Author's 1st Note: Okay, BOOOO for me taking forever to update, but YAYYY for a new chapter!
I just want to thank you guys again for always sticking with me and sending me your messages and reviews. They really do spark inspiration in me and it's because of you guys that I always eventually post.
There is still plenty more in store for this fic, but for now, I hope you enjoy the update. ;)
Beca groaned softly with her brow curved as her consciousness gradually came through. Her eyes were closed as she moved her arms to stretch, but when she tried to remove her left arm from it's warm hiding spot, she stopped when a heavy weight suddenly held it in place.
Beca's eyes fluttered open and she turned her head to find Chloe sleeping soundly against her chest. Chloe's hand was draped around her ribs and her head sat perfectly on her shoulder. Red hair was sprawled in all different directions and Beca tilted her head as she admired her.
She looked beautiful.
As alarming as the thought was, Beca was surprised to find that she was actually okay with it. Chloe was a beautiful girl. That was just a fact. And they were "enemies-with-benefits" after all, so… if Beca simply observed the fact that Chloe was beautiful then, that was okay… right?
Her eyes continued to wander over Chloe as she recounted the events of the night before. She had been so upset when she saw Chloe talking to Chicago. The sight of them together instantly sparked a flame of anger, frustration and jealousy that burned intensely inside of her. It was ridiculous, even Beca had to admit, but she couldn't help it.
And her theory as to whyshe couldn't help it was downright terrifying.
But then Chloe had come back to the room and Beca heard her touching herself and moaning her name. She wasn't sure what exactly happened to her after that, but something inside of Beca definitely snapped.
And at this point, Beca felt… stuck.
Stuck between a comfortably, familiar past and an uncertain, yet frighteningly desirable future. The voice that had fueled her hate towards Chloe for years was at an all time low, and Beca wasn't sure what the right thing to do about it was.
While still pondering her thoughts, Beca continued to watch Chloe rise and fall against her chest and felt a sudden, but strong urge to brush her fingers over her fiery red locks.
Beca pressed her lips together, a small part of her still trying to resist the desire, but it proved to be too strong and after a few short seconds of internal debate, Beca ultimately gave in and lifted her right hand to carefully brush her fingers over Chloe's side bangs.
Something happened then, in that moment. Like a warm but heavy weight suddenly manifested in her gut and rose until it was nuzzled within her chest. It didn't feel bad, however, which surprised Beca. Just different. New.
In fact, as she continued grazing her fingers, everything about the moment actually felt really, really good. Right, even. Like it was something Beca wanted to do again, more than just this one time.
Maybe even every morning…
What. The. Fuck?
Beca was pulled away from her thoughts when Chloe quietly groaned and moved in her sleep. Beca stilled her hand and waited for Chloe to awaken, but instead, Chloe simply scrunched her face and turned her body away to snuggle with the duvet on the other side of the bed.
The change in her position granted Beca the access she needed to use her left arm again, so with the newly granted freedom, Beca rolled over to her side and checked the time that was glowing from the alarm clock sitting on her nightstand.
6:32am
Yikes. That was definitely not a time Beca cared to be awake for. Any hour before ten was simply ungodly and Beca could never understand why people still chose to be up any earlier than that.
She thought about going back to sleep to possibly gain a few more hours of rest before Aubrey would eventually give them their usual wake up call, but with the way Beca's mind was still reeling with thoughts about Chloe, she knew it would be pointless for her to try. She wouldn't gain any extra sleep anyway.
So how else could she make use of this time?
The thought of possibly waking Chloe and getting a morning quickie in certainly crossed her mind, but Chloe was sleeping so peacefully and Beca didn't want to disturb her for her own selfish needs.
With a quiet sigh, Beca flopped back over to look up at the ceiling and she tried to think of other things she could possibly do. After coming up short with any good ideas, considering she never really did much in the mornings to begin with, it dawned on her that, unlike herself, there was someone else in the room who actually did enjoy early mornings.
And that's when she got the idea.
Beca turned her head to look over at Chloe and kept her eyes on her as she slowly and carefully removed herself from the bed. She didn't want to risk waking her from making too much noise, so Beca grabbed whatever clothes were nearest to her– which turned out to be her grey pajama shorts and Chloe's pink t-shirt– and quickly put them on.
There was a brief moment of worry that crossed her mind of possibly running into one of the other Bellas who might recognize Chloe's shirt on her, but once Beca really thought about it, she was sure that none of her acapella sisters would be up at this early anyway.
With a mental "Fuck it," and a shrug of her shoulders, Beca tied her messy hair up into a bun and slipped into her flip flops before grabbing her card key and quietly making her way out of the room.
When Beca reached the buffet restaurant, she was surprised to see how many other guests were already enjoying their breakfast.
What the hell is wrong with these people? She wondered and shook her head before looking around the room until her eyes landed on her objective.
She approached the unoccupied coffee stand and grabbed two of the medium sized cups along with the creams and sugars she knew she was going to need. Beca filled one of the cups with decaf coffee and after mixing in the added sweaters she made sure to secure the top with a snug lid. She then took the other cup and, instead of coffee, poured in a packet of hot chocolate powder.
Beca placed the cup under the coffee maker and had just pushed on the "hot water" button when she heard a voice suddenly come from behind her.
"Well, would'ya look at that," the voice said. "And here I thought you weren't a morning person."
Beca closed her eyes and smiled as she shook her head, recognizing the voice instantly.
"Hi, Jesse," she said, turning her body to face him. "Didn't think I'd run into anyone this early."
Jesse's brows rose in surprise. "Wow," he said. "That's the nicest way you've ever greeted me." He chuckled and Beca couldn't help but snicker as well.
He had a point.
"Yeah, well don't get used to it," she said, turning her attention back to her cup of hot chocolate and stirring it. "I'm just tired."
Jesse grinned. "Okay," he said, leaning against the counter. "I'll take what I can get."
"What are you even doing up this early?" Beca asked, genuinely curious. "It's way too early to be socializing."
Jesse laughed at her joke. Or so he hoped it was a joke…
"Oh, well," he grinned and placed his hand on his chest. "I happen to actually be a morning person."
Beca snickered and shook her head. "Of course you are."
Jesse stayed quiet for a moment. He was going to ask her the same thing, but when his eyes fell over her, Jesse took note of her unusual attire and overall calmness. "So, uh…" he said, narrowing his eyes. "How did your night turn out?" Beca stopped stirring and eyed Jesse through the corner of her eye. "Because by the looks of it," he continued. "I'd say it went pretty well."
Beca's gaze fell back to the lid she was pressing onto her cup and she rolled her lips together as she pondered a response. "What makes you say that?"
"I don't know," Jesse shrugged, oh so casually. "Guess I just never thought of you as pink wearing kind of girl either."
Beca could hear the sarcasm in his voice and she knew she was busted. Jesse already knew the truth about what she and Chloe had been doing anyway so… what the hell?
"You're right," Beca smirked, holding the cups in her hands as she fully turned to face him. "I prefer black."
"Mhmm…" Jesse hummed. His tight smile only confirmed Beca's assumption that he knew exactly who's shirt she was wearing. Which also most likely meant he knew what they had done the night before.
Damn his observation skills.
"And uh…" Jesse continued, his eyes darting over the items in her hands. "Are those both for you?"
Beca ran her tongue over the front of her teeth but maintained eye contact with him. "Maybe they are," she said, half-shrugging. "You don't know."
"Uh-huh..." Jesse held his own in this playful stare down and crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes flicking between hers in suspicion. "Alright," he eventually said, breaking the fraudulent tension and uncrossing his arms. "Well I won't hold you up any longer." He smirked, "Wouldn't want Chloe's drink to get cold."
Beca's jaw slacked and she narrowed her eyes at him.
Touché…
She shook her head and tried her best to fight back a guilty smile.
"Shut up, Jesse," she muttered, purposely hitting him with her shoulder as she walked passed him.
Jesse grinned and turned to wave her goodbye. "Enjoy the rest of your morning!"
Chloe was startled awake by a loud bang and quickly sat up in bed with wide eyes. "Beca?!" she yelped, gripping some of the bed sheets over her bare chest when she spotted Beca cringing by the door. "What are you doing? What was that noise?"
Beca's brow was furrowed as her shoulders slowly lowered. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to scare you. My hands were full and the door slipped by me."
"Oh," Chloe breathed, noting the two coffee cups in her hands and chuckling as she placed her hand on her chest to feel her heart rate lowering. "Phew… okay." She looked at the cups again and nodded her head, gesturing towards them. "What are those for?"
Beca seemed like she had been in a daze for a moment as she simply stared at Chloe before suddenly blinking back to her senses and responding.
"Oh!" Beca said, looking down at her hands and shrugging. "Uh… I don't know, I uh– Well I woke up pretty early and I couldn't go back to sleep, so I–" Beca sounded like she was suddenly feeling nervous, which Chloe found… interesting.
Why would she be nervous?
Beca shook her head and continued. "I don't know, I just thought… maybe you would like a coffee?" She smiled impishly as she lifted Chloe's cup and walked over to her on the bed.
"Oh," Chloe said, surprised, looking down at the cup Beca was handing her before taking it with a smile. "Thank you."
Beca smiled tightly in return and nodded. "Decaf with three sugars, two vanillas and one hazelnut cream… right?"
Chloe looked up at her, "Yeah," and furrowed her brow. "How do you–"
"You've been making your coffee the same way for years, Chlo." Beca smirked, and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm pretty sure everyone knows how you make it."
Do they? Chloe wondered, though she was sure she already knew the answer.
Chloe's eyes darted back and forth over Beca's as a silence fell between them. She couldn't quite peg why Beca was still acting different. She thought that perhaps the night before had been a magical fluke as a result of some kind of change in lunar activity. But the feeling with Beca was still different, even in this moment. Even with the sun rising over the horizon.
Something had definitely changed between them.
And the thought of that, though somewhat scary, also made Chloe smile.
"Okay," Chloe said, keeping her eyes locked on Beca's as she took a sip from her cup. "And I'm guessing that's a hot chocolate?" She pointed at Beca's drink and the brunette chuckled.
"Yeah," she said. "Never really liked the taste of coffee."
Chloe smirked and took another slow sip. "I know." She continued to analyze Beca's face and her brows slightly perked up when she noticed a blush beginning to appear on her cheeks.
Beca must have felt the warmth on her face because she suddenly cleared her throat and broke their eye contact to take a swig from her cup.
"So, uh…" Beca started to say, swallowing hard before looking back at Chloe and pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "I was gonna go take a shower now. Do you maybe wanna–" she paused. "Well, I mean, you don't have to. I was just thinking that maybe you'd–"
"Wanna join you?" Chloe grinned.
Beca's eyes widened slightly, but then she was smiling, "I mean," and she shrugged. "We would be helping the planet you know. Saving water and everything…"
Chloe's eyes narrowed and her smirk grew. "Is that so?"
"Oh, yeah," Beca said, nodding reassuringly as she took another sip of hot chocolate. "We'd be real heroes."
"Oh, wow," Chloe said. "Well, when you put it that way–" She turned her body to place her cup on the nightstand and smirked as she crawled over to Beca. "Let's save the planet then," she said, smiling as she planted a firm kiss on Beca's lips.
Beca hummed quietly as she kissed her back, but then her quiet moan turned into a muffled grunt and she scrunched her face as they separated.
"You taste like coffee," she said, sticking her tongue out. "Gross."
Chloe chuckled, "Sorry," and moved to climb off of the bed. She extended her hands out to Beca when she stood up and wiggled her fingers, playfully. "Come on."
Beca rolled her eyes with a smirk but ultimately grabbed onto Chloe's hands, letting her pull her up and guide her to the bathroom.
"No shit!" Cynthia-Rose said, putting her hands behind her head as she smirked and leaned back in her chair. "Look who's actually here on time."
Beca and Chloe approached the table in the buffet restaurant where Cynthia-Rose, Aubrey, Stacie, Emily and Flo were already sitting, surprised that for the first time on this trip, they weren't the last ones to join them.
Is that what happens when you wake up early?
"Wow! What a pleasant surprise," Aubrey grinned. She stood up and extended her arms to greet Chloe with a hug, frowning when her eyes landed on Beca, who was standing behind Chloe. "Well, half-pleasant," she snarked.
Beca smiled tightly. "Always a pleasure, Aubrey," she said. Her voice was laced with a false sweetness and she rolled the eyes shortly after before claiming the empty chair next to Emily.
"Aubrey," Chloe quietly scolded, separating from the hug to glare at her best friend.
"Sorry," Aubrey apologized, though her tone lacked sincerity. "Force of habit."
Chloe arched a dubious brow. "Mhmm."
"Well I'm glad you guys are finally on time," Aubrey said, speaking aloud as she turned to return to her seat next to Stacie. She pulled out the empty chair next to her and smiled as she patted it, gesturing for Chloe to join her. "We've got a pretty fun day ahead of us today."
Chloe snickered as she sat down. "Remind me again why we all just willingly gave you our total share of the money before even knowing what activities you had planned for us on this trip?"
Aubrey picked up her glass of orange juice. "Because you all know I plan the best activities," she said, smirking confidently as she took a sip.
Chloe quirked a brow as her mind flashed back to a time Aubrey had planned for all of them to attend a circus class. It didn't end, considering Lily accidentally burned the instructor's eyebrows off and Emily fracturing two ribs.
It wasn't one of their finer moments…
"Okay, well most of the time I do," Aubrey quickly corrected.
She must have had the same memory.
Chloe laughed. "I guess you're right." She looked around the table at the remaining empty seats and when her eyes passed over Beca, Chloe couldn't control the way her lips naturally curved into a smile.
Beca must have felt Chloe's eyes on her, because she looked away from Emily– whom she had been in her own conversation with– and reflected that same smile back to Chloe when their eyes met.
Yeah. This wasn't the Beca Chloe was used to, but damn did she hope it would last.
Once all of the Bellas had finally arrived for breakfast, Aubrey gave them a run down as to what she had planned for them. After the debriefing, the girls split off to have their way with the breakfast buffet.
Chloe hadn't been able to remove the smile she still had on her face and hummed to herself as she made her way over to the food options. She was scooping some fresh strawberries onto her plate when Aubrey suddenly appeared next to her.
"Alright, what is it?" she asked, startling Chloe.
Chloe dropped the clear serving spoon and blinked as she looked at Aubrey, confused. "What?"
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Chloe," she scoffed. "I know you too well for that. You only hum "Titanium" to yourself whenever you're in a particularly good mood."
Chloe's brow furrowed. She was still confused.
"Bree," she said. "I seriously don't understand what you're asking me."
"No?" Aubrey asked, her brows raised as she put her plate down on the counter before crossing her arms over her chest. "Well let's see," she said, placing her pointer finger on her chin. "Ever since you met Chicago, you've gradually gotten more and more distant."
Chloe felt a flash of panic within her. Aubrey had known her for years and now that her ears were perked with suspicion, Chloe knew she could not let herself slip up.
"What? What do y–"
"You slept with him the first night," Aubrey continued, cutting Chloe off and counting on her fingers. "And have disappeared every night sincethen."
Chloe's mouth hung open, but no words were coming out.
"Don't think I haven't noticed," Aubrey added, pointing at Chloe like a parent busting their teenager. "And you know, any other time you've been interested in someone, you've always talked to me about it. But for the first time–" She paused as her eyes danced over Chloe's and she shook her head. "You won't tell me anythingabout what's going on between the two of you."
Chloe's chest had never felt tighter. Aubrey's assumption as to who was causing a change in Chloe's persona may have been wrong, but she was definitely noticing a difference. This meant that Aubrey was watching Chloe more closely than she initially thought she had been.
Which was not great.
Aubrey wasn't like Stacie. If Aubrey found out the truth about what Chloe and Beca had actually been up to, she wouldn't simply tease Chloe. No way. Aubrey disliked Beca as much as Chloe was supposed to, and the consequences that could possibly ensue because of the truth was one of Chloe's greatest fears.
Though, on the flip side, Chloe had to wonder exactly how much longer she and Beca were going to be able to maintain their dirty little secret.
"I mean, look at you!" Aubrey said, snapping Chloe out of her thoughts. "You've been practically glowing all morning, Chlo. I haven't seen you like this in years."
Chloe's eyes went wide. Was Aubrey saying what she thought she was saying?
"No, Aubrey," Chloe tried to interject, shaking her head. "It's not what you–"
"Look, all I'm saying is," Aubrey continued. She paused to step closer to Chloe and lowered her voice. "If you like this guy this much. You need to be more careful. Make sure you're not just some tropical cruise fantasy for him."
Chloe tilted her head. "Wait, what do you mean?"
"Well," Aubrey said, shrugging. "I mean, does he even live near us in Georgia? If not, would he be willing to have a long-distance relationship with you? Does he like you as much as you clearly like him?"
"Aubrey…" Chloe said, her voice weaker. "What makes you think I like him that much?"
Aubrey's expression fell to a deadpanned one. "Chloe," she said. "I've known you since high school and I've definitely seen you in love before."
Chloe didn't think her eyes could spread any wider, but they did the moment Aubrey said that powerful four letter word.
"L-Love?"
Aubrey sighed. "Look, I just don't want you to get hurt, okay?" She grabbed her plate and turned to leave. "Make sure he's as into this relationship as you are before going any further." With those last heavy words, Aubrey made her way back to the Bella table and left Chloe alone to think about what she had said.
But Chloe couldn't think, not clearly. Almost not at all. That "L" word was ringing far too loud in her head, making it impossible for Chloe to think about anything else BUT that word.
An overwhelming sensation came over her that made her dizzy. Almost to the point of passing out. Chloe knew that she was definitely feeling more for Beca than she ever had before, but… love?
"Holy shit."
Chloe knew she was in trouble.
Author's 2nd Note: Ohhh... shit.
What do you guys think the next activity is going to be? How are you feeling about that four letter word? ;)
Stay tuned for the next update!
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