A/N: Hey, so I should definitely be revising for a maths test right now because it's going on my report and I'm currently failing maths but I wanted to write instead. Please review and let me know what you think so far :)

This chapter's song is 'Middle Of My Mind' by Tom Rosenthal.

Another week pasted by uneventfully. Chloe had another chemo session, Beca's bosses got increasingly annoyed at her for the amount of days she was taking off and Amy slowly began to forgive her two flatmates.

One Monday night when Beca should have been working, her and Chloe were sat at the little piano in their apartment, messing around and seeing if they could come up with any nice harmonies. The two were laughing a lot as everything they played sounded awful, but every time Chloe giggled, a hacking cough ripped through her body. It really worried Beca, she knew that Chloe was more susceptible to illness and infection, and so was determined to take Chloe to the doctor if the cough didn't go away soon. When the two went to bed, Chloe seemed to break out in a fit of coughs every 5 minutes, and Beca found herself holding her breath until Chloe started breathing normally again every time.

That night, Beca didn't sleep one wink as she spent the entire night checking that Chloe was breathing, each rasping breath that came from the sleeping redhead sounding as if it where grating against her lungs. In the morning, Beca had to leave for work before Chloe woke up, and so she reluctantly left the redhead alone, ignoring the heavy weight of fatigue threatening to pull her back to bed.

Chloe had started getting weaker lately. Her usually thick, luscious hair had started thinning, losing some of its bouncy, natural curls. Chloe seemed constantly tired, with barely enough energy to get up in the morning. She always had dark circles under her eyes, and every day a new collection of bruises appeared on her body.

When Beca got into work that day, she was immediately confronted by her assistant. He was a nice enough guy – a very talented musician who was great at helping Beca produce and make music – but he hadn't taken Beca's constant absences well. In all fairness, Beca's failure to turn up to work usually meant he got dumped with all her jobs, but Beca had tried explaining to him why she was often off. He wouldn't have any of it, constantly saying that if Beca really wanted to support her friend, she should work so they'd be able to pay for Chloe's medical fees. Beca was usually able to ignore her assistant's constant nagging and moaning, but today she couldn't take it. She was beyond tired, she was really worried about Chloe's cough, and he wouldn't give her a moment of peace

After 10 minutes of his moaning, Beca snapped. She blew off at him, telling him to get out her office and leave her alone for the rest of the day. He seemed happy to oblige – he strutted out the office, his head held high with indignance and slammed the door forcefully behind him. Beca felt bad for shouting at him almost immediately, but was happy that she would have the rest of the day to herself to catch up with all her work and maybe have a quick nap at her desk.

Beca's day seemed to drag on forever. She managed to get through all her paper work and have a quick phone call with Aubrey about Chloe's cough, but after that she still had hours before it would be acceptable to go home. After a while of deliberating about what to do, Beca decided to call Chloe. The phone rang for a moment, before Chloe picked up, her voice cheerful but tired.

"Hey Beca, what's up?"

"Not much, I just wanted to call you to check everything was okay at home." Beca said, her heart skipping at the sound of Chloe's sweet voice.

"It's all good. I had the breakfast you left out for me. Everything okay at work?" Chloe asked, coughing quietly as she waited for Beca to reply.

Beca hated how stilted the phone call became as they conversed - small talk and refined laughs making up the conversation. Chloe's occasional coughs caused Beca to flinch and the brunette couldn't focus on anything but how weak Chloe sounded. They spoke for about an hour, both girls enjoying the sound of the other's voice more than the actual conversation itself.

Once Chloe hung up, Beca felt an odd wave of sadness wash over her. The way Chloe's voice had just been cut off with the press of the button only made Beca think about how easily she could lose Chloe; in that moment, Beca realised why she had been feeling so reluctant to admit that she… had feelings for Chloe.

Beca was afraid. Beca was scared to love Chloe because she didn't want to lose someone she cared so deeply for. Beca didn't want to fall in love with the intoxicating redhead only to have everything ripped away from her if Chloe didn't make it. Beca knew it was selfish of her, she knew that she owed it to Chloe to tell her how she felt, but Beca didn't think she could cope if she allowed herself to fall for the redhead only to lose it her to this crappy illness.

Beca sat there in her breezy, spacious office and let go of herself like she had never let go before. Ever since Chloe had told Beca about her illness, Beca had tried her hardest to keep it together for the redhead's sake. There had been occasional blips, where Beca had broken down in front of Chloe, but she had never fallen apart like did that day in her office. Beca's shoulders convulsed with sobs and ugly cries ripped her tired body. She just wished she could love Chloe like anyone else would love their crush, but things were complicated. Tears poured down Beca's face as she thought about what her life would like without Chloe. Chloe was the sunshine in Beca's life; Chloe's hair always smelt like cupcakes, her eyes always glowed as if lit from within and her face never failed to tear Beca's heart from her chest. Chloe was the most beautiful person Beca had ever laid eyes upon, and as Beca finally admitted to herself how much she loved the conflicted redhead, it only became harder for Beca to accept that Chloe might not always be there.

Chloe was dying. Beca could see it. Each day, it would get harder for Chloe to get up in the morning, it would get harder for Chloe to laugh, or even smile. Beca could see Chloe growing tired with her fight against cancer, and with every whisp of hair that fell from Chloe's head, with every new bruised that appeared on her already battered body, Beca could see Chloe contemplating giving up.

Beca knew there was one thing that might stop Chloe from giving up, but she didn't know if she was brave enough admit it. Beca wanted to leap from her chair and pour her hurting heart out to the sick redhead, in the hopes of giving the redhead something to hold onto but she wasn't sure if she was ready.

Beca knew she had work to do, she knew that her assistant and her boss would only become more infuriated if she went home now; but she had to see Chloe, and she had to tell her about the war that was raging in her heart before she lost the nerve.

Not even bothering to clear up her desk, Beca slung her bag over her shoulder and hurried out her office, barging past everyone in the studio and racing to her car. She drove like a maniac home, ignoring all the speed limits and stop signs, incredibly surprised she didn't get pulled over by the cops.

When Beca made it to the flat, she threw her bag on the floor and went to stand in the middle of the living room, finding Chloe leaning against the kitchen counter. Beca made no attempt to calm her racing heart as she looked Chloe right in the eyes and chocked out,

"I love you, Chloe. I love you so much, but I've been afraid to say anything because… I don't want to lose you. Please don't give up. I can't imagine my life without you. You need to keep fighting this cancer Chloe, because I can't live in a world where you're not there. I…" Beca trailed off when she saw Chloe's expression. It was a mix of shock, wonder and yearning. There was a moment of fervent silence before Chloe rushed forward and took Beca's face in her hands.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say that." Chloe breathed, leaning forward and kissing Beca gently on the lips.

'Did you ever know that you were in the middle of my mind?

I could never figure out why you were so hard to find.

You were in the sand, dancing forever,

I was there with you, somehow, somehow…'