A/N: Hello all! Here is the next chapter in the fic! I know I said it wouldn't be more than 3 chapters, but I lied! Unintentionally, of course. Sugarlandaddict23 mentioned that I left too much angst in the last chapter and that it would be nice to know what actually happened the night before between Beca and Chloe. In the last chapter, I didn't get into too much detail when I brought it up, so I figured since Chapter 2 ended with Chloe falling back to sleep, I would do a dream sequence where she relives the events of the night before. So here it is! Happy reading :)
It's 10pm on Friday night and Chloe is walking arms linked with Aubrey to the SBT frat house for their spring mixer. After their embarrassing (to put it lightly) debacle in the fall, Aubrey wasn't even sure she wanted to show her face at the house ever again. Chloe spent the past 15 minutes on the walk over convincing her that it's been 6 months since then, and they'd probably forgotten about the "barnyard explosion" already. And, if they hadn't, it was nothing a few shots and a couple rounds of beer pong couldn't fix.
As they approached the door, Chloe could feel Aubrey tense up and hesitate a little. "Come oooonnn, Aubrey," Chloe whined. "We just need a night out to loosen up a bit. Midterms are next week and Regionals are coming up soon. Let's just have this one night just us, like old times. None of the other Bella's will be here." She knows that most of the other girls are busy with other obligations. Stacie's waitressing at Dave's until 1am, Cynthia Rose went home for the night, Fat Amy is probably sneaking off with one of her many boyfriends, and Beca is working at the station until God-knows-when with Jesse.
She bites her lip and scrunches up her nose at the thought of Beca and Jesse hanging out together all night. It's obvious the boy has a serious toner for the brunette, and Chloe would be lying if she said she wasn't jealous of him right now.
Aubrey swallows hard as if she's choking back the vomit. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, puffing out her cheeks as she does. "I guess you're right. We could use a night out like old times," she says, more so trying to convince herself than Chloe. She smiles at the redhead coyly and squeezes her arm.
"Alright, let's show that beer pong table who's boss!" Chloe yells throwing her hands in the air, then smacking the blonde in the ass as she pushes her through the door.
They weave their way through the tangled mess of already drunk, dancing bodies in the middle of the very dimly lit living room towards the kegs at the back. When they reach the table, Aubrey grabs two cups and starts pouring their drinks. She hands one to Chloe and the redhead takes the cup, leaning against the wall and looking around, taking in the scene. There's a red ambiance over the room, and colorful strobe lights flickering in sync with the bass of the music that's blaring from the speakers. It smells like stale beer and bad decisions. There's a smoky haze that's floating around overhead, probably from the group of stoners on the couch passing around a rather large joint. She sighs contentedly and takes a long sip from her cup. Sometimes it's refreshing to party without the aca-crowd, she thinks to herself.
Chloe's pulled from her thoughts when a familiar song comes on. It's a mix of David Guetta's Titanium and La Roux's Bulletproof. She looks around trying to find the table where the DJ is playing wondering how they got ahold of Beca's mixes. She finds the DJ table across the room, but no one's there.
Aubrey nudges Chloe's arm when she sees the girl on her tip-toes peering around the room. She looks out over the crowd of people trying to see what she's searching for. Confused, she asks, "Are you expecting someone?"
"What? No. It's just, this is Beca's mix. I was just wondering who was DJ'ing."
"How do you know this is Beca's mix? They're two pretty popular songs. I don't think they'd be that difficult to put together," the blonde says with a hint of irritation in her voice. They've only been here for 5 minutes and Chloe is already talking about the tiny alt girl with the hideous ear spike. Aubrey rolls her eyes and throws her drink back, chugging it all at once.
"Jesus Aubrey, slow down. I don't wanna be peeling you off the floor before midnight," Chloe jokes, letting out a giggle. "It's my job to be the sloppy one." Aubrey just ignores her as she turns her back and refills her cup. Chloe decides to finish off her own drink to get on the blonde's level.
"I'm gonna go put our names on the list for the next beer pong game!" Aubrey shouts towards the redhead, who's refilling her cup now. Chloe just nods and smiles giving her a thumbs up. She's too far away from her now to hear her if she says anything.
Chloe goes to turn around and bumps into something, spilling some of her beer.
"Shit," the small girl says, wiping the beer off her jacket. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention I—Chloe?"
"Beca? What are you doing here? I thought you were working at the station tonight?" Chloe asks when she realizes the something she bumped into was actually someone, and confirming that it was Beca's mix she was listening to. She straightens herself up and starts patting at the creases in her skirt, as if that's doing anything.
"I am—I mean, I was. Luke's covering for me. Howie asked if I could DJ the party super last minute, so... here I am," Beca says, motioning her hands up and down her body with a new air of confidence the redhead hasn't seen before.
This gesture prompts Chloe's eyes to scan the smaller woman's figure, admiring how sexy she looks tonight. She's wearing a very low cut white tee under her black leather jacket, red skinny jeans, and her black Converse hi-tops. Her hair is down and wavy with the left side pinned up and out of her face, subtly revealing the ear spike that Chloe finds oddly attractive. She's got her signature heavy eye make-up on that makes her eyes sparkle even more from the strobe lights.
"Here you are," Chloe says in a sultry tone not loud enough for Beca to hear, as she continues to stare. She diverts her eyes, and turns to the keg behind her. "Let me get you a drink!" she exclaims. She grabs a cup and pours a drink. Swinging back around she hands it to the brunette who gives her a pursed lip smile raising her eyebrows, and taking the drink from her.
"Thanks," Beca mouths. A moment passes before she speaks again. She moves in closer to the redhead so she can hear her. Chloe shudders from the close contact and she hopes Beca doesn't notice. "I should really get back now. I was just taking a bathroom break. If you need me, you know where to find me," she motions to the opposite side of the room where the DJ table is tucked away in the corner. "But, don't let me dull your sparkle tonight," the brunette winks and quickly looks the redhead up and down, hinting at the sequin-covered shirt Chloe was wearing. It was shimmering like crazy with all the flashing lights dancing around the room.
Chloe looks down and giggles, but when she looks back up, Beca has already disappeared into the sea of sweaty frat boys and sorority girls. She chugs the rest of her beer, fills up her cup again, and heads off to find Aubrey.
...
When Chloe finally finds the blonde in the kitchen, she's sitting on the counter next to the sink surrounded by Howie and three other frat boys who are trying to get her to take a shot of what looks like whiskey. Chloe laughs because she knows Aubrey hates whiskey and the back story as to why.
"Boys! Boys!" Aubrey's yelling with her hands up trying to mediate the situation. "For the third time, I do NOT do whiskey! Find me some rum and then we'll talk." She laughs when the boys groan.
Chloe smiles to herself, pleased that the blonde is letting loose and enjoying herself. She walks up to the counter and separates her friend's knees placing herself in between them.
Aubrey wraps her arms around the redhead and pulls her into her. "Hi Chlo," she says.
Chloe hugs her back and looks up at her smiling. "Hi Bree, are you having a good time?"
"I am. Thanks for forcing me out of my shell tonight. You were right. I needed this." She starts laughing as the boys around them begin chanting for them to kiss. She gently thrusts Chloe's shoulders off of her pushing her back and jumps down off the counter. "Eat your hearts out, boys," she says as she aggressively grabs Chloe's face and plants a sloppy, wet kiss onto her left cheek.
"Ugh, gross, Bree!" Chloe moans as she wipes off her face and then pushes the girl away. They're both laughing now.
"Come on," Aubrey says, tugging on Chloe's arm. "Let's go dominate the beer pong tables!"
Chloe just continues to laugh as she's being dragged to the other side of the house by the giggly blonde. She makes eye contact with the adorable brunette DJ as she passes by the table. Her stomach does a couple somersaults, and she feels her face flush when the girl looks back at her and smiles sweetly.
"That girl will be the death of me," she mutters under her breath.
...
It's nearing 1 a.m. now, and Chloe and Aubrey have won every game of beer pong, and officially dubbed themselves the "Dream Team." Knowing they have a Bella's practice in the morning, Aubrey switched to water halfway through. Chloe, on the other hand, (completely against the blonde's orders) has switched to straight tequila.
They're one to one with their opponents right now. Aubrey has the small white ping pong ball between her thumb and index finger holding it at eye level with one eye closed and her tongue sticking out in sheer concentration. Just as she goes to shoot, Chloe drunkenly bumps into her and she misses.
"What the hell Chloe?! Get your shit together, for reals," she whines.
The other team takes their shot while Aubrey is laying into the inebriated redhead, and their ball lands clean into the cup, splashing up some tequila onto Chloe's arm. There are loud cheers from the other side of the table celebrating the final demise of the "Dream Team."
"Oh!" Chloe says lifting up her forearm and sucking the liquid off, giggling all the while like a school girl. Aubrey just rolls her eyes at her.
"Whatever, it's late anyway. We should get going soon." Aubrey says. "Chloe, are you listening to me?" She's snapping her fingers in front of the redheads face.
"Yes. I mean no. I mean—" she trails off into a fit of laughter. "I'm sorry. Yes, I'm listening to you. No, I don't want to go!" she cries out.
Aubrey can't help the smile that creeps up onto her face. She's still a little tipsy, and Chloe is acting like such a child, but it's just so Chloe. "Come on Chlo, you're officially cut off for the night. I don't even know how you're drinking that right now," she says taking the cup that's about 1/3 full with a light amber colored liquid. "You don't even like tequila."
"I do tonight," Chloe scoffs, reaching out to take the cup back.
"No. No more." Aubrey chides, pulling the cup out of reach and pointing her finger in girl's face. She can't help but feel like she's scolding her childhood dog.
"Fine," says the redhead, and she stomps off into the other room. Aubrey just rolls her eyes again at the girl's childish antics and heads in the direction of the bathroom.
Chloe doesn't know where she's walking off to, but she finds herself at the DJ table looking for Beca. She recognizes it's still Beca's laptop playing Beca's mixes, but no Beca. Instead, she meets the eyes of Jesse.
"What are you doing here?" She hisses.
"Do my eyes deceive me, or is Chloe Beale drunk off her ass right now?" Jesse asks with a smile, taking a sip from his drink.
"I'm just drunk, thank you." She retorts, slurring her words and crossing her arms in a huff. He just laughs at her.
When the redhead continues to stare at him, he answers, "Beca was bored and texted me to come by after my shift and keep her company. Is that alright with you? Are you monitoring her relationships now?"
Chloe darts what she thinks is a dirty look, but probably just looks more ridiculous than anything. She doesn't like Jesse using the words 'Beca' and 'relationships' in the same breath. "What's your deal, Jesse? What do you want from Beca?" She's not surprised at the word vomit spewing from her mouth. Tequila does this to her. Jesse raises an eyebrow at her.
"What do I want from her? I want to be friends. That's all we are, Chloe. Just friends. She's not allowed to date a Treble anyway, right? Won't you guys like, rip out her throat or something?"
"How'd you—never mind. Do you know where she went?" She asks, not really interested in continuing this conversation.
"To the bathroom and to get another drink, I believe."
"Okay, cool, thanks." She says, petting her hand down the side of Jesse's face, leaving him puzzled and slightly weird-ed out. She just smiles and walks away.
Chloe walks past the keg table, but there's no sign of Beca there, so she decides to check out the bathroom. She knocks on the door only to find Aubrey emerging from it.
"Chloe, we're leaving soon, 'kay? Make your rounds, say goodbye, or whatever you need to do. Just make it quick." The blonde says and then brushes past her throwing off her balance.
"Oooookayy" she mumbles, winking and saluting in Aubrey's direction, making a clicking sound with her tongue.
She's not sure what made her do it, but she decides to head up the stairs. No one's allowed up there when they have parties, so she looks around quickly to see if anyone is watching. When it seems like the coast is clear, she clumsily stumbles her way up. She checks each door that lines the hallway, finding nothing but dirty, smelly bedrooms, until she gets to the end of the hall. She pushes her way through the door and stops when she sees what she's looking for standing at the sink washing her hands.
"Chloe?! What the hell?! You scared the shit outta me!" Beca says all flustered, although slightly relieved she's not some creepy frat guy.
"Beca! Just the person I've been looking for!" Chloe says, stumbling further into the bathroom and falling into the smaller woman, who has to put out her wet hands to try and catch her.
"Woah, I think you're a little drunk, Chlo."
"I'm a lot drunk, Beca. You're so observant." She winks and bops her on the nose with her finger. Beca giggles at the older girl's antics.
"Thaaaat's adorable, Beale. And to what do I owe the pleasure of you bursting into my personal space, yet again?" she asks, straightening the redhead up and propping her against the wall.
"I just really wanted to see you. I missed you." She says, pouting and reaching out her arms for the young girl to hug her.
Beca smiles and inches a little closer, closing the gap between them, wrapping her arms around the redhead's waist and laying her head on her shoulder.
"See, this just feels right," Chloe whispers into the brunette's ear, and then she squeezes her grip around the girl's neck tighter and slides down the wall to the floor, dragging Beca with her.
"Jesus, Chloe, you're gonna break me!" Beca cries trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard. She's readjusting herself so that she's sitting next to Chloe leaning against the wall. She reaches out and grabs Chloe's hand. Looking over at the redhead, she's got a soft smile on, but her eyes are closed. She squeezes the girl's hand to make sure she's not sleeping on her. "Are you gonna be okay?"
Chloe's smile grows and she opens her eyes, turning to the brunette, "I am now," she says.
Chloe quickly throws herself over Beca, kneeling in between the girl's legs, placing her hands on either side of her hips. Her face is inches from the brunette's and she's smiling this devilish smile.
"Christ woman, do you have any concept of boundaries?!" Beca says pulling her chin back away from Chloe's. She doesn't know how it happened, but she's gripping the redhead's wrists rather tightly now.
"I'm gonna do something and you're probably gonna hate me for it, but I don't care anymore," Chloe says, ignoring the tangled facial expressions the small girl is giving her. Without wasting any time, she leans forward and presses her lips to the Beca's. She feels the girl's entire body tense up beneath her, but she doesn't try to push her away. She tries to deepen the kiss, but Beca doesn't let her. After a few seconds, Chloe pulls away slowly and opens her eyes. She might be drunk, but the look of horror on the brunette's face is unmistakable and she instantly regrets what just happened.
"Chloe, I—" Beca starts, but she's interrupted as the door slams open hitting the wall and probably leaving a mark.
"Chloe, what the hell?! I've been looking for you everywhere. What are you doing on the floor?" Aubrey says looking down at the sorry looking pile of a girl.
Chloe's sitting back on her heels now with her face buried in her hands.
"Um, she's not feeling well," Beca answers. "So, I—um, I was just helping her out." She's not sure why she feels the need to explain herself to the blonde when she's done nothing wrong.
Aubrey just sneers at her, "Whatever, help me get her up. It's 1:30. We need to go."
Beca scrambles to her feet and helps the blonde lift Chloe to her feet. "I should get going, too. I, uh, I'll see you at practice tomorrow," she says, awkwardly placing her hands on her hips, not knowing what to do with them. She hesitates for a second, wanting to make eye contact with Chloe, but the redhead just buries her face into Aubrey's shoulder.
"Right, okay," Beca says softly, and quickly shuffles out of the bathroom and down the stairs.
"Alright, drunky. Let's get you in bed," Aubrey says, turning to the girl in her arms. Chloe begins to sob, but the blonde doesn't ask why. She assumes it has something to do with the problem child that just left. She hushes the girl and tells her she'll be alright as she helps her down the stairs and out the door.
Whatever happened to upset the redhead probably wasn't as serious as drunk Chloe thinks and she'll get over it by tomorrow, Aubrey thinks, as she helps undress the girl and get her into bed back at their suite. She tucks her in and kisses her on the forehead.
"Get some sleep, Chlo. All will be right with the world again tomorrow," she says as she shuts off the lights and closes the door. She hears the girl sniffle and her heart breaks a little as she walks down the hall to her bedroom.
A/N: I hope this was good insight on what happened! Nothing too crazy, but Chloe was drunk and read into Beca's body language and expressions as a sign that the feelings she has aren't mutual so she's nervous that she may have ruined their friendship and that things won't be the way they were before. Leave your reviews and let me know what you think! I'll be posting the 4th and final chapter soon! :)
