A/N: I'm attempting to write a fic using all (or most) of the prompts for Bechloe week on Tumblr. We'll see how it goes!

Post PP2. All spoilers/canon stuff applies. Fic title comes from the wonderful Jamie XX song. This chapter's title comes from the Jack's Mannequin song. Yes, I'm that kinda person.

Chapter One: You Can Breathe Now

"Oh fuck", Beca mumbled through gritted teeth as she stepped outside of Residual Heat and into a flash thunderstorm. It had been a long and very rainy summer that had led to an even rainier early fall and she was lucky that she kept an umbrella on her at all times now. There was no use getting soaked when she had her trusty, pocket companion just tucked right inside of her messenger bag. Which...wasn't tossed lazily over her shoulder and was still on her desk back inside of the building, along with her key card to get back in and her car keys to drive home.

"God damn it."

She had just spent her first all-nighter at the recording studio since starting her job back in May and she usually had her shit together, but the excitement of the day had short circuited the organized part of her mind and led to this. Outside of this major inconvenience it had been a great day, probably one of the best she'd ever had, which she hated to see ruined just like this. She had been given her first real opportunity at the studio and had spent the day listening to Haim record the first few tracks for their next LP, perched in a corner observing her experienced coworkers and scrawling notes onto a piece of paper as she just kinda took it all in. And when one of Danielle's solos fell flat and Beca suggested that they begin their second song with an a cappella intro, she officially felt like she was slightly useful.

But that was before she stayed all night like an over-eager suck up and locked herself out. She had at least managed to keep her cell phone in her pocket, but she had no money for a cab or a flashlight as the streetlights gradually starting to flicker out as it neared four in the morning. And on top of all that, she was freezing. She just didn't understand how it could be balmy and disgusting during the day and this chilly once the sun went down.

Needless to say, there was a lot to complain about and as she sunk onto the pavement outside of the studio and tried to keep dry, she started to weigh her options. She hadn't spoken to Jesse since a few days after Copenhagen (and no, she didn't want to even think about it and make her night worse) and her dad was off limits as well because she would just wake up her six year old little sister (another thing that was off fucking limits right now) with a late night phone call and get in trouble. She probably could have gotten away with calling Stacie, who was attending medical school at Emory, or Emily, but she had never been really close with them and it just made her ache for the rest of the Bellas that had fled for brighter parts of the world after graduating.

So, that only left her with one option and she hated to do it, but she really had no choice. She'd just have to suck up her pride and call Chloe and let her rescue her. Again. For the millionth time since they had graduated and moved on and tried to be adults, with mixed results.

It had almost become kinda pathetic how much she had grown to rely on Chloe. Chloe was there when she had a tiny grease fire in her apartment, when a month passed by since her breakup with Jesse and she just needed ice cream and a hug, and when her boss had been a major prick shortly after she had been hired and sent her crawling off to Chloe's apartment in a fit of girly tears. It wasn't that she didn't like having Chloe there and that they weren't best friends, she just felt...inadequate at returning the favor. She knew that if Chloe ever needed her for something more than a ride or a talk, she just wouldn't be able to measure up to her comforting hugs and even voice and eyes that just staring into would immediately calm her down.

Which was normal. Maybe.

She was sure that it meant something that Chloe was the one that she called and was the one that would drop everything to be there for her, but she wasn't quite sure what.

Which was another level of terrifying that left her with shaky hands and racing thoughts and a pit in her stomach that burnt whenever she was around Chloe. But it didn't stop her from dialing the familiar number and waiting for her friend to pick up.

"Get in loser", Chloe yelled out of her cracked passenger window as the rain came down in sheets. "We're going home."

Beca bit back a grateful smile and ran out from underneath the doorway of the recording studio, squealing as she was instantly soaked by the water. She threw open the passenger door of Chloe's tiny Geo and sunk onto the seat, pushing her sopping hair out of her face and shivering a little as Chloe started to look for something to dry her off with.

"You're soaked! I think I have a towel around here somewhere."

"Thanks for coming for me", Beca mumbled through her chattering teeth as she hugged herself to maintain whatever body heat she had left. "I know it's late and you have private voice lessons tomorrow and I'm just-"

"-I'd never leave you here, silly", Chloe cut her off while rummaging through the back of her car and only coming up with some napkins from McDonald's. "I'm sorry, but I only have these. I guess just wipe your face off and I'll try to get us back to my place before you get hypothermia. Buckle up!"

"So, how was your day?"

The heat was pouring through the vents of the car and the wipers were going crazy against the windshield as they crawled through the water heavy streets. Beca had managed to dry off a little, but the leather seat beneath her wasn't helping much and she just wanted to get out of these clothes and her flooded shoes and warm up. But still, she couldn't not humor Chloe.

"I worked with Haim today. Well, I pretty much observed Haim today, but I did give a suggestion and Este smiled at me which was like-"

"-Oh my God, tell me everything!"

"And I was like 'Maybe you guys should make it a cappella' and they all kinda stared at me and then Alana was like 'Fuck yeah, man' and I just about died."

"That is so amazing!" Chloe practically shouted as they pulled off of the exit where her apartment was tucked away in the suburbs and couldn't stop herself from grinning."I knew you would be amazing."

"Well, it wasn't like reinventing the wheel or whatever, but it was definitely pretty cool." Beca could feel the tips of her ears heating up at the attention Chloe was giving her and while it was nice to have the support, she didn't want to make it all about her. "So, how was your day? Did any of your kids give you shit today?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but they were actually pretty tame. We're starting to rehearse for our fall assembly and the kids are pretty excited because Principal Evans gave us permission to do some modern songs."

"Modern songs like Nicki Minaj?"

"No!" Chloe blurted out while shoving her playfully against the door. "I don't wanna be fired from my first year of teaching; that would be an a ca-catastrophe. Songs like Taylor Swift and One Direction, genius."

"So...garbage songs?"

"Hey! You need to cool the music snobbery, Ms. Super Cool Music Producer. The kids are just really excited. I even had two more sign up for fifth grade choir because we get to do Shake It Off."

"Two kids? Jesus Chloe, that's amazing!" Chloe smiled at her genuine enthusiasm and Beca couldn't stop her mouth from dropping into a giant, dimple inducing grin. Chloe had been having trouble generating interest from the kids at the elementary school where she taught at and since they were in a poorer school district it wasn't like she could woo them with cool presentations or whatnot. This was a big deal and Beca was thrilled for her. "Way to take the wind out of my sails, Ms. Beale. You clearly had the better day."

Chloe parked her car in the reserved space outside of her building and readied herself before opening her door and running with Beca up to her apartment. By the time they reached her apartment up on the third floor they were soaked and Chloe didn't even bother to fuss over their wet sneakers on the carpet as they flung themselves through her front door.

"Get undressed and I'll grab you something to change into", Chloe stated while pulling her soaked sweater over her head and walking topless off to her bedroom. "Grab some towels too, you know where they are."

Beca froze as Chloe's bare back disappeared and felt that familiar burning feeling start up again in her stomach. It wasn't like she hadn't seen Chloe like that before, but it just didn't feel the same this time and she couldn't put a finger on exactly why. She knew that Chloe would never in a million years try to make her uncomfortable and she knew that she shouldn't be uncomfortable considering everything that the two of them had experienced since meeting, but she felt different and she wasn't quite sure if it was a good or bad change. It was just...weird.

She couldn't stay in her soaked clothes though and sighed as she dumped her wet boots in front of the door and peeled her outfit off until she was standing in her underwear. Chloe entered the living room a moment later with a complete change of clothes for Beca and smiled at her gently as she lingered in the hallway and stared back at her. Her face was flushed and she was having a hard time meeting Beca's eyes as she tossed the clothes towards her.

Beca thanked her wordlessly and as she unfolded the pants and the thermal t-shirt and the underwear that Chloe had picked out for her she couldn't stop herself from chuckling softly. Things were definitely different and seeing Chloe like that cemented that there was something going on between them that went beyond Chloe rescuing her and Beca giving her brilliant (Chloe's words, not her own) music tips for her hyperactive students.

"You okay?" Chloe murmured while leaning against the wall and worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. It bothered Beca to see Chloe like this and she simply nodded, smiling a little when Chloe let out a sigh of relief. "You had me worried."

"I just..."

"You just, what?" Chloe whispered while taking a few tentative steps towards her and reaching out to touch her bare arm. Beca desperately wanted to blurt out the first thing that came to her mind, the one thing that was resting on the tip of her tongue and fighting against her clenched teeth to slip through, but she couldn't and instead just sighed as Chloe rubbed her arm and softly said "You can tell me anything, Bec."

"I just thought it would be harder to get in your pants. Who knew that I just needed to wait for a rainstorm?"

"You ass!" Chloe exclaimed while shoving her and pushing her hair out of her eyes nervously. "You really had me expecting some big, angsty declaration or something."

"Nah, maybe tomorrow. Now, get to bed so I can get dressed and not be eye-molested by you."

"Next time you can call your other friends to get you in the middle of the night, Mitchell."

"You know you love me", Beca called out as Chloe started back to her bedroom and the heat started to work its way out of her chest. She wasn't sure what Chloe had been expecting her to say and if it was anything related to what had been running through her head then they were in trouble.

"You're right, I kinda do. Now, hurry up and get in bed with me so we can snuggle."

Strike that. They were in big fucking trouble.