AN: Of course I had to write one based off of one of Bechloe's aca-child's songs. This song allowed quite a bit of freedom since there isn't an incredibly strong storyline, so if you don't really see how the song and fic are connected, I can understand it. I still hope you like it though.
Devastating, smoke-grey clouds were swirling around in the sky above, however a single droplet of rain had yet to fall. Nevertheless, it still looked like a full-on storm could arrive at any moment.
The terrible weather, however, was a perfect reflection of Beca Mitchell's mood as she lay curled up on her bed in her dorm room at Barden University, reflecting on her time so far at her new school and more specifically on the people she'd come to know.
She'd only been a Barden Bella for a single week and she was already regretting having let that crazy yet gorgeous redheaded girl persuade her into auditioning for her all-female, collegiate a cappella group in the first place. However, who could deny someone with as much light and kindness as her?
It was such a huge contrast to her usual sombre days. Nobody else had ever really had that kind of effect on her.
There was Stacie, who she probably already considered to be her best friend and if not, then definitely one of them. However, she was currently, and most likely will for a very long time, if not for the rest of their lives, dating the person who probably despised her the most in the entire state (okay, that's an exaggeration, but definitely the most disliked of all of the Bellas), General Aubrey Posen, leader of the Barden Bellas.
Amy, she also considered to be one of her best friends, but man, was she quite a handful. They were polar opposites. Amy was a loud, outgoing, boisterous person who could make anyone laugh while Beca had a dark, gloomy, quiet, and brooding personality. She loved her, but it sure took a lot of her energy to be around the eccentric blonde, so she really preferred her in moderate doses.
There was Jesse who was her best guy friend. Emphasis on the word "friend." He apparently, however, believed that they were going to end up like the movie characters who started out as best friends, then realized that their love for each other was more than just platonic. No. Not going to happen.
Lilly kind of creeped her out, just like she did with everyone else who could catch her borderline-serial-killer-like mutterings. And finally, Jessica and Ashley were such close friends and she was pretty sure that Cynthia Rose and Denise were a couple, so they usually ended up inadvertently third-wheeling her.
The redhead, Chloe Beale, was the only one who truly made her feel better, but not even she could bring light to this particular day, in her opinion. It was nearly impossible.
Six-year-old Beca sat on the top step of the staircase in her house, discreetly listening to her parents' raised voices, resonating all the way up from downstairs.
She knew that she was being naughty by sneaking out of her room well past her bedtime, but she was just so curious and they were just so loud. She couldn't deny the urge to find out what was going on anymore. The thunder and rain outside tonight were what was keeping her up in the first place anyway; her parents were just adding to it.
"You bastard!"
That was her mother's voice.
"Hm, new word. Wonder what it means."
"You lying, cheating bastard!"
"Were they playing cards again?"
"You're an asshole! Oh my god! You're such an asshole! You are a ridiculous asshole!"
"Really colourful language coming out tonight."
"I can not believe you have the fucking nerve to drag your sorry ass back here after you were deliberately unfaithful to not only me but your own daughter too—your fucking family!" Elizabeth Mitchell yelled at her husband, "And to have done it in the middle of the crowded university campus, no less!"
"You weren't supposed to be there," Benjamin stated in a lowered voice, which prompted Beca to lean down a little more to be able to hear better and to be able to watch what was happening.
"And that makes it okay?" the woman demanded.
"No, of course not. I just—" he tried to reason with his wife, but she refused to listen to any of his bullshit.
"You just thought I'd never find out," Elizabeth cut him off, finishing his sentence, which she knew was correct, especially when he didn't respond and simply avoided eye contact.
She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, and tiredly continued, "Go. Just fucking go. And don't you ever step foot here again unless it's to gather every last piece of your shit from this house. You go ahead and crawl back to Sheila, alone.
"Just know that after this, you won't be seeing me again except to finalize our divorce. And you'll be lucky if Beca will ever wanna see you again once she truly understands the damage of what you've done. Now get the fuck out of my house, Benjamin."
That was the last time Beca had seen her father, or even had any sort of communication with him, until the first time he'd ever approached her about going to this stupid university when she'd started applying.
She hadn't seen him on her tenth, sixteenth, or eighteenth birthdays (she'd been told each of those birthdays is apparently a milestone). She hadn't seen him when she'd orchestrated basically all of the music, in collaboration with her music teachers, for her school's play during her senior year. She hadn't even seen him when she'd gotten her acceptance letter for the school that he worked for, which she'd only applied to because he had insisted she get a college degree, for free might he add, before going off to LA to pursue her dream that he didn't believe in.
Oh well.
There was nothing incredibly special about those days anyway. At least, in her opinion. They were all just another day in her bleak, colourless life.
Eventually, Beca grew tired of wallowing in her depression, so she reluctantly got out of bed and decided to take a walk around campus, despite the weather, with her headphones on.
She wasn't surprised when she saw very few other people out at the moment. In fact, she was grateful for it. She wasn't exactly a people person.
The small brunette arrived at a fountain in the park closest to campus and that was when the surprise appeared.
There, sitting on a bench by the decorative, aquatic structure, was Chloe Beale.
"Chloe?" Beca greeted the other Bella in confusion, stopping her music and pushing her headphones down to her neck, "What're you doing out here?"
She then added somewhat mockingly, "And are you seriously reading The Grapes of Wrath while eating grapes?"
She couldn't help but find it ironic. The biggest dreamer she knew was reading a realist novel.
Chloe, in response, casually gazed up from her book towards the younger woman, smiling a bit smugly, and replied, "Hadn't noticed. And I could ask you the same. At least I brought an umbrella."
She motioned towards the open umbrella cleverly rigged to the back of the bench.
"Touché," the tiny DJ admitted with a slight smirk.
She then gestured towards the empty spot beside the redhead, silently asking if she could sit, at which the older girl moved her container of purely green grapes to her lap and copied Beca's movement.
"So, how's the book?" the small brunette asked, swiping a couple of the other Bella's fruits.
Chloe watched her, shaking her head with an amused smile, and answered, "Well, I'm only about a quarter in, but let's just say it's a classic for a reason"—she then glanced up at the sky and noticed—"Looks like we won't be needing this anymore."
She reached back to untangle her umbrella and closed it, setting it onto the opposite side of her from where Beca was sitting.
The petite freshman looked up to the sky and realized that her friend was right. There were no more clouds of grey on their way and only clear, blue skies ahead as far as they could see.
"Yeah, looks like it," Beca agreed, suddenly feeling more light-hearted than she ever had before.
That is, if she actually remembered the last time she had that particular feeling. It kind of intrigued yet scared her.
"Guess I might've been wrong about no one being able to make me feel better today."
She internally shook her head and distracted herself by playfully stealing her friend's book from her and curiously questioned, "So, what's going on in here so far?"
It'd been about an hour that Beca and Chloe had been sitting on the bench, comparing classic literature novels and finishing off the latter's container of green grapes.
The sky was now clear and the area was becoming a lot more populated, much to the duo's dismay as it had become more difficult to have a nice conversation without disruption.
"Hey, do you wanna go somewhere more…private?" the redhead suggested, easily noticing the other Bella's not-so-subtle discomfort.
Beca's eyes widened slightly and she suddenly grew nervous, misinterpreting what Chloe was saying.
"Oh, no. Beca, relax. That's not what I meant," the older girl told her with a laugh, "There's this really beautiful spot that I love and that basically no one hangs around."
"Oh. Uh, yeah, sure," the tiny DJ agreed as she stood up, patiently waiting for her friend to gather her things and put them away into her purse.
Once she was ready, Chloe got up as well, took Beca's hand, and led her towards the forest that bordered the park. Her special spot was technically still within the park's perimeter, but it was just beyond the tree line.
The two strolled along the lawn, finding it easy to get back into conversation.
"What? I have not!" the redhead protested, playfully defending herself against the, in her opinion, false accusation.
"Yes, you have! You have completely demolished my reputation as a dark loner," the small brunette insisted but with a joking smile, "Because of you, I'm dressing up as a freakin' flight attendant and singing a cappella with a bunch of crazy weirdos and actually leaving my room at least six times a week other than for class."
"Oh, come on, the Bellas aren't that bad," Chloe vindicated her new second family.
She truly liked every single one of these girls and saw and felt something special about their group, Beca included.
"You're right," the tiny DJ agreed, momentarily allowing the older girl to think she had won, before adding, "They're worse."
She didn't know why she was so insistent that the Bellas were horrible; they really weren't. Far from it actually and Beca knew that.
She was just a dark, cynical person by nature and she wasn't quite ready to let anyone see her glimmer of hope in this potential group of friends, full of colourful characters.
Having hope had never worked out for her before, so why would it start now?
"Beca, you don't really believe that and I know it. I can tell," Chloe told her friend, "I can admit, Aubrey is sometimes a…difficult person to get along with and you two definitely aren't…clicking instantly, but I have a feeling you guys will eventually become great friends. And I can already tell that you really like Stacie and Amy."
The petite freshman rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement and said, "Okay. Yeah, I think Stacie's pretty cool, but she's dating Aubrey, and Amy's fun, but I usually need a lot of energy to deal with her. Lilly's kinda creepy and the others…well, they have each other. They don't need me around"—she trailed off when she noticed that Chloe had stopped walking a little while ago—"Hey, why're we stopping?"
Was she finally tired of her pessimism? Was this the part where she made up some excuse to get away from her? Was this the end of what had been a nice afternoon together only to inevitably and irrevocably be ruined by her goddamn negativity?
"Because we're here," Chloe announced with a soft smile as she let her eyes wander.
It was just then that Beca realized that their surroundings had shifted from a slightly populated park to a small, very secluded area bordered by beautiful cherry blossom trees. They were a mixture of delicate, bold, and relaxing pinks. Usually she wasn't a huge fan of that colour, but she couldn't help but love it there.
How they had walked through a bit of the forest to get to that point without the shorter woman noticing was beyond her comprehension. She had an inkling that it had a little something to do with the gorgeous redhead she'd been completely wrapped up in for the past few hours though.
"Wow. This is…wow. I…how…" Beca was so amazed by the stunning place to finish a proper sentence, but luckily for her, Chloe understood what she meant to say.
"I found it on one of my morning runs. I decided to jog through the forest once and just stumbled upon it," the flame-haired senior recounted, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Her only response was a nod as the other girl continued to admire the area.
"So, what about me?" Chloe suddenly asked, regaining her friend's attention and earning a confused look, "Am I as cool as Stacie? Or as fun as Amy? As difficult as Aubrey? Or am I as scary as Lilly?"
"Well, I mean, you did barge into my shower and demand I sing your lady jam for you," Beca reminded the older girl, "I thought I was having a stroke and dreaming the entire thing for a little second there."
"So, you're saying you would dream of me?" the redhead teasingly asked, which made the petite freshman's cheeks flush an adorable shade of red.
"Imagining! I meant imagining!"—well, that certainly didn't help to wipe the smirk off of her face—"Okay, hallucinating. I thought I might've been hallucinating when some crazy ginger decided to just invade my shower and force me to sing her 'lady jam' with her," Beca told her friend in an exasperated voice, "God, you're annoying."
"Only because I like it when you blush," Chloe stated nonchalantly.
"Well, you're pretty forward, aren't you?" the tiny DJ said mockingly.
"You're right, I am," the flame-haired senior proudly agreed, "So, do you wanna go out with me?"
Beca's head shot towards Chloe and her eyes grew three sizes. "Like…like a date?"
"Uh, yeah," the ginger bluntly said, "Would you, Beca Mitchell, like to go on a date with me, Chloe Beale?"
"Oh…um…yeah," the small brunette stuttered out her answer with a goofy, little smirk.
"Yeah? You sure?" Chloe asked, a grin of her own starting to appear on her face.
"Yeah," Beca repeated, the smile beginning to grow, "Yes, I, Beca Mitchell, would love to go out on a date with you, Chloe Beale."
"Awes!" the redhead excitedly exclaimed, grabbing a hold of the other girl's hand, as the pair began their walk back to their dorms, "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7:00."
"Oh my god…"
"What?"
"What. The hell. Is this?"
"What? I told you I'd pick you up at 7:00."
"Yes, but you failed to mention that you'd be picking me up in Apollo's freakin' sun chariot," Beca deadpanned, "Jesus, I need sunglasses just to look at it."
Of course Beca knew better than to assume Chloe would own a simple black car. She expected maybe a red to match her gorgeous hair or even blue, which, if she remembered correctly, was one of her favourite colours, but bright yellow? This girl was just full of surprises.
"Oh, come on. It's not that bad," the redhead defended her car.
"You look like Jay Gatsby," the small brunette commented flatly.
"Oh, shut up and get in," Chloe ordered in an exasperated tone.
Beca playfully rolled her eyes but nevertheless climbed into the passenger seat of her date's yellow Bumblebee-esque car.
"So, what have you planned for this evening, m'lady?" the petite freshman curiously asked, looking around the car's interior as the older girl drove.
"Oh, you'll see," Chloe mysteriously replied, smiling to herself.
"We're going on a hike and a picnic," Beca stated rather than questioned.
The flame-haired senior's smile faltered a bit, but she still attempted to remain enigmatic. "Maybe. You'll just have to wait and find out."
"Chloe, you told me to wear something comfortable and breathable, to wear sneakers, and there's a backpack, which probably has the food in it, hidden under that blanket behind my seat, which is probably a picnic blanket," the small brunette observed, matter-of-fact, "Unless you're taking me on a jog or to the gym, which would be the weirdest first date ever, we're going on a hike on a pretty trail you found at some point."
"What the hell?" Chloe demanded, slightly impressed.
"Are we gonna have one of those cheesy mountaintop picnics as we watch the sun set over Atlanta?" Beca asked with a grin at having figured out their date.
"Oh my god! You're such an asshole!" the ginger exclaimed, upset that her surprise wasn't actually going to be a surprise.
"Chloe, calm down! Honestly, I don't care what we do! I just wanna spend time with you!" the tiny DJ quickly tried to make it up to the taller girl, worried that she'd just ruined their date before it had even really started.
"Good, because we're gonna have the absolute best and freakin' cheesiest 'hike/mountaintop picnic while watching the sunset' date ever!" Chloe determinedly declared, letting Beca know that she wasn't angry which made her laugh.
She was upset that the date idea wasn't going to be a surprise, but she wasn't mad about it. She was actually very impressed that the younger girl had been able to predict almost the entire plan for the date. Almost.
"Okay, now I know you think you got the entire date all figured out, but there are a couple things you missed," Chloe revealed as they approached their final destination after about an hour and a half of walking and just talking to each other.
She'd already succeeded in surprising her date by leaving the blanket in her "Great Gatsby car." It really had been just to hide the backpack, which she'd soon learn was completely empty, another little trick.
"What? Really?" Beca exclaimed in surprise.
"What else does this girl have up her sleeve? A white horse?"
"Yep," the redhead confirmed as they rounded a wall of boulders, "This."
The tiny DJ's breath hitched as she looked at the layout in front of her. Just as she'd predicted, there was a little, open area overlooking a large portion of the illuminated city of Atlanta.
However, she didn't think there would already be a nice picnic blanket with a waterproof bottom spread out with a real, wicker picnic basket and another, folded blanket on it. Nor did she expect to see pretty lines of fairy lights strung up on the surrounding trees. More cherry blossom trees, no less.
By the time she'd processed the scenery, Chloe was settled down on the blanket and tossing the empty backpack to the side. She looked back up at her date and playfully smoothed out the wrinkles in the spot beside her.
Beca smirked and made her way towards her date and sat down.
She laughed when Chloe pulled out none other than the same Rubbermaid container as the day before, refilled with only green grapes. She also pulled out a container of cherries ("Really?" "Shut up."), an insulated container of miraculously still hot pasta, and some garlic bread wrapped in tin foil.
"Thank you, Chlo, for all of this," Beca said shyly, "You know, no one's ever gone through this much effort for me, except for maybe…my mom."
"Are you calling me your mother?" Chloe joked in a falsely offended tone.
"Oh, shut up, you dork!" the small brunette lightly shoved the older girl with a chuckle, "You get what I'm trying to say."
"Well, I hope I do because otherwise it would be inappropriate if I was about to ask you if you'd be my girlfriend," the flame-haired senior casually said, "Also illegal."
Beca laughed and replied, "I'd love to be your girlfriend."
"And I'd love to be yours," Chloe responded, before leaning in to give her new girlfriend a kiss.
Beca couldn't help but admire the taller girl's beauty as she got closer to her, especially with the way the fairy lights around them made her hair look like a pure, red-hot fire.
Without hesitation, the tiny DJ closed the last inch of distance between them and enthusiastically reciprocated her first kiss with her amazing new girlfriend, feeling happier than she ever had before.
She would never forget the feeling of having lived a dark, bleak life.
However, after having ridden in a bold-yellow "Bumblebee" car so that she could be sitting beside a gorgeous flame-haired girl under pink, fairy-light-covered cherry blossom trees, sharing a container of green grapes, she couldn't help feeling like the grey clouds that had been following her around all the time were gone for good.
Only Chloe was able to brighten up her dull and sombre, black-and-white life and now, thanks to her, she only saw the world in bright and beautiful colour.
AN: Thanks for reading.