Heads Will Roll

by dandelion3455

Beca's start to her sophomore year is about to drastically change when a new Bella is decapitated at the hood party and sent rolling into Amy like a bowling ball. This is only the beginning. These murders-murders which, Beca reluctantly admits, would be hilarious were they not so terrifyingly real-show no sign of stopping. A serial killer has secretly infiltrated Barden.

5. Chapter 5- Fight Song

CHAPTER 5

Another day had passed since the fateful night that Bumper Allen had been strangled and hung up on the flagpole in the quad. Ironically, the hanging had occurred at the very same spot that a vigil had been held for the other two murdered students, mere hours before Bumper's murder. Police scanned the scene carefully, looking for any iota of evidence that could indicate who would be responsible for such inhumane actions.

As far as any of the Bellas had determined, the following facts were known about the serial killer. First, each murder (or incident involving body parts of a murdered victim) was accompanied by a related song. Casey Jody had been beheaded during the playing of 'Heads Will Roll.' Beck Harris had been murdered and dressed like a supermodel for people to find while 'Barbie Girl' played at the Treblemaker's party. Casey Jody's torso and fingers had each been discovered while 'Piece of Me' played on the radio and music box, respectively. Bumper Allen had been strangled in the night while dressed like Amy Winehouse during a time when the campus speakers blared 'Back to Black.' Whoever the serial killer was, they had an affinity for tying murders to songs.

Second, the serial killer appeared to be technologically adept. Sound systems were likely rigged for each of the first two murders. The campus radio station was tapped during the time that Beca and Chloe found Casey Jody's torso. The whole campus speaker system was rigged and tapped to accompany Bumper's murder.

Third, the serial killer appeared to be targeting the a-capella community. Each of the three murders had involved a different a-capella group on campus. The only two unaffected groups were the High Notes and Evermoist.

Fourth, and most alarmingly, the serial killer seemed to be especially tied in with the Bellas. Amy had been the one bowled over by ex-Bella Casey Jody's head. Beca and Chloe had discovered a kebab-ed Beck Harris on the front porch of the Treble house. Beca and Chloe had run over Casey's torso. The killer addressed the box of Casey's fingers to Beca. The killer had swiped Bumper and killed him right after he had left the Bella house party.

The girls, especially Chloe, lamented over these facts tirelessly. Nonetheless, the wear of these murders weighed heavily on everyone. The Bellas were feeling hopeless and frustrated, like sitting ducks in the middle of a shooting gallery. The irritation was beginning to manifest negatively. That morning, over breakfast, the witch-hunt began.

"I just don't understand why Bumper was murdered, but Jesse and Bumper got home safely, without a scratch or even a memory of losing Bumper along the way," Jessica thought aloud at the breakfast table.

"Yeah, Jesse of all people, should have realized that Bumper went missing on the way home. He's weirdly into horror movies... this sort of thing should have been on his radar," Ashley agreed with some suspicion.

"Guys, stop it," Beca complained, darting her eyes over nervously to where Amy sat sullenly at the table. Talking about Bumper seemed wrong somehow, given that Amy was clearly quite torn up about the whole incident. Amy had not slept a wink during the past night, fraught with distress over Bumper's untimely death. Beca knew this because she had sat awake all night with Amy.

"You're just saying that because you have history with Jesse," Aubrey openly accused. Beca had been hung up on that nerdy, movie-loving Treblemaker throughout her freshman year.

"What are you implying?" Beca seethed, turning on Aubrey.

Aubrey shrugged. "Just that you're pretty close with him, is all."

"She's not even dating him anymore," Chloe pointed out, a little too quickly.

"Yeah, if anything, it would be Amy we should suspect. She's the one who fought with Bumper right before he was-" Stacie began, finding herself unable to finish her thought.

"Really wanna start with me, Legs?" Amy asked. "Because I'm a black belt and can go all day."

"And yet, you say you're not violent," CR piped in.

"She didn't do it," Lilly whispered. Amazingly, everyone was able to hear Lilly.

"And what about you?" CR turned on Lilly. "You've got those voodoo dolls in your room and you're all obsessed with death."

"I think we're ignoring the obvious suspect here," Amy cut in, coming to Lilly's defense. "Ginger."

"What?" Beca spat.

"Yeah, she was absent right before each of the murders."

"Not this one with Bumper," Beca replied, her octave raising and failing to conceal her irritation with Amy.

"Oh, yeah? Well, where was she?" Amy asked, clasping her hands together and setting them on the breakfast table.

"Um..." Beca stammered, "She was with me. We were together. I mean, we were hanging out in the same room. Not together like, together, together."

Beca was losing it. She had been unsuccessfully squelching memories of her and Chloe making out for the past ten hours, and she was beyond her wit's end. Of course, stifling thoughts about Chloe had been made marginally easier by the fact that Bumper had been murdered the night before, but Beca still couldn't help but feel a jolt of electricity throughout her body every time she looked at Chloe. Or thought about Chloe.

"Smooth," Stacie snorted. Stacie remembered how smitten the two girls had seemed with one another the previous night.

"So maybe they both did it," Flo reasoned.

"Makes sense to me," Jessica shrugged.

"This is insane!" Chloe cried out.

"Yeah," Beca agreed with Chloe, not daring to look the other girl in the eyes. "Mostly because we haven't even talked about Aubrey yet. I mean isn't it weird that she's just... I don't know, back here this year?"

"Oh, the same way Chloe is back here this year?" Stacie challenged. If Beca was going to drag her new love interest through the mud, well, Stacie wouldn't refrain from doing the same thing with Beca's... well, sort-of love interest. Stacie wasn't quite sure where things stood with Chloe. "I certainly don't hear you raising any issues about that," Stacie added for good measure.

"Because she's..." Beca trailed off in frustration. Beca was coming dangerously close to saying something she shouldn't. Something that admitted her feelings for Chloe ran a little deeper than those of a platonic friend. Fuck.

"What?" Stacie begged Beca to finish her thought.

Chloe sighed, reasserting her voice in the conversation. "Ladies, we have to stop this. This is exactly what the killer wants us to do. The killer wants to tear us apart because it makes it easier to pick us off one by one."

The timing was perfect, as a knock on the door interrupted the conversation from further degeneration. Opening the front door, Kommissar stepped into the foyer, her boot-clad feet hitting the hard wood with loud, even thuds.

The conversation effectively screeched to a grinding halt as a door opened and a familiar set of footprints stalked through the foyer of the house. As she entered the kitchen, Kommissar called out, "Hello ladies and tiny mouse. Are we ready to go to our classes?"

"I'm not a tiny mouse," Beca fumed as Kommissar entered the kitchen, her eyes gleaming with nefarious playfulness as she locked eyes with Beca.

"Funny," Kommissar mused, "You look tiny to me."

"Yeah, well, you look... physically flawless," Beca finished lamely, internally cursing herself. Dammit, why was she so bad at insulting this woman?

Aubrey looked around, noticing the growing smile on Kommissar's face, as well as the crestfallen face of her best friend, Chloe. Aubrey, like Stacie, had been present last night when Chloe and Beca were openly flirting and basically having eye sex with one another. Aubrey didn't know what, if anything, had culminated from that interaction, and she didn't have any desire to find out. What she did know, was that Chloe was hung up on the little hobbit, for whatever reason. And Beca was not going to get away with hurting her best friend.

"Come on, let's go," Aubrey impulsively stood up from her sear grabbed Beca's arm, pulling her out of her chair and away from the kitchen and Kommissar.

"Dude, what was that?" Beca hissed, as Aubrey yanked Beca into the foyer.

"You're flirting with her," Aubrey answered simply, once they were outside of earshot from the other women.

"No, I'm not," Beca argued, rubbing her arm from where Aubrey had brutally dragged her out of the kitchen.

Aubrey raised her eyebrows at Beca. "Admittedly, it's about the worst flirting I've ever seen... But, the point stands. You can't do that in front of Chloe."

"Huh?" Beca's face reddened.

"I'm not going to do you the service of spelling this out for you, Mitchell. Especially after you implied that I might be murdering people. The only reason I'm even talking to you right now is because Chloe is my best friend." Silently, Aubrey added to herself, "And I don't want to see her get hurt."

"Oh, wanna play that game?" Beca laughed sharply. "Who accused me of being a serial killer first?" Beca challenged, standing her ground.

Beca's verbal attack carefully skirted around the issue of Chloe and… well, whatever last night had been. Beca had been unsuccessfully trying to stifle those thoughts. There was no way Chloe was in her right state of mind when they had kissed. There was no chance in hell that any of it meant more than a drunken mistake to Chloe. I mean, Chloe was perfect. She was literally every good quality wrapped into a gorgeous person. People like Chloe did not go for sullen, sarcastic assholes like Beca. And besides, even if she did, Beca would end up fucking it all up anyhow. Beca prided herself with the title of Queen of Fuck-ups.

At this point, Amy clamored into the foyer and joined in on the hushed conversation, loudly asking, "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Aubrey and Beca answered in total unison.

Beca brushed Amy's shoulder as she walked past, effectively excusing herself from the conversation.

"Short Stack," Amy called over Beca's shoulder, "Where are you going?"

"Back to bed. Away from you all," Beca grumbled, stalking up the stairs without looking behind her.

"No, you're not!" Aubrey called out futilely as Beca continued climbing the stairs. "You have chemistry in thirty minutes, and I'll keel over dead before I let you skip class!"

Amy's mouth contorted into that of a scrunched rubber band over hearing the words 'keel over dead.' A lob sob escaped from the Tasmanian.

"Amy, I'm sorry," Aubrey soothed, kicking herself over her poor choice of words. "Come here," Aubrey gestured, gently leading Amy into the living room to sit down.

Several minutes later, Chloe emerged from the kitchen, prepared to walk to Chemistry class.

"Chloe?" Aubrey asked, sitting on the couch as she hugged a sobbing Amy. "I've got my hands full down here, would you mind going upstairs and wrangling the hobbit? She mistakenly informs me that she's not going to class this morning."

"Of course!" Chloe replied a little too chipperly, not wasting a second before darting up the stairs to fetch Beca.

Chloe had been waiting for nearly eleven hours now to have a moment alone with Beca. Understandably, after everything that happened last night, Beca hadn't left Amy's side, which meant that Chloe and Beca had been unable to finish what they had started. Although she figured it might be wrong to be giddy in the face of recent events, she couldn't help but feel eager to have the younger girl to herself, even if for only a few moments.

"Becs?" Chloe called, entering into the bedroom. Chloe spotted a human-sized lump underneath the covers of Beca's bed. The human beneath the covers did not answer.

"Becs?" Chloe called again. The lump beneath the bed shifted somewhat, but still did not answer Chloe.

"Beca Ann Mitchell!" Chloe demanded sharply.

"Jesus Christ, what?" Beca shot back, sitting up in bed. "I'm like, trying to sleep here."

"Some greeting," Chloe huffed, feeling a little put off over Beca's rudeness. "You can't skip class. Aubrey's orders," Chloe reminded Beca, crossing her arms over her chest.

"She can drag me out of bed and across campus if she wants me to go so badly."

"Or I could," Chloe responded with a wink and a chuckle, sitting down at the edge of Beca's bed.

"You wouldn't," Beca warned.

"Try me," Chloe fired back, wrapping her hands around Beca's biceps. For someone that hated exercise, Beca was really quite toned, Chloe mused to herself.

A jolt shot from Beca's skin and pulsated throughout her whole body from where Chloe had touched her. Shit, Beca thought. She hoped Chloe hadn't noticed her flinching from where Chloe's grip tightened into Beca's arms. Beca's mind involuntarily began flooding with inappropriate thoughts involving Chloe.

Shaking her mind clear from those inappropriate thoughts, Beca reverted to sarcasm, her most successful method of deflection. "I didn't know Satan's messenger came with a vice grip."

"Well maybe Satan's messenger knows exactly who she's dealing with," Chloe replied, eliciting a small chuckle from Beca. Dammit, even her chuckle had to be sexy, Chloe thought, her eyes zeroing in around Beca's mouth.

"I wanna lick your teeth," Chloe admitted with astonishingly nonexistent shame.

"Wait, what?" Beca practically spat. That was not what Beca had been expecting Chloe to say. Beca's heart had just skipped several beats and suddenly, she was having trouble breathing.

"They're so white," Chloe continued smoothly, unaffected by Beca's shock. Chloe dipped her head to peer into Beca's mouth. What she would give to run her tongue across Beca's mouth.

"Dude!" Beca protested, snapping her mouth shut and pursing her lips together tightly.

"Oh, come on, Becs, it's a totally normal thing to ask."

"It's not remotely normal."

Chloe sighed heavily and looked intently at Beca's mouth. Her teeth were so perfect and white. And the way her incisors pointed at the ends was so sexy. The way her lips curled around her teeth when she was smiling was perfect.

Reality broke for a moment and Beca's heart hammered loudly in her chest. Beca caught herself gazing down at Chloe's lips. Was Chloe really… Beca snapped out of her… insanity. Yes, insanity. This is exactly what this was, Beca concluded.

"You're a psycho," Beca dismissed, shaking Chloe and turning to walk away. "Maybe you did commit those murders, after all," Beca mused sarcastically.

Chloe stiffened. "Don't… say that," she whispered quietly.

"What? I was kidding," Beca backtracked, turning around to get a look at the older girl.

Chloe looked upset. Pained, actually. Beca's stomach dropped as she took in the sight. Seeing Chloe upset made Beca's world feel like it was bottoming out. Beca hadn't meant to offend Chloe. She had only meant to get away from whatever Chloe was doing to her… because when Chloe looked at Beca like she wanted to kiss her, well… it was too much for Beca to handle.

"Well, it's not funny," Chloe responded coldly, grabbing her keys off her desk and turning around to leave the bedroom.

"Jesus," Beca cursed under her breath as she struggled to keep pace with Chloe, who was now walking out of the Bella house like she had a plane to catch.

Of course Beca had to go and say something to piss Chloe off. Not that Beca would expect anything less of herself. The girls said nothing to one another as they walked across campus, the silence overpowering the two until they arrived to class.

"I'm sorry," Beca whispered over to Chloe as they settled into Chemistry class. Beca was unsure how much longer she could bear Chloe's silent treatment. "I was a dick."

Chloe raised her eyebrows and said nothing as she stared steadfastly ahead at the whiteboard. Beca felt her stomach drop with a thud at Chloe's unenthused response to Beca's apology. Why the fuck, all of a sudden, did Beca care so damn much about Chloe's feelings? It was… insufferable. The chemistry class passed slowly, especially since Beca's lab partner was now giving her the silent treatment. Beca wasn't able to pay the least bit of attention to the chemistry lecture because all she could think about was how shitty she felt about Chloe feeling shitty. Chloe's bad mood was literally the only thing upon which Beca could focus. It almost made Beca eager to reconvene with the other Bella's in the cafeteria for lunch that day. Almost.

As Beca and an unusually quiet Chloe walked into the cafeteria that afternoon, they were greeted by a group of sullen Bella's. After the morning's witch-hunt, none of the girls were speaking to one another, but rather, were standing sullenly together for the sole fact that they were required to stand together. Worse yet, the Bella's were soon graced with the voices of their least favorite campus reporters. Fucking Gail and fucking John.

"Gail, nearly a week has passed since the unfortunately public lynching of Bumper Allen."

"Six days, to be exact. And let me tell, you the campus is reeling with-" Gail was suddenly interrupted by a random news reporter pushing past Gail to find a place to set up a televised interview.

"Excuse me," the reporter mumbled as he walked past Gail.

"Ow! So rude," Gail observed.

"This campus is just teaming with news reporters from around the nation," John complained.

"But remember, we were here first," Gail pointed out with thrill.

"Yes, for once in our lives, something has gone our way. We were, indeed, the first to crack the story around Barden's mysterious serial killer."

"And now Barden University, a once unrecognized university, has become the epicenter of the country's attention," Gail clamored.

"Particularly, the a-capella community, it seems. Someone has got it out for those guys."

"And girls."

"Let's not make this about 'feminism,'" John replied, using his fingers to air quote.

"Oh!" Gail cried, as she recognized the Bella's making their way to a cafeteria table. "There are the Barden Bellas right now! Beca! Fat Amy!"

"Fuck," Beca cursed under her breath.

"Remember, we aren't going to acknowledge them," Aubrey warned to group sternly, mostly directing the warning to Amy.

"Gotcha," Amy agreed, clicking her tongue and winking.

"Fat Amy! How are you handling the death of Bumper Allen?" John called over to Amy.

Unable to resist Aubrey's admonition, Amy fired back, "I'm gonna find that serial killer and ring him like a-"

"Amy!" Aubrey scolded harshly. "The police are handling the investigation thoroughly and we are just trying to stay out of the way."

"Thoroughly might not be my word of choice," Gail countered.

"Erm, yeah," Amy agreed, "If by 'thoroughly,' you mean like a bunch of untrained circus monkeys. If it were up to me, I'd-"

"It's not up to you, Fat Amy. Come on," Aubrey demanded.

"Why does she keep interrupting me?" Amy asked to no one in particular, searching the faces of the other Bellas for an answer.

Beca shrugged as she fell into line behind Aubrey and Amy.

The curse of unwanted company continued as the Bellas stumbled across none other than Evermoist in the cafeteria. Chloe couldn't help but display her look of deep contempt at the girls as they made their way over to the Bella's.

"Aw, how cute," Calamity chided. "The Barden Bellas are being toted to lunch."

The Bella's said nothing as they looked at the floor.

Smirking, Veracity continued, "Some murder the other night, huh? Strange he appeared to be leaving from your house when he got the axe... or the flagpole, right?"

"I'm gonna finish you like a sandwich for lunch!" Amy bellowed, jolting forward to make a jab at Veracity. Amy had to be held off by Beca, Aubrey, and CR, who struggled to keep her from breaking free from their grasps.

"Hah. You sloppy, uncoordinated bunch of losers couldn't even finish a set list," Charity teased.

"Oh, wanna bet?" Amy seethed through clenched teeth.

"I would, but your babysitters won't even let you out of the house to have a riff off," Calamity answered calmly, relishing every part of this moment. "And besides, I'm sure you're still too busy wallowing in the death of your pathetic ex-boyfriend."

"Joke's on you, he's not my ex-boyfriend," Amy fired back.

"Isn't he?" Calamity asked rhetorically. "Let's see. He was your boyfriend, and then he died. I think that makes him an ex, don't you?"

"AHHHH-" Amy began charging full speed ahead toward Calamity, knocking the smug brunette off her feet in one smooth sweep. No amount of strength from Beca, Aubrey, or CR could challenge Amy's brute strength in this moment.

Calamity's tray of food went flying high in the air, almost as if in slow motion. Several seconds later, a sandwich and the contents from a bowl of soup landed in Flo's hair.

After standing in stunned silence for a second or two, Flo yelled out, observing the now-present stains on her clothing. Flo began yelling expletives in her native tongue, charging at the other four Evermoist girls. Charity caught Flo's arm easily, smearing a piece of pie into her jacket while the other three girls looked on, laughing evilly. Calamity, meanwhile, was wrestling Amy on the dirty floor of the cafeteria.

Lilly, CR, and Stacie exchanges glances, each shrugging, as if to say, 'What the hell? Let's do this food fight.' In no time at all, Lilly pulled a slingshot out of her pocket, scooped the bowl of peas from Beca's lunch tray, and darted away to a remote corner of the cafeteria.

Stacie and CR, meanwhile, unspokenly decided to stay out of any physical altercations with the Evermoist girls. CR helped Stacie unwrap the foil from her hotdogs and Stacie launched the hotdogs at Charity, the closest-standing Evermoist member.

"Yeah, take that!" CR taunted, as the first hotdog hit Charity squarely in the face.

Mere moments later, a steady stream of peas began launching across the room and hitting the Evermoist girls in the face and hair, like tiny bullets.

"What the fuck?" Veracity screamed, turning around to locate the source of the flying peas.

"This. Is. Unacceptable," Aubrey seethed with anger. These girls were out of control. All of them. Aubrey hiccupped, foreseeing an imminent vomit. Suddenly, Aubrey was hit in the chest with a cheeseburger, the ketchup and mustard smearing itself on the front of her dress.

"No, fuck that. This is WAR!" Aubrey bellowed loudly, opening her containers of salad dressing, and hurling them at Evermoist without discretion. Unleashing her anger prevented Aubrey from vomiting. All in all, this was probably a better outcome, Aubrey figured.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Amy managed to scream out. She was now sitting on Calamity's legs, preventing the smaller girl from wriggling away.

"You. LOSERS!" Calamity yelled in broken syllables, as she struggled to writhe free of Amy's hold.

"HEY!" Ashley barked, uncapping the lid to Jessica's fruit smoothie, as she stalked over to where Calamity laid helplessly on the ground. "Don't you ever call MY FAMILY losers!" Ashley poured the contents of the smoothie on Calamity's face, shaking the cup to make sure it all landed in her hair. Calamity coughed and spat, trying to overcome the purple liquid now running down her face.

Beca, meanwhile, was grabbing fistfuls of macaroni and pelting Serenity, while Serenity chucked pieces of broccoli at Beca. Between throws, Beca called out to Calamity, "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!"

Chloe looked around the cafeteria. The girls were now engaged in full-fledged warfare as they flung food, liquid, and condiments at one another, all-the-while yelling obscenities. Pieces of broccoli, peas, and lettuce clung to Chloe's body.

After several more moments, Charity managed to wiggle free of Amy's clutches, quickly scrambling to her feet and charging Chloe. Chloe's eyes widened with abject fear as she braced herself for the inevitable. Before Calamity could manage to make impact with Chloe, she heard a loud bang and Calamity collapsed to the cafeteria floor with a thud.

Chloe shifted her gaze to the left and saw Beca standing next to her, triumphantly wielding a cafeteria tray. As Calamity laid, groaning in pain, Beca leaned over her. Sharply, Beca warned, "If you ever mess with her or try to lay a finger on her again, I promise it won't be a fucking lunch tray that I hit you with."

Before matters could escalate further, a man in a suit came pushing his way through the cafeteria, which was now completely littered with food. The entire cafeteria, it appeared, had joined in the fun. Every student was now engaged in the biggest food fight that Barden University had ever seen. Even the reporters, it seemed, had been hit by flying pieces of food.

"Beca!" Mr. Mitchell called sharply to his daughter. His daughter, who was holding a cafeteria tray as a weapon and standing over another college student, who was crumpled on the floor.

"Why in the world do I always find you in the middle of this stuff?"

"Poor timing?" Beca responded meekly.

Mr. Mitchell sighed with exasperation before demanding the food fight cease fire.

Kommissar barged through the crowds of food-stained reporters and Barden students as she made her way over to the Bella's.

"What happened here?" Mr. Mitchell asked.

"They were trying to fight us," Amy answered, shrugging.

"Believe me, dad, it was their fault," Beca agreed.

"I'm not sure what to believe anymore."

"You don't trust your own daughter?" Beca asked, her tone laced with annoyance.

"I know what you're capable of," Mr. Mitchell muttered, rubbing his temples.

"And what the hell does that mean?" Beca challenged.

"That you have a way of instigating these types of scuffles."

Kommissar cut in, "It was not their fault. I saw with my own eyes. That shabby, brunette girl from Evermoist hit Beca with a lunch plate."

"A tray?" Mr. Mitchell asked in disbelief.

"Yes. She, how do you say, whacked her head with the lunch plate," Kommissar lied.

"Really?" Mr. Mitchell asked skeptically. He shifted his gaze to Beca, who was holding the offending lunch tray. This account was not adding up.

"I am sure of it," Kommissar affirmed.

Beca's dad considered for a moment, before apparently accepting Kommissar's telling of the events.

"Well... I guess, I owe you an apology, Beca Bear," he apologized.

"Save it," Beca muttered.

"I'm sorry I assumed the worst. Clearly, you were all just looking out for one another."

"We're family," Flo responded with a shrug.

"Right. Well, keep your heads up, ladies. We'll get through this yet. Ms. Kommissar? With me, please?" Mr. Mitchell requested.

"Of course," she agreed. Turning to the Bellas, Kommissar concluded with a sly smirk, "Bye, bye, tiny mice."

The Bellas watched in disbelief as Mr. Mitchell and Kommissar exited the cafeteria. Looking around them, they noticed that the cafeteria was in pure shambles. Food was everywhere. The students and news reporters were all picking stray items of food from their hair and clothing. The Evermoist girls were picking themselves up and high-tailing it out of the cafeteria. After a few moments of stunned silence, Stacie broke the silence.

"Okay, what the flying fuck?" Stacie asked. "She definitely just lied for us."

"Yeah, thank God," Jessica heaved.

"I don't trust her motives," Ashley tutted, "I don't know what she's up to, but I know she's up to something."

"Ladies?" Aubrey asked. "You know what this all means, right?"

The Bellas said nothing, but looked at Aubrey expectantly.

"We've got a lot of reasons to distrust the world out there," Aubrey continued, "And if we're going to make it through, we have to stick together."

"No more witch hunts," Chloe added.

"Agreed," CR interjected. "I know all of y'all, and none of you are capable of what this killer has done."

"Hands in, aca-bitches," Aubrey demanded.

As the girls placed their hands on top of one another's, Chloe locked eyes with Beca and for the first time in hours, they smiled at one another. Beca had just defended her by hitting Calamity with a lunch tray. And if Chloe was being honest, it was more than a little hot. I mean, not that violence was ever hot, but Beca had just defended her. Chloe had hope yet that she would finally get her right where she wanted her.

The rest of the afternoon passed far less eventfully as the Bella's finished their afternoon classes and headed back to the Bella house. The intense drama of the past eighteen hours, it seemed, had just melted away. Of course, thoughts of the murders were not far from anyone's mind, especially Amy's, but for the time being, everything felt like it was going to be okay. Pursuant to Aubrey's strong insistence, the Bella's proceeded with Bella rehearsal that evening. Chloe and Beca, who were now talking, though not about their kiss from the prior night, led a successful rehearsal. The practice concluded and the girls eased into their easy routine of getting along with one another.

Beca, despite feeling resolved over the Bella conflict from earlier, was still desperately trying to avoid intimate moments with Chloe. Or looking at Chloe for too long. Or thinking about Chloe for too long. Because doing those things made Beca involuntarily feel… well, things she did not want to feel. Groaning, Beca tried to shake herself from whatever insanity she was currently suffering.

"Okay," Beca thought to herself, reasoning desperately to find a solution to her insanity. "I'm just going to force myself to look at Chloe right now. And I'm going to feel nothing. And then all of these thoughts are just going to go away. Because I feel nothing. It's going to be great."

Beca stole a casual glace over at Chloe, who was engrossed in conversation with Flo and CR. The next moments felt utterly surreal, almost as if Beca were living outside of her own body. Her skin tingled with goose bumps, not that she particularly noticed, as her field of vision narrowed focus to just one other person in the world. Chloe. Chloe tipped back her head and laughed, and Beca could swear it was the sweetest sound she had ever heard. Light radiated from her soul when she smiled, the bridge of her nose endearingly crinkling as her light blue eyes sparkled radiantly. It was a melody, a harmony, a symphony-all of it. She was music, coursing strongly through Beca's veins, settling in every depth of her being.

Beca's breath caught in the throat as Chloe approached her. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? Beca had spoken to Chloe no less than a thousand times, so why did this time feel so different? Oh God. Beca's brain fumbled around as she felt her cheeks flushing. She had just been staring creepily at Chloe for an unspecified amount of time. Beca sincerely hoped that Chloe hadn't picked up on this.

"Like what you see?" Chloe asked flirtatiously as she approached Beca, throwing in a wink for good measure.

Shit. Chloe had picked up on it. Beca's cheeks grew even redder, causing Chloe's grin to grow even wider. She wasn't sure what she had done to elicit this response from Beca, but whatever it was, she wanted to do it again and again. She loved seeing Beca this way. It was almost if-

"I think I must be sick," Beca blurted out, bringing her hands up to feel the heat radiating off her cheeks. There was no other explanation why she felt so totally off kilter right now, right?

Chloe, recoiled, all of her coyness dissipating as she looked at Beca with concern. "Sick? What's wrong?" Chloe asked, reaching her hand out to check Beca's forehead for a fever.

Beca jumped back before Chloe's hand could make contact with her skin. No way she was going to let that happen again. "It's..." Beca trailed off, trying to recover, "Stress. Probably."

"Oh," Chloe responded, definitely noticing that Beca had gone out of her way to avoid Chloe's touch. Chloe frowned, twisting her lips together. Beca was... something was different. And it wasn't the "stress."

"Yeah," Beca continued, seeing Chloe's crestfallen face. For some odd reason, Chloe's frown stung Beca right in the heart. She wasn't sure why, but all of a sudden, it felt very important to mend things. "But in case it isn't, I'm gonna... go lie down. I really don't wanna get you sick. After everything. I, uh, want you to stay well."

Chloe's face lit up somewhat over Beca's concern, although she still hated that Beca wasn't feeling well. "That's sweet of you," Chloe observed with a kind smile.

"Yeah, that's me," Beca babbled awkwardly, internally sighing with relief that Chloe was no longer unhappy. Beca could now breathe a little more easily. Again, why she cared so strongly, she did not know. "So, um, I'm gonna," Beca pointed to the stairs, excusing herself from the conversation.

"Let me know if you need anything, okay babe?" Chloe called out as Beca began making her way up the stairs.

Beca's face grew red a second time while she tried to ignore the weird lurching feeling in her stomach. Dammit. What the hell was happening to her? Sure, Chloe was throwing her for a loop, but why? Why now? And what did she have to do to make it go away? Because she was all but sure that Chloe wasn't getting these weird heart-jumping moments over Beca.

By the time Chloe made it into bed that evening, Beca was already asleep. In her own bed, Chloe was disappointed to notice. Chloe had become quite used to snuggling up with Beca each evening. She had even relished it. Of course, it was possible that Beca really was sick and was trying to prevent Chloe from catching any illnesses. It was also possible, Chloe thought with a frown, that Beca was avoiding her after their heated make-out session from the prior night.

Reluctantly, Chloe got ready for bed and climbed into her own bed, alone. Neither girl slept restfully that night. Chloe tossed and turned, unable to get fully comfortable without a Beca to cuddle. It didn't help matters that Beca was whimpering and moaning in her sleep, presumably from nightmares. The next morning, the girls woke up and got ready for classes. It seemed to Chloe that Beca was feeling better from whatever mystery illness had overtaken her the previous evening.

Chloe watched Beca lacing up her shoes. Not being one to successfully mask her feelings, Chloe blurted out, "I miss you."

Beca's face froze in place and her eyes remained fixed on a spot on the floor. "You see me all the time," Beca answered, casually and evenly dismissing Chloe's implications.

"I know, but I still miss you," Chloe restated, intent on getting to the bottom of matters with Beca. "We aren't sleeping together anymore," she remarked.

Beca inhaled a sharp breath, not daring to look at Chloe. "I- uh, yeah. That bed is tiny."

Chloe nodded letting her eyes drop to the floor. It almost looked like she was disappointed or something, Beca mused. Dammit. For like, the millionth time recently, Beca had said something to make Chloe unhappy. And of course, Beca knew well enough by this point to not be surprised by the physical lurch in her stomach over having made Chloe upset.

"I just… don't want you to have to keep dealing with me cramming in there with you," Beca added hastily, hoping Chloe's mood would improve if she thought Beca was looking out for her best interests.

"Well, thanks, I guess," Chloe responded dully, turning around to leave for class.

For the second time that week, Beca was stuck practically chasing Chloe to class, while internally lamenting over the fact that she couldn't fucking keep it together with Chloe. I mean, was she really all that much to blame? They had made out, for God's sake and Beca didn't know what that meant and it was fucking weird. Of course, Beca could always talk with Chloe about it… but that would require opening up. And that was fucking weirder. Beca opted for the easier option. Sitting next to a silent Chloe throughout the duration of class and internally dying over the fact that Chloe was upset. The girls did not speak again until Bella practice that afternoon.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," CR pointed out to Beca, noticing that the smaller girl was scowling into outer space, not bothering to participate in a single activity that evening.

"Maybe she woke up in the wrong bed altogether," Chloe added with a jab.

Beca's eyes narrowed as she looked up at the other girls, who were all observing Beca with curiosity.

"What's wrong, Short Stack?" Amy asked. "I figured if one of us here was going to go all postal, it should be me. Bumper was my shack stack, if you know what I mean."

Aubrey cut in, "Seriously though, Beca, you've been more than checked out for the whole practice, so far. What gives?"

"I can't fucking… think right now, I'm so…" Beca trailed off, frustration obviously getting the better of her.

She couldn't fucking think and it was all Chloe's fault. Every single moment, thoughts of Chloe were swimming through her head, and she couldn't make it stop. Every single time she so much as glanced at Chloe, her heart felt like it was stopping dead in her chest and jolts of God knows what would pulsate throughout her body. Every single time Chloe was mad or disappointed with her, which admittedly had been a lot over the past two days, her mind would spin itself into a warp of self-deprecation. And all of it, was… it was so overwhelming. And Beca didn't understand any part of it.

"Emotionally overwhelmed?" Flo supplied, trying to be helpful.

Beca frowned, looking over at Flo. She had no idea of the half of it.

"You could always talk about it, you know," Chloe ventured, offering Beca an olive branch to mend her earlier avoidances.

Beca flinched, not allowing herself to look over at Chloe. She couldn't. It would just… make her feel more things and she did not want to deal with feeling more things.

"I'm fine," Beca offered simply, choosing not to accept Chloe's offer. "Thanks, guys."

Chloe rolled her eyes, a sign of frustration that was not lost on the other Bellas.

"Sounds like trouble in paradise," Stacie muttered under her breath.

Chloe, having overheard the comment snapped. She was suddenly through with whatever bullshit Beca was offering today. Yes, Chloe and Beca had made out the other night. And yes, it had been everything Chloe hoped it would be. Clearly, Chloe could see that Beca hadn't felt the same way. And that stung, really, really badly. But Chloe was adult enough to be able to handle that rejection, even if it was coming from the person she adored most in this entire world. What Chloe couldn't handle, however, was Beca's complete unwillingness to move on and treat Chloe like a friend. Chloe could never accept the idea that her friendship with Beca would end.

"Are you avoiding me?" Chloe asked Beca, crossing her arms over her chest.

Beca averted her eyes and stared at the ground. "No."

"That's a pile of shit," Stacie barged in, offering her two cents on the matter.

"I will actually hit you," Beca seethed, glaring daggers at Stacie.

Stacie took two steps back and swallowed. Somehow, Beca's threat seemed real. "I was just..."

"She was just telling the truth," Chloe finished, not shying away from Beca's intimidation games.

"Great. So you're ganging up on me." Beca rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we are, does it matter?" Chloe asked, taking a step closer to Beca. Softening her tone, Chloe continued, "You're avoiding me." Her voice almost sounded pained.

Beca squeezed her eyes shut and sighed deeply. Shit. She had upset Chloe. Again. After collecting her thoughts for several moments, Beca opened her eyes, still staring at the ground.

"Sorry, I just- I'm not good with words. I think I'm going through something."

"With Chloe?" Stacie asked, apparently not bothered by the fact that she was being incredibly intrusive and nosy.

"Dude, can you like... not be here right now?" Beca asked with irritation.

"Sorry for helping you get your feelings out," Stacie answered with mock remorse, before back-stepping away from the conversation.

Within moments, the other Bellas cleared the room, giving their two co-captains the space to talk about whatever it was about which they were fighting.

Chloe picked up right where Stacie left off. "You're going through something?"

"No. Yes. Sort of... I don't know. It's different."

"Different, how?" Chloe asked with curiosity. "Did I do something to upset you?" Chloe absentmindedly reached out and rubbed Beca's arm.

Beca flinched at the touch, causing Chloe to retract her arm with a frown. Beca internally berated herself a second time, both for flinching and for feeling a wave of electric shock at Chloe's touch.

"No," Beca affirmed, looking Chloe square in the eyes. Dammit, there was that electrically charged feeling again, coursing strongly throughout her body. Beca squelched the feeling before continuing, "I'm not upset. I'm... something else and I don't know what."

Chloe's heart leapt as she felt herself building up with hope. Chloe knew it was pointless to hope that Beca actually had an iota of the feelings that Chloe had for Beca.

Can I ask you something?" Beca asked hesitantly.

"Sure, ask away," Chloe replied with a chipper tone, glad that Beca was finally opting to open up with Chloe.

Beca opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The nerves overtaking her, Beca backtracked, "Never mind. It's stupid."

"I'm sure it's not stupid," Chloe reasoned, rubbing Beca's arm reassuringly.

Sighing Beca replied, "Let's just forget about it."

"Okay," Chloe agreed reluctantly, letting her arm drop from Beca's.

Beca missed the physical contact with Chloe immediately, sending her mind into a further tailspin. As Beca intently studied a patch on the ground, her mind kept running in circles. Why did Chloe suddenly have this odd effect on Beca? What about her had changed? How could she make it un-change?

"You're still thinking about it," Chloe observed, after a few moments of silence.

Chloe was right. Beca wasn't going to stop thinking about it. Slowly glancing up at Chloe, Beca cautiously met her beautiful eyes. Beca's heart lurched at the sight of her. Chloe was undeniably right. This problem wasn't going away. Every time Beca looked at Chloe, this problem was going to resurface, perhaps even stronger than the time before. These odd... feelings were going to come barreling back, time and time again. Beca had to bite the bullet.

Finally, Beca agreed, "Yeah. It's... I can't get my head around it."

"Maybe I could help you get your head around it if you told me," Chloe pointed out kindly.

"I... Ah. Fine," Beca replied, giving up the fight. "But promise you won't think I'm crazy?" She pleaded, her eyes searching Chloe's for the reassurance she desperately needed.

"I would never think that. I promise," Chloe answered gently, grabbing Beca's hand and rubbing the back of her hand with her thumb.

Beca's skin prickled at the contact and how it felt to have Chloe's thumb caressing her hand. Shit. This was becoming really fucking problematic, Beca thought, as she tried and failed to simultaneously wrestle the pleasant tightening in her lower stomach and the panicking nerves she was experiencing over the anticipation of opening up to Chloe. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? I mean, Chloe had just promised to listen without judgment.

"Okay. Here goes," Beca swallowed nervously. Metaphorically shaking her head clear, Beca started, "So have you ever had a thing happen where someone you know becomes... different, somehow? Like, you know they're the same person but you just start seeing them differently one day for some reason?"

Chloe bit her bottom lip. She thought she knew what Beca was getting at but wasn't sure. "Could you explain?" She asked.

"Yeah," Beca backtracked, starting again, "So have you ever looked at someone, someone you're close to, and suddenly, they're everywhere and everything? All the time. And you know they haven't changed and you know you haven't changed, but you can't understand why it suddenly feels like their presence in your life is painfully vital to your own being. Like you don't feel like yourself anymore without them. But the weirdest part is, it all feels kind of good. Like really good. So I mean this all to say... I don't know what's happening to me," Beca finished in a small voice, clearly conveying the helpless state in which she found herself.

Chloe nodded, understanding, while internally, her heart felt like it was leaping out of her chest with joy. Her stomach filled with butterflies as she felt a warmth spread throughout her body. Chloe's face spread into a gentle smile when she turned her gaze to rest upon Beca's furrowed look of confusion, raising her eyebrows at Beca and not saying a word. Did she really need to tell Beca the obvious?

"No, no. It's not love," Beca fought beck stubbornly, as if she could read Chloe's mind. "It's this... deep friendship where you want to always be with them and sure, the thought of kissing them is... Dammit. I- I..." Beca trailed off, realization suddenly dawning on her as her face fell.

Again, Chloe said nothing, but her grin grew even wider. It took every ounce of willpower not to pounce on Beca in this moment and smother her with her lips, but Chloe somehow resisted. Beca needed to make this realization on her own.

"Jesus Christ. I am," Beca agreed, after several seconds of silence. "Dammit," Beca added harshly. Love? How on earth did love sweep under Beca's radar so unexpectedly and change everything? This was inconvenient to say the least.

"I uh, I need to..." Beca began walking out of the living room, her fingers running through her hair.

Chloe's face fell. She felt any chance that Beca had been about to come around had just flown out the window. Beca, meanwhile, was also reeling. These feelings were... unexpected to say the least. That her fixation, for lack of better word, was actually love. She knew something weird was happening with Chloe, but she never considered it was love. In hindsight it was probably obvious, Beca could admit.

"How'd it go?" Stacie asked, catching Beca right as she left the living room. The girls had been polite enough not to intrude on Beca and Chloe's conversation, but that didn't mean Stacie wasn't polite enough not to ask what had happened.

"I need…" Beca trailed off, unable to complete a sentence, as her mind was reeling over the fact that she was in love. With Chloe. Beca was in love with the most perfect, beautiful, wonderful person in this entire world.

"Space?" Aubrey offered, for once saying something that Beca considered helpful.

"Yes," Beca agreed readily.

"To get to the bottom of whatever fight you're in with Chloe?" Amy asked.

"We're not… fighting."

"Fucking?" Stacie asked evenly, nodding her head as though that were the only other logical option.

"Stacie!" Aubrey admonished.

"What?" Stacie shrugged. "I'm sure we're all wondering it…"

The other girls shrugged and nodded reluctantly.

"We are neither fighting nor fucking," Beca clarified, steeling a digging glare at Stacie.

"Then you've sorted out your issues with Chloe?" Aubrey asked, circling the conversation back around to its relevancy.

"Not exactly. I need… space."

Aubrey sighed. Of course, Aubrey adored Chloe. She was her best friend in the world. And in a strange way, Aubrey kind of adored the hobbit too, though she would be caught dead before ever admitting it. Mostly, Aubrey wanted to see them happy, and clearly they wouldn't be happy until they had whatever talk they needed to have. Aubrey could admit that serious talks were often hard to accomplish with nine other girls in close proximity.

"I'll find you and Chloe some space," Aubrey offered resolutely.

"Woah, that's not exactly what I meant by 'need space,'" Beca back-peddled.

"I know what you meant," Aubrey began. "And that's not an option," she continued, scrolling intently though her phone, finding the contact she needed. Clicking on the green 'call' button, Aubrey waited for the other voice to pick up the phone. This person owed Aubrey a favor and today, he was going to repay that favor.

"Luke?" Aubrey asked, as the other voice picked up the phone. "Beca has a shift over there at the radio station this evening, right?"

Beca stood in stunned silence as she tried to figure out exactly what was going on. What was Aubrey getting at, here?

"No?" Aubrey asked with mock surprise, a few moments later. "Well she told me that she did. And to be honest with you, I think the stress from recent events has really gotten to her."

Beca opened her mouth to object, but Aubrey silenced her with a finger.

"She needs to get away from it all, I'm sure you can understand," Aubrey continued. Pausing, Aubrey listened with a frown as the voice from the other side of the phone talked.

"Well, tell him to leave, can him, I don't care. Beca is working this evening. You owe me, if you catch my drift." Aubrey hung up the phone, satisfied with herself over a job well done. Nobody said 'no' to Aubrey Posen.

"You owe me?" Stacie was the first one to speak, smirking as she waited for Aubrey to spill the beans on Luke. Stacie wasn't a jealous person, mostly because she had no reason to be. Whatever had occurred in the past with this Luke guy was of no importance to Stacie.

"Sick. Not like that," Aubrey explained with disgust. "He was my lab partner in Organic Chemistry. And he would be retaking it this year if it weren't for me."

"Okay, whatever," Beca dismissed with a wave of her hand, "But what the fuck just happened?" She seethed. She was having enough of a difficult time today without Aubrey's meddling.

"Kind of dense, aren't you?" Aubrey replied sarcastically. "You're working at the station tonight," Aubrey explained. "And of course you can't go alone, so you'll go with Chloe."

Two hours later, Beca and Chloe found themselves dropped off at the radio station. Both girls were a jumble of nerves, each for different reasons. Chloe was jittering with nervous excitement over the prospect that Beca might finally come out and express her feelings for Chloe. Beca, meanwhile, knew that she needed to finally come out and express her feelings for Chloe, or ensue the wrath of Aubrey.

The first hour at the radio station passed rather uneventfully, with Beca occasionally turning the tracks while Chloe bumbled around, nervously chattering about everything under the sun. Beca was concerned that she wouldn't have the chance to get Chloe to stop talking long enough to tell her what Beca had on her mind. This dilemma resolved itself unfavorably when the girls received a call to the radio station several minutes later.

Picking up the phone, Beca stated, "Hello? You're on the air. Who am I speaking with?"

The girls, both now sitting in the DJ booth, could hear indecipherable chatter in the background. "...Jane," a girl answered.

Chloe swore she knew the source of this voice, but she couldn't place where.

Rolling her eyes, Beca continued, "Cool. Jane, so what do you want to hear?" It wasn't unusual to get these kinds of calls into the station.

"Um," Jane began nervously, "Could you play something for someone who has feelings for someone else but..." Jane dropped off. Beca and Chloe heard more indecipherable chatter.

"What?" They heard Jane ask to one of the voices in the background. "Oh."

To Beca, Jane continued, "Something for someone who doesn't know how to confess their feelings for someone else."

"Yeah," Beca explained with reluctance, "I don't normally do these kinds of requests." Beca normally only took requests for specific songs.

Beca and Chloe heard more talking in the background. It almost sounded to Chloe like Jane was being coached on what to say.

"Pretend you're playing something for C-" Jane stopped abruptly mid-sentence. "Shit, for the person you like."

Beca pursed her lips together. Something about this scenario seemed altogether odd. It sounded like Jane wasn't really Jane, but rather, was calling Beca on purpose to provoke her. Suddenly, the pieces fell together and it dawned on Beca.

"Flo?" Beca asked into the phone.

"It's Jane..." The voice responded without conviction.

Beca remained silent.

"Okay, it's me," Flo confessed, apparently deciding to drop her charade. "I'm really sorry, they made me do this," she apologized to Beca.

"I know," Beca groaned. Her friends were both a blessing and a curse, it seemed. "I'm sure Amy's somewhere in the room. Probably Stacie, too."

"She's smart." Beca and Chloe could hear Stacie from the background.

"Hi, Short Stack," Amy greeted, her voice booming over the phone. "Just trying to finally sort out your feelings for-"

Click. Beca hastily disconnected the phone call. Beca froze with panic, her finger still hovering over the button on the phone.

"Feelings, huh?" Chloe mused knowingly.

"They're on crack, probably. I seriously don't know what they're talking about."

"Want to talk about it?" Chloe suggested gently. Both she and Beca knew that Beca was lying.

"Nope," Beca replied, reverting back to her old ways of not opening up.

"Becs," Chloe complained, placing her hand gently over Beca's hand.

A pleasant electric charge jolted from Beca's hand and coursed throughout her body. Right. That feeling. Love. Beca had to talk about this with Chloe. Because apparently love wasn't something that went away so easily, despite Beca's efforts.

"Fine," Beca began, with all the enthusiasm of a cat being dragged into a shower. "So the other night."

"Uh huh," Chloe goaded, encouraging Beca to continue.

"We… um…" Beca trailed off awkwardly.

"Made out?" Chloe finished Beca's thought with direct bluntness.

"Yeah," Beca exhaled, acutely aware of how nervous she suddenly found herself.

Beca searched Chloe's eyes for a hint, looking for any indication of how Chloe felt about any of this.

"I know! It was aca-awesome!" Chloe exclaimed excitedly, squeezing Beca's hand a little more tightly.

Beca involuntarily chuckled, reveling in how absolutely adorable Chloe was in this moment. Collecting herself, Beca continued, "I don't normally do that. You know… kiss my friends."

A crease developed between Chloe's eyes, as her earlier excitement waned. "Are you saying you regret what happened?"

"No. I don't at all," Beca clarified quickly, not wanting to give the impression that her kiss with Chloe had been anything less than perfect.

"Me either," Chloe responded softly, her mega-watt smile gracing her face, yet again.

"I gathered that from your earlier response," Beca replied with a cocky smirk.

Chloe smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Arrogance is a good look on you, Becs."

"Shut up," Beca quipped back.

"Make me." Chloe's eyes took a predatory look as she raked her gaze from Beca's eyes, down to her lips, and back up again.

Beca's heart lurched in her chest and she suddenly felt like all of the air had been sucked out of her. Without thinking, Beca lurched forward, capturing Chloe's lips with her own. Chloe smiled into the kiss, bringing her hand up to Beca's cheek. The girls continued kissing one another, each unable to pull themselves away.

Chloe swiped her tongue along Beca's bottom lip, seeking entrance. Beca opened her mouth, Chloe's tongue clashing with her own. Fuck, this felt better than any feeling Beca had experienced in her entire life. Beca was kissing her friend. Chloe. And Chloe was kissing her back. And now Chloe was bringing her lips down and planting kisses on Beca's neck, easily finding and honing in on that one spot that drove Beca crazy. Involuntarily, a deep gutted moan escaped Beca's lips. Fuck. Beca's cheeks reddened as she jolted away from Chloe.

"Okay, we have to stop," Beca panted, jumping up and breaking the kiss with Chloe, despite her inner desires screaming at her to continue letting Chloe do exactly what she had been doing.

"Why?" Chloe asked, clearly confused. Hadn't everything been going perfectly?

"Because, I told you. I don't do this. I don't even know what this is," Beca confessed, running a hand through her hair.

"Becs, is it really so important that you know what this is?" Chloe asked gently.

"Kind of… You're like my best friend, dude," Beca confessed. "I just don't want to… Please don't give me that look, this isn't easy for me either. I just…"

"I think I understand," Chloe apologized, looking down at the floor to avoid crying. "I'm sorry that I got too hopeful about things."

Beca looked on at Chloe, completely dumbfounded. Was she about to cry? Was she really disappointed about… this? I mean, surely a girl like Chloe could get any person she wanted. And she wanted… Beca? Beca couldn't begin to understand why that might be.

"I've imagined thousands of similar variations of you and me getting together over the past year," Chloe stated, filling the silence with her explanation. "And every time… I guess I just assumed…" she trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

In all of her imagined variations of Beca and Chloe getting together, it hadn't ended. Beca wanted her back. They stayed together, through all of it. They got old together. They woke up in each other's arms, they bickered over what throw pillow to buy for the living room, and they did adorable, cheesy things like sharing desserts and having picnics. Chloe didn't want to reckon with the possibility that those dreams would come tumbling down and shatter before her eyes.

"You surely don't want-"

Chloe cut Beca off. Softly, but resolutely, Chloe told Beca, "You know what I want. You know where I stand. I want you, all of you, over and over again, every day. But if you tell me that you don't want me that way, I'll understand. I'll back off and we can go back to being just friends."

"I love you," Beca blurted out suddenly. Beca turned on her heels to face Chloe, sharply inhaling as she studied Chloe's face for the inevitable reaction.

Chloe's eyes widened, bringing her head up to meet Beca's gaze from across the room. Oh my God. Did that mean that... Chloe's face lightened, giving Beca the confidence to continue.

Brazenly closing the distance between them, Beca took several steps towards Chloe. "I'm in love with you," Beca continued softly, but with every confidence in the world. "Like, probably forever."

Chloe's heart practically leapt out of her chest. This was the moment she had wanted to happen for so long. Here Beca was, looking at her like she was the only person that mattered. Confessing her love. Without wasting another second, Chloe stood up and captured Beca in her arms. She squeezed Beca tightly, relishing the best thing that had ever been hers.

The feel of Chloe's lips against Beca's lips was indescribably perfect. Beca almost couldn't believe it had taken this long to realize what she was missing. It was fireworks, only better. Beca had never felt this way in her entire life, she was certain. Chloe was... perfect. Her lips felt perfect.

Chloe responded to Beca's action, deepening the kiss as she grabbed the back of Beca's head, pulling her closer. Beca's lips against her own jolted something within her. Suddenly, Chloe needed Beca, all of her, in as close proximity as was possible. Beca's lips worked against Chloe's steadily, providing the exact amount of pressure to drive her senses wild as they continued kissing one another slowly and passionately.

The better part of a minute passed before the girls pulled apart. Pulling herself away just enough to meet Beca's gaze, Chloe cupped Beca's cheeks in her hand before responding.

"I love you, too. So much, Becs," Chloe told Beca. Not that Beca doubted it from her response, but Chloe wanted to finally say it. She wanted Beca to know exactly how she felt.

"Come here," Beca smiled, pulling Chloe into her arms.

"Does this mean I can sleep with you tonight?" Beca mumbled into Chloe's ear, her fact nuzzled into Chloe's neck. "In your bed, I mean. Not…"

"The answer is yes to either," Chloe replied half-jokingly.

"You're such a stone-cold weirdo," Beca chuckled, kissing Chloe's cheek gently.

"You love me, though," Chloe responded, a warmth spreading throughout her body. Beca loved her. Her.

"I do."

Okay, friends, I couldn't resist ending this slow burn that has been simmering. Of course, we have a whole lot of chapters ahead, so get excited! Thanks for all of the wonderful support so far, this has been such a fun story to write and it means so much more to know that people like you are out there and reading. Really, thanks a ton, you guys are great!