Count On Me
Pairing: Beca Mitchell/Chloe Beale
Rating: T
Summary:
After the Bellas win the ICCAs Jesse and Beca pursue a relationship, but Beca is starting to realize that a relationship with Jesse might not be what she wants. Chloe continues to develop a solid relationship with Beca, but keeps her emotions in check. What will it take to split Jesse and Beca and how will Beca realize that the relationship she's looking for might be one she already has.
Notes:
This story will start with Beca and Jesse. But don't worry, I have no plans for keeping it that takes place like a little bit after the competition, and Beca and Jesse are still dating because of the kiss. So it's going to follow Beca through the rest of her year at Barden. Also In my fic, the a Capella season is only in the fall. So the competition is over in like early December, and my story starts just before winter break. I've never written fanfiction before (Well... I have but I never published it) so I don't know if it's absolute shit or not. So hopefully you will enjoy, and don't be afraid to give me any kind of feedback or criticism.
Chapter One
They had just won the ICCAs, and everything was in a semblance of perfection. Beca had finalized her relationship with Jesse and had become very close to the Bellas. She was happy, Jesse was nice, and everything most girls would want in a guy, maybe a little more with his amazing voice. Her relationship was going well, and she had become even closer friends with Chloe. Surprisingly Aubrey befriended her as opposed to simply tolerating her after they had, of course, won the finals.
Right now she was lying in bed thinking about her first few months at college and how much her life had changed. Her phone buzzed, interrupting her deep thought. It was from Jesse, "Coffee?" it read. He really hadn't come up with any creative date ideas, they mostly just went out to eat or stayed in while he forced her to watch some movie. She still didn't like movies, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Jesse, seeing how much he enjoyed them. But trying to get her to watch like... twenty movies a week was a little much, and its charm of being a cute passion that he wanted to share was waring off quickly. She groaned internally, not wanting to get up yet. Her first class wasn't until two in the afternoon today, she sent a text back to Jesse telling him to meet her at their usual cafe.
Jesse was sitting at a table in the back corner of the small shop waiting with two cups of coffee and two muffins. "Hey you" he said cheekily. "you look like you were just hit by a truck, didn't sleep well?" he guessed. Beca hadn't really thought about it but now that he mentioned it... She's had some trouble falling to sleep recently, something was making her restless and it always felt like something wasn't quite right. But why was he so judgmental? She shrugged the thought off and replied.
"Yeah I guess... Thanks" Jesse handed her the coffee as Beca sat down. "I got you a muffin too." Jesse said. "What kind?" Beca asked warily, already noticing the bits of blue in the muffin. "Blueberry, the king of all muffins" Jesse said with a huge smile. "The king really? Well I'm sorry to inform you I'm not a big fan of the king of muffins" she said with a little amusement in her voice. "What! You can't not like blueberry muffins! Although can't say I'm surprised, you don't like a lot of fun things." Jesse teased. "Ha Ha, very funny" Beca said, not really amused.
They talked about little mundane things for about another thirty minutes until Jesse had to go to his music theory class. Beca decided a little walk around the campus might wake her up, she was still feeling super tired especially after Jesse had pointed it out. She probably should try and figure out what was causing her restlessness.
She walked by the radio station and the building where the Bellas rehearsal was normally held, and the empty swimming pool. Her little walk turned into a reminiscent nostalgia trip of the last few months. The strongest feelings coming from when she walked past the showers near the campus gym, reminding her of when Chloe burst in on her. She smiled to herself at the memory, it wasn't one that anyone could forget.
Chloe had turned out to be a great friend, she was the reason that, aside from Jesse, she decided to stay at Barden for a full education. Chloe would be getting her Masters here at Barden which means she would be around for the entirety of Becas college experience. Although due to rules, she wouldn't be allowed to partake in the Bella's, she though with a frown.
Beca got back to her dorm ready to lose herself in her music. She was just beginning to relax into her mixing, letting the bass beats pound everything out of her mind and let herself focus on the music and the blending of tracks. She had subconsciously used "Just a Dream" for the vocals of her current mix, and it kept reminding her of the mash up they did in the pool, and of Chloe singing along with her to Bruno Mars's "Just the way you are". She was just about to start on a new track, when she heard a knock on her door. Kimmy Jin gave a deathly glare, and Beca needed no more than that to motivate her to see who was at the door.
She opened the door to see a wide smiling Chloe holding lunch for both of them. "Hey hey becs! Guess who brought lunch!" Chloe said bubbly as ever. Beca's face immediately lit up, she had gotten so lost in her music she forgot that she didn't eat anything for breakfast. No thanks to Jesse. "Hey Chlo, what did you bring?" Beca asked eagerly. "Someones hungry" the redhead remarked, looking amused at the way Beca was craning her neck to see the writing on the bags.
"I got us both Smokehouse Turkey Panini's from Panera.. Your favorite." She added, looking a bit smug for remembering. "You remembered?" Beca said sitting back down at her desk starting to close up her mixing software."Of course... Whatcha working on?" She asked hesitantly. I still hadn't show her any of my mixes, they were personal. And it was a bit embarrassing at how many where inspired by her or something she did. Or even just by a song I had caught her singing. But she seemed so interested and another persons opinion can never hurt, right?
"Ummm... just some stuff." she replied, starting to revert back into herself. Why was she so bad at opening up? This wasn't even something that personal. She pushed herself to make the offer, and it wasn't that hard. It was just Chloe. "D-do you want to listen?" Somehow it had still managed to come out with a stutter. Chloe smiled widely, happy to see Beca opening up to her, and accepted the headphones Beca was offering to her, sitting down next to Beca on the office chair.
She settled herself and then turned to Beca expectantly when she had made no move to hit play. "Oh!" Beca suddenly realized she had been frozen staring at Chloe not able to move. She often got this way when Chloe just stepped into her personal bubble, like she was doing now. Just inches away from her face. Beca turned on the track, it was the "Just A Dream" remix she had just been working on. She observed Chloe, leaning back a little to distance herself from the her.
Chloe's face lit up when she recognized the song and she started bobbing her head, and humming along. She closed her eyes and let the music take her away, just like Beca did so many times a day herself. Beca almost wished she hadn't closed her eyes though, she loved looking at those amazing piercing blue eyes. What? Where did that thought come from? I have no attraction to Chloe, our feelings are strictly platonic, I have a boyfriend. She shook the thought from her head.
The song was coming to a close, the last notes fading out, and Chloe's eyes fluttered open. Making Beca's breath hitch. Why am I reacting this way? Chloe carefully took the headphones off and placed them on the desk, her smile beaming. "Beca, that was fantastic!" She looked completely sincere. "That was so good, I would totally buy that version of the song" she smiled. Beca smiled back, this wasn't like the reaction she got from Jesse. I mean sure... He said it was good, but he didn't seem all the interested and he ushered her right over to watch movies with him in her room. Chloe seemed so thrilled that Beca was capable of doing something this amazing.
"Thanks, that means a lot. I don't usually share my music with people... I tend to mix with my feelings in mind." She motioned towards her equipment, and then realized what she may have just inadvertantly given away. Quickly changing the subject, far far away from her feelings, she said "I've actually come to kind of a standstill recently, Jesse's stupid movie soundtracks are all that are in my head right now, I can't find any songs I want to use that won't make it sound like a cheesy pop hit". Chloe laughs, and moves over to grab their food.
Beca had forgotten about eating, once again. This time with Chloe as the distraction. "Well if you want, I can send you a list of some of my favorite songs... Just as long as you promise to let me listen to them when your done." Chloe says, looking a little unsure as to how Beca will receive the condition she tacked on. "Actually, that would be great." Beca replies. Chloe hangs out in Beca's room until Beca has to go to class. Chloe walks back to her dorm with a skip in her step after spending time with Beca, she made her feel so happy especially since she'd been starting to open up to her.
"Someones happy..." Aubrey accuses when she spots her roommate walking through the door with a huge smile on her face. "Just in a good mood is all" Chloe replies, shrugging off Aubrey's very apparent suspicion. Chloe catches herself humming "Just A Dream" and stops when she see's Aubrey shooting her yet another suspicious glance. She's gonna have to be careful if she want's to keep her crush for Beca a secret, Aubrey has a knack for finding out who she liked. To be honest, she wouldn't be surprised to find out Aubrey already suspected Beca as being her latest infatuation.
Chloe hadn't exactly been subtle with the flirting during all the Bella rehearsals. But Chloe had the advantage of just playing it off as being her usual ditsy self. Aubrey had become accustom to Chloe's very flirtatious personality. Chloe got up from her bed, and sat down at the computer and starting sifting through her itunes library to find songs to send to Beca. She wasn't sure of how many to send... So she settled on only five.
She suddenly felt Aubrey's presence over her. "Watcha doin?" Aubrey asked innocently enough. "Ummm... nothing. Just making a new playlist?" it sounded like a question. Her roomate raised her eyebrow, she definitely didn't believe it. "Those are all songs about love..." Aubrey pointed out, but didn't press any further. She just walked over to her laptop and pointedly resumed working on an essay. Chloe really was going to have to be careful.
Beca gets back from her class, very exhausted. Her professor had lectured forty minutes over the end of class and all she wanted to do was take a nap. She checked her email on her computer, and saw a new message from Chloe. It had five songs, they definitely had potential. But it would have to wait till morning, she needed some rest.
She wakes up from her nap and its around, 7 pm. She checks her phone only to find that its dead. She moans, not wanting to get up from her bed. Her stomach grumbling in protest, she rolls out of bed happy to find that Kimmy Jin is out. She has a left over half a panini, she silently thanks Chloe again. She has some homework to do, and then back to sleep. She puts on the songs Chloe sent her, she likes to get a good feel for the music she'll be working with before playing around with it. The songs are all pretty upbeat and some feature some killer vocals that she can already imagine backing with some nice beats.
One thing that doesn't slip from Beca's notice is that all the songs have some message about love, its most likely just a coincidence that Chloe chose five songs all with pretty much the same meaning of "I like this person, we should get together"... I mean that's what most songs are written about today anyway, right? Beca tries to focus on her homework, setting the playlist on repeat. Soon she's falling asleep at her desk, and she knows Chloe's songs better than some of the Bella's rehearsed numbers. It's time to go to bed she decides, but even in her drowsy stupor she's excited to work on Chloe's playlist tomorrow.