Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect 2 or its characters. I'm merely borrowing them for the time being.

I like the way you sound in the morning

We're on the phone and without a warning

I realize your laugh is the best sound

I have ever heard

Jump Then Fall – Taylor Swift

Beca doesn't know exactly when it happened. She is just aware that after her major fight with Chloe (seriously, she even felt a pang in her chest when they started yelling at each other like what the fuck? Why did her heart even start to hurt because of that?); and after being captured by that stupid fucking trap (stupid retreat) and then released (by being fucking dropped, stupid Aubrey), she consequently got ambushed by none other than Fat Amy. Amy, who appeared out of the fucking blue and gagged her to the point of leaving her unconscious.

She is dimly aware that she is now awake because she can hear someone breathing (albeit a bit shakily and with difficulty) next to her. She can't see a fucking thing, though. She's blindfolded. Stupid Amy. She only hopes that the one next to her is not some sort of animal otherwise she'd have to go to jail for killing Fat Amy with her bare hands. And she doesn't want that, because Chloe would kill her for killing one of their teammates especially when they're so close to the Worlds, and the last thing she wants is for Chloe to hate her even more.

Although it'd be quite impossible for Chloe to hate Beca more than she already hates herself.

Why did she have to snap like that? Why?

The look in Chloe's eyes when Beca said sack up, dude! was simply heartbreaking. Beca knew that Chloe was so close to crying. She had the same look she always has when they're watching some sappy rom-com together, except this one would've been enough to make Beca cry too. In her anger, however, she found it hard to be sympathetic. It was as if the anger blinded her completely, made her say such stupid shit…

When the (hopefully) person next to her emits what Beca assumes is a groan, she decides it's time to do something. Her hands are fucking tied up (yeah, she is so going to kill Amy), so she can't remove the blindfold by herself. Lucky her.

She clears her throat, glad that at least she doesn't have duct tape in her mouth, and calls out what she hopes is a very confident and brave, "Who's that? Who's there?"

Her answer is only another groan. A much louder one at that. It can't be an animal, right? Animals don't groan like that. Only people.

She rolls her eyes (though admittedly it is quite difficult when there is a fucking blindfold covering them) and speaks up again, "Hello? Who's there?"

Another groan, then Beca feels a light bump on the shoulder.

"What the fuck? Who's that?"

The answer comes faster than she'd have wanted it to. One minute she's looking at the dark, completely blind and unable to see a fucking thing, and the next her eyes meet a pair of beautiful blue ones. Blue unlike her own though. Hers were blue-grey, which could be linked to cloudy night skies. The blue ones she's looking at right now with her mouth slightly agape are light, kind and inviting. The color of a beautiful cloudless sky on a clear summer day.

Chloe's eyes.

"Chlo." She breathes out, not knowing what else to say. She should say thank you. Chloe, after all, helped her remove the stupid blindfold and the rope around her wrists. But she's too stunned to form proper thoughts let alone proper sentences. It's then that she notices that Chloe's mouth is covered in duct tape. Big time. One of her hands is tied as well, the other one recently being freed (by the looks of the red circles around Chloe's wrist).

That causes Beca to speak up.

"What the fuck? Who did that to you?!" She demands to know, knowing full well that she'd have another name on her to kill list. "Are you okay?" Beca moves quickly to help Chloe free her other hand, and she is about to remove the duct tape from Chloe's mouth when said girl stops her, grabbing her wrists. "What?"

Chloe merely shakes her head, her eyes full of anguish. Beca can see that she's struggling hard to keep herself from moving her mouth too much, maybe because the mere action hurts.

She feels extra murderous now.

"Hey, hey. Look at me." She says, lifting Chloe's chin up so they're eye to eye again, "Removing it will hurt, I know that. But I'll try to be as careful as possible, okay? I wouldn't hurt you on purpose."

Except that she did. Merely what feels like minutes ago. She was a huge bitch to the one person that's always there to listen to every single one of her remixes, no matter how shitty they turn out to be.

Instead of shaking her head again, Chloe nods. Beca's heart skips at beat but she doesn't say anything, she solely bites her lip and slowly (and as carefully as possible) rips the duct tape on Chloe's mouth off. Chloe doesn't complain and only closes her eyes, a single tear falling from them. When Beca finally manages to remove the tape completely, she wipes the tear away with her thumb, blushing when she realizes what she just did.

"Are you okay?" She asks, looking for confirmation and for something to soothe the anger that she feels towards the ones who decided to put the fucking duct tape on Chloe's precious mouth. Wait. Precious?

"Yes, I am." Chloe responds, rubbing at her mouth a little. She lays down on the ground then, her head resting on a pillow and that's when Beca realizes they're in a fucking tent. Not the one they share with the Bellas, though. This is another tent entirely. Before she opens her mouth to ask, Chloe beats her to it by saying, "This is a spare tent Aubrey had for 'emergencies'. Her and Stacie jumped on me and tied me up, with the help of Lily, after I came out of the bathroom."

Beca is not surprised to hear that it took three people to capture Chloe. What is embarrassing, however, is that it only took one to capture her. She'll never mention it as long as she lives.

"I saw when they brought you in. You were unconscious. Are you okay?" Chloe's concern makes Beca look down at her lap.

She doesn't deserve it. She doesn't deserve Chloe's sweet concern or the adorable look in her eyes.

"Yeah, fine." She mumbles curtly, running a hand through her hair to make sure it isn't as messy as she knows it is.

Beca then looks around, avoiding making eye contact with Chloe, and arches an eyebrow.

The tent has two pillows (another one besides the one Chloe is using), a blanket, two bottles of water, and a box of cereal. What the fuck?

A sudden realization hits her when she looks at the tent's 'door'. They are not trapped. They can't be. It's obvious. She feels very stupid for not thinking it sooner.

She crawls towards the door, completely aware of Chloe's eyes on her back. Beca takes in a deep breath before pulling the zipper down. Well, more like trying to because the fucking thing would not move. What the hell?

"Why can't I open it?" Beca mutters, mostly to herself, as she tries again. And again. And again. Each time more forcefully than the last time, but to no avail. "Chloe, help me." She begs, and Chloe is instantly next to her and helping her with the zipper. They both grunt due to exhaustion when they realize that is it, in fact, pointless. She's so going to kill the Bellas.

"We're trapped." Chloe says, laughing incredulously. "They locked us in here."

No shit, Chlo. No shit.

Great. Perfect. Excellent. Fantastic. They locked them in, with only a box of cereal to themselves, and without the knowledge of when exactly they'd be let out.

"Whose idea was it? Do you know?" Beca does have a perfectly good idea of who may be behind it, but she hopes she's wrong. She doesn't want to kill so many people. The Record label would fire her.

"All of them came up with it, as far as I know. They kept muttering excitedly about it when they dragged me in here."

Yes, looks like the list of people she'd have to murder is pretty damn long.

"Why, though? Why are we here?" Beca also has a pretty good idea as to why they are here. She hopes she's wrong. She's never been good at emotional confrontations.

"I don't know. It was pretty hard to ask questions with duct tape on my mouth."

Beca curses, earning her a slightly disapproving look from Chloe, and punches one of the pillows. This can't be happening. They trapped her inside a tent with the person that probably would much rather eat mud than be near her. And she understands that. Hell, she'd not want to be with herself either.

The problem is that apologizing is not her strong suit. Not that she has many strong suits.

Chloe deserves an apology, though. A big one. Maybe with flowers and a guitar. She doesn't know anyone who can play the guitar, coming to think of it… Fuck.

But what if Chloe doesn't forgive her? What if she decides Beca is not worth the trouble and dumps her? Not dump dump her, but dump her the way a friend dumps another friend.

Beca would never admit it, but it'd hurt more than losing the Worlds. Chloe is one of the only constants in her life, and the mere thought of losing her… Too painful. She wouldn't be able to take it.

She's snapped out of her thoughts when Chloe speaks from the opposite end of the tent, "What are you thinking?"

What is she thinking? "Nothing."

"Yes, you are. You have that cute look on your face when you're thinking about something." Chloe teases, and Beca hopes the redhead doesn't notice the slight change of tone in her cheeks.

"I do not."

"You do!"

"Maybe."

Beca smiles, opening her mouth to say something else but decides against it.

This is it. She needs to apologize. Now. Chloe deserves that. Chloe deserves the world. The sun and the stars and- Woah. Where the fuck did those thoughts come from?

"Look, Beca… I'm terribly sorry for yelling at you… And for not being much help when you got caught in that flying trap." Chloe murmurs. It is barely audible, but Beca hears it. It makes her frown.

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who should be sorry! I'm the one who's sorry!" She says a bit more heatedly than she expected "I shouldn't have- I treated you like crap. I didn't mean what I said, I-" But in that moment she's cut off by a hand on her mouth. Chloe had crawled to her side of the tent as she rambled.

"You meant it, don't lie to me. It's okay, though. I'm not mad." Chloe assures her with a smile, then in a split second she's back to serious mode, "I did some thinking while you were unconscious and I was tied up. You were right. It is time for me to… sack up and leave. No, Beca, really. It's fine. I've been in college for seven years all because I was scared of what may be out there. It's time."

Beca honestly doesn't know what to say. Not that she'd be able to considering Chloe's hand is still on her mouth.

"Don't look at me like that…"

Beca looks at Chloe questioningly.

"You're looking at me as if I'd burst out in tears at any moment. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't cry, but I'm fine now." Chloe clears her throat, removing her hand from Beca's mouth, "The question is: are we?"

"You're too good…"

"Tell me something I don't know. Are we fine, then?"

"Yeah."

Beca can't ignore the pang in her chest, though. This time isn't because of the fight, it's because Chloe's kindness and ability to forgive makes her heart swell with- No. No. No.

"Hey, Chlo. Can you toss me one of the bottles? Thanks." Nothing better to keep her mind out of dumb thoughts by drinking water, right?

She takes a sip and winces. It burns as it slides down her throat. It also has a slight taste of lemon and cranberries. "This is the strangest water I've ever tasted in my life." She mumbles, taking another sip in spite of it.

"Beca, I think this isn't water." Chloe says, her own bottle in her hand, as she examine sit throughoughly. "No, this is vodka."

"Now I know why it tasted funny." Beca doesn't spit it out, though. She keeps drinking.

Chloe chuckles and takes a sip of her own bottle, offering the box of cereal to Beca who accepts it gladly.

They drink and eat in silence occasionally stealing glances and giving small smiles.

"You know what's funny?" Chloe slurs suddenly in Beca's ear, her bottle half empty. "That you're dating Jack."

"Jesse."

"Yeah, him." Chloe brushes it off, her hand traveling up and down Beca's thighs.

"Why is it funny?"

"You're tiny and cute, he is not." She says it as if that that explains everything. It sort of does.

They keep drinking until both their bottles are completely empty, this time concentrating on attacking the box of cereal until there is nothing left.

"You should break up with him." Chloe says out of the blue again, her hand stopping her ministrations on Beca's thighs.

"Is that right?"

"Yes."

"I'll think about it."

"I'd make a good girlfriend." Chloe is almost straddling her when she says this, and Beca finds that she doesn't particularly mind. At all. "I'd take care of you. I'd… I'd be nice. Really nice. A nice girlfriend."

"You are nice." Beca hums, smiling lazily at Chloe who just grins in return.

"So you agree?"

"On what?"

"That I'd make a great girlfriend."

"Yeah."

"Good."

One minute they were slurring drunkenly and the next they were making out. Beca knows that she ought to remember something. Or someone. She is dating someone. Jack. Jesse. Russell. Terrier. Someone. It is incredibly hard to focus, however, when Chloe's lips are ravishing her own. Beca doesn't complain though. She runs her fingers through Chloe's hair, marveling at how soft it is. So soft. So silky. So red. So everything.

Chloe's tongue invades her mouth swiftly and subtly, and boy how Beca loves it. Frankly it doesn't surprise her that Chloe is the one in control. Chloe is always in control when it comes to their friendship. And friends do make out, right? In dark tents in what is probably the middle of the night. It's normal friendship behavior.

It's also normal for friends to take each other's clothes off. Normal. Completely.

The last thing she hears before passing out with Chloe's arms wrapped around her with only a tiny blanket covering their bodies is a whispered, "I love you."

The slight pounding in her head is evidence enough that she got drunk. How much? She still can't tell. And only God-knows-why that's the first thing she realizes once her eyes pop open. She can hear the birds singing outside their tent, and Chloe's even breathing. Then she remembers what they did. She remembers that they are naked. And that she is going to kill Fat Amy, Aubrey, and the rest of the Bellas. And fuck, Jesse.

"Fuck me." She curses, burying her face in her hands.

"I thought I just did." Says a husky voice that belong to none other that Chloe Beale and fuck is Chloe's morning voice the sexiest thing Beca has ever heard.

Beca chuckles despite herself, shaking her head in disbelief. "Yeah, you did." And Beca doesn't regret it. At all. She loved it more than anything. But she has a boyfriend. And they were sort of drunk. And friends don't just sleep with each other whilst trapped in a fucking tent. Right?

"Becs… You know that it wasn't just a 'fuck' for me, right?" Chloe starts, sitting up a little and looking for her top and Beca's shirt. They quickly get dressed (Beca blushing all the while and Chloe smirking cockily). Then Chloe starts speaking again, "I know that you're internally freaking out, and it's okay. You are dating Jesse and we are… supposed to be friends, and we are, but… I just want you to know that I'm here. I've always bene here. Pick me. I promise that you won't regret it." Her voice breaks a little at the end, and Beca (not for the first time) finds herself at a loss of words. "Because I do. I do lov-"

But she's cut off by voice coming from the outside of the tent.

"Think they are banging now? Should we wake them up?"

"Amy! Don't use that language!"

"What? You used to say treble-boned. It was ten times weirder."

"We should just let them out." Aubrey suggests, and Beca can hear the distinctive sound of a lock breaking. Pitches.

Chloe sighs and sits up properly, casting one last look at Beca. "Think about it, okay?"

Beca wants to say desperately that there is nothing to think about. That in her heart she's always known who she belongs with (even though she aggressively denied it). That she doesn't really love Jesse like that and that their relationship is mostly platonic at this point.

But she doesn't. She kisses Chloe softly, though, and hopes that's enough to silently tell her everything she can't say out loud (taking into account that Fat Amy and Aubrey could eavesdrop, the little shits).

It turns out to be more than enough, because the one she dances with at graduation has long red hair, baby blue eyes and a smile that promises world peace and puppies for everyone.

Beca couldn't be happier.