A/N: I'm sure you're tired of apologies; I am too and I'm touched by how understanding you've all been when I've explained why I've not been able to update. Given how difficult this fic became to write (especially as we're into deeper plot territory now) I can only really write/post when I'm in a good head space. So I'm a little rusty at writing in this 'verse' - regardless, thanks guys, you're the best cheerleaders :)

In any case, FINALLY chapter 10. Enjoy.

Also, the dig at using 'Run the World' was written way before the second movie even came out (i.e. last year) so don't take that one to heart :P

Beca blinks once when she wakes, not recognising the ceiling above her, and then again when things start coming into more focus. Eventually she begins taking in her surroundings despite her tired state: the photos of Chloe and Aubrey (and Beca herself, hidden away towards the back so she won't complain about them) on the bedside cabinet; the unusual warmth underneath the covers compared to her freezing dorm bedroom. And the sound of Chloe breathing softly in and out, the toes of one foot just gently resting against Beca's leg. Like she just needs the smallest touch to remind herself that Beca's there.

It's quiet. And calm, compared to what has felt like a frantic and stressful few months of running around trying to fix everything. It's - dare she say it? - rather nice to just slow down for a bit at the weekend, without hours of work on arrangements, or essay deadlines to ignores which might drag her mood down. She has work today, but not for a few hours. Nothing to do, nowhere to go. For now she's content to just lie here with her girlfriend (and wow, that still doesn't seem entirely real sometimes) and soak in the morning.

'I'm here again,' Beca observes aloud, half to herself, half to Chloe, who she's not sure is awake yet. There's a stupid smile on her face right now, but she decides not to try and restrain it for once: today just feels good. 'Cool.'

Chloe, apparently, is awake after all. She shifts, more of the top of her foot pressing against Beca's calf. Distantly Beca wonders when the last time she shaved was, and whether Chloe would mind that it's probably been at least a week or two. Screw it, it's winter. 'I know. I thought so too.'

'Why is it that I never remember falling asleep in your bed? We were on the couch, and I'm sure I was going to go home after that.' She squints at Chloe suspiciously, but she unfortunately misses this expression as she still has her eyes shut. 'Did you kidnap me and drag me in here?'

Chloe chuckles. 'No. I didn't need to, you practically fell into my bed last night.'

'I suppose it is pretty damn comfy.' Beca sighs, stretching her arms out and accidentally-on-purpose playfully knocking Chloe on the top of the head. The little grumble of discontent she lets out is adorable. 'Way better than dorm rooms.'

'I should hope so. This mattress was expensive.' She opens her eyes now, smiling widely with one delicately plucked eyebrow raised when she sees Beca is watching her. Chloe makes looking good so effortless; Beca kind of feels like a disheveled chimp next to her. 'Hi.'

'Hello.'

'Come here often?'

'No,' replies Beca. 'But I'm guessing you do.' Chloe's light smile turns into a smirk, in that seamlessly filthy way only she can achieve. 'What - oh, no, dude,' Beca groans, after she's replayed what she just said back in her head and realised what Chloe is hinting at. 'It's way too early in the morning for that.'

'No such thing.' She leans in to kiss Beca good morning, then, but Beca blocks her with an arm.

'Morning breath,' she explains, sheepishly.

'I don't care.' And just to demonstrate how little she cares, Chloe kisses Beca - but then makes a disgusted face. 'Ew.'

'Oh my God, you suck.'

Chloe giggles and half launches herself at Beca, entwining as many limbs as she possibly can into they're a Bechloe-shaped pretzel. 'This is nice,' sighs Chloe contentedly, rubbing her nose over Beca's and sneaking in another quick kiss. Evidently she doesn't mind morning breath that much after all. 'I've missed this.'

'We were basically doing this all of last night.'

'I mean just being close to you, and joking around with you. I guess there's not been a lot of that, lately, for... one reason, or another.'

'It's not your fault.'

'It kind of is,' says Chloe, averting her eyes guiltily to a looping pattern on her bedsheet. 'What with Kate, and me having to work all the time.' She sighs, and glances over her shoulder at the clock. 'Speaking of. Ugh.'

'Work today, right?' Chloe nods: Beca knew this already, as it was to replace the shift she was down to do while meeting Kate. 'But you don't have to go for a while, right?' she asks, trying not to sound too hopeful.

'Nope. Why?'

'I don't really feel like getting up yet,' Beca explains. 'And your bed is warm, so I'm in no rush to leave it.'

'Oh really?' Again with that smirk, which Beca kind of thinks might have never left her face. 'What did you have in mind? Because I can think of a few other things you can do in beds.'

'God, seriously? You have a one-track mind,' Beca mutters. The roll of her eyes belies the smile on her face.

'Well, you can hardly blame me, can you? Have you looked in the mirror lately? No, really,' says Chloe, laughing at the exaggerated grotesque expression Beca pulls. 'You don't even know, Beca - I mean, seriously. The amount of underwear you've ruined, I should probably start charging you for replacements.'

That sentence, completely out of the blue and unexpected, sears right through Beca and makes her face flush. She tries her best to rein back in such a painfully virgin response, but even then she can't help stuttering, 'Uh. Okay. That's... a thing.'

Chloe laughs heartily, nose nudging against her chin in affection. 'Oh my God, I can't believe how easy you are sometimes,' she says gleefully. 'I love seeing the look on your face when I say things like that. Especially when I take you by surprise; it's so funny.'

'I'm starting to think you enjoy doing that too much.' Beca shifts and takes a breath, thinking of the conversation they had last night which never got finished. Trying to imitate Chloe's easy-going attitude to talking about sex, Beca takes a breath and asks as casually as she can, 'Do you... Do that a lot?' It's hard to keep her voice level when Chloe brushes her lips over where her pulse is jumping beneath her skin, though. Especially as it's done in a way that is a lot more deliberate and sexual than that one simple action would be normally.

'Do what?' Chloe's voice is low, and buzzes against her skin. 'Touch myself?'

She squirms, both at the words and because Chloe catches a slightly ticklish area with her lips. 'Y-yeah. Well,' she says, trying to sound braver and more light-hearted than she feels right now, 'You must do it a fair amount, considering Titanium is your lady jam and all.'

'Hey, I don't just do it to Titanium,' Chloe says, sounding offended by the very idea. 'Sometimes I do it to your mixes, too. I have very discerning tastes.' For a moment, Beca feels almost winded; Chloe pulls back after feeling her tense, looking apologetic. 'Too far?'

'No, I...' She clears her throat. 'How the hell do you do that?'

'Do what?'

'It's so easy for you to say things like that. I feel like I'm the only one getting worked up all the time, when you can just sit there cool as anything, not remotely bothered.'

'"Not remotely bothered"? Did you not hear me just now about all the underwear ruining?' Chloe rubs her thumb over Beca's bottom lip in a gentle gesture, then leans in and kisses it - taking it between her teeth briefly. She feels Chloe smile against her mouth when she makes a needy sound. 'Trust me, you have nothing to worry about where me getting worked up is concerned. I think last night proved that.'

'Well, last night was interesting. I might even say it was nice.'

'I agree,' says Chloe, grinning. 'We should try that again.'

'You mean now, don't you.'

'Shut up. I had an "interesting" dream and now I'm all worked up.' Chloe rolls her over in one smooth movement so Beca is on top, and then kisses her. She returns it easily, inwardly marveling at the fact that it feels so much easier now, compared than the first time she did it. She never thought she'd get this far in the first place. Maybe she should count herself lucky.

Minutes later Beca draws back to gasp for breath, but finds herself winded enough that just one small pause won't do it - she has to sit back a bit on Chloe to fully refill her lungs with much needed oxygen. But once there, she finds herself distracted just looking at Chloe. She likes seeing Chloe like this - she always seems to be the one in charge, the more confident one of the two of them, but right now her chest is rising and falling rapidly and her eyes are dark. A column of red is creeping over her neck, spreading outwards from where Chloe's shirt just about hides her collarbones.

She finds herself curious as to how far it goes down her chest, and whether Chloe would let her. By the look on her face, she certainly would.

I want to touch you until you fall apart underneath me, comes the sudden, violent thought in Beca's head, shocking her. She's never thought something like that before. The very idea seems odd and alien in her mind, but at the same time, weirdly familiar - it's like she's never dared think it previously because she never thought she could - but now...

Chloe seems to sense something is on her mind, because she licks her lips and croaks, 'What?'

'Nothing,' murmurs Beca. 'Just not sure how you can look this attractive first thing in the morning, that's all.' She takes a breath, and pulls lightly at the hem of Chloe's t-shirt, which is just riding up over her stomach. 'I want to...'

She feels the muscles just underneath her fingertips contract slightly, and then release. 'Go on. Please,' adds Chloe, after Beca hesitates.

It's approval even she can't talk herself out of. Before she can tell herself otherwise, and with shaking hands, Beca pulls her shirt all the way up and over Chloe's head. The movement doesn't have a lot of finesse, but it gets the job done without ripping it or accidentally punching Chloe in the face, which is an achievement in her eyes.

'Uh... Whoa.'

It's not very eloquent (and she vaguely remembers making fun of Chloe about having a similar response only last night) but that about sums up her thought patterns right now. She's seen Chloe naked before - she'll probably never forget that first time if she tries - but never like this. She runs a hand up her sides, feeling goosebumps rise underneath her palms on Chloe's skin, how she arches up into Beca's hands when she hesitantly traces down from Chloe's collarbone. She kisses Chloe so she can get a handle on her feelings, trying to keep anxiety at bay. This is further than they've ever gone and she doesn't know exactly how far Chloe intends them to go - only that she probably won't be able to get them there today.

'Don't be scared,' Chloe whispers.

Beca's gaze flickers up to Chloe's, finding her wanting and flushed, but still smiling reassuringly. On a whim she cups her right breast and flicks her thumb over the nipple. It creates an immediate reaction of Chloe gasping and squirming a little underneath her in a way that's immensely distracting, especially when her hips rise up to press into hers. 'You're...' She can't really think of an appropriate word. Vocabulary has never been her strong suit. 'Fuck.'

'I'm fuck?' says Chloe with a smile, that rapidly becomes a hiss when Beca squeezes the nipple between her thumb and forefinger. 'Beca...'

She applies a little more pressure, rather enjoying the play of emotions on Chloe's face. Beca's gaze falls to Chloe's pyjama pants briefly - more thinking about the concept more than anything, but Chloe notices and shakes her head.

'Probably not a good idea.'

'Really?'

Chloe chuckles, shifting underneath Beca in an impatient manner and groaning a little at Beca's words. 'Even though I hate myself for saying it, yes. This is good for now. Are you okay?'

'Yeah. This is way more okay than I was expecting, actually.' It's true - touching Chloe is somehow easier than the reverse. Not completely, but her mind is certainly clearer.

Her hand comes up to cover Beca's on her breast, pressing down harder than she ever would on her own for fear of hurting Chloe. Apparently that's something she likes though, if the noise that escapes her is anything to go by. 'Shit. You're beautiful,' says Beca, almost awed.

'Kiss me,' says Chloe breathlessly, so Beca does, fingers still massaging and pinching without much input from her brain since her mind is focused on the kissing. She tries her best to keep the momentum up, but to Beca's reluctance, with nowhere else to go the touching simply peters out naturally on its own. This happens even though Chloe's cheeks may never return to their original colour and she's very unsubtly squeezing her thighs together. Luckily, neither of them seem too upset by it; Beca just comes to a stop, hovering over Chloe while propped up on her elbow.

They just stare at each other for one long moment, processing what just happened between the two of them. 'Well. That happened.'

'Yup,' says Chloe, chuckling. 'You just touched your first boob. How do you feel?'

'Fine. It was kinda like touching my own, but better. What about you?'

'Pretty damn horny,' Chloe replies, with a shrug. She says this without an ounce of shame.

'Sorry. You're probably getting sick of me stopping all the time.'

'No, of course not. We both stopped - it's a mutual thing.'

Beca bites her lip. 'But last night...'

'Last night was different,' Chloe interrupts. 'I was upset and being a jerk. But we don't have to worry about that right now. Everything's fine.' She kisses Beca, and then winks. 'I do, however, need a shower. Want to come with?'

As Beca is about to answer, they hear the door in the living room slam. 'Is that Aubrey? She's finally back!' exclaims Chloe, shooting up from her position on the bed and immediately jumping out of bed. She makes a run for the bedroom door, but just as she's about to exit, Beca calls her name. When Chloe turns back around, Beca throws her shirt directly at her face.

'I don't mind you being half-naked, but Aubrey might want you to put some clothes back on.'

Chloe looks down, as though only just noticing the breeze on her chest. 'Oh, yeah!' She quickly throws the shirt back on and with that, high-tails it back into the living room.

When Beca emerges, Chloe and Aubrey are in full blown catch up mode in the kitchen - or at least, Chloe is. Aubrey has her back to Chloe and is dutifully nodding away. Occasionally she lets out a flat, 'Nope,' to Chloe's very unsubtle questions about where she was the night before, which she drops in between anecdotes about work and turning her eggs over in the frying pan. Her expression reads like she'd quite like to chuck Chloe in the pan as well.

'Nothing happened, I told you,' Aubrey replies in exasperation, poking at the egg aggressively with her spatula, as it's not currently living up to her frying standards. 'How many times, Chloe?'

'She'll probably need telling a few more times,' says Beca, stealing one of the slices of toast sitting on a plate at the side and taking a hefty bite. 'Are those my eggs you're using, by the way?'

'No,' Aubrey snaps, 'but that's definitely my toast you're eating right now. Why do you have eggs here, anyway?'

Beca shrugs. 'I like eggs. Makes sense to keep some here too.' She has all sorts of things strewn over Chloe's apartment as it is due to laziness or forgetfulness; no point overthinking it. Stuffing the rest of the toast in her mouth she asks, 'How was the movie then?'

Aubrey wrinkles her nose at this display. 'It was decent - well acted, but a few plot inconsistencies here and there.'

'What did you do afterwards?'

She meant it to be subtle - more subtle than Chloe, anyway, which isn't hard - but Aubrey is unfortunately not at all fooled. 'Not you as well.'

Beca promptly gives up all pretence and pretending that she's remotely interested in the details of her night with Jesse - she just wants the answer to one question. 'Aubrey, I swear to God, if you and Jesse are banging -'

'We are not "banging",' says Aubrey, sighing. 'I saw one movie with him. God, if that's all it takes to be dating someone, then surely you'd be practically married to him by now.' She nods at Beca, who wrinkles her nose.

'Gross.'

'Exactly.'

'It's not about you just seeing one movie with him,' Chloe persists. 'It's whether you want to see more with him.'

'Oh - just stop, would you?' Aubrey barks. 'Seriously, you've been at this all morning, and it's getting old.'

Seeing that Aubrey is rather wound up, Chloe gives her a tentative smile and takes her hand. 'Okay, Bree. I'm sorry for pushing it,' she says bracingly. 'Let's change the subject. What are you doing today?'

'Nothing with Jesse, if that's what you're asking,' she responds drily.

'Then how about we go out somewhere together, before I have work this afternoon?'

Aubrey snorts, pulling her hand out of Chloe's grip. 'You just want me to get me on my own and tell you more about yesterday. I see through your shoddy game, Beale.'

'No! Not at all.'

'Well… That's probably a part of it.'

Chloe shoots Beca a glare. 'Not helping. Aubrey, I just want to make sure you were alright - I mean, where were you all last night if all you did was just watch one movie?'

Aubrey throws her fried egg onto the plate with one violent movement - it might have been an attempt at being dramatic, but it mostly just slides wimpily out of the frying pan and flops onto the bread. 'Didn't I just ask you to drop this? Nothing happened,' she replies. 'Look - after the movie was done, he invited me to go back to the Trebles house.'

'Aha!'

'I'm not done, Chlo,' says Aubrey tiredly. 'He said he'd invite some of the Bellas over too -' Beca frowns at this, since she and Chloe were not invited; then again, she supposes they were busy anyway. '- and so I went, but... That was a mistake.'

'What? Why?'

'Because Jeff was there.'

'Jeff?'

'Unicycle,' Chloe explains to Beca. She puts her arms around Aubrey, whose face has gone stony. 'Oh, Bree… I'm sorry.'

'His name is Jeff?'

'Not helping,' snap both Chloe and Aubrey. She puts her hands up, effectively exiting the conversation.

'I'm sorry,' Chloe says soothingly to Aubrey, rubbing a hand over her shoulders and upper back. 'I didn't know you felt that strongly about him.'

'I don't even know if I do,' Aubrey murmurs, finally giving in and letting Chloe hold her. 'It just sucked seeing him, and I felt so awkward, in the end I left soon after getting there... And no, Jesse didn't come after me. In fact, no one did.'

'Oh, Bree,' Chloe says again, and Beca finds she's somehow said the same thing out loud. She nips that in the bud, pretending she was just clearing her throat. 'Where did you stay all night, then, if you left?' asks Chloe in concern.

'In the library.'

'You stayed all night in the library?'

'I didn't know where else to go, and everyone else was so busy...' Aubrey smiles bitterly, and shakes her head. 'I'd love to say I had some big fancy night yesterday but the truth is, I didn't feel like I had anywhere to go.'

'Bree, you could have called,' says Chloe gently, 'you could have come here - it would have been fine.'

'Would it? I'm not so sure.' Her voice goes thick, and for a moment she wonders why until, to the horror of both her and Aubrey, she realises Aubrey's blinking away tears. 'Oh, God - can you get her out of the kitchen?' she cries, flapping one hand in Beca's direction and trying to shield her face from view with the other. Chloe grabs her hands, trying to stop her flailing.

'Bree, it's okay - Beca won't judge you. Will you, Bec?' There's a clear warning tone behind those words, to which Beca can only mumble in the affirmative. She's not that evil; Aubrey's clearly upset. Chloe turns back, satisfied that she won't cause any more trouble. 'You know I would have been here for you, if you'd said.'

'You say that,' says Aubrey. 'But I'm not so sure.'

'Huh? Aubrey, I'm your best friend...'

'I know you are. And you're mine. But lately...' She bites her lip, gaze just briefly stopping on Beca for a moment, but long enough for the message to be received loud and clear. It's obvious she thinks Beca is the problem. Chloe must think so too, because she frowns. 'I don't know why, but things have been different lately,' is Aubrey's diplomatic version of that brief look. 'Things just haven't been the same while I've been here. And I know I've probably overstayed my welcome, but it's just so hard, Chloe. My father is already angry at me for staying down here longer than I said I would. Especially since we didn't exactly leave on good terms, either. He didn't want me to come down in the first place,' she adds, at Chloe's questioning expression.

'And you didn't tell him you were going to stay this long?' asks Chloe, surprised. Aubrey nods. 'Oh. Shit.'

'Precisely,' says Aubrey grimly. 'I'm not looking forward to going back. But even so... I can handle that. I've gotten used to him being angry at me for one thing or another over the years... But only because I had you there as well, Chlo. Now, though...' She lifts her hands and lets them fall helplessly. 'I guess everything is changing, and I'm struggling with that for some unknown reason.'

'Things don't have to change,' says Chloe, her brow furrowing. 'I'm sorry if you think I've not been spending enough time with you lately. But I'm sorry - Beca is here to stay,' she adds, firmly.

Aubrey sighs. 'Yes, I know. I'm still getting used to that fact.' But she smiles.

Beca, feeling somewhat useless, knows she needs to do something to help. She offers the only thing she feels like she can. 'Hey, Aubrey,' she says, drawing their attention back to her. It's as though they'd forgotten she was ever there in the first place. 'Why don't you come with me to practice today? And you too, Chlo, if you want.'

'You have that today?' says Chloe, surprised. 'It's the weekend - you never practise at the weekend.'

'We do now,' Beca replies firmly. 'I'm sure I can round up the Bellas. They won't like it, but oh well - it's about time I put in some Posen-esque dictatorship behaviour.'

Chloe smiles, but Aubrey doesn't look quite so sure. 'You'd really want me there?' she says doubtfully.

'Sure. I think I could do with some extra help, anyway.'

'Well...' Aubrey looks at Chloe, who is nodding fervently to her. 'Alright.'

Chloe's delighted grin, and her slight squeal into Beca's neck as she hugs her makes up for the fact that Aubrey didn't even say thank you.

But only just.

To Beca's relief, the Bellas seem to do a pretty good job of cheering Aubrey up when they arrive, fussing over her excitedly as though they hadn't only seen her the night before and like she hadn't been in Barden far too long for a quick social visit as it is. It's all going well, until Amy - and of course it's Amy, because everyone else seems to be tactfully avoiding the subject - puts her foot in it.

'Hey, where'd you go last night anyway?' she asks Aubrey, her persistently loud voice attracting the attention of everyone in the room. 'One moment you were there, the next you weren't - no one knew where you went.'

There's a short silence as those in the know exchange glances, including Aubrey with Beca. 'I went home,' Aubrey replies awkwardly, after a moment. 'I wasn't feeling well.'

'Oh, good,' says Amy. 'I mean, not good that you were ill, that's bad - but we thought it might have been because Unicycle was there and he was pashing some other girl. Sorry, probably should have thought that through, '

'Dude!' Beca interrupts in a hissing whisper. 'Social cues!'

'What?' Her eyes swivel around the room, taking in Beca's expression, which is exasperated; Chloe's, which is full of worry; and Aubrey, who looks vaguely murderous. 'Oh. Oops.' She shrugs sheepishly. 'Uh... Don't blame me, I'm Australian?'

'It's fine,' says Aubrey coldly, although there is a spot of red in both her cheeks. 'He can "pash" whoever he likes; it's none of my business anymore.'

'That's the spirit!' replies Amy brightly, who mostly just looks relieved that Aubrey isn't tearing her head off. 'There's lots of other sausages in the hallway, or however that saying goes.'

'... Right. Moving on - Beca,' she barks suddenly, surprising said girl, 'come on, I thought you were going to show me the set you guys have been working on?'

'You sure you don't want to catch up a bit more?'

'No. I want to see what you guys have got.'

To Beca's secret pleasure, the other Bellas don't immediately jump into formation on Aubrey's command, but look to Beca for direction. She nods. 'We might as well, we could use an audience. Just remember this is my team now, not yours,' says Beca, as she takes her place among the group.

'I can't stop remembering...' Aubrey scans the girls, her brow crinkling when she notices something. 'Where's Cynthia Rose?'

For the first time, Beca realises she's not there. Oh no. 'Anyone know where she is?'

'You mean you don't know? She's your roommate,' says Aubrey rudely. Beca ignores this; the rest of the Bellas shrug.

'Lauren isn't here either,' pipes up Mollie worriedly, looking at the gap in their formation where Lauren usually stands.

'No idea where she is either?' More shaking of heads and shrugging, while Beca starts to get a bad feeling. It's obvious the two are together somewhere, but the least Cynthia Rose could have done was give her a head's up before she went running off somewhere with a new girl. Especially someone else on the team. 'I guess we'll have to do without them.'

Aubrey grabs Chloe's wrist. 'Come on Chlo, let's see how well your midget girlfriend is doing carrying on the Bellas torch. Although looking at them right now, I don't have high hopes.'

'There's something missing.'

Beca, still out of breath from the last slightly complicated bit of choreography - thanks, Stacie, she really needed more twirling when she can barely stand on two feet most of the time - looks over at Aubrey, sure she's misheard. 'What?'

'I'm not sure what it is,' says Aubrey. 'But there's definitely something not quite right about it yet.'

'Wow. Really? I'm starting to think your ear for music has gone away since you left Barden.' She looks at Chloe, expecting to see her nodding along in support or rolling her eyes in knowing exasperation about Aubrey's anal-retentiveness - but instead she's averting her eyes. It's not a good sign. '... Chlo? What did you think?'

'Uh - I kind of think Aubrey is right,' pipes up Chloe timidly. 'I think it's nearly there! But um, maybe not quite.'

'And someone's going flat,' Aubrey throws an accusing look at the group. 'I think it was one of the altos.'

'The altos? You mean me, right?'

'All I said was one of the altos, I couldn't tell which...'

'There's only two here,' Beca snaps. 'Lilly was fine, so you obviously meant me. And if you did, why didn't you just say so?'

'Anyway!' says Chloe loudly, stepping in diplomatically as always. 'I don't think much needs to change. Maybe in the "Run the World" bit -'

'Which should probably go altogether,' Aubrey states. 'It doesn't flow with the rest of the set, if you ask me. It kind of feels a bit like you shoved it in there just because it's Beyoncé. As cool as she is, she's not right for this set.'

There's silence, as the rest of the Bellas seem to hold their breath, glancing between them. They obviously think one of them is going to blow, and honestly, Beca is way too tired for this shit. 'Sectionals is coming up really soon. We don't have time to change that section.'

'I don't think you can afford not to.'

Beca rubs her temples. 'Aubrey, I've had this fight with you before - I'm captain now.'

'Aubrey, just chill out for a second,' interrupts Chloe, looking uncharacteristically cross. 'Beca, come over here.' Grudgingly, Beca makes her way over to where Aubrey and Chloe have been sitting in the seats of the auditorium.

When Beca is standing out of ear-shot of everyone else, Chloe folds her arms over her chest. 'Can you guys not fight for once? You've barely been at practice an hour and you're already at each other's throats,' she snaps.

'I'm not having it, Chloe. I put up with this bullshit last year, but I'm captain now, not Aubrey.'

'I know,' Chloe says. Beca's not sure who she's trying to comfort here - Beca or Aubrey. 'Look, Bree's stressed out, okay?' You are,' she adds, when Aubrey looks like she might interrupt. 'She doesn't mean to step on your toes - she just wants to help and she's worried about the Bellas still. And Bree, Beca was really trying to help cheer you up by bringing you here. She wasn't trying to upset you more. For God's sake, just see it as the nice thing it is.'

Beca and Aubrey both make eye contact briefly, but break after a moment.

Seeing this exchange, Chloe rolls her eyes. 'I thought you guys were over all this fighting, anyway.'

'We were, but then she had to come in and start changing everything. Aubrey, why can't you trust that I know what I'm doing? I don't need your help. We've worked long enough on this set already, I don't want to change anything else.'

'Wow,' muses Chloe. 'That almost sounds like how Aubrey felt last year...' Chloe raises her eyebrows.

'It's not the same. I won,' grumbles Beca.

'Beca.' Chloe glances at Aubrey meaningfully, who is staring at her lap, with an unreadable expression on her face. 'This is silly- you're not even on the same team anymore. You're friends now; you shouldn't fight over this.'

The stalemate continues for several more seconds, until she feels Chloe tread on her foot. Beca gives in when her toes start going numb. 'Okay, fine,' says Beca. 'Fine. Sorry, Aubrey.'

Aubrey sighs, looking up at Beca briefly. 'Me too, I suppose.'

'This is good,' says Chloe, sounding pleased. 'Really good. I'm glad you guys are making up. Now... Make out.'

A beat, as both of them consider what Chloe just said - then -

'Chloe!' cry Aubrey and Beca simultaneously.

'I'm just kidding,' Chloe cackles, in such a way that says she may well not have been.

'Gross. I'm going to go back over there before you start revealing any other disgusting fantasies.'

Aubrey gets up, and Beca starts to follow; however before she can leave, Chloe tugs on her sleeve to make her turn back. 'Thank you,' whispers Chloe, kissing Beca while no-one else is looking.

Although, when she breaks away, she swears she sees Aubrey watching them with what might pass for a half-smile.

When she arrives a few hours later at the station, Luke is tucked away in the booth, already on air. Oddly enough, there's no sign of Jesse, even though Beca is sure he was meant to be working today. For a moment she thinks it'll just be her stacking CDs and records alone for a few hours (and wondering whether she could get away with a sneaky bit of mixing while Luke is distracted), when she hears a hastily stifled cough and the tell-tale click of cases being pushed into place nearby.

'Oh, hey,' says Beca, approaching the stack that Jesse is hidden behind and poking her head around the side. 'Didn't see you there. You hiding?'

He seems somewhat taken aback by her presence as well, blinking at her in a rather shifty way. 'N-no.'

Beca snorts; it's not very convincing, but then, Jesse rarely is when he's lying. 'Okay, whatever. What've you got there?' He looks at her blankly for a moment, before she points at the case he's clutching. He shows it to her. 'Ah, cool, The Beach Boys... You know, I think they're a group that would really benefit from a dubstep remix. What do you think?' The joke seems to fall flat, because Jesse's smile doesn't quite meet his eyes. 'Something the matter?' she asks, even though she's fairly sure she knows what's going on.

'Nothing.'

'Let me guess - you're still mad at me for not going with you to the movie?' When he frowns a little, she knows she hit upon the right mark. He's so easy to read. 'Thought so.'

'I'm not,' he says. 'Mad, I mean.'

'Uh, that big ol' scowl on your forehead says otherwise. Careful, your face will stay that way if you frown too much.' But Beca goes on to say genuinely, 'For what it's worth, I am sorry I forgot, Jess. It was an honest mistake.'

Jesse sighs, turning his back on her. 'Yeah, I know. Never mind, let's just forget about it.'

'You sure about that?'

'Yes. How did it go, anyway? With Kate.'

She reaches over his shoulder and grabs some of the CDs from his hands, starting to help Jesse stack them. It's pretty obvious that he's still at least a little mad at her, so she should probably start making it up to him now. 'Not great - turns out she's worse than I thought. And not just in a "crazy ex-girlfriend" kind of way - like she has actual issues and stuff. So you see,' she adds apologetically, 'I couldn't exactly let Chloe go alone.'

'No, I guess not. Like I said - let's just forget about it.'

He's so quiet that it's beginning to become unnerving, and causing a prickle of uneasiness to gnaw away at her insides in case he really is mad at her. They don't fight often - Jesse's generally too good-natured for that - but he's been a lot moodier with her lately. Anything might set him off. 'So, anyway, enough about me,' says Beca in a conversational tone. 'What did you get up to last night?'

Chloe's lack of subtlety must be rubbing off on her, however, because Jesse immediately works out what she's asking about. There's a brief pause, but then Jesse raises his head, looking at Beca over the top of the bookcase he's behind, looking unamused. 'Seriously?'

'What?'

'I went to one movie with Aubrey, which I was originally going to go to with you,' he says. 'It doesn't mean anything.'

'I never said it did,' retorts Beca. 'And anyway, pot calling the kettle black much? I endured practically hours of you teasing me about Chloe even when we'd only just watched a few Youtube videos together.'

'There was actually something going on between you two,' he points out. 'And now you're together, so...'

'So you're saying there isn't something going on between the two of you?'

'Yeah, Beca. That's exactly what I'm saying.' He crosses over to the other side of the room to put something away; Beca waits patiently, but it takes him a few minutes to return - far longer than it should just for one CD.

'Well, that's a relief, I guess,' she replies when he returns, as though there had not been any pause in the conversation. 'It'd be super weird if you guys got together, anyway. You'd have gross aca-babies.'

'Ha ha,' he says, in a monotone. 'Aubrey was kind of cool, actually - we had fun. She was way nicer than you ever made her out to be, anyway. I was just confused why she initiated it in the first place.'

'I guess maybe she's lonely.'

'Ah, I know the feeling. I mean, both our friends keep deserting us.'

It takes a moment for that comment to sink in, but it hurts when it does. 'Wow - low blow, dude.' He barely shrugs, and finally, Beca has had enough of this. 'Jesse, seriously, what is going on with you? I said I was sorry already, but you've gotta stop being like this. I missed one meet up, and I'm really sorry, but I'm getting kinda fed up with the attitude you keep giving me.'

'Oh, so I'm just giving you "attitude"? That's great.' He's beginning to throw CD cases rather aggressively into the bookcases now. If Luke comes out now he'd probably fire Jesse on the spot; she glances back uneasily towards the booth, but he's still busy on air. Jesse sees where she's looking and snorts. 'I couldn't care less if Luke came out right now, so don't worry.'

'Jesse, what's actually going on here? This isn't you.'

'Really? You don't know? Think back, Bec-aw,' he says, and that weird old nickname just sounds wrong with that much sarcasm and anger behind it. He props one arm up on the shelf to lean on, gazing over at her with a tight jaw and more coldness than she's ever Jesse look at anyone. 'When was the last time we hung out, just me and you? Can you even remember?' She can't, and he knows it just by looking at her face. 'Exactly. We used to hang out all the time. And now it's like you don't even care about me - all you think about is Chloe.'

Not this again. 'She's my girlfriend, Jesse.' She feels exhausted just having this conversation, because it feels like she's had it a thousand times already.

'You keep saying that, but does it really make much difference? Normal people know how to date someone and have friends at the same time, too.'

'"Normal people"?' repeats Beca slowly, hu. 'Well, maybe not. But no one else seems to care that much. You're the only one acting like you have some sort of claim over me.'

'That's not what Aubrey thinks,' says Jesse. 'She thinks you guys are way too wrapped up in each other, and it's probably all going to end in tears.'

'She said that?' This distracts her for a moment, remembering how Aubrey had given her advice on being with Chloe, and it had almost seen like she approved. But Jesse's upset, so who knows what Aubrey actually said. 'You're listening to Aubreynow? You barely know her.'

'Well, she had a point. She feels like she's barely spent time with Chloe either since you two got together as well.'

'She and Chloe have talked about that already and they're working on it. That's their problem, not ours,' snaps Beca. 'Stop mixing the two.'

'I can't. Because they're the same.' He folds his arms, looking at her with something akin to pity; whatever it is only infuriates her more.

'Look,' says Beca a tad desperately, trying to get this conversation away from what feels like dangerous ground. 'We've had a lot of stuff going on. You wouldn't understand -'

'Yeah, and you know why I don't understand? Because you don't tell me anything. I don't know what's happening in your life.'

'And how is that anything to do with you anyway?'

'Beca, I'm your friend! I'm supposed to know these things!' He throws his hands up. 'You barely let me in on anything - you never let anyone in, except Chloe. It's like no one else exists to you. It's just weird how much time you spend with her, and how you ignore everyone else now - it's like you barely even realise you have other people outside her - other friends -''

'Oh yeah. Because being my friend is all you want, right?' The words are tumbling out before she can check them, but right now she doesn't want to, even when Jesse's face becomes stony and cold.

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'It's not my problem if you have feelings for me, Jesse.'

'I don't have feelings for you. Not anymore, anyway.'

'Yes, you do. And I don't care, Jesse - but you're always try to make it my problem! I don't know how the hell we're going to carry on being friends if this is how you're going to treat me.'

'This isn't about that!' he explodes suddenly, his face going red and blotchy with anger. Beca takes a step back. 'This is about you, and you cutting me out! I've tried to get us to hang out but every time I do you shoot me down, because of Chloe, and I've had it! Aubrey's right, I never realised before but you really are a basket case -'

The door of the booth clatters open; they've attracted Luke's attention. 'What the hell is going on here?' he barks, looking back and forth between the two of them. 'For God's sake, I can hear you guys bickering over the music - if you get any louder the mic'll pick you up.'

He looks between them, but neither of them can say anything; Jesse, who is shaking with anger and emotion, and Beca who is staring down at the floor. 'What's going on?' asks Luke, gazing suspiciously at the two of them. 'Have you had a tiff?' Neither of them answer; he rolls his eyes. 'Alright then. I'm not dealing with this shit. Beca, go into the booth. Get me a hamburger, Jesse.'

Jesse stiffens. Beca tries to signal with her eyebrows that this is not a good thing to say to Jesse right now, but Luke doesn't notice. 'What?'

'I don't want you here if you're going to be acting like this. Leave, come back, and then do your job, alright?'

Jesse stares at Luke for a moment, and then his eyes narrow into slits. 'You know what? Screw this. I'm out of here.'

'You what?'

'I seriously don't need this. I'm not getting paid enough for all the crap you give me, Luke. I quit.'

'You can't quit.'

'Watch me.'

He storms out; Beca makes to go after him, but Luke stops her. 'Let him go, Becky. He's too angry to reason with right now, and you still have a shift to do.'

'My name isn't Becky!' she shouts, almost spitting in his face. 'Why did you fucking ask him to get you a burger? You could see he was already upset.'

'Well, between me and you, Becky, he was kind of a rubbish employee anyway,' says Luke, shrugging.

'No he wasn't! And now he's gone and left and it's your fault!' When she's done yelling, Luke is gazing at her with wide eyes, and it begins to sink in that Beca's just yelled at her boss and probably lost her job all in one fell swoop. She feels like she can't breathe; like her ribs are squeezing her heart and lungs, and her head swims so much Luke starts to go blurry in front of her eyes. 'I -'

She sways, once, on shaking legs and braces herself against hitting the floor - but Luke catches her by the elbow just in time. 'O-kay,' he says, pulling her upright. 'I think you and I need to have a chat. C'mon, let's have a little sit down, shall we?' She's barely aware of moving through the station, but she realises when he's guiding her into a chair in the booth and shutting off the mic.

'The show,' she manages to blurt out weakly, hardly aware of what she's saying.

'Ah, it's alright. It's two o'clock on a Sunday, they're probably all still nursing their hangovers. Sit down and drink this,' he adds, and thrusts some water into her hands. 'Do it,' he says impatiently, when she can only look at the cup with some confusion. She tries to sip obediently, but the water thunders loudly in her throat when she tries to swallow so she stops.

Luke's still gazing at her, a frown on his face. He seems somewhat lost about what he should do. Beca finds herself wishing Jesse hadn't left, because then she could at least share a roll of the eyes with him about how much Luke seems to be struggling when faced with a panicking girl. Then again, if Jesse didn't leave she wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place.

'Want me to call Chloe?' he suggests eventually, at a loss of anything else to say.

It seems to take an age just for her to shake her head. 'No... She's at work. I don't want to bother her,' she manages to say hoarsely.

'I think she'd probably want to know you're feeling like this.'

She still shakes her head violently. For one thing, Chloe probably wouldn't want her to interrupt at work just to tell her she had a falling out with Jesse (what else is new?) and for another, it's high time she stopped relying on Chloe so much for drawing her out of these moods, anyway.

Luke still seems uncomfortable at her emotion, and keeps glancing back at her with a worried expression. 'You alright now?' he asks, sounding unsure- but his voice is still kind. She nods. 'So what happened just now? Panic attack or something?'

'Guess so.'

'Are you upset about Swanson walking out on us, or is it something else going on?' He wrinkles his nose as he says Jesse's name.

'I don't know,' replies Beca tiredly. She really doesn't want to discuss this. 'It's been a stressful few weeks. Or month. Or... year, really.'

'I can imagine.' He leans against the table, scuffing the bottom of his foot against the carpet. 'Hm,' he says, after a moment, looking over at Beca with his brow knitted. 'I suppose you and Chloe must be a bit shaken up from seeing Kate, too.'

Beca's head shoots up in surprise - now she knows why he's been acting so weird. 'How did you know?'

'She told me.'

'Kate?' Beca is stunned; she didn't think they were on speaking terms. 'You've spoken to her?'

'Yeah, I was surprised too,' he says wryly. 'She called me the other night. I mean, I knew she was planning on coming back here - have known that for a while in fact, but... I didn't think she'd try and get in contact with Chloe. I guess I was wrong.'

Beca shakes her head. 'Yeah, me neither.'

'Sorry, I probably should've warned you guys anyway,' he says, wincing. 'I know Kate's not exactly easy to deal with.'

'That's putting it lightly.'

Luke chuckles. 'I know. What did she want with you guys, anyway? She didn't go into a lot of detail about it, but I got the feeling something went down.'

'I think she wanted to meet Chloe alone, but she didn't realise she'd have another girlfriend. She seemed pretty unsettled by me being there, to be honest - I think she didn't expect Chloe to have moved on.'

'Yeah... Kate was never great with other people taking her "stuff",' says Luke with a snort. 'What did she do, though? She didn't try any funny stuff, did she?'

'No... I thought she'd be much worse than she was, to be honest. Mostly, she just seemed sad.' Beca sighs, running a hand through her hair. 'Chloe was really worried about her. Do you think she needs help?

'I've tried, mate,' he says sadly. 'I really have. So did her friends, and my family, and Chloe, and everything just went to shit when she came to the States. She's been on a downward path ever since and there's nothing we can do about it anymore.'

'You don't think she'd... Do anything, do you?' she asks hesitantly. Somehow Luke doesn't seem majorly surprised that she's even asking; his shoulders slump.

'I don't know,' he says uneasily. 'I don't really want to think about it.'

She changes the subject, albeit not to one that's much happier. 'I don't know what to do about Jesse.'

'What do you need to do? He's the one that walked out, not you.'

'We were fighting before that. He thinks I'm spending too much time with Chloe.'

Luke starts gnawing on the edge of his thumbnail, frowning at her. 'Yeah, well, s'pose that might be a worry. Chloe's the type to cling on if you let her, so it's better for both of you if you try and keep a little distance.'

'How well do you know Chloe, exactly?' asks Beca, feeling a small pang of jealousy at the way he comments on her so easily.

'Nowhere near as well as you, don't worry,' he says in amusement, as though reading her mind. 'We used to talk a lot when she and Kate were together.'

'Do you think Chloe and I spend too much time together?'

'Are you really taking relationship advice from him?' he laughs. 'Jesse's just being Jesse, i.e. a total prick. Give him some time... He'll probably come around and you guys will be best friends again or whatever.' He dusts off his hands on his legs, standing up. 'Anyway, if you're feeling better. I should probably to get the show back on. And you should probably go home,' he adds.

'But my shift -'

'Go home and call Chloe. Don't make me kick you out as well, I need at least one half decent employee around.'

The words are firm, but Beca can tell he means them nicely - as much as Luke can manage such an act. 'Thanks, Luke.'

'Don't mention it,' he says, already putting on his headphones and blocking out the rest of the world.