Author's 1st Note: Yikes, I'm trying to post these faster than a month at a time, but that hasn't been working out for me. Dx

Don't worry though! I'm gonna keep trying!

Enjoy the chapter! :)

Beca walked up to the track field and found Jesse already stretching his legs by the bleachers. She joined her neighbor, lifting her foot up behind her and pulling on it to stretch out her quads.

"So how was seeing your girlfriend today, Becaw?"

Beca faltered, her foot slipping out from her grip as she stumbled forward to regain her balance.

"Jesse!" She gritted, swatting the back of her hand against his stomach and making him hunch over in pain.

"Ow!" He hollered, holding the now throbbing area, "I was just kidding, Beca! Geez, you really are violent…"

The brunette huffed a frustrated sigh. She knew she shouldn't have hit him like that, but she also couldn't have helped the instinctual reaction.

Beca rolled her eyes, "Look I'm sorry. I just–" she glanced around before lowering her voice, "Please stop mentioning it while we're at school. Okay?"

Jesse rubbed gentle circles against his stomach, still trying to soothe the previous impact, "Fine, okay. I won't."

The sound of their coach's whistle blowing startled them both and their attention was instantly shifted towards the tall man.

"Okay, my people. I want a warm up lap around the track. Let's go." The team gathered together and started their run, "Knees up, people! Knees up!"

Beca and Luke took the lead, as usual, with the rest of their team following closely behind.

"Well hey there, little bit." Luke grinned, keeping his breathing at an impressively steady pace, "And how are we this afternoon?"

Beca rolled her eyes, "We are just fine," she panted, "Thanks for asking."

"Why are you panting so much? Strugglin' to keep up with the champ, are ya?"

Beca scoffed. After weeks of many practices together, Beca had somewhat grown accustomed to Luke's constant teasing; though she could still gladly live without it. And despite the British boy still coming in first during all of their practice races, Beca was still determined to beat him.

So instead of letting his provoking remarks get to her, Beca smirked instead and her cockiness exposed itself before she really got a chance to think twice about it.

"I can't wait to kick your ass on Friday."

They finished their lap just as her words settled with the blonde boy, and he looked at her in surprise.

"You're going to kick my ass?" And then an amused grin began curving on his lips, "You do realize we're on the same team right?"

A bit of panic starting igniting within Beca. She hadn't really thought about her choice of words before she blurted them out. Thankfully her quick thinking came into play and she was grateful her brain was able to come up with somewhat of a solution to her careless slip up.

"Yeah," Beca breathed, still regaining her breath, "of course I know that. I'm talking about the mile run that we do together." Her confidence was rebuilding and she straightened herself out, "I'm gonna come in first."

A few 'ooohhs' were heard from some of their teammates who had stopped to listen in on their challenge, Jesse being one of them.

Luke's grin didn't falter, and he stepped closer to Beca, who managed to maintain her confident stance and glared back at him.

"Is that so?"

This time Beca stepped forward, having to slightly dip her head back in order to maintain her eye contact.

"You can bet on it."

Luke's eyebrows rose, "Oh," and he crossed his arms, "well in that case lets make it a little more interesting."

The logical side of Beca's brain was telling her to back out now and just forget about it. But the side that was currently controlling her actions was on fire and continued to be fueled by her bold determination.

She mirrored his stance, "What do you have in mind?"

And after a short moment of processing, Luke smirked, "Fifty bucks to the winner."

"Woah," muttered Jesse from behind Beca, and the rest of their peers followed with their own quiet comments. But Beca wasn't even phased, and she tiptoed the last few inches she needed to solidify her attempts of being intimidating.

"You're on."

"Hey!" The students jumped as their coach approached the gathered crowd, "What is going on? Did I say you guys could take a break?" He eyed the students as they stared at him in silence.

Jesse lifted a finger to obtusely answer his rhetorical question, but–

"No! I don't think I did!" And Jesse's eyes widened as his finger slowly came back down. "Come on, let's go! You guys owe me an extra mile run at the end of today's practice."

Whines and protests rang about the group as they followed their agitated coach. Jesse and Beca went to do the same, but Beca was stopped by a sudden hand on her shoulder.

"You've got a deal, Becky."

Beca narrowed her eyes at the boy's cocky smirk and she shrugged his hand off of her shoulder.

"It's Beca."

Luke snickered and made his way to the rest of the team. Once he was out of hearing range, the realization of what Beca had done finally set in, and panic instantly flooded her veins.

"Damn, Becaw!" Jesse cheered, shaking his smaller friend in excitement, "You're my hero! You're so gonna beat his–"

"Fuck!"

Jesse jumped back, somewhat frightened by her sudden outburst, and he watched in silent confusion as Beca gripped her hair.

"What the fuck did I just do!?"

Jesse's brow only furrowed deeper as his mouth opened, then closed, then finally opened again to speak.

"Uhh… Is something wrong?" He asked, not expecting the tiny brunette to suddenly snap her head up at him and grasp the front of his muscle shirt.

"Is something wrong?!" She repeated, "Of course something's wrong! I just challenged Luke to a race and now I'm gonna lose fifty bucks!" Beca let go of his shirt with a push and an exasperated sigh. She couldn't believe she let herself get so carried away.

Jesse fixed his collar as he continued to stare at her distressingly, "Beca, what are you talking about?"

"I'm gonna lose on Friday, Jesse! That's what I'm talking about."

Jesse had never seen Beca so worked up before. It was surprising and unsettling, and he wasn't really sure how to handle it.

He shook his head, "Why would you say that? You're not going to lose. You're–"

"Of course I'm gonna lose!" Beca could hear her voice elevating, but she honestly didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to herself. She looked around and glanced over her shoulder, searching for her redheaded girlfriend and thankful to find Chloe occupied with a cheer stunt.

She turned back around to face Jesse and closed her eyes as she released an easing breath to calm herself down, "The meet is four days away," she said, reopening her eyes, "How am I suppose to beat Luke in four days?"

Her shoulders slouched in despair, but Jesse refused to let Beca lose her confidence so easily.

"Hey," he started, but unfortunately it wasn't the time to console her.

"Swanson! Mitchell! You guys just earned yourselves extra suicides after practice!" Their coach gestured his thumb over his shoulder, "Get over here!"

Jesse made a discouraged face, "Sorry," and Beca just shook her head indifferently. They made their way over to the rest of the team, but Jesse wanted to make sure he eventually finished what he was going to say.

Practice wasn't as fun as it usually was for Beca that day. She tried her best not to show how troubled she really was on the inside. So instead, she covered it up with a faulty smile and sarcastic comments throughout the afternoon. The occasional sight of Chloe did help her mood, however. Beca would sneak a peek at the redhead whenever she could and would smile whenever Chloe was coincidentally already looking at her.

But then Beca would be reminded of her desires to speak with Chloe about possibly giving up on their secret and finally coming clean about their relationship. She still wasn't sure how the redhead felt about it, but she hoped that she would be willing, and more importantly, be ready to tell everyone soon.

The cheerleaders finished practice before the track team, so Chloe tried to stall herself with conversations with her friends and fellow cheer girls. She had talked with four different girls, but the rest of the team had left to go to the locker room and Chloe then realized she was out of people to chat with.

She looked out onto the field, catching an unwanted glimpse of Tom practicing with the football team, and she flinched a little at the sight. Other than the occasional, awkward glances they shared in the hallways, Chloe hadn't spoken to Tom since he had hurt Beca at Stacie's party.

It's not that she had intended on leaving things unfinished between them, because honestly, Chloe was just not that kind of person. But he had been so scary and so violent that night, and Chloe's stomach would lurch every time she thought about it. So maybe sometime in the future Chloe hoped she could face her demons and finally talked to Tom about what had happened, but for now, Chloe wasn't quite ready for that.

She quickly shifted her eyes to Beca and giggled. The tiny brunette looked adorably exhausted from practice. Her flushed cheeks and messy ponytail were dead giveaways, and Chloe assumed Beca must have gotten into some kind of trouble, because as the rest of the track team headed towards the locker rooms, Beca and Jesse were being directed by their coach to walk over to the other side of the field.

Beca looked over and saw the redhead watching her from a distance. Her body sagged a little as she made a disgruntled face and she mimed the word 'Sorry' as she took her position on the line.

Chloe smiled and waved nonchalantly, perfectly fine with waiting a little bit longer and she leaned on a nearby wall as she watched them take off. Beca and Jesse sprinted to the closest line, reaching down and over to touch it, then sprinted back to the other side to do it all over again.

Chloe was always impressed by Beca's natural speed. She was so good it was almost scary. And Chloe knew Beca could easily out run her whenever she wanted during their morning runs, but she appreciated the way Beca would instead remain at her pace so they could run together. It was thoughtful and it was nice. And Chloe wouldn't want her mornings to start any other way.

Beca ran back and forth another five times before Chloe felt a sudden presence at her side.

"Hey!"

Chloe smiled at the familiar face, "Hey, Aubrey," and she hugged her, "What are you doing here?" Aubrey's expression fell a little, enough to jolt Chloe's memory before the blonde got a chance to speak, "Oh, right! We're hanging out today!" She reached for her hand, "I'm sorry. I didn't forget it's just–" Chloe waved her hand around non-suggestively, "busy day."

Aubrey's smile returned, but it wasn't as strong, and Chloe couldn't ignore the weighted feeling of guilt tugging at her heart because of it.

"It's okay. You ready to go?"

"Umm…" Chloe peeked over at the field and saw Beca and Jesse still persevering their vigorous punishment. She chewed her bottom lip nervously, remembering that Beca wanted to talk with her after school, but mulling over the fact that she couldn't ditch Aubrey for Beca, again. That just wouldn't be right.

Chloe was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"What's wrong?"

Aubrey's question snapped Chloe out of her deep pondering and she quickly turned back to her.

"Nothing!" Chloe said, and forced a masking smile, "I just need to get my stuff from my locker."

"Oh, okay." Aubrey readjusted the strap of her bag, "Let's go."

Chloe nodded and looked back to the field as she followed her friend to the locker room. Beca could feel her girlfriend's eyes on her and managed to look up in time to make eye contact with her before she entered the building. Beca furrowed her brow in confusion and shook her head, and this time, it was Chloe's turn to mouth an apology as she reluctantly made her way inside.

"Okay, guys. That's enough."

Beca and Jesse panted to a stop at the sound of their coach's command. They huffed with exhaustion as their tired legs struggled to keep themselves up, and their hearts pounded with such force that Beca grasped onto her chest to make sure it didn't pop right out of her ribcage.

"Next time you guys need to listen to me when I call you." Their coached raised a brow, "Understand?"

The teenagers, still heaving with recovery, could only manage a few weak nods in response, and with that, they were finally excused from their suffering. They moved languidly as they dragged their weakened bodies toward the athletic building. Jesse opened the front door but stopped Beca before she could take a step inside.

"Hey," he said, his breathing still heavy, "What are you up to now? Do you wanna hangout, maybe?" His boyish smile was genuine and persuading, and since Chloe had seemed to have left with Aubrey, Beca couldn't really think of anything else better she could do.

The track star shrugged, "Yeah, okay."

Jesse's grin widened and he held the door out even more so Beca could maneuver her way inside, under his extended arm. They entered they're separate locker rooms and although her surroundings were quiet, Beca's mind was clamorous with sudden thoughts about her girlfriend.

As she changed her clothes, Beca wondered why Chloe had left and what she was up to. She wondered how she was doing and if things were okay, so she pulled out her phone mid-change, opening Chloe's text window, but hesitating when the keyboard appeared.

Chloe was with Aubrey. Aubrey didn't know that they were dating. If Beca were to text Chloe, she worried that Aubrey would pry and unwillingly put Chloe in an uncomfortable position where she would have to lie to her to maintain their secret.

Beca didn't want to do that to her.

With a disappointed sigh, she closed out the app and tossed her phone onto her bag so she could continue changing out of her clothes.

Beca really wanted their relationship to be known by everyone already. At first she was surprised at how she okay she actually felt about Jesse and Amy finding out. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

Granted, yes, in the beginning Beca was more than happy with keeping their relationship a secret– after all it was her idea. But as time passed, Beca's desires for the truth only grew stronger and she found herself caring less and less about what others would say or think about them.

All Beca really cared about was Chloe. And although she would have never predicted it, Beca had fallen head over heels in love with the girl. She was sure Chloe knew that to be true, and she knew that Chloe did, in fact, love her back. But when Beca really thought about it, no one else knew that.

No one else knew that Beca would wake up at the butt crack of dawn with a smile on her face because she knew she would get to see Chloe's face shinning brilliantly with the morning sunrise. No one else knew that Beca forced herself to pay attention in Miss Gail's class so she could later on impress Chloe with her newly developed cooking skills. No one else knew that Beca bravely stood up to Tom and put herself in harms way because the thought of Chloe getting hurt made her physically sick to the stomach.

No one else knew just how much Beca loved Chloe. And the realization of that fact actually, kind of… sucked.

With a shake of her head, Beca forced those discouraging thoughts out of her mind, pulling up her jeans and buttoning them, before slipping into her black converse and heading out the door.

Beca rejoined her neighbor outside and she was glad that Jesse was always pretty good at distracting her with witty stories and dorky comments. Sure enough, as they made their way to his car, Jesse enlightened Beca of how his day had gone and how he was sent to the principal's office for inappropriate use of a bunsen burner in his Chemistry class; i.e. to roast a marshmallow.

Beca wasn't completely sure how much of that story was actually true, but then again, this was Jesse she was dealing with. She chose to play along, smiling and nodding as though his words were making complete sense, and once they were in the car, Beca shook her head with amusement when Jesse didn't hesitate to start blasting and singing along to his favorite buoyant tunes.

Chloe had followed Aubrey to her house and mentally prepared herself on the way there so she wouldn't slip up and say anything revealing about her and Beca. They strolled into Aubrey's bedroom, and for the slightest moment, Chloe had actually forgotten what it felt like to visit her best friend.

Chloe smiled as she took in the familiar surroundings, dropping her bag by the bed and plopping down onto it with a small bounce. She looked around the room, playing a game of 'I Spy' with herself as she spotted recognizable photos and memories of her and Aubrey from the years passed.

"Gosh, I missed this room," Chloe sighed.

Aubrey placed her keys and cell phone on the dresser, "Yeah," she said, "It missed you too." She turned to smile softly at the redhead and Chloe returned the gentle expression, regretting that she had ever hurt her dear friend, even if it had been unintentional.

"Yeah…" Came Chloe's response. She continued to simply stare at her blonde friend as an inadvertent silence suddenly filled the room. Chloe already felt bad about neglecting her best friend for the last couple of months, and feared that her time with Aubrey was going to be nothing but a handful of drawn out hours filled with a constant distant-awkward feeling between them.

Chloe did not want that to be the outcome of their time together, so as the silence continued for a few more moments, she quickly thought of other topics she could bring up to hopefully break the unwanted tension.

Luckily, and thankfully, however, Aubrey must have read Chloe's mind, because before the redhead could redirect the atmosphere, Aubrey had beat her to it.

"So," the blonde started, her tone already much more cheery than it had been the last few times she had spoken with Chloe, "What kind of homework do you have today?"

Chloe was glad to see the positive shift in Aubrey's demeanor and smiled brilliantly, sitting up straight and finding it easy to fall back into their usual "best-friend" routine.

"Let me check." She pulled out her planner and read her assignments aloud, "I have a Chemistry worksheet, some Math and I have to read a chapter of Lord of the Flies."

Aubrey playfully narrowed her eyes, "And by 'read a chapter', you mean reading the summary of it on Spark Notes?"

Chloe's grin was back, "You know me well," and they both shared a laugh.

"Well I have a few things I need to get done too. So.." Aubrey moved to sit next to her friend and smiled as she placed her hands on her knees, "How about I go downstairs and bring up that carton of Chunkey Monkey I have hidden in the freezer, and you and I can share it while we do our homework, hm? How does that sound?"

This time it was Chloe's turn to focus her eyes at the blonde and she leaned back, the tease of a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, "And by 'do our homework', you really mean watch The Notebook, right?"

Aubrey bit her bottom lip with a grin as she nodded, and pulled them both up onto their feet, "Let's go."

Author's 2nd Note: Oh man. I wonder how everything's going to turn out for everyone!? (Because let's face it, I don't even know. This story just writes itself.)

JUST KIDDING! I know EXACTLY how everything is going. And guys... *chews bottom lip nervously* I'm not sure on an exact number, but I do know that this story will be finishing up in the next few chapters... Just a heads up...

If you'd like to read preview excerpts on upcoming chapters, come follow me on Tumblr! URL: not-so-average-fangirl