Beck had been waiting for quite some time for Chloe to meet him at his dorm. He'd managed to convince Jesse to go out; reminding him of the film festival going on at the local theater, and the movie buff was out of his way. But it had been a few hours since Beck had asked Chloe to come by the dorm and he was beginning to think she had changed her mind.

Just when he was about to give up and go to bed, Chloe stepped into the dorm without knocking, giving Beck a smile that knocked the wind out of him.

"Hey," she greeted, her eyes trained onto him as she took a seat on his bed.

"Hey, I was beginning to think you weren't gonna show," Beck admitted.

"Why do you always…" Chloe began, sliding her fingers between his, "…assume the worst?"

Beck sighed at the accuracy of her statement. He couldn't help but always think the worst, assuming that everyone would grow to hate him and that everyone would leave him the way his father had. It was natural for him to pull away from everyone.

"Habit, I guess."

"You can trust me," the redhead said quietly, her lips meeting his temple, "I care about you."

It was a little startling hearing that, when in fact he hadn't known Chloe very long at all. Sure, he liked her quite a bit, but the way she looked at him and spoke to him seemed genuine. As much as he thought this would excite him, he was more frightened by the prospect of someone liking him this much.

"Okay," Beck lowered his voice, taking a deep breath as he prepared to be honest with her, "If you really mean that, there's something I need to tell you…about me."

Chloe nodded, not letting go of his hand but silently willing him to continue.

Nervously he wiggled his fingers against her, chuckling lightly as his heartbeat sped up.

"I'm trans…gender. I was born biologically female, but I've lived as male since I was twelve, and I'm on hormones, I bind my chest every day and I…" he trailed off, noticing her overwhelmed expression, "sorry if that's a lot, but you deserve to know who you're kissing, or whatever, and if it bothers you, this is your chance to run."

There was a long silence between them, Chloe gazing at Beck before she tightened her hold on his hand. She licked her lips and took a breath.

"I'm not going to run," she began, "but that's a lot to just throw at someone. I don't know what—what any of that really means, but I do know you're different than any guy I've ever met," when his face fell, she amended her statement, "in a good way."

Beck smiled, wondering what he'd done to deserve a girl like Chloe in his life. He'd really expected her to leave, just like every other girl he'd ever liked, just like his father had. He still believed his coming out was part of why his dad left them, despite what his mother tried to say otherwise. It was just too much for most people to handle.

"Do you have questions? I'll answer anything you wanna know," he offered once he caught his breath.

Chloe thought about it for a moment before answering.

"Isn't it hard for you? Having to hide who you are? I can't imagine all the things you have to deal with, or how difficult it must be just to be treated normally," she murmured, "does anyone else know?"

Beck shook his head, explaining that the only ones who knew were the staff of the university, the admissions department, his professors. Other than that, no one here at Barden knew he was trans.

"I'm afraid it would change the way people thought of me," he explained, not meeting Chloe's eyes.

"It changed the way I thought of you," she admitted, and he looked up before she continued, "you're so much stronger and more amazing than I ever thought possible."

She let go of his hand only to bring her fingers across his cheek, brushing against his soft stubble found there. She smiled, leaning forward and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Do you mean that?" Beck whispered.

"Of course," Chloe responded, "I don't say things I don't mean."

"Well, to answer your question, it is hard sometimes, not being honest with people. But it's safer that way. Not everyone would be as understanding as you."

"They're ignorant."

"They might be, but…they represent the dominant mindset of the area, because, well, if you haven't noticed, we're in Georgia. It's the South. People here aren't really known for their liberal mindset," Beck laughed bitterly.

"I guess that makes sense. I'm not from here though, I'm from Florida, it's a little more moderate there than anything. Where are you from?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Portland, Oregon, it's a lot more open-minded than Atlanta."

"Why did you come here then?" she queried, correcting herself right after, "not that I'm not glad you did." The girl's hand settled onto Beck's knee.

He sighed, "It's a long story. My dad's a professor here, and it's a free education. I wasn't really in any position to say no."

Chloe nodded in understanding, squeezing his knee before leaning in again. He didn't give her a chance though, curling his arms around her and swooping in for a kiss. She giggled lightly when they pulled away.

"I was just thinking about how I'd never kissed you, it was always the other way around," Beck mused.

"You can kiss me anytime."

"Be careful, I might just take you up on that!"

The two of them settled into his bed together, opting to watch a movie as an excuse to spend more time together. Chloe kept asking him questions about being transgender, having him explain what it was like to bind his chest, how he chose his name and whether it was painful doing his testosterone shot. She even expressed interest in helping him with that, which he argued against, saying he'd rather do it himself. She sighed, leaning against his chest.

Beck flinched when her hand drifted beneath the hem of his shirt.

"Can you show me your binder?" Chloe asked innocently.

He pulled away, leaning up and shoving her hand away.

"I—I'm sorry, but I can't. It's too personal and I just…" Beck looked so devastated that Chloe didn't have a chance to be.

She nodded, sitting up on the bed and slipping her shoes back on.

"I understand," Chloe glanced at the clock, "it's late, I should probably get back. Aubrey's going to be wondering where I am."

"Right."

"Bye," the redhead spoke as she stood up, resting her hand on Beck's head hesitantly before leaning down to kiss it, "I'll see you."

"Yeah," Beck responded, watching her leave.

Once she was gone, he changed into his pajamas, relieved to finally take off his binder after a long day. He pulled the covers up over his body and tried to go to sleep, thinking about how he might've just hurt Chloe's feelings. He couldn't help but be a little squeamish about things like that, especially since he hadn't known Chloe for very long. His crush on her didn't change the fact that he didn't know her well, despite wanting the opposite.

Eventually he fell asleep, unaware as to what was awaiting him at tomorrow's rehearsal.

It seemed like a normal day as he headed to the rehearsal space, but Beck noticed the way his teammates, namely Bumper, were looking at him.

"Take a seat," the leader spoke, serious for the first time ever as he gestured to a chair beside of where he was standing.

Nervously Beck obeyed, taking a seat and looking up at Bumper.

"You've been keeping something from us, haven't you?" Bumper asked.

"I…" there was only one thing he could mean.

"Beck here isn't actually a dude," he continued, "He's been pretending to be one the whole time. Why is that, huh? Are you spying on us?"

"N-no, I'm not, I'm transgender, and I—please don't do this," Beck pleaded.

Bumper laughed mirthfully, not believing him, "The Trebles is a guys only acapella group. Unless you can prove to me you're one hundred percent male, you're kicked out of the group."

Beck wondered how Bumper could've possibly found out. No one knew except Chloe. He had trusted her, but she must've said something to someone. He looked down at the floor, fighting back tears. He knew he couldn't prove anything.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to lie to you guys, but what I said was true. I'm transgender, and I'm taking hormones, and the university allowed me to stay in the guys' dorm and no one was supposed to know," Beck bit his lip, "I'll go. I'm sorry."

He stood up and grabbed his backpack, rushing out of the group to leave Bumper and the others there to discuss what had just happened.

"How'd you find out she wasn't a dude?" Donald asked, not having been informed about the situation until now.

Jesse sighed, holding up Beck's license, "Beck dropped this in our dorm. When I saw it, I couldn't believe it…and I showed Bumper," it was obvious he regret saying something, not agreeing with Bumper's decision to kick him out and feeling very guilty for outing him.

"You could get a single if you want to file a complaint, you know," Bumper added, referring to their roommate situation.

Shaking his head, Jesse disagreed, "I don't have a problem with him," he pocketed the ID, "but if you guys do, then I'm out."

Without another word he left the speechless Trebles.

Meanwhile, Beck had taken it upon himself him to confront Chloe, whom he believed had told his secret. He knew where their practice space was and so he tried there first, but it was empty, so he dropped by her dorm room.

He knocked loudly, trying to calm himself as he clenched and unclenched his fists waiting for Chloe to answer the door. She opened the door and gave him a smile.

"Beck, hi, I didn't know you were dropping by," she stepped outside and closed the door, "Aubrey's inside, so I really can't talk right now."

Aubrey couldn't know about their relationship, or whatever it had been, but Beck wasn't concerned, since he was pretty intent on ending it now anyway.

"Did you tell someone about what I told you?" he accused, his voice full of bitterness.

"What? No, of course not," Chloe couldn't believe he'd ask her that.

"Well, Bumper and the guys found out, and they kicked me out of the Trebles."

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry…" she leaned up to touch his arm but he pulled away from her touch.

Beck's eyes dropped to the floor, "It's fine, I don't even care. Just please don't say anything to anyone else, I can't risk having the shit beat out of me."

"I didn't tell anyone!" Chloe argued, crossing her arms to her chest, "I swear! I didn't even tell Aubrey. It's no one's business, Beck. I would never do that to you."

He almost believed her.

"Yeah. I'll see you around."