Chapter Three

Beca POV

"Do you like what you see Mitchell?" I hurriedly looked up to see Chloe's face turned back towards my own, a smirk playing across her lips. I gulped and blushed. Geez Beca, pull yourself together.
"Well come on!" Chloe raced back towards me and once again grabbed my hand.
Before I knew it we were heading towards the rest of the Bella's.

The party was going amazingly. All the Bella's were together, all the aca-people were together; minus Jesse, he went home straight after our conversation.
I felt terrible, I was letting him down so much, I needed to stop shutting him out.
It was a strange thing really, I was always pushing away the people I was scared of losing; which probably explains why I haven't been able to muster up the courage to talk to Chloe yet.
Perhaps I could organise a whole day to spend with Jesse next weekend, just to show him how much I care... I can't lose him.

I was cut from my thoughts by a hard slap on my ass and Fat Amy hollering at me,
"MITCHELL!" She placed an arm around my shoulders and gave me her token cheesy grin.
"So, tell me, why have you been so elusive lately?" She quirked her eyebrow up at me in a joking matter.
"could there potentially be a little bit of trouble in paradise?" She gently squeezed my shoulder, "C'mon, spill, let Fat Amy ease your troublesome worries."

"I uh..." I looked down, suddenly finding some very interesting patterns in the pavement beside the pool. I didn't want to spend my whole night talking about how I'm totally freaking out right now.

"Look," Fat Amy spoke up,
"could a certain red head have anything to do with this?" She looked down at me with an inquisitive look, I couldn't do anything to stop the heat that rose all the way up my chest and onto my cheeks; there for all to see. I was confused above all else. I knew what she was implying, but it was almost like my brain couldn't process it.

"I uh, um, it- no, it's not- Jesse- Chloe just-" before I could get anymore words out I was spun around by the devil herself, Chloe had a drink in her hand and I don't think it was the first one. Her eyes were struggling to focus on my own and she was leaning in very close; my heart began to race.

"BECA! My girrrrl!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me in closer again, I looked back towards Fat Amy to see her winking at me knowingly; I gulped.
"You smell really good by the way," Chloe whispered into my ear, her words slurring ever so slightly. My stomach began to tingle and I shivered at the feeling of her breath in my ear.

"I uh- thanks." I didn't know what to say, I don't know how she suddenly had such a hold over me. All I could think was that I absolutely loved the way she smelt too, I couldn't explain it, it was just all her, and to be honest I think that's the main reason why I liked it so much.
I looked up at her to see a look in her eyes I hadn't seen before.

"Oh, you are very welcome," Chloe squeezed my hands and the same tingles I felt before came shooting back through my arm. Argh, stupid emotions, stupid feelings!
She looked down at me for a little while longer, almost like she was trying to put a puzzle together. Her intense and piercing blue eyes slid up and down my body momentarily. She swallowed, swaying slightly, I couldn't tell if it was from the alcohol or from something else...
Chloe shook herself off from whatever daze she just experienced,
"C'mon B, come dance with us", Chloe pulled me over towards the Bella's who were now all dancing together.

The night was going by fast, the drinks were flowing and the beats were pumping.
Lily and I were busting a move to Run DMC. I looked over to see Bumper booty shaking onto Fat Amy, I laughed to myself; If those two don't end up together there would be something seriously wrong with this world

My eyes scanned through the crowd before landing on Emily, who was just finished talking to Benji, they both looked a little nervous. I smirked, Benji was a good guy and just by seeing the way he spoke to her I could tell he had a bit of a crush. I would have to ask Jesse about it later.

I think I owed it to her to make up for my heinous introduction earlier.
She spotted me and gave a small smile, I indicated with my hand that she should come over and join Lily and I in our corny dance fest. Her eyes lit up and she began to walk over towards us.

"Hey," Emily looked over at us a little nervously, which was totally understandable being her first night with the Bellas.

"Hey, Emily, I'm really sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to palm you off like that."

"Oh no, it's fine, I understand, I just caught you at a bad time that's all." She gave a little smile and I couldn't help but smile back.

"So how are you liking the Bellas so far? I mean I know it's only been what- a couple hours at most." We both chuckled. Emily's eyes glanced over the rest of the Bellas and then over the whole party; everyone was dancing by the pool.

"In all honesty it's everything I imagined and then some, I mean, like you said, it's only been a few hours, but I think you guys are amazing and I really think we can totally smash worlds." Her smile was contagious, although it didn't quite reach my eyes.
Worlds was a whole different problem, all the girls were so invested into the World Championships and I was scared to let them down, I was ashamed to be thinking about my life after the Bellas and I couldn't understand why.

"What's up Pitches!?" Stacie yelled as she threw her arms around Emily's and my shoulders, she was closely followed by Chloe and the rest of the Bellas; minus Fat Amy who had suspiciously disappeared soon after finding Bumper.
Stacie planted a huge kiss on my cheek and quickly squeezed my ass, I couldn't help but give a little yelp. Stacie chuckled at me and removed her arm from shoulder, apparently she had a bit to drink tonight as well, it looks like the Bellas house is going to pumping tomorrow morning, I thought to myself sarcastically.
"You see that fine specimen over there Beca?" Stacie pointed out a guy who I had only really seen a couple times around campus.

"Yeah?" I looked at the guy and back at her.

"I'm going to unleash the hunter on him tooooo-night! WOO!" And just like that she had vanished into the crowd. Cynthia-Rose's eyes followed her away, before she too disappeared into the crowd.

Before I could blink everyone had disappeared again, I sighed.
Jessica and Ashley had already gone home a little earlier, Lily had disappeared to I-have-no-idea-where and Emily was dancing with Benji and Flo. That just left me and Chloe standing there together.

I looked over at Chloe, to find her already staring at me, my heart fluttered.
Her eyes were completely glazed over and she seemed to be struggling to stand on her own two feet. Her mouth was wearing her token smirk, the one that made my stomach flip and my cheeks go hot.

"Oh hey there Beca," The words were slurring from her lips more so than before.
"It looks like it's just you and me now." Just as she was about to take a step forward she lost her footing, I only just managed to catch her before she face planted it into the pavement.
"My knight in shining armor!" Chloe threw the back of her hand to her forehead, pretending to be a damsel in distress. I couldn't help but chuckle she was just too cute.

With her arms still around me, Chloe laid her head onto my shoulder. My insides exploded at the contact, my heart was racing like never before, I felt like I couldn't breathe.
What was happening to me?
Her smell was so overpowering and it was driving me insane. Chloe nuzzled her face away from my shoulder and towards my chest, I could feel the flutter in my stomach start to travel downwards and I panicked.
I gently guided her off of me and got her balancing on her feet. She looked a little bit disappointed.

"Hey miss drunk-y, why don't we get you home and into bed? What do you say?" I didn't let go of her hands, just in case she fell over again, well at least that's what I kept telling myself.

"Only if you join me, Beca Mitchell." She swayed and smirked at me again. I squirmed under her watchful gaze. What had come over her? Did she know about my crazy feelings? I was sure I didn't give anything away. I mean, I know my eyes linger on her longer than they should sometimes, but she has never caught me; I don't think she has anyway.
I gulped. Wait? Does this mean that she has feelings for me as well? Wait? What? Does this mean I have feelings for my best friend? My heart started pumping a million miles an hour and for a moment I completely forgot about Jesse, all I could think about was the girl standing in front of me.
No, don't be stupid Beca, of course she doesn't have feelings for you, she is straight. She's just being her usual flirty self which is obviously increased due to the alcohol that she as consumed.
I felt a strange sense of rejection with that thought and tried to brush it off as much as I could.

I leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"Come on you." I chuckled and put her arm around my shoulder before heading back to the Bellas house.

I managed to get Chloe up the stairs and into her room, she immediately began stripping down to her underwear. I clenched my jaw and turned around to give her some privacy before my body could take control of my feelings again. I both love and hate the confidence that girl has with her body.

I was just about to reach the room that I share with Fat Amy, praying that she wasn't in there with Bumper.

Just before I wrapped my hand around the door handle, I felt a hand gently grab onto my shoulder. I turned around to see Chloe standing before me still in her underwear.
I gulped. Don't look down Beca, Don't look down.

"Chlo-" Chloe put her finger against my mouth, her other hand still on my shoulder to give her balance.
"I know you're stressed B, and I know you're still trying get your footing with all of this."
Chloe looked me over in a way that she never had before and for the first time I felt slightly self-conscious in front of her.
Her eyes shot back up towards my own, she swayed a little.
My heart was racing like never before, my whole body was hot, I couldn't breathe.
I chanced a look down at her beautiful body. She was wearing matching silky deep blue panties that hugged and showed all the right places, the colour matched her hair extraordinarily. Her skin was pale and smooth and her body was toned and gorgeous.
I felt my hands twitch and clenched them at my sides, my throat tightened.

I heard Chloe clear her throat and my eyes looked up to meet her own. One of her eyebrows was raised, she had caught me staring. I started to feel a bit dizzy.
Oh gosh, I can't believe she just caught me, I started to panic again.
Chloe just smirked and gently placed her other hand on the side of my face, her thumb gently brushing over my cheek.

"I- I just want you to know," Chloe's voice was low and steady as she began to lean in. Her face was only a few centimeters from my own, I couldn't believe this was happening.
"I just want you to know, how much I care about you Beca Mitchell, I will always, always be here for you."

And with that her face closed the gap and her soft lips were gently pressing on my own. My heart officially exploded and I was too stunned to do anything other than stand there completely still.

In that moment I knew that I was falling for my best friend, and there was nothing I could do about it.
But wait? Does this mean she feels the same way?

Just before my mind had a breakdown Chloe pulled away, she looked at me, smiled a beautiful smile, like I was the only the girl in the whole world, and walked back to her room.

What the hell just happened?