Chapter 6

Monday - May 2nd

On Monday, Chloe had suggested getting Pizza together. Apparently spending Friday night, all of Saturday and texting each other on Sunday wasn't enough. Beca was more than happy to oblige, her continuing to act like spending time with Chloe was a chore in an attempt to seem like a cold badass wasn't working very well. It would have been a great plan but the redhead's ability to turn her to mush with just a look made the whole thing seem like a facade.

Right after work, the pair made their way to Ezio's Empire. A flashy name for a pretty standard pizza place. The food took around half an hour to prepare, time which was spent with Chloe resting her head against the brunette's shoulder and sleeping. Beca's complaints that she was also tired were unheard.

After collecting the pizzas, the two began walking to Chloe's apartment.

"I don't have much planned today, I was hoping to just snuggle up on the couch and watch tv while we stuff ourselves and I lapse into a pizza induced coma," Chloe said.

"Sounds good."

The rain earlier in the day had made the streets somewhat empty.

The city was blanketed in cloud cover, reducing the amount of sunlight coming to the ground. Everything was damp from the precipitation earlier. The normally manufactured smell of the environment had been washed away by it as well.

A shifty looking man was heading in their direction. The route to the redhead's house wasn't a major street so there was perhaps two other people that Beca could see. The man was clean shaven and a few inches taller than Chloe. He had a pale, rough complexion. Donned in a black baseball cap, sweatpants, and a hooded sweatshirt, he was hiding something in his pocket, constantly fiddling with it.

"Anything you want to watch in particular?" Chloe asked. She hadn't noticed the man, her eyes looking Beca's way. She didn't answer, distracted.

He was also looking directly at the two of them.

As they were about to pass the man, he stopped and blocked their path. Alarm bells immediately sounded off inside Beca's head, she also stopped, stepping back. The contents of his pocket were revealed. A switchblade, now pointed at them.

"Don't scream, either of you," he said. Beca complied, quickly checking Chloe's condition. She had jumped a little but she seemed cautious more than fearful at the moment.

Once the man seemed satisfied, he moved a little closer. "The handbag, pass it over." He was pointing at the taller girl's handbag.

Chloe hesitated, more due to surprise than unwillingness. "Now!" He shouted, moving closer.

"O-Okay," she said.

Beca considered herself a rational person. Someone who thought out their actions beforehand. Determining the pros and cons of a situation and only proceeding with actions that would be a net gain. Her next action made her question how rational she truly was.

Chloe slowly took the handbag off her shoulder and extended her arm out.

The moment the handbag was touched by their thief, Beca threw the pizza boxes at him. It had caught him by surprise so she lunged. She managed to knock the guy over and kept her hand firmly grasping his wrist to stop herself from being cut.

Seconds after landing on the ground, the extent of her mistake became apparent to her and she cursed her small size. The man managed to overpower her wrist and move the blade, it slicing through her clothing and down her arm. The initial stabbing motion had been strong, she could feel it hit her bone.

"Ahhh!" She cried out in pain and the blood started pouring.

The assailant took the opportunity to move on top of her and smash her head against the cold pavement, effectively stopping her resistance.

The hit disoriented her, blacking out her vision for a moment.

Once it returned, she could only watch helplessly as he positioned the blade, now free to be used in any way he wished, above her other arm, ready to sink into her flesh.

Fortunately, what looked to be a heeled shoe came flying towards his face, its momentum stopping him with a satisfying smack. Moments later, a shoeless foot also collides with his face.

The kick stopped him. He fell off from her and the sound of his switchblade could be heard hitting the ground. More movement, another shoe flying over her vision and she could see that Chloe was standing above her with the weapon now in her hand.

"Run!" she shouted, her voice firm and angry.

Thier attacker was more than happy to satisfy her request, scurrying away.

She knelt down next to the younger girl and put her hand to her cheek. "Beca, are you ok?"

Beca replied shortly, her head still spinning a little. "I'll live."

"I'm calling an ambulance."

Chloe began dialing the number and speaking with the operator, giving Beca time to inspect her injury. She was bleeding badly. The cut was deep and extended from her bicep towards her wrist.

Once the redhead was done with the call, she moved back towards her.

"Hold still and try to reduce your heart rate. You'll lose more blood if it's pumping around your body faster," she said.

Chloe then ripped off the sleeves of Beca's shirt and attempted to create a temporary bandage.

With the impromptu solution in place, Beca found her head being lifted and placed in the other girl's lap. Hands began to run through her hair and stroke her face.

"Try and stay calm, Becs. Help will be here soon."

The emergency vehicle arrived shortly after, Beca was escorted into the back of it while Chloe clarified the situation to the paramedics. They helped her file a police report of the incident before she climbed into the back with the brunette.

As they travelled to the hospital, she listened to the paramedics as they explained her injuries. She was going to be fine but she needed medical attention, stitches to be specific. It would be a short process. They would also need to check for a concussion due to the head injury. They told her that the blood loss would make her woozy.

Beca glanced over at Chloe a few times during the information dump. She was surprised to see fear in the other girl's eyes. During the altercation earlier, Chloe hadn't even flinched. She had jumped into action incredibly quickly and basically stopped her untimely death. But now, she was looking at her injuries with real worry.

"Chloe," Beca said. Chloe moved her eyes away from the injuries. "Thank you for saving my life."

She smiled. "Not now, Beca. You focus on recovering."

The brunette was taken to a bed at the hospital. Firstly, they stitched up her arm before wrapping it in bandages. The nurse told her to take it slowly and to get some food in her soon to recover from the blood loss. Also, no messing around with the bandages.

Secondly, they checked to see if she had a concussion. Tests of her vision, hearing, strength, sensation, balance, coordination and reflexes were conducted.

She failed. It seemed the blow to the head did a lot more than she thought. The nurse requested that she take time off work. Paracetamol was recommended to control the pain. Most importantly, she needed to get some proper rest and only return to work when she was able.

Chloe had been waiting in the lounge. Only after the nurses insisted that Beca would be fine and that they needed the space to do their job. The shorter girl had watched the argument with a smile on her face.

After all the checks had been done, the redhead was allowed to see her.

She walked in slowly, looking at Beca with concern but smiling once she realized that the other girl was awake. Sitting down next to the bed, she took her hand. Beca had noticed that Chloe had been doing this more and more. It was usually accompanied by a quiet, sincere moment.

"Thanks again Chlo."

That peaceful, concerned face turned on a dime.

"What were you thinking?!" Chloe shouted.

"He-" Beca tried to explain.

"He had a knife pointed at us and you thought to jump him!" So Chloe was mad.

"I didn't want him to rob you." The reason had sounded much better in her head and on the street. Perhaps it was her delivery.

"Beca, this is the twenty-first century. Everything in my handbag is replaceable, I can cancel my cards, I can get a new phone. I don't need to anymore but it wouldn't have been a big deal if I did have to," the redhead said. "What isn't replaceable though is you. I don't need you to be a hero and nearly get yourself killed."

Beca smiled. "You're angry cos I dropped the pizza, right?"

"I'm trying to be mad here so shut up for a second." The brunette did as was told. "Seriously though, don't put yourself in danger like that. That's not bravery, that's just stupid."

The older girl surrounded Beca's hand in both of hers. "You had me so worried, Becs," she whispered, looking at the way their hands intertwined. Her eyes were watering.

Beca felt bad for the first time since the incident. It was no problem for her to injure herself, she did that by herself on most weeks. But she had caused her friend to worry unnecessarily as well as put them both in danger. She had been a complete moron and it took Chloe being unhappy for her to finally realize it.

"I'm sorry, Chlo."

Chloe looked at her. "Beca, you don't have to be my hero. That's not why I like you. It's not even in my top one hundred."

They stayed like that for a while. Beca really didn't have much more to say to her friend. She had messed up.

An idea that she had been throwing around her head since her teenage years was if her isolation had caused her to become desensitized to people and their feelings. It would explain why she felt the need to do things like this, to prove to herself that she could still care. She got her proof today and it wasn't from her failed heroism, it was from seeing Chloe's worried face and knowing she had caused the distress.

She cared about the redhead's feelings.

A couple of years ago, she had been reading an article about a concept known as the Monkeysphere. It explained an idea where everyone had a cross-section of people that they were especially close to. This specific set was within the Monkeysphere. If something troubling were to happen to someone within your sphere, the reaction you would have would be greater than for those outside of the sphere. Basically, you care far more about your close friends than other people, even if both were involved with the same problem.

It appeared that Chloe had entered her Monkeysphere.

"Right, the nurse told me you can get discharged in a few minutes and then you're staying with me for the next two days," she said.

"I think I can take care of myself."

Chloe grinned. "It's not up to you, Doctor's orders. You need someone to look after you for the next forty-eight hours"

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

Chloe fake gasped. "How could you even imply such a thing?"

Beca watched as the redhead was given instruction on things like what medication to give her. A taxi was called and the brunette was wheeled into it. She fell asleep shortly afterwards against the taller girl.

Beca stayed at Chloe's house for two days. She spent the first day complaining about how boring it was not being able to do anything. Chloe just smiled at her complaints and tried to keep her satiated with chicken soup and hot chocolate.

Chloe considered it a success whenever she got the other girl to fall asleep, usually in her arms.

After the first two days, Beca was transported back to her own home to rest for the remainder of the week. Chloe was glad she had taken the nurse's advice. She made sure to check up on her every couple of days to make sure she was alright and most importantly not doing anything strenuous. Texts were sent every night to remind her to go to sleep.

Tuesday - May 10th

"Stop being excited," Beca said.

Chloe had been waiting for today all week. "But you're finally back!"

"Chlo, you pretty much saw me every day for the past week."

She had missed working with the other girl. Without Beca, work actually felt like work. Chloe even found herself reaching for the other girl's hand or moving her chair closer to the empty one to try and get her feet closer to the brunette's warmer ones.

She refused to let this moment be a simple welcome and enveloped her in a big hug. Beca giggled and reciprocated almost immediately. "I missed you too, Chloe."

The pair returned to work shortly afterwards after Beca put forth the crazy notion that perhaps they should get something done today. Chloe quickly informed her co-worker on what she had missed regarding work. She also updated her on the status of Stacie and Aubrey. Beca still refused to call them Staubrey but the redhead would use it enough that it becomes cemented.

The first thing Chloe wanted to tackle was a problem she had been having with their project. It was something Beca could easily fix had she been there.

They got to work immediately. Chloe focused on her own part and they fell back into their old rhythm. Without Beca, her work rate had slowed. Not just due to the lack of another pair of hands but because Beca had a way of motivating her. She was never bored working with her, even when the work was especially monotonous.

Beca finished the task within a few minutes, not even breaking a sweat. Obviously the two of them were good at different things but Chloe was always impressed by the brunette's focus.

"Thanks, Beca," she said. Absentmindedly, she leaned closer before placing her lips against the Beca's cheek. She registered soft skin. This close, she could smell the other girl's fruity perfume.

The lips were removed almost as quickly as they were placed. It was a quick peck and Chloe's mind only registered her action a moment later. She turned to look at her co-worker to see a bright red Beca, currently not looking at her.

"I am so sorry, I didn't even mean to..." Chloe really hadn't meant to. She had just associated thanking Beca with a peck on the cheek.

"It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Chloe continued to worry. She might have scared off her friend or overstepped some boundary. Co-workers don't kiss each other. Friends don't kiss each other for that matter. Well, they do sometimes but Beca wasn't that type of person.

"I didn't overstep any bounds did I?" Chloe asked.

"No."

"You're not weirded out?"

"Nope," Beca said, her responses had been short so far but the blush was beginning to fade.

"Are you-"

"Let it go, Chloe."

The thing was, the older girl wasn't capable. Beca didn't usually speak her mind without a push and this incident certainly affected her and Chloe needed to know how.

"I just feel like I've done something wrong and you're not telling me," Chloe said.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Chlo," Beca argued, now sounding slightly annoyed.

Chloe observed Beca for a few seconds to try and gauge her actual feelings. Usually it was easy but she wasn't completely sure about the current condition. Most of the time, Chloe knew what reaction she was going to get out of the brunette because she had purposefully caused it. Usually, it was to embarrass her friend.

Now she had gone and done something instinctively and she had no idea how it was being perceived.

"I'd feel better if you'd just tell me exactly how you felt about the kiss," Chloe argued.

"This is ridiculous," Beca said. She then grinned at the redhead. "Although, it is a nice change of pace for you to be the insecure one."

Chloe fumed. "I'm not insecure and stop deflecting."

The shorter girl sighed. "Fine." She turned to look at Chloe. "Like all your other displays of affection, I was surprised by it but I liked it." Chloe was relieved. "When you said that you didn't mean to do it, it made me feel really good."

Chloe looked at her in confusion. "Why?"

"Because it was something you did without even thinking about it. I thought it might mean that you felt comfortable enough with me to just give me a quick peck on the cheek. That idea made me really happy, even if it isn't actually the case." Beca's blush had returned.

"Oh." The older girl felt a little dumb. "Sorry about the outburst," she said.

"It's fine, can we get back to work now?"

Chloe nodded. She then leaned over again and pressed her lips against Beca's cheek, this time with purpose. Her hand, which had missed contact with its companion, found its way to Beca's.

The blush returned.

"For the record, what you thought was correct," Chloe said. Beca just smiled at her, the blush intensifying a little.

The brunette didn't talk for a few minutes and Chloe allowed her that time to recover.

So in conclusion, Beca was a big softy and only Chloe got to see it. The other girl had a way of making the redhead feel good about herself in a lot of strange ways.

Cheek kisses meant something had changed for Chloe. She didn't have time to process the first one fully because she was worried about Beca's reception to it. After the second one, she wanted to elicit that reaction from the brunette as much as possible.

As she watched Beca work, Chloe began to realize just how much she had missed her. She was getting attached and it felt wonderful. This was a strange notion, to become dependent should be considered a negative but with Beca, it didn't.

Wednesday - May 11th

Several days of hot weather evaporates the water in the ocean. This water vapour floats up because it is lighter than air and forms clouds. These clouds eventually float above cities. The water vapour is released as raindrops when the molecules gather in a high enough density to become heavy enough to fall.

This process occurred today. Beca watched from her cubicle as she waited for her partner. Chloe usually walked to the office and had no doubt been caught by the rain.

Beca had time to think about the kiss from yesterday. Specifically the first one. It had caught her by surprise. She hadn't found it odd though. When it happened, it had seemed like such a natural action on Chloe's part and Beca hadn't even given it a second thought. It was only when the redhead had apologized did she realize that something abnormal had happened.

The second kiss had felt just as fantastic as the first for a different reason. While the first was subconscious, something Chloe did because she had felt comfortable around her, the second was done deliberately. It meant that Beca's honesty regarding the first kiss had worked and the other girl wasn't going to be cautious around the brunette because of the first accidental kiss. The last thing Beca wanted was for Chloe to not be Chloe.

To put simply, she liked being kissed by Chloe. It was just nice to invent a bunch of reasons for why she enjoyed them.

Speaking of Chloe, she walked in a few minutes later, all of her soaked apart from her hair. She still had a bright smile on her face, clearly undeterred by her current state. As she sat down, Beca remembered one of the reasons she loved the rain.

Rain tends to enhance scent. This is because the water on wet things, such as cloths and skin, eventually evaporate. This helps to transport the molecules that spread the scent of something more easily.

Chloe always smelled fantastic. It wasn't a choice of perfume thing. It was just a scent that Beca had become accustomed to. The redhead's need to invade her personal bubble meant that she and the scent had gotten to know each other well. Even when Chloe wore some type of perfume like today, her natural one came through. For Beca, it had become associated with happiness, having a calming effect on her.

Pheromones were what caused it. She had done some research in order to understand it.

Today, Chloe's pheromones were especially prevalent, causing Beca's breathing to become more relaxed. It was scary how effective it was.

"Sorry I'm late, the rain did a number on me," Chloe said. Her blazer was soaked, possibly having been used to cover her head. It had done a good job of keeping her hair dry but her blouse had patches of wetness. The white material had become transparent and Beca could see parts of the other girl's underwear through it.

Beca took off her blazer. "You might want to put this on." She handed it to the soaked girl.

"Why?"

Instead of a verbal response, Beca just pointed at the see-through clothing.

"Oh!" Chloe grabbed the blazer and quickly covered herself up. "Thanks. It's nice and warm too." She hugged herself.

Throughout the rest of the day, as the water evaporated from the older girl's body, Beca remained happy. Chloe even commented on how especially calm Beca was today. The brunette decided that revealing her findings would make her seem creepy.

Even once she was reasonably dry and midday brought some warmth into the office, Chloe didn't give back the blazer. Beca chose not to comment on it.

Around three o'clock, she went on a coffee run to help her get through the rest of the day. As she was returning, she realized that Chloe was doing something peculiar with her blazer. The redhead had not realized that she was being watched. She was resting her head against her arms on the desk, almost like she was trying to get some sleep. Her eyes were open though. She slowly inhaled, her nose pressed against the fabric of the blazer. As she did this, her eyes slowly shut and she smiled.

Beca sitting down brought her out of her stupor.

"Here's your tea," Beca said, placing the beverage on the desk.

"Thanks."

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing." Chloe's skills at hiding her guilt could use some work.

"Chloe," Beca said firmly.

"I wasn't doing anything."

"Really? Because it looked like you were smelling my blazer."

Chloe blushed, it was a rare sight. "Maybe I was."

"Any reason?"

The redhead finally made eye contact. "Promise you won't think I'm weird."

"Too late," Beca said. Chloe playfully shoved the smaller girl. "Sorry, what's the reason?"

"I just like the smell is all, I don't know why but you always smell really nice. When you gave me the blazer earlier, it had your scent on it. I know that sounds super creepy but it's the truth."

"I see."

"What perfume do you use? It has an uplifting quality kinda like jasmine but it smells nothing like it." Chloe inhaled again, her nose against the fabric.

Beca smiled. She didn't wear perfume.

Thanks for reading.

Broke 100 followers with the last chapter! Thanks to all those that did follow and favorite me.

As usual, I'd like to thank Joshifer4Everlark, until its gone, feistykleinemaus, UnicornBitch, Guest and CherryFlavouredPoisen for their reviews.

The chapter specific cover image should be up on my tumblr now.