Hey folks! Last time we were left off after Beca sang to Ashley, and there was someone lurking in the corner. I think most of you have already figured out who it was. Or is.
So, this is another chapter, and I'm trying something different in this one. I split it in three POVs. Hopefully it's not confusing. If it is, please remind me. I'd love to improve my writing skill. Throw me some critiques.
Now, I want to thank the reviewers. The first one is bechloeorbhloe. Yes. I am indeed a tease. Glad that you get it. ;)
The second one would be RJRMovieFan. Thank you for the review dude. And about the curve ball, I love dark and twisty. So, you can expect some of curve balls along the way. Oh and about feeling different to see Beca without the other Bella? Don't worry. They'll be here. Soon.
Now we can start this chapter. Once again, I don't own Pitch Perfect, and neither the song I put down in this chapter. It's Passenger Seat by Stephen Speaks.
Now for the unknown person. Please brace yourself *drumroll... ... ... Tadaaa! It's the one and only, the stunning Chloe Beale! Yep. Most of you might have predicted it. We'll start with Chloe's POV.
When she decided to come to a karaoke bar that night, Chloe had never thought that she would meet the person who broke her heart years ago. Honestly, she'd never thought that she would meet Beca ever again.
However, as always, fate has another plan. No kidding. I believe the universe just has a dark humor. It loves to mess with your life when you think the odd has already been in your favor. Are you with me? Doesn't matter. Let's go back to the story.
It feels like being hit with a ton of bricks. Yep. That is how Chloe feels when she sees Beca walk up to the stage. It takes her a great deal of courage, and a couple shots of pure tequila until she deems that she's brave enough to approach her DJ.
The group is laughing so hard from the joke a brunette guy tells when Chloe comes slowly from behind her DJ. She covers Beca's eyes with her hands and whispers near her ear, "Guess who?"
Dear god. Does the tiny brunette jump from her seat. Her eyes go wide and her jaw drops in tremendous shock for a second before she gasps. "Chloe?" Beca says hesitantly at first. Then she turns around, and when she sees the grin on Chloe's face, she shouts, "Chloe!"
"Becs!" Chloe jumps and tackles Beca with a bone-breaking hug. She couldn't have been more care less about her surroundings.
"Air... I need air, Beale."
Chloe pulls away a little bit to see the face she hasn't seen in a very long time. For her, Beca looks almost the same as ten years ago before she left. Except that there are less eye liner, and somehow the brunette seems lighter, more confident, and more approachable.
It must have something to do with the way she carries herself, the way she moves, and Chloe can't exactly pinpoint what it is. But it sure brings a sense of strength in her DJ's character.
If college Beca was attractive, this older Beca has the glow that Chloe can only describe as charming. And it isn't even close to what the brunette represents.
After pulling herself out from the haze of Beca Mitchell, Chloe exclaims, "How did you know that it was me?!"
"What are you doing here?!" Beca exclaims at the same time. Then they chuckle.
"Oh please, Beale." Beca rolls her eyes playfully. "I could recognize that vanilla perfume of yours from miles away. I bought you your first bottle remember? Besides, it's only you who'd dare to break into my personal bubble that close, intentionally, without a warning. Still have that old habit of breaking in, I see."
Upon seeing the knowing smirk on Beca's face, Chloe slaps her arm playfully and chuckles.
"Aw!" Beca glares at her while rubbing her slapped arm. "Violent much? I think you broke one or two of my ribs with that bear hug."
"Well, hello to you too, long lost friend." Chloe rolls her eyes in mocked annoyance. "Don't be such a baby, Becs. I barely touch you. Besides, pretend all your way to China. I know you love that hug. You always have. And I'll just ignore how creepy you are for remembering my perfume after all this time."
Upon seeing that Beca is playfully glaring at her, Chloe smiles and adds, "I've missed you, Becs."
Beca's eyes soften, and she's smiling as she replies, "I've missed you too, Chlo."
Upon hearing that nickname, Chloe can't help herself from beaming her signature megawatt smile that splits from ear to ear and can light up the whole universe, thinking about how endearing it sounds even after all this time. Well, that is just how easy it for her to be drawn into Beca's charm.
"Earth to Chloe."
With a hard blink of eyes, the redhead mutters, "Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Got lost in Chloe land?" The DJ smirks.
Chloe just gives the tiny brunette a weak smile.
"What are you doing in L.A.? Aren't you supposed to be in Boston, teaching a bunch of rugrats about art and music?"
"Well, I got offered a teaching job at a private school here like a month ago. I'm staying in LA now, teaching a bunch of rugrats about art and music."
When Beca remains silent and looks at her face with unreadable expression, Chloe playfully asks, "What? Aren't you happy to see me, Becs?"
It catches the brunette off guard, but she manages to stutter, "Well, no uh... I mean yes. Of course, I'm happy to see you. Uh... good for you. I mean... uh... congratulations? Or uh... welcome to LA? I guess?"
Chloe just laughs lightly, realizing that her long lost friend still carries that awkward antique attitude even after years. There's a moment of comfortable silence, wrapping them for a couple of seconds.
"Well, I'm proud of you, Chlo." Beca eventually breaks the silence. When Chloe doesn't say anything, she smirks and asks, "Aren't you supposed to ask about how I am now, Red?"
The redhead giggles lightly for seeing the smirk she loves the most. "I don't think I need to, my DJ."
Beca suddenly seems nervous and she looks down to her boots. Before she can say anything, Chloe beats her to that by pinching her cheeks playfully and cheerfully says, "From the media. Duh! You are one of the best music producers and DJ in the whole world. Of course, I know how you are. And I am also very proud of you."
The brunette simply sighs in relief, yet her eyes are still fixed at the floor.
Chloe is searching for that pair of steely blue eyes when the brunette glances up to see hers at the same time. They just look at each other and forget that they are actually surrounded by people until they hear someone clear her throat.
"Babe?" A woman's voice startles both her and Beca.
"Oh... Sorry. I got caught up." Beca turns around to wrap her arm around a blonde's waist.
"Well, Chloe, meet my girlfriend, Ashley." The brunette says with a beaming smile towards the blonde next to her. Then she shifts a little to point at the group next to them. "And those loud people over there are our friends. Movie nerds, this is Chloe Beale, my best friend from college."
Chloe smiles politely and offers her hand for a handshake to Ashley, which Ashley returns with the same effort.
Four years ago, when Beca had finally come out of her hiding and announced that she was dating a girl, Chloe was not only surprised, but she was also hurt. She had never known that Beca was into girls when they were in college. That was the reason she never made a move towards the brunette.
Tonight, she got even more surprised when she saw her little DJ, the self-proclaimed badass Beca Effin Mitchell, go on the stage, sing a cheesy love song for her girlfriend, and on the top of all, the brunette had hugged and kissed her girlfriend in front of one hell loads of people.
Yep. Singing alone in front of at least 10 people is a great deal for Beca.
As much as Chloe could remember, the Beca she knew more than ten years ago wouldn't even consider doing any of those things.
Well, what did she know, right? It has been a very long time anyway. Ten years, folks. Ten years.
"Hi, Chloe." Everybody else greets the redhead with friendly smiles and waves, and that pulls Chloe out of her own train of thought.
Chloe smiles apologetically, waves back to the group, and says, "Hi. I am sorry if I interrupted." Then she realizes how familiar the group is. "Hey! I know all of you. Aren't you all from that TV series about a group of friends who are being terrorized by A?"
"Yep." A long-haired brunette chirps, popping the P. "That's us. I am Shay by the way. Beca and I are sisters from another mother. You know, we're the Mitchells. These are Sasha, Troian, Patrick, Tyler, Ian, and Keegan."
Then another brown haired girl named Troian chips in and bombards Chloe with a bunch of questions. "Beca has a best friend? What a shock. How much did she pay you to play pretend? Did she threaten you?"
Even though she is getting a deathly glare from Beca, Troian just smiles slyly and asks Chloe, "Are you here alone uhm..., Chloe?"
"Oh, shit!" Chloe's eyes widen. "Actually, I came with someone. I was trying to find them when I saw Beca." She looks around frantically before checking her phone. "Damn it! Perfect. My phone just died."
Beca pulls Chloe's hands and says, "Why don't you just sit here with us and wait for them to find you?"
After noticing the frown on Ashley's face, and how the group is eyeing their hands, Chloe wants to refuse. However, when she looks at Beca's pleading look, she just can't do it. Therefore, she sheepishly says, "Well, if it's okay with the group..."
"Of course it's okay." A brunette man hurriedly responds. "We want to hear all about college Beca. So... tell us uh... Chloe, right?"
Chloe nods, taking a seat on Beca's right side.
"I'm Tyler." He flashes her a warm smile that turns into a smirk when he asks, "Has Beca always been this annoying, arrogant, little weirdo?"
Chloe chuckles as Beca throws a peanut at him, which he ducks successfully. "Asshole."
The group barks out a laughter upon seeing that act.
"Yes, indeed." Chloe explains, trying to suppress her own grin. "And also, she has always been a reclusive, drama queen, whiny, act like a badass but secretly a softy inside, cocky little DJ."
"That hurts. I'm wounded." Beca says with bored looking face. "You just hurt my fragile tiny little ego."
Of course the group bursts into a laughter again.
"Yeah... yeah... yeah... keep going." The DJ scowls. "Make fun of the tiny people. Haha... very funny. It's good to know how highly all of you think of me. I'm truly flattered."
When her friends don't stop laughing at her, Beca turns to look at her girlfriend, her eyebrows furrowed, her lips pressed, acting like an upset child as she grumbles, "Hon, aren't you supposed to be the sweet girlfriend that you are and tell them to stop teasing me?"
Ashley chuckles, shakes her head lightly, and taps Beca on the nose. "Nope. It's every women for themselves, Babe."
It hurts. Definitely hurts. Seeing how her Beca acts around Ashley, and it's something Chloe has never seen before. But Chloe laughs with everybody, trying to hide a pang in her chest. Chloe puts on a forced wider smile when Beca turns to her.
The petite brunette runs her fingers through her brown locks with a mock-frustrated look before she says, "You just met them, yet you've already teamed up with them. That is so not cool, Beale. You are supposed to be on my side, have my back, defend my honor, or whatever it is a best friend should be doing."
"Poor Beca." Chloe mocks an overly pitiful face. "That's what you get when you've never kept in touch for ten years, Becs."
When Beca's face becomes pale so suddenly, Chloe regrets what she's said almost immediately.
"I'm so sorry, Chlo." Beca mutters.
A sigh. It's the first thing Chloe does when Beca looks at her with sad eyes. To be honest, this isn't the reaction she has always imagined she'd do if she ever meets Beca again. She thought that she was going to be angry. Slapping, kicking, and tearing apart kind of angry. Well, because she should be angry. She had tried to contact the tiny DJ with hundreds of texts, emails, and voice mails for a year after graduation. However, when she had received nothing in return, eventually she had to stop trying. It had become too painful to be left behind and ignored.
So yeah, Chloe knows clearly that she has every single right to be angry and furious at Beca. But when she looks at how sad and sincere the brunette has apologized, she gives in. For now at the very least.
With a soft smile, Chloe says, "It's okay, Becs. You're here now. It all will be forgiven and forgotten as long as you explain yourself. And promise me. Never disappear from my life, ever again Becs."
Beca grins from ear to ear and looks into Chloe's eyes. She puts her hand on Chloe's, squeezing it firmly as she says, "Never again. I promise. In fact, I might even do the pinky promise."
The redhead laughs lightly and links her pinky finger with the brunette's.
Chloe is fully aware that the others are glancing at each other, looking confused of the interaction between the two of them. They also keep glancing at Ashley, as if asking for an elaboration while Ashley just raises her eyebrows with a tight lipped smile and subtly shrugs. But Chloe notices.
The tension is raising, so Chloe is relieved when Shay playfully says, "So Chloe, since you've already known who we are and what we do, please tell us about yourself. And do us the favor to tell the story about how you, unfortunately, met the tiny bit over there."
"Yeah." Troain chips in. "Geez, Beca. We all know that we've only been friends with you for more than five years. But how come you've never mentioned about your best friend in college to us before? Seriously. We thought we've already gotten up from being strangers to being at least some people that you might recognize in the crowds."
While Beca is glaring at Troian, Chloe can't help but sighing in relief through her smiling lips, knowing that even time couldn't change certain things in Beca; things that make her DJ who she is, the very private and closed off person. After taking a deep breath, the redhead answers, "Well, Beca and I met in college when I was a senior. Beca was only a freshman back then. I was a co-captain in an acapella group called The Barden Bella, and I uh...," she hesitates a little bit but continues, "recruited her to join us. I stayed three more years in college for The Bella, and in those four years, Beca and I became best friend."
Everybody seems to be shocked and confused.
"Beca was in an acapella group?" Sasha asks doubtfully.
"The so called badass DJ Mitchell sings acapella?" Troian asks with comical surprised look. "For real? We thought that it was a myth. We've heard the rumor, but still... acapella?"
Chloe just bites her lower lip to suppress her laughter and nods. Then everybody laughs their asses off.
"Unbelievable!" Shay exclaims joyfully.
Ian shakes his head in disbelief. "I think hell must've frozen already."
"I wonder what kind of tornado storm that happened on the day Beca Mitchell had auditioned to The Barden Bella." Tyler narrows his eyes in a mocked thinking face.
Chloe just nods and chuckles while Beca sends deathly glare at her friends and exclaimes, "What's wrong with me joining acapella group?! Singing acapella is cool and totally badass. It is so not easy to sing, and dance, and match pitch, and harmonize, and rap, and beatboxing, oh and also do props all at the same time. Not to mention all of the cardio I did. Those things must've added my badass points. By a lot."
A warm feeling creeps into Chloe's chest, looking at Beca defending their acapella group. She can't help but staring fondly at the tiny brunette. Yet she teases, "If I recall correctly, you said it was lame, Becs."
Beca blushes and mutters, "Yeah, well, that was before I became a part of the strangest yet the most amazing acapella group in the whole world with a bunch of weirdos."
Everybody else can only pull their eyebrows up in disbelief, staring at Beca doubtfully as if saying, "Really?"
"We even had trophies to prove that. Right, Red?"
Chloe just nods to respond.
"In fact, we won three national championships and a world championship when Chloe and I were captains. Me and my very best friend over here brought our team to be the first American acapella group to win world championship. We," She gestures her hand back and forth between herself and Chloe, "are the dynamic duo." She ends with a smirk so smug, patting her own chest, and then raising her hand for a high five.
"Totes!" Chloe smacks her hand onto Beca's with a huge grin on her face. "We were inseparable. I am the Brain to her Pinky, Jerry to her Tom, Doraemon to her Nobita, SpongeBob to her Patrick, peanut butter to her jelly, and so on."
"Why does it seem like I'm the lesser duo of between the two of us?" Beca laughs upon hearing the personification. And damn it! Does it flutter Chloe's heart frantically. Chloe turns to look at Beca and her heart begins to thump crazily as she sees a fond smile starts to form on the brunette's face.
"Yeah, it was always us against the world, Red." The DJ utters softly. "We had quite an adventure, didn't we?"
"Yeah." Chloe replies fondly. "We definitely did."
"Seriously, how did you manage to recruit Beca into an acapella group?" Sasha asks curiously.
"Well..." Chloe turns to see Sasha, puts her finger on her chin, humming in thinking before she turns to look at Beca, smirking as she says, "Let's just say that I could be very persuasive. Am I right, Becs?"
Beca is flushed in red, remembering their shower incident, vividly. "Yeah... Uh, whatever you say, Red."
From this point, we'll see it from Ashley's POV, folks.
Ashley couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate hers and Beca's 5th anniversary. Yeah. There's nothing extravaganza about it, but it is sweet, lovable, and personal because they share it with their closest friends.
I mean, what's more romantic than being serenaded by your socially awkward girlfriend in front of a lot of audience at a karaoke bar? I guess nothing. For her at least.
So, yes. Ashley is more than swoon by the gesture. In fact, she is over the moon. It's not that Beca is not a sweet romantic person. Beca is indeed and truly a romantic person. Just closeted. So the fact that she would do it in front of other people do say something more.
After all of the things that her and Beca have been through, Ashley feels nothing but optimistic about their future. In the past five years, they've learnt their lessons and grown a lot in this relationship. Either as a person and as a couple.
It's true. Beca has become a person that could be completely open in their relationship, and Ashley has learnt when and how to push or to pull the brunette. They fit and complement each other. They've become better at communication, which is a very important thing, knowing their working environments and how paranoid Beca could be.
They are having a great time around their best friends when suddenly, a certain redhead surprises Beca from behind. The person seems familiar to her, but she can't really remember. Therefore, Ashley is beyond taken aback when she hears the name Beca shout out.
Chloe.
Of course she is familiar with that name. You would've been taken aback too when it's the name of your girlfriend's unrequited first love's name, let alone the only person your girlfriend had ever loved for a very long time.
It's not like Ashley doesn't know anything about their story. In fact, she knows everything about Beca, including the brunette's feelings towards the redhead and all of the things they'd been through together when they were still in college. She even knows that she should be thanking the redhead for being there when Beca's mother had died. Otherwise, maybe she wouldn't even have a chance to meet her girlfriend in the first place.
However, apparently, seeing Beca with her first love is a whole different story than just listening to the story about them. An uneasy feeling starts creeping into Ashley's mind upon seeing the way Beca and Chloe act and behave around each other, and even more so by the nicknames. The thing that bothers her the most is the way Beca looks at Chloe. What is it? Is it longing or fondness? It sure raises some heat of jealousy in her chest.
Ashley's train of thought is cut off when Troian asks about the huge pink elephant in the room.
"If you were so inseparable, then how come you lost contact for ten years?" Troian has asked with a curious look.
Patrick immediately elbows Troian on her arm. On the other side, Ashley shots a deathly glare towards Troian when she sees her girlfriend flinch. Beca's demeanor changes in an instant, and Ashley certainly notices.
The frown on the DJ's face, the shoes suddenly become more interesting to her eyes, fingers tapping on the knees, and the rapid legs bouncing. Yep. That is the nervous Beca. The Beca who gets caught for doing something wrong.
Ashley knows that so well, so she quickly slips her hand into Beca's and squeezes it gently. She can feel and see how Beca's shoulders become relaxed in a matter of seconds.
On the other hand, Chloe seems to be taken aback by the question, but she recovers rather quickly. Ashley notices the tight lippep smile though.
"Well..." Chloe starts hesitantly. "After graduation, life happened. I had to move to Boston for grad school and I had ended up travelling around the globe for four years to teach underprivileged kids with the peace corps. Then I came back to Boston to teach Art and Music program at The Winsor School for three years. Meanwhile, Beca had gotten a job as a DJ and junior music producer in another state and she was travelling a lot for tours for years. We were busy chasing our dreams and the distance was just the cherry on top. We drifted apart, and suddenly ten years had already passed."
It's as awkward as it can be. So Ashley eyes Patrick, and the blonde man gets the cue to start another conversation.
"What do you think about LA so far?" Patrick asks, putting on his warm smile.
"It's fine." Chloe says cheerfully. "I've got my best friends around the corner. So, it's been good to be here."
Ashley sighs in relief as the conversation flows in a different direction. They talk about how Chloe has been enjoying LA so far, about the TV series, and other casual stuff.
At some point, the group spreads out to the stage to sing, to the bar, or to the dance floor. The only people that stay at their table are Ashley, Beca, Chloe, Troian, and Patrick.
While chatting with the other three, Ashley can't help but notice how quiet her girlfriend has become. She can see from the corner of her eyes that Beca is stealing glances at Chloe every once in a while. She kisses Beca's left upper arm, and when the brunette turns to look at her, Ashley gives her a subtle puzzled look as though asking whether she is okay or not. Beca just nods lightly and kisses her forehead. Although she isn't reassured by that nod, Ashley doesn't want to push the brunette, knowing that it isn't the time and place. She decides to put a note on her mind to ask about it later. Instead, she simply sighs a long defeated breath.
Well, the night is just getting more interesting, folks.
Suddenly a song comes up and Ashley sees how Beca tenses up a bit before smiling and humming along with the song. Ashley knows this song pretty well because Beca has told her several times before about the story behind. She is a little bit surprised when she hears Chloe sing along softly. Turns out, Beca is just as surprised because she asks how Chloe could still remember this song.
At that note, Ashley's mind goes wild.
This must be a mean joke. The girl just can't have a rest.
Ashley's nerves become unsettled, but she tries to brush it off. Just when she's about to start another conversation, her jealousy jumps off the chart. Apparently, Chloe dares to ask her a ballsy request. Ashley looks at Beca who just shrugs, then at Patrick and Troian who are trying to hide their confusion.
It is a nerve-wrecking request, but Ashley can't say no. Not when Beca just gets her so called best friend slash first love back. Therefore, Ashley puts on a tight smile, shrugs, and shakes her head hesitantly before giving her answer.
And from this point, it's Beca's POV.
Beca's heart drops to her feet. Well it's impossible, but it feels exactly like that when she hears a voice of someone who is covering her eyes with their hands now. She can't hide the tremendous shock on her face when she sees Chloe Beale. Her freaking first love Chloe Beale is standing before her in flesh.
Beca is preparing herself for a slap on the face or a kick on the ass that way past overdue coming to her. Surprisingly, she gets that damn beaming megawatt smile instead. The fucking damn smile that could light up the whole universe. If she has been afraid and hesitant before, after that contagious smile, Beca grins and exclaims, "Chloe!"
Before Beca knows it, she's being tackled and she almost falls onto the floor if it isn't for her fit feet. Yeah. Fit feet. The results of the work out she's done because of a very concern and very persistent girlfriend about her well-being. She buries her face into the crook of Chloe's neck, breathing in the familiar warm scent of the redhead that used to give her such a soothing effect.
Then they pull away and start to banter like ten years haven't happened at all. It's like they were never separated, that they could still be the Beca-and-Chloe-together-you're-Bloe in college, according to Fat Amy's hilarious terms.
Meeting Chloe is unexpected, but somehow relieving for Beca. She is at lost of looking at Chloe until Ashley calls her. After the pleasantry of introducing and teasing the brunette, they fall into a dynamic conversation with the group.
While the others take interest in Chloe's story, Beca takes her time to look at the redhead from hair to toe. The radiant red hair that could make people stop and turn their head towards her. The bright blue eyes that used to pull Beca in and give her such a warm fluttering feeling. The signature megawatt smile that could light up the whole universe and break the dark clouds in Beca's mind whenever she had a bad day back in college. The tiny little scar on the forehead that could prove even an angel could have a tiny bit of flaw. The contagious laughter that could make other people can't resist but laughing too. The long tanned legs that could go for days.
Basically, Beca is studying everything about Chloe, and she finds out that physically, the redhead hasn't changed so much. Other than her hair is shorter, hanging around her shoulders. Beca also remembers Chloe's many kind of hugs. From the soft tugging on the arms that says I'm here for you, to the bone-breaking grip that screams I've missed you so much already even when we just met 3 hours ago.
Over all, the most wonderful thing about Chloe that she had missed the most is the way Chloe could make people feel good about themselves. It is one of the qualities that Beca would always adore from the redhead.
Suddenly, a very familiar song comes up and brings her mind back to one eventful evening when she was still a sophomore. She absentmindedly hums along. Her eyes shot up and her heart thumps so hard in her chest as she hears Chloe is also singing along softly.
"No fucking way!" Beca exclaims in comic surprise. "You remember this song?!"
"Of course I do, Becs." Chloe grins with a wink. "It's one of my favorites. I still listen to it regularly."
Beca's heart is trying to bang its way out from her chest. Or so she thought. Seems like it. For her.
"Ashley, do you mind if I borrow Beca for a dance?"
The hesitation in Chloe's voice can't prevent Beca from whipping her head at her so fast when Chloe says those words. She doesn't know why she just shrugs when her girlfriend looks at her hesitantly with a glint of hurt in her eyes. She can't bring herself to look at Ashley in the eyes. Therefore, she looks down on her fingers instead. But damn it! Does she jump on her seat when Ashley says, "Sure, why not."
Chloe pulls Beca up instantly as if she is afraid that Ashley will change her mind, and she drags the brunette to the dance floor. She gently wraps her arms around Beca's shoulders and leans in closer.
On the other hand, Beca nervously puts her hands on Chloe's waist and absentmindedly hums along with the lyrics that she has known damn too well after so many mixes she's made with this song 13 years ago.
Beca just sways slowly to the song with her eyes closed while her mind travels back to the first time she has heard Passenger Seat by Stephen Speaks. Beca remembers it clearly like it was only happening yesterday. The day when a song eventfully came up out of nowhere and made her realize that she had fallen in love with Chloe Beale.
Flashback: 13 years ago.
After Beca decided to stay at Barden, her father had bought her a brand new car, a blue BMW. She was so excited, and it was not a surprise that the first person she had asked to go for a drive was Chloe. The redhead was her best friend after all. After she got the car, she texted Chloe, and of course Chloe excitedly agreed to go on a drive with her that evening, just the two of them.
Beca picked Chloe up at Bella's House after her shift at the radio station, and took Chloe on a drive to a hill just outside of the city. She also brought a couple of blankets, a picnic basket with sandwiches, Chloe's all-time favorite dessert, and two packs of chocolate milk.
She was thinking that they could do some stargazing. Beca tried to convince herself that it didn't seem like a date at all. She kept thinking that friends could do this kind of thing, as friends, which is friendly.
To say that Beca felt freakishly nervous in the 30 minutes drive was an understatement. Her heart was beating so fast and she held the stirring wheel so tightly like her life depended on it. Well, despite of the literal point of course. She decided to listen to the radio to distract her mind, and suddenly, this unfamiliar song came up.
I look at her and have to smile
As we go driving for a while
Her hair blowing in the open window of my car and
As we go I see the lights
Watch them glimmer in her eyes
In the darkness of the evening
After the first verse, Beca smiled and stole a glance at Chloe, who at that exact moment was staring out at the scenery from the window. It was warm, so they decided to open the window instead of using the air conditioner.
She thought to herself, "Oh you must be fucking kidding me, universe! Really?!"
Beca couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle as she saw how Chloe's hair was blowing gracefully from the wind and her face seemed brighten as the street light glimmered in her eyes. Just like the lyric said. Literally.
"Okay..." Chloe said in confusion. "You are creeping me out. Why are you smiling?"
"Nothing." Beca shrugged to play it cool. "I'm just... happy... I guess."
"Huh." Chloe narrowed her eyes in disbelief.
And I've got all that I need
Right here in the passenger seat
Oh, and I can't keep my eyes on the road
Knowing that she's inches from me
As the song went on, Beca couldn't help but glancing at Chloe every now and then, thinking about how true it was at that moment and how that song perfectly suited her feeling that evening. She felt like thousands of butterflies were flapping their wings in her stomach. It felt weird but also warm, strange but familiar all at the same time. She had been feeling the same thing lately every time she spent time with Chloe. Or just simply looked at her. Or even only heard her voice.
We stop to get something to drink
My mind clouds and I can't think
Scared to death to say I love her
Then a moon peeks from the clouds
Hear my heart that beats so loud
Try to tell her simply
After hearing the part scared to death to say I love her, Beca jerked the break abruptly as a realization hit her. She got a bunch of honks from the cars behind, but she just couldn't bring herself to care, because she had just realized that she was in love with Chloe. She was indeed, falling in love, head over heels with her very best friend.
Beca took a deep breath to calm her nerves and started to drive again slowly. Chloe just stared at her with puzzled look, but Beca just shook her head lightly. So Chloe reached and rubbed her thumb softly on Beca's hand, and then continued to stare out of the window, humming along with the melody.
Beca's mind was filled with every single touches, every single hugs, every single lingering looks, and every single mixes she had made in the past couple of months. Also every single nights they had spent cuddling up together in her dorm. It was so inevitable that she was slowly, obliviously, but certainly, falling in love with the one and only Chloe Elizabeth Beale.
That I've got all that I need
Right here in the passenger seat
Oh, and I can't keep my eyes on the road
Knowing that she's inches from me
Oh, and I know that this love grow
Oh, I've got all that I need
Right here in the passenger seat
Oh, and I can't keep my eyes on the road
Knowing that she's inches from me
Beca was so lost in her thought that she didn't even notice when the song had already ended until she heard Chloe softly say, "I like that song. It's simple and relateable."
"I uh... I guess so." The brunette had stammered. "Err... I didn't really pay attention to it though. Too focus on the road. Safe driving and all."
Chloe laughed and laced their fingers. "Aww... You don't have to be nervous, Becs. I know how you feel. Tell you what. I also feel the same way. But this isn't your first time right?"
"Wha... Wh... uh... How... I mean what do you?" Beca stuttered frantically, thinking that Chloe had read her mind.
The redhead chuckled again and said, "Relax, Becs. I know that this is your first and brand new car. You must be feeling nervous from driving it. I felt the same way the first time I got Bumblebee. It's normal. But this isn't the first time you drive a car, is it?"
Beca let out a relieved sigh and smirked. "You call your yellow bug Bumblebee? Whew... that is a brand new information. How could I just find out?"
"Why yeah. It just never came up before." Then Chloe clasped her hands together excitedly. "But we totes have to name your car too, Becs!"
"Oh no no no no." Beca scowled. "It's bad enough that you have named that poor little yellow car of yours bumblebee. I will not let you do that to my car. It's a car. You can call it a car, or more precisely, Beca's car."
With pouted lips and her best puppy eyes, Chloe pleaded, "Oh, come on, Becs. Please... pretty please... with a cherry on top?"
"No."
"Beeeccss..." Chloe dragged her voice like a child begging for sweets.
"Nooooo..." Beca mirrored with bored tone.
"Becs!" Now Chloe just intensified her pout and puppy eyes.
Beca groaned loudly and whined, "I'm never going to win this, aren't I?"
"Nope!" Chloe said cheerfully, popping the P. "When will you learn that you can never win an argument with me, especially when I bring in the famous Beale's pout and puppy eyes?"
Beca sighed dramatically. "I guess I need to learn how to live with that, huh?"
"Glad to know that it's already settled." Chloe chimed in with a face-splitting grin.
A comfortable silence fell between them. Another song came up, but neither of them paid any attention to it. After a couple of minutes, Chloe asked, "How about azure?"
"Azure?"
"Yeah. Azure. It's the color of your car, and it matches your eyes anyway. So..."
Beca pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes, and then sighed in resignation. "Azure it is, Beale."
"Yay!" Chloe jumped on her seat, clapping her hands excitedly and kissed Beca on the cheek. "Welcome to the family, Azure!"
Beca felt the heat creeping up from her chest to her neck and all over her face. She cleared her throat, trying to hide the grin that had threatened to split her face in two.
Yep. She was so screwed for falling in love. Not to mention to her very best friend. Her first very best friend.
End of flashback.
Beca pulls out from her thought when she notices a woman with short brunette hair and a pair of green eyes, walk right towards them. Before Beca can say anything, that woman taps Chloe on the shoulder.
Chloe turns around and exclaims, "Baby!"
Du du dum! Who is that? We'll find out in the next chapter.
Until then, sit tight and make good choices.
Thank you for reading. :)