The Weight of Unraveling

Part 2

Beca picked her backpack up out of the floor and slung it over her shoulder. Class was over, so that just meant one thing- naptime. She followed her classmates out of the room and down the stairs to the front door of the english department building. But having been in a middle classroom with no windows, she was unhappy to see that there was a sudden downpour, that seemed to have no intentions of stopping. And so, sighing, she stepped out to stand underneath the awning, and wait for it to calm down to at least a drizzle.

"Hey," a familiar voice said, over the roar of the rain. "Beca."

She turned to face Jesse Swanson, wearing a dark hoodie, the hood pulled up around his face. He grinned at her. "What's up?" she asked him.

He shrugged, but he kept smiling; he was always so happy to see her that it sometimes made her feel totally guilty. "Not much. Getting ready to get in my car and drive home to see my parents. What about you?"

Beca realized she hadn't actually ever asked the guy where he was from. And trapped by the weather, she decided that now was as good a time as any. "Yeah? How far away are they?"

"Five hours," he replied. "I'm from Maryland. You're from Vermont, right?"

She wasn't really suprised that he knew where she was from; he took the inititiative to find out like everything about her. That made her feel guilty too. "Yeah my mom is," she told him. "Willico Vermont. It's like ten hours away. I'm staying here for the break."

"I'm sorry," he said. "Can you at least hang out with your dad?"

Her dad taught on campus and lived in town. But she wasn't as close to him as she was her mom. That's why she'd lived with her throughout school. "Nah, he's going on a business trip to Washington state for the break. I'm just going to hang out in my room."

He frowned. "Oh, if I knew you'd be alone, I woulda stayed here!" He shook his head, looked kinda embarassed. "I just mean, so we coulda hung out, ya know?"

"I know," she gave him a polite smile. "But you should go see your parents. I'm probably just gonna catch up on sleep and make some mixes. I'll be a total bore."

"You're never a bore," he said. Then he pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Man, it's almost four. I told my parents I'd be on the road by four thirty and I still have to pack. I'm gonna have to make a run for it." He gave her a sympathetic look. "I don't wanna abandon you here, but I really gotta go."

Beca shrugged. "Hey, I'm fine. You go." He gave her quick hug and then took off into the rain, his backpack bouncing as he ran along the sidewalk and out of sight. She slid her hands into her pockets and wished that she'd worn a thicker jacket or brought an umbrella. She was chilly and she wasn't even wet yet. She only had on a pair of dark skinny jeans and an aztec print sweater, and chucks. It looked pretty hipster and comfy, but it didn't offer much warmth. After a few minutes of feeling the cool wind push under the awning and threaten to pelt her with stray raindrops, she'd backed up almost flush with the door.

She felt her thoughts slip into the familiar territory of Chloe Beale. She pulled out her phone and navigated to their last text message conversation. She'd texted her that very morning, wishing her a great Friday. It was silly to do, since they lived on the same floor and she could have just walked down the hall and knocked on her door. Except maybe not, because Chloe dormed with Aubrey and Aubrey was a big stickler on no visitors when she was there. She was incredibly anal and controlling and Chloe was aparently the only one that had enough patience to deal with her.

Anyways, she stood there, watching the rain, scrolling through her texts, and wondering if she should send a new one when arms slid around her waist and she nearly dropped the thing onto the concrete.

"Hi Sweetie," Chloe said, her lips only an inch or so from the younger girl's ear.

Beca tensed, automatically, the tickle of the redhead's breath making her heart speed up, the other girl's voice making her breath catch in her throat temporarily. "Chloe.." she returned, unable to think of any other way to greet her.

She was promptly released from the embrace as Chloe moved to stand in front of her. "How long have you been waiting?" she asked, reaching forward a nimble hand, to tuck some of the brunette's dark hair behind her ear. She was always doing little things like that and making Beca crush even harder.

"Eh, about ten minutes. And it's been raining this hard the entire time." As she spoke, thunder rumbled loudly, and she shivered. "Shit, I didn't know it was going to storm." She hated storms. She really fucking hated storms.

Chloe's eyes searched the other girl's face. "I think it's supposed to storm all night. I don't think it's going to let up any time soon. Did you walk here?"

Thier dorm, Keith, was on the other side of campus. Beca had a car, but she wasn't huge on driving it. She was more of a headphones-and-walking kinda girl. "Yeah," she said, "Now I'm totally regretting it." She looked down at her shoes, and then back to the other girl. She was having a hard time trying to fight her feelings- on one had she was totally excited to be around Chloe, but then at the same time, she was really kinda terrified of thunderstorms. The combination of both emotions were kinda making her incredibly anxious.

"Well," Chloe said, "I drove. I parked over there," she pointed to the lot that directly touched the building, and then pulled her keys out of her purse and hit a button and the car started. That was something that kind of intimated Beca- Chloe was rich and totally feminine. She wore spring dresses and heels on normal occassions, as everyday outfits. She drove a white Volvo, and had a pet horse named Paris, and had like all the latest technology. Beca wasn't poor, by any means, but she wasn't rich either. Her father had money, yeah, but until that past August, she had lived with her mom in a ranch-style home, pretty modestly. And she definitely wasn't that feminine. If she didn't dress like a hipster, she dressed like a Tumblr-lesbian (sweats and long sleeved tees and sporty brands). She totally didn't carry a purse either. They were really different in that aspect, and she didn't know if that made them compatible or not. That was, of course, overlooking the fact that Chloe was a girl and probably completely straight anyway.

Beca and Chloe ran across the parking lot and jumped in the car before they were absolutely drenched. But even after hurrying, they were still really spotted with rain. Chloe's curls sparkled with raindrops. She ran one hand through them and then gave Beca one of the smiles that made the brunette weak. "Good thing I caught you before you tried to run home in it, hmm?"

"Yes," Beca nodded, and tried to tell her heart to slow down, and her hands to stop shaking. "I'm glad you did." Then she had a thought, and she said, as the other girl turned to place her purse in the back seat. "What are your plans for the break?"

Chloe put the car into drive and then pulled out of the parking lot as lightning lit up the sky. "Oh, mmm," she said, aparently not affected by the storm at all. "My mom asked me to come home but I don't know if I want to make that drive by myself. It's so long."

Beca bit the insides of her cheeks and then replied before she could convince herself not to- "I could go with you."

The car pulled to a stop at the only light between the english building and their dorm. "Oh?" Chloe turned to face her, one hand on the wheel, the other on her knee. "You wanna go home with me?" She seemed a little surprised.

"Yeah," Beca said. "I mean I would. If you wanted me to." She felt a little silly practically inviting herself to Chloe's house. But the possibility of getting to know the other girl more was too good to pass up.

"Of course I would love you to come home with me," she said, and then reached out touched Beca's cheek with her fingertips. "I love spending time with you." Then the light changed and Chloe drove them the rest of the way back, pulling into the closest possible parking space.

But it was still raining hard, and the wind had really picked up, and the rolling thunder was so loud it seemed to shake the car once it had stopped. The brunette clenched her fists, and squinted her eyes shut when the lightning shot across the darkness once more. As a kid, she'd watched lightning take down the biggest tree in their back yard. It had fallen backward, crashed into the roof, and one of the limbs had came in through Beca's window and nearly hit her as she lay in her bed. Ever since, she'd been terrified of storms.

"Hey," Chloe said, and her hand fell on Beca's knee. "You okay?"

"Storms," the brunette replied. "I really hate storms."

"Then we need to get inside before it gets worse." Her fingers undid Beca's seatbelt and then she turned to get her purse, while Beca got her backpack from the floor. "Ready?"

The lot wasn't as close to the dorm as the one by the english building had been, so they ran a little faster. Luckily, Chloe had worn jeans and Toms, so she didn't have to worry about tripping on the slippery sidewalk in her heels. Beca drug her key out of her pocket and FOB, so that she could swipe them both in. But even the second it took to do that was long enough to soak both of them the rest of the way. As they checked in at the front desk, their limp hair dripped down their shoulders.

On the elevator up to the fifth floor, Beca rang out her hair. "Well, I dunno about you, but I feel like a wet dog."

Chloe laughed, "A very cute wet dog."

Beca's heart flipped. It was the more innocent of compliments, but it had the same effect on her that blatant flirting probably would have with anyone else. She tried not to seem like it got to her though, and she bit her bottom lip and adjusted her backpack as the doors opened up to let them out of the elevator. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Chloe lived at one end of the hall, and Beca on the other, and the elevator was in the middle. And so the two stood for a second unwilling to part ways immediately.

"If I go," Chloe said, "I'll probably leave tomorrow around ten. Is that too early for you?" She paused, and rang out her hair as well with one hand. "Are you serious about going?"

"Yes," Beca nodded. And then, accompanied by a crack of lightning, the light flooded out of the hall, and the two were submerged into darkness. "Oh fuck," Beca cursed, and spun around. "Dammit..."