Beca is pulled from her sleep by the sound of footsteps. She opens her eyes slightly, expecting to be hit with light from the window. However, there is no sun peeking into the room. Confused as to what time it is, she steals a glance at the clock. It reads 5:27 in big, red, blocky numbers. They have been back from the bar for almost five hours and Beca is baffled that any member of her group would be capable of rising before noon.
She hears light snoring next to her, and knows it's not Jesse who woke her up. She turns her head, wincing at the slight pain that's beginning to form in it. The hangover hasn't hit quite yet, but Beca can already tell it's going to be a rough day. With only the street lamp shining dull, distilled light through the curtains, it takes a few seconds for Beca to make out the figure in the bed. Aubrey, Beca deduces.
Looking towards the window, Beca sees the person who woke her up. Chloe is staring out the window aimlessly. The light from outside is hitting her fair face, and Beca can see it's uncharacteristically void of expression. Normally, Beca would compare the redhead's complexion to that of porcelain. Pale, maybe; beautiful, absolutely. However, Chloe is not her usual pale. She appears ghostly, and the look she holds in her eyes is haunting. They appear dull; void of their normal spark. They look as if she is not actually in her body; that she is somewhere else, thousands of miles away.
Almost mechanically, Chloe walks away from the window and to her luggage. She slips out of the mismatched pair of pajamas she managed to throw on in her drunken state, and into an over-sized long-sleeved t-shirt accompanied with yoga pants and running shoes.
Beca looks away for this part, not wanting to invade the redhead's privacy. She debates saying something to the ginger, but decides not to, afraid of startling her. Chloe looks over to her own bed, eyes resting on Aubrey. She studies the blonde and when the girl mumbles something in her sleep, Chloe heads for the door, assured that her friend will not wake up.
Confident she won't be followed, Beca thinks to herself. Once she hears the door close, Beca debates falling back asleep. She can see Chloe wants to be alone, why should Beca rob her of that? However, remembering the look in the redhead's eyes, Beca throw off her covers. Beca has no doubt that Chloe can handle herself, but she doesn't think she wants to test that theory.
Getting up, Beca quietly riffles through her bag, finding an old hoodie that belonged to her father and a pair of baggy sweatpants. She throws them on over her holed t-shirt and boy shorts, then heads for the door. She makes sure to close it gently and takes a wild stab as to where she thinks Chloe might be going. In a matter of minutes, Beca is standing in the lobby.
"How can I help ya?" The woman behind the desk asks, looking up from her nail file as Beca approaches. There is no perkiness in the lady's voice and the fake smile the woman gives Beca isn't very convincing. She is obviously tired, her grave yard shift close to ending.
"Yah, um, have you seen a girl go through here, about yea tall," Beca motions with her hand estimating the height, "with red hair?"
"She walked through here a couple of minutes ago, went outside." The concierge replies, focusing back on her nails.
"Thanks." Beca huffs walking towards the door.
Once she's outside, the brisk morning air makes her glad for her heavy layers of clothing. Looking down the street, she sees a figure in the distance. The person is walking slowly, kicking rocks. Beca wouldn't be able to mistake that red hair anywhere, even if she tried. Thankful she took the time to put tennis shoes on, Beca begins a slow jog towards the girl.
"I'm fine Aubrey. Just go back to bed." The redhead mumbles when she hears Beca approach. The voice doesn't even sound like it belongs to Chloe. There's no bubbliness, but there's no sadness either. It's emotionless.
"What if I told you I wasn't Aubrey?" Beca questions, and Chloe whips around. Her eyes are wide with surprise, however, the emotion doesn't seem to reach them. They are standing under the light of a street lamp, which is hitting their faces, casting shadows on their features. "Beca I-I didn't…"
"And what if I told you that I don't think you look 'fine'?" Beca presses, searching the beautiful girl's icy blue eyes, looking for something, anything.
"Then I'd tell you that you were wrong." Chloe shoots back, lowering her eyes to focus on her feet.
"And if I didn't believe you?"
"Well, then I'd say that you're a lot smarter then I gave you credit for, Beca." Chloe jokes looking up and attempting a convincing smile.
Beca lets out a short laugh and replies, "What'd you think, I was all brawn and no brain, Beale?"
"Something like that." Chloe smirks, and it takes everything in Beca not to forget the task at hand. The look Chloe is giving her is so distracting, but she does her best to ignore it.
"So, why are you up so early?"
"I could ask you the same question. Are you planning on robbing a bank or just having a standard Rocky workout montage?" The redhead shoots back, turning on the heals of her shoes and walking again. She want's nothing more to put distance between her and the nosy brunette.
"Wow, you're really trying to change the subject." Beca replies, but looks down self-consciously at her outfit of choice when she sees Chloe isn't looking. Touché, she thinks to herself.
"And is it working?"
"Not at all." Beca says, quickening her pace so she is next to the redhead again. They continue like that for a minute, and the silence hangs in the air. "So are you going to answer my question?"
"I couldn't sleep," Chloe says absentmindedly, her voice sounds distant even though she is right next to Beca. "Bad dream, you know, the usual cliché."
"I'm taking it you don't want to talk about it?" Beca asks, not wanting to press. She's worried about Chloe, but she doesn't want the girl to push her away before she can help. A part of Beca wants to laugh. She's known this girl for less than a day and here she is, worrying about and trying to comfort her. Beca usually tries to avoid these kinds of things at all costs, but with Chloe, it just feels different.
"Not really, but I will. If you promise me something first."
"What's that?"
"Don't tell Aubrey. She worries too much as it is; I don't want to add anything to her plate." Chloe request eyes trained on the rock she is kicking.
"My lips are sealed. This is your confessional and I'm your priest for all extensive purposes."
"Thanks Beca." Chloe laughs and looks up at the brunette with a ghost of a smile.
"So what's up?"
"Oh, what a very priestly way to begin this." Chloe jokes. Beca just raises her eyebrows, giving her a knowing look. The message is clear, she knows Chloe is trying to stall and that it's not going to work.
Letting out a sigh, Chloe says, "It's complicated." The ginger looks like she's mulling over things, trying to figure out how to word everything. Her face finally sets and she begins. "I guess- I guess it's because I have all this power, but I don't like using them. They're too dark. I can manipulate people, make their worst fears become reality."
"So that's what you did them, the ones we were fighting." Beca mumbles.
"Yah, and you saw them. I broke them, and when I'm using my power, it's like it's not really me using it. I have to take a back seat in my own mind to be able to do the things I do. It's like my body just goes into auto-pilot. I always dream about the people I hurt, the terrified look in their eyes, their pained faces." Beca doesn't know what to say. Her powers are strictly brute force, and the people that she hurts will usually be healed in 6-8 weeks. She's never messed with someone's psyche, she doesn't know how to respond, how to address the situation.
However, Beca knows that Chloe saved her life in that fight. Those people would be doing god know what to her at this very moment if the redhead hadn't stepped in and used her powers. That is what Beca needs to focus on, what she needs to use to talk down the girl. "Chloe, they were't good people. I understand you feel bad about it but,"
Beca is interrupted by the hollow laugh Chloe lets out. There is no sense of lightheartedness in it. It is bitter, and filled with spite. "I don't feel bad. I can't bring myself to feel sorry for what I've done, for what I do, when using my ability. I have broken people, caused them to never be the same, and I feel nothing. I try to make myself care, and that's the problem. I just don't."
Beca doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know how to respond. Beca has always seen the world as a dog eat dog place, and when she needs to be the dog, she is. She's never felt sorry for that, but a part of her has always felt pity for the people she's hurt in the process. However, she doesn't know if that makes her any less accountable for her actions. If you do something, and then have remorse for it after, does it change the fact that you did it in the first place?
"Does that make me a monster Beca?" Chloe questions, though she doesn't sound sad. She sounds as casual as a stranger asking how your day is.
"Chloe…" Beca starts, but the rest of her words get caught in her throat. She is at a complete loss. She doesn't know how to answer. She simply looks at Chloe, and studies her features. Her ice blue eyes reflect the light from the street lamp, her fiery red hair frames her face in perfect waves, and her beautiful features are being lit up by small rays of the rising morning sun peaking over the mountains that surround the city. Her appearance is angelic, and her face is kind.
"You don't look like a monster to me Chloe Beale." Beca says quietly, and the redhead's eyes seem to light up a little bit. Beca doesn't know if she's ever been more grateful to see someone express some form of emotion in her life.
"Beca, why did you follow me? Why do you care?" Chloe asks after a few long seconds of them staring at each other. They stopped walking minutes through their conversation, and they stand inches away from each other. Beca wants nothing more than to close the space between them, tuck the stray pieces of hair falling into the redhead's eyes away, and tell her the real reason. However, she doesn't, she can't.
Beca shrugs her shoulders, and looks away from the redheads gaze. It's not normal to feel as strongly as she does for someone she's just met. This isn't right, this isn't her. Beca doesn't believe in love at first sight, she never has. However, Chloe is making her question everything and she doesn't know how she feels about that. "I don't know. I just do."
"Well thank you." Chloe says. The smile she sends Beca does not have the usual perkiness behind it. However, it's not completely expressionless either. It's the kind of smile that says, she'll be better, she just need a little time.
"I'm not sure I did anything to help you, but you're welcome." The brunette replies honestly, holding the redhead's eyes with her own. God she's beautiful, Beca thinks to herself, as she tries, to no avail, to avert her gaze.
"You listened; you didn't judge me. Sometimes, that's all someone needs." Chloe replies. "You'd make a shit priest though." She adds giggling and looping her arm through Beca's. Beca is astonished by the miraculous recovery the girl has made. It brings her back to last night, when Chloe put on that mask . She had noted that the redhead seemed experienced in it, and now, Beca can see why.
"Damn, well there go all my hopes and dreams." The petite brunette jokes. When Chloe laughs at Beca's comment, it doesn't sound as forced.
"And here I was thinking you'd want to be some kick ass DJ or music something." The redhead states. Beca is thrown off by her comment, and comes to a stop. Sure DJs kind of have a specific type of look, but Beca didn't know she fell that deeply into the stereotype. Unless Chloe used her powers on Beca. The prospect makes Beca's stomach turn. What else could Chloe know if she read her mind?
Reading Beca's face, Chloe knows what the brunette is probably thinking. "Don't worry, I didn't read your mind. I've never read your mind. I helped you guys load your stuff into Aubrey's car, remember? I saw your equipment." The redhead reassures.
"Oh, ok." Beca stutters, but knows she doesn't sound convincing. She has s hint of doubt in her voice that she tried to cover up but wasn't able to.
"You know, the only way this friendship is going to work out is if you trust me." Chloe adds in a sing song voice, her usual smile playing on her lips. Chloe has been good at reading people her whole life, but just about anyone could sense the distrust in Beca's voice.
"Oh so we're officially friends now?" Beca asks playfully, trying to cover up her mistake, embarrassed about being called out on it.
"Oh tots, we're basically FBO." Chloe jokes.
"Cool, but I don't know about the FBO part. Facebook is like, soo last year." Beca says doing her best valley girl impression for the last part. They are nearing the hotel, and the sun has finally risen to a descent point in the sky. Arm in arm they walk towards the entrance.
"Beca, where are you going to go after this, after we check out today?" Chloe asks, her voice is serious, and her words carefully calculated. She sounds as if she has been debating asking the question for a while.
Beca deliberates the question for a second. She thinks about lying, saying a random destination, and making up how she and Jesse will get there. She doesn't know why, but she finds herself answering honestly.
"I, uhm, I don't know."
"Well, I'll have to ask Bree first but…you know what, screw it. You should come with us." Chloe says, unlooping her arm from Beca's, and then turning to face her. The small brunette stares at the redhead for a second. She takes in the genuinely excited look on the bubbly girls face.
"I-I can't, Chloe. I couldn't leave Jesse and then there's the fact that Aubrey doesn't exactly like me." Beca says. She wants nothing more than to say yes. She would follow the redhead anywhere as long as Chloe wanted her to. However, Jesse is Beca's best friend and she can't imagine herself going anywhere without him.
"oh, well he can come too." Chloe adds, her excitement replaced with a resolve, the kind that wouldn't take no for an answer.
Beca thinks for a second and then finally asks, "So where would we be coming with you to?"
"Somewhere where you won't have to hide. A place where there are people like us. A place that's safe." Chloe responds. Beca hasn't heard the word safe in months. The notion of being safe is a concept that Beca had completely given up on. She has always thought that she and Jesse would spend the remainder of their lives, however long, running. What Chloe is offering Beca is too good to be true.
"That's not possible." Beca says quietly looking away. She wants desperately to believe the ginger, but can't bring herself to.
Chloe looks at Beca with sympathy. She can see the conflicting emotions Beca is facing just by looking at her. She reaches out and touches the brunettes shoulder, comfortingly. It's Chloe's turn to pay back the favor.
Beca feels the redhead's hand on her shoulder. She can feel the butterflies in her stomach that happen whenever Chloe touches her. She tries to remind herself that she is badass Beca Mitchell, and she doesn't gets butterflies. But here she is, melting at just the simple touch of the redhead.
"You guys are not the only people who've been running from the GPA. Not the first people we've brought back with us. I can't give you a 100% guarantee of safety, but we protect each other." Chloe says, and puts a finger underneath Beca's chin. She raises the girls face to look at her. Chloe is just inches away. Beca can see that same resolve in Chloe's eyes as before, the determination. For the first time, in a long time, Beca feels safe. She believes the redhead and what she has promised.
"I don't know, it sounds a little cultish, Red." Beca cracks, smiling at Chloe. The redhead laughs and then quickly removes her hand from under the brunettes chin, realizing how intimate the gesture is.
"I'll tell you what, you come with us and I swear I won't make you drink the Kool Aid." Chloe replies with a smile and a wink.
"Well in that case." Beca says with a laugh and roll of her eyes.
"So is that a yes?"
"I-I don't know, maybe. So, what's GPA? I'm assuming you're not talking about grades." Beca says. She wonders if that who's been after her. Does Chloe know them? Can she answer all the questions that have been running through Beca's head for months?
"I'll tell you everything if you come with us. I'm sure that between all of us back at the house, we'll be able to answer every question you could possibly have. Please Beca." Chloe pleads grabbing Beca's hands. They feel soft in Beca's slightly rough palms and the brunette feels her own tingle at the touch.
"OK." Beca replies. She knows she shouldn't be making the decision so quickly, especially without even asking Jesse first. She just can't help it.
Chloe squeals audibly and drops Beca's hands. The next thing she knows, the redhead has her in a tight hug. "You're not one for personal space are you?" Beca asks, arms remaining at her sides.
"Nope!" Chloe replies happily and releases the brunette. "OK, I'll talk to Aubrey and you talk to Je…"
"Talk to Aubrey about what?" Chloe is interrupted by the voice of her best friend, who is standing in the doorway of the entrance to the hotel. The blonde's arms are folded, and she looks less than thrilled to see Beca standing outside with Chloe.
"Bree, I was just…" Chloe start before she is interrupted yet again Aubrey.
"Trying to scare me half to death Chloe? Because if you were, mission accomplished. I mean you did a really great job." Aubrey says, her voice dripping with anger. However there's a slight hint of relief creeping into her words.
"Bree," Chloe says, walking over to Aubrey and reaching out to her friend. The blonde quickly shrugs the girl off her. "Don't 'Bree' me. Here I am, worrying someone's kidnapped you or god knows what, but really you're just out taking a morning stroll with her." There is so much hatred in the way the blonde refers to Beca, and it makes her want to squirm when the uptight girl's gaze is shifted to her. However, Beca's refuses to let Aubrey know that.
"Look, I didn't do anything and I don't understand the problem with Chloe, a grown adult, going for a walk."
"I don't think I was talking to you hobbit." Aubrey seethes, taking a step closer the the petite brunette.
"You really don't like me, do you?"
"I don't like your attitude."
"You don't even know me." Beca says laughing. She has had enough with the blonde. She is already beginning to regret her decision to go with them.
"I know that you have a toner for-"
"Aubrey that's enough." Chloe yells, silencing her friend. "This isn't Beca's fault. You know I don't sleep well when I drink. I went for a walk, but I accidentally woke Beca up on my way out. She didn't want me go alone, so she came with me." Chloe says defending Beca. Most of what Chloe says is a lie, but the blonde seems to fall for it easily. Her angry gaze softens slightly towards Beca, but there's still malice behind it.
"You could've at least left me a note Chloe."
"I know that was my bad Bree. Don't be mad at Beca for it."
"I'm just glad you're ok." Aubrey mumbles. Beca is thankful for Chloe taking Aubrey's attention off her.
"Now, I think you owe Beca an apology." Chloe says and then adds, "Especially since I invited her to come back with us." The last sentence is said so quietly and fast, that Beca can barely make it out.
The blonde begins to state that she will not be apologizing to Beca when what her best friend just said sinks in. "You what?" Aubrey screams. Beca is thankful that she isn't in Chloe's shoes as the blonde releases all the worry and stress she has been feeling into one angry rant.
"I'm just going to go to the room and let you guys talk this out." Beca says. Both the girls are too preoccupied to realize that the person the whole fight is about, is saying something. "Okay? Okay." Beca adds, walking into the lobby and then to the elevator. How those two girls are best friends still baffles Beca as she hears their argument flow all the way through the lobby and to her.
"She a little alternative for us Chloe! Did you see her ear monstrosities?" Beca rolls her eyes as the elevator doors shut. What have I gotten myself into? She thinks.