Beca turned off the television and resisted the urge to throw the remote across the room. "This is getting real. We went from zero to shit show in a matter of a few weeks." The mayor suggested people limit their exposure to other people as much as possible and placed a 'stay at home' order in place for residents unless they were out doing essential things such as grocery shopping, exercising outside, working essential jobs. She picked up the phone to call her co-worker. "Hey, Theo. What's the word from the studio?"

After listening for a moment, she responded. "Dude, producing music is not an essential job." She listened some more. "Look, Theo. The mayor says not to get out, so I'm not coming to the studio. I can work on some of the projects we have going on. I just need a few pieces of equipment." The two finally agreed that Theo would deliver mobile equipment to Beca's apartment so she could work.

The news had warned against residents hoarding food, supplies, and the like. Knowing she'd be home a while after she hung up with Theo, Beca hopped on Amazon and was pleased to see toilet paper and paper towels still available to Prime members. She quickly ordered multiple packages, just in case. After all, paper goods don't spoil.

After a quick check of her refrigerator and pantry, Beca decided to head to the store to pick up a few essentials. She never really was one to cook at home, and her mom's last visit had left her with lots of non-perishables, but she did need some milk, fruit, and other fresh food.

Chloe pushed her cart through the aisles of her favorite grocery store. The 'stay at home' order had just gone into effect, and the redhead felt she needed to make sure she had to stock up on food and essentials. Luckily, Chloe lived alone and wouldn't need to hoard stuff like the horror stories she'd heard on the news. She'd recently gone to the store, but with her job, she didn't know when there would be a chance for her to go again for essentials. Chloe picked up a few things she knew she was short on that wouldn't spoil before she could use it.

People seemed frantic and were grabbing everything they could get their hands on. No paper goods remained on the shelves, and everything else was quickly being picked over. As she headed down the dairy aisle, she saw that the milk case was virtually empty. Chloe squatted down and reached into the back of the lowest shelf and located a gallon of organic 1% milk sitting next to a lonely gallon of whole milk. Before she could grab the milk, a hand reached over, and Chloe saw a tiny little brunette grab the organic milk, leaving Chloe with the whole milk, not her first choice but better than no milk at all. The other woman gave her a snarky look and muttered something like, "you snooze, you lose" as she put the 1% milk in her basket.

Chloe was fortunate to find a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, beans, and some canned vegetables. As she waited in line, she noticed the tiny brunette staring at her. "Can I help you?" Chloe asked politely.

The tiny girl smirked and gestured to Chloe's basket. "You're living on the edge, huh? No huge stock up trip for you?"

Chloe gave a wry smile and shrugged. She resisted the urge to mention that the brunette didn't have much more in her basket.

Checking her watch, Chloe realized she had to rush home to make it to her work meeting. After unlocking her apartment and dropping her bags on the table, she put her perishables into the refrigerator before rushing off to work.

The day after Theo delivered Beca's equipment, Beca was aimlessly scrolling through her Facebook when she noticed her friend Ashley from the neighborhood invited her to a group called "Life's Out…Indefinitely…in Chelsea." Chuckling, Beca clicked to accept the invitation and started scrolling through the posts. They ranged from humorous with young adults bored out of their minds to people full out panicking and posting like the world is about to end.

Rolling her eyes, she clicked on one of the posts saying that this would be over in no time, and it was so stupid. The guy posted, "Who wants to go hang on my rooftop and drink?" People started jumping on this dude left and right saying society needed to social distance, or the epidemic would last for years.

"Years?" Beca thought. "Come on, can't be…" she murmured, continuing to read the comments in response to this guy. It was the small circle with the girl's picture that caught her eye before the comment. Her beautiful red hair and clear blue eyes shone through the tiny image. Beca couldn't get over how something the size of a pinky print could stand out so much. She felt the girl looked familiar but couldn't quite place why. Beca quickly glanced at the woman's comment. "Please just stay home…for just a little while…the faster we do this, the faster we can get back to real life." The kindness stood out among the real comments.

Despite the caring words, Beca couldn't help herself. She was the snarkiest person she knew. Clicking reply to the girl's comment, she wrote, "You sound super optimistic." She added an eye roll emoji for kicks. Less than 30 seconds later, she had a notification to her comment. "Optimism is all we have right now." A smiley emoji accompanied that comment. "This girl can't be real," Beca muttered to herself and decided to put her phone down for a bit.

An hour later, Beca couldn't get the girl's picture or comments out of her head. Going back into Facebook, she located the comment notification and clicked on the girl's profile – Chloe Beale. Despite being set to private, Beca could see the woman's various profile pictures. "Damn, this girl is beautiful," Beca said out loud to no one. Between her looks and kind comments, Beca was convinced such an angel couldn't exist in this world. Noticing she had a notification, Beca clicked on it and saw it was the girl. "Did my positivity scare you off?"

Blinking, Beca wondered how to respond. Finally, her sarcasm took over, and she replied with, "come on, you can't be serious. There is nothing positive about this bullshit going on. My life is basically over indefinitely right now, and these assholes keep fucking it up even more. But thanks for the tiny ray of sunshine."

Beca never got a reply to that.

Once Chloe let herself in the clinic, the other veterinarians and vet techs were mingling around the staff room, cautiously respecting distancing, looking around the room at the other people almost afraid to speak. "Dr. Stanley is stuck in Washington state. He was visiting his parents when all this started." Chloe had seniority of the remaining veterinarians and was left in charge of the clinic. She had been in virtual meetings with Dr. Stanley for a few days as they worked out a plan for managing things during the crisis.

She brought him online virtually so he could have a strong presence and field any of the tougher questions. The two doctors laid out their plans then gave staff a chance to ask questions. Surprisingly enough, most of the staff agreed to stay on under the modified schedule, whether it was because of a fear of not having money or a love of animals.

Two techs and one vet would be on the schedule every day with another vet on-call as needed for emergency surgeries. Customers would wait in their cars, and animals would be collected by a technician and brought in for services. Appointments would be booked by receptionists working from home.

"What are your plans for monitoring our health?" The tech asking the question didn't seem concerned, but everyone was curious about the answer.

Dr. Stanley fielded this question. "We will depend a great deal on self-reporting? As well, on-duty employees will enter through the service entrance. Everyone will have their temperature taken and given a brief visual inspection before being allowed in the main part of the building." They also went through increased disinfecting processes.

"If I were you guys, I'd head up to the store and stock up on food, especially non-perishables. When I went before the meeting, the shelves are already pretty bare. Stay healthy." Chloe distributed the alternate schedule, and the employees dispersed.

Beca glanced at her Outlook calendar and realized that she had a few minutes until her regular Zoom meeting with Theo. They had a couple of calls thus far, and her working from home seemed to be working out. Beca pulled her hair back into a ponytail before pulling that through the back of a cap. She connected early and waited.

When Theo came online, Beca was shocked. "Theo, my man, you look like total shit." He tried to speak, which resulted in a coughing fit. While his cough was dry, he couldn't seem to catch his breath. He pushed back from his desk and buried his head in his hands.

"Bad news, Bec. I tested positive."

She narrowed her eyes before asking, "positive for what?" Theo lifted his head and was caught in a fit of coughing before he could answer.

"I tested positive for COVID-19. Just letting you know since we were in contact last week, you should probably think about self-isolating for the next fourteen days."

After a few moments of letting this sinking in, Beca punched her leg in frustration. She wasn't able to keep from unleashing. "Are you fucking kidding me, man?" She ticked off points on her fingers. "You brought my equipment to my house. I gave you some of my best whiskey. Now you are fucking positive for coronavirus? Theo, I literally can't go anywhere – out food shopping, on a walk in the neighborhood, nothing. I'm stuck in my apartment for two fucking weeks. AND I have to disinfect all my equipment, hell, my entire apartment. Thanks, Theo. Thanks a lot."

"Beca, calm down, just wear a mask."

"Still a risk, Theo. Thanks a lot." Beca hung up. Rationally she knew it wasn't his fault, but she was terrified. This disease was no joke now when she could be affected. Sighing, she looked around her kitchen. There were the non-perishables her mom had stocked in her pantry for some reason. That, along with the few things she had gotten at the grocery store, was the only food she had. Even so, she wasn't quite sure she'd make the entire two weeks. Hopping on her computer, she tried to order grocery delivery, but all of the slots were taken for almost three weeks. Hoping for the best and for an earlier slot coming open, she placed an order and prayed she could make her food last until then.

Grabbing her computer, Beca quickly googled what the first symptoms of coronavirus would be. "Okay. Fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Tightness in the chest. That's what I need to watch for." Beca knew she was a relatively healthy individual (read, no underlying conditions), so she hoped for the best after learning that 80% of cases can self-resolve without going to the hospital. Wandering over to her vitamin cabinet, she popped some extra vitamin C for good measure. Then she took off angry cleaning her apartment and equipment until everything smelled like Clorox and Lysol.

After taking a shower to calm herself down, Beca made some coffee and settled down on the couch with her phone. Opening Facebook once more, she scrolled through her notifications and saw that Chloe had sent her a direct message.

"Your last comment seemed kind of dark. Are you okay?"

Beca sat dumbfounded. Why did this girl reach out to her, specifically, when hundreds of people were commenting? Against her better judgment, she clicked reply. "Okay is not in my wheelhouse right now. My colleague just tested positive, and I was with him within the last fourteen days. Now I need to self-isolate, and I don't even know if I have enough groceries, and delivery is backed up for weeks. I guess I can live off take-out delivery but not ideal. So, I am doing peachy."

Chloe stared at the message from the new member from the Facebook group "Life's Out…Indefinitely…in Chelsea" who had left the snarky comments in the group. She had mixed emotions about what the woman had written. Was she bitter because she'd been exposed to the virus, or was she snarky by nature? All Chloe knew about the woman was her name and that she lived in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Well, she presumed the woman lived there because she was a part of the Chelsea group. She wasn't even quite sure what the woman looked like because the only profile picture she could see was a blurred, cartoonized version of a photograph.

She knew emotions were running high from everyone right now, so she gave the girl the benefit of the doubt. "I'm sorry to hear that your colleague has the virus – I am sure that you are terrified right now. Just try to stay positive! I am here if you need an outlet to vent to. Please take care and stay strong, and I am sure these next fourteen days will fly by." Ending her message with a few smiley emojis and her name, Chloe hoped that she could brighten the girl's day.

Beca saw her Facebook message flash with a new message. It was from Chloe! After reading the message, Beca teared up. This complete stranger was so kind to her, something she didn't know she needed right now while wondering if she was going to develop coronavirus. Without any sarcastic thoughts in her head, she clicked reply right away. "Hi Chloe. You have no idea how much your words mean to me right now. You actually made me cry, and I never do that. I am hoping for the best, but the news keeps reporting on the worst, and it's hard to be optimistic. Like I said before, I am honestly more worried about my food supply until I can go back out. I need my snacks! We'll see what kind of weird food combinations I come up with out of my pantry. Stay tuned." Signing off with her name, Beca clicked send and felt good about her new penpal. She hoped that Chloe would keep writing back.

While Beca wasn't the most social person in existence, knowing that she couldn't leave her house or have any interaction with the outside world was a mental strain. In the past two days, she'd already disinfected her entire apartment and all the equipment Theo had delivered in hopes that would be enough to kill any remnants of virus remaining in her apartment.

While Theo was in no shape to give her guidance for the songs she was working on, she had enough music production experience to know where to take them to move them towards a complete state. In fact, she decided she didn't want Theo's guidance at this point. Beca couldn't help but to still be a bit irritated at his inadvertently exposing her to the virus.

She'd quickly decided not to do a full day's work at a time; instead, she split up the hours into segments to give herself variety in her day. Beca set her alarm in two-hour increments to make sure she didn't get caught up in any particular task. Of course, Beca had become food-obsessed. She wasn't as concerned about meals but was obsessing over snacks. Without those, the brunette felt she could never survive. She pulled every edible item out of her pantry and spread it out on her kitchen island. She had some foodstuffs, but her supply was lacking in her beloved treat department.

Despondent, Beca threw herself on the couch. She grabbed her phone to check the timer to see how much time she had until she needed to switch to a work task and saw that she had a message from her new pal, Chloe. She eagerly opened it to read. "Hi Beca. I'm glad I could offer a small bit of comfort in your day. Things will get better! So – you are a snacks kind of gal? What are your favorite go-to-snacks?"

Beca grinned and responded. "Gummy bears, spicy Cheetos, buttered popcorn with LOTS of butter, regular-sized pretzels and French Onion Dip (mini-pretzels aren't the same), and my favorite – Fruit Gushers. Snacks are the key to existence."

Chloe immediately responded. "You aren't a snack-fiend, you are a junk food fiend."

After sending a picture of her kitchen island laden with the pantry contents, Beca messaged back. "Snack food, junk food, whatever. But do you see any of my favorites in my apartment? I went to the grocery store a few days ago. I was so busy fighting with the masses for the basics, I forgot completely about the snacks that fuel my body and creativity."

Chloe made Beca promise to take pictures of everything in her refrigerator and freezer after she'd rearranged her pantry. "I bet I can help you come up with some good recipes. I was on a budget in grad school and cooked a lot. While I would have loved to be a junk foodie, I had to eat well and cook. Brainfood and all that. My favorite snacks are apples and peanut butter, Greek yogurt, pretzels (but I like the rods the best or sourdough nuggets), and my guilty pleasure is these dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds." When Beca saw that response, she grimaced slightly at how healthy her new penpal was.

The two women shared some information about their background – how Beca was a junior music producer for a small studio, and Chloe was a veterinarian. Beca was extremely interested in hearing about Chloe's job and how her clinic was managing during the pandemic. The veterinarian finally told her new friend that she was on shift in the morning and needed to get some rest. Somehow the two had managed to chat for several hours with neither realizing how much time had passed.

Chloe sent Beca a Facebook friend request then logged off to get ready for work the next day. Beca rearranged her dry goods into her pantry and took pictures of her cold food as promised. The quarantined woman then added to her daily Facebook "Diaries of a Quarantined Quack." If she was stuck inside, she might as well have fun with it.

As soon as Beca saw the friend request, she clicked accept. She had also already posted her first food "journal," the picture of her bleak snacks in front of her window with the caption, "Junk food woes." Several of her friends who knew of her childish snacking habits commented and laughed at her.

After Beca accepted her request, Chloe saw Beca's picture and was amused. But the background caught her eye. Specifically, a restaurant outside the window with an unusual sign that she, herself, sees every single day outside of her window. "Could Beca live in my apartment building?" She wondered.

Grabbing her phone, she opened the messaging app and pulled up her conversation with Beca. "Hey, Beca! Question for you…what do you think of "Trestle on Tenth?" Have you ever eaten there?" She hit send and hoped Beca would answer quickly.

Her hope was answered! Beca wrote back within minutes. "Yeah, dude, I love that place! The sign with the rocketship pig makes me laugh. It's like, right across from my window too!"

Chloe gasped. Beca must live either in the same building or right on the same street. She decided to go for broke. "It's across from me too…by any chance, do you happen to live at either 468 or 470 W 24th St?" Chloe waited impatiently. The minutes ticked by and Chloe was getting paranoid that she overstepped a boundary.

Finally, after about 15 minutes, Chloe got a message. "Uhhh…yeah. 468. How…how did you know?" Beca's text felt like she was creeped out. Chloe quickly took a picture of her window and sent it to Beca. "Look out my window." The response was instantaneous this time.

"Dude! We're neighbors?!"

"Looks like it, Bec. I am in 468 too. 2nd floor."

"I must be right above you on the 3rd. Hang on – tell me if you can hear a bang on your ceiling."

"Huh?" Chloe said out loud but then heard such a clatter above her. It sounded like the person pushed over a TV or a table. "Uh, I guess that was you, Beca. What did you do? Knock over a table?"

"Nope! I jumped off my table onto the floor. I guess you live below me! This is so cool! I can't wait to meet you in person! Oh, hey, I know! Open your window and lean out!" Chloe walked over to the window and slid it open, leaning out slightly to look up. She saw a tiny little brunette peeking out at her, and recognition hit her instantly.

Chloe held onto the window sill as she hung over the edge. "Oh, my God! You are the girl from the market! You took the 1% milk!"

Beca appeared to pale for a second as she realized what Chloe was talking about. "Shit. Yeah…I am sorry. I was such a bitch."

Chloe internally chuckled at how embarrassed Beca was. "You should be," she said seriously. Beca paled even more and started stuttering apologies before she abruptly pulled back in her window and closed it.

"Come back out here, Beca. I was only teasing." When Chloe realized her friend wasn't coming back out, she messaged again. "Please?"

"Gosh, Chloe. Karma sure is a bitch. I ended up being exposed to this damned virus and got stuck with 1% milk. I'm sure you know that that stuff is way too healthy for me. Besides, it tastes like water. I saw you heading for that gallon, and my snide side just had to snag it before you. I seriously apologize."

"Consider yourself forgiven. Hey, I have to get some sleep. Promise you won't beat yourself up too much."

Chloe and the two vet techs on shift with her were slammed the entire time the clinic was open. Customers and staff alike were frustrated as they tried to get used to the new procedures. Sometimes owners didn't realize that the safest place for them was in the car as the techs brought the animals in for treatment. The receptionists had gotten excellent at screening customers who needed their pets to be seen. Many of the appointments were shifted to Dr. Stanley, who was using video consults for non-urgent medical progress exams and incisions checks.

A few days ago, Chloe and Dr. Stanley held a virtual staff meeting about their available medical equipment. Everyone who was still working came to a consensus about what they would do. Therefore everyone was working with modified personal protective equipment – homemade masks, lab coats, and disposable gloves that had been washed and sterilized over and over. The rest was sent to human health care colleagues who had a greater need. The clinic was doing its best to keep team members safe by limiting exposure to customers. This sometimes meant forgoing the vets' every principle of the importance of a full physical exam, especially since they were operating with limited medical-grade gear.

After a particularly tough shift, Chloe asked her team to stay a few moments after as she made a phone call. After hanging up with her favorite grocery store, she had verified the rumors she'd heard from a doctor friend who worked at the hospital around the corner.

"Hey team," she said after getting off the phone. She explained that she just got off the phone with her neighborhood grocery store. "If you have a need and time today, we can go over in our scrubs, and they will let us in to shop because we are medical professionals. They are just starting to stock, and we have to shop around them, but we can at least get something."

Once the staff got to the store, they realized just how picked over the store was. There was absolutely no paper goods, no fresh meat, but Chloe was able to secure some frozen grilled chicken and fish. She grabbed the last few bananas and several oranges. No apples, her favorite, were available, but Chloe was happy to get some fruit. After grabbing some carrots and peppers, she started scouring the aisles for a special surprise for her new internet pal.

Beca heard her message alert go off. She grinned when she saw Chloe had messaged her. "Open your door." When Beca did, she saw a box of snacks. She took the box inside and started to unpack what was inside. She pulled out a bag of pretzels, a box of Lipton Onion Soup mix, some sour cream, a few containers of Greek yogurt, and the snacks didn't stop there. After a few items, she rushed back to her phone. "OMG! What's your number?"

The moment Chloe sent her number over, Beca excitedly called her on FaceTime. "Chloe! What did you do?" Her grin was across her face. When she saw Chloe's tear-streaked face, her joy over the snacks came to a screeching halt. "Hey, Chloe. What's wrong?" Chloe sniffled and used her shirt to wipe the tears off her face. "Talk to me."

After catching her breath, Chloe explained about her horrible day. "I had to deliver news about a terminal diagnosis to a customer who was in the parking lot, waiting for her dog to be treated. Against our new protocol, we let her in after delivering a mask and gown to her car. After saying bye to her dog, she had to step six feet away while I euthanized her best friend. Damn it, Beca. I couldn't hug her, and she couldn't stroke the dog's soft ears while I administered the drugs. I can only hope the owner saw that her pet's loss hurt me, too."

Beca silently let Chloe talk, wishing she could comfort her downstairs friend. "Chloe, you did all you could." After a while, Chloe gave a soft smile to the camera. "You should smile more often. You have a gorgeous smile." Beca gasped as she realized her thoughts had slipped out through her mouth.

Chloe winked but didn't tease her friend about what she'd said. "What did you think about your snack box?"

"I LOVED it. But are you sure all this is mine? I don't recall telling you I liked dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds." Beca flashed a grin.

"Oh," Chloe replied in a chipper voice. "I have a box with the same things down here. I figured we could try each other's yummies! And, check this beauty out." Chloe carried the phone to her front table and waved around a small package of industrial one-ply toilet paper. "I had to pilfer this from work since I am out. The store didn't have any, and the manager said it would be a few weeks before they got any paper goods due to a rush, and people freaking out."

"I also couldn't get milk, bread, apples, (and you know how I love my apples) and a few more things." Chloe went to sit at her kitchen island. "But medical professionals and other essential employees can visit the store by appointment one hour before it opens and an hour after it closes. I'm off work tomorrow, so I'm headed over there first thing to shop while the shelves are fully stocked. Well, except for paper goods."

"Chloe?" Beca was laughing because she'd gotten her Amazon delivery today. "Check this out." She ripped open the carton and pulled out all the paper goods she'd ordered when she first heard about the predicted run on paper. Chloe's eyes widened in surprise. "I'll trade you! No more scratchy butt." The redhead immediately agreed and took a list of things Beca was short on. In exchange for anything Chloe could get her hands on – and snacks – Beca would split her toilet paper and paper towels.

"Beca, why are you doing this? Being so nice to me?"

"You are the epitome of nice, Chloe. You helped me so much when you listened to me talk when I found out I was on mandatory self-isolation. Consider this me repaying the favor."

It was two days after their commodity trade and the eighth day of Beca's fourteen-day quarantine. Beca was bored. Boreder than bored. She was at a slight standstill with her job as she waited on some edits to her latest projects to be approved. There was only so much TV to watch, and her apartment was already spotless due to the decontamination she'd done when finding out Theo had tested positive.

Deciding to be a brat, she fashioned together a scary looking "monster" with household items and mounted it onto some twine she had lying around for some unknown reason. She knew Chloe was home and figured she'd be chilling in her living room or kitchen. So she opened the window and slowly lowered her creation down to the second-floor window and started moving it back and forth. Only a few minutes later, she heard a faint shriek and then the sound of a window being opened.

"BECA MITCHELL!" Chloe screamed up at her. "That was NOT funny." Glaring up at the tiny brunette who was giggling like crazy, she felt her heart beat faster, in a good way now, not a scared way. "Gosh, Beca is so adorable," she thought. "I don't care how bored you are – scaring the shit out of me is not okay!"

"Sorry, sorry, Chlo." Beca said through giggles. "I really need to find something to do."

"What about a puzzle? Reading a book? Organizing your closet?"

"Eh." Beca shrugged.

"Well. I am busy organizing my kitchen so I'm going back in now. Go find something to do, you little imp." Smiling and shaking her head, Chloe gave a little wave and ducked back into her apartment. Beca giggled again and waved goodbye, feeling entertained for the moment. Then, the moment passed, and she went back to wishing she could even just go for a quick walk outside. Flopping on her couch, she decided now was as good of a time for a nap as any.

"Beca, I just got you some whole milk and more cookies. I'll leave them outside your door in a few minutes. I still can't find Lysol wipes! (sad emoji)" Beca saw the text on her phone and was grateful for Chloe grabbing her some more supplies. She checked her cleaning closet and realized she still had several unopened containers of Lysol wipes. So quickly throwing a mask and gloves on, Beca grabbed one and an additional package of toilet paper and paper towels. She put them in a reusable bag before adding a note she scribbled quickly. "I'm such a chickenshit," she thought. Beca then waited by the peephole until she saw Chloe drop her supplies. Once Chloe turned to walk away, Beca threw the door open and yelled out. Surprised, Chloe stopped and turned back.

"Hi." Beca said shyly, waving from her doorway where she had backed up an acceptable distance. "I uh, I just really wanted to see you. Like, all of you, more than from the waist up, you know." Beca grinned at the redhead as she pulled her supply box into her apartment. "And, I have this for you," she said, holding up the bag of paper goods and Lysol wipes. Slightly bending over and extending her arm as far as it could go, she dropped the bag on the hallway floor and straightened back up.

Once she stood, she took in Chloe briefly. Despite the mask and gloves, this girl was stunning. Her hair was a shade of red that reminded her of sunrise and eyes incredibly blue like the sky. She was slim and fit. But, beyond looks, she had the kindest soul that Beca ever met. Feelings hit Beca hard just then, and she had a feeling they would end up being together a long, long time because sometimes… you just know.

The expression in her eyes and forehead must have betrayed her thoughts because Beca saw Chloe's eyes crinkle and knew she was smiling. "Like what you see?" Chloe implored.

Beca paused for a second, ears turning the slightest blush of pink. "Maybe." She backed up slightly more. "Uh…thanks again for the supplies and um…don't forget your bag." With an awkward wave, she shut the door and banged her head against the wall inside. "I am such a tool." She put her back against the door and slide down to a sitting position. "I'm doomed."

"I heard that," Chloe chirped as the rustle of her picking up her trade bag was evident.

Beca slapped her forehead, irritated at herself for making herself seem like an idiot.

After Beca awkwardly ended their encounter, Chloe chuckled slightly and retrieved the bag that Beca left and lugged it down one floor to her own apartment. Her heart warmed when she saw that Beca had given up more of the coveted paper products supplies that everyone was jonesing for and included Lysol wipes as well. Then Chloe noticed the paper at the bottom. Grabbing it, she opened the fold and gasped at what she saw. "Hey Chloe…I don't know if you are into women or what not but if yes, once this nightmare is over I would love to take you on a date. If I just made a fool of myself, let's just go back to simple Facebook friends. – Beca."

Chloe felt herself glowing with happiness. Not only WAS she into women, but she had developed a huge crush on her petite, snarky neighbor. Grabbing her phone, she hastily texted Beca. "It's a date."

Beca's jobs were few and far between since music artists were concentrating on their own families instead of jumping into their home studios to record. When Chloe was at work, Beca worked on her personal music. She had her guitar and an electronic keyboard that could synthesize all types of instruments. So along with sampling from other music, she was able to create some substantial original demos.

When the veterinarian was off work, the pair were on the phone or FaceTime virtually non-stop. "I bet you give great hugs," Beca admitted one evening.

Chloe chuckled. "You've pegged me as a hugger, for sure. But I could certainly use a hug right now. My customers are tugging at my heartstrings." Beca knew her friend had another rough day and had learned the best she could do was to listen to Chloe. "My job always has some bleak spots, but lately, we've had more bleak visits than normal since Dr. Stanley is doing remote visits for the non-urgent cases."

Beca reassured her that she was an incredible doctor, the patients loved her, and she was doing the best she could. "Hey, Chloe. I'm glad we found each other." Beca then decided to try a distraction tactic. "Hey. Do you want to listen to something I've been working on?"

The redhead's eyes went from dull and sad to sparkly. "Your work that you are always so secretive about? Hell yeah!"

After taking a few moments to get the short clip pulled up, Beca pressed play on the song that was still in rough stages, and the slow, mournful sounds crawled through the speakers.

Are we better off believing
What the ignorance suggests?
I wish living life was easy (life was easy, yeah)
But mine has been a mess
They say it comes with the seasons, mhm
But the seasons come and go, they go
I go blurry when I'm thinking
Is it me or vertigo?

The moment Beca turned off the sample, Chloe began to protest. "Hey, I want to hear the rest. I can already tell that's going to be one of my favorites once it gets released." The redhead then went on to try to guess the artist based on who Beca had told her she'd worked with previously.

"Give it up, Red. You'll never guess the singer." When Chloe stuck out her lower lip in a now pout well known to Beca, the musician relented. "Okay, okay. I'll make a deal with you. If you guess the singer, I'll send you the full song as long as you promise to remember that it's not yet done." Beca sent her the short clip so she could listen again later. She figured there was absolutely no way Chloe would ever guess she was the one singing. "Good night, Chloe."

Later that night, Beca jerked awake. She'd fallen asleep and dropped her phone right by her ear. Apparently, the volume was on high because her ear was still ringing from the barrage of messages. After shaking the cobwebs from her head, she started reading. Realizing they were all from Chloe, she chuckled.

"It's you."
"You are singing."
"Beca Mitchell."
"I'm right. Right?"
"Oh. My. God. You have an incredible voice."

Beca's phone was still blowing up, and she didn't see an end in sight, so she called her downstairs neighbor. "Damn, Chlo. Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Am I right? That's you singing, isn't it? Oh, I'm so excited. I've listened to this clip a million times, and then it hit me why I knew that voice. I talk to you ever day. Yay! I get to hear the whole song. AND I get to say that 'I knew her when she was a hungry artist quarantined during COVID-19." Chloe was rambling and talking a hundred miles an hour.

"Good night, Chloe. I'm hanging up the phone now and turning my ringer off. Good night."

True to her word, Beca sent the full song to Chloe, who ended up giving great feedback with ways to improve. The pair got into deep philosophical conversations about the meaning behind the lyrics. "The whole world is full of problems right now, Chloe. Life is messy. Blurry. I haven't even been out in the real world since I was exposed, so I'm not even sure if all this is me or just vertigo."

When Beca started writing this song, the lyrics had started to be just a list of questions running through her mind. Is this life? Is this a dream? What's going to happen when it's over. "The melancholic lyrics had to be accompanied by the same type of music; thus, the longing sounds of the stringed instruments she was able to coax from my keyboard. I hope my studio likes it; I'd love to hear it with live instruments and a professional singer."

"I think it's perfect, Beca. I can't wait until all this mess is over. But I have to admit I'd be disappointed if someone else recorded this. Your voice is perfect."

The brunette gave a sheepish grin as her face blushed at the compliment.

A few days later, Beca took her turn to wake up the redhead with an early morning call. "Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. CHLOE! Guess what?" She was obviously excited and wanted to make sure she had her friend's attention.

"What, Beca?" Chloe sleepily rolled over in bed, pulling her covers to her chin.

"It's day fourteen! My isolation is over. I'm free!" Beca was dancing around her apartment.

Chloe quickly sat upright, all sleep forgotten. "That's incredible news, Beca."

She heard Beca raising her window then heard her shout out to the street below. "I'm free, world. Beca Mitchell is no longer under quarantine." After giving Beca some time to revel in her happiness, Chloe got the giggles. "What, Chlo? Why are you laughing?"

"Well, you are still trapped along with the rest of the world. You may be able to go shopping for your own groceries and exercise outside, but you still have to wear a mask and limit your exposure. It would suck if you got sick after keeping yourself cooped up for two weeks."

"Spoilsport," Beca teased. "Hey, you are still working. How about I take over grocery shopping? Send me your list then you can come home and relax rather than have that extra time added to the end of your shift?

"Beca, you're my hero."

The weeks turned into a few months. Beca and Chloe continued to lean out their windows to talk, FaceTime and text constantly. Chloe kept suggesting a meet up in the hallway sitting 6-8 feet apart with masks on, but Beca continued to push that idea down. It was bothering Chloe so much that she finally broke down and asked Beca why she refused.

"Because, Chloe, I don't want to be that far apart from you when we finally hang out and go out on our date. I want to wait."

"But, why?"

"You'll see, Beale. You'll see."

A week after that conversation, the Governor gave the all-clear. In another week's time, people would be allowed back out to be around people as long as they were healthy. The suggestion was made that older citizens and those with compromised immune systems ease back in more slowly. Businesses were going to open slowly, and people could begin to trickle back to their jobs. Beca was overjoyed. She texted Chloe, "I hope you aren't working next Monday."

"I'm not, why?"

"Good. Keep your schedule clear and be ready at 11 a.m. Wear something casual."

"Okayyyy…"

"You'll see, Beale. You'll see."

The day had come. Beca was giddy with excitement, not only to be able to be among the public but to finally, FINALLY, go on her date with Chloe. She took a long shower and shaved every bit of herself, dried her hair and curled it slightly, put on some light makeup. She dressed in her favorite pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and her beloved black boots. Grabbing the picnic basket she put together earlier in the morning, she practically ran down to the second floor and stopped in front of Chloe's door.

Raising her fist to knock, she paused. "This is it. You can do it, Beca." Before she laid her fist against the door, it swung open.

"Yes, you can," Chloe said, smiling. The two stood there for a moment, taking each other in before they simultaneously launched toward each other in the biggest hug ever.

Beca buried her face into Chloe's hair and took a deep breath, smelling her shampoo, her essence. "You see, this is why I wanted to wait."

A/N: Song is Vertigo by Khalid