"I'm actually going to kill you, Beale."

Chloe looked down at Beca, grinning when she saw the way that the younger girl's nose was wrinkled in disgust. "Oh come on, Becs. The riff-off is a time-honored Barden a capella tradition."

"It's bullshit."

"No, it's fun." Chloe looked up again and saw Aubrey waving at them (well, mostly her, she supposed) from the edge of the pool. "Seriously, it's going to be a blast, just you wait and see."

"Our ideas of "fun" must be drastically different, Beale," Beca grumbled, but she let Chloe pull her along with her anyway.

"Hello, Chloe!" Aubrey exclaimed as they came near. Chloe shot her a look and Aubrey sighed and gave Beca a curt nod. "Mitchell."

"Posen," Beca replied just as curtly. Chloe could practically feel the tension between her two friends, the air growing thick and heavy, and she stepped between them before they had the chance to say anything else to each other.

"Are the rest of the Bellas here yet?"

Aubrey stared at Beca for another moment before turning towards Chloe with a smile that was obviously forced. "Fat Amy is the only one we're still waiting on now that you two finally arrived."

There was an edge to Aubrey's voice, one that Chloe recognized as a signal of her best friend's irritation with both her arrival time and her companion, but she chose to ignore it. It was better to do that than start an argument while Beca was nearby. "Have you heard from her?"

Aubrey shook her head. "No, but Stacie mentioned that she saw her an hour ago and said that she reminded her about this, so she should show up." She cast a quick glance towards Beca, who had apparently grown bored of the conversation and had taken out her phone, before leaning closer to Chloe and dropping her voice. "She will show up, right?"

"Of course she will," Chloe reassured her. She reached out and placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder, squeezing gently. "She's just...well, she's Fat Amy. She dances to her own beat, you know? But she always shows up."

"She's on her way."

Chloe and Aubrey both turned at the sound of Beca's voice. The freshman stood with her phone held loosely in her hand and an expression that looked like she was bored, but Chloe knew that it was just her default expression.

"What?" Aubrey asked, and Beca sighed.

"Fat Amy? I texted her, she's on her way." Beca waved her phone at them before tucking it away in the front pocket of her jeans. "She got caught up, and I quote, "wrasslin' with some nasty turtles at the fountain but will be there quicker than Hasselhoff runnin' down the beach."" She frowned, her brows furrowing. "I honestly don't know what any of that means, but I guess she'll be here in a few minutes."

"Oh," Aubrey said. Chloe waited for her to say something else, but when it became apparent that the information that Beca had provided had apparently rendered her co-captain speechless, she decided to step up.

"Thanks, Beca!"

Beca gave her a little half-nod and shoved her hands inside of her jacket pockets. "Yeah, no problem. If you guys want to go down with the others, I can stay up here and wait for her."

"That would be-"

"Great!" Chloe finished, interrupting Aubrey. She stepped forward, instinctively putting even more distance between the two other women. "We'll see you down there! And be careful coming down the ladders, they tend to be a bit more rickety than they appear."

Beca arched an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Chloe flashed her a beaming smile before looping her arm in Aubrey's and turning towards the pool. She pulled Aubrey towards the edge, only letting go of her so that they could descend the ladders.

She hadn't lied to Beca- the ladders really were rickety, and honestly probably at least twice Chloe's age, and she knew Aubrey was afraid of them so, at the very least, her best friend would have something else to focus on other than the fact that they were about five minutes out from the start of the riff-off without all of their Bellas present.

(That didn't really change the fact that she was also a little scared of them, too, especially when she heard the rung creak when she put her full weight on it)

"Chloe! Aubrey! Over here!"

Chloe jumped off the bottom rung of her ladder and turned her head to see Stacie waving at them enthusiastically with the other Bellas huddled together behind her. "Stacie! Hey!"

"Where have you guys been?" Stacie moved closer to them and gestured behind her. "We've been waiting for like, ever, for you guys to show up!"

"Well-"

"Hello, Bellas!" Fat Amy's booming voice echoed throughout the pool, causing more than one head to turn in her direction. Chloe turned to see her jumping down from the last two rungs of a ladder, Beca close behind. Even from where she stood, Chloe could see the way Beca clung to the sides of the ladder, fingers curled tight around the splintering wood. Unlike Fat Amy, she descended using every rung, and stepped down instead of jumping when she reached the end.

"Sorry 'bout the hold up," Fat Amy said as she strutted over to join the rest of the Bellas. "A few real mean-looking snappers tried to snag my trousers when I passed by the fountain." She shook her leg in their direction. "Almost got me, too, but I kicked their sorry asses all the way back to Kalamazoo!"

Chloe looked over Fat Amy's shoulder and shot Beca a questioning look. Beca just shrugged.

"Well...we're happy that you're here now," Chloe said after a moment, deciding that it would be better for her to break the stunned silence than for Aubrey to say anything. She kept her gaze on Beca for a moment longer, just so that the freshman would understand that her words weren't only meant for Fat Amy, looking away only after Beca gave her a small nod. "Okay, Bellas! We should probably go over the game plan..."

Her words were cut off by the Harmonics' synchronized police siren noises. All heads turned towards the MC, Justin, who held out his arms wide to the crowd. "Who's ready to get vocal?"

Chloe cheered along with everyone else and tried to let herself stop worrying so much. It was hard, though, especially when she knew that they were woefully unprepared.

God, she didn't want to embarrass themselves again.

She could hear Aubrey over the other Bellas, but she knew that her co-captain's enthusiasm was mostly a front for the anxiety that she knew had to be running through her. Riff-offs had never been the Bellas' strong suit, even though she and Aubrey had pulled off a great duet of Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator" last year when the "Ugly Lead Singers" category had come up. They had still lost, of course, and Alice had screamed at them for their showmanship and lack of finesse afterwards, even though they hadn't been the ones to flub the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody like Alice and her cronies had.

(They never were the ones who fucked up, actually, apart from Aubrey's...well)

This year would be different. It had to be.

"Ladies of the 80's!" she heard Justin call out, and she realized that she had gotten so wrapped up in her train of thought that she hadn't even noticed that the categories were being chosen. Aubrey had, though, and with a small yelp, the blonde had lept forward, only to be beaten to the punch by Bumper and a few of the residual Trebles, who began the riff-off with a rousing rendition of "Mickey."

"Whatever," she heard Aubrey say, and she had to smile at the sassy little wave that her best friend threw the Trebles before she turned around and came back to rejoin the Bellas.

"Almost had them," she whispered to Aubrey, and she was surprised to receive a small smile in acknowledgment. She was going to say something else, was going to ask what song Aubrey had in mind in the first place, when she saw Bologna Barb cut the Trebles off with "Like a Virgin."

"Wait!" Aubrey said, mostly to herself. She turned to Chloe with determination in her eyes. "Pat Benatar."

Chloe's eyes lit up as she realized what Aubrey was going for. She turned to face the other Bellas, hoping that the grin she gave them seemed excited and not nervous.

"Guys, let's go with "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." Aubrey's going to take the lead, okay?"

Aubrey didn't wait for them to agree before she turned around and strutted towards the center of the pool. She stood in front of Bologna Barb and waited until they were about to end the chorus before she stole the song from them in a fashion that Chloe couldn't help but admire.

"Like the one in me, that's okay, we'll see how you do it," Aubrey sang, accenting her words with more sassy hand motions. Chloe heard the murmuring of the Bellas around her as they came to understand what they were supposed to do, and when she sang "put up your dukes, let's get down to it" along with her co-captain, she was pleased to find that she wasn't singing alone.

And then, somehow, they figured it out.

She heard backing vocals from Stacie and Lily and Fat Amy (with the latter providing some sort of air-guitar-driven beats that somehow worked), and the rest of the Bellas' voices blended together with them to form into a version of the song that almost sounded rehearsed.

And they figured it out.

She couldn't be prouder.

They were really starting to get into their groove when a member of the High Notes cut them off, though it wasn't to much avail. But their failure meant that the Bellas were still in it for another round.

They were walking back to their corner when Beca appeared next to her.

"So we just pick out any song that works?"

Chloe nodded. "Yeah! Any song."

"And you just go with it?"

Chloe nodded again before turning back towards Justin, knowing that the next category was coming up.

"Nice," she heard Beca say from behind her, and she felt a surge of glee rush through her at the thought that the freshman might actually be enjoying this.

"And our next category is..." Justin said, and she watched as the wheel spun around and around until it finally landed. "Songs about sex!"

"Sex?" Aubrey said, and if she wasn't her best friend, Chloe would have laughed at how petrified she sounded. She couldn't really blame her, anyway, since her own mind had gone absolutely blank, which was insane considering how many songs there were that dealt with the subject.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Trebles begin to approach, and she sighed because of course they would beat them to it again. What else was new?

But then she heard Cynthia-Rose begin to sing and before she knew it, the younger woman had strutted out to the center and claimed the category for the Bellas with "S&M". The Bellas were quick to back up her vocals, with Stacie and C-R going ham with a grinding routine that, honestly, was hot.

Nothing good could last, of course, and one of the Trebles quickly stole back the category. Stacie remained in the middle, though, and when Aubrey went to pull her back into their corner, Chloe saw the younger Bella tell her to wait a moment before she walked back up to the Trebles. And then it was back in their corner, with Stacie stealing it back with some BoyzIIMen with an assist from Fat Amy.

She should have known that that wouldn't have been the end, though. After all, if there was one category that the Treblemakers would have prided themselves in, it would be the one that dealt with sex. And so when Jesse stepped up to the plate and cut off Stacie with "It Feels Like the First Time", Chloe couldn't even pretend to be surprised.

Fucking Jesse.

Chloe watched as Jesse pointed behind them, and she knew that she didn't have to turn around to see who he was pointing at, but she did anyway because she wanted to see Beca's reaction. She expected Beca to look disgusted, or bored, or literally anything that would suggest that she was turned off by his call-out. But Beca just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

And then she did something Chloe would have never expected Beca Mitchell to do.

She blew him a kiss.

It was about as sarcastic as a blown kiss could get but Chloe still felt something in her stomach twist and it was all she could do not to wince.

Chloe Beale wasn't a jealous person. Not really. She hadn't dated much in the past, but she had had plenty of flings, and she always knew that there would more than likely be someone else in the picture at some point. For the most part, she had been fine with that- if it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't' meant to be, after all.

And that was with dating.

Beca was just a friend.

A friend who was blowing kisses towards a Treble. A fucking Treble.

(Aubrey was going to just love that)

Chloe was about to turn away again, just so that she could focus on something else other than whatever the hell was going on inside of her, when she saw Beca bite her lip and start to run forward.

And then she started rapping.

Beca Mitchell started rapping.

Chloe felt her jaw drop at the same time she heard Aubrey gasp. It was spellbinding, the way the words flowed from Beca's mouth steadily and rhythmically, and she hoped that her staring wasn't obvious because holy shit.

It seemed like the rest of the Bellas were just as shocked as she was, though, because after a whole verse, Beca was still the only one facing the Trebles. Chloe knew that she needed to start providing some sort of back-up, but once the shock of the moment had passed, she realized that she couldn't even place the song that Beca had chosen. Her stomach dropped when Beca looked back towards them over her shoulder, her eyes pleading for someone to jump in and assist. When it became clear that she was on her own, though, Beca turned back around and finished her verse with a bit about rumpshakers that sounded more like a question than a statement when it left her lips.

"Rump...shakers?" Chloe heard Aubrey whisper next to her, and if the situation wasn't so dire, she would have burst out laughing right then and there. But Beca was turning back around towards them, a wide smile on her face but a familiar look in her eyes that Chloe thought might have been fear.

But Beca didn't give up.

Instead, she started singing. And after a moment, Chloe heard Fat Amy join in, and a few of the younger Bellas started providing back-up beats, and her heart soared as she realized that she was an idiot.

It was "No Diggity." She fucking knew "No Diggity."

They were still in the game.

She began to join in with the backing vocals, unable to take her eyes off of Beca as she led the rest of the Bellas in the chorus. The freshman was electrifying; her voice commanded the attention of everyone in the pool, and even though she wasn't pulling off flashy moves like Lily pretending to shoot a rifle or Fat Amy flipping the bird towards the Trebles, she remained the focal point of the performance.

More voices began to join in, adding layers of vocals and support that Chloe had never heard before at a riff-off. She watched as Beca turned slowly, the smile on her face only growing wider as she took in the atmosphere around them.

Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe caught sight of Aubrey, who, she noted, wasn't actually singing. Irritation surged through her, and she forced herself to look away so she wouldn't spoil the moment further. She was glad she did, too, because it was at that moment that Beca came waltzing up next to her.

"We out," Beca finished, throwing in a hand-motion that was both so sassy and filthy that it made Jesse's eyebrows shoot straight up. The Bellas surged around her, cheering wildly as they pushed past Chloe to clap Beca on the back. "I mean, you're welcome," Beca said, obviously aiming her words towards Jesse, and the cheers only grew louder.

Chloe considered joining them, but as she began to step forward, Aubrey caught her arm.

"What?" Chloe said, turning to shoot her co-captain a look. Aubrey's brow arched in surprise at the tinge of irritation in Chloe's tone, but she didn't comment on it. Instead, she nodded her head towards Justin, who, Chloe noticed, looked way more smug than he normally did.

"Something's not right," Aubrey whispered, just as Justin began to walk forward with his hands on his hips.

"Tough blow, ladies," he began. His words caused the celebration around them to completely cease, the pool growing quiet. "The word you needed to match was 'it'." He pointed towards Beca with both hands. "And you sang 'it's'. You are.." he clapped his hands, joined in by the Trebles. "Cut off!"

"Are you serious?" Chloe heard Beca say. Jesse moved forward and said something to her that Chloe couldn't hear, but even from a distance she knew it was taunting. God, she just wanted to-

"I've never heard that rule!" Aubrey yelled, but it was useless. Justin had already handed the Hoobastank microphone over to Bumper.

"Ladies, ladies, come on." Aubrey turned and began to walk away from the center of the pool. "Come back."

Chloe fought the urge to go and strangle Justin, even though she really really wanted to because what the fuck was that ruling, even? But she turned and followed Aubrey, because that's what she was supposed to do.

(And she was good at doing what she was told)

The rest of the Bellas formed a half circle facing her and Audrey. Well, all except for Fat Amy, who, Chloe noticed, looked like she was about to get into a fistfight with Bumper.

Good for her, honestly, she thought, before Aubrey's voice brought her back to what was going on around her.

"Before everybody goes to bed tonight, I need you to make a list of everything you did wrong."

Chloe felt that now-familiar knot in her stomach tighten. She had to be joking, right? They hadn't done anything wrong; for God's sake, that was the best riff-off they had ever been a part of. She was about to say as such, too, when Beca spoke up.

"Hey guys, what we just did was great, right?"

There were a few head nods, mostly from Stacie and Fat Amy, who Chloe hadn't even seen rejoin the circle . She found herself nodding as well, but it was pointless because Aubrey was speaking again.

Of course Aubrey was speaking again.

"Calm your pits, Beca. We still lost."

"Yeah, but it was spontaneous. It was awesome. We were actually listening to-"

"Okay everybody, hands in," Aubrey interrupted. Chloe looked away from Beca, not wanting to see the look on her face because she knew it would just be mirroring the expression on her own. "'Aah' on my count."

"On three or after three?" Stacie asked, and there was a brief chorus of differing answers. Chloe chimed in as well, though she wasn't even sure of the correct answer anymore.

"That's not how we do it!" Aubrey said, the irritation in her voice continuing to grow.

"Why can't we figure this out?" Stacie lamented, and there was another murmuring of agreement from the younger Bellas.

"Just put your hands in, dammit!" Aubrey hissed. They jumped and quickly stuck their hands in. "One, two..."

Bree, 10:45 p.m.

That was a mess. Justin totally made that rule up. He has to be in with the Trebles.

Bree, 10:46 p.m.

And Beca almost totally embarrassed us with whatever that rap thing was. If Fat Amy hadn't joined in, we would have been laughed off just like the High Notes were.

Bree, 10:47 p.m.

We're so screwed Chloe!

Beca was seeing red.

It wasn't the first time that Aubrey had pissed her off; she managed to dig under Beca's skin at least once during every rehearsal, and there had obviously been that time at the first practice where she had straight up told her that she didn't like her. But the anger she had felt then paled to the anger she felt as she left the riff-off.

They had been good.

No. They had been better than good.

They had been fucking great.

They had finally listened to each other, and successfully improvised the layers of vocals they needed in order to make the song work, and for fuck's sake why couldn't Aubrey see that?

"Bumper is going to get absolutely wrecked," she heard Fat Amy say from next to her, and she hummed in acknowledgment. She honestly wasn't sure what her friend (she was her friend, right? She thought that they were) was going on about, having tuned her out minutes earlier, but she had grown to learn that if she just nodded along at the right times, Amy wouldn't expect much else from her. "I'm going to squeeze that head of his until it pops like a-"

"Becaw!"

Fucking Jesse.

"Uh oh, it's the boy toy," Amy said, and Beca shot her a look. "What? He's cute, and he obviously wants a piece of that Beca booty."

Beca blanched and began walking faster. "Please don't ever say the words "Beca booty" again. Also he's not my boy toy, and also...no."

"Beca, wait up!" Jesse called, and Beca groaned.

"Jesus Christ." Beca made a sharp right and picked up her pace. "Amy, I'll catch up with you later, okay?" she shouted back over her shoulder.

"See you later, Beca-gator!" Amy replied, and Beca rolled her eyes even though she knew Amy couldn't see her do it.

After a few minutes of speed-walking (it was more of a jog, she knew, but Beca Mitchell didn't jog), she slowed down because she no longer heard Jesse calling for her. He probably gave up, she figured, which was perfectly fine with her because other than Aubrey, Jesse Swanson was the last person she wanted to see.

The sidewalk ahead of her was splashed in an orange and pink glow that was so out of place amidst the yellow lights of the streetlamps around her and she looked up to see a gaudy neon peach hanging above a familiar entrance-way.

Successfully avoiding Jesse had resulted in her going in the complete opposite direction of her dorm. In fact, she wasn't even on campus anymore; instead, she had ended up standing in front of the Peach Pit without even realizing it.

Fuck it, she thought, and she pushed through the double doors, wincing at the ringing bell that signaled her entrance. The diner was mostly empty, save for a few townies that didn't even bother to glance up from their cups of coffee.

"Can I help you, sugar?"

Beca looked to her left to see the same waitress that she and Chloe had had before. "Uh, can I just...sit anywhere?"

"Sure thing, hon! Pick wherever you like, and I'll bring you over a menu."

Beca turned and quickly scanned the layout of the diner. The booth that she and Chloe had sat at was empty and it was situated far enough back that she wouldn't be seen by anyone passing by the diner's windows. She made her way over to it and slid onto the bench. A menu appeared in front of her before she even had a chance to shrug off her jacket.

"Can I get you something to drink while you look that over?"

Beca thought about asking if they had any beer but she remembered that Chloe had mentioned that she was a freshman the last time, so there was absolutely no way the waitress would fall for it. "A coffee would be great, if you don't mind."

"Coming right up!" The waitress disappeared as quickly as she had arrived, and Beca picked up the menu.

Being pissed off usually made her hungry, and this time was no exception. She flicked through the menu and tried to decide whether her anger was more of a "hamburger" or "cheesecake" kind of emotion. The grumbling in her stomach suggested that perhaps it was both.

The bell above the door rang again and Beca kept her head bent and decided not to bother to turn and look to see who entered. She had purposefully chosen the side of the booth that didn't face the door, anyway, just in case Jesse had followed her.

Footsteps approached, stopping just behind her booth.

"Order the peach cobbler," she heard a familiar voice say. "It's to die for."

Beca let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "Jesus, Beale."

She looked up just in time to see a flash of denim and flaming hair slide into the booth across from her. "Jeez, Becs, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I thought you were Jesse."

The smile on Chloe's face faltered. "Oh. Are you expecting him? Because I can just-"

Beca quickly shook her head. "God, no. I'm kinda...hiding from him. I guess."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Beca looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps and moved her menu out of the way so that the waitress could set her coffee down in front of her. "Thank you..." she strained her neck so that she could read the nametag pinned to the woman's apron. "Nancy."

"No problem, sugar!" She set down a second mug in front of Chloe. "Chloe Beale! What a sight for sore eyes."

"Hey, Nancy! Good to see you, too! How's Charles?"

"Rockin' and rollin' just like usual!" Nancy pulled a small notepad out of her apron. "I'd offer you a menu, darlin', but I think you might have it memorized by now. Do you two know what you'd like?"

"Peach cobbler all around, I think," Chloe answered, looking at Beca for confirmation. Beca nodded, and Nancy jotted their order down.

"Great choice! À la mode?"

"Is there any other way?" Chloe joked, and Nancy shook her head with a laugh.

"I'll have that out for you two real soon." She collected Beca's menu and turned away, leaving the two girls alone once more.

Beca gestured towards the coffee sitting in front of Chloe. "Guess she saw you come in?"

"Guess so." Chloe reached over and grabbed a couple of sugar packets out of their container and offered some to Beca. "So why are you avoiding Jesse?"

Beca shot her a look as she took a sugar packet from her. "Is that even a valid question?"

Chloe tilted her head, then shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, he is kinda cute."

"Well then he's all yours for the taking."

Chloe watched as Beca dumped the sugar into her coffee. "You're serious."

Beca glanced up at her with an eyebrow cocked. "Why are you so interested in how I feel about Jesse? Please don't say that Aubrey's gotten to you with all that "toner" shit, because, like I said before, it's not a thing."

"He likes you," Chloe stated simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Beca fell silent for a moment and considered her words. "Yeah. I know he does." She took a sip of her coffee, looking at Chloe over the rim of the cup as she did. "So what?"

Chloe held her gaze for few seconds more before she looked down at her own cup."I don't know. I was just curious, I guess."

Beca took another sip before she set her cup back down. "I don't think I'm obligated to be interested in someone just because they happen to have a crush on me, Red."

"That's not..." Chloe sighed and rested her forehead against her fist. "That's not what I was implying. I just..."

"Why are you here, Beale?" Beca interrupted. She was tired of talking about Jesse; hell, she was tired of even thinking about him.

Actually, she was just tired in general. And the inane back-and-forth that her and Chloe were having was making the headache that had formed at the base of her skull when Aubrey started lecturing them ache worse and worse.

Chloe dropped her hand and looked at Beca again. "Do you want the real answer, or the answer that will make it sound like I'm a better friend than I probably am?"

Beca's eyebrows arched in response to both Chloe's words and the weariness she could hear behind them. "Why don't you give me both and I can decide which one I like better?"

Her response did exactly what she hoped it would do, and she felt her own expression mirror the small smile that formed on Chloe's lips.

"Okay then," Chloe said. "I'll give you the one that'll make me sound like a better friend, first, then." She paused, taking a moment to curl her fingers around the handle of her cup, and Beca urged her on with a tiny wave. "I followed you here to make sure that you were okay. You know, since Aubrey decided to go all Alice on us again."

Beca thought about asking about who Alice was, but the smile had disappeared from Chloe's face again and she had a feeling that it wouldn't come back at all if she brought it up, so she didn't. Instead, she took another sip of her coffee and waited a few seconds before she spoke. "And the real reason?"

Chloe turned her head so that she could look out of the dingy diner window. "I knew Bree wouldn't look for me here."

"Oh." Beca was going to say more- she really was- but there was suddenly bowls of cobbler and ice cream being thrust in front of them.

"Peach cobbler, à la mode!" Nancy exclaimed, setting down new spoons on the table with an impressive flourish. "You girls enjoy!"

"We will, thanks, Nancy!" Chloe chirped back, all smiles and enthusiasm, but Beca knew better because she could still see the frown lines at the corners of Chloe's eyes.

Beca waited for Nancy to leave again before she shot Chloe a questioning look. The senior didn't seem to immediately notice it, so Beca waited. Finally, when Chloe began to dip her spoon into her cobbler, she looked up and caught the look on Beca's face.

"What?"

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

Beca watched her shove the bite into her mouth and waited for her to finish chewing before answering. "Immediately make the switch between being all gloom and doom and being the happiest person on the face of the Earth."

"I don't..." her words faded off when she saw the disbelieving look Beca shot her. "Look, it's just..."

"Is it like, I don't know, some sort of coping mechanism or something?" Beca interrupted, and she immediately winced when she saw the blank expression on Chloe's face. "Sorry, I-"

"People are happier when I'm happy," Chloe said. "So why shouldn't I act happy if it makes others feel better?"

Beca stared at her for a few seconds, processing what she had said. "You don't do it to me, though."

She watched as something flashed across Chloe's face; an expression that she couldn't recognize in the brief moment that it had appeared. But then the neutral expression was back, and Chloe was swallowing another bite of cobbler. "You've never asked me to be something I'm not."

Beca stared at her and tried to process her words and the way that they had wrapped an icy grip around her heart. She had already been angry, mostly at Aubrey and the way she had acted earlier. But now she was furious.

"Aubrey doesn't deserve you."

Chloe's eyes shot up to meet Beca's gaze. "Excuse me?"

"You shouldn't have to always fucking pretend just because she-"

"I didn't say I did it because of Aubrey, Beca." Chloe kept her eyes trained on her for another few seconds, and Beca shrunk back in her booth. "Not everything is because of her, as much as you'd like to think it is."

"Sorry," Beca muttered, tearing her eyes away from Chloe's freezing gaze. "I just don't want you to be unhappy."

She looked back up in time to see the sad grin on Chloe's face appear again, and it made her chest ache. "You're a good person, Beca Mitchell."

Beca was about to protest, but Chloe leaned forward and tapped the side of the bowl in front of her. "You should really eat this before it melts. It's seriously really good."

"Chlo..."

"Not now, Becs," Chloe said, scooping her spoon into her bowl. Her eyes met Beca's, and Beca felt her heart skip a beat when she saw how dark the normally sky-blue irises had become. But there wasn't any anger in her gaze that Beca could see; just a sadness that looked so out of place. "Okay?"

"Okay," Beca whispered. She tore her gaze away from Chloe's and nudged her cobbler with her spoon, her appetite completely gone. But she forced herself to take a bite anyway, because Chloe was watching and the thought of disappointing her was worse than the sour twisting in her stomach.

Crazy Shower Chick (Chloe), 1:13 a.m.

I forgot to tell you, but you kicked so much ass tonight at the riff-off. I didn't know you rapped!

Beca, 1:17 a.m.

That's because I DON'T. It was kinda...instinctual, I guess.

Beca, 1:18 a.m.

And thanks, I guess.

Crazy Shower Chick (Chloe), 1:21 a.m.

Well, it was still aca-awesome. No matter what anyone else might say

Beca, 1:27 a.m.

Go to bed, Beale, you're talking nonsense

Crazy Shower Chick (Chloe), 1:37 a.m.

goodnight, Becs