Created for Tumblr prompt "The diamond on your engagement ring is fake."
Lap dance + smut warning; if you're not a fan, I'd recommend skipping this one. The French was an idea stolen from isthemusictoblame on Tumblr.
"This cake is horrible," Beca grumbled around the mouthful of what was supposed to be carrot cake but tasted like orange chalk.
"You said that about the last five," Jesse sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.
He looked tired, Beca thought. It annoyed her.
This whole thing had been his idea from the get-go. He'd been the one to get a ring and drop down on one knee only a week after the Worlds competition. The timing had been shitty, too; she'd already told Chloe and Amy she would move to New York with them, so she'd felt like a dick for cancelling the Original Plan (as she called it) to move to LA with Jesse instead. They'd been understanding about it, thank god, but she hadn't missed the disappointment and sadness in Chloe's eyes and the accusation in Amy's.
It wasn't her fault, though, because it had been all Jesse's idea. Maybe if he'd talked to her about it beforehand instead of just jumping in and assuming she was on the same page, he'd have realized it wasn't the best move to make.
She'd still said yes, though. So, in a way, she had kind of agreed to all this. The move to LA, the ensuing job hunt and successive hiring at BFD Records, and the spur-of-the-moment wedding planning, because for some reason, Jesse wanted the whole thing to happen right away. Since then, Beca had also agreed to the venue choice, the save-the-dates, the table seating, the band, and, yes, the cake selection. Which, normally, should have been a good time – who doesn't love sitting and eating cake for hours? – but nothing tasted right and something was missing.
"Perhaps the red velvet?" their wedding planner, Amber, suggested in a clipped tone.
Beca's irritation only grew and she chewed with a renewed vengeance.
She hadn't seen the point of a wedding planner. They were overpriced, bossy, controlling, and, especially in Amber's case, annoying. If she had it her way, they wouldn't even have a wedding planner. They didn't need one. Not when she had Chloe Beale as her Maid of Honor and the rest of the Bellas as her bridesmaids. They knew her better than anyone else, and they would have actually listened to her, unlike the blithering idiot standing in front of her.
Not that Chloe and the rest of the Bellas could be much help in the wedding planning department when they lived across the country.
LA didn't smell very good.
"Emily doesn't like red velvet cake," Beca reminded Amber and Jesse.
Beside her, Jesse rolled his eyes impatiently, but Beca didn't care. She'd been sure to ask the Bellas their cake preferences before the tasting for this exact reason. Their opinions mattered to her, especially when she was supremely indifferent to the whole thing. Was cake choice really such an important part of the wedding that they needed to sample more than 30 different kinds?
No. It was not.
Amber's lips visibly thinned, her knuckles turning white around her clipboard. Beca watched her with amusement, wondering just how far she could push her.
God, she hated wedding planners. It was one day of a person's life – a few hours, really. Did there need to be an entire career path dedicated to the profession?
No. There did not.
"Beca, it doesn't matter what Emily likes," Jesse said, obviously forcing himself to remain calm. "What matters is what we like."
Beca shrugged. "It matters to me what Emily likes," she said stubbornly. "I want my bridesmaids to be happy."
Amber cleared her throat loudly and said, "Well, when you have that many bridesmaids, that's going to be a challenge. Not to be rude," she added with an extremely fake, simpering giggle that made Beca clench her jaw.
LA wasn't as sunny as she'd thought it was supposed to be.
She had to take a deep breath. Amber had made it no secret that she thought 9 bridesmaids and a Maid of Honor was too many. Realistically, Beca knew that it was a little over the top, but she certainly wasn't going to admit that to anyone, much less to Amber. And besides, it wasn't like they weren't paired on Jesse's side with the former Trebles.
"Yeah, well, sorry I have friends," Beca grumbled. Then, out of spite, she added, "Maybe they should have been here. Or at least, Chloe."
Jesse sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Served him right for dragging her across the country on a stupid romantic whim.
"That's going to be hard when your entire wedding party is across the country," Amber quipped, then added, "Not to be rude."
The truth of the statement sliced into Beca like a knife. She missed them, more than she cared to admit. She missed Chloe the most.
"Look, Beca, maybe with a different frosting?" Jesse pleaded, leaning forward.
"You know, Amber," Beca drawled, ignoring Jesse and leaning back in her chair, "I'm pretty sure Chloe would have at least let me play my music at my own wedding. And she'd have let me dance how I wanted."
Amber's expression soured further. "Not to be rude," she started tersely, "but we've been over this. A professional band will bring more to the table than your… little projects."
Beca opened her mouth to respond, only for Amber to lift a hand to cut her off.
Amber plowed on, "And I know you didn't enjoy the dance lessons – you made that abundantly clear – but don't you want your first dance together to be a statement rather than a sideshow?"
"Have we tried the chocolate yet?" Jesse tried, searching the table of cakes frantically.
"I'm just saying that my Maid of Honor should be present for big decisions," Beca replied icily.
Amber's lips twitched upward into what looked like an excruciatingly painful smile. "I think I know my way around wedding planning more than some friend you picked off the street. Not to be rude."
LA didn't feel as welcoming as she thought it would be. It was missing something.
"Amber," Beca fired back in the same simpering tone Amber was so fond of, "would you please fuck off? Not to be rude," she added as an afterthought.
Amber looked like she'd been slapped; her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open somewhat comically. A deafening silence fell over the room as Beca sat staring smugly at her wedding planner, waiting for the inevitable explosion.
"Did you try the coconut and lime?" Jesse asked loudly, clearly trying to break the tension as he steered the plate with cake right into Beca's face, all but shoving it up her nose.
Beca jerked back sharply. Glaring at him, she hissed, "Chloe's allergic to coconut."
As they always did, Jesse's eyes hardened at the mention of Chloe; Beca immediately went on the defense, ready to defend her best friend to the death. Before Jesse could even get a word out, though, Amber slammed her clipboard down onto the table with a deafening crash that caught the attention of everyone in a ten-mile radius.
"I'm done," she spat, glaring hard at Beca. "I'm done dealing with your bullshit. I quit. You are the most stubborn, rude, and unfeeling wretch I have ever had the misfortune to work for."
"Thank you," Beca replied easily.
Amber's face turned an interesting shade of puce. Her eyes flicked down to Beca's left hand, which rested on the table; for a moment, Beca wondered if she was about to go for a cake knife.
Instead, however, Amber simply smirked, drew herself up to her full height, and declared pompously, "The diamond on your engagement ring is fake."
She spun on her black stiletto heel and marched out of the room, back ramrod straight and head held high as she shoved the door open with an almighty crash.
Beca stared after her, confused. That hadn't been the reaction she'd been expecting. The quitting, sure, but the ring comment? That was just pathetic. Okay, maybe Amber had been around enough jewelry in her time to guess at its quality, but there was no way she could be right about Beca's ring being fake.
No, she was obviously just saying that as revenge, to throw Beca off.
Beca turned to Jesse, fully expecting to have to apologize and promise to find a new planner before moving on to the next (almost certainly awful) cake sample only to pause at the nervous, cornered expression on his face.
"Jesse?" she asked, her stomach flipping.
He wouldn't look at her.
"Ignore that psycho," Beca tried. "I know she just said that to get in my head. It's fine."
Jesse shook his head slowly and didn't respond.
Beca started to feel weird.
"Jesse?" she asked again, allowing an edge to creep into her voice. "It's not… she was lying. Right?" she added a moment later, leaning forward.
The next seconds were quite possibly the longest of her life. Finally, Jesse exhaled slowly before looking up to finally meet her eyes.
The guilt she saw there stunned her.
"I was going to get a real one later," he confessed, his voice tight as if every word pained him. "I wanted to wait until… after the wedding."
"Why?" Beca asked, utterly aghast. If it was a financial problem, she didn't care. If it was an honest mistake, that was fine too. The jewelry didn't matter to her, not really.
Jesse winced before replying, "I wanted to wait in case… in case we didn't work out and it was called off. Then, after the wedding, I was going to switch it out with a real one."
Beca felt her mouth fall open.
The jewelry didn't matter, but the reason behind it sure did.
"Don't look at me like that," Jesse defended himself in a rush, "I didn't know what you were going to do! I mean – Jesus, Beca, you've been fighting against this wedding since the moment we started planning it!"
His voice rose at the end, becoming steady louder as his face reddened.
Beca had ever been so disgusted with him.
"You mean since you and Amber stared planning it?" she fired back, her anger growing by the second.
"Hard to plan with someone who's obviously so against it!" Jesse half-shouted. "And you're no help with decisions! It's not like I can trust you to make a commitment!"
He cut off abruptly, blinking rapidly as the true meaning of his words settled between them, filling the space like cement.
"Then why'd you even ask me?" she whispered, even though she already knew the answer.
He'd asked because it was what people in three-year relationships were supposed to do. He'd asked because if he hadn't, they'd have been living across the country from each other. He'd asked because it's what would have happened if life was a movie.
Life wasn't a movie.
LA really, really sucked.
"Why'd you say yes?" he shot back, quieter but no less angry.
"Because, I…" she trailed off.
She'd said yes because she hadn't had another option. She'd said yes because Jesse was safe, Jesse was easy, Jesse was… boring.
She'd said yes because Chloe hadn't asked her first.
"I don't know," Beca finally lied, the reality shaking her to the core.
His face fell, his expression crumpling until she couldn't bear to watch anymore. She looked instead at the ring on her finger, at what must be cubic zirconia or something instead of diamond.
She kind of hated that Jesse had been right. With her right hand, she slipped the ring from her finger to place it on the pristine tablecloth, between the chocolate and coconut cakes. She sent him a tight smile and rose to leave out the same door Amber had, not quite having it in her to slam it open with as much gusto.
LA was missing Chloe.
She wondered if Jesse would run after her. It's what would happen in a movie.
He didn't.
As she hit the street and waved for a Taxi, Beca had to blink back the unexpected sting of tears in her eyes.
She didn't know what was worse: that Jesse had planned for them to fail, or that she was relieved they had.
Everything was surprisingly straightforward after the breakup. Amber had already quit as their wedding planner, so she didn't have to deal with that. After that, all it took was a simple text to Chloe (the wedding isn't happening) and within hours, Chloe – still in New York, three time zones away – had managed to cancel the venue, the band, the catering, and even the church service without a hitch. She even managed to get Beca refunded for everything, including the $300 venue security deposit, which was supposed to have been impossible.
Beca wasn't sure what she'd said to make that happen, but she knew she'd never again underestimate the power of a vengeful Chloe Beale.
Because even though Chloe hadn't said a single thing against Jesse – hadn't even asked Beca for the full story until after the practical details were taken care of – Beca knew Chloe had to be livid. Because she would be if their roles were reversed.
Beca packed her bags that night, and after checking with Chloe (You're always welcome here Bec.), bought a one-way ticket to New York on the next available flight, figuring it was time to go back to the Original Plan. She'd called her boss at BFD records and told him she'd like to transfer to the New York branch for the foreseeable future, and, surprisingly, he'd said it would be an easy switch. Jesse, once he came back to their apartment (three hours after Beca had returned the ring), helped her carry her bags to a waiting Taxi and agreed to ship the rest of her things to her. When he asked for the address and she told him Chloe's, his grip on the straps of her bag tightened momentarily before he placed it into the trunk.
He might have waved as the Taxi drove away, but Beca didn't look back.
It wasn't until she was through airport security and waiting at her gate, playing absentmindedly with her phone, that Beca realized she hadn't told the other Bellas. Their group WhatsApp had been suspiciously silent since it had happened, and she wondered if Chloe had warned them to leave her alone for a while.
She took a deep breath and closed the Duolingo app (her French was coming along nicely, not that she'd ever get the chance to use it), already dreading the torrent of sympathy that was about to be flung at her. Reluctantly, she opened the group chat and told the rest of the Bellas the same thing she'd texted to Chloe hours before, adding the details of Amber's meltdown and the fake engagement ring.
As soon as the message was sent, the floodgates opened; her phone buzzed and beeped so much that several other people waiting at her gate stared. Wincing and trying to ignore the glares being sent her way, Beca unlocked her phone, silenced it, and read through the messages. It was about what she'd expected. Amy dismissed Jesse immediately, more upset about Beca missing her bachelorette party (which Amy had chosen to plan, rather than Chloe) than anything; Emily offered an excess amount of sympathy; Flo offered to make her as many smoothies as she needed to recover; Cynthia-Rose cussed Jesse out and called him too "clingy and happy"; Lilly just said "dead," which made Beca question Jesse's safety; Jessica and Ashley both sent emojis; Aubrey wasn't surprised that Beca had driven Amber to snap, but thought it happened for the best; and Stacie suggested sending Amber a fruit basket as a thank you for severing what would have been "an awful marriage anyway."
Chloe was notably absent from the chat, but Beca chalked it up to having talked to her separately about the whole thing sooner.
Beca wondered vaguely if Cynthia-Rose would think Chloe was too clingy and happy.
She ignored the still-exploding WhatsApp momentarily (Amy was still lamenting the loss of the bachelorette party) to text her dad and Shelia about the breakup. He responded surprisingly quickly for the late hour, offering his condolences. He seemed a little disappointed – he'd always liked Jesse – but agreed that ending the relationship was the best thing to do. For some reason, he hadn't seemed surprised that Chloe had helped her so much.
The crackle of the airport sound system startled her, and she looked up. The gate opened, and her boarding zone was called by a man with a scruffy goatee and a bored voice. She rose, shoved her phone in her purse, hefted her carry-on over a shoulder, and stepped in line for boarding.
She should have been scared, she supposed, as she shuffled forward in the slow-moving line. She was giving up her dreams in LA – though, really, LA wasn't all that great after all – to restart at BFD's sister branch in New York. She had ended a long-term relationship that had led to an engagement. She had no idea what to expect from the miniscule apartment they'd all picked out together before Jesse had changed everything and ruined the Original Plan.
But she wasn't scared. If she was honest with herself, it was because she knew she was going to see Chloe.
She reached the front of the queue waiting to board, handing the airline employee her boarding pass with a tight smile. As she did, she half-wondered if she would hear her name being yelled in desperation and turn to see Jesse standing there, hair windswept and clothes crumpled like would happen in a movie. She wondered if she would still get on the plane if he did come.
Somehow, inexplicably, she knew that if it were Chloe she was leaving, Chloe would have done it. Chloe would have come after her.
She stepped into the tunnel without a backward glance.
And if Beca was really, truly, and completely honest with herself, she knew that the real reason she wasn't scared was that she'd known that it would come to this sooner or later.
Leaving Jesse to go to Chloe. As if there had ever been another option.
From there, things were easy. Much easier than they really should have been, Beca thought.
She'd arrived in New York at an ungodly hour only to be swept up in a massive hug from Chloe. The instant she'd fallen into Chloe's arms, everything else had fallen away. She'd just held tight, inhaling Chloe's familiar perfume, a sense of calm washing over her instantly.
Only to be disrupted by Amy saying loudly, "Honestly, Beca, you're much better off here with Ginger and I than with the annoying puppy."
Beca had broken away and faced Amy's tackle of a hug, even as Amy had droned on about how much of a pain it would have been to fly to LA for a quick wedding and back anyway, and really, LA smog was so bad for the lungs that living there would have drained Beca's soul even more than being married to Jesse probably would have.
And just like that, everything seemed okay. They'd walked out of the airport together and took Beca to the small apartment she really should have been living in for two months already. Sure, sharing a bed with Chloe wasn't exactly ideal (even though it could potentially be fun), but it had always been a part of the Original Plan. So, it all worked out in the end.
It shouldn't have been that easy. Beca felt guilty it was so easy.
She had a new relationship status, a new job, and a new home. And it was all totally fine, because she had Chloe.
The rest of her things had arrived three days after she did, Jesse shipping them express to her at his own expense. She hadn't spoken to him beyond coordinating practical details and suggesting that he look for a new roommate to cover the cost of the LA apartment.
It was so, so easy. It really shouldn't have been.
But it was. And Beca thought she knew why.
It was all Chloe. Chloe kept the loneliness at bay. Chloe reminded her every day that her job was cool and amazing and everything she ever hoped for, just in New York. Chloe was her real home.
Beca felt a little guilty about that, too. She figured it wasn't the best thing in the world to realize she was falling for her best friend only a week after ending an engagement to someone else.
But that's what happened.
She wasn't surprised, not really. It had always been there, she supposed, and she just hadn't noticed.
Maybe it should've been weird; she'd asked Chloe to be her Maid of Honor, for Christ's sake. Beca really wanted to punch herself for that one. Thankfully, thought, it really wasn't weird at all. Chloe was the same as she always was, maybe even a little happier and bubblier than her usual.
She hoped Chloe felt the same about her. Chloe had done so much for her and had spent the week at her side while Amy had found convenient excuses to leave them alone ("Bumper and I really need to perfect the horizontal monster mash.") so they often had the place to themselves.
Which was how, a week after Beca's plane landed in New York, she found herself alone yet again in the small apartment with a happily humming Chloe sitting next to her on their shared bed. Beca worked on her laptop (her new job had her much more involved in the process already than the one in LA ever had) while Chloe scrolled through Instagram on her phone.
"Ooh, Bec, what do you think?" Chloe asked, lifting her phone to show Beca something.
"Huh?"
"Beca, look."
An elbow in her side finally tore Beca's attention from her laptop and she turned to see a blurry video of someone she vaguely recognized swinging around on a stripper pole.
Beca squinted at the phone, wondering exactly what Chloe was getting at.
"Uh… her technique needs work?" she tried.
Chloe rolled her eyes affectionately and sighed. "No, I mean what do you think of poles at a bachelorette party?"
"Oh, uh…" Beca frowned, still not understanding.
"This is Taylor's bachelorette party."
"… Okay."
"Taylor. From the High Notes? Taylor. Come on, Bec, you know. Taylor."
"Okay, saying her name over and over isn't going to make me remember," Beca laughed, even as a dim recollection of Taylor drifted through her memory. "I think I know her. She had a pole at her bachelorette?"
"Yep!" Chloe enthused, apparently happy that Beca was getting the point. "What do you think of that?"
Anyone else might think it was tactless to talk about bachelorette parties just a week after Beca cancelled her wedding, but that was just Chloe: no boundaries.
Beca shrugged. "I mean, good for her. Honestly, Amy probably had something similar planned for my party before it all blew up," she joked.
The guilty look that came over Chloe's face really should have been a warning sign.
"Oh my – no way!" Beca half-shrieked. "You knew she was planning something like this?!"
Chloe cringed, holding up her hands defensively as she replied, "Okay, not this exactly, but, like…"
"What, exactly?"
"Ithinkshewasgonnahirestrippers," Chloe said in a rush, looking at anywhere but Beca.
Beca stared.
With a deep breath, Chloe repeated, "I think she was gonna hire strippers."
Beca felt her face twist in mild disgust. "Male ones?"
Chloe raised an eyebrow curiously. "I mean, I kind of assumed. Maybe both?"
"Both would have been better," Beca replied smugly, enjoying the way Chloe's other eyebrow rose to join the first. "Now I'm bummed I missed out on seeing that," she added, not missing the way Chloe had let her phone screen fall asleep in her lap.
Beca turned back to her laptop and resumed working, feeling Chloe's eyes on her. She could all but hear Chloe's brain whirring, processing the information, but before Beca could tease her more or ask her what she was thinking, Chloe broke the quiet.
"I could do it, you know."
Beca's fingers froze at her keyboard and her breath caught in her throat. She whipped around to stare hard at Chloe, positive she'd misheard her. She had to have misheard her. There was no way Chloe had actually just offered to strip for her. She'd definitely misunderstood.
"What?" Beca choked out, trying hard to ignore the way her heart started hammering against her ribs.
A corner of Chloe's mouth quirked up and she lifted one shoulder. "I could. You know. Strip." She shrugged again, a little awkwardly. "I had those exotic dance lessons," she said softly, her gaze dropping to where her fingers played with the bedspread between them.
Beca was pretty sure she'd died in some freak accident. There was no way Chloe was actually doing this. It had to be a joke. That could be the only explanation. She started to smile, waiting for Chloe to burst out laughing; instead, though, a pink tinge appeared on Chloe's cheeks.
Beca's stomach dropped through her toes.
"You're – you're serious?" she managed, hearing the disbelief coloring her own tone. "You're actually serious?"
Chloe drew her lower lip into her mouth and nodded at the bedspread.
Beca felt like she'd been hit over the head. Her mouth went dry and her hands started to sweat, which was a strange combination. Her first impulse was to run far away. It didn't make sense; why the hell would Chloe offer to strip for her?
Her second impulse was to say yes. It was shocking, almost, how badly she wanted to say yes. She had definitely developed feelings for Chloe, and the idea of seeing her do that was beyond enthralling.
Beca was single for the first time in three years. Amy was gone for the rest of the night. She and Chloe were both adults, and Beca knew Chloe would never do anything to hurt her.
She heard herself as if from a long distance say, "Yeah. Okay."
Chloe's eyes snapped up to meet hers.
Beca stared back, her tongue suddenly useless. A weird tension filled the space between them.
"I'm not really… dressed for the occasion," Chloe finally said, her voice a little hoarse.
She was wearing tight jeans and a casual, light blue-colored top with a plunging V-neck that hinted at cleavage and left the strength in her upper arms on clear display. She was barefoot – they both were – because she was in bed.
She looked amazing.
"I mean, what you've got on is, like, it's good," Beca shrugged, trying to seem offhand. By the way Chloe smirked at her, she knew she'd sounded anything but offhand.
"Right!" Chloe chirped, clasping her hands together. "Let's do this."
"Uh, right," Beca said, shifting in the bed awkwardly, "where… where should…?"
Thankfully, Chloe seemed to understand. She looked around the small apartment, her gaze landing on something in the kitchen. She rose from the bed, stepping forward to grab the back of one of the three wooden chairs at the small table. She lifted it so it wouldn't scrape on the floor and positioned it to sit more centrally in the room, between the bed and the table. Beca couldn't help but watch her, drinking in the grace with which she moved and the strength in her arms as she moved the furniture.
It suddenly felt very warm in the apartment.
Beca stared at the chair for a moment, then glanced up to see Chloe already watching her, looking… excited. She definitely looked excited.
Jerkily, Beca scooted herself up in the bed so she was sitting more than laying, then swung her legs over the side to stand up. Her knees trembled a little, she noticed idly as she made her way to the chair, sinking into it with a quiet exhale.
"Comfy?" Chloe asked, her voice low and sultry.
Beca nodded once, allowing herself to relax more fully into the backrest. She tried wiping her hands on her jeans inconspicuously as Chloe crossed the room to pick up her phone again, unlocking it. Beca assumed she was connecting it to their Bluetooth speaker.
Beca shifted a little in her chair as she watched Chloe scroll, brow furrowed in concentration. She crossed her legs, then uncrossed them. For some reason, she couldn't make her heel stop tapping on the floor.
"Bec?"
Chloe's voice, soft and cautious, surprised her.
"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," Chloe said quietly.
Beca's heel stopped tapping abruptly.
"I want to," she said quickly, "I'm just – nervous."
She cursed herself internally; she hadn't meant to let that slip out.
Chloe's eyebrows arched again, but she didn't comment. Her eyes searched Beca's face for another second before dropping to look back at her phone.
Scroll, scroll, scroll.
Beca had no idea what was going to happen. She half-expected the whole thing to still be a joke, that Chloe wasn't actually going to give her a lap dance, that at any moment, Meghan Trainor's "Me Too" or something equally ridiculous would come pouring out of the speaker.
She'd seen Chloe dance with the Bellas; as the group's choreographer, she was really good at it. She knew how to dance well and knew some sexy dance moves that had been distracting at times. But still, the idea of Chloe – sweet, sunshine-out-the-ass-Chloe – giving her a lap dance didn't quite compute.
She really should have known better.
When the sound of dreamy, slow strings filled the air, Beca froze in her chair.
And when Chloe put her phone (now playing "Gooey" by Glass Animals) facedown on her nightstand and turned to shoot her a confident smirk, Beca's hands balled into fists in her lap.
This was most definitely one of her lady jams (to use Chloe's words). And by the way Chloe walked toward her, gliding over the floor in time with the music, Beca was pretty sure Chloe knew.
I come close
Let me show you everything I know
Chloe wasn't doing much, just walking toward her leisurely, swinging her hips a little more than usual, but Beca couldn't tear her eyes away.
The jungle slang
Spinning around my head and I stare
She stopped a foot away from Beca, staring down at her. Her hips lifted and swiveled agonizingly slowly to match the music. Beca swallowed hard, warmth creeping up her neck as her eyes flicked between Chloe's hips and her face.
While my naked fool
The song picked up, soft beats adding another layer to the music, and Chloe's hips moved faster at the same time her hands tangled into her own hair. She bent forward, the soft vanilla smell of her perfume reaching Beca's nose as their faces were drawn dangerously close together. Chloe's eyes flicked down to Beca's lips and it took all of Beca's willpower not to extend forward to meet her.
Dope so good, a silky-smooth perfume
But then, Chloe smirked and arched her back, flipping her hair like she'd done this before and Beca's breathing stopped.
Ride my little pooh bear, wanna take a chance
The beat picked up further, and Chloe's hands dropped to her hips, resting there to guide them in what Beca soon learned was a never-ending circle. The motion guided the rest of her body in a slow pivot until her back was to Beca. Beca couldn't stop herself; her eyes dropped just as Chloe widened her stance, dropped her hands, and bent forward, and that was definitely Chloe's ass in her face.
I'd say I told you so but you just gonna cry
Beca couldn't look away; though Chloe was in jeans, they were tight, and she could see the perfect shape hidden under the denim. She imagined how easy it would be to reach forward and touch, sliding a hand in the space between her thighs. Before she could act on the urge, Chloe rose and turned around again, moving even closer, lower lip snared between her teeth, and Beca knew she'd been caught. Her face warmed and she was ready to blurt out an apology but –
Mind my simple song, this ain't gonna work
Mind my wicked words and tipsy topsy smirk
By the way Chloe's eyes bored into hers, she didn't think Chloe cared. Beca's mouth went dry and she shifted again in her chair, doing anything she could to hide her reaction to seeing Chloe's ass up close. But then Chloe's hands reappeared on her hips only to trail up, snagging the edge of her shirt, lifting it a little to expose a few inches of skin before the material dropped back down.
Of course Chloe would have perfect abs.
I can't take this place, I can't take this place
Chloe's hands didn't stop. They rose over her chest, reached her collarbone, and trailed back down. Beca snapped her eyes back to Chloe's face, wanting to be less obvious, but she knew Chloe had seen. The look on her face, some combination of amusement and curiosity mixed into a small smile, told Beca that Chloe knew exactly what effect those simple moves had on her.
Truth be told
I've been here, I've done this all before
Chloe's hands reached her hips again and started on their path back up. Again, her fingers caught on the hem of her shirt, but this time, she kept lifting. She lifted the shirt up until her black bra was showing, then even higher until to take the shirt off completely, dropping it to the side.
I cut it up and puff it into bloom
And then shirtless Chloe was standing in front of her with a sexy smirk on her face. Beca stared and stared and she was definitely objectifying her best friend, but Chloe looked amazing, all ab lines and what was surely perfection under her black bra and then Chloe leaned forward, her cleavage most definitely on display, to rest her hands lightly on Beca's knees.
Ride my little pooh bear, wanna take a chance
Wanna sip this smooth air, kick it in the sand
I'd say I told you so but you just gonna cry
The sudden contact after minutes of watching Chloe move made Beca whimper involuntarily. The smirk on Chloe's face grew and she applied pressure to Beca's knees and – and Chloe spread Beca's legs.
Mind my simple song, this ain't gonna work
Mind my wicked words and tipsy topsy smirk
I can't take this place, I can't take this place
Beca's palms were definitely sweating again and she was uncomfortably warm, but then Chloe sank to her knees, her upper body settled between Beca's legs. The hands on Beca's legs slid up to her mid-thigh. Beca's toes curled and her back arched involuntarily to rock herself forward, but she stopped the movement before it really began. Chloe noticed; the heat of her gaze seared right into Beca to settle in her lower stomach.
Hold my hand, flow back to the summer time
Tangled in the willows, now comes the tide
Chloe rose up, moving through Beca's legs to brush her barely-clothed chest along Beca's entire upper body. Beca heard herself make a strangled choking noise and her hands rose automatically to rest on Chloe's lower back, meeting hot skin. Instantly though, Chloe grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands away and pressing them back to her sides as she stepped back and out from between Beca's legs to send cold air rushing between them.
Beca got the message; look but don't touch.
Somehow, it only made her want to touch Chloe even more.
How can I believe you, how can I be nice
Tripping around the tree stumps in your summer smile
Chloe stepped around Beca, moving to stand behind her chair. Beca tried to twist to see her, but soft fingertips pressed into her cheekbones from behind, keeping her head turned forward. She felt Chloe lean over her from behind, heard Chloe's voice humming along to the music softly as something soft and wet brushed her ear.
Lips. Chloe's lips were at her ear.
Heat shot between Beca's legs and her thighs clenched automatically. All too soon, though, Chloe pulled back, dropping her fingertips from Beca's face, and moved again.
Ride my little pooh bear, wanna take a chance
Wanna sip this smooth air, kick it in the sand
At the return of the fast chorus, Chloe swung a leg over her hips and straddled her in the chair, knees bracketing her sides. Chloe's arms fell to rest over her shoulders as her body started rolling into Beca's, pressing down and into her.
Beca moaned at the teasing contact, her hands flying to support Chloe's lower back. This time, Chloe didn't stop her; Beca's fingers traced along Chloe's spine, down to the waist of her jeans and back up, caressing around her ribs.
Their positioning had Beca's face level with Chloe's throat.
Mind my simple song, this ain't gonna work
Mind my wicked words and tipsy topsy smirk
Without thinking, without considering what she was doing, Beca extended forward to press her lips to the neck she'd been wanting to taste for nearly four years.
She felt and heard Chloe's sharp gasp; her rolling rhythm shuddered to a halt. Fingers appeared in Beca's hair, pulling her away and tilting her head back to make eye contact.
Chloe stared down at her, eyes wide and dark. They flicked between both of Beca's intensely, making panic pool in Beca's chest.
"I – Chlo, don't –"
Chloe's lips crashed down onto hers, capturing them in a searing kiss that sent adrenaline shooting through Beca's entire body. Beca responded as well as she could, moving her lips in time with Chloe's. She felt Chloe's tongue trace her lower lip; stunned, she gasped, and then all she could taste was Chloe. She gripped more tightly to Chloe's back, drawing a soft whimper from her throat.
Chloe sank into her lap, sitting on her rather than straddling her, making the angle easier on Beca's neck. Beca heard herself groan, and then Chloe resumed moving her hips, this time grinding down into Beca.
Beca dimly registered that the music emitting from the Bluetooth speaker had changed; instead of the hypnotic quality of "Gooey," the electronic, sexy opening chords of SoMo's "Curve" filled the room. Beca groaned again, clutching at Chloe's back; "Curve" was most definitely another of her lady jams. Immediately, Chloe's grinding shifted to match the beat, hips rolling into Beca's again and again.
Get out of bed with me on your mind
Baby, you know it's a matter of time
Drop me a line, whether it's three in the morning
Raining, but it's you that's storming
Chloe's tongue was in her mouth and her hair was between her fingers and her hips kept rocking forward, driving the heat between them higher with every second. The hands at the base of her skull slid back down to rest on her shoulders at the same time Chloe broke the kiss to instead drop her mouth to Beca's neck.
Run it back, done with that
Thought you were never coming back, oh
Don't do that, heart attack
Beca heard herself keen at the feel of Chloe's tongue dragging over her skin. Her fingers wound even more tightly into Chloe's hair, tugging slightly to make Chloe whimper.
Breaking away from Beca's neck, Chloe leaned back as well as she could while sitting in Beca's lap and for a second Beca wondered if she'd done something wrong, but then Chloe's hands were at the hem of her shirt and lifting. Beca's breath caught in her throat and she raised her arms to help until, suddenly, she was as shirtless as Chloe.
Chloe swooped back down, their lips crashing together even as Beca's hands skimmed over Chloe's back, finding the clasp on the black bra she wore. She fumbled at it, unclasping it relatively quickly, but then Chloe pulled back again.
Beca saw the question in her eyes, the slight hesitation, but Beca was sure. She nodded and leaned forward to reunite their lips. She felt Chloe's hands slide around the strap of her own bra and start to work at the clasp.
You're the only one that I want
And I've waiting for this call for so long
The moment her bra gave, Chloe's hands were on her, reaching under the material to cup and explore, running her thumbs over taut skin. Something in Beca snapped; her hands dropped to the button on Chloe's jeans, tugging it open and unzipping them in one movement.
Chloe rose off her lap, standing and pulling her bra off the rest of the way. Beca stared, her mouth going dry even as she stood from her chair and tossed her own bra aside. Chloe's eyes dropped to her chest instantly, her hands already reaching for the button on Beca's jeans.
You know I've been waiting so damn long
Beca guided Chloe backward toward the bed, knowing that maybe they were going too fast too soon, but all she could think about was how good Chloe's breasts felt in her hands and how much she loved the little mewling noises that tore from Chloe's throat every time Beca ran her thumbs over their peaks.
The backs of Chloe's knees hit the bed and she stopped; Beca tried to push her onto it but Chloe shook her head and flipped them so that Beca was the one with her back to the bed.
"I only want you," Chloe whispered as she shoved Beca back to lie on the mattress.
I got to, I got to, I got to
Hold onto, hold onto, hold on (no)
I hold onto the curve in your back
While you lie on your back
Chloe was on top of her immediately, straddling one of her thighs, her hands on either side of Beca's head to hold herself up. She attached her lips to Beca's neck, sucking and nipping at the skin there until Beca knew she was going to bruise.
The first roll of Chloe's hips into her sent Beca's hands flying to Chloe's back, clutching desperately. Chloe thrust her hips forward again, and Beca was on fire. She heard herself groan, and then Chloe was kissing down her neck, down her chest, until, with a devilish smirk up at her, Chloe stooped her head to close her lips around the peak of Beca's left breast.
Oh, you like it like that, oh
I want to, I want to, I want to
Hold onto, hold onto, hold on (no)
I hold onto the curve in your back
Beca keened loudly, her back arching off the mattress and hands turning to claws on Chloe's shoulders. Chloe released her breast with a hiss, and Beca knew she must have scratched her but Chloe didn't seem to care; she switched to Beca's other side, tongue prodding and soothing, her hips still swiveling until Beca finally had the presence of mind to bend her knee to give Chloe something to bear down on.
Chloe's body trembled above her and she ground down on Beca's thigh with a deep moan. She dropped to an elbow, more of her weight resting on top of Beca as she dragged her free hand along Beca's side, her nails scraping lightly.
Oh, it's getting (hot)
I can feel your (pulse)
Whispering, "don't (stop)"
Beca arched up again, needing more, needing Chloe. Her body was overheated, her core throbbed and she saw stars with every press of Chloe's hips into hers, but it wasn't enough.
"Please," she managed brokenly. "I – I need, Chlo, I –"
Chloe lifted her head to meet Beca's eyes. The sight of her tangled hair and blown pupils flooded Beca's veins with want. She let her hands drop to Chloe's backside and pulled to bring her pelvis down into her own and moaned desperately.
Chloe moaned, too, before scrambling back to stand at the end of the bed. She reached for the cuffs of Beca's jeans. Beca lifted her hips to help and Chloe ripped her pants off in one smooth motion before working on taking her own.
There wasn't any question of where this was going anymore, so Beca reached down to remove her own underwear, but before she could, Chloe was on top of her again, resting on an elbow, this time cradled between her open legs.
I need you the (most)
How many nights have I blessed ya?
How many nights have you called my name?
Don't play, I know you wanna stay, and so let's just-
Chloe's hand was instantly on a breast, kneading and pressing, making Beca see fireworks. Beca's hips canted upward, searching for friction, desperate for Chloe to get the hint. The hand on her breast slid down her stomach frustratingly slowly until the throbbing between her legs threatened to overtake her other senses; Beca squirmed and tilted her hips, wiggling down and against Chloe, needing more contact.
Chloe understood instantly; the hand on her stomach stopped teasing and instead dropped to cup her crotch over her underwear. Beca's jaw dropped and she tried to gasp, but all she could hear was Chloe moaning above her. Beca scrabbled at Chloe's back, running her nails up and down, trying to wiggle down in the bed for more contact and attempting to open her legs even wider.
Chloe lifted back to create a hair of space between them, her fingertips moving to trace the waistband of Beca's underwear.
"Is this –" she started, only to be cut off by Beca pulling her down into a kiss and lifting her hips again.
"God, yes, just –"
The rest of her sentence got lost in how it felt to have Chloe's hand slip down the front of her underwear.
Beca almost came right then, at the very first touch.
"Bec, you're… soaked," Chloe breathed, her fingers stroking and exploring.
Beca tried to respond, but all that came out was a garbled mess of syllables; her mind was too focused on how Chloe's fingers felt gliding against her.
Chloe didn't waste time teasing, instead finding Beca's throbbing bundle of nerves instantly and circling it tightly, adding pressure with each pass. Beca's entire body jerked and her head pressed back into the pillow. Her hips rocked at the rhythm she let Chloe set, a fast, staccato one that made her breath come in gasps.
"Ah – fuck – that's – don't stop," Beca panted, another slew of curses falling from her mouth when Chloe's fingers dropped to circle her entrance.
"Can I?"
"If you don't, I swear to god –"
Chloe laughed, a breathless chuckle that was at odds with the casual way she slid one finger inside. Beca grunted, her hips lifting as Chloe pulled back then pressed in, adding a second finger. She moved slowly at first, then increased her pace until she was thrusting hard and fast into Beca.
Beca's eyes rolled back and she crossed her heels over Chloe's back, trying to pull her in further, trying to take more of her. Chloe moaned and moved faster, using her hips to drive into Beca more firmly with each thrust.
The bed had started making a cacophony of noise, but Beca was too far gone to care; she wasn't going to be stopping this for anyone, angry neighbors be damned. Her body burned and she knew she was digging her nails into Chloe's back too hard but then Chloe started curling her fingers as she pulled back to rub at that one spot inside.
Beca's body tensed, her jaw clenching against the near-constant stream of syllables flowing from her mouth as she was hit with the realization that this was Chloe, best friend Chloe, former Maid of Honor Chloe inside of her. Her hips locked in place and she felt herself starting to tighten and twitch around Chloe's fingers.
"I'm – I'm, Chlo, I'm –"
Chloe redoubled her efforts, twisting her hand to press her palm against Beca and adding a third finger. Beca cried out; her senses were so overwhelmed and she was so full and her legs tensed and her back arched and she felt herself clenching so that Chloe was held in place, palm pressing there, until, with a final flutter of the fingers inside of her, Beca came harder than she ever had.
She bit down onto Chloe's shoulder to keep from yelling out. She thrashed against Chloe, wave after wave making her body shudder. Chloe kept her hand where it was, moving her fingers gently to prolong it until, with a shaky breath, Beca's body gave out and she melted back into the mattress.
She uncrossed her heels from Chloe's back, wincing when Chloe eased out of her. Almost reverently, Chloe stroked through her length, the barest brush against sensitive nerves sending aftershocks through Beca's body and making her twitch.
"Don't even think about it," Beca groaned in response to the question in Chloe's eyes. "I can't again."
Chloe pouted a little but pulled away, removing her hand from Beca's (completely ruined) underwear. She wiped her hand on her own thigh before rolling off of Beca – whose legs immediately collapsed and fell to the side – to lay on her back next to her.
Beca stared at the ceiling for a moment, breathing hard, her head spinning. She couldn't believe she'd just gotten the best orgasm of her life from Chloe Beale.
And yet – when Beca turned her head to make sure, there Chloe was, watching her so tenderly that it made Beca's chest fill with happiness.
"So, where did that come from?" Beca asked, still catching her breath.
Chloe shrugged. "I guess… you could say I've been wanting to do that for a while."
Beca's heart throbbed at the uncharacteristic shyness in Chloe's voice. She felt Chloe shift next to her and realized with a pang how uncomfortable she must be.
The second that occurred to her, she found herself moving like she'd been possessed, rolling so that she hovered over Chloe, hips between her legs. Chloe blinked up at her, stunned, and Beca almost wanted to laugh. She settled for a smirk that made Chloe whimper and caused hands to appear on her back before she descended without preamble onto Chloe's chest.
The guttural groan that tore free from Chloe's throat almost made her come again.
Mimicking Chloe's rocking motion, Beca drove her hips forward, feeling the heat and moisture even through Chloe's underwear as she rolled her tongue around pebbling skin. She held it between her lips, sucking as she pulled back until it slid from her mouth. Beneath her, Chloe collapsed back into the bed with a gasp, only for Beca to drop her mouth to the other side.
Beca stooped to one elbow, her free hand roving gracelessly over Chloe's side, skimming Chloe's previously attended to breast and tracing down the lines of her abs. As she circled her navel, Chloe's hips bucked up into hers tantalizingly. Beca had to freeze for a moment, releasing Chloe's breast from her mouth while she struggled to control herself.
She wanted Chloe.
With a shaky breath, Beca reached down further to cup Chloe's crotch like Chloe had for her. Chloe moaned and pressed herself into Beca's hand; even through the cotton material, Beca could feel Chloe, and knowing that it was all for her sent tremors through her body.
"Please – ah – I need –" Chloe writhed beneath her, hands digging impatiently into Beca's back, tugging her hips down.
Beca understood completely.
She removed her hand and dropped her mouth back down to Chloe's chest, kissing and licking and sucking before continuing the journey south. Chloe's hips tilted up into her chest, so Beca didn't waste much time; she pressed only a few kisses to Chloe's stomach, dipping her tongue into her navel with a teasing grin before moving to crawl backward until she was half on the bed, half off, her shoulders settled firmly between Chloe's legs.
"Pillow?" she asked, glancing up.
"What? God, Bec, yes," Chloe hissed, flinging one down for Beca to prop under Chloe's hips, lifting her.
Beca could feel the heat radiating from Chloe against her face, Chloe's panties doing nothing to hide how much she wanted this. Beca pressed her lips high on Chloe's inner thigh, her tongue tracing over wetness that had streaked down to make Chloe gasp and jerk. It was everything, and her fingers dug into Chloe's thighs. She ran her nose along the same path, feeling Chloe squirm above her.
She glanced up, catching sight of Chloe watching her, looking pained, one hand tangled in her own hair while the other fisted the sheets.
With that, Beca's restraint snapped and she reached for the panties, yanking them down and twisting out of the way so she could take them completely off. She dropped them on the floor and half-collapsed back to her stomach between Chloe's legs.
She barely settled before a hand appeared in her hair and Chloe parted her legs even further. On a whim, Beca reached to hook her arms under Chloe's thighs, resting her hands on Chloe's hips to hold her in place.
"Bec, fuck," Chloe breathed, her eyes squeezing shut again and hips starting to rock, already setting a rhythm.
That's what pushed Beca over the edge; hearing Chloe swear like that. She'd been planning on teasing more, but Beca knew she didn't need it.
"Tu es si belle," Beca murmured, "J'ai hâte de te goûter."
Strange that something as vulgar as "I can't wait to taste you," should sound so good in French.
Chloe's eyes flew wide at the French and her back arched off the bed and Beca could see the effect it those few simple words had had on her. With a desperate groan, the last of Beca's self-control unraveled and she leaned in and pressed her tongue against Chloe to swipe up through her length.
It made Chloe cry out and Beca's hips ground down into the mattress on instinct, finding little relief. She kept going, licking broad paths through folds; Chloe was soaked, and it was the best moment of Beca's life. Breathing became a problem, but she didn't care, just kept licking and sucking on soft skin, reveling in the noises Chloe made. She looked up, watching Chloe's reaction as she swirled her tongue around, noticing how a flick there made Chloe's eyes flutter and a broad press here made her mouth drop open.
"Bec – I – oh my god," Chloe panted, writhing and bucking against Beca's mouth, obviously trying to encourage some kind of rhythm.
Beca waited, licking and sucking, humming occasionally to press vibrations from her throat into Chloe's center, purposely avoiding a specific bud of nerves. She alternated between licking broad strokes and flicking, occasionally prodding with her nose to draw deep groans from Chloe.
It wasn't until the hand in Beca's hair started to claw almost painfully and the heels on her back kicked into her that Beca attached her mouth fully to press her tongue inside.
Chloe's head crashed back against the pillow and her hips rose into Beca's face until she used her grip to force them back down into the mattress.
"Fuck – that's – yes – shit –" Chloe panted, the muscles in her stomach rippling and twitching. Her thighs started to close around Beca's head, and Beca had to tug to keep Chloe open.
She dragged her tongue along Chloe's walls deliberately slowly, pressing hard, before pulling out and pushing back in. It made her jaw cramp a little, but she kept going, her hips again pressing into the mattress desperately as if she'd never gotten relief. She kept the steady rhythm, in out, in, out, until Chloe's hips jerked wildly and she lost her grip. Chloe set a frantic pace, fast thrusts punctuated with curse words Beca had never heard her say before.
She'd never done this before but god she'd better get to do it again.
Freed from Beca's grip, Chloe's thighs came up to close around her, holding her in place so that they were rocking together. Beca reached a hand around, pressing her fingers to the swollen bundle of nerves begging for her attention. Chloe's entire body jolted and she cried out, so Beca pressed harder, making firm little circles with her fingers even as she continued to push in and out with her tongue.
Suddenly, Chloe tensed, her center pulsing a little around Beca's tongue. Beca moved faster, focusing on the sensation she'd felt before in herself but never in someone else, and especially never around her tongue. She pressed in closer, curling her tongue to rub inside and circling harder with her fingers, brushing and stroking, flicking the bud side to side.
"God – Bec – don't stop, I'm so – shit – keep doing that – I'm going to –"
She kept her rhythm steady, fingers pressing and circling endlessly as Chloe's back arched and her hips locked in place, teetering on the edge until, with one final nudge of Beca's fingers, Chloe spasmed, pulsing around Beca's tongue as she came.
Beca looked up to watch it happen, taking in Chloe's furrowed brow, open mouth, and closed eyes, memorizing every detail as she pulled her tongue back and moved her fingers gently, easing Chloe down. She finally relaxed with a deep groan, her body sagging down into the mattress and her thighs falling open to send cool air to Beca's face.
But Beca didn't want to stop yet.
"Look at me," Beca said, waiting until Chloe's dazed blue eyes met hers. "I've been wanting to do this for a while, too. Tu es tout pour moi."
And before Chloe could even blink, Beca ran her tongue over her again, making her squeak and throw her head back. The second time she did it, she felt Chloe's entire body quake, and the third lick made Chloe's hips lift with a groan.
Beca kept going, licking and pulling still-swollen skin into her mouth. Chloe's hands wove into her hair again, pulling her closer and closer as Beca worked, nudging her tongue and nose against nerves, suckling and lapping until Chloe was writhing and bucking under her again in a matter of minutes.
She took another broad lick through Chloe to latch her lips on the bundle to suck and Chloe fell apart with a cry for a second time. Beca kept going, ready to take her to a third (or fourth or fifth) when she felt Chloe push at her. She glanced up to see Chloe smiling weakly and shaking her head.
"Get up here," Chloe sighed, her face and chest still flushed and so, so sexy.
Reluctantly, Beca pressed one last kiss to Chloe's center – smiling at the way it made Chloe swear softly – before she lifted herself up from the mattress. She crawled over Chloe's body on her hands and knees to hover over her as she leaned down for a kiss. Chloe responded eagerly, her tongue flicking out to taste herself on Beca's lips.
"Okay?" Beca asked somewhat sarcastically as she rolled off Chloe to lay beside her.
Immediately, Chloe cuddled into her, her face in Beca's neck, an arm slung over her waist, and one leg thrown over her hip.
"More than okay," Chloe breathed. "Can we do that again sometime?"
Beca laughed and said, "I think I'll die if we don't."
Chloe hummed in agreement, then asked softly, "When did you learn French?"
Beca couldn't stop the smug grin she felt growing on her face. "Let's just say it was a relatively recent development."
She felt Chloe shudder against her, pressing closer to melt even further into Beca's body.
"I like it. And remind me to send your former wedding planner a fruit basket," she murmured sleepily.
Beca trailed her fingertips along Chloe's back, smiling into the darkness of the apartment.
"I might send her one myself."
French translations (don't sue me I used Google translate):
Tu es si belle: You are so beautiful.
J'ai hâte de te goûter: I can't wait to taste you.
Tu es tout pour moi: You are everything to me.