AN: Merry Pitchmas to thetwentysecondelement (which is an awesome name btw)! This is horrifically fluffy so: warning, also I've completely indulged in the cliches of the characters as characterised by this fandom.
This is the first of a two-shot (because I can shamefully say unforeseen circumstances have hindered this process). I'm sorry for mistakes, this was written predominantly on my phone which is a nightmare but whatevs, we do it for the holiday spirit.
Anyway, enjoy!
-MK
Her first Christmas (now ominously known as 'The Beginning') with Beca isn't significant at the time.
It can't even really be labelled as 'being with Beca', it's more accurate to say it's with the new Bellas post-Alice's tyrannical rule. She's holed up with the few Bellas still on campus for the holidays and drinking extremely cheap wine and eating way too many snacks, but seriously, sue her, they're small bits of food so it's totally not that bad for her. There's just the six of them; herself, Aubrey, Beca, Stacie, Fat Amy and Cynthia-Rose. She's sitting across from Beca, tucked into Aubrey's side, watching as the little grump fights against the imposing presence of Amy on her left trying to get her to make out with Stacie on her right. She's feeling so, so ridiculously at peace in the coziness of her tiny dorm room, the pleasant buzz of moscato getting to her head and her Bellas laughing under the poorly placed bits of tinsel and Christmas lights.
Because she freaking loves holidays and she especially loves Christmas.
As the night unravels she's content to just watch.
Amy disappears at around 8 and reappears with her nose red and toes blue, wearing a different shirt to what she left in.
They play a drinking game where the rules are heavily rigged to get Aubrey drunk ("Take a sip if you've ever called someone a second-class citizen because they put their toilet paper roll facing inward instead of outward…"), and Stacie helpfully keeps Aubrey's cup full to the brim until the clock strikes 10 when Aubrey is waxing-poetic about her childhood with the horsies and that one commercial she was in when she was 12.
Beca and CR have completed their holiday diss track by midnight ("Mistletoe? More like mistle-HOE! Because that shit aint worth my time. But I respect hoes in all forms. Hoes can do what the fuck they want. Let women be what they wanna be. Swag.").
The track is terrible but Beca is like a li'l grumpy cupcake rapping so Chloe thinks it's amazing.
Beca is totally new tonight. Nothing like the brooding teenager she'd been playing for the past few months. Beca laughs tonight, proper full-body, belly laughing until her face is red and she's slapping at CR like a seal to get her to stop rapping hilarious lyrics. Aubrey laughs with her and Stacie and Fat Amy laugh at Aubrey's little snort thing she does and Chloe's energy just soars.
Because she freaking loves the Bellas and just knows they're gonna be aca-awesome this year.
And when Beca finally collects herself, brushing happy tears off her cheeks and flicks her hair back into less of a mess, Chloe ignores the little surge of attraction because her drunk mind can't quite dwell on it right now.
Her second Christmas (now known as 'Beca Lost a Fight to a Plastic Snowman') with Beca is mostly not actually on Christmas but December 17th is totally close enough. It's supposed to be more structured; going out for drinks at a dodgy bar after a performance at the old-people's home near campus. But when they've sung their hearts out to carols and their feet hurt, and Beca has round-house kicked a singing snowman decoration in the face before promptly crashing into the slushy ground, the vibe isn't really there.
She pulls out some excuse about retouching her makeup and the Bellas all agree tentatively, as though they all think the other girls want to go out but really they all just want to drink at home.
The minute they all fall over each other into the living room like musical penguins, Chloe knows they're staying put.
"As the Elder Captain, I exercise my power of calling a stay-in night with blankets, snacks, and Christmas cheer for all!" she announces dramatically from atop the dining room table and the Bellas cheer for her like they're in Braveheart.
Brandishing a banana that happened to be in arms reach, she continues.
"All those who bear the Bella name with pride shall gather tonight to feast and play ye olde drinking games," she finishes emphatically, the banana held aloft.
After the next round of cheers finishes she orders Amy and Ashley to wrangle Beca downstairs from where she's no doubt already tried to escape to, and minutes later the little brunette is dumped with the rest of the group looking only slightly disheveled.
She smiles brightly and smoothes Beca's hair down while cooing about how she should 'turn that frown upside down'.
Beca just gets madder and acts like she's especially pissed at Chloe, but the way she breaks and offers a small affectionate smile, however momentarily, makes Chloe's stomach do a gymnastics routine.
On Christmas Day when she opens her bedroom door to Beca holding two stockings with distinctively alcohol-shaped contents she can't help but smile like an idiot and loves the feeling she gets when Beca grins stupidly as well.
And she's much more sober this Christmas so she's able to dwell on what that means. The conclusion she comes to is a flimsy excuse that covers the truth she chooses not to acknowledge.
Her third Christmas (now known as 'The Year of Unexpected Jessley Sexuality') with Beca isn't significant either but it does mark the confirmation of a tradition. Herself and whatever Bellas are still around for the holidays to join them that year will cram into someone's room and wrap up in blankets and sip average eggnog.
They play dumb games and try to create acapella dubstep remixes of carols, and Jessica and Ashley spend 9 insane minutes playing 7 minutes in heaven, much to literally everyone's (but also, kind of, no one's) shock.
She scolds herself for being disappointed when Beca pulls Emily's name from the hat but laughs at Beca vehemently stating,
"Nothing will happen, seriously guys I'm basically her mother! What is wrong with you people!"
She kids herself that she isn't relieved when the closet door is thrown open to reveal Emily dressing Beca in Stacie's ridiculous lingerie, frilly lace bra hooked over her ears and all.
(She can't deny that Beca would probably look like a snack in that gear, though...)
Her fourth Christmas is the first in three years without physically being with Beca. She's proud of Beca, for making amends with her father and actually spending a special day with him instead of the random visit here and there, but she... misses her.
Beca is bad for her liver, she'll admit (especially on Christmas), but she's come to adore the way Beca manages to look pissed off even when surrounded by bright lights and tinsel and presents.
However when Beca facetimes her around midnight and tipsily slurs about how much she appreciates and adores Chloe, ("Dude that thing when you herd us all up like a mother-duck... dude that's amazing, like aca-what the fuck, how do you do that.") she can't ignore the lurch in her stomach at the way Beca smiles drunkenly.
She still beats back her feelings with a figurative broom and locks them back in the basement when Beca actually passes out while still on the call and Chloe gets a host of adorable new screenshots.
Her fifth Christmas with Beca is a nice phone call and Skype for a good two hours that later dissolves into adding more and more Bellas until at least nine of them a laughing and chatting like old times.
They're graduates, trying to wrestle some semblance of control over their post-college lives, but she and Beca have managed to stay quite well in touch. It's far too distant and sporadic for Chloe's liking, but she still loves the flutter she gets when she sees a new message from 'Apathy the 8th Dwarf'.
(Beca hates the Facebook nickname)
Her sixth Christmas with Beca is a few quick texts and 'I miss you!'s, despite the fact the communication has dropped off through the year.
Look at this fuckery, Beale: ppl already have their lights up for next year!
The attached photo is of some Christmas lights across the road.
It's December 28 Beca, I know you're just being an ass
Absolutely unacceptable behaviour
Again, it's December
12:01 on December 26 is when lights must be taken down
*Ginger Ninja changed Grouchy the 9th Dwarf's name to Scrooge the 10th Dwarf*
*Scrooge the 10th Dwarf changed Ginger Ninja's nickname to Christian Heathen*
That aint even bad.
Be insulted Beale, it's the least you could do
Oh sorry
You ruined Christmas Beca
Successo
Bitch
Asshole
Garden Gnome
Fanta pubes
Chloe chuckles, she can practically hear Beca saying it. Too bad there's miles between them.
Miss you xxx
Yeah I guess I miss you too
No kisses?
Nope
She responds by sending an absurd amount of x's, copying and pasting large chunks of it until her phone starts to lag out.
Beca has a fancy gig at a respectable LA club, and regularly interns at studios. Chloe studies, still down in Atlanta. Being a vet wasn't quite her plan but it's ok, and it takes up a lot of time but she feels like an adult who pays for her own wifi and cooks meals for herself like proper wifey material.
Their lives click on, the world keeps spinning, relationships come and go, and real life sits itself where college once sat on her shoulders.
(College was much lighter.)
She still responds promptly to every message from the scrooge promptly, though.
Her seventh Christmas with Beca is significant at the time.
It's been two and a half years out from college, the third Christmas without her Bellas.
Beca's already told her she's with her mom for Christmas. Her own parents have jetted off to sunny Australia for their opposite-of-white Christmas.
Chloe's on her first few weeks of holidays, six days out from good ole yuletide, slumped on the couch for the third day straight. She's pretty sure she's started to rot into the couch at this point but she's finally got on to binging Parks and Recreation. An episode ends and she slides off the couch, grabs her phone and plods across her apartment to the fridge. There's a message from 'Crabby the 11th Dwarf' and she swipes it open.
Whaddup binch
Not much binch
She drops the phone again and searches the fridge, and surprise surprise, there's nothing different from what was there two hours ago.
Any plans made for Chrissy yet?
With the 'rents away I'll probs end up fine dining with the lovely gay couple across the hall.
They're nice and all but…
Boring
You said it, not me
Well what if you came to Seattle?
Chloe's heart leaps when she reads the message. Fly across the country to see Beca for the first time since Cynthia-Rose's wedding? She starts typing up a joking reply, rejecting the offer for its craziness. But then stops. Why shouldn't she go?
Because flying across the country for Beca is crazy.
But flying across the country isn't crazy. And seeing Beca isn't crazy. So they totally cancel out and she should do it.
I mean, it's out of the blue and I know you might be tight on money but you don't have someone to spend Christmas with.
That's a travesty for Chloe Beale
She is sort of alone at Christmas which is sad. But seeing Beca... what if that stupid flutter comes back to her stomach the second she looks at Beca?
Chlo, I see your read receipts…
Beca doesn't know about the silly crushing she did in college. (She's admitting to herself that she was crushing now because she's an adult woman who can acknowledge that.)
If you're worrying about my mom, it's fine she loves you, she basically adopted you after meeting you at our second ICCAs win.
Damn, Sandra adopted me? Why didn't you tell me!
You know what
It's crazy
But I'm coming to the west coast
