A/N: Oneshot Bechloe Neighbor AU for Lilhan on the Tumblr. Happy Birthday, woman! Thank you for your constant support of me and this fandom!
As always, thank you to my Beta for making sure I don't screw this up.
Crossposted at AO3 and Tumblr, chloes-yellow-cup
Disclaimer: I own nothing, literally nothing.
Chloe broke down the last of her move-in boxes with a feeling of accomplishment. Though, since she technically moved in eight months ago, she figured 'accomplished' probably wasn't the right word.
She stacked it with the other cardboard she'd emptied that night and surveyed her bedroom, making sure she hadn't left an errant one untouched. But the room was clear of clutter and she was finally glad to have all her things out of boxes. She checked her watch and was surprised to see that it was already 1 AM. At least it was Friday and she didn't have to work tomorrow.
Chloe had moved to LA on basically a whim, some instinct telling her that it was important. She'd seen an ad for "Dance Instructor Needed" and hadn't been able to get it out of her mind. It helped that her best friend from college had moved here two years ago to be a lawyer in some firm specializing in the entertainment business. She'd stayed with Aubrey for a few weeks while she applied for the job and then again while she looked for an apartment to rent once she'd gotten hired.
She'd been given the evening classes, and while she traditionally was more a morning person, she found she liked the hours just fine. The classes were usually fun, and so far she'd kept mostly the same group of ten to fourteen year olds for most of those eight months.
So she'd rotated her daily schedule a bit, getting up later than she ever really had before, and suddenly Chloe understood the appeal of sleeping until noon. There was no rush, no timetable except "be at work by six" and the freedom to do whatever else she wanted felt amazing.
Thinking that Aubrey would finally have to stop teasing her about not fully unpacking, Chloe pulled out a pair of shorts and an oversized shirt before stepping back to flip off her light. While it may be the middle of the night, you never knew who might be watching and she currently had her window and curtains open to try and cool the place off. She'd wiggled out of her pants and just pulled her shirt off over her head when a sudden light from across the way caught her eye.
Her building was one side of a narrow but pretty, courtyard that led to a shared pool area. While the space was larger than an alley, it still felt tight in terms of prying eyes from neighbors. The buildings were three stories and fairly uniform, which meant the windows from the bedroom and the living area were lined up pretty exact. Since she lived on the top floor she at least didn't have to worry about anyone but those immediately across from her.
As an admitted people watcher, Chloe spent a lot of time perched in her bedroom window nook, sipping tea and people watching in the courtyard. She tried not to pry and look into windows, but she figured the public spaces were fair game. That's where she first noticed the beautiful woman across the way, actually. She'd seen a short brunette hauling what looked like three cases loaded down with a laptop and various electronics shortly after Chloe had moved in and, at the time only gave a moment's thought on what she possibly could need all that for.
A week later she noticed that same woman in the bedroom across from hers, sitting at a desk positioned by the window and working on a laptop. All Chloe could see was the profile, but she remembered thinking she seemed attractive.
Two weeks after that, they'd passed each other in the courtyard on the way to their respective buildings and Chloe had automatically smiled at her when their eyes met. It's just who Chloe was. She smiled at people. She was very thankful for her dancer training as the second their eyes met, Chloe almost tripped over her own feet. As it was, she stumbled a little, her expression freezing in an unusual burst of gay panic as she almost lurched into the other woman. Who, Chloe noted even while flustered, was gorgeous, had the darkest blue eyes Chloe had ever seen, the prettiest smile and had automatically put her hands out to catch Chloe. But Chloe had merely looked away, muttered 'Sorry' and continued on her way, mortified at the entire encounter.
In the intervening months, they'd had a few more chance meetings like that – though thankfully Chloe had no more balance mishaps – but they had never spoken beyond that one word. Chloe had seen her with a few other people; a loud blonde whose accent in the courtyard betrayed her Australian origins, a taller brunette who caused other people to careen off things like the hedges lining the path when she walked by, and an attractive guy with short dark hair.
Chloe wasn't sure why she'd never talked to the other woman, they'd seen each other in passing at least a dozen times, if not more. But something in her held her back, and since she'd moved to LA at the urging of feelings like that, she listened to it. So she went on random coffee dates with other people, sometimes to dinner but none of them ever stuck. But she wasn't unhappy, merely felt like she was… waiting.
And it wasn't like Chloe spent time watching through the other bedroom window, she really didn't. But when it was late at night and that was the only window with a light – even if it was just the glow of a couple monitors on a desk – she couldn't help it that her eye was sometimes drawn to it. So what if she noticed that none of the people she'd seen ever stayed the night? At least not in that way. She'd seen them crowded around the desktop setup that seemed to gain more equipment as the months wore on; listening to something through speakers or headphones, but that seemed to be the extent of the bedroom activity. But Chloe wasn't watching, really. Probably.
Though… when she did happen to look over, most of the time the brunette was working at her desk of equipment through all hours of the evening and into the morning. Chloe may also have noticed that a few times she seemed to fall asleep at her desk, slumped over in a boneless way that didn't look comfortable when Chloe sometimes woke up early in the morning to go for a jog. And, okay, maybe she'd been paying enough attention in those dark nights to notice the woman hold up what appeared to be a green something and talk to it. She tried not to judge that, honestly.
She'd never actually seen anything inappropriate in the room across the way ; it's not like Chloe lurked in the dark with binoculars like the horror stories Aubrey had tried to scare her with about apartment living. Chloe just lived her day, walking in and out of her room, with her own light on or off. Though – admittedly, Chloe did change with the light off, because why invite things like that. Most of the time.
So it was with great surprise that, when out of instinct she looked over at the flare of light, she saw the brunette dancing around the room in her underwear with a large pair of headphones over her ears.
Unconsciously Chloe drifted closer to the window, watching as the other woman danced with abandon around her room, one hand holding the headphones in place and the other guiding the overly long headphone cable around herself. At one point Chloe was convinced the she'd wrapped herself too tight, like a mummy, and at any moment was going to fall over, but with a sharp twirl, the brunette twisted herself out of it and across the room to let it unspool.
As Chloe leaned against the wall, she could hear, faintly, that the woman was singing along, though what it was she couldn't tell at first. Then there was a lull in the outside noise and a few lines drifted through, as the brunette got louder briefly as she let herself really get into it and let go. Chloe could tell even from this distance that she'd lost herself in the song and felt a kinship for that kind of simple joy. She let the lyrics play back and smiled. Sia's 'Cheap Thrills' was a favorite of hers too.
Chloe had gotten so lost in watching the other woman that she forgot she herself was also mostly naked and standing in her window. And while the light down in the courtyard was far enough away that it didn't cause problems for her at night, it did somewhat light up the window nook where she was now lounging. A fact that was brought home when the brunette across the way suddenly stopped and stared directly at her.
Chloe froze, her first thought being 'Oh thank god it's dark out.' Her second, when looking down and seeing that she was clearly visible, mostly naked with her forgotten shirt in her hand, was 'Oh fuck.' Because while Chloe was totally confident about her body, she was also totally embarrassed at being caught staring when it wasn't implicitly invited. Not that she'd really done more than thought 'Wow, she's super fit and toned' while watching. Okay, and so maybe somewhere, there was a small voice thinking 'Damn she's gorgeous!' But for the most part, it wasn't like that. As a dance instructor and former a capella singer, it simply made her incredibly happy to see people lose themselves in music. There was nothing more beautiful than watching someone forget anyone else could be watching – though admittedly at this hour of the morning, there usually wouldn't be anyone watching – and just feel.
But now, here she was, panic creeping over her again as the brunette slowly slipped the headphones to rest around her neck. Chloe watched her step closer to the window, her lips twitching into a smirk that Chloe could see clearly as the other woman raised her hand and waved.
Chloe snapped back to herself and stepped back and to the side. "Oh my god." She blinked rapidly in the dark of her room. "Oh my god, I'm a perv. I've turned into one of those people Aubrey tried to scare me with." She dropped her shirt and ran her hands through her hair. "Oh my god." She paced back and forth for a second before spinning suddenly and pulling her sleep clothing off her bed and stepped into them quickly. "Oh my – how can I even see her in the courtyard after this?" Chloe shook her head. "I'm going to have to move and I just finished unpacking."
She turned to look at the window. "And that's gotta be covered until I move." She steeled herself. "Don't you look. Just walk over. Close it. Go to bed. Look for another apartment tomorrow." She knew she was blowing it out of proportion and being illogical, but she was mortified at being caught staring, which she wasn't even doing. Or hadn't meant to! "Right." She took the two steps to the window and reached for the curtain. 'Do not look. Do not look. Do not lo-' But of course she looked. She just had to top off the humiliating evening with one more awkward glance.
The first thing she noticed, to her embarrassment, was that the other woman was still in her bra and underwear. The second thing she noticed was that the woman's laptop had been turned to face the window. The third thing Chloe noticed was the smile that spread across the brunette's face as she reached over and tapped the top of her screen with one hand, drawing Chloe's gaze.
A giant "3" filled the screen. Chloe's brows drew together as the woman touched a key on her keyboard and a "6" replaced it, followed by a "0." She looked back up at the woman when she paused, and Chloe saw a phone in her other hand. She wiggled it at Chloe, her finger once more tapping on the monitor.
'Oh shit. She's giving me her number?' Chloe bit her lip as she tried to work through what this meant. It was either a precursor to chewing her out via text or… Chloe swallowed, trying not to let her eyes linger on the body on display across the way.. She turned and walked to her dresser, pulling her phone off of it and unlocking it. Taking a deep breath and a leap of faith, she headed back to her window, phone in hand. Opening the text app, she quickly entered the three numbers she'd already been given and looked back up. 'Did… did she just wink at me?' The shadows made it unclear, but she was pretty sure the brunette had winked at her. Chloe still wasn't sure where this was going to lead, but she knew what it meant when she winked, so it was hard not to think the same when people did it to her.
Awkwardly flustered, she looked back at the screen and carefully entered the numbers one at a time. When she thought she had it – and honestly, every second of this encounter was never going to be forgotten, even if it was thought of with nothing but panic – she bit her lip and stared at her phone. She looked back up and pointed at the laptop and then twirled her finger once, hoping the brunette understood she was asking her to repeat it. Chloe would hate to have the number wrong simply because she mistyped it with hands that were suddenly shaking. With a nod, the woman ran them backward and then forward again until Chloe had the whole number.
Chloe took a deep breath and her mind blanked a bit. What does one text when one is caught staring like a dirty peeper?
Chloe:
'I'm sorry' seems like an incredibly lame thing to say right now. Maybe I should start with 'Hi, I'm Chloe, your inappropriate neighbor.'
She looked up as she hit send, her heart rate spiking to an all-time nervous high, as the brunette looked down at her own phone. In its glow, Chloe could see the smile still hovering over her lips as she typed out a response and looked back up. Chloe's phone chimed softly in her hand.
Unknown:
Hello Chloe, I'm Beca. And I'm not sorry at all.
Chloe blinked at it, relief flooding through her even as a new, though more familiar, tension began low in her belly. She was changing the name in her phone to match when it vibrated again.
Beca:
I've seen you around a lot, but you always looked so busy I didn't want to bother you.
Chloe frowned briefly. Well that certainly wasn't the aura she ever thought she projected and definitely didn't want in this case. But she felt her usual confidence slowly creeping back.
Chloe:
Well, then I'm sorry about that too.
Chloe:
Guess I'll have to make several things up to you. Over coffee perhaps?
She looked over as she sent the second one, surprised to find the brunette already typing out a message.
Beca:
I've got a pot going right now. 3B.
Chloe swallowed her first instinct to jump up and yell 'YES!' at the top of her lungs. She looked over but the brunette had vanished from the window, though the light remained on. She took a deep breath and stood up from the window nook, not even really having realized she'd sat down in the first place.
After a surprisingly brief conversation with herself – most of which were arguments she expected to use later when Aubrey was yelling at her: 'For serious, Chloe! This is how kidnappings that lead to murders happen! You need to stop thinking with your toner!' – she'd slipped into a pair of sandals, thrown her wallet and phone in a small clutch purse and, after a brief panicked thought for the hour, quickly brushed her teeth. Quicker than she'd have thought, Chloe found herself locking her door and heading downstairs.
The night was still warm as she exited the building and into the courtyard she so frequently watched. Trying not to look like she was hurrying, wondering if she was only imagining the eyes watching her from above, she crossed and hit the button for 3B. A quiet buzzer sounded after a second and she opened the door and stepped in.
It seemed like all she did was blink and she was standing in front of the door wondering if she was knocking already or if that was just her heart she was hearing. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and it swung open almost immediately. Suddenly she was face to face with the brunette – Beca – that she'd been crushing on for months. And had just been busted spying on through the window.
'She invited you over, remember? It's probably not because she wants to punch you in the face. Maybe.' Chloe thought to herself, her eyes flicking briefly down then up as she took note that Beca's feet were bare and she'd thrown on a long black and blue baseball tee. Chloe tried really hard to not to wonder if there were shorts under there.
Beca smiled and stepped back, opening the door further. "Come in." Her voice was warm and inviting and Chloe found herself returning the smile easily and stepping past into an apartment that was mirror to her own.
The couch was black and looked worn and comfortable, the table in front of it covered with music magazines and the walls were covered with framed concert posters and albums.; music played lightly in the background from somewhere. Chloe loved it immediately and, without thinking, sat herself down on one end of the sofa.
"I was going to say make yourself at home, but…" Beca chuckled. "No, no." She waved as Chloe started to stand, an apology already on her lips. "It's fine." She paused and looked Chloe over, this time a bit slower. "You look good on my couch." Chloe blushed but thankfully Beca had turned toward the kitchen. "How do you take your coffee?"
"Um," Chloe cleared her throat again. "Two spoons of sugar and some cream, if you have it. Otherwise, uh. Just the sugar." She tried to cool her cheeks. "Thank you." Usually she was the forward one in her flirtations, at least to start, and it was taking her a bit to get into the game though she finally felt herself rallying. "Though, I don't think it counts as me apologizing over coffee if I'm not the one supplying or buying." She watched Beca over the counter that opened into the kitchen, trying not to focus on how smooth her movements were as she went between fridge and counter. Except she was totally watching the other woman and it wasn't just out of professional habit. Suddenly her eyes snapped up and met Beca's, the knowing smirk let her know she'd been caught. Again.
"Guess we'll just have to do this again at your place next time." Beca smiled. "Should be easy enough, we've got the same taste in how we take our coffee." Beca lifted two oversized mugs and walked back into the living room. Chloe smiled her thanks as she took one and Beca sunk down onto the couch next to her, one leg gracefully curled beneath her. "We can send paper airplanes across the way." She sipped slowly as she watched Chloe intently over the rim. "Or I can just leave the blinds up and dance around in my underwear."
Chloe winced. "I am…" She took a deep breath, ignoring the way her heart suddenly panged at the idea of seeing that show again. "Sorry. I swear, I don't normally – it was just it was dark, there was light." She felt herself speeding up and frantically tried to shut up. "And I'm a dance instructor and you were so lost in the music and it made me happy…" A sudden warmth on her bare knee brought her words to a halt and her gaze down. A slender fingered hand squeezed lightly, the thumb brushing over her skin almost absently.
"Chloe." Beca's voice brought her gaze back up and Chloe got lost again in the cobalt gaze in front of her. "I didn't mind." She watched as Beca licked her lips, thinking how much she loved the sound of her name slipping over them. "I don't mind." She blinked, uncertainty crossing her face for the first time. "I mean, not that I often go dancing around in my underwear hoping people are watching me." She suddenly flashed a grin that Chloe already wanted to see more of. "Or at least I didn't."
Chloe merely sipped her coffee, her confidence settling over her like a comfortable shirt. "Too bad, it was quite the view."
"Can I be honest?" Beca waited until Chloe nodded. "I… may have seen you over the past few months. In your window." She grinned. "Not in your underwear until tonight, but…" She shrugged. "I've seen you watching people outside, or reading in the window nook. Unpacking boxes for the past however many months…" she teased.
Chloe just sniffed and tried for an air of aloofness. "I believe in taking my time to make sure things are done right." She didn't think about how that sounded until after, but she merely drank her coffee and tried not to smirk.
"I'll keep that in mind." Beca's voice dropped just enough that it wrapped around Chloe and pulleduntil she had to fight the urge to move closer. But then Beca's hand slipped from her knee and her voice turned sly. "I always wanted to say hi, after that first time when you almost fell over. And you say you're a… dance instructor?"
Chloe set down her coffee as she laughed; her cheeks warm in embarrassment again. "I am." She decided to take the leap her heart was telling her to. She slipped off her sandals and pulled her legs up to wrap her arms around them. "Since we're being honest… I totally tripped over my own feet." She rested her cheek on her knee.
"Why…?" Beca trailed off and her hand pulled through the air to encourage Chloe to continue.
"Did I trip?" At Beca's nod, Chloe smiled again. "Because you have the most beautiful eyes that I have ever seen." She reached over and picked up her coffee again, needing something to wet her suddenly dry mouth. "Being a dancer was the only thing that saved me from literally falling at your feet."
"More's the pity," Beca muttered to herself and Chloe felt another thread pull between them. "So, imagine my surprise when mystery girl ended up being my neighbor, sort of. Not that I spent a lot of time looking." She said quickly.
"Right." Chloe nodded. "It's just, our windows are right across from each other."
"So it's only natural that things happen. And it's not like I close my blinds all that often." Beca grimaced. "Mostly because half the time they get stuck and I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get them closed again."
"That's why I put up curtains instead," Chloe laughed. "I got tired of the constant fight. Whoever invented those things should be fired."
Beca chuckled as she nodded. "Stupid blinds fuckery." She smiled when Chloe laughed again. "You've got a great laugh."
"Thanks." Chloe turned sideways on the couch, her knees still drawn up as she leaned against it, unable to stop herself from feeling like she belonged. "So now that you know what I do... What do you do with all that equipment on your desk?"
"Ah, super spy. I like it." Beca angled to face her, though her left foot remained on the floor. "I'm a junior music producer by day, but by night I like to DJ."
Chloe bounced in place. "Really? I love music! Where have you DJ'd?" And they were immediately lost in discussion in the merits of certain clubs and artists Beca had worked with.
Chloe lost track of time as she and Beca got to know each other, both sharing little bits and pieces of themselves, already as comfortable as if they'd known each other for years. Neither acknowledged the fact that they were also getting physically closer as they talked, pulled by the endless threads they created with each shared laugh and half whispered confession. Chloe's left leg ended up curled under her, but the two of them were so close that it pressed against Beca's right, as her own right leg was stretched out over Beca's lap. But Chloe was very aware of the fact that Beca's left hand was casually resting on Chloe's right thigh. On the outside, sure, but her fingertips were just under the edge of Chloe's shorts, occasionally stroking tiny circles into her skin.
She told Beca a bit about the Bellas, a bit more about Aubrey and found out that Beca sometimes released her mixes onto a YouTube channel that Chloe actually frequented, mostly because of the name she used: DJ Titanium. Beca had laughed when Chloe quizzed her on whatever it was on her desk she sometimes talked to.
"My grasshopper stapler." Beca closed one eye and looked at her sideways out of the other.
"Your… what?" Chloe laughed with her. "Your stapler?"
"Yeah, it's shaped like a grasshopper and sometimes when I'm stuck in a song…" Beca trailed off, looking embarrassed. "I give myself a pep talk from it?"
"That is… utterly adorable and I'm probably going to make you demonstrate that later." Chloe squeezed Beca's calf. "Please." She grinned and changed the subject when Beca's eyes rolled though she nodded.
Sometime after their second cup of coffee was finished, Chloe stood up, not admitting how much she liked the small sound of disappointment that Beca made when she did so. "Sorry, I need to stretch. But I think if I drink any more coffee, I'm not sleeping until Sunday."
Beca nodded. "Yeah, me too." She looked at her watch. "It's 3:30 already…"
Chloe looked over from where she'd just stretched out her back, groaning from relief as several spots in her spine popped. Beca's eyes had lost focus as she stared at Chloe, tracing up and down the torso that had just arched backward. Smirking, Chloe leaned over and picked up both their mugs. "I'll take these in and rinse them."
"Okay." Beca's voice was a bit distant and though her eyes remained on Chloe, they were more inward focused. Chloe stepped lightly into the kitchen and to the sink. Rinsing out one mug, then the other, she set them both against one side of the sink to be washed later.
In her admittedly short twenty seven years on this earth, Chloe had never felt so comfortable with someone in so short a time. They were surprisingly compatible in their love of music and Beca had been extremely interested to hear of Chloe's time with the Bellas at Barden. Ironically, Beca had almost attended Barden but was able to convince her dad to send her to LA so she could get started on the career she'd been dreaming of since she was an angsty teen. At twenty four, Beca was one of the youngest junior producers at the LA branch of Residual Heat, thanks to her drive and focus.
Briefly Chloe lamented that Beca hadn't actually gone to Barden, as they would have crossed in Chloe's senior year. Ultimately she'd decided that it would have been worse for her, now, to know that Beca had been on campus if they had never met. It was almost bad enough that they had grown up so close together, Chloe in Portland and Beca in Seattle, though, realistically, she knew the odds of them ever meeting were slim. Though, she supposed, looking at them now… Stranger things had happened.
Walking back into the living room, she paused as a new song came on and laughed. Beca looked up at her in askance and their ongoing honesty all night made Chloe say, "This song is my jam." She winked. "My lady jam." She bit her lip as Beca's mouth dropped a bit. "Sorry, that might have been too much oversharing."
"No, that's-" Beca shook her head as if to clear it. "No, that's… fine." But her expression gave away a lot more and Chloe would have bet a week's pay that Beca had just dropped into the gutter, something she'd done a few times already in the night as they teased their way through coffee.
But now Chloe had the memory of another Sia song in her head and she was asking without thinking. "Can you sing it for me?"
"Dude!" Beca barked out a laugh.
"Not for that reason." Chloe stopped. 'Probably.' "I heard you, a bit at least, singing 'Cheap Thrills' and would like to hear you sing again." She paused again. "That... that also sounds super forward."
"Maybe." Beca stood and walked over to stand in front of Chloe. "But I kind of like it." Closing her eyes, she waited a beat for the chorus Chloe knew was coming; then Chloe forgot everything else around them when Beca opened her eyes and began to sing. "I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose."
Chloe couldn't help it, she hadn't sung with anyone in a long time – she and Aubrey didn't have nearly enough weekends off together – but the next thing she knew, she was singing with Beca.
"Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
Shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium
Shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium"
They trailed off at the same time, gazing into each other's eyes as they smiled; Beca's was full of astonishment; Chloe's wide and happy. While she knew their voices would blend together, she never imagined it would sound so perfect. Then Beca was moving, one hand slipping around Chloe's waist, pulling their bodies together and the other around her neck, bringing Chloe down to her.
The first brush of their lips was soft, tentative. It didn't even occur to Chloe to resist; instead she sank into it, her arms immediately mirroring Beca's. She wound her fingers through soft locks, trying to pull Beca closer even though there was already no space between them. Beca tilted her head, changing the angle, and the sensation of her lips sliding along Chloe's drew a soft moan from her throat. Before she even had the chance to be embarrassed by how needy she already sounded, Beca teeth closed on her lower lip, tugging gently. Chloe gasped, her knees going watery, and Beca's tongue slipped between her lips. The last thing Chloe heard before she lost track of everything but Beca was the opening lyrics of Taylor Swift's 'Delicate' and she thought it seemed kind of perfect. Then she stopped thinking entirely.
Beca's kiss was everything Chloe had dreamed it would be, when she had allowed herself to daydream about it. Soft and gentle, yet firm and commanding – Chloe felt like she could stand here forever, tasting this beautiful woman and lose herself, their tongues vying for control. Her hand fisted in Beca's hair, pulling her closer, always closer – but never feeling like it was close enough.
Their hands began to wander, caressing a neck, a shoulder, before Chloe's hand dropped low from Beca's waist and slid up the outside of her thigh, pushing the shirt up. She realized with a thrill that Beca was definitely not wearing shorts and at the first touch of lacy fabric her mind presented her with a single image: Beca, dancing around in her bedroom, in what appeared to be a black bra and panty set. Even as her hand slid under the band from below, splaying across Beca's hip, Chloe pulled back a little to see if this was okay. This had definitely not been what she'd been thinking of for a first coffee date.
Beca was already nodding at the question in her eyes, her lips darting back to capture Chloe's, licking slowly into her mouth; her own hands pushed their way under Chloe's shirt and gently raked her nails down Chloe's back. Chloe gasped, arching and Beca's lips fastened at her pulse point, sucking lightly as both of them groaned in appreciation at the sensation. Chloe shifted and her leg ended up between Beca's thighs and she wished she had a better angle to press upward, but they were still standing in the entryway to Beca's kitchen.
This was already so much more than Chloe had expected, had even dreamed. Not just the physical need – she'd had encounters that had moved somewhat as quickly, though not really – but the emotions crashing over her were new. Later, she'd realize that she'd never felt like this around anyone before – this comfortable, this sense of home. This desperate for Beca's touch, needing more even as each brush of bare skin felt like sparks spreading fire through her body.
Beca began to back up and Chloe was ready to protest when she felt Beca's hands on her hips, tugging her forward. She followed obediently, pressing her mouth to Beca's and pushing her way in. She let herself be positioned as Beca began to move them.
"I don't usually do this." Chloe said against Beca's lips as she let herself be guided backwards down the hall. Her steps were sure, the layout so similar to her own she could have walked to the bedroom with her eyes closed. Which, she guessed, was exactly what she was doing in a way.
"What? Kiss like you've dedicated your life to it?" Beca's breath was fast, her lips just as insistent in the way they moved. While teasing, her voice had an edge of desperation to it that Chloe felt burning in her own veins. "Because the way you kiss is making me forget my own name."
Chloe's heart gave a hard thump she was sure that Beca could feel. "Fall into bed with a neighbor." Chloe whimpered as Beca's hands pushed under her shorts as she felt the space open behind them. Pausing briefly, Beca pushed them down until they pooled at Chloe's feet, then resumed walking her backward through the doorway, her hand reaching out to turn off the light that was still on. Chloe chuckled softly. "Thank you."
Chloe felt Beca's smirk against her lips before Beca pulled back only as much as required to pull in air. "If it helps at all, I've been thinking of this – you – for months." She dipped down and ran her tongue along the column of Chloe's throat. "So far, this is even better than I imagined." She pulled them to a stop just as Chloe felt the firm edge of a bed frame against her leg. "But, if you…"
Chloe stopped her with another kiss, then leaned back to pull off her shirt. "I've been thinking about this too." She was realizing she must have been thinking about Beca even more than she'd really admitted if she was already wet from simply kissing her.
Swallowing heavily as Chloe stood before her in matching blue bra and panties, Beca's eyes still twinkled. "While you were listening to your lady jam?" She reached for the bottom of her shirt.
Chloe bit her lip. "Maybe." And while she also maybe really enjoyed the way Beca's jaw dropped at the thought, her own followed when Beca let her top fall to the floor. Chloe had already known she looked good, even from a distance, but she was unprepared for just how good she looked close up. Beca's limbs were slender but Chloe could see the definition in them, as well as the faint outline of newly emerging abs. She reached out and traced them with one finger. "Someone works out." And the tattoos – they were parts of Beca that she found she couldn't wait to hear the story behind.
"Some." Beca shrugged one shoulder, her breath hitching at the touch. "Not a lot. I mostly refuse to take the elevator at work and hauling all my equipment up and down stairs-" She hissed out a breath as Chloe flattened her hand and slid it along Beca's ribs until she gripped high up on her side. "- here and there, helps."
"Mm." Chloe pulled Beca closer and closed her eyes as their skin really slid together for the first time. "God you feel good." She felt Beca nod against her shoulder just before her mouth nipped at Chloe's collarbone. "Please." She didn't even know what she was asking for but Beca responded by reaching around and undoing Chloe's bra. She whimpered as Beca's hands ran up to her shoulders and down her arms, pushing the straps down as she stepped back and pulled it free, her eyes on Chloe's before she let them drop lower.
Beca whispered. "You're so beautiful, Chlo." The nickname, whispered so reverently, slid along her heart like a brand and Chloe forgot to feel shy at being mostly naked in front of someone for the first time. Beca's hands reached out and gently traced the outer swell of her breasts before cupping them gently. "So beautiful." Chloe couldn't help the arch to her back, bringing her more fully into Beca's palms.
Then Beca's thumbs firmly ran over Chloe's already taut nipples and Chloe cried out as lightning shot through her. Her hands wrapped around Beca's upper arms to keep her upright as her already shaky knees threatened to give out. She met the intense midnight eyes so close to hers, actually watching them dilate as the pupils became blown with desire. "Beca…" She let it slip away, words feeling inadequate to what she was feeling. Instead, she just lowered herself down to the bed, surprised when it moved beneath her. "A waterbed?" Chloe couldn't help the laugh that broke free. "I did not peg you for a waterbed type."
Beca smirked as she watched Chloe slide backward into the center. "I like to be different." She followed Chloe onto the bed, stalking forward in a way that didn't jostle them too much. Beca settled over Chloe's thighs and sat back. "Plus I like it hot." She slowly reached behind her and undid her bra, freezing when Chloe suddenly sat up, unable to resist the pull to get closer.
Chloe put her hands on Beca's shoulders. "Becs, you're already hot. Too much and I'm going to spontaneously combust." She slid the straps down Beca's arms, eyes hungrily devouring every inch until suddenly it was off and she tossed it aside. Her fingertips skated downward, chasing shivers she could see as well as feel, until her palms rested over Beca's nipples, feeling them press against her. She inhaled as she squeezed gently before giving in and leaning forward to pull one into her mouth. Beca's hands immediately threaded into her hair and pulled her closer.
Chloe rolled her tongue around it, feeling the skin pebble under her touch before she began to suck lightly. She whimpered – or was it Beca? – as she gripped Beca's hips and shifted her further up Chloe's legs. She couldn't get close enough and if she could find a way to pull Beca into her skin, she would. She didn't understand how the attraction had gone from seventy five to a thousand so fast, but she was long past the point of caring about it. She just wanted more as she shifted her attentions to the other breast, Beca's hips beginning to roll against her.
Suddenly she was flat on her back, the bed moving beneath her as Beca lifted off long enough to tug Chloe's underwear off and drop them beside the bed. Then, after a moment's thought and in a move that should've been awkward but wasn't, Beca sat beside her briefly and worked the last of her clothing off as well, dropping her underwear to join Chloe's. In a second she was back over Chloe, but had nudged her knees apart to fit herself between them. They both sighed softly at this new contact even as Chloe wrapped her legs around Beca to pull her tight.
Beca's lips found hers again, soft once more, nipping and pulling before dipping back in languidly. Chloe was content to let it stoke the fire in her body, more than willing to be consumed by the flames the next time they flared up. Her hands roamed over Beca's skin, finding spots where she thought Beca might be ticklish, what made her arc into Chloe's body, learning how well they fit together. Then Beca was moving lower, her voice rough as she said "I need to taste you. Now." Chloe felt her body rise almost off the bed as it clenched at the desire laced through Beca's words.
Beca kissed her way down Chloe's body in a way that felt much too slow for what Chloe was feeling at that moment, but she was more than willing to let Beca lead. She paused to strengthen the mark at Chloe's pulse point before moving down to take first one breast, then the other into her mouth, lavishing equal attention on both. Chloe was writhing at the end of it, rolling herself against that toned stomach in search of friction, desperate to feel Beca's tongue elsewhere. Then Beca was moving again, trailing her tongue down Chloe's ribs to dip briefly in her belly button before finally, after what felt like a hundred years, settling her shoulders firmly between Chloe's thighs.
Beca pulled Chloe's left leg over her shoulder and placed a kiss on it even as she lightly nudged the right further aside. Then she looked up and Chloe lost herself in the need in those eyes. She swallowed thickly, her chest rising and falling even as she gave a small, tiny and probably unneeded nod saying that it was okay, that she wanted this. She didn't think she'd ever wanted anyone so much in her life. Eyes still focused on hers, Beca slowly licked up the length of Chloe's folds, from her entrance to her clit, with a single broad flat stroke of her tongue. Chloe's eyes wanted to close but their locked gaze demanded she keep them open; she felt her toes curl as she let out a guttural moan. The flame they'd been playing with burst into a firestorm and she let it consume her.
Then Beca slid one finger inside and Chloe lost her battle, letting her eyes close as her back arched. A soft voice wrenched them open again. "Look at me, Chlo." Beca slid out and then back in with a second, then a third finger and Chloe cried out at being so filled by her. "I want you to watch me while I'm inside you." Chloe whimpered, high and desperate as she rose to meet Beca's steady thrusts. "You're so beautiful, Chlo. Even more than I imagined after almost running into you that day."
"Bec…" Chloe's voice broke as Beca gave a sharp thrust, searching with her fingertips until she found what she was looking for and she began to rub lightly. "Oh fuck." Chloe wasn't going to be able to keep her eyes open if Beca was going to do that. She had to force them open as the wave that almost washed over her receded briefly. She fisted her hands in the bedding below her, needing something to anchor herself. "God, you feel so… I need…" She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as Beca's mouth lowered and covered Chloe's clit. She sucked lightly then with more force as she continued to run her finger forcefully over that sensitive spot inside and Chloe was gone faster than she had ever been before or dreamed was possible. She cried out, her hips rolling as her head thrashed on Beca's pillows, the sight of Beca's eyes still on her seared into the backs of her eyelids as her climax swept her away.
Beca eased her through it with fingers and tongue, slowing both as Chloe collapsed weakly upon the bed. "Holy shit," she panted, a little embarrassed and feeling like she needed to apologize for being a two second woman. But 'holy shit' indeed; that had been amazing and the aftershocks still quaked through her. "Beca, that was… I've never… You are…" She trailed off as she pried her eyes open yet again, the word 'amazing' dying on her tongue as she watched Beca slowly roll the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip before sucking on it lightly. Chloe's muscles clenched around the fingers still lazily moving inside her and Beca smirked.
"I'm not done yet." Beca shifted Chloe's leg off her shoulder then moved upward, her hand still between Chloe's legs. "I don't think I will ever be done making love to you."
As Beca's lips covered her own, Chloe muttered a quiet "Oh… Fuck." And then she was silenced as Beca's tongue slipped inside and she tasted herself. She whimpered again, pushing herself closer even as she clutched Beca's hip and tugged her down.
When they finally broke, Beca pulled back enough to say, "That's the plan." And while the words were cocky, Chloe could hear the hint of wonder in them.
"Oh really?" But Chloe felt it too, a sort of awe at being so connected to someone the instant she met them. That she had found her one. She thought it probably had a lot to do with why she had tripped that day. It was a cliché she'd wanted to believe in her whole life, but the rational side – that suspiciously sounded like Aubrey most of the time – told her didn't really happen in the real world. But it was a leap of faith she was willing to make.
"Oh yeah." Beca's lips captured her again and her hand picked up speed. "I don't have anywhere to be until Monday."
Chloe said for the third time, but definitely not the last that night, "Oh. Fuck."
When Chloe woke sometime after noon, she smiled at the rise and fall of the slumbering chest underneath her head. She had lost count of the number of times Beca had played her body like an instrument or the number of times Chloe had reciprocated. She stretched in place, not even remotely upset about muscles that were sore in all the right places. She hummed in appreciation as lips lazily nibbled her jaw.
Beca's voice was still heavy with sleep, but it wound through Chloe like a comforting full body hug. "I don't usually do this."
Chloe licked down into her mouth, losing herself once more in the taste of Beca. "What's that? Fall into bed after two cups of coffee?"
Beca's lips twitched but her eyes were serious as she sought out Chloe's own. "Fall in love with the girl next door."
Chloe felt the truth in the words down to her bones, though she hadn't let herself think them until now. "That's okay." She placed a chaste kiss to Beca's lips. "She'd catch you – except she's falling too."
"I'm good with falling together." Beca's hands slid around her and hugged her tightly.
"Yeah?" Chloe put her head down on Beca's shoulder and snuggled in. She felt Beca's strong heartbeat against her own, not surprised when she noticed that, somehow, they were beating in sync. She let it lull her a bit, floating on the tide of emotions shifting between them even though they weren't fully awake and sleep was tugging at her again.
Beca pressed a kiss to her forehead and sighed in contentment as Chloe wiggled somehow closer. "Oh yeah."
Chloe paused for a minute, grinning to herself. "I feel I should at least ask your last name before we go apartment hunting."
Beca sounded half asleep when she answered, her voice fading but certain. "Doesn't matter, I'll change it when we get married." Like it wasn't even a question whose answer she was worried about.
Chloe's heart leapt again, feeling a soft yet crucial click at the center of her being, but she kept her voice quiet, unwilling to leave this sleepy haze they were in. "We'll discuss that. Hyphenation is totes still a thing."
Beca's only answer was a soft 'mph' that could mean any number of things, already asleep again. Chloe let herself set into a feeling of peace she'd never felt before.
Moving to LA had been a leap of faith, but so worth it.
Even if Aubrey was going to kill her. Probably.