Okay, big things happening in the next chapter. Also, "gingerland" is a place me and my cousins invented to make fun of my best friend, so that's where the creative notion for that came from.

Guest: WHY. WHYWHYWHYWHYWGTWUYHWYHWWBDN. YOU ARE MAKING ME WANT TO CLAW MY EYES OUT (in the good way... If there is a good way..?) WHY IS THIS FIC SO GOOD AND THEN YOU GO AND MAKE CHLOE THINK NOOOONONONONO BECA LOVES YOU DON'T THINK OTHERWISE AAAAAGGHHHHHGGGHFWJDBIRHEBDN *screeches*

Did I break you?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Longest day of my life," Beca dead panned, the blinding brightness of Chloe's room being the most welcoming sight in the world (who'd have thought it) when she finally stumbled through the door and onto the mattress at one that night.

"Tell me about it." (Like really, Chloe would love to fucking know how a day that started with them eating breakfast and watching films with her family had ended in her getting her heart broken).

"Your family sure know how to talk," Beca continued, of course remaining oblivious to the side tone of seriousness in what Chloe had just said.

"Well you know I had to get it from somewhere," Chloe teased easily. "Though I think it's even sucked some of the life out of me. I'm gonna go get ready for bed," she added, already having scooped up her pyjamas from where she'd thrown them on the floor that morning.

"Sounds cool… I'll get changed while you're in there," Beca nodded, realizing that for once Chloe was actually planning on changing out of her line of sight (although it was probably for the best Beca couldn't help but feel robbed of the sight of Chloe's muscular, toned back).

If Chloe was the kind of person into psychoanalysing, she would have said that closing the bathroom door (and thus separating her and Beca for the first time in two days) had been like ripping off the façade she'd been wearing all night. Psychoanalysing was Aubrey's forte though and she wasn't here right now.

She considered calling Aubrey for the briefest moment, but decided against it, not only knowing how much her best friend resented being woken (especially if the topic was Beca), but also being acutely aware of just how thin her bedroom walls were (the last thing she needed was for Beca to realize Chloe had actually been dumb enough to get emotionally attached to her).

Instead she sunk towards the ground without so much as a soft thud when her ass made contact with the tile. She drew her legs up to her chin, wrapped her arms around her calves and bit in hard to her knee, allowing the skin that had become exposed when her dress slid up to muffle the whimper that fell involuntarily from her lips.

She just stayed like that for a while. She didn't try to wipe away her tears, didn't try to stop herself from replaying the moment over and over and over again, she never once tried to pull herself together. Instead she just sat, alternating between biting down on her knee and stuffing her pyjama t-shirt into her mouth to stifle the noise.

She just needed to cry. She just needed to let some of her emotions out before she went back into the other room and faced her Beca. Her friend Beca. Just her friend; nothing else (god this sucked).

She wasn't nearly done with her pity party when she began to actually get changed. She knew Beca would doubtlessly ask her if she was okay if she stayed in any longer though, and the last thing she needed was for the DJ to question her on why she sounded like she'd been crying.

(Not that lying to her wouldn't be easy enough. Beca was the kind of person that could make herself awkward, and probably wouldn't ask too many questions anyway. Still though, it was always nice for your friends to think you were at least a little sane.)

"Pull yourself together girl," she muttered as she examined her red eyed reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Game face, game face, game face," she chanted softly then, shaking herself of all remaining negativity and turning to click open the door.

"Did the toilet pull you through to ginger land or something?" Beca questioned, looking up from the battered copy of To Kill A Mocking Bird she'd apparently started to read while Chloe had been getting changed.

"What?" Chloe quirked her brow at the brunette, indicating for her to explain her comment further.

"My cousin Louise was ginger," Beca began, dropping the book to the floor beside the bed as she turned her full attention to Chloe. "We used to all tease her and say that ginger's lived in the toilet… we done it as a joke obviously, but it kind of became its own world almost, like Harry Potter only not as cool."

"Oh?" Chloe couldn't help but be intrigued by what she knew would turn into a rambling tale, even if she was supposed to be mad, and perched herself delicately on the opposite end of the bed.

"Yea," Beca nodded, smiling and sitting up in the bed as she got into the story. "You see you could only get to ginger land if you were ginger, that's how no one else knew about it. You had to have passports and everything and basically any ginger person just had to stand in the toilet bowl and flush it and you'd be transported there. It was like a safe haven for gingers everywhere where they made fun of us regular folk, and they could lie out in the sun for as long as they wanted without getting burned," she explained, obviously enthusiastic about the imaginary world.

"I think I love… that story," Chloe smiled, swallowing the word vomit (and maybe even the actual vomit) that had risen in her mouth.

"Yea well…" Beca hesitated, sensing an awkward air that had suddenly fallen on the room. "Back in my day all we had to entertain ourselves with was our imaginations," she quipped, causing Chloe to snort with laughter.

"You're such a loser," Chloe giggled, swatting Beca playfully on the arm (Okay come on now, how the hell was she supposed to stay mad at someone so adorable?!).

"Well hey, it's working," Beca replied, her mile growing as Chloe's infectious happiness radiated through her.

"What's working?" Chloe inquired, crossing her legs on the bed now as she began to get comfortable.

"Being a loser. It's making you smile again," Beca informed her. "You haven't smiled properly since the deserts were brought out after dinner," she added, when Chloe seemed just as confused. "Your smiles were fake. I could just tell."

"You psychic now?" Chloe didn't mean to sound in any way defensive when she spoke, but she did anyway.

"No, just worried about you," Beca confessed, for some reason not seeming or feeling awkward or nervous when she opened up. "You're like a little light Chloe and everything else just seems darker when you're not lit up."

"I can't always be happy," Chloe shot back instantly.

"I know. I'm the last person you'll ever need to preach to about that kind of thing. I know better than most how hard it can be to be happy all the time," Beca comforted. "I just want to see you happy as much as I can," she added honestly.

"Little optimistic don't you think?" Chloe pondered sadly as she lay back into the pillow and faced the ceiling now instead of Beca's (oh so kissable) face.

"Nah," Beca dispelled. "I've got loads of witty anecdotes about my childhood… I'm set for life."

"So now you're going to be here for life to look out for me?" After hearing what she' heard earlier Chloe couldn't help but consider this the worst form of torture; being fed lines she knew were lies, but wished with every fibre of her being was the truth.

"Well, as long as you'll let me anyway," Beca replied after a moment consideration. "And I guess it'd be pretty cool if that were for life."

"I'll think about it," Chloe replied light heartedly, moving herself until she was under the covers and turning then to face Beca once more, watching as the brunette done the same and lay to face Chloe.

"I'm a pretty great catch," Beca pointed out teasingly. "You'll cave eventually."

"Oh an ego, you're losing points already." Chloe shook her head disapprovingly, all the while supressing a giggle that finally exploded from her lips in a burst of air when Beca rolled her eyes.

"I dunno, I think the amount I make you laugh is gaining me more points than I'm losing," Beca reasoned.

"A fair point I'll never admit to," Chloe shrugged. "Now hush, I've a wedding to go to in the morning. I need my beauty sleep," she only half lied (it was getting to that hour where she was becoming so tired she wasn't sure she had it in her to be upset about what had happened anymore).

"You're always beautiful." Beca's words were so soft that if Chloe hadn't seen the brunettes lips move she'd have been sure it was her overactive imagination.

It wasn't though. She'd actually said it. Those words had actually come from Beca Mitchells mouth, and from the surprised look that had followed them, Beca hadn't been expecting them to either.

"Beca…." Chloe began, biting down softly on her lip as she contemplated what she was quite possibly just about to say.

"Sup?" The brunette hummed back to her, her smile oddly dopy as her eyes wandered over Chloe's face.

"Uh… never mind actually," the red head suddenly relented, a violent wave of stupefying fear washing over her.

"Tell me," Beca threatened softly, trying her best to cover her apprehension over what Chloe may or may not be about to say. "Or I'll have you deported from ginger land," she added, trying to ease the tension.

"I just…" She faltered again, knowing she was about to make a mistake (I mean why bother? Why bother to ask if there was something between them or if there ever could be something between them when she already knew the real answer. It was just her mind trying to convince her there was still hope there). "Would it be weird if I asked you to hold me?" (Okay, so a confession was out the window, but hell at this point she was well and truly shot in the foot when it came to her feelings anyway. A little indulgence wouldn't kill her, right?)

"Uh…"

"It's nothing weird!" Chloe added quickly, knowing how it must have sounded to someone as emotionally detached as Beca tended to be. "I just… You're right, I was upset tonight and I know you probably won't get this, but I kind of just want a hug."

Beca stared at her, dumbfounded, for what was probably the longest minute in recorded history. In fact, by the time the young DJ actually moved, Chloe was seriously considering checking to make sure a second head hadn't spontaneously sprouted from the side of her neck (it hadn't… she may or may not have subtly felt for one).

Even when Beca did move, there were probably dust particles that felt uncomfortable at the jittery and robot like movements in her arms (easy knowing Beca had never in her life been required to instigate a hug).

"Is this killing you or something?" Chloe really did try her hardest not to laugh when she spoke (like seriously, stay mad at this? How was that even possible?).

"I got this," Beca silenced her. "I'm cool."

She actually did seem kinda cool once her hands made contact with Chloe's shoulders (apparently the lack of explosion or locust plague upon initiating contact had calmed her somewhat). She even pulled Chloe in closer to her chest, allowing the red head to lay down, using Beca's shoulder as a cushion and draping her arms freely across the DJ's midsection, as Beca's hand tangled in her auburn locks and the other rested on Chloe's forearm.

It was warm. It was welcoming. It was a feeling Chloe hadn't been aware she'd needed. The way Beca's body slowly relaxed and their two forms moulded together until they were more or less the one shape (cheesy as fuck, but what can ya do) lying silently. Chloe's mind for the first time all night allowed itself to be shut off, the gentle thud of Beca's heart and the soft rise and fall of her chest soothing the red head until she felt her eyes begin to droop.

She should still be mad, and she probably would be come tomorrow, when Beca's warmth wasn't there to elude her into a belief that what she had right now in this moment would be permanent. For now though she allowed it. She allowed herself this one indulgence in the knowing it'd never last.

"Chloe…?" Beca's whisper was sometime after their initial sleeping arrangement had been established, though it was more a formality than anything, as the rhythmic rise and fall of the red heads chest told her that the woman on top of her had been asleep for some time. "… I love you," she muttered, so quietly that even if Chloe had been awake the words would have been nothing more than a nonsensical murmur. "Maybe someday I'll even say it to your face," she added after a moment, smiling at the absurdity of the notion before pulling the red head closer to her and shutting her eyes.