Chapter 22


Deep, undisturbed sleep has been the one thing Chloe had been deprived of ever since the brutal attack that happened about a month ago in Victor Barden and truthfully, being back in the university had only worsen the nightmares she keeps having every day.

Tonight however, Chloe wakes up from probably the best sleep she has ever had in a very long time. Wrapped in Beca's arms—the Du Pont having abandoned the dozens of pillows in her bed, stuffed otter and all as she chooses to hug her instead—Chloe sighs contentedly before rolling her head to the other side. Her cheek gently bumps against Beca's forehead, sweetly reminding Chloe that none of it was a dream. With her eyes still closed, she places her hand on top of Beca's arm, the one draped protectively around her waist—or possessively, rather. This gesture has actually been brought about the fact that Beca had been adamant on refusing to let her leave the Du Pont manor and no matter what Chloe had reasoned out, Beca had instantly squashed down. In the end, Beca's soft and pleading, 'Stay with me' had ultimately silenced her protests.

Besides, when the Queen tells you to stay, you stay.

Sliding her hand up Beca's arm until she rests it on the side of Beca's head, she then plants a soft kiss on the top of the Du Pont's head. The reply comes in the form of an arm tightening its hold around her waist, pulling her even closer, and an equally soft kiss on her neck.

Smiling, Chloe finally opens her eyes, her hand settling at the back of Beca's head where her thumb continuously moves back and forth, gently rubbing Beca's hair. The Du Pont softly hums in satisfaction and Chloe smiles again. She probably would have a smile plastered on her face in the next coming days, weeks or maybe forever if this keeps up.

However, her bliss plummets down as soon as her gaze focuses on the clock, Beca's black and white music clock to be exact, and in seconds Chloe is bolting up from her comfortable position while Beca slowly sits up, confusion on her face even with her eyes still half closed.

"Sunshine," the Du Pont's husky voice floats in the air and it almost has Chloe stumbling back to bed. That, and Beca's very seductive bed hair. Almost.

Pacing around, in search of her bag, she distractedly replies, "My first class is starting in half an hour! I'm going to be late! And you've already missed yours hours ago, by the way, Midnight,"

She almost doesn't hear Beca's barely audible 'oh' as Chloe groans, a hand on her forehead when she remembers leaving her stuff downstairs, at the living room. Being wrapped in her sweet, sweet bubble of bliss, time becomes non-existent and her mind stuck to the love of her life, apparently.

"Do you want me to declare today a holiday?" Beca suggests before yawning and Chloe resigns to the fact that she's completely and madly in love with the brunette.

She pauses for a moment, almost sputtering a 'yes' but shakes her head instead because then they'd have to make up a holiday out of a whim and that's just not right. No matter how tempting it is.

"No," she sighs before walking towards the bathroom, planting a kiss on the sleepy Du Pont's cheek along the way. Because that's a temptation she can't resist.

Checking herself in the mirror's reflection—because yes, vampires can in fact see their reflections—and appreciating her sleep wear, black shirt and comfortable black cotton shorts, courtesy of Beca's wardrobe, she immediately starts washing her face.

"How about an earthquake drill? We can have those for purposes of future safety and blah blah blah," Beca suggests again as she lazily leans against the doorway's frame, eyes focused solely on her.

Softly dabbing the towel, which smells of Beca's body wash, against her damp cheeks, she sighs again, "I might still make it on time, or not. I'll just run, I guess,"

"If you're going to run then I might as well continue with the mandatory earthquake drill then you won't be late," Beca mutters before noticing the look in Chloe's eyes.

A look she knows Beca can easily read as an incoming favor or request.

"What?" the Du Pont asks suspiciously.

"Can I borrow some of your clothes?" she asks smiling sheepishly before quickly adding, "Also, do you have an extra toothbrush?"

Beca walks in until she's standing next to her, a smirk on her lips as she opens one of the drawers to hand Chloe a brand new toothbrush. "You're lucky, I travel a lot," she explains in reference to her extra stuff.

"And feel free to raid my closet," Beca adds, eyes brazenly travelling down to Chloe's body. "Because I think I like seeing you in my clothes," she says in a low tone and that seductive smirk is back in her lips, making Chloe heavily contemplate on whether her classes are even important or not. Add in that arch of Beca's eyebrow and it's enough to have her blushing that it's almost embarrassing to be so affected with such a small gesture.

And she's going to be so late.

Especially when Beca's lips is attached to hers again, slow and sincere, tasting like that minty flavoured toothpaste they are currently sharing because as it turns out they can't seem to do anything as simple as brushing your teeth without needing to be showered by the other with affection so, yes, Chloe is definitely going to be very late.

They could probably go on living in their happy little bubble, arms wrapped around each other and fingers tangled in locks, if it wasn't for the incessant knocking at the door.

Their moment of bliss, broken.

Beca tries not to break the knob in her frustration as she opens the door to a sly looking Stacie, tea cup in hand as she takes a small sip before quirking her lips teasingly at Beca.

"Breakfast is ready, your highness," she says, amusement evident in her tone before adding a cheeky, "And good morning to you too, Chloe. Hope you like blueberry pancakes," because of course, Stacie knows she's inside even without looking.

Beca slams the door closed in seconds, huffing in irritation and grumbling something in French about nosey relatives while Stacie's delighted laughter rings from outside.

With her face blushing a light tint of pink, Chloe shakes her head before getting back to what could now be her new daily routine and that is choosing which of Beca's clothes she's going to wear, wearing said clothes of her choice, the usual skin care with Beca's skin care products, brushing her hair and adding the final touches that needed touching up. Not to forget, of course, the kisses they keep stealing from each other in between—even if there's just no time left.

If Chloe expected to be grilled at the dining table, she is pleasantly surprised to find that none of that would be happening. Not when she seamlessly slips in the Du Ponts as if she's been living with them for years. Her seat was still the one in between Beca and Stacie, Jesse was still the family's event organizer as he lists down the biggest parties and events they should slide into, Stella still prefers her tea over coffee, Emily still makes smiley faces—or hearts, as she seems to be drawing a lot lately—on her pancakes with honey before eating it, Stacie is still in-charge of breakfast—because she says she's certainly not going to be doing any work after midnight, and the twins are still going on about that running bet that their professor is dating a werewolf.

Chloe bets it's true and is a certified a movie worthy plot.

There's debates about who'd win Casanova of the year—Stacie is certain that she could easily beat the twins—and Jesse gets bullied by his cousins about his love woes again. It's noisy, unorganized and bread gets thrown at somebody—Nate, most likely—but Chloe finds it all to be perfect.

When she glances back at Beca, the Du Pont casually sipping her black coffee, Chloe knows she's already where she's supposed to be. And Beca may still look like she doesn't care but as the Du Pont finds her hand underneath the table to intertwine them with her own, Chloe knows she's already with who she's supposed to be with. Someone who truly cares about her.

When they finally head out to their classes, except for Stella, who has the whole day free, and Jesse, who has a class in a couple more hours, Chloe finds Beca walking behind them.

Slipping away from in between Emily and Stacie, she slows down her step until she is next to Beca, glancing at the brunette with curiosity. "You don't have classes," she points out.

"No, I don't," the Du Pont answers, eyes towards her rowdy cousins up front.

"Why do you always walk a couple of steps behind them?" Chloe suddenly asks, remembering all those times when she'd see the Du Ponts passing by, a complete opposite to the Vanderbilts as Tom walks in front, leading the way.

"To make sure no one gets left behind," Beca simply says and Chloe nods in understanding, suddenly looking at Beca's way of leadership with awe and respect.

Could it be possible to fall in love with someone even more?

"Isn't it lonely, being back here?" she asks, glancing at the rest of the laughing Du Ponts, probably the latest gossip in town or a very crazy idea that belongs on 'must do before we graduate' list.

"Sometimes, yeah," Beca shrugs and Chloe's eyes return to the Du Pont. It's a small confession and Chloe smiles at the amount of trust Beca is slowly placing on her.

Holding on to Beca's hand, she looks on at the rest of the Du Ponts, a thought coming to mind, "Well, not anymore," she says as Beca suddenly looks at her. Meeting the brunette's gaze, she explains in an equally simple tone and a wide smile,

"We're going to make sure no one gets left behind,"

Beca's lips curve upwards and Chloe's heart swells. It's been years ever since she's made Beca smile like that, carefree and meaningful. The sight of it now reminds her the nine year old Beca sitting underneath the tree with a smile on her lips when Chloe tells of the places they should go travelling together.

She just hopes that the beautiful start of her night doesn't get ruined with the thought of having to be under intense public scrutiny. By now, Chloe assumes that word of her plight has travelled fast and she wonders how she's going to get through the day unscathed. Hiding away certainly won't help which is why she decided on just packing enough courage to take things one step at a time, no matter how hard it will be. Besides, hiding only means admitting defeat and letting people trample all over her.

Chloe is not weak.

Not anymore.

She's in the middle of psyching herself up when she suddenly feels Beca stopping her. Looking up, she meets worried deep blues and Chloe knows that Beca's has felt her mental turmoil. But instead of dissuading Chloe to go, the Du Pont places her earphones over Chloe's ears.

"It helps tune out the noise," Beca tells her and Chloe nods gratefully, squeezing the Du Pont's hand to let her know that she'll be fine.

But then Beca doesn't stop there. The Du Pont rests her forehead against hers, a hand softly caressing Chloe's cheek and whispers, "I won't let anybody hurt you," she promises and Chloe closes her eyes, holding on to every word.

Walking with the rest of the Du Ponts, Chloe knows, feels, that everyone's eyes are following her but she focuses her eyes at the road ahead, finding comfort and strength as she unabashedly holds Beca's hand in public.

Also, maybe this small display of public affection is because she does want everyone to know that Beca Mitchell is totally off the market.

With the rest of the Du Pont's heading off to their classes, Beca walks Chloe to her building and it is only then that Chloe realizes the royal security secretly guarding the perimeter. She almost forgets that she is with the head of the Du Pont high seat, leader of the royal council, commander of the royal army and Queen of the Corvinn Castle. It's too easy not to think of those things when they still get to do the most mundane of things. Beca makes everything so simple, even when it's not.

Now, Chloe had assumed that Beca was only to walk her to class but to her surprise and disbelief, the Du Pont doesn't leave. Instead, she steps in, much to the astonishment of her theatre history class, and has Chloe's professor stuttering as he formally greets Beca.

"Your highness," he stammers, voice shaking as he nervously stands in front of the Du Pont.

"It's Beca Mitchell. Call me 'Beca'," she immediately corrects while the professor apologizes profusely. Apparently, there had been a memo amongst the faculty to treat her like any of the students. Beca herself had passed this memo. The one which newbie professor Martin forgotten to recall a moment ago.

The Du Pont then sits next to her, lazily slouching back down the chair and looking at everything disinterestedly before glancing over one of the students. Beca taps one of them on the shoulder and after the usual initial shock they get whenever Beca comes near, she asks for notes about the last topic and handing them over to Chloe for her to snap a photo of. Needless to say, Chloe had been trying not to laugh out loud as Beca mumbles small commentaries about this and that. And to be honest, the class had never been so interesting until now. All her earlier worries and anxieties disappearing with Beca next to her. It was just how they planned it when they were children. Taking classes together and hanging out whenever or wherever they want. Thinking about it, they did plan on taking majors related to the arts. Beca had said she loved making music and Chloe loved performing. Same building and a lot of similar classes.

This would probably be a glimpse of what it would've been.

Chloe's night classes filled with funny sarcastic commentary, secret codes being passed every now and then, and studying together until they got bored and hungry.

It isn't too late though and they could start making up for loss time.

But of course, nothing was also too easy.

The class ends and they have free time to spend together. By now, Chloe cares less about everyone else as she excitedly goes down the steps with Beca in tow, both their hands still connected to each other because it feels wrong not to do so and Chloe is just happy that she can hold Beca whenever she likes.

"Slow down, the pizza restaurant isn't going anywhere, Chlo," Beca berates her yet her eyes look at Chloe with amusement and her lips obviously trying to hold back a smile.

"Gut Chlo Chlo bummy gobbies," she reasons out. But I'm hungry. And this time, the adorableness successfully hits Beca as the Du Pont's lips curve upwards. Beca gently tugs on her arm, making her turn around before pulling her close and wrapping an arm around Chloe's waist. Naturally, she circles her arms around the Du Pont.

"How are you hungry when I'm right here?" Beca says teasingly and Chloe's cheeks turn pink at the implication. It was already hard concentrating throughout the whole class when Beca keeps throwing these kinds of comments in between the lecture.

"Stop it, seriously!" she hisses, a smile breaking and eyes widening as they are still in public.

The smirk on Beca's lips however shows no signs of remorse or any hint of stopping. It seems that now Beca's goal in life is making her blush. And she's so damn good at it.

Being flustered all the time has to stop though.

"Stop it or else,"

"Or else what, Beale?" Beca challenges, eyes filled with mirth.

"Or else I'm going to stop kissing you, Mitchell," she throws back and the exaggerated expression of outrage on Beca's face is enough to make her giggle.

"You wouldn't dare," Beca says, "I mean, nobody can resist my lips. You won't even last a minute without wanting it," she confidently adds in that tone that makes Chloe's insides twist.

She's totally going to lose this battle in a minute.

But then again, Chloe is also stubborn and sometimes that stubbornness trumps desire.

So she leans closer, lips near Beca's ear as she whispers, "I think you wouldn't last a minute without begging me to kiss you,"

And how much it turns her on to just thinking of having the Queen begging for her affection.

Beca's hold on her tightens, pressing Chloe's body flush against hers and Chloe believes that she would've won if it wasn't for the sudden darkness that she feels flooding down her system. What was even alarming was that Chloe knew it wasn't coming from her but from the brunette in her arms. When she looks at the Du Pont, shock grips her as those dark blues she's in love with quickly disappear and turn red, gazing dangerously at the direction behind Chloe.

It's the exact same look Beca always has when she's going in for the kill. She's witnessed it herself first hand.

Turning around, Chloe finds Tom walking towards the building, his own personal security behind him. The Vanderbilt heir pauses at the sight of them and the look he is giving is far from civil. It reminds Chloe of the night she left.

The night which she had told Beca about.

It took almost an hour of convincing the furious Du Pont that there was no need for violence. Beca had been so angry that Stacie and the rest of the Du Ponts had to step in just so they could calm her down.

So imagine Tom himself standing in front of them.

It'll certainly be a bloodbath without Chloe in between them.

The low guttural growl Beca makes has Chloe panicking because honestly, after all the hell they had been through, she hadn't seen Beca this mad before. It's much worse than Stefan and the battle at the Corvinn Castle.

Her arms immediately flying up across the Du Pont's chest to stop her from charging forward. Tom on the other hand, wasn't any better as he looks at them with displeasure. His men looking just as menacing and intimidating.

With her other hand resting behind Beca's, Chloe slowly massages the back of Beca's neck, her forehead leaning against the side of Beca's face as she whispers, "Becs, please let it go," she begs, knowing that causing trouble won't be good especially if you happen to be Queen.

More so, if it involves killing the heir to the Vanderbilt high seat. Because Chloe is more than certain that if someone is going to be bleeding down the floor, guts spilling and throat sliced open, it's not going to be her Midnight.

Just thinking of the consequences has her anxious.

"Becs," she tries again, feeling the Du Pont trying to fight against her hold and if Chloe were to let go, she'd surely be charging with full force and tackling the Vanderbilt heir down the ground.

"Midnight, I don't want to be here anymore. Please, I don't feel good," she breathes out honestly and it finally does the trick.

Beca's deep blues return as her body goes limp against Chloe's. In a moment, she feels Beca's hand take hers before leading her far away from Tom's presence. Away from the anxiety, fears and distress. The sight of him alone reminds her of the night he forced her to kiss him despite her rejections.

It was one of the visible differences both Beca and Tom have. Beca would always prioritize her comfort and safety above anything else.

Always

In a couple of minutes, Chloe finds herself inside Beca's car as they head out of the university's gates. Pizza restaurant completely forgotten but that doesn't really matter. Chloe could still feel the heaviness oozing out of the Du Pont and she worries. A silent Beca isn't normal, at least not to her. Plus, the speed meter they are driving at is getting extremely fast. It has her gripping her seatbelt for dear life.

But then as they stop at a 24/7 pizza parlour three towns from Bartholomew Cross, Chloe comes to the thought that there's more than a billion reasons why she fell in love with the Du Pont next to her and this is just one of them. Beca would always put her first, no matter what she may be feeling. Now, here they are far from Victor Barden and in front of a pizza restaurant, exactly how Chloe wanted.

"Hey," Chloe softly starts, looking at Beca whose eyes are focused far away. They were seated at one of the booths near the window and had just given their order.

"Are you flying somewhere away again?" she presses on, chin resting on the Du Pont's shoulder with her arms around Beca's waist.

"You know how much I always hated it when your attention isn't on me," she whines cutely because why not? It worked before.

"And I still hate it,"

Slowly she presses kisses against the skin across Beca's shoulder and up to her neck, murmuring, "Becs, give me attention. Where's my special attention?"

She trails soft kisses along Beca's jaw, up to her cheeks until she plants a lingering kiss at the corner of Beca's lips. Dark blues fall down on her and Chloe uses the opportunity to cradle Beca's face in her hands, making her look at her as she softly presses her lips against the Du Pont's.

It's getting to be an uncontrollable habit, kissing Beca, that is.

Besides, what else could be a better cure or distraction to a problem?

Beca kisses her back and Chloe knows she's successful. When their lips part, Chloe searches through the deep dark sea of blues she keeps getting drowned in.

"Talk to me," she whispers and Beca's gaze falls down, avoiding her own.

"I should've known better," the Du Pont starts to admit, a finger tapping continuously at the table.

"I shouldn't have left you with that bastard," her words fade off yet each one of them laced with guilt.

"That night, thought that you'd be safe—what the hell was I thinking? I should've just brought you home with me then and there," the Du Pont shakes her head, a sarcastic smile on her lips.

"Becs," Chloe tries but Beca cuts her off.

"He tried to force himself on you and held you against your will—and there I was thinking that you would be kept away from harm! I failed…"

Wrapping her arms tighter around the distressed brunette, Chloe turns Beca's head towards her.

"That night could go a million directions but all I know is that there's only one way it would end. You and me, right here. Together," she says with all sincerity.

"I've already made my choice. That night was the night that finally gave me the courage to go for it. And I did, no matter how scary or fucked up it was. This is my choice. You are my choice. You've always been my choice,"

The Du Pont reaches up, a fingers gently tracing the outline of Chloe's face as if carving to memory every single detail. It makes Chloe wonder how she even survived all these years being separated with the other half of her soul.

A small smile finally appears on Beca's lips.

"Eight years and you're still needy,"


Sometimes words aren't enough.

Sometimes words are not needed.

But sometimes, they also are.

Stacie suddenly looks up from her school papers as Chloe enters her room. Although, the instant she does, Chloe mentally slaps herself for being abrupt in her intrusion. Also, it's weird seeing the always carefree, fun loving brunette actually look so serious regarding education and such.

"Sorry, I should've knocked," she quickly apologizes.

The way Stacie brushes it off and straightens up immediately from her comfortable position on the sofa tells her that the long legged Du Pont could see the internal panic rising out of her.

"Did the twins get into trouble again and I need to intervene? Or did the twins get into trouble again and I need to join in the madness?" Stacie says excitedly, dropping her pen on to the table and motioning Chloe to sit next to her.

She does exactly that and shakes her head. "No, that's actually not what I'm here about. The twins are fine. Although they seem to be up to something out in the garden," she replies while Stacie gives her a look that says she's not surprised at the information at all.

However, her face drops into a serious expression as she dwells further on what Chloe could possibly be fretting over about.

"Is… this about Beca?" Stacie carefully asks and at the mention of the name, Chloe is already figuring out how to exactly voice out her problem.

"Did you two get into a fight? Is she being a bitch? You know, she does have bitchy tendencies at times. The solution to it is simply abduct her precious daggers. Those are her children. She'll be begging forgiveness and learning her lesson in no time," Stacie tries again and Chloe quickly dismisses all the speculation. Although, that's a very interesting tip.

"No! She's perfect. She's beautiful, sweet, caring, understanding, loyal and perfect. She even cooks all these delicious dishes! She's like the best girlfriend in the world! And have I told you that she's perfect?" she blabbers on, words stumbling after another.

"I don't think you have," Stacie replies jokingly before placing a hand over Chloe's in an attempt to slow her down.

"So, what you're saying is that the problem is, you're just so overwhelmed with my dear cousin's unbelievable perfection and it's all too much for you to handle?"

"No!" Chloe whines in frustration, looking down and placing a hand over her forehead.

"Alright, alright, not that then," Stacie quickly says, trying to pacify her and when Chloe tries to explain, the brunette stops her.

"Where's Beca? 'Cause this seems to be a conversation you don't want her to hear," the long legged Du Pont says, pointing out that her room isn't exactly soundproof and anyone could easily eavesdrop in on them, even if it isn't intentional what with excellent vampire hearing.

"She has an emergency meeting with the council right now," Chloe replies and Stacie nods in understanding.

Those meetings, that mainly consists of updates and ongoing political issues, usually lasts up to about three hours, or two, depending on Beca's mood—or hunger. Sometimes, Chloe gets to sit in on one, Beca's fingers tracing circles on her palm as she focuses in on the discussion while Chloe tries not to object to some certain issues—like the law they are trying to pass. That vampires should stop turning humans they fall in love with into vampires and messing up pure bloodlines, a sensitive topic Chloe would certainly fight anyone about, especially since Beca's mother was born human.

Without Robbyn Du Pont, she wouldn't have met the most special person in her life and that law is just absurd.

So, back to that special person.

"Okay, but just to be completely sure, let's go get coffee," Stacie suggests and Chloe suddenly feels guilty that she has to put important school work on hold for her relationship issues.

However, Stacie being Stacie replies about always having time for the sake of love.

Hugging Beca's jacket close to her body in order to keep warm, Chloe takes a short stroll with Stacie around the West Wing's town square, passing by shops and restaurants. The winter winds are slowly starting to pay their visit and it's oddly reminding Chloe about the infamous Winter forest.

"Okay, so spill. What is bothering you sweetheart?" Stacie says as they pass by a few students grabbing coffee and talking about their thesis.

Holding her own cup of coffee, Chloe sits down the nearby bench and exhales heavily.

"Beca's been with a lot of women,"

It only takes Stacie seconds to bring down her own latte and face her, ready to list down the billion reasons why that's all a thing of the past and certainly not a problem but then Chloe raises up her hand to stop her.

"Please let me finish," Chloe says and Stacie instantly closes her mouth to wait patiently.

Giving another heavy sigh, Chloe looks down her black ripped jeans, Beca's ripped jeans to be exact, as she runs her thumbs around the rim of her coffee cup anxiously. She knew she had to spit it out soon and the thought of her dilemma is already making her blush.

"I've only been in one relationship and we all know how horribly that ended. I actually tried to date before that one relationship and that didn't end well either. I mean, I saw the guy I liked kissing the girl I like,"

"The girl you like?" Stacie asks, intrigued, as she eyes Chloe with heightened interest.

Groaning, she hesitantly admits, "It was Beca. High school party. She did it for revenge. To piss me off and punish me. I actually had mixed feelings about the whole situation. Didn't know if I was upset about her stealing him away or him getting to kiss her. I think it was more of the latter though. It was just complicated and weird,"

Stacie's laughter fills up the quiet atmosphere, joking about her very 'bisexual' problem and at one point she almost falls off the bench from too much cackling while Chloe hangs her head low, already regretting having shared that story with the Du Pont.

"It's not funny, Stace!"

Wiping the tears away from her eyes, Stacie's laughter slowly dissolves down as she looks at Chloe, "And here I thought you were living the princess life and making people kiss your feet. But damn, guess we all know now why Beca did that," Stacie winks and the thought of Beca possibly executing immature, desperate measures out of sheer jealousy makes Chloe smile.

Ah, those were the days.

Shaking her head, Chloe tries to focus back on topic.

"Anyways, I," she starts but then pauses as she runs out of words to say. This is getting really ridiculous and Chloe is close to hiding in a coffin until she's ready to face the world.

Fortunately, Stacie is an amazing listener, great at reading social cues with the patience of a mother of four.

"Chloe," the Du Pont calls while Chloe looks drearily at the brunette.

"Is this about sex?" Stacie gently pushes and Chloe groans, head dropping down low once more, a hand covering her reddening face as she slowly nods.

"Okay," Stacie slowly says as if mentally putting a check mark on her mental list, patting Chloe lightly on the head.

"So, you and Tom never…" she prolongs the word and Chloe slowly shakes her head.

"And you've never like, ever…"

She responds with a small shake of her head, already certain that she's as red as a tomato.

"So you're worried because Beca has shit ton of experience and you haven't…?"

A small embarrassed nod follows and now that it's all out she already feels like getting inside that coffin this very second.

"Aw, sweetheart," Stacie croons softly, giving her a comforting hug as she gently rubs her back. "Look at me,"

Reluctantly, Chloe finally meets the brunette's eye. There's no teasing look or anything that screams judgement. Instead, what she gets is a look of understanding and a genuine smile.

Relief floods her system knowing that she really did confide to the right person. In Aubrey's absence, it is usually Emily that has been by her side but with matters like this, she's glad Stacie is around.

The Du Pont takes her hand, intending to drive her point, "My cousin loves you, so much. I can vouch for that. I've never seen her look so happy and content, and it's mainly because of you. And if you're not ready to cross that line, Beca is going respect that. She will and if she won't I will slap, kick and punch some sense into her. But seriously, you know she would wait, no matter how long it takes,"

"I know that and believe me I do want to cross that line," Chloe immediately says before adding forlornly, "For a week now," because it has indeed been a week since she's moved in the Du Pont manor and joined their crazy crew. A week since she's fought for her heart's desires and ran to the arms of the woman she loves.

A week since she's been able to call Beca Mitchell hers.

"It's just that Beca is perfect and special, and because of that I want it to be perfect and special. I want to be able to make her really, really happy because she deserves it. And maybe make her very, very happy that she'd also forget all those other women she had fun with," she emphasizes towards Stacie, quickly mumbling the last few words. The brunette on the other hand looks like she's watching two kittens napping beside each other, a hand over her heart as she gushes.

"That, is the sweetest thing I've ever heard. So worth throwing aside school papers for," she sighs before shaking off the invisible mushy feelings and getting straight to business.

"If that's the case then you have nothing to worry about," Stacie assures her and when she tries to voice out her worries, the Du Pont quickly beats her to it, stomping any of her anxieties.

"Listen to me, nobody does something and perfects it at the first try, okay? It's not some inborn talent you've suddenly been blessed with—well maybe except for me," she quickly murmurs making Chloe laugh lightly.

"It's a skill, Chloe, and skills are learned and practiced. Now all you need to do is be honest. Talk to her. Communicate, please, it's very important in every relationship," Stacie says, looking like she's close to begging.

"No wonder that psychopath cousin of mine has been so pissy lately. She's been grumpy at the smallest stuff and suddenly exercising at weird times of the day," Stacie complains and Chloe feels another wave of guilt hit her at the realization.

She had let their slow, tender kisses evolve into hot and heavy make-out sessions. But whenever she would feel Beca try to take it a step further, she pulls away abruptly, pulling out a random excuses to do something somewhere or expertly diverting the Du Pont's attention into something mundane. But Beca being the perfect girlfriend, despite her confusion, doesn't forcibly push for more, her patience extremely commendable. Because certainly, it's not easy sharing the same bed and literally being attached to each other every single night, with someone you are highly attracted to at that, without acting upon your desires.

She had been leading Beca on for a week. Turning up the heat only to suddenly leave her hanging. Stacie was right, it would've been easier if she had been honest from the very beginning and now Beca must probably be wondering what she had been doing wrong or why Chloe suddenly keeps avoiding physical contact with her.

The thought is enough to make her sink back into a bigger puddle of guilt.

"Alright, let's not go to that dark place again," Stacie lightly warns her as the brunette starts to stand up, pulling Chloe up with her before fondly linking arms with hers.

"We're going to have to fix this little bit of mess. Now, it's best if I probably give you some important pointers and reminders before you go be happy," she slyly says and Chloe lets out another groan.


Slipping inside the room, Chloe scans the whole place to find Beca sleeping on the bed, Chloe's side of the bed to be exact. Moving around quietly, she makes her way towards the sleeping Du Pont. Crawling on the bed and lying on her side next to Beca, Chloe carefully tucks strands of dark brown hair spilling across the Du Pont's face behind her ear.

Beca is beautiful even without make-up and Chloe honestly thinks she's even prettier during unguarded moments. Whether she is concentrating on concocting something delicious in the kitchen or innocently confused about something, Chloe loves each and every moment whenever Beca is unaware. However, it's another story when Beca goes into protective and leadership mode, confidence brimming as she commands everyone's attention just by standing in a corner.

That side of the Du Pont makes Chloe feel things. Very explicit things.

Leaning over, she softly plants a kiss on Beca's cheek. The action is enough to wake the Du Pont up. With a sharp intake of breath, dark blue orbs greeting Chloe, Beca reaches out to her and instinctively Chloe instantly slides into warm arms.

They fit so perfectly together and it feels like home.

"Sorry, the meeting took too long," Beca softly mumbles, fingers running down Chloe's auburn locks. It's soothing and a sure way to make Chloe sleep.

"It's okay. I went out for coffee with Stacie," she replies, humming in satisfaction as she presses herself further against the Du Pont, clinging to Beca as if she was her lifeline.

She is.

"We can still watch that movie you want to watch," Beca suggests.

"I want to but you're so comfy and I'm too lazy to sit back up," she replies with a sigh of contentment, burying her face on the crook of Beca's neck.

The Du Pont chuckles lightly, fingers still playing with Chloe's hair.

"Becs?"

"Chlo,"

"High school. Junior year. Remember that party? You know, someone's birthday or something," she slowly opens up and she could almost feel the small frown forming in Beca's face.

"Which one?" comes the following question because of course, Beca had been hopping around all sorts of parties that time.

"The one where you kissed that guy I liked. The tennis player,"

The effect of her words are as expected as Beca stills before deflecting, "Why are we talking about cringey, disgusting, horrible memories again? Also, I did you a favour. He was an ass,"

Giggling, Chloe rests her chin on Beca's chest as she looks up at the Du Pont. "So, you did it to save me,"

"Yes, maybe,"

"And because you were jealous?"

"Ye—No, I wasn't!" the Du Pont adamantly denies and Chloe smirks.

"So you bullied me mainly because you wanted to get my attention. You constantly followed me around school so you could keep the assholes away from me. Aww, Becs, if you wanted Chlo Chlo kisses and special attention then you could have just said so,"

"That's not—Stop twisting things. I didn't—I wasn't—No," Beca stutters adorably and Chloe is afraid that she broke the Du Pont.

"You know what, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep," Beca grumbles, turning away from her and rolling to her side in the opposite direction.

But if she thinks that Chloe is letting go of her easily then she is wrong. Scooting over to the Du Pont, Chloe eagerly wraps her arms around Beca, hugging her tightly from behind and affectionately peppering her cheek with apologetic kisses.

"I love you,"

"We are still not adopting that evil kitten,"

"Yes we will and it's not evil! But I'm serious. Thanks for keeping the assholes away. I really love you,"

"Love you too, idiot,"


Author's Note:

This Bechloe love fest is giving me allergies. The good kind.

Important reminder: Please be kind to the bisexuals. I heard some people, especially from the LGBTQ+ community have this misconception about them and judge them immediately because they are "notorious for cheating and leaving their partners for someone else because of their attraction to both men and women". Now well if that's the basis for cheating then what about us pansexuals then? Do we get to be the number one cheaters of the whole universe then? Does that mean straight people are less likely to cheat?

Wtf?

But people, seriously, if someone cheats on you, it's not their sexual orientation that is the problem. IT IS THE PERSON THEMSELVES. Let's not be bullies and discriminate, okay. Let's not be Tom and Claire. Let's all be Becs Becs and her Chlo Chlo.

Also, didn't get to update early as some people decided to drag my lazy ass to the mountains because it's fun they said. I needed fresh air they said. There's no internet connection but you're going to love it, they said.

And fuck, they were right. I loved it.

So yeah, sorry for the late update. Hope you didn't panic and call the police or something. Still alive, apparently. I survived.

Sa0621: Of course, sweetheart. The wedding cake better be chocolate. Thanks for the trust, loyalty and attention. Appreciate it, really.

I love you all, you precious babes. You're all so sweet. Do continue the sweetness. We need to fill this messed up world with love.

Virtual hugs to all.

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