A/N I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of the characters. I am in no way affiliated with Universal Studios or Disney. And I do not own the song referenced in this fic! :)
"WHERE ARE YOU?"
"Aubrey, I'm sorry, I got out of class late. I'm on my way."
"Chloe, this is like the third time this week!"
The rest of the Bellas all sat in their chairs. Practice started about five minutes, and they were pretty sure Aubrey might have a heart attack if she wasn't there within the next fifteen seconds.
"Okay, fine. Just hurry up." The girls heard Aubrey speak irritably in to the phone before hanging up and half-slamming it on the piano. They waited until Chloe arrived to begin, as Aubrey's nerves were already on a high.
The rest of the girls noticed as Beca was already dozing off in her seat. She had turned to the side and curled into a half-fetal position putting her hands on the side of her head. Stacie let out an 'awwww' when she saw the small figure curled up in the seat. The rest of the girls joined in admiring the brunette except for Aubrey who didn't really care and Fat Amy who suggested drawing on her face or pulling some sort of awful joke on her. That eased Aubrey's mood when she began advocating these silly pranks. The rest of the Bellas joined in giggles and suggestions until Chloe walked in.
As Chloe started to apologize, her eyes directed over to Beca. Something that normally happened was that when the redhead walked in to practice, her eyes immediately searched for Beca. Nobody knew why, and they weren't even sure if she noticed that she did it. But Chloe's hands flew to her mouth as she failed to muffle the loudest "AWWWWWWWW" of the rest of the girls. She started doing tiny hops and flails with her arms as she reached for her phone. "Look at how cute she looks guys!" Her voice reduced to a high-pitched whisper as the rest of the girls looked at her with smirks. She walked over right in front of the sleeping form to take a picture.
"Chloe, what are you do-"
"SHHHHH!" she threw her finger up to her lips, eyes widened as she returned her attention to the phone.
"Oh, it's going to be a long day." The blonde muttered under her breath. "Just wake her up so that we can get on with practice."
Chloe obviously sensed the annoyance in her best friends voice, but she continued to smile as she turned back to the younger girl. She placed one hand on her shoulder, and the other extended to caress her head.
"Beca, you gotta get up now."
"Chloe? You weren't here like five seconds ago. How long have I been asleep?"
The redhead looked over to the other Bellas, who could give a more accurate answer.
"You basically collapsed as soon as you sat down little dude." Cynthia Rose spoke up. "It's only been a little over ten minutes."
"Mmm. Okay." Beca did her best to sit straight up, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw her best friend in front of her, slightly knelt down and still running her fingers through her hair. Chloe gently pulled away before the other Bellas interrogated her. She had a feeling that they were already suspicious about her feelings for Beca. She made it very obvious without realizing it. Sure, Chloe Beale was one to flirt, but it was a clearly different type of flirt, one that even Aubrey had never really seen, and she knew that that meant Beca was obviously not like anybody else that her best friend had ever liked. When the blonde asked her about it, Chloe confessed to having an immensity of feelings for Beca, but she was scared that she didn't feel the same, which is the reason she never came out and did anything about it. Aubrey agreed not to tell anybody else, especially the Bellas because she didn't want to start anything that would make Chloe regret ever telling anybody about her feelings for Beca.
Throughout the rest of the practice, Chloe was practically burning holes in to every inch of Beca's skin with her eyes. And she was not exactly discreet about it either, though she immediately looked away if Beca happened to exchange a glance with her. The older girl would play it off like she was just scanning the room. There was a plethora of times when the Bellas heard 'CHLOE, pay attention!' that they had the exact tone of voice learned in their heads. Amy swore that it was a voice that would haunt her in her dreams.
"Sorry, I'm just really tired today. Having trouble focusing."
"Okay, well we're moving on to choreography, so get your ass in to gear." Chloe gave a quick nod, and walked to the area where her half of the Bellas would be practicing. She knew she had to turn her focus to something other Beca, as she began to walk towards the group, but a bigger part of her didn't care. Her flirting really just naturally happened, and she couldn't help it.
The majority of the choreography was spent helping the girls make sure that their movements were almost perfect, but she really just wanted to touch Beca. She wanted to grab her waist, making sure her posture didn't fail. She wanted to cover her hands with her own as they moved through the motions of the routine. Any excuse to touch the younger girl was an advantage for Chloe.
After the rehearsal, the girls parted their own ways for the rest of the day. Chloe had to go to a class, but Aubrey made her agree to come back afterwards to discuss something to do with the set list. She didn't go in to much detail, but the redhead didn't question her notions much, so she just walked off happily to her class. Five minutes after Chloe left, Aubrey called an 'Emergency Bellas Meeting' excluding Chloe and Beca.
"Where are Chloe and Beca?" Denise asked as she walked over to her seat.
"I didn't invite them… purposely." Aubrey looked at the girls, who were all confused, before continuing. "Listen, I really, REALLY shouldn't be doing this… But I need to. Because Chloe has been miserable for a long time now, and it's because she is in love with Beca."
Half-expectedly the Bellas erupted in to 'duh' and 'FINALLY' and 'obviously' and Aubrey felt a little bit better about what she was doing.
"I'm glad we're finally able to bring this up. They were driving me crazy today." Fat Amy sighed in relief. "I thought Red was going to lose it when she saw Beca curled up in the chair asleep."
"She made me agree not to tell anybody, because she doesn't think that Beca feels the same way about her."
"Are you kidding me? You know, she may be stubborn when it comes to getting help with the choreo, but when Chloe does it, she practically melts in to her body." Jessica spoke up. It was true. Aubrey had noticed earlier that when the redhead went over to help Beca, she placed her hands on her shoulders and stood right behind her back. Beca didn't retaliate, as much as she leaned her body into Chloe's torso as if they fit together perfectly. Had it been any of the other Bellas she probably would have tensed up like a statue and told them to back off.
"Yeah. I've been trying to tell her this, but she wont listen to Me." the blonde took a deep breath. "So I'm about to do exactly what she begged me not to do. I'm going to take matters in to my own hands and get in to the middle of it. And I need your help Bellas."
"Well, of course we'll help. But what do we do?" Stacie had her full attention towards Aubrey. She was always the one who seemed the most interested in what Beca and Chloe did. When they would all be in the same room together, Stacie would purposely instigate flirting between them, or intentionally make the two girls blush like crazy. The other Bellas would sit back and stifle their laughter as the dark-haired girl smirked deviously.
"Don't worry, I have a plan. We have about two hours though, so we need to get to get to work right now! Amy, text Beca and get her to come here at five. I don't care what you say, just come up with any believable excuse."
"Amy? Stacie?" Beca walked in, and the gym was almost completely dark. There were a few candles lit, and there were two chairs set up in the middle of the whiteboard and the bleachers. It looked like someone was about to have some sort of ritual.
"Um. What's going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"You texted me saying you and Stacie needed help finding her wallet, and now here I am and the lights are out and there are candles. Are the lights not working?"
"Just come here." Stacie grabbed Beca's arm, smiling wide, and dragged her to the two chairs, and then forcibly sat her down. Before Beca could begin to question them again, the doors opened again, and a familiar head of red wavy hair walked in and hesitated when she saw the scene.
"What's going on in here?"
"What do you mean?" Amy repeated for the second time. Beca looked at her in disbelief, but the blonde shrugged it off.
"I'm supposed to meet Aubrey to talk about the set list. What are you guys up to?"
"OH MY GOSH WILL YOU JUST WATCH!" Everyone turned to hear Aubrey's voice from the room in the back of the gym. Stacie repeated her actions in walking towards Chloe, grabbing her arm and walking her to the chairs and pushing her body down. Before either Beca or Chloe had the chance to figure out what was going on, the Bellas appeared from the dark room creating a slow rhythm of snaps. Amy and Stacie began a harmony of notes and walked to the front of the group arm-in-arm. This was carefully planned. Amy spoke out a slow and deep 'first, we got to create the mooood' with a playful dramatic wink.
The two girls standing in the center remained clueless and Chloe looked over to Beca mouthing 'what is this?' Beca shrugged her shoulders, half-throwing her arms in the air responding with 'I have no idea.' Before Chloe could say anything else, Cynthia Rose stepped forward and began singing.
There, you see her
Sitting there across the way
She don't got a lot to say but there's something about her.
Almost as if on cue, the Bellas pointed at Beca, who grew wide-eyed.
You know exactly why, yeah you're dying to try
You wanna KISS the girl!
They had altered the lyrics. There was no guessing, no thinking about it; Chloe had been literally dying to try for so long now. This time, Stacie stepped forward, winking at the both of them.
Yes, you want her. Look at her you know you do
It's possible she wants you too; there is one way to ask her.
At this part of the choreography, Lilly and Jessica were at both sides of the girls, Lilly grabbing Beca's right hand, Jessica grabbing Chloe's left, and placing them together. Both girls looked down at their hands, but did not dare to pull them away as they feared what would happen it they did so.
It don't take a word, not a single word
Go on and kiss the girl
Shalalalalala my oh my
Looks like Chlo-e's to shy
Ain't gonna kiss the girl
Shalalalalala aint that sad; its such a shame, too bad, you're gonna miss the girl
Beca watched as the Bellas perfectly harmonized on the chorus. She was thoroughly impressed, until a familiar (intimidating) blonde stepped forward. She began to get nervous. Aubrey's turn
Go on and kiss the girl
Beca looked over at Chloe who didn't dare to look up. She stood staring at her feet, blushing like crazy, when Aubrey walked forward, placing her finger underneath the redhead's chin and bringing her face back up. She sang now as if speaking towards her in a conversational manner. There was clearly a point to be made.
Now's your moment
Standing here in this room
Girl you better do it soon, no time will be better
Aubrey glared over towards Beca
She don't say a word
And she won't say a word until you KISS THE GIRL! (Kiss the girl)
That felt like more of a threat than a lyric, as Beca got the famous glare from Aubrey stating 'don't screw this up' and Beca could feel her palms start to shake and sweat. On a good note, the Bellas were harmonizing well with their performance as they entered the chorus for a second time. Beca wondered if they had planned this in the matter of the two hours that she was gone, or if it had been a very long production. The dance was beautiful and cheesy at the same time. It felt like a scene in a musical. Mental note to self: Start calling Aubrey, Sebastian. Beca smiled at that thought, but when she looked over at Chloe who only half-smiled and returned her worried look to the Bellas, she started to realize what was happening as the Bellas entered the last part of their routine.
Shalalalalala don't be scared. You better be prepared
Go on and kiss the girl
Shalalalalala don't stop now
Don't try to hide it how
That note drug on for a little while. Very nice touch. Strong ending. All of the Bellas retreated back to a softer tone as they recollected from their dance and moved to stand around the two girls in a semi-circle. They held out their arms to Beca, who could not have been redder in the face and sang
You wanna kiss the girl
Go on and kiss the girl
As the Bellas harmonized on the last word, and the room fell silent, their eyes turned to Chloe with a look that screamed 'What are you waiting for?'
Chloe turned to fully face Beca. "Won't say a word until you kiss the girl…" those lyrics replayed in her head, and it all made sense to her now. The older girl understood that Beca would not be the one to make the move. She released the brunette's hand, only to grab her waist, and did not hesitate to pull her directly in to a kiss. The Bellas cheered and hollered and laughed behind them, and Beca smiled against the kiss, causing them to pull away, and Beca kept her arms wrapped around Chloe's neck, embracing her tightly. She whispered in to her neck just quietly for Chloe to hear. "Does this mean you're just as in love with me as I am with you?"
Chloe held Beca impossibly tighter and nodded her head. If she were to try to talk right now, she would start crying, and she didn't really want that at the moment. She only wanted to enjoy the moment for as long as possible. As mad as she thought she would be at Aubrey for telling the Bellas, Chloe couldn't have been happier than in that moment.
"No, Chloe." Beca drew back slightly, still holding on to Chloe's neck. She smiled at the older girl before pleading: "Please, just say it."
"I love you, Beca."
"I love you too Chloe."
"AW, yay!" Stacie was jumping excitedly. "FINALLLLLLY!"
"Stacie's been pretty much obsessed with you too getting together for the longest time now. Actually, I'm pretty sure we all have. So, we kinda decided to just be match-makers." Aubrey was laughing. Beca grinned. She walked over to the taller woman and threw her arms around her.
"THANK YOU SEBASTIAN!"
"Oh God... Just go get your Ariel and get out of here before I regret doing this!" Beca let go, and went back over to Chloe who grabbed her hand, and the girls all walked towards the door, seperating for the second time that day. This time, they were all happy.
A/N when I wrote this, I was visualizing the Ashley Tisdale version of Kiss the Girl. Only, try to imagine that a-capella-ized. Hope you liked this! :)