A/N: I'm probably not going to have a sequel for this or the previous one shot, but HEY GOOD NEWS! This one isn't angst. (It's an AU though) Also go ahead a leave reviews or visit me on my tumblr ( anticlimatickid ) ;) Enjoy!
-x-
Chloe isn't someone who gets mad easily, not even when the new barista at the local Starbucks get her order wrong. She does however, pay attention to the littlest of things, details no one would bother to focus on, like the barista's name. And how she spells Chloe's name wrong every time she visits.
Anyone would be a little unforgiving in the morning, especially after running a whole 6 miles. Even Chloe Beale. So by the third time her name is misspelled at the same outlet by the same barista, she makes it a point to smile and thank the barista, just to see the brunette's face fall at the end of her sentence.
"Thank you, Becky," she says with her usual grin, enjoying the confusion and indignance visible from the barista's expression.
"It's Beca," the brunette corrects, but Chloe just shakes her head and sing-songs something along the lines of "goodbye, Becky" before heading out the store with her order in hand.
-x-
By the sixth visit, the barista had managed to memorise Chloe's order, and instead of writing her name down on the cup, she scribbles her own name with an arrow pointing to it, cueing a "that's my name" as an explanation. Chloe is clearly amused, because the other girl seemed to be very bothered by her getting her name wrong.
"Well, Beca ," Chloe purposely mispronounces her name upon receiving her order, "I'm not sure this is how you introduce yourself to someone."
"It's a start," the barista offers after correcting her pronunciation, and seeing how sincere she was in getting Chloe to get her name right is enough to make the ginger break out in a laugh, forgetting her original grudge.
The effort is almost enough to kick start a conversation, but someone yells at Chloe to "stop holding the line" and at Beca to "get her ass back to work." So they both share a smile before parting ways.
-x-
It was a rest day, Chloe decided, because she didn't have it in her to clock 6 miles on foot today, not after the dancing bootcamp she had to go through as an understudy for the Broadway revival she had managed to get a part in. She had wanted to spend the day at home, but the constant buzzing in her head from fatigue nagged at her to get in her daily dose of caffeine, so Chloe finds herself on her bike, heading 6 miles down south to get her fix.
Beca wasn't there to take her order this time around, considering she'd come down on a bike (which was way faster than on foot), it probably wasn't time for the brunette's shift yet. The café is relatively empty, so for the first time, Chloe is able to find a seat. She fixes herself on a two seater by the window, enjoying her coffee as the morning crowd peaks in, filling the shop with life.
It starts raining outside and the heat locked in the space increases as many more suits and ties stay in to wait the rain out. Some run with their leather bags over their heads to their cars, a flurry of colours across the streets as it fills with umbrellas and other makeshift items. Amongst the mess, it doesn't take much effort for Chloe to locate Beca when she stumbles through the doors, because she's wet and in a rush to get behind the counter, not noticing Chloe seated by the side.
It takes awhile for the crowd to file out, and a little longer for Beca to join Chloe at her table. The brunette breaks the silence with a plate, loaded with chocolate cake, and cup of coffee. They don't talk, at least not until the cake is finished and Beca asks why Chloe was still in the shop after getting her order.
"I'm waiting for the rain to die down." Chloe answers just as the downpour lessens into a drizzle, and Beca raises an eyebrow as if on cue. So the only option was for the ginger to stumble out of her seat and mutter a goodbye as she makes her way back to her bike.
-x-
Except nothing really goes down well between the two. Chloe finds her bike chained to another when she tries to backpedal it out of its space, waving at Beca for help just as the lunch crowd stumbles into the café.
It strikes the barista that she was the one who chained her bike to Chloe's in her rush to get to work, but a blonde had made her way to the counter before Beca could get out, and she shoots Chloe an apologetic look as she beckons the ginger back in.
It takes Chloe two cups of coffee and a salad before the crowd dwindles down and Beca's shift is over.
-x-
Chloe stands over Beca as she tries to undo the chain binding their bikes together, and she kind of regrets skipping on cardio, looking at the mess she had gotten herself into. But she was Chloe Beale, and Chloe Beale didn't pass up any opportunities, so she introduces herself right after Beca's grunt of frustration.
"My name's Chloe," she starts, and Beca shoots her a look when she spells her name out, "just in case you don't get it the next time I order."
"I just learnt how to finally spell your name," the brunette deadpans, "yay." Her attitude is supposed to put Chloe off, but the redhead finds herself giggling at the other girl's response and Beca cracks a smile from her position on the floor.
"You should also learn how to undo your own bicycle chain," Chloe points out, and the brunette lets out a groan, but her smile is still intact and the atmosphere is still warm from Chloe's laughter.
-x-
"YES!" the barista hisses as she yanks the chains apart, but it quickly becomes a cuss word as she busts the front wheel of Chloe's bike in the process. The redhead frowns at her choice of vocabulary, and then later at the state of her own bike.
"I'm regretting ever making a trip down 6 miles from home just to get coffee." She blurts, and the brunette shoots her an apologetic look as she fumbles with the chains.
"Does that mean you'll stop coming?" Chloe doesn't answer, because she's not sure what to say either. She's still going to continue to do cardio in the morning, even after a crappy rest day, but she's not sure she'd want to stop by anymore when she's not on foot, especially not with a busted front wheel on her bike.
"I can take you home if you promise to continue visiting," Beca offers, her tone desperate at Chloe's lack of response and lip biting. She tugs at Chloe's fingers, and sighs in relief when she is met with a smirk and a pair of raised brows.
-x-
The air is cold against her skin when she makes sharp turns around the blocks to send Chloe home, but Beca feels her waist and the entire of her back heating up as her passenger wraps her arms around her and rests her head on her back. She feels funny inside out, like she's having a fever, except her head doesn't hurt and she's not sleepy at all.
"It's just so the café doesn't lose business because of me," Beca blurts, in reassurance to herself, and Chloe chuckles. And even after what she had said a few seconds earlier, the sound of Chloe's laughter is enough to make her wish that six miles was a tad bit longer, and that the trip doesn't end.
It's a weird feeling, the heat rushing to her face and how she can't find words when Chloe kisses her on the cheek and waves her goodbye. But it's a good kind of weird that makes Beca grin like an idiot, and the kind that she wouldn't mind feeling everyday.