CHAPTER 11 (May 26, 2018)

As the girls were leaving brunch, Amy reminded them that they all needed to be back in the hotel lobby at three o' clock that afternoon. Apart from that, the Bellas had the next several hours free to do whatever they wanted. Most of the girls headed off in the direction of a casino. Several girls, including CR, Jessica, and Aubrey, decided to go to a matinee performance of Cirque du Soleil. That left Beca and Chloe.

"Ready to hit the strip, Beale?" Beca asked. Yesterday, Chloe promised Beca she'd walk along the Las Vegas strip with her and sightsee. Beca was looking forward to this in more ways than one. Beca wasn't really in the mood to gamble or sit still for a two-hour show. Additionally, Beca had been to Las Vegas at least a dozen times for work, yet had never stopped to smell the roses. She hadn't once been able to enjoy herself and take any of the scenery in.

Chloe smiled. She didn't, for one second, plan on letting Beca down. But that didn't mean that she didn't want to see Beca squirm a tiny bit first. "Hmm," Chloe hummed, "That's not exactly the 'stripping' I had in mind."

Beca groaned. She had just survived the breakfast from hell and now this. It seemed as though Chloe was not willing to cut Beca any breaks today. And it was taking every ounce of wit for Beca to keep up with Chloe. "Did your mind just buy a condominium in the gutter? Because I swear to God, Beale, it lives there now."

Chloe smiled. "Can't keep up, Becs?" Chloe asked with a wink.

Beca's eyes darkened with a devilish gleam. This wasn't a look Chloe had ever seen on Beca before. And if she was being honest, it was almost too much to take. Chloe felt very short of breath all of a sudden as a warm sensation spread through her core.

"Oh, I can more than keep up. You wanna strip? Let's go strip, Chlo. Lead the way to your room," Beca motioned with her hand toward the elevator. "I'll follow."

Chloe swallowed hard. Surely Beca wasn't being serious, right? Chloe searched Beca's eyes for any hesitation. Beca's steely gaze didn't back down. Chloe discreetly wiped her sweaty palms as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. This was all too much. She felt like she was cracking. Unable to take the sexual tension, Chloe momentarily broke her gaze from Beca's face.

"Nothing, Beale? Now that's a first," Beca said with a dry laugh.

Chloe bit her bottom lip and shook her head. "Hey, don't get used to it," she warned. "You may have won this battle, but I'll be damned if you win the war. So are we hitting the strip or what?" Chloe asked with a sigh.

"Hm, I'm not sure that I'm in the mood anymore," Beca shrugged nonchalantly.

"What?" Chloe asked, failing to keep the shock out of her voice.

"I can probably be convinced though," Beca continued, as she gleamed at Chloe.

"Name your game, Mitchell," Chloe demanded. Chloe wasn't sure what had just gotten into Beca just now, but she knew that she more than liked it.

"I want you to ask me to spend the afternoon with you."

"What? That's it?" Chloe asked, surprised. "Okay then, Becs, will you spend the afternoon with me?"

"I don't feel like that was sincere enough. Maybe… try it again, but put a little more feeling into it. Oh, and why don't you go down on your knees. A little groveling never hurt anyone, right?" Beca asked with a playful wink.

"You can't be serious."

"Dixie Chicks serious," Beca deadpanned.

"Well this is a first," Chloe muttered, as she lowered herself onto the ground. "I've never gotten on my knees for a girl to ask her to 'hang out,'" Chloe emphasized sarcastically.

Beca swallowed hard, trying her best to look unaffected by that last statement. Even though Beca herself couldn't explain the sudden rush she was feeling, she couldn't lose the ground she had just gained. For once, the tables were turned and Beca had bested Chloe. She wasn't going to give up this victory. Not that easily.

"Well there's a first time for everything," Beca answered evenly. "So let's hear it."

"Beca," Chloe began as she stood on her knees and took Beca's hands in her own, "Would you please do me the wonderful honor of being my partner in crime this afternoon? Nothing would make me happier."

Beca smiled genuinely. "Of course, Chlo. Now get up," Beca said, helping her friend off the hotel carpet. "You look ridiculous."

"What? You're embarrassed?" Chloe asked.

"I guess you have less shame than me," Beca answered back simply.

Chloe pushed Beca. Beca leaned over to push Chloe back, but before Beca could push Chloe, she enveloped Beca into a large side hug and dramatically kissed Beca's cheek with a loud smack. Beca rolled her eyes and pretended to be offended over Chloe's PDA.

As Beca and Chloe set out that afternoon, they saw the Luxor, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo, the Cosmopolitan, the Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, the Linq, the Mirage, and Wynn. On the way back to their hotel, they stopped along the side of the road to see the water fountains at the Bellagio. The fountains danced in sync with "Titanium."

"How ironic," Chloe mused sweetly, as the two girls, shoulders touching, stood side-by-side, watching the fountains jump.

"Real irony or Alanis Morrissette irony?" Beca asked.

"What?" Chloe asked.

"It's just... never mind. I didn't land the joke."

"No, please. Explain," Chloe requested.

Sighing Beca said, "The joke was that most of the lyrics in Alanis Morissette's song 'Ironic' aren't actual examples of irony. They're just unfortunate situations. Like 'a black fly in your chardonnay.' That's just bad luck. See? 'Irony' is actually an often-misused word. That's the joke."

Chloe thought for a moment, biting back a smile. "So the fact that Alanis Morissette wrote a song misusing the word 'irony,' an often-misused word, is that ironic?"

"Don't you think?" Beca deadpanned.

"A little too ironic," Chloe answered in a flat tone.

"Yeah I really do think," Beca responded grinning.

"Becs, you're one of a kind," Chloe said, shaking her head as she giggled.

"Says the girl whose lady jam in college was 'Titanium,'" Beca shot back jokingly, circling them back to the present moment.

Chloe arched her eyebrows in response and bit her lower lip.

"God. It's still your lady jam, isn't it?"

Chloe answered breezily, "Once a lady jam, always a lady jam. In fact, I jammed out to Titanium just this morning."

"I really didn't need to know that."

"What? It's a great song."

Beca chuckled softly. "I've heard it really builds."

"Good memory, Becs," Chloe said with a friendly wink, "I knew we were going to be really fast friends," Chloe said, snaking her arms around the smaller girl's waist.

"There's nothing faster than seeing your new friend naked the second time you meet her," Beca joked back nervously, acutely aware that Chloe's hands were wrapped around Beca.

"Oh, that's nothing. I still think there's a lot of… experimenting involved before you really know someone," Chloe said, dropping her voice half an octave as her pointer finger lightly brushed the length of Beca's narrow nose.

Beca swallowed hard, trying futilely to control her hormones. Her heart felt like she had just run a marathon. And was she sweating. "Is that so?" Beca tried her best to ask evenly.

"Oh, absolutely," Chloe continued in a husky voice, "I think really knowing someone is discovering everything about them. Knowing every little thing that drives them," Chloe said, her finger now lightly running along Beca's jawbone, "Positively wild," she finished, winking.

Beca's eyelids fluttered several times, as she tried to control any part of her response. She was surprised she was even standing, much less, breathing. Chloe leaned in, her face now only centimeters away from Beca's face. Beca wasn't backing down, Chloe noticed. Chloe crept a little closer. Before she could do the one thing she wanted the most, which was to close the gap and feel Beca's mouth on her own, her phone started ringing. This broke the moment, which might have otherwise played out exactly how Chloe had wanted.

"Better get that," Beca answered, clearing her throat as she metaphorically gasped for air.

"Right," Chloe responded, shaking her head to clear any inappropriate thoughts she may have been having.

Aubrey was on the phone. Beca and Chloe were late and needed to get back to the hotel. Hurrying, the two girls made it back to the hotel shortly, where the rest of the Bellas waited. Amy then began explaining her "surprise" activity.

"There you two are," Amy said, once Chloe and Beca made it through the hotel doors. "What were you two up to?" Amy asked.

"Nothing," Chloe and Beca each responded automatically in unison.

Beca internally groaned over their perfectly orchestrated answer. Well, shit, that sounded a little more than suspicious. But in all honesty, Beca wondered, what had happened back there at the fountains? Were Chloe and Beca having a moment? I mean, yeah, Chloe was flirty and forward with every single person on the planet, but was that more? Surely not, right?

"Well I'm sorry I was crock-blocking you," Amy began.

"You mean you're sorry you were cock-blocking," Beca corrected. The other Bellas all stared at Beca in silence.

CR finally spoke up. "Heyyyyyy," She trailed off with a knowing grin.

"Pay up Flo!" Emily said excitedly, holding out her hand. Flo pursed her lips together, opening her wallet.

"Woah, woah woah," Beca began again. "What in the living fuck is going on?" She asked, pointing between Flo and Emily.

"I'm sorry for betting on you guys," Emily said sincerely, "But Vegas is really getting to me. Ah, who knew that betting could make you feel so alive!"

"Watch yourself, there, Legacy," CR admonished with a smile.

"Back up," Chloe asked. "What, precisely, are we betting on?"

CR stammered for words. "Well… Amy said the thing about crock-blocking and Beca didn't deny it, so we just assumed that she was admitting-"

Beca cut her off, "Oh, my God, no… you perverted weirdos. No crock-blocking… shit, cock-blocking was happening… It's called cock-blocking, by the way," Beca finished in a frustrated tone of voice.

"No, it's crock-blocking," Amy continued, unfazed by Beca's flustered fit. "Because, we're crocodile wrestling this afternoon, Pitches!"

"We're doing what?" Aubrey asked, practically jumping out of her skin.

"Wrestling crocodiles," Amy answered with a clueless smile, moving her arms up and down to imitate the open and close of a crocodile's mouth.

"Wait, Amy, that's insane. You know that, right?" Beca asked. For once, it appeared that Aubrey and Beca were on the same page about something.

Coming to Beca's defense, Aubrey added, "Beca's right. Someone could get seriously injured. We are not doing this."

"Ah, don't worry, you two. Although a crocodile could snap you twig bitches in half easily, these crocodiles are totally sedated. It's like they're fast asleep."

"I don't care," Beca pushed back, "I'm not going anywhere near any crocodiles. Sedate or otherwise." Aubrey nodded in solidarity. Chloe wrapped an arm around Beca's shoulder and rubbed her arm to calm her down.

"Erm, Stacie?" Amy asked. "Have you ever seen anybody come into you ER with crocodile-related injuries?"

"No?" Stacie answered.

"I rest my case," Amy said.

"Wait a minute," Stacie answered, holding up her hand. "Crocodiles aren't even native to North America. I cannot let you use my lack of personal experience as an argument to your favor."

Amy dramatically huffed. "Fine," she conceded, "You pitches would never last a minute in Tasmania."

Beca silently begged to differ. She had never been to Tasmania, but she couldn't imagine that even in Tasmania, crocodile wrestling was a normal activity.

"So we can go right to my plan B instead," Amy continued. Beca and Aubrey locked eyes and smiled over their small victory. It was not often that Amy, the world's most stubborn human being, agreed to make compromises.

"Plan B?" Stacie asked skeptically.

"That's right. Even though it is not the Plan B you're used to, Legs," Amy began, while Stacie shrugged casually. "We're going skydiving," Amy announced. "Yayyyyyyy," she trailed off, as she began a celebratory dance.

Beca shook her head. Amy had just played them and she had just played them good. There was no crocodile wrestling. There never was. Amy had used that as a guise to bait the girls into agreeing to the safer, (slightly) less terrifying prospect of skydiving.

"I've been pushed out of a plane seven times," Lily whispered quietly.

Beca swallowed hard. She really tried not to think about Lily's shady past. She was half-afraid that Lily was an assassin. The other half of her was afraid that Lily was the one being hunted and that she was on someone's hit list somewhere.

Since it was Amy's bachelorette party and since skydiving was, technically speaking, a safe activity, the Bellas all bucked up and prepared themselves for an afternoon skydiving. Amy had a van pick the girls up several minutes later and transport them to the skydiving location, located a bit outside of town.

On the bus on the way over, Chloe sat next to Beca. Beca was slouched in her seat, her face a mix between anger and fright. "Hey," Chloe said softly, touching the crook of Beca's arm. Beca kept her eyes locked forward. "This is going to be okay. It's totes safe. All you have to do is get strapped in and-"

"Then get pushed out of a plane?" Beca finished.

Chloe rubbed Beca's arm. "Just pretend it's like jumping onto that blob at Aubrey's lake retreat."

"I was scared of that, too," Beca admitted.

"Right. And it turned out to be aca-awesome," Chloe responded with a cheerful nod.

"Your sheer positivity is truly astounding," Beca muttered.

"Becs, this is just supposed to be fun. If you wouldn't have fun, don't do it. I just want to make sure you're deciding not to do it for the right reasons," Chloe added sweetly.

Beca cut her eyes over to Chloe. Her eyes glittered with happy anticipation. Huffing, Beca changed her tone somewhat. "If I do this, which I'm not saying I will, but if I do, you've got to be right there beside me."

"Of course," Chloe responded as her smile grew.

"You're not gonna leave me alone, right?" Beca asked with a surprising amount of vulnerability.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Chloe responded.

"Fine. I guess I'm jumping out of a plane today."

Chloe launched herself at Beca and hugged the smaller girl. "You won't regret it!"

"Assuming I live long enough to regret anything."

Chloe patted Beca's hand. Beca grabbed on to Chloe's hand, interlacing their fingers together. Chloe smiled. Even though Beca's hand was sweaty, Chloe didn't care.

A few more minutes of the car ride passed, as Amy sat in the front seat, talking on the phone to Bumper. Their conversation was PG-13 rated, at best.

"I'll tell you where you can put your zucchini," Amy whispered seductively over the phone.

Beca's eyes widened. She had been more or less trying to ignore Amy's phone call. Unfortunately, she could not ignore that statement. She whispered over to Chloe, "Isn't the whole point of a bachelorette party to enjoy your last moments of single-dom with your friends?"

"Well, I'd argue that Amy and Bumper are friends. Best friends," Chloe added with a nod, as she bumped shoulders with Beca.

"True. But still, it defeats the whole purpose of the weekend if they're shacking up the entire time, right?" Beca responded by bumping Chloe back.

Chloe sighed, squeezing Beca's hand in her own. "I think it's the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

"No one says that about Amy and Bumper's sex life. You know this, right?"

"I just find it incredibly romantic that they're so in love they can't keep their hands off of each other."

"Well, I guess I didn't think about it that way," Beca admitted, not registering the fact that she was still holding Chloe's hand.

As the girls arrived to the drop site, Beca was less than shocked to learn that a reservation had been made weeks ago. The next several hours were spent meeting the tandem skydiving instructors, getting fitted with the skydiving gear, watching informational videos, and finally, signing a waiver form.

Amy scarcely read the form before hurriedly signing her name to the bottom and turning it in to an employee. Beca scanned the form warily. "What the...?" She asked, pointing her finger over the part of the form, which read, "I hereby accept and assume all risk of personal injury or death."

Aubrey, who was sitting next to Beca, leaned over Beca's shoulder to read the part of the contract to which Beca was referring. "Oh, that," Aubrey said nonchalantly. "That's just a hold harmless clause. Don't let that freak you out. Your chances of death are higher driving a car than they are skydiving."

"No shit," Beca mused, impressed that Aubrey clearly knew her facts.

"Yeah, I've got all sorts of these types of contracts at my retreat. I know my way around the law."

"Maybe you should go to law school then," Beca answered.

"Maybe I still will. As my father always said, 'It's never too late to start beating a dead horse.'"

Beca raised her eyebrows at Aubrey said, "Your dad doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does he?"

Aubrey paused, frowning. "You sound like Alice. She was the Bellas captain during my junior year of college."

"Great," Beca said, not quite sure what to make of this statement.

"The only difference between you and her was Alice hated Chloe in college," Aubrey pondered aloud.

"Wait, what?" Beca asked, surprised. "I can't imagine that was true. I mean, I don't know who Alice is, but still... No one hates Chloe."

"Oh, it's true," Aubrey answered. "You see, Chloe used to date this guy, Tom."

"I'm familiar," Beca affirmed.

"And Alice really liked him, Beca. So you could imagine that when he and Chloe got together, Alice was not happy. She was openly hostile toward Chloe. She would make Chloe run extra laps at practice and throw insulting comments at her whenever she could. It was rough."

"Wow," Beca mused. Chloe had never mentioned Alice before. "That makes our past tension sound like a birthday party," Beca said, cutting her gaze over to Aubrey.

"Yeah," Aubrey laughed lightly, "It does."

"But things got better," Aubrey added, after a beat of silence. "After Alice graduated, it was like a light switched in her head and her whole demeanor changed. She apologized to Chloe and Chloe, being the saint she is, actually forgave Alice. I wouldn't call them friends, but they're actually pretty cordial now."

"Huh. Do you think that apology had anything to do with Chloe and Tom's breakup?"

"I don't know," Aubrey answered honestly. "Could be... They did break up around the time Alice apologized to Chloe."

"That was around the start of your senior year, right?" Beca asked.

"And the start of your freshman year," Aubrey thought to herself. The timing of Chloe's breakup in relation to Beca's aca-initiation was not even slightly coincidental.

"That's right," Aubrey answered. "Good memory."

"Hardly. I don't even remember why they broke up." Beca was now lying through her teeth. No one had ever told Beca about the breakup and Beca was chomping at the bit to know... for some reason.

"I don't think Chloe ever made a big deal about it," Aubrey said simply, "Because their breakup never hit Chloe very hard. You see, they never had the whole package. Sure, there was attraction... all sorts of attraction," Aubrey trailed off while Beca frowned, "But there was no friendship. No love. And it began to bother Chloe that she couldn't have those feelings for Tom. Because-" Aubrey stopped herself.

Aubrey had nearly said, "Because she easily found those feelings for you."

"Because?" Beca asked.

Aubrey sighed. It wasn't her place to tell Beca how Chloe felt. "Because she knew that she was capable of finding those feelings for someone else."

"Yeah, I actually really get where she's coming from. I'm sure Jesse's told you about where we went wrong? I mean, we were friends, but were missing the love, as well," Beca said.

Aubrey nodded. Jesse had, in fact, told Aubrey just that. "Well then I guess that makes you and Chloe two peas in a pod."

"Guess so," Beca trailed off. Aubrey and Beca each sat awkwardly in silence for several seconds as the air hung heavy with unspoken thoughts. There was probably a whole lot more to say on the subject, but neither was inclined to keep speaking.

"Well, I'm gonna go turn my death contract in," Beca joked, after the uncomfortable silence became too unbearable.

"You're not going to die, Beca," Aubrey said with a light smile, as she rolled her eyes.

"That remains to be seen, Posen," Beca shot back with a sarcastic smile.

Not too much longer after that, the eleven girls and their tandem jump instructors packed like sardines into a small plane. Beca's stomach felt like it was churning. Why, again, did she decide this was a good idea? This was anything but a good idea. Beca looked at the faces of her friends. The only person who looked happy was Amy. The other girls wore faces with varying levels of anxiety.

Chloe rubbed Beca's shoulder. "It'll be fun," she mouthed to Beca, though the expression on her face indicated that she, herself, wasn't convinced.

The next ten minutes passed both quickly and slowly until the inevitable arrived. It was time to be voluntarily pushed out of the plane. Amy was first. The tandem instructor, who was strapped in behind Amy, guided Amy to the door of the plane. He garbled a question to which Beca couldn't gather, before Amy nodded. Before Beca could register anything else, Amy and her instructor were gone. Beca swallowed bile that had been rising in her throat.

Not much more time passed before Flo jumped. Next came Emily, then CR, Jessica, Aubrey, Stacie, Ashley, and Lily. Chloe and Beca were the only two left. Chloe's jump instructor began positioning Chloe and him to take the next jump. Chloe dug her feet into the ground and stopped him. "No," she mouthed, pointing over to Beca. Beca had to go first. Chloe, though herself was scared to death, was not going to leave her friend alone in the plane. Chloe had to see Beca out before she would jump.

Beca shot a horrified look towards Chloe, which non-verbally said, "I can't do this."

Chloe nodded reassuringly. Beca could, and she would. Beca swallowed and nodded back. Although Beca's insides felt twisted up like a pretzel, she let her instructor guide her to the edge of the plane.

"Are you ready to jump?" He asked Beca.

"WHAT I CAN"T HEAR ABOVE THE-"

The instructor pushed forward and the two went toppling out of the plane before Beca had a chance to finish her response. The first few seconds of free fall were utterly terrifying. Once Beca's stomach stopped spinning she opened her eyes. She saw the vast expanse of desert around them. This was what it felt like to be a bird, Beca thought. She could see the afternoon sun hitting the city off into the distance. A few seconds, or maybe minutes, Beca wasn't sure, passed.

Her tandem instructor garbled something indiscernible. Beca didn't respond. The instructor started guiding them into somersaults. One after the other, after the other. Beca felt like she was going to be motion sick.

"Stop, stop!" She cried. The instructor either didn't hear or chose to ignore Beca's pleas.

Finally, the two were close enough to the earth that he pulled the parachute. Beca spent the rest of the ride down trying not to vomit. The two finally hit the ground. "Thank God," Beca thought.

"So how was it?" The instructor asked.

"It was fucking amazing. I feel... like I could do anything right now. Like I can literally do anything!" Beca exclaimed excitedly. She was experiencing an adrenaline rush. She took a deep breath, which did nothing to stop her from shaking with excitement. Sure, she still felt a little motion sick. But she would take a Dramamine from Stacie later.

Beca moved inside and removed her skydiving gear. The other Bellas had seemed to take to skydiving rather well and were all feeling the effects of adrenaline rushes as well. Chloe and Stacie were both really amped up as they manically recounted their experiences to one another. Emily and Flo were actually jumping up and down as they held hands.

Amy came sauntering over to Beca. "Well, short stuff, was I right or was I right?"

"You were right," Beca said with a huge grin on her face. Chloe looked over and locked eyes with Beca. Still grinning, Beca winked at Chloe before continuing her conversation with Amy.

Chloe attempted to turn her focus back onto Stacie, trying to ignore how turned on she was. Beca really had no idea how irresistible she could be. Stacie didn't miss the wink that passed between Beca and Chloe.

"Fuck her yet?" Stacie asked.

"What? No!" Chloe exclaimed, taken aback.

"All I'm saying, is if you don't, I will. The Hunter needs a challenge."

"Stop it!" Chloe hissed, lightly hitting Stacie's arm. "Other people are standing nearby."

"I'm serious, Chlo. If you don't fuck her by the end of this weekend, so help me. I'll do it. I'm not even kidding."

"You have a boyfriend," Chloe shot back.

"Good. He can be a part of it, too," Stacie answered simply, with a shrug.

Chloe rolled her eyes. This statement was less than surprising. Stacie and Marcus had asked Chloe to have threesomes with them dozens of times. "You wouldn't."

"Wanna test me?" Stacie asked, giving Chloe a stern look. "Because I wouldn't. Especially when it comes to Beca. She's super hot. She's got that whole moody and edgy thing going on. I'd love to sink my teeth into her."

Chloe pursed her lips shut, swallowing the silly jealously bubbling inside of her. Surely Stacie was joking, right? I mean she had to be.

"I know that look," Stacie continued. As if she were reading Chloe's thoughts, Stacie said, "And no, Chloe, I'm one hundred percent not joking. You take that sexy music producer to your room, rip her clothes off, and fuck the living daylights out of her or I will. Your choice."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at Stacie. Of course Chloe wanted Beca in bed with her, but it was hardly Stacie's place to push her beyond her comfort zone.

"Beca!" Stacie called across the room to Beca, once it had become clear that Chloe wasn't going to respond to Stacie's threat.

Beca raised her eyebrows at Stacie, who beckoned her over. "What?" Beca asked, as she joined the conversation of Stacie and Chloe.

"Come here," Stacie commanded.

"I am here," a confused Beca answered.

"No," Stacie began again, "Come here." Stacie took Beca's hand and pulled her close. With Beca wrapped around her arms, Stacie let her gaze slowly drop down to Beca's lips, while Beca shifted uncomfortably on her feet. Beca had no idea what was going on.

"Stace," Chloe interjected sternly, "I think we should leave Beca alone, don't you?" Chloe was more than a little worried that Stacie was actually going to kiss Beca. What worried her more, still, was the thought that Beca might like it if Stacie kissed her.

Stacie broke her gaze from Beca's lips and met Chloe's eyes. With a playful gleam and a wink, Stacie answered, "Oh, I don't know about that, Chlo. With all this adrenaline I've got pumping after skydiving, the Hunter-"

Chloe interrupted Stacie by grabbing her face and yanking her in for a kiss. Chloe felt Stacie respond as her soft lips kissed Chloe back. Although kissing Stacie was nice, really nice, Chloe released her hold of Stacie and took a step back.

"That should shut her up," Chloe thought.

Both Beca and Stacie stared at Chloe like she had lobsters crawling out of her ears. This behavior was unexpected, to say the least. "Tell the Hunter to keep it in his pants until he gets home to his boyfriend, yeah?" Chloe requested.

Stacie smirked. Chloe had taken the bait.

"What have I just walked into?" Beca asked in an annoyed tone of voice. Why had she left a perfectly fine conversation with Amy to watch Chloe kiss on Stacie? That was the last thing she wanted to watch happen.

Chloe and Stacie each shrugged and answered in unison, "Nothing."

Beca tried her best to ignore the strange emotion she was feeling in the pit of her stomach. It felt strangely akin to jealously. But, it couldn't be… right? I mean, Stacie and Chloe had always been touchy and forward, particularly with one another. And it had never bothered Beca before. I mean, Beca had witnessed Stacie and Chloe take body shots off one another in college.

"Fine, if you say so," Beca answered, pursing her lips into a smile, as she turned around to walk away.

Chloe shot Stacie a look of distress.

"Don't give me that look. This slow burn has been burning too long," Stacie explained, as she responded to Chloe's nonverbal look of worry. "Something needs to light the fire under your ass."

"Just…" Chloe trailed off, trying to collect her thoughts, "Tell the Hunter to back off tonight. I'll make my move, okay?"

"You'd better," Stacie muttered. "Now, go get your girl. I'm pretty sure she's sulking."

"Sulking?"

"Yeah, Chlo. Maybe you don't see it and hell, maybe she doesn't see it either, but that girl has got it bad for you."

"Do you really think?" Chloe asked, gushing in spite of herself. She realized that this conversation effectively declined her chill level to zero.

"Beca looked like she wanted to murder me and parade my severed head around on a stick. And I know I don't usually have that effect on others unless there's jealousy involved. So yeah, she's a sure thing. You've just gotta pull the trigger, Chloe."

"Oh, I'll pull the trigger alright," Chloe answered with a smirk. By the end of this evening, Beca was going to be a goner.

Chloe ran off to go find Beca.

Wow, so we're a little over halfway done at this point! And thanks for hanging in there, we're actually going to see Chloe and Beca get together in the next chapter! So count your blessings that I'm going to stop slowly burning our souls- I know I'm thankful for that.

Anyhow, I've already got the next chapter well under way. It was a little too long to tack onto this chapter, but once I've got it looking perfect, you'll have it.

Love you all!