Chapter 9

Chloe's POV

Groaning at the pounding in my head, I open my eyes having to instantly close them. What the hell…? I blink and sit up only to regret it instantly. A wave of dizziness hits me and I close my eyes until it passes. That's when I notice the voices. I frown, very confused at what's going on. All I can remember is leaving school with Beca and talking about her parents. Then, nothing. Everything else is a blur of trees whipping by and silver eyes.

Slowly, I stand up and when I don't get dizzy, I head into the kitchen where the voices are. I pause in the doorway, taking in the sight. My mom hands Beca coffee and she brings it to her mouth, eyes closed. A flood of relief and warmth hits me. Like I'm the one drinking the coffee. I'm entranced by the sight of pure pleasure on the brunettes face and am brought out of it by my mom's voice.

"Sorry, I'm so rude. I didn't ask your name." Before Beca can answer, I do.

"It's Beca." I don't take my eyes off of Beca and am overjoyed when her eyes open and she instantly looks for me. She starts to stand up but when I see a flicker of pain in her eyes, I stop her and sit down on the stool next to hers. My mom hands me coffee and I gladly take it.

"So, what happened?"

"We got into a car accident. You swerved to miss a wolf and hit a tree." Beca informs and a flash of a black wolf comes into my mind. Nothing else does though and I look around, the question of how I got here popping up. So I ask and my mom answers.

"We think that you walked here. Apparently you didn't crash too far from here. Beca passed out and when she woke up, you were gone so she walked here to return your bag." The sound of pounding feet and the blur of trees going by comes into mind as I concentrate on remembering. I glance over at Beca who is staring into her mug like it's the most fascinating thing. I can feel so many conflicting emotions raging through her and it's almost impossible to land on just one. Guilt is at the front, so much stronger than the others. Pushing it away, I ask another question, one my mother can't answer.

"How did you know where to go?" Beca's head springs up and her grey eyes meet mine, panic obvious in them.

"Um, what?" The panic is gone, now replaced with confusion but I know she heard me all along.

"How did you know to come here?"

"Oh, I just walked the way we were headed until I stumbled upon this house. Then, I just asked your mom if you were her daughter." I stare into her eyes for a little longer before taking that answer. For now, at least.

"Are you okay?" Concern rises up in me as I realize I should've asked that first. "If you were passed out, you must've hit your head or something." The memory of when she stood up earlier, painfully flashes in my mind. She has to be hurt.

"I'm okay. Just a little sore."

"Oh gosh,"my mom slaps her forehead. "What is wrong with me today. I completely forgot to check on you." She smiles sheepishly and walks over to Beca's side. She grabs a flashlight and shines it in her eyes.

"I'm okay. Really." Beca pushes away from the table, covering her eyes. "I feel fine. Just sore from the impact." My mom looks at her, unconvinced, as do I. Beca's head flings back and forth between us. Suddenly, she starts laughing, confusing both of us.

"Oh wow. You guys are like clones." We smile and laugh a little with her.

"I've always been told Chloe is a little mini me,"my mom smiles lovingly at me. It's true. Everywhere we go, we're asked if we're sisters and everybody is shocked when we say no. My mom and I both have red hair and light splatter of freckles across our face. If you look close enough though, my mom has dark green eyes. I get my blue eyes from my dad.

"Her siblings always got their looks from their dad,"my mom whispers, and I reach around Beca's back, clasping her hand in mine. We look softly at each other for a second before my mom moves back to her original spot in front of Beca and I.

"I'm very sorry for your loss,"Beca comments and my mom tears up at the sincerity in her voice.

"Thank you." Beca nods and goes back to staring into her coffee. Sadness washes over me and I can tell it's not just mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Beca's hand touching her stomach, just like she was doing in the car before the crash. I place a comforting hand on her leg and she instantly stops, giving me a small smile. My mom just stands there watching the exchange between us until she breaks it, speaking.

"So Beca, would you like to stay for dinner?" Excitement rolls through me, dimming when I see the hesitance in Becca's expression. She looks over at me and I take advantage of it, giving her my puppy dog eyes.

"Sure,"Beca sighs like she was pushed to it, but I can see her trying not to smile.

"Do you need to call your parents?" I instantly whip my head towards my mom and shake my head. She frowns and looks at Beca, who went stiff and tense.

"Um, my parents died a long time ago,"she whispers.

"I'm so sorry. Is there anyone you need to call?" Beca shakes her head. My mom nods and opens the fridge.

"What are we thinking?" I jump up, a little dizzy, and go up next to her. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I hug my mom and kiss her cheek. She chuckles and hugs me back, pressing her lips to my forehead before letting me go. I turn around and catch Beca watching us. There's a sort of wistful look on her face and I grin.

"What?" She snaps out of it and her eyes widen at being caught.

"I'm sorry. I zoned out. I wasn't being a creep or anything. I-" My laugh cuts her off. I can't believe how adorable she when she's all flustered.

"It's okay Beca." I grab her hands and pull until she's standing up. "You look like you wanted one too," Before she can protest, I pull her into a hug, ignoring how tense she instantly gets. When I hugged her earlier, she did the same thing. I don't know why so I figured if I give her enough hugs, she'll eventually get used to it. Giving her one last squeeze, I lean down and give her a quick peck on the cheek. When I pull back, her face is bright red, making me laugh again.

"I just went ahead and ordered some pizza,"my mom says, laughing a little at what just happened. "I'm going to call the insurance company and get everything sorted out." She leaves the kitchen and it's just Beca and I. Beca shuffles her feet nervously.

"Want to see my room?" She nods and I take her smaller hand in mine, feeling every ridge and callus that clash with my smooth one. We go up the stairs and when we get to my room, doubts flood me. Maybe this was a bad idea. What if she hates it? Or laughs? With a slightly shaky hand, I push open the door and let Beca go in first so I can see her reaction. Her expression remains blank as she takes in my light blue walls covered in pictures. She studies each and every one with such intensity as if trying to memorize them.

"You really like blue,"she comments, stopping at one of my favorite pictures. It's me at age 6 sitting on top of my dad's shoulder as we watch the fireworks. I'm pointing up at something and my dad is watching me with a look that can only be described as pure love.

"Yeah, it's my favorite color. What's yours?" Beca turns and smiles. I flop down on my bed.

"Your hair." I blink rapidly at her words not sure I heard right.

"What?" The shorter girl makes her way over to me, a heated look in her eyes. Her fingers grab a strand of my hair.

"This is my favorite color. It's beautiful." I read the meaning behind her soft spoken words. Your beautiful. I gasp a little when I get the same feeling I got when the wolf seemed to speak to me. I don't quite hear the words but feel them. Is she… There's no way. I instantly dismiss that notion and smile at Beca.

"I like it," Beca surveys the room again before sitting down next to me. "It's….you." My heart melts and I grab her hand, squeezing it.

"Thank you."

…

A little while later, the pizza arrives and we head into the kitchen. All I want to do is go back up there and continue talking to Beca. We talked about anything and everything. It's so easy to talk to her and most of the time, we don't even have to use words. We just know what the other is thinking. It's kind of creepy at the same it's amazing. I've never felt a connection this deep with someone before and although I have questions about why, I'm content with just being with her.

"So your sister and brother are going to be coming for a visit soon." The pizza that almost makes it to my mouth, drops onto my plate as I squeal. On impulse, I grab Beca's hand.

"Yay! We haven't seen them in a while." My mom nods and I look over at Beca, who is currently on her fourth piece of pizza. For a small girl, she sure can eat.

"They both go to college in Seattle."

"Are they the same age?" Beca asks, an adoring smile on her face as I bounce up and down in my seat.

"Yup!"I pop the p. "They're identical twins but it's easy to tell them apart. There's Callie; she's really smart and majoring in mathematics. Then there's Carter. We're not so sure about him though. He wants to be an artist."

"What about you?" Beca asks after swallowing her food. She instantly takes another bite, finishing the piece and reaching for another one. Wow! It's like she has a bottomless pit instead of a stomach.

"Oh me? I'm thinking of being a vet like my mom. Especially after the other day."

"What happened the other day?" I freeze, realizing too late that I shouldn't have said that.

"There was just this hurt animal that came to us. I helped my mom patch her up." Taking a break from her food, Beca looks at me with something unreadable in her eyes. Is that gratitude?

"That's awesome."

"What about you Beca?" My mom asks.

"I haven't really had the chance to think about that." Both my mom and I can see the pain in her eyes and how true that statement is. I so desperately want to ask her why she can't think about it but I know that she probably wouldn't tell me. I have a feeling it has to do with why she can't explain anything yet.

"Well, is there anything you like doing that could possibly be a career someday?" My mom waits patiently while Beca takes a second to think. I can't tell if she's debating about what she likes to do or if she should tell us.

"Um, I really like music." My eyes widen in surprise. That's not what I expected her to say but I can see it. She strikes me as the person to have a passion about music.

"Do you play an instrument?" I join in, curious. Beca shakes her head.

"No, I have some DJ equipment. It's nothing really. Mainly me just playing around." She shrugs it off but I can tell it's important to her.

"Can you sing?"

"No," she answers too quickly and I raise an eyebrow. We stare at each other for a little before she takes another bit of her pizza, looking down.

"You should sing for me sometime." Beca coughs and sputters out a what. "I said, you should sing for me sometime." Beca just stares at me, eyes wide.

"Chloe was in choir for years." I smile at my mom and silently thank her for helping me out.

"Yeah, I loved it but when I started high school, I got bored. It was too…"I rack my brain for the right word but it doesn't come.

"Repetitive,"Beca states and I nod, happy that she got it spot on. "There's no choir here."

"Yeah, I noticed that they don't have any music classes. Why is that?'

"I don't know." Beca shrugs. "They used have music groups several years ago, but for some reason, they shut it down. Something about a tragic incident." Hmm. I make a mental note to look into it. Maybe I could bring it back or start my own. That won't be very challenging though. What will be is getting Beca to join.