Chapter 21
Beca and Chloe were driving down to the Beale's house, and Beca was nervously tapping against the steering wheel trying to calm her nerves but to no prevail.
"Beca, calm down," Chloe said softly.
"Sorry," she replied sheepishly.
"They already love you, you have nothing to worry about," The redhead assured her.
Beca had taken every possible opportunity to make the Beale's like her, so she'd taken one of her sports cars. She had most of her cars back in LA, but she kept a Range Rover and her Audi R8 down here, they were the most convenient for her, and she remembered Andrew talking about how he loved the Audi's, so she figured bringing it would be a step in the right direction.
They pulled up to the Beale's house a few minutes later, it was a beautiful house. It was surrounded by trees and looked quite big, Beca could see the excitement bouncing off Chloe as they drew nearer to the property, and before the car had completely stopped she leapt out the car and raced up the stairs leading up to the door. It had an airy look to it and Beca guessed that it backed onto the beach like hers, seeing how close they were to the ocean. The house was a pure white with accents of grey, there were a few tall palm trees lining the drive and lots of big windows around the building. The door flung open and Mrs Beale appeared at the door and pulled Chloe into a massive hug.
Beca smiled as she slipped her shades on and walked up the stairs to meet the two.
"Chloe! What are you doing here?" Mandy asked surprised.
"Well, Beca wanted to get away for a while and suggested Florida and her being the amazing person she is, she invited me along and said that we should come and surprise you guys. So here we are," Chloe explained happily.
"Honey who's at the do- Chloe!" Andrew said moving to give his daughter a hug.
Beca stood and watched the exchange a wide smile on her face, she liked seeing the redhead happy, it showed just how much she missed her family.
"Beca, come here," Mandy welcomed her moving in to give her a hug.
She moved forward and stepped into the older woman's arms.
"Hey, how are you?"
"It's Mandy to you and I've been fine thank you, now both of you come in," She said ushering the two girls in.
Beca put her hand on the small of Chloe's back instinctively and looked around as they were led to the kitchen. Mandy shot Chloe a smile, eyeing the exchange, Chloe just blushed and returned the smile herself. When they entered the kitchen Chloe squealed when she saw Alex sitting in his Harvard Medical School hoodie and a pair of joggers, he looked like he just finished a shift if the dark circles under his eyes were anything to go by. He noticed Beca's hand and raised an eyebrow causing Beca to now blush and look down embarrassed. He didn't say anything, he just opened his arms and gave Chloe the famous Beale hug.
"How are you Chlo-Bear, this is a nice surprise," he said happily. Chloe retold the story she told her mum, and he thanked Beca for being so kind. But asked if he could speak to her in private. Beca was sure her heart leapt out of her chest when he said this but agreed after reassurance from Chloe.
They two went into Andrew's Private office, where Alex took and seat and gestured for Beca to follow.
"So you and Chloe, huh?" He asked putting his hands together and sitting up straight.
"Um, yeah it sort of happened last night at a party I held," She clarified
"Right. Well, I like you and you make Chloe happy." That wasn't so bad Beca thought. "But if you hurt her I will hunt you down and not even your security guards will be able to save you. I will wish you'd never been born, and any sort of award you've won won't mean anything once I'm done with you. Got it?" He asked sternly. Okay, bad, very bad. I gulped and nodded my head.
His whole persona changed after I gave him my word and he began rambling with questions.
"So who asked who?"
"What do you mean?" I asked confused,
"Who asked who, as in to go out with each other, you did ask right?" He questioned.
"It just sort of happened, to be honest, neither of us really asked," Beca admitted. Alex groaned and put his head in his hands.
"I thought you knew what you were doing! You have to ask the girl Beca! You need a confirmation, you can't just assume and I'm telling you, Chloe has always loved all the romantic stuff, if you do anything like that, I'm sure it will work," Alex said proud of himself.
"Okay…"Beca said nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Romantic, I can do that," she to herself.
"Of course you can, we all have a romantic side, some people just don't like to admit it," He said with a smile.
Back in the kitchen, Mandy was talking to Chloe about Beca.
"So Beca huh?" Mandy's mum said with a suggestive smile.
"Mum!" Chloe said swatting her arm.
"What? You mean to tell me nothing has happened since you two have been here?"
"Well…" Chloe began.
"I knew it! Andrew, you owe me $50!" Mandy called. Andrew suddenly appeared at the door.
"You two were betting on me?!" Chloe exclaimed.
"Yeah, I said that you two would be together within the next two weeks and your Dad went with a month," she explained. Chloe just stood there, mouth agape, shocked. Andrew pulled out some bills and handed them over to a smug looking Mandy.
"Thank you," Mandy said with a grin, Andrew just shook his head.
"Where are Beca and Alex?" He asked, looking around.
"Alex wanted to talk to Beca for a bit, they've been in there for a while though," Chloe said looking down at her watch.
"Oh right okay, so Chloe let's hear it then," Andrew prompted.
"Who asked who? Was it romantic? I want to hear everything!" Mandy added excitedly.
"We didn't really confirm anything, we just said we'd take it slow," Chloe said.
Mandy and Andrew looked and Chloe then each other and then back at Chloe.
"So...are you guys together or?" Mandy asked.
"I don't really know Mum, it all happened quite fast last night so we said we'd like to slow it down and do it right, I really like her Mum," Chloe said with a smile on her face, though she was wondering - what were her and Beca, were they together or not?
"Honey, that's great! I'm really happy for you but you need to know where you stand and I know it will be important for Beca I can see how much she likes you, you should both talk about it, I have no doubt that she will ask you to be her girlfriend," Mandy said warmly, rubbing her hand up and down Chloe's arm.
"Are you sure?" Chloe asked.
"$100 positive," Many said with a wink.
"Dad?" Chloe asked turning to face her father.
"I agree with your mother, she seems to have a knack for these things," he said with a smile.
"Okay," Chloe said, relieved that both her parents were able to reassure her.
Alex and Beca both appeared from Andrew's office laughing about something, which Chloe thought was a good a sign.
"Beca did I see you pull up in an Audi earlier?" Andrew asked excitedly, like a kid opening presents on Christmas day.
"Sure did, I may have brought it especially for you," Beca said with a laugh. Alex's face lit up at the news, making Chloe and Mandy laugh. Beca caught on and led them out to the front of the house where her car stood proudly. Both Andrew and Alex stood mouths agape, ogling the beautiful piece of machinery in front of them. Beca dangled the keys out, and before either one of them could even get close she snatched them back up and turned to them seriously.
"Now, you guys can take her out for a spin, but please don't crash her," Beca pleaded.
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her, "Alex assured her, his eyes not leaving the car.
"Okay, well here are the keys. HAve fun!" And with that Beca left the boys to it, and headed back up to see Chloe and Mandy, but just as she was about to step inside her phone rang. She saw who the caller ID was and pushed the answer button immediately, and holding it up to her ear.
"Posen, what do I owe the pleasure?" Beca said teasingly.
"Shut it Hobbit, this is serious," Aubrey began, Beca immediately stood up straighter and listened to the blonde's every word.
"So do you remember the man you got into a fight with at the Court Hearing?"
"The one who pushed me against the wall and threw me on the floor...yeah he rings a bell, why?"
"Not the time for jokes." She warned. "But I do come with good news, he was carved with assault earlier this morning. I'm sorry it's been a longer what but the courts have all been booked. He was given 6 months in prison, then a year in a behaviour facility," She finished.
"Wow," was all I could say, Was didn't even know anything was happening with that.
"They had him arrested as soon as Jesse got them but nothing and happened. He tried to fight it but the security cameras were too good, it caught all the action as well as the threats he said to you," she finished.
"Well I'm glad," Beca said relieved.
"Well I'd thought I'd just let you know," Aubrey informed.
"Well thank you," She said gratefully
"Wow, a compliment! From the one and only Beca Mitchell," she said with a fake gasp.
"Don't get used to it," she fired back? "Well, I'd better get going, bye Aubrey,"
"Bye Beca," Aubrey hung up.
She walked back into the Beales house running her hands through her hair, she was glad that all of this was past her, finally. If felt like it had been dragging in for ages when in reality it was only a few weeks.
Chloe noticed Beca's change in mood and got up to ask her if everything was okay.
"Yeah, just um you know Tom's brother, the one who attacked me, well he got charged. Aubrey just phoned me,"
Chloe moved in to hug Beca, knowing she probably needed to comfort. It had been a scary experience, but she knew Beca was glad it was over, and she was too.
"Thank you," Beca said, putting her arms around Chloe's back and resting her head in the girls auburn waves, the subtle scent of apple from the girls shampoo calming her.
"Always," Chloe said holding her tight.
They both parted and went to go and see Mandy.
"Did the boys set off okay?" Mandy asked, putting something in the oven.
"Yeah, they promised to take good care of her, so I hope it comes back in one piece," Beca said her arm wrapped around Chloe's waist while Chloe led at her head in the smaller woman's shoulder.
"I've just put on some lunch is Macaroni and Cheese okay for you?" Mandy asked brushing her apron down.
Beca nodded excitedly, Mac and Cheese was her favourite, nothing could beat it, not even pizza, and that was saying something. It was something about the homely feel to the meal, she used to have it when she was younger and she'd always put bacon in it, it was the family tradition to always have Mac and Cheese on any special occasion. Beca had even convinced her parents to have it on Christmas Day. So having it now with Chloe and her family was nostalgic.
Chloe laughed at her face as it lit up, shaking her head before explaining to her mum that it was the brunettes favourite. Mandy seemed happy about that and the three fell into easy conversation and Beca's work and a few of her upcoming projects.
"Pink!" Mandy exclaimed jumping up and down excitedly after Chloe told her that Beca would be working with her soon.
"I can maybe get you a private screening if you want?" Beca offered. She loved being able to share her passion for music with people, and if they just so happened to be the mother of the girl she was with then even better.
"Are you serious?!" She said her eyes widening at the prospect of meeting her favourite singer.
"Yeah, I'm sure Alecia won't mind. I'll get your flights sorted and you are more than welcome to stay with me so you won't need to worry about a hotel or anything. Make it into a trip." Beca said.
Mandy rushed around and gave the girl a bone-crushing hug, normally she would have pushed them at the amount of physical contact but when you are with the Beale's you learn to accept physical contact is a part of life whether you like it or not.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Mandy repeated.
"No problem Mrs Bea- Mandy," Beca corrected herself.
"You are too kind," Mandy said moving back around to her side of the table. Beca just shrugged her shoulders, she had more than enough money than she knew what to do with and she likes to spend it on the ones she cared about and that now included the Beale's.
Soon they heard the opening of the door and the two boys walked in, but when they came into sight they both had guilty looks on their faces. Beca instantly knew something was wrong. "Umm, Beca. About your car," he began.
"It was an accident," Andrew said playing with his fingers looking down at the floor. Beca took off faster than she ever had before. Her cars were like her children, okay maybe not that important...but still important, she yanked the door open and was met with her car...in one piece. She breathed a sigh of relief and felt like she was about to collapse. She heard a pair of laughter from behind, Andrew and Alex were doubled over in laughter, tears coming out of their eyes.
"Your..your face," Alex managed to say between laughs. Beca felt like she'd just had a heart attack.
"I can't believe you two," Mandy said from behind, her hands on her hips, clearly not amused. Chloe appeared from the door and whacked her brother over the head with the back of her hand, a similar expression on her face to her mother's.
"Apologise. Now." Chloe demanded, her brother and dad were like teenagers half the time.
"Sorry, Beca," they both mumbled.
"It's okay," Beca said shrugging her shoulders, the effects of her 'heart attack' had worn off and she did have to admit it was quite funny and they did get her.
"Okay you lot, lunch is ready," Mandy said moving back into the house, everyone else following behind.
Lunch went off without a hit, and everyone was laughing by the end of it after a very amusing story about Chloe when she was younger, also the story behind the scar on her forehead.
"A brick?!" Beca exclaimed turning to Chloe.
"Yeah, but if my idiot of a brother had been watching me, it wouldn't have happened," She said, all eyes turned on Alex who started to defend himself.
"I can't help it if you were clumsy as a child. I mean you are still just as clumsy now," he said with a laugh.
"True." Beca agreed.
Chloe gasped and slapped Beca on the arm dramatically, "You are supposed to be on my side here!"
"He does have a point, tho," Beca said, Chloe narrowed her eyes, and Beca cowered down. Damn those eyes.
"I mean..You're not clumsy at all. Nope, completely stable," Beca said unconvincingly, everyone was silent before bursting out into another fit of laughter. Beca was happy, and she was glad she fitted in with them, she felt like she belonged with them, she slipped her arm on the back of Chloe's chair and the redhead laced their fingers together. She wouldn't mess this up. Operation ask 'Chloe to be her girlfriend' was a go!
After lunch, the plates were put away and the table was cleared, it was around 2 o'clock by then and they all decided to go into the living room where Chloe decided they all play a game. A box of trivial pursuit was dug out and the dust was blown away. The game was set up and the rules read aloud - even though it was probably the world's simplest game.
Chloe picked up a question card and read it out, "Who is the singer for the band Guns N' Roses?"
"Axl Rose!" Beca called out immediately when she was given the point she pumped her fist in the air. "You are so going down Beale!" She said teasingly, she knew how competitive the redhead was and she was going to have fun rilling her up.
"I wouldn't count on it Sitting right here is the family champion 7 years in a row!" Chloe countered proudly.
"It's true. I don't know how she does it," Alex said dramatically.
"Maybe it's because I have a brain cell!" Chloe said cocking her head to the side.
"Says the one who tripped over a brick," Alex replied smugly. Chloe just huffed in response, while Beca, Mandy and Andrew were laughing at the two.
"Okay next question," Mandy said picking up a card from the pile. "A Boeing 777 is equipped with how many engines?"
"Two!" Andrew called out loudly, narrowly beating Beca who shouted the same answer.
It was Beca's turn to ask, she picked up a card but raised her eyebrows when she saw what the question was - she'd be surprised if anyone got this.
"Which U.S state has the motto 'Live Free or Die' on their number plate?"
"New Hampshire," Chloe called, Beca's draw dropped.
"How the hell did you know that?!" Beca said shocked.
"Yeah, how did you know that?" Alex asked confused, it wasn't a fact most people had randomly stored in their brains, but here Chloe Beale was surprising everyone one day at a time.
"History Class," Chloe said with a shrug.
"What sort of stuff were you learning about in History?" Beca asked, knowing that she was never taught number plate mottos in History, or any subject for that matter!
This time it was Andrew's turn, he slipped the top card of the deck and read aloud, "What blood type do you need to be to be a universal donor?"
"O!" Alex called out in triumph, everyone else had blank looks on their faces, the perks of being a doctor.
"You better up your game Beale, you aren't doing too well are you?" Beca teased.
"Shut up, you only have one more than me," Chloe said, clearly not happy that she wasn't in first place.
"One more closer to winning," Beca replied smugly. Chloe ignored her, which left Beca laughing.
The game continued for another hour, the scores were currently: Chloe 14, Beca 14, Alex 13, Mandy 8, and Andrew 11. It was very tense especially between Beca and Chloe who were both undeniably competitive and had been trash talking one another the whole game, it all came down to the tie-breaker question. Mandy was about to read the final question when Beca interrupted adding a little wager to their game to mix things up a bit.
"If I win, you have to do the dishes the entire week and you have to down 10 shots," Beca said knowing shots were the girl's weakness, and the outcome would most likely be hilarious for everybody.
"Okay," Chloe agreed, "If I win you have to watch a movie marathon with me and you have to wear a Colts shirt to work," Chloe said, Beca gasped.
"You wouldn't," she said her hand clutching her chest.
"You better hope you win," Chloe said with a wink.
"Okay, all stakes have been placed. Final Question, Who was the second president of the United States?"
"John Adams," Chloe shouted, jumping up and doing a victory lap while Beca just sat there and groaned, she was going to get himself killed at work. Most of the people that worked there were Patriots fans' including Jesse, and they wouldn't be happy. Damn Chloe and her weird history knowledge!
"You lost! Loser!" Chloe called out making an L and shoving it in Beca's face.
"Okay, Beale. I lost, but there is always next time and you are going down, I promise you that." Beca said, Chloe just laughed at her calling her a loser again and doing some sort of dance.
"Does she always do this?" Beca asked, as Chloe still celebrated her win.
"Every. Single. Time." Alex said shaking his head, rolling his eyes.
The two girls returned back to Beca's house around 6 o'clock after they said goodbye to Chloe's family and made a promise to try and visit soon. They were now in the kitchen where Chloe was plating up a light salad for the both of them as they were both still quite full from lunch.
"I still can't believe I'm eating leaves," Beca complained, looking down at her plate of salad.
"It's good for you," Chloe said putting her own plate down and sitting next to the brunette.
"It's leaves though!" Beca said prodding it with her fork.
"Just eat," Chloe said, laughing at the girl's dramatics.
15 minutes later both plates were cleared, it may have taken some more encouragement from Chloe to get the brunettes to finish but they got there in the end.
Beca went into her studio to make a few calls and review a few tracks that Emily and CR had sent in.
She phoned Jesse to check up on everything and make sure the building hadn't burned down or anything, but once Jesse assured her everything was running fine they discussed some upcoming movie ideas that he was working on and they debated a few of the offers that had come in. After that, she phoned Alecia to confirm studio slots, dates and rough release times along with asking if it was okay for Chloe's mum to come and sit on in one of their sessions which she instantly agreed to. They then had a brief talk about music related things before Alecia had to get going, she hung up and Beca decided to make one final call.
It rung a few times before the other person answered, "Hey Stacie," Beca said.
"Hey Becs, what's up?"
"I may need your love advice…" Beca trailed off before a loud screech made her wince and she pulled her phone away from her ear before she would become deaf.
"Geez, Stace, calm down,"
"Sorry. Sorry, I'm guessing this has something to do with a certain redhead?" She asked suggestively.
"Yeah, it does," Beca said her face morphing into a wide smile as she said it.
"Yes!" Stacie cheered. "Congrats pip-squeak. Now what sort of advice are we talking about here?" she asked.
"Date advice," Beca said.
"Okay, well what kind of girl is Chloe is she the one who likes all the expensive stuff or is she more down to earth, when I met her I got the more down to earth vibe?" Stacie questioned, clearly gathering enough information to give a detailed response, besides medicine, romance and anything to do with relationships was Stacie's jeopardy category.
"Down to earth, but she still deserves the world," Beca replied, she could feel her heart turning to mush as she spoke, whatever badass reputation she once had was now sitting in a bin somewhere.
"What has love done to you, my small friend?" Stacie asked with a laugh.
"Stacie…"Beca drew out in a whiny voice.
"Okay, okay, um have you maybe thought about a picnic?"
"Too cliche,"
"Cinema?"
"Not happening Stacie."
"Okay..what about this then-" Stacie began explaining her idea and a smile spread on Beca's face. They worked out the finer details and they both agreed that it would be the perfect date for the redhead.
"I love it!" Beca said.
"Well, I'm glad I could be of service," Stacie said with a laugh.
"Thanks again, Stace," Beca said sincerely.
"Anytime Becs,"
"Okay, well I better get going, I'll talk to you soon," Beca promised.
"Bye, Becs," Stacie said and hung up.
Beca put her phone down a wide smile on her face.
What did you guys think? Reviews are always welcome!