Again, thanks SO much for the reviews - you guys are acca-awesome!
(also, I tried to upload this Chapter a few hours ago but it clearly hadn't worked so I've had to re-upload it now)
This Chapter is, I fear, on the cusp of an 'M' rating but my goodness it had to be done!
Hope it reads alright. I literally hammered this together this afternoon!
The sunshine drifted gently through the small gaps between and either side of the London hotel suite curtains as the low hum of rush hour traffic sounded from beyond the double glazed windows. Within the hotel suite however, it was silent save for the sound of heavy breathing from its inhabitants. Beca stirred slightly, furrowing her brow as her eyes remained closed, trying to work out for a moment why her left arm felt so heavy. She brought her right hand up to her face, inhaling deeply as she rubbed her eyes and she froze, smelling the sweet aroma of Chloe's perfume. Suddenly the memories of last night came back to her, and Beca pulled her hand away from her face, opening her eyes.
Her heart skipped a beat as she looked down slightly and saw the figure of her best friend, her…girlfriend?, curled up against her. Her beautiful slender hands laced together and tucked up under her chin, and Beca smiled as she could feel Chloe's heavy breathing whisping against her skin, just below her neck and above her pyjama top, as she remained asleep. Beca let her right hand gently resume its position on Chloe's upper left arm, and she lay there watching her, her deep blue eyes happily following the waves of red hair that splayed out from the woman's head and onto the pillows of their bed. The perfection of the situation wasn't enough to ease Beca's dead arm however, and the gathering of fabric from the long-sleeve top she wore was a large reason why she felt so uncomfortable. So the brunette swallowed loudly as she tried to plan how she would pull her arm out from beneath Chloe's head without waking the woman up.
With a deep breath Beca reluctantly scooched as much of her body away from the sleeping redhead, before gently easing her arm out from underneath Chloe's head. No sooner had she done that she froze as the woman beside her stirred, inhaling deeply before letting out a tiny groan, and turning around to lay the other way, seemingly falling back to sleep. Beca couldn't help but smile softly as she pulled down her ruffled up sleeve. Chloe loved her sleep.
Beca pulled her side of the bedsheets towards Chloe, tucking them gently into her back to keep her cosy. She saw the freckles that laced across the woman's back, peeping out over her pyjama top, and Beca couldn't help her heart from skipping a beat slightly. She loved Chloe's freckles. Every single one of them. The brunette reluctantly turned away and slid out of the double bed, reaching out for her phone and checking the time. 7.45. Not nearly as bad as she thought it would be. She was a terror for sleeping until late if she didn't set an alarm or Chloe didn't wake her up. Beca looked over her shoulder with a grin as she saw Chloe laid in bed asleep. There was no way she was waking her.
With a small content smile Beca shimmied away from the bed, through to the ensuite, and quietly closed the door behind her. She turned the shower on then inspected her reflection as she took her clothes off. She looked different. In the face. But she couldn't quite work out how. Maybe it was her smile? Beca pulled the door of the large shower open and stepped inside, letting out a long deep sigh of relief as the hot water splashed over her body. It was official, if she could spend the rest of her life in the shower she would. Beca pushed her head under the running water and began running her fingers through her hair. The acoustics were perfect for singing, not that she would for fear of waking Chloe, the hot water was soothing and comforting, and this was the main place she could be alone without people judging her for being a recluse. What was so wrong with having some time alone without people interfering anyway?
Beca turned on the spot to face the head of the shower that hung high above her petite frame, and reached out for the shampoo, squeezing a large amount into her hand before swiping it through her hair, massaging it into the roots. She turned back to her original position, her eyes closed as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair with the falling water. She spat gently, trying to keep the soapy water from getting in her mouth as it ran down her face. Once she was satisfied all the shampoo was out of her hair she stepped forward slightly, out of the line of running water, and rubbed her hand over her face to open her eyes.
Beca let out a loud yelp as she saw a pair of bright blue eyes looking at her and the brunette quickly reached behind her and turned the shower off, her heart racing, not least of all because she had had the fright of her life! "Dude!" She yelled at her best friend who was currently stood, naked in the shower with her, a flirtatious grin on her face as she giggled slightly at Beca's awkwardness, "Couldn't you have at least knocked or something?" This was an entirely different experience to the first time Chloe had ever walked in on her in the shower. Back when she barely knew the redhead. Back in her freshman year. She'd be lying if she hadn't thought about that moment a lot over the six years that they'd known each other. Still, this latest encounter had surprised Beca so much that she hadn't really registered that they were both naked.
"You wouldn't have heard me!" The redhead said, and she reached past Beca, turning the shower back on. The two women yelped as freezing shower water sprayed out at them. Beca had quickly stepped backwards out of the line of fire but grinned as Chloe squealed while getting a face-full of water which, from the looks of things, quickly warmed up again. Her heart was ramming against her chest as she saw Chloe bring her hands up and push back her sopping wet red hair, wiping her face of water in the process. God she was beautiful.
Upon noticing Beca's facial expression from the other side of the shower water, Chloe let out a giggle, a broad grin on her face. A grin that slowly dropped. Beca suddenly forgot how to breathe. She couldn't tear her eyes from the redhead before her as Chloe reached out and took her hand, pulling her through the shower stream and out the other side to stand with her.
Beca spluttered slightly, wiping her hand up her face and pushing her brown hair back to stop the water from trailing into her eyes. She looked from Chloe's blue eyes, down to her lips, and she had this sudden urge to kiss her. Hard. But Chloe had beaten her to it, almost knocking the breath out of Beca's lungs as the redhead pulled their bodies together and smashed her lips against the petite brunette's.
Beca loved kissing. It was her absolute favourite thing. At least it had been before last night. Now her favourite thing was kissing Chloe. The redhead was sometimes forceful with her lips, but they were so soft that her kisses would feel heartfelt. And at the moment the water from the shower brought a whole new experience to the kissing game as the women kept capturing each other's lips noisily.
Beca wrapped her wet arms around Chloe's waist, not having time to think about how this was the first time she had ever had a woman's naked body against her, and pulled the redhead tighter to her, something that elicited a small moan at the back of Chloe's throat. Chloe meanwhile had brought her arms around Beca's neck, glazing her tongue along the brunette's bottom lip, causing Beca to open her mouth with no protest, deepening the kiss while she pulled them under the stream of hot shower water.
...
Aubrey let out a small yawn as she took a seat at the large breakfast table that had been reserved for her and The Bella's. Glancing at her watch she saw that it was 8.45. She peered over her shoulder at her group of friends as they filled their plates up with food from the buffet breakfast provided by the hotel. She smiled softly as Staci joined her, taking the seat beside her, and reaching over to place a yoghurt then a bowl of fruit salad in front of the blonde. "Thank you" Aubrey said quietly to the woman beside her, who let out a coy grin and gave her a wink before resuming her focus on the fruit salad before her. Aubrey felt her stomach knot slightly at the interaction, almost certain she could feel her cheeks blushing, but before she could really address how she felt the rest of The Bella's joined them.
"No Bhloe, what a surprise." Fat Amy said with a sigh as she sat down in the seat beside Aubrey before compiling a large bacon sandwich.
"They obviously had a very good night." Cynthia-Rose said whilst wiggling her eyebrows and the women around the table grinned. Even Aubrey found herself smiling slightly, remembering the moment she found out that her best friend had finally been on the date she had so desperately wanted to go on for years.
"I guess I'll go and get my laptop then?" Beca said and Aubrey nodded in approval, not least of all because the time that the brunette was away was the time that she could spend grilling Chloe about why the hell they were both so dressed up! She had spent a good hour looking around the hotel for the two women, calling Chloe's cell as much as possible, it going to voicemail each time.
Aubrey's heart-rate began to increase as she watched Beca reach over to Chloe's back pocket and pull out their hotel key. The blonde knew her mouth had dropped open but she didn't care. Beca was acting very weird, even for her. She watched the petite brunette walk away from them and out of the lobby, glancing back at them on her way out with a grin. Aubrey looked at her best friend and the redhead had a look on her face that she'd never seen in the nine years that she'd known her whilst her eyes followed Beca out of the room.
"Okay spill." Aubrey found herself immediately saying to Chloe, to which the redhead merely shrugged, despite the hint of an excitable smile in the corner of her mouth, "I…don't know what you're talking about."
"Chloe I know you…something's happened, now tell me!" She watched Chloe begin to slowly walk over to the armchairs that were gathered towards the back of the lobby. It hadn't gone unnoticed by Aubrey that Chloe was particularly well presented for someone who had just gone out to dinner with a friend and, come to think of it Beca had been well presented too. Suddenly it hit her, and the blonde dashed over to join her best friend, perching on the armchair beside her, "Oh my God, were you two out on a date?!" She saw Chloe look at her with a grin, biting her bottom lip as she nodded slowly, "Oh my God! How? Wha… When did this happen?"
Her heart was racing with excitement as she saw a broad smile grow on her best friend's face, "This afternoon. When she stormed off and I followed her? I had a bit of a go at her and it turned out the reason why she was being so weird is because she has feelings for me." Aubrey couldn't believe what she was hearing. She hadn't seen her best friend look this happy in a very, very long time. "So, yeah, we've just come back from a date."
Aubrey held her breath waiting for more details, but Chloe seemed to have gone into a bit of a trance, glancing down at the flower she was spinning between her fingers and thumbs. "And?" Aubrey asked excitably.
"It was perfect. The best date I've ever been on. Seriously, Bree, she'd thought of everything. Booked a table, ordered my favourite wine, got me my favourite flower, even paid for our meal!" Aubrey felt numb and she knew her mouth was open but she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. From the sounds of things Beca had actually been romantic! "I think this is it Bree. I've said all along that she's the one even if she didn't like me in the same way but…she actually does!"
Aubrey couldn't help the broad grin on her face as she saw her best friend beaming at her. A small part of the blonde had always disliked Beca. She had always seemed selfish and unemotional and distant. She had disliked Beca because she believed that those traits were things that would hurt her best friend. But from what Chloe had just said, Beca had been anything but selfish, unemotional or distant. And that knowledge pulled a large weight off Aubrey's shoulders, relieved that the woman her best friend had pined over for the the past six years actually felt the same way about her, and not only that but that she was treating Chloe right. That's all Aubrey ever wanted.
"Oh Chloe, I'm so happy for you! You've wanted this for such a long time."
"Ladies remember what we agreed last night. We're not to talk about it in front of them until they tell us themselves, and until then we're not to make them feel awkward." Aubrey said with grace as she peeled back the lid of her yoghurt pot to pour onto her fruit salad. Unfortunately for Beca and Chloe, all The Bella's knew that they had been on a date last night. So Aubrey was now doing everything within her power to keep The Bella's from making things uncomfortable for the new couple, Chloe's happiness being her ultimate priority.
"Goodnight you two" Aubrey said, looking over at Beca and Chloe as they walked away from her and down the corridor to their room. She opened her hotel door as she heard Beca and Chloe call out "Goodnight" and she smiled. What an odd feeling, to know that not only had those two women just been out on a 'wonderful' date together, but that they were about to go to sleep in the same bed. Aubrey cringed slightly. The expression didn't last long however, and she shut the door behind her as she noticed the rest of The Bella's were sat in her and Amy's room, split between the two single beds, looking at her expectantly.
"Erm…hello?" She asked awkwardly and the women before her grinned, "Is everything ok?"
She watched as Fat Amy let out a long sigh before getting up off her bed and walking over to her, "Aubrey, there's something we need to tell you but…you're gonna want to sit down."
Aubrey let Fat Amy guide her to the section of bed that she'd been sitting on and she took a seat next to Staci, furrowing her brow slightly to work out what could possibly be so serious that warranted her to sit down. She looked at the woman beside her who bit her bottom lip nervously before sharing, "We saw Chloe and Beca having dinner at a fancy bistro this evening."
Aubrey's stomach knotted. Nothing stayed secret for long round here. Trying to play it off, she shrugged, "So? They're allowed to have dinner together."
"Yeah the thing is, it looked like they were on a date." Cynthia-Rose chimed in and Aubrey turned to look at her sat on the bed opposite, "They were talking real close, and laughing, and were sharing a dessert."
"That's because they were on a date!"
Aubrey found herself looking at Fat Amy who had just piped up, but had a guilty expression on her face. Aubrey furrowed her brow. How did she know that Beca & Chloe had been on a date?
"I bumped into them when they were on their way out. They told me they were going on a date…then they told me not to tell anyone…whiiich I've just done…oops."
The Bella's started squealing and giggling and chatting amongst themselves in excitement that two of their closest friends were dating. The two friends that they had all said made the perfect couple. The two friends that had often had the most obvious sexual tension over the years.
"What the hell Amy?!" Aubrey couldn't help but say loudly to the Australian, causing The Bella's to hush, "I was looking for them for like an hour earlier. I even asked you if you knew where they were and you said no!"
"Yeah that was back when I was good at keeping secrets!" Fat Amy exclaimed sarcastically, choosing to sit on the floor between the foot of both single beds. Aubrey could feel her annoyance begin to bubble away but she felt a soft hand smooth it's way over her back and she turned to see that Staci had reached out to calm her down. This wasn't a common interaction between the two and Aubrey felt almost too shocked at Staci's touch to continue telling Fat Amy off.
So after a pause and a deep breath, Aubrey smiled, "It doesn't matter anymore. What matters now is how we handle this news."
"News?" She heard Cynthia-Rose ask.
"That Beca and Chloe are dating."
Aubrey saw the faces of The Bella's all light up and her stomach knotted. She hoped that this wouldn't get back to Chloe. The redhead understandably wanted to keep things on the down-low for fear that Beca would freak out and no longer want to date her. Aubrey decided that she would do everything possible to keep The Bella's from ruining the couple's chances of being happy.
Aubrey turned in her seat to see what the women at her table were gawking at, and her heart soared as she saw the figures of Beca and Chloe sauntering over to the buffet together. Aubrey had to admit, this was the happiest she had ever seen either of them. She smiled as she watched Beca holding two plates while Chloe loaded them up with equal amounts of breakfast food. The way Beca looked at the redhead, with a soft grin on her face while Chloe chatted away to her, made Aubrey hopeful that the woman really did care deeply for her best friend. There was a quick scramble for cutlery as The Bella's saw the two women turn away from the buffet and walk over to them.
"Hey awesome Nerds" the brunette greeted her friends cheerily and Aubrey noticed that Beca had damp hair. Chloe appeared behind her holding two bowls of fruit salad, a big grin plastered on her face. Aubrey noticed that the redhead also had damp hair. The blonde didn't want to consider what could have possibly made the two women late down for breakfast, but it was very obvious.
Eek! Hope you all enjoyed (and that it made sense? I'm absolutely shattered!)
Keep them reviews a'comin.
Until later xx
(ps in answer to the question of whether I have a BeChloe playlist, I don't have one specific to them but I do have a playlist I write my romantic fanfic to which has over 700 songs on it!
While writing this Chapter I was listening to an album by 'Bootstraps' who has done a bunch of covers and made them super romantic and beautiful! Especally 'At Last', 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody', and 'Waiting'! Check them out if you get a chance)