Bechloe Week Day 6 - Good Luck Charm
Chloe picked herself up from the ground carefully, assessing whether she had any serious injuries. She didn't think so, though her knees and hands stung from where they'd scraped against the pavement. She turned to glare at her bike, tipped on its side over the curb she'd hit. She was glad she'd been wearing a helmet; hitting the curb with the front wheel had sent her flying over the handlebars to land painfully on the sidewalk.
She stared down at the bike for a moment, mentally preparing herself to get back on. Her dad had always said it was vital to get right back on a bike after a fall. Chloe reached down for the handlebars, grasping one firmly to haul her bike upright and examine it for damage. She cringed when she discovered a scrape in the pink paint where the side of the bike had slid against the concrete. Thankfully, however, the bike was still operable, its wheels and chain remaining intact.
She swung her leg over the seat, inhaling sharply at the unexpected tenderness in her hip. She must have landed on it when she fell. She froze at the realization; if she'd landed on her hip, then she'd also landed on… Chloe dug frantically into her pocket, extracting the keys for the Bella house. Her heart sank when she saw a large crack in the body of the panda keychain that had been an eighth birthday gift from her dad. She ran a fingertip over the fracture, furrowing her brow and biting her lip.
Her dad had passed away when she was fourteen. Cancer. The keychain was her good luck charm from him and she kept it with her constantly. He had been her best friend growing up, so carrying it around was a little reminder of him. That panda keychain was one of her most valuable possessions.
And now it was broken after a stupid fall from a bike.
Chloe blinked rapidly to clear the tears from her eyes. She still had to bike the six blocks to get to Bellas rehearsal and didn't want to risk another fall from watery vision. She shoved the panda back into her pocket because looking at it only made her want to cry more. With a deep, steadying breath, she continued on her way to rehearsal, the loss of her charm settling deeper in her chest with every push against the pedals.
She arrived at Barden's auditorium minutes later and parked her bike, locking it around the rack. She unclipped her helmet and removed it to carry it inside with her. Despite her fall, she'd arrived on time, and she entered the building to see all the Bellas standing in wait.
"Hey, Chlo," Beca welcomed when Chloe joined the group. "I thought we'd run through the set for Worlds today, sound good?"
Chloe's stomach dropped. Worlds was in just a few weeks and they needed to win. But she'd broken her good luck charm. She'd had that keychain with her at every winning Nationals performance the Bellas had had. The one time she'd forgotten it, Aubrey had tossed her cookies all over the audience. Panic tightened Chloe's throat; how could they hope to win without her keychain?
"Right," she finally answered Beca. "We're gonna have to spend extra time practicing today."
"What?" asked Amy loudly. "We're already here for two hours, come on!"
Stacie nodded her agreement and said, "Yeah, I have a date after this, so no thanks."
Before Chloe could reply, Emily added, "Um, I have an exam to study for, so I really think –"
Chloe had heard enough. "Hey!" she called over the sound of complaints. "We need to win, so we need extra practice. Beca agrees with me. Right, Beca?" she turned to look at her co-captain.
Beca's eyes widened and she took a step back, raising her hands. "Woah, uh, actually, I have my internship tonight, so… that's a no from me."
Annoyance blossomed in Chloe's chest: Beca was supposed to have her back. But before she could say anything, Cynthia-Rose jumped in. "Yeah, sorry, Chloe, I think that's a no from all of us."
"Once, I was held hostage for three months by a dictator," added Flo. "This is kind of like that."
"Time is only a construct," whispered Lilly.
Ashley and Jessica looked at each other, shrugged, and said in unison, "We'd be okay to stay –"
"FINE!" shouted Chloe, completely losing her temper and waving her arms wildly. "We won't stay late! We might as well leave early! Hell, let's all just go home now, because clearly winning Worlds doesn't matter to any of you! That's it, that's the end of the Bellas, I hope you're all hap –"
"Chloe, stop!" Beca's voice rang out, shocking Chloe into silence. Beca was staring at her in alarm. Chloe looked around to see similarly shocked expressions on the others' faces; Emily actually looked scared. Chloe turned away sharply, ashamed of herself, and moved to sit in a chair away from them all. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and hiding her face in her hands.
After a pregnant silence, Chloe heard Beca mutter quietly, "Guys, stay here and… I don't know, run choreo or something. I don't care. Just… I'll go."
Then came a flurry of movement and muted whispers as the Bellas scattered. Chloe knew they were talking about her outburst and another wave of shame washed over her. The soft sound of footsteps made her lift her head to see Beca walking toward her hesitantly, pulling a hand through her long brown hair, the other shoved in a front pocket.
"Hey there," said Beca, cautiously, as if afraid Chloe was going to start yelling again.
"Hey," Chloe replied softly. She could barely meet Beca's eyes.
"So… you wanna talk about it?" Beca asked after a moment, sitting down in a chair next to her.
Chloe shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about," she replied, her tone sharper than she'd intended.
Beca sighed. "Really?" she asked, her voice laced with skepticism. "Because I kind of think there is. Come on, Chloe. What's going on?
Chloe pursed her lips, again holding back tears. Beca was being so nice to her, even after she'd completely wigged out. Beca was always nice to her. It was one of the many reasons Chloe loved her.
"Talk to me, Chlo," Beca soothed. "Please?"
Chloe never could say no to Beca.
She reached into her pocket and dug out the broken keychain, her heart clenching at the sight of the crack that somehow looked even worse now. "I fell off my bike and broke my keychain," she whispered, her eyes watering again as she showed it to Beca.
Beca's eyes flicked from the panda keychain in her palm up to her face. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"No," Chloe shook her head. Worry clouded Beca's expression, so she clarified, "I mean, I didn't get hurt, but… it's my good luck charm and now we're going to lose Worlds."
"Shit," Beca breathed, making Chloe turn to her. "Didn't you say the panda was a gift from your dad?"
Chloe blinked at Beca in shock, nodding slowly. Beca hadn't even questioned her implication that a broken panda meant losing at Worlds and she had remembered the significance of the keychain. Chloe vaguely remembered telling Beca about her dad about halfway through Beca's freshman year. She'd shown her the keychain then, but they hadn't talked about it since.
So, she was surprised that Beca remembered that detail of her life. Surprised that Beca would remember such a short conversation between them more than three years later. And yet. Maybe she shouldn't have found it really all that surprising. Beca had always been a great listener.
"I'm so sorry, Chlo, I know how much it means to you," Beca said, looking down at the panda. "Do you think we can glue it?"
Smiling a little at the "we," Chloe peered closely at the keychain. She didn't see how glue would do anything, but she appreciated the thought.
"Probably not," she sighed doubtfully. "I guess I'll have to retire the little guy."
Beca looked alarmed. "I mean, you don't have to get rid of him!" she said earnestly. "You could always keep him, like, on your dresser or something."
Chloe thought for a moment. Beca was right. It wouldn't be the same as carrying the charm with her everywhere, but it would be something. Besides, the thought of throwing it away was unbearable.
She nodded in agreement and said, "Yeah, I'll do that." She sighed, her guilt returning, "I guess I need to apologize to the girls. I shouldn't have yelled."
Beca's lips quirked up. "No, you shouldn't have. But they'll forgive you, I promise," she said, looking at Chloe with an expression she couldn't quite read.
With a small smile at Beca, Chloe stood and made her way over to their friends to apologize.
The next afternoon, Chloe lounged on her bed, scrolling through Instagram. Her broken panda keychain sat on her dresser, where she could see it from most everywhere in her room. It wasn't ideal, but at least it was still there.
She continued scrolling, pausing every so often to 'like' certain pictures. Beca had posted one with Jesse with the caption "Nice that I can still tease this guy about his shitty music taste." Chloe was glad they had managed to stay friends following their breakup shortly after the retreat. She preferred them as friends.
Chloe had just moved on from that picture when there came a quiet knock on her door. "Come in," she called, sitting up against her pillows. She recognized that knock and knew instantly who was on the other side.
Sure enough, the sight of Beca's face peeking around the door sent happy butterflies shooting around her stomach. "Hey, stranger," she teased, delighting in the smile that graced Beca's features.
"Hey, yourself," Beca replied, entering her room to sit at the edge of her bed. Chloe couldn't help but think how at home Beca looked in her room. Or, more specifically, on her bed. She liked it.
"To what do I owe this pleasure, Miss Mitchell?" Chloe asked, deepening her voice playfully.
Beca looked back at her in confusion, a crease between her eyebrows. "You're so weird."
"Thanks," Chloe fired back immediately. Her eyes lowered and she noticed Beca's hand fidgeting with her bed cover. She frowned; that was a sure sign Beca was nervous about something. "Everything okay?" she asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, totally," Beca replied, moving her hand to her lap. "It's just, I – um – I got you something?" her voice rose as she dug into her pocket. "And, well, if you don't like it, that's fine, I thought it might… help."
She extracted her hand from her pocket, clutching something in her fist. She extended her arm to Chloe, relaxing her fingers to reveal a keychain attached to a little green alien with orange boxing gloves. Chloe immediately knew what Beca had intended with her gift and she stared at the alien, completely overwhelmed by the sentiment.
Beca started rambling again, clearly concerned at Chloe's lack of reaction. "I mean, it's not the same as the panda from your dad, and, like, I'm not trying to replace that in any way. I just, I saw it and I guess I thought that you could use it as a good luck charm? Or… a secondary one? I know, the alien is kind of lame, but I thought it was quirky and –"
"Beca," Chloe interrupted before Beca could suck all the oxygen from the room. "I love it."
Blinking at her adorably, Beca asked, "Seriously?"
"Seriously," Chloe said firmly. "This is honestly one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. It's… I love it. So much."
Beca's face had turned slightly pink, but she nodded gratefully. She twisted her wrist to drop the little alien into Chloe's waiting hands. Chloe rotated it in her palm, admiring the plastic figure.
"This is the perfect good luck charm," she declared happily. "Thank you."
Beca nodded and huffed, "No worries. I wanted to make you feel better."
Hearing the sincerity in Beca's voice made Chloe's stomach jolt. Her gaze drifted to Beca's lips for an instant, then back up to her eyes. Her heart flew to her throat when she saw that Beca's eyes had dropped to focus on her lips. With a surge of confidence, Chloe leaned forward into Beca's personal space, pausing only an inch before their lips made contact. She waited, eyes closed, clutching tightly to her new keychain.
A beat. Then another.
Then she felt Beca close the distance, her lips moving to brush against Chloe's. Chloe was overtaken with softness and she tentatively moved her lips over Beca's more solidly, a thrill trickling down her spine when Beca readily reciprocated. Chloe sighed into the kiss, content, amazed to hear Beca hum happily in response.
They separated gently after a moment, Chloe resting her forehead against Beca's.
"That was okay?" she asked tentatively.
"More than okay," Beca whispered back. "You're welcome for the good luck charm."
"I think it's working already," Chloe said softly as she leaned forward to kiss Beca again.