A/N: Thank you for comments, follows, and kudos! Getting those emails make me happy, but more importantly, they make the muse happy which helps in getting more of these out.

Read on, and enjoy!

Ladybug

All Beca wants even before opening her eyes is for the world to stop spinning and for her head to stop feeling like the Bellas are doing heavy metal Acapella in it. She swears that if she survives this hangover, she'll forbid the girls from ever partying ever again.

(That would never happen, but a girl's gotta make some kind of promise to the deities so they ease up on her head just a little. She's desperate.)

The brunette is dimly aware of a couple of things:

She's lying on the floor, a soft carpet beneath her fingers.

She tentatively believes there is no light wherever she is, which could mean that there's either no windows, or she's been out of it for a day.

"Must have been one hell of a party…"

Eventually, Beca admits defeat and barely cracks one eye open, breathing a sigh of relief that she apparently had remembered to close the curtains even in her drunken state, even going as far as pulling the blackout curtain into place.

Bracing herself, Beca throws her body weight onto her side, unintentionally putting too much of her weight into the action and she ends up face-planting on the carpet with a pained groan.

She finds that she doesn't really care to right herself just yet and instead she makes the conscious and adult decision to lie there with her face buried in the floor until someone finds her and fixes her position.

Her new vantage point allows her to see that she's lying next to a bed that is distinctly not hers – the deep, rich hues of purple of the sheets identify the room as Chloe's.

The hand hanging limply off the side of the bed also alerts Beca to the fact that she is not alone in the ginger's bedroom. Her groans must have alerted this person to her presence because she receives a groan in return, the hoarse voice that follows putting Beca's mind at ease.

Chloe whispers, wincing as she does so because her voice is too loud even for her.

"Thank God someone's there. I've been lying here for an hour now and I haven't moved at all. I thought I was dead."

"Ugh, Chlo, please stop being so cheerful right now."

"Next time we're throwing a party, remind me to just not."

"Okay."

They lie there in silence, Beca wondering what she's done in her past life to deserve this kind of karma, and Chloe tries to silence the jackhammer in her head.

It takes Beca a few minutes to focus, but she eventually does and finds herself staring at the redhead's still limp hand hanging off the side of the bed, the dot of ink that is Chloe's little ladybug tattoo a stark contrast with the ginger's fair skin. She's not sure why, but Beca finds herself breaking their silence and asking about the tattoo, curious about the story behind it.

"Come on, Red, I tell you my tattoo stories whenever you ask."

Chloe's takes on a soft, faraway tone – as if she's going back in time to relive what she's about to put into words.

"I was four. My family and I were vacationing at a cabin we own. It was our last day there and my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles were inside packing up while my brother Liam, our cousins, and I were sent outside – with Liam in charge, even though he was only eight. But he wasn't very interested in playing with me – none of them were – since I was the baby of the family, the little sister that Liam was too old to play with and that got on his nerves – I'm sure you can envision me as a child."

Snorting ungracefully, Beca manages a reply, "I imagine not much has changed."

The ginger smiles – even though Beca can't see her – as she continues.

"If what my parents say is to be believed, you're probably not that far off. Anyway, as I said, Liam had no interest in playing with me; he was too busy with his new gaming console that my uncle Connor had gotten him and the rest of the boys. The girls were all older than me and had no interest in having a tea party with me anymore – they preferred playing hide 'n' seek, and I was deemed too young and unfit to join them.

Liam finally snapped and told me to get lost – so I did.

Not on purpose of course, but I got so upset I ran away – wailing – into the woods around us. I must have tripped on a branch or slipped or something because next thing I knew, I was tumbling down a hill until I finally came to a stop.

I had gotten caught between some jagged rocks – that's when I got the cut which left the scar on my forehead – that prevented me from falling further into a raging stream below."

By this point, the brunette just lies there, her interest solely on Chloe.

(The redhead had that effect on Beca. It was almost too easy sometimes.)

"I was bawling my eyes out, my forehead was bleeding, and it hurt really badly too – along with the rest of my body. I began screaming for my Mommy and Daddy to come get me and promising to never be bad to Liam ever again if I could go home at that very moment."

Beca can't help it, but she smiles a little because a four-year-old Chloe sounds like the most adorable thing, even if Beca's convinced she was probably a huge handful.

"It was getting dark and I was feeling tired, cold, and scared out of my mind. My voice was almost gone from all the screaming and the pain in my body was reduced to a constant throb, but it was still there. All I remember was wishing for someone to come and find me when a ladybug flew into my line of sight and landed on the back of my hand. Then another one came and another one until I had exactly ten ladybugs on my arm.

I was so focused on the tiny insects that I failed to hear the leaves crunching underfoot around me, but then I heard it.

People were calling out my name in the distance, but one call stood out amongst the rest. Somebody was yelling out "Little Mermaid" – I was obsessed with the movie and all things mermaids. I was totes convinced I was Ariel too. Still kinda am."

Beca's smile widens, a little chuckle escaping as images of a half-naked redhead in a seashell bra and a tail invade her mind (the chuckle dies quickly enough because those same images are sending her mind reeling into the gutter at lightning speed) and she makes a mental note to try and make a mix for Chloe using the Disney movie's songs.

The ginger rolls her eyes, a faint smile blossoming on her face as she hears Beca laugh. It takes her a moment to collect her bearings again and continue the story.

"Anyway, the nickname was something only my grandfather used to call me. The sound of his voice gave me a renewed sense of energy and I began yelling out again to help him find me.

Paddy – that's what we called my grandfather, his name was Patrick – was the first one to stand above where I was trapped. He ignored all my uncles' and my dad's protests for him to step to the side and let them get me – instead he took off his jacket and came down to free me himself, carrying me back to the cabin all on his own and being with me the entire time I was getting medical treatment and stitches to my forehead."

When the silence stretches between them, the ginger realizes that she didn't exactly offer any explanation on how this story led to her tattoo. So she tries to amend by explaining further for Beca, who she's sure is sporting a confused frown and is preparing some smartass comment.

"In some countries, ladybugs are considered signs that a wish will come true. I was wishing for someone to come find me when they showed up, followed by ten people finding me – the same number as the insects that landed on my hand, one for each person. The ladybugs were my lucky charm, my saving grace if you will. So when I turned sixteen, with my parents' approval, of course, I went ahead and got my tattoo."

Beca rolls her eyes, because of course Chloe's teasing her by mentioning the parental approval. The brunette also finds the story to be super adorable, but she would rather listen to Stacie's sex stories in all their gory details than to admit that to Chloe. Or ever use the word 'adorable' out loud.

Chloe smiles to herself; it's been years since she's remembered that story. The redhead makes a mental note to call Paddy soon as she's feeling better.

The pair of girls lie there in comfortable silence afterwards until their peace is interrupted by the rest of their housemates waking, be it Fat Amy hollering that they're out of food, Cynthia Rose complaining that someone's hogging the bathroom again, or – and this is Chloe's favorite – Stacie sneaking back into the house through the ginger's window after a "hunt" and crashing to the floor after tripping over Beca who just continues to lie there, letting out a muffled "ow" and nothing else.

Later in the week, Beca's just gotten up to close the window when a ladybug lands on her finger, eliciting a faint smile. Before she's said or done anything; however, a certain redhead is rushing into her room, squealing in excitement about how much she loves the Disney mix Beca made her.

The brunette merely smiles, looking back at the little ladybug on her finger one more time before letting the insect fly off.