Chapter 28
Beca opened her apartment door after her first day at the label and was surprised to see that Chloe was already in her kitchen, taking out boxes of food from a huge paper bag.
"Chlo? What are you doing here? I thought you said you might get held up at the clinic today?" Beca closed the door and tossed her bag onto the couch, before walking over to Chloe with a giant smile.
Chloe looked up and beamed at her girlfriend, sinking into Beca's soft embrace as the brunette wrapped her arms around her waist from behind.
"I was able to leave early since a few appointments got cancelled last minute. So I thought I'd pick up some food on the way home to celebrate your first day!" She finally pulled out the final box from the bag and excitedly turned around, circling her arms around Beca's neck and pulling her closer, "So? How was your first day? I want to hear EVERYTHING!" She squealed.
Beca laughed, "I'll tell you all about it later, now what have you got there? I'm starving!"
"I got us some tacos, grilled corn on the cob and guacamole with chips from that Mexican restaurant you like so much—"
"Oh my god, I love you!" Beca exclaimed, immediately going to open one of the food containers.
Chloe chuckle lightly, "I love you too. And why are you this hungry? Did you have lunch today?"
"I only had an apple for lunch so…" Beca replied, already chowing down on some corn chips, "Oh, and I love you too babe, but I was talking to the food earlier." She snickered, dodging the redhead's playful smack.
"So you are already super busy on your first day? That's good, right?" Chloe asked, deciding to let the teasing slide for now. She was really eager to hear about Beca's first day. And judging by the giant smile on the brunette's face, she knew it was definitely a great day.
"Yeah, it was almost too good to be true. Everything's even better than I could ever imagine." Beca smiled at the beaming redhead, "Theo wants me to write a new song and release it as a single as soon as possible, so I've already started working on that today."
"Oh my god! That's amazing Becs!" Chloe exclaimed, "So another new song, huh? But why wouldn't Theo just pick one from your old songs? They are all great and it would save a lot of time too?" She asked curiously.
"I think it's just how the label works. It's all about demonstrating your abilities as an artist when you are newly signed, and Theo said that if I do well, I'll be able to gain more freedom on my future work. But I'm not worried, because I already have an idea about this new song." Beca smirked and winked at the redhead.
"Of course you don't need to worry babe! I'm sure whatever you come up with, it'll sound wonderful!" Chloe said excitedly, loving the fact that the confident Beca was back, "So when do you think I'll be able to hear this new song of yours?"
"Soon… I'm still writing the lyrics though— hey, don't give me that look Chlo! This time I'm not giving you any sneak peeks, okay? I kind of want this song to be a surprise. So you'll only get to hear it when it's all finished." Beca watched Chloe's shoulders slump slightly, and giggled internally at the pout on her girlfriend's face.
"Fine. But you'll be free this weekend, right?" Chloe perked up, suddenly remembering something.
"Yeah," Beca beamed, "We could finally do something together, do you have anything in mind?"
"Umm… about that…" Chloe bit her lip a little nervously, "You know Aubrey's birthday is this Saturday, right? She always has this party at her apartment and I kinda agreed that we would help her set everything up this year so…" She finished with an apologetic look.
Beca groaned, "Seriously Chlo? I just found out last week that she's been calling me hobbit all along and now I have to help her with her birthday party?" She whined and slightly pouted, "And I still can't believe you didn't even tell me she's been calling me that behind my back!"
Chloe laughed, "You've already teased her enough whenever you can babe. So you'll come and help?" She asked hopefully.
"Alright, I'll help… but only because I want to spend time with you."
Chloe squealed, "You are the best!" She leaned in to place a soft peck on Beca's lips, "And I promise, I'm all yours on Sunday, we can do whatever you want!"
"Really? Whatever I want?" Beca smirked.
"Yeah really." Chloe giggled, "Now go change and wash up, I'll take the food to the living room. I want to know every detail about your day when you get back!"
Chloe arrived at Aubrey's penthouse apartment with Beca on Saturday but found her best friend was running around her apartment frantically in her business suit, looking like she was trying to find something.
"Bree? What are you doing? And why are you dressed all formal? Are you going somewhere?" Chloe asked, not sure what was going on.
Aubrey finally located her car keys under the files on her coffee table. She picked up her bag and looked up at Chloe and Beca apologetically.
"Yeah, sorry guys. Emergency meeting at the firm, so I'll be gone for a while. I'll try to come back at 5 though, the party starts at 6 anyway so I think I'll have enough time to change and all."
"Oh okay. So what do you want us to do before you get back?" Chloe asked.
"Well, not much actually. I'm keeping everything simple this year and I've already got most of the decorations done… Oh, right, I need you guys to wait here since the caterer will be delivering the food soon, and it would also be great if you could put those stickers on the cocktail and wine glasses." Aubrey replied, while hurriedly walking towards her apartment door.
"Sure Bree, we'll see you at 5 then. Happy birthday and have fun at work!" Chloe laughed lightly. Her best friend sure was a workaholic.
"Thanks Chloe, I will." Aubrey laughed as well. She glanced at Beca when she was about to close her apartment door, "And thanks for coming here to help, hobbit." With that, she quickly shut the door with a smirk before Beca could even talk back.
"Hey! What the—" Beca groaned loudly and turned to face her girlfriend, "Chloe! Did you hear that?! This is outrageous! She just called me that to my face!"
Chloe giggled, "Yeah I heard, I'll talk to her about it okay? Now stop pouting, let's get to work." She reached out and dragged the reluctant brunette to the kitchen, getting started on the task that Aubrey left them.
After about an hour, Beca was getting extremely bored. The trays of food had already arrived and were being placed on the kitchen island. So Chloe had to move their makeshift work station to the living room. They were currently alone in the apartment, sitting on the couch and still putting fancy stickers on those endless glasses. Seriously, why did the blonde need so many glasses?!
Beca stole a few glances at her girlfriend, seeing Chloe seemed to be really focused on doing the work as told. She pouted slightly, put down the glass in her hand and stood up to go to the kitchen for a much-needed break.
She walked towards the kitchen island and looked at the trays of food curiously, since the food just looked really fancy and weird.
"Seriously, Chlo, what is this thing? Apricot?" Beca leaned in closer and studied the food carefully.
Chloe lifted her head and glanced at the tray that Beca was staring at, "That's goat cheese and apricot crostini with pistachios and mint babe."
Beca looked up at her girlfriend incredulously, "Okay… and what are these?" She pointed at another tray.
"Those are smoked prosciutto wrapped apple bites."
"Oh my god." Beca stared at the redhead in disbelief, "I don't even want to know how you even know those names. Seriously, this is a birthday party, not some business networking and fancy cocktail party…" She huffed, and when Chloe didn't answer, she widened her eyes, "Chloe?! It's not a business or cocktail party, right?!"
Chloe shrugged a little, "Umm… consider it like a birthday-themed cocktail party? Anyway, Bree always uses her birthday as an excuse to do more networking and extend her connections—"
"Oh my god!" Beca exclaimed with a horrified look in her eyes, "Your best friend is out of this world! I mean who treats their birthday as work too?! Now I feel underdressed, should I wear a cocktail hat and carry a clutch as well?" She added sarcastically.
Chloe laughed, "You look fine babe, very hot actually. Now come here and help me with the stickers already!"
Beca smirked, suddenly having an idea. She slowly walked back to the couch and sat down next to her girlfriend, "Alright, I'll help." She took out her phone from her pocket and tapped on the screen a few times, before placing it on the coffee table in front them. Within a few seconds, her phone started to play one of her old songs, and surprisingly, the unexpected great acoustics in Aubrey's living room actually helped create a great vibe.
Beca smiled approvingly, before slowly leaning towards Chloe and starting to trail light kisses along the redhead's neck.
"What are you doing?" Chloe warned, her breath hitching a little. But instead of moving away, she automatically tilted her head to the side to give Beca more access.
"I'm helping, like you asked me to." Beca said, nibbling at the redhead's pulse point, "You look stressed enough with all those stickers. There are way too many glasses."
Chloe hummed at the feeling of Beca's lips against her neck but still tried to maintain a stern voice, "Hey, behave. We still have work to do before Aubrey gets back. And what's with the music?"
"Well, we've been working hard for nearly an hour. I think we could use a break." Beca smirked, already knowing Chloe's resolve was beginning to break judging by the fact that the redhead was fiddling with the same glass that was in her hand five minutes ago. She pulled back slightly, "And you know back when I was still singing at the bar, Fat Amy once mentioned that I tended to play sappy songs after we got back together, which was kinda true because I was always thinking about you when I was singing there. So I thought I'd put together a playlist of those songs. Some are my own, others are just songs that would remind me of you."
Chloe put down the glass on the coffee table and turned to face her girlfriend, grinning, "This is that playlist?"
"Yep, this is the playlist called 'Chloe's songs'. So what do you say? Shall we take that much-needed break now?"
"Okay, but only for 10 minutes. Then we have to go back to work." Chloe chuckled, while scooting closer to her girlfriend and immediately locking their lips together.
The kiss grew heavier by the second. Beca's hand reached for Chloe's and they interlock as the two continued to kiss passionately and hungrily on the couch. Then without warning, Beca pulled Chloe's thick wool sweater up over her head in one swift motion, leaving little sparks of static dancing over her skin and making the redhead giggle a little.
Beca tossed the sweater aside and immediately crashed her lips against Chloe's again with even more passion and affection as her warm hands gently skimmed her girlfriend's newly-exposed skin, leaving a trail of fire in their wake and causing the redhead to shiver lightly in complete pleasure and ecstasy.
At this point, Chloe could no longer think clearly under Beca's soft touch. She tugged her girlfriend even closer, feeling as if her mind was short-circuited in the best possible way while heat travelled through her veins, warming her and making her a little dizzy. However, after a while, when she felt Beca's hand wander to her jean button, she suddenly came back to her senses,
"Wait wait, we shouldn't…" Chloe panted, trying really hard to concentrate while Beca moved her attention back to her neck.
"Exactly, we shouldn't… but we still could." Beca whispered in a husky voice, nibbling Chloe's collarbone now, "No one but us will ever know about this you know."
Dammit, that was hot.
Nevertheless, after a quick internal battle, Chloe still didn't want to face even the slightest possibility of her best friend finding out and strangling her to death in the near future. So she gathered her remaining strength and reluctantly pulled back, "Not here babe, let's go home now."
Beca pouted and sat back slightly, "What about the stickers?"
Chloe glared at her girlfriend, while standing up to pick up her sweater from the floor and quickly putting it back on, "Seriously? Now you care about the stickers?!"
Beca laughed and held up her hands, "Hey, you were the one that said we should only take a short break and then get back to work. I'm just reminding you, you know, in case you forgot." She smirked at Chloe's flustered state.
The redhead glanced at the stickers and glasses left on the coffee table, "Well we still have 2 hours before Aubrey gets back and there are only like two dozen glasses left to sticker. Plus, it's only a 10-minute drive from here to my apartment, we'll come back in an hour and finish the work then."
"Wow, you've got it all figured out huh?" Beca snickered, "I'm impressed with all the logical thinking Beale, but are you sure we'll be able to get back in an hour?" She winked suggestively at the redhead.
Chloe's cheeks were suddenly burning, "If you quit stalling now, we could totally make it." She spluttered, "You are doing this on purpose, aren't you! You just had to get me all worked up—"
"Hey guys, I'm back!"
Aubrey's voice suddenly sounded from the door, startling the redhead. She quickly turned around to face her best friend, running a hand through her slightly messy hair and trying to act normal, "Hey Bree, y-you are back early."
Aubrey eyed the two suspiciously. Chloe looked a little embarrassed and Beca just looked like she was about to burst into laughter any second. She frowned slightly and closed her apartment door, "Yeah, the meeting finished sooner than I thought… What's going on with you two though? Why are you acting weird?"
"Wh-what? Nothing's going on. We were just doing the work as you asked." Chloe quickly went back to the couch and sat down next to the amused brunette, picking up a glass from the coffee table.
"Yep, everything's fine. Your best friend here is very responsible actually. She takes those stickers very seriously and couldn't be distracted at all." Beca commented innocently, which made the redhead blush even harder.
"Okay," Aubrey shrugged, "I'll just go change and join you later. Thanks again for the help."
After Aubrey disappeared into her bedroom, Chloe turned to glare at her giggling girlfriend, "Why do I feel like you are enjoying this a little too much!"
"Oh, I totally am. And would you look at the time, looks like we still have a few hours before we could go home." Beca teased the frustrated redhead in a sing-song voice.
Chloe groaned, "I hate you so much." She muttered and tried to channel her frustration into the work at hand.
Beca laughed again, and went to plant a quick kiss on Chloe's cheek, "No you don't, you love me."
Chloe huffed, shoving a glass into Beca's hand, "Yeah yeah, now make yourself useful okay?! I hope you know I'm confiscating that playlist of yours and I'll totally get back at you once we get home."
"Oh please, I can't wait. And by the way…" Beca grinned and leaned in to whisper in Chloe's ear, making the redhead shudder a little involuntarily, "You've got your sweater on backwards."
Chloe instantly looked down and gasped, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, "Oh my god!" She quickly stood up and sprinted to the bathroom to flip it around, leaving the brunette roaring with laughter on the couch.
In the blink of an eye, five busy weeks had flown by, and it seemed that everything was heading in the right direction.
Beca was doing great at the label. She had learnt a lot during these past few weeks. Theo was a great mentor and a very experienced producer who had a lot of solid comments about her work. They had been working hard on this new single that she was about to release, and she was so absorbed in perfecting this song that several times, Chloe had to literally drag her to bed in the middle of the night and force her to get some sleep. But she just couldn't contain the excitement. After all these years, it finally felt like all those distant dreams she used to have about her career were actually achievable now. It finally felt like she was on the right track, heading towards all those wild goals step by step with an inexhaustible supply of enthusiasm and energy inside her, warming her and giving her strength, inspiration and drive.
She knew that she was never a perfect person. She had her weak moments, she had hit rock bottom, and she had almost drowned in the darkness more times than she could count. Yet somehow, every time, she managed to pick herself up, move on, learn from her mistakes and start all over again. And it was such an extraordinary feeling, being able to know that all the setbacks and pain she experienced didn't break her like she thought they would. Instead, they just made her stronger. And all those years of struggling? Well they were only distant memories now, which she knew didn't hold any power to snuff out her hope or make her doubt herself anymore.
And the best part of it all was that she was no longer all on her own. She had Chloe back now. She was no longer drifting in the ocean, lost and alone, because she had found her anchor again. She had found someone that she could share her joy of success with; someone who could heal the wounds that she didn't even know was there; someone that she could always come home to whenever she was worn out or disheartened. And she knew this person would smile at her, hug her tight and hold her hands, telling her not to give up and that everything would be okay.
Occasionally, Beca would still wake up in a state of panic, fearing that everything in her life right now was just a fond dream. But almost immediately, she would feel the familiar warmth beside her and let relief wash over her when she saw Chloe snuggling up against her side, looking so content and beautiful in her sleep. And then, she would smile and pull the redhead even closer, allowing herself to fall peacefully back to sleep again. She knew she would be okay from now on. Because as long as she had Chloe by her side, she would always be able to push through the storms of life with a tenacious heart, free of any fears or hesitation.
Chloe walked into Beca's apartment after work and spotted her girlfriend's bag on the couch, but the brunette was nowhere to be seen.
She kicked off her shoes while calling out, "Babe? You home?"
"In here." Beca's voice sounded from the bedroom, slightly muffled.
Chloe chuckled. She quickly bounced over to the bedroom and found Beca lying on the bed facedown, her arms and legs all splayed out. She leaned against the door frame and watched the brunette in amusement, "You are home early today."
Beca groaned, slowly sitting up to look at her girlfriend, "Yeah, I've finally finished everything for the song today, and I'm exhaus—" She didn't even get to finish the sentence when the redhead instantly hopped onto the bed and tackled her again.
"Oh my god!" Chloe exclaimed, bouncing on the bed, "That's amazing Beca! When can I hear it?! You said when it's finished, I can finally hear it!"
Beca chuckled, "Whoa, calm down Chlo." She swore sometimes Chloe was even more excited about her music than herself. The redhead would go on and on about the differences between Beca's early and current song-writing style, and she even managed to categorize all her songs into different playlists based on mood, genre and theme, which kind of shocked Beca when she first found out. In addition, Chloe also had a strong tendency to brag about Beca to random people whenever opportunity presented itself. The most recent bragging session occurred when they were waiting in line at a coffee shop while the two girls in front of them just so happened to be talking about music from new artists, and of course Chloe joined the conversation with ease. Every time this kind of thing happened, Beca would always act embarrassed and glared at her girlfriend. But secretly, she loved it so very much and it would always make her a little giddy when she saw the genuine passion, pride and adoration in those cerulean eyes.
Normally Beca would play her new songs to Chloe and get some honest opinions first. But this time was different, she kind of wanted it to be a surprise for certain reasons. And she was actually quite proud of herself for being able to resist a whole month of pouting and begging from the redhead, although several times she almost caved in.
Beca looked at Chloe's expectant and sparkly eyes, before smirking suggestively, "Well, I'd love to play it for you now, but I'm kind of exhausted you know."
Chloe rolled her eyes playfully, "Fine! Come here, I'll give you a back rub."
Hearing that, Beca happily scooted over and lay down on her stomach again, grinning, "Work your magic, doc."
Chloe laughed a little, placing her hands on her girlfriend's shoulders and starting to gently massage those tense muscles. "So when will this song be released?" She asked excitedly.
"Well, if everything goes as planned, it should be out by this Friday."
Chloe squealed, her hands unconsciously applying too much pressure to Beca's shoulders, making the brunette yelp a little.
"Oops, sorry babe, I'm just so excited!" Chloe chuckled, instantly lightening her touch. "So… you'll play this song for me later?" She asked hopefully, while moving her hands down to rub small circles along Beca's spine.
"Well, actually, Jesse texted me earlier and invited us to go to the bar tonight. Apparent he has finally found a new bar singer and he wants my opinion on this artist."
"What? When do we have to leave?"
"Umm, about now." Beca grinned and turned her head to look at the redhead.
"Wait… so all this time you were just stalling so you wouldn't have to play your new song to me?!" Chloe gasped, starting to use one of her hands to poke Beca in the side.
Beca laughed, artfully dodging her girlfriend's tickle attack before grabbing Chloe's hand and pressing a quick kiss to the back of it. "I wouldn't call it stalling, I just really missed your back rub." She winked and jumped out of her bed, walking to her closet to find something to change into.
"I seriously don't understand why you are being so secretive about this song!" Chloe huffed, "I'm really really really curious, Becs."
Beca glanced back at her pouting girlfriend, chuckling inside, "I have my reasons, and you'll find out soon."
Chloe let out a frustrated groan, watching Beca going through her closet with that incredibly smug lopsided smile on her face. She narrowed her eyes and jumped out of the bed too, taking one of the pillows with her and began to sidle up to the unguarded brunette, "Well, since we'll all be there anyway, we should celebrate that you've finally finished that song. I'll call Aubrey, CR and Emily to see if they could make it too. What do you think?"
Beca shrugged, trying to pull out a shirt from the bottom of her drawer, "Sure, I—"
But before she could finish, Chloe surged forward and hit Beca right on her back with the pillow, nearly knocking the brunette off balance.
"Hey, what—" Beca spun around on her heels in surprise, only to find her girlfriend sprinting out of the room while yelling triumphantly,
"Payback for not letting me hear your song, Mitchell!"
"Oh this means WAR Beale!" Beca immediately went to snatch another pillow from her bed, before running after her giggling girlfriend, "You are so going to regret what you just did!"
She chased Chloe into the living room, through the kitchen, then back to the living room, but still failed to catch the fast redhead. Eventually, Beca was a bit out of breath, so she threw herself onto the couch in a huff and tried to rest a little before launching into another attack. Again, she seriously needed to exercise more from now on!
"Giving up already?" Chloe stood a few feet away from the frustrated brunette and wiggled her eyebrows challengingly.
"You wish!" There was no way that Beca would give in, so she threw her pillow in Chloe's direction, hoping to hit her target.
Chloe laughed, catching the pillow as it hit her chest. But just when she was about to throw it back, she suddenly changed her mind and held up the two pillows victoriously. "Bad strategy Mitchell, now you've lost your only weapon." She smirked, and started to approach the rattled brunette slowly.
Damn it! Beca immediately jumped out of the couch and fled back to her room while shouting, "Truce truce truce! We have to leave for the bar! Chlo! Stop it! Chloe—"
But of course Chloe caught her with ease and tackled her onto the bed again. She straddled Beca and got rid of the pillows, starting to teasingly tickle her defenceless girlfriend with a triumphant smirk playing at the corner of her lips. She ran her fingers up and down Beca's sides quickly, watching Beca dissolve into a puddle of laughter and she could feel Beca's stomach shaking as the brunette tried to fight a new gale of giggles.
After a few minutes, Chloe finally decided to stop her attack on her girlfriend. She looked down at Beca, smiling when she saw the brunette was still chuckling lightly, a little red-faced and out of breath from all the previous laughing. Then all of a sudden, there was this moment again. A moment when she could look at Beca and immediately forget everything else; A moment when she could gaze into those stormy blue eyes and the rest of the world around her just blurred; A moment when nothing else mattered and it was just the two of them, smiling at each other and completely lost in their own little world.
Slowly, the smile on Chloe's face stretched wider. She continued to gaze at the brunette for a little while longer, before leaning down to capture Beca's lips with her own in a heated kiss, feeling her heart flutter inside her chest on this perfectly ordinary yet ineffably remarkable winter evening.
A/N: Needed to write some fluff after successfully surviving another hectic semester so… sorry if this kind of felt like a filler-ish chapter. (Also super super sorry about the long delay! Again!) But bear with me guys, I promise I'm building up to something! And if you are still interested, next chapter we'll finally meet someone Beca knew back when she was in LA. ;)