Fixes

3


Chloe's a bed limpet. That was the first thought Beca had when she woke in the middle of the night, dying to pee and with the redhead spooned tightly against her back. She reluctantly eased out of the warmth of Chloe's arms and slipped out of the bed, navigating a room lit only by the moonlight streaming in through the open blinds, to go to the bathroom. But when she returned a few moments later she changed her mind about her original assessment.

Chloe was now a bed starfish, taking up a good portion of the queen-sized mattress with her legs sprawled out and her arms over her head. Then, Beca swallowed hard as her eyes wandered over the shirt she'd loaned her friend to sleep in. It was pulled tight over the older woman's breasts, and as they strained against the thin grey material, it made the musician suddenly want to peel the shirt off her.

Chloe stirred and slowly rolled onto her side, realizing the spot next to her was empty as her hand slid across the sheets. Then she looked up to see the musician standing in the center of the room. "Bec? You ok?" she asked quietly, slowly blinking gorgeous blue eyes, ethereal in the moonlight.

"Yeah," Beca replied as she padded back to the bed and climbed under the covers again, lying on her back with the older woman pressed all along her side.

The vet smiled as she curled a lock of the brunette's hair around her finger. "Needed some space?" she murmured.

Chloe's eyes were so soft and sleepy that Beca couldn't stop herself from turning into her chest to gaze into them and caress her cheek. "Not from you."

Chloe smiled and tugged a little on the hem of Beca's pajama top. "Is it ok if I kiss you?"

"Mmmhmmm..." Beca replied, then exhaled softly as Chloe's tongue flicked teasingly against her lips before she captured them in a gentle kiss. Everything Chloe did was gentle, thoughtful, soft... but Beca needed more, so she laced her fingers into soft, red hair and tugged a little, deepening the kiss and dragging a sensual moan out of the vet.

Then Chloe sucked on her bottom lip, and it was the brunette's turn to moan. "You're so beautiful," the vet groaned as she nipped the musician's bottom lip with her teeth, then smoothed her tongue over it to soothe the sting. She was captured by the soulfulness of Beca's dark blue eyes and took her time kissing the freckles peppered across the bridge of her nose. Then went back to her lips to nibble and lick teasingly.

"Fuck," Beca whispered. "Chloe..."

"You need me to stop?" the redhead whispered, pausing all movement.

Beca took a moment to take stock. She wasn't breathless, except from arousal. She didn't think she was going to hyperventilate, and Chloe's slow-moving hands against her cheek and neck hadn't scared her.

"No," she whispered. "I want you to keep kissing me."

A smile overtook the vet's face and she winked playfully. "I was hoping you'd say that."

They kissed again, achingly slowly, and a pleasant throbbing took up residence between Beca's thighs as she sucked lightly on the redhead's tongue. Her fingertips trailed from Chloe's cheek to her neck, down her chest and brushed against her breast, but she quickly pulled her hand back in surprise. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok..." the older woman murmured, trailing her lips along Beca's jaw to suckle her earlobe. "You can touch me if you want to."

Chloe's hand curled around Beca's hip, and her thumb stroked lightly against the tiny sliver of skin between her pajama pants and the bottom of her shirt. It left space for the brunette to look down and admire the redhead's straining breasts again. "Wow," she whispered and then grinned at the chuckle that moved through Chloe's body.

"I'm glad you like what you see," the vet said before going back to kissing the younger woman, a little more forcefully this time. She pushed her tongue into Beca's mouth and then gasped as the brunette's palm found her left breast and squeezed gently. Her thumb softly caressed the nipple, then flicked it.

Chloe growled unexpectedly and she pressed her chest harder into Beca's hand as her hips canted forward. "God, Beca..." she groaned as her hand moved to the younger woman's butt cheek to pull them together hard.

The move surprised Beca and she gasped as she pulled away, eyes wide. "Don't..."

Chloe's eyes shot open, and she eased back immediately. "I'm sorry," she panted. Her pupils were blown, and she shook her head, trying to clear her lust-fogged brain. "Beca, I'm so sorry."

But Beca caught her wrist as she tried to put space between them. "No, wait... Chlo... wait. I'M sorry. You didn't do anything wrong."

Blue eyes blinked. "Are... Are you sure you're ok?"

The brunette smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure. You just surprised me, that's all." She looked down then. "It's been a long time since someone's touched me like that... for good reasons."

A tentative smile appeared on the older woman's face. "You kinda surprised me too with that little nipple trick of yours."

They laughed softly together but Chloe didn't try to kiss Beca again. Instead, she opened her arms and sighed softly as the younger woman moved into them to snuggle against her.

"Night, Chloe," Beca murmured.

"Night, Becs."

Xx

When Beca woke the next morning, there was no sign of her redheaded teddy bear, but she did have a text, which she opened immediately.

Chlocifer: Morning, Beautiful. I wanted to stay and wake up with you, but my shift started at 6 and I had to duck out at 5. You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you. Text me when you wake up?

Beca: Chlocifer, huh? Now I know what you were doing with my phone last night. I missed you this morning. Last night was pretty amazing.

It took a few hours for Chloe to respond and Beca remembered her friend had mentioned something about back-to-back surgeries she had to perform.

Chlocifer: Must be the devil in me 😈 Yeah, last night was the best time I've had in a long time too. When can we do it again?

Beca swallowed. She knew Chloe was asking about another date, but her body responded in other ways when she thought about having her hands on the gorgeous redhead again. She felt like she needed to talk to Elise about the moment when she froze though, so she decided to do some work for a while before responding to her friend.

Sitting at her piano, Beca was playing around with chords and runs when her mind drifted to Chloe again and when she came back, she realized she was playing something new that she'd apparently just come up with. She grinned happily and pulled out a clean sheet of music paper to write the melody down.

All during the day, Beca played and wrote and sang, barely taking any breaks and, when her phone alarm went off at five, she was amazed at how the hours had disappeared. She was also amazed to see quite possibly one of the best songs she'd ever written on several sheets of music paper. After grabbing a beer from the fridge, Beca went to her laptop and logged into the telehealth website. She only had a moment to wait before Elise's smiling face popped up.

"Hi, Elise," Beca grinned.

"Wow," the therapist chuckled. "I don't think I've seen your face look like THAT before."

Beca frowned. "Huh?"

Elise laughed this time. "Sorry… you just look… happy."

The brunette looked down as another grin tugged at her lips. "I… I think I might be."

The therapist leaned forward slowly. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume it's Chloe who's the reason for that face?" She trailed off, eyebrows raised.

Beca blushed a little. "There are a couple of reasons but... yeah. She's a big reason. We spent the night together last night, but nothing happened… I mean… well…" She grinned a little wider. "It was kinda awesome making out with her."

"And you were ok?" Elise asked carefully.

The musician nodded. "Chloe did everything to make sure I was. I told her everything, Elise and… God…" she sighed dreamily. "She was so gentle and kind. There was only one moment when I froze up a little, but it was just because I touched her, and she reacted by pulling me against her hard…. But we got through it, and she was so sweet, just holding me while we slept."

The therapist chuckled softly. "She sounds amazing, Beca. Does she have a brother, by any chance?"

Beca laughed and shook her head. "I don't remember her talking about siblings." She paused then to consider that. "She didn't actually talk a lot about her family at all. I just know she's from Tampa originally."

The older woman nodded. "So, when you froze up, can you describe how you felt?"

Beca gave that due thought for a moment. "It was like… a flash of fear. It was just Chloe's body reacting but, when her hips pushed into mine it just… scared me briefly. But I was ok, I got past it and she was really concerned that she'd scared me. She cuddled me the rest of the night."

The therapist nodded. "Honestly, Beca, I think you did amazingly. And I'm so happy you've found someone who makes you comfortable. Take your time, ok? Move at a pace you're ok with. It sounds like Chloe cares a lot about you so talk to her. Let her know what feels good and if there are things you might need a little more time for."

"You mean sex," Beca said, blowing out a long breath.

"You'll know when you're ready, Beca, and you'll always have the choice to make it happen. It's just important that you listen to Chloe and make sure she has what she needs too, ok?"

"Not everything is about me," the brunette smiled. "I get it."

"No," the therapist nodded. "In the real world, it's not… but you already know that." She paused a moment, then bit the end of her pen. "Beca, you and Chloe seem to have gelled very quickly. Do you have any concerns about that?"

"Like… like we're moving too fast or…?"

Elise tilted her head. "Do YOU think you're moving too fast?" she countered.

"I hate when you do that," Beca groused. "I'm not second guessing myself, if that's what you mean."

"That's all I wanted to be sure of." The older woman smiled. "When's the next date?"

"No firm plans yet," the musician replied. "But if I had my way, it'd be tonight."

"Cool," Elise nodded. "Well, time to let you go. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Beca."

"Thanks, Elise. Bye."

Beca ended the meeting and leaned back on the couch as she picked up her phone.

Me: As soon as humanly possibly.

The reply came back immediately.

Chlocifer: I thought maybe I'd been a little too pushy.

Me: No, Chloe. Today, you were my muse. I got almost all the first song written. If you're free, I'm taking you out for dinner tonight to celebrate.

Chlocifer: Should I dress up?

Me: Definitely. Text me your address. I'll pick you up at 7.

Chlocifer: I'll be waiting.

After a quick shower, blow drying her hair and carefully doing her makeup, Beca slipped into a short, green dress and a pair of matching heels. Since the assault, it had been sometimes difficult for her to feel that she looked good but when Chloe looked at her, it was impossible to not feel sexy and she grinned to herself as she fluffed her hair a little. She called a cab then and gave the driver the address as she slid into the back and texted Chloe that she was on her way.

Beca took the elevator up to the vet's floor and found her apartment door, taking a deep breath before she knocked.

"Just a sec, Becs!" she heard and waited patiently for the door to be opened. And DAMN, it was worth the wait. The portal opened to reveal Chloe in a dark blue silk dress that offered a delectable hint of cleavage. Her long, red hair was tossed in waves over her shoulders and her makeup made her gorgeous eyes pop. In fact, everything about her was just… perfect. "Hi… I'm so sorry, I'm running a little late. I…"

But before she could go on, Beca was already moving through the doorway to push the older woman against the closet door. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," she groaned, lips hovering a hair from Chloe's.

"Beca…" the redhead whispered, breath ghosting over the musicians' lips as she gazed into her passion-filled, dark-blue eyes.

And then they were kissing desperately, pushing against each other, Beca's heels giving her a rare advantage over Chloe's bare feet. She nipped and sucked the older woman's bottom lip as her hands squeezed Chloe's hips. But eventually she eased back, lips kiss-bruised and glistening.

"If I don't stop now, we're not going to make it to the restaurant."

Chloe moaned softly but slipped her fingers out of the brunette's hair. "Ok... yeah." She exhaled hard. "Just give me five minutes to finish getting ready. There's wine in the refrigerator, if you want a glass?"

"Thanks, I'm cool," the musician replied as she wandered into the living room to wait. The redhead's apartment was small but nicely furnished in light colors. It just felt like Chloe's personality. There were little mementos on dust-free spaces and photographs everywhere. Since a lot of the subjects of the photos had red hair, Beca assumed that they were her friend's family.

"So, you DO have siblings?" Beca called.

"Yeah, loads," Chloe called back. "Three sisters, three brothers. I'm the eldest. The youngest is seven."

"You haven't told me about them."

Chloe's grinning face appeared at her bedroom door. "I haven't? Well… we've only known each other a few days, Beca. I would have gotten there eventually."

"Right," the brunette chuckled. "Does everyone in your family have red hair like yours?"

"Everyone except my sister, Zoe. She's blonde and we always give her shit about being the milkman's kid."

The vet came back into the living room then, putting on her earrings as she held her clutch under her arm. "Have I told you yet how beautiful you look, Ms. Mitchell?"

"I don't believe you have, Doctor Beale," Beca purred in reply. "But thank you."

Chloe exhaled and her eyes slid closed. "God, I love when you call me that. It sounds so sexy coming from you."

"I'll make sure to call you that when we're in bed," the brunette teased.

"Mmmmm…" Chloe smiled seductively. "Will there be sex too?"

Beca swallowed and withdrew a little as her gut reaction told her she wasn't ready. Not yet… in the face of its reality. Her hands started to shake as she turned away from the older woman and focused on one of the photos on the sideboard. She jumped just a little as warm arms came around her waist to hold her gently. "Uh… I'm not sure… I'm sorry, Chlo.."

"Beca… it's ok," Chloe said gently. "We don't have to do anything. I'm just so happy to be able to spend time with you."

"No…" the brunette looked down and rested her hands on her friend's forearms, caressing gently. "It's not ok, Chloe. I can tell… you… you love touching and intimacy and I'm pretty sure after last night's taste that you're amazing in bed. I just… I need more time and I totally get it if you want to just find someone else to…"

The arms around her tightened. "Becs, stop."

Chloe stepped around the younger woman and used two fingers to gently lift her chin. Serious but gentle eyes searched Beca's face. "Yes, I love those things. I'm a very tactile and sometimes annoyingly affectionate person. But Beca… waiting for you to be ready? You're more than worth it. I knew that the first time I met you in the waiting room at Perfect Paws. You took my breath away."

Beca nodded a little and then lifted her eyes again. "I totally couldn't tell that day."

Chloe smiled sheepishly. "You didn't see me pressed against the hallway wall, trying to catch my breath after seeing you for the first time. By the time I spoke to you, I'd had a minute or so to recover."

"You're so sweet, Chlo."

They shared a lingering kiss, then the vet grinned widely. "Time to go."

Xx

The restaurant was busy and despite having made a reservation, Chloe and Beca had to go to the bar to wait for their table to free up. Beca tried to stay calm and relaxed as they ordered two glasses of wine and then sat facing each other, knees touching as they chatted about their respective days. She told Chloe all about her new song and the vet told her friend about a litter of ten puppies which had been rescued from a dumpster and brought to Perfect Paws.

"Sometimes people are complete assholes," she said unhappily. "What kind of person would want to just throw out little cuties like that. I spent most of the afternoon examining and chipping them." She grinned a little then. "I named the smallest one Beca."

"Seriously?" the brunette whined. "I'm not THAT small, Chloe!"

"True," the redhead smiled, sipping from her glass. "You're the perfect amount of small."

Beca melted and she was just about to reach out for her friend's hand when she was jostled roughly from behind. She froze and then took a deep breath, trying to relax her fight or flight reflex that was very firmly telling her to flee. And then it just got worse. A not-so-gentle hand landed on her shoulder, and she scrambled away from it, practically into Chloe's lap.

"Hey, Baby," a slurred, male voice announced. "Chill. I'm just trying to be friendly and say sorry." The man moved closer and Beca closed her eyes, feeling an anxiety attack coming on as she just tried to breathe and rationalize to herself that some drunk guy in a restaurant in L.A. was not the guy who assaulted her in Atlanta. But through the fear-haze, she heard a clear voice speak up.

"I'm gonna need you to back off, Dude." Chloe's arms were around her, holding her close. "She doesn't need anyone to be friendly with her tonight but me."

"Oh," the man went on. "Maybe I can be friendly with bothayas?"

Even through her panicked state, Beca managed to roll her eyes.

"I'm pretty sure we're fine on our own, thanks," Chloe went on firmly. "Now, how about giving the lady some space?"

"Meh, whatever, dykes," he replied, wrinkling his nose. "Whatchyas need is a real man."

Beca felt Chloe's arms tense up. "Well, let me know if you see one," the vet shot back, her tone unamused.

"Fuck you," the guy spat angrily.

"Not even in your dreams," Chloe replied breezily as their doohickey on the bar suddenly lit up and vibrated. "Come on, Babe. Table's ready."

Beca wasn't ready to move just yet, but Chloe eased slowly to her feet, keeping one arm around her as she got them walking. "Are you ok?" she whispered into the brunette's ear.

"I…" Beca licked her lips. "I'm ok. I just need some water."

The hostess quickly led them to their booth, and they took seats next to each other on one side of the table. Chloe immediately poured her friend a glass of water from a sweating pitcher and Beca gulped it down. The vet refilled the glass, and the musician drank that down too, gasping as she swallowed the last mouthful.

"I'm sorry," she said then, unable to look at Chloe but, when a gentle touch on her hand got her attention, she lifted tear-filled navy eyes.

"Why are you apologizing?" Chloe asked seriously. "You weren't the asshole."

"But… I freaked out…"

"Beca… in no place nor time nor situation is it ok for a man to put their hands on a woman the way he did with you." She growled a little. "He's lucky I didn't punch his fucking lights out." She scowled then. "He's even luckier that I care a whole lot more about you being ok than I do about punching his face."

Beca blinked, her head tilting as she watched her friend glare daggers toward the table where the man had been seated with his party. Then she smiled adoringly. "Chlo?"

"What?" the redhead replied, turning back to look at the musician, still scowling.

"You're really hot when you're glaring at assholes on my behalf." The scowl was immediately replaced on Chloe's face by emotions ranging from embarrassment to delight and Beca couldn't help but tug her closer for a lingering kiss. "Thank for you standing up for me."

"Always," the redhead replied, slightly breathlessly.

Xx

"Ok, when you talked about how much you love sushi, I honestly thought you were exaggerating," Chloe said as she watched Beca start on her third salmon roll.

"Oh yeah," the brunette laughed. "It's a problem. I eat it until I get sick of it and then find something else to eat for four weeks straight. Rinse, repeat."

Chloe was also admiring her date's dexterity with chopsticks. "You're a really interesting person," she said happily.

Beca tilted her head. "Interesting?" she repeated.

"Yeah," the vet nodded. "You're smart and gorgeous and amazing… but you're also interesting, you know? To talk to. To spend time with. You're kinda the whole package." Chloe laughed a little. "Sorry, that probably sounded so weird."

"No, actually," the musician replied. "I think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"Heh," Chloe grinned, obviously pleased with herself.

"For the record," Beca went on. "I kinda think you're the whole package too, Doctor Beale." She leaned closer to her friend then. "And for the B side. To answer your question from earlier. Yeah… I'm pretty sure that, at some point, there will be sex... because I really want you right now."

The redhead stared at her for a long moment, half-chewed sashimi in her mouth. Then she gulped it down. "You... you do?"

"Mmmm... so much."

Chloe nodded, a beaming smile spreading across her face. "I'm glad it's not just me."

Beca's hand landed on her thigh to caress softly. "Totes not just you."

The redhead sniggered. "You said totes."

The musician rolled her eyes. "No, I'm pretty sure I..." She thought back over what she'd just said. "Shit."

The rest of the meal was amazing. Chloe talked about her family and about how she missed them, especially her youngest siblings.

"I video chat with them as often as I can," she said. "But the time zone difference is hard sometimes. Every time I see them, they look so much bigger and older."

"Your parents must have had you pretty young," Beca said.

"Too young, yeah," the redhead nodded. "My mom was only sixteen and my dad seventeen. You can imagine the lectures I got when I was a teenager about not getting pregnant." She smiled then. "But they love each other... I mean, they must if they had six more kids together, right?"

The younger woman pursed her lips. "Either that or they don't know how it happens. Maybe you should give them the birds and the bees talk?" she deadpanned, making her date laugh.

A comfortable silence descended on them, and Chloe sipped from her wine glass, her eyes far away. Then she focused back on her friend. "Beca... um... so... Thanksgiving. Do you have any plans?"

The musician shook her head. "Not really, no. I mean... I'm not going to Atlanta. I guess I was just going to stay here and do whatever."

The vet's face grew serious, and she took Beca's hand, rubbing her thumb gently over her knuckles. "I know we've only known each other a few days, and this might be too soon but... honestly, Beca, I really like you. I haven't felt this way about anyone... maybe ever." She swallowed nervously. "And I'd like to... um... I'd like us to be exclusive..." She rubbed her cheek sheepishly. "That sounded weird, didn't it."

Beca chuckled softly. "Doctor Beale, are you asking me to be your girlfriend."

Light blue eyes twinkled. "Yep," the vet replied. "I definitely am."

The musician nodded. "Well, you know I'm not dating anyone but you."

"Oh, me neither," Chloe replied. "But I just want you to know that I don't intend on dating anyone else."

"The answer is yes," Beca smiled, bringing their hands to her lips to kiss the vet's knuckles. Truthfully, if Chloe has asked her that question after the first date they'd had together, she would have said yes right then.

"Cool!" Chloe exclaimed. "So, in that case, would you like to spend Thanksgiving with me in Tampa? I'm going for three days, and I'd really love you to come with me."

"Like... to meet your family?" Beca asked.

"Yeah... if you'd be comfortable doing that?" Chloe waited patiently as she watched several emotions cross the brunette's face. "They're really sweet and welcoming, I promise."

Beca nodded then, a smile lifting her lips. "I'd really like that, Chloe." She swallowed then. "And... my dad is probably going to come visit sometime next month too. I'd like you to meet him."

"Cool, I'd like that," the redhead replied gently. "I assume he knows you're gay?"

"Oh yeah..." The younger woman waved her hand dismissively. "Since I was like seventeen. How about your family?"

Chloe paused a moment. "Well... yeah... they know I date women but... I've also... I mean... I'm bisexual, Beca."

The brunette chuckled softly. "Darn... I've finally found the one thing about you that isn't perfect," she joked.

"Hey!" Chloe exclaimed playfully. "No fair."

Beca tilted her head and gazed into light blue eyes. "Ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent perfect isn't bad though, right? I mean... I snore when I drink too much wine."

The older woman grinned. "But those are tiny, adorable baby snores that make me want to just cuddle you more," she said in a high, cutesy voice.

"Dude," Beca stated flatly, and the redhead collapsed into laughter.

"Point taken. Ok. But yeah, my family knows I date women so all good there." She smiled as their server came to check on them. "You want some dessert?"

"I think I'm too full," Beca replied. "Maybe we could get the check and just take a walk?"

"You heard the lady," Chloe told the server with a little wink.

Xx

The local park was almost empty at this time of night. Chloe and Beca held hands and talked quietly as they strolled a path around a small lake. It was almost ten-thirty when Chloe's phone chimed and she pulled it out of her purse, frowning as she read the message. "I'm sorry," she said. "I need to make a quick call."

"Sure," Beca nodded, moving to a bench to sit down and wait.

Chloe joined her, hit a contact and waited for it to be answered. "Hi, it's Chloe, what's up?" She listened for a while and then sighed softly. "Ok... there's not much more I can do for her, I'm afraid." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Yeah, honestly, I think euthanasia is the only option we have left. I don't want her to suffer any more than she already has and her coming back from this was always a long-shot." She paused and then took a breath. "Do you need me to come in and do it now?" She looked at Beca sadly and the younger woman took her free hand, squeezing it in gentle sympathy. "Ok, well, if you need me, just call me back, ok? Alright, seeya."

Chloe hung up the call and got up, pacing away from Beca to stand right at the edge of the lake and stare down into the dark water. She perched her hands on her hips and shook her head.

Beca got up and went to her, standing behind her to wrap her arms around her slender waist. "Want to talk about it?"

The vet took a deep breath and then blew it out. "When I went through vet school," she began. "One of the most difficult things to learn was how to compartmentalize my feelings. I've been treating animals for a long time, and I've treated so many horrific injuries; lost so many as a result of those injuries... and I've been ok, you know?" The brunette pressed her forehead between Chloe's shoulder blades and nodded. "But for some reason... euthanasia is still really hard for me. I've done a lot of them, and it hurts every time." Beca nodded again. "But these dogs... we've lost all but one now. I had to euthanize four of them myself. It was a fucking dogfighting ring. They came in and... Beca... it was..." She swallowed. "They were in pieces. And I did everything I could... all of the vets did... but... something had completely ravaged them."

The brunette eased her girlfriend back from the water's edge and then stepped around her to take her into her arms and rock her slowly. "I'm so sorry, Chloe," she said. "I can't even imagine how awful that must have been."

There were tears on the vet's face, but she wiped at them impatiently and then forced a smile. "Sorry... this evening suddenly took a downturn."

"No..." the younger woman replied. "Not as far as I'm concerned. Just being with you is..." She smiled. "You said earlier than you haven't felt like this about someone in a while."

"Maybe ever," Chloe whispered.

"Well, I feel the same way and... I just want to be here for you the way you are for me."

The redhead smiled. "Come back to my place?" she asked. "Stay with me?"

Beca chuckled softly. "Three nights in a row together, Doctor Beale?"

Chloe shook her head. "I totally get it if you want to go home or..."

"Chloe," Beca interrupted. "I want to stay with you."

"Good," the older woman replied. "Because I got you a toothbrush." Her smug smile made the brunette laugh.

"You're kinda adorable, Honey."

"Heh!"