A/N: So sorry for the wait on this guys, school has been crazy! I am trying my best to manage both. I'll be done in a week or so. Once finals are done, this story will begin to get wrapped up as well. Without further delay, here's chapter 19! Remember, reviews are the best so please keep them coming. Love you fuckers…xoxo
The bass was pumping and Beca was nodding her head with the beat as she moved through the crowded club in search of her friends. Catherine, who had been working the event since it was hosted at her uncle's club, had grabbed her from the DJ booth to tell her that her aca-friends had arrived. Beca had been impressed with the local showcase thus far, there was definitely a lot of talent being displayed tonight and it rattled her nerves with insecure thoughts about her own abilities. While Beca usually had a strict no drinking while DJing policy for fear it interfered with her music, she had quickly decided that one drink was absolutely necessary to calm her nerves before she pulled an Aubrey and blew chunks all over the crowd that was below her. Before she could even make her way to the bar, she felt herself pulled and upon looking, realized it was none other than her favorite red headed best friend, Chloe.
"Hey!" She shouted with an exuberant smile and pulled the tiny brunette in for a hug.
"Are you excited!?"
Beca could smell the already consumed alcohol on Chloe's breath and by one glance at her beautiful baby blues, she could tell the redhead had pre-gamed quite a bit and couldn't help but chuckle.
"I'm actually more nervous than anything. Would you mind getting me a drink to calm my nerves?" the DJ asked as she pulled away from the older girl.
"Sure thing, DJ small fry!" Chloe told her, receiving a playful glare from Beca before she made her way to the bar. Within minutes she was back with Beca's favorite, Jack Daniels and Coke.
"Thank God, Chlo. I really need this." Beca told Chloe appreciatively. Chloe just nodded in agreement.
"When do you go on?" Chloe asked as Aubrey and a couple of the other Bellas came over to them.
"I'm on in half an hour. But I need to go set up in about 15 minutes or so." Beca explained. The other girls circled around Beca and began making small talk as Chloe escaped back to the bar and ordered a shot of tequila and another drink. As she readied herself to take the shot, she noticed Jesse come up and sit beside her.
"Hey Chloe, enjoying yourself?" Jesse asked as he got himself a beer using a fake ID that Luke had hooked him up with. She glanced over at Beca and saw her and Catherine kissing and hanging all over each other. With an eye roll and a look of disgust, she threw the shot back and chased it eagerly, none of this going unnoticed by Jesse.
"I'm having an awesome time, what about you?" She told him sarcastically as she turned back to face him. Or them. There were now two Jesse's.
"I can't wait to see Beca spin, hey, do you think Aubrey will dance with me? I know she is strict about the whole no trebles thing, but it's just dancing, right?" He asked hopefully.
"Who knows." She said with a shrug before pressing her finger to his chest. "You know, you should be my dance buddy tonight. That might make her pay attention to you." Chloe told him.
"Really, you think?" He asked her as he finished the rest of his beer and watched as Chloe tried to steady herself.
"Yeah, definitely." She mumbled. "Girls get jealous when they're drinking and they see someone they like doing anything with anyone but them. It's science." She added.
Jesse laughed and held out his hand to escort Chloe back over to the group. Noticing that Beca had disappeared, probably to set up, he suggested to Chloe that they go get some air before Beca's set starts. Chloe agreed and he led her out to the side of the club where there were a few people smoking cigarettes and chatting idly amongst themselves.
Chloe leaned against the side of the brick building and breathed in deeply. The cold air felt good in her lungs and cleared some of the fuzziness from the alcohol. She looked over at Jesse who was sporting a slight grin and gave him a quizzical look.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked.
"You're just very amusing when you're drunk. I'm guessing you pre-gamed even though there's an after party?" He replied.
"Well, duh, that's what you do before these sorts of things! Have you learned nothing at college so far?" Chloe questioned in disbelief. "And don't even think about taking advantage of me, I've got pepper spray." She joked with a wink.
Jesse put his hands up in defense. "Don't spray me bro!" He exclaimed. "Besides, imagine what Beca would do if that even happened." He let slip.
Chloe scoffed. "Speaking of the devil, let's head back inside. I'm sure she'll be on any minute." Chloe said upon hearing a lull in the music, meaning the next DJ was setting up.
They entered the club and headed back towards their group of friends who were also making their way to the dance floor. Beca was above on the DJ platform readying her laptop and running cables to and from various devices. Chloe smiled as she noticed how focused Beca was, it was always adorable the way she could be so passionate about something when she actually cared about it enough. The ginger's smile immediately fell as she saw Catherine wrap her hands around the tiny brunette and whisper something in her ear, earning a smile from Beca in response.
"You're going to be great, baby." Beca heard Catherine's encouraging voice as she felt her girlfriend pull her back into her body and grinned at her words.
"Thanks babe, I'm sure gonna try." Beca told her as she reached over and finished her drink. She was trying to get in her zone and believe it or not, Catherine's presence was actually preventing her from doing so and for once and maybe the only time ever, she wished Catherine would give her five minutes to get her thoughts collected. Thankfully her wish came true as Catherine gave her a quick kiss and headed down the platform to get back to work.
The radio DJ's who were hosting the event gave Beca a thumbs up to which she responded with one herself before cutting off the house music.
"All right Atlanta are you ready for another amazing DJ!?" One of them asked as the crowd cheered loudly. "Representing Barden University, make some noise for DJ YOUNG-B!" The other one added, as Beca began to scratch her turntables and intro into her first song which was a mash up of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" and Dolla's "Who the Fuck is that?"
"WOOO!" Chloe yelled as she pulled Jesse out into the middle of the dance floor and began grinding on him while the other Bellas and Trebles following in suit.
Beca was on her A-game. She had been working on these mixes ever since Catherine had told her she had gotten her a slot on the showcase, each track winning her girlfriend's approval of course. Beca wasn't surprised to see the crowd's reception to her songs was overwhelmingly positive, after she shakes her nerves, she's pretty confident about her music. Hell, it's really the only thing she can for sure says she's good at. What did surprise her though was her looking up to see her two best friends grinding on each other in the middle of the club. Granted it shouldn't bother her at all, after all a dance is just a dance, right? What did bother her was the sight of Jesse's wandering hands on Chloe's hips and the way she rolled her body into his in such a way that even she herself could feel it. Beca faded the track out and transitioned into her remix of La Roux's "Bulletproof" that she had fine tuned specifically for the gig, all while keeping a close eye on Chloe and Jesse practically having sex on the dance floor. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad but it definitely rubbed Beca the wrong way, what if something came out of this? She really couldn't imagine Jesse and Chloe dating or even hooking up but of course Beca's mind always thinks of the worst possible outcome in every situation. She shook her head as if to physically shake all of the bad thoughts out of her head and tried to focus on the task at hand, her mixing.
The whole entire club was moving as Beca faded out of "Bulletproof" and into her remix of Azealia Banks' "212." She couldn't help but notice the approving looks from the hosting DJ's and of course, Catherine, who was jamming as she barbacked. Beca felt on top of the world in her element but in the back of her mind she couldn't ignore the ill feelings she had about seeing Jesse and Chloe so close like that. What do they call that? Jealousy?
'I am NOT jealous. I have no reason to be. We're all just friends.' She thought.
Friends.
For some reason or another, that word wasn't sitting right with her at all.
For her last song, she debuted a new mix of The Ting Tings "That's Not My Name" that she had been working on the past week but hadn't shown anyone. In fact, Beca had a special folder on her computer labeled SECRET WEAPON which held her most fierce mixes that she withheld from showing anyone, the element of surprise is pretty important as a DJ and Beca kept a lot of her mixes private for use in spur of the moment situations such as this. Everyone she knew had grown sick of this song pretty quickly when it came out and she decided it had been long enough now that she could remix it and throw it out just when people least expected and it and with the reaction of the crowd, she had made the right decision.
As the song faded out and the hosting DJ's took over, the crowd went crazy with applause for the tiny brunette who just smiled politely and began disconnecting her gear before making her way down from the booth.
As soon as Beca got back onto the floor of the club she was bombarded by various Bellas complimenting her and giving her daps, all of which she gratefully returned with a small smile. Catherine made her way over as well and hopped into the tiny DJ's arms, causing her to start laughing and she tried her best to balance them both.
"Baby you were amazing! The entire club was totally into it. I'm so proud of you!" She told Beca as she layered her face with kisses.
"Not bad for an alt-girl with a killer smile, huh?" She playfully joked with Catherine as she set her down and wrapped her arm around her. Beca immediately scanned the room, hoping to spot Jesse and Chloe, preferably separate.
"Are you ready to party? I just have to put in another hour and then we can head back to the house, I'm sure the girls have already got things started." Catherine said to her, pulling Beca out of her manhunt.
"Yeah, definitely." Beca told her.
"I'm gonna go find Chloe."
"Kay. I think I saw her at the sidebar with Jesse, I'm not sure if they're still there though. This place is packed!" Catherine told her, kissing her on the cheek and taking Beca's laptop bag. "I'm gonna put this in my uncle's office so you won't have to worry about it." Beca nodded and turned her attention to the sidebar, making her way over.
Chloe and Jesse stumbled out the side door, both fanning themselves.
"Jesus, it's fuckin' hot in there!" Jesse exclaimed as he gratefully breathed in the cooler air.
"That's usually what happens when you get drunk and dance, is it not?" Chloe asked playfully.
"Shut up Beale, our plan didn't even work. Aubrey was getting cozy with Stacie the entire time. Are all of the Bellas lesbians? Is that like your niche?" He joked as Chloe gave him a little shove.
"Yeah, Jess. We lost to you guys twice because all we do is hook up with each other at practice, there's not a whole lot of singing going on at allll." Chloe replied as the two burst out laughing. The alcohol was definitely getting the best of them, in fact they didn't even notice when they were joined by another presence.
"What's so funny?" Beca asked as she walked up to her friends who were in hysterics.
"BECS! Your set was amaaazing, nobody even came close to you! Did you see us busting moves to all your mixes?" drunk Chloe exclaimed with delight as the young brunette approached.
"Thanks. And yeah, it was pretty hard to miss you two. Grinding. In the middle of the dance floor." Beca said, throwing a tiny glare at Jesse before turning back to Chloe and smiling. Chloe threw her arms around Beca and whispered more congratulations in her ears while Jesse just grinned like a drunken idiot at the fact that Beca always got flustered whenever Chloe got close. The three of them turned when they heard the side door open and saw Catherine come out.
"You guys ready to party or what? Everyone's already heading over to my sorority's house!" She said. Chloe pulled away from Beca and accepted Jesse's offered hand as the two made their way back into the club with Catherine and Beca following behind.
Catherine and Beca made a quick stop in the office to talk to Catherine's uncle, (who was beyond thrilled to meet her and compliment her performance) and to grab her laptop and quickly change.
"You ready baby?" Catherine asked after changing out of her skinny jeans and club shirt and into a tight red dress with black heels.
"Yeah, I'm ready. And may I say you look fuckin' gorgeous?" Beca told her with a genuine smile. Catherine grinned as she put on her jacket.
"Well I know how red is your favorite color. I just wanted to impress you like you always impress me." She explained as she leaned in and gave the DJ a quick kiss. The two quickly made their way out of the club, catching a cab back to Barden to attend the festivities.
The party was in full swing when Beca and Catherine arrived and they wasted no time getting drinks and making rounds as Catherine showed Beca off to all of her sisters, gushing about her performance and how amazing she is. Beca just smiled as Catherine led her and tried to keep up with the conversations everyone was having. Beca wasn't exactly a social person, so it was odd having so much attention on her and feeling like she had to contribute to the conversations. All she really wanted to do was go hang out with her aca-friends, but Catherine was so excited to have her here at one of their parties that she didn't want to disappoint.
"Look at her," Chloe slurred to Jesse as she finished off yet another drink.
"Parading Bec around like she's a fuckin trophy. Who does that?"
"Oh, like you wouldn't?" Jesse questioned as he too finished his drink.
"No, she looks uncomfortable. I'd let her call the shots." Chloe told him matter of factly. "Speaking of shots…do you want to do a tequila shot?" She asked. Jesse shook his head, refusing to touch tequila. Chloe frowned, but then quickly smirked as an idea popped into her head. She made her way through the crowd of people over to Beca and the sorority girls who surrounded her.
"Hey DJ!" she exclaimed as she broke through the circle and shoved her way to Beca's side, earning quite a few questionable looks. Beca couldn't help but smirk at the drunken red head's antics.
"Hey there Chlo. Guys this is one of my best friends, Chloe. She's in the Bellas with me." Beca explained to the group.
"The best." Chloe said with a wink. The girls nodded and continued their conversation.
"Hey" Chloe whispered into Beca's ear, immediately sending shivers through the younger girl's body.
"Hey yourself, drunkie." Beca whispered back while trying to suppress a smile.
"Come do a shot with me. I haven't even spent ANY time with you tonight." The red head said with a pout, the one that Beca couldn't say no to and drove her crazy at the same time. She simply nodded in reply as Beca excused them from the circle.
"Where ya going?" Catherine asked with a confused look and concern laced in her voice.
Beca opened her mouth to speak but Chloe beat her to it.
"We're gonna go do a shot and talk…I haven't seen her all night. Is that okay with you?" Chloe responded bitterly. Whether she meant to or not, Beca couldn't really tell.
"We won't be long." Beca added, trying to soften the mood.
Catherine sighed and shrugged, returning her attention to her friends.
Chloe grabbed Beca's hand and led them to the kitchen, grabbing two plastic shot glasses and a half full bottle of tequila from the island before leading them outside to the deck.
"I figured we could use some air. Especially you…she seems to be smothering you." Chloe said as she sat at a table and Beca joined her.
"She's just excited." Beca said, trying to defend her girlfriend. "Plus, I've never met some of her sisters here tonight…I'm trying to be more social." Beca grimaced as she spoke. Chloe let out a small laugh.
"You hate anything social, don't kid yourself." Chloe said as she began pouring a couple of shots.
"Ah, but people change." Beca responded.
"You also hate change too." Chloe quipped.
"Did you steal me away just to insult me?" Beca asked with an amused smile.
"No, not for just that reason." She said, handing Beca tequila shot.
"Are you kidding me?" Beca asked, frowning at the tequila. "Do you not remember the last time you got me to drink tequila? I'm still trying to recover from the embarrassment that night."
"Don't be such a baby!" Chloe exclaimed as Beca shook her head violently. "Pleeeeease? For moi?" She added, with her pleading baby blue eyes. Beca closed her eyes and let out a breath. "Fine. One shot Chlo…that's it!" Chloe just grinned. "Sure, one shot." She said with a wink.
After downing the shot, the girls continued to talk. The seclusion of the porch felt good, especially since it felt like a long time since they had actually hung out just the two of them, even though it had probably only been a few days.
"How much have you drank tonight?" Beca asked as she watched Chloe down another shot.
"Don't worry. I'm fiiine." Chloe told her. "YOU should be drinking more. We're celebrating your debut as a professional DJ ya know."
"Yeah, well. I think you're drinking enough for the both of us, so it's all good." Beca said, smiling as she reached over and brushed some of Chloe's hair out of her face. "So where's Jesse? You guys have been attached at the hip all night." Chloe gave her an amused look.
"You sound like you have a problem with me and Jesse hanging out." Chloe said in a teasing manner.
"Nope. No problem at all. Except, he doesn't even know how to dance with you properly." Beca said, obviously disturbed by the fact.
"Huh? How so?" Chloe asked, bringing her hand up to rest her chin on it.
"Well, for starters. A girl like you leads…the way his hands were on you, it was like he was trying to restrain you instead of letting you shine. And for god's sake his rhythm was totally off. It was like he didn't even know how to handle you." Beca explained with total annoyance and a scoff.
"Not many people can…handle me, I guess." Chloe said.
"I could." Beca whispered. Chloe looked up and met Beca's gaze, their eyes connecting in a moment of pure honesty.
Chloe opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the porch door slamming open.
"Baby! There you are, I've been looking for you." Catherine announced, stepping out onto the porch.
"Well, she's right here." Chloe mumbled bitterly as Beca stood up.
"What's up babe?" Beca asked as Catherine came over and threw her arms around the DJ.
"Nothing, I just missed you. Plus Mary Ann and Katie want to hear about the time you punched some guy out in Jesse's defense. They think you're a total bad ass for that." She said, pressing her fore head to Beca's and smiling.
"Kay." Beca said with a nod as Catherine tugged her arm.
"I'll come find you after Chlo, I'm sure the Amy is going to want us all to play some sort of drinking game."
"Don't worry about it, you're busy being a star. I'm gonna go find Jesse and dance some more with him." Chloe said sourly as she got up, grabbed the tequila, and made her way inside.
"Wow, what's her deal tonight?" Catherine asked Beca.
"I'm not sure…c'mon let's go." Beca said, urging them inside and desperately avoiding any more attention to Chloe's rude demeanor.
The party raged on for quite some time and Beca kept an eye out for Chloe, intent on finishing their conversation from before or at least seeing the redhead to say goodnight, but they didn't cross paths. After chatting with more of Catherine's sorority friends and dancing with her girlfriend, Beca finally saw Stacie and decided to ask her if she'd seen Chloe.
"Stace, have you seen Chlo and Bree?" Beca asked, fiddling with the ring on her finger, something she only seemed to do when she was nervous or had a bad feeling.
"Oh hey Beca. No, they left about an hour ago…Chloe was pretty drunk. I think Jesse left with them." The tall brunette told her.
"Great." Beca let out, clearly less than enthused.
"Hey you were awesome tonight, by the way!" Stacie added. Beca just nodded and returned to Catherine's side.
"What's wrong Bec?" She asked as she noticed her girlfriend's suddenly downtrodden mood.
"Nothing. Well, not nothing…I was hoping to say goodnight to Chloe but apparently she left." Beca said.
"Did you try calling her? She was pretty drunk. She probably went home and passed out with Aubrey." Catherine told her.
It was true, Chloe had drank a lot and she was certain that even a girl with Chloe's tolerance eventually hit their peak. She whipped out her cell and quickly called the senior.
"No answer." Beca said with a frown. Something felt off, and Beca couldn't put her finger on it.
"Hm. That sucks. I'm sure she's just sleeping Bec, you shouldn't worry." Catherine told her, trying to comfort the worried DJ. Beca just shrugged in agreement.
It was around 2am and the party started to wind down tremendously. Catherine asked Beca to spend the night and Beca was thankful, she was too tired to walk across campus and she didn't feel like being alone.
Catherine eagerly pulled Beca up the stairs and into her room, kissing her passionately the entire way.
"Did I tell you how hot you looked tonight while you were spinning? It's such a turn on how you work those turn tables with your hands." Catherine mumbled between sloppy kisses as she worked Beca out of her clothes.
"You didn't…but you can keep telling me, I love hearing it." Beca replied slyly as she gripped her girlfriend's hips and caught her in a slow, heated kiss, reaching around her back and unzipping her dress as she kept their lips connected.
"God, Bec. You're amazing." Catherine told her as she let Beca slide her dress off of her and stepped out of it, returning her hands to the young DJ's body.
"And you, my dear, are more than words." Beca told her softly as she began to kiss her neck. Catherine stifled a moan as Beca began to run her hands all over her exposed areas, leaving Catherine breathless. The couple was suddenly disturbed as the sound of "Titanium" filled the room. Beca reluctantly pulled herself from Catherine's grips.
"Hold on…it's Chloe." Beca said as she reached in her back pocket and pulled out her cell. Catherine sighed as Beca answered it.
"Chlo?" She asked.
"Beca, its Aubrey…" She heard come quickly from the other end.
"Um, Bree, I can't talk right now.." Beca sighed, pissed that it wasn't her best friend.
"Beca, I'm in the ER with Chloe…" The nervous captain told her.
"What!? Is she okay? What happened?" Beca said, sobering up immediately.
"They're working on her right now, can you please come here? I'm so fuckin' scared." Aubrey said, her voice broken and clearly on the edge of tears.
"I'll be right there." Beca told her before hanging up.
"What's going on?" Catherine asked as Beca slipped her phone into her back pocket and turned around to grab her flannel from the floor.
"It's Chloe…she's in the ER…I don't know what happened but I have to go." Beca said as she struggled to get her shirt on.
Catherine sighed, swallowing hard as she looked down at the floor.
"When exactly did you and Chloe hook up?" Catherine asked quietly, catching Beca off guard.
"…What?" Beca asked softly as slowly finished putting her shirt on.
"You heard me, Beca." Catherine said sternly, staring at Beca with sadness in her eyes.
Beca stared at her for a moment, not sure of what to say. She really didn't want to have this discussion with Catherine, ever. She wasn't even sure where to begin.
"Wha-..Who told you?" Beca asked. Catherine just shook her head and scoffed in disbelief.
"You. You just did."
Well, fuck.