A/N: PG13 rules are for one F word. I put two in here.

Ch. 9

Chloe arrived ready to work and eager to see Beca again even though it had only been a handful of hours since they parted ways that morning. Easily chatting her way through make up and wardrobe and breezing through her scenes with Jesse. She'd never worked with him before but they got along well. She could see why he and Beca were cast as siblings. They had similar dark features. However, kissing him, in character, was as far from kissing Beca as possible.

In the back of her mind, Chloe found herself wishing the story was a bit different; something which would allow to spend the majority of her day kissing Beca instead. That, sadly, wasn't the case but she couldn't complain too much. Jesse was a very nice and professional scene partner and he thoughtfully chomped some mints before their kissing scenes. They had an easy banter between takes and John only yelled at them once, so it was a decent day by Chloe's account.

When the temperamental director was finally pleased with their work, they moved on. Chloe looked around as they took places, searching for where Beca would be waiting for her cue to enter. She didn't see her anywhere nearby but didn't worry. That was, she didn't until Beca's cue came and went with no sign of her still.

"Cut!" John yelled and threw his headphones down, "Where the hell is Mitchell?"

"She went to the trailer earlier," Luke offered from where he was munching at the craft table, "Don't think she's been back yet."

"God damn it, someone get her!"

The PA ran to do as he shouted and Chloe watched him go. Her face must've shown her concern because Jesse lightly touched her arm for her attention.

"She probably just went to blow off some steam and lost track of time. Don't worry."

"Blow off steam? From what?" Chloe asked, "What happened?"

"I'm not completely sure," he answered, "I heard her arguing with her manager earlier and she was acting strange when she was shooting earlier."

"Strange how?"

"Like anxious and twitchy," he explained, "Almost like…you know."

Her brows furrowed together in confusion, unsure what it was that he was implying.

"What?"

He looked at her for a moment, as if trying to decide if she was joking or not. Determining she wasn't, he stepped closer and lowered his voice.

"Like she was on something."

"Drugs?" she whispered in shock and immediately shook her head, "No, I don't believe that."

"Listen, I don't want to be that guy, but," he shrugged, "rumors start for a reason, you know?"

Chloe stared at him, annoyed that he would pay any attention to rumors; especially when she'd seen his name and face plastered in the racks of check-out aisles a time or two.

"I don't pay attention to rumors," she said defensively.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I like Beca," he said, "I've worked with her before. She's cool. All I'm saying is…. look if a hundred people all say the same thing, it makes sense to maybe believe it."

"A hundred people could tell me the sky is green, I'd still have to see it for myself before I believed them."

He chuckled awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I don't want to fight or anything. You guys are friends."

Before she could respond to that the PA returned, breathlessly announcing that Beca was coming. A few seconds later Beca ambled in, wiping her face and coming to stand off camera and wait. Chloe took the quick opportunity to hurry over to her.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Beca answered quickly and rolled her shoulders, "I fell asleep and forgot to set an alarm. Sorry."

"Ok," Chloe nodded with a soft smile. Happy to hear a logical explanation even as Jesse's words rolled around in her head. She looked Beca over carefully.

"What?"

"Nothing, just," she paused, "I'm looking forward to getting out of here and picking up where we left off."

A spark broke through Beca's eyes at her words.

"You and me, both."

The response was on par with the Beca she'd spent the previous night with and it put Chloe at ease.

"Awesome."

If they were further along in this relationship, if they hadn't agreed to keep things quiet, Chloe would've given her a quick kiss right there. But instead she settled for a wink and went back to her mark.

As the day went on, Chloe's concern reappeared as it became clear Beca was definitely not in her best form. She seemed almost sluggish and a beat behind in her timing and responses. At first Chloe assumed it was a character choice but after John interrupted the scene to yell at them yet again, she suspected that wasn't the case.

"Oh Jesus, cut!" he shouted, "People I know this isn't a masterpiece but give me a damn break! Mitchell, what's your problem? Did you hit your head and flashback to high school theatre?!"

Beca closed her eyes and rubbed her temple and clenched her teeth, "I'll get it."

"Will you?" he asked rhetorically, his face reddening as he got more worked up, "Cause from what I've seen, you couldn't get herpes in a brothel!"

"Fuck off," Beca muttered, not seeing the way Chloe's eyes widened at overhearing her muttered words.

John's face darkened and he jumped out of his chair, stomping over to her.

"What was that?"

Beca opened her eyes and stepped into his challenging space.

"I said. Fuck. Off."

"I don't know who you think you are," he started, "but you do not talk to me like that. You will show me respect or I'll drop you from this train wreck faster than you can say child star."

"Then do it!" Beca exploded, "Drop me. Do it!"

"Ok, that's enough," Gail showed up between them, pushing John back while Chloe pulled Beca's arm the opposite way. The writer looked from one to the other, "Everyone needs to just take a step back and breathe."

"Yeah Mitchell, step back. Step all the way back and keep going until you see the exit sign!"

"I said enough!" Gail glared at him and then looked around at everyone on set, "We're done for today."

"You don't make that call!" John spat at her.

"Well I am. Unless you two can be professional," she told them, looking between him and Beca again.

Beca looked away, clenching her jaw and feeling Chloe's hand start rubbing up and down her arm. She looked into her imploring eyes and let out a sigh.

"I just need a few minutes," she finally relented.

"Why not take all of them?" John started but saw Gail's glare again and he ran a hand down his face, "Just…take the day Mitchell. We'll get back to this tomorrow."

He turned away, facing the silent audience around them and cleared his throat.

"Moving on, let's go!"

Chloe walked beside Beca, moving quickly to keep step with her.

"Beca…" she started softly.

"I'm sorry," she apologized right away and shook her head.

"It's ok. It's ok."

"Uh, meet me at, uh, Angelo's tonight? It's the Italian place on- "

"Yeah, I know it," Chloe nodded quickly.

"Right, um," Beca looked down at her feet, "They have a backroom, discreet, you know? Private. Just, just say you're meeting Anna Cooke. That's the name I use."

Chloe nodded again, "It's nice."

Beca sniffed, trying to keep herself under control until she could get away from everyone, "Yeah, well…I'll see you there? Maybe, nine?"

"On the dot."

"Ok," Beca lingered for an awkward moment and Chloe wondered if she too was thinking about the possibility of a kiss goodbye, as Chloe was. Of course she just put her hands in her pockets, "Bye."

X

Beca was sitting at her table in the private dining area; thankful that LA, being a hub of celebrity, had an abundance of restaurants that had them. She'd come early enough to be ready when Chloe came. If Chloe came.

Sure, she said she would, but that was hours ago, when Beca was standing in front of her. Maybe she just agreed to get Beca to leave. Honestly, she wouldn't blame her for not coming after the way she'd acted. Beca couldn't believe she'd lost her cool like that. Her day started so promising, spending the morning with Chloe, but everything after that had been a pile of trash.

After her argument with Angela and her mother shoving the pills down her throat, Beca was so on edge she could barely focus on one thing at a time. There was a reason she timed what she took and how much. Never too much, never too close together. She'd already taken her usual morning touch shortly before…damn Angela.

It was too much. She knew people could tell something was off during her early scenes. So on her break, she stole away to her trailer and took some downers in hopes of balancing out. Just her luck, she'd ended up passing out instead with her brain working sluggishly when she did get back to set. Of course Chloe wasn't coming.

It was easy to say she wasn't worried about Beca's potential disappointments or failures when they were just talking, when she hadn't been face-to-face with any of it. But now she'd seen just a small sample.

Beca dropped her head into her hands, pressing them into her eyes until she saw sparks, thinking about how quickly she'd ruined the first good thing she'd had in forever.

God, she really was useless.

Stupid.

"Hey."

Beca popped her head up when the voice halted her spiral of thoughts. Chloe was there. She was already standing at the table near the vacant chair as the staffer who led her over went to pull it out for her.

Beca jumped, banging her knees loudly on the table before moving to properly get up.

"I got it," she announced, moving to take his place. The man nodded and stepped back, allowing her to pull out Chloe's chair.

"I'll be back with the wine selection," he told them.

"Thanks," Beca nodded and then reached into her back pocket, "And, uh, we'd appreciate if- "

"Not a word," he assured her and left before Beca could hand him the money she'd intended to. She knew they were genuine about discretion for diners like this, but she still wanted to make sure.

Once he left, Beca sat back down and cleared her throat.

"You came."

Chloe smiled, "Of course. I said I would, didn't I?"

"Well, yeah, but…" she shrugged.

"But nothing," she said, "I have a date with Beca Mitchell, no way I'm missing that."

Beca winced internally and looked at her hands on the tabletop.

"Can you…please don't say it like that."

"Like what?" Chloe's smile dropping.

"Like," she paused, searching for the words. Settling for lifting her hands a bit, fingers spread out, "Beca Mitchell."

Thankfully Chloe seemed to understand and immediately reached over to cover Beca's hand.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that," she assured, "I just meant, you know, you. Not Beca Mitchell, celebrity. Just Beca Mitchell, the girl who makes dumb jokes one minute and makes my heart speed up the next. That's all I meant."

"Sorry," Beca apologized, hating that she'd assumed the worst, "I'm sorry. I'm just all messed up today."

"Hey, it's all right," she smiled, "I know you've had a rough day."

Beca felt herself chuckle, "Yeah, you could say that, huh?"

Chloe squeezed the hand she was holding.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now," she squeezed right back, "I don't want to waste our time on any of that. Let's order some wine, have some food, and enjoy our date."

"I sure do like that plan," Chloe smiled, "But for future reference, it wouldn't be a waste of time.

After wine and dinner (and dessert and more wine) they decided they were ready to head out. Beca paid the check, leaving a nice tip as always. They rose to go, but Beca grabbed Chloe's arm before she could leave the private area just yet.

"Just a second," she requested softly. Chloe turned to face her, a question in her eyes, before it could linger too long, Beca spoke.

"Before we go out there, separately and pretending, can I kiss my date?"

"You never have to ask," she smiled and wrapping her arms over her shoulders, "The answer is always yes."

The kiss was slow and soft, Beca slid her hands up Chloe's back and pulling her body to press up against her own.

"Mm," Chloe moaned as they parted and pressed her forehead against Beca's, "Meet me at my apartment?"

Beca nodded, "I'll hang around for a few minutes and then head over. You get nice and comfortable and…ready."

Chloe lifted one eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh I'll be ready," she said placing a kiss to the corner of her mouth, "and willing…and definitely able."

Beca kissed her again, this time with more heat behind it. She felt the desire burn in her gut and groaned as she forced herself to pull away.

"All right," she said reluctantly, "Get out of here. The sooner you go, the sooner I can follow."

Chloe gave her a wink and left with a big smile on her face. Beca watched her go, feeling almost dizzy with the desire to follow her right then and there. She checked the time and sat down at the table with a sigh as she decided how long to wait to not be suspicious.

But as she thought about it, she admitted to herself exactly how much didn't want to wait. She wanted to walk right out beside Chloe, holding her hand all the way. Other people be damned.

She stood by her reasons for keeping it quiet, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She just wanted to go on a date with Chloe, spend time with her, without worrying about who would see and what would be said.

She debated the ups and downs of being open earlier than they intended. Surprising herself at how much she was considering just saying to hell with it and doing what she wanted. She continued going back and forth in her head until enough time had passed. Once it did, she forced herself to walk calmly out of the restaurant.

Using the back entrance for the apartment building, Beca took the stairs so she could run up faster than the elevator would take her. She'd barely finished knocking before the door opened.

Beca froze, her eyes hungrily taking in the sight greeting her. Her hair was now completely down, loose around her face and neck. Wearing a thin robe that lay against her in all the right ways.

Beca swallowed, "You look…"

Chloe didn't wait for her to find the last word; instead just opened the robe, exposing what was underneath. Her eyes dropped to the lingerie hugging Chloe's tanned body like a second skin and her brain stopped working.

Chloe smirked, feeling confident from the effect she had on Beca. She didn't even care that she was standing in her underwear in the open doorway.

"I told you I'd be ready," her words finished with a squeak when Beca suddenly threw herself into her with a passionate kiss.

Her arms wrapped around her waist and Chloe felt herself lifted momentarily as Beca spun them around. Chloe's back hitting the door and shutting it with a slam; closing them back into their own private world.

X

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