CHAPTER FIVE
TWO YEARS EARLIER
"Hey honey, how are you? Have you had your first Bellas… party yet?" Mrs. Beale asks sadly.
"Hey Mom, I'm ok. Keeping busy unpacking everything. No, I haven't had my first night yet. A few of the Trebles are out of town so thankfully they've postponed some parties. I'm nervous though, Mom".
"Oh thank God there haven't been any parties yet. I know you're nervous. It's only natural to be. I wish that you didn't have to go through the same thing I had to. Ever since I found out my baby was going to be a girl I've dreaded the day you would receive a letter. I hoped moving away would stop you from getting one but they still managed to track you down. I can't help feel responsible. You're a legacy so they kept an eye on you. If I hadn't been a Bella then maybe we would've been able to sneak through the cracks" The older redhead sniffed through the phone.
"Mom, it's not your fault! You made me pretty, am I supposed to hate you for giving me good genes?" Both redheads laugh sadly. "Please don't ever apologize. You tried everything you could to hide me from this life but it was inevitable"
"I know dear, I just feel helpless. Anyways, why don't we change the subject to something else, hey? How is it being back in Barden?"
"Strange… It's like no time has passed since I was last here. Everyone still remembers us Beales"
"Well, that's small towns for you, Honey. How're things on the romance front? Anyone caught your eye yet? What about that boy you had a crush on back in middle school? You never told me his name but you never shut up about him either" Mrs. Beale laughs.
"Mommmmmm" Chloe whines. "No, they've moved out of town. No-one really knows where they are. But they've always been pretty mysterious. I suppose that's one of the things that I was most attracted to"
"That's a shame! Fingers crossed they come back and visit family then" the older woman giggles. "So, that's a no on the romance then?"
"Well… Do you remember the Reeves', Mom?"
"Edna and James? Yeah, what about them?"
"Yeah, they're the ones. Well, they have a son named Tom. I don't know if you remember him or not. But he is now the town Sheriff and he came knocking on my door the night I moved in" the younger redhead laughed.
"Oh Chloe, they're a very wealthy family! And being associated with the town Sheriff may help with our Bellas dilemma. Honey, I love you and would never want to pressure you into something you didn't want to do…"
"I hear a but coming"
"But, I think you should consider getting to know Tom. If worst comes to worst and you don't enjoy his company or he doesn't treat you well then, by all means, get rid of him. But, what if you do like his company? It would be a win, win situation. Please, just try and go on a date with him"
Chloe sighs into the receiver.
"You make a very valid argument there, Momma. I'll agree to ONE date but if he's a pig, like most men are..."
"Aside from your father"
"Yes, Daddy not included. Then I won't settle"
"I wouldn't expect any less from you"
CURRENT DAY
"Yes Tom, I'm just grabbing some milk and I'll be home. I promise" Chloe can't help but roll her eyes. "I know you go on night shift tonight but we need milk! I'll be home soon…". The redhead trails off when a brunette standing at the end of an aisle looking at rice catches her eye. A smile graces Chloe's face immediately. "I'm at the checkout, I have to go. Bye," she doesn't even wait for a reply before pressing the hangup button. She slides her phone into the back pocket of her denim, skinny jeans. Then quietly sneaks up on the person who she hasn't be able to shake from her mind since the party over a week ago.
"And then the rice said to the onion 'don't you wok away from me"
Beca spins on her heels with a broad smile on her face.
"And you said my jokes were terrible. C'mon Beale, that one was shocking" the shorter woman laughs.
"Hey! It was completely off the cuff, give me a break. Plus, you totes just laughed so…"
"Ok, so maybe it wasn't too bad"
"Good enough to wanna go have coffee with me?"
"Why Miss Beale, how very smooth of you"
"What can I say? I have moves" the redhead winks.
"Well if you're so sure of yourself then I'm just gonna… " Beca begins to walk off but Chloe quickly grabs her wrist and stops her.
"Ok, I'm sorry. Would you prefer if I beg? Cause I'm not above it" the taller of the two says as she looks around the supermarket. Thankfully no one is around so she begins to kneel and is just about to grovel when Beca yanks her back up.
"Oh my god, stop!" they both laugh. "Ok, I'll have coffee with you. Geez, you don't have to be so needy" it's now the brunette's time to wink.
"What can I say? I just really want to have coffee with you" Chloe shrugs nonchalantly.
No less than 10 minutes later the duo finds themselves in the corner booth of a small cafe laughing like they've been best friends since they were born. Their groceries long forgotten.
"I'm glad you're back in town" Chloe sighs happily.
"I never thought I'd ever say this but me too"
"So there's no Mr. Mitchell waiting for you wherever it is you've been hiding all this time?"
"I wasn't hiding" the brunette rolls her eyes. "And no there's no Mr. Mitchell" Beca laughs.
"How come? A beautiful woman like you, surely there are plenty of men after you"
The Dj laughs at this. "I mean there have been some that've tried but…"
"But what?"
Beca watches the gorgeous woman in front of her lift her coffee mug to her lips. Chloe raises an eyebrow.
"Nothing. Doesn't matter"
Chloe places her mug back onto the table, reaches forward and captures Beca's hands in her own. The redhead's hands still warm from holding her mug.
"Please, I want to get to know you. The real you! I always have. Ever since we were little"
"Says the mysterious girl that just up and left the day after we met!"
"I wanted to know you before the day we met" the redhead trails off shyly.
"What do you mean? We never met before that day so how could you"
Now its Chloe's turn to watch the woman in front of her. She sighs.
"I always saw you around Beca. We went to the same school. You were the mysterious, little, brunette that would death stare everyone she walked past. No one was safe, it was like you hated everybody. But if someone was being picked on then you would always go to their defense even if you didn't know them"
"Maybe I just wanted to fight Kommissar?" The Dj interrupts.
"Please, you're a badass I'll give you that, but you also have a heart of gold. I could tell that underneath all your walls there was this incredible person hiding, and it seems like that's still the case"
"Maybe you won't like what you find under all those walls, Beale"
"I highly doubt that Mitchell" the redhead smirks.
"I just… I don't like letting people in"
"Why?" Chloe squeezes her hand. Shit. Are we still holding hands? The brunette blushes and puts her head down.
"Every person I have ever let in has hurt me. Even the ones whose job it was to protect me. So how am I supposed to trust anyone?"
"Bec". Beca hated that nickname. Jesse was the first one to call her that. Theo does sometimes and it always feels like a knife to her heart. And yet as it falls from Chloe's lips the Dj can't help but feel safe.
Chloe let go of her hands and lifts the brunette's chin until crystal clear, ocean blue eyes meet watery, stormy ones. The redhead's heart aches.
"Not everyone is going to break your heart, Bes. There are good people out there too. People who won't hurt you. People who will treat you the way you deserved to be treated. That will love you unconditionally, no matter how hard you try to push them away. I'm sorry for the hurt you've had to go through but isn't closing yourself off to love just hurting yourself?" The redhead brushes her thumb along Beca's soft cheek. She feels the muscles contract underneath and she realizes just how close the brunette is to crying.
"It's better to hurt myself than letting someone else hurt me"
"That's also really lonely, Bec"
"Ahh, my Tiny Mouse has returned" Kommissar grins evilly.
"I needed a bitch fix. It's been a whole week since I saw you last and I was going through withdraws. You should've seen how shaky my hands got" Beca replies sarcastically.
"Please, we all know the fix you need, little fairy, is a redhead fix"
"Shut up and give me the damn calculator" the Dj snarls as she snatches the device from the taller woman.
"I look forward to the next time you come to get your fix, feisty mouse" the blond winks.
9567190
"Oh my goodness! I don't think that'll ever not scare me" the redhead giggles from her spot on the bed. She places her book down and begins to stand.
"Yeah sorry, they should call ahead or something and give you a warning" the bearded Dj laughs.
"I wonder if they have a suggestion box" the redhead continues to giggle.
"Someone's in a happy mood" the Dj smirks.
"I had a good day today"
"Any particular reason?"
"I ran into an old friend and we reminisced over coffee". Beca can't help but smile at this.
"That sounds nice!"
"It was. But enough about that. Sorry, hi" the redhead smiles as she walks over to the brunette and pulls her in for a hug.
"H…" Beca clears her throat. "Sorry, hi". Chloe pulls back and smiles at her. The taller woman grabs the Dj's hand and leads her over to the edge of the bed, sits and pulls the brunette with her.
"Ice breaker time. Do you know any dad jokes?"
Beca laughs at this.
"Of course! Who doesn't love a good dad joke?"
"I know right?"
"Why did the chicken cross the road?"
"Seriously Ti, a chicken joke?" Beca raises her eyebrow at the nickname but doesn't comment on it.
"Humor me?"
"Why did the chicken cross the road?" The redhead says with fake enthusiasm.
"To get to the idiot's house" the Dj laughs obnoxiously loud while Chloe sits there awkwardly.
"Um… maybe you should stick to mixing cause that was awful. And not in a good dad joke kind of way"
"Tough crowd. Please, just one more?"
Chloe rolls her eyes but nods.
"Knock, Knock"
More eye rolls. Seriously? That was Beca's job.
"Who's there"
"The chicken"
Both women just stare at each other until finally Chloe throws her head back and laughs.
"Ok, that was brilliant. Well done" she says clapping her hands.
"Thank you, thank you. I'm here all week" the brunette says bowing from her spot of the bed.
They soon lose track of time. They discuss Chloe's family, Titanium's travels, Chloe moving away from Barden, Titanium's break from touring. The topics are endless until they fall into a comfortable silence. Being so close to the Dj has the older woman's heart racing. She's only ever felt this way with one other person. Why does it feel like I'm cheating on Beca?
"Do you like being a Dj?" she tries to distract herself. "Or is all the fame and fortune not all it's said to be?"
"It's definitely not" the smaller woman laughs. "A different city every night sounds fun at first but it gets old real quick! Plus, I never actually wanted to be a Dj"
"What? Really?"
"Yep," the brunette says popping the 'p'. "I wanted to write and produce songs for other people but I needed to get a name for myself first. Artists wouldn't want to work with me otherwise"
"That makes sense. So you write songs? Does that mean you play an instrument?"
Beca nods.
"You don't happen to play the piano do you?" Chloe asks a little too eagerly. The Dj stays quiet but smirks.
"O. M. G! You totes do, don't you?! Can you please play something? Please!" Chloe says pouting.
"No, Beale! Come on! You're not allowed to use those puppy dog eyes on me. That should be illegal" Beca laughs as she hides her face with her hands. She soon stops when she realizes the redhead's not laughing back. She removes her hands from her face to find the redhead looking at her confused. Chloe slides over until she gets impossibly closer to the Dj and looks the her over. Beca jumps when Chloe's hands abruptly trap her face. The redhead moves even closer until their faces are inches apart. The Dj's heart begins to race. For a fleeting moment, Beca thinks they're going to kiss but Chloe's eye's continue to dart back and forth between the Dj's. She then leans back and moves her body until they're no longer touching.
"You have really pretty eyes, Ti"
"Thanks?" Beca questions skeptically.
"What? You do! Now please play me a song? Pretty please!"
"Fine" the brunette rolls her eyes, gets up, and walks in the direction of the piano.
"Hey, Bec?" The redhead calls.
"Yeah?" The Dj answers as she spins around to face a smirking redhead.
"Oh fuck!"
AN
To the guest that wrote the review about who Chloe was talking about, if i knew how to insert a smirking emoji I would!