Written as part of the Merry Pitchmas Gift Exchange 2016 for the lovely VeronicaSummers. Enjoy!


It was a rare occurrence for Barden University's students to wake up to a snow-capped landscape, but today that's exactly what they awoke to. Naturally, the Bellas decide it's the perfect day to go ice skating. Beca's long decided it's the best day to stay in bed.

She understands the girls' need to uphold tradition, especially this year, their last. But for the love of everything good in the universe, it's under thirty degrees outside, why would anyone leave a warm bed to go strap blades to their feet and slide around an ice patch hoping not to end up on their ass? It's a cruel and unusual punishment in her opinion.

Chloe, of course, doesn't give a damn. She's currently perched atop the mountain of blankets, pillows, and scowls that Beca's become, refusing to leave until she's agreed to getting dressed.

Beca doesn't particularly mind. It's a very nice view if she's being honest, she's never going to complain about a half-naked Chloe Beale straddling her for all intents and purposes. It's just a view she'd much rather enjoy at not seven-thirty AM on her only day off this week.

"I'm not leaving until you say you're coming with us," Chloe says, petulantly crossing her arms across her chest and looking not unlike a stubborn five-year-old. She's just rolled out of bed and the braids she'd gone to bed in are now askew and more than a little disheveled. Sleep clings to the corners of her eyes and there are clear indents across her left cheek from where she probably pressed her face against the pillow.

Beca is suddenly thrown back several years into the past, and she can't help feeling, just for an instant, like she is back in that shower in Baker Hall with a very naked stranger refusing to leave her shower stall until Beca sang with her.

Some things never really change.

A smirk unwittingly pulls the corners of her mouth up as the memory settles over her. The glazed-over look in her eyes must have given her away because next thing she knows Chloe is whacking her in the face with a throw pillow.

"Stop picturing me naked!" Chloe exclaims, each word punctuated by a swing of the pillow in her hands.

Beca chuckles, trailing her hands up and down Chloe's bare thighs doing her best to dodge Chloe's hits. She lets her eyes rake the body above hers with barely disguised lust. "Why? You're halfway there already."

Even though they are smack in the middle of winter Chloe still sleeps in barely there shorts and tank tops.

And this particular ensemble is a size too small and driving her absolutely mad.

She winds an arm around Chloe's waist, using her as leverage to hoist herself up and attach her lips to a slender neck. "It's cold out there. Bet I can keep you nice and warm right here." A hand soon shows up at the back of Beca's neck pulling her impossibly closer as her own hands make quick work of Chloe's shirt and as Chloe's fingers thread into her hair she knows, for now, they're not going anywhere.


"I hate you," Beca harshly whispers into Chloe's ear as they pull up to the ice-skating rink three hours later.

Chloe rolls her eyes before placing a placating kiss on Beca's temple, "I know."

The eagerness is palpable around them, the Bellas absolutely buzzing with excitement and normally Beca would lean into it, feed off of their energy and enjoy her time.

Her inner Grinch is just a little stronger today.

Are they making you suffer through the icy death trap this year too?

She shoots a quick text to Aubrey, her fellow Grinch in all things relating to this particular Bella tradition. Unlike on the dance floor, Aubrey's not exactly… graceful on the rink and still, she shows up every year. She likes to tease Beca about her inability to deny Chloe anything she wants but it's not like she's figured out how to say no to Chloe. She's still getting roped into coming to their annual ice skating trip three years after graduating. She's no better.

Aubrey's response comes a few seconds later in the form of a picture of what Beca assumes are her feet already strapped into skates. Oh, thank fuck. She's not sure she can survive the day without someone that's not her irrepressibly cheery girlfriend to unload the occasional sarcastic comment on.

Beca let's herself get dragged off the bus, Chloe's hand firm and warm in her own. The contact serves to steady her and she leans into Chloe, relishing in the feeling of soft lips pressing against the top of her head. She keeps a watchful eye over the Bellas as they make their way into the rink ahead of them, they may be stone-cold sober but they're over-excitable and Beca's already mentally preparing herself for at least one trip to the ER today.

"Please try to enjoy yourself a little bit today?" Chloe pleads as she does every year whenever winter time rolls around.

It's not that she hates winter, in fact, it might actually be Beca's favorite season of the year, but Christmas she can't deal with. All the stupid, cheery music, the bright lights, the color scheme, all of it is just… grating. Chloe, on the other hand, lives for Christmas so Beca tries. Every year she tries her best to get into the holiday spirit and okay, ice skating isn't exactly a Christmas thing but the only music they're playing right now is Christmas music and more than half the people here are decked out in green and red and the occasional Ugly Sweater.

"I will," Beca says tugging Chloe close, arms looped around her waist. She looks up into blue eyes framed in those oversized black glasses that give Beca butterflies and catches sight of the beanie perched atop soft, red curls and sighs. "You look really pretty today by the way."

A faint blush spreads across Chloe's cheeks and she bites her bottom lip avoiding Beca's stare, "shut up," she mumbles.

"You do," she insists. "You know what those glasses do to me, Beale."

Whatever retort Chloe may have had gets interrupted by a loud whistle and Amy's voice breaking through their little bubble.

"Yo, Aca-lezzies! Break it up, let's go!"


All in all, the evening's not going all that horribly if Beca's being honest even if she's had to keep an extra close eye on the Legacy, who seems all too willing today to follow Amy and Stacie's lead. Chloe keeps "helpfully" reminding her, whenever she intervenes, that Emily's an adult that can handle herself. And while that might be—partially—true, the sight of them racing around the rink does nothing to quell Beca's anxieties. The freshman might actually be a bigger cluts than Beca herself.

Still, Beca takes it all in from the sidelines a little wistfully. It hits her while watching Jessica and Ashley circle around each other in some sort of choreographed routine that this is the last year they'll get to do this together for who knows how long. Chloe's right, she should enjoy it as much as possible.

It's as if Chloe knows Beca's thinking of her then because she slides up to Beca coming to a graceful stop before her. "Hey, Red."

"Well hello, there my little Grinch. Having fun?" Chloe leans down to brush a gentle kiss across Beca's lips before looping their arms together.

"I am actually," Beca admits, letting Chloe pull her away from the wall and into the center of the action. "Are you?" she asks though she already knows the answer.

Chloe's been pretty much glued to Aubrey's side all evening and even though Beca knows they talk pretty much every day apparently there was a lot to catch up on. She'd take offence to the fact that she hasn't really talked much to her girlfriend today if it weren't for the smile that's been lighting up Chloe's face all day. She seems a thousand pounds lighter today, the tension she's been carrying around since the Kennedy Center incident is mercifully gone.

Beca would repeat this whole experience a million times over, just to see Chloe this happy and carefree; it's a sight Beca rarely sees anymore these days. She's missed it more than she realized.

"Yeah, I am. I missed just hanging out and not thinking about Worlds. I missed Bree."

"I missed seeing you like this," Beca says casting a sidelong glance at Chloe.

Chloe frowns, the unspoken question clear in her eyes.

"This… happy," she elaborates. "You've been so stressed about World's and I just- I really missed seeing you smile like this." The admission is soft and laden with guilt. It's her job to put a smile on Chloe's face and help bear the burden and damn if she hasn't been doing a shitty job of it the last few months. "I'm glad you made me come here today. I would've hated to miss this."

"I know," Chloe replies, a smug little smirk firmly planted on her face. She turns skating backwards and extending a hand out to Beca that she takes easily. "That's why the call me the Beca Whisperer."

Beca laughs letting herself get pulled along towards where most of the girls have congregated. "Whatever you say, show off."

Chloe's holding onto both of Beca's hands right now and she uses that to her advantage to tug Beca along faster and really, she should know better by now.

She must have misjudged the distance or the force because Beca ends up crashing into her harder than she thinks the redhead intended sending them both careening to the floor. She tries her best to slow down but by the time she realizes what's happening it's too late. There's a dull thunk as Chloe hits the ice first and a muffled thud as Beca follows on top of her.

A low whimper reaches Beca's ears and she scrambles to move off of her girlfriend, "fuck."

They're suddenly surrounded by people, the Bellas, she realizes but pays them no mind beyond accepting Cynthia-Rose's helping hand so she can at least move off of Chloe.

"Babe?" She reaches a hand out to cup Chloe's cheek gently, "are you okay?" she asks.

"Ow." Chloe's eyes remain firmly closed but at least now Beca can see her chest moving up and down as she tries to catch her breath.

She lets out a breath she didn't realized she'd been holding and slumps in relief.

Chloe's eyes finally flutter open and meet Beca's still slightly panicked stare. "I'm okay… just- winded."

"Damn, Beale. Way to sweep a girl off her feet."