A/N: Hey, guys. So this one is out super early because this used to be a novel I was writing when I realized it would be really good for Bechloe. So if you see things switched from third to first person or some weird names, that's probably why. Sorry if I missed them.
Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed! Which brings us to the favorite review from the last chapter. It goes to...Electronis Zappa. I used to play violin, so I thought it would be cool if Beca and Chloe did too.
As always, I love you all! - Fox
It occurred to Beca one day that she'd never talked to the person she was sitting by in Orchestra, regardless of anyone in her section. She wouldn't have ever noticed if the girl wouldn't have started talking to her out of the blue.
"I like your violin," a soft voice said.
Beca didn't even look up, "Thanks," she replied in monotone.
"My name is Chloe. Chloe Beale, what's yours?" she asked.
She looked up and was a little surprised. It was the girl who looked at her and chuckled on Beca's first day of classes, "Beca Mitchell," she looked down.
"Beca, huh? I like it," she smiled.
"Thanks," she was trying to make it obvious that she didn't want to talk. That didn't stop Chloe from asking more.
"How much was it? Your violin, I mean."
"My mom's too cheap to buy me anything nice so I went to my dad and asked for him to buy me one. He finally did just before he died, so I don't know."
Beca didn't know why she told her that. The redhead looked at her with a sad expression and Beca could tell that she felt sorry for her. Thankfully, Mrs. Whitehill started class. They played the same songs. A concert was coming up in the next week. Beca could play them by memory now, but Chloe couldn't so they still had the music on the stand. When class ended, the small girl quickly packed her violin in its case and put it away, running out into the hallway.
"Hey, wait up!" Chloe called. Beca stopped and turned around. There was no way that she was going to get away from her, "I'm sorry about your dad."
"It's fine...I didn't really know him too well. My violin is the only thing that I have from him. Mom says he didn't even pay child support." Why was she telling her all of this? She didn't even know the girl, "Not that I really believe her, though."
"Man...that sucks. I'm really sorry"
Beca hated it when people just repeatedly said sorry. It got on her nerves. Every time she told someone about her dad, that's all anyone could say, "It's fine. I got used to it after a while." They were nearly at the front doors and the buses were about to leave.
"Do you ride a bus?" the ginger asked, pulling out her phone.
"No, I'm within a mile so I can't ride without my mom paying."
"Oh, I see. My mom can give you a ride." she pointed at a beat up maroon looking car.
"Oh, no, that's okay. It's not that far." Beca lied, beginning to walk in the direction of her house, "I'll see you later, though."
The bubbly redhead waved, walking towards her mother's car, "Alright, see you tomorrow!"
For the next few days, Chloe and Beca talked. They eventually began hanging out with each other within a couple weeks. She showed the brunette around town, what people and places to stay away from, and the people that were cool. Beca met her best friend, Aubrey.
Aubrey was a quiet, secluded girl. Well, at least towards Beca. She never really said much when Beca was around. She thought the blonde was a little bit jealous. After a while, Beca tried to stop hanging out with Chloe. She didn't want Aubrey to do get super upset. Beca was kind of scared of her. It had been about three weeks before Chloe said anything.
"Um, excuse me. Why are you avoiding me?" She asked in Orchestra. They had a test that moved Beca up a few seats so she no longer sat by the bubbly girl.
"What makes you think I've been avoiding you?" Beca asked innocently.
"You've barely talked to me in, like, a month. Is something wrong? You didn't hear about me being-"
"No, nothing's wrong. I've just had some stuff to do around the house and it's bugging me a little, that's all."
"Oh, okay," she looked relieved, "Well, if you need anything or wanna hang out or anything, just text me. Do you have my number?"
The brunette shook her head. Chloe would officially be the first person's number she got in this city, even though it'd been almost two months. She borrowed a pen from some girl in their section and scrawled her number across Beca's arm.
"Text me, 'kay?" Chloe winked.
The smaller girl smiled and sat down as class started, going through all the motions of playing the music. She could only think of one thing...being with Chloe.
It was weird, thinking about being with a person that she'd only met a couple months ago. Now, she wasn't thinking about dating Chloe, but just being around her all the time. Like, Beca wanted Chloe to be interested in her and only her. She wanted to be the redhead's best friend, not some other person. She knew it was selfish, but she didn't care at the time.
After class, Beca put her violin away and waited for Chloe.
"Oh, you actually waited this time?" She grinned.
"Yeah, of course I did. Wanna hang out today?" Beca asked.
"I promised Aubrey that I'd go shopping with her today."
"Oh, that's fine. I'll just chill at home, I guess."
"You can come with us, you know?" She began to walk. Beca followed close behind.
"Eh, I'm not really much of a shopper. Plus, I don't think your friend likes me too much."
"What, Aubrey? Oh, don't worry about her. Even if she didn't like you, I'd still hang out with you. I don't care what she thinks. I don't like her girlfriend and a couple of her other friends, but she still hangs out with them while I'm around. As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to you, she can deal with it."
The brunette smiled, "Oh, well I guess I can go."
"Okay, I'll pick you up at five?"
"Sounds like a plan," Beca grinned as they walked out the door. She began the journey to her house while Chloe walked to her mom's car.
Beca walked into the house and it reeked of the smell of cigarettes. She coughed and covered her mouth, "I'm home," she called out, but there was no answer. Beca walked up the stairs and saw her mother in her usual spot. She sighed and slipped into her room.
As she sat on her bed, Beca pulled out her phone and saved Chloe's number. Looking around her room, she realized that it was a complete mess. The brunette's clothes were on the floor, unfolded but clean. There were stacks of papers and books on her desk. Her closet had a bunch of junk in it. Most of it was just stuff that her mom wasn't going to really mess with in the new house. There was barely any room for anything that was hers in there. Sighing, Beca decided to start cleaning. She was probably going to invite Chloe over eventually and she was not about to have her room looking like a tornado went through it.
It didn't take her that long to finish cleaning. The young violinist only needed to fold her clothes, put them away, and put the books on her bookshelf. Beca went downstairs after about an hour and looked at the clock. It was 3:22. She still had about an hour and thirty minutes until Chloe was going to pick her up.
Beca realized that she should probably bring her money if she was going to go shopping. She ran upstairs after grabbing a drink and opened it. The brunette was going to have to find wherever she put her money first. Luckly, the old coffee tin she kept her money in was in plain sight in the closet. She walked out of her bedroom and started to go downstairs.
"What are you doing?" My mother asked, her words slurring a bit.
"I'm just gonna go to the library and wait for Chloe to pick me up. We're going shopping with her friend Aubrey later," Beca replied.
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever. Get me a beer, will ya?"
"Sure," the brunette sighed as she went down the stairs. She quickly grabbed her mother a beer, brought it up to her, and left the house.
Beca decided to walk around for a bit before actually going to the library. It was a while before she noticed that she was getting pretty far from home, but not too far from the library, and it was almost 5:00. She pulled out her phone, pulling up Chloe's number. The violinist called her.
"Hello?" the redhead answered.
"Hey, Chloe? It's Beca."
"Oh hey!" she could almost hear the smile in Chloe's voice.
"Hey, I was wondering if you could just pick me up at the library instead. I was walking around and managed to get all the way over here and I figured that I wouldn't make it back to my house in time."
"Oh, yeah, that's fine."
"Thanks, Chlo. See you soon," Beca smiled.
"Alright," she laughed, "yeah, we'll be there in like twenty minutes, okay?"
"Okay, bye," the brunette smiled.
"Bye," she hung up.
Beca soon got to the library and sat on a bench outside of it. So many things were going on around her. Cars going back and forth, kids dragging their parents towards some toy store on the square and begging to go in, people on their phones, some riding bikes, some holding hands. So many different kinds of people walked down the street and into stores. A cafe was across the street from her. A lot of people were going in there. One building caught Beca's eye, though. It was a music store; Simply Music. She got up and made her way across the street and walked in.
On the walls were rows and rows of guitars and basses. In one corner there were trumpets, trombones, flutes, and other band instruments. A small room in the back was full of books that she assumed were sheet music. Another room had drums. The last room was full of orchestral instruments. The brunette made her way to that last room. Beca would never buy any of them, even if she even could. The violin that her father bought her was better than all of the ones in that room.
She walked over to the guitars and stared at them. Beca really wished that she could play. Sadly, she couldn't. The violinist tried when she was younger, but her hands were too small. Her father knew how to play, but he never would teach her how to. Now any time she tried to pick one up, all she could think of was her dad and she just felt like she couldn't do it.
As she continued to walk around the store, someone walked up to her.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
Beca looked up, a little startled. She hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings and walked into an employee's only area, "Oh, I'm sorry." She said quickly, practically jumping out of the area.
"That's okay. A lot of people come back here anyways" he smiled, "Hey, you're that girl that moved here from Utah, right? We're in the same first hour."
It took her a second to realize it, but it was Art Boy, "Oh, yeah, hi." the brunette smiled.
"I'm Jesse," he reached out his hand to shake hers.
Beca shook his hand, "I'm-"
"Beca, I know. I sit next to you in Mr. Daniels' class."
She laughed, "Yeah, I remember"
Jesse laughed nervously, "Right, sorry. I probably seem like a creep now, don't I?"
"As long as you don't have some weird shrine of me and know virtually everything about me, I think you're good." Beca smiled.
"Dang, you caught me," he lifted up both his hands in surrender.
"Oh okay, tell me something about me then"
"You moved here from Utah. That's all I know. That's the only thing you've ever said in class about yourself, I think. You don't really talk much in school."
"Neither do you," the violinist retorted.
"That's true, I suppose."
"So, you work in a music store and you're an artist, right?"
"Whoa, and you say I'm the one that's creepy? That's two things that you've listed. I only listed one."
"I'm sure you could figure out more just by thinking about where I am,"
"Let me guess, you're a musician?" he asked, pretending to be surprised.
"No, I'm just in here to look at the pretty instruments," she said sarcastically.
"Oh, okay then" he grinned.
Something about Jesse made Beca smile. She didn't really know what it was. He was just goofy without trying and he had this aura that just made someone happy. Kind of like Chloe. The kind of happy that each of them made you was completely different, however. While Jesse made you laugh and smile by being witty, Chloe just made you smile. She just seemed happy and that happiness just rubbed off on other people.
Beca's phone began to ring. It was Chloe, "Sorry, I have to take this"
"No problem. I've got a customer anyways," he smiled.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey, where are you?" Chloe asked.
The brunette looked at the clock. It was 5:13, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I'm in the music store across the street. I figured I'd check it out since I had twenty minutes."
"Oh, that's okay. We're out here in front of the library."
"Okay, I'll be out in a second." Beca hung up and looked at Jesse. He was dealing with another customer, but she managed to wave goodbye to him as she walked out the door. He waved back with a smile.
Beca jogged across the street to get to Chloe's car. Her mom was in the driver's seat and she was in the front passenger's seat. The violinist opened the door to the backseat and climbed in.
"I am so sorry. I was looking at all the music stuff and then I started talking to Jesse and-"
"Jesse? You mean Jesse Swanson?" Chloe whipped around.
"Is that his last name? I don't know if that's his last name or not. Why is something wrong?" Beca asked.
"Only that he's like a player and cheats on every girl he's ever been with and he's awful."
"He didn't seem that bad," she said, "He seemed pretty nice if you ask me."
"You wanna know what he is? He's trouble and nothing more," Chloe crossed her arms.
"Now that's enough, Chloe," her mom said, "I'm Debbie by the way, Chloe's mom."
"Hi, I'm Beca," the brunette smiled.
"Oh, I know who you are, honey. Chloe won't shut up about you," she laughed.
"Mom!" Chloe pushed her arm.
Beca smiled, secretly wishing her mother was like Chloe's.
"Can we just hurry up and get to the mall?" Chloe frowned.
"Would you like me to run red lights, dear?" Debbie asked.
"Please," Chloe crossed her arms.
Mrs. Beale put the car in neutral and revved the engine, nearly giving Beca a heart attack. Her eyes widened and she grabbed onto the side of the car.
Debbie laughed hysterically, "I wouldn't do that, honey." she said as the light turned green. She put the car back into drive and headed to the mall.
"Thank you, Mom" Chloe gave her a look as we got out of the car.
"I'll be back at 8:00," her mother said and drove off after we got our things out.
"I am so sorry for that," Chloe sighed.
"It's okay. Your mom is pretty cool." Beca smiled, "Though the stunt she pulled at the red light scared the crap out of me."
"I am really sorry" the redhead apologized again.
"It's okay. It really is," Beca smiled, "Let's go inside."
"Yeah let's go," she grinned.
We went inside the mall and waited for Aubrey and her girlfriend, Stacie, in the food court. It only took a few minutes for them to get there.
"So what store do you want to go to first?" Chloe asked Beca.
"It's up to you guys. I don't really do much shopping. I don't have a lot of money to spend," the violinist said.
"In that case, let's go to J.C. Penny first," Aubrey spoke up.
As they all went into the store, Chloe linked her arm through Beca's, "I'm sorry we're not doing something you like to do. We can next time, I promise. And it'll just be me and you."
Beca smiled, "It's okay, Chlo. As long as we get to hang out, I'm happy."
"You're too cute," Chloe grinned.
"Hey," Beca gave her a mock glare, "I'm not cute, I'm a badass."
Chloe broke out into a fit of laughter, "Whatever you say, Becs."
They had been falling behind Aubrey and Stacie, "Hey, come on you two!" the blonde called out.
"Better not keep her waiting," the young violinist sighed.
"We'll be able to ditch her eventually," the redhead told her.
"I don't want to make her mad," Beca said, "Besides, she's your friend."
"Well, she's got Stacie and she's done it to me several times so she'll have no room to be mad," Chloe smiled, "You're my friend too, you know?"
"Yeah, I know, but I just don't want to piss her off."
"Are you afraid of her or something?"
"What? No, I just know how much it sucks to be ditched for someone new."
"Well, I'm not ditching her for someone new. Like I said, she's got Stacie so she won't mind," Chloe reminded her.
Beca nodded, "Okay, but where are we gonna go?"
"We can go to that ice cream shop that you liked so much."
"Ice cream shop?"
"You know, the one that we went to a few weeks ago? It was like the first or second place that I took you to see. It's like the best ice cream shop in the city."
"Oh! Yes, let's go there!" Beca said excitedly.
The ginger giggled, "Okay, we'll go there. We just have to do a little bit of shopping with Bree for a little bit."
Beca nodded, "Okay."
Nearly two hours later, Beca was following Chloe around, carrying bags for her, as the redhead had bought so much that she could barely carry it all, "Jesus Christ, Chloe," Beca said as Chloe started to point at yet another store.
"Okay, okay," Chloe giggled, "I was just waiting to see how long it would take for you to complain. You went quite a while."
"Are you meaning to tell me if I complained an hour ago, we would have gone to the ice cream shop by now?" the brunette asked.
"Well, I probably would have told you just a couple more stores, but yeah."
"It would have taken just as much time anyways. You spend so much time in one store. I don't understand."
"What? You don't spend that long in a store? What do you buy?"
"I go to the store to get things that I need and I leave. I go in with a list of things I need, get them quickly, and get out."
"You're weird," Chloe grinned.
"No, you're weird," Beca rolled her eyes.
"I can call my mom. She can be here in a few minutes to take these bags and we can go."
"Thank God."
"Hey, Bree," Chloe called out, "We're gonna go. I'll see you later."
Aubrey just sighed, "Okay, Chloe," she then turned to Stacie. Thinking the other two couldn't hear her, she complained, "See what I mean, that hobbit is stealing my best friend!"
"Did she just call me a hobbit?" Beca asked.
"I think so...I'm sorry she's so rude. She's not usually like this," Chloe apologized.
The violinist looked at the ground, "It's fine. I'm used to stuff like that."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you mind if we don't really get into that? I don't really want to think about it."
"Yeah, that's okay. Let me just call my mom really fast and we can go."
After Chloe called her mom, they walked towards the entrance of the mall. Her mom showed up in a few minutes and took them to the ice cream shop.
When they got there, Beca ordered a glass of lemonade and a cone of mint chocolate chip ice cream and pulled out her wallet, "No! I've got it," Chloe exclaimed, ordering her ice cream and paying for it faster than the brunette could even protest.
"Well, thank you, but I could have gotten that myself."
"That's okay, I wanted to get it for you. As a thank you for being an awesome friend. You didn't have to carry all that stuff for me."
"It's not that big of a deal," Beca shrugged. 'Chloe is the nicest person that I have ever met. She tries to make everyone feel included and makes a point to try to make everyone smile as much as she can. She never wants anyone to be sad. I can see it in her eyes,' Beca thought.
Beca often wondered why the redhead tried so hard to make everyone happy. She had a couple theories, but none of them were ever proved. She thought that maybe Chloe had been hurt really bad and never wanted anyone to feel the same kind of pain that she felt. Maybe she just loved everyone or there was someone that she liked and she was trying to impress him. Beca wasn't really sure.
"So, um, is there someone you like?" Beca asked out of the blue.
Chloe nearly choked on her ice cream, "Uh...I don't know. Why?" Her face was turning bright red. Beca figured it was just because she almost choked.
"I don't know. I'm just trying to figure out why you try to make everyone so happy."
"I just like making people happy," she smiled, "Do you like anyone?"
"Well, I have a boyfriend back in Utah. He hasn't talked to me for a few days, though. I don't know if it's because he's mad or what. It's kind of upsetting, really."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know he wasn't talking to you. I didn't know he existed, actually," she chuckled, "In my opinion, you should just dump him. If anyone would avoid someone like you, they don't deserve you."
"Someone like me?" the brunette asked.
"Someone as nice and as pretty as you are," she gave Beca a smile that she stared at for too long. Something about Chloe saying that to her made her feel happier than anything. Beca gave her a huge grin and thanked her.
They spent more time mindlessly talking about things in their lives. Beca told her more about Sean, her boyfriend, and about life before moving here and the ginger told Beca more about her life at home. Beca had more fun than she did in a long time.
After about 40 minutes, the brunette's phone started buzzing. It was Sean.
"Well, speak of the devil," Chloe grinned, "Go on, take it."
Beca smiled and answered the phone, "Hey, Sean. I was beginning to think you died or something," she laughed.
"Hey, Beca..." the way he said it made her stomach churn. She knew something was wrong.
"What's the matter?" she asked, the smile wiped off her face. Chloe noticed, sitting up straighter and looking at her with a worried expression.
"I've been thinking..." Beca heard another voice. A girl's voice saying "just give me the phone." Sean eventually gave it up.
"Hello?" the girl said.
"Who is this?" she asked.
"This is Sophie. Listen, Sean is done with you. You left him and now he's needing something and I'm the one here for him. He doesn't wanna be with you anymore."
"Who the hell are you to say that to me?!"
"I told you, it's Sophie and-" Sean took back the phone, "Listen, Beca...I can't do this anymore. It's been months."
"What happened to your promise, Sean?"
"I'm sorry...I can't keep it..." he sighed and there was a click and dial tone.
Beca stared into space, her mouth open from the shock. She set the phone on the table and looked at Chloe.
"Are you o-" she started.
"Let's just get out of here..."
Chloe nodded and they headed out the door. Beca silently followed the redhead as she looked at her. It was the first time that the violinist saw actual sadness on her friend's face. Like she knew what Beca was feeling.
"What happened?" Chloe asked.
"Sean cheated on me," the brunette snapped, "With some girl named Sophie."
"What a dick," she sighed, "I'm here for you, you know that, right?"
I nodded, "Thank you, Chloe. Hanging out has helped me a lot today. I'm sorry you had to ditch Aubrey to hang out with me, though."
"I'd choose you over anyone any day. You're my best friend, you know that right?"
Beca gave her a smile, "You don't know how much that means to me."
"There's that smile," Chloe grinned.
With that, Beca got what she wanted. Chloe was all hers.
