I'm so glad you guys enjoyed the first bit. I'll admit I had a lot of fun writing it and imagining Chloe and Aubrey's hunt. Now as mentioned (and encouraged by you all) the flip side of the evening. This is also long but Beca's adventure got away from me while writing it out but I'm really happy with it and I sure hope you are.
ENJOY!
The group was gathered around in the bar. Now that Jesse had finally managed to get Beca there, the gang of Barden alums circled around. Beca tried not to roll her eyes at the atmosphere of the hole in the wall they decided would house "her" party. It was so cliché it was painful.
Kenny Loggins blared through the room as she thought on the fact that this party wasn't really for her at all; if they wanted to do something for her, they would've let her stay at home. Throwing a party for Chloe made sense. The other woman, her fiancé, was a social creature. She enjoyed going out with friends and letting loose whereas Beca was definitely the opposite. She only ever really went to these types of things for Chloe. Tonight being no exception, up to the moment Jesse and Aubrey came to pick up the couple and take them to their respective get togethers, Beca tried to cancel. But, as always, Chloe was able to get her to reluctantly walk out the door.
"Danger zone!" she heard Jesse sing along as he returned to their group, a gathering of shot glasses precariously held between his hands, "Beca's going right into the danger zone!"
He smiled his big beaming smile, thinking he'd done something special, "Get it? Marriage: the ultimate danger zone."
"Your wit never ceases to impress," she remarked dryly, one eyebrow lifting just enough to convey that she meant no real insult.
He continued to grin as he made sure to give as he made sure to give a glass to everyone before leaving only two in his hands. He held one out for the woman of the hour.
"Dude, no," she tried, "I don't want to get messed up tonight. I've got kind of a big day tomorrow?"
"Oh you got plans tomorrow?" he asked jokingly, earning a light punch to his arm which only had him laughing, "Easy there Rocky. You're not getting married at the crack of dawn. You'll have all kinds of time to be all fresh and cleaned up. Plus, you know your number one aca-fella is looking out for you tonight."
Beca rolled her eyes at his self-given nickname, which he still pulled out even after they'd graduated. After a few moments of insistence she gave in and reached for a glass.
"Ok everyone!" Jesse spoke loudly, getting the attention of their gathering, ignoring his friend's protest of 'Dude, don't!' to get everyone's attention, "I want to propose a toast to get the party started. Now we all know how much Beca loves attention," the comment got some chuckles and Cynthia Rose gave the brunette a playful nudge, "So I'll go ahead and do this in a way Beca's most comfortable with …short."
More chuckles came while the woman he teased gave him the finger even while grinning.
"Seriously though, tomorrow we celebrate the love of an amazing couple, but tonight we're all here for one half of that couple. Don't tell Chloe, but my favorite half. So everyone lift 'em up," they all did so, including Beca, "and throw 'em back…Beca Mitchell!"
"Beca Mitchell!" the member of their part repeated and Beca shyly lifted her own glass towards them in response.
The night, and the party, progressed with everyone finding their own ways to entertain themselves that didn't include surrounding the soon-to-be-wed woman. Beca found herself at the bar with Jesse sitting beside her, a small collection of empty glasses and bottles in front of them.
Jesse laughed as he watched his friend finish writing on her inner arm; the sleeves that were rolled up having been pushed even further upwards until she completed it. He craned his neck to read the message before the woman allowed the sleeve to fall back down a bit, half covering the markings.
"Overkill, don't you think?"
Beca scoffed.
"Remember junior year? That stupid party you dragged me to and then disappeared on me. I ended up being poked awake by a cop in the park. I was too trashed to give them any contact information and got stuck in the drunk tank."
Jesse laughed at the memory as he signaled for more drinks. Beca was already way beyond the point she wanted to be to keep a clear head for the night, but did nothing to protest his order as her judgement was definitely beginning to leave her.
"Let's play a game," he declared, and got a groan from his friend who put her head on the bar top for a moment before the slightly sticky texture made her pull right back up.
"I don't want to play a game. I want to go home, or better yet to my fiancé. Can you just tell me where they are?
"Nope, not time yet," he declared as their next round was set in front of them, "Now let's play. Let's play…Plead the Fifth."
"The hell is that?" she asked, already beginning to drink what was given to her.
"I ask you three questions, you can only plead the fifth to not answer on one of them. Once you do, you can't use it again and have to answer whatever I ask."
"Can you tell me the questions all at once and let me decide then?"
"No, one at a time," his answer got another groan.
"That's stupid."
"Shut up, it'll be fun," he drummed his hands on the bar for a moment with excitement as he came up with his first question, "First question…where's the weirdest place you and Chloe have ever done the deed?"
Beca choked a bit on her drink in surprise.
"Dude!"
"You can plead the fifth, but then you have to answer whatever else I ask."
Beca groaned and took another big drink with Jesse already calling for another.
"So what's going to be?"
She mumbled something Jesse couldn't hear, "What was that?"
She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, "The Treble bus, ok."
Jesse had to stop himself from spitting out his beer.
"What? When? I can't-What?"
"Are those your next questions?" she asked, laughing at the combination of his reaction plus the alcohol taking effect.
"I just-I…the Treble bus? Really?"
Beca grinned wildly, a spark alighting in her eyes, "Oh yeah."
Jesse shuddered, "I rode on that bus. I slept on that bus. Oh my God, I ate on the bus!"
She snickered at him and shrugged, drinking some more.
"Ok, um, wow, give me a second," he said trying to think of his next question while still trying to get over his shock at the information, "How about…what does Chloe do that annoys you the most?"
"I'll plead the fifth on that one, for sure," she remarked, "I'm not answering that. Don't need it getting out to your girlfriend. You can't keep anything from her."
"Alright, fair," he began, wanting to pick a good one for the final questions since she wouldn't be able to deny answering it. After a moment, he came up with it, "What made you decide to ask Chloe to marry you?"
Beca scoffed, "Easy, they legalized it, dude."
"I'm serious," he declared, pushing another drink towards her, hoping to diminish whatever filter might still be present and keeping her from divulging the personal story, "What was the moment you knew?"
The woman sighed, "It's stupid," she mumbled picking at the label on the bottle.
"Come on, Becaw, it's me."
Wiping her hand over her face, she clicked her tongue and slumped back in the seat.
"A couple years ago, I-"
"A couple years?" his expression matching the surprise in his voice.
"Do you want to hear this or not?" Jesse held up his hands in apology.
"Alright, so a couple years ago, I had this nightmare one night; a bad one, like real messed up shit. The kind where you know you're asleep, but can't completely wake up and pull yourself out, you know?"
She paused, feeling the memory clearly, even as her mind continued to blur.
"And then Chloe, she…she reached out and wrapped her arm around me and pulled me close and she said," Beca could help the smile that tugged on her lips, "She said, 'I've got you,' and that was it."
"That was it?" Jesse asked, "Just like that?"
"Just like that," she nodded, "The next day I told her I had a last minute meeting at the label, went and got a ring instead."
"You're lying," Jesse accused leaning back in his chair, "You're messing with me; telling me some film worthy scene to make fun of me."
She shook her head, letting out a drunken giggle.
"True," she declared, then looked around, "Do you think they have tacos her?"
"Wait, wait, that doesn't make sense. If this happened years ago, how come you didn't ask until eight months ago?"
"Nerves, dude," she answered obviously, "Took me that long to work up the courage."
"Really? Why so long?"
" 'Cause she's Chloe!" she replied with emphasis, "She's so amazing and pretty and sweet and smart and pretty and she smells like apples and there's this noise she makes when we're-"
"Bup-Bup-Bup! That's enough!" he declared holding his hands just away from his ears in preparation to cover them if he had to, "I don't need to know about that. Here, you finish this for me. I'm going to bathroom, and when I come back, we're talking about something else."
Beca gave him half a wave as she finished her drink and then started on his. Her mind was all wrapped up in her previous train of thought. All the ways she loved the redhead; all the reasons Chloe was way out of her league. She had no idea how long she sat there, her mind filled with thoughts and images of her fiancé, a title she still hadn't really gotten used to that would soon be replaced by a new one.
She grinned to herself thinking about it.
Wife. Chloe was going to be her wife.
A new drink was in front of Beca without her ordering it. Jesse wasn't back yet; she wondered if one of the others asked for it. Before she could look around or question it, a new voice spoke up from the previously empty seat on the other side of her.
"Looked like you could use a fresh one."
A middle aged woman with features too blurred to make out was beside her.
"Thanks," she mumbled as she grabbed the new drink and started in on it; judgement and clear thinking nowhere close to where she was anymore to tell her to stop.
After a few moments, Beca felt a strange tickling feeling on her right arm. Looking down, she furrowed her brow in confusion as she saw the stranger's finger trailing up and down forearm.
Well that's a weird thing to do to someone.
"What?" Beca asked, realizing the woman had been speaking.
At the question, though the drunk girl couldn't see it, the older woman's flirtatious smile faltered a bit before she put it back on.
"I was just noticing that you're a left," she nodded to Beca's left hand as it held her drink, "Don't think I've ever had the pleasure of first-hand experience seeing what a lefty can do. Would you like to show me?"
She added an extra purr to her voice and used her nails to give a light scratch to the movements on her arm. Beca pulled her arm up to rub her other palm over the area that now tickled a bit as she answered with a shrug.
"Do the same stuff everyone else does, just with my left."
The woman sighed and deflated a before trying a new method which involved leaning forward to make sure her cleavage was well visible. As she did so, she noticed the numbers poking out from beneath the sleeve.
"Oh, looks like someone got here first."
"Huh?"
"This here," she touched her finger to the 4, "who's the lucky one with this number?"
Beca grinned, "M'lucky. She's so…" she trailed off and leaned her head on her hand with a chuckle, "Don't tell Aubrey I said this, but she did give me a toner, even back then. Every day."
"What, like, she works in your office or something?" the woman asked confused why she was talking about toner.
"Office?" Beca repeated and laughed, "She's not an officer. She's…She's my Bella. Mmm, my Bella."
Beca ran her fingers across the number reverently, pressing down too hard and smudging it a bit.
"No, damn it!" she groaned, "It's smudged. S'all messed up now!"
The flirtatious woman looked over and shrugged.
"It's barely anything," she noted, "It's fine."
"It's permanent marker," she complained of the utensil she'd reached over and stole from behind the bar, "Why-Why's it called permamanent if it smudges?"
"Permanent on paper sweetheart," she remarked, "Only one way something like that stays on skin. It looks to me like you're no stranger to ink."
Beca looked at her arm, she followed the line of numbers on her inner arm, trailing her eyes down to where her most recent tattoo was; a 'C' on her inner wrist she'd had done as part of her first anniversary gift to Chloe. Her fiancé had been over the moon. Beca doing something so permanent had her girlfriend crying tears of happiness.
Because it was permanent!
Beca suddenly got off the stool, knees buckling at first, nearly causing her to knock over her seat. The stranger grabbed her arm to steady her, she said something but Beca didn't pay any attention, only muttering, "Gotta go."
The brunette stumbled a bit on her way out of the bar, nearly falling on her face as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. She wandered a few feet but it felt like a lot more to her unsteady steps and tilting perspective.
A lit up sign caught her attention. Her boots thumping awkwardly as she walked up to it. Her lip curled when she realized what she was looking at. With a smirk, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the marker.
She wasn't sure how much longer it was when she finally found herself where she wanted to be. The bell rang over her head and she blinked a few times in the new light. A tall man came to the counter to greet her.
"What can I do for you?" he asked and Beca closed the distance to the glass counter.
"Yeah, I need you to…I'd like one tattoo please," she fumbled the request out.
He chuckled, "Sorry lady, I can't help you."
"No, dude, look," she started, touching her hand to her forehead to try clearing her thoughts, "I need it, in case- and I've already did half the work for you. Just need you to trace it."
"I'm sorry, but you've got to be sober to get inked in my shop."
"Dude, I've never been more sober!" Beca tried to argue. Shed her arms out wide, "I'll walk a line for you so great you'll think I'm Johnny Cash."
"Yeah, sure," he dismissed, "Still not helping you."
"C'mon man, just look at it," she grabbed the end of her sleeve and began to pull it up to show what she'd written.
"Don't make me throw you out, ok?" he said, really not wanting to have to get forceful with a woman; and such a little one at that.
"Fine!" she accepted with irritation, "You're just a Luke knockoff anyway!"
"Yeah, I don't know what that means," he replied dryly, having no idea who Luke was that she'd apparently compared him to.
She started to stomp out the door and he was just about to turn back to what he was doing when she came back suddenly.
"Wait."
"What?" her voice sounding more urgent.
"Did you get that Johnny Cash thing I said earlier?"
"Out," he pointed at the door.
"Fine!"
She was tired of walking and tired of being out where stupid non-Luke's wouldn't help her and weird ladies thought left-handed people couldn't do the same as right-handed people. She was just tired all around. The brunette wanted to go home and cuddle up with Chloe. But she didn't know where Chloe was. She dropped down to sit on the curb in a huff, wishing she knew where the beautiful redhead was.
She shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and looked down at it when she felt her phone in it. Pulling it out, she mentally criticized herself for being so empty headed.
She should just call her! Duh!
Beca looked at her screen, squinting for a long time as she tried to make out the little letters on the keyboard for her password. She couldn't decipher anything on the screen well enough to enter anything. Remembering the feature on her phone that she had previously called pointless, Beca pushed down on her home button until she heard the automated voice ask what she wanted to do.
"I need you to call…call her Chloe."
The phone beeped and the voice came again – Siri! That's what they called this thing, Beca randomly remembered.
'You want to make a call?'
"Yeah call Chloe," she repeated herself.
'I'm sorry I don't understand Calc Lowy.'
"What?" Beca spoke with surprised annoyance, not able to recognize how her voice slurred as she tried to make her command, "That's not even a thing. Call Chloe!"
'I'm sorry I couldn't find Kirby in your contacts.'
"Because that's not a person!" she hollered giving the phone a shake and pushed the button once more, "Call Chloe you piece of shit!"
'Ok, here's the number for Pierce County Cabs. Would you like me to call?'
Beca stared at the phone in confusion. She had no idea how what she had said became that. Then again, she could use a cab; it would be nice not to walk anymore and would make it easier to get to Chloe. Connecting the call, she heard the phone ring twice before a woman picked up.
"Hi," she cleared her throat, hoping to not sound as drunk as she clearly was, "Yes I need a cab. Please. Where? Oh um…d'you know the billboard with that bearded chicken guy? He's like a captain? Colonel! You're right! Yeah, so um, he's on a billboard, looking like he's got some secret and he judging-what? Oh, street signs."
She looked around and stood up, walking over to the sign at the intersection. She lifted her phone up to it for extra light and was eventually able to make enough guesses that the woman figured out what she meant.
"Garland! Like Judy!" she remarked, excited because it seemed she was finally getting somewhere, "Hey if I said to you I could walk a line so good you'd think I'm Johnny Cash, you'd get it, right?" she paused as the woman responded to her question with a question and then answered, "A few drinks, yeah. How'd you know?"
A short while passed with Beca sitting on the curb again, this time moving her fingers deliberately as if she were playing piano and humming the notes for each invisible key. A car soon pulled up and slowed to a stop in front of where she sat. The woman rose to her feet as the window rolled down and the man driving spoke.
"You called for a cab?"
Beca eyed him suspiciously and held out her hand as if trying to ensure he couldn't come any closer; though he made no move to get out of the car.
"How'd you know?" she asked with a paranoid accusation in her tone.
"I'm the cab," he replied, gesturing to the car he sat in.
"Oh," Beca voiced and hurriedly went to the door, "Thank God, you can take me to Chloe."
"Yeah, sure, wherever you want," he agreed, having dealt with his fair share of drunks, "Come on in."
She happily climbed in the back and he waited until she got settled before looking back over his shoulder and through the partition.
"Where to?"
"I told you; to Chloe," she spoke with finality.
"Well, you have to tell me where she is first," he said with a chuckle.
Beca's happiness crashed down and she slumped back against the seat.
"But I don't…" she paused, "they didn't tell me where they were taking her."
"Oh," the man voiced, speculating now on what kind of situation he found himself in the middle of.
Beca felt deflated. She didn't know where she was. All she wanted to was to see her in front of her; to be able to reach out and touch her skin. She was about to ask him to just take her home when she, for some reason, remembered something.
She thought of being home with Chloe; the way the high spirited woman would always pop into the shower when Beca was in there. Since that first shower intrusion years ago, it became something of a thing with them. Especially after they moved in together two years earlier. Beca would eye her as she walked in with one brow lifted while Chloe would just shrug with a spark in her eyes and say they were saving on the water bill.
"Shower," she said suddenly, and then tapped excitedly on the partition, "Take me to the shower."
"Ok," he agreed, "What's your address?"
"No," she shook her head, "Not home. The shower; the closest shower. I need to get in one now."
"Alright, calm down. I'll find you a shower," he declared, driving down the road.
Beca spent the ride looking at her phone's locked background. She was trying to trace Chloe's face but her finger kept trying to slide the screen as she misjudged how much pressure she was putting on it. She was so focused on what she was doing she didn't realize they'd stopped until the driver spoke up.
"Oh!" she said setting her phone on the seat and looking out the window for a moment before getting out, ready to run inside to get to the nearest shower.
"Hey!" he called out to her from his window, stopping the woman mid-run, "$22.50."
"Oh yeah," she put her hands in her jacket pocket and pulled out the bills she had in there. She tried to count but again her inebriated eyesight betrayed her. Holding the money out to him, she asked, "IS this it?"
He took it and spoke after flipping through the cash, "This is eighteen dollars."
"Right," she said with a nod and turned to go until he spoke, once more.
"No, not right," he corrected, "You need about five more."
"Oh, ok," Beca clumsily forced her hand into the tight pocket of her skinny jeans where she remembered putting her change from the grocery that morning.
She grabbed what she felt in there but with her hand clasped around it in a fist, was having trouble pulling it out. She let out a few quiet grunts as she tried to tug her hand and money out; not making the connection that she had to adjust her method of holding it to do so. A few of the more forceful tugs actually had her nearly lose balance as her hips were jerked forward by them.
"Forget it," he remarked after watching the struggle for far too long, "Just…go. Enjoy your shower or whatever."
He drove off, leaving Beca to go inside the brightly lit building he'd brought her to.
"Hello, how are you tonight?" a perky woman seemed to come out of nowhere to ask her. She wore a black shirt with a logo on the chest.
"Um…" Beca wondered, still partially distracted by her fight with her pocket, "Shower?"
"Sure, we do have showers in our locker rooms," she informed as she pointed to the sign marking the room she spoke about.
"Awesome."
"Are you a member?" the woman asked, stepping in front of Beca as she attempted to take a step.
"No. What? No, I just," still tugging at her fist and looking down at the offending material as she spoke, "I just need the shower please."
"Ooh, I'm sorry," she didn't sound sorry, "Member's only."
Beca groaned with frustration and exhaustion.
"Listen, I –" her words were cut off as her hand was finally pulled loose with more force than she'd intended, a small shower of coins flying across the lobby with a chorus of clatter.
The woman squeaked in alarm, looking at the mess that had scattered across the floor and, in some cases, under the machines.
"What the hell was …" she started to ask, stopping when she saw Beca was gone.
The woman rolled her eyes and went towards the locker room; not having seen which way the weird woman went but she needed to double check before she just assumed she'd left. She walked in, first checking the showers as it was obviously her destination when she came in. Not seeing anyone there, she did a quick walkthrough of the rest of the locker room before grumbling about drunks as she walked back out.
Once the employee was gone, a lower level locker opened and Beca poked her head out from the inside. Seeing the coast was clear, she snickered to herself as she crawled out gracelessly.
"Score one for the little people," she praised herself as she got out and got to her feet with more effort than normal.
She trailed a hand along the lockers, and then the wall, for balance as she made her way to the curtained stalls. She practically fell to the floor once she was in one. She tried to get back up to undress and turn on the water, but she only stumbled back down to the tile. With a groan, she leaned back and spoke to herself, "Ok, down here's good."
She was waiting for a while, looking up anytime she heard someone walk into the locker room; expecting the curtain to slide across and an angelic face to pop in with that same spark in her eye. She began to hum to keep herself entertained as she attempted to wait patiently.
At one point the curtain was pulled open and a woman she didn't know had taken a half-step into the shower without realizing someone else was in there.
"No," Beca declared; making the woman jump and finally notice what was in front of her. Beca only continued, "No, you can't be in here! Only Chloe. You're, you're not Chloe. You're not allowed to share showers with me."
The woman hurried away in shock. Beca had thought she had settled that, but then the curtain was moved once more and it was the mean woman who worked there and a tall man wearing an identical shirt.
"Ma'am, you need to come out," he ordered unkindly.
"I came out years ago," Beca remarked, "What about you?"
Her remark obviously flustered him a bit before his face hardened, "You need to leave the premises before I call the police."
"Call the police," Beca challenged, standing up with a dangerous wobble to lean against the wall in front of him and clutch the curtain with her opposite hand, "…call the police 'n when they come'll tell them that a male employee was in the ladies room while I was in the shower."
The threat was a mess of slurs and odd timing, but she was pretty confident she got the point across.
"Now go way!" she ordered, "I'm waiting for Chloe!"
"If she's got any sense she'll stay far away from you," he spat, patience nonexistent.
Angrily, Beca got in his face, "You don't know what you're talkin' bout. You don't know her and you can't talk about her! She's gonna come, you wait."
The man rolled his eyes at the drunk.
"Whatever," he put his hands up, "I'm calling the police."
"Go ahead!" Beca hollered pulling the curtain closed once again and tripping back to the floor, "She'll come. She always comes."
She was in the middle of Titanium, hoping it would bring her girl to her just like it had the first time. She kept mixing up the verses and having to start over, but she was determined. But soon…soon, sounding like an angel singing along with her…there she was. It took Beca a moment when she looked up to believe she wasn't seeing things.
It was really her.
It was her.
"Chloe!"
Beca went to hug her, not realizing the way she'd basically tackled her fiancé and nearly sent them both crashing to the hard tile floor. She was aware that she was talking, but was not one hundred percent sure what she was saying. She was too busy wrapping her arms around her and burrowing against her. Chloe!
"Here I am," Chloe spoke in response; apparently Beca had said something at out loud. The redhead swiped a lock of disheveled hair out of Beca's face, "You ok, sweetie?"
Beca only pushed herself into Chloe again, taking a deep breath at her neck; apples.
"I missed you," she spoke with a breathy reverence, trying to push herself even closer to the girl, though it wasn't at all possible.
She had no idea how it happened, but suddenly, Beca was lying down looking up at the familiar ceiling of their shared bedroom. She didn't remember coming home, but here she was. Her droopy eyes caught Chloe's; they were bright even in the dark.
She was so lucky.
Reaching out, she took Chloe's hand, immediately feeling her respond with a light grip of her own.
"Chloe," she began, waiting until Chloe responded before going on.
There was so much she wanted to say. She wanted to tell her that she was her everything. She was her home. Money, music, friends, family…if it all went away tomorrow, Beca would be just fine as long as she had Chloe's hand in hers.
She wanted to tell her that she didn't know how she lived before Chloe; that she didn't think she'd even really been breathing until that first gasp of breath that came when seeing those electric eyes the first time.
But instead of saying all that, Beca only smiled sleepily and spoke, a simpler truth.
"I can't wait to marry you."
She caught a glimpse of her smile before falling asleep.
Hope you liked it! Let me know...or don't, I mean I can't tell you how to live your life.
