Best Christmas Ever

Chapter 2

Eggnog Milkshake?

Chloe and Beca made their way into the popular diner that sits just off campus. Both women really liked the place, and it had become a regular haunt for the both of them, especially together. Looking about just inside the doorway, they saw that every booth was free. Much like the rest of Barden University itself, the diner was all but deserted.

"Evening girls. Sit wherever. Be with you in just a sec," said the waitress before she disappeared into the kitchen.

"You think we'll be able to get a booth?" Beca asked in a playfully sarcastic voice.

Chloe tapped her chin as she studied all the empty booths. "Hmmm-not sure, it might be tough," said the redhead as she guided Beca to their favorite booth in the back corner.

"Maybe we should have called ahead and made a reservation?" Beca asked with a laugh as they came to the table.

Taking off her jacket and sliding into the booth, Chloe kept it up, " We really should have."

The petite brunette rolled her eyes as she removed her own coat, and hung it at the end of the booth, before she sat opposite of the redhead. Chloe had already grabbed a menu and was scanning it, though Beca was pretty sure she knew what the redhead was planning on ordering.

"How about we share a milkshake, Beca?" Chloe asked as she noticed their usual waitress walking over.

"Sure, that sounds nice," Beca nodded with a soft smile.

"Hey Chloe," the waitress said with a wave, her notebook in hand. "Hi Beca, happy holidays. Surprised to see the both of you. What can I get for you two fancy kids today?"

"Hey Molly," Chloe responded. "Merry Christmas. You know I had to get my usual holiday treat before I head home."

"How could I forget," Molly said with a laugh. "Eggnog milkshake and a bowl of curly fries?" Molly questioned.

"Just one eggnog milkshake with two straws and the curly fries please, and two glasses of water, with minimal ice," Chloe requested.

"I'll take a coffee, too please," added Beca.

"Black, no sugar?"

Beca nodded in answer.

"Coming right up," The waitress smiled walking back over to the counter to place the order.

"Two straws?" Beca asked with a raised eyebrow.

Chloe blushed, as she looked down at her hands. "I hope you don't mind. I thought we could share, and if you don't like it, we can get you something else."

"It's fine Chloe," Beca assured the redhead.

Chloe smiled softly as she held her hand out to the younger woman who took it without a thought.

"Here you go," The waitress put the eggnog milkshake down on the table, and slid the glass to the middle of the table. She then placed the two glasses of water on the table. "The fries will be right up," she informed them as she placed Beca's coffee in front of her.

"Thank you," The two women chorused together.

They immediately locked gazes and laughed with light blushes on their cheeks. They kept their hands intertwined as they each reached for a straw and leant forward towards the sweet treat.

Beca took a long swallow of the milkshake, enjoying the sweet, creamy ice cream drink, absolutely loving the taste the moment it hit her taste buds. Beca closed her eyes and let out a content sigh.

"I know, right?" Chloe asked with a big smile.

"Okay," Beca conceded, "You're right, it's incredibly delicious."

"Thank you."

The two young women both sat taking pulls from their respective straws, just enjoying more of the milkshake in silence. Though Beca had informed the redhead they would be getting a second milkshake to share. This had pleased Chloe to no end.

"So…" Chloe said cheerfully as she turned to face the shorter girl. "What's your Christmas vacation schedule going to consist of Miss DJ Supreme?"

Beca had known this question would be coming, and though she really didn't want to answer, she also had a hard time not being open with the redhead. "Uh, I don't know. I guess work on a bunch of my mixes and see if I can pick up some hours at the radio station. Kimmy Jin'll be gone for the break, so at least I get the room to myself, that's a Christmas bonus."

At the utter look of horror on Chloe's face, Beca knew she probably should have kept her plans to herself. Ever since her parents had separated when she was eleven, and the divorce almost one year to the day later, Beca had not been a fan of celebrating Christmas. Her mother's untimely passing had only reinforced that there was nothing holiday about Christmas for the petite brunette.

It hadn't always been this way.

Before the divorce, Christmas had always been such a special time for Beca. Christmas had been a time when her parents were happy and in love. Music had filled their home, which had left its imprint on Beca.

Beca still remembered their annual Christmas vacation. As a family they would all travel up to a cabin in the mountains of her home state of Washington. They would spend each Christmas together in the snow covered woods, building snowmen, sledding, ice skating, and just laughing and enjoying one another's company.

These should have been truly special memories; but now they were tinged with the sadness of her father's betrayal.

Where Beca should remember the happy times, like selecting a tree to be cut down by her father for Christmas, there's just an emptiness in her heart of watching her father walk away just before Christmas when she was eleven. Where happy childhood memories should lay, there is nothing but the pain of her parents arguing on Christmas Eve when she was ten. What had started as a very happy and healthy childhood, was buried beneath the years of anger, sadness and resentment after her father abandoned Beca and her mother.

That he left just a day before Christmas to be with someone else had always seemed especially cruel.

That Beca's mother grew ill just before Christmas when Beca was fourteen, had just added to Beca's apathy towards the holiday.

When her mother died on Christmas day, when Beca was fifteen, had just destroyed the idea of experiencing Christmas for Beca in any way. She simply did not have anyone in her life who she cared about or who cared about her.

Of course Beca's father had tried to reconcile with her; tried to heal the wounds between them, but Beca was not ready to forgive or forget. She had rebuffed most of his efforts, until they had settled in an uneasy understanding, where each gave the other space. His insistence that Beca had to go to college, and Barden University in particular, had strained an already tenuous relationship. Then their argument after her arrest had brought everything to the breaking point. Even when charges were dropped, the damage was done. It still burned Beca that her father couldn't even muster the integrity to apologize to her.

So, Beca simply had chosen she would be alone this Christmas. She would keep herself busy when any holiday occasion came up this year, hoping her father wouldn't press too hard. If she was lucky she would pass the time quickly, and she could just get through it to the start of the next semester.

"What?!" Chloe cried out loud. Beca was very glad that the diner was empty. Chloe didn't care, as she asked loudly in surprise, "You mean you're staying here by yourself all break? What about going back home to be with your family?" Chloe was truly shocked at the thought of the brunette being alone during such a happy time of year.

Beca felt uncomfortable at the question and shifted in her seat. Looking into the older girl's bright blue eyes and seeing a mixture of shock, concern and curiosity, the tiny brunette contemplated whether or not to explain exactly why she planned on being alone for the holidays. Beca has spent a good number of years constructing impenetrable walls around herself. After her father walked out, she closed herself off from the world, her desire for communication and interaction with others completely fracturing the day the door shut behind him. Beca's mother had been the only exception to her change in demeanor. To this day, Beca was not one to open up to anyone about her feelings or most of the things that ran through her mind on a daily basis. She had essentially locked her heart up in a box and thrown the key away the day her mother died.

Yet now, as she sat across from Chloe, who sat looking at her expectantly. It surprised Beca to realize she actually wanted to share with the redhead.

This really confused her, and left her at a loss. Chloe seemed to sense Beca's extreme unease, and so waited patiently, till there was several minutes of silence between the two women in the booth.

Usually this was why Beca avoided these types of situations. Now Beca found herself surprised that her problem wasn't that she would have to explain why she would be alone, but that she would be in fact, alone. Something about Chloe made Beca not want to be alone.

It happened so often that Beca really shouldn't be, but she still was shocked every time at the effect the redhead had on her. For some reason she always really wanted to be honest with Chloe in ways she's never been as open with others save for her mother. This was one of those moments. Against all reason, Beca found herself wanting to tell Chloe everything.

She wasn't quite sure where this sudden desire to open up to any person had even come from, much less Chloe. Beca had only known the bubbly redheaded senior for a handful of months. Yet in that time she had become distinctly aware of the other woman's lack of boundaries. Hell this had been instantly apparent when the other girl had burst into her shower, just because she had heard Beca singing.

Now, Beca did recognize that asking someone what their plans for Christmas were wasn't really crossing any kind of line of propriety. In fact, Beca felt rather stupid for even having such deep thoughts about whether she should answer this very simple question. But she can't help but feel insecure, knowing that such a simple question requires such a complicated and personal answer.

The truth is though, that ever since the redhead had barged into her shower, she had inserted herself into Beca's life. The brunette could sense this fact had changed something within her. Without even realizing what she was doing, Chloe had slowly chipped away at Beca's walls, and now she finds herself less and less guarded with the red haired girl. Of course if anyone were to ask, Beca would deny it until her last breath… but part of her had even come to enjoy the fact that Chloe would try so hard to knock her barriers down and get closer to her.

The petite woman was trying to stall in her silence and Chloe knew it, but she figured the younger woman needed the time. Beca's eyes were trained on the window behind Chloe, her gray blue eyes looking past the redhead. She sighed, running a hand over her messy bun before folding her hands on the table.

"Beca?" Chloe finally asked softly at first, she reached out and laid her hand on Beca's. She had noticed the younger girl's eyes seemed to have drifted off, lost in her own thoughts. "Becs, she said a bit louder, shaking the brunette out of her reverie. "You okay there? Kinda lost you for a bit."

The touch on her hand was light, barely enough to make Beca notice. "Oh, uh, yeah… sorry. Just― just thinking," Beca replied. The brunette forced herself to look Chloe in the eyes. She looked up into Chloe's piercing cerulean eyes.

Seriously, how are they so damn blue!

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything, but if you want to, I'm here, and I have time."

"Okay, fine," Beca uncrossed her hands, then wiped them on her thighs. The silence continued, the only sound was the ticking of the hand of the old fashioned clock that the diner hung above the register. Chloe didn't disturb the silence though, she had let Beca know she was there, but she wouldn't push any more. Beca sighed heavily, deciding to open up about her dislike for Christmas this one time. "The thing is, I don't really have any family to go home to. My dad left when I was eleven―I mean yeah, he's around now, trying to reconcile our relationship... but I can't imagine being around him and the step-monster for five minutes, let alone Christmas break for a whole week. It's a reminder he… left us for her… just before Christmas… And well, my mom… she got sick… and died when I was fifteen… on Christmas, so…" She trailed off quietly. "Holidays are just kind of depressing for me, so I tend to spend them alone, occupying myself with whatever I can to pass the time til they're over."

Chloe simply sat there in a bit of shock and awe, as Beca shared more. She tried to school her features into not betraying her surprise or sorrow as Beca gave some more details of what happened to her mother, but it was difficult as she had not expected something this personal, to come from Beca. Nor was she ready for Beca to use so many words; Chloe could tell there was more that the brunette wasn't sharing, but that was okay, she would let Beca share what she was feeling comfortable sharing. In the months she had known the tiny freshman, she had never heard this many come out of Beca's mouth. She knew the younger girl had a hard time opening up to anyone about anything, and to hear this declaration of private information, she felt her heart swell at the thought that it was with her that Beca chose to share this personal information with.

Beca, for her part, dropped her eyes back to the table. She focused on the milkshake to avoid eye contact with the other woman. She was feeling extremely vulnerable after the word vomit that had just come out of her mouth. Before she could convince herself to jump out of the booth, and run out of the diner, she felt two strong arms wrap around her shoulders and envelop her smaller body. So focused on the milkshake, Beca had actually missed Chloe sliding out of her booth, and coming around the table to hug her.

Chloe was now sitting next to her in the booth and had Beca in a tight comforting hug. "I'm so sorry you went through that - alone, no less. You are so incredible."

The petite woman shook her head, flashing Chloe her sad watery eyes as she halfheartedly tried to pull away, but Chloe only pulled her into a firmer hug.

"Thank you," Beca heard the soft words mumble against her shoulder.

"For what?" Beca asked, as she leaned back in the seat to look at Chloe.

"For opening up to me," Chloe simply stated. "I know that's not easy for you. And I can understand why you would want to avoid these times of the year that are kind of meant to bring families together." The redhead paused, then looked directly into Beca's gray blue eyes. "I'm also sorry about your mom." Chloe dragged her own hands down Beca's arms to her hands, giving them a comforting squeeze.

"Thanks," replied Beca. She sat there quietly, though the edge of her mouth did rise slightly, allowing her to give Chloe a sad, but appreciative smile.

The two women simply sat there for a few moments, gazing into each other's eyes and letting the comfortable silence of the empty diner fill the space between them.

"Oh!" The redhead suddenly lit up. "Come away with me."

"Huh?" Beca looked alarmed at the quick turn of emotion her friend displayed. She hadn't even really heard the words Chloe had said.

"Youshouldcomehomewithme! PleasecomespendtheholidayswithmeBecs?!" Chloe's words all ran together in her excitement.

"What?"

Beca wasn't sure she had heard the senior correctly. This was partly because of how loud and fast Chloe had spoken. It was also in part due to the fact she was sure that the redhead had invited her home with her.

Understanding that she had maybe been a bit too excited in her question, maybe, Chloe took a deep breath and asked, "Would you like to come spend the holidays with me Beca?"

Beca stared at Chloe with her mouth open. That Chloe had confirmed the invitation was gratifying, but still the invitation itself left her flummoxed. As the silence grew, she could see Chloe was fighting the urge to repeat the question, thankfully giving her the time to process. Still when Beca was able to make a coherent sound, it only consisted of, "What?"

The smile returned to Chloe's face, and the warmth of her eyes fully focused on the petite brunette. "Yeah! I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind." The redhead was practically bouncing on the soft seat of the booth, still grasping Beca's hands in her own, and gazing at the shorter girl with an excited sparkle in her eyes, she continued, "Please Beca, come home with me."

With a shake of her head, that dimmed the redhead's smile, though it didn't fully extinguish it, Beca answered, "I don't know if that's such a great idea, Chloe." Beca reluctantly withdrew her hands from Chloe's and placed them in her lap as she again stared at the milkshake. "I don't really wanna intrude on your family's time together, and I don't think I could even afford the ticket right now anyways. Besides, holiday spirit really isn't my thing."

With her index finger, Chloe gently guided Beca's face back towards her with a soft touch to the younger woman's chin. Her warm eyes captured Beca's, as she said softly, "I'm pretty sure I've got enough holiday spirit to spare for the both of us."

Partly to just escape the gravitational pull of those cerulean eyes, Beca rolled her own and slightly shook her head, even though she knew that Chloe's words were a true statement. "Chloe…"

Sensing another argument by the petite brunette, Chloe jumped in, "And you won't have to worry about any of the costs. I'm inviting you as my guest, and on super short notice, so I'll take care of it all. Please, come on Becs!" Chloe continued, "We can make snowmen, ice skate, pick a tree, decorate cookies, open presents... It'll be so much fun!"

Unbeknownst to the exuberant redhead, she was describing faded memories of a time when Christmas was Beca's favorite time of year. Cherished memories swirled through her head, and the petite brunette groaned. The redhead's suggested activities both enticed her, and made her want to cringe. They sounded both fun and exhausting at the same time.

Taking the younger woman's silence as a sign her resolve was crumbling, Chloe continued, speaking both more seriously and sincerely. "I'd just hate to think of you spending the whole break here at Barden holed up in your room all by yourself."

The sincerity of the redhead's words almost broke Beca's resolve right there. She tried to deflect via a different tactic. "So you'd be thinking about me during your holiday vacation, huh Beale?" Beca teased, displaying her snarky grin.

"Oh you have no idea Becs," Chloe giggled, happy to see the younger woman reverting back to her normal, snarky self. "Besides, you haven't lived until you've experienced a Beale family Christmas!"

The thought of her family helped Chloe to punctuate her words with a mesmerizing thousand-watt smile.

It did the job of blinding Beca, who suddenly couldn't come up with a rational argument. "I-I-I dunno, I-just…" To buy herself time to think, Beca ran her hand up through her chocolate brown hair, desperately trying to come up with any viable excuse for her to not go.

Now that Chloe had some understanding of the real reason Beca would be spending Christmas alone, she knew that the redhead wouldn't let it go. Still even though there's really nothing else for Beca to say that would sound remotely convincing, she really didn't want to intrude on Chloe's family time. It just felt wrong to bring her dourness into their time of holiday joy.

Seeing that she's got the young freshman backed into a corner with no real reason to decline her offer, Chloe decided to pull out the big guns. The redhead juts out her lower lip, makes her eyes round and big, and gives Beca her signature pouty face. She knows that few can resist this face, Beca least of all. Since the petite brunette can never resist her when she pouts, she's sure she has won. "Come on Becs; come away with me for Christmas, pleeeease?"

Feeling herself teetering on the edge of surrendering, Beca stutters, "I can't…"

This caught Chloe by surprise. She sits there for a quiet moment, staring at the younger woman with a withering stare. Beca shrinks in on herself a bit. She feels bad for turning down her friend's generous offer. She's about to apologize, but Chloe beat her to the punch.

"Fine," Chloe huffed. She seemed to consider something, and then retrieved her mobile phone from her pocket.

"Umm-what are you doing?" Beca asked as she watched Chloe open her favorite contacts.

"I'm calling my mom, to let her know that I will be spending Christmas here in Barden," Chloe answered. She said it as if it was self-evident.

"WHAT?!"

Again Beca was glad the only other people in the diner were Molly the waitress, and Gus the short order cook; neither of whom paid her shriek any mind.

Chloe ignored Beca's shriek too. She pressed her mother's contact and placed the phone to her ear. "I'm calling my mom, to let her know that I will be spending Christmas here," Chloe answered again, though slower and over emphasizing each word.

"I know what you said," Beca huffed, while giving an eye roll. "I mean why would you even suggest that?"

"Because I'm not letting you stay here by yourself for the holidays," Chloe replied forthrightly.

"Chloe I can't let you do that," Beca responded as she reached for Chloe's phone. The redhead kept it out of Beca's reach..

"Then you'll come home with me?" Chloe quickly countered as she kept the phone away, but ended the call.

"Chloe…" Beca whined.

"Beca…" Chloe pouted in response.

There really was no defense against that pout. "Dammit Beale, the pout? Really?"

Chloe somehow made her eyes grow bigger.

"That's so not fair. Seriously, how do you get your eyes to grow like that?" Chloe just continued to stare with large round crystal blue eyes. "Uhg… I just know I'm gonna regret this." Beca noted the redhead had adopted a smirk very similar to her own. What was even more infuriating for the usually snarky young woman, was the redhead somehow continued to flash her devastating puppy dog eyes at her even as she smirked. On anyone else it would have been off putting, but for Chloe it was adorable

"FINE! I'll go. Happy?" The brunette finally surrendered..

"Yay!"

Chloe squealed in excitement, and threw her whole body into the tiny brunette and wrapped her up in a tight hug.

"Chlo, I― Uhgh...I can't… breathe." Beca managed to stutter out, her arms locked at her sides by the redhead's powerful hug.

"It's okay, you don't really need any oxygen right now," Chloe replied, unconcerned as she maintained her death grip around the petite brunette.

At first, Chloe had felt the brunette stiffen in her hug, but as she stayed there, her arms around Beca, Chloe could feel the younger woman begin to relax into her embrace.

This was a huge admission for Beca, Chloe understood. Even though she had only known Beca for a short period of time, Chloe had come to learn of the brunette's aversion to physical contact, and any invasion of her personal space. A memory flashed through Chloe's head. One where Beca had tried to set boundaries. 'This is your space. ' The young freshman had painstakingly explained as she gestured with her hands out toward the senior one afternoon in the quad when the two Bellas had been spending some time together bonding. 'And this is my space.' Beca had then spread her arms out wide and rotated in place, illustrating to the redhead what her personal boundaries were. 'Come into my space, and you may get smacked.' The petite brunette had looked so adorable in her earnest attempt at being tough, Chloe just shook her head playfully and swept the young freshman into a hug. 'You're totes cute, Becs!' They had both ignored the squeak Beca had emitted.

It warmed Chloe's heart that Beca was growing more comfortable with her touch. She had always been a touchy-feely person, never really acknowledging boundaries with other people. But Chloe also wasn't completely oblivious. Even she recognized that walking into the girl's shower stall naked and literally forcing her to sing her lady-jam certainly qualified as shattering any and all boundaries between the two of them. But part of her believed that "the shower incident," as Beca liked to refer to it, was what had allowed Chloe to get closer to the young freshman. It had provided a springboard to allow Beca to become more comfortable with Chloe's constant displays of affection. It had given the redhead the starting point she needed to break through all the barriers Beca had so painstakingly and strategically placed around herself.

It had taken a while, but over time, the redhead had noticed changes in the younger Bella. How Beca had become more at ease with her touches. Touches that the brunette occasionally even reciprocated, and sometimes―though rarely―even initiated. It's in those moments that Chloe truly recognized how much Beca's walls were slowly beginning to tumble down. That she's at least partly the cause of that makes Chloe's heart swell.

Chloe whispered into Beca's ear a promise, "I know Christmas isn't really your thing Becs, but I promise you… I'm gonna make this your best Christmas ever!"

-~Merry Pitchmas 2021~-