Life in LA was good, according to Chloe Beale. Three month after moving from New York things could not have gone much better. She loved her new job - Ben had been right when he said it would give her lots of options for where she could take her career with LFA.

Things were so much better between her and Beca too. She could now look forward to going out to eat with Aubrey, Jesse and Beca – it had become a fun night with friends instead of a mediated intervention. She no longer needed to rely on her escape strategies and Beca had stopped with her moody reactions too. They had both learned to handle the occasional moments of hurt or anger differently – with just a sharp glare, or an honest harsh word or sometimes even a casually delivered "fuck you". The feelings were acknowledged, expressed in some way and then they moved on.

Outside of those nights, they were both also making an effort to spend some extra time together every few weeks, usually for an hour or two over coffee or shopping.

Chloe noticed the Beca was careful with her drinking when they were together, never having more than one or two. On the few occasions when Jesse and Aubrey had suggested going to a club after dinner Beca had always declined. She'd given plausible reasons but Chloe suspected that Beca was worried about the temptation that could arise if they were dancing together again. Chloe thought about it too, but more with curiosity than concern.

They kept to their rules about appropriate amounts of physical contact, and the flirting was lighter now compared to that morning in Beca's apartment. They cut it out completely when they were with Jesse and Aubrey.

Three months into her LA contract also meant it was time for Chloe to reconsider her living arrangements. She could continue staying in her current apartment for up to a year, but the rent free incentive of her relocation ended after three months. She was apprehensive about signing a lease as she hadn't yet committed to staying after the year was up, and that decision wouldn't be only about her career. It made sense that she should at least start to investigate what was available, so she made appointments to view a few apartments the weekend after she started paying rent.

oOo

When she searched for directions to the first of her appointments, she noticed that Beca's address was still stored in her map search history and that it was only a few kilometres from her current destination. So when she arrived at the property and saw the realtor's message saying she'd be twenty minute late, Chloe called Beca. Beca was home, not doing anything important, and happy to come look at the apartment with her.

"I didn't know you were looking for a new place," Beca said in place of a greeting.

Chloe explained the deal with her employers on her current apartment. She told Beca she was only looking around for now but she didn't clarify that she might not leave her place at all. She didn't want to tell Beca yet that she might be returning to New York. It might affect the progress of whatever their relationship was now. She often talked about her work with Beca, but she never talked about her career.

The realtor arrived thirty minutes late and without apology. She was an older woman who introduced herself as Ms. Davenport while she pressed a business card into both girls' hands, before leading them at pace towards the building, while also searching through a large bunch of keys.

Once inside the apartment, she began a quick tour with commentary, most of it stating the obvious. Chloe knew immediately it wasn't for her, but she let the tour continue.

"I'll give you two another few minutes to look around," Ms. Davenport said when they arrived back at the starting point in the living room, and she walked away to make a phone call. Chloe looked at Beca, screwed up her face in mock horror and shook her head. Beca nodded, mirrored Chloe's expression and discretely made a thumbs-down gesture. The stifled their giggles as the realtor returned to the room.

"It's not really what I'm looking for Ms. Davenport, but thank you for your time," Chloe said.

"I understand. No problem at all."

She locked the door behind them and the three of them walked together out of the building. To fill the silence the older woman made small talk about the rejected apartment.

"It's a great apartment but really it's only suitable for one occupant. It is quite compact - I think it would be a bit uncomfortable with two in that space. You are best to keep looking for something bigger."

"No, it's not for both of us, it's just me that's looking for a place. We are not a couple, or anything. Beca's a friend. I just brought her along for another opinion."

Beca glared at Chloe. Chloe recognised the look - Chloe just stop talking now. Ms. Davenport intervened to stop Chloe's over-explaining.

"Oh sorry, I assumed you were together," she said matter of factly, showing no sign of embarrassment about her error, instead enjoying the flush it brought to both women's faces.

Once the realtor had driven away they stood outside the building for a few awkward moments before Chloe invited Beca to the rest of her appointments that morning. Beca accepted with enthusiasm and they spent the next few hours driving around looking at unsuitable apartments, making jokes about realtors and their inventive sales pitches and finally going for lunch together. For Chloe this was already a great day. They hadn't spent that much time together since she'd arrived in LA and they hadn't had that much silly fun together in a long time. There was that one weird moment early on but then no further tension for the rest of the day, and there had been a lot of laughing. It was the way their interactions worked as friends.

It was a logical step then when Beca offered to help Chloe with her apartment hunting. The obvious reason being that Beca had local knowledge, while Chloe wouldn't even know the good parts of the city from the sketchy ones. More importantly it would give them something extra to do together, and a reason to call and to spend more time with each other.

oOo

It happened again - another realtor misread their relationship a few weeks later. This time it was a novice, a young man nervous in the company of women. He was wearing what Beca and Chloe joked must be the first and only suit that he ever owned, and he hadn't yet gained the confidence to deliver the hackneyed real estate language that was his only sales technique.

"The apartment has a large double bedroom and lots of closet space. Plus there is ample extra storage in the hallway. It's perfect for a couple," he read to them from the apartment's advertising handbill.

This time Beca and Chloe just laughed and didn't correct him.

oOo

After a month of apartment hunting, Chloe had become a regular visitor to Beca's place. They often hung out there searching listings, usually combining it with having lunch or dinner together. Chloe never ventured past the kitchen and living areas and she didn't push it, she assumed those other rooms in Beca's home would be off limits to her. The planner was long gone from the fridge but that odd beach photo was still in the frame on the hall table.

Another couple of weeks later Beca invited Chloe to come round before their night out with Jesse and Aubrey, and leave her car in Beca's second parking space so they could share a cab downtown. On the third occasion that she parked at Beca's, she ended up crashing in Beca's spare room. The evening had kicked on late and Beca insisted that Chloe was too tired and shouldn't drive home.

When Beca had offered her spare bed, Chloe liked that her cautiousness was waning, though she treated the invitation as nothing more than another friendly gesture for her convenience. Given access to a little more of Beca's place, Chloe couldn't avoid exploring eagerly. She observed how the second bedroom was sparsely furnished, with the build-in wardrobe and chest of drawers completely bare. But the huge main bathroom was unashamedly cluttered and when she peaked into the study she saw Beca's life spilled all over it. Besides her bedroom, which Chloe's had not seen, this was the room where Beca spent most of her time when she was home. She saw two laptops, and about five pairs of headphones. Notebooks, stacks of documents, CDs and pen-drives were tossed around the desk and on the floor. The shelving around the room was filled with books and, Chloe was pleased to see, lots more photos. She had wanted to look more closely at the contents of those shelves but Beca had caught her peering in the door on her way from the bathroom to her own bedroom.

"Sorry, I can't help snooping," Chloe said. She turned out the light in the study and took a few steps away.

"It's ok," Beca said with a laugh, "it's a bit of a mess in there right now." She just waited there while Chloe turned and walked down the hall towards the guest bedroom - feeling that she was being watched. Before stepping past the door-frame, Chloe looked over her shoulder and saw Beca still standing outside the study, leaning against the wall. She was smiling, so perhaps she wasn't too upset that Chloe had invaded her private space. And she definitely had been watching Chloe's sheepish walk away from her. They bid each other goodnight before Chloe stepped inside and shut the door.

Chloe stayed for a quick breakfast with Beca the following morning. It could have been a little odd but Chloe enjoyed how normal it felt sitting at a breakfast table, a little unkempt before her morning shower, while Beca prepared a meal for both of them and as they ate it together.

Staying in Beca's spare room on those nights out, and having lazy breakfasts together in her kitchen the morning after became another semi-regular occurrence.

For Chloe it proved their progress in the past months. They could hang out like this again without feeling that the available opportunities or the flirty interactions between them might lead to anything more. Because even if Chloe felt a flutter of something stirring in her core, she could turn to her common sense to rein it in. Sometimes she did experience those old feelings - there was an attraction between them, they both had acknowledged that, but there always had been. At college Chloe had known to never act on it and her assessment now was that she was close to being back to that point.

Beca wouldn't do anything reckless now either. She had been slowly inviting Chloe into more and more of her life, which had to indicated that she was at the same conclusion. Otherwise it looked like she was playing a ridiculously long game.

oOo

Chloe was having a challenging week at work. Too many tasks had piled up, she'd forgotten to complete some of them and she'd run out of time to complete others. She'd been late to several meetings too. It was all minor, instantly forgotten by her colleagues, but it's wasn't normal for her. By Friday morning she was already drained from the week of work, and struggling to stay focused until the end of the day. She wanted this week behind her.

Sometime mid-morning she received a call from Alicia, an ex from New York, and it had thrown her off for the rest of the day. Alicia claimed to have tracked her down in order to get Chloe's thoughts on the best local schools for her niece in New York. Though Chloe played along, Alicia's question was instantly voided with news of Chloe's new job and new city. If she'd tracked Chloe down she must have already known that Chloe had moved, so when Alicia just progressed to questions about LA, Chloe knew she was really asking if and when she was returning to New York. Chloe allowed her to figure out that she wasn't going to be satisfied from this conversation and waited for Alicia to initiate the goodbye. It didn't take long.

Had Alicia spend all that time waiting, neither acting on her feelings nor moving on from them? When she ended their relationship, Chloe hadn't explicitly said it, but it was almost a tangible presence between them - there was someone else. She interpreted what had just happened as Alicia begging to know if that someone else was still her someone else, if there was still some chance for them to try again. Chloe had to extinguish her hopes, but she wondered how she could have answered the question. And how would Alicia, or Ben, or anyone else understand her if she tried to explain the story of her and Beca so far - a new developing friendship from an old, disastrous semi-relationship, with someone she had previously considered her best friend?

She just wanted to forget that call, forget the question it had left her asking herself, forget this day and go out to have fun with her friends to start the weekend.

oOo

When Beca opened her door to Chloe later that evening she was barefoot, and dressed in sweatpants and a tee-shirt.

"You're not ready yet?" Chloe said.

"I know. Aubrey is going to kill us. I've had a crazy day - I got home twenty minutes ago. My flight was delayed, and then the traffic was really bad. And I still have to shower and get dressed. I'll be as quick as I can. Grab a beer from the fridge if you like, and could you text Aubrey? Please?"

"Ok, calm down Beca, it'll be fine," Chloe said, amused by Beca's agitation. She hadn't seen the Beca like this in a long time.

"Where were you?" she added.

"What?" Beca had already started moving towards the bathroom, but she must have heard the question.

"You said your flight was delayed. I didn't know you were away. Where were you?"

Beca stopped but didn't turn around immediately. "I had to go to New York for work for a few days." She seemed really nervous now.

"You were in New York? You never mentioned it. Why didn't you tell me? I could have given you some tips on, I don't know, where to eat, where to go out, where to meet people," Chloe said with a faltering voice, struggling to contain that it was upsetting her so much.

"Oh Chloe," Beca said softly. She walked back and took Chloe's hand. "Listen, I knew I'd be working the whole time. I didn't have time to go out or to go partying and I don't need to meet new people - everything, and everyone, I need is here in LA."

Now Beca went back to nervous, she looked utterly embarrassed too and she darted off to the bathroom.

Chloe watched her go. She hadn't seen nervous Beca in a while, and she was still one of the cutest versions of Beca she knew. Much more attractive than silent, sulking Beca or sarcastic Beca. "Everything and everyone I need is here in LA" - those were the exact words Beca has just said. Chloe needed a drink. She bypassed the beers in the fridge, instead helping herself to a generous serve of scotch from Beca's liquor cabinet.

Beca turned the shower on and quickly stripped. When the water had heated up, she stepped in and stood motionless under the stream for a few minutes with her eyes closed. Then she started to sing.

Chloe sat on the armrest of the sofa as she quickly finished a second large measure of scotch. She slipped out of her shoes, placed the glass next to the kitchen sink and began to walk towards Beca's bathroom. She could hear shower water running, the whirring sound of an extractor fan and Beca singing. At the door she paused to listen, trying to identify the song. She gasped when she recognised it and gently opened the door, with zero doubts as to what was about to happen.

There was no pause in Beca's singing, so she mustn't have heard Chloe entering the room. She mustn't have realised yet that Chloe was just three or four meters from her, quietly undressing. Beca must have been unaware of Chloe's presence in the room up until she heard the extra voice harmonising along to David Guetta's Titanium with her. At first, Beca continued to sing with her. Then Chloe opened the frosted shower door. She stood there naked and smiled widely. Beca turned and stared. Beca was not averting her gaze, openly taking in all that was in front of her, as Chloe did the same. One of Chloe's hands slowly began to reach toward Beca's hip.

"What are you doing, Chloe?" Beca whispered.

Chloe took a further step so that the water was now sprinkling her shoulders. She dropped her head to kiss Beca's neck. It made Beca gasp and she closed her eyes. Chloe gently dragged her fingertips across Beca's stomach.

"Do you remember how I taste, Beca?" Chloe licked her lips and leaned forward to whisper in Beca's ear, "because I haven't forgotten how you taste," she continued in a deeper, raspy voice. Something changed then. Beca's eyes flew open. She took Chloe's wrists and pushed her away. She turned to hide her body.

"No! Stop! What are you doing Chloe? You need to get out, now," Beca said. She wasn't shouting, she was pleading.

Chloe's face paled, and she stepped back.

"But Beca, what you said before, and ..."

"What are you talking about? This can't happen. We agreed that this can't ever happen. Please just leave now." Beca was still turned away, talking over her shoulder without fully making eye contact.

Chloe scooped up her clothes off the floor and fled from the room. She very quickly dressed in the hall outside the bathroom, tears now flowing. She was humiliated, an uncommon experience for her. The sound of the shower had stopped and she thought she could hear Beca sobbing too. She ran to get her shoes and her bag from the living room and she slammed the door as she left the apartment. In her car, she sent a brief message to Aubrey to cancel on dinner, claiming an upset stomach. Then she drove straight home.