A/N: Hey guys! Thanks to all for the great feedback, you guys are amazing and I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I'm working on the next chapter, but it's sporadic with my crazy schedule right now, so apologies for what might be a bit of a wait for the next update. Also, I love hearing from y'all, so any posts or reviews are welcome! Now... without further ado.

Chapter 4: Don't Panic

Buzz. Buzz, buzz, buzz.

A low grumble filters from underneath a pile of bed sheets bunched atop the small bed that lay within the darkened and empty dorm room. Morning sunlight barely peaks through the small strip of space between the curtains.

"Uhnnngh." A pale arm juts out from underneath the covers, flailing around in search of the device making the offending noise.

Finally grabbing ahold of the item and shutting off the reminder alert on her cellphone, Beca pushes the covers from her body as she turns on her side to check her alarm clock sitting on the shelf just above her bed.

Her vision un-blurs and the large red numbers showing 10:00 register in her brain.

"Shit! Shit shit shit." Beca immediately sits up in bed and reaches over for the time device. "What the hell, clock! You had one job!" She chucks the useless gadget back on the shelf and jumps out of bed. Standing in the middle of her clothes-littered room, wearing an oversized shirt and her hair sticking up in all the wrong ways, she glances around trying to figure out her first move. Son of a bitch. Chloe's gonna be here in like an hour. I'm nowhere near packed! I still haven't even fully processed this whole Christmas-with-her-and-her-family thing. God, maybe it was a mistake saying yes. But it's too late to cancel! Breathe. What am I gonna do?! Breathe.

She whips out her cell and pulls up a familiar number, thinking this is only person she can talk to about any of what's running through her mind right now. Please don't be busy! She opens up a chat, composes her message, and quickly hits send.

Beca: Hey, you busy?

She taps her fingers on the screen impatiently, only stopping when she sees the thought bubble on her phone pop up in the message.

Jesse: Just packing my bags up in the car. What's up?

Beca: Panicking. Blindly. Code Red. Kinda need your help!

She didn't want to sound too dramatic, but desperate times and all… Plus the boy had a penchant for the dramatics.

Jesse: Yeah of course. Be right over. See you in 10!

After setting the phone down on her desk, she locates her open and half-filled suitcase on the floor. "Gah, I knew I should've finished this last night!" She mumbles in a panic. First things first, she thinks: shower. Beca grabs her shower tote and some clothes to wear, and makes her way to the bathroom.

Finishing in record time, she re-enters her bedroom, fully changed into a pair of dark skinny jeans, white tank, and her favorite purple plaid shirt. She glances over at the clock she's still pissed at. 10:15. Just as she finished drying her hair and applying her make-up, she hears a knock at the door. Opening the door, she's met with not a face, but a giant coffee cup being handed to her.

"Oh sweet caffeinated goodness." She takes a long gulp of the warm beverage that Jesse immediately handed to her. "And this is why you are occasionally good to have around."

"Good morning to you too, sunshine." He looks around Beca's room, taking in it's ransacked appearance with clothes strewn all over the floor, desk and bed. "Did your closet throw up or were you robbed last night?"

"Shut up. I haven't finished packing and I still can't decide on stuff to take."

"So you laid out your entire wardrobe on the floor to figure out what's there. No, yeah, that's a solid plan." He grins.

"You're lucky you brought coffee, or I'd be smacking that grin off your face right now."

"I feel the love, Becs, really." He continues, "So… what's the panicking all about? I can't imagine you begged me to come over this morning so I could give you tips on outfits. Cause, that's not really my thing."

"Clearly." She gestures toward the guy's outfit. He's got on a grey t-shirt, a casual solid blue button up shirt, a light jacket hoodie and and even thicker, heavier jacket covering all of that. "This layered thing you've got going on... not a great look for you."

"In my defense, it's really cold outside. Also… I kind of don't care what I'm wearing on an airplane. It's all about comfortability." He pauses. "But now that I'm inside and out of the snow, it's like a sauna in here." He takes off his heavy jacket and drops it on the bed, fanning out his lighter jacket to get some air moving around his body.

"You're such a weirdo." He just shrugs her comment off. "So when are you headed out?"

"In about…" he checks his watch. "20 minutes. Got the car packed up. Benji's gonna drive me out to the airport."

"So," he continues. "You gonna tell me why I'm here? It's not often I get a desperate sounding text from Beca Mitchell early in the morning. In fact, it never happens." He looks down at Beca who is sitting on the floor, folding up some items of clothing and shoving them unceremoniously into her suitcase. She stops and runs her right hand through her hair before letting it fall around her face.

"Uhg, I just―I dunno if I can do it."

"Do what?"

"Go. Away. You know, with Chloe. For a whole freaking week! And meet her family!" she exclaims. "I'm not―I mean, we're not―and I―" Beca throws her hands in the air exasperatedly. Uhg, why is saying words so hard!

"Slowly, Beca. Just let the words process in your brain first." Jesse says.

Beca and Jesse's friendship developed in it's own unique way. At first, Beca found the treble as nothing but an annoyance, like a lost puppy that followed her around seeking attention. But over the past few months they bonded during their time spent together at the station, commiserating in their shared duties of stacking records and other grunt work. They had vastly different tastes in music, but the love of music as a whole was there for both of them. At the time, she also noticed that he was similar in personality to Chloe in that he was sweet and personable, but different in that his energy and excitability was more dopey.

It was uncomfortable for the first couple of weeks spending time around Jesse, as Beca could tell the boy had been attracted to her. It was one evening spent stacking yet another round of records, Jesse trying to make the experience more bearable by posing stupidly with album covers, when he asked her out for dinner. She didn't want to disappoint her new friend, but she ultimately broke it to the boy that he wasn't her type. Upon pressing on what type of guy she was into (Lemme guess. Oh, you're into the jock type huh? Or maybe it's heavily tattooed guys with mullets and lowriders? The lumberjack type perhaps? You guys go on dates with your cute matching plaid outfits?), she finally slugged him in the shoulder and admitted she was attracted to those of the female persuasion. His reaction ranged from confusion, to sadness and understanding, to extremely excited, eventually spouting off how from that moment forward they would be best bros and wingmen. Beca simply rolled her eyes and continued with her work, but now more relaxed knowing she didn't have to put up any kind of front around the guy or sidestep anymore of his advances.

There was a time when Beca wouldn't open up to Jesse. It took a lot of persistence―and annoyance―on Jesse's part, but he finally managed to break through some of those walls Beca had built up. His goofy and joking personality had eventually grown on her, and he became like the annoying brother she never had, being able to confide in the boy like he was her own sibling. It wasn't until one night when they were binging on pizza and a bottle of whiskey Jesse managed to extract from the Trebles' house that he learned, in Beca's drunken state, of her feelings for a particular redheaded Bella captain. After the teasing wore off―and by wore off, he means beaten out of him by a deceptively strong brunette―he became sympathetic to her cause, advising her on her feelings whenever she'd have moments of panic. Which is the predicament Jesse now found himself in.

"I just can't understand it. I mean, who does that? Who invites someone out of the blue for Christmas with their family when said invited person isn't girlfriendly or boyfriendly? I know we're friends, and we hang and we talk. I'd go so far as to say she's my best friend." Jesse scoffs loudly, sounding very offended. "My girl best friend. Better?" Jesse reaches a hand out to Beca, and once she's taken it, pulls her up into a standing position.

"Yes. Proceed."

"It's strange for me, this whole thing. I'm not great with people, new people especially." Jesse laughs at this comment, knowing the full truth of that statement. Beca simply glares at him. "Opening up here. Show a little restraint and appreciation."

"Sorry." He clears his throat. "Continue, please."

"I'm nervous about having to be myself around her family. I'm not exactly touchy-feely or a Chatty Kathy, and if Chloe's family is anything like her, I'm in for a long week of sunshine and rainbows and hugs and emotions. I don't do that kind of shit, and I don't want her family to hate me!" Beca's voice starts to rise as she becomes more agitated. "I mean, I'm freaking out here! We're not together or anything, we're just friends, but like, I really want to make a good impression and I'm just me. An awkward, moody, loner."

"Come on Bec. You're a lot more than that. You're smart, talented, witty. When you're not freaking out about a certain redhead," he winks at her, "you've got a confidence about you that makes people think you can do anything in the world. You don't let a lot of people see it, but you've got a big heart. You're... considerate? Maybe? I haven't seen that quality yet, but I'm sure it's there." He teases.

"You may not think so, but you're a catch, Beca Mitchell." At those words, Beca allows a small half-smile to grace her face. "Sure, your communication skills are shit, you hate movies, you for some reason click a pen three times before writing something down, and you're not that great at sharing… which is a trait you're supposed to learn in kindergarten by the way!" Beca smacks Jesse square in the chest. "Hey!"

"Dude! I thought this was going to be a pep talk! Besides, what does the pen thing have to do with anything?"

"It's insane quirk for a person to have Beca!" The brunette just rolls her eyes at his outburst.

"But seriously, Chloe's your friend, she's not someone you have to impress. Even if you want to get in her pants." Another smack to the chest. "Ow! And you know her," he continues, rubbing the, what he believes to be, now forming bruise on his upper chest. "She'd give the shirt off her back to someone she thought needed it, so why wouldn't she invite you for Christmas to spend with her?"

"You're right. And it's just―I like her, you know? I think I'm just afraid that, if we spend all this time together, I won't be able to stop myself for really falling for her. And I don't think I can take the rejection if she doesn't feel the same way." Beca's voice cracks slightly as she finishes speaking.

"Hey, don't panic. It's gonna be fine." He says, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "You're gonna go, you're gonna have fun… as much fun as a moody, snarky, hates-the-world recluse like yourself can have whilst celebrating one of the happiest holidays of the year." Beca slugs him in the shoulder, sniggering slightly at the boy's attempt to lighten the mood.

"I don't hate the world." Jesse gives her a knowing look. "Not the whole world anyways! Just most of what's in it. Music, coffee, pie… those are just three of the twelve things I enjoy in this world."

"Twelve? Quite the specific number. Well, I hope I made that list of yours. I am pretty amazing to be around…" he says, tugging on his jacket with a goofy and cocky smile.

"Sorry bud, I had to cut it off somewhere. You might've been in the top 100." She gives the boy a slight grin.

"One hundred! I'm your lesbro, Becs! Your bosom buddy that's not familiar with your bosoms at all. How could you leave me off your 'important things' list, let alone have me barely even crack a billboard top hits chart." He says with his hand against his chest, feigning hurt.

"Wow. Did you drop your balls on the way over to my dorm, or what…?"

"Shove off, Mitchell." he laughs.

"Also, please don't ever say 'Lesbro' again. Like, ever."

"Yeah, I mean, I guess I'm not technically a 'Lesbro' til you start lesbi-dating."

Beca groans and slugs Jesse in the chest again. "No! None of those stupid words come out of your mouth or I will be forced to be violent." He cocks another eyebrow. "More violent. I'm sure Lilly knows how to hide a body, so… I'm warning you."

"Okay, okay." Jesse says, raising his hands in the air in surrender. He glances at his watch again and notices the time. "Crap, I gotta get going Becs. You good then?" He asks, still concerned with the earlier emotional state of his best friend.

Softening her prior glare, she looks up at the boy in front of her. "Yeah. And thanks Jesse, for coming over and talking me down. I'm still pretty nervous about this whole trip, but I mean, you're right. It's Chloe. If I get weird, she'll be able to knock me out of it." Jesse smirks and gives her a definitive nod.

"Good. And seriously, if you need me, if you start freaking out about whatever... I'm just a phone call away okay?" Beca simply nods. Jesse's smirk morphs into a goofy grin as he stands up straight, ready to leave. He looks at her pointedly. "Well… if you think you're getting out of a hug this time Mitchell, you're sorely mistaken."

"Dude, no." Beca warns, trying to back away in the limited amount of space she has behind her in the small dorm room, while trying not to trip over her strewn out clothing.

"Just shut up, gimme a hug and consider it my Christmas present." Jesse laughs, opening his arms wide and stepping towards the petite girl in front of him. Beca relents, allowing the boy to wrap her up in a quick, but still awkward for her, hug. "Merry Christmas Becaw."

"Yeah, yeah. Merry Christmas weirdo."

Just as the duo were about to release each other from their hold, there was a quick knock at the door, followed by a bubbly redhead entering the room.

"Hey Becs! I brought you―" Chloe stops in her tracks, smile faltering slightly on her face as she watches the two casually break away from their embrace. "Oh h―hey Jesse. I uh, I didn't know you were gonna be here?" Chloe says, catching Beca's eyes before averting her own back to the treble. She mentally berated herself for stumbling over her own words. Of course he's here dummy. Why wouldn't he be? They're probably together and were having a romantic moment before you barged in on them.

"Chloe, hey! Yeah, I―" Jesse starts.

"Was just leaving!" Beca cuts him off, while pushing the treble towards the door.

"Yep, what she said." He motions his thumb toward the surly brunette shoving him out of the room. Jesse manages to hold onto the frame and turn himself around before Beca can completely throw him out. "Alright there Pushy McPusherson, slow your roll, I'm getting out of your hair. Chloe," he looked back towards the redhead, who he noticed was standing stiffly in the center of the room, looking back at the two of them in the doorway and managing to form a tight-lipped smile on her face in response to her name being called. "Merry Christmas. I hope you guys have a great trip!" he says with all sincerity.

"You too, Jesse, Merry Christmas." Chloe responds with forced smile and a little too much cheer, trying to mask the sadness currently flooding through her.

"Becs… remember what I said, okay?" Beca nods again, grabs the door frame and begins shutting it on her friend. "Alright, well I'll see you guys in a couple weeks. Later." He waves behind him and hastily makes his way down the hall and out of sight as the door shuts completely.

Beca pushes herself off of the door, and turns slowly back around to face the object of her distress and affection. Smiling a closed-mouth smile, she runs her right hand through her hair as she steps toward the redhead standing in the middle of her room.

"Chlo, hey. I wasn't expecting you for a few more minutes. I―"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Chloe cuts her off. "I didn't mean to interrupt you guys. I probably should've called you first anyways. I just, you know, I wanted to surprise you with some breakfast, and now that I think about it, that is kinda dumb because I still could've called and told you I was on my way and―"

"Woah, Chloe, breathe! No. That's sweet. And I don't mind that you just came by. I―I was just gonna say that I was hoping to get all of this crap packed up before you got here so you weren't walking into a pigsty." She pauses and gestures to the mess around them. "But uh, yeah… that didn't go according to plan, so… yeah." Beca tacks on half-heartedly, sporting a slightly embarrassed smirk.

Silence is rarely awkward between the two girls, but in this particular instance, both could feel the strained energy in the room. Beca, feeling awkward from her emotional unload and being caught mid-hug with Jesse; Chloe, feeling awkward walking in on said hug. Before the tension became so thick you could choke on it, Chloe cleared her throat to initiate any kind of conversation.

"So… you and Jesse huh?" She grins toward the brunette, opting for teasing the younger girl to mask her own inner turmoil at the image she walked in on. "You two looked pretty close when I came in." She stated as casual as possible, trying not to allow the intense beating of her heart and the throbbing in her ears betray her own voice.

"Me and Jesse? Close? No, we―that was―I mean, technically, sure we were physically close. I guess you have to be when hugging, but he―I mean, he just um, stopped by before his flight home to, you know, say bye and stuff." Beca stutters out awkwardly.

Beca is a horrible liar when it comes to Chloe. The older Bella brings out emotions in the DJ that she never thought could crack the surface of her hardened exterior, and unbeknownst to the redhead, she manages to do it without any effort.

"Cause that's apparently what normal people do. Or at least, so I've read in books." She laughs nervously.

"I guess I was just a little surprised. Weren't you the one that said, 'Beca Mitchell doesn't do hugs?'"

"Yeah, well, unfortunately for me, it was his Christmas present. And I'm on a college student's budget, so I had to get him something inexpensive. Lucky for me, a hug doesn't cost much."

"Just a small piece of your soul?" Chloe quips, and Beca laughs.

"Pretty much. In fact, I might need to go take another shower just to get the feeling off of me."

"Well, if you need some company for another impromptu duet, I'm available." She says suggestively, throwing a wink in the brunette's direction.

"SO, um… you said something about breakfast?" Beca states loudly, attempting to change the conversation and hinder the rising blush in her cheeks. Noticing the slight flustered nature in which Beca responds, Chloe grins, receiving her desired effect on the girl, and glad for the awkwardness to have dissipated.

"Yes. Sugar-y goodness at your service, milady!" She bows slightly, presenting the white paper bag to Beca.

"Ooh, donuts!" Beca exclaims giddily, grabbing at the bag to open and stick her face in it.

"Did you get the―"

"Jelly filled? Of course." Chloe beams. "Two powdered sugar raspberry filled. Your fav." Beca lifts her head out of the bag and smiles.

"You're the best!" Beca says as she reaches into the bag to pull out a donut. She moves to clear off some questionable smelling shirts hanging from her chair, sitting down at her desk to eat.

"I know. But still, it's nice to hear every once in awhile." Chloe says airily, still grinning at the adorable girl sitting in front of her.

Having already scarfed down one of her donuts as soon as she sat in the chair, Beca looks up mid-bite of her second pastry to roll her eyes playfully at the other girl. Unbeknownst to her, however, the younger girl managed to leave a smudge of jelly and powdered sugar on the edge of her mouth. Giggling, Chloe closed the distance between the two of them, crouching down to Beca's eye-level.

"Becs, look at you. You've completely made a mess of yourself!" The lightness of Chloe's laughter fills Beca's senses, and the proximity of her face so close to her own causes a temporary short-circuit in her brain as she stares, wide-eyed, when Chloe slowly lifts her hand up to her face. "Here, let me get that."

The redhead's thumb brushes gently, but with a firm pressure to remove the offending jelly and powder from Beca's lips. The contact causes Beca's breath to hitch slightly, her eyes fluttering briefly before staring back into pure ocean blue. Breathe, Mitchell. Inhale! Exhale! God, she's so close. Just another inch and I could feel those soft lips on mine.

Be cool, Beale. Don't lean in. Don't do it. But she smells so good and I would only just have to barely move in to capture her―no! Just back up slowly and don't ruin anything.

Chloe shifts slightly back on her legs, allowing for more space in between the two women, as both release a heavy breath neither knew they were holding. Of course, not one to miss an opportunity to tease the younger woman, Chloe slowly brings her jelly-covered thumb up to her own lips, sliding her tongue out and sucking the filling off.

Beca's eyes widen and her mouth drops open slightly as she watches the sudden―and very erotic―action the redhead is doing. Attempting to swallow the lump in her throat, she makes the unfortunate decision to suck in air to breathe and ends up choking on absolutely nothing.

"Woah, Becs, are you okay?" Chloe asks worriedly, as Beca attempts to wave her off and control her spluttering as a slight blush tints her cheeks.

Chloe moves back closer to the smaller girl, rubbing her hand up and down Beca's back, trying to help with her coughing fit. The gentle contact on her back and the piercing blue eyes staring into her own is doing nothing to control Beca's rapidly increasing heart rate. However, a few moments of inhaling slow breaths allow Beca to regain her composure and settle the coughing.

"Geez… must have inhaled some powdered sugar or something." Beca replies, standing to move past the kneeling redhead, trying to mask the still fading blush on her cheeks.

Smirking and cheering internally at garnering another favorable reaction from the brunette, Chloe rises to face the tiny DJ who is now standing in the middle of the room, surveying her strewn about wardrobe.

"Right. So…" Chloe leads, "You um, need a little help with the packing there, Becs?" She asks a little bewildered, finally taking in the entirety of the room.

"What gave it away?" The brunette turns her head to face Chloe, wearing a wry smile.

"Smart ass. You know, with how anal Aubrey is about organization, if she saw this place, she'd probably have an aneurysm on the spot."

"Now that's an idea! Is it too late to call her over here?" Beca's eyes light up.

"Sadly for you, she's already up in the air." Chloe chuckles at the girl's enthusiasm.

"Darn. Next time." Beca responds, pouting ever so slightly.

"You dork."

"So," Chloe continues, "What seems to be the problem with packing, other than your usual ill-preparedness and lack of decisiveness?"

"You wound me with your words, Beale." Beca dramatically brings her hand to her chest, giving the redhead an offended gaze.

"Aw, big baby, does someone need a hug?" The older Bella mockingly pouts.

"No no! You keep those insulting arms away. You've done enough damage to my ego, I don't need to be crushed by a Beale body hug too." Beca states, holding out an arm in defense between the two girls.

With a mischievous glint in her eye and a small smirk rising on the edge of her lips, as a way of saying 'challenge accepted,' Chloe quickly grabs a hold of the brunette's arm, pulling her forcibly into her own body and wrapping her arms around the petite girl.

Even though she emitted a small shriek of surprise (which she'll wholeheartedly deny doing― You totes squealed Beca, it was adorbs.), Beca found herself melting into Chloe's arms, enjoying the warm embrace and smell of the other girl's scent as the senior leaned her head onto Beca's shoulder. After a much longer hug than would be considered normal for even the closest of friends, the two girls pulled apart slowly with shy smiles. Chloe, looking into the shorter girl's enchanting dark blue eyes and running her palms softly up and down the girl's arms, speaks first to break the comfortable silence.

"Okay, let's get to it." She smiles wider, letting go of the brunette to help her get to work packing.

30 minutes, a lecture on wintertime apparel ("Becs, skinny jeans and tanktops? Are you purposefully trying to freeze to death?") and an impromptu tickle fight later (initiated by Chloe after teasing Beca with the underwear she was packing, and a fight that Beca totally won, despite what Chloe says), Beca's suitcases were finally packed.

"Alright, I think we're good to go!" The redhead exclaims.

Beca takes one last look around her room, making sure she hasn't left any necessities behind. Grabbing her jacket off the hook in her closet, she picks up her keys from the nightstand and opens her door. Dragging one of the bags with her, Chloe filters through the doorway first, followed by Beca carrying her shoulder bag and dragging the last of the suitcases with her. Shutting and locking the dorm room door, she turns to the bubbly girl beside her in the hallway.

"Ready?"

"Let's do it. Connecticut, here we come!"