A/N: The Kiddos are about 13 in this chapter.
Remix-this - Chloe's life just wouldn't be as interesting without Beca.
"You ok, Becs?"
"Huh?" The brunette continued to smear her mashed potatoes around on her plate.
"You just seem distracted."
"Oh."
Chloe sighed, taking a long look at her best friend. There were dark circles under her blue eyes, and her usually soft brown hair looked stringy and unwashed. She was even paler than normal and her clothes looked like they were swallowing her up.
"I can tell you're upset about something, and it's fine if you don't want to tell me but you should at least eat your lunch." She stared pointedly at the plate of food.
"I'm not hungry."
"Bec, you're skin and bones; come on eat something."
When the younger girl didn't respond, she reached across the table and took her fork, scooped up a heap of potatoes and held it in front of Beca.
"Eat."
The brunette gave her a scowl that would have been enough to make anyone else leave her alone, but Chloe held firm, even moving the spoon closer.
"Eat." She repeated.
"Fine." It was practically a growl, but Beca took the spoon and shoved the mashed potatoes in, only to open her mouth back up and stick her tongue out at the redhead, slobbery potatoes spilling out.
"Happy?"
Chloe bit back a grin at Beca's antics, and handed over a napkin for the stray potatoes that had somehow managed to make it onto the the younger girls cheek.
"Yes, do you feel better?"
"Yes." A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she twirled the cafeteria Spaghetti around her fork.
They are in silence for a moment, Chloe watching Beca carefully to make sure she was indeed eating. They were halfway through lunch period before Beca spoke again.
"Mom and dad are fighting a lot."
Chloe knew that the Mitchell's didn't have the best marriage, but it must have been pretty bad recently to tear Beca up like this.
"Oh."
"They do it at night cause I guess they think I can't hear them, but it's kinda hard to sleep when they're screaming at each other."
"You know you can always come sleep at my house, you know mom won't care."
"They said they want to talk to me tonight."
"About what?"
"I dunno, hopefully about getting a divorce."
"Hopefully?"
"Yeah? I mean anything is better than this right?"
Chloe shrugged sympathetically, unsure of what to say. Her mom and dad had their problems, but she couldn't say she remembered them ever screaming at each other.
"If you need me, for anything -"
"I know, I know, you're always there for me."
The bell rang, and she was pleased to note that Beca had eaten most of her lunch and the air of gloom that had been surrounding her had dissipated somewhat.
They were silent the whole bus ride home, despite the ruckus around them; Chloe reading their history textbook and Beca staring out the window, headphones firmly in place. She could hear a faint beat thumping from the ear muffs, and she found herself wondering, like she often did, what her friend was listening too. It was no secret that Beca had a great taste in music, even making her own mixes occasionally, and usually the song she was playing was a great indicator as to her mood. Today though, Chloe resisted the urge to take one of the headphones and listen in; the younger girl looked like she could use some privacy, and she could easily read the mood written in blue eyes.
So she sat in silence, offering a smile whenever Beca happened to look her direction, but otherwise leaving her alone. When the bus stopped at the point between their two subdivisions, she gave Beca a tight hug, holding it a few seconds longer than usual.
"Remember, I'm just a call or a text away."
Beca rolled her eyes.
"I know, I know."
Chleo turned to leave but Beca's voice called after her.
"Hey, Chlo!"
"Yeah, Becs?"
"Thanks."
She brushed it off with a flip of her hand, "I know, I know."
"Can I come over?"
The message flashed across her screen, momentarily distracting her from the intense effort she was putting in to painting her nails just right.
"Of course" She pecked it out, careful not to smudge her hard work.
"Good, I'm already here."
"?"
"The window."
It was a good thing that the nail polish was safe on the night stand because she startled violently at the dark figure standing outside her second story window. She knew Beca was going to be there before she looked, but there was just something spooky about a creepy shadow outside your bedroom.
"Geez Becs, couldn't come in the front door like a normal person?" She muttered under her breath, palming the window pane to open it without damaging her nails.
"Sorry, I didn't really feel like talking to anybody." The younger girl apologized, stepping from the room to the window seat.
"Yeah, well, who needs a front door when you have a best friend that thinks shes Spiderman?"
"Spiderman wouldn't have used a ladder."
"You're such a nerd, you know that right? All the kids at school think you're some badass, but I know the truth."
"The truth?" One dark eyebrow quirked upwards.
"Beca Mitchell is gigantic nerd who reads comic books and plays video games and secretly loves it when her best friend paints her fingernails." She tossed out the last bit as bait, knowing that Beca would be more likely to talk about what was bothering her if she was stuck in one place without the use of her hands.
"Fine, but only black."
"You know I keep a special bottle just for you, you have a badass image to up hold after all."
She waited patiently as Beca kicked off her shoes and lay out on the bed before she took a seat beside her, tugging a hand into her lap and reaching for the bottle of black nail polish.
"You've been biting your nails again." she chastised gently.
"At least I can blame it on my divorced parents now, huh?"
She said it flippantly, but Chloe could hear the hurt underneath and gave her pause, unsure of how to respond.
"Are they for sure getting a divorce?"
"Yeah, they told me just a little bit ago."
"Are you ok?"
The brunette shrugged.
"It's whatever, at least the house will be quiet."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. If it's anybody's fault it's mine."
"It's not your fault Becs."
"I know."
She could see the tears glistening in Beca's eyes and she quickly refocused on getting the lines of paint right, giving the younger girl some privacy. Silence settled over them for a few minutes before Beca continued.
"They said I could pick who I want to live with."
"And?"
"Dad's moving to Georgia."
Her breath caught in her throat.
"So obviously I'm picking mom. Cause I'm not leaving you. Or you know school, or grandma."
"Won't you miss your dad?"
"He says he'll come visit."
"That's good."
"Maybe I'll be like Allison Stewart."
"How?"
"Her dad left and now she gets like ridiculously expensive presents from him all the time."
She rolled her eyes.
"You're crazy, and your nails are done."
Beca held her fingers up in front of her face.
"Awesome, thanks."
"Anytime, but you owe me a listen to your latest mix."
"Of course!"
There was a knock at the door and Chloe's mom stuck her head in.
"Beca, your mom called, she thought you might be here; I told her you were more than welcome to here for the night if you want."
"Thanks Mrs. Beale. I'd like to stay if that's ok."
"Of course, dear; I'll let your mother know." The door closed, but her mother's voice echoed back as she walked down the hall. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes!"
Later that night, Beca came back from her shower, and Chloe couldn't help but noticed how much different the girl looked from that morning. Her face didn't look as haunted and her freshly washed hair was hanging around her face. She couldn't help but think that the younger girl looked like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she crawled in the bed next to Chloe, twirling the worn strings of her friendship bracelet around her wrist.
"It's weird, I feel oddly better."
"Maybe it's just 'cause you know what's happening now?" She suggested.
"Maybe. Thanks, for being there."
"What else are best friends for?"
"Ummm. . . . I uh, I kinda feel like I wanna cry though."
Chloe leaned back into the pillows and opened her arms. "C'mere"
Beca's face crinkled up in a sob as she crawled across the bed, collapsing into the older girl.
"Cry it out, Becs, it's ok. Shh." Her arms tightened around Beca, hands stroking wet hair away from her face as salty tears soaked into her shirt.
I'm always
gonna be
Your safe place to land
safe place to land
The ground beneath your feet
Like you never had
Like you never had