A/N: Thank-you once again to everyone that is reading and reviewing—I really do appreciate the comments and feedback that I am getting from all of you. Just a quick note on the flashbacks—I've ultimately decided not to explicitly label them as flashbacks/X years ago/present, etc- I think within the first few sentences of the beginning of each section it's pretty obvious which Chloe and Beca you're reading about. I feel like I'd be doing an injustice if I didn't keep everyone on their toes just a little bit :) If you're paying attention, the cues to a passage taking place in either the past or present should be there early on, as well as throughout that section.
I'm sure most of you have noticed this, but there is also no set format for each chapter that I've committed to. When the story began, we were exclusively dealing with the present, and then flashbacks were weaved into upcoming chapters. Looking forward, some chapters coming up will end up being entirely in the present once again, as Beca and Chloe's backstory will eventually be revealed in full. While most chapters start with the present storyline, some do start with flashbacks. To quote the great Alastor Moody, "Constant Vigilance!"
Ok, I'm done rambling, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it!
Tell my love to wreck it all. Cut out all the ropes and let me fall.
"I don't understand why we even decided to bring dates with us" Aubrey huffed, zipping the back of Chloe's strapless cerulean blue prom dress up for her. After getting their hair done together that afternoon, Chloe and Aubrey had gone back to the blonde's house to finish getting ready before their group of friends met at Stacie's house to take pictures together before departing for prom that evening. "You end up having them follow you everywhere all night, and some of the stand around awkwardly as we dance with each other."
"Bree you're making it sound like we're babysitting them for the night" Chloe giggled, adjusting her cleavage comfortably inside her dress. "And speak for yourself, Tom loves to dance."
"Oh, Jordan does too, I wouldn't have asked him if he was just going to sulk around and not participate." Aubrey looked into her floor-length mirror, adjusting one of the straps of her pale pink gown.
Chloe gave Aubrey a strange look. "I thought you were taking…?"
Aubrey stared at Chloe, as if she hadn't had this conversation with her before. "Uni is Jordan!" she exclaimed, "Jeez, he rides around the stage on a unicycle once during a swing choir concert and it sticks with him forever."
"I knew that, sorry" Chloe shook her head, applying another layer of hairspray to her cascading updo for good measure, stray strands softly falling to each side of her face. "Just a little preoccupied right now."
"It wouldn't have anything to do with a small, brooding brunette, now would it?" Aubrey asked, turning around to face Chloe. Beca was originally to get ready for prom with Chloe and Aubrey, but had backed out, saying that she would just meet them at Stacie's house. Over the last few weeks, she had noticed that Beca had become more withdrawn, spending less time around Chloe, which consequently meant less time around Aubrey.
Chloe stared at Aubrey as she clasped her necklace secure around herself. "Why would I be affected by Beca that much?" a defensive tone was hidden in her voice, which did not go undetected by her best friend.
Aubrey shrugged, not wanting to push the redhead into something she didn't yet want to talk about. "She didn't show up for any of our AP US study sessions the few weeks before the exam. She really hasn't been at anything you or I have also been at within the last month, now that I'm thinking about it."
"She was taking the May SATs, it could be due to that" Chloe suggested, "And I know she had to do a research paper for Mrs. Graham's class, which thank god we weren't required to do. And we really haven't had much time to all hang out over the last month anyway with how crazy school has been." Chloe wasn't ready to reveal to Aubrey what had happened between her and Beca, not yet at least.
Chloe and Beca had kept their distance from one another the first two weeks or so after their fight, which conveniently fell around the final weeks before their Advanced Placement exams were scheduled. Things were currently shaky at best between them, but Chloe decided ultimately to push her own feelings aside, even occasionally making small talk with Beca. The brunette, Chloe had learned, had hung out with Luke a few times since she asked him to prom. Chloe tried her best not to dwell on analyzing why Beca would be doing this. The school year was almost over, and they would have the summer for things to settle down. Equilibrium would be reached and awkwardness would be lost eventually, she reasoned; she just needed to wait it out.
"Yeah, you're right" Aubrey mused as she took in the information Chloe presented as she looked through her makeup bag.
"Damn straight" Chloe winked at the blonde, who rolled her eyes good-naturedly at the redhead's actions.
"Alright, the guys should be here soon" Aubrey said, looking at her phone. "We'll have my mom take a few pictures of us, then we can go over to Stacie's and have pictures taken with everyone."
"Sounds good to me" Chloe replied. The girls finished putting on their makeup before grabbing their needed belongings for the evening, walking down to Aubrey's family room to wait for their dates.
"I really hope Bumper is on his best behavior tonight" Aubrey wondered aloud, cringing at the thought of enduring an evening with the obnoxious St. Mark's swing choir captain.
"Amy really likes him" Chloe pointed out, "To each their own." She contemplated the phrase as she saw Tom and Unicycle walk up to Aubrey's front door, thinking about her feelings for Beca.
To be quite frank, Beca was on the verge of losing her mind. A few days had passed since she had watched American Horror Story with Chloe, since Chloe had held (well, grabbed and squeezed the life out of it would be a better term) Beca's hand for maybe five seconds, if that. Chloe had abruptly left the living room after this, for reasons Beca couldn't completely figure out and process. It's not like I was the one that held onto her hand, Beca thought. She's the one that constantly invades other's personal space without any thought to it at all, why did this single instance freak her out so much?
Beca thought about this as she sipped on her drink at the bar of the 9:30 Club before a concert she was covering as part of her internship. She thought about that jolt that ran through her hand, up her arm and dispersing throughout the rest of her body when Chloe's hand touched her own. She hadn't felt that since…well, the last time she and Chloe had been together. She didn't know it was possible to have that feeling again, god knows she tried to replicate it with others less important to her. Hell, she had felt more from inadvertent contact with Chloe than from what she had deliberately made happen in the beds of experiences past.
"Hey weirdo" Jesse snuck up behind her noting his presence at the concert venue, making her jump in her seat. "On edge much?" he took the seat beside her, laughing to himself at her reaction.
Beca glared at him as she calmed herself down from Jesse's ultimately good-natured scare. "Just a lot on my mind" she muttered, turning her attention back toward her rum and Coke.
Jesse received his beer from the bartender, swiveling around on the barstool to face Beca. "Too much lady love preoccupying the girl with the amazingly scary ear spike?"
"Dude, why do you even say things like that? Just no" she shot back at him a little too harshly than she had intended to. Jesse appeared to take no notice of this, or at least didn't seem taken aback by it whatsoever.
"I'm your trusty sidekick with boyish good looks and comic relief to spread all around, what do you expect?"
"You watch too many movies" Beca grumbled.
"I make no apologies for that" he swore solemnly. "But really Beca, I may not have known you for that long, but I can tell something's bothering you."
Beca looked up at him, knowing that Jesse meant well and always would. As much as she didn't like to rely on and confide in others, she knew that she could trust Jesse, and felt comfortable talking to him about what was troubling her. "It's Chloe… I… she kind of held my hand the other night. Accidentally. And she rushed out of the room right after," Beca shrugged, "I just don't know what to make of it, like at all."
Jesse considered what Beca had told him. "How does one exactly one hold someone's hand by accident?"
"We were catching up on Asylum and she got spooked I guess" Beca replied, shrugging.
"Player, player" Jesse smirked, "Did you know when you watch horror movies your brain releases chemicals that can make you more attracted to someone? I assume that would also happen with a television show." Beca shot another glare at Jesse, unamused. "Had to be said. Okay, really though, do you think she might have feelings for you?"
"I doubt it honestly" Beca admitted, "We've become pretty good friends over the last few months, but Chloe's always been good at making friends. And I doubt she's forgotten about how I screwed everything up before."
"People can be willing to overlook the bad if they really have a connection with someone. Or at least are willing to work on making something work, if doing so is a viable option and whatever you did isn't completely irreparable."
"Thanks, I guess?" Beca said questioningly. "She did accept my apology a few weeks ago. I wanted to explain myself more but she wouldn't let me talk about what happened at all."
"Maybe she's not ready to hear or talk about the past. The best thing you can do is give her space and not rush anything." Jesse replied.
"Believe me, I know that" Beca assured him. "I'm not pushing anything whatsoever. I'm still not over the fact that we're friends again, never thought that would have happened."
"Life takes us by surprise sometimes," Jesse pointed out. "How has she been around you since?"
Beca finished off her drink, placing the empty glass on the counter as she thought about what Jesse had asked. "Fine, I guess. I really don't think much has changed since. It's not like she's avoiding me." While Beca may have experienced some slight awkwardness the following morning with Chloe when they ran into one another in the bathroom whilst getting ready for work, ultimately nothing had changed between them. Not that Beca had expected a change for the worse after Chloe's abrupt departure from the living room; she just didn't completely know what to expect with Chloe anymore.
"That's a plus," Jesse nodded, "But honestly, something might very well be there. I don't know Chloe that well, but someone who didn't feel anything after an even completely innocent hand grab wouldn't have just left the room like that. That's just my take though…Which should be taken with a grain of salt, as should be the case with everything I say."
Beca smiled, rolling her eyes at her friend. "I really appreciate you listening to me and helping me out with this. It does mean a lot to me."
"It's the least I can do" Jesse said sincerely. "When is the first opening band starting?"
Beca checked her phone for the time. "Soon," she answered, "We should probably get closer to the stage." They got up from their seats, and walked into the crowd of people gathering near the front of the stage. The house music was still playing throughout the venue, the current track, as Beca listened to it closely, recognizing it as a song that had played the night of her junior year prom.
Beca was glad she had set her expectations low for the night of prom; it made it that much easier for those expectations to be exceeded. Stacie's pre-prom get-together had gone smoothly, and the limousine bus had arrived on time. Beca felt a pang of guilt for not being around Chloe for much of the night, but knew she had no right to sit next to her. They had hardly spoken to one another since their fight; while Beca knew she should have said something to mend things between them, she had not, and the subject of them remained untouched. She also reasoned that Chloe had made no attempt to talk to Beca either, and thus functioned under the assumption that Chloe had gotten over her and began to move on.
Luke had been nothing short of a perfect date, from renting a tuxedo and purchasing a corsage that actually matched her dark purple dress, to making conversation with all of her friends and their dates as well. Stacie had even said with a wink, as they stood in line for the buffet-style dinner, that she immensely approved of him. Luke had a lot in common with her, from writing, which she dabbled in, to her greater passion, music; they got along well with one another. Being with someone like Luke made a lot of sense on paper. Maybe if she told herself that enough times she would start to believe it.
She still had lingering feelings for Chloe, she knew that much. She hated how things currently were between them, and knew the brunt of it rested on her shoulders. She knew she had no right to get angry when Tom had officially agreed to go with her to prom, but couldn't help but feel that way. Things remained civil between her and Chloe, which shouldn't have been a surprise to her at all since Chloe was genuinely the nicest person she knew. She didn't want to ever get to a point where Chloe was no longer that way toward her.
Dessert was finished, the tables cleared, and the hired DJ had begun playing music for the juniors and seniors of St. Bernadette's to dance to, whether it be with their friends or their dates. Teachers took on the role of chaperones, patrolling the dance floor to ensure there was room for the Holy Ghost, grinding between couples coming straight to a halt whenever an adult was near. Beca and Luke had returned to their table after a song or two, beverages in hand as they surveyed their peers in amusement.
"Are you having fun?" Luke asked her, hanging his suit jacket over the chair before loosening his regal purple bowtie that matched his vest.
"I feel like I should be asking you that" Beca quipped, "You're my guest and all."
"But it is your prom" he pointed out, rolling up the sleeves of his white button down shirt, "I couldn't possibly live with myself if you didn't have a good time tonight because of me."
"I don't think that's possible" she replied laughing, "But I will absolutely let you know every single wrong move you make that may or may not contribute to that."
"Sounds reasonable enough" he considered
"And there's strike one" Beca announced unenthused.
"Pardon?" Luke asked, confused.
"You shouldn't agree with me so much just for the sake of being polite. It gets boring" she pointed out. The tempo of the music dropped considerably from the bass-booming song that had previously played. Beca recognized it as "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls.
"Do you want to dance?" Luke asked, turning in his chair, his body facing toward her.
Beca shook her head. "No thanks" she replied. While she was okay with the fast dancing she would be doing tonight, slow dancing was an entirely different realm to her. She blamed it on the closeness of a different kind between yourself and the one you're dancing with than the proximity of often being back to front with whomever you happened to be dancing with.
Luke stood up, holding out his hand. "Absolutely not. And yes this is me disagreeing with you" he leaned over and whispered in her ear. Not being able to possibly argue with that (he was humoring her, she knew that) Beca obliged, taking his hand as they walked over to the dance floor together, putting her hands around his neck as he held her waist. It didn't long for Beca to notice that Stacie and her date were a few couples over from them, an exaggerated thumbs up being sent in Beca's direction from the taller brunette.
"You good?" Luke asked her, noticing the smirk that had formed on her face.
"Couldn't be better" she insisted as he drew her closer. It wasn't until that moment she also noticed Chloe and Tom not far away from where she and Luke were.
"You're distracted by something" Tom said to Chloe, the two no fifteen feet away from Beca and Luke. Chloe's eyes snapped away from the shorter brunette, looking up to meet Tom's eyes, blushing. "I know we're not together, but checking out another guy when I'm right here?" he joked, a grin on his face as Chloe laughed.
"Not exactly" she admitted. Tom knew her well, she had to give him that. It was really no surprise to her, they had dated for almost two years. He knew her almost as well as Aubrey, but in different respects.
"A girl then?" he asked quietly, drawing back to properly look at her for her response. Chloe nodded ever so slightly, as though anything more would have been greater of an admission than she was currently ok with. He pulled her back towards him once again, holding her tightly as one of his hands ran soothingly up and down her back.
"I have to say Chlo, I would have given anything for you to have looked at me like that when we were together" he admitted, speaking quietly into her ear, "Hell, even just one look like that. It's Beca, right?"
"That obvious?" she asked.
Tom smiled, rolling his eyes. "Not at all. There was just this moment in the limo on the way over here… she was taking a picture with Amy… you were just entranced, even just for that second in time. I feel like you doubt the fact I know you well and I don't like it, Beale" he winked, making her laugh once again. "I don't know what the situation is, but I hope she has better taste in girls than guys."
"What makes you say that?" Chloe asked inquisitively as Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" began.
"I don't know, I just never got a good vibe from that kid" he replied, referring to Luke.
"You don't get a good vibe from anyone who isn't on St. Mark's baseball and soccer teams" Chloe jested, making a face at him.
"Very funny" he assured before continuing, "Dude's very cocky. He just screams d-bag to me. It has to be the choker he wears every day at school. Who does he think he is, Ryan Atwood?"
"Can't believe you remember that" Chloe reminisced about making Tom watch The OC with her countless times, thinking he hadn't paid much attention to the show.
"Hey, I was a very good boyfriend" Tom pointed out.
"You were." The song came to an end, Chloe and Tom parting from one another as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You're an even better friend to me. I'll have to keep an eye out for Beca. I appreciate the head's up." Chloe knew she didn't owe anything to Beca, much less warning her about a potential romantic interest. That was the thing about Chloe; more often than not, she rose above everything and was the bigger person who pushed her own feelings aside.
Aubrey and Unicycle walked up next to Chloe and Tom as they stood at the edge of the dance floor as their peers jumped up and down to the following, more upbeat song played by the DJ. "Why are you not tearing it up out there?" Aubrey asked Chloe and Tom.
"I have to conserve my energy, the night is still very young" Tom assured the blonde. Chloe's mind was elsewhere, watching Luke and Beca leave the dance floor together, Luke making his way over to the bar, and Beca walking further away to where Chloe assumed the bathroom was located.
"I'm parched; does anyone want anything to drink?" Chloe asked the group. Shaking their heads in reply, Chloe walked over to the bar, Luke leaning against the end of it waiting for whatever drinks he had ordered.
"Hey" Chloe said as he approached him. Luke's attention turned away from the dance floor and toward Chloe, nodding in her direction with a small smile. "Chloe, right?" Chloe nodded as the bartender took her request for a glass of water. "Beca's told me a lot about you."
"She has?" Chloe asked, confused. They had barely spoken to one another over the last month; why would Beca talk to Luke about her?"
"A while ago" Luke corrected, visualizing the timeline of the last few months in his mind. "Pretty much without fail, she'd always tell me she was with you shopping in DC, or over at your house, or would be going to hang out with you. You two must be close."
Chloe stared at him as she considered what Luke had just said. She told me she had stopped talking to him back in December. Class trip was in February, and she hadn't been over to my house until after that point. What the hell? "You could say that" she replied, forcing a smile. "Are you having fun tonight so far?"
Luke nodded, taking a sip out of his Coke. "Prom is great, I love going to them."
'They're a lot of fun" Chloe agreed. "So do you like her?"
Luke looked at Chloe curiously, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know" he replied, "We're just hanging out and she asked me to go to prom with her. That's about it. Did she say something?"
"No, not at all" Chloe replied quickly. "Just be thankful it was me that did this and not Aubrey. It's quite possible she would have used her dad's polygraph on you" she added, yielding a nervous laugh from Luke.
"Thank god for that. Do you know where Beca went, I thought she went to look for the bathroom…." He looked across the lounge area of the hall, still no sign of the brunette.
"I'll check on her for you and send her your way. This place can be kind of confusing with how big it is." Chloe assured Luke as she left the bar, walking down the hall and over to the women's bathroom, a number of things running through her mind. She walked inside, finding Beca washing her hands.
"Luke's looking for you" Chloe said, leaning her back against the marble bathroom counter, looking over at Beca, still intent on her hand washing. "Look, I know we're not even close to being ok with each other, but I wanted to tell you that you should be careful with him. I'm not sure where he thinks things are going between you two, but he seemed kind of indifferent to me."
Beca looked up at Chloe. "Why were you talking to him about me?" she questioned, her eyes narrowing.
"I was just trying to look out for you" Chloe maintained, "Tom doesn't have a very high opinion of him and I didn't want you to get hurt."
"Ah, because Tom is the perfect guy without faults, of course he would think that" Beca sneered at what she perceived to be meddling from Chloe. Chloe stared at Beca, not believing her reaction to what she was telling her.
"I was just trying to help you" Chloe repeated steadily, "I don't know what your problem is right now."
Beca continued to stare at Chloe, not sure what to make of this at all. Here Chloe was, taking part in the longest interaction they've had with one another, alone no less, and was revealing that she had talked to her date about her, which she most certainly did not ask her to do.
"I didn't ask you to do that" Beca replied, "I was starting to think you didn't really care anymore since we've barely talked the past month."
"Are you serious?" Chloe raised her voice, not believing Beca's words. "We've talked numeros times around school. What more do you want from me? You broke my heart. Who knows, maybe you forgot about those conversations just like you forgot about all the ones you've had with Luke since class trip that you forgot to mention" Chloe spat, fuming.
"That was none of your business" Beca snapped back defensively, "Why are you talking about all of this with him? And for the record, I'm allowed to talk to whoever I decide I want to talk to."
"He's the one who brought it up! Jesus Christ, for once maybe you should consider that the things you say and do have repercussions" Chloe spat back acrimoniously. "And I was your friend! It wouldn't have been that difficult to just casually bring it up; god knows we spent enough time together. Now it just feels like you were keeping things from me" Chloe's hands went to her forehead, unable to take in and process everything she was hearing and feeling.
'So you're saying you would have been completely supportive and would have squealed like a little girl at the news I was talking to Luke again, and wouldn't have gotten jealous about it at all?" Beca raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.
"That's not fair" Chloe retorted, "When was the last time you started hooking up with your best friend and were able to keep both aspects completely separate from each other?"
Beca shook her head to herself, "None of this should have ever happened." The bathroom door squeaked open from behind them, Aubrey walking in, instantly noticing the amount of tension between her two friends by Chloe's stance and the look on Beca's face. Chloe turned around, a look mixed with relief and distress washing over her face as she saw Aubrey.
"Hey, what's up Bree?" she said as casually as she could.
"No one had any idea where either of you were!" Aubrey exclaimed. "You both missed Mrs. Graham cornering Tom, Uni and I and asking us whether or not J. Holiday's 'Bed' was an acceptable song to play tonight."
"Such a shame we missed that" Chloe noted, smiling at the scene Aubrey had painted for her as Beca scoffed at the story.
"Also, Tom has informed me that he is getting ready to show off his dance moves, and he didn't want you to miss that" Aubrey added.
"I knew there was a reason I used to date him" Chloe said sarcastically, walking past Aubrey as she opened the bathroom door, returning to the festivities, not once looking back at Beca.
Aubrey turned to Beca. "Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" Beca insisted. "Just tell Luke I'll be out there in a minute." Aubrey nodded in confirmation before leaving the bathroom, Beca once again alone with her thoughts. Having things go from bad to worse with Chloe was the last thing she wanted; things had been blown completely out of proportion. She knew there was a reason she had kept her expectations low for the night.
A/N: Lyrics are from Bon Iver's "Skinny Love."