A/N #1: Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy whichever holiday you celebrate! And a very Merry Christmas to all and to all a Bechloe chapter!

Chapter Eight – Get to Know Bechloe

Chloe

Chloe had been looking forward to this night for a week now! She was finally going to get her chance to be one-on-one with Beca Mitchell. Yet she was scared to death because she had not a single clue as to what exactly they were going to do or what it was to be considered. Chloe was treating it as a "Get to Know You" thing. They would be more than likely going out somewhere to eat Chloe was sure of that, but once they finished was it all just over? Not that she cared if that happened, she was just glad to get the chance to get under Beca's shell for a few moments.

Chloe was dancing around her room in the Bellas' house listening to a pop song through her iHome as she got ready before Beca came to get her. The younger girl insisted upon driving them tonight, again not that Chloe minded she didn't have her car here anyway. Chloe finished her hair and makeup before putting on tight blue jeans and a sparkly pink top. She debated on weather wearing her ankle high gray boots with the heal would make her too tall next to Beca, but they were just too cute and completed her outfit perfectly!

Once she had finished her ensemble, Chloe continued to sing and dance around her room while she waited for Beca to arrive. Aubrey had locked herself in her room claiming she needed to be alone to lock down the arrangement and choreography. Chloe was so entranced by the beat of the music that she couldn't focus on anything else.

"Didn't know I was gonna get a show before dinner." Beca's voice made Chloe jump higher than she ever thought possible in those boots. She had turned to see Beca leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed across her chest and that smirk firmly plastered to her lips.

Chloe mouthed "sorry" at Beca and went to turn her music off. This was the point where she looked over out of the corner of her eyes to take in the glory that was Beca Mitchell. She had on a tight black tank top with a black and blue plaid flannel open over it. Her black skinny jeans were ripped at the knees and down her left thigh, the outfit was finished off by black combat boots. Her whole being screamed don't-mess-with-me-or-I-will-cut-you but it drew Chloe in closer pulling from somewhere deep in her gut. The eyeliner, the spike piercings, and the attitude couldn't mask the true Beca that was sitting just below the surface begging for Chloe to rip her free.

"You ready to head out now?" Beca asked standing upright again. Chloe nodded again and grabbed her purse from the bed to follow her down the stairs and out the door. In the driveway was a gray four door hard top Jeep that looked a few years old but well taken care of. Beca unlocked the doors and went around to the driver's side, Chloe let herself in.

"Nice Jeep." Chloe commented as they were pulling out of the drive headed toward the south end of town.

"Thanks, it's actually Lexa's but she let me use it for tonight." Beca replied

"Shouldn't Lexa have it for her date?" Chloe was a curious person and with everything that Beca had been saying about wanting to tell her about her life, Chloe decided it wasn't worth trying to hold back tonight.

"Nah, Lexa likes to take her bike on first dates if the weather permits it." She shook her head back and forth and smiled at the comment.

"So Lexa has a jeep and a motorcycle? Are you guys like loaded or something?" Chloe giggled a little then bit her lip when she saw Beca's face droop a bit.

"We have more than we need to get by." Chloe started chewing on her bottom lip, which was already drawn between her teeth, trying desperately to think of something to correct the direction of this conversation. She didn't have to think for long because Beca was pulling off the road and into the parking lot of a fifties style diner. "I hope you aren't exactly picky about food, I kind of have a thing for diners." Beca laughed out taking off her seat belt and getting out of the car. Chloe followed close behind shaking her head back and forth.

"This place is super cute!" Chloe squeaked as they showed themselves to a booth in the far back corner of the restaurant. They wasted no time in deciding what they would eat, it took them both only minutes to look over the menu, then their waitress took their order leaving them alone again. Chloe grinned across the table at Beca once again ready to hear everything she would let out.

Beca

Beca was fidgeting under the table where Chloe couldn't see her, why was she feeling this way? No thing and no one ever got under Beca's skin this way. She couldn't make it stop either no matter how hard she tried to put those bricks back in place on the walls around her heart they fell right back out every time she looked back at Chloe. Everything came bubbling to the surface threatening to spill over in a second's time. She swallowed harshly, as her mouth had lost all moisture, trying to fit the words in an order that actually made sense. Looking back across the table she saw Chloe practically vibrating with emotions. Beca needed to say something but she had no clue where to start.

"Okay the silence is going to kill me. How about we start out simple?" Chloe asked flattening her hands on the table top. "Where did you grow up?" Thank God she started talking, Beca thought to herself and sighed.

"Home is in Dunwoody, just north of Atlanta." Beca answered simply, and when Chloe never said anything she added some more. "My dad is a professor at Barden so we had to be close to the school."

"That's actually not far from where my home is!" Chloe bounced in her seat and Beca couldn't stop the thought of how cute she made it look from flooding her brain. "My parents have been in Brookhaven since they were kids, my WHOLE family is spread out across Atlanta and Georgia. Well except for my Uncle Mike, my mom's youngest brother, his family is in Michigan. We go up there over Christmas because of the snow, my grandparents say it's the aesthetic the snow adds to the holiday, and then they come down here over summer because of the warmer weather and the ocean." The smile on her face was fit for the God's but it was directed at Beca. Beca could tell that Chloe's family was important to her, at least more important to her than Beca thought her own was – minus Lexa of course. Chloe had stopped the most adorable rambling that Beca had ever heard in favor of watching and waiting for her to say something else.

"Your family sounds a lot bigger than mine," Beca started with a chuckle. "My mom was an only child and my dad had one sister, Lexa's mom." Beca knew that Chloe was going to pick up on her tenses sooner rather than later, she had the first time she said them too. Chloe just tilted her head to the side a little and nodded up and down, Beca knew she had to continue. She let out a groan and took a deep breath blowing it out dramatically.

"Take your time, Bec. I can tell this is hard for you, I don't want to push you to do something you're not comfortable with." Another brick fell out of place. Why does she have to be so fucking nice? Why can't I just block her out like everyone else in this Godforsaken universe? Beca couldn't even win her own internal argument, she sook the thoughts from her head and ran her hands through her hair pulling it behind her ears. Once she had combed them completely through she shook them out at her sides.

"You know what fuck it! I honestly don't care about the way you are going to feel once you know. I don't care how my story makes anyone feel. I don't want sympathy, or pity, or anything really. It's just easier to be around people when they don't know, because I don't constantly think that those are the thoughts running through their head when they look at me." Beca paused trying to get her temper under control. Chloe stayed silent while Beca processed her next move. "Lexa and I were born on the same day, neither of our parents said anything to each other until it was basically too late, we are a few hours apart and since our parents didn't communicate, we have the same middle name. We were both named after our grandmother, mine on both sides, Lexa on just the Mitchell side. Things were great, Lexa and I were inseparable and she instantly became my best friend, we were basically sisters even before everything went down.

"My parents started fighting when I was about six, I didn't really understand then what was happening. The would scream and yell once I was in bed, I guess they thought I wouldn't hear or was actually sleeping, I used to try and make my own sound to drown them out. Eventually I figured out that music did the trick. I spent more time listening to music than anything else, after school I went to my room and turned up the stereo as loud as I could. When I turned seven my grandma bought me these super expensive headphones that were noise canceling and Lexa's parents bought me an MP3 player, I didn't take them off for months.

"The only thing I ever wanted was for them to just stop yelling at each other, they never yelled in front of me or at me but I knew it was still happening. They finally got divorced after I turned eight. Mom moved across the school district, I bounced between their houses for years, they actually were civil with each other when it came to holidays. Lexa's mom and mine were very close, they were best friends, they started their own music group. The song that I sang for auditions was one of theirs, they taught Lex and me how to sing it while we all sat in a circle, we would pass the cups around the circle as we sang. It was really hard for Lexa to watch my try out because of that song." Their waitress came by with their meals then. A turkey club on wheat with fries for Beca, and tuna salad with fruit for Chloe, Beca instantly took a bite of her sandwich grateful for the moment.

"So why did it hurt Lexa to watch you sing that song?" Chloe asked after a few moments.

"Lexa came out to her parents she was a lesbian when she was fourteen, she told me when she was twelve almost instantly after she figured it out, they were all in a horrible car accident a few months later. Lexa lost both of them and came to live with my dad. I still had to bounce between houses and Lexa came with me on the longer stays at my mom's but she was just so angry at herself and the world that it became hard for her to function at times. Then it got hard for my mom," Beca paused again to take another bite of her sandwich and eat some fries. "She got diagnosed with breast cancer not to long after the accident, it was then that I realized why Lexa was so angry all the time. There was no way to stop it, cure it, or change it. She tried everything from chemo to radiation. I lost her two years later."

Chloe extended her hand across the tabletop to run her fingers over the back of Beca's hand. She flinched at the touch but didn't pull away. Why does this feel so good? It wasn't a foreign feeling to her, she had held a girl's hand before but it was like she could feel every thought that was in Chloe's head in that simple brush of a touch across the back of her hand. It was over too soon as Chloe drew back and Beca's fingers extended to chase after her without her permission. With the realization she drew her own hand back to her lap and cleared her throat before continuing.

"I started mixing when she got sick, it was a way for me to get out what I was feeling without actual human contact. Ever since she died I shut myself down emotionally, put on the mask of don't-fuck-with-me and moved on with my life. I never even told anyone this story, everyone from where I grew up just knew. It kinda feels good to get it off of my chest." Beca smiled down at her plate and glanced up to see Chloe sitting back in the booth with a smile teasing the corners of her mouth. Beca locked eyes with her and instantly felt better. Chloe wasn't looking at her any different than the day she barged into her shower with her.

"Well I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me. Don't worry that's really all I'm going to say about it. I can see it in your eyes that you don't want me to say anything so I won't." Chloe went right back to eating as Beca's jaw hit the table. "You're gonna catch flies Bec." Chloe giggled out.

Their meal passed with more random – stupid – questions from Chloe. Beca's favorite color (black), her favorite animal (red panda), it only got weird when she asked was Beca's favorite movie was. "I don't really like movies that much?"

"What?! Like any movies?" Beca shook her head. "What is wrong with you?! Not liking movies is like not liking chocolate ice cream when you are on your period!"

"Movies are fine, I just get bored and never make it to the end."

"The end is the best part!" Chloe slapped the table top again and Beca drew her bottom lip between her teeth again.

"They are predictable! Like the guy gets the girl, that kid see dead people, the underdogs win the big game, the good guys defeat the villain, Edward and Bella live happily ever after forever with their hybrid of a daughter who ends up fucking a werewolf!" She explained.

"Okay we need to fix you as soon as possible." Chloe reached across the gap and stole a fry off of Beca's plate, ignoring the protest from the younger girl, and popped it into her mouth. Their waitress came back asking if they wanted the check split. They split it this time, Beca wouldn't have had a problem with paying, then got back into the jeep but it was obvious that neither was ready to go back home yet. So Beca thought of the only place she could that wouldn't seem to date like, and the sun was almost completely set so it was the perfect time to go.

Chloe

Chloe had no clue as to where exactly Beca was going but she also wasn't about to ask. Plus it wasn't like she had any reason to worry with Beca, if the need arose she could totally take her right? Beca drove around another curve between the trees taking a stone path off to the left. The path lead them into a stone parking lot and a few street lamp could be seen around the area. Beca parked the jeep and got out after flashing a toothy grin at her. Chloe's heart sank and swelled at the same time. Beca soon knocked on Chloe's window making the older girl jump and snap her head around from where she had been watching after the other girl. Beca beckoned her out with a wave of her hand and Chloe followed.

"Don't worry I'm not gonna knock you off or anything." Beca stated sarcastically. "I just like coming to places like this after dark, they are more peaceful."

"Mind telling me what place this is exactly?" Chloe still couldn't tell. Beca just laughed and walked on letting Chloe trail behind her. As they got closer Chloe was able to make out a set of swings and a rather large twisted tube slide. "Are we seriously at a playground right now?" She might have been bouncing as her skin itched for her to run and jump from the equipment like the child in her heart. Then the castle like structure made entirely out of wood came into focus, Chloe lost all control as she took off past Beca instantly climbing to the top most "room" of the structure (she may have slightly regretted her heals now).

"Somehow I knew you'd love this place." Beca smirked up at her from the ground. Chloe popped her head out the little window and smiled down at her only to see her disappear inside the structure below her. Chloe came down from her tower in search of Beca, listening for any little sound the girl might make. The park was completely deserted at this time of night and the darkness only made it that much more fun for Chloe.

She ducked around corners, peeking through cracks in the slats of wood, smiling the whole time. She was determined to win this game even if Beca wasn't playing it. Suddenly there were hands on her hips reaching from behind, and a quiet 'boo' in her ear. She jumped straight up and forward about three feet, screeching in the process. She whipped around to see Beca doubled over laughing and wheezing out something along the lines of 'you should have seen your face'. Chloe stormed back over to her and swatted her arm. Beca just cupped at the spot and tried to stifle more laughter, by now Chloe had given up trying to be angry because she had honestly never seen this side of Beca. The side that wasn't thinking about what people saw on the outside, it was the side that was totally and completely carefree Beca to the core. She looks adorable right now, I'm gonna be in big trouble with this one. Chloe thought as she looked Beca over again.

"My parents used to bring my brother and I to a place like this when we were little." Chloe began leaving the structure via the bouncing bridge. She headed over to the swings, one of her all-time favorite things, and took a seat pushing herself lightly while keeping her toes in the same spot on the ground.

"I didn't know you had a brother." Beca states as she walks around behind Chloe to grip the triangle sides of the swing at the end of the chain. She drew the seated girl backwards slightly before releasing her forward with a nudge.

"Yeah he is a couple years older than me. He and I were really close as kids, we still are but it can be hard with the distance." She was paused in her swaying as Beca latched onto her previous spot on the swing. "He went to Harvard for law school, he graduates next year. I'll be glad when he comes home, if he comes home." Beca released her again this time he push came against the back side of her hips and sent a chill up her spine making the tiny hairs on her neck stand at attention. She looked across the park and could see the mini version of herself running from her older brother as they played together for countless hours. "This place brings back all the good memories we shared as kids." Then she saw another boy trying to play with her past self as well and the look in her brother's eyes. "And maybe some not so good ones."

"We can go somewhere else if you are uncomfortable." Beca stated, her voice gave away her worried state. Chloe shook her red locks.

"No it's fine. He just used to be super protective of me. He would always try to keep other kids from playing with me that I didn't know." Chloe thought harder. "Really my whole family tried to keep me away from strangers, or at least unknown people. I've always been a people person," Beca let out a scoff. "Yeah I know it's obvious. I liked to make friends and I would always let others join me or I would share my toys, snacks, whatever with them." The memory flooded her brain at that moment and she wondered if she should tell the other girl. Then she remembered the story Beca had just told her in the diner. "There was a time when I was about six or seven and a man was lying on one of the park benches. I took him my sandwich from lunch because he looked hungry and he grabbed me and I guess my mom thought he was going to take me or something because she screamed at him. He instantly dropped me and ran off into the woods." Beca stopped pushing Chloe and went to sit in the swing next to hers. "Ever since that I got the whole 'don't ever talk to strangers again' speech and Calvin got the whole 'protect her at any cost' speech.

"Any time I was with a different person at school that he hadn't met he was all over us in an instant. It only got worse as we got older. Guys would flirt with me and well, I'm pretty confident about all of this so I would flirt back. Cal let it go for a while but as soon as they touched me in any way, weather it was a hug, holding my hand, or an arm around my shoulders he started making his presence known. Once a guy put his hand on my lower back during lunch when I was a sophomore in high school, Calvin almost broke three of his fingers. The only reason he didn't get in trouble was because the guy admitted to trying to seduce me." Chloe paused took look at Beca for a moment. She noticed that Beca just sat on her swing and listened her, giving her full attention to Chloe's story. "That was the same year I found out I was bisexual, Calvin basically already knew because he saw me at school with girls, things went over fine with everyone and it didn't really change much. Well it changed the fact that Calvin thought every single person was out to deflower his little sister.

"I didn't have many friends until after he graduated and left because everyone was scared of him. He wasn't a bad guy and he never did anything wrong, there were nights when I could hear him and dad talking down stairs about how people were treating me and how Cal needed to watch out for anyone that got to close. My parents were afraid that since I was so kind and generous to people that they would take advantage of me and I would get myself hurt. Like I said after Cal left for Harvard things changed. I started making friends and going on dates, yeah mistakes were made and I cried a few times, but nothing I couldn't handle. When I would bring a date home for holidays or any time Calvin was home he always made a big scene of being protective older brother and it really started to upset me. Once I got to college and joined the Bellas I finally got the courage to tell him to back off. I was going to make mistakes and he wasn't always going to be there to protect me. He didn't take it well at first but once he didn't have to constantly worry that he would be blamed for something happening to me things got better." Chloe smiled at the thought of calling Cal and telling him about Beca. Of course he already knew about Beca he just didn't know about tonight yet.

"It's nice that you at least have someone who can look out for you when you need them too." Beca started. "Lexa and I always had each other's backs. There is a story about this girl that was way more into me than I was in her and Lex basically ripped the Band-Aid off of that one for me when she wouldn't listen." The laughed a little. Chloe maybe a bit too hard, she hadn't noticed her nodes at all tonight until that moment. Maybe it was because she told that long of a story, maybe it was due to the fact that all the air was vacuumed from her lungs when she looked into Beca's deep dark blue eyes. She cleared her throat trying to hide the fact from Beca, she failed. "Come on, let's get you home so you can get some tea." Beca stood and headed toward the jeep.

Chloe knew she was right and it was already after ten. She quickened her pace to catch up with Beca and loop their arms together. Beca flinched and started to pull away but Chloe tightened like a python. They got back in the jeep staying quiet for the ride with the radio playing just loud enough for the words to be made out. All too soon, in Chloe's opinion, they were back in front of the Bellas' house. Once she saw Beca unlatch her seat belt Chloe got out of the vehicle and headed up the path. They stopped outside and Chloe locked their eyes together again.

"I actually had a really great time tonight Chlo, thanks for kind of forcing me to hang out with you, it was totally worth it." Beca smiled down at her shoes then glanced back up at Chloe. She could see the whole night run through those navy blues watching as she accepted the fact that she wanted it to be a date.

"I did too," she whispered as to not aggravate her nodes. "maybe we can go again together some time?" She only gave Beca enough time for her head to make a short dip forward in a 'yes' before she realized what her body was doing. She had moved her left foot forward and reached to Beca's shoulder with her right hand. She brought her left arm up around the girl's neck with her other pulling them flush together in a hug. Again she felt Beca flinch then the familiar feel of small hands around her hips sliding to her back gripping her tightly.

Chloe made a conscious decision in that moment and decided to go with it. Everything that had transpired that night happened for a reason, they told each other those things because they felt something, Beca might be better at hiding it than Chloe but she knew in that hug that it was there. She quickly pulled back from the smaller girl and placed the gentlest kiss on her lips before bolting through the unlocked front door, slamming her back against it leaving Beca on the outside. She didn't know what Beca would think, she didn't even know if Beca liked girls, and she didn't care. She knew things were going to be different at their next practice now but she could honestly care less. In that moment she was as happy as ever. Then she opened her eyes to see Aubrey coming down the stairs. Oh crap! She thought.

"Hey Chlo, I thought you were in your room. Did you go out tonight?" Bree asked. Fudge mothers, what do I tell her? What can I tell her? In that moment she thought of the one thing she could. What would Beca do?

"Yeah, I was just hanging out with Beca. You know trying to get her to be more involved with the group. She wouldn't really let me invite any of the others though. We just got food and went for a walk, she's not much of a talker and she looked super uncomfortable the whole time." Yep that sounded like something Beca-ish.

"That does sound like the hobbit." Bree bought it. Chloe went into the kitchen and made herself some of Beca's tea before heading to her room, claiming she needed to rest her voice from all the one-sided conversations she had tonight. She ran to her window only to find that the jeep was gone and Beca with it. Chloe sighed as she drank her tea and prayed for everything to work out with Beca, she really liked the alt-girl.

Beca

Did that really just happen? Beca constantly repeated the question in her head as she drove back to her dorm, then on her way up to her room, then on her way to the showers, and then in the shower. Chloe Beale had actually kissed her, she didn't imagine that, it really actually fucking happened. Somehow that fiery, vixen of a redhead had skipped, shimmied, and basically barged right through her protective layers. Yet Beca couldn't find it in her to actually care that someone was on the other side that had only ever had a population of Lexa.

Beca was in such a state of shock from the events of the night that once her train of thought finally caught up to her actual surroundings she noticed she was showered, dressed, and sitting on her bed with her knees drawn up to her chest. She had been staring off into space for so long once she blinked there was a sting causing her to blink more rapidly. Except every time she blinked she saw a mane of red whip in slow motion, a brilliant white smile crafted just for her, sky blue eyes that twinkled in the corners, and soft warm pink lips touching hers. It may only have been for a second but the moment, action, and feeling stayed with Beca even after Chloe left her on the step. Beca felt her mind pull back to that place and she let herself imagine what would have happened if she had been able to keep Chloe with her longer. How would it have been to feel Chloe's lips fully against hers? To press their bodies flush together? Beca's thoughts took a turn at that and she felt herself smile a little.

"What's got you all dopey faced?"

"JESUS CHRIST!" Beca jumped and screamed turning to see Lexa sitting beside her on her bed, of course with an amused grin on her face. "WHY THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT!?" Lexa just laughed at her.

"It's kinda my thing dude." Lexa got up and moved to her side of the room while removing her jacket. Beca finally noticed that her mind was on something other than Chloe.

"How was the date?" Beca asked as she finally released her own knees and was brought back to her own body fully. She watched Lexa closely to note any change in her body language. Then her sister turned with the happiest expression she had seen on her face in the last five years.

"Absolutely perfect! She loved the fair and the bike! I'm pretty sure she won't let me drive anything else for a while." Lexa came back to sit next to her. Her expression changed as she thought before speaking. Beca noted a look of realization in the depths of her green eyes and prepared herself for whatever her sister said next. "She is so much more than I thought she was. I mean, I knew there was more to her than her looks and her brain, but there is a heart that understands part of my own. These feelings I have for her scare me Bex."

"What are you feeling?" Part of her was asking the question of herself at the same time.

"I can't explain it because I've never felt this before. Costia was important to me and I cared about her, but Clarke." Long fingers combed back through dark tresses. "She cares about what I feel, she wants to know anything and everything I will let her know and I want her to know everything." The fact that Lexa's answer was the one that Beca found to also be her own caused her to inhale sharply.

"I know what you mean." Beca drew her gaze from her sister's eyes down to her hands where she picked at the skin around her fingers. That was something she always did when someone forced the truth out of her. They sat and talked a few minutes about their nights and how everything went. Beca was extremely happy that Lexa had finally let out the truth about their parents and even opened up with Clarke about Costia.

Beca was able to get through her night as well with only a few interjections from Lexa. 'You would have taken her to a diner!' 'Really? How did you even find that play ground?' Yet when it came to the kiss she felt her words catch in her throat. They did make a presence however and as soon as it happened Lexa was off the bed instantly.

"WHAT?! You guys kissed? I'm so fucking jealous right now!" Lexa started then stopped. "Well not jealous I guess, I mean I could have kissed Clarke. But I really want to do this right, she is worth taking time with." A snarky, sarcastic comment floated to the front of Beca's mind and it was too good to pass up not saying. She knew Lexa would take it well and probably throw one back at her as well.

"I am pretty surprised you could keep it in your pants!" She dodged the pillow thrown at her head. Tonight has been great for both of them, Beca found herself wanting to feel this way more often in the future.