Beca had just gone off the phone and made her way back to the living room where she saw Chloe staring into space, sitting on the couch. There were wedding magazines scattered on the coffee table and pictures of wedding cakes.
"You okay?" Beca asked as she sat down beside her. She kissed her temple and Chloe let out a small smile.
"Yeah, I just- Can we talk?"
"Sure."
Chloe moved so she was facing her fiancé and intertwined their fingers. Beca brushed her lips against her knuckles. She knew there was something bothering Chloe, "What's on your mind?"
Chloe sighed nervously and looked into Beca's eyes, "Can we postpone the wedding?"
Beca frowned in confusion, "Why? We've been planning for three months now."
"I've been doing a lot of thinking and it's not fair if I'm not able to pay half of our wedding. I think I need to focus in my career first," Chloe bit her bottom lip nervously and looked at Beca with hopeful eyes.
Beca scratched her nose and slowly nodded. "You do know it's fine with me to spend everything on our wedding. But if that's what you want, I totally understand. As long as I know I'm going to marry you someday." She smiled lovingly at the redhead.
Chloe moved from her seat so she was straddling Beca's thighs and kissed her forehead, "I love you." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around the brunette's neck. She closed the gap between them and kissed her on the lips.
"I love you more," Beca said in between kisses. She snaked her arms around the redhead.
Beca was listening to music in her office when someone had tugged her headphones causing her to jump on her seat. She turned her swivel chair around and was met by Stella.
"What do you want?" Beca asked nonchalantly.
"I need you to do me a favor."
"Only if you go out to dinner with me," Beca smiled. She had to admit she liked Stella in a more-than-friends kind of way. She had been trying to ask the blonde out for months now but Stella just rejects her. They have a platonic friendship though Stella had been giving Beca mixed signals but the DJ just goes along with it.
Stella chuckled and sat on the brunette's lap, "Remember Violet? The one I set you up with like months ago? She's getting married."
"Wow. Good for her."
"Are you doing anything this weekend?"
Beca shook her head and looked at her suspiciously, "Why?"
Stella slowly grinned, "Will you be my plus one in this wedding?"
"You want me," Beca pointed at herself with raised eyebrows, "To go to a wedding this weekend." She wasn't amused by the idea.
Stella rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "It'll be fun! You'll just be home moping around anyway. Just come with me."
"No," Beca deadpanned.
Stella ran her finger on Beca's arm that sent shivers down the brunette's spine. The blonde pouted, "Please, Becs."
Beca rolled her eyes and groaned, "I hate it when you do that!"
"I'm guessing it's a yes."
"Fine. I'll go with you to this stupid wedding."
Stella squealed in excitement and planted a few kisses on Beca's cheek. "You're the best, Beca!" Then she grabbed the brunette by the neck and kissed her cheek again. Beca scrunched her face at the gesture. Stella reminded her of Chloe.
"I want you to wear something nice," Stella pointed a finger at her.
"Yes, Ma'am," Beca was looking through her phone and noticed she had received messages. Stella remained seated on her lap. They both heard a light knock by the door.
Beca tilted her head and saw Chloe standing by the doorway. Stella got off Beca's lap and let out a smile. "Chloe, what brings you here?" Beca asked as she was standing up.
"Um…I was supposed to meet Jeremy. I thought he might be here," Chloe said shyly. Beca gestured for her to come in and sit down on the black leather couch.
"Oh. Um, I think he'll be back in a few. You can wait here if you want. By the way, you remember Stella," She remembered Stella's presence in the room.
Stella gave her a small wave and the redhead gave her a polite smile in return. Beca excused herself to go to the restroom and to get a cup of coffee and so she left the two women.
"Wow. It's been a long time. How are you?" Stella asked to break the awkward silence.
"I'm good," Chloe said and felt awkward around Stella herself.
"Beca told me you're a teacher in a university," Stella stated as she sat down on the couch beside Chloe.
"Yeah. I'm quite enjoying it actually. College students can be a handful but I'm having fun," Chloe said.
"Jeremy...he does sound familiar though and I think I've seen him before. What's his last name again?"
"Wellerstein."
Stella widened her eyes, "Oh my god. I knew it! He's Violet's brother!"
Chloe's jaw dropped and she moved on her seat so she was facing Stella, "Right! How do you know Violet?" She grinned.
"We're close friends," Stella then later realized she's taking Beca to the wedding where Chloe and Jeremy will be. She forced a smile and continued talking about her friendship with Violet.
"Can I not go to the wedding?" Chloe was lying in bed and snuggled beside Jeremy who was on his laptop.
"Chloe, Violet wants you to be there. Just ignore my parents." Jeremy took Chloe's hand and gave it a quick kiss.
"Jeremy, they'll never like me. What's the point?" Chloe sighed and rested her head on the man's broad shoulders. She was basically struggling to impress Jeremy's parents. He came from a very rich family. Let's just say that his parents wanted Jeremy to marry their friend's daughter who went to med school. They were first disappointed when Jeremy chose to be a musician rather than to become a lawyer like his dad. They believed that Jeremy had been making bad decisions in life.
"Look, just be there for Violet okay?" Jeremy set his laptop aside and kissed Chloe's forehead. Chloe just wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer.
The wedding was amazing. Chloe didn't know why but when she saw Violet and her boyfriend, Rick, exchange vows, she couldn't help but feel jealous. It's not that she wanted to get married now but she wanted to someday. She just couldn't picture who will be the one waiting at the altar. She wasn't sure about Jeremy yet.
"I now pronounce you, husband and wife." The priest announced then Violet and Rick faced the audience and everyone stood up to give the newlyweds a big round of applause as they shared a passionate kiss.
Chloe's eyes followed the couple as they walked down the aisle but her eyes were glued to the person she had never expected to see. She saw Beca talking animatedly to Stella who was laughing to what she had said. Stella linked their arms together and Beca planted a kiss on her forehead. Chloe's smile faded at the scene happening before her.
"Hey, you okay?" Jeremy asked softly, noticing the way Chloe looked.
Chloe forced a smile and looked at him, "Yeah." She kissed him on the cheek.
"Jeremy! Nice to see you here," Beca greeted him. The brunette was wearing an elegant white cocktail dress with a matching black leather jacket.
"Beca? What- Oh I see," Jeremy smirked when she saw Stella, "How are you doing, Stella?"
"I've been really good, Jeremy. I knew looked familiar when I first saw you."
Jeremy just chuckled and asked, "So are you together?"
"Yeah. Well, not together-together. Just friends-together," Beca rambled. Jeremy just nodded and pulled Chloe close to him. He didn't realize that Beca noticed him tense a bit.
Everyone was having a great time at the reception. There was dancing and a hilarious speech coming from Violet's father. An amazing band played jazz music and other acoustic songs. It was just a fun night.
Chloe and Jeremy sat down by their table while he kept on telling her how beautiful she looked tonight until they were approached by Jeremy's parents. He stood up to greet them and Chloe did as well but she only received a fake smile from Jeremy's mother. Clearly, Jeremy's parents still didn't like her.
"You look handsome, darling," Mrs. Wellerstein said with a smile and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
"So…uh…Mom, you remember Chloe," Jeremy said and gently placed his hand behind her back. Chloe just smiled shyly.
"Of course," Mrs. Wellerstein eyed at Chloe before turning her eyes back to her son, "So Jeremy, I'd like you to meet Mr. Richardson's daughter, Rosie." The woman started pulling him away from Chloe and Jeremy gave her an apologetic look. She forced a smile and mouthed, "It's okay."
Jeremy wasn't a problem. His parents were. Well, his mother in particular. She had never met any of her lover's parents. Maybe except for Beca's.
"She'll love you. Don't worry about it, Chloe," Beca gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Chloe just took a deep breath.
"I just feel nervous. I've never met anyone's parents before so this is kind of new to me," Chloe said. They've been only dating for a few months and Beca thought it would be nice if Chloe had met her mother since they were in town anyway.
"You're not only going to meet my mom though. My older brother is also here," Beca said nonchalantly.
Chloe tensed a bit and turned her head to Beca, "You have an older brother?"
"Yeah, he just came back from Chicago so," Beca shrugged, "He's awesome."
After a few minutes, an older brunette man had opened the door. He was taller than Beca and had a huge body. He pulled Beca in for what seemed like a bear hug.
"James! You're crushing my bones!" Beca said in a squeaky voice, trying to free herself from his embrace.
"I've missed you so much, Becky." He put her little sister down and ruffled her hair. Beca scrunched her face as she tried to fix it. He turned to Chloe who was smiling at the sibling interaction, "You must be the hot redhead she wouldn't stop talking about." He reached out hand shake in which Chloe gladly took it.
Chloe smirked at Beca who looked away awkwardly, "Apparently, I am. It's nice to meet you," She gave him a polite smile.
"There's my favorite daughter!" Brenda Spencer said coming from inside of the house.
"Hey, Mom," Beca hugged her tightly.
Chloe stood awkwardly behind her and Brenda stretched out her arms to Chloe and hugged her, "It's finally nice to meet you in person, Chloe. Beca, here, wouldn't stop talking about you."
"It's only been a few minutes and you two are already embarrassing me," Beca rolled her eyes and let out a huff. Chloe just kissed her on the cheek and they continued talking in the living room.
After hours of talking, they finally moved the conversation to the table. James and Brenda would still embarrass Beca occasionally in front of Chloe. They mostly talked about Beca's childhood.
"Becky, here, is really a good dancer. She had ballet classes when she was in the 6th grade," James said with a chuckle as he took a slice of cheesecake.
Beca cringed at the memory, "James, I buried that side of me for years."
"Oh! I still have the video of her recital!" Brenda got up excitedly and quickly made her way to the cabinet in the living room where she kept all of the tapes and CDs. Beca groaned in frustration and Chloe just giggled.
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Chloe winked at Beca who was pouting and leaned over to kiss the corner of her lips.
"Ms. Spencer? Can I get a copy?" Chloe gave Beca a mischievous smirk and the other girl just rolled her eyes and made her way to the kitchen to get another glass of wine.
"Chloe, dear. Please just call me Brenda," Brenda said with a sweet smile.
Stella and Beca decided to stay by the bar and just talked about random stuff. They didn't know much of the people around. Though most people they ran into actually thought they're dating but they just laugh it off.
"I still can't believe I'm the last person you would want to go out with," Beca scoffed and looked at Stella who took a sip of her drink.
"Maybe because we're really good friends. I mean, you are one of my bestfriends. I don't want to change things between us," Stella answered as she took a sip of her drink.
"Well, I'm honored and still confused as to why you wouldn't want me to be your girlfriend. We'd make a hot couple you know," Beca winked at her. Stella giggled at the brunette's comment but then it grew silent.
Stella looked at Beca who was watching the crowd dance and said in soft voice, "I know you still love her, Becs."
Beca sighed deeply and looked down at her drink, "She's over me. Can't you see? She's with someone else. Why are you insisting that we should get back together?"
"I can't believe you just gave up like that. It was clearly just a bump in the road," Stella retorted.
"She wasn't happy anymore. Look, can we not talk about this. And besides I still need an explanation why I'm not datable in your world. Who would you date, me or a shark?"
Stella sighed and decided to just drop the subject, "Shark."
Beca playfully rolled her eyes, "Just one dinner. You haven't gone out with me yet so you're basically missing out on this," She gestured all over her body.
"You're a dork," Stella lightly punched Beca on her arm. "Ok, let's make a deal. If we're already 40 and we're still single then maybe we can get married."
"Ah, this is one of those bestfriend deals. Okay, deal. I can't wait for ten years," Beca said sarcastically which earned a playful slap from the blonde.
"Beca," Stella began.
"Yeah?" Beca asked softly.
"Promise me. One thing," Stella let out a sigh, "Promise me, you'll do everything to make things right with Chloe. Don't let her go this time."
Beca looked into Stella's eyes and pursed her lips, "What makes you think she would want to get back with me anyway?"
Stella stood up properly and looked at the other girl, "The reason why I wouldn't agree to go out with you is because I know you still have feelings for her. I know no matter what I do, your heart will always beat for Chloe." She slightly tilted her head and saw someone walking towards them.
Beca looked down from her gaze and sighed deeply. Stella leaned over and said in a low voice, "I'm gonna go talk to the other bridesmaids. You have company." She started walking away.
Before Beca could even say something, Chloe was already standing in front of her. She smiled brightly at Beca who still looked surprised. Bright blue eyes were staring back at her and the redhead's smile turned into a sad one.
"Dance with me?" Chloe asked.
Beca admired the beautiful redhead in front of her. Chloe was wearing a pale purple dress and her hair was tied into a messy bun. She let out a hand and Chloe gladly took it. She pulled her to the dance floor. There were also other people dancing. Her heart stammered when she felt Chloe's hand on her shoulder. Her free hand was holding Chloe's. She wrapped an arm around the other girl's waist and their faces were just a few inches apart. Beca moved her head to the side to avoid eye-contact. They started dancing slowly as soon as the band started playing an acoustic version of U2's With or Without You.
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
And I wait for you
Beca could tell that something was wrong. She looked at her in the eyes and those bright blue ones looked back at hers but Chloe averted her gaze and rested her chin on Beca's shoulder, "Is everything alright?" The brunette asked with a soft voice.
"Yeah, I'm just having a rough night," Chloe replied. She couldn't tell Beca her current situation. She just couldn't.
"So where's Jeremy?" Beca asked as she cleared her throat.
"He's...uh…somewhere with his family. You know, it's his sister's wedding so he's busy and-."
"Why aren't you with him?" Beca cut her off and asked her out of curiosity.
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait, without you
With or without you
Chloe didn't answer and decided to just change the subject, "So you and Stella huh? I thought you said you weren't dating."
"She just told me I'm the last person on earth she wanted to go out with," Beca slightly chuckled.
Chloe quirked her eyebrow and let out a breathy laugh, "Really?"
"See the irony."
Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
"You look beautiful tonight," Beca whispered to her ear.
"Thanks. You too," Chloe felt her stomach flip when Beca said it. She didn't feel this way when Jeremy told her a while ago. The moment when Jeremy left her alone she grew upset and just wanted to leave. But she found herself making her way to Beca asking her to dance with her.
My hands are tied
My body bruised, she's got me with
Nothing left to win
And nothing else to lose
"Chloe, you know you can talk to me."
"I just want to dance with you," Chloe pulled her closer.
They just danced in silence, feeling each other's presence. Both have never imagined that they would come to this moment after three years. Beca wanted to know what was going on but she respected the redhead's privacy. Stella is right (she always is). She could never love anyone the way she loved Chloe. Chloe will always be her first love. That's kind of hard to forget, right?
Everything just feels so right. Chloe didn't want this night to end. She knows Jeremy is somewhere watching them but he's too busy talking to some girl her parents wanted to meet him.
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
But then Beca felt someone tap her shoulder. Chloe lifted her head from the other girl's shoulder and saw her boyfriend looking at them. She quickly pulled away and Jeremy just stood there in silence.
"I hope you don't mind if I steal my girlfriend for a while," Jeremy said with a smile. Beca could tell it was forced.
Beca gave him a smug look and raised her hands in mock defeat, "Just so you know, she asked me to dance with her. And if I were you, I wouldn't leave my girlfriend alone." She just walked away and quickly made her way to the bar. She took a huge gulp of alcohol as soon as the bartender placed a glass in front of her. She didn't want to but she watched Chloe and Jeremy dance. She met Chloe's gaze and Beca just looked away then left.
A/N: Thank you for the favs, follows, and reviews. Keep them coming, guys. :) Let me know what you think of this chapter.
