A/N: Alright guys, here's a long one for ya. It was so long, I had to push Chloe's return to the next chapter...but she's in here a bit. Enjoy and review = )
I didn't ask for that
You give me heart attack
I didn't want to care
And then I saw you there.
Been working like a dog
I turned all my dreams off
I didn't know my name
I didn't know my name
(I got a little bit longer) I got a ways to go
(I got a little bit longer) I got a ways to go
(Oh I got a little bit longer) I got a ways to go-oh-oh
Whoa oh oh (I got a ways to go)
Even when I can't see my rear view
Even if I call just to hear you
Even when I sleep all day
Even when I sleep all day
Even if I wasn't like I'm times two
Living in the back of a bunk just like we do
Even when I dream all day
"I can't even explain it Jesse, she's just amazing." Beca said as she sifted through a stack of CDs that cluttered the desk, searching for a specific title. "I don't usually like girls like her, but she's got all these little hidden gems that make her personality even more adorable. She's got dope music taste and she wants to open her own club someday but at the same time she's this rich, sorority chick from Rhode Island."
Jesse had apparently been up late watching movies and called Beca to see how her break was going and how things were at the station. He must've been able to tell through her tone that she was more upbeat than usual and after several minutes of prying, she finally broke down and explained how she had met Catherine and how into her she was.
"Wow. That's crazy Beca, you sound so excited. I knew something was up with you! Who would've known it was just love." Jesse said with a chuckle.
"Whoa, slow down dude. I didn't say anything about love." Beca quickly corrected.
"Why, cause that emotion is reserved for Chloe?" He shot back at her.
She sighed.
"Why do you have to do that? Chloe has nothing to do with this." Beca told him as she found the CD she was looking for and brought it to her laptop which was set up in the booth.
"Really? I think she has everything to do with this. Tell me, have you told your supposed best friend that you're falling for this girl?" Jesse asked
"Yeah, I just did." Beca said, like the smart-aleck she is.
"Right. So Chloe is just going to come back from break and you're going to be dating this girl and you expect everything to go over smoothly?" Jesse said, his voice laced with doubt.
"Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is. Chloe has told me like 4 times, no matter how close we've gotten, that she doesn't want to be anything more than friends because in a month and a half we're going separate ways and she can't do the distance thing. Why should I stop doing my thing just because she has? Besides, it's not like I planned for this. All I did was go to the club for my lost dog tags, it's not like I chased her down and forced her to like me back, it just happened." Beca said with a shrug.
To be honest, she still wasn't sure why she hadn't breathed any mention of Catherine to Chloe especially since they had been texting regularly since Chloe left. Beca figured while whatever it was with her and Catherine was new, she'd keep it to themselves (with the exception of Jesse who is a hopeless romantic and can smell a romantic plotline from miles away.)
"Regardless of if you planned for it or not, you should probably tell Chloe, I mean, what are you afraid of?" Jesse asked
"What? I'm not afraid of anything." Beca said nonchalantly as she dragged tracks from the CD she had imported into her library on Itunes.
"So if you don't really care what Chloe thinks, why haven't you told her?" Jesse pressed on.
"Dude, why are you making a big deal of this? You're totally killing my vibe and my will to talk to you." Beca replied, not trying to hide how irritated she was at all.
"I'm just trying to get you to put things into perspective. You and Chloe have had this weird thing for about a month and though she doesn't want to be in a relationship with you, it's still probably going to be a shock for her to see you with someone and maybe telling her sooner rather than later could soften the blow up that I feel could potentially happen from this." Jesse told her
"Well I don't think it's that serious, Jess. Chloe can date whoever she wants; she just doesn't want me, which is fine because I too can do the same." Beca replied with a frustrated sigh. "I honestly thought you'd be a little more stoked for me." She said, her voice softening.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring you down. You know I'm hella stoked for you. After hearing how girls have screwed you over in the past, it's good to know you've met a few who have restored your faith in any kind of human companionship." Jesse said as he laughed at the last part. "Soo where are you taking Catherine on this first date tonight?"
"Uhhh, I haven't exactly planned that far, yet." Beca admitted sheepishly as she inserted a blank disk into her laptop and then quickly queued up another playlist of her mixes.
"Ha, that's typical! Well do you need any ideas? I'm kind of great at the whole romance thing, if only because I've seen so many movies." Jesse told her.
"I think I'll be alright. But if I fuck things up and need some huge romantic gesture to win her over again, you'll be the first person I hit up." Beca said with a laugh.
"Just remember, boom box over your head outside her window." Jesse quipped
"Wait, what? You know I don't get your movie references yet you still make them." Beca said with an eye roll.
"Maybe you should pay attention!" He exclaimed
"Pass." She said dryly as he responded with a laugh.
They chatted for a few more minutes as Beca asked Jesse how his break was going and if he was souped to come back and work on a killer set for the Trebles and their trip to the ICCA's in a month. After a few more playful insults, the two hung up since Beca needed to get back to her station duties and it was already 3am and Jesse decided he should go to sleep.
The rest of her shift passed swiftly as she toyed around on her laptop readying mixes for the gig Catherine had gotten her that was quickly approaching. She barely noticed that it was quarter of 5 when her relief showed up and told her she could split 15 minutes early.
Stepping out into the cool March air, she quickly pulled the hood from her sweatshirt underneath her leather jacket out and put it on, readjusting her headphones. It was a mere 10 minute walk but Beca always needed to have her music on when she was walking. She contemplated stopping and grabbing a coffee but then decided against it since she wanted to crash right when she got back to her dorm so she was well rested for her highly anticipated date with Catherine that night.
Once she had arrived back at her dorm, she took a quick shower (alone, one of the perks of being on campus during a break) and proceeded to head back to her room where she threw on the Barden sweatpants that Chloe had left at her place and one of her signature band shirts before crawling into bed. Just as she was about to plug her phone into the charger and crash, she examined her phone and smiled as she realized she had a text.
Catherine: Hey DJ, hope you had a great shift, can't wait for tonight! :-)*
Beca: You're not the only one who can't wait, see you at 8 sharp!
"Geez, Jesse. I'm not on who wants to be a Millionaire and asking you as a lifeline to the million dollar question, I'm just asking if I should wear this or that." Beca said disgruntled as she held up her outfit options and patiently waited for Jesse's input through Skype.
This was definitely more of a Chloe question, or really more of and Fat Amy or Stacie question at that. But seeing as how she was avoiding the topic of Catherine with Chloe, for whatever still unknown reason to her, and she wasn't exactly sure how Fat Amy and Stacie felt about her post semi-finals, Jesse was her only option.
"I like the purple flannel and the black skinny jeans; you wore that when we first kinda met." He smiled at her as he reminisced.
She rolled her eyes at his corniness and nodded in agreement.
"Thank you. I'm glad a simple outfit question took 25 minutes." She told him as she set the other outfit down and proceeded to ask him which boots she should wear.
"They're both black, Bec." He told her. She frowned at him and shook her head.
"Jesse, they're different styles! Okay, this is definitely the last time I ask you this sort of thing. I should've hit up Luke; he's a well put together lad." She said, the last part in a rough English accent, which they did whenever they talked about Luke and it amused them to no end.
"You know I'm no good at this shit Beca, boots are boots!" He exclaimed.
"Besides, you never care about this shit. Are you finally getting nervous about tonight?" He egged
"I'm not nervous. I know I don't usually care but I do right now…it's weird." Beca told him
"If it was Chloe, you know you'd be nervous, running around with your head cut off and all that." Jesse said
"For the love of God, pleeeeease STOP comparing everything to Chloe!" Beca said with a frustrated tone.
"Was that directed at me, or yourself?" He asked
"Goodbye, Jess!" She waved before she went to disconnect.
"Wait! Where are you-" He began to ask before being cut off by Beca.
As Beca finished getting everything together she glanced at the clock and noticed it was quarter of 6 and she needed to get ready.
'Where did this day go!?' She thought as she hurried off to take another shower.
When she returned from her shower, she quickly checked her phone to see if Catherine had tried to back out of their date tonight, thankfully she hadn't, but it's happened to Beca in the past so it couldn't hurt to anticipate that sort of thing. She had a few annoying texts from Jesse, as well as one from Chloe. Ignoring Jesse's romantic tips, she opened Chloe's.
Chloe: Aubrey just called me, the Foot Notes got disqualified and we're back in the competition Becs!
Beca grinned but it was quickly diminished when she realized that she wasn't part of the Bellas anymore and this news didn't really pertain to her. She quickly typed a response and hit send.
Beca: Congrats Chlo, I'm sure you guys will be amazing = )
Not even a minute later, Beca heard Chloe's text tone go off.
Chloe: What? Becs, we need you!
Beca: In case you didn't notice, I quit much to Aubrey's approval. I'm not Bella material, remember?
Chloe: Stfu, don't be like that. I'll talk to Aubrey. Seriously, it's not gonna be the same without you.
Beca: Sorry Chlo, I don't think it's gonna happen. Aubrey's too uptight and I can't deal with her.
Chloe: Just like everything else, I'll have to change your mind ; ) seriously I'll talk to Aubrey.
Beca: Don't bother. You guys will be fine. How are you feeling?
Chloe: I don't take no for an answer, especially from you. I'm doing fine but I'm worried now that I had my nodes removed, I think my voice won't be as powerful = /
Beca read the text and imagined the red head donning an adorable pout as she talked about her voice, not that it was cute when Chloe was sad, but, it kind of was. She shook the thought from her head and sent one last reassuring text to the older girl.
Beca: I'm sure it will still be Aguiler-ian enough for you guys to do well. Tell everyone I said good luck, k?
Chloe: This isn't over, Mitchell. Xox
Beca rolled her eyes and threw her phone on her bed, proceeding to get dressed and do her makeup. At 7:30, she put on her hoodie and leather jacket, grabbed her keys and wallet, and headed out to Greek Row to go pick up Catherine. Slipping her ear buds in, she put on a playlist of mixes and walked steadily to the beat, arriving at the Zeta Tau Alpha house about 20 minutes later. She knocked confidently on the door, removing her headphones as she waited for an answer. Soon enough the door flung open and a gorgeous girl who Beca didn't recognize was standing in front of her.
"Can I help you?" She asked, politely.
"Uh, Yeah. I'm Beca. I'm here to pick up Catherine." Beca said as the nerves kicked in.
"Oh! Right! Come in." The girl said as she motioned for Beca to come in the house.
It was a fairly large house, typical for housing almost an entire sorority. Beca looked around for any sign of Catherine and noticed how cliché the house looked and let out an amused chuckle.
"What's that smug look for?"
Beca whipped around in the direction of the familiar voice and just stared in awe. Catherine was wearing a low cut, floral patterned white dress with a denim micro vest over it. Her hair was down and slightly curled and she looked like something straight out of a movie.
"Well, I'm looking for this super cool girl that I'm supposed to take out but I don't think she lives here." Beca said with a grin after she found her jaw on the floor and had picked it up.
"There's nobody cooler than me here, maybe you could settle?" Catherine quipped back
"I suppose you'll do." Beca said with a shrug as she eyed Catherine up and down once more.
"For real though, you look amazing Catherine."
"Thank you. You look cute as always, by the way." Catherine replied, slipping a coat on.
"Bad ass. I was going for bad ass. What about this outfit is cute?" She questioned
"You." Catherine said with a wink. Beca tried hard to hide her blush and just rolled her eyes. She was great at making cheesy compliments, receiving them was a different story.
"Are you ready to go?" Beca asked
"Hold on, I want you to meet my sisters. If we don't have time that's fine…" Catherine started to say
"I'd love to meet them." Beca said with a smile, cutting Catherine off. The girl returned her smile and gestured for Beca to follow her.
The pair wandered upstairs to several rooms where Beca was introduced to at least 30 girls. Jessica, Nicole, Amanda, Bethany, Alicia, Corie, Liz, Andrea, Amber, Melissa, Jennifer, Lauren, Courtney, Sarah, Whitney, Kerry, etcc…
Beca lost track of the names as she had heard them. They were all friendly and asked questions, informing her that Catherine had talked about her non-stop, but there were just too many to keep track of and it was a bit overwhelming for Beca. Catherine must've sensed this, casually grabbing Beca's hand and excusing themselves so they could get to their date.
"That was um, wow. Intense?" Beca said as the pair walked down the sidewalk, heading towards the town that the campus was in.
"Yeah, sorry about that. They were really insistent on meeting you before we went out tonight." Catherine told her.
"Oh it's fine. I've just never had so many cute girls interested in me before." Beca said with a wink, receiving a playful push from Catherine as a response.
"So where are we going?" Catherine asked. Beca was distracted by the fact that Catherine's hand was intertwined with hers and almost missed the question.
"Oh, um…okay so I hope you don't find this lame but I was thinking Monster Mini-Golf?" Beca questioned, her nerves showing once again.
"Oh my god! I've heard that's so much fun, I've never been!" Catherine exclaimed. Beca smiled, relieved that Catherine was excited.
"I figured it would be something fun and casual for us to do. I hate movies, and dinner seems boring for a first date so I'm glad you're excited." Beca replied.
"I hope you're prepared to lose DJ, I'm an expert mini-golfer." Catherine told her matter of factly.
"Bring it, sorority girl." Beca teased.
Jesse: Glow in the dark mini-golf? You would.
Beca smiled at Jesse's text as she shoved her phone in her pocket. The place was pretty cool and she was having fun watching Catherine attempt to play and although the music sucked, she had no problem with it because it was worth Catherine's company.
"Okay, so maybe I'm not an expert mini-golf player…" Catherine said with a sheepish grin after she had yet again hit her ball out of bounds.
"Well I kinda figured that when on the first hole you hit your ball hard enough for it to reach China." Beca said with a shrug as she got walked closer to Catherine.
"Maybe you could teach me your skills?" Catherine suggested
Beca just shook her head with a smirk as she set up the next ball. She couldn't believe she was about to do something this cliché. She walked up behind where Catherine was and after correcting her stance she placed her arms around Catherine, placing her hands lightly over Catherine's which were grasping the putter.
"It's all in the hips." She said simply into Catherine's ear.
"And hitting the ball gently."
Catherine giggled as Beca rocked her hips in a mock swing.
"Ready to try?" Beca asked
"Definitely." Catherine told her as Beca stepped back. Catherine took a soft swing and the ball took off, getting closer to the hole than any of her previous attempts.
Catherine threw her hands up as if she had won the PGA tour, it was super cute and with a squeal she turned and gave Beca a quick kiss on the lips.
"You're a pretty good teacher, you know." She said with a devious smile. Beca could only nod in response, her mind still in a daze from Catherine's kiss. "C'mon bad ass, it's your turn!" Catherine exclaimed.
Catherine ended up kicking Beca's ass after that. Admittedly, Beca wasn't the best at really anything sporty but c'mon mini-golf is so basic. She was in awe that Catherine had beat her after she had been so terrible to start, then it suddenly hit her.
"Oh my god, you hustled me!" Beca exclaimed as she returned their putters and headed for the exit.
"What? How could you accuse ME of that?" Catherine said innocently, throwing in a pout.
"That just confirms it. You are so sneaky!" Beca said as Catherine laughed.
"Okay well how else was I going to get you to put your arms around me and have an excuse to kiss you?" Catherine questioned in a teasing manner.
"Oh, I don't know, you could've asked?" Beca told her as she crossed her arms in mock anger.
"Don't even be that way, you know it was cute. I can tell you want to smile!" Catherine said as she reached out and took Beca's hand in her own, getting Beca to eventually release the smile she'd been trying hard to conceal.
"Hm, well. Well played, tease." Beca joked as she pulled Catherine closer and the two began to walk.
"So where are we off to next?" Catherine questioned
"Well I was going to suggest ice cream and music in my room…but if you wanted to do something else…" Beca answered hesitantly
"Sounds perfect! But you have to let me pick the ice cream; I take that sort of thing very seriously." Catherine told her. Beca was relieved she didn't find her idea lame and just smiled over at the darker brunette.
"I think I can make an exception, but I'm picking the music just so we're clear. That music in that place was TORTURE." Beca groaned
"Oh my god, I know. I wanted to slap whoever was in charge of that shit. I swear if I hear Gas Pedal one more time, I might lose it. Why do people think that's good music?" Catherine questioned
The two shared a laugh as they ducked into a convenience store to grab some ice cream. Catherine quickly selected 3 pints of Ben and Jerry's, claiming they needed 'options' and after paying for them, the two headed back to campus.
Beca headed straight over to her laptop and opened up her ITunes as Catherine began to dig into the ice cream like a child. Beca shot her a grin as the room filled with the sound of her latest playlist of mixes.
"Can I have a bite?" Beca asked playfully as she walked over to her bed plopped down next to Catherine, who immediately cuddled into her side.
"I supppppose." Catherine drawled out, taking a big spoonful of mint chocolate chip and shoving it into Beca's face, all while erupting in laughter like a child would.
"Hey! That's not nice!" Beca said, playfully pushing the girl while attempting to get the ice cream off of her face.
"Well, here. Let me help." Catherine said as she reached out and grabbed Beca's face lightly, pulling her in for a gentle, sensual kiss that Beca had absolutely no problem returning. "Better?" Catherine asked as she parted with a sly grin across her face.
"Much." Beca smiled as she leaned in and kissed Catherine again.
'Gotta love ice cream' Beca thought as she smiled into the kiss.
A/N: A few of you requested I take my time with Catherine and Beca, and I intend to. But it WILL be Bechole endgame. So don't worry guys...we're just leading up to an epic ending because remember, ending's are the best part ; )
Song Credit: GroupLove "Ways To Go" (epic song, check it out!)