Author's note: Hope you enjoy this chapter. I love getting comments, telling me how people are enjoying my story!

The characters points of view changes a couple times in this chapter, so be sure to pay attention to that.

There are some song quotes in this chapter, and I did my best to give them credit where it was due. Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of the songs sung in this chapter/story. Enjoy!

Beca's POV

I wake up on Tuesday wondering if Chloe is playing games with me. Whenever I touch Chloe, I feel this energy between us. But I don't think she feels it. She never seems to react to it. When she hugged me last night, I wanted to stay there touching her and being near her all night. She knows me better than anyone else in the world, and still acts like she doesn't notice that it bothers me that Stacie and her are together. I kept looking at her last night, out of the corner of my eye, wondering the whole time what was going on in her head. I want to know what she's up to.

Maybe this karaoke thing has to do with Stacie. Now that's something to think about. After all, Stacie will be there, and Chloe made it a point to make sure she was nearby. Maybe she's falling for her. Oh, no. I bet that's it. What am I gonna do? My heart feels tight in my chest. Maybe it's not too late. Maybe when we go to karaoke I can make one last ditch effort to show Chloe my real feelings. I can sing something and see if she responds. It scares the crap out of me to go out on a limb like that, but I feel like I have to try. That's what I'll have to do. I have to pick the perfect song to win over Chloe before she falls all the way into the deep end.

I go to my desk and get on my computer so I can search for the perfect song. I have so many to choose from. There are so many that make me think of her when I hear them. I am going to take some time to research what I want to sing. I think of her in her room, working on homework, or sleeping next to Stacie (shudder), oblivious to how much she means to me and how much I need to express my feelings.

A couple of hours later I go downstairs to grab some food and I run into Stacie. She gives me a big hug, we exchange pleasantries about our summers and she goes upstairs, saying something about saying goodbye to Chloe before her evening shift. My stomach feels sick at the possibilities of what I might overhear, so I decide to run back to my room. Once I get there I can put headphones and loud music on. It helps that I have my project. I've got my choices of songs narrowed down, so I've still got a little bit of work to do. I just hope that I have the nerve to go through with my plan to win over my secret crush.

Chloe's POV

I'm thinking about our plan again when Stacie walks into my room. I ask her if she saw Beca and she tells me how Beca was fine until Stacie said she was heading to my room.

"She definitely still loves you Chloe. I'd actually say she's even more crazy about you than she was before."

I smile, hoping this whole thing works, and Stacie gives me her knowing smile. We talk for a little while longer about what we're going to do when we go to karaoke with Beca, and really get down into the details. I want to make sure it's as believable as possible. Then Stacie and I hug goodbye, and I send her off to work, telling her to have fun on her date tonight after she gets off.

The days pass pretty quickly with me going to classes and passing Beca awkwardly in the house. We do spend a little bit of time together by watching more TV, and going to the campus swimming pool, but we avoid topics like Stacie and feelings, although that's not that strange since Beca tends to do that anyway.

On Thursday when I get home from class, Beca is nowhere to be seen. "Beca! Where are you?" When I get no answer, I head up to her room. The door is shut, and I hesitate. I knock, but get no answer. I slowly open the door, and Beca is at her desk with her headphones on and working on mixing a song. She's very intense when she works sometimes. I take this moment to appreciate the girl in front of me. Her hair, and the line of her jaw. My eyes move down her body, and I feel myself start to blush. I move to leave, and she turns around. She yelps, startled, and jumps up ready to fight or run. She then realizes it's just me, and grabs her chest trying to catch her breath.

"Jeez Chloe, you scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry Becs. I knocked, but you didn't answer. I just wanted to see if you were here."

"It's alright, but maybe I should buy a fog horn or something and put it on my door knob so people can alert me when they come in." She says with a laugh. I smile at her joke, knowing that it'll make her feel better.

"Well, I'll let you get back to it, but I'll see you at 6:40 so we can get there by 7 for dinner? Or should I text you at a certain time so you can get ready?" "No, that's ok. I'll set a timer. Thanks though."

Beca's POV

At 10 til 7, I head down to the entryway, knowing that Chloe is probably standing there tapping her foot at my tardiness. The thought brings a smile to my lips. She's so cute when she's perturbed. Just as I thought, when I reach the main floor, Chloe is standing there in an adorable sun dress and her new bracelet, looking at the clock on the wall with an annoyed look on her face. I'm glad I dressed up a little bit, since she did too. I'm wearing jean shorts and a button up shirt, that enhances my natural cup size. I wore this top, hoping that it would be well received by Chloe. When Chloe sees me on the stairs, she's about to say something, but then stops, looking me up and down. Maybe my plan worked! I'm jumping up and down internally at the thought. But she regains her composure quickly and says to me "Finally! Jeez." I laugh, knowing that she expected me to be late. I apologize to her and pout a little bit. That always works, and this is no exception. She tries not to smile, and says to me "Just get in my car Mitchell."

"So demanding, I like that." I wink at her, and walk out of the house towards her car, giddy as a 5 year old at the zoo.

We sit down in a booth that is separate from the bar. I am relieved. Dinner should be much less stressful for me if we are not always interacting with Stacie, or in each other's views. Chloe is telling me about her classes and her Psychology of Gender class in particular sounds really interesting. She hasn't said much about her Russian Lit. class though, so I wonder how she has been doing in it, hoping for her sake that she'll pass. I've heard her talking to her parents on the phone before, when they were angry with her, and it is not pretty. Before I know it, it is 8pm, which makes it time for karaoke. The place doesn't have very many people in it, but that could change later. It's still summer, so there aren't many students around, but maybe the locals will show up.

Sure enough, Stacie goes up to the DJ and puts a song in to sing, smiling at our table as she walks by. I go to the bathroom and try to work up my nerve to put my song in. I have it written on a piece of paper, all ready to go. I look at myself in the mirror and give myself a little pep talk. "Come on Mitchell! You can do this! It might be the only chance you get to tell the girl that you love, just how much she means to you." I hear an upbeat song playing in the restaurant. Must be Stacie's song, I think to myself.

"You should go out there and just do it! Give it to the DJ!" I open the bathroom door, and sure enough I see Stacie on the little stage.

"Let's not over analyze
Don't go too deep with it baby

So let it be what it'll be
Don't make a fuss and get crazy over you and me
Here's what I'll do
I'll play loose
Not like we have a day with destiny

It's just a little crush (crush)
Not like I faint every time we touch"

It's a peppy song. Crush by Jennifer Paige. Then I realize she is staring at the table I was just sharing with the redhead. A bad feeling washes over me. I look at Chloe, and her head is down. As I move toward the table, she looks up just enough to see me approach, and runs out of the restaurant. I follow her and catch her outside by the side of the building. I grab her hand and turn her around to face me. She grabs me around the waist, hugging me tightly. I stroke her hair, whispering reassuring things like "Shhh. It's ok" and "I'm here for you". I hold her tightly, basking in the close contact, but knowing that I need to separate my feelings from her right now, and just be her friend. Stacie comes out, and sees us hugging.

"What's going on girls?" she asks a hint of anger in her voice. All of a sudden Chloe releases me and stomps toward Stacie and starts yelling at her about being insensitive and mean, and asking her if she meant those words that were in the song. I have never seen Chloe like this. Stacie is glaring a hole right through me, so I walk up to Chloe and ask if she's ok. She looks at me and nods, saying that she'll come talk to me later.

Chloe's POV

As Beca walks around to the front of the building, I wait til she's our of sight, and smile brightly at Stacie. She smiles back.

"That worked really well!" We say in unison. After a few minutes, long enough for it to be believable that our fight is over, I head back into the restaurant. I put my sad face on, and go to the table that Beca and I share.

"Are you OK Chloe?" I grab Beca's hand, and nod sadly. She squeezes my hand and... kisses it? I look up at her and can't help the small smile on my face.

"I'm glad you're here." I say to her. "It's nice to have you by my side, especially during times like this." The song I didn't realize someone was singing on the stage ends, and I hear the DJ call Beca up to sing the next song. She kisses my hand again, and looks in my eyes for a split second longer than normal. She then gets up and stands behind the microphone. My stomach is crazy with butterflies and my hands are sweating. I take a second to appreciate the fact that I am sitting down for what happens next.

Guitar music starts playing and then Beca's melodious voice starts singing the most beautiful words I have ever heard.

"Please baby can't you see
My mind's a burnin' hell
I got razors a rippin' and tearin' and strippin'
My heart apart as well"

I look at my best friend and the woman I want more than anything else in the world, and know that she's singing these words for me alone.

"But I'm the only one
Who'll walk across the fire for you
I'm the only one
Who'll drown in my desire for you
It's only fear that makes me run
The demons that I'm hiding from
When all her promises are gone
I'm the only one."

I recognize the song. I've heard it before. It's Melissa Etheridge. After the song ends, Beca comes back to the table, apprehensive. I'm speechless. I don't know what to say to her, so I grab her hand and lead her away from the table, her eyes getting wider by the second when she realizes where we are going.