Your Love is a Song Chapter 13: A Word That Only Dreamers Keep, a pitch perfect fanfic

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the continuous support! Because I finished it earlier than expected, here is the next chapter or what I'd like to call part 2 of the whole Bechloe fluff from the last chapter featuring some misadventures. It also features bits and pieces of the songs listed below and quite possibly my favorite scene in this fic.

Fun fact, the song I used in the aforementioned scene may or may not have been the one that gave me the idea to write a whole fic for this. Again, this was supposed to be a 'Midnight DJ AU' for 'In Every World' (hence the heavy use of songs).

Hope you enjoy this chapter! I think this might be my longest one ever. We're already halfway through the story at this point. :)

I don't own pitch perfect.

Chloe smiled to herself as she tightened her arms around Beca, pulling her closer. She wasn't really sure if the younger girl was still asleep or was already awake. Her curtains were already shielding the bright rays of the morning light outside, and Chloe was afraid that soon the perfect calm of this moment would disappear. That reality would once sink in, and though she and Beca had grown to be close in the short amount of time they've known each other, she'll soon feel the distance that was between them.

But for what it's worth, she wouldn't let go of her now. She'll savor the moment no matter how short it was. She would keep the peace intact for as long as she could, breathing in Beca's scent, feeling her own warmth.

Beca's gift was perfect. It was as if she figured out the secrets of their own hearts and put into words all that they both couldn't say, song after song. Chloe's heart swelled at the thought that Beca had carefully put together that playlist for her and only her. That Beca spent the time choosing each and every one of the songs in them, that she spent hours to perfect each mix and mash-up she included. It made her feel special, because she has never felt the way she does for Beca for anyone else before. It was exhilarating, liberating, and in truth it was also heartbreaking.

Because there's a part of her that never felt so vulnerable. And while she's convinced herself she was going to tough it up, be courageous and all, she still felt scared, terrified. Because Chloe knew, she knew with every fiber of her being that if Beca broke her heart, there was no getting over it. Maybe that's why she feels sad every time she would disappear during a party and only return hours later. That's why she was jealous whenever she heard about Jesse, or why she would feel an ache in her heart when she saw them together or thought about them working together are spending some time. She knew they were friends, and Chloe wasn't sure, she didn't want to know, just how close they were.

And Chloe wasn't stupid. She knew some of the songs that were on the playlist were songs she requested over the radio. Truth be told she's had a hypothesis that Beca was the Midnight DJ for quite some time now, but she didn't have any proof. That and she knew how strict Luke was with the booth, although the fact that Luke is Beca's step-brother could easily discredit that reasoning. But then for the life of her, she has no idea why Beca hasn't told her. Chloe reasoned there was probably more to it and a rational mind would accept that. But Aubrey's past obsession of proving that Beca and Jesse were an item had wormed its way into both her heart and mind and she couldn't help herself. What if she was with Jesse? What if the Midnight DJ was their project? What Chloe was wrong and the two were just spending time doing God knows what? Her thoughts were irrational, it had no real basis, but she couldn't help it. The two of them never talked about Jesse, and while Chloe believes Beca when she says that they were just friends, she's not blind. She could see what the Treble's intentions were.

It drove her mad whenever she thought of it.

Listening and talking to her favorite DJ always worked though, and it would strengthen her resolve that maybe, just maybe, she was talking to Beca; that they had that special thing going on between them, and that Beca would tell her the whole secret when she was ready.

But yeah, sometimes the thoughts kept creeping in, and Chloe never thought for one second that the possibility of losing Beca Mitchell would ever be one of the things she feared the most.

Fear is a funny thing.

And so is love.

Chloe pulled Beca impossibly closer and rested her head on her back. For now, she'll take what she could get.

Beca chuckled. "If you hold me tighter, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to breathe." she teased.

"I don't know what you mean." Chloe replied feigning innocence.

"I'm not going anywhere Chlo." Beca replied sleepily and Chloe found herself smiling yet again.

Baby steps, she thought to herself. "Are you okay? Hungry or anything?" Chloe then found herself asking.

"A little hungry, but I kind of don't want to move right now." she heard Beca answer. Her DJ sounded like she was surprised saying what she just did, but she didn't mumble something to take it back so Chloe just took that as a positive sign as well.

The two of them would have stayed the way they were the whole day if they didn't hear a crash coming from outside of the comforts of Chloe's room. "Living room." Chloe muttered. Without a choice, she had reluctantly let Beca go as they both got up and rushed out the door.

"I am okay." Amy said as she proceeded to dust herself off. "Sorry to disturb your honeymoon, but I just fell from the couch to my rude awakening really, please carry on." Amy said with a teasing smile, surprisingly not to Chloe and Beca but to Aubrey who immediately disentangled herself from Stacie on the floor. Chloe tried to suppress a chuckle from her best friend's initial reaction before Aubrey smoothed her features over.

"I don't suppose you all want breakfast." Aubrey simply stated before picking herself up from the floor, stretching a bit as she made her way into the kitchen.

"What happened?" Emily asked all wide-eyed and curious as she joined Beca and Chloe in the short hallway that separated the bedrooms.

"Nothing much Ems." Beca answered, giving Chloe an amused look.

The Bellas all begrudgingly got up and followed Aubrey to the kitchen, all hungry and in need of coffee. Or just water and aspirin really.

Chloe was about to reach for Beca's hands only to miss her by an inch. Beca's face was all scrunched up, looking at her buzzing phone before deciding to answer it. Her eyebrows knitted closer together before turning to Chloe to apologize. "Sorry, it's Jesse, some sort of accident." she mumbled before running out the door in a rush.

Stacie turned around to give a sympathetic smile at her, having seen everything, before walking up to both Chloe and Emily. "Come on, time to eat." she said pulling both of them by the hand and Chloe sullenly nodded.

It was an accident, her friend needed her. That was it.

Chloe kept trying to reason to herself before Emily ran off to the radio, turning up the volume to hear the song currently being played.

And I'd like to hold you here in my arms
And have you never leave
And I'd like to give you all that I have
To have you stay with me

Oh, but you, you don't see me
You don't see me that way

You don't see the way I look at you
When you're not looking at me
I wish that I could tell you
Every single thought I ever had
About you and me
But you don't see me that way

That was when Chloe let slip a curse, chastising herself for forgetting to give Beca's gift to her before she left.

Oh well, she'll still have her chances.

She'll have her chance.

Right?

Thanks to a few things getting out of hand during the Treble Christmas party, Jesse ended up in the hospital overnight. He broke his leg and he only had Benji by his side the whole night through. Since Benji had to go pack his things, he felt like he had no choice but to get Beca to come and keep Jesse's company for a while.

"He's a really great friend you know. He's packing my stuff too." Jesse had said while Beca sipped her coffee, putting her phone away. She was fighting so hard not to be grumpy but she couldn't help but think how she could've been having breakfast with the Bellas at the moment.

And by Bellas, she totally meant Chloe.

"I can't believe you're still going home for the holidays after this. The doctors really discharging you soon?"

"Yep! And Benji's driving me home since my stop's along the way to his. Told you, nice guy. Don't worry though, our road trip will only have good clean fun and my leg's not that badly injured either. The doctors said I'll be on my feet in no time."

"Good, cause if you're feeling great then I should take my leave soon. Special radio station duties and all, and you know how I'll be the only intern stacking CDs over the break. Got a busy schedule."

"But Beca – " Jesse had tried to protest.

"See you later Jess!" she replied with a smirk. No she didn't leave him all alone. Benji did text her he was already at the parking lot minutes earlier. She figured it was her cue to leave.

She was, after all, not kidding when she said she had a busy schedule. Beca needed to get to the radio station by noon to be on Luke's show as the Midnight DJ to launch their special holiday programs. With most students gone for the holidays, there would only be a select few of them sticking around to do shifts, namely, Luke, Beca, and another DJ in Luke's year who Beca had barely spoken to.

Beca quickly dropped by the dorms to pack her things – the dorms were closed until a few days before the next semester starts – and change before heading to Luke and Matt's apartment to drop her things of and head to the radio station for the special hour.

"You owe me for this." she told Luke as she entered the booth, the two of them being the only ones in the station, Matt having left as soon as Beca came.

"I believe you owe me for the gig in the first place." Luke replied, shooting a quick text before hiding his phone. "Be back in the afternoon to take over, okay? I'll be taking over the grave yard shift for a while in case you want to spend some time with Chloe. Jen's taking over the early morning shifts for me." he then said with a grin.

"What does that supposed to mean?" Beca threw back but Luke simply shrugged.

"Well, in case your dad wants you to stay over at their place too." Luke had then said and Beca made a face.

"I'm not staying under the safe room as the step-monster." she said adamantly.

"Yeah, well, you can never be too safe." Luke pointed out and Beca simply nodded. She still hasn't told her dad about the midnight radio gig that he may or may not approve of and right now, Beca really didn't want to jeopardize LA with anything her dad might not be too happy about. She already quit the Bellas aka 'the club activities' and continued on with the radio station internship that her dad was not too big of a fan.

The hour passed by relatively quickly, what with all the requests for Love Songs coming from the Bellas – Beca should've known Luke was up to something – one would have to think it was Valentine's instead of Christmas that was the up and coming occasion. Chloe didn't call for any requests though, much to Beca's disappointment.

But why would she be disappointed?

Everything felt so perfect the night before – well, technically, even up to the very early hours of morning – and she didn't even get to enjoy breakfast with Chloe and the Bellas.

Beca yawned after Luke queued up what would be the last song for the hour. "Go get some sleep. I've set up my room so you and Emily can stay there for a while." he said and Beca nodded. She still felt tired, she wasn't going to deny that.

When she got back to Luke's apartment, Beca was thankful that Emily still wasn't there with Stacie and Amy. She figured they were still having fun at Aubrey and Chloe's apartment. Beca slumped into Luke's bed, her eyes heavy with sleep. Luke's bed wasn't as soft as Chloe's, it didn't have the scent of Chloe's perfume clinging to its sheets, but it would have to do.

Beca's eyes fluttered close, pushing back the questions forming in her mind, questions she didn't want to answer for now, wishing deep inside her that when she wakes up Chloe would be there by her side.

"Come on you guys! We're going to be late!" Emily had shouted from outside. Amy was already running towards her out the door but for whatever reason Stacie had been glued to the spot where she was standing.

The rest of the Bellas had just left while Chloe had once again disappeared into her room saying she needed to look for something. It was the perfect moment, Stacie reasoned, since it was just her and Aubrey standing in the living room.

And would she take it?

She was going to take it.

The furniture had all been restored to where they were supposed to be and the Bellas had helped cleaning up earlier. Aubrey was still trying to nervously arrange and rearrange some magazines in a corner stack when Stacie walked towards her. "Hey Bree." she said cheerily and Aubrey had instantly turned with a tight-lipped smile on her face. "Look, sorry about the ruckus last night" Stacie started to say, the memory of the kiss still lingering in her mind. It was a simple kiss, their lips barely touching for a minute, but that was one hell of a kiss to her. Aubrey had left quite an impression and while Stacie didn't want to deal with what that meant exactly, at least not for the moment, she did want to make sure that Aubrey was okay with it. She seemed a little upset and rattled that morning when they woke up in each other's arms and well, Stacie was just concerned about her.

She wasn't really sure how Aubrey would react but Stacie felt like a weight had been lifted on her shoulders when Aubrey smiled, the mask she usually wore gone, and Stacie knew she was getting a genuine reaction out of the blonde. "Don't worry about it Stace." she heard Aubrey say as her hand rubbed the back of her neck. "It was just… it was what it was."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Stacie replied with a nod before turning around to leave.

"Stacie." Aubrey called out and Stacie stopped on her tracks on her way out the door. "Enjoy your holidays." the blonde had said before walking up to her and placing a light kiss on her cheeks.

Stacie simply nodded and smiled before turning to leave. It wasn't like her to not have done anything else, to just turn and smile and be content with what had happened. It wasn't like her to feel some sort of high from just a kiss on a cheek, or for her hand to reach the spot where Aubrey's lips had graced to touch mere seconds before.

But it was what was happening in her reality. And of course Stacie wasn't blind with what was happening to her.

But what it meant? That was a different thing. What will happen next? That was still uncertain.

And Stacie still had to figure out the changes that were bound to happen should she choose to follow what she felt. Because if she decides to pursue this thing, she knew it would be one hell of a battle.

"Come on! Luke needs us! Brainstorm and all!" Emily called out a few blocks away and Stacie chuckled. The young Legacy barely keeping her excitement.

Stacie sighed, she had time to think about her own matters of the heart later. For now, she's needed to help her friends figure out theirs.

"Beca!" the DJ heard Chloe say on her way to the radio station.

"Chloe? What's up? Is anything wrong?" was Beca's immediate response. She didn't know why, but she figured that she wouldn't be able to see Chloe for the rest of the day and so she really wasn't expecting her. Beca knew the Bellas, or at least most of them, won't be leaving until either late tonight or early the next day. She thought they might still be hanging out or something.

"Nothing, I was actually just looking for you." Chloe said with a smile. "How's, um, Jesse?"

Beca nodded. "He's fine. He broke his leg for something stupid but Benji's there for him. You know, Benji, the Treble's sort of roadie."

"No, not really." Chloe replied truthfully as she fell into a steady rhythm with Beca's steps. "On the way to the station?"

"Uh, yeah. Luke asked me to come in." Beca answered. There really wasn't any special reason she hasn't told Chloe about her Midnight DJ gig yet other than that Beca felt a little awkward talking to her over the radio waves anonymously while Chloe would sometimes share her private thoughts, requests songs that may have had some personal weight it carried. It was silly, if Chloe said something on air, anyone else would have heard it but somehow Beca felt a little shy about it.

Like she couldn't help but wonder to whom the songs Chloe requested were for, and if by some sort of long shot it was for her, well, it felt weird for her. It was like she was trying to pry too much into Chloe's private life.

Also, she didn't want to risk Chloe knowing in case her dad finds out and well, she knew he'd be upset with Luke, and he never really liked Luke so that's no big deal, but currently, to him Chloe was on some pedestal. And Beca didn't want Chloe seen to be anything less than the angel that she truly was. Her father could be a little overprotective, and a little too stubborn on proving that his way is right. He'll think the radio gig was all just a distraction, and the graveyard shift isn't just proper for a young lady to have, and the usual drama that Beca really didn't want to get into. He also didn't want him to villainize Chloe like he sometimes does with Luke whenever he thinks he isn't any good influence on Beca.

So yeah, protection from any fallout of sorts if it happens.

They walked side by side in comfortable silence until Beca realized they were both already at the station. Chloe looked a little nervous about something and Beca couldn't help but wonder why. All she knew was that her own heart was beating a little too rapidly, like it was about to break free and jump out of her chest. "So, uh, what… I mean… why did you want to see me?" she rambled on, leaning on the door as she swung it open to let both her and Chloe in the station – she really wasn't thinking about what might happen if Chloe was still there when she needs to start her shift.

Chloe was about to say something when Luke shouted over through the open door of the booth. "Hey there Becky! Right on time! Oh, and with Chloe too? That's a pleasant surprise."

Beca turned over to look at her step-brother with a curious gaze. Both Stacie and Amy were hanging out with him inside the booth while Emily was reluctantly hanging outside. There was a quick exchange of looks with the three, Emily just watching them, trying to figure out what they're up to. Beca then turned to shrug at Chloe who looked just confused and while Luke busied himself with dashboard, Beca resumed her earlier conversation with Chloe. "Sorry about that, um, I was saying something. Right, why did you want to see me?" she rambled on gesturing for Chloe to go ahead inside.

The redhead turned to face Beca, her back against where the booth was, she was about to say something when the next song on Luke's playlist started playing. That in itself wouldn't have been annoying if not for Luke knocking at the glass of the booth and waving at them with a silly grin on his face. Stacie and Amy had pulled Emily inside the booth – which, if Luke wanted to keep his strict demeanor up, he shouldn't have allowed to happen, but oh well, it was the holidays - and the two current Bellas looked equally smug with matching broad smiles.

Baby, I don't want to spend my life on trial
For something that I did not do
And maybe if you stopped and looked around some time
I wouldn't pass right by you

Chloe turned to look, chuckled and shook her head. "Aren't they supposed to not be in the booth?"

"Luke likes breaking his own rules for as long as people don't find out about it." Beca deadpanned. "Ignore them. So what's up?"

Maybe it's because you are so insecure
Maybe you plain don't care
Maybe it's the chase that really gets me off
I fall so when it's just not there

"Oh well, it's just…" she heard Chloe starting to say before Beca grunted catching sight of Luke waving his hands at her from inside the booth. Amy and Stacie were also trying to signal something at her from the inside. Emily just looked giddy.

Burn another bridge, break another heart
Try again, it will only fall apart

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked before turning to catch a quick glimpse at what Beca was starting to get annoyed at but by then the trio – because to Beca, Emily was just an innocent getting dragged into this – were back to just proceeding to business, like everything was normal.

Infatuation
Not seeing the rest of you is getting the best of me
It's such a shame that you shot me down
It would have been nice to be around
I'm touching your skin
If it's only a fantasy, then why is it killing me?
I guess this must be infatuation (I want it)

"Forget about it." Beca muttered under her breath shaking her head and Chloe finally returned her attention to her, a kind smile on her face that Beca couldn't help herself smile.

"You sure it's nothing?" Chloe asked and Beca nodded, urging her to go on. "Right, what I was trying to say…" Chloe started to say again and once more the shenanigans of their friends from inside the booth. Stacie and Amy proceeded to enact the song to the best of their abilities while Emily and Luke shared a laugh, Luke trying to point something out to Beca.

Try to put my finger on what burns me up
It always seems to escape me
And when you have decided that you've had enough
Just tell me where I need to be

"What is it?" Chloe asked, noting the fact that Beca was distracted. She was about to turn but Beca stopped her, gently turning Chloe to face her.

"Ignore them. Seriously." Beca said, she was trying to keep her voice in control and Chloe out of the insanity that was her best friends' schemes. Although maybe she should really take her own advice considering she's the one who was getting distracted with all of the shenanigans.

And Beca would have been mad, really mad, but her initial annoyance changed into something else, like a lightbulb turning to illuminate the darkness in her very foggy mind.

Because it had actually just hit her, with all of Luke's pointing and gesturing that the song was being played intentionally, for a reason too. Beca was trying her hardest to wrestle with what was going on in the back of her mind, trying to keep herself collected in front of Chloe at the moment. Luke and her friends were trying to get her to confront things she didn't really want to think about at the moment, trying to rile her up and get a reaction from her.

Having Chloe right in front of her wasn't helping either. The gears in her mind had begun to turn and she was trying her hardest to stop them.

But why?

Now her face is something that I never had
To ever deal with before
She left me with the feeling that she'd had enough
And I'm the one wanting more

Right, fear. Fear of something new, of letting someone in.

Although with Chloe, she never really let the redhead in. She was just sort of there one day and Beca wasn't alone anymore within the confines of her thick and sturdy walls.

It wasn't helping that Amy and Stacie enactment had been progressively getting more and more realistic and their portrayals either, trying to replay memories of Beca spent with Chloe that they have caught and witnessed.

Burn another bridge, break another heart
Try again, it will only fall apart

Emily started to cover her eyes as well as Stacie and Amy were starting to get a little suggestive with their reenactments, Luke uncontrollably laughing at the corner of the booth.

Chloe was trying to get a good read on Beca all while the chorus played out. She knew that Chloe could tell she was glaring at her friends at the booth in her own attempts to get them to quit it. Every now and then she would shoot Chloe an apologetic glance and attempt to ask her to go on and pick up the conversation before glaring back at the booth and, if Beca would admit that the sound coming out of her at that moment was what it was, growling at her friends.

"Beca, are you sure you're okay?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah." Beca replied, shaking her head again and taking a deep breath. "Sorry. What was it again?"

"I'm here because of this." Chloe said, not wanting anymore distractions and handing Beca an envelope. "It's my Christmas gift for you."

I'm so attracted to you
The feeling's mutual too
And I get scared the moment you leave
Get so hot I forget to breathe, yeah

Beca couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the contents of the envelope that she totally missed what Stacie and Amy were doing in the booth and Luke's waving to get her attention. The trio decided to get serious for a minute and try to tell Beca to just confront her feelings head on and point at Chloe. But their efforts were in vain because all Beca could see in that moment was the pair of tickets to LA.

"Chloe…" Beca started to say sounding a little breathless.

"They are both open ended and the flight is for the summer, after graduation. I figured, if your dead set on LA, that maybe, we could go together, I mean that's what the initial intention for the second ticket, but you can bring whoever you want too. I figure, getting a good look of the place, where you can stay and live and all, might be nice before you move for good."

"I thought you said you'll come with me? Of course the second ticket is yours." Beca replied, still in awe looking at the ticket and then back to Chloe. "Chloe this is amazing, this… you shouldn't have…" she said, at a loss for words. She looked at Chloe, her eyes met hers, and over the song blaring through the speakers, Beca could hear her heart pounding louder than ever.

And she could feel all the thoughts she's buried in the deepest corners of her mind worming their way out. The only thing she felt she could do to quiet them down was to reach out to the redhead and pull her into a tight hug, one that Chloe most definitely didn't expect.

Chloe had just given her the most amazing gift ever. Chloe who believed in her dreams and supported her. Chloe who just made this incredibly grand and rather selfless – yes, she's considering this to definitely be selfless – gesture for her. Chloe who…

Chloe who…

Luke, Stacie, Amy and Emily all stopped from fooling around even before the chorus could even finish. Really, they were all shocked to witness Beca pulling someone in for a hug. The looks on their faces brought Beca back to reality and away from that word she dreaded to realize was true.

"Chloe, this, this is amazing. Thank you." Beca said as she pulled away. Luke was busy, his attention back to his show. Amy and Stacie tried to act cool, they were totally not hoping to eavesdrop as they opened the door of the booth yet again. Emily was still trying to process things.

"I'm just glad you really liked it Beca." Chloe replied with a smile.

"Liked it? Chloe, I love it! You… Chlo, you're… it's just… amazing…" Beca rambled with a smile, still trying to comprehend how lucky she was for having met someone like Chloe.

"I should go. I assume you're going to be busy stacking CDs?" she asked coyly.

"Something like that. But dinner?" Beca replied still sounding a little breathless, still incredibly dumbfounded and awestruck from Chloe's gift. "I'll text you."

Chloe nodded. "I'll be waiting." she replied before turning to leave, waving at her friends at the booth goodbye. "See you later Beca."

"See you later Chlo." Beca replied, trying to catch her breath despite the fact that she knew Chloe took her very breath away. She always did. Every time she left.

For as long as the feelings stay… And somehow a part of Beca knew, it was more than just what the song was about…

And there would always be a promise to see each other soon, and that was enough for Beca to hand on until they see each other again.

But for now, she had a shift to take over from Luke.

She may also murder her friends for putting their little show minutes before that thankfully Chloe didn't really get the chance to witness… or you know… something like that. They shall not go unpunished…

The holidays went by fast. A little too fast for Luke, to be honest. Stacie left the day after what Amy called 'radio show intervention' for Beca which Luke still wasn't sure was entirely successful but was in the step of the right direction, he argued. Beca was incredibly upset with the stunt they pulled but apparently Chloe's gift – whatever was in the envelope that if anyone one of them dared touch they would all miss having fingers, or so Beca claimed – was enough to keep the tiny DJ in a good mood all throughout the coming days.

Meanwhile, Luke had arranged with Matt to allow Amy to stay in his room over the holidays, what with her not being able to fly home for the holidays this year. With all the expenses in travel, Amy thought it would be best to just come home for Christmas every other year. Her stay definitely added color to their holidays.

Emily stayed with them until Christmas day when her mom and dad came by to pick her up. Which of course meant that she had to live through the God awful dinner the other night at Dr. Mitchell's place. Beca wasn't exactly one who kept her opinions to herself about the step-monster. Emily was nervously picking at her plate all throughout the tension filled dinner with Sheila questioning Beca's still adamant decision to go to LA after the year – Luke knows she was just voicing out her opinions and they were all coming from a good place, but her delivery wasn't exactly the best – and also wanting to get all privy about Beca's love life. Luke of course knew that Beca quite possibly wasn't even aware of her currently blooming love life, and if she was, he was sure she would be reluctant to say anything to Sheila at the moment, because there was definitely a lot of things to process about her feelings. Somehow they avoided a yelling match but dessert was most definitely skipped by Beca very nearly walking out if it wasn't for Emily's efforts in trying to deescalate everything.

He was just really thankful that Chloe was sticking around the holidays with Aubrey. The redhead was mostly over their place every night, the two talking about almost everything and anything. Chloe even managed to get Beca into a holiday themed movie marathon where she barely gagged at the cuteness and warmhearted feelings of the movies she was very much critical about. If anything Beca more than tolerated some of them, Luke can tell she might have actually enjoyed them.

Or at least he enjoyed the company of the redhead who watched the movies with her.

But the important matter was that Beca was happy. Really happy. And in way that Luke has never thought possible in all the years he's known his step-sister.

Yeah, time surely went fast. It was already New Years' Eve. Matt had been back since the day before but he was currently still staying over his girlfriend's place. He volunteered to take over the midnight shift so that Beca and Luke could enjoy themselves before things return back to normal.

And enjoy themselves they did. There was a party at a huge fraternity house. Luke was friends with most of the members and so they decided to check out the party. Some of the students were back, including a few of the Bellas who were also in the party. Stacie was currently chatting up with a few guys, Amy had disappeared to God knows where, Chloe had just dodged an ex-boyfriend to find Beca with their drinks in hand. Even Aubrey was there, although admittedly she was looking all glum.

"What's wrong Posen?" Luke asked. Although from where Aubrey was currently glaring at, he could already tell what it was. Aubrey very nearly snarled at him for a reply but instead chose to nibble on the rim of her plastic cup after gulping down her drink. "I don't understand why you people don't just suck it up and go after your own happiness." Luke sighed after a few minutes of silence at Aubrey's side. He was about to leave when the blonde finally spoke up.

"You don't understand Luke." Aubrey started to say, her voice sounding weak.

"I think do." Luke replied sympathetically. "Go for it anyways. To hell with what the world thinks. Follow your heart and be happy and all that fun stuff."

Aubrey stared at Luke for a moment or two trying to as if what he just said was some concept so totally foreign and out of this worlds that he might as well be insane. But it wasn't though, at least not to Luke. It's not always easy, hell, it's never going to be easy. That's just how life is. But it's either you live it or you don't. Either you chase after that dream and see it through or just keep running in circles. Either you face every heartache, every obstacle, for something you know is truly worthy of all the sacrifices you have to make to achieve it or you live life on the sidelines, simply exist and watch life pass you by. Either you take a risk or you don't, the people who deserve to be in your life will never leave you or abandon you just by living, just because of loving, and just because of being who you are. They'll be there through thick or thin.

Besides, didn't one author say, love is a ride where you shouldn't wear seatbelts or something like that?

In his own strange ways with being friends with Aubrey, that was what Luke was trying to say, and after a minute or two, Aubrey seemed to have realized that. "Thanks." Aubrey mumbled before clearing her throat and excusing herself from Luke's company.

That wasn't actually bad. Luke thought to himself.

Now, if only it were that easy with Beca.

It was barely a few minutes away, and Beca was nervously checking for the time on her phone. She's been doing that for the last five minutes really. There was some guy performing on a makeshift stage at the corner of the living room with a few of his friends, Chloe wasn't really sure if they went to Barden – she's never really seen them before – or if they were just friends of friends visiting. "Do you have to go or something?" Chloe asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her tone. She wanted to do the countdown to new years with Beca.

"No, sorry, it's just a force of habit I guess." Beca truthfully replied and smiled back at Chloe. "Why, do you need to go somewhere else? Or, do you want to head out or something?" she then asked and for some reason Chloe was starting to get worked up. It's not like she was thinking about kissing Beca or something and she didn't want to miss her chance.

Nope, totally not that at all.

Although she knew she'd consume just about enough alcohol to get away with trying, she was trying her best to keep herself in check. She wasn't going to just jump something like that on…

"Beca!" Jesse called as he pushed past Chloe, hobbling towards Beca to give her a tight hug. The redhead noticed Beca tense up a bit before giving him a gentle shove.

"I see your leg is doing slightly better." Beca said, noting the cast on Jesse's leg. Jesse gave Beca a wide grin in response, said something she was sure was actually from some movie from somewhere and for a while Chloe felt herself forgotten, the Treblemaker cutting into her moment with Beca. And all of the sudden, the words of the song the guy was singing was all that Chloe could hear, the words ringing true to her.

I don't know why
I just can't stop thinking of you
it hurts me inside cause I can't figure out what to do
never felt like this for someone before
why can't you hear me

She really shouldn't, there was no reason to, but Chloe couldn't help but feel the twinge of jealousy in her heart. She was standing just a step away from the two and all she could do was stand there awkwardly and let them talk. She didn't want to leave Beca, especially not with the boy who likes her and who might try to want to kiss her as the clock strikes twelve.

Why can't you hear me
I wish you could see but you don't

Chloe wasn't sure when it happened but at some point in the time that she's known Beca, she's learned to live with feeling two extremes, the sweet perfection of being the one who gets to spend alone time with Beca and the painful and bitter agony of seeing her with Jesse. It's not that she was or that she had the right to be jealous, but… oh who was she kidding, she was.

All because she could see the way that Jesse Swanson looks at her.

And all because she wasn't entirely sure where Beca stands.

I sing a song but you can't hear as you walk by me
as you walk by me and I'll catch my breath
I'll sing again and I pretend that you might like me
you might like me, but it's all in my head

Chloe found herself to be in a paradox because of that, with her heart filled with so much joy because of Beca, but with her heart breaking at the same time because of the thoughts that crept into her mind. Because of the fear that her love may be unrequited. It was like breathing and drowning, flying and falling, all at the same time. It would stay that way until the day that she finds the answer to whether Beca Mitchell feels the same way for her or not, Chloe knew that with all her heart.

"Ten." the crowd started to chant as the song came to an end, pulling Chloe out of her own thoughts.

"Real sorry Jess." she then heard Beca say.

"Nine." the countdown went on.

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked caught a little off guard.

"Eight."

"Just… uh… not really feeling well." Beca replied.

"Seven."

"Hope you'll excuse me." the DJ added.

"Six."

"I can walk you home." Jesse offered.

"Five." the crowd went on and Beca's brief silence caused all sorts of feelings in the pits of Chloe's stomach to intensify, as if she was in a close race and it was for sure going to be a photo finish. "Four."

"Thanks Jess, but I'll be fine." Beca replied.

"Three." the crowd then said, excitement filling the air.

"But Beca – " Jesse started to argue but Chloe really didn't get to hear the end of that argument.

"Two." she heard the people inside the house say, their voices echoing through before being drowned out as she and Beca soon gained distance. Beca didn't even let Jesse finish what he was trying to say. As the crowd said 'three', Chloe had felt the DJ's hand on her wrist as she quickly zoomed out of the house, pulling her along.

The dorms were closer than Luke's apartment, and it seemed to be where they were heading. The various residence halls had begun letting students back in their respective rooms since two days ago in preparation for the start of classes. Last Chloe knew, Beca wasn't planning to move back until the day after tomorrow when it's back to reality and the usual swing of things for all of them.

"We missed 'one'." Chloe finally said as the two of them tried to catch their breaths, Beca more than Chloe, once they reached Beca's dorm room.

"Sorry what?" Beca asked once they got inside, she looked completely thrown from what Chloe had said.

"I said we missed 'one'." Chloe repeated. She couldn't help but let out a bit of a laugh when she saw Beca looking at her like some confused puppy.

They stood there for a minute, simply looking at each other's eyes, as Chloe tried to figure out the words she had wanted to say. The lights were turned off with nothing but the faint glows of the bright lights of the fireworks from outside was illuminating the room. Beca was dressed in her typical fashion, nothing special, but Chloe could swear that she never looked as beautiful as she did in that moment. Must be the colors of the fireworks, she thought to herself. Standing there in the empty room with Beca, she couldn't help but wonder what the other girl was thinking at that moment. She could feel her heart beating louder and louder, above the noise of the pyrotechnics display outside was making. Blue, purple, red, orange, the colors changed. Beat after beat, seconds passed. The colorful lights kept changing in the night and it was like Chloe awoke form a trance she was under. She knew, she understood, there was nothing certain in this world, in this life. Questions would always flood her mind, moments would keep passing and slipping by and she had no control over them. But looking into Beca's eyes, Chloe knew one thing for sure, she may not know the answer now, but she knows she'll wait. She'll always wait for Beca.

Chloe took a deep breath and smiled, crossing the room in two steps. What had felt like hours passing were in truth just seconds of quiet. She leaned in, closing the distance between her and Beca. She placed a hand around the younger girl's neck and pressed her lips on her forehead lasting for a few seconds before finally puling a way. That would have to do for now, Chloe reasoned to herself. "I said we missed 'one'." she then said to Beca throwing a wink for safe measure.

"Mhmm." Beca replied and nodded, the DJ becoming glued to her place, getting the message.

And Chloe could have sworn she's never seen Beca's cheeks burn brighter than ever.

On one note, Beca really owed Matt and Luke for letting her have New Years' Eve off. Otherwise she wouldn't have been able to attend that party with Chloe and spend some time with the redhead.

On a second note, Chloe Beale really would be the death of her. Beca felt like she was about to have a heart attack during the lead up to the forehead kiss that happened mere hours ago. For a while there she very nearly thought…

Beca pressed her head on Chloe's back, her cheeks felt like they were burning from the memory. The redhead had stayed the night over after Beca insisted that Chloe was still inebriated and that she was not going to let her walk all the way home in the middle of the night with groups of drunk sometimes stupid people scattered around campus. No, no, no, she won't let Chloe put herself at risk.

It was still dark outside, the faint glow of the moonlight seeping through, barely etching the features of the quiet dorm room. Beca would not allow herself to move much, not wanting to disturb Chloe. It's happened twice now. Chloe placing a kiss on Beca's cheek or forehead minutes before finding themselves asleep and waking up completely tangled up with one another. It was only different this time in that it was Beca who was spooning Chloe at the moment.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but as much as she liked waking up safe in Chloe's arms, she preferred the feeling of having Chloe in hers instead. There was a part of her that really liked the idea of being the one to protect Chloe from anything and everything else in the world, being the one to shield her from harm and make everything alright.

She's barely had any sleep since she closed her eyes earlier, her thoughts keeping her awake. Day would break in a couple of hours, and as much as Beca wanted to keep the peace of the moment from ever leaving, of having Chloe stay by her side for as long as forever would take, she knew that was impossible. The new day would come and the days would turn into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. Things would move forward and she'll have no choice but face what she had been trying to bury.

Not that she could still runaway or hide from it. The past few days following the whole radio station stunt had her thinking a lot that every thought she had been suppressing had finally broken the dam in her mind, flooding her heart with strong emotions she never thought would ever be possible to feel, and washing her with some sort of relief of finally letting it all go. That's when Beca knew, she understood.

She just wasn't sure.

And that was when her old habits fought to keep restrains on her heart.

She wasn't sure how to feel about it, what she thinks of it. She wasn't sure what to do next. She wasn't sure of what she wanted to happen next, or for that matter, what will happen next.

Because the answers only brought more questions with them.

The answer – that one word – was quietly burning in her heart, and everything about Chloe just kept kindling the flame.

That's why she wasn't sure.

That's why she was terrified.

It was really just a matter of whether or not that fear was stronger, if it would overwhelm her.

All she was sure of was Chloe.

All she was sure of was that what she felt for Chloe could only be described by one simple word, the one she had locked up deep inside the confines of the walls of her heart.

Songs featured in this chapter: 'You Don't See Me' by Safetysuit; 'Infatuation' by Maroon 5; 'Invisible' by Chester See

Hope you enjoyed the radio station scene! Like I said, it was the scene that was supposed to be in a short AU version of this fic and essentially what gave birth to the whole fic I'm writing now :) I wanted to sort of compare the goofiness that was Luke, Stacie, and Amy's shenanigans to the sweetness of the moment between Beca and Chloe when Chloe gave her gift, I hope I did it justice.

I'm starting to get busy with work again, so I'm setting an uploading sched every Thursday for now. I swear I'm going to finish up my other fic 'In Every World' soon too, I just haven't found the time to write the next four chapters. Strangely enough, I've already written the epilogue. :P I'm trying to get that done by this week so if you're also tuning into that one, bear patience with me.

Sorry for the long notes in the beginning and end of this chapter. Hang tight guys! Tough times ahead.

Reviews and comments are always appreciated and again, thanks for all the support! If you have comments, suggestions or if there's something you want to see happen, feel free to PM me or shoot me a message through tumblr (thehypotensivegrad). And for those with finals coming up, God speed! If you need any help with studying, I'll also be glad to help ;)