It's rated M you dirty birds
It turned out, there was a reason that Beca wanted the songs so quickly.
With how easily the women had recorded the original tracks, Jesse and the Residual Heat team wanted to move up the tour to summer. They had someone they wanted The Bellas to perform with; Aubrey wouldn't tell them who, but she told them it was worth the extra effort.
So Chloe tried to put her emotions aside so she could sing them the songs that she and Beca had been working on. They were already sold on All in My Head (Flex), but Aubrey told them they needed to pick out at least four more to start recording next week.
In the comfort of her and Aubrey's apartment, away from the studio and a certain pair of stormy, tricky eyes, Chloe found a rhythm that she had forgotten. When she wrote with her girls, it felt better. It still hurt, when she thought about Beca, but her friends made it hurt less.
By singing and writing and laughing, the way they always did.
Aubrey had convinced Residual to let them borrow one of their keyboards, so Ashley plucked out simple chords and melodies as they worked through the new songs. They didn't make any real changes to All in My Head (Flex), but Stacie immediately latched onto Girlfriends. She and Chloe sat down to tweak some lyrics, so Stacie could sing lead with her whole heart.
And CR took the other half of Eating Me Up - the part that Beca had written - while Chloe scribbled down a bridge for Fat Amy to sing.
CR was also the one who dove into Chloe's journal, so Chloe didn't have to. She read through song after song (and Beca note after Beca note) before asking Chloe to sing the ones she liked. They decided on two more - We're Not Gonna Be Friends and Something in The Water - and even though they were about Beca, Chloe didn't have it in her to fight for different picks.
Thankfully, the other women re-wrote some parts before The Bellas spent Friday learning them. With Ashley's help, they had decent compositions by Friday afternoon, so they all crammed into the bathroom to record a cappella versions of the songs. Aubrey sent them off, and within the hour, Jesse told her that Beca approved.
Was she in the studio? Was she in her office? Chloe wanted to ask. Did she just approve them, or did she like them?
But she didn't ask, and nobody else did either.
She spent the days rotating between different pieces of furniture to mope on. Bed, couch, stool, Stacie's bed, Stacie's couch, Ashley's couch, Aubrey's bed. Even when they worked on the new songs, Chloe was always half-reclined, singing soulfully but bailing on the high notes as she played with the frayed hem of her pajama bottoms.
She knew she needed to get it together so she could be there for her friends as they entered what was promised to be an incredibly grueling couple of months.
But when she finally broke down on Saturday night, crying after a day of singing about Beca, and explained everything to her friends, they didn't push. They didn't ask her to change out of her PJs or contribute more. They just drew her a bath, and got her a glass of wine and a cheap romance novel. CR put on a playlist of ambient beats, and Chloe tried to cry quieter behind the closed bathroom door.
They spent two more days at the apartment trying out new arrangements and harder harmonies, before Jesse called them back to the studio. Some of the background tracks were ready, so they were going to go in to start recording again.
It'd been a week since she'd seen Beca-
Or, more appropriately, it'd been a week since Beca had seen her.
Because Beca was everywhere.
That night, after they'd talked? She went out to the club that had professional photographers inside. There were pictures of her with seemingly every single woman in VIP.
Thursday, she'd been in the deejay booth at the same club. Kalina showed up to the set, and the two left together.
Friday, she was alone again, leaning closer into conversations that she didn't even stop as the cameras flashed. Eyelids drooping, pupils blown, and sloppy, coy smiles.
Saturday, she left with another actress.
Sunday, she was back behind the mixing table.
And on Monday and Tuesday, Beca was photographed "taking meetings" with multiple celebrity-adjacent women. A new-to-the-scene singer, and an older model. She even had lunch with a daytime TV actress who was starting to get some bigger roles.
It felt like she was auditioning a new girlfriend.
Chloe released sullenly that she probably was.
It seemed Beca was catapulting herself back into her old life, and the media was loving it. They'd shout questions at her as she walked to the car waiting for her. They posted the best worst pictures of her. They asked about Kalina and the other names that had been linked with hers.
They didn't ask about The Bellas.
Beca didn't say anything about them, either.
So on Wednesday, when Bellas were supposed to get back in the studio with only a few days left in January, Chloe felt conflicted.
What would she say, when she saw Beca? What would Beca say? The last time they talked, it seemed like Beca had… well, like she'd been herself, for once. Been the real her. But then she went full PR mode, hard, and Chloe had to admit that Beca was putting effort into being that person that she despised so much.
She wanted to talk to her.
Tell her that she could just say 'screw it' and be who she wanted to be.
She'd tell Beca that she didn't have to be, like, part of the equation. That they didn't have to be together, but she couldn't just stand by and watch Beca destroy herself. That Beca could just be herself, for her own sake. Jesse would understand; he already let Beca do whatever she wanted.
But was she only allowed that freedom because she played the game?
It didn't matter at this point, Chloe realized. Beca could do whatever she wanted, period. She wondered if Beca knew. Or cared.
Either way, Chloe was going to try to talk to her. She couldn't be happy like this. And if Chloe was the only one that Beca talked to about all this - about being a PR puppet for Residual - then Chloe would try to help her see a way out of it. Beca deserved someone in her corner, even if it was a wannabe singer who was hopelessly smitten over her.
But, of course, Beca wasn't there.
"Ladies!" Bumper greeted them as they stepped into the Popcorn studio. CR swore, and Stacie rolled her eyes.
"Where's shortstack?" Fat Amy sighed.
"Not here!" Bumper responded sharply. "You've got the A-team producer today!"
"We've got a team, I guess," Stacie groaned. "Beca's not coming?"
"Stop asking about Beca!" Bumper shot back, flailing as he gestured with the paper in his hands. "We have her tracks and her notes, and we're doing this without her."
Aubrey snatched the sheet from Bumper's hands - to which he loudly and adamantly protested - but she was already scanning the page quickly.
Stacie tried to read the notes over her shoulder, but Aubrey pulled it away. She read to the bottom, scanned back up to the top to re-read something, then put on a thin-lipped smile.
"Bumper, play the tracks," she said as she handed the paper to Chloe. "I'm going to go get to the bottom of this."
With that, she turned heel, leaving the producer as well as The Bellas, Jessica, and Ashley in her wake.
Bumper grumbled as the women all crowded around Chloe to read the notes. Chloe had thought it was a typed list, but Beca had actually handwritten the notes on a sheet of copy paper. Chloe smiled as she recognized the thoughtless scrawl, but then she started reading.
Master tracks - Squeeze, Stupid Things
-have them listen
-have Chloe approve/make notes
-will have Tequila w Lime today, Be A Bro and Clout Chaser sometime this week
Back Tracks - Flex, Girlfriends, Eating Me Up
-Flex, tell Chloe to listen for Fat Amy's entrance on chorus harmonies. Tell her to fix it
-EMU, tell Chloe to talk the upper alternate in the 1st chorus, then the low in the 2nd
-EMU, tell Chloe the bridge is good
-Girlfriends, tell Stacie to watch her vowels, she's getting lazy
-don't give them any notes that I didn't write down, let Chloe do it
-send everything to me PRONTO, don't sit on it like you usually do
-make Chloe start in the booth, they behave better when Chloe sets the example
-should have WNGBF by the end of Tuesday
-Something in The Water by the end of the week
Stacie huffed next to her.
"It's not like we were really recording," she grunted, sitting down on the couch. "I wasn't, like, trying to sing."
"Bree must've sent her everything," CR muttered, scanning the notes again. "From when we were practicing over the weekend."
"Love that," Ashley said sarcastically. "Looove being recorded when we're not prepared."
"I'm assuming she didn't have any notes for me?" Fat Amy asked from her sprawled-out position on the bean bag chair. "Sometimes, it's a blessing and a curse to be this talented."
"Actually-"
"No, no, CR," the Australian cut her off. "Don't make something up just to feel better about yourself. It's not worth it."
Chloe stopped listening as the women continued to ramble. She re-read the notes over and over again.
Beca was… trusting her. A lot. She wondered if she was supposed to see these notes, if Beca meant for her to see them, or if Bumper was just supposed to say them. Maybe he was supposed to pass off the ideas as his own, so Chloe didn't know the specific, Chloe-centered direction was coming from Beca. Why wasn't she here? Why didn't she just come in and do this herself?
Some part of the back of her mind told her that she knew why Beca wasn't here.
That the producer didn't want to be in the same room as her.
The thought ignited something mean and spiteful inside of Chloe. Beca was the one who said she wanted to keep this relationship professional.
Or, had she said that she couldn't keep this relationship professional?
God, this was all so confusing! She'd been ready to talk to Beca, to try to help her be herself, but she hadn't been ready for Beca to put all of this on her. To ask so much from Chloe, after what they'd talked about last time they saw each other.
But then Chloe thought back a little farther, to earlier last week.
She's trying to make me be the leader.
Chloe folded the paper absentmindedly in her hands. Beca was trying to put Chloe on the spot. She was trying to get Chloe to step up, command more, demand better.
Am I ready for that?
Chloe took a deep breath. When they moved out to LA, she had been ready to let Beca be the ultimate authority, because of her experience and success.
And now Beca was telling her to do it.
So she would.
Well, wait, that sounded bad.
She wouldn't do it because Beca was telling her to do it. She would just… trust her instincts. She'd been relying on other people for too long. It was time to stop pretending that she didn't have an important say in this group. It wasn't all about what Aubrey could get them on paper, or what Beca could do for them in the studio. Or what Flo could choreograph, or what the group could write.
At times like this, when somebody needed to be the singers' advocate? Chloe could do that. She knew what worked for them. She knew what they had, and what they could be.
"Bumper? Let's hear Stupid Things first, okay?"
"Sure, since I guess you're in charge now," Bumper drawled bitterly, but Chloe didn't respond. She walked up to the main desk tentatively, setting the folded paper next to the mixer before pulling a pen out of her bag.
"Can I at least have the notes back?" Bumper sighed, reaching for the paper in front of her.
"Oh! I mean, sure, let me just-"
She pulled her phone from her pocket to snap a picture.
"I mean it's mostly directed to me," Chloe said slowly, and Bumper sighed again.
"Yeah, but it's mine!"
Chloe let him have it as she chuckled.
The song started playing, and already Chloe was in love with the metal drums, with the way their vocals were stacked over each other. Stacie's verse was slow to start, and right when Chloe was about to make a note in her notebook about it, Beca had layered in a faster percussion, which broke open into a funky pop chorus that had CR and Amy up on their feet dancing.
Chloe tried her hardest to listen for things that she would change. But it was so exciting to hear the song for the first time that she realized she wouldn't be able to be critical until at least the tenth listen. So, instead, she jumped up to dance with her friends.
Especially when CR's rap started up.
They were all scream-singing by the end of the track, and Chloe leaned out of her hug with Amy.
"Tell her it sucked!" she laughed, and everyone but Bumper broke into hysterical laughter. Chloe had to shout over them to add, in a serious tone, "No, I'm kidding. Tell her I need some time to review it."
"Ya gotta hand it to her," Stacie grinned. "that shrimp can really make us sound good!"
"Play the next one, sound bitch!" Fat Amy bellowed, to which all of the other women cheered.
Squeeze was the same; Beca had once again elevated their sound beyond what Chloe had thought possible. She would try really hard to provide more informed feedback than "YES!" but it was going to take some serious effort.
Then they started on the songs, and Chloe felt like she would be slightly better providing feedback for that. Bumper did indeed make her go into the booth first, but with only a few corrections from Ashley, Chloe was able to record her parts and finish the bulk of it on Wednesday. She thought it would be hard to sing about Beca, but once she was back in the booth, looking at how pumped her friends were, she just powered through it.
She stepped out at the end of the day tired, but invigorated, and she carried that spirit through the next three days of recording. With all of Chloe's parts practically done, they switched to changing up the singers every track so that they didn't end up with the Bumper-Amy fiasco again. Even still, they had to come in on Saturday to finish, but they had plenty to do in the mean time.
Chloe was listening to the two master tracks incessantly, writing notes that she then folded up and gave to Bumper to give to Beca.
(I think you could boost Stacie's ad-libs on Stupid Things, she wrote, but then she sighed, ripping the page out and crumpling it up.
Stupid Things - boost Stacie's ad-libs, and maybe carry more percussion into the second verse. The last chorus could be more… explosive? I don't know if I like the talking ad-libs. Maybe that double-time percussion comes back and we do more runs.
Squeeze - needs more bass. Maybe a long, low note. Like "Look What You Made Me Do," you worked on that didn't you? I want them to feel like they're being hugged but a sad/empty hug? Also I want to re-do my verse, I have a better idea. I like your piano playing.)
And then they got the master tracks for Tequila with Lime and Clout Chaser too, so Chloe was did the same with those.
(Chlo- just gonna write these to you now. Bumper's notes just tell him to not fuck up your flow.
Master Tracks - Tequila with Lime
-beginning/post-bridge, is the guitar enough? It feels percussive enough to me.
-I modded the shit out of Fat Amy's post-chorus… thoughts?
Clout Chaser
-major re-records needed for the new vibe, sorry, I got inspired
-bridge?
—
Beca - I don't think you're wrong about Clout Chaser, but that's okay! I think the fans will go crazy for a different sound, especially from one they already know so well. But we might need to do two versions - dare I say, Bellas Versions, From The (EP) Vault?!
I think the bridge/pre-chorus/last chorus are salvageable, but we might as well strip it down. I'll break the news to these girls today, and we can start on it next week.
Tequila with Lime - wow! Not sure if you'll like this, but I don't think we need to change anything. This is 100% banger. Like Party in the USA or Kiss Me More.)
If she wasn't in the studio helping, getting ready for the next songs, or recording something for social media, Chloe had her headphones on. Usually Jessica would find her, eyes closed, in deep concentration as she listened for any kind of change she could suggest.
She was a woman possessed by the urge to do well.
And she was pretty sure it was working.
More than once, she'd seen Stacie or Aubrey smiling at her when she leaned forward to give notes through the studio microphone, singing out lines for the woman in the booth to repeat. And even though she wasn't big on social media, she saw some of the comments on the videos that Jessica took.
"new Chloe just dropped"
"wow that confidence is INFECTIOUS *sick emoji*"
"can't believe my thing for competent redheads is back, thanks Miss Frizzle"
It was encouraging, to say the least, to see that she seemed to be doing okay.
Beca left her more notes on things to fix in what they had recorded so far, and Chloe would send back questions or thoughts. The producer was still going out every night, according to the internet, but Chloe ignored what she could.
It was easy because she was so busy.
And Beca was still getting their tracks done. The Bellas got the backing track for We're Not Gonna Be Friends on Friday morning, with the promise that the mastered Be A Bro and Something in the Water back track would show up on Saturday.
But when the songs came on Saturday, there was no note with it.
It felt like a test somehow; one that Chloe was determined to pass. So she took the whole group into the Fancy studio booth, sat them down and made them sing Something in the Water a cappella. When they were warm and ready to push their voices, she had Bumper play the backing tracking for them, and instead of asking them what they thought, Chloe told them.
She told them what order they were going to record in and why.
She told them what they needed to be conscious of, individually, on their sections.
And she told them she'd be listening every step of the way.
"Don't forget, deep breath before the chorus," she was saying to Stacie as they made their way out of the booth. The busty brunette nodded pensively. "It's okay if you come at it too strong. The song will be powerful enough to support it, okay?"
Again, Stacie nodded, and Chloe looked to Bumper.
"Okay. Let's start."
The day flew by as they cycled in and out of the booth. Each of them went in at least three or four times as Chloe found another spot where she could include their impressive vocals. Even the less melodic parts sounded better than they had on other songs, and by the time they were finished, Chloe knew she had helped create something great.
"Oh my gosh," she laughed as they were packing up. "We never even listened to Be A Bro."
"Well I'm going home," Bumper groaned, and Fat Amy laughed.
"We'll listen to it on the way to the clerb!" she shouted. "I was gonna invite you, Bumper, but…"
"Well, I was going to go there anyway," he retorted. "But just in case, you know, which one were you going to?"
"Too late now," Amy sighed. "You coulda had all of this, and you gave it up. Because you were a wimp."
Chloe tuned them out as she turned to Stacie.
"We're going out?"
"I mean I think we have reason to celebrate," Stacie grinned. "Don't you?"
And right then, Chloe absolutely agreed.
They made their way back to the apartment to change and get freshened up, and Chloe only forced the women to listen to Be A Bro fifteen times before switching to all of their tracks. She cycled through their apartments, bringing shots and stealing eyeliner and curling iron time, getting ready on the fly, before throwing on a low-cut, sparkly top with some jeans.
"Uh, no!" Stacie yelled as she came into Chloe and Aubrey's place. She was one of the last ones - they were only waiting for Fat Amy now - and Chloe wondered if she had tapped into her own alcohol reserves between Chloe's visits.
"Chloe Beale, you're wearing a god damn skirt. The black one, from Halloween."
"The one from the bee costume?" Chloe laughed, shaking her head. "No way. I'll end up flashing someone."
"All the better," CR agreed, waggling her eyebrows. "It's about time you got some."
"Excuse me!" Chloe objected as the rest of the women laughed.
"C'mon, Beaaale," Stacie giggled. "Come with me!"
Chloe shrugged, downed another shot, and followed Stacie into her room. Stacie wrangled her into the skirt and an insane pair of heels, and Chloe shivered with excitement.
But she still threw on a coat for good measure.
She hadn't been out in so long, and after the hard week they'd had, she was happy to spend a night unwinding with her friends.
And she wasn't thinking of Beca at all.
Until they got to the club.
"I know this place," she pondered aloud as they pulled up. Cameras flashed as they got out of the rideshare SUV, but, seeing that they were nobodies, the paparazzi stopped almost immediately.
"Really?" Stacie asked as she pulled Chloe to the line.
"Yeah, but I… I'm not sure what from."
The redhead blinked. Why did she recognize this place?
They waited in line for a few minutes before Aubrey declared the whole situation "ridiculous," went to make a few calls, and then she returned with a bouncer to tell the women they were free to go inside.
And when they got inside, and Chloe surveyed the dance floor and bars, Chloe realized that this was the club.
Beca's club.
Her eyes trailed to the VIP section slowly, reluctantly. It was up on the second floor, and shrouded for privacy with tall gates, but this was definitely the place. She could even see the flashes of cameras lighting up the dark area.
"Everyone out there having a good time?"
The whole Bellas group froze as the voice came over the loudspeaker, but the crowd erupted in cheers. Stacie and Jessica fully turned around to look for Chloe.
"Hah, yeah, I thought so," Beca went on. "I'll be back in twenty, and then I'm gonna crank this bitch up to eleven."
Cheers again, and she poo-poo'd them.
"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it," she teased. "Tip your bartenders if they're hot."
The mic clicked off, and a trap remix of Ed Sheeran's Bad Habits poured in through the speakers.
"We can go somewhere else," Aubrey said in her ear. "I asked Jesse for recommendations, and I didn't think- I would've thought he'd be-"
"It's fine," Chloe said loudly, so everyone could hear. "We're hear for a good time, right?"
Fat Amy whooped loudly, but CR smacked her on the arm.
"Seriously?" she chastised.
"What?" Amy asked, looking around. "You heard the ginger, she said we're good."
"She didn't mean it, Amy," Stacie replied.
"Actually I did," Chloe asserted. "Really. She probably won't even notice. We'll have a good night. We're allowed to have a good night!"
Tentatively, the group resumed their direction towards the bar. Chloe was just about to tell everyone to stop looking at her when Aubrey cleared her throat.
"I actually got us a table, if we're going to stay," she said. "It's not VIP, but it's- we don't have to wait for drinks, we have bottle service."
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Fat Amy cheered, pulling Aubrey up to her so they could lead the way across the dance floor to a more secluded area on the opposite side of the floor.
Aubrey gave another bouncer their name, and he checked a list on his phone before showing the women to their table. It was definitely less crowded at the table service section, more open, and - Chloe noticed ruefully - directly visible from the deejay booth.
"Tequila!" Aubrey called out, and a few of them cheered. Chloe could tell that they were still wary about her mood, so when the bottle arrived, she claimed it first, pouring a generous serving into her glass and downing all of it.
"Who's dancing with me!?" she asked, shucking her coat and tossing it over a chair. Immediately Flo was by her side, as was Ashley. Fat Amy stole the bottle next, following Chloe's lead and shooting a shot before letting out a feral yell.
"Let's turn this bitch up!"
Chloe lead some of them - she didn't turn around to see who - out to the floor. Kid LAROI was just finishing, and Chloe didn't recognize the next song that came on, but that didn't stop her from dancing in tight circles as the alcohol hit her.
The anonymity of the dance floor helped Chloe lose herself in the music for a few minutes until Beca came back over the speakers.
"Now this is a good-looking crowd," she hummed into the mic, and the crowd yelled back. Chloe let herself cheer as well as she blended in to the crowd.
"Yeah, well, let's do it, then," Beca sighed mockingly, and the crowd went nuts. A heavy bass kicked on, with some sliding notes, and Chloe felt herself moving to the beat. She didn't think anything of it until the thudding base fell off as the song started to build to it's first drop.
"But I got smarter, I got harder in the knick of time…"
A remix of Look What You Made Me Do.
A great song, if not a little dated.
A fantastic remix that had women screaming from all corners of the dance floor.
And, coincidentally, a song she had referenced to Beca through their notes this week.
Coincidentally, Chloe told herself as she twisted to the beat.
Beca transitioned out of that into a mash up with 212, which Chloe loved, and then she went into something that Chloe didn't recognize. She was trying to keep her mind off the fact that Beca was the one spinning the tunes, but it was like her body knew, because it she could feel the beat in her chest and lower, through her abdomen.
It's hot, she admitted to herself. To be down here, dancing to Beca playing.
And I missed her.
She hadn't let herself think it this week, but here, on a dark dance floor, with Beca unconsciously orchestrating her body, she let go.
And apparently the movement didn't go unnoticed, because a cute guy with sandy brown hair caught her eye as she twirled around. He raised an eyebrow at her, and Chloe smiled, so he moved around to sidle up behind her.
"Hi," he hummed in her ear, and his voice was deliciously low, a rich timber that rumbled through Chloe's chest where his body connected with hers.
Solid, and tall, and warm and not terribly uncoordinated.
"Hi," she smiled back as she continued to swivel her hips.
He wrapped an strong hand over her hip as he matched her, close enough to make contact but not so much that Chloe felt trapped.
She was about to spin around to attempt to talk to the guy, but then the song changed semi-abruptly as a remix of Act Up over Party in the USA came on.
The woo that emitted from the dance floor was ear-splitting, and Chloe winced as she was pulled away from her mysterious stranger and into the arms of her friends as they began to sing.
"Sorry!" she shouted as she was sandwiched between Flo and Stacie who weren't dancing so much as emphatically posing in time, and she laughed as she joined them.
The song ended as Diplo and Dua Lipa took its place, and Chloe glanced around for the guy she had been dancing with, but he was nowhere to be seen. So Chloe danced with her friends for a couple songs before she felt the alcohol wearing off, and she gestured off the dance floor. Stacie went with her, and when they got back to the table where Aubrey and Lilly were sitting, they were laughing breathlessly.
"Now I know why she was always so tired on Monday," Aubrey smirked with a shake of her head.
"Who, Beca? No kidding," Stacie replied. "And this is just her blowing off steam. She told me she does this for fun, she doesn't even get paid."
Chloe looked at where Beca was spinning tracks quickly, then back to her friend.
"Seriously?"
"I mean, I don't think she pays for drinks, but yeah," Stacie confirmed. She poured herself a new shot, and one for Chloe as well. They cheers'd, dropping the glasses to the table before bringing them to their lips.
"You looked pretty cozy out there, Chloe," Aubrey teased, knocking her shoulder into the redhead. "Who was the hunk?"
"I didn't find out, the song changed and I lost him," Chloe lamented. "I'll find him though!"
"If you don't, I will," Stacie growled. "What was he, like, 6'4"?"
"Mmhm," Chloe moaned, giggling.
A modded version of Kiss Me More started playing through the speakers, and Chloe gasped.
"What?" Aubrey asked. "Do you see him?"
But Chloe wasn't thinking about the tall guy anymore.
She was thinking about a specific, short woman.
Because one song was a coincidence, and the Party in the USA remix could've been anything.
But three was a trend.
She dragged her eyes up to the deejay booth, and from this angle, she could almost see-
She was almost certain-
And then she felt her phone vibrate against her chest.
She pulled her phone out, clicking the side button so the screen flashed on.
don't bother looking for him
Then, another.
I had him kicked out
Chloe gasped indignantly, flashing angry eyes up towards Beca, then reached for the tequila. She poured herself another shot and took it.
"Chlo are you-"
She typed out a quick screw you before she grabbed Stacie's arm.
"C'mon," she said angrily. "We're going to go find some dance partners."
"Are you sure-"
But Chloe was already pulling Stacie onto the floor, setting out in a different area from the rest of The Bellas crew, so that she could still look up and see Beca in the booth.
And, just to be safe, she went to an area where she knew Beca could see her.
It didn't take long before a couple guys approached them, as Stacie must've been scouting the place and making eyes at a number of eligible bachelors. Chloe felt her phone buzz against her chest, but she didn't check it. It went off again, and she turned in her dance partner's arms so they were chest to chest.
He was handsome, with dark hair and eyebrows. Shorter, but his hips twisted with incredible precision.
"I'm Luis," he said with a wide smile and a raised brow. "You're a really good dancer."
Chloe's phone buzzed. She ignored it.
"Chloe," she replied, smiling shyly. "And I'm following your lead."
He smirked at that, wrapping an arm tightly around her waist as he pulled her flush with his body.
The phone buzzed again, and they were close enough that Chloe knew Luis felt it. He glanced down - basically, right down Chloe's top, and she had to suppress her eye-roll as he looked back up at her.
"You gonna get that?"
"I don't think so, no," she shot back, but she spun back around in his arms, wrapping an arm up the side of Luis's neck, tangling it in his short hair.
The phone went off again, and Luis laughed.
"Someone's trying to get a hold of you," he purred in her ear. "You should check it. Someone might be in trouble."
Chloe huffed impatiently as she pulled her phone out of her top, giving Luis an ample eyeful from his viewpoint over her shoulder.
you look too good to spend the night with him
he wasn't even that hot
chloe
chloe beale
back door, 5 min
It was the last one that almost made her drop her phone.
"Sorry," she said to Luis over her shoulder. "It's my friend, I gotta-"
She made eye-contact with Stacie, who shot her a questioning look, but she just pointed somewhere in the direction of their table or the bathrooms, and Stacie seemed fine to accept the excuse.
And then she moved towards an exit sign.
"All right, that's it for me!" Beca said over the mic, and the crowd groaned.
"Oh shut up," she shot back. "Tip your whatever."
She cued up You Right, and the crowd seemed partially sated as the sultry beat worked them over.
Chloe stepped off the dance floor towards the back of the building. There were a few booths, and the lines to the bathroom, and another bar, but she didn't see any door. She stepped up to the bar to get the attention of the woman behind it.
"Back door?"
"Around the corner," she gestured with a shrug as she shook a metal shaker.
"Thanks," Chloe replied as she made her way around the bar, around the corner, and-
Beca was there.
She had her arms crossed as she glanced up to her left where Chloe could see stairs, and down the bar behind Chloe.
She was wearing jeans and an oversized leather jacket, which she took off as Chloe approached, exposing a black t-shirt with some logo on it.
She wrapped the jacket over Chloe's shoulders and pushed her outside.
"What-"
"Whatever anyone says, keep moving," Beca whispered quickly. "There won't be cameras, but there might be people. It's still early, but you never know."
Chloe let Beca's hand on the small of her back guide her out the door, along the edge of the building, down a mercifully abandoned alley before they stepped into a small parking lot.
Beca lead Chloe to what Chloe recognized as her SUV, pressed the button on the handle, then opened the back door for her.
"Get in," Beca growled.
"Why should I?"
Beca exhaled sharply, slamming the door and then crowding Chloe against it. Warm breath hit the bottom of Chloe's ear.
"Get in the car," Beca purred, her hand curling under the jacket, at Chloe's hip, in the scrap of fabric that technically constituted a skirt. "Or we can do this in the parking lot."
Chloe shivered, reaching behind her for the door handle and pushing her and Beca forward just enough to allow the door to open. She slid around it, feeling the plush leather of the seat behind her. She couldn't break contact with Beca though, so she hoisted herself up and attempted to scoot across the bench seat.
Beca crawled in after her, holding Chloe close to her as the redhead made room. When she finally tucked her feet in, Beca let the door close behind her. They sat there, staring at each other for a moment as the light faded overhead.
And then Beca kissed her.
She leaned down slowly, as if she didn't want to do it, and Chloe couldn't blame her. As soon as their lips met, Chloe knew she wouldn't think about kissing anyone else for a long while. Beca's lips were soft, small and delicate in the way they met hers with imperfect force, and Chloe could tell she was holding back. It was tentative, and careful, and not at all what Chloe needed right now.
So she changed it.
She looped a hand around Beca's neck, pulling her down firmly and fully on top of her, rolling her hips up as she parted her lips against Beca's, and she felt Beca inhale sharply through her nose. Chloe smirked angrily as she wrapped teeth around Beca's bottom lip, pulling it, and Beca groaned.
Chloe released the lip and leaned back.
"If you're going to ruin my night, at least make it fucking worth it," she said, voice low and dark.
Beca groaned again and leaned forward to capture her lips again.
And this time, she didn't hold back.
She met Chloe's lips fully, pressing the redhead into the seat below her as she rolled her hips against her. Chloe moaned, and Beca took the opportunity to slide her tongue into her mouth, which Chloe quickly capture with a twist of her own. She surged up against her, pressing Beca up, and the producer drove her tongue into her again, reaching a hand up to tangle in the redhead's curls.
She tightened her hand at the base of Chloe's skull, pulling back, and Chloe leaned into the touch with a rough moan. Beca continued her assault, placing warm, open kisses down Chloe's neck and across her collar bone.
"You should burn this shirt," Beca grumbled as she dipped lower, dragging her lips against Chloe's exposed sternum. "It should be illegal for you to wear this."
"And the skirt?" Chloe challenged with a smirk.
Beca quirked an eyebrow from her position in the valley of Chloe's breasts.
"The skirt can stay," she mocked. "But you can't wear it in public anymore."
Chloe laughed roughly.
"You can't tell me what to do," she tried to say, but her voice was already shaking, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps, and Beca heard it.
"Of course not," she teased, placing an open-mouthed kiss on the inside of Chloe's breast. Her hand traced a dangerous path up the inside of Chloe's exposed thigh, and she had to clench her entire body to stop the shiver that threatened her.
Beca nudged Chloe's top open with the side of her nose and placed kiss right above her nipple, and Chloe groaned. Beca stilled the hand under Chloe's skirt, mere centimeters away from where Chloe needed it.
Too much, not enough, but too much.
"Hot," Chloe moaned, and Beca let out a low laugh.
"Yeah, I know."
"No, I mean - shut up," she grumbled, and Beca chuckled again. "I need to take this jacket off."
"Keep it on," Beca commanded darkly. "You look good in my clothes."
"Then get up," Chloe responded, pushing Beca up and back, against the other car door. The producer grunted in surprise, but Chloe climbed on top of her, pressing a strong thigh in between Beca's, and the brunette rolled against her.
She rolled again, seeking intimate friction as Beca raised a jean-clad thigh to meet Chloe's core. Chloe ground down against it, keening as she swiveled her hips against Beca.
But it wasn't enough, and she couldn't get the right angle, and Beca was too far away, if she could just-
"Jeans, off," Chloe snapped as she leaned back, ripping the jacket from her shoulders. She peeled her top off too, and she watched Beca's eyes widen as she lifted her skirt up off her hips, around her stomach, exposing her thong enough so she could strip it off.
"I forgot that you get bossy when you're like this," Beca smirked. "Am I not moving fast enough for you?"
Chloe laughed sharply.
"You're really not," she said seriously. She pulled the thong over her heels and ran a finger through her wetness, moaning as she glanced her clit.
That got Beca's attention real quick, and the producer immediately started working her tight jeans off her body. Chloe watched with heavily-lidded eyes as Beca, flushed even in the darkness of the car, greedily took her in as she wrestled with her clothes.
"Just so you know, I fully intend to stop talking soon," she grinned. "If you were wondering."
"Mmkay, Becs, anytime now," Chloe groaned as her fingers slipped against herself. She split her pointer finger and her middle finger over his clit in an attempt to tamp down the tension, but her hips raised involuntarily as she inadvertently spread herself open for Beca.
"Fuck, Chlo," Beca whispered as she stared at Chloe's sex. She was finally still, and Chloe saw that her pants were around her calves, which she considered enough.
"Is that from me, or from those douchebags you were dancing with?"
Chloe groaned sharply as she sat up, leaning forward to capture Beca's lips in a rough kiss.
"You," she spat angrily. "It's all you. Now do something about it."
Beca moaned as she kissed Chloe fully, sucking Chloe's tongue when the redhead pressed it into her mouth. Chloe could feel her teasing a hand up her thigh again, and this time she wasn't having it.
She broke the kiss, leaning back against the car door and pulling Beca with her. She pressed a thigh up into Beca and swore loudly when she was met with hot, wet arousal. Beca rubbed herself down the length of Chloe's thigh as she moved back, leaning down to kiss between the redhead's breast before leaning lower.
"I love when you curse," Beca whispered. "It's so fucking hot, to hear you lose control."
But Chloe didn't want to talk anymore. She didn't want to hear what Beca loved about her, or explain why she was so turned on by the producer. She didn't want to think at all. So she just moaned, pushing Beca's head down as she raised her hips up, and Beca took the hint.
She placed a kiss on Chloe's pubic bone, then, without any more teasing, she wrapped her lips around Chloe's clit.
Stars exploded behind Chloe's eyes as she slammed them shut. The hand tightened in Beca's hair as she nearly screamed her moan, pushing her hips further into Beca's mouth before the brunette trapped them under her arm. Chloe whimpered as Beca thoroughly traced a tongue through her folds, lapping at the pooled arousal, then returned to her clit as she coaxed the orgasm from her.
Beca began licking short, hard licks against Chloe's clit, and she knew she was a goner.
"Fucking hell, Beca Mitchell, you eat pussy like you're dying," she swore, and she felt Beca speed up, pressing harder, and her felt her hips stall at their peak.
Hand pressed against the back of Beca's head, and Beca sucking hard at her clit, Chloe tipped over the edge of her climax violently. She thrust her hips into Beca's steadfast mouth, felt herself coating the brunette's chin as wave after wave of arousal poured out of her. Beca held there, waiting for Chloe to still again, switching the hard pressure for a gentler one, then an cautious lick as Chloe shivered.
Chloe felt her muscles relax as the final wave of her orgasm subsided, and she let out a long breath.
"Well," she sighed, closing her eyes and leaning back.
"'Well'? That's all you have to say?"
She peeked one eye open to see Beca sitting back on her haunches. She had her t-shirt pulled up around her chin, over her bottom lip, and she was watching Chloe with a sort of cautious reverence.
Chloe rolled her eyes and grunted as she sat up, leaning over to pull the shirt away from Beca's mouth and replacing it with her lips instead. She tasted herself there and moaned.
"Well… I'm sorry if I ruined your seats."
Beca gave a small grin but leaned back when Chloe tried to kiss her again. Chloe regarded her skeptically.
"Beca," Chloe said, narrowing her eyes. "Becs. What are you doing?"
Beca's expression turned to one of genuine concern, and she took a deep breath to speak, but Chloe cut her off.
"No, to whatever you're going to say," she barked, bringing a hand up quickly to Beca's sex. The producer released her breath in broken, stuttered gasps.
"But I-"
"Don't speak - hell, don't even think until I've had you," Chloe growled possessively. She stroked Beca softly, and Beca's hips began to roll in time with the barely-there touches.
"Lean back," Chloe said gently, and Beca obliged, shifting her legs where they were still trapped in her jeans so they were in front of her instead, her back against the opposite car door.
Chloe moved away from her, and the younger woman whimpered in protest as Chloe leaned down, undoing her shoes and pulling them off so that she could take off her jeans.
Beca was quiet the whole time, watching her with an expression that Chloe couldn't read. It was pensive - deep in whatever thought she'd chosen (wisely) not to vocalize - but Chloe couldn't tell what else the expression held. It was like an oil painting, if oil paintings were incredibly dirty and hot.
Chloe finally finished her task, hunching to lean over Beca as she kissed her way up her thighs. She brought her mouth to the fold of Beca's hip, and the brunette gripped the leather next to Chloe's head so hard that seat actually dipped beneath her.
"Beca Mitchell," she warned, putting on her best firm voice. It was weak, but effective, as Beca finally broke her contemplative stare to look at Chloe fully.
"Put your hands-"
She grabbed Beca's hands and broke their contact with the seat.
"-in my hair-"
She raised both of Beca's hands into her short curls and relished the feel as Beca tightened instinctively.
"-and let me fuck you like I want to," she said, and then she brought her mouth down onto the brunette beneath her.
Beca groaned loudly as Chloe licked up the length of her, pausing only briefly at the top before dropping down to continue exploring her. She brought her hand up to Beca's sex, spreading the brunette open as she speared her tongue deep into Beca's opening, curling it slightly as she pulled it out and delighting in tension she felt against her scalp. Beca was rolling her hips against her, cursing and moaning in near constant intervals, and Chloe knew she wouldn't last very long. She slipped a finger inside of Beca as she tilted her head, bringing her mouth up to Beca's clit.
"-swear it's torture, every day, I miss you, it's insane," Beca was saying, and Chloe only picked up on part of it. She wondered if Beca even realized she was talking at all, and she picked up the pace.
"You do smile when you come and it's so hot," she tripped over the words as they spilled out of her mouth in rapid succession. "I want to see it every day, I want to put that smile there, I want to-"
A particularly good curl, combined with a particularly hard press of her tongue, and Beca moaned loudly, nearly crushing Chloe as her thighs slammed together, leaving Chloe trapped in arguably the best way. She held herself to Beca as the orgasm rocked through the producer's body, and when Chloe thought she was done, Beca shuddered and tightened again before finally falling limp.
"You're really, really good at that," Beca sighed, and Chloe giggled against her thigh.
"That makes two of us," she said, placing a kiss on Beca's clit before sitting up and removed her finger from inside of her.
"Yeah?"
Chloe laughed and rolled her eyes as she brought her own finger to her mouth. Her lids fluttered closed as she sucked Beca's arousal off of it, and Beca swore again.
"Yeah, Becs," she sighed faux-exasperatedly. "That was like the best orgasm I've ever had, and it was in the back of a car with a wonderful woman who - I'm guessing, anyway - is already planning her escape route?"
Beca tore her eyes away from the jeans in the footwell that Chloe was half sitting in.
Chloe rolled her eyes and reached down, picking up Beca's jeans and handing them to her.
"Why'd you do this?" Chloe asked seriously, and Beca grunted as she tried to lay flat so she could pull her jeans on. Chloe watched her, not moving to reset her skirt yet, or to find her top.
She had to know what was going on in Beca's head.
When Beca saw that Chloe wasn't going to let it go, she finished pulling her pants on then leaned back, carding a hand through her hair.
"I don't know why I did it. Maybe I was jealous," Beca replied, but Chloe knew by the look in her eyes, in the way she wouldn't look at Chloe dead-on, that she was lying.
She just didn't know what the truth was.
Chloe pulled her skirt back down over her hips, reached down to grab her top, and pulled it over her head.
"I can drive you home?"
"Forget it, Mitchell," Chloe said. "I'll call an uber."
"I can call you a car-"
"I said forget it!"
She opened the door, straightening her heels before stepping onto the pavement, and Beca leaned over, picking up the oversized leather jacket from the floor of the SUV and handing it to Chloe.
Normally, she would've turned it down, but she wasn't about to go back inside and get her own coat. Not now, not like this.
"Thanks," she said, taking the coat from Beca's hands and wrapping it around her shoulders before pulling out her phone to start the rideshare app.
She could feel Beca staring at her, like she was going to say something, but in the end, she just sighed, pulling the door shut behind Chloe. A second later, Chloe heard the engine start, and she didn't turn around until she didn't feel the presence of Beca's SUV behind her anymore.
And then she turned just in time to see Beca's taillights as she turned the corner and disappeared from view.