The next morning at work, Chloe kept moving her bucket of flowers around on her desk trying to find the perfect placement. Her thoughts were flitting all over the place – about Beca, about moving, about everything, and she was having quite a difficult time concentrating on what she was going to teach that day. Fortunately, when the students started coming in, she was finally able to calm herself and get back into her normal daily rhythm.
During lunch, the call came from the relator that her application had been approved. Chloe immediately arranged to meet him at the house after school to sign the lease and pick up the keys. She then spent her conference period on the phone with the utility companies arranging to transfer services into her name. Now that she knew for sure, her excitement level was through the roof.
While it was too early to text Beca, she had no qualms about giving her best friend a call.
"Aubrey Posen."
Chloe's voice was shrill and full of enthusiasm. "Bree, I got the place. I got it! I pick up the keys this afternoon." Aubrey agreed to come over after she got off work to see the house in person. "I knew I'd get it. This was meant to be. I actually brought some boxes in my car that I can unload. Tom caught me packing and is so pissed. Anyway, I know you are at work. I can't wait to see you." Chloe's blustery rambling always amused her friend. She was indeed tickled with the new house.
By the time the blonde showed up at the house, Chloe had taken in the things she had brought from her old house and was unpacking dishes in the kitchen. Aubrey got a tour of the otherwise empty place and immediately fell in love. "It suits you Chloe. Honestly. I see why you wanted to jump on it before it got rented out." She could tell the level of Chloe's excitement and how relieved she was to be starting a new chapter in her life.
"How much do you love me Bree?" Chloe wrapped her arms around her friend's waist. Bree looked down at her friend knowing what request was coming. "Will you help me move this weekend? I've already hired movers for Sunday but that means I have to be packed up by Saturday. Plus, I think having a buffer with Tom would be wise. You should have seen his face when he saw me carrying boxes to my car this morning. He is still convinced I'm not leaving him." Chloe's rambling showed just how nervous she was about this new venture she was starting in her life.
"Well this will show him that the Chloe ship has sailed. And of course I'll help you silly. What are best friends for?" The pair finished with the few things Chloe already brought and Chloe stashed the empty boxes in her car.
Later that night Chloe finally gave in and texted Beca not caring if it was too early.
Beca grinned as she heard her phone buzz on the night stand. She'd been waiting for a message from the redhead and knew she must have been jonesing to let her know about the house.
Cute Redhead:G'morning! [sunshine emoji] I GOT THE [house emoji]! [lots of smiley emojis]
The response was immediate.
Hot Tiny Cop: Congrats! I never doubted it [smile emoji]
Hot Tiny Cop: Is it too soon to say I missed you today [upside down smiley face emoji] I enjoyed our day together yesterday.
Chloe's eyes widened at the words she read. She felt her heart flutter at the sentiment expressed.
Cute Redhead: Soon Beca, soon! Be careful tonight
Hot Tiny Cop: Roger that. Stacie says hi to Aubrey. Night
Chloe giggled as she locked her phone. Aubrey looked at her questioningly. "Stacie says hi." Her friend didn't say anything, just turned her back so Chloe couldn't see her blush and the small grin that crept up her face.
On Saturday, the two best friends worked quickly and were able to pack up all of Chloe's belongings well in time for the early arrival of the moving truck on Sunday morning. She left most of the furniture because it reminded her of Tom and worse, of his annoying sister. She had her bedroom set, a futon from college, and the breakfast table and chairs. Everything else would just have to be replaced.
By early afternoon, all of Chloe's belongings had safely been moved into her new house with boxes stacked in each room. She and Aubrey were sitting at the table as Chloe made lists of things that she needed to get – from household items to furniture. Some things she could get immediately while others would have to wait.
While Chloe was writing and randomly chattering, Aubrey was typing on her phone. "Earth to Aubrey. Hello, have you heard anything I said?"
"Ummm sorry Chlo, I spaced out there for a bit." Aubrey looked guilty for not listening to her friend.
"I'm starving. Do you want to go grab a bite or order delivery?"
"Oh. Errrr… that's what I was doing. I got this." Aubrey quickly got up and went to unpack some more boxes. Chloe thought her friend was acting strange but soon forgot about it.
About half an hour later, a metallic knock rapped on the front door. "Delivery for Posen," the voice called out. Aubrey rushed to answer the door and told the person to put the food on the table.
"Chloe, the food is here," she called out.
When Chloe entered the kitchen, she screamed as she jumped back a bit. In her house stood two Atlanta police officers in full gear, gun belts included. It took her a few moments to register that Stacie and Beca were standing there with take-out Chinese in their hands. She squealed and launched herself at Beca, wrapped her arms around for a hug.
"Oooh, you aren't quite as snuggly, smooshy with all this gear on." She rapped her knuckles on Beca's chest. "Is this your vest?" Beca laughed and nodded. Chloe made like she was feeling up the cop's chest – all around her vest – until she got to her shoulders. "Whew, there's still some flesh."
Both cops unbuckled their gun belts and gently placed them on the kitchen counter. Stacie started unloading the bags of Chinese food and yelled out, "Posen, the food you ordered is here. Where are you?"
The tall blonde made her way into the kitchen, stopping immediately at Stacie's gun belt. Respectfully, she did not touch the service weapon, just looked. When she stood, she announced. "SIG Sauer P220. Nice."
Stacie raised her eyebrows in shock. She snapped the keeper off her weapon and removed it from the holster. Ejecting the magazine, she cleared the chamber. Once she was sure the gun was on safety, she handed her service weapon to Aubrey while she reloaded the loose round into the magazine and began to spin it around in her hands.
Aubrey expertly examined the gun, testing the slide and hefting its weight in her hands. "My dad is a weapons expert in the military. I was raised around guns and taught to respect their power. Maybe we can go shooting some day?" She handed Stacie's weapon back to the shocked police officer.
'You are definitely full of surprises Posen." Aubrey returned this announcement with a blinding smile.
As all four women were seated around the small table eating the take-out that the cops had brought, Chloe and Aubrey were entertaining the officers with their college stories. "We were in an acapella group at Barden University." Beca and Stacie looked at each other.
Trying to keep her mirth from escaping, Beca dug into her box of food. "Acapella. Oh right, that was a thing back then."
Chloe gave her a fake shocked look as she swatted Beca's arm. Reverting to her college days, she responded, "Totes. We sang covers of songs but did it without any instruments. It all came from our mouths!"
"Yikes." Beca reacted jokingly. The women got a good kick out of the singing stories that Aubrey and Chloe shared.
"I know! Next time we have an evening out, let's go to a karaoke bar. I haven't sung with adults in so long." Chloe's excitement exuded from her very being.
After giving Stacie a warning look, Beca immediately began shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm not really a singer." When Chloe's smile dropped, Beca stumbled to try to correct the situation. "I don't mind going with you guys though." She looked at the redhead hopefully hoping that she had recovered enough.
Stacie did her share of talking, too. Her police work stories captivated both Chloe and Aubrey. While dragging details out of Beca was painful at best, Stacie seemed willing to cough up some great ones.
Despite being best friends, work partners and roommates, the two women couldn't be more different. Stacie was bold, out-going, and didn't have much of a filter. While Beca was extremely confident and funny, she didn't always like to talk about her job. She was pretty closed off about her life in general.
"Has Beca told you why she won't let me drive the patrol car anymore?" Chloe shook her head. "One night, a call about a dog attack came in on the radio. I was driving, and we were close so we took the call. She made me stop at a burger joint for some strange reason, so I raced through the drive-through."
"She went through the wrong way, I might add." Beca chimed in.
"I didn't know what you wanted. I figured you needed to talk to the server. Hush, this is my story. Beca ordered four burgers and fries, fries in a separate bag, and a root beer." By this time Aubrey was laughing so hard at the memory that tears were squeezing out the corner of her eyes.
"We got to the house. Beca grabbed the bag with the burgers. She opened the front door to the house. There were these two Dobermans apparently trying to chew this man's leg off. Beca gave a loud wolf whistle to get their attention and threw the burgers as hard as she could into another room. We then raced in to grab the man. It turns out that he wasn't even the home-owner. He was a burglar who called 9-1-1 when he couldn't get the dogs off of him."
"So no Stacie, you can't drive the car anymore. Plus, the sergeant banned us from that burger place." Beca was shaking her head at her roommate's stories although that was indeed one of her favorites. "Well ladies, as entertaining as this has been, it's time for me and Stacie to get to work."
After donning her gun belt, Beca allowed herself to get hugged again by Chloe. She had already learned that resistance was futile. Stacie simply put her hand on Aubrey's shoulder as she said goodbye.
"Text me later Red?" The brunette flashed a small smile towards the redhead who nodded.
Cute Redhead: Thanks for dinner tonight [chopsticks emojis]. What an unexpected surprise to see you [insert multiple smiley emojis]
Hot Tiny Cop: That was all legs and the blonde. I just got the benefit. [winky smiley emoji] Looks like you are settling in to your house quickly
Cute Redhead: YES! I love it. Tonight's my first night here. It will be lonely. [frown emoji]
Beca's heart skipped a beat. What hold did this woman have over her?
Hot Tiny Cop: But it's worth it, right?
Cute Redhead: So true! I'm headed to bed. Thanks again for coming by. Be safe [policewoman emoji]
Hot Tiny Cop: Always. G'night
Beca locked her phone and slipped it into the breast pocket of her uniform. Stacie reached over and slugged her in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?" Her roommate just laughed.
Back at the house, as Chloe closed out her text conversation, she sighed deeply and looked at her best friend. The blonde scooted closer to her friend on the couch. "You really like her, don't you Chlo?"
The redhead nodded. "What do you think Bree? Am I rushing things?"
Aubrey took a deep breath before she spoke. "Let me tell you what I see. For the most of last year, you were miserable with Tom. He treated you like shit, and I couldn't say anything because he was who you chose to love. But from what I can tell, Beca is good people. I mean, you've known her, what, a week and that's enough to get you to move into the city? That alone lets me know you are headed in the right direction. Besides I'm certainly glad I have my best friend back closer to me."
Chloe wrapped her arms around the blonde and snuggled in next to her. "Me, too, Bree. I promise that no matter what happens with Beca or anyone else, I will never neglect our friendship again." Aubrey pressed a kiss into the top of Chloe's head. "So inquiring minds want to know… what's up with you and Stacie?"
A huge weight she hadn't realized she was carrying had been lifted from Chloe's shoulders after she moved into her own space. Even her students noticed how chipper she was that next week. Early Wednesday morning, Beca had shown up at her house with coffee and breakfast treats along with another set of flowers for her new house. That afternoon as Chloe was walking to her car, her phone buzzed.
Hot Tiny Cop: Plans for tonight?
Cute Redhead: Unpacking. Ugh [frownie emoji]
Hot Tiny Cop: Want company? [devil emoji]
Cute Redhead: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes [lots of smiley emojis] Pizza's on me
Hot Tiny Cop: See you in an hour
Chloe did the best she could to clear the most of the moving clutter to the corners of the rooms of her house. Her breath caught when she heard the doorbell ring. She flung open the door to find the tiny cop standing there grinning at her. This time, Chloe gently wrapped her arms around Beca for a much calmer hug which the brunette gladly returned.
Beca pushed back slightly so she could see Chloe. "Hi." Her voice was soft and kind.
"Hi back." Chloe pulled her into the house and shut the door.
Beca pulled her hand from behind her back and offered Chloe a small box. "I got you something. It's not much, but well… it suits you."
The redhead excitedly unwrapped the box and gently opened the lid. As she saw what lay nestled against the cotton, her smile spread from ear to ear. She took out the ceramic ladybug and walked over to put it on the mantle of the fireplace. She then took the matching grasshopper and sat it next to the other insect. "They are so cute Becs. Just like you. Thanks!"
"No problem." Beca had her hands shoved in her pockets and she looked around the house. "I figured you might want some help unpacking."
A look of relief crossed Chloe's face. "Absolutely! I didn't realize how much stuff I had until I tried to find places for it all. What sucks is that I don't have a lot of furniture either. Nowhere to put a lot of things."
"Hey, I know this great flea market that's open on weekends. How about we go shopping Saturday before my shift? Not that I would ever voluntarily go shopping, but for you – I'll make an exception." This admission caused a flush to rise on Beca's face. "And ummm, I seem to have this big truck that has been begging to carry things for this certain cute little redhead. She says it's her mission in life."
Before the pair could agree on a plan, a worried look crossed Chloe's face. "Beca, you can't keep staying out during the day. You need to be well rested for work." She grasped Beca's hand.
Beca moved her other hand to Chloe's face and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Let me worry about me Chlo. I have gotten used to this crazy work cycle of shift work. Besides I have tons of comp time saved up."
"Comp time? What's that?"
"Sometimes the city doesn't like to pay overtime when we are short bodies on the street. So instead we get comp time – like extra vacation days. Typically, we collect more than we can ever use. But as long as we get people to cover our shift, our sergeant is pretty cool about letting us off when we want. But the sleep… don't sweat it."
The women worked hard and made a great deal of progress. After a few hours of work, what could be unpacked without extra furniture was taken care of. Chloe grabbed two beers from the refrigerator and settled on the couch next to Beca.
"So Chloe Beale, you sure weren't stretching the truth when you said once you make up your mind, you move quickly."
The woman next to her giggled as she drank her beer. "That's not exactly what I said Becs." The shorter girl looked confused. "I believe what I said was "When I see something I want…" The redhead didn't finish her statement. Beca about choked on her beer as she turned beet red. With that, Chloe bounced up to retrieve her phone off the table. "Pizza?" Beca didn't trust herself to speak and just nodded.
After finishing off a couple of pizza's, they just hung out watching some random episodes of various shows on Netflix. Beca was enjoying the redhead curled tightly up to her side. Being able to have her arm wrapped around someone was strangely comforting. Beca looked down and realized that Chloe was struggling to keep her eyes open. She kissed the top of her head. "Babe, I'm going to go so you can get some sleep. You have to work in the morning."
A disgruntled noise came from Chloe's throat. "No."
"No?" Chloe was so adorable when she was fighting exhaustion.
"No go Becs. Stay with me?" Chloe managed to open her eye a bit. "Please? Tonight was too nice to go to bed lonely."
Beca stood and pulled Chloe to her feet to guide her to her room to get ready for bed. "I'll be right back. I need to see what I have in my truck."
"S'okay. I have a new toothbrush you can use… and sleep clothes." Chloe burrowed around in her drawers and tossed a Barden t-shirt and a pair of sweats on the bed. She dug out her own pajamas and retreated to the bathroom.
Beca went back to the living room to clean up the pizza trash. She double checked the locks on the doors and turned out the lights. By the time she made it back into the bedroom, Chloe was curled up under the covers in her bed. Beca quickly brushed her teeth, shed her clothes and threw on what Chloe had laid out of her. She eased into the bed so as to not wake the redhead.
The redhead immediately wrapped her body around Beca happily cooing into the crook of her neck. "Comfy …" She reached up and softly kissed Beca's neck. "I'm glad you stayed Becs. G'night."
Shivers ran down Beca's spin and goosebumps raised on her arms. Beca could feel her growing attraction for the woman who had left no space between their bodies. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her promise to respect Chloe's wishes. It was everything she could do to keep her hands just where they were.
