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?

6. Chapter 6

There's a poison inside of me, and the fact that you can't see it is so sad.

---

Mid-November

Beca

Well what if the spaceship is a metaphor

Chloe

A metaphor for what?

For pregnancy?

For LOVE?!

Beca

lol

no i mean like a metaphor for the whole thing, like it's a holding pattern, because didn't you saythat each character/actor is "refusing the call" or whatever?

like you can't do much a spaceship

anyway go to bed

isn't it like midnight there

oh good you fell asleep

Fri, Nov 11, 7:02

Chloe

! Sorrryyyy 💀💀

That was a late night.

I'll be happy when I get a break. And oh my gosh I see you tomorrow!

Beca

travel day today?

Chloe

Yep! Packing up now.

Georgia is so beautiful. I really likeshooting outside of the city. I'm going to miss all the trees and the rain!

Beca

didn't peg you for a rain gal

thought you'd be all about 🌞

Chloe

There's a time and a place for everything,even rain.

I think it's actually helped me tap into mycharacter a little bit, even though we were shooting inside all the time.

But I'm definitely a sunshine girl usually.

Are you ready for the premiere tomorrow?

Beca

about that

somebody named Tish emailed me asking for my "measurements"

Chloe

Oh awesome! I asked her to get something for you so you didn't have to worry about it.

I think we're both wearing Alaia

Beca

that's actually a relief

maybe

so do I just tell them i wear like size 4 or

Chloe

,,,,

No.

Beca

please don't make me go to a place

or talk to people

Chloe

Honestly? It's probably too late for that anyway. Send her the size and brand of your favorite pants, bra size, and dress size.

Are you okay with wearing a dress?

Beca

yep

Chloe

Okay cool.

Wanna come over around 10 tomorrow? I've got a team coming over at 10:30 to get us all dolled up.

Beca

sure

---

Beca didn't text back for the rest of the day yesterday, but Chloe could have expected that.

She knew that the producer had been so busy with all of her current projects - and it's not like Chloe was available most of the time either, yesterday's travel day being a mild exception.

Because, sure, she wasn't on set, but she was still busy.

Between the last of the It's All Good, Baby interviews in the morning - which her assistant/publicist Jessica attempted to limit, but Chloe knew she was still contractually obligated to do a few - and prepping for next week's scenes, Chloe almost wished that she was staying in Atlanta for another week.

Because having her people swarming around again, and getting on a plane and flying back to her team- all of that was something of a bear.

Not to be all uppity about it, but they were really disrupting her process.

There was something about the solace afforded by a hotel room - nobody came by to clean or mow or "check-in." In environments like that - the places where Chloe had less control and therefore less responsibilities - she was really able to focus on herself and the things that she needed.

And home was… different.

It would definitely be different today, as everyone was going to be there to get them ready for the premiere.

Chloe yawned reflexively, dreading the length of the day before she even left her kitchen.

Premiere days used to be so fun. She used to enjoy getting done up, loved seeing the fruits of her labor and walking the carpet.

But this one was going to be a chore.

At least Beca would be there.

She checked the time and realized that Beca was due any minute, so she got up and padded to the patio. She was only wearing a tank, her Snuggie, and some loose shorts, but it was unseasonably warm, so she took her iced coffee out and sat at the table as she scrolled through her phone.

It wasn't ten minutes later that she got the notification from the shared security number that someone was on their way up.

She sent a quick thank-you text to Taj, because he always worked Saturdays (he sent her a winky face back, such a flirt) and made her way to the driveway.

And when she saw Beca's Prius pull up, she didn't stop herself from running up to the car and pulling Beca into a firm hug as soon as the producer got out.

Chloe could feel Beca laughing through her grunt as she held her close.

"Hey Chlo," Beca mumbled, and Chloe smiled as the small voice dissipated into her hair.

She felt her whole body relax a few inches into the hug.

"I missed you," she hummed, and immediately she wanted to take it back, because what if it was too much?

What if she was too much?

What if she-

Beca's laugh echoed against her chest and interrupted her spiraling thoughts.

"Yeah, I missed you too."

Her heart pounded in her chest, and Chloe felt it reverberate up through her throat as she tried to hide her intake of breath, tightening her grip around the producer.

Chloe was a hugger, and Beca wasn't, but she was dang good at it. She was soft and warm, and her hands lined the bottom of Chloe's obliques like they were meant to be there. Even through the thick material of the fleece-lined robe around her, Chloe felt Beca's grip tighten.

She was so glad that they were going to stay friends after this.

She couldn't lose these hugs.

But I should probably end this one right now, if I want to seem a tiny bit normal.

"Let's go in," she said slowly as she finally pulled her head off Beca's shoulder. "I want to hear about everything. How was Miley? How was Sabrina, was it crazy? Who's next, and what do they sing, and what are you thinking?"

Beca smiled, and Chloe felt herself mirroring it- even though Beca's was accompanied by a roll of her eyes and pushing Chloe away.

"I'm not sure actually- I'm finally getting wrapped up on a few things," the producer replied. "We're slowing down for the year, besides the typical Christmas bs. I think Snoop's coming in."

She leaned into the backseat and grabbed a bag.

"Are you staying the night again?" Chloe asked excitedly.

Beca shook her head.

"No, Tish asked me to bring a bunch of stuff," she sighed. "Shoes and, like, different types of underwear? I don't know."

Chloe giggled as she led the way towards the house.

"I guess there are a lot of things that I take for granted when we do this stuff at my place," she admitted.

"Well that, and you've done this before," Beca said.

Chloe glanced over her shoulder to see that Beca was grimacing.

"Is it weird that I'm nervous?"

"Of course not! But you won't have to do much," Chloe tried to assuage her fears. "It's not like with Chicago, where you have to walk with me. You can probably skip the carpet altogether if you feel like it."

"Seriously?" Beca asked as Chloe held the gate open for her. Beca ducked through and went straight towards the kitchen door.

Chloe smiled. It was a little dorky, but she loved the feeling of someone coming to her home for a second time. She liked the way that they moved through the space with relative ease - like when Chicago knew where the plates were without having to ask, or when Bree grabbed towels for the pool.

And now Beca was part of that group.

And that made Chloe smile a big, goofy smile.

Beca, who wanted to be her friend, knew where to go in her home.

"I mean, we should probably get a picture together, but no, you don't have to walk the whole thing with me. In fact, Gail and my agent would probably prefer it," she said as she followed Beca inside.

Beca spun on her heel in the center of the kitchen, giving Chloe a curt nod.

"Yeah, okay," she said, letting her backpack fall off her shoulder.

"Coffee? Something to eat?"

Beca shook her head. Her bag was hanging in the crook of her elbow, and her eyes were darting around the room. Chloe knew by just one look that Beca was still worried, and she didn't blame the woman.

These premiere events could be really scary for people who didn't know how much posturing was involved- or, maybe Beca knew that, and that's why she was nervous.

It'd be best to try to get her mind off of it, because she won't be able to calm down until she's there and actually doing it.

"How about that long-awaited tour?" Chloe grinned. "I hope I haven't hyped it up too much."

Beca gave her a half grimace in response.

"Sure," she huffed. "Should I put this in the room I stayed in before?"

Chloe nodded and then started towards the bedrooms, explaining as she walked.

"So you've seen all this - lounge, kitchen, dining. Everything except the garage, I guess, but that's boring," she said as they passed through the entry and living room. "I don't spend a ton of time in here- I might if I was, like, throwing a party, but I haven't done that in a long time. I probably should. Maybe I'll do a cast party for Coriolis."

They stepped into the hallway, and Chloe gravitated towards the far end as Beca stepped into the guest room to drop off the bag.

"Down here is one of my favorite rooms- it's like a library kinda?" Chloe let herself ramble as she pushed the door open.

It was a smaller room, with white walls, light wood floors, and bright bursts of reds and greens and ceruleans. A wide red fainting couch sat across from a pair of floral-patterned barrel chairs.

Plants hung from the ceiling, like they did in almost every room (it was the most she could manage, what with all the travel), and in addition to the windows, there were also French doors leading to the side patio.

But the part that Chloe was particularly proud of was what she called the "Arts Corner."

There were a couple tall built-in bookshelves stuffed with books, all sorted by color, along with an easel and a record player on a small table. The records lined the bottom of the built-ins where she'd had her decorator take off the cabinet doors - she didn't have hundreds of records or anything, but it was still cool to have a space where she could listen to some of her favorite oldies.

It was all cramped in, with lots of light and color, and Chloe loved it.

But she held her breath as she watched Beca take in the space.

She didn't think that the producer was going to be a jerk or anything, but she was still protective of things that were important to her.

"It's very… you," Beca said finally, and Chloe exhaled in a rough laugh.

"It is," she agreed. "I love this room, because it's like my personality blew up."

Beca laughed at that, and Chloe watched as she bent down, looking at the vinyls and then at the player itself.

"This is a good one," she remarked, and Chloe felt her cheeks warm at the compliment. "Where are the speakers?"

"Honestly, I use my bluetooth speaker," she said sheepishly.

When Beca scoffed in response, she tried to defend herself.

"There's not a lot of places to put big, honkin' speakers!" she protested.

"You could put one under the table," Beca pointed out.

"But that's a cat spot. I mean, that's a spot where they like to lay. It's right in front of the vent, and in the winter-"

Beca held up her hands in defeat.

"Okay, okay," she said. "There are worse things than bluetooth speakers."

"If you don't like that, I'm almost scared to show you my bathtub."

Chloe stepped back into the hall and turned towards her room. She pushed the door open and walked all the way in this time, across the room to the white lounger in the corner.

Her bedroom was basic, besides the ever-present plants.

There was a king-sized bed - white duvet, black pillows - framed on both sides by black end tables.

There was a tan storage bench at the foot where she hid her Snuggie when she needed too and a black, tan, and white rug that helped anchor the bed space in the front corner.

And across from the bed, there was access outside again, this time into the courtyard where she kept her peskiest of plants in the spring. There was a fireplace too- not that she ever lit it - and a barn door that led into the bathroom.

"Huh," Beca said, and Chloe sighed.

"I know."

"No, it's great," Beca countered, but Chloe just smiled and shook her head, so Beca tacked on a reluctant, "But after the last room-"

"I had it set up like this for one of those super invasive home tour things, and I just never fixed it," Chloe explained. "The bathroom is better."

Beca gestured to the open door, and Chloe nodded before getting up and following her in.

Black floor tile and sleek, modern cabinets in the same bedroom beige-y tan set the tone, but Chloe knew the thing that drew the eye was the extra-wide tub on the far wall, tucked under two large windows that made up the corner of the house.

There were blinds that could be pulled for privacy, but Chloe knew her property well enough to know she never needed to close them.

The closet was just inside the doorway to the bathroom, and Chloe breathed a sigh of relief when Beca walked right past it. She'd done exactly as much unpacking as she had to when she came back, and the evidence of that hack-job was currently scattered all over inside the walk-in.

Instead, she pulled a chair out at the vanity to watch Beca as the producer peeked around the corner to see the glass door, green-tiled shower.

She saw Beca spare a look at the long draping green plants that hung next to the shower before turning around.

"The toilet's back there too, behind that other door," Chloe explained, and Beca glanced back to confirm. "I'm not one of those crazy people that has a barn door and not, like, an actual, closable door for the water closet."

"I wondered," Beca replied cheekily, and Chloe swatted her arm playfully.

Beca stepped up to the tub, leaning forward to look out the window at the side patio, then out the other windowl, out into the backyard.

"And the treasure chest?" she asked, gesturing to the large chest next to the tub.

"Ah, you saw that thing?" Chloe giggled.

She grabbed a remote and clicked a button, and part of the top slid back.

After a moment, a smallish TV began to rise from inside the chest, and Beca barked out a laugh in surprise.

"It's one of the few fancy things I let myself buy," Chloe started to explain. "There's speakers in there, but sometimes I don't-"

Her phone chimed loudly in her hand, and Chloe glanced down to see the notification from the camera system that someone was approaching the front door.

She scrolled over to her texts to see that security had indeed messaged her again, and given that it was already 10:52, she wasn't that surprised.

"Party's starting," she huffed as she stood. "I'll probably be in here getting ready for a while, and I'm guessing you'll be in and out as Brad and Tish become available. Kelly too, but I bet she won't do much. Probs a simple up-do."

"Brad, Tish, Kelly, okay, and-"

Distantly, Chloe heard the front door opened, and Chloe leaned back to listen.

"Chloe!" Jessica called out. "We're here!"

"Back here!" Chloe called back, then she turned to Beca.

"So that's it! That's the whole place," she said.

"Well you didn't over-hype it," Beca said, and Chloe made her way to her bedroom. Beca followed, and when Chloe sat on the edge of the bed, Beca sat across from her on the chaise. "You- uh, you have a beautiful home."

"Thanks," Chloe grinned. "It's a little big, but it doesn't feel like it."

Beca nodded and started to say something back, but Chloe watched as she glanced at the door.

"Oh! Beca, that's who was already here," Jessica said cheerfully, her curly blonde hair bouncing off her shoulders. "I was like, 'there's no way Brad is here yet'!"

"Absolutely not," Chloe laughed. "Beca, have you met Jessica?"

"Uh-"

"Nope!" Jessica said with a smile. She had already crossed the room before Beca could do much more than stand and, unfortunately, before Chloe could tell Jessica to stop herself. In merely a blink of an eye, her bubbly assistant had wrapped her arms around Beca.

"Oh, Jess-"

"I'm Jessica, I'm Chloe's assistant and publicist," Jessica said in the hug, and Chloe watched as Beca's eyes bugged out in her head.

"Jess," Chloe said seriously, and Jessica immediately stepped out of the hug.

"Sorry," her assistant said to Beca. "I'm a hugger."

"I see why you two get along," Beca laughed awkwardly. "Good to meet you."

She shot Chloe an affirming, positive look- one that said "I'll survive, please be cool about it," so Chloe bit her lip.

"Chloe!"

Chloe's stylist Tish and - surprisingly - her manager Gail trailed into her bedroom, and Chloe jumped up to give Tish a quick hug.

Chloe felt like she could almost wrap her arms around Tish twice, she was so skinny, and with the short haircut, she looked like she could be walking the runway instead of dressing people for it.

"You look amazing!"

"No, you do!"

"Oh, good, Ms. Mitchell, you're here," Gail said smoothly. "I have a few things to go over with you."

"Are we setting up in the bathroom?" Tish asked.

Tish pushed past, and Jessica was going with her, and one of them was tugging at Chloe's arm, and she could see that Gail was leading Beca away, towards the door, so she leaned back to look-

Beca's eyes were comically wide, staring right at Chloe the second that the actress turned around, and Chloe pulled her arm out of whomever's grasp.

"Gail, hold on," she shouted over, and she could feel eyes on her as she crossed the room, stopping a reasonable length away from Beca.

Everyone on her team - including everyone here - knew that the relationship was PR, but Chloe didn't think that anyone knew that the two of them were actually friends.

Well Jessica was with me in Atlanta, so she's aware to some extent, but- whatever!

This is probably going to be so weird.

It's not like these are strangers! They know you're weird!

"Becs, I need you to do two favors for me," she said simply, and she could feel the looks around her change. It was like, without even looking, she felt the eyebrows raise, could feel Tish glance at Jessica, and Gail blink too many times in succession, too quickly.

She watched Beca, who tilted her head just a little, eyes crinkling just the slightest bit.

She had to be coy, be cool.

If she pretended like Beca was just another person who worked for her- which, from their perspectives, that was probably how they saw Beca - they wouldn't realize that she was giving Beca stuff to do with an ulterior motive.

That motive being, if she "has to do something for Chloe," she doesn't have to listen to Gail's rants or Tish's gossip.

Hopefully she can get some alone time before the chaos gets worse.

Gosh I hope she gets it.

"I need two peanut butter and banana sandwiches, with cinnamon sugar, on white bread," she said, then she paused and gave Beca what she hoped was a "lie with me!" look.

"You remember where everything is in the kitchen?"

"Uh," Beca stalled. "… yes…"

"Great. Can you toast the bread too? So it's like cinnamon toast with PB and B on top?"

Beca narrowed her eyes a little bit, and Chloe fought back an apology.

She had to know that was a ploy, right?

She didn't think that Chloe was just a raging witch all the sudden, right?!

"Yeah, I can do that," Beca smirked. "Like we had when we watched Fifty Shades- sorry- The Pacifier? "

Chloe huffed out a laugh as the room tittered around her.

They all knew that Fifty Shades was something of a sore spot for her and that she didn't willing re-watch it, even if she did think it was a little funny.

Beca bringing it up was probably one of the more awkward things to do- especially when they hadn't eaten that while they were watching it.

Chloe searched Beca's eyes for some explanation, and Beca just rolled them.

"It's not like-"

"Are you sure you don't want something lower carb?"

Beca and Chloe broke their locked gazes and spun together to look at Gail, who had cut Beca off.

"I mean, you're going to be wearing the Alaia all night," Gail said with saccharine sweetness. "Wouldn't want you to have a pooch!"

Beca made a move forward.

"She'll be just fine actua-"

"Nope!" Chloe jumped in, and Beca spun back around. Her brows were pulled together, eyes flashing with dark anger.

Chloe knew immediately that Beca was on her side.

But then why did she bring up that movie?

"I need the sugar to keep my energy up," Chloe tagged on hurriedly. "Besides, Beca clearly knows how to make it."

"Yeah," Beca grumbled as she looked back over her shoulder. "I got this, Gail."

Whatever look Beca had sent her seemed to scare Gail off, and the woman left the room mumbling something that nobody listened to.

Beca turned back, and Chloe could see that her anger was mostly gone.

When they finally made eye-contact, Beca let out a deep sigh and rubbed one of her eyes.

She could hear Jessica and Tish talking quietly, so she leaned forward quickly.

"You know I'm only trying to get them to leave you alone, right?" she whispered, and she watched the lower half of Beca's face as the producer smiled.

"And you realize that me making it seem like we aren't friends made it that much more believable, right? They don't know we actually watched Fifty Shades," she replied. "I'm not gonna lie, Chlo, I don't want to fake date you forever. And these people?"

She exhaled sharply.

"If they knew that we get along, Gail'd be on the phone with Amy within the hour."

Chloe stifled a giggle and leaned back out, and Beca's real smile fell back into a smirk.

Which actually looked kinda…

I mean, under the right circumstances, that look was downright-

Not the time, Beale! her brain shouted.

"And the other thing," she said aloud, and Beca nodded somewhat mockingly. "I need some more playlists."

"Sure, yeah," Beca agreed easily, the mocking bob turning into a real one. Chloe almost laughed, because Beca was about to give away their plan by being too excited about music.

"Can you go into the art room and look at the vinyls, pull some inspo from that? Thanks, you're a peach," she said quickly, spinning around to walk towards the bathroom.

Her friends were giving her varied looks of shock when she turned back around sharply.

"Oh, and a couple warm waters, if you don't mind?"

Chloe saw something like actual hurt pass through Beca's eyes, and she was about to call it all off - to apologize and grovel and explain the whole thing - but then Beca nodded.

"Right on top of that," she muttered before walking out of the room.

"Dang, Beale, that was a little harsh, don't ya think?" Tish asked once Beca was gone.

"Yeah, I thought you two got along…?" Jessica added.

"We do," Chloe sighed fake-exasperatedly. "I just want to keep her busy."

"Well, Gail will probably leave her alone now," Jessica said simply as she pulled Chloe towards them and into the bathroom. Tish was already hanging garment bags on the open closet door.

"Speaking of leaving her alone," Tish teased. "You'll never guess who we're representing at fashion week next year."

"Oh my gosh, who?!" Jessica said.

Inwardly, Chloe sighed.

She knew herself well enough to be honest in this moment, even if she didn't like it.

Because all she was thinking was that maybe, just maybe, she should've been selfish and made Beca stay.

---

"And he didn't realize that they were both fucking him!"

Chloe laughed with Brad, Kelly, and Jessica as Tish continued to explain the fucked-up love triangle between a fashion agent, a buyer, and a model, only glancing away from the mirror when Kelly finally stepped back.

"Okay, you're ready for the outfit!"

It'd been hours of sitting, gabbing, and suffering in relative silence, and Chloe was glad that the whole thing was coming to an end. She'd only seen Beca twice - once when the producer brought their waters and sandwiches (which were delicious), and once when Brad had dragged her back into the bathroom, claiming he forgot some product or brush or something.

Beca was still in a flannel then, but she had a full smoky eye - thick, black make-up that made her eyes pop - and when Tish called her hot, she had blushed through the layers of foundation.

That was a while ago, and since then, Tish had left the bathroom with a full wardrobe bag and returned with an empty one, so she knew Beca was likely almost ready too.

She turned to finally get up, hair tucked back, ready for the hood of her outfit, and she glanced in her room and paused.

Beca was there, on the lounge, looking at her phone.

She didn't even glance up when Chloe stood.

"Hey, give me a sec," she said to the team before popping out to her room.

Tish had done an amazing job at keeping Beca's outfit simple yet stylish. It was all black, and made of a seemingly stretchy sort of material like Chloe's; it was a long, tight black skirt that landed around Beca's calves, and a sheer top.

She turned and then stood as Chloe approached, and Chloe felt a falter in her step as she saw that the outfit was mesh everywhere, except for two scooping black-out panels that came up from the side of her hips and covered her breasts.

It had a high neck that Beca clearly kept fiddling with, as it was laying weirdly, and Chloe tried to quiet the part of her mind that thought that that was super cute.

Her hair was pulled up in a high pony with a thick band, and it looked like Tish had upgraded Beca's typical collection of earrings as well, as there were some shiny new chains and studs adorning the producer's cute ears.

Cute ears?

Really, Beale?

When this mega-hottie is standing in front of you, that's what you focus on?!

"She said it was the shortest thing she had," Beca harrumphed, and Chloe re-focused her attention on what her friend was saying instead of her cute cartilage. "I guess I neglected to tell her I'm only 5'2"."

"Well I'm only 5'4"," Chloe replied. "I can't imagine that'd be a huge issue."

"You and me both," Beca shot back, and Chloe smiled. Beca saw her expression change as they locked eyes - watched as Beca looked Chloe over and then met her eye again - and sighed.

"It looks okay?" she asked, pulling at the collar, and Chloe couldn't help but put a hand on her arm.

"You look breathtaking," Chloe breathed out.

"T-minus ten til go time, CB!" Jessica called from the bathroom. Somebody said something else too, and the whole group laughed, but Chloe stayed put.

"What did you get up to today?" Chloe asked as she began to undo the buttons of her shirt.

"Oh my god, Beale!" Beca laughed, turning away quickly to fix her gaze out the window. Chloe just shrugged and continued to taking off her bra. "Do you want me to leave?"

"It's not like you haven't seen it before," Chloe teased with a waggle of her eyebrows.

Beca continued to laugh in that breathy, exasperated way that always made Chloe grin, but she fully turned away when Chloe dropped her sweats, striding back towards the bathroom in just cheeky red lace.

"Do I need to wear a thong?" she asked, and she heard Beca drop back down to the chaise with a thump.

If she had to guess, she assumed that the producer had her face buried back into her phone, probably with the cutest pink blush gracing her cheeks.

Because, yeah, she knew.

Maybe she liked it when Beca got flustered around her.

Maybe she liked knowing that Beca was attracted to her, that it wasn't just a one-sided thing.

After the first sex scene of Fifty Shades - the tame one at that! - Beca had been redder than a bottle of ketchup, and nothing made Chloe smile more.

She liked flirting with her friends.

There wasn't any harm in that, right?

As if she was reading her mind, Tish slapped her on the ass as she made her way back to the group.

"Yes please!" she cheered, and Chloe stepped into her closet to change.

Tish followed her in, and within a few moments, everything was set.

She stepped into the light so Tish could evaluate the Alaia, which featured a graceful, criss-cross top that pulled together into a slight hood at the top and what basically constituted as a mini-skirt on the bottom. There was also a large panel that flowed out from her hip. It was all black too, stretchy, and the panel ended in jet-black feathers that tickled Chloe's shin.

"Kelly? You good with the hood?"

Chloe glanced over to see Kelly rolling her eyes, stepping up to affix the fabric over the back of Chloe's hair. She pinned it down with a few precise movements, then stepped back.

"Five minutes!" Jessica chirped.

"Beca, you look stunning!" Chloe heard Gail call out from the other room. "And Chloe, wow! Gorgeous as always."

Somehow, Chloe didn't quite believe the way that Gail said it, but when she stepped out of the bathroom fully and saw Beca's face, she knew it in her bones.

That was awe that couldn't be faked.

Just seeing Beca see her made her stomach swoop, and Chloe held her core tight, trying to fight off the feeling.

"I have the cars waiting- Brad, Jessica, you'll ride with me?" Gail asked - or, well, she didn't really ask so much as told - and before Chloe could so much as say goodbye to Jinks and Binxy, she was shoved into the back of a car.

It was a high-end black sedan, thankfully spacious, and thankfully partitioned with the partition already up when Chloe sat down and closed the door. Beca was already seated and scrolling on her phone again, and since Tish and Kelly weren't coming, they were ready to go.

The driver took off, looping around to the end of the drive before heading back down the hill.

"Ya know, for not being on social media very much, you're sure on your phone a lot," Chloe teased.

Beca glanced up and glanced outside before looking back at her phone.

"Would you believe me if I said that I was faking it?" she grinned up at her briefly before looking back down again. "Except…"

She seemingly found what she was looking for and handed Chloe the phone, and Chloe gasped out loud.

It was a beautifully high-def photo of Binxy in the afternoon sun, right under the window in the guest room, by the bed.

"Are there more? Can I scroll?"

Beca nodded, and Chloe began to click through the photos. Binxy in the sun. Binxy rubbing her head on the armoire across from the bed. Binxy climbing onto the bed, and then a selfie of Beca (sans makeup) with Binxy on her lap.

"Beca!" Chloe screeched. "These are so cute!"

To her credit, Beca only flinched a little.

"Then we went on a Jinks-finding mission, but it was fruitless," Beca shrugged. Chloe scrolled to the next photo to see a selfie of Beca with her whole makeup look, and she handed the phone back.

"You're going to have to send me some," Chloe said seriously. "Thankfully we're going to have more than enough time."

"Yeah," Beca hedged. "So no one really told me the schedule. Are we, like, headed there now? Should I start pregaming?"

Chloe shook her head with a grimace.

"Not unless you want to be passed out before the movie starts," she sighed. "This is unfortunately a marathon, not a sprint."

"Feels like I already ran a marathon though," Beca muttered as she pulled at her dress's collar again.

"You ate something?"

Beca nodded, and Chloe did the same.

"Okay good. So we have an hour drive, check-in, then waiting until the actual red carpet is ready," Chloe explained. "Usually we sit in the car for at least half hour while Jessica runs around and does everything."

"And we just… wait?"

"Well, in times past, I'd be with Chicago, and…"

She trailed off, letting the innuendo of her un-ended sentence speak for itself.

And when it finally told Beca what she meant, Beca inhaled sharply.

"In clothes like this?!" Beca hissed quietly, apparently appalled. "I want to ask, like, why or successfully? but my brain is seriously stuck on the how."

Chloe flashed what she knew was a devilish grin and raised her eyebrows.

"We were very motivated," Chloe said in reply. "And as far as the logistics, I could be specific if you wanted me to-"

Beca opened her mouth, then shut it quickly, turning her squint towards the window.

"Was the driver in there?"

"Oh, ew, no," Chloe said quickly. "We would wait until they got out at the venue. Unless, they, like, wanted to hear."

"Chloe!"

"I can be very vocal."

"Chloe!"

Chloe couldn't keep her giggles back any longer, and after her embarrassment subsided, Beca joined her.

They lapsed into silence as the car merged onto the highway, immediately joining thick strands of L.A. traffic.

"You were able to stay away from everyone today?" Chloe asked hopefully.

Beca turned away from the window and nodded.

"All thanks to you," she replied. "Sorry again for the whole movie thing- everyone knows you hate it, huh?"

Chloe bristled.

"I don't hate anything that I do," she said truthfully. "But that one…"

Sucked beyond belief?

Solidified my sordid reputation?

Tested me to the limits of my sanity?

"That one was tough, for all of us," she said. "If I had gone on to do more serious stuff after- or if I did more serious stuff before, even - people probably would've given me the benefit of the doubt. But because I didn't-"

She broke off in a huff.

It wasn't like she didn't take it seriously, because she did.

But after the tenth joke about getting spanked or her stupid, doe-eyed expression - it's called acting, people! - it was hard to treat any part of the film with decorum.

And Chloe was no stranger to the BDSM lifestyle, so she knew the source material and the subsequent movie had issues with consent, communication, and aftercare.

She tried to bring it up in her interviews.

They cut those parts out.

So she stopped fighting it and gave into the jokes, which only led to more jokes.

And Chloe didn't really think that they were funny to begin with.

"Hey, you know what?" Beca said, pulling Chloe out of her thoughts. "You did it, it was successful enough, and now it's over. Tell me about this one, or how filming is going, I don't care, just- just talk about something else please."

Chloe felt a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

She loved the way that Beca always tried to take her out of a bad headspace in the same way that Chloe typically did for other people.

Maybe less gracefully than she did, but the intent was there.

And it made Chloe feel safe.

"You don't want to talk about The Pacifier?"

Beca blushed a pretty crimson, and she tossed her pony tail over her other shoulder as she looked out the window.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"That was a deep pull, Becs," Chloe continued to tease. "Did you watch it?"

Beca turned back around with a hardened glare.

Chloe matched the intensity with a challenging look.

"No," she asserted, but she wavered slightly under the heat of Chloe's curiosity.

"I didn't watch the whole thing," she admitted, lifting her hand and putting her thumbnail between her teeth.

"I washed a com'ilashun 'n you'dube," she mumbled around her thumb.

Chloe felt her expression transform into one of pure glee.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," she teased, cupping her hand around her ear.

"I said, 'I watched a compilation on YouTube!'"

Chloe burst out laughing and continued to do so as Beca made sputtering excuses through her own laughs.

After a minute or so, the laughter wasn't letting up - she kept picturing Beca looking up "Chloe Beale pacifier" and Beca kept trying to justify herself - and Chloe had to start fanning her eyes as tears threatened to spill down her face.

"It's definitely another feather in my cap," she said sarcastically. "Like this one. Oh, did I warn you that you're walking into a circus today? The whole time, Stevie Miles was intimate with Annabelle- our director - sorry, I forget you don't know things - and so while everyone else was trying to put a movie together, those two were off in la la land."

Chloe sighed as her giggles began to subside.

She saw the concern on Beca's face and ran right passed it.

"She wouldn't even correct his accent," she went on, still laughing every few words. "And he's really not that bad! But he definitely needed more direction than what he got. And then they went and bungled the ad campaign- it's a certifiable mess! I just- I almost wish I was still back in Atlanta."

"How's that going?" Beca asked quickly, like she was jumping on a lifeline to a different conversation.

"Sorry, I wanted to ask before, but I didn't know- I didn't know if I could. How's Applebaum?"

"Oh! Yeah, you can. It's going… uhm…"

Chloe turned away to look out the window this time as she contemplated.

They were moving (albeit slowly) down the highway, sparse trees and large box stores standing tall as they travelled passed.

In truth, Chloe had turned her Actress brain off in favor of Press Mode starting yesterday. So now, slipping back into it for a moment, Chloe took a second to reflect and realized that filming was actually going pretty great.

The cast was small - only three people, for what they were filming right now - and both Chris and Audrey were people who were taking this film seriously as well.

It was refreshing.

She loved her time spent on Y with those goofballs and everything, but she hadn't ever been on a set that took itself a little too seriously, was a little too dramatic.

Like she was acting all the time, kind of.

She wouldn't like it for every movie, obviously. But it was this exploration of meta and method and real, powerful emotion, and she let herself buy in, just a little, just for now.

And what's more, Benji Applebaum was doing excellent.

Any time that Chloe wanted to talk about her choices, he would make himself available. Chris and Audrey, too. Sometimes, if they were running lines while something was being set up, he'd come over just to listen, maybe pitch alternates if something wasn't working.

He was patient and attentive, and adaptable, which was a combination that Chloe hadn't seen in a director before.

And she wouldn't tell her, but he loved Beca.

She didn't mean for it to happen, but on the first day, when Chloe had Beca's big headphones on, Benji had come straight over to make sure that Chloe hadn't snuck her phone in.

When he saw the MP4 player, he lauded her resourcefulness, noting that the character herself was pretty resourceful, too.

Chloe felt the need to correct him by saying someone had given it to her, and Benji's eyes light up.

"A paramour?" he asked hopefully, romantically, and while Chloe didn't like lying to directors, Benji was just so excited by the prospect.

And in Chloe's mind, it was so close to the truth, just, as a best friend.

So Chloe just nodded.

And then she ended up showing him the playlist and - after swearing him to secrecy - she even let him listen to a snippet of their song.

His response had been more than encouraging.

Chloe turned now, back to Beca in the car, pondering what - if anything - she should divulge. Benji Applebaum was a specific nut to crack, and Chloe felt like she had done the nearly impossible thing under somewhat false pretenses.

And now he wanted Beca to come to set - his closed set.

Chloe had no idea how she was even going to broach that subject.

"It's going really well," she said aloud, slowly, like she was trying not to jinx herself, without turning to look at Beca.

"Yeah?"

She turned then and got to see something beautiful happening on Beca's face - the transformation from stern concentration to blossoming hope, glee, and a couple other admirable emotions that made Chloe feel great and small at the same time.

She didn't realize how much Beca actually cared.

The whole thing made her swell with pride.

If Beca cares this much, maybe I should just ask.

"Yeah, Benji Applebaum is every bit what I hoped he would be," she confirmed, taking a steeling breath and holding it in.

"He actually invited you to set, now that we're shooting locally. If you want to stop by, I mean. He thinks it might be good for my character."

Chloe immediately knew that Beca didn't realize how significant that was, because all she did was tilt her head in pleasant surprise.

"Oh, that's cool," she said. "I- huh. Yeah I'll think about it."

Chloe let the rest of the breath she was holding eep out in a controlled flow.

Beca didn't know a single thing about the film industry; she was like a baby or a small alien that had dropped into this goofy, rule-driven world that Chloe had only recently found herself personally excelling in.

It was… eye-opening? transformative, maybe? - to see the world through her perspective, to see an invitation to set as just that- as a kind gesture and a way to help out a friend.

Not that she thought Benji Applebaum was playing 4D chess or anything, but Chloe Beale knew the importance of a gesture like that.

It was the type of "generosity" that seldom went unused.

If it was anyone else in her life-

She glanced next to her to see Beca's wide smile and slightly squinted eyes.

It wouldn't be anyone else in your life, she thought suddenly.

It could only be Beca.

The sedan sailed forward through a brief hole in the traffic, cutting smoothly from one lane to another, and Chloe went back to looking out the window again as they made their way across town.

It seemed like they were going to get there a bit earlier than anticipated, which was better than the alternative, Chloe reasoned to herself.

She just hoped Beca didn't get too bored.

Chloe reached down to adjust the draping panel of her outfit, tucking it over her legs instead of between the two of them in the backseat.

In a rare moment of tongue-tied-iness, she didn't know what to say to Beca.

Luckily, she didn't have to.

"Do you, uh, do you need help with anything?" Beca asked quietly. "We could run lines or something?"

Chloe did her best to hide her her so-happy-it's-sad smile by keeping her eyes trained down for a moment. When she finally got her expression under control, she looked up.

"I'm actually in Press Mode," she explained, and Beca huffed out a laugh.

"That's not a real thing," the producer teased her.

"Excuse me, it totes is," Chloe pressed. "At premieres, I get to talk to press and fans and-"

Her excitement was momentarily derailed when she remembered how much she wouldn't get to say during this one.

Usually, she'd be talking about how much fun everything was to film or how awesome her co-stars were, but not this time.

This time, she'd have to dodge awkward questions and even more awkward forced camaraderie.

"It stinks that this is your first premiere, because everybody's going to be all stilted and weird," she sighed. "Usually I get to have a lot of fun at these things and there's a bunch of awesome people around, but I bet people are going to be, like, waiting for me to say something bad."

Beca nodded slowly.

"I'm not going to, obvi," Chloe added hastily.

"I didn't think you would."

They were quiet again, and Chloe thought about the other people that would be there - the pair of ADs that she loved, and her other co-stars, specifically Dani Reed and Rick Wilson, who she was particularly excited to see again.

She hoped they were excited to see her too.

But everybody else?

And the press?

She needed to touch base with Gail before everything got going.

"So this movie sucks, but Corona's doing good?"

Chloe smiled over at Beca as the producer grinned at her.

"Corona? Cornea? Corny Collins?"

"Where are you getting these n's?" Chloe teased back with a laugh. "It's Coriolis."

"Cornucopia."

Chloe laughed again as their car took a slight right onto their exit, rising up, high above the road underneath them, then curving around, down, under itself. They stopped at a light under the bridge, tens of cars all around them, blocking out some of the light from either end of the underpass.

"Why do you do what you do?"

In the darkness, Chloe glanced over and was only able to see the outline of Beca's face- the sharp jut of her chin and nose.

She knew she looked the same, that Beca's eyes hadn't adjusted to see more than her silhouette.

"I think… I think I do what I do because I enjoy it," she said quietly. "I'm not sure what I'd do without it."

"Even with the animals? Or - because, you know, there's no shame in it - exotic dancing?"

Chloe felt her eyebrows pull together.

"I'm not that person anymore," she said, and she felt the car lurch forward with the changing traffic light. "Even if I wanted to be, I couldn't go back. Acting challenges me, and I like what I'm able to pull out of myself. I started in horror, you know- or, maybe you don't. And you might not know this either, but everyone gives horror a bad rap, and I never got that. It always felt realer to me. Action, too, in a way. A lot of people can't sell that kind of emotion. I like knowing that I can add some legitimacy to that. I like making it feel real- for me, but for other people too."

They slowly made their way out from under the roads and back into the light on the other side of the intersection, further down the street, and Chloe watched as more of her friend's expression became visible.

There was a look to it, something open and sad.

Like she knew exactly what Chloe was saying.

"Why?" Chloe followed up. "Or, why do you make music?"

Beca blinked out of her concentration and glanced up at Chloe.

"Oh- uh, the same, kinda," Beca nodded.

Chloe turned to look back out the window.

Traffic.

"You know, I-" Beca started to say, then stopped, and Chloe kept her eyes trained outside as Beca started again.

"Anyone with laptop can make music. My boss told me that, when I started working with him. Anyone can do what I do- can probably do it better."

Chloe turned to face her with a quirked brow.

"I fundamentally disagree with that," she said seriously.

"Oh, me too," Beca agreed. "He's full of shit."

Chloe giggled, and Beca let out a laugh through a small, open-mouthed smile.

"But, he had a point," she went on. "You have to set yourself apart in any industry. Sometimes I really struggle with that, because I just want to make music. Like, actually can't stop making music. It's like a compulsion."

She shook her head and looked away.

They turned down another street that had a few fewer cars - a boulevard - and Chloe knew that they were getting close.

"It's not about real or not real for me," Beca said. "But you can tell what works. Good music has a certain sound to it, something that makes it click into place. Not, like, time or key, but something bigger. There's a rightness to it. And that could be realness too, because it's emotive."

She pursed her lips together, and Chloe watched as the producer clearly struggled to find the right words.

But before she could, she shook herself out of it.

"I get it," she said. "And I think that this premiere-thingy, this whole pageant whatever-the-fuck- I think you'll find the realness in it. Even if it's not, like, real real, you can make it real for someone else."

The driver went to make the final turn into a closed-off road, one that Chloe recognized as the prep area for the theater, closed for the premiere traffic, and they pulled up behind Gail's car.

Chloe couldn't see, but she assumed the typical exchange of info was happening, so she ignored it in favor of turning to Beca.

The producer had backed into one of Chloe's biggest insecurities, that she wasn't being authentic even in her day to day life, and she wasn't sure how it settled with her.

Because Beca was right to some extent, that this pageantry was so unbelievable that no one really expected the whole truth.

But all of her choices were rooted in a belief that was something else that Beca had alluded to; a kernel of truth was better than no truth at all.

When the honest, open parts of herself actually made it through the interviews, Chloe knew that people could tell.

Her fans could tell.

And they loved her for it, because real recognized real.

And maybe Beca saw that too, maybe that was part of why they got along so well.

"Wow, there's a lot of people here," Beca remarked suddenly, and Chloe realized that Beca could see the parking lot where all the media outlets were parked.

"Are you, like, the grand finale? Do you walk the carpet last?"

Chloe winced.

"Actually, I go first," she said. "Well, no, I'll go second. Stevie will go first."

(She didn't say it, but she'd never been #1 on the call sheet.

She wondered if she ever would be.)

They followed the other car into the parking lot, curving around so they were close to the exit, where the parking guides indicated. There were already a few cars in the area, so Chloe assumed that Stevie and his team were already there. Annabelle and her posse were probably around too, and Chloe could probably text them to say hi.

If this was a fun premiere, she and Beca could hide under a big coat, hop out of their car and into another until they ended up in the "party car" with shooters and maybe some weed.

But in this case, Chloe wouldn't even suggest it, because she really didn't want to see Annabelle.

But, of course, that brought her mind back to Gail.

Who must've been reading minds today, because as soon as they were parked, Chloe watched through Beca's window as her severe blonde manager came strolling up.

"Oh- oh no," she barely got out before Beca glanced behind her - just in time to see Gail throw the door open.

"Beca, to the middle, quickly!" she said sharply, and Chloe let out a little noise of surprise as Beca jumped into the middle seat as if she was burned, her leg pressing firmly into Chloe's as Gail sat down and closed the door.

"Ah, what a ride," Gail sighed happily. "I trust you two were cordial?"

Between them, Beca shifted awkwardly, and Chloe could tell that she was trying to stay as far away from Gail as possible - which would put her in Chloe's lap, basically.

And she tried to lean against the door to give her more room, but Beca had moved so quickly, so her dress didn't quite let her sit up straight, leaving a leaning Beca pressed against her shoulder.

(And Chloe would've moved more too, but her bar-napkin sized skirt was going to get very revealing, very quickly.

She figured out of the two things - being flashed or being close - Beca would choose the latter.)

"Smooth as butter," Chloe grinned as she supported Beca's weight.

"I can move," Beca said. "Or I can get out- no one even knows me, it wouldn't be a thing."

"Nonsense, Ms. Mitchell," Gail schmoozed. "I'm just fine, thank you. And besides, we don't need any press or fans poking their noses around."

"I'm good too," Chloe said in a low, teasing voice, right over Beca's shoulder. Beca stiffened up as much as her outfit would allow, and her pony tail swooshed over Chloe's exposed collarbone.

Chloe exhaled hotly through her nose.

"I wanted to talk strategy, before I get all swept away in everything else," Gail started to say, picking up her phone.

Chloe noticed absentmindedly that she was wearing a stiff, beige dress, with her curled hair all piled onto one side of her head, so everyone in the backseat was probably uncomfortable in one way or another.

"Let's go over the typical questions first… yes, okay. If someone asks about your previous projects, you say…?"

"That I'm thankful for every opportunity that I've been given, and that I'm currently working on some new projects that I'm really excited about," Chloe said.

She started to move, to lean out and around Beca so she could talk to Gail more directly, realizing with a start that her arm was trapped behind the producer.

She could feel her skin through the mesh.

A fact she would really, really would have preferred not realizing in this moment, because 1. hot but 2. Gail and 3. Press Mode.

Gotta stay in Press Mode.

"And if they ask about the new A24 or Applebaum projects?"

"I say that I've been over the moon to work with them, and that I think they'll be excited to see the results - and that I got really lucky and met my super hot new girlfriend," Chloe replied, letting her fingers curl just a bit into the flesh of Beca's back.

The producer inhaled sharply, and Chloe froze.

Right.

Forgot that Press Mode Chloe is even more of a flirt.

"Sorry," she whispered, and Beca let out a breathy laugh, her eyes darting to Chloe quickly and leaving just as fast.

"S'cool," she hummed. "I'm cool."

"Filming on this project?" Gail went on with her list.

Chloe bit her lip as she contemplated her answer.

"It was an experience unlike one I've ever had," she said after a moment. "I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity."

"Hmm, no," Gail sighed dramatically. "I need more. We either address the controversy or go full tilt."

"That's not me though," Chloe replied with a sigh of her own.

Next to her, Beca's breath became incredibly even, like the producer was forcing air in and out at a controlled pace, so Chloe tried to do the same.

She wouldn't lie.

But she could try to find some realness.

"What if I said, 'Dani and Rick were amazing on set' and let the rest of them fill in the blanks?" she offered. Gail hummed noncommittally, and Beca took in a deep breath.

"That could work," the manager said finally before adding, "I'll have Jessica tell them not to ask about Annabelle, but she may not be able to stop them from asking about Stevie Miles."

Chloe felt Beca let the breath out slowly, and Chloe felt herself doing the same.

"That's okay," Chloe grimace-smiled. "He was very charming, and I can rely on that answer."

"Wonderful, wonderful, what's next?"

Beca leaned back into her, just an inch, turning her head just so, and Chloe felt herself keening towards her, ear turned to the producer's mouth.

"I gotta say, Chlo, this all kinda feels like bullshit," she hummed in a low voice.

"That's because it is," Chloe whispered back. "But I can find the real, remember?"

Chloe saw the corner of Beca's mouth twitch up, and then she felt the producer shift back against her hand.

"You're such an optimist," Beca teased.

"Take's one to-"

"And if they ask about Beca?"

Chloe felt Beca straighten back up, and she leaned out, pulling her hand back, but Beca leaned against it still, trapping it in place.

"If they ask about Beca…" Chloe stalled.

What could she say about Beca?

(Without sounding like she had a massive, dorky crush on her?)

"I'll say that she's here with me, and I couldn't be happier. That there's no one else I'd rather have by my side tonight," she said, turning slightly so she could look in Beca's eyes, and-

And wow, they were close in this little backseat, and with the extra makeup, Beca's eyes were a dazzling grey-blue, like the Seine in Paris on a cloudy day, and they shifted down.

They shifted down?!

Did Beca Mitchell just look at my lips?!

"That is good enough for me!" Gail said excitedly. "I think we're going to make it through this thing, Beale!"

Chloe broke eye-contact with Beca as Gail opened the car door.

"Twenty minutes, then we will have you on the carpet," she said, head down as she already turned halfway away. "Gia just told me they have four outlets who will want comments after the carpet, and then you can tuck away inside. We should be able to high-tail it out of here after the flick, but if you want Jessica to order you something in, just make sure it's vegan."

And with that, Gail Abernathy-McKadden-Feinberg was gone with a slam of the door.

"God, she sucks so bad," Beca groaned loudly, and Chloe's jaw dropped in amusement.

"Beca!"

"Seriously?" the producer whined as she wiggled her way back to the other side of the car.

Chloe pressed her hand into her thigh, where Beca had warmed it.

Or maybe that was just the heat, did they crank up the temperature in here?!

She fiddled with the dial on the console, turning it to cool air.

"She's not the best, but-"

"Chloe," Beca said seriously, and Chloe glanced up to see Beca level her with a skeptical brow. "She didn't even try to listen to you. She's a pest."

"Okay, so I don't particularly like her," Chloe confessed quietly, looking away. "But she's really good at what she does. She knows what I need to do and how to do it, and she's been super helpful in landing me these gigs."

"But did she offer to go for these jobs, or did you have to ask her?"

Chloe went to reply, but as she did, she stopped short.

"Well, no, I guess my agent and I found the jobs," she said. "But Gail made sure that my audition tape was seen by the right people."

"Look, you know better than me," Beca sighed.

"Yeah."

"I just couldn't stand to be around her all day."

"It's not like your coworkers are any nicer," Chloe said softly, and Beca rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah, but I don't pay them, they pay me."

And that caused Chloe to pause.

"Huh," she said finally.

Huh.

Never thought of it that way.

"Yeah, 'huh,'" Beca mocked back with a smirk, and Chloe stuck her tongue out at her.

"Whatever," Chloe muttered. "I want those Binxy pics."

Beca let a few giggles out, but she didn't say anything, just handed Chloe her phone, turning to look out the window as Chloe entered the password (because I know her password, ohmigosh) and scrolled over to pictures.

She saw then that Beca hadn't just taken photos when she was alone earlier, but she took some when she was tucked in the corner of Chloe's room too.

It was just a couple shots through the door, Chloe seated and laughing as her team worked around her- Tish's skinny frame leaning against the countertop, and Kelly brandishing a curling iron like a conductor's baton.

She finally saw Brad in the front of the photo, as he'd pulled up the folding stool to re-touch up Chloe's lips, but he hadn't quite gotten to it yet.

All of them were looking at Chloe, and as Chloe looked at herself, she knew she was saying something downright ridiculous, because they all had incredulous, silly looks, like they were just waiting for the punchline.

Beca didn't catch the punchline in her pictures, just the wind-up before, and somehow that made it even cuter.

She scrolled passed, trying not to dwell too long, and she came across the makeup selfie of Beca again.

She scrolled passed that one too.

Otherwise she might stare at it too long.

She finally got to the pictures of Binxy, and she sent all of them to herself, even the one with Beca in it, because really, it was the cutest of all of the pictures, and then she handed the phone back.

"We should take some selfies," Chloe said, and Beca scoffed.

"You think we need pictures together?"

"No," Chloe shot back defensively. "I want some pictures together."

Beca sighed, clicking a few buttons on her phone until the camera was pulled up.

"Front or back camera?"

"Is that even a question?" Chloe teased, and Beca rolled her eyes with a scoff.

"Jeez, fine, bossy-pants," she shot back. "Can we at least set up the angle first?"

Chloe nodded, and her excitement got the better of her as she jumped into the middle seat this time, leaning against Beca's shoulder.

Beca was focusing on her phone, so she made a cute little oomph sound as Chloe settled against her side. She held up the phone, and Chloe watched as the producer turned it slightly, reaching across Chloe, then back towards the window, trying to find the best light that didn't cast a shadow across their faces.

Chloe didn't even look at the screen.

Beca was too cute to ignore.

"Okay, I think I found it," Beca said. "Wanna approve?"

Chloe did glance at the phone then, and she saw the two of them, cuddled up in the back of a nice car, with the late afternoon sun streaming across their faces.

Gosh, Beca looked so good.

"Perfect."

"Great, let me just-"

Chloe bit her lip as she watched Beca fumble with the settings - back camera, timer, and then she held it up.

"The first one's probably going to be bad," she warned.

Chloe smiled as the camera timer ticked down.

"Duh," she teased, and Beca rolled her eyes.

The camera shutter sound clicked, and Beca turned the phone around.

"Definitely tilted," she confirmed with a slight scowl. "Can you, uh, can you squeeze in a little closer?"

Chloe nodded and moved her legs first, so they were pressed against Beca, and then laced her arm under the producer's.

"Better?"

"Maybe," Beca sighed as she held up the phone again.

"Here it goes-"

Chloe giggled as the timer went off.

"I can hear the timer too, you know."

"Well excuse me for trying to be helpful," Beca replied sarcastically. She checked the pictures again with a rough sigh.

"I'm gonna set it up to take a couple, okay?"

Chloe nodded, and Beca tapped a few settings and then turned the phone around again.

The camera was ticking, and Chloe was smiling, and then the shutter started.

And kept going.

She giggled, turning into Beca slightly to try to hide her grin but ultimately just nuzzling into her cheek as the phone continued to snap photos.

"Oh- okay," Beca laughed as the sound finally stopped. "I thought it was going to take, like, three."

Chloe giggled again against Beca's jaw.

She could smell Kelly's hairspray and the typical stale must of rarely-worn, high end clothing, but she could also smell perfume - light but woodsy, like amber in a forest, and she resisted the urge to drop down and follow the scent.

When she finally emerged, she saw that Beca was scrolling through the pictures.

"Any good ones?"

"I think s-"

A quick rap, thrice tapped on Chloe's window, made them both jump.

"CB!" Jessica called in, and Chloe could see she was standing with a few other suit-clad, important people. "We're ready for you!"

"Your fans await," Beca teased lightly, and Chloe scoffed as she moved across the seat.

"Oh, Becs," she mocked sarcastically.

"You have no idea just how right you are."

---

"Chloe!"

"Chloe, one more!"

"Chloe, over the shoulder, over here!"

"Left, to the left!"

Chloe tried not to blink as she turned just the trunk of her body slightly left, the movement tracked by another hundred camera shutters.

She made to leave, casting on more demure look over her shoulder as she stepped onto the second half of the carpet where, thankfully, she found Beca and the rest of her team were waiting.

"Hey, I was looking for you!" she said to Beca. Her eyes were still wild from the cameras - not that they had their flashes on, thankfully, but it was still disorienting.

"Did you want to take one together?"

"I don't really want to get in front of that many cameras again?" Beca replied. "It's just not for me."

Chloe smiled and nodded.

"Chloe Beale, I love you!"

Beca turned with her as Chloe spotted a few not-press people against the end of the press barricade.

"Wanna meet some fans?"

"Oh, it's okay," Beca shook her head. "You go."

Chloe was already walking over before Beca finished her refusal, and she approached the small section of younger supporters.

There were only a few, and they were younger, maybe 20s - and only one that Chloe recognized from other premiers and carpets - and she greeted them with a broad smile and narrowed eyes.

"Okay, who let the cool kids in here?!" she said, and the one that she recognized - Sam was her name, maybe - groaned.

"Hey, don't groan at my jokes," Chloe chastised as she nabbed somebody's phone, mouthing a quick "hello!" before turning to take a selfie with them. "I'm giving you my A material here-"

"That's B or C material, at best," the regular interrupted her, and Chloe scoffed.

"A is a relative term," she shot back with a chastising look before grabbing a headshot that someone was waving at her. "You're here, aren't you?"

"Only so I can sell your signature on the internet."

Chloe stopped signing the headshot - it was an old one, risqué, from one of her early shoots - and appraised the sassy young person skeptically.

They were short, with dark hair and round curves, and their glasses had dark frames.

Now that she was closer, she guessed that the fan was even younger - probably a teenager who lived nearby or got their parents to drive them.

"Nah, I'm kidding," her fan said. "You look fantastic!"

"Don't I always," Chloe replied, and the younger fan laughed, hoisting their camera up as Chloe leaned in and chucked up a peace sign, the screen lighting up for a front-camera flash.

"Oh my god, is Beca Mitchell with you?" someone next to them said, and Chloe spun to face the voice with renewed enthusiasm.

"Can I get one with both of you? You helped me explain bisexuality to my nonna."

Chloe grinned and looked to where Beca was standing a few feet away. Jessica was talking a mile a minute, and Beca was nodding and not at all listening to her. When Chloe looked up, Beca looked over just as quickly, like she was watching Chloe for any change in movement.

So Chloe flagged her over.

Beca grimaced as she excused herself, approaching Chloe and the fans slowly and reluctantly.

"Becs, your fans want pictures," Chloe teased.

The grimace turned into a self-conscious smile.

Behind her, Chloe could see Gail had walked back up to Jessica, which meant that Chloe was almost certainly due to keep moving to the interviews, so she turned away abruptly, facing the fans again.

"-and that MP4 player was like, so cool, and-"

"Oh I get it," Chloe said skeptically to the snarky young fan from before. "You were only using me to get to her!"

"Oh, I'm sure that's not-" Beca started to say, but she was cut off.

"Oh, no, I've been caught," the fan deadpanned sarcastically. "Whatever will I do if Chloe Beale knows that I think her girlfriend is cool."

Someone held their phone up to the two of them, and Chloe leaned in, hearing Beca's stuttering laughter as she got close to her.

"It's like I always say," Chloe replied after the other fan had thanked her for the picture.

"I'm the coolest person in your life, and no one else is allowed to be cooler than me."

The couple fans nearby laughed, and even Beca's grin relaxed at the self-aggrandizing joke.

"Beca, can you sign this?"

"Uh, haha, okay," Beca replied, grabbing the paper that Chloe had signed before and penning her name under Chloe's.

"CB!"

Beca glanced passed her, and Chloe turned to see Gail was giving her the "wrap-it-up" twirl.

"Okay, one video with the troublemaker, then we gotta jet," Chloe said. "It's Sam, right?"

Sam nodded, and Chloe grabbed the phone and clicked over to the video setting and started to record.

"Hey, all of Sam's friends and a small corner of the internet," she said as she held the phone out wide, getting a shot of the carpet, Beca, and the young fan in the background. "Sam has the brand new iPhone, and I think I'm going to steal it, what do you think, Becs?"

Beca gaped, glancing around her.

"I don't think you can do that," she said, confused.

"Omg do it," Sam said behind them. "Take it, please, it's yours."

"Oh now you're nice to me?" Chloe said stepping back so that they were in the same shot together. Sam hovered a few inches away but leaned into frame.

"What do you mean, I'm always nice to you!" the fan protested, and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Uh huh."

"No really! Don't believe her," they said as they addressed the phone.

Chloe took a step away and towards Beca.

"Yeah, I'm guessing if they know you, they can smell that bs a mile away," she shot back. She pulled Beca towards her, into the shot, and she dropped the phone so it was shooting an upward angle in front of them.

"Quick, stuff this in your boobs," she said furtively, and Beca laughed loudly.

Chloe clicked off the camera setting and handed the phone back to Sam.

"All right, thanks y'all!" she said with a small wave. She blew out a few kisses as a couple actual clout-chasers leaned forward, holding their phones out at odd angles, but she ignored them and pulled Beca back towards their little group.

"What'd'ya think?" Chloe said quietly, just to Beca, and she was close enough to her that she heard the producer exhale quickly.

"More fun than the pictures, I guess," she admitted, and Chloe dropped into a perverse, excited grin.

She knew they were still on camera - that they would be until they got inside - so she rolled the smile back, biting her lip as Jessica and Gail waved her over.

"Brad, touch-up, please," Gail sighed, and Brad stepped around Gail, smudging her under-eye and re-adjusting her strands of hair that were hanging outside the hood of her outfit.

"You know you can just skip them," the manager went on. "You don't need the PR."

"Gail, you know that's not why I do it," Chloe responded dryly.

She'd tell her manager a hundred times that fans were the best part of all this, and every single time, Gail would look like she just told her that she ate her own placenta.

"Right," Gail smiled that same fake smile, eyes trained away. Gail was always networking. "So Jessica talked to the outlets, and they're going to keep Annabelle off limits."

"They understand the contentious nature of filming," Jessica added.

"'Contentious' is overselling it, no?" Chloe asked as Brad stepped back.

"Chlobear, 'contentious' to you is not having lunch with someone," he sassed, and Chloe's brow knit further.

But she heard a loud laugh, and the whole group turned to see Beca right on the periphery, looking incredibly amused.

She glanced between each of them before landing on Chloe, then Brad.

"But really," she said, with raised brows and an open-armed gesture. "It's like, Chloe, you're allowed to be a bitch to a bitch."

Chloe protested, but Brad hummed and snapped in agreement, and even Jessica nodded sympathetically.

"I would never," Chloe was saying, and Jessica patted her arm.

"Oh honey, we know."

The full group moved to the first interviewer, and Jessica walked up first to confirm something with them. Brad dropped back to behind Gail, who immediately ditched him to go talk to someone else, because there were a non-zero number of people on the carpet.

Chloe fell in step with Beca.

"So up here- I'm gonna say just stand with Jessica," Chloe said softly, and Beca had to get closer to hear her low voice in all the noise. "She usually just stands behind me. You might be on camera, though, so mind your RBF."

"RBF?"

"Chloe?" Jessica called over.

"Resting B Face," Chloe clarified as she stepped away, and she saw Beca shake her head with a small grin.

Chloe smiled too.

She'd never get tired of that grin.

"Chloe, hi!" the interviewer - a young woman with fantastic nails - said as she approached. Jessica passed her and gave her arm a quick squeeze as she went to stand with Beca, and the pair of them were just within earshot, with the passageway of the carpet to their backs.

"Who are you wearing tonight?"

"It's an Alaia, isn't it so cute?"

"Vintage?"

"No, new," Chloe went on. "I think they're finally back on their feet after everything."

"Can you give us a twirl?"

"Of course!" Chloe preened, stepping back and spinning so that the camera could catch the back of the small skirt.

"Wow, that's gorgeous, and short!" the interviewer encouraged. "But you're used to that, right?"

"It's not the smallest thing I've worn, I'll say that!" Chloe replied, but she stood a little taller in the wake of the jab.

"You got to stay pretty covered in this one, right? What was your favorite part of filming?'

Again, the joke stung a bit, but Chloe covered the hurt quickly with a gentle smile.

"I absolutely adored the cast and crew," she said honestly. "We wouldn't have gotten here without their incredible talent. Dani Reed and Rick Summers were absolutely amazing."

"And what about-"

"Sorry, we gotta keep moving," Jessica said softly as Chloe felt a hand on her elbow. "Thank you so much!"

"Thank you!" Chloe said over her shoulder as Jessica shepherded her to the next camera and polished smile.

It was another young woman, this time with a poof of light pink hair.

"Oh my gosh, I love your hair!"

"Thank youuuu," the woman replied - dead eyes, fake smile, little nose scrunch.

Shoot.

This one's gonna stink.

"You look absolutely radiant tonight," the young woman said as Chloe got into position. "Are you excited for the premiere?"

I'm excited for it to be over, Chloe thought ruefully.

"Of course, it's always amazing to see the fruits of our labor," she grinned, and she was going to leave it at that, but the interviewer was still holding her microphone towards her. "I- yeah, I love coming to these things. It's an honor- and a humbling one at that."

The interviewer flashed her another fake smile, and Chloe bit the inside of the back of her lip. Somebody else arrived on the carpet, and Chloe knew that she was going to be pushed through the last interviews quickly.

Press Mode, she thought. Focus up.

"This project was the start of a different direction for you." the pink poof lady was saying. "Are you excited to break out of the kind of cringey, teen roles?"

That one wasn't even veiled, and Chloe had to take a moment before answering.

"I'm incredibly grateful for every opportunity I've been afforded, including this one," Chloe replied, falling back on the rehearsed lines that she'd said in the car. "But yes- I've got some new projects coming up that I'm really excited about. I was able to work with Ti North, and I'm working with Benji Applebaum right now."

The interviewer looked shocked, and Chloe tried to focus on herself instead of the rudeness of this person in front of her.

"Benji Applebaum! That's interesting!" she volleyed back. "How's that going- are you able to keep up?"

"I am, yeah," Chloe replied without missing a beat, but she knew the response was one of defensiveness. She took a deep breath before she continued her answer.

"It's tough to put into words just how rewarding it's been so far, working with Benji," she said thoughtfully. "I'm doing my best to give him everything he needs from me, and I think the results will be something that people won't want to miss."

"And what about this film?" the interview grinned predatorily. "Is this one that people won't want to miss?"

There was some kind of commotion behind her, and Chloe turned around, but only Jessica and Beca were there, standing a bit closer together than before, but she couldn't find the source of the noise.

It gave her a second to think though.

"You know," she sighed. "This movie was a unique experience, unlike anything I've ever done. When you do a movie with arguably one of the most famous men in the world, you're going to have eyes on you. I think this one is a must-see, even if it's just for that fact alone. Thank you."

She stepped away, and immediately Jessica and Beca were next to her.

"Just two more," Jessica said, holding Chloe's arm, but her eyes were darting between them. "Two more, and then we're in the clear."

"Yeah, Jess, I got it," Chloe replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

She'd had hard interviews before.

She could handle it.

"Chloe Beale, get over here!" the next interviewer said. She had long, elegant blonde curls and an almost preternaturally fixed brow.

And as much as Chloe struggled with interviewers like Pink Poof, she knew that ones like these - like Vi - were the ones she had to look out for.

Conniving and cool.

She threw her shoulders back as she approached.

"Vi, you're back again!" she greeted the woman with a small hug.

"I couldn't stay away when they told me that you would be here!"

Chloe rolled her eyes playfully.

"Flatterer!"

"It's part of the game," Vi smiled. "And talk about a flatterer, I just had the most amazing chat with Stevie Miles. He had nothing but nice things to say about you!"

After so many of these types of interviews, Chloe heard the subtext loud and clear: "Stevie Miles complimented your work, but I want you to know that he didn't say anything specific."

Chloe didn't know if the rockstar knew enough about film to even say anything specific.

But that was beside the point.

"He is one of a kind," Chloe said delicately. "Working with him was such a unique experience - with the fans and the press and everything. He's larger than life, and I truly think that that came across in the film."

Vi nodded, and Chloe could tell that she was winding up for another hit.

Man, I am just getting beat up today!

Maybe it was the fact that she was changing up her game; people really pushed back on that kind of thing in L.A.

She should've prepared more, or talked through some more hypothetical questions with Gail.

"I see your new beau came with you on today's carpet - are we on the verge of another superstar couple?"

Or, to put it another way, "remember when Chicago cheated on you?"

"Yes, my girlfriend Beca was kind enough to join me tonight," Chloe seethed through a tight smile. "She's so sweet- I'm so blessed to have someone like her by my side."

Vi nodded like she heard something that Chloe didn't say - probably the "she's not a cheating asshole" subtext - and Chloe cringed inwardly, because she knew she was teetering the line of PR/real girlfriend believability.

But then she thought about Gail - how her manager could've prepped her better, especially if she had known that questions like this were coming for her - and decided to blow that line away, adding, "and I'm just lucky that my last project Y brought us together."

There, she thought.

Let them all know it's fake, then.

"You know, I heard about that! There's some wild actor tantrumrumors coming out about that project," Vi intimated, and Chloe faltered.

She hadn't heard anything like that, which only meant-

Which meant they're about me.

"Oh really?" she asked, and she was stalling, floundering, hoping for something to grasp onto.

Blame Chicago?

Deny?

What would Gail want me to do?

"Oh my gosh, babe- can I handle this one?"

Chloe felt a hand come around her waist, and Beca slid right in next to her, crowding into her space like she'd never had a care in the world.

"I, uh-"

"Chloe Beale doesn't have a bad bone in her body," Beca laughed smoothly. "And I'm not just saying that because I get to see it every once in a while."

She added an over-exaggerated wink, and giggles billowed up from Chloe's chest, unbidden.

"Beca Mitchell, mega-producer!" Vi introduced her, but her eyes were bugged out slightly, and she was glancing between them like she was lost.

The interviewer was clearly thrown off her game.

"Thanks for joining us."

"Thanks for having me- listen," the producer said conspiratorially, leaning forward to put her mouth in front of the mic instead of Chloe's.

"Chloe Beale is, like, unreasonably kind," she said in a low voice. "Especially to the right people. People who deserve it. And she's a powerhouse on set - I've been talking to people all night, and they all say the same things. So don't believe everything you read in the blinds, eh?"

She leaned back, and Chloe and Vi both sat in stunned silence.

Chloe recovered first, but only barely.

"Oh, Beca's just being-"

The mic was yanked away, and Vi was talking again.

"Beca, you've been in the studio recently- with, uh, Ruby Rose, and a few other- uh-"

Chloe giggled again- this time, at the absurdity of it all.

Because Ruby Rose?

Of all people?

She turned to face Beca, watching her profile as Beca held eye-contact on the interviewer, daring the woman to finish her question, and Chloe laughed again.

Beca was like her own personal pitbull, ready to strike at any moment, and it was so darn cute.

She leaned down and pressed a kiss into Beca's cheek.

She could feel Beca smiling wider, and when she turned to face the interviewer, she felt the producer turn to look at her.

"I'm so sorry, we have to keep moving," Chloe said gracefully. "Thanks again Vi, and good to see you!"

She pulled Beca away, back towards a shocked and incredibly apologetic Jessica.

"I'm so sorry, Chloe," she whispered. "I tried to stop her, but-"

"But I wasn't going to let those jags get away with their fucking bullsh-"

"Shhh," Chloe giggled, and Beca huffed out a sigh.

"Why didn't you tell me you turn into a crazy person when you drink!?" Jessica scolded her quietly.

"Because then you wouldn't have let me have the drink!"

"Okay!" Chloe giggled. "Okay, we're done."

"What?!" Jessica gasped. "We have another interview!"

"I think they have enough fodder for one night," Chloe whispered back before turning to Beca.

"We can go."

"For real?"

"Yup."

Beca didn't have to be told twice, and she wrapped her hand around Chloe's and yanked her down the carpet, past the last interviewer set-up and towards the doors of the theater.

"Sorry, Jess, can you handle-"

Chloe couldn't finish the sentence before Beca pushed through the crowd of people huddled by the door, past the entry, into the wide lobby.

It was a classic movie theater, with the snack counter and popcorn machines, but most of that had been covered up for the premiere.

"These clowns, with their stupid fucking games, absolute bullshit," Beca mumbled angrily. The lobby was empty save a few staff, so anyone else who was here already must've gone into the theater.

"They act like you aren't just doing your fucking job, like you have any say in the horseshit that they put you through."

Beca pulled Chloe up to the bar, where there was one person who was at the front, getting a couple drinks.

She stopped behind them, still clutching Chloe's hand in hers.

"We could skip the movie, you know," Beca seethed. "Just leave. There'd be fucking blinds about it, but whatever. Tell them I had cramps or something."

Chloe pulled Beca towards her with their joined hands.

"I really appreciate it," she said in a low voice, and she felt Beca bristle a little, the relax just slightly. "There are so not enough people in here to hide you when you're this ticked off."

Beca took a deep breath and let it out quickly in one loud huff.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry if I fucked that up for you," she said. "But I'm not sorry for what I said."

The person in front of them got their drinks and moved out of the way, and Beca stepped up into the empty space.

"Uh, Maker's," she told the bartender. "Actually, Maker's and ginger ale. I forgot we still have this whole movie to watch."

The bartender barely blinked before turning to Chloe.

"And for you?"

Chloe weighed her options.

She hadn't had a drink all day.

But she didn't want to get wasted and make a fool of herself.

Her adrenaline was pumping through her system in the same way it always did when she'd done something bad, like she could run laps around the building if she needed to, to stay out of trouble.

Beca was already one drink up on her, too.

And unlike other premieres, she wasn't really looking forward to watching the movie tonight.

Gail already said they could leave right after.

Plus the reviews were going to come out for this tonight - she really wasn't looking forward to that.

With all those considerations in mind - and the knowledge that she had a blissfully unfettered day off tomorrow before filming started back up - she made her decision easily.

"Two shots of Maker's, and a Maker's and Coke - strong," she said before turning to Beca.

"Wanna get just the teensiest, tiniest bit drunk with me?"

"Absolutely," Beca grinned.

Chloe popped open her clutch and dug around for a moment, producing a $50 bill and stuffing it into the bartender's cup.

"We're probably going to be back. If you could make sure our drinks are strong, I'll give you another one of these," she said to the bartender, who hid his smile behind a professionally placed hand.

"Ugh, Chloe, that was so lame," Beca cringed.

Chloe blushed.

"It was not."

"No, it was," Beca asserted. "Like he's just doing his job."

"Well I want special treatment!" Chloe retorted, and Beca laughed loudly.

Two shots were placed in front of them, and the women cheers'd before tossing back the liquor with a cringe.

"Yeeuck."

"Gosh, I am definitely not 22 anymore," Chloe complained as she used her tongue to attempt to rid her mouth of the harsh taste.

Two more drinks appeared, and Chloe quickly took a drink of hers to try to wash it all down.

The bartender cleared his throat, and Chloe looked up, finally taking him in. He was youngish, her height. Dark hair, eyes, and complexion, and handsome.

"I was specifically instructed to make the drinks weak at this event. You and your date's will be the exception," he said with a wink. "I wouldn't dare give Ms. Beale anything but excellent treatment."

"Oh, great, he sucks too," Beca scoffed. "You two are a match made in heaven."

Chloe threw her head back and laughed loudly enough that the other people in the room were definitely going to notice, but she didn't care.

This was supposed to be a chore - a fully terrible networking event with exaggerated smiles and awkward questions.

And all it took was one person to change the whole trajectory.

She glanced at Beca as she kept arguing with the smarmy bartender.

A very specific, wonderful person.

Someone who very specifically didn't seem to want anything from her, though Chloe wasn'ts delusional enough to image that the fame wouldn't be helpful sometime down the line.

But Beca didn't pull any punches around her or treat her different - except at the beginning, when they met years ago and on that dinner date.

Yeah, she thought slowly as the liquor settled into her stomach. Wonder what that was about.

"-so you should just stick to making drinks, okay, Frank?" Beca asked rhetorically, and Chloe would've been worried if both Beca and the bartender could stop laughing.

"Understood, Ms.- sorry, I didn't catch your name," Frank teased with a sly smile.

"And you won't," Beca replied with a shock of joyous laughter, before she adopted a cocky grin and tacked on-

"Google it."

"Oh come on," Chloe jumped in incredulously. "And I was being lame? That was gross!"

"Frank gets it," Beca explained with a giggle.

"I'm not in this!"

"No, no you're in this, Frank!"

Chloe started to laugh again, but the glee was quickly cut off as the door to the theater banged open.

Much to Chloe's chagrin, it was Gail, and the manager spotted them instantly. She shot an apologetic look to the other people in the lobby before striding over to the pair.

"Chloe? Beca? Can I speak with you, in the back?"

Chloe swallowed thickly, avoiding Gail's eye as she followed her manager behind a curtain that had obviously been brought in for the premiere.

They were apparently early enough that the catering group was still getting the hor d'oeuvres distribution set up, and Gail navigated them past gaping faces and half-filled trays to a back hallway.

"What. Happened," Gail gritted out when they were alone.

"It was my fault," Beca spoke up first. "I jumped into an interview when I shouldn't have-"

"Well that's an understatement!"

"No!"

Both Gail and Beca turned to look at her, and Chloe took a deep breath.

Usually, when someone was this mad at her, Chloe let herself clam up and apologize, but not tonight.

Gail had really let her down.

She didn't prep her enough, and on the subject of what she actually got asked, Chloe knew that Jessica could only do so much in making people edit their questions.

But even more, Gail wasn't there.

She should've been nearby to actually see how the interviewers were treating her.

She should've been there to tell them to stop.

But Gail had always been clear about her priorities: Chicago Walp and His People, All the Other Possible Clients in the World, and then her.

"Gail, if this is a problem for you, you can ask E! or Buzzfeed or whoever the heck to pull the interview. I know you can bury stuff if you want to," she seethed. "But Beca stood up for me when you weren't there to help. I don't-"

She heaved out a loud sigh.

"I don't want to do this tonight," she groaned. "I appreciate everything you do for me. My career would not be where it was without you. Just- go back to whatever networking you were doing, we can talk next week."

Gail looked like she was going to argue back, but Chloe didn't give her the chance, turning on her heel and stomping off like a dang toddler or something.

She heard a pair of heels clicking after her, and she almost turned to tell Gail to pound sand until Beca fell into step beside her.

"Jeez- jesus," Beca cursed softly as she finally caught up. "How do you walk so fucking fast in these things?"

"Practice."

Beca fell silent, and the pair made their way back through the back-of-house and into the lobby.

"I need- ugh," Chloe mumbled. "I'm gonna use the bathroom."

"Okay, yeah," Beca nodded. "Want me to grab our drinks and head inside?"

Chloe gave a lackluster affirmative response and took off across the lobby to where she knew the bathrooms were.

She pushed the door open, finding the room empty and sliding quickly into a stall before her luck ran out.

Alcohol, adrenaline, and anger thrummed through her veins and into her fingers and toes, and Chloe pressed her fingertips into her temples. She took a few deep breaths, forcing her heart back into its typical rhythm.

She was so mad.

She hadn't gotten this mad outside of work in… forever.

The highs and lows of this night were, like, insane.

Her phone dinged in her clutch, and Chloe was happy for the distraction. She ignored all the notifications about the event and the texts from old co-stars and friends as videos from the event started to be posted, clicking instead on her newest notification.

From Beca.

She opened their thread and saw the first picture - the two of them smiling at the camera in the back of a sedan.

Then another came through, Chloe tucking her head into Beca's shoulder, smiling hard, and Beca looked like she was mid-word, with an amused, open mouth.

Then one more - Chloe was flashing a teasing smile, and Beca was rolling her eyes.

you okay?

The message came in after the pictures, and Chloe sighed.

I will be, she texted back, and the little dots that signified Beca was typing popped up.

She waited for a moment, until the message came through.

frank made fun of me "getting in trouble" when i went back to get our drinks

don't tip him any more

Chloe started giggling.

And she didn't stop- didn't want to, couldn't, should maybe, but chose not to.

It was kinda funny, she texted back.

if we're already laughing about it, i'm cool with that, Beca replied quickly.

The dots popped up, and Chloe waited for a moment, but they just disappeared without another message.

Chloe stepped out of the stall and went to wash her hands, tapping just the slightest bit of cold water against her cheeks. She beelined her way through the lobby - which was more than half full already, so she kept her head down - stepping quickly into the theater.

It took her a second to find Beca, but she did. The producer was sitting with Jessica and Brad towards the front, which must've been the event organizer's idea, because there was no way Beca would've chosen such a prominent spot.

Beca waved at her slightly, and Jessica saw, standing and waving Chloe over.

"We've already talking to Stevie and Annabelle, so you just need to say 'hi' later," Jessica said as Chloe took the seat in the middle, next to Beca. "And Dani should be in here any minute- did you see her in the lobby?"

Chloe shook her head as she looked up at Jessica but was startled suddenly by a cold sensation on her arm. She glanced down to see Beca surreptitiously passing her her drink.

"I feel like I've said this before, but 'bottom's up,'" the producer teased, and Chloe gave her a small smile.

They tapped the top of their cups together and both took a sip.

"Oh, hold on- Jessica, that's the guy I was telling you about!" Brad said suddenly, reaching up to tap the assistant on the hip.

Jessica tried to glance sneakily, but with her whole head craning over her shoulder, Chloe thought it might've been more disguised if the woman just fully turned around to look.

"Okay, he is cute," Jessica said. "Are you sure you know him well enough to introduce us?"

"Would I lie to you about such things?" Brad scoffed, standing and tugging on her arm.

"Are you two- uh, good here?" Jessica asked, and next to her, Chloe felt Beca shift in her seat.

"Scout's honor, I won't get Chloe into any more trouble," Beca swore, and Brad barked out a laugh before covering his mouth.

Jessica looked nervous, so Chloe reached out to take her hand.

"Jess, go on," she said. "It'll be like two secs."

"Right," Jessica sighed. "Okay- okay! Let's go!"

The pair darted off, and Chloe glanced over to see Beca relax back into the seat again.

"Aren't you glad we don't have to worry about such silly things like dating anymore, hun?" Beca teased, reaching over to pat Chloe's knee.

Chloe's bare knee.

A fact that Beca seemed to forget about in the moments before she did it, but as soon as she made contact with Chloe's thigh, she flinched.

"Sorry," she hissed, and Chloe rolled her eyes playfully.

"I can handle it, Becs," she said, reaching down to take Beca's hand in hers.

She laced their fingers together automatically, and she smiled when Beca tightened hers.

They were quiet as Beca turned to look at the room, and after watching her for a few seconds, Chloe looked around too It was buzzing with excitement - not, like, happy excitement, but the nervous kind - and there were pockets of people all over the place, tittering and fake-laughing.

Some were on their phones, even in a group.

She could Stevie sitting with sunglasses on staring at the blank screen - probably taking a quick nap, because Chloe was pretty sure he was currently touring with his band.

Annabelle had a reasonable number of people around her, hanging on her every word - but Chloe could tell by a glance that none of them were people of influence.

"You know, you don't really fit in here," Beca said suddenly.

"Wow, thanks Becs," Chloe replied sarcastically, and Beca pulled her hand tighter.

"Sorry, wow, that sounded mean, didn't it? I didn't mean-"

She huffed out a sigh.

And Chloe could've jumped in and pushed the joke or brushed it off, but something made her stay quiet.

"I meant, like, you're too authentic for some of this stuff," Beca went on. "Too pure or some shit."

"Not a vapid, vain industry climber?" Chloe asked with narrow eyes.

"Exactly," Beca exhaled with relief.

In the silence that settled between them, Chloe took a large gulp of her drink.

And then she resolved to bring up the thing that had been bothering her.

"I thought you thought of me like that, like Vi did, especially with all this," she said, gesturing between them.

Beca scoffed.

"No, seriously," Chloe pushed. "You made fun of Fifty Shades."

Beca opened her mouth to refute Chloe's statement, but then she pushed whatever she was going to say back down, closing her mouth. She looked away before she started speaking again.

"I thought I was clear about that," she said unevenly. "I'm sorry, again. I think- I think that you're a good actress, Chloe. I wouldn't have gone back and looked up some of your stuff if I didn't."

"Like The Pacifier?"

"Yes, like The Pacifier," Beca said as her face scrunched up. "Others too. All bad. You have a truly terrible catalogue of movies."

Chloe gasped and went to hit Beca on the arm, but Beca just laughed and caught it with her other hand.

"You're so mean to me!" Chloe cried.

But Beca didn't take the bait.

Instead, she pulled their hands together in her lap, turning so she could face Chloe head-on.

"I think it's really cool, what you're doing," she nearly whispered.

Her tone was so serious that Chloe almost forgot that they were in a rapidly-filling theater.

She almost forgot that they were in public at all.

"It's really admirable, and I think you're really brave for even trying. And I know you're good enough to succeed at it, even without watching movies. You make people feel important. You're good at it."

Chloe let out a rough breath.

She never thought that Beca would say something like this- something so serious and genuine that it made her heart hurt - about her career of all things.

"But yeah, I wasn't lying about people talking to me about it," Beca went on, letting go of Chloe's far hand but keeping their other ones intertwined. "Everyone here is, like, obsessed with you."

The heat in Chloe's cheeks tripled, and she scoffed lightly.

"No, really," Beca confirmed. "It's lame as hell."

"Sorry, am I interrupting?!"

Chloe glanced away from Beca to see that her co-star Dani had approached, with Rick Summers closely following behind.

Dani's dark hair was styled in long braids that were piled on her head, and Chloe smiled broadly as she took in her dress, which was a confusing display of angles and muted greens that made her glow.

Chloe knew Dani well enough to understand her mentality - if everyone was going to be looking anyway, she might as well give them something to look at.

Even Rick did a bit more than he'd done for other events, wearing a sleek velvet navy suit that was fitted to his tall frame and complemented his jet-black hair.

"Dani!"

She jumped up to pull her friend into a hug, and Rick threw his arms over the pair of them.

"Took you long enough!" Chloe teased easily.

"Well we don't all get A+ list privileges," Dani shot back, and then she turned to Beca.

"And the infamous Beca Mitchell!" she greeted the producer, extending her hand, which Beca shook cautiously. "You certainly made a splash here tonight."

Chloe laughed.

"A good splash!" Dani amended quickly. "For a well-deserved subject."

"Couldn't agree more," Beca replied over the brim of her plastic cup.

Chloe pooh-poohed the comment and turned to Rick.

"You always make it difficult for us nobodies to make headlines," he teased, and Chloe swatted his arm.

"You're not a nobody," she scolded, and he scoffed in response.

"Tell that to my publicist," he bemoaned, and Dani laughed.

They talked for a few more minutes- Chloe got caught up on their current projects and partners, or, in Rick's case, wife and kids. Dani asked if Chloe had talked to Annabelle, and Chloe shook her head forcefully, and both of them seemed to accept that as an answer.

And a couple other people came over to greet all of them.

And then a couple more.

And before Chloe knew it, the majority of the crew and a good handful of the cast had swarmed Beca and Chloe at their seats - not that Beca was doing much besides introducing herself and nursing her drink.

Chloe greeted every single one of her friends with a warm hug, and sometime after the fifth re-introduction, she remembered this feeling.

The fun part of her premieres.

It was like a mini-reunion, or like going back to camp the next year and seeing all her camp friends.

It was its own special bond - especially on a set like this, with the antics of their main star and the director.

And it was amazing to see all the people that she had had to rely on.

People like ADs Jimmy and John, who let Chloe into video village so she could watch her own scenes back, who called out extra takes when Chloe felt like she needed.

And Dani, who would stay on set and run lines that weren't even hers so Chloe could figure out why the blocking wasn't working.

Chloe didn't even have to fake a smile when Stevie gave her a little wave across the theater.

She felt a hand at her elbow, and she saw Beca leaning in to her ear.

"I'm gonna go grab us some more drinks before this whole thing starts," Beca said in a low voice. "Same thing?"

Chloe nodded and reached for her clutch.

"Will you give him-"

"I already Venmo'd him," Beca said with a shake of her head.

"Guy's good, what can I say. Do you need food?"

"Oh, I saw those stuffed mushrooms earlier… they looked really good," Chloe winced to try to hide her smiling, only succeeding in pulling her lip between her teeth.

Beca just laughed.

"Okay," she grinned. "I'll be right back."

"Can we talk about how cute you two are?" Dani said as soon as Beca was out of earshot. "She looks at you like you hung the moon. And she's so hot."

Chloe rolled her eyes at her friend.

Dani probably knew that the whole thing was PR, so Chloe didn't even know why the other actress was bringing it up.

"What, you're saying she's not hot?" Dani asked with raised brows.

"I- look, of course I think she's gorgeous," Chloe confirmed, and Dani flashed a gloating smile.

"So you should-"

"Can I get everybody's attention?" somebody yelled from the stage, and Chloe glanced up to see Annabelle was up onstage addressing everybody.

"Can we get the cast back out of the carpet real quick- we need a cast photo!"

There were a few non-specific grumbles - Chloe not among them - and soon the crowds parted as the actors acquiesced to the request.

Chloe stayed in the midst of the group as they stepped back outside, hiding in the mass until she hadto jump out.

She didn't stand next to Stevie or Annabelle.

Instead, she sandwiched herself right in between her friends.

They made their way back inside without incident, and Annabelle immediately walked back onstage to address the crowd.

"Okay, I just want to say a few things before we get started…"

Chloe navigated her way back to her seat, finding Beca and the rest of her team already back in place. Beca had her phone out, tapping through something, but she handed Chloe her drink.

Annabelle was waxing poetic, and Chloe took a sip, grimacing slightly and barely holding down a cough.

"Jeez, did he put any Coke in this?"

Beca glanced up from her phone and let out a low laugh.

"That's what you get for making a friend," she teased before going back to her phone.

Curious, Chloe leaned over, and Beca tilted the phone away before she flipped it back towards Chloe.

"Sorry, habit," she said. "You can see it."

She was drafting a post for IG, adding photos and editing the filters.

She held out her hand, and Beca gave her the phone.

There was the makeup selfie from Chloe's house, then a cropped one of Chloe getting ready. There was one from the side of the carpet where Chloe was posing for the cameras too.

And then there was one of them from the car.

The one where Chloe was tucked into her shoulder and Beca was talking.

"I figured I could, like, write a caption, try to get out ahead of the interview," Beca whispered.

Onstage, Annabelle said something about "how they were all a big family" and Chloe went back to not listening.

"That's probably a good idea," Chloe replied quietly as she handed the phone back.

Beca nodded, and as she scrolled through the pictures again, she exhaled out a laugh.

"What?" Chloe whispered.

"No- it's just, my brothers totally going to give me shit, like always," she said in a low voice.

Chloe shifted closer to Beca, and Beca leaned in too.

"'Like always'?" she asked. "Why does he give you shit?"

"Oh," Beca gasped, eyes trained down on her phone. "Uh, I told him about when we met- like, the first time, and he hasn't ever let it go."

So Beca did remember all that.

And it was memorable enough to tell her brother about?

I mean, I was pretty drunk, Chloe winced. And she totally blew me off.

"You mean when you blew me off because I was wasted?"

Whoops.

Guess I haven't drank in a couple weeks.

And these drinks are pretty strong.

What's that saying - drunk words are sober thoughts?

"Uh, that wasn't-" Beca started, then she huffed out a small laugh. "I wasn't blowing you off. That wasn't why I was being weird."

Chloe inhaled sharply.

Something about the way she had said it, like there was an obvious secret that Chloe wasn't privy to - something hit Chloe just right, tugged right at the corner of her mind.

Something that felt like when Beca looked away bashfully or rolled her eyes playfully.

Something she wanted to know more about.

And those thoughts took shape, and then those thoughts became words, and Chloe heard herself asking the question.

"Why were you then?"

Beca was smiling, shocked - mouth agape and brows raised, dark around her as she blinked against the dim light from her phone screen.

Wait, when did the lighting change?

"So without further ado, here's It's All Good, Baby!"

---

Jessica crawled into the backseat with Beca in the SUV back to Chloe's house.

Brad went straight home, but Gail was in the other captain seat, heaping praise after praise on Chloe for her "inspired performance!"

It was late enough that nobody else talked much.

The ride was quicker without the traffic, and as they pulled up to the house, the women pilled out of the car in a sleepy stupor.

"You sure you can make it home?" Chloe asked Beca. "You're good to drive?"

Beca nodded.

"I'm gonna grab my stuff."

Chloe led the way through the front door as Jessica and Beca trailed after her.

She stood awkwardly in the entryway as Beca collected her things.

"If I sit down, I'm going to fall asleep," she said as Beca turned the corner. Beca grinned and gave a small nod.

"Thanks for coming tonight," Chloe said, and Beca scoffed.

"I mean, it was part of the plan," she said stiltedly. "I literally had to."

Chloe was tired enough that she let the comment slide.

"Then thanks for being there for me," she pushed, and she stepped forward to wrap her arms around the producer.

It was a little awkward with the backpack and Beca's sudden apprehension, but soon, Chloe felt Beca's arms raise and wrap around her too.

"Okay," she yawned as she moved away. "Get home safe."

She pulled the door open, and Beca stepped outside.

She turned like she was going to say something, and Chloe watched through half-lidded eyes with sleep-addled comprehension.

"You good?" she asked.

"Yeah," Beca replied, stifling a yawn of her own.

"Night, Chlo."

And Chloe went straight into her room, stripped down, and slept like the dead.