At her internship the next day, Beca found herself thinking about Aubrey. Well, about her conversation with Aubrey. It had taken an unexpected turn, but an important one, and Aubrey was able to help advise her a bit. The phone call had most served to simply ease Beca's mind, though. It felt good to get it all out there, and naturally, at least attempting to articulate the things she was feeling helped push her toward the actual realization of those feelings.

Yeah, eventually she was going to have to talk to Jesse about what was going on. Aubrey encouraged her – for now at least – to just try and relax. It's very possible that the Jesse bridge was one she was going to have to cross in the future, maybe even the near future, but Beca didn't have to cross it right now. It wasn't worth worrying about now, Aubrey had explained, and Beca should just try to focus on the present, to try and enjoy what was happening between her and Chloe for what it was, and worry about the repercussions later. And it had sounded really logical to Beca, which was weird because "living in the moment" had a sort of hippie nonsense vibe to it, which was surprising coming from Aubrey, and yet the way the blonde had described it had made it seem just so rational and so… practical.

Something about it was so soothing to Beca. Sure, Chloe had a way of making her always feels comfortable, even in the strangest of situations, but the way Aubrey approached problems was something Beca really jived with, something she could really relate to. It was like she shared a wavelength with the former captain, a way of thinking that was scarily similar. Beca wasn't sure why she hadn't realized it earlier. It was clear now that all their conflict from her freshman year was 100% due to the fact that she and Aubrey were too similar. They were stubborn – probably to a fault – in their own rationality. They didn't value sentimentality, nor did they value kindness if it came at the expense of honesty. Beca found herself more easily flustered, and perhaps more prone to emotional outbursts, but the truth was that she thought of herself as a logical person and so Aubrey's sort of common-sense way of overcoming life's little adversities just made sense to her, in a way that Chloe's more "think with your heart" approach never could.

Beca was just so glad that she had Aubrey to talk to because it made her feel endlessly better about this situation than she ever really thought possible, at least for the moment… but for the moment was really all she needed to move forward, to continue, to try again. And it was in this moment, while she was in the kitchen organizing the just delivered lunch orders at Residual Heat, that she received the following text from Chloe:

You know… I'd really like to see you without the bra sometime… ;)

Her heart thumped loudly in her chest only once, but the reverberation of it rippled through her and made her stomach drop. She pocketed the phone and finished grouping each person's order together. Retrieving the phone once more, she swallowed hard as she re-read the text. She felt like she was sweating, but still managed to slowly type out her reply. While Beca wasn't proud of how long it took her to produce this particular quip, she had to give herself some props for it. It was a good one.

You already have… remember?

Beca barely had time to re-pocket her phone before Chloe's near instantaneous response caused the device to vibrate again.

Mm. How could I forget?

The phone buzzed again in her hand as a second message appeared on the screen.

Do you know how many times I've thought about that? About you?

A cold, sort of sick feeling rushed from her head down to her toes. She felt like crawling in a hole and dying right now would be a great option, but alas, there were no holes in her immediate vicinity. She placed her phone face down on the counter, opting to go about her deliveries now while she wrestled with Chloe's confession and tried to figure out how in the hell she was supposed to respond to something like that. She quickly placed the newly organized lunch orders (now labeled in Sharpie with each recipient's name) in the box the delivery woman had brought them in. Then she grabbed that box, without another look at her phone, and hurried off to complete her intern-ly duties.

It was only when she returned to the kitchen to retrieve her phone that Beca realized how stupid it was to leave it there in first place. Sure, the thing was locked, so it's not like anyone could have feasibly seen what Chloe had written, but the threat of that still felt pretty real. (Not to mention, someone could have simply stolen it, of course.)

When she picked the device back up, she had four new texts from Chloe.

I'd love the chance to see you again…

To be able to touch you this time

Beca?

Shit. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that…

Beca found herself kind of amused by the whole internal debacle Chloe must have just put herself through. I mean, really, Beca had been gone no longer than 10 minutes or so. The kind of panic that the redhead must have been experiencing was definitely excessive. But somehow it was kind of cute that Chloe cared that much, that she was feeling that level of anxiety over attempting to flirt with, or maybe even seduce Beca.

Dude, I am at WORK. I have to do WORK things.

The response, again, was almost immediate. So fast, in fact, that it was received before the second text Beca was tapping out could be sent. Oh, thank GOD

You're such a WEIRDO

Sorry.

It's fine. I'm going to go back to WORK now.

Beca pocketed the phone and headed out of the kitchen, toward the conference room area that she was supposed to be setting up for a staff meeting later. Her phone vibrated again before she even crossed the threshold.

Right. Sorry. So, I'll see you later? :)

The brunette smiled down at the screen. This uncertainty or neediness or whatever it was that Chloe was showcasing at the moment was unlike anything she'd ever received from her friend. Well, that wasn't exactly true. It wasn't really unlike the Chloe she knew. In fact, it was incredibly like her, but this situation had sort of reframed the behavior and Beca found herself looking at it in a different way than ever before. This Chloe was simply adorable. And maybe she was always adorable when she was acting like this… maybe Beca had just never really realized it before. She was too busy feigning annoyance, probably, to notice how sweet and lovable it was. The newfound awareness warmed her cold, black heart, and she just couldn't stop herself from smiling.

Yeah, you'll see me later

Once the message was sent, she held the power button until her phone shut off and then pocketed it one last time. She felt a little guilty to go radio silent on Chloe, but she was at work, and she really needed to focus… and thinking about Chloe thinking about her was just… well, it was more distraction than her body could honestly tolerate.

As promised, Beca showed up at Chloe's bedroom door later that day. The door was open just a crack, and the light from the room spilled onto the carpet in the hallway. She pushed the door open slowly, curling her fingers around the edge as she poked her head into the room. Her friend was facing away from her; she had herself propped up on her elbows in front of her laptop, laying on her stomach, knees bent and ankles crossed. Her red curls were secured on top of her head in a messy bun. Beca's eyes trailed down the other girl's back, clad in a white, ribbed tank, and took in the sight of the pink too-short shorts that left little to the imagination. The brunette exhaled a nearly silent sigh in the doorway.

"I know, Bree. It's just so fucking hard. I miss you so much and I just want you here, with us. I hate doing this without you."

Beca looked at the computer screen, only slightly blocked by Chloe's head, and was met with those brilliant blue-green eyes, staring straight back at her. Aubrey had spotted her in the doorway, and her jaw slowly began to drop as Chloe continued her outburst.

"I just want you both to—"

"Chloe!" Aubrey shouted on the screen, pointing a strong finger toward Beca.

"What?" the redhead asked before noting Aubrey's motion and abruptly turning to face Beca, whose head was still the only part of her poking into the room. "Oh-OH! Beca! Um, hi?" she stammered.

Beca felt strangely guilty, like she had been caught doing something that she shouldn't be doing. She hadn't meant to interrupt the conversation; she didn't even know there was a conversation being had. "I-um-Sorry? I-I'll just… come back… later," she sputtered, using the hand formerly holding fast to the door to gesture pathetically.

The brunette heard Aubrey's voice first as both girls gave an emphatic "no!" in protest of her leaving. Beca shifted her feet, edging her body slightly more into the room, though still clinging to the brown, wooden door like a shield.

"I mean," Chloe amended, "it's fine. We were just wrapping up anyway. Come in."

As requested, she stepped the rest of the way into the room, closing the door as she collapsed against it, her shoulders slouched. She gave a wave that looked a bit more like a salute to the computer screen, gaze focused on the floor beneath her feet. "Hi, Aubrey," she said, moving her right hand to grip the back of her neck. She was feeling incredibly awkward right now, and it absolutely showed.

"Hey, Beca. It's good to see you for a change," the blonde offered kindly.

She pressed her lips together tightly and nodded, eyes now fixated on the wall to her left. This situation was so uncomfortable. Why did she peek into Chloe's room that way? If she was going to invite herself in, why couldn't she have barged in loudly and not made everything so goddamn awkward?! Beca's thoughts spun in circles for a moment, until she landed on an unexpected question. Wait, why is this awkward?

A strange question it was, mostly because it was a question that shouldn't exist. Sure, Beca had the impressive ability of bringing awkward discomfort to a variety of situations… but this really shouldn't be one of them. Beca hadn't been too weird with her uninvited glimpse into the room. It's not like she was trying to be quiet about it, trying to spy on Chloe's room. Sure, maybe she should have announced herself, but she had just been so distracted by the sight of Chloe that she had forgotten to. And whose fault was that really? Certainly not hers. Not to mention that Chloe had left the door cracked open in the first place…

She had walked in on a Skype session between two of her friends. If it had been a private conversation, wouldn't Chloe have had the good sense to have it somewhere other than the Bella house? Or to lock the door, or even just close it? No, it shouldn't have been awkward at all. So why, then, was she feeling like she just walked in on something?

"Okay then… I'll leave you two to… well, to whatever." Beca felt her cheeks instantly flush red. She was pretty sure she'd never been so embarrassed in her life. Well, maybe that one time her dad had walked in on her and Jesse making out on the couch while Return of the Jedi was playing, completely unwatched, on the TV. Yeah, actually, that was a little bit what this felt like. Sure, she was the one who had walked into the room, but it's like Aubrey had caught her and Chloe doing something. In fact, in a way, she kind of had. Beca was here for a reason, and that reason was surely obvious to Aubrey who had gotten the whole story from Beca herself, and probably listened to Chloe's side of things, too.

Maybe that's what was so weird about it, weird in a way that was different from the experience with her father. Aubrey had been a part of this from the start. It was her conversation with Chloe outside the tent back at the Lodge that had spurred this whole thing into actual existence, and not just some unrealized fantasy concocted by the redhead. Her willingness to be a sounding board of guidance for Beca further encouraged this… this thing and, actually thinking back on it now, even the day they departed aca-boot camp, the blonde seemed to know something that Beca didn't, seemed to be trying to impart something – some kind of knowledge – to her.

Beca was now realizing that Aubrey had been strangely present throughout this whole experience, even though she wasn't physically with them. That realization was so weird to Beca, but she mostly shrugged it off. It's not like "experimenting" with your best friend came with some sort of instruction manual. Maybe it wasn't as abnormal as it seemed. Needing a confidant to help sort through what was happening – and all the emotions that came with it – seemed pretty natural, right?

A barely there voice in the back of her head was telling her that all wasn't exactly what it seemed, but she chose to ignore it. She chalked it up to paranoia brought about by her own social anxiety. Everything was fine and her own awkwardness was the only thing bringing discomfort to the current moment, she concluded.

"I'll call you later, okay, Bree?" Chloe's voice brought Beca back to reality, reminded her what she was doing in the room in the first place.

"Sure," Aubrey responded before looking to Beca again. "Bye, Beca."

"Yeah, uh," the brunette coughed, "Bye!"

The blonde smiled brightly on screen and then, giving the redhead a wink, with the click of a button, her face disappeared from the screen. Chloe shut her laptop, placing it on the floor before turning around to meet Beca's gaze.

"Uh, so…" Beca stumbled, shifting her weight away from the bedroom door. She watched as a slow grin spread across the redhead's face, bright, blue eyes wide and stunningly iridescent, and the brunette wondered silently how it was even possible that someone could be as beautiful as Chloe Beale. It was really just unfair.

"Come here," Chloe said, her voice low and so intoxicating, as she waggled a finger at Beca. She felt drawn, like a moth to a flame, and honestly wasn't even conscious of her legs moving as she drifted toward the bed. As she approached, Chloe slowly lowered herself down until she was lying flat on her back, her finger continuing to beckon Beca to her. It was the glint in her eye, though, that pulled the DJ onto the bed, that willed her onto hands and knees, and that begged her to crawl up the length of the redhead's body. Beca wondered if she would ever again be able to resist the draw of Chloe's eyes. Hovering still over her, she dropped her gaze to Chloe's lips. As she carefully lowered herself to capture them in her own, she couldn't help but wonder if she would ever again be able to resist her lips either, because, Beca thought, kissing Chloe was like getting the smallest taste of heaven, and she was beginning to crave it. She was, perhaps, even beginning to need it like she needed, say, air.

Yes, Beca was becoming more and more addicted to the sensation of kissing her best friend because, simple as it was, it brought about a level of warmth and contentment she never thought she would feel. Chloe's tongue swiped across her bottom lip as hands reached up to pull at her jawline, and Beca groaned as that tongue slipped effortlessly into her mouth. There was a sudden rush to her head as a feeling of dizziness began to overpower her. Chloe's left hand drifted down her neck, thumb dragging small circles against the sensitive skin below her ear. Beca swung her right leg over Chloe's hips and freeing the girl's hair of its elastic before burying her fingers into unkempt curls. Chloe's hand continued its journey down Beca's neck until her fingers gripped her shoulder, thumb pressed across her throat. The unsteadiness she was feeling finally got to her, and she allowed herself to slowly collapse on top of Chloe, unable to hold herself up any longer.

Beca was all too aware of how it felt to have their bodies pressed flush together as hips surged upwards against her. Chloe moaned into her mouth at the contact and Beca felt her brain tingle as her center warmed. That heat radiated through her which such intensity that Beca felt as though she couldn't breathe. As much as it pained her to do so, she had to break the kiss. She laid still for a moment, panting against the redhead's neck, whose fingers dug into the backs of her shoulders as she exhaled a breathy whine, writhing against the woman straddling her.

Being intimate with Chloe had a way of completely overwhelming Beca's senses, often rendering her immobile not unlike she was at the moment. But the uncanny thing about it was the way in which her body – after the initial freeze, of course – always seemed to act of its own accord, free of instruction from the rational side of her brain. Something else took over in these moments, and it was something that felt an awful lot like instinct. It was so freeing, to Beca – amazingly so, in fact – that her brain could just turn itself off that way, that she was suddenly and inexplicably free of the anxieties that normally plagued her thinking.

So, without a second thought, she sat upright and pulled her own shirt off, tossing it aside. She felt the rush of cool air against her newly unrestricted skin and felt infinitely grateful for it. It had gotten much, much too hot in the bedroom all of a sudden. She sighed in relief at the sensation before reaching down to urge Chloe up, until she was sitting upright as well. Beca's fingers clung to the hem of the girl's white tank and as she began to tug, Chloe lifted her arms, allowing the brunette to easily remove the garment and discard it as well.

Beca was taken aback as Chloe surged toward her, recapturing her mouth in a passionate kiss. In what felt like an impressive singular movement, Chloe had managed to unhook Beca's bra. Without breaking the kiss, she pulled the clothing, with a bit of Beca's help, from her and tossed it aside before removing her own with the same swiftness. A sudden pounding in Beca's head moved through her body before settling somewhere low in her stomach. She felt fingers scrape up her back and cling to the hair at the base of her head as the redhead tried to pull her impossibly closer, to further deepen the kiss. And in that moment she felt, for the first time, Chloe's bare breasts pressed against her own and both women moaned simultaneously at the new, unfamiliar sensation.

Beca's brain spared a moment of rational thought, allowing her to acknowledge, only momentarily, just how crazy this all was. But then instinct, or whatever it was, resumed its seizure of cognitive reasoning and all sanity was once again lost. The pressure building in her core began to pulse and she shifted her hips awkwardly against Chloe's, desperately seeking relief. Positioning, however, forbade the reprieve and Beca gave a frustrated groan.

She felt Chloe give a rough tug on her hair, pulling her head back. Beca's brow furrowed as their lips parted, her teeth clenched as she inhaled a sharp, hissing breath. And then suddenly, and without warning, Beca found herself on her back, still hissing, with wrists pinned above her head as Chloe leaned down to suck at the flesh of her neck. The older girl shifted Beca's hands in such a way that she was able to hold them both with just her left hand. Beca felt the right hand press firmly against her chest before slowly gliding downward to palm one of her breasts. And this was a new sensation, too, but a sensation she found herself reveling in as Chloe's thumb circled her nipple.

It was all becoming a bit too much to handle and Beca found herself having trouble breathing as Chloe's hand continued its southward journey down her stomach. Her breath hitched before she managed a loud exhale and then a few short, shallow intakes of breath. It was making her feel lightheaded, or at least so she thought. Chloe's fingers stalled at the edge of Beca's pants before traveling over them. She wasn't sure if Chloe was actually moving as agonizingly slowly as she seemed to be, or if time itself had abruptly shifted into slow motion. Her breathing stopped altogether as she felt Chloe's fingers drag across her through the fabric of her jeans. Chloe's hand continued down until her fingers began to curl. Beca had a sudden awareness of Chloe's teeth against her throat as the girl decisively pressed the heel of her hand against her.

Beca moaned a little too loudly and the sound of it immediately snapped her out of her weird trance-like state. Her eyes shot open and panic took hold as her mind raced. Chloe must have felt her body tense because the hand between her legs disappeared and the mouth formerly at her neck pulled away to breathily ask: "Becs… you okay?"

Unlike the last time this happened, Beca didn't really know what to do, or how to respond. There was a part of her that felt like shaking her head. It was the same part of her that was making her feel like she wanted to cry right now. But there was another option vying for attention… to continue. Aubrey's voice was ringing clearly somewhere in the back of her head, telling her that it was okay, that she didn't need all the answers right now, that she should just enjoy whatever was happening. That voice was a convincing one and it really did calm her… at least until she looked at Chloe.

A mess of striking red curls framed flawless skin, cheeks tinged with just a hint of pink, lips ever so slightly parted, brow creased with concern. Chloe Beale had always been beautiful, to Beca, but at this particular moment she looked nothing short of breathtaking. When her eyes landed upon bright blue ones, filled with love and a bit of apprehension, she noticed Chloe's still dilated pupils. Her chest tightened and she could feel her heart thumping. She only hoped that Chloe couldn't feel it. And that feeling she felt – yes, she knew what it was – was enough to make her decision for her.

"Yeah, Chlo. I'm okay," she said. "But… can we just, um… I think I need a break." She wiggled a bit awkwardly under the weight of her friend. "Can you, uh…" she used her head, and eyes, to explain what she couldn't quite bring herself to say for some reason.

"Oh, totes. Sorry," Chloe muttered, removing herself from Beca to instead lay on her side, head propped up on an elbow, facing her. Beca closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting out a long exhale.

"Aubrey taught you that."

Beca turned her head to look at her smiling companion. "Taught me what?"

"To breath," Chloe replied before mimicking Beca's relaxation technique. She quirked an eyebrow at the redhead who further explained, with a bit of a laugh. "She taught me that, too."

Beca flashed a bit of smirk, nodding in agreement.

"Where would we be without her, am I right?" Chloe giggled.

Beca took a moment to think back over the last four years. She thought of all the ways in which Aubrey had – perhaps unintentionally – contributed to Beca's own personal development. Without Aubrey there to push her, Beca never would have become the leader, nor the woman, she was today. She supposed that Chloe must have felt similarly herself. Aubrey was nothing if not an incredible motivator.

Her eyes flickered down and she was reminded of her friend's bare chest, and of her own. While she did feel a minute amount of embarrassment, she was strangely calm. She was, for a change, at ease with what had just happened and was content to be lying here next to a half-naked Chloe, half-naked herself.

Where would we be… she thought. Well, certainly not here.

A/N:Thank you MLK Day for giving me the day off from work and some much needed time to finish off this chapter. Hope you are all still enjoying this tale! Reviews always welcome, and appreciated, and give me all the good feels. :)