A/N 1: Yes, it is July. Yes, Beca is working behind a bar again. Yes, I wasn't planning on writing this. OK, I'm going to go now.

NYE

Chloe had been sat at the bar all night and only moving to visit the restroom. Although the alcohol was cheap, a bar bustling with people wasn't exactly meeting her 'I want to be alone' mood. Chloe moved to New York for a teaching job last month and decided not to go home for Christmas break this year. It seemed like a good idea right up until Christmas Eve; the friends that she had made in the short time she had been here had coincidentally all gone home to spend the festivities with family.

So far Christmas had been quiet and Chloe had spent the majority of it in her apartment watching too much television and drinking unhealthy amounts of eggnog. Earlier this evening the redhead decided going out to a bar on New Year's Eve would be good for her, but now she was regretting it.

So camping out alone at the corner of the bar seemed appealing and at least she wasn't drinking eggnog anymore, right?

"Please can I have the same again?" she pointed down to her glass hoping that at least one of the bar staff heard her.

"Vodka and coke, right?"

"That's the one" she smiled.

The drink was set in front of her on a napkin.

"Not a fan of New Years?" the petite brunette behind the bar asked.

"Being alone at the holidays isn't all it's cracked up to be" Chloe replied before taking a swig of her drink. "But I guess it could be worse" she added with a shrug.

"Yep, you could be working a busy bar until 3am" she smirked.

Chloe laughed as she placed her glass back on the bar.

"Right, well I better get back to it" the brunette gestured to the line behind her and tapped her fingers on the bar surface before turning away.

XXX

Chloe was on her fourth drink and the space around her was only getting busier. She looked at the time on her phone and contemplated ordering another drink. It was only ten past ten, perhaps counting down to midnight in the safe confides of her apartment was better than doing it alone here with an audience.

She drained her drink, before she slipped on her coat.

"Woah, Red, are you leaving?"

She stilled her movements before looking up at the owner of the voice. She shook her head with a grin at the woman behind the bar.

"Yeah, home seems like a wise idea right now" she said, getting to her feet.

"And here was me thinking you'd be keeping me company until three" she deadpanned. "Why don't you stay, I'll keep you company?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm just going to go."

The shorter woman grabbed her empty glass and started to refill it.

"Go where, back to an empty apartment? C'mon, hang around, you're the only pretty girl at the bar tonight" she shouted after her, hurrying down the bar to keep up with her.

Chloe stopped her movements at that, turning and giving her a questioning look, failing to contain the smile on her face.

Beca smirked back, "You can't go, you just got another drink."

She shrugged her shoulders innocently as Chloe walked back to her seat and removed her coat. She reached for her purse and pulled out a couple of bills.

"Don't worry about it, it's on me."

"My Mom always told me not to accept drinks off strangers."

The bar keep walked back to Chloe, before quickly wiping her hands at the cloth over her shoulder and leaned over the bar to offer her hand.

"Well I'm Beca. Guess it looks like we're not strangers anymore..." she paused, waiting for a response.

"Chloe" she chuckled, shaking her hand over the vodka and coke.

Beca smiled, "So, Chloe, where are you from?"

XXX

It was nearing eleven o'clock and Beca had been true to her word. The brunette never left her spot in front of Chloe, waving customers off to other members of staff and giving them the finger if they argued. When Chloe questioned her, the brunette simply shrugged and informed her she was a "badass" - the redhead wasn't sure what to make of it, but she laughed anyway.

There was something about the charm and wit Chloe couldn't resist and if she was being honest from the moment the other woman called her back to the bar less than an hour ago Chloe had already decided she wasn't going home.

The vodka was going down smoothly, along with their conversation. It seemed Beca had a quick retort for everything and Chloe never missed a beat.

"So how long have you worked here?" the redhead asked.

"Too long, but being your own boss has its perks, you know?" Beca shrugged.

"Wait, you own the bar?"

"Well don't sound too surprised, will you?" Beca smirked.

Chloe was back peddling.

"No, I didn't mean like that! I just thought with you complaining about working and everything-"

"Chloe, I'm joking" Beca interrupted with a reassuring smile.

She relaxed.

"So how did owning a bar come about?"

"I used to sneak in her when I was in high school and one day it just closed down. There was talk it was going to get turned into an apartment and I just couldn't let that happen; too many memories, you know?"

Chloe hummed in agreement with a small smile and a swig of her drink.

"So I went to the bank, got a loan and the rest is history."

XXX

Chloe should really stop drinking now. She's not wasted, but she can feel the alcohol starting to affect her. Every now and then Beca places her hand on her arm, or gives her a wink when serving a customer at the other end of the bar and Chloe is beginning to over think it. If she was sober, Chloe would be convincing herself the other woman was just being friendly but right now she's entertaining the thought of mutual attraction.

Before she can refuse, Beca is already walking back to her and refilling her glass.

OK, Chloe, just one more. After all it is New Years Eve.

Remembering the occasion, she checked her phone for the time; half past eleven. No more drinking after twelve she told herself, taking the drink and stating her thanks.

"Not long off midnight now" Beca mumbled, before bringing her glass of water to her lips.

"Yeah and only three and half hours left of your shift" Chloe reminded with a smile.

"Every cloud" Beca smirked.

They fell back into easy conversation, the thought of no more alcohol quickly moving to the back of Chloe's mind.

XXX

"Oh shit!"

Chloe quickly sat up at Beca's outburst and watched the brunette comically duck under the bar. The drink in front of her was carefully moved to the side as she leaned over and gave Beca a confused look.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to hide, but you're kind of blowing my cover" Beca whisper shouted, bringing her knees up to her chest.

Chloe sat back down on her stool and pushed it closer, leaning over less discreetly this time.

"From who?"

"You see the blonde, red dress, standing next to the guy in the yellow beanie?"

The redhead scanned the bar and saw the pair matching Beca's description standing by the door.

"Yeah..." she said, noting the woman in question lock eyes with her for a second.

"Well we sort of hooked up a couple of weeks ago and now she won't leave me alone" Beca replied bitterly.

"She's pretty" Chloe thought aloud.

"Yeah and bat shit crazy. I think she might be stalking me!"

"Beca, don't you think you're being a little... Shit, she's coming over" Chloe hurried out, watching the woman steadily closing the distance between the door and the bar.

"Over here? She's coming over here now?!" Beca panicked.

Before Chloe could reply the blonde was standing next to her stool and following her line of sight.

"Beca, the ginger here basically gave you away with her lack of tact" the woman shouted, leaning over to see the brunette huddled in the corner, flashing Chloe a dirty look.

"Hi, Brooke, I didn't see you there" Beca replied sarcastically getting to her feet and brushing the dust off her black jeans.

"You said you'd call" she stated flatly, giving her a forced pout.

Chloe noted the trace of annoyance in her eyes.

"Yeah, I never said that" Beca deadpanned. "Let me just fix you a drink and we both go our separate ways and we each enjoy our New Year's" she reasoned.

Brooke took the drink Beca handed over and her fingers brushed Beca's and lingered for far too long.

"I'll see you at midnight" she winked, before returning to her friend in the beanie.

Beca blew the air from her cheeks and visibly relaxed.

"See, I wasn't making that stuff up!" Beca exclaimed at Chloe.

"She seemed... keen?" Chloe smirked, finishing the last drop of her drink.

"Keen? Keen?! She's been in here every night for two weeks" Beca almost shrieked.

Chloe laughed at her wide eyes before adding "OK, OK, she's a little bit stalkerish."

"Thank you" Beca breathed out, swatting Chloe's arm.

"So do you get a lot of stalkers then, Beca?" the redhead teased.

"I get my fair share" she shrugged nonchalantly, "I mean I am pretty great" she sighed.

Chloe couldn't help but laugh, watching the woman fix her another drink; she was beginning to lose count.

"I'm just nipping to the restroom quickly before midnight. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I missed out on watching yours and Brooke's midnight kiss" she mocked, sliding off her chair.

Beca shook her head with a smirk, "I'm totally tripling your tab at the end of the night" she joked, waving the redhead away.

XXX

Once Chloe returned it was ten minutes to twelve. Chloe had managed to twist Beca's arm into accepting her offer of a drink and the shorter woman had made a joke about "liquoring her up." Chloe had waved it off, firing off a quick retort about being a hypocrite.

XXX

"Alright, one minute until midnight!" Beca cheered. "Answer quickly; what's your New Year's resolution?" she slammed her hand on the bar for added affect.

"Um, spending next year back at home in Florida."

"Wow, Chloe, cut me deep" Beca clutched her chest dramatically.

The redhead gave her a glare, before breaking her facade with a giggle.

"What about you?" she asked excitedly.

"To escape Brooke in ten seconds!" she shouted, her voice fading over the very loud countdown it seemed the whole bar was participating in.

"8...7..."

Chloe spotted Brooke making her way over, the bright red dress catching the corner of her eye. She glanced at Beca quickly who had spotted her too.

"6...5...4..."

Brooke was less than a meter away, her steps growing wider as she fixed her eyes on a worried-looking Beca.

The brunette was quickly turning her attention back to Chloe.

"3..."

Chloe was moving her drink to the left of her for the second time that evening and leaning over the bar.

"2...1..."

She wrapped a hand around Beca's neck and pulled her closer, putting her lips on hers.

"...Happy New Year!"

Chloe felt Beca stiffen slightly, before she relaxed and tangled her fingers in her hair, pulling her closer. The applause and cheers of the bar were fading out, Brooke quickly becoming a distant memory, as Beca was deepening the kiss and working her lips over Chloe's.

The stool beneath her was rocking unsteadily bringing Chloe back to wherever Beca just took her and she pulled away slowly in favour of not falling over and taking the owner of the bar with her.

She settled back in her seat, waiting for the other woman to say something.

There was a pause.

Why did I drink those last two vodka and cokes?!

"Wow" Beca breathed out with a smile. "That was unexpected."

Chloe was trying to think of some sort of explanation as she noted Beca making eye contact with a very angry looking Brooke behind her. The brunette turned, giving an over exaggerated shrug, her signature smirk in place.

She was turning back to Chloe and leaning over the bar closer to her.

"You're going to stay here until three, right?" she asked, interlocking her index finger with Chloe's and gently tugging it.

"Um, yeah" she stuttered out.

"Good, because I totally want to do that again at the end of my shift" she winked.

Chloe tried to bite back her smile before muttering a quick "OK."

Beca was walking away to serve, before she speedily turned around, "Wait, you're not a stalker are you?"

"I guess you'll have to wait and see" Chloe teased with a laugh.

XXX

A/N 2: Oh wow, did they just kiss at midnight? God, how original of me...