A/N: Thanks so much everyone for all your lovely reviews, faves, alerts etc. They have been so encouraging and lovely to read.

Sorry for the late update, I work full time, and I have been crazy busy over the past couple of weeks. Plus, this chapter was a bit of a monster to write. Hope you all enjoy!

"Dude, just try to fucking go in a straight line."

"I'm trying, its just so slippery." Jesse complains, nearly stumbling over his skates as his feet slip and slide in quick succession, nearly bumping into Beca in the process.

Beca sighs exaggeratedly and grabs Jesse's arm to still him. She then holds his hand in hers and pulls him along slowly once he stabilises. "Just follow me, and try not to fall, would you? Coz if you make us both fall I will hurt you so bad you won't be able to even move tomorrow."

"There's my scary ass girlfriend." Jesse jokes, still struggling to keep up with Beca's pace, and Beca slows down a little as his skating turns into a little more like clunky walking.

Funnily enough this was Jesse's idea.

School's on break for the holidays and they're at this little makeshift ice skating rink outside one of the biggest malls in town. It's a pretty small arena, there are little kids everywhere, and one of them falls pretty much every ten seconds. Plus, there's the big goofy kid next to her, her boyfriend, who was so excited when they first came across the rink that he nearly knocked her over when he ran up to the counter to pay for the entrance fee. Now, he can barely stand on the ice, and she winces every time she sees him stumble or nearly slip.

"Beca, can we go back and stand at the wall so I can rest a bit? My feet are killing me." Jesse asks, a hint of a whine in his voice. She rolls her eyes mockingly at him, and pulls them towards the barriers.

He's such a dork. Always has been.

Beca and Jesse have been together for maybe a year and a half now, after being friends since middle school. She can't really pinpoint a moment where they really got together, it kind of just happened. They'd been hanging out alone more and more, and one time when they were hanging out watching movies at his place they'd ended up kissing, and she doesn't really remember who kissed who first. It kind of just started from there.

There's something so easy and familiar about their relationship that Beca finds that they've never been one of those couples who constantly break up or fight or have issues that never seem to go away. The thing is, he's just so sweet and so fun and goofy, that sometimes Beca thinks he's too good for her. Like, how the hell did this giant, bundle of sunshine teddy bear end up with the scowly, permanently pissed off alt-girl who curses the human existence on a daily basis?

It works for them, and Beca's happy to keep it that way for the time being.

Jesse sighs dramatically, automatically leaning his body against the barriers of the ice rink when they finally reach them. "God, I didn't realise how hard this was going to be. I haven't skated in forever."

Beca chuckles. "Maybe you can get lessons from this one over here." She nods her head over to a little girl skating past them, no older than five years old, skating like a pro around the ice, even doing fancy little figure-skating spins. "I'm sure she'd be able to give you a few pointers."

He glares back at her. "Pass, thanks. Just let me have a quick break and I'll get back into it."

She sighs in mock frustration and nods, leaning slightly against the wall. She's happy to just sit back and watch the crowd skate by. There are some other couples in the crowd skating together quite gracefully. Some of the kids around them are still stumbling to the ground, but Beca notices that they always pick themselves up, determined to master their skating.

"Can you believe its only another six months or so until we graduate? Then we'll be done with high school forever." The sound of Jesse's voice breaks her from her reverie.

"Yeah." she scoffs. "So it seems."

Jesse nudges her playfully in encouragement. He knows her too well, knows she never really likes to talk about serious stuff. And she thinks she knows where this conversation is going.

"Still going to LA?"

"That's the plan."

"And still not applying to any colleges?"

She turns her head and looks at him sharply. "You know I'm not going to."

Jesse throws his hands up in the air in mock self-defence. "I know, I know. Just asking." He pauses and tries to shift himself around to face her more fully, hands still clutching the wall beside him.

"You know I applied for several colleges. Mostly in New York, all the good schools are there for music composition for film, and I'd be close to Brian, which would make mom happy." He pauses again, clearly hesitating. "And um, I applied for UCLA, too. They have a great program there, apparently."

"Okay." Beca says in reply, really not knowing what more to say. "Are you ready to start skating again, or…?" She moves herself off the wall and skates a little bit away, waiting for Jesse to just move, anything to end this conversation.

Jesse sighs in defeat and awkwardly pushes himself toward her, shuffling himself along enough that he's now standing in front of her.

"Becs, please don't shut me me out."

She shakes her head, sighing. "I'm not shutting you out, I just don't see the point in talking about this right now. Six months is still a long way away, we have plenty of time to work things out. If we end up in the same place or not, we'll figure it out, alright?"

She starts to skate away, slowly, allowing him time to keep up with her.

"Hey," Jesse says gently. He reaches for her hand and interlaces their fingers together easily. She stops her movements, and looks over to him. His face has the most sincere look she's ever seen, eyes gentle, and God, it's moments like these where she feels like this guy is way, way too good for her.

"I'm sorry to push this, Beca. It's just that I really, really care about you and I wanna be with you, whether we end up in the same state or not. And I just want to know what you're really feeling about this whole thing."

What she's really feeling?

The thing is, they're in high school. And as much as she likes Jesse and how much she values their relationship, deep down, she's never been sure that this is a relationship that will survive in the long term. Even when they first got together, she never imagined they'd still be together a year and a half later, let alone after graduation. And maybe this is a result of being a child whose parents divorced in a really fucked up way, because she's always been sceptical of the concept of having one partner for life. I mean, they've barely just turned eighteen, there's no way that they're each other's soulmates or whatever. That shit just doesn't exist.

She doesn't want to be an ass to Jesse, coz he cares about her more than pretty much anyone, and he might even love her, as scary as that sounds. He just wants to know where this is heading, understandably. But Beca isn't like that, she knows you can't really plan for these things in advance because shit just happens, and there are unexpected things that could happen that can fuck up anything they may prepare for. Who knows what could happen between now and graduation?

(There's a small part of her somewhere that thinks that maybe because she's so uncertain, it would be best if she ends it now, before she hurts him even more later on.)

But to say all that in a crowded ice skating rink with people all around them? Probably not the best idea.

"Look, Jesse, I promise you we'll figure it out. We will talk about this before we graduate, you don't need to worry." she tries to send him a reassuring smile, not quite sure how it will translate across.

He seems to accept it, though the look in his eyes tells Beca that this conversation isn't over. He squeezes her hand affectionately.

"Alright, I'll hold you to that one, Mitchell. But for now, I'm going to skate the pants off of you!" he says with a challenging tone in his voice.

She chuckles and rolls her eyes at her weirdo as he attempts to skate off, legs wobbling shakily on his skates, and she's already prepared to help him for the several falls that are bound to happen.

He may be a dork, but he's her dork. For now.

They skate for another hour and Jesse falls a total of four times to the annoyance/amusement of Beca. Jesse, being the movie buff, had convinced Beca to see some movie that had him so excited he wouldn't shut up about it. Beca knows she can't sit through the whole thing without a very, very large dose of caffeine, because the last time she fell asleep during a movie, Jesse was pretty upset with her. They head over to Starbucks before the movie and Beca orders a venti double shot latte. She hopes to God that it does the trick, coz she's already feeling really sleepy after all the skating and lifting her super heavy boyfriend off the ground several times.

As Jesse orders an elaborate super sugary drink, Beca looks around the Starbucks in a daydream and her gaze stops as she notices Ms Köhler sitting at a table near the back corner. She's alone, reading a thick book, a cup of coffee in front of her. She must've only just received it as Beca can still see the steam coming out from the top.

And God, she's so adorable.

Beca almost can't believe she'd used that word to describe the normally fierce looking woman, but it's the word that's immediate in Beca's mind.

Ms Köhler is all rugged up, wearing a fluffy looking sweater and scarf wrapped in layers around her neck. She stops her reading and holds the book in one hand, while using the other to take a sip of her coffee. She winces slightly at the first taste and hastily sets her coffee back down. Beca assumes the woman might've burnt her tongue. Still, she just looks so completely content to be absorbed in her story and let the world pass her by, a little smile on her face as she settles back into reading her book.

She feels Jesse come up to stand next to her and he must follow her line of sight, as he notes,"It's always so weird to see teachers outside of school, huh? It's like they're these people who only exist during school hours and you forget they have actual lives." He launches into a story about how he saw one of the math teachers at the water park last summer, and Beca sort of tunes him out, still focusing on the teacher in the corner of the room.

Ms Köhler has resumed reading her book again, and Beca is almost dying to know what she's reading, dying to know what piques this woman's interest so thoroughly. The book looks to be several hundred pages long. Beca can imagine it to be something like Tolstoy or someone like that. She wonders if that was the case if she's even reading a German or English translation, she can totally imagine the woman being able to read Russian, and probably a myriad of other languages. That lady is smart.

She just looks so peaceful and so human, that Beca is so tempted to just sit down right next to her and just give her a little bit of company.

At that thought, one of the baristas calls her and Jesse's names, and the pair grab their drinks, Jesse in a bit of a rush to get to the theatre.

Beca sighs a little bit as she follows him, looking over her shoulder to get one last look at the teacher. Her heart stops as she finds the teacher looking straight back at her. They make eye contact for barely a second before Beca quickly turns back around, the memory of the teacher's expressionless face as she looked back at Beca momentarily burned in her mind.

During the movie, all Beca can really think about is Ms Köhler.

Just then was probably the most recent time she'd seen the teacher in weeks.

Beca had continued to tutor Josh for the weeks leading up to winter vacation and it's actually going really well. The kid has improved a lot, and she likes to think that their sessions have played a big part in that. Ms Köhler eventually stopped supervising after the first two or three times, and Beca had tried not to feel disappointed every time she turned up to the classroom and the teacher was not there. But really, when she's already reacting this way toward the woman, it's probably for the best.

In the short time that she's known Ms Köhler, she's picked up a few little things about her. Like, she doesn't just teach German, she's always filling in for teachers who are sick and on leave. She also runs the Glee club, and Chloe's a member, so she's always talking about the awesome arrangements Ms Köhler puts together. It sounds so different and unique from the regular lame high school Glee clubs that she's ever seen or heard. She also knows that she regularly stays back super late. Whenever she finishes tutoring Josh, she can still see her silver VW Golf parked in her usual spot. (Yes, she's that much of a creep that she already recognises the teacher's car).

Sometimes Beca wonders whether Ms Köhler has any friends here. Like, she moved all the way from Hamburg to work here, she must have someone to spend time with. Maybe she has a boyfriend, maybe even a girlfriend? Beca feels slight jealousy coursing through her at that thought. Which is stupid. Even if she wasn't a student its not like she would ever stand a chance. Not that she really wants a chance anyway.

(Right?)

Beca is just so utterly fascinated by this woman that she just wants to know more and more about her. She just wonders what she does in her spare time, what her interests are. She wants to know what makes her tick, and how she ended up teaching at high school half way across the world from where she grew up. Just from knowing her even for a short time, Beca knows the woman is so brilliant, she could've done whatever she wanted in life.

And as she's staring blankly at the movie screen, Beca can barely register the images on the screen flashing at her, she's not taking in anything in at all. There's just so many things she wants to know about Ms Köhler, and it's almost painful for Beca to admit, but she knows that she probably never will.

A couple weeks after school resumes, Beca finds herself holed up in the school computer labs. It's late, Beca's not really sure what time it is. Her phone died a couple of hours ago, and she's been in the zone, so she hasn't really thought to check the time on the computer. She drove into school today anyway, so she can leave whenever she wants. She's working on a piece for her Music Production class. The assignment was pretty basic, the requirement was just to compose a song 'inspired by something or someone.' It's broad enough that she can just work with whatever's in her head, and make up what the inspiration was later. She doesn't really care about the grade at this stage anyway, she just wants to make a fucking flawless track so she can use it as a demo when she starts applying for jobs.

Before now, all she's really done are mash-ups of a couple of popular songs together, and this the first thing she's ever produced from scratch. It took her a little while, but eventually the melody and rhythm started forming in her head and Beca started working on it immediately. She'd spent the better part of her vacation on it, wanting to make sure she had it absolutely perfect.

This thing is not due until the end of the week and even though Beca is at the point where she's finished, there's something missing from the song and she doesn't really want to go home until she's got it one hundred per cent perfect. She's got her headphones on and has the volume up so loud, she misses the sound of the door opening. She does, however, see the light filter through the otherwise dark room. Beca removes her headphones, startled, and turns her head toward the door, seeing Ms Köhler poking her perfect face through the door.

"Kleine maus." The teacher looks surprised, opening the door wider to let herself in, switching on the lights to the room. "What are you still doing here?"

Beca squints, her eyes still adjusting to the sudden brightness in the room before replying.

"Um, just working on my Music Prod assignment."

Ms Köhler quickly glances at her watch. "It's nearly six pm, mouse." Wow, that is later than Beca thought. "You could not work on this at home?"

"I don't really have all the software I need on my laptop yet, so I'd rather stay at school to work on it. I didn't realise it was so late, that's all." Beca replies sheepishly. She's stayed back after school to work on this a lot recently, for this reason. She's saving up to buy all the expensive software she needs before she moves to LA, it's all kind of essential if she wants to be a successful producer.

Ms Köhler walks into the room tentatively. Beca tenses up as the woman starts to approach her, and nearly gulps when she stops right behind her.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Be cool, Mitchell.

Beca sucks in a breath as she can feel the teacher bend over to inspect Beca's work. Beca wonders if she'd be able to interpret the music just by reading the chords on the program. (It actually would be totally hot if she could.)

"Looks like you've put a lot of hard work into this, mouse." Ms Köhler sounds impressed, and Beca finds it hard to even breathe right now. "Do you mind if I listen?"

Oh, holy shit, she actually wants to listen to this? She never lets people listen to her work until she has it completely perfect, but Beca can't really find it in herself to say no. Ms Köhler is an exception to the rule, always.

"Uh, sure." Beca says calmly, though her heart is pretty much pounding out of her chest right now. Ms Köhler pulls up a chair for herself, and Beca waits until she's settled before she hands her the headphones.

Beca waits in suspense as she studies the woman's face, her brow furrowed in concentration as she listens to the song. Beca can hear the music coming out of the headphones, and she's listened to it so often now that she knows the song by heart. She loves that she can see the subtle reactions in Ms Köhler's face when a particular change in the song comes in.

Ms Köhler removes the headphones when the song fades out, and Beca feels so relieved to see that the woman is smiling at her.

"Das war unglaublich, kleine maus." There is so much warmth in the woman's voice, Beca's heart stutters a little.

"Das denkst du?"

"Ja, nur ein paar Korrekturen."

Ms Köhler leans over Beca to point at a particular spot on the screen, and she feels so nervous, having this perfect woman in such close proximity to her that she tries so hard not to shiver. She doesn't want to let on how much the woman is affecting her right now. Ms Köhler's scent is completely overwhelming Beca's senses right now. And this has happened before.

Back when Ms Köhler still used to supervise Beca and Josh's tutoring sessions, Beca stayed back one time to help the teacher pack up before leaving. Beca was standing a little too close to the teacher while helping her erase a bunch of shit from the whiteboard. There was a moment where Ms Köhler had stretched right above Beca to reach a spot in the top corner and Beca's nose was hit with the glorious smell of what reminded her of cinnamon with a hint of apples or rhubarb. It was so intoxicating, Beca's brain nearly short-circuited for a while there.

It's that same feeling that Beca's got right now, her brain pretty much fried, as she tries to bring her attention back to the woman and the advice she's giving her.

"I think you need to loop this section one more time." Ms Köhler advises. Beca nods as she makes the necessary adjustments quickly, not bothering to listen to the change right away. There's something about this woman that allows her to trust her judgement wholeheartedly.

Ms Köhler grabs the mouse to scroll to the next part. "That chord progression right here, you need to slow it down just a little bit." She scrolls to the end of the song. "And this part here, needs to be one, maybe two octaves lower. It will give the song the power you are looking for."

Beca takes a little moment to add in the tweaks, saves her changes and unplugs her headphones, pressing play on the program so they both can listen together. She watches Ms Köhler move her head subtly to the music, and Beca revels in the fact that every part of the song just flows so naturally together now. And wow, she doesn't know how, but the song just sounds so complete.

If she wasn't before, she is now completely in awe of this woman.

As the song ends, Ms Köhler smiles and looks over at Beca. "Sehen? Es ist nun abgeschlossen."

Beca just sits there, still completely shocked at how easily Ms Köhler was able to fix in seconds something she's been working on for hours now. "How did you do that?"

"I have an affinity for music, too, little mouse. And a good ear." she smirks. "And sometimes you need someone else to hear what you can't, yes?"

Beca doesn't think the woman could be more perfect if she tried.

"Wow, I just…"

(She's pretty much forcing herself not to blurt another embarrassing comment out loud, but she's just so happy, relieved and amazed. Beca has this completely crazy urge to like hug the woman.)

(Or kiss her.)

(Wait, whoa.)

"You are really very talented, mouse." Ms Köhler says warmly, her voice soothing Beca. "That song, even before I made those suggestions, really was remarkable. It was as if you had put every ounce of your soul and placed it into your music. I can see music is in your blood. I have no doubt you will become a great producer some day."

Beca is practically dying. She's never heard words so sincere or heard so much praise about her work before. The fact that it's coming from Ms Köhler, the woman she's been secretly been crushing on since day one? Like, whoa, somebody pinch her.

"Thank you." she feels herself blush, and looks down at her lap, hoping the teacher doesn't notice her reaction.

She sits there for a moment, looking back up to see Ms Köhler still sitting there, smiling at her faintly and she's reminded of that content look she saw when she was at that Starbucks that time. Beca can't help but feel that this situation is a little bizarre. She's here after hours at school, with this perfect Goddess of a teacher, who is willingly helping her with work that really has nothing to do with her own classes. It's a little unnerving, that she feels so out of control in this situation, that she can't help but ask the one thing that's on her mind.

"What are you still doing here, Ms Köhler?"

(Like, not just what are you doing here in the classroom? What are you doing here with me? I'm just a nobody student, but you're always so nice to me, and I don't understand why.)

Ms Köhler seems a little taken aback by Beca's question, but seems to recover quickly, by replying calmly. "I was just doing a quick check of all the classrooms. I am the last one here, even the janitors have left, and so I need to lock up for the night. It is a good thing I checked, too, or you would've been locked in too, tiny mouse."

Oh. Right. That makes sense.

The woman stands, looking down at Beca expectantly. "Now, I would suggest you save your work now. I will lock the door after you." she turns to leave, and moves to wait for Beca outside the classroom door.

Beca sighs, almost regretting having asked her the question in the first place. Because now, she realises she would've been quite content just sitting in that classroom with the woman for the rest of the night.

Beca has never been so damn pissed off in her whole fucking life.

It's several weeks later, and Beca practically storms into her math class. She hastily finds a seat beside Chloe and slaps her books down on the table. Chloe looks up at her friend, startled, and asks her what's wrong. Beca just shrugs her off. She really, really doesn't want to talk about it right now.

And of course it has to be Ms Köhler taking the class today. Is there anything this woman can't do? Seriously.

So she had a fight with her dad over the phone last night. You'd think she'd have slept it off by now, but Beca only woke up even angrier this morning.

It's not a surprise that her dad never loved the idea of Beca moving out to LA straight out of high school with no college degree and no other qualifications to her name. No matter how many times she's tried to tell him that there are so many artists out there that make it without college, he pretty much demanded that she attend Barden University, the college where he teaches. He said that he refuses to see his only child end up on the streets because she was too stubborn to plan for her future. And it just angers her that he seems to have zero faith in her abilities. She has plans, okay? She's going to produce several more demos, and she already has a long list of record labels to send them to once she's done. Okay, so she doesn't really know where she's going to live yet, or how she's going to make a living between the time she gets there and when she lands her first producing job. But whatever, she'll figure it out. She's Beca effin' Mitchell for fuck's sake.

And really, what right does he have to tell her how to live her life after he pretty much abandoned her and her mom all those years ago? Like, seriously dude? Granted, they never fell out of touch, and he has made a big effort to be a part of her life. It's just, Beca knows that her dad leaving them for another woman all those years ago really fucked her up. She knows that it's was part of the reason why she finds it so damn hard to be the girlfriend Jesse wants her to be. And she's probably going to have these issues for the rest of her life. So, fuck him.

She knows that all this has nothing to do with the fight, but it all just makes her so mad right now and… just, whatever.

The phone call had escalated when he told her he refuses to support her in any way if she goes through with it, and she hung up the phone, seething. She went to go and talk to her mom about it, hoping for some kind of empathy or even just a simple confirmation that her dad is a huge asshole, but what happens? Her mom actually agrees with the guy, saying things like "Your dad is just concerned about you, honey", "It is a really bold move to drop everything for this pipe dream", "You really should consider his offer." It's all such bullshit, that Beca can't even.

She's just fucking over it.

It's not just her parents, she's been getting this kind of reaction from pretty much everyone ever since she's had these plans. Literally everyone. Jesse, Chloe, even Fat Amy, who usually doesn't give a rat's ass about anything. She just doesn't feel like she hasn't gotten any support at all. And it's not like anyone ever says it outright, but she can tell, just from the reactions she gets, the way everyone asks her all the time if she's decided to go to college yet. It's like they're just waiting for her to change her mind.

Well, it's not going to happen.

She just wants someone to tell her she can do it, just wants someone to believe in her abilities. And she's not giving up, Goddammit.

She doesn't even pay attention the whole class, even though Ms Köhler makes a couple of attempts to make her answer a couple of problems on the spot. She half heartedly tries to solve one, and makes up the answer to the other. She doesn't give a fuck about about fucking algebra anyway. It's like, its she gets criticised if she wants to pursue a passion that's been her whole life for years now, but she needs to learn this shit to get by in life?

Fuck that noise.

The class ends and Beca packs her things up in a hurry, eager to leave the room so she can just get to her next class and get through the day as quickly as possible. Just as she's about to move past Ms Köhler, her path gets blocked, and she looks up at the towering woman.

"Stay behind, please."

Ms Köhler's voice is commanding and stern, and Jesus, Beca suddenly gets why this woman has such a reputation for being so scary.

Chloe sends a questioning look to Beca, waiting for her friend at the door. Beca shrugs and gestures for her to go. Ms Köhler waits until all the students have filed out of the classroom and walks over to close the door, her face hard and expressionless. She moves back over toward Beca, grabbing one of the chairs at the nearest desks and props it in front of the teacher's desk.

"Setz dich, bitte"

Oh, okay then.

Beca sits down, feeling a mix of nervousness and the residual anger running through. Doesn't this woman know she has a class to get to? And doesn't she have another class to teach? God knows she practically teaches them all.

"I can always tell when a student is disinterested in my class," Ms Köhler says sternly, eyes sharp. "And I won't tolerate it. Especially from you."

Oh God, she is terrifying. The anger rushes out of Beca almost immediately. She feels like a freshman kid on their first day of school being reprimanded by the principal, so nervous and with no idea of what to do or say next.

The teacher seems to sober a little, and says a little more gently. "Something is troubling you, mouse. You are not like yourself today."

"No, I'm all good, everything's sweet, everything's peachy." Beca rushes out. "Um, can I go now?"

Ms Köhler's eyes narrow at that, and the woman folds her arms in front of her. "I am not letting you out of here until you tell me what's wrong. I am not allowing you to mope around and shoot daggers at everyone for the rest of the day, understand?"

Beca sighs defeatedly. She may as well get this over with.

"Fine. I had a fight with my dad last night."

Ms Köhler just stares back at her wordlessly, one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows raised, urging her to continue.

"Ugh, fine. He doesn't want me to move out to LA and become a producer right out of high school, because apparently I'm too naive and inexperienced for that. Instead, he wants me to waste four years getting a college degree before I do that, and I don't even know why, because it's not like Calvin Harris needed a fucking bachelor's degree to make it to where he is now."

The rest just comes out like word vomit, and suddenly the anger is back, and Beca can't quite control it.

"And it's so fucking unfair, because this is the one thing I've wanted ever since I can remember and it's like nobody is supporting me. I get that it's hard, and that it's not going to be easy, but it's like people aren't even giving me a chance to prove myself. I know I can do it. And even if I don't make it big, I'll be doing what I love. Isn't that enough?

Ms Köhler just stares for a long moment, and Beca tries not to stare too long into those gorgeous eyes. It's crazy how much better she feels already, just saying what's on her mind, and the woman hasn't even said anything in return yet.

"I didn't go to university right after high school." The teacher says simply, and Beca's eyes widen in surprise. That she didn't expect.

"You know what I did? I moved out of home to Berlin, and I formed an acapella group with a bunch of friends that I made." The teacher's lips quirk up fondly at the admission. "Strange, I know, but it was something I was passionate about, and I met some people who were passionate, too. At the time, I thought 'why not'?"

Beca just sits there enthralled. Seriously? An acapella group. This woman is seriously just so unpredictable.

"So I was eighteen, living in this big, expensive city, sharing an apartment with seven people, with not much money and no job." Ms Köhler leans back in her seat and smiles fondly at the memory. "But I loved it. We would rehearse all day until we were exhausted, occasionally we would perform at little shows and community festivals. We wouldn't make any money out of it, but we still loved every minute of it, of creating our art."

Ms Köhler sighs and leans forward, and Beca forces herself not to stare at the slight display of skin appearing at the nape of the teacher's neck at the action.

"We lived that way for maybe a year. We were so confident and so cocky that we could make it, that we were not prepared for the numerous rejections, people literally laughing at our faces at the thought of an acapella group wanting to take over the music world. And do you know, it got to the point where I realised that I had nothing else to fall back on, no other qualifications or merit to my name. Was I just going to live this way for the rest of my life?"

Beca lets that thought sink in. She'd never really thought about the rejections she might get once she started putting her stuff out there. She'd always been so determined and so confident in just making it that it wasn't really a consideration. She guesses that because there were so many people doubting her, or telling her to consider college as a 'back up plan', she felt like she had to retain that confidence in herself in lieu of everyone elses'.

"So, what happened then?"

"I moved back to Hamburg to study. Like you, I tutored a little when I was in high school. I always loved to teach, and to share my knowledge with others. So, I majored in education and music, and dabbled in a few different electives just to satisfy my own interests and curiosities. In between that time I travelled to various parts of the world, some of them on my own. In my final year of university, I decided to complete my degree here in America. After that, I decided to stay here to start my teaching career, it is something that I know will look great on my credentials when I return to Germany."

Ms Köhler brushes a strand of fallen hair behind her ear before continuing.

"That life experience I was lacking when I first left high school, I had completely gained in a matter of years. It's amazing what time can do. I don't mean to say this to sound patronising or condescending, mouse, but you are not the same person at eighteen as you will be at twenty-two."

God, she doesn't know how she does it, just says all the right things and have it all just make perfect sense. The anger she had for her dad has completely washed away at this point, and Beca feels like her whole world has changed and she's looking at herself and her plans in a completely new light. Beca really hadn't thought about the fact that she hasn't really done anything with her life yet other than school. Hell, she's barely been out of her home town all her life.

Living in Germany for those six months was the closest thing she had to a life changing experience, and looking back, she totally gets what Ms Köhler's saying. When she got back from that trip, she totally wasn't the same person she was when she first left.

She looks up when Ms Köhler leans forward again, and eyes soft and voice gentle. "I'm not saying to give up on your dream, mouse. I meant what I had said other night, I have no doubt it my mind that you will be a very successful producer some day. And even if you do leave for LA immediately, I am sure you will find some success eventually. But really, is it really a failure if you take some time for your education? If anything, it will give you the time you need, and it may even give you the opportunities you need to truly be great."

Beca realises that she's barely even said anything in return this whole time. "Yeah, you're right. I haven't even thought about it that way."

"Do you remember the advice you gave to Josh in that first session? 'It's important to set yourself for the future'. You should consider your own, advice, Beca."

(Beca. It's the first time she's heard the woman call her by her real name. She has this inexplicable calm pass through her)

There's nothing patronising or intimidating about the way the teacher has said any of this at all. And Ms Köhler's voice is so soothing and sincere, that Beca is practically melting.

"Are you feeling better now?"

God, she doesn't even know what to feel. She feels a lot of things right now. One thing Beca does know right now, it's that she feels a thousand times better than she did when she got to school this morning.

"Yeah, I am. Thank you Ms Köhler."

"You are welcome." She gives Beca another heartwarming smile, and all Beca can feel are a swarm of butterflies coursing through her stomach. The teacher glances at her watch. "Mouse, you are very late for class. And I am late for mine." She looks outside the door to see the heads of several students peering through the window in curiosity.

Beca gets up from her seat slowly, a million thoughts still whirling around her head. She's about to open the door when she hears Ms Köhler's voice behind her, and Beca turns around.

"Please think about what I said. And anytime you need any more advice at all, please don't hesitate to come find me."

Beca nods, finally leaving the room, allowing the throng of students in the classroom. She walks quickly through the hall, her mind still reeling.

If she does end up going to college, and that's a big if, does it really mean she's throwing everything away? Is it really giving up? The way Ms Köhler had put it, it wouldn't be giving up at all. Maybe it really would be a good chance for Beca to spend some time to figure out her sound, and what will truly make her become a great producer.

Wow, she needs some time to process all of this. Beca knows she has some serious thinking to do tonight.

A week later, Beca finds herself staying back at school late again after tutoring Josh for two hours. He has his big German test in a couple of days time and his parents had asked her to extend their regular tutoring hour in order for Josh to prepare. She's glad they did, Josh is feeling really confident about the exam now, and she genuinely is so proud of him for coming such a long way since their first session.

Josh's mom already arrived to pick him up, and as Beca leaves the room she notices Ms Köhler's folder still sitting on the teacher's desk. She stops and hesitates for a second. Should she return it?

Fuck it, she wouldn't miss an opportunity to see her Goddess teacher again.

Beca takes the folder and makes her way over to the staff room. She's nervous, and God, it's stupid how she still feels nervous just thinking about the woman. Even after the conversation they had last week where Ms Köhler was being completely amazing, Beca shouldn't be feeling this anxious anymore. The woman basically opened up to her and shared things Beca doubts she would ever share to any other student. They'd practically bonded.

But no, something about this woman will always make her nerves just freak the fuck out.

Ms Köhler seems to be leaving the staff room just as Beca gets there. She looks to be a little frazzled, and it's the first time Beca's ever seen her this way. She's got two or four books in one hand and her purse in another. She's on the phone, too, her cell being held between her ear and her shoulder as she continues her conversation.

"Ja, ich werde zu Hause in fünfzehn Minuten sein. Ich gehe jetzt."

Beca watches as she tries to juggle the rest her books between her elbow and forearm so she can hold her purse in the same hand. She quickly locks the staff room door and finally holds her cell phone in her now free hand. Beca watches on amused. She's just so damn cute.

Ms Köhler finally looks up and looks genuinely pleased to see Beca, her eyes light up and this cute little smile graces the woman's flawless face.

(Beca's heart pretty much skips a beat. God, could she be more perfect?)

"OK, ich werde Sie bald sehen. Ich liebe dich." Ms Köhler ends the call and drops her cell in her purse.

Oh shit, she just said 'I love you' to someone over the phone. It has to be a boyfriend right? Beca feels her heart sink at the thought.

Right, likes she stands a shot anyway, even if she wasn't a student.

Beca shakes herself from that pathetic thought and gestures to the folder to her arm. "I found this on your desk as I was leaving from tutoring Josh." she shrugs goofily. "Thought you might need this."

Ms Köhler's face lights up in appreciation. "Oh, thank you, kleine maus. You have saved me a lot of stress later on, I probably wouldn't have noticed until I got home and realised everything I need for class preparation is in here." The teacher looks as if she wants to take the folder from Beca, and struggles to juggle everything she has in her hands to make room.

Beca moves forward to take the textbooks still tucked in Ms Köhlers arm. "Here, let me help you."

"Thank you." Ms Köhler says just as the sound of thunder from outside echoes through the hallway.

It's been fucking pouring outside all afternoon, which is ridiculous because there was no sign of rain when she left the house this morning. This means she didn't bring a freaking umbrella with her today. Awesome.

Thank God, just as Beca has that thought. Ms Köhler rummages through her purse to retrieve a collapsable umbrella. "Do you need me to walk you to your car, mouse?"

And at the second sound of thunder rumbling through, Beca doesn't need to be asked twice.

Once they make it out of the school doors, the teacher hurriedly opens her umbrella, the small space barely fitting the pair of them underneath. They hurry through the rain together, and Beca doesn't know what makes her shiver more, the coldness of the raindrops slowly seeping through her clothing or the feeling of her body pressed up close against Ms Köhler's.

(Of course, not pressed up in the way she really wants to be with the woman.)

(…Ignore that.)

When they get to Beca's car, she quickly hands the teacher her books, allowing the woman enough time to gather everything together before opening her car door.

She stops and stands there, looking up at the teacher, looking absolutely beautiful with her blonde hair slightly wet, with tiny raindrops clung to the strands. "Thank you, Ms Köhler."

"You're welcome, mouse. Drive home safe."

She smiles that familiar warm smile at Beca, holding her books slightly under her coat lapels before running off to her own car. Beca lets out a breath she doesn't realise she's holding and takes a moment to watch the woman get into her car. She gently wipes the fog off her windscreen with her forearm before starting her engine.

She's about to drive out of her spot when she hears the faint spluttering of a car engine. She looks immediately over to Ms Köhler's car, seeing the tail lights briefly flicker on before shutting right off again. This happens again for a second time, and Beca can still hear the car engine starting and failing, even over the heavy rain.

Shit.

She drives over to park next to Ms Köhler's car, and she can tell the teacher is starting to panic. The woman appears to be looking over the dashboard, looking for some kind of indication of what is wrong, and runs a hand through her hair hastily.

Beca winds down her window and tries to shout over the sound of the rain, ignoring the raindrops starting to filter through the window. "What's wrong, do you need any help?"

Ms Köhler looks up, looking relieved to see Beca and opens her car door. "I believe my car battery is flat, but I am not entirely sure. There are two lights flashing on the dashboard and the battery is one of them." she runs another hand through her hair and sighs out in frustration. "Ich weiß nicht, was zu tun ist."

Beca doesn't know what she can do either. It may be a little too late for a mechanic to come through at this time, especially in this shitty weather. She can't just just leave the teacher here alone in her car though.

Okay, so there is something that Beca can do. But should she?

Beca hesitates for a second. "So… I could give you a lift home."

Ms Köhler looks up at Beca in surprise and shakes her head. "No, I will be ok, mouse. I can just call- "

"No really, it's no big deal. Besides, it would be hard for you to get a mechanic to come and take a look now, especially with this epic storm. Hopefully when it's cleared up they can fix it in the morning."

The teacher stares at Beca for a beat, considering. She can see the hesitation reflected back in Ms Köhler's eyes, and Beca knows they're thinking the same thing. Are they crossing some kind of line here? And really, they're not. It's pouring with rain, her teacher's car battery is flat and she's offering a lift home. She'd like to think any other student would do the same in this situation.

Ms Köhler seems to come to the same conclusion, as she rapidly gathers all her belongings, locks her car and rushes into Beca's passenger seat quickly clicking the seatbelt on. The woman shivers beside her, her hair now wet, and hanging messily around her face. Her clothes are now pretty much soaking wet from the short time she had the car door open and the rush over to Beca's car. Beca switches on the A/C and sets it to the highest heat setting, hoping it will kick in soon.

And now she's alone in her car with her crazy hot, insanely beautiful teacher. God, she better not screw this up.

"Um, so where am I taking you?"

"I live just near the church on Maple Avenue." Right. That's basically a block away from Beca's house.

Beca nods and starts driving out of the school parking lot. "Is there someone who can take you to school tomorrow?"

Ms Köhler nods. "Ja, one of the Spanish teachers lives down the street from me. I have driven her to school before. It should not be a problem for her to return the favour."

There is a slight pause and Beca takes a quick glance to see the woman with a soft smile on her face, and Beca's heart thumps in her chest.

"Thank you very much, Beca. I really appreciate this."

Beca looks back at the road, her windscreen wipers fighting crazily against the heavy rain. Beca hopes to God that she can't see her blushing right now. "You're welcome."

Ms Köhler reaches into her purse and takes out her phone. "Scheiße. Four missed calls."

Oh right, it must be her boyfriend, the person she said 'I love you' on the phone to earlier. Of course.

Beca tries to play it cool. Even though that is the one thing she is totally not feeling like right now. "Oh yeah, your boyfriend must be worried about you."

She hears the woman cackle beside her, she takes another quick glance at the woman beside her to see her laughing melodically, clutching at her chest. Despite the fact that the woman is most likely laughing at her, she can't help but relish in the beautiful sound of the teacher's laugh.

The woman finally stops laughing and lets out one last chuckle, breathing out with a heave of amusement. "Oh, mouse. You are very funny. I do not have a boyfriend."

"Oh, thank God!" Beca blurts out, immediately chastising herself for the slip as Ms Köhler's laughing starts right back up again.

Could she stop being a freak please? Like, right now?

"It is my mother, mouse." the teacher says, still giggling. "She is visiting from Germany and she is waiting for me to arrive for dinner."

Oh. Well now Beca feels like a complete idiot.

There's a moment of comfortable silence as Ms Köhler settles down again and Beca wracks her brain thinking of something to say to Ms Köhler. She's been wanting to find out a little more about the woman since she met her and now is the perfect opportunity. She learnt a few bits and pieces the other day when Ms Köhler was giving her advice, but there's still more questions she wants to know the answer to.

"It must be nice having your mom here." she blurts. Was that really the best she could come up with?

"It is." she answers, a delighted tone in her voice. "It is amazing, I have been here almost a year now and have gotten so used to being on my own, I didn't realise how much I missed regular company until she arrived."

"Do you have any friends you hang out with?" Beca doesn't mean to pry, she's just curious.

"I do." Ms Köhler affirms. "I have several friends I graduated with. We were all education majors, so many of us are working now and do not have an abundance of spare time to see each other. I still meet up with some of them from time to time. I do miss my friends though, the ones from the acapella group I mentioned to you the other day." She sighs almost wistfully. "Do not get me wrong though, mouse. I enjoy my own company, and I have various ways in which I can keep myself entertained."

It kind of breaks Beca's heart to hear that she's lonely. Despite what she says, there's no way anyone could ever get used to being alone with no-one to talk to for that amount of time. It's still nice to have the woman be so candid with her. It's like she forgets that Beca is a student and she's a teacher. Though really, if Beca thinks about it, its never really felt like they've had that kind of boundary anyway.

And that's the part that sometimes scares the shit out of her.

"So you do you miss it? Performing with your group?"

"Oh, we are still together."

Beca is a bit surprised at that, didn't she say she's been in the States for at least a year now?

"We are still a group, though we are not performing together right now. It is important that we take our time apart for now mouse, allowing ourselves to grow and foster our talent and our lives individually so we can really excel when we come back together as a group."

She's sure Ms Köhler is making a slight reference to their conversation the other day about needing to have the necessary life experience before being able to make it big as a music producer. She had really given it some thought since then and as much as she'd have hated the thought six months ago, she's starting to think it may not be such a bad idea to at least consider attending college. Beca had even gone as far as looking into Barden's music program online, and it really doesn't look half bad. There's a few electives she can take that are specific for the type of music she'd like to make, and from what she's seen of the course material, it actually looks pretty damn awesome.

She hasn't told her dad or anything and is definitely not making any promises, but the idea is seriously growing on her.

Beca turns onto Ms Köhler's street and slows down and the teacher points to a cute little house on the corner of the street. "That one right there, little mouse." Beca stops right outside the house and stops the engine for a bit. The sound of the rain hitting the roof of Beca's car is prominent now, though Beca notices the rain has eased slightly during the drive to Ms Köhler's place.

Ms Köhler is quickly gathering her things when Beca turns to look at her, noticing how beautiful she is. Her hair is still soaked from the rain, the wet strands clinging to her face, her cheeks are slightly flushed from the cold, and her makeup is slightly smudged around her eyes. She looks so vulnerable and nothing like the woman who has a reputation of being the scariest teacher at the school, one who kicks a student out of class practically every other day. She's the most beautiful thing Beca has ever seen.

The teacher turns to face Beca. "Thank you very much for driving me home, Beca. I am very grateful for your kindness."

She turns toward the door, about to open the car door, when Beca notices Ms Köhler's folder poking out from underneath the passenger seat.

"Wait -"

Beca tries to stop the woman, who has already opened the door, now concentrating on opening up her umbrella. Without a conscious thought, Beca catches the woman's fingers in hers just as she's about to slip out the door.

There's a gentle shiver that runs all the way down her arm at even this slight touch. It's electric, and Beca can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to really touch her, to really hold her hand, to really kiss her.

Ms Köhler turns around slowly, looking slightly shellshocked. Beca's mind short-circuited a while ago, and she's forgotten why she had stopped the woman in the first place. All she can focus on is the feeling of the woman's fingers laced in hers and the fire burning through her at the touch. She sees the folder again at the corner of her eye, and Beca comes back to reality.

"Your folder."

Ms Köhler seems to take a moment to register Beca's words, and seems to be caught in her own riverie. The touch lingers between them for what seems like an eternity, but it really isn't enough for Beca. The woman finally lets go of Beca's fingers and leans down to pick up her folder. As the teacher places the folder in her arms, Beca can see that neat writing on the top corner that she'd noticed so long ago, it's almost taunting her. 'L. Köhler.'

There's just one more thing she has to know.

"What is your name?"

There's a beat, and Beca doesn't think she's ever going to hear the answer.

"Luisa."

It comes out so softly, that Beca could hardly hear it, but she does.

"Luisa." Beca repeats, and the name rolls out so naturally on her tongue. "So beautiful."

And it's so, so lame, but Beca doesn't even know if she's referring to the name or the person any more. Who is she kidding, everything to do with this woman is freaking beautiful.

In what feels like a split second, the teacher throws all her stuff on the car floor, collapses her umbrella and sinks straight back into the passenger seat, slamming the car door. It's so sudden and abrupt that Beca can barely speak. She doesn't know what the hell is going on. She can feel her heart beating out of her chest as Ms Köhler just looks at her.

They sit in silence, just looking at each other, and Beca can feel the air shift between them slowly. Ms Köhler's eyes seem to be searching hers, and for what, Beca doesn't know. She just can't look away from those gorgeous eyes, as she watches the ocean blue eyes deepen slightly. Beca can't fucking breathe.

It kind of hits her all at once.

This thing that she feels for this woman, can't be just a crush. Any crush Beca's ever felt before hasn't felt like this. She's never felt this light headed or this flustered before. She's never been so in awe of someone or felt any kind of connection to anyone in this way ever in her life.

Fuck, she actually has feelings. Intense feelings. For her teacher.

Beca notices that their heads have actually become closer in the last few moments, so close yet still a respectable distance away. Her lips are slightly parted and so plump and so tempting, Beca would give anything to just lean forward and kiss the life out of this woman, this perfect, incredible woman who she's been pining for basically all year.

Beca looks back up into her eyes and can now see the turmoil stirring through them.

This is wrong. So, so wrong. Beca knows it. And yet, why doesn't it feel that way at all?

Beca watches as the woman's eyes seem to sharpen now, as if she's made peace with the conflict in her head. In what feels like an eternity and a half, she watches Ms Köhler - Luisa's face edge ever so slowly towards her, so slowly it's like she's barely even moving. She can feel Luisa's breath closely now, coming out in staggers, and she's incased in the smell of cinnamon and rhubarb and it's heaven. Before Beca really knows it, her lips are barely an inch apart from the other woman's. Her eyes flutter shut, and she's more than ready to surrender herself to this Angel.

She hears a sharp intake of breath, and she's so far gone she has no idea who it came from. She opens her eyes slowly and is devastated to see the woman backing away, a mixture of confusion and anguish written all over Luisa's face.

"Dies kann nicht passieren." Luisa mutters, her voice strong, yet there are tremors evident in her voice. In a flurry, the woman gathers her things, exits the car and sprints towards her house through the rain, leaving Beca completely dumbstruck.

Beca slumps against her car seat. She feels like she's just been sucker punched in the chest. What the fuck just happened?

Did this amazing teacher, the one she's been half in love with for the better part of a year really just almost kiss her? Does that mean Luisa could have feelings for her too? There's no fucking way in hell. Right?

Is this all in her head?

Though, when really reflects on it, maybe this has been coming all along. It's crazy, when she thinks about it, how much attention she's been getting from Ms Köhler since day one, without even being in any of her actual classes. She's always just been there, always, just when Beca needed her. This can't just be one sided. Even just the way Luisa was just looking at her right now, with so much want, so much desire. There's no way Beca could be making this shit up.

But, like, fuck.

A roll of thunder and a clap of lighting roll through the air as the rain picks up even heavier. Beca just sits there in her car, unable to move, unable to process anything, really.

What the hell is she going to do now?

Translations:

Das war unglaublich, kleine maus. - That was incredible, little mouse.

Das denkst du? - You think so?

Ja, nur ein paar Korrekturen - Yes, just a few corrections.

Sehen? Es ist nun abgeschlossen. - See? It is complete now.

Setz dich, bitte. - Sit down, please.

Ja, ich werde zu Hause in fünfzehn Minuten sein. Ich gehe jetzt. - Yes, I'll be home in fifteen minutes, I am leaving now.

OK, ich werde Sie bald sehen. Ich liebe dich. - OK, I'll see you soon. I love you.

Ich weiß nicht, was zu tun ist. - I don't know what to do.

Scheiße. - Shit.

Dies kann nicht passieren. - This cannot happen.