Beca was falling asleep in her chair as Aubrey stood at the front of the room lecturing. She was going over some sort of guidelines, which was causing lots of protest from the other Bellas. Chloe, who was sitting next to the sleepy girl, poked her arm. "What?" Beca yawned.
"What are you going to go as?" Chloe asked in a hushed whisper. Beca rubbed her eyes, not knowing what the redhead was talking about, and looked around the room. Aubrey was arguing with Stacie about what they were going to dress up as.
"I'm a cat! The leader is always a sexy cat!"
"Not if I dress up as a cat too!"
"Aca-scuse me?"
"What's going on?" Beca turned to Chloe.
"The Alphas' Annual Halloween Bash. We're all going."
"Do we have to?"
"I think Aubrey wants to show us off. If people see us, they might want to hire us to sing and stuff like that. We need funding, and the school isn't giving us any."
"Everyone be there on Saturday in costume! No sexy cats! Dismissed!" Aubrey yelled from the front of the room.
Beca got up and flung her backpack over her shoulder. "What are you going to be?" Chloe followed her out of the building.
"I have a few ideas…"
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"You'll see on Saturday."
"Not if I die in a tragic car accident first."
"Beca, don't say that." The brunette shrugged. "Do you have any ideas for a costume?"
"Let's just say I'll be the girl who is hanging from the curtain rod in the shower."
"Dark today, aren't we?"
"Just being honest."
"Alrighty then. See you Saturday. And lighten up a bit; it's Halloween!"
"People who usually say stuff like that are the first to die!" Beca called after her friend who had left to go home already. She had no idea what she was going to be for Halloween. She wanted to be something classic but original, yet not so obscure everyone asked her what she was all night long. That'd just make the party worse. She thought about classic costumes during the walk home. She looked up at the sky. "A moon? This early…that's odd." A grin crept upon her face. She had her idea.
"Is Chloe here yet?" Beca questioned Aubrey, who, in fact, was dressed as a sexy black cat.
"No, she wasn't dressed when I left either. I hope she won't be long."
"You hope what isn't long, what?" Fat Amy said walking up to the two. "How are you aca-bitches enjoying the party? These frat boys are attractive, right? If I didn't already have so many boyfriends, I'd be with them right now. By the way, nice costume, Beca. Very scary," she complimented as she ran her hands over the fur sticking out of Beca's back. "So what are you? Some kind of dog?"
"I'm a werewolf. I've changed forms and my fur is busting out through my clothes."
"You might want to take care of that. In Tasmania, we wax to avoid these kinds of situations."
"Amy, no, I'm a supernatural being and-"
"Oh my god," Aubrey interrupted as Chloe took her place by Beca's side. "Did you guys plan this?"
"Plan what?" Beca turned to find Chloe in a skimpy Red Riding Hood costume with a plunging neckline. Beca's eyes snaked along the tight fitted dress. "Oh..." Her eyes made their way to Chloe's face who was looking at the other girls. "No, we didn't plan this, Aubrey." The blonde gave her a weird look. "Nice cape," Beca added before moving her attention to the other Bellas.
Chloe's eyes quickly ran over Beca's outfit. She had fur sticking out from cuts and holes in an old, flannel shirt paired with stained jeans. She had long, black and obviously fake nails on. Her hair was frizzy and mimicked a mane. "Thanks. I like your fur. Isn't it a little warm?" Her eyes shot to Aubrey who was turning away from the small group. Chloe lunged forward and grabbed her friend's arm. "You make a really nice cat," she said with a smile. Fat Amy recognized the awkward shift in everyone's attitude, so she sneaked out to go join Stacie at the keg station.
"I only have fur where there's a hole. It's a little itchy though," Beca replied, watching Aubrey. What was up with her?
Aubrey looked down at the hand latched on her forearm. She reluctantly turned back around and said thanks. She left, but not before shooting Chloe a look only the two best friends could understand. "I'll be right back," Chloe muttered before following Aubrey outside. "What was that all about?" she interrogated once they were alone.
"I'm getting really sick of this."
"Sick of what?"
"You know what."
Chloe threw her hands up, "I've got nothing. Explain to me what's bothering you so badly to make you act like this."
"What are you wearing? I mean, really Chloe?"
"I'm Little Red Riding Hood..." Chloe waved her cape around a little.
"Not just this. You've been dressing down a lot lately. You kind of look like a slut."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me!" Aubrey raised her voice.
"What's wrong with you? What happened last weekend? You've been a bitch since I spent the night at Beca's dorm. Who was with you?" Aubrey furrowed her brow, holding back tears. Chloe moved closer and placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's okay." Aubrey let a single tear fall before she wrapped her hands around Chloe, resting her chin on her shoulder. She sobbed quietly into her friend's ear, spilling her secrets.
"...and I just felt abandoned. And you've been hanging out with Beca so much lately...it's just hard..."
"I know, and I'm sorry," Chloe stroked the blonde hair lying in her face. "Everything will be okay," she continued to coo. She pulled away from Aubrey so she could look into her watering eyes. "You're my roommate and my best friend. I will always be here for you. Remember that."
"Like you'll always be there for Beca?" Aubrey sniffed.
"Of course. I don't abandon those who need me." Chloe pulled the blonde back in for a long, tight hug.
"She really means a lot to you, doesn't she?" Aubrey whispered in the redhead's ear.
Chloe bit her lip in hesitation. She hadn't told Aubrey about her feelings toward the small freshman, but she had figured them out on her own anyways. Aubrey was smart like that. "Yes."
Beca asked, "Is Tom coming tonight?"
"Who?" Chloe had to think for a moment. "Oh, right. No, I haven't talked to him since initiation night. He has a girlfriend now."
"Oh. What about Luke?"
"You think Luke and I are together?" Chloe burst out laughing. "God no. We're just friends. We have the same major, so we are together a lot, working on projects and stuff, and the radio show."
"What major is that exactly?"
"Business. I actually don't know what I want to do once I graduate...I really need to focus on that."
"I could see you selling a bunch of shit to people easily. You could sell literal shit to people and they'd think it was made of gold. You can make a very convincing argument out of nothing." Beca bit her lip to stop herself from talking, realizing the first thing Chloe would think of was their shower incident. Chloe had convinced her to audition for the Bellas just by singing with her naked.
"Thanks." Chloe blushed just a bit. She rarely talked about her major, and she was glad to discover she had someone who believed she would excel in it. "Do you want anything to drink?" Chloe asked Beca, who was sitting next to her one of the multiple couches throughout the house.
"Nah, I don't drink."
"Don't drink? You're in college now, let loose a bit," Chloe chuckled. Her smile faded as she saw Beca's expression harden. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. It's just..."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"It's just I spent my whole life watching my dad get drunk off his ass and scream at my mother. He got drunk all the time, and it tore their relationship to bits. And then marvelous Shelia came along and just aided the process. He would come home drunk some nights with the awful stench of her cheap perfume radiating off his clothes. It was disgusting. I can barely stand being near Shelia because she never changed her fucking perfume. It's still that terrible stench that gets trapped in my nose," Beca explained, looking down at her hands while she talked. "Sometimes, just the smell of alcohol brings up those memories."
"Oh god, Beca..." Chloe sat her cup down on the table in front of her, "I had no idea."
"I don't usually talk about that stuff. You're the first person I've told that to, actually."
Chloe rested an assuring hand on Beca's knee, "I'm flattered you told me."
Beca stared at the hand and started to feel a little warm in the face. Beca looked up at Chloe whose eyes were sparkling, "So can we leave now?" The pair stood up and headed for the front door.
"Hey baby. Why don't you stick around? I wanna make you howl at the moon," the frat boy followed by loud howl which earned him lots of laughs from people scattered around the room.
"Back off," Chloe warned, pushing to get by him.
"Does Little Red Riding Hood not want to share her Big Bad Wolf? Don't worry about me, I can handle both of you." Beca clenched her jaw as the boy laughed. He set his hand down on Chloe's shoulder, and she quickly threw it off. He tried again, but this time he was interrupted by Beca's fist. He stumbled backwards and hit the wall.
"Beca!" Chloe yelled, grabbing her friend and pulling her outside. "Oh my god! Are you okay!?"
Huffing, Beca cupped her hand in the other and held it close to her body. "Yeah. It just hur- ow!"
"Let me see." Beca held it out and Chloe quickly took the hand in her own, checking to make sure nothing was broken. "It's fine, but it'll hurt like a bitch for a few days." She cradled the hurt hand. "You didn't have to hit that asshole."
"Of course I did! He was touching you without your permission." Beca stared down at her hand, avoiding all eye contact because she was once again red in the cheeks. Seeing that guy touch Chloe caused something powerful to brew inside Beca. She hadn't felt that protective of anyone since...well, ever. It was a weird feeling, jealousy mixed with the need to protect, and it scared Beca. She hadn't realized she had grown so close to this girl, the stranger she sang with in a shower. And she realized right then that then was when it all started. That ambush started her fascination with the redhead. What kind of person would do something so ballsy? That question had sparked her whole relationship with this girl who now gave her butterflies just by being present. She didn't expect a small friendship to escalate to something like this.
Beca ripped her hand out of Chloe's light grip and said, "I have to go."
"Why?"
Beca had to lie. She couldn't tell her 'I think I'm falling in love with you.' She wasn't ready to face the truth. "I forgot I left Kimmy Jin's TV on. If she finds out I never turned it off, she'll kill me. I'm sorry, but I really got to go." The freshman moved away from Chloe before she was able to stop her. "Besides, I think someone wants to talk to you," she pointed to a pair of furry ears moving quickly through a crowd towards Chloe. "I'll see you later." Beca turned and quickly walked out of sight.
"Chloe, what happened? I heard Beca kicked a guy in the nuts?" Aubrey questioned.
"What? Wow, news changes so fast. She punched one of the stupid frat guys in the face because he was hitting on us."
"Well that's lame," Amy said. Chloe looked at her. "I mean, yay go Beca!" she thrust her fist in the air.
"Where is Beca?"
"She went home. I don't really want to be here either."
"Let's go home then. I'll make you some hot chocolate," Aubrey wrapped her arm around Chloe and started towards their apartment.
"Hot chocolate! Can I join perhaps?" Fat Amy asked, flashing a toothy smile.
Chloe smiled and nodded, "Yeah, hot chocolate for all of us."
"That so beats Trick-Or-Treating traditions back in Tasmania!"