Beca stomped out into the snow, picking up a rock and hurling it as hard as she could. It hit a tree trunk with an echoing thud, and she followed up by punching the tree with her bare knuckles.

"Ooowww… fuck! GODDAMMIT!" she exclaimed, shaking out her hand.

"Still have those anger issues, I see," Stacie commented as she strolled toward her.

Beca hadn't even noticed she'd pulled up and she scowled as she looked back toward the house. "No, I'm fine."

The taller woman chuckled. "You don't seem fine. You seem like you need a drink."

The brunette looked at the house again and sighed. "You know what? A drink is exactly what I need. Marvin's?"

Stacie nodded. "I'll drive. But maybe you should have someone look at that hand?"

"I'm fine," Beca replied with an eyeroll as she closed and opened her fist. "You're not my mother, Stace."

The taller woman perched her hands on her hips and smirked. "Careful, or I won't fuck your brains out in the back of this truck later."

The brunette rolled her eyes again. "Whatever."

Xx

Chloe was worried. She was up and pacing back and forth in the living room, waiting for Beca to come home. Her truck was outside, so she knew her friend hadn't gone on to Idaho. Plus, there was no way on Earth she would have left Dude behind. The golden retriever looked anxious too and he licked his paw every now and then before whining pitifully.

"Oh, Honey," the vet said softly as she took a seat on the floor next to him, burying her fingers into his warm fur and giving him scratches. "She's ok. She'll be back soon. She wouldn't leave you. GOD, I wish she had her phone."

It was quiet in the house. Everyone had gone to bed early after the most awkward dinner in history, but Chloe couldn't find sleep. Yes, Beca was a grown ass woman, and did not in any way have to explain herself, but the redhead had no idea what she was thinking or why she'd just taken off.

Or…

Tears welled in Chloe's tired, blue eyes. Maybe she knew exactly why Beca had left. She'd seen Tom kissing her and maybe she thought…

Just then, moving headlights fitfully lit the living room and Chloe was on her feet in an instant as she heard tires rolling on the gravel outside. She ran to the door and pulled it open, only to find Stacie with her arms around a very drunk Beca, helping her toward the door.

"Hey..." the tall brunette said with a reassuring smile. "She's ok. Just trashed."

The vet nodded as she met them and wrapped her arm around the petite brunette to take her weight from the taller woman. "I've got her. Thanks for bringing her home."

"Chlo…" Beca slurred, eyes rolling a little as she tried to focus. "I didn't…"

"Ssshhhh…" Chloe said gently. "It's ok. Let's get you into bed." She looked back over her shoulder at Stacie who was chuckling softly.

"Watch her, she's handsy when she's drunk. Night, Chloe. Night, Beca."

"Night!" Beca yelled and the vet hushed her again. She didn't want the whole house awake to see her friend like this, especially not Tom.

They made it inside and Chloe had to practically carry the brunette up the stairs and to her bedroom. Beca flopped onto the mattress and lay on her back, a worried frown on her face. "I didn't…" she slurred again as Chloe started to undress her.

"Didn't what, Honey?" the redhead asked softly.

"Sleep with Stacie. She wanted to but I said no."

Despite the relief Chloe actually felt, she also felt bad that her friend had ended up in this state, so she sat on the bed next to her. "And I didn't kiss Tom."

Red-rimmed, dark blue eyes peered back at her. "You… you didn't?"

The vet shook her head. "I know you're not going to remember any of this in the morning," she said quietly. "But, OF COURSE I didn't. Why would I kiss him when I only want to kiss you?"

Beca's lips lifted into a pleased little grin. "Then kiss me now?" She tried to sit up, but Chloe put a gentle hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to stay lying down.

"No, Becs," she replied, stroking the younger woman's hair back from her forehead. "Not like this." She abandoned her attempt at undressing the inebriated music producer and instead, just pulled a blanket up over her. "Time to sleep," she whispered as she placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

Moments later, the brunette was out cold, and Chloe let the relief roll over her as she went to the kitchen to bring back a tall glass of water to leave by Beca's bed, along with a bottle of Advil from her own toiletry bag. She knew her friend would most definitely need them in the morning.

Xx

Beca was wearing sunglasses when she made it down to the kitchen for breakfast. She'd showered, dressed and swallowed three Advil and she tried to smile as she took a seat next to Kate, who poured her some coffee without saying a word, but it came off as more of a grimace.

Chloe was busy munching on toast and steadily ignoring Tom, who had somewhat of a black eye from where she'd slapped him the night before. She was also trying very hard to not laugh at the pitiful state of her friend.

"Feeling ok, Beca?" she asked innocently.

"Peachy," the brunette replied somewhat sullenly. "You?"

Chloe recognized that the youngest Mitchell didn't remember their discussion from the night before, not that she was at all surprised. "Me too."

Beca snorted. "Figures," she muttered under her breath. Kate looked at her and then at Chloe, who just shrugged and offered a little smile. Then the brunette looked at her cousin. "What happened to your face? Overenthusiastic rug munching?" She glared at Chloe, with a challenging eyebrow.

"Beca," Kate warned.

The brunette lifted a hand and shook her head then, shoulders sinking. "Sorry, that was…"

"Inappropriate," Chloe finished for her, eyes angry and a little hurt.

Beca nodded and picked up her coffee mug as she got up from the table. "Excuse me." She went outside to sit on the covered deck, closing the door behind her.

"What bit HER in the ass," Tom asked unkindly.

Chloe shot him an annoyed glare and threw her napkin onto the table disgustedly, then picked up her own mug. "Excuse me too." Then she went outside to join her friend in an Adirondack chair, wrapping her hands around her mug as she propped her bare feet up against a low table.

"I'm sorry," Beca said softly as she glanced over at the vet.

"For what?" Chloe asked mildly. "For being an asshole just now? Or maybe for worrying me sick by disappearing last night… or is it for jumping to conclusions after not sticking around to see the full story?"

The brunette had the good sense to look contrite. "You forgot the part about me getting blackout drunk and having no memory of getting back here. I assume Stacie brought me home?"

The vet nodded and blew on her coffee before taking a sip. "She brought you home and I put you to bed."

"Thank you," Beca said, tone one of genuine gratitude. She took another sip of her coffee, then looked back at her friend. "What did you mean… jump to conclusions?"

Chloe's blue eyes gentled. "I'm pretty sure you saw Tom kiss me last night."

The younger woman nodded, looking away as the pain of the memory surfaced all over again. "Yeah."

"Well," the vet went on. "What you DIDN'T see was me shoving him away and slapping the shit out of him."

"Oh fuck!" Beca laughed. "YOU gave him that shiner? Good girl!"

"I'm not proud of it!" Chloe exclaimed on a barely suppressed chortle. Then she rolled her eyes. "Who am I kidding? Of COURSE, I'm fucking proud of it. The asshole deserved it." She let her smile reach her eyes and they twinkled at her friend. "And John was so mad, he was this close to kicking Tom out." She sighed then. "But it's Christmas and it would have upset Kate, so we came to an uneasy truce."

"That's really kind of you, Chlo."

The vet looked down, then lifted her eyes to meet the brunette's squarely. "I was scared last night… when I didn't know where you were." She held up a hand as Beca took a breath to speak. "I know you're a grown woman and perfectly capable of taking care of yourself but…" She took a deep breath. "I was still worried."

"Because you care about me," Beca said gently, reaching over to take Chloe's hand and hold it, glad when she didn't pull away.

"Because I care about you," Chloe agreed. Their eyes met and held and once again, they were caught in that moment of breathlessness. But then the vet eased her hand back and got up. "But I'm still mad at you, Becs, and I need some time, so I'm going to shower and chill. I'll be down to help Kate with dinner prep later."

"Ok," the brunette nodded. "And for what it's worth, Chlo, the reason I left last night was… I couldn't bear to see you in his arms."

Chloe nodded. "And I couldn't bear to see you in Stacie's." She ducked back inside then and left a troubled Beca with some thinking to do.

Xx

"Chlob… Chloe?"

The redhead looked over at Tom from her chopping station on the kitchen island. "Yep?" She popped the p as her eyes returned to her task of cutting up celery and carrots. Losing a finger would not be a good Christmas look for her.

"I just wanted to clear the air about what happened last night."

"Interesting wording," the vet replied coolly. "But you're not really one for taking full responsibility for things or for apologizing, are you, Tom?"

"That's not fair," the man sulked, crossing his arms.

"Oh really?" Chloe went on, feeling anger boil up inside again. "What about the time you weren't paying attention and hit a bicycle courier, then sued him for denting your car?" She chopped the celery a little more viciously than was strictly required. "Or the time you got out of jury duty by having a doctor friend of yours write you a letter saying your mom…" She paused and lowered her voice. "Your mom was in the hospital on the verge of death?" She slammed the knife down on the counter. "Or the time you got me pregnant and said you'd leave me if I didn't have an abortion?!"

Tom furtively looked back toward the living room. "We agreed it wasn't the right time, ChloBear!"

"No," Chloe replied, picking up the knife again and pointing it at him. "YOU agreed that it wasn't. I'm thirty-six, Thomas, and you KNEW I wanted a baby! And chickenshit me, I was too scared to do it alone, so I went along with it. I'm fucking ashamed and hurt and… AND STOP CALLING ME FUCKING CHLOBEAR!"

The anger was finally spilling out of her like an unstoppable tsunami, and she clenched her fists, only to feel emotional whiplash when Beca came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist, holding her close.

"How about we put the knife down, Honey," the brunette said softly into her ear, and Chloe looked down to realize her left hand was clenched around the blade and blood was dripping from a slice in her palm.

"Owww," she murmured pitifully and Beca chuckled as she very slowly eased the weapon out of her hands.

"You'll survive. It's not deep," the younger woman said. "I was more worried you were going to throw the knife at him." She raised an eyebrow at Tom who slunk backward out of the room and disappeared upstairs.

"How much did you hear?" the vet asked quietly as her friend pressed a wad of paper towels to the shallow wound. Tears trekked slowly down her cheeks and Beca tenderly wiped them away.

"Enough," she replied, just as quietly. Then she sighed softly. "I had an abortion three years ago." Chloe nodded, staying quiet as her friend cleaned the cut with an antiseptic wipe. "Marli was into kinky sex stuff. She liked group sex parties, and she emotionally blackmailed me into taking part. I got pregnant. I didn't even know who the father was but after a few days of thinking, I came around to the idea of keeping it. But Marli didn't want kids and she told me if I didn't get rid of it, she'd leave me. So... I terminated the pregnancy."

"Oh, Beca," the vet breathed sympathetically.

Dark blue eyes stayed focused on their task and a Band Aid was gently applied. "Things got worse after that. Marli was drinking a LOT. The parties went from once a month, to one a week, to every night. I was exhausted, overwhelmed, fed up, but when I confronted her about it all, she went crazy and beat me until I couldn't stand. So, after I'd healed, and she'd apologized profusely, I just went along with it. Then a week and a half ago, she decided that I needed to be taught a lesson. Who knows what she thought I did." Beca stepped back and lifted her shirt, revealing not-quite-faded bruises across her rib cage and abdomen. "The next morning, I packed a bag, grabbed Dude and got out of there." She lifted her eyes then to meet Chloe's shimmering blue, holding her hand over the Band Aid. "I'm not trying to compare what happened to us, Chlo. I'm just trying to say that I understand how you feel. I understand the regret and the shame. I understand how it feels to lose yourself to another's selfishness... and I know how good it feels to be yourself again."

Chloe nodded and took a step closer, pressing their foreheads together and closing her eyes. "I think I understand now," she said softly. "You're not ready to be with someone else, now that you've found yourself again." She took a breath. "Maybe neither of us really is."

Beca smiled and drew the older woman impossibly closer. "Maybe, but there's one thing I know for sure… I'm not going to Boise."

And Chloe just smiled happily in return.

Xx

John clinked his knife gently against the rim of his glass to get everyone's attention. The conversation hushed as four pairs of eyes turned his way.

"I just wanted to say merry Christmas," he said. "Despite the challenges of the last couple of days, I'm thankful that you all can be here."

Chloe took Beca's hand under the table and squeezed gently, feeling the action returned in kind.

Kate nodded. "And I'm thankful that we can put our differences aside and share a meal together. Cheers!"

Putting aside her anger too for the moment, Chloe clinked her glass against Tom's and offered him a small smile. "Cheers."

"Thanks for not throwing the knife at me, especially since I probably DID deserve it," he said softly, eyes contrite, so she nodded at him in return and passed him some turkey, knowing that it was probably the best apology she was going to get from him. "But seriously, Chloe, is there any chance that we might give things another try? I'll try to change."

Chloe gave the question the thought it deserved... which was for all of two seconds... before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Tom, but no." She glanced at Beca who was trying not to pry. "I don't want a future with you."

"But we could be good together again, if we talk things out," the man pushed. "There's still love, right?"

The redhead sighed, shaking her head again. "Tom," she said quietly and firmly. "I don't love you and we're not getting back together. Ever."

Tom lifted his glass then and took a sip of wine, eyeing her suspiciously. "You'd choose her over me? You've only known her a few days."

Chloe remained calm and kept her tone even. "Beca and I aren't together... but yes, I would."

"Unbelievable. She doesn't even have a penis," the man muttered.

"Oh, believe me," the vet stated. "Her dick is bigger than yours."

Beca stifled a grin behind her wine glass and looked at her uncle. "So, Uncle John, you got any retirement plans coming up next year?"

"Not at all," the older man laughed. "I can't afford to retire. I have to keep this one..." He nodded toward his wife. "In the lifestyle to which she's accustomed!"

"How about you, Aunt Kate?" the brunette asked. "Ready to put your feet up? Be a lady who lunches?"

"Honestly, I'd miss it too much," Kate sighed. "I like talking to people, getting the gossip and being part of the community."

"I like that too," Chloe added. "Interacting with pet owners is just as important to me as taking care of the animals. It kinda feels like... having a family." Chloe looked down and shook her head. "I think it was maybe a subconscious way to create one for myself."

"You have a family, Chlo," Beca said then. "You'll always have me."

"And us," Kate added.

Tom remained silent.

The redhead beamed a smile as she looked around the table. "Thanks, Guys."

The rest of the dinner went smoothly and after dessert and cleaning up, Beca found her friend in her room, getting the gifts she'd brought for Kate and John. "Doing ok?" she asked as she leaned against the door jamb with her arms crossed. She was wearing the Christmas sweater Kate had gotten her along with a pair of elf slippers. Chloe thought she looked adorable and strangely sexy with pointy shoes.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Things seems to have smoothed themselves out somewhat."

"Tom was pretty pissed about the dick comment." Beca wandered further into the room, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"I couldn't help myself," the redhead giggled. "He totally set himself up for it."

"It's true though," the petite brunette deadpanned. "Just check my underwear drawer."

Their eyes locked and Chloe took a couple of steps closer to her. "You keep your toy box in there?" she asked, tone a little husky. "Maybe you could... show me sometime?" She felt like Beca was a magnet, drawing her in with those amazing dark blue eyes and before she realized it, her hand was on the younger woman's belt buckle, tugging gently. "I..." She swallowed hard. "I apparently can't be close to you and not touch you," she whispered.

A half groan escaped Beca's chest. "Chloe..."

"You should go before..."

"Yeah..." the brunette took a shuddering breath. "I wish I didn't know what your lips felt like."

"Fuck, Beca..." Chloe's knees almost gave out.

And with that, Beca turned and fled the room, heart pounding like crazy.

With a groan of frustration, the vet sat on the bed, then chuckled softly as Dude ambled across the room and put his head in her lap. "You know what, Dude," she whispered. "I'm not sure I'm going to survive this. I may just combust any time now."

Soft brown eyes just gazed understandingly back at her.