"It's not worth it, Chloe," Beca huffed indignantly, her phone held to her ear in a grip that was turning her knuckles white. She paced around her room as she argued with the optimistic redhead who was on a mission to get Beca to come back to the Bellas after the disaster that was Regionals and Aubrey and Beca's explosion. It was halfway through spring break and Beca hadn't talked to any of the girls since walking away from the group, only four days before. She'd gotten their texts, a couple from Fat Amy and Stacie, most from Chloe, but she'd promptly ignored them when she remembered the betrayal she felt standing backstage after their performance. She was upset, and she was happy to wallow in misery alone in her dorm room with the lights off and her laptop screen burning her eyes as she angrily mixed her music. She had seen the text from Chloe telling her the Bellas were getting another chance. She'd read it over a few times, not replying, of course. But then Chloe called, and despite not wanting to talk to her, she couldn't not answer the phone.
"Beca, please. We can't do this without you," Chloe begged, her voice raspy.
"No, Chlo. Sure, it was… fun… sometimes, but I'm not coming back."
"Yes. You are."
Beca rolled her eyes at the confidence in the redhead's tone, stopping on the spot and lifting her hand to her hip as she would as if Chloe was standing in front of her. "What makes you so sure?"
She heard a faint giggle, echoed from her phone to outside her dorm door, and then a quick three knocks sounded against the wood. Beca knew exactly who it was, and hanging up the phone, she threw it onto her bed as she opened the door to come face to face with a bright-eyed Chloe Beale, sweatpants and a hoodie adorning her body. In her hands was a brown take-out bag - Beca could smell the greasy diner food from her favourite place on campus - and when she noticed, she couldn't help but smile. Under any other circumstances, Chloe would not be eating something "so trashy" in her words, but this was either a plot of bribery or pure desperation, Beca wasn't sure yet, so apparently it called for the "delicious comfort food", in Beca's words.
"Really? You're going to bribe me back into the Bellas?" Beca snickered playfully, opening the door further to let Chloe in. She glanced at Kimmy Jin's side of the room then to Beca, to which Beca shrugged, "She went home, I think."
Chloe placed the bag of food on Beca's desk and then made herself comfortable on the brunette's bed, briefly checking the screen of her laptop and frowning.
"Bec, you can't hole yourself up and mix music for an angsty heartbroken mid-pubescent boy for the whole week," Chloe said softly, her voice still as raspy as on the phone. "Have you even left this room in the past four days?"
Beca crossed her arms, the defensive action making her feel stronger against Chloe's concerned gaze. "Yeah!"
"Other than to work at the station?"
Chloe's eyes and tone were knowing, and Beca knew it would be stupid to deny the fact, so instead, she just huffed and sat next to Chloe, her back against the built-in shelving of the wall against her bed. She figured her best chance at changing the subject was focusing Chloe on her own problems, so she took the lull of silence in stride.
"You sound a little rough, how are the nodes?" she murmured into the quiet room, sounding unsure of herself. She was.
"Actually," Chloe hummed, "I got surgery. To get them removed."
Beca sat up straighter, turning to face the girl next to her with a grin. "What? Chlo, that's awesome! Right?"
"Yes and no. I may not ever have my full range again, but I can still sing, and the chances of my voice being okay in the long run are still high." Both girls were beaming when Chloe finished and ignoring her aversion to human contact, Beca leaned forwards, pulling her friend into a hug.
It wasn't until Chloe wrapped her arms tightly around her petite frame that she realized how much she missed her friends (because, yes, she could admit she thought of them that way). It had only been four days, but when she had grown accustomed to seeing the Bellas every day, four days felt like a lifetime and Beca hadn't noticed - until she felt her skin ignite under Chloe's touch - that her body was craving the hugs and winks and subtle touches Chloe gave her all the time.
"Don't think that I've forgotten about you, though," Chloe whispered into Beca's ear, rolling the girl back to a sitting position and settling herself over her lap, knees against the outsides of Beca's jean-clad thighs. "Beca, this isn't just about you. It's about us, the Bellas, we need you." There was a pregnant pause while Chloe mustered up the confidence to admit her next words, and growing uncomfortable, Beca looked down to her lap, her fingers playing with the un-tied strings of Chloe's sweatpants. "I need you."
When Beca looked back up, she could see the honest and genuine emotion in Chloe's face. The way her lips turned up just slightly to a smile and how the crease that had been between her eyebrows moments ago had faded.
"Chlo," Beca sighed, stopping when she couldn't find her words. She leaned into the redhead, her temple resting against Chloe's shoulder. She could feel the heat of her breath as it left her lips, running into Chloe's neck and lingering while it found somewhere to go.
"The Bellas need their Alt Robot DJ to complete the puzzle. We're… we won't be us without you."
Beca felt warm hands against her skin, one where her shirt had ridden up by her hip and the other brushing by her face as it ran through her slightly tangled hair. She didn't have an answer, not yet, but she was willing to try to find one.
"Let me think about it?" Beca finally replied, pulling away from Chloe and leaning back against the shelving.
Chloe beamed, her soft grin growing into a wide hopeful smile. "That's all I ask," she nodded, leaning forwards and pressing a not-out-of-the-ordinary kiss to the side of Beca's mouth. It was a display of affection that made Beca choke the first time Chloe did it - not long after hood night. But over time, it had become their thing, and while Chloe was affectionate with most of her friends, it was something she only did with Beca. So despite still finding it a little unusual - because Beca's never known anyone to platonically kiss their friends - Beca didn't mind anymore.
Not moving from Beca's lap, Choe leaned over and grabbed the bag of take-out from the desk, setting it between them. "I brought this as make-up food… or for bribery, but I don't think I need food for that," Chloe said with a wink. Moving to cuddle into Beca's side, Chloe grabbed her laptop, saving the mix she'd made and relabelling it "This is stupid and I need to find better ways to handle my emotions", she clicked out of the software and pulled up the internet. With her fingers hovering above the keys, she looked to Beca with a smirk, "What are we watching?"
"A movie? I suffer enough with Jesse, Chlo," Beca whined, reaching into the bag of food and pulling out the containers, setting them on the bed at their sides. She wasn't about to admit that she'd chosen to watch a couple on her own, unprompted, just because her emotions were so out of whack.
Chloe chuckled, the sound flowing through the room as music to Beca's ears. "It doesn't have to be a movie."
Beca found something to put on, turning the volume down just enough that they could talk over it without feeling like they were disturbing the quiet peace of the room around them. Letting herself get comfortable under the weight of Chloe against her, Beca pressed her face into red curls, letting the sweet smell of Chloe's shampoo fill her senses. Lifting her head enough to speak without inhaling ginger locks, Beca spoke. "Is it weird to say I missed you?"
Chloe shook her head slowly, "I missed you too, Bec."
