Epilogue VII - Like A Fairytale

The curtains of Chloe's bedroom floated delicately in the light mild breeze that drifted through the open window of the lake house, the sunlight peeking out and falling on two figures laying in the double bed. Chloe lay on her right side, her right hand propping her head up, a large imponderous bed sheet covering her naked body, tucked under her armpits. She smiled softly, sleepily, as she looked at the woman laying beside her. Beca was sprawled on her front, her head with its messy bed-hair turned towards the redhead, but the petite brunette remained fast asleep. The bed sheet that covered Chloe was also spread across her girlfriend, covering her naked body from the waist down.

Chloe let out a silent giggle as she saw Beca take a sharp intake of breath that bordered on being a snore before bringing a hand up in her sleep and wiping a bit of drool from her face. Chloe held her breath, as though any form of exhale may wake the beautiful woman beside her. When she was sure Beca was still asleep, Chloe reached her left hand out and began delicately glazing her fingertips slowly up and down her girlfriend's back, paying particular attention to the purple tattoo just above her right shoulder blade. As her index finger traced around the lines of the woman's tattoo Chloe sighed happily. She couldn't believe that she was here. Beca Mitchell. Laying naked in her bed. And that she was actually her girlfriend!

Chloe tried to imagine what it may have been like had a fairy godmother appeared before her at the Barden University A Capella Hood Night in her first attempt at senior year of college, and told her that in six years time that petite, unapproachable, beautiful alt-girl she struggled to keep her eyes off would one day end up naked with her, in her bed at her parent's lake house, following several hours of making-out, talking, giggling, and more making-out before finally having sex. Then having sex again. And again. And again. Until Chloe had lost count of how many times she'd climaxed. Of how many times Beca had climaxed.

"Mmm that feels nice" she heard her girlfriend mumble drowsily, a smile growing on her face as she slowly began to open her eyes.

"Hi" Chloe whispered airily, her bright blue eyes catching a pair of deep blue eyes. She could tell as they held each other's gaze for a moment that Beca was remembering last night, noticing how the brunette glanced down at the soft skin between Chloe's breasts, at the dark hickey that had been marked on the woman several hours ago when they had been lost in a passionate tumble and Chloe had reluctantly insisted that if she had to mark her it better be somewhere her family couldn't see. An embarrassed grin grew on Beca's face, her cheeks flushing slightly, before she brought a hand up to her face and hid behind it for a moment, mumbling "Don't look at me. I bet I look hideous"

"What?!" Chloe squeaked, her voice rattling around the room followed by her loud giggle, "Shut up..." she said while reaching over to try to pull her girlfriend's hand from her face.

"It's true! How can I possibly be okay lying next to you when you look so…serene, and I'm currently resembling the look of a troll!" Beca also seemed to have stopped whispering, or keeping her voice low in any sense of the word, something that wasn't too difficult seeing as the land surrounding the lake house was deadly silent save for the singing birds. And Chloe, laughing loudly whilst trying to prize Beca's hand away from her makeup-less face, couldn't believe the words she had just heard her girlfriend utter. Because yes, Beca looked stunning when she wore a full face of makeup. With heavy yet perfected eyeliner, fake eyelashes, and that light rose lipgloss that Chloe had bought her for her birthday four years ago and Beca had worn and bought ever since. But when Beca wore only mascara, and even when she didn't, when Beca didn't wear any make up at all Chloe found herself glancing at her even more, because the redhead found her so beautiful. Every bit of her. The way her lips parted to reveal dazzling white teeth. The way her few freckles, that were but a tenth of the freckles that Chloe boasted, collected across the top of her nose. And the way that nose crinkled and scrunched whenever the brunette laughed. Hearing Beca laugh was one of Chloe's favourite sounds. And it was a sound she could hear right now, mixing with her own laughter, as she still tried to pull Beca's hand from her face.

Beca, in the midst of the adorable tustle, had managed to turn to face her girlfriend, finding it easier to hold her hand closer to her own face with both hands now available. The redhead broke her laughter to let out a squeal of surprise as Beca suddenly grabbed her wrist with both hands, and rolled onto her back, taking Chloe with her. The two women's giggles slowly subsided as they lay naked on top of each other and Chloe brought her hands out to rest either side of Beca's head, raising her upper body, wanting to get a proper look at her girlfriend and all her beauty.

Chloe felt a warmth glowing from deep within her soul as her bright blue eyes got lost in the deep blue eyes of Beca. Throughout her childhood she had read and been told fairytales of the Princess who one day found her Prince. Those stories had described how the Princess was so often trapped or cursed by an evil stepmother or evil queen, condemning the Princess to a life of misery until one day a Prince comes along and rescues her.

When she was a child Chloe always envisioned herself as a Princess and strongly believed that when she grew up she would one day find her Prince and they would immediately fall in love and get married and live happily ever after. There were never stories of a Princess meeting another Princess and them immediately falling in love, getting married and living happily ever after. And so Chloe spent her childhood and teens never once entertaining the idea that perhaps the person she would immediately fall in love with, and hopefully get married to, living together happily ever after in the process, would be a woman.

Yet here, lying beneath her, hands delicately tracing their fingertips along the small of her back causing a ripple of goosebumps to track their way across her skin, was Beca. And Chloe couldn't help the soft smile on her face as she continued to look into the brunette's eyes. The years that she had spent fawning over Beca had been similar to those fairytales. During the final two years at college when Chloe had harboured some of the deepest unrequited love for her best friend, looking at Beca and having to prevent herself from telling her how she felt, she'd felt almost locked away in a tall tower, much like Rapunzel had been. Coming to the brave decision to begin slowly weaning herself off Beca during their US Tour just after graduating from Barden was much like Cinderella when she had returned from the ball, having to try to forget how wonderful her time had been with the Prince, having to try to forget him like her evil step-mother had warned. Moving to New York and living with Beca, Chloe's deep feelings returning and burning brighter than ever, was like she had fallen into a deep slumber like sleeping beauty, blissfully unaware of life outside her own, because being with Beca in New York before their European Tour had been like living in a dream.

Then came that day four weeks ago, when Beca had revealed her feelings for Chloe, when they had gone on their first date, when they had had their first kiss. It was as though Beca had awoken Chloe from an evil spell. The curse of the unrequited love that she had been enduring for six years. A curse that had been broken by her one true love.

"Penny for them?" Chloe heard Beca ask, her fingertips now trickling their way up and down the length of skin on the redhead's back, and Chloe let out a soft airy giggle, shaking her head slightly as she bit her bottom lip. But Beca raised her eyebrows, a curious grin peeping from the corners of her mouth, and Chloe brought one of her hands up to tuck a long lock of her red hair behind her ear as she let out a content sigh, whispering, "I was just thinking about how happy you make me."

Her heart skipped a happy beat as she saw Beca roll her eyes, uttering a 'bleurgh' sound as she pretended to throw up and Chloe let out another loud laugh that tumbled around the quiet bedroom. Beca often made that noise when Chloe mentioned something mushy to her about their relationship. But the redhead knew her girlfriend well. She knew Beca wasn't one for PDA's and that any affection she gave wasn't necessarily rare, but it certainly wasn't ever given as a grand gesture. Nor was it ever delivered with cool grace. It was always subtle, and sometimes awkward or nonchalant, as though she didn't even realise what she was doing. Like the way her fingertips were currently glazing up and down Chloe's back. Chloe knew Beca probably didn't realise she was doing it and that was okay because Chloe knew, and it was enough affection for her to feel appreciated.

As their laughter subsided Chloe felt her heart soar as Beca reached a hand up, curling that pesky lock of long red hair back behind Chloe's ear. Beca's hand cupped her cheek and Chloe felt herself getting lost in her deep blue eyes as her girlfriend said with a coy grin, "You make me really happy too Chlo." And Chloe knew it. She saw the way Beca's eyes shone whenever the brunette looked at her. And she knew that Beca loved her. Not least of all because Beca had actually been the one to say the 'L' word first. And no, Chloe didn't mean 'lesbians'…though Beca had also used that word to describe them first. Beca had confessed under her breath four days ago, while they ate breakfast hungover in Prague, that she loved Chloe. And yeah having only been together for three and a half weeks may, to many, have seemed a bit soon to be declaring their love for one another for the first time, but Beca had done it. And Chloe had been absolutely over the moon, having been taken by surprise that Beca had said it so soon. But if she hadn't then Chloe had planned on telling Beca she loved her just before she flew out to the lake house.

Chloe slowly twisted her face in Beca's hand, maintaining eye contact while she brought her lips to her girlfriend's thenar and kissed it tenderly. There was a brief pause as the two women held each other's gaze, happy just being together, Chloe on top of Beca, Beca's thumb delicately brushing Chloe's skin as she cupped her cheek. Then Chloe found herself slowly lowering her face towards her girlfriend's, that lock of red hair falling back down beside their heads as she softly kissed Beca, taking a deep intake of breath as though trying to pull the woman closer.

Beca's other hand that had been resting lazily on the small of Chloe's back was now pressing against her skin, trying to bring their bodies closer together, an action that was impossible. Chloe could feel heat beginning to billow from below the bedcovers as their kiss deepened and she opened her mouth to allow Beca's probing tongue to roll with hers.

…

Sue Beale sat back in her favourite garden chair that was one of a collection gathered around a large glass garden table on the wooden decking outside the back of the lake house. She looked out at the landscape before her with a relaxed smile, enjoying the warm breeze that drifted lightly in the air as the ray's of morning sunlight danced across the surface of the large lake at the bottom of their garden. Her ears pricked up as she heard the relatively faint sound of her daughter shrieking "What?!" from her bedroom that sat at the back of the property on the first floor of the lake house, her open window situated above the decking. Sue smiled as she heard Chloe let out a loud giggle followed by a "Shut up..." which was said in such a tone that it sounded as though Chloe was being teased.

Suddenly the mother caught the sound of another voice coming from her daughter's bedroom. The sound of her daughter's best friend. Her daughter's girlfriend. And the tone of Beca's voice was unlike any tone she'd heard the petite brunette use before, "It's true!" she heard the woman call out to her daughter, "How can I possibly be okay lying next to you when you look so…serene, and I'm currently resembling the look of a troll!" The tone used was one of amusement and affection and disbelief all rolled into one and Sue Beale found a wide smile spreading across her face as she heard the unmistakable sound of her daughter's loud hearty laughter exploding out of the open window above her. And the mother felt her heart swell as she soaked up every last note of her little girl's laugh. Because in the twenty seven years and ten months that she had known, loved, and nurtured her only daughter, she had never heard Chloe laugh like that before. Certainly not as an adult anyway.

It was at this very moment that Sue fully realised just how important Beca was. Important not only to Chloe, but important to Mr & Mrs Beale too. Because it was evident through Chloe's belly laugh that had sounded so sweet and warm and genuine that Beca was the light of her life. Perhaps even the love of her life. And this knowledge filled Sue Beale with a whole heap of hope and happiness that her daughter had finally found someone truly special to spend her life with. And so what if her own mother would disapprove of the relationship? Sue would cross that bridge when it came to it.

For now the only members of the family who knew of Chloe's girlfriend were Chloe's parents, her three brothers and their wives. Sue and Jerry had had to spend the weekend chatting in a private WhatsApp group titled "ChloBo's Girl" created by their youngest son Johnny, who had managed to capture the live Instagram video of Chloe declaring that she and Beca were dating, using some programme on his phone (Sue couldn't get her head around that side of technology) and sent it to the group that was made up of Sue, Jerry, himself, Michael, and Ryan. Both Sue and Jerry had informed their sons that Beca had turned up at the lake house and would be spending the rest of the week with them. They had also given the boys strict instructions to not tease their little sister when they arrived, and to only bring the subject of her and Beca's relationship up if it came up in conversation.

Sue turned in her seat, smiling at her husband who was making his way out of the large open doors carrying two mugs of coffee. They had eaten breakfast an hour ago, hardly surprised that their daughter and Beca hadn't joined them despite it having been 9am. Jerry held out a mug of coffee to Sue before taking the seat beside her, grinning at his wife as the sound of their daughter's laughter still emanated from Chloe's open bedroom window. A laugh that stopped abruptly as Chloe let out a squeal of surprise before resuming her laughter that had been joined by Beca's laughter too. Sue could see it in her husband's face. She could tell he was also thrilled to hear how happy their daughter sounded.

The parents looked out at the view before them as the laughter slowly subsided. After several moments of quiet, with nothing more than the birds singing and the light rustling of leaves in the trees, some mumbling could be heard from the youngest Beale's bedroom. Suddenly a 'bleurgh' sound rang out and Sue let out a chuckle as her daughter could be heard laughing once again. From the sounds of things Chloe had said something sickly sweet that had caused the brunette to make a retching sound, which must be a common reaction based on the redhead's laughter.

The atmosphere went quiet again and Jerry brought his coffee up to his mouth, taking a sharp sip of the dark liquid. Suddenly his eyes widened as he looked over at his wife and she caught his eye, both feeling the colour drain from their faces slightly as they began to hear loud kissing and humming coming from the open window of their daughter's bedroomroom. Sue and Jerry didn't need to say anything to each other, their expressions enough to permit one another to leave the decked area. The couple levitated out of their seats, scuttling back into the house and through to the kitchen, which was the furthest room in the house from Chloe's bedroom and, from the sounds of things, the safest place to prevent the parents from any embarrassment over the next thirty minutes or so.

Sorry for the wait in update - a crazy busy few long days at work!

Now I promise we and Beca will be meeting Chloe's brothers in the next chapter update :)

GanHer hehe I love Jerry/Sue parts too. Yes, I'll be writing this fic for as long as I can! (Also I think you commented a while back about how you were enjoying the Staci/Aubrey storyline and don't you worry, they'll be making an appearance soon!)

Skyeze.10 haha thanks for making the extra time to leave a comment buddy!

BallieLives Cheers dude! I love getting to write two POVs of the same situation :)

Bechloeorbhloe eek I'll trrryyyyy!

Dontrell ahh I hope your heart jumped in your mouth when you got this updaaate!

I'll endeavour to get the next chapter up by the end of the weekend!

xx