Chapter 8

A/N:

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the music in this story. I also do not own Pitch Perfect, or any of it's characters.

Music:

-Fix You – Coldplay

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Beca rolled over, shut off her alarm, and promptly fell right back asleep. Friday was basically Saturday, right? Wrong. "Are you up, Becs?" her father asked from right outside her door. When she didn't respond, he started knocking, the sound getting increasingly louder. "BECA!" he shouted. "Answer the door or I'll get Sheila!" he threatened.

Beca shot straight up in bed, her eyes popping open at the mention of her stepmother. "I'm awake!" she shouted to the ceiling, still mostly disoriented from sleep. She yawned and rolled out of bed, picturing her father's smirk as she heard him walk off down the hall. While her dad stuck mostly to banging on her door and yelling at her, Sheila took a more hands-on approach to waking Beca from the dead. Her weapons ranged from a Super Soaker filled with ice water, to a bullhorn that Beca to this day cannot find to avenge the temporary hearing loss.

She stumbled around her room getting dressed, absentmindedly humming the new song she was working on as her thoughts turned to Chloe. The redhead had barely spoken to her for two days now, and it bothered Beca more than she was willing to admit. She refused to believe that Chloe hadn't felt the chemistry between them, and knew for a fact that the attraction was mutual. She occasionally caught her teacher's eyes on her, always averting the gaze instead of meeting Beca's stare. She had sent Chloe a couple more texts trying to convince her to talk about their kiss, but all of them had gone unanswered. Beca was getting frustrated, but not discouraged. If anything, she was even more determined to get some answers. She also found out that all the pent up emotion and frustration lead to incredible progress in her music. She had put the finishing touches on some of her songs, and was incredibly happy, if not a bit surprised, at how well they turned out.

Beca joined her dad and Sheila for breakfast, looking up as Sheila greeted her.

"Morning, kid. I see you didn't want me to wake you up today."

Beca shook her head, a small smile forming on her lips. "No thanks, I'll pass on the Super Soaker treatment," she replied.

Sheila laughed. "Aww it's Friday, I wouldn't have soaked you." Beca raised an eyebrow until her stepmom continued, "I would have clocked you."

Beca's eyes went wide as she recalled the morning Sheila had secured an old-fashioned alarm clock, the kind with two bells and a miniature hammer, to her ceiling and set it off. She had heard ringing in her ears for hours, earning herself back-to-back detentions in her first two classes for not paying attention. "How do you come up with this stuff?" she asked, spreading jam on a piece of toast.

"Can't give away my secrets," Sheila responded, sipping her coffee. "You're already devious enough. Don't need to give you any extra encouragement. Also, the alarm clock was your father's idea," she finished with a sly grin at Ben, who choked on his bite of toast and started coughing.

Beca's jaw dropped as she spun to glare at her father. "And here I thought you were innocent in all this!" she accused, as he breathed heavily and shot his own glare across the table at Sheila. "What kind of parents are you two anyways, coming up with ways to torture your poor, innocent child," Beca continued, rising from the table, grabbing her backpack and car keys.

This time it was Sheila who snorted into her coffee cup, unable to contain her laughter at Beca's words. Ben mumbled something that sounded a lot like "snitches get stitches" as she headed for the door. Her father's voice stopped her before she could leave.

"Don't forget Becs, we're leaving for San Francisco in a few hours. Use the credit card, and call if anything happens," Ben reminded her.

She nodded and replied, "Got it. Have fun!" as she turned and left for school.

Beca breathed a sigh of relief when the bell rang for lunch. She gathered up her books before following Stacie to join the line of students streaming out into the hallway. After stopping by her locker, she made her way over to where Stacie was chatting with Fat Amy and Benji. Cynthia Rose joined them, and the group started chatting excitedly about the weekend, especially hearing some of Beca's original songs. As they stepped out of the stairwell, Beca turned towards the Arts building instead of following the path to the cafeteria.

Stacie called out to her, "Where are you going, Becs?"

Beca turned around, slowly walking backwards as she replied, "I'm not really hungry. I'll meet up with you after lunch at your locker." She watched Stacie shrug before turning around and walking to the building, humming softly to herself. Ducking inside, she made her way to the choir room, and the guitar that Jesse kept stashed under his desk. She had discovered it during one of their impromptu singing sessions, and convinced him to let her sneak in during lunch sometimes to work on her mashups.

Beca settled into a chair, fondly strumming the guitar as she let her mind wander. Chloe had really thrown her for a loop, and she wasn't used to the feelings overload generated by the redhead. To her surprise, she began strumming the opening chords for one of the first songs she had written; one of the only songs that generated a similar magnitude of emotion. Early on in the summer, and lacking for inspiration, she turned to the one subject that meant more to her than anything else; her mom, and as the song unfolded, more specifically, her relationship with her dad after her mom passed away. She loved Sheila as much as you could possibly love a replacement parent, and she was grateful her dad had found someone who made him so happy, but Beca was certain there would always be a lingering pain from losing her mother. She remembered watching the cancer take over, her mother fighting for months before succumbing to the constant pain and fatigue. Beca automatically began to sing the first verse softly, having played the song many times over the summer.

When you try your best, but you don't succeed

When you get what you want, but not what you need

When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep

Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face

When you lose something you can't replace

When you love someone, but it goes to waste

Could it be worse?

A tear slipped down her cheek as she recalled writing the lyrics, the feelings becoming overpowering at the memories of her father, completely broken during the time following the funeral. Beca had tried for months to get Ben out of his depression, hoping for just a glimpse of the happy, smiling man he had always been. She closed her eyes and continued singing, although her voice wavered a bit.

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

She kept her eyes closed but didn't hesitate before beginning the second verse, her voice becoming stronger.

And high up above or down below

When you're too in love to let it go

But if you never try you'll never know

Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

"Beca?"

A voice jarred her out of the moment, almost causing her to drop the guitar as she looked around at the sound of her name. Beca grabbed the guitar firmly before her eyes widened, taking in the sight of Chloe's face only a few feet away from her. She wiped her cheek, standing up and asking gruffly, "What are you doing here, Beale?"

Chloe ignored her question, and took a step forward before responding with one of her own. "Are you okay?"

Beca stared back, her face expressionless. "You're not supposed to answer a question with a question. What do you want?" she asked pointedly, gently setting the guitar back in its case and crossing her arms over her chest.

Again her teacher ignored her, taking another step forward and asking a different question, her voice punctuated with genuine curiosity. "I've never heard that song before. Did you write that?"

Beca narrowed her eyes at Chloe, shaking her head. "Yes, but you don't get to know that part of me," she said, the hurt coming through her voice in volumes. "You kissed me, then froze me out and ignored me. You don't get to just..."

Whatever she was going to say was lost as Chloe closed the distance between them, her hands gripping Beca's face as she crashed their lips together. It was just as intense as their first kiss, and she immediately grabbed Chloe's hips, holding on for dear life. Beca felt the redhead's tongue swipe against her lower lip, causing her to moan and pull her hips closer, sliding a leg in between Chloe's until there was no space between them. Chloe whimpered, pressing herself against Beca's thigh and grinding down as their tongues dueled.

Beca's skin was too hot, heat radiating all over her body. Kissing Chloe was addicting, and the way the redhead's tongue was curling around her own was making her knees weak. Desire rushed through her at the thought of that tongue dipping and curling between her thighs. She hooked her fingers in the belt loops of Chloe's jeans, leaning back to sit down in the chair, pulling the redhead with her. Beca kept tugging at her hips until Chloe straddled her, settling down onto her lap and reconnecting their lips.

She wasn't sure what prompted Chloe to kiss her, but Beca wasn't about to start asking questions now. The feel of Chloe's hips gently rocking against her was driving her crazy, and Beca let her hands roam over the redhead's thighs, eventually sliding them into the back pockets of Chloe's jeans. She pulled back, trailing her lips over Chloe's jaw, skimming her tongue against the edge of her ear, drawing out another moan. Beca felt another jolt of arousal at the soft moans and cries as she worked her way down Chloe's neck. Scraping her teeth at the pulse point caused Chloe to gasp, and pull the brunette's chin up for another kiss.

Just as Beca slid her hands underneath Chloe's shirt, the bell rang, signaling five minutes before lunch ended. Chloe quickly leaned back, sliding out of her lap to take a few steps backwards, the panic flooding her face as she brought her hands up to cover her mouth. Before Beca could say a word, she spun on her heel and fled the room, leaving the brunette alone to ponder what the hell just happened.

Beca stared dumbly at the door for a moment, before returning the guitar to its proper place and shutting the door to the choir room behind her as she headed back to the main building to meet Stacie for class.

Beca opened her locker to switch out her books for Biology and brought a hand up to cover her mouth, unable to stop the yawn from escaping her lips. She was completely drained, both physically and mentally, after the long first week back at school. On top of that, the hot and cold thing between her and Chloe had lead to sleepless nights at her mixing board, or testing out new melodies on her guitar.

Stacie popped up beside her and asked, "Did you get in some good music time during lunch? You looked a little off last class."

Beca frowned and looked at her friend, not knowing how to describe what happened between her and Chloe.

Stacie continued, "Does that frown have anything to do with a certain teacher following you into the building?"

Beca's eyes widened at Stacie's words. "She followed me? You mean she was there the whole time?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair and tugged gently at the ends.

Stacie nodded and replied, "Yeah. So what the hell happened?"

"Great question, dude. When I figure it out I'll let you know," Beca answered, closing her locker and waiting for a couple people to walk past them before continuing. "She kissed me again," Beca whispered, so softly that she wasn't sure Stacie could hear the words. Her friend's jaw dropped immediately, proving otherwise.

They started walking down the hall to class, Stacie clearly thinking very carefully about her next words. "It was all her this time?" she asked, being purposefully vague.

Beca nodded, replying, "I didn't do anything. Actually, I was pretty upset before it happened."

Stacie hummed thoughtfully, but decided not to say anything more as they were approaching the door. Beca walked through first, keeping her eyes on Benji sitting at their usual table. She gave him a small smile as she sat down in her seat, still avoiding looking at the front of the room.

Benji smiled back at her and asked, "Hey Beca, are you okay? I know it's a new year and all, but you haven't skipped lunch in a while."

"Yeah, I'm good. Just felt like playing some music," she answered as Stacie joined them, quickly ripping a page out of her notebook and scribbling on it, sliding it over to Beca.

After reading the note, Beca looked up at Stacie and frowned. She crumpled the paper into a ball and stuffed it into her pocket, stating cryptically, "Saved by the bell." Benji shot her a confused look, but Beca waved it off and finally looked towards the teacher's desk. Chloe's eyes were on her, her face blank as she looked away and began speaking to the class.

Beca returned her gaze to the textbook in front of her, refusing to look up for the rest of the period. She was still extremely confused about what happened at lunch, and was determined to convince Chloe to talk about it after school in detention. She was so deep in thought, she didn't notice when the bell rang, and her classmates began packing up to leave the room.

Stacie shook her shoulder gently. "If I didn't know you so well, I would think you were actually trying to learn something," she teased. "But we both know who the nerd is in this relationship, and it's not you."

Beca smiled up at her friend and stood up, closing her books. "Not gonna argue with you there, Conrad," she replied. "But we both know I'm not in this relationship for your brains," she added, emphasizing her words with a slow stare down Stacie's body.

Stacie rolled her eyes, sighing, "Always such a tease, Mitchell. One day you might actually want to follow through." She turned and began walking towards the door.

Beca smirked, walking behind her and quipped, "I'll follow you through the door so I can keep staring at your ass. How's that?"

"Better than your last attempt to pick me up," Stacie called over her shoulder as she exited the classroom, throwing her middle finger back at Beca for good measure.

Beca chuckled as she walked out into the hallway to her locker, and grabbed what she needed for the weekend. She ambled over to Stacie's locker, where Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose had joined her already. "I've got my last detention today. Group text later about tomorrow?" she asked, checking the time on her phone. The other girls agreed and wished her luck.

"Anyone want to bet on how long it takes Shawshank to end up back in detention next week?" Amy called out, her eyes challenging CR.

Stacie grinned and replied, "I'll put a quarter on two days."

Beca's jaw dropped in mock offense. "Hey! Two days, Stace?"

"She's right," CR cut in. "It'll be Monday. She's been in prison so long, she can't function in normal society."

Beca couldn't help the grin that spread across her face, as all four girls began laughing. "Glad you guys have so much faith in me," Beca said, still laughing. She stopped abruptly, as she caught sight of Aubrey moving towards them. "Shit, General Posen's on the move. See you later," she said quickly.

Before she could leave, Stacie grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear, "She was checking you out all class long. You should try calling her out on it and see what she has to say for herself."

Beca raised her eyebrows at her friend, nodding and turning to leave for detention before Aubrey could yell at her.

Chloe was already there when she arrived. Beca dropped into the closest chair, her smile slowly fading at the look on her teacher's face. She wasn't sure why Chloe looked so upset, or why the look was directed at her. If anyone had a reason to be upset, Beca reasoned it was her. She had gone to the choir room for some privacy, to be alone with her music. She hadn't asked Chloe to stalk her, invade her space and listen to her personal song. She wasn't even sure she ever wanted anyone to hear it, though that was irrelevant at this point. Finally, she decided to break the silence.

"Why are you looking at me like I kicked your puppy?" Beca asked, crossing her arms.

"What game are you playing here?" Chloe retorted.

Beca felt the confusion spread over her face, before it was replaced with irritation. "Do you always answer a question with another question? Do you know how annoying that is?"

Chloe stood up, moving around to the front of the desk to lean back against it, thinking. "I'll answer yours if you answer mine."

Beca narrowed her eyes at her teacher, replying, "Fine. But first, you're going to tell me why you kissed me, froze me out, and then kissed me again today."

Chloe gave her a hard stare before stating, "I'm not sure."

Beca scoffed, "Bullshit. What the hell was that today, Beale?"

She waited while her teacher looked down at her hands. Eventually, Chloe looked up and met her gaze, weakly apologizing. "I'm sorry, Beca."

"Oh good, I'm so fucking glad you're sorry," Beca snapped, rolling her eyes. "Except you sure didn't seem sorry earlier, when you were kissing me. Or even when you were sitting on my lap. So forgive me if a weak apology doesn't quite cut it." She saw the flush creep up Chloe's neck into her cheeks and stopped her rant, locking eyes with the redhead as she waited for the response.

Chloe opened and closed her mouth a few times, before looking down at the ground shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I can't do this," she said, unable to look up at the shorter brunette.

Beca stared at her in amazement. "You can't do what, exactly?" she asked, her tone sharp. "What is this to you?" When Chloe remained silent, Beca stood up and walked over to stand directly in front of her. "So you can kiss me out of nowhere in the choir room, you can glance my way every thirty seconds in Biology class, but now you can't even look at me?"

The redhead looked up at her in surprise, replying, "How would you know where I was looking during Biology class? You were buried so deep in that textbook I thought you might never make it out."

Beca smirked at her, as she answered with a single word. "Stacie." At the mention of her friend, Chloe's frown returned. Beca made a mental note to file that reaction away for later, as she continued, "What are you doing tonight?"

Chloe's look of surprise returned, and she slowly answered, "I'm not sure yet. Why?"

"You don't want to talk here? Fine. I've got the house to myself for the weekend. You should come over tonight. We can talk then," Beca reasoned. "I'll even cook dinner," she offered, already planning on making lasagna anyways. It had been in her head ever since Sheila threatened to make it earlier in the week.

"You cook?" Chloe asked. The offer of dinner was clearly unexpected, and Beca shot her a mildly offended look.

"Yes, Beale, I can cook," she retorted, her tone remaining light. "Don't sound so surprised."

Chloe backtracked immediately, a smile forming on her lips. "I'm sorry, that was inappropriate," she admitted.

Beca smirked, "It's okay. I'll forgive you as long as you come over for dinner." Her mind had already moved on to a few other inappropriate things she wouldn't mind doing with Chloe later that evening. Beca watched as Chloe thought about it for a minute, before meeting her gaze and nodding in agreement.

Beca grinned and said, "Great, it's settled. Be there at 6PM, and I'll text you the address." It was just then, that she realized how close she was to the redhead. Her gaze dropped to Chloe's lips, before moving back up to her crystal blue eyes. The look clearly hadn't gone unnoticed by her teacher, as Chloe's eyes immediately darkened. Beca felt the pull instantly, her body flooding with desire as she saw Chloe glance down at her lips. They both leaned in slowly, Beca watching as Chloe's eyelashes fluttered closed just before her own as their lips met.

As quickly as it happened, the kiss was over, Chloe gently pushing her a step back to create some space between them. "Not here," her teacher murmured, giving Beca another gentle shove that forced her to take another step backwards.

Beca smirked and asked, "So, later then?"

Chloe looked up at her and frowned. "Beca, you're one of my students. This...this can't happen."

"How about we discuss it tonight," Beca offered, quickly realizing she would have a much better chance of winning if she and Chloe were alone, and not at school. She turned and dropped back into her seat, glancing up at the clock.

Chloe saw the look and spoke up, "Go ahead. If you're going to cook me dinner, the least I can do is let you leave detention a little early."

Beca winked at her and stood up, replying, "You won't regret it."

A/N: As always, thank you to my top-notch beta, who still gets excited when I send her a new chapter despite my inability to properly use commas.

For those of you who wanted to see some jealous Chloe, get out of my head. Thanks ;-).

For those of you want more from Chloe's POV, just be patient a little longer!

Thanks for reading!