Chapter 7
Beca looked up just as Chloe walked into the coffee shop and smiled an awkward smile. The redhead's step faltered as she approached her best friend's table. She bit her lower lip, and smiled back at the brunette as she pulled her headphones away and out of her hair.
"Hey Beca."
"Hey Chloe. Er…" She gestured towards the seat opposite and the redhead pulled out the chair and sat down. "Coffee?"
"Oh. I'll get these. Please?"
"No, no, I'll get these. It's fine. Besides, I'm starving. I'm gonna get a pastry…or two." Beca rose from her seat as Chloe sat back down, putting her purse on the table. "Do you want anything?"
Chloe raised an eyebrow and the brunette found herself blushing furiously. "Just a cookie, please Becs."
She smiled at the use of her nickname for the second time that morning as she walked over to the counter, nervous as hell, but also feeling incredibly cheerful.
"Hey Beca, what can I get you?"
"Oh hey Anna. Er can I get a Caramel Latte and a… oh, make it two. And can I get a couple pastries and one of those excellent cookies there," she said pointing to the tray of fresh baked goods.
"Great choice… so…good chat with Stacie?" Anna asked as she passed over the coffee order to the other barista behind her and started to plate up the pastries and cookie.
"Yeah. She really helped. I think. I can't believe she never told me about you two."
"Well, we've been pretty low key you know. I think she was trying out the word 'girlfriend' for a while," the blonde girl said with a wink, "you know, to get used to it. I know I am," she said with a happy sigh, her eyes glazing as she obviously started thinking of the leggy brunette. "Anyway – enough about us," she said putting the cookies and pastries on a tray and turning around to pick up the coffees. "So she convinced you to talk to Chloe?"
"Yeah." She snorted a quiet laugh.
"She's pretty good like that, huh? Well, good luck Beca," the blonde said, taking the brunette's payment.
"Yeah, I guess she is. Thanks." Beca took the tray and returned to the table.
"Hey, did you know Stacie and Anna are dating, like exclusively?"
They all knew Anna and had done for a couple of years. She had been working at The Coffee Place since Beca's Sophomore years and had even auditioned for the Bellas the year after they won the first ICCAs. They were only looking to fill Denise's place, so competition was tough and in the end, it was decided that the slightly Kooky Central American fit into the group better than any of the others. It was a close decision and Beca had always felt a little bad about it. Anna wasn't too upset though, and she'd remained friends with the group, even more so as they always hung out at her coffee shop. It seemed though, that one of their number had remained better friends…
"What? No?" Chloe genuinely looked surprised, more so at Beca's open gossiping than the revelation.
"Yeah. Anna's Stacie's girlfriend. I never realized she was into girls," Beca continued, blushing a little as she remembered why Stacie had brought her here to chat.
"Well seems we're all full of surprises," Chloe said quietly.
"Yeah," Beca agreed, sitting back down with the tray of goodies. She smirked. " I bet Cynthia Rose is going to be so pissed when she finds out Stacie was into girls all along."
Chloe nodded in agreement, her hands wrapping around the coffee mug that Beca had just put in front of her, mirroring the brunette's earlier awkwardness she displayed with Stacie. Beca passed the cookie over to the redhead who took it with a smile.
They sat quietly for a minute or two, sipping at the coffee and eating, neither one of them wanting to break the silence, both desperately searching for an opener.
It was Chloe that broke first. "We shouldn't be like this."
"What?"
"Not able to talk to each other. The silences should be comfortable." She paused, her voice quiet and low. "Not this."
"Yeah. No," Beca agreed. She looked at the redhead sadly who was looking back at her without the usual bright blue spark.
"I'm guessing one of the girls has spoken to you?" Chloe smiled to herself, looking across at Anna. "Stacie?"
Beca snorted, biting her lip and nodding her head gently. "Yeah. She ambushed me this morning."
"Ambushed?"
Beca looked guilty, her eyes downcast. "I was trying to sneak out early again. To avoid seeing you." She looked up at the redhead whose face had taken on a hurt look. "Yeah, I know. I'm a bitch." Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but Beca cut her off, "No. I am. Your text this morning made me smile, but I still ran. Stacie was waiting for me outside." The brunette took another sip of her coffee and a bite of her pastry, Chloe watching her intently and waiting for her to continue. "Sorry – hungry. Skipped breakfast remember?" She smirked, a little bit of humor slipping into the otherwise less-than easy atmosphere. "We had a good talk."
Beca looked long and hard into Chloe's eyes She took a breath. "I've missed you Chlo. I'm sorry."
Chloe's heart skipped at the nickname and she smiled brightly, "No, I'm sorry. I've missed you too."
Both girls smiled at each other across the table.
"So… You kissed me?"
"Yeah… You ran away?"
"Yeah…Why?"
Chloe looked confused for a moment, her eyes showing the questioning "Why what?"
Beca's hands wrapped around her mug, her eyes lowered to concentrate of the frothy milk residue on the side. "Why did you kiss me?"
Chloe's eyes glinted, willing Beca to look up at her. Her continued silence worked as Beca slowly raised her lowered eyes. Chloe smiled, "I think you know why Beca. I think you know why I kissed you."
"And I think you know why I ran?"
Chloe closed her eyes and then opened them again, fixing Beca with that intense look that the brunette knew was her undoing. "You ran because…" she paused. "I'm hoping you ran because you realized how I felt about you and you felt the same? And you were scared?" Beca nodded.
"I guess part of me was shocked. I told Stacie. It was completely unexpected, yet subconsciously expected? I was shocked and a little bit scared. A little bit scared because best friends don't kiss their best friends and girls don't kiss girls, or…" Beca sighed. "That's pretty lame isn't it? My first instinct was denial – I'm not gay. I don't like girls. That's not to say I can't appreciate that some are pretty and some aren't," she started to babble, "but…" She looked at Chloe whose face had frozen into a blank look bordering on tearful. "I do like you Chloe. Like, like-like – I really like you Chloe and I'm scared things will change between us. I'm scared that if we… if we become more than friends…"
"Girlfriends?" Chloe said with the slightest hint of hope in her voice.
"Yeah.. girlfriends… What if we end up falling out? Splitting up? I'd lose you forever and I don't want that. I couldn't face that Chloe."
Chloe smiled reassuringly. She'd become aware that her hand resting on the table had started getting closer to Beca's. Her fingers brushed the black-nailed fingers of her best friend, the girl she was in love with, and to her incredible delight, those same fingers meshed with hers, lacing perfectly together on the table. She looked up at the brunette, the spark in her eyes back as the younger girl apparently felt the same spark of connection and offered her a smile in return, her perfect teeth flashing brightly as her eyes betrayed her slight embarrassment.
They sat together in silence, for a couple of minutes, their fingers laced together tightly on the table as they looked at each other.
"I couldn't face that either Beca."
A/N Thanks for all the kind words so far, especially all you guest reviewers.
