Rejection got us closer

A/N: This is my first multi chapter fic and my second fanfiction ever so I am sorry if it isn't that great. I'll try my best! To be fair, I am only 16 years old and English isn't even my first language. Please give it a try though! :)

I hope you like it!

This takes place right after the Bellas win at ICCA's but Beca does not kiss Jesse (I'll maybe write something like that at some point)

Chapter 1

'We did it! Two years of hard work and we finally won!'. Chloe couldn't believe it quite yet. Of course she wasn't mad at Aubrey for their loss last year but it felt so good to finally win after all that effort. Not to mention that this year the group had become much closer than the one last year. They seemed like a weird bunch to the naked eye and there were many clashing personalities, yet all of them had gotten very close over that year. There were only a few months left before she and Aubrey graduated but Chloe was already sad that she had to leave the other Bellas behind. If she was being completely honest there was one she'd miss more than the others.

Chloe had taken interest in Beca the moment she first saw her. What she didn't expect was that soon she developed a crush on Beca and it was getting harder to keep it to herself every day. Especially because usually Chloe was the type of girl who just went for it. She was open and had a lot of self confidence but she was so glad that she and Beca had become such close friends that she felt horrible for possibly destroying it by telling the DJ about her feelings for her. Besides, she wasn't even completely sure Beca was gay or bisexual.

A bone crushing hug from Fat Amy pulled her out of her thoughts. Everyone around her was still cheering and smiling at their victory.

"Let's be real here. The after-party is going to be the real deal! We girls from Tasmania can take our liquor, but I am worried for Miss tiny DJ here." Fat Amy exclaimed after the excitement had toned down a bit.

"Hey! I am not that tiny! You're all just very tall." Beca retorted almost immediately. It was really cute how she always tried to keep her badass reputation up, but come on that girl knew the lyrics to "Party in the USA". Chloe even got her to cuddle with her after she promised that she'd never tell anyone.

They decided to throw a celebration party at Stacy's house that was surprisingly big. Apparently her parents were some kind of important movie producers that were rarely home.

After a couple of drinks everybody was already a bit light headed but still sober enough for normal conversations.

Aubrey discretely pulled Chloe away from the others. Just as Chloe was about to ask her why, Aubrey started talking.

"We won and everyone is happy. You know this might be a good time to tell Beca about that obvious toner you have for her," Aubrey said in a nonchalant tone, "if she doesn't already know that is."

Chloe was stunned into silence. Sure, it was hard to keep her feelings to herself, but she didn't realize that her attraction had become so obvious. After a few seconds of trying to collect herself she finally found her speech again.

"I- um- How?...Am I really that obvious?" she stuttered out.

"You kind of are, sorry. Besides, I'm your best friend. I notice stuff like that but you really need to stop with the leering at rehearsals. Don't worry though. I doubt Beca noticed, because she is pretty much the most oblivious person I know,"Aubrey said while letting a soft chuckle escape, "But like I said, you should just tell her tonight. We're graduating in a few months already."

"Maybe you're right. I just don't know how. I really like her. But what if she is straight?"

"I never thought I'd see the day where Chloe Beale is nervous about asking someone 've really got it bad for her, huh?" Aubrey mocked ,"I mean you know that I didn't exactly approve of her at the beginning, but I guess she is ok and if she makes you happy you should be with her. Just go for it and show her some of your Beale charm. Oh and trust me, Beca owns more flannel shirts than I can count. Possibly even more than Cynthia Rose. I am pretty sure that girl is not straight."

"Fine. I can do this! Could you distract the others for a while? I want to talk to her in private." Chloe suggested determined.

"Of course. Now go get your girl!" Aubrey added playfully.

Back at the party, Chloe went to freshen up to make sure that she looked ok and not like the nervous mess that she was inside at that moment. After she finished she slowly made her way over to Beca.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" Chloe asked surprisingly confident.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"Um can we go outside or something? I- It's kind of private." Chloe admitted sheepishly. 'Great!' she thought to herself 'I am already starting to stutter'.

"I guess" the younger girl replied casually. Not letting on that she was rather intrigued with the situation.

Even though it was pretty cold outside Chloe felt as if she was burning up. A few minutes ago she told herself that she could do this but right now she was close to chickening out again.

"So...you wanted to talk?" Beca asked.

"Yes, I did. I mean I do. It's just really hard" Chloe said ashamed that she couldn't just do it.

"Oh come on, Chlo. You are the one that ambushed me in a freaking shower, telling me what your 'lady jam' is and no offense but I think personal space is not even in your vocabulary. So why are you so nervous? I am sure it's not that bad." Beca reassured her.

"Ok I am just going to say this. I ...like you... kind of as more than a friend. I don't even know how it started. At the activities I thought it was some attraction that would fade away eventually, but you opened up to me, made me feel special. I mean you let your walls down for me until I was almost sure that you liked me back. I even almost kissed you one time, but lately you always hang out with Jesse and I am not that sure anymore," Chloe admitted.

"Please just say something. Anything.", she added after an uncomfortable silence. The look on Beca's face was unreadable. She looked stunned and definitely surprised, which made the waiting for a response even harder for Chloe.

"I- wow. I don't know what to say. It's a bit much to take in all at once."

After a few minutes of collecting herself Beca started talking though.

"You are the closest friend I've ever had, so sorry if I gave you any signs that I was interested. I never meant to...I mean I care about you. A lot. Trust me! Just not like that. You're my best friend, Chlo. I am pretty sure that's not something you'd like to hear right now, but it's the truth. I am really sorry."

"Oh," Chloe responded quietly trying hard to hide her disappointment and sadness. She failed miserably.

"Hey, don't be sad. Is there anything I can do?" Beca said engulfing Chloe into a hug, which she rarely did.

'Loving me back', Chloe thought sadly.

She stiffened in Beca's arms after she realised how lost she had gotten in the hug. "You know this is not really helping..."

"Oh, right. Sorry! I don't know how bad it is, but do you think we could stay friends? Like I said, I care about you. No pressure, I could understand why you wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore." Beca suggested.

"I- no, of course we can stay friends! Maybe it is just a stupid crush after all. It will go away eventually. I don't want this- us to change."

"Me neither. Are you sure you're ok though?" Beca had never seen Chloe like this.

"Yes. Everything is fine. Just a bit tired," Chloe lied, "I am going home."

"Oh ok, bye. We're good, right?"

"Of course. You're still my friend." Chloe replied gloomily.

Back at the party, Beca couldn't enjoy herself anymore. She felt really bad for being the one to make Chloe so sad. Of course, Chloe had tried to hide it, but Beca sensed that she had really hurt Chloe's feelings and she hated herself for it.

"Hey, Becaaa!", Fat Amy called. Judging from her voice she already had a few drinks too much. "Where's the ginger? You finally tapped that?"

"I- what? No! Me and Chloe are just friends!" Beca blushed.

"Suure, that's why you longingly stare at her during rehearsals.", Fat Amy replied with a smirk.

"I do not do that!", Beca said defensively. 'I definitely don't do that...or do I?!'

"Mhh mhh", Fat Amy said clearly not convinced.

"Ugh whatever. I'm going home."

Beca was already outside when Aubrey stopped her

"Beca, wait up!", she said a little out of breath from running after her, "Have you seen Chloe? She wanted to talk to you, but I can't find her anywhere."

"We talked. She said she was tired and left." Beca replied.

"What did you say to her?" Aubrey asked suspiciously. She tried not to let the anger shine through her tone, but if Beca broke Chloe's heart she was going to pay.

"I just told her the truth you can't hate me for that."

"Yes, I can if you hurt her!"

"It's not like I wanted to, Aubrey! You know that I care about her just as much as you do." Beca exclaimed angrily.

"Well, you should have thought about that. You don't even deserve her. I don't understand what she sees in you." Aubrey left Beca standing there all by herself with a bad conscience.

Chloe felt pathetic. Like it wasn't bad enough that Beca didn't want her back, she also had to curl up and cry alone in her room. It wasn't like her to get that attached to someone. If she liked a boy she dated him briefly and eventually they broke up the casual relationship with no hard feelings. With Beca things were far more complicated.

By the time Aubrey arrived Chloe managed to stop crying, although her eyes were still puffy and bloodshot. Of course this didn't go unnoticed by her best friend. She pulled her into a hug almost immediately.

"I am going to kill Beca!" Aubrey was really about to head outside and look for Beca. She knew that the DJ hurt Chloe but she didn't know that it was that bad. In the many years of their friendship Aubrey had never seen Chloe so devastated. When Chloe found out about her nodes Aubrey helped her through it, but she didn't know what she could do to help her friend now.

"It's not her fault. You can't help who you fall in love with...or well in this case you don't fall in love with." Chloe laughed bitterly. "I am just going to bed now if you don't mind."

"Of course not."

"Night."

When Chloe lay down she was determined 'I am going to get over Beca Mitchell no matter what!'