A/N: Agh. Guys, I'm so sorry this took so long to get up. Suffice to say the last three weeks or so have been a mess on my end - more illness (third time this semester), other health scares (which nothing came of thankfully), uni stuff, blah blah. It was a bit of struggle to get this chapter done, but it's here now. I really wanted to get it up, mostly so I could explain what's been going on.

Also on that note... I hate to do this on the back of an apology about being late, but I think it might be necessary for me to take a semi-hiatus, or at least abandon any high-faluting wishes about posting every week. I'm running out of buffer and we're starting to get into the real thick of the plot so I need some time to make sure the most difficult bits coming later are written properly and not rushed. So for a bit I'll probably focus on doing that and my buffer, and if I can post a chapter soon I will. But don't worry, I am NOT abandoning this fic, merely trying to balance my determination to finish it with, you know, not killing myself at the same time.

Thanks for your understanding guys!

Can I see you today? I want to show you something

Sorry, Beca... I'd love to, but I'm working :( x

Again?

Yep, that's kind of what you have to do with a job x

But you've been working every day this week. I thought today was your day off?

I had to swap some shifts around to get this weekend off since Aubrey's coming. It's only temporary, baby, I'm sorry - I'll try and clear some time for you, I promise x

Will you, though?

:/ What's that supposed to mean? Of course I will.

Nothing, never mind. See you when I see you, I guess.

With a resigned sigh, Beca throws her phone back onto her bed and leans back in her desk chair. She really wanted Chloe to see this, but it looks like she will have to wait.

It took a while for the files to upload, being quite heavy sound files being uploaded on a less-than-brilliant internet connection, but now it's done. For the first time, she's looking at an upload on Youtube and Soundcloud - made by her. She'd picked some random photoherself looking moody (or soulful, in her eyes) and added a grayscale filter in Photoshop to serve as the video's backgrund, something Chloe would no doubt find amusing.

There are no views yet, of course, but maybe some day there will be.

Once it was done she had sent texts to Jesse and Luke (who replied with similar messages of enthusiasm and congratulations). She even contemplated posting a link to it on Facebook for her friends to see - but first she wants to show Chloe. In person. She wants to see Chloe's eyes light up in excitement when she takes it in; to tell her she's proud of Beca; to hug her and say this is a great step forward in her career.

Vaguely, she wonders when they became such a co-dependent couple that she can't even manage to do something for her own career without Chloe's input. Is that healthy? Maybe not. Beca isn't even sure that she cares.

Besides, it's normal to miss your girlfriend when you suddenly go from seeing and talking to them almost every day to them suddenly being AWOL half the week, isn't it? It's not at all weird to wish they were around to share things with, especially big events in your life.

Is it normal to visit your girlfriend at her workplace when you haven't seen her for days? Or would some people see that as being needy?

It's normal, Beca decides, mostly because that's why she's already putting her coat on and heading outside. Screw normalcy - she and Chloe were never an average couple anyway.

Chloe is indeed working when Beca enters the shop, so at least she was telling the truth and not simply trying to get out of meeting with Beca. Then again, even if she was not working it rather looks as though Chloe ought to have been having a nap instead; even from her position at the door Beca can see the dark rings beneath Chloe's eyes that seem to be deepening every day.

All the same, she appears to be putting on a fairly convincing persona of cheerfulness for the customer she's serving now. Beca watches from out of sight as Chloe hands over the drink with a smile and a warm goodbye. Then, when the customer is gone, just for a moment she shuts her eyes and lets out an inaudible sigh. After a moment, however, it's gone, and she greets the next customer with no less cheerfulness.

Chloe's obviously made for retail, Beca thinks. She probably would have punched most of these customers by now if she'd been working here. She holds a silent prayer of thanks that she works down at the radio station, which seems like heaven compared to what Chloe has to do all day.

When finally Beca approaches the counter, it's with raised eyebrows since Chloe doesn't seem to have noticed her presence yet. 'What can I get you?' asks Chloe, not looking Beca's way for a moment because she's closing the cash register.

'A caramel macchiato,' answers Beca (it took her the whole morning to come up with this one), 'and your number, babe.'

Chloe's head shoots up, offended - but then her eyes brighten up as soon as she sees who it is. She bursts out laughing. 'Beca! What're you doing here?!'

'I'm here for my caffeine, barista!' says Beca, snapping her fingers. She's grinning too; Chloe's laugh is infectious. 'Make it snappy.'

Chloe rolls her eyes. 'Very funny.'

'Seriously, though, I really need caffeine. Today feels like it's going on forever.'

'You and me both, Bec. Seeing your face has been the only good part about this day, ' says Chloe with a sigh. At Beca's look of concern, she shakes her head. 'I'll tell you about it later.' She glances back over her shoulder to the clock on the wall. 'Actually, I'm on break in twenty minutes - think you can wait til then for your caffeine addiction?'

'Wait? For coffee?' Beca pretends to look scandalised, but she's never been very good at keeping a straight face when Chloe's giving her that fond but mildly exasperated look. 'I suppose I could. Only for you, though.'

'How gallant of you,' Chloe teases, until someone in the line coughs pointedly. Beca glares at them. 'Oh, shoot. I'd better get back to work. See you in a bit, Beca.'

She waves to Chloe, making sure to knock into the woman behind her accidentally-on-purpose as she heads to a table towards the back. Beca sits down with her headphones and starts working on a mix - she's been planning one to give to Chloe as a gift for Christmas, since it's been a while since she made one personally for her girlfriend. Most of the next twenty-five minutes is spent tracking down various stems she can use for this mix - she wants it to be composed of all of Chloe's favourite songs - and it's easy to get lost in the process. It feels so different to working on mixes for Luke to play or for the Bellas. Here, she's only working on something that she wants to, which she knows will make Chloe happy.

She doesn't even notice it's gone way over the time Chloe said she'd be on her break, until movement in the corner of her eye catches her attention. She pulls off her headphones and looks up to investigate.

Up at the counter, Chloe appears to be in the middle of a rather loud altercation with a man, at least on his part since he seems to be arguing with her about something - complete with brandishing arms and violent gestures at the take-away cup he's currently holding. The look on Chloe's face immediately makes Beca's hackles raise; quietly, she packs away her laptop and headphones. She then approaches carefully, pretending to line up in such a way that she can eavesdrop without it being obvious that's what she's doing.

'I'm a busy man,' the man is ranting. 'And you are wasting my time! All I wanted was some coffee, and it's lukewarm!'

Beca edges a little closer.

'I'm sorry, sir,' says Chloe. Her voice is very even, but to Beca she seems like she might cry at any moment. 'As I explained to you before, we're having some, ah - technical difficulties.' She throws a sideways glance at another employee standing nearby. The sheepish look on her face explains very well what "technical difficulties" means.

'Do you think I care about your excuses? Just make it again for me, and I don't care who does it.' He shoves the drink back in her hand. 'And do it properly this time. I don't have time for your incompetence!'

Some of the liquid spills over Chloe's fingers as he pushes it back at her; Beca knows it's lukewarm, from the guy's rants, but seeing Chloe look so upset just sets off whatever switch it is that makes her do impulsive things in Beca. Call it protectiveness, or stupidity - whatever it is makes her tap on the shoulder of this guy about twice her height and weight and put a hand on her hip with way more confidence than she actually feels. He turns to look at her scathingly - frowning a bit when he has to look far lower down than anticipated - but she sets her jaw and glares up at the man. 'Do you mind?' she asks peevishly. 'She's not your damn slave, dude.'

Chloe, who has just noticed Beca is there, starts shaking her head violently at Beca. 'Beca,' she hisses. 'Please, don't...'

'Who the hell are you?' asks the man, taken aback. 'Do you work here?'

The question stumps Beca, her aggressive stance slipping for a moment. 'What? No, of course not.'

'If you work here, tell your colleagues to stop being so useless -' he throws a nasty look back in Chloe's direction - 'and make my drink again for me. Properly, this time. I have a business meeting in ten minutes and I can't be late.'

'No - look, I don't work here, asshole!' exclaims Beca. 'I don't give a shit about your coffee, just stop being a dickbag to my girlfriend!'

His face twists in an ugly sneer. He may not get it into his thick skull that Beca doesn't even work here, but he can certainly tell Beca is being belligerent. 'I'm going to report you to corporate,' he says, thrusting his finger in Beca's face. 'Neither of you will work here ever again!'

He snatches his drink back from Chloe (who's been holding it loosely in her hand while she watches the scene in horror) and promptly throws the contents in Beca's face.

As it hits - most of it going in her eyes, unfortunately - Beca hears Chloe gasp, followed by the door slamming.

Regardless of its tepid temperature, the embarrassment of having a cup of coffee thrown in your face still stings a hell of a lot. She wipes her face with her forearm, shaking off some of the drips; from between gritted teeth, she mutters, 'Fucking asshole.' When her vision returns, she notices some of the other patrons are blatantly watching and whispering amongst themselves. Her face heats up.

Chloe comes around the side of the counter and takes her hand. 'Come on,' says Chloe quietly. 'We need to clean you up.' She calls to the other employee from earlier: 'I'm going on break, Leslie.'

Leslie does not protest, probably because the whole thing was her fault in the first place. She shoots Beca an apologetic look as Chloe tugs her past into the bathroom, where she grabs some paper towels. After wetting them in the sink, she carefully begins wiping the coffee from Beca's face with them. Meanwhile, Beca's humiliation has managed to team up with her anger about how Chloe was treated, and has resulted in a steady stream of swears and insults towards the guy's mother under her breath.

'That guy was a jerk,' Beca is muttering furiously. 'He never should've been talking to you like that. Fucking douchebag - who does he think he is? Fucking asshole.' She keeps up this violent diatribe under her voice as Chloe cleans her face and neck. Luckily her hair isn't wet, but this shirt is probably ruined. 'And he ruined my clothes. I liked this shirt.' She waits for Chloe to laugh, but none comes; Beca picks up on Chloe's lack of response quickly. 'Are ... you okay?' asks Beca.

'No,' is Chloe's blunt reply.

'What's wrong?'

'Are you really asking that?' Is it just Beca, or can she sense an edge in Chloe's voice? 'A customer just yelled at me for someone else's mistake, and then threw coffee in your face, Beca. What do you think is wrong?'

'Well, you know me,' Beca jokes, trying to lighten the mood. 'I miss the obvious sometimes.'

'For God's sake, Beca.' Chloe's brow furrows, and she rubs at the coffee staining Beca's collar just a little too hard. Beca winces and pulls back.

'Okay, why is it you're getting mad at me for all this?'

'I'm not mad,' says Chloe, despite the fact that she sounds rather mad indeed. 'I just don't know why you had to get involved. That's all.' When Beca looks perplexed, Chloe pinches the bridge of her nose. 'Look, I ... I could handle it. I didn't need you to step in for me.'

Beca frowns. 'I know.'

'So why did you?'

'I was defending you,' says Beca, as though it's obvious. It is to her. 'Isn't that what I'm meant to do?'

'I didn't need defending.'

'I know. But someone needed to tell him he was out of line, and if you'd done that you probably would've gotten fired, right? I know how retail doesn't like you telling people they're pieces of shit, even if they are.'

'I can handle things alone, Beca,' Chloe snaps. 'I don't need help. Especially not here - I know how to handle customers, and I know how to do my job. Okay?'

The anger in Chloe's voice makes Beca's heart squeeze. Beca still isn't quite sure what she did wrong - she had thought standing up for Chloe would've been the right thing to do, but apparently not. Beca immediately takes a small step backwards, away from Chloe, and crosses her arms across her chest.

She tries to reason with herself: Chloe is obviously having a bad day - an extremely bad one - because Chloe on a normal day would never act like this. It's not a sign that Chloe's gotten sick of her, or wants to leave her, just that she's feeling crappy. Beca briefly considers arguing back, or saying something in her defence, but to be honest Chloe being angry at her like this just makes her feel sad.

'Right,' Beca says in the end, her voice small. 'Sorry.'

She sees Chloe swallow at that, and some of the vehemence in her expression fades away to be replaced by something much more melancholy. But a knock on the door interrupts before she can say anything. 'Chloe?' comes a voice from outside. 'It's Leslie. Martin says your break is almost up and you need to get back out there.'

'Already? I swear it's only been like five minutes.'

'It's just what he told me to tell you.'

Chloe rubs her forehead, sighing deeply. 'Okay... Be there in a sec.' Chloe calls. She glances at Beca for a moment, something akin to guilt on her face, before she reaches for the door handle.

'I uploaded my stuff on Youtube,' Beca blurts out suddenly, just before she can leave. 'And Soundcloud. That's what I wanted you to see.'

This unexpected statement only seems to confuse Chloe, who stops and looks back at her. Beca can see the struggle play out on her face between upholding the tension and her anger from the last few minutes, and letting it go so she can congratulate Beca. In the end she says, 'That's... That's great.' But it doesn't quite meet her eyes. 'Um... I have to go...'

She practically runs out of the door, then. No hug. No kiss. Not even a goodbye. Beca never really thought she'd miss any of that stuff if it didn't happen. But apparently, people change.

Are you still at work?

Can you call me soon please?

It's past five. You should be done by now. Can you at least text me?

Chloe. To be honest, I really have no idea what happened between us earlier, but... I know I upset you somehow. So I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to. Can you call when you get this though? I haven't heard from you since I left the shop and I'm starting to get a bit worried. Hope you're okay.

Cynthia Rose is certainly popular today, Beca can't help thinking, with more than a touch of bitternes.. Her phone keeps going off every few minutes. Every time it goes off, Cynthia Rose pauses whatever she's working on right now to answer it, sometimes with a little laugh and a shake of the head. Meanwhile, Beca has had a total of zero responses to the texts she's sent Chloe this evening, even after she apologised. It's more than a little annoying to leap for her phone every time she hears a buzz, only for it to be Cynthia Rose's phone instead.

How has everything gone so wrong, so quickly? And what did she even do that messed everything up? When she pictures situations in which her relationship would disintegrate in front of her eyes (and she has pictured it a lot), it usually consists of Chloe getting fed up after Beca does something wrong, and leaving her. But here... Beca isn't even sure what she did wrong. Chloe is upset because Beca made her feel like she couldn't handle the situation - right. Got that. Only, Beca had good intentions at heart.

Surely standing up for your girlfriend is way better than just waiting on the sidelines on the idiot while someone shouts abuse at her? Apparently Chloe doesn't think so.

In any case, she won't be doing that again in a hurry.

Cynthia Rose's voice brings Beca sharply out of her ruminations. 'You okay there, B?' she says, a weird look on her face. 'Only, uh, you're staring.'

'Oh, sorry,' says Beca weakly, realising she's just been gazing at Cynthia Rose the entire time she was thinking. She rolls onto her back. 'I just zoned out.'

'Something the matter?'

'Oh... I dunno. Maybe.' She waits, but Cynthia Rose doesn't ask; she's too busy reading another text. 'Chloe and I had an argument.'

'Really?' she asks, pressing "send" on the text. 'What about?'

'Well, maybe argument is a strong word. But she did kind of yell at me...' Beca explains the situation to her in between Cynthia Rose checking her phone, feeling a little embarrassed when she gets to the part where she decides to stand up for her girlfriend and only received a cup of coffee in the face as thanks. Cynthia Rose frowns over at Beca.

'That doesn't sound like Chloe. Normally she's all bouncy, sunshine and daisies.'

Beca shakes her head. 'No. She's usually like that, but when Chloe gets angry, she really gets angry. I know that from experience.'

'It seems like a weird thing to get upset at you about, though,' says Cynthia Rose. 'You were only trying to help.'

'Right? Except she saw it as me acting like she couldn't handle the situation... I think something was definitely up beyond what I did,' says Beca, after a moment. 'Or at least, I kinda hope so. Is that weird?'

'Nah. You're probably right. Have you spoken to her since?'

'No,' says Beca sadly. 'She hasn't replied to any of my texts.'

Cynthia Rose whistles. 'Damn. There must be something really wrong. You guys are always texting.'

'Not today, apparently.' As if on cue, Cynthia Rose's phone chimes, annoying Beca even more. 'Who are you texting constantly today, anyway?'

She blinks at Beca, as though confused what she's asking about, but then - 'Oh. Uh, Lauren.'

'Lauren? As in, our Lauren?'

'Do we know any other Laurens?' Cynthia Rose shrugs.

'What? What the hell could you be talking to Lauren about?' says Beca, barely hiding her disgust.

'We're just talking about college. It's fun.' Beca must be pulling some sort of face, because Cynthia Rose rolls her eyes. 'Look, she's really not that bad when you get to know her. I got to talking to her at the Riff Off, got her number, we've been talking a bit ever since.'

'No, it's not that.'

'Then what?'

'Well, she's not...' Beca bites her lip. 'Lauren's not gay. You do know that, right?'

It's the wrong thing to say; Cynthia Rose's expression turns dark. 'I can just be friends with someone, you know,' Cynthia Rose snaps. 'What, you think just because I've been with a few girls this semester that I want to bang everyone I see?'

'Whoa.' Beca holds her hands up. 'Slow down. That really wasn't what I was saying. It's more that... Well, what about Stacie?'

'What about her?' says Cynthia Rose moodily. 'It's not like we actually had anything going on.'

'Did something happen between the two of you? You were still all hung up over her back at the sleepover.'

Cynthia Rose's lip curls. 'You know, B, you can be kinda nosy sometimes.'

Beca is stung by this. 'Wow. Okay. I get the picture.' Beca finally crawls out of her bed, reaching for her laptop so she can at least pretend to work on mixes. Why is everyone snapping at her today? 'I'll leave you to it. Say hi to Lauren from me.'

'Will do,' says Cynthia Rose grumpily. She promptly rolls onto her side, away from Beca.

Beca watches her for a few moments, and then shoots off another text.

Please call me soon, Chlo. I really just need this day to end, and for everything to go back to normal. Like it was before.

Please.

No diggity...

Beca groans in displeasure, reaching under her pillow to find the infernal object. It's after a minute of actually trying to find her pillow that she realises she's not even in her bed, and it then takes another few seconds to see that she fell asleep at her desk and her phone is on the floor. She just about registers Chloe's name and face on the display of her phone before puts it to her ear and says drowsily, 'Hello?'

'Beca?'

'Chlo?' she says, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Her computer display as it's three in the morning. Across the room, Cynthia Rose's bed is empty. When did she leave? 'Jesus, I've been texting all evening and you pick now to call me?'

Chloe's breath on the line is loud and audible, and when she speaks her voice has a rather nasal quality. 'I know, I'm really sorry... I-I've barely slept and I just needed to hear your voice for a bit... I'm sorry, I'll let you go back to sleep -'

'Wait, come back.' Slowly things are starting to become more coherent in Beca's brain. At the very least has the presence of mind to know letting Chloe hang up the phone right now - even if Beca really wants to go back to sleep - is not a good idea. 'Don't hang up. What's going on?'

There's a pause, and then the unmistakeable sound of Chloe beginning to cry. 'Everything - I don't know what to do, Beca, everything hurts right now...'

'Everything hurts?' Beca echoes, confused. 'What hurts? Did you fall? What?'

'No - I mean my head, and my stomach... I think I'm sick...?'

Finally all the cogs slot into place. Beca swears; she jumps to her feet and nearly falls over when she gets her left foot tangled in the cord of her headphones, but she manages to hop to safety. 'Okay, are you at home?'

Chloe sniffs. 'Yeah.'

'Right, I'll be over in twenty.'

'What? No,' says Chloe, sounding aghast. 'It's the middle of the night.'

'I don't care,' responds Beca firmly. 'Let me get dressed and then I'll call you again when I'm outside your apartment.' She hangs up before Chloe can argue back with her. She starts getting dressed in yesterday's clothes quickly, struggling a little bit given that her coordination still isn't the best from the lack of sleep, and the only light is the thin line breaking through the curtains. Mentally she runs through everything she needs: clothes, her phone, room key... Chloe's key. If Chloe's sick, she needs to be in bed, not jumping up to unlock the door for Beca.

But where the hell is Chloe's key? She's not used it for a few days. It could be anywhere.

A quick pat down of her jeans and the jacket she wore the other day proves fruitless. Beca growls in frustration and starts looking down the side of her bed, which seems to be where everything else she's lost ends up: she finds a stick of Chapstick, a dollar worth of change, and even a scarf she thought she'd lost a month ago. But no key.

It's just as she's pulling on her coat that the door opens, and Cynthia Rose steps through. She startles when she sees the state of the room, and that Beca is up and rampaging around it; she looks rather worse for the wear as well, but Beca has slightly different priorities right now. 'What's going on?'

'Chloe's sick,' Beca answers, now beginning to dismantle her bed. 'Have you seen my key to Chloe's apartment anywhere? I need to get over there, like right now.'

'Chloe's? Wait - you're not going to walk all the way there in the dark, are you?'

'Well, what else do you suggest?' Beca asks, still pulling her sheets off. 'None of the buses that go to hers are running this time of night.' Shit, shit shit, It's not here either. 'And she sounded really bad on the phone - I don't know what's wrong with her, but I have to get over there somehow -'

She's losing control, she knows that, and the sudden squeezing tightness in her chest only exacerbates her anxiety. Sensing Beca has crossed some threshold of panic, Cynthia Rose crosses over to her and takes her by the shoulders.

'Hey, hey. Calm down, Beca,' she says firmly. 'B, it's fine. We can get over there - I'll take you.'

When that sentence finally parses itself in her brain, Beca starts, mangled pillow clutched in one fist. 'What? You can drive?'

'Of course? Who doesn't?' Beca just looks at her, and she rolls her eyes. 'Oh, right. You. Anyway, yeah, I can totally drive you there.'

Beca bites her lip, touched. Her heart begins to slow. 'Really? You'd do that for me?'

'Sure,' replies Cynthia Rose. 'You've been upset all day about Chloe, and I figure if she's calling you this early in the morning, then there's gotta be something wrong. And I also figure you're gonna go no matter what... So might as well make sure you don't get murdered on the way, right?'

Maybe it's the fact it's early morning, but for some reason Beca feels tears stinging her eyes, and a need to hug someone other than Chloe for the first time in her life. But she can't quite muster up the nerve, so instead she just gapes unattractively. , 'Dude... Thanks.'

'You can pay me back with a solo sometime.' She snatches up her car keys from her desk, and after a moment, picks up Beca's key from the floor with a smirk. She throws it to Beca, who catches it with clumsy fingers. 'C'mon, let's go see what's up with your girl.'

Once she's in the car, Beca texts Chloe on the way to tell her that she's getting a ride from Cynthia Rose. However, none of her messages are getting responses now. Cynthia Rose glances at Beca her as she drives, chewing on her lower lip. 'What do you think is going on, then?'

'I don't know,' says Beca with a sigh, leaning her head back against the headrest. 'She said she thought she was sick, but I don't have anything else to go on.'

'You think it has anything to do with how she acted earlier? Also, do I go left here?'

'Yep.' Cynthia Rose swings left violently, causing Beca to have to hold onto her chair for dear life. Once she isn't scared she's going to fly through the windscreen, she says, 'I dunno. Maybe? She's been more tired and stressed out than usual, but I don't know why.'

'Maybe she's burnt herself out,' suggests Cynthia Rose. 'She seems like she's busy all the time.'

'Yeah... She is.'

Beca takes a breath, running her fingers through her hair. She probably looks a state right now, but she would've looked worse if she'd tried to walk. Considering that Beca has see her breath in front of her, even in Cynthia Rose's car, she's pretty grateful she didn't try that. 'Does she talk to you guys much?'

'Nope. Not seen her besides the sleepover. Does she still talk to Aubrey?'

'Yeah, they Skype all the time. Although actually,' says Beca, suddenly realising, 'I haven't seen any calls in the last week or so. That's weird. At one point they were Skyping every day.'

'Maybe they had a fight?'

'No, Chloe would've told me. Especially since she's meant to be coming over this weekend... And, oh fuck, that's tomorrow, isn't it?' says Beca, catching Cynthia Rose's alarmed look and interpreting it correctly. 'And Chloe's sick. Shit.' She puts her head in her hands. 'Chloe's gonna be really upset about that.'

'Are you gonna tell Aubrey to come another time?'

Beca thinks about it, but eventually sighs. 'No. I'm not too good with sick people... I might need all the help I can get.'

'Well, if you need me or the Bellas to help out as well, just say the word, okay?'

Beca smiles. 'Yeah, okay. Thanks.'

'No prob.'

'So... Where did you go tonight?' Beca asks, after a few moments of silence. 'When I woke up, you weren't in your bed.'

There's a pause. And then Cynthia Rose says, her voice sounding strained - 'I went over to Lauren's for a bit.'

'... Oh.'

The conversation dies there, and Beca has no desire to continue it. She does not have time for that.

They make it to Chloe's in record time, partly helped by Cynthia Rose's haphazard driving. As she slides neatly (apparently the only thing she can do neatly while driving) into a parking space, Beca secretly breathes a sigh of relief that she's still alive. 'Thanks, CR,' says Beca as she pops her seatbelt open. 'I really owe you one.' She hops out of the car, and is somewhat surprised to see Cynthia Rose getting out as well. 'Are you coming as well then?' she asks, confused.

'Not going to lie, B, I'm kind of worried as well. I'd feel better if I knew she was okay.'

In a way, Beca is quite glad to have someone with her. It takes her several tries to get the button in the elevator to work, before Cynthia Rose ends up pushing it for her. They ride in silence, with Beca fiddling with whatever is available to help stave off her nerves. Luckily Cynthia Rose never comments on this, but simply smiles encouragingly which goes some way to making her more relaxed.

There's no answer when Beca knocks at the door, nor when they try calling her cell from both of their phones in case Beca's is suddenly malfunctioning. Beca decides the only course of action is to use her key. She scrambles in her bag for it, already thinking of twenty reasons in her head as to why Chloe might not be answering the door or her phone right now - and none of them are good. She fumbles with the key because of her shaking hands; Cynthia Rose has to help her open her do it.

When they burst indoors, it's to find Chloe passed out on the couch. A bottle of Advil sits on the coffee table. Immediately her mind jumps to the worst possible scenario, already heightened by her worries at the door; the room spins for a dizzying, terrifying moment. 'Oh fuck - no -'

But Cynthia Rose grabs hold of Beca's elbow to steady her, barking into her ear, 'Beca, calm down. She's fine. Look.' She gestures to Chloe, who Beca now notices is starting to wake up from. 'She's just asleep. Poor kid's all tuckered out.' Cynthia Rose pushes her forward, making Beca stumble on her still unstable legs. 'Go talk to her,' she hisses.

Beca approaches her slowly, sitting down on the edge of the couch. She puts one hand on Chloe's forehead. She's very warm and her cheeks look flushed. 'Hey there,' says Beca softly, seeing Chloe's eyelids flickering open slowly. 'You okay?' She looks up at Cynthia Rose. 'Think she might have a fever.'

'Ah, crap.' Cynthia Rose winces. 'That explains a lot, if she's caught the flu or something. Could be worse though, I guess.'

'Yeah, I guess' replies Beca hollowly, looking at Chloe's pained expression.

'You need me to stick around to help?'

'No, I should be good. Thanks though.'

'It's cool. Let me know if you need something.' Cynthia Rose gives her a thumbs up; Beca returns it. The door shutting behind Cynthia Rose seems to stir Chloe back into fuller consciousness, as she mumbles, 'Whowazat?'

'Cynthia Rose, Chlo,' says Beca, gently pushing Chloe back down when she tries to sit up. 'She drove me over here.'

'Oh...' Chloe groans, putting her hands to her head. 'I fell asleep...'

'It's okay. Looks like you're not feeling too good, huh?' She runs her fingers through Chloe's hair. She's sweating slightly around her hairline. 'You been like this all night?

'Yeah,' Chloe croaks. 'Beca, about earlier -'

'Shh. It's okay,' she says. 'We can talk about it later. For now, I think we should get you to bed. Think you can make it?'

Choe nods, and doesn't protest as Beca pulls her gently to her feet. It's a bit of an ordeal to support Chloe all the way to the bedroom, since her legs don't seem to be working properly, but they get there eventually. Chloe makes a beeline for the bed as soon as they reach it, and - still wearing her clothes - immediately wraps herself up in the duvet. When Beca makes for the door, Chloe seizes her wrist. 'Stay here,' Chloe pleads. 'Don't go.'

Beca meets her gaze steadily and squeezes her hand, trying to reassure her. She says slowly, 'I'm just taking my shoes off and putting them in the hall. Then I'll be right back, I promise.' After a moment where it looks like Chloe might not ever let go, Chloe nods and releases her grip. Beca immediately rushes off into the hallway and toes off her shoes. When she gets back, Chloe's pulled back the duvet a bit. The implication is obvious: she wants Beca there too.

Beca crawls into the bed with her with only a moment's hesitation, much to her own silent relief. The thought of getting sick has crossed her mind more than once, but Chloe (and Aubrey probably) would never forgive her if she left her in this state. Even Beca, with her poor knowledge of social norms, is fully aware that running away screaming from your sick girlfriend is not the done thing.

'You're cold,' Chloe says, a hint of a whine in her voice. But she clutches Beca tightly anyway.

'And you're warm,' Beca replies. 'I guess we match like that.'

'Dork,' Chloe murmurs. She buries her face in Beca's neck. Her skin is red-hot and uncomfortably sticky against Beca's, and her shirt is damp when Beca runs a hand down it. Chloe has fallen quiet, and seems to be thinking hard about something. It only takes a minute or so of silence for her to reveal what it is.

'Beca, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to yell at you earlier.'

'It's okay.' It kind of is, now, to be honest. Considering how ill Chloe seems, Beca would be grouchy too. She can't believe she's wasting her energy trying to apologise to Beca when she's feeling like this.

'No, it isn't,' says Chloe, sounding upset. 'It's not okay, I was stressed and sick and I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have - your face, Beca -'

Beca's not sure what Chloe's going on about now, but she just holds her a little tighter and shushes her; Chloe won't have any of it, though, as she twists slightly so she can look at her properly. 'Your face,' she goes on insistently. 'You looked so upset.'

'My face is happy now,' says Beca, baring her teeth in a facsimile of a smile. 'See?'

'No, seriously,' says Chloe, sounding a little panicked. 'I didn't mean to - I was just angry -'

'Chloe, calm down.' She cups Chloe's cheek, forcing her to make eye contact. 'It's okay. Alright? I forgive you. I'm not mad at you at all for being a little irritable when you're this ill, and I get why you were mad in the first place. I shouldn't have been so nosy and got involved.'

Relief floods Chloe's expression. 'You aren't mad?'

'No, Chloe. I'm not mad.'

Chloe's demons are apparently soothed by that one sentence, ignoring everything else Beca said; she snuggles back into Beca. 'Thank God,' she mumbles... and then promptly falls unconscious, with barely another word said between them. Beca can only look at her incredulously: not a mention of Beca uploading her work to the Internet. But she can't really blame Chloe when she's in this state.

She feels too on edge to go back to sleep - especially in the same bed as Chloe, which she still hasn't done before - so she sits up as carefully as she can without dislodging Chloe. Thinking.

Cynthia Rose is apparently friends with Lauren - enough to go visit her in the middle of the night, despite the fact she's literally never seen the two of them interact before, even in practice. Chloe is sick, ignored Beca for half a day, and seems to be mood-swinging all over the place to boot. And she can't even ask her why because of the aforementioned illness. Has everyone just gone fucking insane overnight?

It's with a groan - inwardly, of course, she would rather Chloe didn't wake up - that Beca remembers that Aubrey will be here tomorrow.

If Aubrey starts being nice to her and treating her like an actual friend, then she might start wondering if she's somehow travelled into a parallel universe somehow.

A/N: If you haven't already, please read the A/N at the top. Catch you soon guys.