Chloe sipped her champagne as she looked around the Waynes' Gala. She spotted many people that were clients of her mother and some that promoted Gabriel. She noticed a few other designers, but the rest of the people…..well, they at least dressed the part. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a girl who she could have sworn was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The girl had darker skin and green eyes, but her face, her eye shape!
Chloe sauntered over and shoved the champagne flute in front of her face.
"Go on." she demanded, "Get me another drink."
The girl looked her up and down.
"You still wear Gabriel?" she questioned, "Ew."
Chloe gasped, "He is an amazing designer!"
"He's an asshole." the girl retorted.
"You better shut your mouth, you Twerp!" Chloe bristled.
"Or what?" the girl commented, "You're gonna tell my mommy about your horrible fashion choices?"
"How dare you!" the Bourgeois heiress cried.
"No. How dare you show up to the Wayne Gala in something that is four seasons old!" the girl claimed.
"I am a Princess and-" Chloe began.
"No." the girl interrupted, "You are the daughter of a hotel owner, who didn't even wear clothes designed by her mother. You decided to wear trash."
Chloe was fuming. She had never been spoken to this way and the face of the girl wasn't helping.
'Her face is irritating! She looks just like Baker Girl when she started pushing back!'
"I am a princess and-" Chloe spoke again.
"I'm a princess." the girl declared, "Technically, after Great-Grandfather and Grandma passed way, Daddy became King. I'm a princess; you're playing dress up."
Chloe scowled, "You little-"
"Princess Amaya Wayne, lovely to see you again." a voice called out.
"King Ali of Achu." Amaya curtsied, focusing her attention on him.
Chloe closed her mouth and focused on the interaction in front of her.
'The Waynes have royalty in their blood and this….brat is actually a princess?'
"I'm very sorry, Ms. Bourgeois, but I must get going. My family will be summoning me soon." Amaya smiled, "King Ali, why don't you accompany me? I'm sure Father would love to discuss the next fundraiser for the children's hospital."
"Of course." the king answered.
The hotel owner fumed as they walked away. She lost sight of them in the crowd; Ali had never forgiven her for that fish-smell fiasco when they were younger. Chloe had to see for herself if the girl who humilated her was actually a Wayne. She followed them from a distance and tried to blend in with other girls nearby. She was too focused on Amaya to notice the judged looks thrown her way, as she tried to incorporate herself into their circle talks.
Sure enough, King Ali walked Amaya up to Bruce Wayne and someone else. Chloe couldn't make out who the guy was, but she heard the King of Achu refer to him as Damian. Amaya hugged Bruce and call him 'Grandfather', before he was asked to answer some questions for the Daily Planet.
'She's actually a Wayne!'
Bruce excused himself and the hotel owner was able to get a clearer view of the guy. He looked exactly like Bruce, but his complexion was similar to the kings' and he had green eyes.
"Why don't we continue this conversation tomorrow, Your Highness?" Damian spoke, "There are some things I want to go over without prying eyes or ears."
The King nodded and walked off.
"Have you seen your mother, Amaya?" Damian questioned.
"I believe she is with Uncle and people watching, as usual." she smiled, "She does love to look at everyone's outfits."
Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe spotted a familiar head of blonde hair. As Adrien walked out of the crown, Chloe scowled as she noticed his companion: Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chloe dropped her glass as Marinette Dupain-Cheng walked over and kissed Damian Wayne.
"Mother." Amaya smiled, before hugging Marinette.
'Baker Girl; she married into the Wayne family! How did she manage to weasel her was into a family with royal blood?'
Chloe stomped and politely shoved her way through the crowd towards the stage. She couldn't believe that she saw that brat was hugging her Adrikins, after she disgraced the Gabriel name!
"You look lovely as always, Amaya." Adrien complimented, "You definetly get your beauty from your mother."
Amaya smiled, "Thank you, Uncle Adrien."
"Don't act high and mighty!" Chloe demanded, "You were just trash talking his father a few minutes ago!"
"Chloe." Marinette spoke.
"Baker Girl." the hotel owner sneered back.
Adrien and Damian were quick to push the girls behind them.
"So what?" Adrien asked, "Who cares if my niece talks shit about Gabriel?"
Chloe looked at him in shock, "But you-"
"Left his place and company when I was eighteen and I never looked back." Adrien declared, "I hated being a model and everything that came with it. The rules, the photoshoots, the diet, the loneliness, that stupid schedule pack dictating when I woke up, went to bed! I couldn't even hang out with my frineds!"
"But we're suppose to run an empire together!" Chloe shouted back.
"Is this some bullshit my father told you?" the former model questioned, "The last time I saw him was twelve years ago and the last time I spoke to him on the phone, was eight. I don't know what he told you, but I never wanted to own Gabriel. I can't draw to save my life; I never want to model again. I don't know what you would do, but it's certainly not draw."
"I can draw!" the hotel owner shouted.
Adrien smiled, "Really? Anytime there was a competition, you tried to steal Marinette's sketches and frame her. You have never put in any effort to practice drawing. I never even saw you take fashion classes. You just decided since your mommy was a fashion designer, you would be too. Audrey probably des more in a day, then you do in a week!"
Chloe could feel the promises she was fed start to crumble. Gabriel had told her that once Adrien was done with his vacation, they would run the company. Adrien was telling her that was never going to happen. She had been waiting for the da when she didn't need to watch over the hotle anymore. It was annoying having to serve others and make sure their needs were met. What about her needs? She wanted a trip to Cancun! She wanted to sail the Caribbean! She wanted to sleep past six am!
She snarled, "What about Baker Girl, huh? You seriously expect-"
Damian was quick to get in her face, "Call my wife that again and you'll be thrown out on the street."
"She is-" Chloe faltered
"My wife is a fashion designer." Damian stated proudly, "Number one in the country and number three internationally."
"Hah!" Chloe smiled, thinking she had caught them in a lie, "Zahr is-"
"My wife." Damian replied, wrapping his arm around Marinette's waist, "She makes all designs and has total control of her own design company. It's not even associated with Wayne Enterprise."
Amaya laughed "She's just sore that her gown is horrible."
"Amaya!" scolded Marinette.
"It's true." Amaya declared, "She tries to act big, but that spray painted gold just screams 'Look At Me; I Deserve Attention'!"
Adrien began to laugh since Chloe had been wearing the same color scheme since they were toddlers. Her attitude certainly hadn't changed. Damian just smirked at his daughter's decleration.
"And what is with that horrible blue eyeshadow?" the Wayne heiress continued, "No one wears eyeshadow that blue; it's outdated. It doesn't even match your dress or skin tone. If anything it makes you look a bloated fish. Why on Earth would you wear a nude lip shade of color? Even in the 50's, when they did use that shade, at least they had red lips."
Chloe's jaw dropped. Never had she imagined a child would tell her off for how she dressed. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Marinette biting her lip and could see Adrien laughing himself to tears.
"Yep." Adrien cried, "Tha-That's definetly your kid, Damian."
Mari sighed, "Is Yami and Malik gonna be the same way?"
"You do love honesty, Habibiti." Damian pointed out.
His wife groaned, "I'm gonna get so many phone calls when the twins go to school."
Chloe scowled and began to stomp away. She couldn't believe that someone who was related to bakers talked to her like that. The trash that came out of that girl's mouth left her fuming!
"Good." Amaya called out, enough for Chloe to hear, "Grandma is leaving. My eyes were starting to hurt, just from looking at her. Thankfully, the galas are at night. If we had it during the day, we'd have a disco ball on the floor with all that metallic strips sewn in."
Chloe could hear the baker's daughter snort, before laughing along side her Adrien.
"Amaya, you know how much your grandfather cares about appearances at these." Damian stated, causing his daughter to sigh, "Grounded for a week."
"Yes, Baba." Amaya spoke, "I only did it to get back at her for being a bully to Maman, when she was my age."
Mari kissed her daughter's head, "As long as you're not like this at school."
"Never, Maman." their daughter answered.
"Come along, Amiriti (Princess)." Damian spoke, "Let's go find your grandfather."
Chloe looked back to see the baker's daughter on her husband's arm. Adrien and her bratty daughter were right behind them, talking and laughing. Chloe had never felt so humiliated before.
'Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!'
Nothing was like how it was before when they were all in Francois Dupont College. She was no longer the Mayor's Daughter. Her father had moved to NYC with her mother, after high school. She had taken over as the owner of the hotel. Chloe had tried to use the same control she had in school to dictate the hotel's conditions and staff, but it failed miserably. People started to leave bad reviews of the hotel; some of the staff quit. When her father had heard about it, he offered to come back for a few months to show her how to run it properly; she had hung up on him.
Chloe Bourgeois couldn't believe that promises she had overheard as a child were over. She was suppose to marry Adrien Agreste; he was her Adrikins!
'I never should have helped him runaway from home to get into school!'
Chloe knew that was the moment everything changed in their realtionship. Everyone had turned him against her! He started speaking up more, defending others from her, and calling her a bad friend. She had hoped that one he finished 'exploring' that his new habit would be broken and they would get married after university. She had never even looked at another guy so when she found out that he had quit modeling, she thought he was getting ready to take over the company and propose. The proposal never came and Adrien had left Paris, without a word.
'It was all Baker Girl's fault! She ruined my Adrikins! Her Adrikins never behaved like this 'til he met her!'
She continued to glare at Marinette. She hated how Marinette was now rich, even richer than her. Marinette always got what she never had; a loving home, parents who cared about her, and now a husband and family. Chloe refused to believe she was jealous.
'I deserve more! I deserve my happily ever after with My Prince!'
Chloe turned her gaze to Adrien and she felt her heart stop. Adrien was on his tip-toes, kissing some guy taller than him. To add insult to injury, he looked just like Marinette. He had dark hair and blue eyes. Adrien Agreste had always been her dream Prince Charming, but she wasn't his Princess. Apparently, Adrien Agreste was the princess.
Chloe walked away as she heard Amaya ask if Uncle Adrien and Uncle Jon were excited for their wedding next month.
Underhanded Tactics - Chapter Preview (Read More at ao3)
Calamity rode horses and had her own horse in a local stable. She would go horseback riding from time to time. Under the disguise of new stable hands, Aubrey, Chloe, and Emily watched as Beca rode into the scene with her own horse, looking incredibly dashing with an expensive scarf looking like a free-flowing cape behind Beca.
Who knew Beca could ride horses?
"Chloe, you might want to close your jaw a little, you're practically drooling," Aubrey teased, snapping Chloe back to present day as they cleared out hay in the distance.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Bree," Chloe replied, nevertheless wiping the corner of her mouth now that Aubrey made her feel self-conscious.
Aubrey chortled next to her, still keeping surveillance of Beca as she made contact with Calamity.
Chloe did the same. It looked like Calamity was taking the bait, she seemed quite smitten at Beca – or rather Bea Bee, because apparently, she liked one syllable names; Beca on the other hand, looked absolutely mortified at the name that sounded more like "baby" than anything.
Chloe's grip on the pitch fork tightened as she watched Beca pet Calamity's horse. Calamity on the other hand started touching Beca on her arms. Chloe was quietly keeping count, pouting by the time it reached ten. Calamity seemed very touchy feely. And then, as planned, Beca's scarf loosens, and Calamity catches it as they had hoped. Beca then tied it around Calamity's neck, paying her a compliment that it suited her.
"Chloe, please focus on the hay instead, anymore and smoke will start coming out of your ears," Aubrey teased yet again.
"Oh, shut up," Chloe replied, stabbing the hay with the pitch fork. "I'll check on things inside, see if I can do anything there," she then said with a huff.Chloe spent the next five minutes trying to figure out what she could do to help in the administrative side of things before she remembered she probably shouldn't. She knew nothing about running a stable and the only reason why they were allowed to work undercover was because Beca charmed the owner enough to let them.
Snap out of this, she thought to herself as she marched into the stables to find Beca sitting on the fence of an area where the horses were kept so they could gallop around, looking deep at thought.Chloe made her way towards her, and as soon as she placed a hand on her shoulder, Beca all but jumped up.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"She wants to have drinks tonight," Beca replied rather monotonously. "I don't think I can do it, Chloe. Just thinking about it makes me shudder. Do you know what she said earlier? I asked if I could ride her horse, and she said he was a wild one, but I can ride him. When I asked why have a wild horse, she said she enjoyed breaking them in. That's her idea of flirting, Chloe," she then said, mortified.
Chloe was too.
And Chloe very much wanted to tell Beca she didn't need to do it. She could stop. But that would mean that Babel will grow more powerful. That would also mean they would miss up on a chance in finding a way to help Dr. Mitchell with his case.
"You don't have to, Beca," Chloe settled on as an answer. "But it might be easier to win her heart if she's drunk. Plus, if you can fake drinking, you can have the upper hand. We'll be close by too."
Beca shook her head vehemently, trying not to speak so loudly. "Nope, nope, I can't do this. No."
Chloe grabbed Beca's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "You're the mafia's lawyer, right? Cool-headed and strong. You never let go of your target. You're charming and smart and capable. Think of all her victims? Her and her family? Only you can catch her in your trap. If you can't, then who would?"
Beca visibly gulped and nodded along. "I can do this, I can do this," she then said as she excused herself from Chloe's company, not wanting to keep Calamity waiting.Chloe took a deep breath. She didn't want to, it sucked, but she had to bolster Beca's confidence. She can't let her waver, because at the end of the day, this whole mission isn't about the two of them at all, but all other people who could benefit seeing the so-called powerful pay for their crimes.
"That's right! You can do this Beca!" Chloe cheered on, running around to where Beca was facing, trying to be cheerful.
To her surprise, Beca grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her close to an accidental hug.Chloe stilled for a moment. This was probably the closest she has ever been to Beca, and she didn't know how to act. She didn't even know what prompted that reaction.
"Horses spook easily," Beca replied. As if the horses wanted to prove the point, one of the horses behind Chloe who was tied outside the fences and who was turned away from Chloe, neighed. "It's not safe to startle them from behind, they could kick you, so be careful."
Beca took a step backward and Chloe nodded. "I guess we shouldn't be horsing around here, then," Chloe then said and Beca shook her head and laughed a little before leaving.That little encounter was enough to power her through for the evening.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Intentions
eolhceB143
Chapter 1/1
Chloe's jealousy shines through. She didn't like the way the model during Beca's photoshoot touched her wife. Preparing to leave for lunch with Aubrey and Stacie the day after, Beca gets a look at the dress her wife is wearing. The redhead wants something. Beca wants Chloe. Neither's intentions are anything other than sinful.
In one of her events, the famous Beca Mitchell chats politely with Katy Perry, who in turn, gets a bit TOO playful when the camera focuses on them all of a sudden..
Meanwhile, hosting a watch party from their home is Beca’s wife Chloe, who doesn’t take too kindly what she has just witnessed live on their tv screen.
When Beca gets home, she is greeted by the wrath of a very jealous Chloe..
(Erm.. Goodluck, Beca)
Fortunately when all their guests have gone home, Beca knows exactly what to do when she is in deep trouble with her wife. She puts her plan into action right away..
Needless to say, all is forgiven in the Beale-Mitchell household that very same night..
…and during Beca’s next event, when Chloe spots Katy Perry out of nowhere..
Well..
She puts her plan into action, too…
Beca: “Babe.. What the…?!”
Chloe: “HA!!
THESE BOOBS ARE MINE.. AND ONLY MINE!!! TAKE THAT, KATY PERRY!!!”
This is inspired by an episode from The Nanny where the female lead got her school rival to substitute her. Let’s just say with her around, the male lead didn’t even notice other girls. It also reminds me of a Kim Possible episode where Ron got to be an exchange student to a Japanese school, and a really hot exchange student drove Kim and Monique crazy. Warning, this draft has oblivious Adrien.
Meet Sandra Breeze
She was the exchange student from America, changing places with Marinette, who would be going to China to a monk school (aka Guardian training)
When boys look at Sandra, they immediately think, “Knockout!” When girls look Sandra, they feel a hit on their self-esteem and immediately look at their own images.
The thing was, Sandra was not conservative in her dressing either. She didn’t show too much skin though. She just liked to dress in a way to show off her assets. Like her model-long legs and tiny waist.
And wherever she walked in school, boys tended to follow her around as guides. It’s like she radiates pheromones.
This was irritating to Chloe and Lila, who hated any popular rival.
But unsurprisingly, she spent a lot of time with Adrien because she sat in Marinette’s old seat.
Alya definitely wasn’t receptive to the new girl and wanted to keep Nino away. That left Adrien alone.
So imagine Chloe’s irritation when she gives Adrien his daily hug, then Sandra comes by and gives Adrien a cheek kiss, because isn’t that how the French greet each other?
And Adrien actually reciprocated that cheek kiss!
Chloe’s face was red and steaming.
And then Adrien even brought Sandra to his photoshoot, mostly because he didn’t want to be alone with Lila.
When Adrien brought Sandra over, the photographer raved over how photogenic she looked. Adrien smiled good-naturedly.
“Maybe she could model for us since Lila’s a no-show?”
Lila interrupted, pissed, “Actually I’m right here.” How could Adrien not notice her presence? Was he that blinded by Miss Exchange Student? She’s foreign too!
Photographer: But they look so much better than Adrien and Lila. I’m sorry, Miss Rossi but you are like an octopus whenever i pair you with Adrien. With Miss Sandra, they are like kindred souls. You can wait for your solo shoot, Miss Rossi.
Lila looked to Nathalie in complaint but Nathalie shrugged. Gabriel never promised joint photo shoots, just exposure.
The real kicker came whenever Lila tried to spin some grand tale. No one wanted to listen to her. They all wanted to hear Sandra’s foreign life because she was only here for a semester, while Lila would be around much longer.
At least all the girls were on Lila’s side, even if all they did was moan about how they wished Marinette would come back.
Because Lila was just not participative in their girl bonding activities of planting trees or listening to band music (Luka had privately asked Juleka not to invite Lila again because her music was like wailing violins), she could never take Marinette’s place.
All these were minor irritations to Chloe and Lila, not enough to attract akumas.
So for a whole semester, while Marinette was maturing and gaining wisdom in monk school, Lila and Chloe were going crazy over how little attention they were receiving ever since the exchange student came by. Sandra was constantly around Adrien, which irritated all his admirers and Adrienette fans.
The end of semester could not come too soon.
Sandra bid everyone a friendly farewell and thanked Adrien personally for being such a good Friend.
Alya: Omg, Adrien is contagious.
When Marinette returned, all her friends welcomed her back with open arms.
Marinette: aw, did everyone miss me?
Adrien: very much so. 2 girls in particular.
Marinette turned, expecting to find Alya and Kagami.
Imagine her surprise to be given a fierce hug by lying Lila. “Don’t you ever leave me again!” she sobbed.
Then Marinette’s hand was grabbed in a firm grip by cruel Chloe. “Come on, Dupain-Cheng, the limo is waiting for us.”
Marinette, confused: Wait, I’m riding home with you?
Adrien was beaming, oblivious to the true reason behind their friendly welcoming and choosing to see the good in them. “They finally realized how much you mean to them only when you were gone. Absence makes the heart fonder after all.”
And his face took on a wistful look. Chloe and Lila believed it was for Sandra and tugged Marinette on faster, as if by restoring her to her bakery or classroom, the world as they knew it would return to normal.
Marinette had learned to let Adrien and Kagami be happy and focus on the joys of life.
Adrien was just hoping his Lady had finally come home. She had told him she would be late in coming to the rescue because she would be in China for a while. How coincidental that Marinette would be headed there too!
Summay: Beca Mitchell is one of the most famous music artists in America. She gets a lot of attention from her fans, which occasionally makes Chloe a little jealous... established Bechloe. For Bechloe Week Day 2 - Jealousy.
Word Count: 3.9k
AO3 and FFN
Chloe isn’t quite sure how her life got to this point. If someone had told her seven years ago that Beca “I don’t even sing” Mitchell would one day sign with DJ Khaled to headline a national tour, she would have laughed in their face.
Moreover, if that same someone had told her that one day, she’d be dating that grumpy little alt girl, she’d never have believed it.
But now, as she watches from backstage as Beca commands the entirety of the St. Paul Target Center arena, her lips still tingling from the kiss they’d shared before Beca started her show, she wouldn’t change a thing.
It was the eleventh performance of her nineteen-date national tour and Beca seemed to be savoring every minute of it. Chloe smiled to herself at the roar of the audience, warmed up by opener Hayley Kiyoko. They loved Beca. Why wouldn’t they? Beca is so loveable, her beautiful features and breathtaking vocals only accentuated by the theatrical stage lights and the slight echo of the sold-out stadium.
Beca’s eyes flash, as they often do, to her at the side of the stage. Like always, Chloe sees the dumbfounded ecstasy Beca feels at having actual fans showing up at her concerts. And, like always, Chloe grins back her endless support, having chosen to accompany Beca on her tour before beginning her semester at vet school. She knows Beca appreciates having her there to ground her.
As Beca’s fourth song of the night ends, a group of fans in the front row tosses a bouquet of roses on stage. Chloe sees Beca’s smile widen even further as she stoops to sweep the flowers into her hands. She leans in to smell their perfume, grinning, and says into the mic, “For me? Thanks, they smell amazing! I’ll just set them here for now.”
She turns to place the bouquet delicately near the back of the stage where they will be safe from her movements and dancing. As she does, Chloe spots another fan, a teenage boy, leaning forward, holding out what looks like a piece of paper.
Beca reaches over the heads of her security team to grab it. Chloe smirks; Beca had always wondered at the necessity of having security and often did things like this just to annoy them.
“Holy shit, this is beautiful,” Beca says for the arena to hear as she examines the paper. She holds it up to cover her face so the screens can see it and broadcast the image. The boy had drawn Beca’s likeness extremely well, somehow capturing the light shining from her dark eyes.
“Absolutely gorgeous,” Beca compliments again, and Chloe can see from the smile that overtakes the boy’s face that she’s just made his day. Beca turns again to take the art to safety, catching Chloe’s eye and dropping her mouth open in a look of utter awe. Chloe merely smiles back and shrugs. She loves how kind Beca is to her fans, as if she still can’t believe they’re all there for her.
“Thank you guys so much!” Beca calls once the art is safely stored with the flowers. The crowd roars, her fans screaming in support.
“I think, as some extra thanks, I’ll sing a new song I only just finished writing.” Even louder screaming follows her announcement, and Chloe laughs as Beca has to wait for the tsunami of noise to die down before she can speak again.
“It’s called ‘Your Body,’ and I’ve never performed it live like this before, so bear with me.”
She glances to the side at Chloe to ask permission and Chloe nods her assent. Beca had written the song for her during the first leg of her tour.
“It’s for someone pretty important to me,” Beca continues over the sound of even more screaming. “You know who you are.” She grabs the mic stand and uses it so that her hands are free.
Chloe smiles at the sentiment. Their relationship is, at this point, a secret. It had been Beca’s idea to hide her identity, not wanting the media or intense fans to pursue Chloe or interrupt their privacy. Of course, there were countless rumors online and in the tabloids about who Beca might be involved with; anyone from Tom Hiddleston to Hayley Kiyoko herself were considered possibilities, much to both her and Beca’s amusement.
As the opening slow notes of the song play, a hush falls over the arena. Beca begins what is probably the sexiest song ever, at least in Chloe’s opinion. Beca’s lyrics ring out, full of the love and lust that describe their relationship perfectly.
Chloe shivers, awed by how different the song sounds belted out on stage as opposed to sung softly in her ear while in bed. Her eyes rake up Beca’s body, lingering on the slow, sensual twist of her hips and the flexing of the lithe muscles that stand out under her skinny jeans. The back of Chloe’s neck warms when her gaze rests on Beca’s hands, twisting and moving in the air without hindrance of the microphone, as she recalls vividly what those hands are capable of. Beca’s eyes are closed, the look on her face one of complete concentration, her perfect lips forming every word of the song so tenderly it makes Chloe’s heart ache.
Beca looks both absolutely beautiful and incredibly sexy at the same time and Chloe finds herself staring, admiring her girlfriend’s entire being.
However, it seems she’s not the only one admiring Beca in that moment.
A sudden movement catches Chloe’s eye, shattering her concentration on Beca. Her attention shifts instead to the front few rows of the audience, specifically to an arm raised back and poised to throw something small on stage. The arm shoots forward, the hand releasing the object, and Chloe watches the gift to Beca fly through the air, twisting over other fans and over Beca’s security to land on the stage near her feet. Chloe cranes her neck to see what it is. When she finally does figure it out, her stomach twists painfully.
It’s a lacy black thong, clearly a piece of lingerie. Someone had thrown their panties on stage at Beca. While Beca was singing an incredibly sexy song. Written for Chloe.
Um. No.
Chloe searches the audience for the culprit, finally spotting her. There’s no mistaking her; the girl is grinning proudly, unembarrassed even as others in attendance turn to stare at her. Her eyes are focused on Beca, clearly waiting for some sort of response. Chloe’s jaw clenches in anger. The girl is gorgeous. And she’s a redhead.
Chloe tries to shove down her immediate jealousy, knowing instantly that she’s overreacting. It’s just another intense fan, no big deal. Besides, Beca’s probably really weirded out by it. She’s not usually the type to enjoy something so forward.
She looks back to Beca, expecting her to ignore the panties entirely. However, Beca, finally catching sight of the garment, raises her eyebrows in surprise and smiles awkwardly at the girl who threw them. Then, without pausing her singing, Beca bends down to snatch up the thong, twirling it around her finger a few times before tucking it into a front pocket so that it hangs out for the whole arena to see. Then, she winks directly at the girl.
The air rushes out of Chloe’s lungs. Her first reaction is one of mild disgust. Who knows where those panties have been? Well, actually, she has a pretty good idea, and ew. Beca needs to wash her hands, like, now.
However, her disgust is almost instantly shoved aside by furious disbelief. Her Beca just put some other girl’s underwear in her pocket. No. Unacceptable. Now that girl is probably getting all sorts of mixed messages, especially because Beca’s relationship status isn’t officially known. How dare Beca do that? No. Just no. Did Beca forget who she was dating? Is that all it takes? Some lacy panties tossed up on stage during a sexy song? During her sexy song?
Chloe sees red. She’s so angry that all she can do is glare at Beca, who finishes the song only to sing three of her other chart-topping hits immediately after. Chloe barely hears them, blood still pounding in her ears. She knows Beca keeps glancing at her, confused by the death glare she’s transmitting, but she can’t bring herself to stop. Beca should know by now how jealous she gets.
“Okay, I’m going to turn it over to an instrumental piece I composed and produced a while ago, so hang tight and I’ll be back soon!” Beca’s voice, resonating over the arena, crashes into Chloe. Beca’s taking her usual intermission about three songs earlier than she normally does.
Chloe looks up to see Beca jogging off stage and directly toward her, concern written over her flushed and slightly sweaty face. Chloe raises an eyebrow, waiting. Beca has some explaining to do.
“Chlo, you okay?” Beca asks when she arrives next to Chloe. “You’re looking a little off.”
“Oh, am I?” Chloe fires back, taking satisfaction in the way Beca hesitates before responding.
“Yeah, um, you look kind of pissed.”
“Hmm, I wonder why,” Chloe spits, feeling her temper rise again. No way can Beca be that clueless.
Chloe raises her eyebrows imperiously and gestures sharply down at Beca’s pocket, from which the offensive black thong still dangles. Beca’s gaze follows her point, and Chloe can tell from her puff of breath that she’d forgotten the panties were still there.
Beca looks up at her sheepishly, but Chloe doesn’t give her time to defend herself.
“Beca Mitchell, you put some – some floozy’s panties in your pocket right in front of me!” she yells, knowing that the sound of Beca’s instrumental break and the screaming of Beca’s fans will prevent her voice from traveling far.
“That?” Beca asks incredulously. “Ah, come on, don’t call her that. It was just so the girl wouldn’t feel bad. You know I like to make them happy!”
That was the wrong thing to say. “Now she thinks you’ll be making her very happy!” Chloe argues back, leaning forward to get into Beca’s face.
Beca rolls her eyes at the implication, making Chloe’s hands clench into fists. “Chlo, you know it isn’t like that. It’s just something fun, a joke. It went with the song.”
Chloe opened her mouth to tear into Beca again when Beca interrupts, looking at her seriously. “Besides, babe, how many pairs of underwear have you thrown at random singers?”
Chloe blinks, sidetracked. Damn. Beca knows her too well. She can remember at least three separate incidences where she’d thrown either panties or a bra up on stage. And those were just when she was sober.
Forcing herself to rally, but already feeling her anger abate, Chloe replies, “That’s… that’s beside the point! You shouldn’t have done it! She’s basically asking you to cheat on me!”
Beca smiles at her slightly, as if sensing that their fight is already on its way to being over. “Dude, calm down, it doesn’t mean anything! And, remember, they all think I’m single, so….”
Chloe crosses her arms with a huff, glaring away from Beca off to the side.
The concluding measures of Beca’s instrumental break permeate the air and Beca raises a hand to reach out to Chloe. Chloe only turns away further, still annoyed. Beca sighs and says, “Look, I gotta go. I’m sorry, I swear it’s nothing. Here –”
Chloe glances at her to see that Beca has taken the panties out of her pocket and is trying to hand the garment to Chloe. Chloe wrinkles her nose and says sharply, “No, thanks.”
Beca takes her hand back and sighs again. “Can we talk about this after?”
Chloe doesn’t respond.
She feels Beca’s eyes on her, full of worry, and has a flash of guilt for making such a big deal out of it. Before she can say anything to amend it, though, Beca turns away to jog back on stage to her yelling fans. She moves to where she’d already placed the flowers and the beautiful drawing and drops the thong with her other souvenirs.
As Beca greets the crowd without glancing at her, Chloe lets her stance and posture relax, dropping her crossed arms to let her hands play with her jeans. She knows she overreacted. Beca’s right; she’s thrown enough undergarments on people’s stages to know that it really doesn’t mean anything. It’s a fun joke meant to flatter the artist, not meant to lead anywhere. And even if that girl did have hopes for a good time in return, Chloe knows in her soul that Beca would never do that to her. To them.
What they have is too important.
Chloe sighs, already regretting how she’d handled that. She glances up at Beca, who has still not looked her way. Chloe bites her lip; she hopes that Beca’s not distracted now, worrying about the status of their relationship instead of focusing on her music and her fans.
Releasing her lip to quirk her mouth thoughtfully, Chloe knows she needs to think of some way to make it up to Beca. She wants to capture her attention and make the biggest apology possible. She thinks for a moment until her eyes fall on the pile of souvenirs. She smiles slightly, a plan forming.
With one last look to Beca on stage, her eyes closed and singing her heart out, Chloe turns and rushes away, down the backstage steps until she finds an exit sign. She follows that to end up near the side of the fan section. Ducking and weaving around the hordes of hysterical concert-goers, Chloe makes her way to a stadium exit. She flashes her security pass at a guard, who lets her leave the arena and move into the main part of the building where Beca’s voice is much more muted. Her eyes land on the main front doors, and she dashes out and onto the street.
Her head swivels as she tries to spot any kind of convenience store or retail outlet, anything that might have what she’s looking for. Not seeing anything, she jogs around the Target Center, eyes scanning desperately. She knows Beca’s going to notice her absence before long, and, while a small part of her takes petty satisfaction in knowing it will teach Beca a lesson, her rational side knows that she needs to minimize Beca’s anxiety over their argument. She pulls out her phone and types frantically into Google Maps, knowing she won’t get anywhere by running around.
The first result to pop up is just over two blocks away. Perfect. Glancing at her phone to confirm the street name, Chloe starts jogging again, moving quickly to get where she wants to go. She can see people stopping to stare at her, and she doesn’t blame them. She knows she must look insane, now running at full speed to get to her destination.
She’s there in minutes, breathing hard, thankful for her gym routine. She dashes inside the store, moving immediately to the section she needs. She grabs the first item she sees and flies toward the register, not looking at the size or price, only wanting to check out and get back to Beca as soon as she can.
The saleswoman stares at her when she practically tosses the item onto the counter and bends to dig in her purse for her wallet. Chloe sends her a bright smile, trying to hide her heavy breathing. The woman doesn’t comment, only smiling tightly back before scanning the purchase and taking Chloe’s offered debit card wordlessly.
“Can you cut the tags off, please? I don’t have scissors on me,” Chloe remembers to ask at the last second. The woman – her name tag says Karen – only nods and grabs scissors on her desk, removing the tags with a quick snip.
Item paid for, Chloe shoves it and her card back into her purse, denying the offered bag. With a rushed “Thank you!” she sprints back out of the store and all the way back to the Target Center, nearly plowing down an elderly man on the way.
Legs burning, she launches herself into the building, holding up her security pass in a sweating palm like a shield. She’s granted access into the arena and backstage area again to resume her previous position just off stage and in view of Beca. The whole thing had taken less than fifteen minutes.
Chloe doubles over, her hands on her knees as she catches her breath, a stitch in her side. She dimly wonders if she should focus more on cardio and less on her arms at the gym, but she really likes how her shoulders look. Finally drawing in one last huge gulp of air, she stands upright to see Beca still singing powerfully on stage. She’s got Beca’s set list memorized and is relieved to have only missed about four songs.
As Beca’s current song draws to a close, her eyes flick to where Chloe stands. Even from off stage, Chloe can see the relief in Beca’s eyes as she sends her a small smile. Chloe’s heart pangs; Beca had definitely noticed she’d left. Guilt claws at her, but she knows exactly what to do to make it up to her girlfriend. She digs in her purse, pulling out the gift and holding it at the ready, hidden behind her back.
Chloe waits patiently as Beca’s show winds down, reaching the finale before too long. Beca had chosen to end every show with a mashup of the two songs she always says started it all. Chloe approves of her decision wholeheartedly. As the opening chord of the mix of ‘Titanium’ and ‘Cups’ permeates the arena, goosebumps rise on her arms and a chill runs down her spine.
Chloe waits until Beca reaches the chorus of the song, the part of ‘Titanium’ when Beca’s eyes will lock, as they always do, onto hers as they are both sent back in time to Barden’s showers. Her heart thuds in time with Beca’s voice, waiting, straining her patience until –
Beca’s gaze meets hers, open and loving as always. Chloe pulls her arm out from behind herself to reveal the panties she’d just purchased. Beca’s eyes widen in surprise, and Chloe laughs as she lifts her arm to throw the panties, tumbling through the air only for Beca to catch them deftly in her left hand.
Miraculously, Beca’s singing continues uninterrupted by the flying lingerie. She winks at Chloe, then lowers her hand to half slide the panties under the waistband of her jeans, letting them flop out at the top. The audience goes absolutely wild, as does Chloe’s pulse. She glances into the crowd, already knowing what she’ll see. Sure enough, several members of the front rows, including the girl who first threw the underwear, are looking in her direction, clearly wondering who had tossed the garment from backstage.
Chloe looks back to Beca, who’s still staring at her. Chloe takes a deep breath, tilting her head to the side in a question. Beca nods once, heading into the final bars of her song. Chloe steels herself with a roll of her shoulders, ready for what this decision will mean for her. For them. She had guessed this would happen when she first ran out of the arena. It’s time, and it’s a good way to ensure that everyone knows Beca is hers and hers alone.
Beca concludes the show on a high note (literally) and the arena erupts with sound. Beca bows once, an awkward smile on her face that makes Chloe laugh; Beca always has been bad with compliments. She turns to Chloe, eyebrows raised in one final question, giving her the chance to change her mind. Chloe falls even more in love with her at the gesture, but she’s sure about what she wants to do.
With a final deep breath, Chloe steps out onto the stage, dazzled by the lights and the noise and the people, but keeps her eyes on Beca. Beca will hold her steady. She reaches Beca’s side in almost no time at all and automatically winds an arm around her waist. Beca throws an arm over her shoulder, drawing her even closer until Chloe can feel Beca’s heart pounding, strong and steady.
Beca raises her free hand, gesturing for some quiet. The noise level drops instantly, making Chloe revel at the power Beca has.
“So, I know there have been some rumors going around about me lately,” Beca says into the mic, still slightly breathless from her finale. “And while Tom and Hayley are both good friends of mine, I just have to say – the only person I want in the entire world is this girl next to me. Everyone, meet Chloe.”
Chloe gives an awkward sort of half wave as she senses the eyes of almost 17,000 people landing on her. Not sure what else to do, she does what comes naturally. She turns to Beca, reaches out to touch her face, and leans in to kiss her fully.
A wave of sound washes over her. Anyone in the main area of the building might well think an explosion had occurred; Chloe knows her ears will be ringing for days, but she doesn’t mind. When the kiss breaks, Chloe looks at the crowd, squinting against the bright lights to see that everyone in residence is standing, clapping, screaming, giving her and Beca a standing ovation. It’s overwhelming. It’s excessive.
It’s beautiful.
They stand there for what feels like an hour but is surely only a few minutes before the stage lights are turned off and Beca’s leading her backstage again, scooping up the gifts her fans had given her.
“So, that was okay?” Chloe asks quickly as they walk, wanting to make sure Beca is fine with going public with their relationship.
“That was more than okay,” Beca replies, her voice hoarse from the performance. “It’ll be different now, but also easier in some ways.”
Chloe smiles slightly. “No more excited fangirls,” she teases gently, gesturing to the thong Beca had picked up.
“Nah, I just need you to keep tossing panties at me and I’ll be good,” Beca responds, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.
“Mmm. Did you like that?”
“I did,” Beca nods. “I’m assuming that’s where you disappeared to? Because I know they aren’t yours. Unless you wrestled them off some poor girl?”
Chloe wrinkles her nose at the thought. “Nope, bought them. Look, I’m sorry I went off earlier,” she adds, glancing at Beca.
Beca smiles and stops walking. Chloe looks around to see they’d somehow arrived at her dressing room already.
“It’s okay,” assures Beca quietly. “I’d probably be a little jealous if someone was throwing their underwear at you, too.”
“Well…” draws out Chloe, thinking. “I bet I can make it up to you?” She draws her lower lip into her mouth, moving close to Beca and trailing her fingers over Beca’s stomach.
Beca’s eyes darken and she moves closer as well, her breath ghosting over Chloe’s lips as she replies, “Gonna throw more clothing at me?”
Chloe smiles sweetly and whispers, “No. I’m going to tear clothing off of you.”
Quick as a flash, Beca opens her dressing room door to gently toss her gifts inside on the floor before turning back to Chloe. She grabs Chloe’s hand and the next thing she knows, Chloe is being ushered into the room and lifted onto the couch before Beca slams and locks the door behind them.
Oh yeah. She’s definitely buying lingerie more often.
