"You want to take me-" Beca indicated at herself with one hand, waving a finger in a circular motion "- to a runway exhibition?"

"Yes!" Chloe said excitedly, pursing her the palms of her hands together. She cocked her head to one side with a smile on her face that she knew could convince Beca. "Please? I know the perfect dress for you to wear too. We'll look aca-awesome!" she added as an afterthought with a shrug of her shoulders.

Beca sighed, with one side of her bottom lip nipped between her teeth in anxiety. She looked away from Chloe - determined not to be drawn in.

"Fine." she said eventually, realising Chloe was still looking at her. And unable to resist, she had to agree to go. She nodded her head, resigned that she had lost this argument.

Chloe had that about her and Beca couldn't stand it; she had this way, a manner of some sort - she couldn't really put her finger on it- except it was like nothing Beca had come across before. She'd never felt it before. No matter how hard Beca tried to ignore it she just couldn't resist something about her. It scared Beca, a lot.

"Really? Don't bail on me - you promise you'll come?" Chloe's eyes widened in excitement.

"Yes, really. I promise." Beca nodded. "Just, please - before you get any ideas - no pink."

"No pink - I swear!" Chloe clapped her hands together and beamed, and Beca rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Beca, it'll be fun." she leant in close, grabbing Beca's hands and pulling them towards her stomach. It caught Beca by surprise, and she tensed, unsure what Chloe was about to do or say. Their faces were close, she could feel Chloe's minty breath against her cheek.

Chloe hesitated, smiling cheekily. Beca wished she weren't so close, she could see every streak of blue in her bright eyes, and it was - well, she found she couldn't think of anything else.

"There'll be champagne, and everything!" Chloe said eventually.

"Great!" Beca said, pulling away. She found herself giving Chloe an awkward thumbs up. "Look - I've, er, I gotta go - call me - later." she stepped backwards a couple of paces, then, nodding and pointing over her shoulder, added nervously - "I have a class."

She could feel her cheeks, all hot and flushed, and a pulse beat heavily in her chest. God damn, she thought, indignant; why did it have to be Chloe that made her feel like this?

"Oh, ok! Catch you later then." Chloe said, raising a hand as if to wave, but it just hovered motionless and level with her shoulder. She felt embarrassed, watching Beca walk away. She blinked heavily, and exhaled - feeling her eyes prickle as though she were to cry right there, in the auditorium. It was empty, and there were few people around at this time of day, but still, she wasn't going to cry.

And especially not over a girl.

She pulled her phone from her pocket, and typed quickly;

'hey bree. didnt work. she wasnt interested. thanks for help tho. nevermind x'

She hit send, and walked over to the benches at the back of the hall to sit and wait for a reply. Instead, a few minutes later, her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Aubrey. Are you okay?"

Chloe nodded, and picked at the varnish on her nails with one hand. "Fine."

"What happened?"

"I asked her to come with me to the show, I said it would be great, and I could tell she didn't want to go - it's not her thing, I don't even know why I asked her - anyway, eventually she said yes - but-"

"-Wait, so she agreed to go with you then? That's awesome!"

"Well, yeah, but -"

"When you said it didn't work, I thought she'd downright turned you down, Chlo - she's going with you, I don't understand - why are you so upset?"

"She didn't want to... I could tell - and-" Chloe hesistated.

"And?" Aubrey's voice questioned from the crackly speaker of Chloe's cell.

Chloe thought about how close she had been, stood next to Beca. So close she could see all the tiny fibers of mascara on her eyelashes, and the expertly applied eyeshadow that framed her eyes - her eyes that made Chloe smile, they always had - every time she'd seen her. From that first day they'd met at the activities fayre, she found herself drawn in, gravitating towards them. She got a feeling in her stomach, a warmth in her body that spread to every extremity, like electricity - like the blood that went through every vein of her body - that feeling for Beca was there. Always.

And how her legs had not buckled from beneath her when she stared into Beca's eyes she would never know. They were stood so close. She had leaned in, inadvertently, and their noses almost touched. Chloe had nearly forgot what she was going to tell her. She had felt Beca's fingers in her own, pulled close to her stomach. She supposed she had just expected Beca to hold her waist, as everyone else had. Instead her hands had remained gripped tightly into Chloe's palms; and what surprised her so pleasantly was how they fit there so well, so neatly and comfortably, like it... Well, like it was where they were meant to be. She had gotten lost in Beca's eyes, all so momentarily, but she found herself thinking that all that had to be done - right there, in that moment - and nothing else in the world mattered but this - and it was for Chloe to let go of one of Beca's hands, to reach up and brush away the curl of hair that had fallen in front of her face. She wanted to run a finger along Beca's jawline - for it was perfect, and she could see that up close she looked almost porcelain, her pale skin soft and delicate under the bright audatorium lights. Chloe wanted to cup her fingers into Beca's hair, and lean in slowly, touch her lips to Beca's own. She wanted to kiss her and she had wanted nothing more in her life. It felt like her chest were tight - her body wasn't her own - and yet - yet if she could just kiss Beca - feel her lips pressed warm against her own - she would feel whole. She would feel that something that just wasn't quite right, and it would all be put back to normal again.

And then, replaying what had happened in her mind, she remembered how Beca had tensed, flinching as she had pulled her close. And everything seemed to break. It wasn't right anymore. Kissing her wasn't what was supposed to happen. Beca didn't feel like she did. She wasn't interested.

"Chloe? You still there? What happened?" Aubrey's voice crackled again in her ear.

"Hey, sorry Bree, I must have lost signal," she laughed nervously, rubbing her forehead in her hand. "I'm still here. And nothing happened. She just... went."

"What do you mean, she just 'went'?"

"She just left, ran off. Said she had a class to go to."

Aubrey paused for a second, before - "Call her. Call her now, and say you will meet her after class, and go for dinner or something. Tell her your mom sent too much carbonara, or whatever. Make something up. Just don't -" Chloe heard her sigh - "don't let her get away. I can tell you really like her. And I can't see why she wouldn't reciprocate. She's not a Treblemaker, after all!"

Chloe laughed. "Yeah, I guess. I just... I really don't think she's interested."

"Chloe - for gods sake. It's Beca. She's a DJ. She wears spikes in her ears. She listens to some of the worst music I have ever heard, and seems to think she can make a living selling the obnoxious crap to anyone who will listen. She keeps kohl eyeliner in business. Does she really seem like the kind of girl who would go with you to a runway show? Think about it."

Chloe smiled. "I guess you're right."

"Now go get her!" Aubrey said, and Chloe heard the phone beep as Aubrey cut her off.

"I will." Chloe smiled to herself. Nobody had made her feel like this - and she wasn't going to lose her without a fight. "I'm gonna go get her!"