A/N: So, I have a question for you guys. I have two possible multipart fics I'd like to begin writing in full. The first is a sequel to You Untether Me (if you guys have read that); the other is an expansion on the AU fanfic in this Vignette series where Beca and Chloe meet on the college tour. The sequel to YUM is more likely to get finished before I go back to uni I think (I hope), but really I'd just like an idea of which one people would be more interested in. It has been over a year since I first wrote YUM after all! But if you have any opinion one way or the other, let me know.

Also, to people who sent me prompts - thank you so much. I'm sorry I suck and fell into writing other projects! I'll do my best to get around to them but it might be a while, especially the ones that would probably require a longer story.

Just a quick fluffy thing set before Regionals - it's been in my backlog for ages so I'm happy to finally get rid of it...


'Hey Kimmy Jin, how do I look?' Beca asked, turning to her roommate. She received no response, as Kimmy Jin instead very pointedly ignored her and continued to chat away to one of her friends on Skype. Beca watched her do this for a moment before turning back to the mirror; she sighed and smoothed out the skirt, tugging at the Bella's scarf tied around her neck with a grimace. She'd never get used to this austere uniform. But like everything the Bellas did, it was "tradition" and, according to Aubrey, tradition could never be broken.

Seriously, who came up with this look? American Airlines?

'You can do this,' Beca told herself in the mirror. 'You can sing and dance to stupid, boring songs from last century. It'll make a good embarrassing story in the future when you get famous and have to write your memoirs... Aaand now you're talking to yourself.' She gave herself a thumb's up. 'Good one, Mitchell. You're losing it.'

Beca checked the time on her phone, eyes widening when she saw what the time was. Although they still had hours yet before they were due on stage, she was supposed to get on the bus with the other Bellas about... Five minutes ago. Aw, crap - Aubrey was going to kill her.

'Bye Kimmy Jin!' she shouted to her roommate, blowing a sarcastic kiss to her - typically receiving no response again - as she wrenched open the door and ran outside. However, since she'd been looking over her shoulder she didn't see the person standing right outside the door about to knock and promptly ran straight into them. Whoever it was squeaked in surprise, but somehow managed to stay upright; meanwhile, Beca not-so-gracefully lost her balance and toppled face first onto the ugly blue hallway carpet.

It only took a flash of red hair in her peripheral vision as she fell to the floor to tell her the mysterious stranger was Chloe. Beca wasn't particularly surprised. The number of red haired people likely to be creeping outside her dorm was rather small - not to mention, Chloe had an odd and mildly irritating habit of turning up at her door to accost her in the hallway. Usually whenever Beca was planning to skip practice. She seemed to have a sixth sense for that kind of thing.

'Hello, Chloe,' Beca said to the ceiling. She felt her head gingerly, which she suspected would end up having a lump or at the very least an attractive bruise. That would go nicely with her scarf.

Chloe's face appeared in Beca's line of sight, confirming Beca's suspicions. She was also in her Bellas uniform, hair tied back into a brutally tight ponytail, but unlike Beca her grin was already out in full force. 'Hey there! Have a nice trip?'

'That wasn't even remotely inventive,' Beca grumbled, struggling to sit up but declining the hand Chloe put out to help her. 'How come I was the only one who ended up on the floor?'

'I have much better balance, apparently.' Chloe's smile widened in that usual teasing way she had, making Beca roll her eyes.

'Were you standing there long?'

'Oh, only an hour or two,' Chloe replied, winking. She reached down to tug Beca to her feet, to her protests. 'Aubrey sent me to make sure you actually came. You look really great, by the way,' she added.

'Do you have to sound so surprised?'

'Well, I kind of am. Your legs look fantastic in this skirt. I don't remember them looking that good in the shower.' Before Beca could pull away, she was already pulling at the bottom of Beca's shirt, smoothing out some of the creases with her hands. Beca stepped out of her reach, blushing slightly.

There was a short pause where Chloe cocked her head in slight bemusement, as she tended to do when Beca became at all uncomfortable with Chloe's lack of respect for boundaries. The next moment, however, the blinding smile was back.

'Coming?' Chloe offered an arm out to her.

Beca gave a deep sigh, looking longingly back at her dorm room; for a second she entertained fantasies of running back in and locking the door, Kimmy Jin be damned. But Chloe had already grown impatient and taken hold of Beca's arm, dragging her resisting legs down the hallway.

'C'mon, Beca!' Chloe said cheerfully. 'Acapella waits for no one!'

'I don't care if it waits for me; it can go on without me as far as I'm concerned. Remind me why the hell I'm doing this again?'

Chloe glanced back at her, a few steps ahead of Beca with her arm clutched in her right hand. Surely being that happy is illegal, Beca thought, eyeing Chloe's grin. And so is having teeth that white. She really needed the number of Chloe's dentist. 'You mean dancing and singing in aca-harmony with an awesome group of hot gals? Surely there's no better way to spend your Saturday night.'

'Cutting my nails... Watching paint dry... Being glared at by Kimmy Jin's friends while they play Mario Kart. Anything, really.'

'Hm, well, you can do all those things to your heart's content after the performance. For now, it's singing time.'

Beca groaned. 'How are you so excited?'

'I love to sing, and I love music,' Chloe replied, her tone suggesting the answer was completely obvious. 'And so do you, so I would have thought you'd be excited too.'

'I love making mixes and singing alone,' Beca stressed. 'I don't even know why I'm here. I look and feel ridiculous.'

'No you don't. I told you already, you look amazing.'

Beca sighed. 'I don't just mean the clothes - I mean in general. This is so dumb, I don't know why I'm here.'

Chloe slowed her pace a little, smile wavering slightly from its original full power. 'Oh, Beca. You don't really feel that way, do you?'

'Don't I?'

Chloe stopped completely this time. However, Beca didn't realise this and kept on going until the vice grip on her arm pulled her back. When she looked back, Chloe had lost her smile and was now frowning at her.

'What?' she said.

'If you think it's so dumb, then why did you join?' If anyone else had asked, it probably would've sounded accusatory, but Chloe just sounded upset. Beca wasn't sure she preferred it.

'Have you forgotten when you jumped me in the shower and made me sing to you?' Beca certainly hadn't, try as she might. She couldn't listen to Titanium these days without going into a full body blush.

'I might have made you sing to me, but I didn't force you to audition,' Chloe pointed out. 'That was all you. I didn't even think you weregoing to turn up.'

'Well - you seemed like you'd be kinda disappointed if I didn't.' Crap, she didn't mean to say that. Beca ducked her head and went to put her hands in her pockets, but the pockets on these blazers were disappointingly shallow.

'So… you joined so you didn't disappoint me?'

Beca caught the note of pleasure in her voice. 'Don't get cocky,' Beca warned. 'I'm just a really nice person, that's all.'

Chloe smiled. 'Yes, you are.' She reached down to take Beca's hands in hers, running her thumbs over their backs until Beca pulled away with an uncharacteristic impatience. Chloe took note of this. 'Look, what's really going on? You're even crankier than usual, and generally that means something is bothering you.'

'That's not true.'

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

'Okay, maybe it is a little,' she admitted. 'It's - it's just this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, you know?'

'Oh, like nerves?'

Beca scowled. 'I am not nervous. If I'm anything, I'm mildly apprehensive, but that's all.'

'That's pretty close to nervous if you ask me,' said Chloe. 'You shouldn't worry. Your voice is beautiful, so I know you're going to be aca-amazing.'

'... Whatever, let's just go. We've been rehearsing for months so it'd be a waste not to,' Beca said, with a small scoff to cover her sudden embarrassment at Chloe's genuine compliment. She started walking again, closely followed by Chloe, who was unperturbed as usual by her sudden mood change.

'If it helps, I am as well... Nervous, that is.' Beca was somewhat surprised by this, but didn't let it show. 'I mean, it's the first time we're going on stage since Finals of last year.' Beca winced, remembering that video she saw of Aubrey. 'I'm nervous for Aubrey. She's under a lot of pressure.'

'But you're not nervous for you?' Beca couldn't help asking. 'What about your… y'know?' She waved her hand awkwardly in the vicinity of her throat.

'My nodes?' When Beca nodded, she shrugged. 'I'll be fine. Don't worry.'

'Don't they hurt?'

'Sometimes.'

'So, a lot of the time then,' said Beca, earning herself a nudge in the side.

'Don't be silly. And anyway,' she went on brightly - although Beca wasn't entirely convinced it was genuine - 'I can cope.'

'I'm sure. Just be careful, alright?'

'I am,' Chloe insisted. Beca didn't press it further.

They walked on. Beca had never realised quite how big the campus was - or at least, it felt pretty big when she was walking in silence with Chloe, their bare arms brushing with every step.

'Hey, you're… a little close, there,' Beca said, glancing down at their arms, which were getting fairly intimate. 'Your elbow could at least buy mine a drink first,' she teased.

'Oh, sorry.' She didn't laugh at the joke at all, making Beca raise an eyebrow.

Chloe didn't move away. They spent the rest of the walk out to the bus like that, with Chloe seemingly getting closer every few seconds until their arms were not so much brushing as banging into each other. Beca was getting annoyed, and opened her mouth to complain - however, Chloe stopped suddenly, just out of sight of the parking lot. Chloe had gone quite pale and immediately Beca worried she was going to throw up or something. She didn't need two projectile vomiters on the team. 'Chloe?'

'I was lying,' she said.

'Huh?'

'Just now. When I said I was only nervous about Aubrey. I was lying.' Chloe looked away, biting her lip. 'I am nervous for myself.'

Beca had suspected as much, but figured saying so wasn't going to help. '...Okay.' Beca folded her arms, suddenly uncomfortable. She wasn't really the best at comforting people. For the first time in her life, she suddenly found herself wishing Aubrey was here. 'Why?'

'The nodes. You're right, I've been freaking out about them for ages,' Chloe replied. 'What if I crack, Beca? What if I go off key and throw everyone else off? What if I let everyone down? What if I let Aubrey down?'

Beca swallowed, eyes widening. What was she meant to say to that? The silence went on; by now Chloe was begging her silently to say something, do anything at all. But she couldn't. Even more seconds ticked by in which Chloe's eyes were beginning to look a little watery, and Beca was starting to panic.

So in the end, she said the first thing that popped into her head: 'W-well. You know the best thing to do for nerves, right? Picture the audience in their underwear.'

Chloe didn't immediately respond, and Beca's heart jumped to her throat, thinking she'd just made things worse with her ill-timed joke. But in the end, Chloe laughed - it was a tiny, thin, weak one one, but it was a laugh nonetheless. 'Does that work for nodes?' she asked, trying to wipe her eyes without messing up her makeup.

'Hell yes. I don't know why doctors don't prescribe it more.'

'Beats me.' Chloe wasn't doing a particularly good job of not smudging her make up (or calming down, for that matter) and was rapidly looking more and more like a raccoon with every second.

'Hey... It's okay - don't cry,' said Beca. She put her hand on Chloe's shoulder, took a breath, then pulled her into a hug. She didn't often give these out of her own accord, but it was the only thing she could think to do. 'It'll be great. You know?'

It wasn't a particularly eloquent or helpful thing to say, but judging by the way Chloe clung to her, she figured maybe the hug was the thing she really needed. She could do that. She'd given hugs before. Not ones as long lasting as the one she was giving now, maybe, but it wasn't a big deal.

'I'm just so scared I'm going to mess everything up,' Chloe said, quiet and miserable, leaning her forehead against Beca's shoulder. 'I've had nightmares about it since that day at the doctors. I don't have the range that I should have and it's just getting harder and harder every time I sing.'

Beca frowned. That didn't sound healthy at all. 'Have you ever thought,' she began hesitantly, 'about just giving up the singing? It would really suck if you ended up doing permanent damage to your voice.'

It was completely the wrong thing to say, apparently, because Chloe twisted away from her, her face aghast. 'I can't do that! Beca, this is my one last chance, I can't let Aubrey down -'

'Okay, okay - shh, forget I said anything.' She drew Chloe back into the hug out of a loss of any other ideas, hoping to calm her slight trembling with a few pats on the back. Beca still thought it was worth thinking about, but realised maybe bringing it up now had been a bit of a stupid decision. She decided to go down the reassuring statements route instead, guessing that Chloe probably wasn't in the mood for advice right now. 'Chloe, you're going to be amazing. You aren't going to let any of us down.'

'You really think so?' Chloe's voice was small and vulnerable. It was a far cry from the confident woman who had burst into Beca's shower only a few months ago and forced them to sing together. It seemed odd to Beca that the same person was now clinging to her, needing reassurance about the thing she was best at, when only ten minutes ago she'd been trying to comfort Beca on her voice.

'Well, duh. I've heard you in the shower, right? If you can sing naked in front of a total stranger, you can totally pull it off in front of a few judges,' said Beca. 'I'm sure your nodes won't even bother you tonight.'

'Really?'

'Of course. I'm always right, aren't I?'

She chuckled and gave Beca a grateful squeeze. They stood there for a whole minute, with Beca wondering whether this was standard protocol for friends comforting other friends, until Chloe finally backed away. She felt oddly bereft when this happened, but was relieved to see that Chloe looked a lot less like she was going to have a panic attack at any moment. Crisis averted, Beca thought. For now maybe.

Chloe cleared her throat and pulled gently on the end of Beca's shirt, smoothing out the creases that had appeared. It was the same thing she'd done earlier - this time, though, the gesture was more endearing than anything else and seemed like a way for her to find something to do with her hands.

'You know, you never say what I expect you to say, but somehow it's always just what I need to make me feel better… Thank you,' she said quietly. She leaned up and gave Beca a quick kiss on the cheek. 'Sorry for the mini freak out.'

Beca swallowed, hoping her cheeks weren't showing as red as they felt right then. 'Psh, no problem, Beale,' she replied, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. 'I'm the master of dealing with freak outs. Got loads of experience from my own.'

Chloe gave her a wavering smile. 'I'll try and remember that. Anyway... We'd better go, before Aubrey murders both of us for being late.'

'Oh, shit, yeah. They'd probably never find the bodies.'

Aubrey had been as angry as they'd expected ('We have a SCHEDULE to adhere to, ladies!') but she'd quickly quietened down upon noticing Chloe's slightly bloodshot eyes. After casting her usual suspicious glare at Beca, she'd sat down and then they were off to Regionals.

Chloe sat next to her, and almost as soon as they pulled out of the parking lot, Chloe took her hand without asking. Her palm was clammy and a little sweaty with nerves, but Beca held on anyway - drawing and giving a surprising amount of reassurance from this one simple action.

And okay, maybe Beca could think of a hundred different things she might enjoy more tonight. But right now? She didn't really want to wish herself anywhere else.


A/N: Good lord, sorry about the ridiculous amount of typos in the first upload of this. Wrong draft went up.