A/N: Wow, so this chapter took longer than I think either of us had expected, but hopefully it's long enough that it'll make up for being , and a response to Frozarts, we decided to call ourselves Team Zog (that's a Babylon 5 reference for those who don't get it!), just so you know. As an aside for those who may have read/are aware of Electronis Zappa's other stories (Six Inches to the Left, She'll Leave You With A Smile, and Slaying Intersected) he's decided that they are all now going to be "Team Zog" projects... So that means I have my work cut out for me apparently, lol. Anyway thanks to everyone who has left reviews, they are the motivation that keeps every writer writing I think, and we hope everyone enjoys this chapter just as much. Please leave a review and remember to tell your friends!
The Reconnaissance Initiation
Aubrey was starting to get a little worried. Chloe hadn't said more than a couple dozen words since the redhead had walked into their apartment over an hour ago, and most of those words were, "I want to go to a bar" which was followed shortly by, "And I want some cheesecake!"
Today was the day that the redhead had had her audition for that commercial. Aubrey hadn't known what the commercial was supposed to be for until just that morning when Chloe had gotten the final details of it from Joseph, a former schoolmate of theirs. Once the blond had heard the details, though, she had almost hoped that her roommate wouldn't get it, and judging by Chloe's reactions since getting home, she thought her wish might have been granted.
The pair climbed out of Chloe's car in silence, Aubrey having driven because Chloe seemed intent on drinking today, and stood awkwardly for a moment in the Cheesecake Factory's parking lot. It felt odd to Aubrey to be going to the Cheesecake Factory for drinking, but it was the closest place that had both cheesecake and alcohol, so what the hell. Shrugging at Chloe, she started off towards the entrance.
Inside was pretty much the same as it had been the last time the pair had been here, a couple of weeks earlier when the two of them, Ben, Tracey and Ben Jr. had met for lunch after they had moved into their new apartment. In a way it felt like the last two weeks had been just a blur. Both girls had been running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to get their new lives started in LA. In fact, it hadn't even dawned on her until this very morning that tomorrow was the day that they had been planning to fly out to New York for the Roast. Of course, that thought brought back the pain of what her sister had told her on the phone two weeks earlier, and so when Chloe suggested going out drinking, well, Aubrey had been more than willing to go along with that plan.
As the pair walked into the restaurant they were greeted by a pair of chipper staff members, one of whom held up a pair of menus and said, "Table for two?"
"Nope, we're just going to the bar… Assuming we can still get food in there?" Chloe said, already turning towards said font of alcohol and, hopefully, cheesecake.
"Yes, the bar is full-service. Feel free to seat yourselves." The host said, putting the two menus he was holding back onto the pile as Chloe started walking towards the bar with Aubrey trailing behind her.
Trying one more time to comfort her friend as they strode across the nearly empty bar towards where a blond girl who looked mighty familiar was currently helping a middle aged man on the far end of the bar, Aubrey spoke up, "Chloe, don't sweat it it's just a silly commercial. Did you even really expect to get it?"
"I don't know, Joseph did say I might have a shot." Chloe replied, still upset about what she thought was a terrible audition. She had known everything she was supposed to do, there wasn't a lot of lines or anything. But she had… gotten a feeling from the director and two executive producers who were running the audition that she hadn't nailed it.
"Yeah, well, Joseph also thinks Material Girl is his theme song." Aubrey pointed out as she pulled out a barstool for Chloe, then one for herself. With a chuckle she brought up what she felt was another very valid point and added, "Besides, is that how you want to be known, as the face of Wendy's? What's the 'Can You Hear Me Now' guy, the guy from those old Sprint commercials, or that cute T-Mobile girl doing?"
"I saw the Sprint Guy in an old episode of the West Wing, but you're right I suppose." Chloe said as she sat at the bar, her hopeful words very much at odds with the downcast yet thoughtful look on her face as she thought about what Aubrey had said.
"Hey, welcome to the Cheesecake Factory, what can I get you?" Penny greeted as she came over to them. Penny had noticed the pair as soon as they had walked in, but hadn't given them much thought. Now that she was closer, however, she thought they seemed familiar. Then it clicked where she had seen them. Raising her hand to point at the two she said, "Wait a sec, I know you guys, you're that nice couple that lives upstairs in 5B right? Nice to finally meet you!"
"Us, a couple?" Chloe asked, her words hard to understand as she was laughing fairly hard, the first time she'd laughed since her horrid audition and it felt good. After she got her giggles under control she added, "I guess I can see how you'd think that, but no we're not."
"Sorry, just the first time I saw you, you were saying you loved her and hugging pretty tightly." Penny explained. The pair had been very affectionate in the lobby when her and Bernadette had seen them hugging, and Penny wasn't sure she could be blamed. Hell, even Bernie had thought they were a couple. Of course, she hadn't seen much of them since that day, so she felt the need to say, "And I never saw anything to suggest otherwise."
"It's ok, I'd be lucky to have a girl as amazing as Chloe." Aubrey said, squeezing the redhead's hand. Smiling at her friend, who returned the grin, Aubrey placed their orders with the blond bartender, "Can I get a vodka cranberry for myself and a strawberry margarita for her?"
"Gonna need to see some IDs first." Penny said, not really caring because she was fairly certain they were both over 21, but wanting a chance to learn a little more about the pair under the guise of being a responsible bartender. The girls happily obliged her, each handing over a very different card. Both of which indicated that the girls were under 21, though they obviously hadn't been updated based on their birthdates, which put them both at 22. However it was the states the cards were from, and the names, that interested Penny the most. Raising an eyebrow she handed them back and asked, "New York and Georgia, that's Interesting, you two meet in college or something?"
"Yep, Barden in Atlanta." Chloe confirmed as they put their IDs away. "We were roomies freshmen year and have been inseparable since."
"And now you've moved out to LA together. That's kinda neat. Anyway, I'll go get those drinks ready." Penny said, smiling at the two friends as they still chuckled about her confusion over the nature of their relationship.
"That was really great, I needed that." Chloe said, wiping away a tear that had escaped while she was laughing. Finally calming down enough to stop laughing, except for that one giggle that just escaped, she added, "Imagine that, us a couple."
"Well, if you subscribe to the multiverse theory, then it's almost certain that there is a universe out there where you and I are madly in love with each other." Aubrey said, which received the typical eye-roll from Chloe. The redhead, as Aubrey knew well, wasn't nearly as into science as she was, and so whenever the blond started going on about multiverse this, or dark energy that, she could literally see Chloe's eyes glaze over… A lot like they were right now. So instead, the blond changed the topic. "And I'm quite ok with that, I meant what I said about how amazing you are."
"Awwww, Bree! You're amazing too! And I know you'll find your own hottie one day who cares about science just as much as you do so you two can keep each other stimulated… In more than one way!" Chloe said, adding a wink at the end that made the blond blush. She was still blushing when the blond came back with their drinks.
"Here are your drinks girls, what are we toasting?" Penny asked as she gave them their drinks, picking up a shot she made for herself. She knew it was technically against policy, but she also knew that they weren't gonna fire her. She was hot and worked at the Cheesecake Factory, she had a job here for life, as much as she hated it.
"To stupid TV commercials that would probably have sucked anyway." Aubrey said, lifting her glass and clinking it against Chloe's and Penny's. This earned a chuckle from Chloe and a raised eyebrow from Penny before all three girls take their sips.
"And to nice neighbors that are great bartenders." Chloe said after taking a drink of her margarita. Raising her glass again towards Penny this time she takes another sip, and the blond girl just smiles back at her.
"Awww thank you." Penny said, waving off the compliment as she puts her shot glass away in the sink. Turning back to the pair she can't help but look at the redhead and ask, "So, I take it you're actresses? That's really cool, I am too."
"I am, well, I want to be. Aubrey's going to Cal Tech to get her PhD in Astrophysics." Chloe explained, as what Penny said dawned on her. She had seen the blond around their building obviously, and remembered what Leonard had said when she and Aubrey were just moving in. Confirming her suspicions she asks, "So, are you the one dating Leonard? Penny, if I remember right."
"Yep, that's me." Penny confirmed, not surprised that the redhead knew who she was. Leonard had mentioned her and the other girl, Aubrey, to her as soon as she had gotten up to the boys' apartment with Bernadette that night. Of course, at the time she had told everyone that they were a couple, having not known any better. Still, they seemed like nice enough folks, definitely a lot better than Alicia. Deciding to reach out and try to help another newly arrived actress in LA, Penny can't help but ask, "Do you have an agent or anything? If not, I could probably hook you up with mine."
"No, I don't that would be really sweet of you." Chloe beamed. She had been wondering where and how you went about getting an agent. Her first gig, the failed commercial gig she was trying to forget with alcohol, had come from an old school friend, a former BU Harmonic. But she knew that that sort of thing would get her nowhere fast.
"Don't mention it, I already like you better than the last actress that lived on your floor." Penny explained. The blond had actually been quite happy when Alicia had moved out and Beca moved in, since the short brunette was about the complete opposite of that woman. With a knowing nod of her head she told the two girls, "She was such a skank, be glad you've never met her."
"I'll take your word for it." Chloe said, deducing it wasn't their current neighbor, which made Chloe happy to hear. She had been trying to run into the brunette girl since she had seen her coming out of her apartment two weeks ago, but just wasn't having any luck. The girl kept some really odd hours, though she did have great taste in music as far as Chloe was concerned. Deciding that maybe she could take advantage of Penny having lived in the building longer than she and Aubrey had, naturally, she decided to pry a little and hope her downstairs neighbor knew more about her neighbor across the hall. Trying to sound innocent she asked, "So how long have you lived in the building? What can you tell us about the others that live in the building? Your boyfriend, his roommate, the girl who lives across the hall from us…."
"I've lived there for close to five years now." Penny explained, noting Aubrey's eye roll at Chloe's mention of their neighbor. She wasn't sure why the blond would roll her eyes at the question, but just shrugged and continued on, "Leonard's great, he's some kind of physicist like his roommate Sheldon. As for Sheldon… Well he claims he's not crazy, I guess because his mother had him tested, but trust me, he's a bit whackadoodle. He takes some getting used to. He's a sweetheart once you get to know him, though."
"I got that impression, though I don't know that I've heard that expression before…" Aubrey nodded as she recalled the few encounters they've had with them since moving in. She could tell that the man was smart, like maybe even beyond smart. But he was definitely lacking in social niceties. Still, not entire uncommon in the science community as she had discovered during her undergrad studies at Barden.
"As for the girl across from you, nobody really knows much about her." Penny said, trying to realize exactly what she did know about the girl. Despite her having lived above Sheldon and Leonard for almost a year now, Penny and the rest didn't really know a lot about her. She more or less stuck to herself. Still, liking the fact that she had some new people to gossip with, she said, "Her name's Beca and she moved in last year. She checked me out, so she's got great taste in women, and she occasionally plays music really loudly, which just pisses Sheldon off to no end. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if maybe she doesn't do it on purpose because the few times I've seen her she's been wearing these really big but nice looking headphones. But it's good music, so Leonard and I don't mind."
"Great, now you're just going to stalk her more aren't you?" Aubrey groaned. At first she had found it to be kind of cute, the way Chloe would perk up and run to the peephole on the door whenever she heard a noise from the hallway only to walk back looking defeated a few moments later. But it had been starting to grate on her of late. The girl wasn't THAT cute, and what was with those ear monstrosities, anyway?
"It's not stalking, I just want to meet her, she's cute." Chloe said, defending herself for the umpteenth time. She knew that Bree thought she was crazy, but Chloe wanted to meet the girl properly and get to know her. She had gotten used to knowing their neighbors back at Barden, and felt that this was only the same thing… Right? Covering her own inner confusion, Chloe said, "I think she and I could be really fast friends."
"Hey, what are you guys doing tonight?" Penny asked, realizing that her shift was going to be over in a couple of hours, but that she kind of liked the two girls and wanted to get to know them better. Plus, today was Thursday, and ever since the guys had instituted the, as she felt it to be, rather stupid concept of "Anything Can Happen Thursdays", she had tried to find ways to use it to have fun annoying Sheldon. She realized that inviting over two strangers to dinner might be just a perfect way to do that. As the girls both shrugged she added, "Well, Leonard, Sheldon, myself and a few of our friends were probably going to have dinner tonight. You guys should come, get to know us and our friends better."
"Hmmm, well, I think that's definitely something we would be interested in." Chloe said quickly, knowing it might be a chance to get more information on their mysterious roommate from the others. Looking at Aubrey with pleading eyes the blond just sighed and nodded her agreement.
"See, there you go!" Penny replied, pulling out her phone to text Leonard that the upstairs neighbors would be coming and that they'd need more of whatever food the boys were picking up. As an afterthought she remembered that Aubrey said she did something science-y and said, "And plus our friend Raj will be there, I think he's an astro-something too."
"Oh! You mean Dr. Koothrapaali?" Aubrey asked, actually a little excited about the whole affair now.
"Ummm, yeah. He works with Sheldon and the others. Wait. You said you were going to be going to school at Cal Tech? That's where they all work." Penny said as Chloe's words from before sank in. "Wow, talk about a small world, eh?"
"Yeah, no kidding. And that sounds aca-awesome!" Chloe said, smiling at Aubrey who smiled back. "Ummm, so, when we came here I kind of had two things in mind. Drinking, which you've taken care of, thank you so much… And, well, cheesecake. Think I could trouble you…?"
"For a menu? Sure, not a problem. Just let me know what you want and I'll put the order in." The blond replied, going over to fetch one of the dessert menus and giving it to Chloe. She was about to say something else before she noticed one of the servers walk up to the bar, obviously with a drink order to fill and she sighed before getting back to work.
"Leonard, this seems to be an awful lot of food for just five people." Sheldon said as he watched his roommate unpack the Chinese order. A quick glance over the quantity of rice, dumplings and chow mein that Leonard was continuing to pull from the bag that he and Raj had just walked in with told Sheldon that his roommate was expecting more than just Penny to come join the three of them and Amy, who was supposed to show up later for dinner. A quick rundown of their friends who were able to attend caused the taller physicist to cock his head to the side as he asked, "I thought Bernadette had to work late tonight? Something to do with microbiology nonsense that doesn't really matter."
"We do have other friends you know." Leonard pointed out as Raj got a beer from the refrigerator. As he expected, the cryptic remark caused Sheldon's brow to furrow in puzzlement as he tried to figure out to whom Leonard was referring. Adjusting his glasses slightly as he took another of the containers of food from the bag, he shared an amused, conspiratorial grin with Raj who knew exactly who was coming to dinner with the five old friends.
"Like who, Stuart?" Sheldon asked. Knowing that there were only a few other options left, he decided to run through the list, starting with the most likely. "I could be ok with that if he gave us a bigger discount at his store."
"No, not Stuart. And besides, you're already getting the 'friends and family' discount…" Leonard said, thinking back to when they first started to get that particular discussion with Stuart as he glanced towards the sword in particular that bought it.
"Is it my good friend Wil Wheaton?" Sheldon asked. For the first time since the realization of the extra food, Sheldon was slightly excited. Ever since mending fences with Wil, and adding that traitor Brent Spiner to his mortal enemy list, Sheldon found that he quite enjoyed the time he spent with his good buddy. Which reminded him, he had had something to run past Wil, so with a bit of hope in his voice he said, "I've been wanting to talk to him about an idea I had for Fun With Flags that I think he'd be perfect for."
"I might actually watch that." Raj said, joining the conversation. As amusing as it was seeing his friend acting like a robot on the internet, a show with Wil's input might be genuinely entertain.
"You mean you don't?" Sheldon asked, clearly offended. When Raj looked away, slightly embarrassed, Sheldon turned his attention to Leonard as if to seek help in vilifying their counterpart. When Leonard avoided his gaze as well, Sheldon wondered how many more people might be joining his list of mortal enemies today.
"Sorry buddy, it's not Wil Wheaton." Leonard said, trying to stop his roommate from going off on a tangent, or having a mental breakdown when he realized that none of them actually watched his show.
"Oh no, it better not be Leslie Winkle or Kripke." Sheldon listed off, running down to the very bottom of the list of possible people who Leonard might have invited to join them for dinner. With a skeptical tone he shook his head saying, "I know this is 'Anything Can Happen Thursday', but it was my understanding that the idea was to have fun, not deal with my mortal enemies."
"I think between Leonard and Howard, it's pretty much a sure thing Leslie Winkle doesn't want anything to do with us. And she was never your biggest fan either…" Raj offered. Shaking his head sadly he added in a mournful tone, "And what a pity, I never got a chance to woo her."
"It's for the best, she would have crushed your heart into a million tiny pieces and we'd have to deal with whiny, mopey Raj." Leonard said as a knock came at the door. Raj looked ready to protest, but Leonard knew it was just his friend trying to save some face, so instead of listening he got up and walked towards the door saying, "I'll get it."
From the corner of his eye as he opened the door he saw Sheldon craning his neck, trying to get a glimpse of who would be knocking, since Penny or Amy would have simply walked in. Sporting a small smile as he knew what the unexpected guests would do to Sheldon's calm demeanor, Leonard opened the door wide to reveal the blazing red hair and bright blue eyes of their upstairs neighbor who was smiling brightly as she held a bottle of wine in her hands. Standing beside her was Aubrey whose arms contained a pie of some sort.
"Hi, Penny invited us down. And we thought we might as well bring some stuff. Red wine and pie, can't go wrong with those!" Chloe said as she offered up the bottle towards Leonard, who took it carefully. Stepping into the room she beamed at the two other guys standing around, Raj looking a bit poleaxed and Sheldon looking oddly confused and irritated.
"Yeah, yeah, come on in, we're still waiting on the girls." Leonard said. Taking the bottle of wine from Chloe and directing Aubrey and her pie towards the island in the kitchen. Gesturing towards Raj and Sheldon he said, "You remember Sheldon and Raj right?"
"We do." Aubrey confirmed as she walked in, nodding to both of the other scientists. As she walked through the apartment towards the kitchen Aubrey noticed many, many pieces of geek paraphernalia and smiled. As she set the pie down and turned to see Sheldon's expression, his face still twitching oddly as he adjusted to the inclusion of new faces into his circle of friends, she said cautiously, "Nice to see you again."
"Nice to see you too." Raj said in an overly exaggerated tones, accentuating his accent as much as possible. After his last conversation with the gorgeous blond and redhead, Raj was determined this time to make a better impression. Especially if she was going to possibly be working with him at Cal Tech. This might be his chance to find his Penny. And, as if speaking of the blond waitress was a summons, the door across the landing opened before Leonard even had a chance to get their front door closed and Penny poked her head out sniffing the air.
"I smell Chinese." The blond said as she shut her door and started across the hallway. Stopping for a quick kiss from Leonard who shut the door behind her. As she came into the room and saw her upstairs neighbors she nodded to them and said, "Hey girls."
"Hey." Chloe said, walking over and giving Penny a hug. The blond waitress looked a bit taken aback for a moment, but returned the hug from the overly affectionate redhead after a brief pause. "Thanks so much for inviting us, it's always so hard to make friends in a new city, well, at least that's what I hear…"
"Yeah, thanks for inviting us." Aubrey adds, never having been as bold about invading people's personal space as Chloe was and so instead simply nodding to their neighbor. "And, generally, Chlo, it can be a bit of a challenge. Most people, unlike you, tend not to just walk up to someone they've only met twice and give them giant hugs…"
"What?" The redhead said quietly as she let Penny go. "I like hugs…"
"Hey, it's not a problem, just a bit shocking. And as for the invite, well, I figured with Howard in space and Bernadette not being available, the numbers would still be something Sheldon could handle." Penny said, which earned her a glare from the taller man who finally realized why there were two relative strangers in his apartment.
"So this is your fault!" He said accusingly at the same time that Aubrey also spoke up.
"You have a friend in space?" Aubrey asked impressed, looking around the room. Everyone ignored Sheldon, as was their way, and nodded before Leonard spoke.
"Yeah, on the ISS, obviously. They sent up a telescope he designed and he got to go up as a payload specialist." Leonard confirmed. After a moment for a wistful smile thinking of Howard up on the space station orbiting the planet and accomplishing a lifelong goal of many of the people now in the apartment he turned to his roommate. "And just calm down, Sheldon. Everything will be alright. Getting to know new people isn't the horrible experience you seem to think it is."
"That's really cool." Chloe said, turning to Sheldon who had snorted in derision at Leonard's comment. Smiling her friendliest smile at the tall man she asked, "And who's Bernadette, your girlfriend?"
"Bernadette is Howard's wife." Penny explained before shaking her head and smiling at that oddity. "You know it still feels weird saying that. Howard's wife… Anyway, no, Sheldon's girlfriend is Amy, she should be here soon."
"Don't worry, she's nowhere near as bad as him." Leonard chimed in, which earned him another dirty look from Sheldon. Gesturing for everyone to sit down he added, "We should start, the food is getting cold."
"Good to know." Aubrey said, moving to sit on the couch, as she processed all the various names. Opting for the corner seat, figuring it would be out of the way, she was about to sit down when a sudden shout stalled her.
"NO, NOT THERE!" Leonard said as she was going for Sheldon's spot. Frantically gesturing for her to move, he explained to the very shocked looks on Aubrey and Chloe's faces, "That's where Sheldon sits."
"I'm sorry." Aubrey said, a bit confused as she moved over to sit on the middle seat. Before she did, though, she paused to look around and see if anyone would object to that. When no one did, she settled onto the cushion.
"It's ok, you're new, you didn't know." Penny said, not giving Sheldon a chance to get worked up. Everyone knew how Sheldon was about his spot, and hoped that the quick move wouldn't get him even more worked up than he already was. Moving to sit on the chair she normally used next to the armchair Leonard was in, Penny accepted her usual order from Leonard with a smile.
Before Chloe could move towards the couch and sit next to Aubrey, Raj took his chance, sliding in beside her and smiling at her. This would be a perfect chance, over dinner, to explain how mysterious and wealthy he was. Taking up a plate of food he turned to the blond astrophysicist and said, "So, Aubrey, tell me… Have you ever been to the mysterious subcontinent of India?"
"Uh… No." Aubrey said after she had a chance to swallow the bit of food she'd just eaten, a confused look on her face. "I mean, I've traveled a lot in Europe, but I haven't had a chance to go to India, or even most of Asia for that matter."
"Well, I don't know if you're aware of this, but did you know that in India we – " Raj started to say, intending to tell the blond girl all about the various exotic things his native land had invented when the apartment door opened once more.
From her seat on the floor, the only one left after Sheldon took his place on the couch, Chloe chuckled to herself as Raj blatantly flirted with Aubrey. She knew that her roommate would shut him down once she realized that that was what the Indian scientist was doing, but for the moment, she just looked confused. As the door opened she turned to look at the newcomer and saw who could only be Amy.
Just a single glance at Amy almost had Chloe sweating. The redhead had chosen to wear only a light sundress and sandals today because June in Southern California was nearly as bad as it had been back in Georgia. Amy, on the other hand, seemed to be wearing at least three layers of clothes and Chloe thought that she must be dying in it.
Amy, for her part, took note of the two new girls sitting in the apartment, and having been warned about their presence by Penny, smiled in greeting. Seeing that the pair was even prettier than had been described to her she let out a sigh of relief before saying, "So you two must be that lesbian couple that lives upstairs?"
"Oh yeah! They're not a couple." Penny supplied, that little bit of information she had gleaned out of them earlier in the day suddenly springing to mind as Amy spoke. With a sheepish grin towards her upstairs neighbors she added, "That was just misreading the situation."
"So I do have a shot!" Raj said happily before again turning to face Aubrey and deciding to go in for the kill. "Did I mention that my family is rich?"
"So is mine, actually." Aubrey said, finally catching on to what Raj had been doing. Deciding to let him down as easy as possibly she added, "Thankfully my trust fund hasn't been cut off yet. Though that may be because I haven't officially come out to my family."
"Awww man, why are all the pretty girls gay?" Raj disappointedly asked, disappointedly as he took another swig of his beer and went back to eating dejectedly.
"Um, I'm not, Bernadette's not, Amy's… Uh, you're not are you?" Penny asked her neurobiologist friend who shook her head no to indicate she wasn't. Smiling and nodding she said, "Yeah she's not. Just because these two, and Beca are, doesn't mean all girls are."
"Well, I'm not, but I might consider it for you, bestie." Amy said with a big smile for Penny. The comment produced a rather uncomfortable silence as everyone processed what the brunette neurobiologist said.
"Actually, I'm not either." Chloe spoke up, trying to break the awkward silence. As everyone's eyes turned to her she shrugged and said, "I'm right in the middle, basically. I think people are people and you love who you love, gender doesn't matter much to me."
"Leonard, don't get any ideas." Penny said quickly before Leonard could open his mouth and say anything. At the seemingly innocent look on his face she pointed an admonitory finger at him for a moment before smiling.
"I didn't say anything, you're the one putting words in my mouth." Leonard said, raising his hands in surrender. Before he could go on to reassure his girlfriend that he had no designs on the new neighbor, Sheldon spoke up.
"So how about instead of all this useless talk about who likes whom and how we take care of something far more important." Sheldon said, irritated at how everything this evening had seemed to conspire against him. Grabbing the remote for the tv he turned it on and clarified, "It' just about time for Titan to start, and since everyone seems to have crashed what was supposed to be Titan-night, it looks like we all will be watching it together."
"Wait, Titan? Isn't that that new sci-fi show on HBO?" Chloe asked as she remembered seeing some article about it back before they graduated. She had remembered thinking at the time that it was a shame that their dorm room didn't get HBO, otherwise she might have started watching it. "I've heard of it, is it any good?"
"It's been enjoyable so far. It's written and created by a couple of fans of Joss Whedon and uses some of the actors he uses, as well as the woman who played Sarah on Chuck." Leonard supplied. Being slightly vague on the actual names, since he doubted the two girls would recognize them if he had mentioned them.
"It's not the same as what would have been Firefly season 10 nor Serenity 2, but since Hollywood prefers to make an infinite amount of sequels about a bunch of Neanderthals driving cars really fast and 'found footage' horror films purportedly showing activity that is supposedly paranormal, you've got to take what you can get." Sheldon offered, heaping scorn on the normal trash that Hollywood put out. "It actually has a slightly original concept and holds fairly well to most concepts of physics as we know them, so it gets my approval."
"Yes, yes it's good. There's no need for your usual tirade on the state of television and movies today." Leonard summed up, rolling his eyes at his roommate's over elaborate explanation. While Sheldon spluttered over the word "tirade", Leonard continued, "This episode is supposed to color the universe in some, if you're familiar with Babylon 5, it's along the same lines as a few of the episodes they did. It's being presented as a show within a show, in this case it's two late night news/comedy show similar to something like 'The Colbert Report' or 'The Daily Show', only set in the show's universe."
"Don't worry, the show is much better than Babylon 5." Sheldon spoke up at the mention of the show he knew Leonard liked but he couldn't stand.
"We're the guests, whatever you guys want." Aubrey said, exchanging glances with Chloe who shrugged before nodding. Aubrey had also heard of the show and had thought to check out episodes of it, but between graduating and moving across the country she simply hadn't had the time yet.
"Fine, be that way. But next 'Anything Can Happen Thursday', Amy and I get to choose what we do." Penny spoke up as it appeared that they would in fact be watching the sci-fi show. Hoping she wouldn't be too bored, the blond waitress went back to eating her food.
"You don't know that, ANYTHING can happen, remember. That's the whole point. We could do what you and Amy want, we could have unwelcome strangers invade our homes, hell, we could even eat bark…" Sheldon said as the intro for one of the shows within the show started playing. As the fake announcer gave the date and the host started telling the "inter-stellar audience" about the events occurring prior to "today's episode", everyone in the apartment in Pasadena was able to hear noises drifting in through the closed door, getting louder as the speakers came up the stairs.
"Well, I'm not really gay or anything like that, but I've never been with a girl, so figured why not give it a try. I keep seeing you at the club, and you're so beautiful that, well, I couldn't resist asking you any longer." A girl's voice said as two pairs of footsteps finally got up to the landing outside the boy's apartment. "I just love being able to go to the club. I just graduated high school and don't start college for a few months, so I don't have a lot to do other than watch my Uncle Mitchell's daughter Lily so he and his partner Cam can go out and do whatever it is they do…" The voice trailed off as they started up the next set of stairs.
"Hmmm, sounds like Beca found a friend to bring home." Penny said after the voices quieted down.
"Rats! No doubt that means she will be turning on her infernal music…" Sheldon complained grumpily, knowing that they soon might not be able to hear the episode. "She better not ruin this episode."
"Well, it is 'Anything Can Happen' Thursday, apparently that's what is going to happen now…" Leonard said with a grin.
"Does, uh… Does she do that a lot?" Chloe asked, gesturing towards the upstairs apartment as they heard the door upstairs open and close.
"Often enough! Though, I guess in retrospect, not as often as Penny used to prior to her current arrangement with Leonard…" Sheldon said, pausing the episode since everyone seemed bound and determined to talk over the show with no regards for his preference.
"Hey!" Penny said, outraged at the accusation. "It wasn't that often… I mean, well, not really…"
"I've done the math, Penny. Do I need to get my board and go over it for you again?" Sheldon asked, starting to stand up to do just that.
"No, no… I just… Fine." Penny said, conceding the point to avoid another lesson is math from the exceedingly condescending man. Turning back to Chloe in order to help divert attention off her escapades she said, "In all honesty, Beca doesn't do that a lot. I mean, I can probably count on a single hand the number of times I've heard that happen in the year she's been here."
"Oh, then, uh, why are you so upset about it, Dr. Cooper?" Chloe asked, innocently. Of course, unknowingly the redhead had opened a can of worms and everyone else, aside from Aubrey, knew it.
"No!" Penny, Raj and Leonard cried out in an effort to stop the question.
"Why would you do that? Oh god…" Leonard said after their efforts proved fruitless. Getting up from his chair he moved to the kitchen to get another drink, dreading the incoming rant.
"Why? Why you ask? Let me tell you why. First off, she stomps around upstairs at all hours of the night in those monstrous boots she wears. Back and forth, back and forth, like an infantry soldier marching on parade. Then there's the music. Who plays music so loud at three in the morning that it causes windows to rattle, I ask you? And right above my room!" Sheldon complains loudly emphasizing each point as his friends just cringe and shake their heads.
"Uh… The worst kind of villain?" Chloe supplies, unsure how to really answer, but knowing that it would probably finish the rant sooner if she just agreed with the doctor. So far she hadn't heard anything worth complaining about coming from the apartment across the hall from hers. In fact, she'd quite liked the few snippets of music that she had heard.
"Exactly! I think we ought to petition the landlord. I'm fairly sure that she's violating some of the residency codes of the state of California, I just haven't yet had a chance to research which one. I'm sure you'll sign the petition when I have it ready, right?" Sheldon asked, looking around the room. Most of the others simply avoided his gaze, but Chloe couldn't and gave a small jerk of her head that he took to be agreement.
"Excellent. Well, let's try and finish this episode before she turns on that infernal racket…" Sheldon continued, unpausing the episode so that they could continue watching it.
June faded into July with a delicious slowness that Chloe had never really appreciated before. For the last four years the summer months had always found Chloe either relaxing at home in Atlanta with her family, or taking trips to visit Aubrey's place in upstate New York. The pair of girls were inseparable even during the months of "vacation" they had from Barden. Of course, this year as July rolled around, there was a bittersweet feeling to things as, for the first time in four years, Chloe and Aubrey would be missing the big family cookout for the Fourth.
Chloe did her best to comfort her friend in the week and a half following their spur of the moment invitation to join "Anything Can Happen" Thursday down with the guys down in 4A and their friends. Well, she tried, at any rate. Her heart wasn't really in it, and the redhead knew that her best friend could tell but let things slide. However, after the dinner party Chloe was bound and determined now to meet their next door neighbor. She had subtly tried to work the conversation around to Beca occasionally throughout the dinner with varying degrees of success. Penny seemed to have caught on to the tactic, as at one point towards the end of the episode she had raised an eyebrow quizzically at her, but the waitress had let the matter drop without comment. The boys, however, seemed fairly oblivious to what the redhead was doing as she tried to fish out information regarding the mysterious brunette. Aubrey, of course, knew exactly what Chloe was trying to do and had given the redhead a piece of her mind about it later when the two were up in their apartment.
Chloe wasn't sure why she was becoming so obsessed over the girl, however. And that made the argument she'd had with Bree that night more difficult to bear, because she couldn't rightly defend her position. And, Aubrey being Aubrey, had picked Chloe's arguments that "she's hot" and "I don't know, Bree, I just wanna meet her" to pieces in short order. Eventually though, thankfully, the blond had dropped the matter, because she knew how Chloe loved solving a mystery. And, in all fairness, Chloe felt that Aubrey was a bit curious about her too.
Chloe wasn't sure, but she thought that maybe that was because of the music that they had occasionally heard playing from the brunette's apartment in the few weeks that they had been living across the hall from her. In fact, the Saturday following their dinner with the crew, Chloe saw her roommate bobbing her head appreciatively to the song coming out of the 5A as the pair walked home with their groceries that afternoon. Naturally when Aubrey saw her looking she stopped immediately, but Chloe knew what she had seen. Of course, Chloe couldn't really blame Bree for it, their neighbor was playing one of DJ 22's most recent Youtube creations that had just been posted to the artist's channel. After all the help that the anonymous DJ had given to the Bellas, and in particular to Chloe and Aubrey only a few short months ago, the redhead knew that her roommate had a soft spot for the artist's music, and had started stalking their Youtube channel.
Chloe couldn't really blame her, though. Whoever the anonymous "DJ 22" was, Chloe knew that they made amazing music and couldn't fault Bree's tastes in music. Especially considering that subscribing to someone's Youtube channel was a bit less stalker-ish than some things that she herself might have been getting up to over the last few days. Or, you know, maybe a week… Or like ten days. But who was counting?!
Chloe had made it her mission since the party, and most especially since Saturday, to meet this girl with amazing musical taste. If nothing else she wanted to know her neighbors, damnit! And so, well, the redhead might have been ACTUALLY stalking her neighbor for, like, a week and a half… Nothing creepy about that, right?
Aubrey certainly felt that there was, but since nothing had come of it, Chloe was still bound and determined to keep it up. Whoever the mysterious "Beca" was, she sure kept odd hours. Chloe had been making sure to linger on the stairs as much as possible, and she would leap up from whatever she was doing anytime she heard anything from the hallway. Sadly it was usually just sound carrying up from the lower floors, or at best a possible door closing across the hall with no sign of the neighbor.
Aubrey must have reached her breaking point with everything early on Saturday evening as they both heard a door slam and Chloe had come running from her bedroom, and in the process nearly tripped over some of Aubrey's that equipment the blond had left laying by the door. It was all in preparation for their stargazing that they had planned for that Saturday night, the blond had confronted her about nearly breaking her very, very expensive telescope.
"Jesus, Chlo! Be careful with that! Would you just go over there and knock on her door already? Introduce yourself. You've never had a problem doing that before, remember during our junior year when we had been moved to the upperclassmen dorms and you literally went door-to-door down the hall saying hi to everyone? What's wrong this time?" The blond had asked, after she had finished laughing so hard she had nearly spit her juice out across the living room.
Chloe had just mumbled a non-committal response, however, because she didn't want to admit that she had actually tried just that like three times already that week. To no avail, sadly. The first time she had approached the brunette's door and boldly knocked on it had been on Monday, but she hadn't gotten a response after ten minutes. The second time she had been raising her hand to knock when she heard something odd coming from inside the apartment. That was Wednesday night when she was coming home with food for her and Aubrey, and unknown to the blond for Beca as well. Thinking that the brunette might be having another "friend" over, Chloe had started to turn and walk quickly back towards her apartment when the true nature of the sounds became apparent to her.
It was the shower, and more importantly, a voice singing from said shower. Between the walls separating the shower from the front door and the sound of the water running Chloe couldn't figure out what song, she assumed, the brunette was singing, but it didn't sound half bad. They had had a lot of leftover Thai food that night and Aubrey had teased Chloe about how her eyes were always bigger than her stomach, especially when the redhead was ordering Thai food. Of course, Chloe didn't mention that she had been intending to invite Beca over because she knew that the blond would just scoff and harass her about it.
And that wasn't the first, or last, time that she'd heard singing coming from the apartment either. And that fact alone intrigued Chloe nearly as much as everything else she'd learned about Beca to this point, which admittedly was very little. On at least three other occasions when she was either walking past the brunette's apartment or "stalking" the hallways for her, she had heard the very distinctive alto tone of singing coming from somewhere in the building. And what was driving her nuts was that she hadn't been able to track it down. She had nearly opened the broken down elevator to see if the brunette was hiding inside there just to taunt her… But she hadn't, yet.
The most recent failed attempt at blatant door-knocking had been the most unusual, to Chloe's mind. All week long she had found herself obsessing over their neighbor who sang, had great taste in music, and kept some of the oddest hours that the redhead could think of. The girl who could, with a few simple acts, so masterfully piss off Sheldon; everyone had been treated to another rant on his upstairs neighbor on Thursday at this week's "Titan Night".
And that was how Chloe had found herself outside Beca's door the follow evening trying to work up the courage to knock and invite the brunette over to her place for a movie night with Aubrey. Chloe had been standing in front of the door for something like ten minutes and hadn't managed to work out what to say AFTER she knocked. And that had Chloe absolutely stumped because she was usually the girl who said whatever was on her mind, no matter how inappropriate.
"Are you ready, Chloe? I think I have everything now, and if we don't get up there soon we're going to miss Mercury." Aubrey's voice broke through Chloe's thoughts, bringing her back to reality.
"What? Oh, uh, yeah. I'm ready if you are, Bree." Chloe said, shaking her head and standing up from the couch. Ever since she had nearly broken Aubrey's telescope earlier that evening, Chloe had planted herself on the couch as Aubrey finished getting her stuff ready.
Chloe had planned this, well she had brought up the idea to Aubrey who had planned it, last Friday. That was the day that they had been scheduled to fly back to New York for the Pig Roast, and Chloe could tell that her friend was still upset over being, essentially, disinvited from the event. So Chloe had proposed something that she knew was guaranteed to lift the blond's spirits. A night of stargazing from their building's rooftop. The redhead had been hoping for something sooner, but it had been fairly cloudy for most of the last week and so that's how Chloe found herself giving up a Saturday night, and no doubt well into Sunday morning, to look through a telescope with her friend.
"I'd say to get your head out of the clouds, Chlo, but thankfully there aren't any out there tonight so… Are you still upset because I yelled at you earlier? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. You know how I get about my telescope." Aubrey said, walking over and putting her arm around the redhead.
"No, no Bree, it's ok. I should have been more careful. And it's not that, I was just… thinking." Chloe said, and with the slightest glance towards the door betrayed herself.
"About that 'alt girl' again? Sheesh, Chloe, if you actually interacted with her more than that brief glimpse when we were moving in I'd say you have a toner for her. Come on, let's go upstairs and distract ourselves." Bree said, shaking her head at Chloe briefly before walking over and picking up the telescope.
"I just… I'm curious about her, that's all." Chloe said, following after the blond to grab the two folding chairs that they were taking up along with the rest of the stuff to entertain themselves for however many hours this might last.
"I know, I know. I don't get it, Chlo, but I know. Come on, tonight should be fun, there's a lot going on. Based on my calculations Mercury should be up by now, it's in a crescent phase at the moment, so that's neat. Then later on Saturn and Mars will be out. I think, if we're lucky, we might even be able to see Titan, the moon of Saturn that the ship on the show is named after." Aubrey explained as she carried her scope carefully up the stairs. Opening the door to the roof she went on, "And if we really want to make a night of it, around 5 or so Jupiter, Venus, and the Pleiades Cluster will be up… I'm not sure if the conditions will allow for the Pleiades, though. That one's tough in a city, but we can try."
"Sounds awesome, Bree." Chloe said, setting the stuff she was carrying down and starting to unpack the chairs as the blond found the best spot for the telescope.
The redhead knew that she was in for a long night as Bree hadn't had a chance to really set her telescope up since they had moved to LA. Of course, that was why this had been such a good idea to get the blond out of the funk she had been in, Chloe knew. She just wasn't as into stargazing as her friend was. It was cool and all, but there were other things that Chloe would rather be doing on a Saturday night, like dancing and singing. Still, when your friend is sad, you make sacrifices. So Chloe resolved to perk up and try and have fun.
"So, you think we'll be able to see Titan tonight?" The redhead asked. A long night indeed…
Hours later Chloe was standing by her earlier observation. Granted seeing Mercury was pretty cool. And Saturn's rings were pretty awesome. Bree had brought her camera up and gotten a few pictures of those. Titan was pretty cool too, but Bree had basically just been watching stars for the last hour, and Chloe was really starting to get bored. She had promised herself, though, that she'd at least stick it out until Venus and Jupiter came up, but that was still another two hours off if the blond's calculations were right. And Chloe knew that they would be, so the redhead was trying to not fall asleep in the meantime. When her stomach rumbled loudly she got an idea on a way to help pass some time.
"Hey Bree… Whatcha think about taking a break? I don't know about you, but I'm hungry and could really use a bathroom break." The redhead spoke up.
Standing from where she had been bending over the telescope making a few adjustments, Aubrey cracked her back and stretched a bit before answering. "You know, Chlo, that's actually a good idea. We got a little while before Jupiter rises, and I think that one of those pepperoni pizzas from the freezer will quiet you down so I can concentrate a bit…"
"Hey! My tummy isn't that loud!" Chloe protested, whacking her roommate's arm playfully as the blond laughed.
"Yeah, then I wonder why I got so startled a minute ago that I totally misaligned the scope…" Aubrey asked with a laugh as they started down the stairs.
"Hey! I can't help it if you don't know how to operate a telescope and are just trying to blame it on me and my poor, nearly silent tummy that desperately wants food." Chloe said with a smile.
"Yeah, keep thinking that Chlo, delusions are a good thing in actresses, right?" The blond managed to say while laughing. Opening the door to their apartment Aubrey motioned Chloe towards the kitchen as the blond started to head towards the bathroom, saying, "How about you start the food? I gotta use the bathroom real fast."
"Sure, sure. Just for that, though, I'm putting pineapple on it!" Chloe said, knowing that Aubrey wasn't a huge fan of fruit on her pizza. After pulling the frozen pizza from the freeze, Chloe added some of the diced pineapple she just happened to have bought a couple days earlier, and added a healthy measure to the pizza before putting it into the oven. As she was cleaning up the pineapple juice and eating the last couple pieces she heard Aubrey trip and stumble over something as the blond left the bathroom. Poking her head down the hall, Chloe saw that it was her very full laundry basket. Receiving a glare from her roommate, Chloe tried to look innocent as the blond spoke.
"Jesus Chlo, would you just do your laundry already?" Aubrey asked as she picked up the clothes she'd knocked over and added them to heaping pile currently filling the redhead's laundry basket. "I mean, I know you want to meet alt-girl, but this is getting ridiculous. You're resorting to stalking her in the laundry room now?"
"What do you have against her anyway?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow, choosing not to answer the question because she was really starting to get desperate.
"Nothing so far, I'm just a little concerned about what you're doing." Aubrey said, carrying the full basket into the living room and indicating the weeks' worth of clothes that the redhead had been refusing to wash until she heard Beca heading downstairs. "You haven't done laundry all week, Chlo, and it's starting to get a bit ridiculous. You never even got like this with Tom."
"We both know Tom was never anything more than a warm body to keep me from getting cold some nights." Chloe said, referring to her on again, off again boy toy from college. "Beca's different… I don't know, she has great taste in music. I think we could become good friends."
"You sure there isn't more to it than that, Chlo? What was it you said when we first saw her…? Oh yeah, 'Ooooh! Hot neighbor' I think it was." Aubrey said, looking her best friend in the face she added in a quiet voice, "Like Jan looks out for me, I look out for you. It's what big sisters do."
"You're barely two months older than I am." Chloe said, but she couldn't help the sappy grin that spread on her face at the words.
"It still counts." Aubrey said as Chloe walked over and wrapped her up into one of the redhead's signature hugs. Once Chloe let her go she said, "We've still got like, 15 minutes left on the pizza, how about you go and start a load of wash. You can meet 'alt girl' another time, I'm sure."
"What would I do without you sis?" Chloe teased, before nodding her agreement. Bending down the redhead picked up the basket and said, "Don't let the pizza burn, ok? At this time I bet no one is using the machines, so I can probably do it all in one go."
"I'm not sure I want to know, but I expect the results would be disastrous." Aubrey said. "Go start your wash. We can eat while it's finishing then you should be able to swap it to the drier before we head back upstairs."
"Thanks Bree." Chloe said as she picked up her basket again and headed for the door. Stopping with it half-opened she turned back and said, "Oh, and just because I love you so much, I only put pineapple on half!"
The blond's thanks drifted to her as she turned and headed out the door. Carrying her basket carefully, it really was quite full, Chloe quietly walked downstairs to the laundry room, trying to avoid waking up any of their neighbors as she descended to the basement. As she was walking down the stairs into the basement she heard an all-too-familiar voice singing a song, a song she knew only too well. Basket in hand she quickly moved into the laundry room to find a certain brunette folding some clothes and singing softly. Unable to contain her excitement at finally seeing Beca in person the first thought in her mind burst to the forefront, "You can sing!"
"DUDE!" Beca called out, dropping the shirt she had been folding and jumping about five feet into the air at the same time. Putting a hand to her chest to still the mile-a-minute beat her heart had started she asked, "What the hell are you doing up at 3 AM?"
"My roommate likes to stargaze and I was helping her." Chloe said with a shrug. Rushing fully into the room and putting her laundry basket down on the table beside the brunette Chloe turned to face her as she asked, "You were singing Titanium right?"
"Uh… Yeah. You, uh, you know David Guetta?" Beca asked, a bit overwhelmed by the rambunctious redhead who had suddenly barged into the laundry room. Picking up the shirt she had been in the process of folding she held it in front herself, slightly defensively as the redhead spoke.
"Duh! Have I been living under a rock? Yeah!" Chloe said, taking another step closer to the girl, totally oblivious to the obvious awkwardness that Beca was feeling at having Chloe standing now only a bare foot away from her. "That song is my jam. My lady jam…"
Chloe wanted to take the words back even as she spoke them. Chloe had always been carefree and easy going with strangers, never really one to beat around the bush, this was a little different. Telling a complete stranger that the song she was singing was one she had gotten intimate with herself while listening to was another story.
"Oh, uh, ok. That's nice…" Beca said awkwardly, still refusing to take step away from the weird redhead. She had seen her and her roommate from time to time around the building, but being her usual loner self, had always avoided the pair. Now that she knew how crazy the redhead was, maybe her choice to avoid them was a good one.
"It is. That song really builds." Chloe said, her mind apparently no longer having any control over her vocal cords. Sleep deprivation, that's what this was, and it was all Aubrey's fault.
"Ummm, alrighty then." Beca said, obviously unsure what to make of the admission she'd just heard.
"Anyway, I'm Chloe. Chloe Beale. I live across the hall from you, in 5B." Chloe said, finally reigning herself in and taking a step back.
"Beca." The brunette answered curtly. Taking a breath now that the weird redhead had stepped away from her.
"You should totally sing it with me, though. This room seems to have great acoustics. I know, I've performed a few solo acts in here over the last couple weeks." Chloe said looking around the room. When her gaze fell on the brunette, who was smirking at her with a raised eyebrow she blushed at the comment she'd just made. "I mean, solo singing acts. Singing by myself, while doing laundry. I, uh, I used to be in an a capella group. Back in college with my roommate, Aubrey."
"Oh yeah, that's like a thing now, isn't it?" Beca asked, a smirk finding its way onto her face as she thought about the redhead in front of her and her blond roommate prancing around on stage singing a capella.
"Oh, totes! We used to sing covers of all kinds of songs. But we did it without any instruments. It was all with our mouths." Chloe replied, excited to talk about a capella. Her time at Barden had been thoroughly marked and definitely made better by her time in Bellas, and she was still in love with the group, despite being thousands of miles from them. Smiling brightly Chloe moved away from Beca to put her laundry basket on top of one of the washing machines and started unloading her clothes as she went on, "We were part of the Barden Bellas, from Barden University in Atlanta. We were the tits, it was aca-awesome."
"If you say so…" Beca said a bit sarcastically as she went back to folding the last of her clothes. When the redhead didn't reply Beca turned to face her and saw the look of surprise on Chloe's face. Elaborating she said, "I mean, it's kinda lame, isn't it? Like a college fad…"
"I can't believe you just said that. A capella is so not lame. We used to perform all over the world. We even competed in national championships." Chloe said heatedly as she defended her time in the Bellas.
"On purpose?" Beca asked incredulously. At the hurt look on Chloe's face, the brunette realized that was being really rude and tried to come up with something positive to say. "I mean, uh, did you guys win anything big? Maybe I could, I dunno, watch a YouTube video of it or something…"
"Uh, oh. Ummm, no. We, well, we almost won, last year. But, we just seemed to be missing something, some spark… Anyway, I wouldn't search YouTube, there's probably nothing there anyway. But there was this one time where we sang backup for Prince, it was pretty cool. His butt is so small that I could, like, hold it in one hand." Chloe said, quickly trying to deflect the brunette away from the sensitive topic of Nationals and hoping that she could help that awful video of Aubrey vomiting all over the stage at the previous year's competition from getting any more hits that it already had.
"Oh, well, that's too bad." Beca said, folding the last of her clothes before turning to bid the redhead a goodnight. "It was, uh, nice to meet you Chloe Beale. I'm sure we'll see each other around. Keep listening to David Guetta, he has some other awesome songs too…"
"Oooh! Before you go, can I, uh, hear you singing that again? You sounded really awesome, but it was muffled and stuff…" Chloe asked, moving away from the washing machine to intercept the brunette before she could make a break for it.
"Ummm, I dunno. It's late, and everything, and I don't really sing that well…" Beca asked, trying to find a way around the redhead who was now blocking the exit so she could leave the laundry room and get back to the shelter of her apartment.
"I call BS on that, missy. I won't let you leave till you sing with me…" Chloe said, firmly planting herself in the doorway. When Beca still looked reluctant she put on her best "puppy dog" face and said, "Come on, just this once… Please?"
Beca realized that the redhead wasn't going to budge, and frantically searched for a different way out of the situation. She had been trying to avoid just these sorts of entanglements since she had come to LA. She needed to make it big, and to do that she had to be focused. No girlfriends, no distractions, and definitely no nosy redheads getting her all out of whack. As her eyes landed on Chloe, however, with the most epic puppy dog pout that she had ever seen, Beca felt herself caving and finally gave in with a sigh.
"Fine, but don't expect this every time we do laundry!" Beca said, capitulating to the redhead's pout, which brought a gleeful shout and an awkward hug around Beca's laundry basket. Pushing the redhead's arms away she put her basket down onto the table and started to sing the chorus of "Titanium". She had always been fairly comfortable with her singing, despite what she had told Chloe, even going so far as to rerecord some of the audio for a few of her mixes with her own voice doing the vocals, but she was astonished when after only a single line the redhead started singing along with her.
Beca almost stopped singing when Chloe started, her voice was amazing. And the way she managed to harmonize their two ranges, Chloe obviously being a high soprano to Beca's alto, was simply incredible. By the time the pair had finished the chorus Beca was absolutely enthralled, and she could tell that Chloe was loving having the chance to sing. As their last notes echoed pleasantly through the room Beca had to admit that the redhead was right, the acoustics in here were pretty fucking amazing.
Smiling at the redhead, Beca couldn't believe what she had just done. Singing in a laundry room with a complete stranger at 3 in the morning was definitely the last thing she had expected when she had gotten up today. But when Chloe smiled back, a mischievous little grin that shot through her like a lightning bolt, the brunette suddenly remembered her promise to herself about avoiding entanglements. Turning away quickly she picked up her laundry basket and, on seeing Chloe still standing in the doorway, obviously a little dazed as well by their little duet, she said, "Ummm, think I can…?"
Shaking her head a little, Chloe remembered suddenly that she was standing in the doorway and refusing to let Beca leave. She had to put a serious mental block on not gushing over how amazing they had sounded together and instead said, "Uh, yeah. That was great, Becs. You have an amazing voice. We should do this more…"
"Singing in the laundry room? I don't think so… Remember, I said this was a one-time thing." Beca said, fixing her smirk firmly back in place as the redhead moved out of the doorway to let her pass.
"No, not that. I mean, that would be awesome, but we wouldn't have to do it here in the laundry room. I meant, like, hanging out. We are neighbors after all." Chloe said, swatting the brunette's arm as she passed her, heading back to get her own laundry started.
"Oh, uh… Sure. We'll chat about it. Anyway, I'm tired so…" Beca said, having a bit of a mental breakdown as she stared at the smile that Chloe was giving her and cursing herself for agreeing to it. She didn't have time for friends. She needed to pay her dues, damnit, not make friends with bubbly redheads…
"Aca-awesome! Have a goodnight, Becs! Sweet dreams!" Chloe said, smiling brightly even as the other girl mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "good night" before turning and rushing from the room.
Without a brunette to distract her, Chloe quickly had her laundry started and was hurrying back upstairs to tell Aubrey all about how her stalking had finally paid off. Bursting through the door to their apartment she saw that Aubrey was already eating… And had been for quite a while considering that half the pizza was basically gone already.
"Jesus Christ, Chlo. I was about to send a search party down there for you. You somehow get lost going down six flights of stairs?" Aubrey asked as the redhead shut the door behind her. She eyed her friend quizzically as Chloe literally bounced her way across the room with possibly the biggest smile on her face that Aubrey had ever seen.
"Oh. My. GOD! BREE!" Chloe squealed delightedly before remembering how thin the walls in the building were and taking her volume down several notches. "Oh my god, Bree! I met her, and she's amazing! She has the most amazing singing voice I've ever heard! Shame we couldn't have had her on the Bellas, we'd have won for sure!"
"Wait, 'met her' who? And why were you singing with anyone? I thought you were just going to do laundry…" Aubrey said, more than a little confused as Chloe wiggled with excitement.
"Beca! I met Beca down in the laundry room. It was, like, fate or something! Anyway, she's totally cool, though she thinks a capella is lame, but she was singing 'Titanium' and you know, that song is my…" Chloe said, too excited and wired up to sit down.
"That song is your lady jam. Please tell me you didn't tell her that…" Aubrey said, more familiar with that song than she'd care to admit. When the redhead just blushed and finally took a seat opposite her, Aubrey said, "Oh my god! Chloe, for serious, do you have like no filter at all? You can't go around telling strangers that you masturbate to that song. It's creepy!"
"Beca didn't think so!" Chloe lied. "She even sang some of it with me. And, like I said, amazing voice! We're gonna be the best of friends, I can tell it already."
"Hmph! Well, as long as you confine your 'duets' to her apartment I'm fine with that. Now hurry up and eat or we'll be missing Jupiter, Beale." Aubrey said, pointing to the luke warm pizza sitting on the table covered in pineapple.