A/N: Sorry for the dramatic pause between chapters, it's been a crazy past couple days with work and Passover and Easter, and I haven't gotten a chance to write at all. Unfortunately, I lost some of the steam I picked up with the updates every day but we'll try to knock this chapter out and see if we can pick it back up. I think I'm just gonna skip to after the riff-off, and then skip to after their first competition. Again I don't own any characters or songs or anything, just doing my thing here. Please review, it really does motivate me to know there are people out there waiting for this.

Rehearsal After Riff-off

Chloe could hear her voice cracking as she attempted to hit that high note. Knowing it would be an immediate failure, she dropped octaves. As the song ended she could hear Aubrey sigh behind her. Amy made a comment about the cardio, but Chloe was focused on her throat. Rubbing it tenderly, she grabbed her water and took a sip.

"Chloe, you gotta be able to hit that last note" Aubrey gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder but Chloe felt helpless.

"I can't. It's impossible. It's because of my nodes" Chloe heard the Bellas murmuring in agreement with her.

"Well if you can't do it then someone else needs to solo"

Chloe tried not to look too eager. "I think Beca should take my solo."

There was a quick argument and it was soon decided that Fat Amy would solo. Chloe tried not to look to disappointed and the rehearsal went on.

Chloe spent the rest of the rehearsal teaching Fat Amy the music and choreography for her solo. When Aubrey finally called it, Chloe was more than ready to stop. Saying goodbye to Fat Amy, she grabbed her stuff and jogged to catch up to Beca.

Finally, she caught her before she had a chance to run off to the radio station. "Hey! Beca?"

Beca turned and gave her a small smile and Chloe nearly forgot how to talk. "What's up?"

Chloe stared for a second before shaking her head. "I uh was wondering if you wanted to like grab a cup of coffee or something. We could talk about some of the songs you'd like to perform?"

Beca hesitated, and for a second Chloe got her hopes up, but then Beca shook her head. "I'd love to, really, but I gotta head to the station. Jesse said he was bringing food tonight to make up for the pseudo-date my roommate crashed last night" Beca rolled her eyes.

Chloe hid her disappointment. "Oh totes, we'll just have to do it some other time."

Beca agreed and then headed off, and Chloe went back to catch up with Aubrey. Aubrey looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Where were you? I thought we were going to grab sushi" Chloe nodded and followed behind her, listening to her talk about her fears for the upcoming competition.

After the First Competition

The Bellas waited for Beca to be sprung from prison and Chloe finally, finally found out why Beca was so attuned to music. Chloe had almost no idea about mixing music, but the way Beca sounded when she started talking about it, Chloe almost stood up to Aubrey when she shot Beca down but meek Chloe just couldn't do it.

After the Bellas left, Chloe hung behind and turned to Beca. "Do you mind if I like, hang around here awhile? I mean I totally get it if you're tired and you just wanna crash, I just...It's just easier to avoid Aubrey when she's in one of her moods."

Beca gave her a slightly warm smile and nodded, "Uh yeah sure, I'm actually like strangely wired"

Beca's roommate audibly sighed and then turned off her lights and went to bed. Chloe giggled a little, and sat down on Beca's bed, feeling strangely comfortable. "So tell me more about your music. What exactly is all of this?"

Beca gave her an even warmer smile and begin to explain to Chloe exactly what she did, how she started, and how difficult, yet natural the whole process was. Chloe watched, seeing the pure joy and passion in the girl's eyes. She couldn't help but feel slightly exhilarated. She related completely, feeling the same way about singing. It was something she couldn't even control.

Soon, Chloe had a large pair of headphones over her ears and Beca's music was being pumped into her brain. She couldn't help but bob her head, humming softly along with it. She listened through a couple full songs before pausing it and looking up at Beca. "This is incredible. I never knew music could mesh like that"

Beca nodded. "Yeah, you can do it with just about any songs if you know what you're doing. Give me a song"

Chloe thought for a moment before smiling, "What about Just A Dream by Nelly?"

Beca nodded again. "Yeah, that would actually work well with something I've been working on. Just give me like ten minutes"

Chloe smiled and relaxed back onto her bed, putting the headphones back on and losing herself in Beca's music. She had just started zoning, reaching her inner chakra, seeing through her third eye, when Beca grabbed her knee, jarring her out of her trance. Beca giggled a bit as Chloe jumped. "It's done" She slid onto the bed next to Chloe with her computer and opened up the new file, plugging the headphones into the laptop and turning to look at her.

Chloe listened quietly to the Nelly/Rihanna mash-up of Just A Dream and Love The Way You Lie. It was incredible, and astounding that Beca could just whip something like this together. A talent like Beca's could revolutionize the Bellas whole set list, if Aubrey could ever be convinced to go for it.

Suddenly, Chloe became painfully aware of just how close Beca was to her, her foot brushing against Chloe's calf, her shoulder pressed up against Chloe's. Chloe looked over at Beca, resisting the urge to brush a strand of hair out of her face. Beca looked up at Chloe and their eyes met. Unable to breathe, Chloe toyed with the urge of leaning in, seeing how far Beca would let her go. A loud snore from Beca's roommate interrupted the tense moment and Chloe quickly took the chance to escape the situation. She leaped out of the bed, before noticing she was impossibly tangled in the cord. Struggling with it, Beca got up to help her.

"Here just let me" Beca reached for her waist, attempting to untangle the cord.

Chloe jumped a bit at her touch and quickly untangled herself. "I got it I got it. I really should go, we have that early rehearsal tomorrow, and Aubrey always likes me there early with her. This was really fun, thank you so much. Your music really is amazing" Her words felt rushed as she backed towards the door. Normally, Chloe was never flustered but something about Beca made her head go funny.

Beca looked a bit confused but nodded along, saying goodnight and shutting the door behind Chloe. Chloe took a deep breath once the door closed and ran her fingers through her hair, regaining her composure and making her way back to her room.