”

“Well, then you’re hiding, too.”

Beca scoffs dramatically. “I’m not. I’m like, socializing with you and shit.”

“You’re drunk.”

“True facts.”

Chloe laughs. “Fine. Maybe I’m hiding a little.” She leans her head back against the bed, lolling it to the side to stare at Beca. “I just feel like…” She twists her lips in thought. Beca waits. “I just feel like holding on to this year, I guess.”

“Hm.”

“Everything is going to change next year. There’s college, and no more BellaTones, and moving away from everyone, and leaving people behind.” Chloe’s still looking at her. “And I feel like I have to make the most of this part of my life ending, while also welcoming in a new beginning. And I’m not sure how to do that.”

“Yeah,” Beca says. “But it’s exciting isn’t it? Think about how much your world is going to expand. You’re gonna like, find out new things about yourself and about the world.”

Chloe shrugs. “Yeah, I know. But maybe I won’t like that stuff as much as I like what’s happening right now.”

Beca raises an eyebrow, a smirk on her face. “Right now you’re hiding from your own party.”

“Beca,” Chloe whines, and it makes warmth spread through her chest that has nothing to do with how drunk she is.

She softens. “Well, what’s making you the happiest right now? You can hold on to some things. Moving on doesn’t mean letting go, right?”

“I guess things are just easy right now.”

And Beca thinks she gets it. Things haven’t always been easy for Chloe. It must be scary to move on from things that are. Her hand slides over Chloe’s on the floor and she squeezes. “Things are going to change. You can’t stop that. Thinking they won’t isn’t gonna make them not.”

“I guess.”

Beca turns to look at Chloe head on, crossing her legs to get closer. She takes the hand she was holding and pulls it into her lap between her palms. “It’s like. So much can happen this year for you. You can start fresh. You can be whoever you want. You can live exactly how you want this semester because in a few months you get to take what you want with you and you can leave the rest behind.”

Chloe’s just staring at her, head tilted toward her, her fingers splayed against Beca’s palms.

“Do you remember when we had the kidnapping and we were in your kitchen?” Beca asks.

“Of course,” Chloe murmurs.

“And I said, ‘you don’t even know me’ and you said, ‘but I will. Isn’t it exciting?’ This is the same thing.” She squeezes Chloe’s fingers. “It’s a new year, a fresh start, but in the middle of it, you get to do it again. You don’t know what’s going to happen, or who is gonna be there or how easy or hard or awesome it’s gonna be. It’s exciting, you know? There’s so much possibility.”

Chloe smiles at her for a second. “You really are drunk, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Chloe rests her other hand on top of Beca’s and squeezes tight. “There are some things I just don’t want to let go of, I guess.”

Beca looks into Chloe’s face, her heart thudding a drumroll in her chest. “Then don’t.”

“Okay,” Chloe says softly, her eyes bright in a way that makes Beca think she might cry. Stevie Nicks is singing in the background and making Beca feel a certain way, and from downstairs she hears loud voices start counting down from ten.

And this is how Beca ends one year and starts another, holding Chloe’s hands tight in hers, Chloe staring into her eyes.

Outside, she hears the distant popping of mediocre fireworks, and from below the sounds of cheering and noisemakers drift up to them, but Beca doesn’t pay any attention to that at all. She reaches up and wipes away a tear that’s about to fall down Chloe’s cheek, wrapping her arms around Chloe when she leans into her, her face in Beca’s neck, their legs bent at a weird angle.

She thinks maybe there are some things she doesn’t want to let go of, too.

//

They go back down to the party a few minutes later.

After the quiet of Chloe’s room, the loud sounds of music and conversation feel like a headache. Chloe presses at Beca’s back as they weave in and out of people while they look for their friends.

As soon as they enter the kitchen, Tom appears at Chloe’s side and Beca steps away a little, but Chloe leans back toward her.

“Chloe, there you are!” He slings an arm around her, smiling. “You missed midnight, where were you?”

Chloe pauses, her teeth coming out to bite at her lower lip.

“She was helping me,” Beca interjects. “I got really drunk and Chloe was helping me out.”

“Oh,” he frowns, and to his credit he looks concerned. “Are you alright?”

She nods. “All good now. Just needed to take a breather.”

As she says it, she realizes she actually has sobered up. Her eyes feel heavy and tired, and from the look on Chloe’s face, she feels the same way.

Chloe puts her hand on Tom’s chest, looking up at him. “I think we should start winding down the party.”

“Already?” She nods. “Okay. If you say so.”

“People can stay the night,” Chloe says through a yawn. “I don’t want anyone driving.”

He nods. “Yeah, course not.” He places a kiss on her forehead, then starts moving through the party, telling people they need to go home or to grab a spot on the floor somewhere to go to sleep. Beca’s not sure what she’s doing. She guesses she better find Stacie and see.

“Beca,” Chloe grabs her hand as she starts to move away. “You’re staying right?”

Beca hesitates. “I’m not sure. But I will if you want me to.”

“Yeah,” Chloe smiles, soft and kind of sad. “Could you like, stay with me?”

The vulnerability in her voice terrifies Beca. “What about Tom?”

Chloe laughs. “He’s not allowed to stay over at my place. His parents would kill him, and he’s one of those rule-followers.”

“First Aubrey, now him?” Beca quirks an eyebrow. “You have a type, Beale.”

Chloe squeezes her hand. “Maybe.”

“Okay,” Beca says. “But let me find Stacie and see what she’s doing.”

She releases Chloe’s hand, holding a finger up to indicate she’ll be right back, and starts looking for her friends. Most of the people who are leaving have already gone, but several people are staying the night. Benji, Emily, and Jesse have already staked out prime real estate in front of the large TV in the family room, with Jessica and Ashley sharing the couch. Lilly’s curled up like a cat on the love seat, her legs tucked underneath and her eyes following Beca as she moves through the room.

“Em, have you seen Stace?”

“She went upstairs,” Jesse mumbles from where his head is shoved into a pillow.

Beca rolls her eyes and thumps up the stairs. She manages to catch Stacie in the hallway coming out of the bathroom and heading in the opposite direction.

“Stace,” Beca calls and Stacie turns around.

“There you are,” Stacie grins. “Haven’t seen you all night.”

“I haven’t seen you all night,” Beca counters.

Stacie grabs Beca’s shoulders and squeezes. “I’ve had the best time.”

Beca snorts. “You say that every party you go to.”

“Well I always have the best time.”

“Right.” Beca smirks. “Anyway, where are you off to?” She peers down the hall.

Stacie looks over her shoulder then back again. “Guest bedroom.”

Beca feels her eyebrows lift in surprise. “With who?”

Stacie smiles and leans in close to whisper. “Aubrey, duh.”

“Wow, so you are dating.”

“Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies, Beca-bee.”

Beca can’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah alright. So we’re staying the night then?”

“Yeah dude, I can’t drive like this.” Stacie gestures down her body. “I had like, three too many drinks. Plus,” she leans in again. “I think Emily and Benji are hitting it off. They are so cute.”

“Great,” Beca mutters. “I dig it, but please don’t tell me any details. That’s my cousin and I have to like, have family dinners with her mom.”

Stacie snorts. “Poor awkward Beca.”

“Oh my God.” Beca starts to move back down the hallway to the stairs. “Whatever. Goodnight.”

“Love you!”

“Yeah, love you, whatever.”

She goes back downstairs and finds Chloe in the kitchen putting the last of the empty beer cans on the counter into a trash bag. The last of the people not staying have left, and the living room is quiet, the lights dim.

“Do you need any help?” She whispers to Chloe.

Chloe shakes her head. “Nah, I’ll clean the rest up tomorrow. I think Emily is already asleep,” Chloe scrunches her nose in a smile.

“That girl can sleep anywhere,” Beca says. “She falls asleep the minute she closes her eyes.”

Chloe laughs quietly. “Come on, let’s go to bed, I’m exhausted.” Back up the stairs they go, Chloe leading Beca back into her room. She flips the light on and shuts the door. “Do you want some clothes?”

She digs in her dresser and pulls out a large t-shirt and some gym shorts. “Thanks.” Beca takes the clothes and they get ready for bed. Beca uses some of Chloe’s mouthwash in the bathroom, grateful that if she doesn’t have a toothbrush, she at least won’t have to taste beer in her mouth all night.

Beca slides under Chloe’s covers and into the spot near the wall, feeling that awkwardness that comes when you sleep in the same bed with someone for the first time. She rests her head on the pillow, looking at the wall across from her while Chloe brushes her teeth. Then Chloe’s turning off the light and crawling into bed next to her and it’s dark and quiet and cool.

“Thanks for staying with me,” Chloe says, her hand finding Beca’s in the dark. Beca aches for Chloe, for her sadness, and her goodness, and her need for comfort from a friend.

“Anytime,” she murmurs. She can’t see Chloe at all, but she feels Chloe next to her, breathing deeply.

They’re silent after that, and a few minutes later, Beca’s sure Chloe’s asleep. She relaxes further into her pillow, careful not to scoot too close.

But they’re still holding hands, and they stay like that until Beca, too, falls asleep.

//

When the Spring semester begins, BellaTones practice returns to four days a week. They have their qualifying competition coming up, and if they don’t place, they won’t continue on to the state competition later in the semester.

This means Aubrey ramps up their cardio, and after two weeks break where she did nothing, Beca wants to die after about four minutes.

“Come on, B, we just started,” Stacie grins from next to her, easily keeping pace with Beca’s slow jog. “You can’t be giving up already.”

“I’m… not… athletic… like… you…” She grunts out between breaths. Stupid Stacie and her gymnastics background and her long legs and athletic grace.

Stacie hums. “Probably shouldn’t have eaten all those Cheetos over break, I guess.”

“Fuck… you…”

“Speaking of,” Stacie smirks at her. “Did you hear Chloe broke up with Tom?”

Beca almost stops running completely, but she knows she’ll never start again if she does so she pushes through. “What?”

“Yeah, after New Year’s,” Stacie says casually.

“How do you know?”

“Aubrey,” Stacie says. “I was with her when Chloe called.”

Beca can feel a cramp stabbing into her side but Stacie seems to be running faster so Beca picks up the pace. “Why?”

“Why? Well Aubrey and I have been – ”

“No not why were you with her. Why did they break up?”

“Hm,” Stacie says, eyeing Beca while they run. Then she jogs ahead, calling over her shoulder with a grin. “We better catch up or we’ll have to do an extra lap.”

Beca groans in disbelief. “Stacie!”

Stacie just jogs ahead and Beca scowls, stopping to put her hands on her knees and breathe. Fuck Stacie and her fucking long legs.

And fuck this running business.

“BECA! NO STOPPING!” Aubrey’s voice cuts through Beca’s harsh gasps for breath.

She grimaces and starts running again.

And fuck Aubrey, too.

//

Turns out Stacie doesn’t know why Chloe and Tom broke up.

Beca watches Chloe over the course of the next couple weeks, trying to gauge whether she’s upset or not, but Chloe seems fine.

In fact, compared to her emotional time during the party, Chloe seems great. She’s always laughing with Stacie or hugging Aubrey or teasing Jesse. The times she gives Beca a ride home, she sings along to the radio and smiles at Beca like nothing has changed.

Beca isn’t sure if she should ask about it, but she figures if Chloe wants to talk about it, she will, so she doesn’t say anything.

//

With the competition fast-approaching and school starting to pick up, Beca’s stress levels peak.

Her first midterm exams are coming up and BellaTones rehearsals start to look more like a dramatic family Thanksgiving after a tense election than a singing group practicing their choreography.

Aubrey and Bumper are constantly bickering and slinging insults back and forth. Beca finds herself biting her nails more often than not, pinching at her nose to keep headaches away.

At one point, she suggests to both of them that they try changing something in their numbers so that they might actually have a chance at winning, but they both look at her like she’s grown three extra heads so she doesn’t do that again.

Chloe gives her a sympathetic smile, but doesn’t say anything, maybe because she knows it’s not worth it. But it’s a point of pride for Beca at this point. She didn’t suffer through cardio and their fighting for over a semester so that they don’t even qualify for States.

She tries to tell all this to Stacie because if anyone could get through to Aubrey besides Chloe it’s her, but Stacie doesn’t have much to say about it.

“I know, Bec. We’d be way better if we tried something new, but it’s not our call.”

“You could just talk to Aubrey though.”

Stacie makes a noncommittal noise in response.

“Come on, Stace.”

“Sorry, B. I gotta go. I’m studying for our Psych test with Aubrey and we’re supposed to meet in ten.” Then she pats Beca fondly on the cheek and heads off.

Beca throws her head back in frustration, annoyed that Stacie keeps ditching her and their numbers are embarrassingly boring and unorganized and that she has an essay due the next day that she hasn’t even started.

Sometimes she wonders if this BellaTones thing was worth it at all.

But then Chloe gives her a ride, and hangs out while Beca writes her essay, and hugs her so tight when they’re saying goodnight that she can barely breathe.

And she remembers that without the BellaTones, she would’ve never met Chloe at all.

//

They qualify for States, but just barely.

The judges award them second place due to a technicality with the third team, who somehow forgot to register a new member in time.

 They got lucky, and they all know it, but instead of pushing them to do something different, their loss just brings more arguing.

Beca takes refuge next to Emily on the bus ride back so she won’t feel the need to ask Chloe or Stacie to try to get Aubrey to consider trying something new. She slouches in her seat, turning her music up to drown out the noise of her teammates. Emily falls asleep on her shoulder, so she spends the entire ride home in silence, staring out the window and wondering what it will take to get the rest of them to listen.

//

The next few weeks pass in more or less the same way.

Beca gives up on trying to convince Stacie to talk to Aubrey, but it’s mostly because she rarely sees Stacie anymore. Outside of their morning ride and the one class they share together, she doesn’t get the opportunity to talk to her best friend very much.

She doesn’t blame Stacie, really. She knows midterms are coming up and Stacie’s workload is insane and it’s not like Stacie to half-ass anything, especially her schoolwork. Beca gets that.

But Stacie has also been spending unprecedented amounts of time with Aubrey, disappearing right after rehearsals to study with her in the library. On more than one occasion, Beca’s looked out her bedroom window to see Aubrey’s car parked in Stacie’s driveway until well-past when Beca knows Stacie usually heads to bed.

Beca’s happy for Stacie, even if Aubrey isn’t her favorite person in the world. Stacie is smart and nice and like, a genuinely good person, even if she’s obnoxious as hell. Beca wants her to be happy and to find someone who can keep up with her, because Beca sure can’t.

She just kind of can’t help being a little annoyed, though. She rolls her eyes at herself for thinking it, but she misses her best friend.

//

It’s Thursday night and Beca’s sulking in her room. Having finished her math homework, she’s putting off starting her reading for English. She’d text Stacie, but Aubrey’s car is in her driveway so Beca’s just fucking around on her computer instead, wishing she didn’t have to go to school tomorrow and it was the weekend already.

Her phone buzzes on the desk next to her and Beca glances at it, expecting it to be Jesse or Emily. She grabs it when she sees a text from Chloe.

Chloe (10:11pm): Hey do you have anything big happening with school tomorrow

Beca’s scrunches her face in confusion.

Beca (10:12pm): what do u mean

Chloe (10:14pm): Like a test or project or anything that you can’t miss

Beca (10:16pm): uh no I don’t think so

Chloe (10:17pm): Do you wanna come somewhere with me

Beca raises an eyebrow and gets up from her desk. She flops on her bed, leaning on her elbows to text back.

Beca (10:20pm): like ditch school?

Chloe (10:21pm): Ditch is a strong word

Beca (10:22pm): lol

Beca (10:23pm): yeah ok

Chloe (10:25pm): Meet me in the parking lot before 1st period then

Beca (10:26pm): u better not get me in trouble for this beale

Chloe (10:27pm): See you tomorrow xoxo

//

“So,” she says first thing after sliding into Chloe’s car the next morning. “Where are we going?”

Chloe raises an eyebrow and hands her a cup of coffee from the cupholder. “Good morning.”

Beca squints at the words written on the Starbucks cup. “How did you know my order?”

“Magic,” Chloe grins.

“Kay.” Beca takes a sip, the warmth filling her to her toes. “Thank you I love you good morning.”

“Wow,” Chloe says, putting the car in drive and pulling away from the school. “If I knew all I needed to do to get that reaction from you was buy you coffee I would’ve done it months ago.”

Beca grunts. “Where are we going?”

“I have a college visit today.”

“And you want me to come with you.”

“Yep.”

Beca stares at Chloe. “I see...”

Chloe looks over at her while she’s driving. “It’s at Barden. I thought it might be fun.”

Beca almost burns herself on her coffee trying not to swallow in surprise. “Barden?”

“Yeah?”

“So you want me to ditch school and go to the place where my dad works?””

“Oh. Oh my God.” Chloe glances at her guiltily. “I didn’t even think of that. Do you want to go back to school?”

Beca scoffs. “Fuck no.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah I hate school.”

Chloe laughs and it’s probably Beca’s favorite sound on the planet. “Okay. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Beca waves that away. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. He’ll be teaching or in his office.” She settles further into her seat and grabs the AUX cord, plugging her phone in. “So did you decide to go to Barden, then?”

“Well,” Chloe says, putting her turn signal on to get onto the highway. “I haven’t heard back yet, it’s still too early. I haven’t decided on anywhere, but I figured I’d go and check it out, see if I like the campus and stuff.”

Beca nods. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“Yeah,” Chloe says, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as Beca starts to play a song. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“Thanks for getting me out of school.”

Chloe smiles over at her. “Anytime.”

//

When they get to Barden, they join the tour group that Chloe signed up for.

It’s led by a girl entirely too enthusiastic about the school’s history for Beca’s taste. Nobody should be that excited about a statue of an old dude who did nothing more than be rich enough to fund a library. The girl leads them over the grounds and through some of the main buildings. Chloe listens quietly while Beca tunes the girl out and keeps an eye out for her dad.

“And THIS is the gym!” The girl exclaims as they walk near a large building being entered and exited by students in workout gear. “And THIS is the school’s biggest dining hall. And THIS – ”

“Is the most boring tour I’ve ever been on.” Beca mutters under her breath and Chloe nudges her.

“Shh.”

She tugs at Chloe’s arm. “Come with me.”

“We can’t just leave the tour,” Chloe hisses, but she’s letting Beca lead her away from the girl, who’s going on about some professor in the science program who won some award.

“Yes we can.” She looks at Chloe. “Is this stuff really making you wanna go here?”

Chloe hesitates. “I mean. It’s… informational.”

Beca rolls her eyes. “Let me show you something.”

Chloe pauses, her eyes searching Beca’s face. Then she nods. “Okay.”

Beca beams and leads Chloe away from the group. As they walk over the quad, she feels a sense of happy familiarity sweep over her. Ever since she was little, she’s been coming to this campus with her dad. He’d bring her to work with him when he’d teach summer school and by the time she was thirteen, she was allowed to wander around by herself until his classes ended for the day.

These grounds are practically as familiar to her as her own house.

“Where are we going?” Chloe asks after a minute.

“You’ll see.” She leads them across another sweeping green and toward an older building. “This is my favorite building on campus,” she says as she goes up the stairs and holds the door open for Chloe.

“Why?”

Beca grins. “Listen.”

They enter the building and Chloe scrunches her noise in confusion, but Beca just waits. Slowly and softly, quiet music reaches their ears. What sounds like a pair of violins drifts down the hall. Beca grabs Chloe’s hand and leads her down a corridor, watching Chloe’s face as she peers into the rooms they pass.

They walk by practice room after practice room. In one, a girl presses her fingers to the keys of a piano before scribbling on a music sheet. In another, a guy plays his trumpet while another plays the saxophone. The rooms block the sound from escaping, but Beca loves to look in on them, imagining what they’re playing, thinking of the possibilities being created and dreamt up behind the doors.

They come across a group of violinists in the hallway, practicing quietly. They don’t look up from their sheet music as Beca and Chloe pass, their concentration unwavering.

“This is the music building,” Beca says, watching as Chloe’s smile grows the longer they stay in the building. “But come on, this isn’t what I wanted to show you.”

She heads up two more flights of stairs and through a door and they come out into the music library.

She holds a finger to her lips to indicate Chloe should be quiet. Beca leads them past shelf after shelf of sheet music and books on music theory and history and biographies of famous composers and musicians. Beca must have spent hours in this library every summer.

“Here,” she whispers as they reach the back of the library and a set of smaller stairs, wide enough for one person to go up at a time. “After you.”

She gestures toward the stairs and Chloe smiles at her and starts to climb. Beca follows her up, grinning when she reaches the small room at the top and finds it empty except for them.

CDs and records line the walls of the room. Scattered around are listening stations, docks to put in CDs and listen through headphones. In the corner are two sound-proof booths with record players and recording equipment.

“Can we listen?” Chloe says, her eyes wide as she spins around.

“No, these are all just here for the aesthetic.”

Chloe nudges her shoulder. “Shut up.”

Beca grins and goes to the wall to pick out a record. She finds the one she’s looking for and heads into one of the booths. Chloe follows after her, a few records in her arms.

“Are people allowed to record in here?” Chloe asks as Beca shuts the door behind them.

“Well you’re supposed to be a student,” Beca says, “but I’ve never been caught so I’m not sure what happens if you’re not.”

Chloe laughs, her hands hovering over the dials of the sound board. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“Yeah I think you’re supposed to be in a class and they teach you,” Beca shrugs. She grabs one of the records Chloe brought (Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion), and places it in the record player for it to spin. She lets the needle down, grinning when it starts playing.

Chloe tilts her head to the side, curious and happy. “You know, I’ve never actually heard a real record before.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Beca beams, a sense of excitement filling her stomach. “Well it’s a pleasure to be your first, then.”

 Chloe smiles back at her and they sit in the room’s poofy chairs, letting the music fill the space between them.

“This is nice,” Chloe murmurs after a few songs.

“Yeah,” Beca nods. She takes a deep breath, feeling the words leave her before she thinks about them too much. “When my parents were getting divorced, I used to come to work with my dad and just sit in here and listen to music by myself. They’d always be yelling, or worse, not speaking at all, and sometimes it felt like this was the only place I could hear myself think.”

Chloe grabs her hand and squeezes. “What did you listen to?”

Beca laughs. “Everything.”

“Did it help?”

“Yeah,” Beca says. “Music always helps.” She grabs the record she brought in with her and switches the Carly Rae Jepsen one for it. Then she slumps back into her chair.

Chloe hums happily. “I love this album”

“You had it playing in your room on New Year’s,” Beca murmurs, remembering the feelings that swirled in her chest that night and how close she had felt to Chloe. When “Warm Ways” comes on, she feels it all magnified, like she can’t think of anything else, and she wonders what Chloe’s feeling.

She wonders if Chloe knows she makes Beca feel the same way music makes her feel, unending and heightened and like things might slide into place if she can just listen to the next song, if she can just spend another minute with Chloe. Then everything will be okay and she won’t have to think about all the ways it might not be.

When she’s with Chloe, things just make sense.

//

They listen to a few more albums, but then Chloe’s stomach grumbles too loudly to ignore so they put their records back on the shelves and leave the music building.

Beca buys them a few slices of pizza from one of the restaurants on campus and they sit outside on the quad and eat it, basking in the warm Georgia sun. Beca loves this time of year because it’s not too hot and humid yet and being outside actually feels nice and not like you’re sweating enough to fill a swimming pool.

They chill outside for a while, talking and watching students head to and from class. Beca tries to imagine Chloe here, sitting on the quad with a book or socializing with some friends, and finds that she has no trouble at all. Chloe was made for college, for independence and freedom and lounging in the sun.

She glances over at Chloe, following her gaze to a couple holding hands as they walk down the sidewalk, the boy watching the girl intently as she chatters on, gesturing wildly with her free hand.

“Do you miss it?” She asks.

Chloe looks over at her. “Miss what?”

Beca wants to say Tom, but can’t find it in herself to do so. “I dunno. That.” She juts her chin toward the couple.

Chloe hums like she knows what Beca’s getting at. “Yes and no.” She quirks her head to the side as the couple disappears around a corner. “I guess I miss holding hands and having fun and stuff. But I don’t miss him specifically.”

“Why’d you break up?” Beca says, hoping she’s not too blunt. “Or if you don’t wanna talk about it then never mind.”

Chloe’s lips turn up in a little smile. “No, it’s fine.” She pauses, looking out over the quad, but Beca gets the sense she’s not really seeing it. “We were hanging out and I just had this moment, I guess, where I thought, wow I like this person, but I don’t see it going past that. And I thought back to what we were talking about actually, how I get to start fresh and things might not be easy and that’s okay. Sometimes just because something is familiar and comfortable doesn’t mean we have to hold onto it.”

Chloe pulls her knees up to her chest, her arms draping over them. She rests her chin on her arms and looks over at Beca and she looks so pretty in that moment that Beca forgets to breathe.

“I guess,” Chloe continues. “There are just other things speaking to my heart right now.”

The words weigh heavy in the air and Beca’s insides shake with the feel of them, with how it’s so easy for Chloe to say these things, to feel them and know them and understand them. She wants to say something, to express how Chloe makes her think and feel in ways she never has before, but she doesn’t know how.

Chloe seems to get it though, and she smiles softly at Beca before squeezing her forearm and standing up. “Come on,” she says. “Let’s get going. School will be getting out soon.”

Chloe extends her hands and pulls her up.

“Thanks.” Beca reaches over to wipe away some grass sticking to Chloe’s sweater. “You got grass on you.”

“Ah.” Chloe grins and drags her hands over her butt, checking for grass. “What would I do without you, Ms. Mitchell?”

Beca pretends to think about it. “Walk around with grass on your butt, I guess. How embarrassing.”

“I know, think of the names people would call me.”

Beca feels her lips pull up in a smile as they walk toward the parking lot. “Like you would care.”

“Excuse me, Amy called me Weasley the other day.”

Beca raises an eyebrow. “I don’t see how that’s an insult.”

Chloe hums. “Yeah I guess you’re right.”

“I usually am.”

“Oh, and so modest.”

“I’m not one to deny myself the pleasure of saying I told you so,” Beca shrugs. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Chloe laughs, pushing at Beca’s shoulder. “You’re kind of annoying, did you know that? Cute, but annoying.”

“Take me or leave me, Beale.” Beca tries to keep her face neutral, but her stomach is shaking with laughter as they get in the car.

“Yeah, I’m taking you home, is what I’m doing. Unless you want me to leave you here.”

“I knew you had a mean-streak. Is that like, a requirement with the hair?”

Chloe’s mouth falls open. “Wow. Now you’re starting to sound like Amy.”

Beca lifts her hands in a shrug. “She has a point.”

“Yeah, that’s it, I’m leaving you. Get out.”

“You would never.”

Chloe rolls her eyes playfully. “Only because I like you so much.”

“Ew,” Beca says, but she’s smiling.

“You ew.”

“Good one.”

Chloe sticks her tongue out, giggling. Five minutes later, they’re both still laughing as they merge onto the highway and head home.

//

The afternoon turns crisp as the sun begins to sink near the horizon and Chloe pulls up to Beca’s house. Turbulent winds whip outside the car, the branches from the tree in Beca’s yard shaking as they’re pulled into the current. Beca frowns as she looks out the window. The mellow morning seems a lifetime away.

“Thanks for coming with me,” Chloe says. The car windows shake as another strong gust of wind blows around them.

“No problem.” Beca smiles across the middle console. “I had a good time.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Beca doesn’t really want to go inside. She knows it’s silly, but she feels like the moment she steps out of the sanctuary of the car, the closeness she’s been feeling for Chloe all day will vanish, swept up in the wind. Chloe’s looking at her like she’s expecting her to say something, but she’s not sure there’s anything to say.

“Well,” she gets out eventually. “Um. Have a good weekend. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“You too.” And she thinks Chloe is going to give her that soft smile that she’s used to, but she doesn’t.

Beca hesitates, fumbling with the door. “Yeah. Okay, bye.”

The wind grips her as soon as the car door shuts behind her. She pulls her hoodie tighter around her as she hurries up the front walk, hoping to keep out some of the cold. She shivers, reaching for the doorknob.

“Beca!” She turns around in time to see Chloe closing the driver’s side door. She jogs up the sidewalk toward Beca, her hair flying around her wildly.

“What?” Beca’s eyes move over Chloe, looking for a reason that she’s stopping her from going inside. “Did I forget something?”

“No,” Chloe pants and steps onto the porch, turning to face Beca. “I just...”

Beca waits, the moment gripping her and holding her tight. Her breath catches in her throat.

Chloe’s eyes shine, fierce and bright. “I like you. And I really want to kiss you.”

“Oh.” Beca blinks. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah.” Chloe’s hands are around her waist, and their noses brush, and Beca exhales shakily.

And then they’re kissing.

Chloe’s lips press softly to hers, and Beca has never felt so present in her own body. She’s aware of the way her hands fold awkwardly between their bodies, of the cold touch of Chloe’s nose, of her heartbeat in her ears. A giddy happiness swirls in her stomach, flushing her cheeks and causing goosebumps to spring up over her arms. She shivers, sinking more fully into Chloe, and she forgets that they’re outside, that their hair is whipping around them in the wind, that they’re on her front porch.

She forgets about everything that doesn’t have to do with her lips touching Chloe’s lips, Chloe’s hands on her hips, how amazing she feels right now, in this moment.

She doesn’t know how much times passes, it could be seconds or minutes or an hour, when Chloe finally pulls back, her nose brushing over Beca’s softly.

Beca opens her eyes, taking in Chloe’s smile and the crinkle around her eyes and the way her tongue darts out to wet at her lips.

She feels like she’s in a dream.

“That was. Good.” She shivers again. She blinks again. Wow. “You like me?”

Chloe chuckles, her cheeks red. “Yeah. I like you.” Her hands are still on Beca’s hips and she squeezes. “I’ve liked you for a long time.”

“Oh,” Beca says and her voice sounds like it’s coming from far away. “Me too. Like. Forever.”

Chloe beams, her hand coming up to cup Beca’s cheek. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Since Christmas?”

“Since before Christmas. Since before Thanksgiving.”

Chloe’s thumb brushes over her cheek as she laughs. “God, you’re cute.”

Beca scowls, finally feeling like she’s coming back to herself. “I’m not.”

“You are.” Chloe says. “Annoying. But cute.”

“I’m going inside,” Beca mutters, but makes no move to go. “I don’t have to take this.”

Chloe grins, her nose brushing Beca’s again. “Go then.”

“I will.” But Chloe’s lips are right there and – oh fuck it. She tilts her head up to kiss Chloe again. Chloe laughs against her lips, her tongue sliding over Beca’s and she feels her stomach bottom out.

Her breath gets caught in her throat and she pulls back to breathe.

“That.” She exhales shakily. “Is not fair.”

Chloe just smirks, her eyes shining with playfulness. “What’s really not fair is that I have to go.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” Chloe says, stepping off the porch and walking backward across the lawn toward her car. “Dinner with my mom.”

Beca stares after her. “You’re just gonna – ? And then leave?”

Chloe’s laugh is carried back to her on a heavy gust of wind and Beca shivers again. “I’ll text you.”

“But – ?”

“Talk to you later!” Chloe calls as she’s getting into her car. Beca stands there in disbelief, watching as Chloe starts the car and, after waggling her fingers in a wave, drives away.

She moves inside in a daze, closing the door behind her and leaning against it.

She touches her fingers to her mouth briefly, wondering how that just happened, and already missing the feeling of Chloe’s lips against hers.

//

The storm lasts most of the weekend, and Beca spends it inside, texting Chloe and working on a mix. On Saturday night the power goes out and her phone dies, so she’s forced to leave her room and spend time with her dad and Sheila.

They play board games by flashlight and Beca forgets for a few hours that she’s too cool to hang with them. Her dad teases her about her good mood and she scowls exaggeratedly at him just to let him know he won’t get away with being this chummy.

She thinks of Chloe and wonders if she’s home alone or if her mom is still with her. She wishes the power would turn back on so she could charge her phone and they could text like they’d been doing all day, playful flirty messages that had Beca smiling into her pillow before rolling her eyes at herself in embarrassment, even if no one could see.

She’s just happy, and she feels it deep in her stomach, like it’s settled down roots, preparing for the long haul. On Sunday when the power comes back and Chloe texts her that she missed her, it feels like it’s bursting out of her at the seams.

//

“Morning,” Stacie yawns on Monday when Beca slides into the passenger seat of her car for school.

“Good morning,” Beca says, smiling at the prospect of seeing Chloe again today. “Nice day.”

Stacie looks at her like she’s grown another head. “Who spiked your coffee with happy pills?”

Beca rolls her eyes. “Why is it such a surprise to everyone when I’m having a good day?”

“Because,” Stacie declares. “You’re always so… surly.”

“Surly?”

“Yeah. Surly.”

Beca bites down a smile. “Is that an SAT word?”

“Ooh, that reminds me, are you taking it over Spring Break or during the summer?”

“Summer.”

“Oh, okay. I’m gonna take it over break in case I need to take it again.”

Beca snorts in disbelief. “Right.”

Stacie glances over at her as she drives. “What?”

“Like you’ll need to take it again,” Beca says. “You’re in the running for valedictorian.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Beca laughs. “Dude, you’re the smartest person in the school.”

Stacie frowns. “I’m not. And even if I was, I could still bomb the test.”

“You won’t.”

“Well Aubrey says – ”

“Oh well if Aubrey says something it must be law,” Beca teases.

Stacie side eyes her as she pulls up to Emily’s house and honks the horn to let her know they’re there. “Girl. What is up with you today?”

“Oh my God, nothing.”

“Something is.”

“Nope.”

Stacie hums in a placating way and Beca knows she doesn’t believe her. They watch as Emily hustles out of the house and gets into the car.

“Morning guys! Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re not late,” Stacie assures her.

“Good morning, Em.”

There’s a pause, then Emily sticks her head up front, hovering over the middle console. “Wow, what’s up with you? You’re in a good mood.”

Beca throws her hands up. “Can’t I say good morning without people questioning me?”

“No,” Stacie and Emily say together.

Beca grumbles and slumps in her seat. “Kay. Whatever.”

“Now that’s more like it,” Stacie says and she and Emily share a laugh.

Beca slouches further in her seat, scowling. She needs new friends.

//

She doesn’t see Chloe at all until their practice after school.

Chloe’s talking to Jesse when Beca walks in and she can tell the moment Chloe sees her because she stops talking mid-sentence and smiles at Beca like she hung the stars in the sky. Beca’s stomach flips three times over.

“Becaw!” Jesse exclaims and Beca doesn’t even have it in her to roll her eyes.

“Hey,” she says to him, then turns to Chloe, a smile breaking through her cool façade. “Hi.”

Chloe bites her lip, rocking forward on her toes. “Hi,” she says, soft and happy. Beca blushes.

Chloe winks, but Jesse doesn’t notice and for once, Beca’s grateful that he’s an oblivious nerd.

//

Chloe gives her a ride after, and they laugh and sing along to Beca’s music and it’s the same as it always is, but it’s also different because Beca feels anticipation growing between them the closer they get to her house.

“Do you wanna hang out?” She asks as Chloe pulls up to the curb, and Chloe laughs out a “duh” and happiness beats endlessly in Beca’s chest like a catchy pop song you can’t get out of your head.

She leads them to the house and Chloe grabs her hand from behind, two of their fingers stitching together while they walk. They thump up the stairs, one after the other, secret smiles pulling them closer together until they’re in Beca’s room, kicking their shoes off and flopping on the bed.

She turns on some music while Chloe reaches toward her side table. “You need to fix your clock.”

Beca looks over to see the digital numbers on the clock’s face flashing on and off. “Oh, yeah. Must’ve turned off during the power outage.”

“What time is it?” Chloe asks, already punching at the buttons to set the time.

“Uh. Time for you to get a watch?” Beca grins when Chloe rolls her eyes.

“You really do have your dad’s sense of humor.”

Beca scrunches her nose. “Ugh. Why would you say that?”

“Why would you make that joke if you didn’t want me to?” Chloe shakes her head, a smile pulling at her lips. She sets the alarm clock back on the side table. “Okay there. All fixed.” She sticks her tongue out. “You’re welcome.”

“Wow,” Beca grins sarcastically. “So handy. Anything else need fixing?”

“Hm,” Chloe taps her chin, pretending to think about it. “Well, first, this music. It’s not really matching the mood.” She reaches for Beca’s phone, scrolling through a playlist.

Beca scoffs. “Paramore is always the mood.”

Chloe switches the song, ignoring her. “Secondly, you have hair,” she pinches a few strings of hair from Beca’s hoodie between her fingers and lets them fall to the floor, “on your sweatshirt.”

“That’s your hair.”

“And thirdly,” Chloe grins, leaning closer. “We’re not kissing, yet.”

“Oh.”

Beca closes her eyes as their lips meet, and immediately feels everything that happened to her that day slide off her, like she’s just been waiting for Chloe to kiss her and start everything fresh. She sinks into the kiss, renewed happiness bubbling in her chest when she slides her tongue over Chloe’s and she hears Chloe’s breath catch.

She smiles against Chloe’s lips and finds herself laying back flat on her pillow, Chloe hovering on top of her, her hair flowing around them as if to trap them in a bubble of softness. She feels Chloe’s necklace bump against her chin, but she doesn’t care, just slides her fingers over and behind Chloe’s neck to pull her closer.

Chloe breathes out softly and pulls up smallest amount, her eyelashes fluttering against Beca’s cheekbones. “Is this okay?” Beca can feel Chloe’s breath against her lips.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhmm.” She pulls Chloe back toward her, marveling at out how soft Chloe is and how good it feels to just be close to each other.

Neither of them expresses any desire to stop kissing anytime soon, so they just keep kissing and kissing, until Beca’s dad comes home, and even then, they can’t stop exchanging secret smiles and looks over dinner, Chloe’s foot hooked around Beca’s under the table.

Beca thinks she’s never been so happy in her whole damn life.

//

“Chloe.”

“Hm?”

They’ve been doing whatever it is they’re doing for a few weeks now, chilling together and making out and doing homework every day after school. Most days, Beca finds herself how she is now, sitting in bed with her textbooks spread around her, Chloe curled up next to her with a book, either for her classes or for fun. Chloe’s eyes move across the page, her fingers absentmindedly trailing over Beca’s skin, only stopping to flip the page before they continue their path over her knee, her stomach, her wrist, whatever’s closest.

Beca is constantly caught up in the way Chloe gets lost in her book, in the way she’ll sometimes pause with her fingers gripping Beca’s ankle, unaware of the world around her as she’s sucked into the pages. Chloe is especially beautiful when she doesn’t know Beca’s looking.

“I want to try something for the BellaTones,” she says, watching how Chloe’s chin turns toward her but her eyes struggle to leave the page.

“Hm?” Chloe repeats, finally tearing her gaze away from the book and meeting Beca’s eyes. “Sorry babe. What did you say?”

Fondness washes over her. “I want to do something for the BellaTones,” she says again.

Chloe’s eyes light up. “Oh, like what?”

“Well,” Beca taps her pen against her wrist, a habit she can never seem to shake. “What if I made a mix, and then we assigned all the parts as a cappella and try to recreate it.” Chloe’s lips twist like she’s not sure, but Beca pushes through. “Like, think how cool it would be if beside the main beat, each person was contributing part of a different song, but as an underlying layer to the main one. I’ve never seen another group do something like that at our competitions.”

“That would be cool…” Chloe says, her voice trailing off in thought.

“It’s something new. The judges would eat it up,” Beca grins excitedly. “We could win.”

“Well, we could use a fresh take,” she admits, but then she frowns. “I just don’t think Aubrey and Bumper would go for it though. Especially when we’ve already been working on stuff for States.”

Beca barely stops herself from rolling her eyes. “But if we just made it and showed them. They’d see it was a good idea.”

“I dunno, Bec.”

She groans in frustration. “Why not? It’s worth a try, right? Don’t you want to win?”

Chloe shrugs. “I mean, yeah, of course, but it’s not really about winning for me, you know?”

“Oh, right, it’s about embarrassing yourself and constant fighting?” Chloe’s eyes flash with hurt and it hits Beca in the gut. She tries to push over it. “I’m sorry, I’m just, like, tired of us being lame when we could, like… not be.”

And maybe she’s lucky Chloe is forgiving or empathetic because she just shrugs. “I get it. But you don’t understand Aubrey, you know? You’re fighting a losing war. And next year, you’ll be a senior and you can try whatever you want.”

Beca sighs. “But why wait? Don’t you want to be awesome now? Don’t you want to just see what it would be like?”

“I know it would be awesome,” Chloe agrees. “Everything you do is awesome.”

She rolls her eyes. “Then why not?”

“I just don’t want you to waste your time.” Chloe says, then grins mischievously. She flips over, abandoning her book and crawling up the bed so she’s next to Beca. “Especially when you could be doing,” she trails her lips across Beca’s neck, “something else.”

Beca scoffs but tilts her neck so Chloe has more room. “That’s not fair.”

“Want me to stop?” Chloe mouths against her skin. She shivers.

“Uh.” She squirms when Chloe’s tongue swirls up toward her ear. “No,” she says, her breath catching in her throat.

She can feel Chloe grinning and she reaches up to bring her closer, accidentally knocking her textbook off the bed on the way. “So eager,” Chloe smirks as Beca pulls her down by her shirt.

“You started it,” Beca argues against Chloe’s lips, hating and loving the way she can feel Chloe’s smugness radiating off her body.

“Yeah and if you touch me, I’ll finish.”

Beca almost chokes and Chloe just laughs and laughs, her stomach shaking with the force of it, until Beca slides her tongue in Chloe’s mouth and the laugh turns to a moan.

//

Two weeks before Spring Break, Chloe receives her first college letter in the mail.

It’s from Georgia and it doesn’t feel too thick or too thin or any kind of cliché when she holds it out to Beca the following morning in the hallway in front of her locker.

“You didn’t open it?” She asks, gingerly taking it from Chloe and holding it up to the light as if she might be able to tell through the envelope whether Chloe was accepted or not.

“I didn’t want to open it alone,” Chloe says nonchalantly, but Beca isn’t fooled.

This means something, of course it does. She hands the envelope back. “Are you going to wait?”

“No, I’m doing it now.” Chloe keeps eye contact with her as she slides one finger under the flap and pulls the letter out. Beca shifts nervously on her feet, breaking Chloe’s gaze and staring at the letter. Chloe unfolds it, her eyes moving across the page. Then she looks up, her expression flat.

“Well?”

Chloe beams. “I made it!”

Beca’s whole body puffs up with relief and pride. “Duh why wouldn’t you?”

Chloe swats at her with the letter. “I’m sure there were a lot of good applications.”

“Congratulations, Chloe.” Beca smiles and pulls Chloe in for a hug. She can feel Chloe smiling against her cheek and she squeezes tight before releasing her. “I’m, like, super proud of you dude.”

“Thanks,” Chloe laughs. She stores the letter away in her locker and slings her backpack over her shoulder. “See you after school?”

“Yeah, see you then,” Beca nods, starting to move the opposite way down the hall, but Chloe pulls her back and plants a kiss on her cheek. Beca grins as Chloe smirks and says “bye” before taking off toward her class.

She rolls her eyes, but has a bounce in her step the rest of the day.

//

Leading up to the break, Chloe’s acceptance letters keep coming.

LSU first, then Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn, and Barden last.

The only one she doesn’t get into is Emory.

“It’s fine,” she says when she sees Beca’s face after she tells her. “I wasn’t leaning toward going there anyway.”

“Where are you leaning toward?” Beca asks.

“Not sure yet.”

Beca frowns. “When do you have to decide?”

“Not for a little bit. Gotta put a deposit down in May.”

“Right. Cool.”

Chloe goes back to her book and Beca fights the uncertainty clawing away at the happiness she feels for Chloe.

She tries not to think about how far LSU is.

//

It’s their last rehearsal before Spring Break and to say it’s going miserably would be an understatement.

There’s still over a month before the competition, but it might as well be tomorrow with how much bickering is happening.

“Well at least our number will get scored because it won’t bore the judges to death,” Bumper is saying to Aubrey.

Aubrey just glowers, but Stacie shoves her finger toward Bumper and the circle of boys behind him. “At least our choreography doesn’t look like a monkey came up with it.”

“No,” Bumper sneers. “Just like you’ve recently been employed by Southwest to instruct flight attendants what not to do if they ever wanna get laid.”

“Dude,” Jesse says from behind him, “uncalled for.”

“Aca-yikes,” Amy whispers just a little too loud to go unheard. Beca bites back a smile.

Aubrey crosses her arms coolly. “If you’re not willing to do the choreography Chloe’s come up with for the group number, then leave.”

Bumper lifts his arms exasperatedly. “Since I have no interest in looking gay, then fine I will.”

“Dude!” Several voices from both the boys and the girls sides yell in protest.

Beca feels the hot press of anger against her ribcage and she steps forward, her arm swinging back before she can think about what she’s doing. She moves to punch him, but a cool hand grabs her arm before she can.

“Oh no you don’t,” Stacie mutters, shooting Beca a look. “If you have any more altercations you’ll be expelled, remember?”

Beca wrenches her hand away, embarrassed and still seething. She glares at Bumper’s smirk.

“See you losers around,” he says, grabbing his backpack and strutting out the door.

They all stare after him in silence, then look back at each other uncertainly.

“Well, then,” Aubrey takes charge. “Now that we can put that behind us, we can actually get to work.”

Some of the boys grumble. “Right so, Bumper’s a dick,” Donald says. “But we’re still not like, stoked about the numbers.”

“Well, as the person with the pitch pipe,” Aubrey begins, holding up the pitch pipe with the school’s logo on it.

Beca rolls her eyes. “Dude, I’m with them. Shouldn’t we all get a say?”

Everyone’s eyes are suddenly on her. She ignores them, looking at Aubrey, who’s staring at her like she’d be glad to kick Beca out too.

“Well, what would you suggest, Beca?” Aubrey raises an eyebrow challengingly.

“Actually, I have some samples I made on my phone that I think would be really cool. I can play them and show you how – ”

“We’ve heard that idea and already told you it’s not our style,” Aubrey cuts her off.

Beca’s anger surges again. “If you would just listen and try – ”

“No,” Aubrey says with finality. “Now if anyone else has any other ideas they’re welcome to come forward, otherwise, let’s move on.”

Beca looks helplessly at the others, her gaze lingering on Stacie, who won’t meet her eyes. Chloe stares at her, her expression wrought with conflict.

“Chloe,” Beca pleads. “Come on.”

Chloe glances at Aubrey then back to Beca. “I dunno, Bec.”

Hurt pierces at Beca, but she tries to shrug it off by rolling her eyes. “Fine,” she grabs her backpack, too. “I’m done for the day.”

“Beca, don’t,” Benji calls after her, but she’s already out the door.

For the first time all year, she walks all the way home.

//

She skips the last day of school before break.

She doesn’t have any exams or anything so she fakes sick and spends the day in bed watching Netflix. She has an unfinished mix sitting in her drafts, but she doesn’t really feel like working on it.

Her doorbell rings after school gets out. She reluctantly answers it, only because it’s Chloe.

“Hey,” Chloe says when Beca’s standing in front of her, looking like a dweeb in her pajamas. “How are you feeling?”

She reaches out to feel Beca’s forehead, but she leans away from Chloe’s hand. “Fine.”

Chloe frowns. “You’re mad at me.”

Beca shrugs, one arm pulled tightly across her stomach, the other still on the door.

“What was I supposed to do, Bec?”

“Uh, I dunno, stick up for me? Say something?”

“I told you that suggesting that wasn’t gonna work out,” Chloe says.

Beca scowls. “You weren’t even willing to try. You’re so far stuck in your comfort zone that you won’t even let yourself try something that could be awesome!”

Chloe looks away, then back, her eyes shining. “I’m not gonna just have a fight with my best friend when I know it’s not gonna make a difference. We’re leaving in a few months, I don’t need that right now.”

“Well what about me?” Beca argues. “What about what I think? You’re leaving me too.”

Surprise and hurt flash over Chloe’s face, but she doesn’t say anything.

Beca rolls her eyes. “Kay whatever. Have a nice break.”

Chloe turns away from her, her hand coming up to wipe at her eyes and Beca lets the door shut.

She hesitates in the front hall, thinking maybe she made a mistake, maybe she should open the door and apologize, make sure Chloe’s not crying, do something…

But she’s mad and hurt and annoyed. And what’s done is done.

She heads back to her room, thinking she probably never should have auditioned for that stupid group at all.

//

Emily (Saturday 9:22am): Hey Bec, I stopped by to see if you were okay. Your dad said you were sleeping so I left you some cookies in the kitchen. Feel better soon! Love you!!!

Jesse (Saturday 1:46pm): sup dude I’m heading to Utah for the break to see the g-parents but I just wanted to check in with you. Show me that mix you were talking about later okay? Sounds dope

Stacie (Sunday 8:57am): Text me when you wake up girl let’s do something

Stacie (Monday 11:14am): Bee I know youre ignoring me and that’s not cool. text me

Stacie (Tuesday 9:03am): k im done with this Beca I’m gonna come over and get your ass out of bed idgaf

//

Beca tosses her phone away from her, settling further in bed to continue her Grey’s Anatomy binge. She’s almost on season 3, and even though she only started watching because she misses Chloe, she can’t stop.

Her phone buzzes again, but she doesn’t look at it. She’s been ignoring everyone. She’s moping and she knows it, but she really doesn’t care.

She has a right to be annoyed.

She’s halfway through another episode when there’s a knock on her bedroom door.

“Beca,” Stacie’s voice calls. “I’m coming in!”

Then the door swings open and Stacie marches in, her eyes scanning the room as though Beca would be anywhere but in her bed. She frowns in distaste at the mess.

“Have you even gotten out of bed since Friday?”

Beca scowls. “What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like?” Stacie picks up one of her hoodies from the floor and drapes it over the desk chair. “I’m here to get your ass to do something.”

Beca huffs. “No thanks.”

“You can’t stay mad at us forever.” Stacie says, continuing to pick up Beca’s clothes and flinging them toward her laundry basket. “So let’s get on with it.”

Beca doesn’t say anything.

Stacie finishes her march around Beca’s room, then turns on Beca at last. “Come on.”

“What, no time for Aubrey today?” Beca asks sarcastically.

Stacie raises an eyebrow. “She’s visiting her mom out of state.”

“Right.”

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t say anything the other day, but we knew that’s what would happen.”

Beca shrugs. “You know, I was mad about that, because you won’t even try, but it’s not just that.”

Stacie frowns, her arms crossing over her chest. “Then what, Bec. I’m not a mind reader.”

“You’ve been ditching me all year to hang with Aubrey!”

“We were studying,” Stacie shoots back. “And you’ve been with Chloe, so what does it matter? I know you’re seeing her now.”

“I only started hanging out with her because you kept ditching me!” Beca’s fists clench in her comforter. “And yeah I know that worked out, but still. You’ve chosen Aubrey over me all year. And now when I really could’ve used you on my side, you chose her again.”

Stacie twists her lips but says nothing so Beca continues.

“I joined the BellaTones because of you and you’ve done nothing but push me to the side all year. And when I have an idea that might actually help us, I dunno, make something of ourselves, you just stood there. I didn’t even wanna join this team. I’m done, Stace.”

Stacie stares at her. “That is not fair, Bec. You didn’t have to join and you could’ve quit anytime you wanted.” She opens her mouth to argue, but Stacie keeps going. “I’m sorry we haven’t hung out as much this year, but what you said was just not true. You like a cappella and you like Chloe and now you’re just mad because you didn’t get your way.”

“It’s not because I didn’t get my way,” Beca argues. “It’s because I see that we could be better, but everyone is fine just letting us fight and be shitty and lose. Why? If it’s not about winning then fine, but you can’t say practice is a great time. Everyone is always fighting, and our numbers suck and I know the others agree because they’re always fucking arguing about it. But they’re too scared of Aubrey being a control freak to do anything about it.”

“Aubrey doesn’t – ” Stacie pauses, her fingers coming up to pinch at her nose, maybe deciding to go in a different direction than what she was originally going to say. “Aubrey has a lot going on, cut her some slack.”

“Well she doesn’t have to – ”

“I know,” Stacie says. “I know, okay.” She sighs and sits down on the edge of Beca’s bed. “Look, she’s just under a lot of pressure from her dad. He’s kind of… intense. Like even more than my mom. And she really needs a scholarship if she’s going to study what she wants and be free to like, be who she is, you know.” She shrugs. “I know it’s not an excuse, but try to imagine how she feels. She’s really great once you hang out with her one-on-one. She just… wants things to be a certain way.”

The pleading softness in Stacie’s voice makes Beca’s anger deflate. She remembers Chloe saying something similar way back when they first met. “That must suck. With her dad I mean.”

“Yeah,” Stacie nods. “That’s why we always study at school or my place.”

“You must really like her.”

Stacie looks at Beca, a smile taking over her face. “I love her, Bec. She just like, gets me.”

“I’m happy for you,” Beca says, and she really means it.

Stacie grabs her ankle over the covers. “I’m sorry I’ve been ditching you. You’re right, that was shitty of me. And,” she hesitates. “I think you’re right about the BellaTones. I know we could be better. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.”

Beca shrugs. “Yeah. Sorry I took it out on you.”

Stacie grins. “We’re cool, then?”

“Yeah,” Beca roll her eyes, but smiles. “We’re cool.”

“Great so,” Stacie pats her leg. “Get up. Get dressed. You, me, and Emily are gonna go do something.”

Beca groans. “On second thought, I changed my mind. We’re still fighting.”

Stacie throws the blankets off her and tugs her laptop away. “Not a chance, Beca-bee.”

//

Stacie tells her Chloe’s been MIA for the past few days, too. Guilt sticks to Beca like a shadow, and she thinks of little else but the idea that she made Chloe feel like crap and how much that bothers her.

Chloe is always patient and willing to listen and forgive. How could Beca not do the same for her, not only because she cares about Chloe, but because that’s what Chloe deserves?

She’s not sure anything will come of it, but she borrows her step-mom’s car and drives over to Chloe’s place. Marv lets her in with a wink and no questions, which makes her feel a tiny bit better.

She rings Chloe’s doorbell, not really expecting Chloe to answer, but to her surprise, the door opens.

It’s just… not Chloe.

A woman with hair a shade browner than Chloe’s and in a sweater Beca’s sure is Chloe’s stands there, one hand on the door, the other cupped around a coffee mug. She looks at Beca over the top of a pair of reading glasses.

“Uh,” Beca pauses because she wasn’t really prepared to talk to anyone else.

“Can I help you?” The woman says, not unkindly, and it hits Beca that this woman is Chloe, but maybe thirty years older. So like, Chloe’s mom.

“Is, umm. Is Chloe here?”

The woman smiles, opening the door wider and gesturing for Beca to come inside. “She is. And who might you be?”

Beca hesitantly steps into the front entrance. “I’m Beca. I’m Chloe’s gir – I’m in the BellaTones with Chloe.”

“Beca,” the woman holds out a hand and Beca shakes it briefly. “I’m Chelsea. Chloe’s mom.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Beca says. She feels awkward and looks around at the front hall with fake interest as if she’s never been in Chloe’s house before.

Chloe’s mom smiles, that same knowing smile Beca receives so often from Chloe. “Likewise. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Beca blinks in surprise. “You have?”

“I have.”

“Oh.”

It just occurs to Beca that she’s always imagined Chloe’s mom as this ghostly figure, one existing far from Chloe’s circle of interaction, leaving her daughter to fend for herself and dropping in every once in a while when she feels like it.

She never imagined her to be this warm woman in front of her, someone who sits in this big house on Saturday mornings in yoga pants and an oversized sweater, reading the paper and drinking coffee.

She never thought she was someone Chloe shares her life with, who Chloe tells things to, who Chloe talks to about Beca.

She suddenly feels very young and foolish.

“Chloe’s in her room, if you’d like to go up,” Chloe’s mom says. “I’m afraid she’s been,” she tilts her head to the side, as if searching for the right word. “well, not feeling much like herself.”

“Is she okay?” Beca asks, suddenly worried.

Chloe’s mom reaches out and squeezes Beca’s hand with a soft smile. She apparently has the same ignorance about physical boundaries as her daughter. “Oh, yes, I think so. She’s just been a little down recently.”

“Oh,” Beca says again. Her guilty conscience twists in her stomach. “Should I come back another time?”

“No, I think this is the perfect time.” Chloe’s mom smiles softly. “You go on up.”

“Um. Okay. Thanks.” Beca heads up the stairs uncertainly.

She makes it to the landing when Chloe’s mom calls up to her. “And if you’d like dear, you’re welcome to stay for lunch.”

“Sure, thanks,” Beca calls, looking down into the entrance hall. Chloe’s mom offers a little wave, then moves further into the house and out of sight.

//

Beca lingers outside Chloe’s bedroom door for a moment, suddenly unsure if Chloe even wants to see her.

But she’s already met her mom so it’s kind of too late to bail now, so she takes a deep breath and knocks twice on the door. “Chloe?” There’s no answer so she eases the door open and takes a hesitant step into the room. “Chlo?”

“Hm?”

Beca doesn’t see her at first, Chloe’s bed being covered with so many blankets she almost doesn’t notice Chloe under them. If not for the book being held outside the covers so the light from the window hits it, she might’ve thought the room to be empty.

When she steps in, Chloe’s head emerges from under the blankets, and she looks over at Beca with distant eyes. “Beca?” She sits up slightly, running a hand through her hair and placing her thumb in her book to hold her place. “What are you doing here?”

“I just – ” Beca pauses. I just wanted to check on you and I just missed you and I just wanted to apologize all want to come out and Beca can’t decide which is best so she stops. “I met your mom,” she lamely says instead. “She sent me up here.”

“Oh.” Chloe’s fingers pull through her hair again and Beca finds herself trying not to stare. Chloe’s in a worn tank top, the pink of the fabric fading, and although she doesn’t look like she’s been crying, tissues litter the floor next to her bed, streaks of makeup dotted across several of them.

Beca’s heart aches.

“How… how are you?” She asks and Chloe shrugs.

“I’m okay.” She gives Beca a soft smile, one that doesn’t fully reach her eyes. She seems to fold in on herself slightly at the question, letting her book fall closed to tug at a loose string on one of the blankets. “How are you?”

Beca steps further into the room and Chloe’s door shuts behind her. “I’m fine.” She shifts awkwardly, trying to articulate what she wants to say. “I hadn’t heard from you. And uh, yeah, I know you haven’t heard from me either, so that’s, you know, pretty lame, or whatever. But like, I just wanted to see how you were. So…” She cringes. “Anyway I’m like, super sorry for that stuff I said. I was just frustrated, but I really didn’t mean it.”

Chloe tilts her head to the side, then she looks down at her hands. “Yes you did. But you were right. I am stuck in my comfort zone.”

Beca frowns. “I shouldn’t have tried to push you. It was pretty messed up of me.”

“Maybe,” Chloe says. “But we should always try to push the people we care about to be their best selves. And um,” Chloe takes a deep breath and laughs shakily. When she speaks again, her voice is thick and watery. “I’m not really upset about that. I’m actually upset because I think you were right.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just.” Chloe sniffles and Beca feels helplessness crack open within her. She doesn’t know what to do. “I always am the one who’s holding everyone together. My mom. Aubrey. The BellaTones. It’s what I’m good at. And I’m just afraid.” Tears start to collect at the corners of Chloe’s eyes and Beca rushes forward, grabbing the tissue box from the side table and handing it to Chloe. “Thanks,” Chloe laughs a little at herself and Beca sits down on the bed next to her. She uses a tissue to wipe her eyes then tosses it on the floor with the others.

Chloe continues, her voice cracking. “It’s like, there’s all these feelings just built up inside me that I keep in all the time because I’m the one who has to have it together. I’m the happy, positive one, you know? And to some extent that’s true. But they’re all still just… there. And things are just going to change so much and if I don’t have…” She pauses to grab another tissue and wipe at her eyes again before it joins the pile on the floor. “If I’m not the one keeping it together, then that means I’m the one who’s gonna fall apart.”

Beca puts her arm around Chloe’s shoulder and Chloe sinks into her, reaching for another tissue. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I don’t think you came here to see me cry.”

“Chloe,” Beca says, fondness washing over her. “You can cry if you want to. I’m like, here for you, dude.”

“Okay, thanks.” Chloe laughs a little and it speaks volumes to Beca, how even now she’s still trying to keep it together. She rubs up and down Chloe’s arm, letting Chloe lean against her. They sit like that for a while, their heads resting together, just breathing and, in Chloe’s case, sniffling.

Eventually Chloe sits up straight, wiping at her eyes and taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. Beca squeezes her shoulder and withdraws her arm, turning to face Chloe more fully.

She takes one of Chloe’s hands in hers and intertwines their fingers in her lap. “You don’t have to keep it together for me, okay?”

Chloe nods, running her finger under her eye again. “Okay,” she says in a small voice.

“You’re awesome and brave,” Beca continues. “And I want to be like, your person, or whatever.”

Chloe tilts her head to the side, a small smile pulling at her lips. “Beca Mitchell. Did you start watching Grey’s Anatomy.”

Beca rolls her eyes and bites back a grin. “No. I mean. Maybe.”

“Oh my God, do you love it?”

Beca scoffs. “No, I hate it. It’s all pain and suffering and drama and I. Can’t. Stop. Watching.”

“Oh my God, you love it.” Chloe grins, squeezing her hand. “We have to watch together.”

“Okay, but later,” Beca smiles. “Your mom invited me to stay for lunch.”

“Oh, well of course,” Chloe says. “She loves to cook, and she doesn’t usually have guests.” She laughs to herself. “She’s probably dying to interrogate you.”

Beca’s eyes widen. “What, why?”

“Because I told her we’re dating.” Chloe looks at her like it’s obvious.

“What!” Beca opens her mouth in horror. “You mean I met her and she knew we were…?”

“Is that okay?” Chloe asks, her face turning down in concern. “Sorry I didn’t ask first, but I was… upset, and she’s, well, she’s a lawyer, she’s very good at getting people to tell her things.”

Beca tries to calm her racing heart. “Yeah, no, that’s – that’s fine. I just didn’t realize my first impression would be so…” She cringes. “Awkward.”

Chloe squeezes her hand. “She likes you, don’t worry.”

“How do you know? You weren’t there!”

“Well, because I like you. So.” She shrugs cutely and Beca’s heart does some weird melty thing.

“Gross.”

Chloe laughs and brings Beca’s hand up, pressing it to her cheek. “I missed you,” Chloe murmurs, her voice vulnerable and soft.

Beca’s stomach flips. “I uh, missed you, too.” She lifts her shoulders. “Like, a lot, really.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Chloe leans forward and presses their lips together, quick but solid. Beca’s stomach settles, and she briefly thinks kissing Chloe like this feels a lot like finally coming home after a long day, familiar and easy and right.

“Are you okay?” Beca asks her when they break apart. “Do you wanna talk about it some more?”

Chloe tugs at her hand and pulls her to her feet, shaking her head. “No, I’ll just cry some more, and honestly, I’ve done enough of that this week.” She laughs a little, but Beca’s insides squeeze tight. “You coming here and just being with me has actually made me feel a lot better.”

“Okay,” Beca says uncertainly.

Chloe gives her another quick kiss, then grabs her hand and moves toward the door. “Now come on, I’m starving.”

“Oh, we’re going down there. Like where your mom is?” Beca hesitates and Chloe rolls her eyes fondly.

“I’ve already had Thanksgiving with your family. I think you can survive one lunch with my mom.”

Beca’s not so sure about that, but she follows Chloe downstairs anyway.

At this point, she’s pretty sure she’d follow Chloe anywhere.

//

“Mama. Don’t give me that look.”

“What look? I didn’t give you a look.”

Chloe points her finger at her mother’s face. “Yes, that I-will-support-you-but-I-disapprove look.”

Chloe’s mom smiles around a bite of pasta. “I only disapprove on behalf of your father. If he heard you were even considering LSU, he would roll over in his grave.”

“Mama!”

“Your father lived and breathed by that Alabama football team, honey.”

Beca laughs. “My stepdad is the same way with Oregon and Washington.”

“See, she knows what I’m talking about.”

Chloe nudges Beca’s knee with one of her own. “You’re not helping.”

Beca shrugs and jabs at more pasta with her fork, trying to hold back a smile like she’s not actually thoroughly enjoying herself, but she is.

Chloe’s mom had quickly whipped up a delicious penne dish and now Beca’s sitting on a stool at the kitchen island next to Chloe while she discusses her potential college decisions.

“I’m just saying it’s in my top three. With Barden and Alabama.”

“Mhmm.” Chloe’s mom smiles like she already knows which school Chloe’s going to choose. Beca doesn’t have the faintest idea. “And have you decided where you’re going, Beca?”

Beca swallows and shakes her head. “I’m just a junior.”

“Oh, you still have some time, then,” Chloe’s mom nods. “Do you know what you’d like to study?”

Beca hums thoughtfully. “Well, if it were up to me, I’d probably just pack up and move to L.A. to intern with a record label, but there’s no way my dad would ever let me do that so. Probably music production or something with broad arts requirements like Sociology or Humanities.”

“Music production,” Chloe’s mom smiles. “That’s ambitious.”

“You should hear her stuff,” Chloe beams. “It’s so good.”

Beca tries not to roll her eyes because her dad says that’s rude or whatever. “I mean, it’s pretty basic stuff. I don’t have the equipment to make anything truly quality.”

“She’s being modest,” Chloe winks at her mom, who laughs.

“I’m sure she is.” Chloe’s mom’s nose scrunches in a smile similar to one that Beca loves on Chloe. “I’d love to hear it some time. Maybe next time you’re over.”

Beca feels jitters in her stomach at the idea that Chloe’s mom is cool with spending more time with her. Chloe nudges her again under the counter top, her smile spreading over the space between them until Beca can’t help but return it.

“Sure,” she agrees, happiness dancing in her chest. “Anytime.”

//

Beca isn’t sure what she’s looking at.

It certainly isn’t BellaTones rehearsal, or an admittedly farfetched but potentially plausible bonding activity.

Which like, these are really the only two options she had been prepared to expect when she ran into the auditorium fifteen minutes late on the Monday after Spring Break.

She’d had to stay behind in her Government class to talk to Mrs. Palazzo about something on her exam, and then she’d rushed off to rehearsal, ready to make apologies and excuses and anything else necessary to get back in their good graces after her storm-off before break.

Yet when she’d burst through the doors, she didn’t see their groups going over the setlist, or running through the choreography, or even doing awful cardio exercises.

Instead she seemed to walk directly into the middle of some kind of dramatic crosshairs, something like the last stand at the Alamo or an altercation between the Sharks and the Jets, two lines of people facing each other, arms crossed or placed tensely on their hips, eyes ablaze with an insistent fury, lips set in thin lines of defiance.

On one side, there’s Donald and the boys, along with Fat Amy and Lilly. On the other side stands Aubrey and the rest of the girls. In the middle there’s Benji, Jesse, Stacie, and Chloe, who all awkwardly hover between the two sides like football referees before the coin toss, looking confused on how they got there in the first place.

Everyone turns to look at Beca as she skids to a stop on the stage.

“Uh…” She glances around at them all. “What’s going on?”

“Becaw,” Jesse crows, somehow finding a way to still be his obnoxious self despite the clear tension in the air.

Beca furrows her eyebrows, still taking in the scene in front of her. She’s still not really sure what she’s looking at. A two-sided discussion? An argument? A really weird West Side Story inspired choreography?

A coup… her mind whispers, assessing Aubrey’s clenched grip on the pitch pipe, every member in the group’s body angrily turned in her direction.

But not, Beca thinks. That’s much too dramatic for high school a cappella.

And yet, Beca can imagine it, looking at the harsh set of Aubrey’s mouth, the ice behind her eyes. If this were some alternate universe, where different words were said and perhaps by different people… maybe it would come to that – to screaming, squabbling, a fight over who is in control.

But that’s not what’s happening, and Beca shakes herself out of it.

“What’s going on?” She repeats.

There’s a beat of silence, then Chloe gives Aubrey a look that Beca can’t decipher. “We were just discussing trying something new for the competition.”

“Oh, I thought we were about to wrestle for the pitch pipe,” Amy murmurs just a little too loudly to be considered under her breath. “I would’ve kicked your skinny asses.”

Beca holds back a snort, feeling it wouldn’t be appropriate in the moment, but she can’t help the little smirk that tugs at her lips when Amy winks at her.

“Aubrey was just saying,” Donald smiles in a way that makes Beca think Aubrey was not just saying whatever is coming next, “that since we’ve all expressed we’d like to sing something else, she might be willing to listen to some other suggestions.”

Beca looks over at Aubrey, watching the way her hands clench and her lips tighten into an even thinner line. Chloe puts a gentle hand between her shoulder blades and Aubrey’s jaw visibly unclenches.

“Over the break I received some…” Aubrey cocks her head to the side before continuing, “intel… on the numbers the other teams are performing. And,” she takes a deep breath, looking at Beca like it pains her to do so. “And I’ve realized that we may need to… modernize our numbers a bit.”

“Or a lot,” one of the boys mutters, but Beca doesn’t catch who says it.

Aubrey glares. “Fine. Or a lot.”

Beca isn’t sure what to say. Aubrey’s looking at her and Chloe’s looking at her and actually like, everyone is looking at her? “And you want me to uh…?”

Aubrey rolls her eyes, probably at Beca’s slow brain. “Well, you have been saying this whole time that you’ve already had some ideas, haven’t you?”

“Uh, yeah. I mean yes. Yeah! Dude!” Beca feels herself grinning and looks at Chloe, who shoots her a wink.

“Great,” Aubrey says, sighing like she doesn’t really find it great, but is resigned to maybe thinking that it’ s not horrible. “So how do you want to do this?”

“Right,” Beca frowns, her brain already kicking into high gear. “Well, to start, why doesn’t everybody write down a song they’d like in the set and we can go from there?”

There’s a quick flurry of movement as everyone jumps into action, pulling paper out of their backpacks and excitedly whispering songs to each other. Beca already feels a new energy pouring into the room. Surprisingly, Aubrey is the first to hand her a slip of paper with a new song.

“Bruno Mars, Just the Way You Are,” Beca reads and glances up at Aubrey with a grin. “I can work with this for sure.”

Aubrey smiles at her, maybe the first genuine smile she’s ever given Beca. Beca thinks maybe any apologies they owe each other, thank yous, potential forms of reconciliations… they’re all hovering there in that moment, the words to bring them to life strangely unnecessary.

Beca’s not sure this is what you might call a new friendship, but it’s at least an understanding.

And yeah, she can definitely work with that.

//

From Jesse’s “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” (seriously does he listen to any other songs??) to Chloe’s “Party in the USA,” the variety of songs she receives are interesting to say the least, but Beca’s never been a quitter and she’s pretty sure she can make it happen.

Or at least, for the most part.

She’s not sure how to tell Amy that “Thong Song” won’t really fit in anywhere, but she’s sure to give her a part in “Turn the Beat Around” in hopes that a solo will appease her.

//

(It does.

Beca’s relieved.

She was preparing for the worst.)

//

 They spend the few weeks they have left working in a frenzy. Stacie, Chloe, and Jesse work together on some new choreography, and Beca pulls out the book Aubrey gave her for Christmas, trying to convert the awesome mix she made into a cappella.

She gets Lilly and Donald to record a good back beat and she plays the voice memo on her phone over and over as she tries to sleep until she hears nothing but the mix in her head 24/7.

It’s annoying and challenging and sometimes she feels as if her life has become nothing but eating, sleeping, and breathing a cappella.

It’s probably the most fun in high school that she’s ever had.

//

The last week of school is one of the most stressful weeks of Beca’s life.

Between finals and rehearsals, they’re all running on minimal sleep and their second winds. Beca’s pretty sure Jesse’s diet has turned into mass sugar consumption that consists solely of Mountain Dew and M&Ms, and Chloe has started whispering physics equations to herself to the beat of the choreo to help her remember them.

At one point during the week, Stacie picks her up for school in no makeup and sweats, and she only thinks better of commenting on it because Stacie’s good morning greeting to her is to try to explain how to graph polar form curves and then asking Beca if “that sounds right” as if she has any idea what the fuck a polar form curve is.

//

(Stacie tells her later there was only one question on her test about graphing polar curves and it was a piece of cake.

Beca decides not to tell Stacie she accidentally forgot the law of cosines on her own math exam, causing her to miss like three questions.

She doesn’t want Stacie to develop an aneurysm, and what she doesn’t know about Beca’s math grade won’t hurt her.)

//

“Do you see them?”

“No.”

“Stand on your tiptoes.”

“Really, Stace?”

“I’m just saying, Bec, I’ve seen 4^th graders taller than you.”

“Come down here and say that to – ”

“THERE!” Emily shouts.

Beca and Stacie both whip their heads around to see where she’s pointing. At first Beca doesn’t see them, but then there’s a breach in the crowd of students in black caps and gowns and two people squeeze their way through, grinning at each other and clutching diplomas.

Emily squeals and skips over to Chloe and Aubrey, her long arms looping around their necks in a hug. “Congrats you guys! You’re graduates!” She’s practically vibrating in excitement as she pulls away and Stacie and Beca share a fond and knowing glance before giving their own hugs.

Well, Stacie does, and Beca hugs Chloe, anyway. She smiles awkwardly at Aubrey and offers up a sincere congratulations.

They’ve developed a very fragile and cordial semi-friendship the past few weeks, hanging out together with Stacie and Chloe, the four of them getting coffee and working on the competition number.

It’s not everything, but it’s something. And that’s good enough for now.

They talk for a while and meet up with Chloe and Aubrey’s moms. Then they go their separate ways, Stacie and Aubrey heading to Stacie’s house, and Emily saying something about a lunch date with Benji, and then it’s just Beca and Chloe.

They walk across the football field in between people milling about and taking pictures, their shoulders bumping as they make their way to the car, discussing the speeches and the ceremony and their final grades.

Chloe takes off her cap and gown and throws them in the backseat when they get to the car, fanning her face in the summer heat. Beca’s struck for probably the thousandth time about how beautiful she is, how comforting it is to just look at Chloe and see her smiling.

“It’s all going to be different now, I guess,” Chloe says, staring wistfully at the school through the car’s windshield.

“Yeah,” Beca agrees. “Are you scared?”

Chloe turns to her, her lips twisting thoughtfully. “It doesn’t really feel real yet. It still kind of feels like next year I’ll walk through the doors and get my books out of my locker and meet Aubrey at lunch and dread going to Calc. Not like I’ll be waking up in a dorm and walking to the library and not seeing you every day.”

Beca feels a lump rise in her throat, but she swallows it down. Her voice still cracks a little when she speaks. “Yeah.”

“But I guess it won’t be that bad.” Chloe takes a deep breath, her hand reaching over and grabbing Beca’s. “I’ll only be a half an hour away.”

Beca blinks, her brain suddenly flipping into high gear. “Half an… does that mean? Did you choose?”

“Yeah,” Chloe beams. “I’ve decided to go to Barden. Maybe study literature and music.”

“Dude,” Beca’s grinning hugely and she feels her cheeks stretching the force of it. “That’s great, congratulations!”

Chloe nods and squeezes her hand. “I don’t know what will happen between then and now, between the summer and when I go to school, but.” She shrugs. “I want to be with you, Bec. I want to try to stay together. I love you.”

It kind of feels like her heart might burst. “I want that, too. I love you back.” She feels heat rush to her cheeks, and she’s not sure if it’s because she’s smiling so much or because there are just a lot of emotions happening right now. She clears her throat. “Or like. Er. Yeah.”

Chloe grins knowingly. “Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

They both laugh and Chloe leans forward, her lips pressing against Beca’s quickly but firmly.

“I told you we’d be fast friends,” Chloe smiles against Beca’s lips.

Beca rolls her eyes fondly. “Well I knew we’d be something. With you it’s always something.”

//

Beca nervously stares out at the crowd from the wings of the stage. She’s never really been one to get stage fright, but at this moment, her stomach is doing somersaults.

She can’t help but think that she’s the one who argued for this new direction, the one who put this arrangement together, these songs and these parts and everything in between. If they don’t win, it will be on her.

But like, no pressure.

“Hey,” Stacie says, coming up behind her. “You okay?”

Beca nods, glancing out at the crowd again. “Lot of people.”

“Hey,” Stacie repeats and squeezes Beca’s shoulder. “This number is amazing. No matter what happens, this is the best we’ve sounded all year.” She gives Beca a soft smile. “I’m really proud of you.”

Beca turns to Stacie. “I can’t believe we’re here. Did you ever think this is what we’d be doing right now when this year began?”

Stacie laughs. “Hell no. But I’m glad it worked out this way.”

“Yeah, me too.” Beca hesitates, then says something she’s been meaning to say for a while. “Thanks. You know, for like, forcing me to do this a cappella thing or whatever.”

“I didn’t force you.”

“You lifted my arm in the air.”

“You could’ve said no.”

Beca rolls her eyes. “Kay whatever, then thank you revoked.”

Stacie nudges their hips together. “You’re welcome.” Then she scoops Beca up in a hug so tight Beca’s back cracks. “You’re my best friend, Beca.”

“Uh.” Beca squeezes back. “You’re my best friend too, dude.”

She feels quick and unexpected tears spring into her eyes and blinks them back, but Stacie must know because she’s like, Stacie, and she grips Beca extra tight before letting go.

“Don’t cry, Beca-bee,” Stacie smirks at her.

“I’m not, I’m just, like… shut up.” She scowls as Stacie laughs.

“I’m going to tell Emily you got so emo about our friendship that you cried.”

Her jaw drops as Stacie speeds off, thinking something she must have thought a thousand times since they became friends.

Beca hates Stacie Conrad.

//

They win.

Of course they do.

And if anyone were to ask her, Beca would tell them that she never really expected anything else.

//

“You know,” Chloe tells her later when they’ve changed out of their costumes and are making out in Chloe’s car, high on their victory and the summer and each other, “It never really was about winning, but since we did, I have to say I’m so glad we crushed those other aca-losers.”

Beca can’t help but agree.

//

There’s a victory party at Chloe’s and everyone shows up, even the guys.

They drink and laugh and sing, all of them together, Chloe and Jesse, Emily and Amy, Donald and Aubrey – all of them. And there’s no thought about who is who and who has the pitch pipe and who’s in charge. It’s just everyone together, like it always should be.

The night culminates in them all sitting in a circular shape on the floor of Chloe’s family room, reliving moments from the past year and the competition, teasing each other and beatboxing and laughing.

As Beca looks around, her eyes fall on Aubrey and Stacie grinning at each other, Emily and Jesse trying to replicate her cups audition song and failing because they’re laughing too hard, and everyone in between. She turns to look at the girl next to her, the one whose hand is intertwined with hers, their knees touching. As she watches, Chloe notices her looking and smiles at her. Beca feels love erupt in her chest, bright and happy, for the people around her and the girl beside her.

She never anticipated this year would end like this, with new friends and family and an a cappella competition trophy in the center of the room.

But Beca’s glad it did.

She doesn’t know what the future will look like, but she knows that if it’s as unexpectedly amazing as this moment, then everything will be just fine.