“To make the payment with Discover, Mastercard or Visa credit or cheque card, press three.”
The automatic robot tone rings out loudly in the empty living room as Beca sits alone in the dark, holding her phone in her hand. It’s almost 2 AM. She knows she should be sleeping right now but the thought of leaving tomorrow for her next leg of tour keeps her up at night.
Pressing the button on the touch screen, the phone beeps.
“The current balance due is $1,685,” Beca inhales sharply and leans back against the couch in defeat. She knew it was bad but she wasn’t expecting it to be that bad. An already opened bottle of wine sits on the coffee table in front of her and Beca reaches forward to take a swing straight from it.
“To pay the current balance due, press one. To pay a different amount, press two,” Biting her lip, Beca select to pay a different amount and waits for the instructions. “To authorize and continue, press one. All right. Hold on while I process your payment.”
Lily Was Here by Candy Dulfer starts playing obnoxiously in an altered key making the singer cringe. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to wait long. “We’re all set.”
The line goes dead and the brunette drops the phone onto the table and looks outside the window. The moon shines brightly through the curtains, offering a little peace of mind that she desperately needs.
Soft footsteps reach her ears and Beca doesn’t have to look behind her to know Chloe is up. The redhead walks to her silently before she sits down beside the girl and leans her head on her shoulder.
“You left me all alone in bed,” She whispers softly, fingers reaching out to play with Beca’s ring on her thumb.
“I know, I’m sorry,” She drops a kiss to the top of her head and wraps an arm around her waist to pull her in more, “I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Are you okay?”
Beca shrugs, “Yeah, I just...you know, I’m just nervous for tomorrow,” She pauses to try and enjoy the feeling of Chloe being so close to her after not having this type of luxury for months at a time. Beca loves her job almost more than anything but being away from her loved ones (especially from the girl in her arms) is getting more and more difficult.
“Mom called earlier today.”
Chloe slowly lifts her head and looks at the brunette, “What did she want?”
Beca sighs and lets out a laugh that’s bordering on the edge of sarcastic, “She kind of hinted that she has some bills piling up that she doesn’t have the money to pay for. She didn’t outright said it, but, I got the picture,” She motions to her phone, “I thought I’d take care of it before...everything.”
Ocean blues soften. Chloe knows Beca’s relationship with her mother had been rocky ever since her father left them and her mom remarried. But their issues only got worse when her mom started using alcohol and drugs as a way of coping, her step-father gladly joining her.
It wasn’t the first time Beca had to step in to help her mother out of trouble.
“How much this time?”
“Almost $1700,” Chloe winces, “Maybe if she didn’t bail out Gary two weeks ago, she’d have enough to pay for herself but I guess, he’s more important.”
The resentment is clear in Beca’s tone but Chloe can hear the sadness lurking just below the surface. She can’t imagine how heartbreaking it must be to have the world at your feet with people shouting out their love for you but the one person who you truly want to be there, doesn’t give a damn.
Not quite knowing what to say, Chloe cups her cheek and kisses her lightly, “I’m sorry, honey.”
“It’s... well it’s not okay but she doesn’t want my help. Only my money,” Beca melts into the touch, allowing herself a second to breathe. She hates the thought of her mother being vulnerable and stuck in a shitty situation and tried to pull her out numerous times but she lashed out every time.
There’s only so much Beca can do.
“You should go back to bed. I’m just gonna call her quick to let her know and I’ll be right up.”
Chloe smiles gently and curls further into her arms, “I’m okay here if you don’t mind company. We should take advantage of the peace and quiet before all hell broke loose,” She laughs, “I want to keep you all to myself.”
Beca closes her eyes for a second as her hands move up and down Chloe’s back, drawing aimless figures, “I would love nothing more, baby.”
Because of the timezone, Beca doesn’t hesitate to dial the familiar number as they fall silent to listen to the rings on speaker.
“Make your bets now. Wasted or high?”
Chloe only holds her tighter in response.
Her mother chirping voice sounds on the other side and Beca pulls her phone closer to her lips. “Hi, mom.”
“Oh hi Beca. How are you, darling?”
The brunette sighs quietly when her mom slurs her words together. Definitely drunk.
“I um, I just payed that WPS bill that you told me about.”
“Oh, did you really?” The genuine surprise in her tone makes Beca clings her phone tighter. Chloe instantly feels her body growing rigid and starts to leave open-mouth kisses on her warm skin to keep her grounded.
“Yeah, I payed a little over instead of the actual amount so you should be fine for a while.”
“Thank you, baby, really. We’re just struggling here and I hate even asking you ‘cause I feel like such a failure.”
Beca hates the way her heart still clenches at the words, even after all the time her mom screwed her over. But she’s still her mom and all Beca wants to do is make her happy.
“No, it’s okay,” She assures her quickly and looks down at Chloe with a small smile, “Do you still need a car? You know, after the accident.”
The accident being Greg getting drunk and wrapping the car around a traffic pole. Fortunately, nobody was hurt but he got arrested and put on probation.
“I do. The mechanic said it’s totaled so we’re trying to figure out how to buy a new one but there are no good sales at the moment,” Her mom explains, “I really need one to like, get to work and Greg needs it run errands.”
Beca grinds her teeth, knowing the word errands means buying drugs nowadays.
“Alright.”
She can tell her mom is hoping she would jump on the chance of buying her one without really asking but Beca refuses to do it. When the silence stretches on for too long, her mom sighs loudly.
“Well, thank you again for helping your poor mother out,” she says, “I promise to repay you as soon as I can.”
It’s all empty promises. “Yeah. Okay, mom.”
“Alright, well, it was nice to hear your voice. Goodnight, Beca.”
“Bye, mom.”
She longs to throw the phone across the room but Chloe is there before she gets swept away in her emotions.
“Come to bed,” She whispers gently, slowly pulling away and grabbing her hand, “Let me hold you for a while.”
Beca lets her guide her upstairs and into their bedroom and when she finally closes her eyes well into the night, she hopes tomorrow will be different.
Chloe rolls her eyes bemusedly from the kitchen before checking the boiling pot of pasta that’s currently cooking on the stove. Her homemade bolognese sauce resting on the side, Chloe fishes out a strand of pasta to check if it’s ready.
The warm afternoon sun shines through the window in front of her and into their tiny Brooklyn apartment.
Straining the now completely cooked pasta, Chloe turns off the stove and lets it hang out in the strainer until all the water drips down.
“First of all she’s a girl, not it!” Chloe shouts back without turning around and chuckles when she hears Beca’s faint puff. “And second, she’s a kitten, Becs. There’s not much she can do.”
Beca frowns before looking down at the small white kitten with entirely familiar blue eyes hiding under their coffee table.
Their day starts out like any other. They wake up way too early to spend a lazy hour in bed, enjoying the rare times that they got to be together in complete peace before embarking the busy streets of New York.
Their morning routines works like a well oiled machine by now, getting ready around each other with only a few bumps in the road when Beca walks out of the bathroom too fast almost hitting Chloe with the opening door.
Lunches packed, headphone secured, dog treats in pockets, they walk down the set of stairs hand in hand and all the way to the corner before Chloe pecks Beca on the lips and they part ways. Beca going down to the subway while Chloe walks the twenty minutes journey to the animal clinic.
After a series of cancelled meetings with her clients cut her day short at the studio, Beca arrives back home to an empty apartment and settles into the living room with her laptop, intending to spent the few hours tweaking a couple of demos that needs it before Chloe arrives home. Headphones securely placed on her ears, the entire world fades into the background of sloppy beats and unenthusiastic tempo.
The time on the right corner of her screen is left unchecked which is probably why she almost has a heart attack when their front door burst open, revealing an excited but upon further examination guilty looking Chloe Beale in the doorway.
After she is sure her heart would remain in its place inside her chest and not jump out the window, Beca pushes the headphones around her neck and quirks an eyebrow in question.
Before she sees a pink blanket with a kitten sitting on top of it in Chloe’s hands.
It isn’t entirely unheard of Chloe bringing home animals from work, much to the brunette’s dismay but those creatures only stay for a day or two before Chloe arranges more permanent places for them to wait for adaption.
But something about Chloe’s body language and nervous smile lets Beca know that this is gonna be different.
“Chloe, what?”
“I know, I know,” Chloe rushes forward and sits down in front of the couch on their coffee table, placing the kitten in her lap. “But we didn’t have room for her at the clinic and she was the only one left in the box that didn’t have a home and I just couldn’t leave her there, Becs.”
Beca’s mouth falls open but before she can shake her head no, two sets of strangely almost identical, incredible blue eyes locks onto her hers, pleading with all of their power and she is unable to do anything but sigh and accept her faith.
She never learnt how to say no to those.
So that’s how she finds herself with a cat that she does not know anything about.
“Isn’t that why she should do something?” Beca questions genuinely confused as she lowers her head to eye the white kitten, its - her, Beca reminded herself - blue eyes staring back at her curiously. Beca wonders if she can sense fear. “Aren’t kitten supposed to be energetic?”
Walking into the living room while drying her hands with a cloth, Chloe bites back a smile when she sees Beca almost laying on the floor on her stomach, peering curiously under the table.
“Normally yes but she had a big day. Just let her get used to the space and she will be tearing through your cables in no time.”
Beca gasps dramatically and whips her head around to look at Chloe. “That’s not even funny. Don’t give her any ideas!”
Chloe smiles softly. “Don’t worry, Beca, she will be fine.”
The brunette frowns for a second before peeking under the table again. “I’m not worried.”
Chloe bites her bottom lip trapping the sarcastic ‘yeah, sure’ slip out from her mouth and nods. Beca could pretend to be all badass who doesn’t care about anything but Chloe knows better. She will love that cat more than Chloe.
“Do we have food for her?”
Chloe nods. “Yeah, I bought some cat food from the clinic but we can go shopping for more tomorrow. We need to buy her bowls and toys anyway.”
She puffs out teasingly. “Believe me, she will find something to play with if she doesn’t have anything.”
Beca glances nervously down the hall, picturing her equipment and many attached cables stored in their second bedroom ripped and bit to shreds, scratch marks all over her piano and cat hair on her mixing board.
The image is going to give her nightmares.
“Yup, first thing tomorrow.”
Chloe’s infectious laugh bubbles out of her freely, making Beca feel slightly more relaxed.
“She’s not a monster, Bec.”
“You telling me all that doesn’t exactly help convince me otherwise!” The brunette exclaims loudly from the floor, instantly lowering her voice when the kitten flinches suddenly at the loud volume.
“Sorry.” She apologizes before she knows it and groans to herself when she hears Chloe’s giggles.
“Really, babe, let her be.” Chloe says gently and throws the cloth over her shoulder and goes over to the pair. “Let’s have dinner while she explores a little.”
She holds out her arm for Beca and pulls the reluctant brunette to her feet, kissing her cheek wetly in silent gratitude. She knows she should have asked her girlfriend before deciding to bring home a living, breathing animal that she knew Beca would freak out about but she just couldn’t help herself.
And ultimately, it’s not like Beca would have said no.
She never quite learned how to say no to Chloe.
Which the redhead can proudly say she used to her advantage only a handful of times.
Once the dinner is mixed together and placed on the center of the table, they trade stories about their day causally and Beca forgets about that small ball of fur that is most definitely looking for her first victim.
Well, almost forgets.
Because in the next moment, a loud crash of their brand new reading lamp falling to the floor rings out in the apartment, bringing the conversation to an abrupt stop.
Beca closes her eyes slowly and takes a deep breath through her nose while Chloe almost bites through her lip to keep from laughing out loud.
A/N: still not 100% happy with this but it’s something.
//
“This is a bad idea.”
Beca murmurs under her breath anxiously as she paces back and forth in the kitchen, her lips caught between her teeth and her fingers keeps flexing out of nervousness. Her dad puffs out an unimpressed grunt beside her as he focuses on cutting up the vegetables for today’s dinner.
To which Chloe is invited.
Her girlfriend of four months Chloe Beale to an evening dinner with her father.
Beca looks down at her wrist watch and thinks that maybe it is not too late to kill herself.
“Honey, don’t be ridiculous. Everything is gonna be fine.” Her dad tries to assure her but the words slips in and out of her ears in a matter of seconds. “You do know I have met Chloe before, right?”
Beca rolls her eyes and stops her pacing. It is not her father’s opinion of Chloe that makes Beca want to crawl out of her skin, but rather the thought of letting Chloe see firsthand the meaning of a dysfunctional family. Her ever cheerful and optimistic girlfriend getting a glimpse of the side of herself that she doesn’t like showing that only comes out when she spends time with her father.
“This is different!” She cries out and points an accusatory finger at his chest, trying to appear as intimidating as possible. Which is not a lot. “I swear, if you even mention a baby picture...I’m never talking to you again.”
She doesn’t really think about her words until her father sends her a smile a little too sad and his eyes lose its brightness for a moment.
“It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Great, now she feels like an asshole.
Her mind instantly feels with memories of her childhood where not talking to her father was her greatest hobby, enjoying him being the one who gets hurt whenever she ignored him instead of the other way around.
She doesn’t like thinking about those moments because while they are on semi-good terms now, it still makes her feel like she’s fourteen again, being locked away in her bedroom so her mom doesn’t see her cry.
She opens her mouth to apologize but the doorbell ringing cuts her off.
“That must be her.” She announces awkwardly and lingers for a second before her dad quirks an eyebrow at her and she wills her feet to start moving.
She finds Chloe standing on the porch with a beaming smile on her face as she opens the door, clad in a beautiful blue dress that brings out her eyes like crazy. Her red flaming hair falling gently on her shoulders in curls and she’s holding two bouquet of flowers in her hands.
“Hey, you.” She breaths out gently as she’s unknowingly moves toward Chloe rocking up on her toes to press her lips against hers for a chaste kiss.
“Hm.” Chloe sighs against her as Beca pulls away, her smile turning into something softer that still makes Beca feel butterflies.
“This is for you.” Chloe says, holding out the smaller bouquet of flowers filled with white lilies and Beca takes them with a pout that she would rather not comment on.
“We could like totally slip away before he notices.” She rushes out the words and feels lighter when Chloe laughs freely and grabs her free hand to lace their fingers together.
A rather pointed cough behind her has Beca roll her eyes and Chloe giggle.
“Busted.” She says lowly before lifting her gaze to her dad who’s standing in the doorway, a playful smile on his face. “Hello Dr. Mitchell, it’s nice to see you again.”
“I think we are way past that, Chloe. Please call me Warren.” Beca narrows her eyes at the pleasantries suspiciously. “Come on in.”
-
Beca doesn’t really know how Chloe does that. How she can just sit beside her at the table, oddly confident as she’s making her dad laugh like he’s heard the funniest thing in the world. She doesn’t look nervous or uncomfortable, unlike Beca who felt like she might start shitting bricks when she met Chloe’s mom a couple of weeks prior and she asked where she was from.
Not her finest hours.
But Chloe just breezes through the inevitable questions like a pro, basically charming her dad off his seat.
“ - my back was turned for one second and I heard a scream and suddenly all the Bellas are spread out on the ground.” Chloe tells the embarrassing story enthusiastically and relishes in the way it makes Warren laugh while Beca squirms in her seat.
“In my defense, those heels were too high and Amy pushed me.” Beca interrupts the giggling fest with a growl. “I only grabbed her for balance. I didn’t know she was going to bring everybody down.”
Chloe gives her a teasing smile as she reaches for her glass and gives her attention back to her Dad.
One of the flowers sits on the kitchen counter in a clear vase, the beautiful lilac bringing color to the otherwise grey and cold kitchen, filling it with light and happiness that it didn’t see in years. Beca thinks it sounds familiar.
“Oh, before I forgot.” Warren dabs at the corner of his mouth and lowers his cutlery. “Shelia sends her apologies but she’s unfortunately stuck at a conference out of town.” His sincere eyes turning to Chloe who waves off the apology.
“I completely understand but I’d like to meet her sometimes.”
“Next time, definitely.” Her Dad replies instantly and Beca quirks an eyebrow, stabbing her salad with the fork.
“And I’m sure she’s gonna love the flowers as well.” Warren looks at the lilac before laughing. “I’ll certainly try my best to keep them alive until she comes home. I’m not the best at taking care of things.”
Beca barely manages to keep the scuff inside her throat at the remark but warm fingers cover their own under the table, keeping her grounded.
“I’m sure you’ll do great.” Chloe smiles politely. “They just need a little water every now and then.”
The conversation dulls for a moment while they continue to eat and Beca just want this to be over. Yes, it is going well, more so than she thought but the chance of the other shoe dropping is rising quickly and she wants nothing more than to be back at her home, in Chloe’s bed just laying the day away.
“So, Chloe,” Warren looks up with a teasing smile playing on his lips and Beca doesn’t like where this is heading. “Tell me what my daughter has been up to for the last couple of months. She keeps running away when I ask.”
To an outsider, he appears to be joking but Beca hears the underlining seriousness of it, the truth that she has been pulling away slightly and avoiding picking up her phone when her dad’s name is seen on her screen.
She feels Chloe’s eyes burning into the side of her head but she keeps her gaze on her father, silently communicating that he needs to drop the subject.
“Not even with the Bellas?” Warren smirks, an action identical with his daughter.
“We are doing amazing.” Chloe chimes in helpfully with a beaming smile that only talking about the Bellas could bring out of her. And of course, Beca.
“Someone would say aca-awesome.” She says cheekily, slightly leaning sideways to bump Beca’s shoulder with her own and the brunette can’t help mirror her smile even if she rolls her eyes.
“If by aca-awesome, you mean pain in my ass than yeah.” Beca says sarcastically and leans back in her chair, her hand squeezing Chloe’s gently to show she is joking even though Chloe already knows that.
The redhead smiles warmly. “Yeah, it’s been a little hectic with the championship and finals coming up, for Beca even more with the internship. I think everybody is starting to feel the pressure more and more. It’s not easy keeping the girls in line.”
“What internship?”
Beca whips her head up from staring at her plate at her dad’s confused question and her mouth falls open slightly. Crap.
“Um yeah, I got an internship at a recording studio.”
She can tell her dad’s trying to keep the smile on his face for Chloe’s sake and she’s grateful but his voice is strained when he congratulates her and Beca feels an emotion very close to guilt stab at her heart.
Warren nods and widens his smile like nothing’s wrong. “I bet it is a lot of work. I heard this one rehearsing in her room all day yesterday.”
His eyes focus on Beca and the brunette squints her eyes back at him while Chloe chuckles and everything goes back to normal. Well, not for long.
“So to what date do I need to buy my ticket for New York? I wouldn’t wanna miss seeing you guys perform for the last time.”
Beca bits her bottom lip when Chloe suddenly frowns her eyebrows together in confusion and shakes her head.
“Um,” Chloe looks back and forth between them.
Between the rehearsals, the internship and the plain simple stress Beca didn’t have time to tell him about Copenhagen. Of course, the news informed him about the muff-gate incident but Beca realizes guiltily that she didn’t filled him in about anything else. Maybe she has been shutting him out more than she thought.
“Dad, the World Championship is in Copenhagen this year. We all fly out right after graduation.” Beca murmurs, avoiding eye contact even though she feels two pair of disappointed eyes staring at her.
“Right. Well, it’s too late for that now.” Warren says quietly and Beca winces when his fork clacks loudly against his plate as he puts them down and pushes out his chair. He flashes them both a small smile. “I don’t know about you girls but I think I need to lay down after all this food.” He pets his stomach playfully before turning to Chloe. “Chloe, thank you for joining us. I hope we can do it again soon.”
Chloe forces on a polite smile and nods enthusiastically despite the awkwardness. “Thank you for the dinner, Warren. I’m looking forward to it.”
The dining room is silent as he leaves without another word and Beca wants to bang her head against the table. This is the other shoe she was waiting to be dropped. She just didn’t know it was going to be her.
She snaps her head up when Chloe’s hand slips out from her grasp and the redhead turns to her with a serious expression, eyes boring into Beca’s.
“Becs...” Chloe gentle tone makes Beca sigh and she doesn’t need to say anything else.
“I know.” She murmurs and stands up, kissing the back of Chloe’s hand gently. “Wait for me in my room?”
Beca puffs out a laugh when Chloe wiggles her eyebrows teasingly and walks towards the door before looking over her shoulder. “And no going through my stuff, Beale!”
“You are no fun!”
Beca rolls her eyes as she goes up the stairs to apologize to her father.
And several hours later, when Chloe catches her trying to find a last minute plane ticket to Copenhagen, she presses a smile into her skin before kisses her cheek and settles into her side.
A/N: The title is little on the nose but meh. I was watching PP2 when the idea came to me. Hope you like it :)
-
The tradition started out as a stupid bet, really.
It is during their first big spring cleaning at the freshly bought and furnished Bella residence when Beca hears shouting upstairs. The girls are all separate throughout the house, each having a task to complete so they can be finally done with all of this and Beca can go back to hide away in her room. It’s not that she hates cleaning (she does) but she can only take listening to the vacuum cleaner for so long before she wants to pull her hair out.
She’s in the middle of trying to reach the top shelf and yes, she knows it’s ironic how she got the role of the duster.
“Duster #2!” Flo corrected her loudly when Beca tried to argue with Chloe earlier and the brunette sighed.
Another loud thump comes from upstairs and Beca takes a moment to swipe the sweat from her brows as she lowers the duster to her side and turns to the kitchen where Chloe is already look at her. Beca wants to roll her eyes as Chloe is instantly in captain mode and goes to the bottom of the stairs, her hands on her hips as she looks up.
“Is everything okay? Stacie?” The muffled arguing continues and Beca watches as Chloe grabs the railing, ready to see what’s going on for herself when Amy suddenly comes into view. Her face is red and her shirt is ruffled but she’s beaming, holding a blue slide in her hand like it’s the most normal thing ever.
Beca stands behind Chloe and frowns. “What is that?”
“It’s a slide.” Amy’s ‘duh’ goes unsaid but Beca rolls her eyes anyway and crosses her arms.
“Where did you find it?” Chloe asks confusedly.
Stacie’s head appear next over the railing, her hair a mess and Beca smirks, knowing they have fought over it somehow.
“Chloe, she won’t let me get rid of it!” Stacie complains, pointing widely to the slide as Amy tightens her hold of it, pulling it closer to her chest. “We found it in a box in the closet.”
Beca bits back a smile as Chloe sighs. “Amy…”
“No!” Amy screams back before Chloe can finish. “There’s a use for it. I’ll show you.”
Before any of them could do anything, Amy suddenly drops the slide on the carpeted stairs and sits down, leaning over until she tips over. Beca instantly grabs Chloe’s arm and yanks her out of the way just as Amy comes crushing down where they were standing a moment ago with such force that would have definitely knocked them down like bowling pins.
Chloe stumbles backwards until Beca wraps her arms around her waist from behind protectively, steadying them both.
“Fuck.” Beca murmurs lowly as Chloe’s hand cover her own on her stomach and squeeze.
The whole house is silent as Amy stands up panting before slapping her hands onto her stomach loudly and declaring.
“I wanna go again!”
Thus, the tradition was born.
-
She delays it as long as she can, letting the other girls go ahead while trying to plead with Chloe to see reason. It’s a miracle nobody is hurt by the time Chloe herself slides down effortlessly, her infectious laugh ringing out all the way down.
But now that everybody did it once – Amy twice – Beca has no choice but to rip the slides off the ground and thump her way up the stairs, slapping her feet on the floor extra hard so they know she is angry.
It looks scarier than Beca had anticipated when she gets to the top but she takes a deep breath and sits down on the hard surface.
She hears Amy cry out again from downstairs that she wants another go before Chloe hushes her. Beca would gladly have her take her turn but that stupid little voice inside her head reminds her that the Bellas are all waiting for her and she would rather die during this than to let them have something to hold over her head.
“Fuck it.” She murmurs under her breath as she grips the slides and launches forward. It goes way faster than Beca thought as she reaches the first turn, slamming into the wall roughly before she’s at the last leg of the stairs, barely holding on. She can see the blurry figures of the girls jumping up and down encouraging her and she’s almost there until...
She feels the front of the slide get caught on a step and she doesn’t have time to correct it before she’s falling forward, landing hard on her right arm.
The pain is instant as she cradles her arm to her chest and screws her eyes shot. Panic erupts loudly from the Bellas as they surround her, multiple hands touching her all over not knowing what to do.
Beca hears Amy run to the kitchen to ‘get hot water’ for whatever reason as Chloe finally snaps and orders the Bellas to step back and give her room.
“Bec?” Chloe whispers calmly, one hand on her right shoulder while the other rest on her waist, careful not to hurt her. “What hurts?”
“My arm.” She whimpers.
“Do you think it’s broken?”
Beca opens her eyes and nods, seeing Chloe’s ocean blue eyes shining with concern.
“Okay, everything’s gonna be fine.” She assures her gently, her thumb wiping away the tear that Beca didn’t know she had shed before turning to Stacie.
“Stacie, I need your car.”
-
Several hours later, Beca is released from the emergency room with a declared broken elbow and a matte black cast that goes up to almost her shoulder, heavily drugged and loopy. There’s an evident grin on her face that Chloe has not seen many times before, totally carefree and happy as she clings to the redhead on their way to the car.
She mumbles crazy and random nonsense underneath her breath that has Chloe longing for a free hand to start recording her with her phone because she’s just too damn adorable.
“Hi!” She chirps up suddenly like it’s the first time she’s seen Chloe and the redhead grins.
“Hi, yourself.” She says easily. “Are you okay? How are you feeling?”
“Awes.” The toothless, almost childlike grin on her face just another reminder how high she is. “I have you.”
To prove her point Beca leans closer to Chloe’s face, until their noses touch just for a second before she pulls back.
Chloe bits her bottom lip and tightens her hold around her waist. “Yes, you do.”
Beca quiets down for a moment after that but Chloe’s heart keeps hammering in her chest.
“Hey, Chloe?”
“Hmm?”
“I have a secret.”
Oh boy, Chloe thinks with a smile. “What secret?”
“I had a toner for you for so long.” Beca whispers like it is still a secret. “You were so pretty and you had red hair like the little mermaid.” Her lips jot out just a little into a pout that Chloe finds absolutely adorable. “It’s my favorite movie but shhh don’t tell the others. I’m not supposed to like movies.”
Chloe opens her mouth struggling to say something back as Beca’s eyes gloss over, her train of thoughts totally forgotten like it never happened but it sits heavily in Chloe’s chest for a while. Instead Beca stumbles slightly in her steps and whines.
“I’m tired.”
Chloe smiles softly and opens the car. “I know. We’ll be home soon and you can sleep.”
Beca just gives her a toothless smile as Chloe secures her into the passenger seat, careful not to knock her cast against anything and closes her door for her. On her way over to the driver’s seat, Chloe puffs out a deep breath and tucks away the conversation that needs to happen for a later date...or when Beca isn’t drooling on the dashboard.
-
Needless to say, Beca’s cast is not blank for a while, the girls taking turns to write silly sometimes loving things on the surface or in Stacie’s case draw inappropriate things that Chloe did not notice until it was too late.
She shoos the girls away and drags the still sleepy Beca up the stairs and into her bedroom for a much needed nap. She turns on The Little Mermaid on her small TV in front of her bed and feels her heart warm up when Beca smiles softly with her eyes closed and snuggles deeper into Chloe’s arms, struggling to find a comfortable positions now with the cast.
Chloe drops a kiss on her forehead when she settles and sighs.
Wet smudges of paint drops to the plastic covered floor as Beca curses under her breath and quickly puts the brush to the wall to cover the mistake before it dries. The intense smell fills the small bedroom despite the wide open window to try and get it out before it carries into the entire apartment and reaches Chloe’s nose.
Beca might not know a lot about pregnancy do’s and don’t’s - she’s learning, though - but she definitely knows that fresh paint is not something a four months pregnant woman should be sniffing so when they decided to paint the nursery, Beca put her foot down and forbidden Chloe to step foot through the door, insisting she can do this on her own.
Well, she’s not so sure of herself anymore.
She can faintly hear the radio playing outside in the living room as she bends over to coat the paintbrush in the soft yellow color they have picked out a week ago and smiles. She tries not to be too giddy, they have five more months to go but her heart feels full and content, finally everything in her life is going the way she wants it to.
She isn’t even aware that she starts singing softly to herself as the brush slides down the wall, covering the dirty white that has been there since they have moved in until the lyrics register in her mind and she rolls her eyes.
She didn’t know how they ended up watching High School Musical of all movies yesterday, maybe it had something to do with the fact that Chloe had been in a Disney mood lately and practically bounced to the couch and laid on top of Beca, for comfort or to trap her Beca wasn’t sure.
So she suffered through all three movies until Chloe fell asleep on her shoulder but she didn’t have the heart to turn it off in case she would wake up. She wanted to be a good wife, shut up.
And it looks like she enjoyed it more than she let on because the lyrics comes out of nowhere.
I've got to move on and be who I am
I just don't belong here
I hope you understand
We might find a place in this world someday
But at least for now
I gotta go my own way
‘This is so dramatic.’ she thinks to herself but she can’t help bobbing her head. She’s a music producer for god’s sake and she knows good music from bad but she can’t even deny how catchy the melody is and she’s glad she is alone. She doesn’t think she would survive the embarrassment of being caught singing freaking High School Musical.
It isn’t long until her hips starts to move and she gets lost in the music, her arm waving on the wall smearing the paint around uncaring. She can paint over them later.
Don't wanna leave it all behind
But I get my hopes up
And I watch them fall every time
Another color turns to grey
She forgets where she is for a moment as her voice gets stronger, louder until she’s fully singing, giving it her all imagining herself in the movie, dramatically leaning back against the unpainted wall and tilting her head back, looking at the ceiling like she’s in the worst pain possible.
I've got to move on and be who I am
I just don't belong here
I hope you understand
We might find our place in this world someday
But at least for now
I gotta go my own way
She’s honestly doesn’t hear the door opening or sees her wife standing at the doorway with the biggest smile on her face watching her. She’s ready to sing the duet by herself when suddenly Chloe’s voice cuts through the room.
What about us?
What about everything we've been through?
Beca screams as she whips around, the brush falling from her grasp hitting the ground and wide eyes watching Chloe as she walks to her apparently fully committed to play Troy.
Beca puffs out a laugh when she doesn’t feel like she’s gonna have a heart attack and rolls her eyes again but continues when Chloe reaches her.
What about trust?
This is totally dorky and cheesy so why can’t Beca stop.
You know I never wanted to hurt you
Chloe’s eyes shines with mirth as she holds out her hand but Beca dramatically pushes it away and turns her back to her, crossing her arm over her chest, playing the girl who just got her heart broken.
And what about me?
Beca holds back her laugh when Chloe suddenly wraps her arms around her from behind, her baby bump preventing her from fully melting into Beca’s back but she tries nevertheless. Her face buries into Beca’s neck and Beca covers her hand on her stomach, squeezing gently.
What am I supposed to do?
I gotta leave but
I'll miss you
They carry out the tone perfectly and if it wasn’t them playing around, Beca would think they sound great. They don’t bother to finish the song because Beca can’t hold in her laughter anymore and she almost doubles over, feeling Chloe’s press a smile into her skin.
Beca turns in her arms and cups her cheeks, pressing a kiss to her lips.
“You are such a dork.” She whispers and purses her lips together when Chloe raises an eyebrow.
“Oh, I’m the dork? I’m not the one singing High School Musical to myself.” Chloe teases and Beca pushes the blush she feels creeping up her neck away. “Careful, Mrs. Beale-Mitchell, your soft side is showing.”
“You’re not supposed to be here.” She says half-heartedly and Chloe giggles.
“You know I can’t resist your voice.”
Beca rolls her eyes, knowing that fact very well but she still looks down at the cute little baby bump that’s been a home for their daughter for months and she can’t be fault for being protective.
“I love you but get out.” Beca jokes softly and smiles when Chloe chuckles before pressing another kiss to her lips, lingering for a second before turning her around by her arm and tapping her behind to get her moving.
Chloe’s carefree laughter follows her out and Beca can’t help but watch, feeling lighter than ever.
A/N: Just saw this prompt somewhere thought I’d give it a go.
-
Everybody knows Chloe Beale is not a shy person when it comes to her body.
Beca especially knows this, having been the key witness to Chloe baring it all without an ounce of shyness that one time in freshmen year in the shared bathrooms. Beca thought she was going to die when the curtains were ripped away, revealing an equally naked - then stranger - Chloe who just happened to be hooking up with Tom and heard Beca sing so she just decided to join her. No second guessing, no boundaries.
That memory still makes Beca shake. Sometimes for different reasons.
But she had not been lying when she said Chloe should be confident of her body.
She knew that sentence would bite her in the ass someday.
Because Chloe clearly took that as an invitation to not care if Beca is in the room when she’s changing.
Whether she changed her t-shirt, pants or that one time into a bikini right there in bathroom while Beca was brushing her teeth because “there’s an emergency pool party happening at the Treble’s Bec!” that left Beca almost choking and covering her eyes.
She really tried not to watch whenever that would happen but she couldn’t help herself sometimes.
Like in this moment right now.
She’s sitting on her bed, back to the wall after a long day at work of running around completing different coffee orders and avoiding being yelled at by her boss when Chloe appears.
Sweating and barely clothed. Her sports bra is neon pink, matched by the barely there black shorts with a pink strip on the sides, her hair pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head but her eyes are sparkling like crazy as she bounces in.
Beca’s trying to keep her reaction to the minimum but it’s hard. “Honey, I’m home.” She opts for a joke and breaths a little easier when Chloe laughs.
“Hi, baby!” Chloe teases right back and it’s totally a joke.
So why does Beca’s heart beats faster?
“How was work?”
Chloe smiles as she goes to the Beca’s closet for a change of clothes. Because it is normal to have clothes in your best friend’s closet when you are living in the same house.
She doesn’t close the door so Beca can clearly see her as she bends over to pick out a pair of sweatpants and a grey t-shirt.
Beca clears her throat and tries not to stare. “Um, it was fine. One of the other interns poured coffee on some big shot in the studio, though.”
Chloe gasp all dramatic and turns around for a second to look at Beca. “Oh no. Did they get in trouble?”
“Yup, got fired on the spot.”
Her laugh is loud and obnoxious as Chloe’s jaw hits the floor and her hands settled on her hips, half ready to march down to Residential Heat to demand the poor intern’s job back and Beca honestly loves her for that.
“Chlo, I’m kidding.” She says softly and sees Chloe relax. “I’m pretty sure he’s banned from the studio for a week and has to do a lap every morning to make up for it somehow.”
“That’s...better.”
Beca shrugs. “Honestly, Dax had it worse when he ate the boss’ trail mix once.”
Chloe hums absentmindedly and the conversation lulls. Beca looks down at her hands, gently picking the skin at her nails when she catches Chloe’s sports bra hitting the floor at the corner of her eyes.
And she’s honestly wants to keep her head down and wait until Chloe is clothed again but she can’t help herself.
Her eyes roam over so much skin as Chloe is turned away, down the perfectly toned muscles along her spine all the way to the little dimples on her lower back and Beca wants to reach out and touch...
She is shaking out of her thoughts - thankfully - when Chloe pulls on the grey t-shirt and releases her hair from the bun, letting red flaming hair flow down her back.
Beca can’t really move before Chloe is turning around and it is crystal clear that she is caught.
“Why are you just sitting there watching me change?”
And she panics. Of course, she does! She’s just been caught perving on her best friend which Beca pretty sure is a big no-no in the friendship handbook or something.
“Uhhh, i'm grading you! Congratulations, you get an A!”
She’s honestly just wants to smack her head into the wall.
But she can’t do anything as Chloe just looks at her for a second with a straight face before her lips starts to lift up at the corners.
“I deserve an A+ and you know it.” She even throws her a wink and then everything goes back to normal.
A/N: What? I uploaded? After three months? Fuck. And it’s not even good.
Just trying to ease back into things, don’t judge 😅
-
The tires screeches to a stop at the end of the dirt road, branches hanging over the windshield, the sun reflecting off the still lake below. A sigh leaves Beca’s mouth as Chloe kills the engine and pockets the key while looking at her with an excited smile.
Their holiday to Chloe’s family cabin just a half an hour to the south is a surprisingly pleasant vacation comparing to what Beca imagined when Chloe fell into bed on a Wednesday night, telling her her mother called and the whole family is going down for a few days.
Woods, bugs, in-laws and no internet is not something Beca considers ideal holiday but she would do anything for Chloe.
“We’re here.” She announces like Beca couldn’t tell already and reaches behind to the backseat to grab the duffel bag she packed yesterday.
“Please tell me we’re having a picnic.” Beca says as Chloe puffs and climbs out the car, she following closely behind. Chloe rounds around the back and holds out her arm.
“Yes.”
“...and?”
“Nothing.” Chloe smirks as Beca grabs her hand and lets herself be pulled to the rocks, the edge of the water brushing against the bottom. Chloe puts down the bag and starts pulling out napkins, plastic cups and sandwiches as Beca looks around.
“Why do i feel like you were having cliche high school parties here?” Beca questions and hears Chloe laugh loudly. “Somebody for sure pushed nerds over the edge there.” Beca points to the higher cliffs, imagining a jock standing laughing with his buddies while a kid struggled to stay afloat in the water. “The hot chicks lounging on pink floaties over there. Some guy tried his first sip of beer there.”
“And where do you think I was?” Chloe coos as she finishes unpacking and wraps her arms around Beca’s back, resting her chin on her shoulder.
“Probably in the woods, making out with the most popular guy from school.” Beca rolls her eyes with a grimace.
Chloe swats her arm and tsks. “Rude.”
“Was I wrong?”
“...let’s eat.” Pressing a peck on Beca’s cheek, Chloe turns around and goes to the blanket and Beca hides her smirk.
Chloe’s mom packed them some sandwiches with a piece of delicious chocolate cake for dessert to share. They chat lightly until Beca’s at her last mouthful of cake when Chloe suddenly stands up and pulls her shirt over her head. Beca almost chokes.
“What are you doing?” Beca coughs out as Chloe smirks, pushing down her pants until she’s in her underwear, pushing her hair behind her shoulder.
“What does it look like?” She smiles like it’s not a big deal but Beca gapes.
“Ha, nope.”
“Yes!” Chloe reaches for her but Beca stands up and moves away.
“Chloe, the water is freezing.” Beca tries to reason with her but Chloe doesn’t hear her.
She shrugs and goes to the edge of the rock, looking over her shoulder at Beca with a teasing smile and reaches behind her to unhook her bra, letting it fall on the ground. Beca’s brain short circuit at the sight.
“Fuck...” She mumbles and looks around to make sure they are alone.
Chloe laughs and dives into the water perfectly, emerging with her hair sticking to her face and Beca sighs in defeat. She feels angry at the fact that Chloe can make her do anything with a smile as she undresses, ignoring the redhead’s eyes on her.
Her breaths leaves her when she jumps into the water, feeling her chest tighten at the freezing cold. She gasp loudly as she emerges but Chloe is there, laughing in her ear and wraps her arms around her neck. Beca automatically holds her around the waist.
“Oh my God, it’s so fucking cold.” Beca shivers violently, kicking her legs to keep them above water while Chloe is clinging to her.
“Come here, baby.” Chloe coos and nibbles on her earlobe teasingly. “I’ll keep you warm.”
Beca dragged her feet along the corridors, heading towards her office the next day. Her mind had been working overtime since yesterday, thinking about ways to get rid of the journalist that had been assigned to follow her around like a puppy. Watching her every step. And Beca didn’t like that.
Don’t get her wrong, she didn’t have a problem with Chloe – if Beca actually took the time to get to know her she’d probably turn out to be a good person – but the feeling that she was being judged, criticized in any way didn’t sit well with her. Chloe was a journalist. She was trained to make stories interesting, make them dramatic and truthful. What if she made a mistake and it would be plastered all over on the newspaper, looming over her head for the rest of her carrier? She would be forever labeled wherever she went.
She sneered at the thought and pushed it to the back of her mind. She knew she was being paranoid; a trait she always had a hard time controlling.
It was earlier than usual, Beca kind of hoped she would get to spend the morning alone, getting herself ready for the day but those hopes were squished when she pushed open her doors, finding Chloe already sitting on the couch, snipping a beverage. Beca slightly haltered in her steps but regained her composer and greeted her politely. An extra coffee cup was waiting for her on her desk.
“I didn’t know if you drink coffee or not but I thought maybe you’d like it?” Chloe explained softly when Beca remained silent. The detective exhaled through her nose and grudgingly accepted the offering.
“Thanks.” She added shortly and sat down at the desk, grabbing some files on the surface ready to start working.
Their day seemed to drag along slowly with nothing much happening. Beca finished her paperwork while Chloe asked questions back and forth. The detective didn’t mind it as much as she thought she would, until the questions turned personal.
“Why did you want to become a detective?” The question was innocent enough to Chloe, who didn’t bother to glance up from her notes, patiently waiting for an answer. When Beca wasn’t forgoing with one, she lifted her gaze with curiosity as she saw Beca’s expression glaze over in thoughts.
The reason behind her decision to join the department was the one she was most protective over. Not many people knew her past and she’d like to keep it that way. Not have somebody print it out on paper for anybody to see.
“For personal reasons.” She answered sharply, her tone indicating she wouldn’t be answering that question at the moment.
Chloe titled her head slightly in wonder, eyes piercing into Beca’s while the brunette avoided the connections. The journalist could sense the uneasiness ooze from the detective so she pivoted the conversation.
“Do you mind if I film you for this portion of the interview?”
Beca sighed and nodded. “Sure. Go ahead.”
Chloe hit the camera icon on her phone and raised it to her eye line, making sure Beca was in focus.
“You graduated from The Connecticut Police Academy, right? Why did you decide to come back to your hometown?”
Beca narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “How do you know so much about me?”
“I did my homework, Detective Mitchell.” Chloe smiled friendly. “You have a very impressive resume. After college you spent three years in NYPD then went to Michigan then transferred to right here, Jackson, Georgia and spent three years at the local police station before certifying as a detective to the FBI. Why did you come back to such a small town?”
Beca sat tongue-tied, leaning back against the back of her chair as Chloe listed her whole life. She didn’t realize the journalist would dig up anything she could find out about her. Chloe zoomed in on the detective’s face.
Beca took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I was born here but left when I was sixteen. I never looked back once but after spending so much time in different places I wanted something familiar. This is the town I grew up in. It also didn’t hurt that I know it like the back of my hand.”
“Why did you leave at sixteen?” Chloe asked.
Beca clenched her jaw and hardened her gaze at the memory. “I had to. The system found me a foster family in South Carolina.”
Chloe’s eyes rounded in surprise at the admission and she unconsciously lowered the camera slightly while Beca chuckled humorlessly at the reaction.
“What? You didn’t know that, huh? It looks like you weren’t thorough enough with your research, Ms. Beale.”
Chloe inhaled sharply at the jab. She sensed the topic of foster care was a nerve so she didn’t push for the time being. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that. And please call me Chloe. We’ll be spending too much time together for you to keep calling me Ms. Beale.” She said softly and discreetly wrote down foster care on her notepad before looking back up. “Let’s continue.”
/
After two hours of conversation and a light lunch, the phone finally rang loudly in the office calling Beca to the west side of the village for a crime scene. They popped into a vehicle and sped down the streets. As the car rounded the corner, Chloe straightened up in her seat as several police cars, paramedics and the FBI were seen parking on the street in front of a typically standard two-stories home. Yellow police tape barricaded the scene from onlookers, probably neighbors who were curious about what was happening.
Beca parked the car at the curb and they exited the car, the detective walking slightly in front of Chloe and showed her badge to the local police to let her through.
As they stepped inside the building, Beca spotted Jesse walking towards them.
“Hey, what you got?” She asked and Jesse pointed to the staircase.
“Suicide. At least that’s what the police say but I thought I gave you a call and let you take a look.” They walked up to the master bedroom. Beca noted that the room was spotless, nothing out of place or out of ordinary. However, upon arriving at the en-suite bathroom Beca winced at the sight that greeted her.
A pale, Caucasian woman spread out naked in the bathtub, arms resting on the edge and blood still slipping from both of her wrist from two deep cuts. The water around her painted red and the shower curtains laying at their feet on the floor. Beca noticed the mirror above the sink were shattered.
Chloe inched her way closer and looked over the detectives’ shoulders. She felt her stomach launch slightly at the disturbing sight but she swallowed it down and pulled out her phone to record.
Beca talked to Jesse while she stepped inside the small space and examined the body further. “Do you have an ID?” The woman’s upper body were visible from the water and Beca didn’t see any bruising, only on her forehead.
“Helena Jones. 41. Her ex-husband found her an hour ago and notified the police.” Jesse listed as he and Chloe watched Beca look around.
“You said the police think it’s suicide.” Beca said while pulling a glove out from her jean pocket and putting it on, opening the medicine cabinet. She found anti-depressant and pills for anxiety inside but it didn’t alter her thoughts.
“Yes.”
“I don’t think it was self-harm.” She stated and turned back to Jesse, closing the cabinet and pointing to the broken mirror. “If she wanted to die, why would she break the window with her head before she slit her wrists? Why not just sit down in the tub and do it?”
Jesse shook his head. “Maybe she was angry with herself for having these thoughts and wanted to stop it. Clearly she was unstable.”
Beca bit the inside of her cheek and lingered on the woman lifeless body. Something didn’t seem right. “We have to bring in the ex-husband for questioning. Tell the team to swipe the entire house from top to bottom and let’s see if they found something. I have a hunch this was way too obvious. The pills for mental health, the slit wrists, the position.” Beca shook her head. “For some reason it feels too staged for me.”
“Got it.” Jesse replied and left the two women to give the police instructions.
Chloe stepped inside cautiously.
“Do you think it was murder?” She whispered quietly.
“I don’t know but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s no evidence of another person being involved but we can’t rule out anything until the autopsy results. That’ll tell us what happened.” Beca said, looking at the redhead.
/
When they arrived back at the station, Jesse already had the ex-husband set up in an interrogation room, ready to be questioned. The trio stood behind the two-way glass, observing the man sitting behind the table.
“He’s oddly calm.” Jesse commented, seeing the man with his hands intertwined on top of the table, gazing before him, zoned out. “He just found his ex-wife dead inside the bathtub. I would be a freaking out.”
“Let’s leave the analysis to the shrinks, Swanson. We have no reason to believe he was the one who did it as of yet so let’s just go in there and learn something new.” Beca demanded sternly as she turned to the redhead behind her. “You stay here and observe him. Maybe you’ll see something we’d miss.”
Chloe swallowed down her protest and tensely nodded her head. She knew it was hopeless to argue with the seemingly stubborn detective and simply closed her mouth and pulled out her phone to capture anything.
Jesse opened the door, letting Beca step in before him as they both took their seat silently before Thomas Pierce. The man sat with his intertwined hands on the table, eyes bouncing back and forth between the detectives with a tense grimace.
“Look, I know my rights. You can’t investigate me as a suspect without proper evidence and you can’t hold me here.”
“Mr. Pierce, you are not accused of anything. We just want to know what happened to your ex-wife. That’s all.” Jesse started out, explaining their motives in a calm tone as saw the man visibly relax and leaned forward.
“Now according to the police report, you were the one who notified the police, correct?” Beca opened up the file in front of her, pretending to read it out meanwhile she already memorized every last detail about the case. She needed to give the man a false sense of certainty to unconsciously pull the truth out from him.
“Yes.” Mr. Pierce answered quickly not elaborating.
“What were you doing in your ex-wife’s apartment that day?”
Mr. Pierce glanced between the pair. “I went there to pick up the rest of my stuff that I left from the move. We separated not long ago. When she didn’t answer my calls, I went upstairs to the bedroom and found her in the bathtub. And I called the police.”
Beca squinted her eyes at the explanation. “I understand your divorce was a long drawn out process. You were in and out of the courtroom for four years, battling over the custody of your three children.”
Mr. Pierce grinded his teeth as he stiffened at the mention of his kids. “I gained full custody for all three but Lena didn’t make it easy. She pulled out all her cards against me and poured out my dirty laundry in front of the judge. But in the end, it didn’t matter because the judge declared her unreliable to take care of them because of her… mental problems. She had the audacity to call me a deadbeat father.” Mr. Pierce growled out. “I wasn’t the one who tried to kill myself three times while my children were in the house.”
Jesse leaned forward. “You sound angry.”
“I was! She had the nerve to try and fight me for my children while she was the one who cheated.” Mr. Pierced exploded but taking in the unchanged reactions in front of him, he regained his posture. “That was the main reason we got separated.”
Beca glanced at Jesse, silently communicating with her partner before focusing on the man before her.
“I have one last question, Mr. Pierce. Did your wife had any enemies? Anybody that wanted to – I don’t know, take revenge on her?” Beca asked, eyes piercing into his as she tried to catch any sight of indication he was lying.
“Not that I know of…outside of the house, she was a very nice woman.” Mr. Pierce said, shaking his head. “Inside the house was where she had problems.”
/
“Okay, what are we thinking?” Jesse spoke out as he closed the door behind him. Chloe pocketed her phone as the three of them watched the man through the one-way mirror as he leaned back into his chair and constantly checked his watch on his wrist.
Beca wracked her brain for anything to give them a lead but came up empty. She crossed her arms over her chest and addressed the redhead beside her.
“Chloe, what do you think?”
Chloe stared the woman in surprise, not thinking she was going to ask for her opinion. She noticed Beca liked to work inside her head, planning out her every move before she informed her partner. Chloe glanced back at the suspect and bit her bottom lip.
“He didn’t show any sign that he was lying. He didn’t cross his arms or leaned away from you which would be a sure indicator but he maintained eye-contact and his tone didn’t falter at any point. He showed anger instead of fright which suggest he wasn’t intimidated and that he didn’t have nothing to hide. He answered honestly and didn’t try to dodge any of the questions.” Chloe listed off her observation without waver. “I don’t think he did it.”
The detective pair slowly turned their heads toward the woman, eyes rounded from shock. Chloe self-consciously shifted on her feet.
“What? I have a master in Phycology.”
Beca bobbed her head, impressed. “You keep surprising me.”
“I have a lot of talent you don’t know about, Detective Mitchell.” Chloe replied back, her tone dangerously dancing on the edge of flirtatious as Beca eyes bore into hers.
Jesse flickered his gaze back and forth between them like a tennis match, red flags appearing in front of his sight warning him of danger. But before he could break up the moment, Beca’s cellphone beeped loudly from her pocket.
“Jenna is finished with the autopsy. It’s time we finally got some answers.” Beca summarized the text message and pocketed her phone, strolling determinedly toward the department, the other two hot on her heels.
/
“What did you find?” Beca called out as soon as they stepped over the threshold of the sterilized room, Jenna Watson the FBI’s pathologist were hovering over the deceased woman’s naked body. No matter how many times she saw a corpse, Beca couldn’t help but feel her stomach whirl in disgust at the sight. Something about it looking like a sleeping person didn’t sit well with her.
Chloe tried to conceal her reaction to seeing the body opting to staying far away from the table it was place upon.
“Detective Mitchell, Swanson. Great to see you both. Although, not under the right circumstances.” Jenna commented as the three gathered around the table, eyes roaming over the surface. Jenna cleaned the outer regions of blood on her wrists and covered the victim from the waist down.
“Enlighten me.” Beca spoke out sarcastically, not having her usual sense of humor to make jokes of the situation.
Jenna quickly turned serious and pointed to the cut on her forehead. “You said the mirror was broken in the bathroom. Well, I wouldn’t say it was self-inflected. Some strands of hair were missing from the back of her scalp and I predict the suspect must’ve grabbed her from behind and smashed her into the mirror. However, there’s no further signs of evidence of self-defense, no bruising, no marks, nothing which is strange.”
“The husband said she wanted to kill herself. Maybe that’s why she didn’t fight.” Jesse suggested but Chloe shook her head.
“Self-conflicted harm and harm by somebody else is different. When she wanted to die, she was in control of her actions; she knew what to do and when to do it. With somebody else doing it for her, the strongest form of human nature flair to life which wants to live. Even without knowing it, she would’ve fought back.”
Jenna glanced at the newcomer raising her eyebrows. “Exactly. Now I did find some anti-depressant in her blood but the amount wasn’t anything alarming to numb her body.”
Beca nodded slowly, working the knots in her mind. “Okay, so you say she was attacked.”
“Definitely.” Jenna conformed before a quick smile escaped from her expression as she pulled out a manila envelope from her desk and handed it to Beca. “She definitely didn’t do that to herself.”
Beca cautiously opened the package and pulled out two photographs. Her eyes widen in surprise before they hardened into determination as the story became a little bit clearer.
“Perfect job as always, Watson.” Beca complimented the pathologist as she handed the envelope to Jesse for keepsake. Chloe watched as Jesse had similar reaction to whatever that file contained and her curiosity grew tenfold. She couldn’t wait long enough for Jesse to hand it over to her. As her eyes took in the sight, her mouth gaped open.
The pictures contained the bare back of the victim with the letter ‘A’ carved along her spine.
A/N: Had this story on my computer for over two years now....slightly based on the movie “Hangman”.
Photo credit: Brandi Kitten from pinterest
/
Balancing a tray of hot coffee, Detective Mitchell wobbled her way between the FBI station cubicles, already feeling annoyed in the early morning. She loved her job but getting up at 5 am in the crack of dawn wasn’t her idea of fun. The station was already buzzing with energy, employees starting their day just like her. She rounded the corner and maneuvered by an officer guiding a suspect away in handcuffs and pushed the door open to her office.
The room was fairly empty, the walls painted a light shadow of brown. Her large desk was pushed back and stationed in front of the windows and like usual it was covered in file cases in unorganized piles. A light-colored couch was pushed against the wall, perfect replacement of her bed whenever it was necessary. Often times important cases demanded her attention and she couldn’t afford to waste hours to go home.
She rounded the desk and settled down in the black leather chair, pushing away some of the paperwork she hadn’t completed last night on her desk and sat down the tray. The cracking of the door hinges alerted her of a newcomer and she looked up only to see her partner, Jesse Swanson.
“I would greet you with a good morning but I don’t think you would appreciate that.” His signature easy going smile made her shook her head. They have been partners for the last five years now and Beca trusted him with her life but if she was being honest, the kid could be a huge pain in her ass.
“Rough night?” He must’ve noticed her unenthusiastic expression as he inched his way inside the room, sitting down with a smile before her desk. “Is one of them for me?” He pointed with his finger and without waiting for an answer, leaned closer and stole one of the two coffees, tearing off the lid and sipping the beverage happily.
Beca rolled her eyes. “Well, that was just rude. It could’ve been for somebody else, Swanson. Don’t be self-centered.” She smirked, showing him, she was messing around. She grabbed the other cup and took a generous snip and sighed, leaning back on her chair.
“I was here ‘til two in the morning. Haven’t slept much.” She admitted as she closed her eyes just for a second. Beca knew that working for the FBI would come with its challenges but the continuous intensity of her job started to take a tool on her body. She had lost weight in the last couple of weeks and her mind was overwhelmed.
Jesse raised his eyebrows curiously. “New case?”
Beca shook her head as her jaw clenched. “No, just some paperwork I had to finish for the Johnson’s case. One more reason for me to hate that fucker.”
Kevin Johnson was one of her biggest cases since joining the FBI five years ago. He was a teacher who got obsessed with one of his student and tried to kidnap the girl. On a late night, he climbed in through her window and drugged her, took her from her house and put her in the trunk of his car. Her parents notified the FBI and Beca was the first one who responded to the call. She tracked him down in Chicago, Illinois and rescued the girl, putting him away for life. All that happened a week ago.
“He’s got what he deserved.” Jesse said. “The girl is safe and he’s going to rot in prison for the rest of his life. I mean, if the other inmates let him live for that long.” Jesse commented, crossing his arms across his chest. “Crimes involving children aren’t very popular, even in prison.”
She nodded knowingly. “One more lunatic off the streets, at least.” She mumbled, grabbing some of the scattered files and trying to organize them neatly, stacking them into the drawer.
Jesse let the conversation die down as drank his coffee while looking out the window over Beca’s shoulder. The weather was gloomy, grey skies gathering over their heads and Jesse wondered when it would rain. The comfortable silence was interrupted when one of the agents peeked his head through the door, addressing Beca.
“Mitchell. Captain Posen wants you in her office right away.” He waited for her to nod and left the two of them alone.
“What do you think she wants?” Jesse asked and Beca shrugged her shoulders.
“No clue but I’m about to find out.” She pushed her chair away from the desk and stood up. “You’ll wait for me here?”
Jesse shook his head. “I have some things to finish too. I’ll come by later. We can go to lunch?” He suggested, receiving a nod in reply as Beca left her office and made her way down the corridor.
Five doors down, she reached a wooden door with a sign ‘Captain Aubrey Posen’ in bold, black letters placed on the surface. Beca knocked slightly and after hearing an invitation to come inside, she opened the door. The Captain’s shoulders were hunched over a file, not lifting her gaze to look at the detective, simply waving her hand in her direction, directing her to sit down on the available chair. Beca stepped inside, noticing another visitor with her back to her, sitting in one of the seats. Her bright red hair was falling in waves on her shoulder and she was wearing a brown leather jacket.
“You wanted to see me?” Beca asked strongly, not taking the offered seat, opting to stand.
Captain Posen finally lifted her gaze and looked at her with her eyebrows raised. “Yes. Detective Mitchell, meet Chloe Beale.”
The redhead, now Beca knew to be Chloe, stood up and turned around. The first thing Beca acknowledged was her ocean blue eyes as she stood with her hand outstretched for a handshake. After a stunned second, she shook her hand firmly.
“Ms. Beale here is a journalist from the Times magazine. From now on, she’ll be your new partner alongside with Detective Swanson. She’s partaking in an all access project to write an article about our station. Wherever you go, she goes.”
Mitchell furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. The Captain wanted to partner her up with an untrained civilian, a journalist nevertheless who had no idea about the danger Beca and all the other officers faced daily. She shifted on her feet, scrunching up her nose in distaste. She didn’t know babysitting was a part of her job description.
If the Captain noticed her reaction she didn’t show it as she turned her attention to the journalist. “Ms. Beale, I trust you can partake in this project and write your piece without interfering with my detectives and future cases, yes?” Her tone strong and hard, indicating she wasn’t messing around.
Ms. Beale nodded seriously and replied. “Yes, Captain.”
Despite her frustration of the situation, Beca’s eyes kept glancing at the journalist.
“Good.” Posen nodded sharply, looking at her detective and Beca snapped her eyes back to her. “You’ll do everything by protocol, just like always and make sure she’s unharmed. It’ll be like she’s not even there. Got it?”
“Yes, Captain.” Beca replied confidently. The Captain dismissed them and as Beca guided Ms. Beale back to her office, she couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen.
/
The door barely closed behind them before Ms. Beale started talking. “Thank you so much for agreeing to do this.” Beca rolled her eyes when her back was turned as she took her seat, motioning for Chloe to do the same.
Beca adjusted her blazer and crossed her arms across her midriff. “Captain Posen didn’t really give me a choice in the matter but you’re welcome.” She answered sarcastically. Her defense mechanism kicked into gear. It made her uneasy that she didn’t know her intentions. She was just a regular detective, she didn’t know why she was special enough to write about.
Her negative answer stunned Chloe into an awkward silence as she glanced down at her notes in her lap. Beca clenched her jaw before she sighed in defeat. It was an order and there was nothing that she could do about the situations. Ms. Beale was only here to do her job and maybe if Beca helped her she would leave sooner.
“The Captain said you’re writing an article.” She stated matter-of-factly and watched as Chloe glanced up in curiosity. “She never said anything specific. What exactly is it going to be about?”
The first smile appeared on Ms. Beale’s face and Beca wondered why. “It’s about female detectives. I’d like to shed some light on how it feels like to be a woman in a dominantly male profession.” Her kind eyes lingered on Beca’s while she gently explained.
Beca gazed back curiously. “Why aren’t you interviewing the Captain then? She’s the first female captain of the station in this town. She’s basically a walking legend. Why are you interested in me?”
Chloe let her eyes roam over the detective, taking in her stormy blue eyes and hard, defensive expression. Despite her hard demeaner, Beca intrigued Chloe. The journalist learnt to always look behind the picture, dig deeper to found out the truth and she had a feeling Beca was more than what met the eye.
“I already interviewed Captain Posen before you and I will dedicate an article for her. But she has a lot of responsibilities to take care of instead of going outside where the action is. I need somebody who’s out on the fields. I heard that’s you.” Her eyes looked deep into Beca’s and saw a slight change in her expression.
But before she could identify it Beca’s poker face emerged as she let her arms fall on the armrest of her chair.
“A journalist job is to find stories worthy of being told.” Chloe stated and pulled her phone out of her pocket, boosting up the audio recorder app and placed it on the table between them. “I think yours is one of those stories.”
Her feet tap anxiously against the ground as she stands in one place, the crowd around her loud and annoying. She doesn’t know for how long she’s been waiting in line but it got boring around two minutes. She crosses her arms over her chest and desperately tries to hide the fact that she’s terrified. Stacie stands beside her, a large smile on her face as she looks up at the Ferris Wheel.
If there’s one thing Beca is terrified of, it’s heights so when Stacie tugs her toward the Ferris Wheel, her first instinct is to run but she puts on a brave face and says ‘hell yeah’. She couldn’t risk being black mailed by Fat Amy again. Not after last time.
“This is so cool.” Stacie gushes.
Beca cuffs with a sigh and looks at the rusty wheel with suspicion. “It’s probably a million years old. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna collapse and crush us to death.”
Stacie purses her lips together. “I’ve never met a snarkier person.”
“It’s a lifestyle.”
The line is getting smaller thankfully when Stacie’s loud shrink makes Beca’s ear echo and she looks at her with wide eyes. However, Stacie’s not there anymore and Beca watches her retreating back as she runs across the field and into a tall blonde’s arms. The small brunette’s mouth gaps open. What the hell?
Beca bitterly watches as the pair pulls away from the hug and Stacie kisses the stranger with so much force she rocks back before holding the tall brunette by the waist. Beca’s not even surprised. Of course, she’s here to hook up with somebody.
A smile appears on her lips and gets ready to get the hell out of here before a sweet voice calls out.
“Were you ditched too?”
Beca turns around and finds a redhaired girl with ocean blue eyes, wearing a brown coat with a bright red scarf and black thigh-high boots. Beca doesn’t know why she checks her out.
“What?”
The girl smiles and points to blonde stranger that is currently making-out with Stacie. “That’s my best friend and I’m guessing that’s yours.”
Beca looks back and forth. “Um…”
“Next!”
The snarky teenage boy working the Ferris Wheel yells out and Beca’s panic. How did they get in the front so fast suddenly?
“Do you want to - ?” The girl shrugs a shoulder and Beca’s eyes widen. “They left us here alone we might as well enjoy it.”
The next thing Beca knows is the loud clinking noise as the harness snaps in place, trapping her in a little cabin squished close to the girl and her hand grasp the handle so tight her fingers turn white.
“I haven’t been on this for so long.” The girl’s eyes sparkle happy as she looks around, the wheel slowly starts to move, bringing them higher and higher.
Beca can’t quite speak yet so she hums, focusing down on her lap. The only sound is the descending murmur from the people below but Beca feels eyes on the side of head, burning into her skin.
“What’s your name?” She asks softly and Beca swallows.
“Beca.”
A pale hand comes in view and the small brunette lifts her head and looks to the side. The girl smiles and Beca frowns curiously. “I’m Chloe.”
Beca looks down at the hand and shakes it but before she could let go, Chloe holds on and slowly intertwines their fingers. Beca feels warmth spread through her body as Chloe looks away like nothing’s happening and Beca smiles at her thankfully.
Chloe’s thumb brushes back and forth over Beca’s knuckles as they reach the top and Beca’s not afraid to open her eyes anymore.
They ride the rest of the Ferris Wheel in silence and Chloe’s hands slip away when Beca stands with two feet on the ground. The brunette crosses her arms over her chest and pushes the thought that her hand feels empty now in the back of her mind.
Chloe’s eyes settle on Beca and a smile appears on her lips. “Wanna go again?”
Beca’s jaw drops and Chloe can’t keep a straight face anymore, bursting out laughing. Beca puffs in fake anger but the corner of her lip turns up and she shakes her head.
Without saying another word, they slowly turn around and walk further into the Fair, look for their best friends, side by side.
i have a strange prompt but it’d be cool to see what you could do with it: ice
A/N: It’s a little short but here you go.
/
It’s supposed to be easy. Put your blade onto the ice, glide your feet smoothly across the surface, don’t fall on your face.
Beca has been repeating the steps in her head for an hour now since she’s been dragged out of their apartment by Chloe, frown firmly in place as her wife smiles from ear to ear. The New York winter is brutal, the freezing wind blowing into their faces as they round the corner and Beca longs to be back on their cozy couch, covered in way too many blankets, watching marathons of Friends. Or take advantage of the newlywed title and never leave the bedroom.
But no, Chloe wants to act like cheesy tourists and skate at the Rockefeller Center.
Borrowed skates already on - Chloe had to help her - her knuckles turns white as she clinches the gate in a death grip, one foot on the ice while the other on solid ground, ready to just spend the afternoon not moving an inch.
“Beca.” Chloe giggles as her skates slides across the ice and comes to a smooth stop beside Beca. The smaller brunette frowns her eyebrows in jealously. Show off.
“I’m gonna die.”
Chloe rolls her eyes fondly, sweeping a lock of hair that escaped Beca’s red beanie behind her ears. “You’re gonna be fine. Just come here.” Her fingers pries off Beca’s grip with a smile and holds her hands. “Just follow me.”
Beca takes in a deep breath as Chloe pulls her gently away from the gate and further into the ice ring. Chloe easily navigates them through the crowd, skating backwards with an encouraging smile on her face and Beca refuses to acknowledge the literal six-year-olds skating around them like it’s nothing.
“How are you so good at this?” Beca asks, frozen in a hunched positions as Chloe tows her around.
Chloe’s silent for a moment before her smile softens. “My Grandparents had a cabin up in the mountains. I spent every Christmas holiday there until I was 16. We called it Annual Beale Skiing Trip.”
Beca’s head tilts to the side in concern as Chloe’s smile vanishes.
“Then my Grandpa died and I don’t know…it just wasn’t the same anymore. We just stayed home after that.”
Beca squeezes her hand gently and Chloe offers her a small smile.
“We never went anywhere. My parents couldn’t stand to be in the same room for ten minutes let alone go on family vacations.” Beca shares bitterly, remembering her childhood that she spent tucked away in her room, her mixes on full volume to escape the constant yelling.
Chloe’s lips curl into a sympathetic smile that Beca knows too well before she leans closer like she’s sharing a secret. “Well, I’m your family now. We can go together.”
“No, thank you.”
“Why?” Chloe pulls her head back, shocked evident on her face. “It’s fun.”
As soon as the words leave her mouth, one of the children collides with Beca’s side, knocking her out of balance. Beca begins to fall and closes her eyes, accepting that this is the way she goes but Chloe’s grip tightens around her hand and pulling her back.
She’s trying to hold back her laughter but Beca can hear the little puff of air that leaves her mouth. The brunette’s eyes remain closed.
Can I ask for something about Bechloe meeting for the first time in a gym? Thanks! I missed you by the way. 😘
A/N: Thank you for sticking around. I don’t know how I feel about this but here we go.
/
“This was a mistake. I don’t belong here.”
The words echo loudly in her head as she stands helplessly in the middle of the room, eyes wide. She hasn’t been in a gym since freshmen year of college, where Aubrey threatened to double the hours of cardio in rehearsals if they didn’t work-out on their own. And Beca was fine with it.
She just showed up, tucked herself into the corner avoiding moving at all while the other girls broke a sweat. It was a great balance. One she intended to keep until she started to feel winded because she climbed two sets of stairs in her building.
Stacie recommended the place but as Beca looks around and sees people who are way too pretty and fit to even continue going to the gym, she changes her mind. She’s fine with the daily exercise of lifting food to her mouth, she doesn’t need to take it to the next level.
But as she turns to leave, she stops and grinds her teeth, annoyed with herself. She knows she needs this but why does it have to be so hard?
Clinging a plastic water bottle and a small white towel in her hands, she sets out to explore the place, trying to find something remotely easy to start with just so she could tell Stacie she ‘worked-out’.
The whole row of treadmills lining the windows looking down at the street below are empty and Beca sighs, shrugging her shoulders. Setting her things down on the ground, the small brunette hops onto the machine and pushes the red bottom with a turtle symbol on it. That should be easy.
Ten minutes later it turns out that it is not.
Sweat drips down her forehead as her legs strain to keep up with the speed and Beca is ready to call it quits.
“Sorry, is this taken?”
Her head whips to the side and sees a beautiful woman staring at her with ocean blue eyes, her bright red hair pulled back into a bun, pointing to the treadmill to her right. Beca’s mouth opens and makes the mistake of letting her eyes drop down, seeing red sports bra and black yoga pants, her abs peeking out from behind the material. The redhead quirks an eyebrow and Beca coughs, forcing herself to look out the window.
“Um, sure, I guess.”
From her peripheral vision Beca watches as her eyes lingers on her for second before she turns forward and start stretching. Beca shakes her head to get rid of her thoughts and focuses on her pace, her muscles straining as she begins to pant heavily.
“Slow down your breathing.”
The soft advice makes her head turn as Beca looks at the girl in confusion. “What?”
“It’s easier if you don’t breath too much. Your body takes in too much oxygen and not getting rid of carbon dioxide which makes running harder.”
Beca does not understand a word but she slows down and looks at the girl. “Okay, are you an expert or something?”
“Kind of.” She grins and crosses her arms over her chest, hips cocking out to the side. “I’m Chloe. I’ve been running for years.”
“Beca.”
“Are you training for something, Beca?” Chloe’s eyes sparkle as they watch Beca try to have a conversation while making sure she doesn’t trip and die.
Beca grimaces and stops for a second. “Kind of.”
“Well, let’s see what you got.” Chloe smirks as Beca looks at her confused. “Run.”
The small brunette’s eyebrows raise to her hairline but when Chloe doesn’t look like she’s kidding, Beca picks up her pace and starts running again. She sees Chloe walk around the treadmill, looking at her form and Beca refuses to blush.
The redhead disappears from view until suddenly a hand touches her back and Beca inhales sharply. “Straighten your back.” Chloe instructs gently. “Try to relax your grip.” Her hands settle on Beca’s grip on the handles and softly squeeze. “That’s it. Good.”
Beca bits back a smile and continued running before she stops, her hands bracing on her hips as she’s trying to calm down her beating heart. Chloe hands her the water bottle and Beca takes a big gulp.
“You’re really good.” Beca says. “You should do this for a living.”
Chloe smirks and her eyes dipping low before they pull up to Beca’s. “I can’t give away all my secrets but maybe I can share some with you.”
The DJ’s mouth hangs open slightly before she gathers herself. “Maybe…” She says slowly.
“How about this?” Chloe steps closer and grabs the handle right beside Beca’s hand. The brunette’s face sober immediately. “If you beat me in a race, I’ll teach you all of my tricks.”
Beca raises an eyebrow. “And what If you win?”
Chloe smirks, eyes sparkling right at Beca and shrugs a shoulder. “You get to take me out on a date.”
Let’s just say Beca never felt better about losing.
A/N: Haven’t written in a while. Please excuse me if it sucks.
/
“Can you be more obvious?”
Stacie’s voice cuts through the fog in Beca’s mind and she shakes her head. The coffee house is crowded, people filling up the space and Beca should be running around like a headless chicken to complete orders but as soon as the doors opens and she walks in, Beca can’t do anything but stare.
But she’s not about to let Stacie know about it so she presses her lips together and turns away, leaning her back against the counter as Stacie works the cashier.
“What?” She asks nonchalantly, pretending to check her nails but Stacie just smile and nods her head in the girl’s direction.
“I swear, as soon as she comes through the door you’re like a horny teenage boy who’s seeing boobs for the first time.” Beca scrunches her nose up in disgust at the metaphor and looks back at Stacie. “Pick up your jaw.”
“Shut up.” Beca hisses before she glances at her again. “She’s just...pretty.” Her eyes settle on the redhead, quietly sitting in the corner with her regular vanilla latte, laptop on the table as she types away. She’s come to the coffee house at least once a day for three weeks now, not like Beca is counting.
Stacie bits her lip and agrees. “Oh yeah, she’s hot.”
Beca’s eyes snap back to Stacie at the comment and her eyebrows furrow.
Stacie just smirks as she takes a new order. “Look at you already jealous and you don’t even know her name.”
“Chloe.”
“What?”
“Her name. It’s Chloe.” Beca admits almost embarrassed, crossing her arms over her chest as she pouts. There’s no reason to deny her crush anymore. She’s gonna get so much shit for this. “I always push Jessie aside when she comes so I can do her order.” The loud snort makes her roll her eyes. “...shut up.”
“Okay, spill.” Stacie straightens up and put her hands on her hips, like she’s ready for anything. However, Beca’s blank expression makes her tilt her head to the side. “Your plan? What’s your plan to get her, Mitchell?”
Beca’s mouth open and closes. “I - I um, stare at her really creepy until she realizes that I like her and asks me out?”
“In your dreams, maybe.” Stacie’s voice drips from sarcasm as she turns away. “Oh, oh here she comes.”
Beca’s eyes widen as she spins around so fast she’s sure she got whiplash. Chloe’s table is empty, the redhead heading toward the counter maneuvering around the customers and Beca’s heart starts to beat fast.
“Just let me do it.” Stacie whispers just before Chloe reaches them and Beca’s sure she’s having a heart attack.
“What? Stacie! Do - “
The tall brunette face lights up with a smile as she completely ignores Beca and faces the redhead. “Hello.”
Chloe smiles politely, tucking a piece of hair behind her ears. “Hi. Can I get another vanilla latte please?” She asks softly and Stacie nods. “I’m gonna have a big day today.”
“Sure. Coming right up.”
As Stacie turns around to prepare the drink, Beca’s unable to do anything but watch in silence as Chloe places her hand on the counter, her fingers tapping out a familiar beat against the surface. Beca’s head tilts to the side as she’s trying to figure out the melody but Chloe helps her when she suddenly starts to hum under her breath.
A smile pulls at Beca’s lips and she’s saying the words before she can stop herself.
“Titanium.”
Chloe’s ocean blue eyes snap to Beca and the small brunette is unprepared when she starts to smile.
“Do you know David Guetta?”
Beca squints. “I don’t live under a rock.”
Chloe raises an eyebrow with a curious smile on her face and her eyes drops down on Beca’s body before slowly dragging it up. Beca’s face burns bright red.
“Here you go.” Stacie interrupts their staring contest as she places the newly brewed cup of coffee in front of Chloe. “I pumped in an extra shot of coffee just in case.” When Chloe pulls out her wallet, she waves her off. “Oh, it’s on the house, don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you.” Chloe says brightly and grabs her coffee but not before settling her eyes once again on Beca.
“Bye!”
The DJ’s mouth hangs slightly open as she watches Chloe walk away before rounding on Stacie. “What the fuck did you do?”
“If I did it right, you’ll see.” Stacie smirks deeply, casually grabbing a dish towel and starts to clean the glasses. “Oh what am I saying, of course I did it right.”
Beca’s heart pounds with nerves at the expression but forces herself to calm down and go back to work.
Half an hour later, Beca’s phone buzzes in her pocket with a new text. It’s an unknown number and Beca’s eyebrows frown in confusion.
I’ll try to squeeze you in but how about we start with a date instead? 😉 - Vanilla Latte Chloe
Beca’s jaw drops and she looks at Stacie with wide eyes.
“Chloe just asked me out.” She’s stunned as Stacie grins mischievously not saying a word.
After two dates when Beca finds out that Stacie wrote ‘I know you’re busy today but can you add me to your to-do list? Text me. Beca.’ on Chloe’s coffee cup she doesn’t know if she wants to kill her or kiss her.
