Hey guys! I can't believe this is almost over! I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows I've gotten. It really means so much to me!
Also, it's not Christmas here yet, so I'm technically not late!
Day 11- You Know it's Not Christmas Yet, Right?
"Good morning, baby." Beca presses a kiss to Chloe's cheek to wake her up, whispering in her ear in the process. "Come on, time to get up."
"Gmornin." Chloe mumbles as she wakes up, turning her head to look at Beca with one open, sleepy eye. "What time is it?"
"It's ten. Stacie called, and she told me to get you up and doing things today, so I came up with a whole list of things we're going to do."
Right as Beca went to bed last night, Stacie called, telling her that Chloe couldn't sit around and do nothing all day, or else the bone could sit wrong, and the surgery would have to be redone. Beca got to thinking, and she came up with the perfect idea; this time, she was going to give the gifts to Chloe, not the other way around.
"Ooh." Chloe sits up and grins at her. "And what is that?"
Beca chuckles and kisses her cheek again. "First of all, breakfast."
"Awes." With a small yawn, Chloe stands up and follows Beca out to the kitchen. "It feels so weird, walking."
"Weird how?" She tries to sound nonchalant, but she's started to get concerned, seeing the wince on the redhead's face when she turns to look at her.
"Like, I don't know." She sits in one of the bar stools with another wince.
"Does it hurt?" Beca asks, and Chloe hesitates for a moment before giving her a small nod.
"It isn't terrible though."
"Hold on a sec." She grabs her phone and dials Stacie's number, then puts it on speaker so they both can hear it.
"Hello?"
"Hey Stacie." Deciding to get right to the point, she says, "So, Chloe's feeling some pain in her back."
"Ok, how bad is it?"
"It isn't terrible." Chloe says, and Stacie hums lightly.
"Beca, do you have ibuprofen?"
She walks over to the cupboard next to the fridge and rummages in it, finally finding a bottle of 10mg ibuprofen tablets. "Yeah, they're ten miligrams."
"Perfect. Have Chloe take two of them now, two at two, and two at six." Beca grabs two of the pills and a bottle of water, then places them in front of Chloe, who gives her a grateful smile before taking them.
"She just took them. Thanks, Stace."
"Anytime. Call if you need anything."
"We will, thanks." She hangs up, then grins over at Chloe. "So, what'll it be for breakfast today?"
The ginger shrugs with a small smile of her own. "Ummm… waffles sound good."
"Waffles it is, then." She practically runs around the kitchen, grabbing the ingredients necessary to make the waffles. "So, I was thinking…"
"Yes?"
As she mixes the flour, sugar, and eggs together, she says, "If you did want to tell the world we're dating, I have the perfect idea how to do it."
"Oh really?" Chloe laughs, and Beca turns to grin at her. "What would that idea be, may I ask?"
"You can ask, sure." She shrugs. "But I'm not giving you an answer."
"Oh, come on!" She lets out an exaggerated groan, and Beca chuckles as she pours milk into the batter. "It's Christmas, you have to tell me."
"Uh, Chloe? You know it's not Christmas yet, right?" She bends down to grab the waffle maker out from under the sink.
"It's close enough." The ginger huffs, and Beca gives her a sweet smile as she starts pouring the waffle mix into the maker.
"Well." Once she's done, she walks over and leans against the island right next to her girlfriend, running her fingers along her jaw lightly. "You'd like it."
"There's a lot of things I like, Becs." She points out, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind the singer's ear. "That doesn't really narrow it down."
Leaning forward, she presses a kiss to Chloe's jaw, right under her ear, and says, "It's something you would really like." She makes sure to let her lips graze her ear, and she grins when she hears Chloe's breath catch in her throat. "Do you trust me, baby?" Another kiss to her jaw, and Chloe groans, then pushes her away. "What?"
"I hate you, you know that?"
"What did I do wrong?"
Chloe rolls her eyes playfully. "You're trying to distract me."
With a dramatic grin, she asks, "Is it working?"
"Yes." She grumbles, then reaches up and pulls Beca in for a kiss, who happily reciprocates the gesture. Her hands snake around Chloe's waist gingerly as the redhead's hands grab either side of the brunette's face, caressing her cheeks with her thumbs in slow circles.
Beca hesitantly pulls away when she hears a soft ding from the waffle maker. "Breakfast." She informs Chloe when she justs her lip out in a pout, then breaks away to get the waffle out of the maker and onto a plate. She then goes into the fridge and grabs some strawberries, sprinkling them on top of the waffle and topping it all off with whipped cream. With a smile, she places it in front of Chloe on the island, who immediately grabs her fork and takes a bite, letting out a soft moan when it enters her mouth.
"Oh my gosh, this is amazing." The older woman informs her after she swallows, and Beca laughs before turning around and pouring more of the batter into the maker. She then fixes herself a cup of coffee and sips on it as she watches Chloe eat, a soft, content smile on her face. "Let's do it."
"What?"
"Tell the world that we're together." Chloe smiles over at her, and Beca's heart skips a beat at the thought of it.
"Awesome." She gives Chloe a quick kiss, using her tongue to wipe off some of the whipped cream from her tongue. When she pulls away, she feels her phone vibrate in her hoodie pocket, and she pulls it out to see who it is texting her.
Hey, what are you doing? Emily.
Not much, just making Chloe and I waffles. Are you still coming over today?
Yeah, It'll be later tonight though, ok?
That's perfect. She sets her phone down to get her own waffle out of the maker, then spreads whipped cream on top and sits down across from Chloe with a smile.
"Who was that?" The redhead inquires before shoving another bite into her mouth, her head tilted to the side in a curious expression that Beca finds utterly adorable.
"Just Em. She wanted to let me know that she'll be over later tonight."
"Oh, yay!" She swallows the last bite, then stands up and makes herself a cup of coffee.
Watching her closely for any more signs of pain, Beca asks, "Did the medicine help, by any chance?"
"Yeah, it's feeling better. And Emily responded to you." She hands Beca her phone when she sits back down, then pulls out her own. Beca opens the text chain and sees the question: Is it cool if I bring Jamie along? Before she can even ask, Chloe says, "I wanna see that little squirt."
"Glad we're on the same page." She says with a soft smile, then replies to Emily: Bring him, I miss him!
Perfect. I'd ask Benji, but… he's sort of staying at a hotel right now.
Wait, seriously? She can't help but gasp lightly as she puts another bite of whipped cream and waffle into her mouth.
Yeah. We can talk later though, I should get to work now.
You're working Christmas?
Yeah, the extra money could really help.
I get that. See ya later, Legacy.
Bye. She sighs, shaking her head as she puts the phone back down. When she looks up, she sees Chloe giving her an inquisitive and slightly concerned look. "Is she ok?"
Another sigh. "Not really?"
"Oh." After a small pause, the ginger asks, "I'm assuming this is about the thing you can't tell me?"
"Yeah." She gives Chloe an apologetic smile as she stands up, throwing the rest of her breakfast that she got too full to eat into the trash. "Now, come with me, you can borrow some clothes."
"Your clothes are tiny." Chloe says, but follows her into her room.
"I have some extras here for you, just in case." She informs her, opening a drawer of Chloe's clothes that have accumulated over the years from the redhead forgetting them here and never taking them back to her apartment. She hands her a pair of jeans and a black sweater. "Do you need my help?"
"I think I can get the pants, but the shirt for sure." She bites her lip, suddenly looking very nervous. It sends Beca into a slight panic; Chloe's never nervous. The only time she ever saw Chloe less than certain about anything was winning Worlds back in college.
"Hey, look at me." She walks over and cups Chloe's face gently, looking deep into her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Do you think this is going to work?" She whispers, and Beca just blinks at her, suddenly feeling very confused. Chloe must seem to realize this, because she says, "This. Us." She motions to them with her finger.
"Of course I do." She says softly, tucking a piece of hair behind the redhead's ear in the process. "Why, are you having second thoughts?"
"No." She says quickly. "No, I just… we've been just friends for a really long time, you know? I guess…" She sighs, looking away for the first time. "I'm scared."
"I am too." Beca laughs lightly, and Chloe looks back at her. "I'm fucking terrified. But we have to at least try, right?" With a grimace, she adds, "What if we're, you know, soulmates or something? What if this is meant to be?"
Suddenly, Chloe bursts out laughing. "You sound like me, baby."
"Eww." She jokes, then presses a light kiss to her cheek. "Are you ok now?"
"Yeah." She nods. "Thank you. For understanding, and not laughing at me."
"I would never laugh at you." She releases the ginger's face to grab her own jeans, tank-top, and flannel shirt. Pointing to the bathroom, she says, "I'm gonna go get dressed real quick, ok? Get your pants on, take your time, and I'll help with your shirt when I'm done."
"Yes, ma'am." Chloe mock salutes, and she rolls her eyes before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind her. She quickly strops out of her sweatpants and Barden University hoodie and slides on her clothing attire for the day.
Before walking out, she calls, "I'm coming in."
"Ok!" She opens the door, seeing Chloe sitting on her bed with her jeans on. She tosses Beca the sweater, who catches it and stares at it before getting a better idea.
"Hold on a second, this will be a whole lot easier." She opens her closet and grabs one of her bigger button-up shirts, then walks over to Chloe. "We won't have to lift it over your head.
"Good idea, but we still have to do this." She gestures to her pajama shirt with purple frogs on it, and Beca nods.
"I know, but once is better than twice, right?"
It takes a little bit of work to get the shirt off without making Chloe have to bend her back too much, but eventually, they get it off, anf Beca tosses it on her bed before slipping the sleeves of her shirt onto the redhead's arms.
"What, you aren't going to button it for me?" Chloe jokes when Beca takes a step back, a seductive grin on her face that makes Beca's mouth go dry.
"No, Beale. Do it yourself." She says. It was already hard enough for her to keep her eyes away from the older Bella's black bra; buttoning her shirt for her would make it next to impossible. "Hurry up, too."
"Damn, bossy, much?"
"Yeah." She then walks out of the room and into the main bathroom, quickly running her brush through her hair and brushing her teeth.
After both women are done getting ready, they walk outside and wait for a taxi. Chloe slips her hand into Beca's as they stand at the side of the road, and Beca looks up and gives her a soft smile. Both get so lost in each other's eyes that they don't notice the taxi pulled up in front of them until a loud beep of the horn startles both of them, and they laugh as they climb in, Beca climbing in first and helping Chloe in after.
"Where to, ladies?" The driver turns around, giving the women a soft smile. "Oh wow, you're Beca Mitchell." Beca's immensely grateful when the woman just smiles and doesn't freak out like most people do.
"Yeah, hi." She gives her a soft smile, then hands her a piece of paper. "Take us here, but don't disclose the whereabouts? It's a surprise."
"Ok." She nods, then pulls into the street. "You know, my daughter loves your music." She says conversationally, and Beca grins.
"Aw, tell her I say thanks."
"Actually, I think I should be thanking you." Not knowing what to say, Beca stays silent, so the driver starts talking again. "My husband and I just got a divorce, and Callie- my daughter- hasn't taken it too well. She actually-" she cuts off as her voice breaks. "She almost tried to kill herself, but your song 'Live Another Day' convinced her not to. That life was worth living."
"Wow." She says in awe, completely at a loss for words. She barely registers Chloe taking her hand as the gears in her brain start turning. This is why she took Theo's offer, in the end. Sure, part of it was because the Bellas had wanted her too, but she wanted to put her work out there. She always wanted to be able to change people's lives with music the way music changed- and honestly saved- hers. "Um, I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything." The driver reassures her with a soft smile. "I just wanted to say thank you, for inadvertently saving my daughter's life. She's only fifteen."
"Wow. You're, uh, you're welcome." Getting an idea, she reaches into the pocket of her coat and grabs the CD Theo had given her. Using a Sharpie, she writes 'To Callie- This is the very first CD ever made for my new album. I hope you enjoy~ Beca Mitchell.' "Here." She hands the driver the CD, who gives her a shocked expression.
"I can't pay for this."
"It's a gift. Merry Christmas." She smiles, and the woman puts it on the seat next to her, still looking a little in awe.
"Thank you so much."
"Anytime." She smiles at her, then turns to look at Chloe when she feels her squeeze her hand.
"That was really sweet." She whispers into her ear, leaning her head against her shoulder as she does so.
"It seemed like the right thing to do." She shrugs, but rests her chin against Chloe's head.
It doesn't take long for them to get to their destination, the traffic being surprisingly light for the day before Christmas. "Here you guys are." With another smile, she turns to Beca and says, "Seriously, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"You're welcome." They climb out of the taxi, waving as they watch it drive away. Once it's gone, Chloe looks around, seeing a barn.
"Uh, Becs?"
"Yes, babe?"
"Where are we?"
Beca smiles and takes her hand, leading her toward the barn and through the snow. "I got to thinking last night… remember all those gifts you gave me, pertaining to the 12 days of Christmas?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, since I already know it's you now, I decided to make up for some of the days you didn't get to do." She shrugs. "This is for eight maids of milking."
"A barn?" Chloe asks, still looking confused.
"Yes, Chloe, a barn." When all she gets in response is silence, she says, "We're going to go milk a cow."
"You know I already know how to do that, right?" Oh yeah, Beca inwardly groans. She momentarily forgot about Chloe's internship at the farm in Brooklyn all those years ago.
"Well, fine, we can just skip it."
"No, no, I wanna do it!" Chloe rushes to say, and Beca laughs.
"Thought so."
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An hour later, they get out of a taxi at Beca's house, Chloe wearing a wide grin and Beca wearing… a bunch of cow manure. "I told you it was going to kick!"
"Whatever." She grumbles, ripping off her coat and tossing it into the snow.
"What are you doing?" She laughs again.
"I'm washing the shit off with the snow." She deadpans, using her foot to move the coat around the ground. When she picks it back up, only half of the manure is actually gone. "Damn it." She tosses it into her dumpster, then unlocks her door and allows Chloe entrance. "Just let me get dressed, we're going back out."
"You might want to take a shower."
"Give me five minutes." She rushes to her room, grabbing new jeans and a flannel shirt, then gets in the shower, immensely grateful that her water warms up practically right away.
Once she's done, she blow-dries her hair, then heads back into the kitchen, where she sees Chloe drinking a cup of coffee. "Alright Beale, let's go."
"Already?" She asks in shock, and Beca nods, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the house.
"Yeah, we have to hurry for this." She grins, and the two of them start walking down the sidewalk.
"What's the next thing we're doing?" Chloe asks, grabbing Beca's hand, but the brunette shrugs.
"I can't tell you that yet. It's part of the surprise."
"Come on! The suspense is killing me!"
Beca laughs, smiling at Chloe. "Now you know how I felt when I was the one receiving the presents."
With a huff of false annoyance, Chloe responds, "Yeah, I do." They turn onto Broadway, and Chloe's eyes light up when they see the massive crowd outside one of the theatres.
"I wonder what that is."
"That," Beca says with an air of finality, "is where we're going." She pulls two tickets out of her pocket as they walk up to the doors, and the singer leads them right up to the security.
"Hey guys." She smiles at them, and one look at her is all it takes for the guards to let them in with an "enjoy the show!"
"Wow." Chloe gasps as they walk in, the sounds of an orchestra hitting them immediately. The room is decked in gold and deep red, and it looks like there's about a million seats. "Beca, how?"
"I had been planning on taking you here for a while, actually." She shrugs nonchalantly, and they sit down in some seats exactly in the middle of the room. Leaning closer to her so Chloe can hear over the other peoples' conversations, Beca says, "I knew it'd be perfect for the song. These are three gifts in one; day nine, ten, and eleven."
"Wow." Chloe breathes again. "This is amazing."
"Right?" She grins over at her girlfriend, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and sighing contentedly when she leans her head against her shoulder. "Merry Christmas, baby."
"Merry Christmas." Chloe mutters, quickly falling silent when a group of people join the orchestra onstage. Five minutes in, she sits up, leaning forward slightly to get a better look.
Beca, on the other hand, doesn't even watch the performance, as her eyes are glued on Chloe. She revels in the way her face lights up at the more intense moments of the song, and when it gets softer and slower, Chloe's breathing slows down as well, almost as if she's in sync with the song and the dancers. Her fingers tap to the beat against the armrest, and the adorableness of it is the only thing that stops Beca from grabbing her hand.
"What are you staring at?" Chloe's voice breaks her from her train of thought, and she realizes that she's missed the whole show. Honestly, though, she could care less; she didn't do it for herself, anyway.
"You're beautiful." She whispers, cupping the side of her face lightly and giving her a soft smile.
"Thanks." Chloe smiles back before leaning in and kissing her, her hands resting on her shoulders. Due to being in public, she pulls away quickly, her grin even wider than before. "This might be the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."
"Well." Beca leads them out of the theatre and back outside. "If I could give you the world, Chloe, I would, because it's what you deserve. I technically can't, but I'll be damned if I didn't try." After a pause, she adds, "And that was probably the corniest thing that has ever come out of my mouth. What have you done to me, Beale?"
The ginger raises her hand in the air in defense, laughing as she says, "Don't you a dare, this is all you."
"Sure, sure."
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The rest of their day is spent by making Christmas cookies and watching cheesy Hallmark movies that Beca usually hates, but allows it just because she couldn't say no to Chloe's pleading eyes if she wanted to. By the time dinner rolls around, Emily shows up, holding Jamie on her hip and a diaper bag on her shoulder.
"Hey Em, come on in." Beca immediately reaches for her niece, and Emily hands him to her. "Hey buddy!"
"Beb!" Jamie calls out, and Beca melts at the adorableness.
"He can't pronounce his C's yet." Emily says as she places the bag down on the floor, next to the couch where Chloe's currently laying, watching Let it Snow on Netflix. "Hey Chloe."
"Hey!" She stands up and gives Emily a hug, who returns it softly. "How are you?"
Emily shrugs when she pulls away, her smile fading a little bit. "I've been better."
"Wanna talk about it?" Chloe asks, and Emily hesitates before nodding. Beca watches the two sink into the couch, a soft smile spreading across her face. She wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.