The bedroom was still as the two teens stood close in front of one another, face to face, holding each other's hands. Tears were still tainting Chloe's eyes as she looked at the girl who had turned her world upside down these past couple of days.

Beca looked sadly at Chloe. She never wanted to see her upset. But the brunette knew there was no coming back from this. She'd seen the whites of Mr Beale's eyes. He'd been furious. It was more than likely they would never be allowed to see one another again. At least not until they had left home, by which time Chloe would have gone to college, and Beca would have moved to LA to find a job in the music industry like she'd always dreamt of..

"Beca i-if our parents stop us from seeing-" Chloe began, but Beca quickly interrupted the girl.

"-don't. They can't…it…" Beca stumbled to find the words she needed to express what she was feeling. Because she was sad, and scared, but she also wanted to reassure her girlfriend that it didn't matter what the adults thought or did. That they could still be together.

So she squeezed Chloe's hands and tugged gently, drawing their mouths together. And the two shared a soft kiss. One that was tender and filled with all the love and emotion that the two teens were currently feeling at that very moment.

Suddenly they parted their lips as they heard someone clear their throat at Chloe's bedroom door. Beca and Chloe both turned to look at the doorway, their hands still entwined. Beca swallowed loudly while Chloe let out a short small gasp. There stood Robert, Chloe's older brother, looking at them with a small grin.

"I was wondering what all the commotion was about.." the young man said, leaning against the doorframe.

Beca cleared her throat, not really knowing anything about the other Beale enough to know how to react to his sudden appearance. Chloe on the other hand had known her brother her whole life, so when she didn't release the other girl's hands, Beca knew that the two of them being together probably didn't bother Robert in the slightest.

"Dad's mad.." Chloe said quietly, a tear having ran down her cheek.

"Yeah," Robert said with a calm chuckle, leaning his head back against the doorframe and he smiled at his little sister and her girlfriend, "but he'll get over it. You know what he's like. Mom will get home and get him to talk his thought process through and he'll realise he overreacted."

Chloe took a deep breath. Her brother was right. She didn't want to tell him he was right though or he'd gloat. But he was. Their father had overreacted about a few things in the past, but had never yelled and had certainly never sworn like that before. And as such, Chloe hoped that her mother would be able to coax him around to the idea that his daughter was actually pursuing a relationship with another girl.

But then..Chloe had absolutely no idea what her mother thought about Beca. Just as she had no idea what Beca's mother thought about the teens being romantically involved with one another.

"It'll be alright, Chlo." Robert said with a kind smile, "And if it isn't, well..they can't stop you both going to school together, right?" And the two girls watched Rob Beale throw them a wink before swanning back off to his bedroom.

Chloe turned back to Beca.
Beca turned back to Chloe.
And they just looked into one another's eyes, still holding each other's hands. Their thumbs tracing over each other's swapped rings on their index fingers. This was love. Their love. And yeah it may been seen as unconventional, and quick, but it was real. And hell if Romeo & Juliet managed to keep their teen romance secretly going against all odds then why couldn't they?

Their stomachs dropped as they heard two car doors slam heavily. That would be their Mom's. Their fate would potentially be mapped out within the hour, and it was this knowledge that terrified the teens. So they shared one more kiss, this time their arms wrapping around each other, both aware that it was one of the final times they could do it in who knew how long.

The front door of The Beale's Family Home opened and the two teens broke their kiss, leaning their foreheads against one another sadly.

"I love you." Chloe whispered.

"I love you too." Beca whispered back.

"Chloe! Beca! Come downstairs please!" Greg Beale's voice boomed up to them and Beca took Chloe's hand.

"Come on. Let's face this together." Beca said with a determined expression, squeezing Chloe's hand in reassurance and the redhead swallowed loudly, nodding as she squeezed her hand back.

"Together." Chloe confirmed.

"Together." Beca echoed.

And they took a deep breath before walking out of the bedroom to head downstairs.

—

"You know.." Dee said in the car after several minutes of silence, "..Beca seems like a really nice kid." She had begun driving her and Melissa back to her house. She had no idea what Greg had seen, but the tone he'd used when he'd told her to bring Beca's mother along with her had been enough for her to know that her husband had been stunned.

"She is Dee. I mean I know I complain about her from time to time, but she's a typical teenager. She's not a horrible person." Melissa reasoned, turning to one of her oldest friend's, "And Chloe is delightful." She watched as the redhead beside her smiled at the compliment, "I mean it Dee. She's a credit to you!"

"Well Beca's a credit to you too. She was so polite over dinner."

"Yeah well, that was probably because she was crapping her pants!" Melissa said as the car came to a stop at some traffic lights, and the two women chuckled, the idea of Beca being so internally under pressure unbeknownst to the rest of The Beale's being a funny thought.

"Oh God. Poor girl.." Dee said quietly with a gentle shake of her head. She turned to look at Melissa and saw that her friend was already looking at her. "You know..Chloe would treat Beca well..if this thing between them is the real deal."

"I know." Melissa said with a small nod, "And Beca would treat Chloe well too. She'd fiercely protective so..I can imagine she'd take care of your daughter very well. I bet she'd even tell Claire's kid to fuck off if necessary."

Dee Beale let out another small chuckle, turning back to the lights to see they'd turned green. It wasn't that she hated Claire's daughter. It was just..since the two girls had been put in the same class as early teens, Aubrey had seemed to have some sort of weird dominance over Chloe that made Dee feel uncomfortable. She didn't like the idea of her daughter bending to the forceful will of others. And she'd aired those concerns to Melissa on a number of occasions in the past.

"So…as far as you and I are concerned…the girls are okay carrying on as they are? Or…?" Dee asked cautiously, it not being too much of a problem for her. Sure, having to try and explain it to her family was going to be an interesting battle. But if her daughter was happy then it would totally be worth it.

"I have no qualms with our daughters dating if you don't." Melissa said with a shrug.

"Me either." Dee said brightly, and their calm smiles dropped as she added, "It'll just be Greg we have to try to convince.." And as the two women approached the Beale's driveway, they glanced at each other. This was going to be a very interesting conversation.

—

Chloe and Beca arrived at the bottom of the staircase, hand in hand. Chloe's chest felt tight and she could feel Beca's hand begin to sweat in hers. They were so nervous.

The two teens shuffled slowly into the lounge and held their breath as they saw the three adults stood by the fireplace. All three had their arms folded. But to Beca and Chloe's surprise, only Mr Beale appeared to be the one looking at them seriously. Mrs Beale and Ms Mitchell looked at the way their daughter's hands were entwined, and soft smiles swept onto their faces.

There was a silence in the room as the adults looked at the teens and vice-versa. Then after a few moments it became too much for the man in the room.

"Right so am I going to have to be the one to explain to your mothers what I walked in on?" Greg Beale asked rhetorically and Chloe shuffled on the spot, noticing the sympathetic look on Beca's mother's face. A look that gave her a bit of confidence to clear her throat and speak up.

"I uh-…Beca and I were…kissing…on my bed."

Both the mothers rolled their eyes, turning to look at Greg, short moans falling out of their mouths.

"Kissing?!" Mrs Beale said to her husband.

"Seriously Greg, that was all it was?" Melissa said to her friend's husband. The women looked to the man for answers, but he just looked at them with a perplexed expression.

"Wha-..they were kissing! Together!" He exclaimed, motioning to the two teens who stood together uncomfortably, not entirely sure what was going on nor why their mothers were so okay with this all of a sudden.

"Oh God, Greg the way you reacted we thought you'd walked in on them having sex!" Melissa said brashly, having never been afraid of saying things as they were.

"She's right sweetheart," Dee said in a quieter voice to her husband, "you did seem to be overreacting a little bit.."

"Overreac-.." Greg was stunned, his mouth dropping open as he looked from the teens in the doorway of the lounge, to his wife and wife's friend beside him, "They were kissing, Dee! Doesn't that bother you?!"

"Well..it's certainly come as a bit of a surprise but-" the redhead replied, and her husband threw his hands in the air in disbelief, "but it is the twenty first century darling.."

"Yeah Greg, get with the times." Melissa muttered unhelpfully.

Beca, meanwhile, was watching this whole conversation pan out with her mouth wide open in shock. Since when was her mother so cool all of a sudden? She…she was alright with the idea of her and Chloe being together! Like..as a couple. Like dating one another! Even though Chloe was a year older than her. And a girl!

"..so I think if the two of them is what makes them happy then we should honour that instead of shutting..them..out." Dee said with raised eyebrows, emphasising her final three words between her teeth.

Chloe knew what it meant when her mother said things in that tone and that specific way. It was Dee's way of telling Greg off. Her way of telling him to just deal with whatever change that was about to occur. And her heart skipped a beat of joy when she saw her father let out a heavy defeated sigh.

Greg Beale swallowed loudly, looking from his wife and Melissa, over to his daughter and Beca. He took note of the way their hands were entwined. And he had to admit, there was a part of him that was relieved Beca wasn't one of those dickhead jocks Chloe always seemed to be dating.

"You keep your bedroom door open whenever you're here together…" were the only words that fell from his mouth because the second Chloe realised he was going to allow this, she released Beca's hand and dashed over to hug her father around the waist.

"Thank you Daddy!" Chloe said happily, squeezing her father's waist tight as she looked at her mother. Both Beale women had smiles on their faces. As did Beca and Melissa, who had united beside them, Melissa giving Beca a side-hug or assurance.

"And I don't want you being with Beca to affect your studies please! You need to be in top shape for college come September, remember?" Greg added.

Chloe's smile wavered ever-so gently. She hadn't taken even a second to consider the reality that she was headed to college in a few months time. Away from Beca. Away from home. And she swallowed loudly, her barriers going up as she forced a broader smile onto her face.

Beca had noticed Chloe's change in expression though. Because she'd felt that brief wave of sadness too. They wouldn't have much time together before Chloe went to college. But they had the summer at least.

And to Beca's joy, as Chloe turned to give her mother a hug, Melissa mumbled into her daughter's ear, "You can have your bedroom door closed when Chloe's at ours.."

—

Aubrey lay on her bed, her phone in her hand as she stared at the screen. The person she was texting was someone she'd been texting constantly over the past few weeks. She loved playing the jocks around. Dating them one minute then dumping them the next. But this one particular jock she'd been secretly dating behind Chloe's back she'd started to have real feelings for recently. And she wanted to stay in his good books.

She re-read the reply Drake had just sent her, then smiled as she typed out an immediate response:

"Because she and Chloe are secretly hooking up xx"