Spring break had come around so fast and so much had happened. Bellas rehearsals were full of nothing but tension between the two girls, and it was detected by everyone but mentioned by no one. Beca's dad had suggested she should find a 'nice young man' to get her back on track, and so she had fed him some lies about an interest in Jesse just to keep him quiet. It was hard to make sure it didn't go to Jesse's head and Beca had to constantly reassure him that they were just friends, but that was the least of her problems. All she could think about was Chloe. Ever since their loss at Regionals, Beca thought it would make life easier to be kicked out of the Bellas because at least she wouldn't have to be tortured with the sight of Chloe anymore. But boy was she wrong.

Every moment was spent either thinking about Chloe or burying herself so deep in her work or music as a distraction, and both of those things were tiring her out. She was faced with the constant battle of what was worse: seeing Chloe and knowing that she couldn't have her, or not seeing her at all. In an attempt to power through and try her hardest to get over the redhead, she had agreed to take on the nightshift at the radio station over Spring break. It wasn't like she was sleeping much anyway, so she might as well get some work done. No matter how much it hurt, she had to keep on telling herself that it was the right thing to be letting Chloe go. Even if she didn't believe it, she would say it anyway.

Meanwhile Chloe was sat in a hospital bed with her earphones in, trying to ignore the pain in her throat after her surgery. The operation had taken place two days ago and now she was just waiting around to be discharged. The first twenty four hours of her recovery had been spent in silence, which had been absolute torture considering the phone call she had received from Aubrey. The Bellas were back in business for the ICCA's and rehearsal started the second Spring break ended, but all Chloe could think about was Beca. She made them so much better; even Aubrey knew it if she wasn't so arrogant. Her eyes drifted shut as she remembered all the tiny moments with Beca those past few months.

The odd glance during rehearsal, encouraging everyone to wait up for her after the incident with the police; it was those brief seconds of interaction that kept her heart from stopping entirely. Beca didn't come home all night after their breakup and by the time Chloe got back from her English class the next day, all of Beca's stuff had vanished. It was as if there was no trace of her ever being there, and several times on very drunk nights it took a while for Chloe to figure out whether it was all a dream or not. Her eyes opened again as she felt something shift on her legs, and she looked down to see Joe clambering onto her bed with a toy car in his hand. He ran it over the 'speed bumps' that were her legs and made engine sounds with his mouth.

"Joseph, leave your sister in peace," Jean said as she walked through the door. Her son ignored her and continued playing, but something distracted her from scolding him further. She looked at the bowl of soft food sitting on the bedside table, seemingly untouched. She sighed and tried to encourage her daughter to eat at least one spoonful, but she just sat there with her mouth shut and her eyes empty. Chloe was somehow convinced that she could survive on a few mouthfuls of yoghurt per day, and Jean knew exactly why her eating habits had been declining. Apparently, so did Joe.

"What happened to Beca?" he asked as he ran his car across the blanket, and Chloe removed her earphones. She stared at him for a while before replying quietly, "I lost her." Suddenly the car came to a halt in Joe's hand and he made eye contact with his big sister. "So get her back." And it was as simple as that. Dozens of pep talks from both her mother and Aubrey had no effect on her. She had been losing her appetite more and more as the weeks went on, and nothing anyone could say could convince her to forget about Beca. So when Joe suggested the complete opposite of every other piece of advice she'd received, it was surprisingly easy to consider. All she had wanted was to fight to get Beca back, but everyone had been holding her back after how badly she had been treated. Now someone had finally given her permission to fight to get the best thing in her life back, there was no stopping her.

Later that night Beca was sat in the radio station and selecting the upcoming tracks when something caught her eye outside the booth. She swiftly moved her headphones down to her neck to listen for movement and sat frozen in her seat. A few seconds later a small bump came from outside the door and she leapt to her feet, casting her headphones to the desk and picking up a baseball bat. She had no idea why Luke kept a baseball bat in the booth, but right now she wasn't going to complain. Cautiously she stepped towards the door and gripped tighter on the bat as she watched the handle turn and the door slowly swing open.

"Chloe…" The bat clattered to the floor as it fell from Beca's hand, and she ran over to the redhead in the doorway. Her first thought was that she was dreaming, but if she was she wasn't prepared to wake up any time soon. She flung her arms around Chloe's body and buried her head into her neck. The tiredness in her eyes; the knot in her stomach; the ache in her heart all stopped as she felt Chloe's arms wrap around her body and pull her tighter into the embrace. They had both wanted to feel this kind of contact for months and had been tortured with the constant distance between them, but now they could finally be close again. Minutes passed and neither of them moved; just standing there breathing one another in was enough.

Eventually Beca spoke and she could feel the word 'bitch' engrave into her forehead as she said, "I can't do this, not again." She waited anxiously for Chloe's response, for some sign of acceptance, but there was nothing but silence. After a few moments Chloe replied through soft tears, "Then let go." But obviously, she couldn't. She felt so safe in Chloe's arms and wasn't prepared to lose that comfort again, so she stayed exactly where she was. That was a good enough answer for Chloe, encouraging her to pull away ever so slightly, leaving their faces inches apart. She hesitated only briefly before putting one hand on the nape of Beca's neck and pulling her closer. Their lips pressed against each other with urgency yet certain stillness, as if both of them were trying to linger on the kiss for as long as possible.

Beca was the first to pull away, and the inches now between them suddenly felt like metres. Now they had a taste of what it was like being with each other again it was so hard to stop, which is why Chloe's heart stopped when the kiss came to a close. She wasn't prepared for Beca to leave again; to kiss her like that and then push her away just like before. Beca did push her away, but not in the way she expected. She was so fuelled with love for Chloe, but a slow, sweet kiss just wasn't enough anymore. Not only did she love her, but she hated that she loved her. She hated Chloe for making it so impossible to do the right thing and walk away, and she hated her for being damn intoxicating.

Love, lust, and hate fuelled Beca to push Chloe against the wall with so much passion in her eyes merely a look was enough to turn Chloe on. Her back crashed against the wall but it didn't hurt, and it didn't hurt when Beca pinned her arms above her head either. A small moan elicited from her mouth as she felt hot breath and then lips latch onto the pulse point on her neck, and her hands fought to be released. She pushed hard against Beca's hands in an attempt to be free to roam all of the petite girls body, but Beca responded by tightening her grip and gently forcing them back into the wall.

In a moment of urgency and need Chloe managed to find strength to overpower her captor and eventually found herself free from the tight grip, giving her more control of how things would go. She felt Beca's cold, nimble fingers unbutton her jeans and became driven by the desire to be impossibly closer to the brunette's body. In one swift move she latched her hands beneath Beca's thighs and lifted her up until her legs were firmly wrapped around her body. She effortlessly carried her over to the desk outside the booth and sat her down. Both of them made quick work of undoing one another's shirts and discarding them to the floor, leaving them in nothing more than jeans and bras.

Beca uncurled her body to lay flat on the desk, and in the dim lighting Chloe took a moment to scan every inch of the body she had longed to see for so long. As she pulled down Beca's jeans and then her own, she noticed something different about the younger girl that she made a mental note to bring up later – there were no visible fresh cuts on her body. Meanwhile Beca was making mental notes of her own as she watched Chloe climb up onto the desk and lower herself so that their bodies fit together perfectly. She could feel Chloe's hipbones graze against her own skin; they were so prominent. In general she just looked a lot skinnier and not particularly healthy.

Now was not the time to bring either of these points up though as Beca raised her leg between Chloe's, making her thigh rest against the very place that made Chloe squirm. A lot of kissing, biting, tugging, pulling, giving, taking, scratching and screaming later, they finally lay side by side on the desk. It took a while to catch their breath, but after their lungs returned to operating in a rhythmic pattern Beca willed herself to stand up. The cold air encouraged her to gather up their clothes sooner than she would have liked, and she tossed Chloe her shirt and pulled on her own jeans. She could feel eyes watching her and turned to see the redhead looking at her entrancingly.

Feeling the need to explain the reason for her staring, and also the need to get an answer to a question she said, "You haven't cut."

"You told me to look after myself." Beca replied with a small smile. Nights had been spent in tears recapping her last words, and many times Chloe had ended up wishing she had said something else: something more romantic, something that might have encouraged Beca to come back sooner. But learning now that those three words that left her lips were enough to actually help Beca not to hurt herself: that felt better than any extra moments they could have shared together. In the spirit of commenting on one another Beca spoke up, "You've lost a lot of weight." Shamefully Chloe slid herself off the desk as she pulled on her jeans and Beca regained her shirt.

"I haven't been eating properly in a while."

"Why not?"

"I missed you too much."

She could feel the tears gather in her eyes, and desperate not to let the night turn sour Beca said, "Well we better go and get something to eat then." Chloe smiled and waited patiently as Beca set up an easy playlist long enough to last the remaining hours of the night, and then took her hand as they left the radio station. They walked to a 24 hour café and as they sat down, Chloe brought up the dreaded question. "So what does this mean?" Beca sighed and looked at the faded red table between them. "I don't know. I mean, I want to be with you. These past few months have been torture to say the least. But I still don't feel like I'm being fair to you."

Chloe reached her hand across the table and linked their fingers together. "I love you. And that love outweighs everything that I do for you. If I need to leave class for you – then so be it, because I love you. I have never felt burdened or frustrated with you, because I will give anything just to make sure you're okay. Knowing you're okay and safe makes me feel better, so in that respect you're actually doing me a favour when you call me for help. I have never asked you to do anything for me: I never asked you to stop cutting overnight, I never asked you to suddenly love yourself to make life easier. But right now I need to ask something of you. Never leave me again. Please, just don't ever leave me like that Beca."

A lump formed in her throat, but all of her fears and inhibitions went away when Beca smiled. "I love you too. I promise, I will never leave you again."