"Shit!" I cried as someone crashed straight into me, sending the books cradled in my arms flying across the tarmac, loose paper scattering in all directions. I reeled backwards, eventually losing balance and falling onto my back, with the blur of red and blue that had collided with me in the first place landing atop me in a flustered heap. I lay there dazed for a moment, before feeling the weight pressing me into the ground shift slightly, whereupon a pair of dazzling blue eyes met mine, filled with concern.
"I am so so sorry!" The girl pulled herself off me, brushing herself down before offering me a slender hand, which I gratefully took as she helped me to my feet.
"Uh, no worries." She was already gathering up my fallen books, and soon I was clutching them safely to my chest again, gazing nervously into her captivating eyes. She was a few inches taller than me, her beaming face framed by fiery red hair that reached way past her delicate collarbones. She seemed to exude a sense of cheerfulness, and I felt my own mouth mirroring her tentative grin.
"I'm Chloe by the way." She stuck out her hand, which I shook awkwardly.
"Beca." She nodded, and glanced past me, eyes darting around as though she was searching for something.
"Looking for someone? You were in a bit of a rush." I asked, and her gaze flicked back to mine.
"Oh, yeah I was just meant to meet someone. I, uh, should go now." She hurried past me, and I was left wondering what I'd said to make the seemingly friendly redhead leave in such a rush, especially when she'd seemed so eager to talk to me seconds ago. I shrugged it off, realising that I was over-thinking a brief encounter and therefore being ridiculous.
It was fair to say that she occupied my thoughts until I next saw her. On the way to classes I found myself scanning my surroundings in a vain attempt to catch a glimpse of that fiery mane, and every so often I'd catch myself mixing songs that singled out that memory of her beaming face. It was ridiculous to start crushing so hard on a girl I'd seen for less than two minutes, but at the same time that was part of the pull; she was a mystery to me, and one that I was getting more and more desperate to solve with each passing day. It began much sooner than I had expected, and in a way that even in my heady state I could never have anticipated.
"You CAN sing!" I heard that voice again, the one that set my breath back in my chest, from directly behind me. It was a nice surprise, except for the fact that I was in the shower. Completely naked. And when I spun round to face her, I realised that she was in a similar state.
"Dude!" I shrieked, yanking the curtain back across to shut her out. However, she was determined it seemed, and it was pulled aside mere seconds later.
"How high does your belt go?" she queried, leaning past me to shut off the water that had been streaming from the showerhead. I gaped at her confidence.
"My what? Oh, my god." I turned to face the wall, looking at her over my shoulder, trying to preserve my modesty.
"You have to join the Bellas." She stated, with a firm gaze. I laughed nervously.
"I am nude." I pointed out, trying hard to keep my gaze on her face. Damn, she did have a killer body. She sighed with exhasperation.
"Wait, what even are the Bellas?" She grinned now.
"I thought you'd never ask." A wink. Jesus, I wondered if she could tell that I was struggling to retain my composure.
"We're an a cappella singing group, one of 4 at Barden." She stated proudly, her hands now resting on her perfectly curved hips. I swallowed nervously.
"So, like, no instruments?" She nodded enthusiastically.
"It's ALL from our mouths." She smiled, leaning in even closer as if to emphasise the explanation. Oh wow.
"I see..." I murmured, noting that her face was now only centimetres from mine. I had turned back to face her without even realising, and now I let my hands drop from where they were shielding my chest and to my sides. I could feel her breath hitting my bottom lip now, and realised that she was still moving closer.
"So what do you say?" She whispered, her eyes flickering first to my lips, and then slightly lower, before returning to meet my awed gaze. Our noses virtually touching now, I decided to be brave for once and make the move. Shifting forward ever so slightly and closing the remaining distance between us, I slid my nose along hers and watched as her eyes closed, feeling her small gasp against my cheek. My lips grazed hers now, and as she met mine with a tender apprehension, I felt something like pure, unhindered excitement shoot through me. Moving my hands up to tangle in that gorgeous red hair, I felt her push me back against the shower wall, and a small moan escaped my lips at the sudden starkness of the skin on skin contact. And just like that, she had pulled away, a look of confusion and fear clouding her eyes.
"What's wrong?" I asked, reaching to take her hand, only to find that she was now backing out of the stall shaking her head.
"I shouldn't be doing this, I'm sorry." I was stunned.
"Wait!-" I cried, but she was already walking away.
"I'll see you at auditions!" she called back over her shoulder, and I slumped back against the shower wall that seconds ago she had had me pinned to. Once again I had been struck by the red hurricane that was Chloe, only to be left dazed and confused and still not sure what to think of the flighty red-head.
x
Auditions for the Barden Bellas took place two days later, in a large auditorium known as the BU Performance Hall. Watching nervously from the wings, I noticed that the other candidates were all doing their own renditions of the same song; 'Since U Been Gone' by Kelly Clarkson. I'd mixed a fair few random pop-songs in the years that I had been making music, and yet I was totally unfamiliar with this one song. Chloe had never mentioned that I would be expected to sing a specific song. Swallowing my fear, I took a few steps closer to the edge of the stage as a loud, blonde girl finished her audition, bowing several times before strolling past me, grinning.
"Go get 'em short-stuff!" she nudged me encouragingly as she passed, and I felt myself knocked slightly off balance.
"Well, that's everyone..." I heard the announcer say, just as I stumbled forwards onto the stage, blushing as I corrected myself and stood up straight.
"Uh, hi." I mumbled, scanning the rows of intrigued eyes in front of me, my gaze finally coming to rest on her. Chloe was sat next to a tall blonde girl, who had an air of authority about her that I already found intimidating, even at this distance. The girl in question rose to her feet, already glaring daggers at me.
"Are you here to audition or something?" Her tone was ice cold and cut straight through what little confidence I had mustered, and it was with a shaking voice that I replied.
"I..y-yes, I mean the B-bellas..." I stuttered, and watched as Chloe laid a hand on her friends arm, who lent down in order to hear what Chloe was now whispering into her ear. She straightened back up a moment later, arms folded, but her expression slightly softer.
"Go ahead." She sat back down, and Chloe shot me a small, encouraging smile. Moving towards the front of the stage, I bit my lip anxiously.
"I didn't know we had to prepare that song..." Chloe looked surprised for a minute as if remembering her mistake of not warning me, but then she smiled again.
"That's okay, you can sing anything you want." I nodded, my eyes fixing on the cup containing a couple of gel pens on the table just in front of the stage.
"Uh, may I...?" I queried, gesturing towards the cup. Chloe indicated that it was okay, and I knelt down and lent across to retrieve it, letting the pens slip out gently as I picked it up. I then sat cross legged right at the edge of the stage, and placed the cup face down in front of me. Taking a deep breath to steel myself, I began the rhythm of the song, one that was made up of claps, tapping the cup and moving it around in an intricate pattern. I then added the vocal part over the top, the melody and beat interweaving so smoothly that it gave the song that special complex-yet-somehow-not feel which had initially drawn me to it. I kept my eyes downcast for the entirety of the song, not wanting to risk breaking my concentration with a flicker of those eyes, a hint of that shy smile that I was chasing after. I craved that look of longing that she had given me only days ago, and yet I knew that now was not the time to mess things up. Upon completion of the song, I allowed myself to look up and bask in the adoring gaze that she was throwing my way. She grinned, giving me a nod of approval, before turning to look questioningly at her blonde friend. I decided that I didn't need to stay to hear from her, instead exiting the way I had entered, soon finding myself in a more secluded area of grass, a little way away from the main quad. Pulling my headphones and laptop out of my bag, I sat cross-legged in the shade, and began to lose myself in another mix. I had been there barely 5 minutes when a familiar blur of colour came bursting out of the performance hall, head in her hands. I watched in shock as the seemingly cheerful senior sunk to her knees on the grass a little way away from me, not having noticed my presence. I removed my headphones carefully, and shuffled over to where she was still clutching at her head, muttering to herself.
"Chloe..?" Her head snapped up, and red-rimmed eyes pierced mine with a different type of intensity to their usual look of mildly-apprehensive wonder.
"Oh, Beca, hi," she plastered on an attempt at a smile, her eyes betraying the true pain behind that worked to form each tear.
"Chloe, what's wrong?" I knelt beside her, watching her give up the charade as she melted back gracefully into my arms.
"I just..." her body shuddered, and I tightened my embrace.
"Shh, it's okay, I'm here."
"That's the problem, Beca! You're here and you're you and I hardly know you, and yet I can't stop thinking about you. You're making me question everything I thought I knew and honestly, I can't take it. I don't understand anymore." I couldn't wrap my head around what exactly I was hearing.
"Chloe, I know this is difficult...I feel the same way, except I accepted my sexuality a while ago, back in high school. I know it's scary and confusing and heck, it probably doesn't seem worth all the angst but trust me, I can help you if you just let me in-" I felt her shake her head violently.
"No, no, I'm done letting people in Beca. All they do is treat me like shit and use me and then leave, and I'm tired of getting hurt. I've already opened up to you too much. This was a mistake." I blanched. How could anyone hurt Chloe? She was the epitome of adorable, her dazzling blue eyes enough to capture anyone in a single glance, and I simply couldn't even begin to imagine how someone could do anything to upset her so much.
"Chloe, who hurt you? I swear to god I might have to go beat them up for you, I don't get how anyone could do this to you. I know that I never could." She lifted her head slightly now, tear-filled eyes meeting mine betraying a shard of hope.
"But you barely know me, Beca. You can't say that you never would because you've never spent more than 5 minutes with me." Her voice was shaky, but she seemed determined. My face softened.
"Then give me a chance to prove it to you. I get it, you're not ready for anything right now, that's okay, I'll be your friend." I was nearly whispering now, trying hard not to dwell on our proximity again. I was promising something big here, to just be her friend in the hope that eventually one day she'd be ready to let me be something more, whilst also knowing that it wasn't guaranteed that that'd happen. But then I saw the corners of her mouth move up a fraction, and her breath start to flow more evenly.
"Okay." she murmered almost inaudibly, but we both smiled at the affirmation, and I tightened my arms around her.
"Thank you. Okay, so let's get you something warm and chocolatey, I know a great cafe we can walk to from here." I loosened my arms to move, but she stayed clinging on to me.
"Could we maybe just.. stay here for a bit?" she asked nervously. I smiled at her timid behavior.
"Of course." And so I looped my arms back around her, my hands on her waist, already too in love with the feeling of her head rested in the crook of my neck. I don't know how long we were sat there wrapped up in each other, but when she eventually hummed and stirred slightly, I realised that I had almost fallen asleep. And then it came, in the second before she shifted herself away from me again, I thought I felt her lips on my neck, ever so slightly leaving a faint tingling in their wake. But she stood up as if nothing had happened, and I brushed it off, taking her offered hand not unlike in our first encounter. As I knocked the stray grass off my jeans, she sighed, tilting her head back to cast her eyes up at the sky.
"Want to talk about it?" I queried, gesturing for her to follow me as I lead her to the cafe I had mentioned earlier. She sighed again, and I could see the question was weighing down on her a lot.
"I just… I guess I do, but I don't want to scare you off with all this when we've only just really met. I do really like you Beca, you're different. I'm glad we can be friends." I smiled weakly at the word, but was genuinely pleased that she'd admitted to wanting as much.
"It's okay, trust me, you couldn't." She bit her lip.
"Okay. The reason I came out of auditions so upset was because after Bree left, I got another text from this guy I was seeing a while ago. He was pretty abusive, but he won't leave me alone even after what I said to him when I dumped him." I was shocked, but decided to start with the basic questions.
"Okay wait, who's Bree? Is that the girl you were sitting with?"
"Yeah, Aubrey Posen, she's my best friend."
"And the guy?"
"His name was Tom." I clenched my jaw, an involuntary wave of resentment for this faceless douchebag crashing through me at the mention of his name.
"Chloe, do you want me to go talk to him? If he's bugging you you shouldn't have to put up with that." She stopped walking now, and turned to stare at me.
"You mean it? You would actually do that for me?" It was sad that she seemed so surprised that someone would want to do something like that for her.
"Of course. What's he been doing?"
"Just giving me a hard time over it all, trying to get me back using guilt and even blackmail. It's stupid really." She was trying to pass it off but I could see the genuine pain and worry on her face. I grabbed her hand, and her eyes met mine apprehensively.
"Where's his dorm? I want to talk to this guy."
xx
The door opened to reveal a tired-looking senior clutching his head and a bottle of lucozade. He stood at about 6"3, which made me feel slightly uncomfortable as I was only about 5"2 at best, and on eye level with his bulging biceps. I steeled myself, and met his confused gaze.
"Can I help you?" I raised an eyebrow at his tone.
"Are you Tom?" He nodded slowly.
"Yeah I'm Chloe's friend. See, I know how you've treated her, and I want you to back the hell out of her life and get over yourself." I raised my voice at the last part and he winced.
"Hung over, are we?" I smirked, and he scowled, turning back into the room.
"Whatever, you can't tell me what to do about her. You're just some weird freshman girl with a crush on my girlfriend, fuck off." He growled, and with that, I snapped. I grabbed onto his shirt, spinning him back to face me before delivering a decent punch to his jaw, and then a swift kick to his groin.
"She's not your girlfriend, dickhead." I stated as he fell to the ground, clutching his crotch.
"You...you bitch!" He choked. I kneeled in front of him, staring him dead in the eyes.
"Leave her alone or I'll be back with worse, got that?" He just clenched his jaw, averting his gaze and lurching to his feet before stumbling back into his dorm and slamming the door. I breathed out a sigh of relief before running back to where I had left Chloe wating anxiously. I glanced at my knuckles; they were already darkening with deep purple bruises, but I hoped she wouldn't notice and put two and two together.
"Beca!" She cried when she saw me, pulling me into a hug. I relaxed into her arms, finally able to release the tension from the encounter.
"How did it go?" She whispered into my shoulder.
"Well I don't think he'll be bothering you again." I grinned, reluctant to pull out of the taller girl's strong embrace just yet. She squealed and hugged me tighter.
"Becs you're the best, thank you so much oh my god." I felt her start to cry gently as I held her, and I stroked her back soothingly.
"You're welcome. You didn't deserve that." She pulled back now, but stayed close enough for me to once again feel her breath on my face.
"You're amazing, Beca." I felt a blush spreading across my cheeks, but before I could reply she had already released her grip on my arms and was walking back in the direction of the path.
"So, I was promised something warm and chocolately earlier, am I going to be disappointed?" She giggled, the cheery girl that I had glimpsed on that first day suddenly back in full force. I couldn't stop the smile spreading across my face.
"Of course not, Beca Mitchell is not one for breaking promises. M'lady." I laughed, offering her my arm, and then leading her on the walk to the little backstreet cafe.
x
We sat there for hours on one of the cosy worn sofas towards the back of the shop, drinking hot chocolate and arguing over which cookies were best.
"It has to be the triple chocolate ones Becs, they're amazing!" Chloe squealed, taking another bite of what I had nicknamed her 'ticket to the grave'.
"I'm going to have a heart attack just looking at it." I laughed, stirring my drink absentmindedly. I couldn't help but admire her, sitting beside me bathed in the afternoon sunlight, her beautiful face finally radiating happiness. I was glad I had made her happy. I would be lying if I said that it wasn't infectious though; the sparkle in her eye cut right through my inhibitions, and I found myself genuinely relaxing and enjoying her company. I no longer cared so much what happened between us, so long as we always had this.
"Beca?" I realised I'd been staring, and shook my head quickly.
"Sorry, I was miles away." She tried to catch my eye.
"Look, about what happened in the showers, I-" I cut her off quickly, laying my hand on her knee from where I sat.
"Chloe, it's okay. Like I said, I understand that you don't want anything right now, or possibly ever, and that's okay if that's what you want. So long as we can keep this; I like being your friend. And I like making you happy, so whatever makes you happy is what I want too. Okay?" She looked so relieved, nodding happily.
"Thank you, Beca, no one has ever really got it like that before." She sounded almost in awe. I shrugged.
"I know how you feel. And anyway, this is how it should be. Easy. Fun. Something that makes you happy. Both friendship and relationship, that is. I'm glad I can show you that." She hugged me now, and I reveled in the moment. I tried to push the memory of our brief kiss out of my head, but the burning in the pit of my stomach had returned, and I realised that no matter what I told her I was still falling for her. Fast.
xx
Two weeks into Bellas Rehearsals and I was still wondering why exactly I was there. Besides Chloe, who would spend extra time helping me out with my dancing seeing as I sucked, a lot.
"Okay, Amy, that's not where I told you to stand, and Stacie if you could please stop grabbing yourself during the dance that'd be great, this is an a capella group not an improvised pole dancing class. Again!" Snapped the leader, Aubrey, the intimidating girl I had encountered at auditions. She seemed to still be holding something against me, because her tone always dropped several degrees when she addressed me, and she loved calling me out on my choice of clothing and piercings. The only thing really keeping me there was the girl I had quickly become extremely close friends with. We hung out almost every day, at each others' dorms, on the quad, at the coffe shop; wherever we could. As predicted, my feelings for her had grown over this time, but I had concealed it well, at least I thought so. She too seemed way more comfortable opening up to me about things, and happier too as Tom hadn't said a word to her since our little 'talk'. She wouldn't stop thanking me for it, and I noticed that even Aubrey had let up on me a little after hearing about it. Being Chloe's best friend and room-mate, she seemed pretty protective, and genuinely grateful for what I had done.
"No, no, Jessica that is the wrong direction! Denise, Ashley, Cynthia Rose, you're all out of time and Lily I don't even know what you're trying to do right now. Let's go over the moves once more, slowly this time. Chloe, can you go and help Beca please, she looks like a deranged octopus flailing around over there." Aubrey commanded from the front, bringing me out of my reverie. I sighed as Chloe made her way over to me, beaming.
"Hey Becs." she whispered into my ear, standing directly behind me so as to reposition my arms. Her body was pressed against mine, and it took all of my self control to stay facing forward and focused on the dance. It was getting increasingly harder as she whispered instructions into my ear, a little too seductively for my liking. Well, okay it was very much to my liking but it wasn't helping me with staying just friends with her. My breath hitched slightly as her hands found my waist, moving me into another position for the dance, and I noticed her fingers pressing into me just a little harder than usual.
"Chloe…" I muttered, gasping slightly as she spun me to face her.
"Yes?" she smiled innocently, biting her lip.
"What-" I started to ask her what the hell she was doing, when Aubrey noticed that we had stopped.
"What are you two doing? Concentrate!" She shrieked, and I hastily turned back round to face the front, catching up with the dance and joining back in. I felt Chloe behind me once again, lifting the hair from one side of my neck as if to speak into my ear, instead quickly repeating the small kiss that she had given me on that day on the quad. Then, she left abruptly, muttering a quick explanation to Aubrey on her way out. I stood there, awestruck, hand on my neck where her lips had just been, before rushing out after her, ignoring Aubrey's frustrated shouts.
x
I found her out on that little grassy space, head in her hands.
"Chloe?" I said softly, kneeling in front of her, pulling her delicate hands away from her face. She looked distraught.
"I'm so sorry Beca, I don't know what came over me." She practially sobbed, her eyes already swimming. I opened my arms, offering a hug.
"It's okay! You know how I feel about you Chloe. I'm here for you as a friend, or more if that's what you want. But only if it makes you happy." I bit my lip, afraid of what else I was seemingly about to admit. She seemed torn between crying and moving closer to me, but eventually she shifted into my arms, and I held her close.
"I don't know what I want, Beca. When bumped into you for the first time I immediately knew that I liked you, but I thought that was stupid and crazy, and I told myself that even if I were to go out with a girl I probably didn't deserve one as beautiful and kind as you. And then I found you in the showers and I couldn't take it anymore, I had to see if you… anyway I got scared because I realised that I wanted you so much but I didn't understand that. And then you said we could be friends…. and I loved seeing you so I figured that would be easier and I have loved it so much, I don't want to ruin it all." Her tears were hot on my neck, and I kissed the top of her head gently.
"You couldn't ruin this if you tried, Chloe. Whatever happens, I'll always be here for you as you friend, and you know that I really like you more than that; I would love to give it a go if you will." She sat up, wiping her face, and looked at me now.
"You really mean that?"
"Yes. I care about you too much to let anything get in the way of what we have, as friends or as anything more."
And then she kissed me. It wasn't fleeting and fearful this time, but bold and sure. Her hands went to my shoulders as I pulled her closer, fingers pressing hard enough to reassure me that she wanted this. I smiled into the kiss, and felt her sigh of relief as she pulled away.
"Thank you Beca. For everything. Thank you for being my friend even when you wanted something more, and thank you for being patient with me. I get it now." I couldn't hold back my grin. I had finally gotten through to her, the girl who had a hold on me from the start, and I couldn't be happier.
AN: So I've been gone a while, I guess I've just been occupied with exams and then whatever else I've been doing over the holidays. Anyway, to whomever gave me this prompt, I'm sorry that not only did it take me forever to write but it's not exactly what you asked for, I only hope it is even mildly satisfactory. I can't promise when I'll next post anything, I'm going to have to focus for this year of school as it is my last and I need to get it together so see you whenever, thanks for reading and I hope I can post something again soon :) xox