Irrational

by grotchon

Being a producer was just fine. So why did Beca agree to be in a PR relationship with infamous party-girl Chloe Beale? And why did it seem like Chloe was actually excited to do it?

10. Chapter 10

Sorry sorry sorry I'm here I brought coffees for everyone! And also some non-caffeinated teas for those of us who don't drink caffeine I love you all thanks for your patience and care and love and this isn't the last chapter, I gotta stop writing the intro like this is the end, there's at least two more chapterssss

Explicit content ahead

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The next day

Chloe awoke with a pounding in her head.

She blinked against the bright light in the room, seeing just the top of Beca's tangled hair over the pillows.

She could almost hear the way her pulse was thudding through her temples - like the bass drum in a ska band or someone at the d-

"Jesus, we're coming!" Beca grumbled loudly next to her. Chloe watched her head flop to the other side, and she felt Beca's hand slip out of hers under the pillows as Beca pushed herself up, off her stomach.

"It's like you've never waited for someone to open the door before," she added exasperatedly as she padded towards the loud banging that was apparently outside of Chloe's head.

Chloe took a deep breath, letting her eyes fall closed as the pounding stopped.

I feel like I've been hit by a truck.

"CB! You were supposed to be up and showered by now," Jessica fretted as she swooped into the room.

With a groan, Chloe opened her eyes again as she wiggled herself into a seated position so she could see over the pillow wall.

Jessica was dressed, make-up done, hair straight. She wore dark liner and a black sweater over a cute maroon top with some strappy bits over her chest.

Remembering what was currently adorning her body - which constituted about a fifth of the fabric from Jess's outfit - Chloe pulled her covers up.

Brad, Lilly, and Tish trailed in after Jessica- all dressed in dark jeans and dark tops. Brad's black hair was already styled back, and Tish had her modern cut braided away from her face.

Only one person matched Chloe's vibe - only one of them had had the same kind of morning, after the same kind of night.

Chloe kept her eyes trained beyond her friends, because behind them, Beca was there. She felt her wince fall into a soft smile as she watched Beca yawn. Her tank top - which she was now sleepily trying to re-adjust - was wrinkled from laying on it all night, and her hair was plastered to one side of her face, with the remnants of a bun on the other.

She looked up and met Chloe's eye, and her grumpy sleepiness transformed into a begrudgingly coy, slightly embarrassed smile.

Right, because we were intimate-but-not-intimate last night.

We listened to each other.

Watched each other.

Just thinking about it makes me-

"Chloe, seriously, what gives?" Jessica asked, and Chloe blinked.

"Sorry, Jess, I had an alarm set, but…"

Chloe tried to think to any moment before waking up, but it all came back static.

Everything except last night, anyway.

When Beca crawled into my lap.

When she kissed me.

Her hips pressing up into-

"You turned off your alarm, thank god. No one needs to listen to David Guetta before noon," Beca grumbled as she crossed the room to get to her suitcase. "I'm going to go get coffee."

"We can just call some up," Tish said dismissively as she laid her garment bags on the bed where Chloe still had her legs stretched out. She pulled her feet out from under them, bringing her legs up to her chest to hide her grin behind her knees.

Because Beca kissed me last night!

"It's all right, I need a minute anyway," Beca replied, half obscured by her suitcase. Chloe watched as Beca stood back up, now carrying fresh jeans and a clean thermal along with the typical clean stuff. "Just text me what you want. Chloe, do you need to use the bathroom?"

Chloe shook her head, and she let her gaze track Beca while the producer walked into the bathroom.

The door shut, and Tish turned to her.

What's her deal? she mouthed.

Chloe let her bottom lip stay behind her teeth as she smiled and shook her head again. She held up a finger to tell Tish to wait a moment, and soon Beca stepped back out. She'd pulled her hair down from her loose scrunchie, and she ran her fingers through the curls so that they fell around her shoulders and hid her face.

"Okay, text me," she said brusquely, and Chloe heard some rustling before the door opened and slammed closed.

"Oh my gosh," she sighed happily as she fell back onto her pillows with a giggle.

All she wanted to do was scoop Beca into her arms and hold her tight all day.

They had kissed!

And done more than that!

Hangover or no, Chloe felt like her heart was in her throat and her stomach was in her butt.

"Something happened," Brad surmised slowly.

"Spill," Tish demanded.

"No, I'm not saying anything!" Chloe insisted as she jumped out of bed. She brushed past the majority of the crew - barely readjusting her nightie before she flashed them.

"We're really supposed to believe that nothing happened when you're dressed like that," Brad said with a roll of his eyes. "Also what's with the pillows?"

Chloe side-stepped Brad's hand as he swung out to spank her, but that pushed her in to Tish's path. The stylist immediately thumbed the silky material.

"Christ, is this vintage?"

Chloe hummed noncommittally as she finally got to her bag where it sat next to Beca's, on the foldable thing. She rummaged through it as she stalled.

She had worn the nightie because she hoped that something might happen.

But not- like, that sounded so gross. She wasn't, like, planning on anything, that would be manipulative.

After the premiere today and maybe another day of flirting or being around each other again, Chloe was going to tell Beca how she felt and maybe just seduce her a little bit, if Beca was into it.

But then they had to share the room - and these were literally the only pajamas she brought.

I mean, usually I sleep naked, she thought.

Which would've made last night really interesting.

But there was still so much unsaid between them! Was Beca as drunk as she was last night? Gosh, usually Drunk Chloe just fell asleep; she was one of those people that got more muted when they drank instead of getting wilder, at least at that level of drunkenness.

But then Beca was there, and Chloe had to hold herself back from climbing all over her.

When she's in that kind of mood, she usually reads fanfiction, but she couldn't do that with Beca in the room…

Turns out I can, she blushed.

Turns out I can do a lot of things with Beca in the room.

And that kiss!

Gosh.

That was, like, mind-blowing.

Good enough to make Chloe throw her plans about waiting out the window.

(Though this morning, Chloe was even more resolute in her opinion from last night that it was better that they didn't go further; she didn't want their first time to be alcohol-laden and fuzzy.

Plus, she wanted to make sure they were on the same page first.)

But was that kiss really about Beca proving that she could take charge?

Does she realize that I like her?

Well, she reasoned. She knows that she's the background on my phone.

And that I read fiction about us sleeping together.

And that her birthday is my password.

She has to know, right?

"I can tell that you kissed," Lilly said quietly, and Chloe jumped as she searched for the sound of her voice. She flipped the top of her suitcase back to see the Korean woman was sitting on the floor, behind her bag. "I'm very happy for you."

"I need to talk to her first," Chloe said loudly to all of her friends as she grabbed her phone and some fresh undies, figuring that was all she needed to put on before Tish dressed her. She ignored their eyes as she made her way across the room to the bathroom. "I… I don't want to mess this up by gossiping about anything."

"So there is something to gossip about," Brad went on, turning to Jessica. "I knew it. I've been shipping them for months."

"Brad!" Chloe gasped involuntarily. "You haven't really, have you?"

Does everyone know I'm in love with her?

She looked to Jessica for some kind of negation, but her oldest friend shook her head.

"I mean, we knew it was inevitable," Jessica sighed, and Chloe felt her jaw drop open in shock. "After the last premiere? I thought she was going to bite my head off."

"Wait, hold on-" Chloe tried to say.

"Yeah seriously, what!?" Tish interjected too. "I thought we were setting her up with me!"

"What? No," Chloe cut in again.

If she wasn't going to get Beca, no one would.

"Absolutely not. Beca is not going to be 'set up' with anyone else, she's mi-"

Chloe huffed a breath out of her nose as she put her hands on her hips, standing in the narrow entrance to the room.

She's mine, she finished in her head. She's my person. She's my partner.

Jessica eeped out an excited squeal, and Brad nodded encouragingly with a smug hum.

She shook her head without finishing her first thought, setting on another idea instead.

"Tell me what happened in November," she said to Jessica and Brad.

"And you," she tacked on with a pointed finger at Tish. "You stay away."

"I never stood a chance," Tish laughed with an errant flick of her wrist. She joined Brad on the edge of one of the plum chairs - the one that didn't have Beca's bag on it - and nodded to Jessica.

"C'mon, pipsqueak, get on with it."

"Well, I mean, there was a lot of 'this is all bullshit' and, like, 'I can't believe they're treating her like this,'" Jessica started to say as she leaned against the dresser. "And I tried to tell her that I couldn't, like, keep cutting in- like, I already did it on the first interview, and Gail told me she'd fire me if I kept doing it-"

She sighed, and Chloe gave her a soft smile and a nod to tell her to continue.

She loved Jessica, and she knew what it was like to be scared of Gail.

But if she doesn't hurry up and tell this story-

"So people kept coming up and talking to us about the movie- well, me mostly - but Beca was being so weird about it, because she could tell that they were surprised that you were- you know, that you stepped up, like that you were able to, like, support the shoot," Jessica went on, and she looked at Brad, who nodded. "And after, like, the tenth time of her being like 'yeah Chloe's good at her job,' in that weird, freaky intense way, I gave her that shot to relax, but it totally backfired because then she completely ruined your interview!"

"Ruined?" Brad scoffed. "She made Chloe the talk of the night."

Chloe didn't say anything as the two started to squabble.

She knew how she felt about the whole thing; Beca saved her, during that interview. The whole night, really.

And yeah, people were talking about it later and the next day- but the whole Annabelle/Stevie/it-being-a-terrible-movie situation took the main spotlight.

But Gail had said something, right?

About how she was fielding calls about them?

She thought back to what she saw about the whole thing, but all she really remembered was the comments from the fans - the ones that said she looked like she was in love with Beca.

Which was true, but not then.

Maybe.

Brad and Jessica finally stopped snipping at each other, and Chloe looked up as Jessica cleared her throat.

"And then later, before you came into the theater…" she hedged. "Beca told us that Gail, like, yelled at you guys…"

"And Beca said, 'yeah I don't care,'" Brad jumped in, with a scarily accurate impression of Beca that made Chloe break her concentration for a second, letting out a giggle.

"But then she was all, 'I hate Gail, but I'm letting Chloe decide how to handle it. I can apologize or whatever-'"

"And I said, 'well it'd make my life a whole heck of a lot easier,'" Jessica added ruefully.

"But Beca was like, 'I'm only apologizing if Chloe asks me to,'" Brad continued dreamily, and Chloe couldn't tell if it was still part of the impression or not. "And I told her that she did exactly what needed to be done."

"And you know I feel the same way," Jessica rushed to add.

"But all she said was, 'yeah, I know. She deserves better- better than Gail, and better than the way the media treats her. Chloe deserves everything.'" Brad finished with a flourish. "And right then and there, I was like 'this is it. This is the one for Chloe.' In a way that Chicago never was."

Chloe heard a growl from the corner of the room where Lilly was.

"It was definitely an improvement from that cheating meathead," Jessica spat out bitterly, but then she sighed. "You can tell she really cares about you."

"Even I can see that, and I really didn't want to," Tish agreed. "But that girl is head over heels for you."

They were all looking at her expectantly, and, instead of responding to any of it, Chloe felt herself get overwhelmed with emotion. She let out a quick breath before she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.

Hearing her friends talk about Beca like that… it was almost too much.

Because this was real.

This was more than just in her head.

She had these moments sometimes, when something really crazy happened in her life, something that felt more like a scene in one of her movies. Moments where she met her heroes or somebody super famous already knew who she was, or when she got to do something really cool, like announcing at an awards show.

Moments like this, too.

Moments where she felt this very powerful connection with a person - the kind of connection that could rewire her life, could shock her. Charges of tension and emotion, the deep kind. Something that could power through anything.

But knowing that it wasn't just her - that this wasn't one of those emotions that she had to drum up for a scene, that she hadn't fabricated any part of this - it kinda scared her. But how could it not be 100% authentic when she- when they weren't even acting?

Not for a while.

Not even on that first night, when it was just them.

This was really going to happen.

She was in love with Beca; she had known she wanted to try this thing before last night.

(Although, after last night, she was positive that they had more chemistry beyond their wit and rapport.)

The only time in a long time that she'd even second-guessed for a second was when Beca told her about the popstar plan, because Beca's life was totally going to change, and having someone like Chloe in her orbit when that happened… that might just make it all the more difficult.

But as soon as she saw Beca through the phone, from the side of the Golden Globes red carpet, Chloe knew she wasn't going to be able to stay away.

And maybe Beca felt the same way about her, if her friends could be believed.

Chloe didn't know if she was going to scream or if she was going to cry happy tears.

I might actually get to love her.

To be loved by her.

Chloe started her expedited morning routine to keep from freaking out too much. She quickly rubbed anti-aging salve under her eyes and moisturizer into her cheeks.

But then, she added an extra step, digging out her best lotion and lip moisturizer out too, massaging lotion deep into her hands and scrubbing the other product into her lips. She let it absorb for a moment before she wiped the excess off.

It wasn't every day that she got to prepare for something so monumental!

She was about to duck back into the main room to start the rest of her day when her phone buzzed on the counter.

She picked up the phone and read Beca's text.

coffees?

It was in the group message with everybody else, so Jessica pinged in with her Black coffee with sugar! order, and Tish did too with her venti americano. Lilly sent a picture of green tea and a skull emoji, which prompted a few follow-ups and more unhelpful emojis that refused to clarify the order.

Even Brad responded with a fifteen-word iced concoction before Chloe could wrap her head around what to say.

She ended up asking for a caramel macchiato or something similar before clicking over to Beca's individual message.

You took off pretty quick this morning, she typed out. Did I hold your hand too hard?

She clicked the phone off and started collecting her things to go back into the hotel room, but it buzzed in her hand immediately.

Unfortunately, the phone was tucked between the folded-over fabric of her nightie, and so Chloe had to wait until she was back in the main room before she was able to check.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry," Jessica apologized as soon as Chloe was back within earshot. "I thought you knew all that, about Beca and everything."

"I-" Chloe started, then stopped. "I'm glad you told me."

"We're all on board, obvi," Tish called from across the room where she was hanging the garment bags on the headboard on Chloe's side of the bed.

"Clearly," Brad agreed somewhat sarcastically. "She barely even made fun of my coffee order."

Chloe laughed as Tish began to say something in response. She stashed the nightie away - folding it carefully, so it wouldn't be wrinkled if she had another reason for wearing it later - and she pulled out her phone to check the message.

Her friends were still talking, but Chloe didn't even pretend to listen as she realized she had two separate Beca messages.

brad, i ordered your drink and they preemptively called for a psych eval? Beca had written in the group message, which had been followed by a few quick curse words and crying emojis.

Chloe held her breath as she clicked on her other message, seeing the no way, i just… preview before she could see the whole thing.

no way, it read. i just needed a minute before the whole circus started. i told you i'm not going anywhere, remember?

Chloe felt her face flush as she typed back, I remember.

Beca's dark blue eyes even darker blue, in the ambient glow from the window.

Whispered half-confessions.

good, Beca wrote back quickly, and then the dots popped up, and Chloe waited with bated breath as Beca finished her follow-up message.

how would i be able to fulfill other requests if i left? she wrote, and the dots were there again, and Chloe felt herself chewing on her lip as her vision began to blur from how hard she was staring at the screen.

"-Chloe, are you listening?"

Chloe instinctively clicked off the screen as she looked up.

All three of her friends (that she could see, anyway - Lilly was still on the floor somewhere) were giving her excited looks, and Chloe just sighed as she stomped over to Tish.

"I can't be basically naked around her right now; put some clothes on me before she comes back," she huffed, and she smiled nervously as the room dissolved into giggles.

"You sure?" Tish teased as she swatted her bare side. "We can leave."

"Yes, I'm sure!" Chloe cried, throwing her phone on the bed but eyeing it covetously as she saw it light up with another message.

It was another ten torturous minutes before Chloe was fully dressed in her blue swirly-patterened two-piece, which was one of her favorite Tish picks in a while. It was teal and dark blue, with a large, open pattern - long sleeve and high-crop on the top, and a pair of sleek, wide-legged matching pants on the bottom. With the dark blue coat that Tish had brought too, it would super cute without being, like, too loud.

In all the hubbub, she had almost forgotten that Beca had texted her, but when Jessica asked where the coffee was, she remembered with aggressive whiplash.

"I can text her," Chloe yelped, but she was trapped where Brad was holding her hostage on the plum chair as he did her make-up. "Can someone hand me my phone?"

"Only if you'll keep getting ready," Jessica warned as she haded the phone over, and out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw Brad roll his eyes.

She had her phone in her hand, and she clicked on the side.

The screen lit up, and she saw the message preview.

like kissing you…

She barely held back her audible gasp, but she definitelytook a sharp breath, and she was about to unlock the phone when she noticed a sudden stillness around her.

She looked up to see that everyone was frozen, staring at her.

"Can you all mind your business, please?" she squeaked.

"Chloe, hunny," Brad tutted as he tapped her chin to get her to look forward again. "You and your girlfriend are our business."

Tish agreed loudly, and from Lilly's new position against the windows, Chloe could see her smile. Jessica was shrugging in the affirmative as Chloe sputtered to respond-

But the sound of the room's electronic lock silenced them all quickly.

They looked to Chloe as the door swung open, but Chloe had been struck with a case of the nervous nellies as Beca stepped backwards into the room, brandishing a carrier of drinks.

"All right, who ordered the liquid cocaine?" Beca joked. Chloe spun back to face the window, so she could only see Brad, but she was almost positive that her friends probably looked like they had been caught talking about her.

Which, they had.

But still.

Chloe heard Beca's steps slow as she stepped further into the room.

"Uh, what did I miss?" Beca said slowly, and Chloe spun away from Brad to look at Beca head on.

Lilly was up and approaching, but Beca wasn't paying attention to that.

And neither was Chloe, as she watched Beca watch her. Soft eyes, and an even softer smile, drinks in hand and maybe a little breathless from the walk.

Chloe's perfect view was interrupted when Lilly grabbed her drink - the only green one, sandwiched into the center of the carrier precariously - and bowed slightly before plopping back down on the floor right there.

And Chloe suddenly remembered that 1. they were not alone, and 2. she was trying to cover up an awkward situation.

"You didn't miss anything," Chloe said quickly, flashing a bright smile as reached for a cup at random. Beca turned the carrier so that Chloe's drink was under her hand, and Chloe smiled up at her.

Beca raised her eyebrows as she brought her own drink to her mouth, taking a small sip.

"Nothing at all. Wanna come with me, get dressed?"

Chloe felt her expression turn slightly sharp as she looked over her shoulder to see Tish had gotten up and was stalking towards them.

"Uh, sure," Beca replied with a quizzical look back to Chloe. "I'll just leave these…?"

"I'll take them," Chloe rushed to say, grabbing for the carrier and grinning again. She could feel the edges of her smile starting to take that crazy-person curve, and she forced herself to take a deep breath before she started talking again.

"Thank you, for, uh, all this. For everything. For… yeah," she said clumsily, gesturing to and with the drinks and also maybe referring to Beca just existing and all the sexy bits last night.

And maybe that subtext was apparent, because Beca shot her a devilish grin.

"It's nothing that I didn't know how to do- and wanted to," she laughed.

And then she winked.

And oh.

That wink was…

Oh my gosh.

It made Chloe's stomach somersault, and she nearly upset the balance of the three remaining coffees in the carrier as she felt Tish leaning over her to grab hers.

"Careful, Chloe," Tish chuckled in her ear as she retrieved her drink. "Wouldn't want to lose your grip."

Beca laughed again, and Chloe suddenly felt like she was being outplayed.

Beca Mitchell did have game!

I knew it!

And Chloe felt like she was severely at a disadvantage, because she was definitely still hungover and, ultimately, in love and about to proclaim it from the rooftops.

And anyways, Beca was supposed to be the awkward one!

Especially after everything last night!

She needed to get her footing, and fast, because she was supposed to be the one making Beca blush, not the other way around!

"Well yeah, you're a maestro at it," she teased, and when Beca's mirth disappeared into nervous shock, Chloe stuttered through taking it back. "The coffees, with the- uh, with the Keurig machines, at Residual-"

"Ah."

"Because, remember, you made me coffee, and-"

"Yep, I thought you were talking about-"

Beca cut herself off as she looked around the room.

Chloe shook her head, and Beca's worried expression relaxed a little bit.

"We're definitely still talking about coffee," Brad sighed from behind her.

"We are," Chloe insisted as she turned to shoot a dirty look at him, and the make-up artist scoffed as he gestured for his coffee. Chloe had to lean to get it to him, and then he pulled his out of the carrier too.

"Right," Beca agreed, but she had seemingly fallen off her rhythm too, because all the sudden she added, "Because what else would we even be talking about?"

"Nothing else that you're exceptionally good at," Chloe jumped in quickly as she stood back up. "Or that I'd want to do again."

A quiet voice trickled up from the floor, something that sounded like, "You two have matching sex pheromones," and Chloe saw Beca's eyes widen as they both seemed to have heard and understood what Lilly had said.

"This is getting unbearable," Tish sighed, stepping between them and hoisting a wardrobe bag up so that their eye-contact was momentarily broken. "Beca, with me, before you two start going at it."

Chloe gaped as Beca let out a single laugh before she was yanked into the other room.

Chloe stood in the middle of the room, eyes closed, as she started to giggle uncontrollably.

"Chloe? Your phone?"

Chloe turned around to see that Brad was handing her her phone, and from the look of it, she could tell that he had absolutely read the preview of the message.

There was another loud sigh next to her, and Chloe turned back to see that Jessica was reaching for the last of the drinks.

"See what I mean?" she shook her head, and suddenly Chloe was holding empty, useless cardboard. "Inevitable."

---

"I was hesitant," Chloe said into the microphone. "But I also really thought that there was such a great opportunity with this that was new and transgressive, sort of different than what I had done before."

She saw a few heads nod in the front rows - the only rows that she could see from the small stage in front of the screen. It was a large, ornate theater, with room for at least two hundred people, and it was packed to the brim.

It was her, Ti North, and a few co-stars from Y - including the young starlet and her scene partner Scott - and thankfully they were almost wrapped up with the Q&A before the premiere. Pictures had already happened, as the theater had converted one of their conference rooms into a makeshift "grey" carpet, with one backdrop picture wall and a few casual interviewers.

Chloe was glad that this was the last hurdle before she'd get to see the final cut of the movie.

Then, the cocktail hour, which was… well, she'd get through it.

She'd have to.

So she could get back to her room with Beca.

She couldn't see Beca now, not with the lights set up how they were. Couldn't see the matching cropped long sleeve and wide-legged pants, navy to match Chloe's jacket. Couldn't see the gentle curls or that bright smile that kept catching her eye beyond an interviewer's head or fan's phone.

They hadn't gotten much time alone today, which made sense due to the nature of the event, but Chloe felt like a cat in heat.

She was extremely ready for them to be alone again.

Even if she was excited about the movie too.

"You know, people asked about my choice to cast Chloe," Ti spoke up, and Chloe glanced down the line at him. "I think for a lot of actors, you know, it's easy to say 'just play it against type,' but… people don't believe you can do something, because you've done something else before. So people have an assumption for the kind of roles that actors like Chloe will always play. So to play something opposite that, just to, like, show people she can do it… it's probably because she wants to do it. And I like that. I wanted to harness that. There's- and I hope I'm not speaking too candidly about this- but there's a sort of desire and desperation in that type of performance."

"No totally," Chloe confirmed, and she felt the attention shift back onto her. "I think there's something to that, because it definitely felt that way to me. I just hope it comes across on screen."

"Well, should we find out?" Ti asked somewhat rhetorically, but the crowd clapped regardless. He nodded in agreement.

"Then here it is, everyone - Y: The Movie."

Chloe followed the other actors as they made their way offstage, navigating up to her row just before the lights dimmed and the movie began. Lilly and Brad crouched slightly to let her through, and as she made her way over, Chloe saw that Tish had taken her seat next to Beca.

As soon as the stylist noticed her, she jumped up and maneuvered her way back to her empty seat.

"That woman is like Fort Knox," Tish muttered as she slid against her. "She wouldn't tell me a thing besides 'we get along.'"

"And that's more than you deserve for trying to weasel information out of her!" Chloe whisper-shouted back. The opening scene was playing as she dropped into her seat, and she heard Beca chuckle next to her.

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but I definitely thought that you told them something about last night," Beca whispered.

"Shhh," Chloe chastised her playfully. "The movie's starting."

"Wait, I actually have to watch?"

Chloe felt her eyes bug out in her head as she turned to look at Beca, but when she finally did, in the low light from the movie screen, she could see that the producer was smirking.

"I'm kidding, Chloe," she scoffed quietly. "Although it'd be cool if you told me the big twist right now so I could just zone out."

Chloe donned a smirk of her own as she leaned over, placing a hand on Beca's thigh as she tucked her chin near the producer's jaw.

"If you watch it like a good girl, I'll give you a reward later," she half-teased, half-joked, hoping that the overall effect would be playful and sexy and not at all nervous like she felt.

Beca's thigh flexed under her hand, and Chloe breathed out in relief.

"Yeah, I'm gonna ask you to not to talk to me like that when I'm looking at you on the screen," Beca whispered frantically, and Chloe turned just in time to see her character make her entrance.

Bobbie Lynn was sex on a stick - blonde Marilyn wig, red romper that was pulled down in this first scene to display her chest, and not for the only time in the movie. She was an iconic, sexy dancer with a dark past and an even darker temperament, and the movie as a whole was sexy and scary and absolutely scandalous.

Chloe loved that her character was right at the center of it.

But it was always a little dissociative to watch herself act- with roles like this one in particular being pretty weird.

Knowing where it was going - knowing that she'd watch herself "have sex" and then murder a bunch of people - Chloe felt like she was even more on display than she typically was. She thought she'd get used to it eventually, especially since she'd had herself on display for over a decade, but it never got any less awkward to see herself take center stage, even metaphorically.

She felt herself watching Beca more than she was watching the movie itself.

Beca was fun to watch (in more ways than one…), which was something Chloe felt herself fixating on as she watched the horror and intrigue unfold on screen.

Chloe was entranced by the quirk of her smile, the widening of her eyes and lips as the story began to pick up.

The parting of her lips, like she'd seen last night.

The furrow of her brow, like she'd seen last night.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching the movie?" Beca whispered as she glanced over at Chloe.

Chloe looked up at the screen, then back at Beca. They had just gotten to the farm - Bobbie Lynn was fondling a knife in the kitchen while she talked to the wannabe porn actress.

Beca's eyes quickly flashed between the screen and Chloe as the actress continued to stare at her.

"I like watching you more," she replied, a bit too earnestly.

She was busy thinking about the last time she watched Beca gasp.

The last time she heard her let out a small moan.

"I gathered that," Beca shot back with a roll of her eyes. "But I'm trying to pay attention."

"What, you like movies now?"

"I like your movies," Beca said without missing a beat. "Now shh."

Chloe mimed zipping her lips, and Beca narrowed her eyes at her briefly before resuming her attention forward.

But the next time that Chloe took her top off in the movie, this time for the purposes of sex, she felt Beca's eyes on her.

"Oh, you don't want to watch anymore?"

"Feels weird," Beca chuckled breathlessly. "I feel like I shouldn't…"

"I don't mind," Chloe clarified. "I think it's kinda sexy."

"Well I will keep that in mind, for the future, I guess," Beca tutted, rambling a bit as her eyes darted on and off the screen. "For now, I'll just… yeah. I'll just take it all at my own pace, thank you."

"We can go at whatever pace you set, baby," Chloe flirted mercilessly, and Beca reached up a hand to slap her arm but ultimately just ended up smacking it, palm down, on her own thigh. Chloe could see her complexion reddening in the glow of the movie screen.

She let up on the teasing and the leering as the movie progressed, gliding easily through the song without comment (even though she really wanted to ask Beca what she thought of the cover,) and she actually thought that Beca might be fully into the film until the producer grabbed Chloe's thigh frantically.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "You're the murderer."

"What?" Chloe hummed unconvincingly.

"You're gonna murder all these coeds!" she laughed. "Do you kill Kid Cudi? Chloe, tell me you didn't kill Kid Cudi!"

"I did," she admitted quietly, and Beca gasped with wide eyes. "I couldn't let him live! He sees too much!"

"How? Why?! Oh my god," Beca laughed. "Okay, you gotta be quiet again, I have to watch how this plays out."

Chloe sat back in her seat, tucking her chin down as she smiled, sliding her hand under where Beca was gripping her thigh. Beca let it happen, and Chloe tried to focus as Beca continued to hold her hand through every bit of action. She watched Beca gasp when Bobbie Lynn killed the wannabe, muttering a quiet "oh no" when she killed Scott's character and the talented young starlet.

When she got to the older man who had set the whole thing up, Beca cheered with a few select members of the crowd as she blinded him.

And when she tied the director up amongst the bodies and explained to him what it was like to have to resort to porn after an unimpressive career, Beca tightened her grip once again.

"Chloe, this is awesome," she breathed out quietly as the guy pleaded for his life. "I think I finally get movies."

Chloe laughed as she watched her character take off, out the door of the small farm cabin. Credits and a reprise of her earlier performance began to play over her character as Bobbie drove the van into the sunrise, singing along to the radio, and the crowded theater burst into applause.

And to be honest?

Chloe was a little surprised.

Of course she liked it. Chloe had an excellent time filming the movie, and Ti had done a magnificent job putting the whole thing together. The "final girl" trope had a good inversion, and Chloe knew that all of her friends gave stellar performances.

But when she looked around and saw everyone on their feet, giving a standing ovation, she realized that they were all looking at her.

Beca jumped up next to her and hoisted Chloe to her feet by their joined hands, and the audience began to cheer louder.

As if to make sense of it, she turned to Beca - one of the only people who had been upfront with her about her career and its trajectory thus far.

What she saw there nearly knocked her back off her feet.

Beca looked like she was about to cry, watery smile and brow pulled together, and she leaned in quickly to pull Chloe into a hug.

"I'm so glad that I met you when I did," Beca whispered into her hair. "I'm so glad that I got to be here for this. I don't know how to tell you this, but your life is gonna change, Chlo. This is big. You're so talented, and you're so giving and kind and generous, even with your job. You deserve every good thing in the world. I can't wait to be there when you get it."

Chloe felt herself squeeze Beca harder, and Beca squeezed back.

No scene, no dance or good grade or kiss from another had ever made her feel this way.

Beca made her feel seen and cherished, like the first sunny day after the slew of rainy ones. But she was the rain, too; she washed away the parts of Chloe that scared her and made her want to give everything up, just to make the fear go away. Beca made her want to be seen- not in the flashy, flirt-her-way-through-interviews-and-party-hard way, but in her own way.

The quiet, homesteading, Snuggie-wearing way.

The real Chloe way.

She leaned out of the hug, arms still around each other, and she felt Beca pull back too. She saw Beca glance over her shoulder, and she was about to turn to look when she saw Jessica behind Beca.

Her friend was crying big, heavy tears while she leaned forward, towards Beca, and Chloe reached for her over Beca's shoulder, but Jessica just shook her head. Chloe glanced over to see what she had missed, and she looked up just in time to see Beca leaning in.

And then they were kissing.

Chloe's focus narrowed in the same way it (drunkenly) happened last night, and immediately she was aware of everywhere that they were touching.

Beca's arms, resting on her hips, one thumb grazing her lower back as the fingers fanned out along the swell beside her dimples.

Beca's chest pressed against hers like they were still hugging.

Beca's pulse in her neck, thundering madly as Chloe slid her hand back over it.

Beca's lips, smiling against hers.

She was smiling too, and their teeth clacked together as their lips pulled too far back, and Chloe felt herself giggle into the kiss.

She leaned away, and the raucous cheers of the room came back into her perception.

She turned out a bit, lifting one hand off Beca's shoulder to give a little wave to the crowd and to gesture towards Ti, who nodded graciously.

And then she turned back to Beca.

"Wow, what a phenomenal performance!" Chloe heard behind her, and she glanced back to see that Gail had been in the row behind them the whole time.

"It really was, wasn't it?" Beca chimed in, clearly awestruck, and Chloe blushed as she pressed her body into Beca's.

"Oh, sure, the movie was wonderful as well," Gail brushed off the comment. "But seriously, Beca, do you act?"

"Uhh, not really?" Beca turned to face her, confused and laughing. Around them, the applause was starting to die down, but Chloe stayed close to Beca.

She never wanted to leave this moment.

This was it for her.

This was her perfect life.

"You should call me in a few months, when all of this has blown over," Gail went on. "We can talk. We can try to get you in a few things."

"Uh, okay," Beca agreed stiltedly, and Chloe felt her stiffen in their embrace.

"No doubt about it, Beca Mitchell," Gail pressed. "If you bring this kind of enthusiasm to a pitiful fake-dating gig, I bet I can work you into some real wonders. You can sing, right? And you have a stage presence, clearly."

"Sure."

Chloe felt Tish pressing against her back, and she could feel Beca pulling away as she saw Jess try to get closer.

No, she thought. Let me stay here a little longer.

Please.

Let me be here.

But Beca had already left the embrace, forcing Jessica into the fray and instead sliding down the row, into the aisle. Chloe tried to call after her as she saw the producer disappear into the crowd, but her friends had already completely obscured her view.

And they were being so nice - and so was everyone around them, as they extended their congratulations and kind words.

But all Chloe could do was watch Beca go.

And all night, the same thing kept happening.

Chloe was greeting person after person, taking selfies and talking Applebaum and Y and her future projects, and she'd glimpse Beca from afar.

The producer was obviously keeping her distance, and Chloe didn't know why. It happened all through the rest of the after-show small talk at the theater, then on the walk to the cocktail party.

When they got to the intimate bar for the cocktail hour - full of media and more starlets - Chloe tried to step away only to find that Beca had practically become a ghost.

Chloe was going to go on an earnest hunt for her when she was pulled into another conversation - this time by Gail and a renowned director - so she tried to focus up.

This was still her job, after all.

And the older man was clearly interested in bringing Chloe into one of his projects.

Gail brought up the director's slated summer project, and Chloe fought back her eye-roll.

"It might be a little awkward, considering Chicago's already been cast, but I think you two could work it out," Gail said casually, and Chloe shook her head in confusion. "If anything, it might bring you two back together!"

"Who, me and Chicago?" Chloe blurted out, aghast. "I can't stand him."

"Oh, that's unfair to say," Gail pouted - first at Chloe, then at the director, who just laughed. "He made a mistake, Chloe."

"And I dumped him for it," Chloe said sternly. "I never want to see him again."

"Oh, so I probably shouldn't tell you that he's here somewhere?" Gail laughed, and the director started to giggle too.

"Whoops!"

Chloe turned away from the conversation quickly.

She really needed to find Beca now, because this was bad.

If Chicago was here - at their afterparty, at Sundance - he only had bad intentions. There was no reason for Chicago to be here besides being a jerk, either in an attempt to steal attention by crowding Chloe's limelight, or worse- trying to spark dating rumors again.

And if what Gail had said was any indication, it was the latter.

And Chloe didn't want anything to do with Chicago, she only wanted Beca. Beca, who was proving difficult to find as Chloe tried to navigate the crowded rooms of the small, cozy bar.

She turned the corner and saw her.

Flirting with Emily Junk.

At least, that's what it looked like to Chloe, as Emily grabbed her arm and Beca blushed. Beca said something, and Emily laughed loudly, and Chloe turned in away in embarrassment and shame and-

Chicago was right in front of her.

"Chloe, fancy meeting you here," Chicago greeted her with smarmy charm. He had two drinks in his hand - Chloe guessed that they were both tequila soda, their drink of choice when they wanted to get rowdy and a bit rough - and he held one out to her.

"I was just looking for you," he smiled easily. Chloe's stomach churned. "I got you a drink."

"Chicago, I really don't want to deal with you right now," Chloe sighed, pressing her fingertips into her brow.

The party swelled around them, and Chloe suddenly felt sick.

It was all falling apart.

Everything had been so good, and now it felt more like a nightmare, but one of those confusing ones, where it was still a good dream but things were starting to take a turn for the worse.

The movie was a hit, and people really liked it- but there was no Beca.

And now, there was a Chicago in the place where Beca should be.

"Woah, Chloe, what's up?" she heard Chicago ask, and then he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Is this one of those pressure things? Do you need to step outside? I can go with you."

"She said she didn't want to deal with you, fuckstick!"

Chloe felt someone pulling her away, and she looked up to see a confused Chicago and a very pissed, very quick-moving Beca.

Like, Intersection Beca.

In full force and top speed, the tiny producer had grabbed her out from underneath Chicago's arm and had started pulling her towards the room's exit.

"What did you just call me?" Chicago shouted as he took a step to follow them, but Beca just yelled over her shoulder as they kept moving.

"Fuckstick," she shouted. "Shit for brains. Biggest fucking idiot on planet Earth. If I can think of any more, I'll send them to you, care of 'Stupidest Fucker Alive!'"

She was still shouting as she pulled Chloe into the stairwell and started downstairs towards the main entrance.

"God, that fucking prick," Beca breathed heavily as they got into a quieter area, save for Beca's boots stomping down the stairs and far-away music. They reached the bottom floor, and Chloe pushed them in the direction of the single-person bathroom. "It's like he's never heard the word 'no' before."

Chloe rapped on the door and, hearing nothing, she forced it open and pushed Beca inside.

"Beca," she sighed, and Beca pushed her hair off her face in an angry motion.

"Did he ever touch you, when you didn't want it?" Beca continued to rant as she pointed in the vague direction of upstairs. Her eyes were wild, and with the recent re-adjustment of her tangled curls, she looked like a bit rabid. "Because I swear I'll go back up there and punch him straight in the-"

"Beca!"

"What?"

"What the fuck?" Chloe laughed desperately.

"'What the fuck' what?" Beca shot back, blinking twice as her anger re-formed. "I asked if that asshole ever put his hands on you without your consent."

"And I'm asking you what in the world is going on!" Chloe pushed back. "You don't talk to me all night - you're avoiding me like the plague - and then I see you with Emily-"

"-Junk? She works with A Capella," Beca huffed out. "She was trying to get me to take the deal with Jesse."

Chloe momentarily forgot about the whole night.

"You haven't taken the deal?"

"I- no, Chlo, I haven't," Beca sighed, carding her fingers through her hair again. "I wanted to talk to you about all this, but-"

"But what?" Chloe cut in. "You thought avoiding me would be the safer option? After you kissed me? Twice?"

Beca groaned loudly as she balled up her fists, sticking her thumbs into the corners of her eyes.

"Chloe, this is your job. You're at work right now. I'm not going to, like, interrupt that," she huffed out angrily.

"So you just completely bailed? I wanted you there with me!"

"But that's not- ugh, you know what?" she chuckled mirthlessly. "I think I'm just gonna take off back to the hotel. You should go back upstairs. I'm distracting you. And maybe I'll- I'll grab my shit, go down to the other hotel, we can talk tomorrow. You shouldn't have to think about me while you're trying to work."

She pushed past Chloe towards the door, but the actress crowded her as she stepped through the narrow frame.

"You're just gonna bail again?" she questioned somewhat rhetorically as she stalked Beca down the small hallway. "Now you're going to leave?"

"We both have to eventually, Chloe, it might as well be now!"

"Hey, what's going on?" Chloe heard from the stairs behind her, and she turned to see Tish and Brad walking down the stairs.

"Jesus, it's just perfect that you two are here right now," Beca huffed out angrily as she saw Chloe's friends approach.

"Don't take your frustrations out on them," Chloe spat back.

Beca took a deep breath, and Chloe saw the strain in her expression as the woman forced herself to look into Chloe's eyes.

"Fine, but- just, give me a couple minutes, and I'll clear out," Beca sighed.

And then she was out the door.

"Wow," Brad said after a moment. "What an exit."

"Did you two talk?" Tish asked Chloe, laying a comforting hand on Chloe's arm.

Typically, Chloe would've leaned into it but right now, the gentle touch felt like a bee sting. She flinched and pulled her arm away.

"She's been avoiding me," Chloe stammered. She wasn't crying; she was too confused to cry.

Beca had been avoiding her, and then she had pulled her away from Chicago- told her that she hadn't taken the deal yet, and gosh, all this on the same day that Y premiered- the movie that signified the end of their relationship.

Their fake, PR one anyway.

"I mean, we all try to stay away when you have to do Press Mode," Brad said seriously, and Chloe turned to give him a stern look.

"You know you don't have to do that, I don't need that," she shot back, and at the look of dejection on his face, she felt her head tilt slightly. "You know that, right?"

"It's not because we don't want to celebrate with you," Tish cut in suddenly, and Chloe looked at her, only to find the same sad expression on her face. "We just- we're not those people. Nobody is, except you. And you do so well with making people feel like they're important, and they all deserve their Chloe time too. Especially when you're- when you're promoting something. It's part of the biz. We get our time with you later."

Had Beca been trying to make her job easier?

Was she staying away because Chloe was in Press Mode?

And worse - did she think that Chloe wanted that?

"I gotta go," Chloe said quickly, pushing away from both of her friends.

Tish reached out again, and this time, Chloe let her connect, just for a moment.

"You have to tell her how you feel," Tish nodded. "You're the one with the power here."

Chloe nodded in return and pulled away, through the door, and into the night.

It was even colder now that the sun was down, and Chloe was so mad that she didn't take gloves from Tish when she offered them earlier. These fancy coats had no pockets, and she didn't have a hat or warm socks or anything to keep her warm on the three block jog back to the hotel.

Well, three and a half, because she definitely missed the turn the first time.

Chloe burst into the lobby and decided to forgo the elevator, sprinting up the steps two at a time until she was back on the top floor in front of their room. She reached down to grab her key, and-

And realized that Jessica had all her stuff.

Back at the bar.

She let her head thunk against the door, and distantly, inside, she heard rustling stop.

"Beca!" she called through the door, lifting her hand beside her and letting it hit the door beside her. "Beca, open the door. I love you. Don't leave, please."

The door fell open, and Chloe stumbled a step as she nearly fell into the room. She stood up fully and saw Beca standing there as the door slammed shut behind her.

She was windswept and pink-cheeked, and she was wearing her own sweats and a thermal with the designer clothes strewn across the made-up bed. Her hair was pulled back in a rough bun, and her eyes shown like she had been crying.

"Beca," Chloe sighed as she went to reach out, but she stopped halfway, wrapping her arms around herself instead.

"Please don't go," she whispered. "I thought... I thought we were friends. Or, maybe more than friends."

Beca sniffled.

"Yeah," she rasped out, and then she cleared her throat. "I thought so too, Chloe. But with Residual and now A Capella and your career that's about to go blow up in this new way, I just- I don't know."

"You don't know?" Chloe asked, squeezing herself tighter.

She felt heat stinging her cheeks as her face warmed too quickly.

"I just-" Beca started, then stopped. "I don't know what I want. Sometimes I want to stay behind the mixing board and sometimes I want to-"

"I want you," Chloe blurted out. "I want this."

Beca let out a quick breath.

"I want this too," Beca admitted, and Chloe would've taken it as a positive sign if it weren't for Beca's tone.

Resigned and defeated.

Like she'd already decided how this was going to end - and it wasn't the good ending.

"I want this, but I also want to keep you in my life," Beca continued to admit, and Chloe had to bite her lip to keep from interrupting.

"I wanted you, like, this whole time," Beca sighed. "This whole fucking time, and, like, more than I wanted you, I just wanted the wanting to go away. Because we could actually be really good friends."

She laughed a little before she added, "You're, like, my only real friend."

Chloe nodded to tell her that it was true for her too - that she trusted Beca, so much - but Beca wasn't done.

"And this whole time I've had this stupid, irrational crush on you," she huffed out, still laughing. "Like we don't fit at all. Because you're amazing and good and powerful and smart, so fucking smart. And I must be an asshole, because all I wanted was for you to be a selfish jerk, and you weren't. You're the best person I've ever met."

She sniffed and closed her eyes tightly before she opened them, and Chloe could see that they were shining with new tears.

"You made me better," Beca sighed. "You inspired songs out of me, and you unstuck me from my stupid, boring life. From all that pointless, meandering malarkey."

She threw up her hands with a desperate shake of her head.

"And I want that," she said finally. "I know that. I just-"

She took a step forward, and Chloe pulled her arms tighter around herself to keep from pulling her into a hug.

"I want that, and that makes me worse than that asshole in the bar back there," Beca repeated, pointing past Chloe to the door. "I want that, because I'm the selfish one. I want to be with you- god, I might love you."

"Might?" Chloe gasped, letting herself hope for a second. "I don't have a 'might.'"

Beca took a half step back.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I love you," Chloe breathed out, and it felt good to say it again, even if she wasn't sure how this was all going to end.

She got to tell Beca that she loved her, twice, and that was something, wasn't it?

And Beca said might. She could fight for this.

If Beca would let her.

"What, did you not hear me profess my love in the hallway?"

"No," Beca shook her head. "You can't love me."

"And just why not?" Chloe demanded, letting her hands fall away from her body as she took a small step forward. "You just said that you might love me."

"You're too good for me," Beca sighed, turning away and going further into the room.

But Chloe caught her this time.

She caught her by the arm and pulled her back, so they were looking at each other dead in the eye.

She dropped her hand so they weren't touching.

"I'm not too- look, Beca, have I ever lied to you?" she asked rhetorically, eyes boring directly into Beca's. "I love you, and I have for a while now. And I think you love me too."

"Why would someone like you love me?" Beca shot back, and Chloe laughed.

"What do you mean?" she replied. "I love everything about you. I love your eyes, and I love the way you laugh, and I love when you wink at me and make me blush."

Beca rolled her eyes and turned away, and Chloe just stepped around and ducked, forcing Beca's eyes back into hers by not letting her get away.

"I love your voice, and I love the things you write," she went on as they brought their eyes back up together. "I love that you act so tough but you're actually a huge softie, and your real smile, and-"

Chloe sighed and reached down for Beca's hand.

"I love you," she said. "I picked you. I want you. Not as a friend- or, not only as a friend. Friends and more. Well that sounds like- how about lovers with friend benefits?"

Beca laughed, then sniffed again, and Chloe did too, as her face was finally thawed from the brisk walk over.

That, and she was almost certainlycrying now.

"You want to be with me?" Beca asked seriously. "Even though I'm gonna be, like, a shitty popstar for a couple years?"

"Well yeah. That's, like, a huge part of the allure."

Chloe watched Beca smile just a bit, and she reached for her other hand.

"I'm sorry I went apeshit on Chicago," she said somberly.

"S'okay," Chloe sniffed. "He deserved it."

"And I'm sorry I was avoiding you all night," the producer went on. "I just thought- ya know, I got all in my head about how it'd be too annoying to have some rando hanging on your arm, constantly having to introduce me, only for me, to, like, disappear tomorrow, because Gail was probably going to make me because you'd have to do press or something."

"And now?" Chloe asked seriously. "You planning on letting Gail make you disappear tomorrow?"

Chloe felt a tug on her hands as Beca pulled them closer together, and - keeping one pair of hands with their fingers intertwined - Chloe pulled Beca's hand behind her. She felt it curl into place, but she kept her hand there, so their fingers could stay laced together. She looped the other arm up, over Beca's shoulder, and she felt Beca's now-free hand settle on her hip.

"No," Beca sighed faux-reticently. "I'm not planning on going anywhere, unless it's with you."

Chloe glanced down at Beca's lips, and she saw Beca do the same.

And Chloe kissed her.

Alone, in their hotel room - Beca in sweats and Chloe in too-fancy clothes. No people around, no pretense or plot.

Just them.

She couldn't help but smile, and she felt Beca do the same. It was hard to kiss when they were both smiling, but Chloe made it work, pulling back to pepper kisses against Beca's bottom lip, her cheek, her jaw. She'd landed at least ten before Beca finally huffed loudly.

"You're like fruit fly, quit it," she groaned, and Chloe just giggled.

"Sorry, baby, you're stuck with me," she said between kisses. She popped one on Beca's nose before she bobbed away, then one on top of her head, and then she pulled Beca into a tight hug.

"You make me better too," she whispered into Beca's hair. "You make me want to be me."

Beca squeezed her tighter, then sighed.

"C'mon," she said, leaning out of the hug. "Let's get you into that ridiculously sexy nightie and cuddle. I'll even tell you my favorite part of the movie."

Chloe sprang into action, and she heard Beca laugh as she stripped her top over her head in one fell swoop.

She was about to be naked in front of Beca again, but she didn't even think twice before she continued to shed clothes.

Because it was Beca, and Beca always saw her for who she was.

Clothes or no.

She heard Beca chuckle helplessly as she made her way across the room.

"It's wild how many times I've seen you naked in a non-sexual context," Beca breathed out as Chloe began to work her bra clasp open.

"I don't know," Chloe teased as she turned, holding the cups up to her body as the straps fell away. "I think there were a few scenes in that movie that revved your engine."

Beca huffed out a sigh as she sat on the end of the bed.

"I mean, I've seen you in a sexual context but not, like- I doubt you need me to actually say this out loud, but yes, I'm incredibly attracted to you. Maybe not as much at this exact second because we were both definitely just crying but-" she was saying as Chloe peeled her bra away from her body.

She heard Beca trail off as she watched her - watched her eyes trace across her chest, down her arms, sluicing over her abdomen and down the long lines of her legs like she could see through the flared pants.

Chloe toed off her shoes, then reached to the side and unhooked the pants hook, and they gaped a bit at the waistband.

She watched Beca watch that too.

She worked the zipper down, thankful that after years of getting undressed for a living, she was able to multitask during it, because she loved watching Beca. The producer leaned forward, elbows on knees, fixated on each inch of skin that was revealed as Chloe unzipped.

And then, in a flash, Beca was looking at her face.

"Hey, we don't have to- like you don't have to try to be sexy with me," Beca whispered like a confessional. "We already went through a lot. And, like, you really don't have to try - I think you're just as sexy in that Snuggie as you are right now, just… different kinds of sexy."

Chloe let the fabric of the pants fall away and stepped out of them, wearing just her shape wear over a thong.

"I want to be sexy for you," Chloe hummed as she approached the bed. Beca's eyes trailed up, and she raised a brow as Chloe got close enough to touch. Chloe let her eyes flick up as she nodded, and Beca reached out slowly, putting her hands on Chloe's still-covered hips.

She was breathing hard as Beca leaned her head against her abdomen, pressing her nose just to the side of her belly button. Chloe sighed as she let her hand thread into the hair below Beca's loose bun, tightening against Beca's scalp, and Beca huffed out a breath across the thin fabric.

As if she remembered the shape wear at the same moment, Beca slipped her thumbs into Chloe's waistband, wrapping around the fabric and tugging down all the clothes that were still on her. Chloe felt her hips flex forward as Beca forced the stretchy fabrics over the curve of her ass, twitching when they got down the thighs, thighs spreading after Beca let them fall to the ground once they got past her knees.

Not a stitch on her body, and Beca ran a tentative finger up the outside of her thigh as she leaned back in. She stopped a few inches away from Chloe's abdomen and looked up at her, and Chloe gasped as Beca chuckled up at her.

"I love you," Beca laughed helplessly. Chloe felt her heart swell as Beca continued to stare up at her.

"You're so fucking hot, too," she muttered, letting her forehead fall forward against her abdomen again.

But now, there wasn't any fabric there, and Chloe hips pressed forward.

Beca's arms squeezed around her thighs.

Chloe let her hand tighten enough in Beca's hair that she could force her head back to look at her again, and Chloe watched as Beca let her head be pulled back with a gasp, wide-eyed, staring up at Chloe.

"You're so fucking pretty," Chloe breathed out earnestly. "I want to- can I see you? Can I…?"

She let her other hand tug at Beca's thermal, and Beca nodded.

"Wait, can I- first, can I, uhm…" she chuckled as she trailed off, leaning forward to kiss the sensitive skin beside her hip.

Chloe felt her hips thrust forward forcefully and involuntary, accompanied by an almost feral moan as she pulled more urgently on Beca's shirt.

"Up," she demanded, and she felt Beca press another kiss into her skin - this time, on the side of her breast - as she moved to stand.

Chloe groaned again and drove her hands under Beca's shirt, forcing the clothing off and over Beca's head more quickly than Beca could get her arms up.

Beca hummed teasingly as she leaned off to the side to shed the garment completely, and Chloe immediately dove back in for a kiss.

But Beca held her back.

"Chloe," she laughed, not unkindly, and Chloe had to shake her head a little to clear her thoughts.

Clear out the more, now, faster.

Focus on the beautiful woman before her.

"We have time," Beca breathed, bringing a hand up to Chloe's chest, against her sternum, between her breasts. She was still breathing hard, and she knew her pulse was practically vibrating under Beca's steady hand.

She brought a hand up and laid it on Beca's.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"We're not going anywhere," Beca went on, and Chloe felt Beca turn her hand, pull them up, and press a kiss into the fingers.

Chloe opened her eyes to find Beca staggeringly close, and beautiful, with crinkled eyes and a pair of raised brows, as if she was asking a question.

And Chloe realized with a start that she kind of was.

She was asking Chloe to stay here, to go slow, to love her.

To show that love, with her body.

Chloe smiled and nodded, and Beca's smile grew.

She let her hand trail to Beca's jaw, and Beca dropped both hands from Chloe's, bringing them behind her own back to work the latch of her bra. If Chloe had any thoughts besides the blues of Beca's eyes - the curve of her lashes, the set of her brow - she might've looked down to see as Beca revealed herself, pulling her bra off between them.

Instead, she leaned in, sucking in a deep breath when their chests glanced against each other. In the short seconds before she kissed her fully, Chloe sighed in the minute space between them.

And then one of them leaned forward.

Chloe wasn't sure which of them finally closed the distance, but she knew when her body finally caught up to the movement, and she let her mouth curve over Beca's, wide and open, with intent that couldn't be confused as anything but lasciviousness. Beca's lips were parted in the kiss, and Chloe licked into her mouth, tongue curling around just the tip of Beca's as her hand skirted up Beca's rib cage.

And sure, Beca was in charge yesterday, and she'd done well to keep Chloe's nearly uncontrollable libido in check earlier, but Chloe would absolutely be getting what she wanted now.

Beca hummed as Chloe skimmed her hand up the outside of Beca's breast, then thumbed across the nipple roughly, using her other hand to hold Beca firmly in place by her hip. Her tongue pressed deep as she twisted the nipple, and another hum vibrated through the woman under her hands.

She tested the weight of Beca's breast, pressing the whole thing up and around, and Beca moaned against her tongue before she pulled away from the kiss.

Beca whined into the open air. Chloe felt Beca using her own hand to reach for Chloe's breast, and she dropped her head into Beca's neck to kiss her right under her jaw as she smiled.

"No, I already let you interrupt me once," she murmured into her skin, and then she sucked a mark into the taut tendon below Beca's ear.

Beca's responding groan and stalled hand spurred Chloe on, and she let her palm drag across Beca's stiff nipple.

Beca broke into a rough moan, and Chloe felt even more emboldened.

The sweats were slack, and Chloe dipped a hand below the waistband on the back, feeling nothing but skin and a thin strap of fabric.

It was Chloe's turn to groan against Beca's skin as she realized that Beca was wearing a thong under her sweats, and she hoisted Beca's hips up to hers as she palmed Beca's bare ass.

"Chlo," Beca groaned, and Chloe leaned back to see Beca was regarding her desperately.

"My legs are about to give out," she admitted breathlessly. Her mouth was smeared with Chloe's lipstick, and her pupils were blown, and she was topless and tatted apparently and breathing hard and-

Chloe rolled her bottom lip behind her teeth and stepped back for a moment, bending down to pull Beca's sweats to the floor, but leaving the thong. She uncovered more tattoos, and she kissed up Beca's thigh, and she felt the woman trembling as she neared the top.

Smelled her, musky and sweet.

She kissed her hip right below the fabric of the thong, and Beca huffed above her.

"What happened to 'we have time,' Bec?" Chloe teased as she brought her hands up between Beca's thighs, rubbing the inside of one of them before bringing them to Beca's sex. She watched Beca looking down at her, stuttering out half-breaths, as she pressed the pad of her thumb to the small triangle of fabric, and Beca's hips flexed so hard that she actually took a half step forward.

"Yeah that was before I was naked," Beca finally uttered. "Or, almost naked. Please. Don't make me beg."

"Isn't that what you're already doing?"

Beca's eyes darkened, and she nudged Chloe forward with her knee and looped her thumbs around her thong herself, stripping it away from her body.

Chloe sat back on her heels as Beca stood all the way up, naked as sin, looking down at her.

"Up," she parroted Chloe's demand from earlier, smirking, and Chloe felt her smile turn predatory as she stood.

"Bed?" Beca asked, and Chloe leaned in to press another kiss into her lips.

"Bed."

Beca's back was to it, and Chloe nudged her towards it, but Beca quickly turned them before she made contact with the soft surface. Chloe's sexy smirk became a wide, happy grin as she spun, knee half bent to break her fall.

She laid down on her side, and Beca quickly crawled up next to her.

She was smiling too - that real Beca smile - and Chloe leaned up to catch her in a kiss. They were still towards the foot of the bed, and Chloe sat up and began to slide herself backward when felt something foreign under her foot.

Some other fabric.

Some other expensive fabric.

She giggled and broke the kiss, turning away.

"We gotta move the clothes," she said begrudgingly. "They're Versace. Tish would kill me."

"Let her try," Beca growled as she sprang forward and forced Chloe's upturned hip down onto the bed. Chloe gasped as Beca pushed her thigh in between hers, and her foot slipped on the rich material of Beca's premiere outfit.

"Bec-," Chloe pushed back, but then Beca rolled forward, and the thick top of her thigh came into contact with Chloe's clit, and the second half came out more as a gasping moan instead of anything threatening.

"Just let me take care of you - of us - first," Beca hummed, curling her head beside Chloe's, into the curve of her neck, laying uncoordinated open-mouth kisses into the muscles and tendons that were stretching there. "Then I'll do whatever you want."

Chloe pulled her foot up to try to find purchase again, kicking the expensive material away from where she needed to dig her heel into the comforter, and when she finally achieved some leverage, she flexed up into Beca.

She was able to thrust against Beca, feeling slick wetness coating her thigh as dual moans cut through their heavy breaths. Beca dropped her knee to angle herself even closer, and Chloe felt herself slip against in her own arousal that already covered Beca's thigh.

Chloe groaned at the sensation, at the heat and raw, sensuality of rubbing herself- themselves, against each other, and as she felt the impending ending of it all, she grasped onto Beca's ass and moaned.

Her hips stilled, and Beca sat up, all soft curves and hard lines as her hips pistoned against Chloe. Her back was arched, and her brow was set in a harsh furrow as she kept pressure right where Chloe needed it.

And seeing her, sweating, with pupils blown, Chloe reached up.

She put a hand on Beca's jaw, thumbing across her cheek, and Beca's concentration broke, hips stuttering in their rhythm.

She looked down, and Chloe looked up, and Chloe gasped through a wide smile.

She was with Beca, she was always going to be with Beca, if she could help it. And her hips were moving, and she was right there, and-

And Beca let out a breath as she smiled too, rolling her eyes playfully as she leaned down.

"I love you," Beca murmured against her lips, and Chloe was still coming.

She didn't know when it had started - maybe when Beca was up - but now it blossomed in her chest and through her limited limbs. She ground herself up as much as their current positions would allow, moving her hands back down to Beca's hips so she could pull Beca there with her.

Beca started to thrust harder, more irregularly, and Chloe gave herself over to the feeling knowing that Beca would be close behind. Her hips flexed, and she pressed herself more fully into Beca's strong thigh, reveling in the delicious pressure, in the fullness of her heart, in the shock that rolled through her body as her hips jerked.

She let out the breath that she'd felt like she'd been holding all night - ever since Beca walked away from her.

She let herself go.

And she finally felt whole.

Her hands fell from Beca's hips, but kept them on her legs - still connected, still touching, would never stop touching - as she laid back, spent.

Her eyes were closed, with her only tension held in the twitching of her hips, relishing every echo of that cresting wave.

Beca was still on top of her, and as Chloe let her body unfurl in its sated state, Beca's full body weight fell on her. Chloe could only hum happily as she felt Beca nuzzle into her neck, pressing a gentle kiss into the tacky skin.

After a moment, she came back to herself, just a bit.

"Did you…?"

"Kinda," Beca sighed. "Like, half. Enough to thoroughly enjoy the way you're smiling right now."

Chloe giggled through her dumb grin.

"Okay, just give me like two secs," she sighed, and she felt Beca burrow closer, arm wrapping around and under, bracketing her shoulder blade.

"I am A-okay," Beca confirmed, and Chloe felt a kiss on her collarbone.

She threaded a hand into the messy underside of Beca's bun and leaned up just enough to kiss her hair, above her ear.

From this vantage, she was able to see the pink flowers spread across Beca's shoulder, and she started to trace the inked lines before falling back with a satisfied smile and gently closed eyes.

Beca flopped her head over, laying facing Chloe's sternum now, and Chloe cracked one eye open to see Beca withdraw her hand from Chloe's side and start tracing patterns against Chloe's stomach.

She gasped as Beca began to caress muscles that hadn't quite stopped twitching yet, especially under her ministrations. She followed shadows of the muscle underneath, tracing careful lines with a glancing touch, and Chloe felt her muscles jump and dance to every move.

"You're beautiful, you know," Beca mumbled, and Chloe squeezed around Beca's side. "I've meant it every time I've said it. I'm not sure I'll ever get over the way you look - the way you feel."

And then Beca traced down the line of a particularly low divot, and Chloe suddenly felt very awake.

And very not done.

"My turn," she purred, letting the lust and love that she felt coat every word, and - with effort - she flipped her lethargic limbs up and over, so that Beca was underneath her.

"What about the clothes?" Beca teased, and Chloe narrowed her eyes as she pinned Beca's hips squarely under hers.

"They can wait," Chloe replied sarcastically as she dropped her head. She pressed a kiss into the center of Beca's sternum - felt the stuttering, quick pace of her heart, the way it seemed to skip as Beca gasped and sucked in a ragged breath. She kissed the inside slope of Beca's breast, then the top of her abs.

Everything shook underneath her as Beca continued to breathe hard, and Chloe glanced up to see Beca's wide, gaping expression. No open smile, and no sexy smirk; just heated and hopeful eyes.

Just one more indescribable expression to add to the many of Beca's that she'd grown to love over the last few months.

She'd imagined this, but nothing could compare to the keen Beca uttered as Chloe continued to kiss down her abdomen.

To the way her hips pressed against the mattress as her back bowed, knees digging up and then encircling Chloe's chest as she finally settled into the cradle of Beca's hips.

She'd smelled Beca before, but now the scent of her arousal was overpowering- but also a bit diluted, by the tang of sweat and the new arousal. Chloe marveled in the way that Beca's pretty pussy spread out before her as she forced her legs more open.

She looked up - saw Beca inhale a deep breath, hesitating then committing to placing a hand delicately on Chloe's head - and then she leaned forward and tasted her.

She felt Beca's breath release in one long go as she licked her clit. She dropped lower, collecting a tongueful of Beca's arousal before returning to that sensitive spot, curling her tongue around and sucking gently.

She felt the hand press harder into her head, but it didn't pull.

Another hand fell on her shoulder, and Chloe smiled against Beca's sex as she brought an arm up to hold Beca's hips.

And then she began to work in earnest.

She dropped her tongue to Beca's entrance and licked away arousal until she was able to get to her destination, spearing her tongue inside. She felt Beca pull her hips away, then push forward, and she let Beca fuck herself on her tongue as she held the strong muscle against her.

She curled her tongue, and Beca pulled and pushed, and now Chloe felt the fingers in her hair, felt the way Beca tried desperately to move her head up and down, forward and under, and Chloe hummed at the sensation. Beca flexed and Chloe retreated, breathing as deeply as she could before licking up to Beca's clit, tasting its swollen, tangy nerves as she pressed her face in fully.

She let Beca dictate the pace but held her hips, licking and sucking and humming until Beca groaned out something that sounded like "oh fuck right there," hips stalling.

Chloe held her as she felt a gush of arousal warm around her chin.

She stayed there, not daring to move until Beca's body unclenched, waiting to feel that tell-tale, boneless whoosh, and finally Beca relaxed - but not as much as Chloe thought she would. She tested the willingness of her lover by licking once, and Beca flexed up again.

She groaned as she realized that Beca was still on and ready, and she leaned aside just enough that she was able to coax a finger into her.

Beca gasped, and Chloe was able to watch this time as Beca rolled around her curving finger, felt her spasm and clench and watched as Beca's hand reached up to tweak her own nipple, mouth agape, eyes closed.

She pulled back, and Beca's hips chased her finger, and Chloe pressed two up into Beca instead.

And then Beca's eyes were opening, and they were locked in a heated gaze as Chloe forced herself up onto one elbow as the fingers continued to work inside Beca.

Beca whimpered then gasped as Chloe found the spot she was searching for, propped up next to her.

"Beca," Chloe murmured as she dove forward and captured her nipple. She sucked it hard, once, then licked, then sat up again to watch as Beca began to crash through her second orgasm.

"Oh my god, fuck," Chloe gasped as she rolled her hips into nothing, watching the woman under her come undone. Chloe kept her fingers moving just enough, just barely as Beca clenched around them.

Beca curled under the pressure, pressing her hips into Chloe's hand, and then she shuddered as she fell back on the bed.

Chloe watched in awe as Beca lay there spent and giggling, still pulsing around her fingers. Chloe felt her own arousal begging for her attention, sharp and pleasant, but she put the thought out of her mind as she nestled into Beca's shoulder.

She stayed there, fingers still inside of her, curling a leg on top of Beca's as the woman came back to herself.

Chloe watched from the dip where Beca's shoulder met her chest - watched the slow smile creep its way back into Beca's features, broken only by a random gasp and clench around Chloe's fingers. Watched as Beca smiled, eyes closed but crinkling at the edges, breathing heavy and steady.

Watched as those eyes opened with a slow blink, looking down the planes of her face, finally realizing that Chloe was staring up at her.

She smiled, untangling Chloe's hand from where it was still between her legs as she hoisted Chloe further onto her smaller frame.

Chloe yelped, catching her legs on either side of Beca's hips and just barely stopping her upper body before it flopped into Beca's small form. But then Beca wrapped her arms around her, tugging her down, and Chloe collapsed.

"Better than fiction?" Beca murmured against her hair, and Chloe giggled, leaning forward to playfully pull Beca's earlobe with her teeth.

"Much," she sighed.

"Wait, hold on," Beca laughed breathlessly. "I was just- I was thinking about-"

She giggled as she cut herself off, eyes closed again.

"Never mind."

"No, tell me," Chloe pressed as she kissed the sticky skin of Beca's neck.

"About the movie," Beca sighed. "My favorite part was when you killed all those people."

Chloe laughed loudly as she burrowed further into Beca's neck.

"Becs-"

"What?! It's true," Beca chuckled. "You were all, 'don't you know what it's like?! What about this do you not understand?'"

Chloe leaned back out of Beca's shoulder to watch as Beca impersonated her, eyes narrowing, face pinching in an arguably more goofy way than Chloe had done so in the movie.

"I know that you said you were having fun or whatever, but that was so cool," Beca sighed as she relaxed back. "It was like, I could tell that you were trying something, and then I forgot that you were trying at all, and I just believed you. I saw the pain in your eyes. You made it real."

She let the statement hang there, and Chloe felt herself staring again.

The now-familiar slope of Beca's cheek, red with exertion, taut with a smile.

Eyes closed softly.

Nose, freckles, eyelashes.

Brow relaxed.

Lips and hair mussed.

"I love you," Chloe whispered, laying another kiss in the hollow between her chest and shoulder, and Beca shifted, leaning away, and Chloe found herself looking into Beca's eyes.

"You making fun of me for liking the movie?" Beca teased playfully.

"Totally," Chloe joked back. "That's definitely the vibe here. Loving and horny and love-making and mocking you for taking an interest in my life in a way that nobody else has."

Beca rolled her eyes and pulled Chloe fully into her body, so that Chloe's arms were useless under the tight squeeze.

"Whatever," Beca giggled against her hair. "Let's cuddle. As long as you don't put that fucking nightie on again because I'm definitely going to-"

She groaned as she rutted her hips against Chloe's, and Chloe laughed.

"Yeah, I don't think it's time for cuddles just yet," she sighed as she pushed back, pushed up, and captured Beca's mouth under her own.

Slow, languid kisses, as Chloe caressed the shell of Beca's ear and Beca trailed a hand across Chloe's back.

And this time, Chloe actually believed it when Beca reminded her that they had time.

Because they did.

They'd always have time.

---

Oops I took some of this from Alice, Darling didn't I

Also we're not done here, see you sometime