It was a knee-jerk reaction.

She didn't think, she just acted on an impulse.

So what if that impulse meant that she jumped between Chloe and a punk with a knife, getting herself stabbed in the process?

It stung like a bitch, but she didn't go down. Instead, she pulled back her arm to hit the perp in the face as hard as she could. Maybe it was the fact that she's left-handed, maybe that she's tiny, or maybe that she was just fucking stabbed. No matter what it was, she caught the piece of shit off guard, and her hand connected with his cheekbone. Hard.

The guy stumbled backwards by the force of her hit, eyes widened in shock, all guards down. So Beca kicked him in the balls for good measure. He fell to his knees, groaning in pain, before scrambling up and running away - cursing expletives at her - when Beca practically growled at him.

Meanwhile, Chloe was frozen in shock. Everything had happened so fast and her brain was having a hard time catching up. All she knew was that she was scared.

Not for herself, but for Beca.

Beca, who groaned, clutching her left hand in her right.

Beca, who suddenly inhaled sharply through clenched teeth, exclaimed a strained "fuck" and then fell to the dirty ground as her knees gave in.

Seeing Beca fall to the ground brought Chloe back to her senses. She willed her muscles to move forward, to crouch down next to Beca, who was on her knees hunched forward, holding herself up with her already swollen left hand while her right clutched at her left side.

"Beca," Chloe gets out before her voice breaks. "Wha-what were you thinking?"

"I," Beca gritted out. "I wasn't." She turned her head to look at Chloe, forced out, "call an ambulance," and collapsed to the ground as her arm would no longer support her.

Several hours later, Chloe was sitting next to Beca's hospital bed, holding Beca's unhurt hand and waiting for her to finally wake up from surgery. Her leg was bouncing restlessly and she couldn't stop gnawing on her lower lip. She was still worried sick, despite the doctors telling her that Beca would make a full recovery, that the stab wound luckily didn't do too much damage and that she'd be cleared for dance rehearsals in just a few weeks time. But Chloe couldn't help worrying. And she couldn't help feeling guilty. If it hadn't been for her, Beca would have never been stabbed.

God, what had she been thinking?

Beca's hand twitched in Chloe's, and when her eyelids fluttered, Chloe bolted to her feet, almost kicking over the chair she'd been sitting on in the process.

Drowsy eyes found hers.

"Chloe," she rasped, voice still rough from the anesthesia, a small smile growing on her face.

"Oh, Beca, I'm so, so sorry!" Chloe reached out to caress Beca's cheek. She bent over rather uncomfortably to do so, but she didn't care about the discomfort. "You can't believe how glad I am that you're awake," she whispered affectionately.

"That was so badass, right," Beca grinned proudly, even though her voice was still weak, and she blinked slowly as if her eyes didn't quite want to stay open.

Beca's demeanor struck a nerve with Chloe.

The past few hours have been the hardest in Chloe's life. She had been worried sick from the moment Beca had protectively jumped in front of her. Only now that Beca was awake did she feel a bit of that worry lifted off her. She didn't think that anything about this whole situation was even remotely something that should be joked about.

"No, it wasn't," Chloe said firmly and sat back down in her chair, brows furrowed in disapproval. Beca was taken aback by Chloe's tone and before she could say anything in response, Chloe continued. "You could have died, Beca!"

"So could you!" The force of her emotions made her try to sit up. She winced as soon as her abs contracted and slumped back down onto the bed with a sharp exhale.

If Chloe hadn't been so frustrated with Beca, she'd have been more concerned instead of answering back to Beca. "That's not- that's diff-" she huffed out a breath, annoyed that she couldn't form a proper sentence. "That's not the same thing," she insisted after a moment, having finally found her words again.

"Yeah, well, I'm not gonna apologize for saving your life, Chloe!" Beca turned her head away from Chloe, clearly irritated by her best friend's behaviour. She would have crossed her arms if it weren't for the stitched up wound on the left side of her torso. Even thinking about something touching that spot hurt like a bitch.

Not that she would ever admit that to anyone.

Least of all Chloe.

"Even if it costs you your own life?" Chloe asked disbelievingly.

Beca reluctantly turned back to Chloe to look at her with furrowed brows. "Yes. Even if it costs me my own life."

Chloe breathed in deeply before sighing heavily, trying to calm down before she got herself into a real argument with Beca. Still, her emotions got the better of her, and tears started running down her cheeks. 'I love you so much' almost made it past her lips. "I can't lose you," she whispered instead before a sob escaped her mouth.

"Oh, shit," Beca exclaimed. Seeing Chloe cry and hearing her voice sound so vulnerable finally made her understand why Chloe was angry with her. "I'm so sorry," she said sincerely, reaching for Chloe's hand that rested next to her on the bed with her own uninjured hand. She squeezed in gently, wordlessly trying to both reassure Chloe that she was still here and emphasize the sincerity of her apology. "I'm sorry that you worried about me. But I'm not sorry that I got hurt protecting you." Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but Beca cut her off before she could even get one word out. "No, don't even try to argue with me. You would've done exactly the same thing, and you know it."

"I would have," Chloe confirmed without hesitation. She hadn't realized it before - that she would have acted the same way as Beca had - even though it was a no-brainer, really.

Of course, she would do anything in her power to protect Beca from harm. The knowledge that Beca felt the same way made her insides tingle. A soft smile bloomed on her face as her tears subsided.

"I would give you a hug, but getting up, uh, it kinda hurts, you know?"

"Right, sorry," Chloe chuckled before standing up. "Can you scoot over a bit?"

Beca nodded and did as she was asked, wincing slightly when the movement pulled at her stitches. She then curiously looked up at Chloe, who just stood next the bed, looking as if she was lost in thought.

She had thought that Chloe might actually help her shift to the side of the bed, but apparently, there was something else on Chloe's mind. She desperately wanted to find out, but she was never one to straight up ask someone what they were thinking, and right now, she was way to exhausted.

So, she just made a mental note to preach the subject with Chloe when she had regained all her senses.

"Chlo?" Beca's soft voice pulled Chloe out of her reverie.

"Oh, uh, yeah," she stuttered, then she quickly toed off her shoes and carefully climbed into the bed. There wasn't a lot of room, but they both snuggly fit on it.

Chloe lay on her side, head propped up on one hand while the other found Beca's again that was now squished between their bodies.

For a while, they just lay there, looking at each other and holding hands. Neither felt the need to say anything.

They were both content with this shared moment, and the tension from earlier seemed to dissipate as time trickled on.

"You should try to get some more rest," Chloe eventually said in a low voice when she saw that Beca struggled to keep her eyes open. She reached up to stroke Beca's cheek affectionately. "I'll be right here when you wake up."

And with that promise, Beca's eyelids fluttered closed as she was lulled into sleep by Chloe's soft caress.