Here's chapter two, awesome nerds! Enjoy!

I've liked you for a thousand years
A thousand years

I've liked you for a thousand years
A thousand years
(I can't wait until I see you)

You can't stand to see me that way
No matter what I do, no matter what I say
You can't stand to see me that way
Yeah! Yeah!

Scott Pilgrim - Plumtree

Chapter 2: Can't stand to see me that way

"And, now…welcome to the stage…the Bardeeeen Bellas!" The broadcaster's voice reverberated through the theater. Beca walked to the stage and stood in position, holding the pitch pipe tightly in her hand. However, before she could blow the initial note, she noticed her teammates weren't around. She froze, taking a glance at the expectant audience.

But it wasn't there either. Every single chair was empty.

"Ugh…so alone." Beca uttered sadly, falling to her knees.

"You're not alone!" A sweet voice echoed. Startled, she looked around, searching for its source.

"What?" She felt a hand on her shoulder. Chloe was standing beside her, completely dressed in her Bella uniform. The glint in her bright blue eyes and the sincere smile on her features made her even more stunning than usual.

"You're just having some idiotic dream." She stated charmingly, winking at her.

"Does that mean we can make out?" Beca bluntly asked.

"Oh, God!" Beca exclaimed, jolted awake before the scene in her mind could carry on.

"What is it, Beca?" Amy asked groggily from her own bed. The brunette sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"I had this totally weird dream…"

"About what?" Amy inquired. Beca gulped. She did not want to admit that a certain redhead had been travelling though her imagination. Otherwise, she would have to deal with her blonde friend's candor comments.

"About…a capella?" She suggested implausibly.

"Yeah, right." The larger woman narrowed her eyes. "You look all flustered. Was it a Chloe-related dream?"

"Yes, but it doesn't mean anything." Beca answered grumpily, resembling a stubborn child.

"Keep telling yourself that, you might believe it someday." Amy sarcastically encouraged. The talented blonde wasn't at all trying to be insensitive, but Beca's refusal to be true to herself revealed that she still had issues to overcome. Up until that moment, Amy hadn't figured another way to express her concern for her friend.

Beca remained silent, staring at her own hands. Her eyes showed she had been taken over by numbness. Amy frowned, sensing she had pushed too far.

"Weren't you supposed to meet your fake college boyfriend for coffee before class?" She reminder her, trying to snap her out of her trance.

"Damn it, I'm late!" The DJ complained, jumping from her bed and running towards the closet to grab a change of clothes.

"Hey, Beca?" Amy called, getting up as well and walking in her direction.

"Huh?"

"I just say those things 'cause I'm worried about you, you know?" She said carefully. "You can count on me."

"I know, Amy." Beca smiled thankfully.

Barden's coffee shop was flooding with people that morning. Beca arrived in a frequent attire of hers - a pair of black jeans and one of her beloved flannel shirts (this one a mix of red and dark blue), which was buttoned up. She had combed her hair backwards with only her hands, leaving it messy. The ear spike and the large amount of eyeliner remained in their rightful places because she knew how much Jesse hated them.

"Becaw!" Jesse called from his spot on the line, waving at her excitedly. She rolled her eyes and approached him. "You were supposed to meet me at the entrance ten minutes ago. I almost thought you'd forgotten." His voice became low and his face saddened a little. It was irritating.

"How could I possibly forget?" She faked a smile.

He proceeded to order for the both of them when his turn arrived. Beca took a sit on a table nearby and glanced around the shop. Her eyes caught sight of a tanned raven-haired girl and a pale brown haired girl sharing a kiss in between coffee sips. The small DJ blushed slightly before looking down at the table. She exhaled deeply, trying to block thoughts of self-loathing.

'You're living a lie. Aren't you afraid to hurt people?' Is what her father would say. It is what Aubrey had already implied.

Destiny, cruel as it is, managed to increase the magnitude of Beca's internal conflict. After finally calming herself, she looked up only to see very familiar ginger locks through the window. Their owner was standing with her back turned to it, so it wasn't possible to see her face. Beca would recognize her slim figure anywhere, though. She had taken a close look in the showers in her freshmen year, after all.

"Chlo…?" She murmured.

But what was the older girl doing there? Wasn't she supposed to be at grad school with Aubrey?

And why hadn't she contacted Beca?

She had to know.

She had to talk to her.

She had to-

"Here you go!" Jesse's elated voice tore through her focus, making her jump on her seat. "Whoa, jumpy much?" He laughed, handing Beca her coffee. "Seems like you've seen a ghost or something.

"Something like that." She sighed as she accepted it.

"Have you heard anything about this party Sigma Beta's throwing tonight?" Jesse asked. He had noticed how upset Beca had become all of a sudden and figured it would be better to change the subject.

"Nope." Beca said motionlessly. "Are you going?"

"Nah, don't really feel like dealing with a bunch of drunk people today." He stated. "And, honestly, the Sigma Betas are annoying. Too many double negatives."

"That I definitely agree with." She smirked in a rare second of authenticity.

Unfortunately, Beca didn't have the opportunity to pose her frequent philosophical question that day, since Jesse insisted on walking her to class.

Later, when night arrived, the pair decided – or, rather, Jesse decided – to hang out at the DJ's dorm. Beca had been trying to write a message to Chloe since she got back, but was facing difficulty to make her words coherent, especially because of the apprehension caused by the redhead's lack of contact since she told her the latest news of her life. Before she could solve that problem, Jesse appeared at the door, knocking eagerly. The reluctance to let him in almost made her ignore his presence, but she knew he would remain there until she did so.

"Beca, I know you're in there, I can smell sarcasm!" He called.

"Just open the door or he'll knock it down." Amy said.

"Jesus Christ." Beca murmured, rolling her eyes as she stood up from her desk. Jesse's foolish smile acknowledged the brunette as she opened the door.

"I don't know if you remember my Australian roommate, Amy." Beca said quickly as he walked in, feeling rather nervous due to the glimpse of disapproval that was displayed on the large blonde's face.

"Hi." Jesse greeted happily with a small wave of his hand.

"She's Australian." Reinforced Beca, attempting to disguise her discomfort with her infamous forced smile.

"We already know eachother" The boy stated amusingly. He had definitely noticed that something was off about the tiny DJ. "What's with you today, weirdo?" Beca tried her best not to scowl. Fat Amy was about to make what was probably a jokingly remark when her phone beeped.

"Woops, gotta go." She declared, standing up from her bed. "The girls want the life of the party to be present. Gonna kick some Sigma Beta ass, aww yeah!" With a huge grin, she walked past them to leave, but not before placing a hand on Jesse's arm, her expression turning into a pitiful one. "You and Shorty are no good together. Run."

"What…?" He whispered, utterly confused.

"Don't mind her." Beca requested, friendly tapping his shoulder. "She's just messing with you." Gladly, the lie was convincing enough for him to sit down on her bed and open his backpack.

"I've brought Coke and some snacks." He stated, now feeling more relaxed, while he placed a plastic bottle, a couple of cups and a bag of chips on Beca's desk. The brunette sat next to him, observing as he searched for his laptop and feeling slightly guilty. She wondered what the reason was to allow him to get excited to spend time with her when she didn't really care. Perhaps Aubrey was correct in her assumptions. Perhaps Beca was really evil.

The grin on the boy's face when he put the laptop on his legs and held a DVD in front of her while mouthing the word 'movication' was enough to make her forget about her previous reflection, though.

"Seriously?" She questioned, feeling immediately exhausted. "Can't we do something else? Like let Lilly set us on fire?"

"Just give it a chance, Bec." Jesse pleaded. "You might like it."

"That's what you say every time, and yet I always end up falling asleep." Beca groaned, fidgeting with her thumb ring.

"Which is exactly why I've brought this." He gestured towards the bottle that was set on the office desk. "Here, have a glass." He placed the laptop between him and the DJ and stood up.

"Jesse, I don't really-"

"Come on, it'll lighten your mood!" He exclaimed, ignoring the expression of her will, as it was accustomed. He poured the beverage in both cups quickly. Too quickly.

"Careful." Beca warned. "You shouldn't be doing that next to my mixing table."

"It's fine." He stated, dismissing the small girl's concern. To their dismay, it was exactly at that point that his hands lost balance. Time seemed to slow down eerily while both cups were knocked down.

And the dark liquid spilled.

All.

Over.

The.

Mixing.

Table.

Jesse turned around instantly, momentarily speechless. His eyes widened in terror. Beca released a single strangled breath before glaring menacingly at him – her blue eyes had earned a strong greyish tone.

"No, you didn't." She hissed. He rushed to find something to clean his mess, nearly tripping on his own feet.

"Oh, my God." He shrilled, grabbing an old T-shirt from his backpack. "I'm so, so sorry, Beca." He tried to use the fabric to dry the equipment, but it was far too late. It had already become a sticky catastrophe. "I'll fix this, don't wor-"

"You should leave." Beca growled. She had walked to the door and opened it. Her head was low, preventing her from making eye contact, and the hand that wasn't on the door handle was clenched in a fist.

"Beca, I swear I didn't mean to…"

"Just leave." She asked once more, this time in a solicit whisper. She couldn't dare to look up or he would notice the hurt that was starting to replace her anger. "We'll talk later." The sound of his footsteps announced his departure and she slowly closed the door. With a desolated sigh, she walked towards her desk to check the damage.

The mixing table gave no sign of life.

"Motherfucker!" She exclaimed, once again livid. She would probably have punched a hole through the wall, had it not been for the sudden beep of her cell phone. It snatched her attention and she managed to put her fist down – the memory of her father declaring she had to learn how to deal with her anger issues flashed through her mind.

For mere curiosity, she grabbed the device. There was a new text. From Chloe.

She unconsciously held her breath, with a mix of excitement and anxiety flowing through her veins, as she opened it.

some frat boy won't leave me alone. come rescue me? xoxo – Chlo

With the raise of an eyebrow, she answered the message.

Wait. Are you at the Sigma Beta party? – Becs

The response arrived almost immediately.

you're missing out on all the fun ;) –Chlo

Beca had a feeling that her bubbly friend was already a bit tipsy, considering the older woman had texted her in such an excited manner, even though she had obviously been upset the night before. Had Chloe forgotten about that or was she disguising her emotions with alcohol?

Nonetheless, the petite girl knew she would not be able to sleep unless she checked on her, so she grabbed a jacket and left for the party.

"This is gonna suck."

"This sucks." Beca exclaimed, gripping her beer cup tightly while looking around.

"Sucks." Agreed Lilly in her usual indecipherable tone. Beca had met her among the crowd of drunken Barden students. They were both standing on a corner, silently observing people's reckless actions most of the time. But still no Chloe in sight. Impatience and worry were starting to overwhelm the small brunette.

"I'm gonna go pee due to boredom." She groaned.

"I'm gonna set a fire to feel joy." Lilly replied, almost mutely, just as there was the transition from one song to another.

Beca walked away, not in search for a bathroom, but for Chloe, while internally hoping Lilly wouldn't actually deliberately set something on fire. As she walked, she occasionally called people's attention, showing them a lazy drawing of a head of red, long hair and asking:

"Have you seen this one girl with hair like this?"

After responses varying from "I don't know, everyone's blurry" to "I think I know who it is, let me know if you find her. She's hot" – the last one earning the guy who said it a death glare – Beca was nearly giving up. The now irritated DJ was about to go get another beer when a pair of arms was thrown around her neck from behind.

She would have probably freaked out if it wasn't for the scent she captured – Chloe's unique scent, currently mixed with the unmistakable smell of vodka.

"Beeeecs!" The older woman blurted. Her lips barely touched Beca's ear. It made her shiver.

"Hey, Chlo." She greeted shyly, an involuntary smile spread across her face. "I can tell you've had your 'jiggle juice'." Chloe let out a warm laugh and slightly tightened her grip around the shorter girl, who held her breath for a second, feeling her cheeks flush.

"You're a dork." The redhead stated. "And, by that, I mean you're adorable." There was another laugh and a soft kiss on the spot behind Beca's ear. "Adorkable."

"O-kay." Beca managed to untangle Chloe's arms from her form and turned around in order to face her. The ginger's hand slid to grasp the DJ's. "You're clearly not in conditions to tell me what you're doing here. I guess we'll have to talk about that tomorrow. Do you have a place to crash?"

"Aw, you look so embarrassed!" Chloe said enthusiastically. She was obviously far from sober, and that was stopping her from actually listening. "Like we've never even seen eachother naked!"

"Oh, God." Beca murmured. Chloe leaned closer, mimicking what she did during Aca-initiation Night the previous year.

"I'm glad you're here." She sighed. Their faces were inches apart and that certainly wasn't helping Beca's uneasiness. There was a sudden urge to close the gap between them.

"Chloe, focus." The brunette requested firmly, in spite of her accelerated heart rate.

"Your eyes look really dark right now." Chloe giggled, running her hands on the small girl's arms.

"It's the beer." Beca protested. She took a glance around to see if she could spot any of the other Bellas, but none of them was nearby. Instead, she saw a brown haired boy in a blue polo shirt staring predatorily at their direction. It was probably the frat boy that Chloe had mentioned earlier. "Yeah...we'd better go. That guy over there is eye-fucking you and it's getting on my nerves."

"For a small girl, you're very protective." The ginger smirked.

"Hey, I can be both." Beca argued. "I may be small, but I have some muscle." She freed her right arm from the older woman's grip, flexed it and winked. Chloe laughed once more, this time loudly. The DJ noticed that the obnoxious frat boy had taken a few steps closer. "Let's go, Chlo." With narrowed eyes, she pulled at Chloe's hand and started to walk, leading them both away from trouble.

"Just go to sleep, Chloe."

"Unacceptable. I will not let you sleep on the floor."

A small confrontation had settled in Beca and Amy's dorm. The extrovert blonde was nowhere to be found – she was probably still at the party with the other Bellas – and Beca had grabbed a few blankets to sleep on while Chloe objected.

"We're best friends, what's the big deal with sharing a bed?" Chloe asked, now a bit more sober than before, since the Alt girl had given her several glasses of water, along with a T-shirt for her to sleep in.

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable." Beca partially lied as she placed the blankets and one of her pillows on the floor. The truth was: she knew the redhead was a very cuddly, touchy-feely person, and she didn't know if she would be able to endure that, despite how much she wanted to be close to her. It would mean having to give their relationship much more thought than she was up to. "Aren't you happy to have the bed all to yourself?"

"Not really." Chloe said. "It's kinda lonely."

"Hm." Was the DJs intentionally dismissive reply. She wasn't supposed to give in. Chloe instinctively hugged her own torso and looked around, trying to ignore the disappointment that hit her. "What happened to your mixing table? It's all-"

"Fucked up?" Beca interjected.

"Yeah."

"Let's say Jesse' clumsiness and liquids aren't a good combination." The brunette said bitterly. Chloe frowned, somewhat analytically. "I basically kicked him out after that. I'm gonna have to save money to replace it and it will take a long time, but that's not even why I'm mad. The problem is: he doesn't listen to me. Ever."

Beca didn't completely understand why, but it felt strange to talk about her – strained – love life with Chloe. She was aware of her own motives, although she didn't want to say them out loud. The ginger's reactions didn't help, though; her current expression – that resembled Beca of when she used to try to stand up for her against Aubrey – only made things more unnerving.

"What's wrong?" The small girl inquired.

"Nothing." Chloe replied timidly. "It's late. Let's sleep."

"You can't fool me, Chlo. Something's obviously bothering you." Beca got up from her spot on the floor and sat on the bed next to the older woman. "I know I act like a douche sometimes, but you can talk to me."

"I don't think I should." Chloe stated sadly. "Not right now, anyway."

"Okay." The brunette nodded comprehensively and placed a caring hand on her friend's shoulder. "But if you're ever ready to do so, I'm here for you."

"Thanks, Becs." Chloe sent her a sincere smile, which Beca returned before fumbling with the bed sheets. "What are you doing?"

"Getting under the covers." The tiny DJ said simply.

"You're still fully dressed." Chloe arched an eyebrow and grinned. Beca blushed.

"Right…" She stood up and kicked off her shoes. There was a pause when she was about to remove her jeans. "Can you, like…not look, or whatever?"

"If you want to pretend that I've never seen all of that…" The redhead gestured towards Beca's body, making the younger woman blush with even more intensity. Chloe covered her eyes mockingly. "Then fine."

"You're impossible." Beca sighed, internally amused, while sliding the jeans down her legs.

"You're the one to talk." Chloe replied. "That day I caught you staring."

"I did not stare." The brunette huffed as she placed the clothing item on her office chair. The quirky ginger seemed quite entertained by the other girl's denial. Beca was able to notice that in her expression, even though Chloe's eyes remained covered. "I was just…surprised…by your nudity."

Chloe laughed incredulously. "What was the term you used earlier…? Eye-fucking?"

"Shut up." Beca grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it in Chloe's direction. It hit the side of her head. However, it only made her laugh harder before uncovering her eyes. "Dude! I'm practically half naked!"

"So am I and I don't see you complaining." The redhead stated.

"That because you're gorgeous and confident, whereas I'm awkward and uninteresting." The DJ declared. Chloe reached for her hand and squeezed it.

"Stop that. You're beautiful." She said. "You should try being as confident about yourself as you are about your music. Really."

"You're still drunk." Beca protested stubbornly.

"A little. But I'm not blind."

A while later, Amy finally arrived from the party. The sight of two figures in her roommate's bed welcomed her. Chloe was fast asleep, cuddled against Beca, with her head resting on the brunette's shoulder and an arm wrapped around her waist. It was funny how they seemed to fit perfectly together, even when Beca – the smaller one of the duo – was holding the older woman.

As Amy sat on her own bed to remove her shoes, she noticed that the DJ had her eyes wide open.

"Can't sleep?" The blonde asked, her voice low.

"I could…until I woke up and we were…well, like this." Beca replied. There was concern in her voice.

"You're torturing yourself, Shorty." Amy stated.

"She needs me." Beca said before biting her lip. Her brow furrowed.

"You need her too, though." The large woman sent her an understanding look.

"Yes." The brunette admitted. For Amy, that was a start.

"Are you scared?" The blonde asked sympathetically. Beca felt Chloe's grip around her tighten and she couldn't help but to let her cheek rest on the top of the other girl's head.

"Terrified."

I'd like to thank everyone who has been reading so far. The reviews are very encouraging! Let me know what you think of this chapter.

~angstylullaby