A tear trickled down the redhead's cheek as she watched the brunette, who had been creating a mix on her laptop, whip around to face her. Beca shot her a quizzical glance.

"Do what?" She asked, biting her lip. "We're sitting in your dorm talking about music. What's wrong with that?" She mumbled confusedly. She knew she wasn't very good at the whole 'friend' thing, but she'd been trying her best lately and couldn't figure out what she'd done wrong.

"Yeah, you're right, never mind." Chloe's tone was tainted with pain, and her eyes were downcast as she continued. "It's nothing…" She then plastered a smile on her face, but it wasn't the type that made her eyes glow with warmth and life, the one that made Beca feel like her whole day was made better with that one grin.

Beca got out of the chair she'd been previously occupying and crossed the room to her friend, sitting down cautiously next to her on the bed. "Chlo," she whispered, carefully reaching up to wipe away the older woman's tears with her thumb, "I know something's bothering you. You're my best friend. Will you please tell me what it is?"

Chloe smiled sadly as tears began to flow freely down her face, turning her normally radiant blue eyes to a dull tone of grey. "Don't worry, Beca, it's stupid. And selfish. I'll be fine in a second."

Beca, at a loss for what to do in this kind of situation, hesitantly wrapped her arms around her friend, enveloping her in a hug. Chloe immediately felt warmth flood her body, finding comfort only Beca's awkward embrace could offer. She couldn't help but notice her heartbeat speed up from the proximity of the other girl, and shook her head to try and clear her mind of the thoughts that were racing into it. She tried not to dwell on the fact that it would take only the smallest turn of her head to make their lips meet. She tried not to be painstaking aware of how Beca smelt, like mint toothpaste and strawberry shampoo, which she denied having, but Chloe had spied in her bathroom once.

After a couple of minutes, Beca got up from the bed and stood in front of Chloe, who had buried her face in her hands. She tried to pull on of the redhead's hands away, but couldn't. She kneeled down in front of her, so that they were eye level, and tried again. "Chloe." She murmured. This time her friend allowed her to remove her hands. Chloe suddenly felt exposed and raw, vulnerable. It wasn't often that her perkily confident facade slipped. Not many people, not even Aubrey, knew how much she struggled. And here she was laying it out for Beca to see. She knew she should have cared more but she didn't, instead feeling grateful that she'd connected with the brunette so strongly. Add that to the never ending list of reasons why she's perfect… Chloe thought with a chuckle.

Beca, watching from the outside, had never found herself in a more puzzling situation. Chloe had been crying… But she was laughing now? Beca was thinking that maybe it was a little of the redhead's crazy hormones acting up, but something inside told her that it wasn't. "Ok then… What are we laughing about?" She raised her eyebrows, a bemused smile gracing her features.

"It's just the thought of it. It's kind of crazy. I mean, it's totally crazy. And it's hilarious at the same time."

Beca was back to stage one, starting to get a little annoyed by the redhead's cryptic comments and apparent insanity. "Hey, um, have you been having a little too much 'giggle juice'?" Beca asked, doing air quotes for the last two words. Chloe shook her head and her laughter grew.

"It's just the thought of it… It's insane. Plus, nothing would ever come of it. So I guess I should just shut up about it. Because you and Jesse, you guys kissed. You like Jesse, right?"

Beca nodded her head slowly, not having caught on yet. "Sure…?"

"That's great, you and him. 'Cos like he said that time, he's an aca-guy and you're an aca-girl, and you're going to have little aca-babies. So really, what I'm thinking about won't affect anything. So I can tell you right?" Chloe seemed like she was talking more to herself than the brunette at this point.

"Chloe, you know you can tell me anything." Beca muttered tiredly.

"That's right. Because we're friends. I told you we'd be friends right?"

"Uh-huh."

"I was right, right?"

"Yep."

"And I'm awesome right?"

"Right."

"So I should just say it, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah."

"I like you."

"Ye- what the fuck?" Beca wasn't sure what the hell had just happened. "You- you like me?" She stammered, at a loss for words.

"Yep. That's why it's so funny!" Chloe's laughter was echoing throughout the room, and Beca held up a hand for silence. She needed a minute to process that.

"That is not freaking funny." She finally muttered.

"Yeah… You're right, it's totally not, I shouldn't have laughed, it was inappropriate, I'm sorry." Chloe tried to keep her expression serious, ending up with a very silly looking (although highly cute in Beca's opinion) frown.

Beca remained motionless for a few moments, then when she finally spoke, her voice was a low whisper that Chloe could only hear because of their close proximity. "Do you know how long… How much time I spent trying to convince myself to get over you? I mean, you're Chloe freaking Beale. You have a different guy every month, and you're hot. It took me so long to become okay with the fact that I'd only ever just be your friend. And then, when I finally find a guy that, well he's okay, I kind of like, when I finally start something, you swoop in and claim to have a thing for me?"

Chloe nodded slowly, unable to help the smile that seeped onto her face.

"And didn't you kind of get the idea that maybe I liked you too? I mean, what about the first mash up I coordinated, the one we sung together? That was pretty damn obvious. But still, nothing. So I tried to get over you, to move on."

Chloe's smile grew, and suddenly her old grin was back again, making Beca's heart race. Again. Like it always did.

"Damn it, Chloe." Beca growled, pulling the redhead into a fierce kiss. Chloe was a little surprised at first, but quickly adjusted and soon their bodies were moving together and they were engaged in a mind blowing kiss.

As they pulled back for air, Beca couldn't help the grin on her face. That stupid corny grin that was always dominating the romantic films, the one she hated because it was so damn cliche, was on her face and she couldn't get it off. But she sort of didn't want to in a way.

"So you uh, like me too?" Chloe whispered, her breath tickling Beca's face.

"Aca-believe it." Beca smirked.

"Guess your thing with Jesse is effectively ruined…"

"It's ok, you look way hotter in a miniskirt."