Beca sank lower into her futon, her headphones glued to her ears and her laptop burning marks onto her thighs. It was New Year's Eve, growing closer to midnight by the minute, and she had been invited to three parties. For some reason, she turned down each invite, not particularly in the party mood. In her mind, New Year's Eve was only worth celebrating if you had someone to celebrate with, and for Beca that had never been the case. Sure, she had a few boyfriends in high school, but no relationship lasted long enough to make it to the end of the year. Not to mention New Year's Eve had never been the same after her parents' divorce, her last memory of the holiday being her father's car driving away into the night after he had moved the last of his belongings out of the house. Instead of sitting alone in the corner of some random kickback, Beca opted to avoid the pity and sympathy altogether and spend the night alone in her dorm with her music.
Kimmy Jin was gone for the weekend, having left two nights prior with a group of her friends for a mini-vacation in Atlanta. Beca was thankful for the peace and lack of disdain her roommate tended to show her and used it as an opportunity to actually relax in her living space, something she rarely had the chance to do.
Beca moved from her bed to grab a snack, her stomach grumbling in protest from lack of food. As she opened a drawer in her desk, a faint knock resonated through the room. At first she ignored it, thinking she had simply imagined the sound. After all, who on earth would be at her door on New Year's Eve at 11:30 at night? But the knock came again, and Beca crossed the room to open her door, her mind searching for plausible explanations for the unexpected visitor.
"Hey." Chloe Beale smiled at Beca, walking past the younger girl and falling onto her bed.
"By all means, come in," Beca mumbled, closing the door and walking back to her desk. "What are you doing here?"
"I was at Fat Amy's party with some of the Bellas and noticed you weren't there, and I had this gut feeling that I'd find you here," Chloe shrugged, grabbing Beca's laptop as she spoke. "Whatcha doing on here?" She unpaused the track on Beca's computer, her latest creation filling the room with a deep bass and rich melodies. Beca sighed, knowing that any effort to stop Chloe from exploring and prodding around in Beca's stuff was futile. She had learned quickly that the redhead wasn't too keen on boundaries and after a while had given up on trying to maintain any.
"Beca, this is really cool." Chloe looked up at the younger girl and Beca felt her throat tighten with pride. "You should show this to Aubrey."
"That's very funny Chloe. You're hilarious," Beca mocked, picturing Aubrey's reaction to her potential interference with the Bellas tradition. Chloe rolled her eyes at Beca, turning her attention back to the bright screen.
"In all seriousness, why are you here? Don't you have like six parties to be at right now and some lucky guy to be kissing in," Beca looked at her watch, "twenty two minutes?"
"Well seeing as you weren't at Fat Amy's, I figured you probably had a super good reason for why you couldn't make it, so I came over to find out. And for the record, I only have four parties I'm supposed to be at right now." Chloe smirked back at Beca.
"Excuse me social butterfly, my bad," Beca replied sarcastically.
Chloe continued to mess around on the other girl's computer, Beca simply sitting there quietly, staring aimlessly out the window and munching on some Starburst she had stashed in her desk. After a couple of minutes of stark silence, Chloe spoke up, her voice quiet and gentle.
"I don't get it."
Beca snapped out of her trance and looked at the redhead. "Huh?"
"Who would honestly prefer spending New Year's alone? I mean I know you're pretty reserved and all, but still. This is just insane."
"'I don't know, I've never been that fond of today," Beca replied vaguely, hoping to avoid Chloe's prying personality.
"Oh come on. That's a load of crap. What's the real reason?"
Beca sighed, knowing she couldn't get out of this one. "My dad walked out of my life nine years ago on this day. The last memory I have of New Year's Eve is my dad driving away and my mom and I left behind, trying to find some way to pick up the pieces. Ever since it hasn't exactly been my favorite holiday."
Chloe stared into Beca's pensive eyes; the younger girl had never seemed so small before. "Beca, I'm so sorry. I…I had no idea."
"Yeah, well that's kind of the point," Beca chuckled halfheartedly. "Plus I've never had someone to celebrate the new year with, so I never really saw the point of doing anything special."
"I guess it's a good thing I stopped by then, hmm?" Chloe winked at Beca, patting the spot on the bed next to her.
Beca sat next to Chloe, her heartbeat picking up speed. "Looks like it's almost midnight," she whispered, hoping Chloe didn't notice how loud her heart was pounding. She'd always had a sort of crush on the older girl but always pushed it aside, never really making sense of her feelings. She was beginning to regret that now, a surge of emotion catching up with her and turning her into a nervous wreck.
"Count it down with me?" Chloe breathed into her ear, her voice low and enticing.
Beca turned her eyes to the clock hung above her doorframe. The second hand began to tick past the half-minute mark, and she started the countdown. Chloe kept her eyes locked on the younger girl, mesmerized by the smile that began to form on Beca's lips.
"Are you actually gonna count down with me or what?" Beca teased, turning to look at the other girl. They locked eyes, and Chloe couldn't help but lean in slowly and capture Beca's soft lips in a kiss. Beca groaned softly, placing a hand on Chloe's waist and pulling her closer. It was everything Beca could ever want in a first kiss: delicate, sweet, and tender. Chloe pulled away first, much to Beca's dismay.
"I thought you were supposed to wait until after midnight," Beca teased, resting her hand behind Chloe's knee.
"I couldn't wait that long," the older girl admitted, kissing Beca's nose.
If all New Year's Eves would end up like this, maybe Beca wouldn't mind the holiday so much after all.