For Tumblr Prompt "Don't do that again! You scared the shit out of me!"

This is set during Beca's junior year, so Emily doesn't exist here yet. Sorry fam. I hope you enjoy!

Chloe can remember with borderline-alarming clarity each and every single time she'd had to hold herself back from pinning Beca Mitchell to the nearest wall and smashing their lips together. She's always surfing at least a small wave of attraction, of course; when Beca looks like that, it's hard not to be attracted to her. But sometimes, Beca says or does something to send Chloe into overdrive, to make her mind empty and her body scream for Beca's touch.

Something that isn't possible when Beca's in a relationship with Jesse.

However, Beca's unavailability doesn't change the fact that sometimes, she does something that makes Chloe want to jump her right then and there. For example:

The instant "No Diggity" fell from Beca's lips at her first-ever riff-off (the sheer bravery that must have taken astounds Chloe).

When Beca's eyes met hers over the mashup of Just the Way You Are and Just a Dream (Beca made the Bellas – made Chloe – better).

The time she and Beca had gotten a flat tire on their way to get groceries, and without missing a beat, Beca had hopped out of the car to change it (Chloe remembers the way her arm muscles had popped out as she'd turned the lug wrench).

Every interaction Beca had ever had with a dog (she might pretend to be grumpy, but that girl is a total softie).

And now, when Beca roars into the driveway of the Bella house, a jet-black Harley Davidson motorcycle cradled between her legs (yes, really).

Sure, the rider has a helmet on. But Chloe can tell it's Beca by the chocolate hair poking from under it and the petite frame wrapped under the leather jacket.

Beca has most definitely pulled up to the Bella house astride a motorcycle.

Chloe's jaw literally drops, so quickly that it pops. All she can do is stare out the living room window in stunned disbelief, her Tolstoy book completely forgotten in her hands. She hadn't even known Beca has a motorcycle license.

Apparently, even after two and a half years into their friendship, Chloe still doesn't know everything about Beca.

The throaty roar of the Harley's engine cuts off, but not before it draws the attention of Flo, Stacie, and Cynthia-Rose, who had been having lunch in the kitchen. Stacie flies over to the window so eagerly that for a second, Chloe thinks she's about to smash right through the glass. Cynthia-Rose and Flo manage to restrain themselves slightly more, but they're still right on Stacie's heels.

Parting the already open blinds for a better view of Beca, Stacie emits a low whistle, then practically moans, "That's so hot."

Nodding in agreement, Cynthia-Rose draws out, "Dammmnnn. It's a shame I'm taken." Absentmindedly, she raises a hand and bites down on her own index finger as Flo cranes her neck for a look at Beca on the bike.

Chloe sees all of this in her periphery; she hasn't been able to tear her eyes away from Beca.

And if she thought that Beca riding the Harley was hot, the image of Beca disembarking from it is positively sinful. Time slows and Chloe's vision tunnels until she, Beca, and that black motorcycle are the only things in the world; she stares with blatant desire as Beca shifts her weight to her right foot, which is planted firmly on the ground, and lifts her left leg to swing it smoothly (and slowly, so unbelievably slowly) up and over the seat of the bike. Because Beca is such a small person and the Harley is so huge, the move should look ridiculous… but instead, it makes Chloe's mouth go dry and grip tighten on her book.

Standing beside the Harley, Beca reclaims her hands from the handlebars and moves them casually to the straps of her helmet. Chloe watches closely as her strong fingers work at the buckle, tugging the strap and pulling it through the restraint. A vision of those same fingers working at Chloe's belt buckle – or at other leather restraints – hits Chloe hard and her breath hitches at the wildly inappropriate (but no less welcome) thought. And when Beca finally pulls off the helmet to reveal porcelain skin, stormy eyes, and long hair (time is moving so slowly that Chloe can count every strand as Beca shakes her hair out) Chloe stops breathing completely.

But Beca's not done yet. She sets her helmet down on the seat, then grasps the collar of her leather jacket with her right hand while the left eases the zipper down, down her body. Even though Chloe is sitting inside, perched on the very edge of her chair (how did that happen?), knuckles white on her book and lower lip snared between her teeth, she can hear every snick snick snick the zipper makes as Beca drags it down with agonizing purpose. Chloe's eyes track Beca's movements until the jacket is completely unzipped, and then her gaze shifts to the low cut of the T-shirt Beca's wearing. Beca shrugs free of the jacket with a roll of her shoulders, then places it next to the helmet on the motorcycle seat.

Chloe knows she should feel bad about objectifying her best friend. But in that moment, Beca is so unbelievably sexy that it makes heat shoot between her legs and drags a soft, "Oh, fuck," from her lips.

"You wish," Flo's snort shatters the illusion and life resumes its normal speed. Chloe looks up at her, flustered, warmth rising from her neck to her face, and knows she'd been caught staring. Ogling.

She's spared from having to answer Flo's smug look by the opening of the front door. Chloe hastily rises from her chair, trying (unsuccessfully) to make herself look less hot and bothered. She stands awkwardly half-hidden behind the other three Bellas facing the entryway, but nevertheless feels her face light on fire when Beca turns the corner to see them all watching her.

There's a beat of silence, during which Beca smirks at her audience. She looks past Stacie, Cynthia-Rose, and Flo to make direct eye contact with Chloe before asking in a low tone, "Can I give you a ride?"

The breath flies from Chloe's lungs in an audible squeak, causing Stacie to turn to her in delight. After an embarrassingly long pause during which Chloe's brain cells struggle to rearrange themselves, she manages to gasp out, "Give… what?"

Beca raises an eyebrow. Chloe doesn't blame her.

"You know. On my motorcycle. Would you – any of you – like a ride?"

"Oh," Chloe says softly, hoping that a hole will open in the floor below her feet. Anything to avoid the gleeful looks Flo, Cynthia-Rose, and Stacie are currently exchanging at her expense.

Beca shifts her weight, looking thoughtful. "You know what," she starts, "maybe never mind. I only have the one helmet, and I don't feel like scraping any of you off the road if something happens, so… I'll order another one and we'll talk then."

That does it. Beca's protective streak is what sends Chloe flying over the edge into insanity. The urge to run to Beca, to tear off that shirt, to feel Beca's skin under her fingers, to shove her tongue in Beca's mouth rips through Chloe; her fingers twitch and she shifts her weight to move forward when –

"When did you get your license?"

Cynthia-Rose's voice jerks Chloe back to painful reality – the one where there are other people in the room and Beca is in a committed heterosexual relationship.

"Meh. A while ago," Beca answers with a shrug, though her eyes never leave Chloe's face. White hot panic floods Chloe – if Beca guessed what she'd been thinking….

Before Chloe can start hyperventilating, though, Stacie snares Beca's attention by saying in a sultry tone, "I'd definitely like a ride, Beca. I'm assuming I'd have to wrap my arms around you and hang on tight? Maybe press myself nice and close?"

For an instant, Chloe hates Stacie. Some kind of roaring monster rises in her chest, urging her to lash out, to do anything to keep Stacie's hands away from Beca's body, to claim Beca as hers – even though Beca isn't hers – but then she sees the smallest of smiles lifting the corners of Stacie's lips. She realizes it's only a joke, meant to fluster Beca a little, because that's what Stacie loves to do. The monster in Chloe's chest goes dormant as suddenly as it had awoken, though leaving her shaken. She knows she's a jealous person, but still. That was a lot.

Beca on a motorcycle clearly does things to her.

It doesn't help at all when Beca, instead of blushing or choking over her words, merely bites her lip and leans casually against the doorframe leading into the living room.

"You'd have to hold on tight for sure," she says with quiet confidence, "not everyone can handle that much power between their legs."

And she winks directly at Chloe before turning to go up the stairs to her room.

The other Bellas laugh and make "ooooh" noises, so they don't notice Chloe as she wobbles her way back to her chair on shaky legs. She takes several deep breaths to calm herself, actually shaking her head side to side in an attempt to clear it. She has reading to do. Even if she's planning on failing one more time, she does actually want to learn the material.

She forces herself to look back down at the book in her hands. Instead of Tolstoy's words, however, all she sees is the arch of Beca's neck as she shakes her hair free and the cool satisfaction in her eyes as she looks at Chloe like she's the only girl in the world.

Chloe shifts uncomfortably in her chair.

Studying will have to wait.

By some miracle, Chloe manages to keep Beca's motorcycle off her mind often enough over the next few weeks that she can function like a normal human being, rather than acting like a horny teenage boy drawn in by all that leather and horsepower. Every now and then, though, Beca revs the Harley unexpectedly or says some offhand comment about weaving around traffic that makes Chloe's face warm and heart race.

She's a little annoyed with herself over the whole thing, but she can't help it; Beca on a motorcycle is hot.

True to her word, Beca had taken each of the Bellas in turns out on the back of the Harley once a second helmet had arrived. She experienced varying levels of success with this; Stacie had loved every second, while both Cynthia-Rose and Amy absolutely despised it – Amy had even forced Beca to let her off and had walked herself home rather than staying on the "deafening death contraption." Jessica and Ashley had been relatively indifferent, though Jessica knew a surprising amount about motorcycles in general – as it turns out, her dad is a mechanic. Flo had enjoyed the experience, but said she preferred the safety of cars, and as for Lilly… well, Chloe was never sure exactly what happened there, but upon their return to the Bella house, Beca had made it very clear that Lilly would not be allowed on her Harley ever again.

And Chloe would give anything to say that she loved the Harley, and to an extent, it's true; she adores the speed, the feeling of the wind pressing against her, and the freedom riding the motorcycle brings. More than that, she welcomes having the excuse to wrap her arms around Beca's waist and told on tight to the warm, solid presence seated in front of her. Beyond all else, though, she loves hearing Beca's laugh before the wind whips it away; she can't remember the last time she's heard Beca laugh like that.

However, she can't get over how dangerous the whole thing seems. Even though she knows Beca won't let anything bad happen (she's an excellent driver), she worries about tipping over or hitting something and losing control or – and this is the most terrifying – getting hit by someone else in a car or truck. She feels too exposed on the motorcycle, and while that is part of the fun, the fear of fiery death takes precedent.

Nevertheless, she's been on that motorcycle behind Beca more than any of the other Bellas have.

And yet, at the moment, Chloe isn't thinking about how ridiculously breathtaking Beca looks riding the Harley or how scary the whole thing can be; instead, she's focused on absorbing as much of Dr. Zhivago as she can before her test next week. Sure, she's planning on failing the test anyway (Beca has another year left, and so, Chloe does too), but it's still a really good book.

She's just started the next chapter when her phone rings. It's only by chance that she even hears it; normally, she sets her phone to "Do Not Disturb" while she does homework, but she'd obviously forgotten. Instead, the sound of Beca's latest mix – a mash-up of Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble and Bad Blood – permeates the air and shatters her concentration. She glances at her phone to see an unknown number. She almost ignores it, but something tells her to answer.

"Hello?"

A beat, then, "Is this Chloe Beale?"

She frowns, not recognizing the woman's voice. "Yes, who's asking?"

"This is Barden Central Hospital. You're listed as the emergency contact for a Beca Mitchell. Does this sound correct?"

Chloe's stomach jolts as if she's been punched; the air rushes from her lungs and for a moment she can't even think.

"Miss Beale?" the voice prompts. "Do you know Beca Mitchell?"

Chloe snaps out of her shock, blinking against the dots that appeared in her vision. Clutching her phone tightly, she chokes out, "Y-yes. What – is she okay?"

"She's been involved in an accident."

Grateful she's already sitting on her bed, Chloe feels her legs go numb, as if the previous pang to her stomach has traveled to her limbs. No. Not Beca. Not Beca on her motorcycle, so open and exposed.

"Miss Beale? Are you there?"

Chloe dimly registers that the woman's talking to her, but it's as though she's looking down on herself from above. She sees the phone in her grasp, takes in the stunned and fearful expression on her own face, but all she can hear is a high-pitched ringing, like she'd recently attended a loud concert.

"What?" Chloe finally asks, pulling herself back into her own body with a tremendous effort.

"I said, you may wish to come to Barden Central." The voice sounds so calm. Chloe is far from calm.

"Is Beca okay?" she hears herself ask again.

It's the only question in the world that matters.

"I'm afraid I can't release confidential information on the phone."

Chloe suddenly despises the woman's casual tone, as if she doesn't care that Chloe's terrified out of her mind. As if she doesn't care that Beca could be seriously hurt, or even…. All Chloe can see is Beca's motorcycle torn to shreds, its rider tossed aside and shattered like a China doll.

Beca, not coming back home to her.

"Oh, but – I'll be there soon." She hangs up abruptly. Arguing with the woman about confidentiality won't fix Beca.

For a second, she's frozen on her bed. She thinks she might be sick and looks around dimly for her trash can. But then she realizes – she's wasting time! Beca needs her, Beca might be in pain, Beca might be dying.

She has to get to Beca. Her nausea vanishes.

Chloe bolts off the bed, her legs almost giving out as she sends her homework flying. She's shouting for the Bellas before she even leaves her room. She doesn't slow down, just keeps yelling for the others. When the confused faces of Ashley and Jessica – apparently the only other Bellas currently in the house – appear, she doesn't explain, only barks, "It's Beca – we need to go now!" at them. Without pause, she launches herself down the stairs and to the front door, barely remembering to grab shoes, her keys, and her purse.

"Wait!" Ashley catches her arm in a surprisingly strong grip, dragging her to a halt as she's halfway out the door.

Chloe almost shoves Ashley away for slowing her down, but manages to control herself. She stares at Ashley wild-eyed, wondering what could possibly be more important than getting to the hospital. Getting to Beca.

"Where are we going?" Ashley asks, quick and to the point.

Oh. That is an important detail.

"Hospital," Chloe manages, fear rising in her throat at the single word.

Surprised concern flashes across both Ashley and Jessica's features, but they school their features quickly.

"I'll drive," Jessica says firmly, reaching for the keys. "Let's go."

Even in Chloe's haste (she practically throws herself out the door and into the passenger seat of her own car), she finds herself appreciating Ashley and Jessica more than ever.

The drive to the hospital is hazy and confused, tainted with terror. Chloe's grateful that Jessica's driving; if she'd been the one behind the wheel, she'd probably have caused another accident. They're somehow driving simultaneously too fast and not fast enough; Chloe dreads getting to the hospital, dreads the news she might be about to receive, but also can't bear the thought of not being with Beca.

All too soon (and not soon enough), Jessica's pulling into the guest lot. It's full, though, and finding parking will be impossible. Chloe only has to make eye contact with Jessica before Jessica says, "Go! Get out and I'll meet you inside!"

Chloe doesn't have to be told twice. She fumbles for her seatbelt release, then the door handle, shoves the door away from her, and spills out of the car, almost falling again before she catches herself. Ashley climbs out from the backseat to walk with her, her face grimly determined.

They half-jog into the hospital's main entrance, Chloe nearly plowing over an elderly woman in her rush. Firing an apology over her shoulder, Chloe approaches the reception desk where a woman (maybe the one on the phone?) types away at her computer.

"Hello," Chloe says breathlessly, desperate to get the woman's attention.

"One moment," the woman says without taking her eyes away from the screen as she types.

Resisting the urge to launch herself over the desk and commandeer the computer, Chloe settles for tapping her foot rapidly on the floor to dispel some of her nervous energy. Ashley reaches forward to touch her on the arm, but even that is only so soothing.

God, she hates how hospitals smell.

Chloe stares hard at the woman's face, silently daring her to meet her gaze. It's not until she feels she could have bored a hole into the woman's forehead with the intensity of her stare that the woman finally looks up at her with mild disinterest.

"Yes?" she asks calmly. It's definitely the woman from the phone.

"We're here for Beca Mitchell," Chloe says in a rush, surprised she can speak around the lump in the back of her throat. "I got a call about her."

"Hmm. Mitchell… Mitchell…" the woman's eyes return to the screen. She types, clicks something, scrolls, then clicks again. Pause. Another scroll. Another click. Pause. Scroll. The woman raises the hand not currently scrolling to scratch her nose.

Chloe's eye twitches.

"We are a bit worried about her," Ashley nudges much more gently than Chloe would have.

"Hmm," the woman replies.

"Okay, listen, you –" Chloe starts to explode until the woman levels her with a serious look.

"Miss Mitchell is currently in room 412, awaiting doctor assessment. She was involved in a collision with a pickup truck and is –"

Chloe doesn't wait to hear the rest of the sentence; she's waited long enough to see Beca. She turns away from the desk, Beca's room number echoing around the walls of her mind. She doesn't wait for Ashley, but goes ahead and slams her hand on the elevator call button. Thanfully, the doors slide open immediately and she steps inside, assuming that Ashley will meet up with Jessica and go up together.

As the elevator doors close behind her, Chloe blinks back tears. She can't cry yet, because that seems like giving up on Beca. A motorcycle versus a pickup truck. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the winner in that scenario. Her hands clench into fists as her panic starts to boil. Not Beca, anyone but Beca, please.

The elevator drags itself up to the fourth floor, then opens with a deceptively pleasant ding. Chloe's eyes zero in on the room directory; 412 is to the left. She turns that way and starts to walk. Time does that strange liquid thing again, until the walls are quivering around her. She wonders if she might pass out, then thinks idly that at least she's already at a medical center. Let it be me instead, let me trade places with her, just not Beca.

She passes 410 on the right, then 411 on the left, which means – yes, there's 412. The door is open a crack. Chloe sees her own hand reach for the door, knocking once before easing it open to slip inside the white-walled room. She's terrified of what might be inside that room. Beca Beca Beca Beca –

"Finally, Jesus Christ, how long do I have to wait before –" Beca cuts off her tirade the instant her eyes meet Chloe's. Chloe blinks in shock and jerks to a stop, rooted to the floor. Beca is sitting up on the edge of the bed, dressed in a gown but not connected to the machines next to the bed. She's got a dark bruise on her right arm, but otherwise seems perfectly fine.

"Uh," Chloe says. She'd been expecting to see Beca's broken body lying in a coma and hooked to dozens of different wires. This is not the case.

There's a beat of awkward silence, then Beca grimaces. "I guess they called you, huh?"

Chloe's mind catches up with her and relief floods her body. She walks forward until she's right next to Beca, then pulls her into a crushing hug. "Don't ever do that again! You scared the shit out of me!" she says fiercely into Beca's shoulder even as she inhales her familiar perfume.

"Chlo, I'm totally fine," Beca insists, and Chloe can almost hear her rolling her eyes, but Beca still returns the hug with equal force.

Chloe pulls away after a moment, blinking rapidly. "Why the hell did they call me and tell me to come here, then?" she asks, equal parts angry and relieved.

Beca shrugs apologetically. "I don't know, maybe they have to call an emergency contact in an accident? The doctor has to come in and see if I have a concussion or anything."

"You mean you haven't even been checked over?" Chloe asks incredulously.

"Nah. You're faster than the actual doctor," Beca adds with a grin. "Didn't they tell you that at the desk? What did you think was happening?"

Ashley's voice suddenly comes from behind her: "Yeah, she didn't exactly give them a chance to tell her anything." Chloe glances back to see Ashley and Jessica had joined them in the room. Ashley continues, "She heard the room number and came flying up here like a bat out of hell before the receptionist could explain."

"Probably ran over a kid on the way, too," Jessica adds, looking immensely amused. Chloe feels her face warm and she looks at her feet, only then noticing that in her haste, she had put two different shoes on. Awesome.

"Chlo?" Beca's unexpectedly soft voice makes her look up. "I'm sorry you were worried. I'm okay, though, seriously."

"Well, what did you expect me to think?" Chloe asks, feeling foolish and defensive. "I just got a call from the hospital saying that you were in an accident, so of course I –"

"Thank you for coming so quickly," Beca interrupts. "It really means a lot." Something in her expression, some sort of tenderness mixed with something that Chloe can't quite identify relaxes Chloe immediately. She hears a soft click behind her; Ashley and Jessica left the room to wait outside and shut the door behind them.

"I'm just so glad you're okay," Chloe whispers into the space between them, her fingers ghosting over the bruise on Beca's arm.

Beca smiles at her gently. "I'm okay," she repeats. "It was the other guy's fault. He pulled out in front of me and I ran right into the side of his truck bed," she winces, rolls out her right shoulder, then continues. "I fell, and I'm okay, but Black Sabbath went flying off in a different direction and another car ran her over. She's very much not okay."

Chloe raises an eyebrow. "Black Sabbath?" she asks. "Her?"

Beca's cheeks tinge pink, but she meets Chloe's stare and says proudly, "That's what I named her. Yes, her."

Chloe smiles, then frowns. "So… she can't be fixed."

Beca pulls another face. "No, it didn't look like it."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, actually," Beca dismisses, waving a hand. "I'm not sure… well, it was more of a, uh, mid-college crisis. I mean, I loved it, but… I don't need a new one for a while."

Chloe tries valiantly to hide her own disappointment; she wishes suddenly she'd taken a photo of Beca on that motorcycle. You know, for the memories.

Beca interrupts the momentary fantasy when she asks tentatively, "Um, did you tell my dad? Or Jesse?"

Chloe's stomach pangs with guilt; she'd honestly forgotten all about Dr. Mitchell and Jesse. "No…" Chloe shakes her head slowly, "should I have?"

"No!" Beca exclaims, so vehemently that Chloe's startled. Beca rubs a hand over the back of her neck, then says, "I mean, sorry, it's just. They don't need to know. Dad would freak out, and Jesse… well. He never really saw the point of it. The Harley. And, well. We've been fighting a lot and, uh." She shrugs again, looking immensely awkward and uncertain.

"Bec, I had no idea," Chloe says once she finds her voice. She hopes she manages to keep her petty satisfaction at bay – she knows something about Beca that Jesse never will. "Are you two… are you okay?"

Beca shrugs almost indifferently. She refuses to meet Chloe's eyes. Undeterred, Chloe reaches to envelop one of Beca's hands in hers and squeezes gently.

Beca exhales slowly, tracing her thumb over the back of Chloe's hand, before she glances up and whispers so quietly that Chloe has to lean in to hear her, "It's… Chlo… I think I might be –"

"Hello Beca!" a loud female voice startles them both, and Beca yanks her hand away from Chloe's as if she'd been stung. Though they hadn't heard a knock or the door open, they both turn to see a woman looking at Beca expectantly. She smiles and says, "I'm Dr. Lorenz, and I'll be checking up on you before we can release you today, okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Beca manages, clearly flustered and looking anywhere except at Chloe.

Chloe looks back and forth between Beca and Dr. Lorenz until it occurs to her that she should wait outside to give Beca some privacy. She glances to Beca one last time, trying to search her face for whatever it was she'd been about to say, but Beca isn't looking at her. Instead, she stares down at her lap, chewing on her lower lip.

Chloe swallows hard and says, "I'll… just wait outside?"

Beca doesn't look up. Dr. Lorenz merely smiles at her tiredly. Utterly perplexed, Chloe leaves the room to join Ashley and Jessica out in the hallway. She closes the door behind her and sinks down into a chair next to Ashley.

"How is she?" Jessica asks from Ashley's other side.

"She's good," Chloe replies vaguely, her thoughts running circles in her mind. In the past hour, she'd gone from rushing to what she thought might be a dying Beca to having a normal conversation with her to now wondering if Beca's about to break things off with Jesse.

She needs time to think.

Chloe knows then that she won't be getting anything else done for the rest of the day. Her mind is too preoccupied with Beca and her now-questionable future with Jesse to concentrate on anything else.

That's okay, though. It's not like she needs to study Russian Lit anyway; not when the opportunity she's been waiting for might finally be within her grasp.