Irrational

by grotchon

Being a producer was just fine. So why did Beca agree to be in a PR relationship with infamous party-girl Chloe Beale? And why did it seem like Chloe was actually excited to do it?

5. Chapter 5

merry happy here's 15k words, not that you need it when you have Chrissie Fit's reel

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The next day

Why did a Razzie-winning A+ list actress crash the recording session of this A- list foreign born actress/singer? She was jealous that the foreign born actress/singer and her supposed "girlfriend" aka the B- list producer were getting too close. Revealed: Chloe Beale/Ruby Rose/Beca Mitchell

This A+ list actress who's part of at least two franchises was smiling big while texting her new B+ list beau during filming for a new slasher flick. Revealed: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell

Believe what you will about the hottest new actress/produceress couple, but the two of them are actually hitting it off. While their public date seemed like a photo-op from the outside, the pair was flirting all through dinner. Revealed: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell

This A+ list actress who stars in teen movies and B- list wannabe couple are a sham. Everyone knows the relationship is fake, and they don't even talk because they don't have anything in common. Revealed: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell

This A+ list actress is only dating this B- list producer for the publicity and connections. She's trying to become a pop-star. Revealed: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell

This B- list out-and-proud producer hates how public her new relationship has gotten. She and her A+ list actress girlfriend are very much in love and loving life. Revealed: Beca Mitchell/Chloe Beale

This A+ list actress is on her way to the top of her game with project after delectable project. Only problem is, she's fallen hard for a surly C+ list producer. I'm not sure if the actress will be able to keep her head on straight - or, as straight as a raging bisexual can have it. Revealed: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell

Beca looked up from her phone at the sound of another car pulling into the Chloe's driveway. She'd already been parked on the street for twenty minutes; nerves stopped her from being late, but anxiety stopped her from leaving any later than way too early.

Which meant that she had been waiting for Chloe to show up to her own house.

She didn't know why she was so worried, again, but she was.

So she let her stress-induced curiosity finally get the better of her, scrolling back to their texts, then up a little - before Chloe's texts about a hair appointment and her ETA - to the photos that the actress had sent yesterday.

She swore that she had never seen that kind of smile on her face.

Or looked as comfortable with her hand tucked in someone else's, nudging shoulders as she reached for the car door.

So she'd Googled to see if there were any more pictures… which had lead her to a random blind item site.

Aka, this garbage.

I shouldn't be that surprised, she thought to herself. Especially when some of these look like they're written by our own people.

She watched from the safety of her car as Chloe pulled multiple bags from her own backseat. She looked more casual than Beca had ever seen her in a bright blue hoodie, sunglasses, and dark jeans, and when she finally turned, Beca could see that her hair was darker. Not much, and still red, but more auburn.

Damn, I bet that looks amazing on her.

On your friend, her brain chastised her.

Your totally platonic, smokin' hot friend.

It was a new mantra that Beca was trying out - Chloe is a friend - and it was working about as well as ice cubes in a volcano.

Chloe waved Beca over, pointing to the side of the house that was tucked away behind the garage, and Beca finally killed the engine and stepped out of her car.

She was determined to make the platonic mentality stick, because she really wanted to walk away from all of this with Chloe as a friend. They got along so well that it seemed like they were destined to be close, which wasn't even something that Beca really believed in, but she didn't know how else to explain it.

They just seemed so… good for each other.

And Beca wasn't some friendless loser or anything, but making friends had never been this easy. If she was younger, she'd probably think the whole thing was lame- how excited she got when she knew she was about to make Chloe laugh, or the way that calm seemed to settle around her with Chloe nearby, or the Chloe made her feel important, like she did at the studio.

Even making music was better and simpler when Chloe Beale was around.

(And yeah, she was working on the song. It wasn't a big deal. It was practice. She was inspired. Whatever.)

"Hey!" Chloe called out, and Beca did a little salute as she slammed her door closed and hoisted her overnight backpack further onto her shoulder, pulling the hood of her zippered hoodie out of the way so it could sit normally.

"Sorry, traffic was a nightmare. Have you been here long? You should've texted me, I can let you in remotely, and then-"

Beca shrugged as she finally fell into closer range.

"No worries," she said, then she laughed in a self-effacing manner. "And I- uh. I'm not sure I'd want me in your house while you're not here. If I were you, I mean."

"Why, you a snoop?" Chloe asked, spinning around as she stepped up to a stately gate. Her glasses had slipped down towards the tip of her nose, and she glared over the frames at a reddening Beca.

And with the hair - it made her look a little paler, but she was still practically glowing - and those bright blue eyes-

"Well, I don't- I mean, I wouldn't-"

"Nah, I'm just messin' with ya," Chloe grinned. She spun back around and worked an electronic contraption next to the gate. Something chimed, and she grabbed the handle and pushed it open.

She led the way across the patio, bags swinging on either side, giving Beca ample time to take in her surroundings.

And what surroundings they were.

There was a seating area with a low black couch and some chairs, along with some kind of wood-burning ceramic thing, across from a pergola that was easily the size of Beca's living room. The large wood structure was painted slate grey, and underneath there was a glass and wicker table set with seats for at least ten people.

The brick patio continued away from the house and towards a good size pool and- oh my god - a full brick and stainless steel outdoor kitchen. There were lounge chairs scattered around the pool, which was open despite the dropping temp. Beca was about to ask, but then she saw tendrils of steam curling softly off the top.

But that wasn't even the end of it. There was a wall at the end of the patio, and the backyard went up a steep climb to- to-

"A stable? Really?"

Beca turned to see Chloe look over her shoulder, then up towards where the smaller white buildings and fence separated what was clearly an agricultural dirt area from the fresh grass of the short but steep hill.

"I like animals, okay?" Chloe said defensively.

"If I go up there and there's a pig-"

"You would have an excellent time with a pig!" Chloe shot back, and Beca just laughed. She made her way towards where Chloe was holding the door open and followed the actress into the her kitchen.

"I was going to do something with animals before I got into acting," Chloe explained. "When my real estate lady showed me this place- well, the old owners had horses and chickens- and yes, a big, potbelly pig. I thought, maybe, if everything was already in place, I'd get some for myself."

She sighed, and Beca stopped ogling the impressively massive kitchen around her to look at her friend. Chloe set her bags down on a couch near the back door then pulled the glasses off her face and closed them against her jaw.

Her eyes were a little dimmer - but maybe that was just the hair?

"That was five years ago, and I just haven't had the time," she said. "I know I could, like, hire people to take care of them, but that's not really the point of having an animal. I can barely even keep track of my cats."

"There's a cat here?"

"Two of them, somewhere," Chloe sighed again.

Beca watched as Chloe held her glasses against her chin, staring off into space that was between them and somehow much further away. She swallowed the teasing remark she was about to make.

"I'm sure you'll have more time," she said seriously with a small smile. Chloe blinked out of her thoughts, and Beca saw when her mind refocused on the here and now.

"Why don't you just take more time between projects?"

"It's more complicated than just choosing not to pursue something," Chloe started to explain.

"Well you clearly have enough cash to not need the work," Beca replied with a smarmy smile.

Chloe's face fell, and Beca immediately stopped smiling.

Shit.

"I didn't mean-"

"No- you know, you're probably right," Chloe cut in. She dropped her sunglasses into one of the bags and picked up everything.

"I'm going to go change - make yourself at home," she went on.

Shit shit shit.

"Chloe, I'm sorry, that was-"

"-something that we can discuss after a bottle of wine," Chloe finished Beca's sentence over her shoulder as she walked across the room. "Seriously, don't worry about it. Give me two secs, and then I'll give you the tour!"

She disappeared behind a wall at the far end of the room, and Beca could hear her footsteps making a hasty retreat further into the house.

She groaned quietly as she rubbed the inside corners of her eyes.

Guess I'm eating my foot for dinner, since I already put it in my mouth again.

Because obviously, Chloe's house was as impressive inside as it was outside, with black accents and bright, light-colored woods and walls. There were pale green cabinets, white countertops, and leafy plants everywhere, with some yellow pops in the flowers that sat on the counter and the art in-between the windows.

But there was nothing that screamed "ostentatious."

In fact, even though the kitchen was massive, it felt homier and homier the more that Beca looked around. There was a flour jar that had its lid askew, flour thumbprints on the lid's latching mechanism and a few on the ultra-modern stainless steel fridge door.

There were dirty dishes in one of the sinks - only a single bowl and spoon, but still.

And one of the sturdy black stools from the island was pulled away from the line of others, over to another countertop, where there was a laptop charger plugged into the wall.

Beca could venture a guess that the rest of the place was even more lived in. Expensive, sure, and big, but not so fuck you about it.

Because it was Chloe.

Because of course Chloe's home was cheerful and inviting, just like the woman herself.

Beca thought back to her poorly-lit cave of an apartment, filled with mismatched hand-me-down furniture and IKEA home goods.

Wonder what Chloe Beale would think that says about me? she thought as she wandered through the kitchen towards where Chloe had gone. She stepped into the entryway - a wide, ornately-carved black door to her left, and a sprawling, mirror-filled sitting room to her right - and she chastised herself again.

Chloe would probably love it, she thought. She's way nicer than me.

"You barely snooped at all!" Chloe laughed, and Beca looked over to see Chloe coming out of a hallway further still, towards the other end of the house, wearing what could only be described as a fur-lined Snuggie. She had yoga pants underneath, and her freshly-dyed hair was piled into a rough bun on her head.

"Oh my god, Beale," she teased before she could stop herself. "Are we about to be snowed in?"

"You make fun all you want, Mitchell," Chloe replied with a grin. "I get cold, and this thing is the comfiest thing I've ever owned. It always comes with me when I'm traveling. Can't live without it."

She dropped onto the mossy green couch in the center of the room and wrapped the plush blanket robe around herself.

"You can't tell me that that doesn't weigh twenty pounds. How can you even get that in your luggage?" Beca replied, and she bit the back of her bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"It's worth it."

"It literally can't be."

Chloe narrowed her eyes like she was going to go to battle over it, but she shrugged it off with one last menacing finger-waggle.

"Don't knock it til ya try it," she threatened, and Beca held her hands up in mock-surrender.

"Dinner or a tour?"

"If you could show me where to drop this, that's really all I need," Beca said as she gestured to the bag on her shoulder.

Chloe hopped back up, scooping the extra fabric around herself as she shuffled towards the hallway she'd come from earlier, and Beca fell into step behind her.

"Unfortunately, the spare bedroom is also where I usually watch things," Chloe explained guiltily as she opened a door to her left, stepping in and aside so Beca could walk through the threshold.

It was a long room, with a bathroom on one end and lots of windows, all uncovered to let in maximum sun. On the far end, at the exterior corner of the house, there was a big queen-sized bed with bright white linens. On the other, by the bathroom, there were worn brown leather loveseat and a sofa that faced a big TV on the hallway wall.

"So we might be hanging out in here later- or, you know what, we can go to the lounge," Chloe continued.

"Lounge?" Beca asked, and she tried to say it without teasing.

But… seriously?

"That's just what Bree and Stacie call it," Chloe replied. "There's a bar back there, but honestly I use it for yoga more. But you're a guest! We should do it up right."

"And what exactly are we 'doing up right' tonight anyway?" Beca asked as she threw her bag on the bed. She contemplated changing so that she was comfy like Chloe, but she decided against it.

Something about wearing real clothes - even if they were just ripped skinny jeans and a black zip-up hoodie - helped her stay focused on the whole "friendship" thing.

But after a second's contemplation, she toed off her Docs.

"I figured I'd make us dinner, if you're okay with sweet potato masala and naan?" Chloe asked, and Beca nodded. "Then we could watch something and turn in- unless you're so anti-movie that you won't even watch one with me."

Beca glared at Chloe as the actress teased her, watching as Chloe's tongue snuck into her smile as she giggled.

She didn't want to say it, but movies really weren't her thing.

They were Chloe's though - even outside of her job - so maybe Beca should just suck it up.

Doesn't mean I can't delay the inevitable though, she thought as she sidestepped the conversation with another question.

"Don't you start filming again soon?"

"I do. Next week, we head to Atlanta for a week or two, then back here. And any days off are for press work, and that premiere I told you about," Chloe confirmed as the smile fell away from her face.

Inwardly, Beca cursed, because Chloe was probably just trying to cut loose and not think about work, and here she was, bringing up stupid, awkward subjects again.

Plus, she had completely forgotten that they were going to a premiere next month.

For a movie that Chloe wasn't happy about, right?

God, I need to listen better.

"I have so much to do still," Chloe tacked on with a laugh, shaking Beca out of her thoughts.

"Really? Like what?"

Beca watched as Chloe took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I'll tell you over a glass of Merlot?"

Beca nodded, and as she followed Chloe back through the house to the kitchen - back through incredibly detailed wainscoting on pristinely white walls, past hard-hewn wooden tables and stacks of wide books - she tried not to let the weirdness of the whole situation overwhelm her again.

They were friends.

It was normal to be in a friend's house.

It didn't matter that one of them was Chloe Beale.

It didn't matter that Beca had to stop herself from watching Vogue's "73 Questions with Chloe Beale" so that she would actually see the house for the first time in person.

They got to the kitchen, and Chloe pointed to the opposite wall, by the garage, as she worked her Snuggie off her shoulders and onto the couch. She had a simple v-neck t-shirt underneath - a tight one - that Beca tried to ignore.

Are normal friends allowed to check out other normal friends?

"Can you grab one of those bottles of wine from the counter? The 14 Hands should be good. Opener's in the left-hand drawer."

Beca followed instructions well enough to pop the cork out of the wine bottle a few moments later, and she crossed back towards the cooking area to see that Chloe had already started warming, accumulating, and washing things in the sink for the dinner.

"Can I help?" she asked, but Chloe merely jutted her chin towards the cabinet above the ovens.

(Ovens… plural… and they're both on and preheating…

Maybe I couldn't help anyway.)

"Grab the big glasses from up there," she said, and Beca looked back behind her.

She reached up and was able to thumb the cabinets open, but there was no way she was going to be able to even see into the cabinet, let alone reach up into there and grab some glasses.

She glanced back to Chloe, but the woman was deeply immersed in de-eying potatoes.

She opened the cabinet next to the oven instead and saw brightly-painted mugs lining the shelves. She grabbed two of them - both yellow - and poured the wine into them instead.

She took the few steps towards Chloe and pushed the mug across the countertop, and Chloe finally looked up.

"Becs!" Chloe laughed.

"A glass is a glass - but I might have poured a little too much," she smiled over the brim of her mug. "Cheers."

Chloe eyed the mug skeptically.

"How much did you put in there?"

Beca sheepishly produced the bottle from behind her back - there was only a third left now - and bit her lip to keep from laughing before she huffed out a quick, "sorry."

Chloe laughed again, patting her hands dry on a dishtowel she'd set next to the sink and picking up the mug.

"To us! To two women, singing and working their way through the world, with fearless wit and unabashed enthusiasm!"

Beca didn't say anything, just grinned with raised brows as she brought her mug to her lips again. The wine was smooth, earthy but fruity too, and Beca took a slightly bigger gulp than was necessary.

"So, this movie star business," she said suddenly, brushing a wisp of hair off her face as she took a seat across the marble island. "What's going on? What are you freaking out about?"

Chloe sighed and took another drink from her own mug before she went back to the sweet potatoes.

"Well, for one, being on a Benji Applebaum project is, like, so intimidating," Chloe said, head still down. "He's so strict about his sets, and I don't want to break any rules. Like, I'm not even allowed to have my phone. Plus I've already had four video calls with him about my character."

"Seriously?" Beca scoffed, but she saw that when Chloe looked up, the actress wasn't laughing.

"My bad," she said genuinely. "I'll shut up. What- ah- what's your character?"

She knew she wasn't wearing the most encouraging expression, but she tried to hide it behind her mug.

"Her name is Blair, to start," Chloe replied slowly, like she was waiting for Beca to laugh at her again- which was something Beca was now adamantly trying to avoid. "She's pregnant, and her husband cheats on her. Or, kind of. The script jumps around - we're also actors playing the characters, but the viewer doesn't know that yet. It's No Exit meets Interstellar, but with more of a focus on cyclical nature of the industry and how that affects actors."

Though she didn't really get it, Beca nodded as Chloe took another drink of her wine. The sweet potatoes were peeled, and Chloe began cutting them into smaller pieces and spreading them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

One of the ovens chimed, and they both glanced over, but Chloe didn't move towards it, so neither did Beca.

"So there's the whole 'I've never been pregnant before' part of things - I've been talking to my mom and a couple other friends about that one," Chloe went on with a sigh as she forced her knife through another uncooked potato. "To be honest, this is one of the more mature characters that I've played - both versions of the character. I'm worried that it'll come across juvenile or just downright not believable."

Beca didn't know what to say; she didn't have any knowledge of the industry and she couldn't really empathize.

So she just let Chloe keep talking.

"Plus, I only had, like, two weeks between projects."

That, Beca could relate to.

"That turnover is insane," she said, and Chloe looked up. She was staring right through Beca's eyes, into her soul, and Beca inhaled deeply through her nose before she spoke up again.

"I just- I mean, even with my projects at work, I like to have some time between to make some new beats or something, to familiarize myself with the new artist's work, anything to feel like I'm not walking into the room blind."

Chloe went back to cutting potatoes without saying anything, and Beca took a second to drink more wine.

She hadn't said that to placate Chloe; it was the truth.

And it was getting harder to do recently.

So tell her that.

Be vulnerable.

She cleared her throat, and Chloe looked up again.

"You know, Amy wasn't joking about Ruby Rose asking for me," she continued, looking away herself this time. The top oven temp continued to tick higher as it heated up. "People have been requesting me since we started this whole thing. A lot of people, actually."

"That's great," Chloe replied, and Beca looked back over at her. Chloe was drinking out of her mug, and whatever unsaid thing Beca held in her eyes made her lower the glass.

"Or it's not?"

"No, it is," Beca sighed. "But it's like you said- I feel like I can't really get my footing. I like to really throw myself into the thing I'm doing, and I don't feel like I can do that when I've got too many active projects."

Chloe hummed in agreement. She grabbed a bottle of yellowish oil and began to drizzle its contents over the sweet potatoes.

Which reminded Beca of something that she had been wondering about, so she asked- "Are you vegetarian?"

Chloe shook her head.

"No, but it helps keep weight off and energy up, especially when I have back-to-back projects like this."

And that was just one too many concessions for Beca.

Chloe couldn't have animals because of her projects, couldn't have the food she wanted or the time to prepare or downtime to relax and regroup. She couldn't spend time with the animals that she did have, and she barely saw her friends, if the meet-up with the Lodge people was any indication.

She was running herself ragged.

Even Beca could see that.

"All right," the producer said, setting her nearly empty mug on the counter. "How can I help?"

"What?"

"You heard me," Beca replied. "I'm here at your disposal. You need me to pack bags of pajamas and hair curlers? Talk character choices? I can try to vet an accent- although, I gotta warn ya, I'm pretty shitty at them."

Chloe laughed, glancing up at Beca as she reached for the pepper grinder.

"Seriously, Beale!" Beca laughed back. "What do you need to feel better about this upcoming gig? I'm all ears here. Or, like, hands. Or mouth-"

Jesus!

Abort! Abort!

"-or whatever you need I guess. "

Chloe paused, pepper poised over the potatoes in front of her, and let out a single, breathy giggle.

"You want to help?"

"Desperately," she said sarcastically, hoping the truth of the sentiment would filter through.

Chloe was squinting at her, but she shook her head and smiled.

"I'm not going to turn that down," she said, grinding pepper over the pan. She used her chin to gesture across the room again. "There's a script in the drawer over there, where the laptop charger is. I was trying to run lines earlier, but I-"

"Say no more," Beca replied. She jumped up, nearly knocking her stool down in the process, but she caught it before it tipped.

Woahhh.

Steady now.

"There's an earmarked page for the first scene we're filming," Chloe said, and Beca pulled the drawer open, finding the stapled stack of sixty some-odd pages. She skimmed the name - The Coriolis Effect - before thumbing through it to the place that Chloe had referred to.

"I really want to make a good first impression, and the scene is already so much," Chloe explained. "I'm calling out my dickhead husband for cheating on me."

Beca felt her socked feet still on the cool tile as she got back to her stool, keeping her eyes cast down on the pages in front of her as she sat.

She said "dickhead," she thought. Like she had about Chicago.

The dude who cheated on her.

"Wow, yeah," she said slowly on a long exhale. "That's probably…"

"Poignant?" Chloe asked, but it sounded further away, and Beca glanced up to see that Chloe was at the oven, putting the sweet potatoes in.

Beca nodded, then dropped her gaze back down to the script.

She read over a few lines - seemed like Blair was at her wit's end, and this Gabe dude was every bit the dickhead Chloe had claimed - and then she looked back up.

Chloe was cutting butter into the saucepan on the stovetop between them, and then she reached down and clicked on the heat. The yellow square began to slide towards the edge of the pan as it melted, and Beca watched it spread until Chloe picked it up and shook it with one hand.

"Okay," Chloe said, and she set the pan down and picked up her wine instead. She gestured for Beca to hand her the script.

"Let me read it again, then we'll run through them," she said, and Beca leaned across the wide island to hand Chloe the pages. She balanced them in one hand almost effortlessly as she held her wine mug in the other.

She muttered under her breath, and Beca fought off a smile.

Then, before thinking better of it, she whipped out her phone and snapped a picture before Chloe even knew what was happening.

That is, until the camera noise went off.

Chloe's eyes shot off the script, and Beca knew she was caught red-handed as her phone was still up and pointed at the actress.

"I won't post it!"

Chloe scrunched her nose and then smiled, reaching across the range to put the script back within Beca's reach.

The other oven dinged, signaling that it was done warming up.

But wasn't that the one that Chloe already put the potatoes in?

"Of course you're going to post it," Chloe giggled. "That's like the whole point of this, remember?"

Right.

This is not a cute, friendly dinner date.

Yet.

"Right," Beca replied softly.

She opened Instagram- something she hadn't really done in weeks, not since she'd accepted Chloe's friend request in the first place and seen that her follower count had significantly increased.

She had a dozen notifications that she ignored, instead clicking on her story and uploading the recent picture without adding anything.

Almost immediately, her phone started dinging with notifications again, and Beca just turned her phone on silent.

"Wait, did you just put that up?" Chloe asked as she opened a small baggie of sliced onions and added them to the melted butter in the pan. She stirred the mixture with a wood spoon before placing the utensil on a ceramic spoon-holder thing next to the stove.

"Did I fuck up?" Beca asked, reaching for her phone quickly.

People probably hadn't even seen it-

One glance at her notifications told her that wasn't true.

"No, it's cool, I'll just repost it," Chloe said as she picked up her own phone, scrolling through a few things. "Also, it's crazy that you still have your notifs on. Isn't that like so annoying?"

Beca shrugged.

"I tune it out," she replied.

"Wait, you still aren't verified? Didn't Fat Amy set that up for you?"

Beca rolled her eyes as Chloe clicked her phone off and put it back down.

"As much as Ames pretends to be my manager, she really isn't," she sighed, half joking.

She loved Amy. She really did.

But all the things that Amy could be helping her with, she really wasn't, and between work and the media reaching out and the randomly-being-recognized-at-the-gas-station stuff (which only happened twice but it was still weird), she was really starting to think that she needed some guidance on all this.

But maybe Amy wasn't the person to ask.

"I can set it up," Chloe said. "We can do it after dinner."

"And after running lines," Beca jumped in, happy to remember something that could take some of the focus off her. She picked up the script from the counter between them and flipped back to the right page. "You ready?"

Chloe held up a single finger, and Beca waited, watching as the actress grabbed a clove of garlic and smashed it with the side of her knife on the cutting board. She peeled the wet parts away from the papery skin, adding the good stuff and then a healthy shake of ginger powder to the onions on the stove.

Then, she reached for a veritable gaggle of other spices, adding them to the pan one at a time and stirring.

Beca didn't even know if she could name that many spices, let alone use them appropriately.

No, she was 100% sure that she'd be completely out of her element if she tried to help Chloe right now- except in one respect.

"I'll top us off," she said, reaching for the wine bottle and standing, circling the island and pouring more than half of what was left into Chloe's mug - which wasn't empty, but it was getting there.

She went back to her seat and poured the rest of it into her mug, cringing when a single drop splashed out of the mug and onto the opened script in front of her.

"Shit," she mumbled, embarrassed. "I got wine on your script- fuck."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Chloe laughed. Beca glanced up to see that she was using a handheld can opener to crack open some tomato paste, which she then poured into the sauce pan as she added, "Seriously, my scripts look like a Pollack painting by the end of filming. I'm surprised that that one in particular hasn't been hit by soy sauce yet; I've been on a real sushi kick. Okay, you start us off."

Chloe was still adding things to the pan, but Beca figured that there was only thing that would take the heat out of her cheeks and get attention off her yet again, so she aimed her radiant face at the script in front of her.

"Okay, I just go whenever?"

"Yep."

"And you'll just remember?"

"Yep."

Beca blew out a huff.

"Okay," she said, then she cleared her throat, assuming a somewhat lower voice as she began to read.

"Hey, baby, were you able to- woah, what's up?" she recited, trying not to sound stupid or mocking. She kept her eyes trained down as she heard Chloe respond.

"'What's up?' That's all you have to say?" Chloe hissed, and Beca did glance up then, because that didn't sound like Chloe at all. Her voice was sharp and biting, and she spat the words out like venom.

Beca saw that her posture had changed too- she was leaning backwards, with a hand on her lower back, like she was pregnant.

The sauce simmered, and Beca looked back down at the page.

"Uh- am I supposed to say something else?" she read. "Is this one of your hormone things?"

"Where's Allison," Chloe shot back, barely even giving Beca a beat to read ahead.

"I think she went to bed after all that weird shit," Beca continued to her next line. "You were pretty intense."

"You're in love with her," Chloe went on. "I know you're in-fucking-love with her. You don't love me anymore, and I'm carrying your fucking baby!"

Hearing swears like that out of Chloe's mouth was incredibly jarring, and Beca tried to read her next line, but it didn't make any sense. Her eyes sliced back up the page.

"Ah- wait-"

"Shoot, did I skip ahead?" Chloe sighed in her normal voice. "What was I supposed to say?"

Beca skimmed back down frantically, then up again.

"Oh, yeah, okay. He says, uh, he says, 'is this one of your hormone things' and you say-"

"Where's Alison, right?" Chloe asked over her mug's brim.

"Yeah," Beca said as she read. "And then he says, 'I think she went to bed… you were pretty intense' and you say, 'I just wanted to let you have your-'"

"-your weird, anti-progressive conversation in peace," Chloe sighed as she remembered the line. "Darnit. Okay, let's start over."

They made it through the scene again, with Beca a little quicker on the draw because she wasn't as surprised. When they got to the part that Chloe had jumped to before, Beca tried to stay ahead of it.

"Are we really doing this right now?" she asked, and she let herself slow down some, so it sounded like a real conversation.

"I saw the way you were looking at her!" Chloe almost shouted, and Beca could hear the heartbreak in her voice. Chloe leaned up to stir the sauce like she had a big belly that she was working around, and Beca almost believed it was there.

Damn maybe she is a good actress.

If that actually exists?

I should probably watch her movies.

Chloe was looking at her, and Beca suddenly remembered she had a role to play in all of this.

"Right, sorry- I- uh, I'm not even sure that I like her, much less love," Beca said.

"It's been years, Gabe," Chloe sighed. "Don't act like I don't know you- wait, is that right? That felt weird."

Beca shook her head with a small grimace.

"No, it's actually, 'don't act like we all don't know each other inside and out.'"

"Don't act like we don't all- wait, no. Don't act like we all don't know each other inside and out. Don't act like we all don't know each other- inside and out," Chloe recited under her breath.

She crossed the kitchen in her regular posture, grabbing a potholder off a hook on the wall and opening the oven with her other hand.

She pulled out the pan, setting it on a something soft on the counter behind her, and closed the oven. Then, she picked up a fork to poke one of the potatoes.

"Don't act like we all don't know each other… inside and out," she continued to recite.

Seemingly satisfied with both the potatoes and the line, she nodded and used the fork to gesture to Beca again.

"Okay, take it from there," she said, and she slumped back again, one hand behind her, scooting the pan across the counter so she could access it from her position at the sauce.

"Can I ask- why are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" Chloe replied. She stood up straight again and started moving sweet potatoes from the sheet and into the pan.

"The whole belly thing," Beca said.

"Oh, that's just a little trick. It helps me stay in character and remember lines. If I change my posture, it helps me change my mindset," she explained, but then she laughed.

"Honestly, it's really annoying with this character though, because it's harder to see the script when I'm looking off to the side or something. At least for these first few scenes."

Beca nodded, feeling like maybe asking for an explanation had been futile, because none of that made any sense to her.

"Sure, okay, ready to go again?"

Chloe grimaced as she got the last of the sweet potatoes into the sauce, stirring again and setting a lid over the whole thing.

"From the top."

---

Thirty minutes later, the kitchen smelled like garlic naan and rich spices, and Beca knew that Chloe was feeling more confident in her ability to recite the scene. She didn't really mess up anymore, and Beca was able to help with the scene better, too.

She was still pretty blown away by the actress though.

"Wow," Beca said as Chloe scooped a a generous serving of rice onto her plate, then topped it with the masala.

"Wow what?" Chloe asked as Beca plucked a piece of naan off the sheet that Chloe had used to heat it up.

"How'd you- how do you do all that?" she laughed. "First off, this smells delicious, and second, you've got that scene down now. What- how? How is that even possible?"

Chloe huffed out a laugh as she served herself then led Beca through a small pair of doors, into a modest but well-adorned dining room that connected the kitchen and the sitting room they were in before. Beca began to sit, but Chloe gestured for her to follow her further, a few steps through the sitting room and into a large room on the back of the house.

It had windows on two of the walls - one was a door to the pergola area outside - but the sun had set a while ago, which meant Chloe had to flip on the overhead lights. The two imposing, star-shaped fixtures that hung overhead bathed the room in soft, warm light, and Beca was able to see the fireplace and the tall bar in the corner.

Everything was painted a light chocolate brown, except the bar, which had mismatched wood trim around its vertical surfaces.

In the other corner - the one closer to the outside doors and dining room - there was a dark brown, L-shaped couch and coffee table.

Secretly relieved that she would be able to eat like she typically did - on a squishable surface instead of a real table - Beca smiled, settling onto the far leg of the L.

"This okay?" Chloe asked, and Beca nodded.

She took a big bite of the food and hummed happily.

"How do you do it?" she asked again as she swallowed. "Are you like this all the time?"

Chloe took a big drink of wine and then nodded thoughtfully.

"I didn't change up my routine too much, no," she confirmed. "I try not to order delivery too often, just for the security concerns. There's a few psychos out there, and I'm more than happy to leave them as far away from me as possible."

"Yeah, I-" Beca started, then stopped.

She hadn't really talked about the gas station with anyone yet, but-

Chloe sighed.

"You're already getting it, aren't you?"

Beca shrugged but nodded.

"It wasn't that bad. Just some guy saying that he recognized me and knew I'd be back because I go this specific gas station all the time. He just asked for a picture," she said, but she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up again, like they had earlier this week.

Her defenses had gone up almost immediately, but she took the picture anyway, just to make the whole thing stop.

"Between that and work…" she said, but she trailed off.

"I'm sorry, Becs," Chloe said seriously. She put her silverware on her plate, and the plate on the table. "I knew that you didn't really want to do this, but I pushed you into it."

Beca let herself consider the truth of Chloe's statement, but then she shook her head.

"I think I knew the risks - or, at least, I knew of them," Beca said. "I don't blame you for this, or anyone really, except for the people who do it."

That seemed to resonate, and Chloe hummed her agreement as she sipped her wine then reached for her food again.

"I kinda just wish… I don't know," Beca went on. "I kinda just wish I knew how to deal with it."

"Oh sure," Chloe sighed as she loaded her fork. "I mean, I know I'm not the best, because as you know, I'm probably too nice sometimes. It's one of those things that I don't take lightly though, security and safety. I got really famous really fast, some parts of the internet have seriously limited understanding of para-social relationships."

Beca watched closely as Chloe shuddered.

"I only do private security when I really need it, because I like to- well- I like to feel normal. But it's necessary sometimes. More often in these last few years. I've gotten around it by being smart about posts and by keeping my circle small."

Even through the haze of good food and heavy pours, Beca had the mindfulness to take note.

She had been getting texts from near strangers - people she hadn't spoken to in years - and she made a mental reminder to continue ignoring them.

And she decided not to post anything with or about Chloe when it was happening - only later.

"As far as the work stuff, I might not have much advice to offer," Chloe went on. "Only that I know you had some ideas and that you're good at what you do. All you have to do is trust your instincts, and when you're going down a path that you don't like, change it. You're allowed to. That's what I did- or, what I'm trying to do."

"If you act half as good as you did in that kitchen, you'll be fine," Beca assured her.

Chloe smiled demurely, and Beca looked away in an attempt to hide her blush.

"Well thank you," Chloe replied. "But I meant what I said too. Just then, and before. Besides the security stuff, because that part is really scary, fame is about what you do with it. And I think you're going to do something good."

Beca tucked her chin towards her chest as she continued eating, not looking up at Chloe.

"Here, give me your phone," Chloe said, and Beca fished her phone out of her pocket. She unlocked it and handed it to Chloe, who clicked through a few things.

Beca ate silently as Chloe worked, thinking about what Chloe had just said.

Did she have something that she wanted to do?

She wanted to keep making music, and she had more of an opportunity to do that now.

Before all this - before Chloe - she'd been overworked, but not in the fun way. It was typical for her to get sucked into a project and not surface for half a week, but in the past year or so, she'd been busy with busy-work. Sammy was making her get coffees and change paper towels, like she was some intern or something.

Though that hadn't really stopped yet either.

And now on top of that, she was working on multiple projects, and she really wasn't sure how to get to a place where she was just doing her job instead of everyone else's.

The only thing that had felt right in the last few weeks was singing with Chloe, and now working on this song that they had sang together.

Chloe had said she needed to trust her instincts, so for now, she'd keep going.

When the right thing came up, she'd know it.

She wouldn't let Chloe down - in this, or in the fake dating stuff. Not again.

"Here."

Beca looked up to see that Chloe was handing her back her phone.

"Attach a picture of your ID where it says, and then hit submit, and you'll be good to go," Chloe said simply. Beca saw a few things on the screen - in the Instagram app, looked like - but she decided not to click through anything for fear of messing up whatever Chloe had set up.

"Verification?"

Chloe nodded as she chased a bite of food with some wine.

"Cool," Beca replied. "Thanks."

"No prob," Chloe shot back with a smile. "But yeah. Fans are cool, stalkers are not. The industry stinks, but you have a platform now, and that's, like, a crazy responsibility. Oh, and don't read blinds. There are much better pieces of fiction out there."

Beca had been enjoying her last mouthful of wine, and she had to work the liquid around to the front of her mouth to avoid choking on it as she laughed.

She swallowed forcefully.

"Yeah, those are… something," Beca exhaled, and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"It's, like, get more creative at least," she huffed, and Beca laughed.

But then something clicked.

"Wait, did you say 'better pieces of fiction'?"

Chloe's mouth fell open, but she shut it quickly. She brought her wine mug back up to her mouth and eyed Beca over the lip of the mug.

"I might've," she said, and Beca watched as she took a large gulp of wine. She worked the liquid down her throat, the muscles contracting and stretching as they sat in silence, broken only when Chloe hummed noncommittally.

"I don't think you'll like it."

"Like what?"

Chloe sighed, and Beca was really intrigued now.

What could she even be talking about?

"So remember how I said that some people have tenuous relationships with para-social attachments?"

"I remember some of those words, sure," Beca teased as she took her last bite of masala.

"Well- okay, are you a big reader?"

Beca shook her head, and Chloe set down her empty plate and mug on the table, pulling out her phone.

"I mean, I do read," Beca clarified. "But not a ton. Usually just when someone recommends something."

"So not smut?"

"I- what?" Beca chuckled. "You mean, like, sex, but in a book? Like Fifty Shades of Grey?"

Chloe nodded, and Beca could see the blush tinting her cheeks.

"I'm not embarrassed," Chloe said. "It's just- okay, when I was dating Chicago, I found fanfiction. Do you know what fanfiction is?"

Beca shook her head, and Chloe sighed.

"Of course you don't," she said ruefully. "Okay. So basically it's like, people really like two characters together and they write them in scenes that aren't in their movie or show or- or whatever."

"Sexy scenes? You dirty bird," Beca grinned, because as embarrassed as Chloe said she wasn't, she sure was red, and Chloe huffed out a sigh.

"Yes, sexy scenes, Bec," she gritted. "And when I was dating Chicago, I found online writers who wrote about us, about us as real people, not our characters."

"And that was… good?"

Beca's mind was whipping around like a dish towel in a tornado.

She already knew that Chloe was a more sexual person than she was, and she knew about novels that had tawdry plots - maybe she didn't think they were that explicit, but it wasn't a huge surprise that they were.

And people on the internet were a special kind of sexual that didn't seem to exist in the real world.

But then, now, Chloe had said that she read about herself? Hooking up with Chicago?

But did that mean-

"I mean, it's pretty hot, is all I'm saying," Chloe said, and Beca tried to suss out the emotion in her voice.

Excitement? Nerves? Both?

Something else entirely?

"And I'm guessing that now, since you two broke up, are they out there, writing about…"

"Us?"

Friends.

Normal friends.

Beca closed her eyes as half of her brain focused on the mantra.

Chloe is your friend Chloe is your friend Chloe is your friend-

Flashes of Chloe, up late in bed, her phone as the only light in her dark room, illuminating her face as she read, wide-eyed, eyes flitting across the screen.

Chloe is your friend Chloe is your friend-

Something working under the covers, rhythmic, the rise and fall of the sheet, her other hand suspiciously missing like Beca's had been-

Friend! Chloe is your friend!

Beca coughed, and Chloe looked up from her phone.

"I'll take your word for it," Beca laughed, but she couldn't hide her breathy nervousness.

"I could send you some links-"

"Hah!" Beca barked, and she stood quickly. "Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Like I said, I don't read much."

And I'm not sure I could read that, she thought to herself.

Wait, so Chloe had read it?

"I'll take your plate?" Beca squeaked, and Chloe leaned forward, brow furrowed.

"I'm sorry," the actress said quickly. "That was weird, I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's cool, really," Beca rushed to say, reaching down for Chloe's plate. "I'm not, like, turned off by the idea."

Turned on though-

"-I think it's cool. Really. Flattering, in a weird - what was that word you used? 'Para-social'? - in that way," Beca tacked on, distracting herself away from thinking about that again. She had the plates stacked, but the silverware was still in-between them, and so they teetered threateningly.

She glanced down at the mugs and drew up a deep breath.

"Want me to grab another bottle of wine?" she asked.

Though she knew where that line of thinking could go.

One more glass, and she'd bring fanfiction up again.

Two, she'd ask for a link.

Three, she'd read them.

Four, she'd ask Chloe if she'd read them, asked if she-

"Probably not another bottle," Chloe sighed. "I'm not sure who I'd be if I had some more."

Ain't that the truth, Beca thought.

"But I think I have an open bottle of red blend? If you're going to the kitchen, it should be in that fridge, under where the other bottle was?"

Beca nodded and started out of the room.

"Can you grab my Snuggie too?"

Even through her nerves - or, perhaps, because of them - Beca huffed out a laugh at that, and she agreed to retrieve the fluffy monstrosity for her.

But when she got to the kitchen, she found that the apparent comfiness was already being taken advantage of.

Two full-sized cats - one completely jet black with short fur, and one brownish black with slightly longer fur - had curled up on the couch, on the Snuggie, and at the sound of Beca's footsteps, the all-black one perked up, looking sternly over its shoulder at the intruder.

"Oh well fuck me, isn't that just the cutest fucking thing," Beca blew out. She set her dishes on the counter, quickly grabbing her phone and snapping a few pictures.

She sent one off to Chloe without comment, and as she went to grab the wine, she heard Chloe aww from the other room.

"My kittens!" the actress squealed as she ran into the room, and Beca cackled as both cats jumped up and skittered down the other hall before Chloe could get to them.

"Good news, the frozen tundra cape is free now," Beca laughed as Chloe glanced around- just as the last tail disappeared beyond the far wall.

"They hate me!"

"I'm sure they don't," Beca giggled, trying and failing to hide her amusement with the situation.

"They like each other way more than they like me," Chloe sighed, slumping into a stool at the island. "I'm tolerated. Jinks won't even cuddle with me."

"Which one is that?" Beca asked as she worked the cork out of the other bottle. There was only half of the bottle left, but that would be fine.

"The shorthair."

"Ahhh," Beca replied. "Yeah, quite the stink-eye on that one."

"Binxy is the other one. And I'm impressed you met his eye and lived to tell the tale," Chloe said seriously, and Beca just smiled. Chloe was on her phone, and as Beca walked back up, she could see that Chloe was staring at the picture of her cats all cuddled together.

She laughed and gave Chloe her phone.

"I took some more, if you want to see."

"Oh! Yeah! Wait, can you unlock it?"

"Password's 0922," she said, and when Chloe looked at her incredulously, Beca just shrugged.

"I don't keep anything good on it," she said. "Besides, aren't you my fake girlfriend or something?"

"Still," Chloe exhaled in an awed tone, and Beca felt her eyes rolling.

"It's not a big deal, Beale," she sighed.

So many things were not a big deal right now, and Beca was starting to worry that they might add up.

But there was just something about Chloe that made Beca trust her.

It was weird, but even after a short time, she trusted Chloe more than some of her closest friends.

She decided not to think about it.

"C'mon," she said. "Let's polish off this bad boy. I'll even let you put on a movie."

"Okay, I know I haven't known you for that long, but I feel like you had a personality transplant. Who are you?"

Beca laughed as she led the way back through the house to the lounge.

"I'm not sure if I should be offended or not," she called over her shoulder, and Chloe walked in a moment later (wearing the Snuggie again, of course).

"Totes not offended. Or, maybe, I don't know."

She filled up their wine mugs as Chloe got re-settled, and she really was going to let a movie happen, but Chloe's most recent app filled the screen when she turned on the smart TV, and when Beca saw it was Spotify, she flung a hand out.

"Wait!" she said, and Chloe paused, arm outstretched with the remote pointed towards the TV.

Her brain could barely keep up as her eyes perused the information laid out before her.

Recently played playlists - the first one was titled ~*~early morning sunrise~*~, and Beca held back a laugh, because only Chloe would not only enjoy mornings but also have a playlist about it.

Playlists "for you," which had a couple pop album covers that Beca recognized. The new Beyonce from summer was on there, Taylor Swift - not surprising. Harry Styles.

Some stuff that looked like musicals, maybe Mean Girls?

She saw a playlist titled all the way up that looked like it had some familiar album artwork on it - something that Beca had maybe worked on - but she let her eyes keep flowing down the app's contents.

"Did you want to peruse?" Chloe teased, and Beca finally glanced away from the screen to find Chloe watching her with a bemused expression.

"I couldn't."

But I really want to.

"I've got nothing to hide," Chloe giggled. "Wanna know which playlists you're on?"

Beca's whole body chemistry re-aligned - heat shot up to her cheeks, then down to her chest, and her hands flexed involuntary as her core seized.

Wow.

Chloe consciously has my songs on her playlists?

That's so-

"Show me- uhh," Beca stammered. "Show me what you play most."

Chloe thought about it for a second, tapping the remote against her lips, and then she clicked to the early morning one.

"This is what I do yoga too," she said, scrolling through the songs. Beca caught a few names - Ray LaMontagne, Hozier, Post Malone - and then, at the end, like they had been added more recently, some lofi songs that Beca recognized as ones she had listened to before.

Including the one that Beca definitely had on her playlist - the Eyes blue like the Atlantic lofi remix.

And then what looked like a lofi version of sweater weather.

"Usually I try to sing when I do yoga - which, okay, is probably stupid, but it helps with my breathing and breath control. Sometimes I have to walk and talk, while I act," Chloe explained, clicking out of that playlist and into what appeared to be a more upbeat one. "The lofi at the end is good for meditation though."

Beca nodded, but she couldn't take her eyes away from the screen.

Elton John.

Emily Junk.

Party in the USA - hah, still listening to that one, Chlo?

The Supremes.

Cher Lloyd.

It was like looking into Chloe's heart- even moreso for Beca, who couldn't help but see the threads between the songs. She tried to remember all the artists that she didn't recognize so she could look them up later, add them to playlists and find new threads and patches of fabric that were sewn together.

Music was so ingrained in her psyche as a personal thing that this felt almost too intrusive, like she was seeing Chloe naked or something. This was intimate for her, and she couldn't stop breathing it in, taking in the musical essence that was Chloe.

Well, all until-

"Sisqo?!" she shouted, and Chloe startled a little on the other end of the couch.

"Hey, I love Thong Song," Chloe said, unabashed. "That whole album, really-"

"That whole album?! You've listened to the album?"

"Yeah, Unleash The Dragon," Chloe said with a smile.

"Oh my god!"

Beca dissolved into giggles, and beside her, she knew Chloe was laughing too.

"You are- you're a conundrum wrapped in an enigma, Chloe Beale. A true anomaly." she finally got out, and Chloe smiled at her.

"Well that makes two of us," she said, but then she sighed and spoke again.

"Some of these are character playlists too," she said as she continued to scroll through her library, and Beca felt her face contort in confusion.

"Why's that bad?"

"Well I'm not going to be able to have my phone onset, with Applebaum. It's, like, one of his rules," she clarified. "And I use music to stay in the zone between scenes."

"You don't have Sisqo on cassette, as it was originally put out in, like, 1995 or whatever?"

Chloe shook her head with a wry smile.

"I'm sure I'll figure something out," she sighed again. "It's just another complication that I'm nervous about. Add it to my laundry list of things to sort out in… gosh, four days?"

It was strange, because even though Beca didn't really understand movies or Chloe's process or what could even be required for said process, she understood where Chloe was coming from.

Funny enough, it wasn't her work that she drew comparisons to, but school.

Like, high school, because running lines sure felt like studying for a test.

And maybe that's what this was, in a way. It was like she was trying to prep for a test, trying to be consistent and thorough so that when it came to test-time, she'd feel like she was doing something routine.

Like people that had to eat peppermints while they studied and then again when they were being tested.

Beca didn't care for high school, or for the two years of college she tried to work through at her dad's demand. Tests weren't her deal.

But then she thought back to those early DJ sets.

How nervous she got, how she felt like she had to rehearse the transitions hundreds of times to even feel comfortable.

God, she'd put that part of her life away so long ago.

And for good reason, because as exhilarating as it was, she used to put her nerves through the wringer just to get through a single set.

Was Chloe really doing that all the time? Trying to learn a whole new set and perform it, metaphorically?

"Okay, what do you want to watch?"

Beca blinked out of her thoughts as she looked up, seeing that Chloe had exited out of the Spotify app and was on the screen with all the apps. Beca recognized a couple, but just like with cooking, she was firmly out of her wheelhouse.

"Something we can laugh at?"

Chloe chuckled, immediately starting to scroll over to the Amazon Prime app.

"Oh, I've got just the thing."

---

"Why didn't you tell me you were in the Fifty Shades movie?! Chloe there's no way I'm gonna keep watching this."

"Excuse me, it's a franchise, and I thought you knew! I thought that's why you brought it up earlier!" Chloe shouted back, laughing. "Did you like what you did see?"

"I'm sorry, were my incredulous laughs and shrieks of shock misinterpreted as glee? Clearly I was terrified," Beca said faux-seriously, and she narrowly avoided the decorative pillow that was chucked at her head.

"Beca Mitchell, you better be nice to me!" Chloe scolded her. "And just be happy that I stopped it before the real sexy bits. I can't stand to watch myself in those scenes, it's so fake."

Yeah, even the sped of version of the "tame" scenes was enough for me, Beca thought.

Flashes of Chloe being undressed.

Flashes of Chloe topless.

Flashes of Chloe's toes digging into the bed-

My wonderful and generous friend Chloe, doing her job for work.

They didn't get much further into the movie than that first sex scene though.

"Well, I think you deserve an Oscar for pretending to be attracted to whatever possessive bullshit he was doing," Beca said aloud.

"Oh, the character was a jerk, but Jamie's not so awful- though his accent was a little rough at times," Chloe pooh-poohed. "I definitely had more chemistry with Eloise. But it is one of my more lauded roles - what did you think I won the Razzie for?"

"What is that again?"

"It's like an award for terrible acting," Chloe winced. "Technically the movie won for being terrible in its entirety."

"Can't say I don't agree with them," Beca teased, and another plush projectile hit her on the side of her face.

"Beca, be nice!"

"I'm sorry!" Beca laughed. "That was awful though!"

"Okay, we're going to bed," Chloe huffed. "I'm totally over the abuse."

Beca laughed as she leaned back further into the pillows.

"All right, all right, I'll stop."

The two sat in silence for a moment, with the paused still of Chloe's wide-eyed stare over them.

And Beca was going to let it go, but then she thought of Chloe's drunken phone call scene and she laughed again.

"It's just that-"

"Nope," Chloe cut her off. "I'm out. Done. Don't you say another word."

She stood, and the giant fluffy Snuggie she was still wearing billowed out around her. Beca's torso folded over her legs as she laughed twice as hard.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Beca got out through the laughs. "It's just- I cannot believe that that meek imbecile is the same person who wears giant Snuggies! You're a good actress, is what I'm saying!"

"Yeah, yeah," Chloe groaned. "Flattery will get you no where."

"I mean it!"

"And I meant it when I said we're going to bed," Chloe said as she clicked off the TV. She still looked a little… something though.

Embarrassed, maybe?

Flustered?

Beca tamped down her mirth and looked at Chloe seriously.

"I cannot stress enough how much I dislike movies, but you were the only thing that made that even somewhat watchable, I promise," she said, and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"That's because you're not attracted to Jamie Dornan," she huffed out.

"Point taken," Beca sighed.

But that wasn't it, and she knew it.

She figured they both knew it.

Because she knew by now that Chloe didn't half-ass any role, even contrived, smut book adaptations. There was no way that she went into this movie with anything less than her full attention and intention.

"I'm just saying, you were good," Beca said as she stood up. "And you were right- it definitely made me laugh."

That got Chloe to smile again, and something in Beca relaxed as she followed Chloe back through the house.

It was weird how Chloe's moods could get her so antsy. If Chloe was worked up - and especially if Beca caused it - Beca felt something like a knot tightening in her chest.

She'd felt that way at Intersection, then again at the studio, when Chloe had gotten so protective of her with the whole paparazzi thing. It was like their emotions were linked; if Chloe wasn't happy, Beca wasn't happy.

And when Chloe smiled, Beca smiled.

"Okay, towels are on the counter, if you need them," Chloe was saying as the stepped up to Beca's door. She leaned against the opposite hallway, which probably led back to her bedroom.

Probably, anyway, because Beca hadn't even seen it.

"I never got the tour," she teased, and Chloe's face fell into a near puppy-dog level pout.

"Ohmigod, Becs, I'm so sorry!" she shrieked. "Want to now? I can show you the-"

"Chlo, chill," Beca grinned. "I- I don't really need to see it. Or, not tonight, anyway. We'll do it next time."

Beca watched a fleet of emotions flit across Chloe's face and only caught one - frustration - at the tail end. The actress then looked down, pulling at some unseen loose thread of the Snuggie.

"Sure," she said softly. "Well I'm gonna turn in. Night."

She turned, and Beca felt like she was at a loss. Had she said something mean? Was Chloe still upset about the whole movie thing? Or had Beca said something really weird? Was it weird not to see the whole house, or-

Next time.

She'd said "next time," like she was going to come back.

Somewhere between "fake dating" and "real friendship," Beca had forgotten that she was over at the house contractually and not as a friendly get-together where she was too drunk to drive home.

Guess that's where she landed after enjoying the equivalent of four glasses of wine with good company and a terrible movie.

"Chlo- wait," Beca called after her, and Chloe turned around in the dark hallway. She was almost completely out of the light, but she took a step back, towards Beca, and she was visible again.

"I had a really good time. Tonight, I mean. Even with the movie," she said, choosing her words as carefully as she could - even more carefully than when Martin Garrix had asked for a collab. "Thank you, for letting me come over and making dinner and entertaining me and-"

"What? That was nothing," Chloe cut in. "I would do that for anyone."

"Well, not just anyone would do that for me, so," Beca shot back, and Chloe bit back whatever remark she was going to make. Her bottom lip slipped beneath her top teeth, and Beca tried not to stare at it too hard.

"Thanks," she said sincerely, and she fought to maintain eye contact with Chloe's stunningly blue eyes. "I- hah, okay this is going to sound really lame if you're not on board, but here goes - I really like being your friend. You were absolutely right about us getting along, okay?"

Chloe looked away and didn't say anything, and Beca blew out a hot breath towards another end of the hallway.

"So that's me, that's how I feel," she sighed anxiously. "Can you please talk now?"

She was still looking away, so she didn't see Chloe until the actress had stepped forward, placing hands on her both of her forearms and pulling her close.

"I knew we would be really fast friends," the actress beamed.

"Woah, okay," Beca laughed as their foreheads almost clanked together.

"Well, I saw your Spotify landing page, so…"

Chloe narrowed her eyes a little, and Beca tried to lean back. She could smell the sweet red wine on Chloe's breath and a floral scent in her hair - different than before, so it must've been from the salon - and it was all making her dizzy.

Chloe's a friend Chloe's a friend Chloe's a-

"Yeah, and you saw me topless," Chloe said, letting go of Beca and stepping away. Without realizing she was doing it, Beca grabbed the spots on her arms where Chloe's hands had been.

"I'm pretty confident about all this," Chloe smirked with a gesture towards herself.

And Spotify was one thing, but Chloe's body was a fully independent beast - one that was currently covered in a giant Snuggie.

Not that Beca was going to forget what was under it for a long time.

But the current circumstance made the whole thing pretty funny. Beca smiled widely, then rolled her lips to tamp it back down.

"You should be," she replied.

"Thanks." Chloe said, and her returning grin nearly broke her face in two.

"Okay, well, glad we got that figured out, then," Beca said awkwardly. "I'm gonna try to get some sleep."

"Oh, you'll be great in there," Chloe nodded. "The last people who slept in there were Stace and Bree, and they said the new mattress is, like, super supportive."

"Got it," Beca said, turning heel towards her room.

"Like for any activities."

"Wow, yep, I got it," Beca called over her shoulder, and she heard Chloe giggling as she shut the door.

It didn't take her long to get ready for bed, but she wasn't thinking about anything.

Truthfully.

All the thoughts that she wanted to think were firmly unthinkable right now.

So she just… didn't.

She brushed her teeth and stared at nothing and kept her mind blank.

Washed her face with a blissfully static-y mind.

She stripped down to her underwear, put on pajamas - nothing. Not even a whisper.

She slid between the sheets without a care in the world.

And then she stared at the ceiling.

And stared.

Turned over, stared at the wall.

Turned over again, stared at some couches.

No thoughts, but something was surely rattling around in there, causing quite a loud silence.

Groaning, she reached for her phone to look up a sleep talk-down on YouTube. She plugged it into her charger and unlocked things, went to clear recent apps-

And all that Instagram work that Chloe had done for her was right there.

She groaned again, scrolling away and tapped the Spotify icon.

If she wasn't going to sleep, the least she could do was find some Chloe songs.

Because she had an idea.

---

hey I just dropped off a box for you at your security gate

they said they don't usually do that kinda thing

but they'd "make an exception for Chloe"

for some reason that doesn't surprise me

Beca watched the dots pop up, then go away, then pop up again, this time followed by a message.

Bill, Denise, and Taj are some of my favorite people in the whole world! Chloe had written back. They're so sweet! I'll look out for a message from them- otherwise, I'll just walk down and get it. Why didn't you come up?

Beca rolled her eyes and typed back her responses.

i have to get back to work, sorry

and to you they're sweet, maybe

denise did a full patdown of me

Beca read Chloe's reply - two crying emojis - and clicked her phone off, tucking it back under her monitor. Chloe was leaving for Atlanta this afternoon, and Beca couldn't fight the urge to send her something - as a thank you/apology for the whole sleepover/laughing at her career thing - but also maybe helpful, if Chloe hadn't done something already.

It wasn't much, just a high quality portable music player that she found on Amazon and had pre-loaded with a bunch of songs that she remembered seeing on Chloe's playlists.

But then she couldn't help herself, and she added the whole Sisqo album as a joke.

And then she added a bunch more lofi that she thought the actress would like.

And then she added new playlists.

Ones that she probably shouldn't have.

Because Chloe said she liked having character playlists, and the first one that Beca had thought of was Fifty Shades - because we had just watched it! - so she'd started collecting songs.

And when she finished that, she realized that she couldn't just have a random playlist titled Anastasia Steele filled with dark, sexy, possessive songs, because that was seriously gross.

But the only other character she could think of was the one from the scene that she'd helped with, and Beca didn't even have a clue what that movie was about.

All she knew was the scene where she confronted her husband, and that later they were actors playing that scene and the characters were fake or something.

So she tried.

She started with badass single-lady power anthems, but that felt wrong. The character's choices weren't driven by a strong sense of self - or, at least, Chloe didn't play the character that way. She played it like a meek, frustrated woman who had reached her breaking point.

So Olivia Rodrigo and Noah Kahan and Phoebe Bridgers went on that playlist, some Taylor Swift for good measure.

But that still wasn't right.

She found herself diving into tracks from the 60s and 70s, with Dolly Parton, Fleetwood Mac, and The Rolling Stones. There was a delicate balance of traditionalism and mania that Beca felt when she saw Chloe recite lines - not just recite lines, but embody them.

And then she downloaded all the songs, put them on the player, and put it in the shoddily re-sealed Amazon box that everything had already been shipped in.

And then she had checked the calendar - because she still had about a day left.

If she worked hard enough, she could get one more song on there.

One song that no one had ever heard.

She stayed up that whole night, tweaking and re-tweaking the sadder, soulful version of How A Heart Unbreaks.

It wasn't perfect, but it was a hell of a lot better than Ruby Rose's bastardized version.

She went into the studio early the next day and laid down some vocals. They were just hers, so they weren't nearly as potent as when she and Chloe sang together, but she tried her best to capture Chloe's raw emotion and powerful delivery.

And before she could second-guess it too much - before she even listened to the song more than once - she put it on Chloe's new player.

She had a couple hours before her first meeting, and thankfully traffic was worse coming into the city than going away from it, once she got out of the main highway area.

So she dropped it off, and now Chloe was going to go down and pick it up.

She'd waited until she was back at the office to text Chloe about it.

She didn't know why.

But she was nervous again. Nervous that Chloe would think it was lame, sure. But more realistically, nervous that Chloe would read way too far into the gift. It was just music. It was what she did.

And it was something she could help with.

Twenty minutes later, Beca heard her cell phone ringing.

She knew who it was, but that didn't stop her professional, "This is Beca" greeting from slipping out.

"So. Music," Chloe said simply, but Beca could hear the smile in her voice like it was painted over each word.

"Yep," Beca said, popping the "p" of the word as heat filled her cheeks. "That's my job."

"And if I turn this thing on- which, how do I do that again? I haven't seen one of these in decades."

Beca laughed.

"There's a button on the top - and there's a memory card in there, if you want to add more music, but yeah, there's already music on there. And those headphones are some of my favorites," Beca said quickly.

"You gave me your headphones?"

"Hah, I already ordered another pair, they just didn't come in time," Beca replied, switching her phone from one shoulder to the other. She grabbed her mouse and went to check her email out of habit, then stopped, minimizing the work window and staring at her stock desktop photo instead.

"But yeah, there's some- uh, there's some music on there. Couple things I think you'll like. If you use the wheel to scroll to 'categories' or whatever, there's a couple playlists I already put together."

"Beca."

Beca winced.

That was the tone she had hoped she wouldn't hear.

"Seriously, Chlo, I just wanted to help. And to say thank you. And sorry again, about the jokes about Fifty Shades. And to let you know that, you know, you got this. You're going to be amazing," Beca sighed, but she was trying not to grin.

She knew this would be one of those things that Chloe completely fawned over, and she knew it was probably too much for a fake girlfriend/real just friend to do, but this was her shit. This was her job.

So yeah, she'd done it.

And it was embarrassing enough that she couldn't give it to Chloe in person, because she could tell that she was beet red right now, and in person, she'd probably have to curl in a ball and hide.

And when Chloe found the other song, the one that they'd worked on together, she was going to throw a fit - and she definitely didn't want to be in person for that.

But it'd be better to bite the bullet now.

"And okay, I'm telling you this so you don't, like, freak out and cry or something," Beca said cautiously.

"I'm close to tears here already, so I can't promise anything!"

Beca huffed out a laugh.

"There's a song that I put on there- it's the one that we worked on, in the studio."

Beca heard Chloe inhale sharply.

"I finished it- oh, maybe two hours ago?" Beca laughed frantically as she tried to get all the words out quickly. "Anyway, I didn't know who else to play it for, and since you were the one who told me I should make it, I put it on that player thing."

Chloe was quiet, and Beca bit her lip to stop herself from filling the silence. It was torture, but she kept from saying anything until Chloe spoke again.

"This is a really thoughtful gift," Chloe said softly, and Beca blushed even harder.

"Whatever, you needed something," Beca tried to brush off the compliment. "And you'll probably have to add stuff anyway. I tried to make a character playlist for Blair and I just-"

"Okay, now I really need to get off the phone," Chloe whined, and Beca could hear a familiar wobble of incoming tears in her voice. She heard Chloe take a deep breath and let it out in slow stutters.

"Thank you," she said, and Beca pushed down another wince. "I'm gonna go listen to every song twice."

Beca laughed, biting into her bottom lip.

"It was fun," she said. "You're welcome or whatever."

They hung up, and Beca stared at her empty screen.

And a new sort of torture settled over her.

Because now she had to go through a full workday waiting for Chloe to text her.

---

Okay you should just silence our text thread because I'm going to text you all day.

This is so good Becs.

How did you know how instrumental Thong Song would be to Loni's third-act character pivot?

Her phone vibrated thrice in succession, and Beca shot a quick look of apology to her boss and a few other higher-ups. They were in an all-call meeting - which really didn't require any input from Beca, but it seemed like the time where everybody asked for her help now, so she had to pay attention.

She glanced at her phone as she silenced it and saw the messages from Chloe, feeling a smile creep up her features before she could stop it.

"Beca? Would that work?"

"Sorry," she replied quickly and set about her original task of silencing the phone.

"You're good to help Sierra on the Miley project?" Sammy asked again impatiently. "Studio time is Tuesday the 25th through Thursday, same week."

Beca clicked on her calendar and hummed.

"I'll make it work," she said resolutely - though she didn't really believe it. Her calendar was stacked with the overlapping colors of different projects, and she knew that she'd be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of music she'd have to digest in the next month.

Maybe it'd be better that Chloe wouldn't be around for a while.

Less distractions.

Beca had meeting after boring meeting all day, and while she would normally have time to check her messages between, she felt like she was constantly talking to someone or listening to playback or talking to clients in her typical downtimes. She could see that Chloe was sending her things, but she didn't have time to actually read them until she was home.

Back in her apartment, she twisted the top off her cheap beer, settling her forearms down on the small island that separated the main room, and - after taking a reasonably large swig - she opened the messages.

I don't know where to start. Oh my gosh, this is so exciting, I can't wait! I'm just going to start with the playlists because that seems like the best place to go.

Okay the first playlist is called Anastasia Steele?! Should I be concerned?

…

I'm coming back to that one later, because that seems like a playlist that would be very confusing to listen to at 10 AM.

Beca chuckled and double-tapped on that message, giving it a thumbs up.

Probably on the plane later tonight. Although maybe I won't listen to that one while I'm around other people… hmm…

Okay back to the playlists.

You made my yoga one, kind of! Wow! Becs this is literally so sweet.

Glad you put the blue eyes one on here, it's one of my new favorites.

Okay, and now I see that the whole Sisqo album is on here. Did you listen to it? Because I don't think you would've made fun of me as much if you had listened to it. There's some very interesting elements of late 90s hiphop that deserve to be explored.

You could learn from it, I think.

Do you work on a lot of hiphop songs? I know about the Snoop stuff and Iggy Azalea, but do you do more? Am I tripping?

That one made Beca nearly spit out her beer, so she hovered over it and reacted with a laughing emoji.

Even just reading Chloe's responses to her playlists was exhilarating.

Beca was practically vibrating with anxious energy.

Okay new playlist - Blair for the Cornea Project. It's actually The Coriolis Effect but I like your title better so I'm going to keep it.

Wow.

Are you sure you didn't read the whole script while I was sleeping?

These Taylor Swift deepcuts! This better be Taylor's version- oh, it is. Okay good.

Okay I'm convinced that you read the script when I wasn't looking because how else would you know to put Motion Sickness and mad woman on here, those are literally the first songs that I would've added to my playlist.

And I love what you did with these older songs. There's something about Blair that feels so old fashioned, isn't there? Loni, not so much, but some of these older ones are pulling double-duty for the switch. Only thing that's missing is the atmospheric-spacey stuff.

Beca went back and re-read the message.

Space?

Was the movie set in space?

Or part of it?

She shook her head with a laugh- she'd have to ask, because that wasn't apparent at all from the scene they did.

Then she went back to reading.

Patsy Cline!

And Dolly Parton!

Beca seriously if you read the script you might have to sign an NDA. Applebaum is really weird about that stuff.

You can't tell anyone.

And if you got all this from that one scene… well, I guess music is your job or whatever but you should go work for Spotify in a professional-playlist-maker capacity

Only one song left to listen to!

Even though this had happened hours ago and Beca had no way to change the outcome, she still felt prickles of sweat at the top of her back. The only song Chloe hadn't commented on yet was the one Beca worked on, sang on- even wrote most of, for god's sake, because it wasn't like Ruby Rose was a lyricist.

And her version was pretty different - more stripped-down Alicia Keys than fake punk.

She took another slug of her beer and scrolled down slowly, reading Chloe's messages one by one.

Becs.

BECS.

!

THIS IS SO GOOD.

Beca ohmigod.

You made it so much realer. It feels so clean and sad and just- WOW.

I can't wait til I hear the bridge.

Oh, no more la's? 😔

Beca actually did spit her beer out, just a little dribble down her chin, and she reacted to Chloe's message with another laugh.

It's okay, I like the piano solo better. 😉

Your harmonies are so good.

Oh my gosh Becs.

I just listened to it again. I sang along the whole time.

You sharing this with me is probably the coolest thing that's ever happened to me, and I've sang back-up for Prince.

Beca chuckled with raised brows as she drained the rest of her beer.

Okay I have to get on a plane now.

Thank you for this.

I can't fully explain to you how much I cherish this. Beca this is beyond thoughtful, I'm going to get you the best Christmas present. Is it okay if I put it on IG?

Oh you're not going to care, I know that.

Okay check your mentions.

Curious, Beca scrolled over to the Instagram app. It had changed a little - maybe with the whole verification thing - but she navigated her way through to her notifications to see that most of them had to do with a post that she was tagged in, so she clicked on it.

It was a slideshow, and Beca could only see the first part of the caption, which said "October so far- so much has happened and I…", so she clicked "more" before she started looking through the photos.

It read, "October so far- so much has happened and I don't even know where to start. Filming on #YMovie was some of the most fun I've ever had, even if it was *serious business*. Not sure I could've gotten through it without some awesome co-stars and one amazing girlfriend - who actually gives the best presents ever? Off to #TheCoriolisEffect with a personalized MP3 player!"

Beca felt her face scrunch up in a grimacing smile, pulling the whole middle of her face together as she scrolled through the photos. There were a couple set photos of Chloe - wow - of Chloe in very little clothing and a crazy blonde wig. One with what Beca assumed to be co-stars, based on their outfits, all around a living room with sunglasses and hardened expressions, and one in the makeup trailer that was a mirror selfie where Chloe was sticking her tongue out.

A picture of her cats on the Snuggie that Beca had taken last week was in there too, with Jinks glaring at the camera and Binxy all curled under herself.

And the last picture was a packed bag on what must've been Chloe's bed. Beside it was the new music player (it was MP4 not MP3, but Beca didn't feel like being pedantic) with her song pulled up.

She didn't name it How a Heart Unbreaks thankfully, because that'd probably land her in trouble with Residual.

But wip.101422 by the artist Beca Mitchell (the artist name was a default of the program, and a helpful tool in preventing her beats from being stolen) was halfway through its playtime, and Beca felt her heart thud against her ribcage.

Something didn't click when she read Chloe's texts earlier about liking the song.

It was like, maybe Chloe was just saying that to make her feel better or something.

But seeing that Chloe Beale was listening to her song some - she checked the timing on the messages - three hours later, and that the song was half over…

That hit Beca.

Right in those feelings that she was trying to ignore.

Those Chloe might just be the best friend you've ever had feelings.

---

Both she and Chloe were too busy for texting over the next ten days, but that didn't mean Beca wasn't thinking about her.

Especially because that whole "MP3 player" thing (kinda wish I'd corrected her now…) went, like, semi-viral.

Not enough for publications to ask for a quote or anything, but enough that people were talking about it. A couple of her nicer coworkers asked her about what she put on it, and Beca squirreled away from that topic. Bumper and few of his crew of dicks teased her, and only Sammy asked her about the "Reggie track."

But when she got a text from Amy towards the end of the following week, she knew something was different.

Honestly don't know why you fought against this, because this fuckin rules. It's like free publicity all the time

*link*

Beca rolled her eyes, but she clicked the link anyway. It re-routed her to YouTube, where the video was buffering, but the title was visible: "Talking Sensuality, Stars, and Music with Chloe Beale | It's All Good, Baby Interview"

The video popped up, and a person with dark hair and glasses started giving an intro for a news publication that Beca had never even heard of - but then the screen split, and Chloe was there, apparently on a some kind of Zoom call interview.

"-Chloe Beale, hi, thank you for taking the time!"

"Thanks for having me!" Chloe smiled graciously, and Beca felt herself smiling too.

Chloe's smile had always been infectious, but after not seeing her for a over a week - and being so busy in the mean time - even just looking at her friend helped her relax.

"Tell me about this new film - you got to work with Stevie Miles, right?"

"I did!" Chloe said enthusiastically enough, but Beca caught the slightest hesitation in her voice. One that shocked her, because everything she'd seen about Stevie Miles - world-renowned rockstar turned actor - had been about how wonderful and pleasant he was to be around.

Anyone else would think Chloe's hesitation was due to the connection or something, but Beca knew.

Something was weird there.

She had to save the analysis for later though, because the interviewer was already asking what he was like.

"He's a fantastic guy," Chloe grinned. "Very charming. He was pretty busy on set though. We really didn't get to spend much time together outside the shoot unfortunately!"

There it was again- that slightest bit of discomfort.

But the interviewer ran right over it.

"And this is a thriller, right? Action-packed?"

"Oh absolutely," Chloe answered smoothly. "We got to do some really cool effects, and the team was just amazing at keeping us safe but still, like, in it."

"There's a pretty prominent sex scene at the start of the movie," they said. "That's something you're familiar with, right?"

"It is," Chloe grinned with a little roll of her eyes. The editor put her video up full screen, and Beca could see that she looked exhausted- how she was doing press during a strenuous bout of filming, Beca would never know.

She wondered if it was going okay.

She wanted to ask, but she didn't want Chloe to feel anxious about it.

Especially when she only had her phone for like, eight hours every day anyway, and most of those were spent sleeping.

Onscreen, Chloe went on.

"Thankfully I've been lucky to find a very good intimacy coordinator - Sandi Pike. She worked with us on Fifty Shades, and I did everything I could to get her on It's All Good, Baby as well. She's so good at making everyone feel comfortable, and I think she was a big help on set."

The screen cut back to both of them as the interviewer asked another question.

"And now you're shooting an Applebaum project, is that correct? Did Sandi come with you over there as well?"

Chloe shook her head.

"We don't need her on this one," Chloe said. "Just a lot of coffee and some good tunes."

"Applebaum's known for his closed sets, even with phones," the interviewer hedged. "How'd you convince him to let you have yours for music?"

"I didn't, actually," Chloe grinned, biting her bottom lip. "My girlfriend got me a music player. I called it an MP3 player before and was sternly corrected."

Beca barked out a laugh. She'd really only sent her a text to tease her, but of course Chloe was going to play it up to the media.

"Oh right! Beca Mitchell's infamous gift. What'd she put on there?"

"That's confidential," Chloe teased, batting her eyelashes, and Beca blushed despite the facts that Chloe was thousands of miles away and also pre-recorded.

"But I will say that there's an unreleased original," she confessed, and Beca saw a smile begin to light up her features again. "I haven't told her this, but I've had it on repeat since I got it. Even more than the other stuff."

"Bullshit," Beca said aloud to the screen.

"No way," the interviewer shot back, and Beca felt a weird kinship to the person, because they were clearly on the same page.

"I swear," Chloe said seriously, but her eyes were still smiling as she looked directly into the camera. The editor made her video fullscreen again before she added the next line.

"It's almost as good as Thong Song - or Party in the USA."

And Beca paused the video as she laughed hard.

There was only one reason that Chloe would reference those songs. Those two very specific, very Beca and Chloe songs.

She was trying to tell Beca that she was telling the truth.

She really liked Beca's song.

Heat bloomed across Beca's chest as her laughter died out, but the smile stayed.

Friendly or more than that, Chloe made Beca so happy.

She was happy and a little astonished that they found each other - that they could surprise each other and make each other laugh so easily, when it usually took a lot more time and effort to defrost her icy defenses.

That Chloe was supportive of her was like a cherry on top.

And if buying music players and texting cat photos was the way to keep that person happy, Beca knew that she could go on doing that forever.

Because when Chloe smiled, Beca smiled too.

It felt like the whole world did.

---

Bonus points if you can catch all my movie references in this.

Tuesdays are my day now, see ya next week with (fingers crossed) less words.

Also I just got on tumblr, same username, come follow me while I do stuff. Specific things, I'm sure.

Actually would it be lame if I put stuff about my writing on there? Like how I actually just look up home listings and describe those houses instead of making it up? I could link the listing for Chloe's in this one lol