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?

9. Chapter 9

I'm going to meta horny jail, and I'm dragging you there with me.

aka there's explicit sexual content in this one.

---

December 25th

"So on a scale from Wiggle to unnamed Saudi Arabian oligarch, how wealthy are you?"

"Ignore her," Beca grimaced. "Please. It's what I've been doing."

Fat Amy barely looked over the thin strap of her neon pink one-piece to appraise Beca, oversized sunglasses slightly lowered on her nose. Beca bristled under the icy glare, pulling her thin cover-up over her own black polka-dot suit.

"Excuse me shortstack, but we were having a conversation," Amy replied pointedly. She shifted slightly on the resort bar stool, taking a sip of her fourth pina colada before turning back to the salt-and-pepper bearded man in front of her.

"Anyway," she said loudly to the other patron- and, Beca figured, to her and everyone else around. "Did you get something good in your stocking this morning? Because I'm still looking to get mine stuffed."

"Jesus, Ames."

She couldn't believe that she was going to ask this person, Fat "Amy" Patricia Hobart, to-

"Be-car, I swear to god," Amy shot back as the man looked between them, clearly confused. "Can't you just go back to the villa and watch Transformers again?"

Beca felt heat creep up her cheeks, and it had nothing to do with her second bourbon or the island's temperate weather.

"I wasn't watching it," she grumbled. "I was fast-forwarding to Chloe's scenes. She's pretty good in it."

"You mean she 'pretty good' at wearing a mini-skirt, eh?" Amy guffawed.

The heat in her cheeks doubled, and Beca grumbled out a quick, "it's not like she's in charge of costuming," before turning away from Amy.

She could hear her speaking to the dude next to her, who was speaking a totally different language, shocker, but Beca chose to forgo any more intervention attempts at this point.

Instead, she pulled out her phone.

She hadn't upgraded anything for the travel because Chloe had assured her that the resort had wifi, so despite the distance, she was able to revisit her busiest texting thread with no problem.

Beca

i think amy's going to name-drop you again, so i'm sorry if you can never come back here.

Chloe

Ha!

I don't mind.

Do you have separate rooms at least? You should be somewhat insulated from her "activities"…

Beca

we did have separate rooms, but amy has been "accidentally" passing out in mine every night

besides that, everything has been a dream

thank you, again

Chloe

I thought we agreed to stop saying things like that! Besides, you can thank me another way 😘

Beca let out a small, exasperated chuckle as she looked away.

Chloe had been doing that more in the last week, getting under Beca's skin with little flirting comments. It was one thing at the beginning when they were, like, not even friends, because Beca was almost positive that that was just the way that Chloe talked to people.

But now, Beca knew that Chloe was doing it on purpose.

Did she mean what she was alluding to?

"Whoop, there it is," Fat Amy said, pulling Beca out of her thoughts. "You have ginger face."

Beca turned to see that her friend had given up on her conquest and was in fact alone at the bar again, with just Beca, the (male, gay, and totally over it) bartender, and the picturesque view to keep her attention.

It was one of the reservations that Chloe had made for them, and like everything else that they'd done this week, it was basically perfect. The restaurant was on the beach by the dock, but that didn't stop the super extra people who built this place from putting a heated saltwater pool in the beach.

That was wild in its own right - and probably a bitch to maintain - but it was even wilder with the small cabana-like tables that surrounding them, plus the regular bar that they were currently at, plus the swim-up bar in the pool.

I actually might not be able to go back to normal life, she thought, and not for the first time this week.

This is too nice. Maybe I'll live here.

But then I probably wouldn't get to see Chloe again.

Or at least not very much.

"There it is again!" Amy shouted, and Beca shushed her rapidly, shooting a quick apology to the bartender. He waived her off with a polite but tight smile.

"Seriously, BM, you should get that checked. Your love-boner for this chick is off the charts."

"It is not," Beca shot back, but even she doubted herself.

Because she was pretty sure that Fat Amy was right.

Something about all this - the trip mostly, but also the texting - something had changed. Crush had become friendship, which then transformed into crush but with friendship, and then it was more than a crush, and now, with Chloe texting her the way she was…

It wasn't, like, impossible to imagine that she had completely fallen for Chloe Beale.

There was no other way to justify why she had accepted this trip in the first place, or why she had worn a fur-lined Snuggie on the entire private flight over, despite Amy's teasing remarks.

Or why she'd rented and then watched any of the terrible scenes of Transformers.

Or why she had actually looked up her name on twitter so that she could see them singing together, giggling as the filmer screamed their support, grinning like a dork as she watched them dance around each other onstage.

Or why she even ran up to the deejay and asked for a second mic at all, why she'd sung Britney fucking Spears, of all things.

And almost certainly why she remembered the whole thing as "fun" and not "incredibly embarrassing and borderline appalling."

Because it was fun to perform with Chloe.

She just hoped it'd feel the same, when she had to perform alone.

"You know," Amy started, but then she stopped, sucking deeply from her tall glass until the frozen drink began to sputter in the straw.

Beca waited not-so-patiently, but she didn't try to hide her smile.

"You get it all?" she quipped sarcastically as Amy finally moved the glass away.

"Hold on, brain freeze," Amy sighed as she teetered.

Beca chuckled as the woman righted herself.

"You know," she repeated. "It wouldn't be the end of the world if you liked her. Pretty sure she wants to hop on your Bone-town Express."

"I…" Beca started, then she heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't know, Ames. I mean, I think there's something there-"

"Yeah remind me to show you her IG stories about you," Amy remarked offhandedly, and Beca spun to face her.

"What?"

"Well, I mean, I didn't save them, but I'm sure they're online," Amy said as she began to scroll through her phone. Beca heard hers ping, and she looked down to see the message from Amy.

A video preview popped up - Chloe Beale and Beca Mitchell being soulmates for eight minutes and seventeen seconds.

"I think they're all in that one," Amy said. "Ya know, as your representation in this whole situaesh, I have an obligation to know things like this."

Beca sighed and drank the rest of her drink.

Well, now's as good a time as any.

"Hey-if-I-left-Residual-and-went-to-work-for-another-production-company-and-actually-needed-a-manager-because-I-was-ya-know-maybe-doing-a-solo-career, would you do that?" she rushed quickly, the words falling over top of each other like they were racing for first place.

Man, I really hope the entrees come out soon, she worried.

Because that alcohol went straight to my mouth.

Head.

Head, then mouth.

"Woah," Amy groaned. "All right. Those were definitely words, and that was definitely you trying to change the subject so that we wouldn't have to talk about that red-headed firecracker you're all jazzed about."

She sighed and stuck to fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly for the bartender.

Which really wasn't warranted, considering they were the only two still at the bar in the midday lull.

"Two more," she said to the bartender, who rolled his eyes.

(Beca was starting to think was remarkably less professional than when they had showed up, which was only - oh. We've been here for an hour and a half already. Maybe that's why.)

"And one for my friend here too. Also we'll be relocating to a more private location, as my client has some business she'd like to discuss."

"Please, sit wherever," the guy responded with a sneering smile. "I'll send your drinks right over."

Beca hauled Amy off her stool and across the path through the beach, into the shade of one of the cabana tables.

Amy took one side, laying herself out along one of the bench seats, but Beca stayed at the lip of the cushion, near the sand at the front.

"Shortstack, you know Residual Heat was always just a step stone to bigger things," Amy said as she got settled in a slightly reclined position against the pillows. "I guess I just figured I'd be the one with a microphone. Does this have something to do with that super-secret interview you snuck off to last month?"

Beca went to refute it, but Amy was right.

She dropped back against the back of the bench and sighed.

"It- so, okay, yes, but- look, I signed a non-compete with Residual when I came on," Beca explained. "So I can't produce for anyone else for, like, four years. But I mean, you've been in those meetings. Residual isn't the place for me anymore. So I met with A Capella Productions-"

"Oh yeah, A-capellar," Amy echoed. "I talk shit about them on Twitter."

Beca exhaled a laugh.

"They've noticed," she said. "Anyway, they said the best way to maybe capitalize on this whole publicity thing and also get me around the non-compete would be a solo career. Which I was against, until I got onstage and sang with Chloe. But that's besides the point. The point is - my point - is that they said I could bring whoever over with me, and I'd thought of you. You're, like, one of my best friends."

"I'm touched," Amy said seriously, though Beca began to doubt it when Amy brought a hand to her chest and hit it with a bit too much force.

Which caused her to start coughing in a way that had Beca leaning back towards the sand again.

Because she was not about to get puked on.

Again.

"I'm gonna need you," Beca went on. "And Chloe. I'm gonna need all the friends I can get, honestly, because I don't even- whatever. Singing is whatever. I just need…"

"-the snatch of a smokin' hot ginger?" Amy tried to finish the sentence, and Beca leveled her with a hard stare.

But then she thought about it - what that could mean, and how it could fail, and how hard all of this would be without Chloe - and let out a short breath.

"I actually might need just a friend," she sighed. "That's what's making all of this so confusing. I like Chloe. A lot. More than a friend. God, I said it. I hate it. Yuck. I can't believe I said that. I hate the way that feels-"

She looked around for something to drink and only found water.

She took it anyway.

She drank slowly, letting the water fill and then stay in her mouth for a moment as she tried to sort through her thoughts.

They kept whizzing around her like bees and butterflies - too fast to catch, and they kept getting too close to her ears and pissing her off.

She shook her head to rid herself of them as she swallowed.

"This is a big deal," she said finally. "The whole solo-artist stuff. I'm really nervous that I'm not good enough-"

"Okay I'm just going to stop you right there," Amy cut in. "When we met as Residual, do you know why I went out of my way to be your best friend and nobody else's?"

"Because I let you?" Beca asked with a judgmental side-eye.

"Because you're the most talented person that I know, and yes to that other reason too! But also because Bumper is only good at sex and not good at music," Amy rambled on.

But Beca cut her off.

"Wait, I thought you swore that you didn't hook up with Bumper," she said slyly, narrowing her eyes.

(The whole office knew that Bumper and Fat Amy hooked up. They were, like, the worst at hiding it.

And at staying quiet.

Which was gross.)

"Shh, let's just focus on your lie," Amy continued as she wiggled into a seating position.

"Beca, do you know how awesome you are? You're Beca Elfin' Mitchell, okay? You're the big BM. That's you! You're awesome!"

"So you'll come with me?" Beca asked hopefully.

Amy was Amy, but she was still the best person to have in your corner.

Except when she let you down.

Or bailed on plans.

Or ran away from a fight that she got you into.

Okay, so maybe she's not the best person to have in my corner.

But she'd always make me laugh and remind me not to take myself too seriously.

And I definitely need that.

"I mean, we'll have to talk compensation and whether or not we could keep up perks like these, but yeah!" Amy confirmed, and Beca breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're going to crush it," she tacked on, but Beca knew her face betrayed her nerves still.

Solo artist stuff meant writing her own music and lyrics.

And performing them.

What if she couldn't do it? What if she couldn't tap into those feelings?

"Do you need some of my confidence?"Amy asked suddenly. "Because I could actually stand to turn mine down a notch."

"Yeah, actually," Beca agreed. She sat up straight as Amy got up and walked around the booth to stand in front of her.

Maybe she'll give me some tips or somethi-

"Okay, let me rub some out."

Beca rolled her eyes as Fat Amy rubbed her arms and then reached out - Beca only flinched a little bit - and rubbed Beca's arms.

"No, wait, I think you need some more," Amy said, reaching under her arm pits.

"It comes from there? Okay."

Beca resigned herself to her fate as Amy lightly slapped her cheeks with her armpit hands.

"Okay, now I'm going to get you the good stuff-" Amy started to say, reaching behind her and swiping a hand up her butt crack.

"Amy, no!" Beca yelped. "We're in public! I don't want your butt confidence!"

But Amy was already lunging forward, and Beca was leaning back, further into the booth, yelping as she fell back onto the stiff cushions. Amy came sprawling after, and Beca grunted as the Australian landed half on top of her, slapping her face with her butt-confidence hand.

"I have a few meals and drinks that may belong to two lovely ladies," Beca heard someone saying, and she leaned around Fat Amy just enough see a new guy - a suave, handsome man - standing at the head of the table with a tray that he was quickly moving to set down.

"But I can come back!"

"No need," Amy said above her, shoving her knee into Beca's side as she spun around so that she was basically laying on top of Beca, her back to Beca's front.

"I'm Fat Amy, but you can call me Vixen," she purred, and Beca groaned beneath her.

"Because I will give you the sleigh ride of your life," Amy finished, and the waiter laughed as he helped Amy up.

Beca would've stopped her - maybe told her to stop making Christmas puns that nobody was ever going to get, even if it was still Christmas day - but then her phone chimed, and she looked down.

Chloe had tagged her in an Instagram post.

She stayed laying down, waving an errant hand at the waiter as he tried to help her up - which was apparently absolutely okay with him, considering the way he was eyeing Amy - and opened the notification.

The pictures were cute, and was that a new one? From the walk at Residual?

Maybe Stacie gave it to her?

But then Beca saw the caption and began to read.

"Got the best present this year. I don't care what bought us together - I'm just happy you're mine."

A shiver went down her spine.

It's for show, she thought quickly. It's not real.

But then her phone buzzed again, and she saw that Chloe was texting her.

She scrolled over the the app.

Chloe

Hey, just posted on IG. Hope you and Fat Amy are having a wonderful xmas.

I miss you.

And that was just enough to make Beca falter.

Was it all for show, at this point?

For either of them?

They were headed back to the states in two days, and she didn't have any plans to see Chloe for at least three more weeks.

Guess I have that long to figure it out.

---

Sun, Jan 1, 12:01

Chloe

Happy New Year!

Beca

happy new year chlo!

Chloe

Did you do anything fun?

Beca

i babysat

Chloe

Omg really!? That's so cute! Send a pic!

Beca

*image*

Chloe

Oh.

Beca

i mean drunk amy at a company party is arguably worse than any toddler

Chloe

Lol!

Beca

did you do anything?

Chloe

Was going to go to Bree and Stacie's, but I ended up just staying home.

*image*

Beca

do my eyes deceive me, or is that two cats?!

Chloe

It's true!

I got them both!

I actually thought Jinks didn't notice I was here, but then I pet him and he purred!

Beca

a new year's miracle

Chloe

Did you kiss anyone at midnight?

Beca

nope, people are still freezing me out for the most part cuz of the song

amy was the only one even really talking to me

Chloe

Omg yeah! The song!

Beca

which is why we bailed early.

yep. song's out

Chloe

What's the word on that? I saw it a couple times on TikTok.

Is "the plan" working?

Beca

apparently

okay amy just threw up in the pizza place

gotta go

Chloe

Hope she feels better!

Talk soon!

---

January 10th

Beca pulled her jean-clad leg up, tucking her foot underneath her on the swivel office chair.

It was late in the day - late enough that she could probably go home and nobody would care - but Beca hadn't packed up to leave yet.

Instead, she'd had her keyboard and her laptop set up for hours.

Open to a blank screen.

Plucking out random notes or playing through a couple chord progressions as she tried to resist the urge to look at instagram or twitter.

Even unconsciously, she knew why she was avoiding social media.

It was 100% because Chloe was at the Golden Globes tonight, had probably been there for a couple hours at this point.

And though she'd mentioned it to Beca, she didn't invite her to come with.

Which, whatever. She was the one who asked for less events.

And she didn't want to go.

She would never want to spend her day walking around in high heels, making small talk with strangers and acting like she gave a shit about movies or TV or whatever.

Except…

-except nothing, she thought sullenly. She didn't invite you.

And she'd been hoping that writing music would help distract her, but so far, she felt emotionally constipated.

Maybe if she let herself feel something, something like-

Her phone buzzed on the desk, and she saw from the preview that it was from Chloe.

I wish you were here with me, it said.

Too many emotions surged through her at once - elation, worry, something sadder, something exciting - and she went to respond.

She could've played it cool and waited.

Or she could've asked, "where's that?" or "why, what are you up to?"

But nowadays, she wasn't even trying to posture around Chloe, which was really refreshing.

yeah? she typed back to Chloe. why's that?

Chloe started typing back immediately, and Beca tried not to smile too big as she watched the screen, waiting for the response.

To be honest, it kinda sucks without you, Chloe wrote back. I keep wondering if I'll turn the corner and see one of those nasty interviewers, and I don't even have my pitbull with me. Oh! You know who I did see though?

who, me? Beca typed as the photo loaded. i'm your pitbull?

The photo came through, and she saw it was a selfie of Chloe and Frank the Bartender, along with the comment, He was very generous.

frank! got yourself a new suitor? Beca replied.

She watched the dots anxiously.

She wasn't being serious - she didn't think Frank and Chloe actually, like, liked each other.

But he was a flirt, and so was she, and what if-

Chloe's response came through.

I'm no floozy, she'd written back. I'm a one-woman woman. But I did see Chicago.

Beca felt her grip tighten around the phone.

and how is he?

Idk, Chloe replied quickly. I pretended I couldn't hear Gail and sprinted away as soon as I saw him.

Beca breathed out.

And now she really wished she was there.

Not just to glare daggers into the side of Chicago Walp's head - although that would be fun, and maybe she could just talk to him, get him alone in some dark corner where there weren't any cameras or blind items for him to hide behind, ask him what the fuck he was thinking when he-

Her phone buzzed again, and Beca glanced down.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm off my game, Chloe said. That's really why I wish you were here. Yes, you're my pitbull. And I need that "none of this matters" attitude.

Beca almost hit the call button.

Which was insane.

Like, clinically.

Because who just calls someone?!

But Chloe was hurting, and she felt it deep in her chest, like her rib cage had shrunk and she couldn't take a full breath. She felt her jaw tighten as she bit down, holding back from picking up her keys and driving straight over here.

She'd figure out the logistics; someone would let her in. Jessica maybe.

God, she wished she was there! She should be there. Chloe wanted her there.

So why didn't she invite you?

She wanted to ask, but she couldn't just say "why didn't you invite me?" because that would be so weird.

She knew why Chloe didn't invite her.

Because they weren't supposed to feel like this.

Beca stared at the empty document with its cursed cursor blinking threateningly at her.

She leaned over the keyboard and started typing.

I want to be there for you. I want to be there to make things easier, and I can't ask you for that, she wrote in the document. I can't put myself there, I can't ask for that attention, I can't even admit it to myself half the time. I have two options: do nothing, or do something. You make me do things. You make me want to do something. To be something. You made me realize I wasn't doing things, and I don't want to be stuck anymore. You did that. You unstuck me.

She went back to the phone and re-read her message.

I'm not the "none of this matters" person anymore, she thought to herself. And I won't be, at A Capella, in my new career as an artist.

She couldn't write out the first part - it felt like too much to admit, that something actually mattered to her.

Someone actually mattered to her.

But she didn't want to brush this off and make a joke, couldn't distract away from this. She wanted to feel.

i'll deny it if you ever repeat it, she wrote out carefully. but it's cool that you care. it's cool that this matters to you. means you have something to lose. i wish i had that

She sent the message.

wanna know a secret, she added.

Beca waited, but Chloe didn't start typing again, and Beca wondered if she got pulled into something else, if their time was up and she'd missed the window again.

So she went to instagram.

But Chloe hadn't posted anything, and Beca didn't really feel like searching through things just to try to find a picture of her in a weird, stalker-y way.

She saw a notification at the top of the screen - a text - and she clicked it quickly without fully thinking about it, so when it wasn't the thread with Chloe, she had to re-focus her attention.

Shortstack- just saw your gf on tv, Fat Amy had written. She looks hotttttt

Beca rolled her eyes and started to respond with a quick fuck off, but then she saw the link from Christmas - the one that she had completely forgotten about.

She clicked it before she could re-read the title.

The video started with some narration from some drama channel, talking about how they had gotten together, how they met, showing separate pictures of them.

Then an acoustic song started to play, and it was vaguely familiar…

Beca flinched as the pictures from Intersection popped up on the screen, her looking so pissed off as she pulled Chloe across the drive.

And then the editor had drawn in a text bubble next to Beca that said, "Get closer. I dare you," which made her smile.

It wasn't exactly what she was thinking in that moment, but it was close enough.

Something popped up that she didn't recognize, and it took her a moment to realize she was looking at the amuse-bouche from dinner, from the picture Chloe took. On her instagram story, looked like.

In the corner, Chloe had added a caption that read, "dinner was a delicious, but my date was the real snack 😍😈"

And again, it took Beca a second to process what she was looking at. She paused the video as she read the caption again.

Heart eyes meant, like, love?

And Devil meant horny, right?

She hit play again, and as the song started up again, Beca realized that it was a guitar cover of Party in the USA.

Which… yeah.

At this point, that's a given.

But wait- how did anyone else know about that?!

Before Beca could think about it much longer, the Residual sidewalk photos started scrolling across the screen. On the one where Chloe was laughing, the editor had added a text bubble that said, "You look much happier this time!"

On the next photo - one where she was biting her lip, probably because Chloe had just teased her or something, she fully didn't remember - her text bubble said, "That's because I'm looking at you."

And then there was something new.

It was a story of the lip-bite photo - from Chloe's instagram again - and the caption said, " but also right?"

And that one was completely lost on her.

And before she had time to start googling or searching twitter for emoji meanings, she got a new notification.

Is it juicy goss? Chloe had finally responded.

Beca laughed and shook her head.

jesse wants to make me a popstar, she typed out. or at least a solo artist

And then she sent it.

She was going to tell Chloe eventually, and maybe this would be a thing that took her out of her head for a minute. It would give Beca a chance to get vulnerable too, because the only person she'd told was Amy.

And she was helpful, for sure.

For all of ten minutes.

And then she was started dictating rider requirements for their gigs - and ridiculous ones at that.

Like any venue was going to go find fresh shrimp.

The buzzing of her ringing phone cut off the memory, and Beca stared incredulously as Chloe's facetime call took over her screen.

She pressed her hair flat, rubbed the pad of her middle fingers under her eyes and blinked a couple times. Then she realized she had made her office into a cave again, and she hit the desk lamp before she accepted the call.

"Uh, hey," she stuttered as the call connected, and then the picture picked up, and she forgot that she was speaking at all.

Chloe had obviously been to the salon, because her hair was lighter again, and longer - extensions, maybe? It was blown out and brushed over her shoulders, dramatic and classic all at the same time, and her dress- it was black and so low-cut and-

"That's the plan!?" Chloe whisper-shouted. "That's the big, secret, awesome plan? You're going to be all hot and sexy and brooding with the leather jackets and that sultry-"

Beca chuckled breathlessly as Chloe cut herself off quickly, standing all the way up and looking over her phone.

"Zac! Hi!" she smiled charmingly. "Yes, I'll be right in. Meet me at the bar?"

Beca could hear someone talking in the background, and she took a second to just look at Chloe some more.

They'd sent selfies and everything over the last couple weeks, but she hadn't really seen Chloe for a while. Or heard her voice - except when she watched the karaoke video or one of her movies, but that was different.

She was right there.

Beca was happy that she had a second to process everything, because otherwise she'd just be a fumbling mess.

Chloe looked fucking fantastic.

Her eye makeup was darker than normal, which made her blues that much more striking, especially with the neutral lipstick.

She looked like herself, only prettier.

Very, very pretty, Beca thought to herself. Like, it's rude. She's so hot that it's making me mad.

"Okay," Chloe said quickly, turning her brilliant eyes back on the screen. "I need to know every detail right now. And also I probably shouldn't say anything specific, so when I barely say anything back, just know I'm absolutely freaking out. And I only have… Jess?"

Beca exhaled out a laugh as she heard more mumblings.

"Two minutes," Chloe said. "But take twenty. Please. I'm dying here without you. Hi."

"Hey superstar," Beca teased. "It's lame? Are you okay?"

"Not important!" the actress whined impatiently. "None of that matters! Tell me everything there is to know about yo- about Kesha."

Beca laughed loudly, letting her head tilt slightly off to the side.

"Kesha?"

"It was the first artist I could think of!"

Beca shook her head.

"Well, bad example, but I'll explain that later," she giggled. "Kesha will probably have an album come out over the summer. Maybe a small tour in the fall, but I doubt it'll be anything more than a couple weeks. The idea is that I would- I mean, Kesha could say that she wanted to do a career change and found somewhere else to do it. She could keep writing and maybe even help on a few things - uncredited, probably. And she thinks she'll like this, even if it's scary. Different scary, but it'll be fine."

"Becaaaa," Chloe gushed. "Kesha will be so good at that."

Beca laughed as she bit her lip.

"You really think so?" Beca asked self-consciously.

"I know so," she went on. "Her voice is hot."

Beca sucked in a deep breath as she felt her cheeks heat up.

"It's one of the reasons I liked that song so much," Chloe said through the phone, and she lowered it for a second, looking over it at something as she added, "You know. That one with 3OH!3."

"Wait, I'm confused," Beca cut in. "I thought Kesha was-"

"Yes," Chloe said quickly. "Sorry. Bad joke. I meant, like, 3 o's. Nevermind."

Beca opened her mouth to respond.

3 ohs?

Like "ooo"?

"You're lucky you're pretty, because that made no sense," she said flippantly.

"Good," Chloe replied, but she was clearly distracted again. In the absence of their conversation, Beca heard a spirited "CB!" from off screen, and she knew their time was up.

"Seriously, you look amazing," Beca said, hoping that her breathless tone was disguised somewhat by the phones. Chloe stopped talking to who Beca assumed was Jessica, and she resumed her attention on the screen. "Do you need to go?"

"I do," Chloe sighed, but her eyes were twinkling in that way that Beca had only ever seen from a gleeful Chloe. "You look good too."

Beca rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, not like you," she teased. "Will- uh, will we see each other, before Sundance? There's maybe something else that I wanted to-"

Somebody shouted to Chloe, and Beca saw her look offscreen.

"I'll text you in a minute?" Chloe said hurriedly. "I'm sorry, I just need to-"

"It's cool," Beca swallowed. "Go. We'll talk."

"You sure?" Chloe asked seriously, but then Beca heard Jessica speak up again.

"CB!" Beca could just make out from somewhere off to the left. "We need to go to the slow-mo now, or we're going to miss it!"

"Yeah, of course," Beca said to Chloe on camera.

"We are not done talking about this," the actress grinned. "This is amazing. I'm so excited for you. We're excited, right?"

"We are," Beca agreed with a small smile in return.

"Cool," Chloe confirmed. "Awes. Okay, I'll text you soon. Love you."

"You- what?"

The screen showed the end-of-call graphic, then went back to the texts. Her office was quiet, save for the gentle whirring of her laptop and her frantically hammering heart.

She slammed her laptop shut, and after a moment, the whirring stopped.

Heart, though.

Heart was still going.

And with that stuttering staccato struggling against her too-small rib cage, Beca made a few silent prayers to herself.

The first, that she'd be a good musician alone.

The second, that she'd speak up before she ever let Chloe go to one of these events alone again, if only for her own sanity. As fake dating or as friends - whatever. Didn't matter. She wasn't letting Chloe go alone, if she could help it.

And the third- that one was maybe the most important of the three.

Because she prayed that she heard that right.

---

January 18th

"So that's what I did on Thursday," Chloe was saying quickly, and Beca just nodded next to her. "Did I tell you about the end of filming?"

"You did," Beca heard herself reply.

Their party moved forward in line as Jessica stepped up to the hotel desk.

"And did you like it?" Chloe shot back.

"Like what?" Beca asked, turning slightly to look at Chloe fully.

She was wearing sweats and a tight, long-sleeve thermal, her Snuggie thrown over her arm.

Hair in a bun.

Bright yellow heart sunglasses on.

And Beca had never seen someone more beautiful.

Maybe it was the Park City background, with its bright white snow-capped mountains and idyllic streets - even the festival set-up was more relaxed than any of the events that she'd seen (or been to) in L.A.

Or maybe it was just Chloe.

"Did you like it, when I told you about Coriolis?" the actress teased.

"Probably not," Beca deadpanned, tugging at the sleeves of her thermal as the door blew open again. "Movies are lame."

Beca heard a scoff behind them, and she turned to see Brad eyeing her skeptically.

"That feels like a fake opinion," he said.

"Doesn't it?" Tish jumped in. "Like, who doesn't like movies?"

"Beca doesn't," Chloe insisted playfully, and Beca rolled her eyes and was about to speak up for herself, but Tish cut her off.

"Either way, this is not the time nor the place to have that opinion," she said in a mocking, hushed tone. "Someone might make an example out of you."

"What, like experimental street art?" Beca mocked her. "Put me in a documentary?"

"Or a penitentiary," came a way-too-close voice, and Beca jumped as she turned to see Chloe's agent - a shy Korean woman named Lilly - was standing, like, right behind her.

"I did a turn at county for less," she said softly, and Beca felt her eyes widen.

"Okay!" Jessica said, stealing attention as she stepped back up to the group. "Keys for everyone, but there was a slight hiccup. We only have five rooms. Four with queen beds, and one with a king. The company made the reservation, and…"

Beca looked around as everyone else did too, quickly doing the math.

Room one, Lilly.

Room two, Brad.

Room three, Tish.

Room four, Beca?

And that left Jessica and Chloe.

Oh.

Wait.

So-

"We can figure it out upstairs," Jessica said quickly, quietly, as another large group of other L.A. types stepped into the lobby.

They couldn't all fit in one elevator with their luggage, so Jessica jumped in with Beca and Chloe as they began their ascent.

"I'll share with you, Chloe," Jessica said as soon as the doors shut.

Okay, so I can count.

Someone was going to have to share a king.

…because the booker didn't get the memo about the whole "fake" part of "fake-dating"?

"Jess, I love you hun, but there's no way I can sleep with that water-feature noise machine you use," Chloe sighed. "And besides, remember the VMAs last year? When you punched me-"

"I've gotten way better about that!" Jessica tried to say.

"I can't get photographed with a puffy eye again," Chloe said pointedly, and Jessica stopped talking.

"Brad and Tish need the space. I could go with Lilly, but…"

The elevator lapsed into silence as each of them pictured Chloe sharing a room with Lilly.

Beca had just met her, but maybe she wasn't-

Yeah no, she thought quickly. I'd rather deal with it than make Chloe deal with that.

"They don't have any more rooms?" Beca heard Chloe ask, and she watched Jessica shake her head.

She watched Chloe bite her lip.

And then Chloe looked up at her.

Their eyes met just as the elevator signaled their arrival on the floor, and as Jessica navigated herself and her luggage out into the floor's elevator bay, Beca tried to communicate to Chloe telepathically.

Get me away from these people, and we'll talk about it, she shouted with her brain. It's been five hours of non-stop small talk and I want to die.

Chloe nodded.

"Beca and I will put our stuff in there for now, and we'll figure something out," she said aloud. Jessica looked worried, but Beca heard Chloe laugh easily.

"I'll talk to Gail at dinner," she said simply. "I'm sure it's not a big deal."

---

"I don't think I've ever heard someone say, 'deal with it' so dismissively in my life," Beca lamented as she fell onto the bed.

She knew that Gail didn't prioritize Chloe in the way that she should, but that was downright offensive.

She barely showed up for their team dinner at all - really, she just stopped by on her way over to another table further into the restaurant.

She sat down, ordered them a round of tequila shots that definitely wasn't needed, told Chloe that there was nothing she could do (aka "deal with it."), and then took off again.

"I can get a room down the street, at the other place that I looked up," Chloe said offhandedly.

Beca barked out a laugh as she let her head loll to the side to look at Chloe.

They had changed into slightly fancier outfits for dinner - nothing like they would be wearing for the next couple days, but not sweatpants. Beca was wearing black jeans and a plaid charcoal blazer - the intent being it's fucking cold outside - but Chloe didn't seem to get the memo earlier, because the actress was wearing a black leather jacket with a short black dress underneath.

Beca unbuttoned her blazer as she sprawled out.

"Chloe," she said. "We are two small people, we can share a bed. We'll basically have an ocean between us. I can build a pillow wall."

It really was a big bed for the two of them. And worst come to worst - like maybe Chloe's a kicker - she could sleep on one of the decent-sized chairs in front of the large window wall across from the bed.

Hell, the room was big enough that she could just sleep on the floor between the chairs and the bed.

She could pretty much fall asleep anywhere tonight, with the way she felt. Even next to Chloe with all her confused feelings. The weight of the day hit her all at once - the travel, the constant people around, the small talk, the loud spaces.

It'd been so good to see Chloe again, to hug her and hear her laugh and enjoy her company, but now Beca was absolutely exhausted.

And it felt like they'd barely even been able to talk to each other all day without someone else butting in.

They were alone now, for the first time in a long time.

They could maybe have a real conversation now - like about the A Capella gig, or about how Chloe had said "love you" last time they talked.

But Beca realized dejectedly that that probably wouldn't happen tonight.

Because being exhausted wasn't even her main problem; she was definitely still drunk, too.

Apparently, Chloe's crew liked to party even more than the actress herself. They'd started with mixed drinks, and then Gail had ordered shots, and by the end, they were all getting "one more round for the walk back."

Beca watched as Chloe idled at the large dresser to the left of the bed, across from the main door and closer to the doors to the wraparound porch.

Right next to where the hotel staff had left the alcohol-laden welcome basket.

Maybe we're not quite done yet.

"Besides, you can't be seen coming out of a hotel down the street," Beca went on blearily as she wrestled herself out of her jacket. "And what, Brad or Tish is going to drag all that stuff up the hill? You need to be with your team. And it's not like I can stay somewhere else. It'd be crazy to assume that we would be in the same place and not staying in the same room, like people aren't gonna believe that we aren't fucking. I guess Lilly could stay somewhere else, but honestly she scares the crap outta me…"

Beca looked over to see Chloe nodding, lost in thought as she picked through the basket.

"Chloe," she huffed. "Are you even listening?"

"Hm?" Chloe replied as she glanced over her shoulder. She seemed to find something she liked, because on the side of her body that Beca couldn't see from her position on the bed, Chloe twisted her hands, and Beca heard the seal of a bottle break.

"Yeah, of course," the actress recovered quickly. "We're gonna sleep in the same bed because we're fucking."

"Uh- well, no," Beca stammered.

Chloe didn't curse like that.

Beca didn't know if she had ever heard a curse word fall so casually from her lips.

Has she had too much to drink?

Does Drunk Chloe curse?

"I said that no one would assume that we aren't."

"You know that the opposite is true, right?" Chloe said, ignoring what Beca had clarified. Beca could hear that she was pouring one of the tiny alcohol bottles into one of the hotel's glasses. She heard the release of a can as Chloe opened that too, adding it to the glass. "People think that we're really going at it."

Beca blushed and rolled away, into a seated position on the bed, her back to Chloe across the room.

"Right," she tried to laugh it off as she stood. "You said people, like, write that stuff, yeah?"

She moved towards the coat closet so she had something to do, stepping up and sliding the door open so she could hang up her blazer. She was just in a thermal now, but she thought about changing completely into her pajamas already.

She checked the time.

It was past 11, and with the time difference, that only made it like 10:30.

But on any other Wednesday, she'd be in bed by now. Maybe not asleep yet, but still. She was a creature of habit.

She kicked her Docs in the direction of the door and pulled the hem of her shirt out from where it was tucked into her jeans.

And then she decided fuck it and moved to where her bag was stacked on one of the plum velvet chairs.

She hadn't paid attention to Chloe's movements, so when Beca turned to get her comfy clothes out of her bag, she was a little startled to see that Chloe was staring at her from the foot of the bed. She had one leg crossed over the other, drink cradled in an elegant hand.

And whatever had been distracting her looked far from her mind now, as she looked like she was giving Beca every ounce of her attention, crystal blue eyes reflecting the dark night from the windows across from her.

Tracking her movement, with her bottom lip tucked behind her teeth.

"I'm gonna- uh- change," Beca said, brows drawn together slightly as she turned away from Chloe's intense appraisal.

"Sure," Chloe said, but she didn't say anything else as Beca sifted through her suitcase.

"You know, I read one the other day-"

"So you do read them," Beca said playfully, hoping to get a laugh or a smile.

She glanced over her shoulder to see that she got the smile, but not the laugh.

"I told you before that I do," Chloe said, and then she paused for a moment.

"Does that make you uncomfortable?"

"Uh, no, I guess not," Beca said honestly. "If it doesn't make you uncomfortable."

Beca's pajama search slowed considerably as she thought about what Chloe had just asked.

Of all the conversations that she thought that she and Chloe might have now that they were finally alone, this was not it.

She thought maybe they'd talk about the movie that they were going to see, or about the specifics of the whole solo gig.

Or maybe, if she had any confidence at all, her feelings.

About this ending.

About their friendship.

About something more between them, maybe.

But this? Talking about how Chloe read fiction about them having sex? That wasn't even on her radar.

Although maybe it should've been, with the whole "sharing a bed" thing?

Was she being dense?

Wait, is Chloe thinking about that?

"You know, I can sleep on the floor," Beca offered as she pulled out some sleep shorts and a tank top.

Maybe she should be thinking about that. She'd be able to fall asleep, right? With Chloe right there?

Beca turned to see Chloe use her drink to gesture casually.

"It's like you said, we probably won't even notice," she said with a crafted smile. "Go get comfy. I'll work on the pillow wall."

Beca exhaled a little laugh as she grabbed her toiletries too and made her way to the bathroom. She closed the door and placed her hands on the counter, staring up at herself in the mirror.

But she couldn't focus.

It was her litmus test after all - looking in the mirror - and the way her eyes listed aimlessly away from her own reflection told her that, yes, she was still buzzed. Not bad - not anything that couldn't be solved by a couple glasses of water.

She poured herself her first glass and changed, chugging the water and filling it up again. She washed her face and brushed her teeth slowly - forcing quiet in her mind - before she went back into the other room.

She stepped in cautiously, because she really wasn't sure what she'd find there.

The room was still when Beca broke the door's breadth, and Beca could see that the end of the bed was empty. Sure enough, Beca stepped fully into the room to see that Chloe had moved up the bed on the far side, up towards the headboard, and Beca nearly gasped out loud.

Chloe had turned off the main light in favor of the dimmer, softer light from the lamps on the bedside tables. She'd also taken off her jacket and boots, and that spaghetti-strap slip of a dress was already short, but with the way Chloe had her legs tucked up, reclined back…

Showing a lot of thigh.

And if Beca looked for one more second, in the shadow of the curve, she could probably make out the swell of her cheek, pulled taut by the curl of her leg.

She looked away before she could be sure and then tripped over nothing. But luckily Chloe was focused on her phone and not on Beca's misstep.

Beca forced her gaze somewhere else, and it was then that she noticed that Chloe had relocated a couple pillows to the center of the bed, which made her laugh.

Chloe looked up then, and Beca watched as Chloe clicked off her phone and set it down on the nightstand.

"What a day, huh?" she asked rhetorically as she picked up her glass and took a sip. "Sorry I couldn't keep you away from the crew."

"No, they're fine," Beca said quickly as she stuffed her clothes back into her bag. "They're just, like, a lot."

"No kidding," Chloe agreed. "But it's easier for me when you're around."

"Really? Why's that?"

"You don't put up with it," Chloe said pensively, and Beca glanced up at her as she went to sit on her side of the bed.

Chloe still had her make-up and hair done, smudged and disheveled by the late hour, or by a wanton hand…

Beca looked away quickly.

"I feel like I always have to listen and respond," Chloe finished saying. "You're better about that stuff."

"What, being rude?" Beca quipped sarcastically with a quick glance, but Chloe just shook her head.

"No- like, setting boundaries," she said seriously.

"Yeah, well, that's because I really don't have much at stake with those guys. I don't, like, need anything from them. I already got you out of it, right? Like, as a friend, I mean," Beca corrected in the same breath, but then she sighed. "I don't know, maybe it'll be different when I have my own stuff going on."

"I don't think so," Chloe said as she turned to look at her. "You mean with A Capella, right? When does that start?"

Beca grimaced as she laid back against the pillows, closing her eyes against the warm, low light.

She technically hadn't accepted anything yet.

Jesse told her to take some time to think about it, and they'd exchanged a few emails about Amy and her potential position, but she hadn't officially said yes.

Maybe it was the writing stuff, but she didn't feel ready to make the jump.

And then work had started up again, and she was too busy to think about anything (except when she was supposed to be writing, but then… whatever). She knew that the time was running out to put it off any longer. She was going to say yes, she just… she still didn't know if she could actually convincingly do it all.

She turned to explain some measure of that to Chloe - her nerves, her reluctance, her current work - and when she looked, she realized that she couldn't meet her eye over the pillow wall. The pillows were stacked higher at the head of the bed, so Beca had to push herself up to look over them as she grinned, nerves temporarily allayed by her amusement.

"The wall might be overkill," she joked, and Chloe's concern cracked into a wide grin as she pulled the top pillow away so they could look at each other.

"Didn't want any late night funny business," she warned. "This is a trope, you know."

"Trope?"

"Like in shows or movies - or writing," she said pointedly, but as Beca watched her, she could see that Chloe's eyes were listing like hers were earlier. "Putting two people like us in a bed together. The night goes on, and…"

Beca must've been telegraphing her confusion, because Chloe let out a loud laugh as she shook her head.

"You really don't know, do you?"

"If it's something about movies, I probably don't know it, no," she replied.

"Yeah, that too I guess. What do you do in your free time? Just listen to music?" Chloe asked incredulously as she turned to reach for her phone. She almost fell off the bed, and Beca made a move to reach out and catch her, but Chloe righted herself before Beca could make contact.

Chloe chuckled as she leaned up and grabbed her phone. She clicked it on and started scrolling through it, but Beca couldn't see what she was doing from her vantage point on the other side of the wall, only the way that the screen lit up her face.

"For the most part, yeah," she said. "Lurk on social media sites. I work out sometimes. Walk. Write."

Write about you.

Write about how you changed my life.

Beca reached for her water and drank a large gulp.

Is now the time to say something?

I mean, I'm still not sober, and I know Chloe isn't either, she thought. But I don't think either of us is gone enough to not remember.

She took a deep breath.

"Lately I've been-"

"Here," Chloe said, handing her phone over the wall. Beca let the rest of her sentence dissipate as she blew out the rest of her breath. "This is what I mean."

There was text on the screen, and the brightness was cranked up, so Beca blinked against it as it came into focus.

- Chloe awoke the next morning with an extra leg tucked between her own, and a hand gently cupping her breast over her t-shirt.

"Beca," she whispered. "Your hand!" -

"Wha- woah!" Beca gasped as she stopped reading. She heard Chloe giggle airily beside her.

"Isn't that, like, non-consensual?"

"Eh," Chloe wavered as she took the phone back from Beca. "It's a grey area when they both like each other, and we're dating in this one. Honestly, that's one of the tamer ones. Still pretty good though."

And finally, something clicked, and Beca felt some knowledge slip into place at the base of her skull- which must be thick as hell if it took her this long to figure it out.

The realization sent dark, molten heat down her back and around into her core.

For whatever reason - romantic or sexy or just plain horny - Drunk Chloe wanted to read these.

With her.

She wanted to read about fictionalized versions of themselves doing it.

Read them together.

Beca knew she'd be lying to herself if she said that she didn't want to read them too - maybe not when they were literally sharing a bed with fucking mood lighting, because that could get… complicated.

But if they didn't read them now, when would they?

Because like it or not, this thing between them was supposed to end in a few days. And sure, they were still going to be friends, and Chloe would probably still invite her over and talk to her, but it wouldn't be like they are now.

Suspended right on the edge of something.

And Beca wasn't going to, like, make a move on her.

But god, with that dress and those-

No, she cut off that thought. I am not going to let myself ruin this. I want it real.

I'll make it real.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, when Chloe was sober, she would tell her. About the writing and the feelings and the fact that she wanted more out of all of this. She ran through the possible best and worst scenarios - Chloe says "I don't want to ruin what we have" or Chloe says "I like you too" were really the only two that she put any emphasis on - but she was hopeful for which one it would be.

But she couldn't do anything like that tonight. She didn't want to have any reason to doubt it. Or any reason to write it off as "some drunken mistake."

She wanted real.

But that doesn't mean that we can't do anything tonight…

"All right, Beale, you win," she sighed with faux-exasperation. "Give me your worst."

"What?"

"I want your spiciest story in there," Beca teased, halfway thinking that Chloe wouldn't take the bait.

And she did look a little shocked, mouth hanging open as she sat up straighter on her side of the pillow wall.

"Are you being serious?" she asked. "The spiciest?"

"Well, okay, hold on," Beca laughed as she backtracked. "Just how- like how explicit are we talking here?"

Chloe's eyebrows shot towards her hairline as she looked back down at her phone.

"I mean, it gets pretty kinky up in here," she said slowly, but she was quickly gaining momentum. "Like this one. Chloe comes home from a rough interview and is looking to be dominated. It's a good one. You can see here, the tags - that's where they tell you what's in there - there's vibrators, and squirting, and spanking."

Beca blushed fiercely.

"I- hah. I did say 'spiciest,' didn't I?" she laughed breathlessly.

She still couldn't quite believe that people had written about her and Chloe, and her in Chloe-

But then she took one look at the lip-biting, mussed hair, heavy-lidded Chloe Beale.

Okay I get it.

"It's just- can I have one of those?" she asked, gesturing to the basket of liquor, and Chloe laughed. "I don't think I'm going to get through this without it."

Chloe nodded, and Beca jumped up to start mixing her drink.

"You could probably make it a drinking game," Chloe giggled, and Beca looked over her shoulder to see that the actress was scrolling through her phone again.

"Oh yeah?" Beca asked. "What would be the rules? Drink any time someone comes?"

"I mean, in some of these, absolutely," Chloe agreed offhandedly. "But mostly it's about the build-up. Like- okay, here's another one."

Beca took a deep breath as Chloe began to read.

"Chloe surprises Beca at the recording studio, but there's an artist in the booth. Aka Beca has to stay quiet while Chloe crawls under the desk and edges her with her mouth and fingers until-"

"Jesus," Beca whispered as she fumbled her glass on the dresser.

It landed with a thunk, and thankfully it was still empty, but the disruption made Chloe stop reading.

"Becs, these are just the descriptions, they're not even the actual fics," she teased, and Beca kept her eyes firmly forward as she righted her glass and mixed her drink.

"I'm new to this, okay!" she sighed, and then she made her way back over. She sat on the edge of the bed and rolled her shoulders back, trying and failing to keep from glancing over at Chloe. "Okay, okay, I'm ready- just, are we laughing at them? Or, I dunno, are there tamer ones?"

"I thought you wanted a spicy fic," Chloe said coyly, but Beca watched as she scrolled back over, clicking through to something else.

"Oh, this one's good," she grinned as she navigated into something. "Ready?"

Beca nodded as she took a long drink of her vodka then settled against the pillows, and Chloe adopted her reading voice as she began.

- Chloe twirled the microphone around her in hand, and the crowd was screaming for her. Beca didn't even know she signed up for karaoke before her, and then-

Ooh that dress, so scandalous.

You know another woman can't handle it.

So you shakin' that thang like who's the ish

with a look in your eyes, so devilish-

"They did not write you singing The Thong Song!" Beca shrieked as she finally recognized what Chloe had been singing.

"They did," Chloe giggled. "They put every lyric in here too. I'm a regular Mr. Schue."

Beca sighed as she dropped her head into her hands.

"First off, I don't understand that reference," she said desperately as she rubbed her eyes. "And second, how do they even know about that joke?"

"I think it was from one of those interviews where I talked about the music player," Chloe went on. "I'm almost positive I brought it up, because me and Jessica rocked out to Sisqo for, like, the entire ride to the airport."

Beca let her laugh come freely then, picturing Jessica driving Chloe while they bumped 90's rap in what was probably a rental sedan.

The two whitest women Beca had ever met.

And Chloe probably knew every word - just like in the fic.

Chloe was laughing too, and as Beca looked over at her sprawling form, she saw that Chloe had her head settled against the wall of pillows at the most uncomfortable-looking angle, tongue between her teeth as she smiled wildly around it.

"Okay, why don't you pull one up for me, and I'll read it as you get changed and get some water," Beca offered. "Might be easier for me to ease into it."

"What, wanna see me naked again?" Chloe shot back quickly, and Beca rolled her eyes.

"No," she asserted. "Or, at least, well, okay-"

Chloe laughed loudly, and Beca stuttered as she felt her cheeks warm up.

"Just, go change in the bathroom, drunkie," she got out finally, and Chloe rag-dolled herself off the bed and into a standing position.

But then she just stood there, scrolling through her phone.

"Where's the frickin' - there," she said triumphantly, leaning precariously across the bed to hand the phone to Beca.

Her dress gaped at the front, and Beca pointedly didn't look.

"That's one of my bookmarks," Chloe explained quickly, but then she stopped, and Beca glanced up to see that she was sporting a light blush and covering her mouth.

"I didn't say that."

"You have bookmarks," Beca repeated incredulously.

"I never said that," Chloe remarked quickly, turning heel and nearly skipping across the room to her suitcase. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Chloe- what's you middle name?" Beca asked suddenly.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," Chloe said demurely, but the sentiment was undercut by the way she flung her Snuggie out and around herself, like a cape.

"Fine," Beca laughed. "Mine's Anne."

"Oh my gosh, I have an A one too!" Chloe squealed, and Beca rolled her eyes. "Amelia."

"Chloe Amelia Beale," Beca said seriously. "I can not believe that you not only read porn about yourself, but you have them saved to revisit!"

"I never said that!" she shouted as she made a hasty retreat to the bathroom. "That's would be ludicrous! Absurd!"

"'Absurd', my ass," Beca sighed as she heard the door close.

She picked up the phone in front of her and saw that it had locked itself.

And then she saw that they were her background - another one from the Residual walk, it was another one that Beca hadn't seen before.

On Christmas, Chloe had posted the one where she was holding the door for her, and before, there was the one where she was biting her lip and the one where Chloe was laughing.

There was another one from that set, where Beca had jumped ahead and opened the car door.

But this one…

It must've been the moment right after Beca had bitten her lip and right before she stepped forward to open the door. Some instantaneously quick moment between, where Chloe had noticed that she was biting her lip and looked down at her mouth.

It was obvious that's where she was looking. Her eyes had narrowed just a bit, and her mouth had fallen open slightly.

Beca looked at herself in the picture - that Beca from all those months ago, optimistic about friendship and still totally crushing - and she saw a shadow of the smirk on her features, just a bit of taunting in her eyes.

She hadn't really thought this about herself before, but she looked kinda sexy.

And Chloe looked her typical, irrationally sexy self.

And I thought we were supposed to be friends?!

Not tonight, BM, she thought. One more day.

So she tried to focus on something else.

"Chloe! Your phone's locked!" she yelled out, and she immediately knew then that any un-drunken-ing work done by the water had been relatively undone by the reintroduction of vodka.

Although she wouldn't put it past her body to just be in that giddy mood again, like their first non-date.

Maybe the exhaustion had finally rolled over into slap-happy.

"My pin's the same as yours!" Chloe called back from the bathroom.

"Your password is my birthday?" Beca shouted. "Beale. C'mon."

"I won't explain myself to you!"

Beca heard the faucet turn on as she laughed. She input the code to unlock the phone, and she saw that the fiction was already pulled up and scrolled down a little.

-"I'm on my way back right now," she typed out to Beca. "Are you going to be ready for me?"

"Ready?" Beca sent back quickly. "For what?"

"For everything I'm going to do to you, baby," she typed to her girlfriend.

She'd been thinking about it the entire event. Beca, spread on the bed, waiting for her when she came back. It'd make the whole damn day worth it.

"Are you sure you'll be up for that?" Beca texted her back, and Chloe bit her lip as she contemplated her response.

"Beca, baby, if I was there right now, I'd already have my mouth on you," she typed out. "You'd be naked, and I'd still be wearing my designer dress. I would hold your legs open as you begged, and I'd lick up the length of your pussy while you screamed out my name."

She sent the message, then added another one that said, "So you better be ready."

The response came quickly.

"I can be ready," Beca sent, and Chloe laughed. She knew exactly what Beca sounded like when she said something like that. Breathless and needy and salivating.

Another message chimed on her phone, and she looked down.

"What else would you do to me?"

Chloe felt her pussy clench.

She loved dirty talking with Beca.

"After I'd given you… hm… maybe two orgasms like that, I'd get the strap-on out of the closet and-"

"What'd you think?" Chloe asked as she walked back out of the bathroom.

Beca had to blink a couple times to break her concentration on the screen, eyes re-adjusting slowly to the dim light around her.

She'd never read something like that.

It felt like her skin was on fire, and she wasn't sure if it was in a good way or not. It felt like she was embarrassed - especially by fake her's neediness, which was accurate, but not to that extent. She could hold her own.

The shame, though- it wasn't in a run-away-and-hide kind. She felt emboldened by the heat in her cheeks, and the sensitive prickles where her tight tank met her skin.

The way her throat was dry.

The way her abs were flexed.

It was sexy, no way around it. She understood immediately why Chloe was into something like this, because when you didn't have to, like, understand characters or get into the boring parts like jobs or drama, it could just be sexy. People thought they were sexy, and that was fine.

She wondered just how into it Chloe got.

Some muted part of her mind also acknowledged that tomorrow's conversation about feelings and stuff was probably going to go well, if Chloe was reading things like this.

So that was a bonus.

"Yeah, that was pretty- uh- good," Beca swallowed as she tried to say what she was thinking.

She reached for her drink and took a large swig.

Yeah, she thought sarcastically. Because that'll help.

"If I was more of a reader, I would totally, uh-" she broke off awkwardly. "Yeah. I get it."

"You do?" Chloe asked as she passed the bed. Fresh-faced and hair up, Chloe had her Snuggie wrapped around her, but Beca knew the room wasn't that cold, and sure enough, Chloe took off the ridiculous wrap after a moment.

Which left her in- woah.

In a form-fitting nightie, silk, brilliantly red.

Even shorter than the dress.

Tight enough that Beca could see her-

"Yeah," she coughed as she tried to respond to Chloe's question. "Yeah, they're… definitely something. Crazy that there's, like, more than one."

"Writers get inspired. But there's really not that many out there of us. Lots with other people though," Chloe giggled as she tossed her Snuggie towards her suitcase. Instead of crawling back up to the head of the bed - which, fucking christ, that's quite a mental image - Chloe sat facing her, with her legs tucked under herself, about halfway down. She held her hand out for the phone again.

And with the fucking nightie-

"Let me pick one," Beca said quickly to distract herself. Chloe held her hand up in surrender, and Beca stared down at the phone.

She clicked back, and she could see that she was definitely in some kind of sub-folder on whatever website this was. She read the titles quickly, but those didn't really tell her anything, so she started scanning the descriptions.

And when she saw one that had Fifty Shades in there, she clicked it and carelessly tossed the phone back over the pillow wall.

Because she might've gone back and re-watched the movie.

Or, some parts of it.

Some parts that made it all the more difficult to casually look at the Chloe and cats NYE photo that was now her phone's background.

Some parts that she really hoped that the writers of the internet would write with her as the dude.

So she'd get to read her and Chloe, doing those kinds of things.

Now that she was properly acknowledging thoughts like that, Beca knew for sure that the alcohol was starting to hit. In a way, she was starting to feel pretty confident about the whole situation.

Because who else could say that they turned Chloe Beale on?

Even if it was just a fictionalized version of herself.

A nervous, subordinate type of fictionalized version of herself.

Which isn't even accurate, she thought ruefully. Hopefully this one's better.

"Ooh, good choice," Chloe cooed, and Beca sat up a little straight, attempting to keep her eyes locked on Chloe in spite of her worsening blush. "Very kinky."

"Good then," she shot back, and Chloe leaned forward.

Beca kept her gaze on Chloe's eyes, even as the nightie shifted.

Fuck, she thought sullenly. Maybe I won't be able sleep next to her.

"Want me to skip ahead to the good part?" Chloe asked, and Beca gave an affirmative response before she reached back for her drink.

And Chloe started to read.

-Chloe pulls the thin fabric of the dress away, exposing Beca's pale, pert breast.

"Strip, then bed," she demands as she palms it roughly. "Now."

Beca doesn't hesitate, though Chloe notes that she does whimper at the loss of the hand against her breast. Beca quickly sheds the dress and her panties, leaving only her tall red-bottom fuck-me heels on as she sits down on the edge of the bed. Chloe watches as the trembling producer leans back so her hands can aid her movement up towards the headboard.

Chloe towers over her, stark-naked, with the supple handle of the flogger resting carefully in her palm.

She loves looking at Beca like this - trembling and waiting for her.

Ready.

Trusting.

Probably dripping with need.

"You've been a good girl," Chloe hums, something of a smirk playing on her features. "What kind of reward do you think you deserve?"

"I would- I- I mean, if you would let me, I should like to-"

"Oh come on," Beca bemoaned loudly as she cut Chloe off, leaning forward and only spilling a few drops of her last bit of vodka.

She saw Chloe appraising her, brows raised high over the edge of her phone, and she looked like she was laughing.

"Are they all like this?!" Beca choked out.

"Like what?" Chloe replied, but Beca knew from her faux-innocent tone that she knew exactly what Beca was taking offense to.

"They're all writing me like I'm a whiny bottom!" she pouted, and Chloe laughed.

And okay, maybe that did sound a little whiny.

But that was mostly the alcohol probably!

"If the strap fits…" Chloe hedged, and Beca heard herself scoff in return.

"They didn't even let me wear it, so how could it- oh," she caught on quickly.

Because Chloe meant if it fit elsewhere.

"Whatever," Beca grumbled. "I wouldn't even be like that."

"Uh huh," Chloe agreed- but something in her tone…

"What?" Beca asked over the mound of pillows between them.

"I didn't say anything," Chloe said simply, but again, that tone-

"You don't believe me," Beca whispered, aghast. "I'll have you know I'm a verse!"

Chloe narrowed her eyes and made a non-committal noise before returning her attention on her phone.

"I'll believe it when I see it," she said offhandedly.

"Get up then."

Chloe looked back up quickly, eyes widening as she tracked Beca's movement in the glow of the lamplight.

Beca, who was apparently standing out of her own volition, swinging her bourbon carelessly as she circled around the bed.

I'll prove it to her.

"I don't have all night, Beale," she half-demanded, half-asked as she stepped up to the actress's side of the bed. "You scared?"

"Oh my gosh," Chloe whispered instead of responding to the threat. She turned, scooting towards the edge of the bed and letting her legs fall over as she planted her feet on the ground.

Even in the low light, Beca saw that that fucking nightie had been pulled against the comforter, rising to an almost indecent height.

She didn't think about it as she swung one leg and then the other onto either side of Chloe's hips.

In fact, she didn't think about anything as she let her hips sink down, into the cradle of Chloe's lap, letting herself just barely make more skin-to-skin contact as the back of her thighs met the top of Chloe's.

She could feel herself smirking at the wide, breathless expression on Chloe's face.

Felt the gasp against her skin as she thumbed Chloe's bottom lip. She pulled the lip down, staring into rapidly darkening blue eyes, and instead of leaning in, she leaned back, chugging the rest of her vodka. She slid her hand to bracket the side of Chloe's neck and jaw as she leaned around and tossed the empty glass behind Chloe onto the bed.

She came back to center, still hovering above Chloe, and she brought her other hand up to caress Chloe's other cheek.

She watched as Chloe's expression went from doe-eyed and docile to heavy-lidded, desperate eyes that were locked-in on her mouth.

She licked the vodka off her lip and leaned in slowly.

Reluctantly, she closed her eyes as she got too close, but she was glad for it the second that their lips met. One sense gone gave way to so many more sensations, and Beca breathed into the kiss as she immediately took control, pushing against Chloe's mouth as she palmed either side of her jaw, held her there as she captured her lips. She let her teeth come forward as she nipped at Chloe's bottom lip, tugging it between her own bottom lip and her upper teeth, loving the groan it brought out from of the woman beneath her as she pulled at it.

Her hips flexed forward at the sound, and Chloe inhaled sharply.

Pressing forward still, until Chloe pressed back, until Chloe's lips parted even further and her tongue licked against Beca's lips. Beca gave in for a fraction of a second, pliantly opening her mouth, and the strong muscle curled into her mouth, around her tongue like she was trying to pull Beca's tongue into her own mouth.

She tasted like sugar and tequila and warm.

Beca wasn't sure if the groan she felt vibrating against her tongue was her own or if it was Chloe's as she chased that muscle back, letting her lips fall closed for a moment before diving back in, open this time, ready.

She forced her tongue into Chloe's mouth, and that hum was definitely all Chloe's, smug and wanting all at the same time as Beca twisted herself, leaning, pressing harder into where her thumbs held Chloe's cheeks, fingers curling around the sides of her neck, just barely reaching the hairs at the base of her skull.

Too much, she thought. You're not going to be able to stop.

So as she felt Chloe rear back to come forward again, hips surging up to swell into her and press and bite and purr, Beca forced her into a closed-mouth kiss as she relaxed her grip.

Something sweeter, as she pressed their lips together.

Something borderline PG, as her thumbs traced gentle lines toward taut jaw muscles.

Something more appropriate for two drunk women who hadn't quite figured out their whole situation yet.

She became aware of Chloe's tight grip - one hand at her rib cage, frantically unsettling her tank, and the other on her hip, curling around the waistband of her sleep shorts. The hands loosened, and Beca pressed another kiss against Chloe's lips, even softer than before. Gentle and chaste.

Loving, she thought. That was a loving kiss.

Chloe pulled away fully, dropping her head to Beca's shoulder as she let out a shaky, breathless laugh. Beca let her hands fall back around Chloe's neck, thumbing the sleek material of one of the thin nightie straps.

"So I definitely believe you," Chloe muttered in a helpless tone, and Beca felt Chloe's forehead twist against her bare shoulder as she shook it.

Then she leaned up and pressed a kiss into the hollow between.

"Yeah, well, you better," Beca choked on what was supposed to be a chuckle.

She swallowed, mouth suddenly very dry.

Maybe Chloe wasn't the only one I was trying to convince here.

"I got skills," she added.

"Uh-huh," Chloe said in a high-pitched tone. "That's- yup. Can you, uhm-"

The hands on her body flattened, and Beca knew that Chloe was probably trying to hold back just as much as she was.

If she wasn't in such a compromising position - wasn't so very close to continuing her hapless show of will - she might've taken some time to wonder at it.

But she was, so she immediately began to work her way off of Chloe's lap.

"That was… you're good at that," Chloe breathed out a laugh as she brought her hands up to her face.

Beca stepped backwards until her back pressed against the glass doors of the wraparound porch, flinching slightly at the biting cold. She watched as Chloe looked away first, hands steepled in front of her broad, manic smile, holding her bottom lip between her index fingers.

Then she glanced up at her.

"Only some of them write you that good," Chloe giggled, eyes gleaming and dancing in the soft light, and Beca pressed herself more firmly into the glass, letting it cool her warm skin.

Because if she didn't…

"Shame," she quipped, and she was impressed that her own voice was gravelly and low instead of nervous, like she felt.

Well.

Nervous and turned on.

That's how she felt.

"It's pretty late," Chloe breathed after she took a deep breath. "Do you mind if we…?"

"Not at all," Beca replied, and then she attempted to clear her throat to shake off the horny undertones.

You were the one who ended the kiss, remember? she scolded herself.

You don't get to wish it had kept going!

She made her way to her side of the bed at a slow pace, carefully stepping, controlled. She heard rustling, and as she sat down, she glanced over to see that Chloe was holding out her empty glass for her.

Their fingers touched as Beca grabbed it, and Beca felt a jolt in her every nerve.

Like touching fingers was somehow more electrifying than the kiss.

Or maybe it was just the order - now that she'd had the kiss, everything was more electrifying.

She leaned back to set the glass on the nightstand, stalling as she stayed leaned away for a moment. She plugged in her phone and thumbed off the lamp as well, and she heard Chloe doing the same on the other side of her.

Chloe flicked off her lamp after a moment, and then they were in darkness.

And Beca really hadn't thought this through, had she? Because pillow wall and drunkenness be damned, Beca wanted to throw every reservation to the wind and just fling herself over onto Chloe's side of the bed, shoving a leg between her thighs and pressing up until-

"Can you do that again tomorrow?" Chloe asked quietly, and Beca inhaled sharply. "Please?"

Even quieter, almost under her breath, she added, "I don't even know how I'm going to be able to sleep tonight."

"Me neither," Beca confessed into the darkness. "But I don't want-"

"No, I don't-" Chloe started to say, then she stopped short. "It was good that you stopped us. Seriously."

Maybe it was easier to talk about it in the dark.

Beca closed her eyes tightly, then relaxed, the room spinning and heaving around her as she felt the effects of the late-night vodka.

Whyyyy did I do this?

"Okay," she said out loud. "What if we just-"

She paused to take a deep breath, and she didn't hear anything from Chloe's side of the bed.

She was so turned on now.

To the point where she'd be up for hours despite her exhaustion, staring at the ceiling and straining the boundaries of her hearing for any minute movement from the other side of the bed.

Wondering what Chloe was thinking.

Was feeling.

Could feel like.

She let her breath out and groaned as she turned, forcing the side of her face into the pillow as she blurted out the first thing she could think of.

"What if we just took care of ourselves?" she practically yelled into the pillow.

"Are you asking me or the pillow?" Chloe chuckled, but Beca could still hear the breathiness - the excitement and nerves and giddy eagerness.

She flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

"Look, I'm too drunk to fall asleep. And too… fine, I'll just say it, way too turned on," she laughed as she reasoned - to herself and to Chloe, she figured. "You're, like, right there, and I don't want to do this when we're-"

Not like this!

Don't confess like this!

When you're drunk and she's drunk and you're both so out-of-sorts!

"Instead, we could just, you know," she hedged, making small, awkward gestures on top of the comforter. "You could stay on your side of the pillow wall, and I'd stay on mine, and we could just-"

"Masturbate?" came Chloe's disembodied voice, and Beca winced.

That was what she was proposing.

It just sounded so perverse when Chloe said it out loud.

"Nevermind," Beca sighed. "I shouldn't have said-"

"Yes," Chloe cut in abruptly. "Yes. Please, Beca. I- I might combust if I don't."

Desperate.

Dramatic.

She sounded every bit the way that Beca felt, and Beca began to nod before she remembered that Chloe probably couldn't see her.

"It won't be weird?" she asked aloud, but she was already repositioning herself, hands under the covers and resting on the inches of skin between her shorts and where her top had risen up.

She knew what she wanted.

But she couldn't let herself have that right now, so she'd deal with the next best option.

She reached up to where Chloe had gripped her ribs, and she felt a spark shoot through her body.

"To be honest, I don't really care how weird it might be," Chloe gasped out. "I'm- okay, Beca, I need you to listen to me. If it's okay with you, I'm going to masturbate over here. In this bed. With you in it."

Beca held back a moan as she let her blunt nails drag across the sensitive skin of her hip as she forced her breathing into rhythm.

In.

Out.

In.

Oh my god, even thinking about breathing is kinda making me hornier, she realized with a start.

"You can go in the bathroom or-"

"I'm going to stay," Beca interrupted quickly.

Like hell am I missing this.

"Cool," Chloe half-laughed. "Okay, if you're sure, I'm going to-"

Beca heard the stiff comforter shift. It was tucked under the pillows between them, so Beca couldn't feel the shifting.

Couldn't see over the pillows either, really.

If she turned her head, she could probably see-

She did it before she could stop herself, letting her head loll to the side for the second time that night, and she could just see Chloe's profile where it was illuminated by the few outside lights through the foggy glass.

Her head was thrown back with a noiseless gasp, eyes shut tight, but the corners of her mouth were turned up, like she was smiling.

Even as short as they were, her nails started to sting where she was digging them into her hip.

"Oh my god," Chloe moaned, and Beca couldn't stop watching.

Not when Chloe's chest flexed up, and Beca could see her neck tensing.

Could hear the sound of her touching herself, a faint, sticky noise that was just barely audible over her heady breaths and quiet moans.

She finally let her own hand dip beneath the band of her shorts, under the blanket, kicking a foot out because it was warm all of the sudden.

She slipped a hand against her pubic bone, down further, until just the tip of her middle and ring finger made contact with her clit.

It was so tender, and swollen, and she could feel the heat of her arousal pooling, could feel the way it made her clit nearly damp to the touch.

Beca barely even pressed herself before she let out a little keening sound as her eyes rolled back.

"Oh my god."

Beca's eyes shot open, because that was a very different tone than before, and her head was still turned, and Chloe was there.

Staring at her.

Head twisted, but they were both on their backs, and Beca didn't know what Chloe saw, but she knew what she could see.

Furrowed brow.

Eyes half closed.

Mouth open.

Muscles tight across her shoulders, where that thin fucking strap of that stupid fucking nightie was cutting into her skin.

"You look-" Chloe started to say.

But the rest of the sentence was cut off by a rough, broken moan.

"Yeah," Beca gasped out as she shut her eyes. "So do you."

The bed dipped slightly as Chloe pressed some part of herself further into it, and Beca bent her knees, driving her heels into the bed as she sped up the circles on herself.

Her other hand forced the comforter down, then came up, under the tank, pushing it up so she could take her nipple between her index and her thumb. She groaned as it was exposed to the cool air, only momentarily before, she twisted and pulled, heels and hips digging further into the mattress.

She was careening rapidly, all gas no brakes, and she felt her mouth fall into a round shape as her breath started coming out in quick gasps.

She willed herself to be quiet - not to hide, but so that she could hear Chloe.

Chloe whined out her name, and Beca's eyes flew open to see Chloe was still watching her.

"I'm close," she panted, and Beca had to force herself to take another breath.

God, even just seeing Chloe's face when they were doing this was like glimpsing her purist hedonistic whims. Beca wanted to reach out, to touch her, but she knew if she did that, there would be no stopping.

She'd touch ever part of her.

She'd never stop touching her.

"Yeah, me- me too," Beca gasped out. Her hips were breaking pattern, and she was getting too sensitive, if she could just-

She met Chloe's eyes again.

And as funny as it wasn't, it kinda was, the way that Chloe looked so gorgeous. Her eyes were nearly closed, and her hair was a wide, frizzy halo where it had pulled free from her bun. Pouty lips parted wide as she sucked in another breath.

"Fuck, you're so fucking beautiful, like jesus," Beca choked out, half breathless sob, half pitiful laugh, and Chloe gasped on a wide smile as her hips stalled at their peak.

Beca watched as Chloe came, thrusting against her hand, slick wetness loud in their quiet room. She was stuttering with a sort of wonderful, raspy chuckle, and Beca felt her orgasm hit her too as she watched her.

It was constricting and expanding and honestly almost too much as she shut her eyes against the flood of feeling, and she moaned long and steady as she pressed her fingers flat against herself. She felt something irregular thud through the sensitive bundle of nerves, twitching rapidly with each aftershock that shook her body and probably the bed underneath her.

Which made her think of-

She opened her eyes to see that Chloe was watching her again, and, in the very corners of her mind that were still able to function, something told her that Chloe was still-

Chloe inhaled sharply, mouth falling open without the smile this time.

And Beca knew that Chloe had just come for a second time.

"Sorry," Chloe sighed dazedly, chuckling softly as her eyes fell closed. "I should've waited for you."

"No, I- you're good," Beca breathed roughly. She still had her finger pressed to her clit, and it was still practically trembling under her fingers.

She flipped back on her back completely, staring at the ceiling.

"Wow," Chloe said, and Beca closed her eyes tightly to keep from looking over.

It wasn't that she didn't want to.

It was that she really wanted to.

She didn't say anything in response to Chloe, and after a moment, Chloe spoke again.

"You had excellent ideas tonight," she went on quietly, lazily, and Beca could hear the smile in her voice.

That hazy, post-orgasmic, wistful smile.

She spared a quick glance over to confirm, and she saw that Chloe was smiling up at the ceiling now too.

She shifted her eyes back on the ceiling, she closed them for a moment as she dipped her fingers further down, confirming just how wet she was, and then she brought them up from under the covers.

She could smell herself - tangy and musky - and she touched the wet fingertips to her collarbone.

"Reading, and that kiss, and now this?" Chloe whispered. "Got any more?"

You, naked, bucking against my fingers as I suck your tongue down my throat.

"Not any that I should act on," Beca said seriously, and Chloe laughed as they glanced at each other.

God, I'd do anything to put that smile on her face every day.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Chloe said in lieu of a heightening reply. She threw the blanket off herself, over the pillows, and Beca quickly righted her top as Chloe stood.

Chloe padded into the bathroom, and the light came on and was quickly obfuscated by the closed door, leaving Beca alone and in the dark.

She put her hand back down under the comforter and rubbing quickly against the outside of her sleep shorts.

She was still so sensitive, and she could feel that a second orgasm would come quickly if she could just-

She thought of Chloe, walking in, seeing her hips as they flailed in the air.

Of walking over and holding them down.

Crawling between her legs, the strap of her nightie falling off one shoulder as she dipped her head between-

The second orgasm came crashing through her, and Beca stuttered out a breath as heat swooped low in her hips. She kicked a leg outside the blanket again as light spilled back into the room.

Just as quickly, it shut off again.

"Oh my gosh, where am I going?" Chloe laughed, and Beca did her best acting as she laughed along too.

"Here, hold on," she said, leaning over to turn on her lamp.

But when she did, it felt like she broke the spell.

Warm light struggled to permeate the dark room, but it was enough for them both to see each other, clear as day. Beca's eyes fell onto the unadorned trim of the red nightie as her thoughts steered directly into the lecherous territory, and she had to force her gaze onto the bed next to her to shake them.

She didn't look at Chloe's face.

She couldn't look at Chloe's face.

Instead, she saw the mess of the comforter - her whole leg sticking out, blanket wrapped between her legs in a way that felt much more obscene than it was, and then over, to the Chloe's disheveled nest on her side.

She heard Chloe gasp.

"Got it," she said carefully as she stepped up to the bed. "You can- you can turn it off."

Beca leaned back up to turn the light off again.

Bathed in darkness once again, Beca stared up at the ceiling as she tried to regulate her breathing.

She had to make this normal.

She couldn't go to bed with this much tension between them.

"You know," she said slowly, clearing trying to set up a joke, and she heard Chloe turn over as she resettled under the comforter. "The pillow wall doesn't feel like overkill now."

"Seriously," Chloe replied with something like awe in her tone. "I'd probably cuddle all over you."

Beca groaned as turned so she was on her side, facing Chloe, and she wasn't that surprised to see that Chloe was already in that position. Her eyes hadn't quite readjusted to the darkness yet, but she knew Chloe was there, staring at her.

"Yeah, not surprising that you're a cuddler," Beca said quietly.

Her eyes started to take in details.

Chloe's bright eyes.

Chloe's wide smile.

"You're saying you're not?" Chloe teased back in a soft, playful tone.

"I… would," Beca admitted, and the smile grew.

Hers did too.

"I'm really happy that you're in my life," Chloe whispered, and Beca blushed as her face scrunched up.

"I'm happy you're in mine," she smiled back as she yawned.

"Hey, don't do that, you're going to make me yawn," Chloe replied- but it was too late, as she couldn't even finish the sentence without letting out a yawn of her own.

Now she could pretty much see everything, and when she took in Chloe's brow - the way it was drawn into a tight line, with worry clouding over her eyes - she felt herself mirroring it.

Did I do something wrong?

She was about to ask, but Chloe beat her to it.

"I don't want to go to sleep," she confessed. "I don't want this to end."

"It won't," Beca refuted quickly.

Just tell her.

Just say something.

"Tomorrow's going to be just like this," she tried to say as earnestly as possible. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Beca agreed.

Chloe yawned again, and Beca watched as her eyes fell closed.

"Thanks for being here," she said sleepily. "I'm glad it was you."

"Me too," Beca replied, but Chloe's face had already gone slack as she relaxed.

I'm glad it was me too, she thought.

"Thanks for changing my life," she whispered.

But Chloe just hummed happily, and Beca let her eyes fall closed as her breathing became steady.

She laid there, eyes closed, listening to Chloe breathe.

And she fell asleep.