Prompt: Family

Summary: Chloe takes Beca home for the first time to meet her family and to finally come out to her parents. Little does she know though, she's about to learn a few truths of her own.

Part Four: Are We There Yet?

They had reached the point in their relationship where Chloe finally felt comfortable taking Beca home to meet her parents. After dating for over a year and keeping their relationship under wraps, Chloe knew that it was serious and that it was finally time to confront her parents and come out of the proverbial closet. She was terrified, but Beca just held her hand and promised her that it would be okay. That her parents wouldn't freak out and that everything would be okay. It had to be okay.

Chloe had been thankful when they arrived at the large carriage home and found that her parents were out at dinner with friends. This house was larger than Beca had imagined, knowing that Chloe was an only child, and she gulped as Chloe parked the car in front of the garage and murmured for her to follow her. This was a lot different than the tiny bungalow that she shared with her mother in Seattle, but Chloe had never even implied that she was wealthy and Beca knew that it wasn't a big deal. It was just a house and all that mattered was the people and memories inside. Still, she couldn't stop herself from grabbing Chloe's hand as they walked up the sidewalk to the front porch of the house.

"Is it okay that I'm just coming in?" Beca asked while looking down at her ratty jeans, worn leather boots, and familiar plaid jacket. "I mean, look how I'm dressed. You didn't tell me that you lived in a place like this."

"It's not important", Chloe replied with a shrug. "Besides, my parents have money, not me. It's not like they walk around in fancy clothes or anything like that, so you'll be fine. You look beautiful and they'll love you. Now, lighten up and let me give you the grand tour."

"I was expecting more hair!" Beca chortled as they stood in front of a photo in the hallway off of the foyer. "You were a little baldy!"

"Hey!" Chloe teased as she shoved Beca playfully into the wall. "Back off, meanie! I was a cute baby… even if I didn't have any hair. I was the cutest baby in the world."

"I guess you were kind of cute…for a cue ball!"

Chloe just shook her head and said "You're terrible, Beca Mitchell. That's it, no more pictures for you. I can't show someone that's as sarcastic as you these pictures. You're enjoying it entirely too much."

"No, I'm not!" Beca countered, trying to sneak around Chloe so she could see the next set of photos further down the hall. "I only said something about the baby picture and it was true, so you can't blame me for it."

"You're such a liar!" Chloe exclaimed while tickling Beca's ribs. "You made fun of the picture of me in my tutu at my ballet recital and called my braces dorky in my fifth grade class photo. On top of all of that, I thought you were going to pee your pants when you saw my graduation picture."

"You were wearing glasses, Chloe! I just never realized that you were a nerd before. It kind of explains a lot of things…" Beca grinned as Chloe just sighed. "I can't wait to tell the Bellas about this when we get back to Barden. Maybe I'll even make a copy of it so everyone can see you in all of your glory."

"I'm going to kill you."

"Oh my God, you were just like Harry Potter! You even have a scar on your forehead too!" Beca laughed as Chloe showed her the small crawlspace underneath the steps and explained how she used to hide out under there for hours reading books and listening to music.

"I'm going to pummel you if you keep this up. Ever since we arrived here all you've done is tease me and crack jokes. Something happened to you once we crossed the border. Some kind of Florida voodoo or something. Maybe someone slipped you something in your coffee when we stopped for gas…"

"Ha, ha. You need to learn to take a joke, Chloe Potter! Did you have an owl? What about a toad?"

"The only toad in this house is standing right next to me", Chloe quipped while holding back her own laughter.

"Nice! I'm wearing off on you and I like it. Sarcastic Chloe Beale is super sexy."

"Come on", Chloe murmured while shaking her head. "I want to show you something in the kitchen."

Beca stayed still as Chloe walked down the hallway and Chloe stopped a moment later when she didn't hear footsteps following her.

"Beca? What are you doing?" Chloe asked, turning around and scowling when she saw Beca tapping out a message on her phone.

"Oh, nothing. Just sending a picture of this to Amy."

"You should probably send her my address too so she can find your body when you don't make it back."

"Every birthday my dad would wake me up at the crack of dawn and march me down here to mark my height against the wall. We would have homemade pancakes and omelets afterwards and it was just really nice. I don't think I've done this since I was sixteen years old, though."

"Well, we should do it now", Beca suggested while motioning to the patch of wall in the laundry room. "Do you have a pencil or a pen?"

"I doubt you'd be able to reach the top of my head!" Chloe smirked while biting her lip.

"I'm serious, Chloe. It would be kind of nice to continue with the tradition, especially since you haven't done it in a long time."

Chloe smiled at Beca's sudden sentimental turn, but didn't tease her about it and instead dug through her messenger bag for a moment, grinning when she pulled a pen out. She flung it at Beca and said "Okay, let's do this thing!"

She leaned back against the wall and stood with perfect posture as Beca strained her arm to reach the top of Chloe's head. With a small groan she was finally able to reach it and made a line where the top of Chloe's head aligned with the wall. Once she marked the wall with the black ink, she pulled away and smiled at her handy work, letting Chloe lean against her as she turned around to admire it as well.

"There, it's perfect now."

Chloe took the pen back and marked the number '23' next to the line before wrapping her arm around Beca and leaning against her again.

"Now it's perfect."

Beca picked the framed photo up that was on the nightstand next to Chloe's bed and asked "Who's this in the picture with you? Your boyfriend?"

Chloe just shrugged and replied "It's nobody, Bec."

Beca looked back down at the picture, knowing that there was more to the photo than Chloe was letting on. In it, Chloe was around thirteen years old and standing next to a slightly older boy with dark brown hair and big blue eyes. His arm was flung around her shoulders and his grin was large as Chloe had been caught in mid-laugh by the photographer. She looked young and innocent and happy and Beca wanted to know who had made her look this beautiful in this single moment.

"It doesn't look like nobody from the way you're smiling and for the fact that it's right next to your bed. He kind of looks like you too. Is it a cousin or another relative?"

"That's my big brother, Chris." Chloe whispered while taking the picture from Beca and placing it back on the small table.

"I didn't know that you had a brother. I just assumed that you were an only child-"

"That's because I am, Beca."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Beca questioned while arching an eyebrow. "Obviously you're not an only child if you have a picture with your brother. Do you guys not talk or something?"

"Just drop it, Jesus!" Chloe exclaimed while shaking her head. Her face was pale with anger and Beca watched in shock as she blinked tears out of her eyes and ran from the room.

What the hell did I just do?

Beca eased underneath the tiny crawlspace and wrapped an arm around Chloe's back as she sniffled into her knees. She had given her girlfriend a few minutes to cool off and when she didn't come back to the bedroom, Beca immediately knew where she was. Chloe was kinda predictable and Beca loved that about her.

"What happened to your brother?" Beca murmured into Chloe's ear as she pulled her into her chest. "I won't tell anyone, but I want to know. I want to help you."

"He was seventeen when it happened." Chloe whimpered as she clung to Beca. She almost stopped talking as the tears became too much, but Beca was stroking her hair and kissing her cheek and it all didn't feel so overwhelming as she softly continued. "I had just turned fourteen and we were fighting about something stupid the night before. I think it was over a video game or something dumb, I really can't remember anymore. To punish us, my mom made him pick me u from my piano lessons so we would be forced to talk the whole ride home. He um… he never made it."

Chloe broke down into sobs as she words slipped from her lips and Beca held her tightly as she cried into her chest, never wanting to let her go. She rocked her gently back and forth and whispered soothing words into her ear as she cried for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually she pulled away though and smiled as Beca wiped the runny makeup from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"He hit a guardrail on the way to practice. My parents had to go to the hospital and a police officer picked me up and by the time I got there…he was gone. I never got to say goodbye."

"I'm so sorry", Beca whispered while rubbing Chloe's shoulder. "If I would have known, I never would have asked about the picture. Why haven't you told anyone?"

"It's too painful to talk about" Chloe admitted while swiping an errant tear from her cheek. "Aubrey is my only friend that knows and now…you do to. I'm…I'm glad that you know and that we could talk about it. You would have liked my brother. He was sarcastic and funny and the best big brother that anyone could ever wish for. I miss him."

"He sounds great and it's okay to miss him and hurt because he's not here" Beca paused, looking down at her lap and collecting her thoughts for a few moments. "Chloe, is this why you've never told your parents about us? Is this why you haven't come out?"

Chloe looked ashamed and nodded as her cheeks flushed, suddenly unable to meet Beca's eye.

"It's just…I'm their only child and I know that this isn't the lifestyle that they wanted for me. I have to be the best for them because I'm all that they have and I'm just afraid that they're going to hate me."

"We could never hate you", a soft voice murmured from behind them.

Beca jumped as they turned and looked at the entrance of the crawlspace, spotting a woman kneeling down and smiling. She was a mirror image of Chloe and had a plate of cookies in her hands and teary eyes.

"Mom, I didn't know that you had come back. This is-"

"Beca, your girlfriend!" Chloe's mom exclaimed, setting the cookies on the floor and thrusting a hand out for Beca to shake.

Beca shook it uneasily and tried to smile as Mrs. Beale said "We've heard so much about you. Come on out from under there and meet my husband. He's in the dining room and I promise that he doesn't bite. I want to talk to my daughter for a moment."

Beca nodded and slid out from under the small cubby, taking the cookies from Mrs. Beale and trudging to the dining room to meet a complete stranger. She would do anything for Chloe though and as she popped a cookie into her mouth and entered the formal space, she was glad that they had made the trip.

"Mom, I didn't want you to find out this way. I'm so-"

"Sorry?" her mother questioned while sliding next to her daughter. "You have nothing to be sorry about, got it? Don't ever feel bad about who you are or what you like. We love you for who you are and if that girl makes you happy, then I'm glad that you have her."

"What about Chris?" Chloe asked with tears glistening in her eyes. "I'm all that you have and I don't want to disappoint you. I know it's not conventional and you probably imagined big weddings and babies and happily ever after when I was growing up, but I don't think I can give you that."

"Chloe, we've known about this since you were twelve years old. All of my girlfriends' daughters were hanging up posters of the Backstreet Boys or N'Sync, but not you. You had a giant Britney Spears poster across from your bed and we kinda figured it out around then. Or it could have been the time I caught you and your brother watching the Victoria's Secret fashion show together. Either way, you were kinda obvious."

"You never let on though, why?" Chloe asked while swiping the tears out of her eyes and trying to smile.

"Because it wasn't a big deal to us", Mrs. Beale calmly replied while moving some hair off of Chloe's face. "We've loved you in the same way since you were a little girl and nothing could change that. Lesbian or straight, brother or no brother. You're not getting rid of us that easily. We're family; you're stuck with us."

"I love you", Chloe whispered while clutching the photo of her brother to her chest.

"I love you too and so does he. Now, put that down and come with me and introduce me to that girl you brought home. She seems kind of…unique."

Chloe just nodded and slid out from the crawlspace with her mother, letting her mom wrap her arm around her back and guide her to the dining room where her father and girlfriend were talking cordially and snacking on cookies.

As Chloe grabbed one from the plate and laughed as her mother told her girlfriend an embarrassing anecdote from her childhood, there was no place else she would rather be. They were a strange sort of family and Chloe wouldn't wish for any other kind. Family…was everything and she was glad to finally have one again.