AN: First off: thanks so much for reading (and if you're reading this as well, thanks for sticking with me)! Publishing my writing is pretty terrifying for me, and I absolutely love the reviews I've gotten so far.

Secondly: I hope very much that you'll enjoy this chapter; I got a terrible case of writer's block last week, and I've started school again as well (it's annoyingly energy-consuming), so I'm not sure if it's as good as you were hoping for..

In any case, enjoy!

-Jamie

[*-2-*]

"Jesse, I told you, I can't come to your dinner- No, that's not what it's about! Are you even listening? I'm crazy busy right now, I don't have the- Are you kidding me? You don't- What? For real? You're not even- Fine. Fine, whatever. Bye."

Beca throws her phone onto the side of her pillow and winces as it bounces to the floor. "Shit," she whispers.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Chloe isn't sure what just happened, but it's definitely not something that will help Beca get a good night's rest – just for that she wants to smack Jesse in the face. Like it's not bad enough that he hasn't noticed how exhausted his girlfriend is (not that Chloe did before yesterday, but she feels justified in believing that a boyfriend – especially a nice one like Jesse – should have picked up some signals); now he has to go and make things worse?

She hovers in the doorway awkwardly, unsure if she should let Beca know she's there – and has been sort of accidentally eavesdropping on the conversation – or if she should actually go find Jesse and knock some sense into him.

Beca saves her the trouble of making a decision by turning around and letting out a startled cry.

"Dude!" she exclaims, eyes wide (and a little red-rimmed, Chloe can't help but notice. She's going to kill Jesse for that.) "What are you doing?"

For the first time in a really long time, Chloe finds herself blushing.

"I just came over to see if you were doing okay," she replies quickly (and it's the truth, so she can't really go wrong there). "You seemed kind of out of it yesterday. But… I think I might have interrupted something," she finishes awkwardly.

Beca tries a weak smile. (It doesn't work out.) "Yeah. Well. You didn't actually interrupt. Damage is already done, so I guess it doesn't really matter anyhow." Her voice is shaking so badly by the end of the sentence that Chloe barely recognizes it.

-line break-

In a flash her arms are wrapped tightly around Beca and she's breathing in the scent of her hair – it smells like flowers, though she isn't sure what kind – and feeling the tenseness in her body.

Beca doesn't exactly return the gesture (she mostly looks a little stunned), but she doesn't try to pull away either, and Chloe takes that as a good sign.

Beca is sniffling (and trying really hard to hide it), which is most definitely a very bad sign.

"Tell me what happened in a minute," Chloe says softly. "Cry first."

Beca stops her trembling to go perfectly rigid. "I don't- I'm not gonna-"

"Yes, you are," Chloe interrupts. "Because we both know you need to, and I'm not letting you go until you do."

She has never hated herself so much before, but the way Beca averts her eyes and only shakes her head in reply tells her she's close to getting through.

So she adds quietly, "And it's not a bad thing, you know. It's okay to be upset."

And then Beca is sobbing into her shoulder like she hasn't really cried in years.

And Chloe feels like doing the same thing, because she's just realized that that might actually be true.

-line break-

-0-0-0-

"Okay, so, I take it that conversation did not go well."

Beca chokes out a short laugh. "Yeah, you could say that." She smiles wryly. "But it's cool. I guess. I kind of deserved it, you know? I've pretty much been a dick to him the past few days, so…"

They've moved to Beca's bed; Beca's trying hard to pretend that her breakdown just now didn't happen, and Chloe's trying just as hard to act like that doesn't bother her. (It does.)

But when Beca goes and says something like that, she has a really hard time playing it cool.

She takes a deep breath to calm herself, and asks, "What did he say, exactly?" She hopes she doesn't sound too much like she wants to kill Jesse with a hammer (she has a feeling it wouldn't go over well).

Beca sighs and lets her eyes wander around the room – just never to Chloe – the way she does when she's upset and doesn't want to show it, even though it's a little late for that now.

"It's a long story," she replies flatly. "He thinks I'm not invested in our relationship as much as he is. Bottom line? If I don't come to meet his parents next weekend, we're over."

"And you don't want to go?"

"…I can't."

There's something in her voice that makes Chloe think this isn't just about Beca having plans or being too busy. Without hesitation she clasps Beca's hands in her own.

"Listen. Jesse can go screw himself, okay? If he doesn't want to give you the space you need, that's on him, not you."

Beca's eyes narrow; they linger on their hands for a while before shifting to something less interesting. "It's really important to him."

Chloe can't hold back an incredulous laugh.

"Beca, have you looked at yourself? You're a mess! No offense. But I'm pretty sure that whatever's going on with you is big enough that it should be him being there for you, not the other way around."

Beca scoffs. "Thanks, that really makes me feel better."

"Glad to help," Chloe retorts. A small smile starts to play around Beca's lips, and suddenly all the curiosity in the world couldn't make Chloe want to say another thing that might make it disappear again.

AN: I'm sorry if you hate the ending as much as I do; I just couldn't think of anything that I wouldn't mess up completely, and I really wanted to have it published today (because I might not have gotten back to it otherwise)... And it's short. For that reason. Please bear with me! 0/0

I don't know when the next chapter will be up; it really depends on how I feel about this one later on and whether I get some random inspiration. I do have a huge school assignment I need to work on (it sucks), so I won't have too much time.

I'm also open for suggestions by the way, because I'm really doubting my choices on where I wanted to go with this .

-Jamie