Beca awoke early the next morning, disoriented and confused. As she remembered the events of last night, she turned and smiled at the sight in front of her. Since the day she had met her, Beca had thought that Chloe Beale was possibly the most adorable human being she had ever met. However, she was left breathless at the image of Chloe peacefully sleeping, rays of sunlight dancing across her flawless features and fiery red hair splayed across her pillow. For the first time, Beca was struck by her friend's true beauty, and she found that she never wanted to look away. Beca could spend her entire life watching her sleep and she would be fully content. Wow, Mitchell. Creep, much? She shook her head of the random thought process and moved to get out of bed. She attempted to disentangle herself from the red head's grasp, chuckling when an unconscious Chloe only pulled her closer. Finally succeeding in freeing herself, she stood and looked back at her friend. A frown had developed on Chloe's face at the loss of contact, so Beca gently placed a small stuffed teddy bear in her place. Chloe quickly pulled it to her body in a strong hug and resumed her peaceful slumber, content with her new cuddle buddy. Beca couldn't resist the opportunity and snapped a few pictures of the scene on her phone before leaving the room silently.
Beca heard noises coming from the kitchen, so she curiously made her way in that direction. She laughed when she saw a sweaty Aubrey, dressed in work out clothing, making breakfast. "Why am I not surprised that you're that person that works out at," She glanced at the time on the oven, inhaling sharply, "6:30 in the morning? Are you even human?" Beca asked sarcastically.
Aubrey shook her head disapprovingly. "Just because you don't take my cardio rule seriously doesn't mean that it wasn't an important part of becoming champions."
"Right. I'll get on that." Sarcasm dripped from Beca's reply.
"If you had an ounce of my self-discipline you would probably be able to do something with your talent instead of playing around on your computers, DJ Shorty."
Beca laughed out loud when she heard the insult. "And the ice bitch returns. You know, for a second there, I almost thought you had a heart."
"Don't be foolish, Mitchell. I have a heart. I just reserve it for people I actually like." In reality Beca was glad that the old Aubrey was back. She had been worried that the senior would treat her differently and the last thing Beca wanted was to be pitied. "Now, make yourself useful and finish breakfast while I take a shower. Think you can manage that without burning my apartment down?"
Beca rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, I do have more skills besides creating 'mad-lib beats'. I think I can handle pancakes."
"Good. For every burned pancake, you have to run a lap during practice, understood?" Aubrey yelled as she walked down the hallway towards the bathroom.
Beca ignored her, taking her place at the stovetop. She busied herself with making breakfast, unintentionally humming a melody that had been stuck in her head for days. She was so focused on her task that she didn't hear Chloe curiously make her way into the kitchen. Just as Beca had before, Chloe stood in the background, secretly observing Beca. She loved watching this side of Beca, her face set in determination and her head bopping to a mysterious beat. Chloe was not oblivious; she knew she had feelings for Beca ever since she had laid eyes on the freshman at the activities fair. She had kept things friendly, afraid of pushing the girl away from her, but always hoping that their relationship would grow to something more. Chloe's heart had broken when she watched Beca kiss Jessie the night they had won finals, and after sulking for weeks, she had all but given up on the idea of their romance. Recent events, however, had sparked the feelings Chloe had buried, and she found herself imagining a future in which she'd be waking up to Beca making breakfast every morning. Chloe smiled wistfully at the thought when Beca turned and nearly dropped the plate of pancakes in fright.
"Jeez, Chloe! How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long." Chloe blushed, embarrassed to have been caught spying. "That smelled so delicious I had to get up. Besides, I was wondering where my bedmate disappeared to." Chloe winked, amused by the blush that crept into Beca's cheeks.
"If I remember correctly, you seemed to think that Mr. Teddy Bear made a perfectly fine bedmate." Beca pointed out with a smirk. She handed Chloe a plate and they each grabbed pancakes.
"His name is Mr. Snuggles, thank you very much." Chloe corrected, diving into the pancakes hungrily.
"Of course it is. I wouldn't expect anything else." Beca laughed. They exchanged small talk as they ate.
"What are your plans for the day?" Chloe asked, hoping that she would be able to spend more time with the girl.
"The only thing I have today is work at the radio station. I'm on until 3."
"Don't forget about rehearsal at 4!" Aubrey returned to the kitchen, looking refreshed. "Oh, good, breakfast isn't burnt." She grabbed a plate and sat down next to Chloe.
"You don't have to go to rehearsals if you don't feel up to it, Beca. We'd understand." Chloe said quickly, ignoring Aubrey's glare.
"That's okay, I want to. I just want things to get back to normal. Or as close to normal as my life can get, I guess." Beca replied.
"Okay!" Chloe jumped up from the table and placed the empty dishes in the sink. "Well, I'm gonna go out for a morning run. Want to come along?" Chloe asked hopefully.
"Oh God, not you too." Beca groaned.
"Guess it's a result of living with Aubrey for 4 years. Cardio is actually kind of fun."
"Gross. I'd do a lot for you, Chlo, but I'm going to pass." Beca almost reconsidered when she saw Chloe pouting. "Anyways, I've got to go back to my dorm and get ready for work."
"Jesse isn't going to be there, is he?" Chloe asked worriedly.
"Nope. He doesn't work weekends."
"Thank God." Chloe audibly sighed in relief.
"You know, I do have to talk to him at some point. He's been texting me like crazy since last night. As much as I wish it would, avoiding him won't work forever." Beca pointed out, her phone buzzing as if on cue.
"I know, I know. It might sound really overprotective, but I just don't want you to be alone with him anymore." Chloe said tentatively, worried that Beca would get defensive again.
"I can't argue with you there, Chlo." Beca didn't want to be around Jesse any more than Chloe did. "We can talk about it more after rehearsals." Beca grabbed Chloe's jacket from where she had left it last night. "Mind if I borrow this?"
"Not at all." Chloe was secretly very happy at the sight of Beca wearing her jacket. Chloe stepped forward for a hug and whispered in her ear, "Love you. Stay safe. Text me later, okay?"
Beca nodded. "Love you too. Thank you for everything, Chlo. You too, Aubrey." Beca looked at Aubrey, who simply nodded. Beca ignored the way her heart squeezed painfully when she pulled away from the hug and walked out of the apartment, as if she were leaving a piece of her heart behind with Chloe. Who knew one red head could turn the tough Beca Mitchell into a huge sap?
"Okay, good work girls! We'll work on the harmonies tomorrow!" Bella's rehearsal had just finished and everyone was gathering their things from the bleachers.
Chloe skipped up to Beca, who watched her with an amused expression on her face. "Someone's in a chipper mood."
"I was thinking that we should hang out, watch a movie or something." Chloe said happily, hoping Beca would agree.
Beca opened her mouth to reply, but was immediately distracted by something behind Chloe. "Oh no…" Blood rushed from her face as she watched Jesse enter the auditorium, a bouquet of flowers in his hands.
Aubrey stepped in front of Jesse before he could get to where Beca and Chloe were standing. "Excuse me. This is a Bella's rehearsal. No Trebles allowed." She said authoritatively, hoping he would leave easily.
"Last time I checked you don't own the auditorium and it is 6:05, meaning that Bella's rehearsal is officially over. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to go talk to my girlfriend now." He stepped around Aubrey, but didn't get much further as an angry Chloe advanced on him.
"Like hell you are." Chloe pushed him back. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here." Beca's eyes widened in awe. She had never seen Chloe act so angrily towards a person before, and she wasn't the only one that was surprised. All of the Bella's in the auditorium had stopped packing up and were watching the scene unfold with a mixture of shock and confusion. Beca realized that her personal life was about to become very public in a minute if she didn't step in, so she walked to Chloe's side, gently placing a hand on her lower back. Chloe seemed to understand and she relaxed slightly.
"Jesse." He reluctantly tore his eyes away from Chloe's. "We need to talk, but now is not the time." Beca tried her hardest to keep her voice even, hoping that Jesse would leave voluntarily.
"I brought you flowers." He said simply, holding out the bouquet. "I wanted to apologize for last night. Things got out of hand and I'm sorry."
Chloe stared at him in disbelief. "You're sorry? Do you really think that an apology and a couple of flowers are going to make up for what you did?"
"Chloe…" Beca desperately tried to keep the situation under control. "I appreciate the flowers, Jesse, but I think you should leave right now. We can talk later."
"What?! Are you serious, Beca?" Jesse looked absolutely enraged. Beca flinched as he threw the bouquet onto the floor. "I cannot believe you! You're going to take this crazy bitch's side over mine, your boyfriend?! She's a lunatic!"
Beca felt her blood boil. "Let's get something straight, Jesse. You do not ever get to insult my friends, least of all Chloe. Now, I wanted to do this in private, but since you refuse to leave, I guess this is going to happen right now. I'm done. We are over. I never want to see your face again. Are we clear?"
Jesse looked anything but clear on what was happening, his gaze darting between Beca and Chloe. "I don't understand. Why is this happening? What did you do?" He was looking at Chloe now, his voice taking on an accusatory tone.
"Hey! This isn't her fault; it's yours. You know full well why this is happening and what you did, so don't play the fool." She dropped her voice then, not wanting everyone to hear what she said next. "You're lucky I haven't pressed charges yet, but your luck is going to run out, Jesse, so I suggest you get a good lawyer. I'm not going to stand by and let you hurt anyone else."
To Beca's surprise, Jesse laughed. His entire demeanor changed as he took a step back, raising his voice so that everyone could hear him. "This is rich, Beca. Really. You know, you act all tough and badass now because you've got all your friends behind you, but this isn't the real Beca Mitchell. It's adorable, really, how you put on this fake act of courage in front of your friends, but in reality, you're just a scared little girl who didn't even try to put up a good fight. 'No. Please.' I expected more from the great—"
Chaos erupted around the room at Jesse's words. Before anyone could move, Chloe lunged herself at Jesse, landing a couple punches before he had time to defend himself. Beca felt herself getting pulled back by a worried Aubrey, who looked torn between protecting Beca and stopping Chloe. In seconds, Jesse angrily pushed Chloe off of him and she lost her balance, falling to the floor. Aubrey immediately ran to her, making sure she was okay. Freed, Beca moved towards Jesse furiously, but was distracted by a yell across the room. "Woah, don't you put your hands on Little Red." Fat Amy roared, jumping towards Jesse herself. Cynthia Rose and Stacy reacted quickly, immediately grabbing her arms in an attempt to hold her back.
Beca turned back towards Jesse, who looked alarmed at the sight of Fat Amy fighting to get to him. Beca used his distraction against him and shoved him, feeling satisfied when she saw him hit the ground painfully. "Leave. Now." The command was final, with no room for argument.
Jesse looked at her for a full second before slowly picking himself off of the floor. His eyes were hard when he looked back into Beca's eyes. "This isn't over." He challenged, before turning and stalking out of the auditorium, the door slamming loudly behind him.
A/N: Sorry for the delay guys, but I tried to make up for it by giving you a super long chapter. I'm hoping you guys loved the Bechloe fluff at the beginning as much as I did. Thank you for all the reviews and follows and favorites; I love getting them! You're all awesome! :)