A/N
Here's the next chapter! This one has the riff off and like, a ton more fun stuff, so I hope you enjoy! Also, I don't own anything in this chapter, or the whole story. R&R!
Chloe sat in her apartment with Bree watching Netflix. They were catching up on Orange is the New Black. Once they finished the latest episode, they turned off the TV.
"Ready for the tomorrow?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah, but I'm just worried that the Bellas won't be ready. This is their first Riff off and it's kinda confusing. Even we had trouble at our first Riff off," Aubrey said.
"Yeah, they will have a little trouble getting it in the beginning, but once they see how it works, they should be able to do it easily," Chloe said.
"I'm just worried about it still. What if they don't? Then we would completely fail," she said.
"So what if we do? The Trebles always win anyways. Justin has always had a soft spot for them," Chloe said.
"I guess. We'll have to wait and see," she said.
Chloe went to her room and sat down at her desk. She looked at her phone. She had given Beca her number at the party last night. Along with the other Bellas. She didn't want to make it seem like she only wanted Beca to have her number. Beca still hadn't said anything, except for the hey to make sure that this was her number. She wanted to engage in a conversation, but didn't know how. She was nervous that she would seem to eager. Not that she would seem eager, they're just friends. That's all they had ever been. It took her a while to even get Beca to say that they were friends.
Her phone buzzed. She grabbed it instantly, checking who it was. She was disappointed to see it was just Stacie. She had asked when to be at the auditorium. She said nine pm tomorrow and locked her phone.
Chloe walked out of her room and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed a snack to last her the night and walked back into her room. She plopped on her bed and grabbed her book to read.
Beca sat in Jesse's dorm playing the PlayStation. He was talking about how he asked Nicky out.
"We went to the movie theater and saw the new movie that just came out," he said. "We wouldn't stop talking about how the soundtrack was great."
"Cool," she said. She was more focused on the game they were playing.
"Can you concentrate on more that one thing at a time?" he asked. "And maybe you could at least you could pretend that you are excited too."
Beca paused the game. She looked him in the eye in complete befuddlement, "Really? You think that I'm not happy for you? Dude! You're my best friend. And the only one I've ever had actually, so I'm glad about that. But really? Are you that arrogant?" she said angrily.
"Well you just keep acting like you don't care. And you don't ask many questions. It's like you always have something else on your mind now. What's up? What happened to 'I'll always be there for you bro?'" he asked. He was standing now.
"So what if I have more than one thing to do? Does my life have to circle around you? Does my life always have to be about you? Huh?" she said. She was standing now as well.
"That's not my point! Could you at least talk to me? It's like you've been completely shut of with me since we got here? What's going on?" Jesse asked. His voice was stone cold.
Beca paused. He got her on that one. She had been ignoring him quite a bit lately. She still hadn't told him that she had made friends with Chloe. That party was last weekend. "Okay. I'm sorry that I haven't talking to you much. It's just that I haven't been doing anything exciting. And you've been spending so much time with Nicky lately… You cut off practically all of our gaming time. And all of our hanging out time. The only time I see you now is at the radio station. And you know how exciting that is."
"Oh my god… Really? You're mad because I'm spending time with my girlfriend. Of course. I get it. It's fine. I understand. I can't spend time with my girlfriend." he said. "Have you even thought about what it's like to be in a relationship. You actually spend time together."
"Of course! I know that! Don't you ac-"
"No, I don't think you do Beca. The last relationship you were in was with me. We all know how that one worked. We were only friends the whole time. We acted like friends the whole time too. Why don't you look at the good things in people? You only look at the bad and judge them for it. Try and find someone that will like you the way you like them." he said.
"Fine. If you want it that way, so be it," She said. Beca grabbed her stuff and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.
She yelled when the door closed behind her. She hated it when he was right. And he was. She did only look at people's worst traits and she did judge them for it. But that was just second nature. Her dad did it to her when she was young, so she thought that it was the right thing to do.
She did like spending time with Jesse though, he was a good guy. They had things in common. She didn't want their friendship to end like this. She wanted to do something about it, but didn't know what. She wasn't the best at makeups.
There was one person she knew though…. Who did know what to say to people in every situation. And she had given Beca her number at the party last weekend.
Beca sighed. Of course the one and only person who could help her was Chloe. Everything seemed to narrow down to her.
Beca pulled her phone out of her pocket when she got to her dorm. She went to Chloe's contact that she made for herself. It had a selfie of her when she was in her PJ's. The name was lined with emojis. It was so like Chloe to do something like that.
She opened the messaging app on her phone and started a sentence. Her mind went black. She had no clue what to say. She had messed up her friendship with Jesse? no, that would be too straightforward. She had to ease into this one. It would be the only way to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal.
That still didn't mean she could easily talk to Chloe. Every time she talked to her, she got really nervous for some reason. It was like she was waiting for the worst possible scenario to happen. Beca all of a sudden got very sad.
She had too many emotions running through her head. She was mad at Jesse, but also knew this was all kinda her fault. The whole topic of everything being her fault made her sad.
Beca's dad had always told her when she was young that it was her fault that her mom left her. She could still remember the day that her dad told her….
A 10 year old Beca jumped from her chair and grabbed her backpack. Her school had just gotten out for spring break. She ran out of her classroom and went for the parking lot. She looked around for her dad's car. She spotted it and ran like it was the last day she would live.
When she reached the car she opened the door and greeted her father. "Hi dad!" she said excitedly.
Her dad was silent. She questioned him to see what was up but he didn't reply. He was quiet until they got to their house.
When they got home, he shut off the car and walked into the house without helping Beca with her things like he always did. Beca got out of the car with her things not far behind and slowly walked into the house. She knew that her dad always did this when he and her mom got into a bad fight. She walked upstairs to her room and set her stuff down.
Her dad walked up to her as she walked downstairs, "What did you say to your mother before you left?" he asked. His voice showed no emotion.
She looked up at her dad in confusion, "What I always say, I love you and tell her I'll have a good day-"
"Liar. I don't believe you," he said.
She looked into his eyes and saw nothing. He had probably thought too much about something. "I told you, I didn't say anything but-"
"BULLSHIT! YOU MUST HAVE SAID SOMETHING!" he yelled.
"But- I didn't-" her voice quivered.
"YOUR MOM ISN'T TALKING TO BE BECAUSE YOU SAID SOMETHING! WHAT DID YOU SAY DAMNIT!" He pushed her to sit on the couch.
Beca started to cry. She didn't know what he was talking about. "When is mommy going to come home?" she asked.
"SHE'S NOT COMING HOME. BECAUSE OF YOU BECA. BECAUSE OF YOU. You said something before you went to school and I know it. You told her that all of her problems could be solved if she quit talking to me. And that you wouldn't have to deal with the noise at home. You got sick and tired of the fights so you told her you couldn't deal with it anymore."
Beca started sobbing. She thought her dad was right. She was tired of their fighting. "She said something. She said , 'I love you Beca. Don't ever forget that. Okay?'" she said. Maybe that would change his mind.
Beca's dad just looked at her. He looked between her and the floor and walked out of the room. He left Beca alone in the living room. Beca went to the only thing she knew. She walked up into her room and put the headphones her mom gave her for her birthday. She blasted it and kept on crying. She didn't have anyone to hold her anymore. That was her mom's job.
Beca could remember the way her dad's voice sounded. She didn't know anything back then. She was too young to know that it was her dad who was being ridiculous. She knew her mom. She never would have done anything like that. She loved her mom. Her dad was always the one to engage their fights. Those were the times that she always put her headphones on and blocked out the world. Then after a couples or hours or so her mom would walk in her room and ask her if she was okay.
Beca couldn't stop the tears from falling now. This happened too much for her liking. She looked at the message she was going to send to Chloe. So… what would you do if you and Aubrey got into a huge fight.
It wouldn't cut it. It would just remind her of her parents too much. That's probably why she was so sad about her and Jesse's fight. It reminded her of the fights her parents got in. She still hadn't talked to Jesse about what happened. She wanted to, but every time she tried, she only thought about how she would be in their way and annoy them with her problems. She just couldn't get herself to open up to anyone.
She was tired of it. She wanted to get the heavy weights off her shoulders and tell someone how she felt about the whole thing. She wanted out of this whole deal.
Beca thought who she could talk to about something serious. Not Jesse, that fight was too fresh. She thought about what he had said. Look at the good traits in people…
Beca grabbed her phone and typed in a message that may ruin her reputation.
Beca: Hey… I know this is kinda weird, but I'm kinda weird and you know it. I need to talk to someone about something that's been bothering me for a very long time. Do you have like 10 minutes and a box of tissues?
Beca cringed as soon as she hit send. She got a reply not long after.
Chloe: Yeah. I can be there in 10 minutes. Are you okay?
Beca sighed. She barely even knew Chloe but she wanted her to know everything. She felt like they were close already.
Beca: No…
Chloe: I'll be there in five.
Just that message put a small smile on her just got Chloe twenty more friend points. Her score was already at 260 for Beca. Something about Chloe just made her a little giddy.
Beca tried to make herself presentable. She was so thankful that Kimmy Jin wasn't home.
In exactly five minutes she heard a knock on her door. She opened it to see Chloe dressed in those PJ's again this time with a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and some TV shows Beca had never heard of.
"Hey." Chloe said and walked in. She set the bag on the floor and sat on her bed.
"Hey." Beca said. She sat on the opposite side of the bed and leaned back into the wall. She tried to think of how she would transition into this but didn't know how.
"What's up? It's normally not like the Beca I know to be open with someone," she said.
That coming from Chloe Really got to her. "Yeah.. that's actually why I asked you to be here. I want to change that."
Chloe looked her in the eye. Her expression was unreadable, "Really?" Her voice sounded hopeful.
"Yeah. I got into a fight with Jesse earlier today. Something he said really bothered me," she said. It was amazing how easy it was opening up to Chloe. It was like they had done this a dozen times before.
"What happened?" Chloe asked.
"Look. I'm really bad at talking about my problems with people. Don't be surprised if I just completely stop talking. I usually don't like doing this. I don't even know why I'm doing it right now," Beca said.
"I know. I'm not rushing you at all. Say anything you want whenever you want," Chloe said with such sincerity it hurt. It made Beca want to know her even more.
Beca told her everything. From how Jesse wasn't hanging out with her as much anymore. To where he got a girlfriend. All the way to where her mom left. That part was hard.
Beca finished her sentence, and the tears began flooding her eyes again. She covered her eyes with her hands and choked back a sob. Chloe put a hand on her back and scooted closer.
"Hey," Chloe said.
Beca looked up and removed her hands from her eyes. She probably looked like shit, but Chloe looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world.
"Do you actually believe that? You know your mom loves you. So why let that bother you. Think of the good times you had together and smile about it. Trust me. I know that one," she said.
"You do?..." beca asked.
Chloe looked at the ground and bit her lip. Beca hit a hard spot.
"You don't have to say if you wa-" Beca started.
"No. I want to. It's time," she said not looking up from the ground.
Beca stopped. She let her say what she had to say.
"When I was about 15 my dad was diagnosed with a cancer that couldn't be cured." Beca shut her eyes, "They said he had about 3 years to live. We planned a ton of things to do with him. He only lasted about 3 weeks after that. We were on our way to the airport about to go to Rome," Chloe said. She opened her mouth as if she was trying to say something else but nothing escaped her lips. She looked away from Beca and choked back a sob.
This was the one good social skill she had. She knew how to comfort people. She had learned it when her mom did it to her if she was having a bad night.
Beca put her hand on Chloe's back and started rubbing small circles in no necessary pattern. She grabbed Chloe and brought her into her embrace. Chloe Turned towards Beca again and gripped onto her. She and Chloe fit together perfectly. Chloe kept the tears flowing. It just made Beca's tears more than they were before.
When they settled down, they didn't move from the position they were in. Beca was still holding onto Chloe and lay on her back. Chloe was slowly circling her shoulder in random patterns. Chloe sighed and let go of Beca. She sat up.
"Thank you. For everything. That was hard for me," Chloe said.
"It was hard for mo too. I don't normally do that. Something in me just cracked earlier and I just needed someone to… you know.." Beca said.
"I know. I wouldn't talk to my mom for 3 months after. It really pissed her off too," she joked.
Beca laughed a little. It was so like Chloe to turn a dark situation to a light one.
"Okay. Have you seen Orange is the New Black?" she asked.
"What?" Beca asked.
"Orange is the New Black," she said again.
"Never heard of it," Beca said.
"WHAT? How have you never heard of Orange is the New Black? That's like the best TV show in the world," she said.
Beca laughed. "Jesse kinda ruined the whole thing for me. I didn't like movies for the longest time, and he tried to change that. He showed me the worst movies in history. I just stopped watching from then," she said.
Chloe looked at her skeptically, "What did he show you?"
"The first one he started with was Battleship-"
"Oh god…" Chloe said, cringing.
"Yeah. Then he showed me the remake of Total Recall. Then Green Lantern from last year. I stopped him after that," she said.
"I can see why. He showed you the worst movies to show to someone who doesn't like movies," she said. "Let me show you one episode of this. You will love it, trust me," she said.
"No, really it's-" she said.
"I'm not giving you a choice." Chloe said. She grabbed Beca's laptop and went to Netflix.
When Chloe brought up the first episode and hit play.
"WHAT THE HELL!? WHAT ARE YOU SHOWING ME?" Beca asked as the first scenes passed by.
"Just be patient. It gets better," she said. She set the laptop on Beca's lap and got comfortable.
After the next couple of episodes or so Beca spoke up.
"Oh my fucking god this show is amazing…" she said.
"Told you," Chloe said, smiling. She curled into Beca's side more and smiled bigger when Beca didn't move.
The two of them fell asleep somewhere towards the end of the season.
When Beca woke up Chloe was still asleep. Her hair was just a little messy, out of place from the bun she had it in yesterday. She realised that she and her had actually been cuddling the whole night. Chloe was attached to her side with her hands wrapped around her. Beca had her hands around Chloe as well, her head resting just beside hers. Beca was surprisingly comfortable. She was amazed that she didn't shy back when Chloe started this position last night.
Chloe started to stir. She lifted her head but didn't say anything. She just put her head back down onto Beca's chest and held onto her tighter. Beca's heart fluttered. She internally swooned at that action. Funny how Chloe was the one who Beca would open up to first, not Jesse. She was okay with it though.
Chloe let go of Beca to go check the time.
"Uhh Becs?" Chloe asked. Beca smiled a little when she heard the nickname. She shouldn't be allowing it, but she let it slide. This was Chloe, and she made exceptions for Chloe.
"Yeah?" she said.
"We have a Bellas rehearsal in ten minutes," she said.
"What? What time did we stay up to last night?" Beca frantically moved around the room to find clothes.
"I think somewhere around four…" Chloe said. She went to her bag to grab clothes.
"Shit… Why do I do that to myself.." Beca said. "You can change first."
"What are you talking about…" Chloe asked. She paused what she was doing to give Beca a questioning look.
"You can change first.. I'll just step outside now…" Beca said and turned to the door. She started walking out but was interrupted.
Chloe had grabbed her wrist and turned her around. "Becs, there's one thing that's different about having a guy best friend and a girl best friend. You can't change in front of a guy, and you can't do girly things with guys. That's why having a girl best friend if better," Chloe said. Beca could feel her breath on her neck. It sent shivers down her spine.
"O-okay.." Beca wiped the sweat from her hands on her pants. She walked back to where her bed was.
Chloe walked back to where she was and started to change. Beca knew she shouldn't have looked over, but she couldn't stop her curiosity. She saw her back muscles tensing and untensing while she took off her shirt. She looked away quickly. She started to change herself and took the image off her mind. She couldn't have those thoughts running through her mind during rehearsal.
They got ready quickly and set off for rehearsal. This was the last one they would have before the Riff off.
They were the last ones to get there. Aubrey looked at Chloe first. "What the hell Chloe? I knew you were staying but really? We're all waiting for you guys," she started.
"Chill Aubrey, it was my fault. I got distracted. Now let's just get this rehearsal over with," Beca said. Chloe shot her a thankful look and they walked in. The girls looked at them with an odd look on their faces. Cynthia Rose whispered something to Stacie that she couldn't quite catch. Aubrey went on about how the Riff off worked again, and they started a mini one.
It started with Amy, who was given the category of old school rock and roll. She started with the song 'Paint it Black' by the Rolling Stones, her team singing backups. Cynthia jumped in and started Aerosmith's 'Sweet Emotion'.
Beca saw how it worked now. She jumped in on one of Cynthia's words and started Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb'.
This went on for a while. After a few more minutes Aubrey stopped the line. "Not bad ladies. I think we're ready for tonight. I'm going to call it after we do a little cardio."
The girls groaned and got up from their seats.
"Why can't we just finish on a good note for once?" Beca asked.
Aubrey stopped in her tracks. "Look Beca… I've tried with you. But you just won't stop. This is a part of our tradition, and I don't intend to break that."
"Didn't you hear how good we sounded during that mock Riff off? We have so much potential and it's kinda depressing that we aren't using it," Beca said. Some of the others nodded.
"Beca. I told you, we aren't breaking tradition. You aren't our leader, and I say we stick to the set list." Aubrey said.
"Come-" Beca started.
"Beca, I'm tired of your shit. You're a pain in my ass and you think everything is about you. And I know that you like Jesse." she said.
Beca stopped. She laughed and looked at Chloe, she was holding a smile back as well. "Jesse? I have a crush on Jesse… Wow I didn't know that. I mean he hasn't been my best friend since my sophomore year of high school or anything, and oh, he doesn't have a girlfriend either," Beca said with a laugh in her voice.
Aubrey looked stunned. She had been caught in her tracks and she didn't like it. The other girls laughed a little as well.
"Meet back here at nine. Don't be late," Aubrey said. She left the building not long after.
The girls all laughed for a little while and kept talking about what happened. Even Chloe thought it was a little comical. They all left little while after and went home.
Beca walked back to the auditorium at 8:50. She wasn't the last one there surprisingly, Jessica and Lily were nowhere to be found.
They left the Auditorium when the last of the Bellas showed up. Chloe and Aubrey led the way to where they had to go. They started to head towards the old pool that Barden doesn't use. There were flood lights lighting the pool. It was filled with a bunch of other acapella groups, including the Trebles. She could see Jesse in the middle of the group talking to one of the guys.
As the Bellas filed into the pool, people started making siren noises. She looked around to see what was happening, apparently the thing was starting. There are no clubs more nerdy than this one… Beca thought, but she was okay with it.
"Welcome to the RIff Off!" Justin yelled. Everyone started cheering.
"Let's see our first category…" he said. he flared a flashlight at the wall and spun a spinner with categories on it.
"Ladies of the 80's!" he said.
Aubrey ran forwards and tried to start but Bumper was too fast. They started Mickey. It was a good one, she had to agree.
Someone from the harmonics interrupted and started 'Like a Virgin' by Madonna. These people were like pros.
Aubrey turned around and gave the girls her idea, "Hit me with your best shot. Okay?"
The girls gave their yeahs and they went with it. They sounded pretty good. It was a shame that Aubrey wasted their talent with the stupid setlist.
Some girl walked up to them and started singing something. She was so high, she could smell her breath from ten feet away.
"The negative side effects of medical marijuana people. You are," he clapped twice, "CUT OFF!"
People started cheering again. "Next category is… Songs about sex."
Cynthia had this one. It was her jam. She went out and started singing S&M. Stacie walked up to her to join her on the solo. That didn't surprise her. They even started to get a little feisty on each other.
One of the Trebles started Let's talk about Sex. They walked into that one.
But then Stacie walked up and started I'll Make Love To You. Amy walked up to her and helped her out on that one. It was funny to see Stacie singing songs from her natural habitat.
Then Jesse walked up and started it Feels like the First Time. It was perfect timing, she had to admit. She looked up at him and mouthed a 'sorry'.
He nodded. He kept singing. he thought he would win this one too, but Beca already had the song in her head. She waited for the opportunity and took it. She ran up and cut him off. She started No Diggity.
She kept going with the rap part. Nobody was doing backgrounds, so she looked back to see only one or two faces figuring out what part was next. She turned back.
"Keep going…" Jesse said defeatedly. She smiled. She started the chorus and Fat Amy started with her. She felt relieved that she wasn't the only one singing now.
The others recognised the song now and started the backgrounds. She walked back to the group. She looked at Chloe, who was staring right at her and kept singing. They did their little swaggy thing until the song was over.
"I mean, you're welcome." Beca said.
Justin walked over to them, "Sorry ladies, but the word you had to match was it, and you matched its. You are," he clapped twice, "CUT OFF." He ran over to the Trebles and gave them the mic.
"I've never heard that rule!" Aubrey said.
Beca walked over to Aubrey, "Dude don't worry about it. It's just a stupid microphone."
Aubrey looked at her in confusion. "Whatever, let's go ladies." She led them out of the pool and back to the auditorium.
"Okay girls, that sounded good, I'm proud of you guys." Aubrey said.
The girls looked at her in amazement.
Beca looked over at Chloe. She was looking at her as well, but she didn't know how long. She saw something foreign in her eyes. She ignored it and refocused on what Aubrey was saying.
"Take a break. No practice tomorrow. Good job ladies," Aubrey said. She started walking out of the doors. Chloe slowly walked backwards looking at the ground with a small smile on her face. She turned and walked out the door to catch up with Aubrey.
A/N
Hope you liked this chapter, don't be afraid to tell me! The ideas for this chapter flooded in my head, so I mashed them into the most I could get out of it. Again, I don't own any of the cool things and characters in this chapter, although I wish I did because then Bechloe would be canon. Anyways, the chapters will start to get longer now. Do you like the tension between Chloe and Beca? New updates will come as frequently as possible. Enjoy!
