A/N: Thanks for the lovely response to the first part guys! At most I'll probably be updating weekly - hope that's not a problem for you guys, but I'm now back at university and can't really promise anything more than that. But the chapters will be long =)

As ever, thanks to dashedbrotato, thecousinsdangereux, my girlfriend and WillowyWitch for looking over this for me!

If Beca thinks carefully about where she is now compared to before, she might be inclined to comment that, okay - things aren't that bad. It could always be worse, after all. Sometimes Beca can only laugh incredulously at the ridiculousness of her thoughts and how entitled she must be to feel this way: someone out there is starving or dying or suffering, and here she is feeling uncomfortable about making an important phonecall at the station on Luke's behalf while he's out. Or crying at night when no one's around, because she can't make love to her girlfriend, when someone out there can't have children with their partner. Or shying away from a hug from her friends and feeling like crap at the look on their faces, when someone could be paralysed and unable to move from the neck down, unable to hug anyone of their own accord anyway - or -

'You're doing it again,' Chloe will remind her gently, when she spots Beca laughing softly to herself and shaking her head, because she still can't believe how freaking stupid she is sometimes. You'd have to be a pretty special kind of douche to get as worked up over issues as small as Beca does.

'Beca.' Chloe again, now snapping fingers in front of her face. 'The real world's out here.'

That helps. Sometimes - when she lets it. Other times she can't help feeling the slightest bit of irritation towards Chloe, who doesn't seem to realise how selfish her girlfriend is sometimes. She always wants to argue with Beca about that truth and never wants to see it for what it really is; that Beca probably doesn't deserve kind words, but a good slap in the face to get her back to reality. Everyone's just so nice and sympathetic, but she can't help but wonder if she'd get on better if everyone just told her to shut the fuck up with her whining and just get on with it. Maybe they're being too forgiving. Maybe they're letting her get away with being this way in their misguided attempts to be helpful but it's actually making her worse. Maybe Chloe is putting on a brave face for the whole thing, but secretly she's just getting more exasperated with Beca everyday, and eventually she will snap.

'I love you,' Chloe will tell her, which makes Beca feel better for a time. And yet, she still tries to read hidden messages behind Chloe's earnest expression, like something behind her eyes is going to suddenly flicker, when she realises she's made a terrible mistake in becoming her girlfriend. And then she'll dump Beca, breaking her heart, and causing her to go into a state of catatonic unhappiness - and then she will die alone and sad, with twenty-eight budgies (she hates cats)...

Okay, there she goes again. Melodrama. Overreactions - these are all problems a high-schooler would have, really. But somehow it's not anymore comforting to realise how stupid she's being, since she can never seem to stop.

Paradoxically, realising that okay, maybe Beca has a slight problem with anxiety appears to have brought everything closer to the forefront of her mind, Things she'd never considered might be an issue for her keep cropping up here and there - never anything too massive, but just enough to set that slight buzz of tension in her gut. Chloe hypothesises that maybe it's because before she avoided everything that might trigger worry, thus ensuring she never had to experience it. Beca's theory is that she's secretly regressing back to a toddler, since only a child would start worrying about the things she has been recently, and would probably handle it more gracefully.

Big on the list are her new duties as the Bellas captain, which involve way more interaction with the other girls than just being a team member did: there are auditions to consider, choreography, arrangements, and making sure all the Bellas attend as much as possible. Not to mention Beca herself actually has to turn up to each practice now as well. Gone are the days of waking up in the morning and having a ten minute inner debate about whether it'd be worth dealing with Aubrey's wrath for a little extra sleep. She loves the Bellas, but loves sleep even more - however, unfortunately, the auditorium always seems to be booked later on in the day because no one wants the early morning spots either. No wonder Aubrey always tortured them with eight A.M. starts.

'You'll be okay today, won't you?' Chloe asks anxiously, on one such early start - the morning of Beca's first practice as captain. There's far too little light coming through the curtains for Beca's liking but she appreciates that Chloe made the effort to come by despite having an interview this morning. Even if she keeps one eye on the time throughout the whole conversation. 'It's nerve-wracking leading the Bellas for the first time.'

'It is?' Beca replies with a good-natured roll of her eyes. 'I had no idea, you and Aubrey totally didn't show it.' When Chloe pouts, she smiles as reassuringly as she can. 'Don't worry, Chlo. I can totally handle it.'

'You're positive?' When Beca nods, Chloe searches her face for any sign of worry. Finding none - Beca's been perfecting her poker face - she leans in to kiss her goodbye, but pauses at the last second before their lips meet. Beca's left duck-facing the air. 'You'll call me if you need help, though?'

'Oh sure, and you'll run out of your interview to pick it up? "Sorry, I've gotta go! My girlfriend needs help leading her acapella group!"'

'Oh shut up,' Chloe scowls at her, but only for a moment, before it fades back into concern. 'I don't want you to feel like you're on your own with this, that's all.'

'I've done this before. I know what I'm doing.'

'True,' Chloe concedes. She then steps forward, winding one hand in Beca's hair, then resumes the kiss she was about to begin a minute ago. And although Beca is being - mostly - honest about her lack of nerves while leading the Bellas, she still leans into it, drawing strength from it in a way she never would have thought possible only six months ago. She's always considered herself the opposite of touchy-feely, but still there is the odd moment where she just craves Chloe's touch. It doesn't make much sense to her, but she's learned not to resist it because of how happy it makes Chloe.

What was meant to be a short kiss rapidly escalates into something more intense - Chloe just can't help herself - until a tired voice from inside the room interrupts them. 'Not that I don't fully support lady lovin' first thing in the morning, but could you guys at least shut the door? There's a draft.'

Chloe chuckles, looking over to see Cynthia Rose's sleepy eyes peeking at them from beneath her bed sheet. 'Sorry, CR,' she calls. She turns back to Beca, swiping a thumb over her cheek affectionately. The doe-eyed look she gives Beca is far too mushy for this time in the morning. 'I gotta go, Bec - but I'll call you as soon as possible, okay?'

One more rushed kiss before Chloe has to literally run off, swearing about being late. When Beca shuts the door, Cynthia Rose is struggling into a sitting position beneath her mountain of blankets. She notices her smirk, barely hidden behind a not very convincing yawn. 'What're you smirking at?'

'Oh, nothing. Just never get tired of watching you two,' Cynthia Rose comments, rubbing her eyes. 'It's cute seeing how Chloe got you completely whipped.' Beca rolls her eyes - comments about her being "whipped" have become old hat by now. 'Then again, I'd probably be whipped for Chloe too.' Her lecherous smile grows, so Beca picks up her pillow from her bed and smacks Cynthia Rose's over the head with it.

'Down girl,' she says with a glare that isn't the remotest bit serious. Cynthia Rose makes jokes like that a lot - it bothered her a little at first, but she soon realised this particular perverted facet of Cynthia Rose's humour extended to all girls, not just Chloe. 'Chloe's mine.' She smacks her again for good measure.

'Ow!' Cynthia Rose cries dramatically, shielding her head from further blows. 'Stop, that hurts!'

'Wuss.' But Beca throws the pillow back on her bed anyway, sitting down with a slight sigh. Cynthia Rose, who is eyeing her suspiciously, pushes back her covers and starts trying to arrange her hair back into some kind of presentable order.

'How're them nerves getting on anyway? And don't bother lying this time.' When Beca raises an eyebrow, Cynthia Rose scoffs. 'B, I don't have to be getting in your pants every night to know that hamster wheel in your brain is on overdrive. I know your worry face.'

She grimaces, ignoring the comment about getting in her pants. Cynthia Rose still seems to assume the two of them bang like bunnies every night, doubtless imagining everyone's sex drive to be as active as hers. 'Yeah... I'm not feeling too great, to be honest.'

'Meh, don't worry about it.' Cynthia Rose hops out of bed, searching through her drawers for her shower stuff. After several minutes of fruitless searching and muttering, she and retrieves them with a triumphant 'Aha!'. When she turns back, it's to find Beca staring at her incredulously. 'What?'

'You call that a pep talk?' says Beca.

'You don't need a pep talk, Beca, because everything's gonna be fine. Trust me.' Beca frowns at that, not particularly soothed by her roommate's words. Cynthia Rose seems oblivious, throwing her towel over one shoulder. 'Anyway, I'm gonna go shower - don't wait for me, I know you probably wanna go and make diagrams on the board or whatever it is you captains do. I mean, I wouldn't know,' she adds with a flippant shrug.

Is that bitterness Beca detects in her tone? She seemed alright before, but Cynthia Rose had been quite upset to not be made captain initially. Maybe she still wasn't over it. Beca asks hesitantly, 'Hey, you're not still mad at me for making Amy co-captain over you, are you?'

'What? No!' says Cynthia Rose, her eyes widening comically. 'Of course I'm not mad.'

'It's just that Amy's actually really good at transcribing music, and also surprisingly good at talking people into helping us out. I mean, she managed to get Howie to let us come back for the SBT mixer even after last year's disaster.' Beca hadn't asked how, exactly, but Amy achieved it with only a few phone calls and ten minutes alone with Howie in another room. She'd brought Lilly with her, so maybe she was better off not knowing.

'She did? Cool. And seriously, I'm not mad anymore.' Cynthia Rose is terrible at lying, or pretending that she's not. Currently she's fiddling with the frayed edge of her towel, and is very obviously not meeting Beca's eyes. 'That'd be stupid.'

'Right...' Beca decides not to push the issue; she supposes there must be a reason that she wants to continue this act of pretending not to be angry instead of talking to Beca about it. However, she soon remembers something that she could use to get Cynthia Rose back on her side a bit. 'Oh, by the way,' Beca says, attempting to sound innocent. 'I'm gonna need people to help me choreograph our set when it's finished, so... Do you think you and Stacie would be interested in working on that together...?'

It takes a moment to sink in, but eventually Cynthia Rose grins.

'You play dirty, Mitchell.'

Good luck today, baby. I wish I could be there with you but I know you'll be amazing. xx

Chloe sent that text twenty minutes ago, just as Beca was leaving for practice, but she's sure she's already read it forty times in an effort to calm her nerves. She's been out here for at least five minutes just trying to psych herself up to go in. All the other Bellas are here already, and there doesn't seem to be any discernible reason why she can't get herself to go in... Her legs have just stopped working, as though someone glued her boots to the auditorium's stoop without her knowing. At least that would make sense; this odd paralysis, however, does not. And no matter how much she berates herself or tries to tell herself it'll be okay, she literally can't move.

Just as she's considering calling someone to physically pick her up and drag her inside, her phone chimes. She looks down to see Chloe has sent her another text. Make sure you put either Titanium or Just The Way You Are/Just a Dream in the set list this year! ;) Don't you forget about me, Beca.

The joke makes her chuckle. Just for a moment, it helps to break the spiral she's got herself trapped in; she replies: Thanks, knowing Chloe will understand. And then - before she can talk herself out of it anymore - she throws the door wide open.

'2012 ICCA champions, aca-bitches!' she catcalls with a small tremor in her voice, the door to the auditorium rebounding painfully loud off its frame. They don't seem to care, already cheering raucously upon her entrance - they're all seated in a half circle, waiting for Beca. She grins as she walks into the middle, highfiving each of the girls in turn. 'You guys ready for another year of grueling choreography and last minute sets?!' She'd practised that one outside, and her delivery is over-rehearsed and awkward. Nonetheless, she's gratified when they shout 'Hell yes!' back to her.

Beca stops at the front of the semi-circle, feeling a slight twinge low in her gut when they all gaze back at her expectantly. But there's no reason for her to be worried - all the usual faces are back from last year, with the addition of two new girls. Ashley has highlights and Lilly's gained a nose piercing, but other than that everything's the same - save for the fact she's the one directing the group this time. She glances nervously at Amy, who gives her a big thumbs up and a bracing smile, gesturing for her to take the floor.

She knows these girls, and she knows music. She can do this.

'Right,' says Beca, clapping her hands together to get their attention. She grimaces. That gesture was far too Posen for her liking. 'Unlike last year, we're starting from the beginning - and I'm gonna be honest, guys... I haven't really had time to think of a new arrangement yet.' She gives them all a sheepish shrug, chuckling when they tut and share looks of amused exasperation.

'This is unacceptable, Beca,' Amy says mock-sternly in a dead on impersonation of Aubrey, although the accent wavers a little. 'What kind of captain are you? Just turn in your pitch pipe and go. I can handle it from here.'

Beca pretends to hang her head and hands the pitch pipe over to Amy, who blows a random note. 'I saw the sign!' she sings, deliberately off-key. 'Aww, yeah, bitches! Now who has the power? Bow down to Amy!'

'Our Queen,' Beca deadpans, bowing. 'What is your first command as ruler of the Bellas?'

Amy draws herself up to her full height, adopting a regal stance and wielding the pitch pipe like it's a very tiny sceptre. 'Oh, I dunno,' she says. 'Maybe you worms could fight to the death in exchange for my attention?'

'What is this, The Hunger Games?'

'Ooh, I get to be Jennifer Lawrence!' chimes in Stacie.

'The character is Katniss,' Beca reminds her. 'You can't be Jennifer Lawrence.'

'If she gets Jennifer Lawrence then I get Elizabeth Banks,' says Cynthia Rose. At the weird looks she gets, she shrugs. 'What? She was a fox in that film.'

'I want to be Snow,' whispers Lilly with a small smile, just in ear-shot of Beca and the two new girls, who have remained quiet and confused until this moment. They stare at Lilly, alarmed.

Beca seizes this moment to get them back on track. 'Getting back to actual acapella stuff, though,' says Beca, snatching the pitch pipe back off Amy. She looks put out. 'I figure we use today to throw out ideas, and then start putting together stuff tomorrow. That sound good to you guys?' She scans the room, seeing nods. Her eyes linger on the two new girls who she picked to replace Chloe and Aubrey - Mollie, a mezzo, and Lauren, an alto. Beca tries to remember their auditions a week ago; they were decent, but not a patch on the old captains. The pool of talent to pick from this year had been disappointingly thin.

She smiles at them, nonetheless. It's hesitantly returned by Mollie, but not Lauren, who seems to find scowling at the floor a lot more interesting. Huh. Well, she'll deal with them later; for now she has captain stuff to get on with. Whatever that means. Beca crosses to the whiteboard, and is about to start writing on it when she realises something. 'Oh, crap. No pens… Anyone got one handy?' No one responds, so she shrugs. 'Fine, everyone get out their phones. High tech brainstorming it is.'

She can almost hear Aubrey berating her for not being prepared enough already.

An hour later, they have about twenty different possible song ideas - mostly put forward by Beca herself - but very little else. With many of the Bellas not having had a good catch up session for a while, they keep getting off track and gossiping about random topics that didn't have a lot to do with acapella, such as Stacie's complaining about how lonely her hunter is lately, or Lilly's new YouTube channel where she puts household items in the microwave. Even Amy, who is meant to be Beca's co-captain and help keep them in line, gets caught up in a lively discussion about the pros and cons of dying pubic hair.

Throughout most of practice Beca just stands there, and watches them with a confused look on her face - torn between wanting to pull them back into work but also not wanting to ruin their fun. It was far easier during her brief stint as captain last year when they had a deadline to work to, and because Beca seemed like the cool, laid back one by default next to Aubrey. Beca actually starts to feel a tiny bit more sympathetic for what she and Chloe went through last year, and why she was so highly-strung all the time.

Just a little, though.

Still, although practice drags on with Beca carefully veiling her frustration behind a small smile, eventually it's over. No one seems keen to leave quickly; most of them take their time putting their stuff away and continue chatting to each other. Behind all the gossiping Bellas she sees Mollie and Lauren trying to slip out unnoticed, but she calls them back before they can get out the door. A short but quietly intense squabble erupts between the two of them as Lauren tries to just walk off, but Mollie tugs her back.

'Hey.' Beca greets them, with a stiff wave. The other girls see this them talking but don't get involved; she's thankful for this, not wanting an audience while she tries to actually be a good captain. 'So, how'd you find the first rehearsal?'

Mollie glances at Lauren, who's currently gazing at her black nail polish with overly feigned interest. Beca barely suppresses a disdainful snort. Evidently the more outspoken - or at least, less annoying - of the two, Mollie replies honestly, 'It's a lot of work.'

'Man, you have no idea. Try creating a whole new arrangement and set of choreography for finals in just a month… That's a lot of work.' She feels a little smug at Mollie's awed expression, although Lauren's raised eyebrows suggest she doesn't care in the slightest. 'At least this year we've got time to get it together before Regionals.'

'I saw your performance last year on Youtube - you guys were awesome! You thought so too, didn't you Laur?' She elbows Lauren in the side, who shrugs.

'Whoa, stop, I can't handle so much enthusiasm,' Beca says, the sarcasm dripping into her voice before she can censor herself. Lauren blinks with surprise at the unexpected retort. She points over Lauren's shoulder to the door. 'You know, if you don't wanna to be here, exit's right over there.'

That angers Lauren, fixing Beca with a fierce expression. 'I didn't want to be here,' she hisses. 'The only reason I auditioned is because of Mollie.' Her gaze turns to the girl in question, still angry, but markedly less so. 'I'll be outside.'

As Lauren storms away, Mollie winces. 'I'm sorry about her,' Mollie says, fiddling with her fingers. 'She can be a little...'

'Bitchy?'

The comment could easily be taken the wrong way, but thankfully Mollie laughs. Beca really needs to work on her filter. 'I think "hot-tempered" is more accurate... She doesn't mean anything by it, though.'

'Hm.' Beca is unconvinced. 'Maybe not, but can you get her to lay off the sulky five year old act next time? We're a team and she's going to throw off that dynamic if she carries on.' Wow, she really is starting to channel Aubrey now. Thankfully Beca's phone buzzes suddenly in her pocket, offering her a convenient way out of this conversation and her sudden realisation that yes, she's beginning to take the acapella world seriously.

She takes it out, looks at the text, and grins. She's starting to believe Chloe is secretly psychic, because her timing has been impeccable today. 'Hey, you want to meet one of the co-captains from last year?'

When she makes her way outside, followed closely by Mollie, she spies Chloe rushing up the path. Her face brightens up as soon as she sees Beca. 'Hey!' She gets a brief warning in the form of Chloe's hands resting on her shoulders before she throws her arms around Beca, rocking her back and forth. She looks excited. 'How's practice going? Did you guys get a lot done? Were the Bellas mean to you?' She narrows her eyes at the girls.

'Ask them yourselves,' she says, blushing a little at the way some of the Bellas are smirking, given that Chloe still has her in her arms and isn't letting go. In fact, rather than doing that in order to talk to the Bellas, she sort of spins them both around so she's now facing the others. Over Chloe's shoulder Beca notices Lauren staring at them, her brow furrowed.

'Ah, Chlo, I just dunno what to tell you,' says Cynthia Rose, shaking her head mournfully. 'It all just went downhill after Beca forgot her whiteboard pen…'

'Yeah Chloe, Shorty just isn't pulling her weight,' Amy says. 'We're going to have to take her scarf... But maybe you should punish her instead. If ya know what I mean.' She makes a whipping noise followed by a lewd spanking gesture that makes Stacie snigger.

'Yes, Amy, we all knew what you meant. And fuck you, guys, I'm awesome.' Beca removes herself from Chloe's arms, but doesn't stray far. 'Stop trying to get me in trouble with my girlfriend.'

'She's your girlfriend?' Lauren pipes up, surprising them all. Beca's hackles immediately rise at the scepticism in the girl's tone. Surprisingly, it's Chloe who speaks first.

'Yeah, she is,' says Chloe proudly. 'And she's a damn good one at that.' She lets go of Beca and approaches Lauren. 'You're one of the newbies, aren't you? Lauren? And Mollie,' she adds, smiling at the other girl.

'Yes,' Lauren replies, looking grudgingly impressed that Chloe seems to know her name already.

'It's nice to meet you. I hope you have a good time here with the Bellas.' She reaches out her hand to Lauren, which makes Beca raise an eyebrow; a year ago Chloe probably would have hugged her, whether she wanted it or not. As it is, Lauren gazes at the hand as though it's going to bite her, until Mollie clears her throat; then she reluctantly shakes it once, letting go as quickly as possible. Afterwards, she quickly folds her arms and adopts an aloof expression, but it's slightly ruined by the slight tinge of red entering her cheeks. Beca snorts; Chloe tends to have that effect on people. Chloe is unaffected by this display, shaking Mollie's hand as well. When she turns back to Beca, though, she can tell by her amused expression that she's thinking the same thing Beca is.

'Alright, guys,' Beca calls, realising she only has about half an hour before she's due down at the station, and she'd like to spend at least a little time with Chloe first. 'Same time tomorrow. Come back with actual ideas this time, alright?'

The other Bellas slowly filter away, some staying to chat briefly to Chloe and Beca. She gets a few thumps on the back and 'Good practice, Beca!' as the girls leave, though, which pleases her and puts a smile on Chloe's face. As soon as Beca's sure they're all out of earshot, she slumps against the wall, head in her hands. 'Typical,' Beca mutters, 'I get two new girls and one comes with a goddamn attitude.'

Chloe giggles. She steps into Beca's space, pulling her unresisting girlfriend forward into her arms and pressing lips to her temple. 'Hm... You know who she reminds me of, right?' she asks teasingly into Beca's ear.

'If you say me, Chloe, I swear to God…'

'You can't pretend the similarities aren't there!'

Beca snorts. 'No way was I that bitchy when I joined. Pretty sure I participated without making a fuss.'

'Except where Aubrey's set list was concerned,' says Chloe, her lips twitching, 'yeah, you were the epitome of enthusiasm.'

'Oh, shut up with your big words. Us lowly savages can only grunt and scratch our heads in your presence.'

'"Epitome" is not a big word,' Chloe tells her. 'And anyway, I'm sure you'll talk her around.'

'Are you kidding? Mollie seems to be the only one she listens to.'

'That sounds familiar too,' Chloe says, grinning. Beca shakes her head.

'So, anyway, you gonna tell me why you're so happy and why you're here?' she says. 'I'm guessing it's good news.'

Chloe grins broadly again, seizing Beca's hands. 'Well, I went back to the old coffee shop I used to work at a while back -'

'You worked in a coffee shop?' Beca frowns. 'You never told me that.'

'It was before I met you.' It always weirds Beca out a little to think of Chloe having a life before her, but of course she's had a whole three years of college without Beca. And yet somehow she's still here, dating this sophomore who can barely turn up to her classes - the thought blows her mind sometimes. 'I only worked there for a year, before I joined the Bellas. Anyway, my old boss is still there and she gave me my old job back on the spot!' She squeals and starts bouncing up and down, but stops when she notices Beca isn't. 'Why aren't you excited?'

'Oh, sorry.' Beca does a few perfunctory hops just to placate her, but Chloe is not convinced.

'What's the matter?' she asks. 'You don't seem too happy for me.'

'I am happy for you.'

'But?'

'But...' Beca hesitates. 'I'm just a bit confused. What happened to your interview this morning? For the managerial role?'

For the first time since she arrived, Chloe's smile slips a bit and the light behind her eyes dulls. But she plays it off like nothing with a flippant wave of her hand. 'Oh, yeah, that didn't work out. They said I wasn't experienced enough. But who cares, right?' she says brightly. 'At least I have an actual job now!'

'But you don't you think working in a coffee shop is a little beneath you?' Beca asks worriedly. 'Chlo, you graduated in like the top percentage of your class...'

When Chloe puts her hands on her hips, Beca immediately knows she's put her foot in it somehow. 'Well, what else do you expect me to do?' There's a slight tinge of red in her cheeks now. 'I need some way to pay the bills, and I've hardly got job offers flying at me from every direction.'

'Okay, sorry,' replies Beca, putting her hands up in front of her in a gesture of peace. 'If that's what you gotta do, then go for it it. I'll support you whatever.' She smiles hopefully at Chloe, who eventually returns it, much to Beca's relief. 'Thanks for coming here to see me, by the way. Means a lot.'

That makes her smile widen, and she hooks her fingers in Beca's belt loops to pull her closer. 'Of course. It sounds like you did a really good job today. I'm proud of you.' Chloe kisses Beca on the nose; she scrunches it up, pretending it grosses her out.

'You're mushy, Beale.'

She giggles, and kisses Beca on the nose once more. 'You love it. Hey... How long do you have until your shift?'

'About fifteen minutes.'

Chloe grins. 'I can work with that.' Before Beca has a chance to ask what that means, Chloe shoves her back lightly against the door of the auditorium. She ignores Beca's half-hearted splutters with a murmured, 'Shh,' and a kiss that successfully breaks any concentration Beca once had.

'Please, just no more marks,' Beca says faintly, hanging on for dear life as Chloe's lips break away to graze her jawline. 'Jesse made fun of me last time you did that.'

'No promises.'

'Chloe -'

'Beca,' says Chloe in her ear, voice low and just husky enough to make Beca's eyes pop out of her head... And convince her that Chloe is an evil genius who is going to make her late for her shift, again.

'Finally,' Jesse huffs, when Beca eventually arrives at the station, red in the face and rather dishevelled. Oblivious to this, he stamps his feet and rubs his bare arms furiously to try and get some warmth back into them; he's only wearing a t-shirt, so goosebumps have risen all over his skin. 'Luke hasn't arrived yet - I've been freezing my balls off out here for ages.'

'It's only September, you pussy.' Beca is surprised to hear that Luke isn't around. He's usually the most punctual of all of them. 'Where is he then?'

'No idea.' He looks pointedly at the door, so Beca sighs and roots through her bag to find her keys. The scoff he lets out when Beca retrieves them is nothing new; Jesse's still mostly relegated to stacking CDs, while Beca has her own set of keys to open the station when Luke's not around. It's been several months since she got them, but occasionally Jesse still acts sore about it. As soon as she gets the door open he shoots through it, shivering exaggeratedly and whining to himself.

'I'm buying you a scarf for your birthday,' she tells him in disgust. 'If you get cold that easily, wear a coat, idiot.'

Now he's a little warmer, Jesse is more amenable to talking. 'Well, I didn't know Luke wasn't going to be here, did I? I thought I'd be all nice and toasty inside by now.'

'I wonder where he is,' says Beca. 'Have you called him?'

'Only a million times.'

Beca checks her own phone - nothing from Luke for her, either. Jesse, watching her do this, comments, 'Oh, he's not contacted you either? I thought you two were best buds or something. Wasn't he going to be godfather of your future children?'

She scowls up at him. 'Don't be a dick. You know full well he gave me the keys because he wanted me to lock up after night shifts. It made sense to give me my own set.'

'I was only kidding, Be-caw.'

'Yeah, well, it's not getting any funnier,' she replies. She sets her bag down on the table before unlocking the booth to switch the computers on; when she comes back out, Jesse has his arms folded and one eyebrow raised.

'You seem grumpy,' he says. 'Something wrong?'

Sensing this is an olive branch, Beca decides not to bite his head off about the "grumpy" comment. It would just prove his point anyway. 'I just came from practice. I could hardly get them to focus and one of the new girls seems like she's going to be a major pain in my ass.'

'You mean like you were for Aubrey?' The look she fixes him with is decidedly unamused. Jesse smiles, sitting down on one of the tables. 'Yeah, I know the feeling. I'm lucky I've got Donald to help out, otherwise I'd have no clue what the hell I was doing.'

Beca nods along at first, but then startles when the full implications of this sentence sink in. 'Wait, you're captain now? When did that happen?'

'Co-captain.' He frowns. 'I told you that ages ago. And you saw me at auditions!'

'Oh... I must've missed that,' she says sheepishly.

'Hm,' he says, putting a finger to his chin pensively. 'Do you think that's because Chloe came to the auditions?'

'Don't be like that. She's my girlfriend,' Beca points out. 'Of course I'm going to pay attention to her.'

'Well, yeah, but sometimes you forget other people exist.'

Beca, rather offended by this comment, opens her mouth to bite back. However, they are interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and both of their heads whip around to see who it is. 'You're late,' Beca and Jesse chorus, as Luke stumbles in. He just rolls his eyes at the two of them, flipping them off with two fingers. He looks unusually dishevelled, as though he hasn't slept for several days; his usually immaculately combed hair is standing on end and his face is pale.

'Yeah, yeah, you've had your eyeful. Get back to work,' Luke snaps.

'He looks... Happy,' Beca comments watching through the window as Luke storms into the booth and slams the door behind him.

Jesse glances up from the CDs he grabbed in an attempt to look busy. 'Like always, you mean?'

'I'm gonna go check on him,' says Beca, ignoring Jesse's long-suffering sigh. When she opens the door to the booth, Luke's bent over the computer, scowling at something on the screen.

'No freshmen in the booth,' he says automatically as Beca steps inside.

'You can't use that line on me now - I'm a sophomore.' Luke just grunts, sitting down heavily in his desk chair and rubbing his temples. Beca eyes his slumped posture with some concern. 'You okay, dude?'

A crease appears in the middle of Luke's brow. 'Yeah. Fine. Ugh, have you seen my headphones? Can't find them anywhere.'

'Yeah, you really seem fine,' says Beca sarcastically. She spies the headphones on the table just behind Luke; she grabs them and is about to hand them over, but at the last minute pulls them back out of reach. 'Wait. Tell me what's going on first.'

'Becky, stop playing around. Give me them already.'

'Tell me,' she insists.

Luke sighs in defeat, throwing his hands up. 'It's nothing, okay? Just some family stuff.'

That distracts Beca momentarily, long enough that Luke can leap up and seize his precious Beats back from Beca. 'What do you mean, family stuff?'

'Just some drama. It'll blow over.' He puts his headphones on, already spinning round in his chair so he's facing away from her. 'And if you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it anymore,' says Luke, already loading up programs on his computer. Beca nods, a little put out, but leaves anyway.

'So what's up?' asks Jesse, almost as soon as Beca's shut the door behind her. She quirks an eyebrow, having assumed Jesse wouldn't be interested - but apparently he's more worried than he let on.

'"Family stuff",' Beca replies, with added finger quotes. When Jesse's eyes widen, Beca nods grimly. 'My thoughts exactly. I'm seriously hoping that doesn't mean what I think it does.'

'Is it likely to be a problem, though? I mean, it's not like Luke's sister and Chloe are in contact... Are they?' he adds doubtfully when Beca frowns.

'Not that I know of. She probably would've told me if they were, right?' She bites her lip, running a worried hand through her hair. 'I dunno, dude - she hardly talks about what went on between them since that one time. And I don't bring it up.'

'I'm sure it's fine,' Jesse reassures her. 'I mean, Luke cares about Chloe. If it was going to affect her I'm sure he'd tell you.'

'Should I let Chloe know?'

'Maybe. She might appreciate the heads up in case Kate tries to speak to her.'

Beca shrugs helplessly, turning away. 'Well, what if I'm wrong and it's something to do with his parents? I don't want to worry Chloe.' She grabs a hefty stack of CDs, stuffing them roughly back into the bookcase.

She can feel Jesse's eyes on her, and knows that he's thinking. She waits for his inevitable question with her back turned, and eventually it comes in a quiet voice: 'You think she's planning something?'

Beca's shoulders slump. 'I don't know. I hope not,' she says. 'But... One thing is for sure. If she comes anywhere near Chloe, she'll regret it.'

'Spoken like a true badass,' Jesse teases. But he still pats her on the shoulder and offers her a small smile; and as he lifts some of the CDs to the higher shelves that she can't reach, she can't help but feel pretty glad he's here right now and that they're friends. That is, until he says innocently, 'So, I see you've seen Chloe recently,' with a knowing smirk. She looks at him blankly for a moment, and then he fingers his collar; it all clicks into place.

And then it's back to blushing bright red and walking off into the stacks in a huff, with the sound of his chortles to torment her all the way.

Goddammit, Chloe.