The knocking woke Chloe. The pounding against her front door waking her faster than usual; no drowsiness present as she ran for the door to see what was on the other side.

It was Beca.

"Jesus Christ, are you okay?" The red head gasped, half pulling her over the threshold and into the warmth.

"I'm so… I'm sorry." The girl whimpered, seeming so much smaller now than she ever had before as she met Chloe's eye, the red head realizing for the first time that it hadn't been the rain that had caused her face to be so wet.

"Beca what…"

"I shouldn't have come… I don't know…" She stammered, taking in for the first time where she was.

"But you did…" Chloe soothed. "Now you need to tell me why."

"I'm just so tired." She hiccupped. "So tired of feeling like this."

"Like what." The red head hunkered down, trying again to make eye contact with Beca, who seemed to curl up into herself when she spoke.

"Empty…" The word was raspy, having gotten caught in her throat on the way out.

"Beca I…"

"Have you ever felt needed before?" She whispered, her voice still cracking.

"I… yea, yea I have." There was no point in lying.

"I haven't."

"It breaks my heart to hear that." She knew that's what the brunette would say, but it still hurt for her to know it was true.

"It's like a game almost. Convincing yourself you don't care. Drowning out the static that comes along with the silence with music, but it doesn't work. It never really works. There are still times, in bed, alone, when you feel it in spite of yourself. The suffocating ache somewhere between your throat and your chest. It feels like you're dying, but you never do. You just have to deal with it. You think crying will help it, and at first it's like the tears are a tap relieving the pressure, but once you stop you realize the pain's still there. Nothing stops it. Nothing makes it go away."

"Show me your arms." The demand was soft and forgiving.

"You don't need to see them. You know what's there." The refusal was just as soft.

"What if I want to?" This time a question.

"I'll still say no. Someday maybe, but not when the ache's still here."

"Let me help you make it go away?" Another question, serine and heartbroken, all at once.

"That wouldn't be wise." Another refusal; this time hesitant.

"You wouldn't have come here if you believed that was true."

When Chloe wrapped Beca up in her arms there were no questions. When Chloe led Beca back to her bed and laid them both down there were still no words spoken, just Chloe with her arms around Beca's waist and their legs entwined and Beca's head burrowed into her chest.

"How long can we stay like this?" The brunettes' words were muffled.

"Forever." Came the easy reply.

"There's no such thing." This time sorrow crept in through the fuzzy annunciation.

"Yes there is." Chloe argued, never actually getting mad. "Forever's as long as we make it Beca, and this can be our forever. Right here, right now, together. A tiny little forever you can revisit whenever you want."

"You make the ache go away. You always have." Came the mumbled confession.

"And I'll always want to." Was her sombre reply.

"Never let me go?" It was a question when it should have been a demand.

"Never." Chloe wrapped her arms tighter around the petite waist she was holding. "We're going to keep creating forever's, you and me."