Chapter 9

Tuesday - August 2nd

Construction work at the office had gone awry. Some type of chemical had been spilled while installing the air conditioning system and several floors of the building had to be evacuated. This meant a free day for the two of them.

Surprisingly, it was Beca who had a plan for them. She went on a journey to the shops where three large eggs, self-raising flour, caster sugar, butter, baking powder, cocoa powder, icing sugar, double cream, plain chocolate and apricot jam were purchased.

Now Chloe stood in her tiny kitchen in an apron. Beca was in the bedroom changing out of her work clothes.

"Why the sudden interest in making cakes?" Chloe asked.

"Your novel." A shout from the other room.

The redhead was surprised. "Really?"

"Yes, really, I've been thinking about it ever since."

Beca stepped out moments later.

There were few words entering Chloe's mind due to the sight in front of her. Beca stood at the doorway. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress. It had blue flowers that started thick at the bottom and became sparse until there were none at the neck. It was a beautiful dress. However, beautiful couldn't even begin to describe the girl in the dress.

This was a side of Beca that she rarely got to see. The brunette didn't flaunt her natural beauty. She usually covered herself with a hooded sweatshirt or jeans. Even in the office, her skirt was a little longer than the other girl's. Now though, the small straps on the dress showed off her delicate shoulders. It finished at the knees allowing for an ample view of her legs. Her small frame combined with the sweet dress made her look like a fairy. Some kind of fantasy creature. Chloe half expected to see a trail of glitter flow from her.

This wasn't helping her get over her little crush. Who was she kidding though? Ever since coming to terms with her attraction, she had become far more aware of Beca's inherent beauty. Her crush wasn't little and her attraction wasn't simple. The realization over the past few days had allowed her to accept that perhaps this wasn't a crush. It was something much bigger. What's more, it had become clear that her crush wasn't solely linked to her attraction, only tangentially so.

Other things that wouldn't help the situation would be what Chloe did next. Sometimes your brain will automatically perform actions that you want to do. Sometimes those actions are not accepted by social convention. This is instinct.

She sprang at the smaller girl and grabbed her for a hug. Her hands glided gently around Beca's waist and pulled her close. The height difference caused Beca to be pulled up a little, now using the ball of her feet to stand. She had also placed her hands on the redhead's shoulders during the sudden embrace.

Chloe looked at her for a brief moment, taking in the cute but surprised face, before kissing her on the cheek, the touch placed ever so close to the brunette's mouth. She could feel her let out a breath, possibly from the suddenness of the action. The hands placed on her shoulders pressed a little more firmly against her, like she was holding on. Chloe found herself supporting the smaller girl's weight slight as it seemed like her legs became a little less stable.

"What's happening?" Were the first words out of Beca's mouth after pulling away, still holding onto her. Confused.

Chloe was beaming. Still taking in the princess before her. "I didn't know you owned dresses," she said. "You look so beautiful."

The other girl, who had up to this point been making eye contact, looked anywhere but directly at her, traces of red appearing on her cheeks. "Not that you don't look gorgeous normally," she continued. The traces became more prominent, Beca still not uttering a word.

Chloe laid another kiss on the cheek, hoping to kick the girl out of her stupor knowing full well that it wouldn't do anything of the sort. This time, Beca actually looked at her.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked.

Clarity and focus seemed to return to Beca's eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You wanna get back to making the cake?"

"Yeah."

Chloe smiled. "Beca?"

"Hmm."

She looked at her shoulders. "You can let go now."

Beca removed her hands almost immediately. "Sorry." She quickly turned her attention to the ingredients and began looking through them. Chloe joined her.

"Why are you wearing a dress anyway?"

"My mother liked me in them. Before she passed, I promised I would wear one from time to time. This is one of the last ones she gave me," Beca explained. "I honestly don't mind wearing them."

"I agree with your mother."

Beca smiled

"By the way," she said. "No cliché fight with the ingredients."

"As if I would ever!" Chloe feigned shock.

First, the eggs, flour, caster sugar, butter and baking powder was mixed together until smooth. The cocoa was mixed with a little water until it was highly viscous. This was then added to the main cake mixture.

Beca began spreading it into two small round baking tins. The cake would be big enough for the two of them. It was then placed into the oven. Meanwhile, Chloe worked on the icing.

Cream and chocolate were melted slowly over a pan of hot water. She was very careful, mixing slowly and watching for signs of burning. Chocolate tends to give off a specific smell when it's burning and it was looking good so far.

The melted concoction was taken off the heat a few minutes later.

She dipped two fingers into it, getting a layer of chocolate cream on them, and tasted it. It was incredibly sweet. Still, it wouldn't be approved for the cake unless it ran by 'Head Chef' Beca Mitchell, who was busy staring into the oven, watching the cake slowly rise.

"Beca, would you like to try some of the icing?"

"Sure," The brunette answered, her focus still on the oven.

Chloe dipped her fingers into the mix again. She then moved them close to the other girl's mouth. Beca looked at her strangely. "Go on," Chloe said.

The smaller girl hesitantly took the fingers between her lips. Chloe could feel her tongue lap up the chocolate lightly. "How is it?" She asked.

"Good."

She made a second smaller batch of white icing.

Her realization of her attraction for her best friend and co-worker forced her to admit that she should limit her displays of affection just a little. Beca was already with someone and there was a chance that the redhead could go overboard with it. That near miss of a kiss should have been a warning. The keyword there was should. The problem with her plan was that Beca didn't seem perturbed by anything she did.

There was never a shout asking her to stop, which she would have done immediately. While Chloe was affectionate, she wasn't one to give to the unwanted. Some people truly don't show affection through contact. She always respected that.

With Beca, it was different. There was always initial embarrassment but it felt like that was just her getting used to it. In fact, she never seemed to take any little touch for granted. She always gave a light squeeze when Chloe went to hold hands, she would hold the older girl's gaze when she received a kiss. It was one of the reasons Chloe continued to do things like that, there was a sense that the other girl appreciated each one.

After watching the home shopping network for a good twenty-five minutes while the smell of the cake swept across the apartment, it was finally time to take it out.

Each tin is taken out and the cake removed. The apricot jam is spread on the top of both cakes. The chocolate cream icing that was prepared earlier is applied onto the top of one of them. Next the cake with only apricot jam is placed on top of the other, thereby sandwiching them together.

The remaining chocolate icing is used on the top of the cake.

The white icing is used for decoration.

Beca picked it up and started drawing letters onto the top. Slowly but surely, the words 'Beca & Chloe' formed on the top of the cake.

"It's a little simple but it's our first cake and we don't need to go overboard," she said. "I hope it's okay with you."

Chloe smiled. "It's fine," she said. "I would like to add one thing though."

"Go ahead."

The icing was handed to her. The redhead slowly started creating a third word onto the dessert.

'Beca & Chloe Forever.'

"Remember what I said about you being six," Beca joked.

"Hey! At least I didn't spell it 4-E-V-A," Chloe said, frowning. She looked down at her work. She really didn't do it as a joke. It was simple, something someone might carve into the trunk of a tree, but it sounded right. Still, she shouldn't subject Beca to her feelings.

As the reread the sugary words, it became clear just how deep these feelings were going. She hadn't given it a second thought when she wrote them.

Moving to get a butter knife, she went to remove the last word. "You're right, it's stupid," she said.

"Don't." Beca had stopped her hand. "There's nothing wrong with the words."

Beca breaks up with Ethan. They were together for just over a month. It's not a messy end to their relationship. He told her that she was distant. That he was attracted to her and found himself enjoying their time together but there was no real chemistry.

She was unable to really argue with him. It was true. Furthermore, she didn't really want to fight for it.

Chloe hadn't asked her about anything relating to the split.

Wednesday - August 17th

It had been a relatively standard day at the office. No mishaps to speak of. Just plain work.

"I'm gonna make us tea, could you put the TV on?" Chloe asked.

"Sure, I just gotta go to the bathroom," Beca said, making her way to the bedroom.

The redhead prepared the two cups of tea. There was still some of the cake left from last week. It had been surprisingly good for a first-time effort. She had been adamant that they could begin their own pastry store immediately only to be shot down by the other girl. Luckily, Beca was still open to making more cakes.

She set the two cups of tea and the cake down on the coffee table and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

After around ten minutes, she decided to check on Beca.

Walking into the bedroom, she found her sitting on the bed. She had removed her blazer and unbuttoned the first few buttons of her shirt. She hadn't noticed that Chloe had walked in just yet.

She was also crying, quite a lot.

Alarm bells immediately went off in Chloe's head. She quickly moved towards the other girl, sitting next to her and taking her hand.

"Beca? What's wrong?" she asked.

The brunette, initially startled at the sudden touch, wiped at her eyes. "It's nothing."

Chloe gently squeezed her hand. "Do you really think that I'm going to accept that as an answer?"

Beca shook her head. "It's Ethan."

The older girl became confused. The two of them had broken up amicably. Beca hadn't spoken about it much and she had assumed that it was because it wasn't worth talking about. They hadn't been together for a long period of time.

"I didn't know he meant this much to you."

"He doesn't," she said.

"Then why are you crying?" Chloe used her thumb to remove a few more tears from the brunette's cheeks. A quick kiss included, hoping to help Beca collected her thoughts.

"I thought I'd be able to make the relationship work. It was fine at first, he's a great guy. He was nice to me and I enjoyed talking to him, I really did try to make it work," she explained. "It's just, even after a couple of weeks, I still felt nothing for him. The worst part is that when he said he wanted to end things, I didn't care." She looked at her. "I feel like I'm incapable of making any relationship work. You're the only one that's gone right."

Chloe pulled her closer, wrapping her in an embrace. "Not every one of them is going to work out, Becs."

"I'd just like to know what I'm doing wrong," the other girl whispered.

"With him, nothing. If you didn't feel anything for him, then it's good that you ended things," she reassured. "Plus, you're forgetting Aubrey and Stacie who are relationships you made work."

"Only because of you."

She shifted the girl in her arms so she could look at her directly. "That's being unfair to those two, they like you for who you are. Not because of me," she corrected. Another kiss.

"Since breaking up with him, I've been thinking about us."

The redhead kissed her again. "Hmm."

Beca seemed to be struggling to get the words out, her sobbing stopping her. "Promise me you'll tell me if I'm doing something wrong," she said. "I don't want to lose you." Her voice cracked as she said it, more tears coming out. She buried her head against Chloe's chest.

"There's nothing you could do that could push me away. Anyway, that's not how relationships work. Sure, we're going to have problems but it's about dealing with those problems as we get to them, not avoiding them altogether. That's just not healthy."

She lifted Beca's chin to force her to look at her. "You're my best friend, Beca. If you make a mistake, I'm not going to run from you. Don't ever think that."

"Do you trust me?" she asked.

Beca nodded before returning to the safety of her embrace.

After a few minutes, her tears stopped. Chloe began unbuttoning her shirt and removing it. Going to Beca's drawer, she picked out a shirt and a pair of shorts and tossed it to the other girl. The brunette got changed slowly.

"Go have some tea, I'll come cuddle with you in a second," Chloe said while also getting changed.

When relationships fail, it's not uncommon for the person affected to consider it solely their fault. This can lead to them thinking that their other relationships are hanging on by a thread. In this case, it was up to her to reassure her friend, to make Beca's irrationality clear to her. She had been in similar situations. Sometimes there was no one there for her. She counted herself lucky that she was there for Beca

Walking back into the living room, she found Beca wrapped up in their blanket. Her eyes were still red but she seemed calmer. Chloe sat down next to her and got underneath the blanket. She then pulled the smaller girl onto her lap.

Beca rested her head against the redhead's shoulder, Chloe could feel each breath tickle her neck slightly.

"If you had told me, on that first day, that I would end up crying on your bed because I thought we were going to stop being friends, I wouldn't have believed you," Beca said.

She smiled. "I'm really glad I met you, Chlo."

"You too, Becs."

There she was, sitting in her apartment with a small brunette girl in her lap, the both of them under a blanket watching TV. The television program wasn't particularly interesting, the tea was pleasant and the blanket was warm. Yet she was content.

The pair sat there for about an hour. She let the program wash over her as she played with Beca's hair, occasionally stroking her back. It was only when the show they were watching ended that she realized that the other girl had fallen asleep.

Slowly shifting the smaller girl off her lap, she guided her to the bedroom and tucked her under the covers.

"Chloe?" Beca called out. Chloe was just about to exit the room.

"Yeah?"

"Could you stay a little longer?" There was a hint of shame in her request which surprised Chloe.

"I was just going to switch off the TV, I'm not going anywhere," She said with a smile.

She returned moments later and slipped into bed, Beca's arms found her almost immediately. Plans of preparing dinner or getting anything else done for the day quickly faded as slumber also took her.

There was something nice about getting home from work and going straight to bed. She felt like she was in school again, where coming home was sometimes followed by a nap until her mother woke her up for dinner. She woke up a couple of times in the night, still finding the brunette's arms around her. The warmth of the bed and Beca's presence helped her back to sleep.

Being lazy with her best friend was quickly becoming one of her favorite things.

Friday - August 19th

Beca watched as Chloe walked into the office. She had a pained expression on her face and was constantly touching her neck. Her speed of approach to their cubicle was also rather distressing.

She couldn't remember upsetting the other girl.

The redhead sat down and looked directly at her.

"Beca, could you check my neck, It suddenly started hurting on the way here," she said. She then lifted her chin to show where the pain was coming from.

Beca moved closer to examine the problem. Just above her collarbone was the source of the pain. A dark yellow sphere attached to a small stalk was stuck deep in her skin.

"Did you walk through the park?" Beca asked.

"Yeah."

"You've been stung by a bee."

"Is it bad?"

"No, it shouldn't be."

She took the older girl's handbag and found a small tin. Rummaging through its contents, she pulled out what she was looking for, a pair of tweezers.

"Now hold still," she said. Chloe did, gripping onto her chair a little tighter. Beca delicately moved the tweezers and gripped the offending stinger. "I'm going to pull it out now." A second later, she yanked it out, making sure to not break it in the tiny wound and have to go back in.

She had experienced insect stings before. This one wasn't too bad. Chloe didn't seem to be exhibiting any alarming symptoms and there was no real swelling. Her skin was a little red but with some soap, water and time, it should go away on its own.

"How does it feel now?"

She had relaxed somewhat now. "It still stings a little but it's okay now."

The brunette looked at the wound again. She began pressing her fingers around the sting location, massaging it slightly. "Does that help?"

Chloe muffled a confirming sound.

Beca wasn't sure what else she could do. Looking at her friend in pain, something within her triggered and she acted on instinct.

In terms of showing affection, she was being beaten by Chloe in every possible way. She rarely initiated hugs or hand holding. It felt one sided and that didn't seem fair. She knew it was her fault and while Chloe didn't seem to care, she knew she had to rectify the situation.

Leaning closer to the redhead's neck, she placed her lips on her neck, just at the side of the sting. She could feel a jolt go through Chloe at the initiation of the contact and hear her breath out.

She pulled away, making sure to remember the feeling of soft skin against her lips. The effect it had on her friend was worth it.

"Beca-" Chloe began.

"What are you still doing here? Go get that cleaned," Beca said, pointing to the bathroom. She then turned back to her computer and continued to work. She could feel Chloe's eyes on her for a few more seconds, the older girl clearly surprised.

"Thanks, Beca," she said before returning a kiss to the cheek and walking away.

Beca smiled to herself. She still had a long way to go to catch up to the amount of affection Chloe had shown her but this was a start. It was strange how easy it had been once she had finally done it. It felt nice to comfort, through actions rather than words. It was such a small thing but the effect on her friend had been positive.

Recently, whenever Chloe would kiss her, which happened often and randomly, she found herself wanting to return the touch. She wanted to show that she actually appreciated them, that she looked forward to each one.

Kissing Chloe had been something that was on her mind lately. Whenever they were together, she noticed that she was looking at Chloe and wanting to pull her close and just surprise her with a kiss. Not being used to the feeling, she wasn't really sure how to go about it.

Chloe did things to her that she didn't fully understand. She caught herself looking at Chloe from time to time. Close proximity made her heart race and the sensation of skin on skin contact was amplified. It was a feeling she was beginning to indulge in far too much. Her mind would, on occasion, just turn to mush when she looked at her. Like other things recently, it should have scared her but she wasn't able to explain the warm feeling she got whenever any of those things happened.

The redhead came back a few minutes earlier. She had a big smile plastered on her face.

"You feeling better?" Beca asked.

"Much."

She took a moment to look at her friend. Chloe was beautiful, everything about her. From the way she smiled to the way her eyes lit up. It was hard to turn away, her features incredibly alluring. As expected, the feelings she described came back to her.

"Is something wrong?" Chloe asked, bring her out of her daydream.

"No, not really."

"Why are you looking at me?"

"I just wanted to."

Chloe blushed, averting her eyes for a brief second. She moved a little closer and pulled up the folder containing the day's work. When Beca didn't stop looking, she grabbed ahold of her hand and pulled her towards her.

She looked like she was going to say something but just smiled before giving another kiss to Beca's cheek, her hands resting lightly on Beca's shoulders before trailing down her chest.

She broke contact and returned to work, her hand still holding the brunette's.

The idea that two people can just exchange a look and know what the other was thinking had never been something Beca had believed in. Right now though, she was positively sure she saw joy in Chloe's eyes. All from a simple kiss to her neck. She would have been surprised by how something so small could make her so happy but then she would be a hypocrite.

Chloe had taught her that affection wasn't something to be embarrassed about. It was intimate, only for the two of them. She didn't need to worry about being awkward. She finally understood that if she gave into her need to make Chloe happy, the rest would be simple.

She knew the connection she felt with Chloe was special. As she looked down at the supple fingers intertwined with her own, she realized just how lucky she was to have sat down next this girl. Someone who understood her like no other. Someone who allowed her to actually express herself and show emotion. There was a side of her she was discovering and it was all because of this one special girl.

Chloe, I'm Glad You Exist.

It's not over yet! Also, thanks for reading!

For those curious, Ethan was meant to be a much bigger part of the story but you guys have probably already read a thousand stories of Chloe being jealous and Beca being in an unsatisfying relationship at this point that it would be pretty boring. Plus, that plotline doesn't really help with what I'm trying to convey so I scrapped it. Not that there aren't going to be hardships for these two.

Thanks to pineappletini, wolveswithoutteeth, until its gone, everyonelovesagoodBhloe, rokpest, Joshifer4Everlark, owieey, CapAmerica21, , Gleek0382, Jess Tiggs, CherryFlavouredPoison, Guest, TrixAreForSquids and xXFreakyUnicorn7689Xx for their reviews.

Thanks to all those who favorited and followed the fic.

As always, the chapter specific cover images are on my tumblr.