This fic is loosely based on the song Let's Not Be Alone Tonight by R5. I'm a long time Bechloe reader, but first time writer, so hopefully it isn't too terrible, but no promises.
"I can't believe you got all the Bellas into The Warehouse!" Chloe shouts over the potentially deafening music to Aubrey. "I've been dying to come here!"
The Warehouse is possibly the hottest club in LA. It has been known to host not only a large number of A list celebrity clientele, but also the world's most renowned DJ's spin here regularly. But they don't reveal who the DJ is until the end of their set, so their music won't just be judged based on celebrity status. Chloe has been trying to get in since she moved to LA, but with no luck.
"Jesse got us in! He knows the headlining DJ tonight!" Aubrey yells back, smiling excitedly.
Chloe faintly hears Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose arguing over whether Amy just saw Lady Gaga in go through the curtain of the VIP lounge as they get to the bar. The girls quickly order a couple rounds of shots before hitting the dance floor. Chloe makes a mental note to ask Jesse who the DJ is the next time she sees him, because it's as if every song playing tonight was handpicked for her, as if every beat was that of her own heart. And as if the night isn't already amazing enough, Chloe soon spots a girl standing at the bar who immediately takes her breath away.
Beca Mitchell doesn't enjoy clubs, not in the traditional way at least. She finds herself feeling claustrophobic among all the people. But when a beautiful redhead with a dangerously sexy spark in her bright blue eyes walks straight up to Beca while she is waiting for her drink and takes her hands, Beca allows herself to be pulled onto the dancefloor. Once they reach the middle, Chloe suddenly turns around to face Beca – so fast that Beca nearly runs into the other girl – and wraps her arms around the shorter girl's neck, pulling their bodies impossibly close as Beca's hands instinctually find Chloe's hips. They dance for a couple songs, feeling everyone around them fading away until it's as if they are the only two people in the room, before Beca pulls away suddenly as the song is coming to an end.
"I'm sorry," Beca half yells to Chloe over the music as the song is ending, taking Chloe's hand and placing a plastic card in it. "I have to take care of something. Meet me on the balcony in ten minutes?"
With that, the short brunette quickly disappeared into the crowd before Chloe can argue that the balcony is strictly VIP access. She then glances down at her hand, to an all access pass. Her jaw drops, wondering who this woman could possibly be to have had that. Without any further hesitation, Chloe goes to find the Bellas to let them know where she was going before heading to the balcony, a much quieter outdoor lounge area, which is nearly empty. Chloe sits down on the ledge of the balcony and closes her eyes, breathing in the cool night air.
"Sorry about that," Chloe hears as the brunette walks toward her. "It was just getting too loud in there and I thought it would be nice to go somewhere we could actually talk to each other. It always clears out up here during the main set."
Beca sits down close beside Chloe. "Most people don't go to clubs like this with the intention to talk to people."
"Well I knew I would be really pissed at myself if I let you leave tonight without even getting your name." Beca replies smoothly, earning a large smile from Chloe.
"I'm Chloe."
"Beca."
The girls go on talking for what could be minutes or hours, neither of them know. And neither of them can explain why, but they both feel safe to open up to each other, as if they'd been best friends for years. They talk about everything they can think of, getting to know each other. One thing that Beca learns which piques her interest is that Chloe is a veterinarian here in LA and that she'd moved from Georgia not too long ago. She'd yet to make any friends here, so her best friends from college came to town this weekend to raise her spirits.
"You're from Georgia?" Beca asks, surprised.
"Not originally, but I went to college at Barden University in Atlanta."
"No kidding," Beca looks at Chloe incredulously. "I sort of went there. My dad is a professor there and he wanted nothing more than for me to get a college degree, but after about a month, I felt like it wasn't the path I was meant to be on."
"What is the path you were meant to be on then?" Chloe asks, genuinely curious.
"I wanted to be in Los Angeles, paying my dues and making my way up the ladder of the music industry," Beca says.
"Do you feel like you made the right choice?" No one had ever asked Beca this before. She takes a moment to think about her answer.
"I wish I could say yes without any doubt. But in all honesty, I do wonder what my life would look like if I had been more open to making friends in college. I remember going to the activities fair and seeing all those clubs and at the time I just thought all of it was so lame, but now I think that might have been a chance to make real, lasting friendships that can be so hard to find in the real world. Some of those kids were so invested in their clubs. There was even this one girl that was so persistent that I join her acapella singing group that she got in my shower stall to confront me when she heard me singing."
Chloe's jaw drops as the memory hits her like a ton of bricks. "You said you would audition and you never showed up!"
Beca looks at Chloe as if she is crazy before recognition strikes her and she begins to laugh. "That was you! I can't believe I didn't recognize you."
Chloe laughs too now. "You certainly got an eyeful to remember me by. But I guess I can forgive you."
Beca blushes now, rubbing a hand across the back of her neck and not looking at Chloe, but she grabs Beca's by chin to bring her eyes up to meet Chloe's. Beca's eyes flicker to the taller woman's lips briefly. Both girls realize they are leaning in, as if there is some magnetic force between them.
But the moment is quickly interrupted, as a club employee calls Beca's name from the balcony entrance.
"They need you on stage in five," the employee says somewhat sheepishly, as it was obvious she'd just interrupted something between the two girls.
Chloe's eyes quickly find Beca's again. "Who are you exactly?"
But Beca is already getting up and takes Chloe's hand. "Come with me. I'll show you."
So they make their way back inside, through the huge crowd. Chloe keeps her eyes out for the Bellas, but can't find any of the girls. After Beca tells her to wait for her by the bar, the brunette once more disappears into the crowd, so Chloe checks her phone. There are new messages in the Bellas group chat.
Aubrey: Chloe, Amy got us kicked out, so we all went back to the hotel. Please let us know that the shrimpy alt girl didn't murder you when you get this.
Amy: I swear I thought that guy was a crocodile. It's really not my fault. I had no choice but to wrestle him to the ground.
Stacie: It was the shoes. Crocodile leather shoes may be hideous, but they are not a reason to attack someone Amy.
Chloe laughed at her friends' antics, typing a quick message out that she is okay and that she will let them know when she gets back to her home. As she puts her phone away, the song ends and the crowd erupts as the amazing DJ of the night is about to be revealed. Chloe doesn't pay much attention to it while texting her friends, until she hears the name of her all-time favorite music producer and DJ, Beca Mitchell, being introduced to the stage.
Suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle Chloe had been missing about the younger girl she'd spent her night with fall into place. Jesse knew the DJ – they must have met during Beca's brief stint at Barden. Beca had forgone college to pursue a career in the music industry. She'd had an all access pass that she could give to Chloe but was still able to get into a VIP lounge without it. She'd been disappearing throughout the night – likely to queue up the music so she wouldn't have to spend all night in the booth.
"Thank you all so much for coming out tonight, this is going to be the last song of the night. I hope you all had a great time here at The Warehouse!"
With that, Beca begins a song, spinning and mixing live for the crowd. Chloe stood at the bar, mesmerized by this girl. The way she was completely engrossed in the music, seamlessly mixing songs and even incorporating her own vocals. Chloe has to wonder if their lives would be different today if Beca had shown up to the Bellas auditions. Chloe remembers the magnetic feeling from a few minutes ago and recalls the way she was drawn to the girl when she heard her singing in the shower all those years ago at Barden. Would they have been something more than the fast friends she'd thought they would be? Would Beca still have become a world famous music producer? Would Chloe still be going home to an empty apartment?
The song ends, and the place quickly clears out as Chloe waits for Beca at the bar. When she spots the smirking brunette, she raises an eyebrow.
"So we talked for hours tonight and you failed to tell me that you are not only incredibly famous, but the DJ that was supposed to be in the booth tonight?"
Beca laughs. "I queued my best mixes to make up for my absence. No one noticed. And I wanted to have a conversation with someone who didn't know who I was for just one night."
"I suppose I can understand that," Chloe says understandingly.
"So many people in this town and in this business don't really want to get to know you as a person, they want to know what you can do for them. It sucks sometimes."
"Being rich and famous sounds like a real pain in the ass," Chloe jokes, poking Beca's side with her elbow.
"Don't get me wrong," Beca starts. "I am so blessed to have all that I do and to have my dreams come true the way they did. But it's so lonely sometimes. Feeling the high of having a huge crowd dancing to and loving my music is the best feeling in the world. But then at the end of the night, I go home to my too big, empty apartment and the silence of it is more deafening than bass of the speakers in the loudest clubs."
Chloe understands this all too well. "Being a vet can be a time consuming job. I don't really have lots of time to go out and make friends here. It's been nearly a year since I moved here, and I haven't met anyone apart of my colleagues. I wanted a secure job where I get to help something or someone every day, and I love what I do. But at the end of the day, I go home to an empty apartment too. It can be very lonely."
As they talked, Beca had been packing up her DJ equipment. She's finished by the time Chloe was done speaking. They stood silently for a moment, neither of them really wanting to say goodbye or goodnight to the other. They are both feeling a connection to each other unlike anything they had ever felt before. Beca suddenly has a thought that could solve their problem.
"Let's not be alone tonight Chloe."
"What do you mean?" Chloe asks, confused.
"I mean, come home with me. Not necessarily in sexual way, I just don't want to spend another night alone and I want to spend more time with you."
Chloe doesn't have to think for very long. So she pulls Beca into her and kisses her hard, leaving both of them breathless as they pull away. Chloe can't help but think fate brought them into each other's lives for a reason, like they are getting a second chance at whatever they could have been at Barden. She takes Beca's hand and they walk out of the club together, neither knowing that this just might be love.