A/N: Hopefully I'm getting back in my groove! Hope you guys enjoy! Please review!
Tricks21- yeah it does suck, especially for Chloe!
xcombicgirlx - Did someone say time machine?
Montivagancy - awww! I'm glad you like it!
Crystal - Of Monsters and Men
"Hey guys? Has anybody seen Lily?" Cynthia Rose asked.
Chloe pulled back from Aubrey to look around the room. "No, come to think of it, I haven't seen her since breakfast."
"I think she said something about going to a time machine? But I couldn't really understand." Emily shrugged.
"Seriously, Legacy? You didn't think this was important information?" Amy scolded.
"What? She's always saying weird stuff!"
"Except for the fact that she actually HAS a time machine!"y
"She does?!"
"How can you forget about a time machine? Seriously?"
Emily glanced nervously at Stacie, who spoke up.
"Come on guys; it was a late night and to be fair we had a lot to drink, give her a break. There was a time machine?"
Chloe watched as Aubrey and Amy gave each other a look before she spoke up. "Yes, there was a time machine. And for some reason we decided it would be a great idea to send Beca to the past. I think that's when she lost her memory? Maybe something happened?"
"Wait," Aubrey held up her hand. "You think the time machine actually worked?"
"How else would you explain what happened to Beca? Maybe going back to the past screwed with her memories."
"On the off chance that it did work, and I'm not saying it did-" Amy clarified. "Why would it mess up her memories?"
"Maybe it has something to do with the lightning storm last night? I mean a time machine would have to be operated in near perfect conditions to give it the best chance of working. Any extra energy lingering in the air from the lightning might have caused it to malfunction."
The rest of the girls stopped to stare at Stacie.
"One, what lightning storm? And two, what exactly do you do at Google?" Cynthia Rose was the first to find her voice.
"So you guys get upset because I don't remember the time machine and you guys can't even remember a fucking lightening storm? And it's very complicated, it involves making equations and algorithms to hypothesize the mathematical probability of certain outcomes."
"There was lightening storm last night?" Emily looked more confused than ever.
"Ok. . . so I hereby nominate Stacie as the most qualified person in the group to examine the time machine. If the lightening storm damaged it then maybe She give us a clue to what exactly is up with Beca." Aubrey looked to Chloe. "Will you be ok here alone with Beca?"
"Yeah, yeah sure." She felt the bile rise in her throat. Come on Chlo, you can't be nervous about being alone with her, it's Beca! "I'll be fine."
"Alright, so does anybody have a clue where the time machine was last night?" The blonde looked around hopefully.
"Ah, yeah; I've got them right here. I texted the coordinates to Bumper last night just in case something happened and I didn't come back."
"Great, Amy! So, Chloe, you stay here with Beca. The rest of you come with me. We'll go down to where the time machine was and hopefully still is. Stacie can look over the time machine and the others can back track and hopefully find some clues as to what's going on. When we get back, we'll take Beca to the hospital and make sure everything is ok with her physically; I don't want to freak her out right now and for all we know it could just be a bad hangover, so I think we should wait a couple of hours."
Aubrey could be irritating, bossy some would say, bitchy as Beca would say; but in times like this, Chloe was grateful for it. She would be the first to admit that her best friend could be . . . overbearing, but she was ever so thankful to have her take over in this moment. To not have to think about what to do from here; because if she was honest, her heart and mind were all wrapped up in a pair of stormy blue eyes the next room over.
It had been over an hour since the Bellas had left, and Chloe was meticulously cleaning the kitchen, trying desperately not to think about the issues at hand. She had been doing her best to give Beca her space; she knew the other girl needed solitude to process things. People always thought that Chloe just stormed her way into Beca's life, that she ran full force into the brunette's universe like a whirlwind, heedless in her touches and emotion and invasion of space. Reality was quite the opposite. Sure, Chloe had barged into Beca's shower, and she was always touchy and feely and in your face; but she always held herself back to Beca's limits. She knew when the DJ was open to being pushed to the limits of her comfort zone, and when she need to be alone. Maybe that was why it had taken them so long to get together - because Chloe never wanted to push Beca somewhere she wasn't ready to go. Normally she could read Beca's signs like they were posted on her perfectly shaped forehead; but now with the amnesia - was that the right word for it? - she was second guessing herself. She was trying to put herself back in the mindset of freshman Beca, but it had been so long since she had had to step back and think about where her hands were or what she was saying that it was throwing her off.
But now the kitchen was spotless, and she couldn't wait any longer. She grabbed a fresh cup of coffee and made her way down the hall, pausing outside Beca's studio; it was silent, which wasn't really a surprise since the room was soundproof, but it was still unnerving. She opened the door quietly and saw the DJ sitting in her office chair, knees pulled up to her chin, headphones on, a montage of photos running across the computer screen.
The light from the hall must have alerted her presence, because the DJ turned, a small smile on her face.
"Hey." She dropped her headphones around her neck.
"Hey," Chloe approached cautiously. "I brought you some coffee; you didn't really drink any earlier and you tend to get a caffeine headache if you don't drink enough in the mornings." She slowly turned back towards the door, but a soft voice stopped her.
"Wait. You can stay." She cleared her throat. "I mean, uh, if you want."
The redhead smiled and sat in one of the other chairs. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah, I wanna see the girl responsible for all these love song mixes and all these happy pictures of me." She took a sip of the coffee and moaned. "Oh my god, this is delicious, no wonder I asked you to marry me!" She winked and Chloe felt herself melting just a little bit.
"If you think that's impressive, you should see how I am in bed!"
The younger girl's eyes widened and Chloe was left stammering. "Sorry, it's been so long since I've had to worry about filtering what I say to you - not that I have that much of a filter anyway - and -" A finger across her lips shut her up.
"Hey, it's ok, it's a lot for both of us to get used to right?'
The ginger nodded slowly, Beca's finger still on her lips.
"I've been looking at these pictures and listening to these mixes - which I assume are about you, considering they're labeled 'Chloe1-200' - and I just, I never though I would be this happy. Seeing all of this just amazes me, and even though it's completely overwhelming, I can't help but feel a little bit happy and excited. I just wish that I could remember it all."
Chloe forced herself to stay silent, allowing to other girl to work through whatever was going on in her head. The finger on her lips slowly fell and Beca's blue eyes slowly filled her vision as they came closer.
"May I?" The question was whispered against her lips and Chloe nodded slightly, not quite letting their lips touch.
"I just want to see what it feels like. . ."
It was a soft kiss, a featherweight of pressure against her lips; but Chloe felt it all the way to her toes. All too soon, the DJ pulled back; eyes clouded with desire and confusion.
"That was . . . wow. I mean we barely kissed and I can just . . . feel it, all over."
"It's always like that with you Becs."
As the remnants of the flutters from the kiss settled, she felt a calm settle over her. In that moment, she knew; no matter what, everything would be ok.
But I'm okay in see-through skin Cover your crystal eyes
I forgive what is within
Because I'm in this house
I'm in this home
All my time
And feel the tones that tremble down your spine
Cover your crystal eyes
And let your colours bleed and blend with mine