A/N: Bechloe Week 2018 Day 1: Accidental Kiss
Set between PP2 and PP3 in Beca/Chloe/Amy's New York apartment.

For more Bechloe Week content, see my AU - 'After Seven Keys'


Beca tried to fight Fat Amy's insistence on taking the entire double bed for herself in the studio apartment. Beca was paying the largest share of their rent, Chloe a close second, and Amy far from it despite occasionally mumbling in her sleep about her family being billionaires. The bed was bigger than the fold-out, even though they were meant to be the same size, and Beca tried to compromise that her and Chloe would share and Amy could have the entire fold-out to herself, but no. Amy couldn't be argued with, and Beca had learnt long ago after being her roommate at the Bellas house for two years that sometimes it wasn't worth trying. She had little concept of fairness.

So, reluctantly, Beca and Chloe picked sides of the fold-out couch to share as their bed in their little New York studio apartment, and settled into a routine of sleeping ever closer together because the mattress wasn't even and tipped them both into the centre of the bed through the night. Initially, Beca tried to care that sleeping beside each other was pushing the already confusing boundaries of their friendship, but as the months passed, it became more and more difficult.

It wasn't a new realisation to her that her feelings for Chloe were a little more than platonic. She couldn't pick a certain moment in her college career when she'd suddenly realised she had a crush on her best friend, in the same way that she couldn't pick out when Chloe became her best friend. It just happened, and by the end of her sophomore year it was clearly cemented. Unlike the best friend thing, however, Chloe had no idea about the crush. It probably didn't help that Beca had kept up with dating Jesse despite the fact that she was pretty sure even he realised she had a thing for Chloe.

Beca and Jesse had a convenient breakup at the end of college. They were moving to different parts of the country, and they'd drifted apart anyway. There were no hard feelings because there weren't any feelings left in the first place.

"I hope you end up with Chloe," Jesse had commented, casually, as they said their awkward final goodbyes in a café on campus at Barden.

Beca spluttered down the mouthful of coffee she'd just taken in surprise, not because of the Chloe thing, but because ending up with her wasn't something that ever figured in her mind. Chloe didn't feel the same. They were just friends.

"Oh, come on, don't pretend you don't have a thing for her," Jesse half-laughed, and Beca shook her head.

"Dude, ending up with her would require her having a thing for me," she defended, and he just shrugged.

"It's pretty obvious she does."

Beca didn't see it then, and she still didn't see it when they moved into their apartment.

"She's moving in with you, dude! You're sharing a bed!" Stacie had enthused, but Beca just rolled her eyes.

"Amy's moving in with me too and god knows she doesn't like me like that. Also it's entirely her fault Chloe and I are sharing."

As the months in their apartment passed, the three housemates fell into a route. Amy's routine largely involved being absent for long periods of time with dubious explanations that the other two learned to just roll with, but theirs was a little more homely. Chloe landed a paid internship at a veterinary clinic after deciding she wanted to be a vet (something that Chloe's father told Beca was totally new, which surprised her, because it fit so well), and Beca had transferred to a sister-studio of the one she had starting interning at in Atlanta. She still didn't get to do much actual producing, just fixing up things for other people and miscellaneous admin work, but it was a foot in the door. Or maybe two feet, now, given that the crappy coffee girl role she ended up with in college was the first foot.

Chloe left for work earlier, because her job was further away. Beca hated alarms, so instead, Chloe became a much more pleasant alarm, nudging her awake gently just before she left herself and placing a cup of coffee at the seat on their little table closest to Beca's place in their bed. Beca got home later, so would either pick up takeout on her way home or let Chloe make dinner that would be ready when she arrived.

Beca took the cooking duties on weekends, of course, needing to make up for everything Chloe did for her during the week.

"I don't mind making dinner for you," Chloe had argued when Beca initially voiced her guilt, but Beca just shook her head.

"We should be doing things evenly."

"We're friends, Becs, not just housemates," she had grinned, Beca pushing down the disappointment she felt whenever Chloe referred to them as friends. It was better than nothing, and if she had to settle, she'd settle.

Living so close to each other managed to bring them closer, and somehow, Beca found herself growing more careless about hiding her feelings. She cuddled up to Chloe while they watched TV, playing off that it was because it was cold in their apartment in winter and Chloe would've forced her to do it anyway if she hadn't first. She got into a habit of buying flowers for Chloe from a florist just near her workplace whenever they had their seemingly regular crazy sale, claiming that it benefitted both of them anyway because it brought some colour into their poky little apartment (which was true, dammit).

Whenever they went out – usually at Amy's insistence when she was occasionally home for an evening – Beca would dance close to Chloe, because that's what all the girls had done back at Barden. If a guy tried to shift Chloe's attention to him, she'd get closer and try and shoot them a 'back off' look behind Chloe's back, knowing that she was probably adding a 'she's mine' to the look despite that not being entirely true. Chloe didn't want to date while she was doing her veterinary internship, anyway. And okay, dating wasn't one-time things with guys in clubs and she hadn't told Beca any opinion on that, but she…

She didn't have a justification. She just did it, and Chloe didn't seem to mind (or notice), so she kept doing it.

After one particular Friday night out, eight months into their time living together, they had drunkenly ambled back up the stairs into their apartment and fallen into bed about 3am, falling into conversation rather than sleep as often happened after their nights out, especially when Amy had run off with someone as had happened that night.

"I miss sex…" Chloe mused, trailing off as she stared up at the ceiling. "I don't just want to have sex with someone I don't really know, these days, though."

"I know what you mean…" Beca trailed off, unable to resist turning her own head to the side to watch Chloe, but Chloe's eyes never left the ceiling, and not long later, they both drifted off to sleep.

The following Monday, their routine was as usual. Chloe woke up to her own quiet alarm, not realising that her moving her arms from around Beca where they had ended up cuddling overnight caused her best friend to wake up as she went to get ready. Beca chose to pretend she was still asleep, as she always did, listening as Chloe shuffled through her clothes to find an outfit and hearing the deep breathing from across the room indicating that their third housemate had got back at some point last night but was very much asleep at this point (and would probably remain so until they were both at work).

Chloe made a tea for herself and grabbed a bowl of cereal, scrolling through some late-night messages that had appeared in the Bellas facebook group chat overnight between an evidently drunk (on a Sunday!) Amy and Stacie, the occasional eye-rolling emoji from Aubrey present as always. She flicked on their small coffee machine – a present from Beca's Dad, who despite still not entirely understanding her, did very much understand her desperate need for decent coffee in the morning – as she cleaned up her breakfast dishes and pulled out their best mug to make the coffee. As always, she sat it in front of the chair closest to their bed before sitting herself onto the bed beside where Beca was sleeping and running a hand up her arm through the covers.

Beca shifted slightly under Chloe's touch as she feigned waking up, slowly opening her eyes to see her sitting on the bed beside her.

"That coffee smells really good this morning," Beca mumbled, not taking too long to sit up and pull herself out of bed for the promise of caffeine.

"It's the same as ever!" Chloe joked, but Beca just shook her head.

"You make the best coffee. You're the best."

Chloe laughed lightly before wandering back to the kitchen, making her lunch to take for the day, because she was trying to save money and buy lunch less often (even though the deli beside the clinic was insanely good). Beca simply watched, letting herself the particularly romantic thoughts about Chloe that had decided to make themselves at home in her mind on this morning.

"Okay, I should get going," Chloe starts, and Beca turns up to face her and respond, just as Chloe leans down to kiss Beca's cheek goodbye. It wasn't something she did every day, but it wasn't unusual. The fact that Beca's movement meant Chloe's lips landed on hers, instead of her cheek? That was new.

For both Beca and Chloe, instinct kicked in, Chloe pushing closer instead of pulling away as Beca brought her hand up to hold Chloe's cheek.

"Holy shit, I'm sorry, I don't know what-" Chloe pulls back suddenly after thirty seconds, eyes wide and hand covering her mouth.

"Don't apologise, Chloe, I'll take it," Beca reassures her, casually, a sly smile on her face as she watches Chloe tilt her head in confusion.

"What?"

"I always thought you'd be a good kisser. Anyway, you need to go to work, go on, don't be late," Beca pushes her, and still seeming to be trying to process Beca's response, Chloe slowly grabs her bag and heads out the door.

"Damn, Mitchell," Amy's voice suddenly rises from beside the clothes hanger dividing it from the rest of the apartment, Beca rolling her eyes before she shifts in her chair to watch as their housemate emerges.

"Worth a shot."

"You've changed," Amy jokes, Beca quickly shrugging.

"Shit changes when you're basically dating anyway."

"Yes! Finally you see it! You guys have been practically dating for years-"

"Not years, Amy. Just the last few months. Anyway. What were you up to last night?"

Amy's explanation takes up the rest of the time before Beca has to leave for work, and it distracts her from the fact that she literally kissed Chloe until she takes her phone out on her lunch break and realises that, for the first time that she can remember, Chloe hasn't responded to the text she sent in her morning break asking what they were doing for dinner tonight. She's at work, though, so she puts on a brave face as she starts to push down the realisation that, maybe, Chloe is totally creeped out by how okay she was with what happened.

Beca's phone goes off a few times after lunch. She doesn't usually take an afternoon break but just for today, she takes five minutes, diving for her phone in her bag as soon as it hits 3pm and speed-walking off to the break room. Chloe's emoji-lacking "I'll cook" text does nothing to calm her worry.

Chloe is cooking when Beca gets home, both girls walking on eggshells as they avoid mentioning the tense air between them.

"What are you making?" Beca asks, her tone more cautious than she wants it to be.

"Just a stir-fry," Chloe answers, and Beca tries not to interpret the emptiness of her tone.

"Sounds good."

Neither say any more, Chloe continuing to stare down at the pan in front of her while Beca changes out of her workwear.

"I'm sorry I-"

"Why didn't you-"

Both girls start talking at the same time, still sitting at the table after they've finished an awkward dinner of minimal small talk. Chloe doesn't make a move to start again, so Beca does.

"I'm sorry if I freaked you out, Chloe. I didn't turn to you on purpose, I just ran with it when it happened. Because I… I'm kind of in love with you, and I have been forever, and I don't know how I possibly couldn't be because you're kind of perfect and you're perfect for me… and I get that we're just friends, and I'd probably love everything here even if I didn't like you the way I do, but the more we settle into this domestic life together the more I just… fucking love you, dude. I'm sorry I kissed you. I'm sorry for… all of this," Beca finishes, with a sigh, not wanting to watch Chloe's reaction.

"I thought you'd freak out, I wasn't freaked out," Chloe's response is brief, Beca sighing as she realises Chloe is probably trying to hold back from saying anything she means.

"But you are now?"

"No, Becs. I'm just… very used to not saying this, you know, and I hoped you felt the same, but I never expected you'd be the one to let it out. I'm kind of in love with you too."

"Why'd you think I've been soliciting cuddles, Beale?" Beca shakes her head, finally looking up with a small smile to see Chloe reflecting it back.

"I hoped it was because you felt the same way."

"It was."

"Can I kiss you again?"

Beca chooses to respond with actions, almost leaping out of her chair and around the table to straddle Chloe's lap and pull her into a firm kiss.