So I wanted to make this one extra special as an "I'm sorry for the previous short chapter. Can you forgive me?" Thanks for all the reviews so far! They really motivate me to write faster. And on we go!

Chapter 3

Beca grunted angrily at her red cup before downing her drink. If she had to look across the room one more time and see Ben casually place his hands on or around Chloe she was going to…she was going to…Well, it's not like she could really do anything. It's not like she had any form of claim on Chloe. But I mean this guy is way too handsy! I mean what's his deal.

Frustrated, Beca decided it might be best to head back outside and quickly stood up from her spot. She ignored Chloe's inquisitive look as she passed by her on the way out the back door.

The cool night air hit Beca hard, sobering her up a bit. Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time, Beca weighed her options; she could either stay here and act like everything was fine or she could head back to her dorm. Realizing she hadn't driven to the party, Beca face palmed.

It's not that far of a walk. Only a mile…or maybe three… Beca looked down at her watch as she thought. And it's only two in the morning. The likelihood that there would be some creeper on the walk back to campus is kinda slim...

"No."

Beca jumped at the voice. Putting her hand over her heart and settling her breathing, Beca turned to face Aubrey. "Jesus! You scared the shit out of me!"

Aubrey cleared her throat and gave her a disapproving looked.

Beca cringed, "I mean crap. You scared the crap out of me?"

Aubrey just rolled her eyes at the tiny brunette. "Anyway. I know you were thinking of just leaving right now and unless you have a ride all planned out, you and all 90 lbs of your tiny scrawny self are not walking home. You live at least forty-five minutes away on foot."

"Half an hour tops! Not that I was thinking about it or anything…"

"See, you were! And I am not allowing that. You have had far too much to drink and it is way too late at night."

Beca put a look of shock on her face and mockingly turned to the blonde. "Why Aubrey, if I didn't know you any better, I'd think you were concerned about my safety!"

"Shut it twerp. If you get jumped and can't lead the Bellas the task would be left to Amy. And if that happened…let's just say we'd have an even slimmer chance of winning nationals than we do now."

"You sure you wouldn't just reclaim your spot as queen Bella?"

Aubrey smirked at the brunette. "Good point. I change my mind. Goodbye Beca. Have a fun walk home."

Beca surprised herself by letting out a small chuckle. Quickly she tried to cover it up with a disappointed grunt. "Fine, I won't walk home. If only so I can assure my ever annoying presence in your life Posen."

"Speaking of your annoying tendencies and obnoxious ear monstrosities-"

"Oye, we weren't talking about-" Beca tried to argue, but was cut right off by the blonde.

"As I was saying." Aubrey gave her a menacing look that said not to cut her off again.

Beca quirked an eyebrow at the blonde and with a smirk, motioned for her to continue.

"I'm heading out and campus is on the way back to my place," she paused as if contemplating something before continuing on. "You should decide quickly how desperately you want to get out of here before I change mind."

"Huh?" Beca asked confused.

"Jeez are you that dense Mitchell?" Aubrey let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm offering you a ride genius."

"Oh!" A look of shock crossed Beca's face before it changed to one of scrutiny. "Why would you voluntarily…"

Beca's was lost in the air as she caught sight of Chloe and Ben over Aubrey's shoulder. They were walking across the backyard hand in hand, sneaking away from the party. Beca's stomach dropped and a feeling of loss came over her. I know Chloe's touchy feely, but they look like, like…when did…why didn't Chloe… Just then, Chloe leaned up on her toes and caught the man in kiss.

Aubrey watched the tiny brunette process the scene in front of her. She and the alt girl may not have gotten along that well last year and may have spent 95% of the interactions bickering and yelling at one another, but that didn't mean she wanted Beca to be hurt. And right now Aubrey didn't see the badass, stubborn alt girl she normally was frustrated beyond belief with. Instead, she was looking at a completely different person; wounded and small. Something came over the blonde and she wanted to reach out to the girl and comfort her. Before her hand could close the distance between the two, Beca turned to face Aubrey.

Realizing that the older woman was looking at her with a concerned, caring look, Beca turned her gaze to the ground and grabbed Aubrey's hand. Unable to be at the party a moment longer, Beca pulled the blonde down the porch steps, through the gate, and across the front lawn to where Aubrey's car was parked. She turned and looked expectantly at the taller woman.

So thrown by what had just happened, it took Aubrey a second to catch up mentally. Realizing the small woman was waiting for her to unlock the car and drive her far, far away, she gave Beca's hand a light squeeze before letting go. "My keys are still inside. I'll be right back Becs."

Aubrey turned and started to lightly jog back towards the house, mentally thanking herself for wearing flats to the party. She didn't even have time to analyze the fact the she had referred to the brunette by a more endearing nickname as she made her way over to the closet where she had put her jacket and keys earlier. She was in such a hurry to make it back to the car, Aubrey didn't notice that Chloe had followed her back inside. Had she noticed the redhead, she would have gotten chills from the glare that was being sent in her direction.

The noise of the wind blowing through the car windows was the only sound heard in the car. Aubrey hated driving with the windows down, as it normally made such a mess of her hair. But when Beca got in the car, rolled down her window and rested her head on door, she couldn't muster up her normal argument and instead rolled her window down too.

Beca had been staring out the window for the majority of the ride, unable to face the woman sitting next to her. She wasn't one who liked to display when she was hurt, so instead she watched the trees that rushed by her window. Beca was grateful that Aubrey wasn't attempting conversation. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about this, especially with someone who had previously enjoyed torturing her on a regular basis.

The car rolled to a stop in front of Beca's building and the blonde cleared her throat. "We're here."

Beca pulled herself from her thoughts and realized she was right. Quickly, she undid her seatbelt and jumped out of the car. Wanting to climb into bed and forget that the night had ever happened, Beca began to make her way towards the dorm. For reasons she didn't understand Beca paused her movement and made her way back to the car. She poked her head through the passenger window and for the first time since they left the party, Beca looked up at Aubrey. Her eyes caught the blonde's and she saw concern and…something. There was something else in that look that made Beca smile a small sad smile at the woman.

"Thank you Aubrey." She tried to convey how honestly appreciative she felt in the look she gave the older woman.

Aubrey caught the tiny woman's look and smiled slightly back at her. "Anytime, short stack."

Beca turned away from the car and made her way to the building, making sure that she was far from the car before she cracked a smile at what the blonde had called her.

The next morning passed without need for recognition, mostly due to Beca sleeping through her morning classes, only waking when her stomach grumbled for lunch.

Having situated herself in "her spot" underneath the large oak tree in the corner of the quad, Beca spent most of the afternoon working on her latest mix. It had taken a good hour to make even a little bit of progress as she was having a hard time concentrating. Sighing from frustration, Beca put the laptop down and admitted defeat. Thoughts of the previous night and questions floated through her mind. Moving into a laying position, Beca turned on her ipod and closed her eyes.

A light tickling sensation drew the brunette from her slumber. As she became more aware of her surroundings, Beca realized that the sun was much lower in the sky and that someone was currently tickling her on her side, causing her to wiggle.

"Stop! Stop! I surrender!" Beca pulled her headphones off and threw her hands in the air. "Just stop the tickling!"

An airy giggle met Beca's ears and she turned to face the redhead sitting next to her.

"I honestly thought you'd never wake up." Chloe stated with huge eyes. "I started to consider the fact that you might be dead."

Beca rolled her eyes at the girl's silly comment before throwing her a smirk. "How would you go on without me?"

"You don't understand. I started to freak out about how I would have to call your mom. And then who would I give all of your stuff to... And then I realized I could make some mad cash from your mixing equipment." Chloe looked down teasingly at the brunette who was still lying on the ground. "I mean, living in the real world isn't cheap and I realized selling your stuff could really help out…"

"Blasphemy!" Beca yelled at the redhead's suggestion. "You had to have realized how terrible life would be without me."

Chloe smiled. "But then I realized," she paused as her smile grew. "how terribly you'd kill me if I sold all your mixing stuff if you weren't really dead. So I decided to bring in the big guns." She said as she wiggled her fingers in the air.

Beca rolled her eyes as she moved herself into a seated position. "Damn right."

Chloe giggled. Looking off across the quad she quieted. Silence came over the pair, making Beca fidget and pick at the grass. Without even looking at the girl, Chloe placed her hand over the brunette's tiny one in order to calm her actions. Beca began to play with the other girl's hand as they sat there.

After a while, Chloe laced her fingers with the tiny ones and looked down at them. "Hey Becs…"

"Hmm?" She hummed in response and turned to look at the redhead.

Not looking up from where there hands were clasped, she mumbled. "You know you're my best friend right?"

Confusion crossed the tiny woman's face. "Uh yes…Well, I mean, I know I'm one of them."

"Yea well, Bree doesn't count because she's like my sister to the point where we fight like crazy sometimes." She paused.

Beca looked at the girl even more confused than before. Where is she going with this? Oh wait! "Speaking of Bree, do you know if she will be surprising us at rehearsal tonight? I need to talk with her."

"Um yea I think so…" The redhead looked confusedly at the brunette.

"Okay cool." Beca nodded.

"So anyway…like I was saying, you are my best friend." Chloe finally looked up from their hands and stared at Beca as if that one sentence was an entire conversation and explained everything that was going on in the redhead's mind.

Still utterly lost, Beca hesitantly spoke. "Uh, you're mine too Chlo?"

The redhead giggled, lightening up the mood a little bit. "Why do you make it sound like a question?"

Beca's shoulders softened as she let out a breath and smirked at the girl. "Well maybe if you hadn't said it like it was some giant discovery like finding the cure for cancer or a giant zombie hoard outside your door."

"Those two are drastically different!" Chloe laughed.

"Well, I wasn't sure where you were going with your proclamation so I had to cover all my bases." Beca shrugged like it was the most obvious thing.

"It's the cure for cancer."

"Yea?"

"Yea, definitely go with the cure for cancer."

Beca chuckled. "If you say so Red."

Chloe beamed at her nickname and looked back across the quad. The brunette looked down at the ground taking in how good it made her feel to bring that glowing smile to the older woman's face. Looking down, she realized that their hands were still intertwined. Giving Chloe's hand a small squeeze Beca spoke up.

"So was there a reason for this astounding statement?"

A frown replaced the smile on Chloe's face as she looked down. "Does there have to be a reason?"

Beca shrugged. "I guess not. You just seemed like something brought it on." Beca was curious if this had something to do with what she thought almost happened last night and really wanted to know what Chloe was thinking. However, the sad looked that crossed the redhead's face made Beca think it was a mistake prodding for more. She mentally kicked herself for ruining the moment. "But hey, what do I know about people! Just ignore that I said anything."

Chloe sighed. "You're a lot better at reading people than you give yourself credit for. At least with me." She mumbled the last sentence before releasing her hand from Beca's and running it through her hair.

The cold feeling of where Chloe's hand used to be stung Beca. "Um okay…like I said Chlo, you're my best friend too. So you can talk to me."

Chloe couldn't stand it anymore and all of her thoughts came tumbling out at once. "Am I? Am I really Beca? Because you have been shutting me out and not telling me things. I thought that when you came and visited over the summer we really bonded. And then you didn't even tell me about you breaking up with your boyfriend."

At this point the redhead jumped up and began pacing. "And then last night..." she paused. "You run off with Bree at parties and ask me if she'll be around. And since when do you call her Bree?! When did that happen? When was this change in dynamic that you two are sneaking off together at parties?"

Beca looked at the girl in shock. Where did all that come from? And wait hold on! She jumped up and stood in front of the redhead, grabbing her shoulders to stop the pacing.

"Posen and I were NOT sneaking off at the party last night!"

A look of anger crossed Chloe's face. "Don't act like I'm stupid Beca. I saw you drag her out of the party! And you two snuck off to do god knows what!"

"Oh like you're one to talk." Beca crossed her arms in anger. Here she was getting yelled at for something that was so not happening, and her accuser was being hypocritical.

"What?"

"I saw you sneaking of with Brad—"

"Ben."

"Whatever! I saw you sneaking around with him at the party and have you told me about any of that. No! So don't turn around and yell at me for leaving with Aubrey."

"So there is something going on!" Chloe clenched her fists.

"What? No!"

"But you just said—"

Beca let out a frustrated sigh to cut off the woman. "Look Chloe, I don't want to fight with you." She paused. "Again... Can you just trust me, as your best friend, that there is nothing going on between me and Aubrey?"

Chloe lowered her gaze to the ground in defeat. "I just feel like you've been super distant and then I saw you guys leaving the party hand in hand last night…I just don't wanna lose you Becs."

"You won't." The brunette mumbled. "Promise."

Chloe still looked unsure, so Beca continued. "How about this, we have a best friend date once a week—"

"Twice."

Beca chuckled. "Okay, twice a week we have a best friends night. And we catch each other up on everything." She looked at the redhead pointedly. "And I mean everything."

"Ah right Ben…"

"Yea Ben."

"It's not serious or anything. I just started to see him. It's no big deal."

Beca rolled her eyes. "Okay, whatever Red."

Chloe shoved the brunette and giggled. "You're an ass."

"You love it." Beca smirked at the woman.

"I repeat: ASS."

The pair laughed as they gathered their things to make their way to practice. As they began their trek across campus, Beca suddenly had a thought.

"Seriously, don't you have a job or something you should be at?"

Phew, that was a lot. Super excited to hear what you think! I will resort to bribery if I have to…taco bell anyone?