A/N I'm back pitches. Sorry this took so long. Had a bit of writer's block. Still not happy with this, but hopefully just getting this out there will get me out of my funk and back to writing. Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think.

What The Hell Is A Starbucks?

Chloe was bouncing around her dorm room listening to the mix Beca had made for her while she folded her laundry to put away. This was the third time she'd listened to it today alone. The fact that the mix was almost an hour long meant that this was actually an impressive feat. She just couldn't get over the seamless, almost effortless, blend of songs. It was an amalgamation of genres and artists that just shouldn't work together at all, but she had woven all of Chloe's favorite songs into one cohesive whole that was so much more than the sum of its parts. She knew Beca was talented… but this. This was something else.

Chloe decided to do what she'd done since Beca had come into her life. She ignored the complicated issues, and focused on the things that kept her life simple. The simple facts were that Beca was sweet. She was thoughtful. She was tremendously talented. They had an obvious and undeniable connection. But that was the problem. Tom was a great guy and she loved him. If she indulged in this connection she appeared to have with Beca, where did that leave her and Tom? She couldn't do that to him even though it was getting harder and harder keeping Beca at arm's length. She was also being a bad friend. It wasn't Beca's fault that Chloe was having an existential crisis. So she decided to be a better friend. Someone that could put so much effort in to her to make a mix like this had to be worth any conflict of emotion the resulting friendship would cause.

The song was coming to an end, so she stopped her folding and dancing, bracing her hands on her desk as she listened. The beginning of the mix was loud and brash and sexy. The middle was bouncy and fun. But this was both her favorite and least favorite part of the mix. This slow, mournful and hypnotic crescendo that the rest of this song seemed to have inevitably built to. It was heartbreaking, yet hopeful. It was dramatic, but subdued. It moved Chloe's soul in a way that nothing in this world had ever moved her, and each time she listened it had brought tears to her eyes.

Chloe being Chloe, she ignored the obvious, but complicated question: How did Beca know every single one of her favorite songs?

We pulled up in the Party Van, as Fat Amy had dubbed it earlier that afternoon, to Reid-Simpson Technical Community College, the location of this year's regional acapella qualifying competition. We were running late because Amy had to, and I quote, 'take a massive dump,' so I didn't have time to fully take in the half-full parking lot or the small crowd of mostly disinterested faces that were walking toward the entrance of the venue. Feeling slightly self-conscious in my corny flight attendant get-up, I followed the rest of the Bellas inside.

The Sockapellas were currently performing. I admired their uniqueness and said so. It surprised me a little that I was the only one that could hear how good they were. It wasn't flashy. It wasn't emotionally moving. But I thought they came up with a badass arrangement and wrapped it up in a thoroughly entertaining, if ridiculous and super nerdy, performance.

Soon it was our turn, and I was noticeably less enthused than the rest of the Bellas, save Aubrey. But she always looked like the stick in her ass was making her nauseous. I noticed Chloe kept stealing surreptitious glances at me, but chalked it up to the fact that I still made her uncomfortable.

As expected, the audience looked bored to tears. The judges seemed to be nodding off. I was worried those Sockapella dorks were going to knock us out of contention, but only because I genuinely believed they deserved it. If for no other reason than their originality.

"Okay ladies, I'm calling an emergency meeting," Aubrey announced after we got back to campus in the Party Van to a chorus of groans from the assembled Bellas, and a murmured 'but I have to go bail out Bumper' from Fat Amy that I only heard because she was sitting right next to me. We looked at each other, startled. Amy because she realized I'd heard her, and me because I was, to be frank, shocked. The Trebles had gotten themselves arrested after getting into a brawl with a middle-aged acapella group after regionals. It was the funniest thing I'd seen in ages. I turned back to the front and pretended I didn't hear her. Shortly she did the same.

"According to the score sheets, the Sockapellas almost beat us. While we didn't do it exactly as we rehearsed it," she said, playfully glaring at Amy, "I'm almost convinced that it was Amy's enthusiastic improvisation that actually saved us. That being said, it has become painfully obvious to me that our current routine is not going to win us Nationals."

The stunned silence that followed this announcement was almost a physical thing. I couldn't even bring myself to look around at the other faces surrounding me to gauge their reactions, though I did manage to look at the redhead standing next to Aubrey and realized that she was just as shocked as I was. She hadn't known this was coming either.

"Beca?" I jerked my gaze from Chloe to look back at our blonde captain with a questioning gaze. "What do we do?"

"Ha! I'm the captain now!" Amy said triumphantly as she intercepted the pitch pipe Aubrey had thrown towards me, standing up and raising her arms like a conquering champion. The nervous tension in the room was broken as everyone laughed at Amy's antics. She grinned at me, "Just kidding Shorty. Here ya go."

Taking the pitch pipe from Amy's outstretched hands I said, "Okay, let's remix this business." I stood up and moved to the front. Rubbing my hands together, I thought quickly. "Chloe, give me a song?"

"Titanium of course," she said, winking at me. Oh God. This woman was going to be the death of me.

I smirked at her, "You good to take the lead?" When she nodded I turned my attention to the other Bellas, working them through the background vocals I wanted them to sing. When I was satisfied, I nodded to Chloe to begin and kept my eyes glued to hers.

Her voice, as always, was beautiful. I was so lost in it, and her eyes, that I almost forgot to join. When I started seamlessly weaving in Katy Perry's Dark Horse with David Guetta's Titanium, I could hear the excitement in the voices in front of me. Chloe's eyes lit up, and she poured even more emotion into the impromptu performance. As the song was coming to a close, I looked around at the other Bellas quickly and motioned for them to start fading out while Chloe kept going. Locking eyes again with my favorite redhead, we ended the song harmonizing the last chorus of Titanium.

There was a shocked silence that followed the fading of that final note. "Holy shit!" Amy's soft exclamation roused the rest of the Bellas, and suddenly I found myself surrounded by a large group of squealing females led by a gorgeous redhead that grabbed me in a tight hug, burying her face in my shoulder and bouncing with excitement. When she eventually pulled away, it wasn't the familiar awkwardness or fear I'd grown accustomed to seeing in her eyes. It was more happy resignation and a warm smile. I just beamed back at her like a love-struck idiot.

I fidgeted nervously with the cup of coffee on the table in front of me. I had gotten here early so I could gather my thoughts before this meeting. I was beginning to regret that decision since the roiling in my gut was threatening to cause a reflex reminiscent of one of Aubrey's impressive displays.

I had been so focused on my, now probably cold, untouched cup that I didn't notice Chloe had entered the quaint off-campus coffee shop until she sat down across from me. I looked up startled at the intrusion, and then gazed fondly at the object of my heart's greatest desire. I was speechless for a moment as I lost myself in her impossibly blue eyes.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"H…hi," I stuttered impressively. I coughed to clear my throat and averted my gaze for a moment before turning back to her with a confident smile. "Hi."

"So, thanks for meeting me here," she said with a look I was unaccustomed to seeing on her face. It looked embattled and hopeful at the same time, and it unnerved me.

I searched her eyes for a moment before responding. Chloe wore her heart on her sleeve, so it was always easy to tell exactly what she was feeling. I was somewhat of an expert. I finally found what I was looking for and breathed a sigh of relief, catching her slightly off guard. "Of course." Knowing that she was here to apologize made me relax noticeably.

Visibly steeling her nerves, Chloe begins speaking, "So, I uh, asked you here to apologize."

I decided not to make this easy for her. "Apologize for what exactly?" It was a monumental effort to keep the smirk off of my face.

She looked pained for a moment before taking in a deep breath of air and saying, "I've been kind of a terrible friend to you."

Instead of replying I quirked an eyebrow and withheld a grimace as I took a casual sip of my, yep, definitely freaking cold, cup of coffee.

"I've been awkward and weird and you don't deserve that. I told you we were going to be friends, and then I kind of freaked out on you a few times. And it's not you. It's me. Ugh, that sounds like I'm breaking up with you. Which I'm so totally not. Hold on, I mean, dammit. Friends! Like, we're friends! I'm not breaking up with you as a friend?" Her voice kind of trailed off and inadvertently squeaked at the end like she was asking a question. She was about as red as I'd ever seen her and twitching like she wanted to do something with her hands but they weren't quite listening to her commands.

When I didn't say anything for a minute she shyly looked up at me from behind the hands she'd covered her face with. It was one of the cutest things I'd ever seen and couldn't help but laugh my ass off at her.

"Shut up!"

"I'm sorry, but you should see your face right now Chlo," I managed to get out between breaths as I was still laughing uncontrollably.

"You are such a dick," she pouted.

I reached over the table to grab her hand and smiled at her. "I couldn't help it. You just looked so adorable. I forgive you," I told her sincerely, giving her the smile she always told me was her favorite.

She looked deeply into my eyes smiling nervously before jerking her hand out of mine and sitting up straight. "Tom!"

Looking around and not seeing her boyfriend, I looked back at her with the obvious question unvoiced but visible in my eyes. I could tell she saw it because she started nervously wringing her hands again. "I'm with Tom. He's my boyfriend," she whispered.

I felt like positively dancing with glee. If I wasn't sure before, I was now. She felt this connection too. Why else would she feel the need to bring up her arm candy? Sure, the name Tom was officially my least favorite name in existence. And sure it ripped my heart out that she was with him and not me. But I knew know that I had hope.

"I know that," I told her, giving my most reassuring smile even though it felt like I was ripping my heart out to say it. "I hope you believe me, but there is nothing in this world I want more than your happiness. If he makes you happy, than I am happy for you."

She gave me a puzzled look, scrutinizing my face for a minute or two before giving me a slight nod and smile. "Thank you."

"So, how did you hear about this place? The coffee is pretty good," I asked her, trying to change the subject.

Now she looked downright confused. "How did I find…Starbucks?"

"Yeah," now it was my turn to look confused. "Did I say something wrong?"

She scrutinized me for a moment to see if I was messing with her I suppose before it was her turn to bust out laughing. "Have you been living under a rock? You've seriously never heard of Starbucks? Beca, its like, the number one coffee chain in America!"

Well, shit. I guess things are a little more different here than I thought.

Lilly sat underneath her favorite tree as she observed everyone around her. Beca had been avoiding her for days. Since Lilly had broken her own rules and said what she'd said. But it was the first time she'd ever run into someone even remotely like herself. She flipped through the pages of the well-worn notebook she took everywhere with her. It was usually a very easy notebook to memorize because of her carefully constructed rules meant to make her strange existence a little easier.

Rule one: the less you say, the less likely you will trip up and reveal yourself.

Rule two: don't make connections. The more people you get close to the more likely it is that you will reveal yourself.

Rule three: keep detailed notes and keep them with you at all times. Memorize them. Because the less you know about the life you are supposed to be living, the more likely it is that you will reveal yourself.

She had very good reasons for these rules. Lilly Anukamara lived a very unusual life. And for some reason, Lilly Anukamara had at some point decided to break her own rules. And this usually ended in disaster. Based on past experiences, she'd either end up institutionalized, on the run, or in a secret government facility to be used as a guinea pig.