Beca liked to think, over the next weeks, that David had taken Hunny back to the hospital, that she had checked into rehab, had an Academy Award worthy change of heart and had decided to do the work to make her life better.

She liked to think it anyway, but if it was true then no one contacted her to tell her so. Actually, she hadn't heard anything about Hunny at all, nor had Emily.

Chloe assured them, each time this topic rose, that the silence was probably a good thing, that it probably meant that Hunny was doing as she was supposed to. They were inclined to think she was right.

The weeks were flying by in a blur. Emily had taken to coming back over daily again; one, to help Beca tinker with 'Jungle Gym' and to start dabbling with lyrics for other songs and two, because that baby belly that even Chloe couldn't deny seemed to draw Emily about as much as it drew Beca. It was strangely crazy addicting.

She still didn't look pregnant per se but as the month grew late the firm little bump that had started just under her belly button seemed to be growing; crawling up her stomach into a small pooch that could be seen, barely, when she wore her skintight yoga gear. Beca found that she couldn't keep her hands off of it, which always wierded her out because she was not really someone who was all that into the miracle of life, well, not until it was Chloe who was doing it anyway.

Beca had also stumbled onto a new client; a very young potential pop star with a sweet little voice that she was sure the tweens would love. She had to laugh after their first meeting because despite her curls, she reminded Beca so much of Emily.

P.J. seemed to approve of the girl who wanted to call herself simply 'Hope' but she couldn't be sure. He had been strangely offish, busy with EZ. She hoped it wasn't a bad sign that he had never once asked to hear Kendra's demo. Which was unfortunate because the song...was good. She was proud of it. And it was ready for him, it was ready for Kendra. Well. It would be after that evening when she was going to put in the final touch, the thing that she was sure would vault it from good to great, the thing she had been holding back until the big 'it's finished' reveal; the thing that may well put her in her bed by herself tonight, or maybe in the hospital with a broken neck.

She would play it for them tonight, bring it into P.J. the day after tomorrow and, fingers crossed, she would play it for Kendra at their meeting next week. She hoped, fuck, she hoped P.J. would like it. She had kinda thrown all of her eggs into this one basket. She supposed that if he didn't she could try and move past him and give it to Kendra anyway, but she really would rather not. That shit would probably get her into a lot of trouble, especially if Kendra didn't like it.

She was kind of a bundle of nerves but she felt...she felt good. Which was…weird.

She yawned, stretching in the chair of her studio at 'Moment One'. She had asked P.J. about a possible remodel but he had just given her a vague grunt. She wasn't really sure what that meant. She supposed she could put that off for now, though.

She had just finished her second meeting with Hope. It was strange, this was the first client that Beca had who was so young that she needed to have a parent with her, but Hope's parents, Linda and Heck, seemed nice enough; super freaking excited about what Hope was doing. Like…really excited. The only real problem Beca saw was that Hope was devastatingly shy. She came out of her shell a bit when coaxed, which Beca found she was pretty good at. Still, she wished she could bring Chloe in; she would have the girl jumping around the studio in seconds.

The trick, it had turned out, was a capella.

"It's why we chose 'Moment One' instead of that other label, 'Starlight'. I love the Bellas." Hope gushed after fifteen minutes of Beca broaching topics with her and failing. "I've seen all of your YouTube videos and I want to go to Barden if I can. Sooo bad!"

"You do? That's great!" Beca had grinned, giving the fifteen year old a high five. "I hear the current Bella leader is awesome. I need to get my butt down there and see them."

"Yeaaaah, we were a little more hesitant thanks to that actually." Heck sighed, giving her the same 'let's just cut the crap' look that her father had used to give her.

She frowned. "Because I haven't been to Georgia in a while or-"

"There was some hubbub in the news about the Bellas a while back, that was the Bellas, right?"

"Oh," Beca cleared her throat. Uuuugh, are you serious right now? It had been years since MuffGate, literally years, and it still came up semi regularly. Which was fine…there were worse things…but it was always freaking awkward when it did. "Yeah, that err, that was us. My team actually, but the media made it look worse than it was." She gave a little awkward smile, "The Bella in question - the one um - up in the air, she was falling which-" she waved her hand, "is a whole other thing, she was having trouble with, anyway, yeah, she was falling. That's why her pants split. It really was an accident. I mean, come on, the president was there. That would have been...a very bad idea to do that intentionally."

"So then, why wasn't the girl wearing underwear?"

She plastered a smile onto her face because she had also gotten his question a million times, "I mean, she was in a body suit. Underwear lines are a thing," She said with a shrug, "Can Josie get you guys more coffee?"

The parents had laughed then and Beca had continued on with the meeting, relieved and hoping yet again that she could one day outrun MuffGate and Amy's hair situation. They talked about Hope's dreams and then when they were through with that, Beca spent a while teaching Hope a few beatboxing noises that Beca had been okay at. Beatboxing was never her strong point but Hope had a great time trying to learn what had been dubbed the 'Bumper Method'.

The meeting had gone well. They had talked about less of the official stuff than she would have liked but that was okay.

She checked the clock. She had some time, she supposed, before Emily was going to show up that night but she might as well throw in the towel early.

She packed up her things, stopping outside to smoke before heading to P.J.'s office, "Yeah so, I think Hope could be a good thing. I'm going to finish this demo and then my team and I will get started on one for her." 'My team', ha! That so sounded way cooler than she and Emily curled around an extra-large pizza in her attic studio, trying to come up with songs. But she wasn't going to tell him that.

"Sounds good, Bexy." He didn't look up from his computer screen; he didn't even seem to care. What the fuck? There was no, 'keep me updated' or 'do good', none of the demeaning but well-meant shit he usually said. He seemed entirely indifferent to what she was up to. He had been this way all freaking month.

She scoffed, incensed and pushing away from his doorframe.

She had no idea what was up his ass but it was really getting annoying. She felt like she was being shunned or something and she didn't know why. Her mind rotated over everything that had happened since her car accident and she shuddered; or maybe she did. She had no idea where she stood and that sucked. She really had no idea what to do about any of this.

"Hey beautiful," Beca called as she entered the condo, dropping her things and giving Chloe a resounding kiss. Chloe hummed, snaking her by the neck and taking a longer and far more thorough one.

Beca had been learning what the word insatiable really meant as of late and she loved it. She had always gotten the idea that Chloe had a very healthy sexual appetite, well, she had always kind of known it - it was clear - but now she knew it. And it was awesome.

It still surprised Beca just how much she had just jumped in without any hesitation, as though she had been having sex with women for years.

Then again, that was Chlo for you.

They broke apart a little breathless and Beca let out a small laugh, shaking her head. "How are you? How was your day?" She asked when she finally pulled away.

"Great." Chloe's grin could have knocked Beca over. She didn't know if it was in her own head or if it was actually true, but there had been something a little different about Chloe as of late. Her smiles seemed more honest, her moans more heartfelt, her laughter louder - she had always been radiant but these days - Beca felt like a moth fluttering around a glowing light; she outshone the brightest of all sparkling gems.

Maybe it was just because her morning sickness had been fairly short lived.

Or maybe – a small voice in Beca always chimed in at this point, maybe she's happy here with you. But that thought made her heart face and her head swim so she had to push it away.

"How was the meeting with Hope?"

"Oh, she's so cute!" Beca laughed, "I keep thinking I want to find a way to sneak a video of her for you so you can see how much she's just like Emily was but I'm pretty sure that would be weird, right?"

"Little bit."

Beca sighed, overly dramatic, "Okay, sorry to say hi and bye but I'm going to run upstairs and put the last few touches on this song before Emily gets here."

"Oooh, that's right! I get to hear it tonight." Chloe grinned with an excited little shiver and lip bite.

"Yup! I hope you don't hate it!"

"I won't!"

"We'll see. See you in a bit."

"Alright, should I-"

"Emily's bringing Indian food over for dinner - as per your request."

"Yes!" Chloe grinned, doing a small fist dance.

"She's also bringing Titanic, also per your sneaky behind my back request." She saw Chloe's face brighten, her mouth opening to ask a question which Beca cut to the chase and answered, "which, yeeees, I will watch it with you two even though we know everyone freaking dies in the end. But only because you're very hot and I want to do things to you later tonight." Chloe let out a happy little laugh, "I swear, I'll never get it." Beca grumbled, "We're literally putting on a movie where we know the ending before we even press play. It's in all of the history books but whatever. I also don't get, by the way, why you enjoy crying so much."

Chloe fluttered her eyelashes, "Because it feels good! And then you hold me."

Beca let out an unwilling laugh, "Like I wouldn't do that anyway. Ugh. Alright, fine. Call me when she gets here."

She didn't have a lot to do. She really only needed to add one more layer to the track.

She listened to the final layer one more time, feeling hot and cold goosebumps rise on her skin. One of these days she would get used to that sound, right? It always made her mouth dry and her pulse beat hard - um - in interesting places. Was it possible to only want someone more each time you had them? How was she going to handle this on the radio?

It only took a few minutes to layer it in and then she clicked her headphones into the jack, blocking out everything around her and playing it so loudly her eardrums rattled.

Yes! Yes! So much yes!

Okay if P.J. or Kendra didn't like this then they were insane.

I mean, Chloe was going to kill her, really kill her but it was fucking good.

And she wasn't all that nervous.

Not until Chloe and Emily were climbing the stairs, laughing as they discussed their days.

They had bonded a lot over the last few weeks. It was kind of awesome. They were both so freaking good for one another. Emily was kind of a shining star, just like Chloe, and having them constantly together like this was amazing; warming the house. Beca found that she had been more prone to silly jokes, to teasing, to laughing, to just being dumb.

It was great because this could have really been a time of stress if it weren't for them.

"Alright. We're ready! We're so freaking ready!" Emily cheered.

"Yeah, we are!"

"You guys sure? Because, uh, I don't know. This shit is kind of off the hook, I'm not sure you know what you're in for."

Emily whooped, "We were freaking born ready, let's do this!"

Chloe sat in the chair beside Beca, all sunshine smiles, and Emily pulled up a patch of floor.

"Okay. Great." She paused, her finger about to press play, "Errr, have an open mind," she said to no one in particular. "Okay." Shit, she was nervous. Right now. She had just gotten nervous. She was going to fucking annihilate her.

She pressed play and a high, piercing and far too sexy wail of pleasure filled the room. She heard it and her stomach gave that usual pull, remembering the moment she had created it; remembering the moment her thigh had pressed into her.

"Whoa!" Emily cried, "Yeah! Awesome! We like it hot!"

She heard a sharp inhale after a few seconds and held her breath, her finger tapping relentlessly on the side of her chair.

The song continued on. It was exactly what they had wanted, slow grind sexy; Chloe's voice ever so slightly augmented so her rasp was brought out tenfold and all the while small little moans and gasps played in the background.

"Yeaaah!" Emily cried, her head and shoulders dipping to the beat, "Oh my god, this is so cool! Bex!" But Beca couldn't look up; instead she stared steadily at the table, her fingers curled around her lips, waiting. She could feel Chloe's jaw hanging open a foot, she could feel her staring at her, but she was a chicken and she was going to take the easy way out - for now.

"Holy dingbats, where the heck did you get that background track? Whew!" Emily fanned herself, giggling like a schoolgirl and blushing a bit. "Damn! That's freaking awesome! That's so tight."

Beca couldn't help it; she let out a loud snort into her hand. You bet it was.

She heard Chloe gasp, reading her mind. She whirled around like she was going to hit her so Beca flinched and clamped tighter on her lips, swallowing any further laughter down.

The track finally slowed, closing with a particularly shameless sound. Beca took a deep breath, ready for the firing squad. She glanced once at Chloe out of the corner of her eye and saw her exactly as she would have expected, red faced, mouth hanging open, blue eyes flashing, hands wringing.

"Oh my god!" Emily cried, fist pumping in the air, "That is so good! They're going to love it! Seriously, how did you come up with that last bit? The moaning? Oh my god, genius! I never would have thought to do that! Where did you get it?"

"Oh," Beca held her breath, holding in the cackle she wanted to release as Chloe looked at her, stunned, "here and there. Chlo? What do you think?"

Chloe blinked a few times, "You can't!"

"Noooo, Chlo! Okay, listen, let me explain,"

"You absolutely can't!" Chloe was up and pacing, tracking back and forth, wringing her hands and shooting death glares, "No way! This will be on the radio! My mother will hear it! Oh my god, no! Beca! What were you thinking?"

"Okay, wait, none of it was actual sex, I promise, pants were on for every one of those sounds and if it's recorded for Kendra then we can have a sound effect artist come in and redo it if you want! No one will know it's you anyway, no one!" She cried as fast as she could, her hands up in the surrender position.

"Wait, that's you!" Emily gaped, her eyes wide. Her face started to slowly redden until she was the color of a cherry and she was looking everywhere but at the couple, "Uhhh wow!"

"Some of that's me too, I promise, some of that is me! And we wouldn't be the first! Prince did it! Guns N' Roses did it! Even the freaking Beach Boys did it! I promise!"

Chloe had opened her mouth, clearly to yell but paused, stunned at that, "The Beach Boys did it?"

"Yeah - it's a lot more common than you would think - apparently - I learned this - recently."

"The Beach Boys? Really?" The look on Chloe's face turned to mild disgust, her mouth pulling down in the corners.

"I know, right?" Beca laughed, having one those moments of reading Chloe Beale perfectly, "Their music is great and everything but they're a bunch of funky looking dudes. Come on, the track is so good, you sound fucking amazing. I mean, did you hear that shit? I mean, we won't do it if you're uncomfortable with it, Flashlight and I will try to replicate you but-"

"What?" Emily cried from the floor.

"Not like that!"

Chloe's teeth snared her lip, chewing as she thought. "Play it again."

Beca hit play and both she and Emily watched Chloe with baited breath. Her face was ever revolving, mortified, aroused, amused, horrified. Her hand was fluttering around her throat nervously when the song ended again, pressing and rubbing; a move she only made when she was highly uncertain.

"And none of that came from actual - sex?"

Emily flushed again, staring up at the ceiling.

"I promise. Pants were on."

"Beca! I'm pretty sure out pants never came off!"

"You know what I mean, Chlo! That was all," she bit her lip, "slow grinding which,"

"Oh boy." Emily cleared her throat. "Eerrr…"

"Is freaking perfect for this song."

Chloe shifted, her arms crossing, "Promise?"

"I so promise." She watched Chloe's face soften, knowing that she had won her over, "It's kinda hot right?"

Beca hadn't realized that she was chewing on the end of her pen until she pulled it from her mouth. "Yeah, it kind of is."

"It really is, Chloe, and it's - tasteful. Totally tasteful." Emily added, hopefully. The track was flipping good.

"Is it weird if I kind of like it?"

Beca shrugged, "I kind of like it."

Chloe stepped in a little closer as though that would keep her hoarse whisper between them despite Emily being a few feet away, "Do you remember - when exactly?"

"Oh yeah, remember, the thigh thing? Up against the wall." Beca let her eyes pointedly drift to the isolation booth.

Chloe bit her lip, "I remember."

"Most of it was from then. So yes?" Beca asked, pulling her to her by the wrist, "You're okay with this? Because you don't have to be."

Chloe's nose scrunched as she thought, "It's kind of sexy, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah! That's the whole point! You make it super freaking hot." She pulled a little and Chloe scooped down, taking a kiss.

"It's a good song, Bec."

"We should listen to that recording again." Beca watched her slowly lick her lips.

"Okay." She flushed, embarrassed as she shifted a bit in her seat.

Chloe saw it and her eyebrow rose, understanding.

"Human." Beca stated, pointing to herself.

"Hmm." Chloe leaned in for another kiss...which turned into another...which turned into Chloe crawling into the computer chair over Beca.

"Ooookay, I gotta...yeah, I gotta go. Gross. Yeah. I'll uh, I'll be downstairs." Emily cried hopping up.

"We'll be down in a minute," Chloe called after her, around Beca's lips.


Beca spent the next day at work, combing over and over the track, looking for anything that could be better. Her nerves were starting to hit now but she had to get over it.

The next morning she woke early and instead of sitting at the far end of the pool and chain smoking, she let Chloe convince her to join her down on the second floor.

Chloe had been trying daily to get Beca down there, insisting it was what made Chloe so 'bendy' which - she was… but up until this point Beca had refused.

Beca was pretty sure she had this. She had done this regularly all through college and semi-regularly for the first few years post college. She totally had this. She hopped on the elliptical, ready to power this out. She had this.

Except she totally didn't.

Fifteen minutes in she was dying; sure someone was slowly siphoning the air from the room. How the hell did Chloe do this? She had seen her just hop on an elliptical and go like she was strolling down the street. Even now, she knew that if Chloe got on beside her she would be able to go in circles around her.

God, she was out of shape. How was she so out of shape? She needed to quit smoking. She couldn't breathe!

She gasped, leaning a little too heavily on the arm rails; a bead of sweat dripping into her eye and making her yelp. She swore loudly, rubbing so hard that she nearly lost her balance and flew backward.

She was dying. This was going to kill her. The equipment was trying to kill her.

God, and Chloe was just over there looking like everything was fine. She had her body bent in a twisted pretzel but she was just smiling at her like she was sitting on the couch.

What was amusing, in a jealous rage kind of way, was the fact that Chloe was clearly entirely unaware that all of the guys in the room were watching her as she bent, twisting herself like a freaking contortionist, and sighing with obvious satisfaction as she did. Did Chloe have any idea how much her yoga noises sounded like her sex noises? Beca watched as a young group of guys nudged one another, pretending to be looking into the mirror across the room when really they were staring open-mouthed at Chloe.

She couldn't blame them; she could tell her favorite part of Chloe's yoga was coming up so as much as she tried not to, she was watching as well.

She watched Chloe breathe deeply from her nose, walk her hands forward and then spring her legs into the air, letting out a long breath as she slowly let them fall behind her, curling into a full body bend, before, slowly and carefully she tilted, her legs walking through the air and placing her back where she began, humming lightly.

The oldest of the guys stopped his workout, dropping the weights and not even bothering to hide his ogling.

Beca glared but Chloe's eyes opened, sparkling with laughter at Beca's purple face.

"This isn't funny!" Beca groaned, as Chloe gave her an amused smile. "I'm dying. I'm dying. How do you just do this? Like every day? You're a robot, aren't you? It's okay, you can tell me."

"Hmmm, finish the thirty minutes and I promise to wash your hair."

Beca's foot stumbled, making her yelp and hang on to the machine for dear life, "As in early morning shower. With me?" She mouthed.

Chloe nodded, pushing into her next pose with a sigh of enjoyment.

Beca scowled, "Hey shit-dick, you wanna keep it in your pants maybe?" Oops, she hadn't meant to yell.

The guys behind Chloe all jumped, scattering like birds.

The oldest just stood, stretching out his arms. Beca glared as he stepped around the machines and started toward Chloe. A possessive, predatory anger filled her, knowing exactly what he was about to do. She opened her mouth but – crap, was she allowed to stop this? Was she allowed to tell a guy off for trying to get close to Chloe? Did that fall under the best friend/whatever they were line?

"Here, let me." He pushed Chloe's leg a little further so instead of being perfectly straight in the air it started to lean far back.

Chloe let out a long moan, "Thanks."

"No, problem. That stretch always gets me but I can't do it without a partner."

Beca scoffed. Yeah, I see you, buddy.

"Chance."

"Hi, I'm Chloe."

"So uh, Chloe,"

Beca watched with mounting aggravation as Chloe and Chance talked, Chance insisting that he would love a good in-building yoga partner.

Was it fair that she wanted to hit him with a chair? Like – nicely – and everything – but you know, with a chair. Her stomach clenched and somehow the elliptical suddenly got so much easier.

Chloe thanked him politely and promised she would think about it.

"Coool. That's great. I hope I hear from you."

Beca could see the group of boys hovering outside of the door, laughing and shoving one another, watching their leader make his brave attempt for the beautiful woman.

She wasn't jealous. She wasn't.

He just…had a stupid haircut. And a stupid name.

She glared as he went by, giving her a wink as he sat back at the bench press across the way.

Ugh.

"What's the matter?"

"What?" Beca cried, jumping and pushing a little harder on the machine. "Nothing's wrong." She just – hated – that. She hated the fact that Chance's business card was sitting on the corner of Chloe's yoga mat…and there was nothing she could do about it. Suddenly she felt trapped in an invisible box, confined by this wordless, title-less thing they were doing...trapped by her inability to stake a claim. Then Chloe gasped and the feeling flew from her, disappearing under Chloe's searching gaze.

"Are you jealous?"

Beca didn't answer so Chloe let out another small gasp, dropping out of her pose and onto the mat with a thump, "Really? Because of this?" Chloe teasingly bit the side of the business card and gave her a sultry slow blink.

"I'm not jealous."

Chloe's eyes went wide and she giggled, obviously tickled. "Not even a little bit jealous?"

Beca huffed, feeling Chloe's flirtatious tendrils wrap around her, "Shut up."


If that was going to be Chloe's new incentive to get Beca to the gym then she fully and completely approved. It might be worth dying for thirty minutes every day if Chloe brought her back to life after.

She had left the house with an uncharacteristically large smile on her face and decided to stop by Starbucks. She ordered her drink, pleased with its warmth and added a ten dollar bill to the donation box.

"Thank you," the young barista gave her a smile and she returned it before she had thought twice then marveled the rest of the way to work because what the hell was that?

She could see P.J. was in when she arrived but she stalled for a few more minutes, gathering her courage. What was the worst that could happen? P.J. might not like it. No big deal. She would make it work.

Damn it, why had she only done the one song? That had been so stupid! She should have at least done two. At least. Idiot move.

Okay. Nope. She wasn't going to let that happen. She wasn't going to let herself freak out. She was just going to do it. Just do it. Just – go – go – go!

Her feet were moving before she gave herself the order to go and she was glad, "Heeeey, P.J. Morning."

He looked up and gave her a smile, "Morning, Bex, what can I do for you?"

"I've uh, got that track for Kendra. You want to take a listen?"

"Uh," he frowned, "Sure, I guess so." He stood and Beca frowned back.

Okay, the hell, "So um, I can't help but to notice P, that you don't seem to really give a crap about what I'm doing anymore. Have I sunk so low here or are you just pissed at me?" Shit. That really, really, really should have come out better. Fuck. Great job, Beca. And now you're fired. Right there, yeah, that was your last meal. Right there. She let out a nervous laugh and clicked on a smile, hoping that would somehow make it seem more like she was joking. "I mean, I'm sorry, that sounded really bad, shit, but I just mean – did I screw up that royally somewhere along the way? If so, I'd rather talk about it and fix it so err- this – can stop happening." Oh god, Bec!

P.J.'s eyebrows popped in surprise, his hand coming over his goatee, "Is that what you think? No wonder you've been stalking around here like you have."

"Uh, what?"

"I just thought you had some issues you were working through. Now listen, I told you to do good and you did! You got Kendra - without me. You followed protocol with the Brooks OD, you got yourself out of trouble and kept your nose clean after your own accident; you even passed on a client within the label when you realized that you two weren't meshing. You don't need my opinion anymore. You don't need to check in with me. You good, tiger, you go on and do you."

Eeeeerrrr….

"Um."

"I gave you wings, lil bird. Now fly. I'm a busy man."

Beca jumped when P.J. put his arm around her shoulder.

She wasn't um, quite sure that everything had happened the way he was seeing it but she wasn't going to complain.

"So um," she blinked, trying to register everything he had just said. "So-"

"You wanna go listen to this track?"

"Yeah," she said quickly, utterly and completely fucking baffled, "yeah, uh, let's go."

At least she was too baffled to be nervous. They walked out toward her studio, each smoking a cigarette as they walked and then when they were inside Beca just put the track on...because why the fuck not...she had wings...apparently...she was a fucking 90's sanitary napkin...apparently. What the actual fuck?

She watched P.J.'s face as the track played, running his words over and over in her mind. So what did that mean? How exactly was she supposed to move forward in the studio? What the fuck, was she still the senior assistant within the label? Had she just been promoted? Or had she simply been emancipated, left to drift in a sea of awkward work limbo?

She was still mulling it over when the track ended, "So-"

"Damn, Beca!" She jumped, hearing her name from him was really freaking uncommon. "This is why you don't need to check in with me."

She blinked, confused, "Is that a good thing orrrr-"

P.J. nodded seriously, "It's very good. I think Kendra might be a little intimidated but if she's smart she will record this track."

"Uh," She couldn't fucking handle this morning. Where the hell was the string that tied her to reality? Chloe had stood up that morning…she had straight up risen off of her yoga mat when she realized that Beca had indeed been jealous, grabbed her by the back of the head and slipped her tongue into Beca's mouth so forcefully that Beca had nearly fallen off the machine...again. The guys across the way had hooted, all laughing at their friend but Beca had barely noticed. She had felt jealous after a hot guy had hinted that he was interested, and so Chloe had made out with her...right there…in the middle of the gym. And now she had wings. What the hell was happening? "Yeah?"

"Absolutely. Good job. Give it here." He held up his hand and after a brief pause, Beca gave him a high five and a fist bump, something she knew EZ had recently taught him. "You look so surprised, Bex. Did you forget that not long ago we were talking about you opening our sister studio? Clearly I like the way you work it, kid."

Beca didn't know how to respond.

She had plenty of time to get nervous for Kendra though as the week wore into the next. She had decided to put off Hope's demo, spending her time focusing with Emily on other possible tracks, building up a small stockpile that Kendra could choose from. She had partially made the decision because Hope seemed like she needed some time to wrap her head around everything and partially because - she thought she was going to explode.

She spent a long while in front of the mirror the morning of her meeting with Kendra. She had been changing her look and she liked it; fewer tees and more professional wear. She had softened her makeup and she had left in the less spikey piercings; not quite ready to remove them altogether.

She had been fairly happy with it all but this morning, she huffed out a groan and sat hard on the bed.

"What's wrong?"

"Um, I think the easiest answer would be - my face."

"Hey! I like that face!"

"Yeah, but, you know, I'm not so sure Kendra is going to."

"Kendra already likes your face." Chloe said in her best matter of fact tone.

"I just can't find anything I want to wear."

"What's wrong with what you're wearing?"

Beca just frowned, "I need something that says something. I don't know, I'm trying to sell myself a little bit, you know?"

"You're selling yourself, huh?" Chloe chuckled, coming to stand in front of her, playing with her hair, "How much, pretty lady?"

Beca groaned, running her hands down Chloe's small belly, "Legacy, your mom is being mean. Let's vote her off the island."

Chloe let out a quick cackle, "Bec, she doesn't care what you're wearing."

"Logically I know that. Maybe."

"Here." Chloe went to her closet and pulled out her favorite jacket, "Confidence in jacket form."

Beca just laughed.

She wasn't wrong, though. Beca did somehow feel better as she walked into the studio, clad in the small cut off jacket.

She didn't have long. She had planned it that way; she didn't want to sit there waiting.

'Don't let yourself sit and stew,' Chloe had warned her after a goodbye kiss. 'Play a game on your phone or something'.

She had also been right on that front.

Two minutes into waiting and Beca was a wreck. She got up and paced.

That wasn't working so instead she went to the picture hanging on the wall. She needed to call the Bellas and just say hi. She had never done that. They deserved phone calls. She had said hello recently when Chloe made her rounds, calling to check up on each of them, but she had never called herself. She should be the kind of friend who called her friends, right? That was – normal, right? It had been kind of nice, actually. They had all been surprised to hear of Chloe's plans to move and had all promised to come to visit. She wondered if they would. Should she be thinking of a baby shower? She should, right? She should totally plan a Bellas baby shower!

"That picture again, huh?"

Beca yelped, "I mean, it's a good picture."

Kendra chuckled.

"So. I hear you have something for me to listen to?"

"Oh boy, do I ever."

"You look nervous. Should I be as nervous as you are?"

"What? I'm not nervous. I can already hear this track playing out of every car window next summer. I'm not worried."

"Good morning, ladies." P.J. smiled, "I was just curious to stop in. How is it going? What did you think, Kendra?"

"We actually haven't listened to it yet. Do you wanna-"

"Sure, sure."

"Alright, everyone take a seat." Beca propped herself up on the soundboard and hit play.

She wasn't sure she breathed the entire time the song was playing.

"Who is this on vocals? This you?" Kendra asked, halfway through.

"Uh, no, it's my uh" her…uym.. "my best friend. Uh, the red head in the picture."

"Girl can sing!"

Beca scoffed, "Yeah, she really can."

"So this is like-" Kendra's neck popped from side to side for a second, "super sexy, girl, I mean, damn. Are you sure that's how I should do it?"

"Yes!" Beca nodded, awkwardly crossing her arms just because she didn't know what else to do with them, "Here's why. Your last album was great, obviously. It did really well. Obviously. So because of that, we need to really change it up, go for more of a Ciara meets Britney. Sexy sells, Kendra, it just does." She glanced to P.J. wondering if he was going to jump in and help her but he stayed silent, watching her like a hawk. It made her more nervous. Was this bad? "It's edgy and risky but I think the payoff will be worth it."

"So you want the whole album to be -"

"No, no way. We also don't want to oversell it. I have a couple of fun, upbeat tracks I'm kicking around and I want to come up with at least one power ballad."

"Uh huh." She couldn't read Kendra's face and she didn't like that. She had decided to come on strong but now she wondered if she had made a mistake. "You know, you don't have this song contracted in, Kendra. You don't have to sing it, but you should because it's going to be a huge freaking hit."

Kendra jumped, "Oh no, you misunderstand me, gurl. This track, yeah, it's happening. I'm just trying to think about what I can do to get my voice all sexy like that and I'm wondering what my mama is going to think when she sees the music video. Am I wrong or are there two women in the background."

"Uh…" Beca twitched, "you're not wrong."

"Yeah, my mama gunna be clutching her pearls for weeks."

"Wait, so, so you like it then?"

"Uh," Kendra laughed, "have you heard this?"

"Yes! Oh, thank god!" Beca cried before she could stop herself. "I mean, err...great! Then let's move forward."

Beca took a lot of notes during that meeting, writing down everything; not because she was that thorough - well, she was - but mostly because she had no idea what they were saying. Her brain was moving too fast, sprinting and racing, screaming and jumping.

She was recording Kendra's album.

She had liked their track.

Holy crap.

Holy crap.

...Holy crap!

So she took notes, trying hard not to fidget.

She could barely function but she must have come off as cool and collected because P.J. laughed the moment Kendra was gone for the day with plans to pick things back up over Skype right after Halloween a few days from then. "How is it that I seem more excited than you?"

"What?" Her voice was a few octaves too high, "I'm excited. I'm excited. I just uh, I need a moment, I guess. I need a - hold on." She held out on finger as she moved around him, telling him to stay.

She grabbed her cigarettes and headed outside, trying to wrap her head around the meeting. She lit one with hands that were shaking so badly that she had to chase the flame and pulled out her phone.

"Hi, this is Chloe, leave a message."

"Chloe! Chlo, holy shit, holy shit she loved it, she fucking loved it!" She squeaked into the voicemail, "She fucking ate it up and we're golden, we're going to move forward, holy shit, where are you?" She was all but jumping up and down, her arms flapping, "We are so celebrating tonight. Oh my god, I can't even-" She heard a chuckle from behind her and stopped, freezing in place, "Err, hi, P."

P.J. was stepping from the studio, laughing as he pulled on his sunglasses, "See, that is what I was expecting."

"I uh," She paused, looking between the phone and P.J., the phone and P.J. before she mumbled into it a quick, "okaycallmewhenyougetthis," and hung up. She cleared her throat, nervously scratching behind her ear; absolutely fucking mortified.

"Come on, tiger, I got something to show you."

Beca had definitely never been in a car with P.J. It was kind of awkward and definitely weird. The nice thing was she could smoke - so she did, trying not to ask where the hell he was taking her and trying even more not to wonder if she was about to be taken out to some secluded area and killed.

He didn't say much so she just huddled behind her glasses and waited.

"Here we are!" He finally grinned, giving her a wink. She glanced around but - she had no idea where 'here' was.

"Um."

The building that they approached was tattered, clearly closed down and frankly looked like there might be a homeless person or two living out of it.

"Do you recognize this place?"

"Ummm, this is where they filmed 'Walking Dead', right?"

P.J. laughed, "The shit you say, Bex!"

She just gave him a nervous smile, "Glad I can amuse," and followed him through the door he had just unlocked.

The inside didn't look as bad as the outside, mostly like it had been closed up for a long time. P.J. hit the lights and Beca's eyes popped wide, "Holy crap, is this the sister studio? Err, Anthony's label? Studio? Um. Wow! What, uh, happened to it? It hasn't even been closed down that long, right?" Beca's heart was high in her throat. Why were they there? Oh god, why were they there? Thought's swirled but she refused to allow them to settle. Nope. Don't think that. Don't think that.

"Let's just say that it wasn't treated with the TLC that it deserved. What do you think, is it fixable?"

She walked around the studio taking in the white walls and the thick carpet, "Yeah, I mean, this equipment needs to be updated but that's mostly because things change so quickly in this business. Ahh, err, it could use some surface work. Are you," her eyes flicked to P.J. and back, "You uh, thinking of opening it back up?" That was casual, right? That was casual, it didn't sound like she was freaking the fuck out inside.

"Thinking about, yeah. What do you think? Got anyone in mind on staff who could do this place justice?"

She frowned, "Um, well, Rog could maybe-" She jumped when he let out a booming laugh,

"We'll start Kendra at 'Moment One' but then when this is ready she'll come over here. Don't get me wrong kid, you're talented and I think you're the right choice, but you still work for me and-"

"Wait, wait, wait," her head was swimming, "Back up."

She heard the tinkling sound of metal on metal and she spun so fast that she almost went down, tripping on nothing.

P.J. was grinning at her, his hand extended and hanging from it - was a set of small, silver keys.


She didn't…she couldn't….there were…she wasn't asleep was she? Dreaming maybe? Oh god, that was so corny, what the hell, Beca?

She had managed to get herself home, that much she knew because she was sitting in her car in her assigned parking spot. Thank god she hadn't been pulled over, she could see her wild wide eyes in the mirror - she would have had a really fucking hard time convincing anyone that she wasn't messed up.

No really officer, I just was handed the keys to my lifelong dream - or at least the first step - the first second and fiftieth.

There was nothing higher than this, nothing but opening her own fucking independent label.

She hadn't moved, staring down at the keys in her palm.

They were just...keys…

She had keys…

She was holding keys to a studio...to a label that would be her own. Yes, she would have bosses and in the end she would still be under P.J.'s jurisdiction but...this label...whatever she...they...decided to call it...would be hers.

She didn't know if she wanted to scream or if she wanted to burst into tears.

She blinked. She hadn't just snapped, had she?

She picked them up and shook them violently, listening to their jingle. Okay, she could hear them...but...okay, well her mind knew what keys would sound like, she could just be putting that in.

Oh my god, Beca.

Oh my god!

A rush of excitement flooded her and she ripped herself out of the car and into the lobby.

She had to tell Chloe, she fucking had to. Oh my god, it was happening. She - Beca Mitchell - was going to run one of the small, but super cool, super awesome labels under the 'Paul John' umbrella. Label. Not just studio like she had thought. Label!

Holy shit, why was the elevator so fucking slow? Dude, like really? Fucking really? Come on!

She bounced in place, her keys out and ready so she could just throw open the door. In her pocket she could feel the new keys sitting like stones, singing to her of all the possibilities, of a whole life that she could create.

"Chloe? Chlo?"

She heard the scream before she saw her and old habits must have clicked in because she had just enough time to instinctively drop everything in her arms before Chloe was leaping on her, wrapping her legs around her waist and her arms around Beca's neck in a choke hold.

The first thought that popped into Beca's mind was, 'how did she know' and then her stomach dropped out - oh god, Chloe was crying...Chloe was sobbing; really fucking sobbing.

"Fuck. Oh god, fuck, what happened? Shit, shit, shit." Legacy. It had to be the baby, only the baby could make her sob like this. "Fuck, shit, fuck, Chloe, what happened? Chlo!" She tried to pull Chloe's head out of her neck, she tried to put her back down so that she could see her but Chloe wouldn't go. Terrified, Beca clutched her tighter, wishing she had a hand free to wrap around her, "Chloe, please, you're freaking me out! What the hell happened?"

"I'm seventeen weeks."

Beca froze, confused, "What? Can you - give me your freaking face please?" She pushed her shoulder and Chloe finally reappeared, her eyes sparkling like diamonds as tears poured down her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, clearly she had been crying for a while now. The sight choked the words from Beca's throat.

"I'm seventeen weeks. I'm one week past my D&C date."

"Wait…" Beca pulled her own face back a little further so she could see her better, "Wait, this isn't sad crying? This - this is happy fucking crying?"

Chloe gave a mighty sniff, and a nod, hugging tighter to her.

"Oh my god, Chloe!" She considered dropping her for dramatic effect but she was so fucking glad nothing was wrong that she couldn't seem to let go.

"I've never been pregnant this long. Look. I went to the doctor today."

Beca stared at the little black and white picture, "DUDE! That's a – that's a fucking baby! Look I can see it! That's not a potato, that's a fucking head and a nose and a mouth. Chloe! This is your fucking baby! Are you fucking kidding me!? That's fucking Legacy, what the shit, look! Look you can see a nose! Oh my god! That's the cutest fucking nose I've ever fucking seen!"

Chloe let out an excited scream, her arms locking in a vice around her throat.

"Holy shit! Chloe! Holy fucking shit!" Beca garbled.

Chloe grabbed her, kissing her for all she was worth. "I'm seventeen weeks."

Beca nodded, grinning, "You're sevenfuckingteen weeks, baby."

"Oh my god!" She kissed her again.

"Chloe - I think maybe - you, you might be having a baby."

Chloe let out a harsh sob, fresh tears pouring and clutched her face, their lips meeting softly. "I'm having a baby."

Beca laughed, a memory popping into her head, "There's a bun in that oven."

Chloe giggled, long and hard into Beca's neck, giving it a rough kiss.

"Actually, uh, I have some news too."

"You do?" Chloe's eyes twinkled, "What is it?"

"Uh," She shifted, her arms starting to seriously shake, "use them leg muscles for a second here or – you know – stand – maybe?" She felt Chloe close around her like a vice, biting her lip as her eyes danced. Beca cocked an eyebrow, hearing her unspoken words loud and clear as she reached behind her and pulled out the little silver keys from her back pocket.

"I don't understand, what is it?"

"They're keys to the sister studio, Chlo. No, correction, sister label. He wants it to be his third label. And – and - P.J. gave them to me. We're going to renovate and I'm going to open it."

The scream that came from Chloe should have made them both go deaf, "Oh my god! Beca! Oh my god!" Her legs kicked and Beca tried to move, tried to scream with her and jump but her legs finally gave under the pressure and down they went. "FUCK! UGHHHAHHH!" Beca doubled over a bit as Chloe landed squarely on her stomach.

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

"Yeah, can't breathe, yes, okay."

"Great!" Chloe pulled her up by the lapel, kissing her soundly. "You are - so amazing -" Chloe was yelling, kissing her cheek, her nose, her chin, peppering kisses everywhere she could reach, "I'm so fucking - proud - of you."

Beca was squealing, writhing under her and laughing, taking Chloe's lips when they found hers and kissing them long and hard.

She wasn't exactly sure where the left turn had happened in her life - was it when Chloe had showed up at the Bella reunion - that very moment she walked through the doors and into the alley? Or was it when Chloe had shown up at the hospital for her? She didn't know, but she couldn't be happier about it, or more content than she was in this very moment. And with Chloe straddling her like this - grinning at her like that, she could see a possible future; her own studio, a life, maybe a Grammy one day - and if there happened to be a certain redhead - and a redheaded...or possibly brunette baby - then that just made things even better.

"I'm so proud of you." Chloe said, leaning in so she could press her forehead to hers, "I'm so proud of you," she whispered, caressing Beca's cheeks with her thumbs, "You're going to be amazing."

Yes. It would make things so much better.

Beca pulled her face back to her, kissing her in the way that she had wanted to kiss her for so many years, in the way she was finally allowed to. "I - I love you."

Chloe's lips parted, her eyes dancing between each of Beca's, her voice coming out small, uneven, "Awesome nerd?"

Beca grinned, "Yeah, that too."

The End


Come find me on Tumblr/Twitter to hear about the fics that are coming/ask me questions/pretty much anything! (ioliviajanae)

The sequel will start posting in ten days! November 20th!