Author's Note: As it's after midnight now in my time zone (sorry), Merry Christmas to those that celebrate it, happy Monday to those that don't, or happy Sunday to those reading this west of me who don't. Anyway, today's is from my friend AbyKitten. "On Christmas eve they find a baby animal abandoned and have to save it from the brink of death."
"You know Chloe, I have a long list of questions." Beca said as she and the redhead left campus headed for her father's house.
"I'm sure you do." Chloe smiled, taking Beca's hand in hers. "Fire away, I'm all ears."
"Well, first off, why are you going with me to my father's for Christmas instead of spending it with your family?" Beca asked
"I told you, my parents are in Guatemala with Doctors Without Borders." Chloe explained. "My brother Julian is working, my brother Miles stayed in Cambridge to be with his girlfriend and her family, and my brother Ben and some of his buddies from Cal Tech are going skiing in Idaho. It was you or Aubrey and I really don't want to deal with Aubrey's family being icy to her because they finally found out she's gay. If her sister wasn't there, I would be, but she is, so I'm not. Does your family know you're gay?"
"Yeah, don't worry, they're fine with it." Beca reassured the redhead. "If you could help Jesse grasp the concept that would be appreciated."
"He's still flirting with you?" Chloe asked, shaking her head in bewilderment. "You have made it perfectly clear right? As fellow redhead Willow Rosenberg said, a vague disclaimer is nobody's friend."
"Yeah, I told him I like girls." Beca said.
"Did you say you didn't like boys?" Chloe asked. "Because otherwise, vaguness."
"I didn't think I had to, but I see your point." Beca nodded. "I'll tell him next time I see him. Anyway, next question, why are we walking?"
"Because it's not that far and the exercise will help with our cardio." Chloe explained as if it were the most obvious answer. "We have to...what's that noise?"
"What's what?" Beca asked stopping alongside Chloe as she too heard a whimper come from somewhere nearby. She pointed at a dumpster. "I think it came from in there."
"Let's go take a look." Chloe said, moving closer, thankful the lid was open. Glancing in, she was both shocked and angered when she saw what looked to be a malnourished puppy. She reached in and lifted it out. "Poor little thing, we have to help it out." She handed it to Beca and took her jacket off, wrapping it around the dog. "Let's get to your dad's quick so we can get it to a vet."
"How could someone just throw a puppy in a dumpster?" Beca asked, shaking her head.
"There are just some truly awful people in the world." Chloe said in a seething tone "She's just so cute, do you think they'd let me keep her?"
"I don't know how it works Chloe." Beca said. "What if it belongs to someone? Like, it's some woman's and her asshole boyfriend is pissed off and threw it out."
"How could your head even go there?" Chloe asked, a tear coming to her eye.
"I'm sorry, don't cry Chloe." Beca said, putting an arm around Chloe's shoulders. "We'll get things taken care of, I promise."
When they got to her father's, Dr. Mitchell immediately agreed to take them to the nearest emergency vet, even agreeing to pay all the fees. When they got there, Chloe went with the vet and the nurse, while Beca and her father sat in the waiting area.
"She's the one you like?" Chris asked, not missing the way his daughter had been interacting with Chloe.
"It's weird, we've only known each other a few months, but I've never felt anything for anyone like I do for her." Beca said. "I'm just not sure if she...I don't know if she likes girls. For all I know she sees me as just a really good friend."
"I don't know what to say to that." Chris said. "From everything I know about her she certainly seems like a nice girl, like the kind a father would want their child to end up with."
"I just don't want to make things awkward between us if she turns out straight." Beca said. "Like, if she likes girls, why isn't she with Aubrey?"
"More things I can't answer." Chris said. "Do you know the song 'Life's a Dance' by John Michael Montgomery?"
"Um, he's country right?" Beca asked, trying to remember. "I don't know a lot of country."
"Ah, well, it starts out with him telling how when he was 14 there was a girl he liked, but he couldn't get the courage up to ask her out, and then she moved away. The lesson is, if you don't ask, you won't ever know."
"Yeah, that's good advice." Beca conceded.
"If she says no, it's not the end of the world." Chris said. "There are other girls out there, I am sure you'll find one someday that will like you just the way you are."
"Thanks dad." Beca said, taking time to process his words. Before she got a chance to say anything more, Chloe came out to find them, the occasional tear still trailing down her cheek. "Did something happen? Are you ok Chloe?"
"No, she's still alive. I'm fine, or I will be." Chloe said, sniffling. "She's going to need a lot of attention, they want to keep her here, but they're confident she'll make a full recovery."
"So it's a girl?" Beca asked, going up and moving to her friend.
"Yeah, a Springer Spaniel mixed with something else, Border Collie maybe they think." Chloe explained. "They said I'd be able to keep her since she was clearly abandoned and there's chip or anything. I named her Bella."
"Of course you would." Beca smiled. "It's a great name for her, Aubrey will love it."
"Chloe, if you need to, you can keep her at my house." Chris offered.
"That would be a huge help, thank you so much." Chloe said, hugging him.
"You're welcome." Chris said. When she pulled away, he nodded to the reception area. "I'm going to go take care of the bill."
"I'm really glad things are going to be ok." Beca said with a smile. Taking a breath, she decided to throw caution to the wind. "This might be stupid, I might be ruining everything, but I if I don't I'll regret it. I don't want to think I've missed my chance at something great to someone with a weird ass name. Chloe, would you maybe be interested in going out with me sometime?"
"Finally." Chloe said, a huge smile spreading across her face. "I thought I was going to have to be the one to do something. Be prepared to get the shovel speech from Aubrey."
"Of course." Beca said, pulling the redhead into a hug.
Note 2: I've not seen Pitch Perfect 3 yet, I likely won't till it's out on blu-ray, though from what I've been hearing I might not want to. I just want to say at least 10% of what I dislike about this Chicago dude is that his name is Chicago. And part of that is because I dislike the fact that there are still three Chicago shows on NBC. Sorry, I'd just prefer if those extra two hours went to something in a genre I like. And sorry for that rant. Tomorrow's(today's, whatever) will be the last, from malexfaith.