Beca stood in place, unsure of what to do next after greeting Chloe. It was so unlike her to freeze like this because she would usually be more calm and confident. But tonight was not her night.
She heard Chloe clear her throat and pointed to the spot next to her, "Do you wanna sit?"
Beca nodded and placed her towel on one of the pool chairs, then took her seat next to Chloe. She felt a surge of electricity run through her body when her arm brushed against Chloe's, making her shudder. An awkward silence loomed between them, both uncertain of what to say. Say something, Beca. Anything!
"So," Beca began, trying to break the awkward silence, "what brings you out here?" Her eyes were focused on her legs dangling in the warm pool, unable to look at Chloe because she was already feeling so nervous. Get it together, Beca. You are not a shy awkward teenage boy!
Chloe looked at the brunette then moved her gaze to the pool, "I got into an argument with my parents and being near the water calms me". Beca caught the pool water reflecting off Chloe's bright blue eyes. How could a person have the prettiest shade of blue eyes ever to exist on this planet? Even though it's only been a week since they've started talking and hanging out here and there, Beca noticed that Chloe was an open book. Chloe wasn't afraid to talk about herself, whether it was personal or not and Beca found it endearing.
"Are you okay?" Beca asked cautiously knowing the topic of parents can be sensitive to some people.
Chloe nodded and gave Beca a shy smile, "I am now". Was she flirting with me, Beca thought. No she couldn't be, don't be ridiculous, Mitchell. "What about you?"
Beca tried to think of a sarcastic answer, but her mouth beat her to it, "Our apartment is too hot". You got this, Mitchell, just say it. She turned to look at Chloe, locking eyes with her bright blue ones, "Plus, once I got here, I saw that you were alone- had to make sure someone as cute as you didn't drown," Beca smirked.
Chloe blushed at the compliment, "Smooth". Beca wanted to give herself a self-five, but she thought against it because she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the redhead. "So," Chloe began and grinned, "what else does Beca Mitchell do besides stalk lonely girls sitting by the pool?"
Beca pretended to be in deep thought, "I like to help elderly ladies carry their groceries, save the world, and sing acapella in a girl group".
"Hey!" Chloe laughed and made a kick in the pool to splash Beca. "You're just not cool enough, I guess".
"I'll have you know, Chloe Beale," Beca stood up and moved behind the redhead and whispered into her ear, "I'm ice cold". Within seconds, Beca placed her hands on Chloe's waist and gave her a small shove into the pool, soaking her entire body.
Chloe came up to the surface and wiped her face to see Beca laughing to herself, "You are-"
Beca interrupted, still laughing, "Incredibly funny".
"I was gonna say an ass," Chloe swam closer to the edge of the pool. She definitely wanted to get Beca back for pushing her into the pool.
The brunette kneeled down to the redhead, offering her her hand to get out. Chloe knew this was the right moment to get Beca into the pool. Before she knew it, Chloe grabbed Beca's hand and pulled her into the pool. Now it was Chloe's turn to laugh at Beca's surprised face.
"I was trying to help you get out!" Beca groaned while she heard Chloe giggling. The brunette thought it was the cutest laugh to ever exist. Beca felt her heart glowing at the sound and immediately tried to make it stop, but it wouldn't falter. She knew she would do anything to make the redhead smile and laugh, for it was enough for Beca to see her happy.
Fat Amy heard giggling and splashing outside her bedroom window and took a peak at what was going on. What she saw was truly a side to Beca she hasn't seen before- she was genuinely happy. Amy saw both girls splashing each other in the pool and grinned to herself. She grabbed her phone and took a quick picture of Chloe and Beca, making a mental note to send this to her roommate.
"Okay, okay! You win, Beale!" Beca shouted playfully after Chloe dunked her head in the water.
Chloe looked triumphant and satisfied, giving Beca one last splash before getting out of the pool, "I always do".
The brunette rolled her eyes and pulled herself out of the pool. Beca grabbed her towel and was about to wipe herself down but she noticed Chloe shivering. "Did you forget a towel?"
Chloe answered shyly and bit her lip, "I may have".
Beca smirked at her and took her towel to wrap it around Chloe's shoulders to dry her off. She caught Chloe's blue eyes looking at her while Beca held the towel close together around Chloe's shoulders. Beca started feeling this unfamiliar, strange nervousness in the pit of her stomach. Is this what people call 'butterflies'? For a quick second, Beca could've sworn Chloe glance at her lips and then quickly avert her eyes away. You're just imagining things, Mitchell.
"I think you need this more than I do now," Chloe spoke as she returned the wet towel to Beca so she could dry herself off too. "We should do this again sometime. Minus the whole pushing me into the pool," Chloe joked.
Beca nodded in agreement, "Yeah. But no guarantee that I won't push you in the pool".
Chloe started walking towards the gate and winked back at Beca, "But I always win". In that moment, Beca felt the heat rising in her cheeks. She knew she was for sure blushing now and thanking the stars for being dimly lit so the redhead wouldn't see the brunette's reddened cheeks.
Beca rolled her eyes, knowing that Chloe would win with her every single time, "Goodnight, Chloe". It's official, Chloe was going to be the death of her.
"Goodnight, Beca," Chloe smiled and left her behind to go up to her apartment. Beca was unaware of it, but Chloe was feeling those same butterflies from earlier as well.
The redhead entered her apartment, her shorts dripping on their living room floor. "Why are you smiling?" Aubrey suspiciously asked her best friend when she noticed Chloe's full grin plastered all over her face.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Chloe replied walking straight to the bathroom. Her smile never leaving her face after the evening she had with Beca. She knew she was attracted to the mysterious brunette at first sight when she noticed her standing near the Barden Bellas booth a few weeks ago. It was the piercings and tattoos that drew Chloe in, but it was Beca's dark blue eyes that sealed the deal. Chloe's obvious crush didn't go unnoticed by a particular Barden Bella and Beca's roommate. Amy sometimes teased Chloe for smiling at her phone because she knew she was either reading or replying to a text message from Beca. It was clear to Chloe to get to know the brunette more, even if it meant slowly breaking down Beca's invisible guarded walls.
"You and Chloe have been spending an awful amount of time together the past few weeks," Amy wiggled her eyebrows at Beca while they were at the SOS headquarters for a monthly health check up and debriefing with Lilly. It was now October and Amy was very aware that Chloe and Beca had been hanging out more often than usual. Sometimes her roommate would wait for Chloe to be done with Bellas practice or she'd catch Chloe at their apartment studying with Beca.
"Shut up," Beca replied, trying to hide her reddened cheeks. "I'm working".
Amy chuckled at the brunette, not believing her best friend, "Working it".
After their health check up, the girls had a short meeting with Lilly about their progress on the case so far. "As promised, here's new information on former employees of WZRD," Lilly hand them a Manila envelope. "A former employee- goes by the name, Calamity- hangouts out at a bar called Lone Star Saloon. I would stop there for a drink on Friday," Lilly winked at the girls.
There wasn't much information on Calamity, except she was a former employee at WZRD and was now in an up and coming band called Evermoist. Lilly provided them with a picture of her and though she was not Beca's type, she had to agree Calamity was attractive. She had a short boyish haircut with light green eyes that could turn the most heterosexual woman into a lesbian. Calamity was that attractive.
Amy suggested they stop by the bar today to get a feel of the place, mostly she just wanted to get lunch because the bar had half off chicken wings during their lunch hours.
The girls had arrived at the Lone Star Saloon and quickly observed the surroundings. Beca had known about this bar for awhile but never got around to checking it out. It had a western theme with a large patio with picnic tables outside. The walls inside the bar were painted red and had many historic pictures of Los Angeles hanging on them. There were a few pool tables scattered along the middle of the floor near the bar area. On the opposite side, there was a small makeshift stage for when they have live bands or dj's.
"They have live performances every Friday," Beca noted as she saw a flyer hanging behind Amy. "We could do the fan girl plan?" The girls always loved naming their plans, even if it sounded ridiculous such as 'the fan girl'. Throughout the years, the girls kept a track of their schemes during missions in a book for reference and memories. It was mostly Amy's idea to make it a book because she was sentimental and truly enjoyed working with Beca when the chance was available.
Amy nodded in agreement as their chicken wings came. The two sat quietly, too busy enjoying their chicken wings and each other's company.
It was later that evening and Beca had been studying the fan girl plan while Amy was at Bellas practice. The brunette was waiting for a text message from Chloe when she'd be done because the redhead invited Beca over for a movie night. Beca was low-key excited for her night with Chloe because they haven't been able to hangout in the last few days since she was getting ready for a competition with the Bellas. Wait, hold on. Is this a date? She reread Chloe's text message multiple times, reading between the lines to see if there was any hint of a date included in their exchange. Beca had done movie nights with girls before, but none of them were Chloe Beale. After their many hangout sessions, Beca's crush on Chloe grew deeper and deeper. And true to Beca's personality, she'd never admit it because she didn't want her feelings to compromise what the true goal was: figuring out who was selling weapons from the inside of WZRD to the Three Queens. She sat at her desk looking up names of former employees from WZRD on her laptop and became intrigued when she looked up Joyce Valentine. She had been one of the top mechanical engineers at WZRD, but disappeared mysteriously after she was fired from WZRD for unknown reasons. Beca wrote down her name on a sticky note, making a mental reminder to dig a little deeper into her background. As she stuck her post-it onto her desk, her phone beeped indicating a text message.
Chloe Beale (20:45): Ready in 20! See u then :)
Beca quickly typed her reply: (20:46): Yeah you will ;)
As soon as the brunette hit send, she was filled with all types of regrets and embarrassment. Really, Mitchell? That's the the reply you send. Beca wanted to recover fast from that embarrassing reply. I have twenty minutes. That's plenty of time. She grabbed her keys and dashed out of her apartment to drive to the local flower shop that was ten minutes away.
Beca made it safely and on time before the shop closed. "Hi," she greeted the grey haired saleswoman standing behind the cash register, "Do you have any single roses?"
She was led to an aisle full of colorful and intricate rose arrangements. Beca's only experience in buying flowers was for her mom every time she visited her, but this was different because she definitely wanted to make a good impression on Chloe than her last text message. She picked out a single pink rose wrapped in cellophane and hurriedly drove back to the apartment complex.
Beca parked her car and looked at her watch. Shit, she thought, ten minutes late. She immediately ran up the stairs to Chloe's door and tried to keep composure from being out of breath. She took a moment to gather herself and rang the doorbell. For the few seconds before Chloe answered the door, she felt a nervousness emerge from the pit of her stomach.
She took a deep breath when Chloe appeared in front of her, "Sorry I'm late".
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read, favorited, and followed this story. It really means a lot. I apologize for any grammar mistakes. I'm still looking for a beta lol. Please don't forget to leave reviews, I always love knowing what you guys think of it. Thank you can't be said enough. Hope everyone has a good weekend!
Ps: I apologize for this update. I forgot to add the horizontal line after the pool scene to indicate a short time jump. I hope that clears up any confusion. Thank you for reading!