'Beca,' whispers a voice, followed by a highly irritating finger poking her in the side repeatedly. 'Beca, wake up!' She groans, trying to get away from the offending finger by wiggling into the corner of her bed. Unfortunately, this does little to stop it, and she lets out a loud grunt when she gets a particularly harsh poke.

'Go 'way!' Beca mutters, batting at the hand.

'Well, get up then.'

She cracks open one eye and is severely disappointed to see her immediate assumption about who it was poking her being confirmed, as she sees the bemused face of her father blinking back at her. 'Go away, Dad,' she grouses, shutting her eyes again.

'Impossible to wake as always, then,' he notes, sounding amused. 'I remember when you were a kid you used to go back to sleep every time we tried to wake you up and we'd have to rush to get you to school in time.'

'Daaad, it's too early in the morning for crappy childhood memories. Plus, you really shouldn't barge in here without permission like that.' Beca flops back over onto her left shoulder so she has her back to him. 'You never know what you're gonna find.'

'Like what? You're usually either in your bed or messing about on your computer.'

'Who said I meant me? Kimmy Jin's a total wild one, you know,' she says. 'You should see what sort of antics she gets up to playing Mario Kart with her friends.'

'Very funny,' her father says, letting out an exasperated sigh. Despite Beca's protests, he crosses the room and rips open the curtains. 'C'mon, rise and shine. It's a beautiful spring day out there!'

'I can see that, it's hitting me in the face.' She pulls her duvet over her head, blocking out the light. 'Not in the mood for rising, let alone shining.'

'You seem grumpy, even for you,' he says. To her consternation, he takes a seat at the end of her sofa-bed, pushing her feet out of the way. Just to irritate him, she sticks her duvet covered foot in his face instead until he grimaces and gives her more room again.

'Score one for Daddy Mitchell, he can tell my mood.' Finally admitting defeat and that she's awake now, Beca forces herself to sit up. She stretches until her spine cracks and her dad winces at the noise. Smiling with satisfaction, she asks, 'What are you doing here anyway?'

'Can't a guy pop round to see his daughter once and a while without getting the third degree?'

'A guy can, but you can't,' she responds dryly. 'Usually you're too busy with work or whatever, unless you're coming over to make me feel bad about something. Just tell me what you want.'

'Nothing bad, I assure you.' He smoothes out a crease in his trousers. 'Sheila is making her famous cauliflower cheese tonight, and I was wondering if you might like to come to dinner with us. As a kind of… family meeting.'

'No,' she tells him shortly.

He frowns, looking upset. 'You're not even going to consider it?'

'No, for several reasons. One, the step-monster isn't my family, Dad,' she says, making his frown deepen. 'Two, I'm allergic to cauliflower.'

'Since when?'

'Since the step-monster was the one making it.'

'Don't be so rude,' he says, but the admonition falls on deaf ears.

'Plus, even if those two things weren't true, I can't tonight, dad. Bellas practice is this afternoon and Aubrey is having us practice for hours on end so we're ready for finals,' she lies smoothly, not even hesitating to say it.

'Really? I thought your group didn't make it through the semi-finals.' Seeing her questioning look, he explains, 'I do pay some attention to your life, you know.'

She shrugs, accepting this. The Bellas are pretty notorious on campus because of what happened to Aubrey last year, so it's not that surprising that her father might have heard something about it. 'Turned out one of the guys that went through was actually a high-schooler, so the Bellas went through instead.'

'Oh, so you're going to get another shot?' He beams at her, while Beca just looks at him with indifference. 'Well, that's brilliant, Beca. It's so nice you found a group you can mesh with in the end.'

'Yep. It's great,' says Beca with false enthusiasm. She kicks off her blankets and starts to rifle through her clothes, hoping she can escape her dad if she tells him she needs to shower.

'Do you think you might come another night, when you don't have practice?'

'I dunno Dad,' she says, examining her hefty collection of plaid shirts. Dark blue, or red today? 'I'm pretty busy at the moment.'

'Yes, you looked like you were rushed off your feet when I came in…'

Beca huffs in irritation. 'Don't you have other things to do? Like work, maybe?'

'I specifically cleared my inbox and workload for today, so I wouldn't have to focus on it tonight if you decided to come over.' There's a wounded, hurt puppy-dog tone to his voice, which only annoys Beca more.

'Can you just stop trying to force a relationship between me and the step-monster? It's never going to work. I don't like her, she doesn't like me – simple as.'

'I think the two of you could really get on, if you tried.'

'Well, I don't,' Beca says flatly.

As she says this, Beca's phone suddenly buzzes on her bedside table. Her father goes to reach for it, presumably to hand it to her, but she rushes over to snatch it up. Call it paranoia about other people touching her stuff. The screen reveals that it's Chloe texting her.

Are you coming to rehearsal this afternoon?

'Something the matter?' he says, seeing her downcast expression and latching on to it.

'Nope,' she says, dropping her phone back to the table and going back to her wardrobe. She decides to forego the plaid (gasp!) and opts for a red shirt over a black tank top instead. 'It's all good.'

'Judging by your expression when you read that text, I'm not sure I believe you.'

'What do you care?'

He sighs deeply. 'Beca, I'm your dad. Of course I care. So if there's something bothering you -'

'There isn't,' she interrupts, glaring at him.

He holds his hands up. 'Okay, okay. I get it.'

Except he doesn't get it at all. He just sits there twiddling his thumbs, staring at her with an expectant expression while she pretends not to notice. This goes on for several minutes, before she finally cracks.

'I left the Bellas,' she admits finally through gritted teeth. 'At semi-finals. Or rather, they both kicked me out and I quit. So there you go.'

'Why'd you do that?' he asks, looking concerned. She's a surprised he didn't tell her off for lying – maybe he knew all along and this was his way of goading her into telling the truth.

'I changed the songs mid-performance without asking them because people were pretty much nodding off throughout it,' she explains, feeling some of the pent-up emotion from that night still niggling at her for attention. She ignores them, as usual. 'I thought I was helping, but obviously not, seeing as we didn't even get through.'

'Okay…' he says slowly. 'So what's the problem? What was that text about?' His brow wrinkles. 'Wait, are they sending you mean things?'

'No, of course not. They wouldn't do that. It's just that…' Beca pinches the bridge of her nose, wondering how and why she ended up blurting her whole story out to her dad. 'I told Chloe I was going to come back. Or at least attempt to.'

'"Chloe?"' he says, a slightly odd look on his face.

'She's one of the co-captains. And my best friend,' she says, feeling the inexplicable need to add that part on, and also feeling an odd sense of pride from the words.

'Ah…'

'Only going back means I have to apologise to the other captain, Aubrey, which is something I really don't wanna do.' To her displeasure, her father actually starts chuckling at her.

'What's so funny?' asks Beca, irked.

'Oh, nothing. It just strikes me how similar to your mom you are sometimes.' He smiles fondly. 'She was just as stubborn as you, and almost as reluctant to apologise when in the wrong.'

'Can you not talk about her like that, please?' says Beca icily. 'You're not helping.'

'I didn't mean it like that, Bec. All I'm saying is that the two of you are very strong, opinionated women, who don't back down easily. '

'Basically a nice way of saying we're both assholes.'

'You're putting words in my mouth, Bec. Look, I understand why you don't want to apologise.'

'You do?' she says, surprised.

'Of course. The way I see it, in your heart of hearts, you don't really think there's a reason you should apologise. You believe what you did made it better, and even though you know you should say sorry and grovel, it doesn't seem fair that you have to shoulder all the blame. Some part of you, however small, feels a bit betrayed because they were meant to be your friends and you thought they would have supported what you did. Some part of you feels like they should apologise to you.' At her silence, he looks a little smug. 'I'm right, aren't I?'

Beca turns away from him, pretending to search for more clothes even though she picked them all out five minutes ago. 'So now I'm selfish, according to you,' she says flatly. 'Thanks for that.'

'Stop it. You know that's not what I'm saying.'

'Then what are you saying?'

'That you're probably right to feel that way, because you probably did improve on the set.' At Beca's look of disbelief, he says, 'I do listen to the radio occasionally, you know. I've heard what you can do.' He pauses, an eyebrow quirking upwards. 'And not only that - there was this one occasion a student in one of my classes was listening to a track by you.'

Beca frowns, sure she misheard. 'What?'

'Yes, I was surprised too. But I was further surprised, when I got mad and confiscated her phone, and then found her listening to something by a "DJ Mitchell"…'

'What?' Beca splutters, while her father grins at her reaction. 'Who the hell was that?!'

'I believe it may have been one of your Bellas friends. A Miss Chloe Beale, to be more specific... Or, as you just told me, your best friend.'

'Chloe?!' Beca yelps. 'How the hell did she get them?! I haven't given them to anyone! Well, no one except for –' Her eyes widen. 'Luke. Oh my God, I'm going to kill him.'

'Who's Luke?' he asks curiously.

'He's the station manager, and is apparently distributing my music without my knowledge…' Beca lets out an aggravated sigh. 'I bet Chloe had something to do with it. She probably coaxed him into doing it with her stupid powers of persuasion. Ugh!' She's too busy brooding over the fact that Chloe has her music – and also a little flattered that she went to such lengths (maybe a lot, actually, and she keeps smiling about it) – to notice her father watching her with interest.

'So this Chloe. She's the one that just texted you?'

Beca, hearing his overly casual tone, is instantly on guard. 'Yeah.'

'And she's the one trying to get you to rejoin the group, too?'

'Uh huh.'

'And you two…' He clears his throat. 'Are you especially close?'

'… We're quite close, yes. Like I said… Best friends.' Beca tries to keep her tone neutral and not get defensive, but he still seems to get something from her response, judging from the way he's nodding in an infuriatingly knowing manner.

'Ah,' her father comments. 'I see.'

She groans inwardly. 'Do I even want to know what kinds of things you're seeing?'

'I think you know exactly what I'm talking about.'

'Nope,' Beca says, her heart hammering in her chest. 'No idea.'

Her father wipes his hands on his legs, clasping them in his lap. He clears his throat once more. 'Beca, forgive me for prying,' ('You aren't,' Beca interjects), 'but is your relationship with Chloe anything like – ah, what was her name… your "friendship" with that girl, Victoria?'

Beca flushes wildly at the memory. Victoria was the one and only girl (or person in general, for that matter) Beca has ever kissed. They'd just been sitting together in her room when Victoria lunged at her; she hadn't been expecting it and had pretty much been frozen solid due to panic throughout the whole thing, and hadn't even been able to return it. Unfortunately Beca's mother had taken that moment to act like a good host and ask if Tori and Beca wanted any snacks, and had walked right in on them.

Suffice to say, Beca did not speak to Tori ever again.

'How do you even know about that?!'

'It's rare, I know, but your mother and I are able to talk without screaming matches sometimes,' he says wryly. 'This is the first time I've heard you talk about a girl since her, so I wondered.'

'Jesus Christ!' Beca howls, putting her face in her hands. 'I do not need my parents talking about my love life behind my back, thanks!'

'Ah, so you do have a love life?'

Beca glares at him over the tips of her fingers. 'Why are you even asking about this?!'

'Because I'm your dad, and I care about you.' She scoffs. 'Really. You can tell me what's happening, Beca,' he says gently. 'I won't judge.'

'I don't believe you.'

'Then let me prove it to you. Plus,' he adds, 'don't you think your old man might even have some advice to impart to you, too? I went through the same things as you, once upon a time.'

'Ugh. I'd rather not hear about that, thanks,' Beca replies, but she smiles a little despite herself. He pats the seat next to him, which Beca reluctantly takes after a moment.

'Is Chloe your girlfriend?' he asks quietly.

Beca links her fingers together, bending them inwards. 'No.'

'But you want her to be?'

She sighs. 'Maybe. There's something there, but I don't know what it is, exactly.'

'What do you want it to be?' he asks.

Beca opens her mouth to answer, but ends up shaking her head, unable to think of the words. She switches to a different problem, one that is more pressing for her. 'The other day I told her we could think about a date after finals… If Aubrey let me back into the group. So that's what I should be doing right now – going to apologise to Aubrey. She asked if I was going to be at rehearsal today… and I can't even reply and say yes definitively.'

'Would it mean a lot to Chloe if you were able to rejoin the Bellas?' Beca nods jerkily. 'And it'd mean a lot to you too, I'm assuming.' Another nod. 'Then I think you might just have to swallow your pride, Beca. Even if you meant well, your actions at semi-finals will have shaken them all up, and you can't expect them to let you back in if you're going to make it all about you.'

'I know,' Beca mutters irritably. 'I know I did wrong, and that I shouldn't have changed things. But Dad,' she whines, 'I just hate having to apologise to Aubrey. I hate the way she always walks all over Chloe – and the rest of the group - and by doing that I feel like I'm letting her win.'

He ponders this for a few moments. 'This Aubrey,' he says. 'She's as stubborn as you, right?'

'Yep. Probably more.'

'Ouch,' he says, chuckling when Beca scowls at him. 'Anyway, you should use that to your advantage.'

'How do you mean?'

'Well, if she's anything like you, she's going to hate the idea of apologising to you too. But if you're the bigger person, then she's going to have to, otherwise she'll probably look like a real bitch,' (he stumbles over the word – he's not a fan of swearing), 'in front of your friends. And am I right in thinking Chloe would not be happy if she was horrible to you?'

'Yeah.'

'Well, there you are. I know it feels like backing down, but really, you're the one winning this way. Think about it.' He gives her a little pat on the back, finally standing up. 'Anyway, Beca… Sorry to cut this short, but I need to go. But feel free to swing by if you need me.'

'Okay... No, wait, Dad,' Beca says suddenly, making him stop on the way to the door. 'Have I always been anxious about physical contact? Like, was that a thing when I was little, too?'

He tilts his head, lost in memories for a moment. 'You were never exactly welcoming of hugs and things, no. Why do you ask?'

'No reason,' she says. She really doesn't have any idea why she asked - it's just something that's been preying on her mind over the last few days. Whether this was something she picked up on along the way or if she's always been naturally reserved about physical contact. 'I was just wondering. And Dad?' she says, stopping him once again. He turns to face her. 'Thanks… I guess,' she says grudgingly.

He smiles at her. 'I can be useful sometimes.'

'Yeah, sometimes. Bye, Dad.'

He waves to her, shutting the door behind him. As soon as his footsteps stop sounding in the hall, Beca picks up her phone again to examine the text from Chloe once more.

Her dad is right, and she knows it.

She changes quickly, then, rushing her shower in favour of trying to get to the rehearsal in time – perhaps if she gets there early enough she might get on Aubrey's good side. However, by the time she's gotten through her morning routine, she's already late, and for all intents and purposes she should already be on her way there.

But Beca finds herself sitting down again, simply staring at the text.

Why is she so reluctant to go? Apologising is for the best all around, after all. She misses the Bellas, misses singing every day, even the dancing – heck, she even misses Aubrey sometimes, although that may just be Beca missing winding her up. She can't be that proud that she can't even admit she's wrong to someone when she blatantly is, even if it is Aubrey. She can't be that proud that she can't put aside her feelings so she can get back into something so important to Chloe, and if she's honest with herself, important to her, too. So what is the problem here?

It takes a little time, and a lot of huffing and rolling about on her bed with frustration, but she eventually unearths the real reason why she doesn't want to go. She's scared. Scared of getting rejected again. In all honesty, she had expected the impromptu mash up at semi-finals to go down a lot better than it did – that they would go through and she would be forgiven for taking control because she had proven that actually, she was right all along and that she knew what she was talking about.

But none of that happened. They didn't get through, and maybe the whole reason they didn't is because of Beca. Even Chloe hadn't been able to look her in the eye and tell her she'd done the right thing.

She let them down so much, and now she has to put herself out there again and hope they're going to forgive her. And maybe they won't. Maybe they'll just kick her to the curb again.

The door suddenly opens – she's expecting her father again, or perhaps even Chloe coming to demand where she is. It is neither; instead Kimmy Jin walks in, followed by her own circle of friends.

She comes to a halt when she sees Beca sitting at her bed, her expression darkening. 'You said you would be out of the room for the afternoon,' Kimmy Jin says in a cold monotone. 'I saw one of your group a little while ago and she asked where you were. I don't enjoy lying for you.'

'You did?' asks Beca, sitting up. 'Who was it?'

Kimmy Jin rolls her eyes like Beca is a drain on her very life force. 'The redhead.'

Beca glances down at the text once, seeing Chloe's words again, and feels warmth blossom in her chest. If no-one else, she knows that Chloe will stand by her. 'Yeah, I do,' says Beca, jumping up. 'Sorry, I'll get out of your hair now.' As she passes, she gives Kimmy Jin a resounding clap on the shoulder, shouting, 'Thanks!' as she rushes past.

She wishes she could've stayed to see her expression.

When Beca finally arrives, it's absolute bedlam.

She has no idea what's happened, but judging by the fact that Chloe and Aubrey are both flat on the floor, fighting over the pitch pipe while Amy is trying in vain to restrain them, Chloe finally lost it. And from the vomit which Lily is making an angel in (oh God, so gross), Aubrey has too. All over the floor.

'Guys! Guys, stop!' she yells, rushing in. 'What is going on?!'

The girls stop fighting immediately when they see her, with Aubrey using the quiet to snatch up the pitch pipe finally and jump to her feet. Chloe takes a little longer to recover, leading Beca to help her up and worriedly look her over for injuries.

'Nothing,' says Aubrey, her voice shaking. 'This is a Bellas rehearsal. You shouldn't be here.'

'I know.' Satisfied that Chloe isn't hurt, she turns to Aubrey and takes a deep breath. 'I'm not here to cause trouble. I just… wanted to say that I'm sorry.'

She feels a collective jolt of shock go through all the Bellas, and can't help but roll her eyes at the fact it's so surprising for them. Chloe, to her credit, doesn't seem at all surprised, and Beca feels a comforting hand touch her at the small of her back, encouraging her.

'What I did was a really dick move. I shouldn't have changed the set without asking you guys… And I definitely shouldn't have left. And…' She hesitates. Chloe's hand moves up between her shoulder blades. 'Aubrey, if you would have me, I want back in.'

Aubrey does not reply immediately. In fact, she does not reply at all, simply gazing at Beca with an expression that clearly reads "Are you kidding me?" for such a long time that Beca begins to feel disheartened. This goes on for quite a long time, with many of the Bellas shooting Aubrey incredulous glances, and Chloe doing the same.

When Beca finally gives up and turns to leave, Chloe's hand fisting in the back of her jacket makes her stop. 'Aubrey!' Chloe says, her tone one of steel. Beca looks at her in amazement; she's glaring at Aubrey with such an air of anger and venom she has never in her life seen directed at anyone, let alone her supposed best friend. 'Are you seriously going to be this immature?!'

Aubrey's jaw hardens, and she makes a visible attempt at turning the same impassive look on Chloe.

But it only lasts for a brief moment before it begins to crumble, and she unceremoniously bursts into noisy tears.

All of the Bellas, including Chloe, are at all a loss over what to do. Beca can physically feel Chloe dithering anxiously next to her, most of her anger already having fled her in seconds at the sight of Aubrey's pitiful crying. Chloe's torn, Beca knows, between wanting to comfort her and staying by Beca's side.

'Go,' Beca whispers, giving Chloe a little push in Aubrey's direction. Chloe stumbles, but she doesn't need telling twice to gather Aubrey up in her arms, guiding her head to Chloe's shoulder and letting her soak through the material of her shirt with her sobs.

Beca forces herself to avert her eyes, feeling like she's intruding on some intimate moment, and not especially enjoying the feeling.

The other Bellas all have small smiles on their faces, but they aren't looking at Aubrey and Chloe; they're looking at Beca. And at that moment, she knows she made the right decision.

When she goes to take a seat, she's about to take one opposite Aubrey but Chloe tugs her back over to her side and sits her down in the seat directly next to hers. Beca lets her join their hands together and hold them in her lap. She can feel the nervous energy exuding from Chloe, the way her leg keeps bouncing next to Beca's and she keeps fidgeting with Beca's fingers. She doesn't know why she's so wound up, but she thinks it has something to do with the way Chloe's cheeks are flushed a delighted pink, her eyes bright with the newfound confidence of standing up for herself.

When the time comes to reveal something about herself, what she intends to say is a simple, but truthful little speech about not having many female friends in her life, and truly enjoying the fact she has a lot now. But what she actually says after surprises them and her with its honesty.

'I push everyone away,' she says, her eyes slowly roving from person to person. 'I don't mean to, but I do. I struggle with stupid things like hugging and opening up to people. Until my dad forced me to get involved in an activity here, I was pretty much just going to sleep away my college years, and I didn't want to meet anyone. But someone –' she glances at Chloe here, who gives her an adoring smile, 'convinced me to come here, and then I met all of you, and… turns out, having friends like you guys is pretty cool.' The corners of her mouth turn up in a smile too, before she can stop herself. 'And I'm really happy I came back.'

When she's done, Cynthia Rose highfives her and Stacie tackles her with a one-armed hug, although it's less of a hug than practically shoving Beca's face into her breasts, but Beca's attention is (mostly) elsewhere. Mainly on Chloe. What's the point in denying it? She always seems to be thinking about her these days, and judging by how Chloe's eyes lingered on Beca throughout her little speech – and after it - it's the same for her too.

They stay on her when Chloe, in a choked voice, reveals to the others that she had surgery on her nodes, not letting go of Beca's hand the entire time.

They stay on her when Aubrey finally stand up and asks for Beca's help, a proud thumb tracing its way in between her knuckles.

They stay on her throughout their mash-up of Just The Way You Are and Just A Dream.

It's then that Beca realises, Chloe never really needed to touch her to get under her skin. She didn't even need to be close to Beca in order to start painstakingly pulling down her walls. She could do it from a few feet away, their eyes boring into each other's as they sang. She could do it with her voice, her singing, her music, her harmony.

It was always the music that entwined them together, from that first day singing Titanium, and it always will be.

Chloe doesn't try and stay with her after they finish, but Beca catches her by the wrist and pretty much launches herself into Chloe's arms. If she's surprised then she doesn't show it – Chloe just laughs unreservedly and rocks Beca from side to side, practically spinning them both in circles. Her beaming smile is evident when she brushes her lips against Beca's temple again and again, one hand tangled in Beca's hair.

There's pressure in Beca's chest again, but not the usual kind – instead it's the unfamiliar feeling of pent-up excitement wanting to burst out of her, her muscles wound up and restless. She literally wants to jump up and down, run around screaming in happiness.

Beca channels it into squeezing Chloe tighter and feeling the same back, into burying her face in Chloe's neck and breathing her perfume in, exhaling out affection with a content sigh.

She thinks she sees the other Bellas – including Aubrey, much to her surprise – smirking a little when they catch up a few minutes later, holding hands again (hers are clammy and damp, so are Chloe's) but frankly? She doesn't care.

They congregate back in the auditorium to collect their bags – or at least they try to, before they remember that the floor is covered in vomit. Naturally, no one wants to go back in.

Nonetheless it is unanimously decided that Aubrey should be the one to have to go in, followed by a furious tournament of rock paper scissors to find out who should help her. After five minutes of this, Chloe gives in and volunteers to help Aubrey.

Once they two of them have left, Cynthia Rose suddenly nudges Beca in the side. She whispers, with a little waggle of her eyebrows, 'Sooo. What's going on with you and Chloe, B?' This catches the attention of the other Bellas, who immediately turn around with interest. 'She was staring at you through that whole song.'

'Stuff,' says Beca evasively.

'Are you guys together yet?' Amy asks tiredly. 'Because I swear, waiting for you guys to come out is even more exhausting than waiting for this one.' She jabs her thumb in Cynthia Rose's direction, getting a little 'Hey!' of protest from her.

'No, we aren't.'

'When are you going to ask her out?' That's Stacie this time, looking excited at the very prospect. In fact, all of them do, even Jessica, Ashley and Denise who she doesn't actually talk to that much – vaguely, she wonders why everyone is so invested in her love life. She shrugs it off, though, mostly just happy to be surrounded by people who care.

'I'm going to ask her out on a date after finals,' Beca mumbles in embarrassment, jamming her hands into her pockets and trying not to grin when they all whoop and pat her on the back. 'At least, that's what I told her, so I guess I have to do it now.'

'Nice one,' says Amy, trying to put an arm around Beca's shoulders, who swiftly side-steps it. 'It can either be a nice consolation prize or a celebration. It's a win-win either way.'

'What's a win-win?' says a voice behind them – Chloe's, of course. She hands over the bags to the other girls, saving Beca's for last so she has a reason to step closer to her again.

'Beca asking you out on a date after finals,' Amy explains.

'Oh, I know,' says Chloe, giving a rather flustered Beca a little wink. 'She's told me. I'm holding her to it.'

'Is that true?' asks Aubrey abruptly, her question directed at Beca. When she nods, a little nervously, Aubrey frowns a little and seems like she's going to say something. However, Chloe gives her a look and her mouth snaps closed. 'I hope you have fun, then.'

Despite her words, she still sends a silent message to Beca with her eyes, Hurt her and I will end you.

Beca just blinks slowly, hoping she's conveying what she means to in return. I won't. But the same goes for you.

'Okay,' says Aubrey, her shoulders slumping with exhaustion. 'Practice will be bright and early, since we're basically starting from scratch. Everyone bring their laptops or iPods or whatever with them. Beca, bring all your mixes. I think we're going to need all the ideas we can get.'

Beca salutes her. 'Will do.' Her words have triggered a memory for Beca, though, and she turns to Chloe. 'Hey, can I speak to you before you go home, by the way?' The other Bellas start wolf-whistling and making comments about dates, causing Beca to roll her eyes good-naturedly and Chloe to giggle.

'Sure thing,' she says, bumping her shoulder against Beca's. Aubrey watches this exchange with weary eyes.

'Don't keep her too long, Beca, we need all the sleep we can before tomorrow.'

'I won't, sir. I promise I'll have your daughter home before curfew and my intentions are totally innocent.' She smirks when Aubrey huffs out a sigh, but she doesn't look unhappy.

'See you at home, Chloe.'

The Bellas gradually disperse, with some lingering a little to give Beca a hug (or rather, trying to and then settling for an awkward handshake) and telling her they'd missed her before leaving. Eventually, it's just Chloe and Beca alone, shivering slightly in the chill that has fallen in the last ten minutes.

Chloe takes Beca's hands in her cold ones, threading their fingers together. 'Before you say anything, I just wanted to thank you for apologising to Aubrey,' she says.

Beca shakes her head. 'I should've done it a while ago, I was being an asshole about the whole thing. But thank you too for sticking up for me.'

'You'd have done the same for me.'

Beca concedes this with a nod. 'Yeah, I would've.' Chloe touches her palms to Beca's gently before letting go again. 'So, my dad told me a funny story today.'

'Oh yeah?'

'About a student in his class listening to my mixes…' When Chloe bursts into laughter, Beca puts her hands on her hips and pretends to scowl at her. 'When did you get them?!'

'I needed my fix!' Chloe says, trying to smother her giggles with her hand. 'It's not the same listening to it on the radio, I can't just repeat the same songs over and over. Luke sent them to me. You'd have never given them to me of your own accord!'

'I might have,' Beca challenges, 'you don't know. You never asked!'

'So you would have if I asked?' Chloe says, raising a sceptical eyebrow. 'Yeah right…'

'I so would,' Beca retorts. 'And I'll prove it.'

'Prove it?' says Chloe, confused. 'Prove it how?'

Beca scrabbles in her bag to find the memory stick she's looking for. She finally finished this one a short time ago – not long after meeting up with Chloe again, actually – and because of her insane need to back things up, she's been carrying it around in her bag for a while.

She puts it in the middle of Chloe's palm, closing her fingers around them. 'It's that Bulletproof/Titanium mix you heard a bit of a while ago,' she explains. 'No one else has heard this. You'll be the only one.'

Chloe looks down at the small USB stick in her hand, stunned. 'Beca,' she whispers, 'I was only kidding - you don't have to do this…'

'Sure I do,' says Beca, although now she's handed it over her fingers are kind of itching to snatch it back. She clasps her hands behind her back to stop the urge. 'I want to. It's yours.'

Chloe looks so touched, genuinely blinking back tears, that it actually makes a lump rise to Beca's throat. Chloe asks throatily, 'Can I kiss you? On the cheek, I mean,' she adds quickly, when Beca's eyes widen.

'Uh… Yeah, sure,' Beca mutters, distantly thinking she probably wouldn't have minded all that much if Chloe hadn't meant the cheek.

And from the way she cups Beca's face and her eyes linger there before she leans in and touches her lips to Beca's cheekbone – causing a flush to flood outwards from the skin underneath the slight pressure - Chloe seems to feel the same way.

A/N: For all of you liking my girlfriend's addition to my fanfic on Tumblr, I'm a little concerned?! Clearly you all just want the lesbians to live happily ever after. When I told her she just said 'Well, maybe you should spell naked that way.'

If all goes as planned, NEXT CHAPTER IS THE LAST ONE! Woooo! I don't know if there'll be an epilogue yet, or whether I'll even be able to write one, but I'll still finish the fic in such a way that it won't be necessary. You guys have been so great, I love you all.