a/n: Sorry this has taken so long! I know many of you have been begging me to update, so here it is... I hope you enjoy. The next part will be up much, much sooner...


Chloe takes Beca out for a late lunch at her favorite cafe and they discuss their holidays, their bands, and basically anything that comes to mind. It amazes Beca that they haven't run out of things to say yet. She's never been one for talking - or sharing, really - but for some reason, Chloe just makes her open up.

(She tries to attribute it to the fact that Chloe herself is an open book, but Jesse is too and she's never had this kind of conversation with him.)

After lunch, they make their way to The Flyaways' rehearsal space because Chloe feels like she should "return the favor" of Beca allowing her to intrude on the rehearsal space in Savannah. The space is big - at least twice the size of Beca and Jesse's - but somehow manages to still feel homey.

Beca runs her fingers slowly over Chloe's mic stand, walking around it slowly. It feels weird - not a bad weird, just strange - being in Chloe's space like this and she looks up at the girl, crooked smile on her face.

"You play?" She asks, sliding onto the piano bench for the keyboard just to the left of the mic stand.

"Yeah," Chloe responds with a nod.

Beca's fingers ghost over the keys softly. "D'ya mind?"

"Play me something."

She thinks for a moment, plinking out random notes and chords until an idea strikes.

It's goin' down fade to blackstreet the homies got at me collab creations...

Chloe's jaw drops as she listens, and Beca smiles as she raps the rest of Dre's verse. She draws out the time between the intro and the first verse, giving herself some time to get the giggles out and move back into serious mode

Shawty get down, good lord...

Once Beca moves into the "slow jamz" style of the rest of the song, Chloe moves her hips slowly, getting into the groove of the song, even joining in on the vocals of the chorus. Beca has to tear her eyes away from Chloe's swaying hips to keep from messing up, but Chloe has different ideas, working her way closer to the keyboard to the point of Beca being unable to avoid looking at her. She drops the song off just before Queen Pen's verse, hitting the last chords and proclaiming we out!

"That was hot," Chloe murmurs, leaning against the keyboard.

"Uh, yeah," Beca agrees, her cheeks flushed a furious red and not quite meeting Chloe's eyes.

She sees Chloe's hand reach out, feels it tilt her chin up, and Chloe's leaning ridiculously close. She knows what happens here and she backs away, practically tripping over the bench as she does so.

"I should... yeah," she nods toward the door, not even giving Chloe a chance to protest.

She zips her jacket and shoves her fingers into black knit gloves as she makes her way down the hall, pushing through the metal door to the sidewalk. Standing out in the cold air lets Beca clear her head and regroup. She hadn't properly prepared herself for the physical part of what it meant to be near Chloe again, which meant she really hadn't prepared herself for watching Chloe's borderline dirty dancing just a moment ago. She shoves her gloved hands in her pockets and watches her breath as it condenses and forms into tiny tendrils of vapor, twisting together before evaporating completely.

"You ready to go before you freeze to death?"

Chloe's voice pulls Beca from her thoughts and she realizes then that she's shivering, teeth chattering and everything. "Yeah. I am," Beca says, sincere smile on her face.

"Then let's do it." Chloe loops her arm though one of Beca's, and they walk down the street, arm in arm. Beca thinks it feels strangely romantic - like most of their interactions - but doesn't say anything, as usual. It's not like she wants it to stop.

-xxx-

That night, Beca lies on the couch (and damn, Chloe was right; it was a really comfortable couch), wondering what she's doing there. They were obviously friends, but she and Jesse were friends, too, and their friendship was never this complicated. Beca wants to ask, but she's more than a little scared to find out.

-xxx-

The next morning, they're sitting at the bar in Chloe's apartment, just finishing breakfast, when Chloe brings it up. It being the subject they'd been systematically ignoring since the day it happened. "I think we need to talk about what happened in Atlanta."

Beca takes a drink of orange juice to avoid choking on the bite of toast in her mouth. Once she swallows, she nods her head. "Okay."

Chloe moves from her place on the opposite side of the bar to the barstool next to Beca. She places her hands on Beca's knees, looking at her. "What happened that night was..."

Beca interrupts, unwilling to actually hear Chloe tell her what a mistake it was. "A mistake. I know. And I..."

"That isn't what I was going to say," Chloe cuts in.

Beca blinks, relief flooding her as she expels a breath she didn't know she was holding. For everything about that night that should have been a mistake, Beca could never think of it as such. She's unsure of what to say, so she says the first thing that comes to mind. "You didn't call me."

Chloe's eyes go wide in disbelief. "You ran out on me, Beca. I wasn't exactly sure if you wanted me to."

"I'm not gay, Chloe. I'm not. And you... Jesus, we hadn't even known each other 12 hours. I think the panic was a little understandable."

Chloe is silent, her hands still resting on Beca's leg. She nudges her softly with her knee. "You stole my favorite shirt."

Beca smiles at Chloe's attempt to lighten the mood. "You gave it to me!"

"I did no such thing."

"You gave it to me after convincing me to spend the night."

"To borrow. Not to take with you when you ran out on me in the dead of night."

Beca's heart clenches at the sadness lacing Chloe's words. "I didn't leave 'til the morning."

"Ugh. You know what I mean, Beca," Chloe says standing again.

And Chloe's right, Beca knows exactly what she means. "If it wasn't a mistake... what was it?" she asks, standing as well.

"I... I'm not sure what it was. I don't regret it, whatever it was."

Beca's heart soars when she hears this. She can't figure out why; it changes nothing about their situation now. There are still obstacles; but just knowing that Chloe doesn't regret it makes her inexplicably happy. "Then why didn't you call me?"

"Jesus Christ, Beca," Chloe says, exasperated. She paces back and forth as she rants. "Why did I have to be the one to call you? The telephone works both ways, just like it always has. What was I supposed to do when I woke up alone, no note, no nothing? I'm not a fucking mind reader, Beca. And no, I didn't call you when I woke up without you there. And I didn't call you when I missed you at the show the next night. Or when I couldn't stop thinking about you for two weeks; wondering what you were doing, if you were thinking of me too. I was scared, Bec. I don't exactly make a habit of doing these kinds of things. So no, I didn't call you, but I flew to Savannah, just to see you again."

The weight of what Chloe just admitted hits her like a ton of bricks. "Oh," she mutters, smiling softly and feeling silly, but ridiculously giddy at the same time. Chloe just... Chloe makes her feel things she thought only existed in the terrible movies Jesse made her watch.

"Bec?" Chloe asks, standing just inches from where Beca's sitting.

"Hmmm?" Beca's heart is beating fast, a subconscious realization setting in when she feels Chloe's warm breath ghost across her skin.

"I'm gonna kiss you right now, okay?"

Beca's brain freezes and she hesitates, scared to say yes but unable to say no. Fortunately, she never has to make the decision because before she can answer, Chloe's lips are on hers. The kiss is chaste but firm, completely opposite of any of the kisses they shared in the hotel room months ago, and Beca's lips part easily, letting Chloe in. Her hands come up to tangle in the hair at the nape of Chloe's neck as their tongues slide against one another, and Beca can't help the way her body instinctually presses closer to the shorter girl's. Try as she might, Beca can't ignore the tiny voice in the back of her head, rattling off everything that's wrong with what they're doing, and she starts to pull back, but Chloe holds her in place.

"Don't leave again," Chloe whispers against her lips.

"We can't do this," Beca replies, even as she continues to kiss Chloe.

"I know."

The kiss continues, Beca's back pressed up against the cold marble of the countertop as they explore each other's mouths slowly. "We should stop," Beca says, but her voice lacks any real conviction.

"We will."

-xxx-

Hours later, Beca and Chloe are curled up on the couch, lips swollen and red from kisses, watching a movie. (Okay, so Chloe's watching the movie and Beca's watching Chloe watch the movie. Whatever.) They hadn't progressed past kissing, which was fine by Beca because as much as she wanted to experience it all again, she knew they shouldn't, or couldn't, really. They shouldn't have even been kissing or snuggling the way they were, but Beca couldn't help it. She was inexplicably drawn to Chloe.

Chloe's phone goes off and Beca can't help the grunt of dissatisfaction when she reaches for her phone. She sighs happily when Chloe adjusts back to her previous position, but as she reads her text, something indecipherable flashes across her face. Beca doesn't mean to pry, but she can't help it.

"Is everything okay?"

Chloe puts down her phone and looks at Beca. "Yeah," she says, but her voice is the slightest bit shaky, like she doesn't mean it. "Tom's, uh, well he's moving to LA and wants to see me before he leaves. And... he said he'd like to meet you."

"Oh," Beca says, because it's the only thing she can think of. She squints, confused. "He knows about me?"

"Yeah," Chloe blushes. "I mean I know it's weird because he's my ex but we kind of are friends? And I told him about you because he drove me to the airport when I visited you? I mean I didn't like tell him tell him, not about Atlanta or anything. I mean not about after the show. And, uh, I told him you were coming here for New Years and whatever and -" Chloe cuts off her own ramble, her quick speech and repetitive sentences taking Beca by surprise. "You don't have to. I can make up some excuse or whatever, 'cause I know..."

Beca, apparently, is some sort of masochist because she cuts Chloe off, smiling as she says, "Sure, I'd love to meet him."

Even if her brain is saying Ugh, seriously?


A/N Part 2: The No Diggity piano version is actually a thing; youtube Jesse Peters feat. Tim Gotten - No Diggity if you wanna hear.