A/N: In which I look up more dumb jokes, accidentally get kind of deep, and learn to spell "amphitheater".
So here we are at the end of this fic. This is grossly fluffy. I might (keyword: might) entertain the idea of an epilogue, but that's not likely, so for now we'll say this is the end. I think what we'll all take away from this little story is that I'm terrible at updating multi-chapter fics. So there's that.
As Aubrey walks out of her Critical Race Theory class, she spots Beca lingering outside the door.
"Hi," she says, eyeing Beca suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to ask you a personal question. About Chloe." Beca gestures for Aubrey to follow her to a more secluded alcove.
Aubrey's eyes grow wide. "No, you need to talk to your doctor," she says, holding up her hands.
Beca not-so-lightly punches her in the arm. "Ew, Aubrey! Not that kind of question."
"Oh." The blond looks relieved. "Then what is it?" she asks, absently rubbing at her shoulder.
"Do you think you could give me a list of all the people who've screwed Chloe over?"
For a moment, Aubrey's jaw hangs completely slack. "Um," she says, "why?"
"Please? I'm not going to do anything bad with them."
"You're not going to go out and start killing them, are you?" Aubrey looks at Beca as if the smaller girl may actually be packing.
Beca pauses, considering. "Are you saying you're opposed to that?"
"No," Aubrey says, starting to scribble on a piece of notebook paper. "But I'm giving you first names only, just in case. I don't want to be arrested for abetting." She tears off the page and holds it out to the other girl.
Beca snatches it before Aubrey can change her mind. "Thank you!"
Aubrey shakes her head as she watches the brunette's retreating form.
At promptly 8:00 (she actually took care to be on time for the first time in her life) Beca knocks on the door of Chloe's apartment. After a few seconds of silence, she knocks again.
Silence.
Just as she raises her hand to knock for a third time, the door swings open, Beca's fist nearly colliding with Chloe's face.
"Whoa!" The redhead takes a step back.
Beca jams the hand into her pocket, blushing. "Sorry."
The two make their way down the stairs, with Beca leading the way. "Where are we going?" Chloe asks, recognizing that they are making their way back to campus.
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Beca jokes.
"You do realize that at some point you will have to tell me at some point, though, right?"
Beca mimes pulling a gun out of her sweatshirt pocket. "Then I guess I'll just kill you now."
"Oh, please don't," Chloe begs dramatically. Then she leans in and whispers in Beca's ear, "I'll do anything you want."
Beca curls her toes inside her shoes and closes her eyes. "Chloe."
"Sorry," Chloe says, but she's smirking.
After a few more minutes, they arrive at their destination: the Initiation Night amphitheater. Specifically, in front of a small pile of logs and twigs at its base.
"Ta-da!" Beca strikes a pose—complete with jazz hands—theatrically.
Chloe's eyes flick from the woodpile to Beca and back again, eyebrows raised. "I feel like I'm missing the punchline."
Beca's eyes glint mischievously. "How do you make a cat go 'woof'?"
"I don't know."
The brunette reaches into her pocket and pulls out a lighter. "Soak it in petrol and set it on fire." She carefully lights a few strategically-placed twigs until the logs begin to burn on their own.
Chloe shakes her head, pursing her lips, trying not to laugh. "You're an idiot."
"Hey, ouch, Beale," Beca says, feigning offense. "Let's not forget who has the lighter here. And the food." She reaches behind one of the bleacher seats and emerges brandishing a shopping bag. When she opens it, Chloe can see several takeout containers and two liters of Diet Sprite—her favorite. She laughs and pulls Beca in close.
"This is almost romantic," she says with a wink.
Beca studies her for a moment before placing her hand on the back of Chloe's head and pulling her in for a firm kiss. Chloe opens her mouth reflexively, melting into the kiss as Beca nips at her bottom lip and rakes her fingers through Chloe's hair. Eventually, they break apart in favor of breathing.
"How's that for almost romantic?" Beca asks, looking a little smug as Chloe catches her breath.
"A little better," she jokingly acquiesces, pushing a lock of stray hair out of Beca's eyes.
The smaller girl rolls her eyes and retrieves the food from the bag. "I got Chinese," she says, handing Chloe a pair of chopsticks. She glances around before stage-whispering, "I have forks, too. But don't tell anyone." Chloe mimes zipping her lips before opening the container.
The small fire starts to gain momentum, illuminating their faces and fending off the chilly October air, and Chloe shifts closer to Beca, momentarily resting her head on the brunette's shoulder.
"Are we going to get in trouble for this?" Chloe asks, gesturing to the fire with a chopstick.
Beca shrugs against the weight of Chloe's head. "We didn't get in trouble for having an obnoxiously loud party in the middle of the night. Complete with underage drinking."
"Good point."
Beca waits until Chloe puts down her food to take a swig of the Sprite (from the bottle) before pulling several small pieces of paper out of her sweatshirt pocket. She shuffles them nervously until Chloe is unoccupied. Beca takes a breath. "Chloe, I want to talk about something serious."
The redhead's eyebrows shoot up. "You want to talk about something serious," she repeats skeptically.
Beca nods. She thinks for a moment before she starts speaking. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, especially since the other night—"
"I'm really sorr—"
"No no no, it's fine, this isn't bad," Beca reassures, grasping Chloe's hand. "I've been thinking about how people haven't always treated you the way you deserve, because you're so nice. And how much that's hurt you."
Chloe doesn't say anything, but blinks rapidly a few times, as if trying to keep away tears.
"When I was thirteen," Beca continues, "my dad left my mom and me for some bitch. My mom made me go to therapy—most of which I thought was bullshit—for a while because I was so angry. I had terrible trust issues. My grades were slipping and I was always yelling at people and breaking shit and I was blaming it on my dad. Like, if he were here to help me with my English homework maybe I'd have better grades." She pauses, feeling that she's rambling, twisting the material of her sweatshirt in her fist. "But there was one thing that my therapist told me that was actually useful. I kept telling her that I wanted nothing to do with my dad, and she said that as long as I stayed so angry, fucking up my life, that my dad would keep screwing me over for the rest of my life. Metaphorically. And that I needed to let it go."
Chloe nods, still holding Beca's hand tightly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."
Beca stands and motions for Chloe to do the same. She hands the redhead the scraps of paper, who scans them, a tear spilling down her cheek.
Alyssa
Sarah
Haley
There are at least a dozen. Chloe looks up, a questioning expression on her face.
"Let it go," Beca says, gesturing to the fire. "Burn those bitches because they do not own you anymore."
One by one, Chloe feeds the papers to the fire. When she's done, she pulls Beca into a tight embrace, crying properly by now. "Thank you," she whispers, smiling into Beca's hair.
"One more thing," Beca says as they part. Chloe gives a wary laugh, drying her eyes on her sleeve. "Chloe," Beca starts, sinking down to one knee. The redhead's eyes go wide. "Will you be my girlfriend?" she pulls a Ring Pop out of her pocket.
Chloe claps a hand over her heart. "I thought you were proposing marriage, you dumbass! I was ready to have a heart attack."
"You know, you're really not starting this relationship off on the right foot," Beca deadpans.
"Sorry. Of course I will." Chloe makes a big show of holding out her hand as Beca slides the candy onto her finger (but only after wrestling with the packaging for a moment).
"I have one more thing for you," Beca says, rummaging in the bag. She pulls out a portable DVD player (no way she was leaving her laptop out unattended even for a few minutes), copy of 50 First Dates, and a blanket.
Chloe squeals and claps her hands, pulling Beca into a short but passionate kiss before helping to spread out the blanket. They huddle together, backs against the bleacher bench, the DVD player balanced on Beca's lap.
"I thought you didn't like movies," Chloe says, slinging a leg over Beca's.
"This is on loan from Jesse," Beca says, knocking on the player. "And so is the movie."
"You're so cute," Chloe tells her, planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek.
"I'm going to let that one go because you've had an emotionally tumultuous evening."
Chloe rolls her eyes. "Shut up and watch the movie."
Beca's response is to start alternately kissing and nipping at the side of Chloe's neck. "What did you say?"
"I said," Chloe breathes out, eyes fluttering, "watch the movie."
The brunette straddles Chloe's lap, pressing her forehead against Chloe's, so close the other girl can feel the warmth of Beca's breath. "What? I wasn't paying attention."
"You're incorrigible," Chloe groans, placing her hands on Beca's hips. "I thought the whole point was that you weren't using me to get into my pants."
"I always want to get in your pants," Beca says, running her thumb over one of the marks she left on Chloe's neck. "But I also respect you intellectually."
Chloe snorts. "Okay, Ring Pop lady. Let's talk about intellect."
"Don't make me revoke the Ring Pop."
"I wouldn't dream of it." She pulls Beca down into another kiss. "Now get off me. We're watching a movie and cuddling."
Reluctantly, Beca rolls off of Chloe's lap and resettles back next to her. "You're no fun."
"I'm very fun. You'll find out soon enough," Chloe says, absently stroking Beca's hair. "Now hush."
Beca frowns but snuggles in closer to her girlfriend. (My girlfriend, Beca thinks with a touch of pride.) They watch in a comfortable silence for a while, before she feels Chloe shift next to her.
"Beca?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
Beca squeezes her arms around Chloe a little tighter. "Anytime."
It's 11:24 pm when Chloe waltzes in the door of the apartment. Aubrey looks up from her position on the couch taking notes. "Hey, you're home kinda early."
Chloe shrugs. "We ate and watched a movie. Beca built a small bonfire at the amphitheater."
"Can she do that?" Aubrey asks, frowning.
"I guess. I mean, people do all kinds of shit all over campus that they probably should get in trouble for but no one ever seems to be paying attention."
Aubrey pauses, considering. "Yeah I have noticed that. Is that all you guys did?"
With a soft thump Chloe drops onto the couch next to Aubrey, pulling her knees to her chest. "Beca told me how when her dad left she harbored all this anger until she realized she needed to let it go. Like, even though he was gone he was still influencing her negatively."
Aubrey nods, putting down her pen and massaging her writing hand.
"She said how I'm kind of doing the same thing about Haley and the other people," Chloe continues. "And that I need to let them go. So she had me put pieces of paper with their names into the fire."
"Sounds very... spiritual," Aubrey says.
"I'd call it more symbolic," Chloe tells her. "But I think it might help, at least a little."
Aubrey picks up her pen and taps it against her textbook. "Why didn't you tell me you guys hadn't slept together?"
Chloe freezes. "Who told you that?"
"Beca. I went over before Hood Night to apologize for being an enormous asshat."
"Oh." Chloe finds a protruding thread on her shirt suddenly interesting. When she looks up, Aubrey is looking at her, eyebrows raised expectantly. "Well, if you must know, it's because whenever we tried I just couldn't do it. And being fucked up isn't exactly something I'm proud of." She sniffles a little and blows out a long breath.
"You're not fucked up," Aubrey says, resting her hand on the other girl's knee.
"Please, we both know I am. But I'm working on it. And I'm going to get better," Chloe says, smiling a little. "Because I have a girlfriend and a best friend who care about me."
Aubrey's eyes widen. "Girlfriend?" she exclaims. "Shut up!"
"She proposed with a Ring Pop," Chloe admits, laughing. "She's going to hate me for telling you that, though."
"It'll be our secret." Aubrey reaches over and squeezes Chloe's hand. "I'm really happy for you."
"Thanks," Chloe says softly. She stands and stretches her arms over her head with a mighty yawn. "I'm going to bed. G'night."
"Good night," Aubrey calls after her as she leaves the room. She laughs to herself at the mental image of Beca down on one knee, presenting a Ring Pop to a shocked and flustered Chloe. Then she shakes her head and resumes taking notes.
Two months later
A knock sounds at Beca's door.
She glances at her watch and smiles, shaking her head. Fashionably late as always, she thinks as she opens the door.
"Hey, Chlo—" She's cut off abruptly as Chloe storms into the room and pins her against the wall, kicking the door shut behind her.
"Hi," Chloe growls as she kisses Beca with fervor, her tongue stalking past the other girl's lips, before moving to her neck, leaving a trail of small bruises as she goes.
Beca's brain short-circuits, and all she can think to do is yank Chloe's shirt over her head and do the same for herself, tangling her hands in Chloe red tresses as the redhead leaves a series of gentle bites along her collarbone before moving to unbutton Beca's jeans.
"Whoa, whoa, hey," Beca gasps out, grasping Chloe's wrist and effectively stilling her hand from travleing any further.
"It's fine," Chloe says, shaking her hair out of her face. "I want to."
"Are you sure?" Beca asks skeptically.
"Totally sure," Chloe confirms with a nod of her head.
"One hundred percent completely sure?"
"Yes."
Beca smirks and lets go of Chloe's wrist. "Well alright then."