Beca had returned back to her apartment the next Tuesday night so she would be present for the auditions the next day. Her grandmother was doing a lot better much to Beca and her mothers joy so there really was no need for her to stay. Beach's grandmother had let her go with a promise to keep in constant contact with Beca, updating her on her health as much as she could. Beca was only a little reluctant to leave but a big part of her really wanted to be there at the auditions, with Chloe.

Beca pushed the doors to the school, coffee in hand feeling a lot more optimistic then she had when she'd passed these doors last.

"Miss Mitchell, you're back!" a student named Maddie called from across the corridor. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, I was just with family for a few days but I'm back for good now" Beca smiled. It was nice to feel missed.

Beca continued on towards the teachers lounge, exchanging a few pleasantries with students who had got her attention on the way. She hadn't walked into the staff room for a few seconds before she was being crushed in a tight hug which she instantly recognised to be Jesse's embrace by the strong scent of aftershave.

"Hey there, a little keen are we?" Beca commented sarcastically.

"How you doing, man? I'm so glad she's doing better" Jesse said, ignoring Beca's sarcasm as he often did over the years.

Beca finally returned the hug, patting his back with a tight lipped smile. "I'm fine. Glad to be back." Jesse finally released Beca from the hug and held her forearms as he took Beca in. Beca looked around the room awkwardly.

"You're really strong, you know that?"

Beca scoffed. "Don't get soft on me, weirdo."

"Beca?" came a call from one of the couches on the opposite side of the room. Jesse let go of Beca's arms and turned to see Chloe making her way over to the two. He winked at Beca before walking away which Beca frowned at. That was weird.

"Hey, you made it back for auditions" Chloe beamed as she pulled Beca into her second hug that day, and it wasn't even nine. However, this one she returned immediately, taking in the much sweeter scent that was Chloe.

"Couldn't miss it" Beca smiled, reluctantly pulling back from the hug.

"So how was your week?"

"It was nice to see family. Sorry I left in such a hurry. It was an emergency, couldn't get around it" Beca answered, nodding. "So um… what's the plan today?"

Chloe seemed to perk up at that. "Right, of course. At lunch we head over to the hall and all the kids will line up outside and they'll all perform a scene in groups. Tomorrow will be the singing auditions where they can sing any song they want and then we just look over the notes we make over the next few days and pick away" Chloe smiled, clearly very proud of her plan.

"Awesome. You've really thought this through a lot, huh?" Beca said. "I feel kind of bad I haven't helped out."

Chloe frowned as she took Beca's free hand in her own. "Don't feel bad, you've been busy and that's totally fine" Chloe reassured. "Besides, I don't mind" she said, letting go of Beca's hand and smiling brightly. Gosh, that smile.

It was lunch and Beca had made it through the first few hours of school in which she had free periods so she spent it catching up on some much needed marking. Upon approaching the hall Beca was shocked to see the long line of students ready to audition. It wasn't mandatory for any students to audition. It was highly recommended but no student was forced and yet the line outside the hall went on for the length of the corridor. Beca stopped in her tracks when she was blocked by a boy she really couldn't remember the name of, which she felt kind of bad about but come on, there were hundreds of kids at Barden.

"Hey, you need something?" Beca asked as the boy looked at his feet, nervously.

"I'm just a little…scared" he admitted hesitantly. Beca softened at this as he looked up at her.

"Oh don't be nervous" she said suddenly noticing Chloe stood at the entrance to the hall, clipboard in hand, watching the exchange. "Look, the auditions are going to be fun okay? You get to act out a scene with a group that you can pick so you can do it with all your friends if you like" she reassured. "Miss Posen, Miss Beale and I have tried really hard to make this process as fun as possible so just relax. Besides, you're in the same boat as everyone else here and they all probably have the same fears as you."

The boy nodded in understanding before thanking Beca and turning back to his friends. Beca looked back up to see Chloe giving her that damn smile again that sent made her stomach do somersaults before making her way over to the redhead. Chloe stayed where she was, simply smiling at Beca.

"What?" Beca laughed lightly.

Chloe nodded behind Beca, gesturing to the boy she'd spoken to. "That was really nice of you" she said.

"Yeah yeah, let's get this over with" Beca said, brushing past Chloe, trying to contain her blush.

Aubrey was already sat at the front row of the auditorium scribbling at the paper on her clipboard. Beca and Chloe promptly joined her and the auditions commenced. The auditions varied from good to great to bad to just plain awful, not that the three women would say that. They would simply nod, smile and ask for the next group of four to walk in. The students would name the character they wanted to play, it would be noted and then they'd act to their best ability as Chloe, Beca and Aubrey jotted down their opinions on the quality of the performances.

About a quarter of the way through the auditions Stacie had walked in and asked to watch the auditions whilst she marked books. She sat in the middle of the auditorium looking up from her work every so often and smiling or laughing at the show. It didn't go unnoticed to Beca how Aubrey would turn every so often and look at Stacie, smiling each time and even blushing when she'd been caught by either Beca or Stacie herself. Each time Beca saw this she couldn't help the smirk playing on her lips as she looked over to Chloe who would give a knowing smile and nod.

It was the end of lunch and luckily they had gotten through all of the auditions without any problems. Beca had a pretty good idea of who she wanted to play the main parts and who she think would be better off as back up singers and dancers, though that had yet to be consulted with Chloe and Aubrey.

Aubrey picked up her notes and left with Stacie a few minutes ago and had left Chloe and Beca to clean up the stage and collect their own notes.

"So…" Beca said as she collected a few wigs strewn across the floor of the stage. "That went pretty well."

"That couldn't have gone any better, these kids are so talented and I already have a really clear idea of who should play who but of course we'll talk about that together later, it's not up to me. Oh God, this is going to be amazing. I knew it was going to be good but wow, I have such high hopes, Mr Mitchell will have no choice but to keep drama in the curriculum now because I can just tell this is going to be amazing" Chloe gushed, not looking up from her notes as she flipped through them and shoved a few chairs out of the way.

"Wow, slow down there tiger" Beca laughed as she threw all the wigs in their designated box.

Chloe looked up at Beca and laughed to herself in embarrassment. "Sorry, I just get so excited about this stuff, especially when it goes so well and this is going very, very well."

Beca smiled at Chloe. Her excitement was somewhat endearing, it wasn't far from that of a child and Beca found the butterflies had returned to her stomach as she turned away from Chloe, again hiding her blush and picked up her own notes.

"Hey" Chloe started. "Want to grab a drink tonight?"

"Yes" Beca answered just a little too fast. "I mean, yeah. I'm down for that."

Chloe nodded, a smile creeping its way on her face again. "I'll come and get you at eight then."