A/N: So this is part one of three for a little fic idea I couldn't shake once I came up with it. This is what happens when I listen constantly to the new Arctic Monkeys album :) Anyway, I hope this kind of makes sense- part one is based off of "Do I Wanna Know?"and everyone who hasn't heard this song should fix that. As always, I own nothing.
Beca's answer that night was yes.
It was the night of the Riff-Off her junior year at Barden; The Bellas had won for the second year in a row under the brunette's direction, the constant exposure to different genres of music she had the girls listen to during practice paying off once again as the Treblemakers and BU Harmonics failed to match words from the lyrics sung by the victorious group. Still riding the winner's high they rightfully deserved, the girls decided to celebrate at McKenna's, the only bar near campus that turned a blind eye to the chalked up licenses those still underage. It probably didn't hurt that Stacie had befriended the bouncers, but Lily had seemed so excited to show off her illicit skills, in due time turning the all of the Bellas into 21 year olds. They walked the short distance over, singing merrily because what else would they do even at close to midnight, a coy grin on Cynthia Rose's face for knowing something the other girls did not.
They got into the bar without issue, making their way over to their usual stretch of the bar nearest to the dart boards and pool tables, surprisingly already finding it claimed by two of their former members.
"Surprise!" Chloe shouted, throwing her hands in the air, immediately slipping off the barstool she was perched on and tackling as many of the current Bellas her arm span would encompass into a group hug. Aubrey made her way over to her former teammates as well, albeit more composed than Chloe though nonetheless still happy to see everyone. The girls had last seen the two co-captains at Lincoln Center last spring for Nationals; as much as Aubrey and Chloe would have loved to go to their Alma mater and see their friends on a consistent basis, the demands of their graduate programs prevented this from being a reality.
"We actually meant to make it down here to see you dominate the Riff-Off once again" Aubrey explained to the group of ecstatic girls, "However, unfortunate circumstances stopped that from happening…" she turned toward Chloe who, upon making eye contact with Aubrey, rolled her eyes at the shift of blame.
"I really wanted to get here as soon as possible, it's not my fault the police officer didn't consider getting here on time as a legitimate excuse to going 30 over the speed limit" Chloe reasoned, still not believing her luck with driving.
"Well, if we hadn't stopped at the World's Biggest-"
"Okay you two, that's enough" Beca broke through the crowd of girls, making her way to the front of the pack, a grin on her face as she took in the sight of Aubrey and Chloe. "I can't believe you guys are here. I can't believe you kept it a secret." She turned to Cynthia Rose, "Nice work."
Cynthia Rose shrugged, "It was the least I could do after they let me and Stacie lease their old apartment."
"Okay, less talking and more drinking!" Stacie announced, growing impatient from being at a bar and not having ordered an alcoholic beverage yet. She walked over to the bar, ordering a round of shots for the entire group before they dispersed across the bar. And so the night began.
Beca felt like she was going through the motions for the first half of the evening. She was happy to see Aubrey and Chloe, she couldn't deny that. They rarely got to see each other due to being in entirely different states, and coordinating three different schedules was often a nightmare to handle.
Tonight was Beca's ideal situation for admitting her more than platonic feelings to Chloe. She had considered it for a long time; life, however, always seemed to get in the way of that happening. She had wanted to tell Chloe at the end of her freshman year after they had performed at the ICCA's, but this plan was formulated well before she had left the stage and her teammates post-performance to meet Jesse down in the audience with the intention of giving him a formal apology, but had somehow ended up kissing him instead. As confused as she may have been by this, she had still considered telling Chloe… up until she was brought back to reality by Chloe's excitement of going off to Columbia's medical school in New York. She would tell Chloe that she liked her, and then what? Have both of them return back home for the summer, and then be 900 miles away from one another during the school year?
Beca instead tried things with Jesse her sophomore year at Barden; he really wasn't that bad of a guy, she knew that, so why not give him a chance? She should have known much better than that, as a nagging feeling planted itself in her stomach and began to grow, telling her that she couldn't possibly completely fall for Jesse without letting go of her feelings for Chloe first. She tried forgetting how she felt about her, tried telling herself that it was just a silly crush she had on the older girl who had barged into her shower and insisted that she join her musical group. This was the girl whose eyes, whose smile, whose voice inspired countless mixes made late at night when Beca couldn't fall asleep. She would often obsess over finding the right songs that would speak to her, and any song that reminded her of the redhead would be played on repeat before she determined where the next piece of the musical puzzle would be placed. She knew she was kidding herself, for Chloe was far, far away from her; despite this, the redhead unknowingly maintained a hold on Beca's heart and affections. It was really no surprise when Beca and Jesse had agreed to just be friends at the end of their second year of college.
So here Beca was, single and slightly tipsy with the girl she was crazy about sitting beside her at the bar surrounded by their friends. She very well knew Chloe would be gone by the weekend's end, but this time, she knew that she had to something, or else she might just explode.
"You really need to keep drinking Mitchell, you're behind" Chloe said to her with a playful grin on her lips.
Beca looked down at her half-finished drink before looking back at Chloe who was looking expectantly at her. "You're really setting me up to fail with having me keep up with you" the brunette reasoned, but Chloe would not have it. Begrudgingly, Beca removed the straw from her drink, tipping the remaining contents of her glass down into her throat before resting the glass back on the counter. "Happy?" she smirked, already feeling the buzz from her… goddamn, was that her third drink already?
Chloe made a scrunched face at her, shaking her head. "I think it's time to introduce you to my friend, tequila." She gestured over to the bartender to order the shots, complete with lime and salt.
"You're going to have to show me how to do this" Beca informed the redhead, eyeing the items in front of her.
"Salt, shot, lime" Chloe replied simply, giggling at the confused look on Beca's face.
Beca picked up the lime wedge, grasping it for a few seconds before its juices made it slip between her fingers onto the bar. She attempted to pick it up again, much to no avail.
"Need a little help there?" Chloe's eyes lit up as the brunette continued to fail at properly holding the wedge of citrus fruit.
"Don't judge me for being bad at pickup limes, Beale" Beca slurred, winking in an exaggerated fashion. Chloe couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Lush" Chloe teased, "Okay, I'll hold your lime for you; you just worry about the shot my dear." Chloe wet the back of Beca's hand with a damp napkin before sprinkling the salt onto her, as Beca grasped the shot of tequila in her hand. Beca licked the salt off her own hand before downing the tequila, Chloe shoving the lime into Beca's mouth and instructing her to bite. Beca gulped, sputtering and wincing at the burn of the alcohol down her throat.
"It gets easier" Chloe insisted, who proceeded to do her own shot of tequila in what Beca considered to be effortless.
"Show-off" Beca muttered, which earned her a playful shove from Chloe.
"We could just keep doing them until you get the hang of it" Chloe suggested jokingly.
"Are you trying to get me drunk? Because I think you've already succeeded at that" Beca noted.
"Please, you're not that much of a lightweight" Chloe brushed off Beca's own assessment of her tolerance. "But let's get you some water just in case." Chloe placed her hand on the small of Beca's back to steady the brunette in her seat as she ordered water for her.
That was the thing about Chloe; it was so hard to figure out whether she actually was interested in Beca, or if it was just her effervescent personality and at times handsy demeanor that was skewing Beca's perception of the last two or so years. While she had mingled with the other Bellas throughout the night, Chloe had always remained by Beca's side through all of it. Beca had only hoped that the flush that had developed in Chloe's cheeks maybe was the result of her not-so-subtle flirting and not just because of the alcohol.
Beca put her finished glass of water down on the counter, feeling hydrated and slightly more stable, turning toward Chloe who began to freak out over the song being currently played.
"We're going to dance to this" Chloe decided, getting up from the barstool, pointing over to the area of the bar where a number of the Bellas and various other patrons were already dancing. Beca groaned at the thought of having to dance around a number of people she didn't even know.
"Come on, I bet that you look good on the dance floor" Chloe purred into her ear before grabbing Beca by the arm, dragging her over with her. Beca eventually obliged, which absolutely did not correlate at all to Chloe snaking an arm around her waist from behind as they danced together to the beat of the music.
Sometimes she hated the way she felt about Chloe. She had absolutely no control over it, as any attempts to rid her feelings for the redhead had ultimately failed. She reasoned with herself, that the long distance wouldn't work out; that the entire thing was a fabrication of her mind, that there was no way Chloe reciprocated these feelings. Without fail, Beca continued to return back to her feelings for Chloe whether she liked it or not. There was no way to go around it; she was stuck with them.
"Are you sure you're okay with your relationship with Jesse being over?" Chloe had asked after they had returned to the bar later on. "Some girls just say that they're ok when really they're not."
"Do I look like 'some girls' to you?" Beca asked, using air quotes and all.
"No, definitely not" Chloe decided, laughing at Beca's gestures. "I just wanted to check is all."
"I thought being with Jesse would make me happy" Beca wondered aloud sans filter, "But what I was really looking for used to be here all along, right in front of me..." She froze, afraid she had said too much. Get it together, Mitchell she told herself. Chloe, however, seemed to pay no mind to the admission.
Beca had thought about telling Chloe how she had felt about her after the redhead had left Barden, numerous times in fact. Most of these instances involved a decent amount of liquid courage and her phone in hand, ready to press 'call' on Chloe's contact page within her phone. The pros of doing it this way always meant that she could say she had no recollection of the event; leaving a drunken message on Chloe's phone, although embarrassing, would be more harmless than revealing her true feelings face-to-face. There would be no going back with an in-person confession. Beca had considered these points many times before, and she did yet again as she sat at the bar with Chloe that night. She had to know how Chloe felt about her; whether this feeling she had would be returned to her by Chloe, or whether she had misinterpreted years of playful text messages and interactions with the redhead. This guessing game needed to come to an end.
"Chlo, I'm getting tired, I think I'm going to head back with Cynthia Rose and Stacie to the apartment" Aubrey walked over to where Chloe and Beca sat, informing the redhead of her plans.
Chloe looked at Beca. "Do you want to head out too or stay here for a little bit longer?"
Beca most definitely did not want to leave Chloe. She had felt as though the night had flown right before her eyes, knowing that Chloe would have to leave a lot sooner than she had wanted her to. "It doesn't matter to me" Beca heard herself say.
"I'll meet you guys back there" Chloe assured Aubrey, giving her a hug goodbye before the blonde walked away. Beca's heart was soaring. "How about another round of tequila?" Chloe asked her.
How could she say no to that after Chloe had decided to hang out with Beca instead of going home? The bartender placed the salt, limes, and shots of tequila in front of them at the bar. Beca began to lick the back of her hand now that she knew the procedure.
"Hold on Miss Over-Eager" Chloe teased, pulling Beca's hand away from her mouth. "We're going to do a slight variation from typical protocol." Intrigued, Beca returned her hand to her lap, waiting to see what Chloe was going to do. Before she could react, Chloe was applying salt along Beca's neck and shoving a lime wedge into Beca's mouth. Beca didn't need an explanation for what Chloe was going to do next. The redhead moved her barstool closer to her, leaning into Beca as her tongue ran slowly up her neck, hitting her pulse point that made Beca want to fall over right there. Before she could, however, Chloe had already taken her shot of alcohol and her lips were grazing Beca's as she took the lime out of Beca's mouth, its juice flooding into Chloe's mouth. Beca remained frozen where she sat rendered speechless by what just happened, hoping to god she hadn't just hallucinated that.
"Your turn" Chloe said quietly, moving the remaining tequila shot over to Beca as she placed the lime between her own teeth. Beca studied Chloe closely, her eyes darting from Chloe's eyes to lips and back again as the redhead waited for her to complete the shot. Instead, Beca took the lime out of Chloe's mouth, throwing it to the ground as she grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her in towards her, kissing her heatedly as the fireworks went off inside of Beca's mind. Chloe's hands went up to cup Beca's face as she deepened their kiss.
"You're really going to waste that shot?" Chloe said as they parted, catching their breath momentarily.
Beca smirked. "You can bill me." She grabbed Chloe's hand as they flew towards the exit of the bar and toward Beca's on campus apartment. Clothes began to be shed off of one another as soon as they slammed the door to the apartment shut, pinning one another against the apartment walls as they stumbled their way into Beca's bedroom for what was left of the night.
Beca woke up the next morning, a pounding headache reverberating against her skull as her eyes fluttered open. Turning toward her nightstand to look at her phone, she found a glass of water and bottle of Tylenol. Chloe, she thought smiling to herself, immediately turning over face the other side of the bed to greet the redhead. She was met, however, with emptiness. Her heart sunk; she couldn't believe she and Chloe had acted upon their feelings for one another, that Chloe actually felt the same way as she did. At the same time, however, she didn't think that Chloe would have snuck out of her apartment without saying goodbye to her. She supposed her answer to this was found with the noise coming from the kitchen. Given that Beca lived alone (and hoping someone hadn't broken into her apartment), she pulled a pair of sweatpants and tee shirt on, quickly taking the Tylenol for her headache as she slowly walked into the living room of the apartment.
"You're up" Chloe said brightly as she stood in the kitchen, perking up as she saw Beca enter the room. "How are you feeling?"
"I don't think I should answer that" Beca said glumly as she massaged her temples. "I appreciate the Tylenol."
"No problem" Chloe replied, "I made coffee for you" she added, gesturing to the steaming mug on the counter.
"I thought you had left" Beca admitted, sipping the coffee slowly.
"I had every intention of waking you up before I left," Chloe promised, "Which is actually going to have to be soon if Aubrey and I want to get back to New York at a reasonable hour." Aubrey was currently attending New York University's law program, not far from where Chloe was attending medical school.
"That is unfortunate" Beca noted, not able to say much else about how she didn't want Chloe to leave.
Chloe looked at Beca, also torn by the current situation. "I'd stay here if I could, you know I would. I don't regret anything that happened last night. At all."
"Me either" Beca replied, relief washing over her face.
Chloe grinned. "I am going to have to come back down here in a few weeks for that speeding ticket I got myself into…maybe we could grab a coffee and talk?"
"That sounds great" Beca replied sincerely, smiling back at the redhead.
"Ok good" Chloe's eyes lit up at Beca's response before she checked her phone for the time. "I really hate that I have to go. I totally should have saved the voicemails Aubrey left me last night, you would find them hilarious." Chloe bit her lip, reconsidering what she had said, "Actually, I'm pretty sure they're here somewhere…" she looked at the screen of her phone, determined to retrieve the entertaining voice messages.
"How about you send them to me later" Beca suggested, "I can auto tune them and put a decent beat behind it as well."
"This absolutely has to be a thing that happens now" Chloe laughed. She walked over to Beca, kissing her on the cheek. "I'll text you later."
Beca gave Chloe a peck on the cheek as well. "Drive safely, and within the speed limit" she warned, earning her a smirk as Chloe looked over her shoulder to Beca, before walking out of the apartment, the door closing shut.
Beca smiled to herself as she thought of Chloe. Last night had confirmed that Chloe also felt the same way. Now that she knew this, however, another void was created for Chloe Beale to fill. Here we go again.