She patiently waited outside of Tom's ICU hospital room while Chloe sat with the man. Once Chloe was finished they walked out of the hospital and towards Chloe's car. For the most part the ride was silent as Beca tried to figure out what to say first.
"I'm sorry." She blurted out as Chloe pulled up to a stop light. She continued looking out the front window but could feel Chloe's head turn towards her. She could feel those blue eyes.
"I was jealous." Beca admitted.
Sitting outside Tom's hospital room she had a chance to relive the previous night. The words Chloe threw at her. The accusations the redhead made. How Chloe felt.
"You were right. I saw you with Tom and I was jealous." Beca turned to meet Chloe's hard stare. "And pissed off."
The question was on the tip of Chloe's tongue when Beca continued.
"Pissed off because you were there with Tom." Beca sighed. "And that was my fault. I mean" She lightly laughed at herself, "what do I expect? When I treat you the way I did the night before? I had no right to be jealous and I had no right to be angry." Beca said softly. "But I'm glad I was all of those things because all of those things contributed to me ending up in that bathroom with you."
A long angry honk startled Chloe. She was lost in Beca's words. Lost in Beca's eyes. In the sound of her voice. She quickly turned towards the front of the car to see the green light quickly turn yellow. "Shit" She mumbled as she pressed on the gas pedal. The man in the car behind her didn't have enough time to make it through the intersection. She saw his middle finger appear in her rear view mirror as she sped away.
"Chlo" Beca said calmly.
She felt Beca's hand on her thigh and heard her voice. "Slow down."
The remainder of the ride went quickly. No words were shared and Beca had removed her hand from Chloe's thigh shortly after the art teacher's foot eased off the pedal. As the car rolled to a stop at a stop sign, Chloe looked in both directions. Each direction leaded to a different destination.
"Do you want me to take you home or to the firehouse?" She asked turning towards Beca.
"Um" Beca looked at Chloe, "home is fine. You're gonna stay right?" She asked nervously. "I mean I haven't eaten and I'm starving."
Chloe smirked slightly.
"No, not that you have to cook. I was going to cook. I just thought maybe if you haven't eaten we could you know. Eat. Food." Beca mumbled towards the end.
"No. I haven't eaten." Chloe smiled. Beca's nervousness was charming.
"Okay" Beca whispered with a smile.
"But I thought you had to go get your things or something from work?" Chloe asked.
Beca sighed and ran her hand through her brown hair. "Yeah, but I can do that tomorrow. I don't really feel like going right now."
Chloe nodded as she turned left away from the firehouse and towards Beca's apartment complex. A few miles later Chloe turned into the large parking lot and wound her way through until she was pulling into the parking spot next to Beca's Jeep. They got out and walked towards the staircase that lead up to Beca's apartment. Chloe began taking the stairs and felt Beca's hands find each side of her hips. She felt them squeeze gently as she walked up the steps.
The feeling of Chloe's hands on top of hers made her smile as they trudged up the stairs together one after the other. Once they made it to the top landing Beca dropped her hands from Chloe's hips but instantly missing the contact she reached her right hand for Chloe's left and laced their fingers together as they continued down the long hallway towards Beca's apartment. Beca fished the keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door.
"I'm gonna shower" She announced tiredly as Chloe followed her into the apartment closing the door behind them.
"Okay. Do you want me to make something to eat?" Chloe asked as she followed Beca to her bedroom.
"If you want." Beca turned with a smile. "Or." She reached her hand for the redhead and pulled her close. "You can wait till I get out and I can make us something." Beca offered as Chloe wrapped her arms around Beca's waist and rested her chin on Beca's right shoulder.
Chloe felt Beca's hands slowly running up and down her back. "Mhmm" she moaned. "That feels good." Chloe purred.
Beca's hands slipped under Chloe's blouse. She ran her fingertips along Chloe's spine. She could feel the goosebumps rise on Chloe's skin as she lightly made contact with her skin working her fingertips up the length of the redhead's back. She felt Chloe's head lift from her shoulder then she felt Chloe's nose softly graze the length of her neck and then soft lips on her skin.
"If you don't stop" Beca said teasingly. "I'm not gonna make it to the shower."
"Um" Chloe moaned as she reattached her lips to Beca's neck. "You started it."
Beca pulled her hands from under Chloe's shirt and back down to her hips. She extended her arms and held Chloe' away from her. "I really need to take a shower."
Chloe closed the distance. She placed a softy kiss on Beca's lips. "Okay. I'll make us some lunch." She said after pulling away.
"Kay" Beca replied. She dropped her hands from Chloe and made her way to her bathroom discarding her shirt on the way.
"Do you need help with your bandages or anything?" Chloe asked seeing the large pads over the burns.
"No, but I'll need help covering them when I'm done." Beca replied. "If you don't mind?"
"Of course I don't mind Becs." Chloe smiled. "I'll be in the kitchen."
Beca watched Chloe leave her room before turning towards the shower and turning on the water. Beca reached around and grabbed the edge of the bandage. She pulled gently feeling the tape separate from her skin. She inspected the bandage for any sign of infection like the doctors had shown her at the hospital. Satisfied that she was heeling well she tossed the bandage in the garbage can and repeated the process with the white pads that covered the burns on the back of her arm. She undid her belt and pushed her jeans down her legs. She kicked off her shoes and stepped out of the denim quickly. Beca pulled the shower door open and carefully stepped inside. She aimed her left shoulder away from the water opting to let the water cascade over her injuries instead of letting the water pound on them.
Once she was satisfied that she had cleansed her body of the last 24 hours Beca turned off the water and pushed open the frosted glass door. She reached for her towel and began patting her face dry, then her chest and arms. She wrapped the large white cotton towel around her body securing it at her chest and walked out of her bathroom to find comfy clothes. The sight of Chloe laying on her bed flat on her back with her legs dangling off the end made her smile but she kept going. Her first stop was her dresser.
The sound of the water shutting off and the door opening woke Chloe before she had a chance to fully doze off to sleep. She heard Beca's footsteps through the room and the sound of a drawer being pulled open. "You don't have any food."
Beca winced.
"Actually that's not true" Chloe said as she pushed herself from the bed unto her elbows. "You do have food. But it's spoiled."
"Sorry" Beca apologized turning towards the redhead.
"It's pretty gross Becs." Chloe teased.
"I hadn't had time to go to the store." Beca mumbled as she turned back towards her dresser in search for some underwear.
"When was the last time you ate?" Chloe asked softly. She watched as Beca shrugged her shoulders in response.
Beca stepped into the openings in the underwear and pulled them up her legs and into place under the towel.
Chloe sighed and pushed herself to her feet. She followed Beca who had retreated into her closet. "You need to eat babe." Chloe quietly reprimanded. "I ordered pizza" she announced louder.
Beca bent down and pulled a large bag out from under the clothes that she had hanging. Chloe had been in Beca's closet once before, the first night she slept over at the firefighters, but she hadn't noticed the large back when she was looking through Beca's closet previously. "What's that?" She asked curiously.
Beca knelt down after re-securing the towel around her chest. She unzipped the bag, pushing items out of the way in search of something in particular. "My first set of PPE's." Beca said as she finally saw the white metal box. She pulled it out and zipped the bag then pushed it under the hanging clothes.
"PPE's?" Chloe asked as Beca stood.
Beca handed the white first aid kit to Chloe and then left the closet to return to her open dresser drawer.
"Gear." Beca answered. "A full set of turnout gear."
Chloe followed Beca out and back into the room. "Oh. Why is it here?" Chloe asked genuinely curious.
"We get a new set every five years." Beca finally found the bra she was looking for. It was the one that wouldn't touch the skin graft on her back. She slid it into place carefully letting the towel pool around her feet. "It was my first set and I wanted to keep it." She bent down to the second drawer and pulled out her grey LAFD sweatpants. She stepped into them and pulled them up around her waist. They fell slightly and hung perfectly off her hips.
"Sentimental." Chloe teased.
"It saved my ass more times than I can count." Beca smirked.
The smile fell from Chloe's face. She knew that was a true statement and she didn't really want to think about it let alone hear the details.
"So yeah, it's kind of special to me." Beca smiled as she approached the redhead who stood expressionless with the white box in her hands. Beca took it and laid it on her bed. She unlatched the metal clips and opened the lid. She pulled out several non-stick gauze pads and some tape before turning quickly back towards the bathroom. She reappeared seconds later with a tube in her hand. "Can you help me?" She asked.
"Yeah." Chloe said taking the tube in her hand.
"Here" Beca said pulling a pair of gloves from the kit. "Put one on. Then gently" Beca emphasized, "cover the burns on my arm with that cream. Then we can cover them. Then the one on my back."
Chloe nodded and followed Beca's instructions. As gently as she could she covered the nasty burns with the cream. She saw Beca's body tense as soon as the thick cream touched her exposed flesh. "Do I blow on it or something?" Chloe asked feeling instantly guilty for Beca being in pain in front of her.
"No"
She could hear the pain in Beca's voice. Beca had her hands clasped behind her back perfectly exposing the burn. Chloe looked down to see her knuckles white from gripping so hard to each other. She put another generous amount of cream on her finger and lightly brushed it over the wound. As soon as she finished she attached her lips to the back of Beca's neck. She felt a slight jump under her lips but Beca relaxed immediately when Chloe flattened her tongue against her skin. Chloe pulled back and repeated the action before covering the second burn in cream. This time she lightly bit down on Beca's right shoulder hoping to ease the pain she knew the brunette was feeling on her left side by redirecting it. She bent down to place kisses across the width of Beca's back. She avoided the large patch of grafted skin on Beca's left shoulder blade and swiped her tongue up Beca's neck. The brunette's head dropped to the side and Chloe took her earlobe in her mouth sucking gently. She pulled back letting it pop out of her mouth just after the doorbell rang.
"Pizza" She whispered.
Beca nodded. The brunette swallowed as she composed herself. She felt Chloe brush past her and out of the room. She heard the door open and she heard a friendly exchange at the door and then the door closing. The aroma filled the apartment and wafted itself into her room as Chloe quickly followed. She placed the pizza box down on top of Beca's comforter and was back at the firefighter's side in seconds. "I'm sorry. I know that hurt." Chloe said softly.
"You're much better at that than Stacie is." Beca found the strength to speak.
Chloe quirked an eyebrow. "I hope that's not how Stacie does it."
Beca shrugged teasingly and Chloe's mouth fell open. "Come on." Beca said, "Can you cover them so we can eat? That smells so good."
Chloe nodded and did as she was told. She circled around Beca again and followed her step by step instructions for placing the gauze and tape.
Soon they were settled on top of Beca's bed, a pizza box between them, as they ate in peaceful quite.
XxXxXx
Chloe's eyes fluttered open. She hadn't meant to fall asleep but she did. She glanced down towards where she felt the weight resting on her. She turned her head to the left looking at the brunette who was passed out with her head on left thigh, her face very close to Chloe's center. Chloe took a deep breath as she felt arousal coursing through her body at the sight of Beca's chosen napping place. She laid her head back down and glanced over to the clock. Her left hand nudged Beca's shoulder.
Beca nuzzled her head down.
The action sent a tingle through Chloe. "Beca" She said quickly. "Becs. Wake up."
As if she were doing it on purpose to drive Chloe crazy, Beca tried to borough her head further down into Chloe. Chloe felt Beca's hand land heavily on her crotch prompting her to roll quickly to her right to escape the sweet torture Beca was unintentionally inflicting on her.
Beca woke when her head was falling out of the air and landing hard on the bed. "What's happening?" She asked as she woke up dazed. She looked up across the bed to Chloe whose face was a little flushed. The red head was standing and smoothing out her shirt. "We fell asleep." Chloe rushed out as she tried to compose herself.
"Okay, well come back to bed." Beca said sweetly.
"I'm hungry." Chloe answered quickly.
"Hungry? We just ate a whole pizza like three hours ago." Beca argued groggily.
"No. You ate a whole pizza." Chloe reminded her. "We need to go to the grocery store and if I'm gonna spend the weekend here, I'd like to get some clothes from my house."
Beca lazily pushed herself up from the bed. "Okay well, if we're going out then can we swing by the firehouse so I can grab my stuff?"
"Yeah, sure" Chloe said happy to get out of that room so she could calm herself down. She wanted to talk to Beca. To have a serious talk about their relationship and where it may be headed and what they officially were to each other and she was determined to do that before they had sex again.
"Are you okay?" Beca asked pulling a t-shirt over her head as she followed Chloe out of the room.
"Yeah, I'm super good." Chloe said quickly.
"Okay?" Beca said skeptically as she followed Chloe out of the apartment.
"So? You're house, firehouse, grocery store?" Beca asked as she closed the door to her Jeep looking at a surprisingly disheveled redhead.
"Yep. Sounds good" Chloe said as she squeezed her thighs together.
XxXxXx
It was a hard decision. She glanced from box to box unable to decide.
"Are you gonna pick one?" Chloe asked tired of standing on the cereal aisle.
"No" Beca said as she walked up to the shelf and grabbed one of each box. "It's too hard to commit to just one."
Chloe rolled her eyes and turned around quickly leaving Beca with both boxes in her hand and a half full shopping cart.
"What?" Beca called after her. She tossed the boxes into the cart and turned it quickly to follow Chloe. "I can't choose between Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes Chlo. I need them both." Beca whined as she caught up with the red head on the next aisle. "Come on Chloe" Beca laughed. "I'm just kidding. I mean not about the cereal, seriously I could never just pick one."
Chloe turned quickly catching Beca by surprise.
Beca jerked the basket to a sudden stop.
"It's not just about the cereal Beca." Chloe snapped surprising herself. She froze for a second then turned and continued down the aisle. She heard the wheels of the cart begin again.
"Then what's it about?" Beca asked from behind her. "You've been acting weird since we left the house."
Chloe stopped and turned. It wasn't angry this time. This time it was in almost defeat. "First it was, 'wait here cuz I don't need any bullshit from the guys about you'" Chloe recalled Beca's words to her while they sat outside the firehouse. "Then it was 'just grab a couple of things Chlo cuz I don't have room for all of your stuff' and then 'I don't care which store we go to Chloe. I never go to the same one for a long time anyway. I like to change it up. Try new things. See what all the other stores have to offer. Most of the time they have better stuff, you know' and really Beca I don't know" Chloe ended her impression of the firefighter but continued ranting, "I don't care if people tease me about being with you and I wasn't trying to move in and I like going to the same store all the time. I'm not afraid of committing to one place or one cereal. Seriously Beca" Chloe said loudly "if you don't want to be my girlfriend, just say it."
"Oh my God" Beca smiled. She tried to fight it but the laugh that was building within her was too much to contain. It almost hurt as it finally escaped her chest.
"Great" Chloe mumbled. She turned and retreated again.
Beca abandoned the basket and quickly caught Chloe from behind. She wrapped her arms around her trying to stop her from walking any further. "Stop running away." Beca said between giggles.
"I'm not running." Chloe pouted as she felt Beca's arms squeeze around her tightly.
"Stop walking then and listen to me." Beca said softly in Chloe's ear.
Chloe stopped.
"I don't care if the guys at the firehouse wanted to tease me about you. Let them. I don't care" Beca whispered. "What I should have said because it's true is I didn't want them staring at you. And they would have because you're smoking hot Chloe. They would have looked. Hard. And that would have just pissed me off." Beca kissed Chloe's neck softly. "And you didn't need a lot of things Chloe. I don't plan on going out tomorrow at all and I don't plan on either of us wearing a lot of clothes but if you want to bring things to my place then I'll clear out a drawer and I'll make room in the closet baby."
Chloe felt her body relax. She felt her body begin to melt at the feeling of Beca's breath on her skin.
"And I'm sorry that I like to shop around a different stores. But I mean seriously I like to try new things and grocery stores seem to always stock the same old crap. And I think if you stop for a second and think about it, you might like to try new things with me too. Doing the same thing the same way every time isn't exciting." Beca pulled her arms from around Chloe's belly to her hips and turned the red head to face her.
Chloe's arms wrapped around Beca's neck.
"And in case you don't understand exactly what I mean I'm talking about sex" Beca said with an over enthusiastic wink earning a giggle from Chloe. "I don't need my girlfriend getting board in that department." Beca said seriously catching Chloe off guard.
"What?" Chloe questioned softly.
"Of course I want to be your girlfriend." Beca whispered as she rested her forehead against Chloe's. "I want to be with you."
"You do?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah. And I'm so sorry for all the shit I've pulled and the way I've made you feel."
Chloe pulled her arms from around Beca's neck to her cheeks. She pulled Beca's face towards hers softly kissing her. Chloe tried to escalate the kiss but Beca pulled back. "But I will not choose between Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes Chloe. That's just ridiculous."
XxXxXx
Chloe pushed her chair back from the table. "I've outdone myself." She announced proudly.
Beca smiled at her across the table. "I agree. It was excellent."
"Thanks baby" Chloe cooed as the blush crept its way up her face. She reached forward for her wine glass. "Want me to help you clean up?" She asked after she sipped the dark red wine.
"No. I got it. Cooks don't clean where I come from." Beca answered and Chloe suddenly remembered the same declaration the first time they ate together.
"So what can I do?" Chloe asked as she watched Beca make several trips back and forth from the table to the sink.
"Uhh" Beca said, "whatever you want."
"Mind if I go get ready for bed?" Chloe asked.
"No, go ahead." Beca answered without turning around from the sink. She heard the sound of the chair being pushed back towards the table and then she felt Chloe's lips on her cheek and then a soft pat to her butt.
"Don't be long." Chloe said as she walked out of the kitchen.
Beca tossed the dishtowel down on the counter. She stepped back to look at her work. She smiled at the spotless kitchen that 20 minutes ago was filled with the pots, pans, plates and utensils that Chloe used to make their dinner. "Beca, baby can you bring the wine?" She heard Chloe's voice from the direction of her bedroom.
"Yeah" Beca called back. She grabbed her glass and the bottle of wine from the counter and headed in the direction of the redhead. She finished the last bit in her glass before calling back to Chloe "so what do you want to do? Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Beca asked as she walked through of the hallway. "Cause I have Netflix but I don't really use it so" Beca stopped speaking as soon as she entered her bedroom. Her brain stopped functioning. She couldn't even remember what words were.
"Don't just stand there." Chloe said seductively. "Put those down and come over here."
Beca opened her hands and let both items fall to the floor. She heard the sound of her glass breaking against the wood floor and the sound of the wine bottle clanging around and eventually coming to a stop. She didn't care to look at the mess she made. It didn't matter all that mattered was what she couldn't tear her eyes from. All that mattered was what stood before her and why her eyes couldn't blink in fear of it being a hallucination that would evaporate in the blink of an eye.
"Come here" Chloe whispered.
Somehow her left foot moved forward and to her shock it was followed by her right. She couldn't tell how fast she was actually moving because to her it was in slow motion. Super slow motion. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was she was moving. Towards Chloe. Chloe who stood in front of her. Hair perfectly curled, raining down over her shoulders. Blue eyes gleaming in the low light of the room. Cheeks with a twinge of pink from the temperature that was rising. Soft red lips and dark smoky eye makeup. Before she knew it she was standing toe to toe with her. She glanced down at the redhead and then back up.
"This is hotter than I expected it to be." Chloe said softly. "I don't know how you can stand to be in this." Chloe looked down at herself and then nervously back up to Beca who hadn't said a word to her since entering the room. "Help me take it off?"
Beca's hands shook as she reached for the Velcro of her old turnout coat. The Velcro she had fastened so many times in the past. The Velcro she'd never seen from this point of view. The loud sound of it breaking apart filled the room. She pulled the collar back away from the redhead's neck, pushing her soft hair out of the way and went to work unclasping the large clips. Once she was at the bottom Beca opened the coat slowly as she looked back up into Chloe's blue eyes that had grown several shades darker. She pushed the protective jacket all the way open and let if fall off Chloe's shoulders and down her arms, landing on the floor around her feet. She felt the wetness pool between her legs as her eyes once again roamed Chloe's body. Beca had never been more thankful that she saved all of her old gear as she was at this very moment. She never thought she'd be slowly taking it off a beautiful redhead but here she was. Looking at Chloe who stood in her firefighter pants with red suspenders over her shoulders. The wide straps covering her nipples. Beca swallowed and took a deep breath as she raised her hands letting her palms come in to contact with Chloe's tight stomach. She slid them under the straps of the suspenders and up letting her palms cover Chloe's tits.
Chloe worked to control her breathing as Beca slowly undressed her. When she had the idea to take off all of her clothes and putting on Beca's old gear, she didn't think it would have this effect on the firefighter. She thought Beca would be turned on and take the clothes off of her quickly. But this. This slow discarding of the hot heavy gear was almost too much for her to bear. She wanted the firefighter all day and moving this slowly was not helping.
Beca slid the suspenders off Chloe's shoulders and let them fall to the side the way she would wear them after work. Beca's hands slid back down Chloe's chest and down her tight stomach to the top button of the heavy fire proof pants. She quickly undid it and immediately unzipped them. She held her gaze into Chloe's eyes as the pants fell down Chloe's legs. Beca bend slightly. She wrapped her right arm behind Chloe's knees and her left arm around her shoulders.
Chloe felt the air being sucked out of her lungs. Out of the room as she felt Beca effortlessly scoop her off her feet. Her arms automatically found themselves around Beca's neck as her feet came smoothly out of the bottom of the pants. She couldn't wait anymore. She pressed her mouth to Beca's. Her tongue met Beca's quickly as their lips found each other's repeatedly. Chloe felt herself being lowered to the bed as Beca crawl on top of her.
AN: Should we get dirty? LOL... Comments always welcome. Love to hear y'alls thoughts.