A/N: Sorry this one took so long. Work has been hell and I've started a new little project. NZfulla- You're review was lovely. Thank you for the continued support. Daffusizers - Yeah, I can just hear Aubrey saying that as justification. It's a pretty good one. Big thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! You guys know how to keep me going. I hope you enjoy.

It was day five of rehearsal and in three days hell week would begin. The last week before a show when every word, set, and direction was nailed down culminating in dress rehearsal and then their first performance. Everyone was starting to get their parts down and the students working tech were getting things in order for props, sets, and lighting.

Thankfully, Aubrey was far too organized to leave anything to chance so she had two whole binders of typed notes and diagrams in case anything should happen. Everyone in the theatre department called her Director Dictator, at least to her face. She had no idea what they called her behind her back. She reveled in it because to her it wasn't a negative reputation but a rallying point for her self confidence. She knew she was a control freak and she liked it that way. It eliminated the need to rely on others.

"No, no... NO!" Aubrey approached the stage and smacked her hand against the open script in her other hand."You're supposed to be in love with each other, so freakin' act like it." She walked up to them and placed a hand on both girl's back and pushed them towards each other until they were uncomfortably close. "Now, look into each other's eyes like you actually want to kiss."

Chloe shrugged off Aubrey's hand and looked up. Beca was staring right back at her, dark blue eyes containing something she hadn't seen there before. She blinked quickly, taken aback. Maybe she just saw something she wanted to. She set her shoulders and relaxed, keeping her gaze steady. They started to breathe in unison and and her pupils dilated because of their proximity. She reached her hands out and felt Beca's fingers meet hers as if they had communicated the need to touch without words.

It didn't occur to her that they hadn't actually moved for a full minute. Aubrey stepped back slowly, trying not to break the spell. Beca's fingers squeezed hers and she fell a little deeper into the power of the moment. It was like they were holding each other mentally, caressing the energy between them. The probing attraction found hold in each of their hearts and tugged them together like the air was being vacuumed out from between them.

They were no more than an inch apart now and the last distance would have closed if someone hadn't knocked over a coat rack that was being prepared as a prop. It landed with a bang and both girls jumped apart as if lightning had struck the ground at their feet. Beca rubbed her forehead and started at the ground. It was hard to imagine being that turned on from just looking into Chloe's eyes but it had happened. In her mind she had leaned forward and let their lips collapse together but the frustration of reality kept the truth of the feeling tantalizingly out of reach.

"What's wrong with you," Aubrey yelled. Beca started and looked up, realizing that she wasn't the one being yelled at. The poor soul that had knocked over the prop was backing away slowly, palms up as if it would defend her against the onslaught of an angry Aubrey. "Idiot Face! Get that off the ground and get back to work," Aubrey finished. Chloe turned to watch the poor girl do as she was told and run into the backstage area. "Don't be a bitch, Aubrey," Chloe said.

Aubrey returned to the front of the stage and shrugged. "What, they work better with a little fear instilled in them." Beca's eyes widened, grateful that she and Chloe weren't being treated like she had just witnessed "idiot face" being treated. She would be out of here faster than it took that coat rack to hit the ground. Aubrey sighed and looked at them both. "Okay, let's call it a night," she said. She looked up into towards the large control booth in the back. "Leigha, get those lights out! We're stopping!"

Hell week, every theater student's time of frenzy. Lighting cues, lines learned, final touches on costumes. It was hell for a reason. There was so much to accomplish to make the show go off without a hitch. If they succeeded in their job dress rehearsal would work out most of the kinks and opening night would flow seamlessly. That was rarely the case. This is why Aubrey was even more fanatical about every little detail now..

Thus Beca found herself running lines with Jesse in her dorm room late Tuesday night. "She doesn't love me, she loves you," he said. They were off script and thankfully there weren't really that many lines to read. "Then why won't she talk to me," she replied. It came out sounding lifeless. She was so exhausted. This had been way more work than she had bargained for but she was near Chloe... for hours every day. That was what counted.

"Beca, you sound terrible. You should go to bed." Jesse shot her a stern look.

"Gee, thanks," she replied, rubbing her eyes. She was about to fall asleep but she wanted to get this down perfectly. She wasn't nearly as crazy as Aubrey but she did have a bit of a perfectionist's take on anything involving music or performance.

"No, seriously," he lightly punched her arm, "I think we both need some sleep." He got up and stretched.

.

She sank back and watched him move around in an attempt to regain feeling in his legs. "I'm kind of worried," she said.

"About what?"

"The kiss at the end," she said it quickly. It had been preoccupying her ever since they had run the scene in rehearsal. "I don't know if I want our first kiss to be a stage kiss."

"Why don't you just tell Chloe how you feel and then you two can kiss for real before the show and live happily ever after and ride off into the sunset and on and on." He waved his hand in a circular motion. He was getting tired of her excuses for not breaking her silence. It was tired. They had the same conversation over and over at this point. He wasn't even sure if Aubrey's plan was going to work considering her attitude and inability to acknowledge that Chloe obviously had feelings for her as well. Beca seemed to find every opportunity to talk herself out of going for it.

"You know why," she said, annoyed.

"I know you're scared as fuck and you need to get over yourself." He hadn't meant it to sound so harsh but he was exhausted and a little angry at her for wasting this. If part of the reason they had broken up was her feelings for Chloe she could at least have the decency to follow through on it.

Beca scowled and lay back against the wall. She knew he was right but that fear that she was going to get hurt overwhelmed her every time she thought that she had gathered the required strength to just go talk to Chloe. They still had to perform in this play together and she didn't want to make it awkward for either of them if Chloe didn't feel the same way. They had to kiss, after all. She'd really feel like an ass if she quit for that reason so she kept quiet, torturing herself... and Jesse.

Friday morning dawned and Chloe awoke to overcast skies. She shut off her alarm and looked out the window. Drizzle dotted the glass and the clouds appeared to darken before her eyes, a bad omen. She threw back the covers and scooted to the edge of the bed. A shower, that would make her feel better, a long, hot shower. She was due at the theatre this afternoon, something she wasn't really looking forward to, especially knowing that they had dress rehearsal. This would be the moment that they actually had to follow through on the kiss.

She stripped down and donned her robe and then gathered her shower caddy containing everything she would need in the way of toiletries and draped a towel over her arm. She slipped her flip flops on as she left the room and wandered down the hallway in the direction of the stairs.

She reached the showers and chose an empty stall at the far end of the room and turned on the water. It's warmth started to fill the tiny space and she instantly felt a little more alive. There were only two things that could really wake her up in the morning and a shower was the less smutty of the two.

She was halfway through shampooing when she heard a voice. Her hands dropped to her sides and suds flowed down her body. Her heart beat painfully, and tears of frustration formed in her eyes. It was Beca's clear and bright voice that floated to her, steadily getting closer until it held steady no more than ten feet away.. She heard water turn on and then the interruption of the spray as Beca stepped into it.

This really was torture. It wasn't enough that she had to remember every contour of Beca's body from their earlier shower encounter; now she could imagine it even more vividly with her so near by. The only thing missing was Tom, thankfully. She rinsed her hair and hurried through the rest of her shower, listening as her body flushed with need. It was a familiar song, one she knew well. They had sang it together in practice one day when they were just fooling around and talking about their favorite music.

"Next thing we're touching,

you look at me,

it's like you hit me with lightning

Oh, everybody's starry eyed,

and everybody knows

Oh, everybody's starry eyed

and my body goes woah, oh oh"

Chloe could until only sit and listen until she got to the end of the song. Her back was against the shower wall and she was sliding down until she caught herself. She had to get out of here. It was like the universe was trying to stretch her until she broke, going mad.

She rushed into her robe and padded towards the exit. She had to pass Beca's shower on the way. She couldn't help but look over and see the silhouette of Beca's naked body as she washed herself clean. She was captured by the sight but soon enough Beca started the song over again and she snapped out of her reverie. "Oh god..." The words slipped from her mouth before she knew what was happening. She rushed out, walking as quickly as she could while avoiding slipping on the wet floor.

Beca's head shot from behind the shower curtain at the sound of Chloe's voice just in time to catch a view of her retreating form. "Chloe," she whispered. She wondered if she'd been there the whole time. So close by and yet Beca had been clueless. She found herself wishing that Chloe had just burst into her shower like before, but nothing was like before.