The electronic ping of a cell phone disturbed Beca's slumber. Her mind was still fuzzy with sleep, and her eyes could not yet open, but she felt movement on her left side, accompanied by the rustling sound of a jostled sleeping bag. A swift chill quickly followed as her brain registered the loss of the body next to hers. She willed her eyes open just in time to catch a glimpse of the red head's back as she exited the tent.

Weird, she thought. Where is she going?

She felt the urge to follow her friend. She shouldn't be venturing alone into the woods in the middle of the night. Who knows what's out there? Thoughts of wild animals and creepy strangers flooded her mind… and didn't Aubrey mention something about bear traps? Yes, she should really follow Chloe, just to be sure she's safe.

But as Beca began to unzip her sleeping bag, she heard the sound of footsteps circumnavigating the tent. They came to a stop directly in front of her and Beca stared at the wall of the tent, as if looking hard enough would allow her to see through it to the girl on the other side. But she had no such luck. There wasn't even a shadow of the figure beyond.

She heard a muffled voice mutter "hey" from beyond the canvas barrier. The voice was familiar, but it wasn't Chloe's. She couldn't quite place it from the one word utterance.

Chloe's voice came next. "Hey."

There was a long silence before the first voice spoke again. "So…? Are you gunna tell me what happened?"

Beca would recognize that agitated tone anywhere. Aubrey. She could practically see the blonde folding her arms across her chest, tapping her foot in an exasperated demonstration of her impatience. What was Chloe doing sneaking out to talk to the former captain in the middle of the night?

"I tried, Bree. She didn't bite," Chloe sighed. "She literally told me I was weird and turned her back on me." The red head's voice sounded both a little shocked and wholly sad to Beca. It was very un-Chloe, and Beca didn't like that one bit. …Wait, what? It took a moment for the fog in the DJ's brain to dissipate, for her to realize… Holy shit. She's talking about me!

She flashed back to that moment, just a few hours ago, when Chloe offered her a backrub and then made a weird – yes, weird, because there really wasn't another, more accurate, word for it – comment about how she regretted not having "experimented" more during her 7 years at Barden. She was serious about that? Like, what did that even mean? "Experimented?" "Experimented" with what?

Beca's attention was pulled back to the wall of the tent as Aubrey pressed Chloe for more information. "But what did you say to her? What did you tell her?"

"Nothing! I just told her I regretted not experimenting more in college. I literally didn't tell her anything."

"Oh my God, Chloe. "Experimenting?" Really?! That's what you said?"

Perhaps for the first time ever, Beca and Aubrey were on the same page. I mean, it was a fucking weird thing to say. And, at the time, Beca honestly didn't think much of it. Chloe had always been weird. I mean, the red head literally barged into her shower stall the second time they ever spoke. She had been completely naked, and completely vulnerable, and Chloe didn't show one ounce of understanding that joining a stranger in the shower was a totally not normaland not acceptable behavior. But, of course, as Beca had gotten to know the girl over the years, she had come to understand that that was just Chloe being Chloe. Completely unaware of social norms and 100% unfiltered are two phrases synonymous with Chloe Beale's very existence.

So, no. Beca really didn't think anything of that weird comment. Until now. Because sneaking out in the middle of the night to discuss it with your best friend certainly makes it seem like it must have meant something.

"I said something about how this trip was going to bring us closer together, let us find out everything about each other," Chloe sounded defensive. "And then, yeah, I said I regretted not experimenting more." She sounded, like, really defensive. "What's wrong with that?!"

"Chloeee…" Aubrey's tone was patronizing, and Beca took a brief moment to wonder if the blonde had a tone of voice that was neither annoyed nor condescending. The brunette honestly could not remember a time when the sound of her words had landed anywhere else on the spectrum. Well, maybe that one time when Aubrey had let the Bellas see just a pinprick beyond the façade, into her true, emotional self, when they were all making confessions about themselves to each other. But barely. Because if Beca remembered correctly, she still sounded pretty irritated as she revealed the tiniest bit of truth about her relationship with her father.

"This is Beca we're talking about," Aubrey continued, "Emotionally stunted and unaware Beca." The DJ scoffed at that. Sure, she could be a little closed off emotionally – okay, fine, a lot closed off emotionally – but she'd come a long way in the last 4 years, with help from Chloe and the rest of the Bellas. And Jesse, too. Her relationship with Jesse had opened her up in all sorts of ways. And really, who was Aubrey to talk about emotionally stunted? What's that they say about pots and black kettles again?

She heard a signature, frustrated sigh on the other side of the tent. "I think you're gunna have to spell it out for her a bit more, Chlo." Spell it out for her? Man, Aubrey was coming at her from all sides. Not only was she emotionally stunted, but apparently she was also stupid.

Beca tried to remain unaffected by this particular insult, though. She really didn't know what Chloe was trying to say earlier. So, in a way – as much as it pained Beca to admit it to herself – Aubrey was right. She was going to need this one spelled out for her…

But Chloe had more faith in her intelligence, it seemed. "What I said was not subtle. It was a very obvious come on."

Beca's brain froze for a long moment; her breath caught, and her mind went blank. She took a shallow, steadying breath and then began to process Chloe's words slowly, like an old computer just booted up after a week without use. A…come on…? Chloe was… trying to flirt with me? Like… seriously flirt with me? So when she said "experiment," what she meant was… oh… "Oh!" she exclaimed audibly, as the realization finally dawned on her. Her hands flew to cover her mouth as she gasped, praying silently that Aubrey and Chloe didn't hear her little outburst.

"Do you really think she would have reacted the way she did if she understood what you meant?" Aubrey's voice was tinged with something that sounded alarmingly like empathy. And it was a bit jarring to Beca. She'd never heard Aubrey sound quite as somber, quite as compassionate as she sounded right now. She sounded loving, maybe even tender, and…a little bit afraid. It was strange to the brunette's ears. It sounded like Aubrey Posen might have some sort of soul, or something. Couldn't be…

She heard Chloe release a slow, shaky breath. "I… I don't know. I really hope—" The red head's voice cracked, and she stopped short. She sounded completely dejected. Her voice was filled with a sad hopelessness, despite her words to the contrary. And on the other side of the tent, Beca's heart ached for her. She didn't mean to upset Chloe. She would never intentionally hurt the other girl. Chloe was her best friend. And she loved her. Had she understood what Chloe meant in that moment, she liked to think that she would have been supportive of her feelings, even if she couldn't reciprocate them. Though, if Beca was being honest, she knew her reaction probably wouldn't have been much different. Beca had come a long way in 4 years, but nobody's perfect. She never claimed to have completely taken down the walls that she had spent 18 years building up. And she knew that, despite wanting to be a good, supportive friend in that moment, those walls in conjunction with her sarcastic attitude, total social awkwardness, and the shock of the revelation would have, at best, led her to laugh directly in Chloe's face.

But Beca was now outside of that particular moment, and she had pieced together what Chloe was driving at with her weirdness. So the question was: how was she going to react now? Now that she knew? Now that she understood? Now that she had a moment to thoughtfully formulate her reaction?

"I know, sweetie," came Aubrey's soothing voice. "I know." Soothing? Beca thought. Who is this Aubrey imposter!?

There was a long pause, during which Beca wondered if their conversation had ended. Then, more logically as Chloe had yet to return to her sleeping bag, she feared that the two had moved out of earshot. But after some time, Aubrey began to speak again. "I think it's worth giving it another try, Chloe. Just be really specific with her. See how she reacts this time."

Chloe's response was a tentative "yeah," and Aubrey continued: "I don't think you're completely off-base on this one. I haven't known your gut instinct to be wrong before… Just be patient with her." Another pause. "Now take a deep breath…" Aubrey took a breath herself, and Beca heard Chloe join in. "And out," she said, and the both gave a long, slow exhale.

"Okay?" Aubrey asked.

"Okay." Then Beca heard the sound of lips lightly smacking. And it must have been Chloe, giving the blonde a kiss on the cheek to say goodbye. That was the only thing that made sense. Beca had never known Aubrey to be the kind of girl to kiss her friends in greeting, but Chloe, on the other hand, was constantly invading her friends' personal bubbles with her effervescent affection.

Beca could have sworn that she heard a soft moan, but before the thought could even really register in her mind, she wrote it off as the din of the woods.

"Now get back to bed. Tomorrow's gunna be tough, I can promise you that." Aubrey's commander-in-chief tone had returned and Beca felt much more comfortable with the sound, though she suddenly remembered where she was, and why she was here, and yeah, Beca was so not looking forward to the hell she knew she'd be put through tomorrow.

Another noise followed, like a slap, and then the distinctive sound of Chloe Beale's giggle echoed against the trees. Beca followed the patter of Chloe's footsteps as she returned to the entrance of the tent. The DJ's eyes snapped shut at the rustle of the canvas. She couldn't let the other girl know she was awake, couldn't let her know that she may have overheard that entire conversation. No, pretending to be asleep was really her only option.

She could feel Chloe's body shimmy into the sleeping back next to her. She waited patiently for the sound of the girl's head hitting the pillow, but it never came. Instead, Beca felt the feather-light touch of long fingers sweeping a loose strand of hair from her forehead.

"Beca?" Chloe softly whispered, and Beca did her best to keep her composure. She wasn't sure if she should react, if she should acknowledge the girl's presence, or if it was better to ignore her, and pretend to be deep into her REM cycle. She felt immobilized by the choice, which ultimately made her decision for her.

For what seemed like a long moment, fingers scratched delicately against her hairline. She heard Chloe softly inhale, and then felt the warm press of lips against her forehead. Her muscles tensed at the contact and she hoped Chloe didn't notice. Oh my God, what is happening?!

Chloe pulled away and Beca began to once again debate the realities of whether or not a sleeping body would respond in some way to this kind of exchange. Should she shift? Should she make some sort of noise in acknowledgment? What would be most believable in this circumstance?

But her choice was, once again, made for her when she felt Chloe's lips press gently against her own. Beca involuntarily let out a soft exhalation and the sound, thought Beca, was vaguely reminiscent of a quiet moan. Embarrassment quickly flooded her and already tense muscles managed to clench even further. Surely Chloe couldn't ignore this reflexive reaction to the kiss. Beca was certain she'd been found out, caught in the act of feigning sleep.

But, to Beca's surprise, when Chloe pulled back, she once again felt fingers stroke through the hair at her scalp. She didn't notice. Chloe sighed before quietly murmuring, "Good night, Becs." And then Beca heard the sound she had awaited earlier, the sound of Chloe's head pressing into her pillow. She felt the other girl shift, turning onto her side, presumably away from Beca. So the brunette chanced a look. She slowly opened her eyes and was met with the sight of the back of Chloe's head, her fiery locks just as loose and untamable as ever.

Her brow furrowed as she mouthed silently, exasperatedly, to herself: What the fuck?! And it took everything in her power to contain all of the hand gestures that should accompany a noiseless exclamation like that.

A/N: Hey all. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! I'd absolutely love your feedback on this one, as I don't have the whole thing planned out just yet. What did you like about it? What might you like to see? Any and all constructive criticism is totally welcome!

Unlike with my last story ("And I Sure Would Like Some Sweet Company"), I'm not going to create a regular posting schedule for this one. Chapters will come out as I write them... and I may be inclined to write a bit faster if I know you nerds are interested in seeing more. So please, please, please let me know what you think! :)