Beca desperately wishes she hadn't just kissed her best friend.

Not because she regrets it; not at all.

But rather, because it's literally ALL she can think about in this interview which could literally make or break her future career, and she keeps saying things like, "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" and "Yes, that sounds wonderful," without having any idea to what she's agreeing. Instead, she wants to rush home and talk to Chloe.

She also wants to rush home and kiss Chloe, which is definitely not an emotion she's ever felt before today. It's not unwelcome, but it's different.

It's also why she gets pulled over for speeding on her way home. She'd never gotten a speeding ticket in her life, but of course, today's the day. She keeps to the speed limit the rest of the drive after that, but actually runs, she runs from her car to the house, but her hand freezes on the doorknob.

Because she realizes that everything in her life is about to change. For better or worse, she has no way of knowing. She also realizes that she doesn't actually know what it is she's going to say. She hopes Chloe will do most of the talking like she always does, but something tells her this is not a conversation she can, or should, stay silent for.

She fully expects Chloe to be waiting for her, sitting in the armchair in the living room like a therapist and invite her in to take a seat on the couch to have a serious discussion.

Instead, when she opens the door, Chloe's in her usual spot in the kitchen, hunched over a textbook with her computer next to her. Her glasses are on, which Beca always likes, and she's wiggling a pink highlighter between her fingers as she reads. The motion stops when Beca closes the door behind her, and Beca thinks maybe her heart stops a little, too.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Chloe asks, smiling as she looks up from her book.

"I got a speeding ticket." She knows that's not what Chloe's really referring to, but it's a good way to delay the inevitable.

"What! Beca." Chloe pauses, and Beca can see the mischief sweep through her face clear as day, but instead of a teasing comment, she clarifies. "I meant the interview."

"Uh, fine, I think?" is her proffered answer.

"That well, huh?" Chloe says with a little smirk, and Beca has the sudden, blinding visualization of kissing the smirk right off her face. She watches Chloe take her glasses off and set them on her textbook and has to physically bite her tongue to ask her to leave them on. "Are you going to come in, or are you just going to stand in the entryway all night?"

Beca shakes her head, trying to snap out of it. "Oh, right." She takes a few quick steps through the living room to the kitchen and yanks the refrigerator open, taking a second to appreciate the blast of cool air as she pulls a bottle of water off the pyramid of them on bottom shelf. She lets the fridge close and leans back against it, having to work to hold Chloe's gaze, which feels particularly more intense this afternoon than usual, as she cracks open the bottle. "Studying?" she asks, gesturing at Chloe with her bottle.

"How'd ya know?"

"Wild guess."

"Smart cookie."

Just as Beca thinks she's getting her druthers back in line, Chloe decides to stretch her arms over her head and then behind her back, and it's not that Beca was looking - she wasn't - but she suddenly has to fight to tear her eyes away from the vee of bare skin that shows up when the stretch pulls Chloe's shirt open further where it's unbuttoned.

And Beca thinks it's all so weird. She's seen Chloe stretch a thousand times. She's seen her in far more revealing clothing. She's seen her in no clothing - a memory that suddenly makes her throat dry up. She takes another swig of water, using the action to pull her eyes off Chloe as nonchalantly as possible. And yeah, it's all so weird because literally nothing about Chloe has changed in the last four hours, but Beca feels like she's the one wearing glasses. Like someone strolled by and shoved a pair of novelty X-Ray vision glasses onto her face and Chloe went from Chloe to Chloe: In Technicolor.

"Hungry?"

Beca notices Chloe's directing the question at her, and tries to blink away the X-Ray vision. "Kind of."

"Good. I ordered pizza."

Beca forces a tight-lipped smile across the table. She knows she's being weird, but she doesn't know what else to do.

"Beca," Chloe starts, and then she's standing, and oh God she's walking toward her. Right at her. Into her personal space. And pauses right in front of her, and she's close enough that Beca can smell her moisturizer. But all she does is pat Beca's cheek and smile. "Relax." She keeps walking until she spins and falls backward onto the couch, taking up the entire thing. "Are you a magnet?"

The question catches her off guard, sure she misheard. "What?"

"I said, are you a magnet?"

Beca knows it as a terrible pick-up line, the obvious follow-up being, 'Because I'm attracted to you.' But she can't imagine Chloe being so unsophisticated, at least not at this particular time. "I don't get it."

"You've been stuck to that fridge for like five minutes."

"Oh," she says, and begrudgingly parts ways with the cool stainless steel that was doing wonders to keep her body temperature down.

"Come out here."

Beca's heart feels like it might pop right out of her chest any moment, but she forces herself into motion anyway, shuffling to the other room. She blinks hard, trying and failing to get rid of her new, weird non-beer beer goggles, especially with the way Chloe's sprawling on the couch in a way that is completely casual and yet somehow extremely attractive. Beca's unsure where to go, hesitating at the arm of the couch by Chloe's feet, and she finally decides to make for the chair in the corner when Chloe's leg swings out and a foot catches her at the knee.

"Sit." Chloe points at the floor in front of the couch.

Her first instinct is to protest a command to sit on the floor, but suddenly she's sitting cross-legged on the carpet, facing Chloe, with her bottle of water in her lap, which kind of feels like her lifeline at the moment - something to hold on to.

Chloe wiggles until she's on her side and they're face to face, and Beca has to lean back a little, feeling like the air between them is too thick to breathe.

"Well?" Chloe asks, and Beca can see the excitement and interest in her crystal blue eyes, and she wonders how exactly it's even humanly possible for someone to have eyes that beautiful.

"Well what?" she asks dumbly.

"We said we'd talk about it when you got home." Chloe waves her hand at her. "You're home."

"Oh, right," she says like she totally forgot about it. She didn't. Obviously. She scratches the back of her neck and leaves her hand there for a few seconds, gripping it. Her palms are sweating. "So, um…"

"Bec, relax," Chloe repeats and adds a warm smile.

She nods and takes a deep breath, returning a tight smile as she exhales. "Okay. So...that happened." All Chloe does is raise her eyebrows at her, and Beca realizes her earlier prediction was coming true: she was actually going to have to speak. She takes another breath and drops her hand from her neck back to her lap, where she has to consciously stop herself from wringing her hands together. "I didn't mean to." She sees Chloe's excitement fade a little, and the thought that Chloe could maybe be disappointed was...interesting. But she doesn't want Chloe to be disappointed. "No, no I don't mean it that way." She starts to reach out to touch Chloe's arm out of habit but she stops herself, and Chloe seems to notice but doesn't say anything.

"What I mean is...I didn't do it on purpose. I...I wasn't thinking." It's hard to tell, but it seems like maybe a bit of mirth is returning to Chloe's eyes, which she finds encouraging. "It just...happened. I guess it...felt...normal? To do?" Chloe's smiling at her now, and Beca's seriously considering figuring out a way to crawl out of her own skin. "Okaaaaay, you go."

"Well," Chloe starts, and she's positively grinning now. "It certainly surprised me."

"Sorry," Beca says while scratching the side of her nose.

Chloe dismisses the apology with a quick shake of her head and continues. "But...okay, I'm going to be honest with you. Okay?"

Something (everything) about that makes Beca's stomach drop, and suddenly she doesn't feel so encouraged or positive. She nods sharply.

"Bec…" Her face has softened, her brilliant grin settling into a small, quiet smile. "I've wanted to kiss you for a long time."

Beca chokes on her own breath, sending herself into a spectacularly well-timed and mood-disrupting coughing fit that has Chloe half-sitting up, asking if she can breathe and has Beca's eyes watering. "Sorry," she finally gasps.

Chloe starts to lie down again, face still a little wary. "You're okay now?"

She nods, feeling like an idiot for ruining what felt like was going to be a really nice moment. Damn her awkwardness - damn it all to hell. "Sorry," she repeats. "You were saying?"

Chloe's jaw slides to the side, pulling a face that Beca knows is one of Chloe's few I-feel-awkward faces.

"I'm sorry, please. Just start over."

It's Chloe's turn to nod, and she tries it again. "Okay. I've...wanted to kiss you for a really long time."

Beca manages to not choke this time. "You have?"

"Yes. Is that weird? Are you weirded out?"

"Well, if you'd told me that yesterday, out of the blue….maybe. Now? No." She sees Chloe relaxing again, and it's a welcome sight.

"Why not now?"

"Because…" Beca stops herself to take a breath as she uncrosses her legs stretch out her right and fold the other so her left foot presses into her right thigh to create enough room to push herself forward, until her shin presses against the bottom of the couch. It's only a few inches, but she's close enough to smell Chloe's moisturizer again, and she struggles to keep her voice steady. "Because...I've wanted to, too." She sees Chloe's eyes light up. "I just didn't realize it. I guess. Or...I was wilfully ignoring it. Maybe. I don't know."

"It's okay if you don't know," Chloe offers, and Beca smiles, because of course Chloe's comforting her along every step down this new road. "So, it wasn't an accident," Chloe adds, the corner of her mouth threatening another smirk.

Beca grimaces playfully, feeling her anxiety start peeling away to be replaced with bubbly nerves. "Nooooo, not really."

"Do you still want to?"

"Want to what?"

"You said you've wanted to kiss me. And now you have. Do you still want to?"

Beca's gaze slips to Chloe's lips and when she pulls it back up to Chloe's eyes, she knows she's busted because Chloe winks at her - the audacity! - and she feels her heart race, because she's pretty sure if she says 'yes,' she'll get exactly what she wants. And she's still scared of what this means for them, that everything is about to change. They're at a fork in the road, about to take the one less traveled by, and it will make all the difference. She licks her lips nervously and Chloe seems to shift a little forward at the action, making her heart pound that much harder.

"What does it mean if I say yes?" she asks, voice barely above a whisper.

"Well…" Chloe starts, reaching out to brush a stray lock of hair away from Beca's eyes to tuck it behind her ear. "It means that you want to kiss me. And I want to kiss you. So, we'll probably kiss."

Somehow, Beca manages to roll her eyes at the super obvious answer. Despite her internal snark, her body reacts to the looming probability, and she suddenly feels tingly all over. "You know that's not what I meant."

Chloe's shifted further forward, she notices, and she's slowly propping herself up on her elbow so she's not looking at Beca sideways anymore. "It doesn't have to mean anything."

She's suddenly offended. "It doesn't mean anything?"

"You know that's not what I meant," Chloe says, parroting Beca's recent tone quite accurately. It makes Beca relax. "It means that we can wait and see what happens. We don't have to have everything figured out this very second."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right. I have twice as much college education as you."

Beca laughs, and is surprised to notice that her nerves have joined her anxiety somewhere behind her, and she's been left with a warm glowy feeling everywhere. She's suddenly struck with the thought that there's literally no reason to not be kissing Chloe right now. She wants to kiss Beca. Beca wants to kiss her. And yet, they're just staring at each other, cracking wise.

"I'm going to kiss you," she says, feeling a little weird about announcing it, but it was out before she had a chance to stop it. But Chloe seems to like it, eyes getting somehow even brighter, and Beca can see a touch of pink start to invade her cheeks.

Chloe doesn't move; she just waits, looking at Beca as she starts to lean forward. Her eyes flicker to Beca's lips, and it stirs up the butterflies that live within the warm glowy feeling which use their wings to lift Beca's hand out of her lap and reach out until her fingers skate over Chloe's cheek and past her ear and into her hair.

She hears Chloe's breath catch the moment before their lips touch, and then she can't hear anything over the roar of her pulse.

When she had quite literally stolen a kiss earlier that day, it had been quick, and chaste, and a little off-target. A kiss, but not really.

This was a kiss. She feels Chloe start to lean into it, pressing a little more firmly, and Beca has the distinct impression that no other set of lips she's kissed are as soft or as perfect as Chloe's. The roar finally starts to die down and she can hear Chloe now, and the shaky breaths she's taking, and Beca pulls back for the briefest of moments so they can each take a proper breath before she moves in again, this time with more purpose. More ardor. She feels Chloe's hand on her shoulder, and then it's sliding up until fingertips skitter along her neck where they're taking hold at the nape and she can't stop the breathy sigh that forces her lips apart.

The action isn't lost on Chloe, and Beca feels the warm, wet softness of a tongue graze the edge of her upper lip. It makes her whimper, which Chloe thankfully interprets as permission because Beca isn't sure she could speak if posed with an actual, verbal question.

She feels the softness seek out her own, and she lifts her tongue to meet it. She's also not sure if she's ever felt heat shoot through her quite as quickly as it is now. But the way Chloe's tongue is dancing with hers is not something she's ever experienced. When it reaches particularly deeply, a moan escapes her and she hears Chloe respond a second later and feels the hand tighten on the back of her neck.

She's moving before she even comprehends she was being pulled, and suddenly she's climbing onto the couch, one knee wedged along Chloe's hip, the other dangerously close to the edge to be completely trustworthy in its stability. Her left hand is still tangled in Chloe's hair, but her right is pressing against the arm of the couch to support herself.

And it's the moment she feels Chloe's hands run down her back and around her waist until she gets tugged by her belt loops to stop supporting herself and lie against the redhead completely that Beca registers they're absolutely devouring each other's kiss.

Sounds are escaping Chloe between and through their kisses, and they tell her that Chloe is quite fine with it.

A hand finds her backside and pulls, making her hips roll against Chloe's, and Beca finally pulls away from Chloe's mouth long enough to make Chloe's eyes flutter open in confusion.

Beca has enough time to take in her features - the flush in her cheeks that spreads all the way to the tips of her ears, the way her everbright eyes are almost black, the way her pink lips are red and well-used, the way her hair is messy.

"What?" Chloe finally asks, and her voice is so husky and low that it almost makes Beca moan.

"I…" she starts, but she's interrupted by the doorbell. They both jump at the sudden intrusion that, to Beca, is as loud as a gunshot. "I...am going to answer the door." She steals another quick kiss, taking a great deal of pleasure not only in the kiss itself, but that she has the freedom to do so, and carefully crawls off Chloe to accept the pizza delivery. She takes it to the kitchen, and sees Chloe still on the couch, still looking every bit like she's been properly kissed.

"You what?" Chloe finally asks, starting to push herself to her feet.

Beca shakes her head. She knows what she was going to say, but the moment is gone, and saying it over a ham and pineapple pizza is not the place she wants to revisit it.

"I'll tell you tonight. It got warm in here - will you turn up the A/C?"

Chloe frowns a little but crosses the room to the thermostat to punch a few buttons. "My room is going to be an icebox."

"I know. But mine won't be."