A/N: For YoYoYo25, who requested:

Beca being a badass jock but is afraid to ask Chloe out.


"Man, that call was total bullshit," Cynthia Rose complains, wiping her brow with a towel.

"Yeah, the ref totally didn't know what he was doing," Stacie agrees, slinging her bag over her shoulder, basketball under one arm. "What do you think, Beca?"

"Hmm?"

"I asked you what you thought about the call," Stacie says, smirking a little when she sees where Beca's gaze has been.

"Oh. Um, it was stupid." Beca tears her eyes away from the redheaded cheerleader across the gym to briefly meet Stacie's eyes. The look on her face tells Beca she's been caught, and she feels her face flush.

"Just ask her out already," Cynthia Rose tells her, making Beca blush harder. "You've been staring at her like a creep for months."

"I have not," Beca denies, crossing her arms, sneaking another glance over to Chloe, who is laughing about something with a couple of the other cheerleaders.

"Yes, you have," Fat Amy says from her seat on the lowest bleacher. "You're like a lion watching a gazelle. Just jump her already."

"I can't do that." Beca looks over at Chloe again before picking up her bag.

"Why not?" Stacie asks.

"She's… she's Chloe. She probably doesn't even know my name," Beca mumbles, averting her eyes.

"Girl, of course she does," Cynthia Rose says, clapping a hand on Beca's shoulder. "You're captain of the basketball team and she's a cheerleader. She knows who you are."

"Yeah, she knows you're good with balls," Fat Amy says, holding her hands out palms-up like she's holding a ball in each.

"Oh, my God." Beca covers her face with her hands. "If I go talk to her, will you never say that again?"

"Go," Cynthia Rose urges, gently pushing Beca in Chloe's direction. "You can do this."

"I can do this," Beca repeats, mostly to herself, as she crosses the gym to the group of cheerleaders, stomach fluttering and hands shaking with nervousness.

She comes to a stop at the edge of the group, standing there kind of awkwardly until Chloe turns to her and smiles. (It doesn't help Beca's anxiety.) "Good game, Beca," she says.

She knows my name! Beca thinks to herself.

"Yes, I know your name," Chloe says, laughing. "Do you know mine?"

Beca reddens, realizing her internal monologue wasn't quite so internal. "Yeah," Beca says dumbly, wiping her sweaty palms on her shorts. "You're Chloe."

A beat passes. "Is there… something I can do for you?" Chloe asks, raising her eyebrows amusedly.

"Uh." Don't just stand there, you idiot. "Do you like pizza?"

"Um, yeah," Chloe answers, looking a little confused.

"With me," Beca quickly clarifies, then kicks herself internally, realizing she's making approximately zero sense.

Chloe looks at her for a moment; her lips part in surprise and then curl upward. "Are you asking me out?"

Beca twists the hem of her jersey in her hands nervously. "Um, yeah."

Chloe breaks into a large smile, reaching out to grab one of Beca's hands. It sets her skin on fire. "Okay."

For a moment, Beca is sure she heard incorrectly. (Chloe holding her hand is also very distracting.) "Really?"

"Yes, really." Chloe winks at her, and it's a miracle Beca's still standing.

"Wow," Beca says, then flushes again, grimacing. "I'm sorry. I probably sound like an idiot."

"No, you're adorable," Chloe tells her, raising her other hand to cup Beca's cheek briefly before pulling away. "I'll get changed and meet you back out here?"

Beca nods, not trusting her words to come out in anything other than a squeak.

She watches Chloe retreat into the locker room, unsure if she's dreaming.

A yell of "Yeah, Beca, jump that antelope!" from across the gym tells her she isn't.