Cardio

There were times when Chloe felt as though she had Beca all figured out and then there were other times; times were she had no idea what had just happened.

Chloe was sat on the end of Beca's bed in her dorm room, her eyes scanning the pages of the opened text books and note book sitting on the mattress around her. Studying at the library could be distracting at times, so on occasions she would knock on Beca's door. Much like those times, the redhead had packed up her things at the library and made her way to Beca's with her books and two cups of coffee. Like Beca had done those times before, the younger woman greeted her with a smile and welcomed her inside, before taking a sip from the paper cup.

But this time was different.

Chloe had been distracted all evening and visiting Beca had only made it worse. They got lost in conversation until Beca had raised her eyebrow and pointed at Chloe's note pad, "Are you going to actually do some studying?"

Beca's tone was playful; the light swat to her shoulder only proved that further.

"Yeah, but I can't focus, you're distracting" she grinned, letting her head flop down onto the bed with a quiet thud.

In reflection, it was probably those words that led to Chloe sitting here alone, confused and unsure.

Getting to know Beca was unlike anything Chloe had ever experienced before; it was a slow process that Chloe thought she was beginning to understand. She tread with cautious steps, careful not to stray too far from the marked path. Beca had a habit of shutting people out and Chloe was no exception, until the redhead began to understand the dance to Beca's complicated and out of synch tune.

The shift on the mattress forced Chloe to lift her head up again and look at Beca.

Beca's smirk had disappeared and was replaced by a light blush and a forced glare, "Well, just focus harder…" Beca stuttered with a tap to one of the opened textbooks, "…on the books."

Chloe always enjoyed Beca's nervous twitches and reddened cheeks; it seemed teasing Beca until she was flustered was almost a sport. Sometimes Chloe thought Beca was growing accustomed to it but as of late, the smallest action or implied sentence would make her crumble into an adorable stammering mess.

Beca was leaning back on her pillow and disappearing behind the screen of her laptop again - an obvious attempt to escape the redhead's stare - which only caused Chloe's smile to stretch wider. In one swift motion, Chloe was no longer laying on her stomach and moving to kneel in front of the woman tapping at the keys on her laptop, before she rested her chin on Beca's knee.

Beca let out a loud sigh as she closed the lid and was met with Chloe's mischievous smile, "And what if I don't?" she teased.

The quick drop of Beca's knees caused Chloe to falter slightly; too eager to hear the DJ's response. The action caused Beca to smirk, as her legs straightened out on the duvet. If Chloe was distracted before, the fact that she was now positioned in between her hot-only-growing-hotter best friend's legs didn't help.

What should have been a roll of the eyes or a jumbled reply was replaced by a bold action on Beca's part; or perhaps Chloe considered it a bold one due to her developing crush. Beca was bending her knees slightly, allowing her feet to push together and move Chloe closer. Without hesitation, Chloe was shuffling even closer, shamelessly letting her eyes drag down to Beca's lips for a second too long.

It was then Beca was leaning and inching her face even closer, the mischievous grin Chloe was once wearing had disappeared and had been newly acquired onto Beca's lips.

Chloe was so engrossed in the moment and Beca's proximity, she was sure time must have stood still. Beca was still easing forward and it could have been Chloe's imagination, but she was certain Beca's eyes flickered to her own lips too.

From the corner of her eye, Chloe could see Beca's hand moving to her face, almost as if she was about to cup her cheek. Her heart was already drumming in her chest and her mind suddenly convinced itself this was the moment Beca had finally picked up on her signals.

Without any more thought, Chloe was closing the gap, no longer able to surpass her desire to know how Beca's lips tasted. Before she knew it, she had met Beca in the middle, letting her eyes slowly close the second their lips brushed together.

The kiss wasn't heated or passionate like she had imagined it. It lasted a mere four seconds, before Beca's hand was clamping down on Chloe's shoulder and pushing her away. Amidst the confusion and panic, Chloe had quickly moved further down the bed, granting Beca her space. The younger woman hadn't even looked Chloe in the eye before announcing she had to leave, rushing out of her dorm and slamming the door on her way out.

Chloe had been so sure Beca was going to kiss her, she hadn't even stopped to peruse other options. The frantic look in Beca's eyes had been playing on a never ending loop in Chloe's mind for the best part of twenty minutes. She was still sat on the bed, afraid to move in case she bumped into Beca on her walk home. The thought of being here when Beca returned set her into motion and she was quickly gathering her books and dropping them into her bag.

She wasn't even a quarter of the way through her walk across campus until the tears were stinging her eyes and trickling down her cheeks.

How could she have been so stupid? She knew Beca better than anyone at Barden, of course she wasn't going to kiss Chloe back, never mind actually initiate it. Her steps were growing more hurried, unable to ignore the need to get home and give outlet to her emotions in the safe space of her own bedroom.

The rest of the evening was spent crying and berating herself for getting lost in the moment. At first she felt hurt and rejected, but that quickly developed into fear; a fear that she had scared Beca away, or even worse; she had taken advantage of her. Aubrey had told her she was being ridiculous but Chloe knew Beca better than the blonde did, right?

Time went on and Beca was still yet to attend a Bella's rehearsal. At first, Chloe was worried something might have happened; other than the huge misjudged kiss situation, but Stacie had informed everyone Beca was still attending her classes.

The fear and hurt only amplified after that.

"Chlo, you need to try to forget about it and move on."

The redhead knew Aubrey was only trying to help, but it only made her feel worse. Chloe had pulled herself off the couch and retreated to her bedroom, doing everything in her power to avoid her best friend's pending advice.

A couple of nights later, Aubrey had barged into her room with a tub of ice cream and an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry" she offered with the wave of a spoon.

"For someone who hates cardio, Beca Mitchell sure does a lot of running away."

XXX

A/N: Kermit meme: "Hey, Amy, why don't you write a really shit and uneventful one shot right now."

"Nah, I'm good."

"Do it, do it now."

"Ah shit, OK."

…