This is my first one-shot so please be gentle! Suggestions accepted for my next one. Enjoy! xo
Salt and pepper. Moon and sun. Ketchup and mustard. Kim and Kanye. Hell, even Curious George had a counterpart. So why was it that Beca Mitchell felt like she would never be able to find her match?
She had tried all the apps. OkCupid, Tinder, she was even had an eHarmony account for a while. It was all the same. Each time she made an account on a different website, there was a glimmer of hope. The hope was the worst part, because she was always disappointed after meeting a "match" face-to-face.
The guys were always the same too. To be fair, they could generally be sorted into three categories. There were the Forever Alone nerds with way too much self-esteem baggage, the Cocky Pricks who always laughed too hard at their own jokes or bragged too much over their mediocre accomplishments, and the Creepers, who were always way too fast and/or had characteristics that would align with serial stalkers.
Needless to say, they always topped out at a couple of dates. Beca rarely let herself go far enough to share her bed for a night, even though she didn't place as much value on the physical relationships as much as the emotional aspects. She had come a long way since her four years at Barden in the personal growth category, largely in part to her friendships and absorption within the Barden Bellas.
If you had ever told the "Before" Beca Mitchell that the "After" Beca Mitchell loved singing covers acapella style, all with a group of rambunctious girls, she probably would have bit you. If you had ever told her that one day, she would discard her ear spike and don a sequined blazer, she would have spat on you. But if you would have told her that one day she would graduate from college and feel as lonely as she did now, she just may have believed you.
She missed one Bella in particular a little more than the others. No, it wasn't Aubrey Posen, the fembot who always barked orders and bossed everyone around, thank goodness she graduated three years earlier. It was her co-captain, Chloe Beale.
Chloe Beale, with the soft melodic voice of an angel, Chloe Beale with eyes that shone like the sun itself, Chloe Beale who was her best friend. Gosh, she missed seeing that fiery red hair every day, hearing her symphonic giggle in response to Beca's sarcastic quips. She was still in Atlanta, far away from the aspiring DJ who had moved west for her career. It was hard to admit it to herself, but she felt so empty when Chloe wasn't right by her side. She often tried to brush these feelings of loneliness out of her head because it didn't make things any better.
So that's what constantly brought her back to the dating game. It was incredibly frustrating that she could never get anywhere with the dating sites, but she didn't know enough people in Los Angeles to meet anyone organically. At the small radio station that she just started working at as the graveyard shift host, the small brunette did not find any promising love interests. It was usually empty for her shift because it was the middle of the night, until the overly cheerful five a.m. host took over. Jesse was the puppy-has-a-treat type, consistently excited and eager to start the day. He was a nice guy, had once bought her coffee and brought it to the station when she was leaving and he was taking over, but he was oblivious to the fact that she was going home to sleep after a long night, not stay up like him.
Still, he didn't seem like someone that she could really force herself into a relationship with, even though he was semi-cute. What she needed was someone who could take their career aspirations as passionately as she did, share her love for music, be someone she could confide in. Beca had spent so much of her life closed-off and emotionally unavailable. But she was over that. It was sometimes scary to put herself out there, but she knew that if she wanted to enjoy a happy life with a significant other, it's what she had to do.
One night when she was sighing at her quiet apartment, she couldn't take the silence any longer and decided to FaceTime Chloe.
The bubbly redhead answered almost immediately, her "Hey Becs! How's my favorite brunette doing?" refreshing.
"Hey Beale. I'm rocking LA pretty hard, they don't even know what's hitting 'em. Are you holding down the fort pretty well in Atlanta?"
"Yeah, working at the elementary school definitely means I don't have a lot of time on my hands. But I love those little rugrats so much, I come home every day with a smile on my face." Chloe positively radiated.
"I'm glad you're so in love with your life."
"To be honest, my life has only become work with the kids. When I come home, it's always to an empty place. All the Bellas have moved away except for Lilly. I've invited her over a couple of times just to fill the space, you know, but she's too socially inept in one-on-one situations. I miss having roommates like you, Becs."
"To be honest, that sounds pretty similar to my life here. I don't know anyone here except a couple of coworkers. I work the night shift and there's never anyone awake, much less there. And by the time I get off work all I can do is sleep, which is a pretty big barrier because that plows over any hope of daytime interactions."
"Really? You come home to an empty apartment too? I pictured you throwing kickbacks every night for your dope DJ friends."
Beca laughed. "No, it's not like that at all Chlo. I'm actually pretty lonely," she said in a smaller voice.
There was a moment of silence as a look of concerned understanding cast a shadow over Chloe's face.
"How about I come visit you?"
Beca's eyes widened. "No way, how could you possibly afford that on a choir teacher's salary?"
"My rainy day fund has grown quite comfortably. Remember how much my parents would throw at me while we were in college?"
"Chloe I'd love for you to come to LA to see me. Nothing would make me happier," Beca grinned widely.
"Then it's settled. I'll get on the United Airlines website right now to buy the ticket."
By the end of the week, Chloe had "hopped of the plane at LAX" just like Party In the USA that they sang a lifetime ago on the Bellas' tour bus. Beca had excited butterflies flurrying in her stomach that kept her from going to sleep after her shift at the station, so she got to the airport early without even buying coffee.
She spotted a ginger walking across the terminal and jumped to her feet, only to blush and settle back down when she realized that it wasn't her ginger. The false-alarm redhead wasn't even authentic, she had artificially dyed hair.
It was thirty minutes later that Chloe strolled across the broad walkway, flipping her hair fiery red locks over her shoulder. Beca felt as though she was seeing an apparition but Chloe squealed and burst into a wide smile that was unmistakably her.
The two girls squeezed one another into a warm hug that made the rest of the world disappear for the both of them. Beca hadn't even realized her eyes slipped shut until Chloe pulled away and she opened them.
"How was the flight, Red?"
"Oh, it was pretty average, besides joining the Mile High Club."
"What?!" Beca spluttered, totally thrown off guard.
"Gotcha," Chloe said, winking and flashing her trademark sly grin.
"Screw off, Beale. Are you ready to see the wonderful world of Los Angeles?"
"Mitchell I was born ready. Let's do this!"
The day had been fantastic. Beca had taken Chloe to all of her favorite stores and they had a nice lunch in the park under midday sun and caught up on everything in one another's lives, free of distractions. Beca was the happiest that she had been since leaving Atlanta and she could tell that Chloe was enjoying herself as well.
While Chloe was chattering about the kids in one of her classes, Beca studied her face. She wanted this sunny image of Chloe to burn into her brain so that she could try to capture the happiness longer. The curve of her face, her rail-straight white teeth, lusciously pink lips. Beca was close enough to see the adorable smattering of freckles that graced over her cheeks and nose, light orange in color against Chloe's tan skin. When she reached her eyes it was impossible not to get lost in their infinite depth, like she found the abyss of the ocean. She could sink forever into those sparkling pools, adorned with long eyelashes. Her eyes were contrasted by the most beautiful ginger hair that Bca had ever seen, bouncy with ringlets and always turning heads at its extreme shade.
"Don't you think?"
Beca was completely at a loss for what her favorite redhead was asking her. She had gotten much too absorbed in taking in the sight of Chloe, and she didn't realize that she had leaned much closer to her face. She jerked back instantaneously.
"Uh- oh yeah totally," Beca tried to play it off.
"Really?"
"Yeah, of course."
Chloe erupted into a fit of giggles. "I just asked you if you had two bellybuttons and lived on the moon and you said yes!"
Beca blushed at Chloe's antics and because she had totally been distracted by the beauty of her friend- and caught doing it too.
"Shut up, I had an all-nighter without any sleep," she grumbled.
"I guess you're right… Do you want to give me the official tour of your apartment now?"
"Sounds good. But I have to take a nap before our big night on the town okay?"
The girls gathered their wrappers and things and headed back to the apartment. Beca didn't care much for chic decor and Chloe commented on the mostly-bare walls of her living space. She reached Beca's desk which was the only surface blanketed with photos and smiled widely when she spotted herself in half of them.
Beca kicked off her shoes and burrowed immediately under the covers of the queen sized bed. Beca could barely fill a twin bed, let alone this sizeable one,, and was pleasantly surprised when Chloe crawled in too rather than opt for a nap on the couch.
"I'm glad you didn't forget about me," Chloe murmured."
"Forget about you? Now how could I do a thing like that?" Beca replied quizzically.
Chloe looked down, losing a few degrees of her typical confidence. "It's just that we're not at Barden anymore and real life has happened. We're in our careers and no one has time for each other anymore and I think about you a lot."
"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto," Beca dodged, chuckling lightly. Chloe scooted closer, fiddling with Beca's hand. "But I think about you a lot too, Chlo."
And that was when Beca realized it. She couldn't believe that she had never seen it before, she was so blind. The emptiness. The loneliness. Her many failures in the dating game. It was because there was someone else she had in mind. She had been comparing every potential love interest in her mind against that one person. It was the person in front of her right now, in her bed. It was Chloe.
How had she fallen for her best friend? She knew that every day in college she thought about how blessed she was to have such a beautiful and seemingly perfect best friend. She always wondered when Chloe was going to realize how glaring Beca's flaws were, was always braced and ready for the day when the redhead would get the idea of how damaged and weak Beca really was. But Chloe had never left. She traveled 2,200 miles to see her. But now Beca realized in this moment how much Chloe meant to her, and how she truly loved her.
She squeezed Chloe's hand. Chloe absorbed the intimacy of the gesture and her tactile senses became acutely aware of the heat of Beca's body. Chloe was great at loving people, giving her trust away easily.
"I've always had a soft spot in my heart for you, Becs."
Beca's heart palpitated. "Me too."
"No, I don't know if you know what I mean, darling. It's a soft spot that I've never felt so deeply before."
"Okay…" Beca's mind raced. Was she confessing her feelings? Or was this her own thoughts twisting Chloe's words because she just realized her feelings? Beca needed a moment to think.
"I care so much about you. You mean the whole world to me."
"You mean the world to me too. I… It's just that I've always had a hard time expressing it you know? You're the most important person in my life. When you're not around, I think about you all the time. Perhaps I shouldn't, so much."
"Beca you can think about me all you want, because I guarantee I'm thinking about you just as much. Or more." Chloe was so firm, so confident in her expression.
Beca failed to notice that Chloe had edged closer yet again. Only an inch separated the lengths of their bodies. Both of their hands were holding one another's, their fingers intertwined tightly. They were close enough that Beca could feel Chloe's light breaths on her skin and it was makng her lose focus.
"I- I just, Um- mmm."
Beca's words were cut off by a warm mouth covering hers. The warmest mouth she had ever touched, the softest lips that she had ever known. Beca was sinking, but this time it wasn't into Chloe's eyes, it was into an ardent kiss. Beca's hand had a mind of its own as she reached up to cup Chloe's flawless face, their other hands still intertwined. Chloe's other hand gently found Beca's hip and closed the space between the rest of their bodies. There was so much love in the kiss, so many words that hadn't been said, so much warmth that was unfamiliar to her that a tear slid out of the corner of Beca's closed eye.
The tear fell on Chloe's cheek and she pulled back gently, not able to keep the fear out of her eyes. Beca kept her eyes closed for a moment more, savoring the feel of the kiss but not able to force herself further back. When she slowly opened them, she was met with the fear-filled blue depths of the person she held dearest in the world. Chloe was terrified that she had broken Beca, that she showed the love that Beca couldn't accept.
But Beca hadn't pushed her away. This was the most open she had ever been in her entire life.
"Beca… Is this okay?" Chloe had never looked this vulnerable before.
Another tear slipped out of Beca's eye. "Yes. I've never been more okay than I am in this moment. Thank you so much, Chloe Beale, for coming into my life, for learning me, and for not running away. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that and for making me a better person every day."
Tears were now slipping out of Chloe's eyes. "Beca. You're one of the most beautiful people I've ever met. If you let me, I'll never leave you. Because all of me wants all of you."
Beca let the words wash over her like a soothing wave of water. Before she knew it, her eyes had closed and she found Chloe's face without trying, kissing her tenderly. This time she allowed herself to fully submerge into the warmth, the love, and the embrace that Chloe was reciprocating.