A/N: Hello friends. I'm back again. As always. I just want to say I love your reviews so much, they bring us so much joy. Keeping this up is kind of hard sometimes, but thinking about all of you reading keeps me motivated. Thank you so much for giving me a purpose. x
"Chloe! You have been in there for nearly 40 minutes! It's time to come out!" Beca called through the bathroom door. She huffed angrily as she heard the door unlock a few minutes later and Chloe appeared in the doorway, her hair dripping on the carpet. She had wrapped a white towel around herself and her cheeks were flushed from the heat of the shower.
"What's up?" The redhead asked innocently.
"You know what's up, nerd." Beca replied, her eyes roaming over Chloe's bare legs shamelessly. "Put on some clothes!"
"Kay. Meet you in the kitchen?" Chloe said with a soft smile.
Beca nodded and made her way over there, shaking her head at the redhead's antics.
When Chloe was all dressed up and eating her breakfast, consisting of some yogurt and fruits, Beca cleared her throat. "So… There's something I want you to do today. And I want you to listen to me. I'll help you with it, okay?" She said, looking at Chloe intently. The redhead looked up at her with big eyes and nodded.
"We're going to find you a therapist." Beca said in a soft voice, eyeing Chloe with a serious face.
Chloe gulped and looked down at her bowl of yogurt. "A t-therapist? But…"
"No buts. I have been trying my best to help you but… It's really hard Chlo. I don't know if I can keep this up much longer." The brunette replied, feeling her heart hurt as she looked at the redhead.
"I know… I'm sorry." The taller girl replied, sniffling sadly.
"No, don't be sorry! It's just that… I think we should find the help of a professional on this. Especially because… I feel like I can't be strict with you. And I don't want to be!" Beca explained.
Chloe nodded, understanding where the brunette came from. "I guess you're right. But a therapist… that sounds scary." She said, imaging a doctor asking her all kind of difficult questions while she was laid down on a couch. She shuddered at the thought.
Beca smiled understandingly. "It's okay. My friend gave me some great names I think we could check out."
The redhead's eyes narrowed. "You keep bringing up this friend. Who are they?" She said, suspicion evident in her voice.
"Uhm…" Beca blushed. "Her name's Demi. "
Chloe raised her eyebrows comically. "Demi? And where do you know this 'Demi' from?"
The brunette sighed. "From… work. It's Demi Lovato, okay?" She looked at her friend shyly, whose eyes widened.
"THE Demi Lovato?" The redhead replied, her voice two octaves higher than normal.
Beca chuckled. "Please don't freak out."
"You're friend with Taylor Swift AND Demi Lovato? What the fuck." Chloe said, looking at Beca with wide eyes.
"Yes. So… how do you feel about seeing a therapist?" The brunette replied, getting closer to the redhead.
"I mean, it… it sounds kind of scary. But I think it might help me. I hope it will." The taller girl answered, trying to smile.
Beca bumped her shoulder into Chloe's playfully. "I bet it will."
After Chloe had finished her breakfast, which took her a while, Beca had motioned for her to sit next to the brunette, who was turning on her laptop. Their shoulders almost touched as Beca got out a note from her pocket, straightening it out on the kitchen table. "So, Demi gave me her therapist's name. Do you want to check it out?" The brunette asked, eyeing Chloe curiously.
"Okay. Sounds good." Chloe replied and she looked at Beca's fingers as she typed the name into Google. Her eyes narrowed at the screen. "Nina Martens?"
"Yep." Beca replied, clicking the first result which took them straight to the therapist's website.
A picture of a woman meditating loaded up, which made both Beca and Chloe raise their eyebrows.
"Feeling stuck, depressed or alone?" Beca read aloud, her voice a little strained. "This seems a little weird…"
Chloe shrugged. "Well, she's right. I feel all of those things." She said softly, which made Beca look at her in surprise.
"Okay. Do you want to send her an email?" The brunette said, clicking on the email address and copying it.
The redhead furrowed her brow but nodded. "Sure."
Beca prepared the email for Chloe and handed her the computer.
"How do I start out an email like this? Like… Hello, over the past weeks I've nearly died and I'd like some help?" The redhead said with a grin.
The brunette let out a soft chuckle. "Well… just be honest."
Chloe nodded and started typing.
"...I've been feeling empty, not really wanting to die but also not feeling like living. I have a lot of struggles with eating properly because during the time I spent alone, I starved myself. This gives me a lot of anxiety and makes me feel really ashamed. I hope you can give me some advice on what to do… and maybe I could go into therapy." Chloe read aloud, her voice cracking.
Beca stared at her friend. "That's good, Chlo. Well… I mean not good but… you worded it well."
"Let's just send it." The redhead replied, sighing. Typing out what she was feeling was hard, especially with Beca breathing down her neck like that.
"Okay. I'll ask her to email or call us, okay?" Beca said, taking the laptop from Chloe and finishing up her email. Her finger hovered above the send button. "You sure?"
Chloe pressed the button for her, crossing her arms.
"I'm proud of you, Chlo." Beca said, smiling. She wrapped her arm around the redhead's shoulder, squeezing it softly, which made Chloe smile a little. Her muscles stayed just as tense, though.
Beca sensed how tense the redhead was, and it saddened her. "You want to play a game now?"
"A game?" Chloe asked, her brow furrowing.
Beca grinned. "Yeah! I've got a Playstation 5 and we can play some games on it!"
"I'm… I'm not very good at games like that. Video games, I mean." Chloe admitted shyly. She looked at Beca, who was smiling at her. "Well, you can practise!" The brunette replied, pulling her along to the couch.
A while later, after Beca had finished explaining the controls to Chloe, they were playing Call of Duty. Chloe was biting her lip in concentration, moving her whole body along with her controller, which made Beca giggle. "It's not motion controlled, you know."
"Huh?" Chloe said, not looking away from the screen.
"Nevermind." The brunette replied, laughing.
She heard a yelp from the redhead as she was shot by one of their enemies. "Where do they keep coming from? They're everywhere!" She pouted.
"Well, some people tend to camp and snipe others from hiding spots. You have to look out for them." Beca explained. "Those kind of people don't have any balls though."
"Oh, I see." Chloe nodded, trying to understand. "So if I started hiding I could win?"
"No!" The brunette giggled. "Well, maybe, but no one likes campers. You don't want to be hated by others, right?"
"No, but… I also don't want to lose." The other girl admitted softly.
"Well, you have to practice for that. The more you play, the easier it gets." Beca shrugged.
"Can I use the console while you work?" Chloe asked shyly. "Then I can practise."
"Yeah, sure. As long as you don't break anything out of rage." The brunette smiled. "Don't ask, but that table in front of us is a replacement."
"Okay, now we have to talk. What did you do?" The redhead asked curiously.
"Well, I play with Demi a lot. We have this game going on that the first to win 7 games in a row has to decide what the loser has to do." Beca explained. "And one day I was so close to winning my seventh game in a row. But then she won and I got so angry I smashed my table. I made her worry so much that she came over to check on me." She giggled. "It's all good now though. I'm leading again with three won games in a row."
"I see. I didn't know you had so much strength in you." Chloe said, her eyes wide.
"Oh, so you already forgot where I carried you to the bed?" The smaller girl asked with a suggestive undertone.
"I… never really questioned that." The redhead said a little awkwardly.
"Wow. So you think I just took out my wand and made you fly there?" Beca giggled.
"Shut up!" Chloe was blushing now as she slapped her friend on the arm.
The other girl laughed and they went back to playing, the redhead slowly getting a little better at it.
They played games throughout the morning until Beca shut down the Playstation, resulting in a pout from the redhead. "Gotta work, babes." The brunette said, poking her cheek.
"I feel bad that you work and pay the rent and stuff...and I do nothing all day. I should at least pay you a bit of the rent for staying here. " Chloe answered. This had been on her mind a lot lately and she was glad it finally came up in a conversation.
The brunette furrowed her brow. "Well…I mean, financially I'm okay. But if you want to help out with the rent, I can't stop you. " She smiled.
"The only problem is...is that my bank account in completely empty." The redhead replied, looking down sadly, which made Beca frown.
"Did you not have any savings?" She asked, sitting down on the couch again.
Chloe bit her lip. "Well...I did have savings. But I paid for Chicago's engagement ring and then I paid for the flight to LA…So yeah…"
"Right…." The brunette answered, patting the redhead's knee. An idea popped up in her head and she smiled. "How about you look for a job here? I mean, it's not like you have much else to do. I think it might be good for you to have a routine. Doing nothing all day is probably not that great for your mental health…."
Chloe looked at Beca, a little surprised. "That could be fun. I do miss working with the animals. But don't you think it's too soon?"
"Well, if you apply now it might still be a few weeks until you actually find something. But if you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to. You can do whatever you like." The brunette smiled supportively.
"Well, we can always browse a bit." Chloe shrugged.
Beca beamed at her friend. "You can use my other laptop to look for jobs while I work, okay?"
The redhead replied with a smile and nodded.
A few hours later, Chloe was sitting at the kitchen table, furiously scrolling through job applications. Papers were scattered all around her and she let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't want to work at a bank! I want to work with animals!" She groaned, dropping her head in her hands.
She heard a door open and saw Beca appear, carrying various mugs in her arms.
"How much coffee did you drink today?" Chloe asked, eyeing the mugs.
"T-Those are from the whole week." Beca lied, quickly plopping the cups in the sink.
"Right…" The redhead replied, not entirely convinced. "You should probably take this laptop away from me, before I smash it to bits."
The brunette's face softened. "Job search not going well, babes?"
Chloe shook her head angrily. "Apparently, there are a lot of banks and supermarkets that need employees. But not many veterinary clinics."
Beca made her way over to the frustrated redhead. She noticed her nails were digging into her knees and she grabbed Chloe's hands, making her look at her.
"Hey, calm down. Listen. Like I said, you don't need to find a job today. It takes time."
"I know...it's just...I feel so anxious. Like...Like I need to be prepared for something but I have no idea what it is. I think it's because I went from working full time to doing nothing all day. My body doesn't know what to do with all this stress." Chloe said, looking down at her hands. "It's so frustrating."
Beca smiled sadly. "I know what that's like. When I work on an album full time, I get so weird after it's done. It's like your body is used to working under so much stress and it doesn't know what to do with itself."
"What do you do to stop it?" The redhead asked, looking up into the other girl's eyes.
"I don't know. Try to chill out. Drink. Smoke." Beca shrugged.
"Smoke? Like cigarettes?"
"Well, yeah. But.. Don't start it." The brunette said. "They taste disgusting, and I really only smoke when I'm super stressed. And...sometimes Demi brings over weed. That helps."
"Weed? Like marijuana?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah. It helps you calm down." Beca exhaled. "But I really only do it occasionally. And while yes, it does make you feel better, it doesn't make your problems go away. They're still there at the end of the day."
"Oh, I see. But…" The redhead rubbed her neck. "It would be nice to… Forget about everything for a little while. Just.. Feel good, not sad or stressed or anxious. And from what I've heard, you basically just end up giggling uncontrollably or do weird things."
"It does feel nice to escape." Beca smiled.
Chloe looked at her with big eyes. "Could we try it?"
"Are you sure?" The smaller girl asked carefully, looking at her friend worriedly. "I mean, I would call Demi in a heartbeat but..."
"Call her." Chloe interrupted. "Please?"
"Okay." Beca nodded as she studied the other girl's face. "I'll call her." She got out her phone and dialed Demi's number.
"Heeeeeeey!" The blue haired girl answered. "What's up?"
"Nothing much." The brunette stalled. "How are you?"
"I'm good! How are you? How's Chloe? Gaining weight a little?" Demi asked.
"Yeah we're good. She's doing okay. Look, I wanted to ask if you wanted to come over? And bring some pot luck?" Beca asked sweetly.
"Oh. Roger that. I'll be over in like three hours okay?" The girl on the other line smiled.
"Alright, thanks Demi. You're the best." The brunette grinned. "See you!" She hung up, and Chloe looked at her intently. "She's coming over with some pot brownies." Beca explained.
"Cool! I can't wait." The redhead smiled.
True to her word, Demi came three hours later, a tupperware box in hand. "Hey girl! Good to finally see you again." She greeted Beca with a hug.
"Good to see you too. You haven't aged a bit." The brunette replied with a laugh.
"You must be Chloe." The blue haired girl smiled as she looked behind Beca where the girl in question was hiding.
"Y-yeah. Hi." Chloe smiled awkwardly. Demi stepped into the corridor and stuck her hand out so the redhead could shake it. The other girl took it shyly, shaking it. "I just shook hands with Demi Lovato…" She whispered, looking at her hand with big eyes.
"Please don't be so starstruck again, Chlo." Beca giggled. "Let's go into the living room, shall we?"
The three girls made their way there and plopped down onto the couch. "So Beca. Want to continue our little game?" Demi asked with a smirk.
"Why not? I got Chloe on my side, she's gonna give me luck so I will win for the fourth time today." The small girl said confidently.
"Don't get so full of yourself." The blue haired girl rolled her eyes. "COD?"
"Yeah." Beca nodded as she started up the PS5. "You can watch real pros play now. Watch our combos, maybe you can adapt something to your own advantage." She winked at Chloe, who stared at them perplexed.
"Okay…" The redhead spoke softly.
Demi and Beca started a round and soon were the ones ranking highly. "Goddamnit, I swear if you steal my kill…" The brunette said through gritted teeth. She had her hands tightly around the controller, her tongue poking out in concentration, her brows furrowed. Chloe didn't look at Beca's hands for long. Instead, she was taking in how she looked when she was fully in game. It was adorable and cute, and kind of hot. The redhead felt her heart flutter at the sight.
"Huh? What did you say? I couldn't hear you over me stealing your kill." The blue haired girl giggled.
"Bitch." Beca cursed as she shoved the girl next to her.
They played a couple of rounds, each scoring high, sometimes Beca scoring higher than Demi or vice versa. When the last round began, both girls leaned forward in sync, seeing that this was it. This round would determine whether Beca would win the fourth game in a row, or if Demi would reset the score, winning her first game.
"I'm so gonna end you." The brunette said determined as her character started running through the map.
"We'll see about that." The blue haired girl smirked.
"Chloe, hold my shoulder for good luck." Beca spoke, her eyes not leaving the screen. The redhead giggled softly as she put her hand on the brunette's shoulder, squeezing it supportively.
Beca and Demi were the only ones standing. The timer started to run out and they knew they had to finish each other, otherwise they would have to play again. "Any last words?" The brunette asked as she sneaked up on the blue haired girl.
"Yeah. Eat shit." Demi smirked as she set off a mine that was close to Beca, successfully killing her.
The brunette stared at her death screen in disbelief. "You did not just… win…." She whispered.
"I did. Sorry." The other girl smiled sheepishly.
Beca carefully slammed her controller onto the table, standing up. "I'm ordering us food." She said angrily before she left the room.
"Aka, she's going to calm down first, then order food." Demi chuckled. "So Chloe. Beca has said a lot about you."
"Has she?" The redhead asked shyly, nervously playing with the hem of her shirt.
"Yeah. You work as a vet right?" The blue haired girl asked as she prepped her arm up onto the couch, facing the other girl.
"Well, not right now, no. But I would love to once I can." Chloe smiled softly.
"Mhmmm… Well, I mean, one of my friends owns a clinic. She's looking for a co-owner right now. The name's Heart for Animals." Demi smiled.
"Co-owner?" The redhead gulped. "That's kind of a huge position for me. I don't know if I am fit for that."
"Well, you would still be working as a normal vet. Just with an addition. You would represent the clinic, organize charity events, help with the adoption of animals, all that kind of stuff." The blue haired girl explained.
"It sounds like a lot…" Chloe whispered.
"Here. I'll give her your number. Her name's Sam, and tell her you got the number through me. She'll tell you what she needs." Demi smiled softly as she grabbed a piece of paper, scribbling down a number. "Only if you want to take it, of course."
"I'll think about it. Thanks Demi." The redhead smiled weakly and put the piece of paper into her pocket.
When Beca came back, she already had the food she ordered in her hands. "Took you a bit longer to calm down than usual." Demi commented.
"Shut up, I hate you." The brunette scowled as she handed the blue haired girl her box. "Careful, I poisoned it."
"Thanks for warning me." The other girl giggled as she dug into her food.
"Here you go. A fruit salad and a veggie soup. Though it seems a tad bit much." Beca said as she handed Chloe her box.
"Don't worry, I think I can handle it." The redhead smiled softly, but she looked at the amount of food a little wide-eyed.
"Okay, but stop when you can't, alright? There's nothing to be ashamed of." The brunette whispered.
They made small talk, not noticing how Chloe started to struggle with her food halfway through, but still continued to eat. She eyed Demi and Beca nervously, feeling too ashamed to stop.
In the end, the redhead managed to eat almost all of her meal and Beca looked impressed, though a little suspicious. She didn't think anything of it as the girl didn't seem green and pale, like she did after the restaurant. Demi let out a soft burp, patting her full stomach.
"Jeez Becs, why do you always order so much food when you're angry. I feel like I'm pregnant." She eyed the brunette, who was in a similar state.
"That's all your fault. I should have won." Beca mumbled.
Demi smirked. "Well, wanna play again? Maybe you'll win this time."
"Fine." The brunette replied, getting their controllers. She eyed Chloe worriedly for a second, but the redhead gave her a smile as she curled up a bit on the couch. "You wanna play?" Beca asked the taller girl with a smile, handing her the controller.
"Nah. I'll watch." Chloe replied, leaning her head on her hand with a smile.
"'Kay." Beca smirked as she plopped back down on the couch, successfully sandwiching Demi between her and Chloe.
"Ow...Becs, move over!" The blue haired girl immediately complained. Chloe blushed a little awkwardly as she shrank even farther into the corner of the couch, taking up as little space as possible. Beca laughed and moved to the side a little, giving the two girls more room. She turned on the game and clenched her jaw. "1 vs. 1. I'm going to fuck you up."
Beca and Demi were in a heated battle, blasting each other with guns, mines and whatever they could find. Chloe was watching intently, trying to pick up as much as she could from their skills. When she leaned forward, she felt her stomach protest, gurgling loudly. She looked at the two girls with a blush but luckily concluded that neither of them heard her. She wrapped her arms around her belly, trying to take deep breaths and calm down, but just like the day before, it only got worse and worse.
After a while, She shakily cleared her throat. "I'm...I'm going to the bathroom real quick." She squeaked, quickly shuffling off the couch and trying to appear as relaxed as possible as she hurried off to the bathroom.
Beca and Demi shot each other knowing looks, pausing the game.
"I hope she's okay." The blue haired girl whispered and Beca nodded, her eyes worried.
She opened her mouth to say something but before she could, they could hear the unmistakable sound of Chloe throwing up.
"Oh… no." Beca said softly, mentally hitting herself for not paying attention and getting lost in her stupid game with Demi. She got up from the couch and made her way over to the bathroom, which was locked. Her knuckled softly rapped against the door, as she leaned against it. "Chlo… It's me. I hope you're okay… Can I come in?" She asked softly.
She heard a soft sniffle from beside the door. "I'll be out in a second." Chloe's shaky voice said.
The brunette sighed heavily and pushed herself away from the door. "Okay."
She made her way over to the living room, where Demi was waiting for her, sporting a worried look.
"And?" The blue haired girl asked as soon as Beca reappeared. "She sounded upset."
Just then, they could heard the toilet flushing and the door unlocked, revealing a tearful Chloe.
Beca immediately got up to wrap her arms around the redhead, but the taller girl shook her off. She shuffled over to the couch and wrapped her arms around her knees, looking away. Beca felt her heart break and sat back down next to Demi, at loss for what to say. They all sat in silence for a while and Beca was about to speak up, but was interrupted. "Hey… Chloe." She heard Demi's voice beside her, sounding very soft and warm. "You know, when I was recovering, I threw up every single day for 2 weeks. It sucks. But it happens." The blue haired girl shuffled closer to the redhead. "You don't have to be ashamed."
Two tearfilled blue eyes looked up at Demi. "2 weeks?" Chloe whispered softly. "That's a long time."
The blue haired girl chuckled. "Yeah. Had a lot of shit in my body, so it had to happen. But did you see how much I ate tonight? You can do that again too. Someday. I promise you." Demi slowly wrapped her arm around Chloe, squeezing her shoulder.
"Really?" The redhead said softly, wiping her nose on her sleeve.
Demi cracked a smile. "Really."
"Thanks, Demi." Chloe replied, shooting her a watery smile.
"You're so welcome." The blue haired girl said with a wink. "You want a hug?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah."
Demi wrapped Chloe up in a hug, the redhead leaning her head on the other girl's shoulder.
"Hey… no fair." Beca said, as she had been watching the exchange with a soft smile at her lips. "I want in!" The brunette made her way over to the two other girls, wrapping her arms around both of them in an awkward group hug.