A/N: In order for this chapter to make sense I have to write in Beca's perspective at the beginning and then continue with Chloe's.
Beca Mitchell
Jesse placed a cup of coffee in front of Beca. She didn't go to bed last night, she just sat at the kitchen table staring at the wall.
Jesse sighs, "after just two days of being in Barden, I'm starting to think we made the wrong decision coming back."
"You think?" Beca rolls her eyes. "What did you expect? That shit would just be exactly how we left it?"
"Okay, whoa Becs," he holds his hands up in surrender. "Don't bite my head off. I'm sorry."
"Pass me my laptop," Beca says ignoring his apology. Jesse hands it to her. She does a search on 'dead body found in Barden'. All that comes up though is her. She's everywhere.
'Celebrity Beca Mitchell finds body in the park'
'Everyone's favorite troublemaker musician has been located due to a local boy's death'
Beca wanted to throw her laptop across the room. What about the boy? Who was he? Did he have a family? What drove him to do this? Beca almost did that. She was face down backstage with vomit all over her face, her body unconscious but Jesse found her. Found her before she had the chance to share the same fate as that boy. The tabloids were all over it, saying what they thought they knew about what had happened. But no one was talking about this boy or how they can prevent kids from doing drugs and killing themselves. No one was talking about how to get help.
Something snapped inside of Beca, her career had become more than about just the music ever since she took her first pill.
It doesn't matter anymore. Everything she does will be connected to her stupid OD. She's over it. She's always going to be just as good as that mistake. It didn't matter if she got clean or changed her ways because everyone watching either didn't care or secretly didn't want her to. Who wants a reformed celebrity when they can have a reckless, drug addled one.
Beca will give them what they want. She doesn't care about the consequences. What consequences? She's famous everyone will praise her with magazine covers and interviews just to be near her. They want her to do stupid, reckless things so that they can live vicariously through her.
Beca isn't afraid. Not of death, not of drugs, not of failure. Beca doesn't care. She will do what she wants, let the paparazzi watch.
Beca gets up from the table and checks the time: 9:26 am.
"Where you going?" Jesse asks.
Beca looks at him, "to do what I want."
Still in yesterday's baseball jacket and ripped jeans she storms out the house.
"Beca I swear, if you do something stupid-" Jesse starts to say but Beca's already gone.
And then it doesn't matter.
Chloe Beale
Chloe is sitting on the stool behind the counter inside The Sweet Shop, bored out of her mind as usual. Ever since her encounter with Beca everything else in life seems duller. It's not a feeling Chloe's used to. She loves things, small things make her happy but they just don't seem to be doing the job for her anymore. With Beca even if the brunette was freaking out things seemed brighter more alive and Chloe reveled in that feeling.
Chloe turned on the radio and immediately the radio host started talking about a boy found dead in a park.
"So according to police a dead body was found in the park by get this, Beca Mitchell."
Chloe's heart lurches at the name but then she registers what happened. Beca had found a dead body?
The brunette must be in shock.
Chloe turns off the radio wishing she had a way to contact Beca or even Jesse.
The door bells chime as someone walks in.
"Good morni..." Chloe's voice falls away when she sees Beca walking towards her.
She barely has enough time to register what's happening when Beca puts her hand on the counter's small latch door and hops over it.
Chloe gets off her stool but Beca keeps coming until Chloe's back is pressed against the wall and Beca is an inch away from her.
Chloe involuntarily whimpers, "Beca?"
Beca looks intensely at her for a moment and then pushes her lips against Chloe's. Chloe is so shocked that she doesn't kiss back for a few seconds. Then she allows Beca to kiss her for a bit longer because, God, kissing Beca is like tasting heaven. But when the brunette tries to deepen the kiss Chloe pushes her back gently.
"Beca, what...what're you doing?" Chloe asks, softly. She wants to let the brunette know that she was okay with kiss but she wasn't okay with how Beca had just stormed in and basically forced it on her.
"Kissing you," she says in a tone that makes it seem so obvious.
"Beca," Chloe pushes her back more so they aren't touching. "You can't just do that."
"Why not?"
Chloe sighs, "seriously? Because one, what if I didn't want to and two, we're in a public place where I work."
Beca shrugs, tracing her finger along the counter that she's now leaning on.
"What if Aubrey was here?"
That seems to get to her, she starts fidgeting, "I...is she?"
"No, she comes in and takes over my shift at noon." Chloe tells Beca. "Do you want to wait with me? We can talk after my shift."
Beca shakes her head, "no, I don't want to see Aubrey."
Chloe doesn't plan on taking no for an answers, "you'll only see her for a minute while we change shifts, please Beca?"
Please. Please. Please.
Beca's eyebrows furrow, "okay."
Chloe stops herself from squealing in joy, "okay. You can sit on the floor here." She gestures to the space beside her stool. Chloe could've sent her to the lounge room but she'd much rather have Beca as close as possible. "Do you want something to do or can you entertain yourself?"
Beca sits down cross legged, her back against the counter, "can't I just talk to you?"
Chloe smiles, "yes, of course you can."
Chloe sits back on her stool. She thinks that Beca today is much different than the Beca she met the first time. This version of Beca seems to care less about the world and consequences where as the other one seemed cautious and afraid.
Chloe wants to ask Beca about the kiss and if she's okay about finding a dead body but something tells Chloe that those topics will set her off and Chloe can't deal with a breakdown properly in the shop right now.
"So Beca, I don't know much about you." That's a lie, she knows everything that the internet and Aubrey had to say about her but Beca doesn't need to know that. "Tell me something."
"What's to tell? I'm famous. I abandoned the only people that ever loved me. I did drugs." Beca bluntly tells Chloe.
Chloe looks down at Beca to see the girl had her eyes squeezed shut, "what's your favorite color?"
Beca's quiet for a second then she opens her eyes to meet Chloe's, "cerulean."
Chloe looks away to hide her blush and doesn't look down again until Beca asks, "what's yours?"
Chloe shrugs, "I like them all."
They go on like this back and forth only stopping when a customer comes in or when Beca just blanks and stares at the wall. Chloe knows she's thinking about seeing the body so she gives Beca her moment.
At five to noon Chloe starts to get nervous, she's not sure how meeting Aubrey is going to effect Beca but she's sure she won't let Aubrey hit Beca again.
Aubrey walks in and smiles at Chloe, "hey Chlo'."
Chloe looks down at Beca who seems to have stiffened at the sound of Bree's voice.
"Hey Bree, um.." Aubrey opens the latch door and her eyes immediately drop to Beca.
"What is she doing here?"
Beca gets up, "I'll leave."
"No Beca, don't go," Chloe says, grabbing her hand as support but really to make sure Beca doesn't run. "Aubrey, she was just waiting for me. e're going to leave now. I'll see you at home, okay?"
"Don't say I didn't warn you that she's a mess, Chloe." Aubrey glares at Beca.
Beca stares right back at her.
Chloe squeezes Beca's hand lightly, she doesn't get what Aubrey's problem is. Yeah Beca left her but hasn't Beca been through enough? She loves Aubrey and gets that Beca hurt her, Chloe isn't okay with that but Beca is also hurt. It's obvious even though she doesn't act like it. They both need healing and neither of them will get it if Bree continues to be hostile and Beca refuses to talk.
Chloe turns to Beca, "I'm going to go get my jacket, wait here."
Once Chloe let's go of Beca's hand, a flash of first day Beca emerges but then quickly vanishes.
Chloe walks into the lounge grabs her jacket and walks back. When she puts her hand on the door knob she stops hearing Aubrey's voice.
"Beca if you hurt Chloe in anyway so help me God, you better hope your drugs kill you first."
Chloe's eyes widen but she doesn't open the door.
Beca's voice comes next, "fuck you Aubrey. You can explain to Chloe why I left."
Chloe opens the door quickly and Beca turn, her eyes land on Chloe. "I hope you weren't leaving."
Beca's eyes shoot to Aubrey's and Aubrey looks away, "nope."
"Good, let's go." She grabs Beca's hand again and pulls her out the door with a quick wave to Aubrey. Aubrey just shakes her head.
"Sorry about Aubrey," Chloe says as soon as they hit the sidewalk.
Beca shrugs, "It doesn't bother me."
"Where do you want to go?"
Beca shrugs again and then takes her hand out of Chloe's. Chloe frowns Beca must see it because she says, "I don't know if you noticed but I have a tendency to fidget."
"I've noticed, why is that?"
"Um, a lot of reasons but I kind of have the feeling you want to talk about something else." Beca says.
"Yeah I guess, how're you feeling?"
Beca looks at Chloe, Chloe reads the expression on her face as a little surprised and a bit confused. They walk quietly for a bit until the reach the end of the side walk. Beca sits down on the curb and Chloe sighs thinking that Beca won't answer the question.
The Beca looks at her, "sit with me?"
"On the curb?"
"Why not?"
Chloe not wanting to lose her chance to talk to Beca, sits down next to the brunette, "happy?"
"Not in a long time."
Chloe frowns but doesn't say anything. They both don't talk for a while. They just watch the cars drive past them. Chloe thinks that this is what she'd choose if she was given a choice. She'd always choose to just be with Beca even if they don't talk. It's weird to have these feelings for a girl she's just met. The feelings are intense and reckless kind of like Beca herself.
"I kissed you because that's what I wanted to do. You stayed with me to make sure I was okay and I'm just a stranger. You've been stuck in my head since then. I kissed you because I knew it would clear my head. That's why I kissed you." Beca says, in a way that makes Chloe think that she's realizing it as she's saying it.
Chloe shakes her head, "I didn't ask you why."
"Yeah but you wanted to." Beca looks at her. "Was it okay?"
"The kiss? Yes, it was more than okay. I was just a little surprised by it." Chloe admits.
Beca's leg starts bouncing up and down and up and down, "Aubrey's not lying when she said I was a mess."
"Beca-"
"No, hear me out. I am crazy, I'll be the first to admit that. And if you want to, I would like to, um, hangout with you...more." She starts tapping her fingers on the sidewalk. "When I'm around you, you make me feel...sane."
Chloe's heart melts that's the sweetest compliment she's ever gotten.
"Of course I'd like to, Becs."
Beca's nose crinkles, probably at the nickname, "Becs?"
"Don't like it?"
"No it's-Stacie calls me that."
"Oh, is that weird for you?" Chloe asks not wanting to make Beca uncomfortable.
"No it's fine, it sounds normal coming from you."
Chloe can't help but grin. This is a Beca she never seen before. She's not completely relaxed but more so than anything Chloe had witnessed. "Give me your phone."
Beca hands it to her.
There's no password and the background is an old picture of her and Jesse on a Ferris wheel. She puts herself in Beca's contacts and then texts herself to get Beca's number.
Handing the phone back to Beca she says, "in case you're ever feeling insane."
Beca gives her a half lipped smiled.