Beca's friends arrived and rushed into the Emergency Room. Carrie approached the nurse at the desk.

"Hey, Mary," Carrie said. "We're here for Beca Mitchell. Her cousin is with her, and we'd like to let him know we are here."

"I'm sorry your friend is hurt, Carrie," Mary said sincerely. "Why don't you go on back and find her cousin. He'll probably feel better knowing you're here."

"Thanks, Mary," Carrie said. She walked back over to the group and said, "I'm going to go check on Jesse. I'll also see how Beca is doing. Wait here, and I'll be right back."

"Thanks, Care," Chloe said.

"Don't worry," Carrie said. "I'll let them know she's family. They'll keep me posted."

Carrie went to the back. Chloe sat with her head in her hands, bouncing her leg up and down.

"You okay, Chloe?," Aidan asked.

"Yeah," Chloe said and quietly laughed. "I've known this girl for four days, and I feel-" Chloe swallowed and looked at Aidan. "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"I guess," Aidan said. "I mean I've heard other people say that's what happened to them."

"Are you in love with Beca?," Aubrey asked.

"The ginger loves Beca?," Amy said excitedly.

"Oh, God," Chloe said and put her head in her hands. "I don't know what I'm feeling. I just know that my chest hurts not knowing what's going on with Beca. I, just, I. Dammit!"

Aubrey puts her arm around Chloe's shoulders. "It's okay, Chlo. You can have feelings for her without putting a name like love on it."

"But, I don't fall in love," Chloe said. "Not anymore."

"I hate to break it to you, honey," Stacie said. "But it looks to me like you do."

"Chloe, I've known you for three years," Aidan said. "I've only seen you and Beca together tonight, and I have to say I've never seen you smile like that with others you've dated. Something tells me that this is the start of something pretty great. Don't mess it up by over thinking about it."

"I agree with Carrie's boy toy," Amy said. "Beca's one of my best friends, and when she falls in loves, she loves fast and hard. And I'm not talking sexually. Well, I wouldn't know how she was in that department since my boyfriends wouldn't be too happy if I dived into the lady-lovin'."

"Excuse me, Amy," Aubrey interrupted with a strained look on her face. "Is there a point you're trying to make in there somewhere?"

"My point is," Amy said and turned to look at Chloe. "Beca is my best friend and she will the best girlfriend you could ever have. Don't hurt her and it will all be good. Okay?"

Chloe just nodded and looked down at the floor. Carrie came out, and everyone looked up at her.

"They're getting her ready to take her down for x-rays," Carrie said. "They're pretty sure she has at least one broken rib; maybe a slight concussion. Their first thought was that she had a punctured lung as well, but they've already ruled that out. She's awake and talking to Jesse; he should be out in a minute."

"Aidan, did you see how Beca got hurt?," Stacie asked.

"After the first gunshot I hit the floor," Aidan said. "I saw Beca scuffling with the girl and just after the second shot, she elbowed Beca hard in the ribs a couple of times."

"That makes sense," Carrie said. "Beca already had a cracked rib. It wouldn't have taken much to break it. The x-rays will tell the doctor more. She'll probably have to stay here for a few days. Then the clock kind of starts all over again and it will be about six to eight weeks, maybe longer, before her ribs are healed. She's already not happy about that."

"What about the concussion?," Chloe asked. "How would that have happened if she got hit in her ribs?"

"My guess is she probably hit her head when she fell from the sudden pain of her rib breaking," Carrie said. "She was unconscious when Jesse and Aidan subdued Anita."

"Chloe?"

Chloe looked up to see Jesse waving her over. She looked at Carrie and Carrie shrugged. "Go see what he wants."

Chloe got up and made her way over to Jesse, looking back over her shoulder at her friends. She reached Jesse, and he smiled at her.

"Beca's asking for you," Jesse said. "I'll show you back to where she is."

"I thought they were taking her down for x-rays," Chloe said.

"They're backed up a bit," Jesse told her. "It'll be about twenty minutes before they take her."

"Oh," Chloe said and followed Jesse back to Beca.

Chloe walked in to see Beca laying back on the bed, the head of the bed raised at an angle to help relieve some of the pressure of the broken rib. Beca smiled when she saw Chloe. She patted the bed indicating that Chloe should come sit down. Chloe looked at Jesse, and he nodded his head with a smile.

"You go talk to her," Jesse said. "I'll be out with the others." Jesse turned and left.

Choe walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Heyyy, Chloeeee," Beca said smiling at the redhead.

"Hey," Chloe said. "How are you doing?"

"Not bad since they gave me some pain stuff," Beca said. "It's awesome!"

Chloe bit back a smile. "So, I hear you might have two broken ribs."

"Yep," Beca said with a goofy smile. "Two is better than one, right?"

"I don't think so," Chloe said. "Not when it's broken ribs."

"Do they have barbecue sauce on them?," Beca asked her eyes wide. "I could go for some barbecue ribs right about now."

"I promise we'll get some when you get out of the hospital," Chloe said with a smile.

"I'm sorry," Beca said suddenly frowning.

"Sorry for what?," Chloe asked.

"For messing up our date," Beca said sadly. "I understand if you never want to go out with me again."

"We will definitely be going out again," Chloe said with a big smile. "You're not getting rid of me that easy."

"I have sore ribs," Beca said looking down at her chest and barely touching her ribs.

"I know," Chloe said as she pushed the hair out of Beca's eyes.

"We're never going to have sex," Beca said and started to cry.

Chloe bit her lip to keep from laughing. Of all things to worry about, Beca is worried about that. Chloe took both of Beca's hands in hers and leaned in close to Beca.

"Don't cry," Chloe said. "You'll hurt yourself more."

"Okay," Beca said and wiped at her eyes.

"Trust me, we will definitely be having sex when you're better," Chloe said. "I guarantee it."

"Really?," Beca asked her voice dropping an octave.

"Really," Chloe responded.

"Yippee!," Beca said and tried to raise her arms in a cheer. "Ow, ow, ow! Fuck that hurt."

"You need to be careful or we can't have sex for a really, really, really long time," Chloe said with a grin.

"Okay," Beca said and settled back on the bed. She looked at Chloe and said, "I think I love you."

Chloe's eyes widened and before she could say anything, two orderlies and a nurse arrived to take Beca down for x-rays. Chloe was ushered out and she watched until Beca was out of sight before going back out to the waiting room.

Carrie saw Chloe's face and thought something was wrong. She rushed over to Chloe.

"Is everything okay?," Carrie asked quietly so as not to scare the others.

"She said she thinks she loves me," Chloe whispered.

Carrie looked at Chloe and started to laugh. "That's it? Oh, my God, I thought something bad happened."

"She's only known me for like four days," Chloe said. "And she already thinks she loves me."

Chloe was chewing on her lip and Carrie pulled her over to a seat. They sat and Carrie looked at Chloe. "She was giving some pretty strong pain meds," Carrie said. "She won't remember anything she said, so whatever you guys talked about she'll forget by the time you see her again. It was just the meds talking, okay?"

"She was kind of out of it," Chloe said. "She was talking about her ribs and then said she wanted some with barbecue sauce."

"Not the weirdest thing I've heard a patient say," Carrie said.

"I'm sorry I'm a bit freaked out," Chloe said. "Before you came back from seeing Jesse, I kind of had a moment. I think I'm falling in love with her."

"Chloe, that's great," Carrie said and hugged her.

Chloe was still freaked out. The last few times she allowed herself to fall in love, she got her heart broken.

"I know what you're thinking," Carrie said. "And stop. Beca is not Megan or Tom. I have a feeling that girl is the one for you. Don't let what those assholes did get inside your head. Give Beca the benefit of the doubt and let whatever happens, happen."

"I know you're right," Chloe said. "Still kind of hard to forget though. I thought they were 'the one' and look what happened."

"Chlo, I saw you with both of them," Carrie said. "And I can honestly say the whole time you were with them, I never saw you as happy around them the way you've been around Beca these past few days. Give it some time. It will be a real test for you since she won't be able to do anything strenuous until her ribs heal."

Carrie gave Chloe a mischievous grin and continued. "You'll have to spend all your time with her vertically. You have no choice but to get to know her better before you get horizontal."

"Shut up," Chloe said with a laugh. "She told me she had sore ribs and when I said I knew she did, she said we were never going to have sex and started to cry."

"That is so cute," Carrie said. "I'm guessing you assured her that you would be having sex."

"Oh, yeah," Chloe said quickly. She looked at Carrie and Carrie looked at her and then they both started laughing. "I love you, you know. I couldn't ask for a better sister."

"I love you, too," Carrie said and hugged Chloe. She pulled back and said, "Let's go sit with the others."

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

Beca spent three days in the hospital before she could go home. Chloe, Carrie, and Amy spent those days setting up Beca's apartment for her return. Amy purchased two recliners; one was put in the living room so Beca could sit in a semi-upright position when she wasn't in her bedroom. The other was placed in her bedroom so she could sleep in an upright position and Chloe would be close by if she should need anything during the night.

Carrie spent time explaining to both Chloe and Amy what they could do to help Beca. She also told them that most of the work was going to have to be done by Beca herself. They just needed to make sure Beca got up and moved around as much as possible. She also made sure there were ice packs in the freezer for Beca to use the first few days she was home.

On the day Beca was released everything was ready for her when Jesse brought her home. Since it was a Saturday, everyone was there to greet Beca when she came in. They could see that Beca was worn out by the time she made it to the apartment so they all said their goodbyes about an hour later with promises to see her at dinner. Beca was asleep by the time the door closed on the last of her guests. Chloe put a pillow under Beca's head and another across her stomach per Carrie so that if she coughed she could hold the pillow to her ribs to help ease some of the pain.

Beca woke when she heard a knock on the door about two hours later. Chloe answered and Detective Winston was standing there asking if Beca was able to talk with him. Beca told Chloe it was okay and she ushered the detective in.

"Have a seat," Beca said indicating the sofa.

Detective Winston sat and asked Beca how she was doing.

"I'm okay, I guess," Beca said.

"I wanted to update you on your case," Detective Winston said. "And I also have a few questions. Are you up to it? I can come back in a couple of days if you need me to."

"You're here now," Beca said. "Let's do it."

"Okay," Detective Winston said. "First, Anita Michaels is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation to see if she is fit to stand trial. We think she is going to be declared mentally incompetent. But we still need to investigate her claims in the event we there will be a trial."

"What claims?," Chloe asked.

"She claims you know her because you worked together at a recording studio." Beca's face blanched. She was going to have to tell this detective who she was. "Said that she was a backup singer on an album that Reggie B produced."

Beca looked over to Chloe and back to the detective. She didn't say anything.

"She also said that you took a "special interest" in her," Detective Winston said.

"What are you trying to get at?," Chloe asked.

"Look anything you tell me will become a matter of public record if this goes to trial," Detective Winston told Beca. "And everything Ms. Michaels is claiming will be put out there."

"What exactly is she claiming?," Beca sked.

"That you are Reggie B and the two of you had a...romantic relationship while working on an album for a band called Tealites. She was a backup singer."

Beca tried to shift in her seat and grimaced. Chloe looked at her with concern and Beca told her she was fine.

Beca took as deep a breath as she could manage and looked at the detective. "Part of what she claims is true," Beca told him. "I am Reggie B and I did produce an album for a group called Tealites. It's been over a year and I don't remember any of the backup singers. And I never had a relationship of any kind with her."

"I promise I won't say anything about you being Reggie B," the detective told Beca. "The DA will do everything he can to try and get Ms. Michaels to take a deal. Like I said, she is currently undergoing a psychiatric evaluation to see if she is mentally fit to stand trial. If she is deemed unfit to stand trial, your identity will remain secret. If she's deemed fit and it goes to trial, I'm afraid people will find out who you really are."

Beca sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later," she said. "I was hoping it would be on my terms and not someone else's."

"I will push the DA to keep this from going to trial," the detective said. "But I won't be able to stop her from telling anyone who listens who you are."

"Maybe you should just come clean about it," Chloe said. "Do it on your own terms."

"I'll have to talk to the studio about it," Beca said. "Dammit."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Mitchell," the detective said. "I'm actually a big fan and found the mystery behind Reggie B to be a big part of who you are."

"Thanks," Beca said.

"Was there anything else, detective?," Chloe asked. "Beca just came home from the hospital earlier today and is pretty tired."

"Just one more thing," Detective Winston. "This is a little creepy for lack of a better word."

"Creepy?," Beca asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," Detective Winston said. "We searched Anita Michaels' apartment and there was a shrine of sorts. It had pictures of you from magazines but also some that looked like they may have been taken with a telephoto lens. There were a couple of you and Miss Beale dining in a restaurant on the night of your second attack. She, um, she had exed Miss Beale out of the photos. One of the photos was stuck to the wall with a knife." He looked at Chloe and cleared his throat. "We think if you had gone to the bathroom instead of Miss Mitchell, she would have tried to take you."

"This is fucked up," Beca said, grimacing again when she tried to sit up. "I don't even know her or remember her. Has she been stalking me for over a year?"

"Some of the photos date back about that long," Detective Winston responded.

"So, why did she decide to do something to me now?," Beca asked. "I mean, she's had over a year."

"We found out she's been institutionalized before," Detective Winson said. "She had self-admitted herself to a psychiatric facility about eight months ago. She checked herself out about five months ago. Apparently, she went looking for you at your old apartment and you were no longer there. She remembered hearing you talk about your father being a professor at Barden University so she flew to Atlanta. She stayed around the area until she found out who he was and followed him home. She broke into his house and stole stuff she thought was yours. When she came back to L.A., she said she decided to find you at a club where she knew you DJed. She had gone to the club a couple of times but could never get you alone. She watched you and discovered that you would always go outside before your set. She decided that was the opportune time to approach you. When she did and you claimed you didn't know her-"

"I don't know her," Beca interrupted, angrily.

"Right, sorry," Detective Winston said. "She said she got upset when you told her you didn't remember her and she 'blacked out' and didn't know what she had done until later when she heard people talking about the DJ that got stabbed."

"Unbelievable," Chloe said running a hand through her hair. "How did she find us at the diner? The day she followed us and kept crashing into my car."

"She waited at the hospital," Detective Winston said. "She then followed Ms. Mitchell home. She said she spent several days and nights sitting in her car watching the building, hoping to see her. After a couple of days, she decided to enter the building and checked the mailboxes in the lobby to get Ms. Mitchell's apartment number. She went back to her car and waited. You finally came out and she followed you to the diner. She got really upset when she saw you looking cozy with Ms. Beale."

"This woman is crazy," Chloe said. "But, she also seems to be very smart. I mean she watches Beca to learn her routine and stabs her. She flies to Atlanta to rob Mr. Mitchell's house and then boxes the stuff up and delivers it to Beca's apartment. She follows us out on our date and then tries to take Beca at gunpoint. That's all crazy but also had to take some careful thought and planning."

Beca couldn't wrap her mind around someone doing all that to someone they barely knew. She looked at Chloe and Chloe could see how tired she was.

"Detective, is there anything else?," Chloe asked. "Beca's really tired and I think she needs to rest."

"That's all I need from Ms. Mitchell," Detective Winston said. "I still need to get statements from the other Ms. Beale and her date."

"Carrie lives next door," Chloe said. "I think she's home and Aidan might be there as well."

"Thank you," Detective Winston stood and looked at Beca. "Thank you, as well, Miss Mitchell. I'll keep you posted on any new developments."

"I'll walk you over to Carrie's," Chloe said.

Chloe was back in just a few minutes to find Beca watching the door. Chloe walked over to her and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Are you okay?," Chloe asked.

"Yeah," Beca said. "Just a lot to take in."

"Are you still thinking about coming out as Reggie B?," Chloe asked.

"I'm going to talk to the studio to see what my options are," Beca said. "Hopefully, I can maintain my secret identity. But, I need to come up with a game plan in the event I can't."

"I told Carrie to come over after the detective left so we can start on dinner," Chloe said. "Unless you're not feeling up to it. We can do it another time."

"No," Beca said. "I'm looking forward to seeing everyone outside the hospital. I think I'll sleep until it's time for them to get here."

"Do you want me to help you into your room?," Chloe asked. "We have another chair in there for you to sleep in. I can wake you when it's almost time to eat."

"I'm fine here," Beca said. "Where's Amy? I don't remember her being here when I came home."

"She's out looking at some places," Chloe said. "She's decided to move to L.A."

"She did?," Beca said. "Wow. I've been telling her she should live here but she said she was happy in Australia and enjoyed just visiting here once in a while."

"I like her," Chloe said. "She had us all laughing at her stories while we were working on getting the apartment ready for you to come home. She's quite the character and she really cares a lot about you."

Chloe started gathering the ingredients for the dinner she and Carrie had planned for Beca's first night home. She noticed that Beca had grown quiet and when she looked over at her, Beca was asleep.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

It had been two weeks since Beca came home from the hospital and she was getting a little stir crazy. Chloe and Carrie had taken her outside to get her to move around, but she never got very far from her building. She had finally started to feel somewhat better and wanted to get out.

It was Saturday and the whole gang was coming over later that afternoon for dinner and a movie or whatever. Chloe was in the kitchen and Beca watched her as she moved around making lunch for them.

"Chloe?," Beca called out to her.

"Yeah, Becs," Chloe responded looking over at her.

"Do you want to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?," Beca asked.

"Ooh, a date with Beca Mitchell?," Chloe said and smiled. "I'm in. Where do you want to go?"

"I'll leave that up to you," Beca said. "You'll have to drive so. . ."

"Can we go to that Mexican place where we had our first date?," Chloe asked.

"That sounds good," Beca replied.

"It's a date," Chloe said. "Lunch is ready. Do you need any help?"

"I think I got it," Beca said. "I'm still sore but I've been getting up and moving around so it's not as bad."

Beca slowly made her way out of the recliner and into the dining room. She sat down and was holding her side as she took a couple of not quite deep breaths.

"That wasn't so bad," Beca said with a slight grimace.

"You're doing really well," Chloe said. "You've been up and moving around, plus you've been doing the breathing exercises Carrie showed you."

"It's only been a little over three weeks since the whole Anita stabbing me thing," Beca said. "But I swear it feels like a year since I felt good. The only good thing is I can still work on my music."

"It will get better," Chloe said. "I have to go to my apartment today to check on things and get my mail. Carrie's home so I can ask her to stay with you for a little while."

"What am I going to do without having you around every day?," Beca asked.

"Am I going somewhere?," Chloe asked.

"I mean when I'm healed and you go back to your apartment," Beca said. "It's been really nice having you here."

Chloe looked at Beca with a grin, causing her to blush slightly.

"Are you trying to say you like me?," Chloe asked teasingly.

"Stop it," Beca said and laughed. "You know I like you. Quit fishing for compliments. It's very unbecoming on you."

Chloe gasped and put a hand to her chest. "I am was not fishing for compliments."

"Why are you so perfect?," Beca asked softly.

Now it was Chloe's turn to blush. "I'm far from perfect, Becs."

"You're perfect to me," Beca said.

Chloe looked at Beca and slowly leaned toward Beca to kiss her. Beca leaned toward Chloe as well.

"Ow, ow, shit!," Beca exclaimed holding her chest and letting out short breaths. "Sorry. I hit the edge of the table."

"Are you okay?," Chloe asked brow furrowed in concern.

"Yeah," Beca said and took a slow deep breath. "I'm good."

Chloe stood up and looked down at Beca. She took Beca's face in her hands. "Don't move," Chloe said as she bent down to take Beca's lips with her own.

Chloe broke the kiss and sat back down in her chair.

"Wow," was all Beca could say.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

It had been a little over eight weeks since Beca broke her ribs and she and Chloe managed several dates in that time. For Beca, the best part was the kissing they got to do until Beca's ribs decided to remind her they were still sore. Not being able to have sex has given Beca and Chloe a chance to really get to know each other. All in all, not an unpleasant experience in Beca's estimation.

"So, Dr. Thompson," Beca said. "I feel much better. I can breathe without feeling like my chest is caving in. I can move my arms and upper body with only slight twinges now and then. Can I please start living a normal life again?"

The doctor chuckled. "I think it's safe to say that you can start adding some normal activities back into your routine. Driving should be okay but still no heavy lifting for a couple more weeks. Lightweight items should be okay. If there is any pain, stop doing whatever is you're doing."

"That's good news," Beca said. "Really good news. Um, can I, um, what about, uh-"

Beca blushed and stammered and the doctor took pity on her and said, "You can resume sexual activity as well. As long as you take it easy to start. Nothing too rough."

"Th-thank you," Beca said looking down at the floor and blushing even more.

"If you have any pain, take some ibuprofen," Dr. Thompson said. "Other than that, I think you're good to go."

"Thank you, Dr. Thompson," Beca said. The doctor left the examination room. Beca got dressed and left as well.

Beca met Amy in the waiting room and they left to go have lunch before going home.

"How did it go?," Amy asked as she drove.

"Dr. Thompson said I can start doing things again," Beca said. "Driving, carrying lightweight stuff, that sort of thing."

"That's good news, Beca," Amy said. "Is it alright if we go to the diner for lunch?"

"Let's do it," Beca said with a smile.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

Amy dropped Beca off at her apartment. "I'm going to spend the night at Bumper's," Amy told Beca as she was getting out of the car. "Give you some privacy with the ginger."

Beca blushed. "Um, okay. Thanks."

"Just try to keep it down," Amy said. "You know her sister lives right next door."

"Oh, God," Beca said. "Bye, Amy."

Beca hurried upstairs to her apartment. She had a good two hours before Chloe would be there. Was it wrong that all she could think about was grabbing Chloe as soon as she walked in the door and dragging her to the bedroom?

"Oh, God," Beca thought. "You are such a perv."

Beca decided to just play it cool and let things happen naturally. Perfect in theory but not so much in the actual doing. Beca was a bundle of nerves as she waited for Chloe to get home.

"Home?," Beca thought. "This isn't really Chloe's home. I'm healed now and Chloe will be going back to her apartment."

Beca's head jerked toward the door when she heard it being opened. Chloe came in and smiled when she saw her.

"Hey," Chloe said as she set her bag by the door and dropped her keys on the table. "How was your doctor's appointment?"

Beca looked at her and closed the distance between them. She pushed Chloe up against the door and kissed her, hard. Chloe let out a grunt when her back hit the door but quickly kissed Beca back. Things were getting heated and they jumped apart when there was a knock on the door behind Chloe. Beca took several steps back trying to regain her breath. Chloe was in no better shape and took a deep breath to compose herself as she turned and opened the door to find Carrie and Aidan standing there.

"Hey, Chlo," Carrie said as she and Aidan entered the apartment. "I heard you come home and we thought we'd check to see how Beca's appointment went."

Beca and Chloe stood looking at each other. Chloe was biting her bottom lip and Beca was still trying to control her breathing. Carrie looked back and forth between the two and grinned.

"We'll come back later," Carrie said. "Come on, Aidan, let's leave them alone."

"What?," Aidan said oblivious to what was happening in front of him. "We haven't heard what the doctor said."

Carrie rolled her eyes at him. "The doctor told Beca it was okay to resume her normal activities and I think we're interrupting."

"Interrupting what?," Aidan asked, still oblivious.

"They're going to have sex, Aidan," Carrie said as she pushed him toward the door.

"Oh," Aidan said and couldn't get out the door fast enough.

"Have fun, you two," Carrie said with a smirk as she closed the door.

"I both hate and love your sister, right now," Beca said as she pulled Chloe back into a kiss.


Before you ask, there will be no sexy times written. I'm sure you can all figure out what happens next, so I'll leave it to your imagination. Next chapter is going to be the last for this particular story. I may use this universe in another fic because I really like Carrie as Chloe's sister.

Also, I am working on the last and probably final chapter of this fic. I live on the East Coast of the U.S. and we are under a State of Emergency due to Hurricane Florence so I'm hoping to get it done quickly so I can post it in the event we lose power. Good luck to everyone who finds themselves in its path.