Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Hey. Hey, you're Beca, right?"

Beca looked up from her laptop. She was sitting out on the quad because it was nice out and she knew her dad would be snooping around to find her at her dorms, and she was not anywhere near in the mood to face him.

She had not been planning on someone actually recognizing her, and even worse, trying to start a conversation with her.

"Um, yes," she said, turning around to see a tall boy with dark hair grinning down at her. Beca vaguely remembered his name was Tom. They had bumped into each other at the Activities Fair the previous day and struck up a conversation (he'd seemed nice enough). "That's me."

"Awesome," said Tom. He had his backpack slung over one shoulder and he was awkwardly rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "Do you mind if I chill out here with you a while? My girlfriend's busy and couldn't meet up with me today."

"Sure?" Beca offered. She didn't really know why anyone would want her for company, but whatever. Tom grinned and sat down a couple feet away from Beca.

Beca fiddled a little with the stuff on her laptop for a few minutes before Tom spoke again. "So, you're a freshman?"

"Yeah."

"This is going to sound really weird, but you said you wanted to live in an apartment, right?"

"Uh, sure," said Beca. She looked up at Tom questioningly.

"My girlfriend's old roommate graduated," he explained quickly. "She's been looking for someone to split the cost with. Not much luck. I was wondering if you maybe wanted it?"

"Oh. Oh, you're serious," said Beca, surprised. "Wait, really? That'd be awesome."

"It's all yours," Tom said, and he was grinning again. "Okay, cool. That's awesome. You can move in like, tomorrow, if you want. I'm gonna go tell Chloe and discuss some things with her, then I can come back and meet with you again. Same time, same place here tomorrow?"

"Okay. Awesome. Thanks, dude," said Beca earnestly.

...

The next day Tom brought Beca to the apartment.

She stood outside with her bags and a coffee in her hands, looking apprehensively at the door.

She wondered what kind of person Chloe would be like. Tom was her boyfriend, and he was nice enough, so she couldn't be too big of an asshole, right?

"Sure you don't need help with those bags?" Tom asked.

"I got it, thanks," Beca told him.

He unlocked the door to the apartment and opened it, gesturing for Beca to enter first.

"Chloe?" he called from behind Beca. "I've brought your new roommate over."

"Okay, give me two minutes," came a voice from an interior bedroom.

Beca scanned the apartment. It was all so clean and neat and orderly. Beca's impression of Chloe soured a bit. She'd never been able to understand why some people had to keep things excruciatingly spotless. Did it really hurt that much to let loose a little?

Then Chloe walked out of her bedroom.

She was wearing a huge smile that dissipated the second she saw Beca.

Beca was totally fine with that, though. Because Chloe was so gorgeous and beautiful with wavy red hair and very blue eyes and who gave her the right to be so pretty? If she had to guess Beca would assume she was also insanely smart, talented, and probably extremely popular.

Beca hated her already.

"I'm Beca Mitchell," she said, not really trying to be nice, when Chloe kept glaring at her.

"Chloe Beale," Chloe responded shortly.

Tom kept glancing nervously back between the two of them, like he was just beginning to regret who he'd chosen to be Chloe's new roommate. Chloe broke their staring contest just long enough to stride over to where Tom was standing and press a quick kiss to his cheek. 

"Thanks for finding me a roommate, baby," she said, but she didn't really look that thankful.

"Anything for my amazing girlfriend," Tom said happily, because he was oblivious. "Okay, I'm going to head out now. You guys be good to each other, alright?"

He meant it as a joke, but as the door clicked shut behind them, Beca and Chloe both knew there was no way they were going to be good to each other.

...

They got the important stuff discussed without the need to claw each other's eyes out and the rules were laid down (keep the apartment clean - goddammit). Then Beca took all her stuff to her new room, across from Chloe's, and began to settle in.

In other words, half an hour later and her clothes were kind of not all neatly packed into the closet.

And maybe there were like three thousand things already piled onto her desk and she might have spilled a few drops off coffee onto the ground when she knocked it over on accident with her laptop.

"You've been here for less than an hour," came a voice from behind her.

Beca turned around from where she'd been flipping through a bunch of books on her half-made bed and saw Chloe standing in the doorway, arms crossed and a terrifyingly angry (and also hot) glare on her face.

"What's your point?" Beca asked without bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Does it really hurt that much to be even a little bit neater?" Chloe said flatly.

"No," said Beca, "but it hurts to be in your stupid presence for longer than ten seconds, so you can like, leave."

Unfortunately Chloe seemed to take that as a challenge and plopped herself right onto Beca's bed, half a foot away from her, and Beca could feel her back and face burning with Chloe sitting so close to her.

"Please fuck off," said Beca.

"I'm glad you're annoyed," said Chloe.

Beca grabbed her laptop and her headphones from where they were perched on the desk and scrambled out of her room and into Chloe's.

Everything was so neat and orderly that Beca wanted to scream, but hey, it beat having to be in the same room as Chloe herself, so.

She screwed around with the mixing program on her laptop for the rest of the day, and the only times she got up from Chloe's desk were to get a quick dinner and also to mess up Chloe's stuff just for the hell of it.

It was weird, how their first day together in the apartment they ended up in each other's rooms.

Whatever. Beca figured she'd be able to put up with this scrub. Hot, but still a scrub.

Besides, Chloe was a senior. How bad could just one year really be?

...

A month into the fall semester and Beca settled into a pretty satisfactory routine. Most of the time when she'd woken up Chloe would be out of the apartment, off to her morning classes (gross). Sometimes Beca went to class, sometimes she didn't.

For some reason Chloe could tell whenever Beca had skipped lecture, which was really fucking creepy, and the resulting glares she gave Beca made her shiver on the inside.

Luckily she found an internship at the radio station that put her at work around the time Chloe usually got home during the day, so they didn't actually have to see each other that much. There was a weird boy named Jesse at the station who looked like he really wanted to get into Beca's pants, but he was funny and goofy and at least Beca could put up with him better than she could Chloe.

Sometimes a tall blonde girl joined them in the apartment in the evenings. She and Chloe mostly kept to the living room, screaming about singing and something called the "Bellas" and shouting insults about "those damn Trebles." Well, it was mostly the blonde girl who screamed. Chloe just listened patiently and made sympathetic comments. Still, it was weird.

The one time the blonde girl had caught sight of Beca chilling outside of her room while she was in the apartment with Chloe, the place had been filled with an hour's worth of "Why the fuck is your roommate...like that?" after Beca had retreated into the safety of her laptop and headphones, with her door shut tightly behind. Chloe had listened patiently and continued to make sympathetic comments.   

As Beca had expected, Chloe was fairly popular, and she went to a lot of parties. Sometimes she came home drunk, sometimes she came home with Tom. Sometimes she came home drunk with Tom.

On those nights Beca wished that the damn apartment walls weren't so thin.

She also wished Chloe wouldn't check up on Beca every morning after just to see her sitting angrily at the small kitchen table, clutching a cup of coffee tightly in her hands and apparently trying to burn a hole through the wood with her gaze.

"Fuck you," said Beca.

"I know, it happened last night," said Chloe. "Jealous?"

Someday Beca was going to have to get back at Chloe for all these sleepless nights.

...

Beca was running late to her philosophy class. (Not like she cared, but her professor was being a dick and making her attend lest he fail her altogether.)

It was in a tall building with ten floors total and an elevator. Beca paced at its doors, impatiently waiting for it to come down.

The elevator dinged and opened. She stepped in, checking the time on her phone.

Two minutes left. She could make it on time, right? Nine floors was no biggie.

She saw someone rushing towards the elevator. Oh no, it was Chloe. Since when did they share classes in the same building? And since when did Chloe run late to lecture?

Beca jammed her thumb repeatedly into the "Close Doors" button. It was too early in the day for her to properly deal with Chloe.

Don't you dare come in, Beca thought desperately as the doors slid shut.

Chloe reached the elevator, her face hard and set, and slammed one hand onto the door and shoved it open.

"Fuck," said Beca.

"Morning, asshole," said Chloe, and reached forward to press the button for the second floor. Well, Beca figured as she watched Chloe out of the corner of her eye, at least she wouldn't have to suffer for too long in this cramped space if she was just getting off on floor two. Beca scooted herself into the corner, tucking her hands into her pants pockets, as far away from Chloe as she could manage.

Then Chloe pressed the button marked "3rd Floor."

And the one marked "4th Floor."

And the fifth. And the sixth, and the seventh, and the eight, and the tenth (Beca had already pressed the ninth earlier).

What the fuck.

Chloe stepped back, arms crossed, resolutely ignoring Beca's aghast and extremely pissed expression while the doors shut and the elevator began its ascent.

It stopped at floor two and the doors opened to reveal absolutely no one. Chloe didn't get off. After ten long, painful seconds, the doors closed again.

The elevator stopped at the third floor. The same thing happened.

"Fuck you," said Beca when the elevator opened to the sixth floor.

Chloe got off on the seventh, and flipped Beca the finger before rounding a turn and heading to her class.

Beca spent the remainder of the journey in silence, finally alone on the elevator, seething. The only thing Chloe had accomplished was making them both late to their classes, what the fuck?

...

"What's wrong with you?" Jesse asked her pleasantly the next day, during their shift at the radio station.

"Nothing," said Beca, her eye twitching.

Chloe had brought Tom to the apartment again last night. (And also, she was now kind of paranoid about ever getting into an elevator again. Still.)

"Sure don't look like nothing," Jesse noted, moving over behind a shelf to place a CD case back in its appropriate location.

"You should come over tonight," Beca blurted out.

Jesse blinked at her. "What?"

"To my apartment. So we can do things."

Jesse kept staring at her in surprise, and with each passing second Beca was regretting her decision more and more.

...

She tried to make as much noise as possible that night. Jesse was very helpful in that aspect too.

It was totally worth it for like ten minutes, though, when she woke up the next morning and walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but underwear and an oversized T-shirt to see Chloe standing at the counter looking like she was ready to kill a person.

She tried not to show the bounce in her step as she moved around the kitchen. Chloe's murderous glare followed her and for once, instead of scaring Beca, it just made her feel (stupidly) powerful.

Later at the station Beca told Jesse that what had happened was just a one-time thing, and she wasn't really sure if she wanted to do it again.

Thankfully, Jesse understood.

"I actually think I'd like it more if we like, went out to watch a movie or grabbed lunch together sometime," he told Beca.

"Really?" Beca asked.

"Of course." Jesse grinned. He was turning out to be a much better guy than Beca had initially pegged him as.

"Friends?"

"Just friends," Jesse confirmed happily.

"Thanks, man," said Beca.

Jesse responded by poking her with the CD he was currently holding. She hit him back and he laughed.

...

Two months after that and Beca was actually almost enjoying her college life, as much as college could be enjoyed, at least, with a annoyingly rude (and hot) roommate and a puppy dog boy as her only real buddy.

Tom still came over once every few weeks to make a shit ton of noise in Chloe's bedroom at night. Beca still looked like death warmed her over the morning after, and Chloe still made sure to check up on Beca while she was in that state. Tom at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed and apologetic.

One day Beca had basically flipped the entire apartment upside down looking for her headphones, but they were nowhere to be found. She'd held off on asking Chloe if she had any idea of their whereabouts so far, because Beca knew she'd probably glare at her and say something along the lines of "this is what you get for leaving your shit everywhere."

 Still, it had been several hours since she'd gotten home from class, and the situation was dire.

"Chloe!" Beca yelled from the living room.

"What do you want?" came the annoyed response.

"Do you know where my headphones are? I can't find them anywhere."

"Oh yeah," said Chloe. "You left them on the fucking floor of the hallway under a pile of your laundry. I tripped and stepped on them and they broke."

"What?!"

"Not my problem," said Chloe flatly.

"What the fuck were you doing trampling over my clothes in the first place?" Beca asked, exasperated. Now she had no headphones. Great.

"Why did you think it would be a good idea to dump your shit down right next to my door?"

Beca groaned in frustration. Now how was she going to mix music to take her mind off of things?

In the end, she decided to set up shop in the living room and just blare her music out from her laptop without the headphones. At first the noise level was a bit disorienting, but she got used to it and time began to pass by in a blur as she settled into her element.

Much better.

And also, she got the added bonus of annoying Chloe in the process.

After an hour Chloe finally left her room to enter the living room, staring coldly at Beca. "Want to shut the fuck up?" she asked. "Some of us are actually trying to do well in school."

Beca just turned the volume up higher, as loud as it would go.

She figured the reason why Chloe didn't just deck her right then and there, was because her remix sounded so insanely awesome.

Chloe gave Beca the finger and then slammed her door shut. Beca grinned to herself and kept mixing.

...

"Want to meet for coffee?"

"Can't," said Jesse breezily. "I'm about to head to Trebles practice."

"Why the hell are you having practice at eight in the morning?"

"Beats me," said Jesse, and if they had been talking in person instead of on the phone, Beca guessed he would have shrugged. "Bumper is a weirdo. Also, the regional competition is in a couple weeks."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sorry, Becky. I gotta go. We can grab lunch together, though, if you want."

"Okay, whatever, you loser. Go sing your nerdy songs with your nerdy acapella group."

Jesse laughed. "Catch you later."

Beca hung up and went to her favorite coffee shop on campus by herself. It was in close distance to her morning classes, so she liked to hang out there for a while and get her necessary dose of caffeine before heading to lecture.

Also, she needed to put the finishing touches on her assignment and figured that one hour was enough to bullshit it through.

She ordered her usual and took the cup to the only empty table left, settling her stuff down and taking a seat. The place was always crowded, but people usually left each other alone, and most of the kids here were also trying to do their homework, so it was usually quiet. Quiet enough for Beca to be content.

She flipped open her textbook and took a sip of her coffee, and began to read.

She had actually gotten focused enough on the chapter that she didn't realize someone was standing behind her until said person cleared their throat.

Beca looked up to find Chloe glaring down at her. She only held back the groan that was trying to escape to refuse Chloe the pleasure of knowing she was making Beca uncomfortable.

"Morning, asshole," Beca settled for instead, which seemed to be becoming their way of saying "hi" to each other when they (unfortunately) had to bump into each other before noon.

"You're in my seat," said Chloe.

"Excuse me?"

"That's my seat," said Chloe. "I always sit there. Get out."

"Fuck off," said Beca.

"None of the other tables are free, dumbass."

"Well that just sucks for you, doesn't it."

Chloe huffed, then sat down across from Beca and pulled out her laptop from her bag. Beca's eye twitched.

"What are you doing?" Beca asked suspiciously.

"I'm drinking coffee," said Chloe, drinking her coffee.

She showed no signs of leaving anytime soon, either, as she started typing on her laptop. Great.

It was too goddamn early for Beca to deal with unfairly pretty angry Chloe. And there was no way she was going to let Chloe win by leaving, either.

Except now Beca couldn't even concentrate on her textbook enough to get the stupid words through her head, no matter how hard she tried.

Her only small consolation was that Chloe looked equally as agitated as she did. So she wasn't imagining the tension in the air around them, thank goodness.

Tom came in ten minutes later, an eager smile lighting up his face when he caught sight of Chloe from across the room. He strode over and wrapped his arms around Chloe from behind, bringing his face level with hers.

"Hello," he whispered in her ear.

Chloe smiled and brought her head up to give Tom a quick kiss. "Hey, baby," she said.

For a split second Beca felt annoyed that Chloe treated literally everyone besides her so wonderfully. Then she thought that Chloe being nice to her would be more terrifying than Chloe being a dick to her. Probably.

Besides, it was fun being a dick to Chloe as well.

Chloe let Tom take her hand and lead her out the back of the coffee shop, probably to make out or something. Who knew what they would be up to?

It didn't matter what they were doing. Beca finally had time to herself. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Chloe's coffee sat there on the table, beautifully unattended, right within arm's reach of Beca.

She sneaked a glance out the window and didn't see either Tom or Chloe in sight. She waited a few more minutes to see if they'd come back.

When they didn't, Beca reached over, cracked open the lid of Chloe's coffee, and grabbed the salt shaker on the table.

What the fuck am I doing, Beca thought to herself as she dumped half of the salt within the shaker into the cup. She stirred madly, hoping that at least most of it would dissolve, and hastily shoved the lid back on.

Chloe didn't come back until a few minutes after that. Her face was flushed with happiness that slowly morphed into a bored, pissed expression the closer she got to Beca. She sat down and offered a quizzical glance at Beca (who was staring daggers at her textbook, motionless) before turning her attention back to her laptop.

Beca kept looking at Chloe's coffee, silently willing her to drink it.

More minutes passed. Chloe seemed to be engrossed in whatever she was typing away at on her computer.

Finally, she reached for the cup without looking away from her laptop screen and took a sip of coffee.

Beca knew Chloe instantly realized what had happened, because her face hardened and her eyes met Beca's in a fierce stare. Beca raised her eyebrows at her.

Without stopping, Chloe slowly tipped the coffee back and drank the whole thing, never breaking eye contact with Beca. Then she slammed the empty cup back onto the table, wiping at her mouth with her wrist. Beca tried not to follow the (kind of hot) movement.

They stared at each other some more. Beca felt equal parts impressed and terrified.

"What a hard ass," she said, and took her books, got up, and left.

Chapter Text

The blonde girl, whose name by now Beca had learned was Aubrey, came over one day. She was raging as usual, screaming about how the newbies were going to screw everything up and how regionals was right around the corner and they weren't anywhere close to performance-ready (which was totally 100% not her fault, apparently). 

Beca knew she wasn't supposed to care, but she noticed (from the safety of her room) that there was a distinct lack of Chloe's responses. Whenever she did talk, though, it was quiet, a little hoarse, and rarely more than a simple hum of agreement.

Aubrey didn't even notice, which Beca found weird, because wasn't she supposed to be Chloe's best friend? How could she not pick up on something that even Chloe's worst enemy could?

Or maybe Beca noticed because Chloe's voice had gotten rougher with each passing day, and the few times they had to speak to each other in the apartment gave it away pretty clearly.

But then again, wasn't Chloe in that stupid singing group with Aubrey? Didn't they have practice, like, every single day? How was it possible that Aubrey wouldn't notice anything wrong when they literally had to sing for hours on end?

Whatever. Beca was going to investigate if there really was a problem, once and for all. 

Around six in the evening Aubrey left with a huff, almost slamming the door on her way out of the apartment. A couple seconds after Beca heard the door close, she put down her laptop on her bed and headed into the living room to find Chloe staring at the carpet, having apparently not moved since Aubrey's departure.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" asked Beca.

"What?" Chloe responded, obviously trying to pack a lot of bite into the word, but failing. Her voice sounded scratchy and rough, and she didn't look up from the ground.

"Y'know," said Beca, shuffling her foot against the carpet uneasily. "Your throat hurt or something?"

"No," said Chloe. "Why do you even care?"

"I dunno," said Beca, because she really didn't. "How am I supposed to start arguments with you if your throat is all fucked up like that? Are you sure there's nothing wrong with it?"

"Yes," said Chloe.

Beca glared at her.

"No," she sighed. "I think I might have nodes."

"What the hell are nodes?" said Beca.

"Look it up, dumbass," replied Chloe.

So Beca went back into her room and typed "wtf are nodes" into Google.

...

"Why the fuck would you do this to yourself?" Beca asked right before Chloe left the apartment the next day. Chloe halted in the doorway, not moving for a few seconds, like she was considering whether or not it would be worth it to answer Beca's question.

"Do what?" Chloe asked, her voice still scratchy.

"Sing while you have nodes. Doesn't that hurt like hell or something?"

"Does me being in pain not make you happy?" Chloe asked, turning around and raising her eyebrows at Beca.

"Just answer the damn question, asshole," said Beca.

Chloe leaned against the open doorframe, taking a deep breath and then letting it out, almost a bit unhappily. "I can't just stop singing," she said. "Music is my life. The Bellas mean so much to me and I can't let them down like that."

"Oh," said Beca, when Chloe left and shut the door behind her.

...

Aubrey actually asked Chloe if anything was wrong a couple of visits afterwards. But each time Chloe would shrug, and Aubrey had herself too worked up to notice anything else.

"It's been months and Stacie still won't stop sexualizing the dance moves...she's going to distract the judges and only attract attention to herself!" Aubrey fumed.

Chloe nodded and gave a really quiet "yeah" to show she was listening.

"And Fat Amy - if she could actually do the cardio, maybe she wouldn't want to pass out every time we run through the set once! And Jessica and Ashley - ugh, or Cynthia Rose...have they even been here all year? How could someone be so clueless?"

Beca, locked away in her room with her laptop dangling near the edge of her bed and a bag of chips half-opened beside her, imagined that Chloe was shrugging uncomfortably.

"And Chloe...you know I'm your best friend, but...you've been sounding so off-key lately," Aubrey said. "What happened? Your singing skills aren't up to par anymore and I see you struggling to hit those high notes when we're practicing -"

"It's nothing, Aubrey," Chloe said, and Beca almost wanted to go outside and punch Aubrey because it was so clearly obvious that it was something. "Just a little tired. Senior year is wearing me out or whatever. I'll be fine."

"You better," said Aubrey, and then she was off again. "Because if, god forbid, we lose to those Treblemakers...I won't have it! We need to practice more, regionals is in one week and we aren't even close to performance ready -"

Even from her safe vantage point (or hearing point, rather) Beca felt like she was being run over by the ten-ton truck that was Aubrey's rant. How did Chloe even manage to put up with it on a daily basis? Beca would have gone nuts.

Then again Beca was already going nuts from having to deal with Chloe herself every day.

Aubrey left the apartment twice as agitated and stressed out as she had entered, and the atmosphere in her absence felt like a tornado had run through the place. Beca counted to thirty, then shut her laptop lid and left her room.

Chloe was still sitting on the couch.

"What?" she asked, and she sounded more defeated than annoyed. It alarmed Beca.

"Why don't you tell her?" Beca asked.

"Tell who what?" said Chloe.

"Aubrey. That you have nodes," said Beca, rolling her eyes. "So she could go easy on you or something? Doesn't the raging get on your nerves?"

"She's my best friend," Chloe said stiffly. "She's been there for me all these years."

"And so that means that she can't be there for you?"

Chloe regarded Beca warily. "Seriously, why do you care?"

Beca sighed. "Look, I might hate you with a burning passion, but I don't, like, want you to die or anything."

"I'm not gonna fucking die, dumbass," said Chloe.

"I know - I was exaggerating - what?" Beca rubbed her face with her hand exasperatedly. "Just...I've always thought you should take care of your personal health first. Like, I know you love singing, but if you don't give yourself a fucking break, you're going to ruin your voice, and then you won't be able to sing ever again. Is that what you want?"

Chloe just glared at her. Beca gave up, turned around, and headed back to her room.

But really, Chloe was right. There was no reason for Beca to care so much. She should be rejoicing, not trying to help.

...

Jesse dragged Beca to the ICCA regional competition.

"I don't want to go," she had whined.

"You have to," was Jesse's insistent response. "I'm gonna rock your world with our setlist."

"Jesus," Beca replied, because Jesse had thrown his arms out triumphantly when he said that and nearly smacked her in the face.

"You spin me right round baby right round..." Jesse sang, twirling around in a circle. Beca had sighed and covered her face with her hands because they were in public and also Jesse was acting like a complete idiot and being embarrassing. He'd stopped suddenly and gestured to Beca sheepishly. "Oh um. Yeah. Spoiler alert."

"Fun," Beca had said while Jesse pushed her along. 

Now she was sitting awkwardly in the crowd, feeling extremely out of place in a sea full of strangers. Why had she let Jesse do this to her again?

She caught sight of the Bellas standing around awkwardly, together in a huddle in the back of the auditorium. They were wearing these weird flight attendant uniforms. At the front stood Chloe, right next to a stressed out Aubrey.

They accidentally made eye contact. Beca stuck out her tongue and held up both of her middle fingers for Chloe to see. Chloe just rolled her eyes and glared back at Beca.

"And now...welcome to the stage...the Barden Bellas!"

They walked nervously up to the stage as the audience politely applauded.

"Boo," said Beca when Chloe passed by her.

Chloe flipped her off without looking back.

Their set was pretty shitty, if Beca had to be honest. It wasn't a matter of their skill, because wow Chloe was actually kinda sorta good at singing.

She also noticed that Chloe had most of the solos, her and Aubrey, except for at the very end when they let the girl Beca assumed was Fat Amy sing "Turn The Beat Around" (and also strip basically half-naked onstage. That was amusing to watch). People cheered for her.

Beca clapped (reluctantly) along with the rest of the crowd when they finished and stepped off the stage, but seriously? "Turn The Beat Around"? Wasn't that song like thirty years old or something?

"Boo," said Beca when Chloe passed by again.

"Fuck off," Chloe responded.

The rest of the Bellas eyed her suspiciously (except for Aubrey who looked like she was trying to restrain herself from murdering Beca instead). Beca just shrugged and turned her attention back to the front of the auditorium.

Then the announcer called the Treblemakers, and the small mob of rowdy maroon jacket-wearing boys yelled and ascended to the stage. Jesse sought her out and waved like a little kid when he found her. Beca shook her head but grinned up at him.

They did pretty well.

People screamed and stood up to cheer for them when they finished.

Jesse skidded down the steps and made a beeline straight for where Beca was sitting, opting to plop down in the open seat right beside her.

"How'd I do?" he asked, a little breathlessly.

"Um, don't you want to go...be with your...uh, fellow acapella nerds?" Beca asked, confused, pointing back to where the rest of the Treblemakers were standing. The guy Jesse had said was named Bumper was punching the air in what he probably thought was a triumphant manner, but really he just looked like he was trying to blow a bunch of bugs out of the air.

"Eh. I've had enough of them for a while," Jesse responded happily. "Let's watch the rest of the performances and critique them instead."

"Whatever, you nerd."

...

The Treblemakers got first place to no one's surprise.

To Beca's surprise, the Bellas came in second.

They all seemed relieved if not overjoyed, because at least they'd earned themselves a spot at semifinals.

"Boo," Beca yelled at Chloe.

Chloe took the tie out of her bun, letting her hair cascade down past her shoulders (which, oh god Beca LOOK AWAY) without breaking eye contact with Beca. She ran her hand through it to smooth it out (stop) and then brought up the hair tie. She stretched it out as far as it would go, and fired. The stupid thing shot forward and landed sharply, smack in between Beca's eyes.

"Fuck," Beca swore, rubbing the spot as Chloe walked out of the auditorium with the rest of the Bellas.

Jesse couldn't stop laughing even as he tried to grasp Beca's arm to help her get up and leave.

...

The Bellas threw a victory party...at Chloe's apartment.

Beca had sent Jesse a message that simply read "save me" earlier, to which he had responded that the Treblemakers were throwing a party as well.

His reply read "i mean go ahead and come over if you don't mind watching us chillin in the hot tub".

Beca almost debated going. It would sure beat the screaming and the alcohol and the terrifying games of drunk truth or dare happening outside her bedroom door.

(She wasn't really sure why her blood ran cold when she heard someone dare Chloe to kiss Aubrey.)

She also heard Tom come over sometime later.

Beca sighed. Tonight was going to be a long night.

...

"Beca, when was the last time you ate something not fast-food related for dinner?" Jesse asked.

They were both sitting on the couch in Beca's apartment, a big pile of fries and burgers sandwiched between them. It was a Friday night, a few weeks after regionals, and Chloe was out with the Bellas doing some "bonding night" thing at Aubrey's.

"I had a salad a couple days ago," said Beca.

Jesse sighed. "I know. I was there. It was your fast-food meal's side."

Beca didn't respond to that. She just shoved another fry into her mouth.

"You should eat healthier," said Jesse. "You're not gonna be eighteen forever, you know."

"Screw you," said Beca.

Jesse grinned and turned on the TV. "Tell me when your body thanks you later," he said.

...

The next night Beca actually decided to cook some stuff for herself instead of buying more junk. 

Except there was like, nothing of use in the refrigerator. It seemed like Chloe ate out as much as Beca did.

So she left the apartment to buy some groceries and came back to cook something simple.

She used to cook all the time after her dad had left and caused her mom countless nights of constant crying and neglecting of chores. The burden of making dinner every night had thus fallen on her. She had quickly learned that if she didn't want to die from food poisoning, she'd have to get pretty good at making food that was at least mildly edible.

The only problem with this predicament, however, was that Beca was used to making enough for two, for both herself and her mom.

Apparently she still hadn't lost that habit. Whoops.

She had so much leftover that it would be a waste to just toss it all.

Beca finished her meal and checked the time to see that it was a little bit past six. Bellas practice seemed to be running late that day and Chloe still wasn't back.

She left the extras on the table with a note that read "i made too much. eat this or not idgaf" and went back into her room.

The next day, Beca woke up to find all of it in the trash. She shrugged and set off to class. She hadn't really expected Chloe to eat it, anyway. If Chloe had cooked something for her she'd probably have assumed it was poisoned and tossed it too.

Except Beca continued to fuck up and cook too much for dinner over the course of the week.

Chloe kept coming home later and later from Bellas practice. It seemed like Aubrey was working them up in a frenzy, desperate to win at semifinals so they could have a shot at winning nationals.

After several days of leaving the leftovers on the table and waking up to find all of it in the trash, it suddenly stopped.

One day Beca got up and the trash can was empty. She found a note on the table that just said "thx."

...

So then Beca continued to make food for two, and Chloe continued to eat it. In return, Beca noticed that Chloe had been washing the dishes and taking out the trash for them.

It was actually a pretty nice arrangement.

That didn't stop them from cussing at each other at every available chance, though. That was never going to stop.

...

The music blaring out from Chloe's room was so goddamn loud.

Okay, so it wasn't that bad, but Beca hadn't found the time to buy new headphones ever since Chloe had broken them, so she was still making remixes without one. 

But the sad music Chloe was playing was loud enough to distract Beca from her work and draped over her like a melancholy blanket. It was sad enough that now even Beca was feeling a bit down.

So she got up, hauled herself to Chloe's room, threw the door open, and said, "Okay, you're going to need to tone down the fucking theatrics - whoa."

Chloe was sitting on her bed with her back to the doorway, but Beca could tell from the way her shoulders were hunched and how she tried to hide her sniffles that she was crying.

"Go away," said Chloe.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Beca asked.

"Tom and I broke up," she said.

"Oh," said Beca awkwardly. "Um, why?"

"I don't know. He won't tell me," Chloe said through a couple more sniffles.

Beca didn't feel that sorry for Chloe - not really, but she still said, "You want me to like, whip his ass or something? Because I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who's allowed to make you feel like shit."

"No," said Chloe flatly, but Beca hoped that she was kinda-sorta smiling. Or at least feeling a tiny bit better? "You can just leave me the hell alone."

"Gotcha," said Beca, and left.

As she went back to her room, she couldn't figure out why she was almost a little...excited? Why would she be excited that Chloe and Tom were no longer a thing?

It must have been because she subconsciously realized there would be no more horrifying nights of them together, making enough noise to sear dirty images into Beca's mind for a million years to come. (Of course it was. What other reason could there be?)

She sat back down at her desk, but the sad music was still droning on, and Chloe, if anything, seemed to have turned the volume up even higher. It was almost hilarious the dramatic way she dealt with a breakup.

But then again she and Tom must have been together for a pretty long time, and they had seemed pretty (extremely) chummy while they lasted. So Beca tried not to be too big of an asshole, just this one time. She reached for the small box of tissues on her desk, went back to Chloe's room, and threw it at her, where it bounced lightly off her shoulder. Chloe didn't turn back to the doorway, but she reached for a tissue and blew her nose on it.

"You can go away now," said Chloe, which Beca figured was as close as she'd get to saying "thank you."

"Gladly," said Beca, and she retreated.

Chapter Text

Chloe's mood stayed pretty shitty for the next several days.

It didn't help that two weeks after the breakup with Tom, Chloe's singing group, the Bellas, had apparently gotten third place at semifinals and therefore failed to qualify for nationals. 

Beca couldn't even toss insults at her without feeling bad anymore.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?" she asked Chloe.

Chloe looked taken aback and also understandably suspicious. "Since when have you ever wanted to help me?"

"I don't," Beca sighed. "Just...how am I supposed to make you feel bad if you already feel bad?"

"Just leave me alone," Chloe said, and Beca didn't miss how Chloe's voice was still rough and hoarse.

...

So maybe Beca had dedicated a remix to Chloe to try and cheer her up.

Just one though. ONLY ONE. That didn't really take all that long to make. Because she would never waste more than half an hour for Chloe, she didn't deserve that kind of attention from her. Duh.

She'd just taken a couple of Chloe's favorite songs and mashed them together. That's it. It really wasn't a big deal.

And just to make sure Chloe didn't get any other ideas, Beca put it on a flash drive and wrote "FUCK YOU" as large as possible on the front surface with a bright silver Sharpie.

She wrapped the drive in saran wrap, made sure it was properly sealed and waterproof, and then dropped it in Chloe's coffee one morning before leaving the apartment.

When she came back from her classes that afternoon, she found Chloe asleep on the couch with her earbuds in and her phone lying on her stomach.

Beca surreptitiously checked the screen of Chloe's phone and felt a little bit pleased to see that Chloe was playing her remix. She almost smiled when she saw that Chloe had labeled it "made by the asshole". 

...

"I'm going to get my nodes removed."

Beca looked up from her laptop. "Okay?"

"I'm getting surgery tomorrow."

"I figured that was the only way to remove them," Beca replied sarcastically.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "You're coming with me," she said.

"I am?"

"Yes. I want someone to be there with me. Aubrey went home for spring break and I don't have a boyfriend anymore. So you're coming with me."

"No," said Beca.

"Thanks. I'm glad that's settled. Be ready by ten tomorrow," said Chloe, and she went back into her room.

...

"I'm not sure I want to do this anymore," said Chloe in the waiting room.

"You're literally here already. You can't just back out like a fucking wimp now," said Beca.

"Fuck you," said Chloe.

"You can do that after you get the damn surgery like you said you would."

"I might not be able to sing in the same range as before," said Chloe flatly. "So this is a really important decision for me."

"An important decision you have already made," Beca retorted, gesturing around the hospital they were currently sitting in. "Besides, aren't the Bellas basically done for? There's no reason not to do this."

Chloe looked like she was going to punch Beca. She figured she probably deserved it for saying the Bellas were finished. "You can say that shit easily," Chloe said, looking at Beca distastefully. "It's not your voice that's in jeopardy here."

"It's also not my resolve that's crumbling," said Beca. She nodded at the nurse who'd just walked in and called Chloe's name. "Now go and get your fucking throat fixed."

Chloe's eyes were blazing. "Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

...

After it was all over, the doctor told Beca that Chloe wasn't allowed to talk for a full week, and that she couldn't overexert her voice for a month after that.

Chloe stayed in the hospital for another day after the operation and then Beca went to pick her up.

When they got back to the apartment Beca said, "See, that wasn't so bad, was it, wimp?"

Chloe opened her mouth to respond, but Beca shushed her with a smug grin. "Hey, you can't talk yet, remember? You gotta rest your voice."

Chloe glared at her.

Beca tried (and failed) to not be too amused.

...

On the third day after they'd returned home Beca was eating dinner alone at the table when Chloe came up behind her and slammed her phone down in front of Beca.

"What?" asked Beca, startled.

Chloe pointed at her phone.

Beca leaned over and saw a text message from Aubrey flashing on the screen. It read "COMMITTEE JUST CALLED, FOOTNOTES GOT DISQUALIFIED. WE'RE BACK IN THE COMPETITION!!!!"

"You're going to nationals?" Beca asked Chloe.

Chloe nodded.

Beca knew a normal person would say "congratulations," so instead she said, "How are you going to compete with a fucked up voice now?"

Chloe shoved her and took her phone back with her to her room. Beca grinned and kept eating her dinner.

...

Beca was so surprised when Chloe entered her room one evening that she almost fell off her bed.

Chloe never came into her room. It was probably the messiest room in the apartment and she didn't like messiness. Beca made it messy for the express purpose of making sure Chloe never entered.

"What are you doing in here?" Beca asked.

"Um," said Chloe. She remained standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with her hands tucked awkwardly in her jean pockets.

"Interesting. Now if you don't mind, I've got a test to cram for," Beca said, turning back to her laptop.

"Shut the fuck up and let me gather my wits," Chloe snapped. Beca looked back up at her, understandably shocked. Chloe sighed and ran her hand through her hair (goddammit Beca, stop staring when she does that). "So. Um."

"Yes?"

"Uh, thanks. I think."

"You think," Beca said, raising her eyebrows, because she was trying to tamp down any reaction she was having to Chloe actually thanking her.

"Yeah," said Chloe. "Mostly because you pissed me off enough to follow through with the nodes surgery. I, uh, I feel a lot better now that the pain's gone. And I only lost a little bit of my vocal range. I don't think Aubrey or anyone else would have egged me on like that. So yeah."

"Oh," said Beca. She was actually feeling a bit warm and fuzzy inside, which freaked her out because Chloe was not allowed to make her feel things like that. She tried to keep her cool.

"And the remix you made. After...the Tom thing. That was pretty cool," Chloe continued. "I...I think it would be cool if the Bellas could sing something like that, right?"

"Huh," said Beca slowly. "I've never considered that. I guess that could be interesting."

"Yeah," said Chloe, and she was visibly more relaxed than she had been since she'd arrived at the entrance to Beca's room. "Because we've got ten voices. There's so many possibilities we could do with ten different melodies and harmonies. And the remix sounded...pretty awesome. I think the judges would find that kind of stuff actually enjoyable."

Beca raised her eyebrows again. "What, you don't like Ms. Blondie's setlist?" she asked, and she was surprised that it came out more teasing than it did taunting.

"Yeah, uh, no, it's shit," said Chloe, rolling her eyes. "Especially because we do the same one over and over again. No other group ever does that. It's why we lost at semis and for some reason she thinks doing it again will win us Nationals."

Beca snorted. "Well, maybe if you showed her something else she'd consider it."

"Maybe," said Chloe. Then she shuddered, having apparently realized that she and Beca were actually having a legit, non-rage-inducing conversation. "Fuck, it's weird being nice to you. Can we agree to never do that again?"

"Yeah," Beca agreed, quickly and wholeheartedly. "Now get the fuck out of my room."

Chloe mock saluted her and left.

Beca turned back to her laptop and pulled up her folder of mixes. She picked a couple out and copied them onto a flash drive, labeling them "FuckYou1," "FuckYou2," "FuckYou3," and so on.

This time she opted to drop it down the back of Chloe's shirt while she was sitting alone at the kitchen table and took great pleasure in watching her freak out (and then shove Beca back so hard she stumbled).

...

"I made Aubrey listen to one."

"And?"

"Still adamant about the old set."

"Well your life just fucking sucks, doesn't it?"

"Fuck off."

... 

Two weeks after Spring Break had ended, Beca heard a knock on the apartment door. She figured it was just Jesse. Aubrey had the keys to Chloe's apartment, and so did Chloe herself, and the only other person who ever visited after Tom had broken up with Chloe was Jesse.

"How the hell did you find out where I live?" Beca asked, instantly tensing up.

"Took me long enough," said Dr. Mitchell gruffly, allowing himself in and pushing past an incredulous Beca. He had a disgruntled expression on his face.

"Go ahead, make yourself welcome here without warning," said Beca dryly as her dad plopped down onto one of the kitchen seats.

There was a beat of silence.

Then, Dr. Mitchell said, "Beca, what are you doing?"

"I was napping, but then someone decided to pop in and annoy me."

"No," her dad said with a sigh, "I meant, what are you doing? Here, in college?"

"I dunno," Beca shot back. "Why don't you ask the wonderful guy who forced me to attend Barden instead of heading to LA?"

"Beca, you haven't even tried, at all!" said Dr. Mitchell, his temper rising. "I've seen your grades. They're terrible. You don't ever go out and interact with others on campus. I was willing to pay your tuition for one year so you could get the amazing experience, and you're just throwing it away! Do you even have any friends?"

"Sure I do," said Beca, thinking of Jesse and then feeling guilty when she couldn't think of anyone else. "And I'm not throwing anything away. I got a job at the radio station."

"Oh that place," said Dr. Mitchell, rolling his eyes. "Seriously! If you think I'm helping you fly off to LA after such a shitty year here, you need to rethink that."

"What the fuck!" shouted Beca. "I didn't even want to come to college. You forced me to. And now after I listened, you're going to just barge in at the last second and change your mind?"

"I'm giving you one last chance," argued her dad. "Do something worthwhile here. Before the school year ends. Prove to me that I have a good reason to trust you to do well by yourself in LA."

"Fine. Whatever. Can you leave now?" Beca huffed, trying not to show that she was trembling with anger.

Dr. Mitchell threw his hands up and left. Beca stood in the kitchen, alone, for ten full minutes before she'd calmed down enough to return to the couch.

...

That same evening Chloe came home in a rage, startling Beca from her drowsy reverie on the couch in the living room. She'd been struggling to finish an essay that was due the next day, but her laptop had fallen asleep on her lap right along with her. At least, until Chloe started ranting.

"Aubrey is a fucking tyrant - can't even fucking try to listen to others, no it's all about her, I'm her best friend and co-captain but I'm the one who needs to get my head out of my ass - fucking -"

"Whoa, there," said Beca. "Don't kill your voice like that, kill Aubrey instead."

"Fuck you," said Chloe, but now she was massaging her throat like it was hurting.

"You can't just come back into the apartment when I'm in the middle of an essay and start whaling about your problems and disrupting me," said Beca, who was also in a bad mood from the incident with her father.

Chloe sighed, frustrated and furious. She ran her hand through her hair and Beca tried to ignore how hot she looked. "I've already gotten enough shit from Aubrey today. I don't need more from you."

"I got shit all over today too," Beca shot back. "So take your damn moping and do it quietly in your room or something."

"I'll take my damn moping and shove it up your ass," said Chloe.

They both stared at each other, seething with rage.

"Shouldn't you, like, not trample all over your voice?" Beca said. "You're supposed to, you know, not rant until like a month after -"

"Shut up," growled Chloe, and she started striding towards Beca.

Beca cleverly tried to back up but was soon met with resistance from the back of the couch. She knew she should try to figure out how to get her legs to work so she could get up and flee, but her brain wasn't reacting properly and she only barely had enough time to shove her laptop off to the side before Chloe reached her.

And just like that, Chloe had plopped herself into Beca's lap, her hands on either side of Beca's head, her eyes hard and set and staring into Beca's soul. Or at least, it felt like it, because her glare was so intense.

"What are you doing," said Beca while her face set itself on fire.

"Shut up," said Chloe again, and then she leaned forward and unabashedly connected their lips together.

Beca didn't even protest, because her brain was already deep fried sixteen thousand times over. She just kissed back, angrily.

Her hands automatically went to Chloe's waist, and if Beca had been paying attention she probably would have smacked herself for desperately scrunching up the bottom of Chloe's shirt in her fists, pulling it askew while they kissed.

Luckily, she couldn't think properly. Not when Chloe was doing this to her. 

All she could do was hold on for dear life and keep pushing for more. Because WOW this was amazing.

"Fucking hell," she hissed against Chloe's mouth.

Chloe bit Beca's bottom lip in between her teeth and said, "Try to tell me you're not enjoying this."  

She couldn't, even if she'd wanted to, because her mouth was really fucking occupied. (It would have been a lie anyway.)

The moment it felt like Chloe was pulling away, Beca said, with her eyes still closed, "Don't you dare stop right now." She realized she probably sounded really whiny and needy, but she didn't want to be done yet. She really didn't want to be done yet.

"I need to fucking breathe, you asshole," Chloe shot back.

At least Beca got sixty blissful seconds of being able to shamelessly stare at Chloe while her ragged breathing evened out, pupils blown but still looking just as murderously full of rage as before. 

"You're shit at making out," said Chloe, finally, after what seemed like an eternal period of dead silence. Beca knew she was being sarcastic because her expression wouldn't be so wild otherwise.

"So are you, you fucking loser," said Beca, and jerked Chloe in again by the front of her shirt.

...

The only reason why they even stopped was because Aubrey entered the apartment, like half an hour later. Somehow Chloe had ended up under Beca with her wrists pinned on either side of her head. As soon as they heard Aubrey call out "Chloe? Are you home?" Chloe shoved Beca off of her, sending her rolling to the ground with a thud.

"Fuck," Beca grumbled, flopping onto her stomach with her face pressed into the carpet.

"Shut up," said Chloe in an angry whisper.

Aubrey entered the living room to find Beca lying motionless on the floor and Chloe half-leaning against one of the couch's armrests, looking exhausted and trying to run her hand through her hair.

"...What happened here?" she asked.

"I killed her," said Chloe mock-seriously. "What are you doing in my apartment?"

Aubrey inched forward cautiously, a slightly guilty expression on your face. "I...just wanted to apologize. I was really out of line today. I know I have been pretty hard on you, and I know I shouldn't be..."

Beca wanted to glance up, but she figured that if she didn't actually want to die, she'd better keep playing dead. Her brain wasn't helping much. It was still screaming OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD nonstop, ever since Chloe had fucking sat down on top of her on the couch exactly one make-out session earlier.

"And I listened to the remix again," continued Aubrey. "It's...not as bad as I thought it was. Maybe...maybe we could try a set based off of it."

"Really?" The broad smile was evident in Chloe's voice. 

"Yes," said Aubrey hesitantly. "If it will help us win."

"That's awesome, Aubrey," said Chloe.

"Yeah, well." Aubrey shuffled awkwardly. "So...I'm sorry. Friends again?"

"Of course."

"Nerds," coughed Beca.

She instantly felt Chloe's glare settle on her.

"I'll go, then," said Aubrey quickly. "You, uh, you deal with the idiot."

"Okay," said Chloe, and as Beca listened to Aubrey's footsteps travel farther and farther away, she felt Chloe pick her up by wrapping her arms around Beca's waist.

"Get up, you sack of dung," said Chloe into her ear.

"Stop doing that," Beca complained. "I can't think straight when you do."

"Probably because this isn't," said Chloe, biting Beca's earlobe.

If Chloe hadn't been holding Beca up, she probably would've fallen right back onto the ground. "Keep doing that," she amended quickly.

"Don't tell me what to do." Chloe dragged Beca across the living room, supposedly listening to check and see if Aubrey had left. Then, without warning, she pressed Beca up against the wall.

"Fuck," said Beca, squeezing her eyes shut, the image of Chloe smirking at her implanted permanently in her mind.

Chapter Text

"Hey." Chloe crept up behind Beca's swiveling chair at her desk, kicking it and sending it rolling forward a few inches. Beca looked up from her laptop screen, tilting her head back so she could look at Chloe from upside-down.

"What's up, dumbass?"

"Aubrey needs you," said Chloe shortly.

Beca blinked. "What?"

"We're...er. Having a couple issues with creating the set. Figured that you'd maybe be able to help us, since you're the one who made the remix. Do you think you could give us a hand?"

"Do I have a choice?" said Beca skeptically.

"No," said Chloe.

"Hmm," said Beca, turning back to her laptop, "you're going to have to be more convincing than that."

She should've expected that Chloe would grab her by the front of her shirt, drop into her lap, and give her a long, hard kiss.

"Goddammit," said Beca once they broke apart, her face burning. "You play dirty."

"Did it work?" asked Chloe.

"Yes. Now get off. Ugh."

"Great! Next practice is tonight at seven. We can head out together."

And with that, Chloe left the room. Beca's heart continued to pound for ten minutes afterwards.

...

That night Chloe formally introduced her annoying and rude roommate Beca Mitchell to the rest of the members of the Barden Bellas. 

Some of them were really nice. Stacie and Cynthia-Rose seemed really chill. Lilly scared Beca a little. Fat Amy started cracking height jokes thirty seconds after Beca had walked into the auditorium. And Aubrey looked like she was trying extremely hard not to look like she wanted to trample Beca into the ground.

"Hello," said Beca.

"Hello, Beca," said Aubrey a bit distastefully. "I see Chloe somehow convinced you to show up."

"Um, yeah," said Beca, turning a little pink at the memory of how Chloe had achieved just that. "So, the set isn't going so well? Show me what you've got so far."

Aubrey yelled at them to get in formation, and then they performed for Beca.

Beca whistled appreciatively when they finished. She also felt a little bit warm and fuzzy inside because Aubrey was actually keeping it together and attempting to work with Beca, and, well, they'd just used her remix to try and turn it into a set.

"That was pretty good," Beca said. "But there's a couple things you need to fix..."

...

"You're pretty good at this sort of stuff," said Chloe on the ride back, late at night.

Beca raised her eyebrows, not taking her eyes off the road. "Getting soft on me?"

"No," said Chloe. "Just because I can acknowledge that you're good at something doesn't mean I like you."

"Whatever you say," said Beca.

After a beat of silence, Beca continued. "You guys...uh, you're really good at singing. I think that's why it was so easy to get things back on track."

"Now who's the one getting soft?"

"Shut the fuck up. I was trying to be nice."

"Ewww."

Beca parked the car on the side of the road and grabbed Chloe's arm, pulling her across the center console.

...

As the end of the year approached, Beca's life settled into a steady rhythm, albeit a far busier one than the pattern she'd fallen in at the beginning of the year. She went to her classes and actually tried to study for her finals. In the evenings or mornings or whenever Aubrey decided to schedule a random Bellas rehearsal, Chloe would drag Beca along and they'd all work together to make their set better. And Luke the station manager had finally listened to one of Beca's mixes, so now she had a night shift at the radio station all to herself.

It was busy, and it was hectic, but it felt really nice. The feeling of knowing that she was getting stuff done. (Plus she got to make out with Chloe every once in a while.)

And she was actually starting to get along with Aubrey.

Beca went home one day after classes, exhausted. She knew Chloe wouldn't be getting back till after six, so Beca settled down in the living room, dropping heavily onto the couch.

If she'd sat down two inches more to the left than she had, she would have crushed a wrapped box lying there.

It was literally wrapped in paper with the words "FUCK U" printed neatly all over it. Beca almost burst out laughing. Curious, she opened the package, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the new headphones waiting inside.

Taped to the box was a note from Chloe. "This is only because you helped us so much these past few weeks. Don't get used to it."

Beca actually smiled.

Later, when Chloe returned, she'd find a sticky-note that read "thanks, fucker" taped to the front of her door.

...

Beca went with the Bellas to nationals. Aubrey had gotten her a hotel room to herself. All she had to do was show up in the audience to watch them.

She'd never admit it to anyone, but she was actually proud of the Bellas for getting so far and improving so much. A lot of them had forced her to become their friends against her will, but now she didn't really regret it anymore.

Backstage, Beca wished them all a sincere good luck. Stacie hugged her. Fat Amy patted her on the back so hard she almost choked. Chloe's face remained stoic as ever, but Beca could tell she appreciated what she had done for the group.

The Treblemakers went onstage before the Bellas. Jesse had told her a few weeks ago that Bumper had ditched them last second, and that he'd got put on as lead singer instead. They sounded amazing as usual. But as Jesse sought her out in the crowd and gave her a meaningful look, Beca felt that the Bellas could do better.

They did.

They rocked their set.

Beca couldn't tear her eyes away from Chloe. She looked amazing, and wow maybe Beca shouldn't have let them perform some of the moves she'd told them to do.

She jumped up and cheered with the rest of the crowd when they finished. She accidentally made eye contact with Chloe too, which was mortifying for one and a half seconds. But Chloe, obviously riding on the high of the performance, actually smiled at her - smiled at Beca! and Beca smiled back, giving her two middle fingers. Chloe stuck her tongue out at her.

Totally worth it.

The Bellas tumbled off the stage and sat down in the reserved seats adjacent to Beca's, but not before they piled onto Beca in a giant group hug.

The other performances had nothing on the Bellas.

Beca yelled just as loud as the rest of them when they were announced as the champions of the ICCAs.

"We're gonna celebrate!" Fat Amy shouted as they exited the building. "As soon as we get back to Barden! We're going to hit up the coolest bar in town and party! Shortstack's invited, too!"

Even better, Dr. Mitchell had pulled Beca aside after the competition to talk to her.

"I...I know you technically weren't actually a part of the Bellas, but...I'm proud of you for what you've done for them. You have a way with music. I was...wrong to keep you from it. Anyways, good job out there, Beca."

Beca smiled at her dad. "Thanks."

For some reason Chloe decided, as the Bellas were boarding their bus, that she couldn't wait anymore. Beca felt a hand grip her arm tightly and then drag her away, to the side of the building.

Beca barely had time to say, "Chloe, what the..." before Chloe had pushed her up against the brick wall and kissed her, hard.

Beca didn't mind. She didn't mind at all.

Oh, man.

But then Chloe made the rest of the Bellas search for them for fifteen whole minutes. And they would have walked right into them liplocked and Chloe with her hands under Beca's shirt if Stacie hadn't stepped on a branch and alerted Beca and Chloe to their presence. Beca whined involuntarily when Chloe stepped away and then turned pink when Aubrey appeared around the corner and shot her an extremely skeptical look.

Chloe kept shooting Beca dirty looks throughout the entire duration of the bus ride. Beca tried not to let it get to her by hiding behind the big ICCA trophy (and failed).

...

"Victory party!" Fat Amy yelled, and she grabbed Stacie by the arm and charged straight through the crowd.

The bar was packed with people. Several of the Bellas cheered and split up into groups. Not knowing what to do, Beca awkwardly followed Chloe and Aubrey to a counter near the back, fiddling nervously with the bottom of her tie.

(Chloe had told her to dress up. She didn't have any dresses. So she had just put on a nice button-up and a tie. Who cares if she looked like a guy.)

"Want anything to drink?" Aubrey asked her as she took a seat to Beca's left, Chloe settling down on her right.

"I'm good, thanks," said Beca. Aubrey shrugged as a bartender walked over.

It was a nice night out. At one point Stacie had dragged Beca out onto the dance floor and basically grinded on her for half an hour. That was weird. She returned to her seat to find Aubrey and Chloe still at the bar, but there was a guy talking to Chloe.

Beca immediately turned away from the two, instead opting to face Aubrey. 

"Thanks for helping us out," said Aubrey, a little bit unevenly.

Beca wanted to tease her for becoming such a sap when drunk. Instead, she laughed and said, "For what?"

"I don't think we would've won if you hadn't given us those pointers," said Aubrey with a faint smile. "It was your mix after all. You'd know best what to do with it."

"Wow," said Beca, mockingly putting a hand to her heart. "Aubrey Posen is thanking me. What is happening to the world?"

"Shut up," said Aubrey. "It's the truth. I'm gonna...I'm gonna go find the others."

She hobbled to her feet and headed for the dance floor.

Beca turned back to face the counter. Chloe was still talking with the guy.

"Enjoying your day so far?" Beca heard the guy ask.

"Yeah," Chloe responded. "My friends and I just won the ICCAs, so I'm pretty happy about that."

"ICCAs? What's that?"

"Acapella," responded Chloe brightly. "We're the first all-female group to win the national title. I'm really proud of all of my sisters."

Beca glanced out of the corner of her eye just in time to see the guy frown. "That's a real thing?"

"Sure it is," said Chloe. "It's harder than it looks."

"Whatever," said the guy. "You wanna know what I do?"

Oh, boy. Another asshat hitting on Chloe. Beca felt oddly protective of her, which was stupid. She hated Chloe. Definitely. A hundred percent did not like Chloe at all. 

Besides, it wasn't like they were dating or anything. They weren't. Chloe was free to flirt with whoever she wanted to.

Except Beca couldn't ignore the rapid pace at which Chloe was pulling out of the conversation. She was getting uncomfortable with the guy.

Who cares? Beca told herself. She certainly didn't. She should be rejoicing that Chloe was feeling unnerved.

"Can I buy you another drink?" the guy asked.

"That's really nice of you, but I don't think that's necessary," said Chloe uneasily. "I think I've had enough for the night."

"Come on, don't be a wuss -"

"No - seriously, it's okay -"

"Why won't you just accept my generosity, you ungrateful - !"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Beca's fist to his stomach. He crumpled to his knees, wheezing. Beca stood over him, rubbing her hand against her side. Chloe jumped up at the commotion, eyes wide.

"What the hell, lady," coughed the guy, glaring up at Beca murderously.

"You'd best walk away now," said Beca.

"And why do you think you have the right to tell me what to do -"

"Don't be a dick," Beca interrupted. She raised her fist. "There's more generosity where that came from."

The guy huffed, then stumbled to his feet and left, muttering as he went.

Beca turned back around just in time to see Chloe plop back onto her bar stool with a sigh.

"What?" Beca asked, annoyed.

"The fuck was that for?"

"Are you serious? That guy just wanted to use you to get into your pants!"

"Since when did you care about my well-being?" Chloe retorted. "He was nice enough to talk to, anyway. He was entertaining."

"Oh, that's what it was? You wanted to get into his pants too?"

"What, you never heard of one-night stands before?"

Beca rolled her eyes and threw her hands up. "Well, I'm sorry for pushing Mr. Douchebag away from you. I'm sure you would have had a wonderful time with him."

"I didn't need your fucking help," said Chloe. "I could have handled it just fine. A lot better than you, anyway."

"Boo-hoo," Beca said. "Chloe Beale isn't getting laid tonight, what a shame -"

Chloe had a look on her face.

For some reason, it felt like the sound around them, in the rowdy, packed bar, had suddenly gone very quiet.

"Oh, no," said Chloe, her voice dropping low. She grabbed Beca by the tie and pulled her down, so that they were face-to-face, mere inches apart. "I am...most definitely getting laid tonight."

Beca's blood turned to ice.

Then she started burning up, really fast.

She was trying to say "wait, what?" or something along those lines, but her mouth wasn't working. Nothing was working.

Not when Chloe was looking at her like that.

...

For the most part, it was dead silent in the apartment that night.

It was as if both of them were daring the other to make any sort of noise. So obviously, it had turned into a competition.

The only time the silence broke was when Beca couldn't help but let the one word escape. Not when Chloe was doing...that...to her. It was unfair.

(Not that Beca was complaining, but...come on.)

"Fuck!"

...

The sun was shining brightly the next morning.

Beca tried to stretch but quickly realized that she was being spooned.

"Finally, you're fucking awake," said Chloe from behind her.

"I feel sore all over," Beca groaned.

"You're welcome," said Chloe.

There was a beat of silence.

It actually felt pretty nice. To be wrapped up in someone else's embrace, the late morning sun filtering in through the window. Beca had a tiny hangover (they'd left the bar before either of them could get too drunk) and was hurting, but in all the right places.

"I hate you," said Beca.

She felt Chloe pull her closer.

"I hate you too," said Chloe.

Beca was glad that she had her back to Chloe, so that she wouldn't be able to see the stupid grin on her face.