A/N: Thank you all for the favorites, follows, and reviews! It is a little overwhelming the continued support and greatly appreciated. The song selection for this week I didn't appreciate until I actually took the time to listen to the lyrics. Then I fell in love with it. While writing this fic it came to mind and I couldn't help myself, I wrote a whole chapter with it in mind. This chapter is that chapter. The song selection is as follows:

Habit by Tove Lo

I will post a link on my tumblr (pentopage33) as always. I am answering guest questions below. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

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PitchesBware: There eventually will be some resolution. One or two things have to happen still. I update on Thursdays.

Guest (With Chloe walking away): To be fair, in the last chapter Chloe went after Beca two different times. Once when she left the pool, she called after her and chased her down. And the second time when Beca went to leave the party. There is only so much a girl can do. People are very complex yet simple creatures. I will be writing a companion piece after this in Chloe's POV. Her background will be revealed in this fic though. It should help.

Awesome: I definitely understood what you were saying. No worries! In a way that is a big compliment, but at the same time I feel bad you have to go through that. If you need someone to talk to, feel free to message me on tumblr (pentopage33).

Guest (with the theory): Yes! Chloe interrupting the kiss by jumping into the pool was the lucky coincidence. Which begs a differ because that was Beca's indication that Chloe was drunk because she jumped in wearing her favorite jeans. So if Beca's reasoning is wrong, which it is, how drunk is Chloe really? My guess, not very. With Chloe kissing Beca, you have to remember Chloe is very impulsive and physically expressive. So, even if it is wrong, she is more likely to act out physically than she is to talk something out. She is definitely not stupid. Chloe just has a few things to work out.

Chloe Beale: Well you certainly are trying. Don't be so hard on yourself. (I really like what you are doing here.)

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Chapter 20

After her night spent in a vodka bottle in Jesse's room, Beca never fully climbs out of the bottle. During the day she was fine. She was numb and unfeeling. She goes through the motions. She goes to class, completes all of her assignments, works at the radio station, and attends Bella practices. But by the end of the day she's tired and annoyed. She wants to feel something, anything, and she does. Chloe's soft lips against hers, the press of the ginger's body into her, her breathe ghosting over Beca's neck and lips, and the desperate grip of tan soft hands at the back of her pants, pulling their bodies closer. Then she doesn't want to feel anything because she opens her eyes and she's alone, cheeks slowly streaked with tears. The feelings linger like a phantom limb, pulling at Beca's heart and leaving her breathless. She feels like she's drowning. No matter how many mixes she makes or how long she deprives herself of sleep the sensations come. Then there are the small things that remind her of the redhead. The library is ruined. She can't even stand walking through the quad. Even her room has essences of the ginger that can be glanced upon. There are the smaller things. The sky on a clear day, the only natural blue that comes close to the perfect shade. Honey packets and the smell of flowers, of spring and summer. All things that are so Chloe.

So she turns to alcohol. The stronger the better. The burn of each shot numbing her again. Then she starts taking Amy up on her invites to go clubbing or out to the local bar. Sometimes Stacie comes with. Every night she's pushing someone new up against a wall for a long make out session. Boy, girl, she doesn't care. She can never bring herself to go past heated kissing, but it works. It's enough. It muddles the feeling of those other lips and those curves pressed into her. She comes to realize why her endless partying in high school was so appealing. She understands what she was grasping at. What she was working so hard to numb.

Just like old times, Jesse is always there to pick her up, literally and figuratively. He is the one to meet up with her at the end of the night. He is the one to escort her home and make sure she is comfortable before she falls into bed. He puts out a glass of water and pain pills for Beca to wake up to in the morning. On weekends or days Jesse doesn't have class, he was right beside her, making sure half the shots and drinks Amy sends Beca's way disappear. He guides her to more sane and clean people to make out with incase it escalates further. He was there in the morning with greasy food, coffee, and a shoulder to lean on or cry on. Whatever she needs. He was there.

Jesse doesn't like seeing Beca in a continued state of hangovers and random make out buddies, but he understands what she is going through. He understands, in a way, she needs it to stay functioning, to be able to keep going. She needs to keep moving to feel like she is not just a collection of splinters held together by flesh. So he'd rather be there for her, to guide her in the direction of the less reckless of her reckless decisions than not be there. That way he knows she is being taken care of, especially since Amy has a tendency to go off with her 'boyfriends' and has a high tolerance for very strong alcoholic drinks. Given the Aussie always checks in with Beca first before leaving, making sure it is okay with the brunette she is leaving. Beca in that state could have her head stuck in a toilet continuously vomiting and she would still say she was okay. Wild drunk party DJ Beca was not one to be trusted. She fed off of crowds and crowds at clubs were always rowdy, so she was too. Jesse had worked out a system with the Aussie, agreeing she would text him if she left, but Beca stayed. Then he could check up on his bestie and make sure she would safely make it through the night to the next day.

It worked for a week or two, but then Beca started sleeping through classes and failing assignments. So she switched to just going out on the weekends and then the weekends and Wednesdays, needing something to get her through the hump of the week. The days she didn't go out she spent with Jesse, going to the diner with him and Benji or hanging out in his dorm room. Sometimes she'd hangout with Stacie, who was a great distraction. The girl had the wildest stories and always said the most random things, it kept Beca's mind occupied. She even sometimes found herself smiling.

Her new set up worked. It really worked. She was back to her sarcastic self at Bella practices, annoying the crap out of Aubrey. It was easy to do so when she just didn't care. She was on time to all her classes and turned in all of her assignments on time. Her grades improved. She was dysfunctionally functioning. But some things didn't go back to normal. Running and choreography at practices were performed perfectly, no longer vying for a certain redhead's attention. No, she couldn't afford to. Still, she found herself making tea, leaving it by an old friend's chair with enough honey packets to last the day. She could still feel bright blue eyes staring at her. No matter how many drinks she consumed or lips she fell into there was only one set of eyes and lips she dreamed of. She still cared. On nights she remembered those basic details, Beca would drink more and pull more people to her, avoiding her dreams, that damn tether pulling… and pulling. Her phone would occasionally beep in the morning or at night, sometimes during the day, with text notifications from 'C-Bear'. She never read them.

It had been almost four weeks of Beca's new, old high school, lifestyle when all the Bellas convinced Aubrey they should go out clubbing as a form of team bonding. Surprisingly, she agreed. Then all the Bellas are going out to Beca's club. Her escape. She feels exposed. Just how messed up she gets on display for all of them to see, but it's not as bad as she thought it would be. A certain co-captain is missing. At first Beca was on high alert expecting the redhead to randomly just pop up, but after an hour Chloe was still missing. So Beca relaxes. She joins in a strange drinking game with Amy that doesn't appear to have any set rules, but ends each round with Amy winning and everyone else having to take a shot. Then she joins everyone trying to ply Aubrey with drinks until she's loose enough to openly twerk on the dance floor for a few songs before grinding on Stacie for a solid 5 minutes. All before their captain disappears with the leggy brunette, dragging Stacie away to the bathroom, reappearing ten minutes later slightly tousled, a far too pleased looking Stacie trailing behind, and then repeating it all over again. At the same time she enters a competition with Stacie to see who can get the most phone numbers by the end of the night. Really with the way Stacie and Aubrey were orbiting around each other, Beca really wouldn't have to try too hard to win. Then she's sitting at the bar checking out women with Cynthia Rose, who clearly has a great appreciation for the woman, and Bella, Aubrey enthusiastically ground on for the last five minutes. She certainly spends enough time checking her out.

That's where Beca was, more than halfway to drunk sitting next to Cynthia Rose at the bar nursing a rum and coke.

CR nudged Beca, nodding her head towards a leggy blonde shimmying with a group of girls at the edge of the dance floor. "What do you think about her?"

"She-uh- she has nice legs… and other things." Beca was obviously eyeing the woman's chest, taking a sip of her drink.

CR sighed unbelievingly, "I don't understand it. How did you of all people get five numbers so far and you can't even say you like boobs."

"Whatever." Beca scoffed and then tacked on, shrugging, "It's a gift."

Cynthia Rose hummed in agreement. It looked like she was going to point out another woman to the brunette when a voice from behind them spoke in a mildly flirty tone.

"Here, I thought you were more of an ass woman."

Beca froze, she knew that voice. She didn't want to look, but she knew she would have to. If they were in the same building they'd have to eventually interact, the building wasn't that big and the Bellas circulated amongst each other. She wasn't going to ostracize herself from the group and have a less than perfect night just because Chloe was there. It took all of a second, a stutter in motion, and then Beca was unfrozen again. Buzzed enough not to over think the situation, she turned to the voice. She should have prepared herself because there was Chloe in a dark green sequenced skin tight dress complete with black heels. She was stunning and Beca had to physically gulp and mentally shake herself to come out of whatever daze she was in. The younger woman felt drunk for other reasons besides alcohol. Taking a deep pull from her drink, Beca answered Chloe.

"Everyone has their assets," her voice dropped an octave, letting her eyes run down Chloe's frame before lazily meeting her eyes, drunk DJ Beca starting to come out. "You just have to recognize it."

If she didn't know better, Beca would have sworn she saw Chloe shiver.

"Daaaamn, Mitchell! I take back what I said earlier. Whatever it is you've got it."

Beca just shrugged, turning back to CR and her attention to her drink, mildly pleased she had rendered Chloe speechless. She takes another sip of her drink. The silence didn't last long. Chloe leaned forward onto the bar between them.

"So what is everyone up to?"

Beca ignored the cleavage put on display by her co-captain's new position, only letting herself take in the view from her peripheral. Once she got her eyeful, all of her attention went to her drink, draining it to fully distract herself.

"Well," CR started. "Everyone's getting Aubrey well liquored up. Amy is pushing drinks on everyone. Everyone else is dancing. You missed Aubrey grinding on Stacie. It was a pretty amazing view." Cynthia Rose wet her bottom lip.

"I bet." Chloe added.

"And our girl Beca here has a bet with Stacie on who can get the most numbers by the end of the night."

"Oh, really?" Beca just nodded. Flirty Chloe was instantly activated, as if there was no history between them. Like there were no problems or falling outs. Like it all meant nothing. Beca didn't like it. "Do you need any pointers?" She snaked a finger down Beca's arm, lingering at her wrist before finally pulling away. "I've been told I'm pretty talented."

The younger woman tried to ignore the flutter in her stomach and line of gooseflesh that instantly rose. It had been so long since she had been in contact with Chloe, everything felt more intense. For a second she wondered how much better kissing her childhood friend would be in the moment. She quickly cast that thought away. The alcohol helped, blurring the lines and her thoughts until it was all okay. If she just didn't look at her that was.

"Nah, I got it." Her eyes flitting across the room, refusing to look at the redhead.

Cynthia Rose backed her up, "I don't know how she does it, but she's been getting numbers like nothing." Beca could feel Chloe's questioning eyes on her. She ignored it. "Speaking of which," Cynthia Rose cut in again, drawing the other two women's attentions, "DJ, your 10 o'clock, Latina. She's been checking you out for a while. If you don't want her, I'll take her. She's cute."

Beca looked up and instantly found caramel eyes locking onto hers, accompanied by an easy smile. The woman was obviously interested, she flushed slightly. No matter how many times people checked her out, Beca never got used to it, getting mildly flustered with the attention.

"Um, yeah-she's um cute." Beca choked out, running her hand through her hair. The woman was cute, she had dimples and a well-defined jaw and cheek bones, but her features were soft. She had an old 50s inspired dress, which looked out of place at the club, but was adorable on her. Then there were the few tattoos peeking out from sleeves and a few visible piercings. She was exactly Beca's thing, well maybe if Chloe wasn't her thing.

"Sooo?" Cynthia Rose quirked an eyebrow at her. Beca turned to her, ignoring the redhead looking intently at her. The same woman who appeared to be moving closer to her as the conversation went on.

"Hey, you've got this. Just go work your pint sized magic or whatever." CR encouraged.

Beca nodded, giving off an air of nonchalance, as if she had done this a million times, which she has. She turned back to the Latina woman, who was still looking at her, and gave her a genuine smile and a wink, so she would know Beca was coming over. The woman instantly blushed, looking away, only to quickly capture Beca's eyes again, causing her to smirk in return. Getting up from her stool and turning to go, Chloe finally spoke up.

Wide eyed looking at Beca then Cynthia Rose and back, "Wait! You're really doing this?"

Beca just sighed, exasperated, sending another smile at the other woman across the bar before turning back to the redhead in front of her, smile dropping.

"What do you think, Chloe?"

"But that's-that's totes not cool. It's not with the aca code of ethics that try to up hold like propriety and lady safe zones." Chloe was struggling to come up with a legit protest.

'Now you just sound like Aubrey..." Beca huffed playing with her own hair.

"Well it's important."

"Don't worry Chlo, I'll make sure she feels very safe… as you put it."

Then she winked at her as she slipped out from behind the bar top. Taking extra care to come just short of grazing her front with Chloe's, enjoying the flustered tut that came from the other woman. All she heard as she walked away was "Damn she's good! Twice in one night red." From CR, before making her way to the other side of the bar.

It was pretty easy to get the number. They started with introductions, then drinks paid for by Beca. They talked. Beca was her usual awkward self with a few bold statements at the right moments as she chatted the woman up. For whatever reason, while Beca felt flustered and inept, woman found her fumbles and occasional stutter combined with her petite frame to be absolutely adorable. Easily earning a lot of attention. Throw in her random bouts of confidence that bordered on sexy, they loved the pint sized DJ. It worked really well with the Latina woman, making Beca come off genuine, which she was. She always was. Beca was sure to be up front with every woman or man she ever talked to. Always telling them she did not do relationships. A few thought they could change her mind, but quickly found out they were wrong when she never called them and they could never find her again. Her genuineness and awkwardness vibed perfectly with this woman, Rosa. So much so Beca danced with her and even gave her a long heated kiss. Even though Rosa's eyes were nowhere close to blue because she was sweet and Beca was sure if it had been any other situation, if Beca had met her first, Rosa would be her Chloe. She knew it was a lie, but it was a nice thing to think about.

The whole time she felt eyes following her, sometimes boring in, specifically during the kiss. Beca did not have to look to know who it was. Chloe had been staring at her rather obviously since the first day they re-met at the activities fair. She was used to it. It did bother her though. It did things to her. She had to exert extra energy to remain focused and on task, especially with the alcohol muddling everything. It really didn't help the whole escaping from Chloe and the feelings she brought thing she was trying to do. So she drank more, trying to flush her system of the butterflies when her eyes caught blue and ignore the way her breathe caught because Chloe was simply stunning. The lighting just right and the sparkle of the older girl's dress making her co-captain appear almost angelic. Beca knew it was cliché, but it was true. She was looking at dream Chloe come to life and it was too much.

So when she came back with Rosa's number triumphantly, she didn't protest when Amy pulled her off to the bar for, what the Aussie called, a shot of 'The Dingo Special'. It consisted of an ounce of everclear, a half ounce of Jägermeister, and topped with jolt coke. It knocked most people off their asses. Amy drank it like it was water, while Beca sputtered, but didn't protest when another one appeared in front of her, quickly shooting it back. Boy did she feel it. Soon after the second shot Beca felt almost weightless and DJ party Beca was fully activated.

Jesse arrived just before Beca took the first shot, receiving a text message from Amy that he might be needed because 'big red was in the house'. It was thought he might be needed to distract Beca from it all, but she seemed fine. He was more than happy to be there to take in drunk Aubrey, who was actually approachable. He could hold an actual conversation with her for a change instead of just being glared at as he rambled on about random subjects. It would be an understatement to say he was ecstatic. In part that was why he missed Beca taking her first shot of something he would never let her drink. Especially when she was already half in the bag. He had no idea what it was and he missed the second one, Aubrey actually leaning towards him with a genuine smile in place. So he didn't think anything of it. That was until he noticed just how drunk his friend was.

She started off doing what she always did, going towards the crowd, feeding off of its energy. It was as if she was at a rock concert more so than a club playing electric music. Throwing her arms in the air as she bounced into the crowd. Most of her dance moves consisted of her jumping and punching the air with her fist. Occasionally her body would be snagged around the waist by someone and then she'd be pulled into a warm body. She would mold herself to them, moving with them in an unspoken game of Simon says, Simon being the other person's body. There would be a few hands that settled on her jaw to pull her in for a quick kiss. She'd let them, ignoring the eyes she could feel following her every move. Everything was hazy anyway, as if Beca's brain was in a fog. She was unbelievably content, soaking up the energy around her. Her body felt like she was moving in slow motion, her hands and mouth numb from alcohol. The feeling was slowly spreading up from her toes. She felt invincible and nothing mattered, taking in the moving faces and colors around her, a part of the fray.

As she was spun around the dance floor, her eyes occasionally caught that perfect shade of blue eyes. It was fleeting though, like seeing a set of lion eyes in tall grass. They seemed to be getting closer and closer with each pass. Beca couldn't be sure though, the alcohol taking full affect, not fully aware of her surroundings or movements anymore. The only time she was sure of something was when she could touch it. Feel how solid the object was. Then those eyes are right before her, along with the redhead that they belonged to. At first Beca doesn't register it. She should have, there seemed to be a magnetic pull between them, pulling her body to Chloe. Then they were facing each other, a few inches apart and the song changes. A remix of 'She Shot Me Down' started up and then Chloe's hands were on her hips, pulling them flush. Beca dazed and her brain still not quite caught up with reality, went with it. Then it started to register, their mouths a breath away as hands skimmed and explored curves, eyes connecting and trailing. The next thing to register was the song. Beca couldn't help but laugh at the song choice, how perfect the lyrics were. Two childhood friends, one growing to like the other, while the other destroys them. At least that was Beca's interpretation.

She felt it then, the shift in the atmosphere. So she stepped back from Chloe and pondered for a second, looking at her feet, pushing back her hair. When she looks up her gaze was met with a confused Chloe. Then the final line rings out, 'My baby shot me down'. A sickening look crossed Beca's face, her mask of happy contentment falling, revealing all her pain and anguish. She looked pointedly at Chloe before making a gun with her hand and pointing it at her own heart, making a sound affect with her mouth. The last syllable rang out and then Beca was gone. Retreating into the crowd, slipping between bodies trying to escape her reality again, pushing away Chloe's own look of anguish at the younger girl's pain. It was easy, really easy. An arm of a stranger pulling her into them, molding their bodies together, feeling nothing like Chloe. She could breathe again. She was numb.

The night rolled on and Beca became bored. So she amped it up, hiding the whole time from to blue eyes. Somehow she gets everyone to do the dance to 'Gangnam Style' all together, all synchronized. Everyone absolutely loves it. Beca can forget about everything again and just exist in this small space. Then it was over and everyone was clapping and exchanging high fives. So Beca amps it up again. She somehow convinces the DJ to turn down the music for a second. Then she climbs onto the edge of the DJ booth, getting everyone's attention before she dives into the crowd. They catch her and the DJ cranks the volume up, as Beca crowd surfs. The floor of dancers deposit her at the back of the room, safely and gently onto her feet. To her delight, Jesse was there at her side to give her a high five and catch her as she stumbles, far too drunk to stand without swaying. Once she was put back on her feet by Jesse, she turns to the person to her other side to collect another high five. Only Chloe was on her other side and she looked angry. Beca's good natured smile drops. She goes to step forward only to almost fall flat on her face, too drunk to really walk. Then Chloe was grabbing her one arm and Jesse was grabbing the other, pushing her back onto her feet. Only this time they don't let go, afraid she will fall again.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Chloe says through gritted teeth.

At first Beca thinks she is talking to her. She goes to reply, slurring every other syllable only to be cut off by Jesse.

"What's wrong with me?" Jesse scoffs, "What's wrong with you?"

"Me? You're the one that let her get this drunk."

"That's 'ike megaaay harsh man." Beca tries to intervene, but neither one of her friends are listening. So she just settles into a drunken hazed look, mouth mildly agape, as her head ping pongs between the two.

"I got here halfway through the night. How was I supposed to keep track of everything she drank?' Jesse fired back.

"You're the one that let her have those god awful shots Amy makes."

"I didn't know what they were."

"But you were right there!"

"So Beca's her own person she can make her own decisions."

"Not when she's already drunk."

Beca cut in again. "Ya know I'm stillll ear right?" no one paid any attention.

She let out a small hick-up. They must have felt the vibration in her body through the arm they were holding, both Jesse and Chloe finally turning to her. Her cheeks flushed at the action and she blinked owlishly at them, mildly embarrassed. Chloe's anger shifted to what Beca wanted to call fondness. Jesse just spared her a glance that lasted long enough to confirm she was okay. It seemed like Chloe was maybe going to reach out and stroke her hair, something to soothe the brunette, her one hand loosening its grip on Beca's arm, but then Jesse took the opportunity to continue the previous argument.

"Well it doesn't really matter because I'm going to take her home. She can sleep it off." Jesse pulled Beca closer to him. Chloe's grip immediately tightened and she pulled Beca closer to her.

"No, I'll take her."

Jesse pulled her back towards him. "But I'm her best friend, she'd want me to take her home."

Chloe pulled Beca back to her. "I've known her longer."

Beca was pulled back in the opposite direction. "I've known her more recently."

Beca spoke up again as the jerking motion momentarily stopped so the two idiots fighting over who would take her home could glare at each other. "Goysss I don't feel sooo good."

They both turned to the brunette that they held between them. Beca's face was pale and sweaty from all the alcoholic drinks she had and dancing. It looked like she was about to blackout. Which was accurate because Beca's vision was darkening around the edges. So Jesse and Chloe simultaneously turned to each other and said, "We'll both take her." With that settled, they both led Beca out of the club, both of them refusing to let go of the arm they were holding. Once outside they got a cab, knowing there was no way Beca could walk all the way back to campus, let alone her dorm. They put her in between them in the back seat. Beca was almost in a childlike state, not really thinking coherently, just acting on want and instinct. Which was probably why she curled into Chloe's side, letting out a content sigh once settled, her head tucked just under Chloe's chin. The ride was silent, well at least for the most part because Beca felt the need to babble.

"Chloheee you're 'ike weally preh-tty. Ya know. 'ike whooooah."

"Thanks Becs. You're pretty good looking yourself."

Beca just hums and snuggles deeper into the older woman's side, yawning daintily. Jesse tries not to scoff.

"Ya smell weally good… Yur thee purfect heddy bear…. I weally 'ike ooh." Beca mumbles into Chloe's collar bone. Chloe just strokes her hair in response. Beca quickly falls asleep under the lull of Chloe's hand stroking her hair and the movement of the car. She barely registers Chloe saying she really likes her too. Jesse doesn't miss it though. He simply narrows his eyes at the older Bella in the car, trying to figure her out. Chloe doesn't pay him any mind, too consumed with the petite woman tucked into her side. She continues stroking Beca's head as the other woman dozes before nuzzling her nose into auburn locks, pressing a kiss there. Jesse was not sure what to think.

The next time Beca was conscious she found herself in her bed, in her dorm room. She didn't dare move because Jesse and Chloe were talking.

"Is she going to be okay?" Chloe asked, her voice tinged with honest concern.

Beca could hear Jesse ruffling his hair or something before he drew out a long sigh. "Yeah she just needs to sleep it off. She'll be good as new in the morning."

There was a long pause. "Isn't there something we could, um, do? To make her slow down? She's not normally like this." Unlike at the club, Chloe's tone was not accusatory. It was curious, even nervous. She could imagine Chloe twisting the fingers of one hand with the other.

"I don't know if you forgot, but Beca's pretty fucking stubborn. I'm doing everything I can, but nothing is going to stop her. Besides, it makes her happy in a way… or lets her believe she's happy. I-I don't really know. This is her normal."

"What? How could that be? She hasn't been like that at any of the acapella parties. She was never like this when we were younger. She was shy."

Jesse sighed again. "I don't know… maybe she didn't feel the need to? All I know is when I met her sophomore year of high school the Beca you saw tonight was the Beca I knew every day of the week after school and during study hall. During school she just didn't talk to anyone, except for the skaters that adopted her. Even then it's not like they were really deep conversations."

Beca felt ashamed in a way. She never actually wanted Chloe to see her like she was tonight. Yeah, she willing was like that. In some ways she needed it to survive. She wasn't exactly proud of it though. No matter how good she felt in the middle of it all, she always woke up feeling empty and drained. She didn't want Chloe to know that side of her.

"What about when you were dating?"

"Yep, pretty much the same only she didn't make out with as many people. Well, she only made out with me." Beca could almost picture the small smile that would wiggle its way onto Jesse's face. Perv.

"But…" Chloe was clearly upset by his answer.

"Chloe, six years is a long time. Beca has been through some stuff, just like you probably have too. Even I don't know about it all. There were reasons why we were better off as friends, besides the physical." Chloe must have looked at him strangely because he elaborated. "Beca kind of prefers woman, if you haven't noticed. I was like her token boyfriend." There was a long pause before Jesse spoke again, his voice softer. "She's like this rare creature. You're really lucky if she takes to you and if she does you accept whatever she gives you and you ride it out to the end. She's pretty freaking special."

There was another long pause and more than ever Beca wished she could see Chloe's reaction to Jesse's statement, but she couldn't. All the same her heart swelled at Jesse's words, not believing anyone could think such things about her. There they were though.

"Well," Jesse breaks the silence. "We should probably get to bed."

"Yeah." Chloe finally speaks, her voice full of contemplation, having a lot of new information to take in.

She can hear someone moving to the door, then Chloe speaks up again.

"Hey, Jesse?"

"Yeah?" The movements to the door stopped.

"You're a really good guy. I'm glad your Becs's… Beca's best friend."

"Thank you." Was the last thing said, the smile obvious in Jesse's tone, before Beca's dorm room's door was opened and closed.

Beca was just going to turnover, thinking everyone had left, when her bed dipped behind her. A very familiar body pressing into her back, an arm wrapping around her waist and a kiss pressed into the back of her neck. She doesn't have to look to know it's Chloe, a cloud of summer and spring scented air over taking her. Beca lets herself sink into the embrace, sighing contently. Everything feels right. She feels safe and warm in those arms. For once, Beca doesn't dream, her reality far better than anything her mind could come up with. When she wakes up, Beca feels the most rested she has ever been. She reaches out for the source of her goodnights sleep, only to come up empty. Chloe was gone. Beca knew it was not a dream, her sheets smelling of spring and warm summer days, of Chloe. For once, Chloe had left her.

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A/N: In case anyone was wondering, 'The Dingo Special' is a real drink. It is called 'Assisted Suicide'. I have never actually had one before. I found it on a list of really strong alcoholic drinks. Oh! And I changed up Beca's plastered/drunk speech. So hopefully it is better than before.