"I, er, I think I'm gonna go get a bite to eat," Jesse said, thumbing over his shoulder. "Should I grab you something?"

"No, thanks, I'm good." She turned away from him, uncomfortable. He had leant and put a hand on her shoulder, and it was starting to concern Beca that Barden students clearly had no concept of personal space.

"You sure?" He asked, and kept his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, really sure," she shrugged it off, and he let it be. She avoided turning back to face the room - pretending she was really interested in shuffling through the few remaining cassettes that were stacked in her tray - until she heard the door of the station click shut, signalling his exit.

She didn't mind him, if she were to be truthful about the whole situation, but she found his need to constantly please her annoying; his need to check if she was alright, check if she wanted anything, check if she wanted to talk - it was starting to grate. She really didn't need saving, and really really not by him. She would love for somebody to take away the way she felt about Chloe, but she definitely didn't think it was going to be him. She hopped up onto the bench, and tucked her legs beneath her. Without even consciously realising she found her mind wandering back to the auditorium, and whereas she had been uncomfortable being so close to Jesse, she realised she had been nervous instead, about how close she had been to Chloe. She shook her head, then pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes. There was no reason to be nervous - she told herself - nothing was going to happen. Ever. She was simply nervous as she'd never truly had any girl friends like her. She'd never been invited to this kind of 'gig' before with anyone.

She pressed her palms harder into her eyes, so hard that the black she could see with her eyelids shut turned to swirling multicoloured representations of the tiny blood vessels in her eyes. It gave her a headache, but at least it blocked out the image of Chloe, that she couldn't shake off. They had been standing so close she had seen her own reflection in Chloe's bright blue eyes; so close she had seen where there were a few of her wavy auburn hairs that didn't lie perfectly flat with the rest of the tumbling curls, so close she could see the slight wetness on her bottom lip where Chloe had bitten it.
She felt a strange electrifying pulse, deep in the pit of her stomach, and she pulled her palms away from her eyes. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust - but she swore, beyond the dissolving black smears she could still see Chloe, stood right in front of her -

"Beca?" Chloe said, "Are you alright? I just let myself in," she pointed over her shoulder, "The door was unlocked."

"Chloe! What are you doing here?" Beca said, hopping off the table. Her eyes had fully readjusted to the strange halogen lights of the studio, and yet she still couldn't beleive it. She found herself, albeit sheepishly, beaming from ear to ear.

Chloe shrugged, and smiled back. "I guess I just thought I'd come and surprise you." She reached around, and unwound the scarf that adorned her neck. Beca - and she couldn't in a million years tell you why - felt the same electrifying spasm as a few minutes ago, deep in the pit of her stomach. It tingled within her, from tip to toe, almost rendering her speechless.

"Thanks," She smiled. "But I'm still on shift for another -" she glanced up at the clock on the wall "-well, at least another hour and a half."

"Oh." Chloe's face dropped for a second. "I was kinda hoping we could go grab something to eat instead before everywhere shuts? Talk about this dress shopping we're going to have to do. There's a great Mexican down the road. Best. Burritos. In. Town." She waved a hand enthusiastically. "It's the tits." she added, and hopped up on the bench next to Beca.

Beca shook her head. "I'm really sorry."

She felt awful. There was nothing more that she wanted to do than drop the stupid box of unsorted records and go and have dinner with Chloe - but Jesse would never allow it, let alone Luke.

"It's okay." Chloe said, and put a hand on Beca's knee. "I can wait,"

Beca looked up, and realised how close Chloe had leant towards her again. Her chest tightened - but this time she wasn't going to run away. Chloe's head was dipped, ever so slightly towards Beca, but their eyes seemed to be locked together. She couldn't bring herself to look away. It was like Chloe had that grip over her again, and she just couldn't break from it.

And her smile, Beca thought - and god damn she couldn't help but think about it - her smile just lit up her entire face. She was... she was beautiful, Beca thought. There was no other way to describe it, and even as the word did nothing more than fire itself through her mind she felt the blush rising in her cheeks. It was like nothing she had experienced before, and it welled up inside her, warm and inviting - as if to suggest that it was fine to feel like this. It was right to feel like this.

Chloe did nothing but smile back at her and squeezing her knee ever so slightly;

"I wasn't even that hungry anyway."