A/N: Apologies for taking a million years. This one is a longer one for sure and my spellcheck definitely hates me for it. Here you go!

Ch 11

Chloe pulled back with a hum and smiled, her hands resting on the back of the girl's neck while she remained perched on her lap.

"I have to admit," she began, letting her fingers play with hair at the nape of the brunette's neck, "I wasn't expecting that."

Beca's brow furrowed at the statement.

"Oh," she replied and looked down, removing her hands from where they'd been on Chloe's back, "W-Was it n-n-not go-good?"

"No!" Chloe answered quickly, hurrying to erase her worry, "No, it was great. Believe me, it was fantastic. I just wasn't expecting you to be so…" she thought a moment before pushing herself against her a bit more, "…enthusiastic."

Beca took in a shaky breath as she felt the girl press against her.

"I've b-b-been w-wanting t-to do-do th-that ffor a w-while," Beca confessed; their position and the warmth of Chloe on and against her was fogging her brain.

"Well, for future reference, you can do that any time you want," Chloe told her with a smile.

"Yeah?" she asked with a smile of her own.

"Oh yeah," the redhead nodded.

"L-Like now?"

Chloe laughed at how cute Beca looked as she asked the question.

"Definitely."

Beca's hands slid over the girl's things and moved up her hips to settle on her lower back; urging her forward as Chloe leaned in once more. Just as they were close enough to feel each other's breath dancing over their lips, Beca's phone rang, interrupting the moment. Chloe chuckled and dropped her head onto the freshman's collar.

"Or you could see who that is."

Beca groaned and leaned back, keeping one arm wrapped around Chloe to keep her in place while she reached behind them to grab her phone from the desk. She looked at the screen and Chloe saw a new look come over her face.

"Who is it?"

"Sh-Shiela," she answered, then elaborated, "M-My dad's g-girlf-friend."

Beca took a moment, wondering why the woman would be calling her. Chloe moved to get off and allow her space while she spoke, but stopped when Beca tightened her hold just enough to show her resistance to the separation.

"H-Hello," she answered a few seconds after connecting the call.

Chloe waited patiently, playing with the dark locks while the girl took her call. After a moment of Beca just listening, she heard her respond to something the woman on the other end had said.

"Y-Yeah, ok. Ok," was all she said, before ending the call.

Beca looked at the phone a minute before tossing it back onto the desktop.

"Everything ok?" Chloe asked, seeing the change that came over the girl's face; she almost looked nervous now.

"Sh-She w-wants t-t-to m-meet f-for lun-lunch."

The redhead tried to read her before asking, "Is that a bad thing?"

Beca shrugged, "D-Don't kn-know. WWe d-don't real-really t-t-talk."

"Well, did she say why?"

Beca shook her head, remaining quiet. Chloe rubbed the brunette's arm before getting up and moving to sit on the bed once more.

"Are you going?"

Beca shrugged and looked to be deep in thought for a little while. She wrung her hands as she debated voicing the sudden thought that had come to her.

"W-Would you c-c-come wit-with mme?"

The other girl was taken back by the invitation; her face, no doubt, showing her surprise.

"You want me to come to lunch with you and your dad's girlfriend?"

"N-N-Neverm-min-mind," Beca backtracked immediately, realizing what a strange request it was.

They barely knew each other. Sure, they'd seen each other naked and had just shared a kiss that left anything Beca could have imagined far behind in the dust. But what did that mean, though? Chloe had said they could kiss whenever she wanted, but the girl could just enjoy kissing. It didn't mean she wanted to get dragged into Beca's awkward family set up. Even if they were together at that point, asking Chloe to meet what was, more or less, a parental figure would be really soon.

She wished she could properly explain herself to Chloe. She desperately wanted to tell her that she felt so much comfort just from Chloe's presence; even if that comfort was mixed with a fair bit of anxiety to not make a complete fool of herself.

With a sigh, she spun in her chair back to the desk and opened her laptop back up. She stared at the waiting email, wondering if there would be any point; if he could even help.

While she went back and forth on the subject in her mind, she didn't hear Chloe get off the mattress. Beca was only pulled out of her mental debate when she felt a set of arms slide down over her shoulders and wrap loosely around her.

"Hey," Chloe's voice came softly at her ear, "I'd love to come, as long as you're sure."

Beca nodded, still looking forward at the screen.

"Ok, sounds great."

The freshman sighed and soon felt Chloe's lips gently press against her neck. The small action seemed to encourage the girl who took a breath and sent the email before she could change her mind. When Chloe saw what she'd done, she squeezed her arms around her a bit tighter and pressed another kiss against her skin.

"I'm proud of you," she told her, feeling Beca shudder as she spoke into her ear. The redhead then decided to change the subject and spun the chair around so she was facing the girl again, "You know, it'd be kind of weird to meet your family before we've even gone on a date."

Beca furrowed her brows, waiting for the senior to continue and Chloe grinned at the look on her face.

"Got any plans tonight?"

"Um, w-what?"

"I want to take you on a date, Beca Mitchell. Our first."

Beca glanced at the clock. It was nearly ten. She gestured to the time, but Chloe just shrugged.

"It's ok. I've got something in mind; a place that never closes.

Beca thought it over for barely a second before agreeing. Chloe clapped excitedly before grabbing Beca's hand and happily leading her out of the room.

Several hours later Beca and Chloe were sitting on the edge of the roundabout at a park playground, the wrappers from their individual ice creams, purchased at a gas station on the way, lay beside them on the metal. The simple outing might not have been considered a great first date, or a date at all, to some people, but Beca couldn't have asked for a better one. The two had spent the night just talking and learning about one another. It was the first time anyone seemed genuinely interested in knowing about her; asking her questions and actually waiting patiently while she stumbled through her answers.

It was just before 2am when they were heading back; walking hand in hand towards Baker Hall. Chloe swung their hands between them as they approached the building.

"I hope I didn't keep you out so late you hate me when you wake up."

Beca chuckled.

"I'll just h-hate the s-sun like every oth-other m-morning," Beca remarked getting a laugh from the other girl.

Beca pulled their joined hands up to put a kiss on the back of Chloe's. The girl beamed and gave Beca's hand an extra squeeze in response.

"You know," she began as they approached Beca's door, "for someone who doesn't talk a lot, I think you say more than anyone I've ever known."

"S-Sure."

"I'm serious," Chloe told her, wanting to pre-empt the insecurity or self-doubt before it could start, "You do. I love that about you."

Beca's ears perked at the word 'love' coming from Chloe's mouth. She knew Chloe wasn't saying she loved her, but even so, it got a reaction from her. She felt her begin to burn and knew without needing a mirror that they were beginning to blush. She awkwardly shrugged again in response to the words and then gestured to the door behind her.

"G-Guess I sh-should…" she began, letting the rest of it hang, knowing Chloe would understand.

"Right," Chloe agreed, reaching over to grab Beca's hand again and gave her a coy grin, "If you wanted, you could kiss me goodni-"

Her word was cut off by Beca's lips suddenly pressing against hers. It lasted a few seconds and Chloe felt herself smiling into the kiss. When they parted, the redhead brightly smiled again.

"Goodnight," she told her, putting a soft kiss on Beca's cheek.

"Night," Beca answered, watching Chloe walk away before entering her dorm.

The next morning, Beca had tiredly pulled herself out of bed. She felt dead on her feet, even after drinking the largest energy drink the campus store had to offer.

As exhausted as she was though, Beca didn't regret the night before. She couldn't; not when the memory of Chloe's taste still lingered on her lips when she woke. She knew Chloe had been surprised by the vigor Beca had shown during their first kiss. But she truly couldn't help herself. There were so many things Beca wanted to say to Chloe.

The way her heart sped up when she looked into her beautiful eyes. How her fingers would twitch with the urge to run them through her hair, even while across the room from each other. That the patience she showed during their conversations was so amazing it nearly brought her to tears when she got home that first night after their tutor session and coffee date. There was so much she wanted to say and because she couldn't tell her adequately with her words, she showed her. She put everything she had into showing her.

Her phone buzzed with a text as she took her seat for her morning lecture. When she saw it was from Chloe she anxiously opened it.

Can't believe u kept me out so late *wink*

Beca smiled to herself upon reading it.

That's me. Party animal. Think you can handle it?

A response came back immediately.

If last night is any indication, I'll let you do the HANDLING

Beca felt the heat in her face that she'd begun to associate with her body reacting to Chloe. She tried to type up several different responses, but was unsure how she should to that. Should she try flirting back? She wasn't sure if she could. She didn't have much practice with doing so. However it seemed the problem was solved for her when another text appeared.

You're cute when you're blushing.

For a second, Beca wondered if Chloe could see her, and quickly glanced around the classroom. She realized, though, that the girl was just teasing her again and started to type.

Is that so?

Chloe then sent an emoji blowing a kiss followed quickly by another message.

In class?

Unfortunately

Then enough texting. Pay attention.

But it's going to be so BORING!

That's an order from your tutor, Mitchell.

Beca knew her smile couldn't be contained if she tried now and was responding before she could second guess herself.

But if I don't, my tutor has to work with me even more.

Chloe sent a smiling emoji next to a heart followed by:

I'll see you for lunch weirdo.

Beca agreed, still smiling as the two exchanged details on getting together after their respective classes and where they'd be meeting Sheila.

After a lecture that was entirely too long in her opinion, and getting assigned some course work, Beca was finally released from her only class of the day. She was making her way across the quad where she would meet Chloe outside the science building, as they planned, so they could then walk together to the diner for lunch. She was nearly there when she heard her name being called.

Turning around, she saw Jesse jogging up the sidewalk towards her.

"Hey," he greeted as he came to stop in front of her, "I was hoping I'd run into you today. I haven't seen you since Hood Night. How've you been?"

"Ok," she shrugged in response; mentally recalling that he was making it sound as though it had been weeks or months rather than just a couple days.

"Cool," he nodded a couple times, awkwardly fiddling with the strap of his bag. He then perked up as if remembering something, "I have something for you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," he swung his bag around and pulled something out before handing it to her.

"A m-movie?"

She questioned with confusion since she remembered that she'd let him know she wasn't a big fan of them. She flipped the case over to see the front; The King's Speech.

"Yeah, it's the one I told you about. It's great; it won a bunch of Academy Awards," he paused seeing she didn't exactly return his excitement at the selling point, "Anyway, I figured you might enjoy it."

"Um, ok. Th-Thanks," she responded politely.

"Yeah sure," he looked down at his shoes briefly before returning his eyes to her, "I thought, you know, maybe we could even watch it together. Maybe this weekend?"

"Um, I d-d-don't-"

"I know you said you're not really into movies. I just kind of thought, you know, you might be interested in this one because of the story. You know 'cause…" he saw Beca grimace at his meaning and quickly moved on, "But we could watch something else. Or I mean we could do something else instead of watch a movie; grab dinner or whatever you want. What do you say?"

"Oh," she voiced in surprise; she wasn't expecting that.

Before she had the time to respond, she heard another voice join them.

"Hi guys!"

Beca and Jesse both looked over as Chloe appeared beside them.

"Hi," Beca greeted, already feeling the familiar comfort with Chloe's presence. She already felt herself beginning to smile just at having her near especially after everything they'd shared the previous night.

Chloe smiled back before turning to the other student standing with them. As soon as she'd exited the building and saw Jesse talking to Beca nearby, her mind instantly flashed back to her conversation with him at the party.

"Hi Jesse," she said to him; her voice polite yet tense, knowing the boy was attracted to Beca.

Jesse nodded and took a step back, "Chloe."

The redhead immediately returned her attention to the shorter girl.

"Were you waiting long?"

Beca shook her head, "N-No I j-just got hhere."

"Ok, good."

Jesse looked awkwardly between the two.

"Sorry, do you guys have plans or something?" he asked, looking for a hint of where he might stand.

"Y-Yeah," Beca answered hesitantly, not wanting to divulge too much since she had no idea what would happen or what Sheila wanted. She looked to Chloe and the other girl took her cue and stepped closer, linking her hand with Beca's; a direct move on her part.

"We're going to grab lunch."

"Ok," Jesse nodded, his voice a little more subdued, his eyes not missing Chloe's action or the way Beca responded by returning the hold automatically, "Well, I'll leave you guys to your lunch date, then."

He paused after calling it a date; leaving room for Beca to, hopefully deny it or correct him by saying it wasn't one. When she didn't, he cleared his throat.

"So, uh, have fun," he told them, putting a friendly smile on his face, "Let me know about this weekend, ok?"

Beca nodded and the two watched him leave. The senior looked to Beca questioningly.

"What's going on this weekend?"

"He w-wants t-to ha-hang," Beca responded nonchalantly.

"Oh," Chloe responded as the two started walking towards the diner. Her mind loudly wondering about Jesse's intentions in asking Beca to hang out with him. She would never get in the way of Beca wanting to spend time with a friend, but she couldn't deny that it would be different if the person wasn't obviously pining after her.

She and Jesse had both acknowledged to the other that they had an interest in Beca. Neither had out right declared that they would pursue her, but they also hadn't said they wouldn't. They'd left it pretty open and vague.

"Do you want to?" she forced her voice to remain light in its curiosity; as if she were just interested in her plans.

Beca shrugged, as she often used as a nonverbal response before, to Chloe's relief, she elaborated.

"I d-don't kn-know. There's a lo-lot g-going on."

"Right," Chloe responded as they came to the door of their destination.

She shook off her worry so she could focus solely on being there for Beca. The other girl's nervousness was clear in the way her hand had tightened around Chloe's as they approached the entrance.

"You ready?"

The brunette let out a breath before nodding and the girls entered. Chloe scanned the fairly full eatery until Beca pointed to a blonde woman sitting in a corner booth. As they approached, the woman noticed them and sat up straighter, giving a small wave towards Beca.

Chloe let Beca slide into the booth first before sitting beside her.

"Hi Beca," the woman, who was younger than Chloe was expecting greeted with a smile.

Beca lifted her hand a bit to return the greeting. The woman then cast her eyes to Chloe.

"Hello, I'm Sheila," she introduced herself.

"Chloe," she returned brightly.

"Sorry, I didn't realize Beca was bringing her…"

"Friend," Chloe filled in for her when she let it hang; unsure of how Beca saw them or what she would want this woman to know.

Sheila smiled wide at the knowledge that Beca was making friends. She'd admit that it was something she wondered, well worried, about with Beca being on campus by herself. Having seen the way she'd been in high school, at least the last year of it since Sheila had known her, she was glad the girl seemed to be connecting to others now.

"Great to meet you," she told her honestly before turning back to her boyfriend's daughter, "How've you been Beca? Settling in ok?"

Beca nodded.

Sheila was a little disappointed that Beca wasn't responding verbally to her. The girl rarely had during their past interactions; she'd just hoped that it would have improved some.

"Well," she began and cleared her throat, "I'm sure you're curious why I wanted to see you so quickly."

Beca only nodded again.

"Ok, first of all, please know I don't mean to cross any boundaries. Anyway, I went looking through some old boxes in the attic and…well I found something I thought you might like to have."

Beca lifted her brows curiously, Chloe beside her was yet again intrigued by the amount of communication Beca was able to practice without her words. Though the thought that she felt she'd had to was enough to cause a slight tightness in the redhead's chest and she placed a comforting hand on her thigh underneath the table.

However, Beca didn't respond to the action as her attention was focused the woman across from them. She watched as Sheila pulled a book out of her bag. Beca began to wonder what sort of book her dad might've had in the attic that Sheila would think Beca would like, but the woman then pulled something out from where it had been pressed between the pages.

Beca accepted it and felt Chloe lean closer to look as well. The younger girl found herself staring at a photograph; a photograph of a pretty woman, smiling brightly down at the baby she held in her arms.

"I-Is-Is th-that…?" her voice weakened as she stared at the woman in picture. She was barely able to tear her eyes from it in order to see Sheila nod to answer her.

The woman felt her eyes burn as Beca sat across form her with a reverent look on her face while she gazed down at the picture. She had been nervous that her actions would be seen as cross the line, but seeing Beca's reaction now told her she had made the right choice. Chloe, felt as though she were witnessing an intimate moment sitting beside Beca.

"Who is she?" she asked quietly so as not to shatter the moment. Beca touched her fingers lightly to the glossy surface; tracing the image of the woman's face as her voice came in a whisper.

"My mom."

Chloe had never heard the other girl mention her mother. When she said it was her dad's girlfriend who wanted to meet, of course she realized her parents weren't together. However she'd only assumed that they were divorced, but judging by her reaction to this photograph that it was more than that.

Beca felt a lump in her throat as she stared at the image of the woman in her hand; she'd never seen a picture of her mother before. They'd never been up around the house as she grew up. When she was a child and had asked if her dad had any he had told her they had been ruined shortly after Beca was born when a pipe burst in the apartment above theirs and had flooded their own. She'd spent so many years wondering about the woman. She used to look in the mirror and wonder what aspects of her mother she wore on her own face. Now she had this.

She managed pulled her watery gaze away from the picture and cast them to the woman across from her.

"Th-Thank y-you," she said; her voice stronger than before.

Sheila smiled warmly at the girl; her own tears welling. Her heart leapt at the feeling that, for the first time in a year, she felt as though she was connecting with Beca.

"You're very welcome," the woman replied, "There's more, if you like, I can bring you others too."

Beca nodded; this time her lack of speech due only to the emotions soaring through her.

"Great," Sheila answered and then decided to lighten the move and, hopefully continue to build a relationship with the girl, "Let's get some lunch, huh?"