A/N: So I did some research over the weekend. I played the drinking game from the last chapter, went through a whole bottle of wine in the first 25 minutes of the movie. Definitely gets you drunk, tried and tested. I stopped after that. Also, I made a mistake, a reviewer pointed out that "Mario Kart" does not exist on Xbox counsels. So please just ignore, I miss-read something, it will be mentioned again and I can't really change it now. Thank you all once again for all of the reviews, favorites and follows! It really makes my day! I'm going to answer a guest question directly below. So feel free to skip ahead. I hope you enjoy the new chapter! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday!

/-/-/

Guest (Second one): If I add Staubery it will be in the background. I am headed in that direction for the most part. I'm just trying figure out a few things. Devious mis-doings are detailed in this chapter (at least for now). I can definitely try and add some more Wal-mart-esk bechloe scenes. I really wish we could have a one on one conversation about this, but at last we can't. So I won't say what I would really like to say, but I will do my best. Thank you for the kind words and I hope you like what is written below!

/+/+/

Chapter 13

The next day Beca woke up with a major hangover. Her shoulder ached from how she had fallen asleep, her arms over extended above her head, half laying on one shoulder. Her phone still laid in one hand. She really didn't want to move, her whole body protesting. Beca just laid there for a few minutes, trying to adjust to all of the painful sensations running through her body. Immediately she started to wonder what the other girls and she had gotten into the previous night. It slowly started coming back to her piece by piece. When she got back to the love confession, her eyes flew open and her body jerked. She immediately regretted both movements, the sun blinding her sensitive eyes and her body protesting. A blanket had just been flung over her head to block out the sun, when her phone went off. She pulled it under the protective covering of her blanket. Beca smiled at first seeing the text was from Chloe, that was until she read the text and the five others she had missed. All texts were from Chloe and all of them were asking where she was. She glanced at the time at the top of the screen.

"Shit!"

Beca was 20 minutes late to practice. As quickly as possible, she scrambled out of bed, throwing on a new pair of clothes and a pair of shades. A quick stop in the ensuite was made to relieve herself and brush her teeth. An extra few minutes where used to make Chloe's cup of tea. Then she was fighting all of the aches and pains of her body, sprinting to the gym they practiced in. She was rather impressed with herself, making the normal 15 minute walk in 5 minutes. Those extra laps really must have been paying off. She burst through the doors trying to apologize around the big gulps of air she was trying to take, bent over hands on her knees. Chloe quickly ran over to worriedly preen over the girl. The co-captain eventually just pulling Beca into a big hug before holding her at a distance by her forearms.

"Oh my god Beca! I was so worried something happened to you. What did you guys get up to last night? Amy, Stacie, Lily, and CR have been a little sluggish and with you late, Aubrey's been absolutely furious."

All Beca could say pathetically in between pants was, "I… brought… you… tea." She presented the thermos she was holding, not at all concerned about the other captain or the Bellas.

Chloe was beaming fondly at her as she took the tea. It looked like the older girl was leaning in for the customary thank you cheek kiss, one headed closer to her lips, but before it could be completed Aubrey was screaming. "CHLOE! What are you doing with the hobbit? We've wasted enough time! It's not social hour!"

Chloe had visibly jumped at the volume of Aubrey's voice. Beca was ready to yell right back at the blonde, not liking how Aubrey chose to speak to her co-captain and best friend. The other girl put a hand on Beca's arm to stop her, knowing what she was going to do. "I'm sorry Aubrey. I'm coming."

The redhead left Beca with a squeeze to the arm. Beca slowly followed, attempting to join the group.

Aubrey had other plans. "What do you think you're doing Mitchell?"

Beca looked at her as if she was stupid. "Um… joining the group."

"Oh, really because I think you should run some laps."

"But-"

"That wasn't a question. Go run some laps Mitchell!" The blonde was visibly shaking with anger. Then she turned to the other Bellas, clapping to get their attention for whatever they were doing. Beca was left to run.

It wasn't until the 20th lap, Beca practically dying from dehydration from the previous night of binge drinking without any time to recover, that she was allowed to join the group. She was more than thankful when Chloe appeared at her side with water and a comforting hand rubbing up and down her back. Then it wasn't Aubrey she was worried about, but Stacie. The lengthy brunette kept making passes at her. They were certainly not welcome. They were making her extremely jumpy. Stacie kept randomly swatting her butt or sneaking up behind her to trail skilled fingers down her side or to press her front into her back as she whispered something juvenile in her ear. Beca was beyond annoyed. To everyone else she looked almost just as flustered as she was with Chloe only with less blushing, an unwillingness to submit to the taller girl's touch, and an edge of annoyance. So really it was nothing like when Chloe touched her, but everyone was acting like it was. Beca was just about to confront the girl when she informed the tiny raging brunette that she was working her magic like she said she would the night before. Apparently the plan was to have Stacie be overly touchy feely with Beca and see how jealous Chloe got. The longer it went on the more annoyed Beca became with the drunk version of herself who agreed to participate in a truly juvenile practice. She was even more annoyed Stacie, the queen of sex, thought this was a good idea. Then again she was the queen of sex not relationships. In a club setting it probably worked wonders for attracting a one night stand.

For the most part the redhead was holding up pretty well. She seemed tenser than usual, less sunny even, but besides that she was fine. That changed rather quickly though. They had to go through a round of push-ups at Aubrey's insistence they didn't want to have flabby arms when making boxes in the air. Beca was obviously struggling, her shoulder killing her. A fact that did not go unnoticed by Chloe or Stacie. So when they all sat down to go over the next part of practice, Chloe went to massage Beca's shoulder, much to her pleasure. Only before the older Bella could get to it, Stacie, who sat directly behind Beca, was already working on it. Beca was left to sit there, Chloe practically glaring at her and Stacie, as she tried not to cross her arms and pout. To make things worse, when she was done Stacie chose to lean forward, wrapping her arms around the upper part of Beca's chest so she could perch her chin on one of Beca's shoulder. Then she'd whisper random things in her ear, which left Beca shifting in her seat trying to get away. To everyone else it looked far less innocent. It took all of the smaller Bella's will power not to shrug Stacie off.

From then on, Chloe was an icy version of herself the rest of practice. When they got to practicing the choreography she was particularly harsh when critiquing Stacie. Her regular soft hands on corrections were more jerky and sharp. When Stacie was done, obviously heading to place her hands on an annoyed Beca, Chloe grabbed Beca's hand pulling her forward to be the next person to be critiqued, safely away from Stacie's touch. With the smaller girl she was even more handsy than usual, pressing herself more fully into Beca's back. She let her hands linger longer and a little closer to places that drove the DJ crazy. By the time Beca was released, she was panting and her blush was the reddest it had ever been. When Stacie went to approach her, she swatted the other girl's hands away, not wanting any other hands than the ones belonging to Chloe to be touching her. It was all too much and, although flattering, seeing Chloe upset was killing her. She was starting to feel really guilty. It wasn't over, though. When they sat down again towards the end of practice, she didn't have to worry about Stacie hanging all over her again. Chloe practically pulled Beca into her lap as they sat down, ensuring Stacie wouldn't be able to touch Beca's shoulders or hang on her. Which Beca was thoroughly enjoying, completely encompassed by Chloe's body. She just wished she could have maybe held back the surprised squeak and near constant blushing that occurred when in contact with her childhood friend. The touches Stacie gave her just seemed to heighten the ones she received from Chloe. Highlighting the stark contrast between the two.

The strangest part of the whole thing was Aubrey's reaction to everything. She was pretty mad to begin with, but somehow she found a new level to go to. She snapped at every side comment. If someone was breathing to loud she yelled at them. Her favorite thing to say was that they were not doing enough cardio and needed to run a few extra laps. The more handsy Stacie got the more upset she seemed to get. While Chloe was taking everything out on Stacie, Aubrey was taking most of her anger out on Beca. It seemed like every few minutes she was running a new string of five laps. When she was done Stacie would be there doing whatever it was she was doing to 'help' Beca. She'd give Beca a water bottle to drink from and a few squeezes to the shoulders while they stood in line for whatever activity they were doing. The petite girl happily took the water, but begrudgingly took the rub down. Chloe tried to intercept them, jerkily pulling Beca away towards another water source, as she soothingly rubbed her back, Beca practically melting. The laps were so frequently dished out and Chloe was in charge of multiple components of the practice. So she could only intercept a few. Which only started the cycle all over again. Chloe would be less than friendly to Stacie and Aubrey would make Beca run more laps for reasons Beca didn't fully understand.

By the end of practice all the petite woman wanted to do was go back to her dorm, take a shower, and sleep for the next week and a half, but Aubrey wasn't done yet. Beca had gathered her stuff and was looking forward to joining the redhead shyly waiting for her by the gym doors. Her face was just stretching into a small smile at the prospect of maybe having lunch with Chloe and then a quick nap wrapped in her arms, when Aubrey decided to interrupt.

"Mitchell, come here!"

Beca immediately deflated, reluctantly turning around and taking the few steps towards Aubrey to satisfy the blonde's command. Her feet were dragging the whole way.

"Look, Aubrey, I'm sorry I was late. I really am. I had a rough night. Won't happen again, promise."

Instead of making things better, she made them worse. Aubrey stepped further into her personal space so there was barely an inch between them. "Rough, night? I know about your extracurricular activities. You and that treblemaker." She practically spit out the name. "I've seen you two together. I know about you two. I haven't caught you yet, but I will and when I do you will be thrown off this team so quickly you won't know what hit you. You are a disgrace to this team and do not deserve to wear a Bella's uniform. So mark my words, your days are limited. Got it?" It was like she had never heard Beca's initial apology.

Instead of folding, like the blonde expected, the younger woman did the opposite. Beca's jaw set not at all liking people talking to her in the tone Aubrey was using, let alone in her face. After all she was the kid who throughout middle and high school had problems with authority figures. "Well good luck because that treblemaker, Jesse, and I haven't done anything. I have my eyes on someone else."

"Oh, I've noticed. Don't think I haven't noticed him flirting with me and you and Stacie. I know about the weird shit you are corrupting Chloe's mind with. I don't know what sick game you both are playing at, but I will not be defeated. I will show you are together and you will be kicked off this team."

She really had no idea what Aubrey meant by 'Corrupting Chloe's mind' and she didn't care. She was delusional. Beca took a half step closer. "Wow you're more stupid than I thought you were Posen. Have fun with your fantasy world."

With that, Beca walked away before Aubrey could say anything else. Her body instantly relaxing and that small smile in place the closer she got to Chloe. Once in front of her, she looked shyly away before meeting her eyes.

"I'm really sorry about being late and, uh, upsetting Aubrey. She had no right talking to you that way."

Chloe smiled fondly at her, moving a little closer to her. "Becs, I really wasn't all that worried about it."

"She still shouldn't talk to you like that." Beca hesitantly reached out to take one of Chloe's hands. "You-you are so much more-more valuable than that. You deserve more."

Chloe seemed to be puzzling over the statement, like it was something hard to swallow. It bothered Beca. She wondered what the older woman was thinking. What she was working on. Then the look was gone, replaced by a small smile. "You're really sweet Becs."

It wasn't at all what Beca wanted to hear. She wanted Chloe to agree with her, stand up for herself, but the statement was more of a resignation. Then the older Bella was interlocking their hands, looking vulnerable and shy again as she looked at their interlaced fingers. The voice that came from Chloe matched her expression. "You-you don't- You'd tell me if you were seeing someone, right? If you liked someone?"

The brunette stiffened at the question. This was the moment, perfectly laid out for her. If she wanted to she could redirect the conversation however she wanted to reveal as much or as little as she wanted about her feelings. She could do this. She could lay it all out there for Chloe. It could start with one question and Beca could just let all her walls down and answer the question. Then Chloe could ask the next question and Beca could answer that one. They could keep going like that until Chloe knew everything. The more Beca thought about it the more she liked it. It would be an easy casual conversation. She wouldn't even have to lead it, Chloe would. Then there were Jesse's words resurfacing in her mind. This was the moment to do it. Everything just clicked and she knew this moment in time would be a very important one. It could change things. For once in her life she could say she almost felt… at ease. It would be perfect.

Beca gulped, trying to push down any residual nerves, before speaking. "Of course."

Then there was the next question. Beca could hear her heart beating in her ears and her palms started to sweat, but she was okay she could do this. "Do-do you-"

Before Chloe could finish the question, long arms were being wrapped around Beca's torso and two rather prominent breasts pressed into her back. Beca grimaced at Stacie's horrible timing, trying to shrug out of the embrace, but Stacie was holding fast, completely unaware of what she was interrupting. The taller brunette far too focused on making Beca squirm. Then, because it wasn't worse enough, Stacie had to speak in her low sensual timber.

"I'm surprised you're still alive. Last night was crazy. Who knew those short legs of yours would be so good at lap dancing." Her words let whoever heard them take them however they wanted to. Since it was Stacie, with the tone of her voice she made the statement sound down right filthy. That last statement without the proper background knowledge made it ten times worse.

Chloe had let go of Beca's hand as soon as Stacie's arms had wrapped around her. Now the redhead had the usual smile in place, but it was strained and there was hurt there, guarded in her eyes. She was thrusting an empty thermos into Beca's hands and excusing herself. All the petite girl could do was watch her go and gape after her in shock at the turn of events. Then shock turned into anger as she flung off Stacie's arms and faced her.

"What the fuck was that?"

Before Stacie could answer, a fuming Aubrey flew past them, sending a steely gaze their way. Stacie looked after her looking quite pleased, eyeing the girl up and down. Something suddenly clicked in her mind.

"You did this for her didn't you?"

Stacie just shrugged. "Honestly, no, but it was a nice side effect." Her smile brightened. "So are you convinced Chloe likes you now?"

"Oh, I'm convinced of one thing, I should have never let you do whatever this is."

"What do you mean? It worked, right? That was the most out of character I have ever seen red."

"Yeah, it worked. It worked so well that she was asking me if I liked anyone."

Stacie wore a self-satisfied smirk at the remark. "I told you I knew what I was doing. So, what did you say?"

"Well that's kind of the problem because just as she was getting to that part, some idiot decided to hug me from behind." She looked pointedly at Stacie.

The taller brunette's face fell. "You mean me right?"

"Yep." Beca ran her hands through her hair.

"Well, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well shouldn't you be going after her?"

Beca just sighed and rubbed at her forehead. "It's too late."

"That's bullshit, it's never too late."

"I don't know Stace. I think I've done enough destruction today. I think I'll just go take a shower and a nap." She turned to leave, significantly deflated from earlier.

"Hey, Beca…" She waited for the petite woman to turn around. "It's never too late. Remember that."

Beca just nodded before making the long trek back to her dorm room. The whole time she couldn't stop thinking about how stupid she was and what Stacie had said. Then she thought about what the other Bellas had said. Finally she thought about what Jesse had said. The words kept eating away at her. All these people were behind her and convinced Chloe liked her. Yet she still had doubts, but it had all been so clear when it was just Chloe and her alone, question just on the cusp. Now, outside of that moment, she knew she'd never be good enough. She wasn't attractive, friendly, or likable. She was just that rude alt girl that just hung out with a group of acapella nerds. There was no actual place for her and there never would be. As much as she hated to admit it, Aubrey was right, she didn't belong. Why did it have to feel different after and before. Why couldn't the moment last longer. Then she could actually say what she wanted to say instead of chickening out. In that moment with Chloe, the other girl's gaze on her, she felt good enough, but that was gone.

When she made it back to her room, she immediately grabbed her shower caddy, a towel, and a change of clothes. Her thoughts followed her. All centering on how stupid and inadequate she was. That she couldn't even express herself like a normal person. No matter how hard she scrubbed at her skin or let the hot water wash over her, they remained. Then she was clean and dressed sitting at her desk. Chloe was the first thing to come to mind. She started making yet another mash-up about the girl. The longer she sat the more she wanted to actually see the girl instead of just thinking about her. So she opened her phone and sent out a quick text about getting dinner. The phone was placed off to the side, but yet still in view so that Beca would see if she got a message even if she didn't hear it. She was hoping that if they met up then maybe their previews conversation would come up and things could flow naturally. They could get back to that place of comfort and understanding. A feeling of normalcy. Which was a stupid idea in reality because if Chloe was really upset with her, why would she answer her text let alone want to have dinner with her. The thought brought a new wave of self-berating thoughts. She tried to push them away for the time being.

In the meantime, she grabbed a bag of chips from her snack cabinet, having had nothing to eat all day. She went through her old mash-ups, trying to finish as many as she could in the file labeled 'c'. The minutes ticked by and there was still no reply to her dinner offer. The minutes then turned into hours and Beca couldn't even pretend to be working on mixes, to distracted by her silent phone. She tried taking the battery out and putting it back in to make sure it was working. She restarted the thing at least fifteen times without any success. The longer she sat the more frequently Stacie and Jesse's words came up. With each passing of them the longer Beca was left to really think about them. They just left her feeling extremely stupid because she should have done something already, fear be dammed. She didn't know how she could have been so blind to everything. Then she was unlocking her phone every few seconds as she continuously berated herself.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. Beca sprang from her seat. She flipped through all her clothes, looking for something to wear. She came up empty, but it didn't stop her from trying on every flannel in her closet before deciding to wear the flannel she had on originally. Then she spent a few minutes going over her hair, smoothing out as many fly aways as she could. Then she was looking at the differences between her hair being up versus down, until she just kept it down. The next thing to consider was accessories, bracelets and necklaces. She must have put on everyone she owned before chucking them all off. She contemplated her face for a moment, applying more eyeliner. When she felt confident she looked good, she gave herself one last look over.

She looked back to her phone, still no message from Chloe.

"Fuck it!"

She'd go to her. She could do that. There was one last look to her phone debating on one last message. Exasperated with herself, not completely sure why she was doing what she was doing, she pulled up her contacts. Jesse was one of the first numbers listed. She quickly typed out a message. She looked at it, really looked at it, because once she sent it that would be it. The plan would be set forth and she would have to go through with it. A deep breath was drawn in as she approached her dorm room door. Her hand reached out to open the door. At the last minute she retracted it to add four more contacts to the recipients for the text message. Once satisfied Cynthia Rose, Stacie, Amy and, hell, even Lily were added to the recipients for the text, she repositioned her hand on the door knob. She took one last deep breath and then she was flinging open the door, sending the text message at the same time. There was no going back.

BeCaw: Going to get my girl. Wish me luck.