AN: Hi! I want to start by saying that I'm sorry it took me so long to update this. Since I posted the first chapter, I had a final, graduated college, celebrated my birthday, celebrated Mother's Day (which happened to fall on my birthday), had two job interviews, and started a new job (that I am very bad at) where my daily commute to Atlanta is about 3 hours round trip. I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, but thank you to Liz for beta-ing, thank you for your patience, and thank you for reading!

Like most things, it started with a girl. And not just any girl, oh no. This girl was a different kind of girl. An "alternative," DJ-ing, unexpectedly hot kind of girl. The kind of girl that was somehow okay with a total stranger repeatedly breaking into her apartment but slept with a night light, the kind of girl that (loudly) complained every time Jesse put on a movie but snuggled into Chloe's side to fall asleep during it, the kind of girl that dropped out of college but insisted on proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar in text messages, the kind of girl that should've sent Chloe running but somehow kept pulling her in.

Which, honestly, Chloe wasn't all that opposed to. In her past experience, girls like Beca tended to be bad news: inconsistent, moody, closed off, love 'em and leave 'em types that left empty beds and broken hearts in their wake. But Beca was different. There was something that was just so easy about hanging out with her, the way that Beca could make her laugh with just an eye roll or how Chloe could ask her the most random out of the blue "Would you rather?"s and she'd answer them seriously, how she could teach Chloe the fundamentals of mixing songs without making her feel dumb or how she would listen to Chloe, really listen, even if it was about something ridiculous.

Chloe was fucked.

The sixteenth time she climbed in through the window, she had actually been invited. Beca and Jesse, already well on their way to being three sheets to the wind and claiming to be "only pre-gaming," shook their heads at her entrance. Beca had told her once that she was welcome to use the door like a normal person, but Chloe liked the window.

"What are we pre-gaming?" Chloe asked, downing the shot Jesse pressed into her hand and wincing slightly at the burn of cheap alcohol.

"Game night," Beca said from the kitchen, mixing drinks. She handed one to Chloe and sat next to Jesse on the couch, tucking her feet underneath his legs for warmth. "You should text Aubrey to come."

Chloe laughed, taking a seat in the squashy armchair and pulling out her phone. "You have game night? And you pre-game it?"

"Yeah," Jesse nodded seriously, his eyes bright. "About once a month or so–" he looked at Beca for confirmation, "We get a bunch of people together, get drunk, and play board games or Mario Kart or something. Anything but Monopoly."

"No Monopoly," Beca agreed with a nod.

"Sounds like my kind of party. What are we playing?"

Jesse grinned wickedly at Beca. "Pictionary."

Beca groaned, dramatically throwing one arm over her eyes. "I hate when it's your turn to pick."

"Hey, at least I didn't pick Scene It."

"What's wrong with Pictionary?" Chloe asked, looking between the two.

"Beca is very, very talented and has many, many skills," Jesse said. "But drawing... is not one of them."

When a reluctant Aubrey and the rest of Beca and Jesse's friends arrived, Chloe witnessed firsthand that he hadn't been lying. Beca sucked. Her drawing of a dog looked more like a (mashed) potato with legs, her Statue of Liberty more closely resembled Godzilla than a treasured landmark, and her drawing of a skateboard, truthfully, looked like a dick. When Chloe'd asked if Beca was any better at this sober, she'd received a unanimous and almost cheerful "Nope!" from everyone in the room.

"They just like to see me lose because I kick their asses at Operation," Beca huffed from her seat on the couch between Benji, Jesse's college roommate, and Chloe. Benji patted her hand and nodded consolingly. "Which we are playing next time it's my turn to pick."

"Alright champ, calm down," Jesse laughed, dodging the marker she threw at him and nearly falling down in the process. "I think it's Amy's turn."

"So," Chloe said, handing Beca her beer as the loud Australian girl began drawing what looked like either a crocodile or a dingo. "Operation's your game, huh?"

"Yeah," Beca scowled. "I kick ass at Operation. Operation is my shit."

"Is it now?"

"Yeah. I'm good with my hands."

"Oh really?"

At Chloe's teasing smile and raised eyebrow, Beca flushed red. "Oh my God, dude, no. Well, yes, actually, but no. No. Shit. I'm not talking anymore, fuck."

"You're fun when you're drunk," Chloe grinned.

"Shut up."

"You know, I was always good at Twister," Chloe held back a laugh, enjoying winding her up. She lowered her voice, so that only Beca could hear, her lips nearly brushing her ear, and leaned in, one hand on Beca's thigh. "I'm very flexible."

Beca choked on her beer.

As the night progressed, everyone's but Aubrey's drawings slowly reached Beca's level of obscurity. Eventually, the group reached the point of no return and collapsed into giggles at Beca furiously circling what looked like a sad cinnamon bun and then yelling, "It's turtle for God's sake, a turtle!". She threw up her hands in exasperation and wobbled back to her seat between Chloe and Benji, who had passed out twenty minutes earlier. After that, the game was officially called over, Jesse's team winning seventeen to eleven, and everyone said their goodbyes and bundled into cabs.

"You staying?" Beca lazily asked Chloe, who was still sitting next to her on the couch and playing with the rings on Beca's hand. Aubrey had left an hour earlier, claiming an early workday the next day, and with a pointed look instructed Chloe that under no circumstances should she be disturbed.

"I don't really want to go home," Chloe said, her voice soft in the quiet of the apartment. She dropped Beca's hand and rested her head on her shoulder, curling into her side. Across the room, Jesse shook his head at them, waved a lazy goodnight, and made his way to his room, the door clicking shut softly behind him. "Or to Aubrey's."

"Then stay."

"Okay."

"Chloe, I am going to ask you a serious question, and I need you to think long and hard before you answer."

Chloe looked up from her phone to meet Aubrey's eye, jumping slightly at the intensity of her scrutinizing glare. She put her phone down, leaving a half typed response to Beca's desperate plea to be rescued from a trip to Whole Foods with Jesse. ("Send help. He is buying flaxseed. FLAXSEED.")

"Okay?"

A long pause filled Chloe's brightly decorated living rom with a tense, apprehensive sort of quiet before Aubrey spoke.

"What, exactly, are you doing with Beca?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me," Aubrey sat in the armchair across from Chloe's couch, crossing her arms as Chloe's phone lit up with a text. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Chloe said defensively, fighting the urge to check her phone. "We're friends."

"Are you sure about that?"

"... Yes."

"Is she sure about that?"

"What do you mean?" Chloe felt trapped, her heartbeat pounding in a skittering, anxious sort of tattoo against her ribs.

"You know she has a thing for you."

"So?"

"So," Aubrey said slowly, as if talking to a child. "You text her all the time, you hang out with her almost every weekend, and you sleep there more than you do here. You're encouraging it."

Chloe's phone lit up again, giving her an excuse to look away from Aubrey's piercing stare. Another text from Beca: "Do you think I could convince him that this birdseed is actually ~healthy~ cereal?"

"So what? Maybe I have a thing for her too."

"You're still dating Tom."

"We're not exclusive."

"Chloe, as much as I don't really care for Tom, that's not fair to either of them and you know it." Aubrey relaxed her ramrod straight posture, letting out a deep sigh. "Especially to Beca."

"I know," Chloe groaned, slouching down and pulling a yellow throw pillow over her face.

And she did know. She knew that even though they were only together in the loosest sense of the word, it wasn't fair to Tom to spend all of her time with Beca. She also knew that at the same time, it wasn't fair to lead Beca on while she was technically still with Tom. Her choices were clear.

"You know what you have to do, right?"

Chloe peeked out from under her pillow, pulling her phone to her face. Another text: "If I am crushed to death under the 700 lbs of quinoa Jesse is trying to buy, I hereby grant you full and complete custody of Finch. He likes Fancy Feast but will settle for generic."

She smiled at her phone, feeling her heart throb uncomfortably at her answer. "Yeah, I do."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No," Chloe said, sitting up. "I need to do this myself."

"How are you going to tell her?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

The seventeenth time Chloe climbed through the window, she almost didn't make it through. Jesse, alone the kitchen table, nearly upended his glass of orange juice at the sound of her head whacking against the bottom of the window and her phone clattering to the floor.

"Chloe?" He stood, rushing over to help her up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she sniffled, picking up her phone. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm fine. I didn't mean to be so loud, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he said, hesitating. "Are you sure you're alright?"

She took a deep breath and smiled brightly, but her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen. "Is Beca here?"

"She's asleep, but I'll go get her."

"No, no don't wake her up," Chloe stopped him, still sniffling. "I don't want to bother her."

"She won't mind."

When Beca emerged from her room, bleary-eyed and wearing a t-shirt so large it reached her knees, she looked so worried that Chloe's stomach clenched, setting off a fresh round of tears.

"I'm sorry," she said again, desperately wiping under her eyes. "I told him not to wake you up, I know this is weird, I'm sorry Becs–"

"Chloe," Beca cut her off, her voice thick with sleep. "Shhh. Come on."

In an uncharacteristic initiation of affection, Beca took Chloe's hand and pulled her down the hall and into her room.

"There's t-shirts and stuff in the third drawer if you want to change," Beca said, nodding in the general direction of the dresser. "I'll be right back."

Chloe nodded, hiccuping as she pulled on one of Beca's oversized shirts that read "Musicians Duet Better." The muffled sounds of Jesse's and Beca's voices drifted down the hall, their concern clear. When Beca returned, she carried a disgruntled looking Finch and a bottle of water, which she handed to Chloe.

"You need to drink that," she said, gently loosening Finch's claws from his death grip on her shirt. "You'll feel better in the morning if you do."

"I'm not drunk," Chloe said, taking a sip and sitting on the edge of Beca's bed.

Beca placed the cat on Chloe's lap and leaned against her desk. "Do you want me to text Aubrey?"

"No," Chloe shook her head, scratching Finch behind the ears.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay."

They sat in silence while Chloe finished her water, Finch's loud purring filling the quiet between them. Once she was done, Beca waited until Chloe was safely under the covers and curled up with Finch before snapping the light off and climbing into bed. The dim glow of the nightlight plugged into the wall illuminated her profile as she settled in.

"I can sleep on the couch," Chloe whispered. "Really, I'm sorry, I don't want to–"

"Chlo," Beca's sleepy voice drifted through the near dark. "S'okay."

"Thanks."

"Mm hm."

Chloe lay flat on her back, staring up at Beca's ceiling. She'd once told Chloe that for a while, she'd had glow in the dark stars up there, but had to take them down when they started falling and hitting her in the face while she slept. Chloe felt the corner of her mouth turn up slightly at the mental picture and turned her head to look at her.

"What?" Beca mumbled, eyes closed.

"Nothing," Chloe said, turning her head back towards the ceiling. She glanced at Beca out of the corner of her eye and spoke again, quietly. "Tom and I broke up."

"What?" Beca's eyes opened, locking onto Chloe's profile.

"Well, I guess technically he broke up with me, but I initiated it." Her voice was flat, but there was a catch in her throat that she couldn't quite disguise.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Chloe took a deep breath, nodded, and burst into tears. "No. Kind of? I don't know."

"O...kay." Beca sat up, leaning back against her headboard. Chloe pushed herself up so she could curl into Beca's side, her tears falling hot and fast. They stayed that way for several minutes, one of Beca's hands running soothingly through Chloe's hair. "Do you want to talk about it, or should I send Jesse to go kick his ass?"

Chloe smiled despite her tears. "I think we can hold off on the ass kicking."

"Good. Jesse's kind of a weenie anyway."

At this, Chloe laughed, drawing a grin from Beca. They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, Beca's hand still tugging gently through Chloe's hair.

"I told him I thought we should see other people." Chloe broke the silence.

"I assume he didn't take it well."

"Not at all. He totally flipped out, and he–" Chloe broke off uncomfortably. The hand in her hair stopped, and Chloe could feel Beca's chin on top of her head as she tried to look down. She took a deep breath and continued, staring fixedly at the glare of the nightlight on the doorknob. "He accused me of "fucking that Beca girl" behind his back and pretty much threw me out of his apartment."

Beca winced at the uncharacteristic swear word from Chloe's mouth, then stiffened once the meaning of her words sunk in. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"I mean," Beca shifted. "You told him that's not a thing, right?"

Chloe paused. "Not in so many words."

At this, Beca pulled back, looking down at Chloe with an unreadable expression. "What do you mean?"

"I told him," she said, her face burning hot. "I told him that I wasn't sleeping with you..."

"Yeah?"

"...Yet."