Small note: Last chapter, I said that the song Emily was writing for Beca was going to be a single; that was a mistake guys, sorry. It's on an album, which will be talked about more in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Day 2- What the Hell Happened to These Turtles?

The alarm on Beca's phone wakes her up, and she immediately grabs it to turn the assaulting noise off when she hears her doorbell. "Fuuuuck." She rolls out of bed and wanders slowly into the living room, then opens the door to see nothing but a small box. "What the?" She picks up the box and brings it inside, setting it on the counter and opening it.

The sight inside makes her laugh; there's two turtles inside the box, each donning a pair of taped-on paper wings. "What the hell happened to these turtles?" She takes them out and sets them on the counter, being careful to place them in the middle so they don't walk off. She grabs the note at the bottom and starts to read:

Beca,

Yes, I realize I probably should've put holes in the box; I was almost late though, so I quickly rushed it there.

You'll see one of your friends today, and they'll be prepared to give you the next clue. Go about your day as normal: they will find you.

I hope you like the cheesiness of this gift!

Beca sighs and grabs the turtles, setting them back in the box. She'll have to buy a habitat for them later, after work. After a quick glance, she decides to leave the "wings" on them for now. If she's being honest with herself, it's kind of cute.

She sighs, then decides to call Chloe, knowing she'll call here soon anyway.

"Good morning, Becs."

"Hey, so I got present number two…" She trails off to sip her coffee, and Chloe fills the silence.

"Oh my gosh, do you have lovebirds flying around your house now?"

Beca laughs. "Not quite. I have two turtles with paper wings in a cardboard box. And get this; there were no holes in the box for the turtles."

Chloe gasps dramatically. "That is terrible!"

"Tell me about it." Beca chuckles. "Also… apparently I'm going to see one of my friends today, who's going to give me a clue."

"Huh, I wonder who."

Beca narrows her eyes suspiciously, despite the fact that the redhead can't see it. "Do you know who's doing this?"

"I swear, Becs, I have no idea." Chloe responds, but something sounds off.

"Ok…" She decides not to push it, although she doesn't believe her. Maybe she's not allowed to say. It's frustrating for Beca, but she knows that either a, Chloe will keep her mouth shut the whole time, or b, Chloe will tell her by tomorrow at the latest.

"Hey, I'm at work, but good luck!"

"Alright, bye." She hangs up and sets the phone on the counter, sighing. As soon as she's finished with her coffee, she pulls on a pair of jeans and a hoodie, then grabs her coat, phone, and wallet and heads out the door. She waves at Mr. Bob, her neighbor, as she walks past, and he waves back with a "Hello, Miss Michael!" The poor gentleman has dementia and has never actually been able to remember her name, but she thinks it's sweet nonetheless.

"Good morning, Miss. Mitchell. Miss Junk is here for you." Jaxxon says with a smile when Beca walks into the lobby.

"Oh?" Is Beca's intelligent response. She makes her way directly to her office, seeing Emily sitting at her desk with her glasses on and a pen in her mouth. "Em?"

"Beca! Hi!" She stands up and gives Beca a quick hug, who returns it. "I just finished 'Mine for Christmas', actually."

"Oh, awesome!" Emily hands Beca the lyrics, and Beca perches on the edge of her desk as she reads, while Emily resumes her spot in Beca's chair. "Emily, this is amazing. As always."

"Thanks!" Emily grins, then takes a drink out of the yellow Barden University cup in front of her. "So, how did you like your presents yesterday and today?"

"You know?" Beca asks in bewilderment, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at the younger Bella in front of her.

"Of course I know. In fact, I have your hint." She smiles. "I just happened to be done with the lyrics. It was perfect."

"You have the hint?"

Emily shrugs nonchalantly, taking another drink. "I can't actually tell you what it is, though."

"Oh my gosh, I hate you." Beca grumbles. "Why not? It's not like you're telling me who she is!"

"I'm under strict orders, Becs." Her mouth twists upwards into a smile again. "Now, do you want to record this today, or…?"

"I do, but I have an idea." She leads Emily out of her office and into the recording studio. "Remember 'Flashlight'?"

"How could I forget?" Emily asks.

"Yeah, true." Beca sits down in front of the equipment in front of her. "Don't tell Theo, he'd be mad. I want to produce this with you singing it."

"Really?" Emily squeals, clapping her hands together excitedly in a way that slightly reminds Beca of Chloe.

"Yeah, really." Beca chuckles. "Now get your pretty butt in there." They both laugh at the past memory. Emily slips the headphones on, and Beca presses the button that allows Emily to hear her as she says, "How do you want this to start out? Did you have some sort of idea?"

"Yeah, I have the basic melody, but I…"

Two hours later, they have a rough draft for the song. Emily comes out of the recording booth and sits next to Beca, who had Jaxxon bring them each a glass of vodka. "So, how's Benji?" Beca asks, taking a sip of her drink.

"He's doing good. He's slightly stressed out, because his students are driving him crazy." Emily laughs. "But that's his fault for wanting to teach eight-year-olds, right?"

"Right." Beca also laughs. "Dude, I couldn't teach high schoolers, let alone little kids. Kids and me don't get along."

"You get along fine with Jamie."

Beca shrugs, stifling a yawn. "Well, your son is a literal angel. He does nothing wrong!"

Emily snorts, giving Beca a dubious look. "You've obviously never spent the night with him. I'm going to make you babysit one night."

"Oh, please don't." Beca laughs, then pulls her phone out when she feels it vibrate against her thigh.

I saw this and thought of you =D It's a text from Chloe, followed by a picture of a mouse with a Santa hat. So cute and small.

Oh stop with the small jokes, Beca texts back.

"Who are you texting that's got you all smiley?" Emily asks, and Beca locks her phone, setting it down on the table in front of her.

"Just Chloe. She thinks she's funny." She turns her phone back on and shows Emily the text, who just shakes her head with a bemused expression.

"When are you going to tell her?" Emily happens to be the only person who knows about her feelings for Chloe.

"Never, Em." Beca shakes her head sadly. "I can't. Remember Chicago?"

"Yeah, I remember." Emily sighs solemnly. "But what if she felt the same?" She perks up.

Beca snorts with amusement. "Yeah, sure. Like that would ever happen."

"Well, why not?"

Another snort. "Because she's Chloe, and I'm… well, I'm me. We're polar opposites."

"Opposites attract?" She asks. "I mean, look at Stacie and Aubrey. Stacie's a free spirit, and Aubrey has to have everything perfect. No one would expect those two together, but they work so well."

Beca chuckles. "I know. I still remember the day Stacie told me she liked Aubrey. I think I actually slapped her."

"Why the heck did you slap her?!"

"I dunno, dude. I was in a weird mood that day as it was. Jesse and I broke up that day." She winces as she says Jesse's name.

"Do you-"

"No, Em. I don't want to talk about it."

"But it might help."

Before Beca can answer, the door to the studio opens, and Theo sticks his head in. "Good afternoon, ladies."

"Sup, Theo." Beca responds with a yawn before taking in more of her drink as Emily waves in response.

"I just wanted to see what you two were up to, is all." He walks in, closing the door behind him. "New song?"

"Nah, just chilling." Beca lies, and Emily nods. She's gotten a lot better at hiding things over the years; something Beca is grateful for.

"Alright, well, let me know when you've got that final song for the Christmas album." He turns to Emily. "We need the lyrics by next week."

"Beca already told me, but thank you!" Emily responds politely.

"Have fun, ladies." With one last smirk, the Brit leaves the studio, closing the door behind him once again.

"Does he always do that?" Emily asks once they're sure he's out of earshot, the past conversation forgotton.

"Um, not really." Beca shakes her head just as her phone dings again.

Oh come on, the jokes are just as tiny as you are ;P

"This girl, I swear." Beca mutters to no one in particular as she reads the message, immediately typing out a response. Go to work, Beale.

But I'm on break, wanna get lunch?

Can't, I'm with Legacy.

"Chloe again?" Emily asks knowingly, finishing off her glass of vodka. Beca nods, not looking up from her screen. "Tell her I say hello."

"Ok." But just as Beca starts typing, Chloe says, Oh, tell her I say hi and that we totes need to hang out!

"She says hi and that she wants to see you." Beca glances up at Emily, who chuckles.

"Tell her that can be arranged if she finds me a babysitter."

Get Em a babysitter and you can hang out all you want.

Perfect, will do! Beca rolls her eyes and locks her phone again. "I'm sorry, where were we? Before Chloe rudely interrupted?"

Emily shakes her head and stands up. "I should actually get going. Chloe reminded me that I have to pick Jamie up from daycare."

"Oh." Beca stands up as well and opens the door for Emily. "Well, it was really nice of you to stop by. And don't worry about the song, I'll give it to Theo soon." She yawns.

"You seem really tired, Becs. Are you ok?" Emily moves in to hug the shorter woman.

"Yeah yeah, I've just had this splitting headache all day. I'm ok." She pulls away and gives Emily a reassuring smile. "I'll go to bed early tonight. I'm just tired from the concert."

Emily nods in understanding- she's had her fair share of late nights with Jamie and knows how it can be. Also, she's performed at a couple of Beca's concerts. She understands the stress behind those as well. "Alright. Bye, Beca."

"By, Em." She watches Emily walk out of the building before going back to her office. She sits at her desk and opens her computer, looking at the schedule for the sound booth for the next three weeks. Somewhere along the way, she rests her head on the edge of her desk and ends up falling asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Beca, wake up." She groans and lifts her head up, opening her eyes slowly to see Chloe standing in front of her with a cup of to-go coffee. "It's seven. How long have you been asleep?"

"Holy shit." Beca mutters, standing up and straightening her shirt. "Um, like four hours? I can't believe no one woke me up!"

"They probably assumed you needed the sleep." Chloe offers, smiling when Beca takes the coffee from her and takes a sip.

"As much as I needed it, I shouldn't be sleeping at work. I'm dropping an album next week."

"An album that you have like, what, one song left to finish?"

Beca shakes her head as they walk out of the office, pulling her coat on. "Em just brought the song today."

"Oh! So she stuck around while you and Theo recorded it?"

Beca shakes her head again. "No, Emily recorded it. Theo doesn't know we have it yet."

"Ooh, sneaky!" Chloe laughs as she waves a goodbye to Jaxxon, who returns it with a big smile and a "have a nice night!"

"I wanted to produce it, and I know Theo wouldn't have let me." Beca shrugs, the cold air immediately waking her up as they set foot into the streets of New York City.

"Sounds like Theo." Chloe laughs. "So, what clue did you get today?"

Beca lets out a frustrated huff of air. "None that I saw! Emily said she had the clue, but she didn't even say anything, and nothing stuck out to me. The only thing different was that she was wearing her glasses today instead of contacts. The only person that reminds me of is Stacie, and she's married to Aubrey already."

"Yeah, that would be a problem, now wouldn't it?" Chloe chuckles, then pouts. "So no clue?"

"I must be really stupid, Chloe." Beca groans and takes another sip of her coffee, swirling the hot beverage around in her mouth before swallowing it.

"Hey, stop that." Chloe whacks her arm playfully. "You are not stupid."

"Uhh, thanks." Beca replies awkwardly, hanging her head in a sad attempt at hiding her blush. "So, how was work today?"

Chloe's smile turns into the megawatt grin Beca fell in love with. "It was so good! Not a single patient made me cry today, which is always a plus." Beca nods. "Actually, it was sort of slow, but it was nice. Michelle and I played poker for like an hour."

"Nice, who won?" Beca has met Chloe's receptionist Michelle once. She's tall, blonde, and has- oddly enough- light brown eyes, not unlike Zoey Deutch's.

"She did, of course." Chloe laughs, and Beca looks back up at her, marvelling in the way her whole face lights up with one small action. Her eyes land on Chloe's, getting lost in the bright baby blue eyes that always make her weak in the knees.

"Well, you were never good at poker." Beca shakes her head, chortling.

"Oh shush, I know!" Chloe groans when they come upon the pear orchard, a small sign that they're almost to Beca's house. "I would love to hang out, but you need sleep."

"Oh yeah, just invite yourself over to my house." Beca rolls her eyes mockingly, but is secretly disappointed that Chloe won't be coming over. "And I'm ok, really."

"Alright, well, I'll get going then." She plants a kiss to Beca's cheek, then turns around in the direction of her own apartment. "Goodnight, Becs!"

"Chloe, wait!" Beca calls out on a whim, and Chloe turns around with a surprised smile on her face. "At least join me for Chinese takeout?"

"Is the famous Beca Mitchell asking me out on a date?" Chloe asks with a falsely surprised voice, placing a hand on her chest for emphasis. "Oh my gosh! All along, I've been in love with you, and here I thought you never noticed me!"

"Shut up and get in here." Beca shakes her head at her best friend's antics, and Chloe laughs as they walk into Beca's living room. "So, what do you want?"

Chloe takes her jacket off and throws it on the couch, following Beca into the kitchen and sitting on the couch. "Chinese, duh."

"Anything specific?" Beca asks with a fond eye-roll.

"Nope." Chloe gives a megawatt grin, and Beca simply shakes her head as she calls the nearest chinese place.

"Hello?... Yes… oh. That sucks… well, is anyone else open?... Oh. Thanks anyway!" She hangs up and gives Chloe a dramatic sigh. "There's some sort of Chinese holiday today, and every single Chinese place is closed." Her eyes stray, landing on the cardboard box. "Oh, shit!" She opens the box and pokes the turtles inside, letting out a huge sigh of relief when they both retreat into their shells. "Chlo, what do turtles eat?"

"A variety of things. They like bugs, fruits, grass, even decaying fish." Beca wrinkles her nose in disgust, and Chloe laughs. "Or you could buy turtle food at the store, you know." She wiggles her eyebrows. "Or, you could get some from me, I have some at the clinic. You could get a family discount."

"I might stop by, thanks." She nods and places the turtles on the counter for Chloe to see. "So this is what my secret admirer did." Immediately, Chloe's face lights up in a huge smile.

"Becs, this is so adorable!" She practically squeals, causing Beca to flinch as her headache from earlier starts to resurface.

"I… yeah, I thought so too." Beca sighs and leans against the counter, the sigh getting Chloe's attention again. "So, pizza?"

"Sure." Her eyes narrow as she inspects the tiny singer in front of her. "Are you sure you're ok? You look terrible."

Beca groans and nods, running a hand down her face. "How many people are going to ask me that? I'm fine."

"Jeesh Beca, sorry. There's no need to get mad, it was just a question. I'm worried about you." Chloe's voice softens at the end of the sentence, and Beca sighs again, resting her head against the counter.

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"I know." She stands up and wraps her arms around Beca's waist, and after a minute, Beca straightens and turns around, properly returning the hug. "You know you can talk to me, right?"

Beca nods, a lump forming in her throat as she squeezes Chloe a little tighter. "Uh, I don't know if you heard, but… I got a call from Mr. and Mrs. Swanson last week."

"And?"

A small sob escapes Beca's throat, causing Chloe to tighten her hold. "Jesse's d-dead, Chlo."

"Oh my gosh." Chloe rubs slow circles into Beca's back as she cries into her shoulder, and it takes a minute for Chloe to come up with a reasonable response. "How…?"

"Car accident." Suddenly, Beca pulls away, wiping the tears away and looking at the floor awkwardly. "Gosh, I'm sorry. He's not even my boyfriend anymore, I don't know why I'm so upset by this."

"Hey, hey. Look at me." Chloe grabs either side of her face and lifts it up, wiping the access tears away from her cheeks with her thumbs. "You have every right to be upset. You were still close, even after the breakup."

Slowly, Beca nods. "You're right." After a minute, she asks, "I think I'm going to take the day off tomorrow and visit his grave. Would you…" she pauses to take a deep, steadying breath. "Would you mind maybe coming with me? You know, for moral support?" Chloe just stares at her in shock, and Beca misinterprets it. "Or I can go alone, if you don't want to-"

"Beca." She immediately stops talking at the sincerity in Chloe's voice. "I would love to come with you. I was just surprised, is all. I just… have to work some things out at work. But I'll be there." She squeezes Beca's arm briefly before letting go with a small smile.

"Oh thank God." Beca lets out a sigh of relief. "I didn't think I could do this on my own."

"No one's asking you to." Chloe reminds her, and Beca nods.

"No, I know that."

"I know." After a moment of comfortable silence, she asks, "so, what type of pizza are we getting?"

"Anything but Hawaiian." Beca laughs, grateful for the topic change but once again amazed by the beauty in front of her that is Chloe Beale. Chloe, the girl who burst in on her in the shower. Chloe, who is the complete opposite of Beca. Chloe, who is the sun Beca's world revolves around (the thought alone makes Beca want to facepalm so hard she lands in Canada, although she knows it's true).

"Beca? Where'd you go there?" She blinks, registering the fact that Chloe's waving a hand in front of her face. "You completely blanked out on me."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about tomorrow." Beca lies, praying Chloe won't see through it. Based on the sympathetic smile that takes over her features, she assumes she's safe. "What did you say?"

"I asked if we could get a supreme."

"You don't even like supreme."

"That is so not true!" Chloe puts her hands on her hips in a show of deficiency. "I just don't like the mushrooms."

All Beca can do is shake her head at how adorable the ginger's being. "Fine, we can get a supreme."

After consuming two whole pizzas and talking about dogs for the majority of two hours, Chloe stands up with a grunt. "This was fun Becs, but I really should get some sleep." She grabs her coat and slides it on. "You should too. Goodnight, and I'll see you tomorrow." She places a kiss to Beca's cheek before slipping out of Beca's apartment.

I was gonna walk you home. She quickly texts Chloe.

I'm gonna get a taxi. You need to sleep.

Fine, Mom.

Goodnight, sweet daughter of mine ;D

Night. She powers her phone off and climbs up the stairs to her room, not even bothering to pull on pajamas before she flops into bed, falling asleep almost immediately. When she does fall asleep, she dreams of red hair and flying turtles with paper wings.