Okay, so this was originally planned to be a one shot but people seemed to really like it so I've now turned it into a multi-chapter story- which is just another thing I'll take forever to update every chapter so sorry in advance crew...
If you're vegan, take caution because this is straight up cheese. Not nut cheese or soy but Bechloe cheese of the finest variety. Okay, let's go.
...
It was the sound of a slamming door that woke Chloe Beale up. Not her own bedroom door, but one of the other bedroom doors from within the confines of the Bella house. It startled her, her eyes opening blearily afterwards as her heart settled back to normal after the shock. She stared at the blank white wall she had fallen asleep facing for a while, observing the scratches in the paint work and smudges of make up she'd left there by accident. When her eyes blurred over with the blank expanse of wall, Chloe blinked hard before she turned in her bed until she was lying on her back, the duvet tucked securely around her.
She looked up at the ceiling as she allowed her body to wake up, wondering why she felt so stiff when usually she wouldn't have to wait nearly as long for her limbs to wake up. She must have slept funny, she thought, wiggling her cold toes and stretching her legs out straight. Why was she all curled up on one side of her bed? She never slept like that. She usually utilised the most of her queen sized mattress, sprawling in the middle with the room to shuffle around if she got restless. Not curled up on one side with the other side of her bed empty and cold.
Chloe spread her arms out, stretching them at her sides, her fingers running across the sheet under the duvet and coming to rest just underneath the pillows on both sides of the bed. It was funny, as she stared at the ceiling Chloe couldn't help but feel like something was missing. It took another few moments of ceiling gazing and racking her brains but it suddenly hit her. Hit her with a zing of electricity to the back of her head and to her lower abdomen where lips and a hand had respectively been.
Beca. Where was Beca?
Maybe she'd dreamt it because the right side of the bed where her co-captain had been was now empty and cold beneath Chloe's fingers. But it had felt real. Beca's arm wrapped over her and her feet tangling with hers and her snoring in her ear. It had all felt really real. And really nice.
Chloe shook the thoughts from her head, bringing her hands away from the empty bedsheets to rub the sleep from her eyes and push herself up into sitting, the duvet pooling around her as she sat up in bed, looking for any telltale signs that Beca may have left behind in her room. But as her eyes scanned over her dresser to the various items of clothing scattered around to her satchel in the corner of the room there was nothing out of place or nothing out of the ordinary. Chloe had almost given up looking when she spotted them- a pair of Beca's socks lying on the floor, just on the corner of her rug. She must have taken them off before she got in the bed, whenever that was, because they definitely weren't there yesterday.
Chloe smiled to herself; it was real.
With the knowledge that her dream wasn't actually a dream, that Beca really had been that affectionate and sweet earlier that morning, Chloe pushed the duvet off herself, ready to get up and face the day. She checked the time and saw it was 08:50, meaning she had a few more hours until her first class, leaving enough time to grab some breakfast before she jumped in the shower. Beca had probably left earlier because she had an early lecture or something. At least, that's what Chloe told herself, not wanting to think it was to do with any form of regret or embarrassment.
Except, the more Chloe thought about it, the more she convinced herself that was what it was. Because it was completely out of character for Beca to be so free and careless with affection, so the fact that she had wrapped Chloe up in her arms and fallen asleep next to her was absolutely a reason for her to be embarrassed, even if Chloe didn't even know she was there as far as Beca was aware.
Not wanting to get upset before the day even began, Chloe stood from the bed, moving across the room to rummage in the various piles of laundry littered around her floor until she found a clean (well, they at least smelt clean and looked relatively so) pair of basketball shorts. She pulled them on, readjusted her t shirt so it hung loosely off her body as opposed to still being tangled at the bottom where she had slept and redid her hair atop her head before she pocketed her phone from it's charging port and opened her bedroom door.
She bumped into Cynthia Rose at the top of the stairs, waving a good morning and receiving a tired mumble in reply. Chloe was one of only two morning people in the Bella house, so mornings tended to be rather silent and moody affairs unless her or Jessica were around to lighten people up. But from the silence in the house, she guessed that Jess had already left, leaving the morning cheeriness on Chloe's shoulders.
Chloe walked through the living room, stopping briefly at the sight of Flo and Ashley sitting on the sofa. She smiled brightly at the two girls, who smiled tiredly back, despite the fact they were both dressed and ready to go out the door if their bags and notebooks were anything to go by. She chatted to the pair for a while, learning they had tests in class that day. So, that was why they were dressed so early, so they could revise their notes with each other as they crammed a cereal bar in as breakfast whilst they compared notes. She wished them both good luck and waved her goodbye, walking through into the empty kitchen.
Without even thinking, Chloe flicked the switch on the kettle in preparation for her morning cup of tea before she moved over to the mug cupboard to find her favourite one. After finding her mustard yellow mug and placing it on the counter, Chloe went through the motions of preparing her tea as well as her breakfast. She decided on Cheerios and some chopped up banana, getting the chopping board and knife out to make her meal.
As she was pouring the milk over her cereal and stirring her tea simultaneously, she heard a voice from the archway, making her look up.
"Morning." Beca Mitchell grumbled sleepily, rubbing her right eye with the sleeve of her favourite sweatshirt. The worn maroon fabric hung off her small frame seeing as it had belonged to her Dad before she had commandeered it from one of her family holidays. Her hair was piled loosely atop her head, with more than a few strands falling out where she had slept next to Chloe.
Chloe forgot to say anything, her words stolen by the sight of a sleep rumpled Beca Mitchell shuffling over to her in her pyjamas and oversized sweatshirt. Beca narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Morning Chlo." Beca said again, amused at the way her friend had frozen with teaspoon in hand and the milk still dribbling into the bowl. The nickname jolted Chloe back to reality with a flutter of her heart and she stood up straight and beamed at Beca.
"Morning! How did you slee-" Chloe started, testing the waters to see if Beca would acknowledge their bed share, before she was completely interrupted by Beca yelping and lurching forward towards her.
"Chloe, the milk!" Beca yelled, hands flying out to Chloe's, pulling her hands up in order to stop the pouring motion of the milk container in her right hand. Chloe's eyes snapped to the situation, seeing that in her stupid lovesick staring she had become completely distracted and poured the milk all over the kitchen worktop, creating a pool of white accented with a few Cheerios and a solitary slice of banana.
"Oh shoot." Chloe muttered, cursing herself for being so pathetic around her friend, who was currently grabbing a handful of paper towels and wetting a cloth at the sink. But Chloe couldn't help but just compare the warmth of Beca's hands on hers just then to the warmth of the hand that had laid on her stomach as she fell asleep that morning. She became too distracted to move, just standing with the milk carton still in hand, as she thought all about sleeping next to Beca and waking up with Beca and Beca kissing her before she fell asleep and even Beca's snoring before the subject of every single one of her thoughts was stood in front of her, prising the milk carton from her hands and calling out to her.
"Earth to Beale, are you in there?" Beca smirked at Chloe, who finally returned to reality with a hum of acknowledgment and a shake of her head. Beca frowned at her friend's odd behaviour as she wiped up the spill on the counter.
"Sorry, I'm such a klutz." Chloe said as she took over the cleaning, leaving Beca to stand back with a chuckle.
"You're weird." Beca shook her head as she reached across Chloe to grab the chopping board and knife that had fortunately been spared from the dairy spill. Chloe froze for a second as Beca leant into her to achieve her goal, the smell of sleep still lingering on the younger girl making Chloe's heart skip. God, get it together Beale, Chloe thought, finishing up her cleaning and breakfast things before moving over to the table with her bowl of very full cereal and mug of tea. She sat down at the table, on the left of the bench that meant she was facing Beca who was busy moving around the kitchen putting bread in the toaster and making herself a coffee.
Chloe took a bite of cereal and was about to ask Beca about her plans for the day (in an attempt to begin nonchalant conversation that she would somehow segway into the question of 'hey you were in my bed this morning and that's cool but we were cuddling and it was nice so how about tonight?'). But as she chewed on the cereal, she caught the soft noise echoing around the kitchen.
Beca was singing quietly under her breath. Not that she would ever say so, because she was always adamant that she was not a cheesy generic princess who would sing around the house doing their household tasks and would get very defensive when any of the Bellas insinuated it. She didn't do it often, singing outside of the Bellas, but when she did it was almost always when she thought she was alone or drunk.
But here, in the kitchen as Chloe sat eating her breakfast and Beca faced away from her as she cut up a banana, she was singing. Not loudly, but loud enough that Chloe could hear the lyrics and the melody of 'Paper Knees' coming from her younger friend. The tune wasn't perfect, seeing as Beca's vocal cords were still rusty from the sleep and she was singing quietly, but it still made Chloe sit in stunned silence, her spoon halfway between the bowl and her mouth.
Seeing as Beca couldn't see her looking, Chloe indulged herself and just watched as the shorter girl went through the motions of making her breakfast. Chloe watched as she spread the peanut butter on her toast and then meticulously placed the thinly sliced banana atop it, interrupting her singing in favour of swearing under her breath as one bit slid down so it was askew before she rectified it. Chloe smiled all the while she did all of this, only realising she was doing so when she took a sip of tea and the mug touched her lips.
It was a lot to process for Chloe. Going from not seeing her best friend for eight hours whilst they slept on different floors and then just catching her as her friend drained a coffee when she ran out of the house late as always to falling asleep in her best friend's arms in the same bed and making a shared breakfast in the peaceful quiet of the morning. It was strange. But still strangely right. Like this was what they were always meant to do. What they had always done.
She was snapped out of her thoughts once again by the sound of a mug being placed on the table. Damn it, she really needed to stop zoning out when the object of her thoughts was right in front of her or she'd be bound to be caught out.
Chloe blinked hard and readjusted her focus in front of her as she took a mouthful of cereal. Beca was sat in front of her with a plate of toast and taking a sip of coffee. A perfectly normal sight.
Except it wasn't normal. Not to Chloe.
It was Rebeca Anne Mitchell sat in her favourite oversized sweatshirt, her hair messy and eyes still dark evidence of her sleepiness. It was her best friend scanning the toast meticulously, brow furrowed and tongue just poking out, in search of that perfect first bite. It was her crush that had perfect blue eyes that looked up to meet hers and an insanely attractive half smile that she threw over the table at the sight of Chloe looking at her. It was the love of her life that had the early morning golden sunlight streaming in from the window in front of her, the warm light highlighting all of her features and somehow making them even more beautiful than they already were.
Her skin took on a warm almost golden glow as the sunlight washed over her, highlighting the lighter strands in her hair making it seem like a deep caramel colour, a few of which fell across her face in loose scrappy strands. Her eyes were blue with the sunlight bringing out the various greys and hazels that were flecked throughout, making them enchanting as they met Chloe's across the table.
Chloe couldn't help it, her lips moved into an adoring smile before her brain had even sent the message, like Beca had taken over all her brain cells and was in charge.
"What are you staring at me for?" Beca asked amusingly, eyebrow raised as she stared right back at Chloe. She took a bite of toast, deciding the left hand bottom corner was the best first bite.
Chloe shook her head, partly to shake herself back to reality for the umpteenth time that morning, taking a gulp of tea as she thought of an excuse. She put the mug back on the table and looked back at Beca who had a mouthful of toast. On instinct, Chloe's eyes flitted down to Beca's lips and she saw the tiny speck of peanut butter on her bottom lip. Every brain cell screamed at her to kiss it away, but that could just be where Beca Mitchell had a hold of the control panel.
"For real Chlo, what is it?" Beca pressed. Her eyes widened and her fingers on her free hand flew to her face. "Oh no, do I have a booger?" Beca muffled out from behind her hand.
Chloe laughed, her mind firmly back in reality now.
"No, no you're good." Chloe convinced her, taking another bite of cereal as she said it. Beca removed her hand gingerly, laughing as she took another bit of toast embarrassed.
"Well why are you staring at me this morning then?" Beca said through her mouthful. Chloe knew she was in too deep because she even found Beca attractive as she spat crumbs everywhere.
Chloe shrugged at the question, choosing to wait until she had finished her mouthful before answering. Should she be direct and ask why Beca was in her bed that morning? Or just pretend it never happened?
She settled on somewhere in-between.
"I don't know, you just look nice this morning. Pretty." Chloe said, eyes staring into her cereal bowl as she pretended to pick out another mouthful but was in reality just avoiding eye contact with the younger girl.
"Oh." Beca said surprised after swallowing her mouthful. She cleared her throat. "Thanks. Er, you too." She sputtered out awkwardly. Chloe looked up at her, meeting eyes that were already staring at her. The two girls smiled at each other before taking a synchronised bite of breakfast and chewing in silence, just sneaking the occasional glance at one another.
The sunlight still illuminated them and the steam still rose from the mugs and both girls still wondered if the other would bring up what had happened at 6am.