Chapter 22: Most Valuable Player

Beca took a few shots from outside the three point line as the Hartford Hawks warmed up for the district championship game. The Hawks were playing the Roosevelt Rangers, the only team that had beaten them in the regular season. As Beca warmed up, she couldn't help but glance over at Chloe as she and the rest of the cheerleaders warmed up behind the basket. Things were still tense between the two girls, but the brunette wasn't gonna let that take her out of the game mentally. She had to be there for her team and lead them to what would be the tenth straight district championship for Hartford High.

If they won this game, they'd be the top seed from their district going into the regional bracket of the state tournament, and Beca was going to do everything she could to make sure that would happen. She couldn't let her team down, especially on a big stage like this one. While it was only the district championship and they still had a long way to go before they made it to state, this was a do-or-die game for the Hartford Hawks.

Chicago made his way into the student section, sitting down next to Jesse and Aubrey. He smiled when he saw his best friend warming up on the court. His smile then disappeared when he saw Chloe talking with Stacie as the cheerleaders warmed up. Just looking at his ex-girlfriend made his heart hurt, so he decided to distract himself by scrolling through some of his friends' Snapchat stories.

While Chloe was standing behind the basket with the rest of the cheerleaders, she thought she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. The redhead turned to get a better look at who it was and immediately turned back around once she realized it was Chicago. "Oh my god, Stacie," the redhead groaned. "He's here."

By now, everyone in their friend group had heard about the breakup from either Chloe or Chicago. Stacie looked over and saw Chicago sitting in the student section to Jesse and Aubrey. "Don't worry, he's not going to come down and try to talk to you. He knows better than that," Stacie told her in a reassuring voice.

"Still, I wish he wasn't here," Chloe said, crossing her arms and making sure not to look in Chicago's direction. "We haven't talked since we broke up, and I want to keep it that way."

"Well, you won't have to talk to him since we're cheering the entire time," Stacie said, scrunching her face a little bit. "Since I'm giving you a ride home, you won't have to talk to him afterwards. Beca might have a party afterwards, though, so just stay by my side if that's the case."

Chloe nodded. "Thanks, Stacie. I appreciate it," she said, smiling at the tall brunette. The redhead then glanced at the players on the basketball court, watching Beca and Emily as they did some pregame stretches before taking some more shots. Chloe bit her lip as she watched the brunette, smiling whenever the girl made a basket.

Stacie noticed this and then nudged the redhead with her hip. "Whatcha looking at, Beale?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking at the redhead.

"What?" Chloe asked, jarred back to reality by Stacie.

"I asked what you were looking at," Stacie said with a chuckle. "So, what were you looking at? Or should I say who were you looking at?"

"Uh, nothi-I mean no one," Chloe stuttered, stumbling over her words which didn't help her case at all. "I wasn't looking at anyone."

Stacie chuckled again. "Okay, if you say so," the tall brunette said with a shrug of the shoulders. She continued to watch Chloe a little though, noticing her eyes were following one particular basketball player.

While Chloe was still really upset about her breakup with Chicago, her mind wandered every now and then to the kiss that she and Beca had. The way their lips moved so perfectly in sync, and how they clung to each other's bodies as if they were holding on for dear life. Not to mention the fact that all Beca had to do to make her moan was press a few soft kisses to her neck. The redhead bit her lip multiple times as she watched the brunette, again catching Stacie's attention.

"Beca's look sharp tonight, don't you think?" Stacie commented, winking at Chloe as the redhead continued to stare in awe as Beca made shot after shot. "She looks hot in her warm-up outfit, and she's in the zone right now," the tall brunette added, trying to catch Chloe off guard.

"She does look really good right now," Chloe said absentmindedly as she continued to check out the brunette.

"Gotcha!" Stacie said, laughing as Chloe looked at her in confusion. "You were totally looking at Beca earlier. You've been checking her out ever since she stepped foot on the court, actually."

Chloe knew she couldn't deny it with Stacie around, so instead she scrunched up her face and blushed till she was almost as red as her hair. "Am I that bad at my leering?" She asked, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment.

"Yeah, you are," Stacie said, chuckling and putting a hand on the redhead's shoulder in sympathy. "It's okay, though. I saw her checking you out earlier, and she was pretty blatant about it too. Since when are you into girls?"

"I honestly don't know," Chloe answered, sighing. "I started having feelings for Beca about two months ago, but I didn't know they were real feelings until she started hooking up with Allison.

"Ah, I see. So your jealousy made you realize that your feelings for Beca are real?" Stacie asked.

"All I know is that I've never felt this way before, Stacie," Chloe said, looking down. She debated in her head on whether or not she should tell Stacie about the kiss, knowing it would eventually out in the open. "She makes my heart skip a beat, and she always can find a way to make me smile. Plus, we kinda had a moment the other day after the breakup."

"A moment?" Stacie asked, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of moment did you two have?"

Chloe took a deep breath before answering Stacie's question. "I went over to her house because I needed someone to talk to. I couldn't stop crying, so she decided to play a song for me. Once she started playing, everything else disappeared," she said, pausing for a moment before continuing. "And then we...we made out."

"Wait, you what?" Stacie said, not sure if she had heard Chloe right. "You two made out? What happened after that?"

"Beca ended it because she felt guilty about making out with me right after my breakup. She said she shouldn't have acted on her feelings for me because it wasn't fair to Chicago and she didn't want to lead me on," Chloe said, blinking a few tears back. "I knew it was smart of her to stop it, but it felt right, Stacie. I can't even describe how amazing it was."

"It was smart of her to end the kiss. Just because she ended the kiss doesn't mean that she doesn't like you, though. Beca still has feelings for you. She's had them for a long time, and she'll continue to have them. Don't be discouraged," Stacie told her friend. "I would ask more questions about your love life, but it looks like the game is about to start, so we'll talk about it more later."

The Hawks won pretty handily that night, outscoring their opponents by thirty-three points. The Rangers' star player fouled out of the game in the first half, and the team was discombobulated for the rest of the game as a result. The final score ended up being 87-54, and Beca won the Player of the Game Award after racking up thirty points and ten assists. In addition to being named the Player of the Game, the brunette also won the Most Valuable Player Award for the regular season after averaging twenty-five points, seven assists, three rebounds, and two steals per game. It was safe to say that the girl deserved both awards.

Afterwards, Beca was hosting an after-party and invited all of their friend group to celebrate. Chloe stayed by Stacie's side for most of the night, doing her best to avoid Chicago. At one point, they almost ran into each other, but Chloe avoided him by making a sharp turn into the bathroom. The redhead closed the bathroom door behind her and locked it, closing her eyes and sighing. She didn't want to spend the whole night avoiding Chicago, but it seemed that he followed her around wherever she went.

Chloe took a few more deep breaths and then went back out to the party, scoping the room for Chicago so she could avoid him. She didn't see him anywhere, so she decided it was safe to grab a piece of pizza. "Can we please talk, Chlo?" Chloe sighed when she heard the voice of her ex-boyfriend. The redhead closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning around to face him.

"Why are you suddenly so eager to talk to me? You seemed fine not talking to me before Thursday," Chloe said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I want to make things right between us. Avoiding each other is only making everything more awkward, and I don't want that. Can we please just talk for a few minutes?" Chicago asked.

"No, Chic. I'm not ready to have a civilized conversation with you," Chloe said, looking him straight in the eyes. "You lied to me for at least a month about Georgia, so I feel like I should be able to avoid you for that amount of time," she stated firmly before walking away from him and leaving him to his thoughts. As if things could get any worse right now, Chloe thought to herself as she took a bite out of her piece of pizza.

The redhead spoke too soon, however, because she saw Beca and Allison sneaking upstairs together when she looked up from her piece of pizza. Are you fucking kidding me? She said to herself, setting down her plate and following the two girls upstairs.

Beca was kissing Allison's neck and about to close the bedroom door when Chloe stormed in, causing the two girls to jump. "Chloe, what the hell?" Beca asked in surprise.

"So you can't make out with me but you can have sex with her?" Chloe retorted in an angry voice. "What the fuck is that all about?"

"Chloe, chill out," Beca said, trying to get the redhead to calm down. "I don't see what the problem is-"

"You don't see what the problem is? Really, Beca?" Chloe asked, tears welling up in her eyes. "The problem is that we kissed and I told you I had feelings for you! Do you not remember any of that?" The redhead had an immense amount of anger built up inside her after everything that had happened that week, and seeing the brunette with Allison made her explode. "I told you I had feelings for you, and you just brushed it off like it didn't even matter to you. Not to mention you tell me that you have feelings for me, and then you go and try to fuck another girl? Are you fucking kidding me?" She yelled, starting to get choked up.

"I remember what happened, Chloe," Beca replied in a surprisingly calm voice. "But we're not together. I told you we couldn't be together. Why are you getting so upset over this? I thought you knew about me and Allison."

"I have known about you two, and it's been killing me inside," Chloe said, a couple tears falling down her face. "I know that we can't be together, Beca. I get that. But after everything that's happened this week, you didn't think that maybe me seeing you about to hook up with Allison would hurt me?" Chloe asked. The redhead then paused for a few moments to calm down a little before speaking again. "I told you about my feelings for you, Becs. And I get that I made you go through the same thing while being with Chicago, but I never meant to hurt you. Even if you and I can't be together, seeing you with someone else still stings." She started walking towards the door and then stopped, wanting to say one last thing. "I'm sorry I ruined your moment. Have fun, Beca. You deserve it. You were named the MVP tonight, after all." With that, the redhead went back downstairs and grabbed her coat before walking out of the front door and to her own house.

Beca stood there and watched as Chloe walked away, sighing and running her fingers through her hair. The brunette then went and sat down on the end of her bed. "I'm not really in the mood anymore," she said softly, looking up at Allison. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. It's okay," Allison said, offering her a friendly smile. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, listening to the music downstairs and the constant chattering of their friends. Then, Allison spoke up again. "Maybe it's best if we stop doing this," the blonde stated. "It's not fair for us to continue when this has clearly been hurting Chloe for awhile now."

Beca nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, it's probably for the best," she replied, looking down. "I did enjoy this, Allison, and I hope we can still be friends," the brunette added, looking back up.

"Of course we can still be friends, Beca. We had a good run, but there are no hard feelings between you and me," Allison replied, rubbing Beca's back a little. "But there is someone who you need to go make things right with, and I think you know who I'm talking about."

Beca closed her eyes and sighed. "How am I supposed to make things right without hurting her even more?" She asked. "It seems like no matter what I do, she's going to end up getting hurt, and I don't want that."

"You're not the main reason that she's upset. The poor girl's had a rough week. Just go find her and comfort her, that's probably all she wants right now," Allison said, shrugging her shoulders. "She wasn't upset by you telling her that you couldn't be with her, she was upset because you told her that and hooked up with me. If you don't go make things right with her, you may lose her forever, and I know for a fact that you don't want that."

"You're right," Beca said, standing up. "Thanks for the advice, Ali. I really appreciate it," she said, smiling at her friend. The brunette then went downstairs to find Chloe, but the redhead was nowhere to be found. She decided to ask Stacie since she knew that Chloe had been hanging out with her for most of the night. "Hey Stace, have you seen Chloe lately?"

"Last I saw, it looked like she was going home," Stacie answered, taking a sip of her root beer. "If you're looking for her, that's probably where she is."

"Alright, thanks," Beca said, going over to the coat rack and grabbing her jacket. "I'll be back in a little bit." She then went out the front door and walked over to Chloe's house. As she was walking over, she saw that the light in the redhead's room was on, so she figured that was where she was. Beca walked up the steps of the porch and stopped at the door, taking a deep breath before ringing the doorbell.

Patrick Beale, Chloe's father, opened up the door and a smile appeared on his face when he saw Beca. "Hello there, Beca. Congrats on the win tonight. You played some great team basketball, that's for sure," he said, smiling.

"Thank you, Mr. Beale," Beca said, smiling and shaking his hand. "Is Chloe here? I wanted to talk to her."

Patrick nodded and then stepped aside so Beca could walk into the house. "She came home a little while ago and went up to her room," he replied.

"Alright, thanks," Beca said, smiling gratefully at Patrick before going upstairs. She walked down the hall and stopped in front of Chloe's door, then knocked on it a couple times. "Chlo? Are you in there?" No response came at first, so Beca knocked again. "Chlo, I just want to talk, okay?"

Beca heard footsteps and the door soon swung open, revealing a red-eyed Chloe. "Haven't you already said what you wanted to say? That we can't be together and that you hooking up with Allison shouldn't matter to me? Isn't that all you wanted to say?" She asked sadly.

Beca shook her head. "I haven't said what I want to, which is why I came over. Can I come in?" She asked. The two stood there in silence for a couple moments until Chloe reluctantly moved so Beca could walk into the room. The brunette went over and sat down on Chloe's bed, patting the spot next to her as if to tell the redhead to come sit next to her.

Chloe dragged herself over to her bed and sat down next to Beca, grabbing herself a pillow to hold onto while she listened to the brunette talk. "Alright, you're here, so what is it that you want to say?" She asked, wiping a couple stray tears that had stuck to her cheek.

"Well, first of all, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. I now realize that what I said was rude, even though I didn't intend for it to be that way," Beca started. "I also want to apologize for trying to hook up with Allison tonight. I wasn't expecting you to see us, and I should've thought about my actions instead of just doing them. That being said, you won't catch Allison and I again because we're not friends-with-benefits anymore," Beca said, looking down at the ground for a moment. "Cynthia Rose actually warned me that something like this would happen. When I first started hooking up with Allison, CR told me that it always ends up hurting someone. I didn't know that it would hurt you, and I'm sorry for that."

The silence between the two girls grew as Chloe tried to think of what to say to Beca. She wiped a couple more tears from her cheeks before nodding her head. "I accept your apology, but you're not the only one who needs to apologize," she said, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry for torturing you these last five months. I know that seeing me with Chicago was just as hard, if not harder for you than seeing you with Allison was for me."

"You don't need to apologize, Chlo. Sure, it was hard watching you be with Chicago, but you were dating him. It's not like you were supposed to purposely avoid your boyfriend just because I didn't like seeing you two together," Beca replied. She then leaned over and wiped away some of Chloe's tears with her thumb. "Let's put all this negativity and all the bad memories behind us, okay? Let's have a fresh start."

Chloe nodded her head in agreement and smiled for the first time since Beca had come into her room. "I'd like that," she said, sniffing a couple times before wiping away the last of her tears. She then held out her hand for Beca to shake. "Hi, my name is Chloe."

Beca smiled as well and then shook Chloe's hand while saying, "Hi, my name is Beca. What's your favorite color?"

"Blue. It's always been blue," Chloe said with a cute giggle. "What's yours?" She asked.

"Black," Beca answered. "But if you're one of those people who insist that black isn't a color, then my favorite color is purple," she added with a chuckle.

"Don't worry, I'm not one of those people," Chloe said, smiling at the girl sitting next to her. She then bit her lip and and looked down for a moment. "I don't really feel like going back to the party, but you don't have to stay here if you don't want to," she said, tucking her hair back. "I mean, you won the district championship. I can understand if you'd rather be celebrating with everyone else right now."

"No, it's okay. The party was starting to get boring anyways. Plus, I'd like to get to know my new friend a little more," Beca said with a chuckle. "If that's okay with you, of course."

"That's alright with me," Chloe said. "Though I should warn you, I'm pretty talkative once I get going, so you may be here all night," she added confidently.

Beca shrugged her shoulders. "That's fine with me. I don't have anything better to do," she replied, smiling at the girl sitting next to her.

The girls got to talking about all sorts of things: their first kisses, favorite bands, favorite restaurants. Chloe laughed as Beca went on and on about Taco Bell and how it beat all other fast food restaurants. Around midnight, they were naming their favorite Beatles' songs.

"'The Long and Winding Road' is their best song in my opinion," Beca said, nodding her head. "That, or 'She Loves You,' you really can never go wrong with either of those two."

"Those are some good ones, that's for sure," Chloe said. "Some of my favorite songs are from their earlier albums, like 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.' That song is just so catchy."

"My favorites are 'Blackbird' and 'Here Comes the Sun,'" Beca stated. "'Here Comes the Sun' was actually one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar."

"Really? You'll have to play it for me sometime. I wish I knew how to play more Beatles songs on the piano. The only one I know is 'Let It Be,'" Chloe said, tucking a stray piece of red hair behind her ear.

"That one's a classic," Beca said, smiling at Chloe. "I would've given anything to see them in their hay day."

"Me too," Chloe said, gazing at Beca for a moment before biting her lip. "Would you mind staying with me tonight? I understand if you don't want to, I just wanted to ask."

"Yeah, sure. I'll have to let my parents know, but it shouldn't be a problem," Beca replied with a smile.

"Cool," Chloe said, smiling back at the brunette.

"Do you have an pajamas I could borrow?" Beca asked.

"Yeah, let me grab you some," Chloe said, getting up and walking over to her drawer. She picked out one of her dad's old flannel shirts and some shorts for Beca. The redhead then picked out a loose tank top and some shorts for herself. "Here you go," she said, handing the flannel shirt and the shorts to Beca. "You can change in my bathroom."

"Alright, thanks," Beca said, taking the clothing items from Chloe and then going to the bathroom to change. Once she had changed into the pajamas, the brunette went back into the redhead's bedroom. "So, do you want to keep talking about stuff or should we do something else?" She asked.

"Would you play 'Here Comes the Sun' for me?" Chloe asked. She stood up and walked over to her closet, opening it up and taking out a guitar. Her parents had bought it for her as a birthday present, but she had yet to learn how to actually play the instrument.

"Yeah, of course," Beca said, taking the guitar from Chloe and strumming a few chords to get warmed up. Once she had done so, the brunette began to play the song.

"Here Comes the Sun"- The Beatles

"Here comes the sun.

Here comes the sun, and I say:

It's alright.

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter.

Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here.

Here comes the sun.

Here comes the sun, and I say:

It's alright."

Chloe smiled as she listened to Beca sing the song. By the time the brunette reached the bridge, she was unable to keep herself from harmonizing with Beca's melody.

"Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting.

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear.

Here comes the sun.

Here comes the sun, and I say:

It's alright."

Beca smiled as Chloe harmonized with her while she sang, their voices going together perfectly. The redhead continued to harmonize with the brunette as they sang the last chorus.

"Here comes the sun.

Here comes the sun, and I say:

It's alright,

It's alright."

As Beca strummed the final chord for the song, both of the girls had wide smiles on their faces. "Wow," Beca said, in awe of Chloe's voice. "I've heard you sing before, but still. You're amazing, Chlo," she stated, at a complete loss for words.

"So are you," Chloe said, smiling and blushing at Beca's compliment. The redhead then bit her lip and looked down. "Could you maybe teach me how to play guitar sometime?" She asked shyly, looking back up at the brunette. "My parents got me the guitar because I wanted to learn how to play, but I haven't had the chance to do so."

"I'd love to teach you," Beca said, smiling at the redheads shyness. "Why don't I teach you the four basic chords that you'll hear in almost every song? This can be your first lesson."

Chloe nodded her head. "Sure. That would be great. Thanks, Becs," she said, smiling at her friend.

Beca then handed her the guitar and scooted closer to her. "Alright, so the first chord is G, and that one is pretty simple," she said, placing Chloe's fingers on the frets.

While Chloe was paying attention, she couldn't help but notice her heart rate speed up at the touch of Beca's hand on hers as the brunette showed her the chords. She was so caught up in trying to stop her heart from thumping out of her chest that she stopped paying attention altogether, so she had no idea what she was doing when Beca asked her to play a few chords for her. "Sorry, I got a little distracted there," the redhead admitted, looking down so the brunette wouldn't see how hard she was blushing.

Beca smiled and chuckled at the girl before showing her the chords again. "I know I make your heart race," she teased once she had showed Chloe the chords again. "You wanna play them for me now?"

Chloe nodded her head and then played the cords. Afterwards, she looked to Beca for approval. "Did I do okay?" She asked, hoping the brunette would say yes.

"You're a natural," Beca said, smiling at the redhead. "You'll be shredding like Jimi Hendrix before you know it."

"Well, I don't know about that, but thanks," Chloe said before putting the guitar back in her closet and laying down on her bed.

Beca lay down next to her and put on hand behind her head as they both stared up at the ceiling. "What are you most excited for when you head to Juilliard?"

"I don't know, actually. I'm excited for everything, really," Chloe said, turning onto her side so she was facing Beca. "What are you most excited for when you head to LA?" She asked.

"The hot chicks," Beca said in a joking manner, which earned her a playful nudge from Chloe. She then thought about it a moment longer before answering. "Honestly, I'm just hoping that I prove everyone who's ever doubted me wrong. Especially my father."

"And you will, Becs," Chloe said, putting a hand on Beca's shoulder. "You'll prove the doubters wrong, and you'll prove everyone who believed in you right. Like me."

Beca turned her head and looked at Chloe, leaning down her kiss her hand as it rested on her shoulder. She smiled softly and then yawned, covering her mouth as she did so. "We should probably get some sleep," Beca said.

"Yeah, we probably should. It's pretty late," Chloe said. She leaned over and turned off her bedside lamp before turning back to face Beca. "Goodnight, Becs," she whispered softly.

Beca smiled and then got under the covers of Chloe's bed, not surprised at all when Chloe came to cuddle her. "Goodnight, Chlo," the brunette wrapped her arms around Chloe and closed her eyes, feeling more content than she had been in a very long time.

A fresh start for the girls is what they needed, and it seems like their feelings may continue to service as the last few months of the school year go by.

Allison is a wise owl, don't you think? We may keep her as part of their official friend group. What do you think?

Until Next Time!