Chloe looks around the hall. She's not exactly sure what everyone's doing here. Beca's mom getting deployed isn't exactly something to celebrate.

Chloe and Beca are the only ones sitting down, aside from the one boy in a wheelchair who doesn't really have a choice in the matter. Even he was rolling around talking and laughing with the others in the room. Chloe could spot Kurt and Blaine standing by the door, talking to two girls in what looked like Cheerleading uniforms. Burt was in conversation with what Chloe assumes are some of his buddies, while Beca's mom and the other wives stood quietly around them, every once in a while contributing a phrase to the conversation before falling silent once more. They all seemed to have fake smiles plastered on their faces as their husbands talked, Beca's mom included.

Chloe places her hand on Beca's thigh. She can feel how tense and uncomfortable Beca is, even if she couldn't see it from her clenched jaw and rigid posture.

So yeah, Chloe's not sure what everyone's doing here seeing as the guest of honor doesn't even seem like she wants to be here. And Chloe's not sure what she's doing here except for being here for her girlfriend, who clearly doesn't want here either.

Chloe doesn't know how long they've been here, only that it's been a while and the only people she and Beca have spoken to are her mom, Burt, Kurt, and Blaine, all of which they could have done from Beca's house. She thinks they must have been here for maybe two hours before someone decides to sit down next to Beca.

The girl is beautiful, not even Chloe can deny that, which explains why Chloe is jealous when Beca relaxes, unclenches her jaw and smiles when the girl sits down next to her. She's not wearing a cheerleading uniform like the girls talking to Kurt and Blaine, but she looks like she would. Her hair is blonde and falls to her shoulder.

"You're being anti-social again," the girl says to Beca.

"And you're one to talk," Beca says.

"Hey, I'll have you know, I'm a social butterfly," the girl says. "Just ask anybody here."

Beca chuckles. "It's good to see you, Q," she says.

"You too, B," the girl says.

"Chloe," Beca says. "This is my only friend in this town, Quinn."

Chloe smiles at Quinn. Beca's talked a little about her.

"Quinn, this is my girlfriend, Chloe," Beca says.

"Girlfriend, huh?" Quinn says. She looks at Chloe fondly. "It's nice to see that someone's gotten past her walls."

Chloe smiles at Quinn. She thinks she could get along with this girl. But then Chloe could probably get along with anybody as long as they don't hurt anyone she cares about. "It's nice to meet you, Quinn," Chloe says.

"You too, Chloe," Quinn says. She looks between Chloe and Beca. "Spill," she says. "How did you two meet? How did you get this one here to let you in? How long have you been together?"

Quinn's questions flow out of her effortlessly. Chloe wonders if she's even taken a breath as she continues to ask questions without giving Beca or Chloe time to answer them. It isn't until a small brunette girl plops herself into Quinn's lap that she stops asking questions.

"There you are," the brunette says to Quinn. "I came back from the bathroom and you weren't where I left you." The brunette was pouting.

"Awww," Quinn says. "I'm sorry, baby, I was just catching up with a friend I haven't seen in a while."

Quinn introduces Chloe and Beca to the brunette. Her name is Rachel and she's Quinn's girlfriend.

Quinn and Rachel confirm Chloe's suspicion that despite the official reason for the party, it was really just an excuse for the kids to have a party and not at all about Beca's mom. In fact, most of the kids here didn't know Beca or her mom. It was a shame if you ask Chloe, because the more she gets to know them, the more she realizes that Beca and her mom are amazing people.

"So what's new with you, B?" Quinn asks. "Aside from the gorgeous girlfriend."

Rachel smacks Quinn's arm.

"Not flirting, I swear," Quinn says. "Besides baby, you know I only have eyes for you."

Chloe giggles, but when she feels Beca tense beside her, she takes her girlfriend into her arms and pulls the smaller girl into her lap. "It's okay," she whispers into Beca's ear. "You are beautiful, strong and amazing, and they're still going to love you when you tell them." Chloe feels Beca relax into her. She places a small kiss on Beca's collarbone.

Beca maneuvers herself so that she's partially facing her girlfriend, and gives Chloe a kiss. It's soft, gentle, slow and full of adoration and appreciation. "Thank you," Beca says softly.

Chloe faintly registers Rachel cooing about how adorable they are, and when Beca shifts again so that she can face the other girls, Chloe can see the softness in Quinn's eyes. It makes Chloe wonder just how far Beca has let the blonde in.

"You guys are so cute!" Rachel gushes.

"Thanks," Chloe says, while Beca mumbles something about not being cute. Chloe can't help but smile and pull her girlfriend a little closer.

There's pure silence at the table for a few minutes, only the sounds of the other kids around the room, the laughs from some of the parents, and their breathing to be heard. "You remember that party you dragged me to before I left?" Beca asks Quinn, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah, you said you didn't want to leave, just wanted to keep dancing with me. I went to the bathroom, came back and you were gone?" Quinn says.

"Is that what happened?" Beca says. "I don't remember much past ten o clock when we were taking those tequila shots. I remember dancing with you and then everything's gone."

"What are you saying, Beca?" Quinn asks.

"I lost my virginity that night," Beca whispers. "I woke up next to some guy, I think he's a friend of Kurt's, but I woke up and my clothes were gone, and I instantly knew what had happened."

"I thought you were gay?" Quinn says.

"I am," Beca says. "I wish I could piece together what happened that night."

"Damn, Beca," Quinn says. "I'm sorry. I should have made sure you were okay before I left. I should have made myself find out at least where you went to."

"It's not your fault, Quinn," Beca says. "I'm not telling you this for you to blame yourself, I just, it was, it's just something that I need you to know."

"I know, but you're my friend. And I feel that I should have been a better one," Quinn says.

"You're my friend too, Quinn. Actually, you're my only friend other than Chloe, here. But she's more than my friend, so she doesn't really count in that regard," Beca says. She laughs lightly. "Sorry, baby," she says. "But you're a great friend, Quinn. I should have called and told you this, it's just, the more people I tell, the more it sinks in, and I've been living pretty blissfully with Chloe, and until recently, she was the only one who knew."

"What?" Quinn says.

Chloe rubs small circles on Beca's stomach with her thumbs.

"Quinn," Beca says. Beca takes a deep breath, and Chloe can feel the suspense, despite the fact that she already knows what Beca's going to say. "I'm pregnant."

Quinn reaches over and takes Beca's hands. "Did I ever tell you about Beth?" Quinn asks.

Chloe can see Rachel comforting Quinn this time. It's Quinn's turn to be vulnerable.

"I was pregnant," Quinn says. "It was two years ago, I was a sophomore. It was my first time, and sadly it was with my boyfriend's best friend. He said 'trust me' and like an idiot I did. At first I was going to get an abortion, but I couldn't do it. I wanted to keep her, I didn't want to give her up, we connected as she grew inside of me. I couldn't keep her though. I had no home, no job, no money. I couldn't give her what she needed. So I gave her up for adoption. And a part of me broke when I did that. Like a piece of me was missing. I lost myself for a while there. It's strange how scary and overwhelming and painful and hard it is, but at the same time, it's easy, natural, peaceful and you just feel right."

"That sounds…accurate," Beca says.

"Do you know…?" Quinn asks.

"I think his name is Nick? Or Rick? He had a Mohawk," Beca says.

Quinn frowns. "Puck," she says.

"Noah," Rachel says.

Chloe's brow furrows in confusion. Beca's does too.

"Noah Puckerman," Rachel says. "Most everyone calls him Puck."

Beca nods.

"He's the father," Quinn says.

"Yeah," Beca says. "He is."

"No," Quinn says. "I mean he's the father. Beth's father."

Chloe wakes up to screaming. Beca is next to her thrashing in her sleep.

"NO!" Beca screams.

Chloe shakes Beca. "Baby, wake up," she says. "You're having a bad dream, baby, wake up."

Beca's eyes shoot open. Her eyes shoot open and bounce around the room several times before they settle on Chloe and relax.

"You're okay," Chloe says. "It was just a dream, baby, you're okay."

Beca doesn't say anything but Chloe can hear her start to control her breathing. Beca pulls Chloe close to her and buries her head into her girlfriend. Chloe just wraps her arms around the smaller girl, pulling her closer and holding her tightly. She whispers sweet nothings into her ear and strokes her back gently with her fingertips.

After a half hour or so, Beca finally speaks. "This is her third tour," Beca says. "Well fourth technically, but I wasn't born for the first one. The first time she was deployed, I was five. My dad had already left, and my grandparents came to live with me while she was gone. I didn't quite understand what was going on. She told me she was going away for a while, she was going to help people, but that she would come home when she was done. I had nightmares that she wouldn't come home. I didn't quite understand what she was doing then. Of course, now I know that she was serving the country, but then I didn't know, so I wasn't scared that she would get shot or die in an explosion, I was just scared she'd never come back."

Chloe can feel the tension in her girlfriend's body. She tries to rid of it by rubbing her arm up and down the younger girl's. This is clearly something Beca doesn't want to talk about.

"You don't have to tell me," Chloe says.

"I know," Beca says. "I don't like to talk about any of this, but I want you to know. I want you to know me, and this is a part of me. It's just hard."

Chloe kisses Beca's shoulder. "I appreciate that, babe. Just, if it gets to be too much for you, please stop. You are more important than your story."

Beca's body goes slightly more rigid before relaxing almost entirely. Chloe's not quite sure what just happened, but she assumes by Beca's silence that she's done talking for now. Chloe's quite content to just lay on the bed, holding Beca in her arms. She doesn't think she'll ever get tired of this. Chloe closes her eyes, she's so comfortable, she could fall back asleep, that is until Beca starts talking again and Chloe's eyes shoot open.

"My mom left for her second tour just weeks before my twelfth birthday. That time, I knew what war was, and what my mom would be doing and a general idea of where she would be. I was still scared she wouldn't come home, but knowing what she does, it just made it more scary. Don't get me wrong," Beca says. "I'm so proud of my mom, she does amazing things. I've always been terrified of losing her. Even when I was five, I knew she was the only person I could count on, especially after my dad had just walked out. Every time she leaves, I get nightmares again."

"I understand," Chloe says. "I can't imagine how scared you must be every time she leaves. But she loves you. You can see it in the way she looks at you. It's hard to describe, but she looks at you as if you're her favorite person in the world, and you probably are. It's probably close to the way I look at you, because you're my favorite person in the world, only her love for you is motherly, and mine is not." Chloe chuckles.

"How do you do that?" Beca says.

"Do what?" Chloe asks.

"Know exactly what to say to make me feel better. It's like you just know exactly what I need to hear, even if it's not what I think I need to hear."

Chloe blushes slightly. "I didn't know I did that," she says. "But I'm glad that I can do that for you."

It's been three days since Beca's mom was deployed. Beca is exhausted from the nightmares she's been having every night. Chloe's tired too from trying to soothe her girlfriend. She's not complaining, but she wonders if this is going to happen every night until Beca's mom comes home.

Today Beca said that she needed some time to herself. Chloe was sad to let the brunette out of her reach, but she understood, and so with a long hug and a longer kiss, Beca took the rental car and went out.

Chloe isn't sure what to do with herself without Beca around. She doesn't know anyone else here, and she doesn't know the area at all. She doesn't even know if there is anything for her to do. Kurt went to school and Burt went to work, so it's just Chloe alone in the house.

It's almost eleven when Chloe decides she just needs to get out of the house. She doesn't know when Beca will come home, but she leaves a note for her just in case. She makes sure she has her wallet and her cell phone and she grabs her iPod and headphones.

She hasn't done much cardio recently. Her workouts had faded in favor of studying and spending time with her girlfriend. In fact she hadn't done a decent cardio session since she quit the Bellas as it was no longer mandated for her.

Her heart pangs a little at the thought of Aubrey. If she's being completely honest with herself, she misses her best friend. She may have been a little harsh, even if Aubrey was out of line and had taken her for granted. She wonders what Aubrey is doing right now. She remembers telling Aubrey that they could meet up sometime, but she hasn't seen or heard from her since they ran into each other that day in the cafeteria.

Regardless, Chloe thinks it will do her some good to get some cardio in today, so she's using her phone to navigate to the center of town. She figures she'll walk to the center, get a feel for the town, maybe get some lunch, then hopefully find a park or something where she can just put her headphones on and run for a while.

Chloe walks to the center of town. She passes by William McKinley High School, and see's they have a track field. She makes a mental note of that as well as to scour through it for any evidence of Beca, though she's not entirely sure Beca even went there. On second thought, it was more likely that Beca hadn't gone there, as she doesn't seem to know many people in the town.

She finds a little coffee shop called the Lima Bean that looks pretty good. Chloe's not in the mood for coffee right now, but she definitely wants to check it out later. There's a music shop that catches Chloe's eye. She wonders if that's where Beca ran off to, she can certainly see that being somewhere that Beca would escape to. Chloe tells herself that if she doesn't hear from Beca by the time she finishes her run that she'll check in there before she heads back to the house.

There's some place called Breadstix that Chloe thinks looks like a bad Italian chain, and she sees a group of young girls in ballet class in the front window of the studio. Chloe finds a little café called Havens and decides that she'll eat there.

The café is a small little place. Theres two tables in the front window, three tables along the side going past the counter, a larger table in the back corner, and four booths in the back that you can't see from the front. The place is comfortable and cozy, and Chloe falls in love with its charm immediately. For a small place, it has a surprisingly large menu. It also has a number of pastries in a case next to the counter that make Chloe's mouth water and she has to try to resist the urge to get one of everything just to try them.

Chloe orders a grilled cheese with tomato and bacon, a bottle of water and a 'chocolate coma brownie'. She sits at one of the tables by the window. She puts an ear bud in one ear and stares out the window while she waits for her food. She could definitely get used to this place. It's only a couple of minutes before her food comes out, and Chloe thanks the old woman who clearly owns the place before she digs in.

While she hasn't really tried anywhere else yet, Chloe deems Havens her favorite restaurant in town. She tells the old woman, who she finds out is named Phyllis, that she loves her café and will most definitely be coming back with her girlfriend while they're in town. Phyllis seems delighted and tells Chloe that she can't wait to meet her girlfriend and that she seems like a lovely young lady who is welcome back anytime.

Chloe makes her way to the high school where she heads straight to the track. She stretches for a few minutes before popping her headphones, turning the volume up and making her away around the track for the first time.

She's only been running for maybe fifteen minutes when she hears something that catches her attention over the music in her ears.

She looks around. There are a number of cheerleaders spilling onto the field, there's a tall woman with short blonde hair in a tracksuit standing on the bleaches shouting god knows what into the megaphone in her hand.

Chloe takes out one of her ear buds.

" – the hell are you doing on my field," the tall woman says.

Chloe squints at the woman. Is she serious? Chloe decides to ignore the woman and puts her ear bud back in and continues running.

Five minutes later there's a cheerleader running next to her, matching her pace. She turns her head to look at the girl, though she doesn't stop running. The girl is clearly latina, and beautiful. Chloe recognizes her as one of the girls who was talking to Kurt and Blaine at the excuse of a going away party.

The second Chloe pulls her ear bud out, the girl speaks. "What are you doing here?" she asks.

"Running," Chloe answers.

"No shit Sherlock," the girl responds. "But why are you here, at the high school? Are you a transfer or something?"

Chloe resists the urge to roll her eyes. It dawns on her, though, that being so close to the holidays, the school probably has half days now.

"No," Chloe says. "I'm waiting for Kurt."

It's not exactly true, but the girl doesn't need to know that.

"You know Lady Hummel?" the girl says.

Chloe gets annoyed at the nickname for Beca's little brother. He seems like a nice kid, and this girl in front of her seems like a bitch.

"I don't know you," Chloe says. "What is it that you want?"

"Coach Sylvester wants you to vacate the premises so we can get on with practice," the girl says.

Chloe huffs. "Well you can tell your coach that see can kiss my well toned ass," she says.

The girl stops short and Chloe continues running.

As she goes she can see the Coach yelling more, and finally the latina girl goes back into the locker rooms. She's not exactly sure what's going on, or moreover why the coach hasn't just come over here herself, but Chloe's not particularly concerned. She's found herself frustrated without Beca around, and while she normally doesn't like flashing around the amount of power she has simply because of her father, unless it's needed like with Jesse, but today's one of those days where she could just snap and threaten the woman's job if it came to that. Maybe it's the lack of sleep.

Soon there's somebody else matching pace with her. She can tell by the flashes of pale yellow in her periphery that it's not a cheerleader, or the coach. She looks over and is shocked to see Quinn.

This time Chloe slows down to a stop and pauses her iPod.

"Quinn," Chloe says.

"Chloe," Quinn says. She's not unfriendly, but she does sound a little annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe asks.

"I go here," Quinn says. "What's your excuse?"

"Oh, ummm, Beca took off somewhere, and I didn't know what to do. I saw the track and just started running."

Quinn nods. "Well why don't you come back to my place and we can do something fun or something. It's a win-win. Coach Sylvester gets her field, you and I get some company. Rachel has lessons until this evening so we can just hang out until Beca comes back. I'd love to get to know the girl who's captured Beca's heart."

Chloe nods. "That sounds good actually," she says.

Quinn flicks off the latina cheerleader as we vacate the field.

Quinn's got a red VW bug. It's cute, and Chloe finds she likes it. She wonders if she could trade in one of the cars in her garage for one of these. Maybe the smart car? She doesn't think she'll ever use that tiny thing.

Chloe finds she likes Quinn. Quinn's been though some tough times, but she seems to have come out the other side stronger than ever. From the stories Quinn tells her, she's also grown into a better person. Chloe smiles when she hears Quinn tell her about Rachel, she wonders if she gushes about Beca the way Quinn gushes about Rachel. And when Quinn speaks about Beth and about how she's just started becoming a part of her life, Chloe can't help but be ecstatic for her newfound friend.

"Beca's not my best friend," Quinn corrects Chloe.

Chloe frowns. "Don't get me wrong, she's a great friend and I consider her to be a close friend, but she hasn't opened up enough to me to get that best friend spot. She could easily become one of my best friends, and I know she considers me her best friend, and I'm honored that she does," Quinn says.

Chloe thinks about it. "I guess that makes sense in a weird sort of way," Chloe says.

"If you hurt her, I'll kill you," Quinn says.

Chloe rolls her eyes. "For me, it was love at first sight, and I just keep falling in love again every single day. I'd never do anything to hurt her."

Quinn nods. It seems she's satisfied with Chloe's answer.

It isn't until Rachel shows up that Chloe decides she'd better leave. She uses her phone as a GPS to guide her back to the little music shop. Beca isn't there, so Chloe heads back to the house.

"Bout time you guys showed up," Chloe hears Burt say. "Kurt's making some fancy dinner."

"Just because it doesn't come in a box and cook in a microwave doesn't mean it's fancy, dad," Kurt says. "It's just dinner."

Chloe makes her way into the kitchen where Burt is sitting at the table drinking a beer and Kurt is flitting around the kitchen cooking something that smells fantastic.

"It's just me," Chloe says. "Beca took the car this morning, said she needed some time alone. I'm just going to go call her. I haven't heard from her in hours, and I'm worried."

Burt nods. Chloe goes onto the back porch and dials Beca's number. It goes straight to voicemail. Now Chloe's really worried. Beca never shuts her phone off. What if something happened to her? Chloe's mind is racing and she doesn't know what to think. She wants to go looking for Beca but she doesn't even know where she would start.

It's time for dinner and Beca still isn't back and Chloe is still worried. She had expressed that she wants to go look for Beca, but it seems neither Burt nor Kurt know Beca well enough to know where she would go. Kurt tells her that the only time Beca would leave the house is when Quinn dragged her out of it. Quinn doesn't know either. Beca never really had a place she would go to, just wherever Quinn wanted to go.

Dinner is an awkward affair. Burt's not a man of many words, though he does grunt his approval. While Kurt seems like the type that Chloe would get along quite well with, Chloe isn't up for meaningless chatter when she doesn't know where her girlfriend is. She's not really up for food either. She mostly ends up pushing the food around her plate, taking a small bite every now and again.

After dinner, Chloe decides that she's going to look for Beca. She can't just sit around waiting. She leaves her cell phone number with Kurt and Burt in case Beca shows up and Chloe just leaves. She goes everywhere and anywhere looking for some sign of her girlfriend, but comes up empty. Three hours later, she goes back to the house. Beca still hasn't shown up there either.

Chloe's taken to calling every hospital and medical facility in a hundred mile radius to see if anyone matching Beca's description has been brought in. She's also calling police stations in case she'd done something stupid that ended up with her getting arrested. So far nothing.

An hour of calls later, Beca walks through the front door with tons of bags in her hand. Chloe launches herself into Beca's arms, forcing Beca to drop the bags and stagger backward, almost falling in the process.

Beca wraps her arms around Chloe while she tries to maintain her footing. Chloe holds on tight for a few minutes. She abruptly lets go and smacks Beca's arm hard, causing Beca to lose her footing and fall backwards.

"Owww," Beca says. "What was that for?"

"I was worried sick!" Chloe yells. "I thought something had happened to you! You're gone all day without any indication of where you've gone and your phone is off! Nobody knew where you went or where you'd be likely to go!"

Beca frowns. "I'm sorry," she says. "I really didn't mean to worry you. I didn't even realize my phone had died until I got lost on my way home because my phone was my GPS."

Chloe helps Beca up, and pulls her into her arms once more. "I was so scared," Chloe says quietly into Beca's ear. "It's all happened so fast, but I really don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"I'm right here, baby," Beca says. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Awwww," Kurt exclaims from the hallway.

"Shut up, Kurt," Beca mumbles into Chloe's shoulders.

"So where did you go anyway?" Kurt asks.

Beca looks at Kurt as if he's missing something right in front of him. She looks at Chloe, who's looking back at Beca curiously, dying to know where she's been all this time.

Beca looks back and forth between the two a few times before her face dons an expression that says 'Really?'

Beca rolls her eyes and says, "Shopping."

"Without me!?" Kurt and Chloe say at the same time.

"Well yeah," Beca says. "You guys didn't think I was gonna buy your Christmas presents while you're standing over my shoulder did you?"

What do you think?