A/N: Here we go…

'How did I let you convince me to come here?' Beca complains.

Beca has only been here for five minutes and she's already starting to regret it. She let Jesse talk her into taking a shower, dragging a brush through her hair and even putting on more make up than her usual 'grumpy raccoon' look (Jesse's description), but dressed down as much as she can. A dark purple hoodie and jeans, with pockets big enough that she can hunch up and shove her hands into them and give someone her trademark dismissive look if they try to come near her. The perfect clothes for looking antisocial, which is how she feels right now.

Now, with Beca having whined all the way here, her enthusiasm has not increased since arriving at the party. If she can call it that. There's usual: the blank faces of drunk teenagers milling around in the front garden, drowning their early midlife crises; the bass of some non-descript piece of music pulsating through her body even from outside (surely that's not normal), with little else musical about it. Beca wrinkles her nose. She could whip up something better than this crap, given five minutes and a halfway decent computer.

Jesse slings his arm easily around Beca's shoulders. As usual, she throws him off.

'You're here now,' he tells her, unfazed by this rejection. 'I went to all the trouble of dragging you out of your bed and away from your computer, so there's no way I'm letting you leave now.'

'I'm hating you a little more every day. I hope you know that.'

'And I cry a little every night.' Jesse moves to business. No time for jokes tonight, apparently, even if Beca would much rather stay out here trading barbs with him than ever step foot inside that house. He takes hold of her shoulders with an earnest expression. 'Now remember what we discussed, Beca. You're here to -'

'Have fun, meet new people and get my mind off Chloe,' Beca recites, finishing the sentence he's repeated at her several times since she finally agreed to go. 'Yeah, yeah. I know. It's not gonna work, Jesse.'

'It will work, if you actually try for once. Speaking of, couldn't you have dressed up at least a little? You look like you're ready to shank someone.'

'That's the idea.'

Jesse shuts his eyes and shakes his head, like Beca is the very bane of his existence. It occurs to Beca that it takes a special kind of friendship to be partially based around them both being exasperated with the other. 'Look,' he says, when he's collected himself. 'I'm just trying to help you. You've been all Zombie Beca for weeks now and you barely leave your dorm unless it's to go to the station, classes, or rehearsals. You need friends.'

'You sound like my Dad,' Beca remarks.

'Maybe I am your dad, secretly.' Jesse puts on his best Darth Vader voice, which isn't to say that it's a good one. '"Beca, I am your father".'

'Not likely. I'm older than you,' Beca says, smirking.

'By like a month,' Jesse moans. It's always been a point of contention for Jesse to find out that Beca is older than him – both summer babies and therefore often among the youngest in their classes, he was even more upset to find he was younger than Beca. 'Whatever, though, that's not important. I know you're just trying to distract me with sarcasm and banter.'

'No, really?'

'And it's not going to work,' he assures her. 'So here's the plan. We're gonna find somebody you can talk to, then send you in to see if they can tolerate your presence for more than five minutes.'

'And then step three: profit, right?'

'I'd say step three: friendship, actually, but money's good too.' Jesse starts searching around his immediate surroundings as though Beca's new best friend might be just around the corner, with a sign saying "Talk to me" over her head. Beca just sighs, giving up any ideas of going home as a lost cause now. 'What about her?' says Jesse, pointing out the first girl he lays eyes on: a bored looking brunette standing nearby, texting on her phone. 'She's got that whole "leave me alone" air, so you'd be in good company. Maybe you could stand together and hate the world.'

'Ha ha,' replies Beca in a bored tone. 'You're hilarious. Why don't you have your own comedy show yet?'

'Okay, so Beca clone is a no go. Ah, what about her?'

'Really, Jesse, a redhead? I thought the purpose of this evening was to not think about Chloe.'

'Oh yeah. My bad. Oh!' He notices another girl who has just left the house, arm in arm with another female friend.

As soon as Beca looks at her she immediately feels uneasy, as the resemblances to Chloe– not physically, unlike the redhead Jesse had just suggested – are evident. It's the subtler things that are similar; the easy, cheerful smile she's wearing, the relaxed way she's leaning against the wall suggesting confidence with herself and other people.

Beca starts to wonder if this is how it's going to be all the time now – thinking of Chloe in every situation. When she starts crying at the sound of David Guetta, then she'll consider therapy.

'What about her?' asks Jesse.

'I don't know, maybe not,' says Beca uncertainly. The girl seems to sense that they're staring at her, because she suddenly turns to look straight in Beca and Jesse's direction. She gives them a brief smile (maybe a grimace, Beca's not sure) before turning back to resume chatting to her friend.

'Eye contact!' Jesse says excitedly, shaking Beca by the shoulders slightly. 'And she's got short hair... and a tattoo! Maybe she's on your team.'

'Jesus, talk about stereotyping.'

'Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason,' Jesse points out. 'Now go mingle.'

'Dude, no, she's busy. She's got someone with her already. She won't want me interrupting.'

'Not anymore; look again!' Jesse's right; the girl's friend has just wandered off back inside the house. The way the girl looks into the house where she went with anticipation, then goes back to standing around awkwardly suggests she's probably gone to get a drink or something.

'I feel like I'm having my first day at school and you're trying to make me play with the other kids,' Beca groans, trying to resist the way Jesse is trying to push her towards the girl.

'Yeah well, it's pretty much the same thing since you have the social skills of a four-year-old.' He trills, 'Go, honey! Make friends!'

Jesse literally shoves her forward; Beca, ever graceful, immediately trips over her feet and has to take a few stumbling steps to keep her balance. It does the job of attracting the girl's attention, though. Beca immediately stands up straight and clasps her hands behind her back, trying to look like she's not a complete klutz.

'Yes?' the girl says politely, a slightly bemused expression on her face.

Beca opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. She looks back helplessly in Jesse's direction. He gives her a discreet thumbs-up, gesturing at the girl with a frantic hand motion, telling her to say things.

She turns to the girl again, gulping. 'Hi,' Beca manages to squeak, her cheeks heating up.

'Hi…' is the tentative reply she receives. From the confused slant of the girl's mouth and the way her eyes are shifting about, Beca is obviously freaking her out quite a bit.

She searches desperately for something to say, something cool or funny - or she'd even settle for mocking right now. Anything would be better than the goldfish impression she's treating this girl to right now.

Ask her for her name! Beca's mind screams at her, but her mind is currently not connected to her mouth.

'Hi,' is what comes out again.

Seeing that she's floundering and the girl looks ready to whip out her Barden whistle, Jesse jumps in. 'Excuse us for just a sec,' Jesse tells the girl, steering Beca away. When they're at a safe distance, he hisses to her, 'Beca, what the hell are you doing?!'

'This was such a stupid idea, Jesse,' Beca says, her voice wavering. To her utter horror, she can feel tears springing to her eyes. 'I shouldn't have come out here, I feel like crap and all I'm doing is making an idiot of myself in front of people I don't know.'

Jesse takes her by the shoulders again – it seems to be his default way of embracing her. His face is serious. 'Beca, look. Do you see what this whole thing with Chloe is doing to you? You're changing. The Beca I know isn't shy!'

'I can barely hug someone of my own accord,' Beca says flatly. 'I think I'm at least a little shy, Jess.'

'But you're not shy about talking to people,' he goes on. 'Come on – you're funny, you're witty, and you can deadpan like no one I know. Seriously, it's actually pretty weird. I never know whether you're being serious or not sometimes.' His words make her smile slightly; he pokes her in the cheek. 'There we go, a smile. Now keep that on your face for the rest of the night.'

Jesse lets her go finally, giving her a bracing clap on the shoulder. 'I'm gonna get you a drink, and then we're gonna find someone new. Stay here, I'll just be a sec. And for the love of God, if someone talks to you, say more than "hi".'

He walks off then, leaving Beca alone. She sighs, wondering if she should just get a taxi and go home now. Or maybe she could bug one of the Bellas into coming along – Jesse hadn't said people from the acapella world weren't here, but it didn't really seem like their scene. Except maybe Stacie, but Stacie could fit into any kind of situation with the right clothes and her smile.

Briefly, Beca thinks of calling Chloe and begging her to help her out. There's been complete radio silence between both of them for a few weeks now, but she never really said what the parameters of this space they were having were. Would Chloe even pick up if she called?

'Hey,' says a sudden voice in her ear, making her jump a few feet into the air. For a second she thinks it's Chloe, having read her mind from wherever she is tonight and magically flown in to save her, but sadly, it's not.

It's the girl from earlier; Beca had wrongly assumed she'd scared her away. She hadn't realised she'd been standing there the whole time. Groaning inwardly, Beca realises she probably overheard her whole conversation with Jesse, if she was listening hard enough.

'Wow, you really are twitchy, aren't you?' says the girl, laughing. She laughs the same way Chloe does, throwing her head back and moving her whole body with it.

Pull it together, Mitchell. Lots of people do that.

'Not usually,' says Beca with a nervous laugh of her own. She crosses her arms over her chest, digging her nails into the skin of either arm to keep her calm. 'I'm just a little on edge tonight.'

'So I see,' she comments. 'At least you said more than "hi", this time.'

'Yeah… I don't know what was going on back there.' Beca rubs the back of her neck in embarrassment. 'I don't do well under pressure, apparently.'

'Clearly.' The girl grins at her, allowing Beca to relax a little. At least until her next sentence. 'Listen, I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying to your guy friend back there…'

'Oh great,' says Beca, putting her hand over her face and letting out a slight groan. 'Look, I'm sorry, he's got it into his head that I need to meet new people, and apparently throwing me directly at them is the way to do it.'

'From what I heard, you wouldn't have done it otherwise,' the girl points out, smiling easily. 'But, uh - just to let you know… I'm not into women. Sorry.'

Beca takes her hand away, actually a little relieved. 'No, that's fine. I wasn't really looking to hook up with anyone, actually.'

She seems surprised at this. 'You weren't?' When Beca shakes her head, she asks, 'Why was that guy trying to make you talk to me then?'

'He thinks I need to make new friends, since according to him I'm kind of obsessing over this girl I, um, like.' She winces at how pathetic that sounds. 'It's a long story.'

'I've got time,' she replies, shocking Beca.

Beca raises an eyebrow. 'Let me get this straight. You're actually asking to hear about my relationship troubles?'

The girl shrugs. 'My friend has gone to find her boyfriend inside. I have time to kill before they finally stop making out and come back here to meet me. Besides, you're sort of interesting. And I don't know any lesbians,' she adds honestly, making Beca laugh but feel another twinge at the reminder of someone else she knows who can be brutally candid in the same way.

Beca takes a deep breath, unable to believe she's actually considering spilling out her story to some girl she doesn't even know. 'You don't even know my name.'

'That's easily fixed by you telling me, you know,' she responds, an amused smile on her lips.

'It's Beca. What's yours? Wait, maybe I don't want your name. Then you stop being just a random stranger I've decided to pour my secrets to.' She shudders lightly. 'What if we have mutual friends on Facebook?!'

'Wouldn't it have been better to hide your name so you can remain a stranger to me?'

'Fair point,' Beca concedes. 'Oh well, too late now. What's your name then?'

'Danielle.' Beca nods to herself, chuckling a little at how oddly this night has turned out. 'Sooo…' Danielle wanders over to an unoccupied bit of garden wall, hopping up on top of it. She winks. 'Tell me your story, Miss Beca. You have until my friend comes back and not a second longer.'

'I might need every second,' Beca says wryly, following Danielle after a moment. The garden wall is freezing; she pulls her hoodie to her tighter like it might offer some extra warmth to her nether regions. 'So anyway.' She clears her throat. 'There's this girl, you see…' Beca starts.

'Well isn't that a surprise,' Danielle teases, rolling her eyes. Beca wonders if this is how people feel when she talks back to them. 'Go on.'

'Her name's Chloe, and she's optimistic, funny and friendly, but she has absolutely no sense of boundaries. Like, we're talking the walking into my shower to force me to duet with her kind of not having boundaries.'

Danielle arches an eyebrow at Beca, pushing a hand through her dark hair. 'That's a bit weird.'

'Tell me about it,' Beca agrees. 'Chloe's a little weird all around. But in the best way possible. Do you know what I mean?'

'Not really, but continue.'

'Thing is, I'm the kind of person that has too many boundaries… I don't like being touched, and I'm not exactly good with feelings and emotional crap like that.' Danielle nods knowingly. Beca studies her face for a few moments, wondering if she's getting bored, but she seems genuinely attentive. What a strange girl. 'Anyway, I thought we were doing fine with that – I was even starting to get used to her being around and getting used to her touching and stuff. And then, one day, she just tells me she's gotten tired of having to restrain herself and tries to kiss me.'

'Oh no,' says Danielle, her eyes widening comically. Beca gets the feeling she's being mocked, a little, but it's in a vaguely affectionate way so she just decides to press on.

'I know, right? Obviously I freaked out.'

'Obviously.'

'I mean, who does that? She barely gave me any warning about what she was going to do, didn't ask me out for a date first, nothing. Then there was that whole thing about "can't", or "won't".'

'What does that mean?'

'Exactly!' Beca exclaims.

'No, really. What does that mean?'

'Oh.' Beca fumbles with the thread of the conversation for a moment, trying to remember where she'd gotten to. She kind of got a bit caught up in her rant – Jesse hasn't let her ramble about Chloe as much anymore, and Aubrey and the other Bellas are Chloe's friend too, so she's been pretty limited in people to vent to. 'When I said I couldn't kiss her, she asked if I meant "can't", or "won't". Apparently won't means that I don't want to, while can't means that I want to, but I'm not ready. Or something like that.'

'Uh-huh,' Danielle comments. 'What happened to "shouldn't"? Beverly Knight would be ashamed.'

'Apparently that one was never a factor.'

Danielle snorts. 'So it would seem. Anyway, which one was it, can't, or won't?' Beca wonders how the hell she always seems to come back to this question. 'What did you tell her?'

'I don't know,' Beca mutters.

'How can you not know what you told her?'

'No, I mean I actually told her I didn't know.'

Danielle gives her a sympathetic expression. 'Neither, then?'

'What do you mean, neither?' asks Beca, curious.

At this point, Danielle leans back a little, adjusting her position on the wall so her legs are tucked under her. She says simply, 'You wanted to, and you were ready.'

Beca thinks about this, then shakes her head, frowning a little. 'No. I definitely wasn't ready.'

'But you wanted to?' Danielle questions.

'I - yeah…'

'And are you ready now? Could you do it if she asked you right now?'

Beca blinks at her, thinking of how awful the past few weeks have been without Chloe. If she had a chance to slap her past self and tell her to take the chances she's been given, she would. 'I think so… Maybe.' She bites her lip. 'Yeah, I could.'

'Well there you go!' Danielle looks delighted with herself. 'Now you know!'

'Did you just -' Beca stops to think over what she just said, her eyes widening. 'What the hell? Did you trick me with some weird mind trap?'

'Oh sweetie. I didn't have to trick you.' Danielle smiles at her, pleased with her role in this whole thing. 'I'm guessing this Chloe girl didn't take too well to you saying you didn't know at the time, though.'

Beca sighs. 'No. She's kind of given up on me, now. The only time we see each other these days is at Bella's practice like that isn't awkward enough.'

'Oh, the Bellas? The acapella group?' At Beca's nod, she makes a face. 'I saw a video online of them at the finals last year. Chloe isn't the one that puked everywhere, is she?'

'No, that's her friend Aubrey. Chloe's the ginger one.'

'I vaguely remember her.'

'She's really pretty. If you saw her properly you'd remember her.' Beca's about to launch into a deeper explanation of Chloe's wonderful physical qualities, when a girl and a boy holding hands come out of the house and Danielle leaps off the wall to greet them. She finds herself feeling disappointed, remembering that she'd said she could only talk until her friends came out.

'Hey, guys!' Danielle says. She tugs the two of them over to where Beca is still sitting. 'This is Beca. Beca, this is Louise and Nathan.' Nathan starts to wave, but Louise nudges him slightly and he lowers his arm. 'Beca's having problems with girls,' she explains to Louise, smiling widely.

Louise puts her hand on her hip, tutting with a disdainful look at Beca. 'Again, Danielle? You've got to stop doing this.'

'Er… doing what?' asks Beca.

'She fancies herself some kind of amateur therapist or a motivational coach, so she picks up lonely strays like you and tries to make them improve their lives or something.'

'Hey, I'm not a stray,' Beca protests, but it falls on deaf ears.

'Well, I needed something to do while you were macking on Nathan in the kitchen. I was bored. No offence,' she adds, to Beca, giving her an apologetic look.

'No problem,' says Beca, a little bemused at the turn the conversation has taken. 'Boredom is the best reason for altruistic therapy, I guess.'

Danielle laughs, while Louise simply looks uncomfortable. Nathan is staring off into the distance, obviously used to these sorts of situations with his girlfriend and her friend. 'There are drinks in the kitchen,' she tells Danielle sternly. 'You should go get one.'

'Can't you go get me one?' At Louise's pointed look, she sighs. 'Okay, fine. I can take a hint. I'll be inside in a moment – go wait for me.'

'Your friend is kind of a bitch,' Beca remarks thoughtlessly, once Louise has stormed off back into the house with Nathan at her heels.

'I know,' says Danielle glumly. 'Unfortunately that bitch is my ride home, so I should probably go after her.'

'Yeah, I should probably go find Jesse, too,' says Beca, realising she hasn't seen him for a while. 'He went away a while ago to get me a drink but never came back.'

But Danielle is shaking her head. 'Hell no. Screw that. You should go talk to this Chloe chick, or go to her place and fuck her brains out or something. Or maybe both. Either way, stop standing there looking sorry for yourself, or nice people like me will be inclined to start talking to you.'

Beca chuckles. 'Okay, I'll try. Maybe I'll call her. Might save the fucking one for another time, though.'

Danielle shrugs. 'Suit yourself. Anyway, I'm off or Louise'll come out and forcibly drag me away. Later, Beca. Good luck with your girl.'

Her girl, she finds herself musing as she watches Danielle walk away. That sounds kind of nice.

Of course, calling Chloe seems like a good idea when she's talking about it with some girl she hardly knows, but the reality of it is much more frightening. She spends a good ten minutes looking around for Jesse to delay the inevitable, but somehow doesn't find him anywhere.

She rushes of a few texts to him, all of which are ignored at first - but then she gets one saying 'Saw u and that girl talking so didn't disturb. Bit busy rn! Talk 2 u lr. Call if u need me'. Deciding she really would rather not know why he's busy and using so much text speak, she is left to her own devices.

And by devices, she means thoughts, and by thoughts, she means thoughts of Chloe.

For a while, she wonders whether she should try and find Danielle again. However while traversing the house in search of Jesse, strategically dodging drunk people scattered here and there, she happens to peek into the kitchen. The three of them are in there.

When Louise notices her, she gives her a dirty look which tells her that under no circumstances is she welcome, so she quickly discards that idea.

That just leaves Beca with one thing to do. Her hands start sweating at the very thought of it, but at the same time she's excited and there's a vicious jump in her stomach whenever she plays through the many ways this different conversation could go.

She returns to the spot in the garden she was in before with Danielle, which thankfully has emptied of people since she was last here. Perching once again on the garden wall she left not long ago – and wincing again at its freezing temperature on her butt – she takes out her phone and calls Chloe with shaking hands.

Or, she tries to. It takes her about five repeats of searching for Chloe's name in her address book, hovering over the call button then closing it down entirely before she can get the courage to actually press it. In the end, she only does it because her hands are starting to get numb from the cold and knows if she leaves it any longer then she'll never do it.

As she rings, she half hopes that Chloe won't actually pick up, that she's too busy to hear the phone or simply doesn't want to talk to Beca. Although the last one would suck, so she hopes it isn't that one.

The phone rings for such a long time that she starts to believe Chloe isn't there – but then, she hears Chloe uttering a confused, 'Beca?' in her ear.

'Hi,' responds Beca breathlessly. Goddamnit. Why is "hi" the only thing she can say to girls?

'Hi yourself…' Chloe's voice sounds wonderful after such a long time only hearing it speaking to someone else. Beca almost weeps, but that would be stupid so she doesn't.

(If anyone saw her wiping a tear from her cheek as she spoke, she'd blame it on the wind).

'Why are you calling?' Chloe asks, not beating around the bush. She doesn't sound angry or annoyed, but Beca gets the feeling she probably called at the wrong time. It is a Saturday night, after all. Beca can hear people talking around Chloe, so she obviously has better things to do, and isn't just sitting around moping thinking of her the way Beca is.

The thought drains any and all of her confidence so fast it's like it was never there.

Beca lets out a little laugh, sad and bitter. 'I don't know. This was stupid. Don't worry, I'll leave you to it.'

She makes to hung up, but then she hears Chloe's voice again, audible and pleading despite the loud background noise on Chloe's end of the phone call.

'No, Beca – please don't hang up.' Beca reluctantly puts the phone back to her ear, but on the other side so she can stuff her numb hand into her pocket to warm it up. 'Are you alright?' asks Chloe.

'Where are you? The line is really noisy on your end.'

'I'm just with a friend right now.' She hears her shouting for a moment. 'Can you keep it down a little? I'm on the phone. No, I'm not going outside, it's freezing!'

'It is,' Beca says with a little shiver. 'I'm outside right now… Are you with the Bellas?' Beca asks, feeling a little twinge of jealousy and irritation at the prospect of being left out.

'No, no,' Chloe assures her quickly. 'It's just someone in one of my classes… He invited me. Beca, are you okay?'

'I don't know.' Her sigh makes the phone line rustle a little. 'Jesse took me here because he said I needed to get out and have some fun, but now he's off flirting with girls. I'm kind of alone now.'

'Oh, Beca,' Chloe says softly, her voice almost getting carried away in the background din. 'Do you want me to come get you?'

'No, I'm fine.' Beca plays with a tiny tear in the leg of her jeans, wiping the sweat from her hand onto her thigh yet again. Be brave. 'I just… wanted to hear your voice,' she says, her voice small. 'Is that okay?'

Chloe's voice is hesitant when she replies. 'It's … kind of awkward, right now, so -'

'Oh.' She swallows, her heart sinking yet again. 'Well, that's okay, I can call back another time.'

'No, Beca. I meant wait while I go outside.' She sounds amused. 'Do you ever let people to finish their sentences?'

'I thought you said it was cold outside.'

'I can bear it. For you.' Beca smiles. 'Plus, I have a coat.'

'Good plan. Coats are always good' She waits; eventually the noise drops away, just leaving Chloe's voice on the line.

'Here we are… Now it's just you and me,' says Chloe. Beca imagines her smiling as she says it. 'So what made you call me?'

Beca considers spinning some lie or going into a long ramble about her feelings the way they do in Jesse's movies. In the end she decides on the middle ground; something true, but not something that'll send Chloe running away. Or Beca running away.

'I missed you,' Beca admits, her stomach tightening a little in fear as soon as she says it.

To her surprise, though. Chloe simply lets out a little breath, saying in a rush, 'I've missed you too, Beca. God, so much. It's been so hard not having you around.'

'Really?'

'Yes really. You don't know how much I…' She trails off, but Beca's imagination provides plenty of ways for the sentence to end. 'Well, in any case, I'm so happy you called me.'

'Me too. I wasn't sure if you'd pick up, to be honest. I thought you might still be angry with me.'

'You know I can't stay angry at you for long, Beca. You're just too cute,' she teases. Beca grins, a warmth spreading outwards from her stomach.

'I'm not cute. I'm badass.'

'Mmhm. Keep telling yourself that. You're about as badass as a cat with no legs, and about as dangerous.'

'Wow, thanks, Chloe. You know how to charm a girl, alright,' she says, snorting.

'I try.'

'And you succeed.'

They fall into a comfortable silence, the type Beca thought she'd never fall into with her again. She finds herself smiling in a way Chloe (not Beca, though) might describe "giddy", bringing her knees up to her chest as she listens to Chloe breathing on the other end of the line.

'I thought about it,' Beca says quietly, feeling her heart start to speed up with just those words. She forces herself to keep calm, to inhale and exhale, to not mess this up.

'Thought about what?'

She licks her lips, digs her nails into her arm again. Breathe, she thinks over and over, until her body relaxes and she can continue.

'What you asked me, before.' She clears her throat slightly. 'You know. Can't. Or… or won't.'

There's a long silence in which she thinks Chloe might've hung up; she actually checks the screen to make sure she's still there. Eventually, she hears Chloe let out a shuddering breath and realises she might be just as nervous about this whole thing as Beca is. 'And? What did you think about it?'

Beca swallows. 'Aubrey helped me, actually. I… sang my feelings, if you can believe it.'

'I can,' replies Chloe. 'What did you sing?'

'… Eternal Flame.'

Chloe pauses, and then snorts and starts giggling, hard, making Beca flush. Her mouth quirks up in a smile nonetheless. 'Oh my God,' she pants, 'you are such a dork. Did you really sing that?!'

'Yes, unfortunately. And she already made fun of me for it, so I don't need you doing it too.'

'Will you sing it for me now?' Chloe asks excitedly.

'That's your solo, not mine, Beale.'

'So? Now it can be a duet.'

'Mmm… Maybe later.'

'Party pooper.' She hears Chloe make a raspberry down the phone and laughs. 'So. Eternal Flame? That's an interesting choice. Which of the two does that song correspond to?'

'What do you mean?' she asks, even though she already knows.

'What I asked you before. Can't, or won't?' She sounds very casual, but Beca can tell she's just trying to keep it together for Beca's sake.

Here's that infernal question again, which seems fated to follow her around constantly. She rather hates Chloe for ever thinking of it. Despite that, she knows Chloe just needs assurance, and to know where she stands with Beca – the same things she needs with Chloe.

She thinks of Danielle and what she told her earlier, and it gives her courage.

'It's neither.'

'… What?'

'It's not I can't, or I won't. It's I want to, and I can,' she says boldly, before immediately losing her boldness and feeling like she's going to lose her dinner instead. Oh God. She closes her eyes, trying to summon back the calm she had before, but Chloe's talking now and it's making it hard to focus.

'Oh my God,' says Chloe, sounding breathless. 'Are you saying what I think you're saying right now?'

'That depends,' says Beca shakily, unintentionally coy. 'What do you think I'm saying?'

Chloe growls. Actually growls. Beca's stomach shifts, heat flaring in her gut. 'Don't play around. Be straight with me.'

'I didn't think you'd want that,' Beca jokes weakly, but decides to be honest regardless. 'Yeah, Chloe. I am.'

She thinks she hears Chloe gulp.

'Excuse me…'

There's a little scream that makes Beca jump. 'Hello again,' says Chloe.

'What was that?!'

'Just me expressing my excitement,' says Chloe neutrally. 'I'm good now.'

'That was you screaming?'

'Yeah... Problem?'

'Maybe,' Beca finds herself saying teasingly, even as her heart is in her throat. 'Depends. Are you a screamer in general?'

She hears Chloe's breath catch and congratulates herself. 'Beca -'

Suddenly, Beca hears a voice from Chloe's end of the line: 'Are you coming back inside, babe?'

Her insides go icy cold. She knows that voice. She's only really heard it once, but that was enough. Enough for her to know instantly what's been happening where Chloe is, where she is and what she's been doing.

'Who's that?' Beca asks, her voice going high-pitched from fear.

'No-one,' says Chloe quickly. 'Give me a sec.' She hears the rumbling of a deep voice in the background, followed by murmurs from Chloe; she must have put her hand over the phone to stop Beca hearing what she was saying. Beca grips her phone tight, biting down on her knuckle.

'Who was that?' she asks again immediately, failing at keeping the tremor out of her speech.

'It was no one, Beca. I – just a friend, like I said, I'm with a friend right now.'

'Chloe, don't lie to me,' she whispers. 'Who was that?'

A beat, then Chloe replies hesitantly, 'Tom…'

Beca stomach squeezes unpleasantly. 'Tom? You're with him?'

'Not with him, with him!' Chloe assures her hurriedly. 'I'm just at his house.'

'Doing what?' Beca's voice is rising, in volume and pitch again. She's jumped off the wall without thinking, pacing around with one fist clenched to her chest.

'We're just talking! I promise you!'

'Then why did you lie to me? Why did you say he was just a friend?'

'Because I knew you'd respond like this!'

'Well gee, I wonder why! Considering he's some guy you used to fuck and you're with him, while you…' She trails off, her voice breaking. 'Forget it, I don't know why I bothered.'

'Beca calm down, please just let me explain -'

'No,' says Beca, feeling nausea rise up inside her. 'I can't, this was such a mistake… I…'

She doesn't even say bye, just hangs up on Chloe, sinking to the bottom of the wall and letting her phone fall to the floor beside her. Chloe's name flashes up on the screen; she lets it ring out several times before it stops completely.

A/N: You all have Novak Fan to blame for this chapter. I was told to 'bring' the angst. ;) Consider it brought…

So here's the dealio, lady jammers. I'm of two minds about the chapter I have planned next. If I pick option A, I'll update tomorrow (hopefully) and there'll be much more angst. If B, not sure when I'll update, and (probably) less angst. I'm not asking for opinions, just letting you all know what's going on in the recallthelove world. Until then, my loves. Please don't hate me too much. :P

Oh, and because it occurred to me the other day – if you've reviewed anon, I'm sorry I haven't responded. I don't like to clutter up the story with answers to reviews so I just leave them. :( But I do appreciate them! I still have some reviews to reply to from last chapter, so expect one soon if you haven't had one.