Author's 1st Note: Hey, guys! Hope you're all ready!
This chapter was a lot of fun to write and it's going to lead to even MORE fun things.
Hope you enjoy. ;)
"Ugh, not again!" Cynthia-Rose groaned.
"Come on, Emily," Aubrey added. "You can't keep doing this."
The long walk up the tall set of wooden steps that led to one of the water slides had been fine for the Bellas and their new friends. Emily had been distracted by Benji's– failed– attempts at flirting with her, but when the group finally made it to the top, Emily's gaze had drifted and she was able to process just how high off the ground they actually were.
"I'm sorry, okay?!" Emily cried, desperately holding onto the ending of the metal hand railing. "I looked down!"
Aubrey face palmed herself and sighed as she shook her head.
"Ooh, not good with heights, are ya, love?" Luke asked from behind Aubrey. Emily shook her head. "Well don't worry," he smiled. "You're not going down alone." He reached passed Emily to grab Benji's arm and pulled him forward until they were standing side by side. "Benji'll be there to hang on to you."
Emily was still holding the railing, but looked up to find Benji sheepishly smiling at her.
Her brow furrowed, "I–" and then her eyes darted over to the opening of the slide. "I don't know."
"Awh, come on, Em," Cynthia-Rose whined. "You're holdin' up the line."
Stacie had her arms crossed and shook her head, "We're never going to get her to move."
Chloe had been watching the exchange and was one of the few to actually feel sorry for Emily. This was the rock climbing wall all over again.
Hey, wait a second.
Chloe maneuvered around Chicago, "Excuse me," and placed a comforting hand on Emily's shoulder. "Hey, Em?" The younger girl looked at her, her brow still furrowed with fear. Chloe leaned closer to her, "Would you feel better if Beca helped you on?" Emily's eyes suddenly widened at the idea and she nodded her head. "Okay." Chloe stood up and leaned passed Emily to shout down at the rest of the group still in line, "Hey, Beca?"
Beca had been hiding at the back of the group with Jesse and flinched at the sound of Chloe's voice calling for her.
"What the hell does she want?" Beca muttered.
"Maybe round two," Jesse snickered, grunting when Beca elbowed him hard against his ribs.
"What?" Beca shouted back.
"Can you come up here, please?"
Please? Beca thought, surprised by the genuine tone.
"Why?"
Aubrey suddenly appeared behind Chloe, "Will you just get up here?" she snapped. "Emily needs you."
"Emily?" Beca said. She moved to take a step, but immediately stopped, "Shit." She turned her head to look back at Jesse, "Come with me."
"What?" Jesse asked. "Why?"
"Because," Beca started, grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs with her. "I need your help covering my back, did you forget?"
"Oh, yeah."
When they got to the top, Emily was still gripping onto the handrail, but smiled when she saw Beca.
"Oh, good," she sighed in relief. "You came."
Beca stepped around her to look at her properly, but didn't let go of Jesse's hand and made sure to keep his body close to hers.
"Why'd you bring him?" Stacie asked, her brow quirked as she used her chin to gesture towards Jesse.
"He's with me," was Beca's quick response, keeping her main focus on Emily.
Jesse smiled, cockily, "I'm with her."
Chloe battled a sudden urge to say something about his comment, and instead, folded her arms with a disapproving curve in her brow as she eyed him.
"Em," Beca said, tucking a strand of the younger girl's hair behind her ear. "You okay?"
Emily looked at her with those big, brown, puppy dog eyes and shook her head with a pout, "No…" She looked like she was about to cry.
"What's wrong?"
Emily closed her eyes and crinkled her nose, "I looked down."
Oh, God. Not this again.
"You did?" Beca asked, taking a mental note to never have Emily in high places ever again. "Okay, um… I'm going to walk with you to the slide, but I want you to keep your eyes on me, okay?" Leave it to Emily to always bring out Beca's inner motherly nature.
Emily nodded, "O-Okay."
Beca smiled and held out her hand. Emily was slow to let go of the railing, but when she finally did, she quickly reach out for Beca's hand. Her palms were sweaty, and Beca made a cringing expression when she felt the clamminess against her own skin.
Ew.
"There you go, Em," Beca encouraged, getting her to take her first step on the platform.
"Finally!" Cynthia-Rose cheered.
Beca realized her position was changing, so while keeping her eyes locked on Emily's, she tilted her head slightly to whisper to Jesse, "Move with me."
Jesse nodded and did just that. He made sure to stand behind Beca as closely as he could, without interfering with Beca's attempt at getting Emily to the slide.
"You're doing great, dude," Beca smiled, finding herself proud of her Bella sister for the second time that day. "We're almost there."
Chloe was still watching and found Jesse's closeness strange. What was with that guy? Hadn't he ever heard of personal space? And what was with Beca? It wasn't like her to be okay with people being that close to her, let alone a guy she just met.
Not that Chloe cared.
The rest of the group celebrated when Emily finally made it to the opening of the slide, and she gasped when her feet stepped into the rushing, cold water.
"Oh my stars! I did it!" she grinned, lunging forward to hug Beca. "Thank you! Thank you, again!"
Beca grunted as the taller girl squeezed her, for the second time that day, but she was smiling too.
"You're welcome," Beca muttered.
"Okay, now that you've got your friend on the slide, can you guys please start getting on?" The young lifeguard standing next to them deadpanned, clearly annoyed. "You've been holding up the line for the last ten minutes."
"Oh," Emily said. "I'm sorry!"
"Hey," Beca snapped. No one spoke to her aca-child like that. "She was just scared, alright? Lay off."
The girl rolled her eyes, "Whatever," and turned to sit on her stool next to the control panel. "Just hurry up before my co-worker kicks all of you guys off." She nodded towards a guy across the way. He was wearing a matching lifeguard uniform and stared at them sternly.
"Yikes," Emily said. "Okay, okay. I'm going." She carefully lowered herself down into the cool water and turned her head. "You coming, Benji?" she smiled.
Benji smiled back, "Comin'!" He happily sat down behind her and they took a moment to readjust themselves so Emily could sit comfortably between Benji's legs.
"You guys ready?" the female lifeguard asked. Benji and Emily both nodded, and with a short speech about safety requirements from the employee, Benji gradually pushed them forward until they were off with a shrill from Emily.
The lifeguard looked at Aubrey, "Alright, who's next?"
"Well," Aubrey glanced around at their large group. "I want to make sure everyone goes down okay. Us leaders will go last, so Stacie," she said, looking at the taller Bella. "You want to go next?"
"Um, hell yeah," Stacie replied. There was no hesitation.
"I'll go with her!" came from Luke, as he stepped forward to get comfortably behind Stacie.
"Ooh," Stacie purred, winking. "Okay."
Aubrey rolled her eyes and watched as they lowered themselves onto the water and pushed off. The group continued to take turns one by one. Some went down in pairs, like Jessica and Ashley, and Cynthia-Rose and Flo, but the others chose to go down alone.
While waiting for his turn, Jesse pulled Chicago to the side and started a conversation with him. With his brief absence, Beca made sure to stand by a corner with her back practically pressed up against the wooden wall.
"Nice scratch marks."
The voice made Beca jump. She had been so focused on the sliding Bellas and keeping her back hidden, that she hadn't noticed Chloe next to her.
Beca glared at her, "Yeah, thanks for that."
Chloe shrugged, "Consider it payback for the bite mark."
Beca rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
Chloe quietly snickered to herself and paused for only a moment before asking, "Does your new boyfriend know how you got those scratches?"
Well now that was interesting. Why would Chloe ask such a question?
"Jealous much?" Beca smirked, her eyes narrowing.
Chloe snorted as if the accusation was completely ridiculous, but was that a blush creeping up on her cheeks?
"I'm not jealous."
Beca wasn't buying it, "No?"
"Nope," Chloe said, crossing her arms. "I'm just curious as to how you explained the marks to him." She glanced over to where Jesse was chatting with Chicago. "He's had to have seen them by now," she said. "He's been standing, like, right behind you this whole time."
One of Beca's brow's arched, "Well aren't you observant," she said, snickering. "Didn't take you as the stalking type." Beca had to hold back a laugh at how Chloe's jaw suddenly dropped.
"I wasn't stalking you."
"Ooh," Beca smirked, leaning forward. "So defensive."
Chloe leaned forward too, her eyes suddenly a shade darker.
"Keep it up," she said," and I'll tell Jesse how you really got those scratch marks."
Woah. Now this was a side of Chloe Beca had never seen before. She was so serious, so firm, so threatening...
So hot!
It was clear Chloe had no idea of the truth behind Beca's and Jesse's relationship. There was absolutely nothing romantic between them, and Jesse already knew who the scratches came from.
But was Beca going to tell her that?
Nah.
Beca searched Chloe's eyes, "You wouldn't."
A small smirk tugged at the corner of Chloe's lips, "Try me," she said, and Beca chuckled.
"I already did."
Her snide comment was enough to make Chloe gasp and take a step back. Beca wish she could have taken a picture. The stunned look on her face was priceless.
"Beca! Are you ready?" Aubrey's call couldn't have been more perfectly timed, and Beca smiled at the blessing.
"Sure," Beca said, keeping her eyes locked with Chloe's. "Come on, Jess."
Jesse heard his name and turned from his conversation with Chicago to grin, "Coming!"
Beca winked before leaving Chloe in her stunned silence and joined Jesse at the top of the slide. She made sure to pull him close to her back as they sat down together, mostly because she still didn't want anyone else noticing the scratch marks, but partly because she wanted to keep Chloe on that jealous streak of hers.
It was fun.
"You two ready?"
Jesse nodded at the employee, but Beca looked down first, grabbed his hands and wrapped them around her waist before she looking back up at the girl.
"Yup."
Chloe's arms folded as she watched the exchange bitterly, subconsciously chewing the inside of her cheek as Beca and Jesse screamed with delight on the way down.
She was so not jealous…
Splashing around in the pools and trying out some of the other water attractions turned out to be a lot of fun. After spending some time playing, the Bellas and the boys made their way back to the buffets for some mid-afternoon ice cream.
Beca had managed to keep her back hidden from the others until they returned to their belongings and she was able to put her white shawl back on.
When the rest of the group became distracted with their frozen treats, Beca took the opportunity to pull Jesse aside and get the rest of the details involving their karaoke performance later that day.
"Hey, wait!" Jesse whined, reluctantly being yanked back out to the lido deck. "I wanted to get ice cream, too."
"You'll get it in a minute," Beca said, pulling him through the deck until they reached a quiet spot around the corner. "First, we have to discuss this–" Beca's hands gestured around. "Stupid karaoke idea of yours."
Jesse grinned, "Are you excited?"
Beca furrowed her brow. Was this guy for real?
"What?" she said. "No! I'm annoyed and completely unaware of what we're even doing or singing tonight!"
Jesse laughed. He freaking laughed! Beca could have punched him in the face right then and there.
"Why are you freaking out so much?" he asked. "I thought you were a performer?"
Beca was taken aback by his comment and pouted, "I am."
"Okay," Jesse said. "So, what are you stressing about?"
Beca sighed, her eyes fluttering shut in annoyance.
"Dude," she muttered, reopening her eyes. "When I perform, I perform with the Bellas. We're a group and we spend weeks rehearsing and perfecting our routines." Even though her fellow Bellas sometimes annoyed the shit out of her, this was still a fact that she was actually very proud of. "I don't just jump on stage with a random dude and sing a random song I don't know."
"Okay, well first of all," Jesse said, straightening himself, "it's just karaoke. I'm pretty sure you've done that before." Beca tried to respond to that, but Jesse wouldn't let her. "Second, I'm pretty sure you've heard the song I have in mind before."
Beca crossed her arms, "And if I don't?"
"That's the best part!" Jesse grinned. "It's karaoke. The lyrics will be right there in front of you!"
Beca was so close to strangling this guy. He was lucky he had dirt on her.
Beca huffed and shook her head, "What song is it?"
"Awh, come on, now," Jesse said, looking more than amused. "Where would the fun be in that if I told you now?"
Beca gaped at him, "The fun?! Are you serious?"
Jesse laughed again, "Don't worry, it'll be great! I'm pretty confident we're gonna win the prize."
Beca groaned, but the thought of winning a prize did sound more intriguing.
"What's the prize?" she asked. It was probably something stupid.
"A hundred dollar Visa card."
"Oh," Beca said. "That's… actually not a bad prize."
"Yeah!" Jesse grinned. "So whadaya say? Are you excited now?"
Beca frowned and eyed him skeptically. Despite the thought of winning a decent prize, Beca still wasn't sure how to feel about the whole situation. Something in her gut was telling her not to fully trust this guy.
But then again, that could be because she already had trust issues to begin with.
"Not to be that guy, but," Jesse added, "I do still know your 'Chloe secret,' so," he shrugged. "You kind of have to do this if you really don't want my big mouth– Agh!"
His threat, though intended to be more of a joke, struck a sensitive nerve in Beca, and she didn't let him finish his sentence as she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and shoved him back against the wall.
"Listen, asshole," Beca gritted, her patience now very thin. "The only thing keeping me from punching you in the face right now is that stupid fucking secret you were lucky enough to figure out, okay?" She stared him down, hard. "Don't push me."
Jesse brought his hands up, "Hey, relax friend," he said, calmly. "I'm only messing with you." He released Beca's grip on his shirt with caution and readjusted it to remove the wrinkles. "Don't worry about tonight, alright?" he said. "It's going to be fun. Trust me."
Beca looked away, "I don't trust anyone."
"Okay…" Jesse said, thinking of a new way to put it. "Then how about you trust yourself?" This got Beca to look back at him. "You're a smart girl. Just trust your instincts when you're up there. Do what feels right." Beca was searching his eyes like she was still unsure, so Jesse enthusiastically added, "And hey, you could win the hundred bucks!"
"Wait," Beca said, her eyes narrowing. "If we win, wouldn't we split the prize? Fifty-fifty?"
"Eh," Jesse shrugged. "Since you're pretty much being blackmailed into doing this, I feel like it's only fair that you keep the prize when we win."
His last words make Beca snort, "When we win?" she said. "Someone's confident."
And then Jesse's smile shifted. It wasn't a smirk, but it wasn't a regular smile either. There was something hidden in his expression, and Beca didn't like it.
"Let's just say that if you sing up there tonight," he said, nodding. "I have faith that we will definitely win the prize."
Well that certainly didn't make Beca feel any better. Why did he say it like that? What was this guy really up to? Beca couldn't be sure, but she also couldn't risk her secret getting out. Beca was going to have to just go with it and hope for the best.
"Alright," she said, almost reluctantly. "Whatever. Just give me the details about time and wardrobe so we can be done with this conversation."
Jesse smiled, widely, "Okay! The karaoke competition starts at nine-thirty. I'm pretty sure you guys are coming to the pool party, so I'll find you and let you know what time we're on once I find out. As for wardrobe–" Jesse looked her up and down. "Wear something you think you look hot in."
Beca tittered and rolled her eyes, "Really?"
"Yup."
Beca shook her head, "This is gonna be so stupid."
"No it's not!" Jesse encouraged, draping his arm around her shoulders. "It's going to be great!"
Beca made a face and shrugged his arm off, "Don't touch me."
After the group was finished with their ice cream and a mutual agreement was made to all meet up again at the pool party– which Jesse so confidently predicted– the Bellas and the boys began to go their separate ways to change and prepare for their evening dinners.
As the girls stood up the leave, Chicago skillfully slipped passed his friends and grabbed Chloe's hand to pull her towards him.
"So, I'll see you later tonight?" he grinned, making Chloe giggle.
"Oh," she said. "Definitely."
Beca couldn't help but notice the exchange and rolled her eyes. She tried to walk towards Fat Amy, but was stopped by an unwanted hand on her shoulder.
"Hey."
It was Jesse. Had he already forgotten Beca's request to not touch her?
"I can't wait for our date tonight," he said, loud enough for everyone around to hear. Beca's eyes widened as he brought her hand up to his lips to kiss it.
"Dude," she muttered, but before she could say anything else, Jesse tugged her forward into a hug.
"Shh," he whispered next to her ear. "Just go with it."
What the fuck was this guy doing?
"Wha–" Beca tried, but,
"Okay, bye guys!" Jesse suddenly exclaimed, waving the Bellas off as he turned to leave with Benji.
"Wow," came from Beca's left, and she had to look up to meet Stacie's eyes. "Didn't think he was your type, Beca."
"Wh-What?"
Stacie nodded in Jesse's direction, "Your new boo. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's cute, but–" she shrugged. "I don't know, I just thought you would be more attracted to someone with a little more fire, ya know?" She emphasized the word with a clench of her fist and smirked at Beca.
"Oh my gosh, are you guys dating now?!" Beca flinched at Emily's high pitched voice coming from behind her, and suddenly felt like the ball in a ping-pong match. "Because that would be so cool. He and Benji are like brothers. We could go on a double date!"
The comments and excitement were getting to be too much for Beca. She still hadn't wrapped her head around the idea of performing on stage with Jesse later that evening, and was really not in the mood to deal with everyone's assumptions that they were now suddenly dating.
It was all just a little too much.
"Guys!" Beca shouted, shutting them up. "Look, what's going on between Jesse and I is not–" Her eyes instinctively found Chloe's in that moment. She was standing a few feet away, but she must have said goodbye to her boy-toy, because he was no where in sight. Chloe was just standing there, staring at her with a quirked brow, like she wanted Beca to slip up and say the wrong thing.
Pfft, as if.
Beca cleared her throat before focusing back on Stacie and Emily.
"It's none of your business, alright?" Nice save. "Can you guys please stop bugging me about him?"
"Awh," Emily pouted. "But, Beca!"
Stacie seemed bummed out, too, "You really are no fun."
Beca shook her head, "Whatever," and turned to leave. "I'm going to my room."
Aubrey noticed Beca's departure and quickly shouted, "Don't forget dinner's at seven!"
Beca kept walking and waved a careless hand, "Yeah, yeah." She needed to get away and have some alone time, hoping Chloe wouldn't return to the room, at least for a little while.
It was five-forty when Chloe looked at her phone and sat up from her slouched position on Aubrey's bed.
"Shit, it's almost six already," she said, looking back up at her friends. "I've gotta go if I want to be ready on time."
"Damn, already?" Stacie said, checking her phone as well. "That went by fast."
After the Bellas went their separate ways, Chloe, Aubrey and Stacie chose to spend some "best friend" time at one of the lido deck bars, before retreating to Aubrey and Stacie's room for classic chit-chat and gossip.
"Yeah, that did go by fast," Chloe agreed, standing up from the bed.
"Time flies when you're having fun," Aubrey smiled, laying back to stretch over the spot Chloe had just got up from.
Chloe laughed, "Guess so."
Stacie stood up, too, "Well, we'll see you again in a bit," she said, hugging her. "Make sure you wear the cutest bathing suit you've got under your clothes for the pool party tonight."
Oh, yeah. The pool party.
"Shit, you're right," Chloe said, grabbing her bag and hoisting it up, over her shoulder. "Okay, in that case, I'm definitely leaving now." She reached over to hug Aubrey goodbye before walking to their front door and opening it. "Gotta make sure I look super cute tonight," she winked.
Once she was alone in the hallway, Chloe couldn't help but sigh and shake her head.
Exactly who was she trying to look super cute for?
When she unlocked her door, Chloe wasn't expecting the amusing sight she was greeted with. Sprawled out on the bed was Beca, sound asleep. Chloe didn't know how long she had been sleeping, but she assumed it had been for a while, considering the way Beca's headphones were crooked, her hair was a bit disheveled, and was that drool coming out of the corner of her mouth?
Chloe snorted a laugh, but quickly silenced herself as to not wake Beca up. She couldn't resist the temptation, so she slowly closed the door behind her, gently placed her bag on the floor, and quietly tip-toed over to the bed.
A light snoring could be heard coming from Beca the closer Chloe got, and she had to put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud again. Once Chloe settled, she took a moment for herself to appreciate the sight one last time before holding her phone up and snapping a picture.
Oh, shit.
Chloe's hand shot back up to cover her mouth, but this time, it wasn't to muffle her laughter. Oh, no. This time, Chloe knew she fucked up.
She forgot to turn off her flash.
Chloe's heart began to pound so hard with anxiety, she could hear it thumping in her ears. She couldn't move and almost felt like she couldn't breathe as she watched Beca's brow furrow and her eyes begin to flutter open.
The expression on Chloe's face was evident of someone who had been caught doing something they knew they shouldn't have been and her phone was still in her hand. There was no time to hide the evidence, and when Beca fully came through, it didn't take long for her to put two and two together.
"Chloe…" Beca said, firmly, her eyes darting back and forth between Chloe's guilty face and the phone in her hand. "Did you…" Beca sat up, "Did you just take a picture of me?"
"Umm…" There was no denying the obvious, Chloe knew that. But it didn't mean she couldn't try. "No?"
Beca's expression fell to a more serious one, "Delete it."
And suddenly, Chloe found herself trying not to laugh again, "Delete what?"
"Chloe," Beca warned. "I'm not joking."
A snicker escaped Chloe, "Neither am I," which did nothing to support her claim.
Beca stared at her, thoroughly, as she slowly took her headphones off.
"I'm gonna give you to the count of three before I make you delete it."
Chloe's brows rose, "Ooh," she teased. "Is that a threat?"
"One."
Chloe ignored Beca's counting and looked at the picture on her phone again, "You know, you actually look kind of cute in this pic."
"Two."
"I think my favorite part is the drool."
"Chloe!" Beca shouted, now standing up from the bed.
Chloe flicked her eyes up at her, "Yes?" she sang, grinning.
"Three!"
With a yelp, Chloe dashed to the side and dodged Beca's lunge towards her.
"Give me your phone!" Beca said, chasing the redhead around the room and tripping on their belongings in the process.
"No!" Chloe laughed. She ran around the table and back towards the bed. Beca almost had her then, but Chloe managed to hop up and run across it in time. When she looped back around in an attempt to leave through the front door, Chloe screamed when Beca unexpectedly reached it at the same time and stopped her.
"Give it!" Beca demanded, pushing Chloe's back against the door as she wrestled around with her to grab her phone.
Chloe could no longer contain her fits of laughter, "I said, no!" and she was glad to hear that Beca was now laughing, too.
"And I said–" Through skill, and a bit of luck, Beca managed to get her hands wrapped around Chloe's wrists and lifted them up to pin them above her head. "Give it to me."
Their new position immediately brought flashbacks to Chloe's mind. Quick images of when Beca had her pinned against that same door the night before, her hands burning Chloe's skin everywhere they touched; her lips claiming dominance. It was hot and it was sexy, and if Chloe didn't snap out of it, she was sure she was going to jump Beca's bones, again, right then and there.
Chloe could feel Beca's chest repeatedly brushing against hers, indicating that her breath had increased in pace just like Chloe's had. Chloe's gaze shifted between Beca's eyes and her lips, and more than once did Chloe catch Beca doing the same.
Was this really going to happen again? This wasn't supposed to happen again!
There was an invisible force slowly pulling their faces closer to each other's. Chloe could feel it and she knew Beca could feel it too. But before their lips could even brush, Beca stilled.
"Um," she quietly breathed. It was just above a whisper, and she hesitated for a moment, like she was deciding what she was going to do next.
Chloe silently prayed that Beca would just close the small gap that was left between them, but to her disappointment, Beca took a step back instead.
"Please delete that photo," Beca said, choosing to not look at her as she turned to walk towards her nightstand. "I'm gonna get ready for tonight."
Chloe didn't move right away. She couldn't. All she could do was watch in silence as Beca quickly collected her things and disappeared into the bathroom. Once Beca was out of her sight, Chloe shook her head, hoping it would make the steamy memories of the night before go away.
She looked back down at her phone and smiled. Beca wanted her to delete the photo, which was fine. Chloe could respect that. So she did… but not before importing a copy of it into her special calculator app.
Dinner was pretty much the same as it had been the night before, but when the Bellas made it to the pool party, they were surprised to see it was bumping more than the club they had visited had been. There were guests all over the place. They were dancing in front of the stage– some girls were dancing on the stage– partying in the pool, drinking left and right, and scattered throughout most of the lido deck.
It was crowded, but even then it didn't take long for the boys to find them.
"Ladies!" Luke greeted, his classic grin accenting his green and blue swim trunks, along with his six– wait– eight pack? "Well don't you all look gorgeous."
"Thanks," Stacie winked. Flo joined in on the flirt fest and flipped one side of her hair with a roll of her tongue.
It made Luke chuckle, "You're welcome. Now," he lifted his shades to rest at the top of his head– which made no sense as to why he was even wearing them, considering it was already dark out– and took a sip from the plastic, half-coconut he was holding. "Let's get this party started!"
The girls cheered with excitement and threw their arms up as they joined in on the fun. Emily took Benji's hand and they excitedly made their way to the pool. Jessica and Ashley dashed with a fit of giggles to the closest bar. Fat Amy, Cynthia-Rose and Flo began their night prowl. Stacie followed Luke's lead towards the dance floor, which led to Aubrey following behind them both. And Lily… wait… Was Lily even with them?
When Chewbaca slipped an arm around Chloe's waist, Beca took that as her cue to head for the bar as well. She didn't get far before she heard an all too familiar voice behind her.
"Hey, Beca. Wait up!" Of course it was Jesse. "How's my favorite Bella?"
Beca didn't stop walking as she looked at him, already annoyed, "What do you want?"
Jesse laughed, finding her moodiness charming, "Just wanted to check on ya." Beca sat down at the bar with a groan and Jesse happily took the seat next to her. "Are you ready for our performance?" He scanned her choice in clothing and pouted his bottom lip as he nodded. "You definitely look ready. Nice outfit."
Beca was no stranger to a good stage outfit, but she also didn't want to appear too flashy for a karaoke competition. She had decided to go with a nice, red, button up blouse, a cropped leather jacket, black ripped jeans, and black heeled boots. Her hair was curled and Beca chose to pin it up on both sides with two small clips.
She really did look great.
Beca snickered, "Thanks." She waved at the bartender to get her attention and ordered herself a drink. She knew she wasn't going to be able to drink as much as she'd like, knowing there was a hundred dollars– and a shitty ass secret– on the line.
"You're welcome," Jesse smiled. "So, are you planning on staying here?"
Beca looked at him, "What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm gonna go sign us up at the stage," he said, "and when I find out what time we're on, I want to make sure I know where to find you to tell you."
"Oh," Beca said, just as the bartender placed her drink in front of her. She grabbed the glass and pressed her lips together in a tight smile as she lifted it towards Jesse. "Well, I'll be here."
Jesse grinned, "Perfect," he said, and stood up. "I'll be back."
Beca was taking a swig and gave him a thumbs up in response.
As the party continued, Chicago was chatting Chloe up at one of the hot tubs. He had already gotten them drinks and they sat on the edge together with their feet in the nice, hot water. There were so many other guests already in the tub, that their feet were the only parts of them that could fit.
Chloe was okay with that. She had taken her tank top off earlier, revealing her periwinkle bikini top, but her bottoms were still hidden underneath her ripped jean shorts. Staying out of the water, at least for the time being, was just fine.
"So," Chloe said, casually, taking a sip of her Piña Colada as she smiled at him. "Why did you and your friends come on this cruise, anyway?"
Chicago smiled back and shrugged, "I guess you could say it was a spontaneous boys' trip." He took a sip from his drink, "What about you and your friends?"
"Oh," Chloe sighed. "Well, Aubrey likes us to have at least one 'Bella Bonding Trip' per year, and this year we finally saved up enough money to afford a week on this awesome cruise ship."
"Yeah, it has been a pretty awesome experience so far," Chicago agreed.
"What's been your favorite part?" Chloe asked, knowing exactly what she was trying to get at. Sure, he wasn't Beca, which if Chloe were being honest with herself was the person she would rather be sitting with at the hot tub, but he was cute and he was there. So, why not?
"Well…" Chicago grinned, gradually sliding his hand over Chloe's. "I did get to meet this pretty awesome girl."
"Oh, yeah?" Chloe played along. "What makes her so awesome?"
Chicago smirked, "Well, for starters, she's got these bright blue eyes," he said, slowly leaning forward.
There was a part of Chloe that was hesitant to mimic the gesture, but then there was the other part of her that was screaming for her to just forget about Beca and have fun.
"Go on," Chloe said, using everything she had to focus on the lips in front of her and not the ones that had been so close to her just a few hours before.
"She has a beautiful smile," Chicago said, getting even closer. "Really pretty hair…" Their lips were just about to touch, when,
"Chicago!"
Both Chloe and Chicago jumped apart at the exclamation and turned their heads to see Benji standing next to them, a worried expression written on his face.
"Benji?" Chicago said. "What's wrong?"
"Um–" Benji eyed Chloe nervously before looking back at him. "You need to come with me."
Chicago's brow furrowed, "What? Why?"
"Uhh…" Benji fiddled with his fingers before bending down to whisper something into his ear.
"Are you serious?" Chicago said. "Can't Jesse help you with that or something? I'm–" He glanced at Chloe, "I'm kind of busy."
Benji brought his hands up in a begging fashion, "Please!"
Chicago's jaw was slacked as he shook his head and sighed.
"Alright, okay." He looked at Chloe, "I'm so sorry, but Benji needs me to help him with something real quick." He stood up from the hot tub, "I'll be right back, okay?"
Chloe was both disappointed, but also somewhat relieved, and she smiled.
"It's totally fine," she said. "I'll be here."
Chicago smiled, "Okay, great. See you soon."
Chloe waved him off and picked up her drink with both hands as she sipped on it. She decided to turn her attention to the stage where a group of three young guys were singing, "Bye, Bye, Bye," by Nsync. She remembered the DJ briefly announcing some kind of singing competition earlier, but so far the contestants hadn't been that good. It made for great entertainment, however. Chloe just hoped the next volunteers would be at least a little bit better.
The three guys were almost done when Chloe heard name being called from behind her.
"Chloe, there you are!" Luke said. He was alone.
"Hey, Luke," Chloe said, her brow curving. "Where's Aubrey and Stacie?"
"Don't worry about them, love," he said, casually. "They're havin' a good time with each otha on the dance floor."
"Oh…" Chloe said. "Okay. Uh, what's up?"
Luke smiled, "I have been sent to let you know that Chicago has a surprise for you."
This immediately confused Chloe, "Wait, what?"
Luke nodded, "Mhmm."
"But…" she pointed her thumb back, behind her. "He just left with Benji to go help him with something."
"Oh," Luke waved it off, reaching down to help Chloe up. "That was all part of the plan. We needed to get him away so he could prepare for your surprise." His explanation eased Chloe's confusion, but only a little, and once she was on her feet, he started pushing her through the crowd. "Don't worry, darlin'," he said. "I'll explain everything on the way."
Beca wasn't sure what time it was. All she knew was that Jesse had been gone for a while, she was almost done with her second drink, and the karaoke competition was already going on.
Where was this dude? Maybe he got nervous and decided he didn't want to do it any–
"Beca!"
Never mind.
"There you are!" Jesse panted, like he had just run a mile. "We're on in fifteen minutes!"
Beca's eyes went wide and she almost spit out her drink.
"What!" she said, wiping her mouth to remove the droplets that did manage to escape. "What do you mean we're on in fifteen minutes?" She could strangle this guy. "Why didn't you get me sooner?!"
"No time to explain!" he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her off the chair. "Come on."
Beca grunted, loudly, but allowed herself to be pulled, "Why do you keep touching me?!"
"Okay, so just hang tight here for a few more minutes. That guy," Luke said, pointing at a muscular gentleman a few feet away from them, "will let you know when to go, and Chicago will already be right there waiting for you."
Chloe was still a little unsure of everything that was going on. She felt bombarded by all of the new information and wasn't sure if she had fully grasped it yet.
"Uh, okay," she said, releasing a nervous giggle. "I didn't know Chicago was into this sort of thing."
"Hmm?" Luke said, looking up from his phone as he finished a text message. "Oh, yeah," he said. "He loves doing this in his free time."
"Really?" Chloe asked. She still couldn't believe it. "Well that's…cool then. Guess we have more in common than I thought."
Luke still seemed distracted and more into his phone than Chloe, so she stared at what awaited her. She was both nervous and excited, and for the umpteenth time that night, wondered what Beca was up to in that exact moment.
"Alright, five minutes to go," Jesse said, handing Beca her microphone. "You ready?"
Beca took the mic in defeat, "As ready as I'll ever be." She did a final outfit check on herself and corrected anything she thought was out of place.
Jesse was patting himself as if searching for something, "Shit!" he said, suddenly patting more frantically.
"What's wrong?" Beca asked.
"I forgot my wallet!"
"What?" Beca said, her brow furrowing. "What do you mean you forgot your wall–"
"I think I left it with Benji," he said, turning to leave. "I'll be right back!"
"What! Jesse you can't just–" But Jesse had already jogged away. "You don't even need your wallet!" Beca shouted, and groaned knowing her call fell on deaf ears. She shook her head in frustration, "He better be back on time."
The five minutes went by in the blink of an eye as Beca paced back and forth impatiently. Her fear became a reality, when one of the stage workers approached her.
"Okay, you guys are up," the woman said, placing her hand on Beca's back to guide her up the short stair case.
"Wait!" Beca said, stopping on the first step. "My partner hasn't come back yet."
"Your partner is already coming up on the other side," the woman explained, continuing to push Beca the rest of the way up.
"Wait, what?" Beca said. That little weasel. He almost gave Beca a heart attack!
Beca tripped on the last step and fumbled onto the stage. She was greeted with bright lights and a roaring crowd, and she had to hold up a hand until her eyes adjusted to the brightness.
Once her vision was back to normal, Beca could see the DJ and his booth. She could see the large screen where the karaoke lyrics were going to be displayed, and she looked across the stage to see that her partner… was not Jesse!
"Chloe?!"
"Beca?!" Chloe looked just as stunned. "What are you doing here? Where's Chicago?"
"What?" Beca said. "What do you mean where's Chicago? Where's Jesse?"
Chloe shook her head, "What? What do you–"
"Alright, alright, alright! Let's hear it for your next contestants!" A young, African American male host announced their arrival and the crowd responded with a collective cheer. Beca and Chloe were too focused on each other to acknowledge him, but the host continued his little bit anyway. "Beca and Chloe," he said, reading off a paper. "Is that correct?"
Chloe glanced nervously at Beca, who didn't respond. She just stood there, dazed.
"Uh, is she okay?" the host asked, gesturing towards Beca.
Chloe pushed his mic down, "Sorry, could you just give us, like, a few more minutes?" she asked. "She's a little nervous." It was a lie, but she hoped it would buy them some time.
The host took a second to think about it, "Alright, but make it quick." He turned back to face the crowd, "Sorry folks!" he said, smiling professionally. "Technical issues with their microphones. They'll be right back."
"Thank you!" Chloe shouted, taking Beca's hand and pulling her to hide behind one of the curtains. "Hey!" she said, snapping her fingers in front of Beca's face. "Are you okay?"
It took Beca another moment, but she eventually came back to her senses.
"What the fuck is going on, dude?" she snapped. "Why the hell are you on stage with me?"
"I don't know!" Chloe snapped back. "I thought I was going to sing with Chicago."
Beca's eyes narrowed in confusion, "Who told you that?" I'm supposed to be performing with Jesse. He's the one who–" And that's when it hit her. "That son of a bitch!"
Chloe was taken aback by her out burst, "What?"
"That little, fucking turd."
Chloe tilted her head slightly, "Who's a turd?"
Beca couldn't believe Jesse had set her up like this! Well, actually, the more she thought about it, the more Beca could believe Jesse set her up like this.
The swine.
"I'm not singing with you on stage," Beca said, turning to head down the stairs, but stopping when Chloe grabbed her hand again.
"Hey, wait," she said. "Why not?"
Was Chloe serious right now?
"What do you mean, why not?" Beca asked. "We were clearly set up to do this, and now I'm even more terrified to find out what song they chose for us to sing." Beca shook her head, "No. I'm not doing this," and tried to leave again, but Chloe wouldn't let go of her.
"Oh, come on, Beca," she tried, again. "We sing together all the time."
"Yeah, with our group," Beca clarified. "We've never sung together, just you and me."
That last part made Chloe snicker.
"Well… there was one time," she said, a small, but suggestive smirk curving on her lips.
Beca knew exactly what she was talking about and tried not to blush.
Instead, she rolled her eyes, "Okay, that was one time, and that was only because you insisted on intruding my shower just to hear me sing." They both shared a laugh at the memory, and then Chloe stared at Beca with a look she couldn't quite read.
"Wanna know a secret?" Chloe asked, leaning in closer. "It was the best decision I ever made."
Beca wasn't expecting that and her eyes darted back and forth between Chloe's as she searched her.
"Hey, are you girls ready yet, or what?" The host had pushed the curtain aside and was looking at them expectantly. "I can't stall anymore."
Beca tried to shake her head, "N–"
"Yes! We're ready," Chloe grinned.
The host smiled back, "Great! I'll get the crowd hyped and reintroduce you guys." He gave them a thumbs up before turning to face the thousands of guests again.
"Chloe!" Beca scolded, but Chloe didn't care.
"Come on, Beca. Let's just sing together! It's not a big deal," she said, trying her best to convince her. "Besides, we could totes win the hundred bucks." Chloe shook their still conjoined hands for emphasis and it was then that she realized she had never let go.
Beca noticed it too, because she glanced down at their hands briefly, before carefully undoing them. She didn't yank her hand away though, like she usually would. Which Chloe found… nice.
"I don't know…" Beca said, still unsure.
Chloe sucked her teeth, "Come on, Becs, please?" Beca chose to ignore the nickname. "We could so win this thing!"
Beca just stared at her. Why was Chloe so willing to do this? Sure they could win a hundred bucks, but still. She seemed like she really wanted to sing together on stage. Maybe it was just her strong passion for singing coming through.
Yeah… probably.
Either way, Beca was out of time, because the sound of their names being called again suddenly rang in her ears.
"They're calling us," Chloe said, taking a step back towards the bright lights. "You coming?" Her eyes were pleading with Beca and that's when Beca remembered what Jesse had told her earlier that day.
"Do what feels right."
Stepping back onto that stage to sing with Chloe was what felt right. Beca didn't understand why and she couldn't make sense of it, but it did. It just… did.
Instead of fighting it any longer, Beca decided to trust her instincts and let her feet take the lead as they mindlessly led her towards Chloe's dazzling smile.
"There they are!" the host smiled, waving them towards the center of the stage. "Got that mic problem fixed?" he winked.
Chloe played along and patted the top of her microphone.
"All good," she smiled.
"Perfect," he said, looking at the crowd. "Now let's hear it for Beca and Chloe!"
The crowd instantly roared with applause.
Beca smiled nervously and tightened her grip on her microphone, "I don't even know what song we're singing," she muttered towards Chloe.
Chloe continued to smile at the crowd, "Me neither," she muttered back. "But that's okay." She looked at Beca, "How bad could it be?"
The screen in front to them turned on and Beca closed her eyes to take a deep breath. When the opening instrumental began to blare through the speakers, Beca's eyes immediately snapped back open.
Jesse was right. She had heard this song before.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Author's 2nd Note: WHAT SONG DO YOU THINK THEY'RE GOING TO SING?
Let me know your thoughts! xD
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