Stacie had spent the last two days planning and it was finally time to actualise them, one of the many times her intelligence became apparent despite her ditsy persona. She was beyond excited for Chloe's visit, but also knew there was a lot that needed to be done in the remaining twenty four hours. It took a few minutes for Stacie to process; Chloe Beale will be in Barden tomorrow. The girl who had left a gaping hole within the Bellas, despite the two new additions. The fact that Beca was completely transformed around her was an added bonus. Stacie was looking forward to seeing Beca smile genuinely for the first time since the ICCAs, as her emotions directly impacted the atmosphere among the Bellas as a group. Forcing herself to focus back on the present, Stacie got out her phone and texted the first two unwitting participants in her plan.
Cancel your plans. Meet me outside Baker Hall in 1 hour. Bring your car.
Get up. Meet me outside your dorm in one hour. It's VERY important, so no you can't get out of it. Yay thanks love you see you soon xoxo
One hour later Stacie parked outside Baker Hall, spotting a very nervous looking freshman hovering by the curb.
"Hey Daisy, thanks for coming."
"Hey Stacie. You uhh sounded a little... commanding in your text. Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?"
"Awh sweetie everything is fine. I just really needed your car and figured an assertive tone would be the best way to guarantee that happening."
"But I just saw you drive here?"
"Yes, but we have a lot of things to buy, way too much to fit in one car-"
Stacie was interrupted by a very grumpy looking Beca clearing her throat loudly.
"Stace. This better be important."
"Why? Do you have anything better to do?"
Beca rolled her eyes, Stacie knew her so well. She was secretly thrilled to leave her dorm, as she was feeling even more broody than normal. But Stacie didn't need to know that, let alone Daisy. Besides, badasses definitely do not brood.
"Hey Beca. How are you?"
Beca was snapped out of her reverie by Daisy smiling nervously at her. The girl looked a little uncomfortable and Beca started to feel bad that she hadn't made more of an effort to be nice to Daisy. The freshman was just so eager to please, and somehow that made Beca unjustifiably irritated.
"Hey. Yeah good thanks, you?"
Stacie stopped any further small talk by explaining that they would be driving to the nearest Walmart. Once inside, Stacie turned to her two companions with a wicked smirk.
"Now it's obvious that I needed Daisy for her car and the extra storage space. But Beca is here expertise."
"Expertise?"
"Dude what? Last time I checked my only areas of expertise are music and napping, neither of which can be found in Walmart."
"Oh Bec, you forgot about your real area of expertise."
Daisy's eyes widened, desperate to know what Stacie was hinting at with the emphasis on "real". Beca looked completely bewildered, which further fuelled Daisy's curiosity.
"Again, what?"
Stacie rolled her eyes, in an uncanny imitation of Beca as she proceeded to explain.
"We have all been a little down this semester, as our two leaders have moved on and it's taking a while to adjust. Now I love Aubrey but she isn't as popular with everyone as her co-captain. We all love Chloe. So I thought that we could have a Chloe themed week to cheer us up."
Beca's mouth was gaping open, she looked too stunned to speak. She had never been so grateful for Daisy's interjection.
"Is Chloe the one you were on the phone to at the activities fair? The one who made you sing titanium?"
A blush starting to rise through Beca's entire body, and she couldn't look Daisy in the eye. The freshman thought it was the most adorable sight she had every seen, and somehow made Beca seem even more attractive, if that was possible.
"What do you know about titanium?"
"What? Uh you mentioned it on the phone to her at the activities fair?"
"Oh. Right. Yeah, well that's private. And yes Chloe is the one I was on the phone to."
"I'm so sorry. But what does Chloe have to do with your expertise?"
Stacie cackled wickedly at this and butted in.
"Chloe IS Beca's real expertise. This week we're going to eat all of Chloe's favourite meals, do her favourite activities and even dress in the way she would like. And Beca is the only one who knows all these things."
Beca smiled sadly in response.
"It's not a big deal, she's just easy to understand."
"She's downplaying it Daisy, you'll see. Let's start with breakfast for the week. Beca?" The girl responded instantaneously.
"Blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, accompanied by ginger and lemon tea."
Daisy was a little taken aback, and wanted to see exactly how much Beca knew about the mysterious Chloe's breakfast preferences.
"Beca why is that Chloe's favourite?"
Beca rolled her eyes as if the answer was as obvious as the colour of grass, and only answered when elbowed aggressively by Stacie.
"Chlo always works out before she has breakfast so needs to have something filling so she doesn't spend the rest of the day snacking. She needs calcium from the milk to keep her bones strong and she doesn't like the taste of milk, so it's masked in the pancakes. Chlo's always worrying about her heart as her uncle Nigel, Great Aunt Edith and Papa Arty all have heart conditions. Blueberries decrease a person's risk of heart disease, also they're tasty. And then the lemon and ginger tea helps Chlo's throat as even though she doesn't have nodes any more her throat is always dry and sore when she wakes up and if she sings without a soothing hot drink she'll strain her voice. The lemon soothes Chlo and she just loves the zing of ginger."
Daisy's eyes were wide, her mouth open in shock. This was the most she had ever heard her crush speak, and it was about someone's breakfast preferences of all things. Daisy wondered if she would ever get to meet the girl who Beca clearly knew incredibly well. Stacie smirked and proceeded to get Beca to pick all of Chloe's favourite meals for the week. From time to time both Daisy and Stacie would get Beca to justify her choices, as it was becoming increasingly entertaining to learn the extent of Beca's knowledge of Chloe's likes and dislikes.
"Bec what does Chloe like to snack on? Would apples be okay?"
"Yes, but they must be pink lady apples."
"Why?"
Beca proceeded to respond with her best impression of Chloe, complete with an overexcited tone, emphatic hand gestures and plenty of gentle touches to Stacie's arm and her own chest as if to prove her point. In short, it was a spot on impersonation.
"They're the sweetest type of apple. Obviously sweetness is the most important thing for an apple to be. So pink ladies aren't just my favourite, but they're also the best. And I wouldn't want my girls to have anything but the best sweetie."
Stacie chuckled and continued with her relentless mocking.
"Fascinating. What about peaches, does Chloe have any opinions on those?"
"She loves peaches. Mainly because eating them gives her ample opportunity to make peach related jokes and euphemisms to make me uncomfortable."
The rest of the shopping trip continued in this way, with Daisy learning a remarkable selection of oddly specific facts about this mysterious Chloe. The girls dropped off a different day's food at each Bellas dorm, as they would be eating at a different dorm each day as part of the week-long cheer up attempt. The alcohol was left at Beca's, as she had plenty of room with her minimal approach to possessions.
The following morning Stacie woke up to her alarm blaring. She hopped into her car half an hour later and headed straight for the airport. She made her way to arrivals and waited for her favourite redhead to appear. Waiting for Chloe felt like an eternity, but the girl did eventually appear, giving Stacie time to inspect the girl from afar before she was spotted. If possible, Chloe was looking even more beautiful than she had in Stacie's sophomore year. The hours in the sun had made the girl's hair a shade lighter, and her body was impressively tanned considering her fair skin type. Chloe's frame was more slender than before, she had clearly been eating well and exercising regularly. The simple tank top and athletic shorts showed off her toned figure, and made Stacie question her own sexuality for a second. She was snapped out of her daydream by her name being called.
"STACIE" Before she could respond Stacie saw a streak of orange come towards her and felt a body fling itself into her. Chloe had ran to her in record speed and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Stacie felt tears running down her cheeks, she hadn't realised until this moment quite how much she had missed the other girl.
"Chloe. I've missed you so much. I'm so happy you're here." The two walked arm in arm back to Stacie's car and proceeded to catch up on all of Chloe's escapades in Zambia, while Stacie filled her in about Barden. Stacie had instructed the Bellas to meet in the communal kitchen in Beca's dorm, so her headed there with Chloe, noting the girl's sudden nerves.
"Don't worry, Beca's missed you a lot these last few months. She'll be thrilled to see you."
"How did you know?"
"I know you. I know how much you love her. Now let's go and see our friends and you can see your favourite raincloud again."
Nothing more was said on the subject of Beca, as it was clear that Stacie understood exactly what Chloe's feelings were about her. Chloe had always appreciated Stacie's perceptive abilities, and was particularly grateful in this moment not to have to talk about Beca in any depth. She knew that doing so would just force her to relive feelings that she was trying her utmost to ignore.
When they entered the kitchen Chloe's eyes scanned the room quickly and saw that Beca was missing. She felt her heart drop a little. Beca hadn't even bothered to see her. Before tears could form Chloe found herself being enveloped in hugs by her Bella sisters, not being released until several minutes later.
"Chloe! You're here! How? I've missed you SO much." Various responses along those lines were being uttered by all the sophomores. Chloe responded to them all with her explanation, then saw two freshman lingering in the background, looking unsure of how to respond to her. She walked up to them and introduced herself. She noted that they were a lot like herself and Aubrey in the most basic sense, a blonde and a redhead. Chloe also saw a flicker of recognition in the blond girl's eyes.
"Oh, so you're Chloe. I've heard so much about you."
"You have?"
Stacie joined in at this point.
"Oh Daisy has learned a lot about you, Beca will tell you all about it later."
Stacie and Chloe (who insisted on helping) proceeded to make blueberry pancakes for the rest of the Bellas, they had waited for half an hour for Beca but Fat Amy had refused to wait any longer. The girls were in the middle of their meal when the door opened. Beca entered, she had clearly just got back from a particularly strenuous run, dressed in tight lyrca shorts and cropped Nike tank top. Daisy couldn't help appreciating how the form fitting outfit showed off her toned body, and the bottom of an incredibly taut set of abs. For someone who seemed constantly lethargic, Beca clearly enjoyed working out. Daisy didn't have time to continue her inspection of Beca's body as she noticed the girl's eyes light up suddenly.
"Chlo?" Beca's voice was small, but full of hope."
Chloe seemed unable to verbally respond, as her eyes started to look a little glassy. She stood up slowly, looking a little nervous. She had taken a step towards Beca with her arms open at her sides, but the other girl was far quicker to react. As soon as she registered that Chloe was in her dorm's kitchen Beca ran full speed at Chloe. In a split second Beca had jumped onto Chloe, simultaneously wrapping her arms tightly around the redhead's neck, and wrapping her legs around Chloe's waist. Chloe's arms automatically moved to hold Beca's back. The embrace was incredibly intimate, and made Daisy feel incredibly uncomfortable and jealous to watch. Both girls were crying, and Beca buried her head into the crook of Chloe's neck before resting her chin on Choe's shoulder. She kissed Chloe's tear soaked cheek gently before arching her back a little so that she could look straight into the girl's cerulean orbs.
"I've missed you so much Chlo." Beca's voice sounded strained, reflecting the overwhelming emotion she was experiencing. Chloe was equally overwhelmed, not just by seeing the Bellas and Beca again, but also by Beca's response to seeing her. Beca had never openly initiated any form of physical contact, and yet now she had quite literally thrown herself at Chloe, and so gently shown her affection and allowed herself to be completely vulnerable in front of the Bellas. Chloe slowly stepped backward into her chair, lowering herself and Beca onto it so that the pair could sit. Beca refused to reposition herself, so she was straddling Chloe in an unintentionally suggestive position. Both girls felt their hearts race, unaware that the other was feeling the exact same way.